#not an easy person to win back lost trust with

[iamnotlookingidonotseeit]

pretty cringe of me to be freaking out over not meeting a requirement that I knew I was being lax about but didn't know was an actual hard and fast Rule

[sk8erboyz]

i’m going to word vomit all my thoughts about the wild life finale here and it’s going to be incoherent until it stops consuming every corner of my mind and i sit down and organize my thought 🤞🏼 until then enjoy my raw unfiltered thought processes

he won by going against the mechanic !! he remained calm and rational and never died to a single wildcard !!! all of his deaths were by people not the mechanic !! the game did not win joel did !he did not go absolutely insane and give in the red haze and he won !!! by not doing what the game wanted !! which means the only curse not broken this season was the winners curse !!!

at every single point in the series everyone is collectively trying to kill joel because he just won’t seem to die but joel is absolutely convinced he’s made friends and is just happy to have friends this season and keeps giving people stuff and then they TRY TO KILL HIM and fail and he DOESBT EVEN NOTICE

and then they die trying to kill joel and he gives them diamonds !!!

joel’s pov by itself is so funny because he’s just a guy in his car with his family having a great time !! and then you watch everyone and it’s like oh. joel is the common enemy here- everyone used gem keeping him cool to their advantage. they used his trust and took whatever joel would give them and blew up his car and stole from him and every time he forgave them everyone turned around and just began plotting against him again. the only person he had was gem who gave her life so many times to the people who betrayed joel anyways. because gem never died to a wildcard and no one every actually got a kill on her, all her lives were lost either by a mob or she let someone take her life so they could gain one (like jimmy, skizz, mumbo) and then at the end joel has survived and he believes he still had friends (jimmy scar & lizzie , etho , grian ) so he goes to them one last time to try and gear up and protect everyone from the G’s who were the longest standing alliance and had the most people, and all the people who he thought were his friends only tried to kill him when he turned his back

and he still won !!!!! it was him and grian against the whole rest of the server and grian was just using him !’ gem was gone and joel couldn’t stay calm anymore because he couldn’t go back to gem when something happened!! so grian stroked joel’s ego and told him he could win and let joel fight everyone and take the rest of the server out and when he did joel went looking for grian and said something along the lines of ‘grian we did it!’ only to turn around to grain shooting at him which makes sense of course but then when you go watch grian’s episode you see then grian has been trying to snipe joel the second every one else was dead but just kept missing and he started panicking g because he couldn’t make the shot and then tried being friendly with joel again

he’s literally THE wild card ! through every series he is aggressive and unpredictable and dangerous and of COURSE the game he wins is when the game starts being aggressive and unpredictable and dangerous but who knows that game better than joel? he beat the game and its own mechanic!!

he is also the only happy winners pov we’ve had!!! every other winner won in a moment of grief and betrayal and anger and in joel’s eyes he won through persistence and staying with his family (which is both dramatic and situational irony because he didn’t actually. he won by clawing his way through what everyone expected of him and everyone else being so blinded by their rage instead of him. he saw all his flaws in past winners and all his past lives and everyone in this season and said no that will not be me this time) joel was also the only winner fighting without a cause. he was just there for the fun of it. for the mindless violence. he never lost anything because he played the game well. his car got blown up but it was always an easy fix. he didn’t pay any mind to his broken alliances so he had no time or knowledge to feel grief or betrayal for them. he and gem were together until the end and never betrayed each other every other winner fought for a person (grian fought against and for scar, scott won by seeking revenge against ren for killing pearl, scott blew himself up in double life so that pearl wouldn’t have to fight anymore, martyn went on a rampage when ren was killed, scar was completely alone and fought for himself and his survival because he had nothing and didn’t even realize when pearl had died) joel is just. in it for the rush- he has no reason for the violence and nothing to loose and nothing to gain

joel is the only winner who’s final death wasn’t in grief either. his final death was meant to be a trap he set up that he never got to use and he ran to it at the end laughing and excited and it failed. the trap failed- and he lived and laughed and ender pearled around until he died. and i saw one post in passing that was like ‘the server took care of him’ and it DID. it’s like this game was perfectly crafted for him- because of course joel wouldn’t die do something as chaotic and unbalanced as the wild cards. who would joel be to die to something he understands so well and channels in every move he makes? he thrives in the chaos and watchers saw him and choose him

grian had a LOT more control in this season than previous because of th wild cards and it’s feeding my watchers symbolism. he is trying to take the reins of the games from the watchers and reduce the violence and grief his friends have to go through so what to do the watchers do? they take his power away. he’s still in control on the wild cards of course, but how well can they work when the watchers are guiding a wild card of their own? and then skizz and mumbo both died due to joel (both indirectly- they died on the tower while trying to get more lives using the minecart trap) and in the end the only person grian is left with is joel who somehow managed to twist every wild card to his advantage and never made as much a misstep this season. ans grian has been too cocky this season, almost playing god with people coming to him for information about the wildcards and how to survive them. and in the end grian does exactly what the watchers wanted anyways and guides joel to victory despite still trying to ruin their game to the very last second and become the first two time winner

anyways that’s all GOOD JOB JOEL !!!! MY WINNER !!! FAST CAR FOR THE WIN

[bunnob]

How the oldest brothers react to getting scolded by MC

Lucifer-

After Diavolo gives him a large mountain of paper work, Lucifer tends to forget about his self-care. After what was almost a week of not sleeping, you bust down the door to his study, his look of concern and shock is not a look you soon wont be forgetting as you attempt to drag him to his room. As you're pulling him you're telling him about the importance of sleep and self-care telling him how bad it is for his skin to not sleep, for a second he thinks you've been spending to much time with Asmo, but is quickly pulled out of his thoughts by you shoving him to his bed. He trys to protest, but is quickly shut-up by you giving him a lecture that could possibly rival his own. His pride's a little hurt and he's confused about what just happened with the sudden shift of personality.

Mammon-

His gambling addiction has gotten out of hand, he started to take stuff from you to sell just for him to lose it at the casinos. He's going through you drawers to find anything of value when you come into your room, "what are you doing" you ask with an annoyed face. Mammon jumps when he hears your voice trying to quickly hide the hand full of jewelry he took out of touch wardrobe. You can tell the gears are turning in his head to make a good excuse, "are you the reson stuff has been going missing", now the guilty been building for a while with him and he comes clean about what he's been doing. You look him dead in the eyes and tell him that if has yet to win what makes him think his luck will change, he's shattered, he thought he would win back what he had took and shower you with even better surprises but yet here you are lecturing him about how he stole from you and how he's lost your trust. He goes back to his room not wanting to cause himself anymore embarrassment by trying to say he would pay you back.(we all know he sucks at paying people back)

Leviathan-

Yet another debacle between him and Mammon leads to him summoning Lotan, hate to be the barer of bad news but the essay you wrote about the history of Devildom due that day didn't make it, you were walking to the demon lords castle to turn it in when you where swept up by a wave summoned with Lotan. It's easy to say Levi's player 2 isn't very happy with him. You're looking down at the remains of your hard work, ready to cry any moment when Levi walks up trying to apologize but at that moment you snap yelling at him for always taking things to far and making his problems everyone else's, you didn't mean to be that harsh but the work you spent sleepless days on went down the drain (literally) and you were tiered. He runs off crying and won't leave his room for a while.

(Hey this is my first time writing and I hope you guys appreciate Younger brothers and side characters will be out soon, let me know if you want to see anything else)

[ukiyowi]

People coming into your life and the kinds of people you attract!

❗Important Note❗Do Not Copy/Plagiarise, reblogs help a ton if you liked the PAC! You can check out the Masterlist for more, or get a personalised reading :)) have a lovely day!! Reblogging and paid readings help a lot! Pls DM me if you want one!

Masterlist || Paid Readings || Tip 🍯

Entering your life

People you attract

- ﹒⪩⪨﹒

🪻Pile 1

Aww this is cute, the new people coming to you are going to be upbeat and light-hearted, yet quite serious. They will celebrate your every win and teach you how to enjoy yourself and take time off (hi workaholic pile😍) these people may be the foundation when it comes to being lifelong friends. They may be the kind to make an unbreakable bond with you. You could also meet them at a party or a family celebration!

They will seem talkative and jolly and you will have no problem making easy conversation with them. They may have issues regarding fear and anxiety about the future, and you may have similar problems too which you would discuss and try to heal through.

They will help you ease your thoughts and restless mind as well. They may be the type to be a little possessive and greedy, and they crave financial stability. This could be the result of past hardships where they've lost a lot and don't want to lose anything more. They may also hold on to the past tightly, carrying their hurt because they may feel they need to.

Placements: Cancer, Aries, Pisces, mars, Jupiter, 4th house, 6th house and 11th house.

Keywords: 444, guidance, instinct, trust, stability, stagnation, home, calling, great expanse, feeling seen, horror, laughter, poetry, anarchism, angel

- ﹒⪩⪨﹒

Pile 2

Ths people coming into your life are going to be immensely ambitious, the kind that's a little too intense if I'm being honest. They're very fast paced and may like to go through life in an organised and calculated manner. They may seem distant or in their own world when you first meet and you may meet in a work environment. You may notice that they're strict yet sensitive, they have a heart of gold and may not like making small talk.

They may be very successful and assertive. Could get into arguments easily because they may be a bit defensive about the world they do. They'll help you grow and understand yourself better, probably bringing more structure and balance in your life.

They'll also be quite competitive so they may love playing video/board games with you as well and they'll also teach you how to stop always compromising even when you don't need to. They're mature and dependable they'll probably be like a mentor figure almost. They're the kind of person to constantly work even when they're supposed to be on vacation and they've worked hard to get where they are.

Placements: Virgo, Leo, Aquarius, 1st house, 8th house, 10th house, Mercury and mars

Keywords: 1212, finality, family, partnership, domesticity, cooking, wit, fun, tingling, moods, shining, strength, mastery, work, togetherness, vision, innovation

- ﹒⪩⪨﹒

🪻Pile 3

Abundant, so elegant, this person will have an extremely regal energy. They may be a social butterfly, someone who makes connections easily and they may have a maternal vibe to them. They're going to be generous and helpful will probably be quite wealthy, and are the kind of person to donate to charities frequently. For some reason it's coming though that you may meet them while doing humanitarian work. They'll also be homebodies so as much as they like socialising they may like spending time with a small circle of friends at home.

They may teach you how to heal from abandonment, maybe they went through something similar and will help guide you. They may also teach you how to leave things you no longer need behind and turn your back on the past. They'll be very Intune with their surroundings and the energies around them and may be interested in the occult.

One thing that's coming through strongly is that they may be secretive and mysterious which is what will pull you in, however this can get tiring pretty quickly because it may seem like you keep opening up to them but they don't. They may also have very good intuition.

Placements: Scorpio, Taurus, Gemini, moon, Pluto, 2nd house, 5th house, 8th house.

Keywords: southern, 888, loops, waves, answers, forgotten, youth, fantasy, bad habits, ending, unbelievable, 7, kindred, identity, survival, opinions of others, story, listening.

- ﹒⪩⪨﹒

🍀 Pile 1

Hopeless romantics, people who may be a little na��ve and innocent, viewing the world through rose coloured glasses, but they're also strong willed and determined, nothing can get them down, they're independent people who, when in love, fall too fast and too deep. They are successful professionally but may be a bit immature when it comes to expressing their emotions. They may be people who don't like expressing negative emotions as it makes them feel like they're getting the mood down, they may not be comfortable with vulnerability and emotional intimacy.

- ﹒⪩⪨﹒

🍀 Pile 2

Brave people, warriors at heart, they've probably been through a rough past that has left them a little jaded but even with their rough edges they are extremely soft. May be the kind of people to be there through thick or thin, a dependable friend, people who're always there to help no matter what. They may be "fixers" and feel they can fix people with their love. Calm and stable individuals who have a lot of wanderlust and usually believe in the occult, they're also very stern and may come off as a little harsh at times.

- ﹒⪩⪨﹒

🍀 Pile 3

Low-key, energy vampires, they may be attracted to you because they can either get something from you, or you're an empath and are healing to be around. People who're a little self-absorbed and selfish, may not be the best at respecting boundaries, more of a talker than a listener. A little flighty, very flirty, the type of people you would want to go on a short trip because of how fun they are. May leave you speechless at times simply because of the bizarre things they say, people who may be resistant to change.

- ﹒⪩⪨﹒

🍀 Pile 4

Gentle souls, wise people who give great advice but their advice may be unsolicited at times which could have a tendency to annoy people, people who're usually artistic in some way maybe they play instruments or draw or dance. They're very charming but can be manipulative if they want because of how good they are with their speech. Big emotions, people who have high highs and low lows. The kind of people who may be a bit paranoid and are natural worriers, they can also be a little superstitious. Really warm and welcoming individuals.

- ﹒⪩⪨﹒

Ukiyowi All Rights Reserved ®©

[wonyowonyo]

Realize (J. Wonyoung X M! Reader)

Hello, Wonyo_Wonyo here. I've came back from the depths of the pitiful reality, and returned with a new oneshot. Kinda lost my touch though, but I hope you all enjoy this one.I'll probably try to drop more stories soon, If I get the motivation to do it. Feel free to drop some suggestions too.

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3RD PERSON POV

Y/N had always been captivated by Wonyoung. Her elegance, her wit, the way she carried herself—it was all mesmerizing. From the moment he first saw her at the university's annual charity gala, he knew he had to get to know her better. She was wearing a stunning silver dress that made her stand out from the crowd, her long, dark hair cascading down her back in soft waves. She moved with a grace and confidence that drew everyone's attention, but it was the kindness in her eyes when she spoke to others that truly caught Y/N's heart.

The first time they spoke was during one of their shared classes. Y/N mustered up the courage to approach her after a particularly challenging lecture on quantum mechanics. As he gathered his books and steeled himself for rejection, he noticed Wonyoung struggling to fit her notes into her already overflowing bag. He saw his chance and seized it.

"Hey, do you need some help with that?" Y/N asked, offering her a friendly smile.

Wonyoung looked up, surprise flashing in her eyes before she returned his smile. "Oh, thank you. That would be great. My bag seems to have a mind of its own."

Y/N chuckled and helped her organize her things. As they walked out of the lecture hall together, they found themselves engaged in a lively conversation about the class. Wonyoung was not only beautiful but also incredibly intelligent. She had a way of explaining complex concepts that made them seem almost simple.

"Quantum mechanics is a nightmare," Y/N said, shaking his head. "I don't know how you make it look so easy."

Wonyoung laughed, a light, melodic sound. "It's not easy, trust me. I just enjoy the challenge."

From that day on, Y/N made it a point to be around her as much as possible. He offered to study together, grabbed coffee after classes, and even joined the same student clubs. Wonyoung seemed to enjoy his company, always smiling when she saw him and engaging in their conversations with genuine interest.

However, every time Y/N tried to take things to the next level, she would pull back just enough to keep him at arm's length. She would thank him for the flowers he sent with a sweet message but never agree to a date. He'd ask her out, and she'd say she was busy but then give him a lingering look that kept his hopes up. It was a dance that went on for months, with Y/N pouring his heart into every gesture and Wonyoung playing hard to get.

One particularly frustrating evening, Y/N decided to make a grand gesture. He had learned that Wonyoung loved classical music, so he managed to get two tickets to a highly sought-after concert in town. Nervously, he approached her after class.

"Wonyoung, I know you're busy, but I got us tickets to the Philharmonic concert this Friday. I thought it would be something you'd enjoy," Y/N said, hope shining in his eyes.

Wonyoung's expression softened, and for a moment, Y/N thought she would say yes. But then, her smile faltered. "Oh, Y/N, that's so sweet of you, but I already have plans with some friends. I'm really sorry."

Y/N's heart sank. "No worries. Maybe another time?"

"Maybe," Wonyoung replied, her tone unconvincing.

Y/N's initial attempts to win Wonyoung's heart were met with mixed signals that left him in a constant state of hope and frustration. He decided to take a more direct approach and invited her to a popular café on campus known for its cozy atmosphere and delicious pastries.

"Wonyoung, I was thinking we could grab some coffee after class. There's a new café that opened up, and I hear their pastries are amazing," Y/N suggested, his voice filled with optimism.

Wonyoung's eyes twinkled with interest, but her response was hesitant. "That sounds nice, but I already have plans with my study group. Maybe another time?"

Y/N's smile faltered slightly, but he quickly recovered. "Sure, another time then."

