#mad at him for running away. also she should get a job stay away from him etc.

[divorceblogger]

love how lestat is consciously and constantly delineating himself in relation to his mother. the castle and his father’s lands constitute his entire world and in this insular environment his models of ideal physicality and intellectual prowess are formed in relation to the only person in the world who shows him any sympathy, the person that he admires begrudgingly despite her complicity in denying him personhood. he admires and resents her in equal measure, desiring to be her with a pathological obsession that almost equals his mother’s desire to be him - and he’s developed such an intense psychological investment in comparing his flaws to the material advantages she holds over him that he also describes himself as a cruder, less well-formed reincarnation of his mother, even as he admits that she’s wasting away from illness.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Ghost!Robin Part 12

My job ended so now I'm only part time employed. And I'm on vacation! So you get this chapter early in the day because I have plans later tonight. I think I'll have something to post next week, but I'm not sure. I'll be pretty busy this week, but the people I'm staying with do have work and school and stuff, so I should have time while they're doing that. Idk.

Story Summary: Danny was invited to dinner at Wayne Manor to meet Jazz's boyfriend and his family for the first time. He worked hard to make sure no ghost business would interrupt the evening. But when he arrived, all he could focus on was the ghost of the dead Robin that seemed to haunt Jason. Looks like he was breaking his promise.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.2k

----------

Danny just blinked at him in confusion. “Who else was there? My accident is what activated the portal and started letting ghosts through. My fault, my responsibility. And since I became half ghost, I had the powers necessary to fix it. My parents were incompetent at best. I just did what had to be done. ”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “If your parents were so incompetent, who trained you? Who helped you?”

“I mean, at first it was just Sam, Tucker, and I. They were present for my accident and helped me figure out my powers. Jazz figured it out a few months later and covered for me until she eventually revealed she already knew and then started helping more actively. And eventually I made a bunch of allies in the Realms and they started teaching me. I’m learning sword fighting from the Fright Knight and Pandora, diplomacy from Queen Dorathea, medicine from my doctor, and so many more things. It’s why I’m not worried about getting a GED. I’m so swamped with lessons and responsibilities that I just don’t have the time right now. Even if my grandfather is the master of time.”

Surprisingly, it was Alfred who asked the next question. “Do you ever have time to rest?”

Danny grinned. “Absolutely. When it all gets to be too much, I call up my partners or little sister and run away for a bit. My council then pretends I’m harder to find than I am. Or I’ll fight them off if I’m not ready to go back yet. I won my title through trial of combat, after all. No one can beat me.”

Jazz pouted at him. “You could call me up more often for those escapades, you know.”

Danny laughed. “Call up Ms. Responsibility to help me shirk? Nah, you’re where I go when I need to focus and can’t do it anymore.”

She smiled at him. “I suppose I can settle for that.”

Damian tilted his head. “We have conducted extensive background checks on Jasmine after her relationship with Todd became known. You do not have a younger sister.”

“I do,” said Danny. “Her name is Dani-with-an-i and she’s either two years younger than me or fourteen depending on how you look at it.”

“You’ve been cloned?” Tim was staring at him, so shocked he’d even stopped typing.

“Dani doesn’t like being called my clone. She’s my sister and her own person.”

Tim shook his head. “No, sorry, I said that wrong. My best friend is a clone. Superboy.”

“Oh!” Danny grinned. “I get it. Dani would love an introduction if you think he’d be interested. Superboy was also created by a creepy billionaire who was obsessed with his template, right? They’d have so much in common.”

“Wait,” said Jason. “Vlad Masters actually cloned you? He’s not just some creepy rich dude but legit mad scientist?”

Jazz shrugged. “Supervillain more like. But we’ve got it mostly under control. Bruce, if he tries to set up a meeting with you between Wayne Enterprises and VladCo, let me know? He likes to overshadow his competitors and make them sign over their companies. It’s how he became mayor in Amity. But he won’t do anything if Danny or I are there.”

“Overshadow?” asked Bruce.

“Possession,” Tim answered for Danny. “Apparently it’s a basic ghost power.”

Bruce closed his eyes. “Of course it is.” Looking to Danny, he asked, “What else are basic ghost powers?”

“As I demonstrated earlier, flight—well, it’s more gravity nullification, but semantics—invisibility, intangibility. Then there’s ectoblasts—” he formed one in his hands and tossed it from hand to hand “—overshadowing. Um… and most ghosts have at least one extra power directly tied to their obsession. Like, Boxy, er ,the Box Ghost, has control over cardboard boxes. Lunch Lady has control over food. Things like that.” With a wave of his hands, he dissipated the ectoblast.

“And Vlad Masters has used these powers to win an election and steal other’s companies.”

“He also has the power of duplication. I’m working on it, but can only maintain two duplicates at a time and it takes a ton of concentration. Vlad can maintain dozens if not hundreds at once. And each duplicate can overshadow someone. It’s why he’s such a pain to fight.”

Jason raised his hand. “I’m sorry, can you back up for a sec. How long has Vlad had these powers?”

Jazz shrugged. “Since his university days with Jack and Maddie. There was an accident and Vlad got ghost powers like Danny.”

“Uh-huh.” Jason’s voice was tight and a slow spread of anger was filling the room. “And you first met him when you were a kid, right?”

“Yeah,” said Danny. “It was a few months after my accident, so I was fourteen.”

“Did he, a grown-ass man, start fighting you, a kid right from the beginning?”

“Look, it’s fine. He’s a fruitloop. I know that. He wanted to kill my dad and marry my mom and play father-son with me from the moment we met. And yeah, the fights were hard when I was a kid. But I’m way stronger than him now. He’s just got that one trick that is a bitch to account for. I’m fine. Have been fine. And now I’m old enough and disowned so my parents can’t even force me to spend time with him anymore.”

Robin face palmed at his last words and Danny threw his hands up in the air.

“What did I say this time? I’m fine!”

Bruce frowned. “I’m sorry the adults in your life have failed you so badly. I know you said you are receiving training from other mentors, but I do have extensive experience fighting with and against metas and will share my methods with you. Both you and your sister, excuse me, sisters are welcome here any time and I’ll make sure we have some rooms set aside for you anytime you’re on Earth and in New Jersey.”

Damian jumped to his feet, “Father!”

But before he could say more than that, Dick had rushed to his side and slapped a hand over his mouth and began whispering in his ear. Steph moved seats so the two brothers could sit next to each other.

Robin was grinning and pumping his fists in the air. He sent out welcome, family vibes towards Danny.

Emotions that were echoed by Jason who added a protect layer to them.

Duke let out a whoop. "I won't be the only meta around! Promise me you'll come by a lot."

Danny shook his head, but couldn’t stop the smile. “So, you’ve decided I’m not a threat, then?”

“Hn. It seems like you were a child, put into an impossible situation, failed by all the adults who should’ve protected you, and that you excelled anyway.”

Jason pointed his fork at Danny. “But don’t let him put you at ease. He will figure out ways to neutralize you if you end up going evil or get mind controlled. He does it to everyone, even Superman and Superman is his best friend.”

At that, Danny couldn’t help but laugh. “Good!”

Pulses of surprise came from both Robin and Jason.

“Look, I’ve faced both an evil future version of me and have had to deal with mind control.” He looked to Bruce and, serious now, said, “As soon as the Anti-Ecto Acts are repealed and the Guys in White disbanded, I will help you write those plans myself.”

---------

Next

The family is finally warming up to Danny and at least some of them want to bring them in! Damian is the least happy about it.

Tag List Part 1

@addie-lover-of-stories, @justwannabecat, @gin2212, @amercurio, @regonold, @overtherose, @readerzj, @sjrose1216, @echoednonny, @deeterzz, @blu-lilac, @number-one-jew, @rowanaway-fromthisbs, @vythika96, @tired-yet-awaken, @themirrorghost, @emeraldcorpral, @all-mights-asscheeks, @darkhinauniverse, @blep-23, @phandomhyperfixationblog, @larkcoe1, @thegatorsgoose, @job-ross-the-second, @britcision, @lenacraft, @bubblemixer, @androgynouslordofescapism, @purefrickingspite, @leftmiraclechaos, @lizisipancardo, @starlight-sparks, @miraculousandmore, @gildedphoenix, @sometimesthingsfallapart, @letmesayfuxk, @phoenixcatch7, @skulld3mort-1fan, @abaowo, @dhampir-princess, @idkmrpianoman, @sarina-elais, @ballzfrog-blog, @undead-essence, @spookytragedyshark, @flyingpansaurus, @akintoabitch, @marivictal, @8-29pm, @justreadingthefanfics, @happybear135, @kisatamao, @spoopyspoony, @adorablechaos, @sara0055, @screamingtofillthevoid

[gaintsnowflake]

𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄

PARING - anthony lockwood x gn!reader

ONESHOT - in which you stay up waiting for lucy and lockwood to get back from a job only to find them soaked and mad at each other.

TRIGGERS - mentions of death

A/N - angst and fluff | please mind any typos or grammar errors, i am my own editor and I may not be able be able to get everything | I really don’t know how I feel about this one, i hate it but i also like it, Lockwood may be a bit OOC, so I do apologize

WORD COUNT - 3.0k

masterlist

I WAITED for them to stumble through the door, regretting my life choices.

George and I were forced to stay home since George got caught pulling two all-nighters in a row for research and I was still on lockdown from a recent injury. The worst thing about it was, they were going against a type two, alone, in the middle of nowhere. I should be there with them, at least I would be able to provide some help. It would be much better than sitting here at three am awaiting their return.

Finally, I heard the door open, followed by a slam and another reopen. Within a few seconds, I hear Lockwood yelling after Lucy. Quickly, I run from my seat in the kitchen to the main hall, trying to see what all of the ruckus was, just when I went to look at them I was met with two soaked teenagers screaming at each other. Well, Lucy screaming at Lockwood. I paused for a quick second before all my body filled with rage, the idiot fucked up again, I know it.

"Anthony, what the fuck did you do?" I yelled, drawing their attention toward me.

Lucy just looked at me, her mascara running and her eyes watering before she gave me a slight smile. Lockwood on the other hand gave me his best guilty smile knowing that I would not spare him.

"He decided to push us into a quite disgusting lake trying to get away from our dear friend Mr. Sanders, isn't that right Lockwood," Lucy's voice was laced with anger as she turned between the two of us. "Not only did I have it handled, he made me lose the source I was trying to cover, only delaying the whole thing more. Also, the lake contains really big fish that we don't even know what they were. We could have gotten eaten."

"It was smarter than you getting ghost touched, you wouldn't have been able to cover it in time, I was trying to save you, Luce.  Besides we weren't eaten."

They looked towards me as I stepped towards Lucy. I endearingly rubbed her shoulder to let her know that I was there for her and turned away from Anthony, our faces not far from one another.

"Go shower, Lucy," I spoke softly, "I will handle Lockwood and once you get I'll make sure he apologizes and I will make sure he makes your favorite teas, how does that sound?" I waited for her to nod, which took her a second, she was probably sending death glares to Lockwood. Once she did I moved my hand and turned back to Anthony. "How about we go talk in the library, yeah? Wouldn't want to wake up George."

He responded with a quick nod before moving towards the library, Lucy stood still for a second. I slowly start to follow before I felt Lucy grab my arm, forcing me to turn toward her.

"I know you like to go easy on him, but give him hell for me, please? He deserves it this time."

I smiled and nodded before turning around to go do what I do best, solve the fights and make sure everyone is happy.

I turned towards her and gave her a big smile before continuing to meet Lockwood in the library. I closed the door to see him sitting in his chair, face in his hands, shaking his head. I could see the guilt through him.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened and then I lecture you or do you wanna split up the lecture tonight?" I asked quietly, walking towards him; Pausing in front of him, I ruffled his already messy hair and took one of his hands. 

"Can we split up the lecture, please?" His voice was shaky, he felt guilty. He looked me in the eyes briefly, just slow enough I can see that they were tear lined, before turning away. 

"You know what you did was stupid. You aren't fighting me on anything. I want you to know why it is stupid though," I started, sitting down across from him, keeping his hand in mine, I slowly played with his fingers, spinning the ring over and over. "You could have gotten yourself or Lucy more hurt. You don't know what was in that lake Anthony, and I know sometimes it's hard to believe but the living can be scarier than the dead, whether it was a fish or not. It could have injured you- don't even try to argue yet, let me finish. I know that there is probably a reason for your thinking but whatever it is doesn't mean you should disregard the fact that you could have gotten more hurt. Especially if what Lucy said was true about her nearly having the source.

"I know that you care about us, but I want you to think for a second, how would you feel if Lucy never was able to walk through that door again because you made the mistake of making her swim with the fishes, metaphorically and literary. You wouldn't have lost just her, but you would have hurt George and me in unbearable ways. Why? Because you didn't think? You rushed into it like you always do. I know that sounds selfish, but you know that everything you do is to save us three. To keep us safe. Now think about it again, you were able to save Lucy but not you? What if you died? I know that you think that isn't the worst option in the world, but it is truly terrible. Those thoughts aren't true and never will be true. We would have to live, hoping that maybe you just would walk through that door one more time with that stupid little grin you do after you get us a job that is way too difficult. We love you, Lockwood, and I love you Anthony, they don't want to lose you, or Lucy. Just how you wouldn't want to lose them. I can't lose you, you are my everything, Anthony, my everything."

His eyes met mine, finally, but a few of those tears escaped. I quickly slid from my seat and kneeled on the ground, I used my free hand to whip away the tears and caress his cheek and muttered a few soft, "I'm sorry." I know it hurts him for me to see him like this, so open and vulnerable, but at the same time, he knows I would never judge him for it and that I would always be there.

"You need to start thinking more. Not just move first, questions later. You need to think, even if it was for just a second. Sometimes that may not be the best option, but in some situations it is. But before I decide if this was one of these situations, can you tell me everything that happened?" I finally asked, giving him the ability to talk openly.

He waited for a moment, causing me to fear that maybe I was a little too hard on him. Nonetheless, he started talking, slowly making sure he didn't miss a single detail.

"The job wasn't difficult at first, just the average haunting. The mansion was large but we had been able to figure out that he died on the steps into the backyard, thanks to my amazing sight. We had heard that he was haunting some of the inside but also the backyard. Just as we were trying to figure out where his source may be, it was this fishing rod thing. He was huge into catching fish. The thing was there were about twenty of them. Fifteen inside, right beside the door, and the rest outside. After we had the ones inside covered, we stayed for a bit to make sure we had the right ones. We kind of assumed we did given that they were his expensive ones. But eventually, he turned up and boy was he mad. Lucy took the silver net and ran with it outside to make sure that she covered them and after I hit him with enough salt bombs I followed her. All of a sudden, while we were on his deck he came up behind us and I was out of salt bombs, Lucy was nearly done covering the source but I thought we wouldn't have enough time so I ran into her, pushing us both off the dock and into the lake."

After he finished he looked at me with a blank stare, his eyes widening, immediately realizing what he forgot to do, try using his rapier. This was surprising given that he nearly always remembers to use it and uses it when even not needed. 

