#of having to explain THAT whole mess to every new employee

[crowcryptid]

Hire employee: do NOT tell them about the parking situation till their first day!

Charge employees to park in company owned parking garage

Force people with email jobs to sit in traffic 2-3 hours a day and take up a parking spot (to be fair this one is determined by your manager. company allows hybrid and wfh. if your manager sucks then you’re screwed)

There aren’t enough parking spots! Wow if only we could fix this..

Solution: put all new employees on a months long waiting list to get a parking spot

In the meantime they can pay over $50 a week to park

Employees quit??? No one wants to work anymore?!

Pay employees trash but it’s $2 more than 95% of other jobs so we keep attracting new employees

Rinse and repeat

[pretzel-box]

PROLOGUE: WELCOME TO URBANSHADE

Word count: 3,3k

Tags: GN!reader, Graphic mention of surgery and experiments on a human body

Summary: You get hired by Urbanshade, thanks to your father, but every start has its obstacles. And some obstacles might feel deeper than they should be.

The time on the wall clock showed it was just a few minutes past noon. Warm sunlight gently crept into the waiting room through the tall panoramic windows of the building. A quick glance to the side, catching a glimpse of the clock, was enough to tell you that it would still be a few moments before it was time to move from the comfort of the leather chair you were currently sitting on. Your freshly disinfected hands clung nervously to your phone as you swiftly scrolled through the list of contacts you had saved over time. You were so focused that it startled you slightly when another caller ID popped up on the bright screen, displaying the picture of your father's face.

This particular man had called you a lot lately, sticking his nose into your business after you dared to ask him for a tiny favor, hoping he would help since you are his beloved only child. But one thing you didn't expect from him at that specific moment was that he would take the opportunity to call you, considering that he was somewhere on the ocean.

He works as a high-class businessman, primarily sponsoring a company called Urbanshade. You didn't know much about them, but your dad mentioned something about how they specialize in underwater mining with some high-tech inventions. This explained his temporary stay on one of Urbanshade's ships, where they were testing and showcasing another new underwater mining robot of some sort, called Trenchbleeder. Your dad had funded the whole project over the past few months, so he was more than excited to see how his money was being put to good use.

"Did they call you yet?" Despite the slight static, the seagulls, and the waves in the background, you could make out the strict tone in his voice. Of course, he was curious. You had asked your dad if he knew someone who would hire you, his child. And naturally, the first thing he applied you for was a position at one of Urbanshade's research facilities. They weren't really looking for new employees in the first place, but your dad was very close to the higher-ups, so he bought the job for you. The fact that he paid the company to hire you made your stomach twist in discomfort, but it was too late to turn back and say no. "I risked a lot by doing that for you."

He referred to the payment he had made on your behalf, and you could feel the pressure he had placed on your shoulders.

You nodded, even though your dad couldn't see it over the phone. "I'm at their building, sitting in the waiting room. We're signing the contract today." You tried to sound confident, but you knew your dad could see right through your facade. "They should be calling me into the office soon."

Your name was called loudly through the room before your dad could reply, and he would probably have given you another warning not to mess it up for his reputation's sake. "Sorry, Dad, it's time."

You ended the call with a swift push of the red button, putting your phone on mute so nothing would distract you during the meeting with one of the higher-ups at Urbanshade. The lady at the reception told you where to go, and another employee guided you to a glass room, where a middle-aged man in an expensive-looking suit was seated. His arms were crossed, and the way he scanned your application papers made your stomach turn.

The man must have noticed your little stare from the other side of the glass wall because he looked up from the file, and it wasn't hard to miss the coy smile on his lips. The previous expression on his face was quickly replaced with a more welcoming one. "Ah, we finally meet. Your father has already told me a good deal about you."

"I am grateful for the opportunity to work for your company, Mr. Wiltshire." First impressions count, especially at a company like Urbanshade. So you took the opportunity to present yourself in the best possible light, even if it meant pretending to be something you're not—in this case, motivated and interested. Your hand almost raised itself to offer a polite and respectful handshake.

"I assure you, we are the ones who are honored to welcome you to our team. Welcome to Urbanshade."

A few months passed after Urbanshade recruited you, and it didn't take long for you to get the hang of all the small details involved in your job at the luxurious office—details like how the overpriced coffee machine worked, how to sort the endless stacks of paper files, and even how to avoid getting on your new boss's bad side. At this point, you'd even admit it feels like being a well-paid version of an intern since your higher-ups only trusted you with minor tasks so far.

Despite the simplicity and comfort of the tasks, you volunteered more than once for harder assignments, showing your most motivated side in the hope of getting a little more action in your otherwise boring life. But every single time, Mr. Wiltshire blocked you off with a polite smile and a shake of his head. "You're not ready yet."

It was frustrating; you felt there was more behind it than just a lack of skills, but you couldn't force your way into the deeper levels of the job without risking ruining it all for yourself.

A high-pitched female voice suddenly pulled you out of your regular daydreams, making you aware that you were indeed not alone at the moment. "Ah, look who's here!" Your black-haired co-worker beamed at you with the fakest smile you had ever seen, making you raise your eyebrow slightly. The action didn't go unnoticed by her, and you could feel her sharp acrylic nails digging uncomfortably into your left shoulder. "Be a sweetheart," she started again, leaning in from behind and speaking directly into your ear, "and take care of my files too, alright?" She no longer tried to hide her snarky tone and instead showed you her true nasty attitude. "We don't want Mr. Wiltshire to see how much you slack off at work, right, hon?" The pain slowly disappeared as she lifted her hand from your shoulder, wiping it off on her expensive business blazer. A glance over your shoulder to meet her gaze was enough.

Her smug smile hit a nerve deep inside you, but you swallowed your newfound anger like the smarter person and just nodded without a word. In the end, it wasn't worth the drama, and maybe you could use the opportunity to score some extra credit points with your boss if he saw you doing some well-executed extra work.

The fake woman left the moment you tried to open your mouth to give her a straightforward answer, leaving you behind like some worthless object in the middle of the office. By this point, it wasn't really offensive to you since you strongly disliked that woman for her weird attitude toward you, and every second without her was surely a good second. After watching her leave and get into the elevator at the end of the hall, you turned around too and slowly made your way to the coffee machine in the plain break room, pouring yourself a nice cup of dark liquid into your favorite mug. You would surely need it if you had to put in some extra hours to get the work done. With newfound motivation, you left the room and headed to your co-worker's personal office.

It was a neat space inside a glass room, furnished with minimalist-style furniture and a nice office chair made of quality leather. Some of the woman's personal items were scattered across the mahogany table, and your lips curled up as you felt the smooth surface of the table, thinking you could earn one of those fancy offices yourself if you worked hard enough.

Then you saw the stack of brown files on the table. It was in an unacceptable, messy state, with paper corners sticking out from all sides and some mysterious stains on the front covers. Yet, the weirdly pleasant smell of cigarettes and old paper hit your nose, filling you with a strange, comforting feeling all over again. Your eyes also didn't fail to notice the bright yellow note on the stack, with a hastily written message in black ink:

"Please sort by Thursday night. Return Z-13 file to higher-up when done."

Reading it gave you a sudden boost of excitement, seeing that there must be an interesting file usually in the hands of higher-ranked people. You didn't question it but rather saw it as an opportunity to dive deeper into the business that Urbanshade conducts, sensing a way to escape the boring intern tasks and join them on the front lines, maybe even leading a mining operation in the exciting underwater world.

Your hands took the small note from the files, discarding it without a care into the bin, assuming your co-worker was aware of it since she knew about the work the files required. It was another simple job of sorting papers and making sure everything was in its place before returning them to the basement archives below the building.

The warm, rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee replaced the smell in the small office as you took a careful sip from your favorite mug. The dark liquid was the only thing keeping you grounded amidst the tension of the day. Your fingers traced the rim of the warm cup absentmindedly as you scanned the chaotic stack of files on the mahogany desk.

Determined to make a good impression by sorting through the files with precision, you placed your mug at the edge of the desk, within easy reach. You started to carefully separate the documents, making piles according to their categories, when your mind began to wander.

You reached for another file, but just as you were about to grab it, your elbow knocked against your mug. Time seemed to slow as you watched in horror as the mug tipped over, spilling hot coffee across the desk. The dark liquid cascaded like a wave, soaking the neatly sorted papers in seconds.

"No, no, no!" you gasped, frantically grabbing at the files, trying to salvage what you could. But it was too late—the coffee had already seeped into most of the pages, leaving large brown stains that spread and blurred the ink in matter of seconds. The once crisp documents were now soggy and wrinkled, some of the text smearing into an illegible mess.

Your heart pounded as you stared at the ruined files. A wave of panic surged through you. These weren’t just any papers; they were official documents, meant to be returned to the higher-ups. And that one file—about something called Z-13—it was supposed to go directly to someone important. You remembered the note and its simple instructions, now crumpled in the waste bin, and felt a sinking dread.

Grabbing a handful of napkins from the small break room drawer, you desperately tried to blot the coffee from the papers, but the evidence of your mistake would be painfully clear, no matter how hard you tried to save the files. The edges of some files were curling up, the ink bleeding out, and some of the pages were beyond saving. The more you wiped, the worse it seemed to get.

You slumped into the leather chair, your hands trembling as you stared at the coffee-stained disaster in front of you. What would Mr. Wiltshire say? Worse, what would your father think if he found out? The pressure to prove yourself, to show that you were capable of handling the job, suddenly felt crushing.

With a deep breath, you tried to calm your racing thoughts. There had to be a way to fix this. Maybe you could reprint the damaged documents, or perhaps there were backups somewhere in the archives. You needed a plan, and fast. But first, you had to get rid of the evidence of your mistake—before anyone saw the mess you had made.

Forcing yourself to think clearly, you carefully gathered the soaked files, praying that you could come up with a solution before anyone found out about the spill. And then you saw it, the important file with big red letters on the cover, slightly drenched in warm coffee. The damage seemed to be at a visible minimum, making you slightly relax despite all the panic in your body.

Your finger traced over the paper cover before picking the file up from the messy table. It was slightly heavy, and as you felt the weight of the file in your hands, a ripple of curiosity surged through you. You hesitated for a moment, wondering what kind of secrets might be concealed within these pages. But the urge to know won out, and you carefully opened the front cover, revealing a neatly typed summary that seemed to offer a glimpse into the contents of the file.

The first thing that caught your eye was a series of police reports, meticulously detailed and organized, each one stamped with the official seal of Urbanshade. They were followed by a set of photographs, their glossy surfaces reflecting the dim light of the room. The first image you saw was a clear mugshot of a young man. His face was striking, not in the sense of beauty, but in the way it conveyed a deep weariness, as if the weight of the world had been pressing down on him for far too long. His dark hair was slightly disheveled, and they censored his eyes, leaving them to your imagination.

His expression was a frown in each of the photos, a look of quiet defiance mixed with something else—something that sent a strange sensation through your chest. It wasn’t pity, exactly, but a deep unease that you couldn’t quite place. There was a coldness in his expression, yet also a flicker of something more, something human and raw, buried beneath the layers of exhaustion and anger.

You turned the page, your fingers brushing over the edges of the police reports that followed. The papers were old, some of them yellowing with age, but the text was still clear. Your eyes skimmed the lines, taking in the grim details of a murder case that had been closed years ago. The words felt heavy, each sentence a stark reminder of the horror that had unfolded.

The reports detailed a series of brutal killings—nine victims in total. The descriptions were uncensored, each one more gruesome than the last. As you read, a chill ran down your spine. The level of violence, the cold, methodical nature of the crimes, it all painted a picture of someone deeply disturbed, someone with a darkness that ran far deeper than you could have imagined.

And there, at the center of it all, was the young man from the photos. His name was typed in bold letters at the top of the report: Sebastian Solace. The name seemed almost ironic—“Solace” suggesting peace or comfort, while the man it belonged to was associated with such unspeakable acts.

You stared at the name for a long moment, trying to reconcile the tired, defiant face in the photos with the monstrous deeds described in the reports. The file mentioned psychological evaluations, interviews, and even some speculation about his motives, but none of it seemed to add up. There was a note in the margin, scrawled in a hurried hand, suggesting that the case was far from closed, despite what the official records stated.

A photo paperclipped to the back of the file caught your attention—a grainy image of a dark, empty room. The caption underneath simply read, „Day of Execution“ The picture showed the electric chair that they used in Solace his execution, but any sign of his presence was missing in it.

Then you turned the pages and the police reports changed into a large series of lab reports, endless lists of medication and a collection of pictures that left you in a nauseous state.

You read and read for what felt like hours, your eyes moving mechanically over the pages as the horrors of Sebastian Solace's life unfolded before you. Each detail seemed more grotesque than the last, painting a picture of a man who had been systematically stripped of his humanity. It wasn’t just the surgeries—those brutal, invasive operations where limbs were removed and reattached like parts of a machine. It was the utter disregard for the person he once was, the complete and total annihilation of his identity, his very soul.

The deeper you delved into the file, the more your hands began to tremble. You could feel your stomach churning as you flipped through page after page of graphic images and cold, clinical reports. The pictures were the worst—high-resolution photographs of Sebastian’s disfigured body, his skin pale and sickly under the harsh fluorescent lights of a laboratory. There were stitches crisscrossing his limbs, metal tools embedded in his flesh like cruel mockeries of life-saving instruments. His eyes—those once defiant, tired eyes—were vacant now, lifeless, as though the man he had once been was already dead.

Your breath hitched as you turned to a page detailing an experiment labeled "Procedure 17-C." The accompanying photograph showed a close-up of Sebastian's chest, where wires and tubes had been inserted into his heart, his blood replaced with a thick, unnatural fluid. The caption beneath it coldly described the experiment’s purpose—to test the viability of synthetic blood in deep-sea environments. The thought of what he had endured, of how much pain and suffering had been inflicted upon him in the name of science, made your vision blur with tears.

You forced yourself to continue reading, even as nausea clawed at your throat. The reports became increasingly more deranged, describing how Sebastian’s body had been treated like a puzzle, dismantled and reassembled in ways that defied all logic and ethics. The word "specimen" appeared frequently, a stark reminder that to his captors, Sebastian was nothing more than a test subject, an object to be used and discarded.

It was around page 35 that you couldn’t take it anymore. You shoved the file aside and staggered to the bin next to you, emptying the contents of your stomach. The bile burned your throat, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the anguish in your heart. You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, trying to steady your breathing, but the images lingered in your mind, imprinted there like a brand.

Sebastian Solace—the name now felt like a curse, a grim reminder of the horrors that could befall anyone who crossed paths with Urbanshade. And the Hadal Blackside... it was no longer just a place. It was a living nightmare, a twisted abyss where humanity was stripped away,

The weight of the file in your hands felt unbearable as you reluctantly picked it up again, your fingers trembling as you closed the cover. The secrets contained within were like a lead weight on your soul, pressing down on you with an intensity that made it hard to breathe. When you finally set the file back on the table, it was as though you were laying down a burden too great for any one person to bear.

But even as you tried to distance yourself from what you had just read, the haunted eyes of Sebastian Solace refused to leave you. They stayed with you, those hollow, lifeless eyes, staring back at you from the depths of your memory. They were a reminder that in the Hadal Blackside, there were things far more terrifying than the dark waters and the lurking creatures within. There might were men—once human, now monsters—who had been twisted by the same forces that now ensnared you.

You were tangled in their web now, caught in a nightmare from which there was no waking. And as you sat there, in the dim light of that office room, you realized that the true horror wasn’t what had been done to Sebastian. It was the knowledge that, in time, the same fate could await you, if someone found out what you saw.

[merrygay]

“Ah ah… What did you say ?”

Alastor x reader

Warning : NSFW, Dacryphilia, Dark Themes, cannibalism, Alastor is a Warning himself. English is not my first language. I’m bad at writing synopsis. I’m bad at writing in general in fact.

Synopsis : Innocent reader tries to make a deal with Vox in order to protect herself from Alastor.

Other : Lovely ; Alastor x reader

(Sorry for the long delay, college is kicking my ass)

————————————————————————

It’s been a week since the incident with Alastor happened, he hadn’t touched you since or even come your way.

Though you still tried to avoid him like the plague, every time you saw him, around the corner, in the living room, anywhere, you just quickly run away for dear life.

You were scared, what if this time he eats you for good ? What if he does the same thing he did last time and then proceed to eat you at the same ? You were getting paranoid at this point.

Seeing your small figure scare away from him like the pretty prey that you are made him grin even wider. He was clearly enjoying this, enjoying you, at first he hated that he lost control to a miserable thing like you, but as time passes the idea of a plaything didn’t seem to bother him anymore, especially when he was this hungry.

You've tried to forget what happened, you've really tried, but every night when you're alone in bed, you can't help yourself.

The pulsating feeling between your legs won’t stop, oh poor you, it gets even worse when the image of his head between your legs becomes clearer, his tongue unashamedly licking the most intimate part of your body, making a mess of himself with your juices as they drip from your sensitive pussy while you moan and whimper.

An innocent thing like you can’t even understand why you are feeling like this.

You rub your thighs to cease the sensation the same sensation you felt when he did this forbidden thing to you but it doesn’t work, you keep whining until you finally fell asleep.

You had to find a solution and quick, you don’t know when he’s going to jump on you again and this time eat you for good.

So Here you were, in front of the building of nonetheless than the Vees. It was a dumb idea let’s be honest here. Each step you take to get closer to the doors makes your heart beats faster. Making a deal with Vox must be better than being killed by Alastor right ? Right ?

_

“You want me to do what now ?”

The man in front of you, with a flat-screen TV for a face, looked at you as if you'd said the stupidest thing in the world.

“Why would I make a deal with an employee of this stupid fucking hotel huh ?”

You swallow nervously at his answer, playing with your fingers as you try to avoid his piercing gaze.

“I-I need to make a deal with you because I heard you are the only one who is as strong as Alastor-“

Vox smiles widen as he seems to like the compliment, “Ahah. Go on, continue I don’t have the whole fucking day” he says tapping against his office table.

You then proceed to explain, trying to avoid some of the… more embarrassing details.

he begins to laugh… laugh ? Why is he laughing ?

“You’re telling me that you are the new toy of Alastor”

He pauses for a second smiling devilishly while looking at you from head to toe

“You know what I’ll make deal with you, stealing Alastor fucking food is much more fun I can’t wait to see the face of this old prick when-”

His TV face starts to vibrate, you could see it was one of the other Vees calling. He puts the call in one of his other TV.

“Hello there, Velvet. How are you this Hellish morning”, in stark contrast to Vox lively greeting, Velvet response was one of pure annoyance.

“Cut the shit vox, i need you up here NOW. Your little boy toy is wracking my department while I tried to put together a show !”

Other voices could be heard behind her notably Valentino’s who was cursing around, yelling and destroying the entire department. Velvet ends the call without giving Vox any chance to say something.

Vox’s smiling face drops, he lets out a loud sigh.

“Here I was.. excited for something… anyway come this afternoon, so we can finalize our deal, I have a fire to put out upstairs”

With that, you leave the building, and quickly go back to the hotel avoiding the sinners running around and killing each other.

-

You open the doors, but it's strangely quiet - maybe they've gone out, you wonder. You climb the stairs back to your room, but when you finally reach the corridor, you suddenly hear a static sound.

“Are you still going to avoid me hmm ?”

You hear that familiar voice, filtered through the radio, with that all-too-familiar smile. He appeared right in front of you. You flinch and take a few steps back, your legs ready to run in the opposite direction.

He chuckles, his smile widening, awnnn how cute, you're still this scared of him.

“Now now don’t be scared, I just want to have a little chat with you” he says while turning around. Alastor was now walking towards your room Insinuating you to follow him.

“N-no ! I’m not going to, you should stay away from me, I made a deal with Vox !”

As those words settles in, the corridor seemed to shrink, suffocating you in a claustrophobic embrace.

The lights starts to flicker casting grotesque shadows on the peeling wallpaper.

A sudden chill permeated the air, causing goosebumps to rise on your already trembling skin.

“Haha.. What did you say ?” His voice took on a deeper timbre through his radio filter.

An oppressive weight settled over the corridor, squeezing the breath from your lungs and filling your minds with irrational fear.

He turns to you, his predatory eyes shining through the flickering lights. Each step seemed to echo with ominous intent while he grew taller and taller and his antlers increased in size.

"Do you really think he can keep me away from you? I don't think you really understand the situation you're in, my dear… You're my plaything, my prey and my meal. If you utter those stupid words again... I'll end Vox's life and broadcast his screams for every disrespectful wreck who dares to take what's MINE”

You were on the floor, you shaky legs were to weak to stand on their own, while Alastor’s glowing eyes pierced through your soul.

"Have I made myself clear?" He asks, leaning slightly so that his face is close to yours. You nod, lips pressed together, too scared to speak.

He tilted his head, his eyes softened, but the smirk that played on his lips refused to yield, a silent mockery that belied his gentle gaze.

In stark contrast to the anger that had consumed him mere moments ago, his voice now returned to its normal tone as he uttered the words “good girl” while petting your head.

The transition was jarring, as if a storm had suddenly given way to a calm, clear sky, leaving those around him bewildered by the sudden shift in his demeanor.

He straighten up and turns his back to you “Come now, I don’t know for you my dear but all that action has worked up quite an appetite, I'm absolutely famished !” he chuckles darkly as he starts walking towards your room.

He didn't give you time to get up, as one of his tentacles wrapped itself around your waist forcefully.

-

Next thing you know, Alastor was sitting at the edge of your bed, you straddling his lap facing him, with only your bra and skirt remaining still while your shirt was torn on the floor.

“You are terrible liar” Alastor force you to look at his smirking face.

“You didn’t make any deal .. yet” as he states those words without any warning he bites your neck, you let out a cry of surprise, you tried to get away, pushing him away in vain, he had one firm hand placed on your hips his claws digging in harder and harder each time you moved. Ironically his other hand holds yours in a romantic embrace, your fingers intertwined to his.

