#not me projecting because I do indeed cry immediately if I get very angry

[auspicioustidings]

Firewatch Part 5

Summary: You are just an emotional mess, but you at least have the beginnings of a plan to escape.

No smut but lots of angst. I'll level with you, reader is just a wreck in this part with the view that she will get her shit together once she's settled a little.

Words: 1.8k

John left you alone in that damn office for an hour to “calm down”. Had brushed a large hand down your side and squeezed firmly at your waist before he left and you had been indignant at the way that had made you feel. And then you just had to pace, angry and imagining other ways that could have went. You had nowhere to put all of these feelings but to burn through daydreams in your head.

You imagined a version of you that could have beaten him in a fight and ran. You imagined that you tried to swing at him only for his hand to catch your fist, for him to force you over the desk and smack your ass raw in punishment. He seemed like a controlled man, probably wouldn’t even bully himself inside of you. No, he would leave you there sore and wet and wanting. It made you angrier that your daydreams kept drifting into eroticism rather than staying put at violence.

Banging at the door and screaming bloody murder had at least burned off some of your anger right up until Johnny started to yell right back at you.

“Let me the fuck out of here!”

“Ye let Simon go tae spend two weeks alone on that tower! How awful tae have to sit in a warm office for an hour knowing that if ye could just calm the fuck doon and play nice ye’d get out! Something tells me ye’ll survive such an indignity!”

“Oh get absolutely fucked! Don’t act like this is somehow my fault for being angry! And it’s Price who’s making him, not me!”

“Aye Price is making him for you! Because ye had tae go be a bitch about the whole thing!”

You heard a scuffle then. Sounded like Gaz had gotten into a fist fight with him and you were overwhelmed with the urge to cry. While you had always been a little hot-headed, you hated being properly angry. It was a feeling that always burned through you quickly and left you raw and hating yourself.

You should have relished them turning on each other, but it made you feel like you had swallowed lead. Your face felt hot and your throat felt tight and you bit back a sob. Johnny hated you, he had called you a bitch. He’d hate you even more now that Gaz had hit him over it. It should not make your heart throb so horribly. What if you had just snuggled right back into him this morning? He was sweet and handsome and funny and he had adored you and you could have lay there in that warmth until Gaz had brought you both breakfast and then climbed under the covers with you. God you hadn’t realised how sick you were of being alone. You wanted Dosia.

“That’s enough!”

You flinched at Price’s sharp shout, the silence after tense. You wished they would yell again so your attempts to not cry so loudly were not as obvious. But in trying so hard to keep it in the sob that did escape was loud and shuddering and horribly embarrassing. God you were pathetic, you hated this. You hated being angry and you hated yelling at people and having them yell at you and you wanted to crawl under a duvet and sleep for fifteen hours. It was a horrid thing to hate your own anger, to find it an ugly thing but have it be one that visited quickly and often. Usually it was only a short outburst, not this prolonged simmer that ended in you screaming at someone through a locked door. That ended in you sending a man into 2 weeks of misery.

You wished you could hold onto the anger, it would be better than the shame. Better than the hatred you suddenly felt for yourself. The door clicked open and even still there was silence. Whatever fight had happened, it had stopped now. 

“Oh luv, c’mere.”

You shouldn’t have done it, but Kyle’s open arms were so inviting as you buried your head into his chest and let him hold you and massage soothingly into the back of your neck.

“Soap just has a short fuse, he’ll calm down. He owes his life to Simon, so he can be a right git where he’s involved,” he explained softly.

“He hates me.”

It was ridiculous that those should be the words you managed to sniffle out against his warm chest. Not “you kidnapped me”, not “let me go”. No, “he hates me.” Because if you were honest with yourself, you didn’t want him to hate you. You wanted him to like you despite that being what landed you here in the first place. You wanted him to like you but you wanted it to be the way normal people liked one another. You wanted to be in your own cottage, dancing around nervously getting ready for a cute date with him. Not like this.

“No luv, how could he ever hate you hm? How could he hate my pretty girl? Our beautiful, brave girl.”

He sounded heart-wrenchingly sincere and you wanted so much to give in to the comfort that gave you. He was so gentle yet firm in his embrace, holding you at just the level of tightness that felt right and pressing his cheek into your hair. How could this man be the same one that had taken you and wouldn’t let you leave?

“S-Simon hates me too.”

You understood why, how pathetic a thing you were.

“That’s enough of that little bird, nobody hates you.”

Oh, oh that was Price. You couldn’t see him with your head buried in Gaz’s chest, but you felt the heat of him at your back. Not 30 minutes ago he had told you he’d make you forget there was ever a time you didn’t want to be here and already your body wanted it to be true. The heat of his hand pressing to your waist again was a terrible kind of delicious, the kind you could gorge yourself on. 

The worst part was he could tell. You knew he could tell because of the way his breath hitched just a little at how you relaxed into the touch. How that in turn made Gaz’s head move so he could trail his lips from behind your ear down your neck. Your shortness of breath wasn’t coming from crying anymore. You should stop them. You needed to stop them. 

“Going to let me prove it to you? Show you how far any of us feel from hate?” Price whispered huskily into your ear, his body pressing against yours so you could feel that his cock was hardening against you. 

He slid a hand to your neck, squeezing slightly before using his thumb to tilt your chin up and away from Kyle’s chest. You went without a fight, letting him tilt your face up so he could kiss you. There was no soft peck and build up, Price was immediate and confident in sliding his tongue past your teeth and asserting an easy dominance over yours. The craning of your neck towards him gave Kyle all the access he needed to give soft attention to the aching mark there, leaving butterfly kisses and kitten licks all over the sore skin.

You got miserably wet very fast. And despite that you were going to stop them, you really were. You had one hand on Gaz’s shoulder for support, the other craned back onto Price’s hair and you were going to push and pull them away. You swore you would have. It wasn’t like you’d have just given in so easily to your bloody kidnappers. Even if today had been terrible and stressful and you were so completely strung out that anything that would help you relax would have been a Godsend. You would have stopped them.

“Ye’ll naw mind if I interrupt. Just taking out some extra water tae the tower since Simon will be there in the blazing heat for two weeks.”

The cold venom in Johnny’s tone made you scramble to get away from Kyle and Price, gaping like a fish as you looked at his furious expression and tried to come up with some justification. It was impossible to think of one. You had rinsed through fear and anger and grief and landed on lust? You had spent the last year struggling to settle into the town, always the strange outsider girl covered in paint and scratches, and you were desperately lonely? You craved the touch of another human against your skin, it made you feel less like the world was closing in? When you had woken up after the fire and there was a caring, affectionate body there you had been happy and you wished so much that this could have went a different way, that they had taken you back here purely to recover? That maybe you would have decided to stay on your own, or maybe you could rebuild your cottage with their help and visit each other often and warmly?

None of that justified what had just happened. Because things weren’t different, things were as they were. You had been kidnapped. They had faked your death. You had let Simon be punished for biting you and screamed at Johnny and then let yourself melt into Price and Gaz so easily in the same hour. Fuck, you were a mess. 

Gaz and Price seemed at least a little repentant as well, backing off with Price sighing and saying he would come with. There was both a warning in his tone and an apology. He didn’t look at you as they left, both out of the cabin without another word. 

“Shit.”

Gaz’s curse sounded stressed, but at least he looked at you. He looked at you like you were a team, in this mess together. You both stood staring at one another, unsure of what to say. A loud meow caused Gaz to jump and you laughed at that, the sound punching nervously out of your lungs. 

“Better feed my girls huh? C’mon luv, we’ll cook enough for when Soap and the Captain are back, they’ll be less pissed after they’ve eaten.”

You couldn’t help but wonder if you wanted them to be less pissed. As Gaz fed your cat you thought that maybe the emotional wreck you had been today would work to your advantage. Kyle was a good man, you were so sure of it. Something settled in your mind as you made dinner with him. If you could push Price and Johnny to really get mad at you, then Kyle would take you away from here. 

It may not have been a good one, but for day one of captivity, any plan would do.

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

Talk to me, please! [Oliver Wood x Reader] - Requested

Title: Talk to me, please! Pairing: Oliver Wood x Slytherin!Female!Reader Word count: 4.2k Published: 8 October, 2020 Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore Warning: Swearing Notes: I got this request from @leeayda04​ and I just loved writing it <3 Now I didn’t know if I was supposed to write male or female, therefore I went with female, but do let me know if you want me to change it.  Summary: After your fight with Oliver, you decide to make him suffer a little. Unfortunately things slowly get out of hand and you don’t know how to turn things around, before you lose him. Request: [x]

“Hey! I was wondering if you can make a one shot where oliver is dating reader the popular charming slytherin and he kept forgetting about thier date that make reader furious and end up having a big fight where reader gave him silent treatment” - @leeayda04​

Harry Potter Characters Masterlist | Masterlists

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Oliver was a sweetheart. The sweetest boyfriend you have ever had. He always made sure to shower you with his love, he held onto your hand as if he never wanted to let go, he hid face in the crook of your neck just to feel a tad bit closer. If you didn’t stop him, he would have screamed to the whole Great Hall how much he loved you.

You were quite popular, and Oliver prided himself in calling you his, only his. You have had quite a few people around you who wished the two of you would break up already, wanting a chance with you finally, but you two were way too in love to care.

There were some Gryffindors who whispered behind your back, and grimaced at the sight of you together, but he ignored the disgusted looks he got for being in a relationship with you, a Slytherin, because he adored you more than he thought he could show.

Whilst he was indeed the best boyfriend in your eyes before, things have changed recently. To the worst.

You were sitting in Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop, your eyes wandering towards the door every couple of seconds. Your eyes shot up as you heard the bell above the door each time it opened, but he was never the one to step into the shop.

You looked at your muggle watch, which you got from Oliver for your 17th birthday. You furrowed your brows as you realised he has been late for over an hour already. You heaved a deep sigh, storm of thoughts swirling around in your head. You placed the leftover of your cup of tea on the top of the saucer, before standing up, placing your jacket over your shoulders and leaving the café behind.

You wanted to scream, you wanted to cry, you wanted to tell him what an ignorant boyfriend he has become, but you just couldn’t form the words you wanted to say. Until now. The tightening feeling in your chest, the little ball in your throat made your jaw clench. You shouldn’t have felt as if you have gotten used to this feeling. You were angered by Oliver’s behaviour. He has always been the kindest, sweetest boyfriend you ever had, but recently the boy had been everywhere but beside you.  

It was not the first time he didn’t appear on your date, nor the second or third. You have warned him on numerous occasions, but the boy seemed to prioritise everything, but you. His excuses were always the same. He got busy, he had an extra quidditch practice, he had to study. It was getting tiring and you couldn’t swallow it anymore, it was too much.

You strutted towards the Gryffindor common room, your steps loud and hurried against the concrete ground. You expected the stairs to go on about their way and make it harder for you to get to the boy, they were moody after all, but everything seemed way too smooth as if you were supposed to let your anger out on the boy.

You barely reached the Gryffindor common room, a student just leaving, the door still opened behind him. You quickly stood in front of it, sliding through the hole, immediately facing your boyfriend’s laughing form on the couch.

Oliver was seated on a sofa in front of the fireplace, the Weasley twins seated on his right side, whilst each Percy and Lee occupied an armchair for themselves.

“Khm.” You cleared your throat to get Oliver’s attention, but he didn’t seem to hear you. Fred looked at you first, followed by his brother George. You found it easy to make a difference between them, you have been around them for far too long.

It wasn’t a good relationship at the beginning, but slowly they started to warm up to you, even if they still enjoyed teasing you here and there. However, looking at the deathly glare you projected at them, they knew better than to try anything.

Fred nudged Oliver’s shoulder who was in a conversation with Percy. You didn’t really concentrate on what they were talking about, you only caught a couple of words about lessons and exams. Oliver looked at Fred with a raised brow, before he followed his eyes, finding you staring at him with a stern look, raised brows and folded arms in front of your chest.

“Love, what are you doing here?” He asked nonchalantly, making you frown at the clueless boy.

“I think that should be my question.” You hissed in anger. “You shouldn’t be here, instead you should have been with me in Hogsmeade.”

“Oh, for Godric’s sake, I forgot, love. I’m so sorry. I will grab my coat and we can go.” He shot up from his seat heading towards the male dormitory, but your voice stopped him.

“Oh, no you don’t. I was waiting for you over an hour, Oliver.” You groaned and he flinched as he heard his name. You didn’t use it often, nor did he use yours. You preferred calling each other in all kinds of endearing pet names. “This is not even the first time.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” He spoke as he turned around and started walking towards you.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it, Wood.” You hissed, your jaw clenching in anger. He flinched once again, realising that the conversation was going to get heated very quickly.

“Maybe we should go somewhere private, love.” He tried to convince you, but you didn’t listen. If anything, you got even more worked up.

“Don’t call me, love and don’t try to tell me what to do!” You groaned as you stepped back from him. “Are you scared that people will realise what a shitty boyfriend you can be? Because that’s what you have been recently. At first, I understood, you are the captain of the quidditch team after all, sure you have some obligations, but it has started becoming a thing where you completely forget about me.” You didn’t even realise when you raised your voice, but at this point you didn’t even mind. You were way too upset with the boy.

“I didn’t mean to, I promise. I’m so sorry.” His guilty expression and apologetic look made you want to step closer and pull him in for a hug, but you stopped yourself. He has promised you so many times already that he would pay more attention, but recently his words meant nothing to you.

“How many times are you going to apologise? I can’t even take your words seriously anymore.”

“What?” He grimaced at your words. “What else do you want me to say? I fucked up, I apologised.” It was his turn to raise his voice this time, his Scottish accent thickening as his anger rose.

“But you keep fucking up non-stop, Wood. It’s not once or twice! You have left me; you have forgotten about me on numerous occasions. How long do I have to keep accepting your apologies when you keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again? I’m tired, Oliver.” You groaned, your tone irritated, still slightly breaking after each word.

“I don’t understand you. I told you, I’m under constant stress. We need to win the Quidditch cup, we have to focus on all the extra practices, I have to get ready for the exams, I literally am non-stop studying. I can’t always hang around you when you ask.” You have heard all his excuses before, they weren’t anything new, but the idea of you asking him to hang around you, got you worked up.

“I’m in my 7th year too. I have as much responsibilities as you do and if anything, it’s not even me who initiates to meet up, but you, so then you can completely forget about it. What do you think how it feels when your boyfriend keeps promising sweet little dates, but attends to none?” You shook your head as you exhaled deeply. “If you continue like this, you will be single before you even realise it.” You huffed.

���What?” His eyes shot up, capturing your stern gaze. His jaw hang law in surprise, his eyes wider than ever. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You will have to figure that out, Oliver.” You shook your head as you turned around and left the stunned boy behind. You expected him to come after you, to try to stop you, to try to talk to you, but he didn’t even move. He stood in the Gryffindor common room with the same shocked expression across his face as he watched the portrait hole, whilst you headed towards the dungeon, knowing you would cry the night away.

You barely arrived at your dormitory, you threw the door open and flopped down on your bed. You wanted to scream, you wanted to be angry, but instead teardrops after teardrops ran down your cheeks, heart-wrenching sobs left your lungs.

The thought of losing Oliver hurt like hell. You loved the boy more than you thought you would ever love someone, but you couldn’t put yourself through so much pain all the time. His ignorance hurt you and you just couldn’t do this to yourself anymore.

You weren’t sure if you wanted to break up with him or if you just needed some break from him to try and figure things out on your own, but you were certain that you needed to concentrate on yourself now. Only on you.

As the morning came, you woke up with bloodshot eyes, each accompanied by small puffy bags under them. Your headache was pounding hard against your skull, making you groan. You got yourself out of bed, dragging yourself over to the bathroom, almost stumbling back as you recognised your reflection in the mirror.

“Really? This is how I look because of some stupid boy? I’m pathetic.” You scoffed at the sight of you, scolding yourself. You were always a strong person, always there to support others. The sight of your pale skin, pain-filled expression and swollen cheeks gave you an encouraging kick in your backside. You were having none of this. You were stronger than to let yourself go over someone who didn’t seem to care about you.

You finished your morning routine, dressed into your uniform and walked back to your room. You halted as you felt all 3 pairs of eyes studying you with a worried look. Pansy walked up to you first, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“We heard you last night.” She said with a sympathetic look. The girl wasn’t an angel per se, but you could always rely on her. She wasn’t a social person, but those who were close to her could enjoy all the benefits her friendship included, which meant she was to kill for those she cared about, almost literally.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Pansy, but I’m fine. Things just got a bit harder recently, but I’m good.” You explained with a reassuring smile. She knew the story back and forth, but she also knew you. You didn’t have to say much, she understood that you were dealing with it on your own. She nodded in response, before she took her wand out and pointed it in your face. “Hey.” You stepped back abruptly, but she chuckled at your behaviour.

“Calm down, I don’t think you want to go out like that.” She grinned at your unappealing look. You rolled your eyes and let her perform some easy spells. As she finished, you turned around to look into the mirror beside the door and you couldn’t stop a little smile from crawling up on your lips. “Not bad, huh?” Pansy winked with a proud smirk.

“Don’t get too cocky, I’m naturally good looking.” You scoffed, before your smile turned into a playful grin.

“Right, Ms. Confidence. Let’s get some food into your system.” She shook her head as she started pushing you out the door, your other two roommates following behind.

You walked up to the Great Hall, Pansy talking about Draco Malfoy for the umpteenth time. The girl was smitten, and Draco knew about it, but he seemed to be rather ignorant towards her. You never dared to voice it to Pansy, deep down she knew, but it felt good for her to crush over someone.

As you reached the Great Hall, you immediately headed towards the Slytherin table, taking a seat beside Pansy, who decided to sit next to Draco. You chuckled at the two. Draco rolled his eyes, very obviously wishing for the girl’s disappearance, whilst Pansy just chuckled happily enjoying the boy’s mere presence. They were definitely a comical pair, but it was somewhat helpful, it lightened your mood.

You took a piece of scone from the middle of the table, buttering its top, before you shoved it in your mouth. You enjoyed the sweet taste spreading around your tongue, when you felt a presence beside you. You turned to the side where Oliver decided to take a seat, his eyes eagerly watching you. Your heart sped up, as you saw the hurtful expression he was wearing. You wanted to pull him closer, hid his face in the crook of your neck, just the way he loved it, but you didn’t move. Your logic won over your heart.

“Can we talk?” His tone was weak, almost pleading, but as guilty as you felt, you knew you shouldn’t have. It was all his fault to begin with. You scoffed and turned back to your breakfast, taking another scone and repeating the process. “Love, please.” He reached for your hand, but you just pulled it away. You didn’t look at the boy though, your new game was to pretend that he never even existed. “I’m begging you, please talk to me.” He tried again, his voice breaking your stern wall protecting you, but before you could have given in, Pansy interrupted you.

“Can’t you see she doesn’t want to talk to you? She doesn’t even want to see you, Wood. Now, off you go, your playmates are missing you.” She snarled, clear disgust showing in her voice. She never liked the boy after all, but she did ignore his existence for your sake.

“Y/N-” he started, but Pansy let out an animalistic growl. You had to swallow a laugh that was about erupt from your lungs. You didn’t look at the boy, simply waited for him to leave you be, just like he did so many times before.

He studied your face, waiting hopefully even for just a stolen glance from you, but you never looked at the boy. You didn’t want to, and it irritated you that it took him so long to understand. Finally, he stood up and left your table, heading back to his own.

“Thanks, Pansy.” You smiled sweetly as she nodded in reply and turned back to Draco.

-

Days passed by since you have last talked to Oliver. The boy was restless, apologising to you in every corner, declaring his love for you on every occasion. You felt weak against him. You have never kept such a distance between you and whilst you were strong on the outside, you wished nothing but to throw yourself into his arms, enjoying the warmth of his body against you.

Oliver was also at a breaking point. He scolded himself for his ignorance in each and every waking moment. He didn’t know what to do, he felt useless, nothing he has tried worked. You built up a wall between you and he had no idea how to take it down. He knew what an idiot he has been, and he kept beating himself up for it, but he was running out of ideas on how to get you back. 

He couldn’t have known that you were slowly giving in and you couldn’t have known that he was slowly giving up.

Oliver was sitting in Potions, listening to Professor Snape, his complete attention on the teachers. You tried to steal secret glances from the boy, but he didn’t return them. This was the first time he didn’t try to look at you, he didn’t send you apologetic notes, he didn’t ask one of his friends to convince you to talk to him. Were you losing him? Your chest painfully tightened at the thought. You didn’t want to give in to the negativity, it wasn’t lost yet. That wasn’t possible, you wanted to believe.

A piece of scrunched up parchment flew over to your table, your heart jumping in anticipation. You looked at Oliver once again, but he firmly concentrated on his notes, instead of searching for your reaction. You looked down on your table, opening the piece of paper.

I’m guessing Oliver and you are finally over. Go on a date with me, love. I’m sure you would enjoy my company.

Be at the Slytherin common room entrance on Saturday by 11am. I don’t accept a no; we both know it’s been coming.

Marcus

You frowned at the note, a grimace spread across your face. You turned around to look at Marcus Flint, captain of the quidditch team of your house, arch enemy of Oliver. You shook your head in a reply, a silent scoff leaving your lips. As you turned back around, you caught Oliver’s eyes, your heart skipping a beat as your gaze locked. However as quickly as it came, Oliver turned away, not wanting to see you. He was just as hurt as you were.

The week slowly passed by, but Oliver haven’t tried to get close to you again. If anything, it was his turn to ignore you and you didn’t know what to do about it. You wanted to walk up to him and apologise for ignoring him, but your pride was winning over your heart every time.

You sat at your table in the Great Hall, hunched above your lunch, your face hidden behind your palms. You kept heaving deep sighs, Pansy groaning at your annoying behaviour. You tried to ignore the younger girl; she didn’t have enough experience to know how it felt being eaten up by your own stupid thoughts.

You huffed as you pushed your face further into your hands, wanting to disappear. You didn’t expect a hand to grab your arm and pull you up from your place.

