#pushing himself too hard despite his failing health

[pixelatedraindrops]

Yuma Month: Day 25: Broken

Night terrors, burning body temperature, delirious hallucinations, and glassy faded vision…

Helpless and afraid, he calls out for his caretaker…but he’s not there…

He’s all alone now…with no one to help…

Completely broken.

[aealzx]

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Update Post

Prologue | AO3

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Despite not being comatose anymore, Danny’s health still wasn’t the greatest. After getting introductions for who everyone was they had started to explain to him what had happened. Only for him to fall asleep again before they got very far. After being assured by Bruce and Leslie that it was normal for those who had been in a coma to not be able to stay awake very long in the beginning, the others had found ways to entertain themselves while letting him rest more. When he woke up again hours later they let him orient himself again before trying to pick up where they’d left off. They had to repeat the same sequence again two more times before they got through the entire two months worth of events.

The hardest part of catching Danny up on everything had been admitting they didn’t know what had happened to Maddie and Jack. During the third time of being awake Danny had asked where they were, being confused why they hadn’t shown up to see him yet despite everything. And when Jazz had finally admitted it was because they weren’t there, and they didn’t even know if they were okay, Danny had panicked slightly. If he’d been in better health Jazz knew she wouldn’t have been able to stop him from running out into the city to try and find them himself. Yet at this point he couldn’t even push himself upright without help, and changing forms or even floating seemed impossible. Which had left him collapsed in Jazz’s lap, sobbing, “You don’t get it, Jazz! None of this matters at ALL if the people I care about aren’t alive! That includes mom and dad! None of this matters if they’re not okay too!”

Jazz knew that Danny really only fought to keep certain people happy. He’d protect everyone, sure. But the reason he kept going, the only real motivation he had for throwing himself in harm's way all the time, was to protect his friends and family. He did a lot of crazy heroic things, but he didn’t want to be some big time famous hero like she had learned Batman and Superman were. It was hard to not be able to tell him that he hadn’t failed. Only Sam, Tucker, and Danielle had been able to get him to calm down by reminding him how resilient Jack and Maddie were. Despite all the fights they got in, it was very rare that those two got hurt. So odds were they were still just fine after this disaster too. It had been enough to calm him down at least enough to stop crying, and allow himself to rest more. But his words still rang in Jazz’s head the next day.

Throughout the days Leslie was present more, checking Danny’s vitals, drawing a little more blood for another panel, bringing him room temperature water to sip in the afternoon. She strangely didn’t try to get Danny to eat anything until the next day. When Jazz asked about it Leslie had explained that while Danny definitely needed to eat again, there was a chance he wouldn’t be able to handle it just yet. While the cryo stasis had helped him not deteriorate as much as anyone else would have over a two month coma, he still had. He was underweight, malnourished, and easily fatigued. And that included his digestive system. She tried to help by giving Danny another vitamin IV with a slightly different formula. But even with that the first time she’d let him try eating two plain crackers he’d ended up throwing up less than an hour later.

That was when Bruce happened to come check on them. With the biggest hurdles for now having been taken care of, most of his kids had gone back to their own homes, as they usually did. It was hard to keep them around for more than a few days, and while there was still the task of getting these displaced kids back home they all knew that could wait until Danny was feeling better. Especially after learning through bits and pieces of information that there was a government team back there that would just love to hunt him down the first chance they got. So with Duke and Damian currently at school that left the house rather empty, and Bruce found himself taking charge of checking on their visitors. He had learned a lot about them in the past two days. The kids were obviously used to helping patch Danny back up, without the help of any adults. But they still relied on Danny being okay to feel secure. Danny was the one that protected them. Danny was the one they relied on being okay to judge whether or not everything else was okay. When Danny was cracking jokes the others were at ease. But when Danny couldn’t force himself to reassure them, there was a harsh spike in their anxiety. And usually Jazz was the one that took charge, trying to keep them all calm and reassured.

It was an unfair, but understandable situation that didn’t allow for Danny to truly rest. And that was what motivated Bruce to enter the room and approach the kids this time, stopping by the connected bathroom to grab a soft towel first. Jazz was once again the only one sitting on the bed while the other three hovered nearby, waiting to be directed. Her hands were on Danny’s back and arm as he was curled over the bucket Leslie had made sure was left just in case, coughing and half heaving despite there being nothing left in his stomach. Bruce couldn’t imagine how much stress it must be to have an audience, so decided the first thing he’d do would be to get the others to disperse. When he raised his hand to Tucker’s shoulder he couldn’t blame Tucker for jumping in startle.

“D’dude! You scared me,” Tucker protested shakily.

“He’ll be alright,” Bruce chose to assure instead of apologizing for inevitably sneaking up on the kids. “Can you three go work with Alfred to find a change of clothes and bedding?”

The three almost jumped on being given something to do, a series of affirmatives before they scurried from the room. Bruce sent Alfred a text to request he keep the three of them occupied for a while then knelt down next to the bed and offered the towel to Danny. It seemed his stomach had decided to stop throwing a fit for now, and as Danny took the towel and buried his face in it Bruce relocated the bucket to the nightstand. He didn’t need to wipe his entire face, but from that angle Bruce hadn’t missed the tears, and realized Danny was hiding.

“Jazz, can you join the others?” Bruce requested on Danny’s behalf. “And find Leslie to help waterproof his injuries so he can have a bath?” Not only would that give Danny some time away from the others, but he actually really needed one too. A fact Bruce realized when he’d reached up to help pull Danny’s hair out of his face. He’d probably feel a little better after getting fully cleaned up for once too.

Jazz seemed reluctant to leave, but at least seemed to know when her presence was a detriment more than comfort. She knew her brother well, and after leaning down to give Danny a peck on the head and whisper a quick ‘I love you’ she headed out the door.

“...Am I even allowed to have a bath?” Danny’s question came after he was sure Jazz was gone, raising his head and looking and sounding as miserable and pathetic as he probably felt.

“Of course you are,” Bruce assured, using his thumb to brush away another tear that escaped when Danny blinked. “We’ll just have to waterproof your injuries and IV site. But then you should be fine to take one for as long as you want.”

“...Really?”

“Yes.”

The idea of getting some time to himself was welcomed, but after realizing what he was thinking Danny’s expression crumpled again, and Bruce had to raise a little to catch him as we swayed. He was a little surprised when Danny actually curled into him then, his form shaking.

“Sorry,” Danny whimpered, and Bruce couldn’t keep himself from gathering the boy up in a tight hug. “...I’m not okay.”

That sounded like it had been incredibly hard to say, and Bruce had to wonder if it was something someone had been working on with him. He’d heard from Jason that it was relatively recent that Danny’s parents even knew what he was, let alone what he’d been going through. Perhaps one of them had been the one to talk him into letting them know when he wasn’t doing well.

“...I know,” Bruce responded quietly as he moved to sit on the bed and pull Danny into a ball. Everyone knew Danny wasn’t doing well physically. But Bruce knew he wasn’t just talking about that part of his health this time. “You’re going to be okay though.”

It felt good to be held by someone he didn’t have to protect. Someone that he didn’t have to pretend he knew what he was doing for. Act like he was just fine and nothing fazed him. It had been something he had just started getting after his parents got involved with all aspects of his life, and he hadn’t realized how much he would miss it until they weren’t there to give him that comfort. Jazz had a habit of calling out the fact that he was just a kid, but she was too, and couldn’t quite give him what he needed. But Bruce was an adult. And someone who seemed to have also lived through similar injuries. Hearing him say he’d be alright felt like a stated fact instead of just a confident reassurance.

It didn’t take long for Leslie to arrive and expertly shoo Jazz away again to help Alfred with the others. She wasn’t surprised at all to hear that Danny had thrown up, and instead just assured him he was going to be okay, and to think of it like having the stomach flu. The comparison did wonders in helping Danny calm down more, to the point he was only sniffling quietly as she took care of dressing his wounds in a waterproof covering.

“Don’t scrub too hard on the edges of the bandages when you’re washing up, okay?” Leslie directed while rubbing the said edges of the last bandage she was placing around his arm to encase the temporarily detached IV. She’d taken some time to clean the sites that would be covered so Danny would be able to feel completely clean after his bath, and was pleased to see he was healing a lot faster now that he wasn’t in some sort of stasis mode. She wouldn’t be surprised if his wounds were completely healed by the end of next week at this rate.

Danny gave a small hum in acknowledgement, understanding that he couldn’t break the seal if the bandages were going to work properly. The desire for an actual bath was strong enough that he was willing to comply with their conditions, even if it meant he had to have Bruce in the bathroom with him, just in case. It made sense considering he couldn’t go to the toilet on his own just yet, but at least Bruce had promised to stay facing towards the door as long as he could. He also had his phone with him to work on his own projects, so wouldn’t even try to get Danny to talk to him.

It was exhausting, but Danny also didn’t realize just how much it would feel good to be clean. To not have his scalp itch, and skin feel like a layer of grime was coating it. And also just to lounge in the warm water, in the silence and almost complete isolation. He was there for a little over an hour - dang fancy rich people's tubs and their ability to keep the water just right - before it became uncomfortably apparent he wasn’t just imagining the aching starting to get worse. Which led him to reluctantly using his foot to nudge the plug out to allow the water to drain and reaching out to knock his hand against Bruce’s shoulder.

“Done already?” Bruce asked easily, glancing over his shoulder halfway.

“Morphine is wearing off,” Danny admitted with a grimace, resting against the side of the tub.