"There it is, the reason why Lucy is mad. You didn't fucking use your rapier."

"Maybe you are right, maybe I didn't have to push us in. Oh god, I am such an idiot. I have to go apologize," He scrambled to apologize, running past me as I rose to stop him. 

"Lockwood," I called after him, trying to make him realize that she was still showering. "She is still in the shower!"

Before I could reach him, I realized the water wasn't running. I looked to see that Lucy was just staring confused at Lockwood who was frantically telling her that it was his fault and he sees that now, promising to be less reckless in the future. He was also giving her his best, "Please don't leave me because I just cried about this" smile. 

"It's okay Lockwood, I realized I was overreacting a bit. You were just trying to protect us. Which wasn't the smartest of ways, but you still saved my life at the end of the day. Now can we please just admit that we aren't mad at each other so we can go to bed?" She cut him off mid-apology, her voice getting more and more quiet till she yawned at the end. "

Yeah, yeah, I am not mad at you. Goodnight, Luce," He then turned towards me, "Thank you as always, I am going to shower and then head to bed, meet me in there."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna talk to Lucy for a bit in the kitchen so if I am not in bed you know where to find me," I said as he gave me a quick peck on the cheek before walking away. Turning to Lucy I smiled, "How about we go talk for a few minutes and then you can head off to bed?"

"Okay," she muttered with a smile before heading to the Kitchen.

As we reached the kitchen, Lucy went to go sit in her chair as I reached up in the cabinets to grab four hidden donuts from Arifs. The others don't know but I also keep hidden ones for my private conversations with them after long cases or me scolding them to no ends. Georges and my first were missing as we had a long conversation as soon as the other two left about his sleeping habits, I kept it short but I still managed to get in everything I wanted to say over donuts and some tea.

I put her favorite donut lightly on the plate and mine on another before smiling and turning toward her. I closed the box and left it on the counter to make sure it seemed like it was empty and I would just throw it away after, that way she didn't go to check that spot and figure out my secret, given that as of now, she thinks that I run out and get them when I think they will be needed and not that I always have them, just in case.

"Want me to put on some tea?" I placed the plate down in front of her as I questioned, she shook her head no, allowing me to sit down across from her. "Are you not mad at him or did you just say that?"

"I am not mad at him, I know he was just trying to protect us, but there were just so many ways he could have, I don't know, just he didn't have to leave us soaking in the middle of the night."

"I get it and don't worry I lectured him on that," I paused as she took a bite of her donut, taking a bite out of mine as well, "He is sorry, truly, so I am glad that you can forgive him."

We sat there for a little, finishing our donuts in silence, once she was done she had gotten up to go put her dish away but before she got the chance I told her I had it. I quickly stood up and took our plates and went to go wash them off. I smiled at her and bid her goodnight as she said it back.

I was now alone, I had time to breathe, Anthony shouldn't be out of the shower for a few more minutes so I can just breathe. 

I began to wash the plates off lightly with water and a tad bit of soap before drying them off only to fill them with more donuts, this time it was Anthony's favorite and my favorite. I put them down in front of our normal seats, his at the head of the table and mine the next closest chair, brought as close to the age as it could.

I smiled and sat down, staring at the wall. Tonight was something and it may take me a few hours to recover from all the worry, but they are safe now at home. Everyone is safe inside of 35 Portland Row and my worries can subside for a bit.

"I should've checked here first," a voice whispered, his voice.

I turned to see him in a plain white T-shirt, quite similar to the stolen one I am wearing now, and some sweats. His wet hair is laying across his forehead and little drops of water were all across his body. 

He gave me his world-famous grin before I motioned for him to sit, which he did very quickly. Once he was sitting he started eating the donut, no shock, as he refused to eat before the job, against my wishes, stating he wasn't hungry. With his other hand, he rubbed my knee up to my thigh trying to find my loose hand. When he eventually laced our fingers together and started rubbing mine in a comforting way. He could tell I was stressed and worried, always seeing right through me.

"You know, you should become a therapist or something," he started a light friendly conversation, "since you always act like ours, why not do it for others and get paid."

"I can't know, I can't continue my education, I choose to be an agent, so that is what I am now," my smile faltered for a second as I wondered if I made the right choice all those years ago when I decided to become an agent.

"Well, then maybe you will just be the agency's therapist then, I mean, you already are, but that could be like your official role other than agent," He offered, in an attempt to raise my bad mood. 

"Yeah, that sounds good, I guess," I truly did make the right choice. Because if I didn't I wouldn't be sitting here with Anthony Lockwood, eating donuts at now four in the morning about to head to bed.

We finished our donuts with a few words exchanged. I stood up and collected our plates, I wasn't going to fully wash them, I would do that in the morning, well afternoon, when I woke up. So for now the plates will sit in our kitchen sink waiting to be washed.

Before I turned around I heard light scribbles coming from Anthony. I looked and rested my elbows on his chair standing above him as he wrote a short note to George explaining that they got home late so everyone won't wake up till afternoon. 

I smiled at him once again before taking his arm and dragging him from his chair. He followed me up to his room, slowly behind me as we were both exhausted and were probably going to fall asleep as soon as we reach the bed.

I opened the door to the dark room, not even wanting to turn on a light. I let go of Anthony's arm and navigated the familiar room, and crawled into bed. He slowly got in right after me.

He laid flat on his back and put up his arms, wanting me to lay on top of him. I happily obliged. My head rested on his shoulder titled to the side as he rested his head on mine lightly. One arm fell off him and the other wrapped around and began playing with his hair. One leg was in between his and the other was laying flat on the bed. His arms were tightly wrapped around me.

He slowly kissed my head before beginning to talk, slurring his words. His voice got quieter and quieter within minutes as his breath got slower. Eventually, he just stopped talking. The word felt as if it had stopped in this peaceful moment. I know I made the right choice when I choose to become an agent, he was the best thing to come out of this. As we lay here together, finding peace in one another.

His breath lingered on my ear as I lay across his body, the smell of his body wash and shampoo filled my nose. A smile played on my lips as I played with his wet hair, twirling a few strands over and over. His arms were wrapped around me, lighter than before as by now he has completely fallen asleep. His worries drifted away as his breaths became slower and slower. My worries were now gone as he was FINALLY HOME.

[amorremanet]

Currently blocked from finishing the final run at Elgar’nan by irl responsibilities, so I’ll probably have more to add later, but some preliminary reactions

spoilers and whatnot below

Neve!!! I love Neve the character. But I’m significantly less fond of Neve’s personal plot and Aelia is the big reason why. She feels massively underwritten in a “save Treviso” play-through and I really hope it will be different when I do Veil Jumping Neve-smoocher Khensalin’s play-through where I will be saving Minrathous

A lot of my problems with Aelia could be resolved by making her like 250% gayer for Neve

REVENANT DRAGON, MY BELOVED. now there was a fucking boss fight!!! i loved it, 10/10, no notes. Glad I saved Mythal and the Revenant Dragon for dead last (which was a character choice because my Rook de Riva wants to save Solas from himself but did NOT want to deal with Mythal. He has Dalish Religious Trauma from before he ran away from his clan-of-origin and a lot of it is about Mythal. I imagine Elías just gritting his teeth through his first two answers before finally snapping about how he and Bellara killed Anaris so he can get this conversation over with already)

(Elías also had the Dalish version of an Edgy Contrarian Teenage Satanist phase, by which I mean he decided that everyone else was wrong and What If Fen’harel Was Right, Actually. There was VERY little that Solas could have done to actually lose his new stan. Even with the betrayal, Elías is like “I mean, I would feel more wounded if he hadn’t betrayed me tbh, that would mean I wasn’t worth the effort in his eyes, but he put actual effort into this, which means I matter to him on some level and I’ll take it while also calling him a bitch and demanding to know what he was thinking with several of his life-choices. :D”

…………my next two Rooks are gonna have fun relationships with Solas, too. Messy ones, naturally, because Solas, but like, fun for me personally messy.)

Questions my Rook de Riva has 100% asked: “Why is the answer always ‘Taash needs to control their anger’ and never ‘Maybe people and Shathann especially should stop treating Taash like fucking garbage’?”

Like, as a player, I get that things are often more complicated but man, Shathann tripped SO many trauma wires for Elías and just made him want to disagree with everything she said on principle. Shathann could have said that you die if you stop breathing, and Elías would’ve told her that sounded like a skill issue because he once heard Mourn Watch apprentices can use their death magic to stay alive indefinitely even when they can’t breathe.

The narrative handling of Shathann, kind of a mixed bag for me, but Shathann as a character? I think she was great and I appreciated that her myriad shitty behaviors felt so viscerally real

Morrigan can still step on me. No, I don’t care about my dignity. No, I will not get off the floor. I love her, she can step on me

Also, like………so, the Fourth Blight means Ghilan’nain is single, right? Like, Andruil’s dragon, Anorral, was the archdemon that time, and since Anorral died, Andruil turned mortal. It’s established explicitly that Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain are the last of the Evanuris, meaning Andruil is dead, meaning Ghilan’nain is single, yes?? :3

Listen, as much as I was utterly devastated by the codex entry where she’s all “Fuck off Elgar’nan, stop accusing me of grieving and let me work, damn!!!” and the one where Elgar’nan is like “She thinks I can’t tell she misses Andruil, maybe I’ll let her do some horrific Blight experiments to Lusacan later, that should cheer her up”? I am NOT above comforting the widow when the widow is a mad magical-science lady with tentacles and yaoi hands who is the size of a fucking building

Maker forbid a massive, tentacled magical-science lady have hobbies!!!

Elgar’nan doesn’t do as much for me as Ghilan’nain. He’s a perfectly serviceable villain. The writing is decent and his VA did an amazing job. He is sufficiently creepy at Rook and I appreciate that. But he’s simply not a mad science yaoi hands tentacle lady who’s literally the size of a building

All this being said, the Razikale boss fight really did feel like a significantly scaled up version of trying to play pirates on a playground or something, and there’s one kid who just keeps being like “Well, MY pirate has invisible super armor on which means you can’t hurt him! And he has LASER EYES!!! I’ll pew-pew-pew you with my laser eyes if you don’t let me have them!!!”

Mechanically, it was a great boss fight. Aesthetically, I fucking love Razikale’s design and how totally fucked and Blighted she was. But on a character level, it did start to feel a little silly that Ghilan’nain just kept having screaming tantrums and adding more fucking heads (though in fairness, this wasn’t helped by the fact that I put Weisshaupt off as much as I possibly could and as such was probably way over-leveled for the Razikale fight)

anyway, Razikale is perfect and has done nothing wrong ever in her life

The Formless One was also great. Gonna pinch its widdle Formless cheeks. The all-caps hate mail it sends, chef’s kiss perfect

The note from Imshael in Elvhenan’s Haven, though 🥺

Judge me all you want, I don’t care. That loser-ass Choice Spirit is my darling, I love him

Really do not think I have it in me to choose Davrin to die over Harding literally ever. Narratively, it just feels wrong to me, when so much of Davrin’s story is about the fact that he has a genuine death wish underneath his Grey Warden heroism and about finding his reasons to want to live, while Harding probably would’ve spent the entire game beating herself up about not taking the shot on Solas in the prologue, if not for the lyrium dagger awakening lyrium magic in her somehow. Sacrificing herself while taking a shot that does interrupt a fucked up ancient elf magic ritual? Feels like a perfect narrative bookend for Harding’s story, while letting Davrin have the heroic death he wants so badly feels, to me, like letting him off easy instead of challenging him on his bullshit idea that living like you want to die is okay as long as you’re a Gray Warden

speaking of Gray Wardens: Antoine and Evka are great, love them

Part of me wants to know how much of my play-through time was spent on just getting lost because I didn’t notice the door or hallway I was actually supposed to be going down. Another part of me never wants to know this.

I had to do the final run on Isseya twice because despite getting the First Warden’s clue about the feather from Isseya’s griffon and picking up the codex entry that’s on the table beside said feather, I missed picking up the actual feather. At least her boss fight was fun

Unlike Aelia’s boss fight, which made me want to throw things because I did all that work on her minions and her warding crystals, and then I don’t even get to hit her with Chain Lightning??? Come on.

Mmmm, so much juicy lore, I’m chewing on it so much

Also letting the headcanon gremlins run amok with ideas about like, all the drama that may or may not have happened in ancient Elvhenan with the Evanuris and the Forgotten Ones

which reminds me: I REALLY APPRECIATED THE LORE IMPLICATIONS OF ANARIS BEING THERE. He himself was kinda middle of the road for me, but honestly, that was mostly a function of him being in Bellara’s plot. If he’d been in anyone else’s plot, I don’t think he would’ve ended somewhere in the middle of my Companion Personal Antagonist Rankings.

Which I agree isn’t really fair to either him or Bellara, especially since I don’t dislike her or anything? I think she’s cute! But she just doesn’t really do it for me personally. She’s cute and I have no issues with her but also don’t feel terribly invested in her because she’s not for me

Tarquin and Ashur are a couple, this is not explicit canon but it is still just facts as far as I’m concerned

Excited to see More Dorian on my Save Minrathous run with Khensalin. More Dorian Pavus always, yes please, sign me up even if I will feel like absolute shit about what happens to Treviso :D

[franki-lew-yo]

inb4 nicer post than my last one:

I saw Chicken Run 2. It's pretty cute. Definitely not as big a letdown or wasted like a Pixar sequel is.

Keep in mind I think I'm one of the few people in existence who's never itching to get sequels and continuations of my fandoms. I never wanted a Finding Nemo sequel and Finding Dory broke my heart in the worst way; by having unlimited potential and squandering it and the characters I love.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget doesn't do that, happy to say. Mostly it's just underwhelming.

It's weird. I'm definitely not a better writer than these professional writers, I just find myself going "why didn't you have the characters do/say THIS instead? It would still be cinematic and in character". I'd have to rewatch to give you a play-by-play of exactly what I mean. Overall I'd call that a nitpick. Bigger criticisms, especially when this is a sequel to a 20 y old film with fans who've seen in hundreds of times and know the details:

Hated how they retconed the chicks at the end of the original. You Thanos snapped Bunty and Fowler and possibly some of Rocky and Ginger's children. Also, those little 100% chicks were adorable. I'm okay with Molly being Ginger's only chick, but she'd look adorable as one of these:

Another distracting continuity thing: Rocky gets upset that he can't crow anymore. Even though...he was never a crower. That was Fowler's job. I remember. I get that he's a rooster but my point is that was never a thing Rocky did in the original and that should be been better established as what he does now on the island. Put it among the lines that I think could have very easily been slipped in to make it more digestible; you could have had Rocky say to Ginger, "you gotta let me crow! That's, like, my thing now", implying that he's turned to being the island's crow-er to cope with abandoning his lone-free-ranger lifestyle. See? Small changes of dialogue that can imply so much and give you an idea of all the things you need to know in this newer story.

