#might have to work on that posture though buddy

[kaiserposting]

Michael Kaiser — Scream Blue Murder

PAIRING: Michael Kaiser/Reader WORD COUNT: 6.6k TYPE: Break up & Make up, Humor primarily, Light Angst(??), Argument Resolution, Birthday and Christmas fic WARNING(S): None ?

Excitement is bubbling up inside of Ness’s whole being. Maybe this would be a dramatic sentiment coming from anyone else, but in his case it’s not an exaggeration.

The cause of this excitement is, to others, a given. But again in the circumstances of Ness’s upbringing, a Christmas celebration with actual people instead of a guilty ritual in his head is unique. Because of the overwhelming pseudo intellectualism permeating his childhood circumstances (which, while, yes, his parents are well educated scientists, and he can acknowledge their acuity to an extent, a lot of their conventions were in fact arbitrary and ridiculous), Christmas was banned in his home. Among other things.

It was very uncomfortable in hindsight and this choice led to potent social alienation among his peers, and might have even contributed to the isolation he suffered in adolescence.

There were times where, for example, before Christmas break, his class would do gift exchanges. He wasn’t allowed to participate and neither was he allowed to skip, so he had to sit there every year and endure the whole process of disappointing his Secret Santa buddy by not bringing anything — which is humiliating enough — and then carry the knowledge that he’ll have to throw out what he got later too, if found. And to be honest, Ness was the type of person who always ended up being found out by his parents.

He couldn’t even play pretend with his classmates in peace when he was in elementary school. Looking back on it, that has to be a little excessive.

But anyway. Bastard München Christmas day trip with teammates and Kaiser’s birthday all-in-one combo. Yay.

Of course, there was a choice to opt out and go back home to see family, which annoying people like Yoichi took because he presumably has a support system or whatever, but what’s important is that Kaiser is here with him on this day.

Ness doesn’t need much from Kaiser to be happy, he reassures himself, just breathing alongside each other is enough. The reason he’s pondering this to begin with is that Kaiser forbade him from even buying him a present (Ness wasn’t so optimistic to think he’d receive one, but he can’t even give?) — again, a little excessive, but isn’t everything in his life…

Since Kaiser went over to your place last night the last he heard from him, Ness is a little surprised to see you standing with your arms crossed near the bus, waiting by your lonesome. No Kaiser in sight. You look a bit grumpy and disheveled, too.

Ness decides not to think too much about it as all the attending teammates start showing up one by one.

Even Kaiser, who has trouble waking up in the morning, makes it before the designated time somehow. Though upon his arrival, much to Ness’s confusion he doesn’t look as impeccable as usual, plagued by puffy eyes and a red nose.

Is the cold being particularly unkind to him? Ness tries to explain the sight to himself.

The second oddity is that instead of joining your side like expected, he struts up to Ness and stands there. His posture is stiff and his facial expression more irritable than yours had been.

Is Kaiser choosing him over you? Is this the so-called Christmas miracle his parents didn’t believe in?

Trying to seem casual and not unhinged with ecstasy, Ness says, “Good morning, Kaiser.”

“Morning.”

“Happy birthday!”

“Thanks,�� Kaiser replies in an ungrateful tone.

Well, he is not giving him much to work with, but all things in life come at a price. Ness doesn’t let Kaiser’s shitty attitude dampen his spirits. If such a thing were enough to ward him off, he supposes maybe he’d be in a better place, both mentally and in his career. But because he is who he is, he just lets his lips curl up in his usual turtle smile and stands there waiting to get on the bus, hands clasped behind his back as he gives off this vague aura of sparkling.

___

Kurona is sleepy.

It’s no good they decided to take off at five in the morning, but he can doze off on the bus, he supposes, and when he looked it up last night, it seemed that the drive would be long.

He is among the first to enter and sits down to dutifully wait for Hiori.

These plans are disrupted when you plop down next to him instead, but Kurona kind of doesn’t care enough to protest or ask you to move. You don’t talk with him much otherwise.

He assesses how comfortable the seat is while you untangle your earphone wires. It seems to give you a bit of trouble, but Kurona is too shy to offer his help, so he settles on staring at your movements deadpan.

Kaiser and Ness decide to take the seats in front, but he pays them no mind. Now that he thinks about it, shouldn’t you be sitting with Kaiser instead? He expects Kaiser to maybe make some catty remark about this transgression, yet it never comes.

Instead he peers at you from the crack between his seat and Ness’s in this unsettling sort of way. His eyes are slightly bloodshot, or at least Kurona thinks so, but maybe it’s his sleep deprived imagination. Besides, when is Kaiser not being creepy.

He crams his arm into the space somehow and puts up his middle finger.

You blink in surprise at first because of the sudden intrusion, then scowl and roll your eyes while Kaiser retrieves the offending arm and glares at you again.

“Stop making your rectal myopia everyone else’s problem,” you say as if this is some ongoing discussion and Kurona is catching you in the middle of a conversation. Which is kind of weird, since he’s pretty sure you and Kaiser haven’t spoken a single word to each other the entire morning prior to this.

“Oh yeah, and you’re The Virgin of Guadalupe,” says Kaiser with a hateful huff, before turning back around. Somehow he manages to put a lot of attitude into this motion.

Rectal myopia? The Virgin of Guadalupe?

Trouble in paradise for the couple. Tragedy, tragedy.

Despite the weirdness of what transpired, Kurona decides he doesn’t care and flutters his eyes closed without trouble. He dreams about riding a shark back to Japan.

___

The drive takes seven hours and less than thirty minutes, which according to the tour leader was ‘quick’.

Berlin seems greener and more cosmopolitan than Munich to Hiori, but then again he’s a nobody and he’s an expert in nothing, which he is also quite content with. The group makes it to the hotel they’ll be doing a one night stay in and there is scheduled rest time until some activities in a few hours.

Hiori is having to room with Kurona and Yukimiya, who decide to take it easy. In all honesty he’s a bit bored. His late nights staying up and playing online grant him immunity to this type of malaise, so he decides to go out and walk around by himself, possibly wander off outside even if it’s not the wisest choice.

This trek leads him down to the lobby, where he sees you having some long winded conversation with the receptionist. Though to her face you seem amicable and accepting of the outcome regarding whatever you were requesting, once you turn around so your back is on her, it’s obvious you are seething.

Out of boredom, Hiori approaches. Kind of gingerly as if skirting around a land mine. “What’s up? Did something happen?”

“I got put in a room with Michael and Alexis.”

“Oh, that’s great.”

“No, it isn’t. I was asking them if I can pay to go somewhere else, but the girl said no.”

“Huh? Wait, why? Isn’t Kaiser your boyfriend? Shouldn’t you be happy about that?”

“No, I'm not happy. He’s an ass, and he’s ungrateful, and he’s mean, and he looks like a mop. The first adult case of anencephaly, surely.”

Hiori blinks, continuing to smile with his insect eyes wide open and peering into your soul. “What?”

“It’s like a longer way of saying he doesn’t have a brain,” you explain in a rush. Then you wrap a scarf around your neck and move as if you’re about to leave the lobby.

“Going somewhere?”

“I will be back before the ‘activity’.”

“No power nap?”

“No.”

“D’ya wanna sleep with me, Yukimiya and Kurona in our room tonight? If you’re fighting with Kaiser and they ain’t letting you move.”

“I’ll think about it and tell you later, if you don’t mind.”

Hiori continues smiling, and sends you off with a smooth and somehow delicate wave of his hand.

___

Yukimiya is in a pleasant mood. Like, he’s not too happy, but he’s experiencing mild contentment. He’s also pretty sure Hiori is fucking with Kaiser on purpose, same deceptive and listless smile on his face as always. They’re kind of similar in that way.

They’ve gathered in a circle, the three of them because he doesn’t really get on with anyone else, waiting for everyone to arrive so they can head off to one of Berlin’s Christmas markets. Kurona is quiet as usual, not offering much to the conversation (though he doesn’t need to since his presence by itself is generally appreciated) while Hiori and Yukimiya talk. He’s not even sure Kurona is listening to be honest, but he wouldn’t blame him if he weren’t.

And Kaiser is glaring at the back of Hiori’s head.

“So they were asking to go to another room, but the receptionist refused, so I offered to let them stay with us. Y’all don’t mind, right?”

“No trouble, no trouble,” Kurona allows with a blank face and even tone, displaying his generosity.

Yeah, he’s definitely doing it on purpose. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been talking about it so much — Hiori must be getting a kick out of pissing Kaiser off. Yukimiya doesn’t believe for a second that he’s oblivious to the holes Kaiser’s staring into his head. Hiori is not stupid, and everyone can tell by now you and your boy toy have been having some kind of fight, and it’s obvious neither of you is happy about it despite clinging to the conflict.

Yukimiya closes his eyes and joins Hiori in on the blithe smiling ritual. Because he’s feeling pleasant today, and then he adds, “I guess if they accept, they can pick who to share the bed with.” Of course such a thing is unlikely to happen, but it’s not fair that only Hiori is getting to further sour Kaiser’s mood.

Yukimiya glances at Kaiser, who looks like he is about to shit himself in anger, for about a second and then focuses his attention back on Hiori in front of him. The sky is pure white and the ground is coated in snow. Today is a good day.

___

The Christmas marketplace afternoon is not turning out to be any fun. Gesner is regretting going. He’s sure everyone else is regretting going, actually — it’s like a lame school trip, but he’s not twelve anymore, so he can’t enjoy it at all.

There aren’t any baddies around to flirt with anyway, just mothers with children who probably don’t want anyone to bother them during the bustle of this commercialist holiday nightmare.

To make himself feel better, he engages in some recreational complaining about all the first world problems he’s had today while walking around all the vendors with the rest of the group.

“And I’ve got a crick in my neck because the fucking bus seats were not comfortable at all. Not to mention waking up at four is inhumane. Seriously, who funded this shit,” he says.

Grim has this solemn expression on, staring at Gesner with pensive sadness and a vague sense of understanding. If he were speaking to anyone other than Grim, maybe it would’ve been encouraging, but this is Grim’s default state of being and not a unique comprehension of how grave and serious Gesner’s frustrations are, so it’s kind of whatever.

“Also,” continues Gesner regardless, “Kaiser and the manager are being such annoying dick cheeses, arguing like little kids. Passive aggressive babies. Should’ve stayed back in Munich if you ask me.”

“So immature,” Grim says, still dour.

“I’m right behind you,” Kaiser pipes up.

Gesner clicks his tongue and talks over Kaiser, addressing Grim still. “You’re such a smegma too. Fuck you all.”

“Love is withering and fading all around on the day of the Messiah’s birth. How hilarious and yet poignant.”

“Seriously, shut the fuck up.” At the same time, “Stop talking about me like I’m not here you fucking lowlifes.”

“During my silence you will hear nature’s white noise as spirits mourn us in festivity.”

“Oh my god. You’re just saying random words, dick cheese.”

Gesner stomps away and gets lost somewhere else in the crowd. He doesn’t bother to turn around and apologize or otherwise acknowledge Kaiser’s existence.

___

It’s not the best thing in the world. Kiyora is bored, but he’s bored most days, so it’s not exceptionally horrible either. Even as a child, he wasn’t the type to get excited about Christmas, so there isn’t even any lost novelty. It’s all just bland and not special at all to him, though he admits he doesn’t mind getting free shit no matter the season.

There is an ice rink, so he thinks to try and pull off break dancing, but a dent forms in his plans when you approach him.

“I don’t know how to skate,” you say, in place of a greeting.

Not knowing what to do with this information and without seeing how it’s relevant to him, Kiyora replies with, “‘Kay.”

“Can I… Like… With you?”

He is annoyed, but doesn’t betray it with any unnecessary facial twitches or even with an attitude. Well, you’re the manager, so he supposes he can humor you.

He pulls you along with him, not letting you stay glued to the railing because then that would mean he’d have to be like that, too. Maybe if he were more considerate he’d be slow and gentle, but he doesn’t want to skate like that, so he just drags you along while you’re clumsy on your feet.

You don’t even chat. But it’s not uncomfortable or tense to be so silent — at least to him. Things of the sort don’t bother him. He’s immune to secondhand embarrassment and awkwardness. Besides, you’ve been in a mood ever since he first saw you in the morning and there has been no improvement, so he doubts you even want to talk to him.

Though the fact that it’s not uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s fun. It’s boring like most other things. Everything’s just boring to him most of the time when there is no conflict.

Kiyora flings you into a more complex skating sequence which without much of his support doesn’t work out and you end up tripping and falling on your face. Without a care or a second thought, he skates away from you while you groan in pain to try kick spinning on ice.

___

Something that Ness always admired in Kaiser ever since meeting him is that despite his obvious unhappiness, he’s in control of himself. He holds himself with dignity, cold and calculated. Despite everything Ness really likes that difficult and aloof personality, how he can’t get quite close to him.

But he’s just- different. Nowadays.

It’s not like, a new thing. Kaiser changes all the time, if necessary, an intentional change or a product of someone else’s prodding.

Today he is mopey, bitter and annoying even to Ness’s sensibilities. It’s a big achievement, all things considered, since at one point Ness considered himself impervious to Kaiser’s faults. But Kaiser… won’t stop complaining, won’t stop talking about you, and it’s walking on his last nerve.

Why is he so fucking whiny? Like truly, why? Has he always been like this and Ness just didn’t see it somehow or what? Did you put some spell on him to make him so desperate and pathetic?!

Even now he’s trying to help Kaiser ice skate and he just keeps turning around to glare at you and Kiyora and is overall not listening to anything Ness is telling him, plagued by uncharacteristic absentmindedness, but Ness keeps his stubborn smile in place anyway. No one can defeat him when he sets his mind to do something. Not even Kaiser himself can get in his way of enjoying Christmas with Kaiser, and that’s final.

Or at least that’s what he thinks until the accident happens where you slip and Kiyora leaves you there.

Despite not having the slightest idea, Kaiser lets go of Ness rather brazenly and tries to go and help you up — maybe with the thought this would be a good reconciliation opportunity — but follows suit and falls face first even harder than you did.

Ness stares.

This is it. A monumental moment, something thought impossible before, a mark in history.

… Alexis Ness got the ick from his beloved Kaiser.

Yukimiya ends up helping you up, gallant in a way Kaiser could only be in his imagination. Of course Ness helps him up anyway (such a good samaritan, considering his earlier epiphanies), and you two end up with matching scratches over your foreheads and noses, which makes both of you look about as idiotic as you are.

Ness is fuming.

But he continues to smile — he’s getting kind of concerned for himself if he has to be honest.

___

This marketplace has the biggest Christmas pyramid in Europe inside of it. It’s the kind of thing Ness used to imagine as a kid, so he owes it to himself to go in no matter what. There seem to have been a lot of ‘no matter what's’ involved for him today, as if he’s off to a warzone instead of a fucking Christmas trip with his team, but whatever.

Kaiser doesn’t even give the giant Christmas decoration a glance, too deep into his complaining to pay attention to much of anything. “I didn’t even want to come,” he says, amid the other problems he’s verbalized (except for the most important one, of course, which is that he’s feeling like a wounded animal over whatever you two fought about).

“Then- Then why did you?” asks Ness. Though he thinks Kaiser deserves a bit of snark for ruining the whole day for him, his confusion is also genuine. He knows Kaiser prefers to be in solitude on his birthday, and he’s not festive at all.

“It was just supposed to be different.”

“Well, um, okay.” Ness shuffles in place and looks over to the Christmas pyramid again. It’s gotten dark now, so the glow of its jovial lights makes it appear even more striking. You seem to be heading there, but Ness doesn’t think much of it, trying to voice a desire for once in his life. “I wanna go in and check out the wine.”

Kaiser narrows his eyes, then does his little frown. “I’m not going. Do I look twelve?”

Ness inhales. Seriously, he just wants one thing. He gets it, Kaiser’s having a shit time, but does he need to make it sound like only a stupid child would want to go after Ness voiced the simplest, most mundane wish someone could fucking have at such an event?

Does the planet need to stop spinning just because Kaiser is in a mood?

Huffing and scrunching his nose, he says, “Well, I’ll go by myself then.”

“Suit yourself.”

And he does. In a show of independence and perhaps spite, Ness takes off into a half jog and catches up to you. Kaiser is glaring at him from behind and he can feel it, but he doesn’t care. He’s sitting down next to you and having that mulled wine and that’s final — Kaiser can throw a tantrum about it if it’s so important. Outside. All alone.

God, he’s all guilty and pitying him now, temper fizzling out, but decides to stand on his decision to leave Kaiser to sulk like a scolded puppy by himself.

Ness takes the spot next to you after getting his drink. You seem a bit surprised by his appearance, but try not to let it show and he can still tell anyway.

He won’t ask.

He’s not going to ask what you fought about with Kaiser that’s got him all out of control.

Ness clears his throat and breaks the tentative silence with an awkward question. “So, um, are you enjoying the trip?”

“It’s alright. How about you?”

“Yeah, it’s been great.”

Wow, you two are such shameless liars. Bad at small talk too.

After the initial discomfort, Ness falls into a more normal conversation with you. The jolly music in the background is pleasant, at least to him, and in the avoidance of the topic of Kaiser, he actually gets to speak with you about himself as an individual. He realizes now throughout this that he’d almost forgotten what it’s like.

___

Kaiser’s skin is flushed pink, since it’s so cold outside, and his hair looks mysteriously even worse than usual, probably because of the wind. For someone whose favorite season is winter, it doesn’t seem to do him any favors.

Whatever.

Gesner watches, mildly disturbed, as Kaiser gobbles down his third bratwurst like it personally offended him.

He takes a sip of his shitty overpriced beer that he bought from the same food stall Kaiser got his dinner from. But it’s fine, he doesn’t need to sweat how he can buy the same brand from the supermarket ten minutes away from his house for a few euros cheaper, he has professional athlete money now. No biggie.

After some internal seething over this stupid beer he’s drinking, Gesner says, “So, why don’t you just apologize?”

“Apologize for what? I have nothing to apologize for.”

“Stop being such a dickweed. You’re making everyone uncomfortable.”

“I don’t care if you morons are uncomfortable. And why do you immediately assume I was the one in the wrong?”

“Well, we all know who the more reasonable between the two of you is, so I’m making an educated guess on who started it, whatever it was.”

“Nothing you ever do is educated.”

Kaiser rubs his forehead and sniffs as if the weather is giving him a runny nose, looking all despondent and offended at the same time. This is probably an attack to his sensibilities since he prides himself on being rational, but whatever. Gesner finds this whole ordeal so pathetic, and not in a cute way.