“Stay still, or I will devour you. You have no idea how much I’m restraining myself right now little one”, he can't help it, it's been a week since he's tasted you, since he's bitten your pretty little body, everything about you drives him crazy, your smell ahh your smell.

He goes back to your neck this time nestling there, inhaling deeply and then proceed to lick the spot he bit earlier, licking up the blood, his tongue started to go down, until he reached your breasts still covered with your bra, he looks up at you, smirking.

You were a trembling mess, your emotions swirled like a tempest, fear tightening your chest with every breath, embarrassment flooding your cheeks with a telltale blush. Yet amidst the chaos, a stirring of arousal sent shivers along your back, a well too familiar feeling between your thighs started to show up much to your dismay.

His hand, which was on your hips moved with a slow, deliberate, grace, gradually tracing a path upwards, each caress sending shivers down your spine until it reached the delicate lace of your bra.

His eyes were still staring into yours, drinking in your every reaction as his claws ripped the clasp of your bra, freeing your breasts for his hungry eyes to see.

You tried to cover them with your hand but He withdraws it “a-a”, he says sarcastically before his tongue trace a sensual path along your neck, gradually venturing lower and lower, your breath came in shallow gaps, each inhalation tinged with anticipation.

He finally reaches your chest, his tongue tracing precise circles around your nipples, you try to stifle your moans with your hand, but he suddenly bites your breast, making you cry out his name as he chuckles.

He continues for a while without ever ceasing to lick and bite, his hand still intertwined with yours, as you keep whimpering.

He was getting excited each sounds that came out of your mouth made him feral making his antlers grow and his eyes took on a predatory gleam, a never stopping hunger.

Without Warning, he forcefully lifted you from his lap, abruptly changing position as he pushed you down onto the bed, he slid your legs up onto his shoulders, giving him access to your thighs which he didn’t wait a minute before biting on it much more harder this time making you yelp in pain.

You watch his shark like teeth digging into the flesh of your skin, eliciting a crimson flow that trickled down you thigh, his tongue darted out to lap at the blood pooling around the wound, hungrily savoring again the metallic tang of the fluid.

“P-Please stop” you begged, tears rolling down your cheeks. He ignores your plead instead he keeps going, biting your other thigh, licking it and then taking another bite, while he slowly gets closer to your cunt.

His fingers played with the edge of your damp panties, teasing you. Your pussy was dripping wet. Your scent was intoxicating, everything about you was intoxicating, the way he was ruining you, both physically and mentally turned him on even more.

He abruptly ripped out your panties, your pussy was now exposed to him, it took him a lot of restraint for him not to eat you right fucking now, just like before.

His index finger teased a delicate trail along your belly, he descended lower his nail traced a deliberate scratch along your skin, igniting a surge of desire that pulsed through your vein.

You weren’t supposed to feel like this, but instead of hating it, you were desperate, one part you wanted him to touch your pussy, make you feel the same feeling of just pure bliss, and the other part, fear just pure fear.

“P-Please don’t go any lower” you plead again each word punctuated by a stifled sob, but it was too late, the demon before you was too intoxicated by your scent, by your wetness, your whole body really.

Again your pretty little mind had no idea about the struggle he was going through right now, struggling to restrain his cannibalistic impulses, and hearing your cries wasn’t helping at all, in the contrary, he derived such pleasure from your tears.

The way your puffy eyes would look at him, lips cutely pressed together, face flushed ahhh don’t blame him for acting out while you look this delicious.

“I want your soul” the demon says, before his finger applied gently pressure to your sensitive button, making you gasp in pleasure, he stroked circular motions over your clit heightened the pace, while watching your face which was trying not to moan but failed miserably.

“Let’s make a deal”, you were surprised by his sudden request “w-what” you stutters out, is he really suggesting it now ? Like right now in the middle of that ?

You couldn’t think straight you were too absorb by the pleasure he was providing you, you shake your head no, which made him stopped his movements making you whine, you look up at him, with that desperate look on your face.

Suddenly, he thrusts two fingers inside you, causing you to let out a moan of surprise at the sudden intrusion.

Alastor didn’t like the way you reacted to his request and it showed, as he pushes his fingers in and out with a forceful intensity.

He easily found your sweet spot, not letting you the time to process anything, you were a moaning mess at this point, clutching the sheets, fingers digging into the fabric while you begged him to slow down it was all too much for you.

“I will take you under my wig, and in exchange your soul would be mine forever” he declares.

Oh how ironic was it ? The problem himself proposing you this offer, it’s not like this morning you were literally trying to find a solution to get away from him.

You couldn’t reply back, only moans came out of that pretty mouth of yours making him chuckle, the intense heat that was building inside you, ready to be released at any moment was making you dizzy.

And then

He stops

Completely

Leaving you in a state of desperate longing, denied the released you craved.

“A-Alastor” you keep whining, moving your hips desperately.

“Accept my deal… just let it go” you couldn’t resist anymore you needed this so badly, you finally nod which made Alastor’s smile became more sinister as he starts to push his fingers in and out again, each stroke hitting your sweet spot harder, his other free hand comes towards yours to take, “it’s a deal then ?”.

The atmosphere changed drastically, Alastor form was becoming more demonic but you couldn’t care less at this point fear already consumed you, you were too absorb on reaching your climax now.

You hold his hand, nodding eagerly, moaning out a yes, and that’s all he needed to hear. Before you know it a collar appeared around your neck its chain dangling freely for Alastor to hold, which he does.

His fingers was buried deep inside your pussy while his other hand grasped the chain of your collar, you were his now forever there’s no going back.

Your body quivered with anticipation as you were reaching you peak, your tried to speak but your words were incoherent, but Alastor knew what you were about to say.

He suddenly buried his face between your legs, his fingers remaining inside you pumping in and out rapidly, while his tongue was devouring your pussy as if each taste was his last.

Your arched your back and with a shuddering gasp your body convulsed letting waves of pleasure washing over you, your moans getting louder as you finally came.

Your juices were all over his mouth and fingers. He eagerly took all in swallowing it without hesitation, while you were laying there panting and whimpering trying to regain some sense.

Alastor straighten himself, pulling out his fingers and bringing it to his mouth to lick it clean while fixing you with an intense gaze.

After regaining some sort of composure, a flicker of realization crossed over your features “n-n-n-noo what have I done !”, your voice rise in panic as you seat up, which made Alastor laugh with mockery each chuckle making you realize even more in what situation you were in now.

You tried to get off the bed but the grip that had Alastor on the chain held you firmly in place.

“Oh my dear, but I’m not done yet” he says before slamming you back into the bed.

Indeed he wasn’t done yet.

———————————————————————

It’s 3 am and I hope what I wrote made sense

[ivystoryweaver]

Special Delivery

Based on this very patient nonnie’s requests: “I was thinking about Steven Grant x male reader. Like something very and super fluff with him, cause I love him so much and I love fluff stuff with him” Original asks here, here , and here - tysm nonnie!

Summary: You're making a delivery to the museum's gift shop and the cutest gift shop clerk has to sign for it (It's Steven, of course)

Pairing: Steven Grant x m!reader

Word Count: 724

Content: fluff, flirting, meet cute, not beta'd

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

“Stevie, if I have to ask you one more time to answer the back door bell, I swear I’ll take the shipping fare out of your paycheck.”

Steven’s entire body tenses as his supervisor’s grating voice echoes across the museum gift shop.

“Right. On it, boss,” he amicably musters with a cheesy mock salute, grumbling a curse under his breath as he shuffles off the sales floor, through the swinging door marked “Employees Only”. Rummaging around for his keys, he groans as the bell rings again, signaling what’s likely to be an impatient and possibly rude delivery person.

“Just a moment,” he sighs, checking each and every pocket for his keys, hopelessly tossing his dark curls out of his eyes as he finally produces his keyring. “Could’ve sworn I left those in my jacket,” he murmurs, attempting to remember the past twenty-four hours, vaguely realizing he could not, in fact, remember much at all.

Then the bell trills again - insistently. One, two, three times in a row.

“All right, hold your bloody horses…” Steven trails off, yanking the door open, eyes going wide at the sight of you.

Dressed smartly in your delivery uniform, you chomp on your gum, reaching up to cheekily tip your cap to the flustered gift shop clerk.

“Doorbell broken?” You casually ask, popping your gum. “Must’ve rung half a dozen times.”

“So sorry,” Steven rushes to apologize. “Bit of trouble finding my keys. Come right in.”

You chuckle warmly, rather than condescendingly, as the shorter (and very cute) man reaches for a box to help you unload.

“You know, they pay me to do that, mate.” The corner of your mouth curls as his bright brown eyes go wide.

“Oh god, sorry. Wouldn’t want to break anything.” Steven almost jumps back, pulling his hands closely to his chest - a gesture so adorable your heart trips over itself. “Just wanted to help, is all,” he adds.

“Appreciate it,” you sincerely reply, but…noticing the rosy hue creeping across his cheeks, you chance a wink, nodding down at his name tag. “Steven.”

“With a V,” he chuckles, a bit flustered. “Steven with a V. That’s me.”

“I see that,” you smirk, pointing, once again to his name tag. “Can’t really make deliveries if I can’t read now, can I?”

The thing is - everyone calls Steven the wrong name. Everyone. Stevie, Scotty, ‘hey you!’ The fact that you read his name tag and winked... Maybe you winked?

Steven probably imagined that. "Right, em, guess I'll get out of your way then." He makes a circular motion with his hand. "Sure you have a whole system going. Sorry to bother."

"No bother," you shake your head, expertly offloading a huge palate of shipment with astonishing ease.

Steven wets his lips at the way your uniform shirt fits your arms and chest. "Must be new here..." He finds himself murmuring.

"What's that?" You pause, slinging your arm over your dolly full of boxes.

"Oh, em, haven't seen you 'round. Must be new," Steven repeats, snapping out of his distracted stare. Returning the favor, he reads your name from your uniform shirt tag.

"New route," you explain, pivoting the dolly up with your foot, ready to move it again, but you pause - eyes raking over Steven's adorably hunched body. A mess of dark curls, and purple circles under eyes with secrets and stories to tell. Hands with long, lovely fingers drawn carefully to his chest. Still...he's handsome. And kind.

To most people, you're invisible. But Steven's noticed you. "Gotta say. I like the view." With another well-timed wink, you chomp your gum and carry on with your task.

Once you finish, you have the gift shoppist electronically sign your tablet. "I will see you later, Steven with a V." You smile warmly.

"Every Monday and Thursday!" He exuberantly quotes the delivery schedule to you, as if you aren't aware.

"All right. Thursday then." Pulling your work glove off your hand, you take a chance, crossing over the line of professionalism. "Nice to meet you...Steven." You extend your hand for a shake, completely right about how it would feel to touch him.

Yeah. You're glad you've left your number scribbled on the top box. Maybe he'll call you before Thursday. If not, you'll make sure to write it on his hand next time.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Steven Grant-Centric stories

Moon Knight Masterlist

Main Masterlist

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

[astheworldgoesonitswickedway]

Get ready for yet another analysis of Count Olaf's behavior. Every time I make one of these I feel like I have to explain that I'm not justifying his actions but there's just so much complexity to him. Especially for someone who hides behind so much shenanigans. And honestly, the man is a psychopath, right, and he's one of the most chaotic fictional characters i can think of. The reason he is so interesting is because a character so chaotic and careless of his own well-being, doesn't usually last long enough to allow us a deep analysis of their unhinged behavior. Speaking of, let's talk about the way Olaf repeatedly tries to murder the Baudelaire children in drastically horrific ways such as decapitation, only to occasionally try to preserve their lives and keep them. Ok so, we know he needed at least one for the fortune, but that excuse doesn't explain all his behavior. Especially considering how rich Esme was, he didn't even need the fortune. There's definitely an element of being obsessed with the chase, he thrives on it sure. But how about his attempts at making them his henchpeople? I offer two reasons for this contradiction and he's so messed up, maybe both apply. I propose that 1. He believes corrupting them and making them his slaves is the best way to get revenge on their parents/corrupting them would make it easier to convince himself that becoming a monster wasn't really his fault. And 2. in a manner of speaking, he becomes attached. As far as corrupting them goes, he accepted their "help" without hesitation in the Penultimate Peril because it made sense to him they would be as disillusioned as he was and want to lash out. He thinks they HAVE been corrupted, and he's pleased. Yet, just before this, in the books, the children use their skills for him for once, and he is openly impressed by the things he previously mocked them for. I think he was secretly impressed the whole time, always wondering how they pulled off these unlikely escapes. They lost their parents, just like he did and he knows what that feels like. Its not confirmed whether it was by Olaf's hands but i hold to the idea that he was at least involved. Maybe a small part of him feels responsible for making them feel the way he felt. They've experienced horrible things, definitely by his hands, but they stuck to their principles. Sure this is part of why he hates them, it frightens him. If he recognizes they are right, its the same as recognizing he is wrong. It means in a way, they are stronger than him and he desperately wants to prove they are wrong and he is stronger. But I think a tiny piece of him can't help but admire them too. Later, in The End, he accepts them as his henchpeople strangely quick, and constantly repeats that offer despite their disinterest. Yes, he no longer has any henchpeople, but the Baudelaires have never been conformable to his wishes, it doesn't make sense to try so hard to keep them just because he needs new "employees." The harpoon incident is a good example of his attachment to them. Its slightly different between the book and show because the book indicates Olaf would have forced himself to go through with it and in the show he stands down. When finally given the opportunity to kill them easily and all at once, he struggles and cannot do it. Proving that at some point, he changes his viewpoint and doesn't REALLY want to kill them. He was relieved when they turned out to be alive in the Slippery Slope, even if he tried to play it off as being about the fortune. Which I know, its about THAT fortune, on "principle" but still. By the end of the show, he has changed his priorities from killing the children to keeping them. Don't get me wrong, he would have been horrible to them. But I think his plan was to do to them what his mentors did to him. As a side note, I love that as Olaf begins to associate himself with them, it works vice versa. They wonder if they ARE becoming as bad as him. Which is kinda sad to read/watch, because, of course they aren't. Don't you just want to reassure them?

[mountttmase]

A Mountain To Climb: The Sequel

Chapter Two

Note - thank you to everyone who left me feedback for the last chapter 🩷 this is technically the first chapter where something new happens so I really hope you love it 🙊 feedback would be appreciated as always 🥰

Pairing - Mason Mount × Reader

Word count - 3.3K

Warnings - series will contain fluff, smut and angst

Masterlist

Sunday nights were your favourite. You loved getting into bed early with fresh sheets and new book but tonight your usual routine was out the window.

It was almost 11pm and you were still sat on your sofa, trying to find the courage to pull yourself up when your phone buzzed.

Before you knew it, your phone was ringing and you couldn’t help but smile as you hit the answer button.

‘Mason, what are you playing at?’

‘Go look out your living room window’

‘What?’ You laughed, getting up slowly and making your way over but Mason kept quiet, the only noise coming from him was a few little giggles that made your heart thump. You pushed the curtain ever so gently so you could peek outside but now you knew why he was giggling. There he was, stood outside of his car as he waved up at you with that cheeky smile of his you’d missed this last week or so. ‘Mason Mount, what the hell are you doing here’ you laughed as you waved back at him.

‘Was on my way back from Chilly’s and I’m a bit peckish. Thought you might want to join me for a late night drive through run’

‘Mase… I’m in my pjs’ you giggled and you could see him laugh from the window.

‘I don’t care. We’ll be in the car so it’s not like anyone will see you. Come on, be a little reckless. I haven’t seen you in over two weeks’ he teased and you hated to admit he was right. The last time you’d seen Mason in person was two Fridays ago when you’d gone over to apologise and explain yourself. You’d spent the whole day together in the end but the pair of you had been fairly busy after that and even though you’d spoken every day you hadn’t managed to see each other.

Your resolve was quickly wearing away as you looked down at him and when he playfully dropped his lip you knew you were done for, huffing and rolling your eyes as he smiled up at you.

‘Get in the car, I’ll be five minutes’ you told him and you watched him celebrate like he’d scored a goal as he made his way round to his door.

You quickly ran to your room, slipping out of your shorts and into a pair of joggers before pulling on the matching hoodie and a pair of trainers. Your hair was a mess on top of your head but you didn’t have time to do anything with it let alone sort your face out so you grabbed your phone and keys and made your way down.

His head shot up as soon as you slid into the seat next to him and you offered him a shy smile as you got plugged in. You could feel yourself blushing as your heart thumped in your ears at being so close to him again and it took all of your willpower to glance over to him. He was looking back at you with the same red cheeks and shy expression and you felt a bit better.

‘Hi’ you smiled before letting out a little laugh and he smiled back before starting the car.

‘Hi’ he winked, before focusing on the road. ‘Thank you for joining me’

‘Didn’t really give me much choice, did you?’

‘I mean if you were comfortable with leaving me on the street then you could of but I’m glad you came to the right decision’ he joked and you rolled your eyes whilst trying to surprise a smile.

‘Did you have a nice time at Bens?’

‘Yeah it was alright, his girlfriend is away so-‘

‘So you can finally be together freely without her watching’ you cut him off, teasing him about how close they were but he just huffed with a smile.

‘Very funny’ he grumbled, but he couldn’t say anything else as he pulled into the queue for the drive through. There were only a few cars in front and he was soon enough he was relaying his order to the employee before facing you. ‘What would you like?’

Rather than tell Mason so he could repeat it, you unplugged yourself so you could lean over him, his face right next to yours and you spoke your order into the speaker and you almost jumped when you felt his hand gently rest on the back of your right thigh that was kneeling in the edge of his seat. Once you’d finished you turned to him, his face a lot closer than you realised and his eyes automatically looked down to your lips, seemingly too caught up in you to hear anything else that was going on.

‘Mason?’ You asked and he looked up just as you nodded over to the speaker.

‘Oh shit, sorry’ he laughed as you made your way back to your seat. ‘Sorry can you say that again?’

‘Can I get you anything else?’ The employee laughed and you watched as he scratched over his chin nervously.

‘No thanks mate, that’s all’

The drive round to the next window was quiet, the pair of you only speaking when you offered to pay. He brushed you off like you were delusional and it wasn’t long before he was parked up and you were dishing out his food to him.

‘You know for a small guy you sure do eat a lot’ you told him, horrified by the amount he’d ordered.

‘Who you calling small?’ He laughed, trying to flex his arm muscles and you’d be lying if you said your weren’t a little bit impressed. ‘Ive been putting loads of work in thank you very much’

‘Yeah but surely eating all this crap this late in the day can’t be good for you?’

‘Ah I’ll just put in an extra hour at the gym tomorrow it’s fine’ he winked and you felt yourself blush again.

Everything felt so new again with him, like you were just starting to get to know him. It was true in a way as this time you knew what direction you would be heading in and although you were still nervous about it you were also excited to finally be with him how you had always wanted to deep down. You could tell you were still both incredibly shy with each other but you just needed a little time to get into the rhythm of things.

‘I can’t believe we’re sat in a McDonald’s car park this late a night. I need a picture to commemorate this’ you laughed, grabbing your phone and awkwardly taking a picture of the pair of you with all your food and your heart thumped at his cheesy smile.

‘So what’s new’ he asked before shoving a handful of chips in his mouth and you couldn’t help but laugh at how goofy he was.

You sat and talked as you ate, updating him on the very little that had happened since you’d seen him a and he told you about training and the last game. You could tell he was a bit shy too but as you spoke the pair of you grew in confidence and the conversation flowed.

‘You’ll have to come to the next game, give you a chance to wear your Chelsea shirt’ he winked and you nodded at him nervously.

‘I never did thank you for that’ you laughed as you polished off the last your your drink. ‘So thanks’

‘Anytime’ he winked before he started rubbing his belly liked he’d eaten too much. ‘Maybe that extra burger on the side was a bad idea’

‘You think?’ You smiled, gathering all the rubbish into the paper bag so you could leave his car clean. ‘I’m just gonna pop to the loo so I’ll dump this inside’ you told him, scurrying off. You fancied something sweet on the way out so you sneakily ordered a small McFlurry and made sure to ask for an extra spoon. When you got back in the car he raised his eyebrow at you when he caught sight of it before laughing. ‘I got an extra spoon so we could share. You want some?’

‘Well it would be rude not to’ he smiled and you both lent in so you could share.

‘I thought you would be too full up for this’ you smiled and have gave you a little shrug.

‘There’s always room in my dessert tummy’ he winked ‘which reminds me, I need to put an order in for some more cookies’

‘Does that mean I’ll get paid this time?’

‘In a way’ he laughed and you felt your face flush at what he was implying as he finished off the last spoonful. ‘You fancy going for a bit of a drive?’ He asked and you nodded at him with a smile, glad he didn’t want to take you home yet.

You’d been driving for around 20 minutes when he told you he wanted to talk you somewhere close by but you’d been driving through country lanes for a while and you weren’t sure where he could want to take you but you agreed anyway.

‘What is it with you and taking me to weird forest’s. At least you had the decency to take me in the day last time’ you commented as he began driving up a muddy path that lead to god knows where and even though it was dark and no one could probably hear you scream for miles, you still felt safe.

You watched out the window as he pulled into a little empty car park, but it was the view in front of you that had you awestruck. The twinkling lights of London were shining in the distance and you turned to give Mason a smile, only realising then that he was already smiling at you.

‘Come on’ he motioned, making out like he wanted you to get out of the car and you looked back at him like he was insane. ‘What?’

‘It’s midnight, Mason. It’s bloody freezing’

‘Well we can keep each other warm’ he told you before opening his door and stepping outside. You thought he was mental, but the thought of maybe being close to him outweighed anything else you were thinking right now so you got out and followed him round to the front where he was perched on the bonnet. When you were in reach he pulled you by your arm so you could stand in between his legs, your back to his chest as he wrapped his arms around your middle and you felt yourself melt into his body as you rested your arms on top of his. This was the sort of contact you’d been craving from him for two weeks and you felt your heart pound as he settled his chin on your shoulder. ‘Is this okay?’