Even though Fowler did technically do something in the end most of the movie felt annoyed and just there. Really would have liked it if he and Babs were back up and helpful some other way while it was mostly Mac, Bunty, and the rats who went in to save Molly and Rocky. Idk. Maybe it's hard to be the absolute banger of a convenience that is the green aliens and ' the claaaaaw' in Toy Story 3-- needed to utilize him better for the gag and the story is what I'm trying to get at.

Rocky and Ginger's voices were distracting. It's odd because Rocky's is definitely the more noticeably different one that you have to get used to, but I am 100% replacing him considering who was his og voice. I'm mostly mad that in order to free Rocky of the curse they had to take the part away from Julia Sawalha.

This is probably going to controversial here but, um, I really wish Mrs. Tweedy wasn't the Mrs. Tweedy in this. I think it'd be a funnier, more of a "here we go again" gag that they actually find some way to contrive the villain of this movie to be Mrs. Tweedy's relative that just happens to look the same, sound the same AND have the same bloodlust for chickens. Like, the gag is that all of Mrs. Tweedy's family is Officer Jenny/Nurse Joy who are all identical to one another but they're also the Cruella of birds and all have a bumbling husband. Even though it's explained how she got here, it just kind of takes the teeth out of her original defeat and even her one in this film.

I kind of wish Ginger had stayed "colarred" for a longer stretch of time and the rest of the crew had to save her. I feel like Molly being placed in her mother's shoes would have been more dramatic and made the situation all the more dire and dependent on the other characters to think up a plan. Ginger being unable to do anything or "broken" would change it up a bit, provided she still makes the final save in the end.

That pop song during the 'Molly-growing-up' montage was bad and didn't suit the time period and vibe of the movie. It really took me out. Just play that in the end credits.

Mr. Fry never appeared again in his creepy chicken man suit and I kind of really liked the idea of this creeeeeepy farmer basically wanting to be friends with the chickens while dressing as one because he thinks he's more connected to them that way. But no that's just for one scene.

I was also expecting Mr. Fry to turn on Mrs. Tweedy as he noticed her obviously flirting with Reginald. Having the ending twist be that he assists the chickens in their escape or lives among them in a horrific chicken suit with the chickens taking advantage of this would have been right at home.

that's all I got.

[jjtheresidentbaby]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ one and the same ໒꒱ ⋆ﾟ⊹

|| ashlyn banner & tyler hernandez

summary: ashlyn has dealt with worse than an argument with tyler, but when it sends her into headspace midway through a night in the phantom dimension it can become a problem

just lil disclaimer; don’t like, don’t read. I’m only saying this because it’s a smaller fandom and I’ve seen some pretty hostile comments about topics and I really don’t want to deal with any of that <3

warnings: little!ashlyn, caregiver!tyler, caregiver!ben, set after tyler gets out of the hospital/is healed, hurt/comfort, arguing, involuntary regressing, crying, non verbal!ash is mentioned, nicknames, tyler is practically ash’s older brother now

-

“We can’t just stay put forever!” Tyler groans and runs a hand through his hair, the school bus creaking under his pacing feet.

“I’m not saying we stay put forever but- we can’t just run out there either.” Ashlyn sighs, looking over at Taylor who’s stood closest to Tyler and has been trying to get him to calm down. It’s been almost a full month since Tyler healed from the tree incident and while he had been content on waiting to go past the graveyard walls for awhile because of Taylor’s worries, he’s not so keen on the idea anymore. They need to do something, get out of here, find out more about the phantoms, anything.

“Then we should come up with a plan like I’ve been saying.” It’s angry and hot, Tyler’s eyes pointed towards Ashlyn with all the fire in the world. She looks away in seconds and takes a deep breath to try and steady herself, they’ve been standing here arguing for at least an hour, Ashlyn has also been slowly slipping into her headspace throughout it all. It’s the worst possible timing in the world and she’s trying to push it away but isn’t sure it’s really working.

“The plan you’re proposing isn’t safe.” Running out and trying to capture a phantom to study it is the only thing Tyler’s suggested, nobody’s agreed with him, not even Aiden.

“Well it’s something! You’re the leader and you haven’t given a single idea.” The leader is said in almost a mockery, Ashlyn gets it. She’s the one that took on that label and she hasn’t done an amazing job at keeping everyone safe. No matter how many times Tyler reminds her that what happened wasn’t her fault, she can still feel the small amount of resentment he holds against her. She’s not mad about it or going to tell him to get over it or anything, but it hurts when she feels this vulnerable.

Since the trip to Savannah Ashlyn hasn’t been able to regress, it used to be something she did before bed, just to destress and sleep better, but now she’s got monsters to fight. Literally. She had thought going without regressing would be fine and it has been, til this week. There’s no reason she can pinpoint on why her little space has been begging to come out, she just knows it is, and that her eyes burn with tears because of it. The more emotional side of her always comes to the surface when she’s little.

“I- I think we should take time to come up with a more cohesive plan.” Her hands clench and unclench by her sides, voice an odd quietness that Taylor and Aiden definitely pick up on as they give her a questioning concerned look. She ignores it.

“To do what!? You’re supposed to be the one coming up with plans and taking charge, so what are we going to do?” Tyler steps closer to Ashlyn as her mouth opens only close. She’s definitely slipped now, she can feel it, all the emotions flooding into her system, the fear almost feels suffocating. There’s sounds of monsters all around her and she has Tyler standing in front of her looking extra pissed off, she doesn’t know what’s worse, the ear torture or the guilt that her friend is so upset because of her.

“Tyler-.” Taylor starts and Tyler turns to look at her but when he does Ashlyn stumbles backwards, hitting Ben’s chest with a flinch and high pitched noise she hadn’t meant to let out.

Her heart is beating two times faster than it should be and her body curls back into Ben as far as it can, tears building in her eyes and terror spiked in her chest. She didn’t mean to do that, she knows Tyler would never hurt her, she trusts him, really she hadn’t meant to—. The tears she was holding back start to slip down her cheeks and she quickly turns to hide her face in Ben’s chest.

“Ashlyn…” The sudden hand on her back only makes her jump again, hands clinging to Ben’s shirt with enough of a grip that she could tear the fabric in two.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t- I didn’t mean to-.” A choked off sob stops her from continuing the small pleas. There’s a shake to her body that only makes her more scared, she wants to go home, she wants to be safe, she doesn’t want to be standing in a school bus trembling and feeling herself slip further down into headspace. It’s only a matter of time until she goes completely non-verbal, something that’s never been an issue but definitely will be here.

“Ash, it’s okay, nobody’s upset.” Aiden speaks slow and soft, they make eye contact when she turns her head to the side against Ben’s chest. He gives his cousin a small nod before Ben hesitantly starts to wrap his arms around Ashlyn’s back to hold her in closer, tightening them when she doesn’t flinch away from the motion.

“Can you talk to us? Tell us what’s wrong, if- if it’s Tyler I swear he’d never do anything to hurt you.” Taylor comes to stand beside Aiden with her teeth chewing her bottom lip in nerves. Ashlyn can see Tyler behind her shoulder, he’s still pacing but it’s less angry and more worried, she feels horrible for making them all so concerned.

“No- no it’s not Ty’s fault, I’m sorry- I just- everything’s so much. I wanna go home, I wanna be safe, I don’t wanna be here.” A childlike tone drapes over Ashlyn’s words that makes more tears run down her cheeks. She doesn’t know where that nickname for Tyler came from, or why she’s being so honest and not trying to make her answers to sound more normal, less like she’s a child despite how she feels.

“Oh sweetheart…” Taylor says as if she can read through every thought Ashlyn has, can see just how vulnerable she’s being.

“Why don’t you and Ben sit down, okay? Just try and breathe, it’s okay.” The direction is followed easily and as soon as Ben’s sat with his back pressed to the wall and window of the bench closest to them Ashlyn finds herself curling against him again. It’s probably a bad idea, probably raises a million red flags for the others, but laying her head down on Ben’s chest to listen to his heartbeat is helping her feel calmer so she allows herself some grace. And she knows if Ben was uncomfortable or didn’t want her there he’d push her away.

“Want some water?” Logan appears over the seat in front of Ashlyn and Ben, his eyes flicking around their faces nervously, he obviously doesn’t know how to help or what to say. Ashlyn shakes her head and closes her eyes against Ben’s shirt, she’s exhausted and wants to go to sleep but knows she can’t, there’s monsters close by that could attack at any moment. She needs to stay alert, as much as she can while regressed anyways.

“Ashlyn are you sure you’re okay? I didn’t mean to scare you.” Tyler questions in the most hesitant voice Ashlyn’s ever heard him use. He’s usually so sure of himself, not afraid to speak his mind, not afraid to say things with his full chest, never this anxious about simply talking.

“M’okay.” Her face untucks just enough for her to see how Tyler’s stood in the aisle in front of where her and Ben are sitting. His eyes are big and hands fidgeting restlessly, Ashlyn reaches out for him before she can fully think it through, just wanting him to calm down, for things to not feel so stressful.

Tyler takes the offer after a short pause, sitting on the seat next to Ben when he shifts his knees up so there’s enough room. Ashlyn crawls her way off of Ben’s chest to Tyler’s, more careful with how she sits on him as she’s still petrified that he’ll be in pain because of the tree injuries, but she quickly relaxes when his hand starts to rub up and down her back. The sound of his heartbeat is a little faster than Ben’s was but it drowns out some of the monster sounds the same.

“Taylor used to sit with me like this when we were little, she’d make me carry her around anywhere she could too. I’m not sure I’ll be able to carry you as easily though carrot top.” A small smile spreads over Tyler’s face as he talks. Ashlyn sinks into every word, they feel safe and comfortable, like Tyler’s telling her it’s okay in some odd way. It’s okay that she’s upset, that she wants to go home, wants comfort, as if he’s assuring her that he’ll take care of her the same way he does his biological sister. As if they’re one and the same.

[torreshalstead]

holy ground - part 2

Summary - Her fingers twitched, brushing against soft warm skin. But it wasn’t her own.

Hailey’s eyes fluttered open, taking in the sleeping figure beside her. He was still there.

It hadn’t been a figment of her imagination. It hadn’t been a dream that she had conjured up in her subconscious. It had been real.

And he had stayed.

Chapters - 2/2

Notes - I couldn’t resist adding a little of Jay’s POV to this so please enjoy! AO3 Link

Jay was dozing in and out of consciousness, a pleasant dreamless sleep filling his mind when felt something twitch against his skin, fingers warm against his bare shoulder. Hailey.

Hailey was here, with him, in her bed. His hand was curved protectively around her hip, confirming her presence and her hand was resting on his shoulder.

It had been real.

Her confession. Their kiss. Their night together. All of it had been real.

He had known for a long time that he wanted to cross that line and take the next step with her, and for a brief moment he had thought she wanted it too when he had gotten shot. But then she had clammed up, changed the topic and walked away from him with tears in her eyes - he had thought she had changed her mind. Decided it wasn’t worth it.

That he wasn’t worth it.

And then she had told him she’d had an offer for a job in New York. He wasn’t surprised the Feds wanted to keep her. He wanted to keep her. And he had said ‘cool’. That’s a perfectly rational response when the girl you are mad for who only sees you as a friend says she might be leaving the state, isn’t it?

But then at the bar, she had said she didn’t want to take it. Didn’t want to take it because of him.

He had wanted to say something, say anything as she spoke but it was his turn to clam up and watch as once again her blue eyes brimmed with tears. But there was a spark in them this time, a glimmer of hope, of possibility. So when she finally said the words, he hadn’t even thought about it, just pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

He’d waited far too long to kiss her and the fact they were in the middle of a bar, well he didn’t care.

He felt like a hormone fueled teenager again, pushing her up against his truck and sealing his lips to hers and finally feeling what it was like to run his fingers through her hair. He should have been embarrassed about how many times he had dreamt about that very moment but when he felt her mouth open under his and her fingers slide under his shirt, holding him to her, he realised that he might not have been the only one dreaming about it.

He was finally kissing Hailey Upton. And she was kissing him back.

He knew they should probably talk about it, about what this meant for them and their partnership but there was a tiny part of him that worried if they did, she would pull back. Pull back from him. Put the brakes on and slide it into park.

And he didn’t want that.

He wanted all of it.

He wanted her and he wanted the job.

He wanted her as a partner, by his side at home and on the streets.

His partner on the job and his partner in life.

He needed her.

But as he felt her slide a little closer, her hand across his chest and her head now resting on his shoulder, he knew if she ever didn’t want that, didn’t want him - he would let her go.

He wasn’t sure he would survive it. But he’d do it.

He’d do anything she asked of him.

But as he lay there, he prayed to a God he didn’t really believe in that she never would.

He knew she loved her job, hell she was probably the best cop he had ever met and he was proud of the cop he had become by working alongside her day after day. But he also knew how hard she had worked to get to where she was now, and the battles she had had to fight to be taken seriously.

And he just hoped that when she woke up, she decided that they were a battle worth fighting as well.

Screw Voight’s rule about no in house dating. Jay knew they were both professional enough to be able to keep their heads on calls and keep their private life private and out of the bullpen. It was worth it.

They were worth it.

She was worth it.

He had been worried that at some point in the night she would wake up and realise it was a mistake, that he was a mistake and try to pretend nothing had happened between them. And he would have gone along with it and waited until she was ready. He would wait forever if it meant one day he finally got to call Hailey Upton his.

He felt her soft lips press against his shoulder and suddenly all of the worry that she might not want him enough to stay, vanished. He remembered how those lips felt as they had explored his skin a few hours before and he never wanted to feel anybody else's lips on him ever again.

He was ruined for her, completely head over heels gone for her.

And the fact that instead of pulling away from him this morning, she was pulling herself closer, it brought him immeasurable amounts of joy.

As much as he loved being her pillow, he wanted her to know he was also awake before the alarm woke them from their blissful bubble. He brought his other hand up, the one not resting on her hip, and threaded his fingers through hers. He dropped a kiss to her forehead, letting his lips linger against her hairline not wanting to pull away.

‘Good morning,’ he whispered. His voice was still thick with sleep but he couldn’t help but smile at the possibility that this was the start of numerous good mornings with Hailey.

He knew it might not be easy, knew not only had his own heart been damaged in the past but that Hailey kept her own guarded for many a reason. They both had their own scars, physical and mental, their own battles they fought inside themselves. But right now, it didn’t matter, their pasts didn’t matter. The fact they were partners on the job didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they were together. Their whole future was lying in front of them. Their future.

At this precise moment in time, Jay thought he could take on the entire world, so long as Hailey was beside him and they tackled it, together.

[lily-alphonse]

hi! for your rarepair suggestion thing, i would love to see Leah x Alex, idk i just think they’d be fun together

I’m really loving your rarepairs so far, i think the Shane and Sandy one is my favorite so far! Can’t wait to see more!!

