#me after spending an hour cleaning my archive

[0tivez]

unpopular opinion but code geass’ only good episode was the final episode

like there are certain old anime that people just die to defend when mostly they’re okay. like i love fmab but it’s good because it was consistently good, not because the story was extraordinary imo but people praise it as if it’s an ancient russian novel 😭 code geass was mostly boring for its premise but had a superb final episode, a banger and extremely underrated opening AND takahiro sakurai

[atimesfeeler]

I loved @twilightkitkat 's post SO MUCH I just had to add to it. It reminded me of a fic I'm working on rn.

I especially liked the part with Vanessa because I don’t think she just left him because of the reason Wade thinks. She didn’t just want him to be a superhero or whatever- in the flash back, she’s begging him to open up to her, to be present, to let her help him and I don’t thinks Wade could do it.

He felt like, incorrectly, that he couldn’t burden her with it. He has so much baggage and pain and issues, and he can’t corrupt her with that. He had cancer and instead of spending his last days with her, he left her. And when he survived he avoided her until she was literally kidnapped.

Everyone thinks Logan runs but really Wade does. He doesn’t want the people he loves to know he’s in pain. At his birthday party, he’s obviously miserable but everybody’s together! And smiling! So he’s going to be happy and pretend he’s just fine. But he’s not even very good at hiding it bc, like mentioned before, it’s a little bitter. His jokes don’t land or they come out passive aggressive and tense. But nobody calls him out for it except Logan. Logan who tells him in the meanest way that he’s a clown but that he’s sad, pathetic, and attention starved. He’s not buying the clown act.

And when Logan moves in, I love the idea that he starts noticing Wade when his mask falls or he gets too tired to pretend.

I’m writing a fic where Wade deals with chronic pain in less healthy ways and, of course, he tries to hide it. It's more brief and censored on tumblr bc I don't want to get my account terminated again, but it will be more detailed on ao3.

…

He dealt with it in other ways. The pain.

After all, a little bit of death couldn’t hurt, right?

Treating himself gently only sometimes worked. If he did everything right, if he did all the steps then maybe, maybe it would ease up. Sleep well, wake up at the right time, eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, draw a scalding bath, and take some hard hitting drugs.

Most days, Wade was much more impatient. Most days, Wade failed. It was too hard to take care of himself when waking up felt like dragging himself up from glacier water and pounding on the underside of the ice. Cooking was a nightmare he didn’t even want to consider tackling, and he was rarely patient enough to wait for the bath to fill or for sleep to take him as his body wracked with pain.

There were faster, easier, more instant ways of relieving the pain.

Any pain that didn’t stem from his own body was good.

With Vanessa, Wade had tried the healthy way. The three meals, ten hours of sleep, and taking his vitamins. The whole mile. There was this urge he constantly resisted that told him it would release the tension in his skull if he carved under his eye into his cheek where the migraine pulsed, like he was some sort of fucked up carpenter with voices in his head.

Vanessa didn’t understand it. If he was in pain, why would he want to be in more? She understood his masochistic tendencies in bed where they mixed pain and pleasure, but just pain? Just harm for the sake of being harmed? They got into a lot of fights about it.

He resisted the attempts. Hid them from her where he could. Sometimes he’d miscalculate, and she’d walk into the bathroom before he could heal and clean up his brain splattered on the bathroom tile. She hated it, and Wade hated that he was hurting her.

He reeled back any anger or snippy comments that stemmed from the sheer newness of having his body feel like it was dying all the time. It was so hard to interact when pain rippled through him like a feedback chamber. It made his fuse short and curt. His witty remarks turned snappish and bitchy. People asked stupid questions and made even stupider comments when he was having a Bad Pain Day, and everything felt a bit more raw and oozing. Wade didn’t have the energy to keep up the act and while his mind rarely stopped running, it shifted into something darker when pain was on his mind. His jokes fell flat, laced with a bitter ending. Sometimes, Wade didn’t even want to talk. He wanted to punch someone. Maybe even himself. And every time he snapped or said something he didn’t mean, he wanted to hurt himself even more.

Quickly, he grew exhausted putting on a brave face, and he had never been good at letting people help him. There was this awful clash of wanting to be comforted by the people he loved and hating that he needed comfort. It made him feel weak and pathetic, and Wade already hated so much about himself that he didn’t want anyone to see the twisted, fucked up parts of him. How ironic that he always had an audience anyway. He couldn’t hide it from you or whoever was watching him those days, but he could hide it from the people he loved. Shield them from it, almost.

On Bad Pain Days, Wade didn’t want anything to be different. He didn’t want to acknowledge the pain he dealt with, and seeing that pity on her face set his teeth on edge. It both hurt to be babied and, later, it hurt to be ignored when he stubbornly insisted he was fine.

Obviously, it didn’t work out.

It was better with Al.

Al tried to help. Once or twice. Her motherly instincts kicked in, maybe, Wade didn’t know. He shot himself once in front of her while they were watching the Bachelorette together, and she cursed him out and told him to stop and never do it again. Wade took his little attempts to the bathroom after that. He cleaned up after himself. He went out. Wade tended not to do the more dramatic methods that draw attention.

Wade had it down to a science. A decent chunk out of his frontal lobe sent Wade into a pleasant, almost subspace-like place. He would just… float and forget that his body hurt all that bad. It was good for Bad Brain DaysTM too when Wade’s thoughts were louder, faster than normal, and the voices stopped sounding like himself. When the fourth wall was a little too easy to see, and it got to him, being the doomed comic relief, when his head was trying to split his consciousness in two.

If his temporal lobe was nicked, then Wade would start hallucinating and hear a banger of a song while time, space, and movement sort of fucked up for a second. It felt like getting high, but he didn’t need an entire bag of cocaine and to hot box weed to get there.

If something happened to his parietal lobe, the pain wouldn’t know where to go. A bear could literally be eating his insides, but the pain signals couldn’t register if they had nowhere to go.

He did most of his questionable coping methods in the stereotypical bathroom spot. It was private, and Al got onto him for getting blood and bits all over the apartment. He once left his liver or his kidney in the kitchen sink, and Althea threatened to call the cops on him - her coke stash be damned. Now he’d drape himself in the empty tub, play music loudly, and expertly deal with the pain.

The system he had was fine. Regulated. It was working. It was fine. It wasn’t going to get any better.

Until Logan.

...

I haven't posted it on ao3 yet, but it will be apart of the series for my fic where Wade cries in the Honda instead of fighting.

[dbmars]

I posted a new fic! Don't worry, it's only 2.7k. You don't have to make as big a commitment as Hannibal wants to make with Will... that they spend the rest of their lives together.

This prompt came from Alisha, one of our Patreon patrons for The Feast Is Life podcast. If you'd like to wield the power of my pen (or my typing fingers) you can do so for just 5$ a month:

Something Blue

Will knows.

He has to know. 

I’ve ordered the fires extinguished in his brain. As I picked up the phone to tell Dr. Sutcliffe I’d changed my mind, I knew I was setting events into motion that could end with my death or lifelong imprisonment. I also understood that taking such a risk was imperative, as it may be the key to the greatest happiness I’ve ever known. The one certainty I clung to as I foiled my own plans was that Will would know me. See me. What he would decide to do with that knowledge is impossible to predict. 

But now, sitting in Jack’s office, I can’t be sure he’s received my messages. Understood the scope of my declaration.

I supervised his care during his recovery from encephalitis, driving him to his appointments when it wasn’t safe for him to be behind the wheel, picking up prescriptions and groceries. Cooked him proper meals, meant to nourish and calm the inflammation as well as delight the senses. I fed his dogs, paid to have his lawn serviced and the house cleaned and the hounds groomed. 

It was in his nature, of course, to refuse help. Will’s father raised him to reject charitable offerings out of pride. Pride, also, insists he must be self-sufficient; alone and lonely so long, he wears fierce independence like armor. But I am nothing if not patient and persistent, and he submitted long before I thought he would. 

His desire to be taken care of crumbled that pride like a faulty dam springing leaks before its catastrophic collapse. I’d like to think I had something to do with it. Not only care, but care from me . 

Once Will recovered from his immune system's misguided attack, we resumed our therapy and our friendship. Both flourished, a well-tended garden, roots deep in the soil and blossoms unfurling in the sun. We discussed killing the way others might discuss art, poetry, music. He invited me to fish with him and cook the catch after. I invited him to dinner. It’s become our routine to linger in my office for hours after his session is supposed to have ended, drinking wine by the fire. He let me sketch him once, his face in profile, illuminated by the flames.

One night, three months ago, he put his hand over mine on the arm of my chair. Gave it a tender squeeze. 

And that is when I decided to reveal myself to him, come what may, though the gesture of affection has not been repeated since.

[kaihuntrr]

part five: retellings.

Martyn goes to the castle.

It had only been a few hours since Martyn had last seen Shelby, but he hadn’t forgotten how furious she’d been before she left. And how cold she seemed when she had left.

Martyn decided to linger in the port town, spending time in The Golden Apple to restabilize himself and nurse his stinging heart. 

If only Scott was here, Martyn thought to himself. Maybe he could’ve spoken some sense into Shelby. 

Martyn leaned against one of the tavern’s wooden columns while staring hard at the bar. He shouldn’t be drinking, but maybe a shot wouldn’t hurt…? It could help him clear his head, at least. Besides, he hadn’t drank anything ever since he came home. And it wasn’t like there was some creepy witch waiting to ambush him should Martyn ever take a shot.

As soon as Martyn took a step forward, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Not another step,” the voice startled Martyn, but as soon as he registered Cleo’s jovial tone, he relaxed. “You know this stuff’s bad for you.”

“It’s not that bad, Cleo,” Martyn turned and gave his crewmate a sheepish smile, only to see Cleo rolling their eyes in return. “It’s good to see you, though.”

“Same here,” Cleo replied, taking her hand off Martyn’s shoulder and putting it on her waist. “Joel said you were looking for me?”

“Y- Yeah,” Martyn nodded. “It’s important.”

“You have my attention. We can talk in here if you want, but Grian’s waiting outside.” 

Grian? Martyn tilted his head. Oh! Cleo and Grian must’ve been out running errands together then. “Outside’s fine.”

Cleo motioned for him to follow and Martyn did, taking note of the pair of beer bottles Cleo held in her fingers. Martyn scowled. That was so rude, drinking after denying him getting any! 

“Oh. Hey Martyn,” Grian waved at the two as they stepped out, Martyn closing the door behind him. Grian turned to Cleo and raised an eyebrow, “How did you know you’d find him there?”

Cleo chuckled, handing one of the beers over to Grian. “Let’s just call it instinct.” Cleo turned to Martyn and gestured at Grian and themself, “Grian and I were heading to the shooting range over at Greenpoint.” Cleo tilted their head. “I want to test my guns out a little more. Wanna come?”

“Sure! I’d love to,” Martyn nodded. “It’d give us some privacy if we have it to ourselves this time….”

“Privacy for what?” Grian asked.

“There’s one thing I haven’t really mentioned yet…, about the island,” Martyn said, beginning to lower his voice as his hand gripped the strap of his satchel, “and about Katherine. And maybe Pearl, too.”

Martyn was too busy staring at his satchel to notice the look that Grian and Cleo shared.

“...Ah,” Grian said after a short pause. “Yeah, we should definitely discuss this,” he jerked his head, gesturing for them to start walking,  “Maybe when we’re a little farther from prying eyes and ears.”

—————

Martyn came clean to the two of them, telling them everything he could remember about the stranger that saved him, about Pearl's outburst, about Katherine's cryptic warnings, about the knife, and finally, about Shelby's strange mood. The two of them stood in silence for a few minutes, taking their time to absorb everything he’d said.

Martyn saw the shifting looks of understanding and confusion as he told them everything. There were to be no secrets between him and the Canaries. There just couldn’t be.

Well, except for maybe his weird feelings towards Blue, but that was it. Those weren’t important, just weird lingering dreams….

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Martyn shook his head, baffled. “How come both Katherine and Shelby know about the knife? Who was that person that gave it to me?”

“Do you think…,” Cleo’s eyebrows furrowed in thought, Martyn glancing over to her as she placed a hand on her chin. “Do you think that if you showed Scott this, he’d have a similar reaction?”

“Why- why would Scott know?” Martyn asked, even though he could already follow the logic.

If… if Shelby knew something about this blade, and she was close with Scott, would Scott know something about it too? No– surely not, right? If anything, it made sense that Shelby knew about the knife, considering that she and Katherine were girlfriends. Why would Scott know anything? Scott was- normal. Scott didn’t even know much about the beasts, if he had any knowledge at all. Martyn remembered the time Scott tried to argue that leaving the beasts alone would solve all their problems. Scott was normal, in no way entangled in this- this whatever it was. 

“I don’t know,” Martyn shook his head. “But there’s so… so much to wrap my head around.”

“Definitely,” Grian sighed, leaning back against a fence post. “We got ourselves wrapped up in one big mystery.”

“Well, they’re sea princes,” Martyn shrugged. “They’re not like your average beast.”

“You can say that again,” Cleo hummed, crossing their arms. “I think I’m more concerned about Pearl than anything else on that island, though….”

Martyn winced at the image of the witch that flashed through his mind. “I feel you there, Cleo,” Martyn sighed, “Pearl is… an anomaly, for sure.”

Probably more than an anomaly. She just isn’t human, Martyn thought to himself. Parts of her just didn’t add up– brutish strength, her ability to summon mist, her loud, thunderous voice…. 

But that wouldn’t make sense. Those sea princes looked human, but they weren’t human.

It was probably a trick to get Martyn to feel some sort of way. Maybe the way he felt about Blue was one elaborate trick to get Martyn waltzing right into the beast’s jaws. He remembered Mumbo mentioning once or twice that some deep sea beasts hypnotized their prey to lure it in. But still… something felt off about that.

Something… that Martyn decided to keep at the back of his mind.

There were more important things to worry about after all, like the knife, and the corals, and just living out his days, safe on the Crown Isles.

Martyn could hear Cleo and Grian talk some more, soon shifting the conversation to something else, and he focused on nailing his shots on the targets in front of him.

—————

“Ugh- finally,” Cleo sighed in relief, staring up at the castle gate before them. Their eyes glazed over the majesty of the looming castle, the great building casting a protective shadow over the entire kingdom. She stretched her arms above her head, arching her back to get a crick out of her spine. Martyn cracked his neck, nudging Grian’s crossed ankles with his foot to wake him up.

One of the knights stationed at the foot of the entrance stairs approached the carriage and opened the door, saluting the hunters. Martyn saluted back, following Grian and Cleo out of the carriage.

“This is where we leave you, Martyn,” Cleo hummed, giving him a two fingered wave.

“Have fun with the royals,” Grian said. He jerked his head, motioning to the general direction of the castletown in front of them, a blur of people and carts swarming around the walls of the castle. “Let’s meet up at the Green Hearts Club later.”

“Got it,” Martyn nodded. Then he turned to Cleo, “Hope you get those guns of yours the upgrade they deserve, Cleo.”

