#i will absolutely murder someone if it meant getting my hands on the most up to date gigantic script before they axed the project

[checkeredflagggs]

Aftermath of a Storm

Pairing: oscar piastri x sargeant!Storm chaser!fem!reader

summary: people are shocked to learn about alice and oscar

a/n: tbh i really meant for the first part to have more of the other drivers learning about Barbie and Alice but obviously that didn’t happen 😂

a/n 2: timelines? What timelines? Idk know them

Part 1

Twitter

Private Messages - Logan, Oscar, Alice

Private Messages - The Grid, Fun

Private Messages - Logan, Oscar, Alice

mclaren

liked by drbarbie, teammate1, logansargeant, oscarpiastri, and 4,822,445 others

tagged: drbarbie, oscarpiastri

mclaren: Check the weather this weekend! Because there must be a storm moving in —Oscar Piastri is taking Dr. Alice “Barbie” Sargeant, Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant’s twin sister and notable storm chaser, on a hot lap here in Mexico!

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user1: oh my god this is everything I never knew I needed

user2: oh yeah hey mclaren don’t forget to mention THAT THEY ARE DATING

oscarpiasti: it’s gonna be a good time!

logansargeant: it’s been nice knowing you

oscarpiasti: I’m sure it’ll be fine

logansargeant: you sure about that? you SURE about that?

logansargeant: are we talking about the same girl?

user4: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

used5: LET US IN. LET US IN!! YOURE AMERICAN — SPILL THE TEA

landonorris: Oscar! You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend!!!! 😡😡😡

oscarpiastri: I’m sure I mentioned it.

landonorris: I’m sure YOU HAVENT!?!

oscarpiastri: of course I have. are you sure you were listening?

landonorris: of course I was LISTENING! You just haven’t said A WORD!? Since when have you had a girlfriend?

oscarpiastri: we’ve been together for nearly 7 years

landonorris: 7 years?!?

oscarpiastri: yes.

landonorris: WHAT?!??!

user6: WHAT?

user7: uhh raise your hand if you had Oscar Piastri has a secret girlfriend, Logan Sargeant has a twin sister, or the two would be the same person on your bingo card this year

user8: ok but if anyone on the grid had a secret girlfriend of course it’s gonna be Oscar?

user7: you got me there

user9: 7 years?!? How do you hide a girlfriend for 7 years? Especially one as cool as drbarbie?

user10: user9 asking the real questions

user11: right?? How did some guy who drives in silly circles score such a cool badass girlfriend?

drbarbie: I ran over him with my bike one day

user11: WHAT?!?

drbarbie: ummmm what is this??? oscarpiastri WHAT DID YOU DO???

logansargeant: apparently signed you up to tackle a hot lap

drbarbie: NO

drbarbie: ABSOLUTELY NOT

drbabrie: SPEED AND I DO! NOT! MIX!!

drbarbie: oscarpiastri ANSWER YOUR PHONE

drbarbie: nicolepiastri where is your son? I’d like to have some words with him

nicolepiastri: you and me both sweetie

user12: you chase tornadoes but can’t do a hot lap?

drbarbie: THERE IS A MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO!

user13: and you prefer the storms?

drbarbie: YES!!

f1gossippage

liked by logansargeant, oscarpiastri, teammate1, and 3,997,455 others

f1gossippage: a hot lap for the records! Oscar Piastri drove girlfriend Barbie Sargeant around the track twice today! Definitely seems like she’s not a fan

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user14: not a fan? I’d say 😂 I didn’t know anyone could scream that high tbh

user15: those were genuinely screams of terror…save my girl 😭

user16: Barbie Sargeant? Nah fam you did not do my girl dirty like that. Put some respect in her damn name. It’s DR. ALICE “BARBIE” SARGEANT

user17: oh thank god someone said it. She did not get 2 phd’s by the time she was 21 to have that be disrespected

user18: no shit really?

user17: yes! She graduated with double phd’s in meteorology and mechanical engineering from Cornell when she was 20!

used18: so fucking cool! And yea! PUT SOME DAMN RESPECT IN HER NAME!

user19: someone with more experience needs to watch this entire clip and then make gif sets of the ENTIRE thing because her face goes on a lot of journeys

user20: most of those journeys end in murder i think

drbarbie: they do. They will

logansargeant: maybe don’t threaten Oscar on a public instagram post?

drbarbie: for once in your life, stay in your lane. Unless you’d like to join him?

logansargeant: …carry on.

user20: logansargeant what was that??

logansargeant: I support women’s Rights and Wrongs

drbarbie: good

oscarpiasti: oh these are good pictures!

drbarbie: you are a dead man walking Piastri

oscarpiastri: would you really hurt me?

drbarbie: yes

oscarpiastri: what about my mother and sisters?

drbarbie: nicolepiastri soooo…you’re gonna be down a son soon. I can offer Logan?

nicolepiastri: oh we’d love to have the two of you visit again soon logansargeant and drbarbie

oscarpiastri: nicolepiastri mum??

user21: not nicolepiastri supporting this 🤣😭

teammate1: 😂😂😂

drbarbie: I sign your checks. Watch yourself

teammate1: girl this is too damn funny

drbarbie: 🙄😑

Private Messages - Oscar, Logan, Alice

drbarbie

liked by oscarpiastri, logansargeant, and 3,728,388 others

tagged: oscarpiastri

drbarbie: it’s your turn now! 🥰

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user22: the hearts make this a very ominous message

drbarbie: it’s supposed to be!

user22: oh!

oscarpiastri: babe?

oscarpiastri: what do you mean my turn?

drbarbie: I told you! I’d only ever get in your car when you get in mine!

drbarbie: so convenient that you have a break and dolly is back from the mechanics right now! 🧡🩵🧡

oscarpiastri: ummm…🏃🏻‍♂️💨

user23: ok but is she really gonna take him through a tornado???

user24: that does seem like it’s the plan?

user23: I can’t watch this 🙈

user24: she’s a professional?

drbarbie: more confidence in me please

user24: you right you right

user: SHES A PROFESSIONAL

drbarbie: thank you!

logansargeant: good luck! Have fun!

drbarbie: 😊😊😊

logansargeant:…no.

logansargeant: What did I do?

logansargeant: come on I helped you

logansargeant: I’m on your side!!

teammate3: dolly is ready to roll!!

oscarpiastri: that better be a joke

teammate1:…

teammate2:…

teammate3:…

teammate4:…

teammate5:…

Private Messages - The Grid, Serious

drbarbie

liked by oscarpiastri, logansargeant, charles_leclerc, and 4,288,373 others

tagged: oscarpiastri, logansargeant

drbarbie: don’t worry guys! They made it through the “storm” a-ok! (Come on guys, have a little faith. I’d never actually take someone unprepared into an actual tornado. Plus prime tornado season is over for the year!)

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user25: oh thank god. I was so very nervous

user26: girl you ain’t the only one. Check the video at 14:25. Oscar’s fingers are fucking white with panic 😂😂

oscarpiastri: thank you love for not subjecting me to a tornado

logansargeant: yes thank you my very favorite sister who is definitely the best and best and most wonderful

oscarpiastri: yes! Most wonderful and loving and beautiful girlfriend ever

drbarbie:…laying it on a little bit thick aren’t you?

logansargeant: quite literally whatever I have to do so I never ever ever ever have to get in that truck again!

drbarbie: don’t you dare disrespect dolly!

logansargeant: never!

oscarpiastri: dolly is a queen! We aren’t worthy.

logansargeant: yes! We definitely shouldn’t be in that truck ever again

drbarbie: babies…fine

user26: wow!!!! 🤩 those photos are stunning!

drbarbie: thank you! When I was planning this I knew the conditions were gonna be good for some nice thunderstorms but even I didn’t expect this level!

user26: so you just…followed them around?

drbarbie: yup! It’s something our parents used to do for me when logie and I were young - the driving being a lot more calm then normal is just about the only difference (my passengers complained the entire time 🙄)

user27: oh that’s so cute! (They seem like the type 😂)

landonorris: stunning

drbarbie: thank you!

oscarpiastri: no

landonorris: I didn’t say anything?

oscarpiastri: and yet the answer is no. Go away

georgerussell63: shut down!

landonorris: why am I catching strays on my comment thread???

charles_leclerc: these are magnificent photos! And it looked like a fun trip to get them

drbarbie: thank you! (Oh my god oscarpiastri I’ve been noticed by your father!)

oscarpiastri: that’s cool babe

charles_leclerc: yes! Welcome to the family. We expect you for dinner soon

drbarbie: score!

alicepublic

liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc, oscarpiastri, and 3,590,455 others

tagged: oscarpiastri

alicepublic: happy anniversary my love. The best 7 years of my life so far — with many more to go 🧡🧡🧡

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oscarpiastri: I can’t believe that it’s only been 7 years, I feel like I’ve known you for a lifetime already — I couldn’t imagine spending it with anyone else.

alicepublic: oh my love…

user28: water is wet. Fork found in the kitchen. I’m sleeping on the highway!

user29: sleepover!!

oscarpiastri: You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me 🩷

mclaren: you won the race last week?

alicepublic: uhhh your point?

oscarpiastri: and? I said what I said!

mclaren: alrighty then! Well said!

charles_leclerc: happy anniversary my son and daughter in law!

alicepublic: not a daughter in law yet but thank you!

oscarpiastri: soon!

alicepublic: WHAT?!? 😳 🫢

logansargeant: 7 years of being a third wheel and they don’t even tag me…EVEN THOUGH I'M VERY BLATANTLY IN THIS PHOTO DUMP

alicepublic: chill out dude

oscarpiastri: thank you for being our favorite third wheel and for taking these wonderful photos

logansargeant: Oscar is my favorite

alicepublic: I’d be mad but same tbh

user30: it’s been years but yay! Dr Barbie’s priv account is finally open

user31: oh my god baby her and baby Oscar are so cute!

user30: I know!! I’ve been getting fomo going through her posts - like what do you mean I haven’t been growing up with them?

user32: yeah alicepublic can we get an explanation for that photo near the beginning of you on a bike and Oscar bleeding?

alicepublic: that was the first day we met! My bike broke (no brakes) and as I was trying to slow down I accidentally ran over Oscar!

oscarpiastri: best accident I’ve ever had!

user32: ok this is the cutest meet-cute! ♥️

landonorris: unfortunately you guys are cute…

alicepublic: what 🥺 🥺 …

oscarpiastri: what do you mean unfortunately?

landonorris: yeah — can’t have anyone cuter than me in the garage so you’re uninvited to mclaren

oscarpiastri: happily you can’t make those decisions (slides $5 to mclaren)

mclaren: don’t worry alicepublic ! Permanent paddock pass for you!

landonorris: WHAT? NO!

landonorris: IM STILL CATCHING STRAYS ON MY COMMENT THREADS

[askfarfromhome]

i want a tergaia ratatouilles story from you 0.0

well i want all the scripts, concept art, storyboards, and the go ahead to fix gigantic to make it into a workable if not decent movie AND WE CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT WE WANT

[psychedelic-ink]

ㅤㅤㅤ✦ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐕𝐑𝐄

ㅤㅤmarcus pike x art historian!reader

genre: mutual pining, friends to lovers, forced proximity, smut, minors dni,

word count: 6k

summary: when a famous art collector is murdered, circumstances lead you to be temporary roommates with Marcus Pike.

warnings: oral sex (marcus receiving), marcus getting spoiled, some very mild angst, idiots in love

a/n: this work was commissioned by the lovely @sevillagrenada! thank you so much for your support and thank you so much for this delicious idea, I had a blast! ❤️‍🔥

** dividers made my the talented @saradika-graphics 💜💜💜

Another day, another handsome detective at your doorstep.

It’s been a few months since you and Marcus first got acquainted. He had visited you during one of your busiest hours, asking you for information on a recently stolen painting while you were desperately trying to sort out a curated disaster by one of the interns. It didn’t end well. You ended up shouting at him to leave you alone and even though you regretted your choice in showing how distressed you were, it was what it was. What surprised you later, however, was finding him in the early morning hours with two coffees and blueberry muffins. He apologized profusely and asked for a do-over. Something that you were more than eager to oblige. 

And the rest, what most art historians like you would say, was history. 

Now he visits you almost every morning if he can. Thanks to his charm, you were now considered the number one go-to person of the FBI when it came to art theft. A title you didn’t mind having. 

“A bit early even for you, don’t you think?” you say, handing him the folders you’d been carrying. You smile as he lets out an exaggerated “oomph” and go to open the door. “Don’t be a baby, detective.” 

“I just wanted to see you, what’s the harm in that,” he answers, following you inside. “I have the day off tomorrow so I won’t be visiting.” 

“How thoughtful of you.” 

“Good to see that someone appreciates it.” 

He takes a seat as you head for the coffee machine. You’d got it a month ago, saving Marcus the trouble of waiting in line every morning before work. You appreciate having this as an excuse for him to stop by every morning. Luckily, the museum was on his way to work, meaning he was more than happy to visit you. Sometimes it’s hard to forget that this relationship between you two is meant to be nothing other than friendship, a platonic thing. But every day you find your heart swelling more and more at the sight of him. It’s been too long since you felt close to someone. It’s been even longer since you ached for a person you know you shouldn’t ache for. 

“Are you working on something with Remedios Valo?” When you turn you see him hunched over your desk, his eye meet yours, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips. “Sorry, all these books were just sprawled here. I couldn’t help but look.” 

The coffee machine comes to life, the aroma mixing in with the scent of books. 

“That’s alright,” you answer, lips feeling numb. “And yeah, Olivier is adding one of her works to his collection so he wanted me to take a look.” 

“Which one is he buying?” 

You know he absolutely despises the idea of art being bought, hidden from the rest of the world to be a decoration. You hear it in the drop of his voice.  

“Les Feuilles Mortes.” His gaze falls back to the table. “Dead leaves. The one with the woman with orange hair and green dress.” 

He hums when he finally sees it on the page, “It’s a nice one.” 

“It is. It’s one of my favorites.” 

You bring the two cups of steaming coffee. His eyes find yours as you place them down, taking a seat. “You must be excited then,” he states. “To be seeing it in person.” 

“I’m just happy it’s going to someone I know will take care of it.” 

“I did meet him once. Seemed like a decent enough guy.” 

A soft chuckle escapes your lips, “You really hate art collectors don’t you?” 

“With a passion,” a soft smile touches his lips. “But I’ll make an exception for you.” 

You shake your head, smiling into your cup as you bring the steaming liquid to your lips. He’s always like this. Making sure just how much you matter, making you feel cherished, it’s a contrast to how you feel most of the time. Your eyes fall on the painting printed onto the glossy paper. Everyone interprets art differently. In this particular piece, you see loneliness but also a peaceful serenity. The shadow bowing to the woman, them being connected with a piece of blue yarn that she’s holding. The fact that it’s blue and not read also piques your interest. It makes you think it’s not something that is forced, it’s not the fates that brought them together but something else. Something more intimate and free. 

“So, when are you seeing this stunning artwork in person?” 

“Tonight.” 

Marcus already knows that today is going to be a long day. 

He knew it as soon as he entered his office, all fellow agents gathered in one place, murmuring. They parted like the Red Sea when he came through. That’s when the captain told him that extinguished art collector Olivier Balmaceda was found dead. Murdered. 

All he could think of was you. How excited you were to see him, and the painting, tonight. How Olivier was your friend and what would this mean for the investigation? Everyone here knew you, adored you. You being close to the murder victim certainly wasn’t good. He didn’t want you to be involved in any way, not even as a consultant. 

He steps out of the unmarked FBI sedan, his leather shoes echoing against the pavement as he approaches the crime scene. His partner, Tim, follows suit, both agents taking in the scene that awaits them.

The art collector's mansion looms before them, an opulent testament to a life steeped in appreciation for creativity. The air carries a faint scent of antique wood and the unmistakable aura of the art world. As they enter the expansive gallery, it becomes clear that Olivier Balmaceda's passion for art extends far beyond mere aesthetics.

The crime scene, bathed in the soft glow of gallery lights, is surreal. Olivier lies in the heart of his sanctuary, surrounded by the very beauty that defined his existence. The juxtaposition of life and death against the backdrop of artistic brilliance is haunting.

Tim glances at Marcus, a silent acknowledgment of the gravity of the situation. Together, they navigate the intricate dance of art and tragedy. The paintings, sculptures, and tapestries bear witness to the final act of a man whose life was intricately interwoven with the world he cherished.

As Marcus approaches Olivier's lifeless form, he can't help but feel the weight of the art that envelops them.

The art collector's mansion is cloaked in an air of somber anticipation as Marcus's focused gaze is drawn back to Olivier's lifeless form, nestled among the artworks that had once been a source of joy. The forensic team, adorned in pristine white suits, moves with meticulous precision, weaving through the crime scene like careful curators preserving a delicate masterpiece.

"Bullet entry at the back of the head. Looks like a single gunshot," Marcus hears one of them say, his voice a measured cadence amid the artistic silence.

Marcus nods, absorbing the gravity of the information. The team proceeds, each member contributing to the careful orchestration of documentation. His path takes him to the abstract painting, now surrounded by the scrutinizing eyes of forensic experts.

"We're scanning for any hidden messages or anomalies. This painting could hold clues.”

"Keep me posted," Marcus replies.

His attention turns to the delicate sculpture, now cocooned in an evidence bag. Tim approaches, his words a whisper against the backdrop of the gallery.

"Looks like they're treating the whole gallery as a crime scene. Anything stand out to you?" Tim inquires, his voice a muted harmony in the investigative symphony.

"Not yet. We need to dig deeper, find the connections between Olivier and whoever did this," Marcus responds, his words a subtle melody of determination.

The investigation shifts towards Olivier's desk, adorned with sketches and notes – a tableau of potential motives. They meticulously examines the papers, unveiling a narrative hidden within the inked strokes.

"Possible motive here. Let's see if Olivier was working on something that could've angered someone," suggests the expert, their words punctuating the air with a promise of revelation.

Acknowledging their findings, Marcus's thoughts churn with possibilities. Just as the investigation prepares to move to another sector of the mansion, his discerning eyes catch sight of a sketchbook nestled on a nearby shelf. A flicker of curiosity sparks within him, prompting the donning of gloves.

"Hold on a moment," Marcus interjects, a pause that reverberates through the dance of forensic activity.

The team halts, their collective gaze directed towards Marcus as he delicately retrieves the sketchbook. Its presence is unassuming, a silent witness to the unfolding drama. As Marcus flips through its pages, the sketches reveal a familiar artistic style, each stroke a brush with recognition.

"Wait... these look like—" Marcus begins, his words a murmur to the sketches that come to life beneath his fingertips.

Tim glances over, an inkling of recognition in his eyes.

"Isn't that—"

"Yeah. It's hers," Marcus confirms, closing the notebook.

So much for not getting you involved.

“Captain, you can’t be serious.” 

Your eyes are drawn to Marcus, his voice holding the tone of nothing other but disbelief. Your eyes turn to the floor. Olivier is dead. Murdered. And the only proper evidence to connect the dots of what happened is your sketchbook. The sketchbook you could’ve sworn you left in your office. The sketchbook that you only kept to yourself other than Marcus and a couple of more trustworthy people. One of them being Olivier.

You close your eyes. It’s exhausting to breathe. You focus on how your nostrils flare and let it all out through a small gap between your lips. Marcus inches closer, hand firm against the small of your back. 

“I’m dead serious, Agent Pike,” Captain Lana answers, her voice calm yet cold as ice. “Until this entire case is solved, she’s on house arrest and under your care.” 