“Was I not clear enough?” You stumbled as Marcus pulled on you, his hands painfully wrapped around your arm, surely leaving red marks on the surface of your skin. “It’s past 12pm already. Did you try to stand me up? I think I have clearly told you that I don’t accept a no.” He growled as he started pulling you after him, dragging you out of the Great Hall, numerous pair of eyes on you.

You tried to pull your arm out of his firm grip, but the boy was stronger than you. “I did tell you I didn’t want to go with you.” You groaned as you pulled on your arm again, but your attempt was once again unsuccessful.

“If you haven’t noticed, I wasn’t asking you. We are going on a date.” He hissed in anger as he dragged you after him. You struggled against his hold, before a second hand joined in, holding on to the same arm Marcus lead you by. You looked up to see Oliver, who pulled your arm back, forcing Marcus to let you go.

All of you halted as you massaged your arm, a bright red handprint decorating the surface of your skin. Oliver’s jaw clenched, his gaze full of anger as he watched Marcus with a disgusted grimace.

“What do you think you are doing?” He asked your housemate, his low and firm tone even scaring you for a second.

“I’m taking her on a date.” He hissed, clearly upset about Oliver’s arrival.

“I don’t think so.” He stepped in front of you. You wanted to stand up for yourself, you didn’t want to feel like a damsel in distress, but you were dancing on a thin line and you didn’t dare to risk the last hope he was giving you by helping you out.

“I don’t think you have a say in it, Wood.” He scoffed, clearly annoyed by Oliver’s behaviour.

“She doesn’t seem to want to go with you.” He looked back at you for confirmation and so you shook your head. “I strongly suggest you disappear now, Flint.” He growled, his tone almost animalistic, his voice threatening.

“Why, what are you going to do, huh?” Marcus taunted the boy. You couldn’t see the face Oliver was making, let alone if he has whispered something, but Marcus took a step back, his jaw tightening in anger. “Enjoy yourselves, then.” He spit in anger, before he turned on his heels and left the two of you behind. You frowned at the unexpected events; a confused look spread across your face as you looked up at Oliver.

“You okay?” He asked as he finally looked at you, or your arm at least, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You replied as you hid your arm behind your back. “Thank you. For helping me.” You offered him a small smile, but he didn’t return it.

He simply nodded. “It’s okay.” He heaved a deep sigh, not knowing what to do, just like you, standing in front of him, not finding the right words. “Well, see you.” He spoke up again, tears pricking your eyes as you realised the most you could muster was an awkward conversation. It slowly started downing on you that your relationship was indeed over with Oliver and when he walked past you, heading back to the Great Hall, it felt like he was walking away for the last time.

You didn’t have the power to turn around, you just watched the floor in front of you, trying to understand when it has all gone bad. You removed an escaped tear from your cheek and sniffled as you tried to get yourself together.

“Y/N?” You heard his voice from further away. You quickly cleared your cheeks and turned around with a fake smile plastered across your face. He heaved a deep sigh, making you wait in anticipation, before he continued. “I know I have done some pretty shitty things, but I never meant to hurt you intentionally, you know that right?” He asked, his gaze filled with guilt.

“I know, you didn’t.” You were struggling against the tears that wanted to escape, but you firmly held them back.

“I know you probably don’t want to see me, nor do you really want to talk to me, but-“ he gulped loudly, trying to find the right words, fearing of pushing you away even further. “when you walked out of the common room, I didn’t believe you were really giving up on us. I really thought we could solve it just like always.” You wanted to scream at him, you wanted to tell him off for thinking you have given up on him. “I’m really sorry for disappointing you.” He gave you a saddened smile.

“I’m sorry for ignoring you.” You blurted out, but you didn’t regret it. “I just thought you would deserve to feel how hard it is to be ignored. I never thought it would actually get this far.” His eyes widened in surprise, but you couldn’t see it, your gaze was fixed on your shoes, drawing random patterns on the ground.

“You didn’t want to break up with me?” He asked, his tone full of hope. Your eyes shot up as you quickly shook your head. “Do you think, maybe we could try again? I know my words don’t weigh much, but I don’t want to give up on us, I really want to show you how much I care about you, how much I love you.” He stepped closer, stopping right in front of you.

“I want to, but I’m scared. You really did hurt me.” You sighed deeply.

“I know, I did.” He whispered, reaching for your hands as he took them into his, caressing the back of your hands with his thumbs. “I promise to pay attention to you more, just like I did before. Being apart made me realise that I want nothing more than being with you.” He confessed, his voice defeated, but still hopeful. “Please, love.” His pleading chocolate brown eyes, his guilt-filled, apologetic tone was all you needed.

“I can’t say no to you, can I?” You chuckled sweetly, a sound he has been craving to hear once again. His arms sneaked around your waist, yours wrapped around his neck, engulfing each other in the warmest hug you could possibly share. He hid his face in the crook of your neck, finding his favourite spot, your presence making him relaxed once again.

“Thank you so much.” He murmured against your neck, his breath tickling your skin, making you chuckle.

“I love you, Oliver. But you better not break my heart again.” You scolded him as he pulled back, his eyes meeting yours.

“Not even in my nightmares.” He shook his head, leaning closer and hinting a lingering kiss on your forehead. “I’d rather you broke my heart.” He whispered as he leaned down to your lips, kissing you feverishly, hoping to recover the amount of intimate moments you could have spent together, loving each other just like you did before.

Taglist: @inkhearthes @hufflefluff-writer @fific7 @haphazardhufflepuff @obsessedwithrandomthings @kalimagik @accio-rogers @pcseidcnsvoid @harrypotter289 @nebulablakemurphy @firewhisky-kisses @iliveiloveiwrite @mytreec @chaoticgirl04 @idont-knowrn @mayaaa-l @imboredandneedalife @pregnant-piggy @prongsies @holdupwhat @ravenclea @kashishwrites @izzytheninja @timogtrrz @wassup-peoples @levylovegood @msmimimerton @nhcwdw 

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[juminsmysticmc]

Hello! Can you do a situation where MC is very independent and takes care of everything. She doesn’t like relying on other and so when she is up at 3am in a separate room having a breakdown from stress thinking someone close to them is going to cut them out of her life. How would the RFA+duo react? Thank you!

RFA + Minor Duo with an independent Mc who is stressed 

You didn’t need to call me out like this, dear XD Well, that’s mostly the reason why I am not updating so much these days, hahaha. I just can’t handle my own stress...well, let’s not talk about me but about this HC. My friend last time told me, after I called her because I couldn’t handle it anymore, that communication was the key. I told her, that I knew but I still didn’t approach the people who made me feel as if they were better off without me. This lead me to cut the contact, telling them that I would leave the group and come perhaps back. Luckily one of them asked me what was wrong and made me talk. If we now maybe come to talk about it, it will get better. But you guys, remember. You need to talk.

Jumin

His beautiful wife was his pride.

Always laughing.

You were independent and you knew what you had to do.

The fact that you were so independent made him fall deeply in love with you.

He knew himself that being like that with him wasn’t easy since he wanted to control and support you with everything.

But knowing that you could actually take over a department in his company and that you loved to work hard, made him very happy.

What he didn’t know was that there were three co-workers that you had to fire since they were charged with stealing and everyone else only worked part-time.

That meant that you had to cover everything else, not telling him anything about the hard work.

You were just too scared that he would leave you if you caused the project to fail.

You stayed overtime many times, lying to him that you were at a friend's place or something similar just so he wouldn’t notice that you were trying your best on your own.

One day you actually came home almost at midnight after you forgot to watch the time.

Instead of greeting him, you quickly went into your own room and had a breakdown.

The world was spinning and the tears wouldn’t stop.

You immediately fell on the ground and pressed your face into your hands, sobbing loudly.

You were just so scared that Jumin would leave you.

But suddenly, just when that horrible thought haunted you, he opened the door and hugged you, patting your head and waiting for you to talk.

,,I’m scared,’’ you told him.

,,Don’t leave me… but please help me… I can’t handle the work anymore… It’s so hard…!’’ you cried louder.

,,Co workers were stealing things and everyone else was part-time… I can’t handle it anymore!’’ you sobbed.

,,Mc,’’ Jumin whispered your name in a deep voice, holding your cheeks in his hands.

,,I love you. This isn’t a reason for me to leave you. I’ll help you… Assistant Kang will support you and find five more people for your department. I’m sure that Luciel will be able to also support us. I will take a share of your stuff so please stop thinking that you have to do everything, okay?’’ The evening ended in a big cuddle season on the floor of your room with him kissing you and telling you several times that it was alright.

Zen

You watched your pile of work and felt your blood rushing up to your brain.

Currently, you were taking the role of Zen’s manager. You were also the head of the RFA and you helped Yoosung with his studies.

Besides that, you also tried to help your friend with her love life and family problems and were taking care of your mother without the help of your brother.

And as if that wasn’t enough, you were also trying your best to get in touch with Zen’s brother to make your boyfriend happy.

There was a lot you had to do, but not enough time to do everything.

The days when you actually wanted to enjoy the free time you had, your mother had something to do or your friend asked you for something.

You were actually overworking yourself.

However, you wouldn’t dare to say that to Zen.

But how many nights did you spend working?

And how often did you tell him that you ,,weren't in the mood for IT?’’

Way too often.

By now you had the feeling that there was a problem with your relationship.

,,Shit!’’ you cursed in your room on your chair.

You were just overwhelmed with emotions.

,,I DON’T WANT THIS ANYMORE!’’ you yelled and threw something to the ground.

You were angry with the world and hated yourself.

Not long afterward, someone entered the room. It was Zen.

He heard your screams from outside where he was smoking and immediately came to your room.

,,Princess,’’ he mumbled and slowly approached you. ,,What happened?’’ he asked you and stroked your wet cheek.

,,I can’t handle it anymore…’’  you sobbed and looked at him.

Without thinking twice, he hugged you and waited for you to tell him what made you feel way.

,,My brother mocked me again, telling me that it’s my fault that my mother is sick and told me to bring her to the doctor, but at that time I have to see Yoosung so I can help him study! Besides, he’s never gone with my mother…! And my friend… gosh, she is so toxic these days! If I don’t help her right away, she verbally assaults me… and it’s just too much…!’’ you finally told him.

Zen nodded and kissed your cheek.

He told you that everything would get better, taking you in his arms and carrying you to the living room where he held you until you fell asleep.

As soon as you fell into a deep slumber, he asked for support in the chatroom.

That made Jumin, even though he hated it, find a doctor for your mother who could actually meet her at home and find Yoosung a private tutor for his studies. 

Saeyoung and Jaehee actually took over a share of the RFA work and Zen tried to support you with your job as his manager.

And indeed, you felt a lot better...

Yoosung

,,Well, Mc, you’re a housewife. There’s no way you’re stressed,’’ Seven said, making you feel hurt by his words.

You quietly left the chatroom and began to tear up.

Well Seven, you thought.

He didn’t know how wrong he was.

The fact that you were stressed made you feel even more stressed.

You actually had work to do.

Waking up in the morning and waking up your three children you had with Yoosung, preparing one of them for kindergarten, and making the food for your children and your husband.

Even though this seemed like daily life for others, you felt stressed.

You weren’t attractive to yourself anymore and you didn’t have any social life anymore.

It made you feel lonely.

The RFA started giving you more work since you were a ,,mere housewife’’ and the last friends you had weren’t any better. They were always causing drama and making it hard for you to talk.

And as if it wasn’t enough, you still had a family.

Your brother, who had financial problems, always asked you, and your sister, who was also stressed, needed your help a lot.

And of course, you had children. Your two teenagers sometimes made you cry for hours.

But you couldn’t tell Yoosung, so you kept handling your stress on your own.

One day you were so stressed that you broke down in the kitchen.

Your witness, your five years old kid who didn’t understand your tears, got your cell phone and called his dad, telling him that you were lying on the floor, crying a lot.

This shocked the man at work and he immediately rushed home.

,,Mc, why are you crying? Mc… what’s wrong?’’ Yoosung asked, trying to find out the reason for your tears.

Carrying you to your bed, he laid you down and stroked your face until you were finally calm enough to tell him.  

Yoosung kept listening to you and nodded to show you that he understood you. 

He promised to talk to the RFA and tell them that it wasn’t okay and also promised that he would help your brother and actually make him work at his workplace.

,,Mommy, look! I made you a cake!’’ your little boy exclaimed as he came into your room, patting your head and begging you to stop crying.

,,Oh, wow, thank you, baby. Is that… a brownie with a cracker…?’’ you asked him, chuckling.

,,Yes! I couldn’t find the candle to make you wish something…’’

,,See, we all only want the best for you!’’ Yoosung reassured you. Your two teenagers got no pocket money for the rest of the month for being mean to their mom.

Jaehee

The coffee shop was a big source of your problems and worries.

So was your girlfriend and yourself.

The daily stress in the shop was just too much.

Somehow you were scared that Jaehee was becoming more and more distant.

You just didn’t want to ask her or even tell her that you felt that way.

Besides, you were still in the middle of studying how to take over a big shop so this was stressing you out too.

But since you were way too scared to tell her and also too proud, you stayed silent.

The daily stress was getting worse and all you could do was to swallow it all and work on it on your own.

However, you just needed to cry at least once a week.

This week, Jaehee actually saw you.

,,Did a customer mock you? Did you hurt yourself, Mc?’’ she asked you, worried.

You shook your head but still didn’t tell her.

,,I’m scared,’’ you finally told her.

,,What if you leave me after I tell you the truth?’’ you asked her with teary eyes.

Jaehee shook her head and chuckled as she pressed your head against her chest.

,,Dummy,’’ she said as she patted your head.

,,I love you more than anything in the world. Why would I leave you?’’ she asked you.

And so, you began to tear up again, but this time you also told her what was stressing you out.

,,I know that it’s stupid, but that’s how I feel,’’ you mumbled.

,,Mc,’’ Jaehee quickly told you ,,don’t care about what other people think. You’re feeling that way and that’s okay because everyone is different. But it doesn’t mean that this can’t give you a hard time.

We will both find a way so that you can feel better, okay? But from now on, please tell me… I love you.’’

Saeyoung

It was getting harder and harder.

Thoughts were haunting you.

You felt as if Saeyoung was slowly regretting asking you to marry him.

The preparations for the wedding and the honeymoon were hard and Saeran was still hard to please.

The brothers, even though it didn’t seem like it, loved each other a lot, but couldn’t do anything except argue with each other.

This was causing you a lot of stress too.

And as if it wasn’t enough, your family was against this marriage, making you feel terrible.

You didn’t want them to speak ill of Saeyoung, but no matter what you told them they always had something bad to say about Saeyoung.

One day, when you forgot that Saeyoung was videotaping every room, you actually let go of all your tears.

You were feeling very vulnerable at that moment.

Fear and stress made breathing difficult and you started having a panic attack.

But your savior came just in time to hug you and pat your back.

,,I’m here,’’ he kept whispering to you until you could finally breathe normally again.

Laying with your head on his lap, you closed your eyes and told him that you were scared that he would leave you.

,,Why didn’t you tell me earlier?’’ he asked you, stroking your forehead.

,,Because I wanted to deal with it on my own,’’ you told him.

,,And it may seem stupid, but I can’t handle you and Saeran anymore. You guys keep arguing with each other and it makes me sick…!’’ you explained.

Saeyoung understood all your points.

,,I will try to change, I promise. And please don’t worry, I swear to God that I love you. I’m your 707, remember? I love you and I don’t regret anything so MC, don’t worry… and don’t try to be so independent anymore. Share your worries with me instead, okay?’’

Saeran

It was a daily fight.

Saeran still wasn’t better and needed a lot of medications.

Of course he couldn’t overcome everything into two days.

But it was still hard.

This was stressing you out.

Saeran’s fear and behavior was making you feel tired.

You were worried and scared.

As if it wasn’t enough, you guys had financial problems.

You got fired since you missed work while Ray had you imprisoned.

Of course, Jumin made sure to pay for your needs, but you didn’t like that.

You hated being in debt to somebody.

And the more you wanted to change, the more you needed his help.

Of course, the problem with the prime minister was still around and you guys still couldn’t find Saeyoung.

And so you began to work your ass off, literally.

On good days, you managed to get four hours of sleep.

You were working in a restaurant and also in a cleaning factory.

And the tasks at home also waited for you.

Of course you had some savings, but you were using them for groceries.

And so, you were currently working to pay Jumin back.

But one day, you collapsed at work.

Of course, Saeran was thinking the worst and while you laid in bed, he prayed to God to make you stay alive.

,,I’m awake now, Saeran…’’ you tried to calm him while he kept sobbing in your arms.

,,Why did you work so much, Mc? There’s no need! Your health is important!’’ Saeran lectured you.

But suddenly you teared up, making him feel bad for making you cry.

,,It’s not your fault,’’ you tried to tell him.

,,Then tell me!’’ he begged you.

And so you finally confessed to him the reason for your hardworking behaviour.

,,Mc,’’ Saeran whispered ,,Jumin is doing this instead of paying me… like, instead of giving me money, he began to give me material stuff since we needed it and he could help us out quicker… but we actually don’t have any debt…’’ Saeran chuckled and stroked your head.

,,You were worrying yourself too much…’’

,,Oh my…’’ this news luckily made you fall asleep immediately.

Saeran also had the chance to resign yourself from your jobs.

Jihyun

,,What if they take her away from us? I wouldn’t be able to handle that!’’ you cried to God in your room.

Jihyun recently went to the hospital with Lucy since the girl fell down and injured herself pretty badly.

Since every possible injury to an adopted child could be seen as abuse, you were fearing that they could take your daughter. It was your worst nightmare.

However, this wasn’t the only thing that worried you.

Your job was hell at the moment.

Everything you achieved in a small amount of time was crumbling.

Even the new friendships you managed to make got destroyed.

And it was all your fault.

You were the reason for your hard times and you knew it.

And so the tears were flowing, not letting you notice that Jihyun and Lucy came back.

,,Mc?’’ Jihyun called you when he found you and noticed you.

Surprised, you turned around, showing him your red and teary face.

,,Hey… what’s wrong…?’’ he asked you and sat down next to you.

,,Nothing… how’s Lucy?’’ you lied and wiped away your tears.

,,She’s alright. She’s in her room changing her clothes… Now, please tell me why you were crying… Were you that worried?’’ he asked you.

,,I can’t tell you, Jihyun… I’m scared that you will hate me and distance yourself from me, just like everyone else is doing right now…’’ you mumbled.

,,Who is distancing themselves from such a beautiful and perfect wife?’’

And so you ended up telling him the problems you had with your friends.

,,Mc,’’ he smiled at you. ,,I can understand that this is a very hard time for you right now. It’s okay to feel like that, but look, if they behave like this they simply don’t deserve you, you know?

You’re too good for them.

You keep trying your best for them while they just hurt you. Don’t you see that this is toxic? I can understand that you love them a lot and you’re stressed, but the best thing would be to cut contact with them…’’ he nodded.

You began to sob harder as you agreed with him.

And so you also told him about your worries regarding Lucy.

And even this could be laughed away since the doctor wasn’t even doubting this case for a second.

There was no mistake that this was just an accident.

,,See how easy it is? I can make your problems fly away in a second… Please come to me if you ever feel bad, okay? I love you and I want to support you.’’

MASTERLIST 1

MASTERLIST 2

MASTERLIST 3

18.08.2020// 02.29 MEST

[as8bakwthesage]

Reconciliation

Fundy and Wilbur reconcile after years of pain...

Fundy had been spending a lot of time with Philza, his grandfather, who was bent on adopting him. Not that Fundy was complaining, he was glad to reconnect with more of his family. His own father was so much of a disappointment in terms of family. His own uncles didn’t care about him, despite Phil reassuring him that they all did. 

“What about dad?” Fundy asked, sitting next to Phil on the dock, fishing poles in hand. There was no response from Phil for a moment before the Elohime exhaled heavily.

“You dad was… complicated, Fundy.” Phil replied honestly. “I know it may seem like he didn’t care, but truthfully, he cared so much that it hurt.”

At that Fundy raised an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and scoffed. At Philza’s questioning look, Fundy groaned. “He hurt me, he never really did anything for me. He expected me to do everything for him. Fight his wars, settle his battles, but did I ever get anything for caring about him? No, Phil, I never did.”

Phil was quiet for several seconds. Fundy could have sworn the Elohime had left but looking to his right confirmed that his grandfather was indeed there. Grandfather? What a strange term for someone who didn’t even look to be in his 40ties. Fundy had always assumed it was the Elohime aspect of his grandfather’s biology.

“I know your dad rejected you. And I know why.” Phil said softly yet sadly. Fundy’s eyes widened at that. What? Answers? After all of these years, he would have answers? Was this actually happening?! “But I can’t tell you.” At that, Fundy deflated and his hopes were dashed away immediately. “Though I think someone else can.”

Phil looked over his shoulder at something behind him. Confused, Fundy followed his gaze and his eyes widened in shock. There was Ghostbur, the remnants of his father, standing before them. The usually quite cheerful ghost looked sad and unsure of whether or not he wanted to be there. 

“Ghostbur. Thank you for coming.” Phil said genuinely. Fundy looked at his grandfather indignantly. 

“YOU invited him?!” Fundy demanded. “You know I don’t want anything to do with him!”

“Fundy, I-” Phil started but was interrupted by Wilbur.

“Dad, it’s okay.” Ghostbur said genuinely but the sadness lingered. He turned to Fundy with acceptance. “Please don’t blame Phil for this, Fundy. I wanted to talk to you about… things…”

Fundy paused, not sure how to respond to this. He settled for looking away and avoiding his dead father’s gaze. “You have answers?”

“I do, but I don’t know if you will like them.” Ghostbur said honestly yet worried. Fundy exhaled heavily, feeling his body go tense and stiff. He quickly composed himself. 

“I can take it.”

“I’ll give you two some space.” Phil said gingerly as he stood up and walked off, hands in his pockets. Fundy heard Phil pause as he passed by Wilbur before continuing. Footsteps cracked down the dock as Ghostbur closed the distance. Fundy refused to look at him still. Ghostbur sat down next to him and grabbed onto the fishing pole that Phil left behind. Fundy still would not look at him.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for several long seconds. Fundy actually didn’t mind silences, in fact, he preferred them as he worked long hours on his engineering projects and magic practice. But here it was so palpable that he could cut through it with a knife. He hated being in this situation with the person who neglected him for so long. 

