#it sounds like a vacuum cleaner :( is this making me a small animal

[3x09x1]

I FORGOT WHAT A MIXER(??) SOUNDED LIKE AND I JUST GOT SO SCARED

[welcometololaland]

WIP WORKING WEEK PART 2: PRODUCT PLACEMENT This is way more than the sentences I was supposed to do, but it's dialogue so I feel like I can get away with it. I'm also doubling this up as my (twenty) seven sentence Sunday. Thanks for the tags @freneticfloetry, @rosedavid @jesuisici33 @rmd-writes @three-drink-amy @alrightbuckaroo @lemonlyman-dotcom @strandnreyes @carlos-in-glasses and @heartstringsduet! I can't wait to dig into your snippets!

Carlos pauses. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re about to confess to doing something that you know I won't like?”

“Well—”

Carlos sighs deeply and pinches the bridge of his nose. “TK.”

“You can’t be mad, you don’t even know what it is yet,” TK protests. Carlos thinks he can hear Nancy snickering in the background of the phone call.

“It?” Carlos asks, shuffling into the kitchen, throwing a Nespresso pod in the machine and turning it on at the wall. He feels a little woozy after spending so much time asleep and wonders whether a coffee will make him feel better about this conversation. He loves TK so much it feels like his heart could burst, but the love of his life also spends a lot of time tap dancing on Carlos’ last nerve. 

“Okay, first of all,” TK insists. “It’s very small.”

“How small?” Carlos asks. “Like, Lou small? Or Buttercup small? Because sometimes you treat those two animals as if they’re the same size.”

TK scoffs. “Carlos, we have no idea how big Lou is now. He could be huge.”

“I doubt it,” Carlos says drily. “But we can go out to the Greenbelt and search for Godzilla if you like.”

“Okay, I meant huge for an alligator lizard. I think their maximum length is eight inches—”

“TK, what did you buy? It’s not…alive, is it?”

“Baby,” TK chides. “It’s super irresponsible to buy a pet without first consulting your partner. Unless you want to buy me a lizard, in which case you should just assume that the answer is yes—”

“You brought Lou home without consulting me!”

“Technically, I didn’t buy Lou because I found him in that guy’s leg.”

“That is not helpful.”

TK sighs. “Okay,” he admits. “I should have asked. But it all worked out for the best, right? We released Lou into the wild, and you got to finally redecorate the living room.”

“After I trashed it trying to find him,” Carlos says, rolling his eyes, but he can feel his resolve waning. TK has such a big and generous heart, something that Carlos loves intensely – even when it extends to reptiles. “Okay, come on. You need to confess before you get home or you’re going to be all funny.”

“What do you mean?” TK asks innocently.

“I mean, you’re going to simultaneously try to distract me with sex and a TV show we both know I don’t want to watch.”

“But the sex works, doesn’t it?” TK asks, his voice dropping to a whisper. In the background, Carlos hears Nancy make a retching noise.

“TK.”

“Fine,” TK relents. “I bought you something for work.”

Carlos pauses. “You know I can’t use costume handcuffs for work, right?”

TK practically chokes. “Mind out of the gutter please, Carlos,” he says. “I got you a desk vacuum.”

There’s a long pause, where Carlos tries to imagine how a vacuum cleaner is going to fit on a desk, much less what it is required for. The station has nightly cleaning and since the pandemic, each unit has been given a near-endless supply of anti-bacterial wipes which Carlos uses religiously on his office keyboard, even though he’s the only one who uses it.

“Thank you, babe,” Carlos says slowly. It’s not supposed to be a question, but it kind of sounds like one. “What’s a desk vacuum?”

“It’s like this mini vacuum that gets rid of all the crumbs and stuff on your desk,” TK explains calmly. “I bought one for Dad, too. He loves it.”

Carlos has heard those Freudian theories about marrying someone who subconsciously reminds you of your parent, but it still alarms him to realise TK considers him sufficiently similar to Owen that he buys them the same thing. 

“I’m a little concerned you’re starting to believe police officers eat doughnuts at their desk all day,” Carlos says weakly, trying to pass off his uncertainty as humour.

TK laughs. “Baby, I’ve seen your abs,” he quips. “Those are not made of doughnut.”

“The doughnuts never last long enough in this house for me to—”

“You do spend heaps of time at your desk though,” TK continues. “I thought a desk vacuum would be useful.”

Carlos frowns. “I do?” he asks, wondering where TK has plucked this idea from. In reality, Carlos does spend more time than he’d like to sitting down, but most of it is in a patrol car.

“You’re always complaining about the paperwork,” TK says mildly. “Right?”

“Right,” Carlos agrees slowly. “But it doesn’t mean that police work is a desk job.”

“I mean…it kinda is,” TK replies. “Not all the time. But you spend heaps of time inside.”

Carlos scoffs. “Are you saying that because the one time you’ve been inside the station you were handcuffed to my desk?”

“Very funny, Carlos,” TK replies drily. “Don’t get defensive because you spend way more time typing things on a computer than I do.”

“You do inventory all the time!”

“With a clipboard,” TK says hotly. “Standing up and waiting for the bell to ring.”

“Oh, when you’re not busy playing table soccer and cooking up four course meals?”

“I also do those things standing up,” TK points out. “And I don’t see you running into any burning buildings on the job.”

“Do not go there, TK Strand,” Carlos mutters. “You can’t seriously be starting a red versus blue argument with me.”

Pretty sure everyone has done this already but tagging @bonheur-cafe and @marjansmarwani just in case and @goodways because I know you love a good TK and Carlos argument dlfjlsdkjf.

[evelhak]

Old art #18: Self portrait

Lol I found this one I had made for my DeviantArt profile in I'm guessing 2011, so I was probably 17. I was not that cute. Arina Tanemura was in my head. (Can you tell how much I had been reading Shinshi Doumei Cross, just by looking at that hair and face? Wasn't that some manga, huh. Would certainly spark... conversations these days. But even looking back, there were a few things that were quite captivating and great about it.)

Meet my whole cat gang. If you've been here a while, you already know Bell, she's the grey one. A little princess with two braincells and a bottomless stomach. Eats literally like a snake, without chewing. She's the pinnacle of self-centredness which she gets away with because she's just so dumb. Also very loud and fond of crocodile tears. Really, the complete lack of self-awareness is impressive. The way she walks through life sticking her butt and puke exactly where she pleases at any time she pleases reminds me of the people I was always kinda jealous of. The ones who can be as unapologetically annoying, shallow, selfish and boasty as they want and most people still love them. Probably because they are very pretty and perceived to be too stupid to be held accountable for their lack of consideration of others. Bell is also so pretty everyone compliments her face, her bones, her colour and the pattern of her fur. My drawing really doesn't do her much justice. Her beauty is very superficial and decreases significantly as soon as she moves or opens her mouth, because she just looks that dumb doing anything. But alas, I love her.

Then we have Aatu, the black one, who is Bell's kitten actually. Still small in this picture but he grew up looking a lot like his dad who was a neighbourhood cat and the biggest one I had ever seen. Very hairy, clearly some Norwegian forest cat in him. Aatu ran away when he was two, but I think in truth he just got hit by a car or eaten by a fox because he had zero self-preservation instinct and half a braincell. He went towards all animals and cars in oblivious curiosity as they approached him. He was attracted to the vacuum cleaner when it was on. He was literally not scared of anything. He thought he was a dog, an owl, a cow, and also human. He loved when you made him slide across the floor. He loved to be dragged around and ruffled in all ways. He didn't know how to hiss, growl or make any type of angry or dissatisfied sound. He was very, very happy. Apparently too happy and unbothered by anything to survive.

Then there's Nöpö, the big one. He died a few years ago at 17. He was our first cat. Braincell count would compare to a human. Very sensitive, very angry, dominating but also gentle, intelligent, pessimistic and depressed. The look of his build resembled that of a lot bigger wild cats, especially when he hunted. He wanted his own space, didn't enjoy people initiating touch, he would come to you instead when he wanted it. He was always like that but it got worse when Bell came into the house and was her charming self. Nöpö's nervous system clearly couldn't handle sharing his territory and had I been able to anticipate it, I wouldn't have taken Bell. Nöpö did everything with so much more care and attention. He needed time and space, he wouldn't even be able to eat with Bell, because she gulped everything down while Nöpö chewed each bite with care, and nothing would be left for him because Bell has no concept of moderation. So Nöpö would always need to be fed in a closed room. He would attack people and other cats frequently because he just had a very strong hunting instinct ever since he was born and didn't like anyone too close unless he asked for it. But he was also very cuddly when he wanted to be, and he didn't want his people to go too far away. He would come crying after me every time I went to get mail. Classic example of "Leave me alone, no wait, where are you going??" I miss that grumpy old guy.

This wasn't supposed to be about cats but there you go.

[nothing-but-dreamy]

ISEKAI

Pairing: FFXV! NYX ULRIC x GENDER NEUTRAL!READER

Words: 5.205

Warnings: none;

A/N: I'm sorry that this request took me so long. Mostly, because I really loved the idea. Therefore, I really hope you will like it. I had much fun to write it.

Summary: Because of a mysterious accident you land in Eos. Finding yourself in an unknown world, you're happy that you got help by someone. Nyx saves your life and quickly, he sees more in you than just a person who was in danger.

***

You were bored. Like, really bored. Your life was barely special before Corona had overtaken the world and now, with all the quarantines, restrictions and rules, the excitement was ... zero.

So, out of boredom, you started to clean your apartment. Every single corner. All of it. From your loudspeakers, random music was playing to cheer you up. Mostly soundtracks of everything you liked: Supernatural, Marvel, Dr Who, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings ... whatever there was in the gaming, movie or TV orbit drifting around, you probably liked it.

So, while you were humming with the latest tune of some triple A video game, you put the vacuum cleaner away to get a black cloth for a last task on your list before everything would be shiny again in your small apartment: the mirrors.

With slow, circling moves, you wiped over the reflecting surface. Your face was staring back at you. Mocking you. You and your boring life even without a pandemic. Sometimes, you even got the feeling of not being in the right place. That you should be somewhere else. That you belonged somewhere else. Where you would have friends and maybe even a partner…

Your eyes were taunting you. They reminded you of all the dreams you had in your youth. All the adventures you wanted to go on. All the exotic countries you wanted to visit. All the food you wanted to discover and yet, you were captured in a boring life, cleaning your apartment at 6 pm because you got nothing else better to do.

You looked into your own eyes, the cloth still touching the mirror as you whispered to yourself, "You know, it would be so great to be somewhere else. Just to be ... Away! Away! Away!"

***

"I hate these trips!", Libertus complained for the third time since they had passed the wall.

Nyx rolled with his eyes but stayed silent. He was still slowly polishing his blades. As he looked up, his eyes met the smirking expression of Pelna who thought the same as Nyx: 'cry-baby'

"Could you please shut up? Would you rather clean the training court instead?", Crowe asked, annoyed about Libertus' non stop whining.

"At least, it wouldn't be less dangerous.", Libertus argued, crossing his arms over his chest.

Crowe leant forward, supporting herself on her knees, "Oh, really? You remember the last time where we got charged with the cleaning task? Three barracks were burning, one was smoldering and the smell of smoke lingered in the Kingsglaive headquarters for three weeks.", she pointed out.

Libertus stretched out his arms as a question, "What? I just wanted to help and to dry everything faster!"

"Yes! With fire magic, god dammit! You're not the best with magic. At all. Just ... don't do that. This mission will be a bit ... easier, I hope."

Nyx' scoffed, "Please... What shall happen on a routine mission to kill some animals which are terrorizing the outskirts?"

Little did he know...

*

"Here kitty, kitty!", Pelna called out and tried to gain the attention of some Sabertusks that had been running into small woods.

"Seriously?", Crowe asked, crossing her arms with a frown on her face.

"What? Somehow we have to get their attention back or do you wanna run after them into the woods where the space is crap to fight against them?", Pelna argued.

Libertus stepped next to Crowe while Nyx was a bit closer to the woods and watched the scene closely. Somehow, it had become silent. Too silent for Nyx’ liking. Not one single sound was to be heard except the soft rustling of the leaves of some trees.

Then, he heard something in the distance but the bikerings of his friends were too loud, so Nyx couldn't locate the source of the sound or what it was at all. After another moment had passed, Nyx turned around with a stern expression, "Guys! Could you shut up, please? I heard something!"

"What did you hear?", Libertus asked and earned a rolling of Nyx' eyes.

"I don't know because you're still talk-", but Nyx stopped as he heard this voice again. This time it was louder and came from the nearby woods.

"Help! Anyone help me!"

"Have you guys heard it?", Nyx asked and stepped forward, closer to the voice. He still couldn't see the source so his eyes darted around to find it.

Pelna stepped to Nyx' side, "It came from the woods."

"Yes, but I can't see from where.", Nyx answered serious, drawing his brows together in concern. Running blind was a bad idea. Nyx still searched the area until a figure emerged from a bunch of bushes, running and stumbling forward.

Shocked, Nyx watched you. You were dressed in some casual, short clothes. It could be just something comfortable to chill or something to sleep with. But whatever it was, it wasn't suitable for someone who was out in the wild. So, the first impressions Nyx had about you were: reckless and … cute

"Help! Please, someone help!", you cried out once again while you stumbled forward, flailing with your arms to keep your balance. Four mean and vicious lonking beasts were chasing you. The animals were jumping out of the woods and caught up on you quickly.

This was enough for Nyx to react, "Guys! Take care of the Sabertusks! I will hurry to help them!", he commanded as he saw you falling to the ground, lying there in shock while waiting for the beasts to attack you. Without a second thought, Nyx threw his Kukri to your position.

Screaming and wheezing you crawled back over the ground, cutting deep into the palms of your hands with sharp stones. Backwards, you tried to create as much space as possible for the monsters with the ugly head, the sharp teeth and deadly claws.

Once again, you cried out for help as something appeared in front of you with a soft sizzling and a sound like fire cracking. You blinked for a moment and then, a man was emerging in front of you. He was surrounded by sparks and glitter. He knelt in front of you on one knee with burning scars in his face.

You cried out in surprise and fear, trying to crawl away from him but Nyx raised his hands to soothe you, "It's okay. You're safe now.", he said, trying to calm you but he still saw the panic in your eyes.

You crawled further till your back hit a huge rock, so your way was blocked. The guy looked back at something before he turned back to you. Obviously, he was pleased with what he saw because his expression was more relaxed than before. You noticed his incredible blue eyes and his handsome face. He looked strange with the hairstyle and the tattoos on his face. Strange but not scary, quite the opposite, which made it easier for you to calm down.

While putting away the Kukri, Nyx noticed that you became calmer even if your breath was still erratic. The pure panic became less and left were two beautiful eyes staring right back at him. Your whole appearance was eye-catching as he looked past all the dirt. Slowly, he crawled closer to you, "I won't hurt you. My name is Nyx. What's your name?", he said soothingly, stretching out his hand to you to show you that he was unarmed.

You calmed down by the sound of his warm voice and the sight of the smile on his full lips, "My... My name is YN.”

Nyx smiled softly as he heard your nice voice. As you shot him a weak smile, he felt his heart making a little jump because it was so beautiful. There was something on you he liked immediately. Quickly, he checked your skin but except for a few scratches and bruises, he couldn’t see any serious wounds, “Nice to meet you, YN. Are you hurt?”

You shook your head while moving your arms and legs a little bit to check on them, “I- I'm fine- ahhh!", you cried out in shock about the view of one of the mean beasts that had chased you as its head appeared next to Nyx'. You panicked and luckily, you passed out finally so you wouldn't notice how Nyx with the nice eyes would die before you would get killed as well.

As Nyx saw you passing out, he reached out for you, catching your shoulders before your head could hit the ground and placed your upper body on his lap. As you were secure, Nyx looked up and watched Libertus stepping closer with a dead Sabertusk body as a trophy raised in the air. He was covered in blood and had a big grin on his lips. Annoyed, Nyx sighed, "Great job, idiot.", Nyx said with you unconscious lying in his arms.

***

As you awoke, you found yourself in a room. It was grey, plain, simple and you were alone. Slowly, you sat up, your head was slightly spinning and a dull pain throbbed behind your temple but your vision became slowly clearer. As you looked around, your eyes landed on a neat folded pile of clothes. Your own were torn and dirty and so, you were thankful to change them.

While you dressed in plain black pants and shirt, you heard sounds coming from behind the door. You considered staying in the safeness of the room but your curiosity won. So, you sneaked out, looking left and right the hallway before you followed the undefined sounds.

After a few metres, you found yourself faced with the view of a courtyard. You were on the second floor and looked into a wide open area. There were men flying and jumping around, all dressed in black, uniform-like clothes. They were appearing and disappearing quickly. Someone started in one corner and landed immediately in another across the field accompanied with sparks and glitter. That you had seen this effect once before calmed you.

Like a circus show, the people were making flic-flac or somersaults. A thought struck you: maybe you got rescued by a bunch of acrobatics and the strange animals had been part of their show? You leant against the handrail to watch them excited.

Suddenly, a man, who stopped right in front of you, keeping himself steady with his hands on the handrail, brought you out of these deliberations and out of your fascination, "Oh, hey, sleeping beauty! Are you good?", the tall guy asked. But unfortunately, it wasn't the one with the incredible blue eyes.

"Libertus! Back to training!", someone called out in a harsh tone, commanding the man away from you.

"Sorry, I have to go.", and with that said, the man called 'Libertus', threw his blade and disappeared in a fog of sparkling stuff.

Still amazed, you watched the others and their 'training', leaning against the handrail with your arms again. As you got used to their tricks, you liked to watch them and how easy it seemed to move so quickly around.

So, as someone appeared next to you, you were startled about the sudden sound of an unknown voice. The owner was tall, with broad shoulders and dressed in a heavy outfit with leather and decorations, "Hi, good to see you awake. My name is Titus Drautos. I’m the Captain of the Kingsglaive.", he introduced himself seriously but calmly.

You frowned, "Kingsglaive?", you asked. You never had heard such a name.

"Yeah... They are the Kingsglaive.", Drautos said and pointed at the jumping figures, "How do you feel?", he asked, checking you quickly but your eyes were clear and there was no other sign of sickness.

"Oh, I'm feeling good again. Thank you.", you said politely, unsure if he wanted to know more but you also felt uncomfortable around him even if you couldn't say why.

"Is there anything I can do for you?", Drautos said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Yeah, actually, I would like to speak with the man who saved me. I would like to thank him. I think 'Nyx' was his name?", you said carefully, watching the Captain’s reaction.

Drautos looked at you for a split second before he shrugged with his shoulders, stepping forward to the handrail, "Ulric!", he called out.

A few seconds later, you watched how a man appeared in front of you, emerging from sparks and glitter like on the field. This time, you were calmer and so, you were impressed how he did this. You never had seen something like this before. And once again, you noticed the glowing, fiery scars carved into his face and down his neck as he stepped in front of the Captain, taking position like a soldier.

"Yes, Sir?", Nyx said serious but already had caught sight of you staring at him. He was glad to see you awake and noticed you approaching with a curious glance. Your eyes were already distracting but Nyx tried to focus on his Captain.

"Since you were the one who had saved YN's life, I thought it would be just right if you would talk with them.", Drautos said serious, "Take care of them.", he said as if you wouldn't stay right next to him before he turned over to march away.

You stared after the tall man, "Actually, it wasn't his idea...", you said resentfully.

Nyx chuckled and closed up on you, "He seeks advantage from whatever he gets. Forget it. But I'm glad that you're awake again. You frightened me a lot as you passed out.", he said with a warm smile.

You chuckled shyly, rubbing the back of your neck, "Yeah...sorry for that. I never fainted before but on the other hand, I never was in such a scary situation."

"I know. Libertus can be frightening-"

"No! I meant this monster! I never saw something like this in my entire life.", you explained, shaking about the mere memory.

“You mean the Sabertusk?", Nyx asked, confused. Sure, not every Insomnian citizen knew all Lucis' animals or had seen them in real life but Sabertusks were so common that even the smallest kids knew about them.

"Saber- what? Nevermind. I just don't want to see any of this again."

Nyx chuckled, "Don't worry. Here in Insomnia, you're safe."

You tilted your head, "Insomnia?"

Nyx frowned and was concerned if you might have hit your head after all, "Yeah... Insomnia? The capital city of Lucis?"

You blinked several times because you had no idea what he was talking about, "Lucis? Is that a nickname for... Louisiana?"

Nyx stepped in front of you, looking in your eyes and checking your head but you seemed alright, "Amnesia, huh? Well, I guess this will be over soon. I'm sure it's coming from the shock. You're hungry?", he asked hopefully to be able to spend more time with you and watched how a broad smile spread on your lips.

"I'm starving!", you answered.

"Oh, no! Don't do that! Drautos will yell at me if I won't take good care of you.", he joked and showed you the way out of the headquarters.

As you stepped out of the building, you had no idea that the time for questions and wonders had just begun.

Nyx passed the entrance mindlessly and walked down the few stairs but as he couldn't hear you following him, he turned around just to see you staring at the skyline with big eyes. It was this moment where Nyx noticed two things:

First, the astonishment you showed as you looked at all the buildings and at the sky with the magical wall wasn't just an act and second, Nyx realized that he was attracted to you.

It was the second point that surprised Nyx the most. He barely knew you. He had just met you and still, there was something on you. He had felt it back on the field. Something he couldn't put a finger on. Were it your eyes? Or the way you looked at the surroundings as if you had never seen any of all this before? Or was it the way you looked at him?

Nyx thought about it like a magical aura that surrounded you. There was something on you he couldn't quite understand but he was eager to find out what it was. Amused but at the same time attentive, he watched you stumbling down the few stairs because your eyes were still directed at the sky. Nyx caught you at the last moment and shook his head with a grin, "Watch out, YN. Don't walk around so mindlessly or you will hurt yourself.", he whispered.

You noticed your cheeks redden, mostly as you felt Nyx’ strong hands on your body and how close he was, but as your eyes met his you saw the grin on his lips, "Usually, I'm more cautious but- have you seen the sky? It… Is it sparkling? It looks as if sparkling waves are spreading over the city…", you breathed, looking up once again.

Nyx looked from you at the sky and back at you before he placed you back on the ground, "Y-yeah… it's kinda sparkling. That's the magic of the crystal. The crystal which secures this city through the King's power?", he added as he saw your puzzled expression.

"Y-you… this city has a King? And a magical- what? A wall?"

"Very funny!", Nyx called out and laughed. He thought you would make fun of him but as you still stared at him with no amusement, he frowned, "Where do you actually come from?"

"Oh, I'm from New Jersey.”

“Never heard about it before. Come on, let us get something to eat and then we talk a bit.”

*

"What the hell is this building? Is this a church?", you asked, pointing at a building with two tall towers where something shot into the sky from the middle of the building, "This smoke looks … strange.", you pointed out.

This was the tenth question of that kind you had asked during the last five minutes. Nyx stopped in his tracks and looked at you, "It's the Citadel. The castle?", he tried to trigger your memories as you showed no reaction, "The 'smoke' you see there is actually the energy from the crystal that creates the wall. I told you about it before."