“Ah,” Bruce nodded in unfortunate complete understanding, turning his phone screen off and tucking it into his pocket while grabbing the towel and soft robe to hand to Danny. “Let me know if you need help.”

Danny hummed once again to acknowledge what was said, but stubbornly took care of at least getting the bathrobe on himself on his own once the water had drained. Unfortunately he had to ask for help to get out of the tub, still too weak to lift himself up or stand. But Bruce didn’t react differently towards this than if Danny had simply asked for help opening a jar or something. It was nice.

Alfred had already brought a pair of soft pajama pants and fluffy socks when he’d returned to change the bedding as well. And once Danny was dressed Bruce had carried him back to the edge of the bed where Leslie could double check that the bandages had worked, get the IV reattached and another dose of morphine going. He found he was so worn out from the simple task, but also found that once the morphine did its job taking away the aches and pain he did feel a lot better than before. Enough that Duke pausing in the doorway while returning home from school didn’t make him feel too wary.

“Oh- First post injury bath?” Duke asked, pointing a finger at Danny as he noticed the bathrobe on the bed and Danny’s still damp hair. When Bruce nodded, Duke grinned. “Nice! Those always feel amazing somehow. You should take him to the couch next.”

“The couch?” Danny couldn’t help asking. Was it just the family room couch or something different?

“In the study. It’s quiet in there, and being stuck in bed sucks,” Duke explained. “I bet he was actually already planning on taking you there. After living here I came to find out Bruce is actually really good at helping people feel better. Even though he’s not perfect, no one is, he still makes a nice dad-”

“Duke,” Bruce interrupted, a slight scowl hiding his embarrassment. “Make sure you have enough time to finish your homework before patrol.”

Other people may have been put off by the glower, but Duke just laughed. “Sure sure. I’ll meet you in the study?”

It took Danny a moment to realize Duke was talking to him, and couldn’t keep his shoulders from drooping. He didn’t really want to entertain people yet, he was already feeling physically drained on top of emotionally.

Surprisingly Duke picked up on the mood easily. “I’ll keep quiet. Promise. But trust me when I say it’s really nice,” he offered, easily picking up Danny’s anti-social vibes.

“...Sure. We can try,” Danny accepted, figuring he could at least attempt the idea since Duke didn’t seem to want to spend the time talking.

It was just a few more minutes for Leslie to finish giving him another routine checkup and add an anti nausea patch behind his ear before allowing Bruce to pick him up again. Danny inevitably felt tiny as Bruce was able to carry him with just one arm, leaving the other free to bring the IV pole with them. But he found he didn’t mind. It had only been two days of him being awake in that bedroom, but Danny found getting to leave the room was nice. The study was quite a ways down the hall, and when they reached it Alfred was already there.

“I’ve provided the usual snacks for Master Duke and Master Damian. There’s also a thermos of warm broth that Dr. Thompkins has approved for Master Danny to try if he’s up for it. I will continue to keep the rest of the children occupied until supper,” Alfred informed, bringing their attention to the mentioned food on the low table in front of the very plush couch.

“Thank you Alfred,” Bruce responded simply, heading further in the room to get settled.

There was a fire crackling gently in the fireplace, keeping the room pleasantly warm despite the autumn chill outside. There was already a slight frost on the windows, but the glass was the only thing that reflected that cold. All the colors of the room were warm, and the faux fur blanket Bruce grabbed to help bundle Danny up in only increased the cozy feeling the room had. It was quiet, as Duke had said, and comfortable. Even when Duke and Damian joined them to work on their homework they rarely spoke. And when they did it was in low voices, and to each other about their homework or school day.

Danny had accepted being brought there with the thought that he’d have to end up asking to go back to the bedroom later. But after having spent some time quietly looking around the room his gaze had settled on watching the fire. And slowly the crackle of the wood, soft scratch of pens and pencils, rustling of paper and quiet taps of technology muddled into a soft haze. Eventually Danny’s eyes drooped closed as the soft sounds and comforting warmth became a lullaby coaxing him to sleep. 

Duke was right. The couch was pretty nice.

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This entire chapter was unplanned X'DD but I ain't complaining.

Bruce was as hard to draw as Dick was 8 | my art style is too cute coded for these rugged american comic characters.

Also I am extremely distracted translating a manga that not available in english just so I can know the story |D updates might be a little slower.

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Replay - Good Ending

Requested By: @f4gg0t-4-0b3y-m3

Part 1 - Part 2

Summary: No matter how hard you try to save your friends, death is unavoidable and they all meet their end. The Seven Demon Brothers + Diavolo, Barbatos, Simeon & Solomon Featuring Luke, Raphael, Mephisto & Thirteen Hurt/Comfort Word Count: 6,671

You weren’t sure exactly how many days had passed since that party where everyone found out the truth about you and the things you had experienced.

It was hard to keep track of time when you were doing the same thing day in and day out. 

Everyone had been spending countless hours trying to formulate a plan to survive - to “cheat death”.

You wouldn’t have believed such a thing was possible if it weren't for the fact that your friends were all either angels or demons.

And the one that wasn’t either of those was an immortal sorcerer. 

You were their motivation to keep going. 

You had only opened up a little bit about the things you had seen.

It hurt you to talk about it. It hurt to recall all of the images of the ones you loved dying in front of you.

They were each curious in their own way about what had happened and how they died. 

But none of them were curious enough to ask you and cause the pain of remembering just to satisfy their interests.

They never wanted you to have to lose them again.

They could see the mental, emotional, and physical toll this whole situation had taken on you. 

They could see how exhausted you were.

You needed to escape from this turmoil for your own health. And they would each do their part in making sure it happened.

Besides the effects that their deaths had on you, they also had their own selfish reason for not wanting the timeline to restart once again - they didn’t want to forget you.

They couldn’t imagine it. They didn’t want to imagine it.

You meant so much to them. You had changed them all for the better. You had made so many memories with them.

They didn’t want to forget those memories and relive them. 

They wanted to keep the ones they had and cherish them.

And those reasons were what stirred them all on.

Maybe it was the memories that they held onto that increased their endurance.

Or maybe it was their love for you that pushed them to fight even harder.

Whatever it was - it worked.

It was a hard battle.

It was a long and gruesome fight and no one came out unscathed. But, it was over.

All the pain and suffering that you had been relentlessly going through to try and find a way to save your friends was finished.

The horror movie that you had been trapped in had finally concluded.

And you couldn’t help but feel emotional as relief washed over you.

You felt a huge pressure taken off of you as you felt like for the first time in a very long time, you could relax. 

The Devildom wasn’t in peril. Your friends weren’t in danger.

You made it.

Now, all there was left to do was tend to the wounds they had acquired during the fight.

Lucifer was the strongest for the reason.

There hadn’t been a time in his life when Lucifer didn’t feel the need to protect his family. 

Even in the Celestial Realm, he always made sure to look out for his younger siblings, ensuring their safety at every turn and doing what he could to guide them in the right direction.

So when you told Lucifer that everyone died, he nearly lost control.

The image of losing his siblings he always fought so hard to protect nearly broke him.

And if they had died multiple times that meant that he failed multiple times.

He refused to fail you or anyone else again.

Despite how well he presented himself, Lucifer was a demon just like the others. And when he was angry, he tended to lose control. 

So when the fight first started and he saw the first of his brothers get wounded, his initial reaction was to lash out and attempt to kill everything in sight.

But you were there with him and begged him to keep a level head. 

In your past experiences, being hot-headed is what always led to his demise.

Normally Lucifer was too prideful to listen to others when it came to fighting. He would control the situation and do as he pleased.

But he had seen the pain and desperation in your eyes, and it sparked something inside of him. 

He did as you asked. His attacks were calculated instead of rushed and it’s what kept him alive. 

You were gently cleaning a cut on Lucifer’s forehead, taking special care in every movement you made to make sure you didn’t aggravate his injury any further.

Lucifer took in your scent, secretly admitting to himself that you were the only one he would allow to be this close to him.

He had been relieved when no one had perished in the fight, but he could only imagine what you must be feeling like.

He studied your features a bit more and saw the deep bags under your eyes from your restless nights and the way you were standing told him that your muscles ached from the constant work you put them under.

You finished tending to the gash on his forehead and Lucifer immediately picked you up bridal style, lying you down in his bed.

It was his turn to take care of you now.

He could feel a few tears run down your cheeks as he held you close to him and he knew that they weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of relief.

He gently ran his fingers through your hair before telling you, “You can rest now, darling. It’s over.”

Lucifer was the one who protected his family and he was going to make sure he protected you from ever feeling pain like this again.

There was a comfortable silence between you and Mammon as you gently wrapped a bandage around his wrist.

Mammon looked at you with so much adoration as he watched your features. 

You were concentrating so hard, trying to make sure the bandage wasn’t too tight or too loose.

The scene brought back fond memories for him of when he wrapped your wrist.

It was right after the TSL battle between you and Levi. Levi had lost control and attacked.

Mammon tried to save you but Lucifer had gotten to you first and got the situation under control, ensuring that you wouldn’t be harmed.

Only for you to fall and injure your wrist anyway.

Mammon remembered being so jealous when Lucifer was the one who saved you. He recalled the words he said to you that day as clearly as if he had said them yesterday.

“Listen. The next time your life’s in danger, I’m gonna be the one to save you, all right? Don’t you forget that. And if I can’t manage to save ya, then make sure you die, got it?! I don’t want no one else steppin’ in and savin’ you, all right?! It’s me or no one, understand?”

