#it's okay don't be afraid you can speak your truth here

[apple-spider-vinegar]

My controversial take that would get me murdered by the spidey Reddit crowd is that tobey is the weakest actor in the whole raimi trilogy 🫣 and I am saying this as a person who loves those movies

Bro, I'm a diehard Tobey Spider-Man defender and I don't even disagree with you. I maintain that he was good a casting choice and plays a good Spider-Man, but when the trilogy also features performances from Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, Willem Defoe and Rosemary Harris, he starts to look kinda weak in comparison.

To Tobey Maguire's credit, I have seen him in other things and at no point have I ever believed he wasn't giving 100% to a movie. It's just that his 100% seems a little wide-eyed and awkward no matter he does.

At this stage in my life, it has ceased to seem like weak acting to me and it's more like "Oh, this is just what Peter Parker is like in this universe, these are his mannerisms and vibes," but I do think you have a point.

Y'all remember when Tobey Maguire was in The Great Gatsby? I still think about that "You're nothing but a goddamn COWARD!" scene and go "Damn! Where was that heat in the rest of your performances??" I do think he can do a good rage scene, actually, but you can't use that too much, of course, or it stops being effective.

If you need someone to play a well-meaning dork who occasionally snaps (case in point, Spider-Man) then he's your guy, but he doesn't have a lot of range in my opinion.

[edenesth]

The Way to His Heart [9]

Pairing: general!Seonghwa x wife!reader

AU: arranged marriage au (Joseon era)

Word Count: 4.2k

Summary: Life has been hell ever since your mother's passing many years ago. Despite being from a prominent family, you've never received the privileges associated with it. It only got worse with the arrival of your stepmother and her daughters. When the intimidating General Park was in search of a wife, your father seized the opportunity to dispose of you, simultaneously securing a connection with the powerful general—killing two birds with one stone.

Part 8 | Fic Masterlist | Part 10

Standing in front of the door to your former prison, all your insecurities came rushing back. Suddenly, your newfound identity seemed to evaporate, leaving you feeling like nothing more than a shell of your past self.

"What's wrong, my dear? Why do you keep staring at this storeroom, hm? You know you can tell me anything." Seonghwa asked in a gentle voice, sensing that you were far from okay. He cupped your cheek tenderly, urging you to meet his gaze.

Jongho and Eunsook stood anxiously behind you, waiting for you to reveal the truth to the general. Only then could they finally bring your family to justice for their misdeeds. The weight of everyone's expectations rested on your shoulders.

Please, mistress, just say it, and we will handle the rest.

No matter how hard your husband tried to capture your attention, all you could see was beyond his shoulder, where your family glowered at you. All the determination you had to confront your family diminished, and you were reminded of your true self.

Just a worthless, insignificant piece.

You felt undeserving of Seonghwa's love, too ashamed to confess that this pitiful excuse for a room was where you had spent your entire caged childhood. Would he still want you as his wife if he discovered the truth?

"Come on, my dear. Talk to me, please." The general leaned in, attempting to dominate your field of vision. He didn't like how you kept glancing nervously back at your family as if still afraid of what they could do to you.

Your husband's heart shattered as he gazed once more into your vacant, hopeless eyes. It felt as if he could never truly connect with you. Once again, he found himself lost, unable to reach you. It became clear that your biggest obstacle wasn't trusting him; it was trusting yourself. Despite all his efforts, your insecurities persisted.

Bringing you back to this place seemed like a colossal mistake, undoing all the progress you had made. The words Hongjoong had spoken to you were now pushed to the recesses of your mind, overshadowed by your demons.

Seonghwa's stomach sank when you averted your gaze, blinking your wet eyes with a shake of your head, "Nothing, it's nothing. I... I'm sorry, I don't know why I kept looking here; it's just an old storeroom, as you can see." Your family collectively sighed in relief, narrowly avoiding exposure. For once, they felt slightly thankful to you for not ratting them out.

Of course, it couldn't have been this easy.

Despite the internal frustration, the general flashed a reassuring smile down at you. His plan had crumbled, and you didn't speak up as he had hoped. The head maid and assistant couldn't conceal their disappointment at the missed opportunity.

Casting a glance at his assistant to silently acknowledge the failure of the plan, he squeezed your trembling hand, "It's alright, nothing to be sorry about. Well, if that is all, perhaps we can begin discussing the wedding arrangements then."

Minister Jang immediately brightened, "Of course, let us get on with it. I'm sure we have much to discuss."

With a subtle shake of his head, Jongho signalled to the private investigator that the plan wasn't unfolding as expected. Noticing the exchanged glances, your father raised an eyebrow, "Wooyoung, do you and the general's assistant know each other?"

Both froze momentarily, cursing inwardly at their lack of caution. The fake servant beamed innocently at the minister, "Oh yes, master! I thought he looked familiar; turns out we were from the same village!"

The assistant nodded along quickly with a wide smile, "Yes, what a small world."

Fortunately, the fabricated story seemed convincing, and your father nodded without suspicion, "Huh, what are the odds? Just don't let me catch you slacking off. If you want to catch up, do it after work."

Wooyoung grinned quickly, "Yes, master!" before bowing deeply. Glancing at the general for approval, he was relieved to see Seonghwa nodding lightly, silently expressing 'good job'. His heart raced, still finding it surreal that he was looking at his role model up close and being acknowledged.

Resettling into the main hall, your husband couldn't hide his concern for you. He maintained a firm grip on your hand, a constant reminder of his presence and an attempt to provide comfort despite your lack of reaction to anything. Eunsook, noting your distress, made a point to stay close behind you, silently assuring you of her support.

"Alright then, where should we begin?" Minister Jang clapped his hands together, eager to get it all over with as soon as possible.

Seated opposite you, your three sisters were still seething, their attention fixed on the general's unwavering touch on you. Refusing to concede defeat, they were determined to fight for Seonghwa, unwilling to witness you marrying their dream man in a grand wedding ceremony. He was too good for you.

She doesn't deserve him.

Before the two men could delve into any details, Jinhee, tired of her sisters always being a step ahead, seized the opportunity to speak up, "General Park, I believe I would make a better wife than unnie ever could. I urge you to change your mind and consider choosing me."

Jinah and Jinjoo scowled, feeling a sense of betrayal as they hadn't anticipated the sudden spiritedness from their middle sister. She had always been the calmest among the three. It appeared that the allure of the general was potent enough to pit them against each other for the first time.

The minister smacked a hand on his face in disbelief, growing tired of his stepdaughter's obnoxious behaviour. Just as he opened his mouth to reprimand her, the other two chimed in loudly, "No, I'd make a better wife!" before glaring at each other.

Pressing a kiss onto your knuckles to rile them up, your husband stared at the girls with an amused grin, "Really? Do you think you'd make a better wife? Why don't you each tell me why you think so? I'll consider it."

It was apparent that the general was merely toying with them, but the three were oblivious and engaged in a heated debate among themselves, striving to convince Seonghwa that each of them would make the ideal wife for him.

Meanwhile, you silently accepted your fate, believing that your husband was present to entertain the idea of replacing you with one of your stepsisters. If that's what he desired, who were you to object? You considered yourself fortunate to have been sent to him, and now that he had seen your sisters, perhaps he sought someone better than your useless self.

The general burst into a fit of vicious laughter, singling out the middle sister who promptly straightened up, "You," he pointed, "it seems like you have the most convincing argument. I suppose that makes you the most suitable for me, doesn't it?"

Jinhee vigorously nodded, "Yes, my lord!"

With a sly smile, he continued, "Very well, I'll consider marrying you, but on one condition that your father must agree to," Her eyes widened in excitement while her sisters clenched their fists in frustration, dissatisfied with her being chosen, "Anything! Just name it, and you shall have it!"

"If Minister Jang agrees to retire from his position and let me take over, then I guess I'll think about it."

Your father heaved a deep sigh, frowning at the foolish girl in irritation, "That's enough, Jinhee. Are you even hearing yourself? None of that will ever happen. I'm sure the general is only joking around."

Her stubbornness prevailed as she continued to press, "Father, this is for my happiness! If you loved me, you would agree to that!"

Even her own mother, finally sober enough, shook her head disapprovingly, "Stop it, Jinhee. Do you know what it would mean for the rest of us if your father were to retire?"

Having enjoyed the comedic display, Seonghwa chuckled darkly, "Your father's right; I was only playing with you. After all, I couldn't possibly marry you, even if he had agreed to that condition."

"Why is that?!" She questioned, still determined to have him for herself. She hated the sight of him cradling your hand; it should be her beside him. She had gotten so close to having him earlier that she refused to let the opportunity slip away so quickly.

For some reason, the minister couldn't shake off the ominous feeling he was getting from your husband's smugness. Something wasn't right; this felt oddly like a trap.

In a mock-innocent voice, the general answered, "Isn't it simple? Because you're not even Minister Jang's legitimate daughter; you do realise you're merely his stepdaughter, right?"

Your father and stepmother's eyes immediately widened, knowing exactly where this was going. Before they could do anything to stop it, Jinhee yelled out, "But I am father's real daughter!"

Gotcha, bitch.

Jongho and Eunsook did their best to suppress the growing grins on their faces, relieved that at least their master's plan B seemed to have worked out. During the assistant's time away from the estate, working with Wooyoung, they had managed to confirm the general's suspicions about the three being Minister Jang's actual daughters.

This revelation itself was enough to bring him down, as the three were born when your mother was still alive. And if they were, in fact, his, that would mean he had been disloyal to his wife and had fathered bastard children outside. This was more than enough to tarnish his reputation for good.

Rising abruptly from his seat, the minister cleared his throat loudly, "General Park, please don't take her words seriously. Clearly, she only said that out of desperation. The girl is still young and doesn't know when to stop; do not mind her. Come, let us take our discussion somewhere else."

"Save it, minister. If she isn't your daughter, where would she have gotten the confidence to voice that out loud? Don't make me laugh." Seonghwa retorted coldly.

Finally, you lifted your head to stare at the old man upon hearing the revelation. Could it be true? You didn't know if it was supposed to make you feel any better, but you used to question why your father had treated you so badly when you were his only real daughter. Now, it would make more sense, at least.

Scoffing, Minister Jang clenched his fists, "I would advise you to be careful with your words, general. After all, it wouldn't be too wise of you to slander your father-in-law and superior so carelessly like that. What would His Majesty think of you being unfilial and disrespectful to me?"

If your father thought that threat could save him, he was wrong; it seemed he was only digging himself a deeper grave.

The general peered amusingly at him through his lashes, "You know, it's really funny you should say that. Would it still be considered slander if I had evidence to back up my claims? Oh, minister, you should not have brought the King into this. He was already so disappointed in you when he learned of the truth about you and your dirty deeds throughout the years."

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" The minister stammered, visibly trembling in his spot, and his family could only sit back with terror in their eyes, not knowing what your husband had uncovered.

"Minister Jang, did you really think the King had allowed me to come here just to make wedding arrangements with you? I'd rather burn in hell than have you host my wedding, especially after what you had done to my wife in all the years she had been under your care. I'm only here for your confession, under His Majesty's orders."

A series of gasps rang across the hall as your stepmother and stepsisters froze in their seats, the realisation finally hitting them that they had been under scrutiny this whole time. It became apparent since the minister's suspicious behaviour at the assembly.

Little did everyone know that Seonghwa's investigative work had been funded by the King himself the entire time. The two had shared a deep conversation after the assembly; what initially started off as idle chatter regarding the general's new wife transitioned into a serious discussion as your husband revealed what he discovered about the minister thanks to your arrival.

Your eyes widened at Seonghwa's words, wondering if he had known all along about what had happened to you. Feeling your gaze on him, he turned to face you with a soft smile, "I told you I'd protect you."

Feeling your heart flutter and eyes tearing up with tears of relief, you finally squeezed his hand back, "Thank you, Seonghwa."

Cutting your moment short, your father shook his head in denial, "You're lying. Nice try, General Park. I'm not falling for your trick. If you were telling the truth, why would His Majesty have bothered to send you here when he could have just arrested me?"

Turning back to face the old man, your husband smirked, "Now, where would all the fun be in that? Of course, I didn't expect you to admit everything to me so easily. It was fun watching all of you panic in front of the so-called storeroom earlier. I hope you enjoyed the temporary relief, courtesy of my lovely wife. Someone, bring the minister a chair before we start recounting all the interesting things he's done so far."

Jongho was more than happy to help, "Yes, sir!" He promptly moved a chair to the centre of the hall where the minister stood before returning to his position behind his master.

Your stepmother and stepsisters remained glued to their seats, hearts filled with dread. Jinhee regretted her every action immediately, not that it made much difference. They were already doomed from the moment they delivered you to him.

"Will you not sit, Minister Jang?" Seonghwa teased, and when the old man glared at him, he shrugged, unbothered, "Suit yourself. Let us begin then."

The general stretched a waiting hand in his assistant's direction and waited as the younger man fished a few documents out from his pockets, "Here you go, sir."

"Alright, let's see, where should we start?"

With a devilish grin, your husband flipped through the pages, addressing the minister, "So, were you denying that these three are your biological daughters? Not to worry, I have just the thing to prove it. See, we have their birth certificates and the fake ones you forged right here. You bribed your physician quite a bit for these, huh? Well, it seems the amount you paid was not nearly enough since he spilt everything to us so easily."

The minister's wife pointed a shaky finger at the papers in Seonghwa's hands, "Th-that's not possible. How did you get your hands on those documents?"

"Ah, so you admit these are yours?" The general raised a brow, "I get it; it's hard not to when the only copies to exist were found in your private quarters, hm? I'll have precious Wooyoung to thank for these. Come here, boy. You should be so proud of yourself."

"Thank you, my lord! I'll work harder!"

In front of the minister and his family, the mole finally unveiled himself. All five of them could only gape at the new employee who had recently joined the estate. They praised him for his work and even thought of him as a hard worker. Suddenly, it all made sense why he always seemed too eager to help around. He had been snooping around for the enemy all along.

Your father pointed accusingly at the fake staff member of his estate, "Y-you traitor—"

"How can he be a traitor when he was never on your side to begin with? Let's not change the subject, alright? Now, let us conclude the number of crimes you've committed here; first, you've cheated on your wife and had not only one but three illegitimate children outside of your home. I must say, minister, you're setting a horrible example for the married men in all of Joseon." Seonghwa shook his head in disapproval.

