#i’m still working in a research laboratory and i’m loving every second of it

[requiem626k]

Hello everyone <3 please tell me what has been going on in your lives and its main events, I’m dying to hear about how y’all have been doing since we last talked 🥹

[bloodgutsdevilcake]

Dr Octavius x GN Reader SMUT

Gender Neutral pronouns, Anal, choking with tentacles, deep throating tentacles, lowkey temperature play, minor mentioning of exhibitionism, anal creampie, n yeeeaah this one took me a while to write and if it flops Imma be so disappointed. This is actually the longest fic I have ever written and thats why it took so long, I wanted something big. I had to do some research about Otto in order to get this right because I do like spiderman but I’m more of an xmen/xforce kinda gal. Again this was written for a friend as her valentine’s day gift which is crazy bc I’m still not done writing everything for that gift and Valentine’s day is coming up. 

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

The skies were crying, each drop of water splattering itself against the large windows of the decrepit building you carefully walked into. The paint on the brick walls were rotting off, white decayed into a tan and lightning booming in the sky highlighted every crevice the brick exposed. Lights from passing cars below you shined in the window. You were in the most comfortable clothes you owned but that left you exposed to the chill hanging in the air. Between the rain and the empty building around you, you couldn’t help but wander over to the laboratory, through the dark and arching hallways, under the torn curtains that separated the lab from the rest of your makeshift home. 

“Otto, I’m coming in.” you announced, making sure that you were clear just in case any of his experiments were unstable and dangerous for you to be around. There was no response so you walked in to find him sitting in a chair by his desk, his shirt was taken off to make it easier for him to examine the tendril connected to his being. He was so focused, you didn’t want to interrupt whatever was happening in his head. 

Instead, you made yourself a cup of coffee from the pot near his desk, and walked over to the pile of pillows in the corner to sit near him. You grabbed a blanket and sat leaning against the large window occupying the entire wall. It was hard not to steal glances towards Octavius. Him just sitting could turn heads, but it’s a different kind of attention than what he gets when he walks the streets. Not one of secrecy or alarm, but of adoration for his brilliance and beauty.

You snickered to yourself quietly, if Otto ever heard you call him beautiful you think he would scowl so hard he’d look like a pug. He often sports a glare but in this moment, where he feels alone with his thoughts, his face is calm and neutral, the antithesis of his thoughts, surely. He was always thinking, always working towards his next course of action. In the dim room, you admired the robotic arm in his hands. 

Your eyes trailed up to his back, where scars litter his expanse of skin and lead to the other three robotic arms that fused into his spine. How painful was it to have been fused with metal, both physically and mentally? He never really talked about it. You couldn’t do anything but accept that, having your fair share of sore spots. 

You looked back out of the window for a second only to look at the rain falling. Then you looked at Otto’s face, admiring the way the only lamp in the room reflected off his glasses. His short hair barely covered his forehead. Just behind his glasses, you could see his crows feet that got accentuated anytime he smiled and anytime he sneered. The downward curve of his sharp nose only accentuated his puppy dog eyes. Anytime you looked in his eyes, in his sweet, sad brown eyes, he could ask for anything and you’d give it to him undoubtedly. 

“How long are you planning on staring at me?” Otto rasped out. 

“However long you’ll let me,” you purred, “I can’t help it. You’re just so interesting.” You smiled at him, placing your elbow on your knee to get a better look at him. He scoffed at your comment causing your smile to widen. You loved to tease and he knew this well enough to be used to it. 

“What? You don’t want me to?” you pouted, playfully of course but you pulled a convincing act because as soon as Otto looked at you his face softened. A sly grin replaced your pout and he scowled at you. 

“You are trouble. What do you want? Attention?” Otto turned to you, sporting a smirk of his own.

“I’ll take it if you’re willing to give it. ” At that he stood, stretching out his arms giving you a perfect view of his chest and stomach. He walked over to you, and you didn’t miss the slight bounce in his chest. Your breath hitched when he squatted in front of you resting his hand on his knee and the other on your chin forcing you to look up at him from your lounging position. 

“You’ll take it? Are you so sure you can handle what I’m about to do to you?” Otto smirked when he felt you gulp. You were too nervous to look anywhere but his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed covering them in a shadow of danger as they pierced into your vision.

“Yes,” you gasped, “yes, please.” Your eyebrow quipped hoping it’d be enough to ask nicely. From the way his grip on your chin shifted to your jaw, you figured he was satisfied with your answer. He lifted you from your cozy spot. As soon as you got to your feet, your back was forcefully pressed against the glass drawing a gasp from you. It was so cold and a little damp with condensation. 

He lifted your thighs with his metal tendril to wrap your legs around his waist. His skin was the only warmth you could feel besides the heat growing in your groin. He rubbed against you, melting away any chill you felt. 

“You’re already begging?” Otto chuckled, gripping your jaw enough to pucker your lips. “Why don’t we put that mouth to good use? They've been wanting to fill you since you walked in.” His tentacles curl up your back, dragging their way under your sweatshirt. You could feel the chilling ridges that allow their sophisticated movement. In a blink, your clothes were ripped off. Their torn shreds falling off of you exposing yourself to Otto. Shivers spread from your spine into your ribs at the feeling of the window against your bare skin. 

The tentacles, now entangled in your limbs forcing you open for Otto’s piercing gaze, gently caress the side of your cheek, almost pleading to feel you. Slowly you opened your mouth, your tongue felt dry in the open air. Slinking towards your mouth, the tendril slowly rubbed against your lips only to enter your mouth suddenly. 

You gasped in surprise, choking slightly on the limb now encompassed in your mouth. Otto released a cruel chuckle at your slight asphyxiation. He allowed you a breath of air before entering your mouth once again. The thick metal tendrils slithered down your throat making you gag over the textured hinges. 

“You look so beautiful like this. So pathetic. So perfect. ” he smirked down at you. His hand caressed your sides gently, totally opposing the power behind the tentacle’s thrusts. You whimpered, swallowing spit and air any chance you could get. Saliva still dripped down your chin at his movement, it fell against your chest and grazed Otto’s erect cock that was already weeping precum. You couldn't tell when he took his cock out. All you could focus on was trying to breathe, and he took full advantage of that. 

He had made himself busy with sucking at your neck. He sucked hickies down your chest and started groping at your asscheeks, spreading them apart and squeezing them with his sturdy, large hands. He moved from your ass to your sex, playing with it harshly, matching the thrusts in your throat. He stroked you, forcing you to moan against his metal appendage. 

Your moans didn't escape him, though they were muffled. Your teeth were lightly scratching against his tentacle making him shiver. Otto could feel the way your throat tightened when you tried to breath and how ragged your breaths were. He could practically feel the way your heart pounded in your chest, the anticipation of him filling your hole being too much for you. He slowed down significantly, wanting your attention on him.

"What do you want?" he groaned in your ear nipping at the shell. "You want me to fuck you? Come on Darling, use your words." You couldn't speak even if you wanted to so you did the next best thing, you sobbed around him. Any semblance of words were muffled and tears were falling down your cheeks. Your face felt hot, your tongue was numb, and all you wanted was Otto to stroke you faster or to just start fucking you. 

It wasn't enough for him. He needed to hear you. He wanted to feel your puffy lips on his skin, not the vague tingling feeling of metal warming. He finally pulled his tendril out of your mouth allowing you to take your first full breath of air in a while. You gasped, your lungs burning and face hot. Your throat was scratchy and dry but your face was a harsh contrast, being soaked with snot and tears and drool. Yet when Otto looked down at you, you didn't feel judged, you felt wanted. He wanted you, needed you. 

When you could finally breathe without wheezing you gasped out, "Please, Otto. Please, I need you. Need you inside me." You wanted to hold him, to be released from his tendrils that ached against your joints and rubbed your skin raw. The hinges must have made a red, angry imprint on your arms already. He chuckled at your desperation, knowing full and well he felt the same. 

His thick cock rubbed against your hole, precum lubing your already dripping entrance. You could feel the curve of his tip split you open. He was so warm, his slick cock entered you slowly, almost painfully so. After being mouth fucked so hard your jaw grew numb, you almost came from him entering you all the way. You felt so stretched out, not full but contently stuffed. You whined at him to start moving, to start fucking you as hard as he had been before, you wanted him to be rough with you. You wanted him to manhandle you, to grab you and throw you around like a doll. He was already holding you in place, he might as well use this to his advantage. 

But no. Otto wanted to take his time with you. He would wait until you were begging for him, not that you weren’t already. He wanted you to need him so badly you cried, just so that he can wipe away those tears and fuck you until you bruise. He would of course take care of you after, and watch your pathetic form shake and shatter. 

He started a grinding pace, accentuating how much you constricted around him. You sobbed, wanting to hold onto him, hold onto anything, but he was so far away and you were no match for the strength of his tendrils. The only warmth you could feel from him was his dick grinding against your gummy walls practically teasing you. That was all you could focus on besides the cold pinching grip on your arms and thighs, curling around your legs and up your neck. 

Your throat was still burning and with every slow thrust you could feel the tentacle pressure on the column of your neck, pulsing on it over and over again. It wanted back inside you, it wanted to feel your warmth again and you could tell that Otto was holding back. His hands were shaking as they gripped your jaw gently. 

He kissed you, feverishly, and though his touch never harshened, his grip pressed into you. His chest pressed against your chest, his pace increased and he pulled his hips back and thrusted into you. You cried into the kiss. Sobs wracked your chest. You felt electrified to finally get the closeness you wanted, needed, craved. His taste was addicting, though you mainly tasted leftover metal from the titanium-steel tentacles, there was a hint of spearmint and myrrh. You tried to claw your way closer to him, digging into your own hands and pressing your chest impossibly closer. He groaned into your mouth as you clenched around him, pulling him in deeper. 

“Patience,” he chided, “tell me what you want.” You whimpered and writhed in his grasp, fighting to touch him. He tsked at you, clicking his tongue while looking down his nose at you. His thrusting stopped all together, making you cry harder.

“I won’t move until you tell me what you want.” Otto scolded. 

“Please, I need you. Go faster, please!” Your voice was still hoarse but didn’t hurt as much as before. He chuckled at you, his wolfish grin sending shivers down your spine.

“I know you can do better than that. Go on, Precious.” he was almost whispering in your ear, his breath hitting your ear, cascading warmth down your neck. Your brows furrowed into a pout, this was frustrating. You could barely talk right now, you just wanted him to make you feel good. 

“Please, Otto. I want you to fuck me. I want you to fuck me so hard I bruise, please fuck me! ” Your voice got higher in desperation as you wiggled in his grasp. Otto nodded, satisfied by your submission.

“That’s more like it.” He growled, lifting you up with the tentacles and adjusting you so that your face and chest was pressed against the glass. Your breath fogged up the chilling glass near your face. You could only see the blurring city lights as he started fucking your ass at an unrelenting pace. You whined and gasped when your cheek pressed against the glass. 

His tendril tightened against your throat, pulling you back to meet his thrusts. The glass around your mouth fogged rhythmically. Your lungs burned. Your face was so soaked you almost slid every time you were pressed against the window. 

A haze glossed over your eyes. As much as you would like to, you couldn't focus your vision on anything. Were people able to see you, able to see your chest pressed against the glass and the way your arms contorted behind your back. Or was your form hidden behind the fog of your lustful torture. 

The burn of Otto's dick entering you over and over was cooked down by the frosted window and the freezing metal around you. Your body shook. Your voice was raspy. You couldn't think. You couldn't speak. All you knew was the feeling of Otto Octavius and his passion for you and how much he can stretch you out.

You're sex was coated in release from him playing with and fucking you. If he kept up you were sure to black out from pleasure. You only barely registered the tendril moving from your throat to your cheek. 

With your face pressed open against the glass, then tendril snaked its way into your mouth again releasing a hiss of pleasure from Otto. With your ass and mouth filled to the brim with Otto, it was natural that your sex leaked more, practically dripping onto the floor. He speared through you like a skewer through a hunk of meat. 

At some point there was little rhythm to his thrusts but from how numb your limbs were getting in the tendrils grasp that was all you could feel. You came again, constricting around Otto and his tentacle. His groans got closer together, his thrusts became sloppy and the tendril in your mouth thrusted itself so deep you were sure it could touch his dick. 

You couldn't breathe but you could feel Otto's dick twitch in you and the spread of warmth through your ass. The tendril stopped moving causing you to gag over the girth of it. He didn't pull out and didn't move his tendril. You were stuck praying for air but not being able to pull together a coherent thought if you wanted to. 

As soon as you started seeing black spots in your vision he finally pulled out of you. He looked down at you, adjusting you to face him gently. His smirk was cruel but you gained however much you could of strength to reach out for him. His hand brushed away your sweat damp hair and he kissed your forehead. His tendrils set you back down on the pile of pillows you were sitting on before. 

"You were so good." he laid next to you, holding you to his chest. "Took everything I gave you." He felt so warm as his tendril laid a blanket over the both of you. While you felt sticky and soaked, washing was the last thing on your mind and Otto's as well. When you started to feel the rumble of snores in Otto's chest you finally passed out with his scent surrounding you.

[whatifyoulivelikethat]

a kiss from the moon | jjk

pairing(s): jungkook x reader

summary: All these years, all these summers, Jeon Jungkook has loved you. His problem? You have no idea. Mostly because he has always said it far too platonically and thrown up in your lap after saying it. Drunk. Fuck. Oh, yeah, and you're also Park Jimin's best friend since preschool. Shit.

warnings: language; alcohol consumption; pining; JK gets distracted by (your) tits during his quest, typical; non-idol!BTS - purple-haired!Jungkook x sleepy af, noona!reader, ft Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung radiating big soulmate energy; childhood friends-to-lovers

yes, it's JK from the 'Butter' beach photos

--

“I love you!”

You lifted your head out of the mountain of pillows, groggy and hazy, squinting at the moonlight filtering through the floating curtains. The night breeze was warm, drifting in softly with the low hum of cicadas. But what was that other sound? That other sound was familiar, wasn’t it?

You heard your name being shouted, followed by, “Wake up!”

You made a face and stumbled out of the bed, sticking your head out of your bedroom window, your own hair flying back and smacking you in the face.

“Yah! Jeon Jungkook, are you trying to wake up the whole damn neighborhood?!”

“Get down here!”

You put on your best disgruntled expression and peered down at the form on your front lawn, shoving your own hair aside.

“What are you going on about?” you muttered, seeing Jeon Jungkook looking up at you, puffing his cheeks, long wet purple hair fading to gray because of the chlorine from swimming all night at that party Park Jimin had invited you to earlier today, to which you had responded, no thanks, I’m going to sleep all day, I worked three double shifts in a row and I have zero desire to be flung into your family’s swimming pool at this time, but I will acknowledge that your offer is very generous, and then promptly passing out for a good – you glanced at your phone with the pink bunny case Jungkook had given you two summers ago – ten hours and it was still not enough for you to comprehend why your best friend’s best friend was standing on your front lawn yelling at your parents’ house that you were watching for a month while they were in Italy getting drunk on far too expensive wine and eating cheese they probably couldn’t pronounce.

Jungkook was shirtless, clad only in orange swim shorts and sandals like a fucking hooligan. He was clutching a plastic red Solo cup and he threw it at the house, yelling your name again.

“Oh my fucking God, don’t litter, you idiot!” you bellowed back, throwing yourself away from the windowsill and crawling on the floor to your bedroom door like the evolution of mankind, making it from all fours to two legs by the time you got to the stairs – good thing too, you might have broken your neck if you were still disoriented – and you dragged yourself downstairs, yanking your white slip dress straight. Not your choice of pajamas. Your mom’s, who told you to be more ladylike, whatever the fuck that meant, and who also informed you in the same breath that it was your only choice of pajamas since they donated all your clothes from high school.

Awesome.

You go to university and your parents yeet all evidence that they had a child and go vacationing.

Good for them.

You wrenched your front door open and shoved your feet into your dad’s giant brown sandals and clapped your way over to the pink-faced, mildly drunk, shirtless man in swimming trunks on your front lawn.

“It’s two in the morning. Why are you standing here drunk and professing your love like some kind of deranged Romeo?” you sighed, rubbing your eyes. “Why aren’t you at Jimin’s?” You spied the red Solo cup and picked it up, whipping your head back to Jeon Jungkook.

He was staring at you with his mouth open.

Charming.

He didn’t say anything for a good ten seconds.

“Alright, fine, let me call my loser of a best friend and tell him to pick up his loser of a best friend, so I can go back to sleep,” you muttered, about to turn around.

Jungkook seemed to sputter back to life. “Wait, um, noona–”

“He speaks! He’s not dead.”

“A… Ah… Um…”

You squinted at him and reached up to knock the side of his head. “Hello? Anyone in there?”

Jungkook blurted out, “I love you.”

His breath smelled a lot like alcohol.

“Yeah, I got that. You also said that when I got you through your Chemistry and World History exams. Both times. You also say that to like, what, six of your guy friends? Don’t get me started on the amount of times you’ve said it and thrown up in my lap right after. Don’t do that this time,” you added sternly, prodding at his chest. “I’ve got one set of pajamas because my mom forgets that human beings change clothes, so throw up on the grass.”

“Uh… that’s pajamas…?”

“Lady pajamas,” you grumbled sarcastically, lifting the lid and chucking the crumpled Solo cup into your parents’ trash can. “Since I’m not lady enough apparently according to my mom, even though I’m ninety-nine percent sure giant band t-shirts are completely unisex but, whatever, it’s just a dress, not a big deal.”

“Um.”

You looked at Jungkook, who looked back at you, who put your hands up and gestured him to say something, who in response rose his hands and flapped them in confusion, giving you absolutely zero helpful communication. The movement reminded you he had gotten his right arm and hand tattooed in the last couple years, the black ink standing out against tan skin. You hadn’t seen him too many times during your university years, too busy completing research papers and staying late nights in laboratories, only to now end up working on hospital software and sitting on your ass all day. Life, eh? These past three days were spent on working through bugs for the next software update and you had maybe lost all social skills as you attempted to unravel lines of code that you stared at for forty-eight out of the past seventy-two hours.

Fun!

“Do you need a cookie? A shower? The Bible?” you offered, waving your hands. “Maybe tell me why you’re here, yes?”

He was staring and you realized you were slightly bent over in your gesture, your breasts firmly pressed into the cups of the slip dress. You straightened and Jungkook’s wide dark brown eyes went back to your face.

“I… I didn’t realize you had come back, noona.”

You raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I told Jimin last week. He said he was hanging out with you and Taehyung. I figured he’d just tell you guys then.”

Jungkook shook his head quickly, gray-purple hair flying about. He pointed to the left, where Jimin’s house was several blocks over. “He only mentioned it just now, when he was throwing up in the bathroom from doing eight shots in a row because Taehyungie dared him.”

“…. Maybe he needs the Bible…” you muttered, shaking your head.

Then the realization hit you.

“Did you walk here from Jimin’s and straight up abandon the party?”

Jungkook tilted his head and thought about it. “Yeah.”

You looked around to find the camera and see if you were being pranked, but there was no camera because this life wasn’t purely for entertainment, right? Nah, this wasn’t The Matrix.

Mhm.

“Hah, well, what’s wrong? Are you upset I didn’t go to the party or something? I had three double-shifts this week, I wasn’t going to be any fun passed out before actually drinking–”

“Yoongi-hyung was passed out before drinking.”

“In some ways, I swear that guy and I are the same person,” you laughed, shaking your head. “Anyway, I’m sorry I didn’t go and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I really banked on Jimin not being an airhead, but once again he is, so maybe I should reconsider him as my best friend…”

“Noona, I…”

You looked up from your mental consideration of Park Jimin’s pros and cons, the first pro being he punched that ex of yours that cheated on you with some Tinder hookup and that was already enough to stop contemplating, so you blinked at Jungkook curiously, looking into wide brown eyes, long strands of ash-purple floating around his handsome face from the night breeze, brushing against his parted lips, highlighting the mole underneath them, placed perfectly in the center like a kiss from the moon itself.

“Can I take a shower and sleep it off here?”

You tilted your head. “Yeah, sure. You can borrow my dad’s clothes. You should call Jimin though. You don’t want him to panic that he lost you.”

“Y… Yeah, okay…”

-

Jeon Jungkook really thought he could say it this time.

Collected all his courage and ran, ran as fast as he could, couldn’t believe Jimin had neglected to say she was coming home over the summer for more than a day, days without her reminding Jungkook that he was a coward for not saying it when he could have, having lost his most important person in the world because he was too afraid of telling Park Jimin that he was in love with his best friend.

He remembered that smile wearing nothing but a large t-shirt, sitting on Jimin’s bedroom floor, crushing all of them at UNO and cackling as Jimin blew up for ending up in last place for the third time in a row, yelling that the game was rigged, and Jungkook remembered thinking, I should tell her tonight.

And he didn’t.

He remembered her saying to Taehyung that she just wasn’t into girly things. They were having this argument over pizza and Taehyung was waving his around saying she should at least try a dress on every once in a while, never know, might actually like it, and her rolling her eyes as she shot back that she didn’t have to do anything just because it was stereotypical for her gender. Taehyung told her to stop using big words and waved his hands, accidentally flinging his pizza slice into her lap, and Jungkook remembered thinking, I should tell her after we clean up.

And he didn’t.

He remembered seeing her prepare to leave for university once again, holding a small package from the internet and handing it to her, a small but practical belated birthday gift, both of them surprised when she opened it, not the matte black phone case he had ordered, but somehow mixed up with a pink bunny phone case that had no business being owned by someone who didn’t like girly things.

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t order this–”

And she laughed, shaking her head. “That’s okay, I gotta go, thanks anyway, Jungkook!”

The years went by and every year Jungkook told himself, this is the one, and every year he just couldn’t say it.

He thought he could say it now, drunk and furious at Jimin for not preparing him for this moment, but on his way here Jungkook figured that perhaps this was preferred, that maybe it was better that he couldn’t sit around nervously overthinking what to say.

But, of course, the problem was…

He had already said it in a platonic way.

Shit.

He really fucked himself throughout the years.

Jungkook sighed, now wearing borrowed clothes, holding the note of her handwriting as he rubbed his hair with the towel.

I washed your shorts and they’re hang-drying now. You can sleep in the guest room. I left a glass of water and some hangover meds. If you need anything, I’ll be asleep but you can attempt to wake the dead if you want.

He walked down the hall, towel around his shoulders. Her bedroom door was open. He stood outside the entrance, sighing, seeing her sleeping form and her bedside table, her phone sitting on the charger.

His breath caught in his throat as he recognized that pink bunny phone case.

-

“Where’s Jungkook?”

“Probably at her parents’ place, confessing his love,” Kim Taehyung snickered, picking up the beer bottles left behind next to the pool.

“Hah, of course he would leave without cleaning up,” Park Jimin grumbled, pushing the recycling bin along as Taehyung tossed each bottle inside.

“You think he’s gonna tell her?”

“He didn’t even tell me,” Jimin muttered, shoving used napkins into the bag hanging off the side of the recycling bin that he was going to toss into the trash later. “I had to find out from you. I think he’s hopeless. Why does he like her anyway? She’s fun to be around, yeah, she’s good at school, yeah, knows a lot of random facts, yeah, if you get into philosophy with her like Namjoon-hyung does, you begin to question humanity and reality, yeah, but other than that…”

“You hitting on your best friend, dude?”

“I mean, she’s kinda hot, she wouldn’t say no to me.”

Taehyung snorted.

Jimin smacked him in the ass with the recycling bin.

“Anyway, he’s probably just standing in her bedroom creepily watching her sleeping.”

-

Jungkook stared down at her sleeping form.

He looked up, looking out the window into the late, late night. He was tired, and yet he couldn’t sleep, too busy wondering.

I don’t deserve her if I’m not brave enough to say it.

“Jungkook?”

-

You squinted at the large form in your bedroom.

“Why are you just staring moodily out the window?” you mumbled, rubbing your eyes. “Is something wrong? Are you hungry? I can make you a snack…”

“Noona, do you know what the worst feeling in the world is?” he asked softly, still looking out into the warm night.

You grunted and scrunched up your face. “Stepping on a Lego?”

You heard Jungkook laugh and you smiled a little despite your groggy state, hearing a little bit of his old self, the younger Jungkook hanging out with you, Jimin, and, later, Taehyung, the four of you getting up to no good. Somehow, in the past few years, he had gotten quieter and quieter, at least around you, but then again you only came home to visit for a day or two before going back to university.

“Have you ever been in love, noona?”

“Yeah, with the red bean popsicles they used to sell at the ice cream trucks, but then they stopped, those assholes, I’ve never been so heartbroken in my life,” you grumbled, remembering the day where the ice cream man told you they were sold out and your young teenage heart shattering.

“I love you, you know.”

Was this a fever dream? Why did he keep repeating himself? You looked over to his back, still looking outside onto the street, the street where you all used to run and laugh every summer, pretending you were surviving in the wild and not in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, sitting around sipping lemonade and complaining about the heat even though you all could have gone inside, lighting sparklers at night and seeing whose would last the longest even though such a thing was only based on chance anyway.

“Is that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?” he added quietly.

“The worst thing I’ve ever heard was accidentally hearing Jimin jacking off. Twice.”

Jungkook finally turned around, giving you a disgusted look. “What?”

You placed a hand on your face and sighed heavily, trying not to remember. “For some reason he thinks the bathroom isn’t echoey or something, like, at least do it in the shower, so the water masks the sound…” You chuckled, shaking your head. “Anyway, I would much rather hear you say you have love for me than listening to Jimin getting off.”

“I don’t have love for you.”

You raised your hand from your face and shifted your gaze to him, half-smile lingering on your lips from remembering Jimin’s carelessness. You made eye contact the second the words left his mouth, those brown eyes shrouded in shadows, but still so clear, a little helpless, a little sad.

“I’m in love with you,” Jungkook whispered softly.

Your eyes widened.

A soft breeze swept through the window, lifting the purple-gray strands from Jungkook’s face, revealing his lost, desolate expression.

The cicadas hummed.

A car alarm honked loudly, screeching through the night.

Both you and Jungkook jerked to face the window. You bolted out of bed and you both threw your hands onto the edge of the window, yanking it shut, wincing at the loud noise.