Cleo hummed, their hands coming to rest on the guns secured in their holster, “False is an expert in her craft, she’s gonna do great.” Of course False was amazing– she was the one who created Scar’s legs, and they were so cool! As they waved the carriage driver off, Cleo turned to Martyn with a smile on her face. “We’ll see you later, Martyn.”

“See you later!” Martyn watched his two crewmates enter the castletown, discussing Cleo’s guns and the current state of weapons on the ship. He turned around to stare up at the castle gate, then took a breath before he began climbing the steps.

Martyn approached the two knights at the gate, greeting them with a nod. “Sir Cellbit, Dame Jaiden,” he addressed the knights with a smile. “I’ve been summoned by the Prince and Princess.”

“So we heard,” Jaiden replied, stepping aside in sync with Cellbit as she gave Martyn a salute. “Welcome back, hunter.” She raised her weapon, signaling to the knights in the tower to raise the gate. As the gate opened, she motioned Martyn to follow her and Cellbit. “The royals should be aware about your arrival by now, follow us.”

The trio passed through the courtyard with the statues and through the halls of the castle, their footsteps echoing. “It’s unusual that the captains arrived without you yesterday,” Cellbit said, glancing over to Martyn. “What happened?”

“Nothing too serious, I promise,” Martyn forced a small smile, “Just a bit of land-sickness.” He wasn’t super close to either of them, so they had no business knowing what had really happened. Martyn opted to change the subject. “How have the kids been?”

“Richas and Bobby are getting along,” Cellbit said, but gave Jaiden a knowing look. “But Bobby can get a little annoyed at his younger siblings.”

“You think he’d be fine after his playdates with Tilin….” Jaiden chuckled softly, a warm smile tracing her lips at the thought of her son. Martyn knew a bit of their situation, a mixed family of co-parents and kids all stuffed under one roof. Prince Chayanne and Princess Tallulah were raised alongside the knights’ kids too, if he remembered correctly.

“Your home sure is lively.” Martyn remarked, getting a small laugh out of the knights.

“Extremely.” Cellbit sighed, a tired yet fond look in his eyes as they continued through the castle halls. 

Martyn followed the two knights through the maze of a castle. He’d seen a few of the many rooms within it, but he’d never gotten used to how vast the insides would be. Who would need this many rooms? Martyn was fine with a simple bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Extravagance exuded off of everything within the castle.

Eventually, they stopped at two large wooden doors with blue stained glass on its side. Sunlight peeked through the glass, illuminating the hallways with its glow, making the hall look like it was underwater. Jaiden and Cellbit each took hold of a door handle and pulled the doors open, sunlight flooding the hall as Martyn could hear the distant laughs of the royal children.

The garden was on the leftmost side of the castle, secluded from the busier wings of the palace. Vibrant flowers grew plentiful within, the most of them being roses. There was a small fountain at the entrance of the garden, with a large pavilion standing tall in the middle, roses curled along the pillars. Martyn could see hummingbirds of all different colors flit around the place in an almost calming matter. The entire garden was housed beneath an elaborately detailed glass dome, allowing whomever to visit from the sunniest days to the rainiest evenings. 

Chayanne and Tallulah sat on the pavilion stairs, Chayanne brandishing a wooden sword while Tallulah strummed her ukulele. They were too far away for Martyn to hear their conversation, but it warmed Martyn’s heart to see them so happy. 

Chayanne was the first to notice the sounds of the doors opening. “Martyn!!” He dropped his sword and ran immediately to the hunter. He threw himself at Martyn, wrapping his arms around his waist and beaming up at him. “You’re here!”

“Your hair’s a mess, Your Highness.” Martyn said with a chuckle, ruffling the prince’s blonde hair.

“I know that! It’s like that on purpose!” Chayanne exclaimed, giggling as he moved Martyn’s hand away from his hair. He turned and waved at Tallulah, “Lullah! Get over here!”

Tallulah rolled her eyes as she made her way to them, though a little slower. “Chay–!” she chided, only for Chayanne to give her a wide grin. She huffed at her brother, but smiled up at Jaiden and Cellbit, giving them a small curtsy, “Thank you for bringing him here, Tio Cellbit and Tia Jaiden!” Then she finally turned to look at Martyn, a childish joy breaking through her carefully controlled royal facade. “Hi First Mate Martyn!”

Martyn nodded at the princess, as close to a bow as he could with the young prince’s head crushed against his stomach. Martyn thought Tallulah’s constant use of honorifics was so sweet. Despite her outranking him in terms of hierarchical standing, she’d never stop using honorifics with him or anybody else. It was endearing.

Jaiden crouched down for Tallulah to give her a warm hug. “Of course, Tallulah.”

“Don’t give First Mate Martyn a bad time, okay?” Cellbit laughed as he reached over to ruffle Chayanne’s hair. “He and his friends just came back from a very tiring trip.”

“We know that, Tio Cellbit,” Tallulah said, raising her chin and tucking her arms behind her back. “The other captains arrived yesterday!”

“You’re right. My apologies,” Cellbit said with a chuckle, then he turned to Jaiden. “Time to go?”

Jaiden nodded. “We’ll be standing guard outside,” she said to the three of them, motioning to the door. Martyn was trusted enough to spend time with the royals, but that didn’t mean those two wouldn’t have guards. “Have fun!”

Martyn waved at the two knights as they left, and as the doors clicked shut, he looked at the royal siblings. “So, how were you two while I was away?”

“Papa’s been a lot more quiet lately,” Tallulah mumbled, tugging at her sleeves. “I’m not sure why….”

“But we’ve been having a lot of fun!” Chayanne said happily, pointing at the wooden sword. “Tio Cellbit’s been teaching me some sword techniques!”

“Oho?” Martyn raised an eyebrow with a smug smile on his face. Chayanne was always the little fighter, and Martyn could see the young prince grow into a valiant hunter king if he trained enough for it. “Why don’t you show me, little warrior?”

“Oh I will!” Chayanne giggled, running his way to the pavilion. “Come on!”

Martyn was about to follow Chayanne but a light tug pulled at his sleeve. He looked down to see Tallulah looking at him. “Can we not run, please?” she asked, reaching up to hold Martyn’s hand.

“Sure thing, Tallulah.” He held her hand as they walked to Chayanne, the prince waving his reclaimed wooden sword around excitedly.

Martyn followed Tallulah’s slow pace, not that he minded. He took the time to really take in the surroundings, feeling the warm sun on his skin. The gardens and courtyards were so well maintained and beautiful, Martyn could see why the kids would want to spend their time here, but it would have been pretty lonely if it was just the two of them playing around in the castle….

“Is sailing fun?” Tallulah asked, staring up at him with a curious look in her eyes. Tallulah was the more inquisitive of the duo, always asking questions that made Martyn think a little harder about his life as a hunter. A hunter’s life is easy to describe, so any question from Chayanne can be simple to answer, but Tallulah had questions outside of it that had Martyn do a double take.

…Much like a certain bartender he cared about.

“Yeah, but it’s a little scary,” Martyn looked away, scratching the back of his head. “Sometimes a monster will rise from the water and try to eat you.”

“But you can scare off the monsters so they won’t hurt you anymore,” Tallulah replied, tilting her head. “They’re more scared of you than you are of them, like bugs.”

Are they? Martyn wasn’t too sure about that. Monsters came to kill them, and hunters retaliated against it. The only things that came close to feeling anything were those sea princes, but even then he couldn’t understand them. It had to be some sick game, some weird predator sense for them to play with their food before eating them. Or… well one ship full of hunters surely wasn’t enough for their stomachs, so it had to be something other than food.

Martyn blinked and shook his head. Now was not the time to dive into those thoughts. “You’re too smart for your own good, you know that?” he said with a smile, ruffling the princess’ hair as they approached the young prince. “So, how’s your fighting skills, Chayanne?”

“I’m really good at it! Watch–!” Chayanne swung his sword around, attempting to mimic the forms the knights had taught him. Martyn stifled a light chuckle as the young boy’s enthusiasm seeped into his swings. The young prince definitely had heart, even if the forms weren’t perfect. Chayanne grinned as Tallulah clapped at his swordsmanship. “Well, I’m getting better! Dad said one day I’ll be as great as Technoblade!”

“You’re definitely getting better! You’ve already improved since I last saw you use that sword,” Martyn patted Chayanne’s back and sat on one of the pavilion stairs. He gave the prince a teasing smirk as he continued, “But there are other forms of combat, maybe one of those might aid you better than your sword skills.”

“No they won’t!” Chayanne huffed. “I’ll be such a good sword fighter I won’t need to pick up a gun or anything like that! Just like Techno!”

“I’m sure you will,” Martyn smiled. His admiration for the late Prince Technoblade was heartwarming. While Chayanne never met his late elder brother, Techno, and his older brother Tommy was usually busy with settling negotiations with his father, he held both of them to such a high regard. Martyn still remembered the day Techno’s passing was announced, and he could only imagine what kind of impact those two would’ve left on Tallulah and Chayanne. He was glad, at least, those two were growing up to be good kids. “So, I heard from Grian and Joel that you wanted a story?”

“Yeah!” Chayanne nodded excitedly, plopping down next to Martyn with his eyes wide and full of wonder. “You owe us!”

Martyn raised an eyebrow, “Since when have I owed you a story?”

Chayanne looked away. “Uh… since–....” He grew quiet for a moment, pressing his pointer fingers together in thought. Then his eyes went wide again, grinning at Martyn like he had the best idea in the whole world. “As your prince, you owe me a story!”

“As His Highness commands,” Martyn chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. “What story do you want to hear?”

“What about the story of the Ocean Cursed?” Tallulah asked. Martyn was a little surprised to hear that suggestion come from her. Chayanne was more the type to ask for scarier stories. 

“Are you sure?” Martyn asked. “That old tale gives a lot of kids nightmares.” Including him. Martyn remembered when his parents had told him the story for the first time, he hadn’t slept properly for a whole week afterwards. Though Martyn liked telling scary stories, he didn’t want an angry king coming for him because Martyn had made his children cry.

Chayanne nodded immediately. “We’re sure! Lullah and I are old enough!”

Martyn sighed, but shrugged. If that was what his audience wanted, that’s what they’d get. He didn’t mind telling a sweeter story after, if only so the tale wouldn’t plague the kids’ minds too much.

“Alright, now where do I begin….”

Martyn adjusted himself to get comfortable, taking in a deep breath as Chayanne and Tallulah leaned closer to him, eager to hear the tale.

“Many generations ago, the world was shrouded in an eternal storm, nothing but roaring thunder and howling winds could be heard across the sky. The sun had long been swallowed by ink blotted clouds, and no one had ever seen the clear blue sky for centuries….” Martyn gestured towards the sky and balled his fist, attempting to capture the moment with his movements. With the glitter in the kids’ eyes, Martyn knew he was doing a good job.

So, he continued.

“The rain was so heavy it allowed the monsters of the deep to crawl onto land as if it was part of the ocean. The people hid themselves away to escape from the vicious monsters tearing and destroying everything in their path, looking to fill their stomachs with fresh human blood….” Martyn leaned in close, faking an evil grin at Chayanne and Tallulah as his voice became a whisper. “And they hungered for royal blood the most, for it was the tastiest of all.”

Chayanne moved his head so close that Martyn thought he was going to headbutt him. Martyn leaned back as Chyanne bared his teeth. “That’s why we’re not allowed by the water right?! So we don’t get eaten….” Tallulah suddenly looked concerned.

Martyn raised his hands in surrender, trying to ease the young prince’s temper. “It’s alright, Chayanne! It- it’s just part of the story. It’s why hunters swear themselves to protecting the royal family. It’s fiction as much as truth.”

“What’s the real reason then?!” Chayanne retorted, eyebrows furrowed as he attempted to make a face that was both angry and commanding. It didn’t work, as his blonde unkempt hair flopped over his skull mask and covered his eyes a small bit, making him look like he’d been rolling around on the ground. “If that’s not the real reason why then why do hunters swear to protect us?”

“Because we believe in your family. Your family built this kingdom, made it prosperous. I know I swore my loyalty to your father because I believed in him, and… I believe in the two of you. I believe you’ll do your best to protect the people of this kingdom, just like I believed your father would when I took my oath,” Martyn said softly, laying his hand over his heart. He sighed internally as Chayanne’s shoulders relaxed and he nodded.

“Princess?” Martyn asked weakly, noticing Tallulah’s pensive expression. She didn’t react for a moment, only to blink rapidly and shake her head.

“N-nothing… Can you continue the story, please?” 

Martyn furrowed his eyebrows in concern, but did as she asked. “If you say so.” Martyn lightly tapped his cheeks to get back in the mood. Where was he again? Dark storms, evil monsters, wanting to eat the royals… ah. “The people were desperate, pleading for the king to find a way to clear the storm. So, the king set out to find a way to clear the storm. He spoke to the wizard who lived at the very edge of the kingdom, and received a warning….”

Martyn straightened his back, pausing for a moment for all the good tension to rise from it. 

“‘The storm and monsters may be banished back to the sea, but as the tide washes out, something of value shall be lost with it.’ But the king was desperate, and made the deal. The wizard cast the spell and for the first time in centuries the sky cleared. But what the king and the people didn't know was the price that the sea took as the storm vanished. Ten royals infected with a curse; ten souls to writhe in pain as they were made to become hungry beasts, forced to consume their fellow man all for a cruel, sadistic sense of power–”

Martyn immediately stopped as Tallulah looked stricken. She made a small sound, looking down at the ground. Chayanne looked at her, then towards Martyn uncertainty. He raised a hand towards her shoulder.

“Tallulah…?” Martyn asked quietly, slowly reaching his hand out to her. He stopped as she recoiled back instead, biting her lip. “I’m sorry Tallulah, I didn’t mean to scare you….”

“I– I’m not scared,” Tallulah mumbled, her voice trembling. “I just… that’s so horrible….” Her head bent forward, staring at her shoes, “They didn’t even agree to it…. It wasn’t a noble sacrifice, just unfair….”

Chayanne wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged his sister tight, squishing their cheeks together. “It’s okay, Lullah, they’re not human anymore!” his voice had a fire in it, Martyn could hear it. “It’s sad, yeah, but that was a long time ago. And those sea princes have been hurting people ever since!”

Martyn nodded at Chayanne and placed his hand on Tallulah’s arm reassuringly. “The whole kingdom will protect you, Tallulah, I promise. The sea princes will never get their hands on you.”

Tallulah gave him a dry smile at that, pressing against her brother’s side and tapping Martyn’s hand. “But…,” her smile wavered as she looked Martyn in the eyes. “Who’ll protect you?”

For the longest time, Martyn had believed himself to be unkillable, he’d been taught his whole life that hunters voyaged the seas and returned home–

But that wasn’t true, was it? Hunters died all the time. There was just a never ending supply of new ones to take their place. And he couldn’t say he was unkillable after being so narrowly spared from the jaws of death twice, both times from a sea prince that could’ve snapped his life away in just one second.

He hoped to never have a third encounter.

Martyn bit the inside of his lip and steeled himself. He did not want the kids to see him so… distressed? Tired? He had to be strong in front of them, anything but weak. “Hunters can protect themselves, it’s what we signed up for, right? And I have my crew too. They protect me.”

