#it said the bus would come at 4:15

[inverse-genius]

i am getting gaslit by an incredible combination of my local public transit and google maps

[puppppppppy]

I hate the taste of blood but I will acquire a taste for it if I have to

[po3tbbygirl]

We’ve built a home

Spencer Reid x fem!reader (oneshot)

desc: In a place that never felt like home, reader’s grown tired of explaining herself—until someone finally listens.

content warnings: pre-established relationship, emotional distress, crying, cultural differences.

a/n: your girlie is OUT of her home country and you can tell 😖😖 I lowk cried a lot writing this…

Italicization = foreign/your language

She hated Virginia.

She hated how far she had to drive just to get to work, wishing she could go back to the days when her commute was a simple 15-minute bus ride.

She hated how every craving for her favorite foods came with the bitter truth that she’d have to make them herself. No restaurant around here could even come close to capturing the flavors of her culture.

She hated how much of herself she had to explain to people. Why she talked the way she did. Why she did certain things that felt so natural to her but seemed strange here. She was always defending or translating her life, just to avoid being misunderstood as weird, rude, or too nice.

Her days felt heavy, and even her dream job wasn’t enough to make up for how lonely and out of place she felt. Virginia wasn’t home. It never would be. But then Spencer came along.

He was lanky, with messy brown hair and a quiet awkwardness that made her smile despite herself. At first, he was just someone she met by chance. But over time, he became the one thing that made everything easier. Brighter. Lighter.

Of course, she still had to explain some things to him—he didn’t know her culture at first. But it was different with Spencer.

When she told him she needed lime with almost every meal, he didn’t question her. Instead, he made sure their kitchen was always stocked with it. Sometimes he’d even bring home extra, just to be safe.

When after playing chess or watching movies they’d accidentally pass the 3 a.m. mark and she just had to stay up until 4 a.m. for no real reason other than luck, he stayed up with her. No complaints. No judgment.

When Christmas came, and she explained how her family celebrated—eating pork, drinking fruit punch, praying together, singing songs, and breaking piñatas—he didn’t hesitate to join in. He did everything he could to honor her traditions, even when they were completely new to him.

And when she cried while setting up the ofrendas for her loved ones who had passed, Spencer didn’t try to fix it. He simply sat beside her, holding her hand and letting her cry, showing her she wasn’t alone.

Spencer wasn’t just good to her. He was perfect for her. He made her feel understood in a way she hadn’t thought was possible.

But there were still some things even Spencer couldn’t fix—or so she thought.

౨ৎ

“Ugh,” she groaned as she walked through the door, tossing her keys into the bowl by the door.

Spencer looked up from the couch, where he’d been reading a book. He frowned, setting it aside. “Hey… what’s wrong?”

She sighed, staying silent as she kicked off her shoes and leaned against the wall. Her face looked tense, like she was fighting back tears.

“I’m just tired,” she finally said, her voice strained.

Spencer straightened, concern etched across his face. “Tell me.”

“You wouldn’t get it.”

“Try me.”

She hesitated, standing frozen in the middle of the kitchen. She looked up, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

“I’m tired of explaining myself,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’m tired of people staring at my food at lunch. I’m tired of explaining why I talk the way I do, why I act the way I do.” She paused, her tears falling faster now. “And I’m especially tired of people thinking I’m dumb or slow just because I need a second to find the right word. They don’t realize I’m not thinking in the language they are speaking. I’m not stupid—I just need time. But no one seems to get that, and I’m so tired of it!”

Her voice cracked as she let out a sob, her body shaking with all the emotions she had kept bottled up for so long. “I can’t take it anymore. It’s driving me crazy!”

“Love…” Spencer’s voice was soft, steady.

She froze. The sound of his voice saying that one word in her language stopped her in her tracks.

He stood from the couch, walking toward her. Her tears slowed as she watched him approach, her shock keeping her in place.

“I know it’s hard,” Spencer said, his hands gently taking hers. “I know you hurt. And it kills me to see you like this. Every time you have to explain yourself to some ignorant person who will just shut you down, who doesn’t deserve to understand you, I become the saddest man alive.”

She stared at him, the warmth of his hands grounding her as her tears continued to fall.

“I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell you this,” he said, dropping down onto both knees in front of her. “I know we have only been dating for a little over a year and know this isn’t a proposal because you deserve so much more than me kneeling in the living room in my ugly pajamas,”

Her breath hitched as she watched him, her heart pounding in her chest.

“But I promise you—no, I swear to you—that as long as you’ll have me, you’ll never have to explain yourself again. Not to me. You won’t have to feel like you need to translate your heart or your soul to me because I’ll keep learning. I’ll keep trying. All I need from you, my love, is to be you. The raw, beautiful, unfiltered version of you. And I’m ready for that. I’m ready for you.”

Her jaw dropped, and for a moment, she couldn’t move. No one had ever made this much effort for her before. No one had ever tried to understand her this deeply.

Without thinking, she knelt down in front of him, cupping his face in her hands. “I’m so sorry this isn’t a proposal, Spencer,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Because after what you just said… I don’t think I can do anything but want to marry you.”

They both laughed through their tears, and Spencer playfully shifted onto one knee. They stayed like that for a long moment, staring into each other’s eyes.

Finally, Spencer spoke, his tone serious. “I mean it, love. From now on, if you don’t ever want to speak a word of English to me again, you don’t have to. I’m ready for that part of you. You don’t have to hide it anymore.”

Her tears flowed freely again, but this time, they were tears of joy. Relief. Love. “Spencer… thank you,” she whispered. “I love you.”

He smiled, his eyes shining. “I love you.”

[ladykailitha]

Icarus Part 19

Hey guys! See? I can be consistent some of the time and I promise this one will be out once a week until it's done.

In this one we get the fallout from the last chapter, Vickie takes charge, and Steve and Eddie talk about the cracks appearing in their bands.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18

~

And of course the incident went viral, because there had been someone filming a bachelor party and caught the exchange in the background.

Fans rallied around the band especially when the two dudes could be heard saying the band was making shit up.

And despite Vickie keeping a deft hand on the situation, charges had to be filed. She called the band into the bus, having flown out the night before.

“Right,” she said, clasping her hands and leaning her elbows on her knees. “This was a scary incident and I was able to steer it in the right direction. But if you had told me right after it happened I could have gotten ahead of it.”

The members of the band just looked at her in shock.

“It’s just a problem we’ve always had,” Spence said. “It happens so often it’s just a part of being The Fallen, you know?”

Vickie cocked her head to the side. “You do understand that you’ve come normalize to assault, right?”

Steve let out a shuddering breath. “We knew it was bad. Of course we did. But we thought it came with the price of fame.”

“Famous people have to put up with a lot of bullshit,” she said shaking her head, “but assault is not one of them. They’re people too, they aren’t objects to be used and consumed by their audience and then spat out.”

They all shifted in their seats uncomfortably and avoided looking her in the eye.

“I think we all learned from this experience,” Robin said. “We learned the new hoods work, we learned to tell Vickie when something goes down, no matter how small we think it is or if we think it was handled. Because that’s why I didn’t say anything. Hopper had the guy delete it from his phone so I thought that was the end of the matter, only for it to appear online anyway.”

“And I learned,” Vickie finished, “that as unique as you guys are, you still experience the common problems most famous people have.”

They talked a little bit longer and everyone came away from the meeting feeling better about the incident going viral.

It did have the unfortunate side effect of Eddie being aggressively protective whenever the two bands would go out. Which would be fine, if it was just ‘Abbadon’ he was fiercely protective of, Steve being his boyfriend and all.

But nope.

Because Eddie didn’t want questions about why he was only protecting Abbadon, he went full mama bear. Barking at some chick that got too close to Azrael’s hood when she was flirting with him. Slapping away some guy’s hand that looked like it was going for Astraeus’s mask. He even got between a guy with a phone and Asmodeus. Who looked like the one guy in the band you wouldn’t want to fuck with.

That was when Steve decided to talk to Eddie about. Because they both had security and no one had gotten past Hopper since that first time.

“Hey, baby,” Steve said softly, slipping into the hotel room.

Eddie jumped and almost fell off the bed. “Stevie! Are you supposed to be here?” He scrambled to get back on the bed.

Steve joined him on the bed and slid as close to him as possible. “If anyone asks, I’ll just say you thought you were having a medical emergency but it was a false alarm.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I think that would cause a bigger stir than me sleeping with an EMT, sweetheart.”

Steve laughed and crawled up onto his lap to kiss him senseless. Eddie let Steve slowly lower him on the pillows as they made out.

“How much time have you got before you’re missed?” Eddie breathed, grinding their bodies together. “I really need you.”

Steve knew they would be taking a huge fucking risk, but he needed his boyfriend, too. He needed be filled up and worshiped. “A while,” he panted into Eddie’s mouth. “I want you to fuck me, please?”

Eddie groaned because that sounded like heaven to him. “Anything for you.”

Steve’s shirt was off and Eddie’s hands instantly came up to his belt to start unbuckling it. Steve sighed at the release of pressure against his zipper as Eddie pulled it down.

“Look at you, honey,” he panted, “you aching for me?”

Steve nodded, pressing his lips together to stop the moan from escaping his lips. Then he stood up and scrambled to get out of his clothes and Eddie took the opportunity to do the same. Soon they were lying together with Steve on top, kissing.

The sex was slow and tender and everything Steve needed in that moment and he felt Eddie did too. Once everything had been cleaned up and they were lying next to each other did Steve speak up.

“I think we have a couple of things to talk about,” Steve murmured into Eddie’s neck. “About Brian and Gareth, and you biting that fan’s head off tonight.”

Eddie sighed and held Steve closer. “I’m sorry about tonight. It’s just after that incident with the assholes and Astraeus, I guess my protective instincts that drove me to pick up lost sheep in high school went into overdrive.”

Steve nuzzled Eddie’s neck. “Which I do get, but let me tell you of the four of us, in character Asmodeus really is the last one you need to defend. He uses his mask as a way to be braver then he is normally and will absolutely knock a guy out and then freak out about it later.”

Eddie chuckled. “I already have a good idea of who’s who, but thank you for cinching for me that Simon is Asmodeus.”

Steve huffed out a small laugh. “Yeah, that one was a gimme, I’ll admit. But who do you think are the other two. You have a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right.”

He thought for a moment, really trying to put all the clues together. “Spence is Azrael and Shane is Astraeus. For the sheer fact that they make the least amount of sense and thus throw people off.”

“Right in one,” Steve confirmed with a kiss. “And yes, that’s why. Our personas are deliberately not like who we are in real life. I play more to my feminine side more as Abbadon because I’m your stereotypical boy next door.”

Eddie huffed out a laugh. “You’re way more than that, sweetheart. But I get what you mean.”

Steve sat up and pulled his knees up to drape his arms around them. “Did you want to talk about what happened with Brian and Gareth about the tour. I kept meaning to bring it up because there would be odd little moments where the tension would suddenly ramp up between you guys and it would be days before it went away. It seems like it’s only gotten worse since we’ve gone on tour.”

Eddie sat up too, and moved away from Steve, crossing his arms sullenly. Steve let him. He knew this was a prickly subject and if Eddie didn’t want to talk he wasn’t going to make him. So he waited him out.

Sure enough a few minutes later, Eddie let out a put upon sigh. “Yeah, okay. It’s gotten so bad Chrissy is talking to the label about what would happen if we broke up on this tour.”

“Jesus Christ,” Steve breathed. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

Eddie chewed on his bottom lip and nodded.

“I remember Brian saying he thought not letting Gareth on this tour was wrong,” Steve said, “but that everyone including Gareth disagreed.”

“He made a promise,” Eddie said softly, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his face between his knees. “No drinking, in therapy, and having actual fucking progress on both the alcohol dependence and the abandonment issues and he’d get to tour with you guys.”

Steve raised a eyebrow. Eddie had said things like this before. That even though Gareth wasn’t a fan of Steve he had posters of Abbadon in his house and especially his studio. As he hadn’t seen it, he had to take Eddie’s word for it.

“And then he went on that bender when no one could find him...” he murmured, remembering that night.

“Yeah,” Eddie let out a shuddering breath, “thank god both Dustin and Gareth are the same flavor of nerd.”

Steve cracked a small smile.

“So he shouldn’t have been able to come,” he reasoned.

“Yeah.”

Eddie gripped his hair as he continued. “It’s in our contract. Everything has to be agreed on by all four members otherwise it doesn’t happen. We’ve lost out on some major opportunities because one of us held out. Did you know that the latest Batman movie wanted to use ‘Jaded Hearts’ for their soundtrack?”

‘Jaded Hearts’ was about a bad break up Jeff had. He thought things were going well, even bought a ring talked to her dad about proposing. And then suddenly she turned around and said things weren’t working out between them and just moved out of state. No rhyme or reason to it, just left.

“I didn’t,” Steve admitted.

“Yeah...” Eddie’s voice cracked on the bitterness of it. “Gareth didn’t want to because he thought it would cheapen its meanihng. While Jeff, the guy that wrote the damn thing was freaking out that they wanted his song in a movie about his favorite super hero.” He grimaced. “Jeff’s still salty about that one.”

Steve’s eyebrows raised. Yeah, he would be too.

“So what was Brian’s reasoning for waiting until Gareth was out of rehab?”

Eddie let go of his hair and let his feet slide off the edge of the couch they were on. “Addiction is a mental illness and we wouldn’t punish any of us for needing physical therapy if we broke a limb or whatever.”

