#it was supposed to be much longer but i got distracted and forgot

[fagcifer]

i typed this down while fighting dongbaek. multitasking while trying to kill my own wife and trying to talk somewhat coherently is actually very difficult for my smooth brain, guys.

also its unfinished because the train if thought evaporated away.

i think ive mentioned this somewhere in a now deleted post of mine, between all seven of my accounts, of me connecting damien and 'awake' together. maybe its the literal 'maybe i could never fly' part of the song where i straight up lose my shit, close my eyes and see damien wearing a loose white blouse while sitting on the edge of the window sill with his heavy ass wings fluttering.

stay with me here !!! (telling myself) imagine, lucifers big ass mansion or something, i cannot imagine him being poor, but this have to take place after foxtail because in the comic he still have those misty ass wings.

which leads me to the first point that may or may not derail further into madness, damiens fucking age. foxtail wouldve roughly taken place around maybe late to mid 2000s, give or take, but i refuse to believe that hes a 2000s baby. i refuse to believe that hed be a little toddler while eve watch human news and witness 9/11.

second point, this is giving me ideas to make him those idol photo card type stuff and foster them like a lunatic noona. theyre pretty cheap to produce... but considering that i wont have that much pictures to print out, most of them would likely be duplicates.

[yuri-is-online]

Out of the Bag (Jamil, Ace, and Idia x Yuu)

"Oh can I help you? You seem to be lost." You attempt to cheerfully ask the vaguely familiar looking person in front of you. As if he is deliberately trying to rub salt in your wounds, Crowley ignored your request to leave campus for NRC parents day and is instead making you and Grim run errands. The person in front of you, blissfully ignorant to your inner turmoil perks up at your attention.

"Forgive me for asking, but are you the magicless prefect?" You and Grim exchange a confused glance. "You've got to be right?" They're practically glowing with how happy they are to see you. " Oh I'm sorry, I've just heard so much about you!" Wait, what?

notes: (so uhhhh Jamil and Ace were supposed to be a part of the original post but I cut them out because I had to go to bed but forgot to remove the tags, sorry </3) they/them pronouns used for Yuu, sibling snark (Jamil and Ace) vs light angst (the Shroud parents), light reference to certain events in Ch. 6, but nothing specific. If you liked this please check out the first version on my masterlist.

Jamil

"Oh yeah, you're Najma, right?" The younger girl looks pleasantly surprised you have remembered her from your visit to the Scalding Sands.

"Well that makes this a lot easier, do you know where Jamil is?" You internally cheer at how polite she is, some of the other families you have been dealing with today have really been testing your patience. "I've been looking everywhere for him, but couldn't seem to find a good opportunity to sneak up on him." Or maybe not, that doesn't sound like she hasn't seen him at all, why is she asking you?

"According to my schedule he's probably in the gym for the club activities program." You confirm with your clipboard and Najma sighs.

"Lame, he's gonna be all sweaty and gross." She checks her phone as you sneak a glance at Grim trying to figure out how much longer you have before you need to find something shiny to distract him. "Actually maybe I can just ask you." You turn your attention back to Najma who seems to be tapping her cheek with her phone and sizing you up. "Is there anywhere to get snacks on campus?"

"Now you're talkin!" Cheers Grim, bringing a really bright smile to Najma's face and a tentative one to yours. "Mr. S's Mystery Shop's got all the tuna you can ask for!"

"And other things to." You helpfully add and Najma happily begins to follow.

"So what do you like to do?" she asks almost ten seconds into your walk. "Like what fun stuff is there to do around campus?"

"Shouldn't you be asking your brother?" You ask, thankful Grim is too caught up in his tuna thoughts to make any snarky comments.

"About you?" Najma laughs and you feel a bit silly. "Nah he hates being honest about things like that."

"Well I don't have much free time..." but you manage to list off some things that you like as Najma nods, still tapping her phone on her chin for some reason.

"What about food?" she stops fiddling with her phone and just goes straight to texting on it as the Mystery Shop comes into view. "I know Jamil's food looks boring but it tastes super good."

"It sure does." Grim says, well more like whines. "He only ever gives it to Yuu and gets mad when I eat it though."

"That's because he asked for my opinion, not yours." It's a petty thing to say, but hey Jamil's a good cook. Najma seems to agree, giggling before you both jump ten feet backwards as a strangely shaped blur nearly knocks you over.

"NAJMA!" Jamil is indeed, sweaty and gross looking, his basketball jersey is practically drenched through, almost like he ran the entire way to here from the gymnasium. He's doubled over, hands on his knees as you fumble around looking for the water bottle Crewel made you bring with you earlier which he gratefully takes.

"Oh hey what are you doing here Jamil?" You don't know Najma super well, but she almost sounds disappointed to see her brother. "Prefect said you were at the gym."

"Don't start." Jamil passes you back the empty water bottle, hesitating just a bit before he lets you take it. "She didn't do anything weird, right? Hasn't said anything strange?" You blink in confusion.

"No? She's just been asking a bunch of questions about stuff. Jamil relaxes, letting you take the bottle with a genuine smile-

And gets cut off by a shutter sound effect making you both turn towards Najma, who doesn't bother looking up from her phone camera.

"Whoops thought I turned that off."

Ace

"Well, well, well, just what should I do with you?"  The ginger stranger is stroking his chin with an all too familiar look that puts you on edge, not because you think he is going to try anything illegal (yet) but because you can practically see the collar on this guy already.  There really is no beating around the bush about who this guy is, even if you really wished you had some plausible deniability.   "I could tell you about that time I told him if he kissed a frog it would turn into royalty and he actually did it-"  Too much information he technically just did.  "Or what about that time he only wanted to eat carrots so I freaked him out by saying he was turning into one because his hair was orange-"  So is yours big brother Trappola!  And where the hell is Grim he is supposed to be suffering through this with you.  "Nah those are too boring- oh I got it!"  Before you can break out in a dash for the mirror chamber, big brother Trappola claps an unintentionally (you hope) firm hand on your shoulder.  "Listen to this- wait I didn't introduce myself I-"

"Ace's brother."  He seems genuinely taken aback.  "He talks about you all the time." 

"Oh does he?"  Maybe you shouldn't have mentioned that, little Trappola's ego was insufferable already, older Trappola's has got to be worse right.  It's so obvious you can't even bring yourself to put the question mark on it.

"Funny you mention that, from my end it seems like all he ever talks about is Yuu."  He makes a big show of looking you over.  "Always talking about what a pain it is to look after you, but he never does stop."  He maneuvers himself to look directly into your eyes.  “You must be pretty special then, right?”

“Didn’t you used to go here?”  You ask, crossing your arms and fixing your best “not today Trappola” look onto your face.

“Sure did!  Also got put into Heartslabyul, must run in the family, we’re all a bit mad.”  Older Trappola breaks eye contact for just a second, something dancing on the tip of his tongue you have no desire to entertain at all.  You just want to ditch this overgrown root veg on his brother and then take a nap.

“So then, just to be clear, you don’t need me to show you around.”  You fumble around your clipboard looking for a map anyway.

“Oh no I absolutely need you to do that.”  You like it when Ace plays dumb better, at least it’s cute.  “Would be a really bad thing if you just left me all alone and I went somewhere I wasn’t supposed to.”  He stands up straight, looking off into the distance behind you with a dramatic sigh.  “Somewhere like Ramshackle Dorm maybe?  I hear that’s one of Ace’s-”

 A surprisingly strong pair of arms wraps you into an embrace from behind.

“Back off.” snaps Ace, a lot harsher than either of you have heard before “This one’s mine.”

Idia

"Dear! Dear! Come look it's the prefect!" A very excited very pink woman in a sundress and comically oversized sunglasses beckons to a very tall, very out place looking man who is... also wearing comically oversized sunglasses.

"The who?" he sheepishly walks over to his wife and gives you a little wave, clearly out of place but trying his best.

"The prefect! Ortho and Idia's friend." The realization seems to hit both you and Mr. Shroud at the same time, causing you both to retreat just a bit. You because you feel desperately dumb for not noticing the flaming hair and him because-

Well you hope it's because of the whole house thing but who knows.

"Oh sorry. Um we're Mr. and Mrs. Shroud but you probably already guessed that it's really nice to meet you." You awkwardly shake hands while Grim hides behind your legs.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Asks Mrs. Shroud. "I'd hate to interrupt things too much."

"Oh no that's not really an issue for me." You look down at Grim for half a second before adding. "For us."

"I'm sorry to hear that." whispers Mr. Shroud, gently taking his wife's hand and you stand around in silence for a little bit, trying to figure out how to walk the conversation from the ledge it's found itself on.

"Um if there isn't anything you need help with-"

"Idia speaks really highly of you." Mrs. Shroud says gently, and you have to keep yourself from fainting from shock. Idia speaking highly of- no forget that. Idia talks to his parents? And you were the conversation topic? If she had said it was Ortho that would make sense but Idia? "I know he can be a bit blunt, but he treasures your friendship. And as his mother, I am very grateful he has someone as kind as you in his life."