“Ok, do you seriously not care that you ruined it all for Ness? It’s not fun walking around with a wet jerkoff choking on his own angst all Christmas.”

“Listen, I get it, poor Ness. Whatever. But why do I need to force myself to act like nothing’s wrong? It’s my birthday. I’m not some monkey he hired to dance and smile with him if I’m not feeling it. Fuck Ness. Stop whining to me about fucking Ness. He can go fuck himself, no one made him hang around me the entire day if he hates it so much.”

Gesner rolls his eyes. “You’re so obnoxious,” he says.

“Go worry about how you hit on a single mother in front of her kid and the kid made fun of you,” Kaiser snaps.

Gesner takes one more long sip out of the beer can and stares up at the sky, trying to erase the memory of that incident from his head, while Kaiser finishes off the last of his sausage. He could abandon the conversation here, he supposes, go seek more pleasant company, but everyone’s always so acquiescent to Kaiser. No one ever gives it to him straight.

“I’m just saying- I don’t know if you get off on making yourself and everyone around you miserable or something, but this is ridiculous. It’s not making you happy, clearly, and your birthday’s ruined. Just make up with [Y/n] and apologize to Ness too. It’s not that hard.”

Kaiser heaves a theatric, long suffering sigh. “Fine. You’re right.”

Despite his bouts of pride and bullheadedness, Kaiser can admit when someone is making an actual point. Gesner never thought he’d be a name on the list of people who’ve schooled Kaiser, but it feels kinda good.

He picks his one liner to end the conversation, a final and critical utterance to symbolize his verbal victory: “Dick cheese.” 

God, he loves saying that.

___

There are so many fairy lights, it’s almost an eyesore.

Grim is walking around along with you and Ness after joining somewhere along the way since Gesner abandoned him. Woe is him. He cannot even shroud himself in darkness because of holiday beautification all over the city. Such merry roistering in a place full of crisis and misery, what with homelessness being so prevalent here. Exuberance can only exist and shine off of someone else’s back…

But Grim has always been fascinated by this sort of dichotomy, the way it follows all facets of life. It’s easy for him to apply his philosophy with its flexibility when he wants to see it, which is all the time. So he also makes everything about his beliefs all the time.

So, the fact that you’ve been having this relationship drama with Kaiser today of all days, intrigues him.

He lets out a bemused wail and clutches at his forehead like a maiden, halting in the middle of the sidewalk. You and Ness stop and look at him curiously.

Grim stares into your eyes. It’s intense, but you don’t flinch. Ness drags his shoe across the ground even though nothing is stuck to it and shuffles in place, jacket making noises along with the movement.

Finally, Grim places his hand on your shoulder, gripping tight. His declaration is dramatic. “You have a kind of frigidity I admire.”

You raise a curious eyebrow.

Grim continues gazing at you with his strangely wet, dark eyes. His pensive delivery continues. “Most people don’t have it in them to ignore and shittalk their boyfriend on his birthday, but you do. You’re coldhearted.”

“Hey, don’t instigate,” says Ness with a worried frown on his face. Poor thing, probably getting irritated that this shit keeps following him around, but what was he thinking going from Kaiser to you.

“I’m not trying to be cold or whatever. I just- you know, it’s about sticking to your principles.”

This isn’t helpful information considering no one knows what this mystical argument was even about. Grim doesn’t care what it was about either and Ness is sick of it, so he won’t inquire either in his hopes of cutting the topic short.

In these circumstances, the silence festers.

Your expression mirrors Ness’s as concern seems to dawn on you while you stare at him. “It’s not too harsh, is it?”

“Well, he wasn’t handling it well,” Ness admits.

“But what am I supposed to do when he’s not budging?!” You string the words together in a haste, fishing for sympathy or confirmation that you were in the right despite what seems like a vague amount of regret setting in.

…

Grim and Ness stare.

“I can’t just let him walk over me because it’s his birthday!”

They glance at each other then back at you and start nodding solemnly in tandem while letting out a few ‘fair’s here and there.

“Maybe I could’ve been kinder, but it’s a matter of principle! I wasn’t thinking clearly, since I was angry! It’s not like Michael is the only one in the world allowed to… to get angry and stop thinking straight. And we all make mistakes. Right? Right?”

The two of them still don’t even know what you did or why you’re trying to justify it so vehemently, but Grim assumes you’re more so reasoning with yourself rather than them. Ness displays the body language of someone whose skin is crawling.

“Misery on Christmas creates such a beautiful juxtaposition,” Grim says, wiping at his forehead again even though the temperature is in the negatives.

You roll your eyes.

Ness checks the time on his phone and fakes dismay over ‘cutting the walk short’ before suggesting heading back to the group meeting spot.

___

Kaiser would never admit it out loud, but he’s quite emotionally fragile and volatile at times. He’s been on edge all day to everyone’s notice, but now even more so on the way back, preparing to apologize or to beg if necessary (though honestly pulling out all the theatrics when wanting to reconcile in kind doesn’t seem like the brightest idea).

After some reflection, he has come to terms with the truth about the argument. Throughout the day he victimized himself in his memories, but it’s not the full picture. Of course Kaiser doesn’t care about painting himself in a virtuous light to his own imagination — being that he enjoys aggrandizing himself through malice — but more so to forget how the whole thing spiraled from a pathetic, wounded kind of spot in his psyche.

He went over to spend the night at your place last night, and then you were supposed to get to the bus before the trip together, but it didn’t happen according to plan.

When it struck midnight and the twenty-fourth became the twenty-fifth you were both still awake watching some pretentious French arthouse movie about an abused donkey which he pretended he picked out at random and not from an ‘intellectual movie list’ he looked up in advance.

Your alarm went off in the middle of the circus scene, and you wrapped your arms around him, gave him a few kisses on his face, then wished him a happy birthday.

Kaiser admits that his knee jerk reaction was irritation, but he held it in and granted you an awkward thanks, squeezing your waist as he returned the embrace.

But then you went off to get the cake you got him and his gift and he kind of freaked out. Not because they were bad, but because you know he hates surprises and he hates celebrating his birthday and why he hates being caught off guard so much to begin with, but went ahead and did it anyway. And, yeah, Gesner was right, he started it — he made some disparaging remark about how you should’ve known better and kept this shit to yourself.

You started digging into him too though, for his reactions, so he bit at you in response, then you refused to back down and it escalated into one of those things where it was more of an insult exchange than a real discussion. Many times you both twisted facts not merely about this instance of disagreement but about the relationship itself, petty and mean.

Kaiser realized he was being a bit ridiculous because he was goading you, and on purpose. He could’ve stopped and done damage control, but made the choice not to. In that moment he wanted to act as ugly as he could and have you accept him and love him in spite of it, so he kept making his own grave, and the more you mouthed off to him and dissected his faults too instead of just taking it, the more he felt hurt and rejected, and the more he lashed out as a result.

Then “Maybe we should just break up then!” flew out of your mouth. He accepted it with a sneer to your face, but really he knew it was mostly his fault, so he cried all night and choked himself before he ended up hollow and empty. He felt like shit and worse, he made you feel like shit too and he let it go on for too long.

He had his reasons for his gripes about the birthday celebration, but he should’ve communicated that more sensibly instead of expecting you to keel over and praise him in the face of his berating. His behavior spurred yours and your response to him spurred him to take it further, but it doesn’t mean he was right. All things considered the beginning of the stupid fight definitely wasn’t something worth losing you over.

But how does he fix it? He said a hundred things he didn’t mean last night and toyed with your temper, tried your sense of self-respect to try and fill the black hole inside of him, always seeking affirmation and reassurance. Please never leave me. Please accept me and coddle me no matter what I do because there are times when I can’t understand anything else. Please love me senselessly.

Which — apparently you’re not willing to do, and that was the cause of his whole dramatic distress. Though it’s probably a good thing how your love is somewhat conditional. Kaiser is glad, in a weird way, that you didn’t let him trample all over you without retaliation.

Do you even want him to try and make nice with you?

He can’t stop thinking about it. To whatever extent and in whatever way he’s capable of, he’s so smitten with you, but this isn’t an oopsie daisy situation where he can brush it off to the side and hope you can forget, what with how out of line he was.

It’s not even something he wants. He wants to say sorry and make proper amends after all this nonsense.

The group is making its way inside the hotel after stepping off the bus when he asks you to stay outside and talk.

You cross your arms and look at him, not seeming too pleased, but more willing to be in his presence than before. “What now?”

“I just…” He runs a hand through his hair and looks off to the side, ignoring your vexed tone. Despite his many mental rehearsals on the ride back, Kaiser never really figured out what to say. “I fucked up so bad. You were trying to be sweet and I acted histrionic and crazy and insulted you over something so dumb, just because I hate surprises and whatever else dumb reasoning I had. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Can we just… I don’t know, talk about it? I understand if you want to split, but I don’t, and I just wanna say I’m sorry for being unreasonable and… and fucking disrespectful and an ingrate too.”

A flash of surprise appears on your face, as if you hadn’t expected him to apologize, let alone to approach you first about it. Outside of that, he can’t judge what you think about it. His palms are sweaty and the silence, the longer it goes on, seems like it’ll crush in on him, a metaphorical weight, as if he’ll crumble under a mass of nothing.

“Oh, so you admit you were an ingrate?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m an ingrate and you’re always right.” It sounds sarcastic, but he’s trying to have a sense of humor about it.

“Listen, I’m sorry about the birthday thing too… I know you don’t like them-”

“No, no, don’t do that. It doesn’t matter how much I hate them. I could’ve said that like a normal person. Really. I’m sorry.”

“Alright, and… and, uh, I said some nasty things too. About you.”

“Yeah but, fuck, I was insulting you first. I don’t even care anymore, honestly. About you making me a surprise when I hate them and about whatever you said. I didn’t even mean all that shit I was spewing at you, I just- felt hurt and wanted to hurt you back, and it was fucked up of me, and I’m sorry.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry for hurting you by disregarding you saying you hate the birthday celebration stuff and for doing too much with the insults too. I guess, I don’t know, it would’ve felt wrong to me not to give you anything for your birthday, but I should’ve listened to what you wanted anyway. It’s not like I know what you need better than you do.”

“That’s whatever. I’m over it.”

Kaiser stares at you because he doesn’t know what any of this means. You’re not accepting or denying him, just talking about what happened, and your expression is calm. The circumstances are completely unlike last night.

He’s not good at this substantial kind of talk, so he continues to stare, awaiting some kind of divine sign like maybe for you to robotically announce you forgive him, then you’ll interlace your fingers together and run off to skip in a field of flowers together or some such.

“You have a runny nose,” you point out.

“I know. Ignore it. I’m not doing the cocaine sniffle anymore, it’s getting old now.” Kaiser takes a step closer — not enough to encroach, but still desiring more proximity. “Listen, you can throw me a hundred surprises if you want, or hit me or scream at me or insult me for days on end, I just want you to know I really do regret it all. And… Please, don’t let me go.” The last bit is humiliating to speak and his cheeks heat up accordingly.

You step forward too, in his direction, once and then twice, before leaning in to wrap your arms around him, very gently. Relief floods his muscles, which had been tense all day all over in your absence, and Kaiser clings onto you tighter, tries to pull you closer. In the event this is a parting hug, he tries to memorize this sensation. Your warmth, your skin.

“Listen, I don’t want to leave you. Not really… I just don’t want this to be a thing. That you do. You get what I’m saying?”

“No, no, yeah. No more of this, I promise. I want to do right by you.”

Kaiser feels surprised that he means it.

“I love you, so I don’t really want to break up,” you whisper. It’s not your first time telling him you love him, but this instance is fragile and hesitant as if it is a novelty, though to be fair hearing it from your lips always makes his heart flutter.

He kisses you on the forehead and tells you he loves you too, which he means more than anything as well. Kaiser doesn’t think he’ll be pulling that shit anymore and so lightly either, not when it could cost him so much. The two of you hold each other in the snow for a few minutes longer, not wanting to move and disrupt your own reunion.

Kaiser can’t help feeling a bit happy and self-satisfied since he’s prevented you from moving to fuckass Hiori and Yukimiya’s room. They were totally taunting him earlier and he hopes they never score regular spots ever again.

___

Today’s main event for the trip is visiting something called ‘The Christmas Garden’.

Kurona examines the flowers, because what else is he supposed to do in a garden? Meanwhile Hiori’s watching you and Kaiser, seemingly enjoying each other’s company again despite yesterday’s malaise. You’re even holding hands and all.

“I think they made up,” Hiori says.

“Yesterday it was a calamity. Calamity.” Despite calling it a calamity, he doesn’t sound particularly invested when he replies.

“I was telling Isagi about it over LINE. He was happy Kaiser got dumped, but I guess no. Must’ve been just a fight then.”

It’s not interesting since you’re no longer wanting to beat each other up with hammers, so Hiori redirects his gaze back to Kurona again, who’s watching the fauna in total disinterest. So then Hiori also fixes his face into one of neutrality and starts watching the fauna in total disinterest too.

They are so bonding right now without Isagi’s interference!

“I would’ve liked it better if we got to see sharks,” says Kurona.

“There’s an aquarium, so maybe we can sneak off there after this.”

“No, no. I mean here in the garden. Lately I’ve been getting really into sharks in unusual places.”

“… What?”

___

It's the 25th where I am now so happy birthday to Kaiser!!!

[monkee-mobile]

My contribution to the age old argument of “but the Monkees don’t play their own instruments!!” yadda yadda, and the little Head-fueled speculation of whether or not all of it is real at the end of 33 1/3.

I saw the meme, and immediately Peter came into my head.

[ew-selfish-art]

DP x DC AU: Bruce is the one to invite Constantine over, and no, it's not to improve his tenuous working relationship with the asshole. It's the opposite of that.

---

Danny had become a frequent visitor of Wayne Manor in the last few months, and Bruce had to admit that while the kid was certainly a bit ominous for his liking for a partner to Tim, he was a generally kind and happy soul. They'd been dating for a lot longer than the Bats knew of- Kon had been the one to let it slip to Jon who told Damian and so on- and since the relationship was no longer secret, Tim brings him to family functions.

The thing about Danny is... He's dead. More than half of the time. Which again, is not Ideal for Bruce's wishes for Tim's future husband, but it also means that he reviles in being alive. Danny is downright joyous about using his time left on earth properly. He makes Tim eat real food, enjoy real sleep and generally live a more fulfilled life than he had been. The whole family noticed the changes in Tim, and it made them like Danny even more.

So after a particularly grueling day of dealing with Trigon and therefore the JLD's lack of coordination and sensible planning- Bruce gets the idea. John couldn't fucking contain himself admonishing Bruce, and perhaps it was vindictive, but Bruce figures that John should meet Danny. Sans context of course.

...

John is really over dealing with Batman's prissy, over complicated and perfectionist attitude. Come to the Cave he'd demanded, as though John didn't have a favorite bar to get back to, deal with a ghost he ordered like John didn't have other priorities than some random shade.

When walking into the space however, the second his teleportation portal closed, John knew something was deeply, deeply fucked. The shadows were growing longer, the second hand on his watch ticked slower, the air smelled of sulfur and... Red Robin was sitting working at the computer like nothing was wrong. But what was wrong, was the kid was marked by The End. Marked by The Infinite. FUCK.

John knew Death, the Endless, and knew she could pick favorites just like her siblings (Dream's immortal drinking buddy comes to mind). But this wasn't her work, this was something other.

"Mate- the Bat said there was a ghost?" John feels like he might throw up, the eerie atmosphere complicating what should have been a simple request.

"Uh, obviously." The kid didn't even look over from his screen or pause his typing.

John slowly approached, looking over each shoulder a few times, turning in a few circles as the shadows appeared to dance and echo within the cave. He could see his breath, the air became so cold so suddenly. And then, with the gentleness of a pin drop, a new agonizing sound appeared with a Kid walking down the cave stairs. The aura of the room turned dark, every cell in John's body screaming to run, that this was basically the little girl from the ring crawling through the TV as the young man walked down the steps.

"Babe, your grampa says that dinners going to be ready in a second. Oh, uh, hey dude." The creature speaks, turning his eyes to John for only a moment to study him. It feels equivalent to a butterfly being pinned by its wings.

"Y-y-you, you're, you're one of the Endless?" John stutters, his body reacting in fear despite the nonchalant posture of the Beast. The young man rolls his eyes.

"Nah, one of the Ancients but like uh, I'm new in town. And hon seriously don't be late, A made tiramisu for dessert and you're not allowed to have any if you're late and I don't want to deal with you pouting."

"You had me at Tiramisu!" Red stands up from his computer and then turns, "John, what are you doing here again?" Red Robin finally looks over at him, completely confused.

"Just leaving." John mutters, his eyes still trained on the ANCIENT.

---

Bruce could barely hide his laugh when Tim reported the Magician meeting Danny in the cave.

That'll show the asshole to question Batman's knowledge of the occult.

[tarotwithavi]

How do your classmates and teachers view you?

A general depiction of how your classmates and teachers see you and think of you.

Choose the picture that attracts you and you can choose two piles. Leave a note to support. And have a nice day!

Masterlist

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Take deep breaths and fix your posture.

Pile 1

Hello pile 1 ! You're classmates see you as someone who's competitive and likes winning. You give off the vibe of higher achiever. You might also see that your classmates also see you as a competition and might compare their grades with you. For some of you I'm getting that you might be very popular in school because of your intelligence and knowledge and this might attract some jealousy. Your classmates see you as someone who is always in their own world and does their own thing and very passionate about their studies. Someone who takes their academic life seriously. You're okay with enjoying with your friends and skipping classes but when it's time to study or when you feel like you should study, you became very serious and forget your surroundings.

On the other hand your teachers see you as someone who balances their studies with their hobbies and is a mixture of topper and disguised troublemaker. Your teachers see you as someone who is going to succeed in life. You know the type of student who the teachers believe is going to be great person or is going to get a lot of fame. Someone who doesn't compromise their education for a short time fun. Your teachers see that you can become a perfect judge because of your unbiased opinions and advices. Your teachers see you as a hardworker too. They also see you as someone who makes stupid compromises? Oh I get it they see you as someone who doesn't realize their worth and how capable you are. You tend to underestimate yourself.