“How are you feeling, Fundy?” Ghostbur asked, innocently yet genuinely. At that, Fundy’s head snapped towards Ghostbur, who looked at Fundy with honest concern and worry. Fundy scoffed at it all. 

“Don’t pretend you care, Wilbur.” Fundy growled. “You never saw me as your son.”

“I…” Ghostbur paused. “I did, Fundy… I really did… and…”

“Then why?!” Fundy yelled, which alarmed the easily spooked ghost. Fundy had tears in his eyes as he glared at his dead father hatefully. “Why did you leave me behind?! Why did you ignore me?! Why was everything I ever did for you not enough?! Why did you hate me so much?!”

Ghostbur looked to be processing all of this information with guilt and sorrow. At the ghost’s own tears, Fundy lowered his voice as he lowered his head with despair. “Why, dad..? Why..?”

“The memory…” Ghostbur admitted. “...is hard to think about.” At that, Fundy bristled as he stood up and nearly stormed off. “But I will tell you.”

That made Fundy stop and hesitate. He looked at his father with unease but also hope. He could not pass this chance up. He sat back down. Ghostbur took a deep breath before he spoke again.

“It was Sally.” He said gently. Fundy looked at him before rolling his eyes.

“Are you gonna tell me that mom was a salmon who swam away when I was born? Because I don’t really believe that anymore.” Fundy said deadpanned. Ghostbur laughed before he shook his head and smiled sadly.

“No, I know you are older now. And I know you wouldn’t believe that story as time went on.” Ghostbur said. “No, I’m going to tell you what really happened to Sally.” Fundy’s eyes went wide as saucers but he said nothing, focusing hard on Wilbur.

“Alivebur loved her so much. I… I loved her so much, Fundy. We were so happy together. She made me so happy and I made her happy. She was my world. My starlight. She was a Kitsune, a shape shifting fox creature that could take the form of a fox or human. She loved fish, you see. Salmon was her favorite.” Ghostbur explained. “We were both so happy when we learned that she was pregnant, it was as if the Gods themselves blessed us with the world... We would have given you the world.”

The Ghost paused and Fundy saw that Wilbur had started to cry. Whether they were tears of joy or sadness was yet to be determined. Fundy remained silent as Ghostbur continued.

“After you were born. She told me that you being born in a half fox and half human form was normal and that she would have trained you how to shapeshift properly…” Ghostbur’s tears were now starting to affect how he spoke. “S-She… S-She went out to the m-market one n-night to get food… S-She never c-came b-b-back…”

At this point, Ghostbur had begun to sob heavily. Per instinct, Fundy immediately hugged his father as Wilbur clutched him tightly and just sobbed into his son’s shoulder. It took several moments for Ghostbur to calm down enough to speak again as he pulled away to look Fundy in the eyes, even though it pained him so much. And Fundy could see it so clearly.

“W-We buried y-your mom under the t-tree… The L’Manberg tree before it w-was even the L’Manberg t-t-tree…” Ghostbur muttered through tears. His pale and translucent skin burned slightly at the tears running down his face. “A-After that… Alivebur couldn’t stand the pain. He only took care of you as much as he needed to… looking at you reminded him of h-her… b-but there was nobody there for him at the time… And as soon as he could… he sent you away… h-he never… I never… It hurt him so much… It hurt so much… i-it still h-hurts…” 

Ghostbur was losing his composure now and Fundy sat in disbelief and anger and sorrow and pity and understanding but yet with so much untouched sadness. He hadn’t even noticed the tears running down his face until he too was crying alongside his father. He finally understood his father, he finally understood why. But it still hurt regardless. It never would stop hurting.

“Wil…” Fundy finally spoke as Ghostbur looked ready to fall over from overexpressing himself. It definitely got the ghost’s attention when he spoke. “I understand. And it hurts me too. It has been and probably will always be hurting. I’m in pain too. You neglected me, barely showed me any affection. And I won’t forgive you for that.”

Ghostbur looked ready to cry again, and Fundy started to cry some more.

“I-I hated you, dad… I don’t know if I still do but I don’t want to! I’m tired of feeling so angry and unhappy! I’m tired of being alone. You always cared about L’Manberg more than me… But I don’t care about L’Manberg… I just want… I w-want us to be a f-family! No more blood, no more death… I want my uncles back, I want a dad who loves me and shows it!” Fundy sobbed as he shook his head and hugged Ghostbur so tightly that it might have hurt any ordinary person. 

“I know…” Ghostbur admitted, fresh tears streaming down his face as well. “And… you don’t have to forgive me… I will never ask that you do so, son.”

At that, Fundy burst into even more tears, which caused Ghostbur to cry as well. Both men sat in each other’s arms, clutching each other desperately as they cried out their emotions for the first time in a very long time. When they did calm down, they simply sat in beside each other, smiling slightly and Fundy acknowledged to himself how well it felt to cry and admit his feelings.

“We have a long way to go before either of us are ever going to be a proper family…” Ghostbur admitted as he reached a hand out for Fundy to take. “But… I’m willing to do my best to be a better dad. To be a real dad to you. The kind that I never was.”

Fundy smiled as tears welled in his eyes. 

“I’d like that very much… dad.”

He took Ghostbur’s hand. 

“Dad..?” Fundy asked. Ghostbur looked at him curiously and nodded for him to continue. “What was mom like?”

Wilbur froze before he chuckled warmly. He couldn’t help the smile that formed on his pale face. His hazy eyes glazed over with recognition and affection.

“She was like you, Fundy. Her heart was just as big as yours…”

And maybe, as the two spoke, if you were paying attention, and you swore it wasn’t some kind of hallucination, you would have seen her standing several blocks behind them.

She looked over them and missed them both dearly.

But it was probably just a trick of the light.

[tintentrinkerin]

Harness & Spears

Chapter 5: Father’s Eyes

missed a chapter? Check out my Masterlist or AO3

Researching for a case a year after they quit first feels weird to Sam, he has to get used to all the programs, his usual agenda. Today it’s so much easier with some computer skills. No more libraries, no more grainy scans of articles in local papers. Today, you just have to open a search engine app on your phone or a computer and you will be able to find dozens of cases in an hour or two. Of course, there’s still the work of sorting the wheat from the chaff, but Jack is a big help. They sit in the library together and go search for cases. Cas is really sweet to them, just like a butler he offers hot beverages and sandwiches, even though Sam must really hold him back to go full on “Yes, sir”. They want a case, and there are hundreds of them, but also, after Jack became God he brought all the hunters back that Chuck had banished. Donna and Jody, a couple now, as they announced just months after Jack’s ascend, and her girls, all in the hunter business. They heard from Eileen sporadically, but after all that happened and how uneasy Sam felt about the whole manipulation (and he was absolutely certain Chuck pulled the strings there, even though, when they originally met, Sam was drawn to her - but nothing more), she kept her distance and operated in Ireland and also all over Europe. The hunters from the other universe also just hunted in small groups. Charlie and her girlfriend retired for good. And Sam was still bitter about his own behaviour - projecting ‘his’ Charlie on this woman, who was so much different. He knew she hacked some computers every now and then to prank some potential Dicks. Sam was connected to the hunters, most of them. He has been clear about him and Dean, Cas (and later Jack) not going hunting anymore. But now things changed and Sam needed to check if any other hunters were on the cases him and Jack might find interesting. Running in another couple of hunting buddies is not a problem on a personal level, but the mutual sabotage will happen. It’s Murphy’s Law. That’s why Sam has a plan. They will take cases other hunters wouldn’t like to do. There are several reasons for hunting in the first place and reasons which cases to pursue and which not. Let noble monster hunting and cleansing the world be some hunter’s motivation, revenge, the thrill (some people really were that sick and hunted monsters for the kicks) and of course. The money. Oh yes, the money. But the Winchester conglomerate doesn’t worry about money, that’s why Sam won’t look for cases that have to do with wealthy people or towns announcing rewards. Also, when he knew the kind of monster and that a lot of hunters were after these creatures for killing their kin or loved ones, he better didn’t interfere. You could hunt monsters for their venom or psychic abilities, their blessings or whatever. Something a friend of Dean did not so long ago and got himself killed for it.

It shouldn’t be anything exotic, the New Age brought new monsters, at least that’s what Jack says.

“I was God, yes, and I knew everything that Chuck knew, but believe it or not, not even Chuck knew all of his creatures. His mind is packed with the stuff he wanted to do or not to do - if you ask me he was a little like George R. R. Martin. Got lost in his own massive universe and all the detail. I tried to give all of it structure, that’s why some things on Earth changed, but after some time I thought my head would explode and I uh, outsourced some good stuff in new universes. Amara is way better in doing all of that, she created way more universes and new forms of life as I did. She and her brother - don’t get me started.”

Jack looks exhausted. “Does it sound weird, Sam? That I wanted to be down here with you, all of you, but especially you, and give Amara all that power?”

Sam smiles about Jack’s outbreak and that he obviously read Game of Thrones. “No, it’s not weird. You were with Amara and I bet she’s very pleasant company but she wasn’t what you longed for. You didn’t want to be God who’s in every drop of rain, and all that. It was noble and pure hearted and generous of you to try, but you were allowed to fail. But, speaking of Game of Thrones, I have a few questions regarding--”

Sam is rudely interrupted in his chatter with Jack when Dean comes into the library and sits down two chairs away from Jack. Jack immediately gets up.

“Uh, Sam, I will -errm, go pack my bags. I think you will find a good case.”

Sam sighs.

“I’ll be with you soon, baby. Just gimme a minute.”

Jack is quick as a flash and out of sight within seconds.

Dean scoffs while thudding his mug on the table. Coffee pours out and stains the wood.

“Easy on the furniture Dean, it’s not your enemy”, Sam says without looking up. He can’t show Dean his face right now or he will just erupt. He feels the heat in his cheeks and a hot tickle up his neck. Since Dean threw a mug after Sam yesterday they haven’t seen each other and to be frank, Sam could totally renounce any other encounter with Dean for a while. Plus, Sam has a hickey, because Jack went a little passionate, clingy and possessive last night, for whatever reason.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt you and… baby. ” The last word is like venom. As always. Dean wants to start another fight.

“I remember that I heard you calling Cas ‘daddy’ multiple times. You think that was really soothing for my wild imagination?”

“You call Jack what he is. A baby.”

“Another word, Dean, and you know I’ll knock you out. I have enough of your bullshit. You act like a jealous housewife. No, wait, more like a cuck!”

Dean scoffs and leaves.

“Do whatever you want, but don’t do it when I’m around or I’ll tear him apart.”

Sam sits here in shock. He has heard a lot from Dean about Jack, he has always been nasty to him and yes, even threatened to kill him twice, even was willing to execute him as part of Chuck’s evil plan. Yes, he was bitter about Mary and hell, how bitter Dean has been as Jack brought so many people back. All the ‘others’: Bobby and Charlie with her girlfriend. All these people. He brought Eileen back, and Dean thought it was to make Sam happy (and yes, that has been Jack’s intention, but ultimately it didn’t) and he was resistant to the arguments, that Mary was happy with John, she didn’t want to go back in this world she never felt like she fit in. He couldn’t be comforted by the messages Jack as a medium brought to Dean, that Mary loved him no matter what and that she will be happy when they meet again. Nothing could’ve soothed Dean’s aching. Sam understands that he’s hurt, but now, it just feels like Dean is angry at Jack for simply existing and then being so bold to love Sam.

Jack brought Cas back for Dean. He had risked a feud with the Empty that could only be avoided by Amara and Jack forcefully put the Regent of the Empty asleep. The Empty wasn’t sealed though, Rowena still reigned in hell, and still demons went to the Empty. But there are no angels on Earth anymore, Jack has naphil powers and even Cas regained some faint strength back, but Jack didn’t make new angels.

Jack really built a world in which it was possible for Dean and Cas to be together, he risked being invaded and maybe killed, since no one knows how really powerful the Empty was.

Why is nothing Jack does, no matter how universe shattering, unbelievably cosmic and holy and insane it is, not finally letting Dean the old grudge go?

It seems like everything he does just makes it worse.

Sam hides his face and in the safety of his own palms he allows to cry in fear for his own spiteful brother and soulmate. This will end badly if they don’t find a way to reconcile.

“You have to stop that, Dean” Cas says when Dean is back in the Deancave.

Cas is in his robe, nothing beneath. He looks pale and a little skinny. The last weeks have been hard on him and Dean knows it’s his fault. He makes his angel boyfriend sick. And yet he’s sick himself, and he’s kicking and fighting, with talons and teeth, words and throwing things after his brother. Also, he erupts the second Cas dares to mention it.

“Stop with what?”, he asks.

He picks the remote and wants to turn on the TV, loud metal music blasting but with a snap of a finger, the TV silent and it won’t turn back on.

“Castiel. Don’t fuck with me, I swear, I’m not in the mood.”

“You’re ‘not in the mood’ for weeks, maybe months. Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong? Why won’t you let me help?”

Dean’s eyes narrow dangerously as he faces the seraph.

“Help? How could you help? My brother fucks a toddler.”

Cas sighs and it sounds so endlessly sad. Defeated. Dean doesn’t want to see it, acknowledge it, that he is indeed very wrong. Jack is no toddler, Jack is no brat, Jack is so mighty he could really smite the whole bunker with a hiccup still, even though he’s not God anymore. Dean should be so damn careful. Dean should see how much Jack begs for his forgiveness and his approval.

But Dean can’t. And Dean won’t.

“Dean.”

Dean is so full of sorrow and fear, it hurts to hear his own name so gentle, so loving yet somehow fatherly. Cas loves him and Dean should be happy. He has been happy. The Empty had taken him away and Jack had fought to get him back. So they could be a family.

But this isn’t family to Dean. He’s around the person he loves the most, the person he loves with a burning, blinding insanity. He will never be happy like this.

Cas dares to come closer, around two steps away, offers Dean a hand. Dean can’t even look at him but he takes Cas’s hand and then pulls him in a desperate embrace.

“Shit, ‘m sorry, Cas. I don’t want to fight with you.”

It’s been a while, actually the last time Dean slept with Cas was the night when Jack asked him if Sam gay. This question is carved under his skin and if you look closely, you can see them shine through like thin red scars.

The streak won’t break today either.

“Will he ever stop hating me?”, Jack asks.

He has his suitcase packed, same as a backpack with snacks, water, headphones, his teddy Marvelous Marvin, a powerbank and, something he’s very proud of - his own angel blade. The only angels on earth are Jack and Castiel but the blade kills monsters just as well. He kneads the bundle of the purple blanket in his lap when he looks up to Sam.

Sam’s still tense from before, his eyes red and narrow, Sam must look like he didn’t sleep much or has been on a bender.

“I don’t know… I wish I knew what’s wrong with him.”

With a deep sigh Sam sinks beside Jack on the mattress. The bed creaks and a spring nudges in Sam’s butt cheek. Either they need a new mattress or they move in a room together, but Sam doesn’t dare to talk about these things yet. So far, he’s happy about the privacy. But he’s also constantly longing for Jack - a stalemate.

Jack leans against Sam’s shoulder and shyly feels for Sam’s hand. Sam is too glad to take it, intertwine their fingers and kiss Jack’s knuckles.

“It makes me sick, Sam. I’m afraid all the time he’s around. I’m afraid he might want to…”

“Hurt you?”

Jack nods, his lips a thin line.

“I won’t let him. And most of all, you won’t let him. Right?”

Another silent nod.

“Don’t worry about it now, our bags are packed and I found a case. I told you about the parameters I used to find a case no one else would investigate, and this one here is especially weird, but not weird enough for us to follow, and a bit boring, but not boring enough for us to NOT follow it. We’ve been to haunted houses before, right?”

“Yes, it’s mostly vengeful spirits or poltergeists, right?”

Sam nods. “Yes, exactly. Sometimes triggered by the plans of tearing the house down, the same can happen with big bodies of water, when they are threatened to be dried out, spirits of people who drowned will start going on a rampage. Haunted houses are like level 1 of every hunter. Rocksalt, shotgun, holy water, fire. Boom, ghost gone.”

Jack frowns a little. “Really, we’re going on a case that any newbie hunter could solve?”

Sam chuckles.

“Yep.”

It’s absolutely a thinly veiled reason to go on a hunt, but it’s the same that Dean and Cas did weeks ago when Jack sneaked out. In the end they also ‘just’ took on a vampire nest with five vamps and their Creator and the rest of the time they had a blast in Vegas, why should Sam not do the same? He wants to be alone with Jack, because Dean definitely ruined the pleasant experience of the tantra massage. Sam had been so happy back then and oh, crap, he was close to do more to Jack than just the massage. He wouldn’t have slept with him on this massage table, that was utterly uncomfortable, but he had been turned on so bad, that didn’t happen very often.

Sam really falls for Jack deeply and seriously. It’s a wonderful and frightening feeling at the same time.

Jack slides on Sam’s lap and straddles him, arms tight around his neck. Jack squints a little when he’s so close, his big blue eyes will never cease to amaze Sam.

“How can you not be Castiel’s son?”, Sam blurts, his hands cupping the naphil’s face and brushing away some strands of hair.

Jack’s mouth opens slightly, his tongue sneaks out to lick his upper lip.

“I am Castiel’s son.”

“I know, I just mean, genetically. You have his eyes. Does that sound stupid, baby?”

Jack shakes his head with a grin, his neck and face turn tenderly pink.

How did the biggest monster of all create this perfect boy?

“No, not stupid. I like the way you look at me”, Jack silently admits and the blush turns berry red.

“How do I look at you?”

Sam kisses Jack’s parted lips, feels the hitched breath and how Jack tightens up his back.

“First you looked at me with fear, when I was born. Then you looked at me in sympathy, in worry… Then gentle, loving. Just now, longing… You see a man, not a child, right? That’s the look in your face how you look at someone beautiful you want to be with…?”

Sam’s big hands creep under Jack’s pullover and Jack sighs, a light shudder down his spine and this tiny, quiet noise of content.

“You are beautiful, and yes, I want to be with you. All the time”, Sam whispers, he sounds rough, feels like he needs to clear his throat.

Jack lays his hands on Sam’s and guides him down his sweatpants. Sam squeezes. A slight gasp.

“We will have a lot of time for fun stuff once we’re out of here.”

That makes Jack jerk up, jump and drag Sam on his feet.

“Come, Sam! I can’t wait to be out of here.”

[heckyeahponyscans]

Yeloli Watch Party!

Season 1, Episode 6:  Please Be My Master

English translation

We return to Shelly, who is reflecting that although the crystal piano her parents gave her is beautiful, it’s not what she wanted for her birthday. But it was still a happy day since her parents were home.

Aha! She pushed the photos apart to set the piano there!  More symbolic evidence that her parents are in a failing marriage!!

Ahem. Peacock then pushes the lid off her box and proudly claims responsibility for making sure they came home.  Since Shelly left her in the box for hours, Peacock got bored and came out on her own.

I don’t understand the rules for the fairy-dolls, with Loli it seemed like she couldn’t move until Mary made a strong commitment to her and protected her from the evil lady in black.  But Peacock’s flitting around the room like it’s nothing.

But to Mary, it is NOT nothing, to Mary it’s freaky because her doll is alive.  Which I thought she already knew, but after looking at the previous episode, all the times Peacock “talked” to her, the two of them were in a liminal space.  So maybe that was a subconscious connection.

I guess Shelly thought Evelyn was just a very, very eccentric woman selling regular dolls.

Anyway, now Peacock is undeniably walking and talking.  Shelly decides (or hopes) she’s dreaming and hides under her sheets.

Unworried, Peacock flies around to get a look at her new home.  She’s pleased to find a huge mirror (“Only a big mirror like this can reflect all my beauty”) but not pleased when . . . the evil woman in black appears in it!!  Dun daa DUNNNN!!!

The evil woman tells Peacock she chose poorly;  Shelly already has many dolls so she’ll neglect Peacock.  “She doesn’t really love you. She’ll never sign a Yeloli Contract.”

Peacock’s reply?  “Bullshit!”  (I assume it’s something milder in the original Chinese, but this still amuses me.  Thank you, Google Translate.)

Peacock tells the mystery woman to get out and throws a compact at the mirror for good measure.

“I’m free since you broke the mirror,” the woman chuckles.  Whoops.

The mysterious woman physically enters the room and summons her spirit-leopards.  Shelly hears the noise, peeks her head out, and dives right back under the bedsheets.  Now she REALLY hopes she’s dreaming!

But she isn’t, and the leopards tears the sheets away.  

Before the beast can bite Shelly, Peacock swoops in front of her and summons a magical shield.  But Peacock’s magic is in a weakened state and her shield won’t last long.  

She urges Shelly to enter a Yeloli Contract with her, to power them both up, and Shelly . . . 

. . . runs out of the room.

She dashes downstairs calling for her parents, but of course they left because they are useless.  

“Am I dreaming?” Shelly wonders again, and the evil lady gets philosophical and says, “Shelly, who knows what’s real and what’s not?”  

But she says it as she’s swooping down the stairs, cackling menacingly. (To be fair, she tried subtlety on Mary earlier and it didn’t work.)

The obviously evil woman offers to make Shelly’s wishes come true.  “You must hate that piano.  So what if I destroy it?”  Instead of waiting for an answer, she immediately has her spirit leopard destroy the piano.

Shelly is aghast, but the mysterious woman says she’s not fooling anyone; didn’t she really, in her heart of hearts, hate that piano?  Didn’t it bring her misery?

Shelly admits to herself that it’s true and we get a flashback to Shelly’s mother demanding that she play five hours a day, and Shelly crying because her hands hurt.  Wow!  Your parents suck, Shelly.

The woman in black swoops over to Shelly’s side and promises to use her magic to prevent Shelly’s mother from getting angry and to get her off Shelly’s case about being a pianist, if only she’ll give up Peacock.

At this point Peacock herself swoops into the room and is pounced on by the spirit leopard.  She urges Shelly not to listen to the offer, and indeed Shelly stands up and says, “I will not surrender to you and disappoint my mother.“ 

Ugggggh.  Shelly, I promise you it’s okay to disappoint your horrible mother who won’t let you make any friends.

