#might clean this up/fix a few things but we'll see

[lugidog]

Day 743 - August 23, 2024

It's wimdy.

[thezombieprostitute]

What's Mine

Summary: Bucky pushes you too far and decides to explain how your situation works. Or doesn't.

Word Count: ~2.3 k

Warnings: Dark Fic, Implied dub/non con, Power imbalance. Please let me know if I missed any.

Previous Part

It's been a few months since Bucky "claimed" you. He followed up on his promises of taking care of you. You frequently woke up to some surprise gift or another. One day it was a fully stocked kitchen. Another day it was the leak in the bathroom sink getting fixed. More than a few times it's been jewelry with his initials on it.

And all it cost was letting him use you. You swear a piece of your soul dies every time he makes you cum. Every time he coats you in his semen. Every time you match his fervor. It might not be so bad if he didn't gloat every time. That damn smirk haunted your dreams. Or was it nightmares? What was the difference anymore?

It had definitely affected your standing in the community. People were scared to interact with you. Fewer parents brought their kids to the library when you were there. Ruth and her friends had no problems calling you all sorts of degrading things under their breath. You definitely caught them giving you the evil eye more than a few times.

Part of you suspected that if you'd quit trying to fight him he'd lose interest. He liked when you were in a fiery mood. If you could just give in, give up, he'd likely stop using you. But you couldn't help yourself. You hated him. You hated yourself for enjoying the pleasure he gave. That hate needed an outlet.

You pull into your driveway, no longer surprised to see Bucky's bike there as well. You sigh, wondering if you can talk him into to leaving. You're exhausted. Walking into the house you don't even have a chance to take your jacket off before Bucky is on you.

"Bucky, please no. I'm just too tired."

He chuckles, "don't worry. I'm just really happy to see you. We're going out tonight."

You sigh, "I'd rather stay in."

"Then that means you have the energy for me all night."

"Ugh, fine. Where are we going?"

"I've got you an appointment at the tattoo parlor."

"WHAT?! I hate tattoos! I can't get any!"

He smiles as he growls at you, "you're going to get a tattoo just for me. No one else is going to be able to see it, but we'll know it's there."

"Isn't the jewelry enough of your 'ownership'? You even got me a brooch for my cardigans with your initials!"

Bucky licks his lips, "it was just the beginning, Doll. So far everything I've done to mark you are things that can wash away or heal up. This is the next step."

"I refuse," you declare, crossing your arms.

"Fuck, Doll, you're getting me riled up." He puts his arms on each side of your head, boxing you in against the wall. "And you're getting that damn tattoo. We can either go now, while you're still cleaned up, or after I've fucked your brains out and you're a cum covered mess."

"Fine," you drop your head. "Let's go to the tattoo parlor."

"Not yet." He grabs you chin and makes your look at him. "You need to thank me, first, Doll."

Bile rises at the back of your throat. "Thank you for letting me preserve my dignity."

He laughs. "Give me another," he taunts, using the same voice as when he's telling you to give him another orgasm. You hate yourself for the involuntarily clench your pussy does.

"Thank you, Bucky, for...for introducing me to Bunny. It is nice to have a friend." A friend who understands how fucked you both are, you think.

That gets a more sincere smile on his face. "It is important to me that you know my best friend and his girl. I'm glad you're good to them. Bunny is gonna need you when she's pregnant."

"What are friends for," you dryly reply.

"That's my good girl, Doll."

The tattoo is pretty much what you expected. His initials, right over your heart. If you wore anything low cut, it would be obvious. You were sure that was the point: can't even show a hint of skin without reminding everyone who it actually belongs to. At least it wouldn't be a problem at work, given you always dress conservatively.

By the time you're home Bucky is practically salivating at the memory of the tattoo on your chest. He might be eager to see this permanent mark of his claim on you but at least he's willing to follow instructions for proper care so it doesn't scar or make you sick. You made sure to thank him for that, knowing he likes to hear it, and he reiterates, "I take care of what's mine."

"Any chance I can just get some sleep tonight? I wasn't lying when I said I was tired."

"I'm all worked up, Doll."

"I thought you take care of what's yours," you snap back. "How is keeping me awake, not letting get good sleep, taking care of me?"

He grips your chin and gives you a thoughtful look. "I suppose you're right," he admits. "Even a vibrator's batteries gotta recharge every so often, right?" You roll your eyes and he grins. "But I'm going to hold you all night and when you wake up, it's on. I know you don't work tomorrow."

"Is that why you helped with my budget? So I'd have more free time to be your personal toy?" You can't fight the fire in your voice. You're tired, yes. Tired of being so angry all the time.

"Aww, you admit you're mine," he teases.

Unable to hold back any longer you smack his face. "I have never been so angry or tired as I have been since you showed up. You want to take care of me? You want me to be yours? Treat me like a fucking person!" Tears are pouring out of your eyes, the stress and frustration of the months finally finding a kind of release.

Bucky glowers at you and grabs your throat with his metal arm. "You shouldn't have done that, Doll."

"I don't care anymore," you croak.

That seems to catch him off guard as his hand loosens and his face softens.

"Oh, Doll," he shakes his head. "You really should've said something sooner." You squeeze your eyes shut as more tears start falling. He removes his hand from your throat and brings you in for a hug, causing you to cry even more. He pats your hair and coos, "there, there," until you can't cry any more.

"Let's get you to bed," he says quietly.

"I...I don't...I don't understand."

He gently lifts your chin, "you know, before Bunny ran, I tried to warn Steve he was being too controlling. That she was going to bolt. He didn't listen and, sure enough, she escaped. Wouldn't surprise me if she continued to try because he hasn't learned to loosen his grip. I don't plan on repeating his mistakes. Yes, you're mine and you'll never be rid of me. But that doesn't mean I can't be benevolent."

You sniffle as your brain tries to comprehend the sudden change in his demeanor.

"Now lets make sure that tattoo is properly cared for," he says with a soft kiss to your forehead.

"I...I hit you," you stammer.

"You're over-stressed and tired," he shrugs. "If I thought you were doing it just because you wanted to hurt me, yes, there would be repercussions. But I've apparently been overworking my poor Doll, so I'll forgive that one smack." His tone at that last part implies any more attempts to lash out at him will be punished.

"Thank you, Bucky," you murmur as you hang your head.

"Mmmm. That's more like it. Now let's get you to bed and tomorrow we'll work on your communication skills."

You wake up feeling like you're hungover without having had any alcohol. The delicious smells of breakfast lure you out of the bed, even though you dread meeting the cook.

Bucky's shirtless and smiling as he works. If you were in anything close to a healthy relationship you'd smile at how happy he is. Instead you keep your head down, trying not to think about that metal hand wrapped around your neck. About how those muscles feel pressed against your back, or on top of you.

He sees you and gestures for you to sit at the table. He brings you a plate of breakfast, a mug of coffee and kisses the top of your head before sitting across from you. You don't eat right away like he does, lost in your confusion about this change in behavior.

"Eat, Doll," he orders. "I didn't stock your kitchen and cook this up just for you to let it go cold."

"What is going on?" your voice is barely above a whisper.

"I'm taking care of my girl," he answers, nonchalantly. You look at him like you've never seen him before and he sighs. "Eat, or I will force it down your throat."

You grab a slice of the toast and start chewing. "Thank you, Bucky," you grumble and he nods in his approval.

"One of the differences between me and Cap is that I know I'm a monster," he tells you between bites. "He likes to think we've done all of this to keep his girl safe and give her the life she always wanted. I know better. But we've been best friends since we were kids. Ride or die, you know? So I'm always going to have his back. I've just made peace with the fact that it means ruining lives."

"You never tried to talk him out of it? Out of taking over an entire town?"

He shakes his head. "Steve's the kind of guy who can never be talked or distracted from his goal. One of the things I find endearing about him."

"So, he gets you all to take over everything here and you, what? Enjoy the spoils?" Feeling the bile rise at the back of your throat, you go for another slice of toast to try to settle your stomach while keeping Bucky happy.

"It's a balance," he grins. "We take over and just start doing whatever the hell we want, a lot of people are going to die trying to get rid of us. So we set up some rules for our men. People will remain upset, of course, but they're less likely to 'rise up' so long as we have a level of restraint. It's, honestly, the biggest part of my job as Cap's second."

You think on this for a minute, mindlessly eating. "I get why the town, but why me?"

He shrugs, "I needed the stress relief. It ain't easy keeping a crew in line and I was initially just hoping for a quiet spot to read to calm down. Then I started watching you. Saw you expertly handle all kinds of difficulties. When you snapped at me, I figured, like me, you could use some stress relief."

"Stress relief?!" He gives you a look that has you clamming up.

"And fuck you were so good," he muses. "That first photo is still the background on my phone." Heat rushes to your face. "I decided to go ahead and keep you as mine. You're not only a good fuck, but you were quick to befriend Bunny. Everyone else who sees her with Cap has decided to avoid her. Something I know you've been experiencing, even though you haven't told me." You look down, unable to say anything. "I honestly thought you liked the rough treatment and was happy to give it, but I'm guessing we hit a limit for you."

"You branded me," you snarl.

"No, I got you a tattoo. Branding is something else and would've hurt you a lot more." His tone is stern and you return your attention to your food. "You've played a critical role in helping me keep things under control. Plus, since you're my girl, you get some privileges and protections. You think Steve would've beaten up Walker for some random librarian? No. But for his best friend's girl? That's another story."

"So, you're just going to keep using me?"

"Yes," he nods. "And now that I know more about your limits, I'm less likely to get stabbed in my sleep."

You look at him, aghast, "that's why you never stayed the night before?"

Bucky chuckles, "so smart. I love it. And now that you have more information, hopefully you're smart enough to put the rest of the pieces together."

"If I hurt you, Steve drops everything to find and kill me. Probably painfully." He nods. "If I make you angry, you're likely to take it out on someone who doesn't deserve it or you lose control of your men for long enough that they hurt someone who doesn't deserve it." He nods again, smiling at you. "And if I stop playing along like everything is okay, it's another sign to the townsfolk that might set them over the edge and have them shooting, getting hurt, or worse."

Bucky finishes his breakfast, nodding at your conclusions. "God, I love that you're so smart. Makes a lot of this so much easier." You start sniffling and he reaches across the table to gently grip your chin. "I get that this is a lot to take in, Doll. But I know you'll make the right decision. If you really didn't care about this town, you'd have left when you only had a skeleton budget. You're willing to work yourself to the bone to take care of these people, you're willing to be mine to keep them safe."

"I can't say 'no'," you whimper.

"But it doesn't have to be all bad. Remember, I take care of what's mine."

Previous Part

Tagging: @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @lokislady82; @ronearoundblindly

[rogueddie]

Bumps and Bandaids T | 476 words Prompt for @steddielovemonth: Love is about healing each other’s wounds

Eddie has always tried to be independent. If he has a problem, he will always try to fix it himself. Most of the time, he only makes things worse or more difficult, but he tries.

When he tried to fix his bike, at fourteen, he somehow managed to slice his hand open.

Wayne had done his best to play it cool, but Eddie could see how much he was freaked out. And, to be fair to him, even Eddie had been freaked out by how much he had bled.

A leaflet for a first aid course, with enough money for the first lesson, had mysteriously shown up in his room a few days later.

"Must'a been the tooth fairy," Wayne shrugged when Eddie brought it up.

"Obviously," Eddie snorted. "Well... might as well check it out. One lesson can't hurt."

One lesson quickly turns into a full training course.

Despite how much longer it takes him to learn anything, even some of the basics, Eddie keeps trying. He keeps going to the lessons.

Something in his gut insists that he needs to know.

And his instincts turn out to be right, when he finds himself in his bathroom with a bleeding Steve Harrington.

"This will be rough," Eddie warns.

"Yeah, I know," Steve huffs, rolling his eyes. "Let's just get this over with, alright?"

Despite how nasty the bites on his sides are, they're not bleeding at all, despite how Eddie had worried they would be. The torn fabric Nancy had wrapped around his waist has small blood spots.

"This'll sting," Eddie says, before slowly starting to pick and wipe any of the dirt and grime from the bites. "Tell me how you're feeling."

"Like something took a chunk out of me."

Eddie snorts.

"Where'd you learn this shit?"

"First aid course," Eddie mumbles, squinting at the bites. "I think those are clean. I'm gonna need to stitch these."

"Sure, whatever, just... get on with it. Please."

"Grab onto something."

It's a struggle to stitch the bites but, eventually, he manages to stitch them up enough that he feels satisfied.

"Ok, we're done."

"Oh, thank god," Steve sighs. "We done?"

"No. I need to cover them but that's it. I think."

He wraps up the wounds, wrapping another bandage around his waist to secure everything.

"Thanks, Eddie. Really."

"You don't need to thank me. It's good to finally have an excuse to use those fucking lessons, especially for someone I... uh..."

"Care about?" Steve smirks, gently nudging his shoulder.

"Dick. Yeah, someone I care about."

His smirk softens, reaching out and taking hold of Eddie's hand.

"I'm glad."

"Steve!" Robin yells, knocking on the door. "You are still alive in there, right?"

"I'm fine!" Steve calls back. He shifts a little closer to Eddie when he turns back. "We'll, uh... talk later. Ok?"

"Ok, yeah, later."

[yall-batman-fanfic]

In the Events of My Death: The Bruce Wayne Tapes | Batman/Bruce Wayne x Magician!OC

Synopsis: Inspired by one of the clips in Gotham Knights, one where Dick, Jason, Tim, and Barbara found the video that Bruce wanted to post that would be the cover story of his death. Vivian helps out Alfred with cleaning up the Batcave and comes across a thumb drive that had an interesting video. No, not video. Videos.

Vivian shouldn't be surprised. She knew the reputation Bruce Wayne had when she came to Gotham. The billionaire-philanthropist-playboy was his title after all. Yet when she saw a certain harddrive that had one folder that says: Cover-Up Story for Bruce Wayne's Death. She was shocked. Who might have underestimated the playboy in that title.

~*~

“There is really no need for this, Ms. Vivian,” said Alfred as he placed one of the archived case file boxes in one corner in the Batcave. “I can handle this perfectly. Besides, it’s one of your rare days off! You should rest or do an activity outside, not dusting the Batcave and fixing Master Bruce's things.”

Vivian finished organizing the files in the box and waved a hand to have that box and the one that Alfred carried brought to the storage in one of the many storage places in the cave. “Alfred, it’s fine. There's so much to do here and you've already got a lot on your plate. Besides, Dick and Babs are coming over so we'll get this done faster. Magic can only do so much, you know.”

“Like lifting boxes?” Dick's voice echoed from the pad where he parked his motorcycle. Arriving just after him was Barbara who happily greeted them with a smile. 

“Glad to see you both can make it!” Vivian waved at them from the top.

Coming to where they were, Dick and Barbara greeted Vivian with an embrace, but the woman held onto the latter much longer. She was just glad to see that after three years and seeing the girl's fight to walk again, it finally paid off. 

“Well, it is spring cleaning, right?” Dick shrugged. “That’s a lot of cases.”

“Yeah, and I want this done before the end of the day, so, chop chop!” Vivian went back to one of the boxes she was putting away. “I know I shouldn't ask but, is Condimentsman even a case you want to keep in archives?”

“You know the man you married, Viv,” Barbara laughed. “He likes to keep things in file. Even the cat he saved from the tree.”

They worked for a few hours, sorting through cases, putting them in chronological order under certain categories. It was there when Vivian saw the transition from folders and binders to hard drives, which she, Dick, and Barbara had to sort through to see what it holds. 

In the middle of their sorting, Alfred went up to get them some snacks and then prepare to leave to pick up Tim from school, and it was then that Vivian saw it.

“Wow, this is old,” Vivian muttered as she opened the drive and saw the one folder in it that says: Cover-Up Story for Bruce Wayne's Death. “Hey, kiddo, come here for a second!”