"Next, you've bribed your physician to silence him and then get him to further commit the crime of forging official documents for you. I guess this could have been understandable if it had been a silly little commoner not knowing any better, but my goodness, you are our nation's Minister of Military Affairs! What would the people think of us if they knew their leaders were this unethical?"

"And the worst of it all, you kept my wife caged in that pathetic excuse of a room all her life. You all had a hand in her suffering and abused her endlessly, all for your own entertainment. And what had she done that was so wrong to deserve any of that? Just because she was born from the wife you did not choose and love?" The general spat, feeling his heart ache and anger rise.

It was your turn to rub a thumb softly over his skin to remind him that you were fine now; you were loved and cared for, all because of him. He tightened his hold on your hand, vowing to get you justice.

"Can any of you even call yourselves human?" He growled, glaring at your family. Your stepsisters trembled, avoiding his death stare, feeling like complete idiots, especially after their stupid little innocent act earlier. Why did they even believe for a second that they could have fooled him?

With a deep breath, Seonghwa put on a sarcastic smile, "And with all of that, it should be enough for you to be stripped of your title and for your entire family to be demoted from a noble house to commoners."

The old man's knees went weak, and he ended up plopping into the chair Jongho had placed behind him. Clenching his fists, he shook his head again, "No, you can't do this to us. You can't do this to me. I've dedicated my life to this job and this country. I have contributed so much—"

Smirking, the general cut him off, "Why? Are you unsatisfied with this conclusion? I expected no less from you, you ungrateful bastard. Fine, I guess we'll have no choice but to dive deeper and talk about your most severe crime then."

There's... more?

Furrowing your brows, you wondered what other horrible things your father could have possibly done. Everything that your husband had already listed seemed like a lot to you.

Your stepmother gasped loudly, clutching onto her chest as she took in the general's wicked grin, "He knows..."

Jinah frowned, grabbing her mother's arm in confusion, "What is it? What does he know? What else has father done?" The other two sisters stared at their parents, who looked scared for their lives.

"Yes, I do know, Lady Jang. Did you really think the two of you could keep your dirty little secret hidden forever? As if adultery and illegal document forgery weren't bad enough, you were both audacious enough to commit murder against an innocent person."

Minister Jang and his wife shared a horrified glance, realising that the veil of secrecy they had meticulously woven was now unravelling before them. The colour drained from their faces, and beads of sweat formed on their foreheads.

The mistress of the Jang estate stammered in fear, "N-no, that's not true! You're making baseless accusations, General Park. We haven't committed any murder!"

The general remained unfazed, a cold stare fixed upon them, "Really? You haven't? Then tell me, why do the two of you seem so afraid? You weren't trembling with fear when you poisoned the first Lady Jang to death, and you certainly weren't afraid when you robbed my wife of her mother."

Staring at your father and stepmother in horror, a wave of disbelief crashed over you. The revelation hit like a tidal wave, leaving you stunned and paralysed. The people you thought were simply cruel for torturing you all your life had now revealed a more sinister truth – they were the reason you never knew your own mother.

The shock and betrayal etched across your face, your eyes locked onto theirs as the weight of their sins settled in. It wasn't just about the abuse and mistreatment; they had orchestrated a tragedy that deprived you of the one person who could have brought warmth and love into your life.

"And what evidence do you have to prove that?" The minister finally mustered the courage to challenge the accusations, still putting up a fight. His three daughters, nearly as shocked as you were by the revelation, couldn't fathom that their parents might have actually taken someone's life.

Seonghwa remained unyielding, maintaining his cold gaze, "Not to worry, I have it all right here." He gestured to the documents Wooyoung held, revealing a series of letters exchanged between the couple all those years ago detailing the best way to end someone's life and make it look like a natural death, as though they had succumbed to an ordinary illness.

"Isn't it an uncanny coincidence that the physician confessed to the first Lady Jang dying from mandrake poisoning, and simultaneously, there is an abundance of mandrake planted in your garden? Alongside these incriminating letters, everything aligns seamlessly. There's nothing you can say to undermine this evidence, minister. Would you care to explain your actions now?"

Minister Jang's face contorted with defiance and anger. He took a deep breath before finally admitting, "Fine, it's true. I did it; I killed that woman. But you have to understand; the first Lady Jang ruined my life. I never wanted to marry her in the first place. It was a political arrangement forced upon me to please her influential family. They held more power than I did at the time."

His eyes darted around, gauging the reactions of those present, especially his daughters, "I clawed my way up, working tirelessly to reach my position as Minister of Military Affairs. I didn't need her family anymore. So, I did her a favour – I ended her unhappy marriage and made room for the person I truly loved."

He looked at his current wife with a twisted sense of affection, completely ignoring the horrified expressions around him, "I had to make a choice for my own happiness. No one understands the sacrifices I've made for this family and for the sake of my love. It was the only way."

"If you hated my mother so much, why did you bother having me then?" You finally croaked, voice breaking as you choked back tears. Seonghwa pulled you close to him, never wanting you to go through any more pain alone.

Your father let out a scoff of displeasure, "I never wanted you. You were just another duty to please your mother's family. When she died, I refused to let any of them near you out of spite. You were a constant reminder of her, a spitting image that angered me every time I looked at you. That's why I hated you so much."

His admission hung heavily in the air, each word cutting through the silence like a knife. Your eyes, filled with sorrow, met his cold, callous gaze. Your husband tightened his hold on you, offering silent comfort as the painful truth unravelled.

"And there we have it, the confession His Majesty wanted. Royal Secretary Choi, did you manage to get all of that?" The general called out with a smirk.

To the minister's horror, the King's closest and most trusted aide emerged from the entrance, flanked by a team of royal guards, "I sure did, General Park. You've done well; we'll take it from here. His Majesty shall decide the Jang family's final sentencing."

« Preview of Part 10 »

As Eunsook followed her master's orders to assist you out of the hall and to the waiting carriage at once, your husband stayed behind to express gratitude to the dedicated private investigator.

"You've worked hard, Wooyoung. I assure you we will compensate you for your excellent performance. You didn't have to help us this far, but you did, and I appreciate it."

The younger man enthusiastically bowed, "It's my pleasure, sir! I'm a huge fan of yours; I think people don't appreciate you enough for defending our country! Those who think you are heartless are clearly mistaken. If only they'd seen you today. You are a wonderful husband, my lord. It's reassuring to know Lady Park has you."

Clearing his throat, the general looked away and fought the faint blush dusting his cheeks, "I'm glad you think so. I can only hope she thinks the same."

Wooyoung grinned, "I'm sure she does, my lord. I've seen how Lady Park looks at you; I can tell you mean a lot to her too," Seeing Jongho approaching to escort his master out, the informant bowed one final time, "It was an honour working for you, sir. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you ever need my services again!"

Seonghwa nodded appreciatively, "I'll keep that in mind."

Just as he turned to leave, the royal secretary came up to him, "Before you go, General Park, His Majesty wishes to meet you and Lady Park soon to discuss your actual wedding arrangements."

Nodding lightly, the general replied, "Got it, I'll see you then."

"Oh, and one last thing; I know you've both been through a lot, but the worst is over. I wish you and your wife happiness."

"Thank you, San."

Y'all I'm not even gonna lie, this part literally gave me a whole ass headache LMFAO I hope this felt satisfying enough! Of course, we still don't know what consequences the evil family are about to suffer muahaha😈

Also, the second mood board depicting the general's estate is out! Go take a look if you haven't already!

As always, thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts! <3

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[i-tosca-i]

He'll Find You (John Wick x Female Reader)

He's everywhere, he's been hunting you down and you're afraid, so afraid like never before.

It's clear that he means you no harm and you can tell that he's hurt by your reaction. He doesn't want to harm you in any way.

John Wick is a strong mature man, but he could be a soft puppy at the same time, something you had noticed when he lets his guard down. You had met him a couple of times before.

You don't like where this is going, the feeling of being chased. One day you finally run for the hills, or at least you try to. For some reason he found.

"Why are you running, are you okay?" He would ask you, a look of concern etched on his beautiful face. You're always open and honest but you can't help but feel terrified as you tell him the truth.

"No... Someone is following me, and they're going to hurt me".

John's eyes widen just a little before he speaks, "who? Who is going to hurt-", it took him a moment for him to realise that you were referring to him.

"Oh... (Y/N), I would never hurt you, please understand".

But you shake your head and run, ignoring his shouts. You keep your head down and run for your life until you're able to lose him in a crowd. You're lucky that he's unable to do anything because the both of you were in plain sight of the public.

You finally hied away for a month in a little home not far from the town. When you look outside you see that it's raining and you smile, you loved the rain. You smile disappears as you remember why you're here... You weren't safe, and you wondered what John was doing and why hadn't he found you yet.

It was like he was summoned out of nowhere, further in the night you hear your front door unlock and you know who it is. If someone was forcing their way in, you knew, so you quickly went out the back way ignoring the rain and ignoring the fact that you're still in you silk night dress but barefoot. You run through the rain and try to head to the town.

You began to slow down, tripping over a thick tree root, but you're up in seconds. The rain dies down a little, just enough so that you could hear your name being called out and you turn around to see John approaching you slowly. You heart is pounding when you notice the gun in his right hand and the sheer determination in his gaze. He had found you. Finally.

"Please don't run from me", he yells out to you, his voice firm but also pleading. He was pleading for you to not run away from him.

"What do you want!?" You snap at him and he finally stopped in his tracks, he was at least a metre away from you.

"You", he says loud enough.

You go to run but freeze completely when he brings up the gun and points it straight at you. He's not going to hurt me? Right?

You hear him speak again, "I don't want to have to hurt you (Y/N), so please, don't run, you're mine, do you understand?" Those words dug into you and you don't know whether to be scared of turned on.

"What do you want to do with me?" You speak firmly and you see John smile slightly, "I want to take charge, make you feel loved like you've never been loved before", he's lowered his gun now and slowly approaches you, his eyes never leaving yours.

"I want to pin you down and make love to you, but I want you to fight me at the same time, I want you to beg me to stop but also want me to keep going"

He's now right in front of you, he towers over you. The rain is slightly blocked by him. It's still dark but you can't see him perfectly.

"I'm not going to stop hunting you (Y/N), you must know that", he reaches out with his left hand and strokes your cheek, his hand is cold.

This is it... You can't go anywhere, you can move around as much as you can, but he will find you.

"You disappeared for some time... Where were you?" You asked out of curiosity and John smiled down at you, "believe it or not, I lost you so it took me some time to track you down", you couldn't believe what you were hearing... You almost had him.

But here he was. And he wasn't going to let you get away.

He then turns back to your little home, "let's get back to yours before we both catch a cold", he holds out his free hand, his eyes are set on yours and that's when you know that you have no choice. He's going to take you back and punish you for running away.

"Okay", you say as you take his hand.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

The Truth of the Matter

A four part miniseries

@wonderland-girl143-blog @gregre369 @420-hun

Part One

Part Two

Robin poured over the book that Eddie had bought at the Flea Market. She was reading it rather intensely. She looked up at Eddie.

"You said you bought this at a Flea Market?" Robin asked.

"Actually, it was free. There was this woman selling only this. I thought it was strange, especially when she wouldn't sell it until I came up. She said, "This is for you," and gave it to me," Eddie said. "I tried going back the next weekend, but she was gone, and no one ever heard of her."

"That is. . .odd," Dustin said.

"Well, everything else is in English, but the spells are in Latin," Robin said.

"No, they were all in English. I read English," Eddie said.

"Uh, Eddie, you weren't speaking in English when you said the spell," Lucas said.

"I wasn't?" He asked.

"No," Dustin, Mike, and Lucas said.

"Why are you still glaring at me, Michael?" Robin asked. "I almost punched you, but I didn't. . . Anyway, it says here that only people with Wiccan blood can automatically translate the spells in their head and perform them."

"Wait, does this mean that I'm a witch?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah."

"Holy shit! This is the COOOLEST!" Eddie yelled.

"Hey, maybe you can use your powers to help Steve find his parents," Dustin said.

"Oh, shit, that's right. . .Harrington was kidnapped," Eddie winced and whirled around. "Sorry, man."

Steve had plopped down on Eddie's throne and leaned back against it as he crossed his legs. He was staring straight ahead, looking at nothing. Eddie tried to ignore how good he looked in that chair and also the fact that he wanted to untangle his legs to sit down in his lap. His face looked troubled, so Eddie easily pushed those thoughts away.

"You okay, man?" Eddie asked.

"Steve?" Robin asked.

"Shit! Robin, who's at the store?!" Steve asked, sitting up.

"I closed the store and hitched a ride with a customer. Keith is going to be pissed but I thought you were being murdered," Robin said. "Anyway, more important things to focus on here, babe. Are you okay?"

"Well, my parents aren't my parents, which I kind of always thought, but I didn't think they kidnapped me. Do you think they might have killed my real parents?" Steve asked.

"I don't know, but we're going to fucking find out because you look like a goddamn kicked puppy and the way you're inflating your eyes like that is killing me," Eddie said as he ripped the book out of Robin's hands.

"We're just going to ignore a lot of the secrets that Steve spilled, right?" Dustin asked.

"Even the sex dream about - " Lucas started to say.

"Yes, because that's my fucking sister and Will's brother!" Mike exclaimed.

"Ah, the sex dream. Did you mention the clown sitting in the corner watching while it made balloon animals?" Robin asked.

"No!" Steve scowled. "Fucking clowns."

"Did you really touch Steve’s dick?" Dustin asked Robin.

"Yes, and my lesbianism is still very much intact," Robin said. "Thank God."

"I thought we weren't going to talk about this!" Mike yelled.

"Mike's such a prude. He's afraid to talk about sex even though we're all sentient walking water bags made of sex and flesh," Dustin said.

"Okay. Now, you just made me uncomfortable. Never describe it like that again," Eddie said.

Dustin gave him a toothy grin, and he smiled softly before looking back at the book.

"What are we going to do if my parents are like dead or on the other side of the world?" Steve asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Steve," Dustin said.

"You want to know, don't you?" Robin asked.

"Yeah. . .yeah, I guess," Steve said softly. "I guess it's the feeling that I don't know what to expect here that's overwhelming me. I'm trying not to get my hopes up for really good parents."

"That makes sense," Robin said softly. "I'm sure it'll work out."

