#prompt from me and it just makes me ????? like. music taste differs with everyone i understand this and i respect it. if something brings u

[bellamyblakru]

i will never understand how some people can actively shit on something they know someone loves and finds joy in right in front of them. how can you hate something that makes someone else happy in this absolutely fucked world in front of them.

its the passive aggression for no reason i will never ever understand or do to others. if you have a passion, fucking LIVE it. if nothing else, passion gets us through every shitty day, and i will always support it.

have passion in spite of those who hate.

[teine-mallaichte]

Let's talk hallucinations in whump/general fiction.

So first off full disclosure, I have schizoaffective disorder - think some bits of bipolar and some bits of schizophrenia kind of squished together, and as such hallucinations are a BIG part of my general existence.

Definition: A hallucination is a perception of a sensory experience—such as sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch—that appears real but is created by the mind and lacks an external stimulus.

Now, I see a fair few "hallucinations" type prompts in whump events, and just generally within the whump community, and I see a LOT of auditory hallucinations type prompt fills - mainly in the form of malevolent whispers - and ye that's a thing, but there are so many other hallucinations.

The thing is hallucinations can effect literally any sense, not just hearing - though I will add that auditory is usually regarded as the most common.

this is a long post so I am going to put a cut here... below the cut is exploration of the tyoes of hallucination, the causes and a bit about insight.

So, I thought it could be "fun" to explore a few in a post. Lets explore the 5 "main" senses first:

Auditory Hallucinations

Description: These are the most common type of hallucinations. They involve hearing sounds that are not present. The sounds are hear as if they are coming from somewhere external to the body. So in my case I have a few of these, but my main one is a voice who is with me even when I am in meds (another good point there for anyone who wants to use mental illness in their fics even in meds we can do have symptoms). This voice has a name and most of the time he just sorts off passes comments about things and people around me, like a sarcastic narrator and it sounds like he is standing just behind me.

Common Examples:

Malevolent Whispers: Insidious voices that might threaten, taunt, or belittle you.

Hearing Music: Melodies or songs playing that no one else can hear. For me this kind of sounds like someone is playing a radio in a different room.

Environmental Sounds: Hearing footsteps, doors creaking, or other sounds suggesting someone else is present.

Command Hallucinations: Voices that instruct or suggest (its not always ademand, sometimes more subtle and manipulative) you to do certain things, often with a compelling and distressing sense of urgency.

Less used examples:

Kind/supportive hallucinations: Voices that are encouraging, reassuring and supportive.

Distortion: Rather than sounds with no origin hallucinations that disort or warp actual sounds/voices changing the meaning, making it as if the TV or Radio is addressing you personally, making it sound as if a friend is threatening you.

Fun fact: it actually is possible to have a two way (sort of) conversation with a hallucination - I know I do it relatively often. It will be different for everyone, but fo me its a bit like having a conversation on a bad phoneline, yes the voice will respond but often its almost as if he hasn't fully heard what I said - or is ignoring key points. I can do this both outloud and "in my head".

Visual Hallucinations

Description: Visual hallucinations involve seeing things that are not present. These can range from simple shapes and flashes of light to detailed images or scenes. They often appear as if they are in the physical world and can be very convincing.

Common Examples:

Shadowy Figures: Seeing indistinct, shadowy forms that may move or appear to watch the character.

Distorted Faces: Perceiving familiar faces as grotesque or altered in frightening ways.

Apparitions: Full-bodied figures that may interact with the character or appear menacing.

Lights/sparkles: The whump community seems to very much enjoy lights and sparkles, especially in drugging.

Less Used Examples:

Intrusive Visuals: Images of disturbing or graphic nature that suddenly appear in your line of sight.

Perceptual Distortions: Objects appearing to warp, change shape, or color in unnatural ways.

Double Vision: Seeing multiples of objects or people, creating a confusing and disorienting experience.

Scenery Shifts: The entire environment changes, making you believe they are in a completely different place.

Fun fact: Sleep deprivation can cause some wild visual hallucinations, even relatively "mild" sleep deprivation can start to effect a persons perceptions.

Gustatory Hallucinations

Description: Gustatory hallucinations involve tasting things that are not actually present in the mouth. These can range from pleasant to extremely unpleasant tastes and can be triggered without any external food or drink.

Officially these are considered "rare", but personally (as someone who has done a lot of peer support work in the psychosis/voice hearing community I think they are simply under reported.)

Common Examples:

Bitter or Metallic Taste: A persistent bitter or metallic taste in the mouth, often leading to a sense of unease or concern about poisoning.

Sweet or Sour Taste: Tasting something sweet or sour unexpectedly, which can be confusing if it doesn’t match the current context.

Less Used Examples:

Spoiled Food: Tasting something rancid or spoiled, causing nausea and distress.

Unfamiliar Tastes: Tasting something completely unfamiliar and hard to describe, adding to the character's sense of disorientation.

Mimicking Actual Foods: Tasting specific foods that trigger cravings or aversions, despite not eating anything.

Transforming food: Food tasting like other food - I know someone for whom everything tasted like strawberries for days.

Common Causes: Neurological conditions or can be a side effect of medications.

Olfactory Hallucinations

Description: Olfactory hallucinations involve smelling odors that are not actually present. These can be pleasant or unpleasant and occur without any corresponding external stimulus. They can be particularly disorienting because they may trigger memories or emotions associated with certain scents - extremely complex if the person also has PTSD.

Common Examples:

Burning Smell: Wood, rubber, or food, which can lead to panic and fear of a fire.

Rotting Flesh: An overpowering smell of decay or rotting flesh, causing distress and nausea.

Perfume or Flowers: Smelling strong scents like flowers or perfume - hallucinations don't have to be inherently unpleasant sensations.

Less Used Examples:

Chemical Smells: Smelling chemicals like bleach or petrol.

Unfamiliar Scents: Smelling odors that you cannot identify.

Food Smells: Smelling specific foods that trigger hunger or nausea, despite the absence of any actual food.

Tactile Hallucinations

Description: Tactile hallucinations involve feeling sensations on or under the skin that are not actually there. These can range from mild tingling to severe pain and can be extremely distressing.

Common Examples:

Crawling Sensation: Feeling as though insects or bugs are crawling on or under the skin - often leading to frantic scratching or picking.

Electric Shocks: Experiencing sudden, sharp, electric-like jolts.

Pressure: Feeling pressure or tightness around certain body parts, such as a hand gripping the arm or something heavy on the chest.

Less Used Examples:

Temperature Changes: Feeling extreme cold or heat on the skin without any external cause.

Wetness or Dripping: Feeling as though liquid is dripping or running down the skin, even when dry.

Phantom Touches: Sensations of being touched or grabbed, often when alone. Sometimes its an almost feather like touch, other times its more akin to a grab that if reak would leave a bruise.

Right now let's expand - because there are more than 5 senses.

Proprioceptive Hallucinations

Description: Proprioception is the sense of the relative positioning of one's body parts. Proprioceptive hallucinations involve distorted perceptions of where your body is in space or how it is moving.

Common Examples:

Floating Sensation: Feeling as if the body is levitating or moving without control.

Distorted Body Size: Perceiving limbs or the entire body as being unnaturally large or small.

Less Used Examples:

Misaligned Limbs: Feeling as though limbs are twisted or out of place.

Movement Hallucinations: Sensing movements that aren't occurring, like swaying or rotating.

Common causes: Neurological disorders or the effects of certain drugs, but can by caused by a huge array of things.

Vestibular Hallucinations

Description: Vestibular sensations involve balance and spatial orientation. Vestibular hallucinations affect your sense of balance, making you feel dizzy or as though you're moving when you're stationary.

Common Examples:

Vertigo: A spinning sensation, as if the environment or oneself is rotating.

Imbalance: Feeling as though you're about to fall over or can't maintain your balance.

Less Used Examples:

Motion Sensation: Sensing movement, like rocking or swaying, when you're still.

Gravity Distortions: Feeling as if gravity is stronger or weaker than it actually is.

Common caused: Inner ear issues, migraines, or anxiety.

Temporal Hallucinations

Description: Temporal hallucinations involve distorted perceptions of time. They can make time feel like it's speeding up, slowing down, or standing still.

Common Examples:

Time Dilation: Feeling as though time is passing much slower than it actually is.

Time Compression: Perceiving time as moving rapidly, making events feel like they're passing in a blur.

Less Used Examples:

Frozen Moments: Experiencing time as if it's stopped, with everything around you appearing frozen.

Temporal Displacement: Feeling as though you're living in a different time period.

Temporal Dissonance: Feeling as if time is moving differently for you in comparison to those around you.

Common caused: Extreme fatigue, high stress, or under the influence of certain drugs.

Interoceptive Hallucinations

Description: Interoception refers to the perception of sensations from within the body, such as hunger, thirst, or the feeling of a heartbeat. Hallucinations in this realm involve feeling internal sensations that aren't actually occurring.

Common Examples:

False Hunger: Feeling extremely hungry despite having eaten recently.

Nonexistent Thirst: An intense sense of thirst even when well-hydrated - I have had this one a few times and given myself electrolyte imbalances due tot he amount of water I ended up drinking (not fun).

Less Used Examples:

Phantom Heartbeats: Feeling the heart racing or skipping beats without any physical basis.

Digestive Sensations: Sensations of digestion, such as gurgling or bloating, without any real cause.

Common causes: Panic disorder or certain types of seizures.

Right, now lets quickly review the main "causes" of hallucinations

Mental Illness:

Schizophrenia: Can involve basically anything from this list, but anecdotally auditory and visual appear to be the most common.

Bipolar Disorder: Can include hallucinations, especially during manic or depressive episodes.

Schizoaffective Disorder: A combination of symptoms from both schizophrenia and mood disorders, often leading to a variety of hallucinations.

EUPD/BPD: Auditory hallucinations are relatively common.

In all of these the hallucinations will rarely (if ever) exist in isolation. If you do not have primary or secondary experience of mental illness then I would recommend doing a LOT of research - and talking to people who do (on this note my asks are open if anyone has any schizoaffective based questions).

Neurological Conditions:

Epilepsy: Particularly temporal lobe epilepsy, can cause a range of sensory hallucinations.

Parkinson's Disease: Can lead to visual and auditory hallucinations.

Migraine: Migraine auras can include visual and auditory hallucinations.

Once again the hallucinations will not be in isolatation so same advice as with mental illness.

Substance Use and Withdrawal:

Psychedelics: Drugs like LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline are known for causing vivid visual and auditory hallucinations.

Stimulants: Methamphetamine and cocaine can cause tactile and visual hallucinations.

Alcohol Withdrawal: Can lead to visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations.

You know what I am going to say that my "if you do not have experience of this then go talk to someone who does" advice may just stand for every potential cause.

Sleep Disorders:

Sleep Deprivation: Can cause a variety of hallucinations across different senses.

Narcolepsy: Often includes hypnagogic (while falling asleep) and hypnopompic (while waking up) hallucinations.

Medical Conditions:

Delirium: Acute confusion and hallucinations often seen in severe infections, fever, or after surgery.

Dementia: Especially Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease, can cause hallucinations.

Medications:

Anticholinergics: Can cause hallucinations as a side effect.

Steroids: High doses can sometimes lead to hallucinations.

Certain Antidepressants and Antipsychotics: Occasionally, these medications can cause hallucinations.

Psychological Stress and Trauma:

PTSD: Flashbacks and hallucinations related to traumatic events.

Extreme Stress: Can sometimes trigger hallucinations.

Metabolic and Endocrine Disorders:

Thyroid Disorders: Hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism can sometimes cause hallucinations.

Electrolyte Imbalances: Severe imbalances can lead to hallucinations.

Deprivation:

Sensory Deprivation: Go google the ganzfeld effect, it's facinating.

Isolation: Extended periods of isolation can lead to hallucinations, known as sensory deprivation hallucinations.

Autoimmune Disorders:

Lupus: Can cause neurological symptoms including hallucinations.

Tumors:

Brain Tumors: Depending on their location, they can cause hallucinations affecting different senses.

Ok, finally point for this post. Let's discuss insight, because it is not as black/white or binary as people seem to assume.

Definition: Insight, in this context, refers to the awareness and understanding that one's hallucinations are not real but are a product of their mind. Insight can be partial or complete, and it often fluctuates.

Complete Insight:

Description: The individual fully understands that their hallucinations are not real and are caused by an underlying condition.

Impact: This can help the person manage their symptoms more effectively and seek appropriate treatment. However, it doesn't necessarily lessen the distress caused by the hallucinations.

Partial Insight:

Description: The individual has some awareness that their hallucinations might not be real but can still struggle with differentiating them from reality.

Impact: This can lead to confusion and anxiety, as the person oscillates between believing and doubting their experiences.

Lack of Insight:

Description: The individual firmly believes that their hallucinations are real and external.

Impact: This can lead to significant distress and functional impairment, as the person might respond to these hallucinations as if they were real.

Now imagine these three points on a scale from 0 (complete insight) to 10 (lack of insight) a person can be anywhere on this scale, and can slide back and fourth along it.

Factors such as stress, fatigue, medication changes, or daily fluctuations in mental state can cause insight to vary. A person might have high insight at one moment and low insight the next.

Basically Insight Is Not Static.

Also sometimes insight is just FREAKING RANDOM fluctuation for no discernible reason - honestly at times there is zero logic.

so ye, halluncinations… the brain is freaking wild.

Disclaimer - this is by no means an exhaustive list and like with many things every individual will experience these things slightly differently.

A similar post about delirium A similar post about fever

[lovebugism]

hi! not sure if you’re still taking requests but if u are may i request the prompt “it’s okay to cry in front of me, you know. you don’t have to carry this alone.” with reader comforting steve? tysm <3

bug's blurb sleepover (⁎˃ᴗ˂⁎)!

Steve tends to feel things really, really deeply.

When Nancy called him bullshit at a Halloween party and ran off with the weird kid from chemistry class a day later, he felt like it was the end of the world. His world, at least. 

He thought it was going to stick with him for the rest of his life — that she was right, that he really was bullshit, and that that truth would haunt him forever. It did. It does. It lurks over his shoulder sometimes, like a shadow or a sleeping dragon.

And when Robin’s mad at him, like mad mad, it makes him feel like dying. 

One time he overestimated how tired he was after a shift and forgot to pick Robin up after band practice. He was startled awake from his nap out of nowhere, like his brain knew he’d done something wrong, and realized he was supposed to drive her home over an hour ago. 

He found her standing with her trumpet case under the awning in a futile attempt to hide from the pouring rain. She didn’t talk to him for days — not during the drive, not at work the next day, not until he was milliseconds from groveling at her feet for her forgiveness.

But it’s different when he’s happy. He’s got you and he’s got Dustin, and he loves the two of you so much it feels like he might burst sometimes. Adoration spills from his pores like so many little rays of sunshine, leaves him a grinning and gushing thing in the place of a teenage boy. 

It’s so much worse with you, though. Because sometimes he feels like his heart beats only for you — that it follows the rhythm of your pulse, that it will stop when yours does. 

He can taste every word that spills from your mouth, the one’s coated in venom and honey alike. He can hear every sound of your soul, too. It’s the crackles of an old record player when you’re content, autumn leaves crunching when you’re angry, and the sounds of a deep, deep ocean when you’re sad.

You’re embedded into every fiber of his being. You’ve entwined yourself with him without even realizing it, tucked yourself into the outer regions of his bleeding heart with a fuzzy blanket and a good book — no sign of leaving any time soon.

He loves you hard, too hard. So hard there’s no breath without you.

So when Vecna almost kills you, it feels a little like his life is ending.

He watches you float in midair, his feet still stuck on the ground, totally helpless. 

Tears spill from your glazed-over eyes and glitter beneath streams of moonlight. Your body is slack, but your fingers tremble and your brows twitch and your chin quivers. You’re not all there, but you can feel every ounce of fear like an ice-cold bath, painful and numbing all at once. Because you know that you’re going to die. And that there’s nothing anyone else can do to stop it.

Dustin shouts for help into his supercomm, begs for Max to bring her walkman or steal the nearest boombox they see and bring it with them to Lover’s Lake. They’re too far away, though, on the other side of town in Nancy’s too slow Station Wagon picking up more hunting supplies to kill the son of a bitch trying to kill you. He knows they won’t make it in time.

Steve shakes your shoulders and shouts in your face, but you still don’t wake. He keeps a hold of you until you’re out of his reach entirely — rising and rising and rising until you’re six feet off the ground. Then he’s just begging, shouting pleas up at you, at god, at Vecna — the shriveled skin creep doing this to you. 

“Please,” he shouts to everyone and no one all at once. “Please, just— you gotta wake up, okay? I’ll be better, I’ll be so much better, I promise. I’ll listen to all the music you like, watch all the movies you want — even the ones that suck — I’ll be a better boyfriend, okay? You just— You need to wake up!”

You don’t. 

You just keep on crying, like you can hear him in whatever world Vecna’s sucked you into. Eyes fluttering, neck jerking, lips trembling. You succumb completely to the monster’s curse.

It’s Eddie that saves you.

He rushes to the stolen R.V. for his guitar, the one Steve said made him look like he was overcompensating for something, the one that’s about to save your life. “What’s her favorite song?” the boy urges as he slips the strap over his head with pale and trembling fingers.

Steve looks over at his shoulder at him. It’s hard to see through the stinging tears. “Wh— What—” He can’t form words. Or thoughts, really. The only thing going through his head is that you’re about to die, that he’s about to lose you forever. It clouds his mind like thick black smoke.

“Her favorite song?” Eddie snaps. “What is it?”

He scrambles to answer. “Uh, it’s uh— it’s Take— Take On Me… Do you know that one?”

“No,” the boy answers honestly. “But I can try.”

That’s all they can do for now. Try. Hope.

He puts his fingers to the strings, trying to find the right placements, but it’s hard when you don’t know how to play the song and you’re shaking that you’re fucking freezing. Eddie’s forced to play it by ear and tells Steve that it won’t sound exactly right and that it won’t be loud without his amp. 

It takes him a moment to find the melody, but Steve hears it the second it comes — the synth-y da-da-da-dum, da-da-dah, da-da-da-da-dum’s that were practically engrained in his psyche after he heard it on the radio the millionth time.

You weren’t as afflicted by the earworm as he was. You loved it. 

The song came out the year the two of you started dating, so all he heard for months was that catchy beat and even catchier falsetto. You played it on the jukebox when you went to the diner, popped the tape into your radio whenever he was over at your place, requested for it to be played virtually wherever you went.

You hear the song from where you’re stuck in your own head. The strums of the guitar are quiet and a little out of tune, but the uncanny notes make sense when you’re trapped in a world that isn’t really your world. Suddenly you don’t see Vecna or his claw in your face — just Steve, Steve, Steve.

He’s with you at the diner with whipped cream on his chin, making fun of you for singing to the song so off-key. He’s with you in your childhood bedroom, spinning you around and singing all the high notes with you. He’s with you at Enzo’s, the fanciest place in Hawkins for your anniversary, and slips the mini-orchestra a hundred-dollar bill to play the song for you.

Suddenly, you’re on the ground again — back in Hawkins — and gasping for breath in his arms. You can’t see him from where he’s got his face tucked into your neck, but you can feel the scarily rapid beat of his heart and the way it matches your own.

Steve sobs into you, uncaring about how loud he is or how his snot and tears stain your t-shirt. Because he almost fucking lost you. And, for a split second, he tried to think of what a life without you would look like. He quickly came up short. There was nothing — no light, no sound, no music — just darkness. A void. 

Sometimes, he thinks he would’ve died with you that night.

Vecna is dead within the next twenty-four hours after the fact. You and Nancy take turns shooting bullets in the pale patchy skin of his chest where his heart’s supposed to be while Steve and Robin throw hand-made bombs in his direction. He trips and stumbles out the window while the rotting basement erupts into flames. There’s nothing left but ashes.

Steve doesn’t feel a thing for a little while after that, just the acute urge to protect the group of you even though the boogeyman is long gone. 

He doesn’t let go of you for days, always holding onto some part of you, because he’s terrified of you slipping away again. 

He lets Dustin sleep at his place when the boy asks, but it’s for his own peace of mind more than anything else. He doesn’t let the boy out of his sight until his mom gets concerned about him. 