“Coming!” Dick called out. It took him a couple of minutes before appearing at her side with Barbara. “Oh, that looks interesting.”

“It is,” Vivian said. “I don't think we —”

“We should,” said Barbara.

“Come on, it must be private.”

“Viv, we're gonna see it anyway in the event Batman dies and we need to make a cover for Bruce Wayne,” Dick shrugged. “I say we look at it now, besides, aren't you curious?”

She was. Very curious.

“Alright,” she sighed. “This is just because we will eventually see this in the unlikely event of his death.” Just saying it brought sadness to her. Vivian couldn't imagine how she would cope if Bruce were to die.

Opening the folder they were met by over a dozen clips. She decided to open the very first one in the list –”

“HOLY —”

“FUCKING —”

“SHIT!”

The three of them were left gaping at the sight of the video. It was a shot coming from someone else's camera, they weren't sure how Batman got it but he did. And the footage was of Bruce Wayne in his twenties, stripping in the Iceberg Lounge, wearing only his boxers. Music blared and audiences cheered as Bruce did his moves.

“Fuck,” Vivian couldn't believe what she was seeing. 

Was that really her husband?

“Holy shit, this is…” Dick wanted to look away, and he should but he couldn't. 

“That's it, I'm burning my eyes,” said Barbara. “Alfred, where's the bleach?”

“Bleach? What on earth do you need bleach — and what is that noise? Oh dear…” Alfred fell silent as he saw the video they were watching. “Ms. Vivian — Mrs. Wayne, I-I-I do apologize about — I was supposed to dispose of those myself!”

Vivian turned to Alfred with a raised brow, “So, this is why you wanted to do this on your own huh?”

“You must understand, Ma'am,” Alfred stumbled in his words – the man never does — and ran to the computer and stopped the clip. “Those were taken long ago — all the way back in Master Bruce's early days of his return. He needed to keep up appearances as such to keep them from thinking he is Batman.”

“That doesn't really explain the stripping, Alfred,” said Vivian. “How many of these does he have? Oh god, does he have a sex tape here?! How come I never knew about this!?”

“No… not that I have any knowledge in. Please, let me explain.”

“Please, do Alfred,” Barbara said as she sat on a stool. “I need to find a logical explanation for what I just saw.”

Alfred sighed. “As I said, upon Master Bruce's return the Batman appeared. In his first year there were already suspicions of Bruce Wayne being Batman. To silence those whispers, Master Bruce needed to create a persona that would keep them from thinking so. Thus…”

“Billionaire-philanthropist-playboy, Bruce Wayne. Emphasis on the playboy,” Vivian concluded.

“Precisely, Ma'am. He made many appearances in many places, making sure they all are memorable to make good alibis if ever the police would come and question him again. Master Bruce collected all these footages manually and compiled them in this hard drive which is labeled as such.”

“So, Bruce wants to be remembered as a stripper when he dies?” Dick said.

“Oh my god, my Father's worse nightmare. I married a stripper,” Vivian massaged the bridge of her nose. “How come he never told me this?”

“Perhaps, Master Bruce is embarrassed by these videos,” said Alfred. 

“I would be embarrassed too,” said Barbara. “

“Shall I collect these and throw them to the bin for incineration, Ma'am?”

“No,” Vivian said. “I'll be keeping hold of this for a while.” She unplugged the drive and hid it in her pocket. “Bruce will be home any minute now, I want this place done and all of you upstairs before he comes home. Alfred, tell Magic Mike that I want a word with him in the cave.”

Alfred sighed and nodded, “Very well, Ms. Vivian.”

Dick snickered. “We'll get this place cleaned up before he gets here, Viv.” He nudged at Barbara to come along. This was going to be interesting.

~*~

Bruce had a bad feeling about this. Not his Batman-bad feeling, but as a husband. When he came home, he was immediately told by Alfred to go to the cave where Vivian waited. Passing by the sitting room, he greeted Dick and Barbara, but the two only held back laughter and were snickering, which confused him and Tim.

By the time he opened his passage to the Cave, he heard Tim say, “Come on, spill it out. What are you two laughing about?”

Coming down the cave, Bruce could hear distorted loud music mixed with howls and cheers. Was Vivian watching a movie at the Batcomputer? She wouldn't! Not only because he's repeatedly told Dick, Jason, and Tim that the Batcomputer was not a home theater — besides, they have that in the manor too.

“Vivian, is everything alright?” Bruce called out.

Oh no.

There, from the stairs, he saw it. The clips. The many, many clips of his party raves, the clips of him foolishly dancing and stripping, and making an utter fool of himself in his early twenties. Dancing in parties, drinking (but really that's just ginger ale), getting lap dances, making out with every woman he had in his arms, making an utter fool of himself. And watching it all was Vivian.

Alfred was supposed to burn that hard drive!

When the clip showed him making out with one of his model dates then, Bruce ran to the computer and stopped the clip. Turning it all off.

“I can explain,” he told her.

“Don't bother, Alfred already did,” she sniffled.

He saw tears falling down her face, her eyes and nose all red and puffy as if she had been crying for a long time now. 

No, no, no…

Bruce knelt before Vivian. He pulled down her legs that were pressed against her chest and held her hands. “Viv, please, you need to understand. Those were nothing — I made them before I met you. I did all of those long before we met — I was an idiot who thought —”

Vivian wiped her tears. “I know, I know, and it was a smart move. Alfred told me why and I understand… and I was actually having a really good time, laughing at them but then it hit me… Bruce, is this really how you want people to remember you? A wild child. An asshole who does all of that?”

“It was for a cover.”

“Your legacy is not just Batman, Bruce. No one will know who Batman is, but they will remember who Bruce Wayne is,” Vivian wiped more tears away. “It was supposed to be a good laugh… me watching this but it really just hit me, what if you do die and this is all that we have to give you a cover! Or worse, you made some sort of trigger to put this out there in the event of your death and we have no idea! Think, Bruce. Think about your parents, about Alfred who raised you.Or think about me. What would it look like if that got out? It would be humiliating for me, for Dick, for Tim. It's all laughs now but the aftermath of it.”

Bruce got up and brought Vivian to an embrace. “I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I should have burned those a long time ago. I should have gotten rid of them the moment I turned my life around, when I realized I didn't need to be some party raving alter ego to keep them from connecting Batman to me. I should have destroyed them the moment we started dating.

“I wasn't thinking. I knew they were here but I never thought it was urgent to get rid of them.”

Vivian got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around her husband. “What hurts more, I think, is the fact you wanted to keep this from me. What happened to for better or for worse?”

Bruce held her tight. “I know… I just thought it would hurt you if you found them.”

“I would have laughed with you if we watched all of these together and not be this blubbering mess now,” she laughed.

“I promise. This is the only one. The only secret that I have from you. The rest you know all about it,” he kissed the top of her head. “I'm so sorry, Vivian.”

Vivian shook her head and told him. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about, Bruce.”

“I made you cry.”

“This is my own doing. I shouldn't have watched them behind your back.”

“I still made you cry because I hid them from you.”

Looking up, Vivian got on her toes and kissed his lips. “Forgiven. I'm sorry too, for snooping.”

“It's cleaning day, it was inevitable,” Bruce sighed. 

Wiping her tears, Bruce leaned down and kissed her. “No more secrets, I promise.”

Vivian let out a laugh, “And I thought I was the wild-child between the two of us.”

“I don't think I can top your record: demon hunting, exorcisms, and parties,” Bruce teased. “You don't happen to have videos that are…”

“None. Unless you count the one that had BBC News reporting about Halloween and we were running in the background being chased by a demon.”

“I'll start looking for that.”

Smiling, she kissed him again, but her smile fell as the thought crossed her mind. Bruce noticed the changed and asked her what she was thinking. She said: “I don't want the day to come where we'd have to put up a cover video to explain how Bruce Wayne died… I don't ever want to do that.”

“And you won't. I'll do everything to come back to you, Vivian.”

Taking the hard drive, he held it out for Vivian and said, “Would you do the honors?”

Laughing, Vivian had the hard drive levitate in midair and then burned to a crisp.

~*~

It was late in the night when he returned from patrol. Vivian was fast asleep but the sound of their bedroom door opening and his shoes strolling in woke her from her slumber. Getting up, Vivian greeted Bruce with a, “welcome home,’ with a yawn.

Cape and cowl removed, Bruce sat on the bed and greeted her with a kiss. “Go back to bed,” he said.

“I will when you get here,” Vivian patted on his spot. “So hurry up and get cleaned up. I miss you.”

Chuckling, Bruce leaned down and kissed her again before getting up to head to the shower. He had a quick shower and once done, he went straight to bed, snuggling close to his wife who did not mind his nude body under the covers. 

“Are you asleep?” Bruce asked.

“Nope, I can't now with you poking me from behind,” Vivian teased him.

“Since you're awake, I want to show you something.”

“Bruce, it's later. Let's stay in bed,” Vivian whined.

“We will, it won't be long. I promise,” Bruce reached for his phone and did a few swipes and taps before finding the thing he was looking for. “Here, watch.’

Vivian opened her eyes and watched from his phone the footage he got. It was one of the footage she took during their honeymoon or was it one of their dates on the yacht? Bruce was laying on the beach bench and she was the only holding the camera recording the entire thing.

Bruce, if you wanna sleep, go below deck. Else you'll get sunburned, the Vivian in the video said.

The Bruce in the video sat up and pulled Vivian down, there was a struggle in the camera, laughter and kisses were heard and soon they saw their faces as Vivian held the camera facing them.

Always looking after me, He said in the video.

Somebody has to.

I love you, Pryor.

I love you, Wayne. 

The video ended and Bruce swiped to another one, this time it was taken during their dates and the one who got the shot was a man from the press who wanted to get footage of the couple having a dance, both conversing about something that made Vivian laugh and Bruce kissed her.

The next video was of the couple being filmed by one of Vivian's students as they had a lunch date at Gotham University’s cafeteria. The students teased them, asking how the “michelin star” food was.

The next video was of them walking in the museum. It was Dick who took the shot and was teasing them a lot.

Then the next video, and the next, and the next. All showing videos of the two of them, all stolen moments, all filled with laughter and love.

“In the event that I die, I want one of these to be put out,” said Bruce. “I want them all to know about Bruce Wayne who was a loving husband to his wife. Because you are my legacy, Viv. You and the boys.”

Vivian turned to face him and kissed him deeply. “I love you, Bruce,” she said.

“I love you, Vivian,” he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her on top of him. Laughter erupted from the couple's lips as she felt him press against her thigh. In one swift movement, she removed her top and Bruce easily moved her underwear to the side as his fingers played with her folds and her clit. 

“My love, I can't wait any more,” Viivian whispered and aligned him to her and went down until she got him to the hilt. 

Bruce held her waist and helped her move. “I wouldn't mind dying tomorrow if this is the last thing I see,” he joked.

Vivian bit her lip and then took his phone and handed it to him. “We're deleting it immediately.”

She was sure to have felt him grow harder inside her as Bruce turned on the camera and started recording after placing it just above to give the footage a good view of Vivian riding him. 

“I wouldn't mind this going out too,” he teased.

“No,” Vivian rolled her hips, making them both moan.

“Right, just for tonight then,” Bruce chuckled and thrusted his hips up, making her squeak his name. 

The video lasted for an hour, and the two decided to keep it longer than intended to watch as they gave themselves to each other.

[stuckymonkey]

Ride

Natasha Romanoff

Pairing - nat x agent!reader

Summary - y/n has a special mission...seduce nat. she learns about what gets the gorgeous redhead to tick, eventually winning her over with a fun ride...

Warnings - implications of sexy times, flirting, reader is female, use of y/n

Word count - 1.5k

a/n - this is a ship I am hoping to write about more! this idea came to me and it was just too hot not to write

masterlist natasha romanoff

She was gorgeous. And completely off limits. Natasha Romanoff. She sat on one of the couches adjacent to mine during another team movie night. Sam had chosen a rom com, again. She laughed at one of the scenes, throwing popcorn in her mouth after. Natasha was so adorable in her pink pajama shorts that I wanted to feel so bad.

I've been on the team for just over a year, working privately before that as a Shield agent and one of Fury's few favourite and trusted people. I was born and trained in Europe before moving to NYC for school. That's when I was recruited by Fury and Stark to join the Avengers. I had quickly made friends with Steve, Bucky and Sam.

Natasha and Wanda soon became my friends as well, although while Wanda had become my friend instantly, Nat took more time to warm up to me. But when she did, oh man, it was amazing. She laughed with her whole body when she felt comfortable, and she talked freely around those she could trust. I was honoured when I became one of those people.

After tonight's movie night, we'll have a short mission tomorrow consisting of Steve, Bucky, Sam, Nat and me. As the movie ended I watched the redhead get up and bring her blanket back with her to her room. I helped Sam clean up a bit before heading to my own room, passing Natasha's on the way.

I stopped and knocked gently, surprised when I heard a clear "Come in," from one of my favourite voices. "Hey," I smiled. "Hey," she said, smiling back. "I just wanted to say I hope you have a good sleep before our mission tomorrow." I said. "Aw, thanks y/n/n. You too." Her soft smile reached her eyes, making her cheeks plumper than usual. "Thanks,"

With that, I headed to my bed, happy at being able to hear her voice and see her face as one of the last things before I fell into a deep sleep.

I sped past Steve and Bucky who were acting as lookouts, heading towards the abandoned hydra base where I would be meeting Sam. The motorcycle sped under me as I raced towards the checkpoint.

Nat was in the jet, giving us navigation directions. She successfully got us through the unguarded hallways and into the necessary room to gather intel for the usb drive in my pocket. It was a quick in and out after getting the needed information about a new HYDRA weapon. "Good?" Sam asked, standing behind me to watch the door. Even though this place was mostly empty, you never knew when it came to these idiots.

"Good." I replied. I pulled the drive out of the device, putting it back in my pocket. "We can go now," I said, following Sam out of the room. "Perfect. You'll ride back, and I'll fly?" He asked. "Sounds good to me," I said, flashing him a smile before straddling my bike as he flew off back to the jet.

When I passed Steve and Bucky's spot, they were already gone, probably headed to the jet. As I got closer I saw everyone standing out side of the jet's ramp. I drove straight past them, up the ramp and on to the jet.

I walked back down the jet to meet up with the other team members. Nat's gaze was fixed on me. "Hi," I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth and bit on it. Her eyes darkened and she swallowed, "H-hi." she blinked quickly as if to make sure what she was seeing was real. I usually fought in a regular tactical suit. Seeing me in a low cut red crop top and black leather jacket with ripped black jeans must have thrown her off.

"Might want to close your mouth, Natty, the drool's gonna slip out." I sassed, giving her the most seductive look I could. See, Nat could seduce anyone easily. Especially because they were already probably seduced before she even showed them any attention. So to seduce Nat was quite a bit harder, but I wanted her. And I wanted her bad.

After working with Natasha for several months, I knew just how to make her flustered: act confident, use your eyes and your mouth. So far, it was working. I could see a blush creep up her neck and just barely reach her cheeks. She turned her head away to avoid my gaze.

She followed everyone else onto the jet, I sat near her. I slowly took my jacket off and put it on my lap, sighing in content as I did so. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her head whip around to meet my body, letting her heavy gaze rest on me.

Real subtle Nat, I thought. By the time the jet landed, Nat rushed off and probably back to her room. Now I was kind of scared that I had made her uncomfortable. Most of the team knew about my crush on her, and I received a questioning glance from Wanda. Not knowing what else to do, I just offered a shrug in return before heading back to my room.