Ottterpops I love you. I see you in my notifications all the time and this is the sweetest little ask I love knowing these things like which are people's favorites and stuff wow wow wow 10/10 ♥️♥️ reach out more often my dear I love you

BUT THIS IS INSANE

Damn. Leah and ALEX? Ughghapeuwefn 😩 What the hell would they be doing together?

Ok. Ok. Asshole Alex? Asshole Alex. Misogynist Alex. Strong and independent Leah. I'm cooking, let's go.

ITS ENEMIES TO LOVERS TIME BABYYYY 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 The crowd goes wild, they're going feral, we love to see it

They're butting heads right off the BAT. Because see, Alex is just coming back after flunking out of university. And Leah just moved to Pelican Town like a year ago. So she's had time to get settled into town, maybe even helps out Granny Evelyn sometimes since Alex was gone.

Actually, she's heard a lot of great things about Alex from his grandmother. She was looking forward to meeting him. The first time she sees him, she thinks he’s super hot. How couldn't she? He's got muscles on muscles and a little dimple in his chin to boot. 

But Alex comes home, feeling like absolute trash after his dreams have come crashing down, and there is a stranger in his house acting like she knows his family better than him. So that goes over GREAT (/s) as you can imagine.

He immediately has an attitude with her, to Evelyn's horror. She apologizes for him while he walks away and slams his door like a moody teenager. (Oh god this would be so fun to do a back and forth with them both being justified in their hatred of each other I'm salivating.)

Alex has also been raised that women should present themselves a certain way, and act a certain way, and Leah is none of that. She wears chunky hiking sandals and no makeup and has arms covered in scars from her work. She does intense manual labor and lives on her own in the woods. She even helped clean the gutters while he was gone, which is another thing on the long list of insults to Alex's manhood that he takes personally. Cleaning the gutters was HIS job.

They have a bunch of tense run-ins from there as he tries to re-establish himself. He sends her away when she comes by to check in on his grandparents. She holds her tongue then out of respect for his grandmother, but she isn’t so quiet on their next run-in. 

He comes across her in the forest on his morning jog and she’s CHOPPING WOOD of all things. Alex hasn't held an axe in years. It pisses him off. He asks her what she’s doing (with an attitude, of course) and she is all too happy to put him in his place with her axe in-hand. She shouts at him and calls him a jughead, among other names.

Alex is silent throughout. Normally he hates being yelled at, it's triggering. By coaches, by his grandpa (reminds him of his dad). But it's different coming from a girl. She’s sweating, muscled arms out, and wielding her axe. It’s… almost kind of hot? He tries to not think about it too much and stay mad, but later realizes he might actually like a girl with fire in her blood. 

He starts actually kind of looking forward to crossing paths with her, to have her attention on him no matter how negative. Throughout this time he’s also working through the grief of his failure, and figuring out a new future now that his gridball scholarship is gone. Evelyn continues to give him grief about how he treats her, and he starts to feel bad about how he came between them. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have her start coming around again, if anything just to annoy the hell out of her.

She's cold to him when he visits, which was to be expected. She looks him up and down, eyes narrowed and scrutinizing. She has some paint on her arms and fingers. It seems like she wants to yell at him but she's holding it in. 

"Granny okay?" she asks.

He nods, and can barely start saying "Yes" before she is shutting the door. "Wait!"

She opens the door and crosses her arms, taking a deep breath and unleashing her anger on him. She's defending her right to stay here, telling him he's not going to run her out, that she is stronger than he thinks and has dealt with worse than the likes of him. He is once again silent, and a little turned on, until she stops to breathe and he can get a word in.

"I came to apologize."

She deflates. "You... what?"

He shifts uncomfortably, runs a hand through his hair. "I was an ass, when you got here. I was... I was just going through shit and I think you should go back to coming over, if you want.”

She takes a deep breath to recalibrate, and takes a moment to think. She's always wanted things to be okay with Alex. It was incredibly stressful to be at odds with him, and lose the precarious belonging she had found in her new town. 

"Noted," is her eventual response.

"Noted?"

"Yes. I don't forgive you, yet."

He nods sheepishly. "Understandable, I guess."

She has him wait there in the doorway and comes back with her phone. She holds it up as if filming him.

"Alright, Jughead. Say 'I'm a dumbass and I'm sorry.'"

He sucks his teeth and shifts uncomfortably. "You're not gonna post this somewhere are you?"

"No. Promise. I won't promise I won't show anyone else though." She smiles for the first time at him, and he has to relent at that.

"I'm a dumbass and I'm sorry," he says, looking at her instead of her phone.

She laughs, and even though its at his expense it makes him smile. She has a good laugh. "And 'Leah is better at cleaning the gutters than I am'," she adds.

He gapes at her. "That is NOT true."

She shrugs and stops the video. "Remains to be seen."

"Am I forgiven now?"

"Oh, this is only the beginning," Leah grins impishly.

And thus begins their romance arc. The teasing is more playful than mean. Sometimes they end up working on something together, and it's not so bad. They help clear the driveway of snow together and end up tossing snowballs at each other. It gets dangerously cute.

Leah sees more of how Alex actually is. He's a good man who has just been through a lot. She could see herself with a man like him. But surely not him, she still has to hold her grudge after all. She's happy things are mostly back to normal though, she doesn't have to consider moving again.

Then Evelyn has a fall or something and they both rush to the hospital together. She can tell Alex is bottling everything, trying to stay strong in the hospital room. Leah takes his hand and squeezes and he doesn't shove her off. Afterwards when they get home she follows him into his room.

"Alex."

"Hm." He's avoiding looking at her and keeps swallowing. He looks to be dissociating.

She takes another chance and hugs him hard. He puts an arm around her weakly.

"Come on squeeze me like you mean it!" she scolds, muffled in his chest.

He makes a sound half chuckle, half sigh, and squeezes her back.

"Harder, I'm not made of glass," she whacks him on the head for good measure this time.

It works, because he chuckles and squeezes so hard she can't breathe. She squeezes him back as hard as she can, and they just hold each other for a moment, partially comforting and partially a contest of strength.

When he pulls back both their eyes are misty and she brings her hand to his cheek. They both kind of want to kiss and are both terrified of upsetting the other person. But as soon as Leah feels Alex leaning in even slightly, she takes full advantage and pulls him down the rest of the way to kiss.

I TOOK THIS ONE SO SERIOUSLY I SPENT SO MUCH TIME ON IT LOLLL I actually ended up rewriting it because I didn't like the first one

Send me any Stardew Valley rarepair and I will tell you how I would make them work! (Even non-marriage npcs) If youre lucky you may get a mini fic out of it. Check the list below to see if Ive already answered yours

Rarepair Masterlist

[thefreakydeaky]

Loving is Easy

Part Seventeen: Touch

Negan Smith x Reader

Rick Grimes x Reader

Summary: Life becomes complicated as you try to maintain relationships with two older men, your boss and an old family friend.

Warnings: Angst, smut

"Yes. I've been following your advice to a T. It just isn't working." Rick told her, frustration in his tone.

There was a long pause.

"I need someone whose ready to fill the role of being my wife and all that that entails."

Your eyes widened.

"You said she would want this. You were wrong."

You let go of the breath you hadn't realized you were holding and backed away from the door.

Maggie's attitude and odd behavior was beginning to make sense. She had made some kind of agreement to marry you off to Rick. You couldn't understand why she would do such a thing. What could she possibly get out of it?

And Rick. His territorial behavior, his jealousy, his declaring that he loved you. Was it all for show? He had an end game in mind all along. The betrayal and underhandedness of the entire thing aside, if you had known he was looking for marriage you never would have gotten involved with him in the first place.

Your eyes began to fill with tears as you made your way back to your office. You didn't even know who to go to with your heart ache. You couldn't go to your friends, because Maggie was one of them. You couldn't go to your mom and Simon because their views were old school.Fuck. What could you do?

You texted Negan asking if you could meet him at the bar after work.

He replied with a, Sure thing, Doll.

You knew he was far from neutral, but you felt so alone. You needed someone who was on your side. You needed to feel supported and understood.

•••••••••••

"I'll kick his ass."

You shook your head.

"That won't solve anything. He and Maggie still went behind my back regardless. Nothing can change what they've done."

You asked for another gin and tonic.

"This is some fucked up shit. How long have you known this girl?"

You sighed.

"Ten years."

He shook his head.

"What did you say to him?"

You took a sip of your drink.

"Nothing yet. I was too upset. I would have caused a scene and for now, it's still my place of employment."

"I am so sorry. This is a really shit situation they put you in."

You shrugged.

"I should be used to shitty things happening to me by now. The whole thing with Harlan, losing my job. I probably only got hired at GHN because Maggie sold him on marrying me. I have got the worst luck."

"Come on now, Babydoll. It ain't all bad. You've got your health, your smarts, your looks. You've got people that love you.You can get another job."

You struggled to accept that he was right for a second. You also had a place to stay in case Rick fired you before you could quit, you realized. Some people weren't so fortunate.

"I guess you're right." You polished off your drink and asked for another.

"What about your friend? You're gonna have to face her eventually."

You frowned.

"I don't even know what to say to her. I'm so fucking mad. I just don't know."

A drink later, you were making out with Negan in the back room. His hands were under your shirt kneeding and groping your tender breasts. Your hands on his chest felt his coarse dark hair and lean muscled body.

"Let's go back to my place and get you out of that skirt." He panted into your ear.

You didn't hesitate to take him up on it. You barely allowed his front door to close behind you when you started shedding your clothes as fast as you could. You didn't want to miss a second of being skin to skin with him. You got onto the bed, He followed.

Negan's hand splayed over your throat. He squeezed gently, his lips pressed kisses along the side of your face. His other arm curled around your side, holding you against him, your back to his chest. You could feel his hard dick against your ass.

"How do you want me?" His nose nuzzled your ear.

You turned your head and kissed him deeply, your tongue running along his.

"I want you in every way I can have you."

He laughed and it was such a full and beautiful sound.

"Saying a thing like that is dangerous, Babydoll."

You smirked at him and moved forward onto your hands and knees.

You felt him move into position behind you. His hands glided along your sides stopping at your hips. With his right hand he reached down and ran his fingers over your lips. When he reached your vagina he dipped his first finger and middle finger into you and found you weren't quite ready for him yet. His fingers caressed your labia, flirting with your clitoris in very light touches. He leaned down and pressed gentle kisses to your lower back.

Then he dipped his fingers into you again he withdrew them slowly. His minstrations were teasing and arousing at the same time. As your wetness increased so did the speed with which his fingers fucked you. Before you knew it you were clenching around his digits. His breathing had picked up just from hearing the sounds you made, from feeling you get so wet.

He took himself in his hand and aligned the head of his dick with your vagina. The slight stretch as he pressed forward into you was delicious. You made a little humming sound of pleasure. He moved his hips back slowly and then in toward you again. It felt good, but it wasn't what you wanted. You looked back over your shoulder and called his name.

"Negan, harder, please." You requested.

The way he looked at you. His gaze laden with veneration and desire, made you yearn to kiss him.  He adjusted his balance and then his hips snapped into you.

You moaned deeply.

Negan held onto your hips as he thrust into you then pulled out, increasing the pace. Your body bounced as you quaked from the force of his movements. Your harsh breathing and his was in your ears. The squelching sounds your body made as he fucked you turned you on even more.

You moaned his name. You began clenching around him, holding it for a few seconds, then unclenching. You repeated the act as he continued to give it to you rough and fast. It was all that you wanted. He was all that you wanted. His hands at your hips gripped you tightly almost enough to hurt. Your walls were so lusciously stimulated by the feeling of his long hard cock moving in and out of you.

Your fingers curled into the bed clothes as he went even faster. You felt it, your nerves reaching the end, all you needed was one final... You reached down and pinched your clitoris.

You cried out. Like a tidal wave, taking you away from the shore of your consciousness your orgasm came crashing down on you. Your very skin sang with overwhelming pleasure. Your world for the moment was all sensation, all fiery passionate sensation. You felt Negan go tense behind you, his hips stuttering as he came inside you. You went down onto the mattress together a second later. You held each other as you caught your breath. The rest of the night was full of heated kisses and frantic love making.

In the early morning hours your phone rang. You looked at the screen. Rick was calling you. You sent it to voicemail.

[alias-mike]

i let the autism win

(i am going to tell you about compelling cytus 2 straight relationships) (my headcanons might get mixed in because its been 2 years since i read the lore and i dont feel like reading the 1000+ page transcription rn)

ALSO SPOILER WARNING FOR THE CYTUS 2 STORY

OK STARTING OFF WITH MY FAVOURITE ONE. CONNER X SASHA

incredibly egotistical guy (conner) who thinks hes better than everyone else meets his match in an academic setting but cant talk to her (sasha) because she graduates early and leaves. therefore he does the perfectly normal thing of stealing identity information of a bunch of random citizens from the government to sell on the black market bc sasha is also there as a mole for the police. he acts super incompetent to make her feel bad and help him sell the information for the best price and they end up forming a partnership for a while. their final job goes wrong as the police busts in and doesnt believe sasha when she says shes also part of the police bc her captain deleted her civilian identity file as part of the mission and that guy died in the raid so shes cooked. conner saves her at the last second and, dropping the act, tells her that he saved a copy of her civilian file and will be driving her to the nearest city and she can choose what she wants to do from there. shes super mad at him for decieving her but is grateful for the out that hes given her and leaves for the city with no internet to start fresh, assuming they would never see each other again. fast forward to the Plot and conner seeks her out again for help on some stuff and their modern dynamic is conner going "youre so cool and awesome haha...... we were such a good team back in the day....... you should run away with me" and sasha is like "no." its completely played for comedy (in my understanding) since the writing makes it clear that sasha has put her old life behind and only humours conner because hes an old friend (its been several years since the deception thing so i would assume she made peace with it and came to the conclusion that overall conner is chill) but she has a life of her own now. meanwhile shes the closest thing conner has ever had to a friend because shes the only (alive) person he sees as an equal so even though he knows its futile, he tries to convince her to come with him anyway. they were never really together and will never be together, and thats what makes their relationship interesting.

next up........ cherry x xenon !

this one is fun bc they start the story as exes. they dated when they were younger but broke up for reasons i can only describe as "her dad killed his dad and that really puts a strain on a relationship yk". basically cherrys dad got involved with organized crime after her mom died and he lost his job and xenons dad is a cop who was investigating said organized crime so they got into a Conflict and cherrys dad ended up killing xenons dad and severely injuring his sister. cherry also never told xenon abt this during their relationship bc its a bit difficult to bring up the whole "my dad does crime and sometimes i do it too" to the guy whos dad is a cop. the way they find out what happened is a bit. well funny isnt the right word but basically xenon is like "MY DAD AND SISTER GOT SHOT" and cherry was like "OH NO THATS HORRIBLE" so they rush to the hospital to visit them and see a news report about the incident and the perpetrator getting arrested and cherrys like "oh..............." they got in a huge fight after that and justifiably break up but deep down they still love each other and just. havent talked about it for several years after that. later some Plot stuff happens, they kinda reconcile a little bit, and cherry ends up injured in a fight. they were chilling at a base with really good medical facilities tho so the boss was like "here stay in this Healing Tube for a while and youll be fine" but uh oh! the evil bad guys attack and turn off all of the power in the base, including cherrys life support, and they turn the power back on too late so she dies and xenon is completely devastated over it because they never properly reconciled (i think there was something like he never said "i love you"? but i will have to reread lore to confirm. huge angst moment if true tho). i think they have an interesting arc in its tragedy. is it kinda contrived? yeah. but i think its thematically appropriate for the relationship where the whole thing is that something always went unsaid (first the crime thing, then how they actually still liked each other) ended with something unsaid, yk.

