#oh wait what if I tried this other thing here

[selkie-on-land]

I always saw this quote ''trauma it's your fault but it's your responsibility to heal '' used to blame victims of male violence, especially in the militant/new generations. It goes usually with this bs ''if you don't work on healing you're just a an abuser and a predator exactly like men are ''. But it's the same rhetoric and literally same sentence that ''if you don't report/press charge on this abuser, you're just a an abuser and a predator exactly like men are. And if they abuse someone else, this on you not on them. '' and they usually goes hand in hand. Like every time I've seen someone said/wrote one, they always have already said the other one too. And it's always said in response to a woman testifying/open up on her abuse.

It goes hand in hands with this one too ''you're an abuser to share your abuse like that. You're literally traumatising and abusing everyone who is going to read you. You're not a feminist/victim you're just like any man. You should be ashamed of yourself and fix it before damaging every woman that you speak to. This is just trauma dumping and this is very wrong, this is an abuser tactic. ''

Until now, I was too emotional/triggered to think about that in an analysis process because I have a lot of cptsd from those types of response when I tried to talk about some of my abuse. And it deeply traumatized me to the point where I'm now unable to open up about any of my abuse except if the subject is already opened up. Even in therapy btw, because I'm deeply convinced that if I do I'm going to abuse my therapist.

To the point where I'm wondering if all three are not actually the same thing or part of the same thing. Maybe that thing has a name, but I can't find it. If you do, please, I would gladly know it!

I think that this is victim blaming but in a very specific manner, that seems to be different than the one usually spread, and maybe silencing victims voice but I don't know it feels like I'm missing something ? I thought about DARVO ? But darvo is used by an abuser on his victims not from an external source, right? Or maybe I don't know enough about it.

I received this type of comments/abuse from younger and my own generation (90s), never from an older one. And I mostly received this in space made for speaking out your abuse, like Call for testimonies for this or that violence, in every single ''feminist'' space ivl as irl.

Even now, here, I'm not comfortable with writing this down because I was always also assaulted when I was calling out this type of behaviour so it's very sensitive for me. It's been half an hour since I'm spiraling into anxiety to post or to delete everything. I know I shouldn't feel that way. I know that this is wrong. I'm wrong I know. But it's eating me from the inside. Why ? Why am I struggling like this, usually I don't, I don't even care of what people might think of what I wrote. But here I'm just freezing because I know, statically, it's absolutely certain that I'm going to be assaulted and abused if I click on the reblog button and I don't want to be assaulted or abused. So the only way to be sure I won't is to not post this. I hate myself for just such pity like I feel like I'm exactly what they refer to when they talk about victim personality that self pity etc. Oh fuck off Anna and post it anyway!

Edit : it lasted 4 hours. I had to put in private because I was (and still am) in a big anxiety attack and autistic meltdown due to the pressure and anxiety of waiting to see when the assault I'm waiting is going to happen. (Also waiting mode from my autism). I hope I will be able to let it that way and won't have to delete it. Also wish I could just let it be as all my other post. But obviously I'm too traumatized by women in ''feminist'' space for that.

crazy how trauma isn't your fault but it's your responsibility to heal.

[spiderfunkz]

HYUN-JU x TALKACTIVE!READER

pairings. cho hyun-ju x f!reader

author's note: this is so me.. i talk way too much so i'm lowkey just projecting myself on here. anyways, requests are open but i'm taking my time replying since i've been busy so just keep that in mind!

▸ hyun-ju is a good listener. a great one, even. she's got a big heart and soul, she's someone who is willing to listen to whatever you have to say. and she doesn't just listen, she tries to understand. which is a quality that is hard to find these days.

▸ you noticed it a bit later in your relationship. every time you talk, she listens and isn't afraid to ask questions regarding your situation or interest. she's genuinely invested in what you have to say. "oh, really? tell me more, hon."

▸ even if you just say random things or suggestions related to literally anything, she's all ears! whatever is going on in your head, every single sentence you utter, she's always nodding a long. she's probably wondering how you managed to say three sentences in a second.

▸ you tend to get very extroverted when you get comfortable. you'd ramble about anything for hours and hours, hyun-ju finds this adorable. she's definitely admiring you as you speak, your words always find a way to her heart.

▸ if you were talking about something she has no clue in, she's gonna research about it either online or in books so she could talk about it with you! even if small mistakes slip, her efforts show. and you appreciate that more than ever.

▸ "wait, you watched the movie and read the book?" — "yeah! i thought it would be nice to discuss it with you. you talked about it nonstop last week, so i figured i'd give it a look, and i must admit- you do have amazing taste."

▸ good moods mean you'd go on walks with hyun-ju and visit multiple parks at once. pointing out random birds, trees, and flower types. speaking whatever crossed your mind in specific moments.

▸ "oh look! a daisy. did you know daisies bloom in the spring like every other flower and their last bloom is in autumn? though, that's very common, um. ah! moon flowers, they only bloom one night a year." you'd giggle, "i did not know, but i do now!" hyun-ju smiles.

▸ during movies you can get very quiet. but as the movie ends, you'd ramble quicker than speed itself. "it's okay. at best. i just don't understand why the characters would do such things! i guess it is fictional, but still! does logic not exist in that universe?"

▸ same thing with books, you can read for hours in silence, but as soon as you close the book... "hyun! you must read this! not only is this one of a kind, but once you read it you can not put it down. i love it so much, it made me tear up a bit because of a character, but, um. okay, no spoilers!"

▸ hyun-ju could get really lost in your voice sometimes. you'd be talking about something silly like rocks or something, and she'd still be mesmerized. hyun-ju thinks that your voice could easily soothe her to sleep.

▸ and it's true, your voice makes her feel so safe. during conversations, she gets sudden realizations of how lucky she truly is. to be able to listen to you, in a calm setting, just the two of you.

▸ if you send her voice notes, she'd listen to it on repeat. especially when she's away or vice versa, she loves hearing your voice over and over as it gives ger comfort.

▸ "hey, hyun! i know you're really busy, and i know you only listen to my voice notes when you're done with work, so i ought to tell you about how much i love you. and how much i miss you. don't forget to tell me goodnight, or not the bed bugs might bite me."

▸ she would never think of your ongoing talks as unimportant. if you would suddenly pause and stop talking, she'd notice immediately. but hyun-ju always reassures you that it's perfectly okay.

▸ if you feel tired or off, and you just wanna be quiet for a bit, hyun-ju likes to ramble too, she does it a bit more often ever since she's met you. her voice is sleepy, her head lays near yours, your bed is cold and hyun-ju is the only source of warmth. as she traces your hands, "do you wanna know what happened earlier in the office?" you'd nod, she'd talk and only stop when you've completely fallen asleep.

▸ "and that's the end of it. goodnight, angel." she'd place a kiss on your forehead before falling asleep herself.

[revelboo]

Hi! Would you think of adding Chromedome and Rewind together to the "human gets blipped onto the Lost Light" stories?

Yep, they’re on my request list!

Circles

Chromedome x Reader x Rewind

• “But you don’t feel just a bit bad about it?” Rewind asks, setting down another energon cube on the tray a bit more forcefully than necessary. But Domey’s ‘not our problem’ has rubbed him the wrong way. Can’t help but feel bad for the little humans getting yanked painfully onto the ship. And can’t help but imagine how terrified and confused he’d be. Sure, they had nothing to do with Brainstorm’s stupidity, but as more and more of them show up in the weirdest places, he feels like somebody should have been keeping a closer watch on what Brainstorm was doing. “Domey?” Ignoring him now? Turning, he nearly drops the tray.

• What the ever loving frag? One minute he’s listening to Rewind worrying over the little organics and the next there’s one just popping into existence between them like Rewind summoned it, staggering around and dazed. “You see it, too, right?” He asks Rewind as you lifts your head, grimacing. And just stare at him. Leaning forward, arms draped across his knees, he waits for the reaction. Because these things all react the very same way to Cybertronians.

• Clapping a hand over your mouth, your eyes go wide. Staring up at a giant, mecha. A real, giant mecha robot. Right there and yeah, the pain of getting ripped wherever here is was excruciating. Still aching sickly, but it’s not as important as real, giant robots. Squealing, you do a little excited bounce. Forget Narnia, this so much better! “What are you? What’s your name? I bet it something super cool like Apocalypse Bringer!”

• What? Staring from Domey to the excited human babbling away, Rewind tries to walk past you with the tray and you round on him, grinning. “There’s two of you?!” And oh. Little hands touch his arm, just jabbering away about how warm he is. That they’re both so cool and he has no idea what to make of you. The other humans are mostly skittish and timid, not so grabby. Helplessly looking up at Domey for rescue when you try to touch his face and he fumbles with the tray.

• Reaching to snag you around the middle, because as funny as Rewind’s floundering is, you have no sense of personal space. And your attention is fully on him again. Excitedly yapping as he leans forward holding you just barely off the floor to keep you from pawing Rewind. Except now you’re pawing him, little soft fingers tracing the joints of his servos to make him shiver. “See what you did?” Chromedome grumbles as Rewind just stares at the wiggling organic in mute horror. “Jinxed us.”

[hanniebaeee]

Clueless: Smitten

Jeongin x fem!reader

Warning: unhinged group chat as always, other than that, nothing!

Genre: friends to lovers, fluffffff

Summary: You and Jeongin go to the same MMA class, and he is absolutely smitten by you. And you two are good friends too. The problem? You treat him like a child, when all he wants is to ask you out. And that's where his unhinged gang enters.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Jeongin wiped the sweat off his brow, giving his opponent a nod after their sparring session, and turned around to see you pulling on your gloves. Your ponytail swayed as you hummed a tune to yourself, and Jeongin swallowed hard.

He did his best to control his impulses (such as the one he had right now to to come over and kiss the hell out of you).

But he was not weak (mostly). He was Yang Jeongin, the future ace of this gym and your soon-to-be love interest - if only he could figure out how to get you to stop patting his head like he's some cute puppy.

“Hey, Innie!” you called out, flashing him a smile that made his knees weak. “Good job!”

He smiled and thanked you, as you came over, and did that one thing that made him want to scream into oblivion. You ruffled his hair with that adoring smile on your face. And it made him feel like a toddler.

As soon as you were out of earshot, Jeongin let out a groan and grabbed his phone. He knew what this would lead to. Obviously. But he needed his brothers.

---

Jeongin: Ok. I'm gonna cry.

Chan: Aren't you at class??

Jeongin: She did it again.

Jeongin: She ruffled my hair. AGAIN.

Hyunjin: LOLLLLLLL

Jeongin: Shut up. I’m serious.

Felix: Omg. Is this the MMA girl?

Jeongin: YES. I can't understand why she treats me like a damn child.

Minho: Because you act like one?

Jeongin: YAH. I need a plan to make her see me as a MAN.

Jisung: Bro, just spar with her and like…accidentally tear your shirt or something. Girls love muscles.

Hyunjin: You do not have the muscles for that to work.

Jeongin: HYUNJIN.

Hyunjin: I’m just saying 🤷‍♂️

Felix: Invite her to dinner! Like, after practice? Nothing says “boyfriend material” like a home-cooked meal.

Seungmin: Cooking takes time. Which he doesn't have. He’s so obviously in the friend zone. He needs something that works fast.

Chan: You’re all missing the point here. Jeongin, be honest. Do you flirt with her?

Jeongin: I TRIED.

Jeongin: I told her she looked good in her gloves once. She said thanks and told me where to buy the same pair.

Minho: Wow. That’s rough.

Hyunjin: Okay, new idea.

Hyunjin: Go alpha on her. Next time you spar, pin her down. Like real close. Look her in the eyes and growl something like, “You’re not getting away from me this time.”

---

Jeongin rolled his eyes. Here we go.

---

Jeongin: That's crazy.

Jisung: No, wait, Hyunjin’s onto something. Girls LOVE dominance.

Chan: Or, you know, you could try talking to her like an adult.

Jeongin: I’m trying, hyung, but every time I look at her, my brain short-circuits.

Felix: Omg wait. This is perfect. You could do the classic “let me fix your form” move.

Felix: Stand behind her, adjust her stance, hands on her hips. It’s foolproof.

Seungmin: It’s not foolproof. He’ll trip over his words and fall on his face.

Jeongin: Oh my God.

Changbin: No, no, I’ve got it. Show up outside her place with some flowers and confess.

Hyunjin: Or better yet, let’s sign you up for a fight. Invite her to watch. Show her you’re tough.

Minho: He’ll get punched once and she’ll call an ambulance.

Jeongin: WHY DO I EVEN ASK YOU PEOPLE.

The next morning, Jeongin walked into the gym with a nervous buzz, the ideas his brothers had fired at him the night before poking at his brain.

Jisung: Bro. Let me paint you a picture.

Jisung: You’re sparring. She throws a punch. You dodge.

Jisung: Grab her wrist, pull her in close, whisper, “Is that all you’ve got?” Then SMIRK.

Jeongin: Why would I smirk???

Jisung: Because it’s HOT.

Minho: Creepy. Definitely creepy.

Hyunjin: No, he needs to go bolder.

Hyunjin: After sparring, pin her against the wall in the locker room. Close the space, and say, “You drive me insane, you know that?”

Chan: Please do NOT harass her in the locker room.

Felix: Yeah, don’t listen to Hyunjin. What you should do is compliment her strength. Like, “Wow, you’re so strong and gorgeous.”

Seungmin: That’s so cringey. She’ll laugh in his face.

Felix: Okay, why don't you come up with some genius ideas then?!

Changbin: No, listen to me. Women love confidence. Next time you walk in, wink at her. Just a subtle one. She’ll notice.

Jeongin: If I wink at her, she’ll think I have something in my eye.

Jisung: Then STARE at her. Give her those bedroom eyes.

Jeongin: I don’t even know what that means.