I had an excellent plan: shower, get changed, order takeout, bring said takeout to Natasha's room and see what was going on. I twisted the knob to my door, startled at seeing the redhead perched on the end of my bed. "Nat?!"I asked. "Hi," she replied shyly. "Hey, um, what are you doing here?" I asked. She shrugged but her eyes never left mine.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable today, I thought you were checking me out, but maybe I misread it! Anyways, I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, so if I did I am so so sorry, and if you want we never have to speak of this ever again." I watched her for a reaction, the only thing I noticed was her eyes that were practically undressing my breasts, still covered in the red low cut crop top.

Slowly she got up from my bed and came to stand in front of me. Both of our hearts were beating out of our chests. I looked from her eyes, to her lips and back again. "Kiss me," she whispered. "Please."

"I always thought you would be the confident one in the bedroom," I commented, earning a light slap to my arm. "Just kiss me." she said. I gently cupped her neck with both of my hands, bringing her lips closer to mine, gently brushing them over my own. She grabbed onto my waist and pulled me closer, jamming her mouth onto mine.

I moaned at the feeling, moving my hands to thread through her red hair. "Nat," I moaned again as she licked my lower lip, slowly, teasingly. "Hm?" she started walking backwards toward my bed. I didn't know we reached it until she fell back, me landing on top of her.

We both erupted into giggles and went back to lazily making out. She shed her jacket and I offered her some pj's so we could cuddle up and watch something together. "Oh! I forgot, I had this plan to get you takeout and bring it to your room, but you were already here so...would you like some takeout?" my tone was sheepish as I waited for her answer. ''Sure, sweetheart." "Okay, Chinese sound good?" I beamed. "Perfect."

Her lips landed softly on mine once more, letting me put our order in as she got changed in my bathroom. She came back and joined me on my bed, snuggling in under the covers and searching for my TV remote. I watched her as she pulled her lip into her mouth, focusing on finding something to watch.

The rest of the night was filled with cuddles, stolen kisses and gentle touches. Eventually the movie ended and Nat stayed the night, falling asleep under warm covers with her head on my chest and my arms circled around her waist.

I couldn't wait to wake up with the redheaded woman of my dreams, and kiss her good morning. Except this wasn't a dream, this was real and I was beyond thankful for it.

[bonny-kookoo]

Hi Bonny! I don't know if you're still doing stuff for this story (feel free to ignore if you aren't) but I couldn't help but wonder how Lacrymaria Olor!(I pray that I spelt that right) JK would react to MC getting her period for the first time. Especially after seeing his little freak out when we almost got kidnapped. Anyways, have a good day/afternoon/evening/night!

Nop, that was actually never asked- so here you go! Set very close before the happenings of Part 3, just for a clearer timeline haha

Some things about you have pretty much gone unnoticed before Jungkook truly began showing more intimate interest in you. From quirks and habits, to more unique things that set yours and his kind apart- and you tend to forget that some things he's never witnessed.

Before, you'd sleep in a room just for you- and you'd be cared for by maids he'd apparently hired just for the purpose of making sure you wouldn't have to worry about anything. They'd tend to any request you might have, and apparently even had to learn about some human anatomy simply to be able to be prepared for anything that might happen.

Things like.. well, your period.

And every month, it would be fine- so much so that you got used to using the cloth-like material in a way similar to how you'd use pads bad on earth. It became normal again, in a way. His palace became.. somewhat home.

You're woken up in the middle of the night, a clearly distressed Jungkook leaning above you, eyes wide open, scanning your body it seems like. "What- what's going on?" You mumble half asleep, now sitting up as well before you cringe at the cramping of your lower stomach.

And when you look down, you notice it.

"I've already called for Namjoon. Don't worry- we'll fix it." He promises, holding your hands, while you laugh a bit under your breath.

"I- Jungkook I'm fine." You tell him, and he shakes his head.

"You don't have to act tough right now-" He softly argues, and you shake your head again, carefully trying to sit up and wiggle out of bed. "Don't stand-"

"Jungkook, this is normal- let me clean up please." You giggle, squeezing past his arms and into the bathroom, where you do just that- finishing your business only a few minutes later, emerging out of the bathroom again just to run into Jungkook's chest. "oh-"

"What's happening to you?" He asks, now a lot more serious.

"I'm.. menstruating?" You raise your brows a bit, testing if he knows what that word means- but his face tells you he clearly doesn't- but Namjoon clears his throat in the doorway now, similarly amused over his friend's and king's distress.

"Her body is preparing for pregnancy." He bluntly states, giving you some hygiene necessities you take with a thankful nod, slipping back into the bathroom to fix yourself up. "Humans bleed during that time, and shed some of the lining of their internal reproductive organs." He explains, while Jungkook looks absolutely horrified as he watches the maids silently change the bedsheets.

"Will she be okay?" He asks, worry clear in his tone. "What does she need to regain her blood?" He instantly wants to know, and Namjoon laughs.

"Jungkook, I just wanna sleep.." You say, leaning against him, and he instantly holds you close, delicately as if you're a wounded pet on it's last breath.

"She'll have some cramps and will probably be a bit less active than you're used to. But she's fine, just like she said. She knows her body best. If anything is out of the ordinary for her, I am sure she will let us know." Namjoon says, and you nod.

And so Jungkook, albeit reluctantly, gets back to bed with you-

and holds you just a little tighter tonight, just to be safe.

[callofdudes]

Yesss!! Cod g/t brain worm! I just really need as much tiny!y/n, ghost, soap, and gaz with guant!price fics as I can handle!

Giant!Price and his little tinys helping him cooking in the kitchen. Like tiny!soap amd ghost pushing the ingredients to price when he needs them, while tiny!y/n mixes the pot and tiny!gaz is the taste tester!! It's so cute🥺🥺

P.s. I am sending something kinda similar to this to other authors as well. BUT I AM CHANGING THE PROMPT!! I just want to see everyone's take on cod g/t. So if you're uncomfortable with multiple authors also writing something not super similar to this, but still a cod g/t fic, I understand and you can just ignore this. Thank you🩷🩷

Shut up this is so adorable. I immediately thought of them as those little tiny chibi like characters. So just know that is what I'm picturing as I write this. Their little beans now. I hope you enjoy it, this was an interesting experiment.

When a family makes a home.

Price was in charge of taking care of his little ones. While you weren't always the most military efficient, Price brought you guys everywhere with him. On leave he had shelves above his bed where he had set up beds and configurations for sleep, all for you guys.

At night dropping you all off at your little platforms and making sure you were snuggled in so you wouldn't fall off. Even if you did, his chest would be there as a landing pad.

Even so, sometimes you guys would come and snuggle with him. Mostly you or Johnny, which frequently leads to you guys trapped under his weighted blanket.

If there is one thing you all like to do together though, it's baking. Price was taught by his mother how to cook and bake, and that was something that always stuck with him. Making bread or cupcakes. He wasn't always the best decorator there ever was, but it worked out.

Especially with his little helpers. Price got up and ready for the day, having a shower and dressing in something fresh. Coming outside to see four little people standing outside the door expectantly. Like cats almost.

He chuckled softly, walking down the hall with you all following after him. Johnny hopped and grabbed Simon's hand as they ran with him.

Gaz tagged along behind with you, having a conversation about something or other. The morning laziness was nice, especially since Price didn't get time off a lot. What with work?

You headed to the kitchen and Johnny jumped excitedly. "We'll help!!"

"We always help, Johnny." Simon pokes his cheek, making the Scot pout a little.

Price bent down, gently picking you all up, Johnny and Gaz getting comfy. Simon huffed and stepped into Price's hand with you behind him.

"So what are we making??" You asked, leaning forward to inspect the clean counter and washed-down stove.

"Omelets, I'm fixing for one today. That alright?"

Gaz gave his biggest thumbs up. As a taste tester of course he got to be the first to approve. 😌

"Perfect." Price got out a pan. "Alright," He headed to the fridge, narrating quietly as he got out eggs, milk, onions, peppers and whatever else they needed. He set them in a pile and placed his hand over the man to make sure it was hot.

He poured some oil in the pan and you all stood around watching. Gaz had a little spot by the spice rack where he usually sat. In his words, his job was to "sit there and look pretty." Which he did very well.

Price felt the pan was hot and reached his hand out. "Eggs."

Simon got up, Johnny and him each taking a side to flip the carton open. "How about this one Simon??"

"Looks heavy as fuck."

"This one it is then!"

Simon sighed, going over and taking off his little gloves, helping Johnny wiggle the egg out and carry it back on wobbly legs to Price.

"Thank you." Price cracked the egg in the pan, watching it sizzle and start to cook. "I'm going to flip it a few times and then you can have it y/n."

You smiled, nodding and rushing over. At the ready Captain Price!

"Ok, one, two, pull!" Johnny pushed the jug of milk forward with all his might, Simon grabbing the handle and tugging, his feet struggling under the marble countertop.

Slowly dragging it over.

"See.. this isn't too hard!"

"Thank you, both of you."

Johnny smiled, hopping on Simon and squeezing him. "aye aye captain!"

Simon pinched Johnny's cheek. "You're horrible."

You watched, smiling and looking into the pan. Price poured a dab of milk in and smoothed the egg around, ordering up another egg which Johnny and Simon quickly fetched.

Once Price popped it in he handed you the flipper. "Have at it kiddo."

"Yes!" You jumped in, standing on the edge, close but not too close, stirring the egg and flipping it with all your might!

Price went to the fridge again and poured three glasses of orange juice. He set down a big one and two small ones. Then getting out pineapple and mango for Simon and Gaz. Two little glasses.

You take a few sips while you watch the pan, grabbing the handle again and squishing it under the omelette, grunting and pushing it up and flipping it. Getting the folded side over too.

"How's it looking y/n?" Price asked.

"It looks good!

"Careful with that knife you two." He said over to Johnny and Simon. Simon looked over at Price. They'd gotten out the peppers and onions, Johnny holding the handle while Simon guided the blade down on the vegetable.

"Don't worry, If Johnny loses a hand I won't worry."

"Hey! You'd worry if I lost a hand." Johnny rested his chin on the handle, pouting out his lip at Simon.

Simon grumbled a little. "Yeah,.. just hold the knife."

Johnny grinned, knowing that was a yes, and went back to work.

Price looked at Gaz who sipped his pineapple mango. "Comfy?"

Gaz looked at him, then the others. "Sure beats having to chop peppers captain."

Price hummed and nodded. "Of course." He finished off his drink and grabbed a plate from the cupboard. Heading over to you. "Alright kiddo, I'll squeeze in here for a moment."

You hopped out of the way and Price took the flipper, putting the omelette on the plate. "Alright, a couple more eggs."

Simon scuttled over while Johnny held the handle of the knife, stepping into the carton and grabbing an egg.

"Careful Simon." You warned. Simon huffed, pulling the egg and wiggling it out. He hopped back down, starting to walk over and - crack.

Simon slipped in the egg white that spilled, the whole egg cracking and flooding down on him. You snickered, covering your mouth quickly.

"Son." Price chuckled, holding out his hand. Simon lifted his mask and spat out egg white. Covered from head to toe.

"Shut up." He grumbles before any of you can say anything. "You've been egged!" You snort.

Johnny came over with an armful of pepper chippings. "I got us- ah!" He slipped, egg white staining all up and down his back.

Gaz burst out laughing, followed by you. Johnny whined, standing up and shaking out his dripping gooey hands.

"Oh come on. Who did that??"

Price held out his hand, Johnny seeing Simon also completely drenched in egg. Well, he was glad he wasn't like Simon... He was swimming in it!

Price lightly shook his head. "Ok y/n, you and Gaz keep an eye on the stove, I'll get these two cleaned up."

"Yes sir." You bent down, grabbed a cloth from the stove handlebar and lifted it. Poking your head up carefully as you walked with the large thing.

"Careful," Gaz warned, also getting up and making sure you didn't slip. You huffed, throwing the towel on the small spill, shuffling your feet while Gaz came over and picked up the eggshells.

Once all is clean you get some pepper pieces and put them in the pan. Gaz and you grabbing another egg out.

Gaz went around again and turned down the heat. He spotted the unattended omelette on the plate. Casually walking over and sitting down. He pulled the corner close and took a big chomp.

"Hey, this is pretty good."

"Are you already eating it??" You snickered. "You won't get to taste test."

"I already did. And besides, he won't notice."

You both waited until Price returned with freshly washed clothes Johnny and Simon. "We survived!" Johnny waved, both hopping down onto the counter.

Price chuckled. "Now where were we?"

"Putting another omelette in."

And so you got to work. Simon and Johnny helping with more ingredients and getting the spice shakers to Price. You helped flip and stir, making up some better egg batter to pour in. And Gaz sat and looked pretty.

When all was said and done Price cut up some pieces for you four and had his plate. "Want to test it Gaz??"

"He already-"

Gaz shushed you softly, batting his eyelashes innocently at Price. "Yes, I do." Price tore a piece and gave it to Gaz, who gobbled it down. Giving a thumbs up. "It's really good-" he said through a mouthful.

You each took your plates and followed Price. Getting help down onto the floor and waddling after him with your omelettes. An adorable sight.

You made it to Price's office and he helped you all onto the desk. Grabbing on his laptop, a blanket and a Nintendo Switch.

He put the blanket on the end of his desk and you all sat around the Nintendo Switch, happily eating and watching videos.

"Hey Price??" You poked your head up. Price looking over.

"This is good."

"Well, you helped make it, so pat yourselves on the back too." He ruffles your hair with his thumb.

Johnny giggled, Simon rolled his eyes, and Gaz just continued to look pretty.

It was a peaceful morning.

Price went back to tapping away on his keyboard while you guys watched different videos. Cheering, laughing and talking as you ate.

Price never felt bugged hearing you guys talk. Just glad he had you guys around with him.

[sophistired18]

The bristle of door chimes ring causing Kuroo to scowl.

"Oi, Kenma! I thought I told you to close up shop ten minutes ago!" Kuroo gripes.

To that, he only receives a quiet scoff from across the room, where Kenma's busy fidgeting with his new gadget Shoyo found at the dump the other day.

"Geez," Kuroo mutters under his breath as he drops his screwdriver, pausing on his current project. "Hey, just letting you know that shop's past closing hours already." Kuroo says aloud to the entering customer, rubbing his forehead as he makes his way to the front desk.

"Well, last I checked," a familiar voice drawls out, "the front door still says open." There's an annoying smirk that follows at the end of their sentence and Kuroo finds himself making a similar expression.

"Of course it's you." Kuroo groans. "And my day was running so smoothly too."

"Just our luck, huh?" The voice teases as they set down a busted piece of metal on the counter.

"Yakkun, as a regular, you should know when the shop's closed." Kuroo states with annoyance yet he's already taking a look at what Yaku's brought him.

"As a customer, I know how to read when a sign says open." Yaku jabs back, crossing his arms.

"Well, technically most customers can't read, so..."

"Kuroo, trust me, I wouldn't be here either if I didn't have to. It pains me that you're the only nerd I know who can fix this for me."

Kuroo gives him a pointed glance, but Yaku knows there's no real offense behind it. Kuroo's all bark, no bite. Well, with him at least, from what Yaku's deducted from the past three years of knowing the engineer.

"Plus you're the only nerd who I know will fix my shit even after their shop's closed." Yaku adds, a knowing grin plastered on his face.

Kuroo groans again. "Fine. What is this scrap metal you dumped here. Before I fix it, I gotta know what it is at least." Kuroo says as he analyzes the mess of bolts, steel, concrete powder, and the questionable dark crust that nondiscreetly resembles dried blood.

"It's my gauntlet." Yaku states. "Was. Was my gauntlet."

And a bold statement it was.

"WHAT? H-HOW?" Kuroo sputters, aggressively glancing at Yaku, then to the supposed gauntlet, and back to Yaku again.

"Chillax, the dude deserved it." Yaku shrugs. "I tried to clean most of the blood, but I didn't wanna break it even more. You can thank me." Yaku says flatly and even gives Kuroo a small bow as if he deserves such praise for his consideration.

