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t-wordkittyfics · 4 years ago

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There was an ask for Naegiri and Saiouma for the asks thing but I’m dumb and accidentally deleted the message so here you go @naegiristan 😊

Naegiri

1. Who has the cutest tickle laugh?

Okay this one’s actually really tough but I think Kyoko would have a cuter laugh. I think she’d try to hide the fact she’s laughing by burying her face behind her hair and hands but once she gets laughing oh boy it’s so adorable!

2. Who is ticklish in weird places and where would it be?

Kyoko again! I headcannon that she’s really sensitive to soft tickles on the backs of her shoulders and shoulder blades

3. Who gets cheer up tickles?

Both of them! Quite often as well. Makoto would cheer up really quickly while it would take Kyoko a bit longer but they always work.

4. Who takes advantage of the other getting stuck while taking off their T-shirt?

If Makoto got stuck Kyoko would definitely take advantage! Makoko would probably flail around quite a bit which would only cause him to get even more tangled.

5. How did they discover each other’s ticklishness?

Kyoko caught light of it from Sayaka or Aoi and thought to test it out for herself. Needless to say the theories were true. Of course it was only a matter of time before Makoto decided he wanted revenge so he waited for her in his dorm and tackled her from behind the door. It wasn’t very graceful but it was funny to Makoto.

6. Who can’t take tickle bites?

I think Kyoko would often give Makoto tickle bites and he’d absolutely crumble. His laugh would definitely go really high pitched.

7. Who has to be tickle-forced out of bed in the morning?

Makoto again! Kyoko’s usually awake very early so if she gets lonely while Makoto’s still snoring away she’ll tickle him awake. Or if he just won’t get up she’d really let him have it!

8. Who gives up in a tickle fight?

Probably Makoto again to be honest. I think Kyoko would be able to turn the situation in her favour most of the time so she’d almost always have an advantage!

9. Who is in danger of getting hurt when tickling the other?

I think Makoto would definitely flail about and kick a lot, so Kyoko might end up with a couple of knocks. She’s not completely innocent either though! One wrong move and she might accidentally kick Makoto in the leg.

10. Who always provokes the other into tickling them and how?

Obviously Makoto would sometimes mess around just to get her to wreck him by poking her or tapping her phone screen while she’s trying to type, yknow the usual “I’m being a little shit what are you gonna do about it?” sorta stuff, but honestly?? I think Kyoko would too! But I feel like it would be so unimaginably subtle that Makoto doesn’t even realise that’s what she’s trying to do. Or so she thinks. Makoto is completely aware of what she’s doing but he keeps the game going for her sake cause he thinks it’s just really cute.

Saiouma

This is one of my comfort ships so I think about these two a lot 😳

1. Who has the cutest tickle laugh?

Honestly this one is so hard I genuinely don’t think I can pick??? Kokichi’s would be loud, with lots of begging and squealing whereas Shuichi’s would be a lot softer, still with a lot of begging and the occasional squeak, but then once you hit his death spot or if you catch him by surprise he can turn into a bubbly mess!

2. Who is ticklish in weird places and what would it be?

I don’t think these are considered ‘weird’ but I think they can still count! Kokichi’s absolute death spot would be under his scarf. Like, his neck is insanely ticklish. As for Shuichi, his palms are unbearable. He’d crumble pretty quickly if you so much as touched them.

3. Who get’s cheer-up tickles?

Shuichi! Whenever Kokichi notices him feeling even a little down he doesn’t even hesitate! There’d definitely be a lot of teasing too

4. Who takes advantage of the other getting stuck taking off their T-shirt?

Kokichi, absolutely. Again, he just wouldn’t hesitate. He’d probably back Shuichi into a corner and just completely wreck him. Shuichi would be too weak to do anything but sit, take it and beg. Kokichi would have to help him out of the T-shirt at the end and he’d throw himself into Shuichi’s lap and give him a big hug.

5. How did they discover each other’s ticklishness?

Honestly??? Kokichi just one day decided to tickle him. Literally for no reason at all, other than to see if Shuichi was ticklish. It was completely by surprise, so poor Shuichi gave in immediately. As for Kokichi, well he was being a little shit so Shuichi tried pushing him away but saw him flinch when he touched his belly so he poked it a few times with the whole “Huuuh? Are you ticklish Kokichi?”. This completely flustered Kokichi who tried to run away but got pulled into a tickly hug.

6. Who can’t take tickle bites?

Kokichi!! His absolute worst spot is his neck so Shuichi would take every opportunity to give him a few nibbles around there which would drive him crazy!!

7. Who has to be tickle-forced out of bed in the morning?

Kokichi again. He’s the kinda guy to not want to get up until like noon, so Shuichi has to take action. He gives him plenty of warnings, which makes Shuichi think he’s just asking for it sometimes. But sometimes on weekends and holidays, Kokichi will get up super early just to get revenge!

8. Who gives up in a tickle fight?

Shuichi! Kokichi would either be super stubborn all round or would do a fake-give-up thing then turn the whole thing around on the detective! Shuichi would give up pretty quickly, but Kokichi would still make sure to push him right to his limit. Shuichi is also very vulnerable to teasing, which makes it so much worse.

9. Who is in danger of getting hurt when tickling the other?

Definitely Shuichi. Kokichi would thrash around like a maniac when being tickled and Shuichi has definitely left a few tickle fights with a bruise or two, non-intentional of course. On the other hand Shuichi becomes a weak mess when he’s tickled, effectively rendered so helpless he can’t even kick.

10. Who always provokes the other into tickling them and how?

Kokichi 1000% and he will use ANY means necessary. From just playfully poking Shuichi to throwing his stuff on the floor to embarrassing him a little at school to giving his dorm a complete redesign. Shuichi is super patient so it might take a while but when he loses his cool boy he LOSES IT and will absolutely wreck Kokichi.

#tickle #tickling #tickle headcannons #Danganronpa tickle #tickle asks #tickle fic #Naegiri #Saiouma #lee!kokichi #lee!shuichi #lee!kyoko #lee!makoto #ler!kokichi #ler!shuichi #ler!kyoko #ler!makoto

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nosferatvpussy · 4 years ago

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distorted lullabies [chapter VI]

Word count: 4,675

Warnings: vulgar language

Pairing: Dracula x female reader

AO3 link

______________________________________________

“Renfield,” Count Dracula called. “Wake up.”

The man stirred in his bed, a string of drool escaping his mouth as he changed positions. Count Dracula looked around the room impatiently. When he first came to talk to Renfield, the man had been placed in a padded cell. It seemed now that he had been behaving nicely enough to be transferred to an ordinary room with a bed, a desk and a fenced window. Dracula sat down at the end of the bed and grabbed the man’s ankle.

“Master!” Renfield shot up awake at once, folding himself up until he was hugging his knees. He laughed nervously, eyes darting around the room. “I-I didn’t call Y/N, I promise you. She came to see me, she did, yes, it was her. Please--”

“That’s not why I’m here.”

Renfield drew his eyebrows up and released his own legs. The striped pyjama he had on was too short for him, making him look more like an overgrown child in the Count’s eyes.

“It--it isn’t?” he stammered.

“I need your opinion on something.”

“Well, of course,” Renfield said, a cheery smile sprouting in his face. “How can I be of service, master?”

Dracula patted the man’s shin the same way someone would do to a dog.

“Y/N…” he trailed off as the image of her sucking on her own finger popped in his mind. He blinked, trying to clear it off, and stood up. “She…”

A deep frown settled in his face as he paced around the room.

“She what, sir?”

Dracula shut his eyes, leaning his head back in concentration.

“She mystifies me,” he spoke in a low voice, more to himself.

“Well--” Renfield started, chuckling nervously again. “How could she possibly mystify you, master? You’ve drank her blood. There are no secrets--”

“Ah, but there are. There must be,” Count Dracula ran his hands through his hair, his mind remained fixated on her face close to his as she teased him endlessly. “She has a power of her own but I haven’t been able to identify what it is yet. She can incite me.”

“Yes,” Renfield drew out slowly. “Y/N has a way of getting into people’s heads.”

Dracula rushed forward, leveling his face with Renfield’s and making the man cringe from him.

“How?” he demanded. “How does she do it?”

“I d-didn’t mean l-literally, master. She knows how to twist words, that’s all I meant.”

“Oh,” he moved away and started pacing again. “It’s more than that, though… Tonight at the museum--”

“Which museum? V&A?”

“Her favourite,” Dracula nodded impatiently. No wonder Renfield would know about her fascination with that particular museum. “The rapture on her face when she walked in,” he smiled, “I thought I had her.”

“She turned the tables on you, didn’t she?” the knowing tone in Renfield’s voice grabbed the Count’s attention.

“For more than a few seconds, yes,” he exhaled a breath he had no need to hold. “Made me chase her through the museum and fully took control of the situation. I only realised what she’d done after she left.”

“She’s seducing you, master, in your own game of cat and mouse.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that, Renfield,” Dracula snapped. “I am in control, always, but she bewitched me. She must have.”

He wasn't sure if she was Samson or Delilah anymore.

“Earlier today she came to visit me and asked me about how vampire legends might apply to you,” Renfield shook his head and rose his hands to add to the veracity of his words. “I revealed nothing, my lord.”

Dracula narrowed his eyes, pulling his lips down..

“Did she, now?”

Renfield nodded solemnly.

The Count rolled his head on his shoulders. Who was she? What was she to affect him like that? The memories in her blood told nothing of that. He knew she was too headstrong to propose a deal of that nature to him. Now he was finally understanding where her intentions lied. Delilah, indeed.

“Thank you, Renfield. You’ve been quite helpful. I must go pay her a visit.”

______________________________________________

Her shower turned off moments after he arrived at her house. It distracted Count Dracula from Lucy’s text message, begging him for another bite. Lucy was addicted enough now that she didn’t care that he had drank from her only a few days ago. While tilting her head back and sinking his teeth in her certainly appealed to the bloodthirsty monster in him, he was curiously more interested in watching Y/N.

Dracula clicked a button on the mobile’s side and the screen turned off. He slid the device on one of his coat’s deep pockets, feeling the outline of the book Y/N had lent him earlier that night. He retrieved it to look at the bright colours on the cover depicting a giant squid wrapped around a submarine. The memories on her blood weren’t needed for him to know that she loved this book. The pages were yellowed and a bit tattered, much like the cover’s edges, and it smelled like her, albeit one from long long ago. She must have read it dozens of times and yet he couldn’t find anything definitive about the book’s story in her blood. All he could gather were the character’s names, nothing more.

The bathroom’s door opened, deviating his attention from the book. He couldn’t see into her bedroom from where he was sat. Dracula stood up, balancing himself easily on the roof’s edge from the neighbouring house and made his way to a spot where he could get a better view. Beneath him, squared neatly between her house and Diana’s stood the back yard. It was spacious enough to contain a fountain, an old fashioned metal swing and a small vegetable garden. He stopped walking as she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and he knelt on his ankles as to not draw attention.

Blood rushed hot through her veins, the sound of it nearly as erotic as her seminude body. Teeth elongated inside his mouth, their sharp edges poking at his lips and forcing him to part his mouth. She drew thin curtains, allowing only her silhouette to be seen. Book still in hand, Dracula lept down to the garden to keep her in his sight, landing soundlessly on the grass.

He waited.

“Look at me,” he said in the dead of night.

He wanted her to see the red of his gaze. Watch the terror on her face as she realised that the game was over and that she couldn’t beat him. With every drop of her blood, he would make her his.

Glass shattered to his left and Dracula swung his head to see a woman standing in the doorway. He cursed his impulses silently. It wasn’t often that he let himself get so carried away that he failed to pay attention to his surroundings. A cat slipped between the woman’s legs, hopping over the puddle of water and shards, and made a run for the hedges at the back of the property. Wind swept the woman’s silver and pepper away from her face, her hand frozen in front of her body as if she was still holding the glass.

“Hello, Diana.”

______________________________________________

I woke up with the sound of water. A quick look at the time on my phone made me hop out of bed instantly.

“Shit, I’m late!”

No more dates with a vampire midweek.

I peeked behind the curtains to check on the weather and to determine what should I wear for the day. Dark and heavy clouds covered the sky which meant I would have to whip out some boots for the storm on the way. A shape on the garden attracted my attention. Diana was standing in the middle of it, staring into nothing as she held a garden hose. A patch of earth beneath my window was soaked with water, like she had been watering that spot for more than a few minutes. I knocked on the window to get her attention but she didn’t react to it. I furrowed my eyebrows. There was no reason for her to water the garden when there was a storm coming. She hardly ever used that hose.

“Di?” I called after opening my window.

She blinked several times and looked up with a weak smile.

“Morning, Y/N.”

“Aren’t you going to work?”

“I’m not feeling very well today so I called in sick.”

“Can I help you with anything?” I asked and she shook her head. “Right. You might consider changing spots or we’re going get a swimming pool there.”

“Oh.” She looked at the wet spot she had been watering and redirected the stream of water to another side of the garden. “I got distracted.”

Satisfied now that I had managed to shake her out of her stupor, I closed my window and hurried to get ready. As I brushed my teeth, I noticed that the bite mark on my neck had a yellow tonality on the skin surrounding the punctures, which were nothing more than scabs now. The only bruising left was from Renfield and it remained a steady shade of purple and blue. I wrapped a wool scarf around my neck to spare people, and myself, from the view.

A quick look at my phone informed me that it was 7:35am as I flew down the stairs, carrying a pair of boots and a purse. I sat down at the last step of the stairs, fitting each boot on my feet with disregard for the welfare of my toes. Losing a toe would be better than hearing Judge Llewellyn scolding me again for being late. My phone started ringing as I grabbed my briefcase. Cursing under my breath, I opened the front door, trying to balance my purse, briefcase and keys as I answered the phone and stuck it between my cheek and shoulder.

“Hello?”

“Hi, this is Roger from St Thomas’ Hospital. Can I find a Y/N L/N in this number?”

“This is she,” I replied, stepping out to the street.

“I’m calling concerning Francis Renfield. You’re listed as his emergency contact.”

I stopped trying to lock my door and shut my eyes, making a silent prayer.

“Is he dead?”

“Dead? No, miss,” he paused and I took a breath. “I’m calling on his behalf. He’s requested for some of his own books. He mentioned that you might be able to get them for him.”

Once I finished locking my door, I hurried down the steps, almost running to the nearby main road.

“Yes, of course. I have a key for his flat. I can-”

“Good. So here’s the list he gave me. Faust by hm huh… Got?--”

“Goethe,” I said impatiently. “I don’t have a pen right now to take note. Take a photo of the list and send it to me. I’ll drop by with the books around 6pm. Thanks, Robert.”

I shook my briefcase wildly to get the attention of a cab on the other side of the road. He braked instantly.

“It’s Roger.”

“Yeah, sorry. Bye!”

______________________________________________

As I went up the lift in St Thomas Hospital, heading for the psych ward, I realised I had successfully gone an entire day without giving Count Dracula much thought. Well. Almost. Now that I had that consideration in mind all I could do was wonder what he had planned for our next date. The prospect of controlling my impulses while near him wasn’t appealing, or dealing with his unbearable charm. Knowing he had no regard for my life didn’t help either. But I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t curious about what he had in store next.

I closed my hands in fists. It didn’t matter if Renfield wanted to serve him or not. Dracula had taken away his free will and I wouldn’t simply accept that fact and carry on with my life. That had to be more important than my interest in the Count.

“Do you need help with that?”

I blinked, suddenly realising that the lift had stopped at my destination. I looked at the woman holding the door open for me and then to the cardboard box brimming with books at my feet.

“If it’s no bother. It isn’t exactly light,” I said.

She nodded once. I pushed the box forward with my feet so we could both take hold of each side. As she reached down, a hospital band slid to her wrist. I frowned as I took note of how pale the woman looked.

“Wait, no,” I began, making the woman look at me. “I shouldn’t bother you with this. You are not-”

“What? Healthy? In the best condition? Doesn’t matter as long as I have strength in this body,” she shot back matter-of-factly. When she smiled I noticed her teeth were slightly bucked. “Being polite won’t stop me from dying. Lead the way.”

She stared at me.

“Okay,” I conceded, trying to unfurrow my brows.

We carried the box out of the lift until we reached the nurse’s station beneath a plaque announcing that we were at St Thomas’ psychward. I signaled for us to stop at the station and we put the box down. The hospital band on her wrist had shifted angles and I was able to clearly make out a name as we stood up.

“Van Helsing?” I questioned, unable to conceal my bewilderment.

She glanced at the hospital band and then back at me.

“It’s a Dutch surname,” she explained with a small eye roll as if she was used to that question.

A bandage on the side of her neck drew my attention. What were the odds?

“As in Agatha Van Helsing?” I tried.

“As in Zoe Van Helsing,” she narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that name?”

“I think we might have a friend in common,” I murmured. I fumbled at my scarf, pretending to adjust it so I could grant her a small look on my neck. Risky, but it was the best option for me.

Zoe's eyebrows shot up. Her gaze lingered on my neck after I covered it and I smiled triumphantly. She knew.

“I wouldn’t call him a friend,” she finally said.

“Me neither,” I replied. She smiled back at me, though hesitantly. “Do you have time for a chat?”

She nodded.

“Let’s do this on my car.”

“Yeah, give me a second.”

I found a post-it inside my purse and scribbled quickly “Deliver to Francis Renfield, patient in the psychward. From Y/N L/N. ” I stuck it to the cover of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the book standing on top of one of the piles, and then gestured for Zoe that we could go.

