#it's called Sunny Side Productions

[honeyjars-sims]

3.17 Branching Out

Damien had just announced to the staff that he was no longer the CEO of Rainy Day Entertainment. The crowd erupted in gasps and people turned to their coworkers to speculate about what was going on.

Damien held up his hand. “Please, before everyone begins to panic, let me explain.” Their voices began to quiet down as everyone looked at Damien expectantly. “I’m grateful for the time I’ve spent at Rainy Day, and I have a lot of respect for the work that’s being done in the company. But that’s not where my passion lies.”

Damien began looking around the room. “My passion is here, in this room. When I decided to expand my role at Rainy Day to producing new forms of digital content, I thought I could still handle my regular duties. Now I realize I don’t have the time to continue my work in the E-Sports division and also foster the work we're doing here. So as of today, Sunny Side Studios is branching off and a new CEO will be taking over my duties at Rainy Day."

The crowd once again erupted with questions. Johnny glanced back at Lucy to gauge her reaction; surely she would know more about the situation. He was relieved to see a relaxed smile on her face.

Damien continued, “I want to assure you that his won’t affect anyone’s pay and I’m not letting anyone go. We’re only getting bigger. We’re still a part of the Rainy Day family, but I'll be devoting all of my time here. And this building?”

Damien gestured around. “The whole thing belongs to us now. That means more expansion, more content, more staff members. Speaking of, there are a couple of people I want to introduce to you.”

A man and a woman who both looked familiar to Johnny turned the corner, both smiling warmly.

“These two amazing people are Celeste and Christopher Michaelson," Damien explained. "If you’re a video game fan, which you should be"--he paused and gave a knowing look the to the staff, who responded with laughter--"I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Christopher will be joining the team as my new Production Manager, and Celeste as Creative Director. They’ll be working with us on developing new projects. Celeste?”

“I know this must come as quite a shock," Celeste acknowledged. "But I promise these changes will only lead to more growth and more opportunities for everyone here. Christopher and I would love to hear all of your ideas and suggestions for where to take things from here.”

“Our ears and offices are open to you,” Christopher chimed in. “Everyone is here because you bring something to the table, so we want to hear from you before we add on any more team members.”

“Celeste, Christopher, and I will be meeting with each department over the next few weeks to hear your suggestions and concerns, so please don’t hesitate to speak your minds. Together, we’re going to make Sunny Side Productions really shine.” The staff began to clap and cheer.

Lucy stopped to talk to Johnny briefly before joining Damien, Celeste, and Christopher in a planning meeting. "You have nothing to worry about," she promised him, seeming to have noticed his apprehension. "This is going to be a good thing."

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

[moonstruckme]

PLEASE!!! im on my hands n knees begging. poly!mauraders with a hyper partner that give off golden retriever vibes I BEG

Happy to oblige my love!

poly!marauders x golden retriever!reader ♡ 1k words

Sirius is still in the process of waking up when you come inside, bags of groceries in your arms. 

“Morning!” You lean over the top of the couch to kiss his cheek as you go by, all but skipping into the kitchen. “Have you been outside? It’s gorgeous.” 

Sirius levels you with a deadpan look. “Do I look like I’ve been outside?” 

“You should,” you say, undeterred by his attitude. “Spring is in the air! The sun is out, the trees are starting to get their little flowers—I even bought us some tulips to put on the table.” 

“That’s nice,” he mumbles, sinking deeper into the cushions. He knows he really should help you unload the groceries, but it feels like his bones have been replaced by barbells. Luckily, he hears a set of footsteps coming down the hall. 

“Hey, sunshine.” James comes in fully dressed, pecking you on the lips before starting the coffee machine. “What’d you get?” 

“I got tulips,” you tell him excitedly. “Have you been outside? It’s a really lovely day.” 

James smiles, sliding one of the bags away from you as you start snipping the stems of your tulips so they’ll fit in a vase. “Yeah, I poked my head out for a sec. It is nice.” His glance slides over to where Sirius languishes on the couch, grin going somewhat cocky. “Morning, Sirius. You could help with the groceries, you know.” 

Sirius waves his hand. “Two of you are enough.” 

The coffee machine starts to gurgle, summoning Remus like a siren’s call. He trudges out of the bedroom, sleep clinging to his frame. Sirius opens his arms commiseratingly.

“It’s hardly ten,” Remus grunts as he collapses into them. “How have they already been productive?” 

“I know, they’re so perky.” Sirius pets down the cowlick at the back of his boyfriend’s head. “It’s freakish.” 

“You’re freakish,” you say brightly, bringing them each a cup of coffee. Sirius has no clue how you’ve managed to unload the groceries so fast, or where you found the time to doctor his coffee the way he likes it. You’re like a machine. You laugh giddily when he nips at your fingers as you pull away. “Remus, wait until you see the weather outside, it’s so perfect. I think we should have a picnic. What do you say?” 

“I say it’s too early for decisions,” he mumbles, sitting up off Sirius so he can drink his coffee. “But that sounds nice.” 

You beam as if you’ve gotten a full-stop go-ahead, breezing back towards the kitchen. “We can make brownies,” you say, bringing your vase of tulips to the table, “and sandwiches, and lemonade. And we can go to that park with the stream—what’s the one?” 

You look to James, who in turn looks to Remus. 

“Mayfield,” Remus says. 

“Right! We can go to Mayfield park, and hike over to that meadow-y area.” Sirius glances your way, and you’ve already started taking down the ingredients for brownies. “It’s so sunny and nice out, you guys won’t believe it. We can bring a frisbee or something.” 

“Hiking and frisbee?” Sirius murmurs to Remus. “I don’t like the sound of all this activity.” Remus snorts. 

“That sounds great, angel.” James apprehends you before you can start pouring things into the mixing bowl, putting a mug of decaf tea in your hand and steering you towards the living room. “I think these guys are going to take a bit to be ready for all that, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.” 

“Right.” You look a bit abashed, sitting down criss-cross-applesauce in the big armchair. “Yeah, we don’t have to go, like, right now. You guys just woke up.” 

“Thanks for noticing,” Sirius says wryly. But when you fidget in your seat and he can feel James’ glare boring into the side of his head, he throws in an eye roll of feigned reluctance. “Get over here.” 

You happily transfer into his lap, letting him brush your hair aside and squealing when he plants a wet, squelching kiss on your neck. Remus, sensing that Sirius’ attention has a new captive, leans back into James, who winds his arms around Remus’ middle gamely. 

“Now why would we go outside,” Sirius asks, nosing at the underside of your jaw as you giggle and squirm, “when we can just do this all day?” 

“You could just as easily do it outside,” James points out. Sirius whines petulantly against your skin, setting you giggling again. 

“He’s right,” you reason, transferring your tea to your other hand so you can wrestle Sirius away from your neck. “We could do this in the sun, with wildflowers and trees around.” 

He pouts. “But you know I burn easily,” he says, “and poor Remus’ hip can’t take the hike.” 

“You don’t know what I can take,” Remus huffs, and Sirius realizes he’s chosen the wrong avenue for his argument. “If my hip hurts, it’s only because your mum was so rough last night.” 

“I don’t particularly enjoy being compared to Sirius’ mum,” says James. Remus’ ears go a bit pink as he mumbles an apology. 

“I won’t let you burn,” you tell Sirius. “You can use sunblock, or we’ll find you a nice shady spot. And Remus, if your hip’s bothering you, we can always find another park. One without a hike.” 

Any vexation that might usually be summoned in Remus by mention of his aches and pains melts away in the face of your earnestness. “Thanks, dove, but I’m alright,” he says. “It’s fine today.” 

James rubs the skin just above Remus’ hip lovingly, and you send him a beaming smile. “It’s probably because it’s so nice out,” you say. 

“Yeah, Sirius,” James turns on him. “It’s so nice out. Do you really want to miss out on what could be the single most beautiful day of the year?” 

Sirius really could give a shit, but he sighs, rolling his eyes. “Fine, let’s picnic.” 

“Yay!” You won’t be contained any longer, hopping up from his lap. “I’m going to go get the frisbee.” 

“The frisbee’s in the attic,” Remus muses, then raises his voice so you can hear him. “Don’t go up in the attic by yourself.” 

“I can get it,” you call back. 

“Don’t,” he warns. “You need someone to hold the ladder, just—” The ladder groans as it comes down and Remus echoes it, starting to stand. But James pats him on the shoulder, encouraging Remus back down as he gets up. 

“Slow your roll, angel,” he calls ahead. “I’m coming.”

[merbear25]

Enjoying the little things

There's never a dull moment when you're with him even on days that are calmer than others. On days like these, small flickers of his inner thoughts give you a deeper understanding of him.

Zoro, Mihawk, Sanji, Law

CW: SFW, gn!reader, established relationship, headcanons + drabbles.

Zoro: training in the early morning, the brisk breeze, a chill in the air. He enjoys waking up and being productive when the rest are still sound asleep. It gives him the feeling of having the upper hand. When there's a chill in the air, it hitches his breath, reminding him to maintain his breath control. The brisk breeze feels nice against his skin as he's training, acting like a natural cooling system.

You asked to accompany him on one of his early training sesssions, of course, already knowing you'd have to wake up before the crack of dawn. He agreed to let you tag along but added that he didn't want to hear any complaining about how early it'd be or tired you'd feel. Crossing your heart, you gave him your word that you'd be on your best behavior.

Waking up the next day was showing to be difficult though, while you weren't, and would never be, a morning person. Despite your sluggish steps getting out of bed, you put on a good face when you noticed Zoro, who was already geared up to set out for the day.

Taking a double take, your body language was hinting to him that you were probably going to be a thorn in his side this morning. Paying it no mind, he gestured for you to come to the upper deck of the Sunny. You simply nodded while trying to hide the regret on your face.

However, you would have never guessd how grateful you would be to see him with the soft glow of the morning sun speckling his sunkissed body. After each set, his usually furrowed brow was instead eased, and his walls appeared to lower to the gentle breeze of the ocean air.

"You're staring at me," his even tone broke the silence of the new day. "Why?" You didn't have much of a response so blurted out the first thing that came to mind that being that he looked unbelievably handsome. In saying this, you couldn't have predicted any other reaction out of him—he went rimson. Averting his eyes from the sudden shock of your blaten honesty, he could barely utter a 'thanks' before continuing his regime.

Mihawk: the crackling of a fire, sunsets, clear nights. He likes being under the stars and how they, as well as the moon light his way. Sunsets bring a peaceful end to the day, covering the sky and illuminating rooms with its soft color. The fire supplies warmth, not just with heat, but also in atmosphere. The crackling brings a sense of liveliness to the cold interior of the castle.

Sitting in the study together was one of your favorite ways to spend time with him. It was almost routine at this point to end the day by joining him infront of the fireplace, each of you curled up with your own book. Even though the castle was built from cold bricks and stone, the fireplaces throughout it gifted the both of you with comfort.

The natural light of the day was dimming to pinks and oranges, letting the fire become more prominent within the room. Embers from tonight's flames were rather lively: the wood splintered and cracked. Feeling the roasted firewood on your person, you affectionately shifted your gaze to him.

His intense stare had been softened by its brilliancy; exhailing, the moon's illuminating beams entranced him next. He must have known you were watching him, though he refrained from calling attention to it. While your eyes kept on him, you saw slight alterations in his stoic stature: his lips twitched at the corners, his eyelids lifted and lowered more slowly, and his chest rose and fell at a much steadier pace, as if he was admiring something in the distance, just outside the window.

When he finally decided to acknowledge your gaze, you didn't shy away from it, and he didn't ask why you were watching him. Instead, you let the tender love you had for him be expressed through a knowing smile. The corners of his mouth were faintly tugged, almost resembling one in return.

Sanji: sunrises, the smell of coffee and tea, sharing a meal. The shades of orange, pink, and purple remind him of the love and passion he has always had for his friends and dreams. The smell of coffee and tea awaken his senses, sharing a meal gives him a sense of gratitude that he has people to eat around the table with.

Sanji was one of the first of the crew to wake up, afterall, he was in charge of feeding everyone. However, you were there to greet him in the kitchen this morning. Having already started the coffee, you thoughtfully asked how he'd like it. Seeing you this early was a lovely surprise.

He'd tried insisting on you letting him prepare the drinks, but you reassured him that you could manage making the coffee just fine. Upon joining him at the table, you noticed a sincerity to him that you hadn't come across before. With the warmth of dawn peaking in through the window, you wondered if he'd always had this side to him that perhaps you overlooked. Either way, you couldn't help returning his peaceful gaze.

Reaching out to hold your hand, he made sure to thank you. To you the gesture of making coffee was so minute, although it seemed from his appreciation, that it really is the thought that counts. Returning his love with a light squeeze of his hand, he scanned the slight waves of the sea. The tones of pink and orange were now mixing into purple.

"Aren't sunrises beautiful?" he asked in a rosey tone. Before agreeing with him, you admired the man, his eyes being filled with hope and joy. You added that they're much more beautiful when enjoying them with someone you care about. Turning to you, he was grateful for having shared this morning with you.

Law: the creaking of branches, rustling of leaves, crickets chirping. These serve as a reminder of the different forms of life that make up our world. Nature is a majestic force, and although it can be frightening at times, it means he's never truely alone. There is a sort of comfort in knowing this.

The day had shown to be a taxing one. Having accomplished far less than he'd wanted to, he excused himself to his study to reevaluate his approach. The Polar Tang was to stay docked at the island's port until the crew was able to gather the necessary items and information they'd originally set out for, which meant being tied to an island as breathtaking as this one until further notice.

There was a steady wind that night: the branches of the surrounding trees were swaying, their leaves accompanying them in rustling. Peace and tranquilty were gradually replacing the qualms of the disappointing day. Looking around, you just came to the realization that you hadn't seen Law since reboarding the submarine.

Taking it upon yourself to check up on the most likely sulking captain, you began making your way to where he said he'd be. Upon reaching it, however, you were met with a vacant room. Running through all of the other locations he could be, you settled on checking on deck again.

Low and behold, there he was, seemingly brooding against the railing. When you approached him, you noticed that his eyes were shut, and although his eye brows weren't eased, his breaths were drawn out in an unagitated manner. It was then that your ears caught on to the distant sound of chirping from crickets. Even with the rustling of the leaves and creaking of the branches, the song of those insects could still be heard.

He opened one eye to measure you up, but closed it again when you placed your hands on the railing, looking out dreamily at the darkened forest. The energy being released from Law was the exact opposite of earlier. Without having to say anything, you understood that there was a comfort he found in nature. You didn't want to ruin his rarely peaceful demeanour, so you just let yourself enjoy the scenery with him in silence.

[greensbeanspotatoestomatoes]

@lara-cairncross I hope you don’t mind, but I wrote a little fic about your AU :) This would be Donnie showing his brace to his brothers after his leap of faith.

(Also you can definitely read Donnie & Kendra’s vibes as a crush if you want /pos 😂)

===========

“Gentlemen, if you would be so kind,” Donnie motions for his brothers to take a seat on the chairs he clearly positioned near the edge of the branch.

“Dee, what are we doing here?” Leo sighs, exasperated by his brother’s dramatics, “You know I love spending time with you guys, but I actually have deliveries to make today.”

Raph throws an arm over Leo’s shoulders, “Pssh, relax Leo, you’re fast enough to make it there in time.”

“Ok I know you’re teasing me,” Leo shoots his brother a side eye, before crossing his arms over his chest in defiance, “but I could definitely make it there and back. With time to spare.”