Despite the setbacks, Y/N refused to give up. He learned that Wonyoung loved literature, so he spent hours in the library researching her favorite authors and genres. One day, he surprised her with a beautifully bound copy of a classic novel she had mentioned in passing.

"I thought you might like this," Y/N said, handing her the book.

Wonyoung's eyes widened in surprise and delight. "Oh my gosh, Y/N, this is one of my favorites! Thank you so much!"

Her genuine appreciation gave Y/N a glimmer of hope, but as soon as he tried to suggest they read it together, she quickly changed the subject.

"Maybe we can discuss it over coffee?" Y/N ventured.

Wonyoung's smile turned apologetic. "I'd love to, but I have a meeting with my project group. How about a rain check?"

Y/N's heart sank, but he nodded. "Of course, a rain check."

As weeks turned into months, Y/N's efforts intensified. He attended every event she mentioned, from art exhibitions to charity runs. He even signed up for a cooking class she was taking, hoping to spend more time with her.

During the cooking class, they worked side by side, preparing a complex dish together. Y/N couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment as they created something delicious together.

"This is really fun, Y/N," Wonyoung said, her eyes sparkling as they tasted their creation.

Y/N smiled, his heart swelling with joy. "It is. Maybe we could cook together more often?"

Wonyoung's expression turned thoughtful. "Maybe. We'll see."

Despite the fleeting moments of connection, Wonyoung continued to keep Y/N at a distance. He found himself questioning his every move, wondering if he was doing something wrong or if she simply wasn't interested.

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One evening, after another unsuccessful attempt to ask her out, Y/N found himself sitting alone in the campus garden, his heart heavy with doubt. His best friend, Sungjae, found him there and sat down beside him.

"Hey, man. You look like you could use a friend," Sungjae said, his tone sympathetic.

Y/N sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do, Sungjae. I've tried everything to show Wonyoung how much I care about her, but she keeps pulling away."

Sungjae patted his shoulder. "Maybe she just needs more time. Or maybe she's scared to let someone in."

Y/N nodded, though uncertainty gnawed at him. "I just wish I knew how she really felt."

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Despite her mixed signals, Y/N persisted. He attended every event she mentioned she was interested in, made sure to remember the little things she liked, and always tried to be there for her when she needed someone to talk to. But eventually, the constant back-and-forth took its toll. He was tired of the uncertainty, the feeling that he was always one step behind. So, one day, he decided to stop. He stopped sending flowers, stopped asking her out, stopped trying to win her over. It was time to move on.

Wonyoung noticed the change immediately. At first, she thought it was a phase, that he'd bounce back with renewed determination. But as days turned into weeks, the realization hit her—she missed him. She missed his efforts, his thoughtfulness, the way he made her feel special. The absence of his attention left a void she hadn't anticipated.

One evening, as Y/N was packing up his things at the end of a long day, Wonyoung appeared. She looked different—nervous, unsure. It was a stark contrast to her usual confident self.

"Can we talk?" she asked softly.

Y/N nodded, motioning for her to sit down. She took a deep breath, her eyes meeting his with a vulnerability he hadn't seen before.

"I've been thinking a lot," she began. "About us, about everything you've done for me. I guess I didn't realize how much it meant to me until you stopped."

Y/N listened, his heart pounding. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, but now that it was here, he felt a mix of emotions.

"I was scared," she admitted. "Scared of how much I was starting to care about you. But now, I know that I don't want to lose you."

Y/N took her hand in his, a smile spreading across his face. "Wonyoung, I've always been here. I'm glad you finally realized what you want."

She squeezed his hand, a look of determination in her eyes. "I do. And if you're still willing, I want to give us a real chance."

Y/N nodded, the joy in his heart undeniable. "I've always been willing."

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The following weeks were a whirlwind of new experiences and deeper connections. Wonyoung, true to her word, was committed to making things work between them. She made an effort to spend more time with Y/N, to open up about her fears and dreams, and to show him how much she appreciated everything he had done for her.

One weekend, Wonyoung suggested a trip to the countryside. It was a spontaneous idea, something she had always wanted to do but never found the right moment for. Y/N agreed, eager to explore new places with her and create lasting memories.

The drive to the countryside was filled with laughter and music. Wonyoung sang along to her favorite songs, her voice filling the car with warmth. Y/N couldn't help but smile, feeling a sense of contentment he hadn't felt in a long time. As they drove through winding roads surrounded by lush greenery, he realized how much he had grown to love her.

When they arrived at their destination, a charming bed-and-breakfast nestled in a picturesque village, Wonyoung's excitement was contagious. They spent the days exploring the village, hiking through scenic trails, and enjoying each other's company. In the evenings, they sat by the fireplace, sharing stories and dreams.

One night, as they both lay on a blanket under the starry sky, Wonyoung turned to Y/N, her eyes reflecting the moonlight.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" Y/N asked, turning to face her.

"For not giving up on me," she said, her voice filled with emotion. "For being patient, for caring so much. I never realized how lucky I was until now."

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Y/N reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I never gave up because I believed in us. And I'm glad you do too now."

Wonyoung smiled, leaning in to kiss him. It was a gentle, tender kiss, filled with promises of a future together. In that moment, Y/N knew that everything he had gone through was worth it. The chase, the uncertainty, the heartache—it all led to this beautiful realization.

As he held her in his arms, he felt a sense of peace and happiness. He had finally found what he was looking for, and it was more than he had ever imagined.

Back at university, their relationship continued to grow. They became the couple everyone admired, not because of grand gestures, but because of the genuine love and respect they had for each other. They supported each other's goals, celebrated each other's successes, and comforted each other during difficult times.

Wonyoung's friends noticed the change in her. She seemed happier, more at ease. They saw how much she cared about Y/N, how she went out of her way to make him feel loved. It wasn't just the little gifts or the surprise visits; it was the way she looked at him, the way she spoke about him. It was clear to everyone that she had fallen deeply in love with him.

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One day, as they were walking together on campus, Wonyoung stopped and turned to Y/N. There was a seriousness in her eyes that made his heart skip a beat.

"There's something I need to tell you," she said, taking a deep breath.

Y/N nodded, his curiosity piqued. "What is it?"

Wonyoung hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I've been offered an internship abroad. It's an incredible opportunity, but it means I'll be away for a year."

Y/N's heart sank at the thought of being apart from her for so long. He knew how important this internship was for her career, but the idea of not seeing her every day was painful.

"I don't want to leave you," she continued, her voice trembling. "But this is something I've worked so hard for. I don't know what to do."

Y/N took her hands in his, squeezing them gently. "Wonyoung, this is your dream. You have to go. We'll make it work, no matter what. I believe in us."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged him tightly. "I don't deserve you," she whispered.

"You deserve everything, Wonyoung," he replied, holding her close. "And I'll be right here, waiting for you."

The months that followed were challenging, but Y/N and Wonyoung found ways to stay connected. They talked every day,

sharing their experiences and supporting each other from afar. The distance was hard, but it also made them appreciate each other even more.

Wonyoung thrived in her internship, gaining valuable experience and making important connections. She often spoke about how much she missed Y/N, but she also expressed how grateful she was for his unwavering support.

As the year drew to a close, they both counted down the days until they would be reunited. The anticipation was almost unbearable, but it also filled them with excitement. Y/N planned a special celebration for her return, wanting to show her just how much he had missed her.

When the day finally arrived, Y/N stood at the airport, his heart pounding with anticipation. As soon as he saw Wonyoung walking towards him, all the months of separation melted away. She ran into his arms, and he held her tightly, never wanting to let go.

"I'm home," she whispered, tears of joy streaming down her face.

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"Welcome home," he replied, kissing her softly. "I've missed you so much."

The experiences they both had during that year apart strengthened their bond even further. They realized that love wasn't just about being together all the time, but about supporting each other's dreams and growing together, even when apart.

Wonyoung's return brought a renewed sense of purpose and excitement to their relationship. They made a promise to each other to never take their time together for granted and to cherish every moment they had. The weeks following her return were filled with joyful reunions, long conversations, and a deepening of their connection.

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One evening, Y/N and Wonyoung found themselves sitting on a park bench, the sunset casting a warm glow over them. Wonyoung rested her head on Y/N's shoulder, a contented smile on her face.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" Y/N asked, his voice soft.

Wonyoung nodded, her eyes closed. "Of course, I do. It was at the charity gala. You were so nervous when you approached me."

Y/N chuckled, reminiscing. "I was terrified. But I knew I had to talk to you. There was something about you that just drew me in."

Wonyoung looked up at him, her eyes filled with affection. "I'm glad you did. You changed my life, Y/N."

"You changed mine too," Y/N replied, kissing her forehead.

As the months went by, Y/N and Wonyoung continued to support each other's aspirations. They attended each other's events, celebrated milestones, and were there for each other during challenges. Their relationship was built on a foundation of trust, respect, and a deep understanding of one another.

One day, Y/N received an exciting opportunity. A renowned research institution offered him a position to lead a groundbreaking project. It was a dream come true, but it also meant he would have to move to another city for a year. When he shared the news with Wonyoung, he saw a mix of emotions in her eyes—pride, excitement, and a hint of sadness.

"This is an incredible opportunity, Y/N," Wonyoung said, her voice steady. "You have to take it. It's your dream."

Y/N took her hands in his, searching her eyes. "But what about us? I don't want to be away from you again."

Wonyoung smiled, her eyes shining with determination. "We've done this before, and we can do it again. We both have dreams to chase, and we'll always find our way back to each other."

Her words filled Y/N with hope and reassurance. They had faced challenges before and come out stronger. He knew that with Wonyoung by his side, they could overcome anything.

As Y/N prepared for his move, they made a promise to stay connected and support each other through this new chapter of their lives. They spent their remaining days together creating memories, exploring new places, and deepening their bond. They knew that distance could never weaken their love.

The night before Y/N's departure, they sat on the rooftop of their favorite building, looking out at the city lights. Wonyoung leaned into him, her head resting on his chest.

"Promise me something," she said softly.

"Anything," Y/N replied, holding her close.

"Promise me that no matter where life takes us, we'll always find our way back to each other," Wonyoung whispered.

Y/N kissed the top of her head, his heart swelling with love. "I promise. Always."

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The year apart was challenging, but Y/N and Wonyoung stayed true to their promise. They talked every day, sharing their successes and supporting each other through the tough times. The distance only strengthened their love and commitment.

Y/N's project was a resounding success, and he returned with a sense of accomplishment and excitement for the future. Wonyoung greeted him at the airport, her smile brighter than ever. They embraced, tears of joy streaming down their faces.

"I'm so proud of you," Wonyoung said, her voice filled with emotion.

"I'm proud of us," Y/N replied, holding her tightly.

Their love story was one of perseverance, trust, and unwavering support. They had faced challenges and come out stronger, their bond unbreakable. Together, they knew they could achieve anything.

As they walked hand in hand out of the airport, ready to face whatever the future held, they knew one thing for certain—no matter where life took them, they would always find their way back to each other. Their love was a journey, and they were ready to embrace every moment of it, together.

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[milfjuulpod]

I Bet On Losing Dogs

after realizing your feelings for Melissa, you stop putting yourself in the position to be hurt over and over again.

content warnings: angst, eventual comfort, mentions of alcohol

A/N: heyyyy…so this was more of a therapy session for me so ignore how sad it is lol

It was your first open house at Abbott Elementary when you realized the feelings you had for Melissa were more than friendly. Throughout your second year at the school, the redhead and you became closer than ever. The first year was cordial between the two of you, but upon seeing you return for another go at the underfunded school, Melissa’s view on you changed from just another newbie to someone who might mean something. You took advantage of that change, taking up on her offers to help you with planning or grading after school, listening to her few open moments about her personal life with all the attention you had. There was something about the older woman that drew you to her, a constant need to be in her presence. To learn from her, to make memories, to exist in her world. You chalked it up to being impressed, wanting to be mentored. Until she started acting friendly, giving you space to learn about who Melissa was, not just Ms. Schemmenti. She felt like a breath of fresh air and the strongest of drugs all rolled up with a red ribbon tying it together. 

It was when you sat and watched Melissa play Jacob in poker it hit you. It wasn’t wanting to learn, or wanting to be friends, you wanted her. She sat smugly as she threw down her cards, beating Jacob after she had just lost to him. “So, we’re tied. Dealbreaker?” She asked her opponent. Upon his agreement, she started shuffling cards for the third time. Without looking up, she called to you. “Hey hon? Could you go grab my purse for me? I’m gonna need to put all this cash away after I win, again.” It was small, but for some reason, it awoke something deep inside. The pet name slipping from her mouth, the fact she knew that you knew where her belongings were, and the way she trusted you with it. It felt domestic and familiar, and you wanted more.

It was the wanting of more that killed you, knowing she would never feel the same. At first, it was easy to ignore the sadness that came with the euphoria of being around her, her attention was worth the pain. Shortly after that moment in the break room, your view on every interaction changed. Did she notice the way your cheeks flushed at the slightest touch? The way you held on to her every word? Now that you were aware of your feelings, they only grew stronger by each passing day. Which meant everything Melissa said or did, was taken a lot more seriously. You barely survived the day Gary first came into the break room, the way he looked at her and talked to her. Most importantly, the way she ate it up. She seemed to love this attention from a new person, taking all of it in. As if you didn’t do everything she asked, and even things she didn’t. It hurt, more than words could describe. But you couldn’t act out, of course not. So you swallowed the anxiety and sadness that washed over you every time he came in.

And yet, you always came back. The minute her attention was back to you, it was like nothing bad had ever happened, she made it all worth it. Every moment of melancholy, she could take it away, despite being the reason for it all. You knew that she was hurting you, even though she didn’t mean to. She would never do something on purpose to hurt you, which made all the pain even worse. She cared so deeply for you, just not the way you wanted. For whatever reason, you continued down this path. Romanticizing every interaction together, every time she called you hon or love, you told yourself maybe it meant just as much to her as it did to you. Until she didn’t give you what you wanted, and the vicious cycle continued.

The wake up call could not have come sooner. After a Friday spent practically alone, you had a breaking point. Melissa didn’t stop by your classroom at all that day, when usually she would check in multiple times with you. At lunch, she spent the whole time working, shooting you a text letting you know she wasn’t coming to the breakroom. You opted to stay in too. You were happy she was able to spend some time working, always admiring the dedication she had for this job. But after her unusual absence in the morning, it hurt a little more than usual.

When she left with a simple “See you later, kid,” you knew it was time to create some distance. For whatever reason, it felt like your heart was breaking (the reason was love, of course). You had become so used to Melissa’s constant attention that the moment you didn’t have it, it was like the world came crashing down. Maybe it would be easier if she knew how you felt, if you could just tell her everything that’s been going on inside your head the past few months. Except it wasn’t that simple. The fear that she wouldn’t return the immense feelings, or laugh, or stop talking to you all together, it was too much. And it stopped you from ever opening your mouth about it. 

The pain had begun to override the love you felt, and you were tired of letting yourself go back to such a dark place. So after the boring Friday without much from Melissa, you decided to skip your weekly wine night with her. Every Saturday night, Melissa would cook for the two of you, and she would task you with picking a wine for the evening. You felt like a coward sending the text saying you couldn’t make it, but it was better than confronting your feelings. Her response made it even worse.

I understand hon, take it easy tonight. But I will miss you.

That cancellation was the first of many. Day after day, and week after week, you pulled back from Melissa. The two of you went from being inseparable to you avoiding her at all costs, even if it meant taking hours to respond to her texts. 

It was stupid to think she wouldn’t notice. Sitting on the couch with a near empty bottle of wine, you felt your phone buzz. 

You’re not coming tonight, are you?

You stared at the screen, Melissa’s name at the top, rereading her message over and over again. 

Not tonight, I’m sorry. 

You half expected her to respond with care, or maybe anger. But when an hour went by and she still hadn’t answered, you knew she was upset. What you didn’t expect, however, was a rather aggressive knock at the door. Standing up from the couch, you realized opening the second bottle of wine might not have been the best idea. Opening the door, there she was. 

“What the hell is going on with you? What did I do?” Melissa asked as soon as she saw you, voice filled with so many emotions. You were surprised to see her so emotional. 

“Hello to you too, Mel.” You teased, hoping to lighten the situation. It didn’t work. 

“You don’t get a hello, and don’t call me that. You have been hurting my feelings repeatedly and I still don’t know what I did. Every day and night I think about the last time we hung out and what I could have done to make you hate me so much.” Somewhere in her speech, the redhead walked past you and was now pacing in your living room. 