Pile 2

Alright pile 2 ! Your classmates see you as the forever helpful and nice classmates. The one who is always ready to help and explain the topics again if someone asks them to. Probably the second teacher of the class Or the head of the class. I'm also getting that your classmates see you as their friend and the coolest classmate. I'm also getting that your classmates recognize you for your art or creativeness. Maybe you sketch, paint, draw or sing? They see you as the down to earth person. The one who is nice to everyone and has good relations with everyone. They also see you as the mother of the friend group or the person who can vibe with anyone ( are you guys for real? How do you do that? What's your secret? ) Anyways , I'm also getting that your classmates like you a lot. And some might be crushing on you.

Okay so for your teachers I'm getting that they see you as "My buddy" Or "save this student at all cost " Or something like that. Now take that how it resonates but I'm also getting that they might think that you lack confidence? They see you as someone who is good with everyone but likes to do their work alone. They type to do the group assignment all by themselves even though they got paired with their friends. Your teachers see you as the student who's ready nice but won't tolerate bullshit and hates to be told what to do and how to do certain things. Your teachers might think that you won't ask for help and is a little hesitant to talk to people sometimes. They see you as Someone assertive. And needs to gain confidence.

Pile 3

Welcome pile3! I'm getting that your classmates see you as the person who's working very hard and trying their best. The type of student who always has their nose buried in books and always talk about the next test and the subjects they are bad at. For some of you I'm getting that your classmates think that you're hiding something. I'm also getting that they see you as someone who has a whole different personality at school and changes into their different self the second they feet leave school. You give off the vibe of Peter Parker. For example how he is a super hero but no one knows that. Even at school people see him as the average student . You might skip school a lot too. I just heard " There's a lot about me that people don't know. And I would like to keep it that way" . They also see you as someone who tries very hard to be like everyone else.

Your teachers really be hyping you up. They want to see you succeed and see all your wishes come true. There's a male teachers who really has high hopes for you and wishes the best for you. For some of you I'm getting that there's a female teachers who's very strict and might be called rude, who Sees the potential in you. You might be being burdened by work from this teacher but in her mind she's doing the best for you. Your teachers see that you're tired and stuck. They think that you're going through something that you don't want to share. And they wish that you would be a little good to yourself. I heard " You're doing great sweetie" . Your teachers see you as someone who has had enough and just wants to rest. They see you as someone who needs to rest and recover and remain positive.

[dandylovesturtles]

TMNT AU Propaganda whooo

Hello, I'm back again. With fic this time.

I bingeread all of Call Me Here (I Will Appear) by @callmehere-iwillappear a little while back and it's so good! So heartbreaking but so heartwarming at the same time! And with both IMBI and CMH both being in the @tmntaucompetition we decided they are ghost buddies, and then they drew this adorable artwork and I had to write a little something because listen I need good things to happen to both of these boys.

So here you go! And please vote for both I May Be Invisible and Call Me Here in the TMNT AU polls tomorrow!

(And also 2 Arms Left, those boys aren't really in this fic but listen if you vote for both IMBI and 2AL then Ell and I will face off in the next round please it's so funny-)

cough ANYWAY HERE'S THE DRABBLE OK BYE (spoilers for both fics within)

Was getting abruptly kidnapped to an interdimensional sports tournament the weirdest thing that had ever happened to them? Hard to say, but it was certainly a surprise anyway. Right in the middle of Leo's very dramatic catatonia arc, too...

The place is a madhouse. There's so many different versions of himself and his brothers, some of them older, some of them missing limbs, and some of them from different universes entirely. There's cheerleading. There's fighting. There's an older Michelangelo giving all the visible Leos bats for some reason.

Leo guesses he shouldn't be too disappointed that even in this crowd, only his own specific brothers can interact with him; he hasn't had dramatic life-saving encounters with any of these other people, after all. He keeps getting walked through, talked over, and he can't very well take part in the actual basketball playing.

But it's fine! He can vibe! He's so cool with vibing. His brothers seem to be enjoying themselves, after all, and Pizza Supreme knows after the weeks they've been having they deserve something fun and... probably not life-threatening (he's still eying those bats, though). So he can just... watch. Spectate.

So fun.

He's standing by while Raph chats with a whole group of assorted Raphs, surveying the diverse crowd when it happens.

His eyes lock with another Leo's.

The other Leo seems just as startled as he is to be seen - his mouth pops open in surprise, posture going stiff in a mirror of Leo's own reaction. Other than that, there's no immediate signs; he's not see-through, or floating, or anything else one might expect. The only immediate difference he can see is that the three clones of his brothers standing near the other Leo are all wearing their own version of Donnie's goggles.

And yet, he still knows.

"Hey, I'm going over there for a sec," he says over his shoulder to Raph.

"What? Hey, don't wander off!"

"It's fine, big guy, I'll stay in range."

He trots off across the court, not bothering to dodge anyone who steps in his path. The other Leo and his group aren't too far away, and once he gets there, the two of them look each other up and down, like wary dogs unsure about entering another's space.

He gives the other Leo a very serious look, which is mirrored back to him.

And the other Leo starts them off.

"What's a ghost's favorite fruit?"

"Booberries. What's a ghost's favorite car?"

"A Boo-gatti. Why don't ghosts go out in the rain?"

It dampens their spirits. What-"

"Who are you talking to?" the other Donnie asks, turning their way. He has his goggles pulled down. Leo gives him a wave, but he doesn't seem to notice.

"Just another Leo," says the other Leo, before turning back to him. "You can't be seen by the goggles?"

"Nope. That hasn't worked for us."

"But I saw you say something to your Raph."

"Yeah! Raph can hear me, Mikey can see me, and Donnie can touch me."

"Huh. Sounds inconvenient!"

"Oh, it is." Leo shrugs. "Curses, man, what can you do?"

Something quick passes over the other Leo's face; he only notices because it's so like his own. "You were cursed?"

"Yep! Some bad guy thought it would be a good way to get rid of me. You?"

The other Leo's smile droops only slightly. "...Do you know about the Prison Dimension?"

Leo's own smile drops, and he hunches in on himself, which just makes the other Leo's grin slip further. It hurts; he was there, for real, and again too recently in his mind, and now he can say this with certainty, with clarity:

No Leo deserved that.

But this Leo, who has persisted after death, who's with his family now... even if it's a tragedy, Leo can admire that. And they can see him - they can apparently hear him, and Leo knows from experience that that's everything.

(And still not quite enough.)

"...That sucks," he says, because what else do you say?

The other Leo shrugs, looking a little self-conscious. "It's not too bad. Donnie's making me a body."

"Oh, that'll be sweet." Leo picks his grin back up. "Wait, can you actually touch stuff? Are you going to haunt a robot?"

"I can if I focus." He looks smug. "It takes practice, but I'm getting better."

"Whoa, nice. I can't touch anything other than Donnie. Can't float or anything, either."

"Me either!" The other Leo throws his arms up dramatically. "What a ripoff, right?"

Leo matches the movement. "That's what I've been saying!"

"Man. It's nice to finally talk to someone who understands."

"Heh, same here," says Leo. He reaches out to give the other Leo a friendly pat on the shoulder.

He expects his hand to just pass through. He doesn't expect it to connect.

It's not really feeling, not like when he touches Donnie. It's more like when he touches his own body - his hand stops moving through the air, but he's not getting any tactile sensation from it.

He doubts the other Leo can really feel it either, but the way his eyes latch on the point of contact tells Leo everything he needs to know.

He doesn't hesitate, just wraps his arm around the other Leo and pulls him in for a hug. He doesn't resist, just puts his own arms around Leo, and he can't feel it but he's pretty sure he's holding tight.

He doesn't ask how long it's been since he's been hugged; he feels like he doesn't have to.

They stay that way almost a minute (and he's glad for their reputation as Leos that no one can see them), before the other Leo pulls back. His eyes are glassy and his smile wavering, but it's real and it's there, and Leo can't help but smile back.

He decides to save them before this gets too mushy.

"Hey, you said you can touch things, right?"

"If I focus."

"Well!" Leo moves so his arm is draped around the other Leo's shoulders, walking him toward one of the goals. "Get ready to focus on making sick dunks."

Instantly, the other Leo's eyes light up with delight. "Ooooh ho ho ho yes. We are going to freak some people out!"

He offers his fist, and Leo gleefully bumps it.

[zoeykallus]

Hi! If you’re taking requests I would wonder, how would TBB + Rex react to reader being unfaithful, hooking up with someone else? Maybe their relationship was never verbally made officially so reader thought it was okay, idk. Can make NSFW, fluff, sad, angry, smut, however you want! I love your work btw :)

Oh dear...

Aloha! Okay, my first impulse is to ask why would you do such a thing, if you could have a batcher 😂 I surely wouldn't, either way 😁 To each their own. But I'm curious how the guys would react to that. Let's see...

The Bad Batch x Fem!Reader HCs - Unfaithful

Warnings: Suggestive In Parts/Strong Language/Hurt/Angst/There Might Be Some Fluff too

___________________

What's Going On:

From time to time you've been intimate, but your batcher, and you haven't set any hard and fast rules, neither you nor he titles you as a couple yet, at least you haven't verbally. So when you go out with a cute guy after a party and get intimate with that very guy, you don't really think much of it. The only problem is that the guy in question likes to make a name for himself with his bedtime stories and brags about them. Your batcher gets wind of it.

___________________

Ko-Fi (If you feel like giving me some coffee)

Hunter

At first, he's flabbergasted when one of the other bar patrons, who he knows quite well by now, tells him how some guy bragged about having slept with you and would also reveal wild details about it. "I thought because you two are kind of close that maybe you should know," the acquaintance from the bar ends his explanation. Hunter blinks, he nods slowly and mumbles, "Thanks." He just sits there for a moment, then from one second to the next his pulse races, adrenaline is produced in his body. It takes him a second or two to realize he's pissed off. Hunter points to the guy in the booth at the other end of Cid's Bar and asks, "That one over there?" His buddy nods. "You sure?" Another nod. Hunter stands up, walking purposefully toward the booth and stands next to it, practically directly in the field of view of your one-night stand. Hunter approaches him about it, and the guy completely misinterprets Hunter's interest. He starts bragging again and is already getting into some details. Hunter is not even sure if the guy is just lying completely, or if there's at least some truth to it.

He is so angry, he wants to break the guy's nose. His whole posture is tense, his look so gloomy that even a Sith would hide under the bed. Everyone in the bar knows that he is about to beat someone up, except this one. He is not an aggressive person, he doesn't want to be. But right now he's holding back with absolute effort. Hunter turns around and wants to leave again, wants to try to vent his frustration in another way. But he is barely two steps away from the table as he snaps. "Fuck it..." He turns back around, goes back to the booth, and takes one quick, solid punch. The nose bone breaks, clearly audible, despite the music in the bar. The guy is almost unconscious, he's bleeding, his eyes are watering, and he looks at Hunter, confused and uncomprehending. "Don't you ever touch her again, and don't you dare tell anyone this story again, or I'll come back and break the rest"

He avoids you for the next few days, but sooner or later he brings it up. Hunter is disappointed in you, he was sure that you knew how much the thing between you two meant to him, even though you didn't call it by its name until now. You have an adult, enlightening conversation, finally saying honestly what you think and feel. However, Hunter is now bruised in some ways. He will have a hard time really opening up to you again and trusting you. The possibility exists, but this requires a lot of patience on your part.

Echo

He sits at the bar counter and can't believe it. He stares at the glass in front of him as if he can find any answers in it. It was so hard for him to open up to you intimately, after all he had been through in the past. Echo felt safe with you, understood, loved. Now he has a stomach ache and somehow his chest is getting tighter. That he has to hear from a stranger, how you sleep with other men feels like he has been beaten up properly, several times. He knows that some couples do that, but he never thought that you would want that. He doesn't know whether to be angry or disappointed. Echo is just not sure if this is somehow his fault. Maybe he should have told you very clearly how he felt, what he hoped for from things between you. He just hadn't dared yet, didn't want to impose. Echo is ashamed. A little bit he feels like you not only betrayed his trust and broke his heart, he feels exposed, embarrassed. Just a few hours ago, he was harping to his brothers about how insanely great you are and how happy you make him. Shortly after, they all heard the dirty little story.

When you come into the bar and see him sitting there, you already suspect that something is wrong. When you speak to him, he can barely look at you, his gaze alternating between pain and stony. He officially ends things between you, he also explains why. You are welcome to explain yourself, but it doesn't matter, shit hit the fan already. It's very likely that Echo won't come out of his shell too soon, at least not for you.

Wrecker

What he hears worries him. Wrecker's first impulse is to seek you out immediately, which he does. When you meet, you immediately notice that something is wrong. He seems unsettled and not at all like you have come to know him. "What's wrong, big guy?" you ask him gently. He sits down with you and sighs heavily. "Just heard a story in the bar that made me feel insecure," he says directly. You frown questioningly. "What kind of story?" Wrecker tells you about how this guy brags about having been in bed with you and throws around details from that night. Naturally, you're startled and also angry. Angry that this guy has so little decency, but you push this anger into the background for now. You're much more concerned with the fact that Wrecker is so affected by this. "Apart from the fact that this asshole has no right to spread this around. What exactly upsets you about it?" you ask cautiously. Wrecker wears his heart on his sleeve, actually, always, including now. "I thought something serious was developing between us. Do you see it differently?" he asks directly.

At first, you're a little speechless, but then you tell him, "Well, I thought there was a possibility, but we never talked about it, so I wasn't sure. The guy was just a one-time slip, I don't usually get involved with idiots like that." Wrecker sighs again and says, "I don't have much experience with relationships and how to get them rolling. When the Republic still existed, I wasn't allowed to do anything like that, so everything always happened without ties, without promises and such. Maybe that's why I didn't say the right words, didn't do the right things to make you feel like I only wanted you and hoped it would be the other way around". You look at him with a soft little smile and say, "I'm very happy to hear that Wrecker. Believe me, I really didn't mean to hurt you. I just wasn't sure where I stood." Wrecker says softly, "I'd really like you and me to be together, you know, exclusively." Wrecker knows that everything isn't always black and white, and he's looking forward to exploring with you what exactly you want from a relationship together. He won't give up that quickly.

Tech

He is completely flabbergasted at the first moment. Then he's very angry, disappointed, scared and insecure. Tech is annoyed with the guy, but also with you. He wants to hurt this guy, but instead of seeking confrontation, he wants to talk to you first, see what's up with this. When you confirm the veracity of the story, Tech is blindsided. "You can't be serious," he says quietly. "I... yes, I am, unfortunately." Tech falls silent for a very long, uncomfortable moment. You say carefully, "Somehow, I didn't get the feeling you wanted to be serious. In front of other people, you always treated me like a buddy, not a loved one." Suddenly breaking the silence, he sounds half upset, half sad. "Because I'm... shy and think that such things are private. I thought we both had something special. We've shared intimate closeness, several times. Something I couldn't imagine at all before. I've opened up to you, made myself vulnerable." You blink and at first you don't know what to say, of course you're sorry for upsetting him like that.

Quietly, disappointedly, he adds, "I feel like you've trampled on my trust and danced all over it." "A very flowery metaphor," you say softly. He glares at you angrily. Tech will back off, tell you to stay away from him from now on, he won't listen to any reasonable words. But it won't be two days before he's trailing after you again, talking about a second chance. If you go for it, get ready for Tech to be very controlling and jealous from now on. This will eventually subside to some degree, but it will take a long time. Tech feels deeply, so he is also very sensitive, but also passionate. With a little effort and patience, you'll smooth it out.

Crosshair

After breaking the nose and fingers of the guy who just told him about a hot night with you ("These hands will never touch my girl again, is that clear?!"), he makes his way to you. Crosshair growls your name as he walks into the room, and a chill immediately runs down your spine. You know even before you turn around and look at him that he's pissed. You slowly turn and look at him out of wide eyes. His gaze literally cuts into yours. "I guess I'm not enough for you", he growls. You blink. "What?" "Fucking around?" Your mouth drops open, and you stare at him, stunned. "Excuse me?" Crosshair murmurs, "The night after the party you went to last weekend." A light slowly dawns on you. "Oh."

For one thing, you didn't really expect him to find out about it, and besides, you weren't even thinking about the guy anymore. "That's all you have to say, just an oh?" You cross your arms in front of your chest and say, "Since when are we exclusive?" He pushes you up against the table behind you and growls, "Since the first damn day! Did you want a contract, maybe? Or a written invitation to a relationship?" You shrug, but at the same time your thighs part almost automatically, leaving him between them as he presses closer to you. "You could have just said you wanted a relationship," you say meekly. "Kitten," Crosshair says seriously, "We've been intimate several times, we've dated, I didn't think I needed to explain." You snort and at the same moment his hand grabs your chin. "I want you to be mine and mine alone". You can barely avoid his intense gaze. Crosshair, kisses your neck, up to your ear and whispers to you, "How many times do you want me to fuck you to satisfy your hunger?" He will be more vigilant from now on, but he will not control you. However, if you ever become intimate with someone else again, he will clearly break up with you, and no amount of begging will ever soften him. The first time, it was still a case of giving the defendant the benefit of the doubt, he won't let it slip a second time, at all.

@rintheemolion

@andyoufollowyourheart @clone-whore-99

@brynhildrmimi @kaliel2310

@misogirl828 @tech-deck

@meshla-madalene

@chxpsi

@thebahdbitch

@nahoney22 @ladykatakuri

@darkangel4121

@ttzamara

@arctrooper69

@padawancat97

@agenteliix

@allsystemsblue

@palliateclaw

@either-madness-or-brilliance

@ortizshinkaroff

@andy-solo1

@hunterssecretrecipe

@heyitsaloy

@greaser-wolf

@extrahotpixels

@hated-by-me

@hunterxcrosshair

@malicemercy

@bebopsworld

@echos-girlfriend

@cpnt616

@dangraccoon

@jediknightjana

@pb-jellybeans

@antishadow2021

@sleepycreativewriter

@projectdreamwalker

@1vlouds

@starwarsnerd111

[kestalsblog]

Crenny Angst Drabble

A while ago, I was working on a Crenny fic that I decided was too dark, but I decided to share a piece of what it was going to be here. TW for mature themes (bit of language, addiction, death ideation). They're both in their twenties here.

I love both of these characters 🫶 but headcanon both of them as very emotional and troubled.

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What did any of it matter? The sky that unraveled like a spool of black thread for as far as any human could see, the mountain peaks and the dangerous birds that lived on them, the people who woke up in their beds and would one day sleep forever in their graves.

Kenny wondered what it would feel like to sleep forever.

What did any of it matter? The sentiment had become like a mantra to him the older he grew. Not the words themselves, but the feelings attached to them­—even words lost their meanings after a while. Nothing mattered if it lasted forever, so maybe death wouldn't be so great, anyway.