He wanted to laugh at how stupid he sounded back then - saying how he wanted to be the only one you depended on one second and then calling you a dumb human that he could care less about the next.

But you always saw through his tsundere act and you never pushed him away because of it.

And the words he had spoken that day still held some truth. He wanted to be the one to save you. He was the one who saved you. And he had made sure to survive just for you.

You had finished wrapping his hand and Mammon took his eyes off of you for a moment to inspect your work. It was a job well done.

Mammon opened his mouth to tell you as much but stopped in his tracks when he saw a tear starting to fall down your cheek.

Mammon panicked slightly as he pulled you down onto the bed next to him, gently cupping your cheek with his good hand.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mammon asked, desperately searching your eyes for an answer to what was upsetting you.

You leaned into his touch as you looked into his cobalt eyes. 

“I’m just glad I didn’t lose you again,” you admitted and a deep blush coated Mammon’s cheeks.

The night that you spent together after the party, you had promised him that he wouldn’t lose you.

But it never occurred to him that he didn’t make the same promise. And he could see how worried you were about it. 

Mammon dared himself to lean forward, placing his lips on yours in a gentle kiss.

He was so thankful when you immediately leaned into the kiss, proving that it was something you had both been equally craving.

“You’ll never have to lose me again,” Mammon promised you, barely above a whisper.

He knew that the future was uncertain. He knew that something bad could happen at any given moment.

But, the fact was that he had found the love of his life. And he wouldn’t allow anything to separate the two of you again.

Levi had put on a brave face for you.

He didn’t want you to see how much he was freaking out internally at the thought of losing everyone he cared about. At losing you. At possibly losing his own life.

For once he wanted to be the main character.

He wanted to be the hero who saved the day instead of the sidekick who merely provided motivation and help when necessary.

And heroes didn’t have mental breakdowns in front of their love interests.

But on the inside, Levi was dying. 

He spent so much time worrying about his insecurities and speaking to himself in a derogatory way.

And he was scared now more than ever that he wouldn’t be enough.

Levi was a General in the Celestial Realm but when peace had been established and he was no longer needed, he became an introvert.

When he fell, he earned a new title - The Grand Admiral of Hell’s Navy, but he never had the opportunity to use it in any capacity.

Typically the only thing that name gave him was control over Lotan.

But after promising you he would not only survive but help everyone else survive as well, Levi had to remember what being a general meant.

You gave him all the courage he needed to prove why he was the third most powerful among his brothers. 

He fought dauntlessly and took out a large number of enemies and you had never been so proud of the quiet otaku.

He was nervous to look at the wounds he received during battle, a bit anxious about the way they would look.

But luckily, you had offered to tend to them for him.

Levi was flustered the entire time, not used to you being this close to him, and he did his best to control his nerves while your hands brushed over different spots of his body.

“You were like a knight in shining armor out there, Levi,” you complimented him as if he needed another reason to blush.

“Do you know what the hero always gets as a reward for saving the day?” you questioned with a small smile.

Levi’s eyebrows knitted together for a moment, trying to find the answer to your question.

When the realization dawned on him, his cheeks were hot and bright red.

You let out a small chuckle at his reaction before moving closer and pressing your lips to his. 

“Thank you for being my savior - and my player two,” you told him honestly, before wrapping your arms around his waist and pulling him into a hug.

He was definitely going to play the hero role more often.

Satan wasn’t generally an optimist. He was a realist.

He analyzed the details of the situation and predicted the proper outcome that was expected to happen.

He was straightforward with his words, seeing no point in sugarcoating the truth or speaking lies to make someone feel better.

But that all changed for him when the two of you were together after he had found out about his death.

He knew that given the fact that you hadn’t been able to prevent the inevitable from happening before, that it would most likely happen again. 

And if the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then - by definition - you were insane.

But that insanity is what kept bringing you back to him. That insanity is what gave him the opportunity to know and fall in love with you over and over again.

So, if being insane meant that the two of you got to be together, then he wanted to be insane with you.

And when he held you his his arms that night, he couldn’t help but betray his beliefs and tell you what you wanted to hear.

He promised you that your story wasn’t going to end this time - that he would find a way to make sure that it continued.

He knew there was no proof that he could keep that promise. He knew that the odds were incredibly low.

But he would say them to you repeatedly if only to provide you a little bit of comfort.

He wanted to keep that promise to you, but his expectations were low.

He fought with everything he had, but he still felt like his efforts wouldn’t pay off in the end.

He believed he would suffer the same fate that you had told him about.

So when the final enemy dropped and he found himself still alive, he was as surprised as you were. He was as relieved as you were. 

And now here you were, standing in front of him and gently tending to a wound he had received on his shoulder.

You were close enough for him to feel the warmth radiating from your body and he was itching to pull you into his lap once more.

He had tried to do so almost immediately after the two of you reached his room, but you playfully scolded him for it.

He knew that his wound needed to be treated, but it was the furthest thing from his mind. 

It was at the forefront of yours though and you made sure to thoroughly clean it and cover it to ensure that it wouldn’t get infected.

You weren’t even sure if demons got infections the same way that humans did, but you weren’t taking any chances.

The moment you were finished placing the bandage on his shoulder, Satan’s arms were around you, pulling you on top of him and holding you close.

You let out a small chuckle as you nuzzled your head into the crook of his neck. Your arm wrapped around the opposite side of his neck, hugging him back just as tightly.

You stayed like that for a moment before leaning slightly away and pressing a small kiss to his injured shoulder.

The action brought a blush to Satan’s cheeks but left him wanting more.

And so he gently titled your chin up and placed his lips on yours, gently brushing his thumb over your cheek as he savored every moment of the kiss.

He was ready to continue your love story and he couldn’t wait for the next chapter.

Asmo hated getting his hands dirty. 

He hated the idea of possibly chipping a nail or bruising his delicate skin.

When he was up in the Celestial Realm, his natural beauty is what earned him the nickname of the “Jewel of the Heavens”.

It was a title he wore with pride, knowing that everyone admired him even though he didn’t do much.

Up there he wasn’t afraid of fighting alongside his brothers because he felt like he would be beautiful no matter what.

That all changed when he fell from grace and became the Avatar of Lust.

Losing the angel part of him made him feel like he wasn’t as attractive and given the sin he had been designated to represent, that was unacceptable.

He heavily researched all of the best skin and hair products to use to amplify his beauty. He had a reputation to uphold.

And because he put so much effort into always making sure he looked perfect, he despised anything that would ruin his hard work.

But, for you, he would do anything.

If it meant keeping you safe and keeping himself safe for you, he would do whatever was necessary.

And, the battle he fought definitely left its mark on him.

He had multiple cuts on his arms and legs, but they were minor and would heal on their own.

The one that hurt was the large bruise that had blossomed on his cheek. 

He had been avoiding looking in the mirror, afraid of how he would feel when he saw the ugly mark that spread across his face.

But then you came to him and offered to help him apply ice to the bruise.

And your hand was so warm as it rested on his other cheek, gently tilting his head in the right direction and keeping it there so you could hold the ice pack to the contusion.

“You were amazing out there,” you complimented him and despite the pain he was feeling, Asmo smiled up at you. 

“You think so?” he asked, a feeling of happiness taking over his senses. It’s how he always felt when he was in your presence.

You nodded your head and gently removed the ice pack, not wanting to harm his skin by holding the ice to it for too long at one time.

“You were worth the bruises and cuts,” Asmo admitted softly, his amber eyes lighting up as they connected with yours.

His words melted your heart and you felt the need to help make him feel better.

“Well, since you fought so bravely for me, I feel like it’s only fair that I take care of you until you heal,” you replied, taking a few steps closer.

You gently lifted his arm and placed a chaste kiss to every injury that you could see and then did the same to his other arm.

You ended your onslaught of kisses with a final one to his cheek where the bruise was.

Asmo closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling as your lips lingered on his cheek for just a little longer.

He wouldn’t be upset if he got hurt again in the future - as long as you were there to kiss every wound. 

Beel had been the most anxious about the entire situation.

He hadn’t been able to stop the nightmares from taking over his mind since you told him about everyone dying. 

He couldn’t imagine losing his brothers the way he had lost Lilith. He couldn’t imagine losing his friends. 

He would find a way to protect everyone and that included you.

Beel hadn’t been in a life-or-death situation since he and his brothers fell.

Back in the Celestial Realm, he was one of the most renowned warriors. 

He was great at fighting which is why he always stepped up when it came to protecting his family.

But, he never would have thought he would find himself in another situation where he had to fight. Where he had to protect his family or he would lose him.

He was fearless and relentless in his attacks and while it was one of the reasons everyone made it out alive, it also meant he had received numerous wounds. 

You were stitching up what felt like the third or fourth gash on Beel’s upper arm as he happily ate with his free hand.

After working up such a big appetite, he hadn’t stopped eating since he got home, even when you told him you needed to take care of his injuries.

But the one thing that pulled his attention away from his food was when he noticed the tears streaming down your face. 

He furrowed his eyebrows as he ate the last bite of food so that he could use his hands to cradle your face and force you to look away from his arm and into his eyes.

“Why are you crying?” he asked, carefully wiping away your tears.

You hadn’t even realized you had been crying until he said something and you touched your cheek as if to confirm his accusations were true.

“I guess I’m just…happy. It’s finally over,” you admitted and Beel gave you a small smile at your words.

He knew what it was like to be plagued by nightmares and he was glad that yours was finally over.

You leaned in and placed a kiss to Beel’s lips and his eyes widened in surprise before slowly melting into it. 