side note: theres even more tragedy to the situation considering the way they turned the power back on. ok basically theres a 12 year old girl named nora (shes the aforementioned boss) (shes a mafia boss) (its a long story) and she was experimented on as a baby and left to die to The Virus when the experiment failed but she survived and the scientists were like "holy crap can she be the key to a cure!?" so they took her back to the lab and raised her. shes disabled due to the initial experiments requiring her legs to be amputated and also happens to be mute but shes a genius so she built a robot to talk for her since she was stuck in her room all day (no one figured it was a good idea to give her mobility aids until several years down the line) (their idea of parenting was also like. playing chess with her once in a while). she also got into making edm songs for a while. later, she makes a robot known to the players as robo_head to be her bodyguard since they figure out that the virus gave her powers to see/hear through any camera or microphone connected to the internet and decide to use it for profit by touting her as an "oracle". now is a good time to mention that cytus 2 is a science.... fantasy? story where everyone has a brain chip to connect to the internet. anyways the more nora uses her powers the worse her eyesight gets and its also generally harmful to her health. robo_head is basically her only friend and she ends up having to send him off for reasons i wont get into rn and somewhere down the line he gains sentience and makes his way back to her. nora is enraged that he came back at first but after some persistence she lets him in and finds out about these developments, and is ultimately happy to have her friend back. when the power gets cut, robo_head knows that cherry needs help and volunteers to use himself as the power source which would essentially fry his circuits. nora refuses at first since she just got him back, but understands the importance of saving cherry so she ends up agreeing. unfortunately, its too late, so basically two people had to die for no reason ! (luckily nora ends up being able to fix robo_head after the end of the game but he was Gone for a while)

OK TANGENT OVER. BACK TO SHIPS. UHH sagar and rin are a thing

there was lore im pretty sure but i forgot so all i remember is that sagar is a pretty confident guy except when he has to talk to rin, in which cases he loses all of his skills ever and his dialogue mainly consists of "ummm uhm uhhh" and rin is also too nervous to notice how unskilled sagar is being. this is the only couple who gets a happy ending btw

honourable mention: whatever ilka(?) and rald had going on. classic nonhuman who is fascinated with humanity via one specific guy x guy who is unintentionally being very attractive. idk. i would tell you more about it but my dlcs are LOCKED and TAKEN AWAY from me 👎

there are also many gay ships but one of them is literally the plot of the game so it would make this post even longer if i started talking about them lmao

^said plot summarized in one image btw

OK THATS IT THANKS FOR READING!!!!

[sacredfire44]

I think it’s hilarious to watch people get mad about Boruto being character assassination because it IS until you consider the possibility of a poly situationship. Sakura is Sasuke’s wife, and Sasuke is Naruto’s husband, and Naruto is Hinata’s husband.

And also consider that Naruto has probably put in some actual damn work since he become Hokage.

Can’t do anything about Sasuke avoiding Konoha but I’m honestly not surprised about that, he’s a bit traumatized. Is he protective of it now? Yes! And that’s NOT WEIRD. Maybe the Konoha before was corrupt, but Naruto can LITERALLY SENSE NEGATIVE INTENTIONS(WHICH EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE FORGOTTEN?!)

Root has been disbanded and Naruto’s pretty clearly weeded out the corruption around him! Hell, they might never have brought UP the Hyuga branch-main family argument, but it’s clearly been dealt with considering neither Hanabi or Hinata have branch family seals, nor does Boruto or Himawari, when it’s explicitly mentioned that the heir remains in the main family while their siblings get seals.

(I wouldn’t be surprised if Naruto having kids with Hinata was what caused that issue to come up, honestly. What, do YOU want to be the Hyuga elder that explains to the Fifth and Sixth Hokage, as well as all the other Kage, and the entirety of Konoha, why their Hero’s kids should have a torture-seal placed on them?)

Like come on man, this is a village that finally DOES represent Naruto and Sasuke’s goals! It makes SENSE that he’d want to protect it now!!!

Also not surprised that Sasuke is awkward about Sakura and Sarada, my boy has No Idea how to interact outside of Naruto, and frankly if he does have feelings about her, as an autistic person who can’t handle emotions, I too run away from the people I care about when I get overwhelmed about caring for them. The people that I DON’T run from are the ones who chase after me often enough that I get used to caring about them.

Furthermore, Naruto doesn’t avoid his family! If you watched Naruto The Last, or hell, the day Naruto become Hokage, you know Naruto didn’t even BECOME Hokage until his kids are older, which he MENTIONED was a choice on his part so he could spend more time with them before they entered the Academy. The movie takes place during the Chunnin Exams, which are canonically more work to maintain, especially when it’s all five villages attending. In the series, we’ve seen Naruto come home much earlier outside of big, international events, take days off to spend with his family, and use clones for work while he stays home! Like he DOES spend time with his family, kishimoto himself said Boruto’s outbursts were more about getting used to his dad having any job at all(as he was a very powerful Shinobi who honestly didn’t have a lot of missions at his skill level) after being pretty much a stay-at-home dad. Hell, in the after-credits scene in Naruto the Last, it’s implied that Hinata was still an active Shinobi, and considering the age of the kids, I would not be surprised with Naruto staying at home with the kids up until Naruto’s ascension as hokage. And I NEED more fics if this time period, I’m DYING.

Anyway, Hinata and Naruto love each other, and Naruto and Sasuke love each other. Honestly I’m a bit iffy on Sasuke and Sakura but I kinda like the idea that she’s his beard which is why she’s never shown to mind when he’s not home lol. I CAN actually see them loving each other too, though I don’t think Sakura has a lot of skill with Uchihas that run from their feelings haha. Himawari is Naruhina’s kid, while Sarada and Boruto 100% have a mom and 2 dads. And I think with this interpretation, the whole show suddenly makes sense.

[sio-writes]

Botanist's Guide - Chapter 12

<<Chapter 11 (NSFW)

<<< Chapter 1

Summary: Cassandra Rowland, PhD, finally has the chance to work on an experiment that really matters: growing Earth crops on another planet. Too many overdue reports and marked failures have put her in hot water with the board, and this is her last chance at redemption. So when she finds herself railroaded by a seven foot tall, glowing alien named Kri, it won’t be as easy as sticking some seeds in the soil and running them under the tap. Tack on the looming repossession of her lab contingent on her success in Kri’s reports, and Cassie realizes she may have her work cut out for her.

Looking into the microscope I see exactly what I should be seeing: The box-like cell structure of a plant, no different than one I'd see on Earth. It's sage, so crushing it between the slides released it's earthy aroma, and now my whole station smells like the greenhouse, but that's not a complaint. 

Mutations are non-existent, cell walls look good, chlorophyll is bright green. I check off the Salvia officinalis box on my laptop as well as transfer any notes from my head to the computer, and then I pick up the next slide. 

Lactuca Satvia, iceberg lettuce, also looks like every slide I've made. No mutations, it's bright green that fades into a white at the stalk, and if it weren't currently doing a job for science, I'd definitely add it to a salad. I note it down right next to the sage, humming something off-key as I do. Maybe I'll grab a salad for lunch. 

There's only a few more slides to go through, I'm making great time today. My mp3 player crapped out on me, a victim of getting slammed against the wall the other day. I have a little funeral planned, which just consists of putting her into the garbage cube-maker thing. If I had funeral music to play I would, but…well.

It's absence has left the lab deathly silent, but I think my coworkers are thankful for it. At least, no one's said otherwise. The change in pace has kept me focused, a good thing for today with so much technical work to get done. Staying on task is my number one priority.

And Jillie won't stop staring at me.

All day now, she's been throwing me glances, flat out staring me down, she even sent a paper note over. I've been pointedly ignoring her in favor of digging into my work, with huge success on my end. I'm apparently very good at my job when I'm avoiding something else.

I'd tried the silent treatment when the door first opened-- two hours later!-- but once she started crying I felt too bad to keep up the charade. Then she'd shoved these nasty granola bars and an ice-cold water in my face, and I ate only to appease her and not because I'd skipped dinner to head back to the lab in the first place. Besides, a few minutes of pretending to be mad told her what I needed it to, and it was about all I could handle anyway. She's my friend, I can't be mad at her for trying to hook me up. But I can pretend to withhold the information to torture her for a few days. Just a little. 

The first day back had been the worst of her prying. Kri had decided to keep up his schedule of only showing up once a week, giving her permission to blabber away.

"So. Is it big?"

"Hand me the pipettes, please."

"Aw come on! At least tell me if he was good!"

"Pipettes. Please."

But Kri is here today, thank god, so her barrage of questions has stopped for now.

Eventually I will share, because I want to, but Kri and I didn't actually talk about anything. He didn't wake me up after ten minutes like I'd asked him to, instead the shrill metal of the door sliding open is what woke me up. And then Jillie rushed in with her terrible food, and we all went home. It felt particularly anti-climactic compared to the heated confession and fucking. 

Part of me is hopeful, but it's nearly drowned out by the cynic in me. Until we parted ways, Kri kept constant contact with me-- a steadying hand on my back, an arm around my waist, and once, for a glorious moment as Jillie walked out ahead of us, he interlaced our hands together and squeezed my fingers. I think my heart actually leapt into my throat, and then he was walking away without a goodbye.

It's left this…whatever we have going, undefined and hazy. We exchanged pleasantries this morning, but that was all, and it's been nothing but work since. I'm not picking up any anger or malice, but it's also awkward as hell, especially with an extra set of blue eyes watching my every move. "Ignore us Jill, but hey Kri, remember when we fucked? That was great, wanna do it again? On a regular basis?" 

It's not like I can call or text him, I don't have a phone that connects to Summanus' sat-system. Just the chunky brick they gave at landing that connects to the handful of satellites we ground out of the military's original plan. I don't know where Kri lives, either, and they don't have any kind of directory in English. But it's not like Kri's made any moves either, and he actually knows where I live.

I sigh through my nose as I prep the next set of slides. Maybe I'm making excuses, flimsy reasons to keep this going as a casual thing instead of what I'd hoped it would be, what I want it to be. But we need to talk, hands down. Because not knowing is driving me crazy. 

Stealing a glance at Kri is easy, just pretend to hold the slide to the light. I simultaneously want to catch his attention as well as have him keep ignoring me so I can keep staring like a creep. There's things I hadn't picked up on before, small details. The line of his shoulders, the angles of his wings. He's still so pretty under the lights with the flecks of opalescent color in his plating, but it feels like I'm seeing him in an entirely new light. Has something in my brain switched?

The cosmos grants me a favor when Jillie walks to the bathroom. Immediately, I step away from my desk and towards Kri.

"Hey," I say. 

I probably should've thought of something to say.

"Hello," he says, resting his hands on his lap and giving me his full attention. "Is everything alright?"

I fidget with my coat, trying not to remember how it felt to take off for him. "Can we--Can we talk?"

He glances sideways at the bathroom door, then back to me. "Right now?"

I've come to realize that Kri isn't cagey like I once thought, he's just intensely private. He doesn't broadcast things, doesn't offer information like I do, isn't loud or boisterous. He flies under the radar a lot, and I think it's on purpose. 

"Later," I assure him. "Later-- um, do you wanna-- I mean, would you mind, maybe--"

As I talk and fidget, Kri stands from his chair and steps up to me. He grabs my face gently between two hands, and tilts my head up to his, both thumbs tracing lines over my cheeks.

"Would you like to talk over dinner?"

"That's a--" I clear my throat, and Kri's eyes crinkle as he smiles. "Sounds great."

His fingers are soft and warm, thumbs tracing over my cheek again, and his gaze falls to my lips. 

Nothing's been set in stone, but this, and the reminder of everything else, makes me want something solid. Something real, tangible.

I've tried to think about what I want to say, but I've never been good at stringing words together. I'm more a woman of action than speaking, I'd rather just push Kri against the desk and kiss him until my lips bleed.

We lean closer together, almost kissing, until the sound of a soft 'ahem' makes us jump apart, and we both turn to the source of the noise. In the doorway, Jillie has the biggest, shit-eating grin on her face.

My jaw works on several starting noises, but none make their way out. I wind up looking like a fish.

She holds up her hands, placating. "Hey don't let me interrupt." And sits back at the countertop as if nothing happened.

Heat rises to my cheeks, even more so when I hear Kri softly chuckle behind me as he steps back to sit down. I grumble back to my desk, and Jillie's pointed looks burns a hole through my spine. But we work through the next thirty minutes without issue. It's boring as shit, and the tension in the air makes my leg bounce up and down.

After a few more minutes of tense silence, I'm ready to burst. I'm going to explode.

"I'm holding a funeral for Emmie."

The two of them look to me, but their expressions couldn't be further apart. Kri looks shocked, genuinely concerned that I have a deceased friend, and Jillie's look is flat, very much done with my shit. 

"Your mp3 player, really Cass?"

Kri's expression resolves into understanding, and then falls to match Jillie's. "Hardly grounds for a funeral."

I chew on my bottom lip and stare at the floor. "Yeah the, uh, the screen cracked." I pull Emmie out of my back pocket, where she usually lives, and display her in my cupped palms like a baby bird. Behind Jillie, Kri sucks in a breath, but says nothing. Jillie either doesn't notice or doesn't care, because she scoffs, smiling.

"You're so dramatic."

I pocket Emmie again, my brows pinching in mock-offense. "She was a member of this family!"

"It was outdated before your grandparents were born!"

"She was reliable," I hold my hand to my heart, and wipe away a tear. "Three thousand songs, no internet required. Now I have to find something else."

"God forbid you talk to us instead."

I hold my sordid expression. "No one here understands me."

"You listen to your sad music too much, hun."

"It is rather whiny," Kri chimes in, and I shoot him a dirty look over Jillie's shoulder. He shrugs.

"You're both bullies, I'm putting in for a transfer," I say very mildly as I grab the next slides.

"Good," Jillie sniffs. "You can smooch it up in someone else's lab."

As slowly and dramatically as possible, I turn to her. "I'm sorry, who stuck us in a room for three hours?"

"Two, you drama queen."

"At least Kri likes me," I say and Jillie shoves my shoulder.

"One of us has to."

Our shoulders shake as we hold back laughter, and for the first time all day, I feel light. Like a seal has been broken and released all the pressure in the room.

Jillie doesn't stare at me anymore, instead she focuses her efforts on the experiment, and even hums a few songs to break up the silence. We hit a flow again, something that's been sorely lacking the past few weeks, and zoom through the required tests. Despite the crushing quiet, it's been nice to sink into a routine that we both know, stepping around each other like a dance.