Mikey laughs while Raph just sighs and they all take their seats.

They’re fairly high up in the Pixie Dust Tree, in an area Leo knows not many fairies fly past. It’s starting to make him a little concerned that his jokes about Donnie murdering Kendra one day aren’t jokes anymore.

His brother woke them up early this morning, telling them that he had something to show them, but refusing to answer what it actually is. He also lugged a massive bag with him all the way here, but didn’t let any of them help with it. And the chairs being up here already proves that Donnie has clearly planned this out. It’s really making Leo believe that this is the last he’s ever going to see of Kendra.

“Yes, yes we all know Leon is fast,” Donnie bats the statement away and turns to his bag, “now if I can bring your attention to why I've brought you here today.”

“Which you still haven't explained, by the way,” Mikey grouches, not quite his sunny self in the dim light of the morning.

Donnie grins in a mischievous way, “All part of the surprise, dear Angelo! Now I need you all to close your eyes.”

Leo rolls his eyes, but closes them anyway, knowing that if he complains they’ll just spend longer up here anyway. “Donald, if you did something to Kendra, just tell us, it’ll make hiding the body easier.”

Mikey snickers beside him.

“I– Wha– No! I haven't done anything to Kendra. Not yet anyway,” Donnie moves on quickly, “I made something and you’re going to like it. Trust me.”

Now, most fairies in the Hidden Hollow are under the impression that Donnie doesn’t do feelings, an achieved product of his so called “Emotionless Bad-Boy Image”. But Leo can hear the excitement in his brother’s voice. He’s fiddling with something in the bag, and the suspense is honestly starting to have an effect on Leo. He’s getting excited too.

“And… open!”

He opens his eyes (Still semi prepared to see Kendra trapped in some kind of way) and is a little confused by what he’s presented with. Donnie is standing near the edge of the branch. His wings, usually down, are spread proudly on either side of him. The tattered one is covered in something Leo can’t quite make out.

Donnie shoots them a smile, and Leo hears a whisper that sounds like “Leap of faith,” and then the tinker fairy drops backwards off the branch and out of sight.

“DONNIE!!” Mikey screams, and Raph leaps out of his chair but Leo, Leo just dives. There's no thoughts about windspeed, hawks, humidity or any of the other things Leo normally has to consider when he flies. There’s no thoughts about how stupid his genius of a brother is, or about how if he isn’t fast enough Donnie might—. No, there is simply the need to move.

And move he does.

He drops like a stone from the height of the Tree, colours blurring past him as he streaks after his brother. His heart is pounding wildly, filled with shock and dread, urging himself to go faster, faster. He thinks he has tears in his eyes, but he tells himself that it’s just from flying at this speed.

He actually moves so fast he overshoots Donnie, who is very safely fluttering in the air.

“Donnie?” Leo rights himself immediately and shoots back up towards his brother. “Donnie! Haha!!” He zips a quick circle around his brother, trying to get his racing heart to calm down. He can see the thing on Donnie’s wing now. It’s a brace. The contraption covering his tattered wing is so delicate, clearly made by Donnie himself. Thin strips reach up the wing, acting as a scaffold for the pieces to stretch across, giving Donnie enough surface area to generate lift. He might not be into science like his brother, but he knows a thing or two about flying, and Donnie’s design is genius.

He’s so relieved it takes him a second to realise that they are still very much hovering above the ground which means, “Holy shit! You're flying!!”

He’s giddy with excitement, this is all he’s ever wanted for Donnie! Leo grabs him by the hands, and spins them in the air with joy. Donnie can clearly sense what Leo’s about to do because he panics and yells, “Nardo wait!” but it’s too late, because Leo tosses him upwards and crashes into him with a hug.

“Hahaha! This is amazing!”

“Ohmigosh! Donnie’s flying!”

Two more sets of arms encircle them. Their other brothers have caught up and Leo can feel in the tightness of his hug how Raph’s panic morphs into shock and then amazement.

“Yes, yes I can fly. Hurrah,” Donnie pats the back of Raph’s shoulder, “Although my wings are still delicate so…”

They all immediately release Donnie. And then Raph whacks him on the back of the head.

“You idiot! What were you thinking! You gave Raph a heart attack!”

“Well I’ve done the jump before so I know the brace works–”

“You WHAT?”

“ –I just needed to show you guys too.”

“Yeah but you could’ve warned us Dee.” Mikey pokes him in the shoulder, a hint of Doctor Delicate Touch peeking through.

Donnie shoots him a cheeky grin, “Where’s the fun in that?”

Leo’s amazed. He’s still chuckling. Of course Donnie would build himself a way to fly. Something as silly as a tattered wing was never going to stop him. It was only a matter of time.

========

Also not seen:

Donnie pretty much immediately sagging, because his wings aren’t used to flying for extended periods yet, and Raph hoisting him onto his shoulders to fly them back to the tree.

========

Anyways hope you enjoyed! Go give Lara’s AU a look. It’s amazing 🤩

[martiansodas-blog]

Hi! I was just reading your art donaldson head cannons and when I read this part specifically:

♡ wouldn’t mind having a slightly younger partner. he’d like teaching them things and it’d boost his ego a little bit. you two would tease each other about your age all the time.

I immediately new I had to request a one shot ( I think thats what they’re re called ) of them actually teasing each other maybe a bit nswf but yeah so if you could make one 🙏🥹

🎾 🤍💐✨🎀

“you keep me young.”

“and you gave me my first gray hair, can we go now??”

art liked to imagine you old with all gray hair and fine lines. him standing right by your side.

but he’s getting ahead of himself.

“ya know speaking of hair, you should let me use my curly products on you!”

“you don’t think i’ve outgrown that?”

“are you kidding? it would look so good on you now! i’ve only seen pictures of you with a mop on your head i want to experience it first hand.”

he rolled his eyes but the crinkles around them brought by your cheekiness was prevalent. he can’t hide anything around you.

“alright. you’ve convinced me.”

the two of you were chatting in a local coffee shop. there are a dozen cafes closer but you love this one. and art loves whatever you love. it has personality. they make their syrups from scratch and have a little patio for when it’s sunny.

the man was already convinced you were an angel, but the sun behind you giving you a halo was icing on top.

art drowned in your beauty.

the kind of beauty that made everyone else in the room look bad.

the kind that made you create a whole album in your phones photo app.

he made sure you knew just how stunning you were.

but your beauty was also the least interesting thing about you.

“thanks for taking me here.”

“of course. we really don’t come here as often as we should.”

“it’s out of the way. i’d feel bad if you had to fill up your car AND pay for my meal.”

you said it jokingly but it’s easy to feel guilty that about art spoiling you to the extent that he does. you didn’t have much to give in return.

art takes your smaller hand in his and plays with your fingers. the next time he speaks it’s quieter, and with fervor.

“you are a gift, my gift. you were sent to me.”

he looks into your eyes.

“everything i get to do for you is a joy, ok?”

art wasn’t raised religious, frankly he thinks most of them are bullshit. he never thought about believed in fate.

until you.

it took some getting used to- being appreciated on this level.

boys your age could never worship you the way art does.

you were younger than art, yes. but he wasn’t attracted to you because you were mailable. he was attracted to you because you were brilliant. you were passionate, funny, and if you disagreed with someone you stood your ground. you brought a fresher perspective to his life.

with that being said, he still wants to protect you from the big bad world.

you can defend yourself in every sense of the word, but why would you need to when you have a rich experienced man by your side? there’s a lot of people out there who don’t have the best intentions. especially with a girl in her twenties. that’s where art comes in.

he decides that you still need some convincing even after today's date, so he keeps you in his master bedroom for a few hours.

he wants to rewire your brain and ruin anyone else for you.

“you don't get it, do you? when i said i liked you, it wasn't just skin deep. ive got some bad intentions. i wanna take every inch of you and make it mine; i want you to breathe for me, eat for me, i want all of your orgasms to be because of me.”

the only heaven i’ll be sent to is when i’m alone with you

[overly-dramatic-artist]

On the Horizon - prologue

Hello friends! As per the voice of the people, the Wild West au is being written into a fic! I’m still building the world and some plot details, but here is a small little appetizer of a prologue! Thank you for all of the love and enthusiasm that you have shared with me about this au!

The memories of this town remain, like the grains of desert sand caught in the folds of leather boots and saddles. Nothing truly leaves this place. The plant may be plucked, but the roots that get ripped by the stubborn ground are trapped, not unlike the years spent in innocence under the scorching sun and surrounded by the unforgiving mountain range.

You pull on the reign, effectively halting the steed hauling your small wagon you sit upon, as you see the more defined structures of Aurora Springs come into view against the glowing sunlight that sinks lower against the purple mountains. There’s an ache in your chest, a tightness in your lungs as you breathe in the dry air, remnants of your past rushing forward like a dust storm, unyielding as the laughter of childhood wonder and honeyed words of your mother embrace your subconscious.

Her final letter sits in the tight space between your chemise and vest, over your heart and folded just as it had remained for the past 6 years.

And on the opposite side against your hip is your father’s holster and pistol, tucked discreetly into a deep pocket of your skirt.

A letter of love. An object of protection.

The only pieces you had left of your parents that had driven you to abandon the notion of mercy.

You had become a product of this desert, unrelenting and unforgiving.

………..

Some things in life never change. The out of tune piano across the bar. The shattered glass window that has been long since in need of repair. The suede leather chaps Sun had worn for years. The casual look of disdain on his lunar counterpart’s face as patrons yap and jabber. And of course, the unfounded and quite frankly stupid belief of man that this time for sure he will win.

With a round of loud groans and laughs, Sun collects his winnings from the table, much to the anger of the drunk man who had refused to fold before losing everything.

“So sorry, gentlemen, looks like I win again,” the sunny automaton says, the faux-sympathy of his synthetic voice further riling his red-faced opponents.

The man with the heavily oiled mustache and britches two sizes too short frowns, spits at the floor and stands with a screech from his chair.

“You been counting the cards! Ain’t right for a cheater to win.”

“Come now, good sir, I renounce rule-breaking. If you truly thought me a cheat, you shouldn’t have played the game.” Sun tilts his grin towards the man before slowly standing to his impressive height, one hand cradling over the grip of the pistol in his leather holster. “But I suppose we could always settle this like proper men…?”

The glint of the low bar-lighting on the silver gun that hits the angered man’s eye is enough of an answer, and the loser leaves in a huff, stomping away from the table.

Not long after settling all bets and debts, the lunar and solar automatons leave, saddling up their horses roped in the stalls.

”No need wasting a gunshot for the sake of petty cash,” the dark one says, his red eyes reflecting on the black rim of his hat, stomping the last embers of his cigar into the ground.

“You of all should know I don’t take well to being called something so despicable as a cheater,” Sun playfully shoots back. “Besides, I could get a couple rounds more with what I won.”

Moon clicks his teeth at his partner, adjusting the rifle slung over his back before signaling with the reins for Astraea to start moving. The horse brays, leading Calliope to follow.

As usual, the lunar bot remains silent for the ride through town, keeping his gaze forward. Sun was good at filling the silence, or at the very least, making the pair seem slightly less intimidating to onlookers. Their line of work came with that deadly connotation, and they lived up to their titles, but a bit of charm and camaraderie was useful for keeping the townsfolk in good favor. A nod to the miners coming back from the canyons, a wink at the courtesans on the corner.

Passing one of the bulletin boards by town hall, Moon pulls the reins to a halt with a hum. Sun looks where his partner is fixing his eyes, an identical smile pulling his lips. On the rotting wood bulletin is a newly pinned poster. A wanted poster. With an intriguingly high priced bounty wanted alive.

“I was looking forward to a weekend fixing that fence in the east pasture…” Sun says, pulling the poster down, letting his fingers trace over the details of the pretty face printed in ink, “…but I can’t pass up such an offer.”

His lunar lover laughs with a shake of his head.

“Does it say where they last were?”

“Stormridge, headed west.” Sun passes the paper to Moon. “Could already be here in town.”

The red-eyed bot hums, pulling a cigarette from his coat pocket and lighting it with the exposed wire on his wrist with a hiss. He lets his systems take in the smoke, the tarry buildup caressing the roughness within his casing. With an artificial exhale, he looks back at his partner.

“I suppose we should go get those rounds then.”

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Ahhhhhhhh!!! I hope that is enticing and intriguing for a beginning!

And for anyone who hasn’t seen this au before, here are some of my sketches for it 💖

[aetherdoesthings]

Love triangle with nami and sanji (not poly) both in love with a fem straw hat reader (maybe the crews seemstress or botenist?) I just think it would be really funny to see those characters go against each other competing for a girls love😂

elo anon! i had a fun time writing this one. just two people competing for your love and doing everything in their power to win you over is just 🤭

forethoughts: just two lovestruck hooligans trying to win your love 😁

notes: oblivious reader, a lot of pampering from both sides, competitive nami and sanji, robin being a third wheel but loving it

You were the new botanist of the Straw Hat Pirates (for some reason Luffy deemed the job useful for his crew and ship)

You spent your days tending to the plants in a greenhouse Franky had built for you that had vegetables and fruits growing

You thought your life was going to be boring, even though you were on Monkey D. Luffy’s ship. You didn’t necessarily have the capabilities to fight, so mostly you just stayed behind and guarded the ship. 

But you never expected life on the ship would be chaotic.

The first day you had joined the crew, Nami and Sanji already had their eyes on you, their minds set on getting as close to you as possible.

Of course, seeing that you were a girl, Sanji was already lovestruck. 

Nami was ecstatic that a. another girl was finally going to be joining the crew (aside from Robin who she considered to be a sister), and b. you were cute and adorable.

Nami and Sanji knew that they had a crush on you, but blinded by their love, they were prepared to fight to gain your love. Sanji was even willing to put aside his love for Nami for the sake of yours.

Since you were a girl, you shared a room with Nami and Robin. That gave Nami the upper hand, as the two of you were the same gender. And of course, Nami abused this advantage as much as she could. Every time the Sunny landed on a new island, she’d take you shopping, calling it ‘girl’s day’, while Robin just walked a few feet behind the two of you (She knew Nami was in love with you, and decided to just stand back and watch the chaos unfold). Nami would let you use her money without reimbursing you at all. Every night, she’ll always stay up talking to you about anything you wanted until the two of you fell asleep. She always lets you borrow her clothes, use her hair products, makeup, etc., anything that you wanted.

Sanji knew about Nami’s advantage, and hated it, but he found his own way. For every meal of the day, he made the most luxurious, gourmet food for you (and only you), while everyone else got the remnants of your gourmet dish. Robin still had better food than the boys, but Nami got a more subpar dish than you and Robin. It wasn’t bad, it was just not as good as before you joined.

After every meal, Sanji would wait for an hour or two to pass, before entering your greenhouse and bringing a small plate of desserts or treats for you. In exchange, you’d always give him your fresh and finest crops ready for the kitchen. Oh, how weak Sanji felt when it was always 3pm. 

You were completely oblivious to Sani and Nami’s actions. You had initially asked Robin if Nami was ‘always like this’, and Robin simply smiled at you, telling you to just go along with whatever the navigator wishes to do. And you always assumed Sanji was just this gentleman-like, according to Zoro and Usopp.

To this day, they still haven’t stopped their fight against each other, and the oblivious soul you were, you just continued on with your day, appreciating the clothes and gifts Nami would get you and the food Sanji would make for you.