You could only nod, too nervous and afraid that your voice would betray you but he held you tighter so you could look out at the view together. It all felt so romantic and surreal as you felt his heart beat faintly against your back and you slowly stroked circles over his hands with your thumbs.

‘Should I find it weird you know so many romantic places in the woods?’ You asked him quietly, trying not to disturb the comfortable silence but you smiled as you felt his chest rumble with laughter. ‘I know you said we’re mountaineers now but I didn’t expect you to bloody take me up one’

‘I wouldn’t exactly call this a mountain, more of a large hill. And since you’re the first person I’ve ever brought here then no’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, saw it online last week and I knew we were close by so I thought we could check it out’

‘Aww have you been researching cute date ideas for us’ you joked but by the way he held you tighter and nestled into your neck you knew you’d hit the nail on the head.

‘Hush up’ he laughed, and you turned in his arms to face him. Your hands planted on his shoulders as his wrapped around your waist and you could still make out his cute blush in the dark.

‘So is this what this is, a date?’ You joked and you watched his face get even pinker.

‘You’re such a tease’ he laughed before you lent forward and kissed him on his nose. When you pulled back you could see he was looking up at you with a shy smile before he kissed your cheek, sending a shiver down your spine as you finally felt his lips on yours in some sort of way before he pulled back to bump his nose against yours.

You wanted to kiss him so much, and you were pretty sure he wanted to kiss you too but you were both a little scared so you took the plunge first, leaning forward to attach your lips to his for the sweetest most innocent kiss you’d ever shared with anyone. Lips barely touching at first as you both smiled but you felt everything you needed to, just like you always did around him.

‘I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me all night’ he whispered, causing you to laugh as you nestled into his neck and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, pulling each other impossibly closer as your heart thumped from nerves.

‘I’ve been waiting for you to do it’ you chuckled, smiling onto his skin as you felt him rub his nose against your cheek in order to get you to look at him again so you looked up with a blush before he lent over to kiss you. He was more forceful with you this time but only just, pulling you in with one arm whilst the other snuck slightly lower to pinch your bum as you threaded your fingers through his hair. A soft hum of appreciation filtering through his lips as he gently kissed you.

‘Thank you for coming out with me tonight’ he told you, brushing some hair behind your ear as you felt your knees go weak.

‘Thank you for making our first official date McDonald’s’ you laughed as you placed a gentle kiss on his nose.

‘You do that a lot’ he laughed and you looked back at him confused.

‘Do what?’

‘Kiss my nose’

‘Oh, I didn’t realise’ you laughed, blushing and you hid your face from him.

‘Don’t hide. I like that you do it’

‘Really?’ You asked quietly looking back to him and his soft smile was melting you.

‘Of course. It’s very cute’ he told you before pressing a quick kiss to your nose. ‘It can be our thing’

‘I’d like that’ you laughed before pulling him back into a hug. You fit together so perfectly and you felt an overwhelming sense of calm take over as he held you in his arms, your head slightly tucked into his neck as he rested his lips on your temple. You were both silent, the only sounds you could hear were a few leaves rustling in the wind and the odd cricket or two and even though you were starting to get cold you were pretty certain there was no where else you’d rather be. ‘You know what this reminds me of?’

‘What’s that?’

‘Remember we went for that walk when we first met?’

‘Yeah, took me days to convince you to see me’ he laughed, pinching your sides gently as you nuzzled into his neck a little more.

‘Oh shush’ you laughed, rolling your eyes at the memory of trying to get Mason to leave you alone. ‘It feels like we’re at the end of our walk where we got look out again. Like we’re back to the start so we can restart’

‘I like that’ he told you softly, kissing along your jaw and you could sense the smile in your voice.

‘Me too’ you smiled, holding each other even tighter as another comfortable silence took over you.

‘You cold, baby?’ He asked you after a few moments of quiet and you smiled into his neck at the pet-name before shaking your head against him. ‘You are, I can feel you shivering. Come on, let get back in and I’ll crank the heat up yeah?’ He told you but you showed no sign of moving, too comfortable in his arms. In the end he stood up, moving forward and causing you to step back. Still holding on to him for dear life as he walked you to your door and even though you couldn’t see a thing and you were relying on him guiding you, you felt safer than you had in a while. ‘Come on, let’s get you in’ he laughed and you pulled back to give him a cheeky smile.

‘I want a kiss first’ you whispered and it didn’t take much for him to dip his head down and kiss you again, squeezing your sides gently as you got lost in each other for a few moments.

‘Come on you big baby’ he chuckled before opening your door and gently pushing you inside. He was slipping in next to you just after and it was only when he started blasting the heat you realised how cold you were. Without a word he reached over and took your hands in his, rubbing them together so he could get you warm quicker before bring them up to his lips to blow onto. Once he felt like you were sufficiently warm you watched him press kisses along your knuckles and you felt yourself melting at the gesture before he looked back up at you with sad eyes. ‘I guess I better get you home. It’s nearly one and you’re gonna be miserable tomorrow if you don’t go to sleep soon’

‘I’m not ready to go home’ You pouted, knowing that he was right but you weren’t happy about it.

‘How about we compromise and I take you the long way back?’

‘That could work’ you smiled and with a final kiss placed on your hand, you got plugged in and he set off.

He drove with his hand placed on your thigh now and you played with his fingers as you spoke about some upcoming plans.

‘So if you’re free, maybe I can take you out? Like on a proper date rather than for a big mac’ he laughed and you gave him a shy nod. ‘Perfect, I’ll sort something out for us’

You were home quicker than you’d of liked to of been and you huffed as he pulled up outside your building, resting your head on the shoulder of the seat so you could look at Mason and he did the same meaning you were only a few inches apart.

‘Thank you, Mase. I had a nice time’ you whispered and his whole face softened as he smiled.

‘So did I’ he told you before leaning over and kissing you lightly. ‘Come on I’ll walk you to your door’

You both traipsed up the stairs hand in hand and you had to lean against the door when he gave you a kiss goodnight since your knees felt so weak which only got worse when he pulled back to smile at you.

‘Night gorgeous’ he whispered and you responded by kissing his nose which he reciprocated with a smile.

‘Night Mase’

‘You make sure you go straight to sleep, yeah?’

‘I will I promise’ you laughed as you finally pulled away from each other, unlocking your door and stepping inside. After a final kiss he made his way back downstairs and you watched from your window as he made his way to the car, peering up one last time to give you a wave before driving away.

[bougiebutchbinch]

o ok i just asked bc i always thought ed torturing the crew and traumatizing the crew was more emotional/psychological than physical. like the overworking the crew and running them ragged was sort of a joke abt toxic workplace environments where the joke is that instead of a modern office job their toxic workplace is Being Pirates. like the whole joke abt the first episode where stede is like "piracy is a culture of abuse but what if it weren't like that" and trying to encourage his staff to take care of their mental health, i thought the first episode of s2 was what piracy usually looks like on every other pirate ship that isn't stede's and that's why archie (who never met stede) thinks everything is normal. like the joke to me was that ed was making his employees work overtime for no paycheck and only compensating them with a pizza party, only instead of overtime its 80+ raids in a row and instead of no paycheck it's telling the crew to throw all the treasure overboard and instead of a pizza party it's wedding cake and drugs. and obviously all of this sucks and ed is a terrible boss but during the kraken era he's clearly not worse than ur average pirate captain or else the crew would've mutinied, this crew tried to mutiny against stede and izzy rlly quickly like they’re not gonna put up with a uniquely shitty boss. not that that makes ed's shitty captaining ok but it explains why archie thinks everything is normal and why the rest of the crew is miserable but still doesn't try to like, do anything about it.

and then w making archie and jim fight to the death. i mean i guess that's physical but i thought the real source of trauma there was more on the emotional turmoil of making this new couple fight each other vs the physical violence of just. fighting and getting hurt, which they do every day as part of their job anyway. and then ESPECIALLY i thought the biggest part of the psychological torture is the fact that ed did all of this only bc he wanted them to kill him and then they did, which the show is pretty explicit about. like he wasn't hurting ppl be he was just lashing out angrily, he was hurting them specifically so they would hurt him back. obviously again this does not make any of ed's actions ok but it's a much more complicated motivation i think.

like ig u can read it as "the crew was traumatized be ed was so scary and violent towards them" but i think it's way more interesting to focus on how the crew was scrubbing out an invisible bloodstain like they were lady macbeth. like there's obviously a lot of guilt there! which is crazy be the crew aren't ppl who are usually guilty abt killing pp|-they're pirates, for one, and then jim was rlly proud of killing alfeo. so i always thought abt it like, the guilt of when someone u know commits suicide and ur wondering if there's anything u could've done, but compounded be the crew are the tool ed used to commit suicide. like ed did not leave them a choice and they were 100% justified in killing him in self-defense but clearly they have very complicated feelings abt it or else they wouldn't be so focused on scrubbing out ed's blood from the deck. and they're also justified in their anger towards him be they didn't deserve this, they were all looking forward to doing a talent show w him and then suddenly he snapped and they didn't know why and he overworked them for months and steered them into a storm and put them in a situation where they had no choice but to kill him in self defense.

sorry i didn’t mean to leave this huge rant lol i just rlly love talking abt the crew’s trauma and how bad ed messed them up lol. when u mentioned physical torture i thought maybe there was something i missed and like i guess the physical torture is there, but i don’t think it’s really portrayed as anything more physically violent than what other pirate captains do (like making them eat live crabs) which again does not make it ok but it does explain why archie’s cool with it and nobody tries to mutiny. and like the really dark part of the kraken era to me is in the emotional and psychological torture of ed trying to make the crew kill him. like that's way more fucked up than any of the physical violence ed put them through

This is a very interesting theory!

With that being said, we're splitting hairs. Torture is torture. Psychological, emotional and physical elements overlap. I'm not sure whether arguing that we should focus on the psychological and emotional elements has any worth, when the physical elements are inherently woven into that?

Depriving someone of sleep and forcing them into a constant state of hypervigilance, as well as physically threatening to kill them and making them fight each other to the death.... the lines between psychological and physical torture are blurred, but I really don't think they matter all that much? There is a psychological, emotional, and physical element to all of these actions that Ed took against his crew? I'm not quite sure what you think the worth is in these specific categorisations.

Also, while I like your interpretation of the crew 'scrubbing out an invisible bloodstain like they were lady macbeth' (and absolutely think there's some merit to it!) I also think you need some nuance in there.

Focusing wholly on that kinda..... ignores the fact that they clearly were shown to be traumatised? Like that's not just my interpretation? That's canon! We see their hypervigilance and freaking out over tiny things - even if it's played for laughs. We see the way they cling together and form a tight-knit little group, and if we include Lucius in this, they struggle to reintegrate with 'Stede's' crew specifically because of the trauma that Ed caused them.

As for Ed 'just acting like a normal pirate captain'... Hm. There are some definite issues in your interpretation, as far as I see it.

Fang's reaction acts as a litmus test there. Ed previously threatened Fang with knives for fun and forced him to kill his dog. But Fang's constant crying and horror at Ed's actions during the Kraken era really suggests to me that during this time frame, he went far beyond the 'norm'?

If 'the joke is that instead of a modern office job their toxic workplace is Being Pirates', then why, in S1 was Izzy so upset about the possibility of Ed getting the lot of them killed? When we meet them again in S2, the majority of the crew have been killed, specifically because of Ed's actions, including Ivan. If this was 'the norm', piracy would be laughably inefficient to the point of being entirely non-functional! This, plus Izzy's earlier reaction to the threat of Ed getting all of them killed shows this really isn't 'normal' in my opinion.

Again, I think it really helps to divide this argument into 'are we looking at the characters as characters, or are we looking at them as people?' I can see that the writers introduced Archie and her horrific traumas with other captains, and therefore her acceptance of Ed, to try and downplay his fun atrocities. But I don't think that was enough. I just don't think it worked as well as they wanted it to! If it was enough for you, that's great, but I think there are enough discrepancies between the hints we get of how Ed acted pre-S1 and how he acted in S2 that I just don't see your vision here, sorry.

A lot of the arguing on this subject comes down to 'Izzy was the real bad guy!' 'no, Ed was the real bad guy!' and I'm glad you're not dipping your toes in that. But I will say, just to nip any of this in the bud, as I've seen this argument play out way too many times.... If people are going to say that everything Ed does was within the bounds of 'normal' piracy, and thus Not A Big Deal, the same goes for how Izzy spoke to Ed during S1! You can't damn one and praise the other!

With all of that being said.... I freaking love your entire thought process about the 'Lady Macbeth' thing. Being used as a tool in someone else's suicide is fucking horrific, psychologically speaking - especially when it was someone you genuinely liked, before he started in on the abuse! There's such a complex clash there between feeling genuine pity and empathy for someone who's going through a horrific time, and rightful hurt and anger that they would force you to be the one to kill them. I would love to see more fics that dig into that aspect of the crew's relationship with Ed!

[tala-bez-i]

At first sight Chapter Thirty-Six

(m!reader x Bonten!Haruchiyo Sanzu)

Fluff/slash/reader is male/cursing/BontenTimeline/drugs and alcohol mentioned/violence/blood/death

All characters that appeared in the Tokyo Revengers manga and anime belong to Ken Wakui.

Words: 3697

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You stared at the photo you held in both hands. It was the ID photo of a young man who was looking at you with piercing, cold eyes the color of storm clouds, which were both so similar and completely different from your father's eyes that it was hard for you to understand how you had managed to erase it from your memory for so many years. 

The photo itself was old. As your uncle, Tsuyoshi, had explained to you, it had been taken before your sister was found dead, and the longer you stared at the man's features, the more you began to feel uneasy. 

All sorts of thoughts were swirling in your head, and somewhere in the back of your mind there was an unpleasant pressure, as if someone was pushing with all their might against a closed door. As if your memories were trying to jump into their old places in your memory. 

Despite the passing years and his stay in a psychiatric hospital, you hoped that Yuji L/n hadn't changed much and now, thanks to the detective's help, you would be able to recognize him in the crowds of people that rolled through the busiest places in Tokyo every day. 

"So..." A man in his sixties spoke in a calm tone, sitting on a small sofa in your small office in the cafe, enjoying the coffee that one of your employees brought him. "Do you really think that my brother's firstborn son is responsible for Haruka Uchiyama's death?" 

"And who else comes to mind?" You replied in an equally calm tone, not taking your eyes off the photo. "I don't know what exactly you managed to find out in this whole mess, but I don't think you suspect anyone else." 

“They let me see the photos from where the body was found.” The man sighed and scratched his head. “There were the same marks on Emiko’s neck as Sachiko’s. She didn’t hang herself, that’s a hundred percent certain. He strangled her first, and only then pulled her onto a tree branch. Even her shoes were lying in a very similar way to your mother’s.” 

At these words, you raised your gaze to the man to take a closer look. His face, marked here and there with wrinkles, had a serious expression, as did his eyes. 

“It’s a shame they won’t be able to connect her to Daisuke Sugiyama’s death.” You spoke up after a moment. “The car she fled in was found, but there was no sign that she used it. There were only traces of blood left outside. It definitely belongs to her husband.” 

“I didn’t know anything about the car.” 

“Because it was in a different place than her body.” 

“So, he moved then.” Tsuyoshi leaned forward and clasped his hands to his mouth, pondering the new information. “Where did this take place?” 

“At Sumida in Arakawa.” 

“Near Edogawa.” Your uncle muttered. “We need to check for any missing persons or unexplained deaths from that district.” 

“You’re not suggesting that…” You began, concerned, as the man’s words began to confirm your earlier suspicions. 

“That’s not out of the question. Yuji was not only targeting your mother, but her family as well.” He interrupted you, his eyes once again landing on you. “He’s never had the chance to hurt them in any way. That is, of course, until he murdered Sachiko. He could have gotten it into his head that the best way to honor his own mother’s memory would be to get rid of all the members of the Okabe family.” 

“But some of them lived here, not just in Edogawa...” 

“Yes. Please don't forget that despite several migrations, your mother's family's hometown is Edogawa.” 

“That's sick.” You shook your head, feeling anger rising inside you. “Are you telling me that if we don't stop Yuji, he'll hunt down all people in any way related to the Okabe family?” 

“Let's hope only those related by blood.” You gave him a warning look, which he didn't care about at all. “You have to remember, boy, that Yuji is not a sane man. His mind is completely twisted, and he lives by his obsession. He won't rest until he destroys you all.” 

“I'm L/n, not Okabe.” 

“But you don't look like L/n.” The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and the man spread his hands. “You can see for yourself that what's in my nephew's head, and your half-brother's, is completely devoid of logic. Sometimes I wonder if he'd want to hurt Yuuta...” 

“I don't want to find out.” 

“Me neither. Believe me, Y/n, me neither.” 

“Do you have any ideas where he might have his hideout?” You asked, hoping for some clue, but the man shook his head. 

“I thought about Setagaya at first, but with his movements over the past few hours, we can’t be sure anymore.” 

You let out a resigned sigh and leaned back in your chair, looking up at the ceiling. “What a pain in the ass.” 

Tsuyoshi laughed softly, and you heard him raise his cup again. 

“Yes, you could put it that way. You won’t find him unless he wants to.” 

“That’s what I’m afraid of. He’s got a lot of time and nothing to lose.” 

“Hmm...” 

You looked at the man, whose searching eyes were moving around the room with interest. 

"I hope my girls don't feed Yuuta only sugar." You threw it loosely, changing the subject to occupy your thoughts with something else for a moment. 

"My hope is even greater. God, I haven't seen a child's eyes shine like that at the sight of sweets in a long time." The other smiled. "Such a choice, his hands were clenching into fists. His brain must have been working at full speed when he had to choose anything." 

“The pleasure is all mine.” You joked and the man shook his finger at you playfully. 

“I'll send you the bills for the repairs for the damage he'll do when he's bursting with energy.” 

“I'll take full responsibility for it.” You replied with a smile, taking the photo of your stepbrother in your hand again. Your face became serious, although in addition to helplessness and anger, you felt a certain amount of sadness. “You know, uncle... I don't really remember him.” 

“Yuji?” 

“Yes. I don't understand why. I talked to my friend and she thought I preferred to forget about him because of the harm he did to Mai. I felt the same way about my father, although I remember him perfectly.” 

“Hmm.” The detective thought for a moment. “As for my nephew, I can agree. As for your memories of your father, I have to deny it.” 

You looked at him expectantly, not understanding what he meant at all. 

“Kenzou was always there for you when events important to you happened.” 

“Not at all...” 

“First day of kindergarten, first day of school... School plays, talent shows...” The man listed and you slowly started shaking your head. “Don't deny it. He was always around and never missed a single day. He was proud of you when you got the best score in target shooting at the festival. The stall owner said you were too small, but your father insisted and you were finally allowed to play.” 

You remembered that, but it always seemed to you that it was your mother's doing, not your father's. You bit the inside of your cheek gently when you remembered that you gave the teddy bear you won that day to Tomoko. She was angry and sad because her schoolmate, despite accepting her invitation to go to the festival together, ended up going with someone else, completely ignoring your sister. 

“When I was in a gang…” 

“When were you?” You pursed your lips at the sarcasm. “Please, continue, Y/n.” 

“So, when I was in the gang... In the first one, in the second one... In Valhalla. I know that the police dispersed our group several times. I know there were investigations, and a few went to juvenile detention. My friends knew who I was, but officers never knocked on our door to question me… Was my father behind this or were you?” 

“Did he ever talk to you about it?” 

“After your attempted intervention, no.” 

“You mean, after the attempted intervention that he banned me from coming to your house for?” He asked calmly and you winced. 

“Yeah... After that. Sorry about that.” 

“It doesn’t matter. It was hard for him, that’s true, but he understood your rebellion, even though it hurt him a lot.” 

“One of his sons went crazy, the other one was a failure. His only joy was his daughters...” 

“Yeah, hmm. One worked illegally as an escort instead of studying, and his only support was the other one, who wasn’t even his. His children were great.” Tsuyoshi’s tone was dripping with sarcasm so much that you instantly felt stupid. 

“But Tomoko studied...” You smiled uncertainly and your uncle gave you a cold look. 

“I guess not necessarily what she actually should have, because she abandoned any education at the age of 18.” 

“What?” Your eyes widened in shock. “I had no idea...” 

“You didn't go to college either.” 

“But I had a legal job.” You shrugged slightly. “I didn't know what I wanted to do after leaving the gang, so I didn't plan on going to college. I had something else on my mind.” 

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. Although, on the other hand, maybe it’s better that you didn’t end up with that girl. You wouldn’t have enjoyed your marriage for very long.” 

“But maybe I would have had a chance to keep the baby.” 

“Maybe. There’s no point in guessing now, Y/n. You can’t turn back time.” The man finished his coffee, slapped his thighs, and stood up from the couch. The removal team is supposed to show up today and we have to be home at that time.” 

You walked up to him and shook his outstretched hand tightly. “I'm glad you agreed to meet with me again.” 

“We were going to be nearby anyway, so I didn’t see a problem with visiting your cafe. It’ll do the boy good. Keep the photo, it’s one of the copies, and you might find it useful.” 

You both left your small office and went back to the cafeteria hall where there were several customers, completely occupied with their own business. You easily found the table where Kiyoko and Yuuta were sitting, because from that part you could hear quiet, muffled laughter. 

Your two employees passed you and your uncle, blushing deeply and disappeared through the door leading to the back, where your small pastry shop was located, and you raised an eyebrow in surprise at their behavior. 

“What happened?” Tsuyoshi asked in astonishment as you pulled up at the appropriate table. 

“Yuuta is a real pick-up artist.” His wife laughed quietly, modestly covering her mouth with her hand to hide her wide smile. 