Hyunjin: Oh my god. This is so easy. After practice, challenge her to a one-on-one sparring match. Get sweaty. Let her feel your power. And if you win, you say, “Winner gets a kiss.”

Chan: She’ll knock him out first.

Minho: Honestly, I’d pay to see that.

Jeongin: I will block you all.

Hyunjin: NO YOU WON’T. You love us.

---

Jeongin was standing in the gym’s parking lot after his class, trying to call Chan to come pick him up, when he saw you approaching him. You were smiling, your bag on your shoulder, your hair, that's usually in a ponytail, now left open.

“Hey, Jeongin,” you said, your voice light and teasing as usual. “Nice work today. You’re really improving.”

He stuttered a thank you, and smiled at you nervously, his cheeks heating up.

And then it happened.

You reached out, ruffled his hair affectionately, and grinned. “Such a good boy.”

Jeongin froze. His brain short-circuited. Good boy?!

He could literally hear his brothers screaming in his head.

“Say something,” Minho’s voice mocked.

“Pin her!” Hyunjin roared.

“WINK, YOU COWARD!” Jisung howled.

Instead, Jeongin stood there like a statue.

“Innie?” you tilted your head, eyes soft with concern. “You okay?”

That snapped him out of it.

“Y-yeah! Totally fine!” He cleared his throat. This was it. This was his chance to say something smooth.

“Uh…you’re…really so strong and…so gorgeous?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he wanted to die.

You blinked at him. And then, to his utter shock, you laughed - a bright, genuine laugh that made his heart do a somersault.

“Well, thanks, Innie. You’re not so bad yourself.”

As you waved goodbye and walked off, Jeongin leaned against a car, face in his hands.

---

Jeongin: I HATE YOU ALL.

Chan: Ok calm down. What happened?

Jeongin: I TRIED FELIX’S LINE.

Jeongin: SHE LAUGHED AT ME.

Felix: Wait, was it a good laugh or a bad laugh?

Jeongin: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!

Hyunjin: LOL

Changbin: Did you at least wink?

Jeongin: NO.

Jisung: Bro. Amateur move.

Seungmin: Probably should’ve gone with the “winner gets a kiss” idea.

Jeongin: I’M NOT DOING THAT.

Minho: You’re hopeless.

Chan: Guys, come on. Jeongin, did she seem like she was into it?

Jeongin: She called me a ‘good boy’.

Hyunjin: RIP.

Felix: Don’t give up! She laughed. That’s good!

Minho: Yeah, she’s laughing because she thinks he’s a puppy.

Felix: Puppies can grow into wolves, bro.

Jeongin: You’re all insane.

Changbin: Hey, wolves mate for life. Just saying.

Jeongin groaned, shutting his phone. If this was the kind of help he was getting, he might as well wing it.

Jeongin lay sprawled on his bed, phone in hand, mind racing with thoughts of you. He had officially entered what Jisung would call his ‘simp phase’. Your Instagram page was open, each photo worse than the last - worse because it made him fall harder.

There was one of you holding a tray of cookies, grinning. Another of you proudly presenting a painting up to the camera. The cat one nearly killed him - you were snuggled up with your orange tabby, its paw on your nose as you laughed.

And there was one with the MMA team - you had your arm looped with his in this one, your head tilted slightly towards him. It was a group photo, but that's all he could see. the two of you.

“I love her,” he whispered to himself, then immediately groaned into his pillow. “Oh my god, I love her!!”

---

Jeongin: Guys.

Jeongin: I’m in love with her.

Chan: We know.

Hyunjin: Wait, did you just figure that out?

Jeongin: No, but it’s hitting me all over again. I’m looking at her Instagram.

Jisung: Omg, show us.

Jeongin: No way.

Minho: Wow. Stalking her Insta and gatekeeping? Bold of you.

Jeongin: Shut up. She’s perfect. She bakes. She paints. She loves cats.

Minho: Cats? Suddenly she's a lot more interesting.

Jisung: Innie, DM her something flirty.

Jeongin: That’s so cringey I might die.

Chan: You guys are going to ruin his life.

Hyunjin: He needs to grow a spine. Just do it, Jeongin. Be bold.

Felix: OR…

Felix: Next time she posts something cute, comment something sweet. Like, “You’re so talented.” Compliment her! Girls love compliments.

Seungmin: That’s decent advice.

Jeongin: I can’t do that. She’ll think I’m obsessed.

Minho: You are obsessed.

Jisung: Or… Post a thirst trap. Let her know you’re hot too.

Jeongin: A thirst trap?! Like what?

Jisung: I dunno. Shirtless mirror selfie? Women eat that up.

Changbin: You don’t have enough abs for that.

Jeongin: I DO! STOP ATTACKING ME.

---

The boys were no help, as usual. Jeongin flopped onto his back, staring at the ceiling. He was doomed.

But then, as he refreshed your page, he saw it - a new post.

It was you and your cat again, this time with a caption that read: "My goodest boy 🐾."

Jeongin stared at it. Good boy. Again. The word that haunted his every waking moment. And yet, when you used it like this, he kind of wanted to melt.

He felt his thumb hovering over the like button. His mind raced.

“Cute cat!” No, too boring.

“You’re adorable.” No, too forward.

“Can I be your good boy?” Oh god, Hyunjin was invading his thoughts.

He slapped his phone face-down on the bed.

He couldn’t DM you. He couldn’t comment. What he needed was a real plan to show you he wasn’t just the kid you patted on the head.

---

Hyunjin: New plan. Jeongin, buy her flowers. Deliver them to her home.

Jeongin: That’s not the worst idea.

Jisung: But make it sexy. Like, walk in all sexy and say, “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, so I had to bring you these.”

Jeongin: YOU WANT ME TO DIE.

Felix: Wait! What if you bake her something? She likes baking, right? It’s cute and romantic.

Jeongin: I don’t know how to bake.

Chan: That’s what YouTube is for.

Minho: Or Felix can bake and you can pretend you made it.

Changbin: No way, she’d see through that in a second. She’s too smart for Jeongin’s terrible acting.

Hyunjin: He could dedicate a fight to her.

Hyunjin: Win a match and shout, “That was for you, baby!” She’ll love it.

Seungmin: Or hate it.

Jeongin: WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS.

Chan: Please don’t listen to him.

Jeongin: Oh my god, my life 😩

Felix: 😅😅😅

Hyunjin: Look, Jeongin, at the end of the day, just be confident. If you act like a man, she’ll treat you like one.

Jeongin: Easy for you to say. You’re not in love with her.

---

Jeongin tossed his phone aside, heart pounding. He didn’t know what his next move would be, but one thing was certain: he was in too deep to back out now.

The gym that usually buzzed with activity was so quiet now. Jeongin stood across from you in the sparring ring, his gloves up, his nerves barely contained. He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to this.

Sparring with you? His brain was already a mess when you just existed near him. But now, you were in front of him, bouncing lightly on your feet, your focused expression somehow making you look even more stunning.

“Ready, champ?” you teased, your grin playful as you adjusted your gloves.

Jeongin swallowed hard, trying to focus. “Yeah. Ready.”

With a wink, you moved quickly as you circled him. Jeongin mirrored you, trying to keep his stance solid.

It was going fine. Really good actually. You were good with your arms, and he tried to return the pressure, throwing a one-two combo at you. You dodged effortlessly, and then out of nowhere, you hooked your leg behind his, pivoting your hips to execute a perfectly timed trip.

Jeongin yelped as his balance gave out, and suddenly he was on the mat, his back hitting the ground with a loud thud.

“Nice match,” you said, already kneeling over him, one hand braced on the mat beside his head. You leaned over slightly, your face hovering above his. “You okay?”

Jeongin glitched in real time.

It was all too much - your bright eyes, your playful smile, the way a few strands of your hair stuck to your forehead, glistening with sweat. He could feel the heat radiating off your body, and the concern in your voice made his heart stutter.

“I…uh…yeah,” he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper.

You tilted your head and asked, “You sure? I hope nothing hurts?”

“Pretty sure I’m dying,” he muttered, half under his breath, closing his eyes and exhaling loudly.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” he squeaked, his face burning red.

You laughed softly, leaning back to give him space and extending your hand to help him sit up.

“You did well, Innie. Just gotta work on your balance.”

“Yeah,” he said dumbly, staring up at you like you’d hung the stars in the sky.

You tapped his cheek lightly with your gloved hand. “C’mon, champ. Let’s get you up.”

---

Jeongin: I’m never sparring with her again. Ever.

Hyunjin: What happened?

Jisung: Spill.

Jeongin: She KNOCKED ME DOWN.

Felix: Oh nooooo.

Jeongin: And instead of just walking away and letting me die with dignity, she kneels over me.

Hyunjin: Oh, that sounds spicy.

Jeongin: SPICY?! IT WASN’T SPICY. IT WAS HUMILIATING. She hovered over me with her PERFECT FACE and eyelashes and asked if I was okay. Like I’m some helpless little kitten she rescued from a tree.

Felix: Awwww. That’s so cute!

Jeongin: IT’S NOT CUTE, FELIX. IT’S A CRIME AGAINST MY MASCULINITY.

Seungmin: What masculinity?

Jeongin: SEUNGMIN, I SWEAR.

Minho: You’re spiraling again.

Jeongin: I could smell her shampoo. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Hyunjin: Uh huh

Felix: She thinks you’re cute AND talented.

Jeongin: I WANT HER TO THINK I’M HOT.

Minho: Maybe try not to land on your ass next time.

Jeongin: Wow, great advice, hyung. I feel so much better.

Hyunjin: Bro. She’s into you.

Jeongin: SHE IS NOT.

Changbin: I mean… isn’t that kind of symbolic? Like, you’re already floored by her?

---

If the locker room was soundproof, Jeongin would've screamed so loud.

---

Jisung: Okay, okay, so she thinks you’re adorable. And a child.

Jisung: But if only she knew that you're basically ready to give her a child

Felix: OMG. Jisung, no.

Jeongin: WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!

Jisung: Am I wrong? Didn’t you literally say the other day, you'd do anything for her, even give her your last name and your firstborn child?

Jeongin: THAT WAS A PRIVATE THOUGHT, YOU GREMLIN.

Chan: What the actual fuck is going on in here?

Jisung: Oh, perfect timing, Chan-hyung! Any tips on the said topic? Since you've already done it.

Chan: Jisung. Please.

Felix: 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Hyunjin: This is so out of control, and for once it's not me 🤣

Jeongin: EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU IS THE WORST.

Chan: Jeongin. Does she actually think you’re a child, or are you projecting because you’re too scared to confess?

Jeongin: I don’t know.

Changbin: Oh, he knows.

Minho: 100% projecting.

Jeongin: I somehow feel like every time she looks at me she sees a ‘cute little brother type’

Hyunjin: Then you need to show her you’re not a little brother type.

Felix: Exactly! Be confident. Flirt back. Stop acting like she’s going to break you.

Jeongin: She already DOES break me!

Hyunjin: BRO. MAN UP. Or I swear I’ll walk up to her and tell her everything.

Jeongin: IF YOU DO THAT, I WILL END YOU.

Chan: Okay, enough. Stop overthinking it. Just talk to her, show her your genuine self.

Jeongin: But what if I mess up again?

Seungmin: You’ve been messing up this whole time, and she still likes you. You’re fine.

Hyunjin: True. She probably thinks your flustered baby deer energy is charming.

Jeongin: Oh my God

Jeongin thought he could pull it off. He thought he could just quietly distance himself from you without anyone noticing. After all, it was for the greater good. If he didn’t interact with you, maybe he could convince himself he didn’t feel anything.

But it didn’t take long for the cracks to show.

He started avoiding eye contact at the gym. No more conversations after practice. He skipped group water breaks and focused on solo drills. He even fled the gym the minute his class was done.

And you noticed. Of course you did.

Because he was literally the highlight of your day. Jeongin was a clueless idiot, because he definitely couldn't see how much you adored him, and this distance was getting to you.

---

You leaned against the wall, arms crossed as you watched Jeongin avoid your gaze for the fifth time that day. Normally, he’d flash you his shy smile or wave when you caught him looking. Now? He was all formal, barely sparing you a glance.

Something was definitely up. You waited patiently for him to come to the locker room. And of course he took the long route just to drag it out.

You huffed in annoyance before calling out, “Jeongin!”

He froze, his water bottle hovering close to his lips as he turned toward you like a deer caught in headlights.

“Oh. Uh, hey, Y/N.”

You tilted your head, scrutinizing him as you asked, “Are you okay? You’ve been weird lately.”

“Weird?” he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “No, I’m just… focused on training. That’s all.”

“Focused on training?” You raised an eyebrow. “Ok, so ignoring me is part of that?”

“No! I am not-” His ears turned red as he shook his head no.

You stepped closer, lowering your voice and asked, “Did I do something? Are you upset about the spar-”

“No!” he interrupted, eyes wide. “It’s not you. It’s me.”

You blinked. He did not just say that.

“Did you just hit me with the breakup line?”

Jeongin looked like he wanted to crawl under the mat.

“I…uh…I have to go.” He practically sprinted to the locker room, leaving you standing there, more confused than ever.

---

Jeongin: Guys. I fucked up.

Felix: WHAT DID YOU DO.

Jeongin: She asked if she upset me, and I panicked.

Hyunjin: Wait.

Hyunjin: You did not tell her it’s not her, it’s you.

Jeongin: HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT.

Changbin: OH MY GOD.

Jisung: LMAO. DID YOU REALLY?

Jeongin: I panicked!

Minho: This is officially the funniest thing you’ve ever done.

Chan: Okay, let’s not bully him.

Chan: Jeongin, why are you avoiding her?

Jeongin: Because I don’t want to make things worse. She already treats me like a kid. If I keep acting like an idiot around her, she’s never going to take me seriously.

Seungmin: Avoiding her isn’t going to make her take you seriously either. It’s just going to make her think you’re mad at her.

Jeongin: But what if I do something stupid?