Tallulah smiled at Martyn weakly. “You’re very brave….”

I try to be.

He had to be.

“Only the bravest to protect you, Your Highness.”

[randomperson99sworld]

Hope

~ Chapter 2 ~

Summary: Dean and Sam Winchester save a young woman —Natalie Johnson, from a coven of witches who are after her deceased grandmothers spell book. At first Dean doesn’t trust her, will he ever? Natalie is just simply a woman who gets roped up in the supernatural world from a mistake her grandmother made.

Paring: Dean x OC

Warning: Age gap, slow burn, smut (during later chapters), language, gore.

Word Count: 1,278

A/N: Hope you’re like the story! Happy reading! ♥️

Natalie had been restless in the bunker for over a week. At first, she was just trying to wrap her head around the world she had been thrown into—hunters, witches, spell books, and actual supernatural monsters—but eventually, she started getting bored. The Winchester brothers were always going off on hunts or researching the next big supernatural threat, and Natalie was just... there. She hated feeling useless.

So, one morning, after Sam returned from one of his endless trips to the bunker's archives, she made a decision.

"You know," Natalie began, leaning over the table in the war room where Sam had spread out a bunch of lore books, "I could help with this."

Dean, sitting nearby and cleaning one of his guns, snorted. "Help? How? Gonna knit us some monster repellent?"

Sam shot him a warning look, then turned back to Natalie, curious. "What do you mean? How can you help?"

Natalie took a breath, bracing herself for more of Dean's sarcasm. "Well, before I was kidnapped by a bunch of witches and thrown into the twilight zone, I was actually doing something pretty useful with my life. I work as a cybersecurity analyst. You know, hacking, tracking digital trails, all that stuff. I'm good at research, too."

Sam raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Really?"

"Yeah," Natalie nodded. "I went to school for computer engineering, and now I help companies lock down their networks. Finding obscure information and hacking into databases is kind of my thing. I figured if you're dealing with monsters and lore all the time, maybe I can dig up stuff online, hack into things you can't."

Dean looked up from his gun, raising an eyebrow. "So, you're a geek."

Natalie's mouth twitched in annoyance. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It is when you're dealing with real-world stuff, like decapitating vampires and blowing up demons," Dean muttered, his voice gruff. "Not everything's about computers."

Sam gave him a sideways glance. "Dean. We're always doing research. You and I spend hours looking through archives and databases when we're not hunting. Hacking could be really useful, especially for tracking down things we can't normally get access to."

Dean grunted, clearly not thrilled with the idea of relying on Natalie for anything. "Fine. But don't expect me to hand over the keys to the Impala or anything."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I wouldn't want to touch that fossil anyway."

Sam hid a smile, glancing back at his notes. "Okay, Natalie. Let's see what you've got."

It didn't take long for Natalie to prove she was more than capable. After that first offer to help, she dove headfirst into researching the latest case—a series of strange deaths involving men being burned alive in the middle of seemingly normal activities. The police reports were baffling, and there was no obvious supernatural connection at first glance.

Natalie hacked into local police databases, pulling up witness statements and security camera footage that wasn't available to the public. Within hours, she'd found patterns that had eluded both the police and the brothers.

"It's not spontaneous combustion," she said, leaning over her laptop, her fingers flying over the keys. "Each victim was seen just before their death with a strange symbol carved into their skin. I've enhanced the footage, and I'm pretty sure it's witchcraft."

Sam leaned in, impressed. "That's incredible work. How did you—?"

"IT degree, remember?" Natalie smirked. "I can analyze digital footage faster than you can look through your lore books."

Dean, who had been watching silently from across the room, crossed his arms. "Great. So now we know it's witches. That still doesn't mean we can stop them with a keyboard."

Natalie shot him a look. "No, but it helps knowing what we're up against, doesn't it?"

Dean opened his mouth to argue, but Sam cut in. "She's right, Dean. We needed this lead, and now we have it. Thanks, Natalie."

Natalie gave Sam a small, satisfied smile, ignoring the grumbling coming from Dean. "Happy to help."

Their latest hunt took them to a small town outside of Wichita. Dean, Sam, and now Natalie had tracked down the source of the deaths—a witch coven disguised as a small-town charity group. The witches were powerful, but they needed to carve the symbols into their victims to complete their rituals, which gave the trio a small window of opportunity.

Natalie stayed back in the bunker at Sam's request, continuing to monitor communications and hacking into the witches' emails and security feeds as they tried to locate the next potential victim.

While Sam and Dean were out chasing down leads, Natalie sent them real-time updates, directing them to potential sites where the witches were likely to strike next.

"This is insane," Natalie muttered to herself, eyes glued to her multiple screens. "I'm literally tracking witches in real time. How did my life turn into this?"

She sent a message to Sam's phone: Found something. They're targeting a city council member. Check the courthouse—they're holding a fundraiser tonight.

Dean's voice crackled through the walkie-talkie. "Courthouse? How the hell do you know that?"

"I hacked into their event calendar and cross-referenced with their emails," Natalie replied, her tone clipped. "One of the witches is scheduled to attend tonight. If I'm right, they'll strike during the event."

Dean didn't respond for a moment, but when he did, his tone was begrudging. "Fine. We're heading there now."

When they arrived at the courthouse, everything was just as Natalie predicted. The witches were already in place, their next victim unaware of the danger. Sam and Dean made quick work of two of the witches, and the third tried to flee. But Natalie, still monitoring from the bunker, was one step ahead. She hacked into the security system, locking all the exits remotely and trapping the witch inside the building.

The brothers cornered her, Dean delivering the final blow with a blade etched in runes designed to kill witches. The threat was over.

As they drove back to the bunker, Dean stared out the window, silent. Sam glanced over at him. "You know, Natalie was a big help tonight."

Dean grumbled under his breath. "Yeah, well, doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You don't like it because she's good at something you're not," Sam said with a smirk.

Dean shot him a glare. "I'm good at plenty of things. Like... I don't know, everything else that keeps us alive. But sure, let the geek take care of the computers."

When they returned to the bunker, Natalie was still sitting at her laptop, tapping away. When she heard the heavy footsteps, she looked up, her eyes meeting Dean's.

"So," she said, crossing her arms. "Did my geek skills help or not?"

Dean opened his mouth, ready to throw out another snarky retort, but the words stuck in his throat. He hated to admit it, but she had been useful. Hell, they wouldn't have cornered that last witch without her.

"Yeah," Dean said, finally grunting. "You helped."

Natalie raised an eyebrow, surprised by the acknowledgment. "That's the nicest thing you've said to me since I got here."

"Don't get used to it," Dean muttered, moving past her toward the kitchen. "I still don't trust you."

Natalie rolled her eyes, smiling as Sam gave her a thumbs-up from behind Dean's back.

Dean might never admit it, but Natalie was becoming more useful by the day. And while he wasn't ready to start handing out trust like candy, he couldn't deny she was starting to feel less like a liability—and more like part of the team.

[reindeer-writer]

this is a fic of @gav-va 's Starline 2 on YouTube, I super duper recommend checking it out if this interests you, by far one of my favourite pieces of Sci-Fi fiction ever!

Fic below the cut (AO3 link if you'd prefer to read there)

Generally speaking Hakir wasn’t very partial to footwear. 

Generally speaking there weren’t many instances where his species would even need shoes.

And generally speaking the times when they were necessary things were custom made specifically for them.

The issue with speaking generally though is that it ignores fringe cases.

Like going on a date with your partner and needing to tape bowling shoes to your soles because you didn’t realise they’d be mandatory if you wanted to play.

It was a good thing that the staff were willing to let him modify the shoes like this, but it still left Hakir feeling a little silly.

Other than that though, he was still looking forward to the date ahead of them, Skipper seemed really excited to take him bowling and it really wasn’t a shock why. Out of the thousands of lightyears they had travelled together this was maybe the third bowling alley they’d managed to find outside of Earth?

Bowling just wasn’t a very popular sport with non-humans (maybe because of the shoe thing) and because of that you’d be hard pressed to find any place that offered it.

Which is how Skipper managed to talk Hakir into trying it for date night this week.

“So, we just roll the balls down the aisle and try to hit the pins at the end?” asked Hakir.

A nod, as Skipper pried a light pinkish ball from the rack and wiped it clean.

“And why do people enjoy this game so much? It seems kinda repetitive to me.....”

A lot of human activities struck Hakir as strange, but from his experience they were usually one of three things:

1: a time killer. Something that humans did back in the days before more sophisticated, portable entertainment devices were developed and have since just stuck around.

2: a skill to hone. Something that they’d spend hours refining and perfecting for one reason or another, usually personal gratification.

or last but not least.....

“Is it for conversation? So it’s just an excuse to talk? .....You just dragged me here to listen to me ramble for like an hour, didn’t you?”

Skipper stuck their tongue out at him. Not surprising, they’d talked about enjoying listening to Hakir speak. Sometimes they let him go on for hours about something they already knew about just as an excuse to listen to his voice.

“We could’ve just sat at home, Skips..... though I suppose then you wouldn’t get to see me walk around with shoes taped to my feet for an hour, now would you?” They chuckled and moved over to the alley.

“Maybe after this I could show you some games from my homeworld. A lot of them got stomped out and made super niche when the Sentinels took over..... you know, with how they wiped out culture, and tradition, and such, but pretty much all of them have survived in some form or another.”

Skipper tilted their head back and forth, tossing the thought around their mind like a pinball. The idea intrigued them, they just weren’t particularly focused on anything besides the game right now. 

They hurled their first ball down the alley, a loud “Crash!”echoed through the room, and the 7 pins to the left had been taken out. 

“Sweet, so is it my turn now or.....? No? Oh, we each get two goes, alright.”

Skipper chortled, Haki was cute like this. 

To be fair, he was always cute, but something about his awkward behaviour in more civil social scenarios versus his stalwart demeanour to the occupational hazards they were usually exposed to.

It made Skipper glad they hadn’t managed to break all of Haki’s limbs before the whole thing with Argus, and the end of the universe, and the almost dying in his arms.

but live and learn, as they supposed. It had turned out alright for them in the end and they walked out of the whole mess with more than enough to make up for it.

That, and a way to see a hardened war veteran bowling with shoes tied to the bottom of his feet.

[sephirthoughts]

Hi! I hope you had a good day today.

For the ask game, what are your thoughts on 5 and 9 for Sephiroth?

I did, thank you! I hope you had a good day, too!

ON TO THE BURNING QUESTIONS

5. Sephiroth is such a wonderful layer-cake of pathologies, it's so fun to dissect the impacts on his personality. He is autistic-spectrum, hyper-intelligent, alienated, deeply insecure, and feels he has no 'place in the world'. Despite his insistence, under Jenova's influence, that he's the chosen one and meant to rule the world, he has rock-bottom self-esteem and almost no sense of self. He knows he's different but he has no idea who he is. Add being raised in a lab, horribly abused, and treated like a weapon rather than a person his whole life, and there's not a lot of Sephiroth left.

This would affect his living space in that it'd be generic, impersonal, highly functional, basically empty, serving its purpose as a place to rest, and nothing else. Has place to lie down, has place to shower, has place to dress=meets criteria. I doubt he'd notice if there were even blankets on the bed. It's a Sephiroth storage container, more than a living space. Which is terribly sad and now I am sad. BOOOO ME

Whether he's messy or not is another question. He honestly strikes me as someone who hates disorder if he ever thinks about it. The problem is, he does not think about it. He has executive function issues (see: his bout of manic hyperfocus in the archives, where he had books just strewn everywhere and didn't eat or sleep or bathe for days), and is generally unaware of anything pertaining to his own self-care, including messiness/dirtiness, unless they become a nuisance that disrupts his current fixation.

When he was being raised in the lab, he was a child, so there were people who cleaned, cooked, washed his clothing, etc., and in SOLDIER they definitely had people to take care of those kind of domestic things, so they could focus on training. Hence, he never learned to clean up after himself.

All of this wouldn't matter much, in a living situation with custodial services, but if left to his own devices, his combined lack of awareness, neglect of his own needs, and inexperience with such things would create a perfect storm. He'd forget to take the garbage out, never pick up after himself, not do the dishes, have takeout boxes everywhere, and have no idea that dusting, mopping, vacuuming, etc. even exist as concepts. I think his living space would be kind of awful. But he wouldn't notice.

That is, until Angeal comes over, has seven simultaneous brain aneurysms, leaves and returns with Zack and cleaning supplies, and they spend the next ten hours deep-cleaning the place, while Sephiroth insists it's not that bad.

9. This accords so nicely with number 5! Because he'd be a terrible roommate.

-He'd be quiet, courteous, and never have parties or eat your food, but he'd leave stupid long silver hairs all over everything (the less said about the bathroom shower drain the better), never clean up after himself, and act confused when asked to do so.

-He is definitely the type to always be forgetting his house key. Like, he may as well not have one.

-He leaves that stupid, ultra-sharp, nine-foot-long sword just LYING AROUND WHEREVER. Someone is going to lose a foot.

-He thinks he's a great cook and likes to share his talent with people, and he's too sweetly sincere and excited about it, so you can't bear to break his heart, and you wind up gritting your teeth and smiling through a plate of sticky, pasty, mushy pasta, with sauce made from frankly baffling ingredients (you put walnuts in the marinara? ohhhh...how…interesting. is this an anchovy?).

-He casually says absolutely horrible, emotionally devastating things, without realizing they're horrible. Example:

person: my mom was so forgetful, she always used to burn the garlic bread and she'd mix up my brother's lunch box and mine half the time

sephiroth: haha yeah, i know what you mean. on several occasions, Hojo forgot to send someone to change my IV, when he left me strapped to an exam table in the basement lab for multiple days, and i nearly died of dehydration and malnutrition

person:

sephiroth: parents, right?

-Lastly, Sephiroth absolutely never wears a shirt and in fact doesn't even own one. This is not an annoying habit, this is the habit that makes all the other ones worth putting up with.

[myveryownfanfiction]

18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

tags: @illiana-mystery

chapter 3

warnings: swearing, divorce, suggestive jokes, Roman makes self deprecating jokes (mostly about his weight), smoking 

I tapped my pencil on the desk, staring at the clock and counting down the seconds until I could go on break. A school tour walked in as the clock chimed and I shot out of my seat. Waving to the other receptionist, I headed towards the employee's only door.

"(Y/N)?" I turned when I heard my name called. Roman waved with a smile and I changed direction. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me off the ground in a hug.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." I whispered. Roman pulled back with a frown. "Bad day. Like really bad. Boss is a jerk. Anyway." I waved it off as I stepped back from him. "What are you doing here?" Roman chuckled and looked behind him. Two little girls were staring at him confused.

"Uh well school trip. I managed to get permission since Kate didn't want to go and they needed one more chaperone or they would cancel." He shrugged, turning back to me. "Figured it would give me some time with my girls." I nodded with a smile.

"I'm happy for you." I said, squeezing his arm. "They'll have fun. Make sure they check out the Ancient Egypt wing. It's really cool. If the girls are as much like me as you say, they'll love it." Roman chuckled.

"Cheap school." He said conspiratorially. "They didn't pay for that." I nodded and looked over at the girls. They stood slightly off from the rest of the kids, watching their dad. "We had to drive the kids down here on our own too. Pay for lunch."