Still. At some point, he’d grown envious of the roadkill his headlights caught when he traveled down dark roads in his truck. Sometimes he even stopped to look at their ugly bodies fixed stiff with rigor mortis, and he felt like crying. “You don’t know how good you’ve got it, buddy,” he’d whispered to more than one corpse.

He liked the worst deaths the best, the deer whose entire necks were snapped backward, their heads impaled on their own antlers. He liked when it looked like something no one could back from, something permanent.

Wish it didn't have to hurt though.

But tonight it wasn’t a deer or a squirrel or a raccoon, and Kenny wasn’t in his car. He was drifting aimlessly down the sidewalks of South Park like he spent most nights doing, when he spotted a stooped-over figure in an alleyway to his left. The person was crumpled with his head against a metal trashcan, his long, thin legs extended forward with such limp posture that Kenny knew he had to be either dead or unconscious.

He wished his first thought wasn’t lucky bastard, and he almost let his own hurt thoughts drive him forward before he paused. Nobody else was on the streets, and the air was heavy with impending snow.

Mysterion wouldn’t have walked away.

With a heavy breath, Kenny turned for the alley and stooped to the person’s eye level. He was not dead, but close. Kenny could tell that much from the desperate, flittering pulsations against the pallid skin of his neck. It was too bad, really. He looked like he might have been a handsome man under different circumstances.

His hoodie sleeves were rolled to his elbows, revealing red and bruising track marks across his otherwise pale, skinny forearms. His eyes were closed, the purple lids of them like two swollen pickled eggs. A stray cat that had been sniffing out the abandoned syringes by the man’s opened palms skittered off further down the alley when Kenny leaned closer.

“Hey,” he said. He watched the shape of his breath land white, curling fingerprints on the man’s cheek. They were probably around the same age, though it was difficult to judge by the other’s thinning hair and concave cheeks. “Hey,” Kenny said again, this time reaching out to pat at his shoulder.

Maybe he really was dying. Other people made it look so easy.

Ah, no. One puffy eye slowly puffed open, revealing the thinnest trace of grayish blue. The eyeball turned slowly to the left and then to the right before settling on Kenny with filmed confusion. “What . . ?” he started in a low, scratchy voice. His cracked lips didn’t move with the word.

“You’re gonna die out here, dude,” said Kenny, maybe a little miffed now. It wasn’t fair that other people could die against trashcans and not have to wake up on their same damn mattress the next morning. It wasn’t fair to know there was a light he could never see, a warmth he’d never touch. He swallowed the thought, made himself smile.

“Don’t care,” the black-haired man feebly uttered. The one opened eye roamed purposelessly from side to side again.

“I care,” said Kenny for reasons unknown even to him. “You’re not dying here.”

To this, the faded man had no protest. He was probably too drugged on who-knows-what to put up much of an argument anyway. He barely made a sound when Kenny snaked an arm around his upper torso to get him to his feet. Underneath the hoodie, he felt worryingly slim—Kenny could have used his ribcage as a handle to hoist him up if he’d wanted.

He couldn’t stand on his own, either. His knees wobbled too fiercely, and he looked ill from very passing breeze. The wind gusts were carrying snow flurries now, and Kenny noticed how the poor guy shuddered violently when the small flakes drilled against his face and neck.

Without further thought, Kenny used the arm that wasn’t holding the stranger up to shake off his own thick orange coat. The man blinked wearily at him with confusion when he began to worm it around his shoulders. “W . . . Why?” The word fell from his mouth like a stone.

“Cuz you don’t deserve to die out here in the cold all alone like an animal, that’s why. C’mon. You’re coming to my place.”

The only people Kenny had over anymore were his old friends, of course, when they were available. At first, inviting in random women had been fun, but like everything else, the appeal had worn off at some point. It was hard to explain to someone else that your life was going to go on and on, with or without her.

Somehow, Kenny guided the weak, shaking man to the curb where he’d left his truck at the end of the block. It was a slow, cumbersome process since they had to stop every few seconds for the man to double over, heave, catch his breath, and then stumble forward again. Helping him into the truck probably would have been difficult if he wasn’t so hopelessly malnourished.

In the heat of the car, the man started to wheeze, and the wheezing dissolved into something that was like crying, but wasn’t. “Why?” he kept asking, and though his eyes were now wide and dry and focused, there was a hitch in his throat after each repeated syllable. “I just want to die,” he moaned fervently as if this one conviction was all that kept him going. “I don’t want to be here anymore.” “Don’t say that,” Kenny said, holding the wheel as if his own life depended on it, even though they weren’t moving yet, and his life was never at risk anyway. He wondered how this person would react if he said, I want to die too. I want to die so badly, but if we jumped off the bridge together right now, only one of us is going to die. Is that fair? Is that fucking fair? You don't get what I can't have.

It wouldn't matter what he said because no one ever remembered the truth anyway, so instead he said, “One day you’re going to die, and when you do, you can be thankful for it, but not now. Not today. Not like this."

He even smiled when he said it. He even sounded like Kenny McCormick, the person he'd trained himself to be, though he felt like a new person with each rebirth. In a way, he really was more dead than anyone else.

He didn’t wait for another word as he hit the gas and went for his place while the stranger beside him dropped his head and maybe wept and maybe didn't. Either way, he was silent.

[noiriarti]

The Arrangement: Armitage Hux x Reader (College AU) Ch. 5

Summary: A cuddle-buddies-to-lovers college AU.

AN: second to last chapter!! i was activated like a sleeper agent and wrote this in a fugue state at 2 am. it is also 3.5k words. hope you like it! i am going to put this man through a juicer like he's an orange!

Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, [Ch. 5], Ch. 6

Chapter 5: Yogurt

After his revelation, Armitage started feeling guilty. It was in the rules, wasn't it, that you had to be honest with one another? That he had to come clean? But if he told you, you might pull away. Stop staying over. Or, worse, stop being his friend. That was unthinkable, so he kept his mouth shut. Meanwhile, you were thinking the same thing.

He was everything you wanted: proud, smart, reliable, strong, and, beneath it all, kind. Sweet. You'd pick him in a room of the hottest men on the planet a million times over. When you'd started your arrangement, you'd known him, sure, but you hadn't known him. What made him tick. What he wanted out of life. Watching him talk about how much he loved doing research in a neurochem lab, describing his experiments and the machines he used, you had slowly started peeling back the layers of his shell.

You just hadn't expected some of your discoveries to be so sad. Behind the facade of the dry humor and the insults he could hurl at Kylo in a heartbeat, he was so soft and delicate that it made your heart ache. You heard a bit about his father, when he would let some story slip. He told you once, when he was drifting off and let his guard down, that his father always found him lacking. That he could never be good enough. Useless and pathetic. Brendol Hux was a neurosurgeon with a god complex almost as large as his bank account, and he wasn't afraid of reminding Armitage exactly how he had misstepped that week. You suspected Brendol was physically abusive too, but you didn't want to ask Armitage. Not when he was so reticent to bring him up in the first place. The rest of his home life was bleak too. His stepmother, Maratelle, was calm, but distant. Armitage wasn't hers, as far as she was concerned. If she did speak to him, it was some remark about what he was eating, or his posture.

He was so proper, so deeply self-controlled, in every aspect of his day. His daily calendar was exacting, and often so overstuffed you felt anxious just looking at it. He did everything when he was supposed to do it, like clockwork. You could practically set your watch by his breakfast routine or his study sessions. That self-control was probably why  he never did anything that was vaguely sexual or romantic during your sessions, more than the inherent romance of how much contact you had. He never tried to kiss you, and, oddly, you found yourself hoping for it. The irony that this whole arrangement started precisely from your desire for no kissing or groping during cuddling wasn't lost on you, but it was different with Armitage.

Lately, though, you had seen a change in him. As he told you about his meetings with his advisors, he brought up a new idea. Clinical psychiatry. He could do research, and explore how brain chemistry worked in the real human body. Evaluate medicines. Really help people, not just now, but in the future. He could help make people better. Or, he could also make new medicines, but he'd need a PhD in chemistry for that. Either way, he was reconsidering his future, and the first person he wanted to tell was you.

A week after her bombshell, seeing no movement in your situation, Gwen casually mentioned one of your neighbors and friends, Finn, was having a party that Friday. That he told her to invite her roommates. You knew Finn from your Intro Compsci class, and he was great. Really sweet, lived with his boyfriend Poe and their friends Rey and Rose. You said you and Armitage would be there, not noticing that you had begun speaking for the two of you as a collective in the past month. After a hard semester, it was time to let loose. To chill a bit. Maybe forget about how much you wanted Armitage. You knew exactly what you would wear, too. 

On Thursday night, you heard raised voices in his room, just for a minute. After he yelled something indistinct, you heard a smash and then silence. Concerned, you knocked on his door. Tap tap tap tap. You didn't bother waiting for him to open the door. Those kinds of boundaries had been crossed a long time ago.

Armitage was on his bed, his head in his hands, shaking in rage. His phone was on the floor against the room, and you realized he had thrown it in anger. Worry clouded you, and you immediately rushed to him, sitting next to him in the dark room. Only the lamp by his bed shone, like it always did when he was expecting you.

"What's wrong?" You asked as you draped your arms over his shaking shoulders, trying in vain to calm him down.

"My father--he. We fought," he choked out. He wasn't crying, but his voice was thick with emotion.

"I'm so sorry. Want to talk about it?" You offered. He hesitated for a moment, but nodded. Millie was hiding under the bed, but peeked her head out at the softness of his voice.

"I brought up my idea to try chemistry--a PhD instead of an MD. Or, at least, to do psychiatry instead of surgery. He didn't like it," he whispered, his voice breaking. A sob bubbled up in his chest, but he kept it pressed deep down. He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't.

"He's an asshole. You should be able to do what you want," you told him, rubbing up and down on his arm. Millie crawled into his lap, looking up at him with her large, green eyes. 

"Hey, girl," he whispered to her under his breath, scratching behind her ears, before turning his attention back to you. "It doesn't work like that in my family. If I don't do what he wants, he'll be disappointed and--I don't know." You pulled him down onto the bed so that he was facing the wall, and you were behind him. He hid himself in the wall, curling up until he felt tiny in the space. Like he did when his father yelled at him when he was little. You snaked your free hand over him, pulling him closer and pressing your chest into his back. The exact opposite of what you did the first night you were together.

You laid there for a couple of minutes, just holding him as he processed. In a tiny, tiny voice, so silent you wouldn't have caught it if the room wasn't dead quiet, he asked you something.

"Do you think I'll ever stop wanting him to like me?" You crumbled. He was so precious, so sweet. I like you. I love you. You don't need him, your mind echoed. You wanted nothing more than to keep him like this, wrapped up in your arms, until he understood how much he meant to you.

"Armitage, he's your dad. Of course you want him to like you. But he's controlling, and if you spend your whole life chasing what he wants, how will you ever have space for what you want? All your friends know how amazing you are. We know you, who you are, and we love you for it. You would be an excellent psychiatrist, or chemist, or, hell, even a surgeon. What your father wants is irrelevant. What you want should be all that matters." He nodded, but stayed quiet. When he'd had fights like this with his father as a child, they rocked him to his core. He'd hole up in his room for hours, even days, hoping that someone would come looking. That someone would find him and tell him he was okay. That they weren't mad at him. With you, with Gwen, hell, even with Kylo in his life, it felt like there was someone there. Someone to help him keep going when his family was hard. Hearing your words, for the first time after a fight with his father, he started getting angry, but the emotion was short-lived. 

Armitage was trying and failing to ignore he way his body lit up when you said you (all) loved him. He knew it was a general, collective statement, but he let himself believe, just for tonight, that you meant it the way he desperately wanted you to. That you were holding him not as his... whatever this was, but as his girlfriend. The arms of a lover, the embrace of his girl. Tonight, somewhere between the rage at his father and the pain of rejection, he could let himself believe it. It soothed him, and he imagined life with you. Waking up and having cereal, kissing you tenderly over the kitchen table. That would happen when he woke up, he told himself. Because you loved him. Tonight, just tonight, you loved him. He felt so safe in your arms, so happy in his temporary delusion, that he fell asleep almost instantly, but not before he had one final thought. I love you too.

As you felt his arm and body go slack, finally asleep, you drew in closer, resting your head on his back. Gently, you pressed a kiss to his shoulder blade, and hoped he would have sweet dreams, ones where he did what made him happy.

In the morning, he woke before you, as usual, and felt horrendously embarrassed. He should have just told you last night that he needed to study, and that you could see each other tomorrow. Instead, he had shown you something he didn't want to. Did you think less of him? In the harsh light of the morning, his bullheaded, hopeful belief that that you loved him seemed laughable. Silly, even. Pathetic. The anger toward his father was all that was left in his heart, the sadness having morphed into something vengeful overnight.

Not to mention the fact that he was definitely in breach of your arrangement. He was not being honest with you about how he felt, and it was time to talk to you about ending this, for both your sakes. You rooming situation was complicated enough as it was, he didn't need to add his stupid crush into the mix. What if it made you uncomfortable? How could he justify his presence in your arms every night when his motive was something sinister. To get in your pants, like some freak. Pathetic. He shook away his father's voice. But he had to tell you how he felt, before one of you got hurt.

He extricated himself from you as best he could and dragged his sorry ass into the kitchen. Even though she was usually across campus at this time, Gwen stood in the kitchen, eating some pizza directly from the fridge. He threw her a greeting and pulled out his tub of Greek yogurt, which he instantly noticed was too light. It was nearly empty, and he hadn't bought a new one. Useless. He tossed the container in the garbage with unnecessary force, startling Gwen on the other side of the kitchen.

Sheepishly, he picked it out of the garbage. It was a recyclable. As he dutifully washed it out, his anger grew. The scalding water burned his hands, but the bite of it focused him. Whatever his failings last night, he had drawn one correct conclusion. He couldn't let his father dictate his every move. He could get what he wanted from him, and then leave his father alone the way he had done to Armitage for so many years. Once he had tossed out the container, he texted his father. I have decided I would like to pursue medical school. He didn't expect a response, really. But he knew that his father would read it. All that really mattered was his father paying for his education. After that, Brendol couldn't control his specialty, or residencies. He was going to be a clinical neurochemist, damnit, and his father couldn't stop him. His father probably wouldn't even notice.

Not that he didn't still fear his father, or that he suddenly stopped yearning for a "I'm proud of you, son," from him. But, he accepted with a resigned bitterness, that would probably never come. And when he wanted that approval, or affection, or anything, he had you. And Gwen and Kylo. And Millie. And that was enough, for now. But it really meant he couldn't fuck it up with you. If he lost you, and then his other roommates got weirded out, he wasn't sure where he'd turn. The guilt would eat him alive for ruining something so precious by thinking with his dick.

"You good?" Gwen asked him, noticing his outwardly unhinged behavior.

"Yeah, just. Parents," he mustered, and she nodded.

"I get it. I'm here, if you want to talk." He was touched, and nodded at her. Maybe he could really do this, rely on his little circle. They lapsed into silence again.

"You know, you should really do something about your feelings," Gwen remarked as she took a bite of her pizza. She knew him well enough to read the moment of panic that was covered by a schooled look of calm.

"What are you talking about?" Casual. Smooth. Unbothered.

"Your feelings. You know. Just tell her. Please. You are taking years off my life," she said as she rolled her eyes and stalked out of the kitchen. He was left standing there, letting his jaw drop when she turned her back. Shit, he needed to end the arrangement. If he was being this obvious, and you noticed, you'd surely feel betrayed that he didn't tell you. That he withheld something like that from you for months when you both explicitly agreed not to. He needed to talk to you, stat.

The only problem was that there was a party that night. He saw Gwen in leather pants and a silver top, and he instantly connected the dots. It was Friday. Shit. He threw on a button up, which he rolled up to his elbows, and passable slacks. Whatever. He didn't intend to stay longer than an hour, and then he had to find you and talk to you. When he left his room, Kylo was next to Gwen, wearing an oversized black bomber jacket over a black shirt and black jeans. The guy certainly had a look, Armitage had to give him that.

"Okay, I'm ready!" You called from the hallway.

The dress hugged your curves in ways that made his mouth water, accentuating all the parts of you that he tried to deny existed. He traced the expanse of your legs with his gaze, all the way from your heels up to the hem of your skirt. Before looking you in the eye, he stopped and admired your collarbone, and the faintest bit of glitter you had rubbed on it. And the curve of your neck. Gods, he could write a book about it. You had pinned your hair back in some way that he found baffling, but managed to make your features sharper, more dangerous.

So, basically, he thought you looked hot. The dress, in truth, was a bit too small. It rode up on the bottom, and the top kept slipping down whenever you lifted your arms. But no one, even you, could deny that you looked like a total smokeshow in it.

Gwen gave Armitage three seconds to process and internally drool before she started ushering you and Kylo through the door and down the hall to Finn's place. Outside your room, the bass from the party echoed through the walls, and the air was just a bit muggy from the swarm of people inside their living room. You and Gwen dashed off to greet Finn, leaving Kylo and Armitage, God help him, to mingle. Kylo made eye contact with him, and they both instantly headed to the drinks. Armitage fought his way through the crowd, feeling the pulse of the beat and the sweat in the air. After bumping into a couple almost making out, he murmured an apology and kept winding his way to his goal. Kylo just barreled through the dancing bodies, not even apologizing for almost knocking over a rather tipsy girl and her friend. Finally, they reached the kitchenette, which gave them a decent view of the entire living room, crammed full of drunk people. Armitage immediately searched the room for you, ready to find you and tell you that, actually, this was a mistake, and he wanted to go home now please. After about a minute (and a shot that Kylo had shoved in his face), he found you, with Gwen, talking to Finn. And then, oh joy of joys. 

Who would join you guys but Mitaka? Little Dopheld with his little crush on you? Armitage sneered in his direction. Not that he had any right to be possessive, he admitted. But still. Armitage was not leaving any time soon. He'd stay here until you left. Mitaka approached you, waving as the three of you added him into the conversation. Kylo had gone off to hang out with one of his acquaintances from the swim team--some tall girl with brown hair and freckles--leaving Armitage alone to seethe in the kitchen. He watched as you and Gwen laughed at something hilarious Mitaka had said. Awesome. Great. Then, the four of you turned to one of the bedrooms, and slipped into it. You lagged behind, searching the room for something. When you spotted Armitage, you waved at him, beckoning him across the oppressively loud room with a hand. He dove back into the crowd, pushing past groups of friends and couples and strangers as he found his way back to you. You cast him a smile that made the anger gripping him loosen just a bit. When you grabbed his hand and started dragging him into the bedroom, he melted, leaving his frustration behind.