When you pulled away you told him, “Thank you for protecting everyone.”

Beel pulled you into a hug, attempting to slow his heart rate from your display of affection.

He told you he would protect you and his family and he meant it. He would always protect you.

Belphie may have been the youngest among his brothers, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t powerful in his own right.

He knew how to fight and he tended to fight dirty.

If he couldn’t overpower the enemies the same way his older brothers could then he would manipulate them and outmaneuver them - whatever he had to do to pull his own weight in the fight.

He stayed especially close to you and Beel, always making sure the two of you were in his line of sight so that if he had to take a blow for one of you, he could.

Under no circumstances would he let one of you die in front of him.

He tended to follow his brothers’ lead and would attack at specific moments that would prove most beneficial.

Work smarter, not harder.

Naturally, when it was all over, the first thing Belphie wanted to do was sleep.

He worked really hard out there on the battlefield and he needed to recharge his batteries.

You, however, refused to let him do so without treating his injuries first.

Belphie tried to protest at first, even going so far as to beg you to let him sleep.

But when he realized he wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep before you took care of him, he let out a dramatic sigh and gave in, allowing you to do what was necessary.

“Thank you for not dying,” you told him and he let out a snort. 

He wasn’t sure how much power he had in choosing his own fate but if that’s what you wanted to believe to make you feel better, then he would play along.

“You’re welcome,” he replied as you finished what you were doing.

Belphie immediately pulled you into the bed with him, wrapping his arms around you as he rested his head on your chest.

He did what you wanted him to do and now it was your turn.

You comfortingly ran your fingers through Belphie’s hair and he relaxed under your touch.

You didn’t mind him laying on top of you like this because it was just further proof that he survived. That he was there with you.

Belphie had been desperately wanting sleep but now that he was lying in your arms, his mind was racing with a hundred things he wanted to say and it was keeping him awake.

After a few more moments, he propped himself up on his elbow and looked at you. 

You locked eyes with him and you could see the adoration he held in them.

After everything that happened in his past, he never would have thought a human could have such a strong hold over him.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to yours, committing the way your lips felt against his to memory.

He told you that he would never forget about you and it wasn’t just a promise he made to comfort you, it was a promise he made to himself.

Because he didn’t know what he would do without you. 

Even though you told them that everyone else had died and that you survived, it didn’t mean that you weren’t equally at risk. 

One wrong move and you could have been taken from him.

“Thank you for not dying too,” he stated and you smiled up at him.

“You’re welcome,”  you replied and he fell back into your arms, pulling you even closer.  

Diavolo felt an immense amount of pressure on his shoulders when he heard about the tragic deaths of everyone he had come to know and love.

He was the presiding ruler of the Devildom and it was his responsibility to protect those that resided in his kingdom.

He wasn’t sure what mistakes he made in the past that allowed for them to all meet their end.

But he was determined to not make a single one this time.

Being born as a royal in the Devildom, Diavolo grew up training how to fight and he was very good at it.

He led the charge against the enemies with Barbatos advising his every step and the brothers backing up his every move.

He truly blossomed in his role as the future King of the Devildom. 

And while he wished he could say that his motivation to fight valiantly was because of his desire to protect his citizens, you were at the forefront of his mind.

He couldn’t stop thinking about how he couldn’t let you down. How he had to protect you. How he had to come back to you.

You were what drove him forward and spurred on each and every attack.

And as you stood in front of him, your body pressed against his as you helped him with his abrasions, Diavolo couldn’t help but wonder - when did you become so important to him?

He would put everything on the line for you, and while most would take advantage of a prince in that position, you were different.

You would never ask him to do that and he loved you even more for it.

He had told you that he would make you his Queen if he could and he never once regretted speaking those words to you.

He had many fantasies of the two of you ruling side by side and he thought those dreams would never be able to come to fruition after you told him about the horrible events that took place.

He thought that his dreams of making you his would be ripped from him.

And now that you were both here, both of you alive and - for the most part - healthy, Diavolo wanted to make those dreams a reality.

He wouldn’t wait for something else to come up and risk separating the two of you again.

He didn’t even wait for you to finish tending to his wounds when he pulled you into him and passionately crashed his lips to yours.

He didn’t care how long it took or who he needed to convince, you would rule alongside him. 

Now that he had you, he was never letting you go and you were happy to take your place by his side.

Barbatos was one of the most powerful demons you could have fighting on your side.

He served Lord Diavolo closely for a reason and it wasn’t just for his ability to provide excellent service.

His age provided an expansive amount of experience and his wisdom provided an excellent point of view when making a battle plan.

Barbatos knew every fighting technique and strategy. He knew every formation that would be advantageous and which ones to avoid.

After hearing the news of everyone’s massacre from you, Diavolo had asked Barbatos to look into the future and see how it happened.

There were multiple different scenarios. Different catalysts caused a different set of events to occur.

And Barbatos prepared for every single one of them.

You were hoping that he would pull through for you and he wanted to prove that he was someone you could depend on.

He wanted to prove that he was someone you could trust.

His advice and instructions had paid off.

He had given everyone a summary of the things he had learned and you had seen them effectively putting that information to use.

It prevented them from getting seriously injured and even allowed them to pull off surprise attacks that permitted your friends to gain the upper hand. 

Barbatos had gotten injured during the battle, but he wasn’t planning on making those injuries known.

It was his job to service others, not to have others tend to him.

After making sure the others were properly taken care of he disappeared to his room to treat his own wounds.

He let out a small gasp as he saw you there, already waiting for him with a kit in hand. 

You motioned for Barbatos to sit down and he did as you asked, knowing it would be pointless to try and argue with you.

Barbatos didn’t have any noticeable wounds on him but you had seen him get struck on the back and you knew that it would be a hard injury for him to take care of by himself.

You asked him to take off his shirt, albeit with a blush covering your cheeks, and he complied.

You did your best to not stare as you walked behind him to start cleaning and bandaging the cut. 

Your hands were efficient and gentle while treating the laceration and Barbatos tried to fill his mind with random thoughts to keep it from thinking about the way your hands felt on his skin.

He could feel your breath fanning down his back and a shiver went down his spine. He did his best to hide it from you though.

When you were done, you hugged him from behind, your arms wrapping around his chest as you nuzzled your head into the crook of his neck.

Barbatos was blushing, his heart racing, as he tried to process the shock of your movement.

“Thank you for being there for me and for helping end things once and for all,” you told him.

Your lips being so close to his ear made him flustered as he placed his arms over yours, attempting to hug you back.

“I told you - I’ll always be here for you,” he replied, a smile gracing his features even though you couldn’t see it. 

You pulled away to place a kiss on his cheek and he took the opportunity to spin around and pull you into his arms, where he planned on keeping you for the rest of the night.

During the fight, Simeon was the one who kept the most watchful eye over you.

He was a powerful angel and did what he could to help the others fight.

But, every few seconds he kept getting distracted by you.

He knew it was dangerous to take your focus off your enemy, but he was just so worried that you would get hurt. He couldn’t help it.

His concern didn’t go unnoticed. 

You recognized the way his eyes hardly left your figure and the way you felt his wing wrap around you when he felt like an attack was getting a little too close to you.

He had taken multiple lacerations that were meant for you, and he didn’t even flinch when they hit him.

He gladly took them, making sure you came out of the battle unscathed. He couldn’t handle seeing you hurt.

And because of his strong efforts to protect you, you felt like you owed Simeon some extra TLC once it was all over.

He winced slightly as you cleaned a cut on his cheek and you immediately retracted your hand as if it betrayed you.

“I’m sorry!” you told him and he gave you a warm smile as he gently grabbed your wrist and led it back to his cheek.

“It’s okay, I just wasn’t expecting it is all,” he replied and you gave him a small smile, continuing to treat his injury, being extra careful this time.

“How are you feeling?” Simeon asked you as you gently placed a bandage over the lesion.

You sat down next to him and he turned his head slightly to the side, urging you to be honest with him.

You let out a shaky breath as you finally allowed yourself to feel the emotions you had been bottling up.

As soon as Simeon saw you crying, he pulled you into his arms, gently rubbing his hand over your back and pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“I’m just so relieved it’s over,” you admitted and Simeon nodded his head, understanding where you were coming from.

“I would have kept my promise, you know?” Simeon asked and you pulled back to look up at the angel.

“Even if we couldn’t stop it, I would have found my way to you,” Simeon told you gently running the back of his hand over your cheek, letting his thumb brush your lower lip before falling away.

You immediately leaned forward and pressed your lips to Simeon’s wrapping your arms around the back of his neck to pull him as close as possible.

You only broke away when you needed to breathe and you looked into his blue eyes.

“I would have found my way back to you too,” you told him genuinely and Simeon believed you. 

He believed that the two of you were destined for each other, and now that you had both survived, he was going to make the most of the time that the two of you had with each other.

Like everyone else, Solomon had made you the promise that he wouldn’t stop the tragic events that you had experienced from happening.

He made you a promise that you would never have to go through all of that pain again.

He made you a promise that he would never leave you again.

And he did everything in his power to ensure that he kept that promise.

It didn’t matter how many incantations he had to perform or how many times he had to put up protective barriers around everyone.

He didn’t care if it took every last ounce of magical energy that he had. 

He helped make sure that everyone made it out of there safe.

Solomon played the support role rather than being at the front of the battle so he didn’t have a ton of physical injuries.

But he was far more exhausted than any of the others.

He knew that his job was one of the most important ones and he would be damned if he didn’t do it to perfection.