"We both are." whispers Mr. Shroud. "If you need help while you are here please don't hesitate to ask us." And with that they leave you and Grim

~~~

[Fullmetal] hey ortho said u ran into our parents irl

[Fullmetal] srry that had to be awkward

[yuu] it's cool

[yuu] I mean they spooked Grim but they were nice lol

[Fullmetal] UNACCEPTABLE

[Fullmetal] ...so do you think that he'd be cool to come over so I can like

[Fullmetal] apologize

[Fullmetal] u know for the stress

[yuu] and not for talking about me behind my back (￣ε￣)

[read at 6:57 pm]

[Fullmetal is typing... ... ...] [... ... ...] [... ... ...]

"I don't need to apologize if I said nice things... right?"

[cassiabaggins]

Too Bitter, Too Sweet (part one)

A chance encounter gives you a once in a lifetime opportunity: the chance to reunite with your first love, Leon Kennedy.

Fluff and Angst

Words: 4k

Warnings: none. Just Leon being awkward. NO SMUT

(April is an oc, she is VERY briefly mentioned because I couldn't resist)

Reblogs and comments appreciated! Cross-posted on ao3.

You can hardly believe what you're seeing. He's older, with longer hair and a hardened look, but you'd recognize him anywhere. Leon Kennedy, your first love and college boyfriend. 

You're approaching him before you can think about it. 

“Leon?”

He freezes, startling a little like no one has called his name in forever, and turns to stare at you. There is no spark of recognition in those baby blue eyes. 

“Uh, hi?”

“It's me, Leon. Y/N. From college? We… were close.”

Close is an understatement. The two of you had dated for almost a year, but he doesn't seem to recognize you or remember. You suppose you can't blame him. It's been nearly ten years and you've both changed quite a bit.

A beat. Another. 

Then his eyes widen and a soft, shy little smile blooms across his face. “Y/N,” he murmurs, then laughs, running a hand over his hair. “Wow. Hi! You look… different.”

You giggle. Oh Leon. He's really not changed at all. “Different?” You ask.

“It's a good different!” He hurries to say.

“It's good to see you again,” you tell him. 

He nods vigorously, his hair falling into his eyes. “You, too.”

He looks around the area, as if trying to figure out what you're doing here. “What are you doing in D.C.?”

You adjust the strap of your purse. “I'm here for work,” you explain. 

Leon puts his hands in his pockets. “Work, huh? You passed the bar, then? That's amazing.” 

You feel your cheeks warming. “How'd you know I was a lawyer?”

“Because that's what you were studying in college,” he replies. “It wasn't that long ago. You think I forgot? Besides, how many different jobs are there to be done in a courthouse?”

You laugh softly, and Leon grins, clearly pleased that he made you laugh. His smile is exactly the same as you remember it, slightly lopsided, sweet, and genuine. It makes you remember easier times and how he used to kiss you. You shouldn't be thinking about him like that… it's been almost ten years, there's no way he doesn't have a girlfriend.

“Are you still in law enforcement?” You blurt, desperate to distract yourself.

Leon shifts in place, and you think his smile falters slightly.

“Something like that,” he says ambiguously. 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It's hard to explain,” he replies, scratching the back of his head. “Uhm… it's government stuff.”

He's clearly uncomfortable, so you stop pushing. 

“Do you like it?”

“The people I work with are great,” he says.

Not exactly an answer. 

“Well, that’s good,” you say, adjusting your grip on your purse. Leon opens his mouth to reply, but is interrupted by the sound of a jaunty ringtone. 

“Shit,” he mumbles, quickly pulling a cellphone out of his jacket pocket. He frowns when he sees the caller I.D. “Uh, one sec, I have to take this.”

He steps away to answer the phone, and you watch him for a bit, wondering if you should leave. But you can’t bring yourself to. You’ve only just met him again, and just like in college, he fascinates you. But this time, a little over a decade later, there’s so much more to him. Not just physically, though he’s certainly bulked up a bit over the years, but there’s a darkness and mystery to him that excites you. Besides, what woman hasn’t fantasized about reconnecting with the one that got away? 

You’re shaken out of your thoughts by Leon approaching you again. He looks apologetic. “I have to run,” he says. “I’m sorry. But it was really nice to see you again!”

You don’t want him to leave! You want to keep talking to him! You want to know if he’s happy, if he’s got a wife or a girlfriend, if he still likes listening to metal, if chocolate icecream is still his go to flavor.

But he’s already walking away.

“Leon, wait!” you call. “Before you go!” 

He turns and you reach into your purse and pull out one of your business cards. He takes it with his left hand and peers at it. There's no ring on his finger.

“What’s this for?” he asks

“Just in case you need legal advice,” you joke. “Or if you just want to catch up.”

He smiles and fishes his wallet out of his pocket. You catch a glimpse of some sort of badge as he tucks the card carefully inside. “I’ll do that,” he says, and then he's gone.

You settle into your temporary office and log into your computer to begin going through case files. It's humdrum work, but necessary for the success of your client's appeal. But, not five minutes into this, your work phone starts ringing.

Expecting either your boss or a paralegal, you pick it up and introduce yourself by name.

“Uh, whoa,” says the person on the other end. “That was fancy and professional.”

You'd know that voice anywhere.

“Leon?”

He laughs awkwardly. “Yeah, hi. How're you doing?”

You lean back in your seat and twirl the phone cord around your finger, a bashful smile spreading across your face. “Well, not much has changed in the last 20 minutes, to be honest. But it's nice to hear your voice again.”

You can hear the smile in his voice when he replies. “You, too. I hope I'm not interrupting something.”

“You're not,” you assure him. “Although I'm not technically supposed to take personal calls on this line.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” he replies. “But this is the only way I could really contact you.”

“Oh yeah?” You bite your bottom lip, trying to fight a smile. “And what was so urgent that you just had to call me?”

There's rustling on the other end, Leon must be switching the phone to his other ear. He takes a deep breath and lets it out, like he's nervous. Your heartbeat speeds up in anticipation. 

“Well,” he says. “I was just thinking how nice it was to talk to you again. I was hoping we could do that again. Soon. Maybe over coffee?”

It takes all your willpower not to squeal like a teenager. But you're a professional. 

You clear your throat and try to act nonchalant. “Coffee sounds nice.”

“Great!” Leon sounds thrilled. “It's a date!”

“A date?” you tease.

“Uh… I mean… only if you want it to be,” he hurries to clarify. “You still have your maiden name on your business card and I didn’t see a ring, so I assumed— fuck, do you have a boyfriend?”

He meant a date date. You feel a thrill of excitement.

“No,” you say quickly, “no boyfriend. No fiance or husband either… I’m single.”

“Oh, good,” he says, and you almost laugh at how relieved he sounds. “I don’t have any of those either.”

“You don’t have a boyfriend or husband?”

“No wife or girlfriend, either.”

Oh, so he’s got jokes now. You giggle again. God, when was the last time a man had you laughing like this?

“I'm only in D.C. for the summer,” You explain. “Just until the case is over. I don't know many places to get coffee.”

“Well, you're in luck,” he says. “Because I do! I know the perfect place!”

The coffeeshop he recommends is a tiny, hole-in-the-wall place with the best espresso you've had in years. You and Leon plan for only an hour at most, but stay there chatting for nearly two. He even walks you to your car, and as you drive away, watching him wave goodbye in the rearview mirror, you realize that you had done most of the talking. At first, you want to shrivel up and die from embarrassment. Everyone always says that you talk too much, and there you went, yammering away…

But Leon had asked me out again, the other half of your brain pipes up. And he never disliked you talking in the past!

Emboldened by this realization, and determined to eek more information out of Leon next time, you continue on your way.

And so, one coffee date turns into two, then three. Reconnecting with Leon is… it's just amazing. He's older now, hardened by life in a way you can't quite fathom, but he's still so handsome and sweet and attentive. You can forgive his slightly awkward mannerisms and weird schedule and how cagey he is about his job. The first point is nothing new, of course, it's part of what charmed you in the first place, all those years ago. The weird schedule you chalk up to his job, and if it really is government stuff, you can understand why he's so secretive.

Of course, he can't stop you from daydreaming about what his job is, and your imagination thinks up all sorts of dashing occupations. Secret Service, CIA, FBI, Homeland Security… It's fun to imagine him as the dashing hero, leaping in to save the President himself from an assassination or single-handedly stopping a foreign spy organization. He probably looks hot as hell in a fancy suit, sunglasses, and an earpiece.

Coffee dates are nice and all, but you find yourself wanting more. You hint at it a fee times, Leon is oblivious as ever, so you ask him directly. 

“We should get dinner,” you say, pausing by your car. Leon has walked you out to it, just like he always does after your coffee dates. “Somewhere romantic.”

You raise your eyebrows at him expectantly. He's quiet for a second, staring back. 

“I thought you liked coffee?” He asks, looking like he thinks he's seriously misjudged the situation. You just laugh, putting your hand on his arm.

“I do!” You assure him. “But I also like pasta and wine.”

Leon looks relieved. “Oh. Well, I do know a good Italian place!”

You beam. “Yeah? Is it nice?”

“Very,” he assures you. “Very hard to get into, but I can pull some strings.” He winks. “Perks of the job.”

You aren't sure if he's joking or not, but you like the idea of it, at least. 

“Exciting,” you giggle, leaning close to him. “Should we go this weekend?”

Leon's face falls. “I can't do this weekend,” he admits.

“That's okay!” You're quick to reassure him. “We can do next! Or the one after.”

“No, next weekend is perfect,” he says, looking relieved. “I'll have to make a reservation, but I'll call you, okay?”

You let out an excited squeal and throw your arms around Leon's neck, kissing him before you can think.

This is the first time you've kissed since— well, since you broke up the first time. You almost pull away, but Leon cups the back of your neck and kisses back.

He's a better kisser than he used to be, that's for sure, and the whole thing leaves you breathless and weak-kneed. 

He grins at your dazed expression, licking his lips and looking very pleased with himself.

“Next weekend, then?”

You reach up to wipe away a smear of your lipstick off the corner of his mouth. 

“Next weekend,” you agree.

Leon promises to pick you up at 7 PM on Friday night. The two of you text back and forth almost nonstop as the night approaches, exchanging phone calls whenever possible. You're so excited that you even pick out your outfit days in advance.

Then, one day, the communication from Leon just… stops.

It's a day before your date, so you try not to worry too much. Something probably came up. But you find yourself checking your phone almost obsessively. No reply.

You push down your worry and get yourself ready for the date. You choose your favorite set of lingerie to wear under your little black dress, just in case, and probably spend way too long on your makeup.

Nonetheless, you're ready a good hour before he's scheduled to pick you up. You wait nervously for an hour, pacing your hotel room, then snap a picture of yourself to send to him. No answer. By 7:20 PM you're furious with him. By 7:45, you're in tears.

At 8 PM, you're pissed AND crying and a knock sounds at your door. You tear it open, ready to give Leon a piece of your mind, but stop in your tracks. 

Leon looks like shit. He's wearing a rumpled suit and his hair is a mess. Deep shadows show under his eyes, a bruise is forming on the left side of his jaw, and his chin is covered in three day old stubble.

He thrusts a bouquet of flowers into your arms.

All your anger drains out of you, all at once, replaced with concern.

“What *happened*?!” You blurt. Leon flushes. 

“I'm sorry,” he says. His voice sounds hoarse, like he's been yelling for twelve hours straight. “It was a work thing.”

He scratches the back of his head and the movement raises his rumpled shirt, allowing you to see the ugly yellow-purple of a bruise on his hip. 

“A work thing?” You prompt.

He winces. “I can't… tell you.”

What the hell?

“What do you mean you can't tell me?”

“I mean I can't tell you!” He snaps, his eyes darkening for a second. “Okay?”

You can't help but flinch and Leon's shoulders slump when he catches it. “I'm sorry,” he whispers. “I just… can't.”

You wonder if he can't or won't… but you don't press it. 

“You want to come in?” You ask softly.

“I thought we had a dinner reservation?” He asked, glancing at his watch.

“We did,” you say. “But you're an hour late. We missed it.”

Leon, somehow, looks even more forlorn at those words. “I'm sorry,” he says again. “I was in a different timezone, I didn't reset my watch and—”

“Leon.” You interrupt the beginnings of a spiral with a firm voice. “It's fine.”

You step back from the door and wave him inside. “Come on. I want to put these flowers in water.”

Leon shuffles in after you. He stands there, in the tiny entryway, and looks around your hotel room, shoving his hands in his pockets. You don't really have a vase for the flowers, come to think of it. Fancy hotels like this come with all sorts of amenities, but vases are not one of them. You waver for a moment, before grabbing the complimentary ice bucket and filling it with water from the bathroom sink.

Leon watches silently as you arrange the flowers, before speaking up.

“I should have brought a vase, too,” he says. “Sorry. I didn't think—”

You smile at him. “Hey, don't worry. It seems like you have a lot on your mind.”

He cracks a wry smile. “You're telling me.”

With the tension leaking away, you lean forward and smell a rose.

“Are they still your favorite?” He asks.

“I'm sorry?”

Leon gestures toward the bouquet. “Pink roses. Are they still your favorite flower?”

Honestly, pink roses haven't been your favorite flower since college… but the fact that Leon remembered that they were immediately bumps them up to number one once more.

“Yeah,” you whisper. 

And Leon beams. 

You don’t notice him approach you until his hand smooths down your back. You turn to look up at him, taking in his tired eyes and apologetic expression. You wonder again what his job is, and then wonder if you really want to know. Maybe ignorance is bliss.

“I’m sorry for missing our date,” he says softly. “Let me make it up to you.”

“We could try again tomorrow,” you murmur, turning fully to face him. “Or next week, if that doesn’t work out.”

“Sure,” he replies, his hand coming up to cup the back of your head. “But I was thinking of doing something a little more… immediate.”

He bends to kiss you, tender and slow, and you let yourself lean into it. Leon always kisses you like you’re the most delicate, precious thing in existence, he touches you like he’s afraid you’ll break, and you know he means it. You know that you matter to him.

You’re breathing heavily when the two of you finally part. Leon pulls back slowly, his eyes searching your face, looking a little shy but also a little proud of himself. He licks his lips, glances past you at the bed, then meets your eyes again.

“Wanna move this over there?” he asks, gesturing toward it with his head. Your heart skips a beat with anticipation. 

“Sounds good,” you breathe.

That night, you fall asleep in Leon’s arms, well and truly satisfied in a way you haven’t been in a long time. He’s clearly more experienced and more confident than the boy you slept with in college, but he’s still him. Still adoring, still attentive, still a little shy. 

He pretty much lets you take the lead the whole night and while he doesn’t say it outright, you get the impression that he just wants to be taken care of. If you notice tears in his eyes at the end, you don’t comment on it and neither does he.

He drops off soon after you finish, lying on his back like a soldier. You watch him for a few minutes, admiring the curve of his jaw and the slope of his nose, the dimple in his chin and the moles on his neck. There’s a scar on his cheek that you didn’t notice before, a thin white line nearly hidden by his stubble. You wonder how he got it. Probably doing something heroic, knowing him. You fall asleep entertaining little fantasies of Leon being a hero and saving the day.

You're awoken by Leon stirring in the bed next to you. You don't worry too much. You're a light sleeper after all.

You puff your pillow and get comfy again. Behind you, Leon stirs again, a soft groan escaping him.

You roll over, a little concerned. He has his arm slung over his face, but you can see a frown on his lips. He's breathing heavily, but you don't want to wake him up if you don't have to. He looked so exhausted when he came here earlier. It's probably nothing. You close your eyes again, but another soft groan from Leon has you opening them again.

You push up on one elbow, a little frown on your face. He's probably dreaming about something, but you can't tell if it's good or bad. His arm drops off his face, his fingers balling in the sheets. 

“No…” He mumbles. “Please…”

A nightmare, then. You sit up fully and reach for him, but before you can touch him, Leon flings out his arm, inadvertently smacking your hand away, and cries, “Ashley, no!”

Ashley? Who the hell is that?

You shake your head. Now is not the time for that, not with Leon in the midst of a night terror.

You reach out again, grabbing his shoulder and giving him a harsh shake.

“Leon!”

He doesn't wake right away, his head tossing side to side and his face screwed up.

You try again.

“Leon! Wake up!”

Leon jerks upright and the world spins sideways, your back hitting the bed with a thump and all the air rushing out of you. A weight presses down on you, arms pinned above your head.

You glimpse Leon above you and faintly register that the force across your neck and shoulders is his forearm. He doesn't seem to see you, even though his blue eyes are wide with terror.

“Leon?” You croak out.

“Fuck,” he gasps, suddenly seeing you. “Shit. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