The room had its floor cleared, with all the people in the room sitting in a large circle, or, rather, a lopsided oval. He wasn't quite sure why, or what was going on (Cult intiation? Drinking game?), but you sat down next to Gwen, pulling Armitage next to you. He dug his fingers into the thin, scratchy carpet when Mitaka and Gwen switched places, putting Mitaka directly to your left. Perfect. He shot a murderous look at Gwen, who had on a shit-eating grin. She knew what she was doing, and Armitage vowed to crush all her protein bars and unscrew her showerhead the next morning. Across the circle, he heard Kylo's distinct chuckle, and turned to give him the same violent look.

It appeared that they were playing some game, the exact rules of which weren't explained. Was it spin the bottle? A handsome man, Poe, he surmised from the way Finn was looking at him, spun the bottle, and it landed on Kylo. Kylo then crawled into the center and spun it. Anticipation filled the room as the light glinted over the edges of the bottle once, twice, thrice. It slowed, landing on that girl from the swimming team. Rey something. Would they kiss? That'd mean this was spin the bottle. Armitage wondered absently, his eyes still focused on you and Mitaka. Instead of just a chaste kiss, Kylo stood up and pulled Rey into the walk-in closet with a devilish grin. Ah. Seven minutes in heaven. Classic.

But fuck, you were playing. Which meant you could get into a closet with any one of these random people. Or, with a probability of 1/13, you could get him. That thought made his skin flush. You and him, in a dark closet. He imagined your hands trailing everywhere, exploring the parts of each other that your arrangement prohibited. Your skin, warm under his as he kissed along your neck. A series of cheers interrupted his fantasy, as he watched Kylo and Rey stumble out of the closet with matched blown pupils and dazed smiles. He whispered something to her, and she smiled. The pair made their exit when the crowd's cheers died down, and their attention had been drawn by the next victims. Armitage realized that the probability that you would kiss him, or do anything else except stand there awkwardly, if you were chosen, was so slim it was laughable. Pathetic, a voice echoed. Poe spun the bottle again, and Armitage started to wonder how many more spins it would take for you to get bored and finally leave so that the two of you could go home. Another spin, another couple. Mitaka whispered something to you which made you grin wolfishly, some piece of gossip that lit up your eyes. Armitage bristled. Just one more spin, and then he'd suggest leaving. Poe's hand spun the bottle, and Armitage was too busy looking at you and trying to estimate whether Mitaka was closer to you than he was, when the bottle made its choice.

It was you. You looked up at Poe, seeming to have forgotten the fact that you were playing in the first place. You glanced at Armitage, your features tightly drawn in nervousness, as you crawled to the center of the floor and spun the bottle. The bottle's glass made soft noises as it brushed against the carpet. Shk shk shk shk shk. Armitage counted the spins, 5 so far, and mentally calculated that 1/13 meant a 7.7% chance it would land on him, odds that he realized he probably wouldn't beat. Behind his back, he crossed his fingers, with one hand at first, but then with both hands. Shk shk shk. The bottle was slowing, creeping around the circle. He found himself praying. To whom, he wasn't sure. But he was praying. Shk shk. The bottle was barely turning, and, to his delight, it was turning toward him. Slowly, but surely, he was looking down the neck of the bottle. But then it kept going. Right past him, right past you.

And it landed on Mitaka.

Motherfucker.

[ar-lene]

Hello fellow yttders!!! Tis i!! The midori connoseuer who drew him once during jeandori takeover.

Under cut is a midori centered (Though The main cast have alot of elaboration on them, too.) yttd bungo stray dogs au me and 3 other people thought on a bit.

I intended to do something bigger with it. But since im working on the midori dating sim. I just cant. So im using this as a sort of hivemind post for anyone to compile ideas for this au!!!

So! Let us start with the *new* ability users and their abilities

Sou 'midori' hiyori:

Ability: "the silence of the lambs"

Affiliation: Armed detective agency. (Early story)

Rats in the house of the dead (later in the story)

This ability, allows anyone with contact to midori to establish a mental connection to, midori. Where they can swap out conciousness, speak telepathically. Or even hear the other persons thoughts and emotions. Midori is the one in control of all of that, though.

Now, as you might have guessed. This *does* have something to do with shin. Specifcally, midori ripped a layed of his skin, sew it into a scarf. Which shin now wears!! Meaning as long as that scarf is on shin. They can swap out conciousnessnesses! Shin is aware of this.

Funfacts: in yttd we see that midori has a very slight hunch. In this au, its due to shins bad posture, blowing his cover whenever he was in midoris body. So after many horribly gone attempts in fixing shins posture, Midori had to compromise.

Midori mostly uses shins conciousness in situations where his "non human way of thinking" would be a hindrance like: when he was passing the ada entrance exam.

Gin ibushi:

The switch is instant. And happens in the blink of an eye.

The name "midori" was given to him by the ada

Ability: "Knuffle kitty"

Affiliation: port mafia

Gins ability, allows any plushie animal, organ, or essentialy 'living tissue' made by gin. To become functional as if it were a living thing. With gins ability, you can easly replace someones organs or limbs as long as theres a surgeon to attach the plushie limbs to the actual host. He can also create poisonous animals to then throw at his enemies. Which is whoever is watching over him most of the time. (Lets face it. Its shin and sou who're getting stuff thrown at them.)

Fun facts: gin was transferred to the port mafia via saras request.

Kyuusaku and gin were buddies before Q witnessed the horrors.

Mori views gin as a sort of "mini yosano" and has a little collection of poisonous insects which gin has made for offensive use.

When dazai first met gin, in chuuyas presence. When gin began speaking in his "woof, meow" s. Dazai pointed at chuuya and said "he talks like you"

Joe tazuna:

Ability: 「トリプルドッグデスバラージ」 (TRIPLE DOG DEATH BARRAGE!) (Sorry i had to)

Affiliation: port mafia

His ability. Is self explanitory.

There are three dogs.

They will death barrage you.

And they regenerate atsushi style.

Funfacts: hes here due to!! Sara!!

He tried to get ryoko (was that her name??? Doner kabab gurl.) Into the port mafia too, but sara said its too dangerous for her.

Sara chidouin:

Ability: "Muses, mad men and prophets."

Affiliation: Port mafia

Her ability is meant for crowd control, and large, quick genocide. Whenever sara kills someone. They manifest as a "hallucination." Of themselves. Which wander around like normal passerbys. She, can swap her location with any of these "hallucinations" . No matter how far.

Hallucinations cannot be contained. And pass through walls. Hallucinations will dissipate after an hour has passed.

Funfacts: she works with kouyou for her training.

She was introduced to the port mafia via her father.

She kicks ass

Reko yabusame:

Ability: "perfect pitch"

Affiliation: port mafia

Juonos hearing. She can detect sound waves. She is all hearing. She detects them snitches.

Funfacts: she came to the port mafia for alice.

She and nao are girlfriends

Tia safalin:

Ability: "Babushka's doll"

Affiliation: none (sort of.) She does freelance work for whatever faction needs her. She has the most expirience working for the special ability division, rats in the house of the dead and the port mafia.

Her ability allows her to create dolls which she can give a portion of her memories to, they will then function as normal people. And can go through with tasks.

Funfacts: i got none

Maple:

YUP!!! MAPLES FINALLY GETTIN SCREEN TIME!!!!

Ability: "The tea party in the woods"

Affiliation: none (because she deserves happiness)

Her ability causes the person shes using her ability on, to expirience a vision in their mind. Which time does not pass in. The vision will display the most comforting envoirment for the person the ability is used on. Maple, can interact with the other person during this vision. And the vision can only be stopped once the host, has drunk a whole cup of tea. This room can be used as a sort of quick therapy room, or somewhere to share confidential information with. Only 3 can enter at a time.

Funfact: she comes to the cafe under the ada very often, and has made great friends with lucy and atsushi. Shes also met midori, but its just a little baby crush.

Now, we get to characters with no ability, and their affiliations.

Alice Yabusame:

Hes part of the port mafia due to reko

Yelling. Alot of it.

Shoved in here by midori so he pays for the attempted murder

Tries his best.

Keiji shinogi:

Affiliation: Armed detective agency.

The wahaha man.

Hes a little like ranpo, in that he has no ability but is very preceptive.

When he joined the ada midori was so panicked he forced shin to interact with him. So now midori has to act like shin whenever keiji is talking to him.

Its not fun.

His arrival at the ada was NOT expected.

He was transferred to the ada from the speacial ability division.

Kanna!!! :

Affiliation: port mafia, because she kicks ass.

She helps out with mais bakery alot since its right below her house.

Shes learned alot from sara. And it shows in her fighting style.

She fights with her FISTS

She likes kyoka alot. Kinda sad shes in the ada, and sneaks to go to the cafe to see kyoka.

During one of these sneaking sessions shin (in midoris body) spotted her. And now shin has to cover for her whenever shes off to see kyoka.

Just. Genuinely a very kind girl

She doesnt deserve to be in the port mafia. And everyone knows that.

She could probably beat chuuya in a fist fight if chuuya didnt use his ability.

Shin tsukimi:

Affiliation: port mafia.

Shoved in here by midori.

Everyone and everything is out to kill him so he has a gun and several knives under his very large coat.

Most of his time is spent yelling at computers because theyre too slow for his liking.

Picks fights with sara over the stupidest little things, which sara wasnt even disagreeing with him on.

The unfortunate person who has to watch over all the children

Koyou scares him.

Higuchi is like the only non intimidating person to him, and exclusively because of how non-decietful she is.

Hatred for dazai osamu

Admiration of chuuya nakahara

Hatred of mori

Confusion of akutagawa ryuunosuke

People i dont have much thoughts on:

Megumi is a part of the special ability division.

Hayasaka is a member of the port mafia

The satous are part of the port mafia.

Mishima and nao live normal lives.

Q-taro is a part of the guild.

Hanako is an ex port mafia member

Clown girl is leading a normal life as a clown. (But im kinda considering throwing her in rithod and giving her an ability)

Ranmaru joined the port mafia for sara

Miley works with tia. But has ties to the port mafia

Teki....is teki???

Shes like..the miku of bsd i guess.

Main plot points im experimenting with: (midori exclusive)

Midoris motive from joining the ada being finding fyodor due to more information on "god" and assuming they follow the same god for this.

Midori being found out by dazai/ranpo/keiji , because midori is forced to switch into shins body to save shins ass during an ada raid. (Probably during the cannibalism) because midori isnt skilled enough in combat to hide his combat style. And shin cant fight for shit.

Midori getting his ass beat by keiji due to giving him piss hair and trauma.

Midori and fyodor kiss and make out (aka midori magically manifests in the tower during dead apple because his ability would just...be a copy of shin)

[misfit-alley]

oc speech mannerisms (friday)

tagged by @autumnfangirler so !!! here u go bestie x2

GENERAL

NO. OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES: 1 / 2 / 3+

TONE OF VOICE: high / average / deep

ACCENT: Yes / No

FRIDAY'S ACCENT..... literally it is. so heavy. that's the entire reason they're from minnesota is bc we really wanted them to have that stereotypical (almost theatrically-so) accent <3 tone we can't really decide between high and average..... maybe it just kinda. stays in the middle idk

for languages, they're fluent in both english and ASL (the latter of which they started studying on their own in high school before taking proper classes in college)

DEMEANOUR: confident / shy / approachable / hostile / other

POSTURE: slumped / straight / stiff / relaxed

HABITS: head tilting / swaying / fidgeting / stuttering / gesturing / arm crossing / strokes chin / er, um, or other interjections / plays with hair or clothing / hands at hips / inconsistent eye contact / maintains eye contact / frequent pausing / stands close / stands at a distance

every conversation friday is involved in might as well be the most important thing they've ever heard in their life w how much focus they give the other person. and yet... at the same time... they are UNABLE to stay still. I think u could offer them $50 not to fidget while talking to someone and they'd turn the money down. it's bad. BUT. it's endearing !!! it's never like.... like it doesn't come across as unfriendly. they are SO CLEARLY giving u 110% of their attention. but like. at the same time they are movin' and groovin', u just gotta accept that

COMPLEXITY

VOCABULARY: ⬤⬤⬤〇〇

EMOTION: ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤

SENTENCE STRUCTURE: ⬤⬤⬤〇〇

all emotion all the time !!!! their sentences aren't really anything special, but they sure put their heart into saying every last one of them 😭

PROFANITY

FREQUENCY: 〇〇〇〇〇

CREATIVITY: ⬤⬤⬤⬤〇

BOLD ALL THAT APPLY: arse. ass. asshole. bastard. bitch. bloody. bugger. bollocks. chicken shit. crap. cunt. dick. frick. fuck. horseshit. motherfucker. piss. prick. screw. shit. shitass. son of a bitch. twat. wanker. pussy.

the only thing that defines friday more than their accent: their refusal to cuss. :) <3

tbh as we all know. the game makes them say ass. but I know in my heart friday would NEVER !!!!! they say butt. and they Do get laughed at but. as w most everything else abt friday. it's endearing (in that sort of girlfailure way)

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

DO PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME HEARING OR UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHARACTER? - almost always / frequently / rarely / never

DOES YOUR CHARACTER'S INTENDED POINT COME ACROSS EASILY WHEN THEY SPEAK? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never

NEVER MISHEARD MVP !!! 💪🏻 they're a teacher baby they know how to work that voice !!! however I do like to think that maybe sometimes. they say certain phrases or just pronounce smth they way they normally would and everyone goes ??? wtf are u even Saying rn........ (it's the accent)

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER INITIATE CONVERSATIONS? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / never

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE THE ONE TO END CONVERSATIONS? - almost always / frequently / sometimes / rarely / never

HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER END CONVERSATIONS? - walk away / ask if that's everything / say that's everything / give a proper goodbye / tell their company they're done here / remain quiet / they don't

they don't really see a need to go out of their way to end conversations so like..... if they Do end one it's just. there's nothing left to talk abt or they really do have to leave or w/e. otherwise ?? buddy they're still saying they're "gonna let you go now" twenty minutes after they last said it which was ten minutes after they originally did !!!

their least endearing trait fr </3

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER USE 'WHOM' IN A SENTENCE? - yes / no / only ironically

YOUR CHARACTER WANTS TO MAKE A COUNTERPOINT. WHAT WORD DO THEY USE? - but / though / although / however / perhaps / mayhaps

friday: (teacher voice) I think u mean "whom" 🫶🏻

WHAT SOCIAL CLASS WOULD OTHERS ASSUME YOUR CHARACTER BELONGS TO, HEARING THEM SPEAK? - upper / middle / lower

IN WHAT WAYS DOES THE WAY YOUR CHARACTER SPEAK STAND OUT TO OTHERS? - accent / vocabulary / tone / level / politeness / brusqueness / it doesn't

literally it's either accent or nothing lmaoo LIKE..... it depends on how used to it u are !!! sorry that's a cop-out but it's true !!! if ur used to the accent then nothing else is gonna stand out BUT IF YOU AREN'T then their accent hits u like a freight train

[invisiblegarters]

The Heart Killers Ep 2

Continuing the liveblogging for my own amusement.

Bison you've known this guy for two weeks please calm down.

I continue to adore Fadel above all. Maybe because he's literally the only one who seems to be thinking in this entire show.

STYLE WHAT ARE YOU DOING. The fact that he has no clue that Fadel kills people somehow makes this absolutely hilarious.

Oh honey don't just stand there smugly you have to know better.

I am not the right audience for this particular bit lol. Ah well.

I like the song though.

LOL well Kant is certainly fine with whatever they're doing here. Another grab and squeeze good for you buddy. Also the glasses are hot I will fight people. Let Kant let his inner lesbian librarian shine.

Ooh okay I like that Bison's pain kink seems to go both ways? Wonder if we'll see that in action (genuinely don't care if we do just curious).

Dammit Kant I was hoping you'd the be professional here but I guess that was too much to ask. Sigh.

KITTY.

These two are ridiculous am I supposed to take either of them seriously? The only person I'm taking seriously here is Fadel.

He's so pushy. So pushy that it's obvious. I kind of want to sneak into the show and give him a good slap.

Another Babe scene yay! I like Kant with Babe. Their dynamic is fun and believable.

Oh my GOD Kant do NOT listen to this. But also, the idea of Kant getting someone to hit on Bison to "prove" himself never occurred to me and now I want it and will be dissatisfied if we get anything else lol.

Style really is the most shameless person. Fadel is going to murderize him (no he's not actually I feel like the more Style does random shit like this the more confused Fadel becomes, and then he just kind of...freezes lol). I love these two hands down the best thing about this show so far.

Fadel: They might be working together

Bison: Oh you have no idea.

Ooooh look at this. Style inadvertently helping to convince Bison Kant is serious. Kant should be paying him for this.

Wait is Fadel actually playing along a little? Even if he acts utterly exasperated about it? That is cute.

Ooop Bison wants to get laaaaaid. Good for him. But also Kant babe if this is what I think it is maybe don't find your guy in your tattoo shop (this is a guess). Then again it could be just that Bison has a type (I mean I do think he does but I also think this is a set up).

Set up or not this is cringey as hell. I can't. And anyway Bison's not gonna like this shit. Posturing is so blergh.

Or maybe that's just me idk.

See? Confused. It's a good look on Fadel, keep up the good work Style I believe in you.

I will say this. The way that Kant pries for real information is actually good.

This is Pulp Fiction. Right down to the milkshakes. Jojo I see you.

But also there went any chance I ever had of taking any part of this show seriously. Like, ever.

Oh ho hoooo I see you Fadel.

Style you little freak I love you.

Called this but also why the hell are you doing this NOW he could be RIGHT THERE you LOSERS if he catches you you'll deserve it. Why can NO ONE in these shows do this stuff right? Cameras out like you're gonna post your pics on Insta, doing shady fake jealousy deals five seconds after the person you're trying to fool walked away. Forgetting gloves when you're off to do your less acceptable night job. Next thing Kant will have a conversation at full volume with Captain Chris right in front of Bison.

Kant you are a numbskull.

Bison honey you've been made. Fadel definitely knows where you were and who you were with lol.

Bison, I am not getting the impression parts of you are taking this slow at all.

Fadel's totally gonna go to bed to fantasize/dream about Style. Meanwhile little bro is in the throes of puppy love pretty much regardless of what he says.