I could barely breathe as we took the lift down to the car lot. After analysing Zoe, I wasn’t sure she breathed either. Finding someone else that I could talk to wasn’t the solace I was looking for but it was better than nothing. Taking by Zoe’s words she wasn’t any fonder of Count Dracula than I was.

We were met with heavy rain once outside the hospital. To our right stood a car lot. Zoe pointed at the largest car in the lot, a black Land Rover parked a few feet from the main entrance. Lowering our heads as a feeble attempt to shield ourselves from the rain, we ran for it. The car beeped twice once we got close to it. I flung open the passenger’s door and threw myself in, followed closely by Zoe on the driver’s side. We closed the doors in unison. Sticking the key in the car’s dashboard, she clicked some buttons next to the steering wheel and hot air started coming from the air system. I ran my hands down my hair, trying to get most of the water out.

“Count Dracula bit you,” she said simply. I looked at the bandage on her neck. “And me. Although from what I saw from your scar, he wasn’t trying to kill you.”

“No, he wasn’t. Was he trying to kill you ?”

Zoe turned her body on her seat as she plucked up a corner of the bandage and then threw her brown hair back to offer me a better view. The skin around it was as purple as the strangulation mark beneath my jaw. While the outline of teeth was as clear as day on my neck, her wound was a serrated gash with stitches over it that tried to mend it back.

“Jesus…” I winced.

“Yes, well. I suppose he treats his future brides to be much better than he treats his victims.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so shocked. It really isn’t that far of a leap and and by the expression on your face, I’d say I’m right.”

“What’s your connection to Agatha?”

“Distant relative. How do you know about her?”

“He told me.”

“Told you? God, you really must be special,” she said and then frowned. “Did he tell you she was a nun?”

“He killed a nun?” I shook my head and waved a hand to dismiss my last words. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised. Should expect worse from him, frankly.”

“Yes, you should. I would bet he hasn’t told you every little thing about him. He might not show you his worst side, I think.”

“I’m fairly acquainted with it. It’s why I’m here at the hospital. Dracula made a friend of mine his servant,” I grumbled as I ran a finger on the sore line on my neck. “Renfield didn’t take too kindly-”

“Renfield? The lawyer?”

I blinked.

“Yes. How-” I stopped, piecing it together. It was a leap, much like Zoe had put it, but all things considered, it wasn’t that much of a stretch. “You work for that Foundation, don’t you? The Jonathan Harker Foundation. That’s the only explanation for you knowing both Count Dracula and Renfield. Frank got Dracula out of there. Don’t be so shocked,” I imitated, smiling. “I work with Renfield and sometimes I assist him with his clients. I lucked out.”

“Some luck,” she rose her eyebrows.

“What stopped him from killing you? Don’t get me wrong but I highly doubt he would just let you go if you had him trapped.”

“I’ve got cancer working on my favour. His appetite doesn’t include that.”

Her skin’s sickly pale shade and her comment at the lift suddenly made sense. Cancer was working against her but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

“I wish his appetite didn’t include me,” I scoffed. “But I can’t escape him.”

She shook her head.

“Not if he’s interested in you. I think the only reason he didn’t murder each and all of us at the Jonathan Harker Foundation is because we weren’t intriguing enough for him,” she paused, creasing her brow. “I don’t want to be invasive but would you mind giving me a few samples?”

“Samples?”

“I’m a doctor. Vampirism is a field that I’m fairly new to and my only test subject is uncooperative. Cancer corrupted most of the scientific evidence on my blood,” she spoke fast, like she was afraid I would leave. “You’re my patient zero.”

I watched her carefully, waiting for a sign; one that told me that she was manipulating me, or waiting for my intuition to tell me something was off, or perhaps for my bond to Count Dracula to finally interfere on his behalf. There was none. Now that I knew who and what she did, I realised how dangerous it was to be sitting in a car with her. Count Dracula had escaped the grasps of the Foundation but not without legal aide, which probably meant Zoe Van Helsing had serious resources to imprison Count Dracula. With a start I realised that she could be my way out of that damned deal I had proposed.

“He’ll definitely kill me if he finds out,” I said with a sigh. “What do you need?”

Zoe grinned, a glint appearing on her tired eyes.

“Blood samples and some tissue from where Dracula bit you, a small piece of scab should do,” she said as she reached in the backseat and pulled an aluminum briefcase. Setting it in her lap, she opened it, casting me a quick glance. “Take off your coat.”

“Oh, we’re doing it now, right.”

I removed my scarf and coat. She made me rest my right elbow on the support pad between us before tying a rubber band above the elbow ditch. Once satisfied, she stuck a needle on me before I could look away, making me emit a small yelp.

“Don’t like having your blood taken?” she chuckled.

“Not like this,” I responded.

Zoe shot me a look and I grimaced.

“You liked it when he bit you?” she asked, concentrating now on the vial filling with my blood.

“Can we change the subject?”

“It can help with my research.”

“Are you being serious or just prying?” the question was packed with an anger I hadn’t expected.

“Both,” she shrugged. She changed the full vial for an empty one. When the new one started filling, she stared at me. “Well?”

“Yes. It felt good. More than good, actually. A close second to sex,” I measured how much between my thumb and forefinger on my free hand. Catching the frown and wide eyes in Zoe’s face, I shook my head vigorously. “Not with him. That’s never happening.”

The memory of his body over mine made me shift on my seat. I swallowed dryly.

“Really?”

“Never.”

“I’m not judging you, it’s just that you don’t seem to be so sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“I’m just the doctor,” while her expression was dead serious, the mischievous glint in her eyes gave her away. “Did it hurt at first?” I nodded. “And then it felt good?” Another nod. “I’ll test for dopamine and endorphins, as well. Those are our own bodies happy drugs. He might have some in his saliva in order to make it feel pleasurable.”

“Has it occurred to you that it might just be magic?” I asked as she changed vials again.

“Magic? Please. Some things pertaining Count Dracula might be magic but consuming blood is not one of them. Much like some snakes have venom to make it easier to eat their prey, I believe he might have an equivalent to that.”

“Well, did it work on you?”

“What?”

“Did you feel euphoric when he bit you?”

“No. I was terrified,” she replied. I raised my eyebrows at her and she shook her head. “Because it worked on you and not on me doesn’t mean it’s magic. Maybe he has some way of controlling the effect his bite has on people. We’re done with the blood samples. Now for the neck.”

She pulled the needle out and put a cotton pad over the tiny hole on my arm. She rose a vial, a marker pen in hand to write on the label.

“Y/N L/N,” I provided before she asked. “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” she chuckled, scribbling my name on all three vials. Next, she grabbed a pair of tweezers and a smaller vial. “Pull your hair back.”

I obeyed and tipped my head for her. There was a bit of pressure on the wound and then a tiny pinch followed by a burning sensation, making me yelp again.

“God, you’re dramatic,” she muttered.

I snuck a glance at her and caught her smirk.

“Only a little,” I said, returning to my normal posture as she placed a small piece of skin inside the vial. “What kind of cancer is it?”

“Pancreatic. Death sentence, really. Not many people survive it.”

“How long do you have?”

“I don’t know. It’s stage four. I decided against getting chemo the moment I got the diagnosis because I know it’s basically useless in this case. I’m relying solely on palliative care here at St Thomas Hospital,” she shrugged as she organised all the vials inside the briefcase. “Thank you, Y/N. You’re being great help. How many times has he bit you?”

“Only this once. And not enough to turn me, he says. He would’ve done it again, I think, if I had let him.”

“Let him? ”

I smirked at her disbelief.

“Yes, long story but basically I made him a deal where he’ll only bite me or turn me if I allow him.”

She blinked, mouth slightly agape.

“Why would you do that?”

“When I made that deal I thought I was being clever for bargaining when I was actually just bluffing. I won’t be able to stall for much longer, that much I know. I don’t want to be like him,” my voice trembled and I cleared my throat. “I have dates with him set for the future - don’t ask. If I find a way to distract him, have him at the right place at the right time…” I scrutinized her face with every word, “would you be willing to capture him again?”

She stared at me.

“It might get us both killed.”

“I know.”

She closed the briefcase with a definitive sound.

“I’ll do it but, we’ll need time to plan. I spent over 3 months planning how to get him out of the sea without casualties and we still had plenty of them. I’ll handle that part. He has weaknesses, such as the sun, religious items and diseased blood. Try to find something else to our advantage,” she straightened, raising her chin. “You might have to let him bite you.”

“Thought you would suggest that,” I muttered. “He would probably trust me more. But the minute I let him do it, he’ll know about us plotting against him. He can do this thing when he drinks someone’s blood-”

“I forgot about that. Hell.”

“I’ll keep leading him on until we figure it out,” I assured her with way more confidence than I felt. “What’s so interesting about vampirism to you, anyway?”

Zoe placed the briefcase on the backseat again before answering me.

“How does someone’s body not change in over five centuries? Dracula cut his wrist to let me collect his blood and the wound closed itself right before my eyes. It’s isn’t just magic, Y/N. There is a science to it, there must be.”

I stared at her.

“Five centuries without any disease,” I added as I put on my coat again. “That’s it, isn’t it, Zoe? You think his blood holds the answer to your cure.”

Her frown was deep.

“The Foundation isn’t about me. Curing diseases is one its goals, yes, and I won’t lie to you and say I don’t wish I could be rid of this thing eating me away. But it’s not just it. The world would change if we could isolate all the aspects in his blood-” she shook her head. “I can’t tell you more than that.” She pulled out a mobile phone from her jeans’ back pocket. “Give me your number."

I narrowed my eyes at her. Zoe was reticent enough about the Foundation to make me suspicious. A clandestine operation, Renfield had said. But did I really care?

“Fine,” I said and recited my number. “Calls only.”

“Agreed, less evidence this way,” she put her mobile back on her pocket. “I’ll call you over the next few days so we can set up a meeting. I’ll need more samples so I can follow up on your case’s progression.”

“Sure,” I said, wrapping my scarf around my neck. “I hope this works.”

She nodded, her fringe swaying to the sides as she did so.

“Me, too. Oh, make sure you take a shower and put your clothes on the washer when you get home. He’ll be able to smell me on you if you don’t.”

I grabbed my things and rolled my eyes.

“‘Bloodhound’ certainly applies well to him, doesn’t it?” I said.

Zoe was still chuckling when I hopped out of the car and ran from the rain.

Taglist: @festering-queen @feralstare @girlonfireice @dreamer2381 @rheabalaur @mr-kisskiss-bangbang @thorin-smokin-shield

I am so sorry if I forgot to anyone... please let me know if I did

#dracula fanfic #dracula bbc #dracula bbc fanfic #dracula 2020 #dracula netflix #claes bang #claes bang fanfic #claes bang fanfiction #dracula x reader #distorted lullabies #vampire fanfic #bbc dracula

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jinmukangwrites · 4 years ago

Text

Bruised (1/?)

For @batboycentral <3

Whumptober day 10

Internal Bleeding

Ao3

Warnings: blood, nosebleeds, illness

-o-o-o-o-

The first time he noticed it, he didn't actually notice it. Like, bruises were common in Tim's line of work. Sometimes, he'd wake up in the morning with enough purple splotches to almost look like he was trying out Cheetah cosplay. Not remembering where a bruise came from was just as frequent. When you went out close to every night to fight common street crime you're going to get hit very often. So often, that really, it would be impossible to remember where you've gotten every single bruise, cut, and ache.

Tim waking up this morning to see his legs had large, dark bruises polka-dotting his pale skin was nothing out of the ordinary.

He just looked at them, shrugged and wondered if he got that bruise sparring with Kon or if it was from stumbling on one of his lands last night while swinging roof to roof.

Then he continued with the rest of his day, not even thinking about them. They were just bruises, what was the point of wasting brain power thinking about them?

The second time he noticed it, he still didn't actually connect the dots. The only difference this time was that there were bruises on his arms as well.

"That looks painful," Bart pointed out, literally and figuratively as Tim made himself breakfast that morning. He had to practically dance out of the way from having the bruise on the outside of his bicep poked.

"It's just a bruise," Tim said, retreating from the Tower's kitchen counter with a bowl of cereal clutched in his hands. "People get them all the time."

Bart hummed and followed Tim to the table with a spark in his eyes that Tim didn't like. He'd have dodging practice early today, he guessed.

Bart sat down next to Tim, kicking his legs under the table. "I don't get bruises like that. It's big"

"Because you're superhuman with a heightened healing factor," Tim deadpanned before stuffing his mouth full of captain crunch.

"Oh yeah, I forget that sometimes."

“How do you just forget you have superpowers?!”

The third time he noticed it was when he actually began to wonder about it. For the past three days, he'd been covered in bruises. On his sides, limbs, even a persistent one on his cheek. And yes, he was used to being covered in bruises, but the bruises were starting to look strange, covered with little red dots that gave him the impression of acne hanging out right below the layers of his skin on his legs and arms. And it felt like he was getting bruised for every little thing. Cassie playfully punched his arm a little while earlier and he soon found himself scowling in the mirror, poking the dark stain of skin. Cassie punched hard, sure, but she knew her strength. Even when she was roughhousing, she knew how to make it so no one got hurt.

And then, there was the fact that he woke up this time with bruises once again, but he hadn't gone out the night before. He stayed in to hack into the mainframes of various potentially corrupt companies of Jump City and their neighboring city of San Francisco that they occasionally patrol from time to time. He didn't do anything last night to warrant bruises.

The third time he noticed it, he was more careful with it, because Tim wasn't dumb. He wasn't oblivious to his own body. His spleen was missing for crying out loud! That could change things about his health and how he pursued both his everyday life and his night life. Common illnesses could be deadly. His body just didn't function the way it used to.

But now, it wasn't just the bruises. It was also the new episodes of lightheadedness and weakness that he just… couldn't explain. He slept. Not a full 8 or even 7 hours of sleep every night but he still slept . He ate food. Good food, especially for dinner. Meats, vegetables, the whole shebang. It was impressive, actually, how well everyone at the Teen Titan's Tower ate, especially for being a bunch of, well, teenagers .

He shouldn't be that tired. Standing up shouldn't be a chore like it was beginning to become.

And the others were noticing as well, which only served to worry Tim more about his own health.

"Woah, you good?" Kon asked, grabbing Tim by the shoulders as he stumbled up from the couch and almost fell immediately backwards.

Tim slapped his hands off, even though normally he always welcomed the company of Kon, but he was close to panicking. Something was wrong, and he was afraid to figure out what. "I'm fine," he replied, trying to keep a fearful snap out of his voice. Judging by the way Kon scowled, Tim wasn't to be believed. "I'm just… tired."

"Tired"?" Bart asked, zipping up from the couch and ending up right in front of Tim in the blink of an eye. Bart was scowling, looking up at Tim with narrowed eyes. "Tim Drake? Tired? I don't believe it."

"No, Tim's always tired," Cassie put in, her voice carefully level to the point Tim almost winced. "Tim admitting to being tired? Feels almost like sacrilege."

Bart nodded, like that was what he was thinking the entire time and Tim had to swallow down a deep sigh. He sniffed and stepped away from the others, folding his arms across his chest. "I think I'm just coming down with something." Oh no, Kon's frowning. Tim quickly continued, sniffing again. Maybe. It's not a big deal. I'm just a little more tired than usual-" Tim sniffs once more as something wet begins to slide down the inside of his nostrils. Great. A runny nose? He reached the back of his hand up to his nose and wiped. "And feeling a little weak. But that's it. Just…"

All three of them were staring at him oddly now. He frowned.

"What?"

"Tim…" Cassie started, "your nose is bleeding."

"What?!"

Tim looked down at the hand he had used to wipe under his nose, and to his shock he saw a thin streak of red trailing down over his thumb joint, parallel to his pointer finger. Right next to one of his strange bruises.

He reached up to his nose, wiping once more. His eyes widened when his hand came away with more blood. He sniffed again, only this time he brought his hand back up to his nose and kept it there. "I'm gonna... um…"

"Go," Kon said, "we'll talk after."

Tim nodded, knowing there was no way his friends would let him off the hook now that he admitted to not feeling the greatest. He quickly rushed past them—sniffing and sorely hoping no blood would drop down onto his shirt and stain it—and eventually found himself inside one of the many bathrooms built into the Tower. Using his free hand, he grabbed a tissue and painstakingly folded it up a few times. He leaned over the sink as he finally let the hand cupping his nose fall away, and instantaneously a few drops fell into the sinks porcelain. He swiftly pressed the tissue over his nose and turned on the water to wash his now blood streaked hand. The water ran crimson to pink and back to clear. He turned off the water and carefully closed the toilet seat lid to sit down on the shaggy purple cover. He kept the napkin pressed tightly over his nose and leaned back against the wall, breathing through his mouth and fighting the dizzy feeling settling in his brain and on his chest.

He could taste blood in his mouth. He hoped it was because the blood was dripping the wrong way down into his throat and not because of alternate reasons. He could see the dots. He didn't want to connect them. Not yet. He just had to wait for his bleeding nose to stop. Then he could start sorting out the symptoms.

Unconsciously, he brought his free hand to his side, under his armpit and above his stomach, then ran his fingers over the scar placed there under his cotton tee-shirt.

Please don't be related. Please oh please don't be related.