"What time is everyone leaving?" I asked, tearing my eyes away from the girls. Roman smirked.

"Technically, the school says the trip is over in two hours." He said. I nodded, a smile forming. "But they are hosting today as a half day for the kids. They don't have to go back to the school after this."

"So technically speaking you can spend the whole day in the museum if you wanted." I tacked on. Roman nodded. "What are you doing after the tour?" Roman's smirk grew into a smile.

"Nothing." He said. "I have the girls all day. At least until I have to go to work. Then their uncle is going to watch them until Kate can pick them up. But I mean I can call off work if I need to." Roman shrugged. I smiled at him and grabbed his hand.

"Come with me." I said. Roman followed me, checking on the girls and motioning for them to wait a minute. "Hey Shelly. Eric running the school tour?"

"Yep." Shelly answered. "Why? What's up?" She looked at Roman behind me and gave him a small smile.

"When he's done, can you block out some time for me to take Mr. Craig and his girls through whatever they missed? Including the Ancient Egypt wing." I asked. Shelly gave me a look. "Please Shelly. It would mean a lot to me." I let go of Roman's hand to put mine together.

"You know what happened last time." Shelly said. "We both got in trouble." I pouted and leaned over the desk some.

"Come on Shelly. I'll cover you next time you and Eric wanna sneak off." I said. "I'll buy you lunch. I'll pay for your next date. I'll even clean Eric's car. I'll go to one of his gigs. Come on. Please?" Shelly sighed.

"Fine. I'll take the date money and you coming to a gig." Shelly said, typing in the schedule. "But it's your ass on the line. You're never going to get into archives like this kid." I leaned fully over the desk and hugged her, pulling Shelly dangerously close to her computer.

"Oh thank you!" I squealed. "Thank you!" Shelly pried me off her and laughed.

"Alright. Alright." She made a shoo motion at me. "Now go enjoy what's left of your break and I'll let you know when Eric is done." I nodded eagerly and turned back to Roman. He was trying not to laugh as I took his hand again and pulled him away from reception. "You got your hands full with that one Mr. Craig I tell ya!" Shelly called, winking as Roman turned back to look at her.

"You told her about me?" He asked. I nodded, stopping back by the employee door.

"Yeah. Well I mean..." I trailed off. "I don't have many other friends so who was I going to tell about the handsome waiter who was hitting on me?" I shrugged, feeling my cheeks heat up. Roman ducked his head as he blushed.

"Yeah. Well." He chuckled and turned to look at the girls. "I should uh let you get to your break..." Roman looked back at me, cheeks still dusted pink. I nodded and bit my lip.

"Yeah. I'll be at the desk when you guys finish up so..." Roman nodded, glancing at the girls again before smiling at me.

"Ah fuck it." He said, wrapping his arms around my waist. Smiling to myself, I slipped my arms under his and gripped his shoulders. I closed my eyes in bliss as he held me close. "I didn’t want the girls to meet you this way. But I’m glad that they are going to. Doing what you love.” Roman pulled back and cupped my cheeks. I smiled at him and nodded.

“I’ll do my best for a good first impression.” I promised. Roman nodded and leaned in to kiss my forehead.

“I have no doubt you will sweetie.” My cheeks heated up as he gave me another quick hug and ran off to join his girls. He pointed over by me and the girls nodded. Roman waved as Eric led them off and I ducked into the staff room for the last few minutes of my break. After my break, I dived into my work. Eric tapped the top of my computer. I looked up slowly and frowned when he smiled at me, dangling the keys to the ancient Egypt exhibit.

“your cute waiter is waiting for you.” He teased. I rolled my eyes and took the keys from him. “So the kids…”

“don’t bother me.” I said. “Besides mom sounds like a deadbeat. He’s trying his best.”

“hmm so you’re saying if this works out you’re gonna want Shelly and me to hang out a bit more?” Eric added. I gave him a shy smile.

“yeah?” I offered. “Just so they can see a stable relationship and what they should look for.” I said. Eric nodded.

“You two are still in the honeymoon phase.” I nodded. “And you’re worried they might think that’s normal, which it isn’t, or they’re gonna see their mom as…” I nodded, seeing Roman coming over. On either side was a little girl, holding his hands like their lives depended on it.

“thanks Eric.” I squeezed his hand before meeting Roman in the middle of the lobby. “Hi.” I smiled brightly at the girls, watching Roman gently urge them forward. Kneeling down I held out my hands. “I’m (Y/N).” The girls turned to look at Roman and he nodded, a smile on his face. Both girls shook my hand before going to hide behind Roman. He sighed, defeated and shook his head.

“so much for that.” He muttered. Looking at me, his smile returned and he reached down to put his hands on the girls heads. “The one climbing my leg is mara. And the one who thinks she can disappear into my coat is Cara.” Both girls looked up at him, faces scrunched up at being caught. I smiled softly and nodded. “Girls this is the person I told you about. That’s going to give us the tour? That I…” Roman trailed off and looked at me, cheeks turning pink.

“is this the person you keep talking about at the diner?” Cara asked. “The one you think is the most attractive person you’ve ever seen?” Roman turned red before gulping and nodding.

“Yep.” He said. “Even though that was between me and your uncle Chet. This is them.” Mara looked up at me with her eyebrow raised. I bit my lip to stop from laughing. It was like looking at a miniature Roman. The smile had returned to his face as he watched me fight the urge to laugh at him.

“you girls ready to see some cool stuff?” I asked. I held up the keys. “Some mummies and the inside of a tomb perhaps?” The girls perked up and moved away from Roman. I stood up and nodded towards the hallway behind reception. Roman took the girls' hands again and followed me. "So this is all on loan, which means we don't own it. Another museum is letting us borrow it for another week or so." I turned around so I could talk to them while still walking. The girls nodded and I gave them a small smile. I kept my eyes on them as I continued talking. "Some of it will be here permanently since it was donated like the inside of the tomb and a few pieces of jewelry. But those are going to be moved so they don't get sent out by mistake." Roman chuckled.

"That happen before?" He asked. I nodded, pretending to look sheepish.

"Maybe." I said. "Maybe not. I'm not telling. But there's a reason Eric is a tour guide."

"I heard that!" Eric called as he closed the staff door. I sent him a wave and the girls laughed.

"Anyway..." I trailed off as I turned around to unlock the exhibit. "Be very careful girls. From what your dad has told me, there's enough places for the three of us to get in trouble in here. So stick close to me and we'll be just fine." Roman's eyes went wide.

"Uh I think maybe they..." I turned around and gave him a smile.

"It'll be fine Roman. Promise." I said. Roman looked at me then the girls before furrowing his eyebrows.

"I think maybe..." He looked at me again before closing his eyes and nodding. "Alright. You listen to (Y/N) girls. And keep her out of trouble." Gently pushing the girls towards me, Roman took a deep breath. The girls reached for my hands and I smiled a them. I gave Roman a look before entering the exhibit.

"Alright!" I cheered. "So what first? Mummy? Tomb? Jewelry?"

"Mummy!" The girls cheered. I laughed and nodded.

"That's my favorite too." I said. "We've got him in the sarcophagus. But there's a window where you can still see him. And we've got some pictures." We walked over to the sarcophagus and I let go of their hands. Mara tried to jump to see into the window while Cara turned to look at the pictures. Roman stepped up and picked up Mara. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward to get a better look.

“(Y/N)?” Cara called. I looked at Roman and he nodded, smiling at Mara as she pointed at something in the window. I walked over and knelt down by Cara. “This picture…” she pointed in front of her. “Why are there things sticking out of him?” I looked over at Roman and he raised his eyebrows. There was a smile on his face as he looked at me. I bit my lip and opened my mouth before closing it. Roman nodded at me and I took a deep breath.

“well uh that’s because they’re…” I chewed on my lip, trying to think of a way to explain mummification to her. Roman laughed and turned back to the mummy with Mara. They started talking as I shot him a glare I knew he could see in the reflection. “Well. When someone chose to become a mummy…uh…Roman help me out.” I turned towards him and frowned. Roman chuckled as he put Mara down and walked over.

“they ripped their guts out and put them in jars.” Roman shrugged. My eyes went wide and the girls nodded, walking off to look at the jars in question. “I’ve always just been up front with them. Kate didn’t like it but they are smart for their age so…” he shrugged again.

“I mean…” I stood up and blinked at him. “It’s not so much that you just flat out told them. It’s more…” I looked over at them, happily inspecting the fake jars we had on display. “You don’t hide much from them do you?” I asked, turning back to Roman with a smile. He shook his head.

“not really. I mean I hid you for a bit. But apparently not well.” Roman agreed. “And hey, I’m sorry for barging in. I had a chance and I took it. It slipped my mind you worked here. I got so excited…” I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“Roman, I understand. More than you think.” I said, patting his chest. “They’re worth it.” Roman blushed.

“thank you.” He whispered. He took my hand and squeezed. “And if you want to just meet up at the apartment I can still take you to dinner tonight. After Kate picks up the girls.” Roman looked so hopefully that I could help but smile.

“of course.” I said, squeezing his hand back. “I can’t wait.”

[scarletsaphire]

Phantom is hit. Bad. Really, really bad, and he can hear someone coming and it must be Maddie Fenton, here to make good on her promises to rip him molecule from molecule.

He likes the Fenton it actually is much, much more.

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Shiptember Oblivious x Obvious Pining This one is getting another chapter I prommy I have plans. Thanks to hannahmander for helping me come up with a title!

Phantom scrambled back further into the alleyway he'd landed in, one hand propelling him backwards through the garbage and refuse left there, the other covering the rapidly bleeding hole in his side. He hadn't expected his day to go like this; everything had started so normal. Floating around Amity Park, checking in on the ghosts who still "lived" there, just hanging out and keeping out of trouble. Skulker's appearance wasn't ideal, but it was normal, expected even. It wasn't quite a friendly fight; any fights in Amity had Phantom at least somewhat annoyed, but it wasn't exactly hostile either, at least not by ghost standards. It had been easy. Simple.

The new weapon the Fenton's were using? Significantly less simple. Maybe if Phantom hadn't been distracted by Skulker, he would've gotten away unscathed. Maybe if he hadn't been favoring his left side because of a fight only a few days ago. Maybe if he didn't spend so many hours hovering just beyond the sensors of Fentonworks, hoping to see more of their cute son, they wouldn't have been able to get such a clean copy of his ecto-signature . But maybe's didn't change the fact that their new, self tracking weapon packed quite a punch, and wasn't even deterred by Jack Fenton's horrible aim.

If the weird glowing blue part that was stuck into his side was any indication, it meant that they were tracking him too. Phantom could have figured that out without the light; he'd been on the run, phasing through buildings, the ground, everything he could, and he could still hear the GAV's distinctive tire squealing chasing after him.

Whatever the ghostly equivalent of adrenaline was ran out five minutes ago. He'd kept flying for those five minutes, before the pain in his side got too strong, his stubbornness only able to carry him so far. He'd continued on foot for as long as he could. It wasn't long, barely a few more seconds. Just enough to get into this alley. Now his side was screaming, burning in pain, and his vision was blurry and his nose was filled with the acrid smell of trash and he couldn't move, but he could still hear the pounding of footsteps running towards him. Phantom closed his eyes. He didn't want his last moments in this or any world to be staring down the barrel of a gun.

The footsteps grew closer. There was only one set, and they were light. Graceful. Maddie, then. Phantom must not warrant both of them. She got closer, moving slower now that she wasn't chasing after him. He could hear the faint pinging of some kind of device. Maybe the tracker? Either way, it was loud, maybe louder than it should've been. Was it because of a headache? It might've been. Phantom had lost a lot of ectoplasm. It'd probably be weirder if he didn't have some kind of headache.

"Oh shit." That wasn't Maddie's voice. That wasn't even a girl's voice. So who...? "Phantom, can you hear me? I'm going to need to touch you, so if you could uh. Not send an ectoblast at my face, I'd appreciate it."

Phantom opened his eyes just a crack. Everything was still blurry, and he only caught a glimpse of dark, black hair before they fell closed again. A warm hand wrapped around his own, still pressed against the bleeding wound. His hand was pried away. Phantom tried to swallow down the whine as the wound was revealed to the air, but it escaped his throat anyway.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," the voice said. It was familiar, but Phantom just couldn't place it... "I need to take off the tracker before they find you, and then I need to see if I can patch this up." The person paused for a moment before continuing. "Well, this will probably hurt, but its to help you. I promise."

Their warm fingers ended up digging into his side, and Phantom yelped, trying to curl up, get away from the pain. Instead, Phantom ended up falling into the chest of whoever it was, their other hand supporting Phantom's shoulder. "Hey, it's ok, it's all gonna be ok, I promise just..." The hand moved down Phantom's shoulder, tracing to his other hand, sliding between his fingers. "If you need to, squeeze my hand, ok? Maybe not with the ghost strength, but it might help."

Phantom managed to nod into the person's shoulder. He wasn't planning on squeezing this person's hand at all, but it was nice. Soft. Warm. The rest of this person was also soft and warm. And smelled good. Much better than the garbage. Phantom turned his nose into the person's neck and inhaled. Whoever this was was nice. Much better to focus on the nice than the pain pulsing in his side, his very essence pooling underneath him.

Yes, much better to focus on the person than their hand digging around his innards, tugging at parts of Phantom he'd never imagined even being possible to be tugged at. Their hair was soft against Phantom's cheek, but slightly damp. Had they been running? Why? Phantom thought he had taken care of the threats to humans. The only threat remaining should be to Phantom himself, and that wasn't any reason to run.

There was the sound of crunching from next to Phantom. "The tracker's gone. I'm going to try and get you good to fly, or at least walk. Filtered ectoplasm should do the trick, right?"

Phantom tried to nod into their neck, but the darkness behind his eyes began to swim.

"Ok, I'm just going to..." there was the sound of a zipper, and the clinking of glass. "This might hurt a bit."

It was a syringe, Phantom realized, as the needle went into his arm. The pinching feeling was drowned out by the pain in his side, and then that was overrun by a sense of electricity running through his veins, of pure, unadulterated power, and his previous statement of not squeezing this person's hand went out the window. Phantom's entire body tightened almost against his will. The breath of a hiss hit the side of Phantom's face, and he wrenched his hand away. He could still feel the bones in the human's hand, so fragile, they would be so easy to break, barely even a thought, and after this person had tried to save him? How could Phantom do something like this? He was supposed to be better, he was supposed to-

The hand he'd just been holding found its way to his back, rubbing gentle circles. "It's ok, it's ok. I think. I don't know if it was supposed to hurt that much, but I think that's a normal response? I hope it was anyway."

The sound of tires squealing a few streets away cut through the comforting voice, and the hand stilled on Phantom's back. "Shit. I was hoping we'd have at least a little more time... um... ok. So, I don't think you're in walking condition yet, but we really need to get moving. Here's hoping that ghosts aren't heavy." 

The hand on Phantom's back wrapped around his chest, tucked under his arms. The other hand moved to Phantom's knees, and now he was in the air, pressed against the person's chest again, with his head resting on their shoulder. Phantom still couldn't quite move, still tensed from the ecto injection, but his mind started to relax. Whoever this was really did smell nice.