Hyunjin: Bro. You already did the stupid thing. The bar’s on the floor.

Felix: Seriously, just TALK to her.

Jeongin: You say that like it’s easy.

Jisung: Because it is easy. Walk up to her, say, “I think you’re amazing and also I have a huge crush on you. Wanna kiss?” Done.

Jeongin: I’d rather eat a dumbbell.

Minho: Please do.

Felix: Okay, but seriously, Jeongin, if you don’t fix this, she’s going to think you hate her.

Chan: And it's gonna hurt you more than it hurts her. Or whatever.

Jeongin: Fine. I’ll talk to her. But if I embarrass myself, I’m never speaking to any of you again.

Minho: Can’t wait.

---

The next day, you were warming up when Jeongin approached you hesitantly. You glanced up, surprised.

“Oh, look who finally decided to stop ghosting me.” you said, and it broke his heart to see that you weren't giving him your usual smile.

He winced as he said, “I wasn’t ghosting you.”

“Sure felt like it.” You said, crossing your arms. “So what’s going on? And don’t give me the ‘training focus’ excuse again.”

Jeongin sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve been… overthinking some stuff.”

“Stuff?” You tilted your head, waiting for him to elaborate.

“You,” he blurted out, then immediately regretted it.

“Me?”

“Yes. I mean -” He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “Look, Y/N. You’re amazing, okay? You’re smart and funny and strong, and you make me feel like an idiot half the time because I don’t know how to act normal around you.”

You blinked, taken aback. “Jeongin -”

“I like you,” he interrupted, words tumbling out in a rush. “A lot. And I know you probably think I’m just some kid, but I’ve been trying so hard to prove I’m not. And it’s probably really obvious now, and I’m sorry if I’ve been weird or -”

“Jeongin.” You stepped closer, cutting him off.

“Sorry.” He looked at you, panic written all over his face.

But you smiled, your heart softening. He was so damn adorable, you wanted to bite him. To say the least.

“You don’t have to prove anything. I never thought of you as just some kid.”

“You didn’t?”

“No. And for the record…” You reached out, ruffling his hair with a grin. “I like you too, Innie.”

Jeongin covered his face with his hands, whining, but he couldn’t stop the huge grin that spread across his face.

"C'mere you," you said, and Jeongin surged into your arms, letting you hug him tight.

---

Jeongin: SHE LIKES ME BACK. OMG. I'M HYPERVENTILATING.

Hyunjin: NO WAY.

Felix: OMG!!! YESS!!!

Jisung: What did you say? How did it happen? Give us details!

Jeongin: I just told her I like her. She said she likes me too.

Chan: See? Told you honesty works.

Hyunjin: So when’s the wedding?

Minho: Well, that's what you get for being such a good boy.

Jeongin: OH MY GOD.

Seungmin: Congrats bro

Changbin: Go celebrate. Go get outta here!

Divider: @saradika-graphics

Tags: @moonchild9350 @velvetmoonlght @eastjonowhere @pixie-felix @sailor--sun @chancloud8 @captainchrisstan

[callmeizukunotdeku]

The worst part, of course, is why they notice.

It's because Robin got in over his head during patrol and Red Hood broke his no-kill streak.

Bruce's rules snapped back into place, just as taut as before.

Jason pulls back. He doesn't visit anymore and then Alfred's giving him the cold shoulder too. Dick is insisting that he get over himself.

"What was it that made you accept him? What made you okay with him before, B?"

"I...just got some good advice before."

"From who?"

Quietly, he admitted, "Tim."

The name jolted Dick, as he realized that his brother had slipped his mind.

He couldn't remember the last time he talked to Tim.

He couldn't remember the last time he thought about him.

"Call him," Dick said, "and put him on speaker."

If Bruce had taken Tim's advice just once--taken it and implemented it long term--then that was more than he'd ever done for Dick.

Bruce took out his phone.

It rang and rang and then--

"This number is not available."

Bruce furrowed his brow and muttered, "No, that can't be right. This is his contact..."

He messed around on his phone for another minute before calling again, and--

"This number is not available."

Dick swallowed, and thought, bitter and hopefully, that maybe Tim blocked Bruce, before remembering that they didn't want any more problems. Their family couldn't handle going back to the way they were before Bruce came back.

Dick couldn't handle a return to the way things were.

He'd break under the pressure. He knew he would.

Dick called Tim, but--

"This number is not available."

He didn't get a response.

"Try his secretary?" Dick suggested and Bruce called Tam.

And again, the phone rang and rang and--

"You're speaking to Miss Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, how can I help you?"

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Bruce."

"And Dick," he added, "hi, Tam, how've'ya been?"

"Busy," she said, with some amount of humor in her voice, "Tim wasn't kidding when he said this job was grueling. I still wanted it though, and he thought I was the best person for it, so...here we are, I guess. Why are you calling, though? Y'all never call."

"Um," Dick started, not trusting Bruce to form a proper answer, "we were wondering how Tim was doing. We couldn't get ahold of him."

"Oh," she said, voice flatter than it was before, "yeah, he has a new number. I'll tell him you're trying to get in touch with him--"

"Give us the number," Bruce said.

It was silent on the other side of the line before there was a brief beep.

Tam hung up.

Bruce tried her number again, but it went straight to voicemail.

Dick was in the middle of trying to figure out a reasonable plan when Bruce called out, "Clark."

The man was there not a moment later, "Bruce. What do you need?"

"Where's Tim?"

"Ivy, I presume. Why do you ask."

"What's he doing with Pam?"

Clark gave him a confused look. "Who?"

"Pamela Isley? Poison Ivy?"

"He's...I meant to say that he's in Ivy Town. He's been attending university there for a few months now. Kon visits him often--brings him back to the farm, sometimes. Ma loves him--says he's a natural baker but Tim just always argues that it's because he's studying chemistry and--I'm sorry," he cut himself off, "why are you asking?"

Again, it was quiet for a moment before Dick said, "We were just trying to get ahold of him."

"Ah," Clark nodded, "his number changed again, didn't it? Do you want his new one?"

"No," Dick said at the same time that Bruce said, "Yes."

Dick glared at him, "No. We'll wait for him to call us."

Bruce comes back from the dead and wants to make things better. Bruce comes back from the dead and Tim was the one who brought him back, so it's obviously Tim who'll know best how to help him reconnect with everyone.

It's Tim who should give him advice on how to bond with Dick. Dick has always been his idol, after all. Tim would know best how to bring him back, and he does. He gives good advice and the two of them begin to get closer.

So Bruce asks about Jason, too. Asks about how to bring his son back into the fold and Tim wished for a brief and brutal moment that it weren't so obvious who the favorite was.

Tim told Bruce to give Jason his space, to loosen his rules, and make it clear that no matter what the Red Hood did, no matter what the Batman believed in, Jason was always welcome. Bruce would always want him.

It worked. Bruce wasn't surprised. Tim was a special sort of bitter.

Bruce asked again for Damian and Tim had to push down his anger. "That boy tried to kill me," Tim wanted to say. "I hate him and I want you to hate him too so that I can remember a time when we had something in common," Tim didn't say, but he got close.

He instead told Bruce how Damian liked art and animals and loved hearing stories of the wonders of Batman.

He told Bruce just how much Damian loved being Robin. Told Bruce to tell Damian what a good Robin he was.

God bless or maybe damn him, but he did and it worked and Tim wanted to start screaming and clawing at something because that would have never worked if Tim tried it and it wouldn't have stopped Damian from cutting his line--something Bruce did not and would never know about.

Bruce asked about Babs. How should he make sure she knew that she was a part of the family? They they loved her and not just for the work she did?

He asked about Steph. How should he make sure she knew that she was more important than his rules and that, if something else should go wrong, she didn't need to run away?

He asked about Duke. He never got the chance to get to know him before leaving--not as well as he wanted to, at least. How should he let him know that he was just as much a son as everyone else? That, whether or not his parents woke up, he'd always be welcome?

He asked about Cass. How should he show her that he loves her even though he has nothing to teach her? How can he convey how much he cares about her, his first daughter?

Bruce gets brought back from time and he makes things better. He brings his family back together by following Tim's advice.

And Tim?

Tim brings his dad back from the dead and Bruce changes, becomes a better father.

Bruce changes, but not everything can.

That, Tim thinks, is why Bruce never calls Tim his son.

[sdmnpact]

Among Us.

Wroetoshaw x Reader ff

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ You and Harry bond over a good ole game of Among Us where you two stick it out together until the end.