He exhaled, swallowing blood, and dragged his hand away to pull out his phone. He ignored the Google app and instead began to distract himself by checking the notifications on every other app he owned. Tumblr, Discord, Instagram, all of them. Every so often, he'd pull the napkin away from his nose just to immediately put it back when blood attempted to drip down. Eventually, he ran out of apps to laze through and opened his Email, however he immediately gained a headache when he saw most of them belonged to Wayne Enterprises.

After quickly changing the napkin for a new one once his fingertips began to feel wet, he opened the Play Store and downloaded the first mindless game he could tap on.

He was in the middle of figuring out where the sevens could go in his solitaire game when a knock on the door caught his attention. He lowered his phone and turned towards the door. "Yeah?" He yelled, his voice nasally thanks to the tissue still squeezing his nostrils shut.

"You good?"

Kon's voice. He sounded concerned.

"Um, yeah?"

A beat of silence. Then a clearing of a throat. "You're still bleeding?"

Tim almost hummed, but that would shoot gore out of his nose. So he clicked his tongue instead. "Yeah. A- a little."

More silence. "Do… do noses usually bleed this long?"

And not for the first time does Tim regret making friends with mostly superheroes who are, in fact, super. With their indestructible skin, healing factors, and amazing feats of strength, it was sometimes hard for them to comprehend how plain old humans with no abilities acted in certain situations. What plain old humans with no abilities needed to keep physically healthy. He loved his friends, no doubt about it, but questions like do noses bleed for this long gets his head spinning with the realization that this was his life.

Tim tucked his phone away in his pocket. "Um, depends. Really."

He should open the door. Talk to Kon face to face. He sounded genuinely hung up on Tim's health. Talking directly with each other should help calm Kon down at least. He put his hand on the counter next to him and used it to lift himself up.

Once his butt left the toilet seat, he knew he had just made a mistake. The world swirled and his head suddenly began to pound. He wasn't sure if he blinked, or even blacked out, but he did know that one moment he was halfway to sitting and the next he was on the ground with his legs crumbled beneath him, blinking cobwebs from his dizzied brain as the door suddenly slammed open.

And that was another thing about being a part of both a team and a friend group of supers. They sometimes underestimated how much a plain old human with no abilities could take. Though this time, Tim was pretty sure the worry on Connors face was for good reason. Those poor door hinges though… they’d need replacing...

There was a warm, copper tasting liquid dripping down over his lips and off his chin. During the confusion, his hand holding the napkin had ended up limp by his side, his body having forgotten to hold it over his nose while he blanked out and fell. At the back of his far away head, he knew that the amount of blood dripping from his nose, especially considering how long he's sat here with his fingers pinching it shut, was way more than what should be normal.

It took a tremendous amount of energy to lift his eyes up to Kon, who at this point had ended up in front of Tim, kneeling with hands lifted and eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" Kon was asking. His voice teetered the line of hysterics.

Tim brought his hand up to his face and tried to wipe away the blood to open his mouth, but all he did was smear the liquid over his hands and face. His heart pounded as he leveled his gaze into Kon's eyes. He thought of the bruises, and rash like dots on his arms and legs. He thought of his spleen, of the lack of it. He thought about his compromised immune system. He thought about the dizzy spells. The weakness. He thought about how his nose should have stopped bleeding by now.

"I think… I think I need a hospital.

-o-o-o-o-

End of chapter one. More will update after whumptober is finished. Please do not ask to be put on a tag list.

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imagineofallkindsxxx · 4 years ago

Text

Eternal Flame- Kol Mikaelson 5/?

You Should Be Like Me, Be Single!

Summary: 'You never know whats in a persons heart until you truly know them' - Belle French, Once Upon a Time

Singing. Thats all what Alexandra Gilbert has cared about since she was young and all she would care about until she met him.

With Alexandra fighting vampires, werewolves and all inbetween she may do a thing she vowed never to do, fall in love.

And to think it all started with a walk in the woods...

Waking up from the previous night was like I just had a bad dream but the bruises on my arm remind me that what happened was very very real. I looked at the digital clock on my night stand and saw it read 7:31. Shit. I ran into the bathroom to brush my teeth and have the quickest shower known to man before changing into burgundy dress with short sleeves and ends mid-thigh. Put on some winged eyeliner, highlighter and a nice shade of dark red lipstick. I ran down stairs seeing its 8:05, I'm able to get a coffee quick before heading off to the first day of school. When walking into the kitchen I saw my little brother on a stool. I poured myself some coffee into a travel mug before turning towards him.

"Hey. How are you?" I asked curious to how my baby brother is holding up.

"Alright considering. But I should be asking you that, how are you after last night?" I looked at him thinking of an answer that wouldn't seem selfish and rude but also honest. I hate bitching about Elena towards my brother. I don't want him to feel like he has to pick between the two of us. Before I could answer him, I heard a loud honk outside making me realise that Sam was here to five me a ride to school.

"That's my ride. do you want a lift to school?" I asked like every day and everyday he'd decline

"Nah I'm fine, Elena is taking me." I smiled and ruffle his hair before bidding him good bye seeing out my peripheral vision him trying to fix his hair making me smile a little. I grabbed my bag and walked outside getting into Sam’s car, he picks me up as on his way to school he passes my house, it’s been that way since sophmore year even before me and Elena became estranged.

"Hey, what's up?" Sam asks.

"Hi, nothing just a bit tired that's all. We still on for tonight?" I replied leaving out the reason I didn’t sleep being because of the worrisome thoughts about a certain Lockwood.

"To my knowledge. Hope so anyway, first performance in a month this Saturday. We need to prepare." He said determined to do well this weekend. Sam was always the most determined out of the four of us which I admired greatly. I hummed in agreement to his previous statement. We listened to music trying to find any song that would fit our genre on the radio before pulling up into the school parking lot filled with miserable teens not wanting to go back to school. We got out grabbing my bag and helping Sam with his bass I told him I'd meet him inside at our spot which I already know James will be lurking, he’s always early to get in. I saw my sister and her friends and walked up to them hearing Caroline say.

"Here we are. Senior year." Which made me sigh making my presence known.

"Anyone else think it should feel slightly more empowering?" Bonnie said voicing my thoughts of how deflating and normal this feels.

"Absolutely Bon. Understand where you're coming from." I replied agreeing with the witch.

"Okay. So, prank night was a bust. But we are accepting it, and we are moving on" she addressed us all not making me feel any better but for sake of pretence I put a smile on my face. This was before the pity party of my friends started with Bonnie starting by saying.

"You're right. I mean, why should I let the fact that my boyfriend is seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriends hinder this experience?" Wait what? Jeremy is speaking to his dead girlfriends? Plural? Jesus this is fucked up

"Today's our anniversary. Technically, Stefan and I met on the first day of school last year."

"Yes! And why should I let the fact that my boyfriend was turned into a hybrid put a damper on an otherwise fabulous day?" Caroline added making me think fair enough. Then Elena spoke.

"Okay you win" Caroline declared, this is when I stepped in and started walking backwards away from my sister and friends.

"Won what? The biggest pity party? You should be like me ladies, be single! Much easier than dealing and worrying about little boys!" I said with a huge smile on my face. I mean what's the big deal? "I’ll see you later." Walking away from the group of girls. I walked to our spot where I now realised Mark had joined also. this led to the four of us discussing what class we have next.

"I've got gym. Fantastic" Sam says sarcastically "Just what I need to start the first day of school"

"Better than math, feel like poking my eyes out just with the thought of quadratic equations" Mark states groaning at the thought of the numerical based class.

"I've got history. Decent compared to you two." I said looking at my time table.

"Same, thank god. I'm terrible at history. I literally only passed because I copied most of the work off of you." James informed me of his cheating.

"Gee thanks Jamie. feel so great about one of my best friends cheating." he just ignored me turning towards the rest of the group, "I'm going to put my stuff in my locker. Meet you here before heading to history?" I asked James.

"Yeah, sure." He dismissed me too engrossed in the conversation about a football game next week? Honestly, I don't particularly care about the game itself but the players do make up how boring the sport is.

I stalked off to my locker putting in my combination before seeing Elena and Caroline a few lockers up from me.

"Hello ladies." I said letting them know that I am there where Caroline shhh'd me pointing towards my sister who was on the phone, I gave her a questioning look.

"Damon" she whispered and I nodded in realization.

*******************************************************

"Rebekah? She's living with you now? Why?" asking many somewhat reasonable questions about the original, she’s quiet for a few seconds which I’m sure is waiting on Damon finishing.

"What about Stefan? What is he up to?" Asking about her beau worrying about him and his most likely death count. She waits while Damon answers.

"Come on Damon. I can handle it. What?" Persisting that Damon tells her what her boyfriend is doing before taking her phone away from her ear revealing he hung up on her. Yikes, must be bad.

Caroline then when the conversation finished put up a flyer next to me with it saying 'Spirit Squad Back to school Bonfire'.

"Is that tonight?" I questioned my friend forgetting all about the tradition, hopefully this one doesn’t turn out the same way the prank night did.

"I forgot about the bonfire" Elena said having more important matters to think about. Caroline taking our forgetfulness as not wanting to go by her rushing to say.

"You have to go. it's our first spirit quad event. And it sets the bar for the whole year." But me and Elena both ease her nerves by confirming that we will go and for her to relax. "Thank you. It's just that..." but before she could finish Tyler comes in suddenly and kisses Caroline.

"Happy first day!" he exclaims to the three of us which I give a small smile at until I see the red mark on his shirt which Elena clocks as well.

"Is that blood?" The brunette asks.

"Oh my god!" Caroline exclaims before pushing him into the boy’s bathroom with me and my twin following the couple.

"What's going on?!" he exclaims seeming genuinely confused about how having your breakfast on your shirt is a bad look.

"Vampire 101... don't wear your breakfast to school!" I'm checking if anyone was in the cubicles and would hear the supernatural based conversation going on between the couple.

"Chill out. it’s just a blood bag." Tyler said attempting to defend himself.

"From where?" Caroline questioned still extremely angry looking, before I could see this car crash of a conversation get even worse, I decided to escape

"Yeah. I’m just going to go now. Bye" being awkward but I had to get out of there. "Thank Christ I'm single" I muttered when I left the restroom.

I walked towards the spot in the corner only seeing James making me think the rest have went to class.

"Did you just come out of the boy’s restroom?" he asked confused about my whereabouts.

"Don't ask." I said and surprisingly he didn’t make fun making me think that I look quite stressed about the fact my friend turned hybrid is now going around with blood on his shirt.

It’s not even first period.

"Let’s just get to class."

When walking to class we made idle chat James trying to keep my spirits up. "Thanks James. I might let you cheat off my first paper just for this."

"For what?" he asked looking confused

"Being a good friend" yet he still looked confused when we walked into the class together, I saw my sister and Alaric talking quite closely making me furrow my eyebrows before smiling at the teacher and walking to the middle of the class where neither of us would be noticed. the class bell rang as I got my notebook out and wrote 'AP American History' on the front copying from the blackboard on the front. I overheard Elena saying to Alaric

"Look, him being here is not good for any of us. We have to do something." making me give her a questioning look which she dismissed by mouthing 'later' but something tells me it might have to do something with a vampire boyfriend with hero hair. Elena sits in her usual seat with Caroline coming and sitting next to left and Kyle sitting on her right well before our new resident psycho comes in to my shock going right to Kyle before saying menacingly.

"You're in my seat" making Kyle move to another seat. Poor Kyle.

Before anything else could be said Alaric started to teach the class

"Welcome back seniors. Let’s turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders... the Native Americans." Great can already feel how fascinating this lesson is, James already looking like he will fall asleep at any moment before class has even begun.

"What about the Vikings?" a girl asks taking a seat next to me

"She's hot" I heard a whisper come from my left making me give him a glare. before going back to looking at the blonde sitting next to me. Ric just replied by saying "There's no evidence the Viking explorers actually settled in the United States. Who are you?"

"My names Rebekah and history is my favourite subject"

Hope you enjoyed reading.

A/N: I fucked up with chapters so this is chapter 3 the beginning of 'smells like teen spirit.'

his was is the beginning of the episode and next will introduce Alex best girl friend Ash, dynamics between her and a certain character and more of the band.

Any British slang, spelling or grammar problems let me know.

Thanks for reading Lovelies xxx

Please comment any positive or negative feedback

#kol mikaelson imagine #kol mikaelson x you #kol mikaelson x reader #kol mikaelaon #the vampire diaries imagines #the originals imagine #kol mikaelson series

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pocmuzings · 4 years ago

Note

um... kassie for the ship headcanon meme hehe

this is my wife btw . . . doing this to me . . ok . . hot . . will do . u know i’d do anything for u . .

1. Who makes the first move and how? i honestly think it was pretty even steven here ? they both bickered a lot at their photo shoot , working together . i feel like cassie was SO frustrated with him and his easy charm / cockiness that she probably kissed him first just to shut him up

2. Who is the most insecure and what makes them feel better? cassie has always had severe insecurities and issues there . i think just being in the same space as kyle always soothes her ? like he’ll make a dumb joke , or say smth dumb n sarcastic or poke fun at her lightly at it’ll kinda help her get out of her head ? she also loves taking baths , or just lying in bed together .

3. Who is the most romantic? i feel like it’s cassie with the smaller things . she remembers the birthdays and she’ll see a cologne she think would be nice on kyle . but kylie is romantic in a lot of different ways , too . he’ll do things like clean the dishes or cook dinner if cassie seems particularly stressed . he’ll help organise her calendar . he’ll be more practical with how he helps her out at times ?

4. Who can’t keep their hands to themselves? both of them dfjkfjn but probably mainly cassie . she sees kyle anywhere and shes like PURR

5. Who says ‘I love you’ first? absolutely cassie and then she probably sprinted away in pure fear bc shes like ‘why did u say that why why why ‘

6. Who would they ask if they ever had a threesome? tyler ? max ? those would be cassies pick . honestly it wouldn’t surprise me if kyle has Asked the q so they’d probably just get some random hot model they work together with some time

7. What do they get up to on a night out? a LOT of shots and a LOT of dancing and it gets very messy bc they’ll be in vip areas and having bottle service . it’ll end with a quickie in the bathroom , or her lipstick all over kyle’s neck and mouth and them probably getting kicked out for being too rowdy

8. What do they like in bed? they’re both pretty experimental ? cassie likes tying kyle up every now and then and like . . kinda being in control there when she can ? but she’s a definite switch and likes when he ties her up , or they’re in a kitchen with food getting messy . cassie likes when shes doing something and kyle just spins her from behind , or he’ll be the one to grab her and just be insatiable about her . she likes spontaneous sex and she’ll never say no to a quickie . both of them are Experienced players in the sex game so they’ve probably both tried everything once , and probably leave a lot of bruises on each other and hickies .

9. What is the most embarrassing thing they have done in front of each other? honestly at any shoot if like . . cassie’s outfit has fallen apart in front of kyle , or she feels like the shoot isn’t going well and he’s there ? she gets mortified . also the first time she said ‘ i love you ‘ was pretty embarrassing to her bc kyle was probably 1000% taken aback . kyle doesn’t really get embarrassed ?!?!? like he just is like . .yeah i did that . anyways fjnfdjk

10. What two songs, two books and two luxury items do they take to a desert island? IM SKIPPING THIS Q ITS TOO HARD

11. What do they hide from one another? kyle definitely hides the amount of girls he’s slept with in their industry ? bc its a lot i feel ? and he knows cassie gets jealous and mad insecure . so he probably tries not to bring that up really often but cassie usually KNOWS ANYWAYS . cassie mainly hides like if shes had a bad day or isnt doing too hot , bc she hates inconveniencing kyle but then that starts a fight bc hes like ?? just tell me ? ?

12. What first changes when it starts getting serious? less work trips . less spending time apart . less kissing other people / sleeping with other people ( actually . .NO kissing other ppl and sleeping with other ppl ) . they’re both NOT monogamists at all so its a struggle but thats the sign that they wanna make things serious ? that they’re commiting to each other ?

13. When do they realise they should get together? HONESTLY I DON’T KNOW ? i think its when cassie was with gale and then . . kyle came back and things got really messy and cassie and gale broke up . kyle and cassie tried the whole friends thing but they both knew they were in love with each other ? like they’d never tried just being FRIENDS first so i think thats what really cemented it and their feelings and surety ?

14. When one has a cold, what does the other do? kyle probably laughs and calls her adorable and kisses her nose bc shes so whiny when shes sick . but he’ll bring her home 300 medicines and soups . cassie has to literally force him to take time off work and then she’ll take the day off to make sure he properly rests dkjfkjnfjk

15. When they watch a film what do they choose and why? they probably pick anything random bc honestly they get distracted and never finish it :-)

16. When the zombie apocalypse comes, how do they cope together? KYLE TO THE RESCUE ! i think cassie would make a great scavenger and find lil helpful things but kyle would be v stoic and protective and he’d be the Muscle of it all .

17. When they find a time machine, where do they go? absolutely back to high school them . they were so happy and stupid and soft back then . they were goofy and in love without even knowing it .

18. When they fight, how do they make up? sex . a lot of sex . yelling and then sex . sex and then yelling . it’s always a bit messy , but one of them will always finally give in and come back with their tail between their legs and apologise .

19. Where do they go on their first date? honestly they never really did dates but i feel one of their many dates is probably to paris , a fancy restaurant there where they’re known really well by all staff .