Well anyway, Peacock rushes over to Shelly and offers her the feather from her headdress so they can enter into a Yeloli Contract.

Perhaps you, like me, have been thinking, “But didn’t she enter a Yeloli Contract to get Peacock from the doll store?”.  Yes, she did.  From what I can tell there are two Yeloli Contracts: the one to get the doll, and the one to power up into magical girl form.  It’s confusing that they’re both called the same thing.

So Shelly and Peacock do enter into Yeloli Contract #2 and Shelly immediately powers up into Magical Girl form.  She gets a cool blue dress and blue hair and of course with all that blue it’s only natural that she has . . . ice powers??

I was so sure she was a Water type Pokemon trainer. At least she can still use Lapras.

Shelly freezes / banishes the spirit leopards and the mysterious woman in black takes this as a sign that she should teleport away.

Returning to her normal form, Shelly worries about the state of the still-broken piano, but no worries--Peacock tells her they’re in a parallel world and all will return to normal when they get back.  (WHAT.)  And sure enough, with a sparkle of magic the piano is back to normal.

Shelly pats the piano and reassures it that she doesn’t hate it, and I, on the other side of the screen, say “Okay but it would be fine if you did, it’s just a piano and your mom makes you play five freaking hours a day.”

We close with Shelly musing that it’s been an extraordinary day and wondering what else awaits her.  Whatever it is, she and Peacock will face it together. 

Overall, this was an action packed episode!  I am still assuming the mysterious woman in the black robes is evil Queen Pandora.  

I’ve noticed she always floats, so maybe she’s getting around Evelyn’s curse (not to be able to come to Earth) on a technicality?  Like, “Oh ho, but I’m not ~actually~ touching it”?  Or maybe she’s astral projecting or something.

Several episodes have little bits of missing sound, but this one had a LONG stretch during the magical girl transformation that was silent except for incidental sound effects (like magic sparkle sounds).  Unclear why!

[old-hyper-super-clover]

Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare

Feelings, become One

Part 1 of 2

Writer's block is being rough on me, so the only thing I was able to create lately was a short story of my MC Clover and Leviathan. It shows their adorable friendship as they experience an idol live show together.

Enjoy 🧡

One evening, the demon of Envy, Leviathan, made his way to the human exchange students' room. The human girl Clover had borrowed a manga from him, but it happened that Levi needed that exact book right now.

As he was strolling through the hallways, finally he reached the door, so he knocked like a polite creature before coming in.

"Hey" Levi called out into the room. "I need that Ruri-chan manga back for a sec. Some idiot Normie posted stupid fake information on the fanclub's Devcord server and is not believing me when I tell him he's wrong, so I need screenshots to prove what a fake fan he is lolol."

As he had been more eyeing his D.D.D. than paying attention to his surroundings, he only noticed at the end of his comment that a pair of unpleasantly surprised eyes were staring back at him. Levi raised his eyebrows, puzzled, looking back at Clover sitting on her bed, only being illuminated by the small lamp on her bedside table.

Just so making out her reddened eyes, paired with how she was hugging her legs, the demon immediately understood that she was crying.

"C... Clover?"

"A-ah, Levia-tan..." she mumbled, quick to put away the used tissue in her hand. Sniffling shortly, she sprung up in the next moment, walking over to her desk. "I didn't get to read this chapter yet, so I'd like to have it back after you've shown that peasant what a real Ruri stan looks like..."

Handing him the manga, Clover put on a very unconvincing smile.

Unsure how to react, Levi took the book but kept giving her a worried look. "Are you... okay?"

The girl only gave a nod.

"B-because you look, uhm..." Levi could have punched himself for being so bad at social interactions. "Were you crying just now?"

A flash of panic crossed Clover's face, but in the end, she assured him she was fine.

"It's embarrassing but I was, uh, crying over a stupid video. So nothin' to worry about, really!"

Holding the door open, she kind of gestured for him to make his leave, so Levi stepped out into the corridor again.

"Now go get that loser's ass", she cheered, but as she closed the door, Levi caught a tiny glimpse of the frown that was forming on her face.

The demon had planned to go back into his room, yet somehow he found himself in the kitchen instead. Turning his head to the fridge, he spotted Beelzebub head-deep in the ingredients for tomorrow's lunch.

Levi's younger brother noticed his presence when Levi let out a troubled sigh.

"Huh? Levi?" Beel shot him a glance. "Are you hungry, too?"

"Like there would even be anything left for me to eat!" Levi hissed, mustering how Beel's cheek were filled to the brim like those of a hamster. "No, I..." He let out another sigh. "Did something happen to Clover? She seemed really down just now and behaved all weird."

In an instant, Beel stopped his scavenging and closed the fridge to turn towards his brother.

"So you think so, too..." Beel said. "I noticed it when we returned home from RAD today, so I wanted to cook something to cheer her up."

Levi let out a huff. "Doesn't look like you had success in doing that..."

However putting his sarcasm aside, he asked whether Beel knew any reason for Clover's sadness.

"I think she had some stressful days" Beel explained, scratching his head as he actually began to prepare said food. "She had a lot of projects to hand in for her additional courses lately. And it seems the grades she got weren't quite what she expected. Or what she deserved for the amount of work she put in, honestly."

Nodding to himself, Levi indeed remembered that the human girl had been working until late recently. He crossed his arms. "But their grades aren't really that important to the exchange students, right? There's no need to cry over that."

For a while, they remained silent, listening to the veggies sizzling in the frying pan.

Then, Beel spoke up again.

"You know how she is" he said. "She was very passionate about it, and now beats herself up for not doing well enough."

Frowning, Levi narrowed his gaze. "But then why didn't she tell me about it? I thought we were friends..."

Beel had returned to the fridge, originally to grab the next ingredients, but ended up stuffing half of that into his own mouth.

"I thought you of all would understand her reasoning the best" he grumbled into the fridge.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

So Beelzebub shot him another look.

"Aren't you afraid of people thinking low of you, too?"

That evening, Beelzebub continued to take care of the human girl. He had managed to cook her a delicious meal and stayed with her to watch some movies.

Levi was amazed to see how easily his brother had managed to lift her spirits. Overall, it had surprised him to hear how well Beel knew about her feelings in the first place.

But what troubled Levi the most were Beel's last words before he had knocked on Clover's door:

"She'll probably stay this sad for longer. It would be great if you could help, too."

The next day, the avatar of Envy didn't feel like gaming at all. He forced himself to do his daily log-ins to his thirty-ish online games, but his mind kept wandering off to the happenings of the last evening.

Why would anyone think low of Clover because of school grades? Why would she be that sad, even if she put a lot of work into it?

She was his confidant. His friend. That alone meant she had to be a person worthy of one's time.

So... Why would someone like her ever worry about not being good enough?

Lying in his bed/bathtub/really-unsuited-sleeping-spot, Levi bit his lip.

He understood what Beel had meant now. The more he tried to understand Clover, the more he spiralled into self-loathing, toxic thoughts that he knew all too well himself.

And just the thought that Clover might be pained by this nonsense made him so angry that he couldn't focus on anything else than searching for a way to cheer her up.

Grumbling and brainstorming, his messy thoughts suddenly saw a spark of hope when he read a notification on his D.D.D.:

'Aqours 4th LoveLive! ~ Sailing to the Sunshine ~ -- Tickets for sale NOW!!'

Eyes wide, he had this hesitation of "that's too good to be true" when his thumb lowered to press the "see more" button.

But the second after, his otaku mode activated. Baving opened his five favourite websites for booking concert tickets in an instant, Levi was determined to get two tickets for this live show...

Naturally, the period of buying tickets and the actual concert were painfully far apart.

At first, Leviathan wanted to keep it a secret that he had obtained two premium seats for the Aqours concert.

However, Clover's state seemed to worsen as time went by. New things kept piling on her head, and one disappointment set the requirements for her to fail whatever she aimed to do next. It might not seem that bad to others, but as someone who is struggling with his self-worth himself, Levi could guess that Clover's mindset had to be suffering more and more.

So one day, he decided to tell her about the tickets.

Spam-calling her until she would angrily stomp into his room, Levi was waiting for her, the tickets ready in his hands.

"Levia-tan, I'm BEGGING you, if I tell you 'I'll be there in a minute', please don't call me another fifteen times to make sure I wasn't ly-"

She went silent the second her eyes landed on the tickets.

The demon couldn't hide a cheeky grin.

"You were supposed to hurry, Normie" he mocked. "Feeling your concert tickets the second they're out of the printer is a NECESSITY!"

Clover wouldn't respond.

In all honesty, she COULDN'T respond.

Every time she opened her mouth, she was too baffled to press out a single tone.

"Here, this is yours" Levi said as he handed her one ticket. "It's still long until the day of the live show, so make sure to keep this somewhere safe! Ah, you know, actually... If you store the ticket in your room, Mammon might find it and sell it, so it might be for the best if I keep your ticket here with mine... C-Clover?!"

The girl had taken hold of the ticket, staring at it while Levi was rambling. But she had puzzled him when suddenly, tears were dropping on the piece of paper.

"I-is... Is this for real...?" Clover asked with an incredibly thin voice.

"W-wah..." Levi panicked, softly tugging the ticket out of her shaking hands. "It's all wet now... But I guess I can just print it out a second time..."

"Am I... really... going to... Japan...? To... a live show of... of A-aqours...?" Clover asked with a trembling lip.

"You bet!" Levi cheered. "I've been trying to get these tickets for HOURS! It was really tough, but you should never underestimate my Otaku skills!"

"I've... I've always dreamed of... experiencing a live show in person..." Clover continued to mumble. "And now you're being... So kind... What did I do to deserve this..."

Grabbing his phone, Levi tapped on his messenger app to show her something else.

Confused, Clover was looking at Levi's chatroom with Solomon. In his own excitement, Levi had to tell it before Clover could finish reading.

"And don't worry about the language issues. You'll be able to understand it all!" He babbled. "Solomon will do his best to mix you a potion to help with that! See it as subtitles, but send directly into your brain lolol."

The demon grinned from ear to ear,

and, well, expected that the human would do the same...

Or at least, he really didn't expect for her to suddenly burst into loud sobbing, pressing her hands against her face as she couldn't stop crying.

"O-oh..." All colour left Levi's face at once. "Are... Uhm... Are you not happy?"

Looking back and forth between her, the tickets and his phone, he was frantically trying to figure out the reason for her outburst.

His heart broke into pieces as his own toxic mind gave him an answer.

"Oh..." Levi pressed out. "I didn't ask you if you even want to go there if it's with me..." Now he felt really stupid. In all his preparation and anticipation, he forgot what a yucky creature he was. "Uh... I guess... I mean I can understand if you don't want to, it must be really embarrassing to go outside with someone like me, so, y-you can... take someone else along i-if that will make you stop crying... I was looking forward to it, but making you smile again was my utmost priority, so I would... You can... go with, like, Beel or som-"

"L-levia-tan?" Clover suddenly pressed out, not looking up though.

"Y-yes? Are you mad at m-"

"Can I hug you?"

"... Eh?"

"P-please...!" Clover's head shot upwards as she met him with a pleading, crying face. "I d-don't know how to respond to this... this wonderful gesture... I'm..." Not able to hold herself, she engulfed Levi in an embrace.

"I'm so happy..." Clover sobbed into his shoulder. "Thank you so much... Levi..."

Now Levi was the one at loss for words. With cheeks painted a bright pink, he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her body.

"S-so... You're okay with going with... with me?"

"Of course! I'm flattered that you'd even thought of inviting me..." The girl pressed out, slowly letting go of him.

And finally, a grin was spreading on her face again."Please teach me everything I need to know about lives, Levia-sensei!"

The sight was so contagious that Levi was smiling himself.

"Yes! Leave it to me!!"

For the following weeks, the two of them spent huge parts of their free time preparing for the live show.

Leviathan taught Clover all there is to know about using glowsticks: from the shaking technique that destroys your arms and wrists the least, to ultra orange glowstick usage and cycloning. They listened to Aqours' songs so much that at some point Clover remembered all their lyrics perfectly despite not even speaking the language. Additionally, they looked into older live shows to learn where the crowd would engage in which kind of chanting.

"Waah, no, I can't that part of the first live show... I'll cry, Levia-tan...!" Clover had whined.

"Ah, do you mean the performance of 'Omoi yo Hitotsu ni Nare'? Where Rikyako messed up her piano play?"

"Yes... It was so brave that she learned playing piano from scratch just for that song... But then the poor girl was so stressed, messed up and started sobbing... That part just kills me, especially when the rest who were performing the dance came to comfort her... Ugh I love them all so muuuuch..."

The house of Lamentation was glad to see the human girl had regained her joyful energy. Even if, after a few weeks, their patience was being put under the test...

To give a short input:

When greeting the audience at the beginning of the live show, each idol introduces themselves and engages in a unique call and response with the crowd to get everyone pumped.

And so one day, Levi went to Clover saying this:

"We also need to practice our responses to their character introductions! From this day onwards, I will randomly initiate one of the girls' calls, and you have to respond correctly!"

So... Yeah. The other inhabitants of the house didn't quite understand what any of those "Ganbarubyyyy"s or sudden "BUU BUU DESU-WA"s meant, but eventually, even they remembered some of the call & responses.

... Just that not everyone was so amused by the whole ordeal as Leviathan seemed to be.

Not when Clover was preparing breakfast with Satan in a great hurry (because SOMEONE ate what they had prepared earlier...).

You can imagine that, when already stressed out, Satan wasn't really happy over his older brother dashing into the room, shouting a random "KAN KAN" from the top of his lungs.

"Mikan!" Clover had correctly responded, however quiet as she was fully aware of Satan's anger level.

However, as this particular call & response repeated three times, Levi continued to animate the human girl, going once again even louder: "KAN KAN!"

"M-mikan..."

"Come on, I can't hear you... KAAAAN, KAAA-"

He couldn't finish his chanting as Satan had thrown a devil-blood orange right into his face with such force that it pulled Levi off his feet.

"HERE, HAVE YOUR FUCKING MIKAN AND LEAVE!!"

[Mikans are small, japanese oranges (´ ∀ ` *)]

Finally, the day of the concert had come.

Asmodeus had made it his mission to plan Clover's outfit so she'd be as "dazzling as the girls on stage". Levi had been prompting her to go with comfortable, practical clothes instead, so they had to find a middle where neither of them would complain.

Once all done, some of the brothers came to muster the soon leaving duo.

"Hm... Are you sure you don't want to put on any make up, darling?" Asmo asked Clover after doing his final check.

"Absolutely. I will be in tears the second Aqours' enters the stage, so there's no point in that."

Standing in the doorframe, the avatar of Greed gave a huff.

"Isn't that skirt a bit too short? And that whole outfit... No, you can't go out like this."

"Huh?" Clover turned to him in confusion. "Why not?"

"It's way too eye-catching!" He grumbled. "What if some filthy human makes a move on you?"

The girl gave a slight chuckle. "I go to school with incubi and succubi, Mammon. I think compared to that the human world should be pretty safe."

"B-but...!" Mammon wanted to protest, but Beelzebub covered his brother's mouth to silence him.

"I think you look cute" He beamed Clover an encouraging smile. "But be careful nonetheless. Levi, take care of her."

"Y-yes! I will!"

-- to be continued in part two --

[cherry-ber]

Too drunk to fuck (pt 4)

Part 1 | Previous

Inevitably, after random small talks with the boys, your phone rang and when you finally picked it up, you had five missed calls from your parents, and you had to get back home. You said goodbye to the tipsy boys, and promised to hang out with them again soon. Mark gave you his gloves, because suddenly the night became cold, and you both rode back to your place, he'd look back at you every red light, since the wind was making you tremble in cold, he'd laugh nervously every time you put your hands on his pockets to keep them warm.

Upon arriving, you knew your dad was probably waiting in the living room for you, so you didn't let him get close to the front door, and just as you were kissing him goodbye, both your parents opened the door to you holding hands.

“Are you children coming in?” your mom asked, not a hint of her being angry at all, but judging by the time you arrived, you knew she was beyond displeased.

Mark was about to decline, but your dad gave him the look.

“Son, come on in, it's late and you don't want to drive that thing without chatting with us, do you?” That thing, of course, reminded him of his old Harley. Your mom had a thing for bikers, and apparently you did too. Probably, a little bit intimidated by your father, Mark agreed to having a cup of coffee with you inside.

At first it was embarrassing and uncomfortable, because you knew what your parents wanted to hear about your relationship with Mark, but unfortunately there was nothing between you two, and what was actually going on would piss them off, after telling them that those hours that you spent making out, you were in the taking a special Science course. But things got smooth quickly, after your dad learned all the things he had in common with Mark, and after skipping the fact that you were tipsy all the time you were talking, obviously none of you told them you were drinking and smoking an hour away from home.

“I hate to be that kind of dad, Mark, but I have to know, since I don't want my daughter coming at 1 a.m every night, what kind of relationship do you children have?”

You noticed Mark's jaw tightened, his hands also tensed, and he held his breath for a second that felt like hours.

“He's just a good friend, dad, Jaemin couldn't bring me home earlier since he was helping a friend with his car, it ran out of gas, and since it was getting cold, he offered me a lift” You intervened, knowing that you didn't want to hear whatever Mark was planning to reply. You knew you were a good liar, but this one came out so smoothly and naturally that for a moment, Mark himself believed it.

“I see... Is Jaemin the moron that picked you up and didn't bother to say hi?” you nodded “is that your boyfriend?” you shook your head no “that's great, he's banned, I don't want you driving around in that car with him” Mark let out a giggle “then you children should go to sleep”

You stood up, ready to say goodbye but your mom finally talked again after staring at you suspiciously.

“What are you doing? It's late. Mark, bring your bike inside the garage and you can sleep in the couch”

Your parents were always very nice with your friends, but you didn't want that with Mark, you didn't want them to think about him that way, because you knew that it was only about time before he left you.

“I really shouldn't, I don't want to abuse your hospitality”

“Come on, love, it's late, you can stay with Y/N in the living, it could be dangerous outside”

It didn't take long for him to say yes, so you had to stay with him in the couch. You decided you were both sleeping in the floor, so you built a fort and laid next to each other.

“You know, Y/N I never thought you were so much of a liar”

“Huh?”

“Jaemin? Helping someone with their car?”

“Oh, right. Don't be loud, I don't really want them to know it was a lie”

“I mean yeah, but I am impressed... Have you ever lied to me?”

In the dark, you could barely distinguish him from his shadow, he was playing with his hands and breathing slowly, you couldn't see his face but you knew that he was smiling.

“We never speak, how could I ever lie to you, hum?”

Silence. You thought maybe he fell asleep, after all, it was really late.

“Right”

It was your turn to stay quiet. You didn't intend to make him feel bad, in case that was what happened, and this was your chance to get closer to him. I mean, you were sleeping together, how much closer could you get anyway.

“I am indeed a good liar” you started and heard him turn around, so you proceeded “I am also very sensitive, I cry often for the dumbest reasons. I like to be alone, but I crave human interaction sometimes. I don't like the smell of cigarettes, but I've been smoking for a while and of course my parents don't know, don't even ask. I also like to cook, I'm pretty good, I would say”

“Is any of that a lie?”

“Yes. Guess which one.”

He took his time, humming for some minutes

“You don't like to be alone. If you did, you would've never accepted to meet me after class”

“That's wrong. All of those are lies, but I am in fact a good cook”

He laughed and placed his hand on your hip bone

“Let me tell you something, I used to think you were incredibly gorgeous, but upon meeting you, I know now that you are also smart, and funny and I just want to how is it possible that you are so charming”

It was a blessing that it was so dark, because you didn't want him seeing you blushing the way you did.

“What is that supposed to mean anyway?”

You heard sounds coming up from your parents room, and you realized that of course they were trying to listen

“It means we should sleep, it's very late” he turned around again, his back facing you, and you immediately missed his hands on you.

“Goodnight, Mark”

He said nothing, and after some minutes you felt asleep, he noticed you did when your breath became deeper. He turned to face you. In the dark he couldn't really see your face, but he imagined your closed eyes and your nose slightly pink from the heat your body was creating. He imagined caressing your cheek, cupping your face with his hands, playing with your hair and making you laugh when he was kissing all over your face, but he didn't, he didn't even move a finger, he stayed away, and told himself it was better that way.

In the morning, you forgot where you were, and panicked when you saw Mark's face slightly covered by a blanket. He looked adorable, and you resisted the urge to hug him.

You were thankful you woke up early and immediately went to wash your face and brush your teeth, you went to the kitchen and made pancakes.

You were loud enough to wake him up, so he went looking for you and couldn't help but smile when he saw you.

“How are you up so early?” he scared you but you didn't jump when you heard his voice

“I was hungry”

You ate your breakfast and he told you he should leave already, but you didn't want him to.

“I'll see you tomorrow after class, I swear”

He took his jacket, and went to the garage. You saw him riding away, and you wondered if you made any progress with him.

Sunday, 8:36 a.m, Na Jaemin: “Are you coming with us today?”

Sunday, 8:37 a.m: “where?”

“actually, don't tell me, I don't I'd be able to go”

Sunday, 8:37 a.m, Na Jaemin: “Well we're not taking Mark, but Jeno and I are going somewhere, I thought maybe you'd like to join us”

“«somewhere» means his place, I'm helping him organize his room, he's messy.”

“No drinks or drugs I swear”

“Well unless you want to”

Sunday, 8:39 a.m: “mmmmm k, pick me up in like three hours pls”

Sunday, 8:39 a.m, Na Jaemin: “Will do. See you xox😘”

Sunday 8:40 a.m : “🤢🤢”

Next

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

A.N: Okay I love this song so much, maybe you can't tell but that's somehow the way Mark feels about Y/N. Talking that, have you been listening to the songs I add? I got a message saying they were and they liked them, that's why I keep attaching them lmao, I hope you don't mind it.

I wanted to thank you again for your feedback and for taking the time to message me or reply or ask, and to like and reblog this, too.

I'm thinking about a new project, involving a horror story and any other nct member, I'm thinking Hyuck or Chenle because I adore them but if you had any suggestions / requests, I'd be happy to read them.