He refused to let any of his friends die.

But at the end of the day, no matter how immortal or powerful he was, Solomon was still human.

And he had his limits on how much magic he could use at one time.

He had pushed himself nearly to his breaking point, hardly able to stand after it was all said and done. 

You took him back to Purgatory Hall and got him in his bed.

Solomon didn’t like looking weak, but in front of you, he didn’t mind.

You made him his favorite tea and snack and brought it to him, sitting next to him on the bed.

You gently wiped any sweat from his brow and continuously placed the back of your hand on his forehead to check for a fever.

Not that Solomon would ever complain. He enjoyed the feeling of your hand on his forehead as you leaned close to him. 

After the tenth time of resting your hand against his forehead, Solomon reached up and interlaced your fingers with his.

“Is my adorable apprentice worried about me?” Solomon asked with a cheeky smile and your cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

“Maybe…you pushed yourself really hard out there,” you replied and he could see the concern in your eyes.

“I had a promise to keep,” Solomon replied nonchalantly before gently squeezing your hand and adding, “I’m fine - I just need to rest.”

You nodded your head, adjusting his blankets a bit and Solomon took advantage of the moment to tell you, “If you want to help, you could always rest with me.”

He let out a small chuckle at your flustered expression and decided to tease you just a little more by stating, “I would recover much faster if you were next to me.”

You knew that he was taunting you, but you did as he asked anyway, slipping under the covers and resting your head on his chest.

Solomon’s arms wrapped around you and he had a happy smile on his face as he held you close to him.

“Just this once,” you told him with a smirk.

You knew it was a lie. He knew it was a lie. 

After all, even though you restarted the timeline multiple times, you found your way back to him and he wasn’t letting you go.

Luke may be considered young when it came to angels, but he wasn’t stupid.

The gravity of your words hit him just as hard as it hit everyone else.

His expectations of him surviving were low and it wasn’t beneath him to admit that he was scared.

When he managed to escape with only a few minor injuries, Luke had made up his mind to try more new things even if it scared him. 

He would make sure to spend as much time with you as possible and maybe - just maybe - he wouldn’t be so hard on the others for being demons.

But if they decided to do something that he would consider bad or evil, then all bets were off the table.

*

Mephisto already felt like a failure when you told him that everyone died, including Diavolo.

It was his job to protect the throne and if Diavolo died then he had failed his only purpose.

He made an extra effort to protect Diavolo in the fight and was so grateful when everyone managed to escape.

It wasn’t lost on him that he could have lost his life in that battle though. And now that he’d been granted more time, he would use it to his advantage.

So what if he wanted to spend more time with you? Don’t mistake him for falling under your spell like Lucifer.

He just wanted to see what all the fuss was about…

*

Raphael had come almost instantly when Simeon told him what was happening.

The Celestial Realm and the Devildom may not always get along, but he was happy to fight alongside everyone when it came to a common enemy.

It was clear that the war may not have been won without Raphael’s help and your abundant gratitude was enough to finally bring a blush to the high-ranking angel’s cheeks.

He tried not to get caught up in the affairs of the exchange program, but it was hard to not want to when you had that look of adoration in your eyes as you looked at him.

Perhaps he would have to bring you to the Celestial Realm sometime and show you his favorite spots.

*

Thirteen was both excited and disappointed at how everything played out.

She didn’t really want to lose everyone she had come to know, but at the same time, she was a reaper.

Without death, she would be out of a job.

In all seriousness though, she was tired of the boys stealing your attention.

You all just escaped death and she had been very nervous about possibly having to reap your soul this early.

From now on, she would be making sure she got as much time with you as she wanted.

And if anyone wanted to protest, she had the perfect trap for them!

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

Tempted to make an alternate ending where only MC dies

[mimipolo]

Kim seo-wan x reader pt 2

Sorry for taking so long I fear my hyperfixation is dwindling💔

Pt 1

"Seo-wan?" your voice carries a hoarseness of disbelief that has his eyes snapping up to meet yours.

"[Name]...?"

"Seo! I can't believe you're...!" As you descend the few extra steps to come face to face with him your smile falters. He looks tired. Exhausted. Like it was too much to carry the weight on his bones. Your dimming excitement was clear and he couldn't bear to see it. It was the same face his parents made when they came to pick him up. Happy, relieved, and yet so afraid. Nervous that anything could send him back that downward spiral. He doesn't want to worry them, but what could he expect?

Looking at you felt like a dream, after so many months at the hospital it was like he was relearning the structure of your face. You look more tired too, but in the way it's shown you've matured, experienced new things. Effectively using the time he'd been away, away for far too long. His former mediator, his goal, you were everything he admired and more, so much it hurt to be near you and watch you bloom. Though it was all he wished. It just would've been better if he could stand beside you on that pedestal.

It was like you had everything figured out. You understood your own balance, able to handle change when exams didn't go your way and still were able to find stable footing. And from the sound of it from neighbours, still found a respectable job all in an entirely new country. You were unreal to him. Everything he wanted and wanted to be, but he just couldn't.

"[Name]." He mutters awkwardly pushing up his glasses in that familiar habit you adored.

He hadn't expected to be caught on the way up, he had told himself after Nurse couldn't go for tea if nothing else intervenes he's just do it. But of course you were there, as respectable and calming as you always were.

"It's been a little bit, hasn't it?" he says, forcing a smile you saw through immediately.

He knew his parents had told most people he went across the county to try studying somewhere else for the upcoming exam. Though it didn't matter whatever lie was fabricated as he still failed. Nodding lightly and accepting the condolences of his neighbours for another one of his many losses. He couldn't bear it.

But looking at you now that didn't seem like the story you were told, staring at him like he had come back to life a completely new person. Which was true in its own way, he felt a hollow copy of the person he was before.

"It has... want to come in for tea?"

And he felt himself gravitating towards your prescence, like he always had.

-

Inside your apartment you immediately knew something was off. You'd like to sum it to the classes in physcolgy and mental health you took a few years ago but the signs of it would pain you to even try to ignore. Fatigue was written all over his expression, the Seo-wan that was so stubborn about his goals seemed to be disappearing right in front of you. And you didn't even want to begin to think about why he's so many floors above his if not to visit anyone.

"My mum told you the truth I'm guessing?" your grip on the pot of tea stiffens but you eventually nod to which he sighs shakily, running his hands over his face like it'd get rid of the sour expression on his face.

He hated how he felt ashamed you knew, he hated how badly this has affected him despite his best efforts to go back to a normal life. He wanted to forget it all. Even now, the normal small acts of kindness you always gave him now felt out of sympathy as you handed him a cup of his favourite tea.

"How've you been holding up? You're not studying too hard right?

You really wanted to avoid bombarding him with questions but you couldn't help it. You sat side my side on your couch, you didn't have one of those pretty small tables with cushions his mother had so it was good enough.

He laughed bitterly at your words, he cradled the cup in his hands, despite the sweet aroma and warmth of his favourite tea surrounding his senses he couldn't bring himself to take a sip.

"I guess I have. No surprise I failed these exams too, after all that time I wasted..." Your grip on your own cup visibly tenses at his words, fully shocked he even took the exam in the first place, he had such a small time to prepare how could he expect to get a good result.

"You shouldn't have, look, you just got out the hospital more stress is not what you need." Not when it's what put you there in the first place, is what you'd like to say but you bite your tongue, already feeling yourself over stepping.

"I don't know... it's just embarassing, to think I spent all this time just living in this fantasy world-"

Your brows furrow slightly, not completely aware of the depths of his condition, it was something Mrs Kim didn't feel comfortable to explain to you and you understood that.

"Im sorry-um. I never realised it before but... you were my first mediator, always cheering me on despite it all. I never realised how much it meant till you left your apprenticeship..."

You're setting your cup on the table now, taking his still untouched tea too on placing it there as well. Attentively, you take his hands into yours, your sudden action inclining him to look at you. Your eyes softening when you see the lost yet unwavering gaze he has on you. He always seemed to look at you like that. What you failed to notice is how his hands stopped shaking from the moment you reached out for him, his body felt less jittery, that was just the kind of affect you had on him.

"You should've called, I didn't even know where you were until a week after I came back." His gaze wanders away from yours as you scold him, though he isn't fully upset, not when you're speaking so gently.

"It would be embarassing to, would it not? How else could you see me as someone reliable." For the first time you see the way his face contorts into such a deep hatred for himself, his grip on your hands tightening slightly.

"How could you see me as anything more than this...?" His voice shakes and you feel your heart drop. Your thumbs start to run over the back of his hands, unable to find the right words to stay but still wanting to comfort him. You knew what he was feeling, having felt it directly and from people around you. That weird sense of shame you have to carry, though whatever happened to you was far out of your control.

"Seo... There's nothing to be ashamed or worried about. You're still someone I admire and want to see grow."

His gaze meets you confused. You admire him? How could you when all he's done is fail since he met you. But you recognised features he missed in himself. His absolute focus, determination and thoughtfullness to his family were just a few.

"I truly admire how strong you are, so don't do anything stupid." You can't help the way your throat tightens up at the end.

His eyes immediately rim with tears at your words, he didn't expect you to guess why he was so many floors above his own. But it was clear, he wasn't on his way to see anyone else, more than happy to go to your apartment.

"I'm far from impressive [Name]." He mumbled with a small laugh, followed soon after with a short sob, tears involuntary falling as he holds your hands tighter.