"I can't believe Eddie's allowing you to sit in his chair," Mike said. "No one sits there except for him."

"It's cause he's pretty," Eddie said without looking up, and Steve giggled. "Hey, I found it! Steve, get your gorgeous ass in the circle and take off your shirt. Oh, you also need a blank piece of paper."

"Does it really need me to take off my shirt?" Steve asked.

"Yes it does," Eddie said seriously.

Dustin looked over his shoulder, frowned, and opened his mouth to say something. Eddie quickly put his arm around him and pulled his face to his chest, cooing at him. Steve looked doubtfully at him for a moment before getting up off the chair and pulling off his shirt. Dustin shoved Eddie away, scowling at him. Eddie grinned at Steve as he moved back into the circle with a sheet of paper. Eddie relit the candles and got the others to stand around Steve.

"Am I good?" Steve asked.

"Hold on, you need to be a little bit more even," Eddie frowned.

He placed his hands on Steve’s hips and moved him slightly.

"I think you're just finding any excuse to touch me," Steve smirked.

"Who? Me?" Eddie asked innocently.

"If I look in the book, it's not going to say I need to be shirtless, is it?" He asked.

Eddie smirked and moved his hands to Steve’s stomach. He dragged his fingertips up, moving softly over his skin. Steve shuddered. He rested his hands on his pecs for a moment before moving them to his shoulders.

"On your knees, big boy," Eddie said as he pushed him to his knees.

"I just want to remind you that there are children in the room, and one of them is me!" Robin yelled and Eddie jumped.

"What were we doing?" He asked as he blinked a lot.

"Oh my God! Finding Steve’s parents!" Dustin shrieked. "Have your way with our babysitter later!"

"You act like it's my fault!" Eddie exclaimed. "Tell Steve to stop being so pretty!"

"Steve! Stop it!"

"I can't help it! It just naturally happens," Steve smirked.

"Well, since you're not human, I guess you could say it's SUPERnatural," Robin said.

Robin and Steve giggled before high fiving each other. Dustin sighed.

"Steve, do you want to find your parents or not?" Dustin asked.

"Not if you're going to have that attitude," Steve scowled.

"It's his tone, right?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, let's get this done before our kid has a conniption," Steve said.

"He's really eager to meet his grandparents," Eddie cackled.

"Oh, now, you're in on the joke?" Dustin asked as Mike and Lucas laughed.

"Yeah," Steve and Eddie said.

Eddie opened the book and began to chant. The lights flickered, and the flames from the candles shot up in the air. Wind whipped around the room as Eddie continued to say the spell. Steve twitched and then shook before falling backward. He started shrieking in pain as the paper fell from his hands.

"Eddie! Stop! Stop! STOP! SOMETHING'S WRONG!" Lucas yelled.

Eddie stopped the chant, and as soon as he did, Steve stopped screaming.

"My back, my back. . .something's on my back," Steve said.

Eddie shut the book and rushed so quickly to get to him that he ended up sliding across the floor on his knees. He turned Steve over to find a painful looking rune flaring up in the middle of his back.

"What the fuck is that?" Mike asked.

Eddie opened the book and began flipping through the pages, cursing as he did so. Meanwhile, he had Steve’s head in his lap, blinking up at him.

"Okay, it says here that it's some sort of rune of protection. . . Against fae. . .you know, fairies. . .a witch placed it on you," Eddie said. "Well, that's fucked. . . No wonder your parents couldn't find you. . .well, let's see if we can't get this fucker off of you. . . Shit, I hope I can do this. . .it says I need to be related to the witch who placed the rune on you."

Eddie took one hand off the book and began stroking Steve’s hair. He muttered something, and the page turned. He did that quite a few times as he read.

"Eddie, what did you say to the book?" Mike asked.

"Oh, I said,"Turn the page." I guess I was speaking in Latin again," Eddie said.

"That's so cool," Dustin muttered.

"Okay. . .getting this rune off is going to hurt a lot. . .do you want to do this?" Eddie asked Steve.

"I'm used to a little pain. Bring it," Steve said.

"Okay, sit up," Eddie said and pulled a knife out of his pocket.

Steve sat up, putting himself on his knees again. Eddie sat behind him and muttered something else. The spellbook floated in front of him, and he opened the knife. Eddie sighed and hesitated before placing a kiss on Steve’s shoulders blade.

"Is that part of the spell?" Steve asked.

"No, it's just going to fucking hurt a lot. It's basically me cutting it out. . .so, yeah. . .sorry, so, so, so sorry," Eddie said.

He muttered another spell as he looked at the book and held the knife over a flame, letting it get hot. He chanted for a moment, and the flames flared up around the blade. Eddie hovered the blade above the rune and started to say the spell as he moved the knife as though he was actually cutting it off. Steve let out an inhuman shriek, his yells bouncing off the walls. The wind picked up, the flames grew higher, and the lights above them exploded as Eddie continued to chant. Tears rolled down Steve’s cheek as he threw his head back. Finally, Eddie stopped, and Steve collapsed in relief.

"Shit, that did hurt," Steve said, and he paused when he didn't get a response. "Eddie?"

Steve turned around and found Eddie still sitting on his knees. Blood was pouring out of his nose. He swayed and fell backward. Steve moved over to him and cradled him in his arms.

"Eddie?" He asked.

"There was a suggestion in the book to not overdo it. I was just like. . .fuck it, I can do it. I'm fine, I'm fine. . .I just need someone's lips on mine," Eddie said and closed his eyes, puckering his lips.

"Alright, I'll just go find Principal Higgins, shall I?" Dustin asked, peering over Steve’s shoulder.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Eddie sat up quickly. "Oh, too fast! Sleepy. . ."

He pressed his cheek against Steve’s chest and closed his eyes again. His snores filled the room.

"I guess we'll take him back to my place," Steve said and picked him up.

Robin pulled out a tissue and wiped Eddie's nose.

"Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Your tits are still out, you slut."

"Right. Thanks, Robin."

When Eddie woke up, he found himself in a very ugly room. Plaid walls, plaid curtains, plaid sheets. . .Eddie screamed. He screamed louder at the single car poster hanging on the wall. . .it was all so sad. Steve burst into the room, wielding a bat with nails.

"Steve, where the hell am I?" Eddie asked.

"My house and my room," Steve said.

"Oh my God, this is your room? This is hell, Steve," Eddie said in horror.

"Well, my parents like everything neat," Steve said.

"You mean, your kidnappers," Eddie corrected.

"Right," Steve frowned. "Come on, let's get something in you."

"Hell yeah!" Eddie exclaimed and started unbuttoning his pants.

"What are you doing? I was talking about food. There's pizza downstairs," Steve said.

"Yeah, that's what I was talking about," Eddie said quickly. "I was just unbuttoning them to make room for the pizza."

"Right," Steve smirked. "As much as I would love to do that with you, some secrets should remain secret. I do not want the kids to know that I'm a screamer. Let's go, sweet cheeks."

Steve slapped his ass and Eddie cursed.

"I hate you!"

"No, you don't!"

Dustin immediately threw his arms around Eddie the minute he walked into the kitchen. Steve smiled softly at the sight of them and ruffled his hair.

"You scared the shit out of us, man," Dustin said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just needed some rest," Eddie grinned. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. Are you going to do the location spell again?" Mike asked.

"He just woke up, Mike. Let's get some food in him first," Steve sighed.

"After I eat," Eddie said, snapping his fingers at him.

Sitting down to eat, Eddie spent the majority of the meal laughing with the kids and playing with what he thought was Steve’s leg under the table. It had been Robin's.

"You could have told me!" Eddie hissed.

"Then it wouldn't have been funny," Robin replied.

They gathered in the living room and pushed the furniture out of the way to create the circle. Eddie knelt in front of Steve this time, the book floating beside them, and the piece of paper on the floor.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Steve said.

"I kind of do. . .I judged you harshly before. . .because you're a jock and because of the assholes who's bothered us in the past. I used to think that since you had a big house and a fancy car that you had it easy. I used to mock you mercilessly in Hellfire, and that wasn't right of me to do that," Eddie said. "Not all jocks are bad."

"Well, no one is perfect," Steve said. "This is a lot even for all of that. Thank you, you're a good man."

"I mean, so are you," Eddie said, blushing. "I'm still an asshole though."

"Yeah, that's true," Steve said with a grin.

Steve cupped the back of his neck and pulled him for a kiss. It was short and sweet. When Steve pulled away, Eddie let out a soft giggle.

"I am loving this," Dustin grinned and then frowned. "But also, gross."

"Yeah, kids never like it when their parents kiss," Robin said, and Dustin sighed loudly.

Grinning, Eddie performed the spells without any problems. Words appeared on the paper. One of them was an address in Indianapolis, and one of them was a plot number for the cemetery in Hawkins.

"Well, shit, I guess one of my parents is dead," Steve frowned.

"Sorry, Steve," Dustin said quietly.

"We don't have to do it tonight, but we can check out the cemetery whenever you want to," Robin said.

"I'm curious now, and at least, I'll get one answer tonight," Steve said. "Although, going at night seems like a bad idea."

"Don't be a chicken shit, Steve, let's do it," Dustin grinned.

So, now, here they were. . .at night. . .in a fucking graveyard. They had flashlights, and Steve made sure to bring his trusty bat. Meanwhile, Robin made sure to bring a thermos full of hot cocoa that she was currently sharing with the boys in front of them. Eddie was walking beside Steve, swinging his arms and letting his hand brush up against Steve’s.

"So, was that kiss just a one-time thing, or are you planning on doing it again?" Eddie asked.

"I definitely want to do it again. . . Would that be okay?" Steve asked.

"Definitely," Eddie grinned and then paused. "You said back in the drama room that you'd always be in love with Nancy Wheeler."

"Well, yeah, a part of me, anyways. There's just so much history there, and she's just so. . . Nancy. She's beautiful, and she cares so much about people. She's willing to put it all on the line for her friends and for her family. She's the bravest person that I have ever met. I don't regret falling in love with her. . . But I regret that I didn't get to know her best friend and I wish I could have been there for her when she needed me the most. I know what happened to Barb wasn't our fault, but I still can't help feeling guilty. I think there's always going to be that connection between us," Steve said.

"I know that Barb died, and she was Wheeler's best friend, but isn't it that Brenner's guys fault? The one Dustin told me about?" Eddie asked. "Why would you feel guilty?"

"Well, it was the first time that Nancy and I had sex together. While that was going on in my house, Barb was being dragged into the Upside Down and . . . Well, you know. . ." Steve said.

"Holy fucking shit. . .yeah, I could see how that could mess you both up," Eddie said.

"Yeah. . .it's pathetic, I know. . ." Steve said.

"No, man, it's not. You're not pining after her, you love her, and you accept the fact that you're not going to be together. I can see why either of you would want to hold onto the good parts of your relationship. You all have been through so much shit and if you guys can come through it all while still having love in your hearts. . . It's amazing," Eddie said.

"Yeah," Steve smiled and paused. "Have you ever been in love?"

"I've come close. I think at the time, we both had stars in our eyes, and all we saw when we looked at each other were plane tickets out of town. In the end, I couldn't leave town, but she could have, and after everything she did for me, I couldn't go with her. I wish I had done it better, but yeah, I pushed her away so she wouldn't come back," Eddie said.

"Damn, you white fanged her?" Steve asked.

"I mean, I guess you could call it that," Eddie said. "You know White Fang?"

"Yeah, it's not my favorite," he said and paused. "I wish things had gone better with. . ."

"Paige," Eddie said.

"Paige," Steve said.

"I wish things had gone better with Nancy," Eddie replied.

"Yeah," he said softly.

"You like women, too?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "It took me a while to realize that I liked men at all or that I was even flirting with them. According to my best friend, Ronnie, it's not exactly very straight of me to go on rants about jocks' sweaty muscles."

"Was I in one of those rants?" Steve asked as he stopped and turned to Eddie.

He pulled Eddie into his arms, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"You were very prominent," Eddie said bashfully.

"Maybe you didn't hate me at all," Steve said, his eyes twinkling. "Maybe you just had a type."

Eddie kissed him, and Steve smiled against his lips. Eddie wrapped his arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss, moaning into his mouth.

"REALLY ROMANTIC, STEVE, MAKING OUT IN A GRAVEYARD!" Dustin yelled. "YOU'RE KISSING OVER DEAD PEOPLE!"

Eddie growled as he broke the kiss and Steve bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"NO ONE IS SUPPOSE TO KNOW WE'RE HERE BUT IF YOU KEEP YELLING LIKE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO. . .BUTTHEAD!" Eddie yelled back at him.

"FOUND IT!" Lucas yelled.

"I don't think they understand the word subtle," Steve sighed. "Although, neither do you, so they're definitely yours."

"Were there doubts?" Eddie asked with a dramatic gasp.

Steve smiled softly at him, grabbed his hand, and laced their fingers together before pulling him in the direction of the kids. When they got to them, Robin and the kids were whispering together.

"There's no fucking way!" Mike exclaimed. "He never had kids!"

"That you know of. I imagine that it was probably painful to talk about your son getting kidnapped and being unable to find him in your own hometown," Dustin said.

"What? What is it?" Steve asked.

"Are we even sure it's the right plot?" Mike asked.

"Yes!" Dustin and Lucas exclaimed.

Steve moved towards the gravestone and shined his flashlight on it.

BOB NEWBY

SUPERHERO

Part Three

[ancha-aus]

RealAgeAU Drabble - Customers

I am back! And we are still with Ccino :D @spotaus drabble required tag <3

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No edit or beta as always. we are here for a fun time!

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Ccino snaps out of his staring as someone else stands before him impatiently. Ccino pulls up his best customer service smile and gets to work.

The line is long but it is for the better.

Keeps his mind off the damning newspaper that got delivered to him.

He makes his way throught the line easily enough though. Even if it is busier than usual. And with cross universe customers too. Which sucks for different reasons.

an Alphys and undyne walk up to the counter to return their things. Ccino takes it with a nod and a good day wish as he goes to wash them.

The Undyne speaks "hey... so... I know people have been... rude to you about the whole... letting the gang stay and stuff?"

Ccino rolls his eye lights as he cleans the glass "That are just rumours. I just said that we can't speak for reasons who gods that we don't understand."

Undyne huffs but ALphys mutters "Sorry... the news that Dream had been wrong was... shocking and well... people need time to process it adn stuff..."