Masterlist

~~~

You were asked to join a couple games of Among us by the boys since some of them had to leave after a couple rounds. Currently in the lobby was Lazar, Lachlan, Viz, Deji, Vik, Ethan, Tobi, JJ, and Harry. You're pretty good friends with Vik and JJ but not much with the other boys. The game version you were playing was proximity chat with a couple of roles like engineer and sheriff. Fortunately you got the role of engineer so you were excited to use it. You haven't played Among us in a while but you did enjoy watching their videos so you felt fairly confident that you could win.

"Alright let's go, imposter!!" You heard Deji shout as everyone sighed. "I say we vote him out." JJ remarked. "No No let's just do our tasks and win." Vik said trying to calm down the two brothers who were standing on top of each other trying to bait the other. You decided a smart play would be to go towards cams right away. It's a sweaty play but they wouldn't expect you to do it, right? All the boys made their way towards nav as you went towards upper engine. You saw a cyan body close behind you.

"Harry?" You questioned slightly scared that you were gonna get killed right away. "Yeah it's me." He said coming closer to you, now you were able to see his character and name clearly.

"Don't do anything please, I'm new here." You begged. "No I think you're sus. Why'd you go to this side when everyone usually goes the other way?" He questioned as you two arrived to cams. You went up and clicked on the cameras watching each character on screen intensely. "I just wanted to see cams first." You said in fake annoyance. "Okay well I'm just gonna follow you the whole round then." He laughed as you groaned. You saw Ethan, Lazar, and Viz at the camera near nav and JJ at the camera near admin. Just as you closed the camera, the last thing you saw was a yellow body slice up an orange body.

"OH MY GOD HARRY, HARRY, HARRY!!" You shouted scaring the hell out of him. "OH MY GOD WHAT!?" He screamed back in a panic. "I just saw yellow kill orange!!"

"IT'S LACHLAN!" Just as you two were about to dash towards the body, it was reported by Tobi.

>>>

"Okay guys, I know who it is." JJ said immediately. "Where is it?" Viz interrupted him. "No, listen to me, I saw who did it!" JJ said getting louder. "The body was near medbay, right near the entrance." Tobi said. "Who was on cams?" Lazar asked.

You hesitated for a moment but Harry spoke up.

"I was on cams with y/n! We saw who did it!!" He said very giddy, ready to get the imposter out.

"Y/n, why didn't you speak?" Lazar questioned you. "I was just about to but you didn't let me!" You defended yourself. "That's a bit sus." He smirked. You knew at this moment that the two aussies were the imposters.

"Guys, no, listen I was at cams and-" You began getting interrupted by Deji.

"Wait why does she get to go to cams in the beginning but when I do it, I get voted out!?" He exclaimed causing all the boys to makes noises in agreement except Harry who was trying to voice his defense for you to no avail.

"That's true! I think it was Y/n and Harry!" Lazar spearheaded the whole lobby. Everyone voiced their agreement and began voting for you. "No! Guys I'm engineer!! I swear!!" You said in a panic trying to save yourself.

"Guys, she's lying, I'm engineer!!" Lachlan said getting a vouch from Lazar. Everyone mumbled in agreement as Harry tried getting a word in. "Okay I say we vote Harry next." Lazar said as everyone agreed and voted you out.

"Oh my gosh you dickheads!! Guys I'm the new guest, what the hell?" You shrieked as your body was flung into space. You sat back in your chair as you joined the dead chat with Vik. He was in hysterics because he obviously knew the truth.

"Oh my gosh Y/n... I'm so sorry... Lazar cooked." He said in between laughs as you sighed heavily. "I literally did nothing!! Harry even tried vouching!!" You exclaimed. "This lobby has no braincells." He said.

You began following Harry as a ghost since you had nothing better to do, you sure as hell weren't gonna do any tasks. You watched as Harry went back to cams, then went into medbay to do his task. Ethan walked in shortly behind him as he wanted to be cleared on the scanner. You and Vik watched as Lachlan and Lazar came into to medbay giggling with each other.

"What's so funny?" Ethan asked as Harry had just finished his scan. "This." Lazar said as he and Lachlan killed both of them and quickly vented out. Ethan sat there in shock with an open mouth as Harry screamed.

"WE SAID IT WAS THEM!! WE KNEW IT!!" Harry said as him and Ethan joined the dead chat. "Welcome Harry." You said, slightly too happy to 'see' him. "Oh I don't get a welcome?" Ethan complained.

"Nah mate, fuck off, you voted her out!" Harry defended as you agreed. "Seriously like you got played Ethan." You continued not feeling bad since you were upset you got voted out for nothing.

You all continued watching the game as the imposters only needed a double kill to win. Lazar was literally controlling the lobby at this point so you know it's game over. You watched as Deji and JJ just stood on top of each other in cafeteria trying to get the other to kill them.

"Oh my god, these two are idiots!" Ethan shouted in frustrated as Lazar and Lachlan walked up and killed them winning the game.

Defeat.

"You absolute dickheads!" You shouted. "I said I knew who it was!! I literally saw it on cams!!" You said as Harry and Vik backed you.

"Yeah you know what's funny, I saw cams was on and I thought it was Deji so I was just gonna blame it on him but it worked out either way. You guys suck!" Lazar gloated as you all sighed in frustration.

>>>

Okay last round. What are you gonna get?

Imposter.

Weirdly enough, you actually got imposter with Harry. You felt very excited because you wanted revenge so badly.

You went towards cams again with Harry close behind. You saw JJ follow you guys and let out a breathy sigh.

"On cams again?" JJ remarked as he clicked on the camera panel. "Glad to be on your team again, Y/n." Harry snickered causing JJ, confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked as you sliced his body. "FUCKKKKKKK." He shouted in the shadow realm.

You and Harry couldn't contain your laughter as you two made your way over towards the vent. "Okay I'm gonna check who's in electrical and I'll see if we can double kill." You said as he agreed. You vented towards electrical and saw Tobi and Vik doing the same task on the right side of the room. You vented back towards cams to tell Harry who quickly followed you back towards electrical. You both jumped out the the vent hearing a shriek from Tobi but before he got any more words out, you killed him and Vik.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Harry said as you two vented towards medbay then towards cafeteria laughing. You two tried to get as far as you could from the bodies. You were both in weapons when a body was reported.

>>>

"Okay, who was it?" Lachlan asked since he reported the body. "I found a double kill towards the back of electrical." He continued. "Thank you to whoever killed JJ. Haha JJ, you suck!" Deji cheered earning laughs from you and some of the other boys. "Where was everyone?" Lazar asked. "Harry and I were in weapons!" You quickly chimed in since you feared if you didn't, you would be sussed again.

"I was in shields with Ethan and Deji." Viz stated. "I was in admin." Lazar said making everyone get suspicious.

"You know what? It could be the two aussies again?" Ethan said.

"I back that actually." Harry said hoping you would join him. "Yeah I say we vote out Lazar!" You exclaimed hoping everyone would side with you. "No we can't vote on seven!! You guys are morons, don't do it." Lazar tried to explain. "But if we're right, then it doesn't matter." Harry said with no logic yet everyone agreed.

You laughed devilishly as you watched Lazar's body be shot out into space. You loaded back into the map and walked off with Harry towards admin going to fake the card swipe. "Okay, we only need a double kill and we win." You told Harry as you two couldn't stop laughing. You felt so happy in this moment with Harry. After this, you definitely need to buy him a beer or something so you can either celebrate your victory or revel in your defeat.

You hit a sabotage for reactor. Everyone made their way there from different directions. You and Harry went down to storage and past electrical as Lachlan and Ethan walked out. Nearing reactor, your kill cooldown nearing 0. You felt your chest beating faster because you and Harry were about to double kill in front of everyone and if one of you kills too late, it gives a chance for the body to be reported.

3... 2... 1... slice.

Victory.

"Hold that!" You shouted as you stood up celebrating your victory. "Let's Go!!" Harry said cheering on his own side. "Harry, we need to go out to celebrate!" You exclaimed not realizing what you just said. "Oh hell yeah! We need to exchange info asap!" He gushed. He wasn't going to admit it yet, but this whole interaction made him sort of fall for you. You weren't gonna admit it either but you felt the same way.

"Oh god, get a room."

[sissylittlefeather]

If You Talk In Your Sleep

Chapter 3

A/N: As soon as I warned you that I wouldn't be writing anymore, I turned around and wrote a chapter 😂. I won't be churning stuff out like I used to, but I am going to try to write when I can, for my own sanity. ICYMI, this is the one with Elvis set in Vegas in 1969 and you're a Casino Boss's wife. I hope you enjoy it!

Need to catch up? Masterlist HERE.

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI, smut, kissing, oral sex (m receiving), p in v sex, reader calls Elvis "daddy", he spanks her a couple times, and they drink alcohol

Word count: ~3.5k

“It is morning.” His eyes pop open and you look at each other in terror.

“Oh fuck.”

******

You leap out of bed as quickly as possible and jump in the shower. You've never washed so fast in your life, but you know if you go home smelling like Elvis it'll definitely be the end of both of you. You dry off quickly and put your clothes back on, running through the suite like a chicken with your head cut off. Elvis tries to help you as much as he can, but both of you have a sinking, sick feeling in your stomach that you don't think has anything to do with the champagne from last night. As soon as you're dressed, he calls one of his men to take you home and you stand there awkwardly as you wait for him.

“Elvis, I'm sorry–”

“It's okay, honey. I understand.” You look up at him with your eyes shiny and full of fear and something else entirely. Coming home in the daylight might be the last thing you ever do. And seeing Elvis again puts his life at risk too. You're not willing to do that, so you know this goodbye has to be long term at the very least, if not permanent. He leans in to kiss you softly just as a tall young man with shaggy brown hair busts through the door.

“Where's the fire, boss?” He asks, panting. It's clear Elvis woke him up and had him rush to get here.

“This little girl needs a ride to the Flamingo, as fast as possible.” Elvis turns to you. “Honey, this is Jerry. You can trust him. He'll take you home.”

You look up at Jerry and nod. His face is kind and soft and you see why Elvis trusts him. You turn back to Elvis.

“Elvis, I–”

“I know.” He cuts you off and kisses you one last time before hurrying you out the door with Jerry. As soon as you're gone, he drops onto the sofa and holds his head in both hands. He hates to admit it, but he's scared. Scared for you and scared for himself. His eyes fixate on the carpet as images of what might happen float up and he tries to block them out. He walks to the phone in his suite and dials the number of one of his bodyguards.

“Red, get everyone together. We need to talk.”

******

In the car, you try not to fidget too much as you ride in silence. You twist your ring around on your finger and sigh deeply.

“You alright?” Jerry asks, his voice quiet.

“Not really. I'm not sure what I'm going home to.” You're not sure why you're telling him this, but Elvis did say you could trust him.

“He wouldn't let anything happen to you. Not if he can help it.” You look up at him and he smiles sweetly.

“You don't know my husband.”

“No, but I know Elvis. It's been a while since he had the same girl come over twice and even longer since one stayed the night. I have orders to stay and make sure you're okay.” You shake your head frantically.

“That's really not necessary.”

“Maybe not. But I'm gonna do it anyway. If you need to get away, I'll be in the casino for a few hours.” You think to yourself that it sounds like a good way to get yourself beaten to a pulp, but he won't defy his boss’s orders for anything.

“Thank you.” He lets you get out a block away and then parks and heads into the casino. You make your way up to your suite, holding your head high and praying you don't run into any of the guys. At the door, you take a deep breath and then open it. It's unlocked.

“Where the fuck you been?” Carl is sitting on the couch waiting for you, but you've been working on this lie all morning.

“Out. I ran into Holly last night at the Tropicana and we drank way too much. Ended up crashing in a room there.” Carl stands and walks over to you and you thank God that you had the wherewithal to shower before you left.

“If I call Holly right now, she'll tell me the same story?” You stomach flip-flops. Holly is a girl you used to know back when you were a dancer. She knows Carl and was a pretty good friend, so you think there's a chance she might roll with it if you have to call her. You look him in the eye and lie boldly.

“Yeah, of course.” For a second, he just looks at you, trying to decide how much he really cares. But your lie must be convincing because he nods slowly. You breathe deeply, thinking you're in the clear, but he grabs your face in his meaty hand and squeezes.

“If I ever find out you're fucking lying, you will not enjoy what I do to you.”

“I'm not.” You spit it at him, but the effect is diminished by your cheeks being smushed. He lets you go aggressively and you rub your chin.

“I'm going out. I won't be home before work.” You nod and he heads out of the suite. As soon as he's gone, you sink to the floor and cry, your body wracked with sobs now that the adrenaline has worn off. You want to let Elvis know that you're in the clear, but you can't. Carl will have eyes on you for the next few days, so you'll have to stay home. That's a price you're willing to pay to keep Elvis alive, though, and you sigh deeply, relieved that Carl has bought your lie. For now.

******

You lay low and stay in your suite for the next few days, knowing if you go anywhere you'll be followed. So instead, you wait. Finally, almost a week later, you get bored and decide to go shopping. You assume it's safe now, since Carl hasn't said another word about you coming home that one morning. Still, when you walk through the casino downstairs, you can't shake the feeling that you're being watched and followed.

You try to ignore it and go about your business, wandering through stores and holding up articles of clothing to your body. If you are being followed, they won't see anything exciting. As you walk through one particular store, though, the feeling of being watched gets worse. You start to look around suspiciously for one of Carl’s guys, but you don't see anyone you recognize. Just as you're about to give up and go home, you turn and run smack into Jerry, gasping.

“Oh my god. You scared me.” You clutch your chest and try to calm your breathing.

“Sorry. Elvis wanted me to give you this.” He presses a shopping bag into your hand.

“Wait. How did you know I was here?” He turns a little pink and fidgets with his fingers.

“We've been in the casino all week waiting for you to come down with orders to follow you if you did. And give you that. So, just, look at it okay? I'll tell Elvis you got it.” You nod and he turns to walk away from you.

“Jerry, wait!” He looks around and turns back.

“Hmm?”

“How is he?” You ask quietly. Being without him is about to kill you and you miss him so much it hurts.

“He misses you. Just, look in the bag and do as he asks. He's so worried about you. None of us have slept much.” He's almost pleading with you, so you nod slowly and he gives you a half smile before turning and walking out of the store.

You run to the checkout counter to pay for what you want and then rush home, the bag that Jerry gave you tucked into your other shopping bag. You have no idea what's in it, so you want to hide it in case you get caught. When you get back to your suite, Carl has left for work, so you have the place to yourself. You quickly pull out the bag and dump the contents onto your bed.

Inside the bag is a dress, some jewelry, a masquerade mask, and a card. You open the card first.

Hey honey,

I miss you. Put this on and meet me at the Palomino Club at midnight.

Love,

Elvis