You nodded slowly, "Yeah… the crystal… You have some crazy stuff here.", you said, impressed, chewing on some spicy meat you had picked from a stick.

Before Nyx could react, he got a call and asked you to wait, "Ulric. Yes, Sir. Yes, we're still in the city. No, Sir.", he answered the questions asked by Drautos while he watched you wandering around. Nyx kept you in sight but was also fascinated by the way you looked at all the different things around you. He wouldn't call it naive but it seemed as if you were easily impressed. You found something interesting in the smallest things while Nyx caught himself by thinking about you as cute and … lovely.

Another question of Drautos brought Nyx back to reality and he realized that he stopped listening to his Captain a while ago, "Yes, Sir. I'm listening. Of course. Yes, I will take care of YN. Yes. Bye-", but the Captain already had hung up, "Good day to you, too, Sir."

As you noticed that Nyx was done with his call, you joined him again, "What was the matter? Are you in trouble?", you asked, concerned because you had hogged Nyx for quite a while.

"No, everything's good. It was just Drautos. Obviously, you're stuck with me a bit longer. I got the orders to look after you.", Nyx answered with a soft smile as he saw your worried expression which changed into a huge, charming, heart-stopping smile.

"Great. I still have a bunch of questions.", you said excitedly, linking your arm with Nyx' to wander further through the Crown's City.

***

But not just you had a lot of questions. Nyx too. In the beginning, he thought you would make fun of him as you asked so many things about the best known facts of Eos everyone actually knows.

But quickly, after Nyx had asked you a bunch of questions on his own, he realized that you weren't joking. Sure, as you told him that you came through a mirror, because you had been fallen through it, sounded more like a bedtime story for kids but you spoke about everything with so much conviction that Nyx believed you.

The Captain, slightly concerned about your state because Nyx had told him about his suspicion that you could suffer from amnesia, asked on a regular basis if Nyx had any new information about you. And not for one second, Nyx thought about telling him the truth.

He said neither something about your journey through the mirror nor about your life in New Jersey. That you knew nothing about Eos at all because this was simply not your world. He kept it all a secret.

Because Nyx felt the urge to protect you. Whenever he was with you in the past week he felt good. As if just your presence was able to lift his spirit. You were funny, curious and interested in him and in this, for you, new world. Nyx already liked you. A lot. It wasn't just attraction anymore, rather he really started to like you on a more emotional level even after this short of time. But he had no idea how you were thinking about him.

So, by the end of the week, Nyx collected as much courage as he could find, "Hey, uhm… Libertus and the others are meeting at Yamachang's. You… Do you wanna come with me? I- I mean us?", he asked and felt nervous. The whole week, he had been with you with no problem and now, he felt nervous because this question didn't belong to the Captain's order anymore to take care of you. For him, it was far more.

You saw the hope in Nyx’ eyes and the insecurity in his expression about what your answer would be. The past week, you had spent a lot of time with Nyx. You got to know him. His life as a Glaive. As a refugee. You had learned about his deceased family and his life in Galahd. And, not very surprisingly, you started to like the soldier with the greyish hair and the incredible blue eyes. For you, it was extremely hard to resist his charm and his handsomeness. And in the end, you didn’t want to resist him. You just had no idea how he thought about you.

You tried to get closer to Nyx so many times. You wanted to show him in a subtle way how you felt. Maybe, this invitation would give you the opportunity to make a move on him, "I would love to come with you.", the slowly growing smile on Nyx' lips gave you the sense to have done things right.

*

"YN, it's good to see that you're alright again.", Pelna said and gave you a drink.

"Yeah… Nyx did everything to bring me back on track.", you said and winked at Nyx who smiled shyly.

"The Captain already complained you two were just sightseeing all the time.", Crowe said jokingly.

You chuckled, scratching the back of your neck, "Yeah… I guess, the amnesia had hit me harder than I thought."

Nyx looked at you with a frown. After you had told him your story, he was sure you were okay. No amnesia or something like this. So, why were you sticking to this story instead of telling the truth?

"Oh, so, you remember where you come from and stuff?", Libertus asked.

You smiled at him, "Yes, of course.", you answered. Quickly, you checked on Nyx who still watched you. Were you seeing cautiousness in his eyes? Was he afraid of what you would say? You looked back at Libertus, "I come from Altissia. I was moving to Insomnia for a new job. As you found me, I was on my way but unfortunately, I had an accident with my car and then, the horrors with all these creatures started. You have to know, Altissia is built on water. We don't have such wildlife as Lucis has."

Nyx stared at you speechless. You were lying. Lying about everything. Effortlessly. But everything you said were things you knew from him. Nyx showed you a map of Eos. He told you as much as he knew about Lucis and Accordo. About all the differences he could remember. You turned your head and smiled softly at him. You even winked at Nyx and he saw in your eyes that you would explain it to him later.

*

You and Nyx walked side by side as you left Yamachang's a few hours later. The Crown's City was still buzzing. People were walking to bars, clubs and restaurants. You turned your head over to Nyx and because he was unusually quiet, you nudged his shoulder with yours, "You think they bought my story?"

Nyx looked at you with an unreadable expression, "You were lying."

"Yes and I hated it. Trust me. But what else should I say? The truth? That I fell through a mirror and landed here? Instead that I woke up in my bed in New Jersey, I awoke in an old hunters hut in the middle of nowhere?", you pointed out softly.

Nyx nodded. He understood your point. He was barely able to understand all this but he had accepted it. You had spoken so detailed about your home that there was no way that everything was just made up. But to explain everything to his friends would be maybe too much.

Suddenly, a thought struck his mind and he was surprised that he didn't have thought about this earlier. Carefully, he looked at you, "Do you miss it? Your … home, I mean."

Your brows shot up because you realized that you were barely thinking about your former life, "Actually, I uhm…", you whispered, searching for the right words, before you looked at Nyx and stopped. You had reached the plaza of the Citadel. You looked at the stream of magical power and at the beautiful sparkling light. The moon was already up and together it was a captivating view. You looked back at Nyx who waited patiently, "To be honest, I have barely thought about it since I've been here."

Nyx stepped closer to you. It was a moment that could change things and he felt it. Maybe it was silly to think about a future with someone he knew for just one week but here he was, looking into your enchanting, sparkling eyes and watching how your teeth were digging into your lower lip, "If it would be possible, if there would be a way, would you… go back?"

You also stepped forward with a pounding heart in your chest. For one week, you asked yourself how Nyx' lips would taste, how his hands would feel on your skin when he would want you and how soft his hair really felt between your fingers, "You know, as I was in this hut, before you found me? I tried to find a way to get back. Now, I think things might have changed.", you whispered.

Nyx' pulse quickened as he saw your breathtaking smile, "What has changed? I mean, this is not your world.", he said softly, stroking with the back of his hand over your cheek before he cupped your face carefully, "There's nothing that would keep you here.", he whispered.

You leant against his warm hand, even inhaling his scent, "For me, there would be a reason … rather… someone… to stay here.", you said, looking at Nyx in a certain way to tell him that you meant him. As you let your hands slid underneath his jacket, stroking over Nyx' chest, feeling him tensing, you saw that he understood, "But I- I'm not sure what this someone might think of it if I would want to stay.", you said meaningfully.

Nyx was nervous, excited and jittery at the same time. It had increased since you had started to touch him softly. Your affection gave him the courage to snake his other arm slowly around your waist to pull you closer, "You know, you have nothing to fear about this someone’s reaction. He would be more than happy to keep you here.", he breathed, nudging playfully your nose with his with a shy smile on his lips.

You mimicked his smile. The moonlight was sparkling in Nyx’ mysteriously glowing eyes which kept you in their spell, "Y- you're so sure about it?", you whispered.

Nyx nodded slowly, still looking into your eyes, "Yes, I am sure. YN, I… I'm falling for you. There's no doubt how I'm feeling about you. It's crazy because we just met one week ago but … you're so beautiful. And so amazing. The way you're interested in all these new things. How you look at everything … how you look at me… I wouldn't stop you if you really want to go back home but I… I would love to be the reason for you to stay here. With me."

You snaked your arms around Nyx' neck, pulling him closer, "You're the best reason I could ask for.", you breathed against his lips before you closed the gap finally.

Nyx responded to your move and kissed you deeply. His fingers found their way into your hair while he caressed your lips with his. The grip of his arm around you got even stronger to have you close while you played with his hair in a teasing way. He was overwhelmed by all the things he felt by just kissing you. No matter where you had come from, that you were there, with him, that you even existed was everything for him.

Under the magical, white moon of Lucis, Nyx gave you an unspoken promise. He wouldn't let you go. Never. From the beginning, you were more than just someone whose life he had rescued. You were what he had missed in his life all the time. He had been searching for something that had been out of reach. But obviously destiny meant it well and you had been falling into his life like a miracle. Literally. And Nyx would treat you like this. With his lips, he sealed this promise to you.

For the first time in your life, you felt as if you were in the right spot. You weren't misplaced anymore. You even had found people that already cared for you. You had found someone who wanted to keep you in his life. Maybe you should feel sad for leaving your former life just like that. Maybe you should feel lost because this wasn't your world. But in fact, you felt home. As Nyx kissed you, he showed you a future you never thought you would have.

For the first time, you felt excited for all the unknown things that were lying in front of you. You would discover all of these things. With Nyx by your side.

[delicatewerewolfsoul]

Cat's Fault - Yang Jeongin

–pairing: jeongin x fem!reader, best friend!jisung, roommate!minho

–genre: fluff, neighbors au!

–word count: 3,3k

–synopsis: after encountering your cute neighbor many times ... Who would you have to thank for the outcome?

-for bar (@yyxgin ) love you so much bestie 💓

It wasn’t that Jeongin didn’t really like cats, it was the fact that he didn't understand why they were so popular. That small animal, walking towards it’s prey for afar, the sneaky eyes already showing the reason they’re doing this, there was always a reason why they were put their body against their owners leg, rubbing their fur against it, as if the the contact would make the prey’s thought, change like magic and that’s why he chose to stare at them from afar, not getting into their business. His roommate, Minho, smiles from afar as he looks up from the small, fluffy gray feline next to his leg, to look at his roommate's face. All he spots is a face of disapproval, a disgusted face if you will, as he and Jeongin lock eye contact, Minho laughs at it, finding it extremely entertaining. 

“You know it won’t hurt you right?” Minho says as he rubs the back “Animals can sense that when a person doesn’t like them, or when they aren’t a good being, but I really bet they do like you, at least that’s what their behavior shows” he says as he stands up and gets his keys, walking towards the front door. “Anyways, I’ll be heading out to do some errands, I’ll be back in a few hours, be sure to feed them okay?” he says as he opens the door and Jeongin, whines but accepts at the end cause the devils shouldn’t starve as well. 

You step out of your room, quickly putting your hair on a messy bun, ready to make yourself some breakfast and start your day. You eat slowly and out your dishes in your sink to clean up later. It was a cleaning day since you didn’t really have to do anything. You had a break from work and no fresh errants to take care of, you decide it’ll be nice to take care of your house. You decide before doing anything, to water your plants on your balcony. You watch as the water disappears when hitting the soil that supports the plant and your neighbor comes to mind. A nice boy, with a bright smile that lights up the whole world, he was super attractive to you, but you couldn’t make a move, well, now you were thinking about it, you couldn’t even probably great him, too awkward, you bet the boy would be actually laughing at you after you two would talk. 

You step close to the last plant close to your neighbors balcony and you start pouring the leftover water in it. The door next to you opens, and he steps out, in some sweatpants and a white sleeveless shirt, with some wet clothes on his hands, from the laundry. “Good morning y/n, what a surprise seeing you here, you don't have to go to work today?” he says, stretching to hand the clothes high, his biceps flexing in the progress and you feel yourself getting a little lost, looking at them, until he hums in question that you understand what you did and take a deep breath and answer that you actually have a free day today, and that you decide to clean. You ask him about his day, trying to open a conversation hoping to make him open up to you and hopefully get closer. 

“Me? Oh, I actually have nothing to do today, my roommate had to head out so I have to stay here to clean a little, maybe cook… I hope, but generally nothing much” he says and the sound of a timer can be heard in the background, cutting your conversation short. He huffs disappointed, “I’m sorry, I have to go now, it was nice talking to you” waving at you and wave back at, pouting as his back disappears into his apartment, with a new failed attempt of getting closer to him. Jisung was so going to laugh at you later.

You step inside again and grab the vacuum cleaner and start cleaning the whole place, trying to get rid of the embarrassment of the whole incident. What you don’t notice is that you had a little visitor on your door, a small feline, exploring the new place out of curiosity, smelling the door and moving slowly inside. You turn off the vacuum and you hear plates clashing and you turn around to see a little animal on your table sniffing your plates that you were going to clean later. It then meows at you and you let out a little scream as it jumps down from the table, coming towards you and you jump at your couch naturally to avoid it, saying to yourself “Why is there a cat in my apartment?”, louder than you thought you did. 

Jeongin was panicking. He searched everywhere, in his room, in Minho’s room, in trash cans, even in the sinks but it was nowhere to be found, like it vanished into thin air. The cat was supposed to be fed but where did the cat go? He sits on the couch, the importance of the situation finally getting to him. He puts arms on his knees, and supports his head on his palms as he thinks what will happen when Minho returns and he finds their apartment minus one pet inside. Will he first lose his life first or his house?  That’s the question that was running in his mind right now and he felt his heart pumping quicker, what did the little feline actually go? At the moment he hears the scream and shoots up, shocked as well, wondering what exactly happened… Until he hears your question and he sighs in relief. 

He then goes to your door and knocks slowly “y/n, it’s Jeongin, can you open the door for me?” he says and you stop in your tracks as you hear him, turning your eyes at your door. Why did he need to be the one to come save you? This was so embarrassing you think, like an idiot screaming because of a small cat. Most people would laugh at your fear, saying it was stupid and unreasonable to fear a cat, but you had your reasons. He knocks again and you jump down the couch, running to the door. You open the door quickly and he smiles at you but before he can say anything,you step behind him, and grab his bicep and he freezes from the sudden contact. 

“Can you save me from that” you say, your voice kinda high pitched and shaky. The little cat comes closer to them happily, understanding the familiar scent of Jeongin, and he picks him up. “I’ll take him, I hope he wasn’t much of a problem” he says, noticing your balcony door wide and he facepalms. “He came through the balcony right? I’m really sorry, I think I let my balcony open as well” he says biting his lower lip. “No worries, if I didn’t let mine, he wouldn’t have came here, don’t worry about it” you say and you then just stay there, both looking around awkwardly, trying to find something, anything to continue the conversation until he can’t stand the tension anymore and announches, always with a big smile on, that the cats needs to be fed, but with the promise to talk more when they have time. That’s a progress right?

You lay back on your couch, your hands covering your face as you think how the whole morning went through, with the balcony door finally closed and the clean long forgotten. What a traumatic experience, how weird it must have been for him to see you getting worked up over a small animal, a fluff ball out of all animals, how embarrassing it is. A rather loud knock on your door startles you and you open it, to find Jisung there, shaking a bag with food in front of your face. You let him in and he puts the food on the table, cockily announcing that you don’t have to thank him, as if you would. He then notices the look on your face and he scrunches his eyebrows in question and you sigh, the moment you feared, finally here.

“You a cat was in my apartment moments before you came” you say and he gasps, having full knowledge of your fear and before he can ask what happened then, you continue, kinda sarcastically “don’t worry about it, my hot neighbor took care of it” you say and he laughs at the disappointed look you had on your face and he understands. “Hey, I there’s no way it was that bad, seriously” he says putting a hand on your shoulder. “Maybe he found it cute… You know, the whole ‘they want me to protect them’ thing” he proposes as he takes out the containers out of the plastic bag and you both sit down to have lunch. 

You explain all the incidents from the moment you went to your balcony, until minutes before his arrival. Jisung had a smile during the time, but you could see how he was holding his laughter as you went on and on. It made him happy that you had such big interest in that ‘hot’ neighbor of yours, that you had to make him listen as you explain to him what happened and why it happened for over 15 minutes. “So wait, you tell me that you both forgot your doors open after the conversation?” he says, putting his palms on the desk, coming closer. “Well yeah” you say furrowing your eyebrows. “He always does before, but he left kinda in a hurry today too” you say looking away. You wonder if he actually caught you staring and it makes you feel so embarrassed all over again. 

“Well, I think he maybe likes you too,” Jisung annouches and you glare at him, as a signal for him to stop joking. “I mean it’s true! I can see all the signs bro… And I’m intuition says so as well, you gotta trust me” he says passionately and you decide to tell him exactly what you think, not sugar coated, just raw truth “Jisung… We both know your intuition sucks” you say and he settles down on his chair, feeling defeated after your comment, actually agreeing himself that his “intuition put you two in trouble many times before. “What is there anyways to like about me? He only sees me half woken up, with sweatpants on and a messy bun while watering my plants, how can that be attractive?” you wonder feeling kinda hopeless, letting your body lose on your own chair and he laughs, finding the look on your face kinda cute, finding this moment, the perfect timing for teasing. “Who knows” he says standing up, “maybe he likes the unemployed tired mom style” he says and dodges the pillow that came with force from your direction. “Anyways, I got to leave now, Minho is waiting for me” he says, putting on his bag, and you smirk, teasing him too “oh? did your boyfriend call you?”. He rolls his eyes at the comment, knowing that the two of them spend too much time together. “He is not,how many times do I have to tell you? And so you know, I haven’t seen him since the day he moved to this building”.

“Minho lives here!?” you stand up shocked. His eyes went round “you.. you didn’t know? He moved here like a week ago? But I haven’t been to his place as well, he lives with a friend I think” he says and you huff. “That loser.. He’s been living here for a week and hasn’t even come to say hello”, “i'll make sure to say that… I still can’t believe you didn’t even bump on each other this whole time, anyways, I’ll call you” he says getting to the door. “Bye” you say waving at him as the door closes, your house empty once again.

“Long time no see idiot” Jisung says as he takes off his bag and sits on the chair opposite Minho, with a cheeky grin on, as he knows the nickname will annoy him much. Minho doesn’t show much reaction, instead he calmly says “nice seeing you too” as he lets his phone down and they start talking about their news and interests, catching up on each other's lives. They continue talking, and after a while you become the topic. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell y/n you moved in the same building with them” Jsiung says, laying back on his chair, crossing his hands in front of him. Minho raised an eyebrow at his friend confused at his statement “Didn’t tell them? What do you mean? I even greeted them once while I was stepping out of my house” he states, kind of frustrated and that also confuses Jisung. “But… They told me they didn’t know” Jisung says, rubbing the back of neck, his voice getting more silent, even though he wasn’t responsible for the misunderstanding. Minho runs a hand through his hair, shocked that you actually forgot the interaction “Bro, we actually live next to each other! They live left to us” he says and Jisung starts laughing, startling his friend, but also confusing him even more. 

Jisung collects himself after some minutes and finds the power to ask “Anyways, tell me again, who are you living with?” a smile on his face, because he knows the answer, but he couldn’t help himself, the whole situation seemed too comical to him. “Jeongin… What is going on?” answers Minho with probably zero patience left. Jisung between laughs explained to him that you actually had a crush on Jeongin with you knowing that he was friends with Minho and Jisung. “So.. To be clear, my cat went into y/n’s apartment cause these two idiots left the balcony doors open right? And Jeongin actually touched the cat? Please...That’s actually so funny” Minho says recalling the last time Jeongin properly touched his pet, and it was when the feline jumped on his bed,and he ‘accidentally’ cuddled the animal to sleep until he woke up to animal meowing and him pushing it away in result, so it wasn’t a fun experience. 

“We gotta do something… I feel like if we make them meet up without one knowing that the other will be there” Jisung concludes and Minho laughs, now having to help some idiots confess “the rest will happen naturally I guess, Joengin have been wanting to confess anyway, we’ll just push them… A little” he says and they spend the rest of their time, planning. Later that day you receive a message from Jisung to “be at my house tomorrow at 6pm, Minho will be here as well, don’t be late, or else I’ll come drag you here” leaving you with no choice but to accept your fate. You wonder what he actually has in mind again, his aggressive tone always meant trouble. But Minho being there would make it better… Right?

Jeongin hasn’t been so confused by Minho in his life before. He just told him they’re going to Jisung, and that’s obviously a very normal thing of course, they all hang out a lot, they’re friends after all, but something in Minho’s expression seems kinda weird. He was always so calm, and he really didn’t butt in people's business, even if he wanted to help in different situations, he kinda did in a way very subtle, that only people that know him would notice. So in the 3 years that they’ve been friends, he’s never seen such an intense look on his face, it was kind of scary tho, and it confused him a lot. 

“Care to explain why you sent that aggressive text yesterday? I would have come anyways, without being forced” you say as you enter Jisung’s apartment the next day “I know you’re planning something Jisung, just spit it out so we can be over “you say letting your body fall back on his couch, folding your arms in front of you. “We just wanted you to meet Minho’s roommate, chill. He’ll be here soon” he says, disappearing into the kitchen and after a few minutes you hear the bell, and then a very visibly frustrated Jeongin enters the room. “Jisung, what is wrong with him? He’s been having that weird throughout the whole walk here… Someone, tell me what’s going on” he almost yells towards the kitchen totally missing your presence in the room, until he hears “Jeongin you let out, shocked as well. They had some explaining to do.

Honestly, the meet up was going more smoothly than all of you thought it would. It was way easier to get a conversation with Jeongin, with a little help from your troublemaker friends of yours, and you learned loads about him. How he had school every morning, how you almost always left at the same time, his passion for games and music, along with how they all became friends. You both were so glad to actually be talking properly with each other, that you had such a big smile when answering, warm cheeks and you also stood too close to each other, that the other two boys felt like they were intruding. "What is so exciting and interesting that you two are talking about, so closely to each other, wanna share?" Minho says, putting his arm around Jeongin's shoulder, scaring both of you and him, now embarrassed, avoiding each other's eyes. "Anyways, it's getting late, I'll stay here today, so you head back home" he says and taps Jeongins shoulder, before standing up. 

After a few minutes, now with jackets around your frames, you're ready to go. Minho drags Jeongin to the side and then mentions "this is your chance, take it" shooting him a smile and Jeongin finally understands the meaning of this whole operation. You finally say goodbye and you start walking towards home. You both walk in silence, finally alone from your friends, feeling more shy and vulnerable that you were at that time. Your hands bump with each other, as you walk and he swears he sees you shyly smile at the coincidence and finds your reaction way too cute, not to smile back. He then takes your hand in his, and as he intertwines his fingers with yours, he hears you taking in a breath that makes him giggle, finally understanding your feelings as well. "You know… I actually don't like cats" he announces after a while of silence "I actually touched Minho's cat once, and yesterday it was the second time, only because you were afraid of it" he says giggling, rubbing the back of his neck after that little confession. "I've been wanting to come and maybe ask you to go for a coffee with me sometime but all the courage I had built up for that, left after minutes of talking to you. Would you actually want to hang out? Maybe alone this time" he says now, facing you and you can't help but nob, squishing a little his hand as you enter your building. 