Your cheeks flushed when you heard her words and you looked at your offspring, who was unfazed, finishing eating a piece of fruit cake he had chosen. His face was adorably smeared with sweet cream, and his big eyes moved from Kiyoko's face to yours. 

“Pick-up artist?” You asked uncertainly and the boy gave you an innocent look. 

“He tried to feed Chiyoko-chan and Hanae-chan his cake.” The woman's eyes sparkled with amusement. “Oh, auntie! I've never seen so many beautiful blossoms in one place! Daddy must be so happy to work in a place like this!” She quoted the boy, who began to squirm in his seat, chewing on a piece of fruit. His cheeks flushed, and a shy smile played on his lips. “I don't know where he got those words from, because it definitely wasn't from our house.” 

“Sometimes something might slip out of my mouth.” The detective mumbled quietly, and you rubbed your neck with your hand, probably feeling more embarrassed than the little boy. 

“Children are more honest than adults.” You shrugged, watching another piece of fruit disappear into Yuuta’s mouth. “What are you eating, hmm?” 

“Honey melon.” He replied, leaving you and your uncle in quite amazement. 

“I thought that…” You started, but Kiyoko waved her hand. 

“Hanae-chan encouraged him with her warm words. A very sweet girl.” 

“Daddy?” 

“Yes?” You looked at your child and smiled gently. 

“Can I have some more melon? Takeaway, please?" He asked uncertainly and you patted his head. You reached for a napkin and began to gently wipe his sticky face. 

"Yes, of course. I’ll ask Hanae-chan to cut you some in a moment.” 

The little guy smiled broadly and began to happily swing his legs under the table. You nodded to your aunt and uncle and walked over to the counter, behind which Aina-chan stood with a dreamy expression. She blinked at you a few times and smiled. 

“I’ll allow myself a little impudence, boss, but you know how to make a cute baby.” 

“I only have one, so I don’t really have that knowledge.” You replied, trying to keep a straight face and asked her to pass on the little customer’s special order to Hanae. 

After a short while, she returned with a Styrofoam box containing some sliced fruit and a few dark chocolate decorations. You immediately thought about buying a special food box for the boy. The corners of your mouth turned up and you handed the treats to the patiently waiting child. 

You said goodbye to everyone and watched your son go to the door, and when he disappeared behind it, you felt a pang of sadness. You agreed with Tsuyoshi that you would only see Yuuta again once you had managed to deal with Yuji. Neither of you wanted to risk the child's safety, and with a heavy heart, you had to agree to it. It would be best that way. 

*bzzt, bzzt, bzzt* 

You pulled your phone out of your pocket and looked at the screen. You answered the call but didn't have time to say a single word. 

"How much longer will you be at the cafe?" Sanzu asked slightly irritated, and you pursed your lips. 

"I just finished talking to Tsuyoshi. I'll be on my way back in a few minutes." 

"You have to go back now, Y/n." 

"Give me a few more minutes..." 

"Now." 

“Sanzu...” 

“You’ve been there for almost two hours. That’s enough time to ask the guy about the things we want to know. Come back.” 

“Yuuta came with them.” You said, and there was a brief moment on the other end of the line. 

“Is he still there?” 

“No…” 

“Then you have no reason to be there any longer. Come. Back. To. Your. Home. Right. Now.” The man drawled coldly. “Or I'll come pick you up there and believe me, you don't want me to do that.” 

“What got into you, Sanzu?” You frowned as you left the building and headed to the small parking lot where you had left your car. “I’m getting in the car now, are you happy?” 

“I’ll be happy when you get here.” The gangster, still clearly irritated, grumbled. “You didn’t ask.” 

“I didn’t ask what?” You closed the car door and reached for your seat belt. 

“Do I want something from the café?” 

You froze, not believing your own ears. You looked at the lit screen of your phone and cursed under your breath. “I asked before I left the house. You said you didn’t want anything.” 

“I guess you're stupid after all. That was over two hours ago. You should ask again.” 

“Sanzu...” 

“Ask, Y/n.” 

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes for a moment. “Do you want anything from the cafe, honey?” 

“No.” Came the reply and you raised your free hand, feeling your irritation mix with amusement. “I want you home already.” 

“I'm on my way.” You turned the key in the ignition. “Are you sure you don't want anything?” 

“No. Rosie doesn't want anything either.” He added after a moment, and you nodded. 

“I'm on my way then. Be good, please.” 

“I'm always good.” Haru feigned indignation. 

“I love you.” You said fondly and heard the man's short laugh on the other end. 

“Of course you do. We have something to discuss. Bye-bye.” He ended the call, and you sighed heavily as you drove out of the parking lot. 

You couldn't understand Haruchiyo the night before. His behavior was very similar to when you both had to spend the night at the Bonten hideout, but it had some deviations. 

At first, he slid behind you while you were taking a shower, only to bite you a few times on the shoulder and back, then threatened to throw you out of bed if your hands roamed his body, getting close to his private parts. 

You had no intention of groping him and just wanted to cuddle, but it wasn't your fault that your hands started to gently move over his attractive body on their own. 

Eventually he elbowed you in the stomach, but as soon as you started to pull away from him, he grabbed your hand and pulled you back to him, mumbling under his breath that only he had the right to be the big spoon. Eventually, you fell asleep against his back, lulled by the scent of his clean body and shampoo. 

“Y/n...” 

Despite being half asleep, you could hear Haruchiyo's quiet voice perfectly. "Hmm..." 

"You're poking me." 

"Not at all." You mumbled, burying your nose deeper in his soft hair. Your arms tightened around his body, pulling the man closer to your chest. 

"Of course you do." He moved, and when his ass brushed against your crotch, you understood what he meant. 

You inhaled his scent, feeling your face grow warmer. “Fuck…” 

“Do something about it.” Sanzu demanded, pulling away from you. 

You mumbled, rolling onto your back, and one of your hands disappeared under the covers you both slept under. You slid down your pajama bottoms and began to lazily move your hand over your erection. 

After a short while, you heard the rustle of the sheets and the mattress dipped slightly under the influence of your lover’s body, who changed position from lying to sitting. You gave him a quick look, not stopping to masturbate, and the sight of his face illuminated by the moonlight almost made you burst out laughing. 

When Sanzu turned on the night light, your lips stretched into a wicked smile. 

“Seriously, pervert? Here?” He asked, looking at you in disbelief. 

“Where exactly? I need a perfect view of you to get this done quickly.” Your voice was smooth as velvet as you began to caress the head of your penis with your hand. 

“Go to the bathroom and use your imagination, or take your phone with you...” 

“Nope. It's much better in person. Besides...” You bit your lower lip gently. “We already had sex and... Hgnn... You can join if you want to.” 

“Excuse me?” Sanzu leaned back slightly, looking at you with narrowed eyes. 

“Ah... You know what I mean.” You laughed quietly and started massaging your balls with your other hand. “I can see you blushing. Your breathing quickened... Relieve yourself, honey.” 

“You're cheeky.” His lips stretched into a mocking smile and shortly after you closed your eyes, you felt the pink-haired man approach you and a few seconds later his hand slipped under the covers, grabbing your wrist. 

“What are you doing?” You asked, looking at him in surprise. 

“What do you think?” He replied quietly and pulled your hand away from your cock while his other hand moved the covers away, revealing your swollen penis, which was leaning towards your thigh due to your arousal. “Let me help you a little and we can go back to sleep, okay baby?” 

He pinned your hand just above your head, leaned down and your lips met in a long kiss, during which his free hand began to slide over your bare stomach. 

At the same moment his slender fingers closed around your cock, his tongue slipped into your mouth, taking you completely by surprise. At first, he caressed your shaft at a similar pace as you had earlier, but as the kiss heated up, his hand began to move faster. 

He gently ran his thumbnail over the frenulum just below the head of your penis a few times and you moaned into his parted lips, which he took advantage of again by sliding his hot tongue into yours. 

You grabbed him by the neck with one hand and held him there, and his hand tightened around the tip of your manhood, massaging it rhythmically. You squeezed your eyes shut feeling how little you needed to climax, and another moan escaped your lips, muffled by your lover's reddened ones. 

Haruchiyo moved his hand faster and your hips jerked upward, releasing your orgasm with a sticky shot of your seed. His kisses lost their intensity, though they became more and more tender, and his hand moved slower and slower until it finally stilled, allowing your throbbing member to rest. 

You swallowed hard, catching your breath, and felt the man's lips stretch into a smile. He pulled away from you so he could look at your heated face and your heart skipped a beat at the sight of his beautiful eyes. 

"Better?" He asked in a slightly amused tone, and you nodded. 

“Better. Thank you, Haru.” 

He patted your thigh and got off the bed, leaving you alone on it and a little disappointed. 

“You need to change out of your pajamas, honey.” He said disappearing into the bathroom and you propped yourself up on your elbows to see how messy you had made yourself and after a moment you followed him. 

You pulled into the driveway in front of your garage and pulled out a photo of Yuji L/n from your jacket pocket. You felt a sudden surge of determination and were willing to do anything to get your hands on that son of a bitch and put an end to his reign of terror. 

<PREVIOUS/NEXT>

[silverware-is-interesting]

You got mail

Hey uhh I wanted to remind you about the job you took and how it works around and how the crew moves

The new company robots do tend to move around at night mostly kinito there may be a chance of him asking you questions on your computer but I left an answer sheet just in case if you get questions about kinitos origins the rest of the questions are easy to answer but someone died once from answering a personal question something about “a new future and forever fun” i really don’t get it

Sam is probably the most confusing out of the two he usually plays the drums when jade and kinito aren’t around but tends to get aggressive when the same song plays in the background I suggest to change the song once he hits every part on the drum making noise might make it impossible to hear the others move if his drum breaks except him to be at his house with jade they hang out time to time

Anyways I heard strange rumor about the last guy he wad found dead one day his whole body was mangled and was hard to tell on which worker it was but his picture was covered in a splash of blood and kinda made it easy to recognize I don’t get why the company allows the robots to act this way but either way sales have been rising so I guess we can’t stop them

Jade is also a tricky one she always tries to play songs on her guitar but fails once in a while she carries around broken parts and may go to your desk to ask for help on fixing them one wrong part and uhh… off goes your organs it’s hard to explain

did you just fnaf-ify my au??

actually. i'm alright with this, the characterization for the au is a biit off though so i'll just add what i think a fnaf-esc version of the band au would be kinito is the most accurate, but i think he'd just be at the door asking you things rather than in the computer. the answer sheet is clever though. he'd probably kill you if you don't answer things the way he wants you to though. so you shut the door on him, right? well, yeah, if you shut it on him during the "questionnaire" (or don't answer in a specific timeframe, there's audio ques, voicelines, that let you know when you're running low on time though) he'll go to the other door until your shift is over or he kills you sam is pretty good, but i think his mechanic would be different, since that could be a bit confusing for players or 'employees' i suppose. so it'd probably be different (personality-wise i think he's be the most likely to not mind 1 song repeating) so i think jade and sam would almost switch mechanics almost??

like, sam would still get a bit aggressive and i think jade would get you to fix her guitar (or get her a new one, she probably breaks them semi-regularly) and if you mess up or she gets impatient? you're royally DEAD! sam is basically like a kinda different foxy (think the hide-and-seek section of kinitopet kind of). he just gets visibly more and more upset until you see a drum kit with noone in the seat then you have to find him and try to keep track of him or you get mauled, fun.

i kinda wanna draw these but i need to fix me sleep schedule so i have to do that tomorrow after school. but i'll rb this when/if i do

[fuck-customers]

💋God I’m so tired of having to witness the literal worst of human nature. I swear retail brings out the ugliest sides of people.

Today I heard a kid running behind me as I was ringing someone up, and so I turned and said “slow down please.” Regular and polite. Well apparently that was a grievous mistake bc I immediately hear yelling and it’s the mom right behind me losing her little pea-sized brain over me “telling her child what to do.” Ok bitch well if you were watching him and making him behave I wouldn’t have to say shit in the first place. This woman was literally fucking yelling at me over HER KID acting up like what in the goddamn hell. I keep trying to tell her “ma’am I’m not trying to be rude I just needed him to stop running, it’s a liability and that’s our store policy.” Ofc she’s not hearing any logic bc she’d rather talk over me and go on and on about how I’m disrespectful for talking to her son and not her. Why does it even matter??? Idk. Finally she just walked away, glaring daggers at me the whole time.

Then like ten mins later her husband comes back, and I do have to give him credit bc he was polite, but he basically walks up and goes “look I wanna unpack all that that just happened.” Like ok Dr Phil the gist of it is that your wife is a bitch but sure let’s “talk about it.” I explain to him that not only is it store policy that I ask people not to run inside, but I also was polite in the way I asked. He agreed. But then he tries to explain “well the way we grew up, people don’t talk to other peoples kids.” Ok that’s nice, but that’s not everyone’s upbringing and again, I wouldn’t have had to say anything if YOU were parenting your child. Also think it’s weird bc these ppl were like 40 talking about “in my day we didn’t tell ppls kids what to do.” Like dude if anything it’s the opposite?? Especially down here in the south. I’m not nearly as old as them but if my momma caught me running around acting a fool in a store like that, not only would I get in trouble but she’d GLADLY let someone else scold me for my behavior. This whole thing of “if you even look at my child wrong I will explode” is def not a “back in the day” type shit, it’s new and it’s coming from all these dumbass fucking entitled parents that have no consideration for others in public bc they’re kids are the best kids and everyone else needs to accommodate to THEM, not fhe other way around. Jfc

And then immediately after that happened someone dropped a glass jar of salsa and didn’t even wait for an employee to come to the mess. They just left the salsa and broken glass on the floor, they ain’t even wait thirty seconds before saying “well not my problem” and walking away. I fucking hate people.

Don't give me any of that "back in my day" BS!

I am 49 fucking years old and one of my core memories is being 6 or 7 and just being bored as hell in church and me and my sister were just being kids trying to amuse ourselves and this crusty old man just gets up from his seat at the other end if the room grabs my arm and drags me over to where he was sitting and sits my scared out of my mind ass down and keeps me next to him for the rest of the service. My mom said nothing at the time but when we got home I got a whooping for "embarrassing" her and told me I better behave next time. And for the next few months every sunday this scary old man would grab my arm and sit me next to him.

So I have no idea what alternate timeline your customer came from but it sure as hell wasn't back in the day.

-Rodney

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Truth Comes Out

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 18

Previous Part

This turned out longer than I expected by about 500 words, but I really liked writing it :D It’s divided into two parts. In the first, we follow Marvin as he sneaks into SepTech, looking for someone. In the second part, Chase tells Jackie that he’s been worried about him, and Jackie considers sharing his secret. And yeah. Fun stuff :) Enjoy!

===============

Twelve days had passed since the League’s welcoming ceremony for Windstorm. Twelve days had passed since the Puppeteer crashed that party and revealed himself to the world. Marvin figured that was long enough to wait. Security at SepTech had died down. It was time for him to go back.

Windstorm had been suspicious of Marvin at the ceremony. He’d been able to explain away his presence by being there for work—and that was true. Carol, the news director, wanted the live coverage of the ceremony to go perfectly, so she’d insisted that one of the broadcast technicians go along with the reporter and the cameraperson. Marvin had volunteered. Normally he wouldn’t have bothered. Social events weren’t exactly his thing, and he was pretty sure that Heather and Lukas (said reporter and cameraman) could use the portable broadcast equipment on their own. But when else would he get an opportunity to go into the Central SepTech building without being too noticeable?

Most of the ceremony had been as miserable as he’d expected. He got to mess with Windstorm for a bit, and that was fun, but it was so loud and there were just so many people. And many of them were from the League of Heroes, which made him a bit nervous. He’d gone out of his way to avoid anyone in the distinctive yellow suit and mask. And all the Heroes, of course.

He found it hard to slip away from the main gathering. Heather insisted on finding him and talking to him every ten minutes. Apparently, since they didn’t know each other that well, she wanted to get to know him, which was very inconvenient. She wasn’t deterred by his blatant disinterest in conversation, either. Just continued to ask him questions and talk about her own life in return. He was pretty sure the only reason she didn’t talk to him all the time was because she was committed to covering the ceremony live.

But Marvin could work around this. He just needed a moment when he knew she’d be fully occupied with her job. Like during the speeches that were scheduled to take place.

In preparation for sneaking out of the party and into the rest of the building, he spent a lot of his free time hanging around the SepTech employees that were present. Many of the first-floor doors were locked, needing a keycard to get in. That wouldn’t be a problem if he could fly like Windstorm, but alas, that was not in his skillset. What was in his skillset was taking small objects from people. He wasn’t a pickpocket, but he could manage with a bit of luck.

And he was very lucky indeed. He spotted a SepTech employee who had their keycard dangling from one of those extendable card holder things. Just sitting in plain sight on the man’s belt. He must have felt confident that no one could swipe it. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

It took a while for Marvin to get close enough to the man, but he finally managed it just before the speeches, when a whole bunch of people crowded around the buffet tables to get food to eat during them. Marvin got close, pretending like the other people were pushing him towards the man, and carefully pulled at the keycard. His plan was to sever the cord with a small beam of solid-heat energy, but the card came off with just a simple tug. Apparently the snap was worn down. The one that was meant to connect the extendable cord and the plastic sleeve with the card. So Marvin was even luckier than he needed to be.

Everything was going great. He convinced Heather that it would be better for him to manage the broadcast from the back of the room, where he could concentrate without all those people around. Well, she wasn’t entirely convinced, but Lukas—who knew Marvin better—backed him up. The camera was rigged to connect to the portable broadcast equipment, anyway. (Wireless cameras: super advanced SepTech products that Channel 5 was proud to have. Distance was never an issue.) Marvin stayed in place for the first few speeches before getting up as soon as Windstorm stepped up to the podium. No offense to Jackie, of course. It was just that everyone would have their eyes on him, and not Marvin.

But then, as he was walking away from his spot, he noticed it. Movement on the balcony above. Was it another SepTech employee? Marvin stared up into the darkness above. Whoever it was, they were setting something up on the railing. Not a camera. It was... it was some sort of gun. And it was pointed directly at the stage.

Marvin froze. For a split second, he considered just ignoring it. But he couldn’t. Windstorm may have been a Hero, but he didn’t deserve to get shot. So Marvin acted. He waited until the sharpshooter had their hands on the gun, their posture telling him they were about to fire... and then he shot a thin beam of solid-heat energy at them, just brushing the edge of their hand. As expected, they jerked in surprise and pain, and the bullet went wide. It just brushed Jackie’s shoulder instead of hitting its target.

He planned to run after that. To try and find some staircase to the second floor so he could track down that assassin. But then... then... then the screens at the front of the room had changed. The lights had turned green. That familiar voice started talking in its robotic tones. And Marvin froze.

That was the man who’d controlled him. Who tried to kill him and Jackie. The Puppeteer was here.

And chaos broke out.

In the ensuing fight, Marvin tried to get through an employees-only door with his keycard, in an attempt to both hunt down that would-be assassin and—he wouldn’t lie to himself—to get away from the conflict. But the card wouldn’t work. The Puppeteer must have hacked the system and shut down all the keycard doors. Trapping everyone inside.

Marvin ended up hiding beneath a table with a couple other people. It... wasn’t his proudest moment. And something he’d never admit to doing. But he’d just panicked. He kept remembering the tightness of the strings around his arms, the bright flames of the fire that the Puppeteer had set in the abandoned facility... and from there, he started remembering... other things... 

When the fighting stopped, he was able to climb out and try the keycard again. It worked this time. The system was restored. But he couldn’t just disappear after that. It would be too suspicious. So he’d headed back in to find Heather and Lukas who had, unfortunately, been caught in the center of it all. They were lucky they weren’t hurt.

But that was twelve days ago. Marvin was fine now. He was ready to try again.

It was a rainy day, so he was justified in wearing a jacket with the hood pulled up, concealing his features long enough for him to get into the Central SepTech building. The wide-open area where the ceremony had been held was completely different now. The giant chandelier thing was still there, but instead of a stage, chairs and tables, there was a circular reception desk, and various other desks and displays containing helpful information. There weren’t a ton of people walking around, but there were enough that Marvin ducked his head so none of them looked directly at his face.

There were also three of those Semi-Autonomous Machines. Apparently they were just flying around now. Okay. Why not? They were a bit of a problem, since they were basically floating cameras, so Marvin went out of his way to avoid them.

He was worried that the employee keycard wouldn’t work. After all, wasn’t it company policy to deactivate a lost card? He knew the League of Heroes did that. Hell, even Channel 5 did that. But, apparently, SepTech was a little more lax. Marvin waved the stolen keycard over a sensor, and it beeped. The door next to it instantly unlocked. Marvin stared at it in disbelief before slipping through.

Maybe the employee hadn’t reported it lost. Sometimes people were like that.

As soon as he was through the door, Marvin put on a mask. Not his Spitfire Cat mask, rather a simple blue medical mask you could buy at any pharmacy. Perhaps it wasn’t the best disguise. But it was better than waltzing right into a highly secure building dressed as a supervillain. He wanted to be subtle.

He was mildly surprised to see that the SepTech location didn’t look too different from any other office building. It was so impressive on the outside, and the wide-open center was so fancy. But the hallways and rooms that made up the rest of the building were just... ordinary. White plaster walls with the occasional decorative wood paneling. Short, easy-to-clean carpet. Ceiling-mounted lights and nameplates next to doorways. Maybe it was all a bit nicer than usual. But still. Not what Marvin expected for a company well-known for advanced technology. He wanted there to be sliding doors, at least. But nope. Regular swinging doors.

A few people passed by him as he wandered through the halls, but they didn’t pay him any attention. Maybe they stared at him a bit longer because of the mask. Nobody stopped to talk to him, though. They must have assumed he was supposed to be there. His outfit wasn’t too different from what most people were wearing. Those jackets all the SepTech employees wore at the ceremony must have been for special occasions.

