#i've been writing it for like two months

[itlearns]

A game of poker

"Do you wanna deal?” He shuffles the deck deftly. It’s mesmerizing in a way.

“I trust you”, you shake your head. Definitely not because you don’t want to look awkward with all the cards sliding out of your hands and falling everywhere.

“Huh. An interesting statement. I expect a fair game from you then.”

“The expectation is mutual”, you respond through your teeth. 

[cairafea]

my favourite genre of seventeen is when they're straight up lying

ref:

[deoidesign]

My comic is so pretty...

The hiatus is letting me take a little extra time on these episodes, and I'm definitely putting it to good use!!!

[front-facing-pokemon]

[youchangedmedestiel]

Leaving with memories from the future

Salty Dean 

Happy 15th anniversary 

Beautiful soul

Cosy Sunday morning

Healing guilt

Thanked as deserved

There is nothing stupid about you and me 

Need for comfort 

Inspiring Fanfiction

A gift to listen and keep

Never going to apologize for saving you

How to like Halloween and scary movies

Offering pie is the solution

Kissing you is like fireworks

Light touches

You did everything you could

My old man

Warm and soft skin

Love you babygirl

Just a small green ball

Too close to step back

A little knife to save you

Angelic bubble

You are perfect the way you are

Quit being cute! 

I can't resist you

Looking when you aren't

Dying sunset

How to make an angel of the Lord dance

Slutty boy

OCDean

Summer paradise

[flowercrowngods]

"Captain."

The quill scratches roughly along the page, too aggressive for the paper softened and hardened over time by wear and tear and seawater air. Ink spills, making a mess of the log's entry, splotching over fingers and staining them almost black in the cabin's dim light, a flame flickering in its hold to the right, unaware of the tension in the air. Unaware of the captain's rapidly beating heart and his hands clenching around the quill until he fears it might break.

Although the fear he feels is not on behalf of the quill in his hand.

"Captain."

His first mate is insistent on gaining his attention, but he refuses to acknowledge that she already has it. He knows it can only mean one thing if she comes to him at this hour, if she seeks him out despite clear orders – or, rather, because of them.

"Steve."

He looks up, his jaw clenched, and the quill breaks, spilling ink all over his palm where the sharp tip is cutting into his skin with a spark of pain that pales in comparison to what he can find in her features.

Robin nods, imperceptible to every other soul in this universe. Every soul that is not him, attuned to her every move, every twitch of a brow, every hint of a frown, and every gesture that she dares him to overlook if only to have an excuse later on.

But she nods. And Steve swallows.

"It's him. He's back."

It's the captain who nods now, incapable of doing anything else, and feeling as his sanity slips away from him, through the cracks in the floorboards and sinking down to the bottom of the ocean to join his heart and his conscience. All have long been lost at the cause of one man.

"Thank you," he says, though his voice does not feel like his own, and the candle beside him flickers once more as if to signal that, really, he shouldn't be sounding like that. He blinks, deliberately, because he has been staring for too long and she doesn't need to know that he has been losing himself since the second she appeared at the door.

"Steve–"

"That's Captain to you."

She swallows, defiant, but choosing her battles wisely. He is grateful, for he hasn't the strength to argue any more than he has the strength to stand upright in this moment.

"Captain," she says, deliberate but gentle, because she knows and she forgives. "Are you alright?"

"No," Steve says, and his voice remains remarkably steady in this confession. "I'll be out in a second. Make sure they do not to say a word to him. Shoot everyone who does, or throw them overboard. Nobody talks to The– to Munson but me. Understood?"

"Understood," she says, straightening her posture, though her eyes remain worried and wary. There is more she wants to say, but Steve dismisses her before leaning his fists on the table and breathing deeply. The tip of the quill buries deeper into his palm and he closes his fingers around it, hard, to keep himself anchored and distract from one pain with another.

Theo is back. Theodore Munson. Though he will have a new name, Steve knows. But those eyes... Those eyes never changed, not once in all this time, and Steve fears that he will break apart if he has to look at them again and find no ounce of recognition. No memory of words whispered in the dark, of gentle touches to roughest scars, of time spent together in different lifetimes.