[morganbritton132]

Hi :)) you have no idea how much I enjoy your EMTTS it's literally my only motivation to get anything done when I see an update haha and your writing is so good?! And it's so wholesome?! How dare you make me feel happy things :((

Anywhoo, I was wondering if there'd ever be a moment where Eddie does an interview about fan conspiracy theories or read thirst tweets and what that would look like (I'm kind of getting hard core dylan o'brien vibes here where he's like "these are tame") maybe he's filming a tiktok in a break and he slowly pans around to Steve where he just looks so uncomfortable because !?? That's his husband?! People want him to step on them!?

Concerned and unaware Steve is all I'm saying

But literally you are insane I love what you've created it's so adorable!!

WHY HAVE I NEVER CONSIDERED THIRST TWEETS???!

Thirst tweets are such an obvious next step for him. Of course, someone would ask him to do it and obviously, he’d agree. I do think that Steve would be less uncomfortable with the concept but maybe a little jealous, a little possessive of his husband. Maybe keep your thoughts and your tweets off his hot ass husband, okay?

Eddie is taken.

The video actually starts with a little behind the scenes when Eddie is being mic’ed up. He’s talking to someone off camera but you can only hear his side of the conversation. He asks who he’s talking to if they know what thirst tweets are and then after they respond says, “They’re tweets about how people are desperate for me. For a drink of me, if you know what I mean… Not piss! Actually. Maybe piss. I’ve got some kinky fans.”

There’s a transition with a clapperboard and then Eddie is starting the video proper like, “Hi, I’m Eddie Munson. I play guitar in the heavy metal band, Corroded Coffin, and I’m on Tiktok. I’m gonna be reading some of your thirst tweets today.”

There are some tweets about wanting Eddie to step on them or blow their back out, or spit in their mouth. Someone tweets that they want Eddie to blow them like JFK’s head on a sunny afternoon drive which, “Admittedly, that one is really funny. These are a lot tamer than I was expecting.”

It’s not actually Eddie that posts the Tiktok that reveals that Steve is there too. It’s someone who works on the set and they’re technically just posting a video about the problem with the camera that halted production and how to fix it.

Eddie and Steve are just on the monitor so you can see them and you can kinda hear them. Eddie is teasing Steve about being jealous over some tweets from people they’ll never meet and Steve is pointing out that Eddie could actually meet them at one of his concerts.

Eddie is sitting on top of the table and Steve had been a few steps away from him until Eddie reached out and yanked him over to him by the waistband of his jeans. He smiles up at Steve and says, “Babygirl, you know you’re the only one for me.”

“Don’t call me that,” Steve said weakly, “In public.”

“Tell me you don’t believe me.”

“…I believe you,” Steve tells him, tilting Eddie’s head back further and leaning down to kiss him. “I believe you always.”

Eddie kisses him back and then asks, “Wanna go find somewhere and make out like teenagers?”

When they get the camera operating again, the first tweet Eddie reads is about someone wanting to be the middle of a Steddie sandwich, “Hot damn.”

 

Side Note: Eddie also does the one interview where you show them what’s in your bag. He has notebooks, pens, dice, his ADHD medication, Steve’s medications since they’re traveling together, a comb, a book, a toothbrush, and a charger. What he doesn’t have is his inhaler which - “Nope, not in my pocket either. Steve?”

[toomuchracket]

my whole life, waiting for you: part 1 (ross x girlband gf!reader angst/fluff)

i don't know. i just wanted to write something. it's more pining/missing someone than actual angst, and there's more to come, at some point. loosely inspired by the seminal song super trouper by abba lol. i hope you like it <3

it's sunny in glasgow today. which is weird, especially for february.

but it's beautiful, ross thinks. it's a shame that a city so made up of sandstone doesn't get to see the sun so often; the buildings seem to glow when the daylight hits them, reflecting off the glass fronts of their newer neighbours, the intricate details in the stonework clearer than he's ever seen them before. 

the people on the street below seem to glow in the sunshine, too, which is saying something given that ross's hotel room looks out onto hope street, to the flood of people heading to and from glasgow central station. at half 8 on a thursday morning, you'd expect a certain level of crabbiness (or crabbitness, in scotland) from them, as they make their way to another day of work and school and uni, but everyone's a bit more cheery today. scarves have been unravelled, jackets unzipped… there's even one guy walking about in a t-shirt and shorts as if it's mid-july.

ross smiles at the sight, but it doesn't last long. 

you should be here seeing it all with him.

but you're still in london, hundreds of miles away, and he won't see you until he's back there himself. it's only four days away, but it's been ten since the last time you were together, and ross has decided that a fortnight apart is simply too long. especially after the months spent continents apart at the end of last year.

still, it's not like either of you can do anything about it. he's on tour. you're in the final days of production on your band's new album. there's no resentment, at least, because you've both been in the other's shoes, but there's pining, and a loneliness that no amount of calls and texts and facetimes can fully shift.

a knock on the door briefly interrupts it, though, and a familiar deep voice follows. "ross, mate, s'me."

george. ross opens the door, and is immediately pulled into a hug - a proper one, not a hyper-masculine bro hug - before his friend steps into the room and surveys the view. "nice day."

"yeah," ross nods, moving to stand next to george. "sun's nice."

the two men stand in silence for a minute, side by side, looking out at the city below. george turns to look at ross, chewing the inside of his bottom lip. "you alright today, mate?"

ross nods. "just… well, you know how it is. missing my girl."

"yeah, exactly," george nods too, then smiles. "m'happy for you, though. a bit pissed off that you didn't tell me until last night, but mostly happy."

"wasn't even planning on telling you, mate," ross huffs out a laugh. "the night just got the better of me."

the night, beginning with a two-hour long facetime with you after dinner that only exacerbated your respective lonelinesses. ross loves his job, absolutely fucking adores it, but as the days pass he's less and less reluctant to admit that the nomadic nature of touring is beginning to wear a bit thin for him. when you answered that call, tucked up in bed wearing what was unmistakably ross's slowdive t-shirt, brew in hand and glasses on… he did find himself wishing that the next show was the final one, so he could go home to you. and yet, despite that, talking to you did perk ross up a little bit, enough to make him agree to go for some drinks with the band and the techs and try to have a nice evening. 

but the loneliness soon won out again, and the alcohol took over; forty-five minutes after everyone got to what ended up being the final pub of the night, ross was outside chaining cigs and thinking about your call again. george came out for his own smoke, found his friend near tears, and that's when ross spilled the whole story to him, the whole truth about you and him and your relationship. after eighteen months, your secret was finally released, in the middle of mitchell lane, under the neon lights and the moon and a cloud of marlboro smoke, at one o'clock in the morning.

"yeah, well, i'm glad you said," george grins. "she's great. i love her."

"so do i," ross sighs. "and i really, really miss her."

his friend nods. "only four days, though, for both of us. we'll manage. trust me, ross, it'll fly in. and it'll be good. two nights of glasgow shows, yeah?"

"if we were anywhere else, i'd be so much worse."

"i believe it. now," george picks up ross's jacket from the back of a chair and holds it out to him. "shall we take advantage of the nice day and go for a coffee with the boys?"

ross shrugs. "might as well."

***

"george says it's sunny today."

you slowly crack your eyelids open and look at charli blearily. "in glasgow?"

"i know! i didn't believe it either, until he sent me a pic. here," charli, admirably and enviably well-rested and energetic, thrusts her phone towards you.

"oh, yeah. pretty," you squint closer at the screen, noting the infamous 'people make glasgow' sign framed against a backdrop of clear blue sky. squinting further, you make out adam mid-stride towards the city chambers, turning back to look at an animated (probably making a shit joke about george and george square) matty and a smiling ross. a pang of longing hits you square in the chest as you look at your boyfriend and the crinkles by his eyes, drawing a lovesick sigh from your lips.

charli smiles softly at you, putting her phone down on the pull-down table and pulling you into a hug. "three hours to go, babe."

"i know. god, i must sound so stupid, sighing like a fucking war wife or some shit."

"not at all, it's cute," your friend says. "and i always thought you and ross would be cute. didn't i tell you that?"

"i don't think you ever said 'cute', per se, but you did say if we started an onlyfans together then you'd subscribe. so, kinda the same thing, i suppose."

"and i stand by that statement," charli giggles. her face softens. "were you and him, like, together, when i said that?"

"uh huh. had been for a year."

"jesus christ," she shakes her head. "i can't even be annoyed at you for keeping it a secret, because i'm just so fucking impressed you managed to do it for so long."

you shuffle in your seat to look out the window, the view a blurry patch of trees somewhere between london euston and glasgow central. "yeah, in hindsight, we probably shouldn't have hidden it for so long. i'm worried people are going to be upset that we did, when we tell them."

"by people… d'you mean matty?"

you nod, pressing your lips together in nervousness. it's definitely worse for ross, given their long friendship, but matty and george have become almost like older brothers to you through their support of you and your band, and so the fear of the former being hurt by the upcoming revelation is very real to you too.

"oh, he'll be too excited to be sad," charli grins, then giggles maniacally. "and too busy trying to convince you and ross to have musical-prodigy kids."

you think you wouldn't be opposed to that idea, but it still seems too soon to say it out loud.

"i hope you're right, charli," you say instead, although you can't keep the tiny smile from your face at the sweetly domestic thought. "you really think he won't be angry? or adam? christ, imagine upsetting adam! i'd never forgive myself."

"well, put it this way," charli moves so she can look you in the eye, taking your hands in her own. "i was woken up at 2am by george telling me you and ross were secretly together, and that i just had to drop everything today to get the train to glasgow with you so you could surprise him, and my overwhelming emotion was not anger, but excitement. so yeah, i think the boys'll be fine."

you squeeze her hands gratefully. "you took the 2am phone call better than i did," you snort. "i could've throttled your boyfriend for waking me up, babe. especially after the week i've had."

charli laughs. "just think, though - in a few hours, you'll have ross to kiss it better."

and what a nice thought that is. you're aware of your body sinking further into the plush train seat, but every other sense zones out the present completely in favour of remembering past kisses with your boyfriend; it isn't until charli actually pinches your bare forearm that you snap out of your romantic little daydream about ross's lips and tongue and hands.

she laughs when you frown at her, wriggling in her seat into what you've come to learn is her gossip pose. "your face just lit up there - i take it ross isn't lacking in kissing ability?"

you smirk. "not in the slightest."

"i love that for you. and what about ability," charli's volume drops as her brows lift. "... elsewhere?"

the smirk grows, and you gleefully swing your legs as much as you can without instigating an argument with the person sitting in front of you. "no comment."

"oh, you bitch," your friend lightly slaps your arm. "at least tell me if you're satisfied or not, please!"

your mind thinks back to the last night you saw your boyfriend, and to the beard burn still lingering on your inner thighs. "'satisfied' is an understatement."

"obsessed with that. obsessed with the two of you! tonight's going to go well. i can feel it."

deep down, you know charli's right. it's your friends you're telling about you and ross tonight. they love you. they want you to be happy.

you want that too. you want to be able to be the properly proud adoring girlfriend at the side of the stage tonight, cheering on ross and shouting "i love you"s and doing your utmost to get him to do that crinkly-eyed smile that makes your heart glow. all you have to do is be honest with your friends.

ross's eyes cross your mind again, for the millionth time today. yeah, tonight will go well - you'll make sure of it. for him.

[freezerbunny-sims2]

Asylum Challenge sims and their criminal past

Kaoru Martínez, aka "Scissors". His crime was reselling "Running with Scissors" playsets illegally. The product was banned after many lethal accidents and its commercialization strictly regulated. Has strange nightmares about losing rock paper scissors to a ghostly figure, but otherwise doesn't remember anything.

Julio Amieba, aka "Ameba". Sixam name unknown. Involved with illegal alien weapons trade. No one knows his motive, he barely speaks Simlish and has lost connection to his telephatic abilities.

María Palacios, aka "Art Attack". Involved in illegal art trade. After breaking into the Deh'Javu Art Museum Archives and stealing the original "Sunny the Tragic Clown" painting, Sunny showed up at her house and she decided she would rather turn herself in than having to deal with him. Her memories of the event are gone, but the depression still follows her.

Noemí Mendía, aka "The tinderbox". Arsonist, her targets are tacky mansions and other buildings she deems "ugly". Dealed illegal fireworks as a side hustle. Again, no memory of her past, but when the moldy carpets and faded wallpaper of the Asylum get too overwhelming, she goes outside and lights a cigarette.

Nora Solano, aka "Mediocre Widow" or, for the true crime fans, "Fake Olive". She hated being called a copycat so much that she attempted to murder the Grim Reaper to prove she was unique. Of course, that didn't work, and her past crimes were eventually proven. Her massive inferiority complex never went away, even after the memory wipe.

Alicia Rodríguez, aka "The Witch". Former politician, involved with various mobs and money laundering schemes, repeated road traffic infractions. Feared for that and for her alleged supernatural abilities. But here, no one, not even her, knows who she is.

Sergio Alonso, aka "Bulldozer". Passionate and violent defender of his favorite football team. Was involved with Alicia's schemes, but she betrayed him and blamed him for many of her own crimes. He was a fugitive until he was found by the misterious organization that runs the asylum. Now, when he sees his favorite team on tv, he feels nothing.

Antonio Feliciano, the caretaker. His only crime is being desperate enough to participate in this shady experiment, hoping there will be a reward in the end.

[the-nosy-neighbor]

Missing

There are people missing throughout the story of Welcome Home.  While these instances are mostly brushed off (what are missing people to an incomplete story?), it is a bit suspect that there are this many instances of mention of people we have no real information about.  So, we have about 3 categories:  missing we might still see, missing then found, and missing concept and context.  As with most things, this is complicated by the story still unfolding in front of us, so we might be able to change these around later.  Also, we aren’t sure where each event is happening in the timeline.

Missing we might still see: 

Julie--We have art of Julie’s siblings, but no siblings.  Her story also tells us that they all lived together in a cave in the woods, until Julie moved to the city.  Indications are that we will be seeing the siblings in the next update.  I believe it is possible that the sibs lived in Home at one point and are now missing.  There are no indications of parents or other extended family.

Eddie—there is a discrepancy here, Eddie is known to have a mother who is also a mail carrier, based on information in illustrated pages, and then it moves right on to say she wasn’t given a name and was only mentioned vaguely through the phone.  I assume Eddie calls her “Mama” like any good southern boy.  We have no idea where she might be, or if he has any other people.  Based on muppet behavior, I don’t think they could have missed out on having his mom come by to talk mail or crafts with him, because I feel like they love a parent/child shared experience.  I think he’s humanoid, but I didn’t see that here (and maybe it’s just mostly because of the style of his nose—see Guy Smiley or The Newsman (shocked to learn he doesn’t have a name))

Pro-tip:  When googling “human muppet” be advised that on r/Midjourney, Famous People if They Were Muppets, nightmare fuel abounds.  I love muppets and I might not sleep tonight.  Also, muppets with human eyes.  No.

I tend to assume that muppets with triangle noses are human and rounded noses are monster, but I don’t think that is a rule by any means. 

However, drawing muppets as human is incredibly endearing. 

Missing then found:

Maybe Howdy—We knew that Howdy had a ton of relatives from previous stories he has told, but we did not hear anything about the people who actually showed up.  I am assuming this would be a gag, random new family members showing up, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see the return of Howdo, Youdo, and his beatnik brother. 

Mama Beagle—She is found during Homewarming, but not sure where this commercial falls in the timeline.  She was definitely a big enough role to warrant her own product.  She lives on a farm, which is where Barnaby grew up.  AKA “The Chicken that Crossed the Road”

People we didn’t/don’t know were/are missing:

Frank’s people:  If Frank has any people, we don’t know about it.  His origins were a mystery. 