“Just because we found her sketchbook does not mean she’s a suspect—” 

“Agent Pike,” her voice cuts through the tension in the room. A sharp shudder crawls up your spine, your skin prickling with attention as you open your eyes. Despite her tone, she doesn’t look mad. “You will do what is best for our consultant. As of right now, she is linked to the case of one of the biggest art collectors for reasons we do not know. The best thing we can do is keep an eye on her and protect her.” 

His mouth slams shut, his jaw clenched. His hand deserts your back and in that moment, all you can feel is guilt. Guilt of him being forced to do something he clearly doesn’t want to do. 

To share his home. 

“I understand,” he answers curtly, turning on his heel. “Let’s go get your things.” 

It takes you a moment to realize he’s talking to you, shooting Captain Lana a glance, you follow him out of the office. 

Marcus hasn’t said a single word during the entire drive. Even when you finally parked, he just took your bags and led you up the stairs to his apartment. Your heart felt as if it was shattering into a million tiny pieces. The poor organ was already weighted down by your friend's death, and now one of the closest people to you couldn’t even look at you. 

He drops your bags to the floor and you slowly shut the door. You don’t even have it in you to look around, not that it would matter, you’ve already been here before. You doubt anything changed. 

“I’m sorry,” you blurt out before he can say anything else. “God, Marcus, I’m so sorry.” 

“For what?” 

His hands are on you in an instant, lifting your downturned gaze. You blink away the tears, breath catching in your throat as you meet his eyes. It’s so easy to get lost in them. You could live an eternity there. “For . . for having to stay here. I know it’s inconvenient.” 

“Oh, sweetheart no, no. You could never be an inconvenience. I’m. . . I’m sorry I made you feel like that. I should’ve checked in on you. None of this is your fault understand. None of it,” his thumbs draw slow circles around your cheeks, the knot in your throat growing by the second. “And for all it’s worth, I’m happy that you’re here. I would be worried sick knowing that you’re alone.” 

Suddenly you’re being pulled into his chest, your senses completely enveloped by his scent. He gingerly cups your head from behind, holding you there, allowing you to disappear from the world for a while. 

The first tear escapes unexpectedly. It’s immediately absorbed into his shirt and the rest follows. He doesn’t try to hush you, doesn’t try to get you to stop. He allows you to break down completely. You cry and cry, until there’s nothing left anymore. Only then does he pull back, lifting your gaze to him once more. 

“Feeling better?” 

“Y-Yeah. Thank you, Marcus.” 

He shakes his head, “I’m not doing anything you should be thankful for. This…this is what friends do.” 

That’s right. Friends. 

Your eyes sting when you blink, a forced smile tugging at your lips, “Yeah, friends.” 

You’re almost certain that you’re imagining it, but you swear the crease between his brows deepens with your answer. 

The soft glow of the TV screen bathes the room as Marcus settles onto the couch beside you. “Really? That’s what you want to watch?” 

Marcus raises a brow as he looks down at you. You’re wrapped in a blanket, looking as if the two of you have been living together for years. He loves how you’re already comfortable with the living situation. He wished he could have this in better circumstances without an ongoing murder investigation, but he’ll take what he gets. 

“I haven’t started the new season yet, it’ll be fun.” 

“It’s a murder mystery. Are you sure?” 

You snort, “I know the plot of Only Murders In The Building, Marcus. No need to remind me.” 

As the first episode begins, the room is filled with the intriguing soundtrack of the show. Marcus watches the characters unfold on the screen, but his attention keeps drifting back to you. The play of emotions on your face, the way you get caught up in the plot – it's more captivating to him than any murder mystery.

Gradually, you lean into him, seeking comfort in the shared moment. The warmth of your presence seeps into Marcus's consciousness, and he finds himself entranced by the way you become absorbed in the show. Unconsciously, his arm drapes around your shoulder, the gesture protective yet tender.

In the semi-darkness of the room, Marcus grapples with his own emotions. The line between friend and something more blurs as he navigates the uncharted territory of his feelings. As you snuggle closer, he can feel the gentle rhythm of your breath, the subtle rise and fall of your chest.

A flicker of uncertainty crosses Marcus's mind. Does this closeness mean the same to you as it does to him? He wonders if you sense the subtle shift in the dynamics between you. The arm around your shoulder, a silent invitation, speaks volumes, but Marcus Pike remains in that delicate space between uncertainty and the unspoken desire for something more. The murder mystery on the screen becomes a mere backdrop to the complex enigma of emotions unfolding between two souls entangled in the intricacies of life and love.

Marcus's heart races as he lets his hand linger on your waist. He can feel the warmth radiating through the fabric of your shirt, and he wonders if you can feel the heat of his touch as well.

He watches your face, searching for any sign of discomfort or hesitation, but all he sees is the same intensity and focus on the TV. It both thrills and confuses him – is it possible that you can be so oblivious to the way he feels?

But as he watches you, he notices the faint hitch in your breath when his hand moves slightly, as if you're aware of his touch but trying to hide it. It only fuels the growing attraction between them, and Marcus can feel himself getting more and more drawn in.

His mind is filled with images of how he wants to touch you, and he can barely contain the urge to lean in and brush his lips against your neck. He wants to feel your skin against his, to explore every inch of your body.

The tension in the room becomes palpable, and Marcus can feel his heart racing. He looks over at you, and for a moment, he thinks he sees a flicker of desire in your eyes. But just as quickly, it disappears, and you go back to watching the movie without a second glance.

His hand moves even closer to yours, brushing against your fingers lightly. He can feel the heat emanating from your body, and he knows that you're just as affected by the electric chemistry between them.

His mind is clouded with desire, and all he can think about is kissing you, touching you. But he knows he needs to be patient. He can’t just make a move and potentially ruin the friendship you have.

But as the episode goes on, Marcus can barely pay attention anymore. All he can focus on is you, and the way your body moves slightly with each scene. He can feel himself getting harder with each passing moment, and he knows he needs to do something to release the tension.

Without thinking, his hand moves to your thigh, tracing small circles on your skin. He can see your breath hitch and your eyes flutter closed for a split second before you regain your composure.

He leans in closer to you, his lips just inches away from your ear. "Is this okay?" he whispers.

Marcus relaxes when you nod, eyes still glued to the screen. He knows you want to turn to him, to witness his feelings lingering in his eyes but he also knows that you can’t for the same reason why he can’t tell you how he feels. Fear. Fear of rejection. Of loss of a friendship.

So, his hand on your thigh is as far as he’ll go. Soothing you with the simplest of touches. 

The credits roll and the episode ends, Marcus can't help but feel a lingering sense of longing. He knows he needs to push these feelings aside and focus on the case, but he also can't deny the strong connection he feels with you.

As you stand up to turn off the TV, Marcus suddenly reaches out and takes your hand in his, surprising both of you. The air between them is heavy with unspoken words and tension, but they both know this isn’t the time or the place.

For now, they'll focus on solving the murder and catching the killer. But Marcus can't shake the feeling that this shared moment was the beginning of something more – something that could change everything.

It’s been almost two weeks now since you moved in with Marcus. And other than Olivier’s murder, things have been. . . peaceful. He’s been doing everything for you. You’ve never been taken care of to this extent before. It made you feel bad in a way, as if you were a burden to him and now he felt inclined to take care of you just because of the circumstances. 

However, you couldn’t ignore the tension either, the chemistry. Almost every night you thought of when the two of you watched TV. How close the two of you were. You often find yourself thinking about how differently that night could’ve ended. Only if you were brave enough, then maybe the friendship could’ve escalated into something more. 

While heating leftovers for the both of you from last night, the door clicks open. You expect to see his smile, the same question on his lips asking how your day was—but all you can see in his eyes is exhaustion. He forces a smile when he sees you, then silently heads to his room. Your lungs cave in on itself. Your body buzzing with worry, you look down at the barely heated leftovers. He deserves something more. Something fresh. 

So, as you quickly head down the hall to check on him, you order his favorites. You come to a halt at the door, heart beating in your throat, you knock. 

“I’ll be right there,” he says, almost apologetically, which makes you feel even worse. 

“I just wanted to check if you’re alright. Can I. . . Can I come in?” 

You’re about to head back to the living room when the door slowly opens. His tie hangs loosely around his neck, the first three buttons of his shirt wide open, exposing skin. You barely manage to tear your gaze away. He looks vulnerable, defeated. 

“I’m okay,” he clears his throat. “I promise.” 

You ignore what he says and take a step forward, forcing the both of you inside the bedroom. It smells of cinnamon. “I ordered us some food from that place you like. We have some time to relax.” 

“Relax?” 

You let out the breath you’ve been holding and trap his face between your hands. You want to make him feel good. You want to pamper him. At least this one time, you want to do something for him instead. You know what his answer is going to be if you ask him about his day—he’ll brush you off, because it’s the case you’re involved in. The murder of your friend. 

“Let me make you feel good, Marcus.” 

His eyes widen, lashes fluttering, his lips part, “You don’t have to do that.” 

“I know I don’t have to but I want to.” You quickly add when you see the hesitation growing in his eyes. “Please.” 

You notice the hollow in his cheek, the way his jaw moves as he chews on the inside. Your heart beats wildly in your chest. After what feels like hours, his head jerks in a small nod, “Okay.” 

Marcus gently falls onto the bed and you drop to your knees, taking a place between his spread legs. You can feel his eyes on you. His gaze intense as you fumble with his belt. You tug down his pants along with his underwear, his hips slightly lifting to make it easier for you. His cock is still soft. It makes a certain type of hunger grow inside you. Placing both hands on his thighs, you dip down, taking him into his mouth. He sharply inhales, cock twitching over your tongue. It doesn’t take him long to grow in your mouth, and suddenly swallowing him down proves to be harder than you thought. 

Your nostrils flare as you attempt to swallow him down, your nose brushing against the soft curls. His hand gently cradles the back of your head, and when you look up you see his head falling back, his brows furrowed as he breathes heavily through his nose. 

Parting away, you suck the base of his cock, your tongue swirling. His hips jerk and a moan rips from his throat. “That—that feels good,” he swallows. 

“You like it slow?” you say, lips moving against sensitive skin. “Tell me how you like it. Show me.” 

“You’re doing great sweetheart, just do it how it’s best for you,” he lets out a breathy chuckle. “I’m not picky.” 

Brows knitting together, you pull away and fix him a half-hearted glare. You wrap your fingers around and begin to stroke him, witnessing the flex of his thighs. “I want to do it how you like it,” you state. “Show me or I’ll stop.” 

Your lips curl as you hear him whine. It’s such a beautiful sound. 

“Fine.” 

He drags you back down to his cock, your hand falling away. You open your mouth to take him once more, thinking that he wants to fuck your mouth, but instead, he presses your lips to the side of his cock. You feel the heat of him, the bulging of his veins. 

“Wrap your lips,” he rasps and when you do, he starts to move your head up and down. 

You let out a muffled moan, the vibrations sending shivers down Marcus’ spine. His movements are slow, almost as if he’s fucking himself deep into you—almost as if he’s been thinking about this for months. Your head bobs up and down, your lips pursed around him tightly. You hear him grunt above you, and you can tell that he’s struggling to keep himself in control. 

“Put your hands back on my thighs,” Marcus commands, and you do so without hesitation. “I want to feel the bite of your nails.” His thighs are shaking beneath your touch, and you can feel the coiled tension inside him, just waiting to snap. You do as he asks, digging your nails slightly into the flesh. Another whimper falls for him, a sounds desperate and needy at the same time. He pulls up and finally slips himself into your warm mouth, your eyes water as he pushes you down, taking him whole. 

“You’re gonna make me come,” Marcus grunts, his voice punctuated by the wet sounds of your mouth on his cock. 

You keep up the pace, eager to please him. You can feel his cock growing harder and harder inside your mouth, and you can tell that he’s close. You swirl your tongue around him, pressing your lips even tighter around him. 

“Fuck,” Marcus mutters, his hand gripping your hair tightly. “I’m gonna—” 

Before he can finish his sentence, he releases into your mouth with a deep groan, his hips bucking up into your face. You eagerly take him in, swallowing around him as he spills, hot come trailing down your throat. He lets out a heavy sigh, his body going limp as he comes down from his orgasm. 

You sit back on your heels, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. Marcus looks at you with admiration and slight embarrassment, his cheeks peppered with a faint shade of red. 

“Sorry, that was quick,” he murmurs, tugging you up and pulling you to his lap. “Now it’s your turn.” 

He leans towards your lips but you stop him by pressing two fingers, they’re soft. “We can think about me later,” you say, despite the inside of your panties being an absolute wet mess. “I just wanted to make you feel good.” 

“I want to make you feel good too,” he objects, nipping at your fingers. “Don’t you. . . I thought you wanted me.” 

The guilt in his eyes is back and your hand drops away from his lips. He’s holding you tight as if you might disappear.  

“I do,” you answer tentatively. “But I don’t want you to jump into this thinking you have to. I don't want you to do anything you might regret.” 

“Regret?” he shakes his head. “What does that even mean? I’m not jumping into anything. I’m not confused if that’s what you’re worried about,” his arms around you tighten, and with that, you know you’ve said the wrong thing. “You just sucked my cock—are you telling me that was out of pity? Gratitude?” 

You cut him off, “N–No. . .” 

“Then what was it?” his voice drops dangerously low, eyes flashing with a mixture of anger and hurt. “I’m one hundred percent here. It has nothing to do with the case. And for you to do something just because you felt bad for me. . . I thought we were finally getting somewhere after all of this.” 

“Marcus—”

“I think I want to be alone right now,” he turns his head away from you but doesn’t do anything to push you off of him. Your apology dies in your throat, your mouth suddenly dry. You slowly move away, the taste of his come still in your mouth as you contemplate what to do. What to say. 

But whatever you were planning evaporates with the ring of the doorbell.  

You’re sitting on the couch when Marcus comes home and sits on the armchair right across from you. You’re eyes slowly shift from your phone to meet his gaze, he continues to stare down, his thumbs thrumming over his thighs. 

It’s been an awkward couple of days after the argument you two had. Neither of you were brave enough to broach the subject, However, that didn’t mean what happened didn’t haunt you in the dead of night, both in a bad and a good way. 

“It’s done.” 

His words send a chill down your spine, your muscles tightening, “What’s done?” 

“The case. We found who murdered Olivier. . . and how your notebook got there.” Marcus takes a deep breath, his eyes finally meeting yours as he begins to unravel the mystery that has been hanging over your heads like a storm cloud.

"Olivier's murder... it was someone close to him. Both rival and friend," Marcus starts, his voice heavy with the weight of the revelation. "Turns out, his friend had been eyeing the same collection for years. When Olivier outbid him for that prized painting, it pushed him over the edge."

You feel a knot form in your stomach, a mixture of shock and sorrow swirling within you. Olivier, with his vibrant personality and passion for art, didn't deserve such a fate.

"And my notebook...?" you prompt, needing to understand how your own belongings ended up tangled in this tragedy.

Marcus sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Olivier... he wanted to show your sketches to one of his friends. He thought you had real talent and he was planning on gifting you that painting."

Your heart sinks at the realization. Olivier, you’re going to miss him. Marcus wraps his arms around you, offering comfort and support as the weight of the emotions you've been suppressing finally spills over. You lean into him, the warmth of his embrace a soothing balm for the wounds of the past few days. His touch is both reassuring and grounding, reminding you that you're not alone in this tumultuous journey.

"I'm here," he murmurs softly, his fingers gently tracing comforting patterns on your back. "It’s over now. You can return to your life and begin to heal."

“Heal?” you blin at him, lips parting. “Return to my life? What does that even mean? We can’t go back to normal Marcus. Not after everything. . . I—” You swallow, the knot thick in your throat. “I care about you, Marcus. I care about you deeply and I just want you to know that. I don’t want you to think it was a one-time thing. Ot that I did it because of the circumstances. I did it because I wanted to. And I wanted to long before any of this happened.” 

As your heartfelt confession hangs in the air, Marcus's eyes soften, his expression reflecting a mixture of relief and affection. Without hesitation, he leans in, closing the gap between you, his lips meeting yours in a tender kiss. It's a moment of shared vulnerability, a silent exchange of emotions that speaks volumes more than words ever could.

The warmth of his touch ignites a spark within you, a reassurance that despite the challenges you've faced, your connection remains unbroken. In this intimate embrace, you find solace and hope for the future, knowing that whatever trials may come, you'll face them together.

As the kiss deepens, the weight of the past few days begins to lift, replaced by a sense of renewal and possibility.

Marcus's hands move to your waist, pulling you onto his lap as he deepens the kiss. You feel his body pressing against yours, igniting a fire within you. Your legs instinctively wrap around his waist, pulling him closer as your fingers tangle in his hair.

His lips move fervently against yours, conveying the unspoken emotions that have been building between you for weeks. You can feel his heart beating against your chest and it's a comforting reminder that you're not alone in this moment.

He breaks the kiss, his lips trailing down your neck, leaving a tingle in their wake. You let out a soft gasp, arching your neck to give him better access. His hands roam over your body, his touch setting every nerve alight. “I’ve been wanting to do this for so long.”

Your fingers move to his shirt, desperate to rid him of the barriers separating your skin.  His lips trail down your neck again, moving to your shoulder, his hands roaming freely over your body. You let out a soft moan, arching your back as his hands reach your waist, pulling your shirt off. The cool air hits your skin but it's nothing compared to the heat radiating between you two.

Marcus and you remove each other's clothes. Your hands roam hungrily over his bare chest, feeling the muscles ripple beneath your touch. He moans softly, a sound that sends a shiver down your spine.

His hands move to your back, unhooking your bra and gently sliding it off. Your bare chest presses against his, skin against skin, and the sensation sends sparks of pleasure through your body. Your lips meet again, his tongue moving alongside yours, his hands roaming lower to your waist and down to your hips, pulling you closer.

You push him down to the couch, your hands reaching for his jeans. With ease, you undo the button and slide them off, revealing his toned legs and the bulge in his boxers. Your fingers trail down his stomach, feeling his muscles contract under your touch.

He flips you over, his lips moving down your neck and to your chest. With a flick of his tongue, he takes one of your hardened nipples into his mouth, causing you to arch your back and let out a soft moan of pleasure. His hands reach down, unbuttoning your jeans and sliding them off your legs.

As his lips continue to travel down your body, his fingers slide into your underwear, eliciting a gasp from you. You can feel the heat and wetness building between your legs, the tingling sensation increasing with every touch.

In one swift movement, he removes your underwear, leaving you completely exposed and vulnerable to his touch. But with Marcus, you feel anything but vulnerable. In his embrace, you feel safe, loved, and desired.

And you know that is something that will never change. 

[brunettegirlwrites]

LA DI DIE!

pairing: reader x ghostface!rafe, serial killer!rafe

warnings: violence, stalking

summary: after a strict curfew is implemented to the island, you receive a shocking phone call.

author’s note: let me know if u guys want a part two :)

a strict curfew in the outer banks meant absolutely nothing to the privileged residents of figure 8. a few of your classmates were brutally murdered throughout the span of a month and there was an island wide panic about finding the masked civilian who was behind these tragedies. despite all of this, there was still a party going on right next door from your house.

it was the biggest party of the summer. anybody who was anybody was going to be there tonight. you were so excited to finally free the stress of schoolwork and let loose for the night. you had the perfect outfit planned and were looking forward to the get ready portion while you pregamed. your parents were at a charity banquet, as most of the parents on figure 8 were.

it was the perfect coverup.

your excitement got the best of you and you ended up passing out around 10 o’clock, not even finishing your full face of makeup. you woke up to the sound of the security alarm being disarmed. you sat up quickly, rubbing at your eyes and immediately regretting it as you felt your false eyelashes begin to peel off. you ripped them both off slowly, tossing them onto your comforter somewhere and making your way out of the room.