"Well, thank you. I think?" 

Had he said that out loud? 

"Yes, yes you did." 

Oh. He didn't mean to. 

"It's ok, you're obviously not in your right mind." 

Yeah, he wasn't. He meant the smelling good thing though. He didn't want them to think he wasn't sincere. 

"I'll believe you that I smell good. I promise." 

Good. That's good.

Slowly, Phantom was able to untense his hands, loosening them from the white knuckled fists that they had been in, and then his arms, and bit by bit, the rest of his body. The pain in his side was still there, but it wasn't quite as pressing. He wouldn't necessarily say he's had worse, but it was manageable, at the very least. 

With the energy more or less gone, and the pain manageable, Phantom became aware of his situation. He was being carried by a stranger who had saved his afterlife. Someone who had access to pure, filtered ectoplasm and had the knowledge to use it. That probably wasn't good. The only humans Phantom knew who had access to that kind of thing were ghost hunters, and ghost hunters weren't about to do...everything this person had done.

For the first time, Phantom peeled his eyes open and saw who had saved him. It was an angle he'd never seen it from, seeing as he was propped against his shoulder, but he'd spent far longer than he cared to admit staring at it. He'd recognize Daniel Fenton's face anywhere. It was, after all, the first face he saw out of the Ghost Zone.

This was better than being kidnapped by the Fenton's, or worse, the Guys In White, but not by much! It was just bad for entirely different reasons. Reasons that were entirely Phantom's fault, ones that he should have gotten over ages ago, but he hadn't, and now he was being carried by Danny Fenton . Maybe it was a good thing he'd lost so much ectoplasm; he didn't have enough to blush bright green like he knew he would be.  And oh, crap, he was leaking ectoplasm all over Danny's clothes and the floor and everything, and had he told Danny he smelled good?

Phantom straightened as much as he could, trying to get out of Danny's grasp, but all he managed to do was wiggle slightly before the pain in his side made it a pointless endeavor. Danny glanced down at him, and Phantom could see the worry etched into his face. "Is the way I'm carrying you hurting? I can try to hold you some other way, you're pretty light. I could probably manage it. I don't know what other ways I could try, but I'll give it my best shot."

"Um, no. This is uh. Fine," Phantom said. He was stumbling over his words. Hopefully, Danny thought it was still entirely because of the ectoplasm loss. 

"If you say so," Danny said. "Just, let me know if it hurts, ok? Or, I suppose it hasn't stopped hurting, but if it hurts more, or in a way that I can stop."

"I will," Phantom said. Part of him patted himself on the back for making it through the sentence without stuttering. The rest of him wished he had stayed in the alleyway to End. It would've been less embarrassing than this. "Where are you uh, taking me?"

Danny stopped mid step. "That. Is a great question! I was going to just take you straight to Fentonworks, so you could go through the portal, but then we might run into my parents and I definitely won't be able to lie my way around that. I can't get anywhere too far, I can't exactly parade you around Amity, and even if I could, I don't think I could carry you for that long anyway... Maybe Sam's house? I think I can get there, and no one actually hangs around there. It's just a whole bunch of cameras."

"Unless they're designed to record ghosts, they won't work with me in the frame," Phantom said. 

Danny sighed and relief, and shot Phantom a small smile that made his core jump in his chest. "That's good. Sam's it is!" Danny started walking in a different direction than he had been originally. "You probably don't know who Sam is, huh? Or me, for that matter." He laughed.

"I know who you are, Danny."

Phantom wished he could take the words back as soon as he said them. Danny opened his mouth in shock, and maybe fear, or disgust, or who knows what else. He'd learned that a ghost had basically been stalking him for who knows how long, and after he'd gone out of his way to save Phantom. Of course he'd be horrified!

"Oh, yea, I guess you've probably seen me around my parents, huh?" 

That was a much more reasonable conclusion, and Phantom pounced on the excuse. "It would be hard to miss you." He was telling the truth. There had been at least a few times Phantom had taken a hit he shouldn't have because Danny had accompanied his parents. "Why are you helping me anyway? There's no way the Fenton's know about this."

Danny was flushed red, and Phantom could almost picture him rubbing the back of his neck like he always did when he was worried. "I've been helping you for a while now. Just not as... directly?"

Phantom furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"I've been uh. Sabotaging their ghost hunting gear in secret basically since the portal opened?" 

Now it was Phantom's turn to be shocked. "You- what?"

"They aren't bad inventors, you know? Once I realized that ghosts were, you know, real and all that, and that they were wrong about the whole 'unfeeling entities of evil' or whatever, well. I couldn't just sit off to the side and do nothing," Danny said. He was distinctively not looking at Phantom. "I couldn't do anything as flashy as you do, but I thought, maybe I could help try and take a threat off the board."

"You decided to help me over your parents?"

"It's obvious that you're trying to help people and, as much as I do love my parents, they aren't exactly the most...helpful of people. They want to be, they just get some serious tunnel vision." 

Phantom stared up at Danny, wide eyed and slack jawed, his core doing jumping jacks in his chest. He'd been aware of his crush on Danny for ages now, and had come to accept it as a silly something he could entertain sometimes. A way to kill time. But it had never been anything serious; Danny was the son of a ghost hunter, likely with their views and definitely with their tech. Phantom had understood that it was more likely that Phantom suddenly get resurrected through dark magic than for his crush to actually go somewhere. But now, still being carried by Danny bridal style down the dark streets of Amity Park, hearing about how Danny had actually been helping him for just as long? Phantom allowed himself to hope, just a little.

Speaking of being carried... "You can put me down now. I should be able to walk," Phantom said.

"Are you sure? It's not too much further, and I don't want you to make your side any worse than it already is," Danny said, not slowing down. "I don't mind. You're really light. Are you always this light?"

"I uh. Maybe? I don't really weigh myself," Phantom said.

"Yea, I guess weight doesn't mean much when you can just fly," Danny said with a laugh. "Do you think that the reason you're so light is because ectoplasm doesn't weigh much, or because gravity doesn't effect you as strongly? Or does gravity not effect ectoplasm as strongly, and that's why its so light?"

Phantom blinked. "I have absolutely no idea."

Danny's face turned red. "Oh. Right. I guess its not all that important to you. Sorry about rambling." 

"You don't need to apologize!" Phantom said quickly. "I don't mind listening, and I can try and answer other questions you have? I just don't know anything about all of that."

If Phantom wasn't quite literally pressed up against Danny's chest, he wouldn't have noticed the sigh of relief he let out. "I'll try to not bombard you with them. Especially when you're. You know. Bleeding out."

"Oh. Right. Forgot about that," Phantom laughed, but cut himself off with a wince. 

"How do you forget that you have a hole in your side?" Danny asked. 

"It happens more often than you would think," Phantom said, trying to force a joking tone into his voice. Based on the tightening of Danny's lips, it didn't work. "The ectoplasm you gave me helped too. And you're questions are good at distracting me."

"Then maybe I should ask you more questions," Danny said, and Phantom swore that there was a teasing tone in his voice. He'd probably imagined it. 

"I'll try my best to answer them."

"Ok, so, what's your favorite food? Do ghosts even eat?"

Phantom was quiet a moment. "That's the question you want to ask?" he said after a minute.

"I mean, yea, why not?" Danny said.

"The few times I've been interviewed by humans, they ask all about why I help Amity, or about how I died, or other questions like that. I assumed you'd be curious about those things as well."

"I mean, I am," Danny replied. "But it seems kind of, I don't know, rude to ask those? It'd be like if I bumped into someone on the street and started quizzing them about their life goals and lowest points and all that."

"You'd be correct about that. It's incredibly rude to ask about most of those things."

"So, favorite food?"

Phantom thought for a moment. "I don't remember ever having human food," he eventually said. "Ghosts can eat, though we don't need to. I know of a few that quite enjoy eating. I've just never had the opportunity to."

Danny gasped. "You've never eaten anything?" At Phantom's head shake, Danny continued. "Oh, we are fixing that right now."

"It may need to wait for my stomach to be enclosed again," Phantom pointed out.

"We are fixing that as soon as you are healed," Danny amended. "My treat."

Phantom swallowed hard. He wasn't exactly an expert in relationships. He hadn't had one after he died, and he didn't remember much of anything from his life, but he did know some things. Just enough to recognize that whatever it was that Danny was proposing sounded a whole lot like a date. Should he say something about it? What if he was wrong, and he scared Danny off some how? Or-

"Here we are!" Danny said, walking up the stairs to the door of a large house. He readjusted Phantom in his arms just enough to knock on the door. 

Before Phantom could say anything, or try and get out of Danny's arms, the door swung open, revealing a rather grumpy looking Sam Manson. Or maybe that was just her normal expression. Either way, it changed quickly to one of shock, than determination, as she took a look at her best friend carrying Phantom. 

"You are so lucky my parents are away on some fancy rich person trip," she said, holding the door open for Danny to walk inside. "Otherwise we would all be in so much hot water."

"Probably!" Danny said, pushing his way into the house. "Sam, Phantom. Phantom, Sam. Now, do you have anywhere I can put him down? He has a hole in his side that needs tending to."

"Yea, I can see that," Sam said. "Follow me. And maybe you can explain what the fuck I missed on the way."

[dilanmoodboards]

Kinktober Day 4: Masturbation

Paring: Syxx / Kevin Nash; Kevin Nash / Scott Hall / Syxx (Mentioned)

NSFW; +18; MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Summary: Kevin catches Sean during some alone time in the hotel and decides to give him a helping hand.

Tags: PWP; Kinktober 2024; Masturbation; Hand Jobs; Blow Jobs; Praise Kink; Established Relationship; Implied/Referenced Drug Use; Implied/Referenced Drug Adiction.

Notes: Somewhat Kayfabe compliant fic. Aroace guy writing smut? It's more likely than you think. English is not my first language and I'm dyslexic af, so feel free to correct anything. Comments are always welcome.

Kinktober Masterlist

Word Count: 1.010

Sean was sitting on the bed in the room he was sharing with Kevin and Scott, both of them were out and Sean was using this time to keep to himself. He had missed them while he was in rehab, and it hadn’t been that long since he joined WCW, but when you spend every waking moment with the same people you tend to need some alone time. And some alone time was exactly what Sean was getting now, Kevin and Scott weren’t supposed to be back in, at least, the next hour.

He had taken a shower and eaten some hotel food and now he was watching TV. But he was getting a little bored… he could get high, some of the guys in the hotel would definitely have somas, but he was trying to cut back on the drugs, he really didn’t want to scare Kev, Scotty, Shawn and Hunter like that again. Besides Kev and Scott had given him a pretty nice incentive to stay clean. Just remembering that night made him blush like crazy, and had other effects that Sean was feeling in his lower regions.

He glanced at the clock, he still had enough time to get himself off and clean everything up before Kevin and Scott came back. Sean went to Scott’s bag to grab the bottle of lube that he knew would be there and stripped off his underwear as he lay back down into the bed. Popping the cap of the bottle open and slicking himself up, giving special attention to the head. 

He started thinking about his first night with Kevin and Scott after he came to WCW, the way the two of them had kissed him like he was the most important person in their lives, the way they marked his body so much that he had to spend an extra hour getting ready so the make up girls could cover them up. Kevin whispering in his ear, calling him a good boy as Scotty fucked him, both their large hands exploring every inch of his body. Fuck he wished it was one of them touching him, making him feel good. Sean whimpered and moaned as he got closer, bucking into his hand pretending it was one of the guys wet mouth.

Sean was too focused on getting off to notice that someone had entered the room. Kevin looked at kid and smiled, that was a really nice surprise after a very boring meeting with Bischoff. Shame Scotty had decided to go work out, but then, who was Kevin to deny a little alone time with Sean. “Someone is being naughty.” Kevin said, kneeling on the foot of the bed right in front of kid. Sean opened his eyes and his pace stuttered as he let out a moan “Fuck Kev.”

Kevin laughed as he climbed on top of the youngest member of the Kliq. “Want a little help.” kid nodded with enthusiasm as little noises left his mouth. Kevin wrapped his hand around Sean’s shaft and started jerking him off in a steady pace, when he tried to buck into Kev’s hand, the larger man pinned his hip to the mattress with his body. “Now, now be a good boy and take only what I give you. Can you do that for me? Can you be my good boy?” Sean let out a broken moan and nodded his head, Kevin stopped moving his hand as he spoke “No, no baby, use your words.” Sean’s mouth was opening and closing as he tried to get his mouth to form coherent words, after a couple of seconds he finally answered “Yes… I want to be good… please.”

“Fuck that was hot, say it again.” Kevin asked Sean, speeding up his pace, something that were probably words came out of kid’s mouth, but he was no longer coherent. Kevin continued jerking Sean off, as he trailed kisses over his neck and collarbone. When he sensed he was close, Kevin said “Come for me baby.” With that Sean let out a moan that was swallowed by Kev’s mouth as he kissed him, cuming all over the larger man's hand. After he came down from his orgasm, kid looked up at Kevin “Want some help?”.

Kevin looked down at the tent in his jeans and laid down by Sean’s side on the bed. He pointed to his own body as he said “Suit yourself.” Kid chuckled at that and knelt between Kevin’s legs. He opened the older man’s pants and lowered his underwear, freeing his cock. No matter how many times he saw it Sean always got a little surprised at how big Kevin was. 

He licked the tip tasting Kev’s precum and swirled his tongue around the head of his dick, from there he licked a stripe from top to bottom, before finally taking him in his mouth. Sean went as deep as he could without gagging, using his hands to help stimulate the parts he couldn’t reach.

They continued like that for a while, as Kevin moaned a mixture of curses and Sean’s name. Kid gave a hum, which prompted Kev to grab his hair and start to control the pace, thrusting into Sean’s mouth as he held him in place. “Fuck, I’m close.” Kevin pulled Sean off of him by the hair and started to jerk himself off. Sean opened his mouth and showed his tongue, prompting Kevin to cum right then and there. 

Once he had recovered enough from the orgasm Kevin pulled Sean into a hug on top of him. “Gonna have to take a second shower now.” Kid said chuckling, Kevin let out a hearty laugh and looked down at Sean “You should wait until Scotty comes back. Then we can all shower together.” Kev said, wiggling his eyebrows, Sean gave a light tap onto his chest as he laughed “You are a dirty old man, you know that?” Kevin smiled and ruffled Sean’s hair. They would definitely wait for Scott, but right now he needed a nap.

[verona2314]

Hello, my dear readers!

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I want to give you a preview of the next chapter and take this opportunity to share some news. I have decided to continue publishing, but only on Ao3. From now on, I will only upload excerpts to Tumblr. I am very grateful to the people I met on this platform who have encouraged me to continue, but unfortunately, translation is taking up a lot of my time. If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to let me know.

If you want to continue following my work, here is the link to the story on Ao3.