“Ah, jeez… what the hell…?” you groaned, slumping to the ground.

“What’s with people…?” Jungkook muttered, falling to the floor beside you, yanking the towel off his shoulders.

-

“Fuck, I pressed the wrong button!”

“Taehyung, what the hell, turn it off!”

“I was just trying to put the tangerines your parents gave me in my car!”

“I don’t care what you were doing, turn it off!”

-

“Anyway, sorry, you were saying something important and you got interrupted by some dumbass,” you sighed, nudging Jungkook with your shoulder.

“Uh… well, that was it…”

You blinked at him, tilting your head. “What, that you’re in love with me?”

“Y… Yeah?”

You blinked some more.

“Not the, want to go to the arcade and see who can get the highest score in PAC-MAN or go watch shitty action movies and rate the unrealistic plot lines or dare each other to eat whatever expired delicacy is in Taehyung’s fridge, kind of love?”

Jungkook made a repulsed face. “I regret eating that tofu. Don’t think I can ever look at uncooked tofu without gagging a little now…”

You leaned over and caught his eye.

“Do you mean the… want to date and get married and make babies, kind of love?”

His lips parted and the moonlight lit the small mole placed perfectly underneath his lower lip.

A delicate kiss from the moon itself.

Then you realized he was staring at your tits.

You yanked the neckline up a little and Jungkook started, looking back up at you with wide eyes.

“Sorry, I’m just not used to you in a dress, sorry, I’m being really rude–”

“It assures me that you’re at least interested in the making babies part,” you chuckled.

His ears turned red and he reached up to cover them, trying not to look down. “S… Sorry…”

“So…?”

He chewed on his lip, messing with his earrings with his fingertips. “Um… yeah, that kind of love. The latter kind.”

You lowered your hand. “You’re not messing with me, right? I swear, if this is one of Taehyung’s elaborate ideas to mess with me, I’m going to ki–”

Jungkook shook his head quickly, purple hair flying about. “I’m not joking around. I wanted to tell you for a long, long time, but…” His eyes darted about, panicking a little, before looking back to you helplessly. “You’re Jimin’s best friend, besides Taehyung, and what if… what if you thought I was gross or something and then I don’t think I could hang out with you guys anymore, but then you went to that prestigious university far away and I thought, I’m so stupid, I should have said something, anything, but every time I could even think about it, I didn’t know what to say, nothing seemed right…”

He let out a big sigh and tapped his head against the windowsill, closing his eyes.

“Also, I said it before and threw up in your lap right after, so that kinda fucked me up.”

“Can’t say I was really feeling the romance, yeah.”

He groaned and covered his face with his hands.

“I’d date you though. For real.”

Jungkook removed his hands and blinked at you. “What?”

You chuckled. “Why are you acting so surprised? I’m not going to date Jimin, blergh, I’ve known that guy since I was in preschool. I’m not dating Taehyung, I’m pretty sure he’s on a different brainwave than other human beings.”

You smiled at him and turned around to pick up your phone, holding it up.

“I don’t like girly things or cute things very much, but I kept your gift because it was from you and, funnily enough, I think it made me realize that I was rejecting femininity because society puts such a negative connotation on things young women like and because my friends growing up were primarily male, thus I wanted to seem cool or relatable so I rejected stereotypically feminine concepts…”

“… What?”

Now it was a confused what.

“Uh, never mind,” you laughed awkwardly, putting your phone back on your nightstand. “Anyway, Jungkook, you made me realize things about myself, and I love being around you, but I thought a handsome guy like you would want to date a pretty girl, and I’m not really that.”

Jungkook furrowed his brows. “What are you talking about? You’re the prettiest girl in the world. No one could ever be prettier than you.”

You felt your neck heat. “Yo, don’t inflate my ego when it’s not the truth,” you chuckled sheepishly, waving a hand. “You’ve been drinking anyway. Alcohol makes everyone prettier.”

“It’s the truth.”

Was he drunk or were you drunk? Why was Jeon Jungkook getting closer?

“Would you really date me?”

You stared into those chocolate eyes and smiled.

“Yes, I would.”

And you leaned forward and kissed him.

His eyes widened, staring at you and you closed your eyes, pressing your lips to his, inhaling his scent, memories of hot summers and mirthful laughter filling your head, standing beside Jungkook and kicking Jimin and Taehyung’s ass at table tennis even though Jungkook was doing most of the work, finishing a movie together after Jimin and Taehyung had passed out on the couch on top of each other and talking excitedly about it until you both fall asleep, getting lamb skewers after Jimin and Taehyung went off to eat ramen in a huff, unable to agree on the same meal as a foursome, but it was fine, no, better than fine, perfect even.

Because you were with Jungkook.

You broke the kiss and opened your eyes, smiling at him.

He blinked slowly, looking down at you.

“Noona…”

His hand raised, fingers spreading out longingly. You quickly reached up and pushed it back down.

“Jungkook, I swear, I do want to touch you in a less than holy way, but maybe not when you’re wearing my dad’s clothes, including his underwear, because that’s really fucking weird.”

Jungkook looked down at the brown t-shirt and beige shorts. “Oh. Yeah. Right.”

“You know, come to think of it, I feel like Taehyung has slowly stolen Jimin from me over the years, so maybe this was fated…” you mumbled, remembering at the moments you had shared with Jungkook were because your other two friends had abandoned you.

“I feel you, sometimes I feel like a third wheel…”

-

“I’m so sleepy.”

“I’ll tuck you in first, but I’m going to get us some water so we don’t die tomorrow morning.”

“Ugh, Jimin, bring another pillow please.”

“Hah, fine, but you’re buying breakfast tomorrow…”

--

masterpost

[im-juggling-fandoms]

She never learns, does she?

A Resident Evil fanfic of reader who is a former lover of Albert Wesker but is now on the run from him when she discovered his involvement in the Raccoon City incident. She is terrified of him and what he’s capable of and at the same time angry with herself for not being capable to suppress her feelings towards the man. She’s also determined that he is obsessed with her, it doesn’t matter where she hides, he always finds her and he just won’t stop. So far, reader has been lucky to get away just in time before his arrival. This time, she’s taken by surprise.

Rated mature. 18+ for language, deaths and sexual content.

Long time no see, dear heart..

It has been three years, four months and seven days since the last time Y/N felt herself at home. Now, the closest thing she got to feel like home was the people she surrendered herself with. The people who gave up their own lives to make sure of your safety. What would you have done without their sacrifices? You didn’t need much time to think over the possibilities. You knew you would’ve been dead.

You were a loose end that knew too damn much and Albert wouldn’t stop until he silenced you for good.

After all these years, it still hurt you. The two of you once shared everything together. Or so, you thought. One day you had stumbled upon his underground laboratory that had been hidden from your view for two years behind a massive mahogany bookcase. You found his research, you found an entire life he had been living in a city called Raccoon City not far from where you had built up your life. You found everything. It terrified you how gullible you had been about everything. You believed him when he said he was working at the bank downtown, why wouldn’t you?

It was all a lie. He had been creating horrific viruses and killing people to the left and right before he came home to your bed and ravished your body with his.

It made you sick.

But it made you hurt even more.

You kind of liked the little bed and breakfast you had been calling home for three days now who had an incredible view of the Swiss mountains from your room. It was peaceful and the landscape alone made you hope for a brighter future. Maybe you could finally settle down? It surely would help your mental state to have some peace and quiet. Well, it had been quiet for you and your friends for several weeks now and they told you over and over again not to let your guard down but you just couldn’t help yourself as you peeked over to your sleeping friends before you turned back to the window you where standing in front of. The sun made its way up over the mountains and it cast such a mesmerizing view over the little village. You knew you should be careful but you really wanted to go outside by yourself, if only for a few minutes.

You put your coat over your red nightgown and the silk was so smooth to your skin it almost felt like you were naked underneath.

Before you exited, you made sure to at least pack a gun into your hip holster. You hurried out, careful not to make any sound when closing the door behind you. There was a small hallway with a few rooms and a long stairwell leading down to the lobby. You walked with your hands in your pockets as you exited the B&B and felt the cool spring wind kiss your face. This, this was exactly what you had been needing, some peace and quiet.

You took a stroll around the village that began to wake up. You took in every smell, every sound.. it almost felt as you were vibrating.

Wait

You put your hand in your pocket and retrieved your phone who was buzzing like crazy.

Jeez.. you thought, you hadn’t been out more than maybe a little over ten minutes and Jessica was already buzzing up your phone.

Where the hell are you? Come back right now! You know we don’t go anywhere alone! She wrote.

Jesus Christ, Y/N! What are you thinking?! Jared wrote you.

You couldn’t help but feel ashamed and guilty. What where you thinking? These people had offered everything to go underground with you and yet, you jeopardize everything by taking a goddamned stroll..

You sighed loudly and turned your little stroll back to the B&B. As you walked hurriedly, you went over in your head the best way to explain to your friends why you went out but every outcome was the same. It made you sound stuck up and ungrateful. You decided it was for the best to just apologize and own your mistake. You told yourself that you would promise them to never do anything like this ever again and you meant it.

The lady at the front desk was sitting with her back towards you as you entered the lobby. You wondered if you should bid her good morning but she seemed devoured in that book of hers so you decided to just leave her be. You walked past her but something in the corner of your eye made you stop in your tracks immediately.

You turned your head slowly in her direction and what you feared the most, became reality.

She wasn’t devoured in a book as it first had seemed. She was lying with her face into the open book. The pages that once must’ve been white was colored red and she was as still as a statue.

You grabbed your gun from your holster and called out for your friends to come downstairs as you walked towards the dead woman.

It was as quiet as a graveyard.

Nothing.

A not in your stomach began to build and you abandoned the dead woman and bolted up the stairs as fast as you possibly could and kicked the door to your room open, only to reveal it abandoned.

You began to panic. Where the hell where your friends? It couldn’t have been more than five minutes ago they blew up your phone.

Maybe they got so worried that they decided to go out and look for you? Maybe they had found the woman at the front desk and was at the police station? You had to find them.

You walked down the stairs once again, this time the peace you earlier felt was long gone. When you rounded the crook of the stairwell you completely froze. This time, you literally could feel the ice slithering up your spine.

Albert sat down in one of the armchairs that faced the stairwell, his face were stoic and calm and he had one of his legs over the other which made him look like he was waiting for someone.

He’s waiting for you.

You knew that your gun couldn’t do him any harm. Jared had fired multiple shots at him three years ago during our time in Japan but Albert had dodged every single bullet like he was some kind of a super human. You where lucky you got out of there alive. That was the last time he got this close as he was now.

Your insides were in raging, burning agony. You were so terrified that you trembled but at the same time, your heart hurt with the memories of your love years ago.

“Long time, no see, dear heart.” He spoke and you had forgotten about what a velvety voice that man possessed. Every word rolled of his tongue with absolute expertise. You wouldn’t let him fog up your brain anymore so you stood tall, the gun in your hand pointed directly at his beautiful face even though you knew it was useless, you wouldn’t let him think you would give up so easily.

“Where are my friends, Albert?” You asked. Your hand which held the gun were shaking and you tried to steady it the best you could but to no avail. You were so scared and it was displayed openly for him to see.

Before you could even register that it had happened, Albert had got up from the armchair and made his way over to you. You have no idea how he did it but he had managed to do it in shorter than a second. Now, he stood towering before you, mere inches between the two of you. He was so close that you could inhale his scent. The scent that you had forgot made its way up your nostrils and an raging battle began taking form inside of you. A part of you wanted to run, as far away as you could from this monster of a man or whatever the hell he was and the other part wanted to forget everything that has happened over the years and pull him in for one of those kisses that made your mind all foggy.

You looked up at him hesitantly, his sunglasses was covering his eyes, covering those magical light greys you so well remembered. The eyes you spend so many nights gazing into while you were making sweet love to each other. You didn’t need to see them to have all of those memories pool into your mind immediately, his presence did it all.

He grabbed your wrist of the hand that held the gun and you tried to make him let go of you but he was so strong that it barely even phased him. Without any trouble on his behalf, he took the gun out of your trembling hand and tossed it carelessly to the side.

“Where are my friends?” You tried again, this time your voice broke mid-sentence and you could feel the tears burning behind your eyes, threatening to break free and make you look even smaller than you already did.

“Three years, Y/N.” He began without any hint of emotions in his velvety voice, “You had me turning upside down on half the world for three years.” He finally stated.

“Just let them go, Albert, it’s me you want, isn’t it? They-“ you began sobbing, “They don’t know anything, I swear!” You exclaimed.

He pushed you up against the wall of the stairwell with his hands firmly on yours above your head. He leaned in closer to your tear filled face, so close that you felt his breath ghost over your skin ever so lightly.

“Don’t lie to me, Y/N.”

“I’m not lying, they don’t know anything about-“ you began hysterically but was cut off as he pushed you deeper into the wall and it made your backside ache profusely.

“Don’t. Lie. To. Me.” He pronounced every word with spitting venom. Now, you could feel how angry he was with you. The stoicism from before was a good act, you thought.

“Please, don’t hurt them.” You begged. “Do whatever you want with me but please, just let them go. They won’t tell anyone anything, I am sure of it. I can make them promise to not say anything to anyone! Please!” You were desperate. Every passing minute could mean that your friends lives were closer to an end and you had to do everything you could to help them. Just as they had helped you.

He chuckled.

You looked up at him in confusion under your wet eyelashes, the tears blurring your vision ever so slightly.

“I am not interested in making conversation about your little friends.” He spoke up sternly before he lightened the hold he had on you. You were still pushed up against the wall but it hurt less than it did before.

“I just need to know they’re okay.” Your voice were merely above an whisper.

“They are, for now.” Albert confirmed. Jesus Christ, he was too damn close to you. You could see every little pore in his skin, his scent filled you up like a balloon that was going to pop any second. You knew that he was going to kill you and you felt nowhere near being ready to die but his mere presence awoke something inside of you. The thing that you had been trying to bury deep, deep within. The undeniably eternal love you felt for him with the strength of a thousand elephants. It was blind and it was more forgiving than it was wise. It was so intense it made your skin burn and your insides too, you felt like a hot burning mess. It almost felt unnatural. Mainly because of what it did to you. You had never felt this with anyone else, not ever. It felt like you belonged together. You still knew better, though. Hence why you left and had been on the run for years.

You felt weak and tired. All of this, all of these years had made you so tired. You just wanted it to stop. You were done. There was no use to try and fight him, he was way too strong now. It’ll only make you end up dying in more pain than necessary and you felt obligated to save yourself from that.

“Just get it over with. For old time’s sake, make it quick.” You said, your voice was on the verge of a new wave of tears but you managed to keep them at bay.

His hands let go off yours and you felt his body leave yours, the warmth disappearing by the second. You closed your eyes, ready for the fatal strike.

It never came.

You held your eyes closed for what felt like minutes but nothing happened.

You battle with yourself if you would dare to open them and see what was going on and after a while, you decided that you had to.

He was just standing there, a feet or so from you, with his back against you. His gloved hands were clasped neatly behind his straight back and it appeared as if he was in deep thought. You could tell that, even with his back to you. It was your bond that told you.

Should you try to run?

No.

You wouldn’t get far and you were so tired of this cat and mouse bullshit.

You just wanted it to end.

“Albert, please..” you softly spoke, almost begging him to put you out of your misery.

“You never learn, do you?” He said as he turned to you.

Your confused expression spoke for you and he smirked hastily.

“If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be standing here after all this time.”

You felt weak, confused and at the same time irritated. It felt as if you were back at square one. You had been running for your life only because you sincerely thought that he wanted to end it. All of the ruckus he had been making hadn’t exactly told you otherwise but it was true now when you actually thought about it, you had never once been harmed under these 3 years. All of your friends had been but never you.

“What do you want, Albert?”

“Isn’t it perfectly clear what I want, Y/N?”

You gave him a sour look. It really wasn’t. With all the information you now had on him, you had come to learn that he wasn’t that quiet but passionate lover you once thought you were dealing with. You’ve come to know that he was a sociopath and was capable to do about anything to preserve his goal which seemed to be collecting viruses from around the globe. You didn’t want to know what he was planning to do with them.

“Dear heart,” he began, that smirk upon his face for a few seconds before he continued, “I want what’s mine. I want you.”

If you thought you were confused before, it was nothing compared to what was going on inside your head right now.

“But you, you almost-You sent fucking mercenaries after us! You bombed one of the houses we were inside of, we just barely got out in time!” You fumed, your hand gesturing angrily with every word.

“You left without a word, Y/N, it made me very angry.”

“Oh, it made you angry?” You spat at him, every fear and tremble as blown away. “It made me angry when I found out you were a fucking liar! And not to mention a full blown psychopath!”

He briskly walked over to you and grabbed you by the shoulders roughly.

“You watch that tongue with me, Y/N, before I change my mind.”

“I’m done with these games, Albert! I’m done! Just get it over with, I can’t bear another second with this.” You said, refusing to face him. His face made you want to jump him right here right now. Your hormones were going crazy and you were equally angry as you were a hot, horny mess. The last time you orgasmed by another hand than yours was with Albert. You still remember it as if it was yesterday..

You had been slow cooking some fancy meat on the stove and had some baked potatoes filled with cheese and paprika in the oven. You were working on a side salad when he entered the kitchen freshly showered in nothing but a towel around his waist. He began kissing your neck and one thing led to another and before you knew it, you were sprawled out on one of the counters with his head between your legs, his tongue skillfully massaging your little bundle of nerves while two of his fingers were massaging the inside of your pussy and it didn’t take long before you clenched down on his fingers with a loud moan.

You needed to get your head straight. You couldn’t be thinking about things like that right now. You could literally feel the wetness pouring out of you.

“Hmm...” he hummed with a smirk. You couldn’t see his eyes but you felt how intense they were ravaging you right now.

“I can smell you.” He said, that damn smirk still plastered on his beautiful features. “You are aching for me Y/N, aren’t you?”

“No,” you said hastily, “Absolutely not.”

“Oh, yes you are.” Albert took one of his gloved hands to his face and removed the glove with his pearly white teeth. His naked hand snaked between your exposed legs and traveled up to your clothed pussy. You should slap him right across the face for taking such freedom to touch you like this and yet, you couldn’t do anything. You just stood there, looking up into his face, as if to get some reassuring that this wasn’t as wrong as it actually was.

He didn’t waste any time, he ripped the cloth from your skin with a growl. It probably would’ve stung your sensitive skin if it wasn’t for your arousal. You were dripping and you were desperately longing for the man that you deep down knew was the love of your life.

You grabbed his face with your soft hands and you tried to pull him into a kiss but he wouldn’t succumb to your wishes. He simply undid his belt, opened his trousers and pulled them down to his knees to reveal that he was already hard. You mouth watered and your pussy ached painfully at the sight of his cock. The same exact cock that you had been fantasizing about every time you pleased yourself nowadays.

Albert pushed you once again against the wall of the stairwell but this time he lifted you up as well with his hands at your hips. He didn’t leave you any time to comprehend a single thing, he buried himself to the hilt into your tight, wet cave with a deep, deep groan. It sounded as he had been holding that inside of him for a very long time. You, on the other hand moaned out loudly for everyone to hear as the two of you finally were connected as one.

You had almost forgotten about how good he actually was in bed but all of that came right back to you as he demonstrated his skills by pounding into you evenly, he squeezed your soft hips with every movement.

You clawed desperately at the fabric on his chest as he pounded roughly into you. You didn’t mind him being a little rough, it were a long time since you last made love and if he was anywhere close to as desperate and aroused as you were, he probably couldn’t contain himself.

“Oh, Albert..” you moaned as a wave of pure pleasure washed over you, “I’ve missed you so much.” You confessed openly.

He didn’t answer.

Sure, he was a man of few words but he would always praise you and shower you with affection while making love, now he was all quiet except a grunt here and there.

It was extremely hard for you to get anything from his eyes since those sunglasses covered them and left you to look at your own reflection instead. You had no idea what he felt right now and it made you wary.

You reached for his glasses and removed them as best as you could while he was pounding into you tirelessly. What met you behind those glasses was nothing you were prepared for.

His light grey eyes were a distant memory and now replaced with the eyes of a demon. Red swam around tight slits and you almost didn’t believe what you were seeing. This wasn’t the Albert you remembered.

He was angry. So, so angry. You could feel it vibrating from his furious eyes.

You should be frightened, you should’ve ran away from him but something inside of you made you remain in place with nothing but shame for what you had done to the man you loved.

You had hurt him. You had most likely broken his heart by leaving him without so much as a letter. You had done this to him, you thought.

“I’m so sorry, baby.” You said, tears forming in your eyes as you leaned your forehead against his.

“You are mine.” He growled back,

“Yes.” You nodded in agreement.

“You will never betray me ever again.” Behind his anger you could detect the pain, the pain that you were responsible for.

“Never, baby, never. I’ve been so foolish.”

He slowed down his ministrations and captured your lips with his, the kiss became desperate very quickly, both of your tongues massaging each other in your mouths. You tugged at the locks at the back of his neck as you moaned into the kiss, giving yourself over to him completely.

You were still kissing passionately as he fucked you, and you knew that if he kept moving his hips like that together with his hot, wet mouth, you weren’t going to last very long.

You knew that he also knew.

Your legs began to shake from the intense, burning pleasure between your legs, your nails found his neck where you scratched helplessly as moan after moan escaped your lips.

Albert kissed your face and then went over to your neck affectionely, humming while doing so. Never breaking the rhythm in his thrusts.

“I’m-, I’m so close..” your voice were raspy and low, “Oh god, Albert..”

“That’s it, my sweet” he huskily whispered in your ear before he kissed the curve of your ear, “Come for me..”

You did so, your legs shaking with the same intensity as your screams that left your lips as you rode out the exquisite orgasm eagerly. Every fiber of your body felt as if it was on fire and you couldn’t do anything besides moaning and holding him tightly to you, afraid that he might disappear if you didn’t.

The orgasm left you weak to the bones but Albert didn’t let you rest. He withdrew himself from inside you and lead you upstairs, into the first room that was in sight.

Albert undressed the rest of your clothing and laid you down on the bed softly and positioned himself between your legs, this time with his face.

The first contact with his lips and tongue to your pussy made you moan out with eyes closed, your fingers finding their way down your stomach and onto his blonde locks.

This was one of the best things you know and you’ve been longing for it for three years, it didn’t matter that you had just had an orgasm minutes ago, because when he began using his fingers on you and sucking your clit between his delicate lips, you came undone for the second time today.

He kissed your thighs feathery light and traveled up your now naked body. He kissed and licked every inch of skin on your torso, your breasts he sucked and licked softly, which earned him a moan from you.

He crawled on top of you and spread your legs a little wider for the comfort of both of you. You wasn’t satisfied just yet, though.

“Please, remove your clothes.” You said, looking deeply into his red swirls. “I want to feel you on my skin. I’ve longed so for you, my love.”

He hesitated for a moment but complied to your request and removed his clothes in a blur, it didn’t take more than a few seconds before he was in between your legs again, now in his full naked glory.

You trailed your hands down his hard chest and down his hard washboard abs. You sighed deeply in fulfillment when he entered you once again.

He held you possessively by the neck as he was thrusting into you, his face mere inches from yours as your eyes were locked in each other’s gazes. You had your arms around his back, because you wanted to get as close to him as you possibly could.

You shared a few kisses as the love making grew hotter and closer to the edge for the both of you. It gave you such immense pleasure to see his own pleasure in those eyes of his. You wanted him to feel good, to unwrap himself completely inside of you.

The connection the two of you shared only made the sex even better, more intense than any sex you’ve ever had with anyone else. You didn’t only shared each other’s bodies but each other’s minds and souls as well. He didn’t need to tell you that he loved you, you could feel it with every kiss, every thrust, every single touch he laid upon you. It was magical and brought you straight over the edge for the third time, you were a moaning mess and you chanted over and over again how much you loved him. It didn’t take long after your release for him to find his own. With a deep grunt he filled you up right to the hilt but he remained inside of you just for a little longer.

You shared each other’s lips, and you caressed each other’s faces softly, lovingly.

“If you ever do something like this again, I’m going to have to kill you, Y/N.” He spoke softly but gravely.

“I know.” You responded as you kissed him on his forehead.

You knew that he wouldn’t forgive you a second time. You still had some questions you wanted answers to but you had already decided to stop fighting him. You loved each other, deeply and eternally. That’s all that matters to you. At least for now.

[farmhandler]

My Everything

Rated: T

Pairing: Shifty/Richie from “Rockababy”

Word Count: 3k~

Summary: Shifty wants to know why Richie likes taking photos of him so much, and he gets his answer--and much more.

A/N: So this comic by the amazing human being @c2ndy2c1d is just really special. And then I wrote a fic because somebody had to, so please read the comic!! I was so charmed by all the characters, and I cannot resist this kind of nerd/jock/coolkid dynamic so here we are. I got permission to write this, so I hope I don’t butcher their characterizations! I tried to keep my interpretations as true to the comic as I could. Enjoy <3

-------------------------------------------------

“How long do I gotta sit like this?”

“Just a minute!” Richie says. It’s the same thing he said ten minutes ago, and then five minutes before that. He adjusts his camera lens and then poses again, taking another several photos for god knows what reason. “Just don’t move. I need to get the right shot…”

Shifty doesn’t move as promised, but his tail gives the table beside him a solid thwap to show Richie just how thin his patience is starting to run.

“Why do you want these photos anyway? You’ve taken like—thousands already, I swear.” 

“This is the first time I’ve gotten photos with your tail entirely intact.” He snaps another photo. Shifty lets out an explosive sigh and turns his head to give his neck a break. He’s lying on his stomach, ass up in the air, posed to give Richie ‘every valuable angle’ to get all the photos he needs for his research.

Research, research. It’s always about that damn research of his. He’s always makin’ Shifty turn this way and that, exposing every part of himself to Richie’s camera. Shifty can feel his face starting to turn pink, and without a doubt he knows the rest of his skin is sure to follow soon. It’s easier when he’s a human and there’s only so many places that can turn colors.

“I was hoping I could find a remedy to make your tail grow back faster,” Richie says forlornly, lowering his camera. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

“Hey, you’re doing great,” Shifty says. He sits up, ignoring the look on Richie’s face and lifts one leg to his chest to give his arm something to lean on. “You helped make that medicine that took my pain away. That was pretty good.”