Sally’s people:  Anyone associated with Sally.  Given that she is a star, who knows if she has “people.”

Poppy’s people:  Poppy:  Comes from a nest of poppies in a hollow tree in the forest.  We don’t know that she has people definitely, but she has described her parents as a “flamingo on her father’s side and a bit of a hen on her mother’s side.”  Secret half-sibling to Barnaby?  It might warrant the size of the two being similar.  I think she is kind of a cross between Big Bird and Clifford the Big Red Dog.  (I looked at those two, and Big Bird isn’t explained and neither is Clifford, beyond that the author thought it would be fun.  I reject “love” being the answer because it was from the later movie.)  We could see people related to her, but I would imagine they will be normal bird size (which is really relative, considering Mama Beagle’s size.)

D—In the ad from the first iteration of the website, D is missing, and I believe it is a character.  I think it is Sunny, but I know it is not canon and Clown said.  I still think it.

I will feel bad about it, if that is the case, because I keep saying it.

Aside from the above, other art that gives this idea:

Theories exist that this image shows Barnaby’s fur as a patch, blood on Wally’s fingers, and his fingers covering a picture of Barnaby on the cover, which is considered to possibly be a missing persons/murder story.  All kinds of things could land you in the paper, though, and the whole image has red shading.

People that go missing throughout:

Eddie is missing during Homewarming, specifically the album.  (cut off on record after his name)

Poppy is missing during Homewarming, specifically that party  (confirmed in her bio)

Non-canon art that gives this impression:

I feel like there was another in this series. I do have an image of Sunny in this same style, like it is from the same book, but he doesn't get disappeared in his.

This one shows neighbors on the dial that have been taped over, as if they are no longer needed. Sinister.

[brighter-by-the-daly]

Jordan Nobbs x Reader

Meal for One

In a world of your own staring at the laundry detergent in the cleaning aisle of Tesco you were trying to work out which product was the best value for money. Your mundane weekend activity had numbed your brain not realising how long you’d been staring at the prices and day dreaming that you were somewhere sunny. That was until someone brushed past you to get what they wanted and dragged you back down to earth. Exhausted from the decision, you grabbed whatever looked good and shoved it into your trolley then moved robotically to the freezer aisle - meals for one, they sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself!

*Attention shoppers, we are closing in 10 minutes, please make your way to the checkouts* - came over the tannoy and filled your bones with dread. You barely had five items off your long shopping list in the trolley and now you had to leave. Rushing around to grab the essentials then getting into the queue, eyes barely open and longing to be back on your sofa. Loading your shopping onto the conveyor belt you hurried to place the next person slide out for whoever was behind you. “Thanks, nice shirt by the way” the female voice said. “Thaaanks” your word dragged out as you glanced down to see what you’d thrown on to leave the house today, seeing it was your Aston Villa shirt you decided to strike up a conversation, “you a villains fan too?” you said turning around so your back wasn’t facing them. “Kinda” the woman said as she delved into the bottom of her trolley, jealous of how much shopping she had compared to your ready meals and fabric softener. As she turned back to place her items behind yours “f-fuck me!” you said slightly too loud as people around you glanced in your direction. A one sided smile lit up her face for a second as the realisation hit. “You’re Jordan! As in the-name-on-my-back Nobbs?” you stumbled over your words while turning around to point at your back. It all makes sense now why she said your shirt was nice. “You’ve got good taste!” she laughed, “maybe not in meals though, they look sad” she screwed up her face looking at your frozen box meals. “Oh, yeah I lead a very busy life” trying to play it cool but the facade betrayed you. “Is that right?” she smirked. “No that’s a lie, I can’t cook to save my life” your head bowed, feeling incredibly small as she loaded the belt with actual ingredients rather than something you can shove in a freezer. “Me neither, but I’m trying to learn” the blonde seemed excited about her current venture. “Well yours looks like it’s going to better than mine” you chuckled softly with embarrassment. “I can cook enough for two if you fancy? I need a trial taster”. Your eyebrows furrowed trying to work out if she was serious and said you better go home to put your groceries away, you couldn’t have your meals defrosting.

“Eh-hem” the interruption came from the cashier who just wanted to go home and didn’t have time to listen to you chat any longer. Hurriedly packing your bags so you could pay and move along, as you tapped your phone on the card reader Jordan passed you her number “come as you are” she smiled “see you in about an hour?” Looking at the piece of paper in disbelief you nodded and smiled cautiously as you made your way to the car.

“Well this is awkward!” the same voice called from behind as you loaded your car boot. “Nothing like saying bye to someone then walking in the same direction!” Of course she’d parked next to you, seeing your beat up, run down car that was in desperate need of a wash next to her pristine BMW. Knowing you were going to have to think of something quickly to prolong getting in your car, it was a state inside and out and definitely not going to help your case of convincing her you’re not always a slob, things had just gotten away from your lately.

At home you were still unsure about what actually happened in Tesco, was she being serious, is this really Jordan Nobb’s number? Typing it into your phone, watching your thumbs refuse to move and when they did it was to delete what you’d already written. This went on for twenty minutes - writing, deleting, rewriting, deleting until you settled for a simple “hi 😊” before immediately panicking and sending another without totally thinking it through “it’s sad meal girl btw 😂”. Waiting impatiently for a reply you’d convinced yourself she’d given you a fake number. Fetching one of your meals out the freezer and setting the microwave timer then reaching for the cheap bottle of wine in your fridge.

Your phone pinged before the microwave did, rushing to pick it up to see she’d sent a pin of her address. Switching the microwave off and grabbing the bottle of wine you quickly changed your top, pulled on a coat and headed out the front door, opting to walk rather than take your rubbish filled car. Surprised she lived only a short walk away you wondered how you’d never spotted her in your town before.

“Hey, can I take your coat?” Jordan said as soon as she opened the door, nodding and removing it from your shoulders. “Something smells amazing, do you need any help?” you asked, following her towards the kitchen. Glancing at the menu on her phone she came up with something for you to do. “Err, you could chop the veggies for me, how are you with onions?” You chuckled to yourself, excited to finally try the hack you saw on tiktok once and asked for a saucepan lid, tucking it into your hood. Jordan couldn’t contain her laughter when she spotted what you were doing but congratulated you on the initiative.

“I bought wine, it’s pretty cheap though” you said behind your glass mask meaning Jordan didn’t hear and you had to repeat yourself. “We can just mix it with lemonade it’ll make it taste better” she said getting two glasses out of the cupboard.

Helping you put your coat on she opened the door to see your car wasn’t on the driveway. It was 2am by the time you two had stopped talking; she refused to let you walk home alone and demanded she drive you. Pulling up outside your flat you said your goodbyes, “we should do this again some time, you have my number now” Jordan smiled. You said thank you for the lovely yet surprising evening and made your way to your door. Waiting for you to be safely inside your house, you waved goodbye as you watched her drive away. This had been one of the best days you’d had in a very long time, you were in desperate need of something magical to happen and who knew it would come in the form of Jordan.

[missrosegold]

you met me at a perfect time

Synopsis: You’d always hoped that you’d eventually get closer to your attractive next-door neighbor with the shitty box-dye job. You just wished it was under different circumstances. 

Word count: 9K

Paring: Dabi x Reader (fem reader)

Warnings: Zombie!AU so the usual: corse language, death, sickness, violence, blood. So please Minors or Ageless blogs please DNI. This is rated 18+

This is for @medusashima rise of the dead collab event!

This was so much fun to write! I have a soft spot for MHA and zombies, so writing for both was a treat!

As this is a Zombie Apocalypse AU, I’m going to take it one step further and say that no one has quirks in this. That being said: Touya never burnt up and turned into Dabi, but he still uses the name on occasion, and is the implied black sheep of his family. He still has all of his piercings, He’s not losing those.

There isn’t really a happy ending to this, be forewarned.

Not gonna lie: I really do want to write more for tattoo artist!Dabi. He’s so hot.

Likes and reblogs are always apricated! I hope you enjoy <3

The outbreak started on a seemingly average day in May.

The day had started off normally enough. You’d woken up early to go get the mail and do a few things around your apartment, since you knew your roommate was going to be working late that night and you figured you’d utilize your day off to do something productive.

You slipped on your shoes and headed downstairs to your building’s mailbox, taking the stairway to the first floor. You unlocked your unit’s mailbox and gathered up yours and your roommate’s mail, casting a glance to your left so you could see out of your building’s glass entrance. You frowned slightly at the sight of wet concrete and dark skies as you shut your mailbox and locked it.

It was the middle of May but it had been unseasonably rainy so far. You had just moved to the area a few months back and your roommate had assured you that this district’s weather was normally sunny and warm during the spring months, but you had yet to see it.

You were just about to turn around and head back upstairs to drop the mail off, but you saw something that made you pause.

Your neighbor one floor down from you, a kind middle-aged gentleman who lived in unit 312, was standing outside in the parking lot at front of the building, swaying lightly from side to side as he peered down at his reflection in a puddle.

That was odd. Your neighbor, while not overly outgoing, had never acted like that before. He was just… standing there, swaying as if he were drunk or in some sort of trance.

You don’t know why, but something told you to go check on him. It wasn’t like him to act like that. Sighing, you opened the door and stepped outside, slowly making your way towards your neighbor who had yet to acknowledge your presence

“Mr. Takashi?” you called out hesitantly. “Mr. Takashi, are you alright?”

The man said nothing in return as he continued to look down at his distorted reflection in the puddle.

Fuck. You think inwardly. The man might be having some sort of medical emergency. If that was the case, you’d have to call somebody. Just as you were pulling out your phone to punch in the non-emergency number, the man in front of you finally seemed to take notice of you and his head jerked up violently to stare at you.

It took everything in you not to recoil at the sudden movement, but the thing that really has you worried, are his eyes

The skin around them is sunken in and so dark it looks almost black. The whites of his eyes have yellowed and a strange sort of haze seems to be lingering over them, one that you know he didn’t have a few days ago when you had exchanged pleasantries with him in the hallway. The next thing that hits you is the smell.

You can’t tell if it’s his breath or body odor but whatever the hell it is, it hits you like a punch to the gut and you have to fight with yourself to NOT cover your nose and back away in disgust.

It smells like something is rotting. Like a corpse that’s been left out in the sun for far too long-

“Mr. Takashi, are you okay?” You ask him again, urgently this time. He still hasn’t responded to your questions, and now you’re getting seriously worried. You call out to him one more time, and he seems to snap out of the trance he’s in. He blinks and looks around, confused, before his gaze shifts to you, but you notice that the haze hasn’t cleared in his eyes.

“Oh… hello… you’re the girl from floor four, yes?”

“That’s me.” You confirm, still unsure of what to make of his strange behavior. “Are you okay sir? You’ve just been standing out here staring off into space. I’ve been trying to get your attention, but you didn’t answer me. Are you feeling well?”

“Oh… m’fine.” He slurs slightly. “Just haven’t been feeling myself today. But I’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure there isn’t someone I can call for you?” you press gently. “Maybe we could call someone to take you to a doctor’s office?”

Your neighbor is silent for a few moments and you realize that he’s staring off into space again. You can’t be sure if it’s just a trick of the light, but it looks like his eyes are cloudier than they were before—

“Mr. Takashi?” you try one more time and his head turns in your direction unnaturally.

“Oh m’fine. Just haven’t been feeling myself today. But I’ll be okay.”

What the fuck is going on with him? You think to yourself. Why is he repeating the same thing again?

Almost as if he can read your thoughts, the older man shakes his head and pushes himself away from you. “I’ve gotta go.” He mutters as he shuffles past you on unsteady legs. “Not feeling good. See you later girl.”

You watch, concerned, as he stumbles back towards the building and disappears inside, still looking like he’s in a fog. Nothing about that whole exchange felt right. Everything about it, from the way he spoke to you, to the way he moved, was wrong, but you can’t place what about the interaction has you so on edge.

Something about your neighbor is very, very wrong. But you don’t know what it is, or who you could even tell. After a moment of silently watching him stumble into the building, you glance back up towards the dark sky and put a hand over your eyes, squinting upwards.

It looks like it’s about to rain. Hard.

The first dop of rain that hits your cheek confirms your theory, and you dart back inside for cover. Once inside, you look around the lobby for your neighbor, but he’s all but disappeared.

Hopefully he’s gone back to his apartment, you think to yourself, as you make the trek back up to your floor. You don’t want to run into him stumbling around the halls. You hope that he’s just incredibly tired for some reason and that’s why he’s acting all out of sorts, but something tells you that’s not what’s bothering him.

The whole exchange has you so preoccupied, that you barely register the door to the unit next to you open, and someone step out to lean heavily against the doorframe.

“You okay there Doll? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

You damn near trip and stumble over your own feet at the sound of a familiar, raspy voice and you quickly right yourself to make eye contact with your next-door neighbor, hoping to god that he didn’t see your blunder. Judging from the playful glint you see in his very blue eyes; you know he did, and suddenly, all your concerns from earlier fly out the window.

Your neighbor next door in unit 401, is an interesting guy to put it mildly.

You don’t know much about him, only that his name is Touya, but he tends to go by Dabi depending on who he’s hanging around, and he works as a popular tattoo artist in the downtown area. Apparently, he’s apparently something of a master with ink and piercings alike. Almost all visible skin on him from the neck down is tattooed, and you know he’s done most of it himself.

You’d be lying if you said that you didn’t harbor something of a crush on the man.

He is unfairly attractive, in the unconventional sort of way that would have made your high-school self swoon. He’s tall and lean, but has a good amount of muscle to him – you’ve stared at the definition in his arms while watching videos of him tattooing clients on his Instagram page long enough to know that. His ears have multiple piercings in them each, and he has quite a few facial piercings. You’ve never found them particularly attractive on people before you met him, but they suit his face nicely.

One fun fact about him that you’ve learned recently, curtesy of your roommate, is he dyes his hair. You used to think his inky spikes were natural, since the shade suited him nicely, but as it turns out that’s not the case according to her. He must do it himself though, because the last couple of times you’ve seen him, his roots have been getting progressively lighter to the point that you can’t ignore it anymore.

You haven’t been able to speak to him much aside from the occasional small talk when you inevitably cross paths in the hallway. You tend to work early to late, while he works late in the afternoon till even later at night then you, so it’s rare for you to meet up like this. He must have the day off too.

“Hey Touya… or, is it Dabi?”

He snorts, sending you a wicked grin as he takes a drag of his cigarette. “Touya’s fine, Doll. I don’t make pretty girls call me Dabi. That’s reserved for clients and my asshole co-workers.”

Right. He’s probably tattooed his fair share of less than pleasant people in his line of work. You probably wouldn’t want them knowing your full name either, if you had his job.

Fuck, did he just call you pretty?

“You know you shouldn’t be smoking in the hallway. Mrs. Honda will have a fit if she catches you again. I heard her screaming at you from down in the lobby last time.” You shudder as you think of your building’s superintendent. For a woman in her mid-sixties who couldn’t be any taller then five feet, she could be really scarry when she wanted to be.

“That old hag won’t do shit to me. I pay my rent on time, which is more then I can say for some fuckers here.” Touya mutters around the cigarette, but he still disappears into his apartment, presumably to put out the cigarette, before returning to lean on the doorframe.

He looks you up and down for a moment, seeming to mull over something in his head, before he juts his chin at you. “What’s your plans for tonight?”