“thank god you guys are home,” you called out to your parents into the hallway. “i’m starving. let’s order pizza.” as you made your way down the steps, you noticed the lights weren’t on. that was weird. you could’ve sworn you left them on when you came home from school. you flicked the light switch closest to the staircase you were standing on. by no surprised are we surprised—the light wasn’t turning on.

“pops? are you home?” you asked, making your way down the steps slowing. the only answer you received was the sound of the creaky final step echoing across the room. “mom?” your voice wavered as the fear trembled through your body.

as more silence surrounded you, you wandered around the lower level of your home. you were just turning into the kitchen when your phone’s ringtone blared, scaring you half to death. SARAH CAMERON flashed across the screen. “what the fuck?” you gasp. sarah cameron was one of the murdered teens.

when you didn’t answer the first time, sarah called you again. you picked up on the second ring, slowly holding the phone up to your ear. “sarah?” you whispered.

“you wish this was sarah.”

it was not sarah cameron. that was not her voice. oh my gosh! that voice. it was deep, almost static-like, as if someone were speaking through a voice recording.

“who is this?” you asked.

“that’s not the question you should be asking me, sweetheart,” the stranger teased.

“how the hell do you have sarah cameron’s phone? who is this!?” you walked over to the window above the kitchen sink. you could see the led lights changing colors from the living room window next door. you pulled the curtains shut. “whoever this is, you’re seriously fucked.”

“not as fucked as you’re going to be when I cut open your insides and watch them sliver onto the ground.”

your face scrunches up in disgust. “you’re sick!”

“so they say,” they lightly laugh as you pull open the drawers and find that all of the knives have been removed. you heart drops. “not gonna have much luck there, kid.”

but this time, the voice wasn’t coming from the phone. it was coming from right behind you. you dropped your phone down on the counter, instantly turning around and coming face to face with the local masked killer. you scream and made a break for the opposing entryway as the one they stood in front of. they chased after you, hands dangerously close to grabbing the fabric of your dress and yanking you backwards.

you didn’t realize you were crying until you got to your front door. you pulled on the door knob and with no luck, it didn’t open. you remembered that you needed to punch in the security code first. before you could make your way to the system, your hair was grabbed. you let out another scream as your body was thrown to the ground. the masked figure stood above you, head tilted as they watched you.

you looked so beautiful with tears streaming down your cheeks.

“please,” you begged. “please don’t do this!”

they got down to your level, one knee pressed in between your legs to keep them apart. “please!” you sobbed. they held a shiny silver blade in one hand while the other began to slide up your top to reveal your belly button. another loud cry escaped you. they really are going to cut up my insides. you thought.

they held the blade over your head as the final scream left your throat. but before they could push it down to strike you, you reached up and tugged on the gold chain that hung from their chest. “rafe!” you whined. “you need to be more careful.”

rafe cameron ripped off his mask as quickly as you broke character. he was breathing heavily, no doubt filled with the adrenaline that he craves. “babe, why’d you stop?” he breathed out.

“because I can see your necklace, dummy,” you reach up and tuck it underneath the all black t-shirt he had on. “

“oh,” he says dumbly. he makes a move to get off of you but you tug pull down by his shoulders.

“don’t go!” you almost yell. your face grows warm with sexual desire. your voice now soft and shy. “I like it.”

he presses his knee further into your core. he can feel how wet you are. he smirks and uses his blade to rip your shirt open, not even caring how expensive it is.

and so he fucked you. right on the floor, with your panties looped around your ankle. he was balls deep while you were on all fours, practically clawing into the floorboards beneath you.

“i’m gonna come,” you whimpered, squeezing around his length.

“give it to me baby,” rafe breathed out, squeezing on your oversensitive tits. “cum all over my dick, there you go. perfect, baby. always so perfect.”

[dontbesoweirdkira]

Kung Lao yandere headcanons

Warnings: Yandere (obsessive and toxic themes) just cute little mentions of gore and murder blah blah blahhhhhhh…kung Lao being a little bitch. (Kinda inserted my fiancé as Kung Lao so if the personality is off…no it isn’t they are literally the same exact person🤞)

Requests: only for Yandere Kung Lao, Shang tsung, raiden and Johnny Cage mk11/mk1/X

General Yandere Headcanons

Kung lao has been fond of you from the beginning. You were always very open and welcoming towards him. Never once did you ever make fun of his hat or ever compare himself with Liu Kang like many many others.

Whenever he messed up or didn’t quite match up with his counterpart, you would encourage him and remind him of all he has to offer and that one small fail shouldn’t break him. You were the best friend Kung Lao could ever ask for.

As much as he’d hate to admit, he was desperate for this kind of special attention. He needed to be loved and praised, he needed to be better than all the other competitors. He especially needs to be better than Liu Kang…

After seeing him train harder than ever this past year for the next tournament, you turned to him and said..

“You know what? I honestly think you’re a far better fighter than Liu Kang at this point, and I wish more people could see that. It kind of irks me how Raiden doesn’t believe in you like he does Liu.”

Anyone else would say you were being a little too generous with that statement, but you meant exactly what you said.

Little did you know that this seemingly harmless comment made something in his brain snap….

No one has ever said anything remotely close to this to him. Sure, he’s gotten good remarks on his skills before but he’s always lived in his friend’s shadow. Finally, someone sees him for just how great he truly is.

His inhibitions were now gone and in that moment he decided you were his. You say it’s kidnapping, he says it’s redirecting you in the direction of his house. potato,patato!

He feels absolutely no guilt for kidnapping you and forcing your relationship. He believes he’s in the right most times. Everything he does is justified, including this……in some very sick way.

Kung Lao is a very needy and klingy Yandere. He orders you to be around him at all times or at least updating him constantly when you can’t be. Which is very rare, usually only happens if he has to be with the shaolin or if Raiden needs to speak with him privately.

He has a huge ego that constantly needs to be inflated by you. The man can’t help it, he craves your worship.

This means when he forces you to attend his sparring matches, tournaments, and workout sessions, you need to pay extra close attention. He will ask you specifically what you enjoyed about today's session and you better be raving about it, or it’ll be a hissy fit for the rest of the day. (So sassy)

Will shower you in compliments all damn day. He thinks you're absolutely beautiful in every single way and one thing that Kung Lao hates more than anything is someone with low self esteem. Lack of confidence is annoying to him so he’ll make sure you know you’ve got it going on.

(Ironic since deep down he’s crippling from his insecurities)

Very very physically affectionate and expects you to reciprocate it. Smothers you in kisses and cuddles.You have to hold his hand in public so people know that you're his. The way his grip is on you thooo. ;-;

Will just plop on top of you like he’s not 180 pounds of pure muscle. He’s so huge omg like you get crushed any time he has one of his love attacks.

Has a very mildly short temper. Most of his anger is never really taken out on you though. He’s just kind of asshole-ish to everyone outside of you

Will 100% threaten you and let you know that he’s not to be tested tho. He loves games but not when they come to you.

He cannot bear you giving anyone other than him attention, especially other men. Why do you even need to speak to other men??? You have the great Kung Lao right next to you.

Someone hits on you, he’ll get rid of them….

He’s willing to kill anyone for you. It’s all honorable, because it’s to protect the sanctity of his precious relationship.

If you start talking to someone for a little too long, flirting or he suspects you’re interested in another, he’s going to kill them too.. slowly and brutally…all for you to watch. He’ll slice the unsuspecting fellow in half, look up at you with a big ol’ grin!

“See, this is what I have to do when you start talking to people you shouldn’t. Now my hat is all filthy because of you.”

You need to know that Kung Lao is serious about you, and there are consequences to your stupidity. This will surely keep you in line.

Will also set punishments up too. He can’t find it in his heart to ever put his hands on you, but sometimes when he’s in one of many temper tantrums, he’ll leave bruises on your arm from grabbing or pulling you too hard. Though with that said, even if you try attacking him he will just try to pin you down or restrain your hands until you finally give up.

It’s kind of cute to him when you struggle. He’s so much stronger and bigger than you but you still think you have a chance…aww that’s so adorable and kind of amusing to him.

Usually his punishments consist of him locking you up for a day or two in his room, making you clean off his bloody clothes after he’s dealt with someone because of you, or doing some kind of chores he doesn’t want to.

If you try running away he will be deeply hurt and humiliated by this. He scolds you after he catches you and immediately ties you up. He takes away any basic necessities to further punish you. You’ve embarrassed him and now he’ll have to endure the whispers about it.

Why would you run away from the only person who can keep you safe? Is he not enough for you anymore???

You think this is some sort of fun joke?

Do you think someone fights better than him?????? If so he will challenge them to kombat to show you that he’s just as great as he was before.

Once he finally calms down kung lao would be very mopey for the next couple of hours. His ego is shattered in this moment and he just wants you to love him back. He’ll cling on anything you give him, he’ll even lose the hat for you if it meant that you’d never leave him again.

This is one of the only times where he’s openly vulnerable to you, outside of this he puts on his usual persona. Always self assured and well together. If you see Lao’s weak side too often you’ll think less of him.

Once you’ve finally gave in to his painful hours of pandering and promised to never leave him again, he snaps back to his old self.

It doesn’t matter how much you only thought of him as a close friend, Kung Lao is determined to break you down and become his perfect match. You’re the only one who understands him, and sees his true worth so he’d be a fool to just let you slip away. He’ll prove to you that he truly is the greatest once becomes the next champion. You'll soon see.

[itsmewillful]

I will Always Find You

Main Masterlist

Character Masterlist:

(Vox x fem!reader)

Word Count: 5782 (i got too carried away)

Outline: You, the wife of the infamous media overlord Vox, falls from Heaven and you find yourself in a chaotic new world. You meet the Hazbin Hotel crew, but most of all, you met him. Your long lost love.

Warning(s): Canon typical violence, language, etcetera.

A/N: Heyy guys, I totally was not gone for an entire year. . .but, I'm done with High School now so I will probably start posting a little bit more often. . .*no promises though. my memory is absolute garbage*

Also, why am I obsessed with a TV?

Story below the cut:

Heaven.

The place all virtuous and 'perfect' people ascend to after living the life every good person is meant.

You don't even know how you got here. You always thought that you would go to Hell. (Not to put it lightly) Perhaps it was because you were widowed at a rather young age. Perhaps it was because you were murdered by your late husband's arch rival. Or maybe, it was a bit of all.

Your life on earth wasn't bad per se. In fact, you had a very happy life. You got married at the fruitful age of 20, to your best friend, and lived in a very comfortable home. Your husband, Vincent Holland, was a big-time news reporter in your hometown.

But, why was it in Heaven that almost all your memories regarding Vincent were blurry? As if someone with significant power was preventing you from reminiscing on your past life?

You could barely remember his face; his award winning smile. His sapphire blue eyes, and his dark hair.

You hated this.

You couldn't even remember how long ago you died.

Hell, you couldn't even remember how you died. Just that you were murdered one day and your body was left to rot in a random alley.

A hand waving in front of your face interrupted your sad train of thoughts, and your attention immediately shifted back to your friend. Or acquaintance, you weren't exactly sure where your friendship status lay.

"You alright there, partner?"

You sighed slowly and nodded your head in affirmation. You weren't sure if you were doing it to convince them that you were okay, or yourself.

"I'm alright, Kai, just a bit tired ," you mumbled pathetically. Kai was a very beautiful shark-like angel. You met them some time ago and instantly clicked with one another. But, Kai was one of those people that had a tendency of gossiping with their girlfriend Molly. And you were never comfortable sharing anything beyond your life in Heaven.

Which was a pity because you were sure if you shared it, you wouldn't feel so fucking stressed out.

The shark angel let out a small laugh and gently patted your head.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say m'lady. You know if there's anything bothering you, you could always talk to me or Molly, right?"

You again nodded your head, even though you probably would never take up the offer.

"Hey you guys! How are you both doing?"

Speak of the devil and he shalt appear.

"Hey Molly! I see you're finally off of work?"

"Yup! And I brought a treat for you both!" Molly said in a sing-song tone of voice. Kai smiled with a nearly evil-like grin and made grabby hands at their girlfriend.

"Gimme, I can smell the baked goods!"

You chuckled at Kai's antics and stood up from the chair you were sitting in. Kai raised a brow at you and you motioned with your hand that you were going to get another drink. You picked up your now empty whisky bottle and began to head over to the bar where you and Kai find yourselves frequently whenever you both have had a long day at work.

The bartender, Mr Smiles (as Molly so lovingly named him) greeted you with a very drunken smirk when you arrived at your favourite destination.

"Hello there, Mrs. Holland. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

You rolled your eyes and sat down on one of the barstools, placing your cup down and sliding it over to the bartender.

"Another, please." you said simply. Mr. Smiles blinked at you before grabbing your cup and pouring more of the golden liquid into it.

"The 'Another' for the lady." he said cheekily, to which you giggled. You snatched the cup up from the table and practically downed the strong liquid and forced back a gag when it burned your throat. The bartender chuckled at your silliness and leaned over the bar so you could hear each other better over the loud chatter of the Cloud Nine bar. (You and Kai always found the name of the bar to be hilarious)

"So, you never drink this much unless you have something to spill. Need to talk about something sweetheart?" he asked with a patient tone of voice.

You sighed dramatically and leaned back against your chair, deep in thought.

"I just. . ." you trailed off in thought before sighing again in annoyance at your capability of explaining your biggest problem.

"You just?" he tried to urge you to continue, but was rudely interrupted when a flock of angels came bursting into the room.

"His Holiness, Archangel Michael needs to discuss important matters in Town Square. Everyone present is required to make an audience immediately."

Murmurs began to fill the room in confusion of the sudden announcement. You raised your brow at the bartender, quietly asking him if he knew what all the commotion was about. He shrugged before continuing on with putting the remaining glasses away.

"Hey, partner, we need to head out to Town Square." Kai said, putting a webbed hand onto your shoulder. You nodded and stood up, following close behind your two buddies. Molly, like always, had a small hop to her step as if she was always happy and excited about things. Her partner smiled at her giddiness and soon began to also skip along with her.

Oh, how much you missed being able to have someone to be close with. And once again, your thoughts began to turn back to your late husband, Vincent.

You missed him so much.

And you were fully aware that your beloved Vincent was in Hell. The place you were also sure to go to when you kicked the bucket. But alas, here you are, in the city of silver and gold.

You stopped abruptly when you reached Town Square and noticed how big of a crowd was already there. Thousands of angels and souls alike, all stood cramped up around a huge balcony that belonged to Archangel Palace.

The chatter began to quiet down when the all-loved Archangel Michael stepped up to the balcony and waved to the crowd to silence their speech.

Kai bent over to you and whispered about how interesting things were going to get. You didn't respond, but instead gasped when a photo got projected onto the side of one of the Palace's huge spires. It was a really bloody scene: demonic-like creatures were sprawled all over the ground, torn to shreds from what you could tell. What made you feel faint, however, was the carcuses of angels. What the fuck were angels doing in Hell?

It seemed that a lot of other people were questioning the same exact thing, and Michael, once again announced order from the crowd and the only sound remaining were the hushed whispers.

"It has come to my knowledge that a secret organisation has been founded without my permission. Adam, the first man, and Sera, have been discovered sending down angels every year to kill them." He stopped mid explanation and waved his hand over to an angel that stood close to him. A scroll was placed into Michael's hands, and he unscrolled it and began to read whatever was written onto it.

"According to the words of Sera: Hell has become too overpopulated, and a risk of war could arise. Exterminations have been a necessity, and is, therefore required to keep balance between Good, and Evil." Michael immediately crumpled up the scroll, and threw it back at the poor angel that was beside him to catch.

"This is all tyranny, of course. Me and the Council did not agree to such lunacy, which is why, we are going to have a public vote as to whether or not Sera should be ex-communicated from Heaven."

A loud gasp came from the crowd.

Especially from Molly, who also seemed to begin to tear up.

"That means she'll be thrown to Hell!" she choked back a sob in surprise. Kai patted their girlfriends back to try and sooth her large and soft heart.

You, however, were enraged from the idea of angels going down and killing people. Your beloved Vincent was down there. What if he was killed?!

And like always, your spiral of thoughts was interrupted when Michael began to speak again.

"Just to be absolutely clear, this is never to be discussed with anyone ever again. After the vote is casted, anyone caught discussing this topic will immediately be casted from Paradise, and into the pits of Hell for treachery. I cannot be clear enough."

Murmurs filled the Square as everyone agreed to Michael's proposal.

"Great! Well, everyone better head off to vote now! Have a great day everyone." And like that, he vanished in a cloud of golden smoke.

You didn't realise your jaw was hanging open until Kai mentioned that you looked like a venus-fly trap waiting for a bug to land in your mouth. You clamped it shut instantly and glared at them.

"Chill! It was just supposed to be a joke!" They huffed in faux offence. Molly giggled at her partner's antics, and gently rubbed her fingers in between Kai's fins that decorated their body.

"Calm down, love. We need to head to a voting booth so we can cast votes. I know what I'm voting for."

"Yeah, I can't believe such a thing was happening behind our backs! Who knows how long it has been going on?"

Molly sighed and rubbed her fuzzy face for comfort.

"I don't know, but I hope it wasn't for too long. I believe some of my family is down there."

"Yikes, that's tough. I'm sorry for that." Kai said with sympathy laced in their voice.

You blinked back tears that were forming in your eyes. You would not cry over the possibility that your Vincent was double-dead.

You were strong.

+++

You sighed heavily when you arrived at your small apartment later that evening.

"What a rotten day," you mumbled to yourself. As if on command, your pet land-shark Vark came running into the foyer. You smiled instantly and picked up the little creature and began to pet him between his eyes.

You and Vincent loved sharks. It was a shared passion you both had that made you best friends instantly. When you first got married, you both always joked of getting a shark and naming it Vark.

Well, you had the shark, just not Vincent.

You were thinking about him again, and it was making you feel bad once more.

Why couldn't you remember some things? Who or what was making you forget?

You placed Vark back onto the ground, who of course, whined with the lack of affection from your part. You stepped over the land-shark and headed over to your balcony, that had a perfect view of the Embassy of Heaven. The place you go to whenever you have questions regarding the after-life and anything else.

Maybe there you would find answers.

With a new destination in mind, you grabbed Vark's leash and hooked him up to it. Vark began to wag his tail (well, his fin) in excitement about where you would be taking him. You smiled again at your pet's adorable-ness and began to head back outside once more.

The streets of Heaven were very peaceful. Just about no soul was out and about. It made sense since it was rather late. Around eleven o'clock actually.

Soon, the golden pillars of the Embassy came into view, and you let out a sigh when you realised it was still open. You approached the heavy double doors and swallowed back a scream when they opened up automatically. Vark found it hilarious however, when you just about died a second time from a mini heart attack.

You huffed at your shark and headed inside the golden-themed building and found that it was practically empty. I mean-duh it was empty, it was basically in the middle of the night.

A Cherub, from the looks of it, approached you and gave you a rather judgmental look over.

"Honey, I'm sorry to say this but no pets are allowed." the Cherub said with an irritating tone of voice.

You stared at the flying goat-creature and rolled your eyes.

"Vark, is a service pet. I am afraid you can't throw him out." you lied with a fake smile. One thing that Vincent taught you to do well, was fake things. You were especially good at putting on a fake show. One of the things that, once again, surprised you that Heaven looked over.