Steve plucks the tip soiled in ink and blood from his palm and reaches for a book hidden underneath a false bottom in the first drawer of the desk. A book with the initials T M pressed into fine, deep red leather.

He writes, with blood and ink in unsteady hold,

27th March He came is back. I wish he weren't.

@vampeddie remember me talking about this before i disappeared? remember how you went insane? remember that you like me?

[blorboazula]

a little draft on how this AU could start (basically: people think Azula is being stubborn for not speaking to anyone, meanwhile her vocal chords are just terribly damaged – kinda want to write it in Azula's POV actually, but Katara's sorta my default for some reason). (buy me a coffee)

In every interaction of theirs, Azula was polite enough when she wasn't trying to kill them. Or trying to capture them, actually, in hindsight it didn't quite look like she was going for the kill. (She was too deadly, too efficient, for not having killed them if she wanted to.) Surprisingly pacific for a perfect princess soldier.

Which means Katara isn't that surprised by Azula good behavior in the asylum Zuko sent her to. She's more annoyed by how long it took him to bring her home, being stuck in a place where she was locked up in her room all day, forced to take teas to keep her malleable and with her bending weakened didn't seem like the ideal way to deal with yet another child soldier.

It's ironic, really, that knowing Zuko better is exactly what made Katara feel any sympathy towards Azula at all.

Knowing more of Zuko's childhood is also why she's here. It took not much convincing for him to believe that if Azula is behaving well, maybe she doesn't need to stay stuck in there. Reports say she's quiet and cooperative, there are group activities and she seems to tend to have a teamwork mentality – that explains why she's that good at strategy. The only issue is that she doesn't talk.

She never talks. Not even back in the palace, not to servants that have been around her her whole life. She silently acknowledges them, with nods and glances. There are no threats, and no fire, even after a few weeks and there's no trace of that chi-weakening tea. She's not even hostile towards her, and she had been expecting lightning in her face instead of a nod before Azula went on to do whatever she was going to do.

In one of her walks around the palace, late at night, Katara finds herself in that courtyard. It has been over a year, the ground is still scorched. It's disturbing to look at the grate and remember the chains – it's a weird feeling, knowing she did the right thing, stopping Azula, but feeling so bad for the way she did it.

The chains, the armor, had been deformed where Azula's fire touched. Fire hot enough to soften metal.

She blinks, fire hot enough to soften metal.

Firebenders aren't immune to fire, look at Zuko's face.

She's not surprised that Azula is up when she knocks at her door, the princess just frowns at her and tilts her head. It's kinda cute- what? She's quite expressive, actually, Katara had formed the image of cold and stoic, when Azula says more with her eyebrows than with her words.

"I want to test something, I-" this is something they should have checked, yes? Treated, like they treated the burns on her wrists and her chest and shoulders- "You can't speak. It's not that you don't want, or that you're this stubborn, you just can't."

Azula looks astounded for a second, like she expected nobody to notice it. She didn't seem to mind that people thought she was a stubborn brat, letting it slide and just being... a quiet presence. Like she was tired of fighting, of taking up space, like she wanted some peace.

You know, like she was exhausted from a life of being someone's pawn in a senseless war.

"Does it hurt? Your throat?" Azula blinks, like nobody has asked her if anything hurts- then she nods. "I can try to... soothe it a little. I can't really heal anything..."

Azula seems to calculate the risk of allowing someone to bend water on her throat, but maybe it hurts enough to be worth the risk. She nods, steps aside and allows Katara into the room.

Not in a million years Katara thought she'd be in the Fire Nation's Crown Princess chambers to offer her relief for her pain, but here she is.

The war is over, everyone deserves their pain to be soothed, their wounds healed.

[that-was-anticlimactic]

see a world so beautiful and strange (spinning off somewhere)

“Why? Why are you suppressing?”

“Because I can't tic,” Alya whispered, fingernails digging into the skin on her arm. “I know Tourette’s isn’t exactly uncommon, but it’s part of my identity as Alya Césaire. It can’t be a part of Rena Rouge, too. Someone could figure out who I am and then…”

And then she’d have to give up the coolest thing that’s ever happened to her, give up living her dreams.