Good job Kant, I guess.

Well all right Fadel.*blinks* This was unexpected and made me feel like way more of a voyeur than watching Kant and Bison go at it. 😳

Are we seriously getting the nipple clamps next episode?

Also Kant we don't make bets with Bison, remember. Not that it matters I'm sure you'll find a way to get in his house regardless.

Thoughts: Fadel and Style continue to be the main attraction for me. I've seen stuff floating around about Fadel maybe being a virgin and honestly, if they did that it would go a long way towards soothing my worries about this show. Style's way of flirting is so weird but also perfect because Fadel really has no clue what to make of it. His immediate assumption - that Style wants something - doesn't add up with all the wacky shit Style keeps doing to get his attention. Like the Kant kind of seduction - all smooth and over the top interested and very handsy - I almost think Fadel could handle better Maybe not the handsy stuff. But then I don't think Kant would even get that far Fadel wouldn't even entertain him the way Bison is.

But Style...Style is so obnoxious and exasperating that even though Fadel is sure that there are ulterior motives he's too confused and reluctantly intrigued to put up a proper defense? Because the way Style is going about it is so absurd that it loops back around to having to be about actually liking Fadel, because no one in their right mind would flirt like this otherwise.

Little does he know that Style is both nuts and shameless, a dangerous combination. Also, I think he really thinks that Kant is 1000% down bad and he wants to help his friend out. That's sweet. He's gonna be so mad when he learns the truth my god.

Kant and Bison fired for me a little better in this ep, but are still kind of falling flat as a romantic pair. I said above and I will say again that if Kant should thank Style because I do think that Style's conviction that Kant is down bad (not saying he won't get there but I'm still not really getting that from him at all, lol) did a lot of work in convincing Bison that he might actually be genuine, if a bit full on. It helps that Bison clearly wants to buy in, whether because he wants to be in love or because he's bored or because he wants to keep playing, I don't know. There's also the option that he could actually like Kant a lot, lol. Mustn't forget that one.

I am a little surprised that I believe Bison's feelings a little more. Maybe all his swooning when alone is a cheap trick to fool us too and then I will be the one with egg on my face (it wouldn't be the first time), but for right now I'm definitely getting more from him than Kant. But I kind of love that tbh. If Kant is going to get as unhinged as he does in the trailer ("do you think I'd go on living if you died") then this current version of him kind of makes sense, in a way? Also maybe I'm fooling myself because it was what I was hoping for but didn't dare to dream - a Kant who is super reluctant to fall for this guy because he knows the game he's really playing and then goes and does it anyway. And enough so that he's willing to risk his own personal freedom - which means leaving his beloved baby brother - to keep him.

Speaking of which, I didn't mention this last ep but I am glad it was way more about Captain Chris blackmailing Kant and threatening to take him away from baby bro that made him reluctantly take the case. Not just because it's less dumb than the novel but also because it both gives Kant a reason for reluctance but also a reason to feel like he can't back out. Stakes, man!

I also said this before too but I kind of love the way he digs for info from Bison? Like it's all OTT flirting most of the time and then just these casual little questions while he clocks the way that Bison diverts the subject whenever he gets too close to something he shouldn't - maybe I'm giving him too much credit here. We'll see. But I will say that I like that seem pretty evenly matched, in a lot of ways. I may not be feeling their "romance' right now but I am enjoying how well they match each other - no one is going to be bored here.

They're interesting, I'll give 'em that.

[thiswasinevitableid]

Siren Song (Danbrey)

The runner up for "weird mer" prompts was: A siren musician annoyed no one can give unbiased feedback on their songs

Sirens know many things. How to lure ships just where they want them. Which sharks make the most loyal pets. The best sunken wrecks for a Sunday brunch. And, ostensibly, how to make their sea gardens grow lusher than the mind can imagine. 

The secret, of course, is singing to the plants. Which should be easy for a siren. 

Dani has been singing at hers for two weeks and has barely gotten so much as a sprout. And she’s pretty sure that, statistically, that would have happened for her whether she was singing or not. 

Every other siren’s garden is already busting out of it’s bed. And Dani usually has no issue with her plants. Which means the most likely culprit is her voice.

She’s pretty sure it sucks. 

But there’s not a way to prove that; humans will always hear a beautiful voice promising whatever their heart desires. Siren’s hear each other's songs as fish hear each other bark; they know it’s happening and what it communicates, but quality is not registered. 

This is why Dani is currently sitting on a rock in a small sea cave in the cliffs that make up the shore, trying to see if the acoustics will somehow give her a realistic sense of her voice. When that doesn’t work, she covers her ears to see if she can hear herself better that way. No luck there either, though she can tell she doesn’t sound like the humans who sing on the outside stages in the nearby town square. 

Uncovering her ears, she picks up a conversation on the beach beside the cave. 

“What’s wrong, doctor? The seagulls aren’t even calling, there’s nothing to be upset about.”

There’s no reply, but the voice continues, “Here, do you want a strawberry? Yeah, see, there we go, everything’s fine.” 

Curious, Dani swims out of the cave and peers around the rocks to the beach. It’s the middle of the week, when most humans are at work, and according to her friend Mama, the schools aren’t out yet so no one is on vacation. 

The only person who can see her is the owner of the voice, who may be the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen, human or mer. There’s a mess off curly, black hair piled on her head, and even from here Dani can see a spray of freckles on her nose and more dotting her tan arms. She’s wearing sunglasses–always dangerous, it’s harder to tell where a human is looking when they do that–in bright red frames. She’s sitting on a bright orange blanket, and at her feet is the little land otter humans call a rabbit. But this isn’t the kind Dani sees nibbling grass on the sloping hills near the sea; it’s huge, its sand-colored fur smushed in places by a vest connected to a leash. 

“There we go buddy” The woman pets the rabbits head, “honestly, what freaks you out sometimes is a mystery.”

On a hunch, Dani stays low in the water and starts singing. The rabbit’s body goes stiff and then it thumps its back feet into the sand, looks at the woman, and thumps again when she continues sitting there. 

“Okay, if you’re this freaked out we’re going home before it turns out there’s, like, a sea monster or something.”

“There isn’t” 

“JESUS CHRIST” The woman jolts on the blanket as Dani appears on the shore, “sorry, scared me. I’m totally cool with mermaids.” Her posture relaxes, “Do you know why Dr. Harris Bonkers is freaking out?”

“I think it’s my singing. I’m a siren, and I was practicing when he started getting upset.” 

“Cooool. Um, I mean, I guess that could be it? I didn’t really hear you singing.”

“I was trying to do it softly so I didn’t send anyone over the cliffs or something like that. Maybe his big ears heard it?”

“Probably. Bunnies do have great hearing. Yes you do.” She rubs the rabbit's ears and it hunkers down into a happy loaf. 

Dani fiddles with the ends of her hair, “This might sound weird, but could you and your rabbit help me out? I’m trying to tell if my singing is any good and he might be the only animal that could tell me.”

The woman looks at her a moment, pink creeping up her cheeks, “Um, yeah, that’d be great. We’d love to help you out.”

“Fantastic! Meet me here this time tomorrow?”

The human smiles, “It’s a date.”

—-------------------------------------------------

The human–Aubrey, as she introduces herself–is more covered today, thanks to the cloudy skies. Dani tries not to be too sad about it. She can still see the little, cartoon fire tattoo on her ankle and wonder what it looks like while it’s owner swims about her in the water. 

“Do I need to, like, cover my ears?” Aubrey rubs the rabbit’s nose as Dani settles on the shore. 

“You should be fine. I’ll just sing scales. Also I can pull you out of the water if you wander into it in a trance. “

“Glad to know I’ve got a lifeguard.” Aubrey’s smile is even more enchanting close-up, “okay, Doctor, you ready?”

The rabbit wiggles its nose but does nothing else, so Dani starts up the scales she’s heard other sirens use. It only takes one trip up and down before the rabbit is thumping. When Aubrey rubs his ears and tells her to try again, he can be a tough critic, Dani obeys. 

The next set of scales results in the rabbit trying to hide under the blanket Aubrey is sitting on. 

“Hmmm, okay, maybe let’s take a break. Here, I brought lunch.” She pulls out a bagel sandwich, then another with salmon on it, “I figured this’d be safe for you? My friend Duck says sirens can eat all kinds of things but also I think his boyfriend might have more of a, um, garbage palate.”

“Thanks” Dani scoots up to sit on the sand beside her, “sirens who’re full of themselves will only eat fresh fish with nothing on it. Not me; my friend got me hooked on sushi from that place on the pier. He’s been bringing other stuff back too but I’m not sure where he’s getting it.”

“Ooh, I can for sure bring sushi next time. Mrs. Takahasi gives me a discount since I perform at all the family birthday parties.”

“Are you a singer?”

“Pfft, no.” She smiles like it’s no big deal, “I’m a magician! Dr. Harris Bonkers is my assistant.” She reaches behind Dani’s ear and comes back with a small, black card reading The Lady Flame.

Dani sees there’s a phone number on the card and wishes for one that works underwater. 

In no hurry to embarrass herself more for the day, she asks Aubrey what it’s like to perform in front of kids, and listens as the human describes the good (little kids hugging her or parents saying their child demanded Aubrey come for their party after performing the prior year) and the bad (cake. So much thrown cake).

The music from the nearby bar blares to life, signaling the start of the evening, and Aubrey freezes mid-sentence. 

“Crap! I have a show in a half hour!” She scrambles up, “same time tomorrow? I really want to keep seeing you I MEAN helping you.”

Dani blushes, “See you then.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is hopeless.” Dani lays face down, body in the sand but face on Aubrey’s blanket. Aubrey strokes her back in sympathy. They’ve been at this two weeks and made no progress. Today show downloaded an app on her phone that’s supposed to help you determine if you’re on key by turning notes green when you hit them.

The dang thing is still flashing every color under the sun.

She wishes she knew how to help; Dani is amazing and it sucks to see her so down on herself day after day. 

“Dani? Why is it so important that your voice be objectively good? Like, it works how it’s supposed to on people, so everyone thinks it’s good, then why not just call it good?”

The mermaid rolls onto her back, golden hair fanning onto the blanket. She’s wearing a bikini top of woven, bright green sea grass that Aubrey thinks looks great but also kind of wishes would disappear. 

“It’s for my garden. Or, part of my garden. Every year there’s a huge garden show and any siren who thinks they’ve got what it takes spends months, if not the whole year, singing their entry into shape. Mine isn’t growing how it’s supposed to under my singing. And you know the worst part?”

Aubrey shakes her head.

“I’m a great gardener! People ask for my flowers for their birthdays!I have all kinds of cool plants in front of my house,  have a kitchen garden and plants from seeds and cuttings that have been in my family for generations! Which is really hard to do; one weird current or freak temperature change and they could be gone. I’m good at this but…but it took me years to work up the nerve to enter the show. Because the judges favor certain plants and if it’s not the greenest and lushest they barely look twice at it. So I figured, what the hell, if I can grow heirloom sea beans I can grow giant Aqua Monstera. Now I just feel silly.”

“It’s not silly. You wanna show off what you love and what you’re good at. You didn’t know about the singing thing beforehand. Honestly you’re probably, like, the first siren in history to wonder if she can sing.”

“I guess.” Dani sighs, “maybe I should just bow out. Give my spot in the competition to someone else.”

“Or…” Aubrey pets a strand of sunshine hair, “you could enter it on your own terms. Even if you don’t win, maybe you’ll, like, remind people that there’s more than one way to be beautiful, you know?”

Dani looks up at her, eyes like sunken gold, “Yeah, I think I do. And I just got the perfect inspiration.”

—----------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Dani, I was-”

“Sorry Barclay, no time to talk, I’ve got to get all these planted.”

“Holy fuck, aren’t the judges going to lose their shit if you include that?”

“Maybe but I don’t care, I’ve wanted to try growing them for years and Aubrey was right, this is about showing off what I love.”

“That’s the spirit. Wait, Aubrey? Who’s Aubrey?”

“Uhhh, can’t talk, these need to be in beds ASAP.”

“You better invite her to dinner soon!”

“Yeah okay I will it’ll have to be on shore bye!”

“What?”

—---------------------------------------------------------------

Aubrey sets cake on the blanket, checking her phone every ten seconds like that will make the time go faster. She’s left Dr. Harris Bonkers at home; whatever Dani is feeling after the garden show, she wants the siren to have her full attention.

When her friend surfaces, Aubrey can’t get a read on her expression, even when she slides up the damp sand onto the blanket. 

“Did it go okay?”

“No.” Dani grins, “but also yes. The judges made a lot of snide comments about how my greenery showed a siren lacking in essential skills. But” she holds up a pearly-green coin on a strand of tiny puka shells, “there’s an award for crowd favorite, and guess who won?”

“Holy crap! That’s amazing”

“I know! I–why does that cake “congratulations/I’m sorry.”

“I, uh, I thought you could pull it off, and I wanted something for us to have if things went well. But also you made it clear that the judges are dicks so I figured it needed to have another meaning just in case.”

“You’re sweet, fireblossom. Here, I have something for you too.”

Aubrey is so busy processing the potential pet name that she barely notices Dani zipping into–then back out of–the water. The siren sets a bundle of plants tied with a red string on the blanket. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you could grow stuff like this in the sea.” Aubrey picks up the bouquet of red, black, and orange blooms. Some are star-shaped, others swirled like shells or spiky like urchins, “I love the colors.”

“I knew you would. You were my inspiration.” Dani grins, sharp toothed and beautiful, “once I thought of making a garden to remind me of you, it all came together.”

Aubrey leans forward and kisses her, the siren humming happily and climbing between her legs as she returns it. 

“Don’t suppose there’s a way for me to see the whole thing?” Aubrey murmurs, stroking Dani’s cheek.

“A friend of mine can hook you up with a spell so you can breathe underwater.” The siren nibbles her ear, “and I’d love to show you my garden. I even have one by my bed.”

Aubrey smirks, then kisses her nose, “Okay cutie, you can show me your garden any time.” She sighs as Dani kisses her neck, “you wanna have some,uh, dessert after we have the cake?”

A teasing, loving, vaguely toothy kiss finds her shoulder, “Reverse it and we’ve got a deal.”

“You sirens, so wily and persuasive, you’ve convinced me. C’mere.”

[magmacannon]

1 and 14-20 for ROMAN

WIZARD BLAST

What’s the lie your character says most often?

I have thought about this question (in regards to "what lie does your character believe") quite a bit and I think the one he says the most often is some manner of "it's okay/it'll be okay" because whether or not things will work out, he is constantly doing it to beat back his own anxiety that things will go Very Badly.

14. How do they put out a candle?

I'm rolling a con save for this one actually.

And a +4 to con so he definitely licks his fingers and puts a candle out like that sometimes!. I think he used to be pretty delicate with them and would only blow them out (and can do so from a good distance, he was raised in a family of singers with good breath control) but I think working with potion-making and getting burnt mildly from that has made his fingertips resilient enough to go for it.

15. What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

At home Roman has WAY more confidence and is overtly goofy and relaxed, at work (and when he was in school) he's Nervous and as tuned-in to what's going on as he can manage to be, though he has trouble multitasking and sometimes loses focus on the Job, with friends he's extremely open to sharing his life story Always (this is evident with how he's trying to share his life rn to make friends too), and when he's alone the most obvious difference is that he is constantly singing or talking to himself. (He sings around Vince and the kids but it's in a goofy sense... he pours his heart out when he's alone)

16. What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

John

And Blu and a little bit Baster but doing that kind of sucks. Also himself constantly

17. What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Beard hairs too light/short to be a wizard beard (he refuses to try and grow one out! What's the truth buddy)... As for what other people first notice looking at him?? I think Obviously it's the wizard getup (hat and staff), though for his personal appearance I'd guess maybe his smile or posture? He's pretty friendly looking 9/10 times.

18. Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

Vince and his kids For Sure... Also his brother (and kind of his parents though he's definitely worked through some boundaries with them over his lifetime). Tbf though Roman has a lot of room in his heart for Love so this isn't the most extraordinary thing for him to commit when he decides to love someone.

19. What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Roman tries very hard not to avoid people and instead talk through issues (potentially sometimes even if the other party doesn't want to talk about something) - if he WAS avoiding someone and got stuck in the same room as them I think he'd probably get physically Ill and tear his hair out before choosing to maybe talk to them.

20. Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

God I'm SURE Roman has some opinions about Wizards at his university... I think he likely has a lot of admiration for his fellow evoc frat people but kind of looks down on their work (might be jealous?? Or genuine dislike of the path they've taken the War Magic down pff). Roman would be pretty mild about the criticisms he'd give to someone he liked.

I think John sort of falls in the opposite category but we'll see how exactly he feels about him Evolve over time... regardless though John's work with magic is brilliant, and he begrudgingly admitted that some time ago. HOWEVER I think in general he'd likely be much more scrutinizing with the work of someone he disliked than someone he really liked, for better (more fact-checking) or worse (dismissing someone's work for a minor issue), as much as he'd hate to admit it.

[angelofrainfrogs]

Spend the Night: Ch. 34

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: The familiar melody of Grandfather’s Clock chimes through the echoing halls of the Pizzaplex…

Charlie wakes up in her Puppet’s vessel yet again with one goal in mind: to stop William Afton’s reign of terror for good. She enlists the help of Glamrock Freddy, the emphatic leader of the newest iteration of the Fazbear Band. But there seems to be more to this bear than meets the eye—and the same goes for the mysteriously familiar kid the duo find tinkering with animatronics down in Parts & Service.

With some help from friends new and old, Charlie’s journey into the bowels of the Pizzaplex will unravel mysteries none of them ever expected. 

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Have you figured out it's me With your theory? As the darkness smothers the light

So you managed to survive All that means is You live to die another day

~Goodbye by Tryhardninja, Dagames~

Gregory bid the girls farewell, waving to Hannah with a dreamy look in his eyes before snapping out of it. He made sure to turn and give his brother the well-deserved high five for keeping still as he worked.

Then, suddenly at the door was the all too familiar knock pattern of Samuel Emily. It was an odd habit of his since learning Morse code as a boy to knock the word “Hi” into every door before entering.

“Freddy!” the man's voice fretted. “Please tell me you're still functioning at least. Right?!”

Samuel was about to pull all of his hair out. Finding everyone's room a complete and utter mess with three of four main band members just gone without a trace left his mind frayed as well as his nerves. Vanessa insisted whoever was in Freddy’s room might have the keys to understanding this mystery, so Sam had to hope for the best.