Steve let his eyelids flutter shut. He felt that. He did. Both Simon and he had parents that were alcoholics. Hell, his own mother did cocaine. Addiction was a disease, but not one that should be catered to like that. He opened his eyes and saw that Eddie was curling in on himself slowly but surely.

He grabbed Eddie by the wrist and pulled him into his arms.

“What’s going on with Gareth scares me,” Eddie murmured as he soaked up his boyfriend’s comfort.

Steve let out a deep breath and said gingerly, “I think Shane is a sex addict.”

Because while Shane hadn’t been late since their little intervention, he just got better at hiding his hookups. He figured he was the only one who knew because Hopper and Robin hadn’t said anything about it.

Eddie looked up at Steve, his big brown eyes wide in confusion. “I thought he was getting better at showing up on time.”

“Oh he shows up on time,” Steve muttered darkly. “But sometimes he shows up smelling of cheap cologne and expensive wine, like he hasn’t been to bed yet. And like with you and Gareth, what’s going on with Shane terrifies me, too.”

Eddie snuggled in closer. “Fame is a cruel mistress and she is giving our friends the beating of their lives.”

“I think after this both bands should take some time off,” Steve murmured, “and just be people for a minute or three. Three records in three years is insane for even the most seasoned bands and I think Corroded Coffin could really benefit not being in each others’ pockets for a bit.”

Eddie sighed and really thought about it. He nodded. Even if the other members said no, Eddie was willing to just walk away from it all. Go solo maybe. Because after twelve years of nonstop running he was starting to fall apart.

The only thing that was keeping him sane right now was the fact Steve was by his side and he understood what he was going through.

“Yeah, baby,” he said, “let’s do that. Maybe you and me will travel the world a bit, really see it, instead of a blur through the windows of a tour bus.”

Fuck did that sound perfect. No band, no obligations, just him and Eddie and an adventure of a lifetime.

“Sure thing, rockstar,” he whispered. “Let’s do that. Plan a trip of Europe or whatever and just see the sights for a change. And not just the sites that would be good publicity either. The wacky museums, the weird curio shops, five hundred year old bars.”

Eddie sat up and looked him in the eye. “Wait, what? You’d really be interested in doing that? I mean, I’d love that. But none the guys like that shit. Not like I do and you’d want to do that kind of stuff with me?”

“Of course I would,” Steve said and then kissed him deeply. “I love that kind of shit too. And yeah maybe I didn’t always, but Robin has been a very good influence on me.”

Eddie laughed. It was so free and happy, Steve wanted to bottle it up and keep it for shit days.

“Maybe we should bring her with us,” he said with a grin. “That way people will be less suspicious about you and me going on a trip and reading too much into it.”

Steve let out a sigh, his mood a little dampened by the fact this couldn’t just be a romantic getaway. But then again, he really didn’t want to leave Robin home for that long, either. He kissed Eddie.

“Yeah, Eds,” he said sweetly. “Let’s do that. She’ll love it.”

~

Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

6- @disrespectedgoatman @eyehartart @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

9- @machete-inventory-manager @useless-nb-bisexual @stripey82 @dotdot-wierdlife @kal-ology

10- @sadisticaltarts @urkadop @chameleonhair @clockworkballerina @garden-of-gay

[swaps55]

I had to get up off the mat and attend a conference today. I was dreading it. Woke up at 3:30 this morning with a knot in my stomach heavy enough to be a murder weapon, and now I had to talk to people who possibly voted against my existence and act like it was fine.

But a couple of things happened today.

I work in a fairly niche industry, and in the sessions I attended today, people were talking about solving problems.

In one session, the speaker talked about discovering an accessibility problem on their college campus. This university is in a remote area, and students without cars weren't enrolling because public transit to get there took four hours.

So a group of people sat down in a room to try and solve the problem, afraid they'd run into roadblocks with costs and infrastructure. To their delight, they realized that by moving a bus stop and adjusting bus schedules by 15 minutes, they could take that 4 hours down to 90 minutes.

This speaker was so excited about creating better access for students who needed it. They'd found a solution for people who wanted to learn but couldn't due to lack of transportation.

In another session, a panel of people talked about how they integrate art into public buildings, and how the public entity, building designer, builder, and artist worked together to create art that belonged to a community, and how all the challenges to making it happen were worth solving. The building they did their case study on was beautiful.

In a later session, a room full of higher education professionals who manage transportation on their campuses talked about the growing need for EV charging stations on campus. It's a surprising complex and complicated challenge in terms of energy supply, infrastructure, cost, planning, etc. There are no easy answers on how to do it.

A few made the observation that by providing chargers, they'd accidentally wound up in the energy business, where they didn't think universities should be.

"Yes we should," one of them said. He went on to remind us that yes, we could expect students and faculty could go home to charge their cars instead of doing it on campus. But those are also the worst time to plug into the grid. It's overloaded. Solar energy can't handle it, so it taps into fossil fuels. It's dirty energy. And he wasn't satisfied for making it someone else's problem. "We don't have to be in the energy business. But it's better for the environment if we are. It's better for the future. We should be in the energy business, because it's the right thing to do."

All day I was surrounded by people who put their professional energy into solving problems, not because it would make them rich, but because they were problems that needed to be solved, and they were the ones who took it upon themselves to solve them.

And...I felt better.

After the electric vehicle panel, I thanked the person who made a plea for the right thing to do, because I felt a little less despair after hearing it. He smiled at me and said, "Yesterday was rough. But 48 million people in this country stood up and did the right thing. That's a lot of people."

On a lot of days to come that might not feel like enough. But in your city, in your town, in your state, there are still people who are taking on challenges and standing up to do the right thing, for both the small things and the big things.

It's not going to be easy. But I'm going to be one of them.

[awnrys]

ʜᴇᴀᴠʏ ᴄʜᴇꜱᴛ✧.*

bestfriend!megumi x f!reader

megumi miscommunicates his feelings to 'cure' his heavy chest.

↳˳;; ❝ part of my jealous? me? never! fic, masterlist here ᵕ̈೫˚∗

content: angst, miscommunication, implied relationship, readers pronouns are she/her, toge being a jerk, smau briefly, a few weeks after

wc: 1k

an: currently on the school bus 4 a trip nd writing this out 😭 kinda rushed, pls don't come at me

﹋﹋

megumi slogs into the school, giving a nasty look to anyone who isn't you. especially when he see's inumaki.

megumi doesn't know what hurts him more, the fact that his ex-bestfriend is choosing to try and win over his bestfriend that inumaki knows he likes, or the fact that your choosing to be friends with inumaki rather than just hearing him out on this one.

he decides before lunch would be the best time to discuss it with you and he shoots you a text.

﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋

﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋

you left him on seen, which was unusual of you but he assumed it was because of the little arguments you guys had the previous few weeks.

he wasn't mad you had decided to rule out being friends with him for yourself, he understood, but he was still hurt a decent amount considering you guys had been friends for 15 years.

megumi came out of his trance and his heart started to race when he saw your little '...' bubble pop up.

all the hope quickly left him and his heart sank when it disappeared. megumi was disappointed. he had prayed that you would still show up so he can truly express his heavy feelings about this situation to you.

﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋

it was 30 minutes before lunch and megumi clutched his phone in his clammy hand as he jogged to the meeting location.

he was praying this wasn't for nothing and that you would actually show. 5 minutes pass, then 10. he was slowly loosing hope that you would actually show.

all of a sudden, he saw you shuffle up to the tree out of the corner of his eye. he didn't wanna show it but he was happy. happy that you showed. happy that you cared.

"hi megumi." you say, shyly. he worries, why are you shy around him? you're never shy near him, and you never should be.

"hi y/n," megumi answered. he tries to add on to his sentence with his reason of bringing you here but you cuts him off.

"listen, i know its really soon but, i think i like toge. and he told me that you guys are bestfriends so i thought you could help me out. you know, since you and him are bestfriends and so are we," you confess.

megumi feels his heart sink all the way down to the core of the earth. you like toge. you like toge and not megumi. out of all the people that like megumi, you are not one of them. toge has now gotten you officially wrapped around his finger and there was nothing in the universe megumi could do about it besides wait.

he blinks away the few tears threatening to fall out of his tear ducts at any given moment and stutters.

"oh, y/n," i continue, "that's.. great. i'm so happy for you. you guys are gonna be so cute together..!" he lies out of his teeth.

he was praying all this time that maybe, just maybe, he could revamp this relationship he had made with you and finally confess his feelings that he's had pent up for years but now that chance has faltered.

you don't catch onto the little big lie megumi had told and continue.

"thank you, gumi! i'm so happy you understand. you know what's funny," you pause for a few seconds of silence, "i actually thought you and me would get together!"

megumi was sure he was absolutely sobbing his eyes out by now.

"i had liked you and i was sure you liked me but after these few weeks, i told myself to move on because i could tell by the way you were acting towards me and shit that you hadn't liked me.." concluded y/n.

megumi was about to go batshit insane. you had liked him, and you hadn't said anything to him. megumi didn't wanna lash out at you so he chose to go for the better option and ditch this whole talking-things-out plan all together.

"oh! haha.." he fakes, "that's funny y/n. what's the ti- oh shitt! i have to um, go somewhere. b-bye now, y/n." he lies with a scarily convincing fake smile.

you noticed he hadn't been using the little nickname he had given you after you gave him the nickname 'gumi' but you shrugged it off.

megumi was so fucking dumbfounded. why wouldn't you just say something to him? it was so clear as day that he had liked you! he made it so obvious and he even had yuji help him out on making it even more obvious!

megumi ran out of the school, leaving a trail of tear drops soak up little spots on the floors behind him.

he stops to take a breather. meanwhile. you pace as you head to lunch.

you let your mind wonder about megumi. why was he acting so weird? did something happen? why did he run off so quick? did he wanna ask me something?

you decided on stopping your stupid mindset and just hurrying up to lunch as fast as possible. you knew toge was probably waiting for you, and you were (almost) positive megumi was a-ok.

once you get your lunch, you head over to the table at which you and toge both sit at. you see toge waiting for you to eat his meal and quickly advance over to the table.

"hi toge!" you speak, excited. he flashes a cute smile as you and responds.

"hey y/n/n!"

you completely forget about the whole weird interaction with megumi and continue to chat with toge but megumi doesn't let his mind rest from you.

he can't stop thinking about you and how to stop you from liking toge and to like him. he knows there has to be some way and that he can finally, hopefully, get you to see that he does love you.

he plots on finally discussing the whole thing and maybe asking you out. that part is still in the works though. he's not sure if now is the right time.

he wipes off his tears and takes a deep inhale, hoping to get you back.

@1l-ynn @theweirdfloatything @morideadcat

[wosowrites]

The Jacket (Alexia Putellas x Reader)

Warnings: None

A/n: based off requests from a few people.

Prompt: in which you love to ride motorbikes, and Alexia always steals your leather jacket. One day, after a game, she comes onto the field wearing it proudly.

Alexia was incredibly proud of you, proud of what you were accomplishing as a striker, proud of what kind of person you were. So the reason you kept your relationship private from the public eye wasn’t because she was embarrassed- she had had to reassure you about that once- it was because of how rapidly you were both growing, and how adding the painful, but expected homophobia to that list of things that came with fame, wasn’t a good idea. You had been together for nine months now, and both the spain and the canadian squad knew, as well as the barca squad. Alexia’s family knew too, and proved to be parent figures to you. You had never been close with your parents, them being conservative and homophobic. But the Putellas’ had taken you in, and that was how you liked it.

There were five things in life that you loved to no end. In no specific order, although you told Alexia she was first- you loved your beautiful ballon d’or winning girlfriend, football, indian food, stupid looking dogs and your motorcycle. Your vehicle was your pride and joy, along with a leather jacket that you wore a bit too much. The specific jacket Alexia had decided would go perfectly with todays outfit. Barcelona was playing against Real Madrid, and you left to go meet the team and the bus at 2:00, the game was set to starts at 6:15, meaning a number of things, but mostly that the bus left at 3:00 to be at the stadium at 4:00. You quickly kissed Alexia goodbye, who was still in bed due to her having gone out with childhood friends and only coming back at 1:00 in the morning.

"Im going now baby." You said to her, gently pressing a kiss on her temple. Her eyes fluttered a bit, and you knew not to say anything important to her right now because she was barely awake. "Mhm… will I see you before the game?" She asked, mumbling the words. "Probably not love," you said, brushing her hair out of her face. "Good luck then. I love you." She said gently. "I have an alarm for you for 3:30. Don’t sleep too late." You told her. She nodded sleepily and you pressed your lips to her half open ones gently. She smiled slightly, and then drifted back to sleep.

You arrived at the training ground at 2:30, parking your car and walking towards the group of players waiting outside. Barcelona was perfect weather right now, you loved it, it reminded you of home. You headed towards Lucy and Keira, two of the only other players who were native english speakers. You loved your team, but sometimes miss communication got the best of you. But they all knew that when you stated cursing and yelling in french, a language almost no one else on the team spoke, to either stay away from you or come save whoever you were mad at because shit was about to hit the fence.

You did a handshake with Lucy and the same one with Keira, the three of you having gotten very close over your year and a half at barcelona. You smiled at the rest of the girls who waved and smiled back. "Alexia coming today?" Lucy asked. "Yeah. She’s sleeping though. Long night." You answered. Lucy and Keira shared a look, then looked back at you with a teasing smile. "Wha- No! No not like that! Not like-" You looked around, blushing furiously. "Not like sex…" You whispered to them. "So you guys haven’t had sex?" Keira said rather loudly. You basically pounced on her, covering her mouth with your hand. "Shush!" You squealed.