You felt awful. In the midst of distancing yourself for the sake of your own emotions, you completely disregarded hers. 

“I don’t hate you, Melissa. I…I don’t know…”

“Yes you do. You don’t pull away for no reason. Is this the wine we were supposed to have tonight? You don’t do that for no reason either.” She gestured to the empty bottle on the table. Her voice was loud and angry, but you could read on her face how hurt and sad she was by all of this. 

“Okay, I’m sorry. I had to pull away it’s-it’s too much. You’re too much. My feelings for you are too much and it’s suffocating and as much as I love spending time with you it hurts too much now. I can’t do it Melissa.”

“Can’t do what?” She asked, slowly stepping towards you. At the same time, your words that just left your mouth came back to your brain, and you felt sick. But you were in deep waters already with her, might as well sink. 

“I can’t be around you knowing you look at me differently than how I look at you.” Melissa didn’t answer to that, so you continued. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met, you’re so kind to me and sweet but at the same time the strongest person I know. I admire everything you do. I love you.”

“I love you too, but-”

“No, Melissa. I love you.”

You watched as the gears turned in her head, but quickly looked away. Tears began filling your eyes and despite not facing her, you were worried she would see. You felt arms wrap themselves around your torso and the scent of perfume engulfed you. For a single moment things were okay, until you remembered who it was. You tried to pull away, but she wouldn’t let you, instead, she turned you around to face her. To your surprise, her eyes were watery as well. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” She said so quietly you could barely hear, but her arms still held you so closely you were able to understand. 

“I didn’t know how you would feel, I was terrified to lose you. So I just did it myself. I’m sorry. I was scared of what you would say.”

“I would say I love you too.” Melissa responded, louder this time, so you would absolutely hear her. You were silent, still unsure of what was happening. As if she could read your mind, she rolled her eyes and smirked. “Oh my god, just come here.” That was the last thing you heard before you felt soft lips on your own. 

She kissed you like her life depended on it, and she tasted exactly how you imagined. Not wanting to push it, she pulled back. “You taste like wine,” she smiled. “I love you,” you replied. That made her laugh, and it was so lovely to hear that sound again. “We’ve established that. And we’ve established I love you too, hon. Y’know we could’ve avoided all of this had you just told me.”

“You could’ve told me too, Mel.” You giggled, feeling silly that this whole time, you could’ve been with her instead of avoiding her. “I thought you knew, you think I treat anyone else like I treat you?”

“What about Gary?” You nervously asked. 

“What about him? He’s a flirt, and you were avoiding me. You are the only one I want that attention from.” She erased those negative thoughts from your head immediately. 

“Good, I know it’s late but, can we still have dinner?” 

“Of course, I would love to. But I think you’ve had enough wine for the night.” She smirked, and pulled you with her into your kitchen to start cooking. 

[anandrettisimp]

Okay, so I need to do a bit of a ramble about one of the biggest couple goals in recent motorsport.

I am, of course talking about Will and Liz Power

Now you’ve gotta understand that they basically started at Team Australia/Walker Racing within a couple of months of each other with Will doing the last two races of the ‘05 Champ Car season and Liz joining as part of the PR team in February ‘06. They had met and interacted but it wasn’t an easy start for Liz.

You see, between Long Beach and Houston, which was to be the first race she would attend in person, her Dad, Bo, had a stroke and required quadruple bypass surgery. It was only at the last minute that she felt she could do the race only just making it in time for the team bus leaving for the airport.

Will sat beside her, making sure she was okay (apparently all he really wanted to do was hug her).

Eventually Liz was asked by team boss Derrick to befriend Will for two reasons:

He basically knew nobody

Australian media wasn’t happy that Australian driver at Australian back team wasn’t dominating series he had only just started in.

Part of the way Derrick sold this to her was by describing Will as a lost puppy but, at the same time, she wasn’t to date Will or she’d be at risk of losing her job.

Well within a couple of months they were dating because what do you expect when you take two people in emotional vulnerable situations and tell one of them to get close to the other.

It should be noted that around the same time Will had already asked mutual friends if Liz was seeing anyone.

Simon Pagenaud knew from the start and was even Will’s wingman from time to time and helped them hide the relationship while Liz’s family became part of Will’s rock in America. Liz’s mum Kathy is Will’s PA lady and basically the only person he trusts to buy and choose his outfits (cause left to his own devices you will know he is colourblind).

Of course it got found out but between how well Will was doing by the end of the season and how professional Liz had been in her role all was good.

Over time their careers would split, Will moving to KV Racing then Penske (with Liz being heavily involved in helping him prep for the interview) while Liz had stayed with Walker Racing until the end the going on to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing before calling time as she found it was too much to do PR at one team while your husband races at another.

And, honestly, if I was a racing driver’s partner I’d probably be in a similar state to Liz, murdering all the bottles.

Their son Beau, named in honour of Liz’s dad who had sadly passed away in 2007, was born in 2016 but after the birth there were complications which resulted in Liz having to go back into hospital in Christmas Eve, luckily she was able to recover.

Towards the end of 2022, as Will won the championship for a second time, Liz again was starting to get ill. Come January 2023 she had a fever of 106 and Will had to call an ambulance.

It turned out that she had a staph infection that had settled in her spinal column and the only way to save her was to do an operation.

She almost didn’t make it.

Will pulled out of the Daytona 24 but he almost retired full stop.

He had to be there for his family.

She got better though she was back in the hospital just before St Pete.

I think you had to be an idiot to not see that Will was off balance last year. This was a man who was doing everything he could to take care of his wife and then going to races by himself.

The support system that he has depended on since his first full season racing in America was gone.

For the first time since 2007 he failed to win a race.

It wasn’t until the final races last year, with Liz finally back that he relaxed. He even said he was just happy the season was done.

This year everything is back to normal or as normal as it could be after going through something like that.

But, most importantly, Liz is back.

There’s already been a couple of weekends, be it after practice, qualifying or the race where you can see Will come out of the car hot and all it takes is Liz being there a couple of words and he calms, ready to speak to the team and media.

We already know if Liz hadn’t gotten better when she had then we don’t have Will leading the championship right now because he would have chosen her and Beau over another season.

Heck, if he wins the championship this year I wouldn’t be shocked if he decides to end his career on that high so he can spend more time with the one who stood by him through it all.

[doromoni]

Clash of Champions | LH44 , MV1

Act 2 . Part 1 : A Taste of their Downfall

Ships : Lewis Hamilton x Engineer! Reader , Max Verstappen x Engineer! Reader

Genre : Drama , Angst , Romance

Warnings : Morally Grey Characters

A/N : I need pics for future scenes so im faceclaiming Sofia Carson as Y/N ~

Summary : The rivalry between the titans of Formula 1 go off track and only one will reign victorious

‼️Read Act 1 First

<Previous Masterlist Next>

Act 2. ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

“Y/N, where were you? “ You and Lewis were back in his driver's room inside Mercedes.

You were still in shock about how you just quit your position as Lewis’ Engineer. You cannot believe that they had tried to demote you after all the successes you’ve brought to this team.

“Y/N? Are you even listening? “ Lewis had once again tried to catch your attention.

“Toto demoted me from being your race engineer” you suddenly said, you waited for Lewis to react. But there was nothing. You tried to gauge his face. Suddenly, realization stuck right through you. He knew. Lewis knew.

Horror and absolute terror filled your system. You cannot believe what you were seeing.

“You knew? Lewis, please tell me you didn’t ” your voice broke , as you begged. You again tried to ask Lewis. Maybe you were mistaken, maybe you had it all wrong. You hoped … you prayed that Lewis had nothing to do with any of it.

Lewis was hesitant, he tried to hold your hand. You stepped away from his touch. He looked wounded from your action, but you didn’t care you were adamant to know the truth.

Yet , He was remained silent.

“ LEWIS FUCKING HAMILTON TELL ME THE TRUTH RIGHT NOW! TELL ME YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!” You were ballistic as you demanded an explanation

“ YES, I KNEW! HAPPY?! Toto said that you were distracted and that you were becoming soft on Verstappen! We cannot lose this Championship! Y/N! I’m this close to being the best that this sport has ever seen! This close! You will not be the reason that I lost this! “

As you hear his words, life drains from your face. Lewis was in on it. The person that you love had been a part of your betrayal. You cannot believe it. The person that you gave everything to , the person you trusted the most had stabbed you in the back and dug your grave. And for what? For a stupid fucking title.

Angry cannot explain what you were feeling now. You were seething.

“ Oh, i’ll make sure that I will be the reason that you’ll never win that title. You can count on that , Hamilton”

No, you can’t believe it. You didn’t cry, because you could not comprehend what you had just discovered.

Villains are bred, not born. The fine line between a hero and a villain is slim — pull too hard and the line will snap. Blurring the line is far too easy. Everyone and everything has its limits, no matter how vast and far the maximum is, there will always be an endpoint.

The line has been crossed, You have had enough. Six years you’ve swallowed your pride and took beating after beating with a smile, as if it were normal — turning over the other cheek so they can hit it too. For six fucking years, you’ve suffered being belittled and taken for granted by everybody. The numbness you’ve forced yourself to feel to handle the pain had transformed into rage.

Fire, you felt the burning of fury manifesting in your body. Too much, it has just been too much. They had lit the match and threw it into the powder barrel.

The coldness of your apartment held no comparison to the burning you felt inside. The shock and anger electrocuting you still. You cannot comprehend the depth of monstrosity that loomed over the motorhome of Mercedes and the people in it. Till now ,they are continuously celebrating the win as if it is something festive and joyous. Mercedes celebrated the win in Silverstone as if a person was not lying in bed in immense pain due to their driver’s fault. Mercedes dared to set ablaze fireworks and pop bottles of liquor as if they were clean and innocent from all their dirty actions.

They were celebrating as if they did not just try to screw you and your career over. It was as if the years of maltreatment and abuse that they caused you were being swept under the rug. Ravenous, you felt completely ravenous.

They said that revenge is best served cold, but you digress. Oh no, revenge is best served sweltering, blazing and scorching— enough that they feel the heat of the fires of hell with no return. They did not hesitate to hurt you, why should you show mercy? An eye for an eye was not enough, you demanded a corpse.

Vicious, Cutthroat, and Merciless are words that they associated with your name behind your back. These words used to bring you insecurity, now you’ll wear it like a badge — proud and unashamed. They’ll get what they want. Call it petty and deceitful, but nothing good ever came from you swallowing your pride.

They deserve what’s coming to them.

Game. Fucking. On.

***

It was the morning after, and you were seated on your couch, your leg bouncing up and down. Lewis did not come back to your apartment. No, he had partied with the rest of them.

Leaving Mercedes was easy, but Lewis… Lewis Hamilton was another story.

It was different when you’ve spent 6 years of your life loving someone. Your love for Lewis was deeper than you could’ve understood. To you, he was the light that shined through the darkness. You imagined that you’d spend your lifetime with him. Creating a future for both of you. Lewis completed you.

But it seemed that you were alone in the journey that you painted. Because what you saw on that podium is a man not wanting to be tied down. You saw a man that wanted all the freedom and glory that this sport gave.

Maybe at first, He had wanted you, but along with the speed and fame that Formula 1 brought … he no longer needed Y/N L/N, the woman that he loved. Lewis Hamilton wanted Y/N L/N the engineer that gave him his championships.

It was hard to let go. But you knew that you didn’t deserve any of that. You're not someone who should be kept in the shadows. You deserve to be loved by someone who’ll proudly show the world that you’re theirs. You deserve someone who knows your worth apart from what you can give.

You looked at your apartment, letting yourself feel and reminisce the memories that you and Lewis made, for one last time.

One last time, you let yourself cry for everything that Lewis never gave, the empty promises and the heartaches and even the happy memories that you two shared…this was finally goodbye. Because, from now on you’re choosing yourself.

“ Goodbye, Lew”

And you were gone.

***

“Y/N, Baby? Why weren’t you at the party? And what’s Toto talking about you quitting?” Lewis came into your apartment, the headache pounding on his temple from the alcohol from the night before.

He rummaged through the fridge, looking for a sip of water. Lewis expected you to come up behind him and hug his waist, just like how you did every time. Yet, this time you weren’t here with the usual morning kiss and a coffee at hand.

“Babe? Are you still in bed?” Lewis trudged his way to your shared bedroom, only to find it empty.

“Y/N? Where are you? Look I’m sorry, alright!? Please talk to me.“

Lewis searched every part of your house, looking for a sign of your presence.

And then in the living room, on top of the coffee table, a letter you wrote was pressed under a ring — the promise ring that he gave to you on your anniversary.

With shaking hands, as panic started to envelop Lewis, he held up the letter and read.

My dearest, Lewis.

I never imagined myself in the position that I have to say goodbye to you. Despite my best efforts to mend what's broken, I can't shake the feeling that our relationship has run its course. The love that once bound us together now feels like a faint shadow of what it once was, and I can't bear to see us continue down this path.

I can’t forgive what you’ve done. No matter how much I love you I cannot bear to think of your betrayal. But also please know that I am sorry. I had led myself to believe that we wanted the same thing. I thought that we both wanted to build a future together. But now I see that I was wrong. And I don’t think it would be fair of me to force you to want the same. You deserve to follow the path that you choose. I’m sorry, Lew but I also want freedom. I want someone who would shout to the world that they love me. I’m sorry but I can no longer wait on your promise.

You can now run free, Champ. I’m letting you go. Enjoy the glory. Goodbye, Lewis.

- Y/N

Dread washed over him in an instant. Like freezing water was dumped over him. The nausea of his hangover is gone. Lewis felt his chest growing heavier by the second and his stomach had started twisting with fear a sudden pit growing. Tears started to blur his vision as he clutched the paper in his hands.

The memory of your fight replayed in his mind. How could he do that to you? You were the person who was with him through every challenge that life had thrown at him. You were the person who supported him when no one did.

And suddenly his phone vibrated. To Lewis’ surprise — a text from Nico Rosberg

I knew , she’d leave . Y/N deserves better.

Lewis couldn’t believe what was in his hands. No, Lewis couldn’t accept that you were gone. Lewis couldn’t believe that you had left him.

“What have I done?”

***

“Welcome to Red Bull Racing , Y/N! It’s a pleasure to finally have you!”

“ The pleasure is all mine”

Taglist : @vicurious28 @xoscar03 @barnestatic @stelena-klayley @sopheeg @imagandom @4-20-21-12 @doofenshmirtzevil-inc @g-l-o-b-e-w-h-o-r-e @minkyungseokie @d3kstar @kimialaia @cosmicwintr @younxii @ssrcsm @paigem00 @seokjinkismet @wcnorris @jayjay11122 @embersparklz @sam-is-lost @peterholland04 @luckyladycreator2 @lovemesomeescapism @yettobedetermined7 @nikfigueiredo @ironmaiden1313 @alliwantisadonut @uuoozzii @marshmummy @kemillyfreitas @yaesflorist @pretzelcat4-blog @smdrl @zoeyjadetice2010 @splaterparty0-0 @likedbygaslyy

Anyone interested to be added to the taglist? Drop a comment or DM me!

[antheshewro]

Levi Ackerman headcanon #2 — (My) analysis on his disability

This is my second time writing about Levi and his character. I previously did so for his intimacy and sexuality; this time, I would like to give my honest opinion and headcanon on his disability. With the utmost respect for the topic as it should be handled, and the disclaimer that I don't have enough knowledge in that field.

A panel of the manga explicitly shows how a titan, during the final battle, bit onto his knee. It most likely crushed his bone and damaged his nerves all the way down. His leg, even after surgery (I could see him resorting to a more technologically advanced country and their skills in the medical field to do so), healing and physical therapy, remained stiff.

When I say "stiff", however, I do picture it not being able to bend anymore. If he sits down, he has to manually bend it. It surely hurts when it's humid, or it aches as time passes and if he sits down for a certain and/or prolonged period of time.

The usage of the wheelchair is mostly because limping the entire time is not the best thing to do, and it surely bothers him if that happens. I can see Levi using a cane whenever he wants to take a walk alone, not relying on anyone else but that wooden stick. And in a way, to feel like he's not burdening anyone, being carried around.