You try not to smile too much at his handwriting and the way he signed the note. Then, you look down at the contents of the bag. The mask makes sense now that you know where he's asking you to go. The Palomino Club is brand new in Vegas, a strip joint, where no one respectable goes. It's so seedy that most of the patrons wear these masks to keep their identity secret. You're not sure why he's asking you to meet him there, but you suspect it has something to do with the newness and perceived anonymity. Unless they follow you, Carl's men would never think to look for you there.

Upon further inspection, you realize that the mask is beautiful. It's peacock-feathers on a purple background and it'll cover most of your face when you put it on. The dress is deep turquoise, backless and silky, and matches the mask perfectly. You glance at your watch, realize it's almost 10pm, and start getting ready.

******

At 12:07, Elvis sits at a table in the Palomino Club and anxiously fiddles with a glass of whiskey that he's not drinking. He ordered it just to have something to do with his hands.

“Jer, she said she was comin’ right?” Jerry shrugs and nods. You didn't say one way or the other, but he's reluctant to tell his boss no. “Then where the hell is she?”

He adjusts his mask. It's gold and matches his belt that he's wearing over a deep purple crushed velvet suit. It's over the top and the belt probably gives away who he is, but it doesn't seem like anyone is paying any attention. Everyone in the club is too focused on the barely-clad dancers on the stage. The girls have come up to him a couple of times and offered dances, but he declines. He's tempted to say yes once, but he thinks of how it would look for you to come in while he's getting a lapdance from another woman, especially one as naked as the girls in this club. Honestly, he can't look directly at them without blushing anyway. He takes a sip of the whiskey and grimaces.

“Isn't that her?” Jerry gestures to the door and he turns quickly. Sure enough, there you are, a vision in your peacock mask, silky dress, and strappy gold sandals. He wonders how you knew to wear them, since they match his outfit.

You see him sitting at a table and start to make your way towards him. As you approach, he slips out of the chair and stands up, his mouth open a little.

“Wasn't sure you were comin’.” He leans in to kiss your cheek, lingers, and then moves over to your lips, kissing you softly. You smile as he hovers with his mouth just above yours, obviously desperate to kiss you for real.

“Well, I did. Now what?” He taps his nose against yours lightly and smiles.

“You need a drink.” You groan as he pulls back and takes your hand to lead you over to the bar. You order a cocktail and sip it as he wraps himself around you from behind, pressing his lips to your shoulder. “You look good enough to eat, honey.”

You giggle and lean back into him as he kisses your neck.

“You promise?”

“Would I lie?” You turn to face him and he pulls you into a deep kiss, dipping his tongue into your mouth. His arms wrap around your waist and before you know it, your bodies are flush against each other and he's grinding his hips into you. You're both oblivious to the outside world, too lost in the kiss and in each other. It completely catches you off guard when someone taps on your shoulder. You drag yourself out of the kiss and turn. It's one of the dancers.

“Would you two like a private dance in one of our fantasy rooms?” Elvis looks at the girl and then back at you. You're ready to say no, but he has that glint in his eye.

“I think we would, doll.” You look at him with your eyes wide and questioning, but he just kisses your cheek and puts his hand on your lower back to guide you to follow the dancer. At the door, she turns to face you both, pushing it open without stepping inside.

“For a hundred bucks I'll disappear and you can have this room to yourselves for the night.” Elvis grins.

“Great minds think alike. I was gonna ask if you could make this happen. Here.” He fishes a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and hands it to her. She smiles and disappears as quickly as she appeared. “After you, honey.”

You walk in with him behind you. The room is just a round conversation pit with a built in circular plush couch covered with cushions. The whole thing is dark pink velvet with black trim and the walls are mirrors. The low ceiling is black velvet with mirrored medallions holding it in place and the lighting is low, but still enough to see. He shrugs and then settles on one of the couches. You walk to him and bend over, putting your hands on his knees.

“You been to a lot of places like this?” He looks down the front of your dress and grunts.

“Not at all. There aren't many.”

“So you haven't had a bunch of lapdances?” He raises an eyebrow, not sure where you're going with this.

“Not really, no.”

“You know I used to be a dancer.” His eyes get wide.

“Yeah?” You push him back against the couch and turn away from him, grinding your ass against his lap. The music is loud, but not too loud, so you bounce and roll to it rhythmically as you rub yourself on his already-hard cock. He reaches for your hips but you stand up and bend over in front of him, touching your toes and giving him a good view of your ass. He spanks one cheek and you yelp a little. “My turn to be the boss tonight.”

“Yes daddy.” You whimper as he spanks you again on the other cheek and grins at you calling him daddy.

“Turn around.” Eager to follow instructions, you turn and climb onto his lap, straddling his hips. He holds your ass in both hands as you begin to roll against him to the music. As you dance, you push one of the straps of your dress off your shoulder. He watches as you push the other one off too and let your dress fall open to your waist. The backless nature of the dress means you're not wearing a bra, so this simple action puts your whole chest on display for him. “Goddamn, baby.”

He moves to cup your breasts, pinching your nipples between his fingers. Pulling you towards him, he wraps his lips around one nipple and flicks it with his tongue. Once he's satisfied with how hard it is, he moves to the other side and does the same thing. He nibbles and sucks on you as you run your hands in the back of his hair.

“Fuck, Elvis.”

“I'm just gettin’ started.” He whispers and you smirk.

“Me too.” You sink to the floor between his knees and run your hands up his thighs. His muscles tense as you get closer and closer to his swollen cock. You coo seductively. “What d’you want, baby?”

“Mmm I want you to suck it.”

“Yes daddy.” Your hands go to his belt and then the zipper. He lifts his hips for you to pull his pants down just enough to get his member out, the tip of it leaking precum as it throbs. You pump him so slowly with your hand and he moans softly, watching you. Then, you lean forward and, pulling his foreskin back, lick the tip of his dick. He groans and leans his head back as you take him fully in your mouth, sliding your lips around him tightly and letting him hit the back of your throat. It's been a while since you've given a blowjob, but you used to be pretty good at it, so you tap into those skills as best you can. Either way, he seems to be enjoying it as he grunts and whimpers, his hand moving to the back of your head to hold your hair as he thrusts gently into your mouth. His hips roll as he fucks your face and he strokes your cheek.

“So pretty with your mouth full a’my cock, baby.” You moan softly around him. “Fuck, doll, I don't wanna cum yet.”

He gently pulls your head up off of him and moans as his hard dick bounces with being released from your lips.

“Aw, daddy. How do you want this pussy?” You giggle, standing up. You both still have your masks and half your clothes on, so you slip your panties off and climb into his lap, rubbing your wet folds against him, but not letting him inside. His hips buck and he grunts.

“I wanna fuck her good and hard, baby. Make her cum so good for me.”

His fingertips find your clit and he rubs circles on your swollen bud. You moan loudly and hold onto his shoulders for support.

“Take off everything but your mask.” His voice is quiet but firm, so you stand up and do exactly as he says. He does the same until you're both naked in just your masks. “Lay on your back.”

You settle onto the couch on your back and he puts your ankles on his shoulders, teasing your entrance with the head of this cock.

“You want it hard, baby?”

“God, yes!” You moan as he slams into you in one thrust, your eyes rolling back from being filled so quickly.

“Oh, honey, you take this cock so well.” He picks up an intense pace of thrusting into you and you could die because it feels so good. You're already close to an orgasm as he slams against your g-spot relentlessly, but it really pushes you over the edge when he reaches down to rub on your clit as he fucks you. “Come on, baby, cum for daddy.”

You do as you're told and groan loudly as your climax crashes into you like a freight train, filling your body with electric heat. He slows down just a little as you cum, trying to push off his own orgasm while your pussy squeezes his dick. Without warning, he leans down and picks you up, sitting back on his heels as he holds you in his arms and thrusts into you from underneath. In this position, you can kiss him easily, so you do and it's surprisingly tender. All of a sudden the sex has become something more, something that's binding you together as you look into each other’s eyes. It's like the masks remove the necessity for protective walls and the only thing left is vulnerability and something that shouldn't be there yet, but it is.

“Honey, I'm gonna cum.” He whispers it like a declaration of affection.

“Good.” Your affirmation is a confirmation that you feel the same way. Two more thrusts and he grunts and buries his head in your neck while his cock twitches and shoots his release inside you. He groans into your hair and tries desperately to keep himself from saying the words. It's too soon. Too early. He's only known you for a couple of weeks. But it's there, so close to the tip of his tongue that he's scared to open his mouth. And you wait, needing him to say it first because if you do it makes you insane. So you sit there for a few seconds, both of you refusing to admit what you know to be true. Even if it's stupid, unrealistic, short-lived, it is in fact, true.

He pulls back from his place in your neck and pushes the mask off of your face. Then, you take his off and there's nothing blocking you anymore. You see him and he sees you and there's no going back.

“Fuck. I'm in love with you.” He says it incredulously like he can't believe it either because he can't. It hangs there for a second like smoke before you whisper your response.

“I'm in love with you too.”

******

Until Next Time

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

@ccab @atleastpleasetelephone @aliypop @18lkpeters @dkayfixates @tacozebra051 @your-nanas-house @joshuntildawn13 @lookingforrainbows @60svintage @littlehoneyposts @epthedream69 @louisejoy86 @rjmartin11 @from-memphis-with-love @deltafalax @cinnamoroll-things @burnthheparaphilia @jhoneybees @cattcb @everythingelvispresley @returntopresley @searchingforgravity @msamarican @angschrof @lustnhim @polksaladava @librababe99 @hooked-on-elvis @theelvisprincess @makethemorning @peaceloveelvis @mrspresley69 @pxpresley @kxnnxy

[skzdust]

Leave the Mark On My Neck (That It's Yours)

This is smut. MINORS DNI.

This was written in a moment of weakness. Enjoy.

Title from "Bite Me" by Enhypen.

Cross posted on ao3 here!

Summary: In which reader doesn't cum, and Yeosang teaches them a lesson.

Pairing: Kang Yeosang x afab reader

Includes: overstimulation, fingering, vibrators, nipple play, dacryphilia

Word count: 1.5k

Taglist (Comment on a post/send an ask if you'd like to be added): @weirdowithaphone, @caught-in-the-afterglow, @palindrome969, @skzstan12345, @katsukis1wife,

@hyunjinsjeans, @somethingkindazainy, @silverstarburst @atzlordz @breadpuddingboys

Network:@mirohs-aurora-society

Reblogs, likes, comments all appreciated!!!

Masterlist

-----

“So, I have this hypothesis.” You said, tracing circles on Yeosang’s arm.

“Hm?” He looked at you, reaching over to push his fingers through your hair. “What kind of hypothesis?”

“I think…” You hummed. “I think I’d look really fucking hot with your marks on my neck.”

Yeosang flipped you under him. Your head hit the pillow, and you looked up at him. His eyes were darker, more intense than they had been just a moment ago.

“You want my marks, honey?” The pet name was sweet, and while his voice was, too, there was an undertone to it, something smoldering under the surface like hot coals.

You added fuel, breathing, “Yeah, I want them.”

He smiled at you before leaning down and biting your skin where it was softest, right by your neck. You could feel the pressure on your jugular as he sucked a mark, and you inhaled sharply, the feeling making you whimper.

He pulled back, pressing a kiss to the mark and looking at you with a grin before doing the same thing to the other side of your neck. Your whimpering was louder this time, and you tried to keep your hips still, but you were fighting the urge to pull his hand between your thighs right now.

“Do you want something?” Yeosang whispered in your ear.

“Yeah.” You whispered back.

“Use your words.”

“I want you to finger me.” You bit the inside of your lip, suddenly shy.

“Oh, honey, I’d be happy to.” Yeosang smiled, like sunshine. “All you had to do was ask.”

You got on your back, propping your hips up with a pillow, taking a deep breath. Yeosang helped you take your sleep shorts off, but left your lacy underwear in place.

“Are you going to…” You murmured, then sighed as he began to touch you through the thin fabric. “Fuck, Yeosang.”

He was being so nice tonight. Usually, when he fucked you, it was with sharp words and occasionally sharper sensations. But tonight, while there was definitely some fire to him, he was being gentle and kind.

A part of you liked it.

But a part of you wanted him to be <em>mean</em>.

You held as still as you could while he teased you. Your breathing was loud, quick through your parted lips. You wanted him to fuck you, to call you a slut, to do all manner of—

He shoved your underwear to the side and pushed a finger inside you suddenly, without warning, cutting off the train of images and thoughts rushing in your head. You moaned, long and loud. “Oh, fuck.”

“Does that feel good?” He asked softly, moving a little inside you.

“Yes.” You breathed.

“Good.” He murmured. He pulled out the finger a moment later.

“Why—” You started, but he pushed two fingers in, and you were suddenly gasping.

“Wow, impatient.” He clicked his tongue. “Maybe you should practice waiting.”

“No!” You said quickly. “No, I’m sorry, thank you for touching me, sir.”

“Good girl.” He said, stroking his fingers. You sighed, arching up into his touch. “Yeah, that’s a good girl.”

You moaned at the praise. “Like being your good girl.”

“Oh, do you?” Yeosang’s fingers moved faster. “Because with the way I’ve seen you brat before, I wouldn’t know it.”

You laughed, a breathy sound mostly knocked out of your lungs by his fingers. “I do! I do.”

“Then prove it, be a good girl for me and cum.”

You made a confused little moan, looking at him. “Now?”

He nodded. “Now.”

You wriggled on the bed, reaching up to pinch your own nipples, knowing it would get you hotter.

He pushed your hand away. “Did I tell you you could touch yourself like that?” His fingers moved faster, and you whined.

“No, sir, I’m sorry.”

“Prove to me you’re sorry. Cum.”

You pushed into Yeosang’s hand, trying as hard as you could to get yourself to that edge, but try as you might, you just didn’t have enough stimulation for long enough.

Yeosang removed his fingers, sighing as he wiped them on your thigh. “Couldn’t even cum for me.”

You sighed. “You gave me, like, a minute.”

“That was at least three.” He grinned at you.

“Fuck you.” You muttered.

“Oh, well I was already going to teach you a lesson, but now I really have to. That behavior can’t go unpunished, you know.”

You felt a thrill in your stomach. “You’re going to punish me?”

“Of course. If my little slut pretending to be a good girl can’t even cum when I tell her to, well, then, that’s an issue.” He said conversationally, like he was just discussing the weather.

You took a shuddering breath. “And what are you going to teach me?”

“Well, if you can’t cum when you’re asked, I guess you have to learn how to do that.” He shrugged. “And the best method for that is to make you cum and not stop.”

“Not— not stop?” You blinked.

“You’re gonna cum so many times you’re begging me to stop.” His casual face faded as his smile grew dangerous. “And then you’re going to keep cumming.”

“Fuck.” You whispered.

A few minutes later, Yeosang had you naked and handcuffed to the headboard. He laid down between your thighs, sucking hickeys and marks into your thighs as you shivered. “Yeosang, please…”

“Please what?” He looked up.

“Please fuck me.” You whispered.

He grinned and whipped out a vibrator from behind his back.

“Where did that come from?”

“I have my ways.”

“The fuck does that mean?”