You had always been a private person, and the girls all liked to embarrass you any way they could. "So you have or you haven’t?" Lucy asked, earning giggles from the other group of girls beside you guys, including Alexia’s close friend, Mapi. "We- of course we’ve done it. We’ve been together for months!" You said to them, earning claps and cheers from the group beside you. "I hate you all!" You yelled at them, a smile on your face betraying your words. Mapi translated to some of the girls who laughed. You threw your hood over your head, your cheeks still bright red. "Ahh, we’re just teasing! We love you." Mapi said, coming over close to you and throwing her arm over your shoulder, looking at you and laughing.

You arrived at Johan Cruyff stadium on time, the entirety of the team pooling out of the bus and into the grounds. You examined the pitch, talked with the group and then went inside to go over the game plan. You changed into your training jersey and shorts, put on your socks and cleats, tied your hair and did your pre game routine which consisted of listening to your hype playlist and walking through the stands before the fans got there. You did a full circle of the stadium in the top row by yourself and then came back down. Only 15 minutes later, music started playing loudly, and 15 minutes after that, fans started arriving.

The team walked out onto the field, Lucy upholding her tradition of going out last, and when you ran out because you were a bit slow, you ran out with Lucy, her grabbing your hand. You walked towards the right side of the field where two groups were doing a rondo to warm up. But as always, since Alexia got injured, you found her in the crowd and nodded at her. She nodded back and you smiled at her softly. It was your thing. You wished you could blow her a kiss instead, but you weren’t public.

Then, sooner than you knew it, the game had started.

1-0 win, goal by you. A crazy headed that you had dived to get, ending up in the back of the net. It was perfect, the crowd went wild, your team was ecstatic, and Alexia was looking at you with so much pride you thought your heart would burst.

"That was quite the goal," Alexia said to you, walking up to you, and hugging you in the least 'I’m in love with you' way possible. You smiled at her as you pulled away, but you were quickly distracted by her outfit. Blue jeans, a white top, and your leather jacket. "Ale…" you started saying, smirking at her. "That’s my jacket." You said. "Yes it is. I thought it looked good." She said, smirking back. "It looks very good. But I wear that jacket all the time. And there are people taking pictures of us… right now." You said, finding a camera and pointing at it. " Everyone’s gonna know. The fans- they’re…" You started saying. "Stalkers?" She joked and you barked of laughter. "No! Well… yes. But they’re intuition is good. They’ll just know." You said. "Does it matter? I mean I know it’s not what we wanted by I want to be with you and have everyone know you’re mine. The whole world. Fuck what they say, mi amor." Alexia said. "Really?" You said. "Yeah. But let them figure it out first. For… what’s the expression you always say?" She asked. "For shits and giggles." You smiled. "Yes. I dont underhand it. But for that."

You were scrolling on your phone, it was a day after the game and your head head was on Alexia’s lap as she looked through her own phone. You were scrolling through your for you page on tik tok when you saw a video. It was a video of you that Ingrid had taken as you walked down the street wearing black jeans, a white cropped tank top and the leather jacket. Following that came a few pictures of you wearing the jacket. Then, was a video a fan had taken of you and Alexia talking on the field, followed by pictures from Barca’s instagram of Alexia on the pitch. The caption read: sharing clothes are they now? I think they’re dating.

All the comments were agreeing, and just to be a little cocky, you liked the video. "Hey, Ale. Look at this." You said.

She watched the video and when she was done, she smiled down at you and pressed a kiss to your forehead. "They know." She said.

"They know."

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for leaving my friend behind at a bus stop and going home by myself?

So, me and this friend of mine ( I will call her S, both of us are 15) take a class together. This class entails a bunch of excursions as well so we have some firsthand experience. The problem happened at the latest excursion (I'm writing this in April rn)

So, after the trip had come to an end, we students have to independently go home, and S and I live in the same general area, so for the past few ones, we went home together but this one took in a place both of us didn't know too well. I looked up the route and we got onto the bus we had to take, but due to some problems we got out one stop before we actually had to get off. The stop we should have gotten off at is a underground train station, and we needed to take the train to get home. At this point it's worth mentioning that despite it being in April, it was cold as hell and I had underestimated the cold and was only wearing a light hoodie and freezing.

I could see the train stop from where we were standing, and it would have taken maybe 3-4 minutes to walk there, so I said we should just walk there. But S didn't want to, and insisted we wait for the next bus so we can get to the train station. At this point I told her that I was freezing and didn't want to stand there for ten minutes, and even offered to carry her bag if that's why she doesn't want to walk but she still refused. So I just told her that she can wait if she wants but I am leaving.

After I arrived home, I checked my phone and saw the messages I received from her - basically, she took the bus and then got on the train, but the one that goes into the wrong direction and didn't notice until a few stops later, which made her arrive at home late and she is blaming me for it, because I "abandoned her". I told her that that's bullshit and it's not my fault she couldn't check the sign and see which train she has to take.

As a further note that might be important, my friend does not have any disabilities that affect her mobility, I genuinely do not understand why she wanted to wait.

[moshpitgamma]

This was probably asked a lot but can we get a part 2 for Family Reunion?

YESSS FINALLY SOMEBODY HAS REQUESTED IT AGAIN🥹💗💗 I know this was requested to be up again HEAVILY so I now announce

Family Reunion Pt. 2

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Language, Angst to Fluff

🥹💗🙌🏾TAG LIST: @syraxnyra @cheshirenjp @g-l-1-t-c-h-3-r @insomniacticartist

Ps. It’s 50/50 proofread😔🤘🏾💗

—————————— ————————————————————dff

3 years earlier...

“I don't care no more JD. I will really walk out of this resort and leave again if that’s what you want .” I said, grabbing my helmet from the nicely made table.”

“So much for a Family Reunion.....Hope we meet again, but on better conditions.”

That all happened 3 years ago and you haven’t spoken to your brothers ever since. You felt bad for walking out again, but you knew JD was tired of seeing you and basically still called you a mistake. They looked so happy together and they all looked so confused to see me. I knew my h/c hair looked a little pale and had started to age on me, but was I really that dierent?

All those questions were swirling in my head like a blizzard. I was trying not to let it get to my head, but it stopped when I heard a little cute and tiny voice.

“Mommy are you ok?” my daughter asked me.

“Yea im ok sweetie just a little shaken up that's all.”

I didn’t want my little rose to worry so I only told her I was just lost in thought. I knew she didn’t fully believe me because she came up to me and rubbed my cheeks.

“Don’t cry mama it’s gone be ok” she said as she smiled and rubbed her small s/c hand onto my face. My little Rosie is courageous just like her papa/mama (you can pick their gender and what type of troll they are) but unfortunately they died while Rosie was still an egg. So now I'm a single mom with an amazing kid. I would've told Rosie that she has uncles, aunts, and cousins, but I just don’t know how she will react.

“Maybe i'll tell her once she’s from school” I thought to myself

“Ok Rose go on and get ready so you can get on the bus for school hun.” I said in my sweet voice while I headed downstairs to start on our breakfast.

“Ok mama!” Rosie screamed as she made her way to her room in our two story pod.

It has been 15 minutes and now me and Rosie are currently eating our pancakes/waes, bacon, and assorted fruits, until we hear a knock.

“I'll get it mama!” Rosie said as she took o from the table. All I did was mumble an ok as I started to finish up my food and get on washing our dishes. I knew Rosie was on her way back when I heard her little quick-paced pitters of her little feet running back to the dining room. “Mama It’s a letter in gold” Rosie said astonished at the elegant and gold adorned letter. “Let me see, Rose” I say as I puzzledly grabbed the letter and started to open it. “It’s a letter from the Queen of Pop?!” I say in a confused but excited tone. “What would she want with me? I haven’t even spoken or seen her before” I say more confused as I try to put two and two together. “It says to come to her palace pod tomorrow with a suitcase with at least 4 days worth of clothes.” “Mama, are we gonna go?” Rosie asked me as she jumped up and down excited to see a queen in person.” I don’t know hun, but we need to hurry up if you’re trying to go to school” I say in a hurried tone as I tried to rush her outside to get on the bus. Right when we stepped outside the bus pulled up. “Bye babyyyy!” I yelled at her while she got on the bus “Bye mamaaaa!” Rosie yells back before she gets on and takes a seat.

“Now that she’s on the bus let’s go get sum errands done” I thought aloud.

(TIME SKIP)

“I finally have the pod clean and some groceries in the fridge so now time for a little relaxation.” While I was planning on fixing a little movie day for myself I suddenly saw the flash of gold in the corner of my eye. “Oh yea the letter” I thought. I gathered my snacks, started the movie and picked up the letter to inspect it further. “Why does the Queen want me?” “I hope I haven’t broken any royal law or something that I didn’t know about.”

Before I could continue my thinking session, I look over to the time and see that it’s around the time Rosie should be getting home. “Guess I might as well head outside” I say aloud to myself. As I opened the door I saw my little girl running towards me with a big smile and excited to see me again. “How was school hun, Are you hungry?” I asked her as i'm ready to prepare her some fresh blueberries and strawberries as a treat. “Yes momma I am and school was sooo fun.” She told me as she grabbed her bowl full of fruit and went to sit on the couch.

“Momma have you decided yet?” Rosie asked me as she suddenly appeared beside me to put her bowl in the sink. “How- Huh- When- Anyways what are you talking about baby?” I asked slightly surprised at how fast she finished her fruit AND how fast she showed up beside me.

“I’m talking about the letter momma.” Rosie said as she tilted her head. “Are we going to see the pretty Queen tomorrow?” I didn’t want to ruin her spirit, so I said yea and watched as she dragged me to her room to pack.

TIME SKIP TO THE MORNING (Sorry yall)

“Wake up hun we have to get ready to go over to the palace.” I shook Rosie so she could get ready. “Ok mama” Rosie said as she got ready.

After we got ready we started to head towards the palace

“Do you think she will let me wear one of her crowns, mama?” Rosie asked me as she daydreamed of the once-in-a-lifetime request. “I don’t know, baby, but are you excited?” I said as I let my little excitement show. “OF COURSE I AM!!” She screamed as she ran further ahead to the Queen’s pod. All I did was chuckle and hurried to catch up to her.

Once we finally made it to the palace, we were greeted by some guard trolls. “Ahhh Miss Y/N, The Queen is waiting for you inside. Would you like me to escort you?” The slight green guard asked me. They seemed to be a little taken back to seeing a child with me, but they decided to ignore it. “Of course, I would love that.” I said as I let them lead me into the huge pod.

Knock Knock Knock

“Your Majesty, Ms. Y/N is here, just as you requested.”

The guard said as she led us into a bright room where the Queen and some of her guards sat. “OMG it is sooo nice to finally meet you. Well oofficially meet if you really think about it.” The Queen said as she ran up to me.

“Awwww and I see you’ve brought a little guest with you too.” The queen said as she smiled giddily like a kid. “Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to meet you too and this is my daughter, Rosie.” I said as I watched as Rosie grow excited and nervous little by little. “Oh I didn’t know Branch had a niece and please just call me Poppy.” “Wait- You know my brother?” I asked Poppy as she looked at me in disbelief. “Um- yea Branch is my boyfriend”

“Wait- so how do you know ME? And why did you send me a letter to bring extra clothes?” I was confused and perplexed as to why THE Pop Queen wants me and how she knows that I was related to Branch. Branch didn’t even know about me and yet she still found me. “Mama who’s Branch?” Rosie asked me as she heard me ask Poppy how she knew my brother. “Honey I’ll tell you later, but right now me and Queen Poppy have to have a very serious conversation” “Ok mama” She said as she went to mess with one of the female guards.

“Look, I hope I'm not coming of disrespectful or anything, but please tell me why you need me.” I looked at Poppy desperately for an answer. “Branch wanted to see you and wanted to finally meet you and he wanted you to be in his life again.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and only nodded and swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. My little brother wanted to finally meet me. “I know it was weird to get a letter from the palace, but I really wanted to surprise Branch with his Older sister that he has never met before, except for that time you came to Bruce’s diner and surprised us all.” She rambled on and on, but you stopped her before she could continue. “Poppy- it’s ok and I'm glad Branch wants to see me.” I said as I watched a small smile formed on her face. “Looks like we’re right on time” Poppy says as she hears a few knocks from the gigantic doors.

She looked towards the enterance me and Rosie came through. Right then I couldn’t do anything, but stare at him.

He was a tall dull blue troll with blackish/dark bluish hair. “Branch?” I said as I felt the tears fall o my face. He looked just as shocked as I was. “Y/N...”

Before he could finish I ran and gave him the biggest hug in the world. I felt my shoulder getting damper by the second from his own tears, but I didn’t mind at all. “Oh spirits! It’s so nice to finally and properly see my baby brother besides having to stare at a blue decorated egg.” I said pulling away from him and moving his face around like he was a tiny little kid. (Kinda like what Clay did in the movie) “WHAT!” A loud scream was heard in the corner. Coming up to Branch was your daughter with a hung open mouth. “MOMMY HAS A BROTHER?!” Rosie screamed as she looked between you and her uncle. “Yes hunny I do” I laughed at my daughter's confusion. “Wait, you have a daughter?” Branch asked me as if he couldn't believe that he was an uncle to other kids besides Bruce’s. “Yes I do and Her name is Rosie.” I said as I looked at Branch’s face from my daughter’s name being named after our late grandma. “That was nice of you” He said to me before excusing himself to go talk to Poppy.

“GUESS WHO’S BACK” a loud deep yell was heard. “Ahh Fuck” I said out loud without realising.

Once I said that you could’ve heard a penny hitting the floor.