You're able to catch your breath again as Leon scrambles off you and through the ringing in your ears you hear him stumbling around the room. You sit up just as the bathroom door slams closed.

Behind it, you hear retching.

You don't know what to do. You sit shell-shocked in the bed, surrounded by rumpled blankets and pillows and stare at the thin strip of light shining from beneath the bathroom door. You rub your hand over your sore clavicle.

What on earth was that? Why would Leon react like that after being woken up from a nightmare? And who the hell is Ashley? It was like Leon didn't even see you when he woke up, like he was stuck somewhere else, living through something horrible. What has he gone through in these ten years you've been apart? Does it have anything to do with his beat up appearance earlier? With the scars you noticed on his body? Did this Ashley have something to do with it? 

Bzzzzzzzt-bzt-bzzzzzzzzzt-bzt-bzzzzzzzzt

You're torn out of your that's by Leon's cellphone, vibrating on the bedside table. Jesus Christ, who calls at— you check the alarm clock next to the bed— 4 AM?

You untangle yourself from the covers and pick up the phone. Should you answer it? Leon doesn't seem to be coming out anytime soon and it seems urgent enough that the caller is attempting to reach him in the middle of the night.

You lick your lips nervously and flip open the phone, raising it to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Where's Leon?” The voice on the other end demands. It's female. “Who are you?”

You want to ask the same thing, but you're the one answering a phone that isn't yours. You introduce yourself and the woman on the other end blows out a sigh.

“Oh,” she says bluntly. She clearly knows who you are even if Leon has never mentioned her to you. “Well, can you give Leon the phone? It's urgent.

She doesn't have to sound so annoyed!

“Sure,” you say, sliding off the bed. “Who should I say is calling?”

“April.”

Not the mysterious Ashley, then. That makes you feel marginally better for some reason. 

You pad over to the bathroom and knock on the door.

“Leon? Your phone rang.”

“...Let it go to voicemail,” he mumbles hoarsely from the other side. Oops.

“I already picked up for you,” you reply sheepishly, feeling for all the world like you've made a massive blunder. “It's someone named April?”

“Goddammit,” he mumbles, and the door swings open. In the harsh fluorescent lights he looks like a fucking mess, far worse than he did earlier than night. You can clearly see the bruises, cuts, and scars on his naked torso. His hair is rumpled, his hairline beaded with sweat. He barely meets your eyes, just takes the phone ever so gently from your hand and raises it to his ear.

“Hey, April…” He says tiredly.

You can't hear what she says in reply but you don't want to leave Leon alone, either. He looks like he's about to fall apart for God's sake. You lean against the doorframe and study him. 

You can't stand the way he's hunched in on himself like he's trying to make himself look smaller than he is and the exhausted, defeated tone in his voice makes your heart ache.

“Okay,” he whispers into the phone. “Okay. I'll be there.”

You're pulled out of your contemplation as he snaps the cellphone shut, looking up into his eyes. 

“Is everything okay?”

He grunts noncommittally. “I gotta go.”

Go? At 4 AM? Where?!

“What?!”

Leon scoots past you cautiously, not even meeting your eyes.

“Work,” he mumbles.

You turn, staring at his back incredulously as he pulls on his pants and shirt. “What do you mean work?” You challenge.

“Something came up.”

He doesn't turn toward you so you're left staring at the stiff line of his shoulders as he buttons up his shirt. 

Some random woman calls him in the middle of the night and he's immediately running at her beck and call? Something like jealousy rears its ugly head.

“Who's April?” You ask, not liking the nasty tone in your voice. 

Leon doesn't react. “A friend,” he says vaguely, pulling on his suit jacket.

“A friend calling at 4 AM about work,” you say disbelievingly. “Right.”

That gets a reaction. Leon turns to face you fully and the defeated look on his face immediately tosses all your jealousy and anger out the window. He looks like a kicked puppy.

“I'm sorry,” he whispers. “I wish I didn't have to go.”

You cross the room and pull him into a hug, resting your head on his chest. Leon clings to you, nuzzling his face into your hair, and rocks you side to side. The two of you stand like that for a few minutes, then Leon lets out a long, exhausted sigh.

“I have to go,” he mumbles, pressing a kiss to your hairline. “I'll call you as soon as I can and I'll make it up to you, I promise. Anything you want, I'll do it for you.”

You tilt your head back to meet his eyes. “I want you to be careful.”

He nods. “I can do that.”

“And I want you to take me out on a proper date when you're back,” you add, smiling a little to show you're not too serious. But Leon nods determinedly. “Got it. One proper date, coming up. It'll be awesome.”

He cups your face in his hands and ducks his head to capture your lips in a searing kiss.

“See you soon,” he promises, then he's gone.

You watch him walk down the hall, away from you, and can't help but feel like he's walking out of your life, too.

Taglist: @hiya-itsamber

[sufferu]

So I’ve been working here and there on bits and pieces of a reaction fic of my own, and here’s a bit of a ficlet that kinda shows what I’m going for lol.

Reaction Fic Excerpt: A Stroll Through The Capital

____

“This is it! This is my chance!“

In the present moment, Subaru’s face turned scarlet.

Julius snorted loudly, quickly moving to cover his mouth with his hand as Subaru’s antics quickly escalated onscreen. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I just— forgot about that part of what you are like.”

“Shut up,” Subaru muttered.

Ferris was making no such effort to hide his mad cackling. “I didn’t forget!” he crowed. “Aw, this is gonnya be so much fun. I’m nyever letting nya live ANY of this down—“

“Shut uuup—“

Ferris was having fun teasing him. Many of the more naïve members of the audience were giggling right alongside him — but on the other side of the theater, Wilhelm had a darker look on his face.

Beside him, Rem was sporting a similar expression. “Wilhelm-san, is it?” she said quietly.

“That is correct,” Wilhelm said, not unkindly. “How may this old man be of service?”

“That boy…” she chewed her lip. “He got dragged into an entirely different world,” she clarified. “Without his knowledge and against his will. He was left entirely alone on the streets of a strange city where he did not know the language, with no understanding of the world around him, no means by which to defend or provide for himself, and with nobody willing to help a stranger like him out of the goodness of their hearts.”

“That…is correct.”

Rem didn’t say anything more. She didn’t need to: Wilhelm had already come to the same conclusion as her — as had most other individuals throughout the theater, if the looks on all of their faces was any indication. Even Ferris had a subtle air to his movements that hinted at his teasing being more of an attempt at a distraction from that horrifying revelation than a genuine source of amusement — though perhaps it was both.

Emilia was not one of those individuals. Neither were Beatrice or Garfiel, both of whom she was attempting to shush. “It’s reeally not nice to laugh,” she scolded. “Subaru didn’t even want us watching any of this, so be nice. And we promised not to make fun of him for anything embarrassing we see here, remember?”

“Subaru makes it difficult not to laugh, I suppose,” Betty giggled.

“N-Nah,” Garfiel sucked in a breath, his mouth twitching. “Princess’ got a point,” he agreed. “This is already — kinda private. My amazing self wouldn’t want anyone laughing at my memories either, no matter how embarrassing. Captain deserves — at least a little grace —“

Everyone watched as onscreen Subaru was gently shoved away from a demihuman-only bar, somehow tripping over his own two feet and falling over the railing and into the river of the Capital.

Garfiel burst out laughing all over again. This time Emilia gave up on trying to make him stop.

“Is this really how it was supposed to be?” The Subaru onscreen muttered to himself, sitting in an alley, absolutely drenched. “Wasn’t I summoned into a parallel world?!”

Anastasia watched with interest as Subaru rifled through his things, grumbling. “That’s the metia you used to find the White Whale, ain’t it?” she pointed out, eyes flashing greedily. “How did that work if it was from another world? Did ya have a bunch of mabeasts there, too?”

Subaru shifted nervously, embarrassment being taken over by something resembling unease. “N-Not exactly,” he admitted.

“Hmm…” Anastasia watched the caged Subaru for a moment longer before turning back to the screen.

“The truth is,” onscreen Subaru was saying, “I have no idea what to do next, and I still have no idea how or why I was summoned. I don’t remember stepping into a mirror or falling in a pond —“

“Wait, so.” Julius frowned. Oddly enough, he seemed to be relaxing at the sound of this statement. “Is this sort of occurrence normal, then? For castaways from beyond the Great Waterfall.”

“…N-No,” Subaru admitted, his face burning. “I kinda just — i-it was a popular book trope back home, so…” He hunched in further on himself. “I just assumed things were like that?”

“Oh.” Julius looked uncomfortable all over again, perhaps even moreso now than before. “I see.”

“— and if I’m to believe this is the otherworldly summoning format I’m used to, where is the beautiful girl who summoned me?”

Julius choked, hastily coughing into his fist. Everyone else had no such restraint. The room burst into laughter once again.

“I think I knyow what kinds of stories Subaru-kyun likes to read!” Ferris teased.

“Can it!” Subaru retorted, face almost as red as Reinhard’s hair.

“You know,” Julius attempted to soothe, the corners of his mouth twitching. “I do have a number of romance novels in my collection. If you would like to borrow—“

Subaru buried his face in his knees and screamed, the sound muffled.

[gunclaw]

𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐘

" so, you're tellin' me you took a liking to one of your clients and took him back to yours for a little extra ‘product’ ?! "

𒄬࣪݁ ˖ geto suguru x dealer!reader

contents. smut with some plot, no sex just eating out (hottest thing a man can do), petname (doll), mention of drugs, use of drugs, not proofread, eng isn’t my first language, bit of fluff here and there ✧ w.count 1.1k

a/n sorry this was a late post, i've been holding it for sooo long because writing smut is not easy for me. anyways, this was the most requested on my poll, requests are still open in my inbox !

also in the story i was supposed to mention that c.meth increases your sex drive buuuttt i forgot so..

+ i appreciate any reblogs and likes 💛

THE TRADE-OFF | 2:09PM

ᡴ੭ your apartment was only could only be so 'big', cramping you up, object between object along your boxes of carts. it was a mess, clothes everywhere and probably even some specs of white powder from previous clients. i mean who could blame you? you were only trying to juggle between a job and studies; to which you barely cared for anyway.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀your parents would be disappointed, sighing at the sight of your marks in contrast to the others in your batch. they wouldn't say anything specific — no — they would just ask how were doing, if something was distracting you; and something was. when you got into the business, it was only out of necessity, money was running low; now you do it out of habit, running back to the drugs you produced to test and sell.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀test and sell. that's all you had to do. no need to interact with your buyers, no need to give them more than what they ask for, - who is that benefitting? - and definitely no need to be staring at them longer than demanded. you hadn't meant to do it on purpose; gripping the pack while you stared at that loose string of hair in front of his face. where had this man been hiding?

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀"uh, sorry was that not enough?" he awkwardly pointed accordingly to the couple tens in your hand, still tugging at the plastic bag of crystal. "miss?" he leaned closer, trying to snap you out of whatever trance you were clearly trapped in. it took you a couple blinks, but you were out — finally — and gave him the drugs in exchange for sixty (even though it costs well over a hundred, especially since it was c.meth).

⠀⠀⠀⠀he waved goodbye, saving you from that god awful embarrassing encounter. you often forgot what was considered a good time to speak, this post-shame event certainly not being one of them. "I've got more back at my place," your finger leads behind you, unreliably locating your dorm, "its on the house."

⠀⠀⠀⠀"can't deny a smoke with a pretty lady," he turned back and smiled slightly, trailing behind as you walked (desperately trying to brush of the fact that he just complimented you). the whole time you two followed the rough concrete pathway towards your dorm, it was silent. "ah, you aren't trying to kill me are you?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀you shook your hands, as well as your head, denying his (obviously sarcastic) joke, "n-no! i would never.. uhm." in response, he only chuckled, looking at the way that comment strung you nervous. nearing your dorm, you had realised how messy you left it; you were sure that if the guy stepped inside, he would only be met with cups and dishes in every corner of the room, — and what's worse — was how hot the guy was. in an attempt to distract him, you overloaded the poor guy with questions.

⠀⠀⠀⠀"what's your name?"

"suguru."

"uh huh, first or last?"

"first."

"what's your last?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀"geto- what exactly are you trying to do?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀finally getting a hold of the glass structure, designed for the crystal, underneath a pile of untouched textbooks, you threw one in his hand and continued searching for the other. "aha!" your hand shot up, clutching the twin bowl pipe, unaware of how much of a loser you looked (especially with the checkered pattern lied across your unbuttoned shirt; acting as a jacket)

PAYMENT | 6:27PM

how long had you two been wasting away on your thrifted couch? how long was this going to last? you examined his every move: following those sleepy eyes when he made even the smallest remark about your looks. he laughed, smoke dragging out his mouth. fuck, he was hot. at this point, you didn't know if it was the drugs talking or if was just, you. "sooo, how are you going to repay me?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀what was that? a fucking joke (not a good one definitely)? "thought it was on the house, doll," he took another hit — this time from your own pipe — as you palmed your forehead, "why? you looking for something else?" he blew the smoke onto the crevice between your head and shoulder. it was definitely the drugs talking. his tongue reached your neck, sending a cold shiver down your body while he lapped and sucked.

⠀⠀⠀⠀his body shifted on closer, the smell of his musk, vanilla cologne emitting from his hair. imagine how devastated your parents would be if they found out your time to time 'hobby' led to this? he was gentle with you, caressing your jaw while you felt his own creeping down your body. his unoccupied hand took out the tie in his hair, letting down the manbun that drove you crazy in the first place.

⠀⠀⠀⠀this wasn't like those wild-going porn scenes you would see online, no this was far, far more intimate (at least in your eyes). What was it about the way he touched you? Was it how confident he was; expertly navigating his way down your body? He had you clawing at his scalp, mouth crossing against your warm skin as he unbuttoned those nerdy, skinny jeans of yours.

⠀⠀⠀⠀he knelt on the carpeted floor, flashing you a comforting smile and staring up and down between your face and soaked panties, before pulling your sense of cover down. at some point when you closed your eyes or when he smiled, his lips started placing small kisses around your cunt; making you fully unravel, contorting your face at the feeling. it didn't help when he drew in your clit and soon, started dipping inside you.

⠀⠀⠀⠀"mhh.. want you suguru"

⠀⠀⠀⠀"no doll, this is only for you. not me" he mumbled, sending vibrations to your bundle of nerves. you tried to close your thighs at the sudden sensitivity, but his hands kept them open; the tip of his fingers digging into the fat of your cutis. geto wasn't the type of man to study bills and divide it with you to the dollar, you could tell he would look after you; spoiling you rotten and finishing it off with something like this.

⠀⠀⠀⠀he was driven inside, his tongue pushing against the rigid but gummy walls of your pussy until he finally found your sweet spot. the way you arched towards him was a pointer, or maybe it was when he felt how you clenched around him. he curled his tongue, shoving it deeper each time he writhed inside you.

⠀⠀⠀⠀oh my god. "f-fuck geto!" you had made an effort to push his forehead back and (fortunately) failed. his lips were glued to you, sweat from his cheeks accumulating and sticking to your legs. uncontrolled moans were escaping your throat as he pressed firmly against your g-spot and executing that last straw. you had been far gone from him; shaking as you released on his palate.

⠀⠀⠀⠀"you alright?" for some reason, there weren't any lewd thoughts in your mind. it was ust him and the way he made you feel so good. you came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the drugs, and that you has been absolutely infatuated with your client, suguru geto.

[jxckchxmpi0n]

Jack champion x fem reader and he plays spiderman and reader is mj?

I'm going to make this into some headcanons

hope you enjoy <3

Being Ethan's mj headcanons

did not proofread |m.list

update : I just now realized that after posting this what you were asking I will 10000% rewrite this as its supposed to be!! I'm so sorry I hope this is okay for the time being! idk why it took so long for my brain to realize what you were actually asking for :(((((

Happy New Year babes!!!! I hope you all had a great new year's and were safe! I'm so excited for this new year and to grow my account. I am going back to school next week, so the requests are going to come out slowly, but I am writing them. I will try to post once or twice a week but I no promises <;3 I love you all so much and thank you so much for your support it really means so much to me.

You didn't know who Ethan was before your junior year in high school. both of you got paired up for a science project and ended up hitting it off and became close friends.