20. Where do they go on holiday? EVERYWHERE! they both travel a bunch so they’ll go to their favourite places . cassie wants to see kyle’s home but she knows kyle hates his dad so that may not happen fjkfnfj . milan . . greece ( if they really wanna a getaway ) . hawaii . any island or tropical place ! or france bc fashion !

21. Where do they get nervous about going with one another? cassie is always nervous about like paparazzi and stuff when they go out in red carpets and stuff bc they say a lot of dumb shit to rile them up ??? also cassie gets nervous before bringing kyle to her mums grave . i definitely know kyle would be nervous and not ok with cassie meeting his parents . .

22. Where does their first kiss happen? i think it happened on shoot ? they had to kiss for a shoot i think and it was Grating and Annoying and kyle was being so smug , and then they . . kissed more backstage sdjknfnkjfkjn

23. Where is their favourite place to be together? probably nice 5 star hotel rooms bc they can live their life and not worry too much abt clean up and stuff fkjnfnkfnf cliche but anywhere theyre together . . theyre happy . .

24. Where do they first have sex? probably in a limo , all rushed and heated , hand prints all over the leather , their bodies , and the windows.

25. Why do they fight? bc they’re both really stubborn and too similar . they fight bc one is jealous of the other . they fight bc of their body count . or bc of their coworkers or the types of shoots they do ( a la sexy ) . they fight when one is away too much . honestly its mainly cassie i think cassie gets riled up very easily . kyle gets mad when CASSIE is being unreasonable which is 3000% of the time . cassie is just always lowkey scared kyle will leave her again dkjfjk

26. Why do they need to have a serious chat? probably if kyle went home and then came back and was acting v distant or short with cassie ? then she’d be like ok we r talking . honestly . probably talk to each other about their dumb jealousy issues if it got too out of hand . i know kyle monitors cassie taking her meds so if she tried to go off them unsolicited he’d be like baby no .

27. Why do their friends get annoyed with them? bc they bicker and then fuck all the time JKFDJNFJKF

28. Why do they get jealous? bc they’ve both . . slept with everyone ! they’re both hoes !

29. Why do they fall a little bit more in love? bc they were horribly destined to be together and everytime they see each other they’re ALL the other one sees . they can’t keep their eyes ( or hands ) off each other . they fall more in love everytime they spend a second of time together and learn more of each other in any manner or form .

30. Why does it work (or not work) between them? it doesn’t work . . it CAN’T work . but somehow it does . from all their jealousies and insecurities . from all the kinda - cheating , and the fighting , and the leaving each other , and the other issues . . from EVERYTHING . . they’re just too epic to not have worked , u know ? they are soul mates in a way . they always always found their way back to each other . they’re inseparable . they will never stop loving each other , no matter what . good , bad , ugly , beautiful .

#ship: kassie #ARE U HAPPY PS I LOVE U SO MUCH HOLD MY HAND RIGHT NOW!#frgilebones

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welcome-to-the-dreamy · 4 years ago

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Random Olly drabbles

This includes all the mcs aha, because why not

2am. Oliver had pulled out his DDD to check the time, before shoving it back in his pocket and turning his attention back to the purple haired demon in front of him. It was a regular occurrence for Oliver to be found in Leviathan’s room, often accompanied by Bernadette, who happened to be asleep in the avatar of envy’s lap. Levi’s kept subconsciously stroking her hair, all his energy directed towards beating the human boy sitting next to him. Once Oliver had lost once more, the boy leaned back and grumbled a bit. It didn’t make it better when the demon started boasting

“Alright alright. But you’ve got years of experience Levi.”

Levi put a dorito in his mouth in retaliation, sticking his tongue out. Bernadette and Oliver had introduced him to human culture, it was safe to say that Leviathan was sort of addicted. Oliver popped open a fizzy drink, his similarities to his sister showing. He knew he wouldn’t get any sleep at this point, but he could handle a one nighter.

It had been 5 months since the humans had arrived at the Devildom. But holy, it felt like forever. Everyone was always talking about how the time seemed to fly, but why did it feel like so long? 7 months couldn’t pass slower, in his opinion. I mean, it wasn’t all bad here. He had made several friends with the demons, and would consider himself… somewhat close with the demon prince. It made it a little more bearable. Levi snapped the brown haired boy out of his trance, and they played until the sun rose. … “Olllyyy” Lia poked around at his face, noticing how he looked sickly, a sign that he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. He waved her hands away from his face, like he was swatting a fly “Stop it Lia-” He groaned, trying to get away from his elder sister, thankfully, she was distracted by Asmo and finally left him alone. He refused the coffee offered to him by Sen, thinking the dark drink tasted fucking awful. Though he didn’t say this out loud. He unwillingly stuffed some food down his throat, knowing he’d get lectured on this after. He could feel Lucifer’s eye on him from across the table, he looked up and gave the raven-haired demon a death stare, moving over to talk to Satan.

…

After Oliver had fallen asleep 3 times at RAD in one day, Belphie had taken him under his wing and forced him to take naps. Alongside the avatar of sloth of course. This didn’t help. Oliver’s already non-existent sleep schedule had somehow been ruined further, as the boy now had even more energy during the night. He didn’t mind though, for he really enjoyed Belphie’s company. The demon was one of the few that didn’t treat him like a literal child, even though he was only a couple of years younger than the other humans. The two dudes had the strangest conversations, as they were half asleep when most of them occurred. Some unlucky people had walked in whilst they were having these, it was safe to say they were slightly scarred. A few however, such as Usako, had happily joined in the conversations. Though it turned into her and Belphie cuddling and Oliver feeling really awkward. Yeah, it did annoy him a bit that practically everyone in this house seemed to be dating someone. Though he didn’t mind some, he loved the Mammorons chaotic duo, and he got along well with both Bernadette and Levi. Though some of the couples made him want to gag.

…

Speaking of the Mammorons, after Oliver had summoned Mammon some money, the demon had validated him as “worthy of the great Mammon’s attention”. That meant that the poor boy was constantly casting memory spells on Lucifer and co, though he really didn’t mind messing with Lucifer’s head. Gerik and Reese had an average relationship. They got along well. But Oliver seemed to lose his one brain cell when he was around him. The 2 humans would go out with Mammon then be found running back to the house of lamentation sonic speed shrieking their lungs off, Reese being carried by Mammon (of course). This happened around once every week.

…

Oliver got on decently with the non-inhabitants of the HoL. He found himself constantly around Diavolo however, though he had no idea how. He was uncomfortable around Barbatos at first, but he warmed up to him with all the time he spent around Diavolo and Solomon. He really enjoyed all the sweets he made, and frequently brought some back home, eating all of Lucifer’s favourites of course. Oliver, like everyone else, was stunned by Simeon’s beauty. He remembered whispering to Levi and Bern“This is meant to DEVALUE sin?!?!?”, in which Bern had agreed and Levi got jealous. Oliver had stuttered around the angel at first, as yknow, he was really pretty, though once he started treating him like he treated Luke, the human boy quickly yeeted out of there. Whenever Oliver came over to purgatory hall for his lessons with Solomon, he would normally stay an extra hour to play video games with Luke. He had introduced the little angel to them and he had become addicted. Oliver got even more sweets, which he was happy about. They weren’t on the same level as Barbatos’, but they were delicious either way.

Now, onto the white haired shady mage. As much as Oliver admired him, Solomon really did put him through rigorous training. He would frequently come home with around 5 more bruises and another bandage somewhere on his body. Turns out, becoming a powerful sorcerer wasn’t muttering a few magic words. A lot of physical training seemed to be involved. Nobody except the two boys knew what happened in their lessons. Though everyone had made some wild guesses.

…

As for his relationships with the rest of the humans, they were really varied. There was Hori, who slapped him on the back in greeting and pulled him in to ruffle his hair with her fist. There was Sen, who was like a motherly figure, but in a completely different way from Lia. He felt really comfortable around the black haired female. Ary was an absolute nightmare though, somehow managing to hit every bruise he had on his body when she slapped him in greeting, similar to Hori. Again, the boy found himself casting an awful lot of magic, mainly to nullify her blows. Him and Gerik just seemed to chill together, their conversations mostly being small talk, though Oliver would generally bond with the elder boy over constantly being treated like a child. Yen and him got along, they exchanged spells and Yen would constantly encourage him to read more, as well as constantly telling him about the condition of his skin and how he needed to take better care of it. Oliver admired Julia a lot, constantly asking her to teach him more magic, as the boy really was hungry for power. She rejected at first before eventually giving in and teaching him a few basic spells.

#oop #i love him

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saizoswifey · 6 years ago

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AKA our favorite thing in the world !!!!!!! jsjsjsjdfkjsfj I love you so much thank you for this ask @catchthespade !! I’m not replying to this directly because I wanted to add images and going right from the ask makes the layout stupid lmao. (and I fucking hate tumblr because you can’t add text between nicely bunched images and it downgrades the quality to fucking hell but here we are)…

This gets semi-N//SFW

______________________

Okay SO. Saizo is one of the most intensely jealous characters in the game. He even gets jealous of Yukimura:

I’ll put the rest under a cut for length purposes….this is LONG [seriously] and also mild spoilers for event stories to (hopefully) come…

AND LET’S NOT FORGET

Obviously, he is pissed but not going to hurt Yukimura in any way. I think in a lot of ways he turns his jealous feelings into teasing/poking fun at the person he is jealous of. It’s his defense mechanism and he likes to push their buttons or make them look like a complete idiot in order to ease his anxieties and make himself feel better.

We know his jealousy goes far enough that in canon he keeps MC from screaming during sex so Yukimura does not hear it, and he also has been known to keep Yukimura and Chibi Sasuke busy in order to not be interrupted with MC.

Saizo literally gives ZERO FUCKS about what is going on around them when it comes to MC and his jealousy. He’ll ruin anything, he’ll stop anything, he’ll make the biggest fucking scene. We saw it in his route when he swiped her up from the faux wedding. There’s another event upcoming, in which MC is chosen for a lead part in a performance (in which she must kiss the male lead). At first, the male lead chosen is Yukimura, and Saizo seems to not care one bit, he doesn’t seem threatened. And I mean, Yukimura is his bestie and he trusts him so that makes sense, it’s a play kiss with no meaning. However, Yukimura gets sick and the part lands on Sasuke (BIG ninja Sasuke, not chibi). Saizo. Is. Pissed. He literally jumps on the stage and ruins the whole fucking things by stealing MC and running away before they can kiss because he won’t allow it.

Now, these are all “friendly” encounters with jealousy. However. I think Saizo has a very dark side to how possessive he can be when it comes to MC.

We’ve seen in canon him mentioning several times that he will kill men if they try to see her intimately. In an upcoming ES we see just how pissy Saizo can get when he gets jealous of someone who ISN’T a friendly threat but a random stranger. MC volunteers to help at a nearby school but the teacher ends up being a real creepo. Saizo knows it right away but MC doesn’t listen or understand and continues to go there despite the fact that she is starting to receive letters from an unknown stalker. Saizo goes into freak-out mode and keeps watch of her from a distance 24/7. He shows up at the school purposefully to send a message to the guy, and the moment he DOES end up making a move, Saizo reveals himself AND HIS SWORD.

Saizo may be the kind-hearted softie when it comes to MC and Yukkins, but the cold and calculating, unflinching Saizo is still very much a part of him. He has no qualms with murder and death, and since he holds all of like 3 people dear to him, he will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.

SO, what sets his jealousy/possessiveness off the most?

When someone has known MC longer than he has/someone who appears to be very close with MC. Saizo may have met MC long ago but he wasn’t able to be by her side and he’s pretty self-conscious about that fact. He doesn’t like it when someone tries to show they know her more intimately than he does.

MC talking about other men, ESPECIALLY when they’re in bed together or have alone time. It’s few and far between they get quiet moments together so the last thing he wants to hear is about another guy no matter the context.

MC not listening when he tries to warn her about someone or tell her not to do something. He’s got a sixth sense for trash people and he’s usually pretty easy going, so when he tells you to stay away from someone its for a good reason. Not to mention the fact that it’s hurtful to have your S/O ignore your advice in order to spend time with someone else.

Anxiety after almost dying or losing MC.

Of course, there are lots of other reasons, but I think these are the most prevalent, the ones that will actually get a huge rise out of Saizo. As far as other random jealousy/possessive HC’s, Dare I say……yandere???:

Absolutely keeps tabs on you like at all times. If it’s not him himself(which it usually is) he sends Kiyohiro to watch and report back. If he even so much as WHIFFS someone is being creepy towards you he is ending that shit right away.

How he takes care of them depends on the level of creep. And maybe how he’s feeling that day. If they can be scared off easily he could simply drop into their room in the dead of night, wake them up with a blade to the throat, “shhh, quiet now or I may just slip.” Perhaps he slips something into their evening tea and carries their unconscious body to the nearest cliff or into the woods. Maybe he writes a “love letter” in MC’s hand and lures them to a remote area, sword ready and Utsusemi ready to gobble some plucked eyes. Either way, MC will be none the wiser.

“Hm? The grocer disappeared? That is strange…so what’s for dinner, little lady?”

Has no qualms being vocal about his jealousy (most of the time). If it strikes his nerve just right he’ll come out and say he doesn’t like XYZ and wants you to stop. Other times, you have to pay attention to when he is being bitchy and distant.

If he could, he’d keep you locked away all to himself. He has real issues with love/ownership/things because of his childhood. He’s never known how to have things, especially not precious things. So how does he control himself? He knows it’s not right to keep you locked away, so instead, he controls what he can keep to himself. Your ears showing, your skin showing, your dango, your blush/pleasured expressions, your moans. He doesn’t want anyone else experiencing this stuff of yours.

That being said, he WOULD 100% lock you the fuck up if you were down for it. He’d get you a pretty little ribbon to tie around your neck and a comfortable room with things to keep you occupied, he’d bring you your meals and feed you, he’d bathe you, he’d tie you up sometimes when he was feeling extra anxious.

On the off-chance someone actually did hurt you, its game over. It doesn’t matter if they had their hands on you, they left a small wound/mark, or something worse–they’re dead. Saizo will go into autopilot and obliterate the person. Bloodbath.

In his efforts to keep you safe, he sometimes loses his sense of what is right and wrong with control. At his worst, he WILL refuse to allow you to leave his sight. By any means necessary.

Blocking exits. Tieing you up (he knows the best and most efficient ways to immobilize you in seconds). Drugging you (such as putting you to sleep).

When he’s feeling extra insecure he’ll claim you for himself. Tear your clothes off and tease you until you admit he’s the only one you love. He’ll make you say his name over and over again, and hearing it will ease his worries. He may even be inclined to break his own rules and let someone hear him fucking you so they know you belong to him.

If you’re out in public and he starts to get jealous, he’ll pull you roughly into a dark secluded corner or onto a rooftop and tease you, pull at your collar and grip your face so you can’t look away from his intense expression

“Keep this up little lady, and I’m going to have to punish you.” He nips at your exposed clavicle. “Or…was that what you were hoping for all along?”

Out of spite and pure jealousy he would 10/10 fuck you in a space such as a person’s bedroom or work, or with an item of that person’s. A way to get back at them and know he’s claimed you there or while you were wearing that (like fucking you on top of someone’s haori or with a hairpin they gave you in your hair before he gave it back to them) and they will never know.

Has NO PROBLEMS talking about having sex with you. As long as they don’t see you its chill. He will let it out that he just had your legs spread 10 minutes ago and smile. He’ll go into detail. Especially when someone is trying to intimidate him over you.

“Sorry, she won’t be able to meet you tomorrow like she promised. She’ll be quite sore…if you get what I mean. She looks quite sweet and docile but don’t let that fool you, she’s a different person when the lights are off. It’s no myth some women are wild in bed when you least expect it. Some night she asks for it so many times I have to wake up and check for bruises ^^ well, anyway, look at me going on when I’m sure with a face like that all of this is completely foreign to you. Don’t be discouraged, someone always has to be the late bloomer on the branch, hm?”

Definitely has a mental list of all of the people he’s threatened or killed over you

Sometimes Kiyohiro has to step in and warn people to GTFO and leave before Saizo ends up murdering them

Has had the urge to kill Inuchiyo more than once LOL

Sometimes uses his Kotodama when he’s jealous.

Maybe it’s during an interrogation of the person trying to steal you from him or harm you. If they deny, he’ll use his power to get them to confess the truth before torturing them. Maybe they lose an appendage for every time they lied or stalked MC.

He’ll use it to keep you near him, keep you still, after your life was threatened. He needs time to look over your body, check for injuries, make sure you’re okay and tell you how much each finger and tear mean the world to him.

HATES WHEN OTHER MEN TOUCH YOU. It disgusts him if they had ill intentions and he hates to think that you had to endure that. He’ll order you to strip and ask you where they touched you. He’ll wash the areas himself and caress you with his hands. He’ll whisper in your ear how you belong to him, and kiss over the areas until his anxieties disappear and he feels like he can no longer smell them or feel their energy. He’ll dispose of what you were wearing in an effort to rid you both of the memory completely.

#slbp #samurai love ballad party #saizo kirigakure #slbp saizo #slbp headcanons #my writing #this has some n~sfw #yandere #murder #jealousy #little lady speaks #catchthespade

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illogicalpunkwrites · 6 years ago

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Studies in Anatomy

Hi! So this is the first time I’m posting one of my Star Trek fics and I’m a little nervous! I hope you like it! If you’d like to be tagged in future fics please let me know! Thank you so much for reading!