Ccino puts the things away and crosses his arms "Anything else i can get you?"

Undyne glares "What the hell man? We are trying to apologise."

Ccino sighs "your apology misses the words 'I am sorry.'." and he stares at them.

Undyne glares but ALphys stops her before speaking again "We are sorry... YOu were right... most of us never understood what the gods did and why and assumed a lot... I am sorry... I am also sorry that the only way people were more open to it was... well..." she eyes hte newspaper before shooting him a smile "must be rough... never being able to at least tell him that you didn't judge him."

Ccino's grip tightens on the cup. Don't react.

the two fianlly take the clue to leave and do as much.

Ccino lets out a sigh in relieve and his sight finds the newspaper again. THe headline is clear as day.

NIGHTMARE PRONOUNCED DEAD.

Ccino glares at it before turning it over. Maybe he can use it to light the fire place later or something.

There is no way he is dead. Those idiots just gave up searching or looking out for him. Ccino can know. he actually read the whole piece instead of just the headline and figured out that they never found any clues that could prove he had died. They are just assuming he died because they hadn't seen any hints of him living anywhere.

Ccino knows this to not be truth. Mostly because Dream would at least tell him that Ngihtmare had died. they have an understanding after the last time they met.

Ccino huffs and looks at one of the cats "You would think they would learn a thing or two about assuming things." the cat just nuzzles his hand.

"Yeah people tend to keep assuming stuff."

Ccino jumps and turns around quickly. He hadn't heard the doorbell ring.

Before him stands another him. Blue hoody. pink slippers. black shorts. white eye lights. pretty much a blank slate of how most of them start.

Okay no that was rude. That is a bad way to think about it. Ccino met Classic. he is a great and helps sneak him quite a few supplies.

Ccino smiles brightly "Didn't hear you come in! sorry for that. what can i get you?"

the other, Ccino will just think of him as Sans for now, looks at the menu and hums before looking bakc at him "I don't want something off the menu."

Ccino raises a brow and keeps grinning "The adoption process can be started at any moment. mister....?"

Sans grins wider and tilts his skull "the skeleton. obviously."

Ccino can't help but snort "Why is that joke always funny?"

Sans looks rather smug "because it is. and here i was afraid customer service killed your humour."

Ccino sighs "oh trust me. it is tryin and testing me daily." he pets one of the cats that has gotten near "the cats make it worth it though."

Sans nods and leans on his fist "can't help but notice the little notice on your bullet board. the one about dream having messed up? What is the deal with that?"

Ccino frowns but figures out what this guy wants. curious dude it seemed who just wanted to learn stuff. Ccino shrugs "figured it would be good to keep the notice up for others."

Sans raises a brow "That is all?" He sounds... disappointed... maybe.

Ccino can't help but be a bit unnerved. this guy is really hard to read for some reason and he can't quite figure out why.

Ccino shrugs "I mean. It is also nice to see mister perfect mess up for once." ccino doesn't even fully mean it anymore. After Dream and him sat together and spoke?

ccino has more sympathy for him.

But Dream is also the reason Ccino isn't seeing Ngihtmare anymore and that shit still hurts and he is just worried about the other.

He really needs to get somekind of help because he is feeling protective over a god. that can't be healthy.

Sans chuckles and nods "Wiht that i can agree. Still weird that people would just think tiping the balance that badly would end well." he snorts and leans on his fist.

Ccino relaxes a bit and nods "exactly! Like. Sure i don't like being sad more than any other person and it sucks if bad things happen to you. but sometimes stuff jsut doens't go well and sometimes bad things happen! And i would honestly much prefer the ability to get pissed or sad about it over just the whole 'oh well! It could be worse!' attitude the whole time." it just sounds exhausting.

Ccino sighs and rubs his cheek "sorry for that." a glance.

Sans however doesn't seem bothered. those eye lights seem more intent for a moment and ccino feels himself freeze.

like a prey in the sight of a very very dangerous predator.

than the moment breaks and sans grins.

It is weird. he never actually did anything different with his eyes or anything. it was just the air around them. charged with danger. it is hard to explain.

Sans leans back "well it is nice to have some people agree with my unpopular opinion." he shrugs before poking the face down newspaper "what about the big news?"

Ccino huffs "i call bull. there is no way he is gone." he doesn't want to believe it. and unless he sees the dust of him himself or saw a video of him dying and actual solid proof Ccino will keep denying it.

Sans tilts his skull "you sound very secure. met him before?"

ccino almost answers honestly but pulls hismelf back. this is a stranger. and if anyone else knew that nightmare visits this place? No that is too much of a risk. Ccino wants this place to stay fully neutral and give his friend the ability to return here if he needs it.

Ccino shrugs "nope. never met him." ccino had gotten pretty good at lying.

sans just stares at him.

ccino just stares back. don't continue speaking. showing nerves can be a sign he is lying, which he very mcuh is, and he is trying to not get caught.

sans sighs "shame. i bet he would have liked the support."

ccino frowns and stares at sans "why do you say that? he had his whole gang right?"

sans looks a bit smugger and shrugs "still. he worked with those right? Must have sucked to be trying to fix soemthing for the good of the whole multiverse and yet have everyone curse you out and want you gone."

Ccino frowns and rubs his arm "yeah..." he imagined that before. there is a very good reason he was always excited to have nightmare visit. to have him take a seat and just drink and eat as the cats grew brave enough to attack the tendrils.

eventually nightmare would bring a book with him to read. and the few times ccino caught him having fallen asleep in the reading chair with multiple cats all over him.

yeah...

ccino has no doubt it was terrible for him.

sans nods and ccino shoots out of his thinking. fuck what could the other have seen on his face.

Sans stretches "anyway. i should head home. nice to meet you ccino." he waves and walks towards the door.

Ccino watches the other exit. he pulls up a hood and takes a sideways step through a portal that just opens for him.

weird.

Ccino frowns as he suddenly realises he never introduced himself. both himself and his guest. yet his guest did know his name.

Maybe he heard it from others or-

Ccino looks down as his hand suddenly touches somethign. a letter and a bunch of gold coins.

Ccino counts out the coins first and notices it is enough to cover a coffee and little pastry. yet the other never ordered anything?

next he grabs the letter. it is closed with a little seal with a crescent moon on it. He opens the letter and freezes.

Hello. there is someone who would like to talk to you and we think you would also like to talk to him. If you are open to speaking with him. Make sure your shop is closed for the public tomorrow. make sure the curtains are closed. In short? Do what you would normally do if NM visited you. Just make sure to do it over a whole day. If tomorrow this isn't done? We will assume you have no interest and move on. If anyone is there who shouldn't be or if you tell anyone about this? We will move on and assume you have no real interest. See you tomorrow Ccino.

At the end a small crescent moon image again.

Ccino feels his soul and head spin before he rushes to his printer and snatches a paper. he quickly writes down that for personaly reasons the store will be closed for the next day, and he makes sure to mark it with the actual date as well.

He puts it on the window of the door before rushing back to the counter and rereading the letter.

This could be a trap. He should contact the stars.

But honestly? He just wants to hope this is exactly as it says it is. He just really wants to see his friend again.

--

Hello Journal.

I am still getting used to writing in this but today was a good day and I had some big feelings again. And Dusty did say it helps to write those down.

The feeling didn't happen today but a few days ago. We were outside relaxing in the nice sunlight as we took our times to check the grapes. Oh I was with Ror that day.

Anyway. Suddenly Killer came running over looking very happy. Aparently the multiverse had decided that with how inactive i had become I probably died. So they declared me dead.

I didn't even know Killer went out into the multiverse still. I don't like that, I am afraid he will get in trouble but aparently that isn't something i have to worry about anymore.

When I first heard the news? I was happy. It was such a relieve. People will really leave me alone. For real this time.

The others were happy as well, I could tell! Cross cheered and picked me up to hug me while Horror sighed in pure relieve. Dust had nodded and offered we could celebrate by going to the tavern and enjoying our night there.

Then... I got sad all of the sudden. It confused me. Why would i be sad? Everyone would think i was gone. everyone would really leave me and my dads alone.

So why would I be sad? I wasn't even sure why and my dads didn't either. They thought it was about Dream and well... Dream always brings up complicated emotions but this was different.

Then I finally remembered. I remembered one of the few universes i liked to visit myself. It kinda felt like i got busted? When I told them about Ccino and his cafe. The spot i could just be for a while. Just exist without anythign important. kinda like a self imposed time out.

I hated that i told them. I sounded so ungrateful! Like i still wanted more. So i told them it was fine and i know why we are hiding. It is straight up for me after all. to keep me safe because i am weak and useless and-

No. Cross said not to let those thoughts run free. There. crossed out. much better.

Anyway... yeah.. I felt bad about it but they said they would look into it. Like they do when we plan to visit Dreamtale for the graves.

Well, that is it for now. I am still not sure how to sign these off... so... bye i guess? Until the next part. - NM

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[ash-says]

I think your page speaks volumes about the way you’ve perceived and endured life and I’m sorry you haven’t had the time or opportunity to soak up the good things that are all around you, I hope you develop skills that allow your success to be built off of things that are good and pure and not cheap manipulation tactics and lies

Devil may care: A guide on being unbothered.

Okay, and??

Sweetheart, I really appreciate your unwanted sympathies and illusionary sensitivity directed towards me. In our culture when someone is being sweet, kind and helpful (even if fake) we make sure that we pay them back with something valuable. Here's a small guide curated for you that will help you in being self secure so you won't feel threatened by other people's success and opinions.

1) Have a life:

Nothing screams idle to me more than this. Like you have time to be offended by someone's post and comments which you might just scroll by and ignore?? On top of that going above and beyond to let that person know. Okay, Sushma. Now log off and do the pending coursework.

2) Build genuine confidence:

Ladies, fake it till you make it can only go this far. You have to work on your underlying issues and address them. If you don't you are susceptible to triggering even by a mere stranger. Confident people don't need to go above and beyond to prove other people. They embody it.

3) Self awareness:

It's tiring to explain this. Just Google it at this point. This word is thrown like a football everywhere. You know it. Do the homework.

4) Practice self compassion and boundaries:

Negative feedback is part and parcel of life. Accept it, analyse and if it applies adopt or otherwise ignore. Boundaries are important to understand the difference between constructive criticism and disrespect.

If disrespected don't be afraid to put a bitch in place. Until then shut your mouth and concentrate on your goals.

5) Opinions are subjective:

Everyone has their own life experiences and opinions are formed based on those. Your Roman Empire might be different from your friends but does it mean it's invalid? No. Develop empathy and open-mindedness. Not everyone has the same views. It's okay.

6) Develop a thick skin:

You can't survive in this world if you are triggered by the tiniest of things. You have to be comfortable in being painted both as a hero and as a villain. Don't let others opinion get to your head. Owe to yourself that I will stand in my truth thou glory or disgrace.

7) Reflect a rbf stance:

When someone tries to belittle you, try to put you down, talk shit about you. Your body language should be cold and reserved with a rbf that screams intimidation but all you are going to say is Okay, and??

8) Master Sarcasm:

I have said this before and I will say it again. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Sarcasm is the ice in it. Ladies learn sarcasm. It's the one way ticket to put people in their place in a humorous way.

9) Be classy. Be polite. BE UNTOUCHABLE.

Who do you think will be named as the crazy one? The one who is screaming and belittling someone or the one who is still being polite but discreetly showing the person where they belong. Never resort to screaming and shouting. That's dumb. Second never go out of your way to prove how you are relevant. Take it or leave it mentality.

10) Seek professional help:

Even after all of this you are not able to practice being unbothered. I think a therapist is the best solution for you.

P.S. :Ladies, this is what I mean when I say leverage the fuck out of your connections and opportunities. This is how you turn a negative into a positive.

Plus I am petty enough to not let this disrespect slide but thought it would be a good content idea for my posts, isn't it??

That's all for today's show on ash-says. Stay tuned for more illegal tricks and explosive opinions.

[notmorbid]

even as we breathe.

dialogue prompts from even as we breathe: a novel by annette saunooke clapsaddle.

my plan didn't quite work the way i thought it would.

you sure have a way with words.

should i be afraid?

empathy is fossilized in our bones.

if you keep your mouth shut and your ears open, you might just learn a thing or two.

there's rumors about this place, you know.

sometimes i poke fun when i'm on edge.

i want to be respected, not respectable.

just ignore me. heck, everyone else does.

have you ever felt like everybody was staring at you?

your demeanor is distinctly unwelcoming.

humility has its place.

don't do anything to get yourself fired.

nothing scary about nothingness. it's the something you should be afraid of.

you didn't play games going up?

i never feel like people are telling me the whole truth.

everyone has their own take, their own theory.

biblical references aren't exactly my forte.

but how will i know when i'm done?

you don't need to lie to make me feel better.

it's just how i was raised.

tell me about your family.

i'm surprised you don't already know all my business. everybody else sure does.

you speak of the dead so easily.

thought i might have to wake you for dinner.

is this your hiding place?

i'm not scared. i'm mad.

you make odysseus look like a joyrider.

not all love is made of equal parts.

what's wrong with you today?

everything okay back home?

it's not forever. just try to remember that.

just trying to stay out of trouble.

you can't prepare yourself for things like this.

you knew and you didn't tell me.

it's too early in the morning for ghost stories.

you were always my soft place to land.

i need you to see me.

i thought i was protecting you.

i do care about you. you're my best friend.

something about war buddies ties people together forever.

there's always at least an ounce of truth in storytelling.

sometimes i think you've seen more than you've told me.

i can't imagine leaving without you.

you truly can be such a raincloud.

i got used to it. i didn't know anything else.

i don't mean to lay a bunch of heavy stuff on you.

sometimes the answers are not the ones you want to hear.

sometimes you have to decide if you want truth or peace.

i can't believe we're having a conversation about this.

what's happening to me?

i'm not sure i'd be able to teach you, but i can try.

i don't mind listening. listening is easy.

i'm sure you'll find the right home, in the end.

sometimes not knowing your own story is the most damaging thing of all.

i once had to be quiet to survive.

i thought i told you i didn't want to see you again.

you sure can't catch a break, can you?

i never knew how to ask.

you're too mean to let anything keep you down for too long.

nobody deserves to die alone.

you've used me up.

do you think i love ____ more than i love you?

i do love you. i always will. but we have to accept the hands we're dealt.

when i was young, i wanted nothing more than to get as far away from here as i could get.