“Yeah,” Richie agrees reluctantly, staring down at his camera as if a medical marvel isn’t comparable to fixing Shifty’s tail—which was gonna grow back anyway. “But I wanted to figure this one out. I was so close…”

Shifty shrugs. “You’ve got time. Why worry about one little thing?”

“It’s not little,” Richie says, looking up at him. Even through his huge, nerdy glasses, his eyes burn with a passion that always leaves Shifty feeling strangely breathless. “I want to help you, any way I can.”

“So you’ve said,” Shifty says, off-hand, like his body isn’t changing colors. Richie’s gaze doesn’t shift, and Shifty keeps his eyes down at his feet, ‘cause otherwise he’ll never get the color to go away. “Why do you care so much about taking photos of me anyway? I mean—” While Richie stares at him, Shifty wrestles with his words, suddenly finding it hard to articulate something that’s been running through his mind since this whole thing with Richie started.

“What is it?”

“You’re always taking all these pictures because you think the way I look is—”

“—fascinating,” Richie finishes for him.

“Uh huh. Right, fascinating.” Shifty looks around for the pack of smokes Richie keeps for him and finds it on the shelf behind him. He lights it, once again ignoring Richie’s sharp look. No smoking inside, he’s always saying, but Shifty’s been dying for one for hours, and the rooms got great ventilation. “But let’s be real for a minute—don’t you prefer it when I look human?”

It’s not insecurity that makes Shifty ask the question. Well, not completely. Sure, he sometimes feels insecure about being so different from everyone, but he doesn’t wish he was a human.  Hell no—they’re fragile as hell.

Richie blinks at him. “Why would I want that?”

“Well—” Shifty pauses; stares down at his hand and starts the shift, lifting human fingers for Richie to see. “I don’t know, don’t you like it more? I look like you.”

“But you’re not like me,” Richie points out. Shifty shifts uncomfortably, weighing Richie’s words. The way he says it—it shouldn’t hurt, but it unexpectedly does.

Something in Shifty’s face must give him away, because in the next moment, Richie steps forward, his eyes wide. “And that’s a good thing! You’re not like me, you’re like you. And sure, the Shifty I knew at school and around town is a handsome guy, but I also really like the real you.” At Shifty’s continued silence, he continues. “Would you prefer it if I looked like you?”

“Well, no,” Shifty admits. “You’re a human.”

“Exactly. You’re perfect just the way you are.” Richie walks up to him, even closer now, those damn chocolate brown eyes boring into Shifty and makin’ him turn fucking pink. He can feel it happening because it always does around this guy; he’s the only one that can do this to him as often as he does, and the nerd has the gall to act like he has no idea what he’s doing.

He lifts his hands and cups the sides of Shifty’s face, the warmth of his hands seeping into his skin. The way Richie is looking at him—it’s more observational. Maybe he’d even describe it as clinical. Almost like business as usual, with Richie ignoring his personal space and putting his warm hands all over Shifty, only this time, with the topic of their conversation at hand, Shifty can’t take another second of this one-sided embarrassment.

He shifts, his body morphing and skin swirling until he’s almost entirely human. By the time he’s got his human face on, Richie has realized exactly what kind of position they’re really in. With his eyes still stuck on his, Shifty feels a vicious sense of satisfaction when Richie’s cheeks start to color.

“I—you—”

Shifty lifts his hand up over the back of Richie’s hand—the one that’s still hovering by his face uncertainly. “What was that you were saying about me being handsome?”

Richie’s glasses slip down his nose. He flicks his eyes down, and then the color in his cheeks darkens.

Do I have something on my face? Shifty wonders.

“You’re naked,” Richie squeaks. His hands snap to his face so fast that he basically slaps himself and ends up stumbling back, still trying to cover his eyes from Shifty’s naked form.

Huh, he thinks, looking down at himself. Forgot I was wearing real clothes before.

“Come on, sci-fi, it’s not like you’ve never seen me naked before. I’m naked all the time, in a way.”

“Yeah, but—” Richie turns and peeks out from between his fingers, then whips around again. “That’s different! You’re usually wearing clothes why aren’t you wearing clothes now.”

“They’re usually such a pain that I always morph ‘em, but today I decided, why not try wearing some?” He scratches his chin. “Then I forgot about ‘em.”

Seeing Richie so flustered by his human self when he doesn’t seem to give a damn about a naked alien makes him feel…annoyed isn’t the right world.

“Hey,” Shifty says, stalking up to Richie with his cigarette still in hand. He takes a drag and slides up behind him, wrapping one arm around his waist. Richie jolts with a gasp; Shifty does what he does best and shifts, letting Richie feel the way his body changes, morphing back into his alien self. “You don’t think this part of me is handsome?”

“I’m not answering that question,” Richie says. His ears are red. Shifty feels the oddest urge to bite them.

“Oh, so human me is hot, but not real me.”

“I’m not—you’re not—that’s not what I’m saying!” Richie turns around, fixes his warm eyes on Shifty, and points an accusatory finger at him. “I have to remain impartial. It’s bad enough that you’re all around me at home, being…the way you are—”

Shifty takes a drag. “The way I am?”

“Like that! Just like that. Handsome, cool, mysterious,” Richie starts ticking things off his fingers, to Shifty’s disbelief. “I mean, does smoking even do anything to you? What do your lungs look like?”

“I thought you hated all that stuff?” Shifty asks, ignoring the question.

“Well—” Richie’s flush still hasn’t dissipated. He takes off his glasses and starts cleaning them. “Even I can acknowledge that from an objective standpoint, you’re attractive.”

“You think I’m hot?” Shifty says, meaning it as a tease, but it comes out like a genuine question. Richie looks up at him, all intense as usual, and something in his face shifts.

“Yes,” he admits, face flushed and looking a little shaky on his feet. But his eyes—there’s that glitter; the glamor of intrigue that he always directs at Shifty and anything worth a dime in his mind. “I do.”

Shifty goes to take another drag of his cigarette—he isn’t sure what to say—but his damn hand is shaking and he’s reached the butt end, so he lets his hand fall and stares up at the ceiling instead. “Huh,” he says. “Well, uhm, thanks.”

Richie doesn’t reply; instead, he walks up to Shifty and takes the cigarette butt from his hand and tosses it in the nearby trashcan. He has to reach over to di it, and their fingers brush; it feels electric. Shifty inhales, his heart pounding, and chances a look at Richie.

He’s now staring at him with such an intense look that Shifty wants to laugh. But man—those eyes. Shifty would never say it out loud, but he loves the color of Richie’s eyes. He likes the way he looks at him when he’s taking photos, or when he’s sleepy, or when he’s found something new and exciting to fixate on.

Richie’s hand slides over his. He leans forward, and Shifty leans back on instinct, bracing himself against the desk behind him. He’s so close that Shifty can practically smell the aftershave he uses, even though he’s barely grown a single hair on his chin—

“Richard, dinner’s almost ready!” Richard’s mom calls from the landing leading to Richie’s mini laboratory set up in their basement, cutting straight through the tension and demolishing it.

They separate lightning fast. Shifty morphs into a human (with clothes) on instinct, and Richie’s looking down at the table, his face red.

“Richie? Carrot?” She’ll cycle through all the petnames she can think of if he doesn’t answer soon. “You down there?”

“I’m here!” Richie calls. He glances at Shifty, face full of an unnamed emotion. “I’ll be up soon!”

Once her footsteps fade, he sighs and drags his fingers through his hair. Without his glasses on his face, and with his hair slicked back— Shifty wishes he had something to put in his mouth, keep him from saying something he might regret.

“We had better get up there,” he says lamely, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Before the food gets cold.”

“Yeah, we should…do that.”

They’re quiet for a few minutes, both of them lost in their own thoughts, reluctant to leave this space. Richie’s mom never comes down there, so it’s practically theirs: the two of them. Shifty is still thinking about Richie’s hand on top of his. Humans run so hot, and Richie’s like a furnace running in the high heat of summer.

Goddamn it, he thinks, grinding his teeth. He feels unexpectedly angry, for reasons he can’t explain.

He turns and starts walking towards the stairs, and that’s when he feels Richie take hold of his arm.

“Wait!” Richie cries, stopping him short. “Shifty, wait.”

“What is it, Richie?” he says, without turning. “I’ve got my eyes on your mom’s monthly meatloaf—”

Before he has a chance to say more, Richie grabs him by the labels and yanks him forward, straight onto his mouth. It’s not graceful by any means—Richie’s glasses nearly poke Shifty in the eye, and the angle’s all wrong, but it’s good. Hell, better than good, it’s great.

It’s chase, with no tongue, but Richie pulls away to adjust the angle and nearly trips backwards over his own damn feet, so Shifty ends up being the one to wrap his arms around Richie’s waist and pull him in for another kiss. And another. And then maybe a few more after that, until Richie has his face in his hands again and—god, his mouth is so soft, and his hands are so warm. Shifty could just melt in him. He’s just glad he’s not shifted, ‘cause otherwise he’d be pink up to his eyeballs. Plus, it’s easier to kiss Richie like this.

The series of kisses lasts probably only a minute or so, but it feels like forever. And when they pull away, hell, Shifty’s really glad he’s not shifted, because the look Richie is directing at him could make fireworks light up.

“That was one helluva kiss, Richie,” Shifty manages.

“Your skin,” Richie replies, brushing his thumb across Shifty’s cheek. For a second he’s worried he’s shifted back, or worse—this form now comes in the same shade of pink, too, but when he looks down at himself he can see that speckles of his scales have crept into his skin. They’re probably on his face, just under his eyes.

“Guess I just lost a bit of control for a sec,” Shifty admits, rubbing the back of his neck. Richie’s eyes widen, the look on his face is the same look he gets when he’s filing away important information for later. “Jesus, Richie, not that I’m complaining, but…what was that for?”

“I wanted…well I—I wanted to do that. Kiss you, I mean, even though I’ve never done it before, so it was probably bad—”

Shifty opens his mouth to interrupt and say that it wasn’t, but Richie continues quickly, the flush on his face down to his neck now. Maybe humans can turn completely pink when pressed.

“But I also wanted to say that I’m sorry. Shifty, if I’ve ever made you feel like you’re just a specimen or—or a lab experiment, then that’s not right. You’re more than that.” He takes Shifty’s hand and squeezes, eyes locked on his. “You’re a kind and intelligent and amazing friend, and you’re so beautiful. No matter what form you take.”

Shifty ducks his head. Praise isn’t really his thing; he doesn’t like being the center of that kind of attention, but on the other hand (and literally, he’s holding his hand), Richie has become an important part of his life he’d rather not do without. He likes having him around, even if it’s for his ‘research’.

“Hell,” he says, not sure what else to say. Richie gives Shifty’s hand another squeeze, and the place where they’re touching tingles. Shifty’s heart is still beating fast, and the words he’s been thinking about just slip out of his mouth. “You saying you wanna go steady, or what?”

It’s almost phrased like a joke, and for a minute Shifty wants to take it back, because how is that anyway to ask somebody out? There’s no way Richie would take that and go with it, but when he looks at his face, Richie’s mouth opens, and then his eyes light up.

“Are you seriously asking me?” he asks, and adds hastily after a long pause, “because the answer would be yes. I would. Very much so. If, um, kissing you wasn’t obvious enough.”

“I’m seriously askin’,” Shifty says, then realizes that while Richie gave him a nice little speech, he hasn’t really returned the favor. “You’re a nerd, Richie. There’s no gettin’ around that.”

“Hey—”

“But,” Shifty continues, raising a hand. “That’s how I like you. You’re wicked smart, and you get me, maybe more than anybody else around here. You’re one of my best friends, aside from Buttons, and when you’re in your element you’re pretty damn cool.”

A smile slowly splits across Richie’s face, until he’s grinning from ear to hear. That hand that’s still holding onto Shifty’s tugs him forward. For a second Shifty thinks he might try to kiss him again, but maybe he used up all his confidence when he did it the first time, because all he does is hold his hand and smile.  

Fuck. Shifty clears his throat. “So we gonna eat, or stand here all night?” Not that he would mind.

“Oh! Yeah, my mom’s probably waiting for us. Come on.” Richie pulls him towards the stairs and Shifty goes without protest. They’re still holding hands, and when they reach the ground floor it isn’t until Richie’s mom finds them that he finally let’s go.

“Honey, I’ve been waiting for ages. What were you two doing down there?” She takes in their appearance and the flushed look on Richie’s face. “Carrot, your face is so red. Are you feeling all right?”

Despite the completely innocuous question, Richie’s face makes a complicated expression and he flounders for a response. “Ah— we— I mean I— "

“Science,” Shifty answers smoothly, flinging his arm around Richie’s shoulders. “You know how it is.”

Richie’s mom looks at them, her eyes flicking between the two, and then she claps her hands together. “Oh, don’t I ever! Well, enough science for the night. Let’s eat!”

“Very smooth,” Shifty says to Richie after she’s gone ahead. Richie frowns at him.

“You’re one to talk.” He raises an eyebrow. “’Science?’”

Shifty shrugs. Richie’s frown softens into a soft smile, and before he can metaphorically attack Shifty with his warm eyes, he steals a kiss from Richie’s half-open mouth, grinning when he sputters at him indignantly.

“Come on, sci-fi, meatloaf’s waiting,” he says, letting his hand linger at his lower back, just a while longer.

[tundrainafrica]

Hey! Could I please request a fluffy Levihan fic please? (Even better if it has lots of Levihan banter). Preferably one of them training together because I rarely ever see that concept yet I feel like it would be really cool! Thank you so much. Love your fics as always <3 <3

Title: Gentler

Summary:

“Yeah, you did a better job with the titan out there." Hange raised one eyebrow at Levi, a knowing expression on her face. “You were much gentler than I was.”

“Maybe it's second nature,” Levi said.

“Then show me how you do it then," Hange said. "Show me how to be more gentle."

Was that permission? Was that an invitation? Or was it just a cold hard demonstration? Either way, it was many things at once. And Levi understood them all, at the moment Hange had pulled him closer again, in the way her own fingers had scampered over his arm and down to the tips of his fingers."

Levi helps Hange with her experiments and it turns out, there are a lot of things Hange still has to learn from Levi.

Link: AO3

Notes: Sorry if it's kinda smutty? But not too explicit... ish? I'll just tag it as NSFW just in case. Also, feedback is very much appreciated!

“You seem angrier than usual.” It was an anticlimactic start to a much awaited conversation.

Levi could only be grateful that despite her deep concentration, Hange still tried to make conversation. “This is my usual face,” he responded.

Hange raised one eyebrow. “Really? You seem colder today.”

“This is how I usually am.”

“No it isn’t,” Hange said. By that point, she was on the other side of the laboratory, pulling on another pair of gloves.

“How long do you plan on working?” Levi asked.

“Until I get this part of the research done. It’s time sensitive.”

Levi made his way closer to her, positioning himself right next to her. “Time sensitive enough that you can’t even bother to take a day off on a Sunday?” He had a good view of her side profile and he was certain he had a good position at her peripherals. Every now and then, that subtle movement worked at getting her attention.

Levi wasn’t holding his breath. He had gotten used to it already. Ever since he started working towards capturing titans, Hange had started to become a little more occupied. Those Sundays that used to consist of trips to the market were suddenly a luxury more than routine. And time and acceptance hadn’t done much to pacify the seething sensation every time he did catch her early morning in the lab.

“That kind of time sensitive,” Hange answered confidently. She continued to work efficiently as she spoke and it didn’t look like she would be backing down any time soon.

It only annoyed Levi even more. He opened his mouth to exhale. Somewhere along the way, it got caught in his throat and it came out more as a grumble. Levi froze and tensed up, looking out the window, trying to find something else outside, maybe the branches or the trees or the two birds perched outside, which could have explained that slip of vulnerability.

“So you are angry,” Hange said. That was the only time that morning she had even spared a glance at him.

“If that’s what will make you happy, then call me angry,” Levi retorted. He was never good at mimicking Hange’s smug smile and at that point, he never even bothered to try.

Hange shrugged. “Well, I’d rather you weren’t angry.” She smiled at Levi. “Are you doing anything today?”

“Training in the afternoon,” Levi answered coldly.

“What kind of training?”

“Self training.”

“What kind of self training?” Hange pressed.

In fact, Levi never thought past the word self training so he would have preferred if Hange had left the questions at that. He stayed mum for a few seconds long enough for Hange to speak up.

“I’m gonna need some help with a little experiment today, if you have nothing else to do?” she started.

“I could be doing other things.” In truth, Levi could have been doing other things, like going to the market with Hange or cleaning her room.

“Anything urgent?”

Yes. The word died at his lips and he found himself staring. For the first time that day, Hange’s attention was on him and Levi was finding it harder and harder to feign busy-ness. “Maybe.”

“Okay, well whatever I need to do is urgent.” Her tone overpowered his own and Levi couldn’t help but listen. She continued. “There is some research I need to do on the two titans we captured and I’m going to need someone flexible.”

Moblit. Petra. Oluo. There were so many people Levi could have suggested but he was completely aware of his own skill. He was completely aware he wanted to spend time with her, even if it meant having to adjust to whatever bullshit she had in mind.

“If you have some plans to train today… I think this will be a good alternative.”

Levi didn’t have an opening to respond. And Hange continued to lecture, as if she knew the whole time, he wouldn’t have said no.

***

“There is a small hole around here…” Hange had used herself as a model for the location.

Levi lost control of himself for a second when he realized what the hell Hange had been referring to. And it didn’t look like she was attempting to make it anymore subtle.

It was for science after all.

Hange’s finger was pointing to that area, right between her legs, her finger pointing too far inward, and she made a subtle yet very accurate show of it as they were walking towards the tents where the titans were kept.

“Didn’t you say titans don’t shit?” Levi said.

“They don’t,” Hange said matter-of-factly. “When Lily bent down though, I noticed some marks, which could have been holes… and there was one right in the middle which was large and deep enough to hold…”

“Hold…” Levi’s mind sprung into action. It was racing, spinning and doing jumping jacks all at once in search of a right answer.

Hange fell silent for just a second, her eyes travelling elsewhere, not at all in a hurry to meet his stare. Eventually she spoke up. “Well, the point is… I inserted something inside and it looks like a few twigs get caught in there and I can’t help but think… we might be able to find something inside of the titan that could explain where they come from.”

“Okay…” Levi attempted to brush away the discomfort by looking straight ahead, pretending to be distracted by the clear sky. “What do you want me to do?”

Hange paused for a second, staring at nothing, seeming deep in thought. It was as if eventually, something invisible had pulled her out of that trance. She turned to Levi, gave him a lopsided smile. “So that’s where things get a little more complicated…”

***

Titans were hideous.

They were large flesh like creatures with disgusting faces, faces almost unrecognizable in humans. At the same time though, they looked so much like humans, that it seemed almost like a mockery to the human species as a whole. Or maybe Levi was just convincing himself of that to pass the time and to distract himself as Hange led him into the tent.

Time had been unbearably slow as they walked to the tent, most likely due to the tension that came with what the hell Hange had been explaining to him until that moment. Time passed more quickly when they entered the tent when Levi could more effectively occupy himself by getting used to the small room and the sleeping face of the creepy titan they had captured a while back. Within seconds, Hange had guided him to the ass end of a sleeping titan and waved her hands in flourish, as if presenting something of importance.

An asshole. A titan asshole.

“But titans don’t shit,” Hange added with that same rehashed novelty as every single day before that, as if she hadn’t mentioned that point to Levi countless times in passing. “Right?”

Levi could only nod, and feign disconnect. He couldn’t even tell at that point if he was still interested or if he had just been too busy channeling all his energy into ignoring the gaping hole in front of him.

He was at least thankful the room was dim and if he didn’t squint, he could pretend everything in front of him was just mere darkness.

“And look at this,” Hange said, only making it more difficult for Levi to ignore the hole. Hell, every single movement after that was only making it more and more difficult to back away and ignore it altogether.

Hange reached for the rod, on the side of the wall. She positioned it, with the front facing the hole. Then she bent over, putting the iron rod at a perfect angle from the hole. She pushed it in, heaved a few times and the titan had made a few unsettling groans in return.

Levi used that moment to look away, stare at the walls of the dim tent, follow the orange light of the lamp and really, just look at anything that could get him to recover from the mental scar of watching such a scene. “Hange, I think you made your point.”

“No, I didn’t. I told you Levi, I needed someone, who is a little more flexible... a little stronger.”

Levi sighed. “To do what?”

In demonstration, Hange bent her legs a little further down and raised the iron rod up. “Maybe it goes up? Or maybe it goes down there? The thing is… when I push forward… I feel nothing.”

“And you think I can do a better job?”

“You’re more flexible. You can bend lower,” Hange said matter-of-factly.

Levi had to admit, that was the first time Hange had made eye contact with him for longer than a second. That was the first time, they were actually in sync and that was the first time her attention had been completely on him.

He could say no. He could maybe ask for more. He might even be able to put some conditions, convince Hange to think over it over some tea, or coffee.

But at that moment, he had let a softer part of him take control, and it gladly took over. Before Levi even knew it, he had given in to a little study he barely even understood.

***

There was something special yet terribly annoying about Hange’s research.

Suddenly, it was demanding Hange’s time, attention and investment by the ton. And Hange was gladly giving it. Despite Levi’s involvement, Hange was surprisingly more difficult to reach than before.

Strangely, while present and while working more closely with Levi, she was very much out of reach. With more time with her, Levi was sneaking glances more often and Levi was starting to notice something, in the way Hange positioned her fingers over her desk, in the way she seemed to mimic inserting something between her two fingers, pressing them together.

Somehow, she seemed to be particularly thinking and practicing it right after visits with the titan.

Every single fucking day.

And Levi wondered how he had gotten invested in Hange’s little experiment when he barely even understood it.

“Levi.” Hange broke the silence one lazy day in the office in between those busier days heaving some iron rods into the asses of titans.

“What.”

“This may sound weird,” Hange started, maintaining that same inquisitive tone and wide eyed expression.

Levi’s mind was racing. Hange’s threshold for weirdness was much higher than Levi’s and the fact that she thought it was weird, must mean it could be something even Levi couldn’t fathom.

Almost instinctively, Levi braced himself. He leaned on the wall, arms crossed then turned to her, an attempt to plant his two feet on the ground, his head at a level place. “Go on.”

Hange stuck her pointer finger and middle finger together, and made a gesture. “I was trying something on my own… Just to get some practice before I try again…”

Try something on my own. Hange had said those words as she made that same gesture, so casually that Levi had instinctively escaped to happier thoughts, more innocent thoughts.

A cup, a jug, a faucet.

But Hange seemed to be determined to let him know, whether he wanted to know or not. It was at that moment when their eyes met, when Hange stared for one second, then two seconds and in a flash, she had looked down and Levi found himself looking down too, right between her legs.

He looked back at Hange’s face as soon as he sensed that untimely invasion of privacy. The moment their eyes met again, he was particularly more perceptive of the pink on the apple of her cheeks.

And whatever had blood rushing into Hange’s cheeks must have been contagious. “Why are you telling me this?” Levi asked.

“It’s research,” Hange said calmly. Her arm movements were telling another story. She crossed her arms, leaned back on the chair, and closed her legs, uncharacteristically slowly. “I had nowhere else to test.”

A faucet? A cup? A jug? Levi was listing them all in his head again, and maybe Hange could have noticed the slight twitch in his brow or the wrinkle of his nose.

"And besides…" Hange continued. "I had another theory…"

"What?" At that point, his voice had deadened to a hiss.

"Lily had three holes too. And there was one, which was just a little deeper and some of the others didn't have it…”

“And…” Levi trailed off, as his brain travelled elsewhere. If he let his tongue loose, he may not be able to control it without biting back.

“And I was thinking… what if…”

“What if…” Levi nodded his head, slowing down as the view opened up in front of him.

It wasn’t too bad a view. It wasn’t even supposed to be a strange view.

When it was just the two of them, Hange would plop on her desk, in one swift and flexible motion. And every single time, Hange would open her legs. She had just never been the type to keep them closed, she had never been the type to follow those pedantic social expectations which came with being squad leader.

Levi had always been capable of brushing it all off, accepting Hange’s quirks, their own mini transgressions as just something worth one glance and nothing more than that.

Somehow though, a conversation about holes… Hange’s own fixation on what had been down there and just the implication of everything around him had Levi just feeling more obliged to look away.

“Are you okay?” Hange asked, a look of concern flashed across her face, something still very much visible at Levi’s peripherals.

Before, he even knew it, Levi was sneaking glances again. “I’m just concerned.”

“Why?” Hange cocked her head to her side. How the hell that simple movement had just been connected with the widening of her legs on the desk, Levi could never understand.

“You know it’s dangerous to test on yourself right?” He kept his expression deadpan, his tone oozing with just a hint of admonishment.

“You don’t trust me?” Hange leaned back, shifting the weight to the palms of her hands just behind her. By some instinct, or just some natural sequence of movements, Hange’s legs widened.

Levi instinctively bent over, his eyes flying over her in that little opening. Then he turned away again. “You’re not a very gentle person,” Levi admitted, and maybe his voice had quavered slightly, too much energy had been spent on just looking away.

“I’m not?” Hange slammed her hands back down on the table, a little more softly that time, she leaned back, a deliberate attempt maybe to seem more gentle than she actually was.

But Levi knew better. He had known Hange for too long to pick out for himself what natural was.He shook his head, in an attempt to tame that smile on his face into something subtler. "it's just not you," he commented. He reached for her wrist, noting the weight, the stiffness and Hange seemed to be cooperating. She sat up again and eyes locked, Levi noticed she seemed smaller sitting down right in front of him.

"What do you mean, not me?" Hange didn't seem at all self conscious of it.

"You just told me a while ago, you put the rod in too hard. You're too harsh on the titan. " Levi said.

"So what?"

"You can be more gentle."

It could have been a pull on his side or a push from Hange's. Before he knew it, her head had fallen on his shoulders, her hands gripped at his back for balance, and her chest was touching his. And for a while, her breasts were pressed on his chest. “Sorry, I lost my balance there,” Hange whispered.