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Judgment of the Damned (translation) Chapter 19 (Preview)

Summary:

In the realm of Limbo, where souls deemed too good for Hell but not virtuous enough for Heaven reside, Victoria finds herself thrust into an unprecedented mission. When a notorious sinner, Sir Pentious, achieves redemption and ascends to Heaven, it sends shockwaves through all realms. Tasked with unraveling this mystery, Victoria, a minor judge of souls, is sent to the infamous Hazbin Hotel in Hell. For the first time, an emissary from Limbo steps foot into the fiery depths, tasked with observing and judging the denizens of Hell for their potential for redemption. As Victoria navigates this unfamiliar territory, she captures the unrequired attention of the enigmatic Radio Demon, Alastor. Amidst the chaos of demonic antics and the pursuit of understanding redemption, Victoria must confront her own beliefs and judgments. As she delves deeper into the secrets of the Hazbin Hotel, Victoria uncovers hidden truths about sinners, redemption, and the ultimate fate of souls caught between damnation and salvation. With each soul she encounters, Victoria's journey becomes not only a quest for answers but a personal voyage of self-discovery in the heart of darkness.

Joseph Cooper

It had been a shitty day. It was always the same since he had arrived in hell. The worst part? It wasn't much different from what he had experienced in life. What did he expect? Everything had been very unfair to him from the moment he was born. What could you expect from the son of a cleaning lady? He never had the chance to be someone important. No matter how many extra hours his mother worked, he had no choice but to study in a low-quality public school that didn't help him develop his talents, cutting off any chance of going to university. His teachers insisted that he wasn't very smart, but his mother knew they were wrong. And so did he. But of course, the scholarship opportunities went to kids who sucked up to rich people looking to feel better about themselves by doing fake charity. Joseph didn't know how to be charismatic, much less a flatterer. No. He was worth much more than that, but no one was capable of seeing it. Without a flashy surname, wealthy parents, a quality private education, or contacts, any possibility of success was an absurd hope, and that's why he knew that making an effort wasn't worth it. Why spend hours sitting and studying, wasting his youth? It was simpler to steal a wallet from a distracted old lady and go buy some cigarettes. At least, that's how it all started. It didn't take long for him to start stealing and selling cars, and soon he was labeled as a juvenile delinquent. His innocent mother didn't approve of his lifestyle, and Joseph was ready to fall into the abyss until he met Evelyn.

Evelyn was a shy and charming girl who dreamed of having her own home. A small house and a small family. At first, Joseph found it ridiculous, but little by little, the girl won his heart, and he began to dream as well. After months of courting, Evelyn became his wife. Joseph decided to open a workshop, borrowing money from a friend. What joy he felt when his business became popular, and money began to flow into his wallet. He fell asleep with a smile on his face while paying off the debt, and his wife's belly grew, carrying their future child. Joseph finally felt that his bad luck was something of the past and that it wasn't so bad to settle for a quiet life. How wrong he was.

"Fucking shit," he whispered through clenched teeth as he left the luxurious Vees building. His head still hurt from the hangover, but the anger rising from his stomach was greater. Not only had they brought him to that place by force, but they had also mentioned the person he hated most in all existence. "The bitch is here,"he muttered, throwing his vodka bottle against the concrete. He couldn't believe it. That woman who had ultimately ruined his life was in hell, walking around with that same face of dignity and superiority. Judge of the Limbo. He had heard the commotion but had paid it no mind. He never imagined it was the same person. He didn’t watch the news or listen to the radio, nor did he interact with anyone. Those things didn’t interest him. His only concern was to stay drunk, endlessly. But now they had interrupted his perfect cycle of drunkenness, and the hangover was becoming more present. He needed to drink again.

With his hands in his pockets, he walked toward an alley and started rummaging through the trash, hoping to find some remnants in a bottle. He snorted as he recalled his conversation with the Overlord... Vox? Yes, that was the name. The bastard wanted information about the bitch in exchange for money. Sure, it would come in handy, but Joseph had sworn never to make deals with arrogant rich people. The very idea disgusted him. His pride was too great to stoop so low. So he lied, saying he would think about it. He wasn't going to risk angering someone like that. Why did he want to know about that bitch anyway? Joseph clenched his teeth as rage took hold of him again, throwing a trash can against the alley wall while letting out a powerful scream of frustration. How he wanted to destroy her. To make her suffer. Everything was that wretched woman's fault.

"I see anger is still a part of you, Joseph," said a mysterious voice from the shadows of the alley.

"Who is it? Do you know me? I'll beat the crap out of you if you don't leave me alone," he growled, returning to his mission of finding some alcohol.

"Come on, don't be so rude. I don't know you, but I just wanted... to have a drink with you," the mysterious voice said again, stepping out of the shadows. It was a tall, slender, hooded figure. It was impossible to determine if it was a man or a woman, and its face was completely shrouded in deep darkness. In one of its hands, it held a very expensive bottle of rum.

Joseph eyed the bottle and decided to accept the offer, knowing it wouldn't be free. He snatched the bottle from the mysterious figure and immediately opened it to take a long drink. "So, what do you want? I warn you, I don't do any gay shit."

"I heard you had a conversation with Vox. Did you tell him anything about the judge?" the voice responded in a soft, velvety tone.

"No. The bastard wanted to give me money for information. But I don't sell out to rich fags. How did he know I knew the judge? I hate the bitch, but I don't want to get involved. Her ass is protected. I'm not stupid," he responded, losing his patience.

"Oh, I know you're not. On the contrary, you're very clever," continued the hooded figure. "In fact, you surely know that Vox will watch you until he gets the information he wants."

Joseph pondered for a moment. He hadn't considered that, but he preferred to act. He was going to demonstrate his intelligence. "The TV head is looking for dirt to blackmail the judge. That screams trouble from space," he grumbled, taking another swig. "If he wants to spy on my ass until he finds something, he's wasting his time. As much as I want to ruin that bitch, I know the consequences would fall solely on me."

"And what if I told you that you could act without consequences?" said the voice, approaching him with a deep chuckle. "You see, Joseph. That woman you despise so much is a minor nuisance to me and my interests."

Joseph couldn't help but feel some interest in the stranger's words. But he wasn't going to trust so easily. "You think I'm going to believe you? How are you going to free me from all responsibility?"

"That's not difficult at all, Joseph. We'll simply blame someone else," the voice continued, barely containing its excitement. "And I know you don't mind getting your hands dirty. Don't you want to get back at the person who ruined your life? Come on, Joseph, Come on, Joseph. Haven't you been screwed over enough your whole life? Don't you deserve a little revenge? You had managed to have your workshop, a beautiful wife, and a child.

"Stop," he said, tempted to cover his ears, but for some reason, he couldn't stop listening to the stranger's words.

"But your friend betrayed you. The money he lent you wasn't his. It belonged to a dangerous trafficker. And now that debt fell on you, with irrationally growing interest," the hooded figure continued, walking toward him, raising its voice.

"Shut up!" Joseph exclaimed, backing up until his back hit an alley wall.

"You had to start doing dirty work, you fell into alcohol, and you couldn't explain anything to Evelyn, who had to take care of little Oliver alone while you went out to hide bodies," the mysterious figure continued mercilessly.

"I HAD NO CHOICE!" he exclaimed, full of rage as the hooded figure cornered him. He could feel how the memories of his failed life invaded his mind, causing guilt, pain, anger, and resentment.

"Of course you didn't! You were destined to fail being born to a mere cleaning woman. But Evelyn didn't understand. She didn't understand why you drank and why you started hitting her. She never understood anything, and that's why she left you, leaving you now in charge of little Oliver," said the figure, breathing close to his face.

"STOP! DON'T CONTINUE," he pleaded, feeling his body tremble with fury. Who was this person? How did they know so much?

"And then, you started hitting little Oliver, only 8 years old," the stranger whispered with a certain satisfaction.

"I... I WAS GOING TO CHANGE, I WAS GOING TO BE A BETTER FATHER. THAT TIME IT WAS TRUE," Joseph exclaimed, remembering the wounds he had inflicted on his son in his anger and drunkenness.

"And who took that chance away from you, Joseph?" the hooded figure whispered compassionately, placing a hand on Joseph's trembling shoulder. "You know."

"The judge. Victoria," he responded, feeling all the anger leave his body, replaced by a feeling of calm. He had a new resolve within him. Was he going to keep lamenting his fate? The injustice of life just because he came from humble origins? That his supposed friend had led him to ruin and alcoholism? It was all everyone else's fault. He was a victim. Why had he ended up in hell then? It was unfair. The mysterious hooded figure was right, and if they had come to him, surely the judge had screwed him over too. This was his chance to get revenge, to obtain justice. "What do I have to do?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TAGLIST!!

@slytherin4ever

@empressofashed

[slifarianhawk]

Chapter 32: plans and secrets

"Tabitha, my dear, it is time to wake up," Albert whispered in my ear," you are home."

"Ugh," I groaned as he sat me down on the black leather couch in the hunting lodge lobby, "back at the lodge, huh?" I asked, sitting up.

"We should go check on Gale and Arjuna. I know you are worried about them, my precious lotus. I will help you down to your lab after some food." Albert said, sitting next to me.

"What time is it?" I asked sweetly, looking for the clock in the lobby over the fireplace.

Wesk pulled out his PDA, "About five in the morning, dearheart. The entrance to the old archives collapsed in one of the rat's explosions. It took me a while but I cleared out and disposed of the B.O.Ws. you should be able to have the former U.S.S. members be able to do a final clean sweep easily."

"Thank you, Albert. I can now make that disgusting place into a research lab separate from my main base. It'll also be better for containment measures." I started to plan things in my mind.

Albert chuckled seeing my eyes dart back and forth. My guess is it reminded him of our research days. I looked over at him and smiled. He seemed relaxed.

"My lady, there are a few packages that were dropped off at security." A man said walking up to me.

"It has been a while head of security, Billy Coen," I said addressing him.

"Indeed it has mam, and I'd like to report that Rebecca is on the way to check on Gale. I called her, she deserved to know." Billy said.

"I'm not mad and I'll deliver these to their recipients," I said standing up and taking the packages.

"Let us go my dearheart." Wesker stood up and took my hand.

We walked down to the base together. I was wobbly from being stunned by the bright light so much. I was surprised that it was taking so long to recover. It normally only took thirty minutes to recover but hours plus sleep and I wasn't something was a miss.

I needed to see what was going on with the angelis virus running through my veins. Was it the stress I've been under or something wrong with my body? I felt a concerned glance fall my way.

"What is wrong Tabitha, my dear?" Albert asked placing his hand on my back as I walked down the steps with him.

"My eyes my love are not recovering as fast as normal." I sigh reaching the entrance my thumbprint scanning on the unlock pad.

I walked through the now-opened door. I slowly handed out the packages that were addressed to some of my staff. The final package was for Gale. With a heavy heart, I looked at who it was from. It was from Rebecca. She cares for Gale a lot. It was nice to see.

The walk to the med bay was quiet and somber. The air was heavy as a cloud of unease was hanging over us. As we walked up to the med bay a loud "FUCK!".

I rushed in only to find Gale playing Zelda on his game cube.

"Really that loud of a fuck over a game, Gale," I said striding into the room.

"Honestly, you should be a little quieter in the med bay," Albert said following me in pointing out that Archer was in the bed next to him.

"Well, where have you two lovebirds been, spending some quality time together? Trying to make up for all the time y'all missed." He said while smirking putting his controller down.

"Oh shut up you damn mushroom-sized cocky asshole. At least my ass didn't get flattened by a sniper." Tabitha rolls her eyes walking into the med room

"Insolent brat."wesker walks behind her and over to Arjuna who still is unconscious.

"Gale, do you remember the incident when we were supposed to have a black market deal with twins just after I got back from India?" I asked, parting my hair and walking over to Arjuna.

" eh, rings a bell, why do you ask?" Gale said stretching out his shoulder cracking.

"It was the younger twin of the kid we killed the one who was being used by the Simmons family to get the g- virus from us. It was his brother who shot you and Arjuna." I said adjusting the pain meds being delivered to Archer.

"Oh, shit for real. Damn guess I should've been more alert" Gale said scratching his neck, "By the way did you merk his bitch ass for me.".

"She left nothing but a pile of meat and bones on the floor. You and arjuna were avenged." Wesker says adjusting his sunglasses, "However I'm worried about Tabitha's eyes. That rat used five different flash grenades on her and her sight has not"

" I'm fine Albert," I said walking away from Arjuna's bed and headed for the med closet only to walk into the door frame of the med closet, "Ow!".

"Damn five flashes, that's rough" Gale laughed at me as I rubbed my face.

"I'll just pretend no one saw that. But yeah and I lost my special corrective glasses when I fell into the base. Ugh! Why did I have to become so sensitive to bright light!" I groan, "Oh and you got mail from Rebecca" handing Gale the package and then sitting on the floor.

"I wonder why Alex is targeting the Phoenix Corps and not telling me," wesker said grabbing a wet cloth, getting on his knees, and wiping my face off of the blood staining it.

"Oh shit! thank you, sis." Gale shouted as he opened the package revealing a Nintendo DS Lite special edition of Zelda Phantom Hourglass with said game as well as Pokémon Pearl, "Sending me a DS with Pokémon Pearl and Phantom Hourglass, this is the best gift sis has recently given me."

"Billy said Rebecca is on her way. it's good to see them going steady." I said standing up, "Gale I need you to keep a secret that stays in this room,"

I turned towards him as he plugged in the DS to charge. He looked happy and relaxed the opposite of me. I wish I could feel that way but there are too many unknown variables especially with Alex causing me trouble.

"Sure what's up?" Gale smiled mischievously.

"It's about Archer or rather Arjuna." She sighs as wesker examines the stitched wound on Archer's abdomen, "He's my adopted son ever since I brought him over to the States."

"And with my sister causing trouble we needed to tell someone trusted. She told me while chasing the rat that shot you." Wesker said covering the wound with a sheet so I would not see how bad it was.

Gale looks at me dropping his cocky grin "What the FUCK! he is your son" Then he looks at Albert with a sour face "And your sister is a bitch, Wesker"

"Yes, she is." I walk over to Archer's bed and her hands, "I'm going to make Alex pay for hurting my friends and family."

"She always was. She objected at mine and Tabitha's wedding even Spencer was shocked at that." Wesker says turning to face Gale, "I want you to come to Africa with us Chambers. I want you to help keep Tabitha safe and help with taking out our targets."

"Count me in" Gale smiled again looking pumped up, "Ain't nobody gonna stop us."

I smile but then it fades, "We are what remains of Umbrella. I'm not going to fail in my plans on what needs to be done."

The comms ring.

"Billy here Rebecca is here to see Gale," Billy said.

I sigh and look at Albert "Go to my room and stay there we can risk exposing our involvement with you yet love."

"Fine but I expect you up there within the hour. I have a surprise for you." Albert dashed out.

"Well, that's probably that's fastest I've seen him just dip like that" Gale laughed.

I shiver, "Not the first time I've seen that." I touch my comms " Bring Rebecca down, Billy."

She hears a cough as Archer wakes up.

"What happened after we were brought back," Arjuna asked.

"We got patched up, you should feel fine soon" Gale pointed to his shoulder being bandaged.

Arjuna places his hand where he was shot looking up at me and my sad eyes, "Hey don't look sad T. I'll be ok."