Even though nobody really paid attention to him, he examined them closely. First the wrists for signs of strings. And then their faces. To see if any of them were who he was looking for.

He made it up to the second floor before he found someone.

One of the doors lining the hallway was open, a doorstop holding it ajar. Marvin peered into the room beyond. This looked like an office, with a desk holding a computer and lots of personalized memorabilia—mostly merch from various video games. One of the walls was glass, giving a great view out the front of the building. A woman was sitting inside. Not behind the desk, but in front of it, a folder full of papers on her lap. She turned around as soon as she heard his footsteps. “Dr. McLoughlin, I—oh, wait, you’re not him. Sorry. You look like—nevermind. Are you here to see him, too?”

Marvin stepped into the doorway. He stared at the woman. Brown curly hair, slight freckles, a narrow nose and wide eyes... he’d seen that face in a picture before. “Are you... are you Bianca?”

The woman stiffened. Then she laughed. “No, I’m sorry, my name’s Eve. See?” She held up the keycard hanging on a lanyard around her neck. The gesture drew Marvin’s attention to her wrists. Her long sleeves were mostly covering them, but he could see something black around one. A bracelet, maybe. But more likely...

“I think you are Bianca,” Marvin said, taking a single step into the room but stopping as soon as he noticed her stiffening. “Bianca Rivas?”

“I-I don’t—” The woman stammered, glancing around.

“It’s okay.” Marvin raised his hands slowly. “I’m a friend of Kanchana.”

Immediately, her posture relaxed slightly. “You are?”

“She’s worried about you,” Marvin said. “You and five others. Maybe you know them? Jacob, Huxley, Ash, Alexa, Kieran—I’d share their last names, but this location is—”

“You really are with her,” she whispered, and stood up. “Yes, I’m—” He noticed the way she glanced down at her hands. “I’m Bianca. I’m—I don’t know—”

“Bianca, is there something on your wrist?” Marvin asked.

Bianca hesitated. Then she nodded slowly, surprised. “You... you know?”

“I do.” Marvin nodded.

“Are you here to... get rid of them?” There was pure, undisguised hope in her expression, though her voice was more hesitant.

“If I can,” Marvin said. “Can I?”

“I—it’s complicated, I—Hang on.” Bianca set the folder she was carrying on top of the desk. “I was supposed to make sure Dr. McLoughlin got those reports, but he’ll be back here eventually, it’s probably fine to leave them. W-we can go. We can try to find the others... maybe.” She glanced around, then hurried past Marvin and into the hallway.

Marvin followed her, and eventually drew even. “What do you mean it’s complicated? Is it that you can’t take them off by yourself? You get suddenly paralyzed?”

Bianca nodded. She tugged back her sleeve, revealing a black string wrapped tight around her wrist. “Jacob and Ash are also at this location. We thought—thought that maybe, since we freeze up whenever we try to take them off ourselves, that someone else would be able to do it. So we tried to help each other, but that didn’t work either. I hear Jacob tried to get help from another person, but when they tried, he was forced to—to attack, and—I-I don’t know how that incident didn’t spread around. Um, how do you know about all this? What’s your name?” She glanced down at Marvin’s own wrists.

“I don’t want to give my name away, but you can trust me.” Marvin hesitated, then pulled down one of his gloves. He heard Bianca gasp at the sight of his burn scars. “No strings. But I know what they feel like. I might... might be able to take yours off before you can attack. Do you want me to try?”

“Not yet,” Bianca said.

“You mentioned finding the others?”

“Ever since we tried to take the strings off together, we... Whenever we get too close together, we’re forced to stop walking or turn around. But I think—I want to find them. So we can try to remove them together.” Bianca took a deep breath. “But it’s more than that. People need to know what’s going on. A-and I want to tell you as much as I can before the controller takes notice. They’ll definitely notice if you try to fuck with the strings.”

Marvin tilted his head. “So... you can speak freely?”

“It used to be more difficult,” Bianca admitted. “But... I’ve found that sometimes... The controller must not be paying attention all the time. Maybe he’s spread too thin now. Once, I was even able to buy a bus ticket to Beckerville, but before I could actually walk to the bus stop, I froze up. Now I can’t even look at the bus.” Her hands were shaking slightly.

“...Alright,” Marvin said quietly. “We can talk.” He really wanted to just tear those strings away, but if she insisted it would be too difficult, he would wait. “Do you know what the Puppeteer is planning?”

“The...? Right, that’s what they’ve been calling him.” Bianca nodded. “I don’t know exactly what his plan is. None of us do. But I can tell you what we’ve been doing. Please make sure people know. If Kanchana can help, please let her know.”

“She’s going to try,” Marvin promised. “And I will, too. Let’s start with why you were forced to move. You have a fake identity now, right? What happened?”

“I got an email from Kanchana,” Bianca said. “I know now it wasn’t actually her, but she said she had an opportunity for work. I have a very... limited skill set. And very... limited options. Kanchana’s order has been very helpful. So I trusted the email. It said the client wanted to meet in person, so I went there. I thought I was prepared, but that man... those fucking strings...” She shuddered.

“You don’t have to explain this part,” Marvin said gently. “I know how it works. Just tell me what happened afterwards.”

“I moved. There are flats around here that offer cheap rates for SepTech employees, and somehow, suddenly, I was an employee. I don’t know how it happened, or who made the fake identity. Ash assumes that SepTech has been compromised somehow, and after that—that incident, at the ceremony for Windstorm, I agree.” Bianca shook her head. “For the longest time, I just... went about my daily life. This was my job now. That was my flat now. Anything I did to try and change that got... attention. But less so now. I really do think the controller is spreading too thin.”

“Why do you think that?”

Bianca looked at him with wide eyes. “Because... once a week, a package of strings arrives at my apartment. And I have to give them to other people.”

Marvin stopped walking, forcing Bianca to stop as well. “What... do you mean? You... Do you go out into the city and force them onto people?”

“No,” Bianca whispered. “They’re... gifts.”

“Gifts?”

“If you decorate the strings and tie them in circles, they become easy bracelets. Not everyone says yes to one, but a lot of people do. And the moment they put them on, they’re in the same boat as the rest of us.”

Marvin’s heart dropped. “H-how many... how many people have you given the strings to?”

“There’s ten in the package. Five pairs. At least one person accepts the gift every time I try. Any strings that I don’t manage to give away disappear after about a day.” Bianca leaned close. “I’ve been stuck here for two months.” Her voice is low, a note of horror tainting each word. “And I think the other five are doing the same thing.”

Marvin did the math quickly. Once a week for two months... Six people... Five successful gifts maximum... That was forty-eight people under the Puppeteer’s influence at least. Worst-case scenario, the number shot up to nearly two hundred fifty. Not to mention each new person controlled might also be doing the same thing. “...Fuck.”

This was bad. This was very, very bad. Sure, there were tens of thousands of people in Daindover, but 250 people was still a high number.

“Who have you been giving them to?” Marvin asked urgently.

“Anyone. I spend a lot of time here, so they’re mostly SepTech employees.”

If SepTech wasn’t compromised before, it definitely was now. That explained how the Puppeteer was able to get into the building’s system during the ceremony. Speaking of which— “Do you know what the plan was for the ceremony? What were you doing then?”

“All of us were here,” Bianca said quietly. “Everyone with strings. Most of them attacked and spread more strings, but I... I have a very... unique skill set.” She swallowed loudly. “There was a package hidden under my desk that morning. I took it to the balcony, and I—”

“That was you?!” Marvin whisper-shouted. “You’re the one who tried to shoot Windstorm?”

Bianca nodded. Then the motion slowed, and she looked confused. “Wait. No, I wasn’t supposed to hit Windstorm. My aim got knocked off a bit and I hit his arm, but he wasn’t the target.”

“Who was, then?”

Bianca opened her mouth. And then closed it. Her eyes went wide. “We talked too lo—” And then she lunged forward.

Marvin dodged easily. Bianca spun around and threw a punch at him, but Marvin was able to dodge that as well, ducking to avoid it. “Shit!” he said. “Alright, Bianca, I’m going to have to—” She jumped forward, trying to grapple him, and he darted to the side. “—going to have to fight back, nothing personal!”

Bianca didn’t answer, but Marvin knew she was able to hear and understand him. He braced himself. The next time she tried to punch him he leaned to the side and grabbed her arm as it passed by. Her other fist came swinging in from the side and he caught that as well. Great, the strings were within reach. If he just adjusted his grip—

Then Bianca stomped on his foot. Something that was made even worse by the fact that she was wearing heels. Marvin cried out and instinctively pushed her away. “Fuck!” He staggered backwards against the wall. That was going to leave a bruise. He was lucky they weren’t stilettos, otherwise that heel might’ve gone right through his shoe with that amount of force. He took a moment to breathe through the pain, keeping an eye on Bianca. She started to walk towards him, but then stopped. There was visible strain on her face. Her right hand slowly, shakingly, moved to her left wrist. And as she did, Marvin noticed that there was no longer a string around her right wrist.

And then he felt something curling around his fingers.

Fear jolted through his stomach. He looked down and saw the missing string winding around his fingers, creeping down his hand. A snake about to pounce. He grabbed it with his other hand and tried to pull it free, but it just attached to his fingers there as well. And as it did, he felt his movements become clumsy, like he was half-tired and losing coordination. “No!” he shouted, and tried to shake the string away. It wouldn’t let go! Let go! Let go!

He gritted his teeth. This wasn’t going to happen. He wasn’t going to freak out and let it happen. The Puppeteer had wrapped his whole arms in string before, and he kept fighting. He wouldn’t let a much smaller string scare him!

“Bianca, if you can get away from me, do it,” he said. She staggered backwards, still fighting for control. He waited until she was probably out of range. Then he clenched his hand into a fist. His skin began to glow, an orange-red light coming from within. He felt his temperature rising to feverish levels.

White hot light burst outward from around him. The white walls blackened from the heat and cracked from the force. Even though she was a good ten feet back, Bianca still fell over. And the string trying to get around Marvin’s wrist lost its grip and flew away.

That might have been overkill. But it worked. Unlike the times he’d tried it with the red strings that the Puppeteer had used on him before. It seemed his theory was right; the more strings you had, the easier you were to control.

Marvin took a deep breath. His mouth was dry, and there was a gently throbbing headache by his temple. “Bianca?”

A couple seconds passed. Then she stood up. “I’m okay. You... whatever you did, it knocked the string off.” Indeed, there it was, wriggling on the ground. She stomped on it and ground it into the carpet.

“Great. I can’t keep doing that, though. Takes a lot of power.” As powerful as that move was, it drained him fast, leaving him with some uncomfortable side effects. Mostly from the heat. He was really thirsty now. But not yet. “Do you think you could free your other friends now that you’re free?”

“I’m not sure. Could you do it? You were really fast back there, no one’s caught my punches before.” Bianca raised her eyebrows, impressed.

“I’ve had a lot of practice fighting,” Marvin said vaguely, and quickly moved on. “Do you think your friends are in the building now?”

“Maybe. But...” Bianca bit her lip. “You should get out of here. Others would have noticed that blast you did.”

“Damn it,” Marvin cursed. She was right. In retrospect, he really didn’t need to do that, but... he’d felt that paralysis setting in and just... just had to get rid of that string no matter what. And in that moment of panic, the blast was the first thing he thought of. “What about you?”

Bianca hesitated. “I... I can’t leave Jacob and Ash... if they’re here.”

“What if you can’t find them? You don’t have to stay here anymore. You shouldn’t stay here anymore. There’s a chance the Puppeteer will start looking for you.” Marvin could tell Bianca still wasn’t convinced. “You mentioned that a lot of SepTech employees have strings now. Imagine them all being sent for you. You’re good, but if you’re outnumbered, there’s nothing you can do about it.” Hell, he didn’t know what he would do if he was surrounded by mind-controlled minions of the Puppeteer. Those people were innocent, so he couldn’t just blast through them. And the statement about being good, but being outnumbered, applied to him as well.

“I’ll... I’ll start to look around, but I’ll leave within an hour,” Bianca said. “You should leave right now, though.”

Marvin could tell he wasn’t going to get anywhere with this. He nodded. “Right. You know how to reach Kanchana, right? She can help if you need to hide.”

“I know. What about you? What if I need to reach you? You still haven’t told me your name.”

“Kanchana knows how to find me. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

Bianca nodded.

“Alright.” Marvin glanced around, trying to remember the path he took, planning to retrace it. “I hope I’ll see you again. And your friends, too.”

“Thank you,” Bianca said quietly. And then she turned and quickly walked away, going in the opposite direction Marvin needed to go.

“Not a problem.” Marvin waved, and then spun around and ran back the way he came.

Getting out of the building was easier than getting in. There were no keycard locks blocking the way out like there were on the way in. In just a few minutes, Marvin was outside again, running for the nearest train station. He got on the first train that arrived and didn’t look back. But his mind was stuck on what he’d just learned.

He needed to tell Kanchana what was going on with her missing order members. And he needed to let Windstorm know of these new developments.

===============

“Hey, Jackie. What’s up?”

Jackie closed the front door of the apartment behind him. “Nothing much. Just out at work.” He’d been out on patrol all day and had managed to stop a couple petty crimes. Muggings and store robberies. A lot of the time with those types of crimes, the offender would just give up. He usually let them go if they didn’t try to run away.

“Oh. Okay. Cool. Cool.” Chase was sitting on the sofa, but he wasn’t playing video games. Nor was he practicing his trickshots for YouTube, or filming a vlog. He was just sitting there. Staring at Jackie.

“Uh... is everything good, man?” Jackie asked, a bit nervously. He was glad he’d thought to change into regular clothes before he walked into the building. Even so, he couldn’t help but think of his supersuit hidden in his backpack.

Chase didn’t answer right away. One hand idly scratched Frosty’s ears, the dog sitting next to him, but he was otherwise still. “I... I want to talk to you.”

“O...kay. About what?” Jackie gave a little laugh. “Are you upset with me not labeling my tupperware in the fridge or something?”

“No, I’m not upset with you. I’m... worried about you.” Chase paused. “Can you... uh, come over here and sit down? It’s weird with you standing all the way over there.”

A moment passed. Then Jackie silently walked over and sat down in their armchair. His heart was racing. Did Chase know he was Windstorm? Did he figure it out? He wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than him having no clue. “So... what is it?” he asked, trying to sound casual. He wondered if Chase could notice the slight breeze fluttering through the room.

“I...” Chase started, and then went quiet. He swallowed and mustered his courage. “I know you got a new job recently, and you said that your hours were gonna be a bit weird, but... I... I don’t think you’re...” He took a deep breath. “I’ve noticed some things. You’re not... really leaving and coming back when you say you are. A-and sometimes I think you’re in your room, but you suddenly walk in through the front door. You didn’t even tell me when you left.”

“Maybe you just forgot?” Jackie suggested.

“I have a bad memory, but I’m not fucking stupid!” Chase snapped. Then he slumped a bit. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to shout like that. It’s just... people have tried that before. I tell them I have issues, and they lie to me and say I’m forgetting. I had this really shit coworker—nevermind, this isn’t about me.”

“Sorry,” Jackie mumbled. He looked down at his lap. His hands were clenched into tight fists.

“It’s fine. I know you’re not like that. You’re... you’re a good guy, Jackie,” Chase said gently. “Which is why I’m worried about you. This is weird. Like, you brought home that SAM, and I know you said that was a giveaway at work or something, but no work would just give that away with how much they go for. And you offered to pay most of the rent and groceries for the month, which, like, I appreciate, but I don’t think you’d be able to do that when you, what was it? Work with law enforcement or something? I did some research, and a lot of those jobs do pay well, but there’s no way you made enough for all that in just two weeks.”

“I thought it’d be helpful,” Jackie said. “Just, like, a little thank-you. For letting me move in and being cool about stuff.”

“It was, but it was weird,” Chase continued. “And it’s combined with your weird schedule. Like, I swear I wake up really late at night sometimes and hear you leaving or coming back. And I also swear... Jackie, you’re not... I mean, you don’t have to tell me everything, but sometimes I get this sense you’re not telling me something. Mostly when I ask you where you were. It’s always work, but you never talk about what you do at work like you used to with your old job. And I think... I think you keep getting injured at work. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you sometimes walk funny or how there’s sometimes bruises on your arms.” He paused. “Jackie, if... if you’ve got... caught up in something... dangerous, I-I won’t judge you. If something’s wrong, I want to help. A-and I don’t want anything to happen to you. So... I’d appreciate it if you... you know. Talked to me.”

Jackie could feel his heart dropping. It took him a few seconds to find words. “You... think I’m doing something... illegal?”

“I—well if you’re not, that’s fine,” Chase hurriedly said. “Honestly, even if you are, that’s fine. Well, I guess that depends... nevermind. I-I just want to be sure you’re alright. And you’re not hurting anyone or yourself. You don’t have to tell me details. Just—just that you’re alright. And that you know I can help if you ever need it.”

His heart fell to the bottom of his chest and cracked in two. He blinked back tears forming in his eyes. God, why did Chase have to be such a good friend?! Why did he have to be so understanding?! It just made keeping secrets harder.

If there was any time to reveal the truth, this was it. And yet, Jackie’s throat closed up. No matter how much he wanted to say it, he couldn’t get the words out. His heart was pounding in his chest. Each beat sent a shiver of anxiety through his chest and up his neck, closing his throat further.

Chase stayed silent for a moment. Then he sighed. He shifted position slightly, leaning forward. Frosty got to his feet and walked behind Chase, pushing him, helping him stand up. “You don’t have to say anything, I just... wanted to tell you I’m worried,” Chase said quietly. “And that I’ll be there if you need anything. Okay?”

Jackie nodded. His thoughts were screaming. Just tell him. Just tell him. Why the fuck aren’t you telling him?!

“Right.” Chase nodded back. “I’ll just... I’ll be in my room.” He turned and started walking away, Frosty by his side.

Jackie watched him go.

There will never be a better moment than this.

There will never be a better chance.

Did he want Chase to find out at the worst time possible?! When he was offering to hear him out right now and ready for any news?!

Did he want this to drag on forever?!

No!

“Wait.” Jackie shot to his feet.

Chase stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Yeah?” He couldn’t hide the hope in his voice.

“I—okay, it’s not what you think,” Jackie said.

“It’s not?” Chase turned around fully. “Well, uh... what is it, then?”

“It’s...” Why was he stopping now?! This was the moment! Don’t slow down now! “It might be easier if I show you.” Jackie took his backpack off and opened it up.

“Uh, if you have drugs or something in there, I actually don’t want to see,” Chase said delicately. “Plausible deniability is a thing that’s gonna be important in this relation—”

“It’s not illegal!” Jackie turned his backpack upside down. His supersuit came tumbling out, the boots first, the mask landing on top.

Chase stared at the pile of fabric. Then he looked up at Jackie. “You’re a cosplayer?”

“No! I mean, in uni I would—nevermind, that’s beside the point!” Jackie shook his head. He reached down and picked up the mask, then walked over to Chase and handed it to him. “It’s the real deal. Even the best cosplay isn’t this well-made.”

Chase felt the mask, taking special interest in the hidden buttons beneath the fabric. “I guess I’ll take your word for it.” He gave it back to Jackie. “So, uh... how’d you get it, then? Are you and Windstorm... together, or something?”

Jackie threw his hands up in the air. He hadn’t anticipated this. “Chase! My god!”

“What?!” Chase was genuinely baffled.

Jackie sighed. “I... just... fine. Watch this.” He shoved the mask into his pocket, then took a deep breath. In, and out. Was he delaying this? Maybe. But he wouldn’t let himself delay any longer. The slight breeze in the apartment picked up, and Jackie lifted slowly into the air.

Chase stared. At first, he was still confused. Then as Jackie floated higher and higher, and he looked down to see Jackie’s feet were definitely not touching the ground, his jaw dropped open and his expression went blank as he tried to process what he was seeing. Frosty leaned over and sniffed Jackie’s shoes, which were now hovering at about head-height for the dog. That seemed to finally drive in the reality of the situation for Chase. “You’re Windstorm?!”

A loud thump! came from the other side of the front door.

Jackie dropped to the floor, landing with a louder THUMP! He bolted the instant his feet touched the ground, running to the front door and flinging it open.

Standing in the hallway outside... was Jameson. One hand was raised to his head, as if he was talking on an imaginary phone. His face was white as a sheet.

Chase hurried over as well. He gasped as he saw Jameson standing there.

“JJ—” Jackie started.

Before he could say anything, Jameson turned and sprinted down the hallway.

“JJ!” Jackie began running after him, but he tripped over something on the ground and fell hard. Frosty walked over to him and started trying to get his paws and snout underneath Jackie, but he was already standing up without help.

“It... it’s fine, Jackie,” Chase said slowly. “He’ll be back anyway.”

“How do you know?” Jackie asked.

Chase pointed at the ground. “Dropped his phone.”

Jackie looked down. Just as Chase noticed, JJ’s phone was on the ground. Jackie caught a hint of the “call ended” screen before it went back to the normal home screen. He leaned down and picked it up.

The phone was not what he’d tripped over. That honor went to a pair of small gift bags stuffed with tissue paper. They weren’t that much bigger than the phone, so he still felt embarrassed that he’d tripped over them, but at least they’d been standing upright before he knocked them over. He picked those up as well, then slowly backed into the apartment and closed the door.

“So...I’m sorry for shouting that,” Chase said. “I didn’t... think it would go through the walls. Do you think anyone else heard? Did I just ruin your secret identity?” He went pale.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Jackie assured him. “The door’s thinner than the walls. The neighbors probably heard you shout, but couldn’t make out the exact words.”

“Good.” Chase nodded. “Good.” He went silent. “I’m...” He was swaying on his feet. “I’m just gonna...” And he stumbled a little bit. Frosty hurried over and pushed against him, stabilizing him. “Thanks, Frosty. Good boy. Uh... I’m gonna sit down.” Chase turned around and walked back to the sofa, immediately collapsing.