Your hands leave his to wipe away at the tears as they fell, thumbing them away with a carefulness that made him shudder. Taking off his tear stained glasses for him, setting them aside. When your arms return outstretched he doesn't hesitate to fall into them. Letting out all the tears he'd refused to shed in the hollow walls of his house.

"Well I think you are, and I'm usually right so you should too."

He chuckled again against your shoulder and you laugh alongside him. For the first time since returning home he felt like he was alive again, whole. Maybe it was time to accept his friends were right and it was more than just admiration he felt for you. But that could wait another day. Another day where he'd like to see you again.

DID IT‼️‼️ Sorry this turned out more angsty than expected that happens when I'm tired.

Tag list: @kimseo-wan @keimitchy @rohjaewonlvr

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Could I please get Jeff and Liu (throw sully in there as a third if you want, or just merge all three. However you want to write it.) With a younger sibling who’s chronically sick (sort of like how Jeff was as a kid. Bad asthma, physically weak, etc etc.)

I hope you enjoy, I tried to mix in all three of them

It's hard on all three of them emotionally sometimes, watching you be chronically sick. It's hard on Jeff because when he looks at you he's reminded of himself, and he's scared of seeing you have to suffer through the same things he routinely suffered through, and sometimes still has to deal with when he has flare ups. It's hard on Liu for a similar reason, because he watched Jeff suffer through his sickness as your parents would do nothing to help him, and so Liu would be the only one trying to do anything to help him, and it's hard on Sully because just as Sully does everything he can to try to protect Liu, Sully wants to do everything he can to try and help you and protect you, and when he sees you suffering through your sickness, it makes him feel like he's failing because he can't just make it better.

However, they're not your parents. They aren't going to watch you suffer alone just as they did to Jeff. The three of them do their absolute best to take care of you, working together to make sure that if you ever need help, at least one of them is there with you to help out. Even Jeff and Sully, who are normally butting heads and disagreeing, work together seamlessly if they ever both need to for your sake. I think Jeff and Liu would definitely make sure they can both go with you to any appointments you have, as they want to be aware of what's going on with your health and ask any questions they have and see how they can provide any help to you. I think Liu is probably the bigger hardass out of the three of them, being the one to make sure you're always keeping track of any medication you have/need, making sure you're not pushing yourself too hard, and getting plenty of rest.

I think Jeff is the one who's usually asking if you want to go out any time you have free time and are feeling well enough, as he couldn't do much when he was younger, so he makes sure you can do things despite any weakness and difficulties you have. Liu is hesitant about those things at first because he doesn't want you getting hurt or too stressed out, but I think he comes around eventually and joins in on these little outings, especially if you ask him to because as the doting oldest sibling he simply cannot say no to you. They'll take you to a park to just sit outside and get some fresh air, or maybe go for a walk if you're feeling well enough, or to eat out somewhere and then get some ice cream, or to go to the movies. Small things that won't put too much stress and pressure on your weak body that still allow you to get out and get some fresh air. Sully likes spending time with you at home, mostly because he would be devastated if he took you out and something happened to you.

He watches shows with you or plays games, and he does a lot of cooking for you and handles a lot of your chores to help out. Anything you'd like to do, he does his best to do it with you, and he even goes out of his way to learn all about your hobbies so you two can talk about them together (as do Jeff and Liu, but Sully commits himself to go above and beyond) because it brings him so much joy to see you getting excited about the things you love, and it fills you with so much life and mirth, and it relieves a lot of his inner turmoil about whether or not you're truly doing well. They probably rotate which of the three of them helps around the house and checks in on you, because they love you very much and while they know you're strong and can take care of yourself for the most part, they will always be there to provide any support and protection you might need. No matter how old you get you'll always be their baby sibling, and they just want to see you happy and well cared for.

[httpshoney]

jungwon has always been observant.

no one could catch the glances he’d take in your direction, they were quick and discreet and he usually conceal a smile that forms on his face whenever he catches you staring out the window with your mouth agape, or when your head is hanging low as an attempt to catch a nap from all the cheerful activities you do.

you were the sunshine of their class, your presence alone made it hard for everyone to go on their day adorning a frown. jungwon has always been amazed by your consistency and failure to show other emotions than joy and calm. to them, to him– you happen to be the best person they’ve encountered. his mind would wander during the afternoons when he heads straight to hybe, the thoughts of you and sunoo meeting keeps him preoccupied and it never fails to leave a grin on his face.

he wasn’t in love with you, not yet. it’s just that, you frequent his mind more than he expected.

those were the words he’d repeatedly mumble, a mantra to convince himself that the flower in his heart hasn’t bloomed to his favorite feeling but there was no denying when he wants to see your vulnerability and stay with you, the same way you did when you caught him in the middle of a breakdown on the school’s rooftop. he became a firm believer that during his breakdown on the rooftop, you would break down too if he wasn’t there.

you were all smiles and laughter, you were the warmth of their class but surely your cheeks would hurt from all those smiling and laughter and if they did, could it be that you were shivering inside?

the day when you became all he can think of, jungwon wanted to be your safe place, just like you were his. the fast paced environment he’s settling in was too much in most occasions, the numbing pressure of being on his toes 24/7 to make sure their group’s name is void of dirt, and the fact that his current social status became a threat to his mental health– jungwon was more than relieved to know you.

but now that graduation is around the corner, there was added pressure to keep you in his life. he didn’t want you to be a part of his past only where he can only talk about you in past tense. he wanted to keep you in the present and in the future. so he frantically observed you on the day of their graduation.

his eyes were almost fixated on you, he followed your movements and looked if you were around any family members because in that case, it would be hard for him to finally talk to you.

shockingly, despite being each other’s company countless times. Neither of you initiated a conversation, your moments together were filled with pushing banana milk to one’s side to comfort them and the silence did all the talking. his fingers fidget and his throat felt too dry for his liking, god… he never felt this nervous when performing. was getting someone’s number this hard? jungwon never knew that it was this hard, he suddenly thought of his previous admirers who had the courage to ask for his number– and suddenly felt bad that he never gave it to them.

jungwon is observant, he’s alert and in whatever situation he’s in. he’ll always notice every movement, but maybe because it was hot in the auditorium, or maybe because his hyungs were there but jungwon never noticed you walking up to him.

“jungwon?” you watched as he flinched, shocked at the sudden intrusion that put all of his thoughts to rest. you felt bad, from where you were, you noticed all of his fidgeting and figured that he was overthinking. you were sure he was overthinking, from the moments you spent with each other on the rooftop; the furrowing of his brows, although very minimal and the nibbling of his bottom lip were all you needed to know that his mind was going haywire.

“y/n from your class, figured you might have forgotten my name.. are you okay?”

jungwon isn’t in love, not yet. right? but when you asked him how he’s feeling, he knew you picked up all of his mannerisms. jungwon is in love. he really is.

he never forgot your name even when you’ve never fully introduced yourself to him, and the thought of you holding a conversation with him excites him. he felt his blood rush to his face, his hands were sweating;

“can i have your number?”

[wake-me-up-inside-imagines]

Hiii! Can I make a request for Charlie? I read your pregnant darling and im curious how it would play out when his s/o is giving birth. I love your fics btw and im a huge fan of your oc's!

Awe, thank you so much, I appreciate the support! And sure thing for the request, I hope you enjoy!

Yandere! Mafia Boss With An S/O Who’s Giving Birth

Technically GN! Reader because pronouns aren’t used but reader is pregnant so…presumed afab reader

Warnings: Reader is giving birth, pregnancy, medical stuff, needles, Charlie is Yandere but doesn’t really do a whole lot of insane stuff in this one, mentions of death and stuff going wrong but nothing bad happens don’t worry

(Also, I mentioned this in the pregnancy post but I’m gonna do it again here; In this scenario, reader is with Charlie willingly and he’s just Yandere for other reasons. I don’t fw the idea of a kidnapped darling being pregnant, that’s a hard limit for me even though I write darker content).

Divider credit goes to @konatasoup

Charlie’s spent the entirety of your pregnancy worrying about the day you’d finally give birth. He was excited of course, he can’t imagine not being overjoyed, but the prospect of anything going wrong absolutely terrifies him. What if there’s a complication with your pregnancy? What if the baby isn’t as healthy as his doctor says they are? What if you get severely hurt during the birthing process? What if you die? What if-

He tries to surpress his worries, he really does, but as the day draws closer, he can’t help but dwell on them. He does his best to distract himself with prepping everything you might need at the hospital and more importantly, sticking by you every second he possibly can, protecting you from any outward threats he can think of. If something’s gonna go wrong, it’s not gonna be because he failed to keep you safe. Whatever is in his control will be dealt with, you can bet on that.

When it comes time for you to give birth, he’s absolutely frantic, and doing a terrible job at hiding it. Sure, he’ll reassure you he’s fine, but his frantic scrambling to get everything in the car and his nearly erratic driving prove otherwise. You’ll have to spend as much time reassuring him as he does reassuring you, because that man is not calming down any time soon.

However… he does make a pitstop to get your favorite food before you enter the hospital. He’s been told that it might be a while before you can eat again and he’s not about to let you go hungry, so whatever you want, he’ll get (despite his nerves). As long as you aren’t in a ton of pain and ok with him getting you food, he’s happy to provide for you.

Once you get to the hospital, he’s borderline harassing any nurse he can find, demanding you be taken in as soon as possible. He only slightly relaxes once you get into the labor room where you’ll be taken care of, but even then, he’s still shaking wildly, asking every single nurse and doctor what they’re doing to you as they’re doing it. You can’t blame the guy though, he has no idea what’s going on, and he loves you too much to play around with you and your child’s health.