[lillysilvermoon]

Which Feminine Energy do you have?

Pile 1

You are in the light feminine spectrum, you have a very gentile, loving and nurturing energy, but it's actually well balanced!! You see, we have both feminine and masculine energy, and both of yours are in the light feminine. This means even when you have to be more rational or do some job or be put in a situation where you need to be in you Yang side, your femininity still shines. You are very connected with your emotions, intuition and spiritual side. You can be someone very sensitive depending what happens maybe you can have the need to walk away and never comeback mood, when you are putted in a place with too much hostility you probably have a hard time standing up for your self, since you are well balanced you would try to find a common ground to get through the work without engaging in any kind of competition. In the other hand, when you get attached or harassed by others you can - and will - indeed defend your beliefs, because your feminine and masculine are balanced you would be defensive, assertive and determined not to just defend what you believe and care for but to pursue your dreams and goals. I just heard "fiercely kind". You have this ability, some can even envy it, to defend what you believe with a lot of classy and calmness. Some of you probably like arts, like painting, drawing, playing instruments (and you don't have to be perfect or super good, you just enjoy it, like some hobby of y'all). You have a innocent look and charming vibes, and a very diplomatic personality. Most of you probably are The Mediator of the group and have a very child like personality

Y'all also attract a lot of sexual attention especially from men but most of you are shy and need someone who makes you feel safe to let your spontaneous side appear.

Since you are well balanced you probably have a dreamy looks - and can be a day dreamer sometimes - you are very warm and grounding, you are not afraid of be vulnerable and this authenticity together with your vulnerability makes other lower their guards. You do no game, you a very emotional available person.

Signs: full moon, water signs (scorpio, pisces and cancer), virgo, air and fire placements are important, 5, 555, 222, 5555

Pile 2

It's 222 right now lmao maybe it's a important angel number for someone here BUT let's get into your reading, shall we?

Well, your feminine energy is very free, one of your cards was 2 of Wands and the world, definitely a free spirit. You like to travel over the sea, see new places and meet new people, very extroverted energy. You know I just thought about the Gamine archetype, and there is this phrase of Princess Diana "I don't go by the rule book... I leas from the heart not head", isn't that you don't respect legal rules or anything, but you have a certainly disregard for protocol and social rules or what people call "socially acceptable", you do what you want just following your heart, just heard the phrase from Pocahontas "she goes wherever the wind takes her". Your feminine energy is very free, you do what you think is correctly regards if others approve or not. You probably will manage to have some youthful charm even with adulthood. You captivate others by your sense of humor. You have an unselfconscious sensual side and lightness that enthralls. You are receptive, compassionate and simply free.

Signs: fire signs (Leo, aries and sagittarius), cancer, financial problems, travel, 2222, 333, 444, 222, travels, ocean.

Pile 3

I don't even finished shuffling the cards and just heard "boss b*itch" and "don't take sh*it from anyone" guess we have our boss girl pile🤣. Okay I finished shuffling the cards and also heard "charming personality" and "luxurious" soooooo let's get started I'm excited. First you clearly have very strong personality, you stand up for yourself and speak your truth, you definitely don't like injustice and you fight for what's right, you definitely are in the Boss archetype (but I will talk about this later). You like to experience life, trade over seas, and probably would get involved in long distance relationships or holidays romances. Mix of beauty and brains, but with a touch of hearts, because you have a very emotional and romantic side, but is not everyone here ( actually for this Pile I think it's a VERY small group). You have a very confident aura, you like to move and planning forward to see your hard work paying off.

When a successful man meets you is like perfect match. Y'all are SO GIRL BOSS I CAN'T- really, most of you strive for success and power, your work and knowledge are very important to you, very goal oriented and honestly? You don't really need anyone, very independent, so when a man senses this, that you don't fundamentally needs him, you will ignite his instincts to chase and conquer (I'm SMILING here y'all are so damn good at this, please share your tips with us 🤣🤣). But you know what is funny? You probably thrive well in Male environments, most likely enjoy conversations about business or political stuff, but you have a very emotional side, you deal with your emotions in a very private away and don't like to share with others. But with the people you trust, you can be very sweet and sensitive. Besides, you a very romantic side. I just saw a imagine in my minds eye of a woman laying on her (very fancy) sofa in a living room (y'all know this kind of minimalist rich decoration? It's like this) reading a romance.

You also have a very luxurious personality, you like fancy stuff and care a lot about your appearance.

Signs: libra, Taurus, 1, pearl necklace, tiffany's, 1111, 66, 33, 5.

Pile 4

Like pile 1 you a very light feminine side, but while pile 1 is well balanced you let your heart rule over your heart (this means you have very feminine energy but are imbalanced) but let's see. You probably have been given too much without receive nothing in return. Maybe you feel overly sensitive, needy and emotionally exhausted. BUT, you are more than capable of overcome this, you see, since you are very connected with your heart and have a very kind, compassionate nature, it's easier for you to fall of track, but you have a courageous heart, you are not afraid of moving on of people or situations and do the work to progress, you also may like to travel and have a tendency to holiday romance like our friend 3. You have a tendency to go inwards and do self reflection (which helps you back to balance with your femininity). You have a very nurturing, maternal and kind nature, some kind of unaffected charm you know? It's the simple things, the sparkle in your eyes, the away you move your hands or your voice that makes others fall for you.

Signs: new moon, Taurus and libra placements are important, 555, 33333, 444.

Here it is♡ I hope y'all liked, I had SO MUCH fun doing this reading and hope you enjoy it. See you soon, lots of love.

- Lia

[wesawbears]

Sunshine Court broke something in my brain, so here's some protective Jean because my boy is not gonna tolerate whatever is going on with Jeremy's family.

Tagging @bienmoreau @faintlyglow and @betterbekind

--

Jeremy's hands shake as he's getting ready for dinner with his family.

Jean doesn't mean to notice, perched as he is on the bed, watching the other man straightening his shirt in front of the dresser. Jeremy's very good at hiding it, with his easy smiles and easier deflections. By now, he knows it's an open secret that Jeremy avoids his family as best he can, and that Cat and Laila allow him his choice.

But Jean has spent his whole life reading into the slant of someone's posture to survive, and he knows the tremor in Jeremy's hands as if it was his own.

“You're afraid,” he says, the words arriving unbidden. But it's such a shock to see him like this– the man who stood in front of Jean at the darkest points of his life and refused to look away, cowed by the people who were supposed to love him. 

This was Jean's friend, his partner, and he was feeling unsafe.

Jeremy jumps at the sound, either lost in his own thoughts or used to the quietness of Jean for the last few minutes. “What?”

Jean weighs what he wants to say. He knows he's had his fair share of truths he's asked to keep to himself, and that Jeremy has never pushed when it mattered. But he also thinks about “for now”, and how hard truths can only be avoided for so long. “Is it your parents?”

Jeremy's eyes widen, a nervous fidget in the set of his hands. If he wants to lie, Jean's already decided to allow it. But Jeremy finally says a quiet, “Yes and no.”

Jean nods. “Do they- are you safe?” He doesn't think he's seen bruises, and he remembers the horror in Jeremy's voice as he told Jean that his parents should have protected him. But maybe he was projecting?

Jeremy's shoulders deflate. “Jean, no. It's nothing like that. I promise, they've never laid a hand on me.” He smiles, a crooked thing that has Jean following the curve of his lips. 

Still, Jean knows the way he's curled into himself, the way he's glancing at his phone as though it's about to jump at him. “But it's something.”

“It's just dinner. I can handle it. I know how to play the game and get out of there.” It's a perfectly neutral answer, but it's also more than he's said in months about what waits for him when he disappears to his family's home. Despite his living there most of the year, Jean refuses to call it Jeremy's home. His home is here, cleaning up with Laila and arguing with Cat, and where Jean can see him when his nightmares rattle him awake to count the rise and fall of Jeremy's breath from the next bed over.

“Do you want company?” It's a strange request, and Jean knows it as he says it. Jean still hates being around people, and speaking to a bunch of strangers even Jeremy is nervous around makes his stomach swim. But this is his partner, and if he needs him, he can be there for him. It is only fair.

Jeremy's face becomes unbearably gentle and Jean isn't ready to read into the fondness he sees there. “I will be okay. Like I said, I know how to do this.”

One part of Jean knows he should leave it at that. But the other part has cataloged the heaviness in Jeremy's countenance when he returns home– the rehearsed smile, the way he goes to bed early. The part that wins says, “I will walk home with you. When dinner is over.”

“You don't have to do that-”

“I want to,” he says, and he finds that he means it. The idea of Jeremy walking home by himself after spending an hour alone in a room of people is too much to bear. “Text me the address and I will be there.” He wanted to visit the grocery store anyway– he could do that while he waited. Cat would be happy to see the spice cabinet restocked.

“Alright,” Jeremy says, swallowing whatever protest sat on his lips. “Yeah, I'll- I'll text you.”

Jean nods, letting the matter drop while Jeremy finishes getting ready in amicable silence. When he leaves, it's with a nod that Jean recognizes, of someone who is resigning themselves to the inevitable. 

He doesn't know how to keep him from hurting, but he is at least well versed in the aftermath.

–

Jean arrives at the intended address at the appointed time, not wanting to be there too early and seem suspicious. Jeremy is not forthcoming about his familial circumstances, but he knows there is money involved, and in Jean's experience, outsiders were not tolerated. 

True to his word, Jeremy emerges after only a minute or two and his face lights up in a way that makes Jean's stomach twist when he spots him. He hurries toward Jean, and immediately begins walking once they reach each other.

It's easy to keep pace with him, but as Jeremy is about to breach the silence, a voice behind them brings him up short. 

“I thought you knew better than to bring people like that to the house?”

Jean bristles at the implication, but he's more concerned with the way Jeremy stills at his side. When Jeremy doesn't reply, Jean tries to ignore it as well and continue forward, but the voice continues.

“Flaunting it in front of us like you don't even care what you did to the family? You deserve whatever happens, you-”

“You will not speak to him that way.”

Jeremy draws back in surprise, but Jean keeps his expression cool as he turns to face Jeremy's brother.

“What did you say to me?”

Jean glances at Jeremy, sure he's crossing a line but unable to stop himself. “I said, you will not speak to him like that.”

A snort. “He's my brother. I can say whatever I like. Besides, how exactly are you going to stop me?”

“Jean,” Jeremy's voice is small beside him and Jean does not rise to the bait. 

He fixes the unfamiliar man with a cool glance. “Nothing. I know a great deal of small men exactly like you, and they always seem to get what they deserve in the end. I do not need to do anything to stop you. But no one has to listen to you either.”

With one last flat look, he walks, Jeremy matching his purposeful strides. As the silence grew longer between them, Jean wonders if he read this wrong, if Jeremy had not wanted him to say anything. Had he crossed a line? Had he made Jeremy feel unsafe?

“Thank you.”

Jean turns to look at him in surprise. “I did not mean to force you to face them before you were ready-”

“I'm not ready,” Jeremy admits. “And yeah, things will probably be pretty tense next time.” He rubs the back of his neck. “But- it means something to me that you were there. I– it made it easier, knowing you were there.”

Jean nods slowly, not trusting himself to be able to say anything. He had said it not because of anything owed between them, but because he could not bear to see Jeremy's light dimmed by those who were supposed to cherish him.

At last, he finds his voice to say, “I will not let you leave me behind.”

The smile Jeremy sends is a little tired, but it's also slow and soft and the first real one he's seen all night, so Jean counts it as a win.

Rainbows. Open roads. Friends. Jeremy's smile.

[digenerate-trash]

Harper with starcrossed is crazy ngl💀

okay- I tried so hard. Please enjoy

AMAB Harper | GN PC

TW hypnosis | implied molestation | implied rape | implied blowjob | malpractice

Arriving at the hosbital early as always harper adjusts his shirt and tie and fiddles with his pen. He's been practicing quite a bit lately and he's eager to show off. Though he knows that sometimes you don't always have the time to indulge him. Really it's just a hope of his. That you'll let him have as much time with you as he wants. Though it's a long shot... you're always busy after all...

But still he has hope as he strolls into the office. Clean as ever. He glances at the desk and the lab coat hanging off it. Wasting no time at all he let's his fingers trace over the fabric of it before taking it off the chair and fitting it over his shoulders. A little too snug for him but he loves the feeling.

He adjusts his glasses and sits down at the desk smiling to himself as he takes out his pen and starts to spin it between his fingers. He's happy. Relaxed. In an environment he knows and even loves. And soon. You'll be here.

Harper looks over the desk taking in every detail. Adjusting everything almost compulsively as he waits for your arrival. He admires the degrees on the wall. The negelcted plant in the cornner. He flips through the Callander looking over every appointment for the next few months. He can't even describe the feeling he gets as he sits here.

"... harper-" your voice is sweet like a bell. As you open the door. Harper gets up and smiles so wide your sure it must hurt. "You're wearing my coat again." You say slightly exasperated as you walk over to your desk and place down your clipboard.

"Sorry- just wanted to see what it would be like to be the doctor for once." Harper apologies. He takes off the coat gingerly putting it back over your desk chair before he returns to his usual side of the desk. He sits in the chair opposite yours as you take your seat and the note pad you use to document harpers progress.

He sits in the little padded chair. His legs are awkwardly pressed together as he fiddles with a pen, he's almost 22. Obsessive. Has a superiority complex, and dispite being very odd he's polite.

"I'm glad you could make it to your appointment harper-" you say in Ernest "I'm glad your committing to your progress to lead a healthier life."

"Yes well. How can I refuse when they said for one hour a week I'd get to be locked in a room with you?" Haper says. You let out a sigh. This again.

"Harper. We've talked about your professionalism before-" you start.

"I'm kidding!" Harper intersects almost too quickly.

"Still. Remeber that doctors and paintents can't talk to eachother like that. The boundries between medical professionals and the people they care for are there for a reason. It's unethical to get personaly involved." You scribbled harpers response down before continuing "and I'm afraid your deflection instead of agknowaging your mistake sets you back once again. You can't hide behind a facade of humor every time you say something unseamly. It's better just to think before you speak."

Harper looks disappointed as he grips his pen. But still you continue on. "Why don't you start the session. Tell me how your week was. How are you adjusting to life outside the asylum?"