Jackie slowly walked over. “Are you... okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m just... I wasn’t expecting that.” Chase shook his head, staring up at the ceiling. “You being...” He gestured vaguely at the supersuit in a pile on the ground.

“I... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Jackie said quietly. “At first, I was kind of worried you wouldn’t like supers, since you lost your memory because of a super fight. And then, when I got to know you enough to not be worried about that, I... I just... didn’t want anything to change. And I didn’t want you to think...” He didn’t want Chase to think he was less than Jackie just because of the superhero thing. “...that I was... being a jerk by not telling you,” Jackie finished lamely. He wasn’t sure how to breach the topic of Chase’s low self-worth.

“I could never think you’re a jerk,” Chase said. “I know why superheroes hide their identity and stuff. It’s cause they don’t want their enemies to find their friends. So... you’re really doing it to keep us safe. And I... I... appreciate that.” He rubbed his eyes. “Just... I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Yeah, you thought I was a drug dealer or something,” Jackie muttered.

“Sorry about that. I thought maybe you got roped into something against your will. But turns out, you’re the exact opposite of all that.” Chase went quiet for a moment. “Does... anyone else know?”

“Schneep does,” Jackie said. “And, uh, apparently JJ knows now. And my mom knows.”

“How does Schneep know?”

“He figured it out,” Jackie said.

Chase snorted. “He would.”

“He also has something to tell you, by the way.”

Chase went even paler. “Oh god. Jackie, my brain can’t handle this.”

“Sorry. Uh, thought I’d let you know. He’s the one who wanted me to tell you.”

“Got it. I’ll... text him or something. Later. Not today.” Chase’s eyes wandered back over to the front door. “You should... probably figure out what you’re gonna say to JJ when he eventually comes back.”

“Yeah.” Jackie nodded. “Why was he here anyway? Wait. Actually, it probably has to do with these.” He held up the small gift bags, then set them—and JJ’s phone—on the coffee table. “I wonder why he didn’t text us to say he was coming over.”

“I dunno. Maybe he wasn’t feeling up to it. He didn’t look so good.”

“He didn’t?”

“Yeah, he had bags under his eyes,” Chase said. “And he was wearing a wrinkled T-shirt. I’ve never seen him wear wrinkled clothes or T-shirts.”

“If he wasn’t feeling good, why come over at all?” Jackie mumbled. He stared down at the gift bags. Then he picked one up and took out the tissue paper. Inside were a pair of beaded bracelets, one blue and red, the other decorated with pink, white, and blue. “Huh. Look at this.” He picked one up and showed it to Chase.

“Hmm. Nice.” Chase nodded absentmindedly. “He must be using that bracelet-making kit more.”

“Oh yeah, he did mention that once, didn’t he?” Jackie put the bracelet back. “Well, this one’s mine. The other one must be for you. I don’t think these are either of our styles, but they’re nice.” He probably wasn’t going to wear them, but he appreciated the thought.

“We can ask him about them when he comes back,” Chase said. “For now... I need a moment, man.”

“...Yeah. Take all the time you need.” Jackie nodded. “I’m... You were saying earlier that you’ll be there if I need anything, and I really appreciate that. And... the same’s true for me. Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”

Chase nodded. He closed his eyes. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Jackie waited for a moment, but it was clear Chase wanted to end the conversation. So he turned and left, walking down the hall to his room. Once inside, he put the gift bag on his dresser, then laid down on his bed. He expected a weight to be lifted from his chest. But it was still there. It was just different now.

[bearpillowmonster]

Got a new post for you guys that's a continuation of the last few but it's gone off long enough so just know I'm referring to these for context. Honestly, it's gotten worse-

My boss was sent an email to which he had to print out and hand to people, I blurred out any names or indications to locations.

I marked it up before taking a picture because I had so many questions, so that's the red pen but let's go through it. Also, it's obviously got a ton of typos and errors in it but that's this guy's signature.

He refers to two branches that don't close on Saturdays but are too shorthanded to fulfill it (because why, I don't really know but we'll get there.) And they expect the other branches to go over there in rotation to help. (you do one week, another guy does the next, so on and so forth) He says he asked to eliminate Saturdays but this guy is a penny pincher, I wouldn't believe that especially since that's all he elaborates on it.

He goes into detail about how it would work and then continues with the first underlined sentence, something I reread and reread and just couldn't wrap my head around. My manager made it plain though. Basically, this guy is threatening to punish those that don't comply...by opening their own branches on Saturday? And then the rotation would be weekly which is as stupid as it sounds, I know, I couldn't wrap my head around it because it's so beneath me that I couldn't process the reasoning behind it but yes, it's used as a threat. To make Saturdays a thing again and then make EVERY branch short handed and the problem grows and the cycle continues. This isn't our problem, you're just making a bigger mess than initially stated. And this wasn't backed by anybody else but himself, there is no CEO involvement, there is no higher up telling him this stuff, this is all him making bluffs and casting invisible chips that aren't there yet because there's no way that the CEO is going to approve that. An empty threat made on impulse and sent out before given any thought as to the repercussions. HR doesn't like it and if someone higher up hears about it, they probably won't either.

The next sentence just allocates which branch will fill in where but then goes on to explain that "If staff cannot work a Saturday, it is their responsibility to find a replacement and notify whatever manager available." This is also nobody's responsibility, this is a load of BS but this is his way of pushing off the problem. He sent out this memo for a reason and it's already almost over, can you guess why? Because he half bakes ideas, pushes them on other people and forces them to try and make the obvious blunder work, he then wipes his hands of it and blames you for the blunder you've now become "responsible" for. My coworker brought up that his son-in-law works at a prison and should the state mandate him to work on a Saturday then he would be in line to babysit his kids but he wouldn't know that until Friday night so there was no way that he could notify anybody of it or find a replacement.

Now the growing part. "One Manager and One Associate" this was originally going to be between four associates (including myself) but then one of the people already in this rotation brought up "But I'm technically a manager, why am I being singled out?" So this DSM's solution was to include all the managers and inside sales people, growing that measly 4 people that never gave an answer one way or the other into a threat to ALL employees. Well, I say all, I'll also get to that in a moment.

But the manager is needed to run overrides because the credit department doesn't have to work on Saturdays (whoop) and provide whatever's needed, that's the whole "denied or approved" part he could've worded that better. And that's about it with his sloppy name written at the bottom.

Now let's backtrack. ALL employees. This branch will NEED people who belong to this branch, STILL, because you need 1. A keyholder to lock and unlock the place. 2. Warehouse associates to pull and even find the product in the first place. Now wait- If you have all these people already needed, then why are we pulling from other places? My manager brought this up in a call about the warehouse guys and the response was something along the lines of "The warehouse workers there, you don't want to work on Saturdays." THEN WHY ARE THEY THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? WHY ARE THEY EMPLOYEES? BECAUSE YOU'RE SHORTHANDED? WHY IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT? "Those are exactly the type of people I want there on Saturday because if they're being bad employees then I'm going to report them and-" My next point:

Saturdays are a good day to learn how to run stuff because THEY'RE NOT BUSY. Looking at the Saturday sales for each branch, they don't run it like their supposed to. Putting in orders for Saturday's business and having them pick it up on Monday is both a no-no and a useless effort because that person could've just called and said "I'll pick it up on Monday". That makes up more than half of Saturday sales for all the branches and the rest is kind of pitiful, you're spending more than you're pulling in. Branch...whatever, made -$16 last week. NEGATIVE. That means someone returned more stuff than they bought.

Then there are the people that are left. You see, this grew up to managers and inside sales but this company likes putting more labels on people than one can bear so technically that includes outside sales people and you can't single out them so you have to include them all and who's to stop there? Because there are teams of people in different departments that also fall into this category. If it's all about equal treatment then EVERYONE should be on board, regardless of their position. As long as they know how to operate the system, they qualify. But you know who won't be there? The DSM and the branch manager. Because both of them are complete imbeciles that think they have better to do and place all the work and blame on everyone beneath. Neither of them could last with just one of our customers, despite knowing the system, they'll never help out at the counter.

But this is where something interesting could happen. An uprising, if you will. I want us all to band together. I want us to beat this. But there's also an anniversary of the company coming up and it's before September 1st when this supposed thing starts. The CEO will be there. The DSM will be there. Need I say more? They're visiting all these branches and we can tell them exactly what we all think. That's what this calls for. I'm scared, terrified really because I'm not a confrontational kind of person, especially if I'm the starter, but enough is enough. We all have to do something.

If it doesn't become something then then it will later on down the line when everyone submits their overtime and mileage bill.

[spider-jaysart]

Heeey guys!!!! Got some more episode ideas that I wanted to share!!! (I was inspired to do more after getting that very lovely ask from @katekanemybeloved the other day about my Supersons animated series idea!!!💖💖💖💖)

#1. Long ago, while making an old post of mines about Jon Kent headcanons, I wrote about him fighting some random kid for a Robin themed hoodie at some Superhero merch store, since it was the last one and he ended up winning it in the end. After that, the kid swore to get his revenge on Jon for taking what was his "first" while watching Jon leave the place, as the half Kryptonian boy was happily wearing his brand new hoodie on the way out

So after being reminded of that idea again, I thought that it would be pretty cool and maybe hilarious if that were to be apart of my episode collection for my Supersons cartoon idea as well! So the whole beginning of the episode would start the same way as I had explained, and the kid is actually revealed to be Lex Luthor's little cousin "Harry" who's around 7 years old, lives in Gotham, and is an aggressive, spoiled boy who has a very unhealthy obsession with Robin (Damian's Robin specificly) and even has his whole bedroom filled up with every Robin merch possibly created. As a big fanboy, he dreams of actually meeting Robin one day in person and possibly even becoming best friends with him, but after his recent fight with Jon, the only thing on Harry's mind right now is just getting his revenge on the farm boy and taking "his" Robin hoodie back from him to complete his whole collection so that it can all finally be "perfect". And after some intense research and a lot of spying, he quickly finds out that Jon is actually Superboy and plans to go after him during one of his next public battles when he catches him in the middle of the act. He later then visits his Uncle Lex at Lex Corp (since it was was coincidentally an upcoming day that was scheduled for him and his Uncle to hang out, which fit his plans perfectly) and sneakily swipes away an employees keycard after making an excuse to go use the bathroom, gaining access to Lex's whole locked up storage room that is dedicated to holding all of his past builted robotic suits in it, especially his Kryptonite built ones that were specificly made for fighting Superman himself. Harry is satisfied with his expected new findings and takes one of the giant robotic Kryptonite suits with him, planning to destroy Jon for good while wearing it. So the nextime as planned, he finally catches Jon by surprise after the Superboy was just done dealing with a villain who was causing chaos on the Metropolis streets, trying to take him down. Luckily for Jon though, his friend Damian is right there to quickly get in the middle of things to protect him, while also trying to figure out a way to get this young lunatic fan of his to stop what he's doing

#2. Then there would be this other episode where Damian highly suspects that a shadow demon is living inside of the Manor, but no one in the Batfamily ever believes him, thinking that he's just letting his late night imaginations get to him, because in their eyes, whenever they all run downstairs to go see what's going on after hearing so much noise, they always just end up only witnessing him in the middle of the night trying to actually catch nothing that is even there and this is only because the shadow demon disappears whenever the lights are turned on and whenever there are too many witnesses for him to deal with (and he's not only just attached to walls like a normal shadow either, he is also able to create a physical form as well and eats the energy of his victims). So after too many nights of this happening already, Bruce begins to believe that Damian's nights out as Robin are probably just starting to get to him now and is most likely messing up his sleeping schedule, causing him to have these unrealistic late night thoughts about monsters living with them in the house, so he tells him that he can't go out on anymore patrols as Robin until he begins to get proper sleep once again. This upsets Damian very much once he hears it and he decides that it's time to step up his game so that he can finally catch the creature and prove that he's really telling the truth, so he gets Jon and invites him over to have a sleepover at the Manor where they will both catch the shadow demon together. Jon thinks it all sounds crazy at first but finally gives in since he wants to help his best friend out. So during the night of their late slumber, they both get up and go after the trespassing creature together as planned, trying to get rid of it for once and for all so that it won't be able to try and harm the rest of the Batfamily members in the house or anyone else anymore

#3. Evil versions of the Supersons somehow invade the main!Supersons universe after finally breaking out of prison from their own world. They end up causing chaos with the Main!Supersons by creating a whole battle between them both in public and then send the good versions of themselves over into their universe soon after, trapping them over there so that they can take their place instead as (mistaken) criminals now, while the Evil!Supersons take over the new one that doesn't belong to them. So while now on the run from the cops in this much more cruel and rebellious universe that they're both in, the Main!Supersons have to figure a way out of this place that isn't their home and find a way back to their original one, with the big help of well known villains who happen to actually be the heroes of this world, before it's too late and their home is immensely corrupted by their alternate evil selves

#4. (This one will be a big reference to the Mother Mae eye episodes from the og Teen titans series and the one in Teen titans go! Where she opens up a pie shop but is turning heroes into her pies)

A brand new pie shop opens up in Jump city and is quickly selling well after word goes around the city that the pies from the new shop are very delicious. The Titans and the Supersons go there to eat in their civilian forms as a day out together to just chill, but while they're there enjoying themselves, the Titans just can't help but feel as if the sweet old lady who owns the shop reminds them of someone very familiar from their past list of old rogues, back when they were all still just teenage heroes, but just try to shrug it off to not become paranoid (they don't realize it because she's taken a completely different form this time to hide herself) and tell the Supersons all about that old story of theirs with Mother Mae eye once the two young boys suddenly become curious about what they were all reffering to. After that day, the Teen titans are next time dealing with a space mission, so meanwhile they're up there, the Supersons are taking care of things for them back down in Jump city until they all get back. So as the young duo are patrolling around the streets of the Titans City, they begin to notice that some of the civillians around there are acting a bit odd, but just decide to try and not pay too much mind to it since it's probably just nothing they guess. So they both later go to the pie shop for a lunch break, but before they can even eat and enjoy their orders after receiving them at their table, they notice that all the customers in the place are acting very strange and even more weirder then the civilians who are outside, while also noticing that they all also have very unnatural pink eyes on them as well. While both boys observe their surroundings inside of the place, deciding that it's probably best that they don't touch their ordered desserts at all, they both then see a terrifying vision of Mother Mae eye in a mirrored tray that she drops on the ground by accident, revealing her true form in the reflection, causing the Supersons to quickly run out of the place to get away from her after that. Later on that day, during the late night as she's closing up the shop, both boys are back again and sneakily break into the place to investigate what's exactly going on in there and what's happening to everyone who eats the freshly baked pies. Mother Mae eye catches them both though once they find out her secrets (they also find out that she was also planning around this time to get back at the now grown Titans once again and get them back under her control), and they end up having to fight her off together before she force feeds them her pies to take control of them both just like the rest of her victims or even worse... Turns them into some freshly baked pies just so that they won't spill her secrets if they aren't gonna comply with her demands at all

@katekanemybeloved @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 @camo-wolf @adalineozie @craftyvoidpeace

Would you be willing to share your character sheets/episodic ideas for your imagined supersons series? If not totally fine! A supersons animation would be so amazing tho btw I agree! I wish Warner bros was still the titan of children’s animation like it was when I was younger 😞

@katekanemybeloved

Ooooooh, yes!! I would be very delighted to share them!!! (And also, yeah, I wish that DC would go back to making bomb superhero cartoons again too :( like their cartoons were a big part of my childhood, ESPECIALLY the og Teen Titans cartoon series, which was and still is my top favorite animated series because of how awesome it was and still is!!!✨✨✨✨)

So here are the ideas that I've been having for my imagined series for a while now:

Some episode ideas:

Damian unfortunately has to babysit his baby neice Mar'i (who is 2 years old) for a night, even though he already had something planned on that same night, which was an investigation that he had wanted to learn more about since no one is taking it seriously enough to do it but just him. But everyone else in the family was said to be pretty busy that same night with missions of their own and Dick and Kory were needed somewhere very urgent that very night, so they chose Damian to be in charge of taking care of her until they both came back, so it upsets him very much since it interrupts his original plans. He's not very close with Mar'i either and finds her kind of annoying since he's not usually around such young kids her age. So on this boring night, he gets the idea to take her with him on his investigation instead and brings Jon along with him too, since he had came over to visit and hang out with him while he was babysitting. And during this fun adventurous episode with Jon, Damian, and little Mar'i, Damian later begins to actually develop a stronger care for his little niece and begins to not get so annoyed with her so much and actually starts to enjoy being around her more.

Damian has to get braces for a short time after an accident involving his teeth had happened during a mission, and he has to now try to learn how to deal with them for the time being, since it involves a lot of work and also kind of embarrasses him since some of his brothers and the other heroes playfully make fun of him about having them, especially since it kind of messes with his speech a little, which doesn't help him at all when trying to be a tough hero who needs to be taken seriously.

Jon and Damian both get sent to a summer camp since Clark and Bruce as Father's both think that besides their kids living the superhero life, they should also be able to have the chance to live like actual kids once in a while too before they lose the chance to actually do so when they finally reach adulthood in life. Damian's bummed about it and tries to find a way to leave the place, Jon's not upset about the situation at all and thinks that it will actually be a very fun experience to have. Though, they both later find out that there's possibly a very strange and dangerous creature lurking around the campsite that might just have a very big appetite for kids their age. So the Supersons both try to secretly investigate this mystery together to prevent the possible danger coming to their classmates there and get to also experience some of the fun things about summer camp too while they do so.

One day Jon begins to learn about the new fact that while he does like girls, he also actually likes boys too and is actually a bit confused by this, and thankfully has support on his side from family and friends while going through this new discovery about himself.

Jon is always hiding the clutter in his bedroom away from Clark and Lois by always shoving it all in his clothes closet. Though, one day while he's hanging out with Damian in his room, they both decide to play a video game together, except the controllers are missing, so Jon goes to check in his closet to see if he had thrown them in there by mistake with the rest of his mess and actually finds a shocking surprise for himself after he does so. He finds a big mysterious deep black hole on the floor of his closet that was never there before and believes that it has sucked all of his clothes and mess into it self. Him and Damian both then accidentally get sucked into it too after looking a little too close at it and have to now figure a way back out into Jon's bedroom as they both also learn about this strange new dimension together.

Damian decides to use the Batmobile behind Bruce's back one day during a mission with Jon and accidentally crashes it too during a road chase in said mission, so now him and Jon both have try to hide it and get it fixed on time before Bruce finds out about it.

Baby Mar'i gets involved in another mission with the Supersons again, except the three of them end up swapping ages in this one, so she gets turned into a kid while Damian and Jon are both turned into 2 year olds by the bad guy in their mission. So the three of them have to figure out a way together to stop this bad guy who's on the run and get said bad guy to turn them back into their normal selves before the spell becomes permanent for them all

An earth 11 episode of genderbend Damian and Jon just for fun

A school dance episode where some fun chaos happens for Damian and Jon

And of course there would also be fun episodes for all holidays during each year too (Valentine's, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc)

There would also be a birthday episode for Jon too

There would also be villains and bad guys for them to face in a lot of episodes

I have many more ideas but then it would probably turn this into a really long post lol

Character sheets and designs!!:

(Be sure to click on them for better quality!)

Damian and Jon in their hero and civilian outfits (So you know how Star from Star vs the forces of evil changes her outfit in episodes sometimes? Well, that's what Damian and Jon would also be doing sometimes in episodes in their civilian outfits too, which explains why they have more then one lol)

A closer look at them

Damian and Jon together

And Mar'i in her little Nightstar dress and normal dress (the blue star on her normal dress is supposed to be a little nod to the blue on Dick's Nightwing suit, while the star is also a nod to Starfire)

(These are all of the ones that I have for now, cause I have the other characters sheets too but then I would have to digitalize them first)

Ships involved:

Dickkory (they would already be married to eachother during the whole series and would already have baby Mar'i)

Bbrae (they would be engaged to eachother for the first season and a half of the second one, which would give us a fun wedding episode when it's time for them to marry. They would then be married to eachother for the rest of the whole series after that, but they wouldn't have any kids yet though until the final season of the series)

Timber or Timkon, or maybe Timber first and then later Timkon (not in a rush though)

Probably Damijon (I would probably continue to keep them as best friends throughout the whole series or maybe turn them into a cute ship very much later on in the series, since they do have a very great dynamic and chemistry with eachother as characters and as best friends...and also because their my otp :| but idrk)

Voice ideas:

For my imagined series, I've also always imagined Kon having the exact same voice as Marco from the Star vs the forces of evil series, cause it's also just the type of voice that I can always hear him speaking in whenever I'm reading fics or comics with him in it for some reason

And for Jon it would be a voice that sounds energetic and friendly

And Damian's would sound like the mature type of voice but still sounding like a kid and with maybe a bit of an accent in it too

For the Titans, Dick, Starfire, Raven, Beast boy, and Cyborg, I would give them the same voice actors that they've had for the og animated series and the new reboot series (cause it just really wouldn't be the same without their talented voices!😭)

Little other things:

Damian would be 12 years old in the series while Jon is 10 1/2 years old, so they would both still be in middle school in the series

Tim and Kon would be 16 years old

While Jon and Damian may be eachothers very best friends, they also have their own little friend groups. For Jon's friend group, it's Kathy, Billy, and later also kid!Jay and for Damian's group, it's Maya, Colin, Maps, and Tai Pham (they would all also team up as a whole group together sometimes in episodes)

I'm thinking of maybe adding a very young Chris Kent as a young brother for Jon and Kon so that he could grow up with Jake Grayson as a best friend after he's born and then they could also become the young Starburst duo together in the future, or maybe just adding him in as their brother as planned and letting him be around Jon's age instead

While Blackfire and Starfire may have their differences with eachother and even though Blackfire might not always treat Starfire in a good way like how she should as a sister, she sure does love her adorable baby neice Mar'i a lot

Baby Lian exists and has play dates with Mar'i

And yes, Jon would still be taller than Damian in the series lol

Duke would be in the series too (cause he deserves more love) and would also be a Batkid in the Batfamily

I would give the series a very fun and cool memorable theme song while a very fun animated intro is showing off examples of what their awesome adventures together as the Supersons is like (like something similar to Star vs the forces of evil style) everytime before an episode actually begins

It would definitely be a fun comedic show with humor to laugh at all the time but it would also become serious at moments when it needs to be (like the og Teen Titans animated series for example)

It also wouldn't be a show that's aimed at adults like the mature Harley Quinn animated series and it also wouldn't be a little kiddies type of show either, it would actually be the type of show that anyone of any age can enjoy, like the many other kids cartoons out there like: the og Teen Titans animated series, Star vs the forces of evil, Gravity falls, Steven universe, and many more

Cool and fun action scenes would definitely be included in all episodes of the series everytime whenever they're fighting bad guys and villains

Thank you very very much for the ask, @katekanemybeloved ! :D I really enjoyed sharing this!💖

Tagging: @quartzgallery @theredheaded-stuff @camo-wolf @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 @cats-and-katanas @nobodycallsmerae @batboyblog @teeeentitaaans

[rozcdust]

I don’t speak to whores

Pairing: Bonten x AroAce!GN!Reader

Genre: Crack, SMAU

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: Canon divergent, profanity, ooc, whore behaviour, NO ROMANCE, just reader bullying Bonten

Synopsis: Mikey wonders when did his gang become a whorehouse.

pt. 1 | masterlist

Mikey was tired.