Jeongin didn't like cats, but he came to like them, thanking these little rascals for helping him get the person he liked, treating them with a little more food, when Minho wasn't present to yell at him for overfeeding his kids.

Tagging: @fluffyskzclub

[fandomlurker]

A Ponderous Rewatch: Pavlov’s Mice and Cameo

So thanks to Tumblr nerfing my ability to make an admittedly absurdly long post combining the previous episode rewatch with this one, I had to do this entry in two parts.

But at least now we’re in for the real treat: The first episode in airing order that’s animated by TMS Entertainment. And hey, even the Animaniacs show itself seems to acknowledge that this is special, because theme song rhyme is…

We're Animanie! Totally insane-y!~

Pinky and the Brainy!~

…which hasn’t been done since their debut. So this is gonna be fun.

Might as well get this out of the way, then, since this episode obviously involves Ivan Pavlov. I think most people who know of Pavlov through cultural osmosis pretty much know him as just “that one scientist who got dogs to respond to the sound of bells as if they were being offered food”. This is what happened, but it’s only part of the story. In reality, Ivan Pavlov was doing research on the physiology of digestion in dogs and he noticed one day that the dogs he was studying started to drool in the mere presence of the lab technician who regularly fed them even if the technician didn’t have food with them. Pavlov developed a way to redirect the dogs’ digestive juices outside of the body so that they could be measured, and then he ran some conditioning experiments to see if he could get them to salivate in response to external stimuli that had nothing to do with food, like ringing a bell.

The year in the title card, 1904, was the year Ivan Pavlov was awarded the Nobel Prize for the previously mentioned experiments, which he published the results of in “The Work of the Digestive Glands” in 1897. Basically, by 1904 he was done with his work with dogs and he moved on to experimenting with mice…at least according to this article in National Geographic by Virgina Hughes.

With that, let’s begin the episode proper.

“At the dawn of the 20th century, Russian scientist, Ivan Pavlov, trained animals through his technique of conditioned reflex” says the narrator as we zoom in on a laboratory with Pavlov and our lovable mouse duo.

“Time to earn your dinner, my little mousey friends!”

It’s interesting how Pinky is the one that flinches uncomfortably at the loud sound of the gong while Brain simply snaps into his conditioned response. And that response? Uhhh…

“I’m a little teapot, short and stout.~”

“This is my handle, this is my spout.~”

(Is he…you know…?)

“When I get all steamed up, hear me shout!~”

“Tip me over and pour me out.~”

Oh no… This is a cute and funny scene and all, but when you know about Brain’s canonical issues with how he hates not being in control of a situation and all the traumas he’s endured (for those of you not in the know, yes, Brain does have a lot of trauma in his backstory that we learn about much later, both in the 90s spin-off and the reboot) regarding both general control and losing family and friends…there’s a bitter tinge to this scene.

He’s so embarrassed and humiliated.

He takes the cheese but he is positively fuming with rage, and I can’t exactly blame him from what I know about him.

This is made all the worse by Pinky’s innocent reaction to Brain’s little song and dance.

“Hahahahaha! Wonderful! Hahaha! EGAD, Brain, I could watch you do that dance all day! Haha, narf!”

For Pinky, this is harmless silliness and he gets to see Brain sing and dance and “have fun”, which is not a usual occurrence. But for Brain? Well...

“You have watched it all day, Pinky. Sixty-one times, to be exact. It’s a conditioned reflex to that infernal gong.”

“I’m powerless to stop it!”

Well, Brain, at the very least it’s not like you were a part of a more inhumane experiment like one regarding, say, learned helplessness or anything. …Oh wait. Whoops. (For those sensitive to animal abuse, I suggest refraining from clicking on the second link, and caution against clicking on the first if even more clinical text descriptions of such would upset you. The third link is spoilers for the reboot.)

All that aside, it seems like it’s Pinky’s turn. He gets the more traditional bell chime for his stimulus.

And the result is him going into an uncontrollable and very enthusiastic Slavic folk dance.

With violent results. I hope you appreciate that last screencap, as the animation goes by so quickly I had a lot of trouble isolating the part where Pinky kicks Brain and he goes flying.

Pinky is all too happy to get a reward of cheese, his favourite food, for doing something that he has no memory of.

“What’cha doin’ over there, Brain?”

“Contemplating your afterlife, Pinky.”

That’s not exactly fair, Brain, you know he has no control over this. To Brain’s credit, though, he doesn’t bop him or anything for kicking him involuntarily.

Pavlov leaves, playfully saying that he hopes the mice dream of cheese tonight, and the mice are immediately down to business.

“At last, he’s gone.”

“Now we can begin our conquest of the world!”

We’re already back to it being “our” conquest of the world, eh?

“Behold my latest creation, Pinky: The Vacuum-o-nator.”

Brain has never been good with naming things, has he? At least, not so far. I wonder if this will continue throughout the franchise?

Pinky is certainly very happy and impressed, though.

“It uses reverse air pressure to vacuum everything toward it.”

You know, I was just about to roast Brain for thinking that making a very odd version of a vacuum cleaner was such a brilliant thing, but then I remembered that this takes place in 1904. The vacuum cleaner as we know it was “invented independently by British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth and American inventor David T. Kenney” in 1901 according to Wikipedia, and portable vacuums were available to the general public starting in 1905.My apologies, Brain, that actually is very impressive.

Although, this all hinges on if the viewer considers episodes that take place in the past and/or at different locations than Acme Labs California to be mere Alternate Universe/What If? stories or Brain and Pinky using some kind of time machine to go to a different place and time for these episodes. (Before you tell me that this is just a cartoon and sicc the Please, Please Get a Life Foundation on me, I do this to have fun and maybe educate myself and the reader along the way. I promise I have a life. Barely.)

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Pinky?”

“Uhh… Yeah, Brain! But where are we gonna find rubber pants our size?”

Pinky, that’s… Listen, folks, don’t make the same mistake I did and google “rubber pants”. It’s not what you think it is. You will be disappointed.

BONK!

Seems like you’re enjoying yourself there, Pinky.

“No, Pinky. We’re going to use the Vacuum-o-nator to steal Russia’s crown jewels!”

Man, the animation for even this one small proclamation by Brain is so, so good. Brain standing authoritatively and holding the pen like a scepter or spear, the grand sweep of his arm as he says “no”, the serious and slightly menacing expression on his face, a violent and grabby swing of his arm on the word “steal”,  and a dramatic point and look up towards the sky when he finishes. TMS does great work, folks.

“Narf! Genius, Brain!”

Look at Brain’s satisfied smile at Pinky’s simple compliment. Remember what I said earlier about Brain going through his explanations to show off to and  impress Pinky? At this point I’m absolutely convinced that that’s why Brain turns up the theatrics more than necessary when going through his plans. After all, Pinky is (oddly and rather sadly) the only one in-universe who thinks Brain is a genius and a good person.

…Of course, the effect can sometimes be lessened by subsequent innocent bumbling.

“Turn it off, Pinky.”

He says this so exasperatedly yet so deadpan at the same time, it’s great.

“Oh! Right-o!”

Even Pinky immediately knows that he fucked up.

“Zort! Whew! Wild hairdo, Brain! Heh heh, I like it.”

He even pets Brain’s “hairdo”, aww. And though I personally could take or leave the ‘do, I like the pointed, sharp look this mishap’s given to his ears.

BONK!

“Now I feel cleansed.”

Okay, this one might have been a little too much, Brain.

“But Brain, aren’t the crown jewels always guarded by giant Cossacks?”

Well, Pinky, from what I know Cossacks were usually used extensively in the police force and as border guards during this time, so I guess that’s possible?

Brain picking the lock with the pen is a fun little detail.

“Don’t worry about the guards… For tonight, Pinky, at precisely 1 am, there’s a total lunar eclipse. “

Again, this is probably not a thing the average person could look up quickly and easily in the 90s and the writers most likely didn’t care about accuracy here, but there were no total lunar eclipses in 1904. There were some penumbral lunar eclipses in March and September of that year, though. Just a fun fact for you folks.

“The Earth’s shadow will completely cover the moon, blacking out all of St. Petersburg for a period of 30 seconds.”

Brain…?!? Brain, how did you get the diagram on that piece of paper to animate like that? What kind of Harry Potter-style magic bullshit is this?

I know this is a cartoon and all and I’m not truly upset but this honestly came out of nowhere and made me do a double-take.

“In that brief time, we will sneak past the Czar’s guards under the cover of darkness and steal the crown jewels…for he who controls the jewels controls Mother Russia!”

More dramatics!

“But…I thought your mother’s name was Désirée?”

I love Brain’s pose here. Very grumpy and sassy.

As for Pinky’s comment: We do get to meet Brain’s parents way later in the spin-off, though neither are addressed by any name. I’m taking this joke as canon anyway because it’s funny.

Well, well, well… Looks like we’re shaking things up a bit with an inking instead of a bonk. That’s gonna be a pain to get out of his white fur, though.

“Soon, Pinky, I will rule Russia…so from now on, call me Czar.”

Another sassy hand-on-hip pose.

“Right-o, Brain!”

“—eek! Czar Brain!”

“Come along, Pinky… Conquest awaits!”

Nice to know that despite the inking, Pinky’s still following him anyway. Plus he’s doing it with that fond look on his face again. Hmm…

What follows is a cute and ingenious sequence of Brain launching Pinky and himself through an open window via the spring force of a mousetrap. It goes by very quickly, but I just wanted to highlight a few things I managed to notice while pausing through it. Kudos to the animators again for these little details.

Pinky’s the one that wraps one arm around Brain’s shoulders so that Brain has both hands free to spring the mousetrap properly and so that they’ll be launched together.

Interestingly enough, Pinky’s the cautious one who braces for impact right away while Brain gleefully flies through the air with his arms outstretched.

The “camera” changes perspective and while Brain is still boldly flying forward with confidence, Pinky is still worried but has now opened his eyes as they fly towards the window.

Pinky’s still holding onto Brain and the Vacuum-o-nator as tight as he can. As they get closer to the window, however…

…Pinky seems to realize he’s going to smash into the wall above the window if he doesn’t let go, so he lets go of Brain. Brain doesn’t realize where his trajectory is taking him.

Pinky angles himself downward and through the open window, but it’s too late for Brain.

WHAM! RIP, Brain.

But his pain is not done! It looks like Pinky’s landing was in the soft snow. Meanwhile, Brain slides down onto the window and through the opening, only to bash into the lid of a garbage can, much to Pinky’s concern.

Then Brain falls headfirst into the snow.

And finally, Brain is clonked on the head by the same garbage can lid, which makes a loud gong noise. Someone get this poor mouse some Aspirin.

But since there was a gong noise, you all know what that means!

Cutely, Pinky joins in on the dance in the middle of it.

“Ha! Oh that was fun, Czar Brain! But let’s give it another go, right? Only this time with feeling!”

Man, that side-eye at the beginning from Brain…

Pinky’s body language is great in this episode, too. The gleeful flapping of his arms and feet and the “with feeling” gesture are fantastic examples of his more open and energetic nature coming through.

Oh hey, there’s that one shot of Brain being ticked off used in the spin-off theme song! I can’t exactly blame him for his anger here. He just went through a lot of pain in a short amount of time and was then involuntarily made to humiliate himself. Pinky doesn’t mean to be mean here—he genuinely wants to have some sing and dance fun with Brain—but it’s gotta sting to have the humiliation highlighted.

Pinky still doesn’t deserve a bonking for it, though. But it’s slapstick, so he’s fine.

Heh, “deliveries to rear” indeed.

Oh, are those jingle bells on a sleigh that I see?

Uh oh…

“No, Pinky… Not now!”

It cannot be stopped, Brain. He must dance!

Another quick detail as Brain launches himself at Pinky’s midsection to either topple him over or hold him still to get Pinky to stop.

Alas, Pinky’s dancing is too strong.

OUCH!

The face of regret.

His punishment is swiftly thwarted, though.

“…That was unpleasant.”

They take a different and more uneventful ride on a hay wagon to the palace.

I love the exaggerated perspective going on here.

Peekin’.

“We made it inside, Brain!”

“…’Czar Brain’.”

“Czar Brain.”

He says it so quietly and sweetly, aww.

“Yes, Pinky. There are fleeting moments when I even amaze myself.”

I…don’t know if it’s much of an accomplishment yet, Brain. Settle that ego down a bit.

Oh, that’s some classic Looney Tunes-style sneaking animation there.

Wait, why is the door to the treasure room just open behind them? Czar Nicolas II, what gives?

Speaking of…

Hello, Czar Nicolas II. I hope you’re enjoying your “eclipse party”. You only have another 14 years or so to live it up, after all.

“In just a few minutes, it’ll be totally dark and scary. OooOOoo!~ But don’t anyone touch me, I have cooties!”

I, uhhh. Okay, then.

Same, boys. Same. Best to get down to business.

“Behold the crown jewels of Mother Russia, Pinky. World conquest will soon be ours!”

Again, world conquest is “ours” and not just Brain’s. Also you can just tell Pinky’s thinking “I’m going to wear so much of this jewelry!”

“Now, Brain?”

“Not yet. Wait for the total eclipse.”

Speaking of…

“Complete darkness, Pinky. Start the Vacuum-o-nator…”

“NOW!”

That gonging noise is an interesting choice for a chime. Surely this ornate clock is only an omen of good things for our duo.

Pinky, you’re swooning again. And Brain…

Oh no.

Another clock! Who’d have thought Russian nobility loved clocks so much? This one has a more pleasant bell chime, though.

…Oh NO!

Well, looks like things are going to hell pretty quickly.

Goodbye, boys.

Goodbye, Czar Nicolas II! You might wanna look out for a man named Grigori Rasputin in the future, okay?

Nice hat, Brain.

“Whu--? The eclipse is over? Narf! What happened, Brain?”

BONK!

“Zort! I mean, Czar Brain.”

“We failed again, Pinky… But just wait until tomorrow night!”

“Why? What are we going to do tomorrow night, Brain?”

“What else, Pinky?: Try to take over the world!”

It was a nice try, boys, but honestly I don’t know how you were going to fit all those crown jewels into that tiny improvised vacuum bag, anyway.

One last cute little detail in this episode is our mousey duo jumping up with enthusiastic determination in front of the silhouette of the moon on the last note of the theme reprise. One day, you guys. One day…

Oh! And before I forget, have another short cameo from “Plane Pals”. It’s a tiny one.

Pinky and the Brain steal a sheep off of an airplane. For what purpose? Who knows? But that’s it. I’m kind of wondering if the writers wanted to make a running joke of them making cameos to steal random things for world conquering purposes and just sort of gave up.

Anyway, so ends our recap for this post. It sure was a long one, but what can I say? There were some very cute details that needed to be shared. Have we learned anything new this time? Well, I mean, besides historical trivia.

Brain thinks both he and Pinky are great actors, despite his own near inability to lie and keep up an innocent pretense. Oh, he can be sarcastic, sure, but he can’t seem to manage to stop himself from revealing that he’s out for world  domination whenever he has an audience.

For the first time we see Brain’s annoyance and humiliation resulting from him being a lab mouse. Though it’s on the more subtle side at the moment, Brain seemed extra grumpy and violent during that last     episode because of the conditioning he’s unwillingly gone through. I’m     curious to see if there are any more examples of this before we reach an  episode touching on his origin story. Or…one of his origin stories, at     least. There’s around four of them last I checked and all but one of them  can reasonably fit into the others.

Pinky is truly beginning to show how much he adores Brain, which is nice. Beforehand we knew he was down with his world domination plans for whatever reason and also that he thinks Brain’s plans are great and ingenious. Now, though, we’ve gotten to the point of him literally swooning at Brain and his plans. Something’s definitely brewing there.

Next time: We get some more substantial cameos, join our mouse duo on a Fort Knox heist, and meet a new character that is both pretty important to the “lore” of the show going forward…but also doesn’t appear in person after their introductory episode until the very end of the Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain spin-off run.

See you then!

[sooniesspot]

Fluff Drabbles

☁️Hoseok Fluff☁️

No warnings purely tooth rotting floof

word count: 2.6k?

A/N: I got inspired by another story and absolutely loved the idea of Teacher!Hoseok so here we areeeee

“Only when I’m with you.”

Class 2J. sparkling oakwood desks and clean, green carpeted floor. Bookshelves in alphabetical order from top to bottom. Walls with displays that would rival any city centre mural. Painted hands in an array of colours. Poems and love letters in abundance as a Valentine’s Day activity for the students. Woven strings dangling with pictures and drawings of various animals; precariously cut out with care. Sunlight breaking through the windows aligned with small pots of steadily growing cress on a late Friday afternoon. All the children had gone home for the evening, leaving only teachers to walk the halls and finish their work. 

Hastening steps as you travelled the short distance to his classroom. Wedges padding along the hardwood floor; echoing through the halls. Reaching his door; a deep mahogany with a window to see through, blind slightly down; you peeked through. There he sat. at his desk, picking staples out of the hearts that made the large Valentine’s Day display behind him; tongue slightly peeking out of the corner of his mouth. Concentration evident in his face. Colour palette of sunlight and joy. That was him. Honey toned skin and warm brown hair. Orange stripes on his shirt fitting his upbeat and loving personality. Radiating all that was good in the world. Hearts in abundance not just the ones he was removing staples from; with surgeon like precision. With a smile that would brighten the darkest door. 

Early that same day you arrived into your class of 1H 8:05am; Switching on the lights that woke you out of your hazed morning blur. Room alight, you were greeted by hues of pink and red. Reminded of the day. 14th February. You hated this time of year. Whether that was due to you being single and evidently cynical about this time of year or for the simple fact you thought the holiday was stupid. Why would you set aside only 1 special day a year to show someone how much you loved them? It astounded you how like the Sahara Desert your friends relationships would be every other day of the year, only to be treated in abundance with affection and gifts for this 1 day because society dictates. 

You ventured over to the windows pulling up the shutters, a flittering of metal sounding through the room. Taking chairs down from the desks. The cleaners had travelled through the class, vacuum in hand as they cleared the sprinkling of glitter tiny Taehyun had dropped onto said carpet the day before. The crunched in dried pasta from making jewellery boxes. All under the cloak of night. You bumbled over to your desk, dropping down your bag after placing notes and class plans on your hearty desk. You slumped in your chair; just wanting this gruelling Valentine’s week to be over already. You had been making trinkets and other drawings, poems and keepsakes with the children, expecting nothing outstanding from a class of 5-year-olds, however loving every single piece that every child made. After taking one last glance over the classroom your eyes ended up landing on a delicately placed March Lily on your desk in a softly decorated mason jar; filled with water. There it sat, staring at you. In all its blooming glory. A small note attached to the twine wrapping round the jar in a bow. 

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

Hoseok. xx

You gazed at it in wonder. Smiling to yourself at the gesture. Soon enough a knock on the door and a chatter of children pulled you out of your reverie. Travelling to the door, you greeted your students with hi-fives, handshakes and hugs. The lily always in the back of your mind as all of the children sat at their tables with lofty giggles and kicking feet atop chairs where their legs would dangle. So class began.

Passing in the corridor at lunch you had called across to him; trying to flag him down. Smile beaming on your face, you watched as his face rose with a blush, nervous eyes as he smiled, not meeting your own. Quickened pace as he swept past the children into the staff room. Soon arriving there yourself you were met with 4th year teachers and the other 1st year teacher; Daisy. You could see Hoseok no where in sight.

“Daisy, have you seen Hoseok?” you asked; confused.

Looking up from her phone as she sat at the small table with her soup; she looked around. 

“Um, he was in here. Must’ve just left. Think he said something about going out for lunch?” She shrugged, looking to you with a curious look. 

You nodded solemnly, as you moved over to the large fridge full of lunches. Opening the door you fished for your own plain sandwich you had every day. A blue container laden with a vibrant green post it note with Hoseok’s name on.  He had lunch? 

Your lunch went by in a flash waiting for Hoseok to return to the staff room but he never came back. Soon enough you were back in class. Talking about love. What does love mean to you? You had asked the children. Some answers making your heart burst and some making you cry with laughter.

“Love is hugging my doggie when I get home.” 

“My mummy and daddy love each other a million.” 

“I love trees.”

“Is love when someone falls over and you laugh?” 

Until finally, a small girl; Soo-yung. Raised her hand and asked. “What does love mean to you, Miss Honey?” 

You were taken aback, stumbling over words as you thought of something nice to say. Trying not to be cynical for the children’s sake. Then you saw him. Like a constant light in your heart. Like he was right in front of you. 

“Love to me, is helping people. Making sure they are happy, not because you want to, but because you hate seeing them upset and need to make them happy.” 

Hoseok had had trouble in the past. He had been broken up with. The girl wanting money and “A 2nd Grade teacher isn’t going to buy me a Porsche.” You knew Hoseok. He would buy the person he loved, every single star in the sky. He would Lasso the moon if he could. He would scoop up the sun like an ice cream just to place it in a cone for constant light. He was a man that deserved to be happy and made sure everyone else was before himself. He was an expert at hiding his pain, but you could see through that. Even early into your friendship when he first started working with you. You could always see through the facade.

“Love, is loving everything about one another.” 

“Like loving my glasses?” 

“Like my bendy fingers?”

“My extra toe?!” 

You didn’t expect anything less from a group of 5-year-olds, they never failed to make you laugh. 

“Miss Honey, are you in love?” a little boy named Mason asked; wonderous eyes gazing up at you. 

You slumped slightly, resting on the edge of your desk, in front of the children. Hands resting on the edge. You smiled with a light chuckle; thinking it over. 

“Maybe I am.” 

To this you glanced to your left, seeing Hoseok walking past the door with his class, probably going to gym. You smiled sweetly as you watched him pass you by. Yearning surfacing as you wanted to call for him, or to wave; get his attention. 

Class continued on, decorating hearts with little notes on, helping some of the children with handwriting. Notes for family and friends. Even a couple of notes for you that you never expected, bringing tears threateningly close to spilling over and running down your cheeks. Class had ended for the day. The last day of the week where there was a lovely break to be had. You bid all the children goodbye; making sure they took all of their things with them. 

You had tried to rehearse what you wanted to say, finding the attempt futile, deciding on venturing to Hoseok’s class to say thank you for the lily at least. And so here you were; taking a deep breath and knocking on the door; heart in your throat. Your head popping through the crack in the door, smile on your face again. Hoseok looked up, eyes dancing and he smiled back. His hunched over shoulders relaxing at the presence of you. Suddenly jumping with a yelp, shaking his hand as he looked down at the heart he was toying with; pulling out staples. He looked to his thumb seeing a pin prick of blood as he shoved his thumb in his mouth; placing the heart on his desk with a roll of his eyes. He stood up, quickly rubbing his hands down his paint splattered jeans as he stood. 

“Hi Miss Honey, how can I help?” he asked with a nervous chuckle, looking to his thumb. 