He drives forty-five minutes to the hospital every day for two weeks with you so you can visit Max and Lucas, always with two peanut butter jelly sandwiches for them — just in case.

He’s on auto-pilot for a while. He just keeps on taking care of everyone else because it distracts him from himself — from his own inner turmoil, from the horrors he saw that night, from the boogeyman still in his closet.

It takes you a month for you to tell him what you saw. You were a lot like him in that way, still trying to hide from it all. You would’ve been more than happy if you could squish your great big problem into a tiny little ball that you could stomp underneath your feet and forget about completely. 

But that’s not how life works. 

The thing just swells and swells and swells until it takes everything in you to stay sane.

You sit Steve down on his bed and curl into his lap — knees to your chest, head tucked beneath his chin. And you tell him about it. Everything.

You tell him that Vecna showed you Brad, the boyfriend you had before Steve. It was a replay of the last night you saw him parked at Lover’s Lake, the very same place you had been when Vecna almost took you. You’re sitting in his passenger seat and he’s trying to feel you up. “Billy’s girlfriend lets him fuck her all the time,” he gripes when you swat his hand from your thigh.

“Then maybe go fuck Billy’s girlfriend,” you shoot back. 

It’s the last thing you’d ever said to him before storming off and catching the late bus back home. He went missing the next day; his car still there, but no sign of the boy himself.

Vecna shows you everything you’d been making yourself sick over for years, tells you exactly what happened to him that night.

A demogorgon appears in thin air and snatches the boy, takes him to the Upside Down like he’s some kind of light night snack. The thing doesn’t eat him, though, just plays with its food for a while until it gets bored and lets him rot. Brad was down there, for days, beggingfor someone to save him. Help never came, though. Just the slow, slow hand of death. 

“You never even looked for him…” you recite the words Vecna said to you, voice much softer than his cruel baritone one. “You let him rot down there while you threw yourself at a boy that didn’t even want you…”

Steve eyes squeeze shut then, like he’s trying to hide from your words. It’s about as effective as those idiots in horror movies who try to hide under their bedsheets from demons.

You sought refuge in Steve that night and many others, when Brad was acting especially douchebag-y. It was innocent at first. He was your friend. But somewhere down the line, you realized that you had bigger feelings for him than you ever did for your boyfriend. Steve, meanwhile, was still caught in the web of his complicated feelings for Nancy.

It wasn’t until you got kidnapped by Russian soldiers that he realized how much he loved you.

There’s just something about the end of the world that makes a person see clearly again.

Everything seems to hit him exactly a week later. 

He’d done a pretty good job at hiding it all — the nightmares, the panic attacks, the sleepless nights. He hid that all from you because you were recovering too. He didn’t think it was fair to dump all his hurt on you while you were still trying to get back to normal.

You noticed it very quickly, though, that Steve didn’t seem to be very affected by any of it. 

He was so nonchalant about everything, the kind of casual only a person who was aching could pull off. 

And he’d get real reserved at times, uncharacteristically quiet, and you’d ask him if he was okay. He’d scoffed and say he was fine —of course I’m okay, what do you mean? — while his cheek speckled with red and he blinked back glassy tears. 

You’d try to hug him and he’d let you, but kept shrugging off your concern — I’m fine, babe. I promise. I’m not the one who almost died.

Steve did that a lot. Made it seem like his problems didn’t mean as much because they weren’t as big as yours or Max’s or Eddie’s. He convinced himself that they didn’t. Why should he be upset when he didn’t have to meet the monster face to face or live through something traumatic all over again? What does he have to cry about?

But when he sleeps all he sees in you — in that spot at Lover’s Lake, succumbing to Vecna’s curse, while the rest of them try like hell to bring you back. In his nightmares, they never do. He watches your bones break one by one, piercing cracks in the quiet night that he can feel in his chest, before you fall limply to the ground again.

He wakes with a gasping breath, the same way you had all the time ago. You’re sleeping peacefully beside him, hair wild and face smushed into your pillow, but he can’t seem to get the vision out of his head — of your mangled body and sucked-out sockets. He stumbles off to the bathroom on tired and trembling legs.

You wake to the door slamming shut and stir at the sound of the faucet turning on. 

Light spills from the crack underneath the door, bright in the darkness of your bedroom. You watch Steve’s shadow with bleary eyes, how it stands in one place for a moment and then paces back and forth.

Wiping sleep from your eyes, you tiptoe to the door, but don’t do anything when you reach it. You just wait, listen. 

Steve mumbles something to himself that you can’t quite make out — you’re okay, stop being such a baby, jesus… is all you can hear. He sniffles as his feet pad the length of the tiled bathroom floor. It doesn’t take a genius to know that he’s crying.

Your knock upon the door is a soft one. You don’t want to startle him. The second he realizes you’re outside the door, he freezes.

“Stevie…” you call gently out for him. “Are you okay?”

He clears his throat. “Yeah—” Then again. “Yeah, I’m fine… Go back to bed.”

“Are you sure?” you press. “Do you want me to get anything for you?”

The boy has to take a deep breath in to stop himself from snapping at you. He’s angry at himself more than anything — for hiding, for failing at hiding. He runs two anxious hands through his hair and plants himself along the ceramic edge of the bathtub. 

“I’m sure. Just… Just go back to bed, okay?”

You don’t listen. You just slide along the door frame until you’re sat on the carpeted floor of your bedroom. Steve can hear your shuffling outside.

“It’s okay if you’re not okay. You know that, right?” you ask him through the door.

Steve puts his face in his hands before he can catch his scrunching face in the mirror. Just when he thought he wasn’t going to cry, here you come, pulling this shit. 

“I know,” he answers tightly, muffled through his palms. He rubs them up and down his face once, twice, and then a third time before throwing his hands into his lap. “But I’m fine, okay? Seriously.”

“You can cry in front of me, Steve. It’s okay. You don’t have to— You don’t have to go through this shit alone, you know? I’m here. I’m right here, okay? Let me help you.”

It’s that reminder that does him in; the assurance that you’re here and not a disfigured mess in the tall grass of Lover’s Lake. A sob spills from his mouth too abruptly for him to stop it.

“Steve…” you call for him again, heartbreaking on the other side of the door.

“I’m almost lost you,” he cries, more than himself than to you, then sniffles. “I’m almost fucking lost you.”

“But you didn’t. I’m still here. And I’m not going anywhere, Steve Harrington. The universe is gonna have to try a whole lot harder to keep me away from you.”

He manages a laugh through his tears. “It’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking,” you quip. “If Vecna couldn’t stop me from being with you, nothing will.”

The thought of that warms him. He realizes it’s not the universe keeping the two of you together, not fate or some higher power in the clouds. It’s love. It’s all the love the two of you have got for each other, stronger than any demogorgon or Russian soldier or dark wizard. And it’s love that’s gonna hold the two of you together for the next several decades, until you’re old and wrinkly and ugly. 

But Steve won’t think you’re ugly. He’ll think you’re as beautiful as the first moment he saw you — throwing up in the bushes outside Tina’s house after your first high school party.

You rise quickly when the door opens. Steve stands in front of you, eyes puffy and face red and smiling gently down at you anyway. “I love the shit outta you, you know that?” is all he can think to say. Because that’s all that he feels in that moment.

“Of course, I know that,” you grin up at him. Your hands rise to cup his jaw, thumbs swiping at his tear-stained cheeks. Your browns pinch in concern. “You okay?”

For the first time, he’s honest.

“No…” he murmurs with the soft shake of his head. His eyes dart away from yours and to the floor where his and your twenty toes stand, still on the ground, not floating in thin air.

“No— I… I don’t think I am,” he confesses softly. His tired, sad, and heavy honey eyes flit back up to yours again. “But I will be.”

You nod until your words catch up to you. “Yeah. Yeah, you will.”

“If only out of pure spite of all the monsters to all the monsters trying to destroy our lives.”

“They’re gone now,” you promise, like a parent who’s checked under their child’s bed for shadows and ghosts. It works well enough. Here, with his face in your hands and standing in your shared bedroom, he’s never felt safer.

“Can you… Can you hold me?” he wonders, a little meekly because he feels like an idiot saying them. Then he feels even more like an idiot for feeling like an idiot. You’re his girlfriend, after all, cuddles sort of came with the package.

“Of course,” you answer without thinking twice. You grab his hand and tug him back to the bed almost immediately. “I’ll hold you for the rest of our fucking lives, Harrington, you know that.”

The two of you settle into the mattress. Steve uses you like a pillow, wraps all of his limbs around you and tucks his face into your neck. Your scent is a familiar one, warm and comforting, like home. “I like the sound of that,” he mumbles into your shoulder after a moment of quiet.

“Well, buckle in, baby. ‘Cause I got you for the next, like, six decades.”

You feel his smile form against your skin as Steve tucks himself inside your soul.

[mvrtaiswriting]

Hello 🤗 can I request no6 from the drunk prompts for your event with ace?

Portgas D. Ace x prompt 6 (drunk prompts) - “okay, i think that’s enough for tonight.”

ofc you can, tysm for participating!! hope this is okay :) i love writing for ace eheh - I hope this is okay and that it meets your expectations! enjoy and lmk what you think <333

gender neutral reader | mention of alcohol / drunken behaviour | 808 words.

reblogs, likes, and comments are appreciated ♡ if you enjoy my works, click here to read more or buy me a coffee. -> from this event.

A familiar warmth rapidly spread across your cheeks as you chucked down yet another drink, Thatch swiftly preparing one pint after the other. The whole ship echoed with laughter, loud music playing in the background as a bunch of crew members tunelessly sang their usual chants.

"To us!"

The clicking sound of two glasses followed your words as you cheered with Marco. His usual seriousness was now replaced by the boldness only a good drink can give, and for once, Marco was having fun with all of you - drinking more than he could handle, playing stupid games and blurting out embarrassing things he would regret in the morning. After all, you deserved it - you had just escaped a real-life nightmare, obtaining yet another Poneglyph and surviving a clash with one of the four emperors, continuing Whitebeard's legacy and honouring his name. For the first night in weeks, you could finally let your guard down.

When Izou took your hand, letting you get up from your seat just to swing you around and luring you into a dance with him, you couldn't help but laugh, following his movements. His body felt warm against yours, his experienced hands resting on your hips as he swayed you from one direction to another. Regardless of your goofy movements, everyone was cheering on the two of you - everyone but Ace.

The fire fist remained silent, sitting on the bench you were just sharing with him, sipping on his drink and keeping his eyes locked on you. His pupils kept scanning your figure, the way your stumbled during your dance and the places Izou's hands wondered around your body. The slightest sparkle of jealousy started in his heart as he saw the love of his life in the arms of another man - someone he could never compete with. Ace wondered whether the attentions you were giving to his fellow comrade were out of affection, or love, or alcohol. Sure - every time you drank you often grew cuddlier, gifting hugs and snuggling with him and Marco; but this time it was different. This time, your body was pressed against one of the strongest commanders among the Whitebeard's crew, and you seemed to look at him the way you should have looked at Ace.

Ace was brought back to reality when you slammed your hands on the table, a loud laugh escaping your lips as you tried to keep yourself from falling.

"Hi fire boi." you called, poking his nose.

Smiling in response, Ace lightly tapped his hand on the bench, inviting you to take place next to him. Accepting his invitation, you were quick to snuggle against him, your head now resting on his shoulder.

"Had fun?"

Ace asked, his words sounding more bitter than intended. Only nodding in response, you snatched his drink off his hands and took a sip, the stinging taste of rum making you scrunch your nose. Attempting to put the glass down, you clumsily smashed it against the table, knocking down a few other drinks that were now spilling all over and soaking all of your clothes.

“Okay, i think that’s enough for tonight.”

Ace said, taking what was left of the glasses off your hand and helping you get up. You couldn't help but chuckle at the mess you made, worsening your staggering and only making it easier for you to fall. Ace's arm was quick to wrap around your waist, holding you tightly and gently helping you make your way to your room. The path to your bedroom was not without obstacles, and when you finally made it to bed Ace could finally relax again.

"Take this."

Ace said, taking off his shirt. Ironically, earlier that night he had spent hours searching through his wardrobe, trying to find a shirt that would suit him perfectly - he wanted to look nice, and he wanted you to notice. Yet, here he was again - standing shirtless in front of you. A giggle escaped your lips as you appreciated the sight in front of you - regardless of how many times you had seen his abs or lazily traced the freckles on his chest, Ace was still doing it for you. Mumbling a weak thank you, you changed into his clothes.

"Don't need to turn around." you teased, seeing Ace flustered reaction.

The mere act of your fingers reaching the hems of your own shirt made painted Ace's cheeks of a crimson red, quickly turning around to give you some privacy.

"You clearly had enough drinks." Ace remarked.

"Not enough to regret this in the morning."

Getting up from your bed, you walked towards him. Wrapping your arms around his torso, you rested your head against his muscular back.

"Sleep here tonight, mh?" you whispered against his skin, leaving a kiss on his shoulder blade.

[koisuko]

some mk1 men ( maybe. johnny...) with a reader who listens to metal music and is super dark dressing and gothic/emo but their personality is the opposite super sweet, extroverted and fun! nsfw or sfw :)

ooo can do!

Tw: none, silly little fellas, gn reader ft: Jonny Cage, Kung Lao, Raiden, Kenshi Takahashi, Liu Kang

Johnny Cage

Something tells me that Johnny won’t really mind your appearance. Your style and choice of music might pique his curiosity, prompting him to ask in his smooth classic way about the band you like.

“What ya listening to sugar?”

When he starts to get to know you, past your dark exterior, it was like doing a complete 180. He’s probably seen dark goths and emo’s in his career but likely chalked them up to their stereotypes. He was surprised, and would likely tease you about it often. He finds your personality cute, and likes the way it contrasts your exterior style. Especially with the music taste, how dark and aggressive the music is compared to your soft and sweet personality.

Kung Lao

It’s certainly something he’s not accustomed to, but something tells me he would be really into it. Your style is something new, refreshing from his village living, and it drew him in. In regard to your music taste, it would take some time for him to warm up to it. Best believe he’s dancing with you to it.

“Play that one again!”

He would find your personality adorable, likely teasing you on your soft interior. I’m sure he would find your style and your personality attractive. Having a bit of both is always nice.

Raiden

Your style is interesting to him, something he’s not used to but he isn’t one to judge. I would think he would not really care about your style, seeing past it in his cute little humble way. Your taste of music isn’t his cup of tea, but he would more than likely indulge in it simply to make you happy and spend time with you. He would be supportive of your music taste, dancing simply to be with you.

“Can I listen with you?”

Like the others, your personality is adorable to him. This would likely be the most compatible aspect to him, how soft and sweet you are to everyone around you. Best believe he’d enjoy some cuddles while you blast metal through your ear buds.

Kenshi Takahashi

He loves your style, it really suits your appearance. He’s not one to really care about how you look, or how you dress. But he would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy goth styles. Although, he wouldn’t personally dress in that way. As for the music, he’d likely enjoy it, but it wouldn’t be his favorite. He would chuckle at your enthusiasm in showing him every song on your playlist.

“Sure, baby, show me the next one.”

Again, like the others, your personality would be enjoyed. A bit of a surprise to him as he’s seen many goths in his lifetime and met a few. He’d find it lovely, enjoying the brightness you bring to every room. I would think he enjoys someone is the life of the party, to make up for his more reserved personality.

Liu Kang

I’d like to think he is very similar to Raiden, not really paying much attention to your exterior. And I mean, you could have the strangest style, dressing like a literal clown, and he would still treat you like anyone else. Whatever makes you happy, he will love just the same. Your music style would be no different. If it makes you happy, he will like it too. Perhaps it’s not his cup of tea, preferring more calm and relaxing music over the aggression of metal music. But regardless, he would listen to it with a smile on his face.

“I truly adore the happiness this brings you, my treasure.”

Your personality, he will love just the same. If anything, he would find it beautiful, like the balance of night and day. He would remain a protective figure while you make everyone smile, hanging back with his hands folded and smiling at the joy you bring others.

Notes: sorry this is so short, I struggled a bit with it but I hope it’s at least to your liking❤️maybe I’ll redo it sometime.

[sangoqueenkoko]

KAVEH

"how do you become accidentally married?" …part 2.

fluff

DENDRO MASTERLIST | DRABBLE MASTERLIST

Drabble prompt: page 1: #8 = "how do you become accidentally married?"

Warnings? Mentions of alcohol in general and of what could be blood (but it's actually red wine). Pet names mentioned (Honey, my Love).

Contains a mention of Alhaitham, slight mention of Nahida, and Kaveh of course!

1k words.

Here’s a part 2 no one asked for! @groovyparadisestarlight and @udretlnea sort of did

i wonder if this one will blow up like the first part…

‘Because he cannot remember what happened the night before.’

These are the events that lead up to the day after.

In a far corner of Lambard's Tavern sat you with a cup of the Taverns, in the words of Kaveh, “best wine one has ever tasted.” You were waiting for him to show up after a meeting with a surprisingly easy client. You would buy his drinks for him today as a treat for his good mood. As you don’t want to burden him any further than he already could be.

After you had finished a quarter of your first glass — as you didn’t want too drink to much before the occasion had even begun — Kaveh came bursting in, luckily it wasn’t so crowded just yet. So he didn’t disturb many people with his sudden appearance. Many.

He looked around the main room before spotting you and quickly making his way over, “(Y/N)! Great! You’re here!” He smiled as he sat opposite you. After he gave you a kiss on the cheek though. It was always a sweet gesture from him to you.

And him to you, only.

Anyway.

“So how was the meeting with the client?” You asked as you rested your chin on the back of your hand, gazing across the table at him. The question only made him more… happier than he was a literal second ago.

“Oh, right! Well, the client loved what I had in mind! He said that what I had thought and designed what exactly what he had in mind too! We saw eye to eye,” He exclaimed with a genuine grin before taking a quick sip of wine from the cup that you had poured for him, “and get this. He also said that he will help with most of the cost of it!! Can you believe it?!” He stood up with his hands on the table. You were genuinely happy for him, it’s the happiest you’ve seen him in a while.

“Wow! That’s great, Honey! And I am glad to see that smile of yours again.”

As the day went on, you ordered a few more drinks and a meal because why not? It’s a good occasion. More people came in and went. Locals and travellers. Speaking of travellers, a travelling bard from Mondstadt made a pit stop in Sumeru and tried playing their music, which was a hit. It was much different to what locals in Sumeru are accustomed to.

Faster pace, more upbeat, more… joyous. Lively. Something that was worth dancing to.

Evening came and the bard was back, they brought more people off the streets inside to dance. As that’s what a lot of people were doing already. Singing local songs and ones from other nations.

At this point, the two of you were a little drunk, ones with the vibes. It was the end of the week, so it was so worth it.

“Care to dance with me, m’dear?” Kaveh asked as he stood and offered a hand to you with a bow, the other behind his back. Looking into his eyes you would see the same kind, caring being he is, the only difference was that you saw more love and adoration in his eyes for you. You and only you.

“Of course, my Love!” You smiled as you held his hand and stood up.

The evening was… a bizarre blur. A lot of drinks, like different types of wine. Lots of singing with everyone in the tavern, and of course dancing. You vividly being on top of a table with Kaveh, and him spinning you around at some point. Though the owners didn’t do anything about it, I’m assuming that they didn’t mine it. Everyone had fun.

A little too much fun to be honest, to the point that The Corps of Thirty came in and closed down the tavern for the night as it was even quite loud and the sounds where quite brash on the main high street itself. Disrupting the peace.

But even after that, neither you or Kaveh wanted to go home. Even if it was best because of how drunk you two were.

But somehow, the pair of you traversed to the Sanctuary of Surasthana, and made it in one peace, where the Lesser Lord herself would be. During the nights, she would occasionally walk around the city to appreciate it in peace, and you so happened to come across her here.

Kaveh spoke to her and had the idea to ask her to officiate something and be the key witness for the occasion. And of course she agreed. Upon her asking what it was, Kaveh would say, in a heartbeat – yet drunkenly confident – “I want to marry this lovely being here” he pulled you closer, “(Y/N). (M/N). (L/N). The love of my life!”

She didn’t care what time it was, neither did you two.