So far, he has hired countless secretaries, has had countless job interviews, countless application papers piling up on his desk, to the point the obscene pile has toppled over multiple times, and yet.

He, again, has no secretary.

Because all of his executives are whores.

Every damn time, no matter the gender of the secretary, no matter their relationship status, his executives make a game, almost a mission of sorts, to seduce the secretary with niceties, expensive gifts and honey-sweet words, and then leave the poor person crying and scarred emotionally, causing them to quit, more often than not the person runs to Mikey’s office sniffling and with red eyes, explaining they just ‘Can’t stand to look at him anymore, after he hurt me like that-“, and then it turns into a whole Shakespeare worthy monologue Mikey usually tunes out.

And then he has to start all over again.

It has come to the point where he has had to have the next potential employee on speed dial, because it has stopped being a matter of weeks or days between secretaries, it has become a matter of hours.

He sighs, picking up the next resume on the pile, dialing in the number, hoping this one will last at least a damn week.

Heavens help him.

“So you are y/n l/n, correct?” Mikey twirls his pen in his fingers, glancing between you and your resume as you fidget in your chair under his blank gaze.

“Correct, sir.” You nod, straightening out the edge of your button-up before again messing it up.

“You’re hired.”

Your face twists in surprise, obvious question marks appearing around your head as you stare at Mikey, puzzled, and unsure if this was a prank of sorts.

“Uh, sir, in fear of sounding rude, you haven’t asked me anything.”

“I know. You’re hired.”

You blink, and Mikey sighs, putting the resume on his table to rub his face in exhaustion.

“You see, y/n- Can I call you y/n? We here have what is considered an… Unprofessional environment.”

You let out a little snort, relaxing in your seat.

Clearly, you could tell how desperate Mikey has become.

“With all due respect sir, I didn’t exactly expect a bunch of gang members to behave professionally.”

“You don’t understand.” Mikey groaned, letting his desk fall on the desk, “My executives are horrendous. They won’t try to get you fired, they will rather try to make you quit. They’re godawful, and the most a secretary has last in the hellscape they create has been a month.”

You raise an eyebrow.

“How come?”

Mikey let out a prolonged groan, banging his desk on the table.

“They will try to seduce you, and make you quit.”

You let out a loud, hysterical laugh, and Mikey raises his head in surprise, just in time to catch you wiping tears of laughter out of your eyes.

“They can certainly try.”

“Everyone says that! And they all quit!” Mikey exclaims, frustrated, slamming his hands on the desk for emphasis.

You merely flash him a confident smirk.

“I assure you sir, I’ll last.”

“Have you heard?” Ran leaned next to the vending machine, a cocky smile adorning his face as he observed Sanzu getting his drink, “We got a new secretary. And by what Kokonoi said, they’re a cute one.”

Sanzu glanced up, raising an eyebrow as a cheshire grin spreads across his face.

“Is that so?” He hummed, squatting down to fetch the Red bull from the machine, “How long do you reckon they’ll last?”

Ran’s smile widened.

“We shall see.”

A knock rang out throughout the obscenely large space of your office, right in the middle of your 4th meltdown in the past hour.

The amount of work the last secretary left over was offensive.

You spent the first 3 hours just managing the goddamn appointments, which have accumulated into a godforsaken mess of overlapping meetings and then nothing for days, as well as barely scheduled meeting hours that made absolutely no sense.

And then whoever the fuck wanted to lose at least 2 of their limbs interrupted you.

You took a deep breath in, trying to compose yourself as much as possible, you were hired a day ago, after all, and really couldn’t afford to lose your job immediately.

“Come in!” You called out, hoping to hold a somewhat pleasant, not murderous tone.

A man with dark blue hair entered, almost cautious in his movements, which, honestly, was odd to see for a guy who probably killed more people than you know, but hey, can you really judge?

Yes, yes you can.

And you did.

Sceptically looking the man up and down, you kept the somewhat concerning list of rules Mikey shoved down your throat in mind.

Rule number one.

Don’t show weakness. Don’t be too nice. You are allowed to punch them.

“So I heard we had a new secretary, and we switch those out quite a bit.” The man stated, his tone and voice void of emotions as he buried his hands into the pockets of his coat, “So I wanted to come to say hi, and introduce myself. I’m Kakucho.”

You lean back into your chair, flashing a smile you prayed was polite.

“Y/n, pleased to meet you.”

He nodded in acknowledgment, and then a few moments of silence filled with pure awkwardness passed.

“Uh, just to let you know, I think Mikey already told you but just in case,” Kakucho scratched the back of his neck, avoiding your eye, “The other guys may try to get you to quit. It’s like a whole betting thing, don’t ask. So, be careful.”

Your face was blank, refusing to show any surprise.

He still wasn’t to be trusted.

“Mikey has already informed me, yes.”

“Oh, good, good.”

“Is that all?”

The man turned on his heel as he started making his way to leave and let you be in your meltdown, stopping just shy of the entrance to turn around towards you.

“Bye. See you around. I’ll come to drop off some paperwork later.”

“Sure.”

Then it all began.

So, Mikey fucked up.

During hours when the Bonten headquarters had random people wandering in to make appointments, ask about something crime related, or to just threaten everyone around with a firearm, you were to sit at the desk right at the entrance to building.

As if this multimillion gang building was a damn dentist's office.

Then they decided to haunt you.

“Well hello there~” A deep, rich voice drawled out, just as a tap was heard against the smooth, shiny surface of the reception top that shielded you from immediate view.

You glanced up, chewing on a pen, a bad habit you picked up while being stressed by grown-ass men not being able to manage their time, and stopped doing your report, only to be met by deep, beautiful lilac eyes.

The rest of the man was highly questionable.

He looked like he was sent straight from the hellscape known as the IRS, here to haunt your waking dreams and nightmares forever, and hunt you down across the world to claim a portion of your pay.

Horrifying.

“Oh, hi!” You nodded, immediately grabbing your appointments notebook, “How may I help you? Are you here to schedule an appointment?”

The man looked taken aback, but it was over so fast you thought you must have imagined it, before he started laughing.

You raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

He was wasting your damn time.

Like an asshole, which he clearly was.

“Oh, no, no, sweetheart, I work here, just came over to say hi.” He smirked, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye, “I’m Ran Haitani.”

Oh.

Mikey has warned you about him.

Narrowing your eyes, you nod politely.

“Pleased to meet you sir. Is there any way I may help?”

“Oh, no, no” The man shook his head, flashing a smile, “Just wanted to welcome you to the office.”

“That is very kind of you.”

“And brought you a little something.” Still smiling that godawful grin, he pulled out a bouquet of flowers, “Pretty flowers for such a pretty face.”

Your body stiffened.

Rule number two.

Beware of gifts, compliments or any niceties. Be ruthless.

So this is how they wine and dine those poor people who preceded you, before ruining them.

That won’t work on you.

“I am actually allergic to flowers. The pollen makes me sneeze like an idiot, but thank you.” You cautiously accepted the flowers, holding them upside down with only your thumb and pointer as if they were a biological weapon.

“I can put them in a vase for you.” Ran frowned, putting on a sad face that would probably pull at most people’s heartstrings and make them filled with guilt at the lie.

You cancelled your subscription to a conscious a while ago, so guilt wasn’t a problem.

“No, thanks.” Staring him right into the eye, you dropped the flowers into the trash bin, and to add insult to the injury, you grabbed the trash bag and offered it to him, a light smile on your face, “Could you please take them out to the garbage? I don’t want to get a runny nose and irritated eyes while working.”

Ran’s eyes narrowed as he wordlessly accepted the bag, storming off and almost throwing the entrance doors to the building off their hinges.

You knew what this meant.

War.

And you’d savour every damn second of it.

🔖Taglist:

@1818cigarettes @nana-phobia @dilf-city @wakasa-wifey @rinsie @kisekihany @missarabellla @bajifairyy @cryszus @r-xochitl @m0rrax @levistiddies @bxnten @spookygeto @graythecoffeebean @yukihime-mikeys-girl @mukounisuru-gashadokuro @sunahyejin @crybabylisa @yamaguccitadashi @minoozi @gigibobigi @trashmemebitch @frogtits1 @sup-zfam @whydohumansss @xashiui @bontens-whore @nqctre @bontenacious @lumi-does-some-stuff @hana-patata @hxked @erza-uzumaki @sh4nn @sisnot @aurel1ia @nahoyas-nymph (in bold are those who tumblr won’t let me tag. my apologies!)

suggested by: @nahoyas-nymph (brO THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME WRITE THIS IT WAS A JO Y 😩)

[infernal-fire]

suburban dream

summary: how do you wake up from a nightmare? is it a nightmare if you’ve been asleep the whole time?

major warnings: noncon/dubcon smut, stalking, mention of pregnancy, some cum play (check the prompts for indications of other warnings)

a/n: this is for @iraot​’s 1.1k writing challenge. BIG congrats on 1.1k (i cannot explain how glad i am that others get to read your amazing work) and another BIG thank you for hosting this challenge.

Here are the results of my wheel spins:

Kink wheel: daddy kink, somnophilia, breeding kink Character wheel: Jake Jensen Situation wheel: Neighbours AU

You let out a breath of relief as you dropped the last brown box into the corner of the room. How you managed to own this much stuff, you’d never know. Glanced around the living room, it was difficult to decide where to begin. After much contemplation, you huffed and picked up the pizza catalogue, deciding to call it a day. 

It was unbearable to leave the house in the mess that it was. On the other hand, your right hip wailed in agony every time you bent down. Lacking the much-needed support of friends or family, you had no option but to suck it up and unpack… but that can wait till tomorrow. 

Fishing out just the necessities for the night, you climbed up the stairs and headed into the master bedroom. Massive house for one person, you noted. You did insist that an apartment would suffice but Tony was a stickler for rules.

All Stark employees have to be residents of a Stark-Jensen neighbourhood. 

Before getting the job, you weren’t even aware that “Stark-Jensen” neighbourhoods were a thing; it was a term coined by the tech company itself, referring to neighbourhoods that are protected by Stark-Jensen technology. The crime rate in these neighbourhoods are always startlingly low, the odd criminal or two being from inside the community itself. All things considered, how could you say no to free housing? 

Sure, the security measures assured that you never had to worry, but it also made you wonder why they were there in the first place. This place was as secure as the Stark Tower; why? You tried not to ask too many questions, afraid of getting on Tony’s bad side. Besides, it isn’t characteristic of him to give you a straight answer anyway. 

Life is good, your most harrowing concern at the moment being that your new place had no curtains. It had been a long time since things were calm and you were just recognizing that your days had been free of storms for some time now. Counting your blessings for the second time that night, you stepped into the shower and reminded yourself of all the things to be grateful for. 

To say you were in a good mood was an understatement. You finished your night routine right as the pizza was delivered and excitedly skipped down. No one told you how fun living alone was but they didn’t need to - you quickly found that independence is a glorious necessity in everyone’s life.

Jake stood bewildered at your person throwing the door open. He gripped the pizza box tight to ensure he didn’t drop it and continued to look at you like you had grown a third head. He never was very good with his words, but your beauty truly inhibited his ability to think.

“Hi?” you asked.

“Hey, I-I’m your neighbour, Jake. Saw that you were moving in and I came to ask if you need any help.” 

“Oh,” you contemplated, looking past him. “Where’s the pizza person?”

“I paid for it. Housewarming gift?” he  said like a question and handed it over. 

You received the warm box and waited for him to say something as he fiddled with his hands. His smile looks so familiar but you couldn’t place your finger on it. 

“So…Do you need help?” He looked up right at the end. You grinned at how shy he was.

“I would really appreciate the help tomorrow,” you replied casually. 

“Oh, so… I’ll come by tomorrow morning?” He looked hopeful, as if you were the one handing him the olive branch. You took a once-over of his build, sure that he would come handy when your hip gives up again and nodded in response. 

He nodded back slowly and turned around to leave, but seeing him at your doorstep felt eerily similar to a puppy left out in the rain. 

“I don’t think I can finish this pizza alone,” you called out. He turned around, a glint of happiness apparent in the shine of his eyes. 

“Do you have time to help me with this right now?” It was your turn to look hopeful and you really hoped this cutie took the bait.

He did. 

You couldn’t ignore the nagging at the back of your head that you had seen him somewhere. You also couldn’t dismiss the fact that dinner together was just a little awkward. The conversation started off with small talk, and it didn’t take a genius to tell that neither of you enjoyed it. Luckily, it shifted to talks about the neighbourhood and your old job. After that, the words flowed easily, the two of you bonding like you had known each other forever. Although it was smooth sailing, you couldn’t help but wonder how he knows so much about the neighbourhood security measures. When he mentioned that he had lived there for about 6 years, you chalked it up to a simple accumulation of knowledge he must’ve acquired from being around for so long. 

“So everyone who lives around here works for Stark-Jensen, right?” you questioned, trailing your finger on the rim of your second wine glass for the night.

“Yeah, for the most part. Though it’s hard to tell who works for who.”

You chuckled in agreement.

“What is it with that? I mean, I work for Stark, and my colleagues, too… but exclusively for Stark. Jensen does exist right?”

“Yeah,” he snickered, “He does. Stark makes the tech and Jensen does the coding.”

“So they’re a two-man team, but Tony’s the face of the company? Seems sort of unfair,” you muttered, quirking your brow a little. 

Jake smiled at your comment, glanced at his hands and looked back up at you. 

“Maybe he wants it to be that way.” He nudged his glasses up and took a little sip of his wine while peering at you. 

You cocked your head to the side and considered the information. Your head was hazy and you needed to stop drinking; alcohol and cute guys are not a good mix. 

“Wait.” You squinted at him. 

“Does that mean you’re a Stark-Jensen employee?” 

He let out a chortle and took your glass from you. 

“Hey, hey I want that back!” you whined, not even caring that you’re embarrassing yourself. 

“I think that’s enough for today.” He gently helped you up, waiting for you to move. 

“I can usually handle my liquor,” you promised, clinging onto his broad form for support. 

He started moving you up to your lone mattress in the corner of your room, softly laying you down. 

“Jake,” you caught his arm. “You didn’t answer the question. Do you work for Stark-Jensen?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

You pouted at his answer, still gripping his wrist like you owned him. He tenderly pried your fingers off him and placed them on your belly. 

“See you tomorrow,” he mumbled as he left your room. You drifted asleep easily, blissfully unaware of how you’d never be able to live down the humiliation of your drunken stupor. 

The next day, you hoped Jake wouldn’t show up. It would save you from the burning heat that crept up your neck every time you recalled the night before.

Unfortunately, Jake had found it way too amusing an opportunity to tease you, showing up at your doorstep at 10 AM on the dot. 

The day went on without a hitch, the conversation picking up easily from where you left off. Jake found it endearing when you groaned at the mention of your state, only after three glasses of wine. The question of his employment never crossed your mind again, both of you having way too much fun unpacking. You felt ten times better knowing that your neighbour was a loveable, single, hunky nerd; it made the stress of settling in that much better. 

Of course, like all good things, the weekend came to an end. Monday morning, you eagerly prepped yourself for a new week at the office. Being Tony’s right hand took five rounds of interviews as well as background checks into every living relative you had. After the turbulent hiring process, you found that the job was not any easier. Luckily, the move had you feeling more thankful about being in sync with all the Stark tech; with FRIDAY managing your house and personal appointments, it was easier to keep track of Tony’s day. 

You stepped out of the house and shielded your eyes from the beautiful day. Just then, your lovely new friend stepped onto his porch wearing casual attire.

“Have fun at work!” he called after you.

“Thanks! Are you going to work?”

“Yes, I am.” You took in his outfit one more time, chuckling as you wondered what job would pay enough to live here while dressed in sweats.

“Well, in case I don’t see ya’... Good afternoon, good evening and good night!” you exclaim loudly. 

Jake giggled like a schoolboy and waved goodbye before ducking into his car. 

Tony’s 10 AM meeting has been pushed to 11 AM, Miss L/N. 

“No, no, that won’t do! He has another meeting at 12 PM, the timing will clash. FRIDAY, who was he supposed to meet at 10 AM?”

Speaking to the AI felt more like talking to yourself, but with time, you assured yourself that it would look as cool as Stark when handling your things.

He’s meeting Mr Jensen, the co-founder of Stark-Jensen. I believe you have not met him yet. 

“Yeah, I haven’t. Could you call him for me, FRIDAY?”

Sorry Miss L/N, Mr Jensen’s phone is switched off. He has already notified Tony of the change in plans. 

“What an asshole,” you grumbled. 

On the contrary, I think you would like Mr Jensen, Miss L/N.

“You can just call me Y/N, FRIDAY. Oh, and, send out a notification to all of today’s meeting hosts and tell them to push it by one hour. If they complain, send them my number to take up any problems they have.” 

It’ll be done by the time you reach your office. 

“Thank you,” you smiled and pulled into your parking spot, right beside Tony’s. 

It was hard to imagine what would’ve happened today if Tony didn’t give you access to FRIDAY. Calling each meeting host and personally asking them to push their meetings seemed like a tedious and mind-bending task. And frankly, you didn’t ever look forward to talking to Karen’s. But now, you would never have to know; FRIDAY was an absolute godsend. 

You stepped onto the other side of security clearance just as the clock struck 9 AM. Strutting up to your office, you made a mental checklist of everything you need to do during the day. Usually, Tony didn’t require you to sit in for his meetings. He has a different set of assistants for note-taking purposes. 

Too consumed by your thoughts, you didn’t notice the large picture of Jake and Tony sitting side by side on the wall beside the elevators. You also didn’t notice Jake’s smirk as he passed by you with ease. He would’ve stopped to say hi, but he knew that you didn’t realize who he was yet. Now he just had to figure out a way to get you to show up to his and Tony’s meeting and give you the heart attack of a lifetime. 

Beep, beep.

The Stark-watch buzzed on your wrist, letting you know that Tony was calling for you. You had barely even stepped into the elevator and he was already whining like a baby. 

You shook your head and stepped into the doorframe of his lab.

“Come here!” his voice called from the far end of a lab. Your suspicions of him being under the work table were confirmed when he wheeled out on his back and handed you a wrench. 

“Do me a favour. Tighten this for me?” 

He handed you the arm of an Iron Man suit, what you assumed was his latest mark. He already lived at the lab as it was, you wondered how he ever had time for Pepper. 

“Come on, put your arm into it L/N! You know what, you’re distracted, give it here.”

“Did you call me here to tighten your screws?” You shifted your weight onto one leg and crossed your arms. It was sassy of you, but Tony’s assistant needs to have some backbone, famously said by Rhodey.

“Well, you know me, screws always loose.” He knocked on his head and chuckled at his own joke. You sighed and turned to walk out. 

“I need you to sit in for my 11 o’clock. And cancel everything else today.”

You gasped and turned again, marching to where he was lying down. 

“Tony Stark, you have no regard for anyone’s time! I already pushed everything back by one hour because of your buddy Jensen and now you’re asking me to cancel everything?”

“I know, and I agree. I wish I could go to the mind-numbing meetings with corporate clowns, but I want to show you and Jensen something cool.”

He stopped fiddling with his toy just long enough to glance at you. 

You sighed and called for FRIDAY, groaning for the umpteenth time since that morning. Why were you acting like this was the first time he’s done this? It was probably your lack of energy from moving. You couldn’t wait to get home and maybe call Jake over for dinner. Now that you considered this possibility, time seemed to pass slower, but at least there was something worthwhile to look forward to. 

When 10:55 rolled around, you were sitting in Tony’s lab, patiently waiting as Tony set up his latest invention for demonstration. 

“Where’s your buddy?” you asked, checking your watch for the time again. 

“On his way,” he replied without turning away from his work. 

He paused and took a step back to admire his work before facing you. 

“You haven’t met Jake, have you?”

“Jake?”

Right on cue, Jake walked through the doors of the labs and you whipped around to find your grinning friend.

“Howdy neighbour,” Jake sneered. 

“Oh, right. You live beside each other,” Tony muttered as he gathered some more things from his desk. 

You shamelessly inhaled the pinewood and vanilla-infused scent of Jake as he sat down beside you. To have him so close to you was a dangerous thing, your cunt unknowingly clenching every time he moved his biceps. 

“Stop making heart-eyes at him.”