[or, alya is suppresses as rena rogue in order to protect her identity, but neither ladybug nor trixx will let her hurt herself like that]

🦊2,345 words | alya-centric, alya & ladybug friendship🦊

happy tourette's awareness month!!!

[dustykneed]

Hello! Random whipper snipper! Share a WIP of your work!

ooh, with pleasure. six the musical araleyn fanart? in the year 2k24? more likely than you think xDD

i realize this looks finished, but technically i'm still deciding whether to add a background or not lol. still, for the sake of sharing a proper WIP, here's a line or two from an araleyn brainworm WIP that i started reworking yesterday (mild tw for religious guilt and period-typical internalized homophobia from aragon's pov):

She remembers sharing her bed with Anne at Henry's behest, remembers the nights of tossing and turning and trying not to think about Anne asleep next to her-- remembers waking up to dark hair spilling across her pillow and the press of blood-warm bosoms against her own, softer than sin, as hot as the Devil, remembers lying still as death, mouthing prayers into the heat of Anne's neck like an act of penance.

[kyouka-supremacy]

I think we should just bring back Wungo Wednesday and start a fandom collective anime rewatch

[flowerakatsuka]

.*🍀 KUROKARA LORE [ 01 ] — rainy day reunion. 🌹*.

after putting off finishing the art and writing for this post, i finally dump the first major bit of kurokara lore on ya'll — their " first " meeting! i also wanted to include the song i imagine being the bgm for this lore event so please enjoy while you read the post. :3c

SO, i imagine this taking place during the first half of season 2 ( probably around episode 5 since rainy season is during summer in japan. )

their meeting happens one day in june, when karamatsu had decided to make the most of the ( at the time ) sunny weather and gallivant around akatsuka. the previous night hadn’t been the best — with osomatsu eating the pudding he had saved for later, being forced to buy the rest of his brothers snacks when he went to go replace it, and then getting splashed by a car going through a rain puddle on the way back from the konbini. but it was a new day, surely it will be kinder to him with how beautiful the weather was!

well, it seemed like kara’s bad luck from the previous day had decided to linger. everything he had decided to do to enjoy himself that day was not going in his favor ; totoko had already left home to go on a date when he tried to visit, catching only tiny cans and broken sunglasses at the fishing hole, the last croquette being sold to the previous customer. he even tripped and fell in front of the girls he was attempting to flirt with. at this point, he was really starting to wonder if he was cursed or something, but quickly picked himself back up and tried to reassure himself. there was no way this day could get worse, after all.

yeah, it definitely could.

meanwhile, kuroba had just managed to bring in the last of the store’s outside decorations before the rain really started to come down. thankfully, they were lucky enough to spot the accumulating storm clouds early and act accordingly. still, it was strange how suddenly it started raining when there wasn’t anything about it in the weather report that morning. sure, it was rainy season, but the rain really came out of nowhere. before they could get too lost in their pondering about weird weather patterns, they spotted someone walking through the ongoing downpour with nothing to protect them from the rain.

karamatsu was trudging through the rain on his way back home, having already resigned himself to whatever divine punishment he had brought on. it took him a moment to notice the shadow that had overtaken him and blocked the rain, only really coming to when a concerned voice called out to him.

kuroba handed him a towel to draw himself off with and suggested he wait out the rain in their shop ; walking around in rain like that wouldn’t be doing himself any favors, after all. taking them up on their offer, they let karamatsu in and excused themself into the back for a moment. while wandering around the shop, he wondered why he hadn’t remembered there was another flower shop in akatsuka... Until he recognized the shop’s name : yotsubana florals.

he definitely remembered passing by there in the past and being greeted by the kind granny that ran it before. kuroba overheard him wondering aloud if they had sold the shop and cleared some things up for him. they’re actually the previous owners’ grandchild, having taken over the store’s ownership and daily operations not too long ago after their grandmother’s passing and grandfather’s ( forced ) retirement. with things clarified, they directed karamatsu to a spot in the shop where he could relax while he waits out the rain and handed him a cup of tea to help warm him up.

much to his delight, it ended up being his favorite.