I keep my eye-contact down to a minimum, because my thoughts will scatter to the wind again. And it's hard enough reigning them in even when I'm  focusing on my work. Looking at Kri only makes me think of the other day, and then what may happen later. It opens up a question that I desperately need an answer to, but won't get until later. But I need it now, and the anxiety of not knowing is ramping up my anxiety to a twelve.

We all break for lunch, the three of us walking to the cafeteria. Jillie and I snag a booth with our food, and Kri splits off. I look around to see if I can find him in the mess that is the food prep stations, but I don't see him. He chose to eat by himself those first few days, a habit that carried over even when Jillie was out sick, but I wish he'd sit with us now. 

Turning back to the booth, I accidentally make eye-contact with Jillie. The flame of curiosity is back in her eyes, and I shrink down in my seat. I suppose it's time to end her suffering.

"This is killing me," she says. "Are you guys a thing now?"

She looks so excited, so hungry to hear about everything. I push out a sigh. "I have no idea. We didn't talk about it."

Leaning back, Jillie's face falls into an impressed expression, and I fail to suppress a responding smile. Jillie slaps her palms on the table and barks out a laugh. "I knew it!"

"Shush!" I hiss, reaching over as if the motion would quiet her. "Not so loud."

Jillie's eyes are glittering as she reaches for my hands across the table. "You have to tell me everything."

In as many words, I try to surmise the evening, from the fight to falling asleep, with Jillie interjecting with questions every now and then. Some details I keep to myself, I'm allowed some secrets, but Jillie's my best friend. We try to eat in between, but eventually wind up setting down our food to focus on conversation.

I finish with her opening the door, and she squeezes my hands. "So where should I disinfect? The countertop? The floor? The shower in the bathroom?"

"He held me against the wall," I say, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.

"Ooh, standing?"

I shake my head, and her look of realization is priceless.

"You have to tell me how big he is."

I groan to the ceiling. "I wish I knew. I couldn't see it."

"Then you gotta look again, hun!"

Leaning back, I grab my water bottle and take a swig. "He did invite me to dinner."

Jillie nods sagely. "You're definitely gonna get some tonight, then."

I open the wrapper for my salad and mull it over as I pour the dressing on. "I don't know if I want to. At least not tonight. I was hoping we'd talk instead."

"Talk?"

I nod. "We didn't do much talking-- shut up-- so now I don't know what this is. Friends-with-benefits? Something serious? And what do I even want? What does he want from me? What is he--"

"Cass, calm down. Nothing's happened yet."

"That's the problem! I don't know what's going on."

Jillie scrunches her face, her head falling to one side. "Then ask him?"

I plop my cheek into my palm, squishing my face on one side. "Not like we've had time."

Jillie offers me a sympathetic look. "Maybe you need to be more upfront. Instead of making out while I'm in the bathroom, you have a little chit-chat. I can disappear for a while."

"We already agreed on dinner," I say, smiling.

"You sure?" She raises her eyebrows. "You just say the word, and I'm gone for fifteen to twenty minutes."

I shake my head again, filled with warmth that she's so insistent. I am anxious about it, but things can wait. It's not worth putting the experiment on hold for. Besides, the lab is hardly a romantic setting to have a serious conversation.

With a deciding nod, Jillie starts to clean her space, and I'm short to follow behind. The rest of the day runs as planned, no interruptions. Jillie stays in her seat, and I'm not thrown into a panic.

I'm actually looking forward to dinner with Kri. The restaurants here are okay, and there's even a few with that warm, low, romantic lighting that's perfect for dates. And honestly, I'm more excited to spend time with Kri. A small, girlish part of me wants to go home to freshen up, make myself look nice instead of the lab rat I must resemble.

All three of us head out of the building, Jillie heading west, Kri and I heading south. The restaurants are all in the northern quadrant by the Capitalism District, there's none in this direction. The only thing this way is housing.

I fake nonchalance as we walk. "So, where're we headed?"

"The…" he trails off, frowning and speaking slowly like he's testing out the words. "Food storage facility."

I raise an eyebrow. "The grocery store?"

He looks down at me, concerned. "Is that okay?"

The grocery store is closer to a MiniMart or a gas station. A handful of isles of instant meals, comfort foods, and frozen produce shipped from Earth. But there's also the ento-run store to the east with more selection. It's open to the public, but everything is labeled in Universal, and I have no idea what's good or not, so I've been too intimidated to go on my own. "Which store?" I ask.

"The eastern building, I just need to pick up a few items."

I feel my stomach grumble. "And food after?"

"I was hoping to cook for you," he says, wings fluttering. "If that's alright."

I haven't had anyone cook for me since I visited my parents. Warmth settles in me, not quite arousal, but something else, something heavier. Kri wants to cook for me.

"That'd be awesome."

The walk to the grocery store runs through another block of buildings, all of them painted in subdued, warm tones. They're all short, maybe three stories at the tallest, and the terrain reminds me of a seaside strip mall-- laid brick and cobblestone. I've only ever been to this side once on a tour, this is where it turns into culture and arts. 

The store is nestled at the bottom floor of a deep red building, a carved out space that may have once been a multi-vehicle garage. Inside are several rows of foodstuffs, some packaged, some open. There's an assortment of fruits that I have no idea the names of as well as what look like a few rows of packaged instant ramen. Some things are universal, I suppose. 

The store is empty, so it's just the two of us looking through the isles. I wander the isles while Kri picks up several fruits. He grabs a plum-sized blue seed, a handful of bean pods the size of my finger, and two green vegetables that look like potatoes. I'm examining the isle of drinks, wondering what tastes like what, when Kri grabs my attention.

"Would you prefer sweet, or savory?" He holds up two nearly identical looking spheres that look like dark red coconuts. I walk up and pretend to inspect them, humming as I think. I have no idea what he's doing, but I appreciate that he's including me. 

"What do you like?" I ask. 

"It's your decision."

I blink at him. "But I don't know what you're cooking. What's easier for you?"

Kri regards me, head tilted, and puts the coconut in his left hand back on the pile. He doesn't say anything, remaining silent as he grabs several other things, all the while catching glimpses of me as he does. I sidle up to him as the cashier bags his stuff.

"What'd ya go with?"

The cashier extends one long arm and hands Kri his things, and Kri quickly closes the bag so I can't see inside. "You'll have to find out."

I balk. "No fair!"

He smirks at me sidelong. "You insisted it was my decision."

"But I need to know the results."

"You will."

***

Kri’s apartment isn’t far from the store. I have to wrestle one of the grocery bags out of his grubby hands so I can I carry it and feel useful as we wind around buildings and cross a few streets. We walk quietly, not quite awkward enough for my reflexive talking to kick in, but I feel the need to fill the space simmering under my skin.

I want to say something. I should probably say something. It's only fair, and would help my anxiety so much more than waiting. 

We wait in the elevator to his floor and I need to say something. We're approaching his place and I need to speak up, but I say silent.

It's too much, it would break this easy flow. The timing isn't right and god damn it, we're already at his door. 

Stepping through the doorway feels simultaneously like jumping off a cliff and nothing at all. I'm aware of how huge this feels, my stomach lurches and my hands go clammy, but I'm also aware of the world continuing to turn around me. This doesn't feel real, but I want to grab at it with both hands and take it before it disappears.

Kri flicks the lights on, and I don't know what I expected, but a mirror of my own place wasn't it. This building is supposed to have the nicer layouts, with actual bedrooms instead of a studio layout. It's not surprising though, us Earth scientists are about as creative as socks for Christmas when it comes to designing buildings. I hope Kri isn't paying extra.

Everything is scaled up for someone of Kri's size, and there's a massive cloth hammock where the bed should be that's piled high with pillows. Along the living room wall on the right are shelves of books, interspersed with plants of various sizes that hang down almost to the floor. To the left of the sliding glass door to the balcony is another bookshelf, with a screen and speakers, and the light reflects off several picture frames that flick through a few photos.

Giving in to my base urge to be nosy, I set my bag on the kitchen counter and wander over to the television set. Under the coffee table is an ornate looking rug that's definitely too expensive for my apartment, and I try to tip-toe around it to avoid leaving any dirt, when something catches my eye.

In the corner, on a bottom shelf, is a taxidermied rat on a tiny skateboard. It's in the middle of popping an ollie, sitting in the center of some kind of ceramic crown of Summanian flowers. The frame above it swipes to a new photo, and in my peripheral I see Kri

My anxiety flares, and I turn away from the shelf of picture frames and other memories. Focusing my attention on something else is all I can do not to feel like a trespasser here, and I wander to the kitchen where Kri is grabbing several items from the fridge. The feeling of inadequacy swells, gelatinous and without form, and I try to push it down. It squishes between the bars of my mind, an imprint reflected back at me that tells me I’m not welcome here.

Instead, I step up to Kri and wrap my arms over his waist. The chitinous plating covering his body draws lines over his form that lead my fingers to his front, and I lean into his frame. Even bent over, my arms are level with his waist, and when he straightens, it pushes my face into his wings. Their whole structure is split into two sets, the bottom that folds open like a fan, and the top shaped like a dragonfly’s wing. They’re cool under my cheek, catching the light and shimmering.

“Yes?” He asks, two hands coming to pat mine.

I sigh heavily against his back, trying to sort my thoughts and coming up short. Taking my silence for an answer, Kri turns in my arms and cups my face in his lower hands.

“Am I not paying you enough attention?” He teases gently, running a free hand over my head. “Because I’m trying to provide you with a meal.”

Shame wells up behind my anxiety, hot and present, and I puff my cheeks and stare at a spot on his shoulder. I know talking is the right choice here, but my head is too much of a mess to talk about anything. 

Ignoring the swirling feelings in my gut, I push up on the balls of my feet and press our lips together. He hums, a surprised note deep in his throat, as the hands gently cupping my cheeks firmly hold me and he pushes back. It’s a different kiss than the first one, softer, sweeter, holding promise. He’s slow to lick in my mouth, but it adds heat that reminds me of the passion of last week. He can pick me up and set me against the wall, can hold me with two arms and work me over with the other two.

I push my tongue into his mouth, wanting to make up for the interrupted kiss earlier today. My lips slot against his and he hums another satisfied note as he skims his tongue against mine and starts exploring my mouth.

I want more of this, I want this all the time. I can’t imagine giving up the way he slots so perfectly against me, like a puzzle piece I didn’t realize I was missing.

Kri pulls away from my mouth with a pained sound, but I can hear the smile in his voice. "I thought you wanted to talk first."

I lean into him and push my lip out in a pout. "Changed my mind." 

And then he smiles against my lips and pushes forward again. It's so easy to give in, like falling into a soft bed. I'm surrounded by comfort and warmth. 

Taking the lead, Kri steps me over to the counter and, without breaking the kiss, picks me up by the waist and lifts me onto the countertop. The ease that he picks me up makes me feel hot, and I moan softly against his lips before Kri pulls away. 

"What would you like to--" 

"Anything you want," I breathe. "What do you want?" 

Kri laughs, low and dangerous. "From you? Everything."

He leans forward to kiss me again, but the silence of the room makes my growling stomach practically echo against the walls, and Kri's hands stop halfway to my chest.

"You need to eat," he says, smiling. 

With that, he straightens, hands smoothing down my hair, and turns away from me and back into the kitchen.

"What would you like to drink? I have water, and I'm quite fond of Earth's orange juice."

I snicker. "Orange juice is actually more of a breakfast drink."

Kri presses his lips together and looks away, wings fluttering. "I also have lifrit juice, and wegol soda."

I hop down from the countertop and walk around the island to a stool. It's tall enough that when I sit, my legs swing freely. It's been a long while since my feet haven't hit the floor, it makes me feel like a kid again. 

Humming, I tap my fingertips over my lips. I'm not sure what those last two were, and I'm up for trying something new, but I also want tonight to mean something. It feels important that everything go right. "What would go with tonight's meal?"

He perks up at that. "I may have something," And starts rooting around in his lower cabinets. I hear him knocking about lots of metal objects-- pots and pans maybe, before he straightens, holding a bottle of wine.

"Is this acceptable?"

I drag the bottle closer and spin it around to get a look at the label. It's a Sauvignon blanc from a few years back, unopened. What a random thing to have in his cabinet. "Why do you have this?"

"I bought it to sample the taste, but never got the chance," he says as he roots around in the drawers. He opens a few before finding the little corkscrew opener and hands it to me. The bottle pops open easily, and I pour it into the two glasses Kri sets out for me. I bring the glass to my lips and sip at it while Kri watches and mimics me. I'm not super into wine-tasting but this one is good, it would pair well with a fancy meal. 

The face Kri makes after he sips is the same face I make when Jillie orders tequila shots, and I have to be careful not to inhale my drink. Kri immediately sets his glass down and shakes his head.

I hide my smile behind my glass. "Not a fan?"

"That is quite awful," he says with a shudder.

I take another sip of mine and then swirl the glass because I feel fancy. "It's pretty dry, you may be a fan of the sweeter stuff like Moscato. That one tastes like ginger ale."

Kri eyes my glass and purses his lips, skeptical, "I'll take your word for it."

As he turns back to the stove, I tip the remnants of his drink into my own, nearly filling the glass to the brim. Drinking on an empty stomach is a bad idea, especially if I'm going to need to find my way home later, but if I take little sips instead of trying to gulp it down like I usually do, I think I'll manage.

I watch Kri as he cooks, sitting on the opposite end of the countertop island to stay out of his way. As always, he's graceful in what he does, even with his back to me. All four hands doing something different, always switching focus and lasering in on it, not a single mistake is allowed, and absolutely hypnotizing to watch. 

"You're an alien of many talents," I say, and he glances at me over his shoulder.

"How do you mean?"

"I didn't know you could cook."

"Oh, I quite enjoy it. I can make you all manner of things."

I ignore the flutter in my stomach at the idea of him making me food regularly, and try to peer around him as he works. "What's your favorite thing to make?"

"Lepsc'it, it's a fried Trokk root stuffed with vegetables and spices. It's very easy, only a few ingredients, and there's many varieties all over the globe."

"Are you making that now?"

His wings flutter. "I thought I'd attempt something a bit more complicated."

"Are you trying to impress me?" I ask with a smirk.

He's too slow to cover his smile, "Only if it's working."

The smell of spices and vegetables fills the small space, like thyme or rosemary, with a hint of heat behind all of it, mixed with whatever main dish he's prepping. There's large puffs of pink something resting on a pan in the corner, a thick brown sauce that he scraped cubed veggies into, and something else that's blocked by his frame. It all smells heavenly.

My mouth is watering by the time he sets a large plate in front of me with one of those pink bread rolls on one side, the sauce and cubed veggies on the other. I smell more spices and heat, and it's agony to wait for him to sit next to me at the countertop. 

"Is it rude to just dig in?"

"Absolutely it is," he says, smiling. "But we're not at a paid dining establishment." He motions to my plate. "Eat."