The acceptance of his disability surely wasn't easy. That's more than obvious, it would never be pleasant to anyone. For someone like Levi, who got the title of "humanity's strongest soldier", losing so much of his mobility made him think if it was worth it. Yet, remembering the sight of the ghosts of his fallen comrades made him get through tons of doubts and moments of self-consciousness. If one like Levi let loose and cried because of it, it's a very big deal. One of those deals that made him think that yes, he's disabled. He struggles with certain mundane tasks now, and he has to rely on other people to grab an item that's placed on a high shelf, because that particular day his leg hurts, for example. In the Bad Boy chapter, there's no wheelchair in sight; though it meant that he could've parked it somewhere (where, we don't know), we can say that if he was sitting there with Falco and Gabi, he could, again, limp his way there. It wouldn't surprise me if he was stubborn enough to be willing to help despite his injuries.

It's not a bad thing to imagine him as defeated; he lost his dear friends, his family (by blood and acquired one), and on top of that, he was left with one blind eye, two fingers ripped off from one hand and a leg that doesn't work anymore. Anyone would've reacted badly.

We also know that Levi always showed signs of being stubborn: he still engaged in a battle with fresh bandaged scars and injuries, or when he told Armin "You'll forget that I exist if I keep resting". Despite how weak he clearly was, clinging and pushing himself forward as he struggled to walk, it doesn't only show that pain doesn't stop him at all, but how stopping itself means that he's giving up on a state of vulnerability that he doesn't want to go back to; I do connect it to the time when in Bad Boy he was being beaten up by those men, before he "activated" his Ackerman genes. Or even when he had to endure the pain of Kenny leaving him, his mother dying, or his comrades falling. Levi is not going to let his own body win.

"If I let myself be weak and vulnerable, I would fail the little kid in me that fought for himself and survived despite the shit he went through. I'm not going to let him down and fail who kept me alive and made me the person I'm today. The person that people relied on. But I need to trust that kid and rely on him too," I bet he constantly repeats himself whenever he's struggling and gritting his teeth. When getting to the bathroom makes him sweat a little, or dressing himself up takes more than usual.

On the other hand, I think the relationship between Levi and the way he denies himself some sort of vulnerability is because he thinks that it doesn't bring him anywhere. It never helped him in the Underground; when in "No Regrets" he cried after Isabel and Furlan died, he most likely told himself, "What did I gain from this? Did it even help bring them back? It didn't. Suck it up."

With that, Levi suppressed his feelings and bottled them up. He allowed himself to tear up only when he saluted the fallen Scouts. But that wasn't vulnerability for him: it was pride. Proud of himself, that he kept a promise and showed himself that he wasn't the same little boy that was left in a dumpster of an underground city, more than twenty years prior. Even despite the reason he was forced to join the Scouts, and cleared his name within his own self. The son of a prostitute and his client, the nephew of a man that wasn't surely a saint.

As time passed, Levi accepted his disability and the fact that he had to adapt. You fall today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow you understand that you need some backup. Gabi and Falco, and the ones who kept in touch with him (I would say Onyankopon the most, since at the end of the manga he shows up with the other three), surely were with him when he got back to his new house and had to face the reality of things. He would grumble and push the others away at first, and he never wanted to be helped. That meant having people care for him; last time it happened, those people left or died in front of his eyes. Too many traumas made him independent and reckless, as well as stubborn.

But even Levi has his limits. Gabi and Falco are compassionate and understand that they have to respect the fact that he needs time to fully accept his disability and people's aid. Once again, when someone has been left alone for years or discarded as if they were an old and broken shoe, they toughen up. Not because they want it, and I do believe that Levi tried a lot of times to heal his inner child and only succeeded with those kids at the refugee camp, while handing them lollipops. Giving them candies meant that he was helping them grasp onto that childhood they had been denied—and that sounds awfully familiar. Another side of him, however, has been so used to doing everything alone and being his own and sole emotional support that asking for help is not even contemplated.

Day by day, week by week, and year after year, he understood that grieving his lost mobility was alright. Letting people help him was alright. Discovering his limits, rediscovering his body and making everything coexist was the key. That the little Levi in him would be proud of adult Levi for not pulling a card at the base of the house of cards he built and instead, recreating it. That was when child!Levi began to feel at ease, and veteran!Levi could rest.

[deeppenguinstudent]

Andrew and Jean brainrot friendship is hitting HARD and it sucks because there's barely any content for them!! So I'll just make my own hcs☺️☺️☺️

hc that when cat teaches Jean how to cook, he learns how to make popular french sweets and gives them to renee the next she visits. Andrew sneaks a sweet and is absolutely enamoured by it that he decides to make Jean his own personal sweet chef

hc that during a night at edens when usc tags along with the Foxes for a celebration. a creepy guy tries sits uncomfortably close to Jean so Andrew nudges himself between the two and practically drawls himself on Jean to prevent the man from even so much as looking at him.

hc that jean and Andrew shit talk about Neil and Kevin's love for exy behind their backs because they find them reassessing a match right after they win the championship.

hc that renee sometimes asks andrew to look after Jean when andrew follows Neil to california to lollygag around and to check up on Jean from time to time and andrew obliges bc he knows Jean is extremely important to all the people he loves most.

hc that when Jean has panic attacks or nightmares the first person he dials is andrew because they both just need someone who understands what they went through sometimes. someone who's experienced the shitty life they were dealt with just in different ways.

hc that they both smoke in parks and talk about nothing and everything just for the sake of it.

hc that jean tells Andrew stuff that no one knows about him because he's just easy to talk to. And Andrew's surprised because that's the first time anyone has ever said that about him

hc that Neil and Andrew force Jean and Kevin into therapy together because they both just need to be okay and they need to heal from whatever evermore put them thru.

hc that the only person Jean ever told of his feelings about kevin to was Andrew. the only person he trusts with that secret he harboured so tightly in the Nest was Andrew.

hc that none of the foxes or usc (except Neil and renee perhaps) understand Andrew or Jeans sudden friendship but it is welcomed. especially how Andrew becomes softer after looking after Jean and how Jean allows his guards to go down when he's next to Andrew.

hc that Andrew gives Jean a knife and shows him how to use it in case he needs to stall so someone can save him.

hc that both Andrew and Jean discuss about literature and make so many nuance remarks about it that's its like their secret language. also Andrew and Jean translating literature in their own languages to eachother so the translation of the literature does not get lost in meaning.

hc that Renee Andrew and Jean go cafe hopping as they recall on things that happen in the past month to eachother sipping on drinks and eating crepes like normal highschoolers.

hc that Kevin sometimes invite Jean for night practices but after some time Jean opts to hang with Andrew in silence instead of playing Exy like a maniac.

hc that Andrew allows casual touches between him and Jean because he knows its what grounds Jean. How sometimes when they are alone he allows Jean to sit close to him, allow Jean tap his fingers absentmindedly on Andrew.

hc that after Jean's graduation he pulls Andrew into a real hug. Something unexpected for both of them but they both just need it. Jean uncharacteristically thanks Andrew and Andrew acknowledges it with a relenting nod.

hc that after Jean tells Andrew about his encounters at the Nest Andrew gets so angry. He gets so angry that during practice the next day he swings all the balls away from the goal with such power that even Kevin questions his sudden lack of apathy.

hc that jean constantly drives down his trauma and Andrew tells him to shut the fuck up everytime he does

hc that betsy hears about Andrew speaking on Jean and gives him advice on how to help Jean

can someone pls hear me on them oh my god

[pharawee]

It's been a week already, so here I am with the third part of my Pit Babe novel commentary.

(You can find the first two parts here and here.)

First things first, though. North is an omega. Do with that information what you will. 🤡

Meanwhile, Charlie and Babe are back at it again (because of course they are) and this time they're not taking any prisoners. Poor Way is on the phone with Babe as Charlie does his best to please~ him. In various ways. Way is very confused. All he wants is for Babe to tell him which car he wants him to buy. You know, if this is Way's villain origin story then I'm not even mad.

Charlie mercifully ends the call before things can get a bit too obvious, only for Babe to pick up the phone again to make an x-rated recording of them going at it like bunnies. Keep this in mind for later.

But anyway. It's finally time for Charlie's initiation into Team X-Hunter - that is, if he manages to pass Alan's test: compete against Pit Babe himself. As if Charlie wasn't nervous enough about it already. Naturally, he loses, and he's really upset about it too - not because he failed the test but because he failed his friends. Aw. But no one really expected him to win against Babe anyway, Alan merely wanted to test his determination, and so he's welcomed as the newest member of the team. Competitive racing really is that easy, I guess.

One almost-love confession later (Babe can't quite bring himself to say it but he doesn't need to. Charlie knows.) they're back to actually teaching Charlie how to race. Since Babe is still healing from his injuries, he can only (very stylishly) watch from the sidelines as the other members of X-Hunter take over as Charlie's teachers. Today it's North's turn and remember? He's the only omega on the team. Naturally, Babe is jealous. They (dirty-)talk it out. Charlie can now smell Babe's emotions, while Babe has all but lost his heightened senses. Hm.

Later, in the locker room while Charlie is busy racing, Babe comes across Way. Or is it the other way around? It seems like Way really wants to talk to him - or rather, talk him out of being with Charlie. Something's really fishy about the way he phrases things. Manipulate, mansplain, malewife. Or something. But the thing is? For some strange reason it's working, even on someone as headstrong and stubborn as Babe (and the only reason why Babe isn't immediately giving in to Way's weirdly cruel love confession is because his heart is full of Charlie). All these moments when Way and he seemed so flirty and close? Suddenly they've become very, very creepy. Hmm.

Anyway. It's time for Charlie to pay another visit to his mysterious clients and/or family. He never really says (but we now know better). But, oh no! He's left his wallet! Luckily, he's got the world's best not-quite-boyfriend to try and catch up with him before it's too late.

And here's where things go very, very wrong.

(I'm putting the rest of this post under a cut because of major spoilers and a content warning for SA and grooming. Please take care.💜)

Because that's not a taxi Babe sees Charlie getting into. It's one of his "father's" limousines, along with some of his men. Preparing for the worst, Babe follows.

Meanwhile, Charlie is meeting up with his adopted father. Their coversation goes about as expected, with Charlie refusing to return home and bring Babe with him while he's at it, because they've indeed been adopted by the same man. Charming.

This is the moment when Babe barges into the room, thinking that he's here to save Charlie before very quickly realising the truth: that he's been manipulated and played and lied to.

I need you to realise how much of a nightmare this is for Babe. He's spent over a decade running from an adoptive father who wants to trap and abuse him, and now the only person he trusts (and loves, but we don't talk about that) has led him straight back into that trap.

So basically, Babe's sanity is slowly unravelling at the seams. He immediately takes off, with Charlie following him outside and into the rain (because of course it's raining - it's much more dramatic that way). When Charlie attempts to stop him and explain, Babe (understandably) lashes out. He punches Charlie's glasses right off his face, failing to understand why he's the one who's hurting when it's Charlie who should be feeling guilty.

Oh, and then there's this bit:

"I thought you liked racing…" Babe's voice was trembling and soft, completely different from before, "…I thought you loved me."

I barely survived reading this. I'm here for fun omegaverse shenanigans dammit!!

So, yeah, Babe returns home alone, and even though he doesn't want to, he forces himself to remember what happened with his adoptive father, because as it turns out Charlie's betrayal has the most horrifying of implications:

You see, Babe was adopted because he was an alpha with special abilities. But he wasn't the only one, there were other adopted alpha children with special abilities that Babe was never allowed to meet. Eventually, Babe learned about the existence of enigmas who stand above even alphas and are so strong (and thankfully rare) that they can turn any alpha they have sex with into omegas and impregnate them. Children from these unions have a 99% chance to be alphas with special abilities. See where this is going?

Let me spell it out for you - because clearly this isn't wtf-inducing enough: Babe is essentially the main ingredient in his adoptive father's breeding program.

But wait! It gets even worse! 🤡🤡

Babe, alone and at his lowest, deduces that Charlie must the enigma that was sent to lure him back.

And if that's true, then maybe he's already been changed from an alpha into an omega (because his heightened senses are gone, remember?). Maybe he's already pregnant.

And this is what sends Babe completely over the edge (same here, Babe, same here...) because he is positively traumatised by the thought of having children and fulfilling his adoptive father's sick wishes. He doesn't want children. The very thought makes him sick. He values his autonomy above all else. He never even has sex with omegas because he refuses to get anyone pregnant.

Only now he's about to get a pregnancy test because he was stupid enough to fall for a cute, innocent boy with glasses.

Enter Charlie who of course still knows the code to Babe's condo. Babe barricades himself in his bedroom while Charlie tells him his side of the story. How he was adopted by the same man, and how he was quite content with his life until he learned about his father's plan to get one of his other adoptive children pregnant - by force if necessary. Charlie felt sorry for this older adoptive brother but since he only knew his name - Babe - he bid his time until he heard about a racer named Pit Babe. Charlie started hanging out at the races and in turn fell in love with racing (and with Babe).

Fast forward to now, only of course Babe doesn't believe him because he must be the enigma, right?

Nope, turns out Charlie is an alpha after all, only his special ability is stealing other alphas' special abilities.

And his grand plan? To take away what makes Babe special so their adoptive father will no longer be interested in breeding (ugh...) him.

Which leaves us (and Babe) with one problem: Wtf Charlie, you don't just steal people's abilities without their consent - especially not when you claim to love them.

So yeah, their whole relationship is based on lies and manipulation, and Charlie essentially stole Babe's heightened senses by having sex with him.

Babe starts crying, Charlie starts crying, then they start having hatesex (which usually ends all their arguments). This fixes things for about five minutes until Babe starts sobbing for real. He wants Charlie to leave. He can't even stand to look at him.

And so Charlie leaves and moves in with his other adoptive brother, Jeff. We'd already established that Jeff is an omega. However, he's a special omega (because why else would he have been adopted too?).

Jeff can see the future. 🤡🤡🤡

He was incredibly valuable to their adoptive father until he probably realised what that meant for him, so one day Jeff took a stroll outside and let himself get hit by a car, claiming that this had him lose his abilities. Naturally, he was promptly discarded, but he seems to live a comfortable life protected by Charlie. He's exactly as aloof as Pon plays him in the series. I love Jeff, ok?

Meanwhile, Babe's back to his old habits, trying to chase away his thoughts of Charlie by getting it on with other alphas. Only it doesn't work. He blames their scent, of course, but he's clearly still hung up on Charlie. Drunk and miserable, he rediscovers the spicy video of Charlie and him that he recorded on his phone and promptly starts masturbating (as you do). When Charlie calls him, he picks up out of habit. Babe is angry (and horny) and Charlie is sad (and horny) so they have phone sex (and they're still really into calling each other papa and daddy - which, you know, there might be better pet names considering who's their adoptive father but ok).

Babe still doesn't want to see Charlie, and as Charlie later aptly puts it:

"Because I chose the starting point myself without asking him. So now I have to let him choose the ending he is most comfortable with."

Much, much later, the racing season picks back up again. Turns out the whole race track had to shut down for an investigation into Babe's accident. It's Charlie's first race and there's some kind of qualifying for future rounds. But, surprise! Babe will be racing too. He's too stubborn to let Charlie win the title. To the surprise of absolutely no one (except for Charlie who's worried about Babe's barely-healed injuries) Babe easily wins, with Charlie (who's overwhelmed by his new heightened senses) coming in fourth place. Plot twist (but really actually not...): Babe doesn't need to rely on his senses to win because he has years of experience to draw from.

After the race, Charlie follows Babe into the locker room. They talk it out. This somehow involves a blowjob but I'm not judging. Babe still won't forgive Charlie, saying:

"You think I love you more than I love myself?"

Which is an incredibly powerful thing to say and I hope they keep this for the series.

Later that night, Babe meets up with Way because he doesn't want to be alone. Things with him have been awkward since that day in the locker room when Way basically confessed, but for some reason Babe won't hold it against him. Way is right, after all (Hmmm.). Only, Way won't let things be and somehow, without Babe noticing, they're suddenly kissing.

And then Babe goes motionless and still as Way starts undressing him. He's stopped just in time by a very panicky Charlie. When Babe comes to he doesn't know what's going on until Charlie tells him.

Way is their adoptive brother and he can hypnotise alphas.

Because DUN DUN DUN! Way is the enigma.

To be continued. 🤡🤡🤡🤡

[delulu-with-wandanat]

International Affairs | Last Part

Reader Description: Masculine style, They/He, AFAB, International Student, 20 Years Old. Sometimes will be describe using masculine terms (man, boy, handsome, etc)

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x InternationalStudent!Reader

Warnings 18+: Specified age gap (Wanda is 34), cheating.