You smiled, stepping in through the door like a breath of fresh air. In that moment his own caught in his throat as he stared at you. Your summer dress; mint green, flouncing about mid shin as you timidly walked into the room. Intricate flowers scattered over every inch of your dress in white that hung off you in decadent ways. Your hair framing your face that was beaming with a smile, a light blush on your cheeks. Hands clasped together in front of you as you made your way closer to his desk. With every step he felt his heart hammer; his heart screaming for you but his voice stuttering nothing.

“I’d like to say thank you for the Lily. It’s beautiful.” You smiled, big eyes looking up at him as you drew closer, barely 2 feet away from the desk. 

His heart grew wide, enamoured by you. He was silent. For a long while. Your smile faltering slightly as he looked back at you, lips parted but no words escaping him. Hand tapping on his leg as he took you in. Your hair, your dress. The way you looked at him. So lovingly it made him burst. But it also made him hurt because he knew it was only platonic. A girl like you, loving someone like him? Impossible. He had so much he wanted to say that everything came out in a jumble of not wanting you to panic that he wasn’t responding. 

“I-it’s a March Lily. And it looked so pretty. Like y-aaaand I know. you. umm. I-i-it would just fit with your classroom, y’know. a-and it was also a thank you because of all the things you do for uhhh.” He stuttered, all of the words bubbling to the surface before he could stop them. 

“Where were you at lunch? I tried to say thank you then, but you disappeared.” You glanced awkwardly up at him before your gaze faltered and returned to your nails. 

You could cut the tension in the classroom like a knife as it swarmed around you both in his classroom. He visibly gulped. 

“Um, I went out for lunch instead.” He laughed nervously, hand scratching the back of his neck.

Before you could reply, he continued. 

“I was worried. It was a stupid idea on my part. I should’ve just spoken to you, but I was scared.” 

“Scared of what, Hoseok?” 

Silence befell the room. The sun outside beginning to set behind the horizon, making way for pink and purple hues that shone through the windows of the classroom and onto Hoseok’s face; pained, worried. The odd rustle of leaves sounded from outside and a slight whistle from a bird but the building was quiet. As if you were the only 2 people in the world. 

“Rejection.” 

An alarm went off in your head at that point, now it made sense. You just assumed the lily was to symbolise the friendship between the both of you, the colour yellow symbolizes friendship and joy. All the things your dear Hoseok stands for. But now realising that it was a March Lily. Everything made sense. 

You had been reading a book, months prior when the leaves began to fall, making way for Winter. Your colleague Daisy finding it peculiar that you were reading a book about flowers and their meanings in the Winter. You had discussed with Hoseok occasionally over a shared lunch of warm soup you had brought in to share. Hoseok a few days prior, inviting his old school friend Namjoon over for food and agreed to let him cook. This was not his shining moment. As he returned, the friend had managed to melt a plastic bowl to the stove.  So no cooked food for a couple of days. 

Every evening before going home you would pop through his door with a container of food for him, left overs from food you had cooked for yourself the night before. He would constantly thank you and would walk you to your car in the parking lot which would always be next to his own. One day you had left a container of leftovers on his desk, with the book atop it. Hoseok had shown an interest in the book and asked if he could borrow it. Everything finally clicked. 

“The March Lily…” you began, thinking out loud.

“It means-“

“Unrequited love.” Hoseok finished before you could. 

The look on his face was one you had never seen before. Sadness for something he deemed unobtainable. Your affection. You had seen him sad before, when one of his students were upset. Another no-good girl broke up with him after she didn’t need him anymore. But this. This hurt the most. The way his breathing was heavy and his shoulders slumped. His hands still on the desk as he looked down at them. You walked forward to meet the other side of the desk. Leaning forward, a hairs breath away from him; you placed your own hand on his in comfort getting him to look up at you, not realising you were so close, he was slightly startled; confused before you placed a sweet chaste kiss to his lips.  

His eyes grew wide as you beamed at him. His face resembling a tomato at this point as he took his free hand and touched his lips as if it had been a dream. A dream he never wanted to wake up from. The corners of his mouth twitched up into a slight smile until he slumped again.

“You don’t have to, because you feel sorry for me.” He scoffed lightly; clearly unsure of the conversation. 

You sighed; heavy and weighted in your chest before venturing round to him behind the desk, taking his hands in yours. Your thumbs dancing over his knuckles. You looked into his eyes, full of sincerity and an air of confusion, like he always had. You smiled, lightly but constant.

“Your love…” you began.

“It’s not unrequited, Hoseok.”  

“I don’t share my food with just anyone, y’know.”  You chuckled dryly as you squeezed his hands in yours; mouth suddenly resembling a desert as you poured your emotions out into the open air. Letting your words cascade over him as he shot up to look into your eyes; previously focused on his feet. His eyes were wide again; almost comical with raised eyebrows and mouth open. 

“What? How?” He asked, mind befuddled.

You laughed again; this time louder.

“It just, happened.” You shrugged with a smile before being enveloped in a hug by strong arms as he pulled you against him. surrounded by the smell of lemon tea and cedar; planting a kiss to your hair, never wanting to let you go again.

“I’m the happiest man in the world.”

“You already are” you countered; voice muffled due to being pressed into the crook of his neck.

“Nope.” He giggled, popping the P at the end with a shake of his head, before planting another kiss to your forehead as you gazed up at him.

“Only when I’m with you.”

© sunnysidejoon - 2021 - do not repost on any site, or translate without express permission from author.

Hope you guys enjoyed! I take requests so please do ask 😊

Love Always

Mac 🧡💜

[purplesurveys]

1273

What was the longest time you’ve had the hiccups for?  Maybe for half an hour? Mine are never that bad.

What type of TV shows are your favourite?  Not a big TV show type of person to begin with since it seems as if my attention span wasn’t built for once-a-week, season-breaks kind of content haha. I do like sitcoms, I guess...bite-sized ones like Friends, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Big Bang Theory, etc. Drama shows I’d bite into if the plot is extremely intriguing to me or relevant to my interests, like The Crown or Breaking Bad.

Have you ever been a complete fangirl/fanboy over anything?  I was before then I wasn’t for a very long time, then I came back just recently with this BTS shit I got myself into.

Do you know anyone who has died in battle?  Hmm. I don’t think so. My great-grandpa lived a few more decades after the war.

When was the last time you went on an adventure?  July. My friends and I spent the whole day driving around and stopping by sooo many spots around the metro. It was a lot of fun and we were fucking b e a t after.

What brand is your vacuum cleaner?  I dunno. My mom mainly uses ours.

Are you good at rapping?  I have a number of songs and verses memorized that I can recite quite okay, but I can’t write any of my own.

Name one world issue that upsets you.  Racism.

How do you feel about tanning?  I never saw the the big deal. I will say tanning beds and salons are such a culture shock to me, though. Are some people really that obsessed with modifying their skin tone?

Have you ever given a public speech? Hmm, just the one time I was entered into a public speaking competition and was given a topic to talk about on the spot. That was honestly a lot of fun and I wish there were more opportunities to do that exact same thing.

Do you read comic books?  No. I tried getting into that whole thing, but didn’t see the appeal.

Do you force your way into conversations in which you are not involved?  Not always but if I’m starting to feel left out or awkward, I will start to ask a question here and there to ease my way into the conversation. But if the topic is clearly none of my business then I do stay out of the way.

Kiss with your eyes open or closed?  Closed.

Do you believe you can change someone?  This isn’t a black and white matter, I think. The idea of changing a person can have a lot of layers; in my org, for instance, I got to pick up a few quirks and behaviors from my friends just by being around them for a long time – in that sense, I changed. But you can also strive to change someone who’s struggling and try to make them become happy, which I tried to do with my ex – which of course I learned the hard way that you can’t change someone if in that context.

How did you react when your first pet died?  I was bummed out but didn’t throw a fit.

Have you ever drawn anime?  No.

Can you use a pogo stick?  I’ve never even seen one in real life. I’m dying to try it out just once.

When’s the next time you’ll see the person that you like?  I don’t like anybodyyy.

Do you like bathing/showering?  I mean...yes? Like I’m not obsessed with showering, but it’s a necessity that I have to regularly do anyway lmao.

Have you ever considered entering a race?  Sure! Just give me a couple of weeks to practice because my endurance and stamina are embarrassing.

Rihanna or Lady Gaga?  Rihanna.

Who was your first good kiss with?  My ex.

What accessory do you want in your bedroom?  SHELVES

What do you take the most pictures of?  My experiences.

What are you always in the mood for?  Starbuuuuuuckssssssss.

What is something that you never turn down?  A day out with friends. I’ll always make time. What is something that you always turn down when offered?  Food, if I’m a guest at someone else’s place.

Name something sexy about your significant other.  I don’t have any.

What is one of your hobbies that you refuse to give up?  Surveys, I guess. I enjoy them too much and have been doing them for nearly a decade.

If you could be a professional in any sport what would it be?  Tennis.

If you could be a professional at any instrument what would it be?  PIANO.

Would you rather be a surgeon or mortician?  Surgeon. I would be too terrified seeing dead people, anyway.

Have you ever been on a subway? Nope.

Are you in love?  No.

Do you like having your lip softly bitten when you’re kissing?  Sure. Softly, roughly...both are fine hahaha.

Do you want to get married when you’re older?  I hope so. I want my turn, too.

What was the last band shirt you wore?  Eh, I don’t own any. I wore a fanmade V-themed shirt yesterday, if that counts.

You can have a milkshake right now. What flavor do you choose?  OMGGGG that sounds so fucking good rn. Chocolate chip cookie dough.

Have you ever given someone flowers?  Mhm, I used to give my ex bouquets whenever it was our anniversary.

What day of the week is usually your busiest day?  Monday like 98% of the time, so I hate them. It ultimately varies, though. Sometimes some days are a hell of a lot more hectic than others.

Do you have any concerts coming up? I mean...obviously not.

Do you like or hate the smell of fish?  Oh yessssssss. The smell of seafood/ocean always makes me fucking drool.

What’s your favorite brand of chips?  Pringles, or this local brand of salted egg chips that I love to get.

Have you ever written a poem and then read it aloud?  Yeah, once. We had to write a poem as our homework and my teacher picked out a couple that he thought were the best-written, and one of them was mine even though I still firmly believe I did a shit job.

Do you like pineapple?  Oh god no. One of the worse fruits I’ve had.

Does your house have a dishwasher?  No. It seems to be just a Western thing.

Do you know anyone who has a flower tattoo?  I probably do, but I just can’t give you a lineup of names. Flower tattoos seem to be trendy these days, especially in the line style.

How many different languages can you say goodbye in?  So I have goodbye, paalam, 안녕히 가세요, adios, auf wiedersehen, sayonara, au revoir...so that’s 7.

Agree or disagree: You like Adam Sandler movies.  Ummmm definitely childish and I can feel that the humor tries so hard sometimes but I do enjoy some of his movies, like 50 First Dates. 

Have you ever had to get a tooth pulled? If so, what for?  Yeah, I mentioned this on a previous survey.

Have you ever dated anyone while they were in jail?  No, I’ve never dated anyone who’s been imprisoned.

If you’ve ever babysat, do you like it?  I ‘babysat,’ but technically all eldest Asian daughters are expected to look out for their younger siblings and cousins anyway. I didn’t actively enjoy it, but sure, it was fun playing with them and it’s always nice to be viewed as responsible.

What is your favorite flavor on sunflower seeds?  I don’t eat sunflower seeds. I don’t dislike them, I just really never seek them out.

Do you get cold easily?  Yes.

Do you get a lot of spiders in your house?  Hmm no. If we do get visited they are almost always too small to be seen.

Do you admire nature?  Yeah, I try to be around it as often as I can.

Name one naughty thing you’ve done.  Had sex while a few people were in the same room. I pay for it now hahaha; those friends who had the misfortune to be in that situation have never let me live it down and it’s one of their go-to stories when I’m being introduced to new friends.

Name two of your favorite things as a child.  I loved everything Bratz. I also liked Play-Doh.

Do you own a Pillow Pet?  No, I’ve never even heard of that.

Do you tend to solve problems with violence?  Never.

Have either of your parents gone to jail?  Nope.

Do you know a hoarder?  I heard my grandma had been one, but I didn’t see traces of it when I used to visit her. I guess she had been when she was younger and stronger. I show traces of hoarding too, but I don’t think it’s at a concerning level; I literally just threw out a bunch of shit in my room I’ve hoarded over the last five or so years.

Do you wax, pluck, or leave your eyebrows?  I don’t touch them; I’m never all that worried about my appearance. On very rare instances, I will shave some of the excess hair off. Do you have any interesting scar stories?  None of them are interesting tbh, just results of my own stupidity.

Do you hate the texture of meatballs?  I don’t hate their texture but I also just don’t enjoy meatballs in general. I find them boring, which has always led me to think if they’re really supposed to be just boring clumps of meat or if I’ve just always been served average meatballs.

Do you get migraines? Yes, I usually get one after work. They’ve decreased in frequency now but one will drop by every now and then to give me a shit time.

Do you like guns?  No.

Are turtles amazing creatures? All animals are. :') < Yes! Except cockroaches.

How much time do you spend taking surveys?  I dedicate an hour or so every weekend. I often wish I can allot more time, but I also have other hobbies and interests I would usually want to catch up on during the weekends. 48 hours is just too short :(

Would you rather visit: The Eiffel Tower or Egyptian Pyramids? Pyramids, in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t even need to think about it.

Would you like to work at a candy shop?  Uh no. If I had to, it would be on the back-end, maybe in the corporate side of things lol.

Do you have feelings for someone?  Nope.

Which one of your guy friends is the best looking?  JM.

Do you have anything to say to your ex bf/gf?  No.

Which band do you have the most of on your iPod/music player?  I don’t use music players anymore but my Spotify always reminds me of how much I listen to BTS whenever they do one of their quirky listening habit reports lol.

Which song describes your mood at the moment?  I want to go with RM’s Bicycle just because I’m feeling quite content and relaxed at the moment.

Which movie(s) do you quote the most?  Eh, I’m not a big movie quoter.

Which one of your best friend’s friends would you most likely date?  I honestly don’t see any of them as date-able.

Would you ever let anybody else drive your car?  Sure. I’ve let Hans and Gab drive it countless times when I’ve had too much to drink. It’s a small car and is fairly easy to use and navigate. I would let Anj use it too at some point, but I want her to perfect her u-turns first hahahaha.

Which one of your friends will be the most successful?  It’s already one of my friends to begin with but I’m not naming names. They come from a privileged background to begin with and their godfather already handed one of his companies down to them, so. They were also told the CEO position is already a sure slot for them.

What store did you last shop at?  I wanna say NCAT, this Korean-themed store that sells trinkets and jewelries and plushies and stuff. They also sell BTS albums so Anj and I dropped by to check out and touch all the albums we can’t afford yet HAHA

Do you think telepathy is real?  No.

When did you last draw something for fun?  Last Saturday when I played an online drawing/guessing game with my uncles and aunts.

Who makes the most in your entire family?  My dad.

Do you like writing essays?  I love essays, it’s my favorite writing piece to make.

Do you think plastic surgery is no big deal?  It turns into one when it gets obsessive, like when people get excessive plastic surgeries specifically to look like another person. I’m looking at you, fucking Oli London.

Do you take your trash to the dump or have it picked up?  It’s picked up.

When you sneeze do you sneeze into your shirt or your hands?  I look away and just sneeze. Sometimes I’ll put up my elbow.

Do you usually have sex in the morning, noon or night time? Erm, I usually had it at night. I only had morning sex when we would spend the night; and I nearly never had noon sex.

Did you ever fail your learners/drivers test?  No.

Would you rather listen to Luke Bryan or Lil Wayne?  Gun to my head, Lil Wayne.

Name someone you’ve become a lot closer to recently:  Reena!!! I’m so grateful Angela introduced us to each other :) We both tend to get shy so we don’t actually actively get chatty when we see each other irl, but I love her presence and I love that she is my friend. I make up for it by being super friendly and wacky in our group chat haha. Does your car have a sunroof?  No. We used to have a car that did, but we had to sell that during the peak of the pandemic.

Are you closer to your mom or your dad?  Dad.

Have you ever had a friend with benefits? No.

Who’s the last person you cuddled with?  My ex.

Are you friends with any of your teachers on Facebook?  Yeup.

[jupitermelichios]

Jupiter’s Top 10 Fic Series of the Decade

In no particular order (and belonging to no particular fandom)

Honourable Mentions: Of Hunters & Hellblazers by KittyAug - Self Help by maskedfangirl - Bad Jokes by hahaharley - Doubtful Sanity by DustToDust - Wilton’s Bakery ‘Verse by machine_dove & sproings -  Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc by etothepii - New Favourite F Word by Polaris - little beasts by noctiphany & likewinning

drawn into something by Nonymos (Venom, Eddie/Venom, Dan/Anne, Eddie/Venom/Dan/Anne)

“Eddie, you… and him.”

“Yeah.” Eddie stares at the floor. “And… and look, Annie, I know it’s weird, but I can explain, I…”

His voice breaks, he’s damn near tearing up, panic rising again—and he jumps when Anne cups his face.

“Hey, it’s—it’s all right, Eddie.” She’s making a valiant effort to smile. “Don’t get so worked up. I’m not gonna run screaming.”

“No?” He laughs and sniffs. “Damn. Starting to wonder what it’s gonna take, at this point.”

This is not Nonymos’s only entry on this list. In fact they may just be my favourite fanfic author of all time. Drawn into something is everything everything I want from a Venom sequel, emotional, kinky, romantic, and poly.

OTP: Fight Club by MorganOfTheFey (Detroit: Become Human, RK900/Gavin)

"One hundred. Ten X," Nines says, voice flat enough it almost doesn't sound like bragging. "I would have been decommissioned otherwise."

"Ohhhh. Aw, that's sad. Just," She tries to snap her fingers and gets distracted for a moment when she can't. "Jus'like that?"

"Yeah RK, that's so sad," Gavin echoes. "Can you play yourself despacito?"

His own phone blares the song barely a second later. Gavin drops a few f-bombs fumbling to get it out of his jacket pocket and turn it off. Then as soon as he puts it back in his pocket, it starts up again.

"Thank you for the suggestion, detective," RK900 says. "This is making me feel better."

The fourth part of this is still coming out, and it’s the highlight of my week when the new chapter drops.

Dreams of the Waking Man by Lex_Munroe (Marvel Comics, Wade/Cable, Daken/Bullseye, Wade & Hope)

All at once, it hurts.  It hurts worse than the day Nate died (because Wade couldn’t accept it back then, insisted that Nate had managed to timeslide out, that the busted old telemetry circuit would only let him go forward and he was just lost for a little while).

He sits in the middle of the floor, ducks his head, cries.

She was smarter than he was—than he is.  She’d known all along.  Brave girl.

Timesliding doesn’t work right on Wade, never has, and their cobbled-together sliding module barely had power to take one stringy teenager for one jump.

She’d known she was leaving her parents, that she certainly wouldn’t see one of them again and quite possibly wouldn’t see the other.

Wade allows himself a moment more for grief and shame and humility.  Then he clears his throat and wipes his eyes and gets back to work.

This may be the cleverest fic I’ve ever read. Crossovers, theoretical physics, and the best love story Marvel never wrote.

The Mountains Are The Same by bonehandledknife & Primarybufferpanel (Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa/Max, Furiosa/Ace, Everyone & Healthy Coping Mechanisms)

“'Real isn’t how you are made’” Gilly said with the air of a quote, of a Remembering, “'It’s a thing that happens to you.’”

Rotor closed his eyes in a long blink, “A thing that hurts, innit it right?”

“Sometimes,” Gilly agreed, squeezing his hand, “That’s life though, when you are Real. We all become it bit by bit. But it doesn’t happen if you’re not strong, if you’re not soft, if you’re not sturdy.”

“ But how can y'be all of those at once ?” he wheezed out. It’s getting hard to catch his breath.

“You are all that right now, aren’t you?” Gilly asked him with piercing eyes, “No one else of all these Boys has had the strength to ask for me. And I will Witness you as I have kept all those of my sisters who’ve fallen these past days.”

This series is not always easy, it doesn’t shy away from the hard or the dark or the painful, but it is always worth reading.

The Unspoken Truth by Nonymos (MCU, Clint/Loki)

Barton glared at him like he was trying to decide whether he was being mocked or not, but the next second, his shoulders slumped. Loki was familiar with the feeling – that dreadful feeling of discovering something repulsive in one's own nature.

And then, he waited. He waited for Barton to think and connect the dots, to realize that an obvious solution was standing just before him, to remember how he had felt when waking up tied down, or being forced to drink down the water. The demi-god just stood there, hoping – almost praying for the first time in his life – that his enemy would look up at him with something else than hatred in his eyes.

No one writes kink quite like Nonymos writes kink, and this series is the perfect encapsulation of that.

The Stone Gryphon by rthstewart (Narnia, primarily Gen)

"Tools!" Richard was so shocked he was near speechless. He sat down heavily on the bench and began writing frantically in that strange code. "You are saying that you have observed ordinary crows use tools? Peter, that is… remarkable."

"Well, I've seen Beavers use fishing tackle and sewing machines, so it didn't seem that unusual at the time."

I’m not going to lie, this may not be to everyone’s taste. But, amateur theologian, lover of weird animal facts, and history nerd that I am, there are very few fics more exactly tailored to my interests.

Republic of Heaven Community Radio by ErinPtah (WtNV x His Dark Materials, Cecil/Carlos)

The greeting catches both her and Carlos off-guard. It's not wrong to talk directly to another person's daemon, but it's still a little weird. "Likewise," she stammers.

They're both waiting for the obvious next step, which is for Cecil to introduce his daemon. The fact that Carlos hasn't spotted her yet is understandable — a big community gathering in a small space, you get plenty of daemons breaking away from their humans to socialize directly with each other. Any of the dozen animal shapes currently within ten feet of them could be Cecil's. If his daemon has an unusually high range, there are even more possibilities.

What Cecil says instead is, "If you ever have any important experimental-theology news that you need to share with the town, call me any time! Everyone listens to my show." There's a touch of what Carlos hopes is nothing more sinister than smugness when he adds, "Everyone."

He steps out of the way to let someone else interrogate Carlos, and vanishes into the crowd. Carlos doesn't get a chance to see what daemon he leaves with.

This may be the most carefully thought out crossover I’ve ever read, and I’m a little in awe of ErinPtah’s skills.

The Soul in the Machine by missdreawrites & Troodon (Dishonoured, Corvo/Outsider)

“... Outsider?” Corvo asked, sitting down on the filthy floor. “In the published list of the people who died of the Plague… how many were registered Augments?”

<There have been a total of 231 dead in the past year. Of that group, 100% were Augmented individuals. This number has increased exponentially under Hiram Burrows’ “The Boldest Moves Are The Safest” law, allowing the execution of any individual infected by the Plague.>

“Son of a bitch, ” Corvo swore with feeling. “This is… look at this waste. We aren't even people to them, are we?” He looked down at the body next to him. “And I killed the one person who could help. I did this. I doomed an entire people to plague, and murder and…”

The cyberpunk Dishonoured AU I desperately wish I’d thought of, because it works so very well.