“Um surprise” Poppy said as she looked between me and JD and the tension in the air. “Um Rosie how about you go with Aunt Poppy and Uncle Branch while me and you Uncle JD talk.” She was stunned AGAIN for me dropping ANOTHER secret uncle onto her. Before she could go and bombard us with questions she was pulled out of the room with Branch and Poppy. I didn’t notice my other brothers being in the room with us too until I saw them backing out of the room also.

“Why are you here?” JD asked me, crossing his scarred arms and raising one eyebrow. “I was invited by Poppy. She helped me and Branch properly meet each other.” I waited for him to say some dumb crap about me, but it never came. I was ready to walk out of the room, but slight hiccups and snies were heard from the older man that was across from me. “What the-” “I'm so sorry Y/N. I never meant for you to leave. I was to caught up with trying to hit the family harmony and I totally fucked it up.”

HE was apologizing....

After so long..

I didn’t know how to feel and I only stared at him with a mix of shock and disbelief. “It’s hard being the oldest and ever since mom and dad left, It’s just been me. I shouldn’t have lashed out on you. You were never the problem, but when you left the pod when we were younger, it had done something to me and had made me live with regret ever since.” He meant every word, as his eyes started to become bloodshot from the constant streams of salty streaks running down his eyes.

“I get if you don’t want to speak to me ever again bu-”

It went silent…..

Jd was being embraced. You felt like everything was complete. He finally apologized and wanted to make things better. “I forgive you.” You said with tears in your eyes. “Thank you” was all he could muster up as he held onto you like his life depended on it. Everything was great until the door was busted wide open by one particular person. “BROZONE ARE MY UNCLES! AND MY AUNT IS THE FREAKING QUEEN!” Rosie said as she ran to me as if I said no more candy forever. Clay and the rest of them walked into the room ready to ask questions and hang out and I couldn’t wait to tell them everything “Guess the Family Reunion did happen again” I said as I looked at JD. “And on better conditions like you said”.

I HOPE YALL ENJOYED AND IM SO SORRY FOR MAKING YALL WAIT WEEKS FOR THIS STORY😔I NEED TO DO BETTER BUT I HOPE YALL ARE SATISFIED

[hutahuta]

Desparate to get away from a creep that been harassing you, you rush to pavia despite not knowing each other yet saying he is your boyfriend what will he do? Plsss?

P.AGE OO.4 — 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐔𝐌 & NOBILITY : 交 ✦ ⏱

GN ! Reader — <3

this is probably gonna be long, who knows. i'm writing before i even started LMAO <3

edit; i dont like the way i wrote this idk,, maybe i'm getting a little self conscious of my writing and jdskkdkdkd i'm so sorry.. ;;

thank you sweetie, ilysm for requesting (๑´ ˘ `๑)

Running to safety hasn't always been your only option. Mostly because your friends encouraged you to carry weapons for your own safety, especially in these streets where you can competently get snatched, stabbed, mugged or any of the sort. In this era? Please. You think people could afford low quality security cameras, with a high price?

Weak hands trembled as you kept insisting that your time was not worth being spent on someone who was firm on the decision that you must simply travel with them to see the city's night scenery.

It's been at least 15 minutes at most with you trying to brush aside him or trying to speed walk out of the way, hoping he wouldn't go bother someone else but at least spare you the chance to get away.

Infuriating.

Fortunately, you were not the gullible sort. Whether you've encountered this for the first time, or you've experienced such shuddersome and nightmarish situations for god knows how long, it doesn't matter. None of this is fucking okay.

And you knew that.

Loathsome hands traced the outer space around your bare back, and much to your disgust, it was unbearable to not break their hand as of this second. You had to wait, just so you could still walk with said person and hopefully get the chance to outrun them when you see a nearby crowd flocking up to the nearest street.

' Come, I insist. '

' You've ain't got nothin' to worry 'bout. '

' Aren't you being stubborn? This is what I get for being a nice guy.. What's so bad 'bout someone tryna' treat you out? '

The same shit you'd hear time n' time again. It isn't always the easiest, especially when you'd think he'd carry a weapon on him just in case.

Think, be smart.

Ah, up just ahead, a crossroad catered towards the corner of your eye. Your head didn't turn around too quick, but you'd have seen the elderly couple steadily cross the walk just then. Following suit, a flock of crowds parked themselves up just ahead to watch the physical activities boarded up for their enjoyment.

Fuck.. Okay. Pace yourself.. Three, two, -

Before you knew it, you dashed immediately.

Wind blew and slashed against your face as you carried your burning legs as fast as you could. You didn't know what the hell this freak carried on him and you weren't planning on finding out either.

The crowd proved no use, as he could manoeuvre his way around, shouldering past people aggressively with the occasional loud grunt you can surely figure out that it etched from him.

Dammit, alright. It's fine. It's totally fucking fine, right? You couldn't tell where you were going. You crossed and turned at every corner, and just beyond your reach —..

Stood a man near the corner shop that sold the usual cigarettes and loaded beverages. Stuff that you'd only resort to having when your shift at work really sucked.

White to black hair, black sunglasses with a lavender shirt that had intricate patterns, but not interesting enough to pay too much attention to as of this time.

Please, for whatever God is out there. Offer you some strength. Fortunately, he was quick to stop you in your tracks by halting his hand in front of you, like how one would halt a nearby bus to indicate you're about to get on. However, he essentially demanded your entire body be impacted against his hand. Regardless, it made you panic in a hurry but your uneven breathing made it impossible to speak coherent sentences.

Pretty sure if you saw someone crying and running away like your life depended on it, wouldn't you stop by to help? Pavia was a mercenary, and a merciless one at that, but he wasn't entirely soulless.

' Now, where are you running off to in such a hurry? ' He had an accent. A lollipop stuck between his lips. What is it? Cherry? Strawberry?

Words. Just use words.

' Help, please.. Creep. Following. Behind me. ' Behind your uneven breaths, and horrid panting that caused a crack in the tone of your voice, he seemed to understand.

Or, somewhat get it. If it's anything staining this world, it's filth like this random person trying to inflict damage on innocent people like you who are just trying to get by their day. You look innocent to him. Exhausted, but innocent. Like a little lamb fleeing the slaughterhouse.

If it's one thing he hates, it's seeing the poor souls who resemble the innocence he once had. The chance that they could have to flee themselves from trauma, is the chance I believe Pavia would be willing to give. He must despise seeing the fear inside eyes that used to resemble his own when he was tucked away from the rest of society, forced to grumble under nothing but the deafening silence within the basement of his aunt's home after wailing out apologies and horrid voice cracks just to plead for his own freedom.

So. Seeing yours is no different.

Regardless, you do know the impact of you being outside.. especially during the evenings where it's dark and the sky turned into a murky ocean blue haze, gradients shifting darker by the hour and minute..

Gripping onto his shirt, your pleas to beg him to act as someone you might be familiar with, or perhaps even wear the stalker off with claiming that he is your temporary boyfriend, might strike something within Pavia..

Standing still, you rested yourself against his steady arm, holding you in place. Swiftly, he moved you against the wall, whispering a soft 'Then forgive me.' And yet, here were the thudding footsteps of your attacker. With a quiet look on your face, he stepped out of the shadow, amidst his hounds that surrounded his feet by seconds.

You couldn't believe it??

' Problem, amico? ' Resonated that voice of his, something to admire. Glistening under such beautiful moonlight, you could tell how the silver lining had outlined the steel plate of the metal cutting into the familiar shape of a pistol embedded within his pocket.. Huh- Shit— was he dangerous too? You only needed protection, not some bloodied out battle to settle for your freedom?? You're not looking to go to jail this early, anyways.

' I sincerely hope that you aren't getting aquatinted with my.. beloved? Huh? Lest I take that pretty little tie of yours to add into my collection. Divertente~ '

You didn't ask for his name, but your slender hands placed itself on his shoulder, still unable to catch your breath beneath these minutes that were unbearably silent to surpass.

Behind him, your body rested upon his, one hand eagerly coiled warmly against his waist like vines on a old pillar.

The stranger didn't wish to be aquatinted with you in any sort at first, but he was a playful hound of a man. With eyes that looked at you, then back at your stalker. Maybe talking with you a little more after this wouldn't hurt, right?

' You know, amico. ' He approached.

' There is something quite thrilling to have the echoes of thuds of dead bodies fall flat against the surface when you hear that deadly gunshot linger in the back of your head, huh.. You know, my boss tried the same thing. '

And yet, it feared him in some way. Your eyes replicated that of a lost puppy. Those puffy cheeks, reddened and exhausted from running ever so much, oh my.. Something sparked inside of him.

Compared to his gaze, that had his pupils dilated so small, it reflected insanity upon them. He whispered a quiet ; ' I suggest you surrender before it gets ugly? aha.. '

All it took—; was the slow movement of his slender, yet ringed hands to reach into his lower pocket-

And by the second.

They left. You heard grumbled apologies.. and shuffling. But that was mostly it.

The stranger dressed in purple didn't bother to turn to look back around at you to see if you're alright or not, but there was a smirk on his face. A smile on it that he could only turn his head to the side which he could witness your breathing slowly starting to become tolerable; that lollipop twirled itself around his fingers.

Maybe a factor of it played into it because he just saved you, but some part of you could tell a fraction of him enjoyed teasing you with his playful gaze. As if you knew what he were to already say.

The public here avoid trouble but when they see terrible news on the media, they flock together like birds to ready themselves into war. It's nearly impossible to fight against society's norms, but you suspect that's why nobody but him offered such help.

And you were lucky.

Seems like it won't be the only time you'd meet this stranger by the looks of it. He said nothing more than patting your shoulder softly, then moving back inside the building.

Pavia wouldn't be the best at trying to offer comfort but he knows better than anybody else on how events like these tend to fuck you over. The shit people put up with on a daily basis makes him want to spit on lowly people for even thinking they have the right to breathe the same air as you.

Pavia merely reached his hand towards your trembling figure. He seemed to contemplate whether it was a good choice to get to know you, but under these circumstances, that stalker could still be lingering about. What better to do than to have him offered to sit beside you until you feel safe to go on your own again.

After all, maybe it's the safest option..

And who knows? You'll become acquainted with this stranger soon enough with time.

[humanitys-strongest-bamf]

"get me a damned matcha" | Summary and Preview

Hi friends! After laboring over this fic over the past month and a half, I think it's finally ready to publish! I haven't posted a multi-chapter fic since 2017 and this is the first time I actually have enough written out to do regular updates 👀 I will be posting both on here and on AO3 and should be updating every Saturday, generally around 5pm CST :)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Epilogue

✧ pairing ➼ levi ackerman x fem!reader, college x coffee shop x roommates!au ✧ summary ➼ After you find yourself plagued with misfortune due to struggles in your personal and family life, you find yourself needing to move last minute. As a junior in undergrad with little money and little social support, you considered yourself lucky when you found a sublease that was close to campus and was relatively cheap. Unfortunately, it seemed that your roommate did not seem to be so excited regarding your presence. ✧ content/warnings ➼ fluff, slowburn, enemies to lovers (sorta), strangers to lovers, idiots in love (eventually), fem!reader, mentions of alcohol, eventual smut, regular mentions of grief, mention of minor character deaths, angst, hurt/comfort, mentions of blood and injury, will continue to add as more stuff comes up

Preview:

After a long day at work, Levi was more than irritated when he heard a knock on his door. It was well into the evening, so he had no idea who would have the audacity to be bothering him this late. A frown appeared on his face as he looked at the person in front of him in confusion.  "What the hell?" he muttered as he saw an equally confused expression appear on your face.  That annoying undergrad from this afternoon?

"Did you follow me home?" You raised an eyebrow at him. The last person you had expected to be greeted with was the grumpy barista that you had the misfortune of interacting with earlier in the day. "Did you?" you retorted. Levi scoffed. "How the hell would I have followed you home if I was here first?" He cursed to himself as he recalled the monologue you gave him earlier on in the day. You had said that you had to suffer on a bus ride and couldn't get in contact with your new roommate to get keys to the unit. Now that you were standing in front of the door to his apartment, his frown only grew. Your eyes widened as you finally put together the pieces. "Wait," you asked, shaking your head slightly. "Are you-?" "I guess so," Levi responded with an unamused sigh. "Fuck."

if you're interested in getting tagged, fill out my taglist form! this is a new one specifically for this fic :)

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Fics That Start With M (4) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three

magic in the hamptons (ao3) - t_hens

Summary: Phil is bored with going to parties every weekend with people he doesn’t like. Bored of going to school for a degree he hates just to please his parents. Bored of pretty much everything in his life, until he meets Dan, an inscrutable college student, who shows him that maybe he can have the things he wants in life - he just has to be brave enough to pursue them.

Magic Shop (ao3) - your_starless_eyes

Summary: It made sense that Dan would need time to recover from the tour, just the same as Phil. It was logical reasoning.

How was he supposed to know? How was Phil supposed to know that it was, in fact, a bigger issue than he could imagine?

Magie De La Luxure (ao3) - Junebug1312

Summary: Lesson learnt, don't drink from mysterious hotel mini bars. Its a bad idea.

make a wish when your childhood dies (ao3) - tinydragon (tiny_dragon)

Summary: Things could be going better for librarian Phil Lester. He’s discontent with his life and his job when an episode of accidental magic lands him in a seemingly different world, which nobody else seems aware of other than the neighbour he never knew he had, Dan Howell. Together, they must find a way to return home to their ordinary cities and lives, but there’s something about Dan that’s strange, in that he seems eerily similar to Phil’s favourite childhood storybook character.

make it out when the sun is ruined (ao3) - waveydnp

Summary: phil fainted. he's fine, but dan might not be

make it work (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: dan is on vacation at the bahamas, where he meets phil - someone who's in the same rut as him. they connect and swoon over how compatible they both are but realise they only have a limited amount of time to spare together.