Words: 5,077

Summary: Y/n and Wanda unexpectedly meet at the local fair being held in Westview. Wanda reveals her true feelings, and a third party gets involved

Did I really have to be that stupid? Y/n thought to themselves.

It has been 2 weeks since they confessed their love, from then on the two haven't interacted with one another. Albeit it was Wanda's request, but Y/n had also been avoiding her. Nevertheless, the woman still plagues their mind. Her smile, her personality, her sweet and caring demeanor, Y/n missed her dearly. It's such a shame that the feeling wasn't mutual, as Wanda was still very much in love with her husband.

"I get that you got rejected, but come on man..." Kate said as she returned to his side now holding an ice cream, Y/n rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Shut it, Bishop."

"Plenty of hot girls in NYU too y'know." Kate paused for a second, "And professors." Y/n snorted at that.

"You mean like Professor Belova?" Y/n teased her, Kate's face turned bright tomato. She playfully shoved them. The two friends stayed silent, just enjoying the atmosphere at the fair. Watching people playing games, trying to win a prize for their date. Families enjoying their time together, kids trying to drag their parents to the ferris wheel.

It was nice. Y/n glanced at Kate who was enjoying their ice cream, "Can I have some of that?"

Kate narrowed her eyes, "Get your own!"

"Bitch- I'm gonna tell Mrs. Vostokoff that you got the hots for her daughter."

Kate's eyes widen at their statement, "Professor Belova is her daughter?"

"Apparently! I'll tell you about it later, I'm gonna go buy some food." They walked around the fair to find whatever food they are craving at the moment. Y/n wondered if maybe Wanda was also at the fair, Westview is a small town, surely it would be easy to spot her. However, he didn't know if seeing her would be a blessing or a curse. As much as Y/n misses her, she made it clear she didn't want any interaction between the two of them.

Y/n continued to walk around, they spot a food stall that caught their eyes. Classic American hotdogs doesn't sound so bad, they thought. He approached the stall but accidently bumped into a small figure.

"Oh, sorry mister!" The child apologized. Y/n looked down and was surprised to see the little boy.

Damn he's basically a carbon copy of her, "Tommy?"

Tommy's eyes widens in relief, "Y/n!" the boy then hugged him tightly. Y/n had met Wanda's kids before, during the time Wanda was still hiring him he would teach them guitar, baseball lessons, even babysitting them at times. Therefore, the boys had formed a strong bond with Y/n.

"Hey buddy!" They hugged the boy back. They glanced around hoping to see Wanda, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Where's your mom?"

"I- I can't find her. Can you help me look for her?" Tommy asked with teary eyes, no wonder he was so happy to find someone he was familiar with.

"It's alright bud, I'll help you find her." Y/n gave them a pat on the shoulder. "Come on, now you hold on tight alright?" He said as he held Tommy's hand to ensure he doesn't lose him. Tommy nodded his head, he trusted Y/n. The two then went on to search for Wanda after Y/n sent Kate a quick text explaining the situation.

He merely got a, "I've read this story before ;))" from Kate. Whatever the hell she means.

Meanwhile, somewhere at the fair, Wanda was pacing back and forth frustratingly. "How could you lost him?!" She asked her husband.

Vision looked up from his phone, he doesn't seem concerned that one of his sons is lost. "I thought he was behind me."

"You were supposed to watch over them. Vision, for fuck sake get off the phone!" He sighed and reluctantly put away his phone. "Where did you lost him?"

"I don't know-"

"YOU don't know?!" Un-fucking-believable.

"Wanda, I told you, I received a text from work-"

"I don't want your bullshit excuse!" The two continues to argue while their other son, Billy, sits on the bench looking around for his brother. The poor boy had to deal having his parents constantly fight, on top of that, watch how neglectful his own father was being.

Billy loves his dad, but at times it feels like he was just some stranger to him. Billy tried not to focus on their conversation and instead observes the people around him. Suddenly, his mother approached him with a frustrated look. She tried to muster up a smile for him, "Come on, honey. Let's look for your brother."

He glanced at his dad who was now talking on the phone, "Is dad not coming with us?"

"He..." She was unsure of what to say, "He has some business to take care of, but don't worry! He'll join us soon enough."

"But we have to find Tommy together!" Before Wanda could respond the boy approached his father, tugging on his shirt to catch his attention. "Dad, dad!"

Vision looked down at his son, "Sorry buddy, I'm on the phone."

"Dad come onn! We have to find Tommy." The young boy pleaded, wanting to spend more time with his father.

"Billy, I'll join you and your mother in a second alright-"

"But Dad-"

"BILLY I said not now!" Vision raised his voice, Wanda's heart broke at the sight of her son's excitement dropping. She immediately went to held his hand.

"Come on, Billy." She said with a gentle smile. Billy looked away from his father, visibly disappointed. Wanda gave Vision a look of disdain. "Don't bother coming home." She snarled at Vision at a volume only he could hear.

Before Vision could respond, Wanda turned to walk away with Billy. Seems like Vision couldn't care less, as he continued to talk on the phone.

On the other side, Y/n and Tommy searched tirelessly for Wanda. Y/n glanced at the little boy, surely enough he looked like he was about to cry. Y/n stopped their track and bent down to his level. "We'll find your mother, Tommy. I'll make sure of that." He said with a soft smile.

The boy nodded with teary eyes, Y/n glanced around and saw a game stand where you throw a baseball to knock down a bunch of bottles. He guided the little boy to the game stand and pulled out some money, "One throw says we'll find your mother AND win a prize, how's that?" They asked Tommy, trying to cheer him up.

"One throw? But you get 3 chances?"

"One chance is all I need bud." Y/n said confidently. Tommy's face lights up.

"If you fail you treat us all food!"

"Challenge accepted." Y/n grabbed the ball and focused on his target, come on Y/n don't let him down. And then they throw.

CLANG!

All 6 bottles falls down, the two boys whooped in excitement. Y/n gave Tommy a high five. "Impressive throw." The girl who's guarding the game stall complimented him. "Is he your son?"

"Nah, I'm just... babysitting." Y/n lied. The girl seems relieved to hear that.

She handed him the prize, "One more and I'll give you my number?" She asked him with a flirtatious smile, ok she's kinda cute.

Y/n smirked, "Put in another plushie and your number, I'm down." The girl gave him another ball.

"Do your thing, tiger."

Tommy observed the two's interaction and can't help but giggled. He pulled down Y/n to whisper, "I think she has a crush on you."

"Really?!" Y/n asked, pretending to be oblivious. Tommy nods excitingly. "I guess I'm going to have to impress her." Y/n took their position again... then they throw.

CLANG!

All bottles falls down again, the boys fist pumped the air. The girl gave them another plushie and a piece of paper. "When you're done babysitting, come find me." She gave them a wink, Y/n smirked.

"Maybe I will..." He quickly glanced at the paper, it had her number and name written on it. "Cassie."

Y/n took both of the plushie and gave it to Tommy, "Here, for you and your brother."

"Awesome!!!" He exclaimed.

"Now let's look for your mom again." Tommy held Y/n's hand again, but it didn't take long until Tommy was slowing down because of tiredness. "You tired buddy?"

"Yeah..."

Y/n then bent his knees, "Get on my back, you'll be my eyes up there." Tommy excitedly followed his instruction, when Y/n stood up on his feet again the boy couldn't help but laughed excitedly.

"I could see the world from up here!" He said dramatically.

Y/n laughs at Tommy's statement, "Alright captain! Tell me what you see." They continued to walk around the fair with Tommy on his shoulders being his eyes on the crowd. After a few minutes of walking, Tommy tapped his hair rather excitedly.

"I see them! I see them!" He pointed in their direction. "MOM!!!" He waved his hand, trying to get her attention.

Wanda noticed her son, considering he was getting a piggy back ride, it was easy to notice him. "Tommy!" She quickly dragged Billy with her, she hadn't noticed Y/n due to the crowd.

Tommy was too excited, Y/n had to put him down from their back. Tommy was quick to dragged them with him. "Come on Y/n!"

Fuck this is nerve wrecking, Y/n wasn't sure how Wanda would react seeing them again.

After running through the crowds, the family was finally reunited. Wanda immediately hugged her other son, "Oh thank god!" Wanda pulled back to look at him with concerns. "Are you ok?? Did anyone hurt you? Did a stranger tried to talk to you?"

"I'm ok mom. I was with Y/n!" Tommy said, pointing at the figure behind him.

Wanda inhaled sharply at the name, there he was. Y/n gave her a shy wave. They were the one who found Tommy, and took care of him, making sure he found his way back to his mother. Wanda stood up, before Y/n could say anything, Wanda hugged him tightly.

"Thank you..." She said, Y/n hesitantly hug her back.

"No worries." The two pulled back and stood awkwardly, "Well I guess I should-"

"And mom, mom! Look what he got me and Billy." Tommy showed her the plushie they had won earlier. Wanda glanced at Y/n, waiting for an explanation.

"We were looking for you, and he seemed sad so we played a quick game." Y/n explained.

This young man, whom she had an affair with, seemed to cared more about her children than her actual husband. "That's very kind of you, Y/n."

"Can he come with us??" Billy asked excitedly, the boy was bouncing on his feet.

"I-"

"Yeah mom! He can win us more prizes!" Tommy added.

"Oh so I'm just invited to this outing because you guys want more toys huh?" Y/n asked playfully with their arms crossed.

"NO!" The twins said simultaneously while glancing at one another.

Y/n snickered at the boys, Wanda gazed at him for a second. They were better at interacting with her boys than Vision ever did, well you saw how he was. "It's family time boys, I don't want to intrude."

"But Y/n IS family! Right mom?!" Tommy asked, Wanda glanced at her sons again. The two seems eager to have Y/n join them, and deep down, Wanda wants him to join too.

"Y/n... Would you like to join us? I don't mind." She said kindly with a smile, fuck that damn smile again. Y/n couldn't say no to that.

"Well alright then!"

The boys cheered in unison and was quick to drag him by the hand, "Boys slow down!" Wanda said with a laugh, seeing how excited her boys are made her happy.

Y/n sent Kate a quick message, telling her that he'll be joining Wanda and the boys instead.

To which our dear Kate respond with, "Damn, use protection-" we love a supportive friend.

The four of them played a bunch of different games, mostly the ones that would get them prizes. Y/n being the athletic person that they are, manages to win them all. Wanda mostly watched, albeit, she was mostly watching them.

Wanda tried not to, but the young man decided to take off their jacket at one of those hammer games to reveal their sleeveless shirt. And holyshit did she missed those strong toned arms. Honestly, it made her mind wander to their previous escapades.

"I could feel you staring." Y/n teased her as they continued walking, keeping his voice low just for the two of them.

"It's hard not too. If I'm being honest, I think you're doing it on purpose."

"And if I am?"

Wanda lets her eyes roamed their body shamelessly, "You won't hear any complaints from me." she said with a smirk.

It's like as if the conversation from their previous night never happened. The four kept walking, honestly, Wanda had a much better time with Y/n than with her husband who was constantly on his phone. Y/n was also very attentive towards her kids, like when Billy asked for a piggy back ride because his brother got one. The sight made her heart melt. Perhaps if time was on their side, they would've been a wonderful family...

But they could, couldn't they? Exactly what was stopping her?

Y/n had confessed their love, and at this moment, Wanda... maybe felt the same???

She was conflicted. But after seeing how neglectful Vision was, how dismissive he is to his own son. She knew he wasn't the man she would want for the rest of her life. But is she truly ready to let another into her heart so quickly?

They're sitting right there? What are you waiting for?!

"Wanda." Y/n's voice snapped her out of her thought. She glanced at them and was greeted with a gentle smile. The four of them decided to sit on the bench, exploring the fair was quite tiring so they decided to get some food. "It's getting late, I think they're getting pretty tired."

Surely enough her boys looked sleepy, she checked the time and to her surprise it was already 9.45. "Right. Come on boys, let's get home." They twins gathered their last energy and stood up from their seat. They walked to the car and Y/n accepted Wanda's offer to ride back, considering Wanda's house was near Mrs. Vostokoff's, he only needed to walk a few blocks. However, before he could get into the car, a girl called out him.

"Hey! I didn't think I'd catch you here." The girl on the baseball stall, Cassie, smiled at him.

"Cassie! Hey, yea I was just about to head back." Y/n chuckles.

"Already? I didn't even get your name." Her tone was rather flirty, Wanda did not like this one bit.

"Y/n." Wanda called to him, she tried to hide it. But Y/n could tell there was some undertone in it.

"That's my name." He kept his gaze on the girl.

"You have my number. See you round..." She said, leaning her body closer slightly in a flirtatious manner. Once she was out of sight, Y/n smirked to himself and got into the car.

They looked over to the side and to their surprise, Wanda was clenching her jaw. Is she ok? Wanda started the car and drove out of the parking lot. They stayed quite for a few minutes until Wanda broke the silence.

"Who's that?"

"Just... some girl from one of the game stand."

Wanda hummed, "She seems very smitten of you."

"I mean... yeah I guess? I don't wanna be too cocky." They chuckled. In their mind, Wanda had no feelings for them whatsoever. So to them the whole flirty banter was all platonic, like maybe that's just the nature of their friendship.

However to Wanda, who was now settling with her feelings, felt betrayed. All that banter and moments they shared a few minutes ago was nothing to him? The ride to her house was rather quick, she parked the car on the driveway and wasted to time to get out. Ok... she seems pissed?

He got out of the car as well, moving onto the back seat to grab the twins who were sleeping soundly. "Leave the toys, we can get them later." Wanda instructed, they nod and picked up Tommy. They followed Wanda to the twins bedroom on the second floor.

Wanda was already tucking Billy on his bed, giving him a soft kiss on the forehead. He could hear a soft whisper, "Good night, Billy." he smiled at that.

They gently did the same with Tommy, tucking him in, opting to softly pat his shoulders instead. "G'night buddy."

The sight was perfect, like two parents tucking their kids to sleep. Wanda realizes she never shared this moment anymore with Vision, here she is sharing it with a guy she just met during the summers. The two walked out of the twins bedroom and made their way back to the living room. They locked eyes with each other, the atmosphere between them was rather tense. As memories of their last meeting came flooding back, the rejected confession, Wanda's hurtful words, Y/n's broken heart. It was weird how they wind up back where they left off.

"Well uh... that was quite the coincidence, but it was nice seeing you again." Y/n said, trying to break the tension.

"Likewise." Wanda looked down at her feet.

Wanda was distant once again, well, I guess there really is no chance. Maybe Y/n was just hoping for too much. Hoping for something that would never happen.

Again.

"I'll see myself out, enjoy your night, Wanda." He said kindly with that smile of his. Don't make the same mistake.

They turn to leave. Now. Y/n slowly walks to the front door. For fuck sake-

"Y/n, wait!" Oh thank christ-

"Yes?" They turned to face her. But Wanda's words got stuck in her throat. What did she even wanted to say? Did she truly loved them? She certainly don't want to be Vision anymore, but are they really the one? She only knows Y/n for a few months. How will she know if Y/n won't just end up the same as Vision.

"I-" Fuck why couldn't she say anything?

So Y/n decided to speak up first, "I had a fun night, if you still want to keep our distance I'll gladly accept that. But I do want to say, I'm glad this time we ended on better terms." He said kindly.

"Yes... I'm- uh..." Just fucking say it Wanda.

Y/n waited patiently for her to speak whatever she wanted to say. But for some reason she couldn't utter a single word, "You don't have to say anything. Goodby-"

His sentence was cut off by her lips. She gently cupped his face, getting on her tiptoes slightly. Y/n was shock, beyond shock. What is happening? Is this another one time thing? Did she liked them back? Their mind was going for a million miles an hour.

If Wanda couldn't pour out her feelings in words, she might as well pour it out through her actions. She loved him by cupping his face gently. She missed them dearly by the way she pressed their lips rather harshly. Her body yearned him by the way she lets him pulled her closer by the waist.

They pulled back breathlessly, gazing deeply into each other's eyes. "Wanda?"

"Y/n I-" She shook the last bit of hesitation, "I- I don't know how I feel about you, but what I know is I missed you dearly. The thought of not having you in my life, it- it makes me feel sad. I regret my words, everything I said to you. You're... not just a plaything, you're everything. You are everything and more to me."

Y/n's heart started beating rapidly. They had a hard time believing her words.