Chad would try to get Ethan to ask you out, he would be sad for weeks after you both finished the project, unable to see each other after classes had changed.

After a fight with some jock, you saw him hanging outside trying to clean up the cuts on his face, you would end up helping him and get to talking.

"Listen Ethan I actually wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out sometime." he would just stare at you in disbelieve, he'd be smiling so much the cut on his cheekbone started to bleed again.

From there on it was official you were in a relationship with him, he would always meet you up after school take the long way home just so he could be with you longer.

After a few months there was a change in how he was acting, you also noticed something different about him but couldn't put your hand on it.

This weekend it was longer due to some holiday and you, and Ethan had planned to spend the entire weekend together watching Star Wars and building Legos, but Ethan's mind had been so wrapped up in his new actives that he forgot.

Crawling through his window he heard his aunt talking, but he also heard another voice, and it was yours. His heart beating faster, just hearing your voice has that effect on him.

But thinking about your voice distracted him from realizing you were walking to his room, once he saw the door handle move panic set in.

Quickly he fell from the ceiling and grabbed a blanket but tripped himself in the process. "Ethan? when did you get home?" and before you both knew it you were holding the blanket while he shot up holding a hand to your month to stop you from yelling.

"Please, don't say anything! My aunt doesn't know yet you can't tell anyone!" his voice was harsh yet soft and scared. He was scared with how you were going to act.

"You're fucking spiderman! Holy shit! Holy Shit" you dropped the blanket and jumped into his arms. he stood there for a second confused, he eventually gave in wrapping his arms around you. feeling the warmth of your body against his. He felt safe with you.

"You have to tell me everything! and oh my god I have so many questions! but also you idiot!" you slapped him aside the head laughing but also giggling at the fact that your boyfriend is spiderman.

From there on you would help him fix his suit if he ever needed it or cover for him if a lie came back to haunt him.

Some nights he'd come to your window sharing all the details about some sandwich robbery he stopped.

There would be times where it's hard to be with Ethan, you sometimes thought he loved being spiderman than being with you. His actions spoke more than words could at times.

Bailing on date nights, sometimes right in the middle of your date. You love him and love seeing how much joy he gets out of helping others, but it also takes a toll on your relationship.

After an argument about how you felt he bailed out on you not wanting to say something he'd regret.

Things just got harder from there, you both agreed that you'd be better off apart, but you both lied to yourself.

Ethan thought it was better only to keep you safe from the criminals, and you thought it was all stupid. Knowing spiderman is who he is but he's also Ethan Landry the love of your life.

Soon things would take a turn for the worst as one of his enemies found out your importance to spiderman. Kidnapping you and using you as a pawn to trap him.

Ethan's heart would break seeing you in so much pain, even after trying to leave you to keep you save it did nothing. there you sat in front of him after he fought the villain. He didn't know what to do.

Both of you scrapped and bloodily up all you want to do is be in his arms. And just like before he stood shocked for a moment feeling your body against his.

It felt so right, wrapping his arms around your body he held you tight, tighter than he ever has. "I'm so sorry y/n please I'm so sorry i love you" he tucked his head into your neck, the faint smell of your perfume filled his nose.

"Don't ever leave me ever again! I'm being serious" you hugged him as tight as he did to you. "And I love you too."

[g1rlken]

┏ 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 ┐

part3.

Alex turner x fem!actress reader

an: this part gives slightly “the Peter” by Taylor Swift vibes

word count: 3.6k+

Warnings: mention of depression

-

It was difficult to keep on going on your whim, time and time again looking for reasons to belittle or make it difficult for y/n to work on this project. She absolutely regretted come to this godawful grassland for the world’s pettiest man’s song. Not that he hadn’t moved on, y/n would see him: hand around shoulder, slipping down the waist as he’d laugh with one of those model stand ins. Every meal. The common dining area of the hotel they stayed at, Alex was the charming machine to all these lady guests of his. She couldn’t keep on distracting herself talking to the rest of crew, small talk was fine and longer conversations were embarrassing. She felt ambushed talking about her acting hiatus because the general narrative was that she got way too into her own head, she probably did but what business was that to the intern Sam who was a disguised coffee guy. She kept on telling herself and everyone else that the ‘whole thing’ wasn’t a ‘big deal’ but god forbid someone mentions an award function, her tone would immediately get guarded as if she was being tested. As if she was on that stage again being a laughingstock. Too much. She didn’t talk at all, hence decided to order room service for almost all her meals.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Y/n exclaimed slumping her shoulders down. There was a rain forecast on their original location so they changed production to a planned cliff, second day of the same shoot and the municipality shut down entry to the place because of supposed lightning forecast. It was taking forever to finish this godforsaken music video.

“They said they’re closing it for a week.” Richard informed her with a sigh, bummed out himself. Too much time on production as it is, getting to a peculiar location as such. From the centre to outskirts through the hilly roads it was already such a hustle only to find the place shut down. “The studio said we might as well extend a while for the location since we came all this way.”

The whole crew was growing increasingly restless on this project, no more than y/n and no less than Alex who was apparently enjoying the sights. A smirk on his face, clicking a picture of the no entry sign for the joke of it, snickering as he did so. It just fuelled her annoyance. “Cant we just shoot here? We drove four hours to come here!” Y/n proposed pointing to the open grass landscape, the whole place was just gigantic dunes of grass and grey skies. The first two days of shoot, it was beautiful. With more and more delays it was the most daft place ever.

“We have done the landscape part we need a cliff shot now…” Richard trailed off with a sigh, “Look, guys, let’s stay positive yeah? We can maybe find a new location”

“We can’t, they close the roads by sundown remember? It’s already 2, I don’t think we can make it.” Alex added into the conversation, his tone was laced with amusement so bad it made y/n infuriated but she didn’t say a word given he was a master of creating a scene. Absolute zero fellowship in him, he was enjoying everyone else’s suffering coming all this way just to spite her.

“Don’t we have a pass for it? With the shooting permit?” Y/n inquired about it, such remote locations generally allow access to a shooting team on permit.

“Guess who forgot it at the hotel?” Giving a disappointed look to Sam, the coffee guy/intern.

Deadpanning her face y/n rubbed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. Disappointment clouded her problem solving abilities “Don’t we have any cliff other equivalent location in this stupid place?” She said with a scoff. Every place looked identical anyways.

“What a great idea!” Alex exclaimed ironically joining his hands together, his classic taunting was about to follow “How about we find her a park bench, will that be cliff equivalent for you?”

It had already been a lot of days of this mockery and a miserable time here. At hotel, the locations, failed shoots, his constant jabs were resulting in a lot of piled agitation. “Shut the fuck up.” She said blatantly.

Richard widened his eyes as did the crew, they were busy in finding network to make the maps work and Google nearest new locations but this was rather difficult to not be moved by, Alex too, “excuse me?” he was taken aback to say at least. Raising a brow he leant forward as to express his offended demeanour.

“The whole crew is really tired, we all woke at 4 am. Packing, equipment, dress, make up-to drive all the way here only to not shoot. If you can’t contribute stop irritating people who are actually working.” She told him off crossing her arms, shifting her weight on one leg.

“Is that so? What are you doing except for whining?” Alex said with a bitter laugh.

“This is stupid” she shook her head, instantly deciding to not engage anymore given she was here for work not engage in petty conversation with him besides in front of the whole crew it was anyways unprofessional. “You’re unreasonable” she waved her hand in mid air, crossing her arms as she was turning away.

“You haven’t changed a bit. Go on go leave, you’ve never had it in yourself to stay when things get difficult.” Alex scoffed, absolutely unfiltered in front of the whole crew perhaps purposely harsh.

“Alex, I’m being professional here you don’t have to go that far.” She replied with a frown on her face, surface level comprehension of his words which she knew would hurt so much, they already were but she wanted to be removed from this conversation before he made matters worse.

“Oh you’re being professional now?” To him, anything to do with her wasn’t professional. For exaggeration, if she even breathed in his direction he was agitated. Just a huge grudge to not see beyond professionalism. “Such a professional in everything you messed up your most serious two year long relationship.”

“I know it wasn’t mutual and I regret you were hurt but this isn’t the place to have that conversation now-“ she tried to reason with him in a subtle way, instead of biting back like him she could’ve approached with bitterness of how it’s been half a year since they parted, how he was seemingly moving on yet constantly berating her for leaving.

“You don’t get to decide where and when we have this conversation? You’ve already decided enough for me.” He said mockingly, his gaze fixated on her as he stared her down. He wasn’t aware for the root of his hurt and anger, originally he knew it was because she left him yes. But other than that, the fact that she felt like just waltzing back into his life through small talk or the fact that she didn’t waltz back into his life. It was the later. She decided to break up without of a second thought because she deemed it right for him, thinking she was a burden. She decided to leave for him and all he wanted was her. Back then and even now he didn’t know what he was trying to prove to her but it was surely drifting her father from him and he didn’t know how to stop that so he just let his anger out, “Tell me, is it better now? You learned to cook did you? You take your own meds on time…if you actually do? You attend all possible award shows you’re nominated in?” He scoffed, reminding her all such things he was helping her through and she refused him. He couldn’t stomach that she wanted to heal without him and it was a rather low blow when he mentioned the award show thing, she didn’t attend award shows at all even now. He kept tabs even after the break up because It brought him a sort of reassurance that she wasn’t completely alright, not without him. He loved her so infatuatedly he didn’t know how to act.

Y/n was sick to her stomach as he went on and on, in front of everyone just spewing out her personal miseries. “You don’t get to play the martyr just because I didn’t want your help.” To think that man that once hand fed her all which he cooked, with so much love, the man who set alarms to remind her for her medicines and the award show thing. He knew it was and still is a sensitive subject for her, he put her in the exact same situation like back up at that stage again. Right now amongst the camera crew, it was just a handful of people and y/n felt increasingly uncomfortable yet he didn’t stop talking.

“I’m not playing the martyr but I didn’t asked to get left either.” He said emphasising on the word ‘didn’t’ right back at her. He wouldn’t say it but this whole lashing out was not because she didn’t want his help but because she didn’t want him and that still word.

“It’s been…” she paused, “six months.” It was really hard to see him say all that so easily and she could barely formulate words trying to fight back tears simultaneously. Just how could he show indifference so such extent.

“I’m aware.” He scoffed changing his stance looking away for one second, contemplating if he should go on because he did take a not of her quivering voice she always did that when she was about to cry, he could recall from their time together and that reminder just fuelled him even more. He knew her like the back of his hand back then, even now, yet she walked way. “You were scared I’d leave you if I got to know you were depressed but when I chose to stay you were even more scared and left me. It is so difficult to love let alone work with you!”

“Work, yes of course” she nodded slowly registering the hurt of his words bit by bit because he was going further from far. “I’m going to go revise…” she told Richard, rest of the crew as well. All who’d been witnessing this conflict awkwardly and painfully silently. Y/n couldn’t look at anyone’s faces as she walked back to the trailer, it was a bus in itself because the whole crew travelled together but if the universe had any ounce of mercy left for her nobody would join her this very moment. Her ears were numb to the silent background, she thought Alex would have the last word surely but he didn’t. She walked the longest walk back to the trailer, closing the door behind her. There was a heavy feeling in her chest, the mechanical setting of sadness. Her heart racing, mind replaying the whole ordeal. Every word, everyone’s surprised faces. She wanted to break down, tears already brimmed her eyes but then again if they were to resume shooting on a new location the very same day her eyes would be so puffy and displaying that to the makeup crew. After everything they witnessed, absolutely not. She paced back and forth air drying her tears, trying to divert her mind. She did. She thought about the dreadful night of their breakup again, she must’ve put Alex in this very situation back then. His pleading, begging voice. The man who was on his knees for her who wanted her to do anything but leave, just how right now she wanted him to do anything but keep talking. But well, both things happened and the later was the consequence of the first one. She had nobody but herself to blame and the inherent guilt crept right back in.

-

Thankfully, there was no resumed shooting later that day given the rain check was really bad to commute to another location as well so the crew all returned back to the hotel. Four hours, just staring out the window. Fixated completely y/n didn’t even look at anyone the entire ride and nobody approached her even. Straight into her room at the hotel, for dinner she ordered just room service. After an awaited long breakdown in her room she couldn’t go down and have dinner with the rest of them, the breakdown session was as it is evident on her face plus everything was so awkward after the whole ordeal. Everyone looked at her with agitating sympathy, as if her dog had passed.

She opened the door to “Room service!” knock, taking the food in, not exactly meeting the eyes somewhat hiding her face as if she was some alleyway dealer. “Thanks.”

“Miss y/l/n, I’m really sorry for what you’re going through.” The room service guy told her out of courtesy and also genuine compassion.

“What?” She was immediately confused, what exactly was he referring to?

“The whole…your ex-I was there.” He explained, not sure how exactly to term Alex lashing out on her in front of everyone. But he wanted her to know his sympathies lay with her “I was assigned by the hotel to the filming crew as a local here” he said referring to why exactly he was there in the first place.

“Oh.” Y/n nodded, wonderful. This whole interaction had the same feeling of a funeral when someone explains how they’re related to the person in subject however in this case y/n was full well alive. “Yeah…thanks. Thanks a lot.”

“For the record, I’ve seen almost all of your movies and I have loved you in every single one of them and your order is the most easiest order to make. So you’re not difficult to love or work with I’ll have you know.” He tried to be hospitable and also as a fan, he felt really bad for the actress in question. His heart was there, trying to offer kind words but it just made y/n feel ambushed.

“That’s-that’s really sweet.” She nodded with a small smile regardless. What a time! Even absolute strangers feel sympathetic to her and Alex who-no. “It means a lot…”

“Always. If you need anything, the restaurant is open till 11.” He said politely and pushed out the empty cart out of her room and bid her goodnight.

Just as she was about to close the door as the cart moved out, a foot stepped in the middle refraining her from closing it completely so she opened it instead to see who it was. “Hi.” Alex said as he tilted his head forward, he didn’t think she’d actually open the door to him.

Y/n just took a deep breath, visibly raising her guard she did not have anything to say him at this point and she couldn’t believe he had something more to say. She just stood there, trying to appear stiff but with just the first glance he could tell she had been crying. Crying really bad. He wanted to apologise, after a lot of thinking over the words shared he felt like he crossed a line. Especially with what he said, he said in front of everyone. He messed up. Apologies came cheap, he didn’t know what to say. “The shots from yesterday came in, it’s good. It’s great. Beautiful-you were beautiful.”

Tears were already formulating her eyes, just at the sight of him. The casualty of his tone after what he did, she wanted the slam the door in his face so that’s what she attempted too. Slowly closing the door but he stopped her again, “please, can we talk”

“Just go…” she sighed averting her gaze from him so he wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing her cry. He leant a bit lower to see her face, conforming the tears she was trying to hide. He wanted to reach out and hold her but he was just out here in the lobby. He experimented professing further and she did let him inside, dejectedly moving aside y/n just didn’t want to see his face anymore.