"YOU WANT ME TO THANK YOU?" Kuroo gasps. "Yakkun. I am a scientist. An engineer. I'm not a fucking miracle worker. And this bloody piece of crap needs a miracle to even stay in one piece!! I'm not even sure you understand what my job description is!"

"Duh. You fix things. That is what you do, right? Or did you find a way to get paid by complaining all the time?" Yaku snipes. "Can you fix it or not?" He asks genuinely.

Kuroo glances at him for a moment before looking back down at the crushed gauntlet in front of him. A few seconds pass as Kuroo contemplates. He lets out a sigh. He already knew what his answer would be, he just didn't want to make it apparent how quickly he already decided.

"I can try." Kuroo says. "No guarantees, though. Might need a whole upgrade, honestly." Kuroo mumbles, his hand reaches his chin as he looks for what parts he can salvage.

"If you weren't covered in grease and oil, I might just kiss you."

"What?"

"How long you think it'll take?" Yaku leans over the counter, trying to see what Kuroo was looking at.

Kuroo feels his face heat. "Uh. I dunno, I'm not sure yet. A few months, a few more? Hard to tell based on how there's barely anything worth saving." Kuroo exhales, his hand rubbing his temples.

"That bad, huh?" Yaku hums, as if he isn't the culprit of the damages. "What about payment?"

Kuroo's mind jumps straight to Yaku's previous comment. "I-" Kuroo stammers and hates himself for it. "How about we wait on that one as well? We'll see how much I need to invest in these. When do you need it by?"

"Hm. How considerate. The next time I need to punch someone I suppose." Yaku chuckles.

"I do take good care of my customers."

"Well, don't worry about this one then. Just get them done whenever you have the time. I'm not gonna be wearing them for a while anyways."

"What's that imply?" Kuroo questions.

"Commander put me up as a probation officer. But honestly they're probably gonna put me on probation instead." Yaku laughs lightly, but there's a story here that Kuroo doesn't have all the pieces to. He's not sure if he's allowed to pry any further.

"I'll try to work on it in between projects then. Bring me your other one too." Kuroo decides to say instead.

"Why? Afraid I'm going to punch someone else?" Yaku chuckles.

"I dunno. Are you?" Kuroo jokes. "No, it's just that if I'm going to fix this one, I might as well tweak some improvements on your other one."

"Oh. No, you don't need to do that." Yaku says waving him off. "You're going to make a broke man outta me. I'm already getting paid less as it is."

"Yakkun, it's fine." Kuroo insists. "I won't add this in, it's on me."

"How come?" Yaku looks at him.

"Call it a favor." Kuroo shrugs. "Besides, I want to. So just let me, will you?"

"Alright." Yaku pauses. "Thanks."

"Anything for a regular." Kuroo smiles.

"I'm not a regular, Kuroo." Yaku scoffs. "Just because I know you, doesn't make me a regular."

"Yet you come by all the time. That makes you a regular."

"I come like twice a month. And I don't even buy anything most times!"

"Still a regular!" Kuroo muses. "And it's sweet to hear you admit that you just wanna hang out with me, even during work hours. You can come by more often if you want, I don't mind."

"I- That's not- What if I just wanted to see Kenma instead?" Yaku huffs.

A quiet voice from the corner of the shop rises. "Keep me out of this." Kenma interrupts.

Kuroo laughs and Yaku rolls his eyes. "Just admit you miss me." Kuroo taunts.

"In your dreams." Yaku replies, already turning for the door. "I'll see ya around."

"To check in on progress?" Kuroo asks, trying not to sound too hopeful.

A small smile forms on Yaku's lips. "Sure. To check progress."

He gives Kuroo a nod and leaves the shop. Kuroo chuckles to himself as he hears the door chimes ring and the sound of the 'Open' sign being flipped to 'Closed' outside.

"Your other customers already think you're biased." Kenma speaks. "Wait til they hear about this."

"You know, I hate it when you act like you're not in the room but you say shit like this." Kuroo scoffs. "C'mon. Let's go home."

[jhoneybees]

Needing help

I just can't stop writing😭 This one is inspired by the movie G.I Blues!

Characters: Tulsa(Elvis) and reader

Prompt: You and Tulsa have grown little crushes for each other when you two first met at a party that you got dragged along to with some of the other nurses but as time goes by, 5 years down the line of Tulsa working as a soldier and you as one of the nurses, your love for one another grew even stronger that it was itching you. Both of you know Paul, being another soldier who recently had a baby named Junior, Tulsa takes up the challenge of babysitting so Paul and his girlfriend could get married but one thing leads to another, Tulsa calls for your help.

_____________________________________________

"See ya later!" Tulsa waves to the soon to be married couple as they drive off, taking a deep breath preparing himself for what was to come before he heads back inside to start his babysitting duties. He takes a seat on the couch after closing the front door, sitting back and looking around the home thinking of what he could do to pass the time.

What about make a sandwich?

Whistling and humming a little tune as he nears the finishing product, he picks up the sandwich to take a bite but when his mouth opens, the sudden sound of a muffled baby's cry could be heard from the nursery. Tulsa springs up and quickly runs out of the kitchen, leaving the sandwich discarded on the baby's high chair, Barging into the room, he looks around to find Junior standing in his cot facing towards the door, crying sadly. "Woah, woah, woah, now just be calm... calm down, calm down!" Junior's distressed crying becomes louder and Tulsa looks around the room to find something that might calm the baby but nothing caught his eye so he tries to comfort with words again. " Don't be scared...don't be scared!" The poor baby whines louder and louder, helplessly trying to shush Junior. "Ya daddy's gonna be right back!.. t-they just went away to get married-" he pauses and thinks of what he just said, shaking his head realising that wouldn't be helping the situation. Maybe a little tickle might help? Nope, made the baby cry even more. "I-i'm your uncle Tulsa!..u-um let's play huh? Hey look, look" grabbing ahold of both of his ears and pulling a funny face hoping that would make Junior laugh but only earns another noisy cry. "Don't say I blame ya.." he sighs, stroking his chin with his hand, thinking hard of what could possibly make the baby stop crying, a light bulb lights up. "Hey I know, you're hungry! Aren't ya?" Lifting Junior out of the cot. "we'll fix that!" He states, walking into the kitchen, setting the baby in his high chair and turns to the fridge, Tulsa attempts to open the fridge door, finding it a little jammed so he pulls and shakes the handle for only the door to fly open and a bunch of food fall out onto the floor, including the baby's milk. He curses under his breath. "See what you made me do?" Looking at the crying baby "Waahh" mocking the baby's whining out of frustration.

The sound of the poor sad baby wails fills the house and he just doesn't know what to do, picking up a few food containers to clean up the accidental mess on the floor. The baby's wailing starts to fade, Tulsa turns his head to see the child holding the sandwich that he was going to eat. "Hey! hey! You can't have that" he tries to pry away the little baby fingers that are clawing at his sandwich making the crying louden once again. "Come on, give it to ya uncle Tulsa, C'mon!" his patience starts to grow thin "aw.." he looks away from the tuggle war game that the two are having, his mind trailing off "Army manual section 43..hand to hand combat with the enemy, apply judo jump at the back of neck" he looks back down at the baby "ooh if only you was my size you lil rascal" the game of tuggle war eventually comes to an end as Tulsa retrieves his sandwich and this time places it on a plate that sits on the dining table in the middle of the kitchen. He sighs in defeat, he needs help, he doesn't know what could soothe the baby... Wait... He could call you!

Grabbing the back of the baby's high chair, strolling it into the living room and picking up the telephone, dialling in the numbers. He closes his eyes, praying that you'd be up and awake.

"Hello?" Your soft voice breaks through the line, the sound of a relieved sigh comes through your end. "Y/n.. I-its Tulsa.. i-i- I need help, ya see I-i'm babysittin' Paul's baby for the night a-and I don't know what I can do for the baby to stop cryin, i-i- spilled the milk a-all over the kitchen floor a-and-" cutting him off from his rambling, you couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh, Tulsa frowns. "It ain't funny y/n! I-i- really don't know what to do!" You take a deep breath to get your composure back. " Yeah sorry Tulsa, that was mean of me.. y-you can come over to my place with Junior and I'll try to help" a small smile creeps onto Tulsa's face, he gets to go to your place, well he would preferably like to go alone but he takes what he can get. "Really?" Humming in response. "Oh thank you y/n thank you, I-i'll be there soon..g-give me 15 minutes-" you giggle and nod "alright, see you soon" the phone call ends and Tulsa rushes around the house to find all the things he could think of, the baby carrier, a blanket, diapers and wipes.

Finally arriving at your doorstep after apologising 100 times to the cab driver for Junior's loud cries as they were on the way to your apartment. Knocking the front door 3 times then a fourth time for good measure, Tulsa waits patiently with the baby.

The front door clicks open to reveal you in a casual swing dress that compliments you very nicely, you didn't think it would be too revealing. Tulsa's eyes move down to your…assets unintentionally of course! well maybe not unintentionally but he couldn't help but look. You practically do the same, looking up and down at his manly frame. Biting your lower lip but quickly clears your throat.

"Come in" stepping aside for the male to enter, Tulsa clears his throat and looks back up at your eyes and smiles, placing the baby carrier down on the couch and looks over at you with pleading eyes as you close the door and walk towards the baby, you give him a reassuring smile. "Aww you poor wittle baby.." you coo at Junior who was still crying, as your hands find their way under the child's armpits, you lift up the baby into your arms. Shushing them softly while patting their back earning little choked up sobs. "Shhh it's okay honey, it's alright. Just take a deep breath honey" Tulsa watches the scene in front of him, in disbelief.

How can he possibly fall for you even more? It was beyond him.

Tulsa doesn't really get to see you often because of your different positions but when he does get to see you he almost falls to his knees everytime, you're everything he's looking for, kind, humble, docile, wife material, mother material and the list goes on and on, same goes for you. Tulsa is everything you were looking for, someone who's kind, funny, friendly, eager to please, husband material, father material and more.

Junior’s crying soon fades only leaving little sad whimpers. "That's right...deep breaths" you continue to pat the baby's back a little longer before you turn to look at Tulsa, who was staring at you with love hearts in his eyes but you being oblivious you don't notice, the universe screaming in your face. "Could you move the two armchairs together to make a bed for Junior please?" Tulsa nods and does just that, he could do anything, anything for you to be his.

A bit obsessive? Maybe.

As you give Junior a bottle of milk to suckle on, Tulsa sits on one of the armrests, watching the baby contently drink the warm milk and lets out a calm sigh. "Thank you so much y/n.. I-I don't know how ya do it.." sitting on an armrest opposite from Tulsa, you smile softly. "No Problem, I'm glad I could help.."

Tulsa's eyes were filled with love and adoration, he wants to put a baby into that belly of yours so badly. So bad that his heart starts to ache.

he has to tell you at some point…maybe tell you now.

“Y/n…” you look up at Tulsa and hum softly “mm?” Gulping deeply, the male lowers his head to avoid eye contact and begins to play with the cuff on his sleeve. “I-i- I've been thinkin' about this for a while now a-and I- I think I'm ready to tell you- um-” he stammers and You hum again. Tulsa gulps once more before bringing his hand up to pull on his collar as if he was growing hot all of a sudden, he laughs nervously. “U-um so..ya see-” scratching the back of his neck, he forces himself to look you straight in the eye but only to look back down. Nonchalantly you shuffle closer to him and place your hand on his forehead, noticing his face turning red all of a sudden but being oblivious you just think he might have a fever.

Deep down, whatever his confession was, you hope it was having a crush on you.

As Tulsa feels your hand on his forehead, he looks back up and his heart rate quickens to see you closer to him, closer that he could kiss you.

Kiss you…he could kiss you right now.

Out of nowhere Tulsa leans in and pushes his lips up against yours, your eyes widen at the sudden action. Your brain fills with thoughts of what's actually happening and fear fills your insides. You push back on his shoulders, making Tulsa pull away with a heavy pant and you stand up, taking a step back. “I-i-I love you y/n.. i-i love you so damn much…” you see him lowering his head again and shaking his head. After a moment of silence, Tulsa speaks up again “m’sorry i-i- shouldn't have kissed you..it was too sudden, Junior and I can leave now I-if that's what you want, m’ really sorry…”

You love him too, you really do but you're just not as forward like Tulsa but the more you think about it, making him leave your apartment might ruin what you two have. You bite your lip as you think of what you might do. Closing your eyes before following your decision.

Your lips land on his again but this time cupping his cheeks with your hands, Tulsa being slightly taken aback but not long after he kisses back and his hands move up to rest on your waist. After a while you pull away and let out a quiet laugh. “I love you too Tulsa… love you so damn much” earning the happiest smile from Tulsa.

[he-goes-down]

There Was A Time:

A/n: OMG SORRY IF THIS IS HORRIBLE IM SICK AND MY HEAD BE FLOATING

ENJOY THO

Pervious chapters/ warnings

3. Nice Boys:

Second person POV:

You woke up to the sound of clattering and clanging in the kitchen. You rubbed your eyes and groaned, when you opened them, you realised that you were in Duff's room. "What the fuck!" You yelled, but it was soft as your voice was still waking up as well. You aggressively lifted the covers and looked down. 'Phew, my clothes are still on.' You sighed a sigh of relief. You didn't remember how you got to Duff's bed, but hopefully nothing happened. 'Okay back to bed' All that strong panic and crashing relief so early in the morning made you tired. You took the covers and laid down, holding them to your shoulder and closed your eyes. The idea of getting more sleep started crashing down when there was a loud knock on the door. "Wake up we need you in the kitchen!" The person on the other side yelled. You groaned in annoyance and turned over, flipping open the covers and getting out of bed. The cold air hitting your feet and arms made you shiver, you opened the door to see Izzy standing there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His eyes widen, he was surprised to see you come out of Duff's room. "Where's Duff?" He asked, rather rudely as he looked you up and down. He probably thought the same thing you panicked about this morning. "I don't know." You responded, "What do you need help with?" You asked as you stretched and yawned. "Well, Axl-..." "I didn't do fucking anything!" You heard Axl scream from the kitchen. The sounds of his pounding footsteps approached you and Izzy, "And if you tell Duff that-... Oh?" He paused when he saw that it was just the two of you and smirked at you. "Axl I'm gonna grind your balls on the cheese grater, nothing happened between us." You told him firmly, while pointing at him. He held his hands up in surrender with an even smugger look on his face and waltzed back to the kitchen.

In the end, Duff went out to get more food and booze. While he was gone you helped clean the mess Axl made in the kitchen, he someone caught the sink on fire when he wanted to 'cool off' and 'fix' his jet black, hard ashy bacon he conjured up. You also made them new breakfast and taught Axl how to properly cook bacon, he was very reluctant at first and cussed you out, but he soon had a laugh about it. "This is so fucking good." Steven sighed as he inhaled his breakfast "Can't you just stay here forever and make this every morning." He smiled, and his blonde hair bounced like popcorn popping in the microwave. "Yeah, and sleep with Duff every night" Axl's deep voice range over the table. You looked up to see him and Slash giggling with each other like two teenage girls. Izzy had a disgusted look on his face, and Duff started to go a bit red. "That's not what happened. Y/n slept in my room, and I slept on the couch. That's it." Duff cleared his voice, you were grateful, but you knew Axl couldn't help himself. "I need to call my manager. Can I use the phone?" You asked. Duff nodded and you stood up, so did he but he was heading for the bathroom. "That phone and my dick are the only thing that work in this damn house." Axl said as he dumped his dishes in the sink and tried to turn the tap. You rolled your eyes as you punched in the numbers of your manager.