He pushed it inside you in one smooth motion, and it felt like the air had been punched from your lungs.

“It means shut up and <em>take it</em>.”

You whimpered when he turned it on, flicking it to the lowest setting. “God, that feels good.”

“Yeah?” He laid between your thighs again. “I’m just gonna leave some more marks here while that works.”

“Yes, please do that.” You sighed.

He proceeded to do just that, pinching and playing with the hickeys he’d already left on whichever thigh his mouth wasn’t on at the moment. The vibrator buzzed between your legs the whole time, and you moaned and writhed at the painful and pleasurable sensations.

Eventually, Yeosang sat up, wiping his mouth. “You shake so much when there’s something inside you.”

You nodded in agreement. “Just feels good, sir.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” He grabbed hold of the base and began to fuck you with it. You moaned and pushed yourself further onto it with every thrust.

“You’re so pretty when you’re needy.” He said thoughtfully, pressing the button and turning the vibrations higher.

Goosebumps rose all over your skin as you writhed on the sheets, moaning the whole time. Yeosang was really fucking good at this, at knowing just what buttons to push to turn you into a mess.

“You like this, don’t you, slut?” He turned it up once more, to the highest setting, and climbed off the bed to get something else, before you could respond.

He came back with another vibrator, and you watched with wide eyes as he pressed it to your nipple. You whined at the cold silicone before he switched it on.

The sensation was so strong you arched off the bed. “Yeosang, I’m gonna— I’m gonna—”

“That’s sir to you.” He hissed, grabbing your jaw. “And yes, you are. You’re gonna cum.”

He let go of your chin and grabbed the vibrator inside you, fucking you with it.

It wasn’t much longer before your orgasm washed over you, your vision blurring and your mouth falling open. “Sir, sir, sir, fuck, God, it feels so good!”

“I’m glad, baby.” He said with a smile as your vision came back to normal. “Because you’re going to keep cumming. As long as I want you to.”

The second orgasm was good, too. The third was where it started to creep into too much.

The fourth had you whining. The fifth was the first one where you felt like maybe you’d hit your limit, tears beginning to roll down your cheeks.

Then the sixth and seventh. Yeosang had started fucking your face around four, and his thrusts grew even harsher with every time you came.

Eight.

Nine.

Yeosang stopped, sitting between your legs to watch you cum again.

Ten.

He switched off the vibrator, smiling and pulling it out of you. “Wow, baby, consider me impressed.”

You smiled, exhausted. “Cuddles.”

“Of course.”

He undid the handcuffs, rubbing your wrists to make sure they weren’t bruised. “Why don’t we take a shower, and then we can cuddle.”

You whined in protest. “But that means standing up.”

“I know, baby. But you’ll feel better after.”

You sighed. “I know.”

“C’mon.” He helped you up, and you leaned against him in the warm water, your legs shaky. “Beautiful girl.”

He helped you into clean pajamas, and you got into bed. You were dimly aware of him kissing your forehead, and then you fell asleep.

[estellardreams]

Hehe writing idea go brrrr

Red didn't mean to get sent here. The universe just did it because... Something. He had no clue.

Regardless, it had to have been bad enough for him to show up here.

But... The world seemed peaceful.

No king's fortress.

No destruction.

Nothing signaling anyone's death.

Red wandered around the streets, his footing a bit unsteady.

What happened here...? Nothing seems to be wrong, so what's he supposed to fix to return home?

He spotted Pigsy's Noodles up ahead, slipping inside quietly. The shop seemed... Closed. Like no one was there yet.

Wait, how did he even get in? Usually the door was always locked before the shop opened.

Red quickly shook his head, trying not to focus on that. He headed up the stairs to MK's room, not sure if he'd be up there.

He placed his hand on the door, cracking it open.

"Xiaotian...?" he asked softly.

"Go away, Red..." MK softly pleaded, buried under the blankets.

"What? Why?" he pushed the door open, approaching MK on the bed.

Mk turned his head to look at Red, a gleaming ruby fillet over his forehead.

"Oh no! Who put this on you?!" Red exclaimed, immediately trying to find some way to take it off.

Mk quietly sat up, holding still.

Red paused, concerned. "Are you... Okay?"

"I'm... Fine. Just get this off of me, okay?"

"No! It's to keep him safe!" a voice snapped.

Mk froze, backing up a little. Red moved to protect him, only to stop himself once he came face to face with...

Himself.

Red's eyes widened in shock and horror, gripping the blankets tightly.

What...?

But... He did everything right!

He avoided becoming like the king!

He cut his hair, exposed his weaknesses, tore apart his clothes, changed his glasses, indulged in sweets and cutesy things... HOW did this happen?!

"Please... Step away from Xiaotian." the other Red spoke.

"Are you... What year is it here?" Red asked.

"207X. Why?"

Red paused. It had only been two years...

"I'm... Two years from the past." he spoke up.

"Oh, that explains it." Other Red pulled him away from MK.

"Hey! What are you doing to him?!"

"First of all, sit down. Second of all, I'm trying to keep him safe." other Red said.

"By holding him captive?!" Red snapped.

"I'm not holding him captive! I'm trying to protect him!"

"From what? People like you?"

"From him trying to kill himself!"

Red froze, his anger instantly dissipating into horror.

Other Red's eyes began to well up with tears. "I... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... I can't... I don't..."

He quickly turned away and scooped up MK into his arms.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Red yelped.

"Somewhere safer and not here." other Red said, bringing them both to the window.

"Bye, past me. Good luck dealing with King Red."

"No, WAIT-"

His future self leapt out of the window with MK, setting him down on the ground before leading him away somewhere.

Red bolted down the stairs, trying to follow after them.

"STOP! LET XIAOTIAN GO!"

"It's for his safety! Do you want him to hurt himself all over again cause I'm not here to keep him safe?!" Future Red exclaimed.

"What the hell happened to you?! To me...? To us? What happened to us? What made you like this?" Red pleaded.

Future Red paused, his gaze shifting downwards as he held MK's hand.

"... The pillar of heaven. He... I... I didn't wanna lose him... He did it anyway... And I failed..." he mumbled.

"But... But I won't fail again. Not anymore. I'm gonna keep Xiaotian safe from hurting himself and everyone else, no matter what it takes!"

Red gulped as his future self made off with MK once more.

He was never free to begin with, was he?

He... He's always gonna become the king. No matter what he does.

No matter what he tries to change.

No matter how much introspection, self sabotage, everything...

No matter what he tries, or does... It'll never work.

He'll fall back into his old self.

And this future... This self... Is proof of that.

Red sank to the ground on the barren streets, tears blurring his vision.

Did the universe just hate him?

He could never kill King Red.

He could never protect MK without hurting him.

He never deserved MK's love.

He could never escape being King Red in the future.

No matter what.

And...

That hurt.

The reality of his life hurt.

But... He couldn't just kill himself!

He knew what would've happened if he did, especially in that one timeline. He swore he'd always return to MK in the past ever since that timeline.

But now? He wasn't so sure...

Was it better to spare everyone the horror of any of these futures by getting rid of himself? Or let him stay and potentially ruin everything all over again no matter what he does?

... He needed to talk to his therapist about this.

But for now... He needed to talk some sense into his future self and rescue MK from his fate.

Red pushed back his tears, trying to clear his head. He breathed, standing back up on his feet.

Two bright lights came up and it was instantly darkness.

Red stirred awake, feeling the gentle rocking of the bed. He sat up, groaning a little.

"Oh, welcome back Red!" Sandy greeted.

"Oh, um... Hi, Sandy. What year is it?" Red asked.

"207X."

"... And I'm back in present day, okay." Red got up from the couch, only to immediately grip his chest in agony.

Great sage, why did that hurt?

"Red, go back to the couch. You're hurt."

"I... I see that now. Sorry."

"How did you even get hurt like this, anyway? You suddenly returned but as a crumpled heap in the noodle shop."

"Uh..." Red bit his lip, glancing at his phone.

He quickly opened it up and texted his therapist for a new session.

"I... I can't say, I'm sorry. I just... I need a moment to process all of this before I can tell you." he apologized, putting his phone back down.

"That's alright! As long as you're okay, it's fine by me! Would you like some tea?"

".. Yes, please."

Hello, I'm glad you opened the request box. I'm so interested in the Time Travel au that I thought if Time Travel Red Son was a yandere and wanted to protect MK alone, I'd love to see that drawing.

This is a unique sort of challenge, since Time Travel Red Son is so explicitly afraid of becoming like Demon King Red, who is a super duper Yandere, that it can only mean something has gone terribly wrong in this timeline and TT Red has all but snapped and become just like the king! And so, I figured he’d start where the king himself did in his downward spiral to madness: with the tightening fillet.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Relapse

hello! hope you're doing ok I have a request that's dealing with some sensitive topics, please don't feel pressured to write this! Warning for self harm I've been in a not the best mental space recently and was wondering if you could write smth where one of the sides has a sh relapse for an extended period of time and is hiding it, then gets discovered (and probably has a panic attack about it). my preference is Logan but I'd be happy with any of them!! – anon

Could you write a Roman angst + hurt/comfort sickfic. You can pick whatever sickness you want to give Roman. He tries to hide his illness from the others but they find out and help nurse him back to health. – monkeythefander

just saying.... if you wanted to write some not-romantic-not-platonic-what-are-you-a-cop? analogical h/c....... especially if they both- oh wait. I was trying to keep this vague but actually I just remembered from one of the earlier episodes Virgil said "I'm a problem identifier, not a problem solver" and Logan made a face like he wanted to disagree. maybe Logan is struggling and Virgil helps him and then later Virgil says something to that effect and Logan starts pointing out all the ways that isn't true? – anon

I was thinking about Logan angst and how maybe some of it isn’t about him thinking that he’s emotionless, but he’s just really reserved, and then the others make assumptions about what emotions he Must Be Feeling. And when he tries to explain himself, they don’t listen because they think he’s just denying that he has emotions, not that he’s denying having the specific emotions that they assume he has. – anon

Hi, I absolutely love your Sanders sides fics and I was wondering if you would write roman angst where the other sides realize that he is nearly always performing when he’s around them (kinda like your fic productivity). Like they thought Roman was kinda irresponsible/ careless and then they find out that when he’s not around them he’s working himself to the bone to prepare for the 0.5% and when he is with them he’s still not relaxing - even when they’re just like having dinner or something - because that’s when he has to perform. No pressure to write anything if you’re not up for it; you write Roman angst like no one else – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: self-harm

Pairings: none

Word Count: 3529

Relapse: deteriorate after a period of improvement. Relapse: return to a less active or worse state. *** There are good times, there are bad times.

Virgil gets summoned when the other Sides are afraid. Somehow, Logan had forgotten this crucial thing.

Stupid, stupid—

"Hey, no, none of that, bud," comes Virgil's voice, low and soothing as he crouches next to Logan on the cold bathroom floor, covered in water and blood and sodden toilet paper and— "Hey. Stay with me, Logan."

Logan blinks. He looks up. Virgil's face is blurred. He blinks again. Something warm touches his face, brushing tenderly along his cheek—hand, his brain supplies, that's Virgil's hand on his face. He blinks again. "V-Virgil?"

"Hey, there he is. You with me?"

"I think so."

"Okay, that's good. That's really good, Logan, okay? I want you to try and stay with me while we get you all cleaned up. Can we do that?"

Cleaned up. Right. That's why he'd come into the bathroom. That's the rule. He only ever does it in the bathroom because that's where it's the easiest to clean.

Oh, God—

"Logan." Virgil's voice is a little firmer now. "Stay with me, remember?"

"I'm here." He shakes his head slightly. "I'm here."

"Okay. I'm gonna stand up to get you some water. I'm not gonna leave, I'm gonna use the cup you keep in your medicine cabinet for this reason, okay?" Logan nods. "Okay. While I do that, I need you to count backwards from twenty. Ready?"

"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…" As he counts, Virgil stands up. He hears the click of the cabinet opening and the sink running. "Five, four, three, two, one."

"Good job, bud. Here, drink that, okay? Try and drink all of it if you can."

"It's so much."

"One sip at a time, yeah?" There's a hand on his shoulder and another on the hand holding the cup. "C'mon, just try and get some of it down. For me?"

He can try. For Virgil, he can try. He lifts the cup with Virgil's help. The cool water soothes his throat—he was crying, he was hyperventilating, the rush and sting of it dulled everything to a background roar, why can't he just live there instead—and he swallows once, twice, three times. Soon he lifts the cup back to his lips and discovers it's empty.

"Good job, Logan, you did great. Do you want some more?"

He shakes his head. Virgil nods and takes the cup gently from his hands, settling it on top of the counter and taking Logan's hand in his. He rubs his thumb over Logan's trembling knuckles and gives his fingers a squeeze.

"I need to clean you up, buddy. Do you want to stay in here while I do that?"

"Bathrooms are easy to clean," he mumbles by rote, and Virgil only hesitates for a moment before there's another squeeze.

"Yeah, I know, but you're not a bathroom. You're Logan. And if Logan needs to be all comfy on his bed while I clean up, then that's what we'll do."

Bed…his bed sounds very nice right about now. His body tingles with the macabre satisfaction of being exhausted and lying down would help, wouldn't it? He tries to stand but a fresh sting of pain ripples up his legs and he collapses back to the wet tile.

"Hey, let me help you, c'mere, come put your arms around me…" Virgil hefts him off the floor like he weighs nothing, carrying him through to his bedroom and settling him on the edge of the bed. "There. I'm gonna go get the stuff from the bathroom, okay? You'll see me the whole time, you'll watch me go over there and you'll watch me come back."

"You won't leave?"

Virgil's gaze softens ever so slightly. "I'm not gonna leave, L. Do you want to count again? Would that help?"

"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…"

By the time he gets to one, Virgil's got the first-aid kit laid out on the bed next to him, a towel folded up next to it, and another cup of water on his nightstand. He lets Logan wind nervous fingers into his hoodie, holding him close. He reaches up and lightly ruffles Logan's damp hair, smiling in the way where the corners of his eyes crinkle up.

"Hey, bud. You got me, see? I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna start cleaning up now, yeah? You wanna close your eyes for me?"

Logan's grip tightens. Virgil covers his hand with his.

"You got me, see? I'm right here. You can close your eyes, L, it's okay."

"If I close my e-eyes I'll just feel it. I can't—" his breath hitches— "I can't just feel it."

"Okay. Do you…do you want to see what I'm doing?" Logan shakes his head. "Okay. Do you want to talk while I'm doing this?"

"What would I talk about?"

"Well, I do wanna know what happened, but—but," he says softly when Logan barely stifles a whimper, "that doesn't have to be right now. Why don't you talk to me about something that isn't work related? Have you been watching something interesting?"

"There's—" he swallows— "there's this video game that Roman and I have been talking about."

"Oh, yeah? What's it called?"

"Superliminal."

"That sounds cool as hell. What's it about?"