Make It Work (ao3) - phiclets

Summary: Dan has been touring with his show We're All Doomed for months - the longest he's ever been away from Phil. All he wants now is to be back for Phil's birthday.

make me feel (ao3) - blossomsphan

Summary: dan discovers a new use for his walk-in closet

[title from make me feel - janelle monáe]

make me feel again (ao3) - t_hens

Summary: Dan takes a walk after an argument with Phil

Make My Wish Come True (ao3) - sleepyslag (galacticneighbor)

Summary: Two years after the first heat they shared, Dan and Phil decide it's time to grow their family.

making sense of it (ao3) - graydar

Summary: He convinces himself that he’s not made to love. There’s a malfunction he can’t reach and there’s no fixing it.

Marigold (ao3) - Mysticallykai

Summary: When a haunting tune plagues Phil nightly, he turns to his family for help. But it seems like only he can hear it. Is he going crazy? Or is there more to the song than there seems?

maybe we were made for each other (ao3) - ShiwiSins (IetjeSiobhan)

Summary: One more station until he’s there, and Dan is sweaty and nervous with how much he wants to see Phil again, with how much he’s missed him, with how scared he is of the feelings being one-sided, despite everything Phil has said over Skype.

Or: the third time they meet.

Meant to be, we might be alright now (ao3) - lesbosz

Summary: Dan thinks about the cramped tour bus bunks and traveling the world again with his soulmate of 15 years.

medieval princess (ao3) - ShiwiSins (IetjeSiobhan)

Summary: “I’m going to fuck a baby into you,” he tells Phil, feeling absolutely wild with the image of Phil, pregnant.

Mine (ao3) - CloudyPhan

Summary: dan reminisces on his life so far in a quiet moment on the tour bus (mine by the 1975)

Mini Christmas (ao3) - cosmic_angel_writes

Summary: Dan and Phil’s mini Christmas

2024

misplaced (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: Phil misplaces his favourite hat while on tour.

moments of envy (ao3) - starlightphil (adreaminthedark)

Summary: Dan’s never wanted anything as badly as he’s wanted Phil, so of course he’s had his moments of envy over the years. A ficlet written for anonymous on Tumblr who asked: "Dan trying to deliberately make Phil jealous (for whatever reason) and then immediately regretting it?"

move your body when the sunlight dies (ao3) - phegetarian

Summary: dan is cursed, phil is a witch.

and i can't do summaries.

my hands no longer an afterthought (ao3) - ShiwiSins (IetjeSiobhan)

Summary: “Phil,” Dan says, but then gets tongue-tied and leaves the sentence there, feeling ridiculous and like he’s eighteen and desperate to seem cooler than he actually is all over again, turning his gaze away from Phil because he can’t look him in the eye without giving something away.

Or: It turns Dan on when Phil buys things for him. It only takes him fourteen years to do something about that.

My Sanctuary, You're Holy to Me (ao3) - skygremlin

Summary: Sister Daniel isn't very good at being a nun, but she's stuck living in a convent because she's got no other plans. The church needs a new priest for Sunday mass, and the responsibility falls on her to meet him for the first time. Will he see through her false devotion?

Sister Daniel/Father Philip convent au (Sister Daniel's origin story)

My Secrets, My Needs (ao3) - scaryfangirl2001

Summary: Phil gives Dan a massage

mystery tour (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: Phil wasn’t expecting to find a cute guy named Dan when he booked a Dodo Airlines trip to a nearby island.

[An Animal Crossing AU, where Phil lives on Pickle Island and Dan lives on Danando Island.]

[rpf-bat]

2024 RPF WRITING RECAP

I wrote 46 fics this year, totaling 56,385 words. I completed 100% of Whumpuary (15 out of 15 prompts), and 85% of Flufftober (25 out of 30 prompts). I also moderated two events of my own (Lost Sunday, and the third annual Blood Mass). I’m really proud of what I accomplished this year, so I decided to compile everything I wrote this year into one masterlist!

🖤 = Blind Channel RPF

💙= Lost Society RPF

💛= Santa Cruz RPF

1) Hear The Silence Getting Loud 💙💛

Samy/Arttu + Johnny/Middy. 2,556 words.

Summary: Arttu and Middy's birthdays are one day apart. So, they decide to have a shared birthday party with all of their friends.

Samy has been silently in love with Arttu for years. He makes a pact with Johnny: he will confess his feelings at the party, if Johnny confesses to *his* crush, too.

Written for Arttu’s 31st birthday.

2) Where Your Treasures & Demons Are Kept 💙💛

Johnny/Samy, with references to past Johnny/Archie. 1,370 words.

Summary: Samy goes with Johnny, to clean out a storage unit that once belonged to Archie. He finds an old love letter that he wasn't supposed to see. Whumpuary 1/15.

3) You Ain’t Getting Out 🖤💙

Samy/Joel/Niko. 643 words.

Summary: Niko and his boyfriend, Joel, invite Samy to their home for a "dinner date". By the time Samy realizes something is wrong, it's too late. Whumpuary 2/15.

4) I Just Need A Place To Be 💙

Samy/Arttu, 863 words.

Summary: A depressed and very drunk Samy shows up on Arttu's doorstep just after midnight. Whumpuary 3/15.

5) Calling For Help 🖤

Joel/Joonas, 1470 words.

Summary: Seasonal depression has left Joel unable to function. He breaks down, and asks Joonas for help with the dishes he just can't seem to do. Whumpuary 4/15.

6) Shelter Me, Comfort Me 🖤💙

Samy/Joel. 1,583 words.

Summary: Joel is feeling glum, and invites Samy over to his place, for a drink and a movie. Samy is trying his best not to take advantage. Whumpuary 5/15.

7) Been Awake For Three Days 🖤

Niko/Aleksi, 479 words.

Summary: Niko is supposed to be preparing for an important interview, but his body just can't stay awake. Whumpuary 6/15.

8) Shout At The Devil 💙

Samy/Taz, 1464 words.

Summary: When a boating accident threatens to put Samy in an early grave, Taz is willing to do anything to save him.

Johnny is a witch, and he knows there might just be a way to give Taz what he wants. But, he also knows that the devil won't grant a desperate wish like his without a steep price. Whumpuary 7/15. Witch!Johnny AU Part 1.

9) The Taste Of Ink 🖤

Niko/Joonas, 825 words.

Summary: Niko recently got matching tattoos with his best friend, Aleksi. His fiancee, Joonas, is incredibly jealous. Niko suggests that that they spend his birthday getting some matching ink of their own.

Written for Niko’s 29th birthday.

10) Thank You For The Pain 🖤

Joel/Niko, 824 words.

Summary: Niko is eighteen years old, and just joined Blind Channel a few short months ago. Joel is shocked when he walks into rehearsal with a black eye. Whumpuary 8/15.

11) Knock ‘Em In The Teeth Now 🖤

Joel/Aleksi, 873 words.

Summary: Joel is enjoying a beer with Aleksi when an old acquaintance interrupts.

He never expected that he would have to physically hold Aleksi back from punching said acquaintance in the face. Whumpuary 9/15.

12) A Lonely Road 🖤

Tommi/Olli, 1,308 words.

Summary: Tommi and Olli are supposed to be driving south together to Helsinki. But, when Tommi falls asleep at the wheel, tragedy strikes. Whumpuary 10/15.

13) Pictures Of You 💙💛

Johnny/Samy, 906 words.

Summary: Samy wants to know why Johnny is so camera shy. It wasn't always this way. Whumpuary 11/15.

14) All A Boy Could Give You 💛

Johnny/Middy, 1,160 words.

Summary: Middy enlists Taz's help to find the perfect birthday gift for his new boyfriend.

Written for Johnny’s 32nd birthday.

15) Do You Wanna Start A Fight? (Just Tell Me) 💙

Samy/Taz, 962 words.

Summary: Samy leaves the tour bus to go look for his missing bandmates, and comes back with a bloody nose. Taz is the only one there to bandage him up. Whumpuary 12/15.

16) Stake My Heart 🖤

Aleksi/Olli, 1,519 words. ‼️HEED THE TAGS‼️

Summary: Two months ago, Aleksi got turned into a vampire. Tonight, he's got a Grindr date. What could possibly go wrong? Whumpuary 13/15.

17) One Small Step Away 💙

Gen. Samy’s POV. 866 words.

Summary: Samy dreams of an old friend. He doesn't want to wake up. Whumpuary 14/15.

18) My Mind Won’t Go To Sleep 🖤

Joel/Joonas, 889 words.

Summary: After waking up from a nightmare, Joel just can't seem to get back to sleep. He ends up knocking on Joonas' door. Whumpuary 15/15.

19) Steal Your Crown 💙💛

Johnny/Samy, 5085 words.

Summary: Johnny's band signs up to compete in a high school talent show. When a younger student named Samy announces that he's throwing his hat into the ring, too, Johnny's competitive nature brings out the worst in him.

When sabotage goes a step too far, can he fix it in time? Or will both bands be forced to forfeit?

Written for Lost Sunday 2024.

20) Can You Feel The Rain? 🖤

Akeksi/Olli, 1,130 words.

Summary: A lost dog wanders onto Olli's doorstep, and he decides it wouldn't be right, to leave her outside in the rain. But, soon enough, her dad comes looking for her. And oh no. He's hot. Flufftober 1/25.

21) Words I Thought I’d Never Speak 💙

Samy/Taz, 1,076 words.

Summary: While helping his boyfriend move some furniture, Taz discovers a two-year-old love letter, from the beginning of their relationship. Samy never had the courage to send it, but he meant every word. Flufftober 2/25.

22) I Missed Your Skin When You Were East 🖤💙

Samy/Joel, 798 words.

Summary: If sniffing your boyfriend's hoodie when he's away on tour is wrong, then Samy doesn't want to be right. Flufftober 3/25.

23) Of Goat Cheese & Guitars 🖤

Joel/Joonas, 1,084 words.

Summary: School is out, and Joel is (relucta ntly) spending his summer vacation at the farmer's market, helping his mother sell cheese. One day, he spots an attractive looking busker on the other side of the marketplace. Flufftober 4/25.

24) Birds Of A Feather 💙

Samy/Arttu, 579 words.

Summary: Samy wants to make a bird-feeder out of pinecones. Arttu thinks that sounds like a bird-brained idea. Flufftober 5/25.

25) It Ain’t Me, Babe 💛

Johnny/Middy, 639 words.

Summary: Johnny is Archie's boyfriend. But tonight, he's apparently too drunk to tell which blonde he's snuggling up to....and Middy isn't resisting like he should. Flufftober 6/25.

26) Fell In Love At The Rock Show 🖤

Joel/Aleksi, 763 words.

Summary: Aleksi gets cold at a music festival, and Joel offers him his hoodie. Is he flirting with him? Flufftober 7/25.

27) I Still Burn For You (Like The Sun Burns In The Sky) 💙💛

Johnny/Samy, 1,421 words.

Summary: Samy crashes Santa Cruz's midsummer camping trip. He ends up feeling hot and bothered, after watching a shirtless Johnny chop wood for their campfire. He tries to drown his unrequited feelings in alcohol...but what if they're not actually unrequited at all? Flufftober 8/25.

28) Neon Gravestones 🖤💙

Samy/Niko. 1,584 words.

Summary: Niko is perplexed, when Samy invites him to a picnic lunch in the middle of the cemetery. But, he quickly realizes that his friend needs a hug. Flufftober 9/25.

29) Bet On Losing Dogs 🖤

Joel/Joonas/Aleksi, 944 words.

Summary: Tommi is certain that Joel and Joonas are dating. So certain that he's willing to bet actual money on it. But, Olli disagrees. His money is on Aleksi being the guitarist's new boyfriend. Flufftober 10/25.

30) I Put A Spell On You 💛

Johnny/Middy, 1,269 words.

Summary: Johnny is a witch, and he knows exactly how dangerous magic can be. So he’s more than a little concerned, when he hears that his dear friend Middy is planning to cast a love spell. Flufftober 11/25. Witch!Johnny AU Part 2.

31) Autiotalo 🖤

Tommi/Olli, 620 words.

Summary: Joonas dares Tommi and Olli to spend the night alone in an abandoned house. The house is allegedly haunted by a witch’s ghost, but Tommi isn’t particularly worried. Flufftober 12/25.

32) Basement Eyes 💙

Samy/Arttu, 1,575 words.

Summary: A mischievous Mirko locks Samy and Arttu in his parents’ wine cellar. He’s not planning to let them out, until Arttu tells Samy the truth. Flufftober 13/25.

33) Two Princes 💙💛

Johnny/Samy, 1,586 words.

Summary: Johnny is a prince, and his family wants him to marry a princess. He would rather die than be with a woman he cannot love. And so, he flees his castle, and disappears into the woods.

In the middle of the enchanted forest, he meets a mysterious and sexy stranger, with a shocking secret. Flufftober 14/25.

34) Little Black Dress 🖤

Joel/Joonas, 924 words.

Summary: The last thing Joel expected to find in his building’s laundry room at midnight, was Joonas Porko in a dress. Flufftober 15/25. Mildly NSFW.

35) Check Yes, Romeo 🖤

Niko/Joonas, 1,320 words.