kuroba struck up a conversation with karamatsu while they continued their work and the two hit it off pretty quickly. their chat bounced from topic to topic and, in spite of him lulling back into his usual casanova shtick, they both seemed to have plenty of fun talking with each other. so much so that karamatsu hadn’t realized how much time had passed when he noticed that the rain was starting to let up.

he decided that it’d be best for him to head out despite there still being light rain, which kuroba had some objections to.

after being told to be careful and sent off with a wave goodbye, karamatsu started to head back home. he couldn’t help but wonder if his luck was starting to turn around while looking at the clover-patterned umbrella.

a week or two passes after that and it’s rained a few more times since then. unfortunately for kuroba, their umbrella still hadn’t been returned yet. it was a shame, they’ve had that umbrella for a long time, ( and they were being genuine when they said they’d like to chat more with the person they helped, ) but there wasn’t much that could be done about it. at least, there was a bit of reprieve from the frequent rain that day.

just as they had finally resigned themself to getting a new umbrella, the shop’s door opened with a jingle and a familiar face entered with much more bravado than he had before. karamatsu was ready to put on the best casanova act he’s got, this could be the first beautiful chapter of his own sweeping love story, after all. he explained that a mild fever had kept him from coming back sooner, but assured kuroba that it wasn’t a result of the other day by going “ it seems not everyone shares your stunning kindness, “ and leaves it at that. ( really, he tried seeing if he could get something like his meeting with kuroba to happen again by standing out in the rain with. obviously poor results. )

while he came to return kuroba’s umbrella, he also hoped to return the kindness of his ✨ rainy day savior ✨ and, well, what’s a better way to show that than by showing patronage.

yeah, he really didn’t think that all the way through. karamatsu quickly perks back up when they tell him they were just teasing and would be happy to make up a bouquet for him, especially if he’s willing to stay and chat…

AND THAT’S ALL I’VE GOT! sorry that this took me forever to finish, so many different things kept on getting in the way. but i’m really happy to have some more kurokara lore out now, i’m hoping i can get some more out soon. >;3c

[becca-e-barnes]

Ngl I'd absolutely kill for a threesome with Bucky and Natasha 😍 I mean ,,, the constant shifting in power between the two of them of who is more dom of what's happening??? And the idea of being reader being the main focus of all this??

"Thats OUR good girl."

AGDJAKFLSL My little sub brain could never 😔

I don't remember the last time I wrote a lil threesome where the reader is submissive so I guess that's what we're doing today ✨

But the thought of both of them bickering over who can make you feel best while you're right in front of them is so hot. Nat thinks she understands pleasure best whereas Bucky argues that he knows what you like.

They agree that toys are out of the question because that wouldn't be fair and you're thankful for that. You hardly know how you're going to handle them competing without adding toys in.

"She's such... A good girl." Bucky groans, unclasping your bra and letting it fall to the floor while Nat kisses up your bare neck, sucking and nipping your skin.

"The best girl." Nat hums in agreement. "Our good girl." Her slender fingers pinch one of your nipples while Bucky's mouth engulfs the other and you don't remember ever being this wet before in your life.

"She's all frustrated, bless her." Nat's other hand trails up your thighs until she reaches your sex, luxuriating in the feeling of your slick arousal against her fingertips. She knows what she's doing. You can tell that even by the gentle, calculated strokes against your body. She's only aiming to tease; to get you so worked up you beg her for relief, rather than Bucky.

"Have a taste." She removes her hand, extending two fingers to Bucky who gladly removes his mouth from your breast before engulfing the fingers with his mouth.

You hear his low groan, his eyes fluttering shut and it makes you almost writhe with need.

"Now that you've had yours, it's my turn." Nat withdraws her fingers, slipping out of her dress before settling on the bed between your legs. "You have a choice, sweetheart." She purrs, kissing a path from the inside of your knee, up your thigh and back down again. "Bucky might not last very long inside you and that would be disappointing, wouldn't it? You're so warm and wet and tight, it might all be too much for him."

You don't know whether to agree or not. You don't want to risk embarrassing Buck but at the same time, you'd be very disappointed if he wasn't able to fully prove how good he can make you feel. If you only get this experience once, you need it to be the very best it can be.