This dish reminds me of curry but with bread instead of rice, and smells the same. Kri hasn't laid out any utensils as most ento eat with their hands, so I tear a piece of the pink bread off, dip it in the sauce, and pop it in my mouth. 

Spices and flavor dance over my tongue, things I can't name but are still delicious. It pairs with the bread so well, I'm barely through the first mouthful before I'm shoving a second bite in my face.

Kri eats opposite me, slow and careful, trying to casually glimpse up at me like he's checking in on me, and I cover my smile around another bite of food. He's worried, I can tell, and it's kind of cute.

I wolf down my food and say nothing, and normally I would feel bad about the silence, but Kri doesn't say anything either. 

"It was acceptable?"

"Don't kid yourself, it was delicious. I'm so full," I say, patting my stomach for emphasis.

It's not just the food that keeps me quiet. I also don't want to talk about how I feel. Being emotionally honest makes me anxious, makes me think of all the ways it could be used against me. I don't want to scare off Kri with all the issues I have. He listened to me in Igrien, but how many more times will he listen to me say, "Oh, Stephen made me this way," before he walks out?

But as we both set our plates aside and sit awkwardly in the kitchen, I realize that this is it. That if I want something to happen with Kri, I have to grab it with both hands myself. Even so, I still fiddle with my hands as I speak up.

"So uh, is this the part where we talk about feelings?"

Kri tilts his head, probably picking up on my mood, and quietly says, "If you'd like."

"Not really," I laugh, nerves making the sound shaky. "But I just want to know that we're on the same page-- that we're at a complete understanding," I correct when Kri narrows his eyes in confusion.

I focus my attention to a spot on the table. "I'm not good at words but I want…this. Us-- something…Something."

Even to my own ears it sounds horrible, and I grimace. God damn it, I should've thought about it before we got here. But all I have is feelings, emotions that push at my heart and flood my senses. I don't know how to describe my anxiety any better than describing the color red. Sometimes it feels like too much, like if I acknowledge anything it'll turn into too much to handle.

Kri only stares at me, giving me more space to talk, and my teeth creak as I grind them together anxiously. "Okay, it's your turn."

And then he looks away, down at the table, at his hands. His expression shutters off, a blank face, then darkens into something profoundly sad, and it's like I can hear his thoughts across the table. I appreciate the romp in the lab, Cass, but this just isn't for me. You're too fucked up, and I'm not about to deal with all of that. Except he'd say it nicer, with bigger words. Taking a shaking inhale, I hold my breath as the tightness of anxiety starts to coil around my chest and wraps fingers over my brain.

Then Kri sighs, a heavy movement of his shoulders, and he looks back up at me. "I admit that my thoughts are scattered. Between wanting to breathe you in like oxygen, and questioning whether I've earned the right to inhale. You've already bared your feelings for me, and I did not tell you mine at the time as I was--" he pauses to think, then huffs a laugh, "distracted. But I believe I have words for you now."

He reaches across the small table, taking my hands in his. He's warm as always, and his thumb rubs the back of my hand comfortingly. The tightness in my chest eases, ever so slightly.

"Cassie," he says. "I have a great many feelings for you, some of which I'm prepared for, and others that frighten me deeply. I am well aware that I come with a history, and the weight that it implies. But if you'll allow me your patience and understanding, I'd very much like to explore what a relationship with you would look like."

It's so earnest, so bare, that I'm hit with a wave of emotion that completely drowns out any other thoughts I have in my head. I want to lean forward and kiss his hands. I want to vault over the table and climb into his lap. "Jesus, did you prepare that?"

His eyes widen a fraction, like he didn't expect me to respond like that, and then he nods. "When confronted with interpersonal problems, I know that I tend to recede into myself and minimize the words leaving my mouth, and I'm trying not to do that so we're, what did you say, on the same page? You deserve my transparency in this, especially considering how I've been acting. I was trying to push you away when you wanted to be close, and you deserve so much better than that."

There's so much he's saying without saying it, and I can analyze why he thinks I deserve better, or inspect why all I want to do is jump over the table and give him the ride of his life, but my brain only latches onto my own insecurity. "You prepared a speech for me and all I had was, like, five words."

With a free hand, Kri rustles around in his bag and produces a small square of paper, folded very neatly. "I also wrote down several non-starters in case you realized that you're too good for me, so I also had a handful of words prepared."

It's said so casually, so matter-of-fact, that I can't help but snort. It breaks the tension in the room and my smile feels easier than before, keeping eye contact isn't as difficult.

"And to be fair," he continues. "You said more than enough the other day. I was worried that you'd take it all back."

Something clicks into place in my head, a small, flighty piece of Kri's psyche that I've been seeing without noticing. That despite his attitude, or ego, or anything else, he still craves a form of validation, still vies for approval. And I desperately, so desperately want to know what he's afraid of. But that's a whole other conversation, a heavy and upsetting one. One that I don't think either of us are up for right now.

So I squeeze his hands in mine. "I…really like you," I say. "I think we just need to get better at showing it. I guess we could…figure it out together?"

"That sounds lovely."

Kri tries to clean up on his own, but I butt my way in when he starts to wash the dishes. I'm off to his left, drying and setting them aside, and we fall into a good rhythm that reminds me of his time helping in the lab. We don't need to speak to fill space, I'm guided by his movements, and he's guided by me.

This is nice. Domestic, even. My heart stutters at the idea of doing this again, of sharing a space, of being welcomed into his home.

As I'm drying my hands on a towel, Kri steps around and in front of me, close enough that I can smell fresh water, and I look up at him and offer a warm smile. Taking my chin in one hand, he presses a kiss to my lips, chaste and simple and wholly perfect. This is our first kiss as a couple, I realize as his other hands carefully take the towel from me and rest it on the counter. 

The first of many, hopefully. 

Is that sappy? I don't care, as long as they keep happening. I press up to continue the kiss, a deep-seated need shocking through me at the soft noise he makes against my lips. 

Then Kri searches my face, and I hear the chitter of his wings as they flutter against his back. "You're more than welcome to stay," he says, voice low, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

It physically pains me to be responsible and say, "I have to clock in tomorrow."

He nods once, decisive, and quickly pecks my cheek again before straightening. "I will fly you home, then."

"Sounds goo-- wait what?"

Kri doesn't answer me, only walks past me and into the living room.

Surely, surely he can't mean literally, I continue to think as I grab my stuff and we head out the door.

But sure enough, we walk outside and he picks me up like I'm a princess, something that still shocks me that he can do, and off we go.

I've never seen the Outpost from above, and it's kind of beautiful. I can trace the lights of the walking paths and the hovercar roads, I see single rooms lit from the buildings, other residents up late like me. And outside the border of the Outpost is the pure, unfiltered landscape of Summanus, with its primordial trees and glowing underbrush, like the ground itself is framing us with light. I've seen Kri fly faster, he must be slowing himself for my benefit. And Kri is glowing too, not nearly as bright as the electronics around us, but more subtle, softer. It's still that pale blue, rivers of light lining his chitinous plating. I want to trace them with my fingers, before I remember what it does to him.

We land in front of my building, so gently that Kri's feet don't make a sound, and he sets me down just as carefully.

"Thanks," I mutter, suddenly shy and awkward. I feel like he's bringing me home from prom and it's past curfew. I clear my throat. "Thank you for dinner. Not bad for a first date."

With his two lower arms, he grabs my hands and brings them together. "You will have to decide the next one, then."

I huff an exhale, smiling up at him. "Okay."

He smiles back, soft, relaxed, totally content. Dark eyes search my face, and even in the low light I can make out my reflection in the inky blackness. Two hands come up to cup my cheeks, fingers wrapping around to the base of my skull, as Kri leans down and gently kisses me.

I tilt my head and sigh into it as my eyes fall shut, wishing I were taller so he wouldn't have to bend down as far and I could press up against him. This is still good, though, he can still rest his other hands over my hips, and I can wind my arms over his shoulders. 

This is all going to hit me later, a hurricane of repressed feelings. It's going to be a lot of good emotions though, I can feel them boiling behind my chest. Giddyness and arousal alongside anxiety and dread. I'm both excited and terrified of what could happen.

I can still feel the warmth coming off of him even when he leans back. His hands stay on my face, steady and comforting, and he leans forward and quickly kisses me again. 

"I should go before I follow you inside," he says around a laugh, and I nod sadly. 

"Or before I drag you in." 

He chuckles, low and sexy, and squeezes my hands. 

"Goodnight Cassie." 

"Goodnight Kri," I mumble, and he steps back, dropping my hands from his.

I watch him take off before going inside, and I couldn't wipe the smile from my face if I tried.

Chapter 13 >>

[fansformentalydistroyedmen]

Last Names

A Malcolm Bright x Reader

Beans get spilled, whoops

Chapter 4, Liars

Life sucks, make a new friend and boom you lie to him. Now you are being blackmailed, how great is this. Maybe his mom is right, he doesn't need all my bullshit. I run my hands through my hair frustrated. Should I even try to fix this, he doesn’t want me not if he found out the truth. The truth about my parents, my past, and maybe even these hidden and suppressed feelings I get only around him. I groan and stand up walking to my kitchen. I grab a glass and start to get some water so I can start taking some of my pills. After dowing the glass I lay down trying desperately to fall asleep. After countless hours of tossing and turning I finally fell asleep. 

“Don’t be a wimp just pull the trigger!” 

“I told you she’s too weak to do it.”

“Pull it or I swear I will kill Samuel!” *Gun shot* 

I sit up fast panting, sweat dripping down my face. I rest my head on my wall slowly trying to steady my breath. After a couple minutes I checked my phone, to my sadness no case for right now. That's when I heard my doorbell ring, I groaned but got up to open it. To my shock Malcolm smiles and holds two cups of coffee up, how perfect. I open the door for him and smile.

“Hi, umm what are you doing?” I ask

“Well last night my mom definitely said something to you so I figured I make it up to you.”

“Oh wow that's so sweet.” I rub my face.

“Please come in.” I smile as he hands me the coffee, I 

might need something stronger if I am going to tell him. We walk over to my kitchen island and he sits down. 

“So what did my mom say, I’m really sorry by the way.” He says sympathetically.

“Umm I- Malcolm I need to tell you something.” I bite my lip.

“Are you ok?” He asked, concerned. I stand up and run my hands through my hair and he follows me as I start to pace.

“I am but you're gonna be really mad and you have every right to be and I am really sorry.” I take a deep breath and see him staring at me trying very hard to profile me. 

“Malcom my parents aren't dead, I lied. My parents are actually in jail, I am a Scott, as in Maggie and Lenoard Scott. The serial killers and experimental child abusers. I am so sorry for lying.” He just stares at me, gears turning.

“Please say something.” I plead. 

“ Why would you lie if you just found out I'm a Whitly?” He questions.

“ I was scared but then your mom told me that she would tell you if I didn’t stay away from you.” Tears now streaming heavy and hot down my face

“Did you lie about your brother as well?” He asks

“No not at all, he drowned, they killed him. “Are you mad?” he bites his lip like he’s thinking then he starts choking? Laughing? He's laughing! My eyes widened in horror and my mouth opened as I taste the salty tears. 

“I’m sorry, I'm sorry.” He says while laughing.

“What the actual hell is happening?” I yell as he continues to laugh.

“Did you really think I didn’t know you were lying?” He laughs

“I- yeah.” I say exasperated.

“Please you are a terrible liar and this is literally my job. I knew as soon as you told me they died.” He smirked.

“Why didn’t you tell me!” I yelled, still having tears running down my face.

“Well you did lie to me also I am genuinely sorry about my prying mother.”

“You jackass!” I smack him and walk off. He grabs my wrist and pulls me towards him. My eyes widen as they meet his bright blue eyes. I swallow hard and wait for anything to happen, it would be so easy to just. No! 

“Y/N I’m sorry I didn’t think it through. I didn't think it would upset you.” He said sincerely.

“I thought I ruined the only relationship with someone who gets me I have ever had, so sorry I got emotional.” I said roughly.

“Y/N I’m sorry I shouldn't have.” I was having a hard time focusing since we were so close to each other I could hear his heart beats. 

“I mean… you forgave me, I think I can forgive you.” I continue to stare at his eyes, he slowly lifts his free hand and wipes the tears that were resting on my cheeks. This is wrong. I work with him, emotions are messy, he’ll leave me. I cough and pull away quickly and start walking away. 

“Breakfast?” I ask, walking over towards my stove.

“Uh sure.” He says following 

“What do you want?” I ask

“Umm, I mean I’m not sure I don’t eat breakfast a lot.” He laughs 

“Makes two of us.” I laugh while grabbing some eggs.

[scorpiongrassfield]

Theo is Spooked... Again

Start | Prev

Pat laughs it off. 

“I mean. It’s not really for us to decide, kid. Either it was or it wasn’t, factually. We have no say in the matter when it comes to reality,” they ramble. 

This leaves Theo looking pensive, but less afraid. 

It sounds like a distraction to you.

“Anyway, to answer your question, usually. Ghosts made from traumatic events are usually either angry or like. Sad and lost. Or both I guess,” Pat shrugs. 

They gesture for you to eat more of your food.

You sigh, but dutifully comply.

Once you’ve eaten a few more bites you ask: “What kind of ghost is the shadow?” 

“Dunno I’d have to meet them,” Pat say’s flippantly. 

You give them a flat look. 

A quick glance at Theo shows he’s doing the same.

Pat heaves a comical sigh. “Alright, I guess I can give you a hint this time since you’re having brain trouble,” they say, over dramatically. 

Theo is trying not to laugh. 

Pat winks at you. 

“So. If I had to guess, I’d say this shadow is the sort of ghost with Unfinished Business,” Pat says. 

“Oh?” Theo says, looking almost impressed.

“Yeah. This sort of ghost is usually pretty at peace with their own death, Except for they still feel like there’s something they still need to do. Look after their friend, feed their cat, tend their garden, stuff like that,” they explain. 

That all makes sense to you.

But you aren’t sure it all adds up. 

You can accept that the shadow is a ghost. And it does seem friendly and interested in helping you. 

But you can’t reconcile that with the ghost you’re supposed to be looking for. 

Your head kind of hurts as you think about it. 

Theo and Pat both lapse into silence as you think, Pat chowing down and Theo simply staring off into space. 

He fiddles with the glasses sticking out of his shirt pocket and its like something snaps inside your head. 

You and Pat aren’t here to investigate a ghost. You’d forgotten that. 

You still aren’t sure why Pat feels the need to lie to Theo to this extent, even as they begin to befriend him. 

Maybe they’ve also forgotten? Memory issues do seem to be going around like the flu these days. 

You run back over the conversation again. You can’t guess Pat’s motives for telling Theo his house is haunted. 

It feels more like you’re the one that’s haunted. 

“Oh. Myo-“ Theo cuts himself off. “Excise me, I misspoke. Sylv. It wasn’t your shadowy friend that lead you to my house today, was it?” Theo asks. 