Getting inside Alex softly closed the door behind him, anxiously she was pacing back and forth. He once made fun of her, he called this method of hers “air-drying tears, love?” he asked. She did not want him here in the first place so he didn’t breach that boundary, stopping by the small of hallway to her hotel room a few steps by the door.

“Why are you even here?” She asked firmly as she had been successful to air dry her tears back. It wasn’t pride, maybe on the prideful spectrum but she would not cry in front of him even though it hurt like hell.

“I know I can’t make things right after what I said today, I shouldn’t have said that. Especially not in front of everyone like that-you, you were at work.” He said in a calm tone leaning against the wall, “I’m sorry…I’m really sorry.”

“Okay.” She nodded without even looking at him, barely acknowledging his words because she was fixated on not breaking down at this very second.

“That’s it?” He asked, not frustrated just underwhelmed that his genuine apology accounted for so much less? “Okay?” He couldn’t tell if she was okay with it in a true sense or if she was being passive aggressively ignorant about it.

“What do you want me to say?” Y/n asked scrunching her brows as she crossed her arms.

“We are not at the best terms, I know. We both messed up, you were trying to be civil. Today I crossed a big line, I know. I really want to just make things right-“

“Then why don’t you just leave?!” She stopped his self serving closure set apology mid way, “You are here in the first place just to spite me aren’t you? To give me a hard time and so far Alex, you have been very successful-“ she was so angry, she couldn’t hold her her tears anymore as they streamed down her face breaking her voice.

“Hey, hey” he cooed softly as he approached her in small steps. Ever since he saw her face, evidence of a long breakdown on it he had wanted to just pull her into his embrace. Now she was crying again and he couldn’t fight the urge as he gently placed his hands on her shoulder to soothe her.

The familiarity of his touch, his consolation punched y/n back to the good years just him and her and they rarely had these moments where she would be falling apart but she knew that if she did, he’d be there. Just like how he was here. But this time it wasn’t healthy, this wasn’t right even if it felt so. She pulled herself away from him shaking her head as she sat on the bed of her hotel room crying into her hands.

Hesitantly he followed her, this was all so instinctive. “Y/n…” he trailed off as he knelt in front of her as she sat on the edge of the bed. She had covered her face with her hands so he tried to gently remove them as to see her face. “It’s alright, you’re alright.” He soothed as he finally got to see her weeping face. He kept on wiping her tears as new flew down her face. “You are so much stronger than this, you’ve been okay before. You’ll be okay again, just breathe.” This is what he was perfect at, piecing her back together. She held the colour only his paint brush knew.

This scenario was almost like an extremely long déjà vu, this exact scenario y/n had been here so many times. Him comforting her, so willingly and so warm. As if it was worth being this hurt, she couldn’t get words out through her crying, that perfectly but she didn’t have to for he already knew. To be loved is to be known and he knew her like she was the last thing he’d ever know, the last he’d learn. “Can I hold you?” He asked softly, eyes expectant for a yes.

Nodding she hesitantly met his eyes and she recognised Alex for Alex. After so long, she didn’t think about anything else but the familiarity of the lover she once held. The one who was holding her now. He stood up and sat beside holding her, enlacing his arms around her. A warm embrace shielding her from an awful time he inflicted on her.

She returned his embrace as well, his hand rubbing her back in a repetitive motion her weeping dying down but he didn’t let go. He didn’t want to.

Alex nestled her closer to him, words unsaid and a vague understanding. Neither of them broke the cocoon of warmth. It almost felt like a fever dream to y/n, she wasn’t aware of any reality she’d let herself be in this situation in. But here she was. Slowly drifting off to sleep in his arms. He could tell she was, he settled the two of them in a lay-down position on the bed. He didn’t think she could fall asleep and he also didn’t want to move. With her small grip at his shirt with the two of them cuddling he figured she wouldn’t want him to leave either.

He planned to leave silently once she was sound asleep, as time went on he didn’t realise when he drifted off to sleep too. Just holding her in his arms, cuddling the two of them slept on their grievances entangled with one another.

—

HIII!!! I’ve got like two more chapters left to this pls let me know what you think or I will d!3 and don’t forget to drink water xx

@indierockgirrl @turnersverse @ladydraculasthings @libertyybellls @kelizai @sagegreensimmr @supernaturalandpain

[duskspring]

Gifts - Dew/Everyone

Domestic December - Day 10

Summary: Dew gets the pack gifts for the season

Content (do let me know if I forgot anything!): Slightly anxious Dew, fluff, some quick kisses, talk of gender exploration and euphoria in relation to Rain

Word count: ~3.5k

A/N: Some parts of this fic are inspired by some headcanons I've posted before [My Main Masterlist]

The night was loud and unholy. The entire ghoul pack had gathered in their common room, celebrating the end of year festivities. Movies had been watched, board games played and so, so much alcohol consumed. It had, by all accounts, been a great night. But not for Dewdrop.

Yes, he’d been having a lot of fun, but there was a part of him distracted. He’d had an edge of anxiety all night, waiting for the right moment to resolve it. He knew he couldn’t wait much longer, since the night was starting to reach its natural conclusion in those wee hours of the morning.

He sat on a chair on the side of the room, leg bouncing. Two strong arms suddenly came down to lean on his shoulders from behind. He’d recognize those arms anywhere.

“What’s the matter, Droplet?” Swiss asked, “You’ve been a nervous wreck all night.” 

“I’m not.” Dew argued unconvinsingly, before sighing. He knew he needed to just get it over with.

He stood up without another word, moving to his room. Swiss immediately followed him in concern.

“Hey, I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean-”

“Nothing’s wrong, Swiss. I just need to grab something,” He stopped his stride, turning to Swiss with an almost pleading look in his eyes, “Please just wait here for a second.”

The multi ghoul was confused, but didn’t want to overstep. He subtly nodded a few times, “Alright.” He took a step backwards, his eyes staying on Dew, before turning back to the rest of the pack.

On shaky legs, Dew quickly made his way to his room. He had two plastic shopping bags waiting there for him, as well as a little separate package on his desk and another item off to the side for later. He put the separate one in his pocket before picking up the bags and marching back. He couldn’t stop now. If he just kept walking and got this over with, it'd be done. It wasn’t a big deal. Worst case scenario, the thought was still there, right?

“Ooh, whatcha got there?” Aurora asked the second he walked in. All eyes turned to him and he froze.

Just get it over with.

“Find out for yourself.” He said dismissively, putting the bags down and plopping himself down on the couch.

Aurora immediately crawled towards the bags. Half of the pack came a little closer as well, while the other half sat back, though still curious and anticipating.

Aurora dug through the first bag, grabbing the first thing she could get her claws on. She examined the wrapped package, soon spotting the name ‘Mountain’ written in Dew’s messy handwriting.

“Mounty, it’s for you.” She announced, throwing it over her shoulder without looking away from the bag.

Cirrus luckily caught it, passing it to Mountain. He looked at Dew in pleasant surprise, looking at the little flat square in his palm. The wrapping was messy, even on such a small present.

“Can I open it?” He asked dew.

“It’s your life. Do what you want.” The fire ghoul’s anxiety was getting worse, making him act dismissive as if it would distance him from the gifts.

He delicately unwrapped the package, without tearing the dotted paper. The first thing he was met with was an empty rectangle of cardboard. He turned it around, causing dew, who was paying very close attention, to bring his legs up against his chest.

Mountain looked over the cardboard a second, then third time, wanting to make sure he was reading it all correctly. There was a bit of text on there, next to a shitty doodle of a flower and what he could only assume was supposed to be Dew, all made with black permanent marker. The words were hard to make out.

“Exchangeable for one… at- attemoon?”

“For one afternoon of help in the garden.” Dew quickly mumbled in explanation.

Mountain looked up in surprise, “You hate the garden.” He noted.

“Well, if you don’t like it you could just say so!” The fire ghoul said defensively, his anxiety reaching its peak.

Mountain’s expression softened, “Dew… Thank you.” He got up, awkwardly bending over to wrap his arms around his packmate.

Dew was shaking like crazy, ready to cry at the positive reaction.

Meanwhile, Aurora had thrown a few more packages over her shoulder. Rain, Aether and Cirrus all got theirs. The little multi ghoulette huffed as she reached the bottom of the first bag, quickly moving onto the next. After throwing something to Phantom, she finally reached her own. She squealed in excitement, forgetting the few people that still hadn’t gotten their own and immediately violently unwrapping hers.

She found herself holding a small ziplock baggie. She saw Sunshine’s face, photoshopped onto a sun through it, quickly opening it up to investigate. It quickly became obvious that she was holding a little pile of different kinds of stickers. Apart from the Sunshine one, there were stickers based on everyone in the pack, all shitilly photoshopped in some relation from their element or name. There were stickers further referencing inside jokes, as well as some logos from Aurora’s favorite bands.

“Dewy, these are awesome!” She giggled, happily shaking her hands.

Cumulus came closer to her to look at the stickers, giggling at them herself, “Did you make these yourself?” She asked him.

Mountain pulled away so Dew could answer. He did so with a nod, “Aurora likes stickers. Easy.” Coming up with and putting together all the designs had actually been a nightmare, but he would never admit to that. He had zero regret, seeing Aurora’s reaction.

Based on the ghoulette’s excitement, everyone quickly dug into their own gifts. Cumulus handed out the few that hadn’t reached their reciprocate yet, including her own.

Phantom’s gift has a funny texture, only upping his curiosity. He rushed to unpack his, gasping and stuttering in excitement when he saw what it was. He could barely hold on to it with how much his hands shook.

“Whatcha got there, buddy?” Swiss asked, smiling at Phantom’s excitement.

Dew let out a sigh of relief. He’d been perhaps most nervous about Phantom’s gift, thinking it wasn’t good enough. Too lame or cheap, not personal enough. Seeing the quintessence ghoul’s eyes light up forced every last bit of anxiety to leave him.

The gift had indeed been simple, a little bat shaped fidget toy. You could spin its head around in circles, pull its wings back and forth and squish its little feet. Phantom immediately went to town on it, unresponsive to most outside stimuli.

Cumulus went next. Unwrapping her gift gracefully, much like Mountain had done. Her heart swelled as her hands grasped a book. Not just any book, but a photo album.

“Dew…” She said his name in adoration, flipping through the pages. Most pictures had been made by her. They were all labelled with a date and the place or situation in which they were taken. It was separated into three chapters: tour, home and Cumulus. The first chapter included photos from the stage, backstage and the tourbus. The second showed all the various shenanigans the pack experienced at the abbey. But it was the third that was most meaningful to Cumulus. She didn’t have a lot of pictures of herself, always being the one to take them of others. But Dew had somehow gathered just about every good picture ever taken of her, even some she had never seen before.

Cumulus quickly pushed the book into Cirrus’s hands, afraid she’d cry all over it. She sniffled, still seated on the ground. She made grabby hands to Dew, beckoning him over into her arms. The two entered a crushing hug while the book was passed around to everyone in the room, laughing and reminiscing.

“You fuckhead, really?!” Sunshine yelled in good spirit at Dew, holding up the book on a page containing a very unflattering picture of her napping on the tour bus. Drool leaked out the corner of her mouth, Swiss and Phantom posing next to her, pointing at the lewd drawings they’d made on her cheeks.

“It’s a good picture.” Dew argued with a smile, earning him a pillow to the face.

Sunshine rushed over in his disorientation, straddling his chest and miming punching him in the face a few times. They both laughed, Sunshine getting off of him again.

“Didn’t even get me a gift.” She mumbled, although her smile faltered a little. She’d been one of only two who didn’t have a gift in the bag. She was confused and hurt, but didn’t want to make a scene and risk ruining it for everyone else.

Dew looked at her face, silently reaching into his pocket and sliding her the little gift he’d kept separately in his pocket with a wink.

Sunshine immediately thought she knew what it might be, covering the package with her hand so no one could see. When everyone seemed distracted, she moved her legs up and unwrapped the gift behind them without looking down. She examined it with her hands, having a hard time not reacting. Quickly she let her eyes drift down, nearly screaming when she saw the lighter in her hands.

All the lighters she used to own had been confiscated for… reasons. And she technically wasn’t allowed to get any new ones.

She turned to Dew with a devious smirk, making him regret the gift almost instantly. But when she shuffled over and put her arm around his shoulders and rested her head against it, he knew it’d been a good call. He felt a lot calmer already, excited to witness the rest unpacking.

Cirrus went next. She tried opening it carefully, before just tearing it apart when it was taking too long. Her gift was one of the few in a proper cardboard box, also being the biggest. It carried the name of a clothing brand she was vaguely aware of.

She looked at Dew with squinted eyes. Curious, suspicious.

She opened it up to indeed be met with a sleek deep blue fabric. She picked and held it up, realizing there was another part of the same color in the box as well.

No way.

“Dew.” She stressed his name, putting her arms down again.

“Yes, dear?” He asked with a grin.

“Dew.” She looked again. It was unmistakable. He’d gotten her a suit. A full, fancy, proper suit, “I complained about not having a suit last week, how did you-”

“Guess I just know you really well.” His dismissive attitude came back with a shrug, not mentioning the fact that he’d run around town in a blind panic trying to get it on time during the busy season.

“I…” She struggled to find the words to express her gratitude.

“Well, don’t just stand there. Put it on!” Sunshine hyped her up.

Cirrus’ eyes lit up, throwing the jacket back down in the box and rushing out the room with it all.

“Alright, alright, now I’m done waiting,” Swiss said, looking straight at Dew, “I assume you haven’t forgotten about me.” There hadn’t been a gift for him in the bags either, but he knew better than to assume Dew didn’t get him anything.

The fire ghoul nodded, “One second.” And left the room.

His feet produced quick taps through the hallway, even though he was wearing socks. He hadn’t been able to bring Swiss’ gift in earlier, since it couldn’t really be wrapped.

“Dewdrop,” Right as he was about to pick it up, Cirrus’ voice came from behind him. He turned to the doorway, greeted by the sight of Cirrus in her brand new, impeccably sharp suit.

“I’m so glad it fits.” Was the first thing he said.

The ghoulette took quick strides towards him, hugging his head into her chest. She could be quite reserved sometimes, so she was glad to have caught Dew on his own.

“It looks great. Thank you so much. I love it.” Her voice shook a little with the sincerity it carried.

Dew stood semi awkwardly when she pulled back, “Phew,” He said stoically, though he did mean it and she knew that, “Guess you should show it to the rest then. I’ll be right behind.”

Cirrus nodded enthusiastically, skipping her way back to the rest of the pack.

Dew let out another relieved breath when she was out of sight. He really didn’t know why he'd been so scared to begin with. He knew his packmates well.

He could hear the excited oh’s and ah’s from the common room and knew he shouldn’t keep Swiss waiting too much longer. He waited another half a minute so Cirrus could have her moment, before picking up the gift and making his own way back.

“You did not!” Since Swiss’ gift wasn’t wrapped he could see clear as day what it was right off the bat.

“Maybe I did. Why don’t you have some fun with it?” Dew teased, holding out a very distinct guitar. At least it was distinct to Swiss.

He would recognize that damn thing anywhere. It was the first guitar he’d ever learned to play on, never allowed to take it on tour. When he returned from his first set of shows he was told he wouldn’t need the old model anymore, since it was best for him to get used to what he always used on stage. He’d never seen it again after that and a sentimental part of him had always missed it. But it was undeniable. This was the exact guitar.

The multi ghoul had never stood up so fast, making his way to Dew and practically yanking the instrument from his hands.

He inspected it, as if there was any doubt it was the right one.

“Hey, I know that! I learned to play with that thing.” Phantom mentioned.

“And it’s good that you did,” Dew interjected, “cause that’s how I figured out where they stored it. Don’t tell anyone.” The last sentence was said very quickly, giving Swiss a serious look that revealed that Dew did, in fact, steal the guitar.

Swiss looked at him with the same adoration he’d been shown earlier, but even more intense, “I cannot thank you enough.” The multi ghoul’s voice was low, soft. He’d never meant something this much in this life.

It almost caught Dew off guard, only able to nod and smile in response.