"I know I hurt you, and you have every rights to walk out of that door right now. But-"

"Then why did you say those things?" Y/n asked sadly.

"This is not an excuse for me to be a bitch, but truth to be told I think I was just... afraid. Y/n I'm a married woman falling in love with a 20 year old man. I have two sons and a husband. Even if, now that I think of it, the only thing holding Vision and I together is merely our marriage. Everything is just so complicated." She started rambling. But one word that caught their ear the most, was love.

Y/n inhaled sharply, they were at lost for words.

"When you talked to that girl, I realized, I didn't want to see you with another. I just wanted you to be mine, mine only." Her hand was still cupping his face, she rest their foreheads together. "If you had been just a casual fling, I wouldn't care so much. Yet that's not the truth. Because the truth is the thought of you with someone else makes me sick."

"Wanda-"

"I know it's not fair. It's not fair at all, to want to keep you to myself when I'm still conflicted with my own feelings. But- Hmpf!" Her rambling this time was cutoff by a kiss, god how much she missed to lips.

Her hands wrapped around his shoulders, pulling them even closer. The kiss was... different. Rather than lust, it was full of love. A new found love that they now shared with one another. After a few seconds they pulled away from each other, yet still holding each other close.

"You don't know how glad I am to hear that." Y/n said with a smile, eyes glistening slightly. Wanda couldn't help but to let out a soft laugh before pulling them into another kiss.

"There's still so many things I need to hash out. But if you'll have me... would you be willing to wait?" Wanda said against his lips.

"I would wait for you until hell freezes over. Take all the time you need." Y/n responded genuinely. Wanda felt her heart blossomed, is this what it feels like to be properly loved? To have someone love you just as much as you loved them?

Perhaps it is. The love she yearned for. One that her husband couldn't provide, one that was lost over the years of marriage. Something tells her it'll be different with them. That it would be a start of a wonderful thing for years to come.

If only the universe is on their side.

The front door flew open, and the two of them pulled away immediately. Shit.

"Wanda, have you found him? I'll go to the police station tom-" Vision stopped his sentence as soon as he saw Y/n. Wanda is scared shitless. They both are.

Fuck.

"Who are you?" The venom in his voice was very noticable.

"I'm-" Fuck what do I say?

"Vision..." Wanda started.

"Is this what you've been doing behind my back?"

"Just- Vis, please-"

"After everything I've done for you, Wanda!" He yelled. Vision approached her with an angry look, Wanda took a step back. "I bet you had so much fun being fucked like the whore you are didn't you?"

Wanda was surprised to hear her husband speaking to her like that. But if we're being completely honest, she wasn't completely innocent either.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Y/n spoke up.

Vision whipped his head in their direction, "And you" he snarled. He then walked closer to Y/n as if sizing him up. "What makes you think you could sleep with a married woman?"

Y/n gulped, yes their whole relationship was messed up. Y/n knew damn well that she was married, yet he still continued to pursue her.

"What you don't have a fucking mouth?" Vision shoved him. Y/n stayed quiet, not wanting to escalate the situation. "Not so fucking tough now, are you?!" They clenched their jaw.

"Vision, leave him alone." To their surprise, Wanda spoke up for them. This moment required caution, but to be honest Y/n felt their heart swell at Wanda's defense.

"What?" Vision narrowed his eyes at her who was now standing on the side between the two of them.

"It's late, and you should leave. I specifically asked you not to come home tonight."

Vision let out a sarcastic laugh. "You're defending him?"

Wanda sighed, their marriage was complicated. But at this point there was no love between them. She had her heart for someone else, and Vision doesn't even care about his family. "You and I both know we're only together for the sake of our kids. Let's not pretend there's anything between us."

Vision scoffed, "You are unbelievable..."

"Oh don't act so innocent, I've seen the text between you and your assistant." Wanda spat. Vision tensed slightly at the sentence. Shit things just got better. "Leave."

"You can't kick me out of my own house, Wanda."

"The house was passed down from my parents, it's under my name. Leave." She asked one last time. Finally, Vision walk towards the front door. However, it seems like he had more to say. Before he closed the door on his way out he looked back at the two of them with a disgusted look.

"This fucking kid has no status in this country, he works a minimum wage job, he's still in college struggling to pay his own tuition. What makes you think he can provide you with everything you need?" He snarled.

Wanda crossed her arms, "That's none of your concern. I'm surprised you even cared about our family's needs when just tonight you couldn't careless about Tommy's whereabouts." Seems like she hit a nerve as Vision slammed the front door when he left the house. Wanda let out a breath of relief. She glanced at Y/n who looked deep in thought.

"Y/n?" She asked.

"Hmmm?" He looked up at her. Wanda could tell something was wrong. She approached them and gently cup their face.

"Don't mind what he said."

However, Y/n was now washed over with reality. Vision's words were hurtful, "But he was right..."

Wanda's heart shattered at the sight, "Darling, no." Y/n had a sorrow look. Wanda wanted nothing more but to kiss it away.

"Wanda... I have nothing to offer you."

"Don't say that... Please don't say that." She pulled them down so she could plant a soft kiss on his forehead lovingly. "You provide me with so much love and care." Y/n gently rest their hand on top of Wanda's, they gazed int each other's eyes. Love visible on either's side.

But he couldn't... Y/n had nothing. And Wanda deserved someone who could give her everything.

Slowly, Y/n pulled away Wanda's hand from their face with a sad smile. Wanda's heart shattered slightly. "You need someone who could provide more than that."

"What if I want you?"

"Wanda, I want nothing more than to be yours. But I'm just a broke college student. To make matters worse I'm an international student, I have no status here."

"You can apply for a work visa after graduation." She tried to reason.

"I'm only in my second year, it'll take a few more years to pay off my debts. And I don't even know if I'll get a job in the film industry knowing how competitive it is." Tears started to pool in Wanda's eyes. They were both too caught up in their little bubble forgetting the complication of their relationship.

Wanda had a family to take care of. Now that Vision was out of the picture, she had to figure out a way how to balance work as a single mother. She didn't made this decision because of Y/n, no, Vision turned out to be a deadbeat father. But if she did wanted another partner she would preferably want one who is in the same life stage as hers.

Yet her heart couldn't help but to call for Y/n.

"I love you, Wanda. But I-" Y/n kept holding her hand, he wants her. God he wanted nothing more than to be hers. To be able to provide for her. To show her love and care that she deserves. But as usual, time and the universe was not on their side. "You deserve someone better."

Wanda couldn't hold herself so she pulled them into an embrace, hiding her face on his chest. Their arms wrapped around her. Both of them cried for the life they wish they could have had with each other, but due to the circumstances, it couldn't happen. Yet.

"Just... hold me."

"Forever if I could."

Wanda stayed there, listening to their heartbeat. Her heart was torn. She wishes she could have a life with them, but she has a duty as a mother. As much as she knew she was capable of providing herself and her boys financially, deep down their relationship would be doomed if it continued. With Wanda being busy at work, taking care of the boys, and adapting to life as a single mother. Y/n focusing on their studies, after they graduate they need to focus on finding a job and adapt to adult work life. Not to mention handling all the paperwork and requirements as a foreigner.

It was too hectic. Too much complication already to their own complicated life.

But what if love was enough to conquer it all? Or is that just wishful thinking?

"Y/n." Wanda pulled back, gazing into his eyes.

"Yea?" Y/n responded. Wanda's hand reached up to tangle itself in his hair. She kissed his forehead, Y/n closed their eyes. Wanting to forget everything just for a second.

"I love you too." Wanda said softly.

Oh how their heart bloomed hearing those 4 words. Y/n couldn't help but smile at Wanda's confession.

"In another time, another life. I promise to love you in every single one of them."

Phewww, finally. I can move on to a new series, i hope you guys liked this shameless self-insert fic! Damn this last part was LONGGG I have a few ideas for Wandanat, and maybe another one for sum more Wanda x Readers :>>>

Anywho, Taglist! @dorabledewdroop @weptmango (lmk if you would like to be tagged as well for future Wanda x Readers works! (truth is idk how taglist works :'))

[allwormdiet]

Sentinel 9.4

Back in the saddle again

You know, I'm not sure if tinkers actually are "supposed" to be smart. The other examples we have to work off of besides Kid Win are Bakuda (constant state of fucking around and finding out until it killed her), Armsmaster (he of the dumbfuck raid boss solo plot), and Dragon (actually no notes on Dragon's relative intelligence), plus Chariot in just a minute here who literally only succeeds at being a mole because the Protectorate allows him to succeed as a ploy

I'll concede that they're adept engineers and scientists, sure, but you can know how to build a nuclear reactor and still be dumb enough to build it in your backyard. There's no single measure of intelligence that everyone measures high on, that's just not how it goes.

Then again like two-thirds of this chapter are lowkey about Kid having self-esteem issues so like, I get that he's being hard on himself. I feel like half the cape POVs we've gotten so far have self-esteem issues, never mind Taylor Hebert Queen of Self-Image Problems

I'm gonna skim over a lot of this fight like I had in 9.3, but while this can't feel good for one's confidence, honestly I'd mostly just be relieved. Like, yes, let the villains whose powers are Railgun and The Fucking Sun take it easy on me, that's fine, I like my body parts staying in the configuration they have.

Thank God he actually has a chance to feel like he's contributing, without the horror of accidentally killing someone

Wow, Trickster sucks. Why do they put up with this guy?

So, somehow I doubt he's somehow lacking in a specialty, but from the description of his apparent focus issues (plus the fact that taking medication to help with focus nearly took him out) I wonder if the way his tinker stuff goes involves having a bunch of little things, if the lack of focus is somehow a sign of what his specialty actually is.

Oh fucking boy

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay (sarcastic)

Also I don't know why they specifically would go to cities that have already been Endbringered but there's a real "kick them while they're down" energy to it that I do not care for. Goddamn jackals.

Is it the "another tinker" thing or the "that wasn't Armsmaster" thing that he's more excited about lmao

Weld's adapting a little better to his role, and Clockblocker is able to keep his mouth shut and play along, so things are improving.

I dunno man, it's a citywide apocalypse, does bedtime matter anymore?

Hey what the

Fuck

is going on here

Tinker-to-tinker communication

Y'know, now I'm curious what the wages are for a non-Tinker Protectorate member. Obviously Tinkers can have it made if they've got something the higher-ups want, but is Miss Militia making enough to own a house? Is your income tied to merch sales?

Think this is the first time someone has outright said triggering as a parahuman rewires your brain to some extent. Curious to see further elaboration on that.

I think if you're gonna hire a mole, you should make sure they can lie convincingly. That feels like step two.

(Step one is "make sure you can trust this person to be a mole for you")

Fucking gottem

Well hey Kid, looks like you're pulling your weight after all

Current Thoughts

I do think Sentinel is a neat arc but I'll admit, in recounting and rereading this it lost me a little bit. That might just be the Travelers fight though, I could feel the lack of stakes to the fight like a gap between my teeth.

Kid seems like a solid character, classic impulsive inventor with an actual exploration of what that impulsiveness does to his work ethic and self-worth. I'm glad he gets a chance to shine here and I hope he figures out his exact specialization so he can stop being so down on himself

The Wards do seem to be coalescing into more of a team as things progress, sure would be a shame if the resident lone wolf was to fall for obvious bait and disrupt that or something.

[eimids]

Mastermind part 3

Sorry I've been gone for a while but I'm back!! Don't know if I'll update and write as often as I did before but I'll try my best

Warnings: angst at the start but the fluffff and happy ending finally

Ingrid and Mapi had taken you to their apartment. They treated you sweetly and cuddled you to sleep.

Meanwhile Lucy was freaking out. She didn’t know why she had done any of what she did to you. Her actions were horrible and she hated herself for them. She couldn’t even make sure that you got to your hotel safely because she didn’t have your number. She couldn’t just call and apologize.

She was afraid of committing to a person. It was hard for her to love someone and show that so she did what she thought was the best thing to do. She just kicked you out.

She called Mapi soon to check with her if she knew where you were, luckily she got answer that you were safe at their house. Lucy was relieved that at lest you were safe. She still hated herself for what she did. She should have never done what she did and she made it her mission to apologize to you profusely. She was actually interested in you since the day she saw you and she didn't want you to be a one night stand. She wanted to take you on a date and treat like you deserved to be treated.

Ingrid and Mapi were furious. They were angry at their friend and fellow teammate for doing that to you. When Lucy tried to call then so she could talk to you, they refused.

"Please I just want to apologize to her, I never should have done it" Lucy pleaded to Ingrid.

"And yet you still did it. You threw her out in the middle of the night in the streets of Barca. You know that that is not safe and something really bad could have happened" Ingrid answered angrily. She didn't want for you to get hurt.

This went on for a while until you hopped back on a plane and to Norway back to your family and friends. You wanted to forget about Lucy and to never talk to her again but it was hard. You actually had a nice time with her during the engagement party and conversations with her felt easy. The fact that quickly after you got back to Norway Lucy followed you on Instagram. She wanted to talk to you in some way.

One day you got a DM.

Lucybronze:

Hi y/n, I just want to say that I apologize for everything I did. It was so wrong for me to just throw you out in the middle of the night and I want to do anything I can to make up for that. If you let me try again that would be amazing but I understand if you don't want to have anything to do with me anymore. I'm so sorry..

You saw the message almost immediately but took your time to answer to her because you didn't know how to answer. You didn't want to talk to her ever again but you truly wanted to believe that she could be better. You wanted to feel like she appreciated you as a person. Not just a body that she could fuck and dump out.

After three days you finally answered. Lucy had lost hope at that point. She just assumed that you would contact her back.

Yourinstagram:

Hi Luce. I've taken some time to think about all this and I'm definitely not accepting what you did but you are in y mind constantly. I'm not shutting you down but if we continue talking it's going to be with my terms. Things are gonna go slowly. Here's my number so you can contact me easier: 123 4567890

Lucy's heart jumped when she saw notification from you. She had fully lost her hopes but they were back up after reading your text. She even got your number. She was like a teenager jumping with joy. She couldn't handle her excitement. She knew she had to do this right to win you back. She wanted to make a full 180 from how she treated you before.

You and Lucy started talking through texts. Soon it became calls and then Facetimes. It took a while for you to trust her but conversations with her felt right. She never asked you anything you weren't comfortable with and never suggested anything towards wanting anything else than just to talk to you.

Lucy would send you good night messages and make sure you were okay during the day. You were happy with how things were going.

It took you half a year before you asked to see her in person. During that time Lucy never pushed. She would send you flowers all the way from Barca. You were basically a couple but without anyone knowing.

After you finally asked to see her, Lucy hopped on the first flight she found and was on her way to see you. She was nervous. She wanted to do it right this time, wanted to make you feel loved and cared for.

When she arrived at your apartment she had flowers in her hands. She knew that this was her only chance to do this right.

"Hi Luce" You said with a shy smile. It was weird seeing her in person. The last time had been a nightmare.

"Hi beautiful" She gave you a shy smile back.

You welcomed her to inside and sat her down. It was a bit awkward at first but soon you fell into a nice conversation. You wanted to avoid the conversation hat you knew needed to happen. You had talked about it before but it was different face to face.

"Y/n I know that you have forgiven me but I haven't forgiven myself. I will do anything and everything to make it up to you I promise" Lucy started.

You sat next to her and hugged her. You needed to be close to her.

"Just never do it again" You whispered in her neck while burying your head there.

"If it's okay I want to do something I never got to do that day back in Barca" Lucy started

"Mhmm?" You asked.

"I never gave you any aftercare and I know it's way too late but I just want to show you how much I care" She said to you.

You could have started crying at her words. You truly felt like Lucy cared and you loved it. That night she made you feel like a princess. Cuddling you to sleep and making you food. Watching movies with you and just appreciating you.

---

So this is kinda short but what ever

[midnight-shadow-cafe]

Lost in the Stacks

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

AU: Coffee Shop Owner Steve x reader

Warnings: none just Robin and Steve things

Authors Note: I hope you enjoy, I was very passionate about my Stevie boy so take this long fic :) (I’m slowly getting use to writing more- bear with me-)

Word Count: 3.2k

Masterlist

MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+

The bell above the door jingled softly as you stepped into The Upside. The café-bookshop hybrid was a warm refuge from the gray skies outside, its wooden shelves lined with books, mismatched armchairs tucked into cozy corners, and the smell of coffee and baked goods filling the air.

Behind the counter, Steve Harrington was wrestling with the espresso machine. His dark green sweater hugged his frame in a way that made you linger for a second too long, and his hair looked as effortlessly perfect as ever.