"Hey, I got a band. They're sick. I just know they'll be the biggest thing ever." You spoke, you didn't say this just to make the guys favour you, you already knew that they are in the future. "I trust your intuition. We'll be able to get them a studio in a few months, it's a bit busy here. We might be able to get them into Sound City. How many members?" Your manager spoke. "Five" You answered, "That might take a bit longer then, sorry doll." He spoke. "But don't worry, we'll slot them in soon." "Thanks sir." You responded. "Oh, and your landlord called in 'cause he couldn't get hold of you, I can switch him over for you." He said. "Yes, thank you."

There was a beep, a pause, and a static crack. You heard your landlord cough up flehm, and his cigarette voice rang through the phone. "Who's this again?" He chewed. "Y/n? You called my work today." You answered. "Oh yeah, I had to throw your shit out. I got some high paying tenants coming in, sorry toots." And he hung up the phone.

You stood there with the phone in hand, shocked, your mouth slightly a gape, paralysed. Every emotion was rushing through you, anger was the biggest one. You could see now why there was a large hole in the wall next to phone, you wanted to punch something too. A swarm of fear and panic ran through your head, there was a loud ringing in your ear. You didn't even realise someone was calling your name, you snapped out of it, you felt a tear run down your cheek and wiped it away quickly. "Hey, you okay? What'd they say?" Axl asked as he dried one of the dishes. "Hm? Oh, yeah, he said we could get a studio in a few months. It's gonna be a private one just for you guys so that's why." You explained, trying not to burst into tears and hope they didn't notice. "Cool!" Slash said, as he pumped the air and shoulder bumped with Steven. "Excuse me a minute." You spoke and dashed out the front door. You felt sick, you wanted to throw up, your legs were shaking.

You sank to the steps of the front porch and put your head on your knees. "Shit." You choked back tears, you were thinking of all the things that are probably in some disgusting New York dumpster getting eaten by rats. Your polaroid's of friends, favourite clothes, shit your whole record collection, even the stuff your dead relatives gave you. It was all gone. You breathed hard, you didn't want to cry, you didn't want to panic. You already had enough of it, and it's only been a day. Your heart jumped when you heard the door open and one of the floorboards creak. "Yo, the guys are gonna head to a bar you wanna-... Oh shit." It was Slash. He hissed as he sucked in air, he didn't know what to do. "You okay?" "No, No, I'm fine. I just needed air." You coughed as you got up. He knew something was up, but you weren't budging and he didn't want to step over boundaries. "Hey babes, you going or not?... Shit, you look wrecked." But there was always Axl to step over the line for you. The ginger look confused, at you. Your eyes were red, ready to explode. "Does the place stink that much?" He laughed, but it was just silence. Awkward silence. Slash gave him a look. "Hey, sorry I-... what's wrong?" He put a hand on your shoulder and asked sincerely. "My landlord kicked me out..." You whispered quietly, "All my stuff is gone." You started to tear up thinking about it, and how embarrassing it was that you were about to cry in front of your new band. Slash came in to hug you, his hair covered your face so no one could see the stream of tears rolling down your cheeks. "Hey, hey, it's okay let it out. You can cry." His soft voice was like a lullaby. You rested your head on his chest as you sobbed and hugged him. Axl rubbed your back, making small jokes and flirts trying to lighten your mood. You tried your hardest to stop crying, you sniffed as you lifted your head off Slash's chest. "Thanks guys." You sighed a chuckle while wiping your face. "You can still come with us to the bar, it'll cheer you up. Promise." Axl said craning his neck over your shoulder to look at you. You exhaled and nodded a yes.

You washed your face before going out, and told Axl and Slash not to tell anyone. You just wanted to forget about it and drink. You dressed into a pair of black jeans, docs, a black white tank and your trusty leather jacket. You and the guys were downtown in a dark bar drink at 12 and it felt good honestly. You were sitting in a red leather booth, Axl next to you with his arm on top of the booth behind you, Steven on your other side, Slash, Izzy then Duff at the other end of the booth. You and Duff were on your 5th shot of Vodka, giggling about anything and nothing. You snapped out of it when you felt a tap on your shoulder, you looked to Steven, but it was Axl who had his arm looming over your shoulder from behind the booth seat. He had his hat on with sunglasses so you couldn't make direct eye contact with him but god his eyes were still pulling you in. "I was thinking... Why don't you stay with us?" You nearly spat out the drink that wasn't in your mouth. "Seriously?" "You still got your job don't ya? So, it won't take that long for you to get enough money to get your own place again. Besides, we'll be racking in your money sweetheart." He spoke nonchalantly as he waved his hand around. Did you really want to live in a hell hole with five stinky men? Five hot stinky men. You did have enough money to help them fix some of the things in their place, it would be a fair trade. They were also a joy to be around, and you had to get to know them better one way or another for this band thing to work. "What about the others-...?" You whispered to him, but he started to speak loudly to the rest of the group. "Give a round of applause to our new guest in the Hell House! We'll be eating like kings while she finds a new place." He rose his glass drunkenly, Steven and Duff clapped as Slash whooped. Duff stared at you with a big grin on his face. Either from excitement or alcohol. Izzy didn't look amused, he looked somewhat agitated, and he clutched his glass tighter till his knuckles went white. "Where will I sleep?" You asked the ginger. "You can always sleep with me babe. In more ways than one." His glasses fell to the bridge of his nose, and you could see his blue eyes, he winked and pushed them back up. You rolled your eyes. "It's fine, I'll buy my own mattress. Who knows how many different stains are on yours." You said. He punched your shoulder playfully and chuckled, you did too.

The rest of the day was you and the guys on a bar crawl, you laughed with all of them about different stories they told you, even with Izzy; after a few bottles of wine, he chuckled at your jokes. It was around 9, and everyone was smashed, smashed enough to still walk but not enough to use common sense. It was a miracle that Axl hadn't started a fight or Steven didn't throw up in someone's drink. You and Slash were on your way to pick up more drinks from the bar when some drunk guy came up and started flirting with you, he started coming closer. His breath stunk you physically stepped back and began cussing him out for it, but he didn't stop. Slash slightly stepped Infront of you, he was getting uncomfortable with this stranger's presence too. "Hey man, just back off." Slash warned. "What, and your skinny ass is gonna beat me up?" He drunkenly scoffed. He quickly grabbed your ass, dodging Slash's body in front of yours, Slash didn't have time to respond to the assault. Someone tapped the drunk man's shoulder, "You fucking bitch." It was Axl, he then swiftly sucker punched him square in the face. The man yelled, Axl grabbed his collar and started repeatedly bashed his face with his fist. A crowd started forming and bartenders yelled at him to get out. You and Slash started to pull Axl away from the man, "Ax get off him! You're gonna kill him!" You yelled at him. "That's the point!" He huffed as he was still reaching and grabbing for the man even though he was backing away, nearly unconscious and scared for his life. With the help from other strangers, you got Axl off him and all of you were kicked out. Axl was panting and still in a rage, yelling and screaming that he's going to finish that guy's ass. You finally got him to calm down with the help of Izzy.

The rest of the night Izzy didn't talk, he was furious, furious with you and Axl. Slash and Steven were worried about you and tried to comfort you, but you were okay, just startled. You didn't want to make a big deal of it. Duff felt the tension between Izzy and you, and he tried to explain that it wasn't your fault, but you told Duff to leave it. You didn't know why Izzy was out to get you, but you tried not to think too much about it. When you got home Izzy went straight to bed, so did Slash, Steven did too but only after he threw up in the toilet as you held his hair up. You sat by the small wooden table by the kitchen where you ate this morning and bandaged Axl's knuckles. "This might sting." You warned, as you patted a cotton pad with disinfectant on his knuckle. He hissed and wriggled, you could feel he was still agitated and angry. "That was a nice thing you did back there. Thank you." You told him. His eyes widened, he was surprised. "Next time just don't try kill the man." You said as you wrapped his hand. He gave a breathy laugh and smiled at you. "Nice boys don't play rock 'n doll darling." He scoffed light heartedly. There was pause. You waited for him to realise something. "Shit, that's a great fucking lyric." He got off the table and scavenged for a piece of paper and a pen. You rolled your eyes at him as you packed away the med kit you had in your bag. Axl soon went to bed after he scribbled aggressively and attentively on the paper. It was just you and Duff again. He took out a bottle of vodka from under the couch he had been saving, and you shared it. By the end of it the two of you were out of it, wobbly legs, slurred speech, couldn't think and couldn't speak. You both stumble into Duff's room and as soon as you hit the bed you were gone, Duff giggled and did the same. His one arm laid on your back and both pair of legs were sprawled out on the bed, and his feet dangling off the side of the bed. Soft snores were heard from the two of you, and loud ones from Slash's room as the whole house slept.

[helloalycia]

moving on [one] // alicia clark

summary: desperate times call for desperate measures and you're forced to join a dangerous gang to keep you and you sister alive. But when you realise just how dangerous they are, you worry about what their influence can have on your sister.

warning/s: mentions of violence, blood, injury and death.

author's note: here’s the first part to an alicia clark imagine i recently worked on. i still miss her lol but it’s great to see Alycia in a variety of roles lately – she deserves it and her acting was wasted on ftwd! still miss Alicia tho so if you do too, i hope you guys like this one! 🥰

some things to note: y/s/n = your sister's name and this is set in season 3 before June reveals herself as June, so she’s called Naomi in this in case anyone is confused or forgot the show aha

also, shameless plug but i’ve shared the first two chapters of my new story on my wattpad account (linked below) and i’d appreciate if you checked it out and let me know what you think! it’s a girl x girl drama fantasy romance ☺️

okay you can enjoy now aha ♥️

two / three / four / five / six / wattpad / masterlist

"You find anything?"

I refrained from cursing as I answered, "Nothing. Everything has been taken."

My sister, Y/S/N, sighed from the other side of the convenience store. "That's the fourth place in a row. We can't keep doing this."

I frowned, glad she couldn't see my expression. "Hang on. There might be something."

Pushing myself from behind the counter, I moved over to the long-defrosted freezers, hoping someone might have stored something there. Only, before I could take a look, the noise of a bell from the front door rang out and I immediately grabbed my pistol, directing there.

"Woah, woah, woah. Relax, ladies!"

I clenched my jaw when I recognised the man as the leader of a local gang, Jeremy. Behind him were a few of his people, all fully armed but making no move to grab their weapons.

"Small world, it seems," Jeremy joked, glancing between my sister and I. When neither of us said anything, he added, "There's no need for the guns. We're here same as you. Looking for supplies."

Reluctantly, I lowered my gun but kept it firm in my grip. I glanced over at Y/S/N, wondering why she didn't do a better job of keeping watch.

"So, did you find anything?" he continued, speaking to me.

I purposely stayed quiet, fixing my narrowed stare on him. Everywhere we went since arriving in Texas a few weeks ago, we bumped into Jeremy and his gang. It started off as us avoiding him, but after bumping into him accidentally and him recognising us over and over, he always offered us a place with him. He rubbed me the wrong way and he never gave up. I half expected him to kill us out of convenience since we were searching for the same things in the same areas. But he always let us go and I didn't want to imagine why.

"It's been picked clean," Y/S/N answered for me, and I shot her a questioning look which she chose to ignore.

Jeremy hummed in response, glancing around. "We'll be on our way then." He glanced at me, smiling in a way that made me uncomfortable. "That wasn't so bad, was it? We all live here after all. We can help each other out."

I swallowed thickly, grip tightening on my gun.

"You're welcome to join us," he added with a nod. "You know where to find us if you ladies change your mind."

After a tense few seconds, he finally left with his people and I didn't fully relax until I heard his truck driving away.

"He's always–"

"Weren't you keeping watch?!" I cut Y/S/N off, staring at her with disbelief. "They just walked right in!"

"I know, I know," she said quickly, frowning. "Sorry."

Massaging the bridge of my noise, I released a breath. Being angry was no use. Besides, it wasn't her I was angry at.

"If he wanted to hurt us, he would have by now," Y/S/N added hesitantly, knowing how I'd react. "I don't think he means harm."

I scoffed, shaking my head. "Yeah, no harm. Just wants us to join his stupid gang."

"Would that be so bad?"

Pausing, I looked to her with a warning look. "Don't start."

Thankfully, she left it at that. The last thing I wanted to hear were her thoughts on how we needed their help to survive. Of course, my life wasn't so easy.

Later that same evening, after no luck searching for supplies, Y/S/N and I were camping out in a derelict building, eating the last of our rations. I had a map spread out between us, trying to figure out where we could move to next that may serve us better luck. But almost everywhere was touched apart from farmhouses and a baseball stadium. None of that could help us. And I feared where that would leave us.

"We could try to find a working car and either drive to some of these farmhouses, or make our way out of Texas altogether," I suggested, pointing to the route on the map.

"All the gas will be taken from the cars out there," Y/S/N said disappointedly.

"Okay, well we can try to find some garages. Maybe there's still some old cars in there with fuel," I tried, but even saying it aloud felt pointless.

"Y/N..."

"Fine, not that, but we can't stay here," I decided. "Just– let me think."

It went quiet as I racked my brain for a way out, a plan. We'd officially used up all our food, couldn't find more and had no mode of transport. We were lucky enough to have the few bullets in our guns that we did, but even those were close to running out.

"Y/N, maybe we should consider taking up Jeremy on his offer," Y/S/N said after a moment.

I glanced up at her, seeing the regret in her expression next to the fire.

"I know you don't want to, but they have food, supplies, protection," she continued, sucking up a breath. "It's our only choice."

"I don't trust them," I told her, shaking my head. "They aren't family. They won't look out for you like I will. We can find another way."

"I don't think we can," she said with a frown. "It's been weeks. We haven't settled. There's nothing here. At least they have a place to call home. Food. If we keep going like this, we're gonna die."

"No, we won't," I said stubbornly. "We've lasted this long without help from Jeremy." Even his name in my mouth made me uncomfortable. "We'll figure something out."

"Y/N!" she said suddenly, making me look up. Softer this time, she said, "We don't have a choice."

I hated that she was right. I could stay up all night looking over this map, but nothing would work. We'd pushed our luck and now we were desperate. And Jeremy and his stupid gang were the only ones we could turn to for help – anyone else we'd met out here was either struggling themselves or on the verge of death.

"Okay," I said, already knowing it was the wrong choice. "We'll find him tomorrow."

I swear I saw a hint of a smile on Y/S/N's lips and I wasn't so sure why she liked them so much. They had always tried to convince her to join. Looks like they were both getting what they wanted.

To my dismay, Jeremy accepted Y/S/N and I into his gang with open arms. I still didn't understand what he could want from us so bad, maybe just some new recruits, but he let us join and had that stupid knowing smile on his face when we did. He'd never explicitly done anything bad to us, but something about him and his people rubbed me the wrong way. Their nonchalant, easygoing attitude to this new world was a discomfort to me and definitely not something I wanted my little sister and I to be around, but we had no choice.

We stayed with them a month and it was as comfortable as I was expecting. They were always on the move, setting up different camps in different areas and changing it every other day. Y/S/N and I helped out with the community side of things, but Jeremy insisted we joined him on the supply runs. Y/S/N and I were decent shots and good at defending ourselves which he'd clearly noticed. So, we started to do that, too. I hated it, wanting the very opposite of this life now that we had somewhere to stay. But Y/S/N loved it. She was enjoying our time here, especially working under Jeremy and his second-in-command, Tia. It worried me a little.

After that month of somewhat living and not just surviving, Y/S/N and I were on a supply run with Jeremy, Tia and a few others. As we were driving down the open stretch of land, I noticed a person fighting off some infected off the side of the road and grew worried.

"They need help," I realised, patting Jeremy on the shoulder and leaning forward. "We have to stop."

Jeremy tried not to laugh in the front seat. "Not our problem."

I looked to my sister with raised eyebrows, but she stayed quiet and shrugged. Refusing to do nothing, I tried again with Jeremy. 

"Please, we can help him! It's just a few infected!"

"I don't remember bringing Mother Teresa with us, do you?" Tia joked, making everyone except my sister and I laugh.