While Swiss excitedly moved to play a song, Aether had made his way to Dew’s side and led him back to one of the couches with a hand on his shoulder. Their legs touched when they sat down, making Dew move his head to Aether’s shoulder like Sunshine had done with him before.

“Should I be scared?” The quintessence ghoul asked half-jokingly, holding up the little box his gift resided in.

Dew shrugged, “Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“Do you trust me?” Aether exhaled a laugh. Dew knew damn well he trusted him, he just wanted to hear him say it. He played this game a lot.

“Well, alright, alright. I trust you. Let’s see.” He removed the wrapping paper, not afraid to tear it but also not doing so in an aggressive manner.

He thought his eyes would bulge out of his skull with how wide they opened. Whatever he’d been expecting was nothing like this.

The little black ring box felt smooth in his hands, “I didn’t know you were so into human customs.” Aether smirked at Dew. The fire ghoul looked a little confused, until his friend clarified, “Are you asking me to marry you?” He already knew the answer was no, but it was fun to tease.

Dew scoffed, but couldn’t hide his smile, “You wish.”

Aether finally opened the box. The ring was a silver band, with dark purple waves decorating it all around.

“Saw it at a store, back in Cincinnati. It reminded me of quintessence, so I thought-”

The fire ghoul was cut off with a quick kiss on his lips. Aether’s face was so full of adoration, it made them both feel crazy.

“Four months,” Aether realized, “You’ve been sitting on this, and managed to keep it a secret, for four months.”

“I take it you like it.” Dew looked away from Aether’s face for a moment, a little bit of insecurity still lingering.

Aether forced him to look back with a hand on his chin, “It is perfect,” He kissed him again, “I just wish I got you something in return.”

“Please, don’t worry about it.” He nearly begged. Giving gifts had already been a struggle, let alone receiving them.

Aether dropped down, his head resting in Dew’s lap. He smiled up at him, fitting the ring onto his finger.

That left only one. Rain had waited with his gift, wanting to properly see everyone else’s reaction before getting caught up himself.

His was only a little smaller than Cirrus’ had been. He didn’t want to expect anything, afraid of being disappointed if he did. But he had a hunch. He tried not to focus on it, yet he couldn’t help a part of him hoping he was correct.

“Open it up already, I’m tired!” Aurora encouraged him, getting a poke in the ribs from Cirrus.

Rain took a breath, telling himself he'd be thankful either way. Because he would be. His heart swelled at the events of the evening, how much thought Dew had put into each and every single gift, finding things he knew everyone would like. And Dew knew him very well, right? Yes, he did, but Rain still scolded himself for his hope and expectation.

A strip of the wrapping paper tore away slowly, revealing the cardboard box underneath. Rain let out a shaky breath, forcing the rest of it out of the way.

Swiss jokingly started drum rolling with his hands on his legs, the rest of the room slowly joining in. It only made Rain take more time. He felt exposed with all eyes on him. What if he had an unfavorable reaction?

There truly only was one way to find out. He opened the box. His tense muscles relaxed in an instant. He knew exactly what it was. And god dammit he had guessed correctly.

Dew had not been anxious in the slightest about Rain’s gift, already knowing he’d love it. Although he hadn’t counted on Rain doubling over his gift, tears streaming down his face with a quiet sob.

The rest of the room couldn’t see the gift, some stares and raised eyebrows making their way towards Dew. But his face was confident, a small smile reassuring everyone that Rain’s reaction must be of joy.

The fire ghoul got up, knowing Rain would want to hug or kiss or fuck him on the spot. The second his ass touched the couch, Rain clung onto him, his cries somehow managing to sound overjoyed indeed.

The gift may not have seemed like a lot to most people. It was a blue ankle length dress with glitters on the top part and flowers embroidered on the skirt.

But it meant the world to Rain. He’d been wearing skirts more often, mostly in the privacy of his own room. It wasn’t that he feared judgement, he knew the other ghouls, as well as the siblings, would never look at him differently for it. But he just wanted to explore and experiment a bit at his own pace. Dew was the only person he’d discussed this with in detail, having shown him this exact dress. He’d been wanting to get it really bad for a while but always felt like something was holding him back.

Not anymore.

“No pressure,” Dew whispered into Rain’s hair, “but I’d love to see you in it some time.”

The water ghoul looked up, quickly wiping the tears off his face. He smiled, hurriedly getting up and running out with the box like Cirrus had done before.

“What was it? What was it?” Phantom quickly asked.

“Give him just a minute and you’ll see.” Dew responded.

Indeed a minute later, Rain shyly stepped back into the room. There was definite excitement for everyone, some showing it more strongly than others.

“Give us a twirl!” Cumulus encouraged, causing Rain to do just that.

He felt majestic in it. A fairytale princess come to life straight out of a storybook. It was euphoric, “How did you know my size?” He asked Dew.

“I don’t know if you realize, but I’m pretty familiar with your body.” He explained.

Rain smiled wider, walking up to Dew and picking him up right off of the couch. He twirled around again, with him in his arms this time.

“Thank you so much. This really means the world.”

“Everyone say ‘thank you, Dew’.” Aether said.

A big chorus of thank you’s sounded through the common room. Phantom came up to Dew, still suspended in Rain’s arms, and joined their hug. Soon enough it was a group hug with the whole pack.

Dew had already stopped worrying, but the reinforcement of everyone’s gratitude made him feel even sillier for ever worrying in the first place. He loved his fellow ghouls and they clearly loved him back.

[My Main Masterlist | Domestic December Masterlist]

[phxntomhives]

Twst theory: the events are all canon, they just fit in a weird timeline for each character

WARNING: Spoilers for Book 7

This is because the events are happening in the dreams created by Malleus' unique magic.

This is just for fun but it always bugged me how much canon the events are. They are not mentioned in the main storyline and the main storyline doesn't really mention them.

Yesterday night I couldn't sleep so I started to thinking about the cards and remembered the groovy animation: there are the thorns covering the card. And there is the black fog (also used when Silver and the others are being trapped in the blot) when the character speaks their line. Then the thorns retract, "freeing" the character and you have the groovy.

An example of a groovy here in case you forgot/don't remember (but litteraly any card is fine): https://youtu.be/vp68GOQnE6w

It would be interesting if this was an hint that the events are just the wishes/desires of someone that became true in the reality that Malleus created. Thanks to Idia we have seen that the dream can reset itself and in general everything goes as intended by Malleus' idea of Happy Ending. It could be that the events happen when the owner is waking up/realizing something is wrong so Malleus uses a panick button and make a nice event for them in order to distract them. Or the person dreaming is just feeling silly and wants to do something different and Malleus just goes "I got you". Plus, if I am not wrong, most, if not all, event are just overall nice, there isn't too much trauma in them (but it is true I am EXTREMELY behind in reading them, I am lazy).

"But the player/us can make decision" my brother in christ, Yuu does barely anything, we are cheerleaders at best. ESPECIALLY in the events. I understand why, on a gameplay level, it is not possible for us to make decision that actively effect the story, but we at most get a line that is slightly different as a reaction. If Malleus can recreate a whole fake universe in a dream I don't see why he can't add a fake version of us to the events, he HAS created a fake Ortho for Idia, Baul and Maleanor for Lilia. He just uses the memories and/or the hopes of the dreamer to create the situation. So maybe the Yuu in the events is just how Malleus and the dreamer sees Yuu. Remember, in this theory everything is working as he intended, even "us". Yuu (player) can't affect the story because Yuu (player) is not living it, it's Malleus' version of Yuu, how HE sees Yuu. Most likely also influences by the dreamer's view. Probably more the dreamer's view of Yuu that Malleus' honestly.

I also like the idea that Malleus just add Yuu since Yuu is basically his favourite human (after Silver/right with Silver) so I can see him going "Yuu brings happyness, let's add them to the dream, it makes sense, they will help make the dream happier."

The I started to wonder: but then why doesn't he add himself to every event? Doesn't he want to be more present in everyone's life? Be invited to stuff and spend time with them? What better opportunity than this, since he is adding himself already to the entrance ceremony? My polite guess is that he knew it would become too weird for the dreamer if he suddently appeared everywhere when he was barely seen until that moment, so he decided to cast himself aside for most events to be less suspicious. Idia realizes almost immediately something is wrong thanks to the insane gatcha luck so imagine if he suddenly found Malleus everywhere? "Why are you here, you aren't supposed to be here????" it would immediately raise suspicious from everyone.

This being said, the theory is likely wrong but I had way too much fun trying to guess who would be the owner of each dream-event. So I tried to think about it and here is my results, feel free to share if you think it different! (Under the cut because it would become kilometric)

Part 1 because it has become SO MUCH LONGER than expected

Happy Beans Day - Seize the Golden Harp!

SSR Azul, SR Jade + Jack, R Cater.

Dreamer - I feel like this is easy: Azul's team won and he is free from the pain of P.E. (felt). So I feel it's pretty safe to assume it's his dream. I do believe this challange could happens also in the main story since it's a yearly tradition, but it would be fun if Azul dreamed of it and maybe changed the outcome. In the happy dream, his team won while in reality he is still stuck with the lessons (I feel your pain Azul).

Why the others are present - I wouldn't be surprised if this is just how the teams were in the main story, and Azul just changed the finale. I don't remember if the first event had the Malleus VS Lilia fight but I like to think that is the real Malleus and he was just training a little to see how much he can affects the dreams and just have a nice sparring session.

Fairy Gala ~Festival of the Spring-Calling Fairies~

SSR Leona, SR Jamil + Kalim, R Ruggie

Dreamer - This was already harder, because no I don't think being the SSR automatically means you are the dreamer. It's too easy and with event with multiple SSR it would be more complicated (plus, this game would become boring quickly). So I reread it quickly and since "Leona and Kalim were tasked by Crowley to infiltrate the Fairy Gala" I believe Kalim would be a nice fit. He is there, dancing, spending time with Jamil and getting to know Leona and Ruggie better, which I don't think he would mind!

Why the others are present - he goes everywhere with Jamil and deeply cares about him, so I can see him trying to add Jamil to the dream in any way possible to enjoy more things together. I feel he could see Leona and Ruggie as a "do not separate" situation so, of course they would come together in the dream too. The reason for "why Leona?", it's because of the "Exotic" (tho I deeply disagree with the term ofc) theme. Vil and Divus are there because they can easily be considered the best for the costumes and training in any situation.

Ghost Marriage ~Proposal of Destiny~

SSR Ace, SR Riddle + Epel, R Rook

Dreamer - well, I think we can all agree it is definitely not Idia lol. As my biggest kin, I can promise you that if I were to dream of being kidnapped I would also be also the one saving myself and I would not want to have a squad of people to come to dig my grave deeper help me. We can also all agree that, most likely, all the slapped boys are definitely not the one dreaming. I don't think Ortho would dream can he dream? of his brother being kidnapped. Sam also doesn't feel quite right. I think it is pretty safe to assume again one of the guys that got the card is the one dreaming (yes I don't feel safe assuming that this is true for all events). But then who? Riddle is off the chart because the rulesTM were almost broken and he was desperate to fix it. I guess he would dream something more peaceful that either follows the rules or completely ignore them. Rook is also off the chart, he can see beauty in everything so he would not make Eliza reject everyone if anything I see him going more for an harem ending. Also he would not let Vil's face be ruined by a slap, I think. Ace or Epel that is the question. My heart is screaming Epel just because he can let go of his frustration by fighting, and he could finally hit Vil (Eliza did it, but it would be his dream soooo). Buut my mind reminds me that Ace has dropped that he had a girlfriend that left him. Seems like a pretty big lore to drop if Epel is the one dreaming. I can't find a reason for Epel to dream about Ace telling of his romantic past. Plus if I am not wrong he is the one that in the end plays the major role of making Eliza realize her feelings. So, for as much as I would like to say Epel, I think the dreamer is Ace.

Why the others are present - for chaos. And the Drama.

[saltydoesstuff]

"Amber Eyes" Feral Mikey x Reader

Since I can figure out how to make posts longer I figured I can finally post this here to. It's a couple months old so don't mind the bad writing--

((All characters are 18+ unless stated otherwise)) (CW: mentions of nightmares/sleep paralysis) -------------------------------------------------------------

Huh. You almost forgot how many things you could see when you stared blankly at a flat surface. The subtle grooves in the paint making it seem like there were little funky creatures there. Of course, they were harder to spot when looking at the ceiling- and it was dark-- but that wasn't the point. The point, if any, is that it made a good distraction.

From what? The man in the corner of your room. You couldn't see him well, he blended in with the dark very well- but you could feel his gaze on you. He was watching you, waiting. For what? It's not like you could move at the moment. All you could do is breath harshly through your nose, trying to wake yourself up. It wasn't real, you knew that. It didn't stop the fear though. It didn't stop your heart from pumping in your ears, it didn't stop the heavy sense of dread that felt like it was going to make your chest cave in-- it didn't stop the strong urge to cry out for help. You think what makes it worse is that you can't. So when it all went away, and you opened your eyes again for real- a choked gasp left your lips.

You gripped the blankets that kept you warm, pulling them more over your body like it would protect you. You didn't look around at first, just staring ahead while your body tried to calm down from what feels like a marathon. You hated when this happened. Even worse when there was something with you during. At least the man wasn't on top of you, like how it usually went. After a long moment, you quickly scanned your room to make sure there was nothing there. Corners? Nope. Closet? Also no. The window that had amber eyes staring at you? No- WAIT--

This time a shriek made it's way out, and you undignifiedly got tangled in your blankets while trying to get up and away from the eyes- crashing onto the floor with a thump and a grunt of pain. You heard the window open, and worried sounding chittering followed with the soft clicking of claws against the hardwood. You looked up warily to see Mikey, confused and a bit concerned at your situation. You sighed in relief to see it was just him, giving him a weak smile. "H-Hey buddy, how about we don't stare at people through their windows at night eh? It's creepy."

Mikey chirped and chittered again, but you couldn't understand him. You couldn't understand any of the turtles yet, but they seemed to have some understanding of what you say- if them trying to copy your words tell you anything. The turtle made it over to you and tugged on the blankets that you were currently tangled up in, helping you get unstuck. You appreciated the help, sitting up with a huff, "Thanks.. What are you even doing here? It's the middle of the night."

Mikey copied your huff, mixing in a chuff and pointed a claw at you. "Me?" He nodded, making a softer series of chirps, "Chiirr.. rrrrf-ear." "Fear? You.. saw me afraid?" He nodded again, then glanced around your room- seemingly trying to find the source of what made you scared. You found it endearing, that he wanted to check in on you. Even if he nearly scared you to death in doing so. How were you supposed to explain sleep paralysis to him though? Have any of them experienced it before? You shook her head and smiled gently, "Don't worry, I just had a bad dream." He could understand that, right?

You've experienced Raph having a nightmare once, poor guy was thrashing and snapping at the air in his sleep- clutching his left shoulder. You always wondered what had happened there, the giant dragging teeth marks.. Raph was a big guy, what could have hurt him like that? You tried to not think about it much.

Mikey looked back at you, regarding your expression for a moment. You must have not looked fine to him, because before you fully registered what was happening you were being picked up by your underarms. He maneuvered you gently into a princess carry, and hopped onto your bed. The bed groaned in protest at his weight, but Mikey didn't seem to pay any mind. He held you close to his plastron, resting his chin on top of your head. You blinked, wiggling slightly in his arms to try and get more comfortable. Mikey let you, loosening his hold just enough until you settled- then tightened his hold again. This was happening you supposed. You knew better than to try and escape his cuddles when he wanted them, if you knew anything about the box turtle was that he was persistent. All of them were when they wanted something.

You let out a sigh, resting your head against his chest, "I take it you're going to be staying, then?" He chuffed quietly in response, nuzzling his snout into your hair. They were always so careful how they handled you, so mindful just how different you were compared to them. It warmed your heart to know that they cared about you, that he cared about you like this. You rubbed his upper arm slightly, giving it a small squeeze to show your appreciation towards his gentleness, "I'll take that as a yes."