The Lesser Lord herself, and the guards, served as your witnesses.

It wasn’t exactly how someone would want to be married, but to be married by a God herself? You better count that as a blessing for a bright future.

But the Goddess didn’t want something happening to the newly weds as you made you ways back down from the Sanctuary. So she escorted you both herself back home.

She granted you the sweetest of dreams for that night, and she knew that neither of you would regret the decision. Even she knew how close you two were.

It was about 2am when you got back to Kaveh’s shared house with Alhaitham. And surprisingly, you didn’t wake him up. Even if he sleeps like dead weight.

You stumbled onto the bed first, then did Kaveh. No type of intimacy was shared, apart from some loving words and light kisses. All before you both passed out asleep.

Let’s forget the red wine stains and glasses in the living room for now.

Just how will you explain this to Alhaitham later on?

So this is how you become accidentally married.

I ran out of steam towards the end. Sorry.

[hesitant-angel]

imagine being highschool sweethearts with mikey ☹️

being highschool sweethearts with mikey ! | mikey way x reader | gender neutral reader | (headcannons) |

★ I LOVE THE MIKEY REQUEST!! this is the sweetest thing im so glad u sent this anon because i literally think about this every single day. hes the loml trust me ! im unsure of how accurate this will but bare with me im learning! P.S. THANK YOU ALL FOR 20 FOLLOWERS!!!! i had so much fun writing this, as of right now i'd say mikey is my favorite to write for.

my masterlist

— Okay I have so much on my mind for this I don't even know where to start. I think of Mikey to be a quiet kid in highschool, not in a stereotypical way, but I feel like he'd focus more on getting through the day and getting his work done, focusing less on the social aspect.

— If you're also a quiet kid, you two would sit together any chance you get, you'd distance yourselves away from everyone else a bit to get lost in your own conversations about whatever you guys like to talk about.

— If you're more social, he'd probably follow you to whatever you're doing. He'd stay relatively quiet in most conversations, just listening, unless you prompted him to talk or introduced him to someone, then he'd do the polite thing and say hello and talk to them.

— People write Mikey as overally shy and nervous alot (like.. in the babying grown men way.) but I dont think he'd actually be that bad. I feel like he just takes a bit of time to adjust to talking to people and can be a little awkward at first. Once he warms up to you he's pretty laid-back and will talk with you about anything and everything you want.

— He'd claim that he 'isn't really interested in dating anyone' because he knew the whole thing about how highschool relationships typically never last, so he just tried to avoid it. That was until he met you of course.

— When he met you, his whole perspective on highschool and life in general changed. The more you two got to know eachother the more he fell head-over-heels in love with you.

— He'd definitely help you with homework if needed (and if he understood the class enough...)

— You guys would try and hang out after school to work on homework together but it just ends up being a two-hour period of you guys going on and on about the most random things before realizing that you haven't even started the homework. He'd eventually figure out a way for you guys to get work done but still get time to talk to each other.

— But it's not like you guys don't spend every minute you can together, people swear they can't see one of you without seeing the other. Of course, whenever one of you needs time alone its respected and you take breaks from eachother whenever necessary.

— You two compare music tastes and talk about music alot. Doesn't matter if you have different music taste than him, he wants to talk about it with you (even if he'll tease you a little about liking different stuff). If you have similar taste though, it'll definitely bring you closer.

— Movie nights are a big thing for him, he usually likes to pick the movie but he'll try and watch whatever you want, too. He'll explain parts of the movie to you if he can, he's a movie nerd and will tell you facts you had never heard of.

— If you're within walking distance from eachother (or one / both of you can drive) you two will come over and stop by whenever you can, even if it's just for a moment to say hi.

— You and Mikey meeting in highschool definitely made a big positive impact on your relationship in the future, you've changed eachother in small and big ways over the course of time and both of you agree that you're glad you met when you did.

* i tried my best with this i hope its okay! i really enjoyed writing these even if i was a bit repetitive and not proofread (im sleep deprived atm) , if anyone has any more ideas branching off of this plot please let me know! id love to make this an ongoing thing :)

[sugalaritae]

Congrats again on the milestone! Could I request a drabble for this prompt?

Making out as a distraction x Accidental kiss

Maybe YoonKook x Reader? In whatever configuration you like 👉👈

summary: You push yourself against Jungkook and slip a leg between his as you begin to move to the music. 

“Relax,” you whisper with a soft smile. 

“I’m trying,” he says with a shaky voice.

or Yoongi, Jungkook, and you are on a road trip across country and you've taken a wrong (but right) turn.

pairing: min yoongi x f! reader x jeon jungkook

genre: smut. this is just pwp

au: roadtrip, sort of s2l, one bed!

rating: 18+

word count: 4.5k

warnings: tension, semi-public kissing, dancing with jungkook (that's a warning), a sun dress from the 90s, drinking, mentions of a nicotine being tasted in a kiss, just so so much kissing, lots of discussion of consent and what everyone wants and doesn't want (do this everyone! it's good practice), or*l sex (f receiving and m, both times m giving), v*ginal sex with a condom, choking, voyeurism, face f*cking (mxm), spit, sw*llowing, aftercare

author’s note: honestly this idea came from a in-depth conversation with @minttangerines @minisugakoobies and @bangtanintotheroom several months ago about what a yoonkook fic based on Y tu mamá también would look like. i've been wanting to write it ever since and while it's not that plot at all, it was lightly influenced by the dance scene (tho in my fic yoongi and jungkook are sort of in a "relationship"). thank you to all the above mentioned loves for their encouragement, to Sunny for her request, and to AJ for looking this over!! The title is from the song 'places' by the blaze

The music is swaying around like wind. The four-piece band comprised of men in their forties and fifties are on a stage behind you. There is a drink in front of you. Yoongi and Jungkook sit in front of you as they softly argue about Jungkook's mess up. Behind them is the beach. Beautiful dark sand and then nothing. You know the ocean is about fifty feet away from where you are sitting, but you can’t see it, the water mirroring the dark sky above. If you listen closely though, you can hear the sounds of the waves as they brush against the shore. 

Slowly, the whole scene moves together into one reality as you bring yourself back into your body. It’s been a stressful day. The three of you weren’t supposed to be here. The town you were aiming for is about 250 miles in a different direction, but Jungkook had misread the signs and made a wrong turn and no one had noticed until it was too late to turn around. You had seen the little beachside bar from the road and suggested that you all take a break from driving; maybe have a drink and get a hotel room for the night. The bar is empty, save for the three of you, the band, bartender and a couple in the corner. 

“Jungkook–” you say suddenly and at the same time as you set your pint of beer down on the table with a little more strength than you had intended. 

He looks at you with surprise. 

“Dance with me.”

You look at the two men who are following you with heavy gazes as you stand up and fix your dress. You don’t normally wear dresses, but today was hot in the car and you weren’t really interested in wearing leggings and a tank top. So you wore the only dress you had - a light yellow one with thick straps and buttons down the front that reminded you of something your mother wore in the 90s. 

You hold out your hand for him. 

“Come on,” you say not as a question, but as a command and watch as he looks between your face and hand before gently setting his hand on top of yours. You wrap your smaller one around his much bigger one and lead him to a spot on the beach, still under the lights of the bar but not in it. 

He stands there for a moment, shy, and it pulls a smile from you. Grabbing his hands in yours, you guide them to your waist and slip your hands up his biceps until you can rest your forearms on his shoulders. 

You want to make him relax. 

You can tell that he’s feeling guilty for having driven so far off course. There is the issue of money and gas. The three of you know that one of the guys will have to ask you for money and it will come from your savings, which is why neither of them have brought it up and you’re still reconciling that. But you’re telling yourself that it will be okay. 

For now, you’re deciding to concentrate on dancing with Jungkook instead. It’s a good distraction. 

You push yourself against Jungkook and slip a leg between his as you begin to move to the music. 

“Relax,” you whisper with a soft smile. 

“I’m trying,” he says with a shaky voice. 

You slide your hand up his shoulder until your thumb is touching his neck and you guide the soft pad of your thumb back and forth against his skin, feeling the veins and muscles that tense and then slowly relax. His hands on your waist pull you closer and you smile as you rest your cheek against his pec. You close your eyes as he begins to lead you, the both of you moving to the music and forgetting the world around you. 

When your cousin had suggested that you catch a ride with his friends who were going in the same direction as your new home, you hadn’t thought that they would be two handsome friends. Jungkook had been so excited to meet you, a kind and happy energy as he opened the front door and offered to load your suitcases into the trunk of the car. Yoongi had been polite and quiet until the first day was almost over and then suddenly, it was like he decided that he did like you. Up until tonight they had been staying in one hotel room and you, in another. Tonight, you couldn’t afford that and as you swayed with Jungkook pressed tight against your body, you find yourself hoping that he is someone who likes cuddling because the room only has one bed. 

His body relaxes pressed against you and you feel a hand drift lower. He doesn’t move to touch your actual cheeks, but you can tell he’s thinking about it. He moves two fingers gently over your ass while his one hand stays put on your lower back, only for a moment though before he moves it gently up and down your back. You hum deep in your throat and your fingers drift up into his long hair. 

The night feels electric with the buzzing from the old (probably unsafe) lights strung up above you. The band seems to only be playing slow songs and you’re not sure if it’s for the benefit of you and Jungkook, but you’re not going to question it. 

“Jungkook,” you whisper as you move to look up at him and at just the same moment, he moves to be at your level, turning to look at you.

The two of you bump into each other, your lips brushing against each other and immediately he pulls away when you’re certain that you would be okay if he had kissed you. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles and you smile. 

“It’s okay.” 

Jungkook slowly separates himself from you and holds out his hand for you to take, nodding toward the table where Yoongi still is. You shake your head and stay put, your body still swaying a little to the music until you see him take a seat at the table and you see that Yoongi has turned his seat to face where you and Jungkook were dancing. You smile at him and give a little wave and then turn and walk out toward the water. 

It seems like there is no moon out but you can see its faded light behind a cloud. 

You feel like anything could happen tonight. Your life is in a massive shift with no home yet to call your own and all of your belongings in two suitcases. You sold everything else, wanting to leave everything behind and start fresh. It’s a good but terrifying feeling. The water, with its dark colour,  is a bit like that, you notice as you get closer. The sand darkened with each kiss of a wave. You are free to live your life however you want and it’s an excitement unknown like the ocean in front of you. 

“He should have kissed you,” a voice says to your left. Yoongi’s voice. 

You smile without turning toward him, but you nod. 

“He should have, but he’s shy and it’s really endearing.” 

“How come you didn’t ask me to dance?” he asks. 

You laugh lightly, “Would you have if I had asked?” 

He shakes his head, “No.” 

“Didn’t think so.”

There’s a pause and both of you watch the water in front of you. You don’t know much about where Yoongi and Jungkook are going or what they’re going to do there but you don’t really care. You’re leaving your past behind so that you can start fresh and you’re not entirely interested in two men coming into your life. 

You are interested in whatever Yoongi is about to say though. 

“I would have kissed you, though.” 

“Why don’t you now?” you ask and this time you turn to him completely. 

The lights from the bar shine soft shadows across his body and face. He’s beautiful. 

You take a deep breath, the cool fresh breeze from the ocean fills your lungs and releases it for a moment before he takes a step toward you and cups your face gently in his hands, kissing you softly. You sigh against him and your hands grip the bottom of his biceps. 

It’s a chaste kiss at first but then one of his hands falls from your face and he grips your hip tightly pulling you to him. You part your lips and tease his bottom lip with the tip of your tongue. He tastes like the cheap whiskey he was drinking and leftover nicotine from a cigarette he smoked when you first arrived. 

He pulls you flush to him and this time, unlike Jungkook, he slips his hand down to your ass. His lips part and he welcomes your tongue with his. He tastes like freedom and the unknown. You moan into his mouth and he swallows it happily. 

Then his lips drift from yours and he kisses your cheek and jaw. You move your head to give him more room so he can kiss your neck and he does. Then he nips at your earlobe and it sends a shiver up your spine to meet his mouth. 

“I want to watch you with him,” he whispers and you release a breath you weren’t aware you were holding. 

“Will he want that?” you ask. 

“Yes.” 

It’s a whisper in your ear, but it sends another shiver, this time down your spine and you push your hips to his. 

“I want you after.” 

“Maybe.” 

He kisses you again and this time you don’t hesitate against each other. You dive in and drag his hand that has, until now, stayed on your neck, slowly down your front, stopping briefly at your breast as he feels your nipple perk under his fingers. Your breathing is shallow and you feel a rush of pleasure as he slips his hand to the side and pushes his thumb gently under the material of your dress until it brushes over your bare nipple and you gasp against his lips. 

You jump a little as you feel a body press against your back, wandering hands down your full hips. 

“Can I fuck you?” Jungkook whispers against your ear before he licks along your ear. 

“Please,” you say against Yoongi who chuckles and pulls away.

“I think we should move to our room then,” he says. 

The hotel room isn’t anything special. The bedspread looks old and is definitely polyester, but you don’t care because two men are currently undressing you. Yoongi is behind you, kissing and licking at your neck as Jungkook unbuttons your dress enough to reveal your bare breasts because you were too tired to try and find your bra when you got dressed this morning. You let the dress fall from your shoulders and arms. Yoongi’s hands drift under your arms and cup your breasts and Jungkook gets on his knees in front of you. 

You feel overwhelmed, your head swimming as Jungkook kisses your clothed cunt. 

“You should take those off of her, I want you to tell me what she tastes like,” Yoongi says as he looks over your shoulder at the man in front of you. 

Jungkook does, gripping your underwear with his hands and tugging them down. You step out of them with his guidance, his gentle hands calloused a little on his palms, but he treats you like he could break you. 

Your hands have felt heavy at your sides, but now they find his hair and you bury your fingers there as he kisses the inside of your thighs making his way to you. Then he licks gently up your slit. You feel his fingers part your lips and his tongue slides against you, your excitement gathering on his tongue. 

“Oh,” you moan. 

“That’s right, baby, let him taste you. I’ll wait until he’s done with you,” Yoongi whispers against your neck and you shiver. 

Jungkook is good with his tongue and you expect him to slip a finger into you, but he doesn’t, using only his tongue to pleasure you. His tongue presses against your clit with a mixture of pressure and moisture. You moan loudly as Yoongi’s fingers pinch and lightly twist at your sensitive nipples. 

“I’m—“ you start and your breath hitches.

“Kook, stop,” Yoongi commands and suddenly you're left standing alone without Jungkook’s mouth on you and you’re so close, but you feel abandoned. 

“No,” you whimper. 

“Baby, are you okay if Jungkook fucks you now?” Yoongi asks. 

You nod. 

“What are you okay with? Are there things that you don’t want or don’t like?” he asks as Jungkook pushes himself up to standing in front of you and suddenly you’re aware that Yoongi has dropped his hands from your breasts to rest on your hips. 

You feel safe and respected because Jungkook isn’t looking at your body, but at your face as he waits for your answer. 

“I don’t want anal or being touched there,” you start. 

Yoongi and Jungkook nod. 

“Okay, anything else?” Jungkook asks and you like that he’s the one asking it this time. 

“Don’t call me princess, baby is fine, but I don’t want any specifically gendered names,” you say to Jungkook and he nods. “I don’t want anything really rough, but I want Yoongi to choke me when I’m close if you’re comfortable.” 

“Let me know and I’ll do it. What do you mean by really rough?” Yoongi asks. 

“No slapping or degrading. I don’t want that.” 

Jungkook nods. 

“I need aftercare. I need to feel both of you against me after.” 

Yoongi’s hands run up and down your hips gently as he asks, “Anything else, baby?” 

You shake your head. 

“Jungkook, anything you want from her or from me?” he asks. 

Jungkook nods. “Can you lick my nipples?” he asks and this time you nod. 

“That’s all. Yoongi?” 

He starts to Jungkook. “I want to kiss you while you still have her on your tongue." He turns to you. "I want to eat you out after he’s fucked you, and then I want you to finish me off, Kook.” 

Jungkook nods again and you wonder how many times they’ve done this. Questions fly through your head and you feel silly for not having asked them before. You don’t know if they’re a couple, but you haven’t noticed anything and then you don’t know if Yoongi would be the kind of person who would be public about his relationships. 

“I can do that,” Jungkook says and the two men lock eyes.

It’s powerful to be stuck between them and slowly, Jungkook steps into you and kisses Yoongi over your shoulder. You rest your head against Yoongi’s shoulder and your gaze drifts over to them. You watch as Yoongi’s tongue slips over Jungkook’s and then the two of them part. 

“You are exquisite. Taste better than anything I could have imagined.” Yoongi says before he kisses your neck. 

Jungkook watches you. His gaze is heavy, his eyes lidded, pupils blown and you can’t take your gaze off him. 

“Can I kiss you?” Jungkook asks after a beat and you nod. 

“Please.” 

His kiss is more needy than Yoongi’s was. You feel Jungkook’s and Yoongi’s fingers lace together, both their palms pressing against your skin and you moan against his lips which causes him to open them and you can taste little remnants of yourself on his tongue. 

You move your hands and pull his shirt up, separating from him briefly so that you can pull his shirt off him, which he helps with by separating his hands from Yoongi’s and he holds his arms up. The garment gets caught on his fingers and the two of you laugh as he helps you. You take him in with a gasp. 

“Fuck.” 

A smirk tugs the corner of his lips up and it’s a look that makes you feel weak in the knees. 

Yoongi kisses your neck, licking where he presses kisses, and you watch as Jungkook takes off his jeans, stepping out of them. He’s gorgeous, fitter than anyone you’ve ever been with and for a moment a brief spark of insecurity flashes through you because you’re softer than him. His cock is erect and you can’t take your eyes off his darkened tip. 

“Condom?” he asks and you nod. 

Yoongi guides you backward to the bed and then steps out from behind you and you sit down on the polyester cover. It scratches against your ass as you move upward, Jungkook kisses you again, his hands pressing into the mattress and caging you in. It makes you feel safe and sexy. You remind yourself that he wants you and you close your eyes falling into his kiss. You can feel his cock against your thigh and you open your legs wide for him, making room for him between them. 

Jungkook stops kissing for a moment as Yoongi hands him a condom and you watch as Jungkook rips it open and rolls the thin latex onto himself. He looks trapped fighting against the material of it and you reach between your bodies and take him in your hand, stroking him for a moment as Yoongi and he kiss. 

Then Yoongi is stepping away and you watch him, cheek pressed to the bedspread, as he pulls a chair closer to the bed and sits down. He’s looking at the two of you like you’re the most beautiful human beings he’s ever seen and you find your body reacting to his gaze. Jungkook takes advantage of the position of your head and kisses your neck, biting softly and then pulling away quickly and whispering against your skin as he asks if that was okay and you answer with a short nod. 

He holds your wrist lightly and brings your hand from his cock to his pec, reminding you that he wants you to touch and lick his nipples. You brush your thumb over the erect little bud and he lets out a deep breath against your skin. You feel his cock head press against your cunt and you breathe in as he presses himself into you. Both of you gasp as he pushes all the way into you, knocking from Yoongi’s gaze. Your hand grips his pec, fingers digging into his skin gently. 

He pauses, allowing you to adjust to him. He’s thicker than other men you’ve been with and it takes you a moment, your body relaxing around him. 

“You can move, baby,” you say softly and he bites again at your neck. 

You moan loud at this. 

He starts slow, sliding out almost the full way and then pushing into you. He feels amazing, filling you each time. 

“Faster,” you moan and wrap your legs around his waist, locking your feet at the ankles easily. 

He moans against your skin and then his lips find yours again and he kisses you while he pushes into you faster and stronger. Your back arches against the bed and out of the corner of your eye, you can see Yoongi shift slightly. You’re not close yet. You can feel the familiar build in your stomach, but you’re not close. He seems to notice this, so he stays. 

Jungkook, on the other hand, winds an arm under where you’ve separated from the bed and lifts you. You’re used to men trying to lift you, but he does it with ease, flipping the two of you over in the bed, his cock slipping out of you as he does so and you adjust a little over him before you guide him back to your entrance and sit down on him. Yoongi watches as both your heads fall back with the feeling. 