"If you like, I'll help him take the edge off while I take care of you. I'll let him fuck me and get his first load out of the way so he can give you the attention you deserve." Her voice is soft and sweet, your fingers tangling in her hair hoping it'll drive her mouth where you need it most.

Bucky looks like he would protest but who in their right mind would reject an offer like that?

"Y-yes. Okay, fine." You're so desperate to be touched, you'd agree to almost anything.

"Sweetheart, when it's your turn, I'm going to ruin you. Gonna make you watch how hard Nat cums for me, just so you can see what I'm going to do to you later." Bucky's confidence makes Nat laugh from between your legs.

The strokes of her tongue are feather light to begin with, trailing slowly over your soaked folds, slurping your arousal greedily. You don't miss her low moan as Bucky presses into her but she manages to stay focused, giving your clit the attention you needed.

Taking you apart is the entire plan here. You might be their focus but they're both smart enough to know that it's easier to win when they've sabotaged their competition.

[taradactyls]

Progress Update: Trying to Tread Water

TLDR: Hopefully an update tomorrow night.

I was so certain I was going to get SOMETHING out tonight, but the toddlers decided tonight was the first time in weeks that they would not go to sleep. It's 10pm. We just got one to sleep. The other remains awake.

IMMEDIATELY after writing that the awake boy climbed over the bed head and tried to do a somersault on top of his sleeping brother. Sleepy boy somehow slept through it, and fingers crossed the awake boy will allow himself to fall asleep this time. He's SO tired every time we go back in to resettle him but he just isn't having it tonight.

Which is about how the last few hours have gone. I haven't even been able to do one full proof read without having to stop a child trying to climb the blinds, pull their mattress off the bed, or escape their room.

So, basically, keep an eye out for something (not as much as I had hoped) tomorrow night.

[missingn000]

hey all! i wrote a comedy/drama character study fic about kaku & lucci, exploring their relationship and everything they're feeling post water 7/enies lobby. i’d really love if you gave it a read! thanks so much!

link

playlist

happy reading!

[wren-kitchens]

oh, another day, another sunset

2659 words

there are not nearly enough things to do inside, and those activities that do exist have all been completed at least five times over by now. honestly, joel is considering just going outside and seeing how far he can get before he dies—he guesses the base of the mountain at least, if he sprints. of course, no one else is suffering the same boredom as he is because the deadly weather outside is just rain. honestly, being a blaze is fun until it starts raining and you can’t do anything before it stops.  maybe joel should have based closer to the water, since he’d at least be able to fish for the time being. not that fishing sounds like the most entertaining thing in the world, but it’d beat just sitting around doing nothing. somehow more annoyingly, he can’t even do anything relaxing, like take a bath, because joel had the stupid idea of building most of his base out of very flammable wood, and if he tried to pour lava anywhere near the houses, they’d burn immediately. not to mention how many naps he’s already tried to take only for them to last ten minutes at most.

if this is a bit weird and clunky or the pacing is off then you will have to forgive me because I have been working on this pain in the ass since joel's first video on hermitcraft

me when depression makes my life harder (no one saw this coming)

there are not nearly enough things to do inside, and those activities that do exist have all been completed at least five times over by now. honestly, joel is considering just going outside and seeing how far he can get before he dies—he guesses the base of the mountain at least, if he sprints. of course, no one else is suffering the same boredom as he is because the deadly weather outside is just rain. honestly, being a blaze is fun until it starts raining and you can’t do anything before it stops. 

maybe joel should have based closer to the water, since he’d at least be able to fish for the time being. not that fishing sounds like the most entertaining thing in the world, but it’d beat just sitting around doing nothing. somehow more annoyingly, he can’t even do anything relaxing, like take a bath, because joel had the stupid idea of building most of his base out of very flammable wood, and if he tried to pour lava anywhere near the houses, they’d burn immediately. not to mention how many naps he’s already tried to take only for them to last ten minutes at most.