Anyway, I wanted to upload this earlier but of course I didn't, I'm sorry about, I'll work on a schedule for you to know when I'll update if that's easier uwu

[slut-for-fandoms]

Paint me yours || Part 2

Pairings: Artist!Taehyung x reader

Word count: 2k

Genre: smut, fluff, angst (in the following chapters) 

Summary:  You are an art college student who struggles with finances. Until one day, on an exhibition of the arising artist Kim Taehyung, when the same boy offers you a job as his model. Would it be just a simple job or would it complicate your life in ways you have never thought it would? 

Warnings: None in this one

PART 1

A/N: I know, I know. Its been ages since I first posted part 1, but I was struggling with a lot of things and lack of inspiration of what and how to write it. Honestly, I am not even sure how this one turned out to be, at one point I was thinking of just posting the smut part, but part of me really wants to try and build this up with all the emotions I could put into the story. I hope you like it and please leave a comment as it will mean a lot to me :) Sorry for the mistakes you are gonna face!

Thrill. Surprise. Excitement. Nervousness. And all thanks to a small piece of paper.

“I will be looking forward to your answer, darling. ;)”

-K.T.   Number: ********95

I’ve been playing with it for the last 5 days, 17 hours and… 39 minutes ruminating whether I should call him or not. Groaning in annoyance I throw it on the bed, next to me. Running my hands through my face and hair, I close my eyes in attempt to recall the events from that night.

‘I- um what?’ my brain was so slow in processing the information, that I didn’t even realize I had spoken out loud. He only chuckled. His hand disappeared in the inside pocket of his golden coat searching for something. My confused and taken-aback self was following his movements with the hope to grasp what was happening. His long and soft fingers soon showed, holding a small piece of paper. His other hand was already holding a pen and he scrabbled something on it.

‘I’d like to work with you dear.’ he announced while handing me the paper. My eyes were moving from his aristocratic hands to his soft hazel eyes as my mouth was opened slightly making me look like a fish out of the ocean.

He licked his lower lip, then bit it trying to prevent his smile when my body somehow decided to react at take the paper.

‘You are indeed an interesting person Ms. (Y/N). Unfortunately, I need to leave but I truly hope we meet soon.’ winking he turned around and slowly excited the room. This gave me the opportunity to observe him more. Even his walk was showing gracefulness and elegance. His head was held high, showing the confidence he had and to show the respect to the people who came to ‘contemplate’ his works. He was smiling, thanking to his guests, shaking hands with them. Once he disappeared I glanced at the slip of paper in my hands.

‘(Y/N)!’ the screaming and banging on my door brought me back in the reality. Although all of this happened almost a week ago my body still reacts to any memory of him. The thought of him smiling, makes me smile too, the way his piercing eyes were looking at me causes my heart to skip a beat, his laugh…oh god his laugh. Every single fucking time I recall that boxy and cute shape of his mouth when he laughs and the sparkles that reach his eyes… ‘(Y/N)!’

‘Stop banging on the damn door, I can hear you!’ I shout back angrily.

‘Then fucking answer.’ groaning I get up from the bed and go to open the door for my roommate.

‘What?’ crossing my arms in front of my chest I lean on the door frame.

‘Dear, why the attitude?’ she looks at me concerned, ‘Are you on your period?’

‘What? No! I-‘, inhaling I try to gather myself, ‘I just have a lot of projects to finish. Don’t worry. Why were you trying to knock my door off some seconds ago?’ her face changes from worry to sympathy and then to a big smile.

‘Oh yeah, about that…’ all of a sudden the smile disappears which confuses me.

‘Come on, spill the beans.’ I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with people.

‘I need you to leave for the night?’

‘Excuse you, I what?’ I really hope she is joking with me right now.

‘Look. I do not want to do it but Jackson is crashing here tonight and I-’, she stutters as she’s trying to explain me everything.

‘You want some time alone and blah blah blah. I get it Rose but I have nowhere to go, you do know that.’ I wanted to be angry, I really wanted but I just couldn’t.

Being an art student with almost no financial support is really hard. The money my mum sends me is never enough due to fact we both come from a poor country. She works her ass off every damn day to support my dreams. Some months ago I was kicked out of my old flat because I wasn’t able to pay the rent. Thank god I had Rose as one of my really close friends to offer me her place to crash for some time until I find a place. I was feeling bad enough that I wasn’t paying anything to her and god knows how many times the fact I’ve been living with her have ruined her plans. I even started working two jobs but balancing them with my projects is almost impossible, that’s why I had to quit one of them two weeks ago.

‘I know (Y/N) but it is Jackson’s birthday. I have planned everything. I really want it to be the best evening if you know what I mean.’

Taking a deep breath I answer her.

‘I will see what I can do.’, suddenly her face was beaming with happiness.

‘Gosh, you are the best (Y/N)!’ Rose hurried to hug me with the smile never leaving her face ‘I am gonna treat you with pancakes tomorrow. I know they are your favourite.’

After that she goes to her room, probably to start preparing for tonight. Sighing, I hold my head against the door the second I close it. I turned around and looked at my phone. 11:23 am. Good. Today is Friday, my day off of one of the jobs. Maybe I can call to get a night shift? It that way I will be out almost the whole night and come back in the morning when everything is finished. Perfect! Jumping with excitement I open my phone and search for my boss’ number.

‘Hello, Mr. Kim! It’s (Y/N)!’, I speak as soon as my boss picks up.

‘Oh, Hello there (Y/N)!’, his raspy voice greets me back. I am not gonna lie, I might have or might have not had a massive crush on him when I started working. What can I say? That man is quite a walking sex on legs and nobody can resist him, ‘It is strange, I was about to call you in an hour.’, he laughs drily which makes me uncomfortable immediately. I may have not worked there for a long time but I learned how to sense his mood as it is a fast changing one.

‘Is something wrong, sir? I wanted to ask if there is a chance about taking a night shift today. I know it is my free day but I kinda need it if-’

‘About that, dear…’, he cuts me off. There is a moment of silence on the phone before he speaks, ‘I think we might not need you anymore. Do not get me wrong, dear. You have been doing more than a great job, but at this point, with Jiso coming back after he accident, we are too many people and I cannot pay everyone the deserved salary or even separate the amount of work equally between everybody.’

‘And I was the last one to join, yeah… I get it why it is me.’, I sit down on my bed, trying to compose myself and not start crying on the phone with my fucking boss. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

‘I am really sorry, (Y/N)! You are amazing, but I can’t fire the others, most of them depend on it more’, yeah because I don’t, but decided to not state it out in anger, ‘I wanted to tell you weeks before this actually happens but I just couldn’t. You can come tomorrow to get your weekly salary with some compensation from us for the situation I put you in. I will try to contact some of my business friends and allies and see if they search for somebody and recommend you.’

‘That would be very nice, thank you, sir.’

‘Again, Sorry dear! I hope you have a nice day.’

‘Yeah…’, my first were clenched and I was ready to go and storm into his office and beat the hell out of him, ‘Have a nice day, too, sir!’, I did my best to fake the nicest tone I could before hanging up.

How the hell did this happen? My anger soon turned into panic and desperation. I cannot lose my job just like that. It is completely out of the blue. I need the money. I barely pull the two ends together, and I am not even paying for a place to stay. That is horrible. That is horrible. What am I supposed to do now? I can’t tell my mum that. She will make me go back and we are already deep in debt.

Inhale! Exhale! Inhale! Exhale! Deep breaths. Everything is going to be fine! Just breathe and think. Think (Y/N)! It is mid-term, almost every possible job has already been taken by the students. I struggles so much with finding this one and the money were so good. It was pure luck. I should not have quitted being a waitress. Oh, god I am so stupid!

In frustration I lay back on the bed with my hands covering my face. But as soon as I lay down something tickles my cheek. One of hands traces the spot in order to find what the hell is on my face. I turn around to see it when my fingers wrap around it. It is the small note from Taehyung. I smile a little bit at it. It was literally the only good thing that has happened to me in the past week…wait.

I sit up abruptly and stare at the note unbelievingly. Should I? I take my phone. What if he was just joking with you? I leave the phone. Why would he? He must have given me the note with a reason? Right? Right?! My insecurities and lack of common sense fight for the next seconds.

Jesus Christ, why is it so hard to decide?

Okay, let’s see. I can text him that I am considering the offer and that it will be temporary until I find a stable job. I heard models earn a lot for such sessions. Maybe It will be enough to keep me going for now? Gosh, I hope so.

My heart is ready to leave my chest when I unlock my phone and open the contacts to dial his number. My hands are shaking while trying to write it down.

Okay, now what? What should I text him?

Hello! It is (Y/N), the desperate broke girl you offer to model for you 5 days ago.

Okay, too much info! Come on, (Y/N)! Be professional. I try to delete it but, because I am (Y/N) and luck is never on my side, I click on the send button.

Shit! Fuck! The hell! Stupid bitch! I guess I just lost the job before even being able to get it. Great. Just fucking great. Should I at least try to somehow improve the situation? To make myself not look like a fucking loser? As if the last one is possible.

All of a sudden my phone starts ringing which put me in panic mode. It’s him. What do I do? What do I do?

‘Hello?’, I curse at myself how shaky and high-pitched my voice sounded.

‘Hello, dear!’, oh my sweet gosh, his voice sounded so much better than in the memories I had from that night. It was deep, smooth, feeling as though honey was running through my veins, ‘I did not think you would ever call.’, I can sense the smile in his voice.

‘Well, my schedule is kind of full’, I wish there was somebody there to slap me and pour some sense into me.

‘I am glad you found time for me then.’, he laughs and at this point I had the feeling my heart will just give up and stop beating, ‘Have you considered my offer?’

‘I- I kind of have some questions before we start a-’

‘Before we start?’, chuckling he continues, ‘I take that as a yes. When are you free to start my dear?’

‘Um, I guess today? But I want to know wh-’

‘That’s the best news I could hear today! How about you come tonight and we start? I will answer your questions and you will see what you should do and eventually if you want to stop, I will respect your decision.’

‘Well?’, he asks after some moments of silence which I didn’t even realize have slipped.

‘What time do you want me tonight?’

If you want to be tagged in the next parts, please let me know :) <3

[moodysnowflake]

Please mind the Spoiler slap that might come your way guys...

Let’ talk about Rufus Shinra.

Yes, he has been exploited better than the OG, and yes, once you get the hint the assesment is trying to throw at you, it’s easier to whack his butt.

He still beats the crap out of you. 

We have to realize that Rufus is a normal human being. He’s not a Turk either. Sure, he was a prodigy and has been trained by the military, and he might have trained with the Turks too during his “extended assignment oversea” (despite being him the boss, I bet Reno would still try to zap him in the crotch, if left unsupervised). Rude would gave him a sturdy run for his money (of course pun intended) and Tseng did probably manage to wipe the floor with his gorgeous platinum-blond ass at least once when they were younger. Rufus manages to stand his ground against Cloud, a final-stretch-game Cloud. Not an early-game Cloud. You have to run, dodge, parry and dive like hell, and when he hits you, it fluffing hurts. He’s the only human enemy in the Remake who actually manages to do some serious damage using a firearm. 

He’s been designed to do that, you might say. Well, yeah, duh, he’s still the only one, so that’s awesome.

Moreover, he doesn’t actually look exhausted, nor particularly beaten up when the battle ends; he just smirks his way out. We couldn’t appreciate it in the OG, but heck yes we can now. 

We might argue that’s all a façade, and I think that part of it could very well be true. Cloud did roughed him up after all. Plus, that’s his character, he would never show a speck of vulnerability (”nobody has ever see him bleed or cry” - can we seriously blame him for becoming an ice prince?).  And he’s not stupid; once he’s disarmed, he immediately opts for strategic retreat. He’s not a brainless goof, he recognized his huge disavantage: a true tactician indeed.

Him and Cloud's battle dialogue...is it just me, or did they sound like ex-boyfriends angrily snapping at each other?...

C: Think you got my number? [Cloud?]

R: Not at all. You’re making me sweat. Good thing I came prepared. [Rufus?]

C: That’s a new trick.

R: Like it? ‘Course you do.

[Did they actually meet in Before Crisis?!]

R: Let’s make it a night to remember.

Okay guys, seriously, tone it down a notch, would you? That’s too much gold for a single scene!

His outfit might not have us all agreeing, I can totally see why. That off-white contrast to Cloud’s pitch black tho...

Here’s the knot my brain is twisting itself over.

The question slammed my brain like a train, pretty much the same as Rufus’.

I don’t know, you tell me how the heck are you seeing the Whispers...

Tseng going:

Rufus looks at him like “Wait, what? You’re not seeing this shit? You kidding, right?” then proceeds to glare him into submission, either because he thinks Tseung might imply he’s not okay after the fight and he might be suffering some side-effects, or he’s mocking him.

[If it’s the last one, that would open another pit of thoughts, like: if he thinks Tseng is teasing him, that means that happened before. If that happened before, it means he’s not a utter cold-blooded bastard, and they interacted like functional(ish) human beings up to the point of joking. What is this? Solid character background? OG-wise, we know he’s not a saint, but we also know he’s not totally batshit cracker either. Because WRO and Avalanche. (Can’t wait for Barret’s reaction when that’ll happen. That’s gonna be spectacular XD)

Reno’s line ‘You’re sure you wanna do this by yourself, boss? (ENG)//That’s dangerous (JAP)’ could support this theory, even if we know he would talk back to Sephiroth himself.]

Untill now it’s evident that he being able to see them is “Because Plot“

But my spider senses are tingling, feeling something lurking below.

He didn’t seem to be able to see them on the platform while Cloud’s smacking his way through. That could be arguable, ‘cause spotting dark stuff in a dark background is not that easy. 

But after the Edge of Creation cutscene (and that’s another thing I’ll talk about later), he’s pretty well able to do that. And he’s the first character we see...

So what happened in between?

Well, there’s Wedge scene...but that’s the only thing we’re allowed to see. 

Based on what’s happening in the game, you’d be able to see the Whispers because of Aerith/Sephiroth’s intervention or because the Whispers need you to see them.

That create some interesting choices, which might combine, ‘cause they’re not mutually exclusive:

1. Rufus finds/saves Wedge, or the Whispers are bringing Wedge to him (very unlikely, but you know, overthinking is so fun). He was minding his own businnes, and Wedge suddenly appears. If this happens, I don’t think he’s gonna kill him...Because Avalanche (and because if you resist Wedge’s puppy eyes you don’t have a heart, nor a soul). Yes, he’s ruthless, I know, but there are times during the story in which he doesn’t behave like a complete dickhead. Very few times. But maybe the Whispers need for Rufus and Wedge to meet, and maybe that’s what happened in the hall.

Also, my useless rambling neuron got stuck over a very stupid, very impossible, but very cute idea why Rufus wouldn’t kill him: what if Wedge and Rufus know each other? Barret and the other knows his face, but what about Wedge? Maybe somehow they casually met in Junon, or (god forsake it, my heart) even before in Midgar he saved him from whatsoever situation and he never mention it? Chances are never really zero in FFVII, but I’m well aware that this is far-fetched...like, a lot. 

How cute would it be if Wedge woke up with Rufus crouched down there, skeptically looking at him.

‘What are you doing here?’

To which he would chirp “Hey Rufus, long time no see! How’re you doing? I thought you were still in Junon.”

‘I’m the boss here, I ask the questions. What are all these creepy things flying around.’

“Well, I don’t have that much of a clear idea...Also, you’re not my boss!“

‘That’s not helping. Also, technically, yes Wedge, I am.’

”Huh?”

‘I’m Rufus Shinra. (smug smirk)’

“I know that dummy (Rufus would scrunch up his face), what I don’t understand is how that would make you my boss. Blowing up one of your reactors using your explosive can’t make me pass as construction worker.” 

‘I am not your boss because of Shinra. I am your boss because I’m the boss of the boss of your boss.’

“WAIT, WHAT?!”

*Whispers taking him away*

2. Sephiroth has a brief chat with him during the moment he’s left on his own (while we’re fighting his true self in the singularity). In the OG, Rufus always had this incontrollable drive to find Sephiroth, an inespicable and obsessive draw to hunt him down, which only Cloud match (and he’s the one guarding Jenova’s remants in Advent Children...). And no, it’s not because he killed his father...we know how idyllic that relationship was. That spark could have been started here.

3. A combination of the two. Because why not.

4. Something else within him helped the trigger.

Speaking about this, I discovered some interesting info. The Remake has retconned his age from 25 to 30, flopping back his birthday from 1982 to 1977. Five years shouldn’t make that much of a difference. We can agree, artistic licence. 

Too bad 1977 is also the exact same year Jenova’s remnants have been discovered...As well as the very start of the machination for Project S and Project G.

Using Dirge of Cerberus as reference, 1982/1983 should approximatly be Sephiroth’s birthyear. Which leaves 5 years of preparation.

Is this a coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe the president let Hojo start to experiment on baby Rufus as he saw fit. Nobody would convince me that the president wouldn’t have done it, those two are just too fucked up. That could explain why he was so flipping good with a shotgun since he was 10, why he managed to face a SOLDIER without turning into minced meat (he didn’t show negative repercussions because he could have been resistant to mako poisoning, like Zack; plus he is the only human enemy with some resistance to Poison and Magic), why the president didn’t kill him when he sided with the Turk’s assassination attempt. That wasn’t paternal love; that was probably Hojo interceding to not have a succesfull test subject except Sephiroth eliminated, promising to have him brainwashed.

Like Cloud, despite Jenova’s cells, he wouldn’t be able to see the Whispers by his own. But Sephiroth, or Aerith, might have flipped the switch in some way. Or even Jenova’s or n#2′s bodies, to which we still have no idea what happened.

4.1. The annoyed/angry glare This could also be another reason for the angry/annoyed glare he shoots Tseng, like he’s saying “You know what I am” or “You know taking me down is not that easy”. The first one reminds me of Cloud’s line to Jessie...the look is pretty similar.

Another interpretation of this expression could be that he actually has, from time to time, some odd quirks or weird moments, residues of the mako treatment/cells' interaction. It is very likely that if that’s true, Tseng - and maybe even Rude and Reno - witnessed them.

That wouldn't surprise me: he’s sporting some serious dark circles under his eyes in this scene.

So, he could be also saying “What? Are we doing this again? You still think I’m frail and crazy? Do I have to beat that out of you like last time?”

5. He touched Jenova’s blood; it wouldn’t be that improbable, since it was smeared all over the floor. That might have done the trick by itself, or, if connected to point 4, he could have been drawn to it by the cells within him, which could have worked as catalyst. 

6. Any combination of two or more of the previous points. It’s Nomura Testuya we’re talking about, they could all be true for what we know. He’s a goddamn psycho: it’s easier to build a house with a sand-pail and a plastic shovel than understand Kingdom Hearts' series plot .

 Too many questions, but the revelation that Rufus can see the Whispers is very intriguing; the whispers needs him for something. Destiny needs him for something. That makes him an even more valuable character that he already was in the OG, and I’m glad they’re doing it. 

Nobody seems to be left behind (in character development sense) this time.

We can only wait and hope.

Wish you all the best, Rufie (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *

[kjissexy1994]

WORDS OF SHAKESPEARE: ALBUMS OF SUCKAGE: Limp Bizkit-Results May Vary

The year was 2001, Nu Metal was riding high with bands such as Alien Ant Farm with their cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal,” Linkin Park had a dynamic debut with Hybrid Theory and of course Jacksonville’s Red capped dynamos Limp Bizkit were still breathing in the success of their third album suggestively titled “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water” with tracks such as “My Generation,” “Boiler” and of course “Rollin (Air Raid Vehicle)” famously used as the entrance theme of legendary professional wrestler The Undertaker in the WWE (then known as WWF) during 2001 when he had the guise of the “American Badass” biker gimmick, but however with Limp Bizkit still embroiled with the controversy over the crushing and death of 15 year old Jessica Michalik during their infamous set at the 2001 Big Day Out Festival in Sydney and the Announcement of guitarist and heart and soul of the group, Wes Borland parting ways with the band to focus on side projects and his other band “Big Dumb Face,” left Fred Durst to pick up the pieces to record their fourth album.

As the band went through six guitarists during recording of the album (including Fred Durst and Bassist Sam Rivers) They went on a nationwide search for a new guitarist with the “Put Your Guitar Where Your Mouth Is” competition, Limp Bizkit then settled with former Snot guitarist Mike Smith and recorded a number of songs for the album which went through name changes with “Bipolar,” “Panty Sniffer,” “Less is More,” “The Search for Teddy Swoes,” before ultimately going with the generic and subtle “Results May Vary.”

Most of the songs recorded with Smith were cut due to executive meddling by Durst and it showed resulting in a depressing puerile mishmash of heavy and bleak tracks.

This album received a massive tonne of negative reception when it was released in September of 2003 after numerous delays, being ranked in at number 3 as the lowest scored album behind “Playing with Fire” by Kevin Federline. It was even being touted by some people as the album that “killed Nu Metal” which is a genre I loathe entirely as it was in a deep decline during that year.

Let’s go in the deep hole of RMV to hear why this album goes into the mantle of an “Album of SUCKAGE.”

RE-ENTRY

The intro track consists of a circus barker yelling to a kid (voiced by Fred Durst) for sixty seconds explaining about Limp Bizkit as “the most ferociously soothing ways of sonic communication to ever be created”

Okay, so I guess they were trying to copy the “Insane Clown Posse” here?

Then it bursts in a generic rock riff with Fred Durst telling people that all around the world knows him, slowing down and fading out with a drum beat... that’s it.

I mean, I was expecting the guitar riff to build up to something exciting instead of this. I know it’s only an intro, but I do know that it’ll go down hill from here on followed by the first single of this album known as...

EAT YOU ALIVE

This song running for four minutes is outright disturbing, the lyrics, the main chorus even the music video featuring Fred Durst kidnapping Thora Birch in a forest, spraying her with gasoline and screaming into a megaphone to her whilst the band plays! The lyrics consists of Durst singing about wanting a girl to look at him and having a strong desire to “sniff her panties?” *VOMITS!* If you ever said those lyrics to a girl that you love in real life, she would immediately break up with you and be warranted a restraining order. The drums and bass sound generic and the guitar work tries to build this up as some sort of a fight song which immediately fails to do so...this was also the first single of this album. THIS WAS THE FIRST SINGLE OF THIS ALBUM...I am not making this up, why on earth would Limp Bizkit release this as the first single of this album, not to mention getting a disturbing music video?