Summary: Joonas needs to know if his crush likes him back. And maybe a passed note in class, wasn’t the best way to ask him. But teenage boys don’t always make the smartest decisions. Flufftober 16/25.

36) All We Need Is The Sun 🖤💙

Samy/Joel, 1,225 words.

Summary: Joel asks Samy to take a vacation with him, somewhere warm and sunny, and far from home. The hotel room isn’t what Samy was expecting. Flufftober 17/25.

37) Anywhere That You Go (You’re Gonna Make It Glow) 💙

Arttu/Mirko, 1,585 words.

Summary: Johnny gives Arttu a bewitched coin, which glows whenever the person holding it, is standing next to someone who is in love with them. Arttu thinks it’s too good to be true. Flufftober 18/25. Witch!Johnny AU Part 3.

38) Needle And Thread 🖤

Joel/Niko, 1,016 words.

Summary: Niko picks up a new hobby during the Still Panicking Tour. His boyfriend, Joel, isn't quite sure how he feels about it. Flufftober 19/25.

39) Please Meow Back 🖤

Niko/Aleksi, 1,250 words.

Summary: Aleksi is a receptionist at a veterinary clinic. He thinks his job is boring…until a handsome stranger runs in just before closing time, and begs him to save his cat. Flufftober 20/25.

40) My Fire (The One Desire) 🖤

Aleksi/Olli, 1,013 words.

Summary: Olli attends a party at his university, hoping to run into his crush. Flufftober 21/25.

41) I Would End My Days With You 🖤💙

Samy/Niko, 918 words.

Summary: There’s a ring in Samy’s pocket, that once belonged to his late father. And there’s only one person on earth that he’s willing to give it to. Flufftober 22/25.

42) Your Hot Whiskey Eyes Fanned The Flame 🖤

Joel/Aleksi, 1,109 words.

Summary: It's storming outside their hotel room, and Aleksi can't sleep. To pass the time, he asks Joel to play a game with him. Flufftober 23/25.

43) Love Is Stored In The Potato 🖤💙

Samy/Joel, 1,089 words.

Summary: Joel's relationship ended a week ago, and he's crushed. Samy thinks he's found the cure, that will fix his friend's broken heart.

It's fried potatoes. Flufftober 24/25.

44) Blanket Thief 🖤

Tommi/Aleksi, 749 words.

Summary: Aleksi just spent the weekend at his boyfriend Tommi’s place. Tommi hogged the blankets the whole time. Now, it’s time for a little payback. Flufftober 25/25.

45) Somebody Fucking Kill Me (Before I Do It Myself) 💙💛

Johnny/Samy. 1,430 words.

‼️HEED THE TAGS‼️

Summary: Samy is slowly turning into a vampire, against his will. He begs Johnny to kill him, before he loses his humanity completely.

46) Animal I Have Become 🖤

Niko/Joonas, 2,044 words.

Summary: The band is enjoying a midsummer camping trip, when their friend is suddenly attacked by a wolf. Amidst the chaos, after the bloody and unconscious body is discovered, Joonas can’t seem to find Niko anywhere.

Written for Blind Channel Blood Mass 2024.

[nkirukaj]

Fawning for You (2)

Pairing: Alastor x Voe (Fem!OC)

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: Slight Angst (& Humor!)

Word Count: 4.8K

2. Stressed Out

“How do you get to the castle from here?” 

“Well, you have to go through this war zone, take a bus, not sure if it’s 2 or 3 stops, maybe it’s 4-“

Voe looks frustrated “What?”

“What? I usually take a limo there,”

“So can you just call me a limo??”

“Oh, why didn’t you ask?”

So the princess had a limo come and pick the doe up and take her to the castle in the center of the city. It was a long and quiet ride. She sat and thought about all the things that took place since the last time she saw him. She didn’t mean to break his heart, she didn’t even know she had his heart to break. What did he even see in her to fall for? She thought that everything about him was amazing, he was such a brilliant man, but the way she felt about him couldn’t hold a candle to her feelings for Alastor. 

She sighs, Alastor. She didn’t know what to think about him right now. Ugh, should I even be thinking about him right now? This is why I need redemption. Maybe it was best that she broke things off before he asked her to be his new Queen. It would’ve been cool to be Queen. The difference is that Lucifer felt like an option, while her entire body and soul craved Alastor.

She shakes her head, this was not what she needed to be thinking about right before she went to speak with the man that she chose Alastor over. When she came back to reality she realized that the limo had stopped moving. They’d been in front of the castle already.

“How long have we been here?”

“About 15 minutes miss,” the driver answered 

“Thank you,” She tells them, exiting the car

She stands in front of the door apprehensively. She raises her fist to knock and the large golden door creaks open on its own. 

“Hello?” she calls into the door

“Enter,” she heard the King’s voice call, and she obeyed. She closes the large golden door behind her and the room is completely dark until a snap turns on the lights “Hello,” Lucifer says with surprise when he sees her

He looks good, as always. His eyes are bright and his cheeks are full. He’s wearing his hat and suit, she thought that he must be doing much better if he can groom himself to this degree.

“Hi,” she waves and stands awkwardly allowing him to examine her fully

“What can I do for you?”

She seems taken aback. Guess we’re getting right to it “Um, Charlie said I would have to come to you about getting a building..?”

“Ah! Yes, that! For what? I need to know the deets,”

She cautiously steps closer “Well, I want to open a theater,”

“Hmm, that’s nice,”

“Yeah, and I think it would be helpful for the sinners of Hell to have other hobby options, I guess?”

“Hmm, okay,” he snaps his fingers and an application appears “Sure, just sign this and I will approve it right away. It’s a theater right?”

She nods “Yeah,”

“Okay great, I approve applications and they’ll say that it’s a clothing store, but it’s secretly a drug ring, and what can I do? It’s Hell!”

“Well, you are the King,”

He shrugs “So you can just sign this and you’ll get your building right away,”

She takes the quill and holds it over the line “Nice, can I just read it over? The last time I signed something I lost my soul,” she chuckles

“Yeah, sure. I don’t want your soul or anything. Everyone thinks I want their souls, but it’s the other sinners that have ‘em. Seriously it’s really annoying,” his expression flattens

Voe chuckles “Yeah,” then clears her throat looking down at the paper

“Yeah, so read away,”

She gestures to the couch he’s sitting on “May I sit?”

“Oh yeah, yeah!”

She sits down and reads the application over, the terms seem fair so she signs them.  “Here,” she hands Lucifer the papers

“Thank you, and….approved!” he sounds silly and it makes Voe smile “So where do you want your theater to be? Lots of abandoned buildings in the Pride Ring,”

Voe shrugs “Well I’d like it to be in Pentagram City,”

“Plenty of vacant buildings here! You can pick one!”

“Really?”

“Yeah. All right, if that’s all then..you can let yourself out”

“Oh uh- okay,”

Lucifer widens his eyes “Did you need something else?”

“Well I don’t need anything per se, but, I just thought that we would talk. I-If you want to,”

“Uhhh, what would you like to talk about? I’m not busy,”

She turns her body toward him “How are you?”

“I’m fine. How have you been?”

Voe pulls in her ear “No, really. How are you?”

“I-I’m fine,” 

“How are you…when you see me?”

“I’m fine Voe. Did you need something?”

She purses her lips “We miss you at the Hotel,”

“Yeah, have a lot to do,”

“You said you’re not busy,”

“Not busy busy, but you know,”

“Lucifer...” she scooches closer to him

“Yes,”

She looks away “How do you feel about me?”

“I feel fine,”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,”

“Okay, I guess I’ll go then,”

“Mhmm,”

She stands to her full height and approaches the doorway again, looking back at Lucifer, waving. He waves back with a fake smile on his face. And she exits.

_____________________________________

Voe lays on the parlor couch alone, scrolling through her phone when she hears Alastor’s humming, she decides to be silly and sticks her leg up in the air as he approaches her and Alastor grabs it, massaging her foot

“I already knew what you wanted,” he purrs lifting her foot to his lips. He nibbles on the side of her toes, and she giggles pulling her feet back “No no, this is what you wanted” he cheeses at her, nibbling her foot more with his large, sharp teeth.

“I can’t believe this is a man that tears apart souls,” she laughs “When was the last time you did that?”

“Oh many years ago darling, long before I met you,”

“Would you ever tear my soul apart?”

He snickers “Only if you’re being a bad girl,” he nips at her foot again, making her giggle

“Where was all this a few days ago?”

“Hmm, I just felt like being alone,” 

“And today?”

“Well, obviously today I would like some company,”

Voe kneels on the couch, facing the tall deer. She drapes her arms around his neck again, and this time he does not resist, in fact putting his arms around her waist

“You look, so good today,” her voice low and sultry as she runs her hands up the bare skin of his undercut

"Thank you, my dear. I take it, you like my new coat? I just got it tailored, and- oh, I need to show you the shop, you'd simply adore it. Perhaps we could get you something new? Better fitting? Of course, you look ravishing as always, such a stunning beauty-"

"You want an excuse to pamper me."

"You know me too well, darling." (@hazbinhotelie)

“You know I never turn down a chance to be pampered,” she smirks at him

“Oh, I know,”

She tilts her head and stares at him curiously “You know what I just realized?”

“Hmm?

“You never gave me back my panties,”

“Who told you that you were going to get them back darling?”

Her jaw drops and gasps “The smell must have faded now,”

“I’ll never tell,”

Voe scoffs “Where did you put them?”

“A magician never reveals his secrets,”

“You’re not a magician,”

“But Husker is,”

“Ugh, you dragged Husk into this? You’re sick!” she tells him with a small smile forming afterward

Alastor chuckles “So I’ve been told,”

She sighs “I love looking at you,”

“Aww, me too,”

“You love looking at yourself?”

“Yes!”

She laughs and they stare at each other longingly, but just as abruptly he pulls his arms and steps back, forcing Voe to drop her arms

“Well, this was nice. I have things to take care of today in my radio tower,”

“Really?” Voe is incredulous

“Lots to be done, my dear,” he says before dissipating

“Wait!” Voe reaches for the air where he used to be. She groans in frustration and shoves a pillow over her face, screaming into it.

The activity for today was riveting, Charlie was so very excited to get to her idea, that she skipped over everything and went straight to Voe.

“Voe tell them about the totally awesome thing that you’re planning!!”

Voe looks up somewhat startled “Sure, just I have to say something first”

“Of course! Go ahead!”

“Do you know a few weeks ago when I said that you weren’t a sinner?” she pauses “I wasn’t saying that as like a gotcha, I was saying that because it’s important. Your not being a sinner explains why you’re finding it difficult to get to the root of redemption. I feel like you’re focusing on the sin itself and not on why each person sins. You were born here in Hell so you don’t know this, that’s not your fault, but it is your fault if you continue to not know this. Your approach towards redemption acts as if sin occurs in a vacuum. But it doesn’t. People sin because life on earth does not reward good people. Good deeds are punished, and bad people succeed all the time. There are a multitude of reasons why a person may feel like they have to sin. Because of social norms or maybe even family pressures. Or perhaps some sort of trauma experience that teaches them that the only way to act is this. There may be some people who send just because they can but I feel like that is a minority. And even the sinners who don’t intend to get redeemed, are just people who don’t want to address their trauma because it hurts. It hurts to address your trauma. It’s a long arduous process to heal from your trauma. Some people don’t want to do that, maybe they don’t want to experience that trauma twice. That’s something I feel like you should think about.” 

Charlie seems flabbergasted by her speech and starts slowly clapping “That was amazing! And so true! Thank you for that! That’s actually super informative, I will have to keep that in mind. Maybe you can help me. But first, get to your idea!!” She sounds sing-songy at the end

“Right, so I want to open a theater here in Hell. I’m an actress at heart and in my days of doing theater, I’ve found that doing shows brings people together in ways that nothing else can. I’ve also found that when people participate in the arts they become better people over time. Maybe it’s having something to do with their time, maybe it’s because it’s much easier to be a good person when you have a support system, or maybe just because it’s fun and not destructive. I’m not sure, but I genuinely believe that the more sinners that participate, the more will get redeemed. Theater gives people purpose, and theater is mine. So this needs to happen. I already got approval for the building, so what do you guys think?”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Angel chimes in

Voe smiles excitedly “So what about you guys?”

“Sure, why not” Husk shrugs

“I love the theater!” Niffty exclaimed kicking her feet

“What about you Bean?” Voe asks

Bean sits up as if she wasn’t listening before “That sounds fun,”

“Awesome!” Voe smiles “And you Cherri?”

“Eh, I’d come watch the first show,”

“Are you sure? You seem like a performer,”

Cherri furrow her brow “Nah, I’ll just watch,”

“All right, I already have Angel as an actor, anyone else wants to sign up?” there’s a prolonged silence in response “Okay. Is this what it was like?” She asked Charlie

“Yes,” she smiles

Voe shakes her head “Okay whatever, that’s not gonna stop me!”

“That’s the spirit!” Charlie grabs her shoulders “I knew my positivity would rub off on someone,”

“It’s okay I know that a lot of people are just afraid to invest in themselves and put in the work because they’re afraid that it won’t work out or they don’t think they’re worth it!”

Charlie smiles widely “You just have to make people see the benefits!” She shakes her shoulders “I believe in you!”

Voe smiles back “I know. Thank you,”

“Is the meeting over?” Angel sticks his hand up

“Uh, I mean is that all you have to say Voe?”

She shrugs “Uh, yeah I guess”

“Then yeah!”

“Babe wait, you didn’t do the activity!” Vaggie reminds her

“Oh shit right! No, it’s not over!”