It was a whisper, he was sure. But when the breath tickled, when his body seemed to shake, that whisper seemed to be pulling him out of that trance of utter surprise.

Hange at that moment was hard, stiff, clumsy. But her body was warm, it tickled, and the curls that framed Hange’s cheeks brushed his collar in some coaxing manner. Levi tucked her hair past her ears with one hand, noting the scent of day old shampoo. One hand scurried up her back in lithe motions, and Hange felt like a limp rag to touch.

She was a limp rag for just a second before she gripped harder on him.

Levi didn't pull away, suddenly brought back to the conversation at hand. 'You can be kinder to yourself,” he said, gritting his teeth, folding his tongue back as Hange’s grip on him seemed to tighten. Levi was tempted to give into the almost natural response of just gripping back.

Gently. Levi thought to himself as he attempted to wriggle out of her grasp.

“I can stand on my own now,” Hange said.

And just like that, the minute or so of tension had dissipated into nothing, Levi had kept his eyes trained on her hand. As Hange looked up, ready to straighten her back, their eyes met.

Hange’s own were bright, inquisitive and as she opened her mouth to speak, Levi had expected a question, some musing about the origins of titans, some invite to a next training session.

Anything else aside from what he had received then. “How are you gentler?” Hange asked. It was an innocent question, peppered with too many looks just below them that Levi’s view seemed to naturally follow.

“I don’t grip too hard,” Levi answered, only realizing then, that her hand had fallen to her side, yet were only inches from his. He reached for hers, then started with a light touch and Hange didn’t pull away. So he propped his hand for a while longer, then as he moved his fingers slowly over her hand, the movement evolved to a light caress, until Hange gripped back.

“So I should be gentler with titans?” Hange suggested, a wry smile on her face.

Gentler with yourself, with everyone else. An answer crossed his mind in the few seconds after she asked.

Hange had the tendency of taking chaos with her everywhere she went. Her footsteps were characteristically thunderous, and even from a mile away, Levi could pick them out of a hoard of soldiers. Hange’s every moment seemed to cut through the air.

At that moment, her voice drummed, then echoed across even the most open spaces. “Gentler with titans?” Hange repeated with that same voice Levi had heard many times before.

Levi didn’t respond. At the least, maybe he would have let out a ‘no’ or shook his head. Hange had taken the initiative though, and soon, Levi found it hard to speak.

How had Levi found himself backed to the corner of the office by careful touch alone, Levi could never be too sure but one thing was for sure, the hazel in Hange’s eyes, Hange had the capacity to be gentle, and she had the potential too.

The few seconds had be hypnotizing and maybe if Hange had let him, he would have slipped back on the wall, and let her take control.

“I have one question…” Hange started. She backed him onto a wall, her eyes were on him but one long look later and Levi noticed, her attention was divided. “About the research…” She looked down, and one second passed, then two. Soon time had sped up, and before Levi knew it, he was figuring out whether a minute had passed or an eternity.

“What about?” Levi prompted.

“Being gentle.”

“Being gentler on the titans...” One quick confirmation, just to placate whatever seething curiosity and seething jealousy that seemed to settle in his chest. It’s a question about research. He reminded himself.

“How do you be gentler?” Hange asked. Her voice was softer and self awareness seemed to have some magical properties. She leaned back on the wall and stared up at the ceiling.

By some instinct, Levi grabbed her by the wrist, keeping her up. “Be more careful. Have respect for what you’re doing,” he answered.

Hange seemed to be listening closely, her head bent a little to the side in some expression of pure curiosity.

Have more respect. And Levi did have a lot of respect for Hange, enough to gripped her hands lightly, caress the palms that seemed to be littered with a little too many scars and healed burns, then the hardened skin that came with gripping the iron bar a little too hard every time.

Levi had his own fair share of sandpaper skin at the lower part of his palms. Hange held his hand in return, pressing where the sandpaper was harder and a little rougher. “Even if I have the respect, so what? How do you do it?” She had pulled his hand closer to herself and eventually she had pulled further inward enough and hard enough for Levi to stumble just a bit, fall forward close enough to have the swells of her breasts less than an inch away from his face.

In surprise, Levi had lost his footing again, and what started as a light grip in her hand, evolved into an awkward hold of her waist and an attempt to keep his balance as she let out an amused laugh.

“This is my first time actually noticing you know.” she said. “For one of the best titan slayers in the survey corps, you’re surprisingly a very gentle person. It looks like there really is a lot of stuff I need to learn from you.” Hange admitted.

She slid down the wall and in that split second, had taken Levi with her.

Levi fell forward willingly. And a gentle fall felt like a falling leaf even in the stuffy indoors. As he scrambled for the wall behind Hange for some balance, he started to notice it himself. Hange was more a titan than a human at times, with the way she navigated the world, the way she constantly left chaos in her wake.

But Hange had a gentle side, wide brown eyes, wavy hair that framed her face, and lips turned up in a small grin.

And when you respect someone, it’s easy to be gentle. Respect? Respect seemed too cold. It seemed like something else. Either way, that ‘something else’ had Levi scrambling for balance, then catching himself by the hands, yet still very much on top of her.

“Be careful,” Levi managed to say. Still, he wondered if it came out like he intended it too. If Hange’s eyes right on his, if their noses and their mouths almost touching, hadn’t been too much of a distraction. “You could learn to be gentler,” Levi repeated slowly, taking each movement one step at a time as he inched away from Hange.

“Maybe gentleness is a talent… or a personality…” Hange suggested. “I wouldn’t have been able to burrow into the titan as well as you did.”

“And it’s fine if you don’t,” Levi said. “It’s my job anyway to do the other parts of the research. Erwin made us work together for a reason.”

Hange raised her chin up, only fixing her gaze on him. “Can you just show me a bit more?”

“How?” And it was more difficult to look away.

Hange opened her legs a little wider, her hand suddenly right in front. “I tested it down there,” Hange said.

“Tested…”

“Tested…” Hange put her two fingers together and pointed inwards in one motion. “The titan had three holes. I had three holes…. And for a while I realized, maybe a human could be a good model for a titan. I just didn’t want to ask anyone else…”

“Fucking hell.” Levi let out those words like a curse, a sigh and some strange release. Of course, he had noticed. “You could have asked for help.”

“How?”

“You’re not gentle with yourself, of course it would hurt.” Levi grabbed Hange’s two fingers between his, then mimicked that same position pushing his middle and pointer close too each other. “How do you do it?”

“Now?” Hange asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“I told you, I’d help with your research right?” Research. Research was the keyword that seemed to brushed away the tension, the hesitations in the split second they would need it gone.

Hange burrowed her finger under her pants, then deeper than that. Then deeper...

Burrowed. “There. You’re too harsh,” Levi said, looking pointedly at her fingers.

"Yeah, you did a better job with the titan out there."  Hange raised one eyebrow at Levi, a knowing expression on her face. “You were much gentler than I was.”

“Maybe it's second nature,” Levi said.

“Then show me how you do it then," Hange said. "Show me how to be more gentle."

Was that permission? Was that an invitation? Or was it just a cold hard demonstration? Either way, it was many things at once. And Levi understood them all, at the moment Hange had pulled him closer again, the way her fingers had scampered over his arm and down to the tips of his fingers.

Making it through her pants required a little wriggling but Levi wouldn’t have called it burrowing at all, one swift flick, one push inwards and he was there.

The titan had three holes and he knew enough human anatomy to know, Hange would have three holes too. The way inside Hange was a little more complex, a flap, and a hole underneath and when he wriggled in, it started to feel like he was navigating an endless maze, gently and carefully. It wasn’t too difficult after all. Hange had leaned back, Hange had let out exhaustion, heat in ragged breaths, and huffs of weak laughter.

“Are you okay?” Levi asked.

“Surprisingly…” Hange’s voice had started loud at first, before deadening to a thick whisper. “it actually feels good.”

And for a few seconds, she had fallen forward. A soft whisper, a soft breath, tickled the back of his ear, then exhaled at the back of his neck. A lot of exhales, right after the other.

“Are you laughing?” Levi asked.

“Well, you're enjoying it right?” Hange murmured.

Levi was suddenly aware of the prickling at the back of his neck, the blood that rushed through his face and more importantly, the light pressure just underneath.

“It’s hard,” Hange commented. Her hand had barely grazed the surface, but her hand had been very much between the legs, just close enough to feel it, but still far enough to chalk it up as some light and accidental caress.

Levi didn’t brush it away. Instead, he pressed himself deeper on her and Hange may have understood. Her own hand cupped between his legs, notably more gently that time. “I wondered about the three holes of the titan… and I looked at my own, tried testing it myself like you suggested a while ago,” Hange admitted between huffs. “But I noticed something, it hurts... when I was doing it… and it hurt when we did it to the titan… and I thought…”

“You’re still thinking about your fucking research?” Now? And Levi couldn’t help but be just a little disappointed. What the hell were those last few minutes for?

“What if…” Hange continued, as if Levi hadn’t cursed her just a second ago. “What if… titans are humans?”

“Why the hell would you think that?”

“You put the iron rod in, right? You were gentle with it… You wriggled the same way… Tell me, did it feel the same way with the titan.”

What the hell type of god forsaken question is this? “I can’t tell,” Levi responded.

“You know, I can’t seem to get it in,” Hange fell back on the wall. The pink in her cheeks did nothing to mask her disappointment.

Levi dropped his shoulders and leaned back on the wall right next to her. “You can find out for yourself right?” he suggested.

“Any suggestions?” Hange asked with an exasperated tone.

”And I can't help but think… the reason why you’re not gentle is because you get too excited, you’re too impulsive---”

“And?”

“Maybe you just have to keep trying to be gentler?”

“You said that already.”

“Then maybe it’s better done than said,” Levi responded. His right hand was conveniently next to Hange’s nad Hange’s hand had conveniently or deliberately slipped right under his. In one opportunity for emphasis, Levi held her hand close to his. “If you want me too, I’ll teach you for a while longer than this.”

“But you're just repeating the same thing again and again. You're not very good at explaining it…”

“I think I can,” Levi said. He took a deep breath, an attempt to buy time but even as he opened his mouth, he realized he didn’t know what else to say either. “Respect,” Levi started, rehashing the same term as a while ago. “Or whatever you feel with titans… If you respect them, you want them to be comfortable and suddenly, you just want to be gentle with them right?”

“Is that how you feel with everyone?” Hange asked. She turned to him and Levi started to feel a soft caress at his fingertips.

“Maybe…” Levi responded. He looked to Hange then, he traced the brown in her eyes, the shape her eye lashes seemed to make as they framed her eyes. Then with one look, he looked down at her hands, caressing his finger tips.

Graceful, elegant, smooth, despite the lines and the burns that seemed to dot them. He never answered her and in that moment of silence, Hange didn’t press for more. When Hange had fallen over, propped her head on his shoulder in exhaustion and when Levi had instinctively propped his own hand over her head, pulling her closer, Levi started to reflect.

Maybe he had only ever been that gentle with Hange. And at that point, he probably wouldn't mind if it would only ever be Hange.

[shi-daisy]

First Anniversary

Hello everyone! Day 3 is here with some adorable fluff! I know I said these were all one-shots but I had an idea with these prompts for a sequel to my day 1 entry so here we are. Hope you like!

Continuity: Tfp/Rid, one year after the events of 'Unexpected Outcome'

@wavewave-week

WaveWave Week- Day 3- Creation/Confession

"You're overthinking this, Soundwave," Laserbeak told him as they flew around the room. "It's not like Shockwave is aware of human traditions."

"That's true, but I want to do this all the same."

A human year had passed since the purple mech had allowed him to stay with him on their hidden laboratory on Earth. During that time the both of them had grown close, and made changes to their small home.

Aside from having a laboratory and sleeping quarters. The pair used one of the empty rooms as a place to rest. They'd acquired human furniture, such as a television, an avian perch for Laserbeak and had built a sofa with materials they'd found. This was now Soundwave's favorite place to be, especially in Shockwave's company.

The two decided to become familiar with human culture, so that if they ever had to leave for materials or interact with humans, they'd know what to do. So whenever they weren't working, they were sitting side by side watching television shows.

He noticed Shockwave's eye always lit up when they watched documentaries. The scientist took especially to botany since it was nothing like Cybertronian sciences. Soundwave mostly liked music programs, even if some auditions would haunt him. In the end, he ended up watching a little bit of everything, that was when he saw it.

A romantic film in which the human couples would give each other gifts after spending a year together. This is why he was now preparing something for Shockwave.

They were not sparkmates, that much was clear. Still, Soundwave felt like this was something he had to do. He wanted to do it. A housemate could give a gift, right?

He heard knocking and immediately hid the gift. Shockwave's voice could be heard from the other side.

"Soundwave, please come to the lab when you have the time."

"I'll be right over!"

'Well, I suppose it's now or never. Good luck with everything!' Laserbeak told him before going up to their perch to sleep.

Soundwave shook his head but was happy his friend was enjoying this new life as much as him.

He walked to the lab, both nervous and excited to finally do this. The door opened automatically. Shockwave's back was turned to him, as he was setting up some machinery.

"Do you need help?" Soundwave asked.

"No, I shall be done quickly. Then I must speak with you."

"Before you do that. There's something I have to give you."

That seems to stop the mech from working. "You do?" Shockwave turned around to be greeted by Soundwave's happy face, as he held out a pot with a gigantic purple rose.

"Here you go, happy anniversary!"

Shockwave was surprised but he gently took the pot, looking at the flower intensely. "How did manage to find this? This flower-"

"Can't be grown naturally? Well, now they can. I researched plant breeding in the human web, and decided I wanted to make a flower just for you. One that no one else would have."

Shockwave looked touched, he laughed as he looked at Soundwave. "I should've known you were behind those little purple buds that were sprouting outside the house, I thought they were a weather anomaly."

"Nope, they're a superior natural anomaly...Do you like it?"

"I love it, thank you Soundwave. This is the most beautiful gift anyone's ever given me."

He didn't expect a hug, or such sweet words from his friend, but he wouldn't refuse them either.

Just as he was holding him, Shockwave's gaze locked with his. "I also have an anniversary gift for you, but I'm not sure if it'll be as great as what you've bestowed upon me."

That was unexpected, but Soundwave was touched to be receiving a gift from the mech he'd grown to care for so much.

Shockwave had a remote in his hand, he pressed a button and then embraced Soundwave again.

Music began to fill the laboratory, Soundwave recognize the song. He'd been very upset when his favorite dance show ended, his favorite team placed second with a routine he absolutely thought deserved to win.

Shockwave was performing the routine with him perfectly. He wouldn't have imagined the scientist to have such grace when dancing or to have memorized every single step of the dance.

The routine ended with a dip, he didn't expect Shockwave to let him hold him by the waist and the end as the music began to fade.

"I can't believe you learned a whole dance routine for me."

"And I can't believe you made a new flower species for me."

Soundwave laughed. "Thank you, being with you had been the best part of my life so far."

"Well, here's to hoping we can spend the rest of it together."

"This sounds an awful lot like a love confession, Shockwave."

"Maybe it is, would you accept it, if that was the case?"

"Yes, I would."

[cinnawrites]

A Well Deserved Break

Summary: With Sucrose’s worries growing larger and larger seeing Albedo’s workaholic habits take over him, she decides to ask Cavalry Captain Kaeya for assistance in this matter. With much convincing, Kaeya succeeds in getting Albedo out of his office and brings the alchemist around Mondstadt for some fresh air. A break every once in a while can’t hurt anyone, right?

A/N; WOW this is a long fic! I really enjoy writing these two out OKAY?? I hope they aren’t OOC, I just really liked the ideas I had in mind and went with them. Hope you enjoy it too!

---------------------------------------------

After finishing up the last of his paperwork, Kaeya had decided to go out on a stroll around the Headquarters of the Knights of Favonius. He went over to the library, greeting Lisa and others around. He quite enjoyed walking around with no aim in mind after work. It was much more relaxing than sitting around going through dozens and dozens of documents Jean had given him.

Kaeya finished his round in the library and continued his stride in full pace. As he made his way down the hall, he noticed Sucrose, pacing back and forth. This wasn’t an unusual sight, she was always one to worry often. Nevertheless, he decided to approach her from behind to see how she’d react.

“GAH!” Sucrose yelled out as soon as Kaeya placed a hand on her shoulder, clearly startling him as well, “Oh, it’s just you, Sir Kaeya,” She adjusted her glasses and looked away from the taller man.

“Now, now, you can drop the formalities, Sucrose. You’re always so caught up with them, let loose every once in a while,” Kaeya said, stepping back from Sucrose. Her gaze traced its way back to the floor, as she fiddled with her hands. She didn’t seem too happy, particularly stressed out. Her saddened expression worried him, “Is everything alright?”

“Ah, well…” Sucrose thought for a moment, before her eyes lit up in excitement, “Actually, you’re the right person I need right now!”

“Oh, and how could I, a mere Knight, help the Chief Alchemist’s renowned assistant? Is it for an experiment? Or might it be… something personal?” Kaeya asked, making the shorter girl blush. She looked from side to side trying to find the right words to say, fiddling with the hem of her dress.

“Uh, well you see… um…” Sucrose fumbled over her words. She could never get through a conversation with the Cavalry Captain, she’d always get too embarrassed for her own good. He seemed to love teasing her, but she had a hard time laughing it off as easily as he does. While yes, he means well, she can’t help but feel very awkward around him.

“Hey, I was just kidding,” Kaeya said, trying to calm her nerves, “In all seriousness, what do you need me for? I’m more than willing to help you with anything you may need.”

Sucrose cleared her throat, her feeling of embarrassment washing over her. She found her words and went on to say, “It’s about Albedo.”

Kaeya seemed shocked by this. He didn’t expect her to need help with Albedo, of all people. Since they worked together, he assumed they had a close relationship. This meant something had to be off. He began to feel worried without having even heard the news yet. He beckoned her to continue.

“You know how he is with his work, continuously working on something he’s interested in and only stopping once he gets bored,” Sucrose continued, voice shaky as always. Kaeya responded with a nod, allowing her to take her time explaining the situation, “Well, this is one of those times. Except this time, he hasn’t left his laboratory in a few days, and I’m really getting worried. I’ve tried talking to him, convincing him to get out even if only for a few hours, but he doesn’t listen. I’m thinking maybe you could convince him to go out for the day and take a rest? The two of you get on quite well, and you’re much better at convincing people to do things than I am.”

Kaeya hummed as she finished explaining. She looked up at him, for what seems like the first time ever, with a pleading look on her face. She really, really was worried, which had rubbed off onto Kaeya minutes ago. Despite his usual calm and cool demeanor, he couldn’t help but worry for Albedo’s wellbeing.

“I see how it is,” Kaeya brought a hand up to his chin, “I can never seem to truly understand him. Either way, I’ll try talking to him about it and convince him to take a break.”

“Thank you so much, Kaeya,” Sucrose bowed ever so slightly, expressing her deepest and genuine gratitude.

He smiled, and walked past her, “Don’t you get too caught up in work either,” He said, before walking down the hall to get to the one and only Chief Alchemist’s laboratory.

Kaeya approached the door to Albedo’s laboratory, standing in front of it for a minute or two. He debated on just barging in and dragging the alchemist by the collar, but he didn’t. He instead went for the simpler, and gentler, approach of just knocking.

Knock. Knock.

No response. Kaeya knocked once more, this time saying, “Albedo, are you in here?”

Again, no response. Kaeya began to worry. Sucrose had been keeping watch for a while, so he was sure to be in there. Yet, he wasn’t responding at all, which had Kaeya’s concerns grow larger and larger. He knocked one last time, but nothing came from it. He couldn’t stand it any longer and barged right in, but the sight he saw was distressing.

Before him was an untidy workplace, something he never expected from the Chief Alchemist himself. Papers were scattered all over the place, each of them filled with notes of every kind. There were even different substances in jars and beakers alike scattered just as the papers were. Albedo must’ve been experimenting quite a lot, Kaeya thought to himself. 

Kaeya looked around to find the one and only Albedo, only to see the man with his face first into his desk, completely unmoving. He rushed over to him in a panic and shook him awake. The alchemist didn’t utter a word, so Kaeya shook him once more, this time with a lot more force.

“Albedo? Albedo! Wake up!” Kaeya practically yelled, shaking Albedo aggressively, earning a grunt from the man. His worries washed away slowly as Albedo turned his head over. However, Kaeya's stomach dropped at the sight of his face.

Albedo had dark circles around his eyes, which led him to believe he hadn't slept in days. His skin was quite pale, was he not eating either? Kaeya swallowed his concerns and gave him a gentle smile.

"Are you alright? You don't look very well," Kaeya said, gently rubbing Albedo's back. After all, he did give the poor man a rude awakening.

"Why are you here?" Albedo asked flat out, his voice coarse and dry. He hadn't been drinking much water either, the Cavalry Captain thought.

"Poor Sucrose had been worried sick for your well-being," Kaeya explained, "She simply asked me to come and check on you since you wouldn't listen to her yourself. Seems she was right to be worried, you're looking quite… disheveled."

Albedo groaned again, "I think I'm fine, thank you very much," He began getting himself up, seemingly not fazed by his current state. Kaeya's expression began to fade into a frown as he saw Albedo walk to the other side of his lab, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."

"Nuh-uh," Kaeya said, walking over to the alchemist, "You're going to work like that? When you're completely drained? You haven't eaten in days, or even slept for that matter, have you?"

"And why does that concern you?" Albedo asked, his voice venomous, unlike his usual calm self.

"Because I care about you."

Albedo tilted his head back, and thought for a second. He looked over to the Cavalry Captain himself, who's eyebrows were furrowed and his lips curled down into a frown. He never usually sees the man this vulnerable, let alone this concerned for his health. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Your concerns are appreciated, but-"

"I'm not giving you a choice, Albedo," Kaeya interrupted, grabbing the man by the wrist, "You need a break. You can't just keep pushing yourself like this."

"But my research-"

"Oh my Barbatos, Albedo won't you look at yourself for just one second?" Kaeya's voice began to crack, his expression becoming even more upset. A rare sight to see, Albedo thought.

Kaeya dragged him over to the mirror he had in his laboratory, placing his other hand onto Albedo's shoulder to get him to look straight into the mirror. Albedo hadn't looked into a mirror in a while, he had been too caught up with his new research after a day in Dragonspine.

And boy, was the man that looked back at him completely disheveled.

He finally saw the state his own face was in, with dark circles around his eyes and pale skin, he felt uneasy. Not to mention his clothing was entirely wrinkled from not having changed in who knows how long. Research was more important than his own hygiene, he thought, but erased that thought quickly from his mind.

He was a complete mess. And he hated that.

"Can't you see? Don't you understand why Sucrose and I are so concerned?" Kaeya said, his grip on Albedo's wrist tightening as well as on his shoulder. He looked down at the alchemist, who only looked at his reflection in shock.

"I…" Albedo started, but couldn't utter another word.

"You do, don't you?"

Albedo nodded. Kaeya then looked down and dragged the alchemist out of his office.

"Where are we going?" He asked, but quickly shut his mouth after getting a good feel for the dryness in his throat.

"To get you a fresh set of clothes and most importantly a shower," Kaeya explained, " We've still got a nice day ahead of us, but we need to get you sorted first."

Kaeya dragged him around Mondstadt, to get to his residence. They earned a number of stares, less because of the fact that Albedo was a walking mess, but more so because the one and only Cavalry Captain was dragging the Chief Alchemist around the city. Albedo had tucked his head down, but Kaeya was walking with a confident stride as always. 

After a few minutes, they quickly got to Kaeya's house, a nice and cozy home. It wasn’t too special, but it was enough for Kaeya to get by. After all, he spent most of his days at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters or at the local tavern. He quickly opened the door and gestured for Albedo to enter, which he gladly did.

“Welcome, don’t mind the mess,” Kaeya said, closing the door behind him.

Albedo looked around. What Kaeya considered to be a mess was underwhelming compared to his own laboratory, but he shrugged it off, “I don’t mind.”

“Good, good,” Kaeya said, waltzing over to his room, with Albedo following close behind. The Cavalry Captain went through his drawers, looking for clothes that would fit Albedo, “Do you mind loose fitting clothing? I think that it would suit you quite well, but at the end of the day it’s up to you. Unless you don’t want to wear my clothes, that’s perfectly fine. Though, I assure you that they’re clean, and much better than the ones you have on now.”

Albedo looked back down at his own clothing. It was filthy with remnants of substances from his experiments, he couldn’t go around Monstadt in this. Wearing Kaeya’s clothing couldn’t be any worse than what he already had on, right? “I don’t mind. We’re already here, so I suppose there’s no harm in that.”

Kaeya smiled and handed him some simple, yet nice, clothes. A simple, yet very well kept, white shirt. The sleeves were puffy and the ends were frilled, Albedo was never really one to wear shirts like these. The pair of pants he was handed was a pair of black tight fitting pants. They’d probably be too long on him, so he’d have to roll up the cuffs, Albedo thought. 

“Will these do? They’re some older clothes of mine, they don’t fit me anymore. They should do the job, shouldn’t they?” Kaeya said, now facing him. Albedo nodded.

“These are fine, thank you,” Albedo replied, a slight smile on his face.

“Before you get into the shower,” Kaeya started, now walking to another area of his house. Albedo followed him into the kitchen. He poured them both glasses of water, and handed one to Albedo, “Here, drink up. You need it.”

Albedo gently put down the clothing on the counter and took a sip from his glass. The chalky feeling in his throat began to fade away, which left him in satisfaction. He drank the whole glass in one shot after the first sip and handed it back to Kaeya.

“I knew it,” The blue-haired man smiled, chuckling to himself, “You can go shower now, it’s down the hall. I’ll plan out what we’ll be doing for the night in the meantime.”

The alchemist quickly went down the hall and got into the shower. Kaeya smiled, he was glad he was getting Albedo out for once. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t dragged him from his laboratory? Kaeya shook his head, getting rid of the thought from his mind.

He went back to planning out the night in his mind. He thought of the perfect night for the two of them; a simple date- well, a night out- for dinner, a sightseeing trip around and maybe, just maybe a trip to the tavern.

But Kaeya wanted to think of it as one. 

It didn’t have to be a date.