“You’ve gotta finesse it, Harrington. Not scare it into submission,” Robin Buckley teased, grabbing a cloth and wiping the counter as she passed him.

“I don’t scare it—I tame it,” Steve retorted, though the machine sputtered indignantly, making Robin snort.

“Hey, you,” Robin said, looking up and spotting you. “Back for more of our famous customer service?”

You laughed, setting your bag on the counter. “Obviously. Where else can I get entertainment with my coffee?”

Steve glanced up, his expression softening when he saw you. “Hey! Usual?”

“Please,” you said, smiling. “But no rush. Looks like you’re in a heated negotiation over there.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, this thing hates me. I think it’s personal.”

Robin leaned over conspiratorially. “It is. And it’s winning.”

Steve rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide his grin as he busied himself with your order. Robin gave you a sly wink before walking off to restock pastries.

It wasn’t just the books or the coffee that kept drawing you back to The Upside. It was Steve, with his clumsy charm and easy smiles, and Robin, whose sharp humor always made you laugh. Together, they made the place feel less like a shop and more like a second home.

Months ago, you’d stumbled into The Upside for the first time, drenched from an unexpected rainstorm.

Steve had been behind the counter, towel in hand before you could even ask. “Rough day?” he’d asked, his grin warm and teasing.

“You could say that,” you replied, wringing out your hair.

“Well, you’re in the right place. Best coffee in town. Also, books. You like books, right?”

“I think you’re supposed to ask that before recommending them,” you said, smiling despite yourself.

“Details,” he said with a wave of his hand. “What’s your usual? Or do you want me to surprise you?”

Before you could answer, Robin piped up from where she was shelving books. “Don’t trust him. He once made me a ‘surprise drink’ that tasted like dish soap.”

Steve scoffed, though his grin never wavered. “Ignore her. She’s bitter because she’s not the favorite coworker.”

“I’m your only coworker!”

That first visit had stuck with you—not just because of the cozy atmosphere but because of Steve’s awkward charm and the way Robin’s sarcasm balanced it out. You’d started coming back regularly after that, finding excuses to linger a little longer each time.

Over the weeks, your visits to The Upside became a steady routine. Steve always greeted you with a smile that seemed reserved just for you, and Robin never missed an opportunity to tease him about it.

One afternoon, Steve handed you a book along with your latte. “This just came in. Thought you might like it.”

You glanced at the cover, touched by the gesture. “Thanks, Steve. I’ll let you know what I think.”

Robin smirked as she passed by, muttering, “Smooth move, Casanova.”

Steve shot her a look, cheeks flushing.

Another time, you brought in a stack of books to donate. “Figured they’d get more love here than on my shelf,” you said.

“Great taste, as always,” Steve said, flipping through the titles.

Robin leaned over the counter, stage-whispering, “Just ask her out already.”

Steve glared at her, but his lips twitched with the ghost of a smile.

Steve leaned against the counter, pretending to focus on the list of inventory Robin had scribbled earlier, but his attention wasn’t on the task at hand. His eyes kept drifting toward you, seated at one of the tables near the window with a cup of coffee in front of you and a book in your hands.

The sunlight streaming through the window illuminated your features, catching in your hair and making you glow. You were engrossed in your book, an occasional smile or furrow of your brows giving away your thoughts as you read. Steve couldn’t stop watching, his heart pounding in his chest at every subtle movement you made.

Robin, sitting cross-legged on the floor behind the counter as she sorted through a box of new arrivals, didn’t miss his distracted expression.

“Oh my God, you’re doing it again,” she said, snapping her fingers at him.

Steve startled, straightening up. “Doing what?”

“That thing where you stare at Love like she’s the lead in some cheesy romantic movie,” Robin said, gesturing dramatically toward him.

Steve frowned, crossing his arms. “I’m not staring.”

Robin gave him a look that said she wasn’t buying it. “Oh, really? Because you’ve been ‘not staring’ at her for, like, ten minutes now. You’re lucky she hasn’t noticed.”

“She hasn’t noticed, right?” Steve asked quickly, panic creeping into his voice.

Robin rolled her eyes. “No, Steve, she hasn’t noticed. She’s too busy living her life while you’re over here acting like a lovesick puppy.”

“I’m not a lovesick puppy,” Steve muttered, though his flushed cheeks betrayed him.

Robin snorted. “Right. You just can’t stop staring at her because… what? You’re admiring her reading posture?”

Steve glared at her but didn’t respond.

Robin grinned, leaning forward. “You like her.”

“No, I don’t,” Steve said automatically, though he knew it was a weak denial.

“Please,” Robin scoffed. “You so like her. Don’t even try to deny it, Harrington. You’ve been crushing on her for weeks, and it’s getting painful to watch.”

Steve groaned, running a hand through his hair. “Fine, okay, yes—I like her. Happy now?”

“Ecstatic,” Robin said, her grin widening. “So why haven’t you done anything about it?”

“Because I don’t want to screw it up,” Steve admitted, lowering his voice. “What if I ask her out and it’s weird? What if she stops coming here?”

Robin’s expression softened, though her teasing tone remained. “Steve, listen to me: Love likes you. Trust me on this one. She laughs at all your terrible jokes, she lets you recommend books, and she spends way too much time here for someone who’s just into coffee and novels.”

Steve hesitated. “She might just… like the shop.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. She likes you. It’s so obvious. You’re just too chicken to admit it.”

“I’m not chicken,” Steve shot back, though his defensive tone only made Robin laugh.

“Really?” she said, standing up and brushing off her jeans. “Then why do you freeze up every time she walks over to talk to you?”

“I don’t freeze up!” Steve protested.

“Uh-huh,” Robin said, clearly unconvinced. “Look, Harrington, you’ve got two options: keep doing nothing and torture yourself, or grow a pair and talk to her like a normal person. Your choice.”

Steve groaned again, slumping against the counter. “Why do you have to make everything sound so dramatic?”

“Because it is,” Robin said with a smirk. “This is your big moment, Stevie. Don’t blow it.”

Steve sighed, stealing another glance at you. You were still focused on your book, completely oblivious to the conversation happening just a few feet away.

Suddenly, he straightened up, a thought popping into his head. “Wait… I have an idea.”

Robin raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh? Do tell.”

Steve gave her a look, his fingers tapping nervously on the counter. “I’ll just… give her coffee. On the house. You know, as a little gesture.”

Robin’s eyes widened in amusement. “Wait, that’s it? You’re gonna give her free coffee? Wow, Harrington. Such a bold move.”

“Shut up,” Steve muttered, but a smile tugged at his lips. “It’s something.”

Robin rolled her eyes. “You’re lucky she likes you, because this is honestly the most anticlimactic thing I’ve ever heard.”

But Steve wasn’t listening. He was already making his way to the counter, clearing his throat before calling out to you, who was still absorbed in your book.

You looked up, smiling at him in that warm way that always made Steve’s heart skip a beat. “Hey, Steve.”

“Hey, Love,” he said, already fumbling with the coffee machine. He was trying to look cool, but his hands were shaking just a little.

“Can I get you a refill?” he asked, focusing more on the machine than on you.

Your eyes softened, your smile widening. “I was actually just about to ask for one.”

“Well, it’s on the house today,” Steve said, trying to sound casual but feeling the heat rise in his cheeks. “For you, Love.”

You blinked, clearly surprised by the offer. “Oh, wow. Thank you! That’s really sweet of you.”

Steve just nodded, still trying to avoid looking directly at you, as he poured the coffee into a fresh cup. He handed it to you with a nervous grin, which you returned.

“Anytime,” he said, voice a little more strained than he’d intended. He stepped back toward the counter, fighting the urge to keep staring at you.

Robin, of course, didn’t miss any of this. From across the room, she gave Steve an exaggerated thumbs-up and mouthed the words, You got this, making him groan internally.

You were already sipping your coffee, and Steve allowed himself to look at you again for just a second. You seemed genuinely pleased, the warmth of your smile making him feel lighter.

“Don’t back out, go for it” Robin says as she pats him on the back before going back to fixing the shelves.

It was a slow Tuesday afternoon at The Upside. The warm light streaming through the shop’s tall windows highlighted the specks of dust dancing lazily in the air. Steve was behind the counter, pretending to reorganize the coffee syrups but really stealing glances at you as you browsed the fiction shelves.

You had a small smile on your lips, your fingers brushing over the spines of books as you debated which one to pick. Steve thought you looked beautiful—effortlessly so—and it made his stomach twist in knots every time he saw you.

Robin, perched on the stool near the register, noticed his distracted glances and let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Steve, if you stare any harder, you’re going to set her on fire,” she whispered, leaning toward him.

“Shut up,” Steve hissed, his face immediately heating.

Robin grinned mischievously. “Oh, come on, Harrington. This is painful to watch. Just go over there and ask her out already.”

Steve shook his head quickly, his voice low but insistent. “I can’t just… I don’t know if she even likes me like that!”

Robin rolled her eyes, hopping off her stool and leaning her elbows on the counter. “Are you kidding me? She comes in here all the time. She laughs at your dumb jokes. She even lets you recommend books—and you have terrible taste in books.”

“I do not!” Steve protested.

“You do, but that’s not the point. The point is, she’s obviously into you. You’re just too chicken to see it.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue, but before he could get a word out, Robin stood up straight, clapped her hands together, and said loudly, “Hey, Sweetheart!”

Your head popped up from behind a shelf, a book in hand. “Yeah?”

“Can you come here for a second? Steve has something he wants to tell you.”

Steve froze, his face draining of color. “Robin!” he hissed, wide-eyed.

You walked over, your curiosity piqued. “What’s up?”

Robin smiled innocently. “Steve was just saying he—”

“Needs help with the espresso machine!” Steve interrupted, practically jumping in front of her.

You blinked, clearly confused. “You need my help?”

Robin snorted, folding her arms and leaning against the counter. “Nice save, Harrington.”

Steve glared at her before turning to you, his cheeks flushed. “No, I don’t—look, can we talk for a second? Alone?”

Your eyebrows lifted slightly, but you nodded. “Sure.”

Robin gave Steve a smug grin as she stepped away, muttering, “You’re welcome,” under her breath.

Steve led you toward one of the quieter corners of the shop, away from prying eyes (and ears). He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly nervous, and you couldn’t help but find it endearing.

“Okay,” he started, exhaling deeply. “So, uh, this is going to sound kind of dumb, but—”

“It’s not dumb,” you interrupted gently, giving him an encouraging smile.

That seemed to give him the courage to continue. “Right. Well, I’ve been, uh… I’ve been meaning to ask you something for a while now. But I kept chickening out, and then Robin decided to, you know, stick her nose in, because that’s what she does.”

You laughed softly, which made him relax a little.

“The thing is,” he said, his voice quieter now, “I really like you. And I’ve been wanting to ask you out, but I wasn’t sure if you’d… if you’d even want that.”

You blinked in surprise, your heart skipping a beat. “You like me?”

Steve nodded, his cheeks a little pink. “Yeah. I do. A lot. And if you don’t feel the same, that’s totally fine, I just… I had to say it.”

For a moment, you didn’t say anything, and Steve’s nerves seemed to spike.

“Love?” he asked cautiously.

You smiled, your voice soft. “I like you too, Steve.”

His eyes widened slightly. “You do?”

“Of course I do,” you said, laughing. “Why do you think I keep coming back here? It’s not just for the books or the coffee.”

Relief and joy washed over his face, and he let out a nervous chuckle. “Wow. Okay. That’s… that’s good. Great, actually.”

“So,” you said, taking a small step closer, “are you going to ask me out properly, or do I have to do it for you?”

Steve grinned, his confidence returning. “Right. Would you, uh, want to go out with me? Like, on a date?”

“I’d love to,” you said, your smile bright.

Robin, who had been shamelessly eavesdropping from behind a shelf, popped her head out with a triumphant smirk. “Finally! Took you long enough.”

Steve groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Robin!”

You just laughed, feeling lighter than you had in weeks. Steve peeked at you through his fingers, his embarrassment fading when he saw how happy you looked.

“Guess that means I should start planning something great,” he said, his voice warm and teasing.

“You’ve got this, Harrington,” Robin called from across the shop, giving him a thumbs-up.

Steve shook his head, but he couldn’t stop smiling.

Steve had picked you up just after sunset, his car rumbling to a stop outside your house. You’d stepped out the door wearing something simple yet thoughtful, a soft smile on your face as you slid into the passenger seat.

“Wow,” Steve said, his voice soft, his eyes lingering on you for just a moment too long. “You look… amazing.”

You felt warmth rise to your cheeks. “Thanks, Steve. You clean up pretty well yourself.”

He chuckled, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair. “Yeah, well, I figured I’d try to impress you.”

The car ride was filled with lighthearted conversation and a bit of nervous laughter, both of you falling into an easy rhythm despite the fluttering nerves. Steve drove you to a small, tucked-away diner on the outskirts of town, a place he’d discovered during one of his many aimless drives.

“It’s not fancy or anything,” he said as he held the door open for you, “but they make the best burgers in Hawkins. And the milkshakes? Life-changing.”

The interior was quaint, with vinyl booths and a glowing jukebox in the corner. The smell of sizzling food was inviting, and the soft hum of chatter created a comfortable atmosphere. Steve guided you to a booth near the window, where the glow of the streetlights outside cast a warm light over the table.

The conversation started light—books you’d recently read, Steve’s stories about running the shop with Robin (“She’s like a tornado, but I wouldn’t trade her for anyone”), and the little quirks of Hawkins.

“Okay, serious question,” Steve said, leaning forward, his elbows resting on the table. “If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

“Pizza,” you replied instantly. “Easy.”

“Solid choice,” he said, nodding approvingly. “But you haven’t lived until you’ve tried the waffles from Benny’s. We’re talking top-tier breakfast food. You’ll see—I’ll take you there sometime.”

The way he said it so casually—like there would definitely be another date—made your heart skip.

By the time the food arrived, you were both relaxed, laughing over Steve’s high school antics.

“So you’re telling me,” you said, trying to suppress a giggle, “you actually styled your hair for gym class?”

“Hey,” he said defensively, though his grin gave him away. “It’s called priorities. And anyway, it worked. My hair survived dodgeball.”

“Barely,” you teased, taking a sip of the milkshake he’d insisted you try. It was, as promised, incredible.

Steve reached for his own shake at the same moment, knocking his hand against yours. The cup tipped slightly, and a streak of chocolate landed on the table—and on your sleeve.

“Oh no,” Steve groaned, grabbing a handful of napkins. “I’m so sorry. This is why Robin calls me a walking disaster.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s fine. Really. Chocolate’s a good look for me.”

He glanced up, his cheeks pink with embarrassment. “You’re taking this way too well. Most people would be plotting revenge by now.”

“Maybe I’m saving it for later,” you teased.

After dinner, Steve suggested a walk to help you “digest” (and maybe work off the milkshake fiasco). The park was quiet, the air cool and crisp as leaves rustled underfoot.

Steve walked beside you, his hands shoved in his pockets, occasionally glancing your way as if to make sure you were still enjoying yourself.

“You know,” he said, his voice softer now, “I was kind of nervous about tonight.”

“Why?” you asked, surprised.

He shrugged, kicking a small rock along the path. “I guess I didn’t want to screw it up. You’re… different. In a good way. I wanted tonight to be perfect.”

You stopped walking, turning to face him. “Steve, it’s been perfect. Milkshake disasters and all.”

He laughed, his eyes crinkling in that way that made your heart flutter. “Yeah? You mean that?”

“I do,” you said, and for a moment, the world seemed to quiet around you.

When Steve walked you to your door, the nerves he’d managed to shake off earlier crept back in.

“So,” he said, rocking on his heels. “This was… really fun.”

“It was,” you agreed, smiling.

“I, uh, I’d like to do it again sometime,” he said, his voice hopeful.

You nodded. “I’d like that too.”

For a moment, it looked like he might leave it there, but then he stepped closer, brushing a soft kiss against your cheek. “Goodnight, love”

“Goodnight, Steve.”

As he walked back to his car, a little bounce in his step, you leaned against your door, already looking forward to the next time.

The next time you walked into The Upside, the bell jingling above your head, Steve’s grin was a little brighter. And when Robin saw the way he looked at you, she just smirked.