“Fuckin thanks,” Angel says to Vaggie, who shrugs

___________________________________

It seemed like Alastor was avoiding her. He didn’t say he was and when she spoke to him he was more than cordial, but Voe just could not shake the feeling that she was being ignored. This was not something she could learn to be okay with, if this was anything else, she would say screw them, but this was Alastor, she wanted to be around him so much and he didn’t feel the same way. He said that he still liked her, but now she wasn’t sure if she believed him.

Voe turns on the live, sitting in front of her laptop camera “Hey guys, I know that I haven’t seen you all in a while, but I was sorting things out in my life and now I’m ready to come back.”

hey guys look it’s that crazt bitvh that killed the vees

lol

hey bitch! what you been up to?

nah remember when she killed val?

wyd sis

“I’m mostly just chillin’ y’all what y’all doin’?” she eats from her bag of chips

none ur bizness

getting my ass destroyed

“How you fucking on my live?”

lol you don’t have nothing to talk about

nahhh lmaooooo

frfr thoooo

“Nah, this is just a casual live,”

casual my ass look in her eyes she’s uncomfy

nah who looks in peoples eyes

nah tf you sum psychic? don’t luk in my fucking eyes?

wtf i’m not a psychic

then y u luking in my fuking eyes? 👀

Y YALL FIGHTING ABOUT EYES?????

aint nobody fighting abourt eyes

then wth yall talking bout???

YO MIND YO BISNESS?

WTF????

“Woah relax y’all damn, I’ll ask y’all a question since y’’all can’t behave without structure. What do you think it means if someone starts behaving like distant from you?”

maybe they dont like u no more??

they prob want u to figure it out?

is this about the info you spread about the radio demon???

“No!”

 nah that shit was hilarious

HILARIOUS!!!!!!

Y’ALL HEARD VOX 2 NITE IS COMING BACK

i missed vox

i miss zaddy

VOX IS HOT AF 

“Wait, the Vees are back?”

BACK AND READY TO DO CRACK

NAH THATS ANGELS JOB

DONT TLK BOUT ANGEL LIKE THAT

BUT HE DO DO CRACK

“How do the Vees have the same amount of power when everyone they owned is free now?”

power is earned

but they’re not overlords anymore

but they still got power

DEATH AINT TAKE THAT AWAY

“What about me though?”

😭😭😭😭😭😭

😹😹😹

no offense but killing the vees dont mean nothing

the radio demon killed heavy hitters

likw vox vs alastor????? cum on!!!!!! 😹

“How y’all telling me that the Vees are hella powerful, but me killing them isn’t enough?”

lmao the vees count as one person

the radio demon is different kill him and now we can talk

“I’m not gonna kill Alastor,” she looks away from the camera

we know you love him too much 💗😹

Voe blushes and looks down “I don’t-“

holy shit

ARE U ACTUALLYMIN LOVE WITH THE RADIO DEMON

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 😹😹😹😹

i feel so bad 4 u ….not really tho

“I don’t,” she pauses “love him,”

thats good, cuz if you did and he found out he would use you to heaven and back

hes used more people than the vees

“Wait, what do you guys mean by that? Like, would it be awful for someone to…love him? Has anyone ever loved him?”

lol no idea!

probably not lmao

any1 that trusted him ended up on the end of his chain

“No, but Alastor doesn’t want to own me,”

😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹

r u sure

“But he burned my contract,”

where u belonged to velvette

now ur free….to b his 😹😹😹😹😹

‘he burned my contract’ 😹😹😹

“He knows that I don’t want to be owned,”

and what do oyu know about him?

“A lot, actually,”

ooooh tell us

SHE ALREADY TOLD VOX AND HE TOLD EVERYBODY

riiiiight

hop u not tryna be an overlord

“Wait, why not?”

uhave no clue what it takes

Voe slams the laptop closed. She pulls at her ears and hugs herself at the same time as tears sting her eyes. She sniffles and looks around the room. What was she even doing? What had she gotten herself into? What was she thinking that she could be somebody important?

____________________________________

Voe approaches the bar and a frustrated Husk. She sits on the stool and he sighs

“Hi,” she says

“What can I get you? Some apple juice?”

Voe blinks “Is that a joke?”

“What do you want?”

“I want to talk to you,”

He rolls his eyes “Can’t tell you about Alastor. Boss’s orders,”

She seems very confused “Wait, what?”

“You think he’s gonna want me to talk about him while he’s not around after that incident,”

She sighs and taps the bar looking away “Am I ever gonna live that down?” she says under her breath

“Well, it’s Hell, but you’ve got time. But don’t expect things to go back to the way they were. Once you lose trust, it’s gone.”

She looks back up “That’s not what I’m here for anyway,”

“Well, what do you want?”

“Tell me what it takes to be an Overlord,”

He scoffs “Is this a hypothetical?”

She raises an eyebrow “Why does it matter?”

He snickers “‘Cuz if you’re serious…” he turns and drinks from one of the bottles

“What?” she snaps

“Not really the Overlord type,”

She throws her hands up “What is the Overlord type?”

“Not you,”

“What does that mean? What about me?”

“Oh, you’re serious,” Husk scratches the back of his neck “Wow,”

“Yeah,” she states flatly

He groans “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you want to be an Overlord? Power?”

“I mean, yeah but not selfishly,”

He laughs at her “You gonna take the souls for charity?”

“I would employ them and protect them,”

“It’s not as easy as you think kid,”

“I know it’s not easy, that’s why I’m here!”

“And I’m letting you know it’s not easy!”

She slams her hands on the bar table “I KNOW THAT’S WHY I’M HERE ASKING WHAT IT TAKES!”

“STOP GETTING LOUD OR YOU ASK SOMEONE ELSE ABOUT THIS BULLSHIT!”

“You were yelling at me,”

He sighs “Anyway, first you need to prove that you can be an Overlord. Right now you’re just some influencer,”

“I killed 3 powerful Overlords!”

Husk uses quotes “‘Powerful’. The Vees are petty children that no one takes seriously. They lie and manipulate, that’s all,”

“So what would I have to do then?”

“Back in my day, it was just getting rid of heavy hitters, collecting souls, proving that you have what people want,”

“Okay, but that’s the Overlord ‘type’?” “Ruthless, not caring what people think. You wanna be an Overlord, other people’s opinions really shouldn’t be on your agenda,”

She pokes her chest out “I’m confident,”

“I didn’t say anything about confidence. I said caring about what other people think of you,”

“You don’t think any of the Overlords care what people think of them?”

“If they do, they don’t show it. You show it every day. It’s on your face, it’s on your face right now,”

She slumps “I have to go back to masking?”

Husk stares at her “I don’t know what that means, but you’re breakable kid,”

“No, I’m not,”

“Honestly, I’m surprised that you got rid of the Vees that fast, people still think highly of the Vees you know. You gotta destroy their reputations then destroy them. I thought that’s what you’re in Hell for. You ruined boss’s reputation,”

Voe blows out air “That wasn’t on purpose,” she speaks quietly

“Well, you did it,”

“Doesn’t that mean that counts for something?”

“No, because you care too much. Apologize or don’t. Move on,”

“So I’m supposed to become a cold, calculating, unfeeling machine?”

“I didn’t say cold and calculating, you just need to control your emotions better. Are you sorry about what happened?”

She raises her brows “With Alastor?”

“No the Queen of England,”

She rolls her eyes “You could’ve been talking about the Vees,”

“Are you sorry about them?”

“No, they deserved it,”

“That’s not what their supporters think,”

“Who gives a fuck?”

“Good. Are you sorry about Alastor?”

She lip trills “Yes,”

“Then say sorry and move on,”

“I did!”

“What’s keeping you at a standstill?”

She scrunches her face “He’s being weird,”

“He doesn’t trust you,”

“Yeah I know,” she said dejectedly “Am I not supposed to care about that either?”

“You can, but you’re letting it stop you,”

“How?”

“You wish Alastor would help you with this theater idea you’ve got huh? It bothered you that he chose his radio tower over you, didn’t it?”

Voe blushes “Why does it matter?”

“Do you want to be an Overlord, or is it just a thought?”

“I want to be an Overlord,”

“Then everything can’t be about Alastor,”

She looks offended “It’s not!”

“You’re making it,”

“If I am, that ends now,”

“Good, put some hair on your chest,” he slides her a drink

“Why would I want hair on my chest? I’m female,”

He raises his brow “Fine, here drink this it tastes really good,”

“I don’t believe you,”

Husk smiles “Good, it’s good though it’s a nice fruity drink,”

“You hate making fruity drinks,”

“But you’re my favorite customer,”

She purses her lips “Yeah, right,”

“All right,” he pulls the drink back “One step closer,”

_____________________________________

“I guess you don’t have to worry about copyright infringement when you’re in Hell right?” she asked Angel

Angel types on his phone “Eh, yeah but you do have to worry about people doing stuff about it,”

“Stuff like what? Bombing the theater?”

“Yeah, or sabotaging your production,”

“Do you like musicals?”

“They’re okay, I didn’t really go to many when I was alive,”

“Why? Too much mafia biz?”

He looks up at her “It wasn’t something a man was supposed to do. I mean, my sister went to musicals,”

“Right, ‘cuz it made you ‘gay’,”

“I went with my sister on our birthday,”

“Oh right, you’re a twin,”

Angel’s face falls “Yeah,”

Voe stares at him.

“What?”

She points at him “You’re sad,”

“No no no no no. No no, let’s get back to the theater, no sappy stories. Back to musicals,”

“But you’re sad. You sad about your sister?”

Angel shakes his head “No no no back to Broadway. Musicals!”

Voe tilts her head “Do you miss your sister?”

“Nope.”

“You don’t miss your twin sister?”

“No, I don’t miss that little girl,”

“Your other half?”

Angel groans “You know I wish it was extermination day. So you could ask me that and an angel would come down and spear me in the head. Bam! Never get your answer!”

“You know I was thinking about the extermination day thing,”

“Why?” 

“‘Cuz I wasn’t here for the last one?”

“Feel lucky that you weren’t,”

“Right but isn’t it annual?”

“Well, we don’t have to worry about that!”

“Holy fuck! Where did you come from?” Angel asks Charlie who is standing behind him

Vaggie walks around the couch “Why are we talking about extermination day?”

“Wasn’t me. It was her!” he points at Voe

“It’s okay, she can know,” Charlie sits down next to her girlfriend

“Yeah, so I was filled in on the whole extermination day stuff.” She turns to Vaggie “Why did we not kill Lute?”

Angel stares at vaggie with a blank face as Charlie smiles nervously “I don’t know, why didn’t we?” the spider asks

Vaggie rolled her eyes “I was feeling merciful okay? Why does it matter?” she looked to Voe

“Because, if she’s still alive, she’s definitely going to become a problem later, right? Am I the only one thinking that?”

“Didn’t I say that? Didn’t I say that?! DIDN’T I SAY THAT?” Angel climbs up on the couch

Charlie puts her hands up “Well, we’re going to cross our fingers and hope that doesn’t happen,”

“Ugh, you are disgustingly pure,” Angel scoffs

“Aww, thanks,”

“Not a compliment,”

Voe sticks her hand out “But are we prepared for if- well when Lute returns?”

Vaggie punches her palm “Don’t worry, I’m ready for that cunt,” she says smugly

“Vaggie!” Charlie says flirtatiously

“Gross,” Angel comments

Voe leans over to Angel “So..Charlie is definitely the top yeah?”

“You never know with those two,” he whispers back

“Should we be expecting the extermination again this year? Because I’d like to be prepped,” Charlie shrugs

“Yeah sure you can hide in a cupboard or something,” the spider offers

“Hide?” Voe asks

Angel scoffs “Or fight, whatever fuck,” he shrugs

“So all of you fought in the extermination?”

“Hell yeah!

“Wo what are the odds they come back then?” 

“I don’t know, I was never good with math,”

Voe turns to the Princess “Charlie?”

She just shrugs

“Look, don’t worry about that, worry about your theater. We will take care of all of that,”

“You know it would also be happening to me too?”

“That’s why I said that we will worry about it,”

Voe looks off to the side “Okay,” she says through her teeth

“Okay,” Vaggie stands “Let us do our jobs,”

“Fine, but that means all the blame goes to you if something goes wrong,”

“Vagina’s used to all the blame cuz she hates herself,”

Vaggie groans “Shut up!”

Alastor sits in the empty parlor at dead of night reading. He liked the quiet, no insolent sinners asking ridiculous questions, no Charlie with her ever-present optimism, and no Angel Dust propositioning him. He sat as he turned the pages quietly, keeping the silence intact. 

Alastor’s ears turned to the sound of footsteps that were trying to be silent but were actually loud in the process, and his nose picked up the scent he’d become familiar with. 

“Yes, my dear?” He calls out into the almost pitch darkness

Voe clams up, embarrassed at being perceived “Sorry, I was just coming down to eat something before bed,”

“You’re fine,”

“I know you like the quiet,”

“Mhmm,” he says not looking up from his newspaper 

Voe’s footsteps made small noise as she made her way to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, removing the cold plate, heating it up all the small noises he made note of. 

“This pasta is really good,” she says between swallowing and putting more noodles in her mouth

“Thank you. The sauce is homemade!”

She smiles a bit, chewing and staring at Alastor as he reads. 

“So.. how have you been?”

“Pretty good, looking for more things to talk about on my show. Not much happening these days,”

“Oh,” she eats more, not knowing what to say “You’re feeling okay?”

“Why yes I’m just fine, just reading the paper,”

“I see,” she finishes the pasta, looking for another reason to stand there but couldn’t find one. “Um, goodnight,” 

She walks past him and starts ascending the stairs

“Goodnight darling, sweet dreams!”