As a dinner date where he’d get to just observe Albedo’s every movement, and how he always moved with grace, even when he’d eat. Well, that’s what Kaeya liked to think. Knowing the alchemist, it would definitely be the case. As a night out to go sightseeing, but secretly just observing the way Albedo’s hair fell perfectly in place on his head. How bright his eyes shone in the light, and reflected right back into his own.

Kaeya felt his face flush just thinking of Albedo and all his perfections. He tilted his head back, leaning onto the counter of the kitchen. He took another sip of his water, cooling his heated face. He couldn’t help but get flustered when thinking of him, even though he could easily think of anyone else just fine. He knew what this meant, but didn’t want to admit it to himself just yet.

Moments later, Albedo stepped out from the shower, in new clothes, looking much better than before. Even though the dark circles under his eyes remained, he was glowing brighter than before.

“You look great,” Kaeya said abruptly, something he wasn’t intending on saying out loud. Albedo looked at him in confusion, his expression growing into a smile. Kaeya averted his gaze, staring down the hallway instead.

“Thank you,” Albedo said, drying his hair with the towel in his hands, “And thanks again for letting me use the shower, it was really appreciated.”

Kaeya looked back at him, “It’s really nothing, you needed it after all, so who am I to refuse helping you out?”

“I suppose you’re right…” Albedo trailed off, “So, what exactly will we be doing tonight?” 

Kaeya hummed, “I was thinking of going over to Good Hunter for a simple, yet refreshing meal. I wouldn’t want to overwhelm you with anything too fancy tonight, is that alright? I was also thinking of going on a stroll around Mondsatd, what do you think?”

Albedo nodded. Though he never really preferred going to restaurants, Kaeya seemed eager to take him, so he just couldn’t refuse, “I honestly don’t mind where we go, as long as we eat. I’m getting quite hungry.”

“Shall we?” Kaeya gestured towards the door. Kaeya made haste to the exit, Albedo following quickly in his steps.

Good Hunter wasn’t far from where Kaeya lived, meaning they got there in the short time of a few minutes. They each ordered themselves some Fisherman's Toast as well as Chicken-Mushroom skewers. Kaeya also got himself a Calla Lily Seafood Soup, seeing as he was practically starving. He had so much work to do during the day, he simply forgot to eat. Albedo never really had a big appetite, even in times like these, so it was no surprise that he didn’t order much else.

They began to eat, Kaeya going full at it, while still being proper. Albedo took small and delicate bites. His expression turned happier now that he was eating some proper food. While it may not have been much, he was glad to be eating again. He couldn’t help but think about the research he left behind, but his thoughts were washed away by Kaeya’s sweet smile at the sight of him enjoying his food. Albedo smiled back, taking another bite of his food.

Once they finished their main meals, Kaeya took the pleasure to order them a plate of Tea Break Pancakes as a dessert of sorts. Albedo’s eyes widened; he just loved dessert.

They split the dish and finished it in minutes. Of course, they were chatting every now and then, but that was kept to a minimum. Kaeya took the time to watch Albedo eat, glancing up at him between bites. Albedo seemed really, really happy to be having such good food. It was a relief to Kaeya that the alchemist was enjoying himself. At times, Albedo would look up at Kaeya, meeting his stare, and instantly looking away. Kaeya chuckled under his breath seeing the man quickly look away, eating bite after bite of the pancakes until the plate was clean.

“Thank you for the meal,” Albedo said, putting his plate to the side for the waitress to come and take away.

“You’ve been saying ‘Thank you’ an awful lot tonight,” Kaeya teased, “It’s my pleasure, Albedo. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”

Albedo felt the heat rise to his cheeks. Kaeya smiled seeing him clear his throat and look off into the distance to cool down. He then got up and paid for the meal. The two went off to the next location of Kaeya’s choice; Cat’s Tail. 

Albedo wasn’t much of a drinker and ordered a simple non-alcoholic drink. Kaeya on the other hand fetched himself a nice drink from Diona. She looked at him with pure anger after handing him the drink, almost like she didn’t want him to enjoy it. He gave her a smile as he asked for seconds, which made her even more upset. Kaeya paid for the drinks once more, which left Albedo feeling bad.

“Are you sure it’s alright for you to be paying for all of this?” Albedo asked, gripping tightly onto his drink., “It seems to be a lot of Mora already…”

“Like I said, it’s fine,” Kaeya replied, finishing up his drink, “Everything we’re doing tonight is to allow you to rest, away from anything work related. I’m not going to make you pay for your break, that just doesn’t make any sense.”

“I suppose…” Albedo took a sip of his drink, which was definitely refreshing. He hadn’t had much to drink besides water for several days, so this new taste was quite enjoyable.

Once they finished up their drinks, Kaeya escorted Albedo around Mondstadt. Of course, it was a usual tour for the both of them, but it was still nice. Albedo had been holed up indoors for Barbatos knows how long, he had almost forgotten how lovely the city he resided in was. Despite it getting late, there were still many people around having their share of fun. Kaeya stopped to chat quickly with the people passing by, but kept his attention on Albedo at all times.

They passed Flora’s flower shop, which was just about to close. Kaeya quickly requested to buy a flower, to which Flora just couldn’t refuse, even if it was getting close to her bedtime. He bought some Cecilias, Albedo’s favorite flowers. He handed them to him, but took one and placed it in Albedo’s hair. It had dried completely during their time out, which let the Cecilia rest perfectly in place right above his ear.

“Perfect,” Kaeya said, stepping away to get a good look at the alchemist, “You look stunning.”

“Kaeya, that’s...” Was all that Albedo could let out. He looked down at the flowers, they were beautiful. Kaeya stepped closer, getting the alchemist to look up at him.

“What? Am I not allowed to appreciate this fine work of art in front of me?”

Albedo tucked his head back down at that comment. Kaeya laughed cheerfully, gently stroking the shorter man’s hair. To his surprise, Albedo pressed his head against the Cavalry Captain’s chest, bringing them close. His hold on the cecilias tightened, as he hid his face away from the world. There weren’t many people around, Flora had gone inside and so had many others. 

“Is something wrong?” Kaeya asked, his voice as gentle as can be. He kept stroking Albedo’s hair with the same delicateness as before.

“You’re…” Albedo struggled to find his words, he was never the best with speaking, let alone in these circumstances, “You’re too much.”

“Oh? I’m sure you’re enjoying it, your face is quite hot, you know?” Kaeya said, bringing Albedo even closer than they already were, “Yup. Definitely hot. Such a nice feeling.”

Albedo tried to swallow his embarrassment away. He tried to remain calm, but he just couldn’t. Not after all that has been happening that evening. He didn’t hate it at all. In fact, he loved how Kaeya would tease him. It got him all flustered, feeling butterflies in his stomach. Just as flustered as when he would imagine himself with Kaeya, being held this close. Now that it was a reality, he just didn’t know how to react other than hiding himself away. He could only see darkness, Kaeya was embracing him tightly enough for no light to filter through. 

Kaeya was being patient with him, waiting until he was comfortable to release himself from this embrace. He always loved teasing the alchemist and seeing how he’d react. Having Albedo all pressed up against him felt like a dream come true. He wanted to jump up and down, maybe even spin the alchemist around and press a kiss against his lips, but instead waited in this position. He feared ruining the moment with all the ideas he had in mind. Just standing around like this was just as enjoyable though.

Moments passed, and Albedo finally dug his head out, gently pushing away from Kaeya. He let the shorter man go with no hesitation and smiled.

“All better now?” Kaeya asked, gently Albedo’s cheek. He smiled, nuzzling his head into the taller man’s hand.

“Mmhm,” Albedo hummed.

“There’s one last thing I’d like for us to do, is that alright?” Kaeya asked, to which Albedo nodded.

He then took Albedo by the hand, taking them up past the market district and to the Anemo God Status Plaza. Up there was a breathtaking view of the city of Mondstadt, which looked even prettier at sunset. The two of them went over to the edge and leaned over, taking in the breeze from up above.

“Our city is absolutely amazing, isn’t it?” Kaeya said, looking at Albedo. The alchemist was looking off into the distance, entranced by the view. The cecilia on Albedo’s head began to fall, but Kaeya quickly caught it and placed it back right where it was. The alchemist looked back at him, his eyes shining brightly. Kaeya smiled, before taking a deep breath.

“Don’t you see how important it is to take a break every now and then? Please don’t overwork yourself this much again,” Kaeya said, stroking Albedo’s face once more.

“I know, and I’m sorry for making you and Sucrose worry,” Albedo said, sighing, “I just get so carried away with my work, it’s hard to stop. Especially when it's just so captivating I just have to learn more.”

“That’s okay, you just need to learn when it’s time to take a step back. Even if it’s just for a few minutes or a whole day, you deserve the break. You need to be in tip-top shape to continue working, Sir Chief Alchemist.”

Albedo smiled, “I suppose so. Thank you, Kaeya.”

The two continued to look out in the distance and the sun set and the moon rose. Albedo felt his eyelids get heavier, leaning his head onto Kaeya’s shoulder. Albedo yawned as he remained in that position for a few more instances. The captain took notice of this and asked, “Would you like to go home?”

“Mm… Not my home,” Albedo stated, straightening his posture, “How about we go to yours?”

Kaeya felt a bit shocked by the offer, but didn’t decline. He held onto Albedo’s hand, the other man holding on just as tight. They walked back to Kaeya’s house, drowsiness almost completely overtaking the alchemist. The Cavalry captain unlocked the door, letting the both of them in.

“Would you like for me to sleep on the-”

“No. Let’s go to your room,” Albedo didn’t even let Kaeya finish his suggestion and overlapped it with his own straightforward one. Kaeya chuckled.

“Wow, so direct,” Kaeya teased, “Fine then, let’s go.”

Kaeya led them to his room. Albedo placed the flowers on the nightstand and instantly laid himself down on the bed, getting himself all cozied up under the covers.

“Is this your house now?” Kaeya asked, looking for a pair of clothes to get changed into.

“Might as well be,” Albedo’s voice was muffled. He turned back to see the alchemist all wrapped up in the sheets, his eyes fluttering shut.

“Already moving in? I did not expect you to be the one to take these steps so quickly,” Kaeya said, as he slowly took his clothes off. Albedo peaked to see what he was doing, and immediately shut his eyes seeing a shirtless Kaeya at the foot of the bed. The blue-haired man turned to see the covers completely pulled over Albedo’s head now. He finished getting changed, but decided to ditch his shirt.

He went over to Albedo, pulling back the sheets, “You were so forward just seconds ago, what happened to that?”

Albedo eyed Kaeya’s frame. It was already getting dark, but he could still see Kaeya quite clearly. His chest was well defined, hair falling perfectly in place against his figure, catching Albedo’s eye. He stared for a few seconds, before immediately looking away. Kaeya leaned over Albedo, smirking as he watched his gaze avert back and forth from him to the wall. 

“What’s the matter? Can’t handle me now?” Kaeya leaned in closer to Albedo. The alchemist tried looking him straight in the eye, but drowsiness began to take over him, his eyelids feeling heavier and heavier.

“Mm…” Albedo hummed, shutting his eyes, “I couldn’t handle you to begin with.”

Kaeya dragged his hand along Albedo’s face, leaning in closer and closer. He placed a soft kiss on his forehead, carefully plucking the cecilia from his hair.  Albedo was too drowsy to process what had happened and simply nuzzled his head into the pillow. His eyes were shut tight as he drifted fast asleep.

Kaeya walked over to the other side of the bed, laying down next to Albedo. He got under the covers and pulled the alchemist close, embracing him from behind. Albedo didn’t budge one bit, already sleeping soundly. The captain tucked his head into the crook of Albedo’s neck.

“Goodnight, my love.”

[date posted; 26.04.21]

[carriagelamp]

Weirdly enough, I often find myself reading less in the summer, since I have more time than I do during the rest of the year to do other things. Also artfight has been eating up more than a bit of my free time! But here’s a collection a graphic novels I sat around on the hammock reading, and some novels I finished up...

(Everyone go read All Systems Red, holy crow guys)

A Whale of the Wild

The “sequel” to A Wolf Called Wander, though it doesn’t actually connect to the previous novel except in the stylistic/thematic sense. A Whale of the Wild is very much a standalone novel. And a pretty decent one! Personally, I think I liked Wolf more, but this one was a pleasant, informative read, with just the right amount of crushing dread sprinkled in. It’s about a young orca called Vega who is learning to become a new wayfinder for her pod but who still has a lot to learn, especially in an ocean that is becoming increasingly hostile to orcas and the other sealife that live alongside humans. When a devastating earthquake hits, Vega and her little brother find themselves separated from their family, lost in a now horrifyingly unfamiliar environment, and fighting starvation as the salmon that sustain them become more and more unreliable. It’s a desperate fight for survival as they search for food and their missing family. This book is written for a middle grade level, and does a really good job of putting the current environmental crisis into an animal’s perspective while giving the readers something to hope for.

The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom

Every July I eagerly anticipate the next Adventure Zone graphic novel. This one is for their fourth arc, The Crystal Kingdom, in which Magnus, Taako, and Merle respond to a SOS from a floating laboratory that is gradually being consumed by crystals and which threatens the entire world should it fall into the ocean. Carey Pietsch’s art continues to be absolutely fantastic, so beautifully and hilariously expressive, and this one delivers some great Merle moments, lots of Carey Fangbattle, and, of course, Kravtiz. Kravitz, my beloved…

Anyway, I obviously always recommend these. If you’ve never gotten into The Adventure Zone, I totally recommend either trying these graphic novels — or even better, just go listen to the podcast because it really is both hilarious and creates a shockingly good and heart-wrenching story by the end.

All Systems Red

I’ve seen The Murderbot Diaries on my dash occasionally, and it always looked interesting, but a friend’s recommendation finally compelled me to read the first novella of the series. And holy shit y’all. Absolutely the best book I’ve read this month, it’s amazing. Mind-blowingly good. Also, if you’re like me and want a good audiobook, it’s a nice three-hour listen, very chill!

Anyway, All Systems Red is about a Security Unit, an artificially created being that’s part-organic part-mechanical and all-company-owned-and-controlled. However, self-named “Murderbot” has managed to hack into the system that suppresses its own will, and is now coasting along, doing the least amount of work its job requires not to be noticed, while preferring to spend all its time watching the hours and hours of soap operas it has downloaded into its brain. And it’s a tolerable if somewhat dull life, until the science team that it's currently rented to is attacked and the whole mission goes pear-shaped. Suddenly Murderbot has to scramble to keep its humans alive… while its humans scramble with the realization that their “SecUnit” isn’t actually a mindless robot like they had all believed...

This story is both gripping and hilariously funny. Murderbot has such a unique voice and perspective and it’s an absolute pleasure to follow its story. I reallly need to read the next book...

Asterix and the Banquet

A classic. I was startled when I realized I hadn’t actually read this Asterix story… but hell I’m not gonna complain, it lets me read one of the originals for the first time again! In this Asterix volume, the Indomitable Gauls and the Romans end up arranging a bet — the Romans intend to keep them under siege, trapped in their village, while Asterix is confident that he can easily evade them… and will prove it by going on a tour around all of Gaul, collecting iconic foods from each region in order to return and put on a fine banquet. So we get a fantastic adventure in which Asterix and Obelix run all over the country, pursued the whole way, while making cheerful stops at the various eateries along the way. Also the first book Dogmatix shows up in! All around, a wonderful read, fun like all the best Asterix comics are.

Beauty Pop v4

A less impressive graphic novel. The first Beauty Pop is one of my guilty pleasure manga because… it really is pretty stupid but in the best possible ways. I mean, the whole thing is framed around hairstyling battles, like a shojo sports manga without the sports. It’s bonkers. Unfortunately, the series does not really manage to hold up, and it really begins to feel repetitive and dragging as it continues… as a lot of series like this do. *shrug* Unsurprising but still kinda disappointing I suppose. The building three-way romantic tension is mildly interesting if for no other reason than the main character Does Not Notice and Does Not Care about any of it, which is amusing and refreshing.

FRNCK v5

Now this series only gets better and better as it goes. This is the first book of the second arc, and somehow the danger just seems to be ramping up and up and up. The cavefamily have lost their home… as well as Léonard and Gargouille. Heartbroken, shocked, and angry, Franck is the one who ends up shouldering the blame for their presumed deaths as the others mourn. Things only get worse when Franck finds himself separated from the family, and in the territory of another tribe, this one hostile and cannibalistic...

Haikyuu v5

I continue to read this series because it continues to be charming… though it is beginning to feel, maybe, just a little repetitive. Kind of an inevitability with sports manga. But so far it continues to be good enough to overcome that. I’m not sure what I can say about this series that I haven’t already, so I’ll simply say it continues to be one of the most impressive sports manga I’ve read, and the author does a fantastic job of creating engaging characters, fleshed out teams, and really compelling relationships. I do genuinely adore all the main members of Crows, along with a number of characters from the rival teams as well. And of course it has some kickass volleyball scenes that are just drawn so dramatically they can’t help but take your breath away a little.

M*A*S*H Goes To Maine

Meh. The original book of the series was actually quite good in my opinion. This one… considerably less so. The first part I enjoyed more, since it was about Hawkeye, Trapper, Duke, and Oliver Jones trying to set up the FinestKind Clinic and Fishmarket in Crabapple Cove (which… is just the best premise I could have ever asked for). However, the book spends most of its time describing the quirky lives and times of other people living in the area and I… just… don’t care. It was funny at times but… I just don’t care. I wanted to hear more about the main cast. Also I found this book felt more racist and misogynistic than the first which also put me off :/ Wouldn’t bother if I were you. Go read the first book instead, or better yet just watch the TV show which is an obvious banger.

My Heart’s in the Highlands

I have had this on my “currently reading” list for so long but I’m officially giving up. It’s a really good book in theory but my god I can’t get over the pacing.

It’s about Lady Jane, a woman studying medicine in Edinburgh in 1888, and who suddenly finds herself back in the Highlands in the 13th century. Lost and confused, Jane is now at the mercy Clan Donald’s hospitality while she tries to adjust to this new world and hunts for her broken time machine. Fortunately, this hospitality include a burgeoning friendship with a red-haired warrior woman, Ainslie nic Dòmhnaill, who opens Jane’s eyes to the way the world could be.

Listen. It drives me nuts. This book should be completely up my alley, it has everything I like — IT HAS ALL OF ITS HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES CITED AT THE BACK, LITTLE EXTRA DETAILS ABOUT EVERY CHAPTER. THAT’S MY SHIT RIGHT THERE. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LIKE BEING ABLE TO GO OVER HISTORICAL DETAILS?? AND WELL RESEARCHED FOOTNOTES?? And yet it doesn’t. Fucking. Work for me. It has a kickass Scottish warrior lady as a love interest! It has a badass lady doctor! It has fish-out-of-water culture shock! But it also has a completely meandering plot, no sense of building tension, and a romance that just happens out of nowhere and feels completely unearned and uninteresting.

I would genuinely just rather read Outlander again, which I know has its own host of problems, but at least Outlander felt exciting and interesting and tense and funny. The romance built in fits and starts, it was complicated, and kept me interested. That book had me hooked (and has me hooked every time I reread it) whereas this book I’ve been sadly picking at for months like its a plate of overcooked spinach. This felt like an attempt at a queer, historically accurate knockoff which I would normally be super into but which just could not stick the landing.

Moomin on the Riviera

My first time actually reading anything from the Moomin canon. I have zero idea how to feel about it! It certainly is as feral as I’ve heard described! Overall, I think I enjoyed it but it sure made me feel strange emotions I didn’t know existed. I’m not even going to try to describe it. Read it if you want a batshit insane anti-capitalist comic.

Surviving the City

This was good in some areas, less good in others. It had a very interesting indigenous perspective on life in the modern city, the foster system, and The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women issue, which I’ve never seen handled in a book before. Something about the pacing did not completely click with me and I found myself getting easily distracted, but it’s definitely worth the read just to experience it and look at the issues it deals with through the characters’ (and author’s) eyes. It did give me a lot to think about and wrestle with, which is sometimes the best thing a book can give you.

Torchwood: Pack Animals

A really fun read, more so than I had ever expected! If you like Torchwood and want more stories about the team before everything goes to shit, this is perfect for that. It includes the entire cast, an interest mystery to be unravelled, lots of slavering monsters, Rhys being really wonderful and sweet (which I didn’t know I wanted until I read this book), and all the humour I expect from Torchwood. I had to send a lot of quotes to my long-suffering girlfriend who a) does not watch this show but b) needs to tolerate it because I find it too funny to keep to myself. It was good enough to make me go out another book of the series since this was the only one my library carried.

[twistedlymad]

Kingdom Hearts Crossover (Ft. Grim, Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel and Sebek) (Special Ft. Sora, Donald and Goofy)!

Oh my, this certainly took me some time. I’m so sorry for it too, because you see, I’m not really a part of the KH fandom, I mean, I know what characters are there and all but I don’t know the plot

So for you all, my dear readers, I did research. A lot of research. I went from wiki to wiki to videos! I tried to weave the best story I can muster with my limited knowledge of Kingdom Hearts!

I thank you all once again for waiting for me and I do hope this stories lives up to your expectations everyone! Thank you for requesting this dear anon! It was lovely writing this crossover uwu (Plus there’s 3.5k++ words here)

Have a lovely day everyone!

Story is under the cut!!

“Stupid Headmaster…” Mumbled a certain little furball.

You and Grim were cleaning the Mirror Chamber one day, it was a punishment given to the two of you due to Grim who got into a fight with some upperclassmen because they just so happened to buy the last Deluxe Tuna Sandwich during lunch break. The furball had wanted to sneakily swap the sandwich with his bun but he was caught midway. A small fight occurred but thankfully Crowley had managed to stop the fight before it got uncontrollable.

However, no one got away scot free, the upperclassmen were tasked to clean up the laboratory after Professor Crewel’s classes for a day while you and Grim were stuck with cleaning the Mirror Chamber and taking care of the mirrors for a day.

“You have no right to talk here Grim…” You said in response to the mumblings of the furball.

“But, I was quick! I wouldn’t have got caught if it wasn’t for that one student behind the target!” Grim said, you just sighed and gently knocked the furball on his head.

“You should’ve just had the bun instead of pulling anything. Seriously, I’m beginning to think I’ve given you too much freedom, I should restrain that a bit… How does having tuna for breakfast for two days a week sound?” You asked with a small smirk.

“TWO DAYS A WEEK? NO! YOU CAN’T TAKE MY TUNA AWAY FROM ME!” Grim yelled out with widened eyes, looking straight at you.

“Then, let’s quickly finish the job in peace, please.” You said and went back to sweeping the floor. Grim hummed a hum of agreement as he grabbed a nearby cloth and began to wipe a mirror.

The two of you worked in silence, wanting to get the job done quickly and go back to your welcoming dorm. But, after sweeping for a while, you heard Grim let out one of his infamous yelps.

“Fgnaaaa!”

You sighed and set your broom aside before turning to the furball.

“Grim, what’s wron-“ You stopped your sentence midway as you saw the mirror began to glow brightly.

“Grim, what did you do?!” You frantically asked the furball.

“I didn’t do anything! The Mirror glowed on its own!” Grim responded as the mirror started to shake slightly, the two of you slowly backed away from the mirror.

And all of a sudden, three figures came flying out of the mirror, you and Grim managed to quickly dodge away before the figures hit you. The figures hit the ground and groans of pain can be heard.

“Goofy… What did you touch?” A voice asked from the pile.

“Gawrsh, I don’t know, all I did was walk near this Mirror-” Another voice replied, but was cut off by a third voice.

“It’s always Goofy who gets us in these situations.” The figures began to slowly get up.

You and Grim were still staring at them in shock, your minds were trying to figure out what had possibly happened. After hearing what the second voice had said, you were slightly convinced that it wasn’t Grim who messed up this time.

Yet, you weren’t sure what to think of these figures, after all, you didn’t know if they were friends or enemies.

The figures then slowly stood up and brushed themselves off with their backs facing you, as they did so, you managed to get a good look at them. It did give you quite the shock when you realized they were quite an odd bunch. Standing in front of you was a boy, a duck and a tall figure? Your hands immediately went to shield Grim, you weren’t taking any chances, especially with such an odd bunch.

“I think we should really ask Yen Sid about that mirror…” The boy said as he rubbed his head. The trio continued to bicker for a little before realizing that they weren’t alone in the room. The trio immediately ceased their chatter as they slowly turned their heads to face you.

You gulped a little as they did so, you couldn’t get any words out of your mouth as you were afraid of what their next course of action was, your brain was already silently working out possible escape plans if they happened to be enemies.

Grim noticed that you’ve frozen up and came to your aid in asking the strangers questions.

“Yanno, who are you guys? And what’re you doing here?” Grim said, emerging from your shielding hands.

“Woah… A talking cat!” The boy exclaimed as he saw the furball. Grim immediately ticked by hearing his comment.

“How dare you? I am not a cat! Fgnaaaaaa!” Grim said and used his signature fire magic on the figures. As he did so, the figures managed to dodge out of the way… Well, except the duck. The fire magic hit the duck and caused his butt to catch on fire.

The duck immediately runs around the chamber, screaming incoherently, like a madman. Your eyes widen at the sight as Grim only smirks at his ‘accomplishment’.

“Donald! Wait! I’ll put out the fire!” Said the boy as he summoned a large key of sorts in his hands and pointed the key towards the duck. The key glowed as a splash of water was then thrown towards the duck from said key. You were amazed at this, never had you seen this key of sorts, let alone the magic that was used to put out the fire.

“Thank you Sora… NOW! YOU!” After thanking the boy, the duck immediately faced you, pointing his finger towards Grim.

“Fgnaaaa!” Grim immediately jumped to action, but, before he could do anything, you had stopped him.

“Grim, stop.” You said and picked him up into your arms once again, securing him in his place.

“I’m sorry, Grim’s like this sometimes.” You apologized to the figures, the boy immediately shook his head.

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called your familiar a cat.” The boy apologized in return. 

"No, it's fine." You said with a smile and petted Grim's head in hopes of calming the furball down. "So, what brings the three of you to Night Raven College?" You asked the trio. 

"College?" They asked you in return, shocking you slightly. 

"Why, yes, Night Raven College, a prestigious magic school in Twisted Wonderland." You continued your statement. 