You bend down and take his nipple between your lips. You slip your tongue around him, licking at his sweaty skin, tasting salt as you fuck yourself on his cock. You stay that way for a moment, relishing in how Jungkook is under you, moaning your name like it’s a prayer, a holy name. 

He’s talking through all of this, you realize. Guiding you, telling you how well you’re doing. 

You break your kiss from Jungkook’s chest and lift one knee up, resting your foot against the bedspread and the new angle pushes you closer and closer.

“I’m close, Yoongi,” you say and you close your eyes tight as you pick up your speed. 

You feel the mattress dip a little and Yoongi’s hand gently grips your neck. He leans into the side of your head and takes your earlobe between his teeth, biting gently as his grip tightens. 

“Keep going, baby,” Jungkook commands and you keep the movement. 

Everything is overwhelming, the feeling builds and you feel Jungkook’s hand press against your lower stomach, helping you over that edge. Yoongi’s fingers press into the sides of your throat in the perfect way and you love this; you knew you could trust him to choke you right. 

Your walls clench around Jungkook’s cock as your body shakes. Your orgasm ricochets through your body. Jungkook pushes into you, thrusting upward, fucking you through it before you feel him come. He fills the condom and you wish you could feel him so that Yoongi could lick his cum out of you. 

Yoongi kisses your temple. 

“You did so well, baby. So well,” he purrs in your ear and you feel yourself fall against him as his hand releases your neck. 

Jungkook below you watches, his chest rising and falling as he tries to gather himself. After a moment you move off him and he catches the condom before it comes off. 

“Do you need a moment before I…” Yoongi asks and you nod. 

Jungkook moves off the bed to throw the condom and Yoongi slips his shirt off and lays down next to you, guiding you to rest your head against his chest. 

“You did so, so well, I’m so proud of you,” he whispers to you as his hands move over your back and arm, up and down. 

You move your head to capture his lips in a kiss and he kisses you softly before you decide you’re ready again.

“Can I have you, all of you?” you ask against his lips and he smiles. 

“Maybe tomorrow morning. Could I wake you up?”

You nod. 

He directs you off him and onto the bed properly as he kisses you and you watch as he kisses down your body. Stopping briefly to pay attention to your breasts again. He licks and bites softly. His fingertips move gently over your sensitive skin and it feels like electricity. You feel alive and tender and so fucking human. 

His lips capture your clitoral hood in an intimate kiss. He tugs slightly and you moan, your hands finding a home in his hair. It’s soft. He is skilled. His tongue pushes into you and licks up and out, over and over and over and over until you feel a little dizzy, your eyes closing tight. 

Jungkook sits beside you, running his fingers gently down your cheek. He leans down and kisses you fully. 

“Do you want to be choked again?” he asks and you shake your head. 

He kisses you as Yoongi licks, but never penetrating you with anything but his tongue. You’re happy for this because you feel sensitive and already this is broaching the feeling of being oversensitive. 

Your second orgasm isn’t as powerful as the first, but your back breaks its relationship with the bed. You moan into Jungkook’s mouth and he seems to relish in this. Yoongi kisses the inside of your thigh tenderly as his hands move up and down your legs, gripping your ankles gently and tugging you back to earth. 

“Baby, are you okay if Jungkookie finishes me off or do you need someone to hold you?” Yoongi asks. 

It takes you a moment to answer, but Yoongi never moves. Instead, he just tightens his grip ever-so-gently on your ankles and keeps you steady. 

“Come back to me after?” you ask.

“Of course,” both men say at the same time, but Yoongi punctuates his with a kiss on your knee and you feel special.

Jungkook makes sure to help you move so your head is resting against the pillows and under the blankets. He kisses you gently on the lips and then knee-walks over to Yoongi. You watch as Jungkook slides off the bed and Yoongi grabs him by the back of the neck and pulls him into a kiss. It’s sexy, long. Jungkook’s hands work on Yoongi’s black trousers, and then as soon as his pants are at his ankles, Yoongi’s hands push down on Jungkook’s shoulders and you watch as the younger man gets on his knees. 

Jungkook licks the underside of Yoongi’s cock which pulls his name from Yoongi’s mouth. He does this a few more times before he takes all of Yoongi in one go and it’s amazing to watch. 

They have done this before, you think as you watch Yoongi grip the back of Jungkook’s head. 

“Can I fuck your face?” Yoongi asks and Jungkook nods as best he can. 

You watch the muscles in Jungkook’s jaw relax as Yoongi’s fingers curl Jungkook’s hair around them and he begins a fast pace. This time it’s Yoongi who is talking Jungkook through fucking him. Spit falls from around Yoongi’s cock and out of Jungkook’s mouth landing on his chest and shining there. It’s beautiful and sexy and it almost makes you ready again, but you’re exhausted. 

Your fingers dance along your collarbone as you watch though, desperate for touch. Yoongi finishes in Jungkook’s mouth and pulls out in a fast movement that makes even your jaw ache. Cum and spit fall out of Jungkook’s mouth and onto his chin. Yoongi reaches down and gathers it up on his fingers and pushes it back into the other’s mouth. 

“Swallow,” Yoongi commands and you take a breath at the tone. It’s deep and makes your legs shake a little in anticipation of what might be happening when you wake the next morning. 

Jungkook follows the command and you watch his throat move with the action. He sticks his tongue out and Yoongi nods.

“Well done. You did well.” 

Yoongi kisses Jungkook softly as the younger stands. 

Yoongi slips under the covers and presses his body to yours.  Jungkook walks around the bed and slips in the other side and does the same. You feel safe here. Jungkook brings a leg over yours and you feel caged in and comfortable. 

“You both did so well tonight. I’m so proud of you both,” Yoongi says as his hand moves over Jungkook’s arm and his lips kiss your temple and cheek. 

You don’t know what your future holds and you feel sleep join the weight of the two bodies of the men on either side of you. You are happy. Content. Whatever happens in this life you will have this memory and it feels like the start of a new past. 

©sugalaritae, 2023. Do NOT repost, edit, or translate any of my work. I only post on ao3 and tumblr

if you liked what you read please comment, reblog, and give likes!!

[syrikif]

Gamer Etiquette

Kodzuken x Streamer!Y/N

Pairing: Kenma Kozume x Fem!Reader

Genre: SMAU, Written Elements, Strangers to Lovers, Romance, Fluff, Humor, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Streamer/Youtuber AU

Upcoming content creator/streamer, Y/N, has gone viral for lots of things. Her infamous dumb moments, her blended cookie recipe (which tastes better than it sounds), the way she rages at her friends during games, and about a hundred more.

But her most recent viral moment? Accidentally knocking famous streamer, Kodzuken, off the Bedwars map and making him lose his two year winning streak.

Now with more attention (and hate) than she ever asked for, her only option left is to go to the source: the man himself, Kenma Kozume.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Chapter 2 (a): Bedwars

Word Count: 2171

“Hey guys,” you smile at your webcam, “How’s everyone’s night been so far?” You adjust to get just a bit more comfortable, wrapping your favorite blanket around your legs as you observe their responses in chat. 

“Oh my god you had sushi for dinner? That sounds so good.” You lean forward to get a closer look, “Awe thank you. I tried so hard to do my makeup today,” you inform everyone when you see a compliment fly past. “It took me like four business days to finish my eyeliner,” you roll your eyes at the memory. 

You start humming softly as you read through chat, prompting everyone to start spamming for music and making you smile. “Okay okay, I get it guys I’ll put some music on.” 

You pull open Spotify, selecting one of your favorite non-copyrighted playlists, “Is that loud enough? Oh- too loud?” You turn it down by about twenty percent, “Is that better?”

You grin, letting yourself relax against the back of your chair. “I don’t really have a plan for the stream; I just wanted to kind of chat for a little bit, explain why I was in the hospital and stuff.” 

YOU WERE IN THE HOSPITAL????

You laugh when you see the message, realizing too late that you’d probably just dropped a bomb on everyone who doesn’t follow you on any of your other social media. “Oh yeah, sorry guys.” You suddenly snort, “Did someone just say I was in hospice for being dumb?” 

You shake your head subconsciously, “Even funnier though is that they’re kind of right.” 

You reach forward to grab the bottle of water resting on your desk, “Don’t worry it’s not anything serious. Like at all.” You pause to take a brief sip of the iced liquid, cringing at how cold it is when it enters your mouth. “Holy shit,” you shudder, “That was so fucking cold.” 

You take a deep breath to regain your composure.

“Anyways, so basically I fell and hit my head yesterday and my friends just wanted to take me to the hospital to make sure I didn’t get a concussion or anything. And then it turned out that I was actually - like - super dehydrated so they wanted to give me an IV drip to get some fluids in me.” You lift your water bottle pointedly, “Hence the new addition to the stream.” 

Normally you’d rarely ever have water during a stream, and if you did it was kept in a much smaller bottle. It’s different now though (your roommate made sure of that) since your current water bottle is big enough to cover your entire face if you were to hold it up. 

“But now I am a-okay and in perfect condition. Well, mostly anyways.” 

You spend some time just singing along to the music and responding to some of the messages you see in chat. You feel yourself relaxing as you talk with everyone, your tense shoulders loosening and your voice growing just a bit louder as you get more comfortable. 

You’re always nervous to stream at first, despite having done it hundreds of times by now. You don’t think you’ll ever not be nervous to be completely honest. It was such a surreal experience, to be able to be so closely connected with so many different people from so many different places, that you were terrified of ever losing it. 

“Oh my god you guys. So I made some pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips in them the other day and they are literally like the best thing I’ve probably ever baked in my life.” 

Better than your blended cookies?

You roll your eyes, “Oh ha ha; you guys act like you’ve tried it. I promise you all that it’s literally ten times better than it sounds. I’ll have to post the recipe at some point because I genuinely think a lot of you would love them.” 

I can attest to that ✋

“Sho,” you excitedly exclaim as you see your friend’s username. “You guys know Shoyo right?” You feel your head tilt, watching the varying responses flood your chat box. “Well if you don’t know who he is, he’s literally - like - famous for playing volleyball.” 

I love Hinata! I met him once and he was so nice.

You nod rapidly in agreement, “Yes! He’s seriously gotta be the nicest person I’ve ever met.” 

“Do you want to get on call with me?” You direct the question towards your close friend, subconsciously biting your lip as you await his answer. 

Still at practice unfortunately 🙁

You pout, “Oh no.” With a small sigh, “I just don’t know what to do now. You got any suggestions, chat?”

You read as many messages as you can, eyebrows furrowing further the longer you sit there. 

“I’m seeing a lot of minecraft; do we wanna play a bit of minecraft?” You hum in thought, swaying in your chair as you consider the idea. “How about Bedwars?”

Chat practically erupts at your words, capitalized letters and emotes flying by so fast that you don’t get any chance to read a single one. “Okay okay,” you laugh, “I get it.” 

You set your water bottle back down, adjusting your keyboard to sit properly before grabbing your mouse. “Let’s play some Bedwars I guess.” 

~~~

“Fuck you!” 

You groan as you release your mouse, throwing your head back in annoyance as you die yet once again. 

“How the fuck do I keep on dying? Literally what the fuck!” You chance a glance at your chat, hiding a smile at their reaction to your raging. You’ll admit it, while you are actually frustrated with the game, you’re definitely playing it up just a little bit for your audience. 

You don’t wait for the round to end after you die, leaving the game and immediately running to join another one. You’ve been playing in teams of three, hoping that having the extra assistance would help you stay alive longer. 

So far it’s proved to be completely futile. 

“We’re definitely gonna win this one you guys,” you say just as the round begins. “Me-,” you pause to look at your teammate’s usernames, “PinkyFluff_22 and Kodzuken are going to absolutely demolish everyone else.” 

What did she just sayyyyyyy 😳

I’m sorry you and WHO????

No way she’s playing with who I think she’s playing with

One in a million chance lol

Wtf

“What is everyone freaking out about?” You question as you patiently wait to collect some iron and gold, watching one of your teammates begin to cover the bed with a measly defense of red wool. “Kodzuken?”

You buy some wood and Endstone from the villager before purchasing a slightly better sword than the wooden one you were given. “Oh they stream?”

Girl 💀

How do you not know who he is?????

“Bro I don’t know,” you shrug, “I just work here okay.” 

You sprint over to the bed, breaking the wool to replace it with the Endstone, layering the wood on top, and then finally placing the wool around it again. “I guess I’ll be bed defense then,” you say as you notice that you’re the only person left on the island. 

“Oh shit someone’s coming!” You duck behind the giant cube of wool, watching the name tag get progressively closer to your island. You jump out as soon as you feel like they’re close enough, attacking the unaware oncomer and knocking them off the island within a few easy hits. 

“Fuck yeah!” You jump around excitedly, proud of the way your plan was actually successful this time. “See that? I told you I’m not bad!” 

You abruptly flinch as your character turns and comes face to face with another player. “Holy shit!” You release a sigh of relief as you realize it’s only your teammate, Kodzuken. “That scared me so bad. Oh my god,” you release your mouse briefly to place your hand on your chest. 

While you’re distracted trying to calm your heartbeat, Kodzuken suddenly stops before you. “What is he doing?” But before you even have time to be suspicious he suddenly drops a pile of diamonds and emeralds on the ground. 

You blink.

“Huh?” He looks pointedly at the gems then back up at you and back down, lightly tapping the block they’re floating on. “Is he giving them to me?” 

You glance over at your chat, your character finally going into motion when you realize they’re all screaming at you to go pick them up. “Jesus, sorry. I got them, see? Look, I’m picking them up right now.” 

You collect everything on the ground, crouching and un-crouching multiple times as a way to thank him. “Oh- shit,” you pause as a popup suddenly appears, “Stupid sticky keys!” 

By the time you manage to exit out of the window, Kodzuken is nowhere to be found. “Well,” you look at your webcam, “That was unexpected.” 

You quickly open game chat to send him a private message as fast as you possibly can. 

“Thanks :)”

It’s the best you can do with the little time you have but you hope he appreciates it nonetheless. 

“Okay, I’m gonna up our bed defense.” You repeat the earlier process all over again, only this time you add obsidian and make the outer layer made of wood. “Now that’s like literally impenetrable.” 

You upgrade your sword to a bow and arrows before purchasing some TNT and fireballs and buying the Miner’s Fatigue trap. “Now the real question is whether I try to attack the bases next to us or not.” 

Attackkkkkk

You’re gonna die

Kill them

We believe in you

“I guess it’s decided then,” you quickly shake out your hands. “Okay,” your voice fades as you run across the bridge you could only assume one of your teammate’s made. 

You’re extremely quiet as you make your way across, keeping your eyes on the island next to you and turning back every now and then to check on your own. You’re biting your lip as you slowly make your way across the rival team’s bridge, crouching the entire time to hide your name. 

You’re roughly twenty blocks away when you take the next step. Still crouching, you aim a fireball at their seemingly wool covered bed. “Yes!” You cheer as it makes its mark, blowing up the wool and revealing wood below it. 

You know that you’ve alerted the players at this point (there’s no way you haven’t) so all you can do is run into the fire. 

You’re panicking as you place some TNT around the bed, running away and into a player from the enemy team as it explodes. You use your mediocre sword to hit them away from you, mentally sighing as they get hit back enough for you to run away. “Oh my god oh my god oh my god,” you sprint towards the now revealed blue bed. 

“Blue Bed was destroyed by Soft_Paws!”

You squeal out of both fear and excitement, adrenaline racing through you as you’re attacked by two of the blue players at once. You throw a fireball at them, shouting for joy when one of them is successfully knocked off the island. 

“Holy shit!”

The next player is harder to kill, your health rapidly deteriorating as you battle with nothing but a stone sword and your adrenaline. 

You have one heart left when it finally happens.

“Ecstasy.png was killed by Soft_Paws”

“Yes!” You kick your feet out, jumping up from your chair with your excitement before remembering that you’re still in a game. “Holy fuck I did it. I actually did it, you guys!” 

She’s CRACKED

LETS GOOOO

WOOOOO

YEEEEESSSSSS

~~~

Roughly five minutes later, you’re still in the round. Everyone’s bed has been broken at this point but there are still three teams that are yet to be eliminated, yours included. 

You’re sort of just hiding at the base, watching the chaos from afar as your one and only teammate left (Kodzuken) goes on a murder spree. 

He’s running back to the team’s island when the incident occurs.

All you see is yellow leather armor and a yellow name tag, sprinting on the bridge connecting your base to the emerald island. You don’t even consider the fact that they’re currently being chased down by your teammate, you just aim. 

Your aim is exceptionally good, so good in fact that the explosion knocks off both the yellow player and Kodzuken. 

You freeze at the realization, your mouth falling open in complete horror as you piece together what you’d just done.

“I did not just do that,” you whisper, mostly to yourself as the events replay in your mind. “Oh my god,” you facepalm - forgetting (once again) that you’re still actually alive and participating in the game - and completely missing the person running towards you on the other bridge. 

You hear the sound of something being attacked, echoing through your headphones and making your eyebrows furrow with confusion. 

You abruptly gasp, but by then it’s too late. 

You’re dead. And your team has lost.

Taglist: @crazy-people-are-here, @existential-traveller, @peachesncats, @royalz658

Any names in bold are unable to be tagged.

[fandoms-writings]

EVENT CLOSED

Those of you wanting to submit a story for the writing challenge at the end of this post, I'm accepting submissions until the end of the year. I'm a slow writer myself and I want y'all to have as much time as you need to join in <3

Welcome to my neon milestone party!

It’s been a few months since I last did a celebration or writing challenge so why not kick off summer with both! I also hit another small milestone, so thank you so so much to all of you for your support 🤍

You must be 18+ to follow me, so you must be 18+ to participate!

We’re gonna have a summer long sleepover, mood boards, a writing challenge, and my requests are officially open for drabbles! 

The cut off is the last day in August!

Under the cut you’ll find all of the ask games and prompt lists and challenge rules! 

Have fun babes  🤍

💎 Rare gems

- Show some love to your fav fics and their authors by sending in some recommendations!

🗒 Ask the Author

- Ask me anything you want about something I’ve written!

📖 Book talk

- Tell me about your favorite book or what you’ve recently read, and why you enjoy it (or why you don’t)

🤫 Secret admirers

- Anonymously (or not) send a love letter to your favorite tumblr person!

🎶 Karaoke

- Send a song recommendation or I’ll put my liked songs on shuffle and send you which one played first!

🫘 Spill the Beans!

- Anonymously (or not) tell me a secret of yours.

🔍 Clue!

- Send me this emoji and I'll post a wip clue (a picture, emoji, a word, etc) and you guys get to guess what it's about. 

🎩 Top 5!

- Another classic. Send me a category, and I'll tell you my top 5 choices within it. 

🙅🏻‍♀️ Never Have I Ever

- This one's pretty self explanatory I think. 

💌 Love letters (mutuals only) 

- I’ll write you a love letter 🥺

🎰 - Spin the Lottery! (mutuals only)

- send me a lil snippet about you (a hobby, your job, your music taste, etc) and a fandom (or not) I’ll pair you with a character from that fandom🤍

Send me a little something - a song, a character, a trope, a quote - anything to give me an idea, and I’ll make a mood board for you 🤍

If you need one for a story even! I’ll gladly help out 🤍

My requests are open for drabbles! Send me a character (it can be from one of my AUs! or not)  and one or two of the prompts from the list below, and I’ll whip up something small for you! As they get requested, they will be crossed off the list 🤍

Angst: 

"Don't go where I can't follow. . . I thought I lost you." (1/2)

"Why didn't you say how bad it was?"  (2/2)

"You shouldn't be out here by yourself."  (1/2)

"You're a mess"/"I'm not a mess."/"I can tell you've been crying."  (1/2)

"You were supposed to be different. They were supposed to be wrong about you, but they were right. They were so fucking right."  (2/2)

"What are we doing?"/"Why are you doing this?"  (1/2)

"I know you, how else do you think I found you so easily?"   (1/2)

"Choose me."  (2/2)

Fluff:

"You know my door is always open for you, right?"  (2/2)

"Will you taste this? Tell me if I'm missing anything?"  (1/2)

"Let me kiss it better."  (2/2)

"You're exhausted honey. Go back to sleep."  (1/2)

"Can I hold your hand?"  (2/2)

“Is that my shirt?” (2/2)

"Come get me? I miss you."  (2/2)

"You're not as bad as everyone says you are."  (2/2)

Smut:

"stop staring." / "i can't, you're so pretty like this" (2/2)

"Keep your pretty eyes on me."  (2/2)

"You're already wet sweetheart."  (2/2)

"What if someone hears us?"  (0/2)

"Let me hear you make that sound again."  (2/2)

"We shouldn't be doing this."  (1/2)

Characters: (spice it up by adding an au in the ask 🤍)

Bucky Barnes 

Marc Spector / Stephen Grant

Miguel O’Hara

If you don’t see who you’d like me to write for, just ask me about them and I’ll let you know if I’m open to writing for them!