We were coming past the guy now and I had a closer look at him struggling to fight off the two infected with nothing but a baseball bat.

"We can't just leave him!" I shouted. "Please! I'll do it!"

Jeremy suddenly hit the brakes, making us all fly forward. Surprised, I looked to him and saw he was already grabbing his gun.

"You want me to help? Fine. I'll help," he said, meeting my gaze in the rear view mirror. "Wait here. All of you."

Relieved, I nodded and watched as he got out the truck and approached the guy with his gun. Like second nature, he shot both infected in the head with only two bullets. They fell in an instant and I sighed with relief, glad we could at least help somebody whilst with Jeremy and reaping the 'rewards'.

"Thank you so much, man," the stranger was saying with relief, pushing himself from the ground. "I owe you my–"

Without warning, Jeremy fired a third shot at the stranger's head, making him fall to the ground as quickly as the infected did. I gasped, covering my mouth as I watched Jeremy shake his head and walk back to the truck.

"Happy now?" he asked rhetorically, glancing at me with a sigh before starting the truck again.

Like nothing had happened, he continued on his way and nobody said a word. I seemed to be the only one who was mortified by his actions – he'd just killed an innocent person! When I looked over to Y/S/N, she gave me a warning look and shook her head as if telling me not to say anything. I couldn't tell if she was as surprised as I was or not.

When we returned to camp afterwards, I rushed straight to my tent, needing to be away from Jeremy and his gang and everybody here. How could he do that without remorse? He barely batted an eye. That definitely wasn't his first kill– murder.

"Y/N," Y/S/N followed after me breathlessly. "God, you walk fast."

"Y/S/N, what the fuck?!" I whisper shouted, looking to her with watery eyes. "He just murdered an innocent man!"

She didn't say anything, only frowned.

"I knew there was something off about him, about this place," I said, shaking my head and covering my mouth. I didn't realise I was shaking until I did. "We can't stay here. Who knows what else he's capable of? How many others he's killed?"

"Y/N, I'm not defending him, but maybe he had a reason," Y/S/N said weakly. "Maybe the guy was bit and was going to die anyway."

I blinked, taken aback by her words. "What? How can you say that? You saw it with your own eyes, he did it for his own enjoyment! That's fucked!"

She sighed slowly, hands on her hips. I suddenly felt like I was in a tent with a stranger when I realised she wasn't reacting like I was. She was acting like this was normal.

"We need this place," she decided. "We need their food, their home, their weapons. We're alive because of them. We can't leave."

"And we can't stay," I said with a glare. "If we associate with people like this, then what does that make us?"

She clenched her jaw, meeting my glare with her own. "Tell me a better way. Go on. Tell me another plan for survival." I didn't know what to say and she knew it. "You tell me where we go after this and I will happily leave with you right now. Go on."

Clenching my fists by side, I looked away from her and she scoffed.

"Exactly, there's nowhere," she stated bitterly. "All you do is complain. But you don't have a solution."

Swallowing hard, I tried to remain calm. "Y/S/N, we can't be around people like this. It's not safe."

"It's not safe out there either," she reminded me with a firm stare, before her gaze softened. "Look. If you can figure out a plan B, then we can leave."

"You promise?"

She nodded, taking my hand and squeezing it gently. "I promise."

I didn't want to be here for a second longer, but I wasn't going to leave my sister behind. So, my next priority was finding a plan B. Somewhere that wasn't here. And the sooner the better because I feared Y/S/N wouldn't want to leave if I waited too long.

"Are you sure this place is empty?" I asked Tia, clutching my gun tightly.

"Why? You scared or something?" she retorted with a smirk.

I chose not to reply as I followed behind everyone. We were on yet another supply run barely two months later, except this one was to an abandoned campsite for a rival gang that had long departed this area. Intel had it that they hadn't returned in weeks, hence our plan to stop by and see if there was anything left. But it seemed everybody here had a death wish and nobody was cautious.

"Y/N, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't safe," Y/S/N reassured me, but I could see her smiling with amusement at Tia's joke.

Just as I had feared, Y/S/N was beginning to love it here. And I couldn't exactly ask her to leave again because I still didn't have a plan B, not a sustainable one anyway.

"Okay, for Y/N's sake, everyone open your eyes and ears and spread out," Jeremy ordered, making the others laugh. "Try not to piss your pants at the sight of infected."

I rolled my eyes but kept close to Y/S/N. As we all stepped further into the building, I looked around and saw it truly had been abandoned, little evidence showing somebody had lived here recently. It didn't make sense though. This rival gang wouldn't just leave.

"I think there's something over here," Jeremy realised, motioning with his rifle to the corner of the room. "Follow me."

He stepped forward casually and I wouldn't have cared if it weren't for a wire sticking out the corner of the wall getting my attention. I followed it with my eyes, confused to where it was leading, but only when it was too late did I realise what it was. Eyes widened, I shouted to Jeremy.

"Don't take another–!"

I couldn't remember much after that. There was an excruciatingly loud bang and then everything went black. When I came to, my ears were ringing and I felt like I could hear the blood rushing in my head. My vision was crossed over, blurring images of smoke, fire and debris. I wasn't sure how long I'd been lying there, but when I was finally able to keep my eyes from crossing over, I saw I was on the floor, covered in debris and ash. Blinking, I realised half the ceiling had collapsed and everything was on fire.

Y/S/N was the first thing on my mind and I tried to sit up, but I couldn't move. My body was numb, lungs begging for fresh air and eyes watering in the heat. I turned my head, glad I could at least do that, and squinted to see around me. I couldn't see any bodies, but then I heard snarling and knew infected were in the vicinity. I needed to get up!

"Y/N!" I heard my name being called and turned my head to the direction, recognising it as my sister's voice. "Y/N!"

More snarling. The infected were on my side of the fire, closing in.

"Y/N!" Y/S/N screamed again, and I finally saw her on the opposite side, searching for me. Her eyes found mine and I wanted to call for her help, but I could barely breathe. There was a pain, but I didn't know where.

"We have to go, Y/S/N, come on!" another voice said, and I saw Jeremy beside her, yanking her back.

"No, she's over there!" Y/S/N tried to fight against him, wanting to come to me.

"She's basically dead and we will be too if we don't leave now!" he shouted at her.

She stared at me with tears in her eyes. I tried to do something, give her some sort of signal that I wasn't dead. I was right here and okay! But she gave me one last apologetic look and let Jeremy drag her away. I couldn't believe what I'd seen. Had I seen correctly? I had to be wrong, surely.

But there was no time to debate it. I couldn't lay here and let the infected get me. I had to get out, get to my sister, get some damn air!

The ringing subsided and my vision straightened up. I forced myself into a sitting up position, feeling a burning in my shoulder but too afraid to look just yet. Whilst the adrenaline had the better of me, I stayed on all fours and crawled my way out the building, keeping my mouth covered with my shirt. Finally, I saw daylight and got out, taking in big gulps of fresh air. It helped, a little, but my head was spinning and I couldn't hear properly still.

Infected were closing in in the distance, I realised. I forced myself to stand, trying not to cry when my shoulder continued to burn. I risked looking down and saw that it was covered in blood from a piece of shrapnel lodged in there and still burning from the fire. I needed to get away from the heat. I needed Y/S/N.

With difficulty, I tried to find the others out front. Looking back, the whole building was set ablaze. They couldn't have gone far, right? I hadn't been down for that long.

But they were nowhere to be found. No cars, trucks, nothing. I had nothing on me either, no supplies or weapons or first aid. My only focus was getting away from the fire and away from the infected, so I kept low and out of their line of sight, putting as much distance as I could between them and me.

The longer I stay out here though, I thought, the more likely my wound will get infected and I'll die.

I didn't know how bad it was, but it didn't feel good. I didn't care though. All I kept thinking about was Y/S/N. Did she really choose them over me? Why would she do that?

No, she couldn't have. I saw. She wanted to come get me. They forced her. They made her believe I was already dead. She didn't know.

I saw that, right?

I wasn't sure what I'd seen. My mind was still a muddle and, though the ringing had stopped, I felt exhausted. But I couldn't just pass out anywhere. I needed to find my sister. Get somewhere safe.

The evening crept up on me quicker than I thought. I was forced to take refuge in an old gas station. There, I could see the building was still burning in the distance, a bright flame in the evening sky and no doubt attracting every infected for a five mile radius. I took that moment of peace to inspect my shoulder closely, peeling my shirt which had partially melted into the flesh. The pain became too much though, blinding, and I had to leave it as is. I had nothing to treat it with anyway. The shrapnel was the only thing stopping the bleeding, for now.

The rival gang, they'd rigged the place with explosives. I knew something was up. If only fucking Jeremy had scouted it out beforehand.

The night was rough. I barely got any sleep, drifting into unconsciousness out of pure pain rather than comfort. When I woke up the next morning, I almost didn't want to get up, but the thought of getting my sister back was what pushed me. I'd lost a lot of blood, barely any energy left, but I had to keep going. I knew the way back, but it was much longer without a car.

I kept going, glad there were no infected to challenge me, though it would definitely be a challenge I'd lose. I was burning up, my fever getting worse and worse the longer my wound was left untreated. I couldn't escape the smell of smoke on my clothes, nor blood. I thought I could keep going, but I collapsed by a car in the street soon enough.

Trying to force myself up, I squeezed my eyes shut and attempted to push up, but it didn't work. I had no energy left. I think I was dying. I had to be. I couldn't even hold myself upright against the car, my back hitting the ground and staying that way. Everything hurt, but I tried to push it away as I looked at the clouds in the sky.

At least I would be reunited with my parents soon. Maybe they would know why Y/S/N did what she did, because I couldn't figure it out. Still, I hoped she was safe wherever she was.

Time had been a blur since the fire. Seconds merged into minutes which merged into hours. If it weren't for the clouds turning pink, I wouldn't have known how long I'd been out there, simply staring at the sky and waiting for death. It was at sunset when I was beginning to lose feeling, lose common sense.

I heard a car engine, I think, though I couldn't be sure. There were voices. Female. Overlapping, not making any sense.

"–no bites–" one was saying.

"–burnt flesh–" said the other.

A hand pressed to my cheek and I couldn't stop it. Suddenly, I was looking into the eyes of a stranger. Her lips were moving, concern on her face. Why did she care about me? Who was she?

She might have said the most important thing in the world or the dumbest, but I wouldn't know. Her words were background noise. Her face was a blur. More voices. And then everything went silent.

My eyes were heavy when I began to wake up, as if I'd been sleeping for years. A quiet groan escaped my lips as I forced them open, and then I felt the aching all over my body, though not as painful as I last remembered. Blinking the blurriness from my vision, I realised I was lying down and looking up at a ceiling. Ceiling? Where was I?

Turning my head, I made out a an IV bag beside me, attached to my wrist. Was I in a hospital? That didn't make sense.

I kept looking around, memories of recent events flashing to mind as I tried to make sense of where I was. Subconsciously, I reached for my injured shoulder, surprised to find it bandaged under a shirt that wasn't mine.

Panicking now, I forced myself to sit up, grimacing at how quickly I did it. I didn't know where I was or who had found me, but I couldn't stay here. What if Y/S/N was looking for me? What if she was too far? I had to get out of here!

I ripped out the drip from my arm and pushed my legs over the edge of the bed. Looking around once more, a bit more awake, I realised it wasn't a hospital. Hospitals were usually white and bright. This was a simple room with medical equipment stored inside and alongside a few beds. Wherever I was, this was there medbay. I didn't want to stick around to find out who owned it.

Standing up proved to be a challenge, my energy drained completely, but I managed. There were no shoes around nor on my feet, so I hobbled barefoot to the door, yanking it open and holding it for support as I blinked at the daylight. Adjusting, I raised my hand to cover my eyes slightly, stepping outside.

There were people all around, smiling, in no danger, all doing different things. To my right, a small group were building some sort of structure. To my left, there was a garden being tended to. And up ahead, in the distance, I saw seats. Was I in a sports stadium? What the hell?

Distracted and confused, I failed to see someone nearby spot me and approach with urgency.

"You're awake!" the blonde woman realised, immediately stopping by my side. "You shouldn't be on your feet. Please, let's go back inside!"

I didn't know why I listened to her, even when she held my arm and practically ushered me back inside. A lot more tired than I realised, I let her sit me back on the bed.

"I see you took your IV out," she said with a reprimanding tone, before moving to grab it. When she tried to touch me, I moved my hand away, making her frown. "Please. It will help. You need rest."

Without speaking, I refused to give her my hand and she seemed to get that I didn't trust her nor know who she was.

"I'm Naomi," she introduced. "I'm the nurse here and I've been making sure you don't die from blood loss. What's your name?"

I glanced between her eyes, wondering if I was insane to trust a stranger so easily. But she did help me when I was at my lowest, so could she be all that bad?

"Y/N," I said, voice too hoarse to be above a whisper.

As I cleared my throat, she passed me a cup of water that I failed to notice beside my bed. Taking a few sips, I relaxed at the way it soothed my throat.

"Well, Y/N, it's nice to meet you," she said with a small smile. "Please can I...?"

Referring to the IV, she waited patiently. I nodded and let her put it back into my arm before setting up the bed so I could sit upright without holding my own weight.

"You're very lucky we found you when we did," she said once she was done. "Your shoulder looked like hell. It's much better now."

I didn't know what to say. All I could think about was Y/S/N and where she was. Was she okay? Was she safe?

Before Naomi could say anything more, the door opened again and in walked two more people. They seemed familiar – I think they were the ones who found me, but that memory was hazy.

"You're up," the younger girl said, glancing at me before looking to Naomi. "Is she okay?"

"Physically, sure," Naomi answered.

The younger girl nodded and stepped forward, her attention back on me. "How are you?" Before I could think to answer, she shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't even ask your name. I'm Alicia and this is Luciana." She motioned to the girl beside her, who offered me a small smile. "We're the ones who found you out on the side of the road."

"I'm Y/N," I answered reluctantly, glancing between them both. "Thank you for taking me in."

I knew it was the right thing to say, but I still wasn't sure if I was safe, even if they were all being polite to me.

"Y/N," Alicia repeated softly, before smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Y/N. How are you?"

I blinked, looking down. "I, er... I don't know."

They exchanged looks, making me feel out of place, before Naomi said, "Can I ask how you ended up how you did? You have some pretty nasty burns on your shoulder."

"We saw smoke not too far from where you were," Luciana added gently. "Lots of infected were attracted to it. Is that where you were?"

I pursed my lips, remembering it all so suddenly. Y/S/N could still be out there. Or she could be back at their base, if they hadn't moved yet. I needed to find her.

But how could I tell these strangers that? I didn't know them, I didn't know if I could trust them. What if they wouldn't let me leave?

"You're free to stay here for as long as you need to," Alicia suddenly said, as if reading my mind. "You should, if anything. You need rest."

"Where is here exactly?" I asked calmly, hoping they couldn't detect my nerves.

"This is the Dell Diamond Baseball Stadium," Naomi answered. "It's been converted into a small community, a safe place that's well guarded and well supplied. You're safe here."

I clenched my jaw, looking away momentarily. The baseball stadium. Safe, supplied and guarded? All I could think about was how if Y/S/N had just risked visiting it instead of writing it off as useless, we could still be together and none of this would have happened. Now... now it was quite far out from the fire and she'd be long gone. Maybe. I wouldn't know unless I got up and searched.

"I get this might be a lot," Alicia said considerately, "so you should sleep it off and then we can talk more. How does that sound?"

It sounded pretty damn great, my whole body exhausted still.

"Thanks," I said awkwardly, looking between them.

They smiled and Naomi helped me to lay down properly, lowering the bed. I hated to admit it, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

When I woke up, it was dark out the window. I wasn't sure how long I was out for, but I felt a lot better. 