Harper twitches a bit at the word another thing to note down. He's still uncomfterble.

"It's fine... I have an apartment now- and a TV that I can change the channels on..." Harper says leaning back in his chair. "but I've been reading about hypno therapy lately. And to tell you the truth I'm fascinated..."

"What about hypnotic therapy do you find yourself being interested in?" You ask. Writing down brod strokes of what harper has said.

Harper seems to grin a bit wider as he continues "I think I could be one. I'm a pretty quick learner. And the material is easy to understand. I think I might have found a talent in it."

You nod along adding the sentence 'paitent is desprate for control' in your notes.

"Mind if I show you?" Harper says. The request is so Ernest that you tentivly agree. And harper holds up the pen. Swining it back and forth.

Harper tells you to keep your focus and you do. He continues to keep the pace of the pen and you keep stareing

Your mouth goes dry but you don't close it. Haper seems happy. Excited even but you're not sure why. The rest of the therapy session is like a dream. You're pretty sure harper has done something bad. But you can't image what as you wipe the salty taste from your mouth. As you head out to the break room you don't remeber ending the session with harper but your left thirsty and confused.

You must just be out of it today. As you drink a glass of water and look over your notes you only have more questions.

"Cured" is written out in your handwriting.

[whataboutsimple]

Jesse tiredly sights, rubbing his face. A deep night surely not the time he should work at, but after the whole Admin Drama he has no other choice, but to take extra hours for rebuilding his own town.

Door in the hall opens with a nasty creak, and he can't help, but wonder, who came by in such a late hour. Turning his head to the visitor, Young Hero inhales deeply, not expecting him from all people to be here.

«The place became nicer since last time I visited.» — the Warrior, Gabriel The Warrior, speaks bluntly, arms crossed on the chest as he waves his gaze all over the building.

«Gabriel? Uh.. hm, what brought you here in such an hour? Need a place to stay during adventures or-»

The Warroir shakes his head, interrupting Young Hero — «No, no. I'm here for a moment, just to give you this..» — he takes out a blue shulker box, handing it to Jesse.

With a puzzled look, young man takes the item, his eyes widening as he recognizes what's inside — «Gabriel, what?- It's.. your armour. And Thunder. Your sword! Why are you..»

«I don't need it. At least, not anymore.» — he simply shrugs — «Thought you can get a good use out of it. Maybe put it on an armour stand for people to see or, dunno, use it properly if it's not good enough for display.»

«No, no, no- it's actually beautiful. I just don't understand, aren't you doing the 'Wandering Warrior' thing?» — Young hero looks up at Gabriel, questioned.

«I've decided it's finally time to settle down.» — he smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

════════════════════════════

Soren tiredly looks at the paper in front of him, unable to bring himself to writing. It have been, what, five years after WitherStorm? Maybe seven? He can't quite remember, since all he has been doing this time is walking around, hopping from world to world in attempt to wash away the guilt he had in his guts since the very event.

Now he had settled down here, in his home world, so far away that no one will try to look for him here. It's been free month and he feels restless. Soren doesn't necessarily wants to go back to advantures, but sitting here brings him discomfort as well.

Architect jumps at the sudden knocking on the front door. Who could it be? In such a place?

Taking out his golden swords, Soren, as silent as possible, crawls to the windows. Strange. No one is out there. Still having a heavy grip on his sword, he opens the door, puzzled. What was the knocking ab- oh. A letter. A letter?!

He quickly picks it up with racing heart. A letter means someone knows he's here. Someone purposely send it here. Or brought.

Throwing last look around, Soren closed the door, digging his nails into the letter.

Okay, it was certainly Gabriel. His almost perfect handwriting Soren will never forget. After all, most of his ramblings were wrote down by the Warrior..

Shaking off the memories, Architect starts reading:

«Greetings, old friend. Hope you don't mind me discovering your little hide place, do you? Promise, I don't have any intentions to bring up old wounds or tell anybody you're here, do not put yourself into worry, please.

Ah, it's actually hard. Hope you're doing better, after what happened. Even though I wish you would come back to me, to talk, to figure it out, I respect your wish to stay alone at this. To tell the truth, I felt the same, when decided to become a 'Wandering Warrior', but it didn't brought me much joy, so I'm finally settling down.

However, I'm asking you not to look for me, okay? Even if others show at your doorstep, do me a favor and pretend we've never ever contacted. I'll be very grateful.

Just for you to know: I'm not holding anything against you, old friend. What happened wasn't your fault alone, we all participated. Don't be afraid to ask Ivor or Magnus for help, when you'll feel like it, please.

With love,

— Gabriel.»

Soren gripped the paper in his hands. The further in letter, the worst handwriting became. Architect couldn't shake off the feeling something was wrong. Why would he even ask not to tell about the letter? Ah, he's probably not the one to judge, living in the middle of Notch knows where.

With tired rub if his face, the Architect carefully put the letter near group photo. He missed them.

════════════════════════════

Magnus angrily opened the door, cursing under his nose. It was too fucking early in the morning, too bright, too loud and he will blow up the ass of who just interrupted his sweet slee- oh. It's Gabriel.

The Warroir almost jumped at the splash of the door, snapping out of his thoughts. He nervously chuckled, griping on the leash, when he saw annoyed Magnus.

«For Hero's sakes, princess, you could've come a bit later, it what- six in the morning?!» — The Rogue let out a tired groan.

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably on the spot, his eyes darting away — «My apologize, Magnus, but it's urgent. I need someone to look after Lucky for a while.»

Rouge looked like a deer in the headlights, looking between the dog and the owner — «What?» — Gabriel never let any of them even feed little wolf, not talking about the whole takecare.

«I'm going to be off the town. I left Flesh at my sister's, but she'd allergic to dogs, and I'm.. uh, would it be bad to say I'm too worried to leave him at Ivor's?»

Magnus shook his head, taking the leash from Warrior's hands — «No, old hag is bad with animals, we all know that. So.. just for how long you'll be out?» — he narrowed his eyes in suspicion, knowing for sure Gabriel had never left his lil bud before.

«I don't know.. yet. It won't be too long though, I promise.» — The Warrior smiled, but it was weak, as he took his turn to leave.

════════════════════════════

Ivor was furious. Gabriel was here and no one told him?! They all knew he wanted, needed to talk to him and yet no one bothered to tell him? Nonsense!

Ivor pushed the doors of the hallway, looking surprised for a moment, to see the whole New Order there. Nowadays it was a rare event. He cleared his throat — «Hello, friends. Mind me asking what is going on here?»

Petra put away her swords, waving head at the new armour stand — «Were discussing some stuff, you know.. like how Gabriel gave his armour and sword to Jesse. Or donated hell a lot of money to Redstonia's bank. Or how he claimed to 'finally settle down', but no one can tell where he actually settled down. Random stuff.» — she shrugged.

«..what?» — Ivor quickly got up to the stage, observing the armour. It was, indeed, Gabriel's. The original. Puzzled, he looked at Jesse — «When did he..?»

«About, uh.. three weeks ago, I think?»

«He brought his dog to Magnus a week ago.» — Axel claimed — «If it matters.»

The confusion grew stronger. Gabriel could've leave his armour, but not Lucky. Ivor bit his lower lip, disliking the feeling he started to get in his guts. Something was off here.

════════════════════════════

Heavy footsteps were echoing in memorial building, as the Warroir kneeled down near a tombstone.

He looked tired — «Long time no see, huh, Ellie? I'm sorry for the lack of visiting, I've been kept with, uhm.. things, let's say.» — he looked down at his left arm, grimacing at the purple veins — «And I'm not at my best state of health. But, uh, not about me. I hope- no- I know you're at a better place now, but it can't keep me from missing you..»

He rubbed his face tiredly — «A lot has been going on lately and, honestly, it all feels so messed up without you. We may be frauds, liars, cheaters and other not pleasant words I've heard, but hey, you actually were doing something good, something awesome, like running the Redstonia.. economy system.. unlike me, hah..»

He pressed his head against the cold wall — «Olivia doing great, by the way. Don't know if she visits you, but she really makes a good job looking after Redstonia. Smart girl. I bet you two would've get along just perfectly, if you only head time. If I was a bit faster, not so selfish, maybe..-»

The Warroir shook his head, getting up from the floor — «I'm sorry, Ellegaard. I need to go now. Hope after that I'll see you once again, old friend.»

He left memorial, cold wind accompanying him in last adventure.

[lil-elle]

idea from loml @chiiyuuvv !! (Sorry it took so long to get to this pookie)

Truth or Dare

group: xikers

pair: seeun x fem!reader

genre: fluff, crushes, shyness, best friends to lovers (yknow me 🥰)

word count: 3.2k

content: drinking, kisses ‼️

a/n: TYSM POOKS FOR THIS AWESOME IDEA IM GIGGLING SM

Seeun dragged you by your wrist through the front door as you rolled your eyes. 

“C'mon, you'll have fun!” He insisted, but you just weren't the type to enjoy parties, you only ever went because he loved them and you were such a sucker for that wide, gummy smile of his.

You followed behind him like a small obedient dog as he chatted with his friends, people you'd never even seen before. You felt silly following him like this and almost hiding behind the broadness of his back, but you were much too afraid of straying off on your own in a house full of strangers.

You were busy zoned out, counting the tiles on the floor, when Seeun pressed something cold to your cheek: a beer can. You quickly took it from him and analysed the label.

“Woah, I didn't know you actually drank at these things.” You mumbled, spinning the can around in your hand.

“What, do you think we just sit in a circle holding hands or something??” He chuckled teasingly, making your face flare up in embarrassment.

“Of course not!” You quickly defended, popping the can open.

“Have you ever even drank before?” He smirked, cracking his own can open and taking a swig like he did this everyday.

“Pffft, h-have I- pshhhh- o-of course I have.” You waved your hand at him dismissively, avoiding his eyes despite the fact you were certain he could see through your lie. Without another thought, you lifted the icy can to your lips and took a sip, your face screwing up at the sour taste of the alcohol on your tongue. You swallowed after some struggle and smiled at him crookedly.

“See? Easy..”

He chuckled, taking another sip of his drink before grasping your hand and pulling you with him.

“Where are we going?” He looked back at you with a smile as he pulled you through the house into a bedroom where most of the friends of his you recognised from earlier in the night were gathered.

“I said we don't sit in a circle holding hands, but we do sit in a circle and play truth or dare!” He tugged you so you were sitting next to him in the circle, the sudden multitude of eyes on you making you shrink back and you timidly took another strained swig from your can.

One of his friends suddenly started speaking to the rest of the group in a confident voice.

“Okay, classic truth or dare, house rules: when someone asks you truth or dare, you pick one, and you do whatever they say. If you refuse, we get to all like- uh- point and laugh at you or something. Got it?” 

The group nodded their heads and began chattering quietly before he spoke up again.

“Okay who's going first?” Seeun's hand shot up before he even finished speaking and a few faces around the room chuckled at his enthusiasm. You felt a smile creep onto your face as well, charmed by how much he seemed to be enjoying himself. That was until he slowly turned to you with a smirk on his face. “Oh this motherfu-”

“Y/n! Truth or dare?” You gritted your teeth, making your disdain for him obvious on your face, and spoke up with the most confident voice you could muster.

“...Truth.”

“Lame!” Someone called out, followed by a few chuckles, but you kept your eyes on Seeun and ignored the embarrassed heat crawling up your neck.

“Hmmm…What do you really think of the beer?”

Your eye twitched and you promised yourself that you'd beat up this nutrient deficient string bean as soon as you got him alone next.

“....It sucks. Like it tastes like piss genuinely. But…it kinda makes being here easier, so…” You lifted the can and took this biggest gulp you could, Seeun smiling as you sighed with a twinge of regret for doing that.

“Preach!” You heard someone from across the room yell, making you smile shyly.

“Your turn now, shorty.” Seeun ruffled your hair and you swiped his hand away before scanning the room and quickly realising you had no idea who to pick, not knowing any of the people sitting around you apart from Seeun. Your eyes bounced from person to person, inevitably being drawn to the confident boy that introduced the game. You pointed a shaky finger at him.

“T-Truth or dare?”

He chuckled and set his own drink down before leaning back on his hands.

“Dare.” He said the word without hesitation and you panicked again as you wracked your brain for a dare to give that wouldn't make you sound lame (again). You nervously swirled your drink in your hand, just that action giving you an idea.

“...I-I dare you…to chug the rest of your drink right now.” You felt slightly proud as his eyebrows raised and his lip quirked up in a smirk. He sat back up straight before lifting the can to his mouth and throwing the rest of it back with a few hard bobs of his adams apple and various cheers and playful yells from the group. His eyes met yours again as he dropped his can, crushing it in his hand before tossing it behind him in a dramatic display. You quickly looked away, overwhelmed by the eye contact, and your eyes met Seeun's face, eyebrows tight in a frown and eyes almost boring holes into the boy you just dared. You lifted your hand to tap him on the shoulder, your attention being stolen away by the continuation of the game before you could make contact.

You continued nursing your beer as the game went on, Seeun nudging your shoulder to make jokes into your ear every-so-often. You couldn't tell if it was the buzz of the alcohol or Seeun's light-hearted presence making you feel so comfortable, but you were starting to enjoy yourself, laughing and chatting with the group like you belonged there as much as they did. That was until the attention was flipped back onto you and Seeun for the first time in a good 10 minutes.

“Seeun,” the boy started, “truth or dare?” 

Seeun leaned forward playfully.

“Dare.” 

The boy smiled and finished off his drink, crushing the can, before continuing.

“So…we've all noticed how close the two of you are,” he pointed, finger moving between you and Seeun, “don't think we haven't.” 

Your face flushed red and you shrunk back slightly before you felt Seeun's large hand rest on your back reassuringly.

“...And what about it?” Seeun responded with a confident tone, earning a multitude of teasing coos from around the room which only made you blush harder.

“Well!” He clapped his hands together as he continued. “Your dare…is to give her your phone…and let her go through it.” 

Your eyes snapped up to Seeun's face upon hearing those words, expecting Seeun to pull his phone out of his pocket without hesitation, only to watch as the colour drained from his face for the first time that night. A few seconds passed, then a minute, as Seeun's hands lay frozen at his sides.

“So…you're not gonna do it? This is the dare that's gonna break you?” The boy teased as a few other people chuckled. Seeun took a deep breath in before seeming to snap back into his usual confident persona.