“I don’t understand why I need this, I’m aiming for Chief of Security not CMO.” You grumbled as you flipped through the pictures on your PADD. Bones sniffed in laughter next to you as he went through his own advanced notes on xenoanatomy.

“Think of it this way, you’ll know which bones and cartilage to break.” He replied and you laughed.

“I was a bounty hunter before this, I think I know where to hit.” You swore if you saw another foramen of the skull again you would lose your mind. You swore a lot of things that night, including that you wouldn’t touch the bottle you had stashed under your bed. Good thing you went to Bones’ room instead where you weren’t tempted by booze...well, your booze. “It’s not really all that hard, I’m good at memorizing things but it’s just that everything sounds the damn same. There’s 4 different foramen in the sphenoid bone alone: Foramen lacerum, foramen rotundum, foramen ovale, and foramen spinosum. Who was the son of a bitch that decided that they all need to start the same?”

“Foramen is literally Latin for “opening” and all four of those are openings in the sphenoid bone.” He replied, his voice dripping heavy with sarcasm. You scrunched your nose at him and moved on to the vertebral column. His back was turned to yours and you couldn’t help but smirk…maybe the good doctor could help you study? You poked near the top of his neck. “My God, what’re you doing?” He nearly yelped and you stifled a laugh.

“Cervical curvature, this is the atlas which doesn’t have a spinous process or body but the axis has both of those and a dens. C1-C7.”

“Do I look like a holographic skeleton to you?”

“Lemme guess: You’re a doctor, not a skeleton? Well actually when you think about it we’re all skeletons, Leonard Horatio.”

“Dammit don’t middle name me.” He couldn’t help the corners of his lips turning up. “You’re going crazy from cramming all this info.” You put your finger against his seemingly permanently raised eyebrow.

“Supraorbital foramen.” You replied and he rolled his eyes.

“A little high, darlin’.” He sassed. He put your finger to his outer cheek. “What’s this?”

“Zygomatic bone.” He moved your finger alongside it near his ear. “Zygomatic process.”

“You good? Or do you want me to keep being your skeleton? I don’t mind, I can tell you if you’re right or wrong. Just don’t pretend I’m an Andorian skeleton because I might not be able to help you there.” You pointed to his forehead.

“Frontal bone, separated from the rest by the coronal suture.”

“What are the other sutures?”

“Lambdoid at the occipital, squamous at the temporal, sagittal in between the parietal.” He nodded and put your hand away from his head.

“Main parts of the ethmoid bone.”

“Crista galli, cribriform plate with olfactory foramina.” You stumbled over the words, the vowels tasting something awful in your mouth and he sniffed a bit. He took your hands and placed them against his chest.

“What are these named?”

“You glorious pecs?” He rolled his eyes and you nearly cackled, making him laugh too. “Those are your true ribs, numbers 1-7. Then there’s the false ribs, numbers 8-10, and floating false ribs which are 11 and 12.”

“Y’know, it would help if you weren’t such a smartass.”

“Oh look who’s talking!” You laughed and grabbed his chin with your thumb and forefingers. “Mandible.”

“What are the main parts of the mandible?”

“Mandibular condyle, mandibular notch, coronal process, alveolar process, and mental foramen.”

“You’re gonna do fine.” He told you and you sighed. “You are.”

“I knew I shoulda gone to college.” You whined and he chuckled. You took your hand away from his chin and rubbed your eyes. “I do like anatomy, it’s just a lot to remember and not fuck up.”

“Oh I know.”

“But at least I’ve got a handsome skeleton with the same love of bourbon.” You flirted and you could see him getting flustered, something you enjoyed doing. It seemed you and Jim were similar in that regards, getting a thrill in throwing people off their game. But without noticing, he tapped the middle of your back.

“What’s that?”

“Thoracic curvature. T1-T12.” You answered and he nodded. Placed his hand on the small of your back and it was your turn to be flustered. The bastard smirked and you quickly fought through your state. “Saccral curvature, 5 fused vertebrae with the sacrum and coccyx.”

“Thought I would get you there.”

“I’m not so easily swayed by your tactics.”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Jim announced and you could hear the smile in his voice. You two both took one scoot away from each other and faced your friend.

“Bones was just helping me study.” You replied.

“Helped yourself to one of my sweatshirts, I see.” He said as he took off his jack and sat on his bed across from you.

“Hey, you owe me one after you fuckin’ ripped mine in AC!” You accused and he lifted his hands in surrender. “Usually you’re the one with ripped shirts.”

“Since when?” He asked incredulously.

“Since forever.” Both you and Bones said and Jim, being the little shit he was, crossed his arms over his chest.

“You two are starting to sound like an old married couple.”

“We do not!”

“My God!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave you two to study anatomy. I’m just grabbing my book before going off to study myself.” He announced giddily and you rolled your eyes.

“Study, my ass.” Bones grumbled and you chuckled.

“Don’t forget we’re supposed to demonstrate for the other cadets on how to properly use staffs.” Over the past two years of being at Star Fleet, you and Jim had become close friends and had been asked to lead the advanced combat (AC) class together. It kept things…interesting to say the least. You often came back with bruises both superficial and deep but Jim fared no worse. It was simply the nature of the class and the best way to teach was to demonstrate and practice.

“Yeah, yeah I know and you’ll kick my ass. You’re deadly with those things.”

“I’ll go easy on you if you come in on time.” You held your hand out and he shook it.

“I don’t quite believe you but okay. Have fun you two, be safe!” A devious idea popped into your head, but Bones spoke up before you could.

“Wait, who are you studying with?” He asked and Jim leaned against the doorway with a smug look on his face.

“Christine.” He replied and you nodded slowly.

“Y’know what they say about medbay girls right?” You started and saw Bones staring at you from the corner of your eye. “They love it when you use correct anatomical terminology. Like if you touch their patella or something like that, make sure you say the anatomical term.”

“Bones, is this a thing?”

“Oh yeah! Trust me, I’m a doctor.” Jim stared at the two of you for a minute before making a ‘not bad’ sort of expression.

“Noted, bye!” When the door closed you literally snorted and rested your head against Bones’ shoulder. He couldn’t help but laugh too, poor Christine.

“Y’know, he isn’t dumb by any means. He’s a genius! But goddamn is he gullible.” Bones remarked and you wiped tears from your eyes.

“God I cannot wait for Christine to tell me and Nyota what happened. That’s gonna make my whole week!”

“Need to study anymore?” He asked as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders to be more comfortable.

“Mind if I take a break?”

“Nah, I think I’ll join you. I think we’re in the same boat right now.” You two were silent for a moment or two but it was nice, neither of you overwhelmed by cursed body sciences. He lied down with a sigh and you mimicked him. “Jim’s gonna kill you when he finds out. He’s gonna have a weapon tomorrow.”

“Yeah but a weapon he’s not very efficient in, anything like a staff was my go to if I needed a makeshift weapon before joining up.” You shrugged.

“Please tell me what Chapel tells you about it, I’ll need leverage.”

“Deal.” You replied and moved your head so it rested more on his chest. His hand went down to your torso instead of your shoulder and pressed down with his fingertips. “False ribs.”

“Good.”

“You mind if I rest my eyes a bit, Len? I’ll leave soon.” You asked and heard a rumble in his chest as he yawned.

“Go ahead, I’ll do the same.”

XXXXX

The beeping of an alarm clock made your groan and burrow your face into Bones’ chest. He cursed under his breath and blindly put his hand out to hit the top of the clock and rubbed his hand down his face.

“What time is it?” You mumble.

“7.” You whined in response. Well, at least you intended to go back to your room. Nyota was going to grill you as soon as you walked through the door. It really wasn’t a secret you and Bones flirted with each other and it wasn’t a secret between you and your roommate that you had a massive crush on the doctor. The teasing became unbearable sometimes and you learned to tease Nyota right back with her crush on Commander Spock (though you were sure something was happening between them). Bones talking pulled you away from your thoughts.

“Huh?”

“I said looks like we’re not alone.” He replied and motioned with his head to the bed next to him. You turned in his arms to see Jim, curled up on his side and his hair flat on one side.

“I guess that means Christine doesn’t have a thing for anatomy.” You mused and felt Bones chuckle behind you. “I should get out before he wakes up and kills me. I’ll need that staff to fend him off.” You sat from him to slip on your shoes and looked back at him. “Your hair’s cute in the morning.” You reached over and fixed it back to its regular state. You slung on your messenger bag and squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll see you around, Len. Thanks for helping me out.”

“Anytime, darlin’. Don’t beat up Jim too bad.” You smiled at him before pattering out and quietly closing the door.

“Bones, you’re an idiot.” Jim stated groggily and Bones sighed.

“What?”

“That girl’s crazy about you.” Bones couldn’t help but roll his eyes and strolled over to start making coffee.

“She’s not, we’re just friends.”

“She literally told you your hair’s cute in the morning. No girl says that unless they like you.” Jim replied, rolling on his back to follow his roommate’s movements. “Plus, she’s the only one that calls you Len.”

“Because she asked if it was okay.”

“And have you noticed that she uses it like you call her darlin?” Bones finally looked over at Jim with his arms crossed over his chest. “She calls you that because it’s her term of endearment for you. So why don’t you admit it and say that you’re chicken shit?” Bones poured the black coffee into his mug and it took every fiber of his being not to toss it at Jim. But he remembered his oath to do no harm and kept it close to his chest.

“You’re out of your Iowan mind.”

“And you’re out of your Georgian mind if you’re never gonna step up and ask her out.” Jim replied sharply. “And she’s out of her mind for pranking me yesterday, oh I’m gonna get her good!”

Scurrying across campus and sliding into your room, thankful to see Nyota wasn’t there. In fact, she came in about twenty minutes later as you had gotten out of the shower.

“Well, well, well looks who it is.” You sang as you rubbed a towel against your hair. “Why’re you so late? Does it have anything to do with a certain pointy eared science officer?” Nyota scrunched her nose at you but looked confused when you grabbed her foundation. “Hickey at four o’clock.” You tossed it to her and she quickly changed into her uniform.

“Thanks. Don’t tell anyone, alright?” She asked with a sheepish smile and you waved her off. “But I left at about 1am and you weren’t here either. Were you with a certain southern doctor?” You began to part and brush your hair and she came up next to you to fix her make up.

“I was, but we were studying anatomy.” She looked over at you with a single eyebrow raised. “The actual subject.”

“Are you two ever going to get together? I don’t like Jim very much but at least we both agree on you two. He says he talks to McCoy about it all the time.”

“Are you two gossiping behind my back?” You accused and she laughed.

“He’s right, you two are starting to sound alike.” You rolled your eyes and pulled out your cadet reds and pushed your Fleet gym clothes into your bag. “So, in all seriousness, did anything happen last night?”

“No we just accidentally fell asleep after he acted as my skeleton.” You replied and she couldn’t help but sigh incredulously. “Nyota, nothing’s going on between us. I think he still needs time, you know how messy his divorce was. I’m not gonna jump on him like that.”

“It’s been over two years.”

“And it still hurts him. I can’t blame him, he had to leave his daughter behind.” You replied, beginning to dry your hair but Nyota pulled away the dryer and turned it off.

“So you’re worried about hurting him?” She began and you just looked at her and tried to think of something to say. “Is that what this is all about?”

“I mean…” You stumbled over your words and stuttered. “Yes and no? I would never hurt him intentionally but what if just being in a relationship again hurts him? What if it’s still too soon and I remind him of her?”

“From what you’ve told me about his ex, you’re nothing like her.” Nyota smiled softly. “You should think about stepping up. Maybe not today, but soon. Preferably after the 30th of this month.” With your brows furrowed, you watched your roommate leave the bathroom and you finished drying your hair and started putting on a quick flick of eyeliner along with the rest of your daily makeup. Nyota sat on her bed and got some quick studying in.

“So…you and Spock. Are you two-“

“We’re dating, albeit secretly.” She answered. “But we’re not quite official yet.” You slid on your uniform and grabbed your bag and started to leave.

“Oh! If you see Christine, ask her about Jim.” You smiled fiendishly and her jaw dropped.

“No!”

“Well…maybe. I may or may not have given Jim some poor advice and he was in Len’s room this morning. Not usually his place when he studies with the pretty cadets.” You replied and your roommate chuckled.

“Are you gonna tell me?”

“If she doesn’t, I will. But if she does, find me so she can tell me exactly what happened.”

XXXXXX

“I thought you said you’d go easy on me!” Jim ground out as you continued to attack him with the staff. The sounds of the hits rang though out the gym, along with both of your heavy breathing and grunts.

“This is going easy on you!” You replied, making your cadets chuckle. Jim let his frustration get the better of him, letting his guard down and trying to attack you at full force. However he forgot he also needed to block so you easily used the stick to sweep him off of his feet and swirled the other end to stop just before it hit the tendon in his neck. He breathed hard and looked up at you with wide eyes.

“Well, that’s a way to shatter my ego.” You smirked down at him.

“Your ego’s too big to shatter.” You pulled your staff away and dug it into the mat you were standing on so it could bear your weight. “Who can tell me what went wrong?” You asked your cadets and they were quiet for a moment. You were a little different around your cadets. Around friends you were pretty relaxed but you didn’t mess around with the students. You were still approachable, but you were also known to be a bit of a hard ass. You had to be to teach them how to fight better than the instructors before you, most of the students would go into security and you saw the mortality rates among them. You felt like it was your duty to try and keep those numbers down.

“He forgot to protect himself?”

“Good, Cadet Morrow, but there’s something else.” When there were no takers and you helped Jim back up, you answered. “He lost control of his emotions and immediately lost the fight. You need to be able to think quickly but also reign yourself in. That’s what kills a lot of security out there; they don’t think through their actions and act entirely on impulse. As soon as you lose control of yourself, you lose control of the fight.”

“Everyone pair up, we’ll walk around to see how you’re doing in a bit. Just do some of the practice moves first and then about ten minutes actually spar.” Jim added and they buddied up and began to lightly practice. You looked over at him and tapped him on the shoulder with the staff.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I kinda knew that’s how today would go.” He replied. “Round two?”

“You sure you wanna do that?” You asked, resting your hand on your hip. The cadets were busy chatting and hitting, no one really paying mind to the both of you. Jim picked his staff back up and got back into stance.

“Bring it.” You twirled it in your hand as you got into stance. “Go.” He started attacking first, trying to go for your shin, but you easily blocked it. “Oh, and you better watch you back.”

You blocked again as he went for your ribs.

“Why? Does this have anything to do with Chapel?” You lunged for his crotch but he dodged just in time.

“Dirty move. But yes, now you’re on my shit list!” He replied and you laughed as you dodged when he lunged the staff at your sternum.

“How come Bones isn’t on your shit list? He helped me out!” You replied and tried to go for the back of his knee but he grabbed your staff and pushed you away.

“Because I want to see him live long enough to not be chicken shit.” You blocked a particularly harsh attack and took a deep breath.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning you two need to get over yourselves.” He blocked an attack from you and you began to get frustrated at where the conversation was going. “Just go ahead and get together already.”

“Jim I-“

“Cadet (Y/L/N)?” You turned to face a student, but Jim had already gone through with his attack and hit you square in the side of the head. You fell to the ground with a thud, and heard Jim and your cadets freaking out before your vision went dark.

XXXXX

“Oh my God!” Jim yelped and hurried over to you. He checked to make sure no blood was spilling out of your head and to make sure it wasn’t cracked. Thankfully, it wasn’t but he’d still knocked you out cold. “Cadets, class is dismissed!” The students lingered for a bit before scurrying out. He hurried over to the communicator and probably pressed the button too hard. “Kirk to medbay, Kirk to medbay!”

“What is it Jim?”

“Oh that’s just great!” Jim thought as soon as he heard Bones’ voice.

“So, uh, something happened and I need you to come down here with a stretcher.”

“On my way. Student?”

“No, instructor.” Jim waited as there was silence on the other line. “Bones?”

“I’m gonna kill you.” Before Jim could say anything else, Bones had disconnected. It didn’t take long for him and Chapel to rush into the room with the stretcher, Jim avoiding both of their gazes. Bones immediately leaned down and checked your pulse. “Darlin’, can you open your eyes?” When you didn’t respond, he pulled out a little light and lifted your eyelid to shine it on them. “Dammit Jim, she has a concussion! What the hell did you do?” He carefully placed your body on the rolling stretcher and Chapel immediately injected a hypo into your neck.

“I accidentally hit her with the staff when she wasn’t paying attention.”

“How does that even happen?” Chapel asked as they began to roll back to medbay.

“We were sparring and a cadet called her and I wasn’t able to stop what I was doing in time to not hit her.” Jim explained as best as he could. They transferred you to a bio bed and Bones hovered the tricorder around your head and stopped where you’d been originally hit.

“Nothing fractured, no bleeding. She’ll just need some more hypos and to take it easy for a day or two. Mild concussion.” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Nurse Chapel, you can check on other patients.” “Yes Doctor.” She began to walk out and nodded awkwardly at Jim.

“You’re lucky it wasn’t worse.” Bones said and Jim leaned against the wall with a sigh.

“I know. But she’ll be okay?”

“She’ll be fine.” Bones answered.

“Look I saw my roommate being rolled in here, I just want to know what happened.” They heard Uhura say and Jim lightly hit the back of his head against the wall.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Uhura rounded the corner and glared daggers at Jim.

“You hit her in the head?”

“I didn’t mean to! She’ll be fine, it’s just a minor concussion.” Jim defended. “Bones, back me up here!” Bones just stood there next to you with his arms crossed over his chest. “Bones, c’mon!”