Well, that was new. Touya never asked about your personal life, or if you had anything else going on aside from work before. Was he asking because he was curious, or--?

“I think I’ll be staying close to home tonight. It’s been a while since I took it easy. What about you?”

“Might be going out with some of the guys from work for dinner tonight. Probably won’t be late though.” The hint of a smirk pulls at his lips. “If I get back early enough, you and I should do something.”

Oh. That was unexpected. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.

“You wanna do something with me?” you clarify. He nods, the sly grin never leaving his face.

“Why? I’m not saying no, but we’ve never been able to have an actual conversation up until now. Suddenly you want to do something with me?” You ask and he laughs, shaking his head.

“I’ve had my eye on you since you moved in next door Princess. Not my fault that we work opposite shifts. Besides, I thought for sure you would’ve noticed me checking you out with how often I’ve caught you staring at me.”

You cough and look away, not wanting him to see how flushed his comment had made you. Goddamn it. Had he really been watching you this whole time? How could he be stupidly attractive and preceptive? It wasn’t fair.

“Anyways, I figured it was about time to make a move, since you clearly weren’t going to.” Touya continues with a smirk, caging his arms back behind his head. “I have the day off and it looks like you do too. You should come over later tonight after I get back and do something with me.”

You cross your arms over your chest and shoot him a teasing grin, trying to recover. “Oh? Like what? You gonna let me re-dye your hair or something? I think your roots are starting to show.” You squint at the crown of his head, where you can see the tell-tale signs of lighter coloured hair starting to grow out from underneath the dark, spiky strands.

Touya groans at your observation and runs a hand exasperatedly through his hair, ruffling it. “Don’t remind me. I haven’t had the chance to dye it again.”

“What is your natural colour anyways? I thought it was black. You wear it well.” You tell him honesty. 

Touya shoots you a grin. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

He laughs. “Come over and see for yourself.”

“Maybe I will.” You tease back. “All depends on when you get back from dinner with your friends though. I’m not a two-in-the-morning-visit type of girl, and I know how late you like to stay out.”

It’s not far from the truth. Sometimes you’ve heard him stumbling back into his apartment well into the early hours of the morning. Probably getting back in from drinking at one of the clubs you know he frequents, or doing god knows what else.

He snorts at your comment, but the playful glint in his eyes doesn’t leave. “Shouldn’t be out too late this time. I’m telling you, Princess, if you get lonely tonight, you know where to find me.”

He closes the door to his apartment without another word.

 That night everything went to shit.

Your roommate didn’t come back to the apartment. That was the first thing that tipped you off that something wasn’t right. You knew that she was working late, but it was pushing three hours past her normal end time, and you were starting to worry.

You try to call her several times, but every call went straight to voicemail, so you eventually gave up on that endeavor. Same with texting. All of the texts you send her garnered no response so after a while, you stop that too. You hope she’s with a friend or maybe she decided to go out after work like she sometimes did, but you couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that was building in the pit your stomach.

Trying to distract yourself, you flip on the television and it went right to your local news. The news woman is standing outside of a hospital, reporting about multiple patients all showing similar signs of an infection that seemed to be caused by an unknown pathogen, before she was suddenly shooed away by several firefighters.

As the camera pans away from the woman and flicks back towards the hospital, you remember thinking that the hospital looked vaguely like the one about twenty minutes away from your apartment building, before it suddenly erupts into flames.

An explosion in the distance rattles the windows to your apartment, and you bolt over to the closest one without thinking. The vibrations from the blast are still vibrating through your apartment as you peer outside in shock.

Sure enough, you can see the tell-tale glow of a massive fire in the distance. Several skyscrapers have blocked your view of the actual hospital, but you know it’s ablaze. Suddenly, you’re very thankful that your building isn’t directly in the city and that a large park separates your home from the major core, because you can only imagine how chaotic the downtown is right now.

Shuddering, you rip your eyes away from the window and move back towards the T.V. feeling numb all over. The scene has shifted back to the main news room, where you can see the news anchors trying desperately to figure out what’s going on, and re-establish contact with their fellow reporter and her crew at the hospital.

Inwardly you know it’s hopeless. If they’re not dead, they’re badly injured.

You’re just about to shut the T.V. off and reach for your phone to call your roommate one more time, before you’re interrupted by the sounds of loud, uneven knocking at door leading into your apartment.

For some reason, you feel your blood freeze in your veins at the sound. You pocket your phone into the back pocket of your sleep shorts and move hesitantly towards the door. You approach slowly, making sure you don’t make too much noise as you put your eye up to the peep hole to see who’s at your door.

It’s Mr. Takashi from floor three.

The peep hole doesn’t let you see much aside from his fuzzy figure, but biased on what you can see, he doesn’t look good. You can’t be sure, but you think there may be blood on him—

“Sweetheart? Sweethart are you in there?” the man croaks out, swaying side to side in front of your door. “I need… I need some help… Can you let me in? Please let me in…”

Goddamn it. What the hell was going on tonight? Normally you would have simply called out to him that if he was in need of medical attention, you’d call him an ambulance, but based on what you just witnessed on the T.V. and the explosion outside your window, you don’t think the hospital is an option anymore.

“Mr. Takashi? What’s wrong? What can I help you with? Are you hurt?” you finally manage to call out to him from behind the safety of your door.

“I need help… I feel… I feel really sick… please… you’re the only one that cares enough to ask…”

Fuck sakes.

Your bleeding heart is going to get you killed one day, you’re certain of it.

You suck on your teeth as you weigh your options. You know this is a bad idea, you feel it in your gut. He hasn’t been acting right since you saw him this morning, and you have no idea what seems to be bothering him now. You’re not remotely qualified to deal with what’s currently bothering him, whether it be physically or mentally, but if something awful happens to him, and you could’ve possibly done something to help him, you know that you won’t be able to forgive yourself.

So, you grit your teeth and unlock your front door, allowing your downstairs neighbor to stumble in as you shut the door and lock it behind you.

“Okay, what seems to be the problem—” Your voice dies off as the man slowly turns around to look at you, and you have to fight off the familiar urge to cover your nose and hold back vomit.

You don’t know how, but somehow, he looks even worse than he did earlier. His skin looks like it’s lost all of its parlor and looks almost translucent in the soft lighting of your apartment. His eyes are glassy and the parts of his irises that aren’t milky, are bloodshot. Now that you’re able to get a better look at him, his clothes look like they have splatters of blood strewn across them, but you can’t tell if they’re his or not…

If that wasn’t concerning enough; that foul, rotting stench that was wafting off him earlier is ten-fold now, and it almost brings you to your knees. You try to breathe through your mouth, but it does little to help you as you fight back the gag reflex you feel trying to kick in. You have no idea where the stench is emanating from. You can’t see any open wounds on him, though it does little to explain how the red stains on his clothes – which you’re almost certain is blood – got on him. You already know that whatever’s wrong with him, it’s far out of your capabilities.

“Mr. Takashi? Mr. Takashi, I don’t know if I can help you.” You manage to get out as you watch him shuffle aimlessly around. “Have you tried calling a doctor? Anyone? I don’t think I’m equipped to help you properly—”

“Can’t get through… all busy… I feel so sick.” He mutters, looking at you, but at the same time, looking straight through you, as if you’re just an obstacle in his way.

“I- hold on, what’s all the stuff on you?” you gesture to rust coloured stains covering him. “Is that blood? Is it yours? Are you bleeding somewhere?” You’re not sure if you want to know the answer, but if he’s not going to tell you what’s bothering him, you’ll have to get it out of him some other way.

“Dead, all dead… not for long.”

You’re not sure if you like that answer… if you could even call it that.

“Who’s dead?” you press. “Mr. Takashi? Did you do something?”

But your neighbor isn’t listening to you. You watch, horrified, as his eyes seem to glaze over completely, and suddenly his breathing becomes labored to the point you’re not sure if he can breathe at all.

“Shit.” You groan as you grab his hand without thinking, and drag him through your apartment to you and your roommate’s shared bathroom. You have to force the door open a bit as you drag him in the small bathroom and rip open the medicine cabinet on the wall. The hinges on the door have been getting stuck recently and your landlord has yet to fix them, despite how many times you and your roommate have complained.

You’re not really sure what you’re looking for as you search through your cabinet frantically. Something, to help clear his airways preferably, but neither you nor your roommate are asthmatics, so you know your chances of finding useful medications are slim to none.  

Suddenly a strange croaking growl cuts through the air behind you, and you turn to face your neighbor, only to freeze.

He looks feral. Deranged is a better word for it. His mouth is hanging open, and his limbs are jerking sporadically, but you don’t see any light behind his eyes… what you can see of them anyways. He looks like he’s about to collapse, but something is holding him up, like a puppet on a string. He looks like a corpse that recently died. Maybe he is one, you don’t know.

“Mr. Takashi?” you try once, hesitantly.

His head jerks in your general direction. Then he lunges.

You barely have any time to react, let alone scream for help as he claws at you, groaning unintelligibly as he tries to sink his teeth into your skin. You manage to hook an arm under his jaw, shutting his mouth and driving his face away from yours, as you use your other hand to try and subdue his own, which are trying to find purchase on your body.

Thankfully, he isn’t a big man, and he may even weigh less then you do, so he’s not particularly hard to ward off – especially considering he doesn’t seem to have the best control over his physical faculties at the moment – but you still struggle to hold him off long enough to put some space in between you and him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?! Get. Off.” You snarl as you shove him to the side hard enough that he falls into your shower tub, bringing your shower curtain down with him. You don’t stop to catch your breath; you bolt out of the bathroom before he can untangle himself and slam the door shut behind you.

You’re suddenly grateful that the bathroom door jams whenever it’s fully closed. You have a hell of a time with it some days, and you’re hoping that it’ll be enough to hold him off for now.

But what if it isn’t enough? What if he comes at you again?

You don’t stick around long enough to entertain the idea. You’re bolting through your apartment, and are out your front door before you know it, slamming it shut behind you, as you press yourself against it, chest heaving as you try to catch your breath.

You look around your hallway and you immediately wish that you hadn’t. The place looks like a war-zone. Several of the overhead pot-lights are flickering ominously above you, there are signs of a possible struggle further down the hall way to your left, and the walls across from you look like they have blood smeared across them.

It’s alarmingly quiet. Too quiet for a place the looks like someone may have been murdered in not long ago.

You strain your ears to see if you can hear any of your other neighbors in their units, but all you’re met with is silence. The abnormal quiet does little to comfort you. Normally, you can always hear some sort of noise from your neighbors out in the hallway, even when they’re in their apartments. You don’t know why it’s so quiet now, but it has you on edge.

How the hell you didn’t notice the chaos that must have been unfolding outside your door is beyond you. You were so wrapped up trying to figure out where your roommate was, that you weren’t paying attention to anything else – now you’re paying for it.

The deathly silence reminds you you’re alone. You’re out in the open and you don’t have anything to protect yourself with. Going back into your apartment is out of the question, and you’re not particularly close enough with any of your neighbors to go pounding on their doors for help. (Something tells you they wouldn’t open their doors for anyone now anyways)

Except for possibly one.

You turn to your right where the door leading to the stairwell is. Across from the stairwell is the last apartment on your floor. Unit 401 – Touya’s apartment.

You wouldn’t call each other close. Hell, the first full conversation you’ve had with him was literally earlier today, but he did invite you over, and if his earlier comments meant anything, he’s had his eye on you for a while now. Maybe he’d be willing to help you—

A distant scream shatters the illusion of relative safety, and makes up your mind for you. You can’t tell where it’s coming from, but you don’t want to find out. You bolt over to Touya’s door and knock frantically on it, trying to be as quiet as possible. “Touya? Touya, are you home? If you are, please let me in, it’s an emergency!” you hiss, throwing a look over your shoulder to make sure that you’re still alone out in the hallway. Thankfully, you don’t see anyone.

Your tattooed neighbor doesn’t open the door. You start to feel a cold sweat break out over your body, and you knock on his door again, a little louder this time. You’re about to call out to him, until you remember he told you that he was going out this with some friends tonight.

Fuck, you don’t even know if he’s back yet. You can’t remember seeing him pull into the parking lot outside the apartment building, or hearing him pass by your door to get to his own. If he’s not home, you’re screwed. You’ve left your apartment and now are standing in the hallway, unarmed, wearing nothing but a loose t-shirt and sleep shorts. Not ideal for running for your life in.

You’re just about to raise your hand to pound on his door one last time, before the door to the staircase is violently ripped open and Touya comes bursting through it, gasping for air. His badly dyed hair is windswept and wet, presumably from the light rain outside. There is something thick and dark dripping from his jacket as he hunches over, panting like he’s run the whole way home, and maybe he has. All you know is the dark substance that’s now dripping onto the floor isn’t water. It looks suspiciously like—

Touya looks up, his blue eyes wild in the dim of the hallway, and meets your own startled ones. He blinks like he can’t believe that you’re standing outside of his door in nothing but your sleepwear, before his face suddenly shifts and he strides over to you.

“What the fuck are you doing out here?” he hisses as he pushes past you to unlock his door and all but drags you inside his apartment, making sure to lock the door behind him before turning to you again. “Have you not seen what the fuck is going on out there?”

“No… I mean… What do you mean, what’s going on out there?” you parrot him, casting another nervous glace to the door behind you. “I’m more concerned about the weird shit that’s happening here.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know Mr. Takeshi? One floor down from us?”

“Should I?”

“Well— it doesn’t matter anymore I guess.” You mutter darkly. “Point is, I think he’s really sick. He’s not acting right and he smells like something died.” Your nose crinkles in disgust as you recall the memory.

“He came pounding on my door out of nowhere and I let him in thinking he needed help, next thing I know, he’s trying to bite me! I got away and locked him in the bathroom, but I didn’t know if the door would hold, so I bolted out of my unit.”

You try and give him a smile. It doesn’t work. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I tried to see if you were home. Thankfully you showed up when you did. The hallway looks like it’s got blood smeared everywhere and I haven’t seen a single person all night-“

“He didn’t bite you, did he?”

“He—what?” you ask, caught off guard by his question.

“The dude in your bathroom, he didn’t bite you, right?” Touya asks impatiently, gesturing towards you. You shake your head.

“No, but he tried to. Why?”

“It’s not just him.” Touya juts his chin towards the front door. “He’s not the only one acting like that. I don’t know what it is, but it’s everywhere. They were downtown too.”

“There’s more people like him?” You groan, fighting the urge to panic at the news. What the hell was going on? Was it some mutant case of rabies, or was it something worse…

“Trust me, you haven’t seen half the shit I’ve seen.” Touya mutters as he crosses over to the windows on the other side of his living room, and pulls back the black-out shades covering them so he can peer out into the darkness. “Downtown is a fucking nightmare. People are biting people and tearing into them, doing all sorts of other nasty shit. It looks like fucking World War III has broken out, but with cannibals instead of nukes”

“The hospital close to here exploded.” You mutter, thinking back to that final news report. “Did you see it?”

“I felt it.” Touya corrects you with a grimace. “I was driving back here and was about two blocks away when it happened. I’m amazed the windows in my car didn’t implode. Shit was loud as hell.”

He lets the drapes fall back into place, plunging the room into darkness again and you hear him fumbling around in the dark for a moment, muttering obscenities under his breath. You hear a small click somewhere to your left and his T.V. turns on. The glare illuminates Touya’s lanky form and you see his brow furrow as he rapidly surfs through T.V. channels – all of them are broadcasting static.