Wasn't lying a big sin?

The Cherub interrupted your thoughts when she cleared her throat rather obnoxiously.

"Alright honey. Whatever you say. To what do I owe the pleasure of assisting you with this evening?"

"Oh, well. . .I am not so sure how to explain it." you answered truthfully; slightly cringing at your lack of effort of just telling her.

The Cherub pulled out a clipboard from thin air you assumed (since she most certainly wasn't holding one earlier) and began to scribble something onto it.

"Well, Mr. Heart will be able to assist you with whatever, 'complicated' issue you have got going on." She handed you a piece of paper that had practically illegible handwriting on it, and pointed to a corridor that led to a couple of office rooms.

"Hope you find what you need, honey. Good night." and like that, she sauntered off to what you assumed to be her office. What a weird person, you thought with a click of your tongue.

You began your tread to Mr. Heart's office, and stopped when you reached the door. You lifted your hand to knock but stopped when the door was flung open and a rather energetic angel stepped out of the room.

"Hey there! You must be one of the 'poor souls' Chili sent to me! Come on in!" he moved aside and held a hand out for you to shake, to which he practically tore off yours when he shook it rather rigorously.

"The name is Heart! What's yours m'lady?"

You mumbled your name back and he let out a very loud laugh.

"Why, Mrs. Holland! Quite the pleasure to be meeting you!" 

You nodded your head and held back a gasp when he pulled you by the hand into the office.

"So, tell me what has troubled you enough to venture here so late in the night?"

You opened your mouth to begin speaking, but clamped it down when you couldn't find the right words to say. Damn it, you were nervous. You couldn't, however, pinpoint if it was from the very very close proximity of the Angel, or the lack of knowledge of how to explain your memories being jumbled up.

You could begin by telling the angel to take a few hundred steps back.

"Sorry, but um, could you step back a bit?" You asked with a shaky breath. The Angel smiled with pearly white teeth, but didn't seem to move an inch.

"I can't hear you clearly if I am too far back. It is best if I stay here." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. (or Heaven)

You nodded, even though you doubt that was the truth. You mentally noted to never come back here again once you're down getting some answers.

"So, I have a question." You began.

"Everyone that comes here has questions. But I can't exactly be sure that your question is legal to answer or not."

Your eyes widened in curiosity. Some questions could be illegal to ask? Flashbacks from today's event clouded your thoughts, but you immediately shook them away. A traitor is how you would be viewed if you discussed with anyone about today. And you would be quite foolish to bring it up with an official member of the Council.

"So, you were saying, Mrs. Holland?"

"Why am I not able to remember some things about my life on Earth?" You may as well pull off the bandage and stop dancing around the bush in fear of being judged. Your worries worsened when the Angel's eyes seemed to darken a little.

"Whatever do you mean, darling? What memories?"

"That is the whole point! I know that I can't remember some things! I just don't know what." frustration was very clear in your voice at this point.

Mr. Heart laughed wholeheartedly as if your 'situation' was the funniest thing anyone has ever told him.

"Well my dear, no need to get all fierce with me! I only want to assist you. And it seems that you are treading on very dangerous waters. I would watch out if I were you."

You swear your eyes became fire. How dare he act as if your troubles were something scandalous! Vark began to lick your leg as an attempt to calm you down, which worked for a moment until the 'ever lovable' Mr. Heart reached a hand out and began to rub your shoulders as if he had any right to touch you.

Vark, being the wonderful pet he is, noticed this and bit his leg. The angel howled in pain and kicked your beloved baby and he began to wail in pain. At this point, all you saw was red as you lunged onto the man and began to beat him up with what some people would call a 'mother's fiery.'

Some raised voices from outside of the office eventually joined the chaos of the room, and you were dragged off the very-much battered up Mr. Heart. Well, Mr. Heartless to you.

"Mrs. Holland! How dare you strike a Seraphim! That is considered treachery to the Hierarchy of the Council!" the same Cherub from earlier screeched at you in a high-pitched tone.

"Well I'll be damned! He touched me without consent and kicked my pet! I was defending myself-"

"You lie! One sin after another! How could you!?" you felt yourself being picked up from two service angels, and being dragged to another room, your shark following you right behind.

"Where are you taking me?" You shouted, attempting to pull off the two angels that were holding you roughly.

"We're not taking you anywhere. You are going to be sent somewhere." the Cherub said with a malicious tone of voice. You bit back a sob when the words processed in your head.

They were going to send you to Hell

You eventually approached a door that read 'Employees Only' and met a room that had an arch that took up the entire floor.

The portal to Hell. The place they were going to toss you into for something utterly stupid. How hypocritical of them. Heaven, the place of love and peace? My ass!

The Cherub flew over to a panel on the side of the wall, and loud sirens were heard throughout the room. Hell, you bet the entire 'cloud kingdom' could hear the loud blaring the room was making.

A red coloured portal began to appear on the ground within the structure of the arch. You gulped and felt tears begin to dwell in your eyes.

This was it.

Good-bye Heaven. Good-bye Kai and Molly.

You could hear Vark wailing from the loud noises and you attempted at twisting around to look at him. Your last attempt at begging for your shark's mercy was cut off when you were tossed into the portal.

You fell for a moment.

Then everything went dark.

+++

What awoke you from your 'dreamless sleep' was the feeling of something wet being dragged across your face. You moaned in pain when everything came crashing down on you. Literally.

Your back hurts, your head hurts, hell, even your face hurts.

You opened your eyes and noticed your beloved land-shark was on top of you, licking your face. You didn't feel anything but pure joy at that moment when you realised your shark wasn't going to be left all alone up in Heaven.

"My baby! I thought I wouldn't see you again!" you cried aloud and clutched the shark tightly against your chest. Vark seemed to love the attention and began to get all giddy from your loving embrace.

You pulled away from him after a few minutes, and began to observe the scenery around you. You appeared to be in some sort of alleyway, noting that there was garbage and other things that you didn't care to find out what it was exactly. You stood up slowly, and nearly fell back to the ground when you felt your knees shake.

Damn, you fell hard.

(Not as hard as you fell for Vincent though)

Vark noticed that you were in pain, and began to lick you again as a way of comforting you. You smiled softly and patted his smooth head in reassurance that you would be alright. Vark got the memo, and jumped from your arms. You attempted to stand again, and lent against the wall for support.

"Vark, I need you to do me a small favour." You said with a small voice. Vark wagged his fin and his tongue poked out of his mouth in anticipation for what your next words would be.

"Can you go up ahead and see if there is anyone that can help me? I don't think I'm going to be able to get around."

Vark tilted his head to the side in slight confusion to your words, to which you sighed heavily.

"I'm hurt Vark. I need help." You said a bit more simply. Vark recognised the phrase from when you trained him years ago, and immediately ran around the corner of the alleyway in search of some suitable help.

Who are you kidding? This is Hell. Why would anyone want to help? You sighed and placed your fingers on the bridge of your nose to attempt to relieve some stress that was building up.

What a rotten day.

+++

Minutes turned into hours, and you began to grow weary that something had happened to Vark. That is until you heard the familiar pat pat of Vark's fins.

You looked up from the corner you were hiding in, and noticed a very tall demoness was approaching you with Vark and-was that Molly?

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?!" The demoness exclaimed with pure worry in her tone. You smiled weakly and shook your head.

"No, I-I'm sorry if I'm a bit of an inconvenience. You see, I was kinda kicked out of Heaven? And I'm injured from falling. . ." You babbled on. Maybe you hit your head harder than you thought.

The demoness held a sympathetic gaze in her eyes, and she looked over to her companion who was observing you as if you were an anomaly.

"Wait, you're from Heaven?"

You nodded your head, and the fellow seemed to get all smiley. Why? Who knows.

"That's crazy toots! Ya know, my sister is up there, I wonder if you eveh got to meet 'er."

You shrugged nonchalantly.

"I didn't meet much folk up there. I'm not much for socialising."

The spider-like dude nodded his head in understanding.

"'Tis fine, we are all different. Anyway, the name is Angel Dust, and this is her majesty Charlie." He pointed to himself then waved one of his other arms to the blonde demoness, who you now know as Charlie.

She was beaming with complete and utter joy. Why do they both smile so much when they are in the fiery pits of inferno?

"You need to come back with us and tell us EVERYTHING! You could be so helpful for my hotel!" Charlie began, but then immediately stopped once she noticed you were very much lost.

"I'm so sorry for being so direct with you! I'm Charlie, as Angel said. I should've asked if you wanted our help first. I mean, of course you want my help! I mean, do you?" She awkwardly trailed off when she noticed that you were staring at her as if she had grown another head.

Hotel? What does she mean by that?

"What she is trying to ask is if you needed a place to stay?" Angel asked, brushing his hands through his hair (was it hair?) and smoothing it over. His hair (it was definitely not hair but you didn't know what else to call it.) reminded you of Molly, and your heart ached at the thought of Kai and Molly going to your apartment and not finding you there.

You felt tears welled up in your eyes, but you tried hard to not look like you were about to burst into a puddle of sadness and utter hopelessness.

Charlie noticed this, however, and she crouched down to your height and engulfed you with the warmest hug you've ever received in a long time. You felt the dam break, and immediately you began to sob. At this point, you don't even know what you are crying over.

Maybe it's for everything that has happened over the past-decade?

Decades?

You were not entirely sure at this point honestly.

You both eventually entangled each other from the hug, and she offered you a hand to help you up. You took it gratefully, and stood up slowly to prevent yourself from falling back over. Charlie smiled at you softly, to which you grinned back.

"Alright now, are we headin’' back to the Hotel?" Angel asked with a hint of impatience in his voice. Charlie nodded her head, but looked back at you to make sure that is what you wanted. You properly smiled that time, and they both took the answer as 'yes'.

+++

The hotel was nothing like how you imagined. You learned on the trip there that the hotel was a place where sinners dwelled to try and redeem themselves to earn salvation.

That was the most wholesome thing you thought you would ever hear in Hell. There's hope for you yet.

You were currently in the lounge of the hotel, where a lot of 'group activities' took place on a daily basis. You and Vark were on top of a very comfortable couch that was tucked away in a corner. You were honestly so comfy, that you felt yourself dozing off. Until you heard a voice that made you want to rip your ears off.

"Why, hello! I didn't know our beloved Charlie had once again found another unfortunate soul to try out her silly project!"

The man's voice sounded muffled, almost as if he was speaking through some sort of antique microphone from ages ago. You made eye-contact with the looming figure, and noticed he reassembled a deer in a strange and unique way.

Who the Hell was this man? And why is he so-red?

As if he could read your mind, he shoved his hand in your face to shake and practically announced to the hotel who he was.

"The name is Alastor! Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!" You smile you returned was weak but you still shook his hand, and sighed when you realised he wasn't about to break your hand like the other guy. Mr. Heart or whatever his name was.

That stupid prick. You were mad at him again.

"No need to frown, dear! Smile some more! You're never fully dressed without one!"

This Alastor was starting to get on your nerves. And he seemed to be a staff member of the place, which only meant you would be seeing him a lot. That is if you stayed. Also, his own smile was slightly unnerving. . .not to mention kind of creepy.

"Alastor! Leave the poor girl alone." you heard Charlie call from another part of the lounge. Alastor rolled his eyes before he turned hot on his heels to argue back that he was simply 'introducing' himself.

Whatever, you didn't really care.

You stood up from the couch, Vark following closely, and began to sneak away from the chaos of the Hotel. You eventually found yourself on the sidewalks of the busy street of some part of town.

One thing you noted was how many bright neon lights decorated the sides of buildings and billboards. Vark seemed to be lost in the flashing colours and noises of the advertisements playing on TV's.

There were so many TV's. Which triggered a long lost memory that you never remembered from your time in Heaven.

It was a year or so after you and Vincent got married. He had just landed a job as a news reporter for a small company that was local to your hometown. You were aware that he loved all the new technology that was being released too quickly to follow up on. But you never expected him to one day bring back an extremely expensive TV for your living room.

"Vincent! What on Earth did you get this time?"

He rolled his eyes and rolled a portable box TV into the kitchen for you to examine.

"I got us a TV. It's especially for you so you can watch me when I'm on the afternoon news." He said with a cheeky smile. You chuckled at his antics and headed over to him to give him a hug.

"You're such an attention seeker, and you're also adorable."

He only laughed at that, and hugged you back just as tightly as you.

"Only for you doll, only for you."

The memory faded, and it left you standing idiotically in the middle of the sidewalk. That was new, and not to mention, so heartwarming.

You missed Vincent. A lot. And you were aware you kept thinking about him. Must be because your memories are no longer blocked.

Vark began to bark at an advertisement when you noticed a man with a TV for a head appeared on one of the TV's close to you. He was talking about some sort of security system, but you didn't care. What you did care about was how familiar his grin was to you.

That wasn't a coincidence, was it?

Vark distracted you from your thoughts when he began to run away when the scent of seafood wafted through the air. You out called after him and began to spring after the shark.

How does an animal run so fast with fins?

You once again got lost in your thoughts and didn't notice that you and your runaway shark were headed towards a huge crowd that was forming in front of a building nearby. Vark, being so small, ran in between the demons of all sizes and continued on his way. You were about to do the same until you ran into someone and knocked yourself and the stranger down.

"Woah! Careful where you're running off to!"

"I am so sorry!" You squealed when you realised that you had unintentionally caused a scene. You had landed completely on top of a random person; in front of a huge crowd; and it was the same man with the TV head.

Ah, what luck you had. Your thoughts were cut off when the TV headed man began to look you up and down, which made you very...uncomfortable? But his gaze felt familiar, as if instinct was telling you you knew this strange man.

"I feel like I've seen you before, do I know you?" He began, but you cut him off when you scrambled to your feet when you noticed Vark returned to you with some fish in his mouth. Or what you assumed was fish.

"Vark! You are in so much trouble!" You announced, bending over to pick up the mischievous land-shark that has caused oh-so-many problems with you today.

You heard people around you murmur, to which you raised your brow to, but decided to ignore. You turned back around to again apologise to the man you so rudely knocked over, but found him staring at you as if you had hung the stars in the sky.

What was his deal?

You heard him mumble your name, which definitely made you jump a bit.

"What was that?"

He rushed over to you instantly and immediately grabbed your arm and pulled you into the building the crowd was forming around, completely ignoring all the commotion that began to arise outside.

You both eventually reached a secluded corridor, and you found yourself standing in close proximity with the man.

Who even is he? And what the fuck gave him the right to drag you around like a doll?

He called your name again, and you felt his hands gently cup your cheeks. You met his artificial gaze, and you all but gasped when it all finally clicked.

Vincent Holland. Your long lost and beloved husband.

"V-Vincent?" You stammered, completely bewildered that you had somehow found him in a city with millions of people. Maybe luck was truly on your side finally.

"H-how?" You started, but got cut off when a pair of digital lips met yours in a sweet kiss. Your eyes widened in shock: you were kissing a TV. But this was also your husband. (Who had a screen for a head somehow…)

You closed your eyes and wrapped your arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, humming softly when he began to bite and suck at your lips. You pulled away, however, when Vark began to cry from the lack of your attention.

"Vark! Stop it!" you scolded him. Vincent chuckled at the interaction to which you raised a brow.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing. I also have a land-shark named Vark." he stated as if it were the most obvious thing. Your eyes widened in disbelief.

"Are you being serious?"

"Yes, doll. I got him as soon as I found out you could have one. And I named him Vark because, well, we always joked about it."

You smiled so sweetly at this. You and Vincent coincidently having a pet shark and naming them the same was just too heartwarming to you. You pulled him back into another kiss, to which Vincent welcomed whole-heartedly.

You pulled away after a minute when your lungs burned for air, and noticed Vincent was staring at you adoringly.

"What is it?" You asked.

"I thought I would never see you again. You don't know how much I've missed you. I looked for you everywhere as soon as I was able to to it safely. Even though it didn't happen as fast as I wanted, I knew I would always find you." he whispered. He kissed your head gently, which you leaned into slightly.

You felt your heart ache a little, when you realised that he probably didn't get to live in an oblivious bliss to your absence. A perk of living in Heaven, you supposed, was the lack of memory of anything that could make you wish the fiery pits of Inferno.

"Me too Vincent, me too. I'm so glad that I found you again." you placed your forehead against his (screen), and shared a loving embrace.

You and your beloved Vincent, was once again, united. 

i finally looked over it, and part one of the prologue is up. if there is any mistakes i didnt catch, feel free to let me know!

also, i love vark. he carries this story ngl.

But I still will because this story felt very. . .rushed. even though it's so DAMN LONG HOLY SHIT.

-will

[the-winter-spider]

My Forever pt 2 | S. Harrington

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: Angst, maybe swearing?

A/N: Not proof read or edited.

Masterlist

Part One

---

“She ran?”

“Yeah, she looked out of it. I know she and Eddie smoke weed, but this wasn’t like that…” Max trailed off, she was finding it hard to describe what she saw.

“Wait, wait. Y/N and Eddie?” Dustin stood up, moving in front of Max.

“Out of everything I just said, that’s what concerns you? Really, Dustin?” Max rolled her eyes.

He paused. “It’s just Eddie’s one of my best friends, and he’s never talked about her before.”

Max shrugged. “They’re always sitting together, smoking weed at midnight at the bench by our trailers.”

“Why is she at the trailer park at midnight?”

“Because she lives there? What's with the 20 questions? She’s your friend too! Shouldn’t you know all this, especially with Steve’s obsession with her?”

Dustin shrugged. “They don’t talk anymore. Something happened.” He grabbed his backpack. “She’s a touchy subject for him.”

Max stood up. “Where are we going?”

“To Family Video”

—

“Holy shit” Robin’s eyes widened at the sight on the TV

“We have a situation” Dustin’s voice boomed as he pushed open the front door to Family Video, Max trailing behind him

“A bigger situation than a Hawkins teen getting murdered” Robin pointed towards the TV

Max and Dustin gave each other a knowing look

“What? What was the look for?” Steve questioned

“It's about that”

“What did you do?” Robin moved towards the counter

“Tell them, i'm going to set up shop”

And she did, she told them about Eddie arriving with Chrissy instead of his usual routine of smoking weed with y/n, Steve's eyes widened at that, and his heart almost beat out of his chest when she told him about y/n once again just running away, that wasnt like you. You were never run to one away from anything let alone someone you loved and he knew you loved Max.

“Why was she in the trailer park?” Robins eyebrows furrowed

Max rolled her eyes “You guys are shitty friends, she lives there, right beside Eddie”

“Max” Dustin warned

“How could you guys not know that, especially you” Her eyes darted to Steve “Aren't you two like in love” her hands placed on her hips

“Okay enough of that, Y/n doesn’t talk to us anymore, after Starcourt she just went a-whol” Robin groaned “You think she had something to do with this?”

“Absolutely not” Steve was quick to come to your defence

“We can't rule it out Steve, she's not the same y/n she was last year”

Max shook her head “She wasn't with Eddie when he left, he wouldn’t have left her behind if she was, they're like this” Max crossed her fingers.

Steve felt his heart break, knowing you replaced him with Eddie before the two of you even got a chance, like he meant nothing to you.

“She went up to the trailer after he left, she almost fell down his steps and she just collapsed to the ground. When I went outside to check on her she looked like she was going to say something but i'll never forget the look in her eyes… she was scared, like terrified and she just shook her head and ran”

“I think if we can find Eddie we can find…”

The bell above the door jingled, cutting Dustin off, all eyes darted to the door. The last person any of them expected walked through.