He’ll hold your hand throughout all your contractions, no matter how hard you squeeze. He would really prefer you get an epidural because it kills him to see you in any amount of pain, and you better believe that you’re gonna get it as quick as possible if that’s what you want, but if you want to have the baby naturally, he’ll respect the decision, letting you grip him for dear life throughout the pain. He knows contractions are part of the process, but it still freaks him out to see you go through them, even if you and the nurses tell him you’ll be fine.

Once the baby starts really coming out, he’s on the verge of passing out. There’s nurses everywhere, you’re clearly in pain as you push, people are talking, machines are beeping, there’s a chemical smell overpowering his senses, you’re squeezing his hand for dear life-

Aaaaandddd there he goes.

He passes out right next to you, but he comes back after a second or two, groggy but alert. He might pass out again later, but for now, he focuses all his attention on you, reassuring you that you’re doing so well, and that he can’t wait to meet your child. He’s extremely lightheaded the entire time you’re pushing your kid out, but he does his best to stay focused, too anxious to purposefully allow himself to slip away.

Then he hears your kid crying, and he’s sees a fleshy blob get carried away to be cleaned off, and the biggest rush of relief hits him so hard he starts letting out a couple tears of his own. His child’s here, they’re here and you’re both fine. Nothing went wrong, everything’s ok, and he’s a father now, a real father. He has a kid!

While the doctor’s are making sure your baby is all right, Charlie focuses all his attention on you. You’re exhausted, as expected, but you find enough energy to smile up at Charlie, and he can’t help but smile back. He squeezes your hand reassuringly and pours out soft praises, reminding you how much he loves and you and how excited he is to be a dad.

Charlie spends the rest of the hospital visit absolutely giddy, almost vibrating with his excitement and joy. He watches you hold your kid with the biggest grin on his face, holding out his finger for the baby to grab onto as the two of you coo over them. He can’t keep his eyes away from you two, his gaze landing between your happy face and his baby’s face, trying to soak in every detail, until it’s permanently burned into his memory.

And then you pass the baby to him, saying he should get a turn to hold your kid, and he just melts. He tries to be as gentle as possible as he cradles the tiny human he helped create, absolutely petrified at the prospect of dropping them but beyond jubilant that he finally gets to hold the kid he’s been waiting to meet for so long. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to let them go, he’s only known them for a little bit, but he already loves them more than anything in the world (other than you).

Charlie doesn’t really know what the future holds, especially considering his job. But he makes a vow right then and there that no matter what happened, he’s gonna keep his kid as safe and happy as possible, even if that means shielding them from his career as much as possible.

He looks over to you, baby in arm, and smiles. He’ll keep his family safe. He swears it on his life.

I hope you enjoyed!

[new-tella-us]

So heard from a lil birdy that James, Damien and surprisingly enough Matthew all have madness. Or at least more madness than Erik and Sam and I chose to bring that idea to life.

Starting with James.

The voice of James’s madness is convincing. Or at least trying to be. He speaks to James as a misguided equal that simply needs to return to the correct path. The throne he was born to inherit belongs to no one else. They would all fail the kingdom, they’re too soft. And what of his poor mother? Stuck with that tyrannical monster. He left everyone to suffer for the pathetic hunk of rock he currently lives it. Sure the woman he loves was born here but if he loves he so badly, he can just drag her back, who would she be to refuse? Hell, maybe dragging her there would be best for her too, under his control where she can’t get herself hurt. The voice’s words can get so all encompassing that it makes it hard for James to continue his original task like reading.

Then there’s Matthew.

Matthew’s madness couldn’t care less about Matthew actually liking it or heeding its wisdom. The goal was always to make Matthew angry. Growing up with a loving mother that supported emotional health, Matthew’s greatest strength was his emotions, to know when to use them and when to control himself. His madness started throwing that off balance, making his emotions spike far more than they should. Usually Matthew could ignore the words his madness whispers but when it dares mentions his mother or the idea that his woman could be harmed or stolen, it can get the reactions it wants. As of now, it’s just made Matthew accidentally ruin a cupcake, but it’s terrifying that his emotions are fraying.

Finally there’s Damien.

Damien’s madness is angry to say the least. A manifestation of all the suffering Damien shoved to the back of his mind. It’s big, it’s loud and it cries endlessly for revenge. It demands the catharsis that would come from seeing those who harmed him suffer. Nothing Damien went through was fair and it demands fairness but Damien knows better. Anger like this never wants fairness, it never goes away when fairness is achieved. It just wants to hurt. Despite that, sometimes the words get to him. Memories he shoved down or premonition built from fear come bubbling to the surface. The fear that what happened to his mother will happen to his lover or that one or all of his brothers will turn into their father push him to tears. He knows it’s fake, the premonitions, but the fear and the pain are real.

So yeah, these guys aren’t having fun.

[mwolf0epsilon]

A Disgraced Trooper's Last Resort

Corrie moonshine has the kind of punch that can knock your teeth out. It's bootlegged with whatever they can find that won't outright kill them if it settles in their stomach, but definitely strong enough that it would sooner be considered outright gutrot than an actual FDA approved drink.

Not something your run of the mill liquor license or health insurance would cover.

Not that Fox really concerns himself with either of those things as he takes a swig from his lucky flask. To him a drink is a drink, especially when he feels like he needs it most. And he did need that extra push of liquid courage tonight more than he ever had before.

To put it simply, he was between a rock and a hard place. Relations between the GAR and the Guard were at an all time low. And, despite his Corries saying otherwise, it was all his fault.

He'd stumbled and made some terribly misguided mistakes. Grasped at tantalising straws that he'd hoped would be his and his men's salvation, only to fail time and time again. Burying himself and his troopers deeper and deeper in a grave that had been prepared for them since arrival. Eagerly applauded by the man who'd made them all his fools and jesters.

He'd botched Commander Tano's capture and then shot a brother dead. And not just any brother either. He'd shot one of Rex's boys. The only surviving one that he'd claimed from the defunct Rishi Moon outpost.

The heat was on high and everyone he loved and cared for was suffering terribly for it.

From his commanders to the shiniest of shinies. All because he couldn't win against Palpatine. He was in too deep and had no allies that could get him and his men back out of this deep dark pit. At least not any allies that had any real power.

Fox was playing a game that he simply couldn't win. But maybe he didn't have to...

Taking another swig of the flask, Fox contemplated the only logical conclusion he'd reached in the last couple of months, as he'd noticed just how much things had deteriorated. Contemplated this rather outlandish plan of his that was very much a last desperate call to set things right.

It all came back to flimsywork and the world of bureaucracy. Things he hated but was much too intimately familiar with. He'd submitted the performance report a month ago before settling for another round of the waiting game. Detailed what needed to be scrutinised, and omitted what most definitely didn't. His idea was a little out there but not unheard of, especially with the observations he'd dutifully jotted down to back up his decision.

And then there was the matter of tempting the Chancellor with something he couldn't quite resist, which he thought he'd done so beautifully. If he was good at anything besides suffering through logistics and political nonsense, it was nicely baiting a trap of his own.

As soon as Fox made his next move, a few things would change. Hopefully for the better. Not that his men would understand. At least not at first... But it had to be done. He'd made the assessments and he had certainly done his homework. As soon as the report was called in for review to pick his successor, they would very easily concede to his wishes.

Due to the current losses and supposed number of decomms, there were simply not enough skilled guardsmen for it to justify promoting their most veteran commanding officers. Thorn would be barred the position of marshal commander due to both his position as head of the prison force, and his constant requisitioning for escort missions. So would Stone, who was far too proficient in his senatorial guard duties to be pulled aside as a glorified secretary to the Chancellor. And Thire would need to take time off to train a replacement officer to guide the patrolsmen due to having the best knowledge of Coruscant's layout, making him the most effective patrol co-ordinator they had ever had.

And time was not something anyone could spare on Triple Zero.

And, with no one else nearly as experienced or simply far too important in their current positions, that left only one option should the position of marshal commander ever open up: Requisition a trooper just as skilled as Fox himself from another battalion.

Which is exactly what he'd done when he'd submitted the report. Should he be incapacitated or destroyed, command of the Guard would fall to the only person he trusted to be capable of leading them. Or, in Fox's true motivation, that had the actual power to put an end to Palpatine's sick little games.

And the best part? No one would call into question his choice on the matter. He'd waited more than enough after he'd submitted the report for it to register as valid on record, even after he did what he was about to do.

Which is why, as Fox finished emptying his flask as he stood on the very roof of the Senate building, he couldn't help but smile. Smile and wish Cody the best of luck. The bastard was going to need it, especially when Fox knew Palpatine would rejoice at taking something, anything, from General Kenobi who he seemed to so greatly despise.

The neon lights and smell of chemicals and pollution greeted the disgraced marshal commander as he stood at the very edge of the roof. Ready to make a spectacle of this. Ready to set his own twisted little game into motion. Palpatine had won the first few rounds, but he would not be able to best Cody. Not with the reputation he had, nor the esteem he'd earned. Which was exactly what Fox was counting on.

And, as he flung himself forward towards his inglorious demise, he hoped against all hope that Cody's fondness for his general was a mutual thing and not once-sided. If just so his little brothers in the Guard could finally have a chance.

He was, quite literally, taking a leap of faith.