“Shit.” He mutters as he tosses the remote down on the couch, raking a hand through his hair. “No T.V. That was fucking fast. The people on the radio wouldn’t shut the hell up about some viral sickness while I was driving back here, but I lost the channel about a block away. Couldn’t get any other stations to work either.”

“The radio stopped working as well?” Truthfully, if he hadn’t had told you, you wouldn’t have known. You switched to Spotify a while ago and never looked back, but the knowledge that the radio broadcasters have fallen silent, possibly for the last time, is chilling.

“Same as the T.V.” Touya grumbles as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He taps it and lifts the cracked screen to his face, scowling as he holds it out in front of him. “I don’t have any bars, do you?”

You may not have been smart enough to grab a knife from your kitchen before you ran out of your unit, but thank God your phone never leaves your side. You nod and reach into the back pocket of your sleep shorts and pull out your device. You unlock it and shake your head, holding it out so he can see.

“No, I don’t have any service and I can’t access the internet. It must be a provider issue.”

“Fuck sakes.” Touya snarls as he jams his phone back into his pockets. “No T.V., no phones, no radio. You know what this means right?” he looks at you expectantly and you nod, dread pooling in your stomach.

“We’re alone.”

“You got that right.”  Touya is silent for a moment. His gaze falls to his feet and then back to the covered window. He doesn’t look at you as he mutters “My brother works at that fuckn’ hospital.”

“Your brother?” he nods, still not looking at you, but you can see the worry shining in his eyes as he bites at his lip. You can see the outline of his tongue toying with one of the piercings in his cheek. He’s stressed. He doesn’t have to tell you, you know.

“Younger brother. He’s in school to become a doctor. He’s doing his residency there. I can’t remember what shift he’s on right now.”

“I didn’t know you had siblings.” You say. You don’t know how to comfort him, but you know it’s not a wise idea to let him linger on his brother’s whereabouts. Touya nods absentmindedly.

“I’m the oldest of four. My sister’s an elementary school teacher, my younger brother works at the hospital and my youngest brother’s still in high school. He’s supposed to graduate next month.” He frowns. “Haven’t spoken to them in ages aside from Natsu – brother at the hospital. Kinda regretting that now.”

“I’m sure they’re fine.” You tell him quickly, stepping closer to him in an effort to get him to look at you. It works and cerulean blue eyes turn to focus on you. You swallow and continue.

“Don’t assume anything until you get actual answers. Right now, nobody knows anything, but what I do know is that we probably shouldn’t stay here. I have no idea what’s going on out there, but if the downtown is as bad as you say it is, then it probably won’t be long until whatever it is makes its way over here.”

“It’s already here.” Touya mutters. “Didn’t you say one of those fuckers is locked in your bathroom?”

“Yeah.” You turn to eye the wall that separates your units and you swear you hear faint yelling and banging coming from the other side. “I don’t think I can go back over there.”

“No.” Touya agrees with a sigh, and he turns on his heel and disappears down his small hallway to where you assume his bedroom is. He returns a moment later with two backpacks and tosses one at you. “Help me pack some shit and we’ll get the hell out of here.”

“Where?” you ask him as he strides to his kitchen. You hear drawers opening and closing and cutlery being rattled around.

“My family home. It’s out in the country, away from the city. As much as I don’t want to pay my old man a visit, it’s the only other place I can think of that’s remotely safe. I can say hi to my mom at least, siblings too, if they’re at the house.”

“Would they be okay with me tagging along?” you ask hesitantly. You may have been neighbors for the past several months, but this man is still practically a perfect stranger to you. The most you’ve ever talked to him was today. He doesn’t need to do anything for you.

As if he can read your thoughts, Touya’s head peaks around the corner to stare at you, eyebrow quirked and shit: his eyebrows are a hell of a lot lighter than the ends of his hair. How you only noticed it now, is a mystery.

“Well, I’m not just going to leave you here.” He tells you with the hint of a smirk before he ducks back around to keep packing some essentials.

“As far as I know, you might be the only other unaffected person in the building. I might be an asshole, but I’m not that much of an asshole, Princess.”

“You think so?” you ask, peering into the bag, only to see an oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants staring back at you.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t see anyone living coming up from the parking lot, but there’s a whole lot of blood in the stairwell and our hallway doesn’t look much better—ah shit.”

You hear him hiss in annoyance and you put your bag down to join him in the kitchen. You round the corner to see him holding his shoulder, wincing slightly. He pulls his hand away after a moment and stares down at his hand.

His palm is covered in red.

He looks up and your eyes meet. “It’s not mine.” He says quickly, but the look on your face tells him that you don’t believe him. He shrugs off his dark leather jacket with a curse and you can see the shoulder of his white t-shirt is stained through with blood.

“It’s not all mine.” He tells you again, making you look up at him. He grimaces. “I got jumped by one of those assholes as I was getting out of my car. She didn’t bite me, but she put up a hell of a struggle.”

He pulls down the collar of his shirt for you to inspect. Sure enough, there is no bite mark, but there are two long angry red gashes that are slowly oozing blood down his inked arm.

“We need to clean that.” You mutter. “I don’t know what this is, or how it’s spread, but you don’t want that getting infected.”

“It might be too late for that.”

Your gaze flicks up to meet his and he looks away. “What?” you ask him quietly. “What did you say?”

Touya only looks away from you. “Forget it. Just… help me get some things together and then we can go.”

You pack in relative silence, the static from the T.V. acting as background noise as Touya directs you on what to pack. You ask about the spare change of clothes in your bag and he shrugs, muttering something about how you probably wouldn’t make it far in what you’re currently wearing.

It almost feels like you’re packing to go on a trip with him. You could almost trick yourself into believing it – if you ignore the muffled banging and inhumane snarls coming from the other side of the wall where your apartment is.

That’s not the only disturbing thing that you’re hearing either. The once quiet hallway outside Touya’s door is starting to come alive with the sounds of low groans filling the air. You swear you hear shuffling footsteps moving past the front door on multiple occasions, but every time you turn your head to look in the direction of the door, there’s nothing there. It does nothing to ease your nerves or help your paranoia.

What you’re really worried about, is Touya himself. His movements are slowing down, and he seems to be slightly uncoordinated as he shoves a set of knives into his pack. You hope it’s just pain from the claw marks on his shoulder that’s making him act strangely, but based on what you’ve already seen-

“I think that’s it.” Touya sighs, casting a look around his messy apartment. He breathes out through his nose, before reaching into his jacket pocket and fishes out his car keys with a small jingle. He looks at them longingly for a moment, before tossing them to you. You barely have time to react before he’s pushing his bag towards you as well.

“Those are the keys to my car. It’s parked near the front entrance. If you move fast and don’t get distracted, you should make it no problem.”

“That’s fantastic, but why are you telling me this?” You press, as you hold his keys back out towards him. “We’re going together. I don’t know where your family home is. If you want me to drive, I’m going to need directions.”

Touya laughs, but it’s not a kind one, as he shoves the keys back to your person. “About that… I don’t think I’m going anywhere Princess.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not going to leave you here—”

Your words die in your throat as Touya aggressively shoves down the front of his shirt so you can see the gory scratch marks on him, and you feel your heart drop into your stomach.

They look so much worse then when he first showed them to you. The skin around them looks like it’s peeling back from the gashes, and seems to be turning black around the edges. It almost looks like the wound is starting to rot, but you don’t know how that’s possible. He only got injured recently. There’s no way that it could’ve gotten infected that quickly-

“Listen to me.” He almost begs you, snapping you out of your reprieve. “I’ve been feeling like shit since that bitch downstairs raked her fucking talons down my arm. I’ve had a fever since it happened and it’s not letting up.”

He points to the worst of the marks. “This happened an hour ago, and I’m already worse. I don’t think it matters if it’s a bite or not – if one of these things manage to get your hands on you, it’s game over.”

No. No, no, this can’t be happening. He can’t possibly be suggesting what you think he is.

He can’t be turning into what Mr. Takashi currently is. he just can’t.

“Touya, I can’t leave without you.” You start, quickly cutting him off as you see him open his mouth to protest. “I just moved here. I don’t have any family in the area, and I don’t know anybody else aside from you and my roommate, and she never came home, so you’re all I have now.”

You hate that your voice cracks at the end, but it’s true: you don’t have anybody else, and if he kicks you out now, then you’ll truly be alone.

You don’t know what’s scarier: the potential horde of crazed lunatics waiting for you outside, or the crushing loneliness of being by yourself in an uncertain world.

You’re not sure if you want to find out.

“I’m not going to tell you again: you need to leave.” Touya urges you as he thrusts the keys back into your hand, closing your fingers around them. “Shizuoka Prefecture, that’s where you need to go. My house is logged into the nav, just follow the directions and you’ll get there. My family will recognize my car. You’ll just need to explain to them why I’m not there—”

“Touya I’m not going.” You tell him firmly, setting his keys down on the counter next to you. “No one was prepared for this to happen. Not you, not me, nobody. Even if I do make it out of the building, I’m not going to last long on my own.”

“If you stay here with me, there’s a good chance that you won’t make it at all.” Touya warns with a breathy laugh, but you can see that he’s fighting back a grimace. His hand moves to cover his wound, but his movements are slow and shaky. If you focus on his eyes, you can just start to make out a familiar haze starting to cover his brilliant blue irises.

Fuck.

He’s sick. Not as sick as Mr. Takashi was, but you’re certain that he’s got whatever he had. Realistically, you know that he’s right and you should leave, put as much distance between yourself and him as you possibly can, but where would you go? Even if you made it to Touya’s childhood home, there’s no guarantee that his family would help you, not that you’d blame them. You’re as good as dead if you leave.

Granted, you might be screwed if you stay here with him, but…

“At least I’m with someone who I know.” You point out gently. “If the world really is going to hell, I’d much rather spend whatever time I have left with someone who isn’t a total stranger.”

Touya falls silent. For once, he doesn’t have a retort for you. Finally, he shrugs in defeat and slides down the wall closest to him, seemingly not having the strength to hold himself up any longer.

You try not to stare at the dark red streak he leaves on the wall behind him.

“If you wanna stay, be my guest, but if I do end up turning into one of those things, do me a favour and put me out of my misery, won’t you, Doll? Wouldn’t wanna rip your pretty face off.”

You want to laugh. The situation is so absurd. You think you may have tried, but a choked sob is the only thing that comes out of your mouth.

You’re dangerously close to the brink of tears, but you don’t want to cry in front of your clearly sick neighbor, knowing that your tears aren’t going to help anything. Touya, despite it all, is still as annoyingly preceptive as ever. He sighs heavily and pats the spot next to him.

“C’mere Princess, sit down before you have an aneurism.”

You cross over and slide down the wall so you’re sitting down next to him. Next thing you know, Touya drapes a heavy arm around you and pulls you into his side. “It’s okay.” He tells you in his gravely voice, even though you know it isn’t. “It ain’t your fault. Just… sit with me for a little bit, yeah?”

Of course, you would, you wouldn’t deny him that. You don’t think you’re in the right to deny him anything right now. You feel oddly indebted to him.

This was the first time that you actually got to hang out with your ridiculously attractive neighbor since moving here, why did it have to be when the world was going to shit?

“It’s not fair.” You mutter into his side, feeling like a small child. “I wish I could have met you at a better time.”

“Naw Doll, you met me at the perfect time.”

This time you can’t stop the tears you feel threatening to overflow, and they pour down your face silently as Touya holds you against him.

You don’t know how long you stay with him like that for, but you gradually hear the hallways outside Touya’s door become louder, as the stagnate air fills with the sounds of the undead. At the same time, you listen as your tattooed companion’s breathing becomes more and more labored with each passing minute.

You know what’s happening. He sounds eerily similar to how Mr. Takashi did in your apartment before he turned on you. You know you should move away from him, but you can’t bring yourself to leave his side.

He hasn’t said anything to you, but judging by the way he’s still tightly gripping onto your side, despite getting progressively weaker as time drags on, your presence is comforting to him.

You want to say something, anything, to bring him some small measure of comfort, but you regretfully don’t know him well enough to do so. Instead, you ask him the question that has been on your mind since your initial conversation with him earlier that afternoon.

“You never did tell me what your natural hair colour is.” You croak. Touya manages to wheeze out a laugh and presses a light kiss to your temple.

“White.” He murmurs softly in your ear. “It’s white.”

His chest rises and falls one more time before stilling, and your neighbor is gone.

You don’t know how long you stay there for. A part of you can’t fully accept that he’s gone, even as the arm around you grows heavy and limp, sliding down your back until it reaches the floor behind you with a muffled thud.

You feel hot, wet tears slide down your cheeks as Touya’s head lolls to the side, exposing the deep, ugly gashes in his shoulder. They’ve grown darker in colour, and the smell of meat on the verge of going rotten fills the air. It’s only when you can’t stand the smell anymore do you finally get up from your spot on the ground, but you don’t move far from him, you can’t. You don’t want to leave him like this, it’s not right.

You know that you shouldn’t stay here. You should grab his keys, and try your luck at reaching his car before your spotted by whatever’s lurking out in the hallways, or worse, before your neighbor potentially comes back as one of those… things.

But you don’t move from your spot. You run over all the possible variables in your head, and you come to the conclusion that regardless of whether you stay or go, you’re fucked.

You have no family close to your location that you could stay with, no friends either. You had let your roommate use your car tonight to get to work, and your doubtful that you’ll ever see it or her again after tonight, and even if you took Touya’s keys and tried to make it down to the ground floor to escape using his car, you have no idea how many of those creatures are out there waiting for you.

By the amount sounds you keep hearing outside the door, you can assume that it’s a lot.

You eye Touya’s keys. They’re still laying in the same spot on his counter, but you don’t make a move for them. What’s the point.

He told you to get to his family’s house in the country, but considering how the phones aren’t working, you’re not sure if his car’s navigation system would work either. Even if it did, and you were somehow able to make it to his car without getting attacked or bitten by the hordes of possibly infected people out there, there’s no guarantee that his family would help you. You wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t.

If you stayed here, you were fucked. If you left, you were definitely fucked.

Either way, you were going to lose, so you might as well pick the slightly less shitty option.

If you were going to die, then you were going to at least chose how, or rather, who was going to take you out.

So, you lean yourself up against the wall opposite to Toyua’s slumped over form, and wait.

You’re not sure how much time has elapsed, but a slight movement from Touya’s hunched over form draws your full attention to him. You watch as his arm, the one that was previously draped around your shoulders, jerks out at an odd angle, his fingers flexing and extending slowly. His legs twitch sporadically, almost as if something is shocking him, and a low growl emits out of his throat, deep and inhuman. Slowly, his head lifts from its crumpled position, and you watch as blurry turquoise eyes slowly lift upwards until they focus on your own.

They’re Touya’s eyes, but there’s no life behind them. He’s gone. This is just a hollow corpse that looks like him.

For a brief moment, you think about the set of knifes that are packed in one of the bags next to you. You contemplate about reaching for them, but you decide against it. You don’t think you could do it anyways, even though you know the creature that’s eyeing you up isn’t Touya.

You watch with silent tears pooling in your eyes, as the creature’s mouth pulls into a snarl, and forces’ himself up off the floor on unsteady legs. He shuffles over to you slowly and for every step he advances, you take one step back, until your back hit’s the opposite wall and there’s nowhere else for you to go.

He reaches for you and you slap his hand away with a sob. This creature may be your death, but you weren’t going to make it easy for him. If he wanted your life, he’d have to earn it.