“Of course not.” He smiled, grabbing his phone from his pocket and almost tossing it to you. Your eyes stayed glued on his face, frowning at the way he was almost refusing to make eye contact with you. You couldn't help but feel how wrong this whole situation was, feel how not like himself Seeun was acting. You clutched the phone to your chest in an attempt to push down your nervousness before putting on your best smirk and speaking up in a stutter.

“I-I think I'll look through it later…when me and Seeun are…alone…” 

You slipped the phone into your pocket and sighed with relief on the inside when you heard the teasing comments from the group, although embarrassing, reassured you that they hadn't caught onto your act. You caught Seeun glancing at you, a very small amount of blush on his face before the both of you turned away in unison, earning more cooing and teasing.

The night went on as usual and the group was beginning to get more rowdy and tipsy, you and Seeun included as you somehow managed to get down a whole beer and start on another one. 

By the time the two of you left the house you were giggling to each other about nothing in particular and just yapping about random things as he walked you home. The cold night air was refreshing on your flushed cheeks and the short walk to your house passed by in a flash. Eventually, you were pulling your front door open and attempting to pull him inside with you, insisting that you “had to have a sleepover with your bestie”.

He easily slipped out of your grasp and stepped back, chuckling.

“I have to go home,” he poked you lightly on the forehead, “and you need rest.” You pouted and leaned dramatically against the door frame.

“But but but- are you even sober enough to get home?” You questioned, just trying to find any excuse to get him to stay longer. He chuckled again and you were too hazy to notice the redness in his ears.

“I'm fine.” He smiled and you couldn't deny that he had a much better alcohol tolerance than you.

“Okayyy…,” you sighed, lifting your hand weakly to wave, “bye bye…”

The last thing you saw was his crooked smile as you shut the door, luckily remembering to lock it in your dizzy state, before scrambling to your bedroom and flopping onto the bed. As soon as your face hit the softness of your pillow, you were out like a light, shoes on and everything, but that wasn't something you cared about as you drifted into a dream filled sleep.

You were suddenly pulled from your sleep by an obnoxious alarm coming from the phone in your pocket, yanking it out in your half asleep state and slamming your finger on snooze before tossing the phone next to you and rolling over. It took you a few seconds, but you suddenly registered that… “Wait, I don't set alarms.”

You sat up, blinking against the sun shining ruthlessly into your window, curtains wide open and failing to protect you. You grasped the phone and pulled it up to your sleepy face, turning it around in your hands for a few moments before the memory of the dare crashed back into your head. 

“Oh.” You tapped on the screen and analysed the pic on his lockscreen: what seemed to be him and one of his friends you recognised last night posing together and making silly faces, both of them with drinks in their hands. You smiled to yourself and instinctively swiped up to unlock the phone, quickly met with the realisation that he has a password because why wouldn't he?? You thought for a moment before chuckling to yourself and jokingly typing in your own name, the click of the phone unlocking stopping you dead in your tracks. You sat up straight, looking down at the phone with a serious and slightly confused expression before you finally processed what his home screen was…it was a picture of you. A candid photo of you laughing taken most likely by him when you weren't paying attention. A photo that you didn't even know existed. Your heart suddenly sped up and you felt a small amount of heat enter your cheeks but you took a breath in and reassured yourself that it was normal for someone to have a picture of their best friend as their phone background.

You timidly swiped again, bringing up all the apps he had open and giggled, quickly realising why he always complained about his phone dying really fast. You scrolled mindlessly through the multitude of random apps before a text conversation with Hyunwoo, a mutual friend of the two of you, caught your eye. Quickly tapping on it and bringing it up, your heart started to pound at the idea of going through his private messages and you felt slightly guilty, especially because you were defeating the whole purpose of the reason you kept it with you. Despite your guilty feelings, your finger scrolled up like it had a mind of his own, all the way up to the beginning of the conversation Seeun had with Hyunwoo right before the party yesterday:

H: So do you have a plan?

S: Uhhhh. 

S: No.

H: Dumbass

S: STFU!?? IM TRYING MY BEST?!?!

H: Alright well keep trying ‘your best’

H: Meanwhile she's gonna go and fall for someone else before you can even confess

You blinked frantically like you couldn't believe your eyes. Confess?? Like, confess confess?? You started scrolling faster, eyes scanning over every word at twice the speed.

S: You're harsh man

H: If I wasn't you wouldn't even be considering confessing now would you

S: …

H: Yeah okay

H: Did you at least invite her to that party?

S: Yeah

S: I'm on the way to her's now to pick her up

H: This is the perfect opportunity! Confess tonight!

S: CRAZY

H: Just try man

H: For my sanity

S: 💀

S: No promises

Your eyes stayed stuck on those last two words as the gears in your head went into overdrive, your whole face burning red at the thought of Seeun having a crush on you. Even more so at the thought that there was a chance of him confessing last night and you had no idea. You quickly found yourself with your nose buried in his phone, scrolling through all of his messages without remorse, too busy dazed and confused over the situation you're in to feel guilt.

It didn't take you long to find your own messages with him, feeling a pang in your chest at the hearts he had put around your contact name.

The more you searched, the more you found, and the more real it all felt. A folder in his gallery dedicated to pictures of you. Instagram open specifically on your profile. A stupid buzzfeed article on different ways to ask out a crush that was clearly directed towards 14 year olds. All those symptoms pointed to one diagnosis of a boy in incredibly deep (and only a little bit pathetic) unrequited love. With you. Except that love wasn't actually so unrequited.

Your head was spinning trying to process everything happening when a sudden bang on your window made you almost fling the phone across the room. You lifted your head only to meet eyes with the exact man making your mind all jumbled up standing outside your window. Your blush only got worse upon seeing him in that plain but charming grey hoodie of his and you were certain there was no way you were hiding your feelings from him now.

Carefully, you lifted yourself from the bed and circled around it to the window, sliding it open and being met with the cold and fresh morning air.

“I'm glad you're awake.” He started with a smile, already making you melt with just 4 words. “Sorry for the startle,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, “there was no way I could knock on your door without waking your parents so I had to improvise.” He stared at you for a moment as you stayed silent before his gaze fell to his phone caught in your death grip. He sighed and a look of relief covered his face as he leaned against the window frame.

“Thank God you have it. I remembered giving it to you but I can barely trust this brain of mine when it's not under the influence, y’know?” He joked but something seemed off about his demeanour, like he was nervous or hiding something, just like how he was acting before handing you his phone last night. Although, now you know why. 

His eyes travelled back up to yours as he spoke.

“You okay?” 

You felt your face only heat up more, a change he obviously noticed as he finally began slipping from his denial and started realising what you must've seen. A pink hue entered his cheeks and he spoke up again with a noticeably shakier voice.

“H-how much…did you see…?”

You finally found your own voice to respond to him.

“...Hyunwoo…he…was helping you…” Before you could even finish, Seeun folded his arms on the windowsill and buried his face in them.

“Fuck…” He mumbled, his soft hair falling over his now bright hot ears.

“A-and your wallpaper…a-and my name in your contacts…a-and your gallery-” You suddenly started spilling to him everything you'd seen, watching breathlessly as he sunk further into the plushness of his hoodie sleeves. He sighed again and lifted his head, the state of his face and the splotchy redness that covered it making your heart pound.

“Well whatever…” he mumbled before pulling himself through the window, forcing you backwards to make space for him. Once he was in he steadied himself before leaning back against the window frame awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with you the whole time. 

“Y/n.” The suddenness of his voice made your breath catch and you looked up at him, clutching the phone to your chest.

“I really like you…will you be my girlfriend?” He continued avoiding your eyes and spoke in a flat voice. It felt less like he was confessing and more like he was admitting and accepting defeat. Your fingers tightened around his phone and you mustered every ounce of courage you had to speak up in a tiny voice.

“...yes…” His eyes widened instantly, making you feel a strange sense of excitement and pride.

“Did…you just-” He finally turned to you and met your eyes, his red cheeks somehow growing redder. 

“-say yes…?”

You could barely hold back your excitement as you nodded, smiling and watching as his expression twisted from confusion to shock to disbelief to pure joy. You almost dropped the phone as he scooped you up into his arms, giggling so happily with an expression of such unfiltered happiness you'd never seen on him before. He spun you around a few times as the two of you giggled together before he finally settled down and hugged you close to him.

“...You mean it?” He asked in a quiet voice with a slight tinge of disbelief still present.

“Seeun…can I be your girlfrie-” your words were cut off as his lips suddenly pressed to yours. You were almost convinced your heart would explode in your chest as he kissed you in a way that felt like it would never end. He pulled away just enough but still keeping his lips only a few inches from yours, allowing you to catch your breath.

“Sorry…” he muttered with a smile telling you he wasn't really sorry at all. But you didn't care, not one bit, as a hysterical fit of giggles burst from your throat.

Thank God he forced you to that party.

-

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

TAGLIST:

@chocoeon @hyunukitty @ihyeokzu @cake1box @chiiyuuvv @shortnstupid @dogyunslover

[torugmi]

Shiu Kong: You linger in the office late at night, the only sound a rustling of papers as you work. In a moment of surprise, you find Shiu Kong is suddenly by your side, leaning in and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek before wrapping his arms around your shoulder from behind. Despite the fact that you and Shiu Kong aren't dating, it's clear that there's something special between the two of you.

"Why don't we take a break?" Shiu Kong whispers in your ear, his voice soothing and gentle like that of a guardian angel. "Let me treat you. I know you enjoy my princess treatment." His signature charm makes it impossible to resist him.

Higuruma Hiromi: Today is the day you arrived in New York with your co-worker, Higuruma, for a business meeting in one of the biggest law firms in America. You lie down on the bed, exhausted after the long flight, and close your eyes. Suddenly, you hear someone knocking on your hotel room door, you walk over to open it. It's Higuruma. He steps in, wraps his arm around your waist, and drags you to the bed, pinning you down. With his other hand, he loosens his tie, you notice his smirk growing wider. He leans in closer and his voice becomes alluring.

"Finally, we have some time alone, my love. Don't you think we should do something fun?" he whispers in your ear.

Kusakabe: You snap out of your daydream upon noticing Kusakabe standing right in front of you. He has his hands pocketed and sighs softly, then smiles slightly at you.

"Are you listening?" he asks, taking on a gentle tone.

"I don't want to repeat myself, and I'm not a fan of going on missions either. Let's make it quick, okay? I'll treat you to something special later on."

Nanami Kento: Alone in Nanami's living room, you can't help but feel awkward after missing the last train home. Thankfully, Nanami, your co-worker, noticed you struggling and offered you a place to stay. As you fiddle with your fingers, Nanami returns and hands you his oversized t-shirt and shorts. With a gentle smile, he kneels in front of you, speaking with a calming tone that exudes a sense of security.

"There's no need to worry. I won't do anything to you," he says, his words carrying a sense of reassurance. "You can sleep in my bedroom, and I'll sleep here. And if you're hungry, just let me know," His voice is gentle, soothing, and filled with genuine care.

Gojo Satoru: With the students long gone and the room finally empty, you and Gojo are alone in the classroom, cleaning up for the day. Gojo likes to tease you whenever he gets the chance and it drives you crazy, but the truth is that the moment you two are alone, your heart starts racing. He approaches you, leaning against the chalkboard, and smiles softly. Fully aware of your feelings towards him, he's not afraid to use them to his advantage.

"It's just us here right now. You can't deny your feelings for me, no matter how hard you try. Tell me right now.”

This is my first time posting here on Tumblr. It’s from my small series from TikTok which was highly popular, so I will keep posting small fanfics here from now on. I hope you enjoy!

[mintmatcha]

can we get some rouge facts? pretty please 🤲🏼 she’s v interesting and i know nothing about d&d so i’m a little clueless about her role in the team. love your world building btw

— 🪐

cw: cisfem reader, reader has a set background and personality, MENTIONS OF GROOMING AND ABUSE!

"Why don't you join them?"

The fiddle swelling and dips and the dancers do the same. You watch where your friends have blended into the crowd, their elbows crooked into the arms of strangers as they prance about. The alcohol has wiped away their inhibitions, but only strengthened yours.

Obsidian has left his partner on the dance floor and returned to you, arm outstretched. He must have seen you watching him and misunderstood that forlorn look in your eyes as something else.

"I'm alright here," you dismiss with a laugh.

"Let me teach you." Obi gestures again, "Or is our fearless leader afraid of the dance floor?"

He hums along to the song, hitting none of the correct notes. Even when he's making mistakes, he's undeniably charming.

"I'm okay, really." You try to laugh again, but the sound is tight in your throat. The crowd spins and laughs and jeers and the sound of it all stuffs your ears. Obsidian steps towards you, closer than a friend should be, with a chuckle on his lips.

"I insist."

Your stomach sours a bit and you aren't sure why. This is familiar in ways you don't want to admit. "Obi, not tonight."

"I simply wish to dance with the most beautiful girl in the room," His fingers loosely wrap around your wrist, but the pressure makes your mouth go dry. There's an ache, deep in the narrow of your bones, radiating out as he lightly tugs, "Come, it will be-"

You rip your hand from his with all the force you can muster. It's much too forceful-- you end up smacking yourself and knocking over your stein. Beer fizzs and bubbles across the waxed bartop, spilling down and over your legs.

"I said no." Your voice aches with the way to rips from you, "Why does no one listen to me when I say no?"

Obi's face drops. Green eyes wide with shock, he simply watches as you push off from your stool and weave out through the crowd. You bump elbows with a poor halfing halfway out the door, only offering the briefest of apologies.

The crisp night air brings you a bit of clarity, but it aches in your lungs. The cotton of your shirt suddenly feels much too tight and you cant help but tug on the edges to free yourself.

You're aware of being followed. It's like a stray dog, tailing behind you just fair enough to avoid any possibility of retribution. He continues until you stop and settle, sitting in the dew soaked grass. It doesn't matter- you're already soaked.

Obsidian stays quiet for a while, rubbing his sleeve against his nose sheepishly.

"Can I sit with you?" he says after a while.

You glance up at the dragonborn. The spot he rubbed is significantly shinier than the rest of his scales, catching the moon shine as he speaks. Your anxious settles just a bit at that; it even tugs a smile onto your face. You pat the ground next to you and the man settles down on to his knees.