Ugh...

GIMME the Mic

This track is just another generic Nu Metal sounding track, the guitars sound very pungent in aggression but the rest of the instruments deliver nothing. The main hook is heavily sampled from Eric B and Rakin’s Microphone Fiend, later covered by Rage Against The Machine (which I kind of dislike due to their political beliefs) On their posthumous “Renegades” covers album as Limp Bizkit are downright infamous for sampling hooks such as the main chorus of Nine Inch Nails’

“Closer” for their expletive laden song titled “Hot Dog” on “Chocolate Starfish”. Add in Durst’s trademark whiny anger, pathetic song writing and rapping and you have a stinky sounding Nu Metal song that can be made on a “Nu Metal Band Maker” software. Aggressive generic riffs, whiny angry lyrics, fake b-grade angst: profit!

No wonder why that this album and the cover song that I’ll get to later on is one of the factors that killed mainstream Nu Metal in 2003! Next!

UNDERNEATH THE GUN

This song is the first in the number of songs that Fred shows his singing ability and it just sounds absolutely bland and Monotonous. The instruments such as Sam Rivers on the drums and the chords on the guitar have very good delivery and build up in the bridge, but it just sounds absolutely hindered with Fred trying to stay awake singing a song about “suicide and the struggle you have when ending your life becomes an option” with such a dull melody and it goes on for almost six minutes...I mean why did many red Yankees cap wearing Limp Bizkit fans fall for buying this album? The sad sad fact that it sold more copies than any Motörhead albums baffles me extremely. Our god Lemmy must be turning in his grave...

DOWN ANOTHER DAY

Jesus tap dancing Christ, we go from Fred’s whiny anger fuelled tirades to another mellow monotone delivery about our hero singing about missing his summer love (presumably Britney Spears during his somewhat extremely messy affair during the recording of “In the Zone”) and having to deal with the next winter. The lyrics in the main chorus and bridge are repetitive as hell and the instruments are just nearly nonexistent with little or no effort, not to mention that this song is also plagued with very pathetic songwriting...just garbage time indeed...

ALMOST OVER

Yet another extremely repetitive track, explaining Durst’s life from growing up learning how to rap, taking a lot of crap, and being treated as a clown as a little boy to learning how to lose and getting treated as a clown as an older man. Fred rhymes the end of the verses with the words “Little Boy,” and “Older Man” 16 times and the word “Baby” 19 times, totalling up to 51 times!

Another song wrecked by abysmal songwriting from the red capped turd himself, The instruments are getting worse with every track sounding more and more generic with little or no build up, which is sad because Sam Rivers, John Otto and Mike Smith are such good musicians but are being hindered heavily due to Durst’s whiny vocals...the next track should be good, can it?

BUILD A BRIDGE

Ehhh...okay, this song has a bog standard melody and instruments with such a strong build up in the bridge but it’s passable at least, this song features Brian “Head” Welch from KoRn who is a very talented guitarist and perhaps one of the only Nu Metal bands I can tolerate listening to, but his ability is kind of wasted here due to Durst’s sub par ability to sing, not to mention these are one of the songs rumoured to be impulsively directed to Britney Spears. Imagine being one of the guitarists of one of the bands that invented the “Nu Metal” genre only to record a song about being involved with one the most popular pop singers of the time of release?

“LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!” - Chris Croker, 2007

RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT (Featuring Snoop Dogg)

Another Rap/Hip Hop duet with one of the biggest rap/ hip hop legends, and still it’s repetitive as hell despite the funky beat from DJ Lethal as well as Snoop Dogg calling Fred Durst his “nephew” with the lyric “Snoop dogg is in the place to see, do it with my nephew Freddy d.”

You have no relation with this pile of gutter trash whatsoever!!!

This song is attempting to repeat the success with “N 2 Gether Now” featuring Method Man four years earlier in “Significant Other” but it fails massively with Fred’s lyrics in the first and third verses ending with “Baby” 25 times with the same word repeated 10 times in the main chorus totalling up to 35 times. I would be ashamed to have been Snoop to record a duet with who used to be one of the biggest people in music during Limp Bizkit’s popularity from 1999-2001 not to mention rapping a duet to call him his “nephew!”

The bonus track “Take It Home” which heavily samples the song “Milk and Honey” by Bonnie Dobson is another sub par effort having Fred repeat the lyric “Crying Myself To Sleep” whilst DJ Lethal jams....NEXT!

THE ONLY ONE

Mike Smith is trying to do an acceptable riff or two which I praise for but the effort is just completely wasted, this song is just another whinge-fest with lyrics about using terms of having sex and making out such as “first base” (again presumably directed to Britney) but it just sounds absolutely whiny and generic with Fred singing with heavily instrumentation behind him as he repeatedly screaming the word “NOTHING!” Towards the end and it just ends after that.

Such a putrid mess...

Oh and the lyric “It’s No Big Deal?”

It is a big deal when you’re trying to record a follow up to your previous multi platinum when your most talented member leaves and you have to pick up the pieces with six guitarists, two being yourself and Sam Rivers.

LET ME DOWN

“Let Me Down” has a lot of effort but has simple and dull instrumentation and Durst sounds a lot better than the previous tracks, but however the lyrics are very iffy such as “Heartbreak is a Headache, like a toothquake or an earthquake” “Spontaneous Combustion leaves a taste that’s so disgustin’” and “Rumours are Tumours?” Whilst this song is somewhat passable it’s still coming from a 33 year old at the time whining about life and struggles.

LONELY WORLD

Another song about Fred Durst, whining about his past life such as hating high school with bullies trying to put him down as well as making out with his gothic girlfriend out in the creek whilst his mother was asleep along with gross lyrics such as “Just a little skater boy they could pick on

I learned to forgive 'em

Now I got the balls they can lick on”

Jesus Christ Fred! You were 33 years old at the time of release! Just do us a favour and grow up at least. The main chorus and bridge is still very tedious repeating the main title of the song in a total of 37 times. Un-fucken-believable!

PHENOMENON

After what would’ve been an extremely energetic guitar intro from Mike Smith, The band just slams on the breaks with our hero Fred introducing himself as “the incredible, subliminal, the INFREDIBLE D.”

Here we go again with copy, pasting and editing lyrics of other music groups songs and claiming them your own (the song being Bring the Noize with Anthrax featuring Public Enemy).

The main chorus has a lot of effort but the verses, consisting of Fred Durst’s cruisy rapping,

Not to mention the section after the bridge references “Pollution” from their debut album from 1997 “Three Dollar Bill Y’all” which contains the lyric “Gonna Bring that beat back” which is perhaps the only good album from the band themselves (apart from that Faith cover).

“Phenomenon” is just a ratty mishmash of heavy instrumentation in the main chorus and laidback rapping from Fred in the verses.

CREAMER (RADIO IS DEAD)

Another song with Fred Durst taking an aim against the haters proclaiming “Take a look at me now I’m Mr Worldwide and you’re nothing!” But it contains such sucky lyrics and rhymes such as “Mr Halitosis-of the Breath” and verses and the main chorus such as “Hateraid”, and “rolling dice and getting laid” respectively. Fred also believes that “Radio is Dead. Why’s that? Because many radio stations worldwide won’t play your shoddy music anymore? (Unlike Triple M that continues the play that song in two tracks time) plus what’s with the title “Creamer?” A Frank reference to ejaculation? A quick fact, A massive portion of the song was recycled from Limp Bizkit’s unfinished cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax” which was intended to be in the Ben Stiller movie “Zoolander” hence the title being in the second verse” and Fred Durst’s “blink and you’ll miss it” cameo in the aforementioned movie. Ben Stiller is his “favourite motherfucker” after all.

HEAD FOR THE BARRICADE

An energetic, aggressive fight song against bullying which blatantly references the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in the intro, not paying respect to the victims? How fucking low is that? This song also heavily borrows the refrain “Stick Em, Ha Ha Ha Stick Em!” From The Fat Boys song titled “Human Beatbox” for the main chorus which most of the album and previous albums before it samples lyrics from other songs. Another lyric that catches my ear is “The World can make you sick to your stomach so I put on my headphones and listen to the “Deftones.”

Yeah, I’d rather listen to a huge dose of Deftones after listening to this pile of puke.

I praise the guitar work and build up from Mike Smith which shows his full potential in this song as his talent was heavily wasted in this album, but I still criticise this song for deliberately referencing the shooting tragedy at Columbine High School with no respect to the victims families. You’ve just damaged your reputation with this song in this album Fred, oh wait...it’ll be damaged even further with the next track....

Now we’re getting to the “shitty gritty” of this album...one of the...most disrespectful covers...that still gets played on Triple M seventeen years after it’s original release...and what cemented its place as the cover song that signalled the death of mainstream Nu Metal...

*WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE USED HEAVILY*

BEHIND BLUE EYES (THE WHO COVER)

*VIOLENTLY VOMITS INTENSELY*

WHERE DO I FUCKING BEGIN WITH THIS PILE OF MONKEY SHIT?

This cover of a classic rock ballad from The Who, one of my favourite rock bands of all time from my favourite albums “Who’s Next” is just indescribably DISRESPECTFUL, PUTRID AND WEAK AS PISS!!! Complete from the non existent sampled guitar work, Fred Durst’s inability to sing with his monotonous delivery of vocals and the dreary sound effects in the main chorus sounding like when you turn on a Sony PlayStation 2.

There is absolutely NO EMOTION in this cover at all! In the original version from The Who, Roger Daltrey sings this song with heavy emotion plus he sounds very angry in the bridge section. And where is the bridge section in this cover exactly? Oh...it’s replaced with a Speak N Spell, A FUCKING SPEAK N SPELL saying “Discover” and spelling “L.I.M.P” part of their terrible band name that’s named after a disgusting sex game in Britain, not to mention, Fred’s statement that he’s not telling lies is another stealthy direction to Britney Spears FOR FUCKS SAKE! I thought that I was hearing a demo version of song containing the section with the Speak N Spell during the instrumental break and Fred whining about “being sorry and not telling lies” would be a placeholder recorded before Mike Smith joined hoping that they would record a much more aggressive, rap heavy version of the bridge from the original but nope! They apparently released this absolute joke of a cover as it is! Was it really such an absolutely bright idea to bastardise such a classic “The Who” song from one of my favourite albums of all time? At least Faith No More knew what they were doing when they recorded their cover of Lionel Richie and The Commodores’ “Easy” on the rerelease of “Angel Dust.” Surely a verse was absent in that cover, but at least it was slightly faithful to the original version. (Still makes me sick that Limp Bizkit opened up for FNM during their American leg of the “Album of the Year” tour in September and October of 1997.) Did you know that song also got an awful music video to promote the 2003 movie Gothika (which this song appeared in) where Fred Durst tongue wrestles Halle Berry in a Psychiatric Ward?

The fact that this was the second single from this neanderthalic mess of an album, charting in at number 4 on the Aria Charts in 2003/04 not to mention being overplayed on mainstream radio stations such as Triple M to prove that Limp Bizkit had a soft side makes me undesirably sad to this very day...

Truely such a horrible cover song in rock, and don’t get me started on that cover of George Michael’s “Faith” that is the same level of absurdity of this song.

The song features another bonus track titled “All That Easy” featuring another monotonous delivery of lyrics with a simple beat from DJ Lethal...it just sounds like a song from a dollar shop Massive Attack...

DROWN

The final track on this album is yet another sad, mellow, monotonous melody from Fred complete with the repetitive chords from his guitar (one of the few songs to feature Fred playing guitar prior to Mike Smith joining the band). There’s nothing to describe about the half asleep sounding lyrics but it’s just absolutely sluggish at best and just another garbage time track to end this massive garbage fire of an album.

FINAL VERDICT ON WHY THIS TAKES THE TITLE OF THE ALBUM OF SUCKAGE

“Results May Vary” is nothing but an album filled with monotonous, lyrically repetitive songs, mostly directed to Britney Spears for being left out of writing for “In the Zone” as well as stated by on and off again guitarist Wes Borland as “Fred Durst’s solo project.” A massive chunk of songs were cut from this album such as “Crack Addict” which was performed live at WWE Wrestlemania 19 in Seattle earlier that year in 2003, “Just Drop Dead,” another bloody song directed to Britney Spears which appeared as a B-Side of “Behind Blue Eyes, “Why”, Lean on Me,” and their double cover of “Home Sweet Home and Bittersweet Symphony” originally performed by Motley Crüe and The Verve respectively, the latter three songs being put on the “Greatest Hitz” compilation two years later. Other songs that were cut from RMV, were titled “Press Your Luck,” “Poison Ivy,” “Cowgirls from Hell,” “Shot,” “Armpit,” “When it Rains,” “Let it Go,” the subtlety titled “Masterbation,” “Lean On Me” and others. However these songs wouldn’t have saved this album from being such a colossal disaster and a huge reliance of being a schadenfreude to various haters of the Nu Metal genre like me!

“Results May Vary” is Limp Bizkit’s equivalent to Metallica’s St Anger which was released the same year three months earlier. St Anger got a massive tonne of negativity when it was originally released but later got a huge amount of love and respect over the years. RMV will never have that type of respect as it simply nuked the careers of Limp Bizkit following its release. Limp Bizkit later released its EP titled “The Unquestionable Truth” with Wes Borland returning two years later and it’s comeback album “Gold Cobra,” with “The Stampede of the Disco Elephants” forever burning in Development Hell but the unsalvageable damage had already been done by then, and that’s why I give it the mantle as

THE ALBUM OF SUCKAGE!

Happy Trails...

[kasdeyathebitterwoman]

A Ninja Warrior Love Story - Part 7

You guys, we’re already on part 7. I’m so glad you all are enjoying this series! Be on the lookout for a Henry Cavill drabbled (or two) pretty soon! Also, let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list or send me an ask! 

taglist:

@maeleeme @andyrazzledazzle

CW: confrontation, crying, flashbacks, shaving

Word Count: 2,437

Wednesday morning, Lily woke up with a vulnerability hangover from hell. After her conversation with Mar, she turned her phone off and cried for the rest of the night. She knew in her heart that Mar was right, but it still was painful to hear. Lily hated that she couldn’t be angry at anyone but herself.

Rolling out of bed, Lily got dressed in a fog and left for the gym. She felt like she’d been hit by a truck, but she was hoping she’d be able to hide it. She pulled up to the gym to find no one there. Sighing with relief, she hopped out of her truck and trudged into the facility. Inside, she dropped her things off in the locker rooms. Coming out, she found Henry and Kal walking in. A pit formed in her stomach when he noticed her, smiled and began walking towards her.

“Good morning, Lily,” he called out behind Kal, who was already by her feet. “You went radio silent last night and I was worried I wouldn’t get to see you today,” his smile faded when he got closer to her. “Lily,” he started, alarm in his voice. “Have you been crying?” Lily shook her head no, but when she spoke, she gave herself away.

“No, I,” her voice was groggy, filled with excessive tears and lack of sleep. Henry’s brow furrowed deeply as he stared at her.

“Did something happen yesterday?” he asked. Lily could feel more tears pushing at the back of her eyes. She looked to the ceiling and sniffed, hoping to hold it all back.

“No, I mean, yes, it just,” she stumbled over her words. “Going to see my dad is always hard,” she said. “And then I haven’t been sleeping because I’m having nightmares, so I’m just. I’m tired,” she finally said. She couldn’t look directly at Henry because if she did, she knew the tears would come pouring out. She couldn’t stand to see the pity in his eyes at her sob story. Gently, he reached his hand out and took hers. Lily looked down at her hand in his. It filled her with so many emotions, they all bubbled up to the surface and she couldn’t contain them. Pulling her hand away, she apologized, turned, and ran for the locker room.

“Lily,” Henry called out after her, but she didn’t stop. In the locker rooms, she pushed her sobs down and best as she could. Shaking, she stood at one of the sinks and mirrors and did her best to compose herself. After a few moments, Megan entered the locker rooms.

“Lily,” she called out. “Don sent me in to check on you,” she stopped when she saw her. Lily glanced over at her.

“Hey Rapunzel,” Lily said sardonically. Megan stood there, her brow furrowed. “Just tell Don I’ll be out in a few minutes.” Megan, still looking very concerned, nodded and began to turn to leave, but she stopped suddenly.

“I’ve always admired you, Lily,” Megan started. “You’re so strong. I know what you’ve been through - I heard what your dad did. I think it’s incredible how you didn’t let that stop you. Whatever you’re going through, you’re strong enough to deal with it,” and with that, she left. Lily stared at herself in the mirror. Puffy eyes, blotchy skin, and tear marks streaming down her face. She chuckled a little thinking there was no way Henry would think she was beautiful.

Washing her face and taking a deep breath in, Lily decided it was time to head back out to the floor. Staying near the locker rooms, Lily took a survey of what was going on. Tom, Henry, Don, and The Dude were at the rock wall going over, what she assumed, was grip strength and technique. Megan was at the free-weights doing her own thing and Kal was lurking near Henry. Kal spotted her and immediately trotted over to her. He sat at her feet and leaned gently into her leg as if to comfort her. She smiled and gave him head scratches. Moments later, Henry was there.

“Lily,” he started. Lily looked up at him. Concern was written all over his face. “Are you okay?” he asked. Lily nodded.

“I’ll be okay,” she said and meant it. Gently, Henry reached out again, but instead of taking her hand, he cupped the side of her face. It was so sweet and kind, Lily closed her eyes and slightly pressed her cheek into his hand. For a brief moment, she felt relaxed. She didn’t want the moment to end, but it did.

“Lily,” Donovan called out as he trotted over to her and Henry. As inconspicuously as possible, Henry dropped his hand. Lily did her best to not look guilty. “Lily, hey, are you going to be okay to train today?” he asked, not acknowledging or noticing the moment between Lily and Henry.

“Uh, yeah, I think so,” Lily replied. Don nodded and told them to get over to the wall so they could all get started. Henry smiled gently at Lily and she smiled back. Together, with Kal in close pursuit, they walked over to the rock wall. Donovan explained the importance of grip strength and how rock climbing helped build that up. Lily was tasked with demonstrating certain moves that would help with grip, flow, and overall movement. Despite how she felt, Lily executed some of her best attempts. Overall, Tom was very impressed with her abilities.

“Lily,” he said when she dropped down from the wall. “Do you have any experience with stunt work?” he asked. Surprised, Lily raised her eyebrows and shook her head no.

“Uh no,” she started. “I was an English major in college and I ran track in high school.” Tom was surprised by this.

“Really?” he asked. “You definitely seem like someone that would do well in stunt work. You too, Don. I want to talk to the both of you later about some stunt work for this project Henry and I are working on.” he left it at that when they agreed to speak, then got started on his own attempt at the rock wall. Don and Lily stared at each other, shocked and excited. Lily looked at Henry who was beaming at her.

“Did that really just happen?” she asked him. He smiled wider and nodded.

“Yes, it did,” he replied. Lily suddenly felt very awake and very alive.

—

During a lull at the barbershop, Lily sat at her station and checked her phone. She had a missed message from Henry.

I didn’t get a chance to say it, but, congrats beautiful. Not just anyone gets offered an opportunity by Tom Cruise himself. You really are quite special. I think this deserves a proper date night to celebrate. Lily smiled at his text, feeling very special indeed. She replied.

I agree, but you need a shave first, mister

While she waited for his reply, Lily checked her shaving kit. In it she had her three straight blades, a natural bristle brush for applying shave cream, and a strop to correct the blade. Ray had recently had her blades taken in to be sharpened, so they were good to go when she needed them. Her phone buzzed, so she checked it.

I was REALLY hoping you’d forgotten about that. Lily laughed out loud, then looked around the shop.

“Sorry,” she called out to a room of muttering men. Lily grinned as she replied to Henry.

I have not once stopped thinking about getting to shave your face since I won that bet. Come by the shop tomorrow around 11. I’ll have a spot available for you. She hit send, then walked over to the front counter where the schedule was. On Thursday, she had open availability most of the day, so at the 11 am mark, she wrote in Henry’s name and her initials.

Back at her station, she checked her phone.

Fine, but tomorrow night then I get to take you out on a proper date. Lily smiled.

Deal. She replied before suddenly realizing she wasn’t sure she had anything to wear.

—

The bell on the front door jingled announcing Henry’s arrival. Lily looked up from her station to see Henry standing there looking slightly worried. She smiled and walked to him.

“Don’t look so nervous,” she said as she got closer. Henry smirked.

“I could never be nervous at the prospect of you touching me,” he replied. “Even if you will be holding a blade to my throat.” Lily rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Come on,” She gestured to her station and walked back with Henry following in close pursuit.

“Good morning, young man,” Ray called out from his station where he was trimming Mr. Ortega’s hair. Henry smiled.

“Good morning, sir,” Henry replied, smiling a little at Ray. Ray moved his gaze from him to Lily.

“What brings you in?” he asked, returning his gaze to Henry.

“I’m going to give him a shave, Ray,” Lily replied, giving him a stern look. Ray looked at her, grunted a little, then went back to his own customer. Lily gently rolled her eyes, then gestured for Henry to sit down. He did and Lily took stock of the situation. She examined his face, turning his head gently from one side to the other. “Alright, give me one minute. I need to grab some things from the back,” she said. Henry nodded in understanding.

In the back, Lily grabbed a few clean towels, a cup of water, a bowl, and a hot towel from the steamer. She balanced all of this in her arms as she walked back to her station. Henry watched her with great interest before asking,

“How did you get into this?” Lily smirked at him through the reflection in the mirror.

“I was really into Sweeney Todd as a kid,” she replied and laughed as Henry, at first, was horrified, then laughed when he realized she was joking. “No, my dad taught me and then Ray had me trained so I could work here,” she said. Henry bobbed his head.

“Tell me about your dad,” he said. Lily froze.