Suddenly, one of the last things that Touya said to you before he succumbed to the sickness crosses your mind as the creature slowly advances on you. He never wanted to turn into one of these things. Hell, he even asked you to take him out if he turned.

You swallow shakily. You don’t want to. You really don’t want to… but now… you might not have a choice. Regardless of what happened to you, you won’t leave Touya as he was now. You’d honor his last request to you. Even if it ended up costing you your life.

The imposter reaches for you again, this time with both hands, and you shove him back with an angry snarl as fresh tears begin to run down your face.

It’s not fair. It’s not fair. It’s just not fucking fair.

A glint of light reflecting off the countertop catches your eye. Touya’s car keys are sitting innocently at the end of the countertop near where you’re pressed up against the wall. Due to your earlier hesitation, you won’t be able to grab the knives packed away in the bag before he’s on you, however Touya has numerous keys on his lanyard, some of them look quite sharp…

You twist to the side just as the creature reaches for you again. You duck under his outstretched arms and grab the lanyard, fisting the keys tightly in you hand as you try and keep your distance from the aggressive corpse that Touya has become.

An irritated rumble pulls from the imposters intricately tattooed throat, before he suddenly swings his whole body towards you and slams you up against the closest wall, knocking the wind out of you. He grabs your arms before you can recover, pinning them to your sides with a strength that you didn’t expect from a walking corpse.

You squirm and thrash, trying to claw at him, but in the end, you know it’s futile. You resigned yourself to this fate when you chose to stay with him despite knowing the outcome. At least you’ll die at the hands of someone you know. Not out there, alone and scared.

You cry out in pain as Touya sinks his teeth into the junction of your neck and shoulder, tearing through skin and muscle as his canines sink in deep, locking him to you. You feel blood gush out from the puncture wounds his teeth have made in your shoulder, and run down your torso, staining your shirt crimson. His arms are still pinning yours to your sides, trapping you in some kind of death embrace, as you feel the strength slowly start to leave your body. The sickness that took him, already taking hold inside your body.

You feel your mind start to go fuzzy and your vision start to swim. You can’t tell if it’s from blood loss or the infection itself. In one last ditch effort to bring some measure of comfort to yourself, you weakly raise your arms up so you’re gripping Touya’s biceps in a mock embrace. You feel him growl into your shoulder, and his hold on you relaxes slightly.

You don’t hesitate.

With a strangled scream you rip the arm holding Touya’s keys out of his hold, and drive them into his neck. You hear Touya let out a choked sound of surprise as the keys pierce his jugular, and he retracts his teeth out of your shoulder, tearing the delicate flesh, leaving deep gouges behind in his wake.

He backs away from you, clawing at the keys that are buried deep in his neck, and you swear you see the fog in his eyes clear for a moment as he looks at you, gasping for air as blood fills his lungs. He falls to his knees, one hand extended out towards you, the other still clutching at the keys in his neck, before toppling over. He twitches, once, twice, and then he is still.

You let out a shuddering breath as you cover the gaping wound on your neck with your opposite hand. Blood is still pouring down your arm and chest, and you know that you probably don’t have long to live. You feel tears pool in your eyes as you stare down at Touya’s unmoving form.

“I’m sorry.” You gasp out as you feel the strength in your legs leave you, and you collapse to your knees next to him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to. I’m so sorry!”

You feel your vision start to swim and you gingerly ease yourself onto your side so you’re lying next to him, placing your bloodied hand in his outstretched one. The last thing you remember seeing before the darkness takes you, is Touya’s cloudy turquoise eyes, fixed unblinkingly on your dying form, and then everything fades to black.

                                                        FIN

[vee-beeee]

Plant Shopping

HELLO

So I’ve essentially been dead and i apologize, lotta life stuff happening so that’s fun.

This isn’t a Connor x reader fic ;-; but ill get one out soon, but i wanted to try experimenting with another character and I’ve been playing omori recently so here this is

Basically: Set in a universe where Mari went to the hospital for a bit but was okay, and everyone’s doing good. You and Basil see that’s its a nice summer day outside, and decide to go plant shopping :)

A classic Basil x reader fic, both characters are 18 (reader has she/her pronouns)

Only other relationship mentioned is Mari x hero

This might be slightly out of character, as it’s my first time writing for these guys. This is also an au where Mari didn’t die so they main group is happier, and they got therapy 👍

Triggers: Panic attacks, but mostly happy and a comfort fic because these guys deserve it fr fr

——————————————————————————————<3

It’s always a weird feeling when you wake up and the sun is drifting into your eyes. It’s like your lids are glowing with the sun itself, catching on your lashes.

Your dreamy haze is startle when you try to gently shift in bed, realizing to late how close you are to the edge.

And you then fall off the side in a mess of blankets.

A body shoots up on top of the bed, a mess of blonde hair and a slender frame all you can see from your spot on the floor. It turns around the room to survey the surroundings, before mumbling something and falling back onto the bed.

“Basiiiillllll” you call out, sleep laced in your voice as you claw to get out of the sheets.

“Whatttttt” he mumbles back, shifting in bed to roll over to look at you.

Before realizing you weren’t there.

“Oh honey!” He instantly wakes up, crawling over the bed to look at you, before leaning down to help undo the blankets. “How did you do this?” He asks when you’re finally free, looking over your body to check for any bruises.

“Maybe you shoved me close to the edge in your sleep again” You laugh, standing up and stretching. You reach your arms above your head and hear your bones creaking, causing you to sigh in relaxation. When your finished you swing your arms down and look at Basil, you was laying on the bed, looking at you with the most gentle, loving gaze you had ever seen. He was also laying upside down, the goober.

“What” you laugh, adjusting your sleep shorts as you walk over to the closet and start rooting through clothes.

“Nothing” he replies, “Just that you look like a flower, blooming in the sun” he chuckles, rolling off the bed to walk and hug you from behind.

Over the years, Basil had hit a growth spurt and went from the shortest to the third tallest. Kel had him beat, next to hero. Sunny was a “short king” as your group called him, but he was still almost as tall as Basil. His blond hair was cut almost the same, done up with some sparkly pins in a low pony, a product of your self care night you had. (You both put on face masks and needed his hair out of his face)

You guys gently swayed in his room for a minute, being careful of the plants that littered his room.

You gently turned your head to kiss his forehead, which had been resting on your shoulder “We should do something today” you whispered, stopping your swaying. When he didn’t answer, you turned to look at him more in question.

And then he started fake snoring.

It was so loud and obnoxious that you couldn’t help but laugh, especially when it turned into the “me me me” snore. Basil broke and started laughing to, and you both chuckled to your hearts content in your happy little bubble.

After that you both got dressed, you in a flowery summer dress and him in some shorts and white tee that said “flower power” showcasing a variety of different flower types on it.

You were currently making eggs and toast with some blueberry jam that you guys made together. That was a fun, albeit messy experiment.

Basil was leaning on the counter next to you, telling you about the others in your groups plan for that day.

“Mari and Hero are driving out to the city, Aubrey is going out with some friends, and Sunny and Kel are meeting up so Kel can try to teach him basketball.” Basil chuckled at the thought of poor sunny getting hit in the face with a ball.

“So we have the day to ourselves?” You questioned, looking outside the window to the beautiful sun shining down on the house. Polly was out doing errands, and Basils grandmother was sleeping in her room.

It really was just the two of you.

“Yep, the whole sunny day” he smiled at you, before jumping and letting out an “oh!” You looked at him with a questioning gaze, and he smiled shakily before running to his room. He came back shortly with a scrap piece of paper and he looked at you in excitement.

“Do you wanna go plant shopping with me?” He smiled so bright you had to squint to see him. You laughed and nodded your head.

“Of course i will! What planets do you need?” This caused Basils brilliant smile to falter, and he chuckled and scratched the back of his head, guilty look plastered on his face

“A lot”

You smirked and held your hand out, and he gently gave you his scrap piece of paper he was holding.

You nodded a thank you and looked down, and saw that the entire sheet of paper was filled out.

Your mouth dropped open as you read all the different kind of plants, a lot of which you couldn’t recognize.

“That’s my list, these ones do well in the summer” He pointed out on the list shyly, before laughing and shaking his head.

“We need to get started then” you winked, and Basil was once again beaming.

After you both got ready, eating and saying goodbye to basils grandmother, you were off to the green house outside of town.

You stood in the driveway, looking at your guys bikes leaned up on the house. You turned to look at basil with a scrunched up look and he bit his lip. You both knew one thing.

You were not gonna fit all the plants in a flimsy bike basket.

Your next option was to call Kel.

Basil and Kel talked on the phone while you undid the locks on your bikes, rolling them over to where your boyfriend was standing.

“….thank you Kel, i promise ill pay for gas” Basil nodded as Kel talked in his ear, and the blonde turned to you to give a thumbs up. You smiled as the plan was set in motion.

Basically the plan was this:

Kel had saved up months ago and bought a truck, while you and basil had chosen to stick with bikes, being the healthier option for you too. But at times like this, extra help was needed.

So you guys were going to bike to park, where Kel and sunny were, and borrow/ steal kels truck, while he and sunny took your bikes home when they were ready.

Perfect plan.

You and basil started to the park, enjoying the warm summer morning. Basil, like basil does, took his camera. He was fussing over it all the way to the park, making sure the strap was tight around his chest. You chuckled as he shakily tried adjusting, before yelping when he realized he was heading into the bushes.

You got to the park (mostly) unharmed. Basil did have a couple scratches, but you were always prepared and brought band-aids for accidents.

(And you were always willing to kiss it better)

When you got to the park, you both beelined for the court. Before you could even see it, you could hear Kel.

He was screaming his head off and whistling.

You and Basil slowly looked at each other, before bursting into laughter. You guys continued walking to the court while giggling, and saw quite the sight.

Kel was guarding sunny, and yelling into his ear. Sunny looked frustrated, but was clearly concentrating hard. You and basil smiled as you watched Kel suddenly make a grab for the ball, causing sunny to turn and shoot for the basket.

The ball flew right over the net, over the board, and before you could register, the ball flying righttt over your head.

You stood there in shock as the ball thudded into a tree, and you blinked as a very worried Basil came into your vision.

“Sweet Pea! Are you okay?” He checked you up and down, giggling gone. Kel was running over, yelling about that almost being the perfect hit, and sunny was walking over, rubbing his arm and looking at you with a guilty look.

The black haired boy tilted his head in apology, and one you recovered from your stunned state, you looked at him and gave him a shaky smile and thumbs up. That was a close one.

“Hey you guys! Sorry about that, he’s still learning distance of shooting the ball” Kel had retrieved the ball from the bushes, and was jogging back to your small circle. When he arrived, he slapped a hand on basils shoulder, sending the blonde forward a few steps. Basil just awkwardly chuckled, never fully getting used to be touched by surprise.

“So I hear you guys want to steal ol’ hector?” Kel laughed, spinning the ball on his finger.

“I’ll pay for gas don’t worry” Basil assured the boy, biting his lip once again, a nervous habit he had picked up when he was a kid.

“Im not to worried about it” Kel shrugged, tossing the ball hand to hand “Just don’t crash it” the boy laughed, punching basil on the arm. Basil chuckled and nodded, giving him a ‘yes sir’ before Kel suddenly threw him the keys. Basil struggled to catch it, the small jumble of metal bouncing from hand to hand before he caught it against his chest. Kel laughed at the antics, and finally gave you once last nod.

“Make sure he doesn’t get lost in there okay y/n?” The boy winked again and patted Sunny’s back, who gave you both a wave while they jogged back to the court. You giggled while Basil sputtered and went red, making an exaggerated frowny face, making you laugh harder.

After dropping the bikes in the lawn, where sunny and Kel could keep an eye on them, you both saw Kel truck parked on the street.

Basil carefully held your hand as you walked across the park to it. You swung your hands back and forth, your both starting to hum a Taylor swift song and laughing.

When you reached the car, Basil unlocked it, and ran around to your side to open the door for you, doing a little bow.

“For you my rose” He blushed and smiled, making you laugh and curtesy to him, thanking the boy before climbing into the tall car. He ran around and pulled open his door, sliding into the driver seat and familiarizing himself with the cars controls. The car was stick shift, and luckily Polly had taught Basil in his Grandmas old car, which also was a stick shift. So you were set.

Basil turned the key and the car roared to life, sputtering with its loud engine. Basil jumped and turned to you with his eyebrows raised, and you laughed at his expression.

Pulling out into the road, you changed the music into some classic road-trip goodies, and you were both off to drive to the plant store outside the town.

Basil was a pretty good driver, albeit a little anxious. After Maris tumble down the stairs that landed her with a broken leg in the hospital, Basils anxiety went through the roof. With a little encouragement from you and Polly, he saw a doctor and got some medication. Now, he was doing much better, but sometimes glimpses of the monster called anxiety crept through. He would get a little nervous when a truck was going to fast, if someone was honking, or if someone even passed him.

But he had you to calm him down. To cheer the blonde up when he got to stressed, you would jokingly yell “PERVERT” at people who were being a little to aggressive on the road, making basil laugh.

The current song was one of your favorites, “She Lit a Fire” by Lord Huron. You both were humming along on the peaceful trip.

About 30 minutes of singing and talking about nothing and everything, Basil smiled and informed you that you were close. He pulled into a dirt driveway and yelped as the road got a little bumpy. You giggled in joy, feeling like you were on a roller costar. Finally, Basil pulled into a clearing, where the road became pavement again.

And then you saw it.

A couple of huge greenhouses, people flocking around them. There were plants everywhere, and it smelt like heaven with all the flowers blooming, and some sprouting.

Basil pulled into a free spot, turning the noisy truck off. You put your hand on the door, ready to exit the truck, when you heard heavy breathing coming from the driver side of the car. You turned to Basil, about to ask him what that noise was, but saw the boy looking out the rear view mirror to a bunch of people.

You understood.

Basil never did good with crowds, and the blonde turned and looked to you in alarm.

“Touch or no touch?” You asked gently, always making sure he was comfortable with it before touching him. He nodded, so you reached out and grabbed his hand, gently rubbing it.

Basils breathing was getting more labored, so you started breathing with him.

“In and out flower” you repeated that mantra, rubbing the back of Basils hand until you noticed his breathing starting to go back to normal. You both took a couple seconds to regroup, before basil quietly leaned over the car and wrapped you in a hug. You breathed out a sigh into his chest, kissing it once before leaning into the hug.

You guys stayed like that for at least 5 minutes, before basil pulled away.

“Sorry ‘bout all that sweet pea” He gave you a shaky smile and you gently gave him one back.

“It’s okay basil” you nodded “Take all the time you need.”

He closed his eyes and breathed, before jokingly giving you a thumbs up. “Im ready, I’ve got you by my side to help me” he stuttered out, making you blush and aww. He went red and quickly got out of the car, walking to the other side to open your door. You hopped out, dusting yourself off before turning and seeing basil close the door and lock the car with a beep.

“Talk about your plants with me” you spoke up, turning to basil and holding your hand out. He gave you a soft look before taking it, explaing all the different kinds of plants as you guys walked through the crowds.

You finally got to the entranced, and in Basils eyes, he was in heaven. The nursery was filled top to bottom with plants. Hanging baskets to little sprouts. It was so colorful in the building, and there was barely any room to walk around in. The ceiling was completely glass, so the sun shone through to bring light into the painting that was the nursery.

“Im gonna live here now.” Basil announced, laughing in awe. You chuckled to him and bumped into his side, causing the both of you to giggle.