"Twisted Wonderland?" They asked you once again, making you stare at them with widened eyes. How could they not know the place, let alone the world that they were in?

Then, it hit you, what if they weren’t from here? What if they were like you, from another world and they have no memory of their home world? That would explain the unusual magic that the boy had just used..

“I assume you are all not from here then?” You questioned and the trio replied to you with shaking heads. You nodded in return, looks like your theory was correct, they weren’t from Twisted Wonderland.

“Well, what are your names then?” You asked the trio.

“I’m Sora! And these are my friends, Donald and Goofy!” The boy introduced himself and his friends to you. You smiled and nodded.

“Nice to meet you Sora, my name is (Y/N).” You introduced yourself.

“And I am The Great Grim! The greatest mage that has ever graced your eyes! Be grateful!” Grim said proudly from your shoulders, you shook your head and knocked the furball’s head lightly.

“And this is Grim.” You said to Sora. The latter just nodded and smiled at you.

“Nice to meet you all.” Sora said, bowing slightly.-

“Same goes to you and welcome to Night Raven College.” You smiled in return. “Now, let’s head out to find the headmaster, maybe he has a way to send you guys back to your home world.” You said and the four of you walked out of the mirror chamber and headed towards the headmaster’s office.

Along the way to the headmaster’s office, you had to pass through mainstreet as it was the fastest route from the Mirror Chamber to the office. As you passed through, you had taken it upon yourself to introduce Night Raven College to the newcomers.

“There are a total of 7 main dormitories at Night Raven College. Each dormitory was modelled after one of the Great 7.” You said as you reached the statues of the Great 7. You then started to introduce every dormitory that Night Raven College had offered on its campus. 

You told them about the set of 810 rules that Heartslabyul had to follow, the rough fights and high ego of Savanaclaw, the hard work of members in Mostro Lounge in Octavinelle, the chaotic everyday scenarios of Scarabia, the advanced technology of Ignihyde and the mysterious aura of Diasomnia. 

“The Mirror of Darkness will not only determine which dormitory a student will be staying at based on their souls, it will also determine whether or not you are to be enrolled at Night Raven College as well.” You ended your small little introduction of the dormitories. “Of course, the Mirror of Darkness is the same mirror that transported you guys here, maybe you guys have the traits of being a student here.” You added with a small laugh.

“Gawrsh, all these dormitories seem so different from each other and so unique!” Goofy said in awe.

“They’re all so interesting! Each dormitory was based on different aspects of different legends.” Sora nodded as he continued to look at the statues of the Great 7.

“That’s great and all, but, I have one question.” Said Donald. “Why do you only have statues of villains?” 

“Now that you mention it Donald, yeah! All these dormitories are based on the villains that we fought, especially her.” Sora said as he pointed towards the statue of the Witch of Thorns. You and Grim shared a look of confusion.

“What do you mean by villains?” Grim asked.

“More importantly, you’ve met with the Great 7?” You added on.

“Yes, but they’re not as magnificent and great as you described them to be.” Goofy said, making you and Grim tilt your heads in confusion.

“What do you mean?” You asked. The trio shared a few glances between each other before nodding their heads together.

“You see, in our world, these 7 legends of yours, are villains.” Your eyes widen at Sora’s words.

“So you’re saying that the Great 7 exist in your world?” Grim questioned the trio.

“A-Hyuck! That’s correct!” Goofy said. Sora then began to tell you all about his, Goofy’s and Donald’s adventures, how they traveled between worlds, ridding them of the Darkness that once inhabited in said worlds and restoring Light in them, how they met with different allies to aid them in battle as well as different enemies who tried to interrupt their plans.

“In our world, these legends will do anything to get their desires. The Witch of Thorns, or as we may call her as Maleficent, has even used a magic called darkness to achieve her goals as she leads all these other legends.” Sora said. “And their goals are usually evil.” You nodded slightly after hearing Sora’s adventures with his friends. Truth be told, you were introduced to a new side of the Great 7. Ever since you arrived at Twisted Wonderland, you were given the impression where the Great 7 were these all-powerful beings that everyone absolutely respected and adored. 

“But, that shows that they work hard and are willing to do anything to get their goals done though.” You said. “We can’t just focus on the content of their goals and not their hard work.” 

“Well, when you put it that way-” Donald started, but he was cut off by shouts and yells of students running past the 5 of you.

“Huh?” You questioned as you watched the panicking and chaotic students.

“(Y/N)! Grim! There you are!” A familiar voice yelled out your names from afar. The 5 of you turned your heads to the source of the voice. Running towards you were two of your best friends, Ace and Deuce. The two slowed down their running as they approached you.

“Ace? Deuce? What’s going on?” You asked the breathless boys.

“There are these black, dark creatures roaming around campus and they’re attacking the other students!” Ace panted out. “Epel, Jack, Sebek and our upperclassmen are fighting them right now and they sent us to get you.” Deuce added on. Sora and his friends shared worried glances as they heard Ace’s description of the creatures.

“But, why find us? Where’s the headmaster?” You asked the Heartslabyul duo.

“He’s busy evacuating some of the students as we speak.” Deuce said as his eyes shifted their focus to the trio that you were just talking with. “Who are you guys?” Deuce asked the trio, but Sora, Donald and Goofy were too deep in thought to answer.

“Do you think it’s them?” Goofy asked his friends.

“The description matches them perfectly.” Donald replied.

“Maybe. We have to check.” Sora concluded. The trio nodded and turned to face the two Heartslabyul dorm members.

“Can you lead us to these creatures?” Sora asked Ace and Deuce, his, Goofy’s and Donald’s faces showed grim and serious looks. You were slightly taken aback, even though you only knew them for a little bit, you could tell that something wrong is happening right now. Deuce and Ace looked at each other before nodding and nudging you guys to follow them.

After running a while, you guys arrived at the field. Magic spells were flying from everywhere! The critters that Ace and Deuce had described were littered all across the field as well. You held Grim closer to you and took a step back upon seeing this, never have you ever seen anything this chaotic. Epel, Sebek and Jack were in the midst of this chaos, trying to fend off these creatures.

“Epel! Jack! Sebek!” You yelled towards them. The three first years heard you and immediately turned to look at you.

“(Y/N)!!” They said, throwing off the creatures and rushed over to you. You could tell that they had tried their best in fending off the creatures as they were tired and out of breath.

“These things… There’s… Too many of them.” Epel panted out as Jack and Sebek furiously nodded their heads. You took a look around the chaotic field once again.

“W-What are those?” You stuttered.

“I knew it, it was them after all.” Sora said. You and Grim were puzzled when you heard that.

“Sora? You know what these creatures are?” Grim asked the boy.

“Yes, they’re called Heartless.” Sora said. “Their goal is to seek and consume hearts as well as seek darkness to overthrow the Realm of Light.” 

“Which means, they’re bad guys.” Donald said and Sora nodded.

“But, why are they here?” You asked.

“We’re not sure, Heartless tend to linger everywhere.” Sora answered.

“And right now, our job is to stop them.” Goofy said.

“How do we do that?” Ace asked. Sora only smiled and summoned his key-like weapon.

“Just hit them with magic, they should disappear after doing so.” Sora said and lounged at a Heartless, the boy then swung his blade at the creature, making the creature disappear in a puff of darkness. 

“See?” Sora said. Ace and Deuce simply nodded.

“Well, Deuce, looks like your cauldron magic is gonna become useful.” Ace said to Deuce with a smirk.

“And for once, your wind magic is used for good.” Deuce retorted. You and Grim could only roll your eyes at their antics. 

“Save your love-bickering for later you two yanno?” Grim said and you, Sora, Goofy and Donald snickered. Epel, Jack and Sebek were trying their best to not laugh as well. Ace and Deuce immediately turned their heads to face Grim.

“Why you little-” They started but you cut them off.

“Guys, I think we should focus on clearing these creatures first, save the bicker for later.” You said and they only pouted and huffed.

“Hmph, fine.” The two Heartslabyul members said.

“Now, let’s go kick some Heartless butts!” You said and the others cheered along you. After your little cheer, the 10 of you charged together into the battlefield between mages and Heartlesses. 

You all worked hand-in-hand in vanquishing these creatures with Sora, Donald and Goofy leading the way as you guys backed them up. Your group had magic flying out in all directions, hitting the Heartless that once surrounded you and making them vanish into puffs of darkness. The boys always kept their magic pens at the ready, firing at each and every Heartless they encountered and with your clear instructions, they were able to shoot clear shots at the creatures. With this teamwork between the 10 of you, it didn't take too much time for you guys to rid the field of its newcomers. 

Once Sora had swung his weapon at the last Heartless, you guys all jumped with joy, wide and bright smiles plastered on your faces. 

"We did it!" You cheered with your friends. Sora, Donald and Goofy joined in on the cheer. 

“Great job everyone!” Sora said and you all just smiled in return.

“Hmm, yes, excellent job indeed.” A new voice piped up from behind you. You and your friends immediately turned your heads to face the source of the voice. 

"Headmaster!" You and your friends yelled out as you saw the Headmaster standing behind 

"Such teamwork from you all, I am truly touched…" The Headmaster said, wiping a tear away from his eyes. You and your friends deadpanned at the sight. You heard someone clear their throat and turned to see Sora, Donald and Goofy staring at you with confusion plastered on their faces. Only then did you remember that you had wanted to find the Headmaster in order to find a way home for them. 

“Ah, Headmaster Crowley. I was just looking for you.” You spoke, catching the attention of the headmaster.

“Hmm? What is it (L/N)-san?” The headmaster replied.

“You see, these three came to our world through one of the mirrors in the Mirror Chamber.” You said and gestured to the trio. “We were searching for you to see if you knew a way for them to go back.” 

Crowley then took a look at the trio, inspecting them. His eyes then eventually landed on Sora’s weapon, as he did though, his eyes widened in amazement.

“My, is that…” Crowley paused for a moment. “Is that a keyblade that you’re wielding there?” The headmaster asked, pointing towards the weapon in Sora’s hands.

“A key what now?” Ace asked.

“A keyblade is a weapon that can only be wielded by certain chosen individuals who are strong of heart.They are commonly used to fight off darkness as well as unlock any lock in the world. These blades are imbued with magic as well.” Crowley explained. “It is certainly a rare sight to see one, let alone seeing a child wield such a powerful weapon.” Crowley smiled towards Sora.

“Ah… Thank you?” Sora said nervously, slightly tightening his clutch on his keyblade.

“No need to be afraid. I will not try to steal your keyblade, after all, I have no use for that weapon.” Crowley said with a reassuring smile to Sora.

“Ah, well, thank you.” Sora replied whilst dismissing his keyblade.

“Now, I believe we can find a way home for you, please follow me back to the Mirror Chamber.” Crowley said and turned to walk towards the Mirror Chamber. You gave Sora and his friends a smile and started trailing behind the headmaster back to the Mirror Chamber along with them and your friends.

When you all arrived, Crowley told Sora to step in front of the mirror and asked him to think about his home planet. Sora did as he was told, shortly after, the mirror glowed a bright white colour, engulfing the Chamber with light. As the light faded, you could see that there are sandy beaches on the other side of the mirror.

“Destiny Islands!” Sora said out loud.

“Well, step through the portal and you’ll be home.” Crowley said to the trio. “I have to go now, do help me to give Yen Sid my greetings.” Crowley continued and walked out of the Mirror Chamber. Sora, Donald and Goofy were just staring blankly at his leaving figure.

“He knew Yen Sid??” Donald asked.

“I didn’t know either, in fact, Yen Sid has never mentioned him.” Sora replied and turned to face you and your friends.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye, it was nice meeting you guys!” Sora said.

“Who knew that we had different opinions on certain stuff.” Donald continued.

“A-Hyuck! Yea! It’s really nice to learn that we all have our own opinions on the Great 7.” Goofy said with a smile.

“It was lovely to meet you guys as well.” You smiled at Sora, Donald and Goofy. “Thank you for your help in defeating those creatures.” You bowed slightly to them.

“It’s no problem, after all, it was our duty to do so.” Sora said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Well, we wish you the best.” You said, waving a little.

“Feel free to drop by anytime!” Grim added on.

“Thank you.” Sora said as he, Donald and Goofy turned to face the mirror.

“May your heart be your guiding key.” The trio said as they stepped into the mirror, rejoining their friends in their own world.

~Bonus~

During the fight against the Heartless, Ace at one point got competitive against Donald. 

Donald was clearly doing better at vanquishing the Heartless, so the duck taunted the Heartslabyul first-year

Ace got all angry and frustrated, due to the taunt and frustration from vanquishing the Heartless. He let his frustration get to him and yelled out: “BUT YOU’RE JUST A DUCK!”

“A duck?! WHY YOU LITTLE-” insert angry Donald noises here 

It took you, Grim, Sora, Goofy, Deuce, Epel, Jack and Sebek to stop the fight between the Heartlabyul dorm member and the duck. 

Oh don’t worry though, the two got a good earful from you, so all is well.

[deliriousgeek]

She’s The Alpha (Owen Grady x reader) .9

Here’s chapter nine lovelies! Sorry that it took so long to finish, but it’s here! Also, idk if anyone pays attention to the lore or actual timeline of the Jurassic World franchise but in case anyone does, I will not be following that timeline. The events in this series will be different from that of the actual canon series. There are probably typos since I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible so I heavily apologize for that. Any who, enjoy!

Masterlist

Warnings: fluff?

The synthetic, white light illuminated the creation lab in a haze. No computers beeped and no screens flashed. The few movements in the room belonged to the lights flickering off in the nocturnal specimen containers, slowly rousing them from their day time slumber. The sun had set outside, but there were no windows in the lab and so the white overhanging lights gave no indication that any time had passed at all. If one stood quietly in the middle of the room, they could hear the wake up songs of croaking frogs and tweeting good nights from birds, each in their respective containers. One could look around and see the blinking eyes of lizards and watch as a lone paleontologist observed a substance as it dripped into a beaker. 

Yn’s eyes narrowed as she watched the amber toned liquid flow through the tube. Millions of years in development, 10 years of research, and a grueling year’s worth of testing flowed into a glass beaker. The action itself seemed too underwhelming for the labor and effort put into it. Her studies in Jurassic World would finally come to fruition if this one test worked. After tweaking experiments and hypotheses, it would all rely on this serum. 

It all relied upon the inspection of this serum. One look under a microscope was all she needed to confirm her suspensions. Due to staring at the beaker Yn failed to hear approaching footsteps outside of the laboratory doors. It wasn't until three raps on the glass door disturbed the incessant sound of dripping liquid, did she notice she wasn't alone.

"Uh, should I leave you with the beaker or should I go?"

Letting out a chuff Yn swiveled her chair to face the door.

"Sorry Owen, I didn't hear you come in."

He rolled his eyes and leaned against the door frame. A brown, paper sandwich bag with the Jurassic World logo printed on it was in his hands. He lifted a brow and impishly smiled. "Yn you're working too hard again. Do you know what time it is?"

Blinking her eyes and readjusting to turning so fast, Yn rested her hands on her knees and leaned back. Eyes flicking to the clock she sighed. 

The clock face stared back at her and read 10:30 pm.

"Damn."

Letting out a relinquished sigh as her hand slid down her face. For the past year Yn had been working as a paleogeneticist for Jurassic World. After her first initial visit to the park, which went smoothly, she returned home and endorsed Jurassic World. Shortly after the endorsement was published Jurassic World attendance skyrocketed. Mr. Masrani had reached out to Yn once more, but this time with a job offer. His hooking line that convinced her to leave the traditional paleontology world was “You won’t have to study dried out and dusty fossils. Instead you’ll be able to work with them in the flesh.” With an offer such as that, she couldn’t say no. Yn was elated when she had finally made her decision. However, her joy did not extend to her father, or any of her other extended family. Each shared their concerns and worries, much like the first time she traveled to the park, but once again they were met with Yn’s hard researched evidence on the park’s safety and personal confirmation that she would be fine. After that, they couldn’t say no. Three weeks later she was hugging her father goodbye and hopping on a private helicopter to Jurassic World. This time she was taken to the Hammond creation lab not as an endorser, but as a respected colleague. 

Now, Yn was on the brink of connecting something big, something that would revolutionize everything the world knew about dinosaurs. 

“Yeah, ‘damn’ is right. Now, are you going to stay locked up here all night or join me for a couple beers?”

Yn smiled at Owen’s offer, but she knew her answer. “I’d love to, Owen, but I really need to finish this. I’ll be outta here soon. Don’t worry about me.”

 This time Owen’s eyes slightly narrowed and his arms crossed, “You’ve been working late like this for the past month. What are you working on anyway?” He inquired as if trying to figure out what the purpose of the experiment was by analyzing the liquid. 

“Just confirming some stuff Dr. Wu theorized. With the late nights I’ve been pulling, I’ve actually gotten a lot further than what I expected.”

“Hmm.” Owen stepped back and let the paper bag drop to his side. “Well that’s great. Uh, okay well. I guess I’ll be off then. Want me to leave you a beer?” 

A laugh escaped Yn’s lips. “Nah. If someone came in and saw it I’d be immediately fired.” She was about to end the conversation there when a thought came to mind, “but if you’re still awake in say, about an hour? Would you still be down to share a beer and a late dinner?”

Hearing her suggestion Owen perked up. “Sure, I’ll be up. Meet at my place?” 

Yn nodded. “Yep.”

Turning on his heel with a slight jump to his step he shouted down the hallway, “See you then!”

Yn shook her head with a fond chuckle. She could always count on Owen to cheer her up. Or remind her when it was time to go home. With a made up resolve that she had done enough for the night, Yn began to clean up the lab and head to Owen’s trailer.

The test tubes were cleaned and put away to dry. All the tools she used were put back in their respective places. Now all that was left to do was save the research she had completed. Yn sat down in front of the computer, typing in the last details into the report. Then with a few clicks the file “Indo.Genome.2” was saved. 

With a satisfied sigh Yn closed up the lab and began her journey to Owen’s trailer. Upon arriving and exiting her car, Yn smiled. “Did I miss a celebration?” She observed the strings of light that hung across the open space between Owen’s trailer and the trees. A table set for two sat in the middle of it all. Owen occupied one chair, grinning with a teasing smile.

“Oh no, you didn’t miss anything.”

“Then what’s all this?” Yn gestured to the lights as she took her spot across from Owen.

He reached for his beer bottle and shrugged. “Can’t a man do something nice for his friend?” 

Yn laughed. “You can, but you usually don’t decorate unless we’re celebrating something.” She mused.

Placing the bottle down his teasing resolve softened. If Yn didn’t know any better she would think he looked sheepish. Owen didn’t answer after a few seconds so Yn took that as her cue to drop the interrogation.

“Got a bottle opener?”

“Oh right.”

Owen took the bottle from Yn and opened it, handing it back to her.

“Thanks.” 

Yn took a sip and sighed. She always preferred Owen’s place to hangout over hers. Yn looked out into the lake. It’s inky black surface reflected the white light of the moon. The lake was beautiful and quiet, encompassed by local foliage and the soothing noises of the jungle. 

Contrary to her condo in the park that was surrounded by late night bar attendees and bustling guests. It was peaceful here. She enjoyed that. 

Observing Yn take a sip of her beer and see her shoulders visibly relax gave Owen a sense of triumph. A few minutes of silence passed between them as they observed the lake before Owen spoke up. 

“Actually n/n, there is a reason for setting this all up.”

Switching her attention from the lake to him Yn turned. “Oh?”

“Yeah, uh,” He had a little trouble finding his words. “Actually uh, I’ve noticed the way you’ve been acting the past two months.”

Yn tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Leaning back into the patio chair Owen spoke. “Every time I’ve come to check on you, I find that you haven’t eaten. You’re the first person at work and the last one to leave. I hardly see you during our lunch break. To top it off you stopped coming by the paddock at the beginning of the month. The first couple times I noticed these changes I didn’t say anything, but now seeing as nothing’s changed I’m a little worried.”

Yn stared back at Owen with wide eyes and a mouth slightly gaping. Hearing all the differences in her routine surprised her. Had it really been that bad? Taking in a breath at her realization Yn reclined into her chair. What made it worse was that she had made Owen worry and fret over her. Now it made sense that he would check on her late at night in the lab every so often. He was worried about her well being. 

Taken aback Yn replied, “Wow. I’m sorry Owen. I didn’t mean to worry you. Honestly, I’m okay. I’ve just been really distracted with this project.”

“That’s the thing Yn. I know how much of a workaholic you are, but this is a new level.” Owen stated, a little displeased. 

A chuckle came out of Yn. “It’s not that bad.”

“Oh really?” Owen dead panned. “When was the last time you got a full eight hours of sleep?”

Yn quirked a brow. “Oh please. I got a full eight hours of sleep just last,” Her brows knitted. “Last,” Her memory must’ve been foggy because she specifically remembered that on- “Last..” Huh. She couldn’t remember. “I don’t know.” She replied.

“Exactly.” Now Owen’s brows tightened. “Why are you working yourself so hard?” 

“Psh Owen it’s not that bad! I’m seriously okay-”

“Yn.” Owen’s tone held no room for rebuttal. His shoulders tensed and face hardened, then his posture loosened. “Are you sure you’re okay? The last time you threw yourself into your work something bad happened. I can’t have you go into that dark place again.”

Touched about Owen’s worry for her, Yn softly smiled. Reaching across the table to his hand that rested across from her, she placed her palm on top of his closed fist. Looking into his eyes Yn spoke, “Owen. I am okay. I can promise you that I am one hundred percent mentally and emotionally okay. Nothing bad has happened. All that’s kept me busy is this project. I can’t really talk about it other than that it’s something I’m really proud of. If something did happen or I wasn’t feeling like myself, I would tell you. Okay?” She squeezed his hand for an extra bit of sincerity. Looking into her eyes Owen confirmed she was being serious. Letting go of his resolve he nodded. “Okay. I just needed to make sure.”

Yn gently smiled, retracting her hand. “Thank you Owen. I really appreciate your concern for me.”

“Hey, I’m not the only one,” His playful side coming back. “The girls miss you too.”

Yn laughed. “I miss my raptor babies too.” “Uh no no, they're not your raptor children, they’re mine.”

Yn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

Owen laughed. His eyes widened in remembrance. “I forgot, your sandwich is in the fridge. I’ll go get it.” He stood and headed into the trailer.

Yn smiled and uttered a “thank you” before he disappeared behind the trailer door. Looking back out into the lake, Yn was grateful. She and Owen had come to develop a special friendship. She would go as far to say that they were best friends. Without him, Yn probably wouldn’t have made it through the first month of working at the park.

Just as she was about to take another sip from the beer bottle Owen came out from the trailer; his phone in one hand and Yn's sandwich in the other. “Hate to cut this dinner short but there's trouble at the paddock.”

Standing with alert Yn began walking towards her car. “What happened?” “Delta’s fighting with Blue.”

Yn nodded, already opening her car door. “Get in, I’ll drive.”

Tag List

@littlegangrel @thebadassbitchqueen

Constructive criticism is welcomed!  If you want to be added to the tag list, please don’t be shy. I don’t bite :3

And to my followers or anyone that is reading this, if you’re going through something and hurting please know that there are people to talk to. If you’re stressed or overwhelmed, let me remind you to take breaks. 

Don’t be like “Yn” and not take care of yourself. You are loved! You are valued! Please treat yourself like how you would treat someone not taking care of their own needs. 

Sincerely, DeliriousGeek <3

[millytempesta]

Save me.

Chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4.

Paring: Asahi Azumane x reader

Rating: Fluff, love at first sight (?).

Summary: Asahi is a marine biologist, who is in charge of taking care of the strange creature that they found.But what happens when he discovers that other biologists are experimenting on his precious sea treasure, leaving it a shaky, scared mess?He'll need all the help from his friends to rescue the little fish and take it back to his blue house.

Warnings: This story will contain SMUT, MENTION OF DARK THEMES (Y/n past), MAY BE TRIGGERING TO SOMEONE.

A/n: Hiii, I tried my best, this was the story of a comic that I wanted to draw from a long time, but because I can't find myself taking the pen in hand, I decided to try and write it down.I hope you'll like it.English is not my first language, and I don't usually write, so I'm sorry if there is any spell or grammar error.

The sea has always been a place of peace for Asahi, a place where he could submerge and forget, even for a little, all the anxiety that the surface was full of.

When he put his diving suit on, and his mask, it was like he was back into the court, full of energy and excitement, but instead of judging eyes, screams and fakes rumors around him, there were calm, silent and colourful fishes who happily swam through the blue water.

Here he could be himself, showing all his love for the sea creatures, and saving those who were sick or hurt.

Thanks to his natural talent, the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, offered him one of the most important tasks in his entire career.

Saying he was excited was a euphemism, they discovered a new species, who could apparently communicate in some sort of way with humans, and they chose Asahi as the only person who would be in tight contact with it, taking care of the creature.

What they asked was easy, feeding it, playing with it, stimulating it to see its reactions to the various situations and objects and finally finding a way to let it share its knowledge of the sea with him.

The fact that he was the one chosen for this job made him feel proud of his hard work until now, by what really got him, was that he would have been one of the first people to interact with a new entire species.

They didn’t give him much explanation of it, saying that it was best if no one, excluded the chosen one for this job, knew about it existed before they could understand better its origin and its role in the big blue mass.

Turning the small key under the red button, the colour green appeared in the last level of the elevator, allowing him to push it. After mere seconds -that seemed like hours for the poor brunette- the door finally opened, showing a long corridor full of cameras.

Gulping he started making his way through the dark walls, coming to a stop in front of a metal door. Sliding  his personal magnet card, , the door of the most restricted area of the lab opened for him.

With a new wave of excitement he moved fast to the final door, adorned with a shining targ saying “Doctor Azumane Asahi Office”.

Opening it thanks to his magnetic card, he stood shocked on his track.

The room was big, on his left was a huge bookcase that took up the whole wall, in front of it there was a big desk, with a computer, a laptop and a modern desk lamp. 

On his right there was a whiteboard and a big table filled with lab equipment that he could use during his research.

In the middle of the room were two armchairs facing what left Asahi shocked;

All the front wall was missing, letting space to a window that faced the huge aquarium that lighted the room of a light blue colour.