I sighed a small gracing my lips, "The secret is out Juna. Gale knows and so does Albert."

Rebecca walks in with Billy "Hey big brother, how are you doing? I heard you were shot." She said worry on her brow.

"Rebecca it's so good to see you again. I could be doing better but that doesn't matter right now. how have you been doing sis" Gale reaches out hugging Rebecca close.

Rebecca smiles sweetly "I finally got my doctorate in bioengineering and virology. I graduated top of my class. I'll be making vaccines for the virus for the people you and boss lady over there help."

I laugh walking over to Rebecca and hugging her, "Thank you, Rebecca. I mean that. If it weren't for the fact we're not going to be on base soon I'd ask you to set up shop here."

Rebecca looks at Gale's shoulder and shakes her head, "Let me see that wound, Gale. Especially if you are going on another dangerous mission."

"It's nothing too serious. I've had worse than this scratch," Gale says trying to cover his shoulder with a blanket.

"Don't be like that Gale and let me see " takes off the wound dressing, "I could tell you were trying to spare me Gale but I'm a big girl now. I can handle these sorts of things." as she grabs a can of first aid spray and treats the remaining wound.

"His bonding with the Veronica virus did speed up his healing process but I'm glad that he has a sister like you Rebecca," I say staring at Arjuna.

"Speaking of which you need to talk to Chris or at least some way show him you're alive T." Rebecca scolds me worry back on her face

I plop my head down, feeling defeated "How? I'm being watched like a fucking hawk."

"She's right you know, Chris is worried about ya. It wouldn't hurt to talk to him." Gale says rotating his arm before hugging Rebecca again.

"Fine, I'll call but no one says a word about this to my boss." I said pulling out a burner phone from the desk in the medical room, "Do I have everyone's word"

Arjuna quickly nods in agreement as do Billy and Rebecca. They seemed very interested in the conversation I was about to have.

"Gale? What say you?" I ask entering the number.

"Aye aye, captain!" Gale laughs.

Tabitha quickly flips off Gale and dials Chris's desk at the B.S.A.A. It rang for a while. I started to wonder what was taking him so long.

Ring ... ring...

"Redfield..." Chris said finally picking up.

"Chris I'm sorry," I said, starting to cry again.

"Oh my god! she did it!" Gale exclaims.

"Gale ssssh!"Rebecca shushes Gale.

"No, it can't be. T how? I thought Wesker. Surely he would have. How are you even alive?" Chris said chokingly.

"I did what I needed to for the moment. I don't have long. I have managed to infiltrate deeply and I'm safe. he won't hurt me. At least I'm sure of that for now Chris." I wipe my eyes trying to be strong for my brother.

"Who won't hurt you?" Rebecca asked worried still.

"It's nothing Rebecca we got it under control, trust me," Gale said comforting his sister.

"Alright. I trust you guys." Rebecca said hugging Gale.

"I found what I needed to... I'm...I'm OK. Gale will be with me now and Chris tell Claire I love her... I love you... but this will be our last communication for a long while. Update O'Brian that the mission is going smoothly and it is not the time we put a stop to this. In three years there will be a crisis but we can stop it... I need to just do my job." I say collapsing to my knees.

"T NO! DON'T GO. I CAN NOT LOSE YOU TOO NOT AGAIN!" Chris shouts as I reach out for the hang-up button.

"I am so proud of you and Claire. Chris, we will be a family again one day. Listen to the tapes and let them guide you. I love you, little brother. Goodbye." I hung up hearing Chris scream out on the phone.

Rebecca runs over to me and pulls me to embrace her as she sits on the floor next to me.

Tears drip down my face and my heart aches. Rebecca's embrace was warming but it didn't reach my heart. I doubt anything would. I felt numb.

I turn to watch as Gale just sits there in silence. Turning to face Juna he stared at me with pleading eyes. Billy and Rebecca stared at each other saddened at the state I was in.

I stood up and cracked my neck, "I will bring wesker to justice one way or another. Even If it means I'll be alone again."

Rebecca smiled and looked at Gale "You won't be alone this time. You have me and Gale. Chris will be there too, I promise."

Arjuna asks Billy to leave the room and once he does and the door closes Arjuna speaks, "You won't be alone because we will bring him to justice and rehabilitate and have him at Phoenix Corps. I may not know the man well but if he means so much to you we should try right."

" yeah, we'll get that son of a bitch wesker." Gale looks at Rebecca "Sorry you can't come with us, sis."

Rebecca's smiling stops "I know you don't want me to help but I want to."

"It's too dangerous for you to come with us," Gale looks down at the floor for a moment then back up at Rebecca "I don't wanna lose you too, and I would stay or go home but Tabitha needs my help and after all we been through, kind hard to say no."

I walk over to Rebecca and place my hand on Rebecca's shoulder, "I need you to keep supplying Pheonix Corps with the t and g virus vaccines I know the Veronica one is in the works. I promise I'll keep Gale safe I view you and him as my siblings I won't let him die besides I think I'd have to drop a

Six-ton boulder on him for him to stay down"

Rebecca nods and takes off her necklace, "Here Gale, this was Mom's. I want you to bring it back to me when you bring Wesker down."

I look between the siblings and chuckle.

Rebecca smiles "Please Gale take my locket."

Gale takes the locket and says " I'll come back, I'll promise that."

Rebecca hugs her brother a few tears cresting her eyes, "You better you big dummy.".

"It's a promise" Gale hugged Rebecca back as they shared a moment.

Tabitha smiles and then looks serious "Hey Gale, do you still have my restraining cuffs? The ones Sergei used on me. I have a feeling the boss is going to need them soon."

Rebecca looks at Gale confused.

"Yeah, I'll have to find them first," Gale smirks.

"Do you have an idea where they are? He is quite impatient." blushed a bit and Rebecca laughed.

"Wesker still has his restraining kink then. That's hilarious T"

Her saying that made me blush more, "Rebecca! Why? Any idea where they are Gale?"

" Probably in my locker or bag or something, don't remember" Gale chuckled.

"Fun.....well you two have a lovely visit I'm going to check your training room Gale it's already almost been an hour," I said hugging Archer.

"Don't have too much fun now." Rebecca laughs elbowing Gale on the shoulder.

Growling I walked out the door I heard them talking "Hey Gale I got Pokémon diamond want to play?".

The door closed as I heard the siblings laughing. Sprinting to Gale's training room I quickly picked the locker's lock and as I expected the cuffs were right on the top shelf he probably placed them there when he got back.

I swiftly closed up the locker and dashed to my elevator. Opening the door of the elevator, I stepped on. I knew Albert was waiting for me. I had a sick idea that would probably get Albert to lay off Chris for a while.

It would break Chris's heart but at least he and Claire would be safe. I'd show my twisted side. Albert always loved the idea of fucking me on camera. This way I could show Chris I'm alive at least.

Stepping out of the elevator I noticed the smell of roses and sweetpeas. It was the candle on my bedside table. I heard the shower running. I walked over to my closet and pulled down an old worn black box. This would hurt Chris but I need to prove that I'm loyal to Albert in a way only I could.

I was about to give some of the best acting of my life. As much as it would hurt Chris. My heart was in shatters. I was sure this would break him. But the mission comes first. I promised Alistar I would bring her father home. That was exactly my plan. Sometimes we just have to play the freak to do that.

I loved my family and to save my family. I would have to break my family. I was disappointed in myself for even thinking about suggesting this. But it would keep him off Albert's radar so in my mind it was worth it.

"Something on your mind lotus," Albert asked holding his towel across his waist.

"I think I have a way to keep Chris and Claire at bay," I said rubbing my eyes, "I just can not do it alone."

With that Albert smirked, "Oh my lovely lotus, what are you thinking."

Hey, there everyone slifarianhawk here and holy Halibut was this a long one? It was worth it in my mind. The next chapter will be hot and heavy smut. Bdsm knife play and sense deprivation. Skip if you don't like it's up to you my name is Silfarianhawk and I'm not so far away 🪷

[steelycunt]

what kind of bedding do u think r and s would have. both individually and as a couple. or even take it a step further and tell us what their bedrooms as a whole would look like xxx this is my fav hobby

there has been so much bedding talk floating around the dash of late good god. i have to admit all the different. bedding terminologies confuse me but. in terms of the general characteristics of their bedding r has very ratty low thread-count sheets and his duvet is always pilly and probably. a navy or a grey or a white or a sad green colour. also maybe he has a quilt or a knitted blanket or something from his mam. whereas s might go a little more upmarket (it is worth it 2 him) and go for something a bit more luxurious xx he would buy silk sheets if he thought he could do so without his friends (rightly) making fun of him. as a COUPLE um i think s buys their bedding so its better quality. mostly white. two pillows each. probably some blankets tangled up there too when it is cold.

as for the bedrooms! actually so annoyed because i KNOW i VIVIDLY REMEMBER answering an ask about my thoughts on r's bedroom ages ago but after scrolling through my archive for like half an hour i still cant find it. but the long and short of it is for r i think his decor is pretty minimal i think. some posters + pictures bluetacked on the wall as a teen and probably lots of books and records and general clutter but. he moved around a lot as a kid i think he would not put an awful lot of effort into decorating his space beyond the basics especially as he gets older. whereas canonically s had a ton of posters up and i think he would put more effort into making his room his own especially growing up in an environment where he was very rarely free to express himself. his room is his little dominion. also i think he would enjoy collecting things from charity + antique shops to go in his room i think he'd have a nice rug for example. ive said b4 i imagine him being quite neat but not necessarily clean and i think that would reflect in his bedroom. and as a couple who share a bedroom!! decor-wise it would be more s than r but also generally just very cluttered and also probably messier than either of their individual bedrooms wouldve been. they would share so much stuff, like clothes, to the point where they dont really distinguish between what belongs to one and what belongs to the other. and they also dont put anything away. so there are lots of clothes laying about i think definitely they have one of those chairs in the corner that they dump clothes onto. it is hard to b on the ball about staying tidy when you spend at least seven hours a day gazing motionlessly and silently into each others eyes i expect

[taperwolf]

Our cable internet is out.

Our cable company used to have a pretty extensive web site with outage notices, troubleshooting help, and technical support chat. Now they have switched primary access to a phone app, which offers very few options, and a mobile-optimized site with fewer still.

This is now the complete process: "Oh, your modem is not connected. Unplug it and plug it back in again," followed by a ten minute pause. "Oh, your modem is still not connected. Sucks to be you. Do you want service people tromping about your home tomorrow? Pick a five hour block of time you'll be available."

I was able to convince the automated system, after some abortive attempts, to tell me that nobody else in the neighborhood had reported outages. So at least I know that. And we've been having enough troubles with our connection to probably warrant a service visit. But honestly, although I have a lot of anxiety about phone calls, my wife's anxiety about unexpected visitors is worse, so I'd rather spend some time talking to someone trying to fix the cable than attempting to do a one-day clean and vacuum of the apartment.

Now to see if I can get Bluetooth internet sharing from my phone to my laptop working so I can update the SIFAS Daily Theatre archive with today's episode.

[djtheabishai]

Master! Part: 1/?

Barbatos feels he hasn't done enough for the last couple days and decides to ask Simeon for help.

This was originally gonna be 2 parts but Tumbler has word limits, so it's gonna have to broken into more than 2 (maybe 3 or more). Part 2 I already up, but it isn't as long as this part

For only Two parts (like intended), It is also up on my AO3 (Archive of Our Own) page under Dizzy_Sight.

For all the parts that's currently up, click the "Master! Simebarb" Tag

/\/\/\/\/\/

The bell just rang for lunch at R.A.D. and Simeon quickly gathered his bag and swung it over his head, letting strap cross his chest. He was hungry. More hungry then usual when the lunch bell rang. He didn't have time to eat breakfast since he, Luke and Solomon woke up late. From what Solomon explained, the power kicked off and on sometime in the night and resest the clocks. Apparently it's a common thing in the Human Realm. As for the phones, their phones had a system update and turned off their alarms . If it wasn't for MC calling Solomon to wonder why he isn't where they planned to meet, they'd still be alseep. As soon as Simeon stepped one foot out the classroom, his phone dinged. Moving out the way of hungry students, he stood on the side of the hallway and checked who messaged him. His eyes widen a bit and a small heat rose to his cheeks to find it was Barbatos who messaged him. Barbatos: I'm sorry to bother you on your way to lunch, but I was wondering if you would join me for lunch today. There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Join the Steward for lunch? The angel thought. I'm rarely asked to join him for lunch. At least during school days. Any other time, we'd spend hours talking. Speaking of which. Simeon: What do you want to talk about? Barbatos: That's something I'd rather talk about in person. Simeon: Alright. Where do you want to meet? Barbatos: Meet me in Music Room No. 3 on the 2nd Floor. Don't worry about getting your lunch. I already have that covered. Music Room 3? Isn't that room abandoned? If so, it's probably the reason why he wants to talk there. So no one can overhear what he has to say. Simeon: I'm on my way. Barbatos: See you soon. And with that, their message conversation ended. Simeon was a bit relieved he didn't have to go far to eat. The music room was closer to him then the cafeteria. He was also a bit nervous. What did Barbatos want to talk about? Was it about Luke? I hope he's approving in his baking skills. Or was it about D.J.? Please don't let me hear anything negative about her! He frowned at the thought of his oldest getting in trouble again.

He messaged the others to let them know he won't be joining them for lunch today. MC: You won't? Where you going?

Simeon: Barbatos invited me to join him for lunch today. Solomon: Oh? Where are you eating? Simeon: In Music Room No. 3. MC: The abandoned music room?

Simeon: That's the one Luke: Don't let that demon try anything! Solomon: I highly doubt Barbatos is gonna do anything on him, Luke. He isn't Asmo. MC: You'd know that all too well, wouldn't you Solomon? Solomon said nothing in response while MC and Luke started talking about something else. Turning around and putting his phone on silent, Simeon put his phone away and  found the nearest set of stairs a couple classrooms down. The angel climbed up them, taking the right set of stairs to the second floor. After passing a few classrooms, that had a couple students in them still, he reached the abandoned music room and opened the door. Peeking inside, he found large instruments covered in dusty white cloths. One he knew for sure was a piano.