In Which Tony Stark Builds Himself Some Friends (But His Family Was Assigned by Nick Fury) by scifigrl47 (MCU, Steve/Tony)

“Do you know what the difference between a villain and a super villain is, Stark?” Coulson said, leaning his palms on the tabletop, looming over everything like a very snappily dressed gargoyle.

“Style?” Tony asked, pointing both index fingers in Coulson's direction like the gunslinger that he was. He added a wide grin to the gesture, but Coulson didn't seem to notice.

“A villain has a giant mass of robotic vacuum cleaners that he can sic on his enemies. A super villain gives them the ability to fly.”

“In my defense, I do not actually remember installing repulsor technology in the Roombas,” Tony said, choosing his words carefully. It had been a working theory, sure, but he still wasn't quite sure when he implemented it. Maybe sometime on Tuesday night... That one was a blur. “It was a very long couple of days. So I was as surprised by that as everyone else.”

This doesn’t really count as a rec, since everyone in the fandom has read it already, but it really wouldn’t be fair to draw up a ‘best of the 2010s’ list and not include this.

A Great and Gruesome Height by mokuyoubi (Hannibal, Will/Hannibal)

Bedelia lashes out but Will is quicker. He grabs her wrist, pressing hard between the delicate bones with his thumb, until she makes a soft noise of distress and drops the fork.

Hannibal purses his lips and leans in close to her ear. “Now that is disappointing,” he whispers, and Bedelia has the good sense to be afraid with that mouth so near her skin. He inhales her scent deeply and straightens. “I thought you and I were beyond such petty jabs.”

“Were it not for the fact that you required medical attention, I have no doubt I would have met a similarly crass ending at the hands of your pet,” she says, lip curling in disgust.

Hannibal smiles serenely and says, “Will is a creature entirely of his own making. It is not to me to guide his hand. Merely to share in the sublime perfection of his vision, when he allows it.”

There are many dark!Will stories out there, and most of them are a lot of fun, but few are quite at believable as this one.

[sinsbymanka]

50 Questions You Have Never Been Asked

Tagged by @lostinfantasies38! Tagging - @tuffypelly, @corylion, @eranehn, @silvanils, @fandomn00blr, @odekiax, and whoever else wants in!

1. What is the color of your hairbrush?

And immediately I have to reveal how high maintenance I am. I have four. They’re red, teal, and black and they’re all different no matter what my husband says. 

2. A food you never eat?

Tapioca - I’m allergic (which is a shame because BUBBLE TEA. It looks so fun!!) 

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold?

Always cold - I struggle with pretty chronic iron deficiency so I’m an icicle. 

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

I think I was eating Chinese food? 

5. What is your favorite candy bar?

Twix. Either side. 

6. Have you ever been to a professional sporting event?

I have been to far too many. The only ones I like are hockey (yay!) but I’ve been to Basketball and Baseball games. The last time I went to a basketball game, I read a novel on my phone. Husband was not amused. 

7. What was the last thing you said out loud?

"Why are you like this?” - To the infamous watermelon head puppers as he put his whole damn noggin on my shoulder. 

8. What is your favorite ice cream?

Mint chocolate chip. 

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Cream top tea from the Chinese restaurant

10. Do you like your wallet?

It’s the best wallet I’ve ever owned and I’ve had it for like four years. I refuse to get another one. 

11. What was the last thing you ate?

Cold sesame noodles and dumplings

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

I don’t think so but I’ve done a lot of online shopping, it’s all a blur. I just wait to see what shows up in the mail. 

13. The last sporting event you watched?

Does watching my husband play NBA 2K20 count? If no - then I think we went to a minor league hockey game in January or February? 

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

ALRIGHT. Bear with me. Pop your popcorn and then dump some hidden valley ranch dressing mix seasoning packets on it. BEST. THING. EVER. (I’ve been told you can buy ranch seasoning shakers for popcorn, but I’ve never tried them, I just use the seasoning packets) 

15. Who was the last person you sent a text message to?

My Husband: “I love you too babe.” cause we’re sweet like that. 

16. Ever go camping?

Yes, I’m not a fan. I’m like a houseplant - I like the idea of outside but if you put me out there I will die.  

17. Do you take vitamins?

So many. 

18. Do you go to church every Sunday?

Nope and I never will again. 

19. Do you have a tan?

Not currently, but I do tan! God bless whoever the swarthy skin tone came from. 

20. Do you prefer Chinese food or pizza?

Chinese food. 

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?

No? What kind of monster does this on the regular? Don’t use straws unless you have to - it’s bad for the turtles. 

22. What color socks do you usually wear?

I dislike socks - I usually wear tights because I’m wearing skirts and dresses. 

23. Ever drive above the speed limit?

The better question: Do you ever drive below the speed limit? 

24. What terrifies you?

Many things. The biggest thing, lately, is that I’m not doing enough to get this world back on track and that I should be doing more. The time for discussion, negotiation, and bargaining for basic human rights is over. I want to smash windows, tear down institutions, and torch mansions. 

25. Look to your left what do you see? 

Watermelon head, just where he always is. 

26. What chore do you hate?

I hate the sound of the vacuum cleaner. Absolutely hate it. 

27. What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?

Immediately of Steve Irwin. I watched a shit ton of animal planet as a child. 

28. What is your favorite soda?

I can’t drink soda very often because it makes be a bit ill - but I love coke. 

29. Do you go into a fast food place or just hit the drive through? 

I also can’t have fast food often because it me very ill. So when I do stop - it’s usually to satisfy my ever present french fry craving and I feel silly going in and ordering one thing. 

30. Who was the last person you talked to?

The chinese food delivery guy or watermelon head if he counts. 

31. Favorite cut of beef?

The other thing that makes me sick! I rarely eat beef, even when I cook it for my husband. The only thing I usually can’t resist is a mean sloppy joe or taco - so that would be ground beef done extra lean which probably doesn’t count. 

32. Last song you listened to?

This is Me - Kesha from The Greatest Showman soundtrack 

33. Last book you read?

Also fanfiction. I have no spoons for new fiction at this time. I’m making my way through some nonfiction books slowly - “Michael and Natasha” by Rosemary and Donald Crawford is my current choice. 

34. Favorite day of the week?

Fridays? 

35. Can you say the alphabet backwards?

Possibly? 

36. How do you like your coffee?

Flavored creamer if possible - if not just cream. I never seem to get the sugar ratio right on my own. 

37. Favorite pair of shoes?

My utterly impractical, goes with one outfit, red high heeled mary jane’s. God I love those shoes. 

38. At what time do you usually go to bed?

Between 10 and 11p - I take medicine that knocks me out pretty quick at night. 

39. At what time do you normally get up?

Between 5 and 7a? I don’t know when I turned into my father - but I’m up with the fucking sun no matter what. 

40. What do you prefer - sunrises or sunsets?

Sunrises - especially over the ocean. 

41. How many blankets are on your bed?

On the bed? Two. Beside my side of the bed? Four more. Plus the dog has a blanket. Don’t judge me. 

42. Describe your kitchen plates?

Vintage find - white with yellow and orange daffodils. 

43. Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage?

Wine to get started, but I almost always end up switching to whiskey if I’m out. 

44. Do you play cards?

I learned to play poker very young and I’m surprisingly good at it. 

45. What color is your car?

It’s called Seafoam, which is a pretty pearlescent green <-- same?! @lostinfantasies38 do you drive a Subaru too? 

46. Can you change a tire?

YES. My father, when he was losing his eyesight and I was sixteen, wanted me to know how to change my own oil and my own tires cause “he wouldn’t be able to see to do it.” Before that makes you too sad - he 100% still sat in the driveway and listened to me do these things while offering “advice.” Bonus: I was one of the only people of either gender I knew in college who could do these things. 

Do I actually do them any longer? fuck no. I don’t want to get dirty and I got myself a husband. 

47. What is your favorite province? 

I’ve only ever been to Toronto, so whatever province that’s in.

48. Favorite job you ever had?

I don’t know if I have a favorite? I’ve gotten to travel a lot in my current job, and I’ve done a lot of presentations and met a lot of people I wouldn’t have otherwise, plus it’s less hazardous to my mental health. So. Grantwriter/Researcher it is. 

49. How did you get your biggest scar?

In November 2019 (which seems like forever ago but I know it wasn’t) I was rear-ended by an 18 wheeler on the highway. It was a nasty crash and I still can’t quite drive on the highway. I was actually nearly completely unscathed despite rolling my car and it being totaled. I emerged with a concussion and two cuts - one on the back of my left hand which is small. I had another shallow cut which is mostly hidden under my hair, but I can feel the scar. It does creep out under my hair onto my forehead about a half-inch. 

50. What did you do today that made someone happy?

On my morning walk with watermelon head, we stopped outside our neighbors house to wave through the window so their kiddos could see puppers. Judging from their faces - they were pretty happy (but who wouldn’t be to be greeted with watermelon head?) 

[komahinasecretexchange]

Title: The one where Komaeda is the producer for a terrible movie, Enoshima is the worst kind of celebrity, and Hinata is just a stuntman for Kamukura.

Author: @serahne-is-here

For: @ask-the-sakamaki

Rating/Warnings: Some swearing, but that’s it

Prompt: AU ! ( I picked a ‘Actors AU’ even if technically neither Komaeda nor Hinata are actors )

Author’s notes: I didn’t write in english in ages, so I really hope you enjoy it <3

“And… cut !” declared Director Kirigiri, holding firmly her bullhorn with two hands.

As soon as the magic word was spoken, relief flooded the studio, as everyone on set felt allowed to relax, if only for just a little while. It was a stressful - and yet, pretty normal - day in Hope’s Peak Studio : one scene down, two to go.

“Sonia, it was your best take, we keep it. Izuru, stunning as usual,” offered Kirigiri off-handedly, before standing up and starting to stretch, arms behind her back. “Let’s take a thirty minute break, and then we move on to the Waterfalls. Please tell the stuntmen they need to go get dressed, we miraculously managed to be on time for today, let’s try to keep it that way.”

Everyone in the studio mumbled in agreement, before they dispersed themselves around the room, in a chaotic, yet very organized fashion. From where he was standing, just a few feets behind the camera crew, Hinata was perfectly well-placed to admire how everyone in this creative hive was buzzing around, in a dance that they all knew by heart. It was, after all, their sixt day of filming Dreams of Future, and they knew their roles and lines as well as the actors did.

Koizumi, Kirigiri’s assistant, bounced toward Sonia and started praising her, at such speed that Hinata couldn’t understand half of it. Kamukura looked around, his eternal bored expression carved in his face at this point, before he disappeared inside his lodge. Slowly, as would a heavy animal migrating for winter, cameras and micros started to move to the Waterfalls set.

Hinata was about to go and get dressed - Kirigiri had been really adamant stuntmen shouldn’t be late, and he wasn’t about to make a bad impression to the studio owner’s daughter - when, from behind him, came a voice he only knew too well.

“What did you think of the show, Hinata ? Absolutely splendid, was it not ?”

Hinata turned around, frowning, and his eyes immediately found the voice’s owner : Nagito Komaeda, main producer for the movie, and all around one of the most unpleasant person he had ever met. Which wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t also one of the most attractive person he had ever met.

Both of these things sent mixed messages to Hinata’s brain, and it tended to just shortcut whenever Komaeda was nearby.

“I guess,” he replied, making sure that his eyes didn’t linger too long on the other - over his dead body would he be caught staring at Komaeda. “Sonia is really talented. Her role might be small, but she is nailing it.”

She really was. Sonia Nevermind was an european actress, looking to make herself a name in Japan. Beyond her eccentric personality, typical of foreigners, she was also incredibly sweet, humble, and hard-working, which was more than could be said for most actors than Hinata had worked with.

Komaeda huffed at Hinata’s reply, a sound that made him both incredibly adorable and punchable at the same time. As he said : mixed signals.

“Only Miss Nevermind ?” he noticed, amused. “I see that your jealousy over Kamukura’s incredible success is alive and well. How awful of you.”

“I’m not jealous of Kamukura,” said Hinata, gritting his teeth. “Why would I be ? He has the emotional range of a vacuum cleaner. A four-year old emote more in a minute than he does in a year.”

Komaeda hummed quietly. “That might be so. But we both know you couldn’t care less about anyone’s acting skill. Actually, if you truly think so low of his skills, his popularity must be even more insufferable to you, right ?”

“Will you shut up ?” Hinata mumbled back, 

Hinata shook his head. Kamukura’s success in the filming industry was the most bewildering thing for him. The guy didn’t act. He wasn’t even bad at it, he just didn't try. All he did was wearing the same bored, vaguely annoyed expression, movie after movie. And for some reasons, critics loved him, praised him for his ‘original take’ on his roles, and promised him a glorious career.

This was ridiculous.

“Don’t be so bitter, Hinata,” the white-haired man calmly smiled at him. “The truth is, even if Kamukura wasn’t as talented as he is, it wouldn’t make you more popular. These studios are full of nobodies thinking they can become somebody. This is admirable, but useless, for most of them. In a way, I think you should be proud of your achievement : at your own level, you are helping our stars to shine, in their creative processes. A wonderful stepping stone for the glorious people blessed with talent.”

Hinata narrowed his eyes. Back when he first met Komaeda, this kind of insult would have made his skin crawl, and he would have breathlessly argued with the other. But he had eventually realized that no amount of arguing would change his mind. And he had to be on set in twenty-two minutes.

“Great talk, but I have to go and get in costume. And them I guess I’ll throw myself from the top of the Waterfalls, if Enoshima acts her usual self.”

“That sounds lovely !” Komaeda clapped his hands, excitedly. “I wish I could come with you, but alas, I have to talk to Kirigiri before the next scene begins. Though I won’t leave without saying goodbye, of course.”

Hinata sighed, a smile working his way up to his lips, despite his annoyance.

“Sounds good.”

*

Stunts weren’t Hinata’s first choice of career, of course. He had always dreamed of being an actor, ever since he was a starry-eyed kid, whose nonsensical babbling wasn’t taken seriously by the adults around him. This dream had stuck with him, up until adulthood, when he had finally found out how impossible it was to get roles when one didn’t have any contact in the industry.

One year ago, when Hope’s Peak Studios had called him, telling them that he had the ‘perfect body type’ to play Izuru Kamukura’s double, the offer has been too tempting to refuse. It was finally his chance to meet people who could help him grow as a true actor.

That hasn’t been the case, so far. His work was spotless, and he was regularly called back by the Studios - who was even ready to discuss his fees from movie to movie - but always as a stuntman, and most of the time for Kamukura. It wasn’t the worst job in the world, he was being paid more than most people working in the Studios - he was putting his body on the line, after all - but… if anything, being so close to his dream, without being able to live it was his own personal hell.

Something was missing. And maybe Komaeda was right, and it was the popularity, and the spotlight, and the journalists begging you for interview, and the expensive gifts, and all this superficial stuff that society told him to adore and reject, all at once. But, Hinata knew, it was more than that. It wouldn’t have hurt that much if it was only that.

He did want to be an actor, and a part of him had always thought he would end up being one. As a child, he had wanted to be a samurai, a cowboy, a wizard, an adventurer, an astronaut, and has soon realized that only one job would allow him to be all that - and even more - at once.

Being an actor was to live a thousand lives. And maybe it was worth wasting the only one he had over it.

*

It was four hours later, and nothing was going well. Everyone was on the Waterfall set, which was pretty awful in itself - everything looked really fake, and Hinata knew everything would be corrected in post-production but still it was barely better than a green screen at that point.

Everyone was exhausted, Kirigiri was on her four coffee cup, and Kamukura seemed almost in a dissociative state with how much he seemed to care about his surroundings.

Of course, it was all Enoshima’s fault. She was objectively one of the biggest star in Japan, and everyone knew that her being in the movie would guarantee some kind of success. She was also a terrible human being, who enjoyed nothing more than to reduce to tears her assistants.

“This is what you call a macchiato ?” She spat to the poor girl’s face, who was already quivering in fear. “I could piss in a cup and it would taste better than that. Are you trying to poison me ?”

“I can’t believe you accepted to hire her,” Hinata mumbled to Komaeda’s attention, as they were both looking at the scene with consternation. “She is not a bad actress, but she is not worth the hassle. Sonia could play her part just as well.”

Komaeda looked at Hinata, all wide-eyed and pink-cheeked, and it was really infuriating how pretty he looked after so many hours of being stuck in the Waterfall set with the entire film crew. Hinata was sure that he looked like a mess, even after he took off the heavy wig he wore when he incarnated Kamukura.

Seeing how things were going, he wouldn’t have to save Junko’s ass from a well-deserved fall to death before ten o’clock, anyway. And only if Kirigiri didn’t give up and call it a day until then.

“I’m not taking any creative decision,” Komaeda replied with a shrug. “I wasn’t the one who asked for Enoshima. I’m not sure who did, to be completely honest.”

“Someone who doesn’t have to spend hours with her everyday,” guessed Hinata, grimacing when he saw Enoshima’s assistant run away, probably in order to get another coffee. “I never thought she was that good of an actress. Did you ?”

Komaeda hummed noncommittally but didn’t add anything, which, considering his habit to wax poetry about every actor in the Studios, definitely meant he was agreeing with him. Hinata weirdly felt vindicated by that.

“She will attract a different audience,” explained Komaeda. “She is very popular with teenage girls, and straight males. Since I’m neither I might not be the best person to judge of her appeal.”

They both fell silent, looking at Kirigiri and Enoshima’s argument about a specific line that Enoshima wanted to change in the script, and Hinata took the time to file the information he had just received from Komaeda, just in case. 

“You could fire her,” Hinata suggested. “You’re putting the money, you get to decide, right ?”

Komaeda chuckled. “I’d rather leave the creative process to talented people, that’s better for everyone.”

“Wait,” Hinata replied. “You are talking as if you didn’t take any decision for the movies you are funding. That makes no sense.”

“That’s the case,” Komaeda shrugs. “I just give the money, and the Studios does the rest.”

“But this is ridiculous ! All your movies were success. All of them. Including the one that is entirely made in sign language. You have to… I don’t know.. influence some creative choices, right ?”

“Nope !” Komeada said, laughing. “You are confusing any kind of skill with pure luck, Hinata. I’m no different from someone who son the lottery.”

“Who won the lottery five times,” Hinata corrected. “You produced five movies. Six with this one, which will probably be an incredible success. I don’t know why because Kamukura can’t act, Enoshima is the worst, the script is terrible, and the set looks like it’s made in cardbox,” Hinata argued.

Komaeda fell silent, and looked away from Hinata.

“This is what you think ? Interesting.”

He didn’t have the time to say more, Kirigiri was calling him for his scene, and he had to put on his stupid, smelly wig and save Junko Enoshima from her death.

Sometimes his life sounded like a joke.

*

“And… cut !”

Hinata almost cried in relief, throwing his wig on the floor - almost hoped it would fall in the water, but since the waterfall wasn’t really one, it wouldn’t make this horrendous thing disappear. It was finally over. The crew was given a day off, and the express command to rest during that day, as everyone looked dead on their feet. Every scene with Enoshima had been filmed though, so the rest would probably be a piece of cake.

He was surprised to see Komaeda still lounging around, as exhausted as the rest of them were.

“You’re still there ?” Hinata asked him. “How surprising.”

“It really is,” Komaeda yawned, hand in front of his mouth. He was always so proper. “I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Shoot,” Hinata replied

“Let’s walk.”

Komaeda started to drift away from the crowd, getting closer to the waterfall.

“Uh, sure ?” Hinata said, following him, a few steps behind. “I kinda want to go home, at some point ? And, you know, sleep until friday morning, or until I’m dead may-”

“Why didn’t you ask me to star in one of my movies ?” Komaeda cut him off, very seriously.

“What ?” Hinata asked, caught off-guard. “Where the hell does that come from ?”

“Komaeda tilted his head on the side, curious. “You seem to think that I have some sort of curse, that makes all the movies I’m producing highly-successful. You are wrong, as I was only lucky, but if that is what you think, and if you truly want to become an actor in the future, why didn’t you ask for a part in one of my movies ?”

Hinata blinked. Truth was, he didn’t consider Komaeda as a ‘contact in the industry’. He was unpleasant, rude at the time, unwillingly hilarious, and Hinata enjoyed spending time with him, more than he would admit it. He didn’t want to… use his relationship ( whatever it was ) with Komaeda to further his career

God, he was never going to be an actor at this rate, right ?

“I didn’t want to owe you anything.” He settled for something that sounded vaguely honest.

“Well, aren’t you a prideful nobody,” Komaeda huffed.

But he was smiling too. And Hinata felt like he had done something right, in this whole mess. Without thinking, he took a few steps in the other’s direction, until he was so close he could see every nuance of green inside Komaeda’s eyes, and noticed how the other’s eyes fell on his lips. They were… as alone as they had ever been.

“I…” started Hinata, without any idea what he was going to say.

But he didn’t have to rack his brain for anything, as suddenly, previsibly, a chunk of the so-cheap-it-was-probably-carbox set cracked under Komaeda’s feet. Hinata saw his eyes widen comically, his mouth open in a silent scream of surprise, and the next instant, he was plunging toward the ground, five meters under them.

Hinata reacted in half-a-second, and caught Komaeda’s wrist as a reflex, and didn’t let go even when he heard the characteristic crack of a broken bone. He almost let go, though, when he heard Komaeda laugh breathlessly.

“See, Hinata ?” His laugh was borderline hysterical. “Am I not the luckiest person alive ?”

“You broke your fucking wrist, Komaeda,” he replied.

*

As predicted, Dream of Future was a huge success. It might or not have been because Enoshima created a huge scandal by pretending being pregnant with Kirigiri’s husband’s child, and then claiming that she would kill herself if he didn’t recognize the baby. Sure, critics tore the movie appart, as it was objectively a pile of burning trash, but everyone wanted a taste of the scandal, as short-lived as it was.

All in all, Hinata was happy to only be a stuntman in this whole affair.

Maybe not wanting to be in one of Komaeda’s movie wasn’t that stupid of an idea.

[ladykeane]

for the fic prompts: reg and bertie adopting a cat!!!

Prompt filled!

I decided to cut to the chase. ‘I could not help but notice the pamphlet from Battersea sitting on the coffee table.’He now simpered at me boldly. ‘Come on, Reg… you know how dearly I want one! I’ve already cleared it with Mr Manglehoffer. Anyway, he has those yappy shih tzus. Couldn’t you just imagine curling up on the sofa with a little ball of fur, purring sweetly away in your lap? We can get it some toys and a scratching post, and stick its litter tray in the second lavatory. I could even get one of those mini vacuum cleaners to deal with the fur.’Clearly, he’d anticipated all of my possible protests.

For the majority of my life, I have considered myself a fairly guarded and self-contained man. Coming from a large and boisterous family, with siblings that loudly vie for attention and prominence, I have instinctively adopted the role of careful observer. Learning to read human character, and applying that knowledge to best improve my own situation, has become a lifelong skill that has aided me in both my career and social standing.