You

–

You felt like you were being chased. Something was following you, stalking you but you couldn't see it, it wasn't here, in your world. It was creeping up on you from the upside down. You didn't know how but you knew at this point anything was possible.

But you wanted to doubt it, you didn't wanna believe it because then that means Hopper died for nothing, Billy sacrificed himself for nothing. Because the gate had to be closed, right? That didn't mean that the upside down still wasn't there though, you knew it was always gonna be there lurking beneath, within Hawkins.

You didn't know what to do. Didn't know where to go, you most certainly were under no circumstances going back to the trailer park, it was daytime now, it had to be early afternoon that place surely would be crawling with cops by now, you spent all night hiding out at Skull Rock, part of you hoping for some reason hoped Steve would show up that he would sense you were here and he would come be your night and shining armour.

That you would feel his arms wrap around you, it would feel like a home you could have had, one you almost did but you set it on fire before it finished being built. You shook your head because it was for the best, you never deserved him.

But you wanted to find Eddie, you needed to because he would do the same for you. You knew one place he would be but half way there you could feel it.

Sense it, whatever it was, the hairs on your neck stood up and then you picked up the pace, each leaf crumbling under your heavy steps, each twig snapping making you hug yourself tighter till, your foot got caught on a log sending you tumbling down a hill.

Your clothes were ripped and torn, a throbbing coming from your head no doubt bleeding from a rock on the way down. You groaned standing up but when you did, everything was different. It was dark when mere seconds ago the spring sun was shining above you.

“Wha..” you mumbled to yourself, spinning in circles “No no no…”

“Y/N”

You turned around finding the voice, something was lurking in the distance, you backed into a tree, your body was shaking, squeezing your eyes shut.

“It's almost time, almost time to join me, join us”

Your chest was rising and falling rapidly, keeping your hands flat against the tree to steady yourself, you waited.

And waited for something, anything to happen and when whatever you were anticipating never came you opened your eyes and you were back.

You didn't waste a second before running to the one place you knew you could find help.

Family Video

—

The bell above the door jingled as you burst into Family Video. Everyone turned to face you, their expressions a mix of surprise and concern.

“Y/n?” Robin’s voice was gentle, her eyes filled with worry.

You looked past everyone, your eyes staring right into Robins, you were out of breath, panting your voice barley above a whisper “Did you mean it? W-what you said earlier?”

Robin frantically shook her head up and down “Yes of course, were always going to be here for you, trauma bond and all” She gave you a soft smile

If Steve thought his heart was beating hard before he was in for a reality check because all he could hear was the thumping of his heart.

You nodded frantically, looking over your shoulder. Steve watched your hand shakily wipe away the stray tears rolling down your face “Okay”

“Okay” Robin nodded

“Y/n?” You jumped at the sound of Max's voice coming from beside you, almost taking down the shelf of VHS beside you.

“Woah hey” Steve finally stepped forward “You’re okay, okay?”

When your eyes met his, it was like he was falling in love with you all over again but at the same time he wasn't sure how much more his heart could take seeing you like this. He swore he would always protect you and he wasn't going to fail you this time.

“Okay” You nodded, your lip trembling. You didn't believe him, you somehow knew it wasn't going to work out this time, not for you at least but you were going to do everything in your power to make sure it did for him.

“You wanna tell us what happened?” Robin asked gently

“We should get her cleaned up first” Max added, all of them really taking in your appearance. Your hair was messy like it hadnt been brushed in 48 hours, you had a rip at your shoulder, your pants had holes in both knees, blood seeping through, a cut on your cheek, accompanied by dark circles under your eyes and eyes that looked like they saw something no one ever should.

Steve didn’t hesitate flipping the sign from ‘open’ to ‘close’ grabbing his keys, opening the door “My house, lets go” He spoke to everyone.

—

Steve pushed the front door open, ushering everybody in, motioning for y/n to go in first, walking closely at her heels, afraid she would suddenly run off, something he seemed to expect from her at this point.

Everyone took a seat in various places around the living room whilst Steve took your hand in his leading you up the stairs and into his bathroom. He ushered you to sit on the closed toilet seat as he searched in cupboards and drawers for any medical supplies, when he found the rubbing alcohol he walked over to you, kneeling on the floor at your feet. Your leg was bouncing up and down as you mindlessly picked the skin at your nails.

“Hey” Steve spoke softly, placing his hand cautiously on your knee to stop the bouncing, your eyes zeroed in on him “I need you to stay still okay?”

You nodded, trying to steady your breathing. Steve gently took your hand in his, pulling it away from your nails.

“This might sting a bit,” he warned, pouring a small amount of rubbing alcohol onto a cotton pad. He dabbed it on the cuts and scrapes on your arms, his touch gentle yet firm. You winced, but stayed still, focusing on his steady presence.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Steve asked, his voice low and calming.

You took a deep breath, your voice shaky. “It’s… it’s hard to explain. Something was chasing me, but I couldn’t see it. It felt like it was coming from the Upside Down.”

Steve’s hand paused for a moment before he continued cleaning your wounds. “The Upside Down? Are you sure?”

You nodded frantically. “I don’t know how, but I know it’s there. It’s like… like the gate never really closed. It’s still lurking, and I could feel it.” Tears welled up in your eyes. “I don’t know what to do, Steve.”

Steve’s heart ached seeing you so scared. He finished bandaging your arm and stood up, pulling you into a tight embrace. “We’ll figure it out. You’re not alone in this. We’ll find Eddie and get to the bottom of this, okay?”

You nodded against his chest, the warmth of his embrace providing a small comfort amidst the fear and confusion. For the first time in what felt like ages, you allowed yourself to believe that maybe, just maybe, things could get better.

—

Steve's house was quiet as everyone settled in. You sat on the couch, a blanket wrapped around you, trying to steady your trembling hands. The warmth of the blanket and the familiar surroundings brought a small measure of comfort, but your mind was still racing.

Robin handed you a cup of water, her eyes full of concern. "Take your time, Y/n. We're here."

You took a deep breath, the cold cup of water, soothing your dry throat “I... I think the gate might be open again," you began, your voice barely above a whisper. "Something's wrong. I can feel it. I saw it."

Dustin's eyes widened. "Are you sure? I mean, it could be PTSD or something."

You shook your head. "No, Dustin. I know it sounds crazy, but I was in the Upside Down for a moment. I saw it, felt it."

Steve sat down beside you, his hand gently squeezing yours. "We believe you, Y/n. We just need to figure out what to do next."

Max looked thoughtful. "If the gate is open, we need to find Eddie. He might know something.” She paused “I told you whatever he was running from, scared the living shit out of him”

Dustin nodded. "Yeah, and we need to get the gang back together. We can't handle this alone."

Robin glanced at Steve. "You think we should call Nancy and Lucas?"

Steve nodded, walking towards his phone.

Dustin piped up "We should try Will too”

—

By evening, everyone had gathered at Steve's house. Nancy and Lucas had joined everyone. The living room was packed, the air heavy with a sense of urgency.

Nancy was the first to speak. "Okay, let's lay out what we know. Y/n thinks the gate might be open again. We need to confirm that and find Eddie."

Steve nodded. "We need to be careful. If the gate is open, who knows what might come through this time."

Nancy looked at you, her eyes kind but serious. "Y/n, can you show us where you were when you felt the Upside Down?"

You nodded, feeling a surge of determination. "Yes, I can. It was near Skull Rock."

Steve stood up, his expression resolute. "Then that's where we start. Let's move."

[moonlightdancer26]

I will never in my life be able to understand the people who say “well okay Sirius wanted to kill someone but it’s Snape’s fault for going into the Willow.” I find it so insane because… Sirius, at the mere age of 16, had just proven that he had no regard for human life and was willing to have someone else’s blood on his hands… and all you have to say on the matter is the fact that the victim went down there in the first place? It’s just such blatant victim-blaming and I can’t even fathom how on earth they deem their argument reasonable.

What also really bugs me about their claim is that it was so normal for Snape—a teenage boy—to do. Of course a teenager would hear about/suspect something “spooky” and then would want to go to the area to check it out. Of course his curiosity would get the best of him. He’s a teenage boy, just because he made a risky mistake does not mean attempted murder is justified. It’s like kids or teens hearing about haunted houses and wanting to go there; it’s a pretty stupid idea but it’s a normal one for them to have. So many Marauder stans use “oh but they just made a mistake when they were teens” as a response to SA and waterboarding, but when the character they dislike does something that has actually been done by many teenagers and kids, they can’t feel any sympathy whatsoever? Sirius, unlike Severus, has no excuse for what he did. It wasn’t normal for his age, there’s no somewhat logical reason, and it was downright inhuman. And no, saying “but Snape followed Remus around and tried to get the Marauders expelled!” just goes right back to the fact that, had Sirius and James not started bullying Snape years prior, Severus would have had no reason to want them to get in trouble/expelled.

Another seriously messed up fact involving the prank is when you remember that if the prank had succeeded (= Snape ending up dead/mauled/infected), that meant that Remus—who would’ve been in no control of his actions and completely unable to stop it—would have been used as a murder weapon and would’ve faced dangerous consequences for Sirius’s doing. A known trait of Remus is his extreme self-loathing, which is derived from his hatred of being a “monster.” To think about how one of his best friends was willing to freely exploit his condition and use it to harm someone else “just for fun” when he knows what Remus would do to himself when he finds out is sickening. You can hate Severus all you want, but you absolutely cannot try to pin this on him when it was the most vile act Sirius had ever done in his life and an extremely important aspect of his character.

[jesterofcringe]

Drain you of your love [Until you hate me.] vampire!shauna x witch!reader

★ TW for murder and blood ★ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────

★ The last thing you expected to see in the basement of one of Jeff's infamous parties was Randy Walsh's still warm dead body. On the bathroom floor he laid sprawled out, face twisted in something of agony as blood gushed out of his neck and dirtied his surroundings. There was no denying that he was murdered. Worse however, there was no denying Shauna Shipman was to blame.

★ There was blood everywhere- the baby blue walls, the bathmat (which, for some reason, was in front of the sink), and leaking into the tiles as well as foundation keeping them still- but most of it was on Shauna. You would've thought she was the one who had gotten hurt due to the sheer mess of red on the front of her shirt, but the way her palms were almost dyed red as she tried to wipe her hands on his shirt told you otherwise. In an almost nauseating way, a lot of it smeared around the corners of her mouth, meeting at the base of her chin before tracing along her jawline. Like an uncoordinated runway, the blood would slither down the outline of her throat before collecting on her shirt.

★ If you hadn't known Shauna was a vampire, you probably would've fainted. 

★ "...Holy shit." You mumbled, absolutely gob smacked on the carnage in front of you, "How did you even manage to do this?"

★ Shauna looked just as confused as you as she fumbled for a good answer, "I don't know! I just wanted to feed off him I didn't know he'd..." She didn't finish her sentence, instead gesturing to the bloodbath at her feet.

★ "When's the last time you ate?"

★ "I don't know... a few weeks ago I guess."

★ "Oh my god Shauna. That's the problem." You groaned, frustrated that you knew more about vampires than the literal vampire. In all fairness, she had turned recently- perhaps a few months ago- and was still getting used to it. Knowing of your status as a witch, Shauna decided to go to you for help. You're not a supernatural expert, but you knew enough about them to give her basic advice, "You need to eat at least once a week. What happened to the animal blood?"

★ Shauna made a face, "That stuff tastes awful."

★ "So I've heard, but it's all I've got." The more you thought about it, the more you felt bad. You couldn't imagine what it must've felt like, the moral conflict of needing to consume human blood in order to survive. Many tried to resist the urge, but the withdrawal just made the desire stronger until the hunger was strong enough to drive someone into quite literally going feral. You never understood why people labeled vampires as monsters until you watched it happen with Shauna, witnessing her spiraling and damn near losing your life as you tried to get her back. 

★ Now you were doing your ever loving best to make sure Shauna never descended to that level again, and here the two of you were staring at a pale corpse after Shauna slipped and accidentally took more than Randy could give. You really do need to start keeping a better eye on her.

★ Though it was awful to look at, you brought your attention back to the crime at hand, "So, what's your plan on avoiding jail time?"

★ "I didn't really think that far ahead."

★ "How did you even get him down here?"

★ Shauna rolled her eyes and scoffed, "I literally told him what I was gonna do and he fucking followed me. He took it as a weird innuendo when I meant it as a threat."

★ "That's... a very Randy Walsh thing to do." In a weird way, you honestly weren't very surprised.

★ "He kinda deserved it."

★ "Victim blaming someone who was murdered is insane."

★ "Shut up." Shauna shoved past you to get to the sink, being very careful not to step on the bloody mat while she ran her hands under the faucet water to rinse the rest of the blood down the drain, "We need to do something about the body."

★ "We? You're the one who killed him!"

★ "Well now you've both seen the body, so you're officially an accomplice."

★ You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose as you struggled to come up with a solution, "I guess what I'm really wondering is what you expect me to do about this."

★ "Aren't you a witch? Can't you like, teleport him out of here?"

★ "That is absolutely not how it works. Best I could do is draw a protection sigil on the door but I know how you feel about those." You honestly didn't know why you were even mentioning it. Shauna hates your protection sigils, and you really didn't know why. You insist they aren't dangerous, but she won't have it. You had to take to wearing different charms as drawing on your arms was an instant way to piss her off.

★ She completely ignored your comment, "I kind of wish we could just frame someone, but the puncture wounds in his neck are kind of a giveaway. 

★ "We could probably frame it on Randy."

★ Shauna looked at you like you had three heads, "Did you not hear what I said or are you planning on making it look like Randy somehow bit himself to death?"

★ "I bet if we smear his fingerprints over a pair of scissors and place them well enough it'll look like he just kinda..." You trailed off as you were sure Shauna saw where you were going with this. Although she saw the vision, she was still somewhat skeptical, "I mean, what other ideas do we have?"

★ Shauna hummed as she contemplated the idea, "There are some scissors in the kitchen, I'll run and grab them quickly-"

★ "-Absolutely not." You quickly interjected, gesturing to her clothes, "You look like the final girl in a cheap horror flick. I'll get the scissors while you clean up."

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

★ The car ride home is awkward to say the least.

★ The two of you spent a considerable amount of time dressing the crime scene before promptly leaving the party. Shauna wasn't able to get all of the blood out of her clothes, but she was able to clean just enough so it no longer looked like she had just escaped a saw trap. You grabbed a spare hoodie from your car and let her wear it out. As you left, the both of you made an excuse about Shauna not feeling good and needing a ride home.

★ "Do you think Jackie would've noticed how long you were down there?"

★ You watched a wave of realization cross over Shauna's face as she contemplated your question, "...Jeez, I think this is the only time I've actually hoped she was too busy with Jeff."

★ "Does she know you're a vampire?"

★ "God I hope not." Shauna scoffed.

★ "Am I the only one that knows?"

★ "Yeah and I plan on keeping it that way."

★ You would've rolled your eyes at her, but you had to keep your eyes on the road, "With how reckless you've been acting, we'll be lucky if I'm the only one that knows for much longer." Shauna sighed and didn't say anything. You both knew it was true with how many close calls you guys barely dodged. You just wished you could help more.

★ It suddenly dawned on you that you totally could help more, but you knew Shauna wasn't going to be fond of your solution.

★ "Honestly, why don't you start feeding off me?"

★ "Hell no." Shauna responded sharply, "You know how that went last time."

★ "That only happened because you refuse to take care of yourself," You cut back, "The only reason why you tend to feel ravenous is because you wait too long. Small dosages off me every few days is the best of both worlds- you stay fed and I don't have to worry about murder charges."

★ Shauna was quiet, paying more attention to the streetlights flashing by than your suggestion, "Is that really our last option?"

★ "I guess not. You could try robbing hospitals but that will also land you in jail." you quipped back. Shauna audibly groaned.

★ "I just..." She frowned, talking quietly as if so much as speaking about the subject was a crime, "...what if I hurt you again?"

★ "I won't let that happen. I'll hex you or something, I dunno." Another groan. Tough crowd. "Are you scared you'll develop a taste only for my blood?"

★ "Kinda."

★ You were about to make a dumb quip about that being kinda hot but decided against it considering the seriousness of the current conversation. 

★ "If you have to drink my blood for the rest of my life so be it."

★ "Don't be stupid," Shauna scowled, "Eventually I'm going to-"

★ "-Would you quit pretending you're some monster and face the facts? I don't give a shit if it hurts, I'm going to help you survive. End of discussion."

★ Shauna was secretly grateful, but she'd never admit that. Instead rather, she was desperate to have the final say and she crossed her arms pretending to still be upset about it, "Fine."

★ The idea of being vampire prey indefinitely was scary, you couldn't deny that. But the idea of losing Shauna when you know you can help her is somehow scarier. She needed you, the both of you knew that. You just wished she would stop being so stubborn about it.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Hello. Love your Chaggie posts; fellow shipper present. If you want, I like to make a request - Could you please make another Chaggie post about the reveal of Vaggie's secret and specifically talk about Charlie's look of intense shock (to the point she had no fight left in her at court), the look of ice-cold fury when speaking to Vaggie, her emotional rants to Alastor and Rosie; and just the fact that despite having a number of pressing issues, that she IS stressed about, her main source of anger/stress is coming to grips with Vaggie keeping a big secret from her. There's so much to it, I love it!

charlie can be cheerful and polite and calm and hopeful and full of determination- because VAGGIE is there to hold her hand and believe in her and say she LOVES charlie and enjoys the parts of charlie that CHARLIE apologizes for and is embarrassed by-

VAGGIE is the emotional stop gap just BARELY keeping charlie on kilter

and the moment vaggie's support is at all called into question, the second charlie finds out vaggie has been NOT HONEST about something important with her- she's not upset with what the secret was about- she's not upset in the way adam and lute and vaggie thought she'd be oh nnoooooo- she's gutted wondering if vaggie meant any of it- she's clawing and tearing at the thought that the thing she loves and needs most from vaggie might also not be real-

(vaggie is the practical one, the brutally honest one, the realist, the prepare for the worst one-)

(but she also- she also never wasn't there for charlie)

now charlie's losing that last shred of control that almost always just BARELY kept her from going off- specifically at adam usually- specifically over him gloating and threatening to MURDER her people-

and vaggie was waiting for her at the hotel the first time, to take her hands and show her the work they'd done while she was off having that shit meeting. vaggie was there up in heaven-

(the real reason charlie absolutely insisted she needed her there??)

-doing nothing much but BEING there for charlie, sitting there WITH charlie, and running to hold charlie AGAIN when adam did his little knife twist reveal to the heart

charlie flames up but- BUT- she can be the bigger and mature person, she can, she can-

until she's getting heckled by a woman who can't actually do much or hurt anyone, someone who's just being annoying

until vaggie might not actually believe in her

then it's FUCK YOU, YOU OLD BITCH!!!