He suddenly seems… different. Like someone opened up photoshop and turned up the contrast and saturation on his very presence. 

It seems that he remembers your earlier visit now. Had he been faking it before? 

Pat wipes their mouth with a napkin before piping up. “I was wondering the same thing. I said you should stay in the cars since you… had a migraine,” Pat hesitates on the lie this time. 

You realize you forgot to tell Pat about the woman. 

Oops. 

You could always lie. 

It’s not like Pat doesn’t do it literally all the time. 

But Theo is giving you this expectant look. 

Like he knows what you’re supposed to say. 

You sigh. 

“I met this woman in the woods. She freaked out when she saw me and tried to attack me. So I went inside to get away from her,” you summarize.

Pat looks like their blood pressure just shot through the roof. 

Upset would be an understatement.

“This Cannot keep happening,” they mutter.

“Patience,” Theo says reproachfully. 

Pat deflates. “Okay. You’re right,” they nod, seemingly to themself. 

They turn to you and look you right in the eye. “I’m not mad at you, especially since you don’t remember any promises you’ve made me about this. I’m glad you’re okay, good job getting to safety. We’ll discuss this further after I take a smoke break.” They say, like they’re checking phrases off a list. 

Theo hands them a lighter on their way out. 

That was… odd. 

Now you’re alone with Theo again. 

Except…

“You aren’t Theo, are you?” you say to the person who looks like Theo, but has entirely different body language from him.

“Oh. You’re observant, but are you connecting the dots?” says not-Theo. 

“I’m trying,” you say. “Why’d you bring that up? You knew Pat would freak.” 

“Ah. Pat cares about you though… They want to keep you safe,” not-Theo placates.

Something dawns on you. 

“You’re the one that told me not to be alone!” 

Not-Theo gives you a small smile. 

“She’s a danger to all of us. There’s only so much I can do, off-script. Please go easy on me,” not-Theo pleads. 

Then Pat is sidling back into the booth smelling of tobacco.

Next

[m-a-ys-world]

You woke up at 4 am to get you and your daughter ready for the day. You hated getting up this early but it was the only way you could get yourself and her ready on time “Hey, baby girl its time to wake up” you said softly to your 4 year old “Five more minutes mommy” she said rolling over, you giggled softly “No honey you cant be late again”. Once she woke up and you got her dressed it was time to get yourself ready “Ok can you be a big girl and eat your oatmeal while mommy gets ready?” You asked her pinching her cheeks “yes and i wont even make a mess” she said smiling “alright I’ll be right back” you said leaving her to watch The Smurfs. As you were getting ready your phone rang, It was your best friend Claire who was also the assistant manager at your job “Hey Claire” you said into your phone “Hey Y/n you still good to pick me up from the airport” she asked over the phone “Yeah I’m getting ready now” you responded “Oh I almost forgot, guess who i ran into at the airport” she said “who” you asked “Rafa, He’s moving back home” you froze and went silent “he’s moving back like permanently” you asked “yeah I guess, it’s been like what 3 years” she said “mom I finished my oatmeal” you heard your daughter yell from the kitchen “oh claire ive gotta go, i have to get Riley into the car so we can leave” you said snapping out of your daze “Ok, see you soon” Claire said hanging up the phone. “Alright you’ve got everything” you asked Riley grabbing your car keys “yep” she said following you to the door “Ok are your ready to see auntie Claire” you asked her “Yeah! I miss auntie Claire” she said excitedly “She misses you too, come on lets go” you said leaving the house.

It was 6:00 by time you got to the airport to pick up Claire, Riley was so happy to see her. She told Claire everything she did while she was gone the whole ride to her school “Okay baby, give me a hug and I’ll see you later” you said bending down to hug and kiss your daughter “bye bye mommy” she said running to join her friends in the classroom. “Can you believe Rafa is moving back here” Claire said as you got back into the car “not really” you responded dryly “I didnt think he ever would hes been gone forever” she said while scrolling through her phone “I wish he would just stay wherever he was” you said out loud although you meant to keep it to yourself “whats your problem with him, i thought you two were cool” she asked “ yeah well shit happens I guess” you said keeping a blank stare on the road. Claire talked to you the whole ride back to her house but you didn’t really hear everything she said because you were too busy thinking about Rafael. “Ok im gonna go get some rest before my shift today, I’ll see you at work” Claire said as you pulled up to her house and she grabbed her bags from the trunk you waved goodbye and pulled off.

It was 9 am and you already wanted the day to be over, something about knowing Rafa was back made you want to just go home but you couldn’t do that so for now you were just praying you didn’t run into him “whats got you so moody today” Claire asked from behind you “huh? Nothing Im just a little tired” you lied “what are you doing here anyway i thought you weren’t supposed to work until 12” you asked “Jenny called and asked me to cover her for a few hours” she replied “but seriously what’s wrong with you” she asked “Nothing im fine” you lord again “yeah ok, you’ve been in a funk since I told you about Rafael” she said as she was helping you set up to open the store “it’s nothing” she said walking away from her to unlock the doors “will you just tell me” she said laughing a little trying to find out what happened between you and him “will you let it go if i do” you asked, she nodded “fine” you sighed “when he left he just stopped talking to me so i guess im mad at him for that” you said hoping she wouldn’t ask any follow up questions “it’s been 4 years though and im sure he was busy, maybe you should call him” she suggested “exactly its been 4 years and i don’t really wanna talk to him now” you said desperately trying to get off this topic “okay…” she said slightly shocked at how upset you seemed to be with him “I just wanna get through the day so i can go home and watch some tv with my daughter” you said counting down the hours until you got off.

2pm

You felt your phone buzz in your pocket as you were finishing up helping a customer, when you took out your phone to see who was calling you say that it was Riley’s daycare “hello” you said into the phone “Hi, Ms. Y/l/n, I was just calling to let you know that Riley threw up and she has a slight fever we think it would be best if you took her home, shes not looking too good” Rileys teacher said “oh ok, yeah im on my way thanks” you said ending the call and going to find Claire “Hey Claire Rileys Teacher just called shes sick and i gotta go get her do you think i can bring her here” you asked “Ah no sorry Jenny told me shes allowed in the back anymore” she said with an apologetic look on her face “Shit ok uh” you said trying to figure out what you were gonna do “Hey dont worry im off im 30 minutes, go get her and i’ll watch her until you get off” she said trying to keep you from panicking “are you sure you’ve already watched her so many times” she stopped you, pulling you into a hug “of course i know you’re stressed trying to do this alone plus I love hanging out with her” she said “thanks Claire” you said smiling at her.

Once you picked Riley up and got back to your job Claire was off and ready to watch Riley for you “Thanks again Claire I really appreciate it” you said putting your sleeping daughter into the back seat of Claires car “no problem and I’ll bring her home when you get off” she said helping you put Riley and her bag in the car “you know i could keep her for a couple days if you want” she said “no thats ok I think I would feel lonely in the house alone” you said, it had been years since you had the house to yourself but you liked not being alone because you had your daughter “oh my god” Claire said looking behind you “what?” You said turning around to see what she was looking at and boy did you wish you hadn’t turned around. It was Rafa he was there getting ready to walk into your job “Hey Rafa” you snapped your head around as you heard Claire call out to him “Why” you asked her “Oh shit hey” he said smiling coming over to the car “Hey Y/n” he said pulling you into a hug but all you could do was stand there “uh hey” you stuttered out “what are yall up to right now, I was gonna go met up with Diggs it you wanna come” you wanted to punch him in the face because of the way he just wanted to act like nothing ever happened “Oh i cant I’ve gotta work” you said trying your best to avoid looking him in the eyes “I would go but ive gotta watch her kid” Claire said pointing to Riley sleeping in the car “Holy shit you had a kid” Rafa asked “yeah” you answered dryly “oh she’s so cute whats her name” your heart was beating fast and you feel like you were about to pass out. “Riley” you watched him as he looked your- well his daughter “how old is she” he asked “she’s 4” you prayed that he didn’t put two and two together because you really couldn’t handle that situation right now “Holy fuck” Claire said from behind you. You and Rafa turned to see what was wrong “uh I forgot my mom was coming over later and I gotta clean my house” you knew she knew, you also knew she was gonna wanna talk about it and you weren’t ready for that. You saw Diggs walk down the street and he greeted you and Claire, after you all said your hellos Rafa and Diggs walked into the store “Is she his” Claire asked once they were out of ear shot “Claire i really dont wanna talk about this right now” you said looking at the ground “she is isn’t she” you wanted to bury yourself and never come out “so thats why you’re so mad at him, because he left” you just nodded “are you gonna tell him” she asked “no, i dont need his help” you said “well I know that but maybe he should know that hes a dad” she said “yeah but I mean its been 4 years and its not like I havent tried to tell him, he just stopped answering my texts and calls” you could feel yourself getting upset and you just wanted the day to be over “Look i gotta get back to work can we talk about this later” you said realizing your break was almost over “yeah but you should tell him, like now he deserves to know” she said “how, do i just walk up to him and say hey i haven’t seen you in almost 5 years but anyway the kid you just saw is your daughter” your heart stopped when you turned to see Rafa standing in front of the door “what” you wanted to die, you didn’t think this would happen any time soon and definitely not like this but now you had no choice “shes mine” Rafa asked you as he look you in the eyes

God why couldn’t he have just stayed wherever he was

Im leaving you with a cliff hanger because my brain has stopped working

[am-i-sans]

dnd adventures 28

moss thinks uno is pronounced yuno. get their ass. so were playing fantasy go fish.

frog waves their arms like a fish. frog please.

the others are playing actual go fish and i cant join sad :( so i tried making dnd cards against humanity. there should be more dnd cards.

they decided dans won cool. im tired. undyne flips the table mad cause of steve. cam flips her off, they cant hear yet. frog tells her to go deal with it then. dans and tori remind undyne they just have to wait for the guards to do their job. cam pats her on the back. bedtime! dans and the others try and calm undyne that no, steve isnt gonna do anything. cam and dans are normal now lol.

short rest? sus. we wake up to screaming. great. undyne looks outside the window. horde of skeletons and zombies. dans helps undyne put on the armor. tori runs out ahead to help with cam cause moss decided to be a dick and say itll take time for undyne to get armor on. suzy and frog go out the window.

undyne leaps out the window and dans follows, were both fine lol. where are the fucking guards?! undyne just picks up dans and runs toward the horde. undyne sees a zombie! dans and undyne attack at the same time. their weak sauce. just mowing them down lol.

the others see the asshole guard from earlier being attacked by skeletons. cam uses earth tremor to knock some of them away from the guard. frog missed eldrich blast. dans and undyne catch up!

suzy crushed a skeleton pog. undyne has a plan! cam, frog, and suzy out here protecting civilians. her, tori, and dans go to the source. frog shoots a skeleton with eldrich blast and says got it! plan is a-go!

tori casts investiture of fire and dans casts investiture of stone. we 3 head to the church! tiny squad roll initiative! suzy smashed 1 and missed 1. frog fireballs amazingly! cam used snowball storm hmm. cold magic!

cutting back to undyne gang. heading toward the church. asshole guard getting his shit rocked by skeletons again. stabbed through the chest and dies! back as a zombie oh no. dans uses message toward cam letting them know about that.

undyne just instantly kills the guard. initiative didnt even matter lol. tori has a zombie coming right at her. she just shoots the flames off her body at it. zombie rolled a 0 dex save LOL. setting fire to bunch of zombies. dans uses tremor from the rocks on him. zombie gets knocked prone. eldrich blast as per usual. it got back up. missed hitting me. somehow fucking got a nat and avoided by cold spell but also missed hitting me again. dans crit 36 and made the zombie explode cause fuck it just wouldnt die!

back to the shortie squad! frog grabs cam and suzy and says they should head further into the city to check for danger. cam agrees and warns them of becoming zombies. frog looks horrified and suzy is like 'sick.' into the city they go.

they run into karen 2.0 aka kyris. shes being attacked and cam runs in to save her! cam wacks it in the side. frog did crit eldrich blast good job. kyris stabs it in the head and kills it. she thanks them. cam tells her to get to safety. kyris is like 'do i know you from somewhere?' nope! frog is a good liar nice.

another skeleton pops up but suzy chucks a different skeleton at it. cam tells her to go hide indoors again. kyris says shes gonna stay for now since she has nowhere to go. kyris has joined the party!

back to undyne gang. its steve in the graveyard. goddamn. haughty asshole. 'do you ever stop interrupting?' undyne is fucking pissed and points her sword at him. 'are you trying to kill this whole city?' 'just a little.' undyne attacks! staggering smite! steve failed a wisdom saving throw lol. cant use reaction spells. steve backs up and holds up a hand. he gestures to the city. 'do you hear that? innocent people. gonna waste your time here or do the right thing? make your choice fast.' undyne says we have people handling things but steve says 'yeah ok im sure you have enough people once the army keeps growing.' he turns to tori 'your kids are still out there right?' undyne says a speech and soupnik lands behind steve. lighting attack constantly from 1 side, crit eldrich blast from the other.

roll initiative! steve attacks dans! he asks dans first if hes sure he wants to do this. dans doesnt answer. smacks him with a flail and necrotic damage. bastard. next attack undyne! stop the necrotic damage you asshole. missed tori pog! undynes turn! big thunder damage! soupnik attacks!

dans turn. uh oh his spell doesnt work! what does this mean?! vani disappears!? dans doubles over in pain! steve is grinning like a little bitch. 'wrong choice dans.' undyne demands answers! 'its what im not doing more likely.' 'dans whats wrong?!' 'god isnt answering...' STEVE IS HIS FUCKING PATRON. HE FUCKED HIS PATRON. 'im surprised you didnt realize sooner dans.' undyne tries to call moss and ask them to be dans new patron. moss pops out of the ground and asks wtf is happening. not happy to see steve. their siblings?! undyne gets on her knees and begs moss to help dans. steve is like 'your gonna replace me with moss?!' dans patron is now celestial moss! moss claps dans on the back and leaves. 'this is why i left heaven' fuck you steve.

the crit resumes lol. undyne holds out her hand and helps dans up. toris witch bolt keeps going. dans rips a symbol of steve's from his sleeve and tosses it aside like garbage and stares him down with a smirk. steve is fucking pissed and goes after dans with finger of death. 30 damage steve is a bitch lol. undyne hits back with a crit! soupnik attacks! good job. dans crits again hes fucking pissed! tori asks how dans is feeling and dans says to focus on killing steve. tori keeps witchbolt active then and keeps hitting. (moss sounds worried lol)

back to shortie squad. suzy got a hit and a miss. frog plays freebird. cam hits nice. kyris punches a skeleton lol 1 damage. then stabs it lol. the skeletons attack frog! they miss cam tho. they miss frog good. suzy hits both nice. frog lightning bolts! cam blocks a zombie. kyris hits it in the head with a dagger and its head falls off.

at this point discord has gone completely down. back for now tho.

more butt kicking while discord fucked me over lol. stopping here cause its late and cam needs to eepy.