The sound of someone awkwardly clearing their throat made me push myself up slightly, looking at the end of my bed. There, I saw Alicia sat on a chair, smiling a little.

"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you or anything," she said, standing up and unsure what to do with herself. "I figured you would wake up soon and thought you might want to eat something."

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, humming tiredly. She helped prop my bed upright and I leaned back, waking up a little more now.

"It's chicken, potatoes, some vegetables," she explained when she carefully handed me the tray. "Hope you like it."

That definitely woke me up and I widened my eyes with surprise, looking down at the food. It was still hot, steam curling off it and leaving a pleasant smell in my nose.

"Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly, looking over the tray. "Is there something in it?"

I shook my head, glancing up at her. "No, it's– it's perfect. I haven't had food like this in– well, a long time. Thank you."

Relieved, she nodded and smiled before pulling her chair around to my bedside and taking a seat. I dug in, savouring each bite between sips of water and wondering how I'd been lucky enough to land somewhere like this. These people were too nice, suspiciously nice, and I still couldn't gauge if they were after something or not.

"Er, thanks for all of this, Alicia," I said when I realised she was sitting there whilst I scoffed my face rudely. Clearing my throat, I added, "I should have said so earlier, but I was– it's a lot to adjust to."

"I can imagine," she sympathised. "And no worries. I'm just glad we could help."

I paused, pursing my lips. "Yeah... why are you helping? It's hard to come by these days, so..."

"You're expecting a catch," she read my mind, an amused smile on her lips. When my expression confirmed this, she continued, "There's no catch. Luci and I saw someone hurt and who needed help, so we helped. This place is for people who need somewhere safe. A home. That's all this is."

"You don't even know who I am," I said without thinking, too amazed at her naivety of the world to hold back. "I could be a horrible person. A murderer. Someone not worth saving. Do you just pick up every person you see?"

Not the slightest bit offended, Alicia tried not to laugh. "Well, are you any of those things? Because last time I checked, murderers don't announce they're murderers."

I raised my eyebrows, wondering how she could be so calm about this world we were in. How long had she had it easy that she wasn't afraid? I was almost jealous.

"You're right," she decided, giving me an apologetic look, green eyes still flickering with partial amusement. "I don't know who you are. So, maybe you can tell me. Starting with why we found you how we did. If you want."

Still, I wasn't sure if I could trust her. But nothing about her screamed evil, and she had helped me, so it made sense to tell her the truth. Besides, I couldn't find Y/S/N without her letting me go.

"The fire," I said, recalling that they'd seen it, too. "It was a booby trap some old gang left. I was with my sister and another group checking it out. But the trap was triggered and the whole place went up in flames."

Alicia's eyebrows knitted together as she listened. "You weren't alone?"

"No, and that's why I need to find my sister," I said confidently. "She needs me."

Alicia nodded slowly, straightening up. "How did you get out? Didn't you see her in the fire? And what about your group?"

I frowned at the memory. "The group aren't good people. I wanted to leave them for a while, but they were the only thing keeping my sister and I fed and alive. My sister, Y/S/N, she was there. I woke up and I saw her, but that arsehole..."

Seeing Jeremy's face in my head, the way he dragged her away... it made me clench my fists without realising.

"The leader, Jeremy, he told her I was dead, or as good as dead, and to get out whilst they could," I continued. "The infected were there. It was smokey. I couldn't hear properly. But I saw it. Saw them."

"And she saw you, too?" Alicia asked patiently.

I nodded. "She went with him."

"She saw you, but she still left?" Alicia asked with surprise.

I swallowed hard, fixing her with a stare. "I know what it sounds like, but she didn't just leave. He made her."

She didn't seem convinced as she tilted her head slightly. "Y/N..."

"She wouldn't just leave," I repeated bitterly. "She's my sister. He made her leave and I need to find her! She needs to know I'm alive and then I'm gonna take her away from him and she'll be okay. I just– I need to get out of here."

Alicia pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "Y/N, I'm sorry this happened, and I'm sure you saw what you wanted to see in the moment. But like you said, you were barely conscious, there was a fire, infected... it sounds like she just left you."

"She didn't!" I exclaimed, before shaking my head and pushing the tray onto the bed. "Forget it, I don't need to explain this to you. I'll find her myself. Just let me out of here."

As I attempted to pull off my blanket and get up, Alicia suddenly shot up and stopped me.

"Let go," I told her with narrowed eyes, and she thankfully did.

"Just wait," she said, meeting my eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Look, you're in no position to go back out there on your own. It's not safe."

"I've managed before," I assured her with a fake smile. "Now move."

Rolling her eyes but staying put, she said, "I'll take you there. We can go back to the fire. Back to wherever you think she is. Find a clue to her whereabouts."

I paused, studying her suspiciously. "Why would you do that?"

"I know what it's like to do anything for your family," she said, and I believed her for some reason. "And you don't seem like a bad person."

"So, what? You're just helping me out of the kindness of your heart?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

I quirked a brow, intrigued by the stranger. "Yeah."

She sighed, relaxing when she saw I wasn't going to try to leave again. "I'll take you in the morning. But I'm telling you now, if you don't find her, you should leave it at that. Don't go looking for her."

"Are you insane?" I asked. "She's my sister. Of course I'll keep looking."

"Whether you want to admit or not, she left you to die," she said with an apologetic but knowing voice. "She chose this Jeremy guy over you. And you going out there to look for her isn't worth your life. Sister or not."

I tensed my jaw to contain my annoyance at her assumption, but said nothing. She didn't have to believe me – she didn't know Y/S/N like I did. I'd find her. She'd be waiting for me. I knew it.

"Fine," I lied, only needing Alicia long enough to find Y/S/N, which I would. "Tomorrow morning it is."

Content with my answer, she nodded and took a step back. "Good. Now eat. If you're to come with me, you need your energy back."

Begrudgingly, I pulled the tray back onto my lap and obeyed, feeling like a child. I wasn't sure why Alicia was being so generous – maybe she really was just being kind, but I'd seen so much evil these past few years that it was hard to accept.

[spacecadet-ticklesinspace]

Making the Best of the Situation

Summary: Peter 1 gets deaged to a one year old and has to get cleaned up. Two and Three come up with a great way to get the youngest clean and have some fun along the way 🙃❤️

(This idea was given to me by the lovely @teddysterk 😁❤️ It would have been done sooner, but I accidentally deleted part of it and had to rewrite it 😅 But, it is finished! 😁 Hope you all enjoy 😁❤️)

"Come on Uno, I need you to work with me."

One squirmed as Two wrestled him out of the his outfit.

"You're filthy bud, we have to get you clean."

A whine slipped out as the shirt popped over the youngest's head, thoroughly smearing mud on his face and hair.

"There." Two set the soiled clothing aside. "Otto has got to get that portal fixed."

The youngest's face dropped. Approximately a week had gone by since One had jumped through the portal from his world to Two's. The portal had glitched with One inside, turning him from a teenager to a one year old.

Needless to say, none of them were excited about the change. They were trying to make the best of the situation, but it wasn't fun.

Two softened and wrapped his baby brother in a hug. "I'm sorry this happened to you Bug. Trust me, if I could, I'd fix it in a heartbeat."

With a tiny sniff, One hid his face in the eldest's chest. Emotional regulation sucked when your entire body fit on your older brother's chest.

Ignoring the mud smearing his shirt, Peter 2 rubbed One's back. "We'll get you back. I promise."

A knock came from the partially opened bathroom door. "Hey, everything okay?"

Two turned to Three. "Yeah, we're just processing things."

"Still having a rough time?"

"Unfortunately."

Another quiet sniff interrupted the moment.

"I'm sorry Bug." The middle Peter placed a kiss on the top of the youngest's head. "I promise, we'll get this figured out."

Two squeezed him close. "You're not alone in this Pete."

After a beat of silence, Three squeezed Two's shoulder. "Ready?"

"I guess. Got everything?"

The middle Peter motioned to his bag. "Yep."

"Nice." A piece of rubber caught Two's attention. "But what's that?"

"Oh yeah!" Three held up two sets of gloves. "Ta-da!"

"Why do you have dish washing gloves?"

"Well, as much as Uno loves us and we love him, I don't think bathing would be the best experience bare handed."

One of Two's eyebrows arched up. "So you bought gloves?"

"Yeah, but look." The middle Peter shoved the gloves toward him. "They have soft bristles on them to help you clean better."

The eldest eyed the gloves. They were an odd aqua green color with the palms and fingers covered in small bristles. From his perspective, they looked prickly and rough. Yet when he ran a thumb over them, they felt soft and gentle.

"See? This way we can clean him, but there's still a layer in between."

Two nudged One. "What do you think Bug. Do you like the gloves?"

Hesitantly, One felt the bristles. His face wrinkled a little at the feeling, but he didn't pull away.

"I can't tell if that's a bad look or an okay look."

Three shrugged. "It's better than nothing at all."

As the middle Peter pulled the glove back, Two felt One turtle. The quietest little squeak snuck out as he quickly pulled his hand back.

The eldest smiled, but made no comment. "Did you buy two sets?"

Three pulled another set out of his pocket. "You read my mind."

"Perfect."

A tiny smile pulled up the corners of One's mouth. Not a full smile, but the first one Two had seen in the past few days.

The eldest slid on a pair of the washing gloves and brushed a finger against One's cheek. "Gootchie goo."

Try as he might to hold him in, tiny giggles slipped out.

Two glanced up but Three was too busy examining the bottles of baby shampoo and body wash. So the eldest gave One a wink. "Ticklish."

The youngest blew a raspberry at him.

"Come on." Two booped his nose. "You could use a smile."

One buried his face in his hands. However, he couldn't hide the growing grin from a knowing older brother.

Before either could further retort, Three stood beside them. "Alright Bubba, let's get you clean."

The youngest started giggling as both older brothers neared him with the bristley gloves.

"What's got you so bubbly Bug?" Two teased.

One shook his curls.

Meanwhile, Three titled his head. "Am I missing something?"

"Oh don't worry." The eldest lifted One's arm and glided one finger across his armpit. "You'll catch on."

With a squeal, the youngest yanked his little arm back to his side. A blush started forming on his cheeks as nervous giggles filled the bathroom.

By now, the confusion on Three's face had morphed into a mischievous smirk. "Aww, is someone too ticklish for the gloves?"

Peter 1's giggles grew even more as he turtled away from the bristly finger currently gliding under his chin.

Meanwhile, Two melted. One was an adorable teenager, but he was absolutely precious as a baby. Big brown eyes, high pitched giggles, and tiny curls flying everywhere? He could give Gerber babies a run for their money.

A stream of squealy baby laughter pulled him back to Three gliding both gloves along One's ribs. Both of his little legs kicked widely while he tried to grab a hold of Three's hands.

The middle Peter cooed. "Gootchie gootchie goo baby brother."

A snorty headshake was his only response.

Two grinned. "Oh no Three!"

Peter 3 looked up. "What?"

"You forgot body wash." The eldest handed him the bottle. "You'll have to clean all over again."

"Ihi guess yohoure rihight Dos."

One's eyes widened as he wrapped his arms around his torso. "No!"

The interaction immediately stopped.

Ever since the portal incident, the youngest hadn't spoken a single word. Both Two and Three had assumed he just couldn't at this age. But even One seemed surprised by the fact that any word had come out of his mouth.

However, since he was much more sensitive to emotion in his younger state, it startled him even more.

"Snuggle Bug? Are you okay?" Two asked

The youngest's eyes started to tear up.

Immediately, the eldest wrapped him in another hug. "Hey, it's okay. That was just a little startling, wasn't it?"

"Es."

Three pouted over One's head.

Two smiled, but held up a warning hand. "Let's take a break for a moment okay?"

"Ease?"

"Of course. That came out of nowhere, huh?"

Peter 1 rubbed his eye. "Ickly."

"Ickly?"

One tiny hand patted Two's hand.

"Ah, you're right Uno. The gloves are very tickly."

Peter 3 jumped in. "But they can also be fun. Watch this."

A moment later, the taller Peter covered his eyes before pulling them back again. "Peekaboo!"

One small giggle slipped out.

So Three repeated the actions again. "Peekaboo! Ah peekaboo!"

By now, One had returned to his giggly baby form and all past tears faded away.

Three covered the front of his face to try to hold back the squeals trying to leave his mouth while Two bit back a laugh and held up the bottle of shampoo. "Why don't we start with the shampoo first Bug?"

One nodded and reached for the bottle. "Old?"

"You want to hold the bottle?"

"Es ease."

"Sure." Two helped him hold it. "There you go."

While the bottle had seemed small in both Two and Three's hands, it seemed absolutely massive in One's. A little extra maneuvering and the youngest was able to squeeze a small amount of the shampoo onto Two's hand.

"Thank you Uno." Two lathered the shampoo as he watched Three sink to the floor. "When Tres is done freaking out, maybe we can actually finish this bath."

The tallest of the trio whined as he pulled himself back up. "Don't tell me you're immuned to all of this! That sounds coming out of him are literally precious!"

"Trust mehe, Ihi know. But he's also been sitting on this counter without any clothes for over 10 minutes. So let's put a hold on the cuteness aggression until he's cleaned and clothed please?"

Three whined again, but still wetted One's curls with a little water. "It's not fair for him to be this cute and you not expect me to smother him!"

"You can have all the cuddles after bath time."

"Ugh! Fine."

Once his curls were wet enough, Two massaged the shampoo through. Even these two actions had one turtling into his shoulders with a stream of babyish giggles pouring into the space again.

"Oh my word!" Three melted. "Are you not hearing these Two!"

Peter 2 had to admit, it was hard not to join Three on the cooing end. There were a few instances where he purposefully dragged his fingers over a spot just to keep him giggling a little longer. "It's like a little giggle fehest ihin here."

While the youngest giggled away, Two may have pushed all of his curls up into a bubbly mohawk to make both he and Three die of cuteness overload.

Then, while he thoroughly rinsed, Three prepped his gloves for the second part of bathing. "This will be a quick in and out Bug. Maybe."

"But the same rules apply to you as to teenage Peter." Two booped his nose. "If you need us to stop, tell us to stop, okay?"

"Tay."

Once rinsed the youngest already looked much cleaner. However, streaks of mud still decorated his face and body.

The eldest carefully wetted One's body before helping him back up. "Alrighty Three."

In true older brother fashion, Three wiggled his fingers toward his baby brother. "I'm gonna get you Petey."

Anticipatory giggles began filling the room again as One watched the gloves get closer and closer. "Ihicklyhy oo!"

"Aww, are the gloves too tickly for baby Petey?" Two teased.

"Eanie!"

"I'm not a meanihie."

"Eanie oo!"

The middle Peter carefully washed One's legs clean. "Scruba-dub-dub, I washing ya Bug."

Those same giggles grew even more as Three washed away the streaks.

"Aww, does some baby got ticklish knees?"

"Noho!"

"I think you do." One finger glided under the back of the youngest's knee. "Tickie tickie."

"Eee! Ehe!"

"Ee?! You're killing me here Uno!"

"Noho!"

Two stopped the youngest from rolling off the counter. "Where are you going rolly polly?"

"Eanihies!"

"Not meanies." Two moved to scrub behind One's ear. "It's just our job."

"Eeee!"

"That's right." Three moved up to scrub along his tummy and ribs. "Big brothers have to tickle baby brothers. It's---."

A snort broke him off.

Both older brothers melted at the sound while One pouted. However, it was hard for it to be persuasive with bright eyes and snorty laughs.

Three blew a raspberry into his tummy.

"SQUEE! EE!"

"Ihi gohot your tummyhy."

One little hand batted Three's head. "Noho ummyhy."

Two broke at the facial expression on Three's face.

However, all laughter quieted as Peter 1 rubbed his eye with his fist.

Both older brothers shared a smile as they wound down their attack. Even in tiny human form, tickles still wore the youngest out.