By contrast, Bertram is naturally carefree and open, largely unconcerned by how his interactions with others affect his own situation. I theorise this may be due to his status as an only child and an orphan, who has had to seek out love and approval by pleasing his extended family and his peer group. The claustrophobic clamour of my own demonstrative family has driven me to be quite guarded.

Of course, that is not to say that Bertram entirely lacks guile. I have noted his novice study of the psychology of the individual (I am not too humble to say that my modus operandi has been his primary inspiration), and he has slowly become more canny in his negotiations.A prime example of this occurred only last week.

I returned home from work. Instead of encountering the usual disarray of empty mugs, unfolded laundry, and errant clutter strewn about the place, the flat was impeccably tidy. The strains of my favourite Tchaikovsky concerto floated from the stereo system, interspersed with muted metallic clangs echoing out from the kitchen. The sound of my beloved singing to himself could also be discerned.

‘What ho, Reg. Dinner will be on in about five. Just got to finish the potatoes. I thought we could eat in the dining room tonight.’Curious, I peered into said space. The table was set for two, accented by a swathe of lit candles and a fresh bouquet of white peonies as a centrepiece. This sort of ceremony was usually reserved for birthdays and other such occasions. As I put away my work things, I pondered what Bertram’s motive could be. I prayed that he hadn’t broken anything irreplaceable. Or, even worse, invoked the wrath of one of his aunts, thus requiring my help to, as he is wont to say, ‘pull him from the soup.’

As I crossed back towards the dining room, I spied one piece of clutter which remained conspicuous on the coffee table: a pamphlet from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. It reported on the unfortunate spike in abandoned animals that occurs after each Christmas, as well as the purported advantages of taking in a rescue animal as a family pet. 

Bertram met me at the table with two plates of juicy sirloin, and an attractive smile. He had donned his pale blue, fitted Cuban collar shirt, which displayed the graceful lines of his neck and collarbone most fetchingly. ‘There’s tiramisu for dessert, too. The one from Angelo’s!’

As we dined, I fought between savouring the exquisite trappings that Bertram had laid out, and the fizzle of exasperation at the imminent pitch that I was in for.Bertram has always been enamoured of cats, and I had long known that I would have to deal with his desire to adopt one as a pet. I am certainly not averse to the animals - in some cases they are charming companions, elegant and affectionate, and less intrusive to a household than a dog. However, they can also possess a changeable temperament, and the scratch-marks and fur they can leave on one’s furniture is, at least in my view, a major detriment. Not to mention the ghastly odour of their litter trays.

I decided to cut to the chase. ‘I could not help but notice the pamphlet from Battersea sitting on the coffee table.’He now simpered at me boldly. ‘Come on, Reg… you know how dearly I want one! I’ve already cleared it with Mr Manglehoffer. Anyway, he has those yappy shih tzus. Couldn’t you just imagine curling up on the sofa with a little ball of fur, purring sweetly away in your lap? We can get it some toys and a scratching post, and stick its litter tray in the second lavatory. I could even get one of those mini vacuum cleaners to deal with the fur.’Clearly, he’d anticipated all of my possible protests.

I pushed a mound of green beans about my plate, and huffed to myself. There are a number of inadvisable fancies that I have striven to cure my fiance of: garish fashion choices, toxic acquaintances, and not least of all a phase where he attempted to learn the banjo. But this, I fear, was more deep-seated.The poet Baudelaire had much to say about the comfort of feline companionship: ‘Viens, mon beau chat, sur mon coeur amoureux.’ Likewise the prophet Mohammed, Catherine the Great, even the sublime Freddie Mercury. My Bertram counted among this group. His beautiful loving heart was eager to make a comfortable home for some lucky beast. While my fastidious habits still balked at the adjustments of taking on a pet, I knew deep down this was a battle I could not win. Especially considering that a softer part of me would be delighted by the little creature’s presence, despite any potential mess.

He interrupted my rumination. ‘I mean, since we’re well settled in to our flat now, and will soon don the spongebag trousers to exchange our vows… I figured it was about time, you know. Expand our little family and all.’While I knew the pleading look in his large blue eyes to be mostly a crafty design, it still had the effect of melting me utterly.

‘Well…’ I said slowly, ‘I insist that I be present at the selection of the animal. I should like to have input as to which one we choose, and the chance to assess its temperament prior to adoption.’‘Of course, old thing, I wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s going to be your cat, too.’‘Be that as it may, cleaning and feeding will fall entirely to you, my poet.’‘Right ho.’

One upshot was that he washed the dishes entirely by himself, and later allowed me to undress him and ravish him in all the ways that pleased me best - though I warrant this last perk was certainly a mutual one.

***

‘Oh Bertie, I’m ever so glad that you’ve come to rescue one of our little sweethearts!’ Ms Bassett, eyes shining, led us cheerfully through to the cattery. ‘You know, Roddy and I just found the perfect baby brother for Piglet, a dear little fox terrier cross named Snowy. Just like the doggie in “Tintin”!’A thoughtful mien passed across Bertram’s face.‘A doggie, eh?’‘No, Bertram.’‘Oh, alright.’

The cattery was a bright, clean space, with the cats kept individually in large perspex enclosures. I confess I was not unaffected by the rows of bright emerald eyes and twitching velvet ears that we beheld.‘Let me know if you would like to meet any of these precious angels, and you can go in and introduce yourselves,’ Ms Bassett informed us.‘I say, I like this one!’

Bertram had already been drawn to one inmate, who’d padded right up to the front of the enclosure to gaze up at him curiously. A small, delicate thing, with grey tabby markings on her mask, back and tail, and white underbelly and legs. As Bertram kneeled to greet her, she chirruped away in a light, dulcet voice.‘Puccini likes you, Bertie! She’s not usually so friendly with visitors.’‘Puccini, eh? We could call her “Poochy” for short, eh Reg?’‘Most amusing, Bertram.’

We entered her enclosure, and she wasted no time in winding herself about Bertram’s legs, still chirping at him. She was rewarded with a gentle scratch on the head, and she purred loudly. I could sense that this was love at first sight.‘Who’s a good Poochy, then? Do you behave yourself for Ms Maddie?’‘Mrowr.’‘Jolly good.’

He plopped himself down, and spent the next hour playing with Puccini. He giggled as she batted at his outstretched wriggling fingers, stroked her plush fur as she gently headbutted his arm, and even let her lick his face with her sandy pink tongue. All the while he cooed at her, while she responded in kind with a lyrical stream of mews and tweets and squeaks.‘Little chatterbox, isn’t she?’‘Like attracts like, Bertram.’

It seemed inevitable - we would not need to see any other cats. After a while I approached Ms Bassett. ‘I believe we have made our selection.’‘More like Puccini has made hers,’ she remarked. ‘But I’m afraid that it’s not that simple. Puccini came from a house full of cats, you see, and doesn’t do well on her own. The policy for adopting her is that she must have another kitty housemate.’

My heart dropped to my stomach. One cat was enough of a compromise, but two cats could be potential bedlam. My mind roved to images of troublesome cartoon siamese, broken ceramics, and overwhelmed house guests.

But then my gaze settled on Bertam cradling the purring Puccini in his arms, a look of pure bliss cast across his lovely face. A heavy sigh escaped me.‘Bertram, we must adopt a second cat in order to take Puccini home. Shall we select one?’

He looked up at me, partly surprised and noticeably moved.‘Oh… are you sure, Reg? I mean, I’d be over the moon to get two of them, but…’I swallowed my diffidence down. ‘I could no more bear to part you from your new friend than I could part the Red Sea.’‘Reg… you are a marvel. Well… since I chose this one, why don’t you choose the second for yourself?’

I left the two of them to seek out our next adoptee. Here I rallied my sound judge of character. Puccini appeared to be bubbly and perhaps a little capricious, so I reckoned that a cat with a steady, serene temperament would prove to be the best influence for her.

I passed the rows of prospective pets, paying careful attention to demeanour and body language. The friendlier, more extroverted cats I discounted right away - they would no doubt prove to exacerbate Puccini’s friskiness. I instead paid attention to the cats who remained calm and still. Some were simply grumpy, and they would not do. Nor did I consider the animals who were sluggish and entirely unresponsive - that could possibly be a sign of poor health.And then, I saw him.

Perched atop a tiered scratching post, this long lean beast was the very picture of feline elegance. He was pure white, with a long tail that was swishing about slowly and gracefully. His face was not soft and round but aquiline, almost lionesque. His eyes were closed in contemplation. The long neck was tilted slightly to the side - all the better to show off his wonderful profile. Had I not known better, I would have deemed him a fine marble sculpture.‘That’s Vasily. Handsome, isn’t he? Would you like to say hello?’

Ms Bassett let me into the enclosure, and I carefully approached him. ‘Good day, Mr Vasily.’At this he opened his eyes, and I was astounded to discover they were a similar hue to Bertram’s: brilliant, summer sky blue. He meowed at me, a low, husky drawl.‘Vasily is a nice chap, very calm. I think he’s the least anxious cat I’ve ever seen,’ said Ms Bassett.

I held up a hand to him, which he gently headbutted. His coat was like silk. He purred at my attention, deeper and more resonant than Puccini’s delicate timbre.I could well picture myself lounging about with a good book and a glass of wine, with this exquisite animal draped upon me. He had a look of such serenity and intelligence, the exemplar of his species.

While I was not eager for his white fur to meet my dark apparel, I spent some time with Vasily, basking in his natural tranquility. Ms Bassett suggested introducing Puccini to him.The smaller cat eagerly jumped up to join him on the scratching post platform, making a very forward introduction in licking the fur on his back. He responded to this by drooping in ecstasy.‘They are both desexed, are they not?’Ms Bassett nodded, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Well, Reg, I think we’ve found ourselves a fur-baby family, what?’

***

We brought our new pets home with a cosy sort of excitement. The first task was, of course, to allow the cats free reign to explore the flat, and get comfortable with their new home. I had made Bertram set up the litter tray that morning, to prevent any accidents.

They padded cautiously about, sniffing at the furniture and seeming to conduct a little conversation of their own:‘Meow.’‘Mrowr?’‘Miiiaow.’‘Prrrt!’

Bertram sat upon the sofa, encouraging them to join him. Puccini quickly snuggled into his lap.‘Awfully nice spot to watch telly here, Poochy. Or possibly listen to a good recording of “Madame Butterfly!”’

It was at this juncture that a magnificent crash sounded from the kitchen.I rushed in to find my elegant Vasily clambering about on the workbench, knocking down the tea things with his long swishing tail.‘Mr Vasily!’‘Miaow?’‘Get down from there at once!’

He blinked at me with serene, uncomprehending blue eyes.I shooed him off the counter, and he leapt to the floor, spilling a jar of tea leaves in his descent. As he scooted out of the kitchen, he bumped into the rubbish bin.

Once I had cleaned up the mess, I found the culprit sitting next to Bertram on the sofa. Puccini was still curled up on his lap, her tail swishing as she dozed. It was inadvertently smacking Vasily in the face. Each time he was hit, he recoiled with surprise.  But not once did he think to get out of the way. It was almost comical to watch this cycle of stupid endurance.

‘That was Vasily making a racket in there?’ Bertram asked.‘I regret it was.’‘Hm.’ He examined the feline, still being helplessly swatted by his new housemate’s tail. ‘You know what, Reg? Not for the first time, I think you’ve fallen in love with a blue-eyed himbo.’

***

Thus far, Vasily has broken three pieces of glassware, one mantlepiece clock, shredded Bertram’s favourite purple long-sleeve tee (no great loss), knocked several books off their shelves, and repeatedly interrupted Bertram and I in flagrante. He has also accepted his place as the second banana, as Puccini has asserted herself as pack leader without room for argument. Last night, he spilled my cup of tea across the dining table, almost ruining my laptop.

And yet, every time I look into his blue eyes, completely helpless as to the chaos that he leaves in his wake, I pang for the sweet, silly creature. He has very quickly claimed a place in my heart. Upon cleaning up his messes, he is all too eager to snuggle with me as I peruse Spinoza or Wilde, and his purrs are deep and soothing. Without malice, without coldness, and without any bloody common sense. My Vasily is a welcome addition to our little family, and with him I am a less guarded, more loving man.

***NOTE: Vasily and Puccini are inspired by my brother’s cats (I being the owner of a darling doggie). Vasily crossed the rainbow bridge in 2018, but he has a happy forever home with Jeeves and Bertie. I can attest that the real Vasily was just as much of a clumsy, heedless dumbass, while also being singularly beautiful (reminds one of a certain Drone, no?)

[justjessame]

Silence Chapter 4

As we grew closer to the meeting point, Negan grew quieter. A blessing AND a curse.

I’d never been gifted at guessing anyone’s age. Even prior to the world aging everyone at an average of five years a fucking week, I sucked at it. The woman waiting for us could have been around my age, or she could have been closer to my mother’s age, had she survived giving me life. She doesn’t seem to take notice of me at all, which gives me time to study her and try to make some sense of her and Negan’s exchange, but that seems less than helpful.

Mostly Negan seems lacking in her esteem.

From their back and forth I gather that it took him far longer to murder/assasinate/decapitate Alpha than the woman he addressed as Carol had expected. While he had technically fulfilled his part of the deal, she wanted more time to complete hers. Instead of rushing to Alexandria, the community they were a part of, she wanted time alone to process. Since I have no background and it would appear that I gained the power of invisibility- Wait, if I was invisible, why not take advantage?

I was about to do just that when the slight movement caught my captor’s keen eye. Damn it.

“Elara,” his tone sounds pleading and my eyes close in an attempt at gaining strength. “Please.”

I go with him, again, and he tells me about Alpha’s daughter. Lydia, a name I didn’t know, but a child I vaguely recalled from the sightings of their group during my travels. He’d hidden her in another spot, to keep her safe from a mother who wanted to end her life. Together we go to the cabin, another of my haunts, one that I use sparingly and only during the harshest weather. When Negan enters first and a fist connects with his face, I’m stunned into submission. A wild, crossbow wielding man stands demanding answers, and I have to say, I’m both impressed and slightly terrified.

“Where’s Alpha?” He’s growling, and I blurt it out. That she’s dead, that her head is lodged on a pike at the border of their lands. “The hell are you?”

I’m glaring now. “Nice of you to ask that NOW.” I manage to bite out with an eye roll. “I’m no one of importance, clearly. Think of me as just an innocent pedestrian.” Innocent pedestrian who’s been taken hostage by a maniac, and then kidnapped by a redneck crossbow freak. My day gets better and better.

“She’s dead?” His eyes land on me again, and I nod. “Do you even know who she is?” the ability this man has to doubt my intelligence both impressive and irritating. Seriously.

“Yeah. Dumpy. Gross. Whispery. Hick. Creepy as FUCK?” Pointing with my thumb at Negan, I tell a secret that even I wish I wasn’t privy to. “He played ‘hide the pickle’ with her.”

I wish I had a camera and film. Something, ANYTHING to capture the looks on their faces. They were PRICELESS. And Negan’s sputtering attempts at explanations.

“Why’d you kill her?” Crossbow was lowered from my person, so now they could get down to the nitty gritty, I guessed. I relaxed marginally, pulling my pack from my back and sitting down.

Negan had recovered from the horrifying knowledge that I’d managed to get Alpha Does Negan Live and in Living Color quickly and started tossing shots about Daryl’s ‘girlfriend’ and some more back and forth that made me consider how many puddles of manly piss I was going to have to dodge before I could escape the testosterone fueled wonderland I’d wandered into.

Eventually Daryl insisted that we vacate the cabin. I started to argue, but I got fucking overruled. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a fucking wonderful good goddamn reason why I am NOT a joiner. Then he went a step further and tied up Negan for the trip.

“Bondage?” My eyebrow raised as I took in the ropes being tied around Negan’s limbs. “Kinky much?” Their heads raised, eyes locked on me as I kept my voice down from habit. “First the whipping thing in the forest, now ropes in this cabin-”

I’d done it again, I created a vacuum of awkwardness. Good. Now maybe they would let me-

“Come on, smart mouth-” the gruff roughneck muttered, pulling Negan’s bonds. “Let’s get goin’.”

We head back toward the fucking border. Negan and Daryl having more back and forth and I feel like the third wheel in the WORST version of a buddy cop/odd couple movie ever optioned. I’m tired, I’m bored, and I am very much overloaded on the too peopley button.

When we get to the border I nearly scream. Her head is fucking gone. And of course, Daryl the wonder brain thinks this means Negan is lying, and by extension he somehow has manipulated me into being his bard. Because Negan is so fucking what? Charismatic that my brain melted and I IMAGINED what I fucking witnessed. Um, OK.

“I saw what I saw,” I offered, moving forward toward the pike where I’d watched Carol pop the weird fucking prop earlier. “They’d never leave her here.” I muttered, thinking about her pack. “They’re creatures of habit. This line is for enemies. For the disgraced. For showing who has been taught a lesson and for a reminder. She was their leader, their saint. They’d never demean her and leave her here.”

“Are you saying-” Negan was watching me like he’d never seen me before, and he probably hadn’t. Not like this, not as the academic version of myself.

“Pack animals, or people who are pretending they’re pack animals, are habitual. Whereas they line their border as a warning for those who break ranks, they would never show their own loss or mourning in the same horrifying light.” I sighed, looking at each spot that was empty. “The last time these pikes were filled, they were filled with-” I looked at Daryl. “Your people?” His nod was curt. “Putting her head here, that’s an act of war and aggression, I hope she knew that.” I was talking about Carol, and I know that they both knew it. “You know that the leader role goes to-” I didn’t have a chance to finish. Men.

They argue about whether Negan enjoyed his time with Alpha, a gruesome topic so I went back to studying the pikes. The markers, the ground. One day, very soon, they’d learn who the new Alpha was, and I REALLY hoped they were both together and I got to see it. Fucking ignoring males.

Daryl gives up on waiting for the elusive Carol’s return to the pike line. He insists that I accompany him and Negan back to Alexandria, and I feel like a prisoner that Negan once mentioned being. Although to be fair, neither of us were bound when we arrived.

I was given a room in a house, and a little girl, inquisitive and cute, wearing an odd hat came to greet me.

“Hello, I’m Judith Grimes,” she was wearing a gun that was almost as long as her forearm and a katana was strapped to her back. I was impressed despite myself.

“Elara,” I held out my hand and hoped I was smiling. Negan stood beside me and she grinned up at him, which I found strange. “I think you must know this one-” I gestured to him dismissively as she shook my hand with gusto.

“Oh me and Miss Grimes are old friends,” he was close enough that his body head was bleeding into me. He didn’t say another word, but she nodded toward a building nearby and his head gave a small tilt that could mean a number of things. “Do you mind showing Elara around?”

“Course not,” her smile grew, and my tour began as Negan headed off toward the buildings nearby.

The community was impressive, but I missed the wildness of the forest. Even the shower and the bed in my temporary room wasn’t tempting enough to make me want to stay. My fingers felt around the window frame, tugging until I could open it enough to get a bit of a breeze flowing. Sighing at that tiny shred of freshness, I sat down on the soft bed and pulled my notebook out of my pack and the pen free from its pocket to fill in the blanks since my last attempt.

I was still writing when I heard the small notice go up that Carol had come back.

The first warnings come and I find it lucky that I wasn’t attached to my new digs. Moving again, this time to an abandoned hospital, a tower where we divy up the chores and tasks, something I am more than capable of aiding and abetting, regardless of how often I’ve managed to run and hide to survive.

I haven’t seen Negan since he rushed off during my tour with Judith and I hadn’t spared much thought for him. I updated my history of the times, so to speak. I managed a nap, for which I was certain to be thankful for later. I’m sent to search for Negan at some point, seemingly to make sure he’s behaving himself, much to my chagrin, and I find him with a young woman. Thinking that I could do with one less Naken Negan Fun Times scarred into my psyche, I’m about to turn and go, when I hear her tell him that most people had hoped he would have died while he was gone as well as Alpha. Oh dear.

I sigh, louder than intended and the dog with the two of them alert them. Shit. “Sorry, I was sent to do a head count.” Using an exaggerated finger point, I do so. “One, two, and puppy makes three,” I’m turning to go, when the girl brushes past me. Fuck fuck fuck. I stop and drop my head. Dear God, if you’d like to do me a serious solid, let this fucking floor swallow me right fucking now. Please. Amen.

“Elara,” quiet again, not pleading, just quiet. Tired. I turned back to see that the dog went with her. Lydia, it must have been Alpha’s daughter, cleaner than I’d ever seen her, but clearly taking her mother’s demise well. He looks beat, worse than I’ve seen him. Not that I’d seen him all that much. Christ. “Come here for a second?”

“I was sent to find you anyway, so look at me, first day on the job and already head of the curve.” I walked closer. “You can’t force it, you know that, right?”

“Who are you?” He was leaning against a wall, staring at me like he was seeing me for the first time again, always so surprised. “Seriously.”

I shook my head. “A lifelong student.” I mirrored his posture and sighed. “It doesn’t matter, Negan. Who I was, who I am? None of it matters anymore.” I shrugged. “Nuggets of knowledge, that’s all I have.”

“How do I help her?” He wanted to, it was so clear and heavy. His need to make it right. To fix it for Lydia. “How can I make her feel-”

“Better?” I was staring at him like he was crazy, because it was insane. “Negan, her mother is dead. You killed her. Her mother wanted to kill HER. There’s no easy fix for that.” I shook my head. “Lydia’s a victim and has been one since the moment she drew her first breath. Until she comes to terms with that, and the mixed up shitstorm of fucking modpodge of shit that she feels for that woman who birthed her? She can’t grieve it, she can’t let it go, she can’t fix it and feel all better.” I pushed off the wall and started for the doorway. “If she can’t, then I hate to tell you Mr. He-Man Alphamale, you haven’t got a prayer.”

I hear that the horde is coming, and calls to each post. Daryl asked that I’m found and given a position near Carol, since he noted my bow and I suspect that he chose to believe it was more than an accessory. She too is an archer, and as I move to stand beside her, I suddenly feel less invisible.

“Didn’t really get a chance to speak before,” she says, as she checks her bow one last time, and I too am doing final checks. “I’m Carol.”

“Elara,” I offer, notching an arrow and readying my first shot. “Are we aiming for walkers first, or Whispering freaks?”

The flurry of activity keeps my mind from thinking about the endings. Endings are the WORST when you become a joiner. It’s why I stay apart. It’s why I don’t introduce myself or learn names or sleep in beds or-

Cause the endings come after the battles you don’t run from and you see the girls or boys you spoke with and learned about piled high or tossed like dolls thrown aside by irate toddlers at the end of a destructive playtime. Endings ruin walls and people and destroy bodies and lives. There are always the both sides' arguments, but the truth is that there is a good side and a bad side, but when the bodies are stacked, when the limbs are entwined and the blood is splashed around, I dare you to separate it into good and bad.

Carol and Lydia lemur the horde, from what I hear later, as I’m being bandaged on wounds that I didn’t notice being given. I’m not present when Negan’s given the title I knew he’d accidentally earned with his decapitation of Lydia’s mother, for which I will FOREVER be saddened, but the look of shock on his face when he tells me about it later, much much later when we have a quiet moment alone will forever be etched in my memory banks.