As one, the quartet froze. They stared at each other, silently asking what they should do—they hadn't expected to see Sammy now!

Michael cringed, thinking of what a damn mess they must all be. At least his head was closed back up, although the dried blood certainly wouldn't help calm Sammy's likely high-strung nerves at the state of his Pizzaplex...

“You should answer before he freaks out even more, Freddy,” Michael muttered quietly as the patterned knock came again, a little harsher this time around. As the bear moved to the door, Mike patted the couch next to him and looked at Gregory. “And you should sit here with me; we'll let Charlie and Freddy handle this first. You okay with that, Charlie?”

Freddy had reached the door, though would wait for Charlie's okay to actually open it. However, wanting to assure Sammy that there was at least one Glamrock still kicking, he responded: “Hello, Mr. Emily; yes, I am still functioning perfectly. Give me one moment.”

“Freddy, buddy—” Samuel began to tap his foot, impatient and still without answers. “—what are you doing, freshening up like Roxy? Open up.”

Charlie's brother was waiting and it was her call on when to open the door. She stood in an awkward posture, like a deer caught in the blinding lights of a truck. She wasn't ready at all to see her brother—it was going to be rough explaining everything to him, and they hadn't had time to think of a game plan.

“Okay, alright!” Charlie whispered to Freddy, hiding behind him somewhat in anticipation.

Gregory squeezed in beside Michael, chewing his lip; Charlie's brother sounded pissed. With no tangible information on the mysterious CEO except his audible anger, Gregory would fare better to hang close to those adults he knew and trusted.

“Maybe you can help me get to the bottom of this, Fred,” Sam said, assuming Freddy had to know something that was going on. But with the bear seeming oddly resistant to his entry, he began rummaging through his mass of keycards to find the master that’d unlock the Glamrock’s room.

Michael winced at Sammy's tone and wrapped an arm around Gregory's shoulders, letting the boy lean against his side. Sitting attentively on the couch, he and Gregory were the picture perfect example of loving brothers—if one looked past all the grime and mildly terrified expressions, of course. Still, Mike knew whatever discomfort he felt at that moment didn't hold a candle to the whirling thoughts that must be going through Gregory's brain as yet another loud, unfamiliar presence stormed into his life.

“I am certain that I can provide some information,” Freddy replied a bit mysteriously, waiting for Charlie to get into position before unlocking the door. He pulled it open to reveal the frazzled CEO, who Freddy smiled down at warmly. He was thankful that Sammy was alone, for it was much easier to deal with just him that if he had a horde of employees at his back.

“It is nice to see you again, Mr. Emily; I am sorry you had to come back to such a mess,” Freddy said, moving aside and gesturing for Sammy to step into the room while being cognizant of Charlie peeking out from behind his leg.

Samuel sighed, happy for the always warm welcome by his favorite bear. “Man, I'm glad to see you...”

He was looking down at the ground, tired eyes refusing to pull upward and take stock of the room and those in it. “Freddy, I'm not going to lie—I'm upset! Not with you, of course... But just when things were going good. You know?”

He let out a heavy sigh. It was odd, how Samuel carried himself just like Henry. Though the face he had was oddly familiar, Gregory noted it wasn’t his dad he shared the most similar features with. His position as Charlie's twin was clear in the unique shade of green in their eyes, along with the slight wave in their dark, coarse heads of hair.

Sam took in a breath to elaborate, but when his foot painfully collided with the head of Monty he was pulled from his concentration with an annoyed yip. His gaze traveled, taking stock of the dismantled robot first, then silently glancing around.

First, he saw Michael Afton and who he assumed to be Evan sitting casually on the gaudy orange couch, and thought this was it. He’d finally snapped. All that nervous pressure had gotten to him. Sam was fully convinced he’d gone insane when besides Freddy he noticed young woman who resembled his dead sister. What came out next was unfiltered and raw—

He laughed.

Laughed like it was some cruel joke. The noise made the already too-tense room thicken, and then it was too late... Samuel's eyes rolled back, and his knees became wobbly. Falling into a collected heap on the ground, he was out like a light.

“Well, shit,” Michael breathed as Freddy rushed to help.

“Mr. Emily?!” Freddy called, gently tapping his hand. Upon receiving no response, he conducted a quick health scan, noting Charlie move to her brother's side as well. “Not to worry—he has just fainted. Let us move him to the couch where it is more comfortable, then we can rouse him.”

“Guess that's our cue to get up.” Mike released Gregory and they hopped to their feet, moving aside as Freddy carried Sammy's limp body over to the couch, laying him down almost reverently. Freddy slipped the bow-tie pillow underneath Sammy's head, then turned to the others.

“Perhaps you should approach one at a time,” the animatronic suggested, looking around the room and spotting an unopened bottle of water that Gregory hadn't yet gotten into. “He may be in shock when he comes to; I will wake him. Michael, please hand me that bottle?”

Charlie felt as if this was already a rough start. She felt stupid for not saying anything, or not having the mental reflexes to at least try to catch her brother. A painful look spread across her face and Gregory could see how fearful she was of disappointing Sam.

“Charlie? Maybe you should try to wake him up,” Gregory suggested, standing aside along the foot of the couch with Michael. Charlie crouched down, reaching over and holding Sammy’s hand in hers.

“‘m sorry…,” Sam muttered deliriously, eyes still squeezed shut. “—Sorry… Sorry…”

He kept apologizing, internalized in his guilty feelings over the disappearances of his friends and family. Everyone eventually slipping away from his life like burned-out bulbs on a string of Christmas lights. Upon opening his eyes Sam’s bleary gaze flicked around, passing over everyone in the room before pinning onto Freddy.

“Freddy? Can you make a note to call my therapist? I think it’s happening again…,” he said with a sigh of resignation. But Charlie’s squeeze to his hand grounded him.

“Sammy…?” Charlie asked, reluctant as his eyes fixed onto hers and he slowly sat up.

Rather than be overjoyed at his family reviving from the dead, Sam’s first inclination was to be furious. How dare someone impersonate his dead sister and friends?! Tears begun to well in his eyes as he was overwhelmed with negative feelings. This couldn’t be happening, not to him… Not when things had finally started to go right in his life.

"Who the hell are you kids and where do you get off on impersonating my friends?” he snarled, making Charlie drop his hand in surprise.

“Please do not be alarmed,” Freddy said in the gentlest tone he could muster. His words came out more sincere than ever before, and so did the calm, reassuring smile on his face. “This may be hard to believe, but these are your friends. They are not impersonating anyone.”

“Hey, Sam,” Michael greeted, sidling next to Charlie with thumbs casually hooked in his pockets as he met Sammy's utterly confused, hurt gaze. “Look, there's no way to explain this without it sounding completely insane, but... Freddy's right. I am Michael, and this is really your sister. It's... oh god, it's a long fucking story, but thanks to Charlie and your dad, we're able to be here right now, in the flesh. Well—kind of.”

Michael stopped there, not wanting to overwhelm his old friend too much. First they needed to convince Sammy that they were not trespassers impersonating his dead family, and then they could go into the finer details. As they waited for a response Freddy pulled Gregory to his side, allowing the boy to cling to his leg as he pressed a firm, comforting hand on his back.

The survivor’s guilt was already so overwhelming. As Charlie regained her composure long enough to grasp ahold of her twin’s hand once more, she held it close to her face. Charlie herself was finding the words difficult to get out, but in Sam’s delayed thoughts she would kiss the side of his palm.

“We’re all here. Me, Michael’s siblings, Dad… I… I’m sorry for not finding you sooner, Sammy…,” Charlie beat herself up, in awe about how time had both changed him yet kept him exactly the same as she remembered.

Sam wasn’t buying it so easily. He could accept that what he was seeing were manifestations of his dead peers, yet them being real was still debatable. With his free hand, Sam pinched himself hard beneath his shirt, hissing at the new welt under his ribcage. Wincing, he shook his head.

He wasn’t having a nightmare.

This was all real.

“No! I’m the asshole, Lottie!” Samuel finally belted out. “It’s my fault. Everything that happened was because of me—you’d still be here if I wasn’t so stupid and selfish!”

Charlie donned a completely taken aback expression, but decided to gently stroke the back of Sammy’s hand with her thumb in an attempt to soothe him.

“But you’re not really here, are you? You’re a ghost—god, I thought Dad was insane! I-I called him crazy for saying he was seeing ghosts in the Diner—” He rambled. Thoughts were broken, some began where others barely ended.

“Sammy, what do you mean it’s your fault?” Charlie interrupted calmly, not the slightest hint of malice in her voice. At this Samuel curled up on the couch, quietly murmuring for her forgiveness.

Michael had seen this all before: the shock and inability to accept your loved ones’ ghosts were still hanging about. Cursing your father for claiming he saw spirits until you realized maybe he was right all along. The guilt that ate away at one’s very soul at not being able to do anything to help, let alone knowing all of this was your fault…

Mike had 40 years to wallow in his own self-depreciation, beating himself up every waking moment for causing the deaths of his dearest companions—and his constant nightmares of razor sharp animatronic teeth and children’s cries of terror were an entirely different ballpark. And now, just when Michael was finally starting to accept that maybe he didn’t have to bear the burden of everything, here comes Sammy with his own comparable baggage?

No, that wasn’t going to stand.

“Are you kidding me, Sam?!” Michael piped up, brow creased. He hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but it was disconcerting being faced with a near-mirror image of his own internal struggle. Crouching down so he didn’t tower over him, Mike gently placed a hand on Sammy’s knee and tried to meet his gaze where it peeked out from behind his fingers as he cringed away.

“None of this is your fault,” Michael told him, calm and measured. “If anything, I’m the one that started all this shit—but I warn you, if either of us start saying stuff like that too much, these guys will give us an earful.” He gave a tiny smile and jerked a thumb to his side where Charlie lingered, Freddy and Gregory standing not too far off behind her.

“And okay—yes, technically we are ghosts… but these are real, solid bodies.” Michael gave Sammy’s knee a squeeze to demonstrate that they had no problem making contact. “Your dad is amazing, as usual; these are androids he built for us once he figured out that some souls were still hanging around.” His expression was soft and understanding, hoping his words were convincing enough for Sammy to accept. “Yeah, the whole situation's utterly insane, but we’re still here—we always have been. So don’t beat yourself up about it, okay?”

Tears that threatened to fall from Sammy’s eyes clung to his thick eyelashes. He held himself together enough to shake his head.

“You don’t get it… It’s my fault. If I didn’t put all our stupid presents on top of Puppet’s box…,” Sammy tried to explain.

He remembered that rainy day: a calm Wednesday in the middle of perfect spring. Their birthday. How Charlie was locked outside was still a mystery to Sammy... But after reviewing the security footage with his Uncle William, they both saw what really happened.

***

“Didn’t you know? The Puppet is made to protect you kids…,” William had told the terrified teen as they watched Sammy pile their gifts onto the Puppet’s box, stopping the film just as Charlie turned from the window after someone outside called her attention.

“It was an accident, Uncle Will! I-I didn’t want her to die! I love Lottie!” Sam insisted, crying hysterically as he fell into William’s chest. There he buried his tears and the truth of what happened that night—at least, the version he believed to be true.

That his sister was dead because of a stupid little prank he decided to pull, keeping down her prized, creepy robot.

“Of course I understand… But what about your father? He’ll be quite cross when he sees this,” William chided gently. When Sammy’s panic was at its peak, William leaned over and removed the tape from the VCR. He pulled its contents out, ruining and exposing the film. “This can be our little secret, Samuel; all anyone needs to know is what a tragic accident this night became. You nor I will ever speak a word as long as we live. Deal?”

***

The flashback was instantaneous and Samuel found himself doing it all again, leaning over and crying profusely into Michael’s shoulder in place of his uncle.

“I’m so fucking sorry—” he wept, barely feeling his sister’s quiet hand rubbing his back as he sobbed into his childhood friend.

Mike let Sammy cry, slipping his arms around his waist below Charlie’s soothing hand. Glancing at her, Mike was unable to tell what she was feeling—her face was an indecipherable mask of hurt, sympathy, and confusion. Sammy might think he was responsible for her death, but they all knew who the real culprit was.

“Sam, listen to me: it’s not your fault,” Michael said into his ear. His jaw clenched a moment as he tried to figure out the best way to put this without completely sending Sammy into hysterics. “Regardless of whether you crowded the Puppet’s box or not, it wouldn’t have stopped Wi—”

He cut himself off sharply, squeezing his eyes together. Mike didn’t remember anything of that day except the gut-wrenching drop when his father announced that Charlie was dead. The slowly-mending hole in Michael’s heart from his brother’s death was ripped open anew, and it was astounding his young mind didn’t snap from the stress and guilt right then and there.

But now wasn’t the time for self-pity. As Sammy’s sobs began to die down, Michael carefully held him by the shoulders so he could look into his face.

“I’m so sorry, Sam, but there’s… there’s really no way to say this tactfully,” he admitted, watching his friend’s face twist with anxiety at his words. With a deep, shaky breath, Michael revealed the truth. “The one who killed Charlie—who was responsible for all the murders and disappearances besides Evan… even mine and Liz’s, indirectly… it was my father.”

Now it was Michael’s turn to cringe back, releasing Sammy’s shoulders and waiting for whatever reaction would ensue when the pin dropped.

...The possibility of William being behind it all had always lurked in the back of Sam’s mind. When weeks turned to years in the investigation with only one man being arrested and released without evidence, Sammy lost hope of ever finding his sister’s killer. He couldn’t utter another apology without feeling like he was going to throw up. Still it came as a shock—

William was always kind to Sam. He thought of others and gave free things away from the diner constantly. Though looking back, it was far too easy to see how this wholesome persona was just a farce. A little smoke and a mirrors put up to mask the real monster who convinced a 16 year old boy that his sister’s death was a byproduct of his own carelessness. William tricked all of them.

And when Sammy had the wherewithal to finally reach around and pull his sister in for a hug, he felt as though a piece of him he lost long ago had finally come home.

“Anything…” Samuel said, sniffing back snot so it didn’t land in his sister’s hair. “Anything you all need—name it. It’s the least I could do for covering for that fucking sicko.”

Michael allowed himself to relax as Sammy pulled Charlie in for a hug. He stood, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away to give them a moment. His eyes fell on Freddy and Gregory, who also seemed relieved that Sammy accepted the truth without too much pushback.

“Well, first off, we want you to know that William’s gone for good,” Michael spoke after a moment. The Emilys were still clinging to each other, but he knew Sammy was listening by the way his eyes flickered to meet his own over Charlie’s shoulder. “That’s what we’ve been doing all weekend—trying to take him down. Sorry about your Pizzaplex, by the way… and the Glamrocks.”

“They were under William’s control, trying to capture intruders—children, specifically—when the night shift hit,” Freddy finally spoke up, taking a small step forward. He wanted Sammy to know that all this damage was the fault of no one but the former bane of their existence. Putting things as simply as he could, Freddy explained: “He sent out a virus that infected the entire Pizzaplex. It affected Vanessa as well, so please give her some leniency if you are able to. I am sure she will explain her side of things in time.”

“Freddy was the only robot not taken over,” Michael added, flashing a grin towards the bear. He let out a soft laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I kind of, uh… unintentionally possessed him for a bit before I got this new body, and my being in his head worked like a supernatural antibiotic to fight off the virus.”

“None of us would be standing here right now without everyone’s help,” Freddy pressed, making it clear that no one was more useful than anyone else in making things right.

Michael chuckled again. “Freddy’s also developed one hell of a conscience over the past few days, so… there’s another thing to wrap your head around.”

Samuel fixed the round frames that were falling down his tear-streaked nose, nodding as he took in the information. He looked at his sister and helped her sit up with a protective arm in an iron grip around her. He was a little worried since she hadn’t spoken in a while, but he was positive it was only because she was feeling the same as him: shocked with the circumstances. Even if he could argue that he had a right to be more shocked, it didn't matter. Sam was half thankful for her silence. It gave him time to process the wild recounting of the long weekend during his absence.

“Well—thank goodness no one was hurt,” he said in relation to the kids, grateful for this unlikely team. Not only was he reunited with friends of the past, but the AI Samuel designed achieved consciousness?

Astounding.

“Uhh... About that—” Gregory started, making Samuel glance at him with confusion.

…Who was this kid? The voice was all wrong and now that he really looked straight at him, he remembered Evan's eyes as brown.

“Oh... right.” Michael grimaced, stepping back to wrap an arm around Gregory's shoulders. “Contrary to what you're probably thinking, this is not Evan—and don't ask about how or why they have the same face, because it's a mystery to us all.”

Pulling Gregory a little closer, Michael gestured to him with his other hand as if presenting him before an audience. “Sam, meet Gregory. He's the last kid my father was after. He's the only one of William's victims that made it out alive, although he's... not completely normal anymore.”

Michael trailed off, the lingering guilt of being unable to save Gregory from the Remnant injection rearing up in the back of his mind. Sensing this rising distress, Freddy stepped in again with an explanation.

“This may be a topic for you to discuss in detail with Henry at a later time—” the bear started, and there was the faintest hint of strain in his voice. He clearly hated talking about his son's unfortunate situation, too. “—but before we got rid of him, William injected Gregory with a substance that changed some of his physical attributes. We do not know the full depth of what this will do as time goes on, although as Michael said, he is still alive. As for the other children who have gone missing...” Freddy shook his head, looking down at Gregory and running gentle claws through his hair. “Unfortunately, they did not fare as well. William was able to get to them before we were alerted to his presence, and therefore we could not act in time to save them.”

“I'm glad I got to dance on that jerk's ashes,” Gregory said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

It jumped out at Samuel, as it was something particularly violent for a kid to say. Though, he supposed that he couldn't blame Gregory’s conviction if William was trying to hurt him. Though that wasn't what particularly what caught Sam's attention.

“Mike—you're telling me more kids died here?” Sam's mouth went dry. Now he was beginning to blame himself all over again. “This isn't good! I... Fuck—when?! Where, I mean—w-what happened?”

Charlie shook her head. “You really don't want to know.”

“You really don't,” Michael echoed, shaking his head vehemently. He released Gregory's shoulders only to cross his arms over his chest as well, mirroring his brother unintentionally. “Look, I know this isn't what you want to hear, but let us handle this for a bit longer before we call anyone else in, okay? This sort of shit isn't something normal people should be dealing with, and we want to make 100% sure nothing's lingering around that can still hurt anyone.”