(from CHARLIE)

and it's charlie NOT being able to do this, this thing that's so important to her, this thing she's been doing the whole time, keep a smile, be polite, make it work- she CAN'T anymore

not until she's taken a moment to breathe and stop and THINK. not until rosie helps her see that no, no actually, vaggie DOES love her. does, in fact, believe in her and in her silly impossible dreams. is showing it right now with her actions, just like she always has. might even have a very personal reason to have desperate faith in the idea of redemption, too

vaggie kept a secret, yes. should have told her, yes.

hurt her. yes.

but charlie can only get up and sing and inspire people to her fight once she settles on the TRUTH. vaggie, if no one else in all of hell, is the one person who really and truly DOES think charlie can do this, and has thought so for years

and so charlie can. and charlie does

and i don't think that's maybe really what you wanted to talk about but it's what lives in my head rent free

[baldurs-gape]

Just Another Day

Holding the camp at arm's length was just an Astarion thing. While he was better at letting the others closer, had helped them understand his quirks, it was still painful when he receded back into the shadows of harsh quips and well aimed barbs. When he got like that the rest of the camp quickly learned to leave him alone. Whatever it was that got him in a spiral usually cleared up after a day or two. The only one who didn't pay much heed to Astarion's moods was Gale. Whether it was metaphorical rain or shine in that tent, he strode in there with utmost confidence. Usually, his presence seemed to work wonders on Astarion's moods so nobody discouraged him from continuing.

Another such mood swing was coming. The sneering got worse, Astarion scoffed at the smallest of things and advocated for more murder than usual.

"All I'm say is, we leave the wretches to their own fate. After all, if we die helping them, who is going to destroy Baldur's Gate's ruling class? We need to save ourselves for that."

As usual, he went ignored. But that didn't stop the near enough litany of complaints.

"Couldn't you have moved a bit faster? I thought githyanki were meant to be warriors. I shouldn't have to clean up the mess you make."

"No, I was absolutely aware of the adept casting the spell from behind me. You singed my favourite clothes and my hair! Do you know how inconvenient that is?"

"Your brain matter was probably the material converted to give you horns. I don't see how else you could have been so stupid."

It got worse and worse. Everyone got a tongue lashing, even if it was for something trivial like washing at an inconvenient time. They let Astarion just get on with things, avoided him and his ire. Things only came to a head when, after Astarion refused to leave his tent, Gale wandered in. Though tents weren't the most private of places, usually conversations within were respectfully ignored. But the whole camp heard Astarion's outburst.

"If you're so damn hungry, just go and eat Wyll's shoes! And maybe floss with the laces because you have bullshit getting stuck between your teeth!"

Storming out of the tent, Gale had half a mind to throw a boot back at Astarion. However, he was better than that. He had more control.

"Oh blow me," he growled under his breath.

"Blow your orb yourself, you coward!" Astarion's words rang sharp and clear through the camp and everyone froze. The only sound was the rustle of fabric as he tied the flaps of his tent shut.

At least he was quiet after that. Mumbles of "murder is wrong, staking your boyfriend is rude" from Gale were met with huffs of laughter. They all knew Astarion could be a little too dramatic at times, this was just a bit more excessive than usual.

In the morning the tent flap stayed shut. It was a small bit of relief even if the odd guilty glance was shot in its direction. Something was amiss but getting through to Astarion was nigh on impossible. The following day a small party was heading out and Astarion's help would have been much appreciated.

"Not today," his voice replied through the still shut tent. "I don't wish to become another 'accidental' death. Your hand might slip or you might just not be fast enough. What a tragedy, only the good die young, he'll be sorely missed. Then I'll be nothing but a distant memory that's best left forgotten. So no, thank you, I think I'll pass."

Adventuring without him went absolutely fine, not a single fight was had. Returning to camp, the group had a merry time. It was only next morning that Karlach cast Astarion's tent a sad glance.

"He hasn't been out since your argmuent. Not even to bask in the rising sun's glow."

Gale sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why he had to go falling in love with someone as impossible as Astarion was beyond him. But there he was. He eyed Karlach who offered a smile and half a shrug.

"Maybe he's just hangry. I know I would be, if I went so long without eating."

"I'll take him something."

Despite Gale's best intentions, Wyll had beaten him to it. He dragged the deer back to camp before hanging it up with Halsin's help to drain the blood into a bucket. Scooping some into a goblet, he approached the tent.

"We thought you might like something to drink," he said. There was no reply. "Seriously, Astarion, whatever it is that's got you like this, we can help. But you have to let us."

"Maybe the goblet is laced with garlic? Or dead man's blood? That's the only kind of help you seem capable of."

"Say what you like, but at least we're trying. Which is more than can be said about you," Wyll grumbled. He set the blood down in front of the tent flap and walked away.

It was still there the next morning, cold, congealed and drying. Gale frowned as he moved it out of his way. This whole thing was just getting ridiculous. Close to a week, Astarion had been in a funk. Leaving him alone hadn't seemed to solve the matter so it was time to get some answers.

"May I come in?"

Bitter resignation laced Astarion's voice. "Does my reply have any influence on your actions?" Before Gale could reply, Astarion let out a sad laugh. "You might as well come on in, I'll play along with your charade."

An invitation was an invitation and Gale decided to accept it. He undid the ties of the tent and stepped into the darkness. Eyes taking a moment to adjust, Gale peered around. The whole tent was a mess. Or, rather, at first glance it was a mess. But as he looked, a pattern of sorts began to emerge. The piles weren't random, clothes weren't strewn around. If Gale wasn't careful, he would trip over something. Either end of the tent held a bundle and he had no idea which one was Astarion. Squinting between the two, Gale opted not to move in case he started in the wrong direction and had to backtrack over the obstacle course.

"Astarion?" Nothing. Neither pile moved. Gale bit his tongue to hold back his frustration. "What's going on?" Still nothing. If Gale hadn't know Astarion was in there, he would have assumed the tent was empty. Patience wearing thin, he tried again. "Is this some stupid game you're playing? Because I'm not going to go along with that. So either behave like the adult you are, or I am leaving."

Finally one of the piles moved and Astarion's head popped up. Even in the half-light his eyes looked large, face drawn and exhausted as though he'd been on high alert for days on end without reprieve.

"Are you here to hurt me?"

"What kind of asinine-?! No! Absolutely not!" Aghast, Gale wasn't certain whether he wanted to get closer to Astarion or further away. "Light of my night, why would you ask that?"

No answer was forthcoming. No quip, no denial, no clarification. Instead, Astarion stared at him with about as much trust as a deer that had caught the scent of a predator.

"I just want you to drink."

"But you know your blood hurts."

"I never said to drink from me! You impossible man. I'm coming over and feel free to laugh when I topple over one of your traps." Because that's what they were. Traps and distractions. Picking his way over there, Gale plopped down and opened up his arms in invitation. The hesitation Astarion showed was hurtful, that was no lie. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to understand."

Under the bulk of clothes, armour and throws, it was almost like Astarion deflated. But he still didn't seek comfort in Gale's arms. They sat, in silence for a while.

"Today's my turning day," Astarion finally bit out.

"Shit. Is that like a birthday? I didn't think you'd celebrate such a day. But if I'd known, we'd have thrown you a party like we did for Wyll's birthday."

"I don't know when my birthday is." The words were quiet, hesitant. Almost like Astarion was talking about some forbidden topic that he was terrified of being overheard. "But Cazador wouldn't let me forget the day he claimed me."

Wouldn't let him forget...what Gale knew of Cazador, it was highly unlikely that he threw a party. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to slot together but the picture wasn't quite clear just yet.

"Would you have rather it was forgotten?"

A soft 'mhm' was the only reply. Silence stretched between them and Gale itched to know more. Thankfully, he was a stubborn bastard and for once he held out longer than Astarion.

"I'd get sent out with specific instructions on what he wanted me to bring home. I always failed, got punished." As he spoke, Astarion's eyes stared off into the distance, mentally miles away. "Then came the poisoned rats. The chalices of burning blood. Said it was all to soften me up for the day he most regretted in his life. Turning me."

Unable to help himself, Gale reached out, desperate to touch and reassure. A dam was broken and Astarion crumpled into the hand, near enough falling against Gale's chest as he sought comfort and reassurance that he'd denied himself for so long.

"On the day, he'd- he'd-" the words weren't coming and Gale gently shushed him.

"It's okay. He isn't here. He can't hurt you. Nobody's going to hurt you. Not today, not any day."

"Said it was my fault." Astarion didn't have tears to shed anymore, those had dried up a century ago. Crying wasn't a luxury he could afford himself but his breath still hitched on a sob. "I brought it on myself."

Ever so gently, Gale began running a hand through Astarion's hair. It was flat, dusty and greasy. He didn't care though. Everything was making sense at last. Refusals to join, to drink, to even leave his tent, Gale didn't have to be the genius he was to figure it all out. Leaning down, he buried his nose in Astarion's hair and breathed deeply.

"You didn't deserve it. Any of it." Mind made up, he pressed a kiss to Astarion's head. "You've must be exhausted after all this worry. Trust me to keep you safe?"

"But I told you to blow yourself sky high."

"You're not the first, nor will you be the last. Let me love you and protect you. Rest. Tomorrow we can think about getting you a drink that you're comfortable with. Okay?"

There was a little too much obedient pacifying in Astarion's placid "okay" but Gale couldn't do much about it. Maybe Karlach was right, after a fuller stomach the world might not look so ready to end for Astarion. But until then, Gale would sit with him, cast a ward of protection and stay awake for the whole night if it meant Astarion could have a bit of rest. Waving a hand and murmuring the spell, Gale let a soft shimmering blue of protection settle around the tent. He'd keep it there though until Astarion was ready to face the world again.

And maybe, while he waited, Gale was plotting to find a day for Astarion's birthday. They would make new memories and celebrate his existence. It wouldn't overwrite the memories of suffering, but Gale hoped it would give him new ones to remember and enjoy.

[onmyyan]

Hi I just wanted to make a request to ask if you could make a Drabble to ask if you could make a gabe x reader as you when you talked about caspians family you mentioned how gabe is compared to his brother caspian or possibly someone else I would like to know more about him in general and about what would he do with a clay maker s/o who secretly knows about the family business and is an insomniac and also likes to sleep a lot but tries to do the most that they can and won’t fall for the manipulation tactics he uses and just says “ you know if you wanted me to stay home you could’ve just said so?🤨

sorry if your burnt out also have as much fun as you can as a 22 year old !!! You don’t have an obligation to answer this but thank you.

A/N: Ello bby i am soooo happy you asked about Gabe omfg im kicking my feet rn!!! I tried to check all the boxes of the request i apologize if i missed any, Also I'm not burnt out thank you for your sweet words i wanna give u a forehead kith anyway!!!! Heres Gabe! NOT EDITED

T/W: YANDERE, MURDER, GABE IS FUCKIN CRAZY LMAO,CURSING

Gabrielllll Mi Amor omg where do I even begin?!

Standing at a proud 6'4 this mf is big. He's the strongest of his brothers physically, and has always used it to his advantage.

Early on in his life he was being compared to Caspian. They looked so alike it wasn't hard to see why people brought it up the way they did but it still bugged him.

Subconsciously he began to act anyway his brother wasn't. Be it avoiding the kitchen like the plague or gluing himself to the workshop downstairs.

Has a voice like warm butter and can sing stupidly well.

Sings/hums little tunes whenever he's working.

Love languages are acts of service and gift giving, he just wants to take care of you.

Terrified of spiders, he will call you crying to come get it.

Loves tinkering with things, surprisingly delicate hands for such a rough guy.

He laughs with his whole body, the kinda loud boisterous one that made other people start.

Snorts when he finds something especially funny.

He has a hard time reading social cues so he's constantly making dumb jokes, especially when he's not supposed to but he's so funny it's hard to stay mad at him.

Charm up the wazoo, the kinda guy where no matter where he goes, someone's coming up to say hello to him.

He's really good at pattern recognition and it makes him come off a bit psychic at times

Like how he'd clock someone's bad mood the second he seen them, notices details most people wouldn't.

Himbo.

The kinda guy where if you accidentally burn yourself he'll do it too just so you could be in equal amounts of pain, is it dumb as hell? Yeah. Is it also the sweetest thing ever? Absolutely.

Wants the kind of love Mortica and Gomez have, unfiltered raw passion.

Morbid sense of humor.

He's always warm no matter the temperature, comes in mad handy during the colder months and means he wears the smallest amount of clothing when it's hot out which is just a win for everyone.

Scorpio male I repeat Scorpio male. Do with that what you will.

Believes in love at first sight, he's such a big softie.

Had his tongue pierced in his friend's dingy kitchen when he was 18, a secret to this day his mom doesn't know about it.

His canines are a little longer than most and he absolutely had a vampire phase.

Likes to bite. A lot. It's a love language.

He confides in Caspian for everything, expect his envy of him. For that he talks to Ricky.

He can knock someone out with his right hook and has many times before.

He grew up working for his dad's approval and that meant getting his hands dirty.

At first his was a bit weary of using his strength to hurt people but that all changed when his Father put things in perspective for him.

"Everything we do- it's to keep food on our table, to keep us safe- your mother safe." And it all clicked.

Violence for the sake of violence wasn't okay. But violence for the sake of love? That shit was poetic.

He's essentially the family's guard dog. If anyone fucked with them? You told Gabe and suddenly the problem was gone.

He loves the color red, specifically the shade of red that came outta' the first guy his Father sent him after.

He was just supposed to rough him up a little but had too much fun caving in the dude's face.

Thinks killing in the name of love is the most caring thing you can do for someone.

Lil bit of a masochist streak. Likes when he gets to fight someone who can actually keep up with him cuz that little jolt he gets down his spine when he gets hit is addicting.

Animals love him, like you got a cat that hates everyone? Loves him.

Likes preening himself, takes about an hour in the shower everyday, since he dyes his hair so often he takes extra special care of it.

He has a beauty routine and he never skips it, definitely sets up self care spa days with the two of you once you're together.

Really good at videogames, like don't let him goad you into any sort of bet around gaming bec you will lose.

He's the second oldest but carries a lot of the weight of the older brother title since Cas wants nothing to do with the family business

Loves taking things apart to see how they work then putting them back together. He's done this to his PC a lot.

Really such a sweetheart but he has a dark side that feels a lot like a caged animal.

He's not afraid to show you this side because he's proud of it, it's kept him and his kin safe time and time again, why wouldn't he want you to know he'd do anything for you?

Does not like large public spaces, he needs to have a clear way in and out of any area.

Has mad anxiety, takes meds for it.

Works out every day, his favorite way to do so is jogging, he loves being able to just turn off his brain and go.

He meets you on one of those jogs!! Runs right past your art studio but stops when he sees you about to drop this heavy ass box you're attempting to move in a truck.

"Woah- I got you don't worry." He said in an attempt not to scare you as he was some random man running at you from across the street.

You'd peak your head out with the sweetest smile he's ever seen. The honest gratefulness in your eyes warmed him to his core.

"Oh thank you!- I appreciate it." Sure the words were simple but paired with that sheepish little laugh brought heat to his cheeks, he had the sudden to urge to fix his hair, make sure he looked presentable because holy shit were you gorgeous.

You're in a dust covered pair of overalls, your hair is windswept, and you still knocked the breath from his lungs.

"Whatcha' got in there?-god sorry if it's personal you don't need to, I'm sorry." He was very obviously flustered but he was so cute it only added to the charm.

"It's some clay my friend asked for- I had some extra from this project I'm working on- anyway thank you so much.." She trailed off waiting for his name. "Gabriel, you can call me Gabe." His voice was deep and warm like molasses on a hot cookie.

He asks for your number then and there and your fate is sealed.

He runs home faster than he's ever run before, like straight to his apartment, straight to the laptop, doesn't even close the front door kinda rushing.

You only gave him your first name but since he knew you most likely worked at the pottery studio he met you outside of he could find what he needed easily.

He wasn't the most technology savvy man out there but he managed to find a few of your socials and made a quick call to a friend, he has a lot of connections and it was nothing to get the info he needed.

He's a straight shooter and texts you asking for a coffee date that night.

You accept, and despite not usually entertaining men you'd only met that day, he had this captivating energy that had you accepting before you could talk yourself out of it.

The date would be dummy cute, he shows up with flowers and what was supposed to be a quick cup of coffee turns into an all day adventure where you just talked and talked about everything and nothing.

He has you laughing the entire date, blushing from the sheer intensity of his gaze. He was blunt in the way where he said whatever was on his mind.

"I'm sorry- Ima be real I didn't catch a word you just said- the sun hit your face and I had to take a second. Holy shit- you're stunning." His genuine disbelief along with the way he shyly inched his hand to interlock your fingers had your heart skipping a few beats.

He's so into love and the idea of being entirely wrapped up in it.

Before you know it it's getting dark and if he's not walking you to your door he's politely demanding you let him know when you're safe and sound.

The kinda person who makes sure your seatbelt is on or if you're walking on the sidewalk he'll always take the street side just in case.

Would jump out of his coat if you gave the slightest inclination you were cold.

He once balled up his hoodie and threw it at you from across the room like a basketball, like he jumped and dunked.

If you wear fake lashes first time you take em off he the type of dude to be terrified thinking you're just yanking out your real one's.

If he has stuff in his hands and you jump at him he will launch the items if it means catching you better.

Definitely the type to randomly come up to you and silently demand affection.

He wants you to go with him to the gym just to see him be hot. N like maybe give him a reward kiss every time he completes a set.

Surprisingly graceful for such a big dude.

He's an all or nothing type, makes that abundantly clear on the phone one night as he'd gotten in the habit of falling asleep to your voice.

"I want you. Entirely. And I've never been good at denying myself." He'd sound so sure, so certain in his words it made your brain go a bit fuzzy.

Possessive in a hot way not an icky controlling way.

Like if someone hits on you in front of him he has to physically distract himself so he doesn't commit a crime in broad daylight.

Instead whenever his jealously is triggered he becomes a koala, latches himself to your back like a demon, his massive form hovering behind you whenever you went.

"My girl can dress however she wants. I can fight."

Does not tolerate any disrespect towards you or your relationship.

Some girl tried to grind on him at the club and he threw his drink at her.

Petty as HELL when mad, he has a shit list and you do not want to be on it.

Protective as hell, if you indulge his little tendencies (putting sunblock on you if it's warm out, always bringing extra snacks incase you get hungry when you're working) he will start talking about marriage lmao

Speaking of he loves to linger around your studio whenever he can, be warned he will distract you by being adorable so working will be hard but it's totally worth it.

Nicknames for you are : Baby girl, Ma', WIFEY,(almost always followed by a kiss) Darlin', Mi Amor.

He's struggled with insomnia before so he knows a thing or two.

Once you start sleeping over more he notices your nocturnal habits and quickly adjusts.

If you ever get up because you just can't sleep and need to get some energy out he always wakes up.

He can't sleep without you so if you're gone longer than a minute sirens go off in his mind and he's wide awake.

If you wanna watch TV until you can finally rest you know he's right there with you, likes to have you resting in his lap so he can wrap himself around you entirely.

If you simply want to exist in silence he can do that to, so long as he's with you he knows peace.

It wouldn't take long for you to realize his family's secret.

Gabe can keep a secret from anyone.

Except you.

Sometimes his Father would call for him at odd hours of the night, and he'd have to shoot out of bed with little explanation.

You'd wake up to the lightest pressure on your forehead as he kissed you goodbye.

"Shit- go back to sleep Baby, somethin' going down at the shop, they need me." He'd say this cradling your still half asleep face, gently thumbing over your cheeks before stealing another kiss.

He'd come back hours later, the sky still dark and he always showered and put his clothes in the washer before he came to lay back down.

After a while these constant exits would have you a little worried, while yes he was the single most loyal man you'd met and the idea of him cheating seemed laughable, especially considering how seriously he took you, you knew he was hiding something.

Eventually our boy slips up and leaves some blood on his shirt, it was splattered on like paint and yeah at first you were a bit terrified at the concept of your boyfriend being violent then you really started to think about it.

The way he talked about people he didn't like, that look in his eye whenever you told him someone had upset you, how he seemed almost eager to fight at any time.