the most entertaining thing joel has come up with to do is to watch the raindrops slide down the window in some desperate attempt to keep from dying of boredom. sure; he could just message one of the other hermits and ask if they’d keep him company but- well, they’re all definitely busy. joel is busy- or would be, if he weren’t trapped inside, so he can’t imagine how busy everyone else is. 

to be honest- he can't really imagine it because he hasn't exactly asked anyone if they’re busy or not. it isn’t- it’s not like joel is embarrassed about it—of course not! these are his friends, it's not like they'd be freaked out or something if joel asked them to hang out. in fact, he’s been hanging out with loads of people, and just because they asked him first doesn’t mean he couldn’t be the one to ask them. in theory. 

joel is so engrossed in his own thoughts that it takes him a long second to notice that as he was staring at raindrops, a figure has appeared in the street. and- not just anyone, but etho.

panicking a little, joel ducks away from the window and into the corner of the room, where he attempts to look nonchalantly at a book he scrambled to grab at the last second. he realises, a moment too late, that the book is upside down. shit.

“oh- joel?”

joel looks up a little too fast, and finds etho stood outside his door, halfway through putting a book into a chest. “hi boat boy.” he says, and suppresses a wince. way to go.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be here.” etho says, leaning against the doorframe, book still in hand. “I was, um- replying.” he waves the book, looking awkward, and joel grins.

“well, now i’m here, you can reply in person.” joel stands up, tail sweeping across the floor as etho watches. “i’m all e- does that say yoel?” he says, direction pulled to the title of the book.

“I- yeah, iskall told me to.” etho grins, a little sheepishly. “I was asking- y’know, ‘cause you put eefo on your book, I wanted to- uh, match?” a familiar warmth floods joel’s chest, and he feels his smile soften unconsciously. his ear flicks, and etho’s eyes focus on it. “are you- wait, you’re not a wolf anymore.”

joel snorts. “well observed.” 

etho rolls his eyes. “yeah- okay. you look familiar.”

from the look on etho’s face the second joel opens his mouth, he must already know what’s coming. “yeah, there’s a reason for that- we were soulmates? remember? boat boys for life?”

“y’know, i’m starting to have doubts about missing you.” etho says, clearly meant as a teasing insult, but joel is too fixated on the end of that sentence to care.

“you missed me?” joel blurts before he can think about why that would be a very bad idea. “that- I mean-“

etho looks a little awkward again, and joel finds himself appreciating that it’s not just him. “I mean. yeah.” he shrugs, clearly aiming for nonchalance and missing by a mile—landing somewhere close to embarrassed and fond. “y’know, I- you’re fun to be around. and I only ever seem to see you when we’re trying to kill each other, so.”

joel thinks that, if he were more poetic, he’d probably note the space between them as being kind of symbolic; all they have to do is walk forward, but neither of them have moved- despite openly admitting that they missed each other. be it pride or doubt or fear of rejection, they haven’t taken one step forward since they started speaking.

but joel isn’t that poetic, and anyway, metaphors are stupid. and to prove that, he’ll walk forward right now. just- okay, just give him a second.

“what was it like?” joel says, maybe too abruptly. “when- after double life, when everyone got back. what was it like for the people whose soulmate was- y’know. there.”

the wind changes direction, and the rain begins to pour underneath the canopy. etho’s hair is getting wet, and he jumps inside. joel grins at him. “i’m- well, I was told that it felt.. kinda like they were cut in half.” etho hesitates. “or- well, bdubs at least said that it was like.. half of him was gone, but not.. gone? like, it was still there, he could still see it and touch it, but it was like touching a tree or something.”

“did he say tree?” joel says, not quite knowing how to respond to the rest of that.

etho gives a grin. “well- he said moss, actually.”

joel snorts a laugh. “yeah, I thought he might.”

“circling back to your new hybrid, it’s just occurred to me that you’re a blaze.” etho says, and joel cackles. “wh- you can’t make fun of me for that- i’ve never seen you as a blaze!”

“etho,” joel is grinning. “you thought I was gonna sit in here and do notihing voluntarily? I thought you were meant to be my soulmate- you should have known.” he shakes his head, mock-disappointed.

“do you-“ etho says suddenly, and joel looks at him. there's something- oddly soft about his expression. “I mean- do you think we’re, y’know. still soulmates?”