“Well there’s not much to tell really,” she said, her mouth getting dry. “Besides, you need to go under.” Henry looked at her confused. “Under the towel,” she said, grabbing the hot cloth. Pushing the chair back so Henry was lounging comfortably, Lily began to wrap the towel around his face. “Let me know if this is too hot or if you need anything,” she tapped his hand resting on his abdomen. “Just raise your hand, I won’t be too far away,” Henry muttered something she assumed was agreement from under the towel.

While he was steaming, Lily prepped her materials. She started with the shaving cream. Mixing equal parts water and cream so it created a frothy mix, perfect for shaving. Done with that, she pulled out a blade and the strop from her kit. Attaching the strop to the hook near her station, she began running the blade over the leather to correct it and make it ready for use. When all of that was done, she checked on Henry. He hadn’t moved since she put him under, so she hoped he was okay.

Placing a hand gently on the towel, she decided he was ready to go. First, she grabbed one of the clean towels and placed it across his chest. Then she unrolled the hot towel from around his face and used it to gently wipe the skin down.

“You okay?” she asked gently. Henry nodded, clearly relaxed. She smiled and grabbed the shaving cream. As she applied it, Henry stirred.

“That’s cold,” he muttered, as she swiped cream across his upper lip. She hushed him then continued applying everything to his cheeks, jaw, and neck. When she was satisfied with the application, she set the bowl down and grabbed her straight razor. Starting on his neck, she meticulously pulled the blade in fluid, upward motions. When she got to the right side of his jaw, she gently moved his head to the left so she’d have a better angle. Again, with fluid motions, she pulled the blade across his skin, removing the hair. After each pass, she wiped the blade on the towel across his chest. Henry’s breathing was steady and occasionally she could feel his heartbeat and it sent off fireworks in Lily. She watched as he relaxed into her hands and let her have complete control of the situation.

Finally, when she was done, she used the hot towel that she’d initially wrapped around his face to remove any leftover shaving cream. Satisfied, she removed the towels and grabbed the bottle of aftershave. With a small handful of the liquid, she turned back to Henry and began massaging it into his jaw and neck. He smiled a little, making it difficult for her to keep working.

“What?” she whispered. With his eyes still closed, Henry replied.

“I’ve been waiting patiently for your touch and you literally can’t go any further than my neck,” he said quietly. Lily snorted and giggled a little, making Henry smile harder. Finally done, Lily sat Henry up so he could get a good look at himself.

“Holy shi-,” Henry started, leaning forward in the chair to look at his face closer. He ran his hand over his cheeks and jaw repeatedly. “This looks like when they CGI’d my mustache off during the Batman reshoots,” he said, laughing. Lily chuckled a little and watched him enjoy the finished result.

As soon as he was ready, they walked to the front counter to ring him up.

“How much do I owe you, Lily?” Henry asked. Lily shook her head.

“No, Henry,” she started. “Don’t worry about it.” Henry looked back at her with determination. From the back of the shop, Ray called out.

“Shave is $30, plus tax and tip,” Lily dropped her shoulders and looked over at him. Ray knew he was in trouble, so he didn’t look at Lily, but stayed focused on his crossword puzzle. Henry smiled.

“Thank you, Ray,” he said, pulling out his wallet. Lily sighed heavy as Henry handed her a $100.

“Henry,” she said quietly, her eyes pleading for him to take it back. Henry reached out, grabbed her hand and placed the bill in her hand. Then he leaned forward and said only to her,

“If you do something well, don’t do it for nothing,” then he winked and said, “I’ll pick you up at 6:30,” 

[shirtlesssammy]

2x01: In My Time of Dying

Then:

Sam and Dean Winchester: Monster hunters

Now:

We pick up right where we left off last season, only this time Netflix got the rights to the proper music. Bad Moon Rising, indeed. Sam, Dean, and John are all unconscious or dead in the now destroyed Impala. The possessed trucker jumps out to double check. Sam’s actually awake (aw, baby Sam Fucking Winchester emerges!) and threatens the demon with the Colt. The demon smokes out leaving Sam to call for his family while the horrified trucker looks on. 

Cut to Rescue 911. The Family Winchester is airlifted to a hospital. Dean wakes in the quietest hospital ever. He starts wandering around trying to find somebody only to find the world’s rudest reception station. It dawns on him that the woman can’t see him. He races back to his room, only to find himself with tubes everywhere and monitors beeping. Oh dear.

Sam rushes in and Dean starts talking to him, but just like the receptionist, Sam can’t see or hear Dean. A doctor comes to tell Sam that John is awake. Sam wants to know about Dean though. He tells Sam they won’t know the full extent of Dean’s injuries until he wakes up --if he wakes up. Dr. Doom and Gloom doesn’t know Dean’s love/hate relationship with death. If he’s alive, he often wants to be dead and if he’s dead nothing is stopping him from coming back alive. 

Sam visits John and discusses Dean’s status. He’s as determined as Dean to save him. (Go, codependency, go!). John says that they’ll look into alternative medicines and then he asks for the Colt. 

That doesn’t sit so well with Sam. But he tells him it’s in the truck of the Impala and Bobby’s on his way to tow it back to Sioux City. John tells Sam to get the Colt and to pick up some things for protection (Oh, how young Sam had NO CLUE what the ingredients were for.) Sam asks if John knows anything about what the demon meant when he said he had plans for him and children like him. John doesn’t know. 

Dean was watching the whole exchange through, and he ain’t buying it.

For Skeptical Son Science:

Sam and Bobby meet by the Impala and Bobby, needlessly cruel, admits, “This just ain’t worth a tow.” DEAN’S SOUL IS ALWAYS WORTH REPAIRING! (Natasha: Preach!)

Sam then gives Bobby the list of ingredients and tells Bobby they’re for protection from the demon. Bobby ain’t buying it. 

John visits Dean. Ghost Dean starts pleading with John to help. He hasn’t called anyone, hadn’t done a thing but sit there. “I’ve done everything you have ever asked me. Everything. I’ve given everything I’ve ever had. And you’re just gonna sit there and you’re gonna watch me die?” 

He hears a noise outside the room and checks it out. A flash of something rushes by and Dean heads to investigate. 

He finds a woman choking on the floor. No one responds to her weak calls for help, and no one can hear him yell. (What kind of hospital is this, just letting a lady die on the floor like that?) 

Sam comes back and Dean keeps trying to talk to him, with no luck. John notices Sam’s mood. Sam tells John he knows what those ingredients are for --summoning a demon. John’s got a plan (Good lord, Sam is his father’s son.) Sam is GOING OFF on his dad, and I mean, in retrospect, oops (but you kind of deserve this for not telling Sam your plan). Dean gets so frustrated watching the exchange he knocks a glass of water off the table. And then lets the audience know that he TOTALLY watches chick-flicks (I know, I know, Swayze always gets a pass). He starts to glitch out and people rush past John’s room. Sam follows them to Dean’s room where he’s flatlined and they’re trying to bring him back. 

Dean sees a reaper hovering over his body and tries grabbing it but is pushed away. It then rushes from the room and Dean gets a pulse again. Whew. He tells Sam that he’s going to get it before it gets him. 

Wandering through the hospital, he finds a woman yelling at others. “Can’t you see me?” etc. Her name is Tessa and she wants to know if she is dead. Dean takes her to her room. He tells her that they’re spirits but if they hold on, they don’t have to die. 

Meanwhile, Sam is telling John he felt like he sensed Dean and wonders if it’s possible. John says anything it possible.

Dean and Tessa wander the Hospital of Young Adult Nearly Dead Angst. 

Actually, Tessa is handling this whole almost dead thing really well. HMMM. “It’s out of my control. It’s just fate.” Them's fightin’ words, Tessa. Dean doesn’t take kindly to “fate”. “That’s crap, you always have a choice.” 

Sam’s back in Dean’s room with his handy “Mystical Talking Board”.

Dean feels like he’s at a slumber party, but dives right in to talk with Sam. Remarkably, Dean doesn’t take the opportunity to immediately spell out B-O-O-B-S. He takes control of the pointer to spell the word H-U-N-T.

Through the board, he tells Sam that there’s a reaper after him. Sam knows that if it’s there naturally, they can’t defeat it. “You can’t kill death,” Dean says rather famously. LOL those were the days. 

Sam spins into Winchester denial mode because there’s always another way! He heads in to talk to John but that little chicken has flown the coop. 

Down in the boiler room (never go into the boiler room, kids!) John unloads a bag of supplies. He takes out a piece of chalk and begins to draw sigils on the floor. 

Sam heads back into Dean’s room with John’s journal. Dean thanks Sam for fighting to save him (as opposed to his absent dad). Dean reads over Sam’s shoulder from the section on reapers, mutters “son of a bitch,” and then heads out on his own mission. 

Dean finds Tessa back in her hospital room, but this time it’s empty and sterile. He drops some interesting facts about reapers, like that they can alter perception. A reaper can appear in any form, which is why we see Tessa in the form of Neil Gaiman’s Death. 

Tessa explains her subterfuge as the only way to get Dean to listen to her (instead of stabby stabby knifey knifey). She’s the spectral presence he’s been seeing all over the hospital, gently reaping souls. “Death is nothing to fear,” she tells him. “You’re living on borrowed time.” Once I finish digging the knife out of my own heart because I just sat around remembering the episode Faith, we cut to John.

John has finished his craft project and slices his hand with a blade while chanting. (I pity the custodial staff who’s going to have to come clean this mess up.) His ritual appears to fail when a custodian does show up and orders him to get out of the boiler room. John levels the Colt at the guy. “How stupid do you think I am?”

Well...stupid enough to lone wolf this demon summoning.

Two other demons flank John. Yellow Eyes mocks John, pointing out that he only has one bullet left. John doesn’t care, though. He’s there to make a deal. 

Upstairs, Sam talks to Dean’s body, telling him that he’s hit a dead end in trying to save him. “I’ll keep trying as long as you keep fighting. You can’t leave me alone here with Dad. We’ll kill each other.” Sam begs him to stay. 

Dean begs Tessa for an exception to the reaping rule. They’re still in the middle of fighting Yellow Eyes; he can’t leave his family now. Tessa tells him that the world keeps turning no matter who she reaps. The world will go on without Dean in it. (Stares directly at the camera.)

Dean refuses to leave and Tessa drops her final bomb. Dean can’t get back into his body. He’s really almost very much mostly dead.

She gently explains that angry spirits are created by ordinary souls who try to stay behind and eventually go mad. If Dean stays, he’s gonna join their ranks. 

John offers Yellow Eyes the Colt and its last bullet if he’ll heal Dean. Yellow Eyes scoffs at John’s offer. He doesn’t think much of Dean or Sam. He then asks John if he knows about the other children. YEAH DUDE. But John definitely hasn’t told Sam or Dean about it. John’s all business. He demands to see that Dean is healed before he’ll hand over the gun. Yellow Eyes is intrigued, but he demands one further concession.

For Vulnerable Dean Science:

Tessa tells Dean that it’s time to go, or time to stay. Whatever his choice, it’s decision time now. Dean turns to her, about to say…………..something. And the lights flicker. Black smoke floods in and possesses Tessa. She looks back at Dean with yellow eyes and smacks her hand on his forehead. 

In Dean’s hospital room, he wakes up and gags on his life support tubes. YIKES. 

Cut to later: the doctor reviews Dean’s miraculous recovery. “You’ve got some kind of angel watching over you.” (Listen, I know this is supposed to be ironic because har har a demon saved him, but…. DUDE Dean you’ve really got some kind of angel watching over you. Wink wink.) 

Dean doesn’t remember a damn thing about when he was near death. He just has a bad feeling about…something.

John checks in with Dean, glad to see that he’s recovered. Sam grills him about taking off but John begs for them to not fight. It’s a mark of how little gentleness they see from their father that John begging quietly for peace makes Sam ask if he’s okay. (#JustSayin) 

John sends Sam on an errand to get a cup of coffee. Once Sam’s gone, he tells Dean about something that Dean did when he was young. 

When John returned from hunts, messed up and scarred, Dean would comfort him and tell him it was all okay. (I need a minute to cry right in your FACE.) John apologizes to Dean for putting so much responsibility on him at such a young age. Dean is being SEEN. John tells Dean that he’s proud of him. Dean double checks that it’s his father. I’ve drenched my pillow. 

John gives Dean one last mission: to watch out for Sammy. He leans forward and whispers into Dean’s ear and when he pulls away, Dean looks horrified.

John leaves Dean’s room and walks up to Yellow Eyes. He sets down the gun. Says, “Okay.” 

Sam, walking back with a cup of coffee and finds his dad lying dead on the floor.

______________________________

Quotes: The High Cost of Living:

Screw you, doc, I’m waking up.

Dude, I full on Swayzed that mother.

You’re much prettier than the last reaper I met.

______________________________

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[castielgurl]

Come Into My Life Chapter 10

You can read the full chapter here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13693443/chapters/47086378?view_adult=true

The next morning.

Selena was nervous; she remembers Natalia's face during the wedding ceremony. She was worried about the young girl. Is she willing to get married?

Scott saw Selena's face as restless.

"Selena, why with your face? Steve with Nat the one married why are you worried about it?" Scott chuckles. Scott slept at Steve's house after yesterday's wedding.

"I saw Nat's face yesterday, she looked sad on her wedding ceremony yesterday," Selena remembered

"Why would she want to upset anyway, nobody forces her to get married? She`s agreed to marry Steve" Scott talking while drinking water

"I wonder why Mister Roger wants to keep secret about their marriage. Is he ashamed to marry a teenage girl?" Selena feels weird

"He's probably kept a secret because he's a CEO, and just divorced his wife; imagine if people know about it, the media will be crazy. People will say Nat just wants money. He will reveal who Natalia later. "Scott understands his boss's mind.

"Now people are indifferent. The old man married young women is normal. I think Nat was sad because her mother was not present at her wedding." Selena might guess.

"It's okay, you can replace her mother," Scott told Selena.

*******************************************************************************************

Nat got up early and set up breakfast for Steve. This is the first time she cooks for Steve. Selena says he likes to eat toast for breakfast.

"Good morning Mister Rogers," Nat said as she poured tea

"Good morning, Nat you don`t need to prepare breakfast for me. Selena can do all this." Steve sat on the chair

"But I feel guilty for not helping. I just sit in this house and do nothing" Nat stood beside Steve

"You're my wife, you don`t need to feel guilty. Let’s sit down with me." Steve told Nat to sit

"No, I want to eat with Selena in the kitchen"

"It's okay, you eat with me and I'm will be busy with work, maybe there's no time to have breakfast with you anymore" Steve shows the chair

Nat finally agreed to eat with Steve.

"Mister Rogers, I have a request" Natalia tried to be brave

"What is it?" Steve asking

"I want to ask you for permission to move to my room back. Because I felt uncomfortable to sleep in your room. So we can be comfortable again "Nat hoped Steve was not upset

"Sure. It's not a problem” Steve understand

"Good morning Steve" Sharon suddenly appeared

"Sharon what did you do here early in the morning?" Steve did not expect Sharon to suddenly appear.

"I'm looking for you at our office. Oh, it looks like you both have breakfast together. Sweet indeed uncle and niece eat together "Sharon stood beside a table

"Yeah, nothing wrong for uncle and niece eating together right? Sharon let sit and have a breakfast "Steve invited Sharon to eat

"Sure. Thanks” Sharon sat down. "How long did Natalia stay here? Did Peggy know about her?" Sharon began to investigate

"She's just staying here, her college is just twenty minutes from here, and Peggy has not met her yet," Steve answered quickly

"Steve how about we have lunch together today? We haven`t eaten together for a long time. I will pay” Sharon smiled as she touched Steve's shoulders

Natalia watches with Sharon's touching her husband. She understood that Sharon knew Steve for much longer. But Sharon seems to be deliberately trying to make her jealous. Sharon also looked at her cynically. She probably hates her.

Natalia waited for Steve to send her to college. Sharon came and sat next to her.

"You are Natalia, right? I want to tell you that Peggy is Steve's, first love. In our university, they were called the most beautiful couple. Don`t even dream you can win Steve`s heart. You need to see yourself in the mirror. You definitely not his type. Ok see you later Natalia "Sharon said arrogantly.

Natalia and Steve stay silent in the car.

******************************************************************************************* Sharon was unsatisfied and confronted with Steve. She needs to find an answer.

“Steve you have changed a lot now, and you rarely go out with me anymore" Sharon meets Steve at his office

"I'm busy, you know after my father died." Steve was trying to ignore Sharon.

"But every time I see Natalia I felt something wrong. I don`t believe she's your niece, I think you're lying and making up the stories" Sharon said

"Why do I have to lie? Sharon, I`m warning you do not interfere with my personal business" Steve gave a warning

"Steve, I'm your best friend. I just saying that Nat and Scott look very close, at first I thought Natalia was Scott's lover, and young girls nowadays like older men, although Scott is not as rich as you. But Scott is a man. He can afford to take care of her "Sharon tried to change Steve's mind. And she left Steve's office.

Steve started thinking whether Scott and Natalia had something behind his back

*******************************************************************************************

Steve asked Scott to send him to the golf center. Scott took Natalia after college. Natalia was surprised to see Steve suddenly in the car. Usually, only Scott was in the car.

The home trip seems very strange because of Steve's presence.

"After this, we want to go to the stationery shop. Natalia wants to buy books and equipment for her exam" Scott told Steve

"Well, I'm not going to play golf, I will follow both of you," Steve said

Natalia and Scott were shocked

“Sure”

Nat and Scott walk to the stationery shop. Steve just watched from behind. They were both very friendly and lots of laughing together. They take a photo together, and Natalia's post it on her Instagram. Steve pretends to look at books while he watches his wife look happy with Scott.

Steve and Natalia are waiting for Scott who is busy talking on the phone. Natalia is busy taking a selfie. Steve just sat down and watched Natalia's actions.

“You seem to be busy. Your followers look forwards for important updates from you. Go ahead followers are important right?” Steve exclaimed as Natalia did not speak a word with him at all.

"Mister Rogers I`m sorry, I don`t know what to talk to you” Natalia keeps her phone in the pocket

"You talk to Scott a lot of things," Steve said

"Scott is a little bit different, even though he's older, but he's cool and chill, I can talk anything with him," Natalia said with a smile

Steve feels a bit lousy with Natalia. Because his wife doesn`t like to talk to him. He made an annoying face at Natalia.

******************************************************************************************* During work time Nat sends a message. Nat told Steve to go home for dinner because she cooked Steve's favorite food, Chicken Grill. Steve just smiled and said ok. He then watched the cooking video post by Natalia on Instagram. Without realizing he smiled alone.

Sharon came to Steve's office. She asks Steve's help to accompany her to the project presentation with Sharon's client. Steve was initially reluctant because he had promised with Nat. But he finally said yes.

It's almost midnight. But Steve is still not home. Nat only she able to see the food she cooked on the table. She still refuses to eat because she is waiting for Steve.

Steve finally came home after that.

"Mister Rogers, you promised to eat together tonight, but where are you going?" Nat felt very upset. She might raise her voice higher.

"I'm sorry because I have an important meeting. I already had my dinner" Steve forgot to call Natalia because he was too busy

"But you made a promised; you can at least call me or send a message or something” Nat was very angry with Steve's ignorance. She was very hungry, and Steve didn`t tell her that he was home late.

Steve feels very annoying

"First of all the promise is not everything to be fulfilled, and the second I don`t ask you to wait for me or cook for me. I can say now Natalia Romanova you have to remember the purpose of our marriage. I told you I will not treat you as a wife. You don`t have the right to prohibit me from going out with anyone or interfere with my work. Do you understand? "Steve was very angry and felt that Nat did not respect him. He went straight to his room as he was too tired and need to sleep.

Natalia tried to deceive herself. She acknowledged that Mister Rogers's words were very painful. Although she realized she should not have any feelings about Steve. She knows who she is. And she should not be angry with someone who has helped her a lot. Nat could only cry until she fell asleep.

******************************************************************************************* The next day Nat takes a suit for Mister Rogers. Nat knocked on the door but Steve did not answer. Nat kept opening the door and put a suit on the bed. Then she realized that she forgot the socks and handkerchiefs. Nat talks to herself. Then Steve suddenly appeared from behind. He's just after a shower.

"Who are you talking to?” Steve rebuked

Nat turn around her body because she was shocked by the voice. Natalia then stunned because Steve was wearing only a towel around his waist

"Mister Rogers forgive me, I thought you not in the room." Natalia's face was red because she had never seen a man shirtless. And Steve's body is very muscular. Nat kept looking down as it was very shy to see Mister Rogers's face.

"You don`t have to do this, it's Selena's work, you don`t come here to be a maid,” Steve said, taking his suit on the bed.

"But I feel ashamed if I do not help," she said. "I'll let Selena do it next time." Nat quickly got out of the room because she felt very embarrassed.

Steve holds Nat's wrist.

"Well, you don`t have to be shy, I'm your husband, you can look at me, its normal" Steve feels weird with Natalia's attitude

Nat looked at Mister Rogers's face. And saw her wrists still held by Mister Rogers. Steve realized and immediately let go of Natalia's hand.

"Uh, Nat afternoon I want to take you to the restaurant, I'll take you from college." Steve tries to change the topic.

"Thanks, Mister Rogers, I prefer to eat home cooking, because I don`t have much money, it's better to save money, I'll have to pay you later” Natalia remembers Steve's words to her yesterday. Of course, she refuses.

Natalia left Steve speechless.

******************************************************************************************* At noon, Steve was waiting for Natalia outside the college. Although Nat refused his invitation, Steve still forced Nat. He uses the power of authority.

"Nat, let's get in the car." Steve gave directions

Nat refused to come in.

"Natalia Alianova Romanova! I told you to get into the car now or I'm picking you up. Now you make a choice." Steve was ashamed as just ignore his request.

Nat grumbled, but eventually agreed and got in the car.

They eat in a luxury restaurant. But Natalia still refuses to touch her food.

"Why you don`t eat anything, you're hungry, you didn`t eat dinner and breakfast this morning" Steve knew why Natalia behaved so "Stop being sulky, the people who like being sobs and sulky will fail in life," Steve said cynically.

Nat rolled her eyes.