The aquarium was deeper than his eyes could see, not letting the light reach the bottom of it, he supposed that the huge tank was the house of the unknown creature… Talking about the creature…

He tried to search for it, but he arrived at the conclusion that it was hiding in the bottom of it.

A ‘bib’ sound was what woke him up from his trance like state. Turning to the door, the head of the project was now standing in front of him.

“Good morning Doctor Asahi, I hope you didn’t have problems finding the office”.

Doctor Furukawa has been one of the kindest people in the lab, always believing in Asahi’s potential, taking him in his lab the day after his graduation.

Bowing respectfully, a shaky smile formed in the brunette's smile.

“Good morning Doctor Furukawa, the walk was fine, I found the office pretty easily, the targ helped a lot thank you”.

Chuckling, he patted his back “Good! Now, I bet you are dying to see it, should we go upstairs?”.

A sparkle of excitement passed through his eyes, nodding eagerly in response.

Laughing at his response, Furukawa pointed to a door situated on the right wall, next to the whiteboard.

“That door will take you directly upstairs to the top of the tank. Is your special entry to the more open side of the aquarium. Other operators in the project will have a separated entry, that will land them in a more closed area, where they won’t be able to be in a more than necessary contact with the creature. We want for it to get used to you, we know how stressful it is for a wild creature to be put in a restricted place, we don’t want to put even more stress on it with lots of new faces every day.”

Walking in the water room, a light music was playing in the background, making Asahi’s nerves relax. 

The Doctor reached for a bucket full of fish.

“Apparently it likes music, that’s how we first find it”.

Furukawa passed the buck to the younger Doctor.

“I was with the rescue team near the relit, a poor dolphin got stuck in one of the fish nets on the bottom of the boat.”

Throwing the fish from the buck into the water, both men stilled, waiting for the creature to emerge.

“To celebrate we put some music on, and that’s when it appeared, like a curious child.”

Bubbles picked on the surface, indicating the arrival of something.

“We were, to say the least, shocked.”

Asahi froze.

‘What…’

Colour drained from his face.

He fell on his knees to the ground, staring at the creature.

A very human head picked from under the water, watching with curious eyes the man, making the older man next to him chuckle.

“We thought we were hallucinating.”

A webbed hand emerged, taking hold of a fish. (E/c) eyes studied the dead animal, bringing it near what seemed to be a nouse, as to test its safety.

With a happy hum, the creature opens its mouth revealing sharp pointed teeth, who cut the fish in half so easily, that make it look like butter.

Finishing the fish in only two mouths full, the creature moved quickly to another fish, startling Asahi.

Turning to the Doctor, a shaky finger pointed to the human head in the water.

“I-it’s… It’s… What is it?”

A hum leaves the old man’s lips.

“We don’t know, the bottom half seems to be (Favourite fish -I personally really like the betta fish), but the top half… Well it’s very human like.”

Gulping down, the brunette tried to gather his courage, slowly making his way back up.

The creature looked up at him, moving slightly closer to the edge.

Taken by surprise, Asahi stepped back, making the half fish’s head tilt slightly sideways, curiously looking at him.

Looking around itself, it quickly spotted an untouched fish.

Cautiously it moved again slowly to the edge, purging the fish to the young man, making him confused.

With a light nudge of his elbow, the doctor motioned for him to get closer.

Holding his breath, he lowered to the ground,extending a shaky hand toward the creature.

At the movement in the water, he shut his eyes. 

‘OH GOD IT’S GOING TO EAT ME! I WON’T EVEN HAVE TIME TO REACT, WITH THOSE SHARP TEETH, IT’S GOING TO EAT ME IN TWO MOUTH FULL, JUST LIKE THOSE FISHES! Oh Suga, Daichi… You’ve been the best friend ever, I’m sorry I won’t have time to say goodby one last time… And Noa! I still have to give back the film that he gave to me… And I also need to give him back those 500 ¥… I’m such a horrible friend, I deserve to be eaten by an unknown creature who is putting something on my hand- Wait…’

Cracking an eye open, he peeked at his hand.

A fish was now placed on his hand.

Confused he looked at the creature, who was looking back at him with what seemed to be an excited expression.

Sensing his confusion, it took hold of another fish, quickly taking a bite from it and showing it to him.

Looking down at his hand he slowly looked back at the half human, still confused.

Throwing the last piece of fish in its mouth, he cautiously moved closer to Asahi, giving him time to move away if wanted.

When the man didn’t move, a cold webbed hand made its way over his warm one, nudging it  toward his face.

“W-What do you want me to do?”

The other hand made its way from under the water, pointing a finger to the fish.

Following its movement, he quickly understood the fact that it was trying to communicate.

Looking back to its pointing hand he stated “The fish…?”

The hand moved again, now pointing at its mouth, showing off its teeth.

“...Oh! Eat?”

With a final swing the finger was now pointing directly at him.

“Me? You want me to eat it?”

A huge grin spread through the creature’s face, who nudged again his hand, motioning again to its mouth.

Feeling even more confused, he looked at its eyes.

“But why?”

Pointing at him, it made a shocked face, faking to faint, falling under the blue liquid.

Coming back from under the water it pointed at him, then the fish, to finally point to its face who was showing a big smile.

The creature watched patiently at Asahi, who tried to connect all its movement.

Like a light who turned on in his head, he quickly looked back at it.

“You want me to eat it because you saw me shocked and you want me to feel better?”

A loud happy chirp escapes the half human, who was now swimming happily in a circle around the pool.

Feeling like every fear washed away, Asahi finally let out the breath that was holding in his body, letting his shoulders relax and moving even closer to the water.

With a sweet smile he left the fish fall in the water, pointing with his finger to him.

“I can’t eat it”, pointing his finger to his tummy, faking to feel bad. “It will make me feel sick”.

He then started searching in his lab coat’s pocket for the small snack he always carried with him.

Showing it to the creature, he then pointed at his tummy and then to his smile “This is good, I can eat it.”

The creature quickly understood, taking the fish and throwing it far away from Asahi.

Turning back, it beamed up at him.

Without any fear left in his body, he gives time to his eyes to study the creature more closely.

Its tail was long, swinging into the water absently, reminding him of the absent swinging of the legs that people do when bored or when thinking.

It was covered in shining (F/c) scales, who covered most of its body melting with the (s/c),.more humanlike, skin under its belly bottom.

The upper part was recognized as a woman-like shape.

Her breast was covered by an intersection of sea shells and pearls, holded together by some seaweed.

Her (h/c) hair was neatly pulled up in a sideways ponytail, graced by pearls and shells, like her top.

He noticed just now, how gorgeous the creature really was.

With a blush he looked away, making her curious.

Putting her hands on the edge of the pull, she leaned her head over them, staring inquisived at him.

“It seems it likes you.”

A small yelp escapes Asahi’s mouth, who forgot the presence of the older male behind him.

With an apologetic expression he turned to look at him.

“I-I… Do you think?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he proudly looked at him.

“It never got this close to anyone on its own initiative. It looks like you two have now a bond.”

Looking down at her eyes, he let out a relaxed hum. 

Slowly he moved his hand to her face, not wanting to scare her.

When he reached her head, he waited for her to get closer, responding to her inquisitive stare with a warm smile.

She slowly closed the space, testing the warm feeling on her cold skin.

A purr escapes her, nuzzling closer into his hand.

“It’s a she…”

Looking back up at him, a smile brighter than the sun appeared on her features.

Responding with a just as warm smile, he finally stated “And her name is (y/n)”.

Hope you did like it,

Leave a kudos if you did!

Leave a comment if you didn't, telling me what was wrong, so that I can get better!

Leave also a comment if you did like it, your opinion is very important to me.

[miskatonique]

HERBERT WEST CHEAT SHEET !

since my muses are not super well known in the contemporary rpc ( and i’m too lazy to do a full about page at this very moment ) i decided to put together little posts for them that give their general backgrounds, vibes, and plot possibilities !

this is a mix of canon and headcanon, and these are subject to change / adapt as i get more used to writing the characters

BACKGROUND:

Films: Re-Animator 1985, Bride of Re-Animator 1990, Beyond Re-Animator 2003

We don’t talk about Beyond Re-Animator......

Dr. Herbert West, 24 in the first movie, 27 in the second movie, idk like 40 in the third movie. Mad scientist to the MAX. In the novelization Herbert is an orphan who gets passed around in foster homes before eventually going to undergrad at NYU and pursuing his theory about the re-animation of dead tissue. Mostly people think he’s sort of crazy until one of his articles catches the eye of Dr. Hans Gruber at a university in Switzerland, and he invites Herbert to come work alongside him. Herbert eventually grows to respect Gruber as both a mentor and father-figure.

Herbert and Gruber develop a reagent that affects re-animation in dead animal tissue but they know that for their results to be taken seriously they need to do a human trial. Dr. Gruber volunteers but the dosage of the reagent is too large, and though it brings Gruber back to life it quickly overwhelms his system and he dies again. Herbert is taken into psychiatric custody in Switzerland but is eventually released.

Herbert returns to America and specifically sets his sights on Miskatonic Medical School in Arkham, Massachusetts because one of the staff, Dr. Carl Hill, used to work with Gruber years ago, and even went on to plagiarize some of Gruber’s work and publish it in America. Herbert makes it his secondary goal to absolutely terrorize Dr. Hill, and because he’s a chaotic gremlin in human form he’s very good at it.

Herbert continues working on perfecting the reagent, rooming with Dan Cain and eventually pulling Dan into the experiments as well when Dan’s cat dies and Herbert is able to prove his research by reanimating it. Herbert isn’t perturbed when Dan’s talk with Dean Halsey goes south, and just digs his heels in and insists that the only way to truly prove that the reagent works is to reanimate a human cadaver.

Results are just as bad as you’d expect. Sure, the cadaver reanimates but it also wrecks the morgue and kills Dean Halsey. RIP. Herbert insists that they reanimate him and the dean comes back less like himself and more animalistic, trying to kill both Herbert and Dan before his daughter Meg shows up and stops him. Despite it all, Herbert manages to wriggle his and Dan out of any suspicion from the police but Dr. Hill takes an interest in Herbert’s work once he does exploratory surgery of Dean Halsey and finds out he’s technically dead.

Dr. Hill confronts Herbert in his laboratory and threatens to steal Herbert’s work and take it for his own, offering Herbert the meager honour of being his assistant. Herbert promptly murders Hill via decapitation but decides not to let his fresh corpse go to waste and reanimates both Hill’s head and his body, which come back to life and knock Herbert out and steal all of his work.

Yada yada, Herbert gets Dan to help him go after Hill, the big climax happens. Herbert is able to prove his theory about overdose by shooting up Dr. Hill’s headless body with a bunch of reagent, which backfires and Herbert is left for dead all tangled up in Hill’s intestines, but not after he ensures that his research is safe with Dan.

They never explain how Herbert survives the first movie but he sure is alive in the second movie! It’s roughly 3ish years after the first film, so he’s got his doctorate now and he’s drug Dan all the way to Peru so they can be volunteer medics in a civil war. This obviously gives Herbert an unprecedented access to fresh bodies for his experiments.

Eventually he and Dan head back to Miskatonic Hospital, where they’re able to get jobs and a creepy cute little house that used to be a mortuary so they can continue the work. Herbert is now obsessed with the reanimation of separate parts and convinces Dan to help him build an entirely new life from parts. Dan’s not on board until Herbert shows him Megan Halsey’s heart and promises that they’ll build the body around it.

Dr. Hill’s head also somehow survived the first movie and it tries to terrorize Herbert, along with a cop who’s investigating Herbert for stealing corpses. Herbert eventually kills and reanimates the cop, and then gets into even more trouble when all of the other strange creatures he’s been reanimating start coming after him because they’re being mind controlled by Dr. Hill’s nasty head ( don’t ask me okay, this script was written in literally 6 weeks it makes no sense )

Anyway Herbert and Dan successfully bring their creation to life right before getting attacked by Dr. Hill and his army of weirdos, all while Dan is having a mental breakdown because he thinks the creation is his dead girlfriend Meg. In the chaos Dan and the creation escape separately while Herbert and Hill and co. get trapped under buried rubble and are left for dead ( AGAIN ).

But surprise! Herbert isn’t dead! We don’t know how he survived but we do know that at some point in time Dan turned over evidence to the authorities that led to Herbert’s arrest and imprisonment. The third movie picks up with Herbert who’s been in prison for 13 years and the dumbass new hospital doctor is a fanboy of Herbert and brings in some of his reagent. Herbert basically starts a prison riot, chaos ensues, this movie is Not Good, but the important thing is that Herbert escapes prison with his work and gets to walk off free and definitely alive into the night <3

VIBES / PERSONALITY:

His work is EVERYTHING to him -- there have been multiple times where Herbert has put his work above his own bodily safety or chance of survival, and I guarantee he would do it again, too. Herbert is mostly focused on being able to do the impossible simply because it’s “impossible.” He’s able to convince Dan to help him because he reasons the practical applications of his reagent, like saving lives by aiding in surgeries or helping with amputations, but at the end of the day Herbert is only concerned with discovery, acclaim, and giving classical science a big ‘ole middle finger.

He can be incredibly manipulative when looking for a specific action or behavior in the people close to him. This mostly is seen in how he treats Dan, often reeling him back in with promise of how much good their work will do in the world when Dan starts to get squeamish. Herbert is also really good at finding the sorest spots in someone and pressing on them, but usually only does this when he wants to prove a point or if he really hates someone.

He gains a lot of power by seeming like the more “level-headed” person in an altercation, but he can get extremely excitable or aggressive, especially when something goes well with his research or if it’s being threatened.

He’s genuinely a good doctor, doesn’t freak out under pressure, has neutral-good bedside manner, is very decisive and isn’t afraid to make difficult decisions when it comes to a patient’s life. However, Herbert considers himself a scientist first and a doctor second. The work on reanimation will always come before anything else.

He’s a HUGE fucking nerd, he loves making puns or little zingers whenever he can fit them into a conversation. He also likes playing practical jokes, though he doesn’t do it often. He’s got a great evil giggle.

Oh he’s terrible at taking care of himself. There’s a deleted scene from the first movie where Herbert is shown to be injecting himself with a weakened version of the reanimating reagent because it helps keep his brain sharp and makes it to where he doesn’t have to sleep. What a NUT. I think he probably weans off this habit, by force or choice. His sleeping and eating habits are still pretty bad, though. Definitely the kind of person who doesn’t eat/sleep/rest unless he’s genuinely about to collapse because of it.

Oh he’s also sooooooooooo gay. gay gay gay homo sexual.

There are very few people he outright respects or enjoys spending time around, and with everyone else he is absolutely so bitchy and rude. He doesn’t give a single shit about being polite. Also ACAB.

PLOT POSSIBILITIES:

Got any canonically dead muses? Want them to be alive again? Herbert can help with that! He’ll definitely want to make sure they stick around and observe them to see why the reagent worked so well, maybe do some extra tests, so he can also double as a really annoying, creepy roommate. Score!

Med student muses? I have a new classmate for you

Ever wondered what your muse would do if they saw someone graverobbing, or smuggling body parts into their house in the middle of the night? Do they stop him? Ask questions? Offer to help? Now’s the chance to find out!

He could always use a new assistant since Dan keeps abandoning him after every movie, jfc, loyalty is so hard to find these days

Meet-cute where one of his reanimated creations tries to murder you and he saves you from it <3

[fatefulfaerie]

Ancient

Linktober Prompt Day 21/31

Incarnation: Breath of the Wild 

Word Count: 2,036

Triggers: None

She was brimming with excitement.

Link couldn’t keep his eyes off of her giddy smile, like at every second she was about to chuckle or laugh. She was absolutely bursting with anticipation.

Until, of course, her smile was out of his sight completely, Zelda rushing forward at the very sight of the Akkala laboratory.

“Come on, slowpoke,” she said, turning around to face Link while still walking backwards up the hill. Link caught a glimpse of her smile before she turned and ran up the hill. It warmed his heart as he continued to walk.

He caught up to her at the door. Her hands were behind her back and her feet were teetering her weight back and forth. Link wondered at how she wasn’t out of breath running up that hill.

“It’s unlocked, you know,” Link said as he came up next to her. “You can go in.”

“As excited as I am, Link, I’m not about to close the door in your face.”

Skies, that smile was ethereal. No wonder she was descended from a literal goddess.

“I appreciate the sentiment,” Link said before looking between her and the door. “Well? Go ahead.”

Zelda bit her lip with a quiet daring in her green eyes, talking two steps forward and knocking on the door.

“Robbie!” A woman exclaimed. “We have guests!”

After only a couple footsteps, the door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with a neighborly smile. She looked to Zelda first and, not recognizing the Princess in the slightest, focused on Link.

“Why Link!” She exclaimed. “If you’re here to use Cherry, you don’t need to knock. Come on in!” 

She stepped aside, Zelda entering first, but very slowly, spinning around and taking in the whole room of messy research that matched so much the inside of her brain. Link perched himself in the open doorway, crossing his arms and feet and leaning against the frame, of course with a smile of adoration towards his Princess.

Before the woman could even inhale to introduce herself, Zelda had rushed towards the Ancient Oven, standing on her knees and studying it with a hand on the head.

“Oh, Miss, I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” the woman said with a step forward. “Robbie isn’t too fond of strangers touching Cherry.”

Zelda turned her head.

“He named it Cherry?”

“Yes,” the woman said, her voice taking on a slight frustration at the reminder. “After his—“

“First love,” Zelda finished, to the woman’s surprise. “I remember.”

Zelda turned her head back to studying the furnace.

“She must have perished in the Calamity,” Zelda said quietly, before her mind started really focusing on the technology. “Remarkable. I was there when he drew it up. I never thought it would actually work, but he must have found a way around the interface incompatibility. Does it really repurpose ancient energy? How did he contain the power of the blue flame? Unless it’s rerouted through the conduits like a guidance stone. But even then, creating an intelligence able to take and receive orders is a feat on its own. I wonder how he managed it considering the margins of error.”

She beamed a smile back at Link.

“This is incredible.”

“Incredible, huh?” She heard a much older voice spout, standing up. “Has my wife finally come around to my precious Cherry?”

He came about to Zelda’s sights, looked up and his jaw dropped.

“Your Highness!” He exclaimed suddenly, his arms extending outwards and making him look like a starfish. “What a surprise! And a miracle! You have no idea how many specs I wanted to run through your brain over the years. I almost took up a sword and rescued you myself!”

“Your Highness?” The woman asked with a step forward.

“Yes!” Robbie said, placing his hands up his hips. “This is none another than Princess Zelda herself. Wrestled from her prison with the Calamity by none other than our Link!”

“I apologize for not recognizing you,” the woman said, shaking hands with Zelda. “The Calamity was long before my time, thirty years before I was born to be exact. My name is Jerrin.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Zelda said.

“If you’re the Princess,” she said. “That means you knew Robbie when he was…what…about twenty?”

Zelda nodded.

“Yes, all of them,” she said. “Purah, Impa, Cherry. We worked closely together on studying sheikah technology.”

“And we’ll be happy to catch you up,” Robbie said. “Although I can’t help but obsess over the fact that you called Cherry incredible. She doesn’t get a lot of appreciation around here.”

“Robbie,” Zelda insisted. “Cherry is absolutely marvelous, how did you…”

They emerged into what Link would describe as incoherent technobabble between the both of them, finishing each other’s sentences and poking and prodding every inch of the ancient oven. Link watched amused as Jerrin sauntered over to him, the words flying completely over his head but Zelda’s smile shooting straight into his heart.

“She’s an interesting one, isn’t she?” Jerrin asked, stopping next to Link. “Not what I would expect of a Princess.”

“No, not at all,” Link said, watching Zelda.

“You saved her from the Calamity but before that, you were her…?”

“Knight attendant,” Link answered, Jerrin nodding.

“Do you know if she plans to rebuild the kingdom?” Jerrin asked.

“I’m not sure,” Link said, finally turning his head. “She mentioned something about it last week but she seems so much happier here in the wild that I wouldn’t be surprised if she just let it be. The people of Hyrule have gotten used to life without a centralized kingdom and although it could help unify it, I think Hyrule can prosper either way with the Calamity now gone. Really, I think it’s up to her as to what she wants her future to be.”

Jerrin nodded.

“And you’ll continue to protect her?” She asked. “Without being sworn to by a standing kingdom?”

Link almost laughed.

“I can’t imagine myself not,” Link said. “I plan to protect her and love her as long as me being by her side makes her happy.”

“That answers my next question,” Jerrin mused before Link felt Zelda grab his arm, pulling him further into the lab and in front of the oven.

“Put something in!” She exclaimed. “I want to see what we can get!”

“All that are available are weapons, Your Highness,” Robbie said. “Link already purchased the guardian armor a while ago.”

Zelda’s head spin to Link was quick.

“What?”

“Oh, right,” Link said, clearly forgetting.

“Are you serious?” She said before taking his hand with both of hers and pressing up against his arm. “Armor made from repurposed guardian parts…how could you keep this from me?”

Link looked into her face with a blushing smile. 

“Oh? Did you want to see it?” Link asked teasingly.

Zelda nodded quickly.

“Yes, please.”

Link pecked her lips.

“Okay.”

He stepped a bit away from Zelda, rummaging in his seemingly endless inventory before he realized that Jerrin, Robbie, and Zelda were all staring at him expectantly.

“I know I took my shirt off in here once, but maybe a bit of privacy?”

They quickly realized their error, Robbie returning up the stairs to peer up at the encroaching stars of the approaching night and Jerrin leaving to find a merchant at the nearby stable to collect ingredients for dinner.

Zelda waited outside impatiently for Link to emerge, and it seemed the longest five minutes she had ever experienced. She was even surprised at her lack of patience, keeping Ganon at bay for one hundred long years.

The door opened and her heart quickened, pushing away her immediate thoughts as she really studied him, Link stepping out with a slight spin.

“One guardian-covered significant other ready to be studied.”

“Fascinating,” she breathed, stepping forward. She touched the inactive guardian eye on his helm first. She walked around him, her hand grazing along his shoulder, his back, before she stopped at his left hip, kneeling, her fingertips tracing the orange lines of the greaves.

“How does it do against Guardian attacks?” She asked.

“It isn’t impervious,” Link explained. “But I take less damage. The burns are less severe, barely even showing up. If it hits directly it only burns the armor.”

Zelda nodded.

“Just like they are to each other,” she said. “Their lasers can harm each other, but not as easily as flesh.”

She looked up.

“In an early stage, Robbie mentioned auto-regeneration. Does this have that?”

“Auto regeneration?” Link asked.

“He talked about channeling the type of energy from the Shrine of Resurrection, the energy that healed your injuries. If you took damage, the armor would slowly heal you.”

“No,” Link said with a shake of his head. “Nothing like that.”

Zelda nodded as she sat up.

“Again, the compatibility issue,” she said. “Different types of sheikah technology don’t transfer well without a proper conduit like a guidance stone, to funnel the flame into a different phase of matter. But the Shrine of Resurrection isn’t powered by any flame we could find. To this day, we still don’t know how the ancient Sheikah repurposed the energy to heal wounds.”

Link loved the way she went on and on, happily standing still to prompt it.

“This armor really is amazing,” she said with a chuckle. “I can tell what type of guardian each one of these parts came from, even since they’ve been repurposed.”

Her eyes shifted to the helm, noticing Link’s unrestrained hair.

“I imagine you took out your hair because the ponytail wouldn’t fit under that helm.”

Link nodded.

“It was pretty uncomfortable otherwise.”

Zelda stepped back, placing her finger on her lips. Link expecting her to make another scientific observation with the way her green eyes scanned him.

“That blue fabric underneath is made by the Sheikah, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s pretty tight,” she said with a smile.

What Zelda could see of Link’s face flushed red.

“Turn around again,” Zelda commanded, with a swivel of her finger.

“I thought you were interested in this for research purposes,” Link said as Zelda tipped her head.

“Oh, I am,” she said. “But it just flatters you so well. It’s an added bonus”

“Okay,” Link said turning around. “Now you are just looking at my butt.”

“I got distracted,” Zelda said. “You can pull off anything. Usually you aren’t wearing what I’m studying. I’d never get anything done.”

“I suppose I see what you mean,” Link said. “If I had you along on one of my adventures, I’d lose my head completely. If we had to save Hyrule again, it would end horribly because I’d be so distracted by you.”

“Link,” she said with a smile and shakes of her head. “You say the absolute worst things with the absolute best intentions."

Zelda walked forward and tipped the helm up so she could she his blue eyes. 

“Although, I do agree with you that the end of Calamity Ganon being the end of our troubles is a good thing. Nothing lurking, nothing waiting for our death, or for its next move, just us.”

Zelda took off the helm completely before seeing him with his hair down for the first time. She ran her fingers through it slowly as Link’s eyes flitted to her lips. Zelda’s hand stopped itself on the back of his head, clutching his golden locks and bringing his forehead to meet hers. Her other arm was around his neck, with the helm dangling off her fingers

“Kissing me in guardian armor must be…”

“A turn on?” She breathed, finishing his sentence. “Yep.”

She kissed him, only after a couple seconds their heads tilting to let each other in, their mouths opening and their kiss deepening.

Link picked her up with his next breath as they continued, her body pressed up against his as he leaned back, holding her tight. He set her down gently.

“But honestly, Link,” Zelda said breathlessly. “It’s mostly you. Technology or not, I’ll always love you no matter what you wear…or no matter how little you understand my…what did you call it? Technobabble?”

Link nodded.

“And I love you for it."

[stormkrigeren]

Whumptober Day 1!

Link to the Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34210837/chapters/85120435

Title: Bound - Lois

Prompt: No. 1 ‘All Trussed Up And Still Nowhere To Go’ - “You have to let go”, barbed wire, bound

Word Count: 2475

Lois preferred rope over handcuffs, and duct tape over rope. Duct tape was best because it was surprisingly easy to break, but she was rarely lucky enough to be tied up with it. Lois could tell that today wasn’t her lucky day the moment the goon wrapped a length of plastic boating rope around her wrists and yanked it tight.