“I- probably?” joel says, some kind of tightness in his chest. “I don’t really know how soulmates work, but- I mean. i’d- i’d like to be.”

joel doesn’t realise that he’d been moving his tail until he accidentally smacks it into the bookcase behind him—painfully. he suppresses a yelp and jumps forward. etho looks like he’s trying not to smile at him, and joel resents how much he doesn’t care about it.

“well, I hope you wouldn’t be doing that the whole time.” etho says, sounding both amused and enormously relieved.

joel scoffs. “if you keep making fun of me, I will.” he pauses, before saying, very deliberately, “eefo.”

something in etho’s eyes softens in that weird way again, and joel almost frowns at it. “wh- okay, you’re not allowed to do that either.” he grins. “yoel.”

“speaking of,” joel says, stepping towards etho in what he hopes is an entirely innocent manner. “you came to drop off a book?”

“oh- I mean, we don’t have to read it right now.” etho says, hurriedly putting the book behind his back. joel’s curiosity is piqued tenfold. “it’s not really that interesting, I was- it’s mostly me making fun of you, actually. so.”

joel smirks. “oh yeah? what were you making fun of me for?”

“I- y’know- how obsessed with me you are.” etho says, clearly trying to look smug and failing miserably. “with- you still have that shirt. with my face on it.”

joel snorts a laugh, and etho’s eyes crinkle in the corners. “yeah, and you’re in my base, without being invited, to deliver a note that you won’t let me see.” he takes a step closer, now dead set on reading the note and hoping it isn’t abundantly obvious that’s his goal. “honestly, etho, it’s just getting ridiculous now, I mean- you- what are you doing?”

etho blinks, apparently oblivious to the stupid thing his face is doing. “what?”

“you’re doing a thing. with your eyes.” joel says, suspicious.

“oh- well joel, that’s called blinking.” etho says, mock-innocent. he cackles as joel makes several indignant noises in offence. “how am i meant to know what you’re talking about? i’m doing a thing with my eyes all the time!”

joel gives a huff of annoyance. “you’re giving me a look.” he folds his arms.

“wh- no i’m not?” etho says. honestly, if joel didn’t know him, he’d be fairly certain that etho was just playing dumb right now. however, joel does in fact know etho pretty well, and therefore knows that etho is just that dumb.

“you literally are- honestly, it’s kind of funny how dumb you are right now.” joel grins, edging closer under the pretence of getting up into etho’s space. the man in question seems to have completely forgotten he was holding a book in the first place, which he now holds limply at his side. “do you seriously not know you’re doing it?"

etho gives an exasperated huff, which joel  recognises as a very joel-like thing to do. okay. so etho picked up his mannerisms. who cares? "I don’t even know what you’re talking about. what am I doing?"

"you keep doing this- thing with your eyes." joel is in reach of the book now, but the confusion on etho's face is too funny to ignore. "they go all soft."

finally, there's a look of understanding that flashes across etho's expression—which is immediately replaced by an incredible amount of embarrassment. "oh- it- i’m doing that, uh- visibly?"

it's joel's turn to be confused now. "you- what do you mean, visibly?"

"I- well, you see-" etho says, turning pink as he talks. "it's- I kind of-"

joel watches with interest and amusement as etho rambles about facial expressions and emotions—in all honesty, he doesn't care an enormous amount as to why etho keeps making that face at him; this is far funnier. joel can’t believe he ever used to think this guy was mysterious.

after a moment, etho stammers to a halt, looking slightly indignant. "don’t laugh at me."

ironically, the offence in his voice makes joel snort, though he hurriedly covers his mouth. "i would never laugh at you, etho." he flicks his tail, waiting in anticipation for the silly argument they’re about to have about nothing in particular.

but that never happens, because instead of insisting that joel is a bad soulmate who is violating his trust (like joel expected), etho hides his face in his hands and mumbles something almost incomprehensible about joel being stupid. uh- what?

joel blinks, trying to think of what could have happened for etho to do this. he’s not exactly difficult to embarrass—something that joel definitely took advantage of when pretending not to know about etho's ridiculously obvious crush on bdubs just to watch the way etho scrambled to change the subject every time joel brought him up—but this is weird.