Hope you enjoyed! Please consider liking and reposting! -Midnight💜

[rotworld]

29: Medical Malpractice

art by @exorbitantsqueakingnoises

sometimes in the chaos and confusion of a disaster on cardea prime, people go missing. no one has any reason to suspect this has something to do with the planet's best clinic and its famously talented healers—you and your partner.

->warhammer 40k. original drukhari haemonculus/reader. contains gore, medical gore, descriptions of surgery, abuse of authority/betrayal of trust, non-consensual touching.

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The city trembles and everything built upon its back starts to shake. It feels tectonic, a deep thrum of destruction millennia in the making. Half a minute is all it takes for the quake to reduce whole swaths of civilization to rubble. It opens fissures, jagged wounds of rock like lacerations through the streets. It topples homes and tears the manufactorum in two, one half swallowed whole by a sinkhole abyss. It starts strange fires at the chemical plant that flicker green against the sky and crackles like the screams of thousands. If that didn’t wake you, the wail of klaxons would have, or the pounding at your door.

There’s been an accident in Mine 416, they tell you. There are thirty-nine men unaccounted for but one crawled to the mouth of the tunnel and he is just barely clinging to life. It is his wife and three eldest who come to you in the dead of night with tears in their eyes, begging for help. There was a hospital closer but they left because they were told it was hopeless, risking a long transport across the ruins all the way out to your clinic because they know miracles happen here.

Your clinic is a humble outpost in the Ghostwood, a sickly forest where the trees have turned thin and bone-white from the runoff of a manufactorum miles upstream. It’s a quiet place, untouched by the rapid industrialization scouring the rest of the planet because it is useless, the soil barren, the plants toxic, the water gone bad. Nothing should live here, including you. There should be no place of healing on this blighted ground and yet, here it stands.

The man sprawls on a metal gurney, unresponsive. His internal organs are leaking from a wound in his abdomen. His wife can’t tell you what happened for sure but she overheard some talk of equipment malfunction, an industrial rock-cutter gone haywire when the tunnels shifted. The wound is neat, laser-precise, but everything inside is liquefying. Organ failure, exsanguination, septic shock—it's hard to guess what would win the race. Your first step is getting him in stasis, frozen down to the molecule until you can scrape out the necrotic slurry of his own decaying insides, process tissue samples and regrow replacement organs. 

Stasis field generators aren’t easy to come by or maintain in the furthest reaches of Imperium Nihilus. The one in the cramped operating chamber of your clinic is a strange, spiny obelisk unlike any design on record. No one knows it’s back here—except, of course, for the person it rightfully belongs to. He won’t like that you used it without his permission. You’ll have to make it up to him later.

In the waiting room, the woman sits in a stiff metal chair with her hands clasped together and her head bowed, praying to the God-Emperor to grant you divine inspiration. They’re both young, her and her husband, but they look much older, graying with coarse, wrinkled hands and tired eyes from the harshness of the Northern Mining Plains. You stand in the stifling silence of the operating chamber beside her husband, staring down at all the wounds he survived before this one; dried scabs and blisters, old surgical scars, one hand lost in a previous accident replaced with a rudimentary augmetic. 

The Imperium will grind these people into nothing. You’ve seen it happen over and over and over again, and this is one of the gentler worlds. The manufactorums are not yet sprawling, world-suffocating behemoths and a series of farm skyscraper complexes have helped the populace narrowly avoid several famines. It’s hard to escape the creeping despair, the feeling that you’re only delaying the inevitable.

You can do something, or you can do nothing. Both choices have their price. 

There’s a chime—an electronic doorbell. Someone just walked into the clinic. You make sure the stasis field is stable and head down the hall to see what’s happening. Instead, you find a man kneeling beside your patient’s wife, one of her hands clasped gently in his. He’s tall, eye-level with the woman even while crouched, long hair pulled back in a ponytail and bangs parted neatly down the middle. He dresses in an unobtrusive manner, perfectly forgettable in dull colors and simple clothing. He’s speaking to her in a soft, reassuring murmur, his eyes and smile full of warmth. Both of them look up at your arrival. The woman dabs at her eyes, sniffling but more collected than she was before. 

“Is he…?” Her voice cracks.

“No. He’s in a very delicate situation, but he’s stabilized for now,” you assure her. 

She inhales shakily. “I don’t know how you do it. Throne bless you and Feron both.” 

The man squeezes her hand. You want to rip him away from her. You want to tell her to run. He smiles up at you like he can hear the vicious thoughts racing through your head. You don’t say anything. You never do. “Feron,” you greet him curtly.

“Doctor,” he says, his voice silky and sweet. 

“How was the governor’s son?” 

“Better now. It was respiratory sickness after all. He should be just fine if he takes the full dose of medication.” He strokes the woman’s hand with his thumb. It looks like a soothing gesture but he’s studying her. Feeling for joints and tendons, mapping out muscle and sinew in his mind. Always curious. Always envisioning some new gruesome project. “The doctor is perfectly capable alone, but things will go faster with the both of us. We’ll do everything we can for your husband.” 

“I know you will,” the woman says. “The Emperor sent you to us, I know He did. I thank Him for it every morning.” 

“If I could have your opinion on something, Feron…?” you say, a hint of urgency in your voice.

He regards you with faint amusement. “Of course,” he says smoothly. He stands to his full towering height, nodding goodbye to the woman, and follows you down the hall. 

For a while, you don’t say a word to each other. The man walks beside you in complete silence, hands in the pockets of a long jacket, stealing leering glances at you out of the corner of his eye. You unlock the operating chamber and he steps through first. The door shuts behind you. Then a thicker steel barrier snaps closed. Then a soundproofing barrier and comms shield crackles to life. The window shutters close and the lights flicker. There’s a faint whirring sound of something mechanical coming to life and then the entire chamber starts to descend like a slowly sinking elevator. 

“Having fun?” you ask him.

He chuckles, smoothing his hand up the unconscious man’s leg like a butcher fondles a cut of meat. “Yes,” he says brightly. “I am. The concept of ‘bedside manner’ is entertaining. I’m enjoying it immensely.” You ignore him, focused on the carnic-incubator on the counter. You bend slightly, peering into the hazy glass. A pile of chunky organic slush bubbles in a glass dish. It will grow steadily, congealing from red jelly into a veiny, bulbous mass of muscle with a series of fleshy tubes on top—a new heart. “You used my stasis generator.” The words are as quiet and nonchalant as always, but there’s a subtle sharpness lurking somewhere in his voice. A touch of sadistic glee.

“It was an emergency,” you insist.

“Yes, yes. Regardless, we have an agreement, do we not?” His eyes narrow in delight at your visible misery. 

“Yes,” you say reluctantly. “We do.” If you make use of his equipment, he makes use of your time. 

The operation chamber seems to descend forever. Being stuck in such close quarters with him makes you nervous, especially when he starts to pace and change. Feron, as far as your patients know, is a blessing. A kind stranger shepherded to Carea Prime by divine guidance, a healer with the knowledge to help you run the clinic and save even more of the Emperor’s faithful. They didn’t ask too many questions about where he came from or why, and why would they? That would be ungrateful, borderline blasphemy. As long as you don’t denounce him, he might as well be holy. 

And you can’t do that. Your truce is one of mutually assured destruction. The moment you make your move, he’ll drag you down with him. 

“I have so many new projects. What should I have you help me with?” he wonders aloud. As he paces, wandering back and forth at the head of the gurney, his silhouette unravels. He grows taller, his limbs longer, elongating into a willowy, alien shape. His fleshcraft is peerless and the change takes mere moments, each alteration accompanied by a sickening crunch of rearranging bone and tissue. For a moment, he is fully protean—a lump of featureless flesh that gradually carves itself into being. He can look like anything and anyone but he chooses his favorite face tonight—the one that first cornered you and struck this devil’s bargain.

His skin takes on an unnaturally sunstarved pallor and his hair turns ink black, spilling long and unbound down his back. Uncaring of his audience, he discards his clothes and pulls new ones from a cabinet, dressing himself in an ensemble of loose, flowing robes and bone-like clasps that cinch everything to a form-fitting extreme. He has four arms, each long and bony with a clawed index finger. Protrusions of bone like tapering horns jut from either side of his head forming a crescent. He takes the time to wind his hair around them, keeping the long dark strands from dragging on the floor.

This is him. The real him, or as close to real as it can be for a creature that can change itself so easily; Indrakkis the Visager, a drukhari haemonculus.

“Any thoughts, Doctor? I’m open to suggestions.” Your defiant silence makes him chuckle. “Poor darling thing. What’s that precious maxim of yours? ‘Do no harm?’” 

“You did this, didn’t you?” you ask him.

He turns towards you, two arms up tying his hair, the others flicking through the projected display of a crystalline clipboard. He has six eyes arrayed like a spider, the shape and pupils differing in each. “This?” he asks, gesturing to the patient. “Hardly. Mass panic and excavation machinery are rarely a wise combination.”

“The earthquake,” you insist.

“Of course. I was getting bored and the previous batch of experiments have all expired.” He pauses, glancing up from the clipboard with all of his eyes narrowed. “I had a fascinating conversation with that creature in the waiting room. Do you know what she asked me in a moment of vulnerability?” You frown tightly. He’s going to tell you no matter what you say. He smiles. Beyond the gaze of outsiders, he feels no need to perform authentic emotion. His expression is all sharpness and malice. “She asked if I had considered proposing. To you.”

You take another look at the incubator. A terrible mistake—Indrakkis has crossed the room in the time it takes you to turn around, long fingers dragging up the nape of your neck. 

“A proposal,” he muses. “That’s the local custom to suggest mutual monogamy, is it not? A gesture of romance and devotion.” 

“I’m sure you thought that was hilarious,” you say. 

“I did. And then I was intrigued. How, precisely, had she come to read such peculiar intentions into my actions towards you? But perhaps it makes perfect sense.” He rests his hands on your shoulders. The other two slide lower, caressing your sides. “I’m known to be eccentric among my peers for my physicality. There’s no better way to know a subject than to experience it tactilely.” 

He steps forward, pushing you against the counter. One of his hands traps your hand beside the incubator. Another presses your palms together, lifting your fingers to expect. He keeps moving the other hands up and down, that sliding, sensual touch never stopping. 

“And you are fascinating,” he gushes. “A one-of-a-kind specimen. Your resilience…your resistance to poison…your body’s natural capacity for healing. This is what happens when expert fleshcraft is permitted to flourish in the recombinant chaos of sexual reproduction. If only your ancestors were not so insistent on cloning as the sole method of procreation.” He leans over you, bringing one of his hands up to stroke your cheek. “Sometimes,” he purrs, “one learns far more by surrendering control.”

You’re spared his undivided attention when the operation chamber shudders to a stop. Heavy steel panels lift, unsealing the room. In the back, where there was a solid wall before, there is now an opening and a long, dark corridor lit by eerie green lanterns. Indrakkis untangles from you but one sharp-clawed finger taps beneath your chin, turning your gaze up to meet his. 

“What do you think, Doctor? Should we get married?” The sickened mix of contempt and revulsion in your eyes makes him laugh. “It would be better for our alibi. Two strangers brought together by fate, finding love at the edge of the galaxy? Your people love a good story.” 

You slap his hand away. “Let’s just get this over with,” you mutter. 

“Always so matter-of-fact. Where is your whimsy, my dear?” 

Indrakkis sighs in disappointment but he can sense he’s wrung all the shock he can out of you for now. He makes a beckoning motion with his hand and you hear footsteps coming down the subterranean passageway. A group of figures files silently into the operation chamber, fanning out around the unconscious man. They are taller than you but not nearly as towering as Indrakkis. Their broad, scar-covered chests are bare, the robes around their waists drawn tight by the plates of armored corsets in a simplistic, brutal imitation of Indrakkis�� more elegant clothing. Each wears a metal mask that obscures their features.

“Master?” one asks. They all look to Indrakkis, waiting with bated breath for his orders. 

Indrakkis, in turn, looks to you with an expectant smile. “Doctor?” he prompts. You hate this. You hate when his butcher-servants turn to you instead, all of his authority temporarily in your hands. You pretend they’re students. Nurses. Surgical assistants. Anything but what they really are.

“He must survive,” you tell them, your tone firm. “Apply constant regenerative treatment at low intensity to the abdominal cavity. Remove damaged tissue and sterilize the wound. The heart must be transplanted, and the rest of the organs are to be grown in-situ. The seeds are incubating in the lower tray. You will reactivate the stasis field when you’re finished so I can verify that you’ve followed instructions. I will not be happy if anything is amiss. Am I understood?” 

They bow in unison and then the room fills with bustling movement. Indrdakkis drapes an arm over your shoulders and another rests on your hip. “Just when I start to think you’re a tedious softling without an interesting bone in your body, you surprise me,” he says. He grins at you. “When you look at someone as though they’re a worm beneath your boot, you have your grandmother’s eyes.”

No one knows that a haemonculus has made his lair under the surface of Cardea Prime. He’s well-hidden, tucked beneath the tainted ground of the Ghostwood where nothing and no one would dare to look. There’s a gate down here somewhere, a massive arch of strange material left behind by the first beings to set foot on the planet long ago when it was only a lifeless rock drifting through the cosmos. Indrakkis leaves sometimes, passes through the gate’s shimmering membrane and vanishes for days or weeks at a time, before suddenly returning. 

“You didn’t ask me about your grandmother,” he says, sounding disappointed. “I have more stories about her, you know. Millennia’s worth. She was my dearest confidant, a true visionary. Her talents were wasted in the cult of Luna, but here in these tunnels, she at last had an equal and so did I.” He peers down at you with a condescending smile. “You pale in comparison, but you’re still young. With my instruction, you might yet become something remarkable.”

You don’t look at him. Indrakkis chuckles but your refusal to respond is starting to grate on his nerves. He sinks his claw into your shoulder, sinking through your clothes and piercing the skin. 

Countless chambers line the hall, each spacious with a high ceiling and walls lined with blood-spattered metal gurneys, examination tables, barred cages, liquid-filled stasis pods, and many of them are occupied. Indrakkis and his servants are opportunistic predators and disasters are their banquets. Bodies have a habit of going missing on Cardea Prime. 

“Ah, here we are,” he says. He stops before one room in particular, two arms crossed over his chest, a third pressed against the transparent glass wall. “The newest batch. Not particularly remarkable specimens, but the quantity of the flesh is far more important than the quality in this instance. I was thinking…”

You’re not listening. In that room, strapped down and squirming on metal slabs, are the missing men from the mines. You knew they’d be here. That’s how it works. But it’s been so long since you’ve resorted to using Indrakkis’ tools. You’ve forgotten how horrible this place is. Each of them is badly wounded already, limbs crushed and bodies bludgeoned by the force of the tunnel collapsing on top of them. A group of wracks, Indrakkis’ masked accomplices, walk down the aisles between each writhing, agonized body, taking samples and injecting healing serum. 

Indrakkis always does this. He sutures them back together, mends their bones, bandages their wounds. He nurses them back to perfect health before he takes them apart again, piece by piece, until what is left screams to be allowed to die. 

A hand wraps around your throat and lifts you off the ground easily, slamming you back against the glass. Your legs kick and your fingers scrape against his wrist but it just makes him laugh. Indrakkis leans in until he’s all you can see, arched over you like an animal preparing to disembowel prey. He presses his thumb down on your windpipe, sighing in pleasure at the flare of panic in your eyes. 

“Do you still think you’re going to get out of this somehow?” he asks, all six eyes arching in amusement. “You’ll flee somewhere? Manage to get off world? Tell someone about the horrible monster lurking in the depths of Cardea Prime? Let me remind you that this planet would send you into the jaws of the Inquisition right alongside me.” He lets you breathe and you gasp desperately, trying to ease the pain in your burning lungs. “To your people, I am a xenos. Of course I deny the divine right of the Corpse Emperor. I know no other way,” he sneers. “But you are a heretic. For you to do the same is an abomination, a rejection of your own humanity. That is the thinking of this decaying empire. You would do well to remember that.” 

He drops you and you crumple, landing hard in a heap at his feet. Indrakkis crouches down in front of you. You experience what the woman in the waiting room did—his cloying, practiced kindness, gentle fingers wiping away your tears and stroking your hair as he whispers that it’ll all be alright. It makes your skin crawl. 

He holds you still, gripping your shoulders while his other hands frame your face. You start to struggle when he leans in closer, his breath warming your lips. “We’re in this together, darling,” he says. “You don’t have to enjoy it, but it might be easier if you do.” You can feel him smirking when he muffles your miserable, hopeless scream with his lips.