When he tells me that he and Lydia have made a sort of peace, I roll my eyes.

“What? I didn’t push her.” A raised eyebrow and his smirk is my answer. “I think my charm is growing on you, Elara.”

“You mean like fungi?” I ask, trying to sit up, but he won’t allow it. “I am NOT an invalid.”

“No, but you do have a head wound, you stubborn-” and then he does something that shocks me enough to render me immobile. His lips touch mine, a slight brush, enough to stop me from moving, but not enough to make me freak completely out and hit him.

Not to be outdone, as he’s about to pull back, my hands, traitors that they are, slide through that hack job of a haircut and hold him to me. I can feel the smirk return as his lips press back against mine, but I could give a shit as my mouth opens in invitation and he takes it. His tongue touches mine and then his arms are around my back and I’m not prone anymore, but sitting on his lap wrapped around him. My teeth tease his now kiss swelling lower lip, and he groans as he pulls back.

“We shouldn’t.” That’s my cue to groan. “You have a head wound, Elara, and as much as I want to,” he shifts and I feel just how fucking much he WANTS to. “We can’t. Not yet.”

I shake my head. “Where’s pervert Negan?” I mutter, flicking my tongue against his lip and smiling as he moans. “I REALLY like pervert Negan.”

“Fuck if I don’t LOVE pervert Negan, sweetheart,” he laughed, leaning forward to lay me down on the bed again. “I promise he’ll come out to play with you as soon as you get the all clear.”

I pouted, letting him tuck me in, but feeling quite peeved that I couldn’t have more. More of him. NOW. “Can regular Negan at least hold me while I have forced celibate naptime?” I sighed. He chuckled and slid into the bed beside me. “I guess this’ll do.”

“Course it will,” he murmured into my hair. “Just make a list of all the fun things you and pervert me can get into instead of counting sheep-”

Like that was going to help my sorry ass go to sleep...

[meganshinsou-tm]

Sugarcoated. (m)

↳ chapter seventeen: the void

❧ genre: pro-hero hitoshi, adoptive siblings, happy ending

❧ chapter warnings: mentions of suicide/self harm, depression, anxiety, comfort

[multi-chap masterlist] [previous chapter - next chapter]

The loud and obnoxious sound of the alarm on your phone woke you from a deep slumber. You groaned and reached behind your head to the arm of the couch and grabbed the device, picking it up and touching the 'off' button. Your fingers went to clutch the phone but it slipped from your hold and landed straight on your forehead.

"Oh for the love of fucking christ why!"

Groaning and moaning in pain, you rolled over and fell straight off of the couch with a yelp. 

"I'm just going to lay here and die," you thought to yourself as your face stayed buried into the rug. 

The phone started to ring only a few seconds later, startling you from the serene quietness of the house. With a sigh you sat up on your elbows and grabbed the phone, seeing that it was Hitoshi calling, more than likely to make sure you were awake from your nap.

"Ayeeee," you answered with a tired and un-enthused tone.

"I swear you're something else woman, are you awake? Like awake awake?"

"Yeah I'm awake, trust me," you replied rubbing your forehead.

"Okay, just making sure sweetness. The kid has dance this afternoon right?"

You confirmed Hitoshi's question as you rose from the floor with a groan. The two of you continued to converse as you put on your hoodie and coat, shoes and grabbed your car keys. It had been exactly three weeks since you moved in with your now boyfriend to help him with the care of Eri. It was an exhausting and busy three weeks but so wonderful at the same time. You liked the hustle and bustle of bringing Eri to and from school and her different lessons. More than anything you loved being part of Hitoshi and Eri's life, sharing a home with them both and having your own life full of love and happiness, all because of them.

"How about I meet you two after her lesson and we'll go out for dinner since it's Friday?"

You quirked a brow and counted back your days, realizing that Hitoshi was right but also causing another important detail to pop into your brain as you saw a sparkly pink duffel bag by the front door.

"Uh – I think it'll be just me and you actually. Eri is supposed to go to some little slumber party tonight after dance. I just remembered!"

"That's fine then, you know what, since you'll be back at home before me I'll just pick up some take-out on my way home and we'll have a night in together. It's been a while since we've had one of those, kid free. Maybe even have a copious amount of sex squeezed in between some movies and video games?"

You laughed as you were already out the door and getting into your vehicle, knowing good and well that your lover was at his work desk surrounded by his colleagues and not giving a single fuck about if they could overhear him or not.

"Mmm, food, movies, video games and sex. Should I wear my 'holey' pants, I just know how turned on you get when I strut around in them!"

A sharp inhale was heard on the other end of the call, making you laugh again from imagining Hitoshi grinning through his gritted teeth as he thought of your pair of pajama pants with pink pineapples all over them and a good number of frayed holes. You never cared to throw them away because they were the most comfortable pair of pj's you owned.

"Oh now you're talking, maybe even wear a matching trash bag top. Mmm, that'd be so fucking hot!"

More laughter erupted from your mouth, making Hitoshi laugh as well. You sank back into the seat of the vehicle after starting the engine and turning the heater on full blast. "I love you weirdo."

"I love you more sweetheart. Be careful on the road please, and text me when you get there."

"You got it captain!"

After picking up Eri from school, the two of you had a small amount of time to drive-thru and grab a quick snack. Eri sat in her booster seat, eating her fries and drinking her juice happily as you did the same. You turned down the music on the radio and glanced at the little girl in your rear-view mirror.

"So cutie, what do you want to be for Halloween? We're gonna have to start looking for a costume because you got that party coming up, plus we're all going to the festival at UA."

As Eri chewed on a mouthful of salty fries she thought with a finger to her cheek. After a few seconds, her ruby eyes lit up and she looked at you.

"I want to be Alice!"

"Ooh, that sounds easy enough! You'd make a very cute and fitting Alice! You know I think we should make Toshi be the Cheshire Cat!"

"Yeah! He's purple already!" Eri pointed out.

You laughed and agreed with her. You couldn't wait to tell Hitoshi the decision you and his sister made in regards to his Halloween outfit. Eri followed with asking what you would be, which actually stumped you. You weren't much of a fan of the classic tale but you had a general knowledge of it. The Mad Hater or Queen of Hearts just didn't really float your boat. 

"Hmm, who else is there?" 

A light flickered in your head as you thought about making you and Hitoshi match at least in the animal department.

"What about the White Rabbit?"

"Yeah! Then we would all match!"

The rest of the drive you and Eri planned out the pieces of your costumes. Once at dance you walked in with her, hand in hand and helped to get her dressed in her dance outfit and put her long silver locks up into a nice and neat bun. You stowed her stuff away and walked to the dance room, crouching to her level before she went inside.

"Alright, you're going home with Mai and her mommy today for her slumber party. All your things are in your bag, and if you need absolutely anything you let her mom know and she will call me or Toshi."

"Okay Unnie, you and Sou-Sou will come get me tomorrow?"

"Absolutely, whenever you're ready to come home, we'll be on our way!"

Eri smiled and nodded before hugging your neck tightly. You placed a kiss to her head before standing and coaxed her into the dance room. She smiled and waved goodbye to you and ran to join her little group of friends. You waved back and proceeded to give the other girls mother yours and Hitoshi's numbers and made your way back home, more than ready to have a lazy night with your equally exhausted boyfriend.

Hitoshi struggled to open the door of his home, after many failed attempts of calling your cell or kicking at the barrier since his hands were full, he had to manage by himself knowing that you wouldn't be coming to help him. Once inside he heard it was quiet for the most part, which had him worried until he walked more into the kitchen and could hear a vacuum cleaner running down the hall. His heart was put at ease, realizing that's why you didn't answer him.

The hero placed all the bags of food on the counter, he went all out and got everything the both of you enjoy from your favorite take-out place. You had been working so hard the past few weeks caring for Eri, cleaning the house and cooking in your free time, even if it was already spotless. 

Of course Hitoshi wasn't the type to just sit back and let you do these things, either you'd have them all done before he could get home or when he'd offer his help you'd decline it and suggest he spend time with Eri helping with her homework or just playing games with her. Tonight he wanted to make sure you were satisfied in more ways than one, a belly full of good food, a nice bath to relax your tired body, nice soft and comfy clothes and a whole bunch of doing nothing.

After Hitoshi's arms were empty he slid his shoes off and made his way towards the whirring sound of the cleaning appliance. It led him to Eri's bedroom and he poked his head around the corner of her door frame. The sight his eyes fell upon was very welcomed, making him chuckle and smile. 

Your ear buds were snug in your ears, your phone on the toddlers dresser. As you vacuumed you danced along with the music flowing into your canals, singing to it as well. Your hips swayed in a hypnotic way and you had great footwork as you stepped along with the beat. Your entire body was moving - shoulders, waist, head. (H/c) locks swayed along and your free hand was raised up dancing along too.

"Y se emociona, ya no razona. Y me empieza a cantar, me canta así, así. Bidi bidi bom bom. Bidi bidi bom bom."

Hitoshi's eyes lit up as he heard your voice speaking the Spanish language so flawlessly. He knew you liked many different types of music and knew countless songs word by word, the language barrier being no problem. 

This wasn't the first time the male had caught you like this either, there were multiple times he'd walk in on you dancing and singing in the shower, while baking or cleaning. Each time he'd scare the piss out of you by not making his presence known and you'd stop immediately. It wasn't like you couldn't dance or sing, because you could and so well. The sheer embarrassment of it all though is what would make you end the show. 

This time though, he didn't want that to happen. With the help of his own sounds being muted by your ear buds and vacuum, he was able to sneak inside the room and place himself a close distance behind you. His violet eyes watched your foot work and learned it quickly, they'd also gaze to your ass as you'd roll your hips and stick the plump flesh out.

He panted, seeing you in black leggings and a plain long-sleeve shirt. You didn't have to wear fancy or revealing getup's to get his blood pumping and his tongue hanging from his mouth. 

Hitoshi held his hands up and lined them with your hips as he got ready to step in with you. You sang the song so well and perfectly it's like he could hear the beat of it and easily became in-tune with your movements. Hitoshi took a deep breath and waited for just the right moment and took it. 

One arm wrapped around the front of your waist, pulling your gyrating hips into his, the other grabbed hold of your hand that swayed up in the air. Chuckling, his lips brushed against the skin of your neck, making a shocked gasp escape from your mouth. You hadn't fully registered what was happening as Hitoshi danced with you, moving his hips along with yours and pressing his hard chest to your back.

You stopped vacuuming, letting go of the machine and Hitoshi took the chance to twirl you around and face him. He took a bud from your ear and placed it in his so he could hear the music you listened to. It was lively and fun, his hands took hold of yours, fingers intertwining and holding them in the air as he danced along with you quite well.

"Toshi-ah! What the – you never told me you could even remotely dance!"

Hitoshi twirled you, making you giggle and tugged you towards him and kissed your cheek, "You never asked."

"That's my line you turd!"

Smiling, Hitoshi pulled you into his chest and dipped you, timing it perfectly with the end of the song. He was so pleased with himself and placed sweet kisses up your neck to your cheek before standing you straight up again. His arms wrapped around you and hugged you close, you hummed and hugged back burying your face into him. Hitoshi pulled away and removed the bud from yours and his ear, grabbed your phone and shut off your music.

"Come on sweetness, let's get that thing put back up and get our night started!"

After eating all the food you could until you were miserable, Hitoshi ran a bath and you both bathed and relaxed until you were prunes. Now you laid on the couch together watching a movie. Hitoshi played with your (h/c) hair as you laid on his chest until you lost interest in the film and moved to sit up and straddle his lap. He smiled and touched your warm cheek, drinking in the site of you wearing one of his shirts and looking adorable.

"I didn't ask yet, but how was your last full week at the agency?"

Hitoshi explained his week and you listened closely, your hands playing with his.

The time had come finally for him to start his teaching job at UA that following Monday, you were excited and nervous for him, he was more excited than anything. All week after he'd get off work, he'd stop by the school to set up his classroom and get everything in place and ready. 

You and Eri stopped by one day to bring him dinner and you weren't exactly surprised to see just how much he put into the room. It looked chaotic with all the sketches, posters and prints that hung from the walls but it was somehow like an organized chaotic. Everything flowed together well, it was cozy and very inviting. As he stated before, there was a big print of your picture from Disneyland on one of the walls, along with an equally sized picture of Eri. Hitoshi said he was going to make the classroom his own and make it his own he did.

"You excited for your first day of teaching?" You asked, moving your hands up Hitoshi's chest to wrap around his neck and play with his hair.

"Definitely, it'll be a nice change and new journey. I can't wait to meet my students and see how creative they are."

You smiled at your lover's excitement and leaned forward to kiss his lips softly. Hitoshi hummed as his hands rested on and squeezed your hips. He grinned after you broke away, asking what the kiss was for.

"Just because. I'm really proud of you Hitoshi, you set your sights on something and you go after it."

"Well thank you sweetheart. I'm so lucky to have you," he replied and pulled your lips to his again, giving you a kiss to express his gratitude.

You smiled and leaned down, hugging his chest and pressing your cheek to it. Hitoshi wrapped his own arms around you and kissed the top of your head.

"It's definitely the other way around Toshi."

Shinsou smirked as he rubbed your back and you went back to watching the movie on the tv but suddenly it's like your words brought a past memory up, from that night in the bathtub a few weeks ago. 

"I don't know how much longer I would've lasted in this world." 

Somehow he had forgotten to ask you about that night, about your life and emotional health before moving in with him. Looking down at you, Hitoshi figured now was a good enough time to ask you, you were awake and aware and already in a somewhat mushy and open mood. You never had been the type to really hide anything from him, even before your relationship became official. Hitoshi picked up on clues to your moods and he'd ask you about them, sometimes you'd be hesitant or annoyed with his line of questioning but you always answered him. In the end you'd feel better having him to vent to.

"Hey baby," Hitoshi started off as his hand on your back squeezed, "I've been wanting to talk to you about something."

You remained in your place, your hand holding onto Hitoshi's bicep and your thumb brushing his skin under the sleeve of his shirt. "What is it Toshi?"

"Do you remember a few weeks ago, when you and Eri made that cake, me and you took a bath that night and you were dozing off? You said something to me, something about how if I hadn't come along with my job offer then you didn't know 'how much longer you would've lasted in this world'. Does any of that ring a bell?"

Your brows knitted, trying to recall that nights events. The memories were blurry, you were in a dazed state after all. You remembered Hitoshi bathing you, holding you close and letting you melt into him. When you're extremely tired and trying to fight it off, you tend to blabber a lot about your hearts innermost feelings. More than likely that was the case that night, no denying it.

"I don't remember it exactly, but it sounds like something I would've said."

"What exactly did you mean by that? You weren't planning on hurting yourself ... were you?"

There was a pause before you replied, letting out a long and ragged breath as you thought how to form the words that wanted to fall from your lips. 

You had thoughts before, of how much easier life would be if you didn't have a life at all. You wouldn't have to worry about meeting due dates for bills, wouldn't have to be bothered with your families problems and above all, wouldn't have to see that monster you worked for ever again. Each day going back and forth to that café seemed to just break a piece of your soul off more and more. The looks, whistles and words that you'd hear. 

Your only saving grace being Hitoshi when he'd stop by and grace you with his company. For those few moments or hours, you'd feel that everything was good in the world, that maybe you could make it one more day if it meant seeing that tuft of purple hair and those glistening amethyst eyes one more time.

"Uh – not exactly, I guess? I don't know. I think back then I honestly had just given up on caring about my life Hitoshi. I was in the mindset that if something 'bad' did happen to me then I'd be okay with it. Truthfully, I'm too much of a little bitch to ever off myself, I wanted it to be done for me. I'd go as far as seeking out dangerous situations sometimes."

Hitoshi clenched his jaw, letting your words hit him hard, his hold on you grew tighter. You kissed the inside of his elbow that your face rested in and continued.

"I – I'd purposefully walk through the rough and bad areas of the city on my way home some nights. Hoping someone would think I was good enough to mess with and even hurt. Other times I wouldn't pay attention to my surroundings as I walked crosswalks during heavy traffic. I feel disgusted with myself that I even thought of giving into that man I worked for, then trying to back out of it, hoping he'd get mad enough to lose his control and just ... end me. I almost got what I wished for huh? Except that night, my entire view had changed, I didn't want that situation anymore but still it ended up happening, like some sick joke."

Hitoshi could feel his chest tightening, his heart aching and squeezing. The thought of seeing a story on the news about a girl with your description found behind a dumpster in the slums of Japan had his stomach in knots and made him nauseous. The fact that you sought that out, made it even worse. 

If you truly had gotten everything you wished for back then, Hitoshi would've been guilt ridden for sure. It was his fucking job to read people, how did he not see that dead and hopeless look in your eyes? 

Was it because when he was around, even if you acted annoyed, that you were at your happiest? Just the act of him stopping by and requesting you, was that what kept you going? What about your own family, there's no way they didn't play a part in your life and no way they wouldn't have helped you, had you asked for it.

"(Y/N), what about your family?"

Your shoulders shrugged and you hummed. 

"Well, I distanced myself from them. My parents especially, I just wanted to escape all the – the idiocy. My brother and his wife, their kids, they were another reason I kept going. My mother and father though, nothing happy every comes out of those relationships. Just being let down time and time again, picked over for something better."

You had no family really, except for your sibling and his small family. Those two kids of theirs were your entire world. Then Hitoshi and Eri came along and your world grew. You and brother would go a few weeks without talking to each other, it was normal. They would get busy with the kids and work, and you would be busy with whatever was going on in your life. Always though, you'd check up on each other after too long and pick up from where you left off.

Hitoshi was silent as you explained your sad and chaotic life to him, taking it all in. He never knew any of this went on, had he known, he would've done more, made his move earlier! You finally pulled yourself from his chest, going back to straddling his hips and looking at him. The man looked to be on the verge of tears. 

You pouted and cupped Hitoshi's face, leaning forward and resting your forehead to his.

"I'm sorry Hitoshi. I'm sorry I didn't value you my life like I should've. Sorry for not being strong enough and being a coward, for being stupid and endangering myself. I just, I had enough of it all, I was tired," a shaky breath left your lips, " - so tired. I wasn't going anywhere fast enough for my liking, I had these dreams that seemed so unrealistic and I got discouraged. You saved me though and each day I'm so thankful you walked into that café almost every goddamn day and showed me that smile and kindness. It got to where I lived for it, now wholeheartedly I live all because of you."

Tears flowed from your eyes and from Hitoshi's as well. When he felt a tear drop onto his shirt the hero captured you in his arms holding you as close as humanly possible. Your cries rippled through him as he held your head to him and pet your hair. You apologized over and over, for the smallest and most unnecessary reasons. Hitoshi quietly cried with you, comforting and shushing your un-needed words.

"You have nothing to be sorry for towards me (Y/N). I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner or did something about it. The thought of you suffering alone, not being this person I've been so blessed to see these past few weeks, it fucking kills me. As long as there's a breath in me, I promise to do everything in my power to make sure you're happy. I'll support and back all your dreams like you do for me, I'll always be here for you to vent to and let your frustrations out on, I'll be absolutely any and everything you could ever need. You have to promise me though that if you ever feel yourself slipping, even just the smallest bit, back into that void, you'll let me know."

You nodded, sniffling and wiping your nose and eyes with the backs of your hands and arms. "I promise Hitoshi. Thank you so much, for everything. I love you so much."

Hitoshi closed his eyes and squeezed you tight, placing a kiss to your temple and wiped your eyes. "I love you so much more."

The next few minutes were spent with Hitoshi holding you close, both of you calming down and getting back to normal. Your boyfriend instructed you wrapped around and hold him tight as he got up from the couch, carrying you to the kitchen and sitting you on the counter. He grabbed a clean rag and wet it with warm water, wrung it out then placed himself between your knees. As you sniffled, Hitoshi used the rag to wipe and clean your eyes and face. The warmth of the cloth made you relax and you gave the man an appreciative smile.

"Sorry I kind of ruined the whole vibe tonight Toshi."

"Baby, you didn't ruin anything. As painful as it was, I'm glad we had this talk. How about we play a friendly game of Mario Kart to get the mood back up?"

You chuckled as Hitoshi took your face in his hands, pulling you to look up at him towering over you and placing a kiss to your lips. Your hands hung from his as you kissed back eagerly. His warm and soft lips were helping to bring the warmth back to yours. The taste of spicy curry was still on his tongue that was welcomed into your mouth and lapped at your own muscle, you enjoyed it honestly. Tongues retreated back to their own caves and your lips enveloped each other one last and long time before breaking away.

"You're on Hitoshi, get ready to get your ass kicked!"

A cocky grinned grew on Hitoshi's face and he quickly tossed you over his shoulder, placing a firm smack to your ass as he carried you back into the living room. It stung more than usual being you weren't wearing pants to protect your skin. You playfully bit at the back of his shoulder, making him only bite your thigh in retaliation.

"Ow you fucker! I'd be nice if I were you, I do get to put together your Halloween costume in fact, and I could be evil about it!"

"What costume? I haven't told you what I wanted to be yet."

You smiled as Hitoshi flung you onto the massive couch from over his shoulder. His arms trapped your head and he looked down on you and leaned on the couch.

"You don't get a say in the matter, Eri chose for you and it's great! You see, you'll be going as the Cheshire Cat, ears and all! For once I'll be the one drooling over you in a kitty cat getup!"

Hitoshi narrowed his eyes at you and grit his teeth. Your finger reached up and glided under his chin then to bop the tip of his nose as you giggled.

"Cat got your tongue Toshi?"

"Bite me," he snapped back.

Propping up on your elbow, your hand cupped his neck and tugged him down roughly and closer to you, the tip of your tongue licked up the side of his throat and stopped at his jaw where you nipped lightly. "Don't mind if I do!"

[eldritchsurveys]

897.

5k Survey XXIV

1151. What do you think of these diarist names? ToxicToast - I don’t care. Solitary Music: gemini_wish_star: juneberry: 1152. Do you read the Diary Master’s diary? >> I don’t even know which site this survey was made on, so I have no context for this question. 1153. Have you ever made an enemy on OD? >> Oh, word, this was on Open Diary? Holy shit, what a throwback! Anyway, I was on the teen version of this, but never the main one. 1154. Have you ever (or do you know anyone who’s) been deleted from OD? >> --- 1155. Were you ever in the first row of a concert? >> I was in the front row of like 95% of the concerts I’ve been to (not Dream Theater, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Hozier, the last Sevendust show I went to, and most of the smaller shows where the venue’s so small it doesn’t even matter).