Just have fun with this one and follow the rules below! I'm not really making a theme or anything like that, but if you'd like a prompt from me, just ask and specify what kind of prompt! Also feel free to DM me and bounce around some ideas if you need to!

Rules: 

Use the 'read more' option if what you write is over 500 words. 

Properly list your warnings. 

Your story does not have to contain smut if you don't want it to. 

Dark stories are okay, just no non-con, scat, underage characters involved in sexual activity, DD/LG, bestiality, necrophilia, etc. 

Please use characters that I know, from fandoms I'm in. (If you aren't sure what all is on that list, because I don't post about all of them, just ask!)

Tag me! And use the tag #remisneonparty

Make sure it can be read as a stand alone piece. 

The cut off for this will be the last day of August. I sometimes take forever to write something and want to give you all ample time to submit your stories!

Moodboard and all dividers were made by me, but feel free to use them if you’d like 🤍

Tagging some friends (no pressure!)

@sweetdreamsbuck @shamevillain @pocolatte @perdidosbucky-yyo @treatbuckywkisses @foreverindreamlandd @historygeekfics @barnesafterglow @navybrat817​ @jessybarnes​ @buckysdior​ @honeybloomss​ @banana-cheese-cake​ @sparkledfirecracker​ @sidepartskinnyjeans​ @real-jane​ @archive-obsess​ @mutual-monsters​ @bucksangel​ @thepsychewrites​ @starchildbucky​ @nexusnyx​ @lofaewrites​ @thornsnvultures​ @aquariusbarnes​ @captainsimagines​ @writing-for-marvel​ @heavenlybarnes​ @matchamunson​ @buckybleu​ @boxofbonesfic​ @chloelucia13​ @snugglingbucky​

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Introducing Me.

Hi! I'm Rickie the Storyteller! I like making up stories for fun.

I figured that it was probably time to have a proper intro post on here.

Here are a few facts about me:

My real name is Erica. "Rickie" is a nickname. (And I'm a girl.)

My MBTI is INFJ.

My birthday is 15/09 (so I'm a Virgo).

I'm British. And black. And kind of a nerd.

I love to read (I can't choose one favourite book lol. My favourite childhood books were the How to Train Your Dragon series, and I also loved everything by Roald Dahl).

I love movies (particularly Pixar movies. I think my favourite Pixar film is The Incredibles).

Right now, my two favourite shows are Gilmore Girls and BoJack Horseman. And The Boondocks… and I also love Phineas and Ferb (I always have. It’s my comfort show <3 )

I'm a STEM student (mainly computer science, physics and maths). I particularly like science a lot. When I was young, all I wanted was to be a doctor. I got over that once I found out how long you need to stay in school lol.

I hate swearing in real life, but I sometimes include swear words in my stories (only when I feel like the character would lol. It's about getting their personalities right, that's all).

I am a major perfectionist. And a tryhard. Because of that, I get burnt out a lot lol.

I have the most random music taste lol. I like just about everything so long as it sounds nice (my playlists range from old-school hip hop to gospel/rnb to jazz to classical to indie... right now as I'm typing this out, I'm listening to Lizzy McAlpine lol)

I've always loved writing and storytelling since I was a kid. I used to write in my notebooks whenever I could, and make up bedtime stories to entertain my younger sister when we were little kids. I enjoyed creating different worlds, scenarios, characters and personalities with my imagination. Making up stories is my passion and my escape.

I got the idea to start this blog because I type up a lot of stories and store them on my computer. Some of them are long, some of them are short. Most of them aren't finished… But I wanted to give them a space of their own. I wanted to have a platform where I can share my stories with other people who love writing and reading as much as I do. I wanted to connect with other writers and readers who can give me feedback, advice, and support. And I wanted to challenge myself to improve my writing skills and grow as a writer and storyteller.

On here, you'll find various types of stories (and poems, I guess) that I write for fun or for practice. Some of them are short stories that can be read in one sitting. Some of them are longer stories that are divided into chapters or parts. Some of them are based on prompts or requests that I get from you guys. And some of them are just random ideas that pop into my head. I'm here to share with you some of my original stories, characters, and ideas that I hope will inspire you, entertain you, and make you think.

I'm happy to be here, but it was a tough choice to start this blog for a few reasons - the main one being that it takes a lot of courage to share your stories/creations with others. You never know how they will react or what they will think of your work. And like I said before, I'm a perfectionist. I want the things I post to be good. I really hope you enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoy writing them.

I want to push myself and step out of my comfort zone. I want to experiment with different writing styles and genres: YA, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, comedy, mystery, drama, etc. Something for everyone. And if there isn't yet something that suits your taste or mood, eventually I'll try and get it there (I haven't been on here very long lol). I've never written fanfictions before, but I wouldn't mind writing for any specific tv shows/movies/video games in future. I'm open to anything! As long as we aren't talking about anything inappropriate…

I'd also love to interact with you guys more: answer your questions about writing or storytelling or anything else; give feedback on your own stories if you want; share tips and tricks on how to improve your writing skills; or just chat about anything that interests us. I don't just want to write stories that come from my own imagination (although I definitely will do that too). I also want to take your suggestions and prompts. So, if you have an idea for a story that you want to read or hear me tell, just let me know and I'll try to make it happen.

If you like what you read, feel free to follow and share with your friends. You can also send me requests for stories or prompts/topics you want me to write about. I'm always open to new ideas and challenges.

Thank you for visiting my blog and supporting my passion. Also, thanks for reading this (if you actually read the whole thing, then you're awesome)!

Stay tuned for more stories coming soon!

___

EDIT #1:

My main WIP is a three-part series titled, "Steph's Crew." I have finished this dialogue series for the first book/instalment (which is called, "The Misfit Manifesto").

Here's a link to the contents page -

Here's some more info on that:

I'm working on a ton of stuff lol. Here are a few... — The Internet's Resident Storyteller (tumblr.com)

___

EDIT #2:

Here's a link to my Spotify, where you can find all of the OC/ship playlists that I make for my stories -

Feel free to make suggestions on songs to include in these playlists, since I'm always thinking of new songs to add and ways to change them.

___

EDIT #3:

My Wattpad! I'm planning on posting more on there, so stay tuned for that.

___

EDIT 4:

Check out my Instagram!

___

EDIT 5:

Get to know me! Here's a link to my "Meet the Writer Tag" post:

[oliverreedmasterass]

Greta Van Fleet having their own Disney Channel show like imagine if they were brought up that way omg

Notes: EVERYONE GIVE ALEX (@jmkho) SO MUCH LOVE FOR THE INCREDIBLE TITLE, I LOVE IT WITH ALL OF MY HEART SHE'S SO UNBELIEVABLY TALENTED!!! AND ADDISON (@starcatcherkiszka) THANK YOU FOR THE PROMPT AND TALKING ME THROUGH THE PLAN FOR THIS FIC!! Much love to you both 🫶

Synopsis: In this pilot episode of a Disney Channel-esque show, the members of Greta Van Fleet all face their own personal challenges: Josh struggles with writer's block, Jake is convinced the studio is haunted, and Danny and Sam are in the midst of an intense prank war

Words: 5k (but it goes by fast since it's a script, trust me)

Warnings: ghosts/spookiness/hauntings, allusions to insanity, chimpanzees, James Hetfield

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The scene opens in the studio. Josh is pacing back and forth while murmuring to himself, Jake is perched on a stool with an acoustic guitar in his hand staring blankly at a wall, Danny is behind his drum kit attempting to twirl his drumsticks around, and Sam is sitting at his keys cradling an impressive cup of coffee. 

JOSH: I can’t believe this. 

JAKE: It’ll come to you, don’t worry. It always does. 

JOSH: No, it’s just, I don’t know. It feels different this time. Like, my brain isn’t coming up with anything. 

DANNY: I think the song you started writing about your rhinestones had potential. 

[Flashback to Josh brainstorming the rhinestone song]

JOSH: Twinkling, glittering, glimmering musical colors radiating on my face, my shining face, beaming at youuuuuuu…

[Cut back to the present]

Josh squints at Danny. It’s obvious he knows Danny is lying. 

JAKE: We have time before this song has to be done, Josh. No need to force it out. 

SAM: [to Jake] Actually I think he would work better under pressure. [to Josh] If we don’t finish this song in the next hour, I’m leaving the band. 

JAKE, DANNY: Sam! 

Josh drops to the floor and folds himself up in the fetal position with a moan. 

JAKE: Great idea, Sam. 

Jake sets his guitar down and squats next to Josh so he can place a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

JAKE: [to Josh] Why don’t we give you some space to work out the lyrics? 

Behind Jake and Josh, Sam takes a drink from his coffee and spits it out with a loud “BLEGH!” Everyone turns to look at him. 

DANNY: [cheekily] Burn your tongue? 

SAM: This tastes awful, like a salt lamp! 

JOSH: How do you know what a salt lamp tastes like? 

With a wide grin, Danny removes a handful of empty salt packets from his pocket and holds them up to Sam to see. 

DANNY: Gotcha. 

SAM: No! 

JAKE: Is this a part of your stupid prank war? 

SAM: It’s not stupid. 

DANNY: I’m beating Sam by a landslide. I only have to prank him three more times and then the crown will be mine. Sam, you have what? Seven more pranks? You’d think with two older brothers and all, you’d be a lot better at this. 

SAM: You haven’t seen my best pranks yet. 

DANNY: I’m hoping they’re better than drawing a banana on my drum kit. And my car. Actually, why do you keep drawing bananas on my stuff? 

SAM: It’s funny. 

DANNY: It’s annoying. 

Josh groans from the floor. 

JAKE: C’mon, Josh. Get up. 

Jake helps a limp Josh back to his feet and makes sure that he’s going to stand upright when he releases his grip on his shoulders. Josh looks dazed but stands vertically, which earns him a pat on the head from Jake. 

JOSH: I’m gonna get the studio to myself? 

JAKE: Yeah, we’ll give you some space to actually hear your own thoughts.

In the background, Danny crawls on his hands and knees to Sam’s feet where he proceeds to tie his shoelaces together. Sam is blissfully ignorant, giving his rank coffee another testing sip, which he spits out again. 

JOSH: Okay, yeah, hear my thoughts, good, yeah. 

Jake grabs his guitar and leads the way out of the studio, giving Josh a quick wave which Josh returns. Danny follows behind Jake and Sam stands to his feet, still unaware of his shoelaces. 

SAM: [whispering to Josh] Hey, give me a call if you need any help. 

JOSH: Thanks, I won’t. 

SAM: I’ve got some good ideas to motivate you to write something. 

JOSH: I don’t trust you. 

SAM: I’m only a phone call away. 

JOSH: Please leave the room, Sam. 

SAM: You’ve got it, brother. 

Sam starts to take a step forward and promptly tumbles to the ground with a thump. Danny and Jake pop their heads back into the room and start to laugh and taunt Sam, who is staring down at his feet in awe. 

SAM: DANNY! HOW? WHAT? WHEN? 

DANNY: [calling from outside the room] It’s too easy! 2 pranks to go! 

Sam grumbles, hastily unties his shoes, and then ducks out of the room, hanging his head in embarrassment. The door slams shut, finally engulfing Josh in silence. He closes his eyes and lets in a deep inhale, followed by a long exhale. He opens his eyes and sits on the floor next to a notepad and pen that had obviously been discarded in frustration earlier. 

Starcatchers Theme/Opening Titles

[acoustic theme song with a harmonica] 

From the fires we emerged anew, 

Singing, playing rock and roll, 

Reviving a genre just for you. 

Across the globe we traveled far

Recruiting an army of peace, 

Enchanting crowds with our guitar. 

A battle ensued at the Gardens Gate

And we preserved the gift of nature, 

Standing up against a culture of hate.  

We are the Starcatchers, reaching for the sky, 

Discovering words of wisdom to live by. 

We deliver a message from the heavens above:

Live your legend through the intelligence of love. 

[end theme] 

JOSH: [to the camera] It’s one song. Just a single song. What does it matter? People can never understand what I’m saying anyways, I could write literally anything. 

Josh immediately stares daggers at his notepad, deep in thought. His face is starting to turn red and his eyes bug out. He stops before his head explodes and throws himself on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the studio. 

JOSH: Nothing. 

Across the hall and a few doors down, Jake is in an empty studio, walking in circles while strumming his acoustic guitar. 

JAKE: [singing] What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor? What will we do with a drunken sailor ear-lay in tha mornin’! Way hay and up she rises, way hay and up she rises, way hay and up-

Jake is cut off by the sound of something scraping against wood. Jake’s face pales in fear and he whirls around in a quick circle, searching for the source of the sound. 

JAKE: I just wanna say, for the record, I can kick really, really hard. 

The scraping suddenly stops and Jake lets out a sigh of relief. Then, he catches a glimpse of a water bottle quickly jerking across a table in the corner of the room. It seems as though it moved on its own. In a blind panic, Jake drops his guitar and books it for the studio door. He jiggles and pushes on the handle to no avail. The door appears to be locked. 

JAKE: Ruh roh raggy.

Jake is breathing heavily now, well beyond the brink of panic, and starts to kick the door with all of his might. The threat he threw out earlier has some merit: he can kick really, really hard, but the door doesn’t budge. Jake squeezes his eyes shut and smacks his forehead.

JAKE: C'mon, brain. Give me something.  

Jake grabs hold of the door knob again. He twists the handle and tries pushing out, but the door is still sealed shut. Jake turns the knob again and pulls the door towards him. The door opens. 

JAKE: [staring at the door warily] You’ve got to be kidding me. 

Now free from the haunted studio room, Jake runs down the hallway as fast as he can, past Danny, who is sitting in the studio lobby. 

JAKE: Ghosts! 

Danny watches Jake run past and then, unbothered, looks back down at his phone. Behind him, Sam sneaks along the wall of the lobby like he’s in Mission Impossible, armed with two bananas. He creeps closer to Danny and can’t help but let out a soft laugh, which makes Danny turn around. 

DANNY: What’s going on? 

Sam quickly retracts both hands behind his back to hide the bananas. 

SAM: Nothing…

DANNY: What have you got behind your back? 

SAM: Oh, you know, stuff. Taxes. I have taxes. 

Before Sam can react, Danny springs to his feet, barrels towards Sam, grabs his arms, and tugs them out in front of him so Danny can see the two bananas. Danny and Sam both stare down at what’s in Sam’s hands, and then Danny shoots Sam a tired look. 

DANNY: More bananas? 

SAM: Hyah!

Sam tosses the two bananas at Danny’s chest so they hit him with a soft thump before dropping to the floor. Danny stares down at the bananas, expressionless. 

DANNY: You just bruised two perfectly good bananas. 

SAM: Pick them up, you’ll get the prank. It’s a really stellar one. 

Danny looks like he doesn’t want to, but he grabs the bananas and turns them around in his hands with his eyebrows arched. 

DANNY: Oh my god. You drew my car and drum kit on these? 

SAM: I’m on my A-game now, Daniel! 

Sam runs off, cackling loudly. Danny watches him go and shakes his head. 

DANNY: [to the camera] What does he think a prank is? 

Danny places the bananas on the lobby table and then sighs and walks in the direction Sam went, passing by the studio where Josh is currently holed up. In the studio, Josh is stationed in front of a whiteboard. 

JOSH: What story should I tell? What needs to be added to the Greta Van Fleet universe? [Speaking aloud as he writes on the whiteboard using a sharpie] I get carsick. No. Jake’s feet smell bad. No. Womb memories. No. European architecture. No. Argh! 

Josh launches the sharpie off to the side and it crashes against one of Danny’s cymbals. 

JOSH: This is impossible. I can’t do this by myself. 

Josh eyes a landline phone sitting in the studio. The screen splits in two as Josh calls James Hetfield, and he answers the phone. 

JAMES: Howdy, it’s the beast under your bed, in your closet, in your head. What can I do for ya? 

JOSH: Hey, quick question, do you ever have such a hard time writing a song that you want to pull your brain out of your head and play basketball with it? 

JAMES: Can’t say that I have. 

JOSH: Darn. 

JAMES: Want some advice? Don’t answer that. I’m gonna give it to you anyway. Write about the things that make your skin crawl, that make you shiver, that your brain actively avoids thinking about. That’s where your most complex emotions lay. 

JOSH: Eighteen wheelers. I’m certain they can’t see me when I’m driving next to them. 

JAMES: No, I’m talking about like the lowest of lows here. Think war, famine, plague, climate change, scary stuff. 

JOSH: Chimpanzees. Ooh, I’m getting shivers. I think it’s working, James!

JAMES: Oh, um, okay, get to writing then, Josh. I won’t keep you. 

With an air of triumph, Josh slams the phone down. 

Outside the studio, Jake is talking on the phone with a 9-1-1 operator. 

JAKE: I don’t think you understand what I’m saying, the water bottle moved. 

9-1-1 OPERATOR: No, I get what you’re saying. That’s not an emergency, sir. 

JAKE: Listen to me, the water bottle moved on its own. There’s something paranormal happening here, and I don’t want a poltergeist situation going down. Being sucked into a spooky closet is one of my top 10 fears. 

9-1-1 OPERATOR: I’m going to hang up. I have other calls to get to.

The line disconnects. Jake huffs and jams his phone back into his pocket. 

JAKE: How do they not have a paranormal sub-department? 

In the background in the parking lot of the studio, Danny tiptoes into frame with a marshmallow gun and a pair of goggles on. He scans the area and then crouches down, on the prowl, trying to find Sam. 

DANNY: [softly] Sammy, come out and play. I’ve got a little treat for you. 

Danny continues creeping around the cars and, as he moves past Sam’s Tesla, Sam jumps out of the trunk, decked out in a banana costume. 

SAM: [literally shouting] COME MISTER TALLY MAN, TALLY ME BANANA! 

DANNY: [shouting back] WHAT IS WITH YOU AND THE BANANAS? 

Sam reaches into his back pocket and retrieves a new banana, which he once again throws at Danny. 

SAM: How does it ‘peel’ to get pranked this hard, Daniel? 

Sam proudly removes himself from the trunk and stands in front of Danny, placing his hands on his hips with confidence. Danny can’t help but silently unload his marshmallow gun on Sam, pummeling him with mini marshmallows. Sam squeaks out in shock and ducks into a ball on the pavement. Danny continues until he’s out of marshmallows. 

DANNY: [down to Sam] One more prank to go. 

SAM: [coughing up marshmallows] You’ll never win. 

Jake runs over to his band members. 

JAKE: [still unbelievably on edge] There is something creepy afoot here. 

DANNY: I’ve told you before, Jake, the moaning sounds you keep hearing are coming from the experimental band’s sessions down the hall. 

JAKE: A water bottle moved right in front of my eyes. 

SAM: [mocking, from the ground] Ooh scary. 

Jake picks up a marshmallow from the ground and proceeds to chuck it at Sam. 

JAKE: [back to Danny] There’s a ghost in there and it’s upset that we’re invading its space. I’m gonna get sucked into a closet if I go back in there, and I can’t risk it. 

Danny and Sam exchange a glance. 

DANNY: I’ll go back in with you and show you that there’s nothing to worry about. 

SAM: And I’ll stay here because I really don’t care.

Danny shoots Sam a look and then guides a reluctant Jake back towards the studio. 

JAKE: Do you have any holy water on you? 

DANNY: I don’t think that works on ghosts, Jake. What do you think we’re up against here? 

JAKE: I want to be prepared for anything. 

Even though Jake is dragging his heels, Danny succeeds in pushing him through the front doors and guides him past the lobby, towards the “haunted” studio. Jake once again looks pale as a sheet. 