"The premise is that you're going to this hospital for something called 'dream therapy,' meant to help you relieve—relieve stress," he mumbles, breath hitching again when Virgil tears open an antiseptic wipe, "and the game is you going through the stages of the therapy."

"Huh. That's a cool idea for a video game. What, uh, what's the story like when you're actually playing it?"

"The core mechanic is—" he hisses at the sting and Virgil blows a stream of cold air over it— "that you can change the world around you by picking up objects and that will alter their relative size based on your perception of them."

"Whoa. How the hell did they program that?"

"I have no—no idea."

"What sort of objects?"

Logan continues to describe it as Virgil works patiently to clean him up, pausing every once in a while to murmur words of comfort and encouragement when Logan's voice gets a bit too strained or his hand suddenly tenses. He keeps asking questions, prompting Logan to continue talking, until he finishes describing one of the more frustrating puzzles and realizes that Virgil's hands are on his shoulders, not his legs.

"You…you're done?"

"Yeah, bud, I'm all done. You did great. Here, drink some more water."

He accepts the cup and manages to lift it himself this time, Virgil's thumbs stroking gently over the seams of his shirt. The cool air of his room hits his still-damp skin and he shivers. "Are…are we to talk about what happened now?"

"I think that's a good idea, don't you?" He shrinks in on himself and Virgil's quick to lean forward, cupping the back of his head and carding a hand through his hair. "I'm not mad, L. I'm not gonna get mad. You don't have to be scared with me, I swear."

"You promise?"

He wants to flinch at how much a child he sounds, but Virgil just smiles. "I promise."

He closes his eyes, turning his face into the crook of Virgil's neck. Virgil's fingers keep working patiently against his scalp. He takes one deep breath, two, three.

"I was…talking with Patton."

"Okay."

"We were—I was—" he swallows— "I was trying to explain how I'm not—I don't—I don't feel things as strongly as he and Roman do all the time but that it's not the same thing as not feeling at all because it isn't, just because I don't yell or shout or proclaim my emotions for everyone to see doesn't make them less important or less valid just for—"

"Shh, easy." Virgil's hand rubs firmly up and down his back. "Hey, bud, you're okay."

He swallows. His chest starts to get tight again. "He wasn't listening to me."

"Can you say more?"

"He—he kept on trying to say that I did have feelings, even if they weren't the same as what I thought they should look like, but I do know what my feelings look like, I know better than him what they look like because they're my feelings, and I—" he chokes on a sob and Virgil shushes him again, whispering you're doing great— "I just got so mad."

Virgil rubs his back again, pulling away to push the cup of water into his hands again. "You got mad?"

He nods. "I…I yelled at him about how he didn't know what was best for me and he didn't—couldn't know what I was feeling because he's Thomas's emotions, not mine, and I didn't—I didn't mean to get so mad but it wasn't—I couldn't just explain it to him calmly because he wasn't listening but then he tried to tell me I was—I was—"

"Hey. Hey." Virgil takes his face in his hands, giving him the gentlest of shakes. "Look at me, L. Just look at me."

"I'm sorry, I—"

"Shh, shh, don't be sorry, you're not doing anything wrong. It's okay, you're okay, you're alright. It's just me, we're in your room, you're safe. Just take a second, calm down…shh, shh, that's it…that's it, L, you're doing great."

Logan takes a deep, shuddering breath. The lump in his throat grows. He truly didn't mean to shout at Patton. He didn't deserve it. He just got so frustrated and Patton wasn't listening and it—he—

"Is that why you came up here?" Virgil's question is gentle but stings no less. "Because you felt bad about it?"

"I don't like being angry," he croaks. "I don't like the person I become when I'm that angry."

"Oh, L…"

"I don't know how to be angry without being punished for it," he whispers, "and Patton—Patton just—he just—I—he couldn't—I can't—"

"What did he do? Or say?"

He sniffles. "He said that if I really did know about my feelings, then I wouldn't…then when I felt them, I wouldn't—I would know how to handle them."

Virgil's quiet for a long moment. Then he mutters something that sounds suspiciously like kick your ass that Logan's fairly certain is directed at Patton, not him, before he's being bundled up in another strong hug. "I'm really sorry, L, that was shitty of Patton to say."

"I didn't mean to—"

"Hey, uh-uh. We're not gonna do that now. We're gonna make sure you have enough water to drink, that you eat something, and that you rest, okay? Everything else can wait."

Logan nods. He takes another breath and holds onto Virgil. "What is it you say?"

"About what?"

"About later you?"

"Oh, right: that's a problem for Future Virgil. These are problems for Future Us to deal with, yeah? Trust me, I'm an expert problem identifier."

Virgil's shampoo smells like pine. Logan tucks his chin over his shoulder and hums. "You're wrong about just being that, by the way."

"Huh?"

"You always say that you don't solve problems, you just find them. But that's not true. You help. All the time."

"Aw, thanks, L. You're sweet."

"Does that count as an emotion?"

"'Sweet?' I dunno, let's ask Princey when we're up to it. For now, why don't you poof yourself into something more comfy and we'll watch an episode of that dumb game show you like making fun of."

"The one where the points system makes no sense?"

"Yep. That one. And, hey, Logan?" Virgil chucks him lightly under the chin with a smile. "I'm really proud of you."

"But I…relapsed."

"Yeah, but then you did all of this. You let me take care of you, we talked about it, we made sure you're okay for right now, and that shit's harder than people give it credit for. So yeah, bud, I'm super proud of you."

The smallest smile makes it to Logan's face.

***

The first thing Roman realizes when he wakes up is that he's somewhere soft and warm. Which is strange, because last time he checked, the bathroom floor where he thought he'd passed out is neither of those things.

Then he realizes there's a gloved hand adjusting the blankets tucked up under his chin and oh.

"Hi, sweetie," Janus says softly, patting his cheek, "good to have you back."

"How long…?"

"A few hours, at least. You were pretty exhausted." He raises his eyebrows. "Would you like to explain yourself, or should I?"

There's just enough gentle affection in his voice to keep the sting from overwhelming him, but he can't help but flinch away from it. Janus coos, leaning down to brush a kiss over his forehead, a cold un-gloved hand tucking itself against the side of his neck.

"You've been sick, sweetie, for days, and you've hidden it from all of us."

"Didn't—didn't mean to."

"Didn't mean to hide it, or didn't mean for it to get this bad?" Roman shuffles guiltily. Janus hums. "I found you on the floor of the bathroom, covered in sweat. I managed to get you into bed but you need to eat and drink something."

"Not hungry."

"You don't have much of a choice right now, Roman, you need something in you. Don't you dare," he threatens with a tap to Roman's nose when he opens his mouth, "I'll get Remus to help me bully you into taking care of yourself, don't think I won't."

"…okay."

"There we go. Come sit up, you've got more pillows than Sleeping Beauty's palace. Would you prefer juice or Gatorade?"

"…can I have blue?"

"Yes, you can have blue. Sit up, now…"

Roman carefully gets himself sitting upright, blankets still swaddling his lower half as Janus reaches for a small bottle on his nightstand. He manages about half of it before he gives it back. When Janus moves toward him with a snack, though, he closes his mouth and stubbornly turns away.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I have to get back to work."

"You don't have to do anything other than rest and get better."

"But we have movie night."

"Exactly. We don't have anything else to do other than relax, so you should try and rest up now so that if you feel up to it—if," he repeats sternly when Roman shrugs, "you feel up to it, you can join us."

"But that's not how it works."

"That's not how what works?"

"I don't get to relax during movie nights."

Janus pauses. There's a soft clunk as he sets the bowl back on the nightstand and then the cool hand is cupping Roman's cheek, thumb brushing over his flushed skin. He closes his eyes at the relief of it.

"What do you mean," comes Janus's soft voice, "that you don't get to relax during movie nights?"

"I don't get to."

"Say more, sweetie."

"That's not—that's not the point. That's not why we have them."

"That's precisely why we have them, Roman, so we can all de-stress and relax together."

"No, we have them so Thomas can relax."

"We—we're saying the same thing, Roman—"

"No, we aren't." Roman pulls away from the touch, burying his face in his hands and scrubbing harshly. Janus tuts, catching them and pulling them to his lips, kissing his knuckles. "Don't—what're you doing?"

Janus's eyebrows quirk. "Why am I treating you gently? Is that what you're asking?"

"…you're mad at me, so—"

"I'm not mad at you, sweetie." When Roman frowns, something flickers over his expression and settles on something way too close to devastation for Roman to be comfortable still holding eye contact, so he looks away as Janus lets out a quiet noise. "Oh, Roman…"

"What?"

"Can you look at me?" Roman drags his eyes back up and Janus squeezes his hands. "Why do you think I'm angry with you?"

"…you had to take care of me? I'm disagreeing with you? I'm not—you didn't—I haven't—"

"That's my fault," Janus interrupts with a sigh, "let me rephrase: I'm not angry with you, Roman. I'm not angry that I 'had' to take care of you, I'm upset because you needed taking care of and you didn't feel like you could let us know. I'm not angry that you're disagreeing with me, I'm concerned because you're telling me that something I thought was relaxing for you isn't actually relaxing at all. I'm not mad, you're not in trouble, I'm not going to—to punish you, I want to help."

Roman stares at him. That's more words than he's ever heard Janus say to him about feelings ever, and too many of them sound too perfect to be coming out of Janus's mouth at him. And as if he can hear those thoughts, Janus takes his un-gloved hand and brushes Roman's hair back from his damp forehead. An embarrassing noise leaves his mouth and he goes to pull away but then the other hand is cupping the back of his head and pulling him closer.

"Can you tell me why movie nights aren't relaxing for you?"

His jaw wobbles. "I have to—they're for Thomas."

"What does that mean? I'm not trying to make fun of you," he says quickly when Roman's mouth screws up, "I'm just trying to understand."

"It's for Thomas. That means I have to—I'm there for Thomas. I have to be watching the movie for Thomas. I'm not—that's not relaxing, nothing I do for Thomas is relaxing, it's work."

"But Thomas doesn't always come to our movie nights."

"So?"

Janus frowns. "So why would the ones where he's not there also be for him?"

"What does Thomas do to relax?"

"Let's see, he…well, he watches movies, he reads things, he watches shows, plays games with his friends…"

"He engages with stories."

Janus lets out a quiet oh. Roman closes his eyes. The pounding in his head is back.

"So it's…work. It's part of the 0.5%, or whatever it was."

"You know that Logan doesn't believe that anymore, don't you?" Roman's quiet for a little too long before Janus kisses his forehead again. "We'll talk to him when you feel better, okay?"

"Wait, 'we?'"

"You didn't think I'd leave you on your own to deal with things, did you?" At Roman's hopeful expression, he chuckles. "You're enough of a disaster already."

"Hey!" He smacks weakly at Janus's chest. "I'm sick, you have to be nice to me."

"And considering that's the first time you've admitted that you're sick, I'd say that proves my point."

"No fair."

"I know, I'm so mean to you," he murmurs, unable to keep all of the remorse from his voice as he kisses him again. "Shh, it's alright, sweetie, everything's going to be okay. Now go to sleep, you need it."

"Will you—can you stay?"

"Of course I can, sweetie. Rest, now. We can sort everything else out when you wake up."

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[bowsnstrings]

It was a quiet evening at Milana’s apartment, the kind where the only sounds were the hum of the city far below and the occasional creak of the old wooden floorboards. The soft golden glow of her lamp illuminated the room, casting a warm and intimate light over the space. Milana sat cross-legged on the couch, a cup of herbal tea in her hands, while Ony, leaned back next to her, petting Oreo lazily as his eyes gazed thoughtfully at her.

“So,” Milana began, setting her tea down carefully on the coffee table, her voice a little more tentative than usual. “I’ve been thinking... we’ve been talking about- well everything, but maybe we should talk about now, too. Like, what do we want from each other right now?”

Ony raised an eyebrow, the corners of his lips twitching upward as if he already knew where this was going, he’d just been waiting forever for her to get the courage to speak up. “You mean... right now, right now? Like, in the middle of a perfectly nice, quiet evening?” He teased, his deep voice carrying a playful edge.

Milana rolled her eyes, but there was warmth in her smile. “Yeah, exactly. Like, I want to make sure we’re on the same page about everything. I mean, we’re both—”

“—Cleary not afraid of complicated conversations,” Ony finished her ramble with a half-smile tugging at his mouth. “Go ‘head. Hit me with the questions, Mama.”

Milana giggled lightly and settled deeper into the cushions. “Okay, serious question. What do you want from me, right now? In this moment? In this relationship?” She leaned forward a little, looking at him with a mix of curiosity and affection.

Ony let out a breath, thinking for a moment. He sat up straighter next to her, his gaze turning soft as he met her eyes. “Well, I want your honesty, always. Even when it’s hard. And, honestly, I just want... your presence. It’s the little things you do that matter most to me.”

Milana smiled softly, her heart swelling a little. She reached over and placed her hand on his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You’re so perfect,” She said quietly, her voice warm and tender.

Ony’s smile softened in response, his hand giving hers a squeeze back. “That’s all you, Baby. But you already know that.” He paused, his tone turning more playful as he leaned in slightly. “Now, your turn. What do you want from me, right now?”

Milana blinked, surprised by the sudden shift in the question. She bit her lip, trying to hold back a smile. “Okay, let’s see… I want you to stop stealing my snacks when I leave the room.”

Ony’s face broke into a full grin, and he shook his head dramatically. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have never stolen your snacks.”

Milana raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? So you didn’t eat half of my cookies today, right after I left?” She nudged his arm, knocking it away from her as he smacked his lips.

Ony feigned innocence. “I’m just... helping you finish. You’re welcome.” He had to look away to pretend that he wasn’t smiling right then, suddenly finding her cat more interesting as he tried to climb up and sniff his hand.

She laughed, shaking her head. “You’re impossible.”

He leaned forward and put on a mock-serious face, lifting a hand like he was swearing an oath. “I promise I’ll leave your snacks alone, for now. Deal?”

Milana giggled, the tension from earlier completely gone. “Deal,” she agreed, her voice soft and light. She stuck her pinkie out playfully, reaching up so he could lock his larger one onto hers, giving a small tug just so he looked at her. She stuck out her lips, exaggerating with big doe eyes staring expectantly at him, and he was more than happy to oblige with a kiss.

There was a pause, the air between them charged with an easy, comfortable intimacy. Ony’s expression softened, and he looked at her with more seriousness than before. “But really, Milana… I want to be better. I want to always be there for you, even on the days I’m not perfect. I want us to grow together.”

Milana’s heart skipped a beat, feeling a sudden urge to be closer. She shuffled a bit, but fell into his arms comfortably as he caught her, voice low and steady when she responded. “I want that too. I want us to keep talking, keep figuring this out. And I want us to never stop laughing together. I don’t ever want that to change.”

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Ony shifted slightly, his hand moving to gently brush through her hair. Milana looked up at him, noticing the change in his demeanor. He wasn’t smiling as he usually was, his eyes distant for a brief moment before meeting hers with an almost vulnerable expression, and she could tell something was on his mind.