It made sense.

Then there's the way he talks about his family's shop.

"It's kinda' fun working down there- yeah it can get messy but that's my favorite part."

"I mean Jimmy knew what kinda' businessman pops is- no wonder he die- retired. No wonder he uh, retired. 👀"

It's embarrassing how slick he thinks he is.

It all comes to its boiling point when one day you two are out and bump into a smaller, who at the sight of your loving boyfriend, goes pale as a sheet, nearly dropping the bags in his arm.

"H-Hey Gabe! Boy it's been a minute huh? Listen tell your pops I ain't ducking him or nothing I swear!-" The man said practically vibrating in place, sweat pooling down his flustered face. He was petrified.

Gabe cut him off with a look, his eyes glancing between you and the vermin across him.

"It's Gabriel. Only my friends get to call me Gabe. Do you think we're friends Joey?" You'd never heard this tone from your boyfriend before, it was cold and dry, as if was an entirely different person speaking.

His hold on your waist would tighten when the trembling man looked to you.

"Aye don't look at her look at me, I'm the one talking to you right?." He sneered down, he didn't move and still had the stranger flinching. "Your mama never taught you manners or somethin'?"

"My apologies- really Gabriel, I didn't mean nothin' by it." And with that he'd practically run away, checking over his shoulder every few seconds as if he though Gabe would be following.

"Forgive me, Amor. Some people-" he sucked his teeth before shaking off his nasty look. His fingers began dancing against your side.

"He owe your dad some money?" You'd ask figuring the interaction far too intense to be about a late car job or something.

Gabe would respond honestly before thinking, "Yeah, little bastard has been dodging me all week now he wants to come up to us- nevermind that, let's go were gonna miss the movie!" His flustered response would break all tension, but you'd gotten all the confirmation you needed.

All in all this big bad bastard just needs someone to hold his leash and accept his particular brand of love.

[thegamingcatmom]

If you had to choose between...

human!momma:

OR

demon!momma:

Which would it be?

tw: kidnapping, emotional manipulation (kinda), general madness

In case you´re worried about any drawbacks when it comes to the extend of madness, worry not. For both are as bonkers (about you) as they come, each in their own unique way.

Had a bad day? Say no more - Momma(s) will be there to cheer you up. Strong arms coming to wrap around you, scooping you up, squeezing just a tad bit too tight and cooing at you oh so sweetly as you whine and lament, because-

"-air!"

...Not her fault you´re such a delicate little thing.

(She wouldn´t have it any other way.)

...What was that?

Some random fool is responsible for putting her sweet girl in such a sour mood?

Well, consider it done.

*Human!Momma sharpening the soon to be murder weapon.*

(And yes, she will be wearing those glasses later, too. Momma wants to witness every little twitch, after all.)

How about something not quite as extreme, though? Some everyday stuff? Something sane? Surely things aren´t gonna escalate this time. Right?

...Right?

Something on your way to that hellhole the apartment spiked your interest, and you mentioned it kinda off-handed. Just trying to make pleasant conversation. Yknow, normal things.

Waking up from a rather refreshing nap, you did not expect to be met with not just one (1) redhead, but two (2) - your roommate wearing a grin rivaling Cheshire's, while the much smaller version, clutched tightly by big hands, trembled like a leaf. The poor thing-

Come to think of it, the kid seemed familiar. And not just because she was the spitting image of your fiery roommate (minus the blood and guts, if we´re dealing with Maggot Momma). You swear you´d seen her before-

...

Watching your companion's face fall as you patiently explained to her why kidnapping someone wasn't exactly in either of your best interests shouldn't have been nearly as gut-wrenching.

"-you can´t just go out there and snatch someone up like they´re a stray cat! Especially not a child!"

Oh...so it´s her fault, now?

"You were the one gushing about my mini-me earlier!", Momma no longer understood the world. This was what you wanted, wasn´t it?? "You looked so happy, imagining what it would be like..."

Strong hands wrapped around your upper arms then, slowly stroking up and down. "Don´t you think this would be absolutely perfect? You were right...look at her, she was meant for us!"

Oh boy. Here we go again.

"What if her parents come looking for her? Someone will notice if she won't show up at school anymore-"

"We're her parents now", said with a most serene look. If you hadn't been living with that exact attitude for well over a year now, you'd have felt chilled to the bone.

"You can´t just-", you stop yourself there, realizing you sounded like a broken record by now. This was not a battle won by logic.

Deep breaths.

Alright-

"...She´s not the one." you concluded, trying your best to look the part. It was something that came rather easy to you by now, as you had been given plenty of opportunities to master your poker face.

Your roommate was looking at you like you were the one who´s lost it.

"But...earlier you said-"

"I lied", you silently applauded yourself for remaining steadfest at the sheer disappointment slowly spreading across your partner´s face.

You didn´t particularly enjoy being the "party pooper", but more often than not, you felt like this was the only thing keeping the redhead´s tendencies somewhat in check. So you took that role very seriously.

"I guess I was just...blinded by this idea of another you, so perfect. How could it not be when you´re so...you?", you couldn´t have sounded more sappy, and you knew it. But that was the point.

It always worked.

So you continue, tears starting to form in your eyes-

"I´m sorry for getting your hopes up...so stupid! I should´ve known better - I was looking for an excuse to justify making her ours, but I knew she wasn´t the one, all along. I could feel it!", you started lightly hitting your head then, turning things up a notch and adding to the dramatics of it all.

And then-

"Oh...honey-"

You had her.

"Stop, stop...stop!", your hands were grasped, preventing you from further doing your head in. Good. That shit started to actually hurt. "Stop hurting yourself...and stop worrying that pretty head of yours. I understand."

"...You do?"

"Mhm..."

You were pulled into a smothering hug, her cheek coming to rest on your head, swaying the two of you slowly from side to side. "I know what it feels like...to be overcome by your thoughts and feelings. Like a deep-rooted instinct, overshadowing everything else. You get this tunnel vision where nothing else matters...nothing except yourself and that moment. I know it because...it´s what I feel every time I look at you."

And, just like that, you were reminded why you put up with all of this in the first place.

You reciprocated the hug just as fiercely, finally allowing yourself to relax, now that the crisis had been averted. Nobody was dying or getting dismembered, the apartment was still standing, you had no authorities nearly kicking your door in, demanding you to-

"LAPD, open this door!"

...

Momma, reconsidering some of her life choices (she´s really not) as you throw her a look that clearly says "Told you so".

...

WELL-

What do you think? Who will be your unhinged partner in crime, now and forever more because you belong together, were meant for each other-

Make your choice.

In fact-

Can´t wait to see those results...

.

.

.

Bonus:

[princess-of-the-corner]

Once Again, More Fanfic Quotes! Now with Bonus Quotes from DC Comics!

Thermostat: Izuku only likes me for my body.

Tamaki: that sounds a bit risqué

Thermostat: I meant literally.

Thermostat: the side he stands on depends on the weather.

*

A Special Boy: Can I just interrupt to say that I hate when people leave trans people out of the LGBT community? Like what do you think T stands for, triceratops?

jackoff: tricycle

eight feet: tango

Cake Boss: tiramisu

cha cha real smooth: teammate

me me big boy: tetsutetsu

barry benson: tETSTUTETSU

sword lesbian: The triceratops named Tetsutetsu that liked to tango, rides on a tricycle, eats tiramisu and is a true teammate

*

RIDLEY QUEEN: *bakugou voice* welcome tO FUCKING FLAVORTOWN

*

Kirishima: *holds knife, and is about to start cutting the carrots diagonally*

Katsuki: Hand that the fuck over, right now.

*

Katsuki: …wait attention that isn’t annoyance or frustration is a thing? People actually do that shit?

Kirishima: …bro are you ok?

*

OzaiAndUrsa'sLovechild: murder :)

HereComesDatBoi: Agreed :)

GreenOverlord: guys no!

OrangeJuiceGoVroom: i agree.

GreenOverlord: thanks Iida!

OrangeJuiceGoVroom: oh no i was agreeing with them. Definite yes on the murder.

*

“Alright, what have we got?” Momo asked as he closed the door to her room behind him. 

“Smoke inhalation.” [Bakugou] told her. “I’ve got smoke inhalation.”

*

Best Jeanist: how the fuck do i correctly kidnap a child

Snipe: Kill their parents and tell the kid that they were actually monsters sent to pretend to be their parents.

Midnight: Candy or ice cream will get most kids on your side, just make sure you let them pick the flavor.

Thirteen: Maintaining a polite and calm demeanor will encourage the child to trust you.

Naomasa: … Kidnappings are usually committed by family members or someone close to the child so if you’re going to frame someone, I’d recommend using that.

Gang Orca: Just claim they’re your kid, fake DNA test results, and absolutely deny what anyone says to the contrary.

Ectoplasm: Not announcing your intentions in a group chat full of pro-heroes is also probably helpful.

*

“I have no idea how you survived your childhood.”

“My running hypothesis is that I’m immortal. I’ve been testing it rigorously and so far it’s held up.”

*

Eraserhead: You don’t count as an adult unless you can do laundry properly, cook real food, and go to a boring dinner party without someone dragging you there.

Hawks: What do you mean “do laundry properly” you put the clothing in the clothing sink, you put the soap in, you turn it on and then once it beeps you moved it to the clothing oven.

Hawks: It’s not that hard.

*

Elphaba: sucks to be wrong doesnt it uwu

Mine-a: don’t uwu at me in that tone of text

*

“If we’re gay, how does that make us unqualified to kill space aliens? Does being hetero make us more violent?”

*

Actual Comic Books Quotes

*

Kid Devil: AH-HAH-HAH-HAHH! FLEE! FLEE FROM THIS PLACE OF GODLESS SCIENCE! THAT’S RIGHT! You have summoned the APOCALYPSE with your love of SCIENCE! I HAVE COME TO COLLECT YOUR SOULS! You brought this on yourselves! By teaching EVOLUTION!

(Beat)

Robin: Well. It IS clearing out the lab.

*

(Headbutted)

Blue Beetle: AH! That hurt through the armor! What are you packing in there?!

Lonar: JUSTICE!

Blue Beetle: You have a forehead full of justice? What does that even MEAN?!

*

Jaime: Do you think they saw us?

Dan Garrett: We’re five grown men dressed in bright colors inside a clear plastic bubble set against a rainbow background, Jaime. They saw us.

*

Dick: For what it’s worth, how’d I do with him?

Bruce: … Are you asking me if you were convincing as a homicidal maniac, Dick?

Dick: I suppose I am.

Bruce: Then yes, as a matter of fact, you were.

*

Batman: Why haven’t you taken a side?

Catwoman: I’m not like them. They’re criminals.

Batman: You’re currently breaking into a safe that’s not yours.

Catwoman: You know what I mean. I’m not like them. They're unsuccessful criminals. 

Batman: Do I need to worry about you?

Catwoman: (amused) Are you checking up on me, Bat? Are you trying to protect me?

Batman: No. No one needs to protect you.

Catwoman: Oh. Well then, yes. You very much have to worry about me.

(They kiss)

Bruce: (In the present) Afterward, I slept. When I woke, you were gone. With the diamonds.

Selina: OK, yes. But in my defense, I did warn you. I’m not exactly unsuccessful.

*

Gordon: (Rubbing his nose) Just close your eyes and think about retirement.Somewhere warm where the giant turtles don’t talk.

*

(personal favourite)

Black Mask: Somehow, I don’t think you would be surprised at all to learn the life I have chosen can be a lonely one.

Red Hood/Jason Todd: Don’t take this the wrong way, but it might have to do with the whole BDSM theme. Just saying - maybe lose the mask once in a while? (Beat) Like at breakfast, as the most immediate example.

-

These are beautiful.

[muppetjackrackham]

i want to take a moment to sit down and talk a little bit about sweeney todd.

my good friend @allthemidnightmemories has already talked about what this revival has meant to her and i want to do the same. like m, i grew up knowing who josh groban was for most of my life, but it wasn't until the last few years that i really started to connect to his music. after natasha, pierre and the great comet of 1812, i started paying more attention to his work, listening to songs like if i can't love her and dust and ashes every once in awhile and occasionally commiserating with great comet fans about the 2017 tony awards.

then they announced the revival.

now i'll admit, i was skeptical at first. josh groban as sweeney todd? the demon barber of fleet street? i wasn't nearly as invested in sweeney todd as i would be, but i had seen the 2007 film and i had a very hard time wrapping my head around the notion of josh groban playing sweeney todd on broadway...but it certainly kept my attention.

when i was a kid, i used to love musicals. i grew up with the films of the disney renaissance (i'm sure it will come as no surprise that the lion king was my personal favourite 🦁) and graduated to other musicals and films like moulin rouge and phantom of the opera. when i was in high school, i auditioned for a few of them myself. i was also bullied and picked on, which led me to quitting choir and theatre and putting as much distance between myself and the performing arts as i could. i stopped watching the films i loved, i stopped singing along in the car and the shower, and although there were a few notable exceptions every now and then, i was convinced i would never be able to enjoy it the way i used to.

sweeney todd changed that.

it was the first time in a long time i had really, truly cared about a musical. i kept up with the announcements. i read every article i could get my hands on. i watched every interview the second it was available, and when it finally started previews, i hunted down every single bootleg audio i could find until eventually i got my hands on a proper bootleg (shoutout to @bikinibottomdayz for the bootleg i purchased from them, it's absolutely gorgeous and i highly recommend their services).

much like m, it feels strange that a musical about revenge, murder and bloodshed could be so comforting, but i truly could not be more grateful for the joy and the comfort it's brought me during this particular point in my life. it reignited the love i used to have for music, it brought beautiful and wonderful new people into my life like m and @twoheartsoneclara, @loverboygf and many, many others, and for that alone i could not be more thankful. what josh and annaleigh have done with these roles has been a joy and a privilege to experience. it has introduced me to new music i wouldn't have otherwise found (chess pa svenska at 1am you will always be famous), it has inspired me creatively, and it has, above all else, become something special beyond words.

ever since they announced this brilliant, bloody revival, i have taken it upon myself to watch as many versions as i could get my hands on, and while all of them have their strengths, there is something about this revival, from the cast to the costume design, the orchestration and set design, that will undoubtedly be my favourite version for years to come.

josh and annaleigh and the cast and crew of sweeney todd, you may never see this post, but know that you have brought some much needed joy to someone in a time of need, and that they will always be so very grateful for that experience. thank you for all your hard work, your blood, sweat and tears, your laughter, your tears, and your love for what you do and for this story.

to stephen sondheim, wherever you are, thank you.

thank you.

-🦁

[savemefromanepicoftimewasted]

The Angels Are Not Ready For You Pt. 1

Joel Miller X F!Reader

Joel couldn’t let Ellie know things were going catastrophically, lest he have her start worrying even more. Shit, Joel was most likely going to end up staying awake to make sure you didn’t die throughout the night. Then again it wouldn’t be the first time someone had died on Joel’s watch. a/n:I've had this fic in my docs for MONTHS, and honestly it might be one of my personal favorites, as always feedback is much appreciated! warnings:mentions of violence, gore, near death experiences, blood, mentions of stab wounds, if i missed anything please let me know!

You were running, adrenaline pumping through your veins as you tried to escape being murdered by the goddamn teenager that managed to get the upper hand on you. It wasn’t as if you were acting like an idiot when the two of you crossed paths, she just happened to have a better knife. The wound in your side had been bleeding profusely, and if you didn’t make it back to your safe zone you would surely be dying on the side of the road. She’d managed to get all of the food you scavenged, over three months worth of food absolutely gone in the blink of an eye because you were too stupid. The blood loss was suddenly making you woozy, shit this meant you wouldn’t be able to keep going unless you finally took a look at the wound.

“Just gotta patch myself up, then I can keep going,” You had originally been running because of hunters nearby, but getting stabbed because a kid got the better of you really took the cake for shittiest day imaginable.

You turned towards one of the closest houses, hoping and praying there weren’t any clickers inside roaming around the barren bones of it. Luck seemed to finally be on your side as you stepped inside and it was completely silent. Hunters tended to stalk houses like this which made hiding from them even harder. Dropping your bag onto the floor you slowly peeled up your shirt grimacing at how sticky your shirt had become. This was how you were going to die, not by a clicker or a hunter but by a kid looking to steal your food.

“Shit,” Blood was pouring down your side, soaking into the waist of your jeans as you tried and failed to slow the bleeding.

What if the girl was with those hunters and they were now on the way to find you so they could finish you off? It wouldn’t be a quick and painless death, there was no way any man would willingly let you live without causing some of the most horrific pain to your body first. God this day couldn’t get any damn worse. With a grunt and a drawn out sigh you bandaged up the wound as best you could given the circumstances. If you could keep it from getting infected over the next few days you would be fine, just need to ride out the worst of the pain. 

Ellie wasn’t sure how Joel would react to seeing the pack of food she’d stolen from one of the hunters, considering how she’d managed to snag it while the other person was struggling to gain their footing. They were making their way back to Tommy’s compound to see if there was any chance they would be allowed to stay. There wasn’t a doubt in Ellie’s mind that Tommy wouldn’t welcome them with open arms, the brothers had gone too long without seeing one another for things to end badly.

“Hey, I managed to find some food earlier, should be enough to feed us for a while,” Ellie wasn’t going to mention how she got it, lest Joel freak out about her nearly getting killed by someone.

Joel’s head snapped up at the mention of food, it had been nearly a week since the pair had been able to eat anything remotely filling so the promise of food was a godsend. They could settle down to eat something and make the rest of the trek to Tommy’s place. It was still at least another ten miles before they reached the compound, and heading out on a full belly was much better than an empty one.

“Why don’t we find somewhere to make camp for the night and we’ll eat, that way we can keep guard in case,” Joel was looking around at the surrounding buildings, surely there was something closed off enough where they could sleep.

Ellie pointed over to one of the abandoned houses that was nearby, the windows hadn’t been broken which was a good sign that no infected were inside. He nodded his head and they both headed off to inspect the building thoroughly. There was nothing worse than assuming you were safe and having some asshole sneak up on you. There hadn’t been many instances on the way back to Jackson, something Joel was thankful for every day they traveled. Joel went into the house first, gun held tight in his right hand while his left held onto the flashlight.

He was about to yell back towards Ellie, to let her know that it was safe inside and there weren’t any hunters or infected hanging around. That was until he caught sight of a woman huddling down in the kitchen. Shit that meant the hungers were outsmarting him and nearly able to get the jump on both he and Ellie without either of them realizing til it was too late. He’d have to take care of them without Ellie realizing what he was up to.

Tiptoeing out towards the kitchen Joel rounded the kitchen island, gun drawn high as he stared down at the woman by his feet. His throat seemed to tighten, there was no way in hell that you were sitting in front of him, hand clutching your side as you stared back at him. Ellie apparently had gotten annoyed with Joel being too quiet and made her presence known. Your head whipped to where she’d stopped, fear was written all over your face. Had the two of you met and Joel was unaware?

“Please, just let me go,” You pushed away from the pair, ignoring the searing pain in your side as you stared back at the man you’d loved so long ago.

“Hey, we’re not gonna hurt ya, why don’t you come back with us?” Joel knelt down, holding out his left hand, the right currently held back towards Ellie so she wouldn’t come any closer.

Neither Ellie, nor Joel could say anything before you were off the floor and out the back door. You were determined to get somewhere safe, somewhere you could hide without the fear of being murdered. Joel didn’t hesitate to take off after you, yelling your name as you ran into a nearby building. Joel was internally cursing his knees for being so weak as he took off after you, he needed to catch up to you before you reached the school. That place was crawling with clickers, and the occasional stalker in the empty building.