“Right now it’s taking me every fiber of my being to remember my oath to do no harm.” He replied and Nyota looked nearly impressed with the doctor. “She’ll be up soon, but I’m sure she won’t want to see you when she wakes up.” Jim nodded and lifted his hands in defense.

“I’ll buy her some orchids as an apology.”

“As much as I don’t want to, I’ll go with you and see if there’s anything I can get her. Thanks Dr. McCoy.” Bones waved both of them off and looked at the charts to fill out your report. He did his best to calm himself down but seeing you unconscious wasn’t the best feeling in the world. He’d never actually hurt Jim, of course, but he believed that was the closest he’d ever gotten.

XXXXX

Your head was pounding as you were finally coming to. The right side of your head felt like someone was sitting on it while you were on a merry-go-round, you were that dizzy. You opened your eyes, squinting at first and expecting to still be in the gym but soon realized you were in medbay.

“Shit.” You rasped and tried to sit up.

“Hey, hey, take it easy darlin’.” A hand pushed you back down gently and you looked over to see Bones. “How’re you feelin’?”

“Where’s Jim? I need to kick his ass.” You replied and he chuckled, running his hand over your forehead to push hair out of your face. “Do you have anything for the pain and dizziness?” He quickly grabbed a hypo and injected it into your neck, making you instantly feel better.

“Scared me there for a while, usually people with concussions aren’t out for this long.” He said and your brows furrowed. “You were only out for a couple of hours but still enough to make me worry. You’ll be fine soon, just go easy for the next couple of days and get plenty of rest. But I want you to stay in here for the night.”

“Thanks, Len.” You felt along the side of your head and groaned. “Oh that’s gonna be delightful to deal with.”

“It’ll go down with time.” He grabbed your hand and put it back down to your side, however you were the one to lace your fingers together.

“Shouldn’t you be off duty?”

“I wasn’t gonna leave you here alone.” He replied and you smiled softly at him though still fighting through the light haze you were in. “What?”

“Y’know, Jim’s wrong when he called you chicken shit right before he knocked me out.” You stated and laughed when Bones’ demeanor changed.

“Well if I wasn’t gonna kill him before I am now.” You messed with the controls on the bed so that you could sit up while still resting your head and you saw a bag on the counter behind Bones.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, here. I called Jim and told him to get it. Jim and Uhura both went to go get you something but I’m not sure if they’re coming back.” He explained and you pulled out the paper to see a teddy bear with a red uniform on it. You laughed and pulled at the symbol its chest lightly.

“It’s so cute!” You praised and placed it to your side.

“I didn’t know what else to get you but I know you like stuffed animals so-“ You pulled on his collar so you could kiss his cheek and he shut up immediately.

“Len, I love it. Thank you.” You replied quietly and he looked over at you with an almost proud smirk. “And thanks for taking care of me and almost killing Jim on my behalf.”

“It’s what I’m here for, darlin’. That and to be your skeleton.” He replied and you smiled with a light laugh. You felt his hand on your cheek and you couldn’t help but lean into it. “You feel better?”

“Yeah, the hypo and the handsome doctor helped.” You replied but your smile left when you saw a look that you couldn’t quite distinguish cross his face. “Are you-“

You let out a little moan of surprise when you felt his lips on yours. It wasn’t a hot and heavy kiss, it was gentle but passionate to keep your injury in mind. Your hand went to the back of his head to his short cropped hair to keep him close to you as you kissed him back. He pulled away and you rested your forehead against his.

“You owe me twenty bucks.” You both looked to see Nyota and Jim. Nyota cursed under her breath to pull out her wallet.

“You bet on us?” You and Len asked.

“I thought it would take you at least another month.” Nyota shrugged and handed Jim the money.

“So me hitting you in the head wasn’t all for nothing!” Jim beamed and you just glared at him, making his smile fall. He looked down at the money and offered it to you. “I can give you twenty dollars.”

“Keep your damn money.” You replied and the unlikely pair looked at each other. “You two sound so much alike it freaks me out.” Nyota stated.

“We do not!”

“My God, will you two leave?” Bones barked and the two scurried away. He shook his head and looked back at you.

“So…when I’m all recovered would you want to go out?” You began and his eyes widened. “As a date, not studying anatomy.”

“Doesn’t that usually happen on the third date?”

“Oh you cheeky bastard.” You replied, making him laugh. He leaned forward again and gave you a quick peck.

“I’ll start thinking about a place for us to go.”

#leonard mccoy #leonard mccoy x reader #star trek #star trek fanfiction

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rowingviolahere · 6 years ago

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a wrap-up (ha!) of my new hockey experience

i’ve played (field) hockey for more than 10 years but i just started playing ice hockey and thought i’d write some of the stuff down. basically a group at my uni were looking for people interested and i joined up knowing NOTHING about ice hockey except Knife Shoes. but in summary: im now four different hockey players in a hoodie (indoor, field-field, field-goalie, ice ice baby)

(before anyone asks, yes, this was highly motivated by a recent reread of check please, but turns out ice hockey is heaps fun). rest under a cut to save your dashboards because i know that most people on my dash don’t care about (penumbra voice) spORTS! SPORTS! SPORTS!

the good:

you’re allowed to use backstick? WILD

also you’re allowed to stick check!! what the hell!!! one of the guys at off-ice grabbed the puck off me w what in field would be an ILLEGAL stick check and i was like “ok stop. hang on. i need some clarification. are you allowed to do [stick checks/obstruction/tackling from behind/swing tackles]” “yes” “there are no rules and i am UNSTOPPABLE” *immediately steals the puck back from him*

like two months of Actual Ice Hockey Training Weekly and starting from “can go forwards turn-ish and do hockey stops on one side sometimes” my skating skills are while not top noch, Muchly Improved. i can now do crossovers forwards and backwards in both directions, hockey stop both ways, and i know OF mohawks though they still elude me

having your own skates means edges actually..... exist. wild. i’d used hire skates all my life and got on the ice w my new ones and i was like. Oh. This Is It. Can Never Go Back Now.

wax for stick wrapping smells Good Actually. kind of want to. chomp it. (Forbidden.)

women are just. heaps allowed to play in the men’s league in my city w no issues so! if i end up medically transitioning i wouldn’t have to jump through hoops about it unlike field where i guess i’d have to start playing for the men’s club (which is a Separate Club to my current one and is from what i’ve seen super disorganised.)

was able to answer not one but TWO ice hockey-related questions at field trivia night. (admittedly one was a wild guess and resulted in me just going through all the NHL team names i knew until i went “i think that one sounds right”)

swapping which hand goes on top of the stick means that i can just do backstick stuff without my brain going “NO!!! THAT’S WRONG!!!!” which is a real good brainhack

i now exist in a weird position in the omgcp fandom where i have PLAYED and therefore have at least some experience to draw on wrt THAT but still very little idea of anything involving like actual NHL-related stuff (oh god does this make me bitty?)

the bad

oof ouch ow my LEGS

god that’s so much money. so fucking much money. i have a full kit of ice hockey stuff but god at what costs

(i know the costs. at least 900 plus travel expenses. cost of playing a comparatively niche sport that requires a lot of gear i guess)

so. much. cardio. why offside. there’s no offside in field. (don’t @ me i know why there’s offside in ice. i just hate it.)

im still not sure about whether “shoots right-handed” means you have a “right-handed stick” or if it’s like. the opposite. idk idc my left hand is on top bc otherwise i’ll start importing nonsense into my field game

[pokes bruises] how did THAT get there

no one told me how long shifts were meant to be in my first game so i was on the ice for like. a full five minutes. d e a d. (although my only point of reference was field hockey and again. that’s like. five-ten maybe fifteen before you get a sub.)

still don’t have a jersey because shipping to australia costs like. $50 extra? why this (still need to get one tho)

we’re probs not going to get any more games until next semester and tryouts for actual teams aren’t until like. october. h h h. gotta make do w pickup training till then

having a different hand on top of the stick means i have to relearn how to shoot. i want to be able to do these wrist shots people keep talking about. i can barely flick in outdoor anyway but. c’mon. wanna be able to pass strong.

the probably unnecessary but worth mentioning

i’ve been using my goalie smock as a jersey and look. it works. (bonus: it now smells kind of like the ice rather than just. goalie stank.)

have started wrapping bits of my field stick with hockey tape (and i hear you all booing but look. it’s an old stick i’ve had for about 7 years and it cost $40 bc i got it in the middle of the season and also it’s wood which i did not realise when i bought it but yeah the edges have started to shed a bit more than usual and while im not worried about it shattering like i was w my indoor stick because it’s wood it IS chipping at an increased rate and i literally just spent $30 on a new grip so i don’t want to get a new stick until next season at LEAST so. tape.)

most wild of the wild: my old indoor coach was at pickup training and i recognised her name bc it was kind of distinctive and she was like ‘how do you know that’ and i was like ‘i think you coached my indoor team when i was 12′

im trying to start fitness training for my field team and it is Not Working so far but i’m going to try.

#not mentioned but worth mentioning: might start barracking for the sharks just because of chowder. i think that's valid.#it's not like i have any geographic reason to support any nhl team it'd be based solely on colours mascots and standings #and i don't like people who support based on standings bc that can change and also im a freo fan and that'd never work for us #and sharks are cool and i like the colour teal so. sharks?#and all my rl friends know that kent parson is my fursona but i don't like the knight's uniform so. no la for me soz vanja #but i DID get number 90 on my team jersey bc of parse so. you can make a check please fan play ice hockey but can't take the nerd out of em #mag plays ice hockey now #uhhhh i think this is enough tags so this won't end up in the check please tag at Large but still im putting it into my fandom tag bc icehoc #check please #i realise that mentioning team jersey and complaining about not having a jersey are incongruous so! i've bought one and it's got my name on #it's just that our esteemed captain hasn't placed the order yet.so it's schroedinger's jersey rn #i have been CORRECTED by vanja and honestly i should have checked better but la is kings and lv is knights. i knew that but forgot which cit

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themockingcrows · 7 years ago

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Tapping With Blue Eyes: Ch. 2 - Unseen Gaze

Shoutout to @stribird for poking me into motion and asking me to get this world expanded back during JohnDave week (and for making such cute art of the existing chapter at the same time). I’m sorry it took so long. <3

This chapter is SFW AO3 Mirror- [X]

Adjusting to being a tap wasn’t that hard. Really, the bonuses were pretty sweet. Great food, great sex, new boyfriend eager to make sure Dave felt spoiled rotten in exchange for sharing his blood solely with John. Few months in, however, Dave really wishes he’d spent less time making goo-goo eyes and more time brushing up on how many tangled webs the vampire was involved in, both family and otherwise.

This wasn’t what he envisioned at all.

It was hard to think that just a few months ago, Dave had thought vampires were just in video games and creepy movie castles, or boxes of cereal that tasted like early diabetes mixed with Saturday morning cartoon marathons. They were all fictional, the hiss and scare, the flying bats, the unholy combination of Hot Topic and Party City's Halloween section. He'd always associated them with silly things, or with overly sweet candy corn.

Now he associated them with fantastic food, warm hands holding him, loud club music and mind blowing sex among other things.

Like being prone to fainting, for instance. That was definitely a new thing Dave associated with vampires, and he wondered why he never considered it before.

“Dave, I told you we should have waited longer, now look at you!” John fussed, cold soda bottle bleeding perspiration into the collar of Dave's shirt from where he had it pressed against the back of his neck. It took effort not to drop his gaze lower to where the faintest edge of a fresh bruise was resting against his boyfriend's nape, and even more effort not to press his lips right where they'd been earlier that morning. Which was the literal cause of all this. “We should have waited till afternoon, or just. Waited till it was time to visit Dad and then gone, given you some more time.”

After the first few weeks of sorting out their own balance and rhythm, Dave was an enthusiastic tap sorting out the schedule and figuring out how much he could comfortably give at any time, and John was accepting the burden that came with finally having a constant supply of blood on hand. It made him powerful, made him alert, made him more protective.. and it all had to be managed like he was just learning his powers for the first time as a child. His father had been right about never really stopping the learning, and about his newly appreciated appetite being a strain on him in unimaginable ways. The benefits outweighed the negatives but.. still.

The biggest issue they were facing so far was that protective instinct. John had to work hard at it to keep from slipping and becoming overbearing, smothering his tap, and angering his boyfriend. It felt right, it felt good but it wasn't the right thing to do. Dave needed as much freedom and space as anyone else did, and together they were finding ways to cope with it. Part of the reason for John taking Dave to meet his father today was to also see about getting some more direct advice on what to do. Part of him was wondering if this was really as normal as he hoped, or if something in Dave was just incredibly potent. John was fairly sure he was able to lift fridges with one hand like his father without breaking a sweat now, and hoped to get some tips on how to keep that force strictly to the fridges and not at all towards accidentally hurting Dave.

Why taps didn't get their own power up, he'd never know. ..Maybe they just got more delicious after becoming bonded with someone, and had the benefits of protection and food? Still felt unfair, but as far as humans went, it was probably well enough. Didn't need humans getting too deeply in the center of those unseen.

“I'm fine, John, really,” Dave said with a grunt, eyes closing as he adjusted to the cold feeling on his skin. How fucking embarrassing. One moment they'd been walking along and heading down a few steps to the street, and the next his legs turned to jelly and the ground had rushed up to meet him. He could mentally trace each droplet of condensation as it traced beneath his shirt and out of view, as well as imagining the spreading cloud of water on the fabric. It was the most solid thing he could focus on while waiting for the ground to stop swaying beneath him. “I got dizzy. No big. I didn't crack my head open or anything, right?”

John eyed him, not sure if he was honestly questioning or if he was making a joke.

“..You didn't. But you did go down like a quarter ton of bricks,” he said. “We shouldn't have come out so early, last night was intense. Maybe we should have just stayed home. Do you want to go home?” John worried, keeping the bottle in place. Dave was subtly swaying, and it was keeping him on edge, ready to dip down and pick him up if it kept up.

“Ease up, really, it's fine,” Dave repeated. He snorted softly when the anxious fussing didn't stop immediately, and reached up to grasp at the cold drink, wanting to pry it from John's hand so he would have to reset his focus and listen clearly. “Did too much too fast, I'll go slower now. Just like last time, right? I was fine last time too. Just did a bit too much too fast.”

“You need to rest..”

“I just did rest in fast forward. On the ground,” Dave said, lips curling into a teasing smirk. “No, but seriously, I feel a ton better already and if I go slow I'll be fine,” he promised, satisfied that the ground no longer was moving even with his eyes shut tight.

John didn't look convinced. He busied his empty hands with pushing Dave's hair gently back out of his eyes and hooking it behind his ears and the stems of his shades, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. When Dave glanced up he could see the tip of a fang pressing a little too hard against the thin flesh, drawing up a bead of bright blood the longer it stayed there.

He was trying. He was trying so hard it made Dave's chest ache. A few weeks ago, John would have just picked him up and toted him off towards home, or towards a hospital, ignored protests in the midst of his worry. That instinct to ensure Dave was alright, that Dave was well, that he hadn't damaged his boyfriend at all, was overwhelming. John's eyes were bright but visibly straining to sit still, muscles in his arms trying to twitch with the urge to do more.

The grab and run didn't happen. Somehow, the vampire was keeping the instinct at bay. They'd feel proud about it later.

“..Alright. Would you feel better if you helped make sure I'm fine?” Dave guessed, relaxing when he saw John nod enthusiastically, blue eyes wide and eager as a puppy. “Let's go get something to eat, then. That helps. The soda won't be much more than a crutch,” he said, remembering what he'd learned since his first few faints. Sugar and caffeine helped him, but never for long when he crashed from a feeding. Dave was fairly sure he'd need to give some serious thought to John's comment about keeping snacks and supplements on hand in the future, but at least for now he was piecing together what worked best on his own.

“What do you feel like? Something solid, light? Snacks? Want some coffee? I could just take us back to your place and make something if we got ingredients, it'd be no proble-” John rambled till a finger pressed to his lips, shooshing his rambling. John blinked briefly, then sighed. “..I was doing it again, huh.”

“A bit, yeah. C'mon, let's just go get something quick and light, we've got the whole morning left to burn. Maybe a sandwich or something from the convenience store, even.”

“Not the hot dogs, or the burritos, or anything else on a roller though,” John said as he bent a bit further to scoop Dave upright and dust him off once he caught his weight on his own two feet. Dave curled his fingers into fists and fought hard to avoid wavering afterward, honest to god dizzy and not wanting a repeat of worry sounds filling his ears. There wasn't much budging him on the junk food stance, not when moments like these happened, but it was hardly an iron will to work against.

“Aw, but John, how else will I get to experience the fiery burn of food poisoning when my hearty appetite takes me straight out of a flavor explosion as my godly immune system falters,” Dave crooned. “No, seriously, it'd be fine, I've eaten worse. You've seen this with your own two eyes.”

“Yes and I really don't understand it still,” John sighed. “You basically have your own chef at your beck and call, and yet you keep veering to that stuff every chance you get. I'm not even sure it's really food.”

Dave tugged at John's arm to get him to start moving, satisfied the sick feeling was already leaving his head the longer he moved. He cracked the soda open, dodged a spurt of foam that slipped over the edge of the plastic cap he slammed back into place a second too late, and slurped the sugary liquid from the side as it ran down over his fingertips. He let John take the lead this time, glad when the vampire only steered enough so they could dodge the street that would take them near a 7-11 and the greasy wonderland within. Instead, they wandered along to a cleaner, smaller family owned mart that promised fresh varieties of juices and light foods. It was a little more expensive, but it seemed like a the increase in quality was worth it.