She loved her job. The title of ‘investigative reporter’ practically gave her a free pass to be as nosy as she liked (and Lois was admittedly quite nosy) while also revealing the truth on a variety of issues, affairs, and dealings. No one would blink twice if she walked into a warzone or gang territory or some crooked mogul’s office with a pen handy and far too many questions in her head, and no one was surprised when her life was threatened only for her to diffuse the situation a few minutes later. That was just how Lois worked, and she loved it.

The one and only issue with her job was the fact that if her life wasn’t being threatened, her freedom probably was. Sometimes it would just be a threat to get her so discredited that no one would ever publish her works again, removing her freedom of speech, but Lois was good at her job and no one ever found anything to discredit her on. So more often than not whatever fraudulent idiot she had revealed that day would instead tie her up and leave her in a warehouse somewhere until either the police or her boss showed up with a ransom because investigative reporters, especially ones named Lois Lane, were surprisingly valuable (the highest number she’d ever heard was close to a million, which of course didn’t pan out, but it was interesting to think about).

Today had started out pretty normally - Lois had woken up, gotten ready for the day, and taken the subway to work like she usually did. Upon arriving at the Daily Planet’s Head Offices in the Upper East Side of the city, she had clocked in and gotten to her desk with the intention of kicking off the work day with a little bit of research and note-taking in preparation for her interview with some S.T.A.R Labs higher-ups that afternoon. The company had received a contract from the Department of Defense to investigate and research the Kryptonian scout ship that had crashed in downtown Metropolis and was now in government custody. Any Kryptonian 'artifacts’ found in or around the ship were catalogued by S.T.A.R Labs before being transferred to various labs and other research companies around the nation for studying, the biggest transfers usually being made to the S.T.A.R facilities in Central City and Metropolis, and third-party contractors such as Kord Industries, LexCorp, and WayneTech. The distribution of findings for individual research was all well and good, but a whistleblower had recently come to Lois with some disturbing finds: some of the artifacts, especially alien weapons, were disappearing from large shipments without a trace.

When the time of the interview drew near, Lois checked in with Perry before catching a taxi to the S.T.A.R Labs headquarters downtown. Her appointment was with a few scientists from the company’s board of directors that worked with the Kryptonian scout ship the most, and luckily for them, all three of them had enough tact to not back out of the meeting when they realized that the reporter the Daily Planet had sent over was in fact a lady on the high road to a Pulitzer Prize. A board room was procured for their usage, and Lois, being well-familiar with the drill, started her recording app, pulled out her notes, and started doing what comprised the bulk of her job as an investigative journalist: asking questions.

How was work on the Kryptonian scout ship progressing? Had any significant discoveries or breakthroughs been made so far? What sort of artifacts were they dealing with, and how did they decide which ones to distribute for outside research? Were the scout ship’s contents primarily weapons, or other items? What was the company’s response to rumors about misplaced shipments?

The scientists happily answered her questions, occasionally going off on a tangent about some discovery or the supposed usage of some unknown object but otherwise provided Lois with some pretty good fuel for her next article up until she came to the final question. All three of the researchers shifted uncomfortably in their seats and exchanged the briefest of nervous glances before Dr. Rhems, the head consultant for their Kryptonian armaments division, launched into a spiel about how their cataloguing system was infallible and they had not seen any evidence that items were missing, the rumors had to be false or else they would have known. To solidify his claim, he even offered to show her their records and prove that whatever data people were basing their opinions off of had to be wrong. Lois immediately took him up on the offer.

Taking his fellow scientists’ leave, Dr. Rhems led her through the building before finally stopping outside a door that supposedly led to where the Labs kept their records pertaining to the Kryptonian artifact research program.

“You have to understand, Miss Lane, that S.T.A.R Labs is not the only facility performing research on Kryptonian weaponry,” he explained as he fished a key card out of his pocket, nearly dropped it, and finally managed to tap it against the scanner beside the door, “It’s quite possible that one of the other contractors involved in the program may simply not be cataloguing their artifacts correctly-”

“They are,” Lois snapped back as she followed him through the doorway, “The issue is within your own company. The records available to the public show that half of the missing items disappear while still in your system. I know this seems a little far-fetched, Dr. Rhems, but it's looking like there are some shady dealings going on within your facility to steal Kryptonian weapons, and possibly other items, without your knowledge.”

“That’s impossible! This is one of the most secure facilities in the state, and every one of our employees has undergone rigorous background examinations. Surely this must be some sort of journalistic ploy to discredit S.T.A.R Labs, Miss Lane-”

“With all due respect, Dr. Rhems, please stop trying to dissuade me before I’ve seen your evidence against the so-called ‘rumors’. I’ll make my decision on what to tell the public once you can prove to me that the accusations aren’t true.”

Dr. Rhems paused at that, stopped in front of a laboratory workstation and glanced quickly between Lois and the racks of Kryptonian armaments on the far side of the room - apparently this lab was where they were stored for cataloging and documentation.

“Well,” the doctor said finally, “if you’re so sure you cannot be persuaded...”

The scientist tapped a button on the workstation’s keyboard and Lois distinctly heard the door behind her lock shut with a hydraulic hiss and low shunking sound. Before she even had time to turn around, Dr. Rhems was pulling what looked too much like a genuine Kryptonian sidearm for comfort out of his labcoat and levelling it at her head. There was no doubt in her mind that it was real, and Lois should know - she had used one.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Miss Lane,” Dr. Rhems confessed, “But I am going to have to ask you to comply while Caleb ties you up - don’t want you getting away before we’ve come to an agreement, you see.”

At his behest, mostly because she was unable to do otherwise with a Kryptonian sidearm pointed at her, Lois took a seat in the chair the scientist pointed to and waited in silence to see what he would do next. Dr. Rhems typed another command into the workstation console and the door unlocked to slide open just enough for a nervous-looking intern to slip inside before the door locked shut again. The young man had apparently been given orders to follow them and wait outside the lab until his boss let him in, and after a brief, curious glance in the reporter’s direction, he immediately got to the task assigned by fetching a length of plastic rope - the kind typically used for camping due to its lightweight nature - from a desk drawer and using it to tie Lois’ hands behind her back. Under Dr. Rhems supervision, he tied the knots as tight as he could before proceeding to tie her ankles to the chair legs, and though Lois hated to admit it, she was thoroughly stuck where she was.

“You can’t keep me here for long,” Lois reminded Dr. Rhems, holding back a wince when the uncomfortable cordage bit into her ankles and resisting the urge to give Caleb a solid kick to the nose went he bent down to adjust the rope, “My editor will wonder where I am if I don’t check in soon, not to mention the fact that I’m legally under the protection of both the US government and the Kryptonian remnant. I just have to scream ‘Superman’ and someone will be here within ten seconds.”

If she stated that last sentence a little louder than necessary, Dr. Rhems didn’t notice and simply cocked the blaster (improperly, Lois noted) as Caleb finished tying her up, “You won’t scream. You wouldn’t dare.”

“Maybe I will,” Lois answered, resisting the urge to smirk. Dr. Rhems apparently had enough confidence to do so himself, and shook his head self-assuredly.

“As you said earlier, Miss Lane, you should wait to hear my side of the story before forming an opinion,” he stated calmly, “Let’s start with a simple fact: alien artifacts created in and designed to be used in an environment different from Earth are a little difficult, and expensive, to maintain. Sure, the technology works here, but until we can fully understand it, we have to ensure that it does not deteriorate or lose function when not used properly. I would read you a few excerpts from my paper on the apparent bio-technological advancements in Kryptonian technology that make their mechanism borderline-organic, so simultaneously holding some level of innate intelligence or purpose but also being susceptible to deterioration if not maintained, but we don’t have time for that now.

“Without going into too much detail, S.T.A.R Labs is not getting the funding it needs from the Department of Defense. No significant advances or research is able to be done without money, Miss Lane, and we don’t have a lot of it,” Dr. Rhems continued, “The solution? Getting rid of artifacts we do not have the facilities to maintain while also making a little bit of cash - in short we’ve been selling Kryptonian technology to foreign buyers.”

“You mean stealing and profiting off of property of the US government, not to mention that the UN is currently trying to rule both artifacts and the scout ship itself as property of the Kryptonian remnant,” Lois corrected him. Damn, she was pretty sure she was losing feeling in her hands considering how tightly the intern had bound her, but if she could just slip one hand out of the rope…

“Everyone knows the UN won’t succeed in the ruling - that technology is far too valuable to belong to a couple of do-gooder extraterrestrials,” Dr. Rhems answered, “And before you ask what I’m going to do with you or why I’ve decided to tell you all this, the answers are simple: I’m going to ransom you and get a bit of extra ‘funding’ out of it, and once your ransom has been paid and you are released, you are going to write me an article about the corruption going on in our own Department of Defense that has led to the gross underfunding of essential research facilities such as S.T.A.R Labs.”

“And just who do you think is going to pay my ransom?” Lois asked. Her plan was to keep him talking, keep his focus off her and the fact that after rubbing the skin raw and nearly spraining her wrist, she had just about managed to get her right hand out of Caleb’s tightly-but-poorly-tied attempt at binding her up. Poor kid - he hadn’t done too bad of a job considering that typing would be a pain-in-the-ass tomorrow, but it wasn’t enough to keep Lois off her game. Dr. Rhems was still going off about who he was going to call for the money for her release when she got both hands free, and right on time the thick laboratory door crumpled beneath a hand strong enough to bend steel as Superman himself stepped into the room. Lois wasted no time when the two S.T.A.R Lab scientists were distracted by his arrival, and she lunged at Dr. Rhems to knock the blaster out of his distracted grip, cock it for firing (properly, she noted), and point it at the bastard’s head.

“Well, Dr. Rhems,” she couldn’t help but announce with a smirk, “It looks like I was right about those missing shipments.”

V*V*V*V*V*V*V

It was Perry who picked her up from the S.T.A.R Labs facility after Lois was done giving her account to the police - part of her wished it had been Superman who flew her back to the Daily Planet offices, but he was still busy talking with an officer about the two scientists who had been holding Miss Lane hostage - and after a short drive back to the familiar newspaper building, it was Clark who first noticed the blisters covering her wrists and insisted on getting the first aid kit to treat them. Still, Lois ended up looking after the injuries herself, mostly because Clark, despite his kindness, strength, and adorable handsomeness, was a bit on the squeamish side and still had work to do. It wasn’t the worst she had ever dealt with - her wrists only required some antibacterial cream and bandages, whereas her left ankle had nearly been sprained when she lunged at Dr. Rhems with her feet still tied to the chair and required a bit more care in the form of an ice pack. Despite her injuries, Lois was having a pretty damn fine day - her typing skills weren’t as affected as she had imagined, her phone had still been recording throughout the whole hostage situation, and she had enough evidence pieced together to make the leading story of the evening edition. A sprained ankle and wrists that were raw as fuck after trying to wriggle her way out of plastic boating rope of all things were a small price to pay for the front page.

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Mary Ruth Keller

Mary Ruth Keller has 42 stories at Gossamer, plus her stories are at AO3. She's written a number of short standalone stories, but she's thought through the X-Files mythology and written about it probably as much as anybody ever has. So if you want to dive into the mythology and all its drama, you need to go read her mythology fics ASAP. (But read this long, interesting interview first!) Big thanks to Mary Ruth for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Quite frankly, yes. The Kuxan Sum Cycle branches off the actual series following the Third Season episode Syzygy. I took the myth-arc as it stood at that time, post Nisei-731, and the agents in mid-Rift. Although I didn’t quite realize it when I started out, I was most interested in moving the myth-arc forward in a continuously unfurling narrative, one where Scully and Mulder became an effective investigative team who support each other as partners and friends again. After I started writing in my little corner of the X-F universe in 1996, there was a lot of stuff on the show that just happened, with no real storytelling logic to it I could fathom, but that seemed to be popular. I stopped writing in 2000 because I was frantically busy at my new job (which consumed far too many twelve-plus-hour workdays and weekends) and because my sister and I were trying to take care of my elderly, increasingly frail, Mother. So, I never expected, when I started writing in 2018 and posting again in 2019 (I reposted all my stories, in order, to AO3 and fanfiction.net, because Chermera would never have made sense without them) for readers to take an interest in myth-arc and character issues that the series writers had simply abandoned to go chase, well, anything else, especially if it made no coherent sense whatsoever. What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

The fandom was a lot of fun. There were many interesting, engaging discussions I took part in with other fans of the show, some of whom I am still in touch with.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

All of the above. I spent a lot of time discussing writing and characters with other writers on ATXC, except when I was actively working on my novels. Since I was doing basic research into microwave remote sensing of the Earth while working at the Naval Research Laboratory at the time – yes, I was one of those dreaded Department of Defense scientists the show had a love/hate relationship with – my writing happened at night and on weekends. Novels, especially the longer ones, take me about a year from first words on disk until release, which meant I didn’t have all the time to participate on-line as I would have otherwise. But, I enjoyed chatting with the fellow denizens of the Endies Board, and on the EMXC, Scullyfic, and Je Souhaite mailing lists. I’ve saved some of those posts and conversation threads on my older computers, where it’s fun re-reading them from time to time. What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

There were a lot of generous, funny, very intelligent fans involved with X-F back then (not that there aren’t now; there are, of course). I started writing because I wanted to get the myth-arc and the characters back on-track, the long-term story moving forward and the agents again being the smart investigators I loved hanging out with on Friday nights. But, outside of having read a lot of myth, literature, fiction, and non-fiction, I didn’t know enough about the mechanics of writing fiction. Several authors were willing to help out, some explicitly through E-mail conversations, and some from general comments about crafting stories that were posted to ATXC. I had a real problem with how I initially handled dialog, which I had some E-mail guidance on, that was very much appreciated. I also had two quite diligent beta readers, one an on-line fan, and one a real-life friend, both male, who helped me with the direction of the Scully-Mulder half of Anath. I was, at the time, utterly exasperated with how the pair of them had become such complete morons on the series, both totally incapable of investigating anything successfully, which was affecting my writing the characters in that story.   What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show? Ooh, boy. I’d like to say I started watching with the show with the Pilot, but I didn’t, quite. Tom Shales was the Washington Post TV critic at the time the Pilot aired – yes, not only was I a government scientist, I was living in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1992. He was intrigued by the characters and premise and found Duchovny and Anderson engaging while playing their roles. At the time, I was wrapped up trying to work on a PhD while still employed at NRL, so I tucked the review away, waiting until I had Friday nights free to check it out. I’m a great lover of science fiction, so I thought to give the show a try, eventually. [Lilydale note: I found a couple things Tom Shales wrote about The X-Files premiere in 1993: Fall 1993 TV preview article and a “Pilot” episode review.]

The first episode I sat down to watch was the First Season Darkness Falls, where Mulder and Scully get trapped at the logging camp with the Earth Firster, Doug Spinney, the logging executive, Steve Humphries, the Forest Ranger, Larry Moore, and the gooey green bugs. I was amazed by that story. It was as perfect a little piece of science fiction as I have seen on TV (except for one bit toward the end), with an environmental moral to it as well, where all the characters make good and bad choices, and they all suffer or succeed because of them.

What hooked me, really hooked me, were the first/second acts, specifically, Dana Scully’s actions, once they find the desiccated logger in the tree. The investigation is handled logically, in that it’s not the big male agent who goes shinnying up the trunk to look at the evidence while everyone else stands around watching and wailing, “Whatever shall we do!” No, it’s little Dana Scully who takes the ride to the upper branches. This made oodles of sense, in that she was this tiny woman whom two men could lever up that far with a rope, a hand winch, and pulleys. When she gets there, after grimacing (who wouldn’t, considering what she saw), she starts investigating. She does an on-the-spot post-mortem exam, while Mulder makes an ooky male-body-parts joke, but everyone takes her results seriously. I was thrilled. Here was a female character I could really relate to, someone who could hold her own in a difficult situation, unlike most of those on the tube, then or now.

I made a point, over the following summer, of watching as many re-runs as I could, catching up on the episodes and characters. The stories ran to science fiction and horror, which are my preference. Further, although there was an emphasis on the paranormal, several of the first season episodes were written so both Mulder’s wanting-to-believe-but-needing-proof intuitive, emotional approach and Scully’s logical, scientific, justice-oriented viewpoint each got the narrative coherently from initial crime to identifying and apprehending a suspect. It was some spectacular, complex writing, and I was hooked, hopelessly hooked. I discuss this some on my old author web-page, which still exists, courtesy of the Wayback machine), so I won’t belabor it. What got you involved with X-Files fan-fic? The shenanigans within the Third Season, quite honestly. The myth-arc wasn’t moving forward, as it had during the Second Season, which I really couldn’t understand. Carter had given us this bang-up start in the ABC Trilogy with all these new fictional possibilities to explore, but instead, bupkis. The MOTW’s were retreads with no depth or moral/ethical weight to them, except for Darin’s stories. The intelligent agents I had enjoyed spending time with while they pursued their oddball investigations were evaporating before my eyes. Mulder had always been this deeply intuitive character who cared about others and knew he could get it wrong, so needed Scully’s logic in their investigations, even if he didn’t always want to hear her observations and questions. But that character was being replaced by a cookie-cutter misunderstood anti-hero, who wasn’t thinking, just running off to chase butterflies, who was always right because he was The Guy. Scully, as an investigator, the little agent who could, was simply being sidelined. Sure, she’d argue with Mulder, but the writers had stopped giving her and her logical viewpoint a real role in their cases, Darin excepted, again. As the series went on, the Agent and Doctor Dana Scully I respected was replaced with this snappish little female whose only notable skill was running in high heels, who spent her time standing around with her arms crossed, and made pruney faces at Mulder if she were required to do any actual investigating. I hated that character, but, apparently, the all-male writing staff just loved her.

I knew about the on-line fandom, so I thought to check out if anybody else had noticed these “improvements.” First, I spent time at ATXF, discussing the changes with the series, that disturbed a lot of folks, not just me. Eventually, I tripped onto ATXC. There were writers there who understood the two characters, quite well, but weren’t that interested in the other problems with the show that bothered me deeply.

Like many fan-fiction writers, I decided to try to bring in, or in my case, bring back, what I was missing in what was being aired. Sins of the Fathers was the result. As I mentioned above, it was a far from perfect story, but I learned much putting it together, and it got a lot of positive feedback. So I kept writing and trying to improve what I wrote. Folks appreciated it, then and now, surprisingly, which was endless encouragement to keep going. What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom? With work and my Mom, as I mentioned above, I dropped out for a few years. My new job is still microwave remote sensing of the Earth, at a University-affiliated laboratory, not working directly for the government, but the NASA/NSF-type funding for the research I like to do is much harder to come by, so it takes up a lot more of my time to keep funded and working. Adding to that, I haven’t found places like ATXC in the 90’s or the Endies Board, but I suppose lightning only strikes once. Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Not really, no. I’ve enjoyed other TV series, but, I never felt those shows were just throwing away essential parts of themselves as X-F did, or, if they went bad, I simply stopped watching them. A fandom is, or can be, a huge time commitment, which, as I’ve noted, I don’t have that much of. I discuss this quite extensively in my author’s notes at the end of Chermera, so I won’t repeat myself. [Lilydale note: the long author notes are at the end of the story’s last chapter, not in the AO3 notes section.] Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

As a child, I loved reading myths and legends from many different cultures. So many amazing stories, so much that touches on truth. Greek myth, Norse legends, Islamic tales, Celtic fables, all of them. It goes without saying that discovering Tolkien’s fully-realized Middle Earth in my early teens was like falling into an river of endless delights.

In literature, perhaps the character I enjoy most is Sherlock Holmes. On television/in movies, I’d have to say: Beverly Crusher, (early) Dana Scully, Susan Ivanova of Babylon 5, Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan and (early) Aeryn Sun on Farscape, Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1, Hermione Granger, and most recently, Lagertha on Vikings. Dunno, there might be a pattern there. Possibly. Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

Yes, absolutely. I started rewatching the series when it ran on BBC America, enjoying the first two seasons again. I’d actually never stopped thinking about Mulder and Scully; I just lost the time to write about them, until two years ago, when I managed to land some long-term funding so I wasn’t staying up nights writing proposals every few months. I’d have a thought about how to advance the story that became Chermera, so I’d make a mental note and play with it in my head. I also have two more novels and a satyr play left to go in the sequence of stories I want to write, so I’m turning over plot-lines and potential arcs in my head all the time. Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom? I do read X-F fan-fic. Since the series has wandered so far away from what engaged me, and most fan-fic keeps up with that, I don’t read very much. As far as other fandoms, one was enough. Do you have any favorite X-Files fan-fic stories or authors?

Reaching back into the dark ages, I’d say Pellinor and Nascent. They may both be available on Gossamer. [Lilydale note: Fortunately, they are!] What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise? Zurvan is the favorite of my older stories. It, like Twelfth Night (Denha on AO3 to avoid confusion with another X-F story named Twelfth Night), builds on the past stories in their trilogies and brings the overall arc to new places. It’s fun to uncover surprises when writing and develop challenges to address in the future, which both of those stories did. Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I’d certainly like to. I had planned to write three trilogies with their satyr plays, each of them focusing on an aspect of the mythical Triple Goddess: Maiden, Matron, and Crone, in the X-F universe. Only, being me, I turned it around. Sandra Ann Miller (Samantha) is the Maiden, but I’ve just started telling that part of the arc with the transitional Anath and the first trilogy story Chermera. I’m approaching this trilogy as a coherent tale spread across the three novels, which is different from the other two. The Caroline Lowenberg Trilogy didn’t really get organized until Twelfth Night. It was only the third story I’d ever written, so perhaps I can be excused. The Dana Scully Trilogy was all interconnected, but that was more of an organic, rather than a pre-planned and deliberate, effort. I didn’t really grasp the full arc of what I was creating there until I was writing Chermera and looked back over the threads running from Rustic Suite through Anath. The next story in the Sandra Ann Miller Trilogy involves the exposure of the Japanese arm of the Consortium, but, I need to read up on Japanese history, myths and legends, and world view before I write it. After finishing and posting Chermera, that’s what I’ve been doing. The conflict between Amaterasu, the Sun goddess, and her ne’er-do-well brother Susanoo-no-Mikoto, the god of, among other things, storms, marriage, and love, as told in the Kojiki and the Nihongi (both written down in their near-final forms at the same time as we in the West were just recording the first skeletal versions of the Arthurian Legends), will definitely get worked into the Sandra Ann Miller Trilogy. I’m starting to put the arcs and plot-lines together, but, I’m not ready to begin writing yet. Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work? As I’ve discussed, I do. Part of why I take my time is because Mulder and Scully are owed real, challenging cases to solve - the two intelligent agents with their own approaches, strengths, and weaknesses, remember. Partly, because I have original fiction ideas I’d like to pursue. Trying to do the best I possibly can in the sheltered world of X-F where I attempt to create stories with universal themes, well-realized settings, coherent plot-lines, and original characters who resonate with my readers is practice for the original fiction. I’ll never write the Great American Novel (whatever that is), but I’d like to write stories that are as good as I can make them and fun for my readers, so I keep plugging. Where do you get ideas for stories? Reading and thinking, mostly. I try to look for ideas that haven’t been done to death, or different approaches to old themes. I have four original novels I scribble mental notes on. After I bring this myth-arc I’ve been working on to its (to me) logical resolution, I hope I’ll be able enough of a writer to get started on them. What's the story behind your pen name? Actually, it’s my real name. At the time I started writing, I didn’t think to do anything else. On ATXC and Gossamer, I wrote several of the shorts that are separate from the Kuxan Sum Cycle under the pen name Lise Meitner. She was a Twentieth Century theoretical physicist who explained nuclear fission, then was cut out of a Nobel prize because the judges of her day thought Marie Curie and Irene Joliot-Curie were “enough” women physicists working in radioactivity to be so honored. [Lilydale note: here’s her Wikipedia page. Among many other fascinating things talked about there, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize 48 times in two different categories and had the 109th chemical element, meitnerium, named after her. She also escaped Nazi Germany in a plot involving trains, boats, planes, and an emergency diamond ring. You really ought to read about her.] Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

I’d shared the first five of my novels with my family back in 1996. They liked them, my sister especially. I’m not sure they knew what to make of them. I haven’t shown them to my in-laws, but, I think my sister-in-law found them on her own. We haven’t discussed them, as they aren’t her usual preference, which is Romance. One distant blood relation was thrilled to discover them on-line and wrote me about them. My sister, though, is my (self-admitted) biggest fan. When we were kids, she and I shared a bedroom, where I’d make up stories to tell her at night so she could fall asleep. She and I correspond regularly by E-mail (she’s in Florida and I’m in Maryland). Back while I was working my way through Chermera, she asked out of the blue if I was ever going to write any more. She was thrilled to hear I had been but she doesn’t have regular Internet access other than at her job. I made printed, bound copies of all my stories to mail to her last Christmas. She loves them, bless her. Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

I’ve sent Chermera to Gossamer, but, it hasn’t been updated since July 2018. All the rest of the stories are there.

At AO3, my stories are under: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrkeller. The Kuxan Sum Cycle is linked together at: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1555492.

I’ve published the Lise Meitner stories under my own name there: Faustus Mulder; Late Night Thoughts on Evolution, Hard Times, and Lost Pets; You Just Don’t Understand; and Lux Perpetua. Since I could separate out the trilogies into their own cycle, it just made sense.

At fan-fiction.net, they’re under: https://www.fanfiction.net/~maryruthkeller

Again, the Lise Meitner stories are under my own name. Since fanfiction.net doesn’t have a linked series option like AO3, I’ve added a header to all eleven of the stories in the Kuxan Sum Cycle so far explaining the order. The novels all are tagged with thumbnail versions of the covers I made for them. Also, the literary quotes I started each chapter and begin and end each story with, are kept in the AO3 versions, but are removed at fanfiction.net to avoid potential copyright issues. Shakespeare, Christine de Pisan, the Popol Vuh, the Ugaritic myths around Anath, and others are all long out of, or never were in, copyright, of course, but, just to be on the safe side, I’m following fanfiction.net’s rules.

If folks care to write, I’m still at my old eclipse address: mrkeller@eclipse.net. Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Enjoy it, use it as an opportunity to make connections and expand your horizons as a storyteller. Fan-fiction was much more of a home-grown effort back in the 90’s than it is now, when there are how-to books, of all things. But, don’t get so wrapped up one forgets about real life. That’s where all the best stories are.

(Posted by Lilydale on October 27, 2020)