You threw whatever was in your hand at Tony’s head, and it happened to be a pen. It narrowly missed as he ducked and doubled over in laughter at your embarrassment. The bastard took sick pleasure in it so he often made it a point to humiliate you, but it usually wasn’t in front of the co-CEO of the world’s largest tech company. 

The rest of your time in that lab went on without any heart attacks - as far as anyone knew, the slick between your thighs doesn’t account for a ‘heart attack’, per se. You shouldn’t even be thinking about Jake like that. He was technically your boss too. 

Tony dismissed you at lunch and told you to take the rest of the day off, much to your delight. You slid into your car and dropped your head onto the steering wheel.

You had barely moved into the neighbourhood and you’re already finding ways to be fired.

~Time skip~

You sighed and laid back in the over-the-top maternity chair Jake got you for feeding. Your baby gurgled as curled his little fingers into his palm before knocking on your breast once. With a light chuckle, you cooed as the little bundle began falling asleep. 

This was the only place in the house that had a sliver of sunlight gracing the inside of the house. 

You could have outdoor privileges if you didn’t pull that little stunt. 

Could you really blame yourself for trying to leave? How were you to know that it’s impossible to leave a Stark-Jensen neighbourhood?

Because it says “Stark-Jensen” in the name, you dumbass. 

Fair enough.

You lost count of how many times you sigh on the daily, instead opting to count the number of times you’re able to hold off a mental breakdown. Today, you got the rare privilege of privacy, with Jake being gone to another one of Stark’s presentation.

You reminisced about the last time you sat in Tony’s lab and watched him explain his latest creation. Little did you know that the first time you sat with Jake in there would also be the last time you ever sat in there. 

You gently placed the Jim in the cradle. Again, one of the many over-the-top investments made by Jake to ensure the baby got state-of-the-art care. The way Jensen had made you sit beside him as he put the contraption together almost had you lurching. But you didn’t want to wake the baby. The horridness of the memories cannot outweigh your will to keep Jimmy from crying.

“Look at it!”, Jake excitedly spun the box to show you. It must’ve cost an unreasonable amount of money - not that he couldn’t spare to spend the coin, but the purchase confirmed your worst suspicions; he was serious about this all. 

Your eyes, puffy from the days of crying, were barely open. Yet you still nodded, figuring that if you put up with his enthusiasm now, he’ll let you go to sleep without raping you like he did every night. 

Anyway, you were wrong. 

When did everything go so wrong?; How?

You picked up your phone. Your eyes flickered between the only two contacts saved on it. Jake made sure you couldn’t do anything except call him or Tony.

You missed your ex-boss (who was always more of a friend to you). But, it was obvious that calling him wasn’t worth it and would rarely yield any fruitful conversation. Tony always spoke as if he were walking on glass around you and your words were always monitored and censored by Jake. It didn’t take long to figure that one out. 

“I don’t know what happened, Tony, she’s just unhinged,” Jake explained over the phone. In the background, you struggled against the bonds that held you to his bedframe. You sobbed harder into your gag and tried to scream ‘help’. All that came out was a shriek. 

“You hear her? She’s completely unfit to come into work… What happened? I don’t know man… She’s breaking down under all the stress. A few days of rest might do the trick. No, no, you don’t have to come down. I’ll take care of it.” 

He ended the call and you went limp, pausing your hysteria. He smiled at you as if he hadn’t kidnapped you. As if he hadn’t just made Tony believe that you were off your rockers. As if he hadn’t just fucked you five times over the span of 48 hours. 

He had planned every step of your entrapment to the letter and it was all going according to his plan.

You put your phone facedown on the dining table and walked back upstairs to your room. His room. Your room, too. 

Never, you internally screamed.

Well, it’s too late to debate it. 

You stood at the foot of your bed and traced the footboard. He took you countless amount of times on this bed and every instance held some clue that he was working up to what was happening now. You could see that now - but what was the point now?

You giggled as Jake pushed you onto his bed. Who knew this golden retriever could be so rough?

“Shhshshshhh” you slurred and Jake laughed in response. 

“Tony’s not here, baby,” he replied, climbing on top of you. 

“We’re not gonna get fired?” 

“He can’t fire me, sweetheart.”

“Oh… yeah.” You frowned, remembering that your risqué relationship was only risky for you. 

In your drunken haze, you didn’t realize Jake was rubbing his bulbous tip against your folds, gathering slick. 

“Condom?” 

“Don’t have,” Jake lied. 

“Oh,” you hesitated. 

“It’ll feel so good, baby.” He nuzzled his nose into the crook of your neck and sunk in before you had the chance to protest. 

“Jakeeee,” you whined. Writhing under his grasp, you shook your head side-to-side as he vigorously fucked into you. 

He abruptly stopped and pulled out. “What have I said about saying my name?”

“I’m sorry, daddy,” you sheepishly say. 

“That’s right, slut. You’re gonna make me a daddy, right?” He pushed back in. 

“Yeah, you are. Gonna make me a daddy, so call me daddy.”

The implication of his words flew right over your head in your drunken haze and blank mind. Any ounce of sense that you had left was being fucked out by his thick length. 

“Gonna blow my load. Fill you tight cunt, not gonna last long.”

His words were broken with loud moans. He couldn’t think straight with your warm, wet pussy inviting him in over and over. 

As you shook from an overwhelming orgasm, your pussy involuntarily clenched, causing Jake to lose any last bit of restraint he was holding onto. He pushed in as far as he could go as you flailed around. He pinned your arms down and pressed his mouth into yours, delivering a hot and heavy kiss that had you panting. 

He pulled out, but the string of cum that followed made you blanch. You never were one for cum play. Still, you didn’t protest when Jake pushed everything back in with two fingers. 

“Gotta’ make sure you’re full baby.”

You shake your head now, but again, what’s the point? It’s all done and dusted. Though, you should give yourself some credit. Even if you had realized earlier, it wouldn’t have made a difference. He would’ve realized that you knew before you could’ve even thought about escaping.

As you drifted asleep, you adjusted the volume of the baby monitor one last time and slumped into the fluffy pillows. 

How do you wake up from dreams? Was it by pinching yourself? You couldn’t wake up from the nightmare that was your reality when you pinched yourself. You doubted that would work right now. You couldn’t recall how to open your eyes. Instead, you whimpered in your sleep, reliving the moment Jake finally revealed his ulterior motive

“You did what?” Jake was seething, but the only indication of it was his clenching jaw and red face. His tone was the perfect embodiment of the calm before a storm. 

“I know you aren’t happy… but Jake, you- you’re always talking about babies and a family. It was so overwhelming and I… I-I…” You were shivering now, unable to withstand the heat of his glare. You had never been on the receiving end of his anger. Hell, you had never even seen him angry. 

“I didn’t have an abortion, Jake, for god’s sake stop looking at me like a killed a baby! Plan B is not a crime. I’m only even bringing this up because I started on birth control anyway. Plan B every time we have sex is just not practical or feasible.”

At this point, you could’ve been speaking to a wall. Jake still hadn’t said anything and you were beginning to wonder if he had even been listening. 

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice,” he whispered, at last. 

“What?”

“I watch you do everything, I can’t believe I didn’t know about the Plan B.”

“What… What are you saying?”

“I said,” Jake stood up, “I’ve basically been watching you 24/7. And I don’t know how I didn’t notice this.” 

“What do you mean watching me?” Tears in your waterline were threatening to blur your vision but you blinked furiously in an attempt to keep looking Jake in the eyes.

 “You think FRIDAY works for you?” 

Jake leisurely cracked each knuckle and took a step towards you. You took one back. 

“Oh, now, don’t be like that.”

You woke from your nightmare that was the boiling pot and jumped straight into the fire. Jake was already moving in and out of your channel, moaning about how he missed you too much. 

You tried to adjust yourself but he caught your arms and pulled out just long enough to flip you onto your stomach. 

When he pushed back in, the hopelessness of your life manifested as tears; it happens every once in a while. 

Today, you had a new record: you were able to hold off a total of 7 breakdowns.

But, of course, that was right before he pinched you awake every time.

Masterlist

[extasiswings]

15 + buddie

15. "Shouldn't you be with her?" On ao3 here.

When Eddie is eleven, his class gets a new student. Her name is Maria Esparza and her family is from Arizona. She has dark curls that look like they would be soft to touch and a smattering of freckles across her nose and she’s so smart—always reading and forever raising her hand in class, always with the right answers—but she never acts stuck up about it.

He thinks she’s beautiful and when he gets home from the first day of school he promptly announces that he’s in love. He doesn’t understand why his mother laughs or why Sophia rolls her eyes and calls him an idiot when he’s perfectly serious.

He’s in love, he insists, and goes on believing it for three whole weeks until he gets up the courage to give Maria a flower at recess and she looks at him like he has two heads. The rejection smarts for a couple of days, but then he’s fine. So, he figures...maybe it wasn’t love after all.

Eddie is fifteen when he finds his eyes slipping too frequently to Diego Reed in autoshop, lingering on the other boy’s long, dexterous fingers, his forearms, the sharp edge of his jaw. Eddie can’t explain it, he just knows those stolen glances make him squirm, make him flush, make him feel too warm and like his very skin is too tight.

Diego steals Eddie’s first kiss two weeks before winter break, pushes him up against the back wall of the shop where they’re hidden by a truck and licks into his mouth with a confidence that Eddie can’t imagine ever having when he himself can’t even figure out what to do with his hands. But it makes his knees weak and leaves him breathless and panting when Diego pulls away with a smirk and tells him not to say anything.

It’s not love—for one thing, Eddie knows he’s not supposed to love boys, and for another, the only time he suggests it might be anything at all, Diego gives him the same look Maria had once upon a time and walks away—but it’s nothing he’s ever felt before. The next year, Angelica Phelan asks him to go to the winter formal and he gets to second base in the science lab when they slip away from the chaperones. It’s different from kissing Diego. But it’s just as good, he enjoys it just as much, and part of him is…relieved.

He doesn’t think about that too much.

Eddie is eighteen when he’s not watching where he’s going and runs directly into his future on the sidewalk. Thankfully, the only casualty is Shannon’s coffee, and after she snaps at him for not paying attention and he offers to replace her drink—well. They close down the coffee shop, emerging, startled, from conversation only when interrupted by a mildly disgruntled employee trying to lock up. Eddie walks home in a daze, Shannon’s phone number burning a hole in his pocket, and he’s simultaneously elated and terrified because it’s never been so easy being with someone, he’s never felt so seen so quickly. He’s old enough to realize that love at first sight is bullshit, but he thinks he could fall very fast.

He’s right.

They take things slow because Eddie wants to do things right, doesn’t want to risk confusing love with the heady cocktail of teenage hormones and sex. So he knows by the time he does fall into bed with her, eight months in, that he’s in love. Really in love, thinking about the future in love, factoring her into the mix when he thinks about what the hell he’s going to do with his life in love.

And then Shannon gets pregnant. And it’s too soon, he loves her but it’s too soon, and he’s terrified all over again—

He loves her though. He loves her. And she’s pregnant so—they get married. He wants to do the right thing.

At their wedding the readings are selections from Song of Songs and Corinthians.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud....Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things...

With all due respect to St. Paul, Eddie doesn’t think he knew what the hell he was talking about. Or at least, maybe he did, but he was being pretty damn aspirational and left out a few things.

Because after the wedding…after the wedding, Eddie learns a lot more about love.

Love is beautiful, yes. But love is also…trying to do the right thing and fucking up. Love is fighting and knowing exactly what to say to cut the deepest and not always holding back. Love is forgiving, but after a point finding it difficult to forget.

Or maybe that’s not love, maybe that’s just marriage. Maybe it’s a little of both. Because love endures—sure. Love endured with Shannon even when trust was nonexistent, when their marriage was fractured, shattered pieces strewn across the floor ready to draw blood if either of them tried to pick them up.

Love isn’t enough. That’s what Eddie knows. Or maybe it is, maybe love would have been enough to fix what was broken if it hadn’t been his. Shannon’s gone, so they’ll never be able to have that conversation. He’ll never know the answer.

Love endures. Eddie kind of wishes it didn’t. It would make a lot of things a lot easier.

But…it’s fine. He’s fine. Shannon dies and he locks that piece of himself away and has no plans to ever fall in love again.

Then again, God has a funny sense of humor and never seems to resist an opportunity to be an asshole, so of course…he does. Slowly. Quietly. The threads slipping through the cracks in his walls so carefully that he doesn’t even notice until they’re twined around his heart, unspooling through his blood, through his veins with every pulse. Eddie doesn’t notice.

And then he gets shot and it’s like being hit by lightning, an electric shock of clarity down his spine, rooting him in place as he meets Buck’s eyes.

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

***

Eddie despises recovery.

He’s never been good at being still, at being useless, at being left alone with nothing but his own head. And maybe he’s not entirely alone—he has Christopher, after all, and Christopher is understandably a little clingy now that he’s home from the hospital—but Christopher sleeps and has play dates and spends time in his room and just in general isn’t in Eddie’s space every second of every day.

And then there’s Buck. Buck who offered to keep staying on the couch to take care of everything they needed when Eddie came home from the hospital. Buck who Eddie sent home to his own bed with promises to call if he needed help because having Buck so close after Eddie’s little realization was stirring him up, making everything a million times more difficult in his head. Buck’s still over frequently, but it’s less dangerous if he’s not staying overnight, if Eddie can’t wake up and be tempted to walk out to the living room and pull Buck into his bed. Not for anything sexual—he’s on too many medications and too immobilized for that even if it was remotely a good idea—but to be held. To feel wanted. To feel safe.

He knows Buck probably wouldn’t say no, wouldn’t think anything of it except that maybe he’s a little raw and fragile, which he is. Which is exactly why he can’t ask. So. Removing the temptation it is.

But. Being left alone with his own head is a terrible idea. He’s in pain because he lowered the doses of his pain meds so he would stop worrying about developing any dependency. He can’t sleep without waking up with screams trapped behind his teeth and the smell of blood and gunpowder in his nose. And he can’t stop thinking about Buck. About being in love with Buck. About wanting Buck. About whether he could ever have him or whether he’ll ever be okay enough to be in a relationship. About whether Buck could ever want him back or if he’ll ever feel safe enough to risk their friendship by even asking.

He broke up with Ana the second he was able to figure out how to do it without feeling like a complete dick. But he hasn’t told Buck that. He doesn’t know why.

And then there’s—

The key turns in the lock and Eddie starts, looking up from his place on the couch. Christopher is with his abuela for the night, and he didn’t expect—

“Hey,” Buck calls, stepping through the door. “I brought dinner.”

Eddie stares.

“What are you doing here?” He asks, before he can stop himself. “Shouldn’t you be with Taylor?”

—Taylor. Buck and Taylor. Which, Buck waited weeks to tell him about, hedging about why he wanted to know if it was okay to invite her to Eddie’s welcome home party. Which, Buck only did admit to when Eddie called one night at 2AM and Taylor answered Buck’s phone.

Eddie clears his throat, the question sounding a little too sharp and accusatory to his ears.

“I just meant,” he adds, softening, “I thought you said you had a date tonight.”

An odd look passes over Buck’s face.

“Isabel called me,” he replies. “She said you were by yourself, asked if I would check on you. We rescheduled, it’s fine.”

Eddie nods once and pulls the couch throw tighter around his shoulders with his good arm. A petty, possessive piece of him is pleased. That Buck’s there. That Buck would drop everything for him.

He’s always been wary of Taylor. Even way back when they first met and she was prowling around the station filming everyone and flirting with Buck. But now? Now he’s jealous, his stomach twisting at the very reminder that she has Buck the way Eddie wants him.

But at the same time…he hates that. Hates the jealousy, hates feeling possessive. Because what claim does he have over Buck’s affections? None. Especially not when he can’t even admit to loving him outside his head.

He hates it because he knows that more than anything, Buck deserves to be happy. And maybe Eddie could make him happy, but—

Even if Buck felt the same—and Eddie isn’t convinced of that, doesn’t have the arrogance to assume—what right does he have to say please, to say wait, to ask Buck to put his life on hold indefinitely while Eddie sorts through the tangled mess in his head in the hope that one day he’ll finally be ready? He can’t be that selfish. Especially not with Buck.

Buck deserves to be happy. Even if that’s with Taylor Kelly. Even if it means Eddie loses him.

He doesn’t get to be jealous.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Eddie replies quietly. “I’m fine.”

Buck sets the bag in his arms down on the coffee table.

“You don’t look fine,” he points out. “Actually, you look like shit. Isabel was right to call me.”

“I’m fine,” Eddie repeats. His heart pangs at the concern in Buck’s eyes. “Really, it’s okay—you should—you should—”

Go. Call Taylor back. Enjoy your date.

He wants to do the right thing. He really does. But the rest of the words refuse to leave his throat.

Buck shakes his head anyway. “I’m not going anywhere,” he insists. “So tell me what’s going on. How can I help?”

Eddie bites his lip. Drags his hand over his jaw before making a face. The messy, overgrown scruff is itchy and difficult to manage on his own, and the foreignness of it doesn’t help him feel grounded in his own body when he wakes up gasping in the middle of the night.

“It’s stupid,” he says.

“I’m sure it’s not,” Buck replies. “And I’m here, so you might as well just talk.”

I’m in love with you, Eddie thinks. And I can’t sleep. And I can’t shave. And everything hurts. And I just want to stop being afraid—

He swallows. He can’t say all of that. He can’t blow everything up that way.

So, he picks the easiest one.

“I can’t shave with my left hand and it’s driving me insane.”

Buck blinks. Then he laughs as the worry in his brow smooths out.

“That’s it?” He asks. “Well, that’s easy. I can do that. Come on.”

And that’s how Eddie winds up sitting on the bathroom counter with shaving cream all over his face while Buck wets a razor and steps between his legs.

His breath catches.

“You good?” Buck asks, his voice low. His eyes are soft and focused, and Eddie almost regrets everything because the proximity—god, the proximity. He’s been so cold since the shooting and Buck is so warm, heat spreading through Eddie’s body from every discrete point of contact. Buck tips his chin back and Eddie lets his eyes slip closed.

“Yeah,” he breathes. “I’m good.”

The razor drags along his skin. Neither of them say a word, the main sound in the room the drip of the faucet when Buck rinses the razor between passes. They’ve always been physical with each other, but this sort of thing is new. Intimate.

Eddie aches.

His eyes open a crack to watch. Buck’s lower lip is caught between his teeth, and having every ounce of that focus on him is…intoxicating.

I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you.

Buck steps in closer, Eddie’s legs spread ever so slightly wider. A spark of heat flashes through him and he inhales sharply—Buck’s startled enough that his hand slips and the razor nicks Eddie’s jaw.

“Shit,” Buck swears. The razor clatters into the sink. “Shit. I’m sorry.”

Eddie opens his eyes the rest of the way. “It’s fine,” he assures. “What, you think I’ve never cut myself shaving before? It’s still better than I would have managed myself.”

“I’m—” Buck looks stricken, his fingers reaching out to gently cradle Eddie’s jaw only for him to snatch them back almost instantly, the tip of one faintly smeared with blood. His hand trembles.

“Buck,” Eddie says quietly. Buck’s eyes are fixed on the red smear and Eddie is sent back—

Watching his blood splash across Buck’s face and not realizing at first that it was his. Being half-delirious on the way to the hospital worrying that Buck had been hurt—

All this time, Buck’s been moving forward, pushing ahead, for Christopher, for him, for everyone, and Eddie knew he wasn’t entirely okay, knew he was fucked up from the moment in the hospital when he said I think it would have been better if I was the one who got shot, but since Eddie’s been home, Buck has seemed…better.

Maybe not. Maybe he’s been struggling to pretend as much as Eddie has.

Eddie twists around to grab the towel draped over the faucet and wets it enough to wash the rest of the shaving cream off his face, feels the sting of soap and water in the cut. And then he reaches out to grab Buck’s hand, wiping the blood off of his finger.

There’s something profane about blood staining skin. And something sacred in the act of washing it clean.

Eddie wonders if anyone helped Buck wash his blood off when he was in surgery. Taylor, maybe.

But no, that doesn’t feel right.

Buck probably did it himself. Alone.

“Hey.” Eddie squeezes Buck’s fingers. When Buck doesn’t look at him, he reaches out and curls his hand around the side of Buck’s neck, tips Buck’s chin up with his thumb to force him to meet his eyes. “Hey. It’s okay. I’m okay. No harm done.”

Buck breathes out shakily. His throat works, his face passes through a million stages—finally, his hands fall to the counter on either side of Eddie’s hips and his forehead drops to Eddie’s good shoulder. Eddie lets his hand slip around to the back of Buck’s neck, his fingers combing up through the short hairs there. He turns his head and he’s close enough to kiss the side of Buck’s, but he holds off. It feels like it would be too much. Too much when Buck doesn’t know how he really feels, what he really wants. But even just this—the closeness, the touch—is good. Needed. A balm to the itch under his skin.

When Buck turns his face into Eddie’s neck and inhales, Eddie thinks maybe Buck might need this just as badly.

“I’m okay,” he repeats, closing his eyes again as his fingers comb through Buck’s hair. “We’re okay. We’re okay.”

They stay like that for a long time. Buck’s phone rings out once, but neither of them moves to answer it. Eventually, Buck lifts his head and clears his throat roughly as he steps back.

Eddie’s hand falls away from Buck’s neck. He feels the absence keenly.

“You good?” He asks. Buck nods. His eyes are red.

“Yeah,” Buck replies. He pauses. Shakes his head. “No. But—can we just—can I just finish this for now? I want to finish this.”

Eddie watches him for a moment. Wets his lips. Then finally nods and passes over the shaving cream again.

“Sure,” he says. “I trust you.”

I love you.

Maybe…maybe eventually he’ll be braver. Maybe eventually, both of them will be free at the same time and he’ll be whole and healed, or at least something closer to it than he is now. Maybe eventually…love will be enough. Maybe.

For now, he has this.