DANNY: See? Nothing supernatural going on here. Except you. God, you look like a ghost. 

JAKE: [whispering] I’m a ghost? 

DANNY: No, no, come on, show me the room where it happened. 

Jake starts to cautiously step towards the room when they hear Josh belting out lyrics down the hall. Danny and Jake stop in their tracks and listen. 

JOSH: Ooh! Ooh! Aah! Aah! Chimpanzee on my mind, coming near me, he’s by my side! 

Without uttering a word, it’s mutually agreed between Danny and Jake that they need to step in before Josh writes any more terrible lyrics. They both move to his studio door and storm in. Josh is sitting on a stool, shaking a tambourine, but stops when he notices them. 

JOSH: Something wrong? 

JAKE: What the hell are you singing? 

JOSH: [cautiously] The new song? 

DANNY: Chimpanzee on my mind? 

JOSH: You don’t like it? 

JAKE: Our album is called Starcatcher, Josh. Could you write about something a bit more on theme than apes? 

JOSH: [matter of factly] They sent a chimp to space.

DANNY: This is a good starting point, Josh. Maybe try to work with something a bit more abstract. How do chimps in space make you feel? 

JOSH: Confused. 

DANNY: Okay? Try to work off of that. 

JOSH: Yeah, yeah, okay. 

Josh shoos Jake and Danny out of the studio and looks back at his notepad with a sigh. Jake and Danny step out of the room and move back towards the haunted studio. Jake stands by the door, glued in place. Danny watches him. 

DANNY: Should I? 

Jake purses his lips and nods. Danny slowly pushes the door open and steps in first. Jake hesitantly follows behind him. Danny scans around. 

DANNY: Everything looks normal to me. 

Jake has peeled himself away from Danny and is stationed in front of the haunted water bottle, where all of his problems began. 

JAKE: [pointing a half centimeter to the right of where the water bottle is now sitting] It used to be here. But now it’s here. 

DANNY: Uh huh. 

JAKE: It jerked over on its own. I was nowhere near it. And there were weird scratching noises too. Maybe there’s something in the walls. 

DANNY: Like a squirrel? 

JAKE: Like a ghoul. 

DANNY: You know, what is a ghoul? 

JAKE: A force you shouldn’t reckon with. 

DANNY: I wish you could be a bit more specific sometimes. 

JAKE: I can’t help that I’m mysterious. 

DANNY: No, actually I do think that’s something you can help - 

A chilling sound fills the studio. 

MYSTERIOUS GHOSTLY VOICE: Oohhohohooooohhhhhoooooooooo

Jake screams and jumps into Danny’s arms. Danny instinctually catches Jake. The lights start to flicker.

JAKE: RUN, DANNY, RUN! BEFORE THE CLOSET OPENS AND TAKES ME!

DANNY: THERE’S NO CLOSET IN HERE, JAKE!

Danny runs out of the studio anyways and bumps into Sam, still dressed in the banana costume, in the hall. 

SAM: What’s going on? 

JAKE: [not making any sense] Water bottle and wood and oohhhooooohooohooo sounds and ghouls and spooky and closets and - 

SAM: Danny? 

DANNY: The studio is haunted. 

SAM: Oh, word. 

Jake squirms out of Danny’s arms and faces Sam. 

JAKE: You’re not freaked out? 

SAM: Why should I be? 

JAKE: Ghosts, Sam! They’ll get you! They’re always two steps ahead. 

SAM: Ghosts don’t have feet. 

JAKE: It’s an expression, Sam! 

Cut to Josh in his studio. Jake and Sam’s argument is muffled outside the door, but still audible. Josh sits back on the ground in front of his notepad and pen. 

JOSH: C’mere, lyrics, pspspsp, come to papa. 

This obviously does not work. 

JOSH: [tapping his pen on his chin] Maybe I’d be inspired by our old lyrics? Uhhh what’s a good one? Light My Love? Your mind is a stream of colors. Stream of colors, stream of colors, stream of co-lors. Stream of co…Hmmm. That’s it! A stream of consciousness! That should give me something to work with. 

Josh picks up his pen, suddenly filled with a new surge of energy, and starts to scribble on his paper. A montage of Josh writing in different dramatic angles plays with a song similar to Gonna Fly Now blaring in the background. He finishes writing and drops his smoking pen to the floor. 

JOSH: There. 

As if he’s dealing with an ancient relic, Josh carefully lifts the notepad up to his eyeline and carefully scans over what he wrote. 

JOSH: [reading aloud] All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. All work and no play makes Josh a dull boy. Oh god! It goes on for four and a half pages! 

Josh crumples the pages into tight balls and eats them, removing the evidence. Josh approaches the glass panel separating the studio from the sound booth and looks at his reflection, jabbing his finger into his reflection’s shoulder. 

JOSH: No one can know about this, you hear me? No one! This is between you and me. 

JOSH’S REFLECTION: Whatever you say, boss. 

Josh shakes his head and backs away from his reflection. 

JOSH: Woah. [to the camera] I wonder if Carole King has to deal with this. 

JOSH’S REFLECTION: She doesn’t, but James Taylor does. 

Josh hops away from the glass in shock and returns to the whiteboard in a daze. 

JOSH: [to himself] It’s all in your head. 

He attempts to wipe his previous notes away, but it’s not working since he wrote them out in sharpie. Josh drops his arms in defeat. 

JOSH: What’s the point? 

Josh reassumes his spot on the ground in the fetal position. In the studio lobby, Jake is in a similar position on the sofa, staring down at his knees in muted shock. Sam is sitting next to him, still in the banana costume, awkwardly patting his legs. Danny enters back into the room and takes a seat across from Sam and Jake. 

DANNY: I didn’t hear any weird noises in any of the other studios. Well, actually, I think I heard Josh talking to himself, but that’s not out of the ordinary. 

SAM: [to Jake] Hear that? The spooky ghost is on vacation. 

JAKE: [softly] Ghosts can’t go on vacation. 

SAM: How do you know? Are you a ghost? 

Jake huffs but doesn’t continue to argue. 

SAM: [to Danny] One of the assistants brought in some smoothies if you want one, they’re pretty good. 

DANNY: Oh cool, thanks. 

Danny grabs one of the smoothies from the table and takes a long sip. Sam is staring at him, looking on the brink of laughter. Danny sets the smoothie down and eyes Sam. 

DANNY: What? 

SAM: Got you! 

DANNY: [paling] What? What did you do? 

SAM: I put a little extra something in your smoothie. 

Jake untucks himself out of his fetal position to watch the exchange between Danny and Sam. This is some interesting stuff. 

DANNY: Sam, what did you do? 

Sam, beaming wide, pulls out a banana peel and drops it on the floor in front of Danny. Danny looks down at it. 

DANNY: I don’t get it. 

SAM: I put a banana in your smoothie! 

DANNY: Are you being serious? 

SAM: Samuel Francis Kiszka does it again! 

JAKE: Sam, smoothies already have bananas in them. It’s literally one of the main ingredients.

DANNY: Oh thank god, I thought you put laxatives in there. 

SAM: The banana strikes again! I’m right on your tail, Daniel! 

JAKE: I don’t think putting a banana in a smoothie counts as a prank, Sam. 

Sam pouts. A bang and a crash comes from down the hall where Josh is. Jake springs to his feet in alarm. 

JAKE: Josh? 

Completely forgetting about his paralyzing fear of the haunted studio, Jake rushes down the hall to Josh. Danny and Sam trail behind him. Jake throws open the door to the studio and gapes at Josh, who is bashing a tambourine against the glass panel separating the studio from the sound booth. 

JOSH: Stop! Talking! To! Me! Get! Out! Of! My! Head!

JAKE: Josh! Our insurance doesn’t cover trashed studios! 

Josh continues banging on the glass. It’s as if he doesn’t realize Jake is there. Jake tries to turn Josh around to face him, but Josh doesn’t budge. From Josh’s perspective, he’s smacking his reflection with the tambourine while his reflection laughs and taunts him. 

JOSH: Your treacherous ridicule will never break me! 

Danny rushes to Josh’s side and drenches him with a bucket of ice water, finally snapping Josh out of his spell. He stumbles back from the glass a few steps and then holds at his head and grunts. 

JOSH: [dejected] I didn’t write the new song. I got distracted. 

SAM: Yeah, obviously. 

Josh looks Sam down in his banana costume. 

JOSH: Did Danny and Jake tell you about my chimpanzee song? Did you like it or something? Is this an act of solidarity? 

SAM: Wait, you wrote a song about chimpanzees? 

JOSH: James Hetfield told me to write about something that scares me. 

SAM: And you wrote about chimpanzees? 

JOSH: He shot down my idea about eighteen wheelers. 

Sam doesn’t know how to respond to this. 

JOSH: I’m sorry, you guys. I’m just not getting inspired in the right way. I don’t know if the lyrics are ever gonna come to me. 

DANNY: Hey, they will. It just takes some time. 

JAKE: I say we call it quits for the day. I wanna get out of here. 

JOSH: [finally taking in Jake’s face for the first time] You look like you saw a ghost. What’s up with you? 

JAKE: [whispering] That’s exactly what happened to me. 

JOSH: Okay, yeah, let’s get out of here. 

Jake and Josh move for the door but then stop when they realize Sam and Danny aren’t following behind them. 

JOSH: You guys coming? 

SAM: We’ll be right behind you, just give us a second. 

Jake and Josh shrug and leave Sam and Danny behind. They move down the hallway and, when they pass the haunted studio, clawing noises sound inside the door. Jake and Josh exchange a terrified look. 

JOSH: Is that? 

JAKE: Yeah. 

They’re both stuck in place, staring at the door in fear. The door starts to thump and spooky sounds come from inside the room. Before Jake or Josh can react, two sets of hands pop out of the door and drag them into the room. 

JOSH: Oh mama! 

Jake and Josh are standing in the dark as the door slams shut behind them. 

JAKE: Josh? 

A bunch of crashing noises sound and Jake lets out a yelp. 

JOSH: Sorry, I tripped over something. 

Jake fumbles for his phone and turns the flashlight on. Across from him he can see a panic-stricken Josh, his eyes darting around looking for danger. Jake slowly moves the flashlight around the studio, taking in the empty space, and then lets out a holler when he sees a shadowed figure standing in the corner of the room. Josh sees what he’s looking at and screams as well. 

JOSH: It’s a chimpanzee! 

JAKE: What? No, it’s a vengeful spirit! 

The shadowed figure starts to slowly move closer to them and Jake and Josh embrace in a tight hug, screaming. 

JOSH: [shrill] Stay back! 

JAKE: I’m gonna kick you so hard in the gonads! 

The shadowed figure stops about 20 feet away from Jake and Josh. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: [in a large and booming voice] Jacob Thomas Kiszka and Joshua Michael Kiszka! 

Jake and Josh scream at the top of their lungs, still hugging. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: You have continually trespassed on my territory. You must face a reckoning for your carelessness. 

JOSH: Would a simple sorry suffice? 

SHADOWED FIGURE: NO! 

Jake and Josh cower further. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: You must go through the spooky door to another dimension. 

JAKE: Oh god, no! Anything but that! 

The door to the studio flings open on its own. Strobe lights and smoke flood into the studio from the door and Jake and Josh shield their eyes in fear. They both back up against the wall farthest from the door.

SHADOWED FIGURE: Whatever you think is beyond that door, it’s worse. 

JOSH: [whispering to himself] Eighteen wheelers. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: Three…

JOSH: Oh god not a countdown. 

SHADOWED FIGURE: Two…

JAKE: What do we do? 

SHADOWED FIGURE: One…

JOSH: It’s been nice knowing you, little bro. 

Jake whirls to face Josh. 

JAKE: By five minutes! 

SHADOWED FIGURE: Zero! 

Sam jumps between Jake and Josh, still in his banana costume. 

SAM: IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH MESOTHELIOMA - 

Jake and Josh jump about 4 feet in the air. 

JAKE AND JOSH: AAAAAAUUUGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The lights to the studio flick back on and Jake and Josh are greeted by the sight of Sam and Danny standing in front of them, laughing hard. Danny is wearing a cloak, revealing him to be the shadowed figure. Jake pushes out of Josh’s embrace and storms up to Sam and Danny. 

JAKE: You need to start explaining yourselves now. 

Sam puts his hands up, guilty as charged. 

DANNY: I thought Sam was easy to prank, I guess it’s actually all the Kiszkas. 

SAM: It’s amazing what a voice changing microphone and some strobe lights can do. 

DANNY: And a fishing line. 

JAKE: A fishing line?

Sam moves over to the haunted water bottle, steps behind the piano, and tugs on a string, making the bottle lurch to the side. Jake stares, dumbfounded. 

JAKE: It was all you? 

Sam and Danny share a glance. 

DANNY: I mean, yeah. 

JAKE: Why I oughta…

Jake moves his foot back, ready to kick Sam and Danny with all of his might when Josh speaks up, capturing all of their attention. 

JOSH: I felt like such a massive chicken back there. But I think I finally understand what James was trying to tell me. I’m terrified of the unknown, of a feeling of hopelessness, where everything is crashing and burning around you, but you have to try and hold things together.  

SAM: My god, he’s doing it. 

Josh is already booking it back to his studio. 

JOSH: The lyrics are coming! They’re crowning! 

Jake looks back and forth between Danny and Sam like he still really wants to kick them, but ends up shaking his head and following behind Josh. Josh needs supervision in the studio moving forward - he can’t be left alone anymore. 

SAM: That was one hell of a prank, Danny. 

DANNY: I’m glad we could team up against Jake and Josh. They need a little humbling from time to time. 

SAM: I couldn’t have said it any better. 

Sam clasps Danny on the back and then motions towards the door. 

SAM: Wanna watch Josh’s creative genius at work? 

DANNY: I do like it when he yells, “BAJABULE!” every time he gets down a verse. 

Danny walks past Sam and moves through the door. Sam happily follows behind him. When Danny turns into the hallway, he subtly drops the banana peel that Sam had thrown in front of him earlier. Sam doesn’t notice and steps on it, slipping backwards and falling with a loud THUD. 

DANNY: Victory, baby!! 

SAM: [dramatically groaning from the ground] What a tragic end to a war. 

DANNY: Eat it! 

Danny does an impressive victory dance over Sam, who is still sprawled on the floor in defeat. Transition to Josh, Jake, Danny, and Sam playing The Falling Sky in the studio. As the song finishes, they all come together. 

JOSH: For a while there, I really thought I would never be able to write a song again.  

DANNY: We’ve got a real winner on our hands. You know, like me. 

SAM: Drop it, Daniel. 

DANNY: I think you owe me something, Sam. 

Sam grumbles but takes his bass off, retreats to the side of the studio, and returns with a crown made out of bananas. He brings it to Danny and places it on his head. 

SAM: [emotionless] I hereby pronounce you, Daniel Jean Louise Marie Wagner, King of the Pranks. All hail the king. 

Jake approaches Sam and Danny. 

JAKE: As a congratulations, I would like to extend my foot into both of your shins. 

As Jake is about to do this, the lights in the studio flicker out. 

JOSH: The same joke twice isn’t very funny, guys.

JAKE: I didn’t think it was that funny the first time around. 

DANNY: We didn’t do anything. 

SAM: Yeah, that wasn’t us. 

Chimp noises sound around the dark room. The band screams. 

END OF EPISODE

[kirbles]

this was gonna be a flashback in ch2 but its stupid so just have this small thing cuz i like it but doesn't fit any current wips

The ambience of the party was overwhelmingly jovial, raucous laughter carrying across the camp, overtaking the usual serenity of the wilderness they had found themselves in. Music plucked by rusty fingers accompanied the unpractised but merry dancing between inebriated Elturian refugees and his travelling companions. It made for a fine night of celebration, but Astarion was much too trapped in his own head to partake. No, he was after a different kind of entertainment tonight.

The wizard sat beside him, their sides flush together as the two of them passed a bottle of cheap swill back and forth, the dryness of it appealing to the human’s taste buds more than it did the vampire's.

How unfortunate for the little mage that out of everyone in the group, he appealed to Astarion the most. More than any alcohol ever could. He possessed everything he wanted and needed in an ally - power, practicality, and it didn’t hurt that he was nice enough to look at. Rather, it made the art of seduction… easier to stomach, if his marks were at least attractive.

He considered how best to approach the subject, hoping that the wizard wasn’t too far gone so that he couldn’t come to regret his choice in the morning, but a bump to his shoulder interrupted such thoughts.

“Do you dance?” Gale had asked, not sparing him a glance but rather looking on at the celebration longingly. He was smiling, but it was almost forlorn, not quite reaching his eyes.

Astarion scoffed, shifting uncomfortably next to him. “Better than yourself, most likely. Though I admit it has been quite some time since I last indulged.” About two hundred years worth of time, if he was to be pedantic.

Gale could only chuckle at that, not a hint of pity in those dark pools of his; instead glazed over in mirth and insobriety. He made a move to stand, muffling a groan as he shifted onto his knees and eventually his feet. Then Gale stood before Astarion, looking down at him with an amused look, and he held out his hand towards the vampire.

“May I have this dance?” he beamed, outstretched hand beckoning Astarion’s own, an invitation to take it - to celebrate with him.

Astarion's eyes had briefly widened, before he quickly masked it again with a look of faux disinterest. “And make a fool of myself? Please, darling. Let me retain the sliver of self respect that remains.” he retorted half-heartedly, bringing his knees up to hold them against his chest. He made a point to avoid the man’s deep, glassy baby ox eyes, lest he be convinced much too quickly.

Gale was undeterred, however, and merely waited with more patience than Astarion deserved. He swayed slightly in his drunken stupor in time with the music in the background, hand still held out for the elf, confident he would take it. Astarion mistakenly spared him a glance then and, after approximately thirty seconds, gave in with a huff. Damn it all.

“Fine! If only to save you the embarrassment of standing for the rest of the night.” he nipped back, no malice to be found in his words. “But I’m leading.”

He took the wizard’s hand and allowed himself to be assisted up, making sure to dig his heels into the dirt so as to not fall into contact with his companion’s plush chest, being hauled up with an uncharacteristic show of strength from the drunker man.

Gale didn’t seem to notice his blunder, merely squeezing the vampire’s hand and grinning ear to ear. “Of course.” he laughed in good humour, prompting Astarion to roll his eyes and lead the wizard by the hand to the heart of the party, ignoring the discomforting press in his chest as he did so.

It wasn’t exactly the entertainment Astarion had in mind for tonight, but he couldn’t find it in him to be mad about it when Gale’s hand fit oh so perfectly in his.

[liliana-meadowpink]

Stinkbugs and Silk: a short palia fic!

It had been a long day. Lillie unlatched the gate to the mountain’s housing area and wandered through the trees to her campsite. She was greeted by Kenyatta as she stood up from the coffee table she had been sitting on.

“Oh, good, you’re finally home.”

“Yes, sorry to keep you waiting.” Lillie responded, walking to her stove and pouring two mugs of tea.

“Did you talk with Jel about my dress yet?” Kenyatta sat down on the coffee table again, accepting the tea. “You better have.”

(More fic under the cut!)

Lillie hesitated. “Yes, but…” How should she explain it? It was so uncomfortable having to go between her friends in this manner. She got the feeling this used to happen a lot with her human friends and it didn’t end well.

“But what?” Kenyatta prompted, setting the empty mug aside. “I don’t like how this is sounding.”

“Look, is there ANYTHING I can do to convince you to wear the dress? Anything at all? Jel worked hard on it and I don’t know if we even have time to make something different.”

“Not a thing. I’ll buy something off the rack.”

“Ken-ya-tta!” Lillie gasped, putting emphasis on each syllable for comedy. “You wouldn’t! You can’t anyway since your fashion tastes aren’t mass produced!”

“I MIGHT consider it… if you can guess what I want you to do.” Kenyatta smirked.

Lillie sighed. “You just said there’s nothing, so I’m gonna talk with your mom about the dress, and…”

“As if she would even listen?”

“Good point. Still, something has to be done. Sure, Jel caved into the pressure of other people’s expectations, but he still got your colors right and it’s supposedly comfortable to wear. Can you at least not be insulted by his efforts? Please?”