"I am sorry," Obi says after a moment, "I should not have pushed you."

You're very aware that wasn't a normal reaction. The shame makes your stomach curl. "It's alright."

"Clearly, it was not." He rubs his snout again, "I should have listened to you."

He places his hand gently on to your thigh- no pressure, just reassurance. "I'll listen now, if you want to speak about it."

The truth is heavy on your tongue. You know better than to speak of it, and yet:

"Adam saved me. I know that," you say carefully. Your husband is always the elephant in the room, waiting to be addressed, "He took me off of the street and gave me a place to live. I'd be nothing without him-- I know that."

Obsidian prickles a bit at that, just the slightest flash of teeth, but he doesn't interrupt.

"He'd bring me to galas. The prettiest dances you've ever seen. I'd wear the nicest dress I could find and he would dance with me until my feet bled from those god-awful shoes." You flex your foot. The thick leather boot barely gives to the pressure.

"I hated them. I hated every minute," you say, "I'd beg him to let me stay home. I'd //beg.//"

You close a hand around your own wrist. Your body has changed over the years, almost to the point of unfamiliarity, but the pressure of a palm against the inside of your wrist always snaps you back to the brittle age of eighteen.

"And he still made you go?"

Eighteen was the first time you started measuring your steps, walking in the shadows to avoid drawing his attention. Eighteen was the first time love felt sour on your lips.

"All anyone would ever say to me was that I was so lucky to be his wife. How he loved me so much." You take Obi's hand from your leg and intertwine your fingers with his. The span and width of his grip are so much different than anyone else you've ever known. "And all I wanted to do was tell them how scared I was of him.'"

"Why didn't you?" He's asking, but its not a question. It's a door, open just enough to let you keep going. "Someone surely would have listened."

"Where would I have gone?" You almost laugh at how ridiculously pathetic you sound. "I didn't have friends, and he was the closest thing I ever had to a father -"

Obi's grip stiffens, and you know you'd made a mistake. His eyes narrow and he knows//.

"Father?" he repeats, voice dark, yet trying to stay even, "He wasn't-- you--- what do you mean by father?"

Those sharp, kind eyes watch you, unblinking, as if he closes his eyes, you'll disappear.

"What do you mean by that, my dear?" he repeats, much softer.

The bar behind you clambors with din, the night is rich with the cicada song, and yet you feel like the world is so, so quiet. All of your words feel earshakingly loud.

"He didn't pursue me romantically until I was eighteen," you whisper, "But Adam took me into his home when I was thirteen."

You brace for what's coming. The anger, the disgust. By the time you realize you've closed your eyes, the silence has stretched out too far. It takes an effort to look at him and face the music.

Obi doesn't seem mad, he's just... sad.

"You were just a child." His voice is so brittle, "I-- Why didn't anyone protect you?"

You wish you knew the answer.

[astr0exe]

K9 [COD MEN (POLY??) X M!READER] : CH2

Ch.1 , Ch.2 , Ch.3

CAS’ MASTERLIST !!

reader is transmac and autistic cause i said so :)

AO3 VERSION : K9

SUMMARY: K9 gets to know the boys even if he doesnt know how to hold a conversation

(feeling so bored transferring all this)

(absolutely terrified that my writings bad but oh well)

(enjoy chapter two!!)

(projecting into the character againnnn)

CW : Swearing + reader vaping + Alcohol Consumption

CHAPTER 2

Third Person POV :

As K9 sat down on the near-disintegrating couch next to Soap, Bucky decided to scour the room and hesitantly move towards the other men in the room. "Let's play a game so we can get to know each other!" Soap suggested excitedly. "Uhhh what's the game?" Gaz replied wearily, scared for what Soap had in mind.

“Never have I ever but as a drinking game? either that or truth or dare!” Soap nagged chuckling softly as he saw the fear in the boys' eyes.

”Umm sure why not I’ll play I wanted to get to know you all anyway..” K9 trailed off awkwardly squirming in his seat when everyone turned in surprise that he agreed.

”Well the boys don’t have a choice if you agree so!” he says as he stands, “let me go get the shot glasses and the alcohol and I will be right back! Don’t have too much fun without me!” he smirks as he walks out the room.

With Soap out of the room, it became deadly silent. Bucky padded over to Gaz slowly,” Hi boy, How's it going?” he addressed the dog, Bucky sniffed his hand and huffed calmly looking back to his owner for permission. K9 just smiled and nodded happy that his dog wasn’t ripping his team apart.

”He is really cute.” Gaz states, looking over at K9 noticing the chipped nail varnish he has on and his lack of eye contact. “Umm Yeah he has been there for me when I needed him” ___ responds softly, slowly they grab a vape from their pocket.

”Umm Do you guys mind if I use this in here I would smoke a cigarette but we are inside so this is my only option.” ___ asked carefully, afraid to offend his new team members.

”Nah we don’t mind lad.” Responded Ghost calmly, noticing how anxious K9 seemed.

Soap bounded back into the room excitedly, getting sniffed by Bucky as he placed the vodka and glasses on the creaking coffee table. “Okay let's get started!” Soap explained whilst pouring the drinks. “I’ll start, Never have I ever set fire to something out of boredom.” GazK9 and Soap both took a shot.

----- Time skip cause I cba writing the whole game -----

With everyone officially tipsy if not more drunk Gaz's gasped and asked brazenly, "K9 what's that flag on your jacket?!" with everyone in the room now looking at ___'s chest patch he knew he was going to have to explain.

"Umm it's the trans flag, I'm transmasculine. So I was born female at birth. I uh hope this doesn't effect your thoughts about me." K9 mumbled worried they would react badly. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as his bottom lip started quivering.

"Aww K9 come here," Soap started whilst opening his arms up to the near shaking man. "You're still a man bonnie {beauty}, I don't know about the others but I know that to me, you are still a lad." K9's tears started falling halfway through Soap's little speech, ___'s sobs racking his body, his tears soaking through Soap's t-shirt as they stayed huddled together. "Lad I don't think of you any differently. Thank you for telling us. Proud of you." Gaz explained kindly. Now all eyes were on Ghost.

"I couldn't care less what you have in your pants you're still a guy." Stated Ghost blandly but with a hint of softness. His eyes crinkled partially at the sides. Soap and K9 stayed cuddled up." Speaking of your pants ___ can I get in them handsome?" Soap flirted but K9 couldn't tell if he was joking or not and his whole face erupted into a red hue like a volcano, his brain short-circuiting. The boys all decided to tease ___ on the fact he looked like a tomato.

As the night grew later, everyone relaxed due to the company and the alcohol coursing through their veins, Ghost noticed Bucky nudging K9 with his nose. Confused Ghost strode over to where Soap and K9 were still cuddling and noticed he was asleep. Soap slowly stood up whilst holding ___ in his arms, smiling down at their resting form. Ghost and Gaz followed behind Soap with Bucky padding after his owner.

Walking through the near silent halls they mumbled between themselves,"K9 is gonna fit in great!" Gaz cheered. "Yeah he seems alright." whispered Ghost as he secretly admired the sleeping man. Soap just nodded, agreeing with them both.

[zapreportsblog]

❝supportive bunch❞

✭ pairing : Vemon / Eddie Brock x trans male reader

✭ fandom : marvel

✭ summary : (m/n) comes out to his friend Eddie about being a trans male and at first he assumes that he would shun him but it seems he’s more supportive then he thought, and so is his little parasite problem too

✭ authors note : this is the second request I’ve taken on from @fandomnationwhore blog and this was requested by @frnkieroismydaddy if at any moment you don’t wish to be tagged in this do inform me :) but a while ago you requested Venom × trans male reader who comes out and Eddie and venom make him feel all safe and happy and valid. Ooh and vemon is apart of mcu so he’ll he added to the other characters part of the avengers masterlist

✭ avengers masterlist

The city of San Francisco bustled with life, a sprawling metropolis filled with stories, secrets, and people from all walks of life. Among the countless stories, there was one unfolding in the heart of the city that had yet to be told. It was a story of friendship, trust, and a deeply held secret.

Eddie Brock sat in his cramped apartment, his brows furrowed as he stared at his laptop screen. He was engrossed in the latest news article he was writing for the San Francisco Chronicle. It was about the shady dealings of a local pharmaceutical company. Eddie's reputation as an investigative journalist was built on exposing the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.

While he was absorbed in his work, there was a soft knock at the door. Eddie glanced at it, momentarily distracted. Another knock followed, a bit more insistent this time. With a sigh, he closed his laptop and went to answer it.

Standing on the other side of the door was (Y/N), his friend since their college days. (Y/N) had always been there for him, through thick and thin, and they shared a bond that went beyond friendship. But today, (Y/N) seemed different. They looked anxious, their eyes avoiding Eddie's.

"(Y/N), hey," Eddie greeted, his voice tinged with concern. "Is something bothering you?"

(Y/N) hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Eddie, there's something I need to tell you, but I don't know how you'll react."

Eddie frowned, his concern deepening. "You can tell me anything, (Y/N). You know that, right?"

(Y/N) nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. "Okay, here it goes. I... I'm a trans man, Eddie. I've always known it, but I've been too scared to tell anyone, including you."

Eddie's eyes widened, surprised by the revelation. He processed (Y/N)'s words carefully, realizing the weight of the secret they had just shared. (Y/N) had been living with this truth, hidden away from the world and their closest friend.

"(Y/N), thank you for trusting me with this," Eddie said earnestly. "I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must have been for you to say this out loud."

Tears welled up in (Y/N)'s eyes as they finally met Eddie's gaze. "I was afraid you'd shun me, Eddie. You mean the world to me, and I couldn't bear losing your friendship."

Eddie stepped closer, placing a reassuring hand on (Y/N)'s shoulder. "You'll never lose my friendship, (Y/N). I'm here for you, no matter what. We'll face this together, just like we always have."

Relief washed over (Y/N) as they wiped away a tear. "Thank you, Eddie. I knew I could count on you."

Eddie offered a warm smile. "Always, my friend. Now, let's talk about what this means for you and how I can support you through this journey."

As the two friends sat down to have an open and honest conversation, they began a new chapter in their lives, one marked by acceptance, understanding, and unwavering friendship.

It was now evening and nighttime was approaching quickly, in the middle of the night, a chill ran through Eddie's small apartment. The dim moonlight filtered through the curtains, casting eerie shadows on the room. Eddie lay sound asleep in his bed, completely unaware of the impending presence that stirred within him.

Unseen by the world, Venom, the symbiotic entity that shared Eddie's body, began to awaken. Its inky tendrils slithered out from Eddie's sleeping form, stretching and twisting as they formed a shadowy mass on the floor. The transformation was eerie and silent, save for a faint, otherworldly hum that filled the room.

(Y/N), who had been asleep on the couch in the living room, stirred at the strange sensation. They opened their eyes to see the room bathed in a surreal darkness, the shadows dancing eerily. Panic washed over them as they realized that something unnatural was happening.

Before their very eyes, Venom's form coalesced, taking shape and substance. It was a terrifying sight, a monstrous figure with a mouthful of jagged teeth and crimson eyes that gleamed in the darkness.

"(Y/N)," Venom's voice rumbled, a low, resonating growl that sent shivers down (Y/N)'s spine. "Fear not, for you are safe."

Tears welled up in (Y/N)'s eyes as they sat up on the couch, their heart racing. "W-who are you? What do you want?"

Venom leaned closer, its grotesque face just inches from (Y/N)'s. "I am Venom, the one who shares this host's body with Eddie Brock. I have taken control tonight to speak to you."

(Y/N)'s fear began to ebb as they looked into Venom's eyes, eyes that held an unexpected depth of understanding. "Why are you here?"

Venom's form shifted, its tendrils extending to gently caress (Y/N)'s face. It was an oddly tender gesture from a creature that appeared so menacing. "I am here to tell you that you have nothing to fear from us. Eddie knows your truth, and he accepts you completely."

Tears streamed down (Y/N)'s face, a mixture of relief and gratitude. "You mean... you both accept me?"

Venom nodded, its voice softer now. "Yes, (Y/N), we both accept you for who you are. You are valued, cherished, and loved by us. There is no need to hide your true self."

(Y/N) couldn't hold back their emotions any longer. They buried their face in their hands and sobbed. It was a cathartic release, the weight of years of secrecy and fear lifting from their shoulders.

Venom, in a surprising display of compassion, wrapped its tendrils around (Y/N) in a comforting embrace. "Let it out, (Y/N). You are not alone in this. We are here for you."

As (Y/N) cried in the arms of this enigmatic entity, they felt an overwhelming sense of acceptance and belonging. They knew that they had an ally in the most unexpected of places, and that, together with Eddie and Venom, they could face the challenges of their true self and the world that awaited them.

As days turned into weeks, and the bond between Eddie, Venom, and (Y/N) had grown stronger. They had faced challenges together, supported each other through the highs and lows, and had become an unbreakable trio. But as (Y/N) continued their journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, a day came when they felt it was time to share something important.

The three of them were gathered in Eddie's apartment, a sense of camaraderie filling the room. Eddie was flipping through a stack of papers for his next story, while Venom's tendrils idly danced in the air, a sign of contentment.

"(Y/N)," Eddie began, his tone warm and inviting, "what's on your mind? You seem like you've got something important to say."

(Y/N) took a deep breath, steeling themselves for what they were about to reveal. "Eddie, Venom, there's something I want to talk to you both about. I've been doing a lot of soul-searching, and I've come to a decision."

Eddie and Venom exchanged glances, concern in their eyes. "You can tell us anything, (Y/N)," Eddie assured.

(Y/N) nodded, gathering their thoughts. "I want to be called (Male Name) from now on. I don't want to go by (Y/N) anymore."

For a moment, there was silence in the room. Eddie and Venom both considered the name change carefully, processing what it meant.

Finally, it was Eddie who broke the silence. "You know, (Male Name), I think that's a great choice. It's a strong name, and it suits you."

Venom, ever perceptive, chimed in as well, "Yes, (Male Name). We like the name, too."

Tears welled up in (Male Name)'s eyes, but this time they were tears of joy and relief. "Thank you, both of you. Your support means the world to me."

Eddie and Venom exchanged a knowing look, a silent acknowledgment of their commitment to standing by (Male Name) as they continued their journey of self-discovery. Together, they embraced this new chapter, knowing that their bond would only grow stronger with each step forward.