So Three took off his gloves. "Alright Uno, let's finish up here. Then it's jammies and nap time."

"No ap."

Two also removed his gloves. "You're eyes are so heavy Bug. We'll play later."

"No ap ease?"

Three guided him to the sink. "You'll be cranky if you fight it Bubba. Trust me, the fun will still be there when you get back."

"Tay."

Quickly, the older two rinsed One clean of soapy suds before wrapping him a clean towel. They switched out the soggy diaper from his bath for a clean one before dressing him in a zip up onesie.

By the time they had finished, Peter 1 had almost completely slipped off to sleep. His last little bit of stubborn will kept him from fully dozing off.

Two wrapped him in a blanket. "Come on Pete, time to close those eyes."

One shook his head as he yawned.

So Three scooped him to his chest. "Come on Bubba."

The youngest's eyes already started to close. "No."

"Good night Uno."

A moment later, One slipped off into a deep sleep.

Two brushed down his damp curls. "You know, I miss teenage Uno, but baby Uno's pretty cute too."

"I wanna squish him."

"We just got him to sleep."

"Please?"

"Later." Two plopped on to the bed. "Come on."

"What are you doing?"

"Making a cuddle party." The eldest patted the bed. "Told you you could have all the cuddles when we were done."

A moment later, Peter 3 was pressed against Two's side with One on his chest. "Yes!"

The eldest pulled him close. "This is perfect."

Meanwhile, the youngest snuggled further in between the two before quickly falling back asleep. The machine may not be fixed yet, but baby One was pretty cute.

Maybe they would be able to get through this okay after all.

[balkanradfem]

Ant discoveries

So every spring a horde of ants make themselves at home in my kitchen. I've been refusing to kill them, so every year I indulge into different natural remedies, such as vinegar and salt, which have no effect on them whatsoever.

Last year, I found out which hole trough the wall they were marching in, and I found some of the white powder that's used for fixing the wall, mixed it with water, and I closed the gap. They reacted to this by Eating Away the white sludge and pushing their gap back open! I would plaster it back again, and they would find a new hole, and we were at it for 2 weeks before they finally got tired of it and stopped scaling the building to get into my place.

This year, they punched trough my plaster again, created a new crack, and I dug out my bag of powder and went at it again, wanting to exhaust them sooner than later. However, they proceeded to find holes in the old wooden window frames! Not having any window-fixing substances, I plastered the windows as well. I'll clean the outside later so it won't be visible and I don't think I'm doing any damage, the entire thing is cracked.

While I was doing and re-doing the plastering, there's been one casualty; one of the ants marched into the wet plaster, got stuck, and then had plaster dry around it. The poor thing looked past saving to me, so I just shrugged, sometimes natural disasters take place and I was a natural disaster at that point (or the plaster was).

However, this is not how this ant story ended. Few minutes later, I noticed another ant had approached to the stuck one, put its tiny legs on it, and started pulling it out with all its might. I didn't think the saviour ant would manage it, the victim was super stuck, but I just watched it happen for a while, enthralled by this display of care for their own. Ants are kind!

Five minutes later, I checked again and the ant was still at it. I felt bad at this point, but I couldn't do anything because if I had attempted to pull the ant out, I would have just squished it. It was not up to me anymore, but I recognized I did create an ant medical emergency drama and felt bad for it. I let it be, and went off to do other stuff.

Next time I checked, the stuck ant.. was gone. They did it. They pulled him out. I don't know if more ants joined in, but they did a successful rescue from the plaster! Against all odds.

My opinion of ants has risen, I have respect for bugs who care and rescue their own. I like to believe this intense drama has driven them away from my kitchen, and mostly they are gone, but I found one on the counter today, so we'll see.

Another funny thing about the ants was, I generally don't leave any food or sweets in their path, so they really didn't have anything specific to snack on while invading, but I did bring in freshly flowered branches from the fruit trees, because I love having them as decoration when they're flowering. And the ants... recognized the flowers as a source of sweet nectar and went for it, my branches were filled with ants. Which is ridiculous because the ants could have gotten, those same branches, OUTSIDE of my kitchen, as much as they wanted, and yet, they had to march all the way in here, climb up my table, up a jar, and then onto the cut branch, to suck out the nectar. I need them to keep better books of their natural resources.

But A+ on rescue missions.

[fan-cartoon]

STORM HAWKS: SHORT STORIES AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT. (¿¡but ​​it hasn't even been 5 minutes!?)

Piper: I'm going to pick up the new crystal generator, so it might take me some time.

the others: ok.

Piper about to leave the room but not before looking at a redhead and a certain goth before saying: I hope you two don't fight when I leave, I'm serious.

Junko looks at Cyclonis and Finn looks at Aerrow who are in the middle of the couch before answering.

Cyclonis reading his book: ok.

Aerrow: don't worry Piper, we're not little kids.

Piper who looks cautiously at the two before leaving to head to the aircraft carrier room.

take his vehicle and as they prepared to leave he realized that he did not have Stork's plans to confirm that everything was fine according to Stork's specifications so he returns to the living room

Piper: Excuse me, I forgot the plans

she finishes her sentence because the bridge was completely destroyed, the windows broken, the walls dented, the pipes misplaced, the circular table torn up, the sofa used as a shield by Finn and Junko who were frightened, all by the result of the fight between Aerrow and Cyclonis, one with her magic and the other with his energy backs, when the two turn around to grab them to see that Piper had returned earlier than expected.

Aerrow and Cyclonis: IT WAS HER/HIM!

Piper's expression of calm anger was making the two responsible people's hair stand on end until Piper sighs, takes out the communiqué and calmly calls Stork to bring her the plans for the new crystal generator.

Stork entering the bridge: Hi Piper, here are the plans for my baby's new generator-

I'll take him to see the destruction

Stork:… my… my… baby…

Piper: thanks for bringing me the plans Stork oh! by the way, thank Aerrow and Cyclonis for the recent decoration.

She leaves, leaving the two young people to their fate before the fury of the Merd, while the vehicle moved away from the Condor, she modestly hears the screams of her unfortunate companions

Piper sighs: literally not even 5 minutes passed.

"a few hours later"

Piper: Hi guys! He returns with the new generator among other things to improve the Condor.

Stork with a calm and happy face: Oh! What good news Piper! I can't wait to be installed in my baby.

Piper pretending to be surprised: Wow! He's cleaned and fixed it up! Good job.

Stork still with his calm and happy face: Oh Piper, don't thank me, thank Aerrow and Cyclonis.

The two are sitting on the couch with Finn and Junko looking at them with concern.

Piper with sarcasm: Wow, it seems that now they get along.

Stork: Oh, after our "little talk" they agreed to get along and try to get along and above all.

He turns to look at his companions while his expression becomes dark and sinister even with his calm smile.

Stork: They promised that they would not fight again… at least not in my Condor… Right friends?

Nobody on the couch said anything but everyone nodded.

While Piper and Stork head off to install the new generator Aerrow looks at Cyclonis as he whispers "we'll continue our little discussion another time" Finn and Junko "sigh" Cyclonis who actually didn't get to hear Aerrow because he's thinking that Stork was a student of his grandmother for his brutal lesson.

THE END.

Well, this is the end, I'll see if I'll post something again in a few days because this took me 3 hours but well, it's the first time I've written something this long, if anyone noticed spelling mistakes either in English or Spanish, point them out so I can learn.

I hope I heard your opinions. Good night.

[thesunw1tch]

Moving-In Ritual

Goldie's Guide To Witchcraft: A Tumblr Grimoire for the Masses

Hello All! It's me, The Sun Witch! I figured that since my Moving-Out Ritual post did so well, I might as well post a template for what to do once you actually move! I'm actually moving into my next apartment in about a month, so I'm in the same boat with y'all.

I believe that you can implement your path as loosely or as strongly as you like in the following phases. I didn't quite recommend it last time since the goal was to create a blank slate, but this time? You kinda go wild, it's your new space, let it get to know you!

For example, in my new place? I'm an eclectic but primarily a Sun Witch, so I will line up the following steps with specific times of day if I can. My exact move-in and move-out time has not been expressed yet by my building, so we'll see if I can make my plan work. Anyhow, you could do the same, but I encourage you to get creative with it!!!

Phase 1: Physical Cleaning

I bet that once you get to your new place, you're going to need to do a few things before you start unpacking boxes. Start by...

Check for cobwebs, overly shadowy undercarriages, rust, mold, lime or calcium build-up, etc. Not only are these things just a plain eye sore, but they can cause you to feel negatively towards your new home, which in turn could welcome negative energies.

Do your best to fix these issues if they will obstruct your ability to be comfortable or will make the moving-in process strenuous.

Organize your boxes of belongings! This may be common sense, but please place boxes for specific rooms in those respective places. It'll just make it easier in the long run.

This is just a personal touch, but I like to keep the doorways and windows open whenever I clean to air out any lingering dust or chemical smells from a previous tenant or what have you. This can also help with the next step...

Phase 2: Spiritual Cleaning

Hopefully, you've listened to step one and haven't jumped straight here. Hopefully, all immediate physical abnormalities have been fixed, or at least accounted for. Additionally, you'll want to unpack before continuing on to make things a little easier. This may take a while, but there's no pressure to rush through it - take your time and organize your new space, let it get to know you, and find ways to best serve you. I've found that when you treat a place nicely, cleanly, and with purpose, it'll do the same to you!

Our next phase is dedicated to spiritually cleanse the space. There is an abundance of banishing, warding, protecting, cleansing, etc materials out there for y'all, so I won't include many specifics in this next portion.

Cleanse! Personally, I can't use smoke in my complex, and since I know this is the same for many others, I suggest using other elements! For instance, I'll probably use salt water or a method of wind cleansing to clean the slate! I can make a post on wind magick in the future if someone wants

Protect! In my own practice, I like to use sigils and the element of fire when possible. Now, I know I said we aren't going to use smoke, so instead I like to incorporate solar energies or visuals into the space. Ward and Banish however you feel comfortable as well :)

Flourishing! This is the fun part!!! Personally, I use air freshners for practicalities sake but you can use anything you'd like. Ask yourself what vibes you want to attract into your space - love? Sleep? Happiness? Choose a fragrance or make your own Flourishing spray and get to it! You can even take it a step further and use bundles of real dried herbs and flowers to really Amp it up!

Phase 3: Personalize

Everyone's practice is going to look different, as I have stressed throughout my posts on this blog, but what I'm going to add here is that it is crucial you personalize your space in a witchy way as well. Whether this means following traditional rituals or house warming customs of your practice or familial culture, or even just making a new ritual in your space is up to you!

I am a firm believer in the idea that your space isn't yours unless it feels like yours. Make sure your energy is flowing throughout your new home, that you're attracting that same sort of energy - you can do this anyway you please! If anyone wants specific examples or what I do, just let me know and link a post here :)

a n d that's pretty much it! I tried to condense the information here rather than in my previous moving post, so I hope you find this helpful :)

[lumpofwhump]

Bad Things Happen Bingo: Scalding

...AKA, more Lighthouse Whump

Whumpee abruptly jerked awake as his chair tilted under him, crashing backward onto the floor with enough force to make him bounce before his head hit the floor. Through his swimming vision, he saw Whumper standing over him, staring down with cold fury.

"I hope you enjoyed your rest," she spat. "Thanks to you, there's a shipwreck down on the rocks."

Whumpee's eyes went wide and his stomach dropped even further than it already had from the fall. "W-what? I'm… I'm sorry, I -"

Whumper bent down and yanked him up by his now long and unkempt hair, bringing him only inches from his face. "Do you think that matters to any of the people out there?"

He whimpered in pain and cringed before her fury. "No! I just - I couldn't help it! I, I can't…"

"Do you think I want to hear your excuses?" Whumper snapped, shaking him in her tight grasp by the head. This only added to his dizziness. "All you had to do is keep the light burning, and make sure the ships could see the rocks."

And clean, Whumpee thought resentfully. And mend your clothes. And fix anything that breaks. And…

"It really isn't much to ask for saving your life," Whumper continued, as if reading his thoughts. "And for not turning you over to Her Majesty's Navy." She let him fall to the floor again without warning, prompting a frantic yelp. "You wouldn't have stood a chance if you'd been transported."

He looked down, knowing she was right.

"It's already midday. Go boil the water for lunch, and then we'll talk about how to make sure this won't happen again." Whumper's tone suggested that this conversation would not end well for him. He swallowed, beginning to shake despite his best efforts, but nodded and backed away toward the stairs to go down to the kitchen. He didn't dare turn his back on her, not when she was in this kind of mood.

Waiting for the water to boil just gave him time to think about what this "discussion" might end with. If he was lucky, he'd just be locked in his tiny room without meals for a few days while Whumper carried out his duties, if only to prove how expendable he really was if hi proved to be too much trouble. If he was unlucky…

His had ran over a cluster of scars on his shoulder from when she'd slammed him into a window hard enough to crack the glass. His room had never been particularly warm, but since then it had been too drafty for him to get a good night's sleep.

His shoulders tensed as he heard footsteps coming down the spiral staircase, and only then did he realize that the water had already reached a rapid boil.

Whumper entered with a look of disgust, shaking her head.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad this time, he tried to reassure himself. At least he hadn't burnt anything…

"Would you like soup or -" he started, but broke off as Whumper strode over and grasped him tightly by the arm and thrust his hand into the boiling water.

He had a long second before the pain hit to realize what had happened and dread how bad it was going to be. And then he started screaming.

He tried to wrench his hand out of the pot, but Whumper was stronger, holding his arm in place for one second, two seconds, three, four, five, as his skin started to blister grotesquely under the bubbles. Finally she let go, and he pulled his hand out, gasping as tears streamed down his face. He couldn't bear to make himself look at his hand, so instead his eyes involuntarily drifted over to Whumper. He whimpered at seeing that she was hardly less angry than she'd been a moment ago.

"The other one," she commanded, reaching out her own hand.

He shook his head with a sob and pulled away on quivering legs. "N-no, no please, Whumper, I can't. You know I need to… please…"

"What did I say about excuses?" she asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Still, Whumpee couldn't make himself move.

Whumper's eyes lit up in fury at his disobedience, and she grabbed for the pot, lifting it and preparing to throw its contents on Whumpee.

He cowered and scrambled away, but she continued toward him, backing him into a corner. He raised his trembling, as-yet-uninjured hand in self-defense and then surrender with a defeated whine. She gave him a stony glare and a long moment of anticipation before roughly dragging him and the pot both to the table and thrusting his hand into it as soon as she'd set it down.

This time there was no delay between the scalding and the screaming.

As soon as she let go of his arm, he pulled away sharply, so much so that he spilled the rest of the pot onto his legs. His sobs turned into still more shrieks of pain as the boiling water made contact with the ragged remains of his pants and shoes. His legs gave out under the shock of the pain, prompting yet another scream as his burns made contact with the floor.

Whumper watched him impassively, eventually shaking her head at this display. "Get up," she said contemptuously.

"B-but my hands…" he said weakly, only to be met with Whumper's narrowed eyes. He bit back another whimper as he put his burnt and bubbling hands to the floor up onto his blistered, reddened feet, stumbling forward and nearly collapsing.

"And get those off," she snapped, gesturing to his pants. "Because of your carelessness, they'll need to be replaced."

Whumpee sniffled and staggered off to his room to clumsily peel the pants off his scalded legs. For once,the cold wind blowing in through his broken window felt something like comfort.

That night, Whumpee pushed through the agony of every task, and for that matter every movement. Trimming the wicks. Keeping them lit. Cleaning the floors and windows till they were spotless on burning hands and knees. There were no ships to guide to safety that night, but Whumpee stayed awake all the same.

Next

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Taglist (Let me know if you want on or off):

@whumpsday @whither-wander-whump @skinofafish @badthingshappenbingo