Why would Barbatos of all demons want to come to a dusty room to talk? Unless he plans on cleaning it after we eat.The angel thought, walking over to the covered piano. Dust lingered in the air, as it tickled his nose and made him sneeze. He then a heard a chuckled coming from somewhere in the room. "My, my, " the voice said, a he could see a shadowy figure walking behind the curtain that paritly covered the hidden piano. He figure appeared to be Barbatos, in his demon form. The demon's tail raised, holding a duster between the tips. "bless you. I apologize for making you sneeze, I was dusting before you got here. I was hoping to at least get some part of the room decent enough for us eat, but I guess, that won't be possible with dust flying everywhere." He said, looking behind himself and letting out a small huff and frowned. He then looks back at Simeon and smiled. The demon grabbed the angel's hands and held them as he leaned in to kiss him. Simeon met him halfway. It was a soft, yet firm kiss. Butterflies fluttered around the angel's stomach and electricity shot through his body. The feel of the demon's lips on his was very sinful, yet exciting at the same time. If only demons and angels were allowed to be together, the two would have nothing to hide from their worlds. But it's also the thought of being caught by the wrong people is what made it so thrilling. The steward pulled away and looked at him with a small blush on his face and a smile. Simeon noticed Barbatos's tail no longer held the duster and was swaying a bit back and forth, tail tips twisting around each other. "How my angel doing?" Barbatos asked. The angel waved their arms in and out a bit. "I'm doing really good actually. So is Luke. He's really excited for your next lesson tomorrow." Simeon told him. " As am I, but I said "angel" not "angels"." The steward pointed out, letting go of Simeon's hands and pulled him closer to him by his waist. He then crossed his arms over Simeon's back and let his wrists sit on the angel's tail bone.  Simeon wrapped his arms around the steward's neck and met him half way in another kiss. This time it was more passionate. The angel felt something slightly damp slither across his back. It only took a second for him to realize it was only the demon's tail wrapping itself around the two, pushing the two closer together where their chests touched. Neither one of them showed they minded, as they tightened their arms to bring their heads and waists closer as the butler slid his tongue inside the angel's mouth. The angel moaned as their tongues danced together in a playful fight for dominance. Barbatos slid one hand from behind the angel's back and rubbed his fingertips over Simeon's exposed side. The angel gasped and quietly moaned as the demon moved, kissing from his lips to his neck, the angel moving his head to give him more access. Simeon shuddered and blushed more, bitting but bottom lip from feeling Barbatos's teeth scrapped against his sensitive spot at the side of his neck. Barbatos was about to bite the angel, to mark him as his when the angel's stomach growled. They both froze and Simeon went very stiff, face going a very dark red. Barbatos chuckled and pulled away from the angel's neck to see his lover's face bright red dispite his dark color.

[wolfsbane44]

--Squeaky Clean-- Sam x Dean x Reader

Summary Part 1: Sam and Dean try to get information from a girl who is lost and broken beyond their imagination. She finally tells them a portion of the truth. As do they to her.

Part 2 is pure filth. Sam and Dean take y/n on the main table in the library. something she had been begging for.

Word count: 3142

Warnings: imprisonment, torture, swearing, poly, oral (f/m receiving), penetration

Sam and Dean had tried torture. They had tried the worst things that they could imagine. Fire, branding, cutting, mind control from someone short with a British accent and a receding hairline, apparently his mom too, but she was young and had a Scottish accent so I don't know how that works. Hell, they had even let the fucker with wings and a stick up his ass touch your soul. It all was agonizing but it went away quickly. You weren't even phased by it. Especially after spending an eternity in that cage with Lucifer. He had spent years drawing out some of his tests and ideas to fill his free time. That's all it was for him… boredom. 

“Dean I think at this point she isn't going to say anything to us” Sam spoke. He was sitting across from Dean reading through the Men of Letters archives to find a way to get you to tell the truth. “We just have to keep trying, we need to know how to put him back in the cage.” Dean barked back, taking a long swig of whatever cheap beer Sam had bought him. “She had been locked up in a cage with Lucifer since the day he was thrown in there! I don't think actual torture is going to do anything for her if he has been doing it to her for the entire time.” Sam softly stated. Dean giving a nod added “She told me he used to skin her and then cut each muscle fiber, and nerve out piece by piece to see if it changed her at all. Not once taking that pain from her.” He wished you hadn't shared that information with him. 

They called it a night and locked you back up as if you wanted to escape. What they were doing to you was relief from lord knows what else Lucifer would do if he found you. This place had old wards and shields, you could feel them. You could hide from him. Praying Sam and Dean wouldn't release you or give you to anyone else. You had no sense of time but up here things moved so fast. It had only felt like they were gone for seconds but the clock on the wall showed it had been 16 hours. You had been here for 23 days now. A sigh of relief washed over you as you saw it was Dean bringing you breakfast. You hadn't needed food in the cage. But now that you were topside you couldn't get enough of it, hell you would even eat the mud, just to taste something.

“Best burger on this side of the Mississippi darlin, hope you like beer too” Dean grunted as he unbound one of your hands. You ate with agonizing slowness. Tasting every morsel as if it would be your last, Dean watched the entire time, not saying anything but the smirk on his face made you laugh. “I talked to Sam this morning and I think we are going to take the whole John Wayne Gacey stuff down a notch and just talk to you.” You didn't understand what that meant but you waited for whatever else they had lined up for you. Sam entered the room as Dean had unbound your other hand. Letting you stretch and relax, thankful for that, but wondering what it would cost you. 

“We just want to put Lucifer back in the cage, not you. Can you tell me? Or ugh us I mean, how you even ended up in there with him. Or what you are?” Sam stuttered out. That Last part flickered sadness in your heart, but you began your story.

“I was just trying to help, I didn't know what he had done. He came to me crying and upset saying that he was going to be punished. I didn't even know who he was” you breathed out. “He was distraught and said someone was after him but wouldn't tell me why. I did my best to hide him but I am only- was only- what you guys now call a Dragon, ll though I have heard my descendants no longer roam the earth, nor were they kind like we were.” The angel walked through the door this time staring directly at me, with no emotions across his face but whispered something to Dean that made him Flash a stern look. “Keep going” Sam insisted. “I tried to get us away but God himself… I guess had only seen that I was helping him and they locked us in that awful cage not even minutes later. They didn't even try to ask me anything I was just a casualty for them.” We were locked so far away that not even my magic would reach my family, I didn't know where we were but he was kind to me until he heard the last of the 600 locks slam shut.” you began to cry “Thats when it all started”

Dean had come to your side asking you to breathe and take your time, you didn't think he would be the one you would see the soft side of. He had hard lines on his face as if it never budged, never faltered. “He would do things to me for years, over and over and over. This all changed me. He stripped me of my very flesh so many times and put me in a new one that I don't even know what I am, or even WHO I am.” Dean's eyes flickered to Sam as he grunted to clear his throat and said “ ok hun we are going to take a break, do you want anything, maybe take a shower… anything? Castiel put more wards up so you cant get out but after hearing just a fraction of what you told us I dont think you are going to leave.” A shower you thought, you hadnt had oneof those in so long the thought of feeling the water on your body, with these new senses would be nice.

Sam had turned the shower on for you, all of this stuff was new so he went over what everythign was. “That is soap you just rub it in your hands till it makes foam and bubbles, then you can scrub your body with this rag, and then that is shampoo and conditioner, you do the same thing for your hair.” Dean stepped in eyes seeing how overwhelmed you are. “ We can get someone to help you if you want.. I mean if you need us to.. I can call Jody or Charlie I am sure they have stuff more… um… suited for you” You looked at him, you didn't know those people , what if they said something and lucifer found out that you were here. “ No um can you just help me if you are comfortable. I am not embarassed by my body or anything on it, but if you arent comfortable its okay I will figure it out.” 

They both offered to help but only If I was comfortable. Taking glances up when they had to get close to me to help with the soap, to give me privacy, and then turning around. That part want bad but the amount of filth that was still on me would take more scrubbing. Even just letting the water wash over me it came out black as night. “Get the pressure washer Sammy” Dean joked, letting out a cackle as to break the tension in the room. Their showers were huge, as if made for 30 people, so they only got close when necessary. After an hour of washing and scrubbing they realized that I might actually need help. Like a child i thought in my head. They were goign to have to scrub me. Maybe i Did know what embarassment felt like because my cheeks were flushing red. 

It was Sams idea to try to let me soak in a bathfirst. The water terifying me, knowing only an ounce of the ways Lucifer spent his time with me, but they understood. They took turns holding my hand when the other would scrub. Tears just sliding down my face, sitting in silence. They had drained and refilled the water probably  times before I was actually clean. And even then we went back to the shower for another final scrub and rinse to make sure. Sam made sure to be gentle and comb my hair before drying it with the towel. Only at the end Dean pulling me in for a hug placing a kiss on the top of my forehead as Sam held my hand. 

I think they understood, I don't know how, but I think they had endured the same pain that I had. They knew that being cold and hard wouldn't work. Or maybe Castiel knew when he whispered into Dean's ear earlier that morning. “We got you a room, so you can rest. We can talk again in the morning if you are up to it.” Dean said. “ Sam added “I put some of my favorite books in here and we have snacks and drinks for you so you can lock the door if you want to or whatever you need to do.” You asked if they knew how you felt if thats why things had suddenly changed when you told them the truth. “I am lucifers true vessel, he has hurt me in ways I don't want to push on you, especially with how all of this is happening now. And Dean” he glanced over to his brother who just put his head down  “he was tortured in hell until they made him torture others, they broke him over and over just to let him get a second of peace” Awkward silence clung in the air as you nodded your head. the boys turned away, leaving you alone.

Your own room. You hadn't had one in so long. There was a bed, with a real mattress. Overwhelmed, tears came to your eyes. You shifted your body onto the bed, and pure bliss overwhelmed you from the bed when your stomach growled. Looking over to the table where you had pizza and candy, you ate the entire thing. Thinking to yourself you might have found your new favorite food. Your eyelids became so heavy, you slowly drifted to sleep, not caring whether your door was open, closed, locked, or unlocked. You finally were allowed to sleep after centuries of being forced awake. 

“Honey look at me, come on you have to look at me.” Dean worriedly shouted. “Sam” he shouted as he came running down the hall. “ What is it, what's wrong with her” “ I don't know, i don't fucking know,” Dean yelled. You could hear them but you were just drifting into the blackness in your own head. Your body however completely limp in between the convulsions that were pouring through you. You stopped breathing. “Dean, Dean I don't think oh my god.” Was the last thing you heard from Sam, but from Dean.. he was praying. Not to god, but to Castiel.

Castiel slammed into your head, seeing the horror on his face let you know something wasn't right. He was seeing things in your head that even you blocked out. That's where the pure blackness came in. It was easier to drift that way than to experience anything Lucifer was doing to my surface to my mind and to my soul. Castiel fixed the cracks allowing me to talk to him. “Do you want to go back?” He asked. No one had ever asked her what she wanted before she met the Winchesters. “Yes, as long as I can just be mortal, please I am begging you, take the bad parts away, make me just ordinary. I don't want to feel like this again. I don't want to hear them that way again.” you cried out. Instantly you were opening your eyes. Sam and Dean over top of you, scoping you up and holding you.

“You fucking died y/n!” Dean spitted when you asked why your ribs hurt, your lungs burning, and your head throbbing. “Cas had to literally grab our soul to bring you back!” He cried. “ I don't know why this is affecting me like this but I can't lose you. I don't even freaking know you but the thought now of not having you is too painful” Dean whispered. “You like all the same foods, we talk about all the same stuff, hell even you and Sammy have so much in common. Castiel said you were bonded with us the other day. Now I don't believe in fate but I know I feel like this for a reason! I know Sam feels the same way!”  Sam walked into the kitchen of the bunker this time, with a look on his face that only pain can describe. “The thought of losing you now, of what could have happened to you” Sam grunted through pain. “We can't take that… I can't take that. Castiel told us we are all from the same soul. That's why this hurts so bad. When god made us he used a fractured soul from many years ago. He used the rest of your soul. Whatever Lucifer didn't take when he locked you in the cage.” Sam said. “Thats why we fell whole when we are together.”

“So were…. Soul …. Mates…. “ You said questioningly. “Literally, Yes, fan fictionally, no” Dean blurted out, a chuckle leaving him after the last words.

___________________

It had been months since you opened up to your boys. You three shared a bond that no one else would for all of eternity. It was how they found you. WHY they found you. Rowena had managed to get Lucifer back in the cage but it drained everyone. If Sam and Dean hadn't tried to either outright sacrifice themselves every ten minutes things might have gone differently. But still, you loved them and their selfless bleeding hearts.

“Hey babe we are going to get some stuff for our trip in a few days do you want anything,” Sam said. Dean chimed in something about more rope and lube but laughing you ignored it. You never realized how well polyamory suited you, but I guess it made sense with all of us being made from the same soul. Dean and Sam were never together with you, everything was separate, but they respected you and their relationship with each other.

They both were equally skilled. Dean was more of a slow sensual burn and Sam is just filled with pure filth and rage. They balanced each other well. Although sometimes they flipped traits without knowing. Her first time with each made her feel godly. No one had ever worshiped her like they each individually did. You had been begging for months now to let the moth take you together but they needed to have that conversation for themselves.

“ Have you thought about y/n’s request?” Sam asked. Dean shuddered “Yes and no. I don't want to see nor think of you like that at all.” “But it would make her happy even if we just tried, we don't have to touch each other you know, that would be kind of gross Brothers and all,” Sam said. ‘Sam I am going to barf if I have to keep thinking… We are not going to Paris with her and that's it” Dean said as he slammed on the brakes on the Impala. “So you have thought about how it would work” Sam laughed. If looks could kill, that death would have been instant. “Alright… okay…yes I have but I didn't want to bring it up because it's awkward” Dean replied.  “ well we can't do anything besides try, for her” Sam said. Dean nodded and it was decided. They would try for you.

You could see the look of fear and nervousness on their faces. You knew they talked. And you were about to learn their answer. Dean grabbed your face and kissed you “We talked, Sam is okay with this, I am just nervous so If I leave don't stop on my account.” he said. With that Dean's mouth crushed into yours his hand around your throat. You could feel Sam pulling off your pants being careful with where he touched knowing you were still adjusting in some areas. Before Sam could touch you anymore Dean picked you up and carried you to the table in the middle of their library. Pushing anything on it to the floor. He gently set you down. Pulling your shirt off. You could feel Sam spreading your thighs feeling his breath against your aching core. Dean unbuttoned and unzipped his pants wanting you... Helping him, you hurriedly grabbed him and licked a slow steady line all the way up his shaft. “ oh fucking... fuck” Dean slowly hissed. Sam laughed as his tongue lapped at your thighs not yet tasting you. As soon as you started sucking Dean, Sam's mouth plunged into your core. There was nothing gentle about him right now. He was groaning as he tasted your arousal. Unbuttoning his own pants and stroking himself. 

Sam had you cumming in a minute, especially after he added two fingers to your slickness, dancing over your core and plunging them inside you. Curling at the perfect spot to make your body quiver. Sam got up, and switched with Dean, Dean lined himself up at your entrance. “Dean baby please I need you to fill me up,” you whined He slowly pushed himself into you letting you feel everything. Every beautiful inch. You began sucking on Sam when he bent your head back over the edge of the table, letting you take in more of his giant member. Deeper than you ever had before. A small gag escaped your lips as saliva poured down your face. Sam thrusts himself into you. He put a hand on your throat to steady himself. Feeling the tightening building inside himself. Sam Fucked your throat til it was raw. Pushing you down harder onto Dean. Sam was coming, and you wanted to swallow every last bit of him. You couldn't waste how good he tasted or how good he made you feel. Lapping all of him up as you neared your edge. “ now I want you to watch him fuck that beautiful little cunt of yours.” he said. You looked at Dean thrusting into you, encouraging him to touch your clit. He knew you loved those ever so small taps. You were riding your high within seconds with Dean right behind you. Feeling his warmth inside of you only made you last longer, in pure bliss, pure euphoria. If you could ever go to heaven.. This is what you imagined it would be.