Voe stops in her tracks “Are we okay?”

“Hmm?” He looks up from his paper

“Are we okay?” She speaks slower

“Of course! Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Because you’re-“ she uses her hands to make a shape

“I’m what?”

“Kinda.. distant I guess?” 

“Oh, I’m just laying low for a while. Every time I step outside some lowlife sinner thinks they can step up to me. It’s growing tiring to rip them apart every day,”

“It’s growing tiring?”

“Well, when I do it every day, yes,”

“I-“ she scratches her head “I meant distant from me?”

“Hmm.. I don’t know what you mean,”

Under the surface Voe’s insides warned themselves, blood rushing everywhere. She was certain that her body matched her hair. 

“Fine,��� she tells him, charging up the stairs. 

“All right?”

If Alastor wanted nothing to do with her, nothing of her is what he would get. 

[ladykailitha]

Royal Pain Part 24

All righty, folks! Before we get to Steve, we have the band on tour and Eddie is really, really gonna go through it this chapter.

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt 6 Pt 7 Pt 8 Pt 9 Pt 10 Pt 11 Pt 12 Pt 13 Pt 14 Pt 15 Pt 16 Pt 17��Pt 18 Pt 19 Pt 20 Pt 21 Meta Pt 22 Pt 23

****

Once they were on the road and the euphoria of getting the job offer of a lifetime wore off, a sense of unease settled in Eddie’s gut. He knew he should feel excited. He was doing the one thing he always dreamed about doing ever since his mom gave him his first guitar. A sweet little acoustic that he had written “This Machine Slays Dragons”. He still had it, but right now it was safe with Wayne.

But he didn’t. He just felt empty. Not good or bad. Just...empty. Like a bottle leftover from some party. Once part of a good time, now just an empty shell.

Eddie looked over at his friends. Jeff and Brian were talking, while Gareth was asleep. He pulled out his sweetheart. The way he always did when he got down.

He closed his eyes and began to play. The chords where slow and mellow. He wasn’t sure how long he played like that, just pouring his soul out into his music, but when he opened his eyes he saw that all three of his friends were staring at him open-mouthed.

“Holy shit, dude,” Brian said after closing his mouth with audible click. “Where did that come from?”

Gareth waved a piece of paper in his hand. “I wrote down as much as I could, because seriously, that was fucking incredible.”

Eddie ducked his head and blushed. “I guess I just needed to work out some shit.”

Jeff and Brian shared a glance and then Brian moved over and sat next to him.

“I think I know what you mean,” he said. “And I think you should write the lyrics too.”

Eddie looked up at him and then at Jeff and Gareth. They nodded.

“I just don’t know,” he said. “It all feels too personal to write down.”

Jeff scoffed. “And that’s exactly why you should. Because it’s personal. There’s a damn good reason that you’ve written ninety percent of our songs, man.”

Gareth nodded. “Because you’re fucking brilliant at it. Write the song. I think everyone needs to hear it.”

Eddie nodded. He got right to work on the lyrics. Taking what Gareth had transcribed and reworking the song with the lyrics. He was nearly done by the time they stopped.

Brian patted his shoulder. “Hey, man. Don’t worry, we’ve got this. You continue working on your song. I’ll send someone to get you when it’s time for the sound check, okay?”

Eddie let out a shuddering sigh. “You guys sure you don’t need an extra hand?”

Gareth laughed. “Fuck we need several, but don’t worry about yours. They’re doing the important part.”

Jeff nodded. “Yeah, we’ve got this.”

*

Eddie wasn’t sure how long he was lost in his head working on the song, but he had just put down his pen when there came a knock on the door.

He got up to answer it and saw a small Hispanic woman standing out there. “Yeah?”

“It’s sound check time,” she said. “And the drummer said something about a set of headphones or something?”

Eddie looked around and spotted the sound-canceling headphones by the table. He picked them up. “I’ve got them. I’ll make sure he gets them.”

He closed the door but it hadn’t closed all the way because he heard her say, “God, what kind of loser wears noise canceling headphones to a metal concert.”

Eddie’s blood turned to ice. He picked up his guitar and carried it out of the bus.

Thankfully she wasn’t around otherwise he would have blown up at her.

He made his way through the labyrinth that was the backstage to get to where he needed to be for the sound check.

Gareth came running up to him. “Oh thank god! I thought I lost them already.”

Eddie scoffed. “Nope, just left them on the bus like a dork.”

Gareth stuck his tongue out at him.

Eddie got to work setting up for his kit. He was almost done when a sound guy came up to him.

“We’re having trouble syncing our sound to your drummer’s headset,” he told him. “Does he need them for this?”

“What’s the problem?” Eddie asked. “They didn’t have trouble in Indy.”

The guy sighed. “Our system is newer and it’s causing feedback.”

Eddie pulled out fifty bucks from his wallet. “Go buy a pair that works. And if that doesn’t cover it, I’ll pay you back.”

The guy just rolled his eyes and did as he was told.

They played that night to a sell out crowd. They were only opening for Metallica, but damn the crowd got them going. Afterwards he called Steve and chatted about their day. His day was more exciting to be sure, but he loved hearing about the client that passed out at the sight of the needle. Apparently they hadn’t realized that tattooing in involved the pesky things and had an absolute fear of them.

Then someone was tapping him on the shoulder telling him had to go. He said goodbye to Steve and was rushed out the door.

Even though they only had three shows in those two weeks, they were quickly learning that playing wasn’t the only thing a band had to do on the road.

There were parties, and talk and radio shows, and photo shoots, and signings.

Sometimes he would get to speak to Steve, but most of the time it was leaving voicemail after voicemail.

All around him he kept hearing:

“Three weeks isn’t a relationship! It’s a fling!”

“He’s not a fan of metal? What is he a fan of?”

James came up behind Eddie and clapped him on the back. “Everything okay back home?”

Eddie stared at his phone. He had just left his third message that day with Steve.

“Yeah,” he said, voice shaking a bit. “It’s just we were so new to the relationship part, we were friends before that, that I worry being on tour has hurt us in someway.

James nodded. “It’s hard being on the road, away from family. It’s why most of us take them with us when we can.”

Eddie chewed on his lip. “It’s hard because he has his own tattoo shop and recently took on two apprentices so he’s like super busy.”

James pursed his lips. “That can certainly make it hard. What time is he off?”

“Eight.”

“Tell you what,” he said. “Instead of doing on encore tonight, why don’t you boys bow out and spend time talking to your families. It’ll be good for morale all around, I think.”

Eddie sighed gratefully. “Yeah. I’ll bring it up to them and see what they say.”

James squeezed his shoulder and went on his way.

“If the drummer doesn’t like noise why did he chose drums as an instrument?”

“A drummer that startles at loud noises? Get a new drummer!”

Lars paused them on their way to the sound check in Houston. “Hey, I know you guys are only doing a couple more shows, but after that fiasco with the Chicago guys me and the boys decided to spring for everyone to get a set of these.”

He handed the case to Eddie.

He opened it up to reveal little black earbuds. “What are these?”

“It’s what all touring artists wear,” Lars explained. “They’re fitted to cover the full inside of the earlobe to drown out the sounds around you so you can hear your own music.”

“Oh wow, that’s neat.” Eddie put one in and was amazed at the quality. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

Lars grinned. “It’s mainly for your drummer. Everyone deserves accommodations for any kind of disability and if the loud noises bother him, it makes it hard for everyone else to concentrate because you guys are worried about him.”

Eddie smiled. “Thanks!”

“It’s a pity that tattoo will never be finished. I could give you the name of my artist if you want!”

“It’s a shame that your tattoo artist wasn’t good enough to finish the tattoo before you left, maybe you could get covered with something else. Something better than that.”

The band was admiring Eddie’s back tattoo.

“I’m really liking the details, man,” Kirk said.

Robert nodded. “Hell yeah. Who’s your artist? He does some really sick work.”

Eddie blushed, grateful his back was too them. “He’s my boyfriend, Stevie.”

“Damn, you’ll never have to pay for another tattoo ever again,” Lars said. “Lucky.”

Jeff laughed. “Nah, knowing Steve, he’d probably charge Eddie an extra mayhem tax.”

Kirk and Lars shared a look and then nodded unison.

“Fair,” the said together.

Eddie yelped, “Hey!”

He turned to Gareth and Brian, but they agreed with Jeff, too.

“And they said I’m the menace.”

“Ooh, honey, let me take you somewhere private. Your boyfriend will never know.”

“It’s a shame he’s gay, all the girls are just gaga for that doe-eyed look of his.”

Eddie turned down another request to share his hotel room. Never mind that he was sharing with all the other members of Corroded Coffin and wouldn’t have had any kind of privacy. Never mind he had a boyfriend back home. Never mind he was gay.

It didn’t seem to matter with these people. Hot rock star equals slut apparently.

“How the hell do you do it?” he asked James. “You have been married to the same woman for twenty five years and you still get women throwing themselves at you.”

“It’s hard,” James said with a shrug. “But she’s more important then any roll in the hay ever will be.”

Eddie nodded, pursing his lips. Steve was more important then any roll in the hay. He could hold on to that.

“I know he’s your friend, but maybe it’s time to get a touring drummer. He can still record with you or whatever. But he’s really holding the band back right now.”

Gareth isn’t just some guy. He was family. He wasn’t even Corroded Coffin’s first drummer that dubious honor went Kyle Creevy, a snot nosed, freckled kid whose arms were barely thicker than the drumsticks he played with. But he moved right before Eddie’s ninth grade year and Gareth just slid into their lives.

They may have been playing at the Nightmare Holes for seven years but the band been together for much longer than that. They had been playing for over a decade. And unless they had someone that could learn their music in mere months were Gareth had taken years...they could fuck off.

God, the members of Metallica had been playing together for forty years and the only change they’d made was when a member fucking died.

“That back tattoo of yours is really not a good look. It’s the biggest part and no one will ever see it.”

Eddie couldn’t make them understand the tattoo wasn’t meant to be seen, it was meant to be felt. To put to feeling growing up as a small town pariah and making it out. Not ending up in jail like his dad or dead like his mom. To be the Freak and turn it into something special. To finally find his wings.

Steve understood. God, he missed Steve so much and he felt like he was pulling away. It was like a rubber band being stretched. It might snap or might not, but whatever happened it would never be the same.

The members of the band’s team shooed these people away when it got to be too much for him.

“Fame and fortune wait for no man. It’s time to lose the dead weight.”

He came close to punching that guy. Some haughty agent they met in Houston.

It was thrilling to watch security throw him out.

“The long hair went out in the eighties, darling. I really think a half shaved look would be better for you.”

Eddie laughed at that last one straight in their face. Kirk fucking Hemmet still had long curly hair, they could fuck the fuck right off.

But then the tour was over. They were going home.

****

Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Epilogue

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[tojifile]

Hi :)

First of all, your Fyodor pieces are absolutely gorgeous! I really love them, and I could read the over and over again. Secondly, could I please request a Fyodor angst piece for the event? But please don't feel pressured to do it, make sure to drink plenty of water first.

Bye and have a good day/night

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Feed My Ego

“No I don't love you, I just love the things you say..” -Mickey Darling

Genre: Angst // Fyodor x gn!reader

⚠️: toxic!Fyodor, THIS IS NOT A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP

A/N: Thank you so much for the request :) I think I have 4 more to do and thank you so much for your kind words, I hope that you enjoy this fanfic too !! I've also noticed that people have only been requesting for Fyodor / DOA get well soon readers !!

LINK: Masterlist

It was a cold and rainy afternoon, you were patiently waiting at a bus stop, shivering and a bit wet from the harsh winds. Earlier today your boyfriend—Fyodor Dostoyevsky, promised that he would pick you up but you've waited at the bus stop for an hour and he never arrived.

You stared at your phone screen shining blue and green wondering what happened, what would his excuse be this time. You left him numerous text messages over the past hour yet he never replied, you were just left on 'delivered' it was like he didn't care.

As if things weren't already tough enough you couldn't even get a cab. You then stood up and decided to just walk to his office by yourself, crying quietly as you walked through the wet streets of Yokohama.

After a while you reached his office, you gently knocked on his door "It's me.." you softly spoke. "Come in." He spoke in a monotonous tone. You opened the door, your clothes and hair were soaking wet and you were shivering.

"What happened to you?" He said nonchalantly, not even looking up from the scattered piles of files on his desk. You closed the door behind you and looked at him, "You forgot to pick me up.." you replied with a shaky tone as you continued to shiver.

"You should've gotten a cab then." He retorted, still not sparing you a single glance, "Seriously?!" You exclaimed angrily while Fyodor still looked calm and didn't seem to care. "That's all you can say?! After you didn't keep your promise?? After you let me down for the nth time?!!" You added. You were now standing in front of his desk, angrily slamming your hands down as you looked at him angrily.

"Are you done with your childish tantrum?" He finally spoke, he didn't even look at you as you expressed your anger and hurt. You looked at him with a shocked expression, you didn't even seem to faze him at all. Did he really not care?

"I thought you loved me.." you mumbled as you looked at the floor with a frown, feeling defeated by the one person who you thought wouldn't make you feel so small.

Fyodor stood up and got in front of you, he gently held your chin with his fingers so that you would meet his gaze, "Love you? How foolish." He spoke with a smug look on his face, "No, I don't love you darling, I just love the things you say." He added, you were simply someone who would feed his ego—a toy perhaps, nothing more, nothing less.

Spontaneous post: 07/06/23 15:08PM GMT+8 Philippine Standard Time