“Why are you defending Jel so much?” Kenyatta studied’s Lillie’s face as it shifted hues from its regular soft beige appearance to a color between that of the a scintillating centipede and a briar daisy.

“I… well, I, um… I… Don’t… exactly know.”

“Right. Well, look. Mom’s got a meeting with my aunt, the duchess, coming up. Go hide a stink bug in her desk.”

“Then you’ll wear Jel’s dress?”

“MAYBE.”

“Good. Thank you. I can definitely put a stink bug in there.”

“Great.”

“Are you already leaving?” Lillie followed Kenyatta through the trees, rummaging through her bag.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, well… At least take this antler? I have no idea what to even do with these things.”

“Thanks. See you later.”

“Yes, we will!” Lillie closed the gate and looked down at Aqua and Luna. “That went better than expected.”

The two palcats squeaked in agreement and scampered back to the house.

0~☆*:.｡.~☆~.｡.:*☆~ *:.｡.~☆~.｡.:*☆~0~☆*:.｡.~☆~.｡.:*☆~

“So… I, uh, I did it.”

“Now we just have to sit and wait.” Kenyatta smiled, watching the awkward way Lillie pretended she wasn’t rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Happy to help.”

“I'm glad. You know if this works out, I can think of some other tasks I might want to give you in the future.” She blinked when Lillie stopped fidgeting. “Usually Nai'o does this kind of stuff for me, but lately he's been busy with his family or whatever.”

“Oh, yeah, the fair’s coming up. They’re preparing for EVERYTHING. The jam, the animals, the music…”

“Are you going to help them out?”

“Not sure. I don’t wanna travel very far without my cats.” Lillie said, picking up Aqua and burying her face in his fur.

“Couldn’t you ask someone to take care of them for you?”

“Not really. It’s fine, though. I know one palcat is a handful, let alone four.” She put Aqua down and he rubbed his face against Kenyatta’s boots. “Gosh, I don’t even want to imagine the destruction they’d cause if they stayed with Jel for example! All the pretty fabric, ruined either by claw marks or endless piles of fur.”

“What about the cook?”

“Reth? Oh, he’d be good at it, but they would probably mess with the soup. Besides… Everyone else is too busy.”

Kenyatta thought for a moment. “How about the fishing galdur, uh… Einar, right?”

“What about him?”

“You seem pretty close. Always going to his cave. At midnight.”

“Whoa, whoa, hey. You spy on me?”

“Of course!” Kenyatta smirked.

“Well I don’t ALWAYS go to the cave. Usually I just catch him on the way there and we really only say a few phrases in passing. It’s small talk and nothing more.”

“You’re defensive again.”

“And you’ve been reading too many books.”

Lillie and Kenyatta stared at each other with increasing levels of frown before they both cracked up laughing.

“Okay, tell me honestly! Do you really think that Einar would be interested in ME?!” Lillie gasped. “He’s a three thousand year old galdur with TWO onenesses, and I’m a human who’s vaguely in my late twenties. I have nothing to do all day but run around helping people.”

“Do you like fishing?”

“Yes.”

“Then yeah, I think he would like you.”

“What, romantically?”

“You’re asking about this just to get me off the topic of you potentially having a crush on Jel.”

Lillie’s face went bright pink once more. “What? No way. He’s so obsessed with the night. I need sunshine to survive.”

“You’d make a great pair. Night and light.”

“We would be a very sleepy pair.”

“Good thing you’re learning how to make comfortable beds. If you keep going at it, you might be able to make a bed that’s good enough for…” Kenyatta trailed off when she realized how uncomfortable Lillie looked.

“I think we’re done with this conversation for now. See you later?”

“Yeah. Bye.” Kenyatta waved briefly as Lillie zoomed away.

[branches-of-time]

It Ain't The Whiskey

"You climb the rest of the way up, and settle down behind him, wrapping your protective arms around his small frame.

He takes note of your trembling hands, and gently wraps them in his.

He takes a deep breath in, thinking for a moment, and breaks the silence.

'You smell like chocolate… and coffee.'

You huff a little, more of a laugh than a noise of offense, and nuzzle your face down into the soft black hair at the nape of his neck.

'Mhm..' you hum, and pull back, pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of his head. '…and you smell like wine.'”

Pairing: Venti x Reader - Established Relationship, GN!Reader

Word Count: 6,831

Synopsis: One too many people give their two cents on Venti- both his appearance and his music, leading you to learn something about the God-turned-bard that you'd already suspected for a long time.

Contains: Angst, Excessive Drinking, Fear, Graphic (?) Descriptions of Violent Thoughts, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Past Trauma, Implied/Suggested Past Sexual Threats, Reverse Comfort, Slightly Possessive Thoughts, Unwanted Suggestive Commentary

(I don't think the fic is as dark as the CWs make it seem I just want to be thorough!)

A/Ns: This is fic 2 of 16 that I'm doing based on combining prompts from this list! (maybe I'll have them all up by the end of the year lmao)

Day 2 (Wisp) & Day 17 (Drunk)

Title is from the song that inspired this fic- 'It Ain't The Whiskey' by Gary Allan.

Lastly, some context- Reader is part Riftwolf, can manipulate all seven elements but has an affinity for Geo.

Believe it or not, Venti isn't everyone's favorite bard in Mondstadt.

He's popular, sure, but even he can't possibly please everyone's taste in music. Having lived for as long as he has, he isn't usually bothered by the occasional negative comment made about his performances. But you've watched some people be downright mean to him about it and he still won't retaliate. He always responds in the same friendly tone, no matter how harsh some people's words are. Like maybe if he's nice enough, it'll rub off on them too.. or something. You're not really sure what his reasons are for the way he behaves sometimes.

You love him regardless of his tendency to be a bit of a pushover. Besides, you can and have been aggressive enough to balance out his gentle nature on many occasions. Not to him, mind you. You're not sure if you could be aggressive towards him if you had to. Towards everyone else though.. your tolerance for bullshit is low. You've finally found some peace, and you're going to protect it.

It's almost funny, how different the two of you are. He's too nice, you're too mean. He's passive, you're aggressive. He's light, you're heavy. He's bright, you're dark. He's warm, you're cold. He's loud, you're quiet. He plays with the wind, you command the earth. He fights from a distance, you run straight into the fray. He takes his hits and you put up a shield.

He was kicked out of heaven... and you crawled out of hell.

He's taught you many things since the two of you met. One of those lessons being- some things don't get easier to handle with the passage of time. If you don't treat them, if you don't nurse the wound... some things actually just get worse.

~

You're working the bar alongside Charles at Angel's Share tonight.

You didn't expect your appearance there during Bartender's Academy Week to turn into such a popular event, but even after all this time, wherever you go in Teyvat, a crowd seems to follow. So, after it was over, and when Diluc realized that he wasn't going to be able to escape the never-ending questions from patrons about when you were going to return, he offered you a part-time position. Well, really, it was more of a- "I know you're busy but could you please stop by the tavern and work a shift whenever you're in the area so they'll stop pestering me about it" -type of offer, if you were to quote Master Diluc verbatim.

So, your appearances slowly became more and more frequent as you began to fall in love with the job. You weren't really in dire need of the mora, you just genuinely loved being there. After many, many years of traversing worlds, fighting Gods and monsters alike, settling down for a while and spending time in Mondstadt was a very welcome change of pace. Mixing and serving drinks, chatting with your favorite people, and- of course- watching Venti in his element.

Standing in your spot behind the bar, your left hip is propped against it, leaning back with your shoulders against the wall in the far right corner of the room. You close your eyes for a moment, breathing in deep and listening to the sound of your partner's voice filling the tavern. Looking down, you stir and sip on a hot, fresh Moonlit Alley that you’ve just made for yourself, cradled in your always-cold hands. Your third of the evening, actually. Another perk of working here, besides admiring Venti in your free time, is making your own drinks. Honestly, with the fact that both you and Venti drink here for free, and that Diluc’s paying you, you’re not sure how he isn’t losing out on mora here. You’ll file that question away for another day, you suppose.

Charles has stepped out the back door for a break, leaving you to man the bar for a little while. Fine by you, considering that business has slowed down considerably for the day anyways. The evening has slipped into night, and the usual rush of customers has settled down to just the regulars that tend to stick around until closing.

Venti, in his usual high spirits, has haphazardly kicked his shoes off and perched himself atop a table in the center of the room. Sitting with his legs crossed and lyre in his arms, he’s currently performing one of the songs he plays most often. You know it by heart at this point, with how much you hear him strumming the tune, but you could never get tired of hearing him sing.

The same thing cannot, apparently, be said by one particularly inebriated individual sitting at the far end of the bar you’re leaning against. He’s been unpleasant all evening, grumbling to himself about one thing or other underneath his breath. You been trying to be nice and not bother him, hoping he’ll drink his fill and stumble on home sooner than later, but things never go as smoothly as you hope when alcohol is involved.

Without warning, he slams his fist down on the bar, the impact and the noise causing you to flinch. The sudden movement sloshes your drink all down the front of your shirt, and you quietly curse. The music coming from the other side of the tavern immediately ceases, causing you to look up and momentarily lock eyes with Venti. You see something alert and intense flash in his eyes and the next second it’s gone- replaced with his usual half-lidded, relaxed, ten-glasses-and-seven-shots-in expression. He saw the way the man made you flinch.

Before you can register what could have possibly set the man off, or question Venti’s momentary break in character, the man is stomping his way over to the group of people gathered around the bard.

Well, stomping may be putting it generously. While he is of a pretty large stature, and his loud, drunken movements are a bit intimidating, he’s more-so stumbling than he is stomping. Which is intimidating in it's own right considering he looks like he could and would crush any unfortunate soul he happened to land on if he fell. He gets a little too close to Venti for your liking and you don’t understand why your body won’t move. You want to go over there. You want to put yourself between Venti and this threat. You want to knock him on his ass and drag him out the door after the way he’s been acting all night.

Instead of doing any of those things, your feet stay glued to the floor and your back stays pressed against the wall behind the bar. You can’t believe yourself. You’ve fought literal Gods and you can’t make yourself face one angry, drunk man. Maybe you really have gotten soft, spending so much time in a place as safe and calm as the City of Freedom.

You suddenly remember how Barbatos said he'd help you learn about peace and composure. How to cope with your innate urge to fight. You're starting to think that maybe you've learned too much, because now your body can't decide what to do with itself.

With Venti’s intimate connection to the wind, he can easily hear how rapid your breathing has become, even from the other side of the tavern. He can tell that you’re fighting with yourself over what to do here. Wanting to defend him, and wanting to hide. Not knowing which side of yourself to obey.

Venti knows you. He knows what you'd do to the man if you got your hands on him. When you look up again to watch the scene unfolding, he catches your eyes and whispers something that somehow, only you can hear.

“Stay where you are, love.

You know I can handle this.

It’s okay. I swear.”

Of course, leave it to Venti to speak so poetically while you’re having an internal crisis.

His words do distract you enough to calm you down a bit, though. You try to focus on your breathing as Venti shifts his attention to the man who has braced himself against a table, thankfully not trying to get any closer to Venti. Apparently he just wants someone to yell at, given what comes out of his mouth next.

“Do you even KNOW any other songs?!”

Venti cocks his head to the side a little bit, doing a great job of looking genuinely confused at the man’s words. He keeps any hint of offense out of his voice when he responds, friendly and upbeat as ever.

“Uhm.. pardon me, Sir? I know many songs! If there’s something else you’d like to hear, I’d be happy to play it!”

How he can be so kind in the face of cruelty will never cease to astonish you.

Images of him on the ground in front of the cathedral flash in your mind. The way he refused to fight back against Signora. You remember ice, and hands forcing you down to the concrete. You remember being weak. You remember burning rage. You wanted to claw your way inside her chest and tear her heart out for having the audacity to lay hands upon your God.

You wish he’d quit letting people take their anger out on him, but... maybe he knows something you don’t. Maybe he feels responsible to take these people's rage. Maybe.. maybe he’s just too goddamn passive. You quickly dismiss the upsetting images and thoughts, shaking your head so hard it makes you dizzy for a moment. You do not have time to be caught up in the past right now.

You tune back in to the man’s slurring words.

“Oh, don’t give me that act, bard. Sitting here all pretty in that little outfit... trying to.. tryna’ be all cute and polite 'n ssshit.”

You bristle upon hearing the man call Venti pretty like that.

You know what he's implying and it makes you want to wrap your hands around his throat. Dig your razor sharp nails in deep. You'd watch as his skin beneath your hands begins to dissolve in response to your Corrosion. Watch his blood seep out between your fingers. You want to make him beg for your mercy. Make him repent for uttering such words in the face of a God.

You want to.

You need to move.

Why won't your fucking feet move.

As you silently fight yourself, the man keeps speaking.

“You’re no better than the rest of us drunkards here and you know it. Comin’ in here every night and slammin’ drinks back, pulling out that fuckin' harp 'n playin’ the same. damn. songs. every night."

His fist slams down on the table over and over as he speaks, emphasizing his words.

You flinch every time.

Why can't you breathe?

He sweeps his arm out across the table as he stands up, knocking a bottle and two mugs off in the process. You hear the glass bottle shatter, and watch the spilled alcohol spread out across the floorboards as if in slow motion.

"I’m sick of hearin’ it!”

The room quickly erupts into a cacophony of drunken arguing. The well-meaning patrons jumping to Venti’s defense would have been heartwarming if it weren’t for the chaos being created, the burning hot coffee soaking your shirt, and the indecipherable look on Venti’s face. He’s still sitting there, an almost hurt look in his eyes, gripping his lyre tight as he watches everyone argue around him. He doesn’t look scared as much as he looks... disappointed. Concerned. Solemn.

Sober.

Your eyes break away from Venti when Charles comes into your field of view, and you barely register him asking if you’re okay. You nod on instinct, dismissing the mess on your shirt and the counter, far too focused on the ever-rising voices arguing in the background. He turns his attention to the man that is continuing to cause a scene, and quickly makes his way over to diffuse the situation.

“Excuse me.. Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave..”

As Charles uses his years of experience dealing with drunk, upset people to bring the arguing to a close and ushers the men out of the tavern, you just can’t stop watching Venti. He’s acting so.. different. The way he instantly went from loud, drunk, almost tripping over himself climbing up onto the table earlier, to now, looking as sober and solemn as ever.. it’s odd.

He takes a deep breath and dismisses his lyre back into the void. Your eyes follow him as he gingerly slides down off the table, quickly slips his shoes on without any trouble or sign of losing his balance, and quietly makes his way up the stairs to the second floor of the tavern.

Like he was never even drunk in the first place.

Like he was acting.

As the last of the customers leave their apologies and payments at the bar and make their way out of the tavern, you finally pull yourself out of your thoughts and back into the present. Your breathing is still shallow and fast, but your feet will move again, your body finally obeying the commands you’re giving it. You curse yourself over and over for freezing up the way you did.

Grabbing a towel, you start wiping up the mess on the counter. Your racing thoughts wander to places you don’t want them to go.

If that man had wanted to.. he could have…

He was close enough to Venti to…

Would he even have defended himself if that man had…

You weren’t there to protect him.

Charles comes back in as you’re attempting to soak up the worst of the drink you spilled out of your shirt.

“I’m sorry. Should’ve known the moment I went out on break somebody was gonna cause a scene.”

He watches as you aggressively scrub at the mess, honestly just making it worse.

He cocks his head at you.

“You sure you’re okay?”

You realize your efforts to remove the stain are pointless. You breathe a heavy sigh and turn your attention to Charles.

“Yeah… yeah man, I’m alright. I’ve faced far, far more intimidating things than some big drunk guy yelling a bunch of nonsense. You know me. I’m good... he just caught me off guard.”

Why do you feel like you’re lying?

You’re fine.. right?

You wished your voice sounded more sure of your words, but you can’t really help it at this point. You just want to go find Venti, but you continue trying to explain yourself. Charles is already more aware of your.. issues than you realize but he listens nonetheless.

“The atmosphere here is usually so calm at night, and I was just watching Venti like usual and.. I don’t know. That guy’s rage just came out of nowhere and made me jump. I’m fine. Honestly.”

There’s something knowing and empathetic in Charles’ eyes.

“Alright, well.. if you say you’re okay, I believe you. But still, Venti seems to have vanished, you've clearly had a long day, and I’m sure you want to go home and change clothes. Why don’t you let me clean up here and you can go ahead and head out?”

Wasting no time, he's already started picking up the pieces of the broken bottle on the floor.

As tempting as the offer sounds, you feel bad just walking out of here like this. The mess isn’t that bad but still…

“I- I can’t make you do that, it’s not even your mess and it won’t take that long to clean up.. I mean-"

You stop speaking when he turns around and gives you a pointed look, a kind smile on his face.

“I’ve cleaned up this tavern by myself more times than I can count. If I really didn’t like it, I wouldn’t work here. Seriously, don’t worry about it. I’m happy to wrap things up here.”

You sigh, making a mental note to pay him back for this favor, and you gratefully accept his offer.

“Okay.. okay, yeah.. thank you, Charles. I really appreciate it.”

You quickly make your way over to the stairs, following the fading trail of Anemo feathers that only you can see.

“Hey, don’t mention it. Just go find that boyfriend of yours before he disappears into thin air again.”

Charles laughs a little, a lighthearted sound, as he says that. You process what he said about halfway up the stairs and you whip your head around to look at him. You almost speak up to ask how he knew you were following Venti's trail but he’s already made his way into the back room to gather cleaning supplies. You shake your head, deciding to let it go because right now… with the way he worded that… you are too tired to try and figure out exactly how much he really does know about Venti.

Besides, bartenders are good at keeping secrets.

~

Venti isn’t on the second floor. Your elemental sight tells you that he didn’t sneak his way up to the storage room on the third floor either. Following the little Anemo feathers that Venti leaves in his wake, you instead are lead out to the balcony. Stepping outside, you immediately take in a breath of fresh, cool night air. As much as you love spending time inside the tavern, the first deep breath you take after exiting the establishment is always a welcome relief.

It would be even more relieving if Venti were out here, but of course, he’s never been that easy to find.

The trail of Anemo feathers has ended in a sizable group of them scattered across the edge of the balcony. Almost like he summoned the winds to take him up higher…

Oh.

Of course.

He’s on the roof.

As you make your way up to the top of Angel’s Share, you hear a familiar sound. It’s not a sound you’d ever heard before coming to Teyvat. After all, nowhere else you’ve been has had creatures such as these.

Peeking your head up over the edge of the roof, you see exactly what you thought you would. He's sat down, straddling one of the higher ridges atop the tavern. Several little wind wisps are hovering around him, chirping and speaking to Venti in a language you’ve yet to understand. They’re flocking to him like he’s their mother or something.

Hm.

You quickly file that question away for another day, too.

You haul yourself up onto the roof, as gracefully as you can after the night you’ve just had, trying not to disturb any of them.

Venti’s head tilts, looking down at you. He looks so tired… and there’s a quiet sadness in his eyes. It’s times like this that he looks a lot less like Venti, and a lot more like Barbatos to you. To the unfamiliar eye there probably isn’t much of a difference, but you know him better than that.

It’s something in his face. Something in his eyes. In the way he carries himself, and the way he speaks. It’s subtle, but it’s there. A knowing look that can only come from centuries of experience. A sort of… quiet acceptance.

He is fascinating to you, but you didn’t come up here just to stare at him from afar.

Nodding towards the wisps flitting about all around him, you softly speak.

“Do you think they’ll flee if I get any closer to you?”

He smiles a little bit at your question, his eyes soften, and he shakes his head slowly.

“They’re not afraid of you. I’ve told them who you are. You're welcome to come closer if you’d like.”

He says that like he doesn’t already know how badly you want to wrap him up in a hug and apologize for everything that happened this evening. You know it’s not completely your fault but you still feel so guilty, like you could have done more. Like you should have done more. Like you failed him when your body betrayed you and chose to freeze instead of fight.

You climb the rest of the way up, and settle down behind him, wrapping your protective arms around his small frame.

He takes note of your trembling hands, and gently wraps them in his.

He takes a deep breath in, thinking for a moment, and breaks the silence.

“You smell like chocolate… and coffee.”

You huff a little, more of a laugh than a noise of offense, and nuzzle your face down into the soft black hair at the nape of his neck.