“Ony," She prodded softly, her voice breaking through the quiet like a warm touch. “You don't have to keep it in anymore. I can tell you want to say something.”

He hesitated, his mouth opening but then closing again with a heavy sigh. He'd always found it hard to talk about the past. His childhood, his family—those were things he locked away, buried so deep that it felt like unearthing them would mean losing control. However, he reminded himself that Milana was different, and maybe, just maybe, he didn’t need to hide.

“Milana…” His voice cracked just slightly, and he cleared his throat. “I don’t know if I’ve ever told anyone this, but I didn’t get much affection growing up.” She didn’t say anything, simply nodding, her eyes soft as she took it in.

“You know my parents were separated before I was born?” Ony continued, his gaze now on the floor, feeling a bit of shame. “I never saw them together. I never saw them hug, kiss, nothing. The only time I ever saw them interact was when they had to talk about me, about what I needed… but that was just logistics, not love.” He paused, his mind reminiscing over the years, the emptiness.

“They couldn’t stand each other, and I was... just a part of the equation they couldn’t ignore. My dad…” He only shook his head, like he was trying to get the image of his father out of it. “My mom tried, I think, but... I was always a reminder of something that went wrong.” Ony’s voice was tight, almost like a knot he was trying to unravel but couldn't. “Everytime they were in the same room they were arguing. So I guess... I just thought that shit was normal.”

Milana’s heart ached, and she reached out, her hand finding his. She didn’t say anything, just let her fingers brush against his, grounding him, giving him the space he needed. “That’s why…” Ony swallowed, blinking hard as if the words were lodged in his throat. “That’s why I need affection. I crave it, Milana. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like a hole inside of me, one that... no one ever filled. Not my parents, not anyone.”

Milana squeezed onto him tighter, her thumb tracing over his knuckles as she gently held his hand. “Ony, you don’t have to apologize for that. You’ve been through things that most people can’t imagine. It’s okay to want affection. It’s okay to need it.”

He shook his head, a bitter chuckle escaping him. “I know. But it’s not just that I want it. I want it from you. All the time. I want to feel like someone cares about me the way I never saw anyone care about each other when I was a kid.” His voice faltered. “And I don’t know what to do about that.”

Milana pulled him toward her, wrapping her arms around him, holding him close as if she could erase the years of neglect and distance from his life with just a simple embrace. Her hands clinging to him like she needed him too. She didn’t ask him to be anything other than himself. She didn’t question his need for love or affection. She just offered him what he’d never had: connection, warmth, and the silent promise that he wasn’t alone anymore.

“You don’t have to do anything but hold me.” Ony’s body relaxed into her arms, his heart beating a little steadier as he felt the weight of his past start to loosen. For the first time in years, he allowed himself to be held without the fear that he would suffocate someone in the process. And in that moment, he realized that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t broken after all.

“So I guess that means I can’t get rid of you, huh?” He just couldn’t stop trying to make her smile even for a moment, using the time to commit her to memory, wanting to bask in this feeling forever.

Milana laughed softly, lifting her head to look at him. “Nope. If anything, I’m going to make sure you get all the hugs and kisses you need.”

Ony chuckled, pulling her in for a slow, lingering kiss. As their lips met, Milana realized that this moment—this conversation—was a turning point. And as they broke the kiss, Milana whispered, “I’ll always be here for you, Ony. You don’t ever have to worry about that.” He smiled, his eyes softening with affection.

“I know. And it feels really good.”

More of Milana here 🎀

[dragonsdendoodles]

Hey wait do you have any ideas/HCs for how Enoch felt/reacted the first time he was woken up by one of Horace's screaming fits when he initially moved to Ms. P's loop?

Asking because I lowkey wanna write another fic for them. There's the one singular one I wrote in 2023 and I haven't written anything for them since and methinks a hurt/comfort enorace fic miiight be fun

I have a (really old) fic draft of my own starting with that actually 👀 (please write that that would be so cute and I have so many drafts I’m never gonna finish please)

I think internally he panicked a little bit, because what else do you do when you wake up to someone upstairs screaming bloody murder. I do think it took a while for Enoch to fully warm up to the others though (because at least in my version of events Enoch was dangerously close to being kicked out of his old loop and at the beginning he was bitter enough from his old loop to be anticipating the same thing here) so he played it off like he didn’t just sprint up two flights of stairs because oh my god that sounds like my only friend here oh no and everyone else was like. Does he just hate all of us oh my god

But yeah no he was terrified. He was terrified and he will always be terrified by it and all the others will eventually realize the glaring and sulking back downstairs was very much a front purely intended to make them think he didn’t care when he very much did

Horace knows he cares because when Enoch can get to him first he wakes him up and tries to calm him down and will actually yell at the others for crowding around them because being overwhelmed by waking up the whole house really isn’t what Horace needs at the current moment thank you and when Enoch doesn’t get to him first and it’s Miss Peregrine keeping everyone else out the millisecond she lets the others in Enoch is right there to try to help any way he can.

He just didn’t do it the first time because he wasn’t expecting literally everyone else to also be there. But he really wanted to.

[rayyanishere1]

A Day in the Life of a Loser: Loser Ford AU

Chapter 4: Science Fair

25th April 1970

Good morning, my dearest diary! Today is the day of the science fair!

I managed to finish my perpetual motion machine just in time and it's completely functional. All I have to do now is safely transport it to the school. I'm gonna win first place, I'm sure of it!

All the other participants had already set up their projects a few days ago, but I'm sure there's still a few good spots left. Just hope I don't have to take the dingy spot with the ceiling leak.

Well, I'm off! Time to blow those judges' socks off!

∆∆∆

"Sixer! Are you ready or not?"

"Yes, yes, coming!"

Ford looked at himself in the mirror and for once, didn't completely hate himself. Hell, he felt proud!

He rushed outside to Stan and loaded his project into the cargo. It was still moving, as a perpetual motion machine should.

"You're excited, aren't you?"

"Of course! How could I not be?"

Stan laughed and ruffled his brother's hair. Ford protested, complaining that he spent a while making his hair look good.

"It doesn't matter how you look, nerd. Your motion-whatever-machine—"

"Perpetual motion machine!"

"Yeah, that, if what you said about it being 'impossible' to make is true, you've got a fortune under your belt."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

Ford carefully carried his project into the school's gymnasium and scanned for a place to set up. Nothing much he can see from here...

Wandering around the many tables, he failed to find a spot for himself. There had to be at least one place, right?

Just as he dreaded. The only empty space was a dark, dingy area with the leak in the ceiling.

Well, no turning back now. He reluctantly set his machine on the table and covered it with a tablecloth so that it wouldn't get wet. Who knows what could happen if it did!

"Ford, help me out over here!"

Hearing his brother in need of assistance, he rushed over.

Drip, drip, drip.

The judges roamed the gymnasium, taking note of the sheer amount of baking soda volcanoes. They should just ban them at this point.

∆∆∆

Things seem to be going well. The judges don't look impressed at the other presentations. Lots of baking soda volcanoes.

Oh, I see them! Are they skipping my table?

∆∆∆

"Hey! Aren't you going to judge mine?"

Oh, the poor thing, they hadn't even noticed him! The judges walked over, seeing how the area was... Less than appealing.

Ford pulled out a fairly thick stack of cue cards and hyped up his project.

"For millennia, people tried and failed to create perpetual motion machines. But here with you today is—!"

Dramatically, he yanked the tablecloth away to reveal his perpetual motion machine! Except for the fact that it wasn't in motion.

"Wait, what? What happened to my machine?!"

He frantically looked over it, trying to figure why his perpetual motion machine had stopped.

"Perpetual motion means nonstop, isolated movement, kid. It violates the first few laws of thermodynamics."

"Try again next year."

How could this have happened? It was working just this morning, and the days before that! It literally never stopped! That was the whole point!

As Ford desperately searched, he felt a drop of cold water fall on his head.

Sure enough, the tablecloth hadn't completely protected his machine from the dripping water above.

So close, Ford. So close.

A familiar set of footsteps came up behind him.

"Hey, Ford? You alright? Where are the judges?"

Ford failed to compose himself in time and broke down. He barely forced out a few words between sobs and hiccups as Stan tried to decipher his gargled speech.

Soon enough, Ford gave up on verbal communication and gestured to his broken machine. He wiped his tears, trying to get a good look at it.

There seemed to be some exposed circuitry on the back. How had he never noticed that?

He reached out towards it and promptly got shocked. Right, wet hand. Not a great idea to touch exposed electronics.

"Ow!"

Ford quickly retracted his hand, wincing in pain. God, today was a gift that kept on giving. Not in a good way, but you get the point.

Stan rushed to Ford's side, making sure he wasn't seriously injured. He's no expert, but an electrical shock didn't sound good.

"Let's just get outta here."

He led them both outside and back to Stan's car. Being in a more private space, Ford's waterworks restarted at full force.

"Everything was going so well! I told everyone that I was going to win—I was! I did the impossible! I forgot to tighten a few loose screws and now everything's ruined—"

He rambled on and on about how he messed up everything, how stupid he was for not noticing such a thing, the whole shebang.

There was really no room for Stan to interject and stop Ford from spiralling seeing as he was talking a mile a minute.

Stan opted to wait it out.

He drove them to the nearest convenience store and got them snacks. Jellybeans for Ford and Toffee Peanuts for himself.

"You feelin' better, bud?"

"No."

Honestly? Stan expected that answer.

Ford stared off into space, not bothering to eat his jellybeans.

"Wanna go home?"

That seemed to snap him out of his trance.

"What's Pa gonna think of all this? What are we gonna tell him?"

Welcome back, panic! Didn't miss you whatsoever!

"He's gonna find out eventually... I'll talk to him."

On the drive home, Ford looked outside the window. He eyed the beach, thinking, how difficult would it be to swim from New Jersey to Europe?

"We're here."

Seems like Filbrick wasn't home yet. That's good! I guess?

Ford bolted upstairs without a word. He needed to unwind. Write in his diary. Anything.

He was practically scribbling on the pages with how fast and sloppily he was writing. His thoughts went faster than his hand, even the ink in the damn pen couldn't keep up.

∆∆∆

Today did not go as planned. A leak in the gymnasium's ceiling made it's way inside my machine and blew it's circuits.

I humiliated myself in front of the judges.

I humiliated myself.

∆∆∆

It was only when tears started to fall on the page did Ford realize he was crying. Again.

Maybe he should just go to bed.

[ejzah]

A/N: For @anonkp, who suggested a fic where Kensi and Deeks find out Whiting is actually Steven’s mom.

***

The In-Law

“They should be here any minute,” Rosa said, looking beyond Deeks, in the direction of the entrance. “Steven says they got stopped by a red light.”

“That’s ok,” Deeks assured her, gesturing around the restaurant. “It’s pretty busy, so we’ll probably have to wait anyway.”

After officially dating for three months (following nearly two months of being “just friends”), Rosa had agreed to let Kensi and Deeks meet Steven’s mom. The event had come with a good amount of back and forth between Rosa and Steven over details, worrying if everyone would like the food, and so forth. They finally settled on a Mexican restaurant both kids approved of and had an open table for five.

“You know, I thought we’d never meet either of Steven’s parents. He must be pretty important for all this secrecy.”

Rosa blushed, dipping her head. “I just didn’t want to rush things.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Baby, stop teasing her,” Kensi intervened.

“Thank you, Kensi.”

“You’re welcome. The teasing will come later, on the way home.”

“You two are awful,” Rosa complained without much heat.

“Which is how you know we love you,” Deeks teased. He grinned at Rosa’s unamused expression. He tried not to embarrass her too much, but occasionally, it was fun. Especially when it came to Steven, who Rosa clearly adored, despite her claims it was still casual.

“Shhh, here they come,” Rosa said, making a waving motion as she hushed them both and sat straighter.

“I wasn’t even talking!” Kensi protested.

Deeks turned to look, catching sight of Steven’s sandy blond hair first, then the woman standing slightly behind him. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” he muttered.

“What?” Kensi asked, but he didn’t have a chance to respond before Steven and Ellen Whiting, of all people, were within Kensi’s line of sight too. She had her hair down and wore casual clothes, but it was definitely her.

Standing, Rosa met Steven and Whiting a few feet away.

“No, this can’t be real. What are we going to do?” Kensi hissed.

“I don’t know, but they’re coming back, so try to act normal.”

“Mrs. Hardy, these are my parents, Kensi and Marty,” Rosa said as she returned with Steven and Whiting. She smiled nervously, clinging to Steven, who looked equally anxious.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Whiting drawled, looking at them with a mixture of amazement and annoyance. “Thought I was seeing things when Rosa pointed you out.”

“Good to see you too, Whiting,” Deeks said wryly.

“Wait, you know each other?” Rosa asked in obvious confusion.

“Oh, that’s one way of putting it.”

Whiting made a face at that, but before she could expound on her and Deeks’ past encounters, Kensi spoke up.

“It’s nice to see you, Ellen. Please, sit down.”

Soon after everyone was situated, a waiter came to take their orders, and Rosa and Steven began to visibly relax.

“So, where did you and mom meet?” Steven asked, twisting a balled up straw paper between his fingers. “I didn’t think you handled criminal law.”

“I used to be a detective,” Deeks explained shortly.

“And I worked in law enforcement too,” Kensi added.

“And I arrested Deeks once.” Whiting smiled at Deeks’ glare and Steven and Rosa’s twin looks of shock. “Just kidding.”

“Yeah, your mom’s just a barrel of laughs. I’ve always said that about her.”

“Baby, play nice,” Kensi said warningly.

“Sorry.” He cleared his throat sharply. “So, I’m guessing Whiting is your maiden name.”

“I changed my name to Hardy after I got married but kept Whiting professionally. It’s easier to keep the parts of my life separate,” Whiting answered. “When we talked about kids that last case we had together, I never imagined my kid would be dating yours.”

“It’s definitely a shocker.”

“Is that why you asked me about Steven’s last name?” Rosa wondered, narrowing her eyes at them.

“We thought there might be a slight chance,” Kensi explained. “We didn’t think there’d end up being a connection.”

“I think it’s cool.” Steven nodded happily, sharing a smile with Rosa. “Since you guys already know each other, it’ll be a lot less awkward getting together.”

“Maybe we can have Steven and Mrs. Hardy over for dinner sometime soon,” Rosa suggested.

“Oh, sure, of course. You know, if you’re available. We know how busy your schedule is.” Kensi chuckled awkwardly.

“I’m free this Saturday,” Whiting said with a familiar, biting smile.

“Awesome. I’ll make something special for dinner,” Rosa offered.

“Great.” Deeks purses his lips, forcing a smile of his own. “This is going to be fantastic.

[salamispots]

I swear this is the last version/edit I'll make to the little cooking pot drawing haha

[medi-bee]

isat pokemon au, my liege?

my rambling in tags