He thought of the endoskeletons Charlie and Vanessa mentioned, specifically designed to kill the kidnapped children. Where they also infected with William's virus, or had they simply been hotwired by Vanny? The latter was greater cause for concern, as they could still potentially be a threat to humans. Michael and Charlie would need to investigate soon, after they'd had a chance to rest from their ordeal. At least everything was confined to the lower levels and hidden away...

Meeting Sammy's eyes with a serious gaze, Michael added: “Please, don't reopen the Pizzaplex until we've made sure it's safe—and do not go in the basement. Tell the staff not to go down there either; we'll let you know once we've checked everything out.”

Uncrossing his arms, Michael managed a tiny smile, not wanting to linger on this topic lest Sammy get too caught up in his head. “Aaaand this is just part one of 'things we're going to need from you.' The second part is more on a personal level—see... we've got no money. Or a place to stay. Think you can hook us up with a hotel room for a few nights?”

Sammy looked between both him and Gregory, only letting go of Charlotte to dig along the inner pocket of his jacket. How much did a few robot ghosts and a kid need for a hotel room? He juggled a few hundred dollars in his hand, then sighed. What if there was an emergency?

“Here, uh... Take my wallet; use the credit card when you need it, but try to use the cash first,” Sammy instructed, entrusting the fat leather billfold into Michael's hand. “Uh... I see you guys already raided the store fronts, but take whatever you want! Freddy can show you where to get the good merch. Please, help yourselves!” He'd be generous with them after all. “Uh—here kid, borrow my phone so you can call your parents...”

Samuel held out his well-armored cellphone, and Gregory instinctually knocked it out of his hand.

“Sorry! I uh—I forgot their numbers!” he excused, making Samuel tilt his head in confusion at the boy. “S... Sorry.”

Michael shoved the wallet deep into the pocket of his jeans, patting the lump for extra security. At Gregory's reaction he rubbed the back of his neck, looking to Charlie and Freddy with uncertainty.

“Um, so... Gregory's going to stay with us for a while,” Mike said, trying to delicately bring up the fact they'd basically adopted the boy while making it not sound like they were technically kidnapping him. “We want to keep watch over him for a little bit and make sure he's okay... And from what he's told us his foster parents are kind of shitty anyway—we're not even sure how hard they're actually looking for him. They're definitely not equipped to handle kids, let alone one that's been through what Gregory has.”

He spared at glance at the boy, to see Freddy had already placed a protective paw on his shoulder. Michael let out a chuckle, a corner of his mouth raising at the sight. “Plus, I think if you tried to separate those two you'd have to fight off Freddy... and trust me, you do not want to be on the other side of those claws.”

“Michael, I am not going to fight anyone,” Freddy responded, although there was an edge to his bright eyes that contradicted this statement. Even if he wouldn't physically throw hands, Freddy would be hard-pressed to let anyone try to take his new son away, the legality of the situation be damned.

“Fred's is a friendly bear,” Sammy reminded them, trying to maintain the family friendly branding all while ignoring the profanities he said just a few moments earlier. He turned to his now sentient creation with a heavy sigh. “And you... have to go with them, that's what I'm gathering?”

Theoretically, given the timeframe Michael had issued the end of the week should be enough time to fix the rest of the Glamrocks on top of sending out the new character releases. Man, they were losing a lot of business from this mess. Though they could survive—it was a big birthday month for them, after all.

“Then I wish you luck, Freddy. And uh, Gregory?” Samuel snagged the boy’s attention. “If you'd like one, I'm gifting you an Ultimate Party Pass—you can go anywhere and do anything at anytime. It's also works as a prepaid gift card. Just... Don't tell strangers what happened here. Okay, buddy?”

Sam tried not to sound nervous as he fished another card from his pocket. One Gregory would add to his finalized collection of access cards. “Cool! My first bribe. Thanks, Mr. Emily!”

“No—” Samuel coughed into his hand to clear his throat. “—Mr. Emily's my dad. Just Sam’s good for me.”

“Thank you,” Freddy said warmly, having nothing but fondness for the Emily heir. Henry might have come up with the original Fazbear Entertainment concept, but Sammy was responsible for the Glamrock line so in Freddy's mind he was just as much of the animatronic's creator as his father. Offering Sam a smile, he reassured: “Do not worry—I will take care of everyone and keep them safe.”

Michael rolled his eyes affectionately at the bear's determined words, then pulled Sammy into a brief hug. “It's really good to see you again, Sam; sorry we all disappeared on you all those years ago.” He released the embrace to hold his friend gently by the shoulders, flashing a grin—not so rare nowadays than it used to be. “Looks like you did pretty well for yourself though, all things considered!”

With that he let Sam go, giving him a final wave as he ushered Gregory and Freddy towards the back room where Freddy's android was being stored. Mike wanted to give Sam a moment alone with Charlie before she left for the day, and he also wanted to get things moving with the data transfer. If he was starting to feel tired, he could only imagine the fumes of adrenaline Gregory was running off of right now. When was the last time the kid had eaten something?

Gregory was fairly lightheaded; he no longer experienced hunger pains in the same way as he used to—only feeling a dull ache in his abdomen as he trailed Freddy and Mike towards the storage area.

Once they were alone Sammy and Charlie stuck together closely, finally able to catch up. A miracle took place here, Sam couldn't deny that. Though it left him with many, many questions... Samuel wasn't sure if he'd be better off knowing all the terrible secrets the four of them shared. For now, he was a reconciling brother, meeting with his long lost twin sister for the first time in decades.

The back room's charging pod illuminated the sleeping automaton inside in a delicate halo of soft, blue light. It wasn’t long before Charlie joined the others, earning matching looks of curiosity.

“Uh, I feel like Sam's going to pass out again so I told him to chill in Freddy's room for a second while we get something done,” she laughed off.

“Yeah, I figured he was at his limit when he didn’t ask how we planned to get Freddy out of here,” Michael responded, slinging an arm around Charlie’s shoulders.

Together they watched Freddy open the charging pod and remove his android, handling it as delicately as a porcelain doll. Since his room was currently occupied by the recovering CEO, Freddy opted for seating the robot against the least dusty spot on the wall. He gazed down at it for a second, unsure of what to do, then carefully sat beside it.

Now was the moment.

In a few minutes, the personality that inhabited the Glamrock singer would no longer be Freddy Fazbear—at least in body. In spirit, he knew he’d never be able to let go of his origins. No matter how many years passed, Freddy was sure he’d remember the lyrics and dance moves to every song he ever performed. A sudden realization hit him like a truck, causing him to gasp out.

“What… What am I going to tell the others?” Freddy asked, and it was unnerving to hear him so legitimately nervous. “Chica, Roxy, Monty… The Daycare attendant and Music Man… how am I ever going to explain this? How will they know this is me—”

“Freddy, relax,” Michael soothed, crouching down to press his palms against Freddy’s face. As their blue eyes locked together, Mike told him with the utmost sincerity: “We’ll figure it out like we've been doing this whole weekend. Don’t worry about that now though—just focus on how awesome it’s going to be to not need to recharge every five minutes!”

That ushered a small grin from the bear and Mike released him, stepping back next to Charlie. Freddy took a deep, calming, simulated breath. He didn’t know what the future would hold for him in this new state, but Michael was right—it was sure to be awesome. Turning to his son, Freddy gave him the brightest Fazbear smile he possibly could. If this was the last time Gregory would get to see him in this form, Freddy wanted him to have a good final memory.

“Alright, superstar,” he said, placing his paws in his lap and sitting up straight. “I am ready.”

Gregory could feel the weight of what they were about to accomplish. No longer would Freddy be confined to the neon-lit world of the Pizzaplex for the entirety of his existence. While they were essentially stealing Samuel's most advanced technological creation, the man didn’t seem to mind. Or, he was too overwhelmed to process the full ramifications of Freddy’s departure.

And Gregory? Well, he was just happy to have someone looking out for him now.

“Alright—I'm going to connect your cord and port you over,” the boy announced.

He wasn't even sure how long it’d take as he kneeled besides his Papa Bear’s two forms and dug inside the panel in the android’s leg. Gregory quickly unfurled the cord, reaching for the scar-esque line on android's neck and flipping it open. It was a pretty creepy way to conceal their download ports, that’s for sure. Then again, Gregory never made an android himself, so how was he to judge?

The initial plug in was made, and after connecting the cord to Freddy’s current Glamrock body and going through a few command prompts on the android’s tiny digital display, Gregory stepped back to watch the process.

“So, he'll probably go offline for a bit,” Gregory told the group. “Could take a minute. Or, like, an hour. Hard to say.”

He then took a seat on the floor, completely beat from the all fighting. He was running on a total of probably 10 hours of sleep over the course of 3 nights, which felt like a new personal high score.

As his core data was ported over, Freddy's smile relaxed into a neutral expression. Within seconds his eyes closed and his head fell forward delicately, as if he were letting out a deep exhale. Only this time, the bear didn't move again.

Michael and Charlie sat cross-legged on the floor too, making a little semi-circle around Freddy's two bodies. Gregory sat next to his dad of course, with Mike on his other side and Charlie completing the family circuit. They sat in silence, the faint, ambient sounds of staff moving around the Pizzaplex the only noise to be heard.

It took Freddy's consciousness exactly seven minutes and forty-six seconds to fully download into the android. The bear was completely shut down now—if one pressed an ear to his chest, even the always-functioning background systems had totally stopped. In exchange, the kind-faced automaton slowly raised its head, blinking sluggishly as if waking from a long sleep. No one but Henry had seen its eyes open before, and with a surprised laugh Michael realized they were the exact shade of bright, electric blue as Freddy's original ones. Whether this was yet another cosmic coincidence or they'd changed color with the appearance of the body's true personality was anyone's guess.

For Freddy, to not see the torso of a giant animatronic bear when he looked down was jarring. He lifted a hand, turning it over in awe at the sheer amount of detail Henry had put into this body. He could see faint blue veins on his wrist, the crinkling texture of palm lines, and even a faint dusting of light freckles here and there on the back of his hand. The rest of his arm was covered in a soft golden sweater, which he could actually feel the plush fabric of where it rubbed against his skin. Pressing gentle fingertips to his cheek, Freddy was amazed at how utterly new and strange it was to have a face not made of hard metal—for all intents and purposes, he was practically human now.

Speaking of sensing things, Freddy quickly realized there were three sets of nervously eager eyes fixated upon him. For a moment, all he could do was stare back. Then his gaze fell upon Gregory, his son, and he lit up in a smile that could rival the sun, the corners of his eyes crinkling with sheer happiness.

“Hello again, superstar; you did it!” Freddy exclaimed, holding out his arms for a hug.

***

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Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[theblogs2024]

3 Tips to Recover Your Gut and Lose the Weight for Good

Weight reduction is as basic as eat much less and exercise a lot more, right? That is definitely the particular messages we listen to in the mass media. And it sometimes might appear like a good easier solution. But unfortunately, it doesn't always work. The surprising weight reduction trip Janet (not her real name) is a client associated with mine who emerged to me in order to lose weight. She had tried everything and currently had been exercising intensely twice per day to try out to make the scale budge. And it wasn't budging!

Janet's friend, Claire, came to myself months earlier to deal with her symptoms associated with joint aches and pains and digestive issues. Though weight reduction wasn't her goal, by creating an eating plan regarding maximum nourishment and gut healing Claire healed the pains, pains and digestive issues and dropped 15 lbs. Therefore Janet came in order to me searching for a option to weight reduction and considered that perhaps her belly was part associated with the problem. In addition to Janet's struggle in order to acquire a weight she felt good regarding, she was also experiencing chronic exhaustion, heartburn, stomachaches, obstipation, diarrhea, gas plus bloating. Her concentrate was on bodyweight loss, but there was so many various other symptoms all tied together! Within 1 month of making a good eating plan particular for nourishing her body and healing her gut, the girl had lost 10 lbs. and mentioned her stomach experienced amazing - better than it had within years. Neither Jesse nor her buddy tracked their calories or counted grms of fat or even carbohydrates. Janet got actually decreased the girl exercise because I believed the strength to be the stressor on her behalf system. So, why did they describe the particular weight loss success to be easy? Heal your belly, lose the bodyweight There are a lot of components to attaining and maintaining the healthy weight. Not only do feelings be involved, but the particular current environment postures a significant problem towards healthy residing. In addition, optimum functioning of the particular human body such as the very important gastrointestinal system or "gut" is vital. In latest years, research is definitely giving attention in order to the impact that will the trillions associated with microbes in the particular gut play within health, illness and weight management. In the particular future, we can be capable to determine specifically each individual's microbiome and the way to promote optimal gut bacterias. The ability to manage and avoid illness is going to be afflicted tremendously! Research published in the United states Journal of Gastroenterology in 2012 looked at the belly microbiota and its impact on the growth of obesity in animals. Researchers mentioned that evidence highly suggests that the particular bacterial balance from the gut may enjoy an important function in energy stability and weight. Within research published within Nature in 2006, scientists focused upon two specific groupings of bacteria in the gut - Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes showing that the percentage of the two groupings of beneficial germs were different in obese versus lean individuals. We are going to continue to learn the particular clinical relevance within weight management of the bacterial balance associated with the gut. Yet what we perform know is the fact that developing a healthy gut microbiome is however another reason behind adding nourishment to your body nicely each and every single day. Steps in order to take today Within my practice, I actually see clients who may have damage to their gut and ensuing symptoms for the number of reasons including medication use, poor diet or excess stress. Therefore what can you perform to heal that damage which may be happening each and every day or might have occurred several years before? Eat genuine food I believe one of the greatest challenges dealing with us in attaining an optimal diet plan today is not really necessarily a lot of carbohydrates or excessive body fat or all of the twists that have been described to make the "right" diet. The challenge with regard to so many associated with us truly comes down to real food vs. meals which are highly processed. Take a seem at your diet plan. How many times per day do you consume a food that will has strayed considerably from it's natural source? Once, two times, ten-twenty times daily? If you perform one thing these days it is reduce out an alternative that will is highly prepared and substitute this for any real, entire food - fruit, vegetable or slim way to obtain protein. Give food to your gut exactly what it requirements Your own gut needs good bacteria also it requirements food for germs - probiotics and prebiotics. People might often reach for the supplement, but there are also great food choices. Probiotic foods include fermented foods such since yogurt or kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi or even kombucha. Prebiotic meals include foods wealthy in fiber -- think fruits, vegetables, nuts and seed products. And remember - true food! Look intended for these options that also have small to no digesting. Fresh or iced (without added ingredients) fruits and vegetables, nuts and seed products with at most minimum salt added, yogurt with little additional sugar and artificial ingredients. Rest plus relax We live in a extremely stressful environment. A person can't always remove the stressors within your life, yet consider where a person can minimize tension and find methods to manage this better. Are you able to state "No" to some associated with the commitments that are filling up your schedule? Can a person take 5 mins every day to merely breathe - near your eyes, close off your mobile phone and buzzing email and let your body and brain rest? And keep in mind - sleep is usually important for stress management plus a healthy body too! Persistent sleep deprivation which usually so many Us citizens live with nowadays is a significant stressor within the body. Obtain at least 7 hours every night intended for your best wellness! To know more details visit here: abdomax review

[bartholomewillustrated]

WAARGH!!! It's lore time!!! Nothing as elaborate as my Lazarus references (.....Yet) and it's just a copy-paste of my twitter thread but Enjoy!

Thomas and Virgil are from Andromadis, the game of The Sprawl I GM for my friends! Though they haven't appeared yet,,, (To my players: forget Everything you read here.)

They're both (for lack of a better word) mercenaries who work for Idris, the golden robot who runs the oldest and biggest smuggling organization in the wider United Cosmos, as part of his personal discipline and information gathering task force; The Golden Hand.

Virgil Arthur Whinchester is something of a Dirtbag Evil Genius. He's a beyond brilliant toxicologist, and generally clever enough at getting herself both into and Out of situations unscathed and unnoticed to earn herself equal parts espionage and wet work.

He's loud, brash, and Obnoxiously charming with an ego the size of a city block. Carrying himself with this sort of effortless confidence and laissez-faire non-chalance. The very essence of a Frustratingly Smug Bastard.

But while the Posture is relaxed and cocky the eyes are Always sharp and calculating. She doesn't strike an intimidating figure as Thomas might but she's just as scary to sit next to in a room.

Of course he's a MESS under there. All boiling rage and deep unhealed sadness and conflict about where his life has taken him and the choices she's made. oh just and absolute pile of Tragedy and Problems.

And I can't leave out that he's an absolute Bigender Bisexual Disaster. An absolute King. You go girl 💗💕💖

Thomas is a cleaned, polished and spit shined legal shark. A thin layer of synthetic skin over a hard metal frame in both physicality and mind. He "works" for the governing body of Andromadis, and uses his position to gather and manipulate information.

He is the lynch pin in keeping Idris's organization well disguised and out of the sight of the law.

While far from emotionless his entire persona is Very professional, he is controlled, calculated, every move and word is selected careful and preciously for maximum effectiveness. He is an impassible fortress of a man, again both physically and emotionally.

oh course he is Also a Me s s under there. Plagued with insecurity and feelings like he is Missing.. just Missing. things. many things. Internal and external.

Where Lazarus and Karl are beautiful harmonious parallels Virgil and Thomas are Mirrored opposites. They both blend well and bounce off each other in turn. If either had healthier perspectives they would see that a long term committed relationship isn't right for Them.

Maybe causal friends with benefits (because there is One area they get along Swimmingly) maybe just drinking buddies, maybe just co-workers with an odd tension that never resolves... but neither have any particularly Healthy perspectives.. and both are Way too stubborn for that

so they keep winding up together. Cycling around and around.... Very big Divorced Couple Energy despite the fact they've never been married. We love some Toxic motherfuckers. vwv

okay so I 100% failed my original mission it's like an hour later and this is Still /Woefully/ lacking in details that I think are Super important and reflect the proper complicated nature of these characters but what e v e r It's done and it's pretty good for an introduction!

I am working on a playlist for them as well.. they have like a lead song but honestly I'm a bit embarrassed about it so dfgjkhsd we'll see if I share that tidbit of info or not

Anyway! enjoy my Boys and aaaalways feel free to ask questions :3ccccc

For reference this is Idris: Also OC of mine and very old, though Virgil still has him beat by a good mmmm 3-4 years?

When the 💕💖Blorbos💖💕 only exist in your head because they are your OC's and in order to get any content of them you have to make it Yourself....

Anyway here's my Big Divorce Energy pair of Highly Deadly Space Mercenaries:

Thomas (He/Him) and Virgil (He/She) (/0w0)/