“Y/N!” Joel halted to a stop the moment his body slammed into the doors you’d managed to slip through. 

There were no less than five clickers standing around the open gym in front of him, shit there was no way either of you were going to survive in this room for very long. Ellie nearly slammed into his back, stopping just seconds before colliding against the older man. Joel could just barely make out your silhouette, your hand was still clutching your side, your skin stained an ugly red. There was something about your face that brought back memories he’d thought were long since buried. Ellie was already making her way over to you, stilling in place whenever a clicker even so much as glanced towards the two of you. 

Joel wanted to yell at her that this was something beyond reckless and the three of you needed to get out of there as soon as possible. They would be much safer where it was easier to see their enemies, and right now that wasn’t the damn case. Tears were streaming down your face as Ellie finally reached where’d been trying to hide. She didn’t say a word, simply held a finger up to her lips before turning back towards Joel and making her way back. You followed slowly behind her, making sure to avoid anything on the floor that would give you both away. Joel had been holding his breath the entire time, afraid that if he breathed too hard it would alert every single clicker.

Joel held the doors as you and Ellie made your exit, he let go of the doors slowly to avoid them clanging together and gathering the attention of the clickers. Had there been hunters inside he’d have done this differently and let the doors slam loud enough to make sure no one else made it out alive. That wasn’t the current case though, and Joel wasn’t as heartless as he made himself out to be.

“Please let me go, you can have the fucking food,” Your hands had begun to shake uncontrollably, this was the beginning of the end for you.

“Food? Wait, Ellie is this who you got the food from?” Joel spun around to stare down the teenager.

“I thought she was with those hunters!” Ellie threw her hands up, refusing to take responsibility for protecting herself.

Joel could understand where she was coming from, though it didn’t settle the pit that was currently lodged in his stomach. He turned back to where you were trying, and struggling, to keep yourself upright. You’d clearly lost a lot of blood if the amount spread across your torso was any indication. He wouldn’t have much time to get you stitched up if they continued to wait any longer.

“We have a camp nearby, at least let me patch you up,” Joel wasn’t sure you’d recognized him, you hadn’t mentioned anything since he yelled your name earlier.

“I’m really sorry about stabbing you, it’s been a long year and I wasn’t sure I could trust you,” Ellie didn’t apologize easily, not after what happened at the hospital.

Joel hadn’t wanted to tell her the truth, to keep that lie buried so deep inside his chest it would never see the light of day again, unfortunately that was never the case. Unfortunately life had another idea when it came to Joel’s life and happiness. Ellie hadn’t spoken to him for months after she found out, blaming Joel for taking away her choice in the matter. Things were still tense, but at least the pair of them could have a civil conversation without the other lashing out. Unfortunately that didn’t seem to be the case with the three of you sitting together in a circle, Ellie was watching Joel like a hawk.

“I always knew you’d find a way to survive in this hellhole we call our new normal,” You didn’t give any fight when Joel wrapped his arm around you.

“I could say the same thing about you, you always refused to back down no matter what it took,” Joel had thought of you all the time, wondering if you had managed to survive the way he had.

Had you joined a group of hunters, or were you one of the lucky people that traveled alone to attract less attention? How could he even bring up the things he’d done in his past knowing he’d left you behind, breaking off that bond like it meant absolutely nothing to him. The two of you had met in the Boston QZ a few years after Joel had arrived, Tommy running off to join the fireflies like a damn moron. He couldn’t fault his brother for that though, he wanted to make a difference in the world.

“I left the QZ a few months after you did, they were killing so many innocent people and I just couldn’t keep wondering if I’d be the next victim,” You’d watched so many people you once called friends be murdered in the streets, it was sickening.

Joel kept his mouth shut, he couldn’t imagine how much worse the QZ could get after witnessing the horrors he had for so long. Children meant absolutely nothing to the Fedra soldiers, the bodies turning into ash by the end of the day. He thought of Sarah each and every time he picked up a body that was too small to be burned, her body still buried in Texas. You’d mentioned your brother once or twice to Joel, quickly changing the subject after a few brief words. Kids were always going to be a sore topic that no one wanted to touch, and now with him taking care of Ellie he kept that box sealed tight.

“We’re actually heading back to see my brother, he’s got himself a nice little compound about ten miles west,” Joel wasn’t even sure you could make it another hundred yards in your condition, but dammit he wasn’t about to lose someone else he’d cared about.

“How’s he doing? Haven’t seen him since he took off after Marlene gave him that ultimatum,” You were resting almost all of your weight against Joel’s side, fingers barely grasping onto the fabric of his shirt.

“He’s doing pretty well for himself all things considered, I’ll make sure the two of you can catch up,” Joel ignored the flutter in his stomach, thinking about you coming back to the compound with him and Ellie.

Ellie was oddly quiet beside you and Joel, hands tucked into the pockets of her hoodie as if she was afraid to speak up anymore. Joel knew she was simply trying to protect herself, lord knows they’d had to do it more often than either of them were proud of. Joel was silently thankful she never had to witness what he’d done at the hospital, it was either him or them. What if Ellie was going to tell you everything he’d done in the last few months? Killing anyone who so much as tried to step on his toes. Would you forgive him for his past actions, or would you realize what a monster he truly was deep down?

“Joel, I think we need to stop for the night,” Joel wanted to ask why Ellie seemed so nervous before he realized why, you were dead weight against him, legs dragging as he stumbled towards the safe house.

“Shit, Ellie go ahead and make sure the house is clear,” Time was running out and goddamnit he wasn’t about to bury someone else.

Reaching down to hoist you into his arms Joel’s anxiety began to rise, your breathing was shallow and harsh. He’d known about what happened but how deep had Ellie cut you? Maybe once they got back to Tommy’s he could see if there was a nurse, or a doctor to help. He wasn’t as spry as he’d once been, and right now he was struggling to even carry you to the house. Shit, this was going to be a long damn day and Joel wasn’t ready to deal with any of the consequences right now.

“It’s clear!” Ellie knew that any type of noise would attract the wrong kind of attention, even if Joel was beyond caring at this point he knew better than to yell back.

Joel laid you down onto the couch the moment everyone was inside, checking over the wound that hadn’t started to clot. He ripped open his pack, reaching for a rag to help staunch the blood that was slowly dripping down your side. Ellie was silently freaking out behind him, gathering up anything she could that could help. Joel could only hope that Ellie had managed to miss any vital organs when she stabbed you.

“C’mon, see if you can wake her so we can get some food and water in ‘er,” Joel would deny any accusation that he’d begun to panic, Joel Miller did not panic.

“I’m really sorry Joel,” Her hands were shaking almost violently, the same girl who could handle a rifle almost perfectly was scared.

Joel didn’t put any of his attention towards Ellie, there wasn’t anything he could say without sounding angry. He’d done enough emotional damage to the teenager as it was, right now they needed to focus on making sure you were alright. Blood was soaking through the rag faster than Joel could stop it. He’d lost so many people, Sarah, Tess, Frank and Bill, had nearly lost Ellie more times than he’d been able to keep track of.

“C’mon baby, I know you can keep fighting,” Joel refused to look at his hands, the way your blood was caked between the lines of his fingers.

“Let me stitch her up, it’ll stop the bleeding for now,” Ellie was by his side in a matter of seconds, startling him for a brief moment before his eyes locked on her.

It would be a risky move to take the pressure off your wound, but without closing the wound you’d surely bleed out before they could help you. Joel slowly lifted the rag frowning at how big the wound seemed to be. Ellie must’ve snuck a new knife the last time they’d been able to stock up on supplies. It had been a near jackpot with how much they’d been able to grab and throw into their packs. Food had been the only issue when it came to their adventure back to Tommy’s commune, and right now he wasn’t sure the food Elle had attempted to steal from you was worth it. Back to the point at hand, making sure you didn’t bleed out while Ellie stitched up your wound. She’d had to stitch Joel back when he was stabbed last winter, taking care of him to make sure he didn’t succumb to the warm embrace of death.

Your skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat, hands shaking slightly as you laid otherwise limp against the couch. The next best thing would be to get some medicine and food in you, the wound couldn’t get infected no matter what. Joel brushed a few strands of hair away from your face, checking to make sure you weren’t hurt besides the obvious wound.

“Do you think they’ll make it to Tommy’s?” Ellie had learned to bury her fear deep down, not letting anyone know how scared she truly was. Not after Sam.

“As long as she stays stable through the night we’ll be fine,” Joel wasn’t entirely sure whether or not you were even going to survive the next few hours.

It was going to be a waiting game for the next twelve hours, if you couldn’t fight to survive you’d be just another unmarked grave along the way. Thankfully the weather was warm enough that they wouldn’t need to keep you covered with blankets to stave off the cold, Joel knew all too well how horrible that was.

“I’m going to scour the area a little more, keep an eye and make sure nothing happens to her please,” Joel kept his gaze on Ellie, he knew the moment he so much as glanced at you he’d refuse to leave the safety of the house.

Ellie nodded at him, cleaning around your wound before taping gauze around it with the little supplies they had left. She put most of the blame on herself, had she just grabbed your bag and ran none of this would’ve happened and Joel wouldn’t be paranoid. Things had been going fine for so long, why the hell did this have to happen? If you died Joel wouldn’t forgive her at all, not after seeing the way Joel looked at you when he thought she wasn’t aware. Your eyes were fluttering behind closed lids, shit what if you were having a nightmare and ended up thrashing to the point the stitches ripped?

Before Ellie could open her mouth to yell for Joel your hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her entirely. She didn’t fight back, your wound had to have been screaming in pain as you kept a tight grip on the teenager. Shit what if Joel came back inside and thought you’d been infected and managed to turn when his back was turned?

“Where is he?” Your voice was weak, strength waning as you waited for Joel to come back inside.

“He’s doing patrol, does it everyday to make sure we’re safe,” Ellie was truly terrified in that moment, how much longer would she be in this position?

“Shit, of course he does,” You could vaguely remember the way Joel had hardly slept at times, too paranoid that Fedra would be busting down the door to take you away.

Right at that moment Joel stepped back inside, eyes locking on the way you were clutching onto Ellie. Well this wasn’t what he’d hoped to come back inside to, but life hadn’t been kind to him in a long while.

“Hey, just let go of her and we can talk,” Joel knelt down slowly, he was getting too old to do any of this.

Your arms eased off of Ellie slowly, wincing as she brushed against your side to get back to the safety that was Joel’s back. He knew you wouldn’t be able to properly fight off any kind of attack but it didn’t put him at ease either way. Why had you gone after Ellie when they’d just gotten you settled somewhere safe, or what could be considered safe. 

“How far are we from your brother's place?” You weren’t sure what you wanted the answer to be, nothing sounded positive in the moment.

“About ten miles, it’s all mainly downhill which should be easier with your wound,” Joel glanced at your side noticing your shirt seemed to still be sticky.

“And you’re not going to kill me?” Your voice was shaky, whether it was fear of the sudden lack of adrenaline coursing through your body you weren’t sure.

“I can assure you we’re not going to kill you, Tommy’s compound will keep you safe,” What could he even say to truly reassure you that things weren’t that bad?

Ellie had slipped out of the room entirely, hiding away in one of the spare bedrooms on the first floor. Would you be more comfortable sleeping in a bed where you had more space? Maybe Joel could help you up to the master bedroom and get you comfortable.

“There’s a couple rooms, we’re going to stay the night and then finish the trek tomorrow, does that sound good?” Joel waited until you nodded, sliding his arms beneath you gently before lifting you off the couch.

He would have to get a shirt from Ellie’s bag and give it to you to replace the blood stained one, nothing worse than having them assume you were infected. Would you be able to handle that much walking with your wound? When Joel had been stabbed he was out for nearly two weeks, that was a bad time.

You’d tried to keep your eyes open, truly you did, but the pain was too much to bear and soon you had slipped into the dark embrace of unconsciousness. Joel couldn’t let Ellie know things were going catastrophically, lest he have her start worrying even more. Shit, Joel was most likely going to end up staying awake to make sure you didn’t die throughout the night. Then again it wouldn’t be the first time someone had died on Joel’s watch.

“Stay with us, don’t need Ellie beating me up cause you managed to die,” Joel gently laid you down on the bed, pulling the blanket over your limp frame.

Shirt first, then he could sit down and eat something before getting ready to sit by your side until tomorrow morning. Ellie was probably already asleep, or snacking on some food since it had been a few days. The hike was going to be treacherous, especially with the injuries you had it would take even longer. Taking one final glance to where you were laying Joel headed out of the bedroom in search of Ellie. She was exactly where he’d expected her to be, curled up in front of the fireplace with a can of chef boyardee.

“Please tell me you cooked that first,” Joel knelt down beside her, carefully sitting down with a small huff. “Yeah, made enough for you too since she’s asleep,” Ellie was eating much slower than he expected, practically savoring each bite.

“Thanks,” Joel grabbed the pot lid carefully, scooping up a ravioli into his mouth and chewing slowly.

The air outside was whipping harshly, reminding both Joel and Ellie that they weren’t close enough to the compound to truly feel safe.

“She’s really pretty,” Ellie had finished her dinner, stirring around the remaining sauce in the pot.

“Yeah, she definitely hasn’t lost her looks,” Joel shoveled another ravioli into his mouth before he could keep talking, more embarrassed by what he was saying.

Ellie wasn’t sure what else to say, she’d run into you by complete accident and acted on purely instinct to avoid getting hurt. Except it clearly had hurt Joel in a way, just because it wasn’t physical didn’t mean it didn’t do any harm. There were a few doctors at the compound, if they were able to get you back safely they’d fix you right up and Joel wouldn’t be mad at Ellie anymore… Right?

You’d barely made it through the night, waking up in a cold sweat every few hours as a fever started to take over. Joel had been by your bedside the entire time, ignoring every obligation he had to make sure you were alright. Maybe it was selfish of him but he needed things to turn out alright. The first few miles were a little rocky, Joel wasn’t sure you would be able to stay on your feet the entire time. It wasn’t until you were right outside of the compound that everything started to sink in. Ellie could hold herself up in the bedroom and hide until Joel came searching for her. Maybe she’d get enough time to sit and wallow in peace before he came storming in and blaming her for why someone else he cared about almost died by her hands.

Ellie had blamed herself for a lot of things, but whenever someone died because of her, well that shit really stuck. Joel hoisted you in his arms before running into the compound, screaming that he needed a doctor to help get your fever under control. Ellie snuck off quietly, leaving behind Joel as Tommy ran over with someone she assumed was important. Of course she was absolutely starving, the food they’d eaten the night before didn’t do much to curb her hunger. She wouldn’t go to the mess hall though, not with Joel being out and about while they did whatever they could to help you. She really missed Riley, she’d know what to do in this type of situation.

Maria caught a glance of Ellie as she made her way back to her and Joel’s shared home, roughly wiping at the tears that slipped down her cheeks. Maria knew better than to go after the teen and ask her what was wrong. Could it have been the woman that Joel had come in with, was she upset they had brought another stranger in? She would have to ask Tommy about it all later when they had dinner, right now she was busy taking care of her daughter.

Ellie had locked her door the moment she was inside, stripping off her backpack and jacket with an angry huff. This was all her fault, everything that happened was all her fucking fault. Why did she have to go after you, when you were just trying to defend yourself?

“Goddammit!” She kicked the dresser harshly, wincing as pain shot through her foot and shin.

Great, now she’d gone and gotten herself hurt as well, no wonder Joel hadn’t wanted to keep her around before. The sun was just starting to set outside the windows to her left, bathing the room in a soft orange glow. Maybe a nap would help, not like there was much else she could do anyway. First though she’d take a much needed shower and get into some clean clothes. Going over to the closet that Maria must have stocked when they left, Ellie dug through to find some clothes. A plain old t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants would have to do the job for now, clean off the grime and sleep the issues away.

Joel was terrified, you’d been nearly comatose the entire time since they arrived back in Jackson. Your fever finally dropped, which put him at ease for a brief moment before he came back to the reality that you’d be asleep for a while. Tommy had promised him you were in good hands, that they’d make sure you would be perfectly fine. How could Joel possibly believe them? You were someone he’d lost all those years ago, and yet here you were right in front of him. Maybe he should get something to eat and take a shower, wouldn’t do him any good if he was starving and stunk like shit by the time you woke up.

“Could you come and get me if she wakes up, please?” Joel didn’t want to sound desperate, but there was an underlying urgency to his tone.

“Of course, we’ll alert Tommy right away to find you,” It was the best they could do, Joel was still a stranger to these people.

Joel left without looking back at you, he knew well enough that if he saw you lying peacefully on that hospital bed he’d never want to leave. Without letting himself doubt anything Joel made his way to the house, it was time for a shower and then to get something to eat. Maybe he could stock up their kitchen with what they had and cook for Ellie and you one night. Wouldn’t be for a while of course, Joel needed to make sure he was in the people’s good graces first and foremost. As he made his way up to his own bedroom he frowned when he noticed Ellie’s light was turned off, had she gone to bed?

“Ellie?” Joel knocked on her door carefully, frowning further as he noticed the door was locked.

“Sweetheart, you okay?” She’d have said if something was bothering her, right?

Joel waited for any type of answer, or even any movement that let him know Ellie was in her bedroom. The soft sound of rustling sheets gave him the answer he was looking for, at least he knew she was safe. Turning and heading back to his own bedroom Joel tried to figure out where to go from here. First thing would be a shower, then some food. Shit, should he bring something back and leave it in the fridge for Ellie? Surely she’d be hungry after the journey they just had. He was shocked at how stocked the closet was, there definitely weren’t this many clothes the last time they’d been here. Had they been hoping he and Ellie had come back? Goddammit, Joel didn’t need to start getting emotional over things like this.

Grabbing the necessary clothes Joel headed over to the bathroom attached to his bedroom. It was smaller than their main bathroom, but that didn’t bother him at all. There were a few new things in the bathroom as well, different types of soaps, shaving cream, and even a razor. God, when’s the last time Joel was able to shave? He’d gotten so used to having facial hair he hadn’t even thought about it before. Maybe he could trim it later, he’d definitely need a haircut eventually, his hair was getting too damn long.

He set down his clothes before turning to the shower, cranking the handle to the left so the water would be hot enough to wash away all the grime. Steam had begun to fill the small space as Joel stripped down, looking over the many scars that littered his body. The one on his right side stuck out the most, that time had been so traumatic for Ellie and he blamed himself daily. Had he just been able to see the asshole coming he wouldn’t have been injured, but it was his right side, and Joel had all but lost all his hearing on that side.

Now wasn’t the time to think about his past mistakes, that would happen when he was laying in bed like any other normal person. Joel chuckled to himself and stepped under the scalding spray, groaning as the water rushed down his aching back. He grimaced as the water darkened with dirt, sweat, and a little bit of blood. Grabbing one of the bars of soap Joel started to lather it in his hands before scrubbing at his body and hair. As long as Joel was clean he didn’t care about anything else right now. Well, except for making sure you and Ellie were alright, but that was Joel's number one priority all the time.

Once he was finally clean, Joel stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel closest to him, drying off his body and hair before getting dressed. The clothes were a damn near perfect fit, and he wasn’t sure if that was due to losing even more weight during their journey home. No time to think about stuff like that right now, he needed to get some food. He’d get something to eat and bring something home to Ellie. Maybe he could go back and sit with you for a little while as long as Tommy didn’t need him.

So much to do and so little time. Joel was getting too damn old for this shit.