1156. Did you ever meet a celebrity? Who? >> Assuming musicians don’t count, I’ve met Julianne Moore and I’m pretty sure that’s it. Sometimes when faced with this question I remember the story of when my ex-friend Vlad ran into Laurence Fishburne and asked him for a cigarette and he said no, lmao. 1157. Do you have any autographs? >> No. I used to but I tossed them all eventually because I couldn’t see the point of having them anymore. 1158. Can you visualize whirled peas? >> I don’t know what you’re talking about. 1159. Are there some situations where love just isn’t enough to keep 2 people together? When does that happen? >> There are many situations like that, in my opinion, but I’m not going to write you a list. 1160. Do you have no attention span? >> I have an attention span. 1161. What do you think of these entry titles? me. back. home: Still don’t care. steak and butter: The Smurfs Go Communist:  The controversial Athens: 1162. Have you ever been wrongly accused? >> Plenty of times, in informal settings. 1163. When you wash your hair do you blow dry it or let it dry naturally? >> I just rub my head with a towel a couple of times and then let it go. It dries in minutes. 1164. Where does your family go on vacation? >> --- 1165. Have you ever been to: Newport, Rhode Island? No to all. Dutch Wonderland? Salem, MA?  Niagara Falls?  1166. Have you ever given money to OD cares? >> No. 1167. Have you ever created an OD interest? If yes, what interests did you create? >> No. 1168. What do you think of these entry names? DEAR SOUL FRIEND 57 Loss: I had a good title but i forgot it:  Left Alone: yeah yeah…he kissed her: 1169. If you have aol what is your ‘you’ve got mail’ sound? >> I don’t have AOL. 1170. What will you never have enough of? >> I have no idea. 1171. Who can you only handle in small doses? >> A lot of people. 1172. You are at a magic auction where you can bid on impossible things but you only brought enough money to buy one thing. Out of these..which would you buy?  entrance into whatever afterlife you believe in a guarantee that you will have at least 3 books published in your life a new car, house and boat each year unending creative inspiration ultimate compassion and acceptance of others a trip into outer space perfect health for the rest of your life 1173. In the above question if finding perfect love was a choice would you change your answer? >> I skipped the above question because whatever. I’m definitely not entertaining this nonsense. 1174. What food is so fattening or unhealthy that you would NEVER touch it? >> It’s not a food being fattening or unhealthy that makes me never want to touch it, it’s a food being unappetising to me and my palate. Like fried Oreos. That sounds abhorrent to me and I wouldn’t touch it with someone else’s hand. 1175. Which do you love more, your country or your planet? >> --- 1176. What do you think of: Abba? Don’t care for them. Brian Adams? Don’t know anything about him. No Doubt? I like them. 1177. Are you more logical or emotional? >> I’m not any more of one or the other. 1178. Do you think that tattoos and piercing are overrated? >> No. 1179. What do you think of these diary titles? The Seamless Garment: Your eyes can be so cruel: What was, is no more: shock me sane:  1180. Do you believe that Michael Jackson molests children? >> Well, even if he did, he doesn’t now. Unless he’s a zombie. Getting molested is fucked up as it is, but imagine getting molested by a zombie. Yeesh. 1181. Hypothetically, let’s say that he did molest them. Who would you feel should be held MORE accountable, Michael Jackson or the parents that allowed their children to go to Never Land Ranch unsupervised for sleepovers? >> Obviously Michael Jackson, unless all those parents were like “yes, please make sure you molest my child whilst they’re there”, like, be realistic. 1182. Have you ever been to: Manhattan? Yes. No to the rest. Disney? Paris? Anywhere cooler?  1183. What 3 music videos should everyone download? >> Ha, download. Anyway, I don’t care what everyone else does. 1184. If someone bet you ten dollars that you couldn’t sing the whole Gummy Bears theme song, would you be able to do it and win? >> I don’t even know what that is, so no. 1185. Do you like Bjork? >> Yeah. 1186. How about the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club? >> I’m not familiar enough with their music to have an opinion. 1187. What do you think of Moby? >> Eh. 1188. What do you think of Alien Ant Farm? >> I like them, they’re fun. 1189. What do you think of the Flaming Sideburns? >> That’s not a band I’ve heard of. 1190. Do you believe that imps, trolls, giants, dragons, unicorns, etc. were real but became extinct? >> That’s an interesting concept but I don’t think it applies to this reality. 1191. What sucks? >> Vacuum cleaners. 1192. What do you think of these diary titles? Geologist to the Stars: The Hussy Chronicles:  Gravy: Napping in the Broom Closet:  1193. Do you ever think about suicide? >> Sure. 1194. Do you believe that Jesus Christ was a real person? How about Noah? >> I’m pretty sure the last time I answered that question was on this very survey... regarding Noah, yeah, he probably was a dude. Maybe he even did manage to rescue a bunch of animals from being drowned in a flood that no one else knew was coming (a meteorologist before his time??), and then got his own hyperbolic-as-all-hell hero’s tale afterward. 1195. What is one luxury you refuse to live without? >> I’m not sure what, in my life, qualifies as a luxury. 1196. What is one luxury you feel you could live without? >> --- 1197. Do you feel that you are high, medium, or low maintenance in a relationship? >> I am high-maintenance in the sense that I have a laundry list of needs and issue and idiosyncrasies that I’m well aware not everyone would understand, let alone accommodate. Then again, maybe my maintenance level just depends on the person, because I don’t think Sparrow struggles all that much (just like I don’t struggle all that much in dealing with her stuff). 1198. What do you think of these diarist names? N.Y.S:  Collapsibleman: *})|({*: black dove: 1199. Do vegetables taste better from the store or from your garden? >> I don’t have a garden. But I do prefer the taste of fresh, locally grown produce. 1200. How long have you spent on this survey so far? >> I don’t know, I wasn’t keeping track.

[thisgirlsays22]

Happy birthday @askmermanlevi!! Love you lots and I hope you know that me attempting my first mer!smut for you demonstrates that love. Thank you for being an amazing friend and for giving the fandom so so many amazing pieces of art <3

Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Explicit Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager Additional Tags: Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Bottom Eren Yeager, mer Levi, Shifter Levi, Smut, Mer Smut, Fluff, pining eren, Oral Sex, Anal Fingering, Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Modern Era Summary:

It wasn’t as though Levi had completely shut down the idea of having sex when he shifted, it was that he needed time, and it would be wrong for Eren to keep pushing. So instead he waited, and yearned, and waited some more.

Plot inspired by the @ereriprompts Redamancy prompt <3

Thank you so much to @attraversiamo19 @zamiraruth @erensjaegerbombs for betaing/feedback <3

Eren loved to watch Levi swim. Body slicing through the lake’s clear water, the blues of his tail glittering when the sun hit them just right. This was their third visit to the Ackerman family’s lake house, and Eren looked forward to the quiet week ahead.

“Caught dinner.” The (mostly) human half of Levi’s body had emerged from the water and, with a small smirk, his webbed hands dropped a still flopping, gasping catfish down on the rocky ground in front of Eren. The gills on the side of Levi’s neck fluttered in the fresh air.

“I think we’ll need another,” Eren said, wanting to watch Levi dive back in, aquamarine tail rising to the surface as he disappeared below the water. Full of an odd longing, Eren tugged on the strings of his hoodie, pulling the fabric tighter to protect against the chilly November air.

That small smirk again. “Well, alright then.” Levi dove back under.

Eren put the fish out of its misery and began gutting it with Levi’s silver pocket knife as he waited.

The second time Levi emerged, he got out of the water the whole way, legs and all. No trace left of the his translucent fins, his shimmery tail. A flicker of disappointment went through Eren.

“You’re indecent,” Eren teased, catching sight of Levi’s cock. “No one wants to see that. Put it away!”

Levi chuckled, teeth chattering as he rooted around in his backpack for his towel and clothes.

“I could warm you up,” Eren offered lowly.

Seeing Levi in his mer form always got Eren worked up. His eyes roamed Levi’s body hungrily, wishing for once he’d let Eren love him in his other form. Levi didn’t acknowledge the comment.

Levi grabbed his bag. “Well, come on. What are you waiting for? I’m starving.”

Eren cast one final look out at the clear lake, nestled between the mountains. The sky beyond looked vast, and Eren felt a little hopeful as he gazed out at the horizon. Like the trip was full of promise and possibility.

He followed Levi back to the house.  

     It wasn’t as though Levi had completely shut down the idea of having sex when he shifted, it was that he needed time, and it would be wrong for Eren to keep pushing. So instead he waited, and yearned, and waited some more.

He understood. At first, Eren was wary of fucking Levi when he wasn’t entirely human. Would doing so make him a fish-loving, bestiality-inclined freak?

“You’re being an idiot,” Levi had said. “Besides, you’re the fucking animal.”

So yeah, Eren understood having hang-ups about the whole thing, but he didn’t quite understand what Levi’s were; they were clearly not one in the same.  

He didn’t even quite understand his fascination, his desire. Maybe it stemmed from the envy Eren felt that Levi had the chance to alter himself so thoroughly, to wear a new skin, whenever he pleased. Something Eren longed for too. Perhaps if he fused Levi and himself together, if it felt like they were one, then Eren could alter himself as well.

     Tonight was their first night at the lake house, so unsurprisingly Levi was dusting all the surfaces in his rapid, efficient way while the fish was in the oven.

Eren had joined in without much enthusiasm and kept getting distracted by how good Levi’s ass looked in his jeans. Maybe it’s better he won’t let me fuck him when he’s a mermaid--man. Shit. He’s going to kill me if I keep getting that wrong. Would he fuck me or would I have to figure out how to fuck him? I’d miss his ass. He has a great ass.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Levi had stopped cleaning and was staring at Eren in disbelief. “Now isn’t the time for daydreaming. Have you seen what a shithole this place is?”

“You’re the one who wanted to go for a swim first and then put dinner on,” Eren whined. “Now I’m tired.”

“Don’t be such a baby.”

“I told you we should have just hired a cleaner to come last week.”

Levi waved a hand. “Tch. Waste of money. Go get the vacuum or something. If you’ve got time for leaning, you’ve got time for cleaning.”

“I wasn’t leaning, I was standing up straight and admiring your ass.”

“Oh, thanks,” Levi’s voice was flat, but that wasn’t his sarcastic tone, so Eren took it as a win. “Now go vacuum.”

Eren paused in the doorway, biting his lower lip.

Levi turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“I’ve just been thinking again. Since I saw you in the water,” Eren said haltingly. “Have you thought more about us--” he gestured between them, raising his eyebrows “--while you’ve shifted.”

“Mm.” Levi shrugged. “A little.”

“Oh,” Eren said. After a beat, he realised Levi wasn’t going to add anything. “So I’ll just...go get that vacuum then.” He turned on his heels, embarrassed at his lack of tact. Hoping to impress Levi, he vacuumed all the more diligently.

     On their third night at the lake house, apropos of nothing, Levi said, “You still want to be a fish fucker?” He was reorganising one of the bookshelves--“Kenny must have been here last, he never puts anything away in the right place.”--on the other side of the room, and Eren was sure he hadn’t heard him properly. Levi’s vague answer the other night had led Eren to believe the discussion would not be picked up for some time (or ever again.)

It was so out of the blue that Eren could only manage to pause his video game and stare blankly at Levi’s back. “What?”

“I’m not saying it again.” The tips of Levi’s ears had gone red, but he was still fussing with the bookshelf.

“Oh god,” Eren breathed, the implication of Levi’s words finally hitting him, “you’re really going to let me?”

“Yes.”

“Seriously?”

Now Levi turned to glare at him. “Yes.”

“No but like for real? You’re not fucking with me?”

“If you don’t knock it off, then it won’t be for real.”

“Sorry sorry! I’m just wow. Wow.” Though he was curious what was going on in Levi’s head right now, what was to thank or blame for his sudden change of heart, Eren feared if he started to push, Levi would rescind the offer. “So how do you want to do this?”

     Once the initial thrill wore off one thing became clear: logistically, it was a nightmare.

It made a sort of weird sense; their whole relationship had been a bit of a logistical nightmare. An innocent question like, “So how did you two meet?” required planning, the harmless twisting of facts, the synchronisation of stories.

Eren couldn’t exactly answer, “Well, I was swimming in the ocean when I was seventeen when a rip tide pulled me under out of nowhere, and then the lifeguard who was also part mermaid-- man damn it. Shit sorry--saved me. I couldn’t stay away from the beach after that and when I finally turned eighteen he fucked me silly on a beach towel and wouldn’t stop complaining about sand in his ass. Yep that’s the love of my life Levi Ackerman for ya. He comes from a long line of merfolk who seem to own a lot of waterfront properties. Great eye for real estate, those mer men and women. Levi and I have been together for about three years now and he still won’t let me fuck him in his mer form, which is a real bummer.”

Now that Levi had finally said yes after all this time, it became clear that the biggest problem was where and how they would do the deed.

“What about the lake?”

Levi snorted. “It’s too fucking cold, especially for you. Your dick’ll shrink to the size of a peanut.”

“Point taken. What about the bathtub?”

Levi scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m fine outside of water for about two hours. I’ll shift in the tub and you can--” he cringed “--carry me to the bedroom. But put a towel down so the sheets don’t get wet and disgusting.”

Once they’d agreed on the bed, Levi ran a bath in the claw tub in the master bedroom’s bathroom. The loud rush of water filling the tub was the only sound between them until Eren said, “Do you want me to leave while you, you know?”

With a bored expression, Levi flicked his gaze to Eren. “Be a bit stupid of me to care if you see me shift at this point. You might as well stay. Maybe it’ll scare you off.”

“It won’t,” Eren said firmly. Levi shrugged one shoulder as if to say suit yourself.

As Levi had requested, Eren went to lay some of their dark towels down on the bed. When he returned the tub was full, and Levi stripped and lowered himself in the water. Eren licked his lips, nerves thrumming. His skin felt electrified with anticipation, goosebumps running up the length of his arms.

Submerged in water, Levi’s body was blurred, but Eren watched as his legs began to fuse together, slowly, at first and then suddenly they were one. That’s when the scales began to form, color blooming into different shades of blue along the tail. Smaller fins emerged at the point where his hip bones would have been and at the end of the tail. His gills were next, opening at the top of his throat as his ears contracted into sharp points, webs appearing between his fingers. Nails becoming clawed and black like a beast’s.   

“Is this really what you want?” Levi asked, the muscles of his abdomen flexing as he hoisted himself into an upright position. Eren caught sight of his sharp incisors as he spoke. There was something even more alluring about Levi like this, the ugliness and power mixed in with all that beauty. The lighter blue fins of his tail fanned themselves at the base of the tub as though testing the air, Levi’s eyes dark and suspicious as he studied Eren.   

A sharp intake of breath as Eren returned the scrutiny. His cock stirred and then strained against his jeans. “Yes.”  

“Well, what are you waiting for? I’m not fucking you like this if you make me army crawl to the bedroom.”

Eren lifted him from the tub, getting used to the new weight in his arms, the slippery feeling of Levi’s wet tail. In his human form, Levi was bulky and muscular already, but his tail was heavier than Eren had expected.

“Careful,” Levi said, voice gentle now. “My fins are sensitive. Make sure they don’t catch on anything.” His arms came up to wrap around Eren’s neck, and Eren could see flecks of gold in the piercing grey of his eyes. Eren swore the color looked different now; the dark grey of his irises lighter.

Eren swallowed and nodded, his mouth dry as he carefully maneuvered them through to the bedroom.

“You remembered the towels,” Levi said appreciatively. He reached for one to dry himself off, leaving another on top of the bed.

“I’m not fucking this up so easily,” Eren replied.

Due to his overeagerness in the past, Eren had accumulated an assortment of embarrassing situations: kneeing Levi in the balls, falling off the bed while changing positions, coming in his pants. This time he would be careful, smooth.

He moved so he was hovering over Levi, hesitant to let his hands wander or to rest his full weight down. But kissing, kissing he could do, so he started there. He slipped his tongue into Levi’s mouth, curious to explore the feel of the newly sharp points of Levi’s teeth, the otherness of it all. His cock throbbed as Levi responded in kind, running his nails down Eren’s back, sucking Eren’s tongue farther into his mouth. Wanting to feel Levi, to see if he was as turned on as Eren, he reached for him only to find...air.  

Eren pulled back and looked between them with a confused frown. “Where’s your dick?”

Levi snorted. “It’s in the slit. I mentioned it before.”

Eren had only a vague recollection of this. They’d never really gone into the mechanics of how this would work. “When does it come out of the slit?” Eren asked, furrowing his brow. He ran a curious finger along the soft edge of the slit, surprised and delighted when Levi gave a full body shiver.

“When you get me excited,” Levi replied.

“Does it excite you when I do this?” Eren murmured, dipping a second finger into the slit. He kissed Levi’s neck, just under his gills, and moved his fingers in slow circles. He could feel Levi’s pulse quickening under his tongue, and when Eren pulled back he could see that Levi had closed his eyes.

He could feel his cock now too, hard and wanting as it emerged from the slit. It was slick with Levi’s arousal and hotter to the touch than Eren had ever felt it before. Though the feeling was different, Eren was pleased to see that it was still recognisable as the same dick he worshiped regularly. He gave it an appreciative stroke, enjoying the warmth spreading through his hand as he glided up and down the slick shaft.

Levi’s tail came up to wrap around Eren’s ass, to pull him closer, and Eren let out a soft moan. The scales were cool and firm against Eren’s skin, a little uncomfortable actually, and it was strange not to be able to tangle his legs with Levi’s.    

“Your tail feels weirdly...strong.”

“There are muscles in there,” Levi said, and squeezed a little tighter. “You not enjoying it? Grass always greener?”

“It’s just taking some getting used to,” Eren admitted. “But no, I think I like it.” He ran his hand from Levi’s human waist down to where his tail began, fingers testing and pressing into the scaled, strong flesh. New and strange and Levi .

The corner of Levi’s lips quirked into a small, half-smile, and Eren bent forward to kiss him again. They stroked one another, rubbing their cocks together. He could tell Levi was being more careful with his touch than usual, careful to keep the hooks of his nails from hurting Eren.

“Would it feel good if I went down on you?”

Levi snorted. “What do you think? Don’t be a moron.”

“Be nice or I won’t suck you off,” Eren warned.  

Levi didn’t say a word.

It was strange not to be able to shift down between Levi’s legs. Instead, Eren knelt before Levi on his right side as he began to explore the slit with his tongue, running teasing circles around Levi’s dick.

He ran a hand up Levi’s tail, where his thigh would have been, and inadvertently provoked a full-body shiver from Levi.

With a hiss of pleasure, Levi said, “Do that again.”

“What did I--?”

“Around the fins.”

Eren moved his hand back down and ran his thumb around the soft fins, his tongue still running teasing circles around the base of Levi’s cock.

“Happy you decided to try this tonight?” Eren asked, lifting his head so he could see Levi.

Voice pitched low, Levi said, “I’m coming around.”

Levi’s hips jerked as Eren enveloped him into the tight heat of his mouth, cock ramming down the back of Eren’s throat in his surprised pleasure. It only took a few sucks before Levi tugged Eren’s head up, said, “I need to be inside you.”

Eren turned himself so that he was facing Levi’s tail and eased himself down onto his waiting cock, letting himself be filled to the brim.

Levi groaned softly. “You were ready for me already?”

“Yeah,” Eren said, voice breathless. He’d prepared himself earlier in anticipation for this, biting back his moans in the bathroom as he’d opened himself up, imagining this moment.

As he moved, he bent forward so that he could finger Levi. He timed his movements with Levi’s thrusts.

“Jesus fuck,” Levi gasped as Eren added a second finger. “I always thought it was fucked up that my asshole is on the front, but I’m starting to think I was wrong.”

Laughing softly, Eren shifted so he could gain more leverage with his knees and lift himself a little higher. Levi’s hands came to rest on his hips, and he was panting beneath Eren, thrusting up into him with barely contained strength.

“God, you feel so good,” Eren said, pausing his movements. “But I really want to see you now.” He slid off Levi’s cock and turned around to take in Levi, fucked out, forehead damp with perspiration, lips bitten red. His eyes were so dark with lust that Eren let out a soft, breathy moan. “You look so good too.”

He knew he was the only one who had seen Levi quite like this, and he understood what a gift it was. Eren drank him in, he trailed kisses across the part of Levi’s body where the human muscles ended and the blue hues of his tail began. Fingers rubbing that tender area at the base of his fins. It was rare that Levi was vocal in bed, but he kept whispering Eren’s name like it was a surprise each time Eren touched him just right.    

Eren nearly sobbed with pleasure when Levi was inside of him once more and he’d wrapped a hand around Eren’s cock.

“ Eren .” Levi gave a bitten-off moan, hips bucking up as he rutted into Eren desperately. The back of his head tipped back, tips of his pointed ears brushing against the headboard.  

Eren could barely formulate words, but he managed to choke out, “Christ you look so fucking beautiful like this. Fuck me harder, please, ” he begged, moving his hips to try to take Levi in deeper.

Maybe this was the only way he’d get Levi to accept a compliment without argument because there was no flippant reply, no changing of the subject. Instead, Levi pulled him forward into a searing kiss. His lips moving against Eren’s like a drowning man, and that was it for Eren. He came in hot, stick bursts all over Levi’s chest, and a moment later Levi gave one final, deep thrust and came too.

     “Why now?” Eren asked the next morning. Sunlight flooded the kitchen overlooking the shimmering lake. He was standing by the sink, waiting for his pot of coffee to brew when he’d finally worked up the courage to ask these questions. “Why never before?”

Sometimes Levi could be coaxed into talking about his feelings, but as the silence dragged on, Eren doubted this was one of those times.

Levi took a sip of his tea before finally saying, “I’ve never had sex in my mer form before.”

Eren already knew that piece of information, but he stayed silent and still as he waited for Levi to continue.

“I was afraid if we started you might hate it. It’s part of me, part of who I am. Who the Ackermans are.”

Puzzled, Eren said, “But that’s exactly why I love it. Love you.”

“You also might have loved it too much,” Levi said wryly.

“What do you mean?”

Levi crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. Light cut across his face, streaking across his cheeks as he sighed. “There’s a world out there of people who are willing to pay good money to fuck someone like me. I don’t want to be someone’s fetish either.” 

They’d turned up the heat that morning, but the kitchen hadn’t yet warmed. Eren frowned down at his fuzzy slippers. He couldn’t possibly think of Levi that way, the thought of it completely alien. It pained him to think that Levi had believed that this whole time, that maybe Eren’s own worries had fed into Levi’s fears.

He spoke carefully, “You know it’s been three years, right? And that I’m in this, really in this. It’s not because you’re a shifter or in spite of you being a shifter. That’s irrelevant. I love you .”

“Alright,” Levi said, looking into his tea cup as though it was telling him something important.

“If that makes me a fish fucker so be it.”

Levi’s eyes cut to Eren’s and he laughed, his arms dropping by his sides as he relaxed.

Coming to stand before Levi, Eren rested his hands on his shoulders, made him put his tea down. “I meant what I said last night too.”

“What? ‘Fuck me harder, please’?”

“Yeah, and the part where I called you beautiful. You are. All the versions of you.”

“Thanks,” Levi said reluctantly, expression blank. “That’s...good.”

He probably was dying to tell Eren to fuck off, so Eren’s words must have really touched him if that was the reply. Eren grinned. “And I hope we can do it again so I can fuck you next time.”

“Idiot.” Levi tugged Eren onto his lap, laughing quietly as he rested his forehead against Eren’s arm. “We’ll see,” he said.

And that was enough for Eren.