John was just glad they didn't sell gas out front, the petrol fumes usually indicating not-that-fresh food and nothing he'd want to taste personally later on if given the choice. Less fresh food made for some fairly gross tasting blood, and Dave himself wasn't some amazing alchemical property that made garbage taste any less like garbage coated in candy.

“Ooh, they got a live juicer in here, it's not just all pre-bottled,” Dave said, sounding a bit impressed. He looked even more enthusiastic the second he noticed mango and pineapple among the stacked fruit options, and veered a hard right towards the counter when at least three varieties of ripe apples came into view.

Hell yes.

Hell to the fuck yes.

“Hey, pick one for me too? I'm gonna check what else is here,” John said, heading back to check out the coolers and shelves.

Aside from the usual snack foods, there seemed to be different options for local brands. Among the candy bars were some chunkier treats with labels from downtown, and chip bags bore marks from all around the state. The fresher foods were most appealing to him however, and he stared at the cooler to find something simple. ..A sandwich. That'd work, right? By the time he'd picked something out and made his way back to Dave, the blonde was juggling two tall, cold glasses of fresh juice and clutching a sticky bottle of soda beneath his armpit.

“What'd you grab for me?” Dave asked, pausing his slurping to eyeing the wrapped package.

“Nothing wild. Roast beef, cheese, veggies,” John shrugged. “What about you?”

“Strawberry, mango, banana,” Dave said. “Not red so much as, like. Murky weird orange brown yellow-ish? But it should taste good. They didn't have cherries or I'd have tried making it even brighter.”

“You're never gonna drop that red association with me, huh,” John said, rolling his eyes. A good choice, but he could now confirm that between Dave's color preferences and the vampire gags, red would be outweighing blue in his vicinity forevermore. John eyed Dave's hips as he wandered ahead to the cashier to set the cups down for now, following the curve of his ass till he had to look upward.

Right. Subtle. Good going, John.

“Nope, not at all,” Dave snorted, reaching into his pocket to fish out his wallet, paying for the juices. John paid for the sandwich and slipped it into Dave's hands as he snagged the sticky soda and his own juice, setting the former into a small bag to avoid touching it very much after getting his change.

They made their way outside and around another block before finding a bench to settle on, John leaning back and slouching, while Dave crossed a leg over his opposite knee and unwrapped the sandwich, grinning at the contents.

“Whoa, nice one. Maybe we'll have to go back there sometime, they seemed to have a lot of stuff,” Dave said. “Not too far out either. Could be a thing when we want a walk?”

“Or when we're coming back from the bar, if they're open that late.”

“I didn't see any gas pumps, I doubt it,” Dave said as he ripped into the bread in a large bite, chewing quietly for a moment before holding it up to John in offer with a coy grin. “Won't taste nearly as good as me, but here: want a bite?”

Though John smirked at him, he got a bit of headway back by grasping the skinny wrist he loved to tease with his fangs, pulling his arm forward to bring the sandwich in range of his mouth to take a large bite as well. He hummed, surprised at the flavor, only to have Dave nod to the side and start to mention something about what he thinks might be some kind of secret sauce or dressing on this thing. John heard the first half of the chatter, but slowly stopped listening as he felt the first clench in his stomach.

No.. No, not his stomach. His chest. Right over John's heart was the distinct sensation of something squeezing, stealing his breath away, pouring icy water down his spine till his skin twitched uncomfortably.

Panic.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong and he couldn't place it. Where had he ever felt this before? John racked his brain, trying to think of something specific, and was coming up blank. He wasn't old enough or strong enough yet to sense things well as his dad, but fuck why was this bothering him so badly? There was a reason to be upset, a reason for this panic, and he couldn't imagine what it could be for certain. Lifting his head, John began to look around while Dave continued to talk, pausing once in a while when the need to breathe caught up to him or the allure of taking another bite grew too distracting.

..Nothing.

He couldn't see a single thing out of place, and if only for that, everything became suspicious. Old woman jogging? Suspicious. Group of teenagers? They're teens, of course they're suspicious for one reason or another. Man with a baby carriage? Double suspicious, what if it was the baby that was feeling like a threat? John lowered his hand and grasped at Dave's shoulders, pulling him gently closer to hug tight.

“So anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to hit up the movies after all. There's some good shit pla- John? ..Dude. John. You alright? Look like you saw a ghost,” Dave said, letting himself be tugged close. He blinked a few times, then peered up over his shades, curiosity glinting. “...DID you? That a thing too? I mean, I didn't think you were real, is there other shit that's real? Is the tooth fairy gonna shank me with a toothbrush sharpened into a punji stick for not flossin' enough? Werewolves gonna come and treat me like a fire hydrant? Bigfoot actually a thing? Do we need to guard the snacks better from his hairy ass outdoors?”

“Dave.”

“What?”

“Dave.”

“What.”

“I need you.. to be.. very quiet. Just for a second. Okay?” John said, still on high alert as the feeling intensified. Which direction? Where was it coming from? The longer he couldn't locate the source, the more he was alarmed at just how open the space they were sitting was, how exposed, and couldn't bother fighting his instincts any longer. Dropping his juice he stood up and dragged Dave with him, ignoring the sudden loud complaints about the splash of red juice getting all over (RUINING, JOHN, RUINING!) his shoes.

Needed to run. Needed to run, find somewhere with a nice solid door, and needed to get ready to fight. ..Fuck, no, couldn't fight with his tap right there, too high a risk. Nor could he risk leading whatever was leering at them out of sight to either of their homes. Dave was starting to squirm and struggle in his arms, complaints growing louder as the remnants of the sandwich and Dave's juice fell and splashed all over his shirt this time, traces trailing down to John's arms like frigid ice. He'd deal with it later. Needed to run.

Car. They could go to the car, and go to his dad's place early, they'd be safe there. It was fine if dangerous things knew where his father lived, they wouldn't cross a vampire as well established as his father, whatever it was. Fledglings and young, newly bonded vampires like himself were easy prey in the eyes of some beasts, but with backup they wouldn't be sitting ducks.

His time so far with Dave had been like a daydream, everything sunny.. this wasn't how John wanted to introduce the risks he'd warned Dave about in the flesh.

“John will you put me the fuck DOWN?! I'm drenched, this is gross as fuck, I'm gonna get ants on my dick at this rate. You want that? Insects suddenly having front door open access invited to my tasty dick? Because I sure as fuck don't want that,” Dave said, continuing to struggle, and continuing to be locked in place by an iron grip that he himself had managed to make even stronger over the last few weeks by feeding his boyfriend. The speed was increasing as well, whatever had John spooked was doing a fabulous job at making him push the limits of just how fast he could flee an area. Dave couldn't even make out the faces of the people they were sprinting past, and wondered vaguely if they looked like a blur to them.

Fuck.

“Man, seriously, put me the fuck DOWN, John, I will elbow your ass and you fuckin' know it. Wanna try me?” Dave warned, preparing to pull his arm back as a threat. “Come on, you've been doing great, just. Slow the fuck down and tell me what's happenin' at least!”

“Watched. Bad. Can't go home, going to Dad,” John said hurriedly, zipping around another street corner. Dave could see sweat beading on John's brow, and could finally see the terror in his eyes. Was it real? Was this a false alarm? ..There was no real way to verify that himself, far as Dave knew, but it was worth questioning. He grunted when the running suddenly stopped as if John had reached a dime, considered its shiny surface, and brought every cell in his body to a screeching halt directly on top of FDR's smug looking head.

They'd reached the car, and apparently it was indeed enough of an emergency in John's eyes that he didn't so much as put something down for Dave to sit on, instead choosing to deposit his sticky, juice soaked body directly onto his nice fabric seats. John waited till Dave's legs were in place before slamming the door shut and going to his own side, not even waiting for seat belts to get on before he was cranking the engine and hurriedly backing up, turning enough to veer out of the lot.

While John was so busy looking forward, Dave was busy looking back. He wasn't sure what he was really looking for, but it seemed important to at least try. It would also be good to stop focusing on how close they were to a four car pileup or a roll over by not looking at just how close John was cutting everything with his erratic movements. What was suspicious or not to a vampire? Based on the foods John could eat safely, he figured there were no rogue threats of garlic bread or Italian food trucks in their future.

It was only when John was done jockeying around to get to the ramp that would lead to the desired highway that Dave was fairly sure he'd caught sight of something as out of place as they were being on their own. Two figures on foot, fairly tall, one with dark hair and one with light were standing in the middle of the road a few cars back, faces turned towards the back of their car. A truck driver laid on his horn briefly, trying to force them to get out of the way, and right before Dave's eyes, they vanished.

The figures did not step aside, or run, or jump. One moment they were there, green and orange eyes too bright in their faces, and the next they were not, blinking out of position and for all Dave knew, out of existence entirely. Had he been seeing things...? No. No, the horn had honked, someone else saw the people too.

..Were they even people, though?

“Dave, buckle up. I'm sorry I didn't give you time before, but we should be fine on the highway, so might as well avoid even more chances for tickets,” John said. His voice was still tense, but there was an air of apology in his tone, of the usual playful fussing trying to come back. He plugged the metal clip into the buckle of his own seat belt and adjusted how the band rested on his chest and shoulder instead of letting it lurk up by his throat uncomfortably, then reached his sticky hand into his pocket to pull out his phone. Now that the coast was clear enough to be considered 'safe' again, John was left to deal with the side effects of his earlier panic, his bursts of using his still-being-adjusted-to power. His hand shook badly enough that if he were drinking something, Dave would have been reaching for a towel to mop up the wildly flying liquids, yet he was keeping an iron grip on the steering wheel and staying well within the speed limit.

“Oh. ..Uh. Yeah. Yeah, you're right,” Dave said, breaking his eyes away to look down, plugging his own seat belt into place. The fabric of the seat was already turning a rainbow of colors beneath and beside him, and he could feel his toes squishing in his shoes. He hoped there was spare clothes at John's father's place, and that he wouldn't mind the first important meeting being cut awkwardly short so he could run off and shower. A quick hello sir, goodbye sir, may I get naked upstairs and have some of your clothes sir, no big deal.

Awkward.

“..Dad? Hey! I'm sorry it's pretty early compared to what we were planning for, but uh. Something.. something kind of came up, and I'm bringing Dave to the house. Will you be home, or do I need to just use the key?” John asked, trying to sound calm, cool and collected. Apparently it failed, because John winced a moment later. “No, we're fine. Promise, I just felt something was really off and kind of made a big mess while leaving. ..No. I don't know what, or who. Why? Someone in town I should know about?”

Dave held his breath as he listened in, trying to make out words that were leaking out of the speaker and around the edge of John's ear. He'd heard the voice of James before, and had spoken loosely once or twice when John had the phone on speaker, so he knew the deep, steady tones to listen for. ..Wasn't clear enough though, and Dave sighed as he slouched further, debating putting his sticky shoes up on the dashboard. Why not, everything was already gross, why not just go whole hog while he was at it?

John paled and went very quiet, mouth shut, lips thin with stress. He nodded, though obviously his father had no way of knowing it, and eventually seemed to remember that himself when he began to make soft 'uh huh' noises to show he was listening.

“It's. ..You're sure it might be?” he asked, letting out a soft laugh. “You're not messing with me, right? Not a prank? Because if this is a prank, you're definitely ahead of me agai- Oh.”

Not a prank, then.

“..Right. I'll lock up once we get there,” John said, placing his phone so he could press it up with his shoulder as he changed lanes and adjusted his speed a bit. “No, I don't want to order in, not if they're potentially in town. Last thing I need to have happen it anyone creeping on your house. ..Nnn... I don't know, Dad, there's schedules to keep up and I'm pretty sure we both have shifts tomorrow.”

“Day after,” Dave supplied, brows lifted at all the unanswered questions that, judging from the look on John's face, he wasn't that interested in discussing right now.

“Okay, so, SOON-ish we have shifts, we can't go staying a long time, creeps in town or not. I'm pretty sure just coming to your house at all might make them back off. ..Dave? No, no, don't worry, Dave will be fine, you already know that,” John said, sounding self assured. It melted away and he sounded every bit as young as he looked when, in the next breath, he whined out a loud “Daaaaaaaad, really, I know! I'm already bringing Dave along, and we're both safe, that's a good first step. I did a good thing,” he insisted. “..Alright, alright, we'll talk later. You're right.”

With a quiet, barely there 'love you, Dad', John hung up and dropped his phone into the empty cup holder. He sighed and slouched as well, eyes on the road but mind obviously miles away. It took a good five miles worth of silence before he jerked straighter and looked to Dave.

“Ah! Fuck, do you want the radio on? I can put the radio on. What're you in the mood for? I don't have channels saved, but I thi-”

“Oh, hey, was wondering when you'd notice me! My name is Mud, Mud Strider, pleased to meet you,” Dave said in a singsong voice, annoyed. Talking like he wasn't there, talking like he was a fucking child, talking over his fucking head: all things he couldn't stand and wouldn't take sitting down. The way John wilted again showed his frustration had hit home well enough. Putting the metaphorical claws away, Dave sighed. “..Alright, so. Mind telling me what the fuck literally all of this is about? Who's in town? Why'd you freak and murder my outfit back there, I don't know if I can save this, that shit stains.”

“Look, I'm sorry, but you wouldn't understa-”

“Don't fuckin' pull that YA fiction bullshit on me and act shocked when it doesn't work, John Egbert, I'm not a kid. Spill. All of it. I'm involved in this enough to apparently be at risk of whatever the fuck got you worked into a rich creamy lather back there, so you might as well give me the deets and get me on the same page as you.”

“..Right,” John sighed. He'd looked close to arguing, stubborn to a fault, but Dave had a big point. Instinct needed to settle down, and he needed to use his head. Dave might be his tap, but he wasn't just food. Wasn't a resource with no sense of his own place in his surroundings. “There's a lot going on, potentially. Or at least a lot to explain. ..Can I ask for some patience till later, though? I can avoid getting arrested for driving like an idiot, you can shower and change, we can both have something to eat and then talk with my dad. He might be able to explain even better than me.”

Dave blinked, and narrowed his eyes a bit, lips turning down.

“Hey, no, I'm not stalling Dave,” John said, guessing the look. “I'm not trying to be vague. Dad was a bit vague too, I think because he knew I was driving and talking, but that just means he'll be more thorough when we're all settled down in one place. Bonus: it's safe there! So I'll be plenty relaxed too. ..Think you can handle that? Just a little longer? I've got questions for him too, but I want to know for sure what he already knows instead of just.. y'know. Guessing.”

“You're totally stalling. Who are 'they',” Dave said. “The people who might be in town that you mentioned.”

“I don't know if it's them or no-”

“'Them'. I don't care if you know they're in town or not, man, just. Who is 'they' and 'them'. Gimme some adjectives, man, something to chew on till I can weasel stuff outta your dad. GOOD adjectives,” Dave clarified. “Gimme somethin' to run with!”

“A bunch of assholes, potentially, that work?” John said, rolling his eyes.

“Assholes. What, like. They human at least, orrrr....?”

“No. No, they're not. I don't think they keep humans around for sure.”

“...Are they like you?” Dave asked.

“I wish. ..At least one of them is like me, if it's the one I think might be around. But not like me at all, because as I said: they're assholes,” John insisted.

“Any of 'them' got a name? How many we talkin' here.”

“Several different people. I'm not giving any names till I know for sure,” John insisted. “Last thing I need is to talk about Jake and have him sudden- ugh,” he said, stalling as he realized what he'd let slip. “Just. Alright look, there's a name, don't go saying it much. Treat it like bad luck.”

Jake, huh. Alright.

“..What kinda species, then, if only one or so are like you, potentially?”

“Were,” John said, nose wrinkling. “Most were are fine, they keep to themselves or just carry on, but. ..Some are just. ..Eugh. Older people get, or longer the family lines are, the more frustrating they are to deal with.”

“So. Vampires, were..wolves?” Dave guessed to himself. “Anything else? This is a Halloween grab bag double feature at this point, John.”

John nodded, then shook his head right afterwards.

“Yep. And that's it, that's the end of the line, I'm not spilling any more beans till we can find out if I'm even spilling the right ones! I could be spilling pineapples for all I know!” he insisted.

“Fine, fine, damn. How would your Dad know more than you about a few random people being in town? Especially if you freaked out this far away from him?” Dave finally asked. There was at least a few things to focus on and turn over in his mind now, but the loose strings were bugging him more than ever. He knew when he agreed to be John's tap, agreed to date him, that he'd wind up in some crazy shit potentially. Suddenly arriving dick deep in said crazy shit was going to take some definite effort to coast along with.

“The entire city is chock full of other beings, Dave, remember? All kinds of species, doing their own thing and living life. When something disruptive happens, people notice and talk about it. Dad's a lot more ear to the ground than me about things, he's older, has more contacts. I only recently bonded with you, there's a lot of catching up to do. ..And if it is English, then he'd probably have tried to creep on Dad at least once or twice since rolling into town. He doesn't alert me every time someone passes through, but generally there's not a ton of trouble being caused either. Not much need to mention anything. ..Er. Well. I mean NOW there is, with you around, but since this is the first time I've had one, he pro-”

“Creepin' on your old man? Why the fuck would anyone do that?” Dave asked. “Isn't he like. Desk job, 9-5, nose to the grindstone of paperwork boring office work dude?”