"are you- did I say something?" joel bends down in an attempt to get a look at etho's face. all he can see is that he’s turned even pinker. "you gotta tell me, so I can keep saying it." he grins at his own joke, but etho just mumbles in response, so joel jabs him. "c'mon etho, what was it?"

etho looks up, practically glaring at joel. "your stupid w- it's your fault." he says, voice softer than usual. joel is incredibly confused, and is about to tell him just that when etho huffs, "it's- you keep saying eefo."

there's a pause as joel understands what etho means, before he gasps in mischievous delight. "etho," he grins as etho groans. "are you telling me that you like how I say your name?"

joel doesn't think he’s ever seen etho look so embarrassed in his life, and it is hilarious. "it's- only yousay it like that." etho practically mumbles. "it's special."

and suddenly, joel is the one who's embarrassed, because- okay, how would you react to being called special by one of the most important people in your life? yeah, that's what he thought, so you can stop judging him for forgetting how to speak for a solid five seconds, because you would too. no- you would. 

that dumb softness is back in etho's eyes, and joel is going to blow up the entirety of magic mountain with himself still standing here. "I- are you oka-"

"shut up." joel says, looking away before etho can do that thing where his eyes crinkle in the corners as he tries not to laugh.

it barely matters though, because etho's laughter is clear in his voice when he says, "you- joel, are you embarrassed?"

joel turns back to glare at etho, but he can’t make it last as long as he wants. look- in his defence- etho is a master of manipulation, okay? he’s probably using mind control or something, so it's not even joel's fault actually.

"you are!" etho laughs in delight, and honestly, he's the worst soulmate ever. "aw, joel."

he wraps an arm around joel's shoulders in what is clearly meant to be some kind of jest, but apparently joel isn't done embarrassing himself, because before he can think about what he's doing, he relaxes into etho. it must be some kind of- muscle memory, or something, because he doesn't even notice that he’s doing it before etho hugs him properly, and another wave of embarrassment crashes down on him. it's worth it though.

"I missed you." joel mumbles, half hoping his voice is too quiet for etho to hear him. 

etho gives a soft huff, closer to joel's ear than he realised he was. "i’m really glad you’re here." he says, as if he doesn’t expect joel to listen. like he'd be doing anything else.

"still feels weird." joel scoffs to himself. "it's so- I can just see you whenever I want. I keep thinking- there must be some kind of- some kind of catch."

"I think the catch is ourselves, I gotta be honest." etho says, mock-weary, and joel snorts. "seriously though- what are we doing?"

joel cackles, looking up. "can't believe you even have to ask- making things harder for ourselves, as always."

etho rolls his eyes, and joel is grinning because it's so sickeningly fond, and it's clear etho hasn't realised his face is doing that just yet. not like joel is gonna tell him—which is absolutely not because he likes the way his eyes go soft, why would you even say that, you’re so wrong. how embarrassing for you.

"I- y’know. it doesn’t look like it's gonna clear up for a little while." etho starts, glancing away in what seems to be embarrassment. "and it's- I can’t imagine sitting here is all that fun. 'cause- yeah." etho clears his throat. "I just- uh. I could stay with you- for a bit. if you want."

joel is going to explode. in a good way. "well- I was getting pretty bored." he says, in an attempt at nonchalance. etho is smiling like he didn't expect joel to say yes. what an idiot. "only 'cause you want to though. not- I don’t care either way, but- y’know."

etho presses a kiss to the top of joel's head, and laughs as he turns pink. "yeah, just 'cause i want to."

"idiot." joel elbows him, but he can't stop himself from smiling. "do i get to know what's in the book now?"

"oh- absolutely not."

[splickedylit]

Can't believe I thought I was almost ready to start posting this GamKar winter soldier pastiche like two years ago on halloween it's grown by several hundred pages and 100,000+ words since then. Current count is 325 pages, 167,000 words, 15 chapters. fukkin UNIT of a fic

EDIT for my own personal satisfaction:

10/25: 167,000

10/29: 174,700

10/31: 180,460

11/7: 185,775