"Nat, I brought you here, because I want to apologize about yesterday, I should not say that to you, I want you to give me more time, I need to know you, and you need to know me" Steve holds Natalia's hands

And for the first time, Steve smiled to Nat. Nat was stunned because Steve's smile was so sweet. His teeth are beautifully arranged. Natalia's heart began to melt even when she was angry with Steve for a while. Nat also smiled as well.

"Eat, I have a lot of work to do next." Steve continued to eat

Nat takes some food using a spoon. She then handed the spoon to Steve. He was initially a little hesitant. But he then ate the food from his wife's hands

"Wow, how sweet you two."

"Sharon?"

[nerdydungeonhound]

Bad At Love Ch. 3

https://killer-sixx96.tumblr.com/post/184952907378/bad-at-love-ch-1

Tags: @anna-nichole-lee @triplehaitches

——————————————————————————————————————

Dani stirred awake with an aching in her head, and naked except for the bedsheet. the bed was empty next to her, but the memories from the night before came flooding back. She had slept with Nikki, something she never thought she would have the courage to do, something he never indicated he wanted to do. She looked over at the clock and it was almost 3 in the afternoon. ‘Shit, I have to get home’ She thought as she collected her clothes off of the floor, everything was accounted for, except for her panties, which were a ripped mess in the corner of the room. She sighed and slipped her clothes back on and tried her best to smooth out her hair, she had to go and face everyone after the scene Nikki caused before he took her back to his room.

She made her way out of the bedroom door and into the main room where everyone, except Nikki, was hanging out. They all looked up at her with knowing looks and smiles. She gave them a ‘don’t start with me’ look.

“Hey Dani! How are you this morning? Wait, never mind, I know exactly how you are,” Then Tommy put on his best Dani impression and moaned, “Oh sooooo good!” Tommy and Vince erupted in laughter.

“Shut the fuck up, I don’t sound like that!” Dani whined and laughed along with them, but a wild blush rose up her cheeks, and she covered up her face with her hands. Nikki then came in through the window.

“What’s so funny?” He said to the boys on the couch, completely ignoring Dani. Her heart sank a little bit at that, but what else did she expect from him.

“Oh nothing, nothing at all, just Dani’s screaming from your room last night,” Vince said raising his eyebrow at Nikki. His face dropped to his hands to pick at the chipped black nail polish.

“Yeah, I guess it was kind of funny. Hilarious actually,” He said seeming completely serious. Rage bubbled up in Dani’s chest. He thought being with her was funny? He wouldn’t be laughing for very much longer. She pushed passed him roughly, knocking him to the side.

“You’re an asshole, Nikki. Fuck you,” She said, lighting a cigarette and heading for the window to leave.

“I can’t, you already did,” he fired back.

“Yeah, and honestly. It wasn’t that great,” Dani spat, as she slipped out the window onto the balcony. Ignoring Tommy and Vince’s pleads for her to stay, she made her way down the stairs. Angry tears were pricking at the corner of her eyes and she stormed down the street in the direction of her apartment.

“Dude that wasn’t cool, Nikki,” Tommy said, crossing his arms.

“You guys were laughing, what was I supposed to do?” Nikki yelled.

“Dude, we were just fucking around with her! That’s how we always are. Honestly, good for you for hooking up with her! We all know that you like her, man,” Vince said. Nikki’s anger dropped immediately at that. It was true. “But there you go, fucking up something good.” Vince slipped back towards the bedrooms and slammed his door.

“Dick move, man.” Mick said flatly. Once they all left Nikki alone in the main room, he fully realized he fucked up everything with Dani. She was indescribable, and he fucked it up, royally. He always manages to mess up everything good in his life, he was sure it wasn’t long until he fucks up his band, too, then he would have nothing. He really needed to find a way to fix this, but unless he was really drunk, he could barely look at her, she made him so nervous. ‘I need a game plan’ He thought.

———————————————————————————————————————

Dani flung her door open, catching it before it crashed into the wall, aware if James was sleeping in the apartment. The last thing she needed was a crying one year old and an angry roommate. Tonia was sitting in the living room watching the TV on a low volume setting, and crocheting.

“You’re home, finally,” Tonia said and giving Dani a once over, noticing her in disarray, “You look like you were hit by a truck.” Dani went over to her to sit down on the brown leather couch.

“I slept with Nikki,” Dani blurted into the air, avoiding eye contact with her friend. Tonia’s mouth dropped open.

“No way! How did that happen, doesn’t he hardly ever talk to you?”

“I don’t know what happened, we were drinking, and snorting, and flirting. It spiraled and he just put it on me.” Tonia dropped her crochet project on the table, turned to Dani and crossed her legs, very attentive.

“Tell me more, tell me everything,” Tonia said excitedly, but in a hushed tone.

“Tonia, it was everything I hoped it would be,” Dani’s head dropped, “But he made a big joke about it to everyone, like it really didn’t mean anything.” Tonia put on a concerned face. Her blue eyes wide and brows furrowed.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry,” She leaned in and hugged Dani tightly, “I’ll kill him,” she said in a monotone voice. Dani laughed at her.

“That won’t be necessary,” Dani smirked slightly, “I wont get mad, I’m gonna get even.” Tonia looked at her skeptically, “I’m just going to show him what he is missing out on.” Tonia grinned.

“I can help with that.”

———————————————————————————————————————

During Dani’s shift at the Whisky, Tonia had kept up on her promise. Dani was dressed, and her makeup done to perfection. The boys were due to come in so Dani could talk to her boss, Ricky, about getting the band to play at the venue. She was dressed in a tight, short leather skirt and her uniform t-shirt cut right below her belly button. Her hair was half up and half down with two wispy strands on either side of her face. She was getting the attention of random strangers, this ought to show Nikki.

The band walked into the entrance of the venue and went straight to the high-top tables to have a seat. Dani walked towards it, and as soon as Nikki looked up, his face went into panic mode. She looked the hottest she has ever looked, if only she wasn’t pissed off at him. She would be back in his bed again, he just knew it. As she approached, he looked away nonchalantly.

“Damn, Dani,” Vince said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, “You are a total smoke show.”

“Thank you so much, Vince,” she said leaning in close to him and grabbing onto his upper arm. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees that Nikki has his jealous face on, the same one she saw the other night. So the play was to flirt with Vince, Dani was going to keep that in mind. Dani brought them their drinks and decided to go take her smoke break, making eye contact with Nikki, who was still looking at her from across the venue.

She walked out to the alley and lit up her cigarette, taking a long drag and counting the seconds until Nikki would walk out behind her. She counted for about 60 seconds. Nikki swung open the back employee entrance and walked up to her, she pretended not to notice him.

“Hey, can I talk to you?” He said quietly. Dani leaned against the wall and crossed her legs, not once looking at him.

“Sure, whatever,” She said angrily. He walked in front of her and she looked down at her stiletto heeled feet, refusing to look at him.

“Can you look at me?” He said, slightly annoyed. Dani finally looked up and gave him a ‘go ahead’ look. She brought the cigarette back up to her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry for earlier, I’m not really sure how to do this.”

“Do what? What is even going on here? It seems like you don’t even know,” Dani said in the same annoyed tone Nikki had put on earlier.

“I don’t know, you make me nervous, a girl has never made me nervous before! I don’t know how to act around you. Especially when there are other people around and I’m sober,” Dani shot him a confused look.

“The calm, cool, collected, Nikki Sixx? Nervous, around little old me?” Dani smirked, suddenly not as angry as she was before. Nikki scoffed at her.

“Well, don’t tell anyone that or I’ll have to kill you.” He said. Dani took a step forward towards him. He tensed up as he looked up and down her body. She took notice of this and took another step.

“How do you feel right now?” She said in a seductive tone. Nikki’s eyes rolled back in his head.

“Tense, like I cant breathe,” he gulped, “and insanely turned on.” Dani wrapped one of her arms around his neck and leaned in to where their lips were an inch apart. She could tell he was, indeed, holding his breath.

“You don’t need to be,” She whispered, “Because I want you. Do you want me?”

“God, yes,” At that Dani closed the gap between them, and kissed him. He immediately kissed her back, the rest of his body relaxing and resting his hands below her ass. At that moment, Ricky opened the door.

“Dani, your 15 is up, come on back!” Dani broke off the kiss, with a sigh.

“Coming!” She yelled in response, and turned back to Nikki, “I have to stay in his good graces if you guys want to play here.” She pulled away out of his grip, and headed towards the back door. Nikki gave her a slap on her behind and she squealed sharply. “Now don’t go starting something you can’t finish,” She said, walking through the door, leaving him in the alley.

———————————————————————————————————————

“C’mon, Ricky! I can vouch for them, people are talking about them all over the strip,” Dani explained to Ricky while trying to convince him to let Mötley Crüe play at the venue.

“I don’t know, D.”

“I’ll work all night for free, you will even get my tips for the night,” Dani promised, and Ricky put his hand on his chin, pretending to think about it. It was already a done deal.

“Alright, you got yourself a deal,” Ricky said and Dani engulfed him in a tight hug , “Okay, okay, go tell them and get yourself out of here, and take them with you!” Dani ran off to tell them the good news. She reached the table, out of breath and almost falling over her feet in her heels.

“Woah, Slow down there, Kid,” Mick commented as she grabbed onto the table trying to catch her breath, “What’s going on?”

“I got you guys the gig, I vouched for you and I’m working for free, but you guys got it!” The guys celebrated, and Nikki ran over and picked Dani up and swinging her around.

“Oh fuck yeah! Let’s do some shots,” Nikki said setting her down.

“Not here. Ricky wants us out of here, let’s leave before he changes his mind,” Dani explained, placing her hand lightly on his chest.

“We can always take the party back to our place,” Nikki suggested, looking down at her raising one of his eyebrows under his hair. Dani smiled up at him and nodded in agreement. The guys agreed and all at once got up from the table.

“PARTY AT OUR PLACE, LETS GO!” Tommy yelled practically standing on the chair, cupping his hands around his mouth. The room cheered and started flooding out of the bar, down the street, and into the apartment. The room was covered in people, and Dani stood in the hallway, pressed between the wall and Nikki’s body covering hers, kissing her mercilessly.

“Do you want to take this into my room?” He asked taking a break from her lips.

“Oh, did you really think it was that easy to get back in my pants?” Dani said grinning maliciously.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You are going to have to work harder than that, Sixx. I told you not to start something you couldn’t finish,” Nikki rolled his eyes and groaned. ‘Revenge is so sweet,’ She thought, ‘The real question is, how long can I hold out on him.’

[tyrannysaurusfloof]

Snake Bite - 3

Summary: Virgil should be more concerned by the random snake in his room, and the fact that it bit him. He should. But his family are good at calming him down, and there’s one Side in particular that doesn’t want to feed his concern. Characters: Virgil, Roman, Patton, Logan, Thomas and Deceit.  Relationships: Platonic LAMP, Platonic LAMP & Thomas. TW implied character death, fear of someone dying, lowkey panic.

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Part One || Part Two

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Virgil’s recovery was slow.

Despite staying within the mindscape, and being only a projection of Thomas’ personality, he had been unwell with the snake venom for weeks before the deception had been revealed. Logan said that it was logical for him to still be suffering, because in the mindscape, he had a tangible, human-esque body.

The explanation did nothing to ease the tension of the others.

Thomas was the best indication of whether he was healing or not, since he could sense the feelings that Virgil inspired in him. Everyday Patton would check in with Thomas and make sure that his anxiety, among other things, wasn’t fading. Everyday Thomas would confirm that it wasn’t fading, but it wasn’t as strong as it normally was, and Patton would rush back to find Virgil and make sure he was okay.

After the first bout of consciousness, Virgil had spent the majority of time either asleep or passed out. When he was awake, he was in pain, spasming and arching off the bed as he cried, or curling in on himself and holding his stomach in agony. The only reason he wasn’t dead was the fact that he was a Side of someone else, and not a fully-fledged human, according to Logan.

That did little to comfort them all either.

They all took turns staying with him, following Logan’s instructions on how to care for him to a tee, with a little of their own flair thrown in every now and then. Patton would sing to him, soft lullabies that his own kids enjoyed. Roman would recite grand tales, filling the silence of the room for both his benefit, and also to give Virgil something to hold onto if he felt himself slipping away. Logan would read scientific books to him, exploring things he knew Virgil was interested in and giving him the knowledge, even in unconsciousness. It was all a waiting game.

Patton was with Virgil when he hit the worst stage of his recovery.

A few days into the reveal that he had been seriously unwell, Patton had been humming as he held Virgil’s hand and changed the dressing over the wound when suddenly, Virgil’s breathing became gasping and short.

“Virgil!” Patton immediately dropped his hand and rushed to Virgil’s head. The anxious Side was unconscious but struggling to breath, and Patton knew immediately this was different to the numerous panic attacks Virgil had had. This was his body struggling against the venom inside him, his lungs shutting down against the deadly toxins, and for one, fleeting second, Patton thought he was going to die.

He shoved that negative thought away in an instant.

Virgil was not going to die. He wouldn’t allow him to. Logan had said this could happen, and as a Side, Virgil would battle his way through it, but it would take patience and a lot of waiting, and no panicking. That was easier said than done, but Patton took as many calming breaths as he needed to as he manoeuvred himself around Virgil, pulling him into his arms and cradling his body. The terrible sound of Virgil trying to suck air into his lungs faded eventually, but his pulse was weak and thready and he showed no signs of regaining consciousness. The skin under his eyes was discoloured, giving him the signature look Virgil normally used eyeshadow to achieve, and his lips were tinged slightly blue, but he was breathing normally again.

Unsure whether the worst was over, Patton just cradled Virgil to him, afraid to leave him even for a second to call the others, and began to sing.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, You make me happy, when skies are grey, You’ll never know Virg, how much I love you, Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

The room echoed with the words, Patton singing stanza after stanza until his voice was hoarse from crying and singing and he couldn’t bring himself to do more than sob. After what felt like hours, Virgil stirred under him, and Patton shot up immediately.

“Virgil! Are you okay?”

“P…Patton?” Virgil’s own voice was weak, but it was there, and he was breathing normally and when Patton pressed his fingers to Virgil’s neck he felt his pulse coming back, strong and sure, and he couldn’t stop himself from bursting into tears.

Virgil looked surprised, and concerned.

“Whoa, hey, what’s wrong?!”

“I-I…t-thought you w-were going to…going t-to die!” Patton sobbed, “I-I’m so g-glad you’re o-okay!”

Weakly, Virgil lifted his good hand, and tugged at Patton’s shirt. It was a small movement, but Patton understood immediately, and slid his position so he was lying down next to Virgil. They lay like that for a while, Patton crying into Virgil’s shoulder, Virgil stroking his back gently with his good hand, until Patton had calmed down enough to remember he hadn’t bandaged Virgil’s other hand.

Looking at the wound, he gasped, “It looks so much better,” before bending Virgil’s arm so he could see it too. The wound did indeed look better, well on the way to healing, and Virgil’s felt an odd calmness wash over him at the thought. Patton had been so distressed, he clearly had been extremely unwell to prompt that sort of reaction, but he was healing. Logan would say it’s normal to get worse before getting better, and Virgil could accept that as fact after this.

-

When he was well enough to sit up, and eat something, the four Sides and Thomas gathered in Thomas’ living room to discuss what had happened properly. Patton appeared next to the stairs with Virgil, and the anxious Side sat down as soon as he appeared. Roman and Logan did the same, and Thomas dragged a chair across so he could sit in front of them too.

“Can I get an explanation of how Virgil ended up being bitten by a snake in the first place?” Thomas asked, speaking first. He couldn’t hide the happiness that Virgil was feeling better from his expression as he spoke, but his words were grave enough to colour the following conversation. None of them liked talking about Deceit, or wanted to revisit how truly unwell Virgil had been, and how blind they had all been to it, but it needed to be done.

“I lost my headphones.” Virgil replied simply, “And in the process of searching for them, a snake bit me. That part of the story is pretty simple.”

“We’re already established that as mental projections of your personality, we can shapeshift.” Roman supplied, “And shapeshifting into animals is not a far stretch of the imagination.”

“Okay.” Thomas nodded slowly, “But why a snake? And how did he manage to actually inject Virgil with venom?”

“There are a number of answers to the first question, and I think the most obvious one is that snakes are seen as devious and deceivers in a lot of myths.” Logan answered this one, clear and precise as always. “We don’t need to delve into that subject any longer, but as for how he envenomated Virgil, that is a fascinating subject, and one I have been investigating.”

“Oh boy.” Roman breathed.

Logan shot him a glare before continuing. “Although he could transform himself into a Banded Krait and therefore have all the physical characteristics of the snake, venom would not be one of them. Now, in my time theorising, I have come to the following conclusion.” Clearing his throat, Logan materialised a small bag containing tiny shards of glass. “Upon examining the scene where Virgil squashed Deceit in his snake form with a book, I found these tiny shards of glass. They are the glass from small needle tubes, used normally to inject medicine, and further investigation of the pinpricks on Virgil’s hand proved that Deceit had all the characteristics of a snake except for one.”

“Which was?” Roman prompted, already looking a little put out by the long explanation.

“He did not have fangs, but needles. In place of the venom sacs and fangs, he had needles filled with the venom of the Banded Krait, perhaps even a mixture of different venoms. When he bit Virgil, the pressure from closing the jaws of the snake pushed the plunger and forced the venom into Virgil himself. And when Virgil smashed the book down on top him, the glass of the tubes shattered as well, and were left behind when I disposed of the snake.”

“He really put a lot of thought into this.” Thomas murmured.

“He has. And we know why.” Logan stated, glancing at Roman.

“Yes, we do!” Roman declared, “When we got rid of you three to take care of Virgil, we cornered Deceit alone, and Logan gave a very convoluted explanation as to why Deceit had done this. The long and short of it was that his form of self-preservation is all but impossible with Virgil having such a strong input with you Thomas. If he got rid of your anxiety, even if just for a little while, he could be stronger, have a better chance of convincing you to do things his way. And Deceit did not deny any of it but he had something else to say-.”

–

Deflecting the first swing of the sword without much issue, Deceit let a little laugh rumble low in his throat.

“You definitely got all of the reasons behind this.” He said, and Roman paused before the next swing, curious despite himself.

“Oh really?” Logan did not sound convinced at all, folding his arms and fixing Deceit with a sceptical look.

“I am a humble man,” Deceit began, prompting a snort of laughter from Roman, “Pride means nothing to me-.”

“You’re annoyed that Virgil found a place with us, and not with you and the others.” Logan interupted, determined not to let Deceit have the big reveal he had been planning. “A little part of this was revenge.”

Roman looked disgusted. “You attempted to get rid of Virgil not only because he stops your form of deception, but because you were angry he had finally found a place for himself? That we accepted him?”

“Ridiculous, is it not?” Deceit murmured, “Virgil was meant for the shadows.”

“Falsehood.” Logan snapped, “Positive mental health comes from accepting all aspects, including the negative ones. Thomas has accepted Virgil and all he brings, just as he has come to accept that you are a part of him as well that he would prefer not to give a main seat at the table of his decision making. He knows you are there now, that you are a part of him, but that does not entitle you to a bigger part.”

“We have all the main actors right here.” Roman agreed, gesturing to himself and Logan, and in a vague direction towards Logan’s room where Patton, Virgil and Thomas would be. “Anyone else, any of the others, they are side characters, there in Thomas’ personality to balance him out to a fully rounded person, but not there to take control.”

“Nice.” Logan smiled, “Very astute.”

“I know.” Roman sent a short smile back, before his face once again turned serious.

Deceit was looking at them both with vague disinterest on his face, but both Logan and Roman could see the concern beneath that expression. His second attempt to break them had failed, and he knew the truth in Logan’s earlier words. When Virgil found out about this, he would be extra vigilant, work extra hard, and not just him, but the others would as well, including Thomas. This had been a calculated move, and it had failed.

“Now, for the finale of this little act.” Roman continued coldly, and this time, Deceit could do nothing to stop the sword.

–

“You killed him?” Thomas asked, “Is that…is that even possible?”

“Well he nearly killed Virgil.” Roman pointed out, “But yes, it is possible. It’s not the same as ‘death’ here, but he is merely sent into the deep subconscious, unable to interfere or move or do anything until his body repairs itself. It could take days, it could take weeks, it could take months, who knows? But he won’t be around to mess us up for a long time, that’s for sure.”

“And with Virgil on the mend, we’ll be ready for when he does reappear.” Logan finished.

Thomas took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “This is a lot to take in. When I first summoned you guys, I did not expect it to get this complicated.”

“People go through problems such as this on a daily basis.” Logan said calmly, gently, “You have battled through negative emotions, deceit, anxiety, lack of creativity, heartfelt problems, all before you summoned us. The only reason it feels so strange now is because we have physical form.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Thomas nodded, “This sort of thing isn’t different from things I’ve faced in the past. Except the snake bite, that’s a little different.”

“Think of it as an emotional blocker, something inside you that supressed a certain emotion, but with the physical form of a snake.” Logan explained again, “If that is easier for you.”

“I get it, Logan, I do.” Thomas said, “I just…it’s a lot to take in is all.”

“Patton, you’ve been very quiet.” Roman murmured, glancing over at where the moral Side sat on the stairs with Virgil, and the instant he did, he saw why.

Virgil was asleep, leaning against Patton as Patton leant against the bannister. Patton was also asleep, breathing deeply and calmly, their fingers interlocked as the sound of Roman, Thomas and Logan speaking lulled them further asleep.

“Do you think they heard any of the explanation?” Thomas asked.

“No, if they had, Virgil would have said something when we revealed a small part of Deceit’s plan was revenge motivated.” Logan replied, “We should let them sleep.”

“Patton has been working the hardest to look after Virgil.” Roman agreed.

“Well, this’ll be a good time to do a video with just you two.” Thomas grinned, and both Sides immediately perked up.

“Oh Patton will be jealous.” Roman laughed, “But we’ll have to be quiet.”

“No mean feat for you.” Logan commented drily and Thomas bit back a laugh at Roman’s insulted face.

It had been a struggle, he had to admit that, and his emotions still felt a bit wobbly, but they were all healing together with Virgil, and next time Deceit came around, they’d be ready.