“Mhm..” you hum, and pull back, pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of his head. “…and you smell like wine.”

You look down and watch as his hat, discarded on the roof beside him, begins to float a little bit. Before you can even be properly confused, one of the wisps slips out from underneath it, and chirps in success as it ascends to float around with the others.

“Did you trap that thing underneath your hat?”

That gets a proper laugh out of him, albeit a small one, and he shakes his head again.

“No, of course not. I'll have you know that it crawled under there of its own volition.”

He gently reaches out and slowly picks his hat up, revealing two more wisps cuddled up together like they were camping and his hat was the tent. They chirp loudly in protest of having their cover blown. Venti smiles.

“They like to hide in there sometimes, what can I say?”

You watch as he gently places the hat back down over them, and reaches back to his lap to take your hands in his again.

They’re shaking a bit less now.

You think for a moment, and speak again.

“They’re really cute, you know. How they’re so playful with you. They really trust you, don’t they?”

He nods, slowly reaching one hand out and holding it open in the air. One wisp flies over and gently lowers itself into his palm, curling up into a ball and resting there.

“We’re like family, you know. They know that I’ll protect them.”

Watching him like this, perfectly still, calm, steady and gentle, it’s really hard to believe that less than an hour ago he was just drunk off his ass, throwing back shots and climbing on furniture to sing whatever song was requested of him next.

Like, really hard to believe.

You figure now is as good of a time as ever to ask the question that you've been sitting on for quite a long time now.

“You’re completely sober, aren’t you, Venti?”

To his credit, he doesn't even seem caught off guard by the sudden question. He knows that you've suspected this for a while, and was almost waiting to see how long it would take you to figure him out.

He nods, looking straight ahead, out over the empty streets of the city. From your position behind him, you lean to the left, around his side to try and see his expression better as he answers you.

“I always have been, love.”

You breathe a sigh of relief that you didn't even notice you had been holding, and it doesn't go unnoticed by him.

"You watch me so closely... and you're around me so often, I'm almost surprised it took you this long to ask me that, Windblume."

He doesn't sound disappointed, or upset that you've figured out his secret. He almost sounds relieved.

"Well, I think I've known it for quite a while, actually, I just.. wasn't sure, and didn't want to ask until I was. I always thought that with you being.." you lower your voice even further before you speak your next words, "an Archon..."

As you pause to choose your words carefully, you slide your right hand up his arm, from his wrist to his elbow and over his bicep, stopping to rest on his right shoulder. Absentmindedly, you start to massage your thumb into the tense muscles there. He's always holding more tension than he seems to be.

"...I thought that you might just have a really high tolerance, and that it wore off really quickly afterwards, too. But then sometimes, while I watch you perform, or just joke around with people in the tavern, you seem to almost.. break character sometimes."

He hums and nods a little in response to your words, not interrupting but wanting you to know that he's listening.

"Like.. like you were acting, for lack of a better way to put it. You could snap out of it and right back in so quickly that I started to wonder if you were ever actually drunk in the first place. Just like tonight, when you suddenly broke character to tell me that everything was okay. Then, the way you watched the scene unfold and quickly slipped out of the room... it just didn't add up how you could switch so quickly if you were truly intoxicated."

Venti leans back into you and lets your words hang in the air for a moment, processing them.

"You're too damn observant, you know that?"

You're relieved when you can clearly hear the smile in his voice.

"You're right though, about all of it. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough wine in the world to get me drunk. Archons aren't capable of getting drunk on something as weak as alcohol. No matter how strong the brew, it just doesn't affect us like that. It's like trying to get drunk off of apple juice. It tastes really nice, sure, and too much of it can make you feel sick from the sugar, but it won't intoxicate you."

You hum in thought, and another question pops into your mind, though you believe you may already know the answer.

"Then, if you don't mind me asking, why do you drink so much? Or... why do you drink it at all?"

Due to the way he's leaning back into you, the laughter that bubbles up out of him in reaction to your question jostles you both.

"How do I explain it... Well, you know how you love the taste, and the experience of making and drinking coffee?"

"Yeah..?"

"Still, you don't like what the caffeine does to you, so you drink decaf instead."

Of course, he's found another parallel between the two of you.

"It's like that! I truly do love the taste of wine, and all sorts of spirits for that matter. I also love the atmosphere of the tavern. I get to be among my people, sing and drink to my hearts content, and.. yes, I do get to act like... like someone I'm not, I suppose."

He sighs a little bit, almost feeling guilty about the admission.

"I get to forget that I'm this powerful celestial being and for a while... I can just be Venti. He's a fun character to play, I guess. Not that the things I do and say when I'm 'drunk' aren't genuine, mind you."

He reaches up and does little air quotes around the word drunk, and you smile.

"I'm always me. There's just.. two different sides of me. They mix quite often, and I'm usually somewhere in between Barbatos and Venti at any given time. I'm sure you've gathered that by now."

You nod, and now it's time for you to do some explaining of your own.

"I have, love. I've definitely gathered that. Also, for the record, I love both of you, equally. I fell in love with all of you, not just one side, or one part."

You reach up and carefully tuck a stray piece of hair behind his ear.

"I don't mind it when you're 'drunk', honestly. I obviously wouldn't be with you if I were constantly upset by part of who you are. Honestly, though... you've always kind of been an enigma to me. I never pictured myself with someone like you. Not that there's anything wrong with you, of course not. We're just so.. different. It's something that's always baffled me.. given.. my past."

Venti reaches up and removes your hand from where it's toying with his hair, pulling it forward and you let him take it. You watch as he turns his head to the left in order to place a gentle kiss on the back of your hand.

It's still hard to revisit your past, and explain why you are the way you are. You're grateful for his silent reassurance that you don't have to go over it again. He already knows. The two of you have spent many sleepless nights with you clinging to his cape as you stain his bright white shirt with your black tears.

You already know you're gonna revisit tonight's effect on you at some point in the future. Venti knows that he'll ask you to tell him more about the first man that taught you to be so afraid. Not tonight, though. Tonight he will listen, and nothing more.

"I guess now I know why it never bothered me. Maybe deep down, I've always been able to tell that you're not really intoxicated. Now, are you high on life? Maybe, yeah.."

You both laugh at the expression, but he doesn't deny it.

"I mean, you do have quite the lively spirit when you're doing what you love. But I've never felt unsafe around you. I think my body knew that you weren't going to hurt me, even in the beginning, when my mind wasn't sure."

Venti feels a tightness in his throat upon hearing that you feel safe with him. He pushes the feeling down and speaks through it.

"I'm glad you know that you're safe with me, love. That's all I've ever wanted you to be, and equally importantly- to feel. Safe and sound."

From his own words, the need to protect you suddenly hits him again, and he sits up a little straighter.

He told himself he wouldn't pry tonight, but he has to ask one thing.

He needs to know you're gonna be okay.

"Speaking of, how are you doing? After everything that happened in there, I mean. I could tell that that man wasn't actually going to harm me, you know he couldn't even if he tried, but I know it still scared you. I'm truly sorry for that."

After everything, he's still putting your needs above his own.

You won't stand for that. You're not gonna make this about you.

Not tonight.

"Sorry? No, no- Venti- I should be the one saying that. He was posing a threat to you and I just... I just fucking froze. I should have stepped in to protect you."

There's frustration in your voice that you fail to hide, and you pray that he knows that you're upset with yourself, not him.

Venti leans away from you at that, and for a moment you think you've offended him. Your damaged mind is always thinking you've done something wrong. You watch as he carefully turns himself around to face you, disturbing the many wisps that had settled down to rest on his idle form in the process.

He looks you square in the eyes and counters your protest with a question.

"You do know that I'm with you because I love you, and not just to use you as my personal guard dog, right?"

You nod your head, and smile at his phrasing. Somebody once mentioned, upon seeing the two of you out in public together, that that's kind-of what you look like. Presumably due to the way you tend to watch over him so closely, ready to stand between him and the world, if need be. You're protective of him, and you make no effort to hide it.

"You didn't owe me anything back there, love. I knew you wanted to jump in. I also didn't want to further aggravate the situation. That's why I told you to stay behind the bar. I knew that everything would be fine."

You shake your head.

"Is it though? Are you fine? I mean.. the things he said... you know that's not true, right? None of it was. People love you, and your music, and it's his loss if he can't appreciate the stories you tell in your songs."

His eyes soften, and he sighs a little bit before he responds to you.

“Listen to me, dear. It is not your fault that he apparently had a bad day and decided to take it out on me. Everyone has their own taste, and it doesn't make him wrong for disliking my music. Was it out of line for him to berate me like that, in front of God and everybody?"

You can't help but laugh at him using the phrase that he picked up from you after hearing you say it so often. Of course, he's still trying to keep the mood light. He wants to see you smile, and you do, as he continues.

"Yeah... probably. It's okay, though. I can take it. I won't shatter just because someone got a little too drunk and decided to tell me their honest opinion.”

You can't help but notice that he's only mentioning what the man said about his music, and nothing about what he called him. Nothing about what he implied. You're torn between not pressing the issue and doubling down. If he's taught you anything, though, it's the importance of delicacy.

Gentleness.

You reach out and take his hands in yours once again. Your hands are steady now, allowing you to notice the slight tremble of his own as you thread your fingers together.

"I know.. I know you're strong. I know you can take it. But- but just because you can take it doesn't mean you should have to! You are so, so passive and... it's admirable but.. I don't know, Venti. I guess I just don't know how you do it. I'm afraid that you're secretly carrying all of these negative feelings and that one day they're gonna be too much for you to bear. I just.."

Your grip on his hands tightens.

"I don't want you to break on me, love."

Venti looks a little surprised at your words.

He bows his head and looks down for a long moment, taking a few slow, deep breaths. Both of you sit in the silence for a little while.

The wisps gather around the two of you again as you both remain still, and they get closer and closer to Venti, landing all over his form. It's almost like they're trying to hug him, you muse to yourself.

You eventually feel something wet land on your hand, and your first thought is that it's starting to rain.

Great, now you're both gonna be sad and wet.

You look up, but feel nothing hit your face. You feel another drop on your hand and you look down to where they're held in Venti's grip. Thanks to the fact that it's dark out, you're able to see that the liquid landing on your hands isn't clear rainwater. It's turquoise, and it's glowing.

He's crying.

For a brief moment you're too stunned to speak. You're not used to seeing him cry, but you find your voice in spite of your shock and speak to him softly.

"Venti? I-I didn't mean to make you cry, love.. I just.."

Your words trail off as the metaphorical dam breaks and his shoulders begin to shake from the force of his silent sobs.

"Oh, honey... sweetheart, come here."

You pull him further towards you, guiding him to wrap his arms around your waist and letting his head rest on your shoulder. He's so quiet when he cries, you'd never know it from just listening to him. His shaking body and glowing tears are a bit of a giveaway, though.

You rub circles over his back and he slowly but surely calms back down. He makes no move to pull away and neither do you, opting to stay together just as you are as he speaks again.

"I- I don't know what got into me.. I'm sorry."

"Venti, you do not ever need to apologize for crying, or for being upset."

"I just... I'm still not used to anyone caring so much about my wellbeing. It caught me off guard. I mean.. yeah, I get my feelings hurt sometimes. I'm not immune to the things people have said to me just because they think I'm some small, weak bard that can't fight back. Not to mention the things that have been said to me because they know I'm some small, weak God that won't fight back."

He pulls in a shaky breath and you pull him a little closer as you continue listening to him.

"I'm used to it.. I guess. I'd rather just let people speak their peace and carry on, thinking they got the upper hand, than cause a scene by fighting back. I'm tired of fighting, and over time I've learned it's often not even worth it. It's no fun having to act like things don't bother me, but over time I got pretty good at it."

Your heart breaks at the way he's learned to handle things.

You gently pull back from the embrace, wanting to see him properly. His cheeks are flushed from crying, and his eyes look so tired.

"Those words can still hurt you, Venti. Over time, they build up and if you don't process them somehow, they'll eat you alive."

He looks down as one of the wisps bumps into his arm. It looks up at him and, having gotten his attention, makes a series of noises that you can't decipher. From his response, it seems the wisp was echoing your sentiment.

"I know."

He looks away from the wisp and back up to you.

"I do. I guess my coping mechanisms aren't as fool-proof as they once were. I usually keep a good handle on it. I guess it's just gotten harder to do over time. Sometimes, I do wonder if I'm not getting weaker, instead of stronger, as time goes on."

He tilts his head back, looking up at the stars that decorate the night sky. The midnight breeze feels nice on his warm, flushed face.

"Sometimes I just don't know."

You reach forward and slip your finger underneath the bow that holds his cape together. The weight of the cape tends to pull the bow back, and it ends up pulling on the base of his neck. It looks uncomfortable, so you gently ease it forward, and reach out to pull the cape further forward across his shoulders, trying to alleviate the pressure.

You speak to him as you fiddle with his clothes.

"Sometimes, I think that all a person needs is to speak, openly and honestly, about the things that are weighing them down. Like we're doing here, right now. There's power in language. I know you know that. I believe that part of that power is in the relief we feel when we share our burdens with someone who cares about us."

Shifting his attention away from the heavens and back down to you, he feels warmth bloom in his chest at the sight of your soft, kind expression. He watches the way your lips move as you speak.

"I care about you, Venti. An awful lot... and I am always, always willing to listen to you. No matter what it is, good or bad, a song or a story, I want to hear it."

The way his focus flickers back and forth between your eyes and your lips is not lost on you. You lean a bit closer to him, and reach out to cup his cheek, still warm from crying.

You lower your voice to a whisper.

"Please, promise me you won't keep carrying all of these feelings by yourself. Someone as light as you should never be weighed down by the negativity of others, nor by the hate in the world."

He breathes in deep, and nods once.

"I'll try... to let you help more. To let you in. I promise you."

Your hands stop toying with the soft ends of his braids, and one moves to gently cradle the back of his neck. He leans into you on instinct.

His eyes fall closed as you pull him towards you, closing the remaining gap between the two of you.

You lean up and place a soft kiss on his forehead.

"I won't let your burdens drag you under, Barbatos."

You move down and place another, feather light, on the tip of his nose. He smiles.

"I will not let them."

Your lips finally meet his, and you feel him fully relax in your hold.

When you break the kiss, neither of you pull back, instead leaning your foreheads against one another and breathing softly.

Chocolate and wine pair quite well together, you think.

[toasecretsanta]

Coffee beans and labeling machines

A gift for @ithinkiamafungi written by @crystalcatgamer using the prompt  “sunflower siblings coffee shop au”!

It starts out simple. Apollo watches Meg water her plants, unrooting whatever weeds dare to grow in her garden.

All of a sudden, she turns to him, soil on her cheek and hands on her hips. "Hey, Lester, let's start a coffee shop."

Apollo blinks dumbly at her, processing the sentence. "What."

"It would be fun." Meg shrugs, tugging off her gardening gloves. "Siblings have been getting into baking lately, so that's pastries down, and there has been talk about coffee machines. It'll be good as pocket change, too."

"Meg. I'm a god." Apollo emphasises the last word, folding his arms. "What do you want? Another unicorn? Glasses? I'll get them."

"It would look good on my profile. 'Girl starts up her own business with the help of some dude.'" Meg continues like Apollo hadnt spoken, trudging back to the house. Apollo takes a moment to actually consider the idea as he follows Meg. It's not entirely out of reach; some strings here and there and he could certainly have everything ready for Meg to live out her coffee shop dreams.

"It would be fun to do something together. Give everyone else things to do too. Rehabilitation?" Meg muses idly, turning on him sharply. "Now, are you in or not, Lester?"

Apollo tilts his head and cracks a smile, golden eyes turning up at the edges. "Sure! I think we'll do okay!"

———

"But consider: this."

"Meg, we are not choosing that dreadful shade of purple; all our customers will get eye strain."

"Who's the manager here?"

"Me?!"

"No, I don't like that. We're co-managers now, in where I do the fun decorating and you do the paperwork."

"Meg, no-"

———

"Why are there so many coffee machines."

"Shut up and pick one!"

"I can't- ooh this one has a whipped cream option! That one can make- Meg, put that down, we are getting one that can at least make a latte."

———

"Do the beans really make a difference?"

"One more word out of you and you can get out of my garden. Don't listen to him, he's an idiot."

"I know I suggested growing our own coffee beans, but do we really need to-"

"Yes. Now get out of my garden."

———

"How's the testing going?"

"I told them we were gonna be selling their cookies and they started freaking. They've made seven batches by now. Here, take over ingredient hunting."

"What? Why- mmm?!"

"That's from one of the practice batches, macadamia nut. How's it taste?"

"Ack- oh, this is delicious! Why did you shove it in my mouth, though?"

"Grocery shopping and you can have the rest of the tray. Get mini marshmallows too, I'm not serving our customers just hot chocolate."

"Fineee!"

———

"Talk to me, I'm bored."

"Meg, dear, I'm trying to finalize the last details."

"And?"

"Just five minutes with you off my shoulder while I'm working, thanks."

———

"I hate this music. Change it."

"But it's a classic! It-"

"I don't want to hear the rant, just change it."

———

"Meg. Put on a smile." Apollo weedles, poking at his friend. "Customer service smile, come on!"

Meg looks him right in the eye, adjusting her apron. "No."

Apollo crumples to the ground dramatically, head in hands. "Our business is going to fail because of you."

"Whatever. Is everything in place?" Meg rolls her eyes (fondly) and trots out of the kitchen to the counter, Apollo trailing after her.

"This place is now a demigod safe haven!" Apollo gestures proudly at the cafe, where a few weapons are displayed on the walls, acting as decorations, to the hidden traps that can be sprung from a control panel under the cashier. Combined with the protection magic Apollo had gotten some friends to put up, this place worked well as a hideout for half-bloods to take a breather and have a hot drink.

Both of them jump when the door opens with the jingle of its bell, and Will Solace strides in with a sunshine smile with Nico by his side, face set in the usual deadpan expression.

"Will!" Apollo lights up at the sight of his son. "You're our first customer, actually!"

"Hey dad! Yeah, me and Nico wanted to check it out first and grab a spot. You're going to get a whole bunch of customers soon." Will chuckles, resting his hands on the counter.

"Word spread pretty quickly once people heard you two were starting up a cafe that would be able to protect demigods in a pinch." Nico adds, looking over at the glass display of their various pastries and sandwiches with interest. "Hey, did you make these?"

"Yep, you should see how the kitchen's at back home." Meg answers, and Apollo shudders at the words. That had been a mess he wouldn't want to see again, even if he could clean it with a single snap.

"Alright, I- dad, why's your name on the coffee machine?" Will says suddenly, leaning over the counter to squint at the said machine opposite him, which does indeed have 'Apollo' spelt out on it in large font.

"Meg here wasn't treating it with the respect it deserved." Apollo huffs, shooting the unimpressed girl a glare. "So I took the matter - and the labeling machine - into my own hands. Now she can't touch it because it does indeed have my name on it."

"On that note, the flour is named crack." Meg pipes in helpfully, and Nico stiffles a snicker.

"Valid." Will grins, eyes flickering around the place to take it all in. "I love what you did to this place, though! Those weapons work, right?"

"Forged from Celestial Bronze by a friend of mine!" Apollo chirps, mind flashing to the very long and tedious ordeal that was getting Hesphateus to make items a demigod could handle. The god was annoyingly offended at the thought of making something so 'inferior' so as to speak.

"I want a chocolate chip cookie and a hot chocolate, thanks." Nico states, fishing out his wallet. "Do we get a discount for family?"

"It's on the house." Apollo assures, and gets jabbed in the stomach by his dear co-manager for his kindness. "Hey! I'm not going to make my son and his boyfriend pay!"

"You realise everyone who comes here will be from the camp, right?"

"No, it's okay Dad, we'll pay." Will cuts in, looking up at the menu. "Ooh, I'll have the honey lemon soda and the meat pie, thanks!"

"Coming right up." Meg drones, marching off to dish out the food while Apollo quickly moves to make the drinks.

The door jingles again; suddenly it's like all of Camp Half-Blood is flooding into the coffee shop, chattering among themselves and lining up with a hollered greeting.

Apollo exchanges a glance with Meg, smiling as widely as he can and taking in the soothing noise of his friends, and gets to work.