You could hear his heartbeat through his plastron, it beating steadily. Strongly. It was soothing to hear, but it also made you wonder just how thick their plastron was to be able to hear it so clearly. You'd have to remember to ask later down the line, when you had better ways of communicating with them all. You had no idea how long you both stayed like that, or when your eyelids started to get heavy and close. But when you opened them again, you found yourself in the middle of a turtle pile with all four brothers you had grown close to over the last six months. You supposed the other three grew worried when they couldn't find their youngest brother and went looking for him.

You glanced up at Mikey, whom had fallen asleep at some point throughout the night. He was still holding you securely, his cheek resting against the top of your head. He looked so peaceful like this, even a bit goofy with how his face was semi smushed against your head. You forgot all about the man in the corner. He didn't matter so long as you had Mikey with you.

[fictional-teakettle]

Waiting for the Cocoa to Cool ☕

In which Gus gets angsty about the whole becoming-a-villain thing, and Pen makes him cocoa. She also makes him laugh himself silly.

⚠️ This is a ticklefic! If that ain't your thing, kindly move along ⚠️

🫂 Pairing: Lee!Gus, Ler!Pen (100% platonic, 200% consensual, sfw)

‼️CW/TW: Gus curses like a sailor, you have been warned 😂 If there are any trigger warnings you'd like me to add (to this piece any/or any work in the future), please let me know!

While I adore both, I'm much more comfy with writing as a medium than drawing. So I thought I'd write a quick lil ticklefic to introduce Gus a bit more organically than my typical habit of infodumping. 😅 This fic ended up being much longer than I anticipated, but hey - what's wrong with extra tickles? Nothing I can think of.

Hope you enjoy! -🐧

"You want some cocoa, hun?"

I don't wait for an answer - I've already made two mugs. Gus will never refuse cocoa (not my cocoa, anyway).

Besides, he's staring out at the rain, which means he's too lost in thought to register anything I say anyway. His reverie only breaks when I set his mug beside him on the end table, directly in his line of vision, and plop myself down on the sofa beside him.

"Did you tell them about me?"

Look at that. Bailey owes me five bucks. He thought it'd take Gus a couple minutes before he started fretting about my new project.

"I gave them a little introduction." I pat his hand. "There's an awful lot to know about you, hun."

"Right, but did you tell them about... you know..."

How 'bout that! Bailey owes me ten.

"Vaguely." I set my mug down on the coffee table. "I said you went off the deep end for a bit."

Gus manages a mirthless little scoff of a chuckle. "There's an understatement."

"I mean, that's what happened," I shrug. "You just... lost your head for a while."

"I dunno, Pen. I think there was a little more to it than that."

"Mm. That's a topic for future posts."

Gus looks away.

He's right, of course - there's a lot more to it. Just... not a lot that matters to us now, in my cozy living room, listening to the rain patter on the window. The only problem is that Gus can't stay present to save his life.

But that's why I made the cocoa. Nothing heals like cocoa, in my humble opinion (especially my cocoa).

Unfortunately it's still too hot to drink. I gotta think of some other way to distract him before he starts ruminating on-

"Are you sure you don't wanna start with Hazel?"

I stifle a sigh. "Gus, love, we talked about this, remember?"

"I'm just saying, the villain isn't the one who deserves a-"

"You're not the villain."

"Well, I was sure acting like one!"

"Because you were high as a kite on Dr. Jekyll's axe-crazy-monster juice."

"That I made myself!"

"You didn't intend to drink it." I lean back. "You just needed it for... you know. Vengeance..."

Gus throws me a flat look. He's right, this conversation isn't really going a productive direction.

"Look," I try again, " You're not in that story anymore. You were never even supposed to be in that story in the first place. If anyone deserves a soft epilogue, in a new place, it's you."

"But so do you." Gus meets my gaze for the first time in the whole conversation. "Your life got fucked up, too. If you're gonna go to all this trouble, you deserve to focus on your own epilogue."

"Why do you think you're sitting in my living room?" I squeeze his hand. "You're my comfort character, Gus. We're in this together."

"What's that?"

"Comfort character? It means you make me feel safe."

He blinks. "...Oh."

"You're my comfiest comfort character." I scoot closer and rest my head on his shoulder.

I can feel a bit of the tension in his muscles ease at the cuddle. "You're makin' me sound like a stuffed animal," he mutters good-naturedly.

"Mm."

"I think Hazel's a lot better at comforting that I am though, personally..."

This man. Cannot. Let anything go.

Which means it's time to switch tactics.

"Hey, you know what I forgot to tell them about you?"

"I mean, Hazel's a fairy godmother." He's no longer listening. "Comfort is her whole-" At least he isn't until right about here, when he freezes mid-phrase.

He hadn't even noticed me slip my arm behind his back, but he's definitely noticed that I'm now walking the fingers of both hands up his sides.

"Don't let me interrupt you, hun..."

"Ohhh no, you don't!"

"You were saying...?"

"Pen, cheheh- cut that out!"

"No, no, continue, I insist!"

"Pen!" His voice cracks even on this one syllable.

"I'm just demonstrating a little detail I forgot to mention to our readers."

Finally, twisting to face me, he manages to snag both my wrists and hold them still. "Wh-What do they need to know that for?!"

"What do they need to know what for?" I smile sweetly.

"That I'm-" He's so flustered he just barely catches himself.

I flash him a wide grin. "You wanna tell 'em, honey?"

He just squirms - struggling with an uncharacteristically silly grin of his own that he doesn't entirely seem to realize he's making. "Over my cold, dead-"

Mm, I don't need to hear the end of that threat. I easily break my wrists from his grasp and set to work on his adorable little belly.

The detail I forgot to tell you is that Gus is devastatingly ticklish.

"WaitwaitWAIT Pehehen, staHAhp!!"

Gus isn't a loud guy. Even his full-out cackling barely makes it above most folks' normal speaking voice. But what he lacks in volume he makes up for in intensity - he's got the most contagious, helpless laughter I've ever heard in my life. The best I can describe it is quietly maniacal.

"Stopstopstopit-getOFFmehehe!!" He also has an adorable tendency to babble incoherently when he gets nervous - or flustered, in this case. Especially if I get 'im right up under his ribs...

"ACK! Pehehen! Penstop I cahan't- Ihi-"

The nice thing about this spot is that I can wiggle my fingers right up under his diaphragm, so his own giggling starts to tickle.

"I can't st-stop! AHahaha- plehehehease!!"

It's definitely a spot to use sparingly, else he'll run out of air. I give him another few tweaks before sitting back, beaming as he catches his breath.

"This is... heh... c-completely unnecessary," he mutters, his hands wavering defensively over his midsection.

"If only there was something you could say to make me stop," I sigh, throwing a sorrowful glance to the ceiling. In reply I receive his best attempt at a scowl (which, since he's still grinning like an idiot, isn't a very convincing attempt).

Gus is so sensitive - both physically and emotionally - that I'd never dare touch him if we didn't have a safeword. But I've never in our entire friendship heard him use it. This boy soaks up physical affection like a ticklish little sponge.

And right now, in my expert opinion, he could use a little more of it.

I can't help but coo over the way his tummy deflates in anticipation as I hover one hand over his waist. All I have to do is rest my fingertips against the soft fabric of his sweater, and he collapses into helpless giggles.

It occurs to me, I don't think I've mentioned Gus' accent yet either. It's little more than a slight lilt most of the time, but when he's flustered like this becomes much more pronounced.

I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be, exactly - technically it's Drearish, the regional dialect from the fictional village where he grew up. Whoever directed the movie he came from seemed to be going for some vague German-Slavic-Transylvanian hodgepodge.

Regardless, it's cute as heck. Especially when he's so overwhelmed that he starts trying to curse me out in Drearish.

Not that he doesn't have a perfectly sufficient vocabulary of English curse words to throw at me...

"I svehehear to - shihit, fuck! - I vill breheak your FUHUCKING - heheheh! - your fingers!! Your... dammit, getoffme!!"

...But the trick is to sneak my hands under his sweater and start scribbling directly against the soft pudge of his lower tummy. That really does him in.

"What did you just call me?!"

"I saheheh-" [incomprehensible] "you fuhuckin'-" [unintelligible] "if you don't-" [...frankly this could be English or Drearish, it's so garbled by laughter I can't tell].

"Sorry, didn't catch that," I tease.

He lapses into silent laughter for a few seconds. "Okay, okahahay, enough! Enough!"

Enough isn't our safeword (that would be nightshade) but it's kind of an informal one since he doesn't use it very often. It's become a code for I'm getting tired.

So I withdraw my hands from beneath his sweater, and start rubbing slow circles on his tummy. Even this still tickles him, but only enough to elicit soft little breathless chuckles. I'm mostly doing it because his tummy is just so irresistibly soft and warm... but also my hand is trapped so tightly beneath both his arms that I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers.

Our cocoa has gone cold by the time we return to our mugs. Neither of us mind very much.

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 58 The Detective Clubhouse Killing

Not to be confused with The Detective Club Killer

They took down MurdleJr again bc it was so buggy lmao

I may be reusing pictures now I can't even tell there are too many episodes

Anyway baby marshmallow

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Irratino has a great idea! Certainly that means he’s going to Drakonia and rescuing Logico. Wait, no… he’s heading to the Detective Club. Looks like we got more filler, folks!

IRRATINO: Everyone!

Everyone doesn’t listen. They’re all busy staring at… can you guess?

AUBERGINE: Oh. Hey Irratino. IRRATINO: I have… news. BLUES: LOGICO’S BACK!! IRRATINO: What? No! I came to tell you that he’s missing! AUBERGINE: STILL? I figured you’d have him back as soon as you figured out where he was! IRRATINO: I still don’t know, I’m looking for clues… CHAMPAGNE: Well- He’s not here.

The sillies have gotten into some murder shenanigans, but there’s not too much going on. The more irrelevant places Irratino checks, the more murders he has to solve, and the longer it’s taking to actually get to Logico! 

Champagne is reading the first page of many books without ever sitting down. Irratino gets distracted when he picks up one on astrology.

IRRATINO: Look! You’re a Capricorn, right? CHAMPAGNE: There’s no way you should be able to know th- IRRATINO: The creature that represents the Capricorn has horns just like yours! It’s like the sign was meant to be! CHAMPAGNE: Yeah, my cousin used to have horns and they’re not a-

Babyface Blue falls over and screams! That’s because they were hiding a golden flamingo in their coat which wounded Blue Pink.

BLUE: (I can’t… move…) It’s fine! I’ll deal with it! (Deal with what??) Your whining! ([whacks Blue A with the flamingo])

Forgot to mention, the fourth suspect is Judge Pine.

PINE: I came here for a murder party. And now everyone’s just doin’ their own thing! What am I supposed to do?! AUBERGINE: Well, duh. There’s no FOOD. What kind of party has no food? You know what I love? DINNER THEATER. A meal and a murder, what’s not to love?! PINE: NUH-UH! I eat my food nice and quiet. I don’t need no blood gettin’ in my lunch!

Irratino wishes Logico were here. These everyday murders lack their charm when he’s not there. Especially since Irratino isn’t very good at it. But he knows A way to get Logico’s input! An occult method called - oh, never mind, it’s private.

Using this method, he is able to see inside Logico’s head, and what he’s thinking.

LOGICO: I’m so tired. I hate this bed so much! Why hasn’t Irratino come yet? Oh shit, he’s probably trying to figure out who captured me and why first. Why are all the ads for beer? I’m so hungry. 

Even now, Irratino doesn’t take the hint. But after seeing Aubergine prepare a full buffet, he knows the answer to the murder!

After the accusation, the dead person leaps to her feet. Irratino hadn’t even bothered to check if she was a human - it’s Azure! She and Aubz take a bow.

AUBERGINE: I just wanted to host my own dinner theater. And it worked! You totally fell for it!

Irratino smiles. It’s nice to have good friends. But it’d be even nicer if Logico was also there.

IRRATINO: Do any of you know who kidnapped Logico?

Champ, Pine, and the kids are devouring everything on the table, and pretend like they can’t hear him.

The end!

Irratino sweetie ily but you gotta stop trying to extend the season and just get your bbg already :'3

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[resquices-of-godhood]

Chapter IX: Putting out the fires

First << Previous <- Next ->

The entire cult of death comes to check what just happened after the explosion went off, seeing the flaming remnants of the dirigible burn quite intensely. Everyone was quite apprehensive about what it would mean for them.

As the flames abated, Wolfgang would manifest himself near the current crown bearers, grumbling in his native tongue as he takes off his lab coat, flapping it to get rid of the explosion's remnants. His crown even helping putting out a small flame from his fur that he hasn't noticed yet.

"We got things under control up there, no need to worry." Wolfgang says as he puts his coat back on, still distracted. "The gas used to keep the dirigible afloat was leaking and caught fire. We are investigating the cause, but it seems to be just from wear and tear." He adds while adjusting his outfit, trying to assure that the incident would not change the negotiations.

As Wolfgang finally shifts his attention from his outfit to those present, he notices the new faces standing around. The surprise prompts him to have a good look at them with all six of his eyes, before closing the top and lower pairs and looking at Narinder. "If you don't mind me asking, how many vessels did you have in the last millennium?" He asks to the panther.

"Thirteen, why do you ask?" Narinder replies, before adding a question of his own. His former vessels look amongst themselves, trying to understand the reason of the question as well.

"It's just that I can count seven of them here." Wolfgang points out. "That's counting Lord Leoda as well, of course."

"If I may, Lord Wolfgang, how can you tell?" Asks Baines as he approaches the Wolf.

"Well, my top pair of eyes do not see visible light, but rather the magic spectrum." Wolgang answers. "And you, as well as the others you were with, have a higher concentration of magic than a regular mortal, and in a specific frequency that closely matches both Narinder's and the Red Crown's as well."

"And why you care how many of us are there?" Benson asks, unsure of how to feel about the recently arrived god's interest.

"Curiosity." Wolfgang replies with a shrug. "If my own or my crown's, it has been several centuries since I no longer knew."

"Just curiosity?" Benson asks back, somewhat incredulous.

"Yes. Curiosity, or the need to know things, really, is most of what drives my crown." Wolfgang replies. "From an objective point of view, knowing the amount of former vessels of another crown provides little tactical advantage. They pose about as much of a threat as any former crown bearers, which is more than regular mortals, but nowhere near as much as current ones. No offence."

"I... Suppose you have a point." Benson concedes.

"Alright, I explained what happened in my place, found out about the vessels, explained how my crown works..." Wolfgang recounts, trying to remember what else he needed to do. "Oh! Almost forgot." He says as he retrieves a small device from one of his pants' pockets. "There we go. This is radio should allow you to contact us up on the fortress. The frequency is all set, all you have to do is push the button on the side when you want to talk. The batteries should last long enough for us to conduct our business." He hands the radio device to Leoda.

"Uh... Thanks, I guess?" Leoda replies as they take the radio, examining it to figure out what else it can do.

"I may operate it as needed, Lord Leoda." Baines offers to the Lamb.

"You used one of these before?" They respond to the owl, who nods. "I see. I will be depending on you for communications until I figure this thing out, then."

"Right, there was something else I intended to do before I stopped to check Sophie's complaint about a faulty engine on the dirigible. What was it again...?" Wolfgang mutters to himself, trying to recall what he was planning to do.

Meanwhile, Gayne raises a hand from under his fleece and wings. "If I may, what about the planned surgeries?" They ask.

"Oh, thanks, Gayne. That was exactly what I was going to talk about as well." Wolfgang replies as he turns to face the Goat. "Even if the dirigible hadn't exploded, or one of the engine wasn't presenting problems, that airship was less than ideal to come and go for transportation, specially when faster, safer, more reliable and compact ones are available. I'm just waiting for the go ahead to send one to pick them up."

"We... Have talked to our witnesses and are ready to go, Your Lordship." Kallamar speaks up, though looking nervous about it.

"I see. The ship will be arriving by the end of the day, then." Wolfgang replies, before stopping to recount to see if there's anything else to do. "I think that's all, now. I will be returning to my cult."

"Wait!" Narinder calls before Wolfgang could depart. "You are able to distinguish former vessels from regular mortals, right? Can you help me find the ones missing?"

"I mean, it shouldn't be too hard." Wolfgang replies. "But why?"

"I... Want to know what happened of them, that's all." Narinder responds, getting the Wolf to narrow his eyes to try to distinguish what he might want with it.

"They didn't cross into the land of the dead and he is worried about them." Leoda interjects. "He was very emotionally attached to each one of us."