“It's apparently rude to not at least try to visit your relations,” John sighed. “Even if your relations want nothing to do with you and have been trying to get you off their collective backs for decades. ..If he's in town, he definitely would have been in range enough for Dad to pick up on personally if not just causing some kind of trouble to be obnoxious.” He glanced over, then leaned forward to switch the radio on. A few flips of the dial and he'd found a station playing things from the 90's and 2000's, and turned it down low to fill in the monotonous sound of wheels on highway. “And if that's what was creeping on us, it'd make sense why I couldn't spot him. Especially if his creepy friend's with him.”

Dave gave John a dry look, then stared out the window instead. Great, MORE questions. None of this was making any god damned sense, did he need to take notes? Was there going to be a test on this? "So You Fucked A Vampire: Here's His Tangled Backstory And Side Quests!".

“Y'know, I know I asked for the details, and I understand why you're not explaining more, but goddamn that's kind of annoying. How long till we get there? And how long till your dad turns up, too?”

“Another twenty minutes till we get there, and probably a few hours till Dad. ..I'll try to explain more when we're there while we wait, try to make more sense,” John promised. “When I'm not driving anymore, when I don't have to worry about needing to run suddenly with you again. You're right. This is all things you need to know, if you're going to continue being my tap. I need to be more clear, but right now I'm just really, really rattled.”

Dave wanted to be frustrated still, wanted to be annoyed. A lot of things had just happened at once, none of which he got any say in, but John sounded really sincere right now. After weighing his options, Dave finally nodded.

“Alright. Sounds good.”

Relieved, John grinned the brightest he had since they woke up coiled together that morning and nodded, already trying to run over what to say in his mind. There was so much to unpack there.. How do you even begin to compress hundreds of years of familial history into something bite sized for someone completely unfamiliar with everyone and almost everything involved?

He stole a sideways glance Dave's direction, took in the stained shirt and the calmer, albeit tired looking features he could make out while the blonde's face was turned half away, and let his grin relax into something softer.

..He'd find a way.

#Homestuck #JohnDave #John Egbert #Dave Strider #my fic

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big12pickparty · 5 years ago

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Big 12 Preseason Picks

It’s back! It’s back!

It’s a new world for Big 12 football this year. Bill Snyder is gone. Dana Holgorsen is gone. Kliff Kingsbury got fired from Texas Tech and hired by the Arizona Cardinals. Kyler Murray, for most of us, thankfully won’t be around. A certain other quarterback with two titles under his belt has transferred into the conference, from a school you may have heard of in a town called Tuscaloosa.

Say it with me: Tuscaloosa. Tusssskaaaaaloooooossssaaa. My sister Lindsey recently drew my attention to the marvels of this word. Tuscaloosa. Hurray.

1. Oklahoma. 11-1, 8-1. Honestly, it feels like Oklahoma and then spots 2-5 are more or less a free-for-all. OU itself doesn’t feel as unbeatable as the past three years pre-season. Jalen Hurts will be really good, but literally anyone would be a step back after three seasons of Mayfield and Murray. Another slightly worrisome factor would be that the Sooners only return one starter on the offensive line, center Creed Humphreys. The most interesting thing, and scary, for me (as an OU hater) is the specter of Alex Grinch leading the defense. What he did in his time at Wazzu was spectacular. But as OSU’s new D-coordinator Jim Knowles could tell him, the Big 12 is different.

2. Oklahoma State. 10-2, 7-2. After OU, the top half of the conference--to my mind OSU, Texas, Baylor and Iowa State--feels pretty close together. So don’t read this as a hard two. Somebody has to finish second, and I feel like that could be a team with two or even three conference losses this year. The national media are down on the Pokes, too, but that largely feels like a byproduct of OSU’s insane--and at times insanely disappointing--7-6 run last year. Plus Gundy hasn’t picked a quarterback. Both QBs have a load of potential, especially Spencer Sanders. The last time OSU entered the season without a starting QB was in 2013. That was the year split by J.W. Walsh (5 starts) and Clint Chelf (8 starts); the Cowboys won 10 games. Having a more experienced secondary, plus a huge step up in coaching on the offensive line, and an invigorated Gundy will push this team, to my mind, toward higher things. Many OSU fans--specifically those who comment over on Pistols Firing, were dismayed when OL-coach Josh Henson bolted for Texas A&M. Honestly I never understood why he was so popular, as the O-line hasn’t been the same since Joe Wickline departed all the way back in 2013. Henson’s replacement is Bill Snyder’s longtime OL-coach, Charlie Dickey. If there’s one thing K-State’s always been strong on, it’s been a bruising, physical line--and that will help whoever Gundy ultimately chooses to place behind center. Another thing in OSU’s favor is the schedule. OU comes to Stilly, and the Pokes travel to Austin to face the Horns. For most teams that wouldn’t be favorable, but Texas hasn’t beaten OSU in DKR since 2008. That’s five straight losses. Gundy likes to operate from the margin. We’ll see how it goes.

3. Texas. 9-3, 6-3. The media picked Texas to place second by a fairly large margin. Which makes sense being that they whipped up on Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, giving 2019 the most legit 'Texas is back’ hype since... well, to tell you the truth I can’t remember because the damn narrative is there every year. The toughest thing for these Horns is that they only return 3 starters on defense on a team that depended heavily on their D to win games, and I’m not convinced that that Sam Ehlinger, spunky and talented as he is, can survive the whole year without falling to injury. They just run the kid too much for him not to. We’ll know by mid-October whether this Texas team is ready for the big time, being that the face LSU, OSU, and OU all by October 12. Win those three and you’re a national title contender. Take two of three and you’ve gotta feel good about making the conference championship. Lose all three and Herman’s seat might warm up a bit.

4. Iowa State. 8-4, 6-3. Expectations are crazy high in Ames. Crazy, crazy high. And they have a fantastic quarterback returning in Brock Purdy. They should be stout on defense. Grab a win against Iowa in Week 2 and the Hawkeyes will be feeling pretty good. Their toughest slate comes in Weeks 8-10, when Matt Campbell’s bunch faces OSU, OU, and Texas. Fortunately they only have to travel to Norman--but when has an opposing team traveling to Norman ever felt fortunate?

5. Baylor. 8-4, 5-4. As much as it pains me to say it, I’m a little higher on Baylor than most. Along with Texas Tech, ISU, and OU, the Bears are one of the only teams in the conference returning a proven QB, in Charlie Brewer, who threw for just over 3,000 yards lat year. Their schedule lines up very, very favorably: putrid nonconference foes, plus they get Iowa State, Oklahoma, and Texas at home. Arguably, their only truly tough road trips are to Stillwater and Fort Worth. Beat Iowa State in Week 4 and they could be 6-0 when they face the Pokes.

6. Texas Tech. 6-6, 4-5. At last we arrive at the New Coaches section of our preview. Of the new hires, I think the Kansas schools both made out the best--in completely different ways. I’m not entirely sold on Matt Wells, who arrives in Lubbock via Utah State. He had a 44-34 overall record at USU, his alma mater, and was hired on the strength of last year’s 10-2 campaign. During his six seasons in Logan his teams twice one ten games, but had three losing campaigns in a row from 2015-18. I’m really only listing Tech above K-State because they have a fantastic option at quarterback in Alan Bowman, provided his lung holds up (it collapsed during a game last year).

7. Kansas State. 6-6, 4-5. Out of all the new hires in the Big 12 this year, the one that excites me most is Chris Klieman, who seems like the perfect replacement for Bill Snyder, though replacing that man will not be easy. It’s also often not easy to make the adjustment from the FCS to D1. However, Klieman’s resume is about as good as it gets. As head coach at North Dakota State from 2014-2018, Klieman’s Bison went 69-6, winning 4 FCS national titles in 5 years. It’s going to take some doing, but I’m willing to bet Klieman gets K-State going in the next 3-4 years.

8. TCU. 4-8, 2-7. Gary Patterson’s squad was straight up awful on offense last year. Earlier this August Patterson stated that his team was in the middle of a six-man QB race. A quarterback derby of two is bad enough, but six? Not encouraging if you’re a Frogs fan, especially after two straight down years. I could be wrong--if you’ve been reading my football posts any length of time you know I’m wrong a LOT--but I ain’t buying what they’re selling down at the stockyards this year. The Horned Frogs have a tougher schedule than most, too: they travel to Purdue, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma. 9. West Virginia. 3-9, 1-8. I think West Virginia is going to fucking stink. That’s about it. New coach Neal Brown just named OU-transfer Austin Kendall his starter. And... uh, yeah. No Will Grier, no David Sills, and for all his flaws, no Holgersen. WVU’s gonna have it rough this year.

10. Kansas. 3-9, 1-8. Two words: Les Miles. Two more words: Les Miles. I predict they beat at least two conference foes this year. Which of course won’t sit well any of the aforementioned. The schedule is tough: at Texas, at TCU, at OSU, at Iowa State, but their first conference matchup is WVU in Lawrence--a very winnable game. Miles is old-fashioned, probably crazy, and certainly not ethically sound (see his totally lamentable handling of domestic-abuser Pooka Williams), but he will bring a toughness to a football team that has not had one since the days of Mark Mangino, over a decade ago.

#big12 footballpredictions

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junker-town · 6 years ago

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The actual basketball reasons for why the Pacers are legit

Last year’s Pacers were supposed to be a fluke, so how have they become even better?

The Indiana Pacers weren’t supposed to be relevant last season. They weren’t supposed to have an All-Star, let alone get the last laugh after they were panned for trading Paul George for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. They definitely weren’t supposed to contend for home-court advantage or make LeBron James sweat it out in the first round.

That’s why there was an underlying sense of frailty to their success, as if it was a happy accident that would be unmasked as a fluke.

Prognosticators had their reasons. Sports Illustrated was skeptical that Oladipo’s sensational season would be his new normal. Indy Cornrows, SB Nation’s Pacers blog, noted that starting point guard Darren Collison was unlikely to flirt with the 50/40/90 club again. ESPN’s preseason power rankings repeated a common critique that they relied too much on unsustainably hot mid-range shooting. Analytics site Nylon Calculus suggested their 11-3 record in games decided by three points or less was a product of luck.

Turns out, they were all right. Oladipo has experienced growing pains adapting to increased defensive attention. The Pacers aren’t draining open two-pointers at the same clip as they did in 2017-18. Collison’s numbers are down after he missed 32 of his first 46 attempts from three. While there have been some memorable late-game heroics from Oladipo, Indiana has already dropped as many games decided by three points or less as they did all of last season.

Yet the Pacers have somehow improved despite all that. They’re on pace to win 55 games and currently have the fourth-best record in the NBA, all without changing their identity or adding elite talent.

So how is Pacers’ seemingly outdated style competing with superteam giants … again?

They’re a balanced attack made deeper

Last year, Indiana was heavily dependent on its new star. They outscored teams by six points per 100 possessions with Oladipo on the floor and were outscored by 8.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the bench. That should have forecasted doom when Oladipo went down with a bone bruise in his knee in mid-November.

Instead, something shocking happened to the team’s supporting cast. Not only did the Pacers go 7-4, a vast improvement over last season’s 0-7 mark with Oladipo sidelined, but they also unlocked some previously underused areas of help in his absence.

Oladipo’s injury allowed forced young center Myles Turner to emerge from the background, and he’s backed it up by averaging a career-high in touches per game (55.2), points (14.6), rebounds (8.4), blocks (3.0), and field goal percentage (54.0) since Oladipo went down on Nov. 19. On a smaller scale, Indiana made a more purposeful effort to use free-agent signing Doug McDermott’s floor spacing, which led to back-to-back 20-point games off the bench. Collison rediscovered his shot, canning 45 percent on his last 57 threes.

All that happened as the rest of the roster kept on chugging. Sabonis, a per-minute wunderkind leading the Sixth Man of the Year race, continued using his 6-foot-11, 240-pound frame to play like a guard as well as a big. Small forward Bojan Bogdanovic is shooting 45 percent from three and has grown more comfortable putting the ball on the floor and attacking from a variety of depths. Power forward Thaddeus Young put on a role-player clinic in key wins over Milwaukee and Philadelphia, leading to him being awarded Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Backup point guard Cory Joseph continues to make a big impact doing the little things, even with his usage and minutes down.

Halfway through the season, Indiana has logged 23 games with at least six players scoring in double figures. They had only 26 such games all of last year.

Those changes sustained themselves the last few weeks as Oladipo has searched for balance between asserting himself and deferring. The Pacers have won 12 of their last 16 games since Oladipo returned to the lineup, responding equally well when Oladipo saw drop coverage, aggressive hedges, and even box-and-one zone defenses.

Their defense is as lyrical as it is nasty

In a league increasingly geared toward offense, Indiana makes their mark on the less glamorous end of the floor, allowing the second-fewest points per 100 possessions in the league.

The Pacers do have a lot of individual defensive talent. Turner is blocking every shot in sight and has become an elite anchor, one the Pacers badly missed during his injury. Young puts the clamps on elite scorers at the league’s most important position, Joseph is a pest at the point of attack, and Oladipo uses his speed to buzz here, there, and everywhere off the ball like a hummingbird in search of nectar.

But there’s also something to be said for the palpable trust that pulsates through their system and masks the flaws of weaker links. Their defensive rotations have a mesmerizing quality, akin to the gorgeous ball movement of the San Antonio Spurs from seasons past.

This defensive possession from Indiana was just perfect pic.twitter.com/SobB7a2mTf

— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) December 22, 2018

That’s why they’re able to be miserly with lineups that seem like they should be a defensive liability. Teams rarely play two centers anymore because they’re vulnerable to getting beat off the dribble by quick guards, but the Pacers have held opponents to just 93.2 points per 100 possessions in the 211 minutes that Turner and Sabonis have shared the floor, a figure considerably stingier than the team’s already stingy defensive rating (103.8). That speaks to the strength of their help coverage.

Check out this possession against the Lakers. When Joseph got switched onto Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma, rather than stranding the 6-foot-3 guard on an island, the Pacers responded with a fluid chain of sinking and filling that disrupted the drop-off pass and took away the shortest possible kick-out.

The biggest takeaway? Neither Sabonis nor Turner was ever put in the position to get blown by on a closeout.

Better yet, they don’t just use this connectivity to play prevent defense, as they lead the Eastern Conference in steals, forced turnovers, and points off turnovers. When energized and active, which is basically their default, the Pacers are killing possessions on one end of the floor and converting them into easy looks in transition on the other. That helps mask their offensive weaknesses: they’re 21-6 when they outscore their opponent in points off turnovers, yet only finished with the edge in three-point margin in five of those 21 wins.

Playing really freaking hard is a huge part of it. Look at everything that happened on this possession:

After having his shot blocked from behind, Oladipo poked the ball away from Blake Griffin.

Young then dove in front of an unsuspecting Griffin to recover the loose ball.

The cherry on top? The lefty power forward sprinted from the opposite side of the floor to deflect the tapped out rebound out of bounds off Reggie Bullock.

That series of hustle plays is like a movie trailer for the full-on Pacers experience.

True to form, Indiana won that game by 37 points despite made four fewer threes that the Pistons. Forcing 22 turnovers for 30 points goes a long way.

They’re at home where others aren’t

The Pacers’ offensive philosophy borrows from Br’er Rabbit’s strategy to evade capture in the steep drop scene on Walt Disney World’s Splash Mountain attraction. Upon being snared by his foes, Br’er Rabbit begs not to get thrown in the briar patch. His pursuers do exactly that, only for Br’er Rabbit to triumphantly emerge unscathed and declare that he “was born and raised in the briar patch!”

Indiana uses that same reverse psychology on its opponents. It may seem contrary to modern shot trends for the Pacers to be taking 15.5 percent of their shots as long twos (third-highest in the league) instead of getting more threes up (they’re fifth-highest in three-point percentage, but only 28th in attempts), but there is something to be said for aggressively pursuing the shots that defenses tend not to guard closely.

Consider this possession from Indiana’s first meeting with Boston. The Celtics have ranked in the top five in opponent 3-point percentage in each of the last 11 seasons, so rather than pursuing more threes, which the Celtics are well-equipped to contest, the Pacers made an already uncontested mid-range shot more open by using the 3-point line as a distraction.

Kyrie Irving was so preoccupied with the dummy off-ball screen between Indiana’s top two scorers that he literally turned his back to Turner, who sunk the wide-open 22-footer.

Indiana finds ways to overcome the math disadvantage they surrender. The Pacers ended up winning that game by one point because they outscored the Celtics by 25 combined points on twos and free-throws, which made up for getting housed by 24 from three. When the Pacers snapped Brooklyn’s seven-game winning streak on Dec. 21, they did so despite getting outscored by 15 points from three and nine at the free throw line. How did they win by eight? By limiting the Nets to 10 fewer field goal attempts and shooting a blistering 58 percent from two-point range.

This isn’t how most teams win, but that’s how they do.

Thriving while overcoming less efficient shot selection may also give Indiana an advantage in the postseason. Though Indiana has the 13th-most efficient half-court offense among current playoff teams, according to Synergy Sports, they are well-equipped to throw tough defenses off because they’re not used to defending teams that play this way.

Defying convention, playing outside the box, refusing to conform, whatever you choose to call it, the Pacers are winning with their brand of basketball. They’re not a fluke, and it’s long past time to take them seriously.

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