Basil picked up a basket and you guys got to shopping.

Basil wanted to look at all the vegetables he wanted to grow, and you followed the boy to make sure he didn’t go ham spending his money. Basil started picking up plants and explaining which one was which, the ones that looked healthy, if they’d do well with the weather we’ve been having, and all sorts of facts about the plants.

You followed him with an adoring look, happy to see your boyfriend so happy after the little hiccup in the car. You figured out since you’ve been with him that even if you had a hard moment, it can always go up from there.

You eventually started to wander off yourself, getting lost in the leaves of the plants and trees and walking to a quiet corner.

There, you found her.

The most beautiful flower you had ever seen, an orange lily plant, sun beam shining down at the perfect angle to illustrate the softness of the petals, the color popping. You gasped and quickly walked over, picking up the flower and putting it up to your nose, smelling the aroma the plant was giving off.

You were lost in a haze, until you heard a tell-tale click. You blinked and looked up, seeing basil holding his camera down the corridor of hanging plants, and vines spilling over table tops. You smiled at him while he fanned the picture he took, holding it up to the light, and grinning.

“This is a good one” he turns to you and waves you over, showing you the photo when you get close enough to see it. You move the lily to your waist, and take a look at the Polaroid.

It’s you, smelling the lily, framed by leaves and vines. The sun is shining on your hair, bringing out the color and showing the blush on your face.

You giggle and look at basil, whose eyes are trained on your face. He smiles and kisses your check, hanging the camera down by his neck, and tucking the picture into his pocket. He pecks your nose and finally your lips, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. You smile in the kiss, and put your free hand up on his cheek, squishing his face in the kiss, causing him to laugh and break away.

“You’re amazing my flower.” He bit his lip, blush finally creeping on his face as he closed his eyes and smiled. You blushed and slapped a hand on your face. You peeked your eyes through your hand and laughed a little.

“You are too, my delectable food garnish” Basil burst into laughter, and covered his mouth with his hands, shaking his head. He looked back up at you “Is that going to be my new nickname?” He asked, rolling his head to look up at the ceiling. You laughed and grabbed on of his free hands and rubbed it “Maybe” you just giggled.

After basil noticed you had a plant in your arms, he fawned over it, claiming it was “almost” as pretty as you.

That got you blushing.

As Basil continued around the nursery, he picked up more and more plants, until he had to get 2 carts. As he complained to you about the prices of maple tree saplings, you decided to name your lily “phoebe” .

Basil nodded his head and greeted phoebe by gently shaking one of her leaves like a hand. You and him burst into laughter, and you got some looks at the old folks peacefully shopping.

You and basil eventually got to the line, which went almost through the whole nursery. You were carrying all the pretty flowers, smelling each one.

Basil insisted on carrying the sprouts, because he wanted to make sure they did get to jostled. He was holding the whole basket at a specific angle, trying to make sure not one once of dirt spilled from their pots.

You and basil talked about the other plants you saw in line, and argued over who was going to pay for phoebe.

(Basil won)

As you were waiting, you got a text from Mari, asking how you were doing. She heard from Sunny that you guys had gone to the nursery, and you realized that you had been in there for at least a couple hours. You set down the basket and held your phone up, turning on the camera and pointing it to you and basil. You snapped the photo of you making a peace sign and silly face, while basil fussed over the flowers. You sent it to Mari, who sent laughing faces back and sent back a picture of her and hero, as they appeared to be at a coffe shop down town. Mari was making a thinking face, and hero, across the table, was making the smuggest face you’d ever seen.

You laughed and got basils attention, showing him the pictures. He blushed at the picture of him, and didn’t say anything but kiss your head.

You finally got to the checkout, basil talking to the kind old lady behind the counter. She commented on some of the sprouts, prompting basil to perk up and discuss flowers with her. When the lady was done typing in her computer, she announced the price and you blinked in alarm, looking at basil, who was surprisingly calm as he pulled out his wallet.

When everything was payed for, you grabbed a lollipop from the counters jar and picked up your share of flowers, sucker in your mouth as you walked out of the nursery, the afternoon heat washing over you.

Basil unlocked the truck, and you placed the planets in the backseat. You were about to climb into the car when basil grabbed your hand and squeezed it, causing you to look at him.

“I’ll be right back, I have to grab one thing.” He said and jogged away, leaving you confused.

You leaned on the truck and waited for a couple minutes, before you saw your boyfriend jogging back to the car,

With a full blown tree in his arms.

You gasped and ran to help him carry it, to which he thanked you. You both shoved it into the bed of the truck, basil putting a tarp down before hand to catch the dirt.

“Where did you acquire this?” You finally asked when basil started to secure the tree down so it wouldn’t fly out into the street.

“Well i payed for it, i wanted to surprise you” he awkwardly smiled, tugging on the ropes to make sure they were steady. You giggled and pat the leaves, trying to identify what tree it was.

“It’s a lemon tree” Basil announced after he saw you looking, and you gasped happily in surprise.

“I’ve always wanted a lemon tree!” You giggled, jumping into the car while Basil slid into the drivers side.

“I know, i thought maybe..” He mumbled the last part, at you smiled, looking at him in question. He looked at you and cleared his throat, sitting up straight

“I thought maybe we could plant it together, as a couple” he smiled and you gave him a happy look, quickly leaning over the dash to kiss his cheek. He went completely red and smiled, starting the car bringing your journey and outing to a close.

“Ill take that as a yes”

——————————-<3

I hope you liked this and it wasn’t to out of character! Im working on a Connor x reader rn, but if you like this and want more omori gang x reader hit me up! I think I’ll write a Kel one soon, also set in a universe where Mari is a-okay.

Thanks for reading!

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1130 - Initial Thoughts

And we're back once again

Chapter came out at a time between the end of my work hours so I had to wait a bit longer but now I'm ready

we're out of the block land, but what lies on the other side? Let's find out

Spoilers for the chapter, support the official release too

Yamato's cover story involves theft, Yamato, Shinobu and Tama all caught lacking as Yasu's sword is stolen

We start with the post-Alabasta crewmates, who tell Dorry and Brogy to stop searching for Luffy

They have faith in the crew, and they have expended all their search options and their food, so the giants agree to continue to Elbaf

The Alabasta crew (sans Vivi ofc) escape the building to a massive castle snowscape

The castle is quite detached from everything, surrounded by woodland on a pedestal and a long rope bridge

Giants are coming across the bridge, so the crew hide, but it's actually some friendlies

Gerd and Goldberg from Hajrudin's crew have come down about intruders

Seems Road - now Rodo - is a bit of a black sheep among Hajrudin's crew, Gerd calling him a crackpot, seems Hajrudin only has him on the crew because of his navigation skill

Oh, Prince Loki is called the 'Shame of Elbaf'

Gerd's pet owl (How Athenian) is called Piper and it spotted Muginn carrying the Sunny

Oh and Elder Jarul is still alive, from Big Mom's flashback

Luffy spots the giants and sees them as friendly, but Nami stops him because they're looking for intruders

Sanji meanwhile is simping on Gerd, while Usopp is elated to confirm that we're in Elbaf

Nami's stoppage didn't snuff out all noise, but when the giants look they do the classic video game enemy ism of 'must've been the wind'

Giant Rope Bridge though means giant gaps between steps, which some of the crew aren't used to, with giant ravenous wolves below

Usopp assures this is just a trial of courage, as he hugs the edges for dear life

Meanwhile Luffy's just on the ropes looking badass

Zoro senses that Luffy's focused on something, and it seems Luffy has sensed something

Sanji quickly asserts not to go anywhere, also grabbing Zoro as to not run off

Luffy however had no such restraint, and thus dives down anyway

Back with the Post-Alabasta Crew and the news fallout from Egghead is happening

Dorry and Brogy have been pinned for destroying Egghead, and their bounties have gone up to 1.8 Billion each

As we assumed anyway, the 100 million bounty they had back at Little Garden was a product of inflation, confirmed by Robin here

Luffy's also blamed for killing Vegapunk, Franky's annoyed (I mean he is his idol) but Lilith teases him about it

Luffy's pic has the X in it though?

Also true how do they get these photos? Apoo wasn't there, does someone cave like a camera devil fruit like that My Hero Academia filler guy?

Ah Robin is also curious about the X

Detective Robin notes that Luffy's arm is blurry save for the X, like it's separate

OH! Did Vivi embellish it on the photo like a coded message? Wouldn't it be a shame if all the crewmates who'd recognize this symbol were elsewhere???

Dorry and Brogy ask about Luffy's standing, now that he's an emperor like Shanks, and Hajrudin works under him

Oooh Hajrudin lore, he's the son of the King of Elbaf!

Hajrudin wanted to pick up Luffy but Dorry and Brogy have seniority...and he probably would've fared worse

Prince Loki lore now, seems Loki is Hajrudin's brother

He allegedly 'devoted himself to darkness' and was a few years back - so post-Lola - sentenced to crucifixion

It took all the Warriors of Elbaf to capture him

Jinbe was on Big Mom's crew so he'd know it's Loki

Oh but there's more, the royal family passes down a legendary devil fruit, Prince Loki killed his own father - King Harold - in order to acquire it

Right, don't let Loki free gotcha

And here's Luffy, clearly not about to let Prince Loki free XD

Hell of a panel though, got Oars energy here

Prince Loki looks to have a cool design, but he's been chained to the World Tree and his eyes covered, he has the Doflamingo-ism of grinning wide and sticking his tongue out

Also Norse myth connection! Loki was chained to a rock until Ragnarok, the chains were technically the intestines of one of his sons and a venomous snake would drip poison over his head (his wife would shield it with a bowl, but when the bowl was filled there'd be a brief window of pain as she emptied it, which would cause earthquakes). Upon Ragnarok he will break from his chains, his son Fenrir will eat Odin, his son Jormungandr will kill Thor, and he will kill Heimdall, but like the World Serpent at the cost of his life

He asks Luffy's name and Luffy answers the way he does

He mulls about Luffy's declaration to be a king, but answers Luffy in kind about the setting

This is War Land, the kingdom of Elbaf: the Birthplace of War

We have our big Elbaf spread, and the castle they were in for context right near the bottom

It's a giant tree with 2 tiers, the middle tier seems to be the most bustling area; Giant cannons and swords are seen in the middle level, along with waterfalls and another grand castle to the left

Loki introduces himself as the Sun God who will bring about the end of the world

Oh a 2 week break? Oda must be skipping Halloween XD between this and the anime hiatus that's a shame, but 2 weeks is doable

Another strong chapter from Elbaf, which we can now confirm to be in.

Prince Loki's design is another winner, I am slightly concerned he may end up too much like Doflamingo (killed his dad, the happy tongue thing, being chained up a lot) but we'll see, Luffy's very clearly gonna open Pandora's box here it seems. There's also the curiosity of what his DF will be.

If he's Hajrudin's brother it seems we might be getting a little Shakespearean here, Hajrudin is waiting for Luffy so he has to play a role, but does it become a civil war? In a place called War Land that wouldn't be too surprising (I doubt though it's the birthplace of war, more that it's the birthplace of Elbaf, the Giants' God of War). Or maybe Oda goes another direction, is this truly our villain or perhaps Luffy's kindness towards him begets a redemption?

My Vivi theory has latched onto my brain too, but while I like how we divided things I do hope we don't just ignore the Post-Alabasta crew, just delay them a short while - there's still Lilith, Kuma and Bonney stuff to deal with there too.

But we'll just have to stew on it for the new two weeks, the more we get answers the more we get mystery.

[lyinginbedmon]

I know full well that I've got an uphill struggle when it comes to marketing Various Types, because it's 2024 and everyone already uses Origins and thinks it's the bee's knees (and to their credit, Origins is a good mod), so you'll forgive me for harking on about VT but I do earnestly believe that it is more than viable as a competitor of the aging popular mod.

All this was true as well back when what is now Various Types was part of Various Oddities (which itself enjoyed some considerable popularity whilst Origins didn't share space in the same modloader), but I'll try and break it down a bit to drive home why I think it's worth giving a look:

First, it doesn't work like Origins. In Origins, you choose (or are randomly selected) a "origin", of varying levels of "impact" usually between 0 and 3. Depending on server config, you might get another one after dying, but that's it. This means the range of gameplay is only as diverse as the datapack in use, because each player is locked into just one component.

Various Types, in stark contrast, actually presents the player with a full-blown character creation system. You choose a species, which is similar to an origin, and are then able to choose templates that modify it. Moreover, those templates can be stacked on top of each-other, in different orders and with different results. So whilst the range of gameplay is still limited by datapack, it is roughly combinatorially massive. The default species and templates that presently ship in the alpha, by itself, theoretically offer up to 286 builds (template conditions permitting). The server has a "power" setting that helps to constrain how drastically overpowered characters can be, but the variations possible without even breaking 5 power are staggering against the dozen or so origins that Origins ships with even today.

This ultimately means that players are always able to be at least a little different to one-another. Even if they share the same species as the foundation of their character, an Insectile player is quite distinct to an Aquatic one.

Even among the less-impactful templates, a Gravekin Orkin (essentially a still-intelligent zombified piglin) has some stark distinction from a Reptilian Orkin (roughly a lizardman). Though personally, I'd rather not get on the bad side of either one of them, especially if they just heard me call them piglins...

Secondly, and by absolutely no means least, the core component of the mod (the character sheet) has intentionally been constructed such that it is incredibly easy for others to expand beyond its current and original confines.

Want to build a magic mod and need to track what spells people have and how much mana? All you need to do is register a couple things to the right registries, and it'll work just fine. Want to build a class system on top of it and player an Othall Ranger or Muckie Druid? Same thing, same ease.

In essence, and with no shred of hyperbole, Various Types has the capacity to be the foundational element of any conceivable per-player customisation mod. Just as long as people give it a chance.

Thirdly, the laborious devotion to clean visual aesthetics. I'm not gonna give Origins much sheet for this one, it's very much a product of its age from when Minecraft didn't really support anything that wasn't a texture rendered on a repeating dirt background.

But Various Types really fits in with the more recent era of Minecraft UI. The character creator screen alone really deserves a look. Each species can be given a distinct background to complement its lore or function, such as the Crioch species being from the End and therefore having an End City as their background, versus the sunny green forest background used by the Overworld-native Linn species.

Every species, template, type, or ability can even be given custom lore text. All of them. The sheer volume of options for RP alone are staggering.

Oh, and did I mention that your avatar is visible in the creator screen? As well as the character sheet display screen?

Which doesn't sound like much on its face, you can see your skin in your inventory screen all the time after all. Except that's not actually a player being rendered in either screen.

It's a custom entity. With a custom model. That can play animations.

Every time you open that screen, your avatar will wave at you to say hi. Stick around on it long enough, and you'll even see them strike a pose right out of a fighting game or casually sit down for a moment.

You can even see what your build will look like in full on the character sheet screen before you finalise it.

And that screen is itself no slouch. It prioritises clean minimalism whilst still giving access to every detail of a given build.

Which is great, but especially so because Various Types has four favourite ability keys (which you can assign activated abilities to quickly and easily from the ability menu, from which you can also just click on any ability to activate it) and absolutely no limit on how many abilities you can have. Passive OR activated.

It's really more comparable to the UI screens of Minecraft Dungeons or Legends than anything on offer by any other mod in the same niche.

Seriously, go check this mod out. It's in alpha right now, but more or less the only thing missing from it is just more abilities, and I've got a list as long as my arm of those to implement.