"Don't put words in my mouth, damned lamb!" Narinder replies, before crossing his arms and looking away. As if he couldn't make it more obvious.

"Well, whatever the case may be, it shouldn't be a problem, though it may take a few days to get the equipment ready." Wolfgang responds. "But I can't guarantee I will find all of them. Its not hard to hide their magic if they really don't want to be found."

"Anything you find might be enough, thanks." Leoda replies as Narinder is too busy being pouty at the moment.

"I understand. Now, if there's nothing else..." Wolfgang replies, before manifesting a circle of magic around himself and sinking into it, leaving the cult of Death.

There's a long minute of silence, before Benson finally breaks it.

"Well, I don't think he will be as much of a problem as I thought..." The rhino says as he looks at the sky fortress contemplatively.

"How so, Benson?" Asks Ratau as he shifts the weight of his body off of his wooden leg.

"Well, he isn't like the Bishops we fought against." Benson replies to the rat. "Though there is a bit of arrogance in his dismissal of how many of us there are, he is a lot less self centered. Whatever caused him to come here, it's not just for his own benefit."

"How can you tell, love?" Violet asks as she comes to her husband's side.

"He does have a point, Violet." Forneus chimes in while the gathering of followers start to disperse. "Wolfgang is going a lot farther than any of the Bishops of the Old Faith would have for someone that's not one of their own."

"Fair point. I can't see Kallamar going remotely as far as this." Violet responds to the cat.

"I heard that!" Kallamar protests.

"Good, I didn't want to have to yell for you to." Violet responds, her disdain for the Bishops clear as day in her voice.

"Lets not cause an issue here, dear." Benson tells his wife as Kallamar huffs at the audacity of the mare, though ultimately unable to do anything. Meanwhile, Leshy very much seem amused by how easily his brother got embarrassed.

"Sorry, I forgot they aren't that big of-" Violet starts, before Baines places a hand onto her shoulder.

"I wouldn't finish this sentence if I were you, Miss Violet." You might end up " The owl warns her. "Even if we were enemies at one point, it is not an excuse to keep humiliating them like this."

"Ok, fine. I got the memo." Violet replies to Baines as she throws her hands up.

"Good. Now, how about we go back to my cart? We still have much to catch up on." Forneus offer as things seem to be calming down, and even the Bishops seem to be going to organize their things for departure.

"I wouldn't mind that." Benson says as Vece starts helping Ratau to the cart. "But speaking of which, I heard you had married again. Where's the lucky fella?"

"Right here!" Danica says as she pops out of the ground behind the rhino, startling him and Violet.

"Where did you come from?" The unicorn asks as she turns to face the bushworm covered in redish leaves.

"I'm not the only one that knows how to burrow around, Violet." Ratau calls out as he walks towards the cart with Vece's help.

"Yep. I was waiting for everyone to disperse before coming to the surface, just in case." Danica replies, before handing in a bag to Forneus. "Got the herbs you asked from Rakshasa, fresh as only he sells."

"Oh, thanks, love." Forneus says, before kissing her wife for a short moment. "Now I can make lunch for everyone."

Well, here we go. Got hit by the writer's block again this week.

As always, separator by @lambouillet

[writingsofwesteros]

"Aemond baby," Nora hummed as she sat across from his desk. "I'm starting to think you're rejecting all these candidates to be your assistant because you want to keep me here longer." Aemond grumbled incoherently, as he gazed at his sister- he couldn't help that everyone else pissed him off, and only she knew exactly how he wanted things. "I'm not even qualified, babe- I'm an art history major? Remember? That's not exactly what one's looking for in the position of assistant to the CEO." Nora went on. "I don't give a shit about your major." Aemond told her gruffly. "And anyway, you own stake in this company, your blood's in this company too, you know? It's called Targaryen Incorporated. You know this company like the back of your hand, even though you won't admit it." It was true, she supposed. When she was younger, Otto used to bring her and her siblings to the office with him- Aegon was never interested, Helaena often got distracted, but she and Aemond learned. Even though she hated Viserys, she knew that she was a Targaryen, and this company was as much hers as Rhaenyra's, or Aemond's, or Daemon's. The entire family had a stake in it, even if they didn't work there, or run it, like Aemond did. It's the legacy of their dynasty. "I also know you like the back of my hand." Nora reminded him. "Speaking of, those interns are fucking terrified of you," She said. "It'd help if every time one of them used the wrong font you didn't act like you were gonna incinerate them." He scoffed. "Look, it's not my fault these green uni students haven't a clue how to do shit. But they should know if you wanna work for me, you meet my standards." Nora rolled her eyes, coming over to him. She sat on his lap, and Aemond rested his head on her chest, and she stroked his head. "I know baby," She hummed. "If they wanna do shit however they can intern for Aegon." Aemond grumbled. "For whatever club he's working on with Oberyn."

"You still need to pick a replacement," Nora reminded him and he groaned. "Just stay with me until after the trip up to Winterfell," he pleaded. "Then we'll sort it out." She smiled, her nails lightly scratching his scalp. "Okay baby," She said, her mind fondly drifting over to Ned Stark. "Besides," He said. "Don't think I forgot about your sway with Stark." "Ned?" Nora chuckled. "Whatever happened with that anyway?" "He realised I was still in high school, had a panic morality moment, then ran back home to Kat Tully. Or Stark, I guess." Nora replied. "Well, if needed I'm sure you can turn on the charm for me," Aemond told her. He knew he could never restrain Nora, even if she really only opted to mostly sleep with their siblings for a while now. "You know I can." She smirked. "Don't worry, Ned Stark is a... special case."

Assistant Nora is the hottest !!!

Aemond really is just not accepting applications for his darling Nora to stay longer.

"You know I can." She smirked. "Don't worry, Ned Stark is a... special case."

!!!!!

how cute of Otto to bring the baby targaryens to work !!!

[eventinelysplayground]

Renewed

This is the epilogue for Broken Promises. It's also the second last for that poll I did 2.5 months ago where I badly described some wips and people voted for them. I'm so sorry for the long wait as well just smut takes me so much longer and than I got distracted and forgot to post it. This is NSFW so minors DNI. A few tiny scratches on Theo's forearm had brought Mitsuki's bloodlust to the surface. Although she wasn't sure at first if she could hold back now a different thirst was taking over. WC approx 1575, tagging @whatever-fanfics and @candied-boys as they had both asked to be tagged when this finally came out.

“Theo…”

Mitsuki was shocked, she'd never heard herself sound so needy and desperate before but all Theo did was grin smugly at her.

“Dogs aren't supposed to bite their owners Hondje, but I'll make an exception since you're such a good pup.”

“You don't need to look so smug about it.”

Mitsuki pouted at Theo and he reached out cupping her cheek before kissing her deeply. It had been too long since he had touched and kissed her this way and a burning heat followed behind his hands and lips wherever they touched.

Theo's hand moved slowly downwards, his fingers tugging at the top most buttons of her blouse. Any thoughts either of them had of dragging things out were abandoned as their clothes were quickly discarded amongst a sea of roaming hands. Theo's hands came to rest on her hips and he roughly pulled her in towards him, capturing her lips in yet another hungry kiss. Everything felt so good, too good almost and Mitsuki found her head spinning and throat burning. His warm lips moved away from hers down to her collarbone while one of his hands trailed up along her side causing her knees to almost buckle.

“Theo…ngh!”

Theo's tongue and fingers moved in tandem causing a surge of pleasure and Mitsuki felt her knees give out but she didn't fall, Theo's arm snaked around her waist and held her upright.

“You think you can make it to the bed?”

Theos voice was deep and sultry but with a mischievous lilt to it, he knew full well she wasn't able to and she shook her head at him.

“Hehe, come here Hondje.”

“Whoa!”

With a smug grin still on his face he swept her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed. He sat down on the edge of it and settled her on his thighs. His fingers tenderly touched the crook of her neck and his eyebrows knit together.

“Do they bother you Theo?”

Mitsuki was referring to the faint marks on her neck from Leonardo's bite. At first she thought maybe they were just taking longer to heal but now…She had accepted they would never fully go away but she hadn't been able to bring herself to ask Theo what he thought.

“Not as much as they did at first.”

Mitsuki smiled and looked deep into those sea blue eyes she loved so much as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She shuddered as his fingers glided up her back coming to rest in her hair. Every touch was too much and not enough after so long without him and she swallowed hard.

His free hand gently massaged one breast as he pulled her in for another kiss. His tongue licked at her lips and she parted them letting his tongue easily slip in. As their tongues twined together she felt a light pinch on her nipple followed by a soft caress and squeeze. Theo's hand moved to her other breast and as he caressed it he pulled away from their kiss and Mitsuki whimpered.

“I want you to keep looking at me Hondje, I want to see the expression on your face as I pleasure you.”

Theo's hand slid down between her breasts and over her stomach coming to rest between her legs. He placed his thumb over her sensitive bud then slid two fingers quickly inside her. Mitsuki moaned as she felt Theo's fingers curl inside her while his thumb worked her most sensitive spot. She wanted to throw her head back but his other hand held her head in place.

“Keep looking at me, I want to make sure I'm all you can think about.”

“You ngh… already are Theo.”

“Good.”

Theo's fingers slid out as he applied more pressure to her clit and moved his thumb slowly up and down. All Mitsuki could manage was a nod and at that Theo added another finger and slowly slid them back inside her. His movements were deep but slow, his fingers curling every time they hit the deepest point drawing out moans of pleasure each time they did so.

Mitsuki was close to coming undone with pleasure, the burning in her throat had gotten out of control and she dug her nails into Theo's back.

“Theo…”

Her voice was desperate.

“You want to mark me now?”

“Yes.”

Theo withdrew his fingers in one swift motion making Mitsuki whine and their loss. His hand moved around to grab her ass, digging his nails into it.

“Up.”

Mitsuki pushed herself up on her knees and she felt Theo's hand slide off her behind.

“Good girl Hondje now sit.”

Theo was smirking again and Mitsuki let out a low groan before lining her soaked entrance up with his tip. Slowly he helped guide her onto his hardness, both of them taking quivering shallow breaths. Theo was so gentle with her, like she was a piece of glass and it reminded her of the very first time they had made love. Once his cock was buried fully inside of her Mitsuki started to slowly move herself up and down and Theo let out a low groan. As she began to pick up a bit of speed Theo brought their foreheads together.

“Now bite me.”

Mitsukis eyes widened but only for a moment before they looked down to Theo's neck. She wanted to do this right and thought about all the times over the years that Theo had bitten her. What she liked the most, the different feelings he conveyed in the different ways he bit her.

Smiling Mitsuki kissed his lips then moved along his jaw. Slowly she kissed and nipped her way down his neck to its crook. She kept one hand on the back of his shoulder, the other moving so she could twine her fingers in her hair and then she bit down.

She bit deep into his flesh drinking deep. She could feel his neck tense as the pain hit then go lax again as the pleasure took over. Theo let out a moan followed by a growl and his fingers digging into her hips and she knew what he wanted but there was only so much she could do with her head buried in his neck.

Mitsuki drew away making sure to lick her bite marks clean and began to move herself faster and further up and down Theo's cock. The sensation of his thickness filling her stretching her pussy out again was heavenly and she couldn't help but cry out in pleasure as it hit her.

“Ngh Theo! Oh God-”

Theo's lips cut off her cries and as he snapped his hips deep into her she felt that long awaited release wash over her followed shortly by his. As her climax faded Mitsukis strength left her and she went lax and still in Theo's strong arms. She rested her head on his shoulder for a while as he held her close, running his fingertips lightly over her back causing her to shiver. Her breathing had calmed but her most sensitive spot was anything but with Theo still buried deep inside her. Mitsuki lifted her head and was about to ask him when she saw his eyes were still burning with desire and a devilish smile on his face.

“Theo?”

“Be a good girl, Mitsuki.”

Theo pushed Mitsukis hair back and leaned in close whispering in her ear.

“I have to try and mark you properly.”

At those words Theo buried his fangs deeper than he ever had into Mitsukis neck, right over Leonardo's faint marks. Mitsuki moaned and Theo gripped her neck hard before burying his fangs deeper still. Between the continued stimulation from Theo's hard cock inside her and the searing wave of pleasure from his bite Mitsuki lost all control. She gripped his shoulders and began to move again desperate for another wave of release. Theo lapped at her wounds before his lips started moving down, coming to land on the top of one her breasts while his free hand caressed the other.

This new stimulation to an area that had become overly sensitive made Mitsuki move herself even faster up and down Theo's shaft. The building pleasure and overstimulation made her moan even louder than before.

“Th-Theo!”

Mitsukis second climax hit harder than the first and she couldn't keep herself upright, collapsing onto Theo's chest. Her body was blissfully sore and all her energy was spent.

“Do you think you can move?”

Mitsuki let out a low disapproving mumble and snuggled more into Theo's chest. She felt his laughter as he moved his hands down to her thighs and gave her a light tap.

“Come on Hondje.”

Mitsuki raised her head and frowned but then slowly lifted herself off of Theo and collapsed onto the bed. They hadn't been laying there long when Theo got out of bed, pulling the blanket up around her then starting to put on his pants.

“Where…”

Mitsuki let out a big yawn. Theo laughed and walked over to her pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“I'm just going to go make sure Napoleon is alright with the boys for a bit longer then I'll be right back, I promise.”

“Mmmm Okay.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Theo.”

Theo hadn't even shut the door before he heard the sounds of Mitsukis rhythmic breathing. She had fallen into a deep, restful and peaceful sleep filled with dreams, some of which were anything but restful.

[menlove]

One thing I always find very fun and intriguing about girl McLennon is how some aspects of their dynamic would be recontextualized, like how Paul being the most conventionally feminine of the group would position her as the de facto leader while John is her crass "mannish" right hand who wants to have everything Paul is but tries to get by on being "one of the boys" and dissing her. And then Paul still looks up to her and wants her validation and to bring out her soft side but can't let down her own wall of how she thinks her life is supposed to be as a woman and feels childish for caring so much. And John's insecurity and self-hate is magnified by her being perceived as unfeminine, especially if she's still got her pathologized attachment to Julia, feeling even more fundamentally othered as a gross unlovable freak and hating Paul for seeming so perfect and beautiful and normal.

sorry i read this, lost it at how real this is, forgot to answer once i was on my computer, and bc i no longer had the notification forgot it was here i love adhd!

but literally it's fjasdfasdfasdf the dynamic would be so different and interesting & that's what i looooove about well written genderbends like. they are not exactly the same person ! let's discuss the impacts of misogyny !

god they'd be the epitome of toxic yuri and this drives me to distraction at least every other day.... there'd be a lot of competitiveness and jealousy there as there is w mclennon always but it would add such a different Flavor to it. john would try to act like it doesn't bother her & that she's above it all and "fuck the world" is kind of just Her Thing but she cares deeply and she would soooo resent the supposed ease with which paul would navigate femininity... any john is so so so so gnc, To Me, which would play out really interestingly w her internalized homophobia i feel. i could see her being more openly into women than john was with men, mostly bc she's already One of the Guys & her anger and callousness/crudeness and General Quirkiness would already set her apart from the world so why Not fuck women and make it worse for herself? (except, and this is very real to me, she would Not fuck paul. they have for sure had girl bestie Moments but they would not fuck for soooo long i know this to be true)

meanwhile paul would just be so..... the expectations would be SO different for her as The Eldest Daughter rather than the eldest son. her running off to join a rock and roll band would be taken even worse bc she's abandoning the role she would've been forced into after mary died &, in her father's eyes, abandoning her future role as wife/mother too. she'd probably still wind up engaged to some guy (genderbent jane? just some dude? who knows not me he's irrelevant) but i feel she'd just have a really interesting relationship to femininity & her expected roles there bc of losing mary like that & subsequently leaving it all for fame (& john...) and her sexuality is just not something she'd consider at all except for knowing that she would probably like. kill someone for john. which is soooo normal of her.

this got long but. tldr: yeah. Yeah.