[ghostgirlgroup]

if you still think Coach Ben is a boring character with no purpose who was a waste of screen time this season, we haven’t been watching the same show. We see all his flashbacks to understand where he’s been all this time, while the teens descend to madness around him: he’s in his own head, imagining himself happy at at home with his boyfriend. He feels useless in every sense, both because his disability makes him physically less capable in this environment and because he’s just a high school soccer coach/health teacher. He is very literally not equipped to help the girls much so he just gives up. He’s depressed to the point of near catatonia, and the only thing that shakes him out of it is that his fantasy literally pushes him out. He can’t stay there or he’ll die, things are getting worse and he cannot keep pretending they aren’t or he’ll die.

And, at first of course, he says, okay guess I’ll die and Misty is only able to get through to him by reminding him that despite how useless he feels, the kids do still need him. This is what reinvigorates him to live: that there’s still SOMETHING he might be able to do. He takes action, he makes snow crutches, and finds the cave. And when he comes back… well maybe the rest of them are too far gone, but he can still save Nat. Maybe someone can SAVE NAT. But it’s too little too late, he failed them and now they’re all beyond saving.

There are a lot of ways to read his decision to burn the cabin down, as a mercy killing or an act of punishment for their sins or lots of other stuff, but I think it’s not really worth thinking too hard about for now. This is the action of a trapped, desperate animal. This is a man who doesn’t know what to do, but knows that this is wrong, that this *should not BE* and that he has to do SOMETHING to stop it. He’s not boring, he just shook up the status quo majorly and he’ll do it again!

[dervampireprince]

Will You Join Me Once Again?

[18+, minors dni] Pairing: Leon Belmont/Vlad 'Dracula Tepes (Mathias Cronqvist) Words: 6,532 Rating: Explicit Read on Ao3 Tags: Dracula Vlad Tepes (Mathias Cronqvist)/Lisa (Mentioned) | Leon Belmont/Dracula Vlad Tepes (Mathias Cronqvist)/Lisa (Mentioned) | Polyamory | Polyamorous Dracula & Lisa - theres no cheating here | Trans Man Leon Belmont | Love Confessions | Getting Together | Reunions | Vaginal Penetration | Fingering | Oral | Multiple Orgasms | First Time | Virgin Leon Belmont | Internal Conflict | Happy Ending | Mirror Sex | Praise Kink | Voice Kink | Size Difference | Dom Top Vlad | Sub Bottom Leon Summary: Grass. Wet grass. That was the first thing Leon felt. His fingers twitched against soil, dirt creeping under his fingernails. He breathed. He breathed. And then he opened his eyes. Set after the finale of Castlevania season 4; What if Leon Belmont also woke up naked in a field, somehow revived. And what if he found his old friend and they talked (amongst other things). Combines Castlevania Lament of Innocence and the Castlevania animated series lore. Notes: my first writing in two and a half years huh. i started writing this after rewatching castlevania season 1 back in september 2024 and had the urge to finally write something for these two, who i adore together so much. but i started getting a headache and it was late and i went to bed instead of finishing the fic. which was the right thing to do for my health, but it did mean because i took a break i never picked up the fic again. until today. i binged all of castlevania nocturne yesterday and randomly today i just thought 'hey i reckon i could finish that fic' and i did.

Grass. Wet grass. That was the first thing Leon felt. His fingers twitched against soil, dirt creeping under his fingernails. He breathed. He breathed. And then he opened his eyes.

Waking up naked and alone in a forest wasn't the typical start to Leon Belmont's day. Especially since he hadn't gotten to start a day in over four hundred years. Wherever he had been since his death, he wasn't sure. Time passed strangely, and at times he could almost reach out and see what happening to his descenders. Centuries of Belmonts fighting vampires, that's what his legacy had become. And all of it stemming from one man.

He hadn't seen Mathias in the spirit world, or hell or whatever that place had been. Perhaps their souls had both gone to very different places. And yet despite how he had cursed Mathias, he had been... Well at first he had been angry, angry that he could not confront him, that he could now ask him if his betrayal had been worth it... and then he'd been... alone. Sara's soul was forever floating on Earth, unable to be with him. And by the end of his life, he had no other friends left, pushing them all away, scared to trust anyone... scared to trust himself. He had failed. Walter was dead, but so was Sara... and then Mathias took Walter's place. He had changed nothing. If he hadn't gone to the castle, if he hadn't killed Walter, maybe Mathias would have never become... him...

Mathias. No. Dracula.

And perhaps all the people killed in his wake would still be alive. How much suffering would be undone if he had never killed Water. Or if he'd been able to kill Mathias... But he couldn't do it. Even after everything Mathias had done, Leon was too soft, couldn't stop his damn heart from loving him. Hell, sometimes he'd wondered if he'd confessed how he felt, maybe Mathias would had never become so desperate to have gone searching for Walter in the first place.

But that was long ago. That's what he told himself. He couldn't change it. That didn't stop him from eternally thinking about it. Feeling guilty for not saving enough people, for not stopping Mathias... and sometimes, when low enough, he felt guilty for not going with Mathias in the end. Maybe he could have changed him, made him see sense, maybe he didn't try hard enough to save his friend.

He had to steal some clothes. Whoever or whatever resurrected him could have at least provided that. Though perhaps Leon was brought back just to suffer some more, humiliate himself for whatever god was watching.

At least it was night. That made it easier to sneak around the outskirts of a nearby village, watching for movement in windows, until he braved sneaking into a house and stealing some clothes. He swiped a knife from their kitchen on the way out. Unsure of what he was supposed to do with this new life, but sure that wasn't going to have any luck. That danger was probably going to find him.

That was the thought he had when he them. A couple. They were walking towards what seemed to be an inn. They had their hoods up but despite being out of practise, Leon knew a vampire when he saw one. Times had changed. Dracula was dead. Perhaps he should leave them alone.

The vampire turned, as if sensing Leon was watching him, and Leon saw his face. Older and harsher and with a beard and a moustache but those eyes were as red as they were the last time Leon saw them but he was dead he knew he was dead, he felt it and felt it again as something on his said on the veil shifted and then he was dead again wasn't he, wasn't he-

The vampire turned back, ushered his companion inside, and Leon struggled to breath.

-------------------

When the vampire's companion came down to the pub attached to the inn, Leon was there. He watched and waited while she asked for some wine and food, and while the innkeeper turned and left to gather what she'd asked for, he approached.

She turned her head to meet his eyes. She was blonde. Her eyes were blue. Leon tried to think that could mean nothing.

And then he pieced together glimpses of this world, of Dracula's revenge statement of revenge that seeped through the cracks of the Earth and out into elsewhere.

His wife. This was his wife. They were both alive. Somehow. And they were together. Leon should leave them be. But he had so much he wanted to say, so much he needed to hear.

"Can I help you?"

He was staring. He had been staring. What do you say to the wife of your best friend turned enemy when all three of you are supposed to be dead? When the last thing you said to her husband was swearing that you'd kill him. When the last time you saw him he looked down at you as though you'd broken his heart-

"Do I know you?" She tilted her head and stared as though she could possibly know there was any sort of connection here. "You look... I swear I've seen your face before."

He was never any good at beating around the bush and being subtle anyway.

"My name is Leon."

Her eyes widened, she sucked in a breath and then... her shoulders dropped. "Oh," she said. "That explains that then."

It explains what? Had... Had Mathias talked about him? Probably gloated about how naive Leon had been but... She didn't look at him with disdain. Could... did Mathias feel guilty too?

"Would you like a drink?"

He blinked, dumbfounded. "With you?"

"Yes. Why not. I think... we have a lot we could talk about."

"You want to talk with me?"

"Yes. Especially if it could help you not try and kill my husband."

Leon nodded. Unable to think of anything to say as she asked for another drink and moved to sit at a table in the corner.

"I don't... I don't think I plan on killing him," Leon said as he sat across from her.

"You 'don't think'," She raised an eyebrow, looking down at him with as though she knew the conflict inside him, as though she could possibly know anything about him.

"I want to talk to him."

"About what?"

"About us," Leon regretted his phrasing the moment he said it.

"Us? You and Vlad?" She teased. She was teasing. He had accidentally implied a closer connection with her husband and she wasn't offended, she was teasing?

"I didn't mean it like, that is we weren't, well I don't know what you know about-"

"He's told me far more about you than I think you expect, Leon Belmont." He was cut off by her laughter, then she looked sad. "He wasn't proud of it, you know. What he did. He wondered if we'd see you in the afterlife, and how he would apologise, and how he thought nothing he could say would be enough. That you would never forgive him."

"And he'd have been right," Leon sighed. "For a time, at least."

"And now?"

"And now... And now I don't know what I'm doing here, how I'm here, how either of you are here, and I have no one and nothing and..."

"And?"

Leon couldn't get the words out. They burned in his throat. He thought of Sara, he thought of all humans that must have been killed by Mathias after he turned, and he felt guilty because despite all that all he wanted made him feel evil. Tears welled in his eyes.

"I just want to see my friend."

-------------------

He'd gotten his own room at the inn. Felt awful as he picked someone's pocket for the money, but now at least he had somewhere to sleep.

And somewhere to wait.

Lisa, that was her name, had listened, and they'd talked and fuck she'd placed her hand on his as he'd cried. She should hate him for turning up here. For threatening to ruin their lives, this peace they were trying to make for themselves.

But she'd been kind. She'd been unashamed of Leon and his actions, and unashamed of Mathias. Vlad, she called him, that's what he went by now. And she told him of their lives, of the monster Mathias had become and then stopped being, how they'd fallen in love, of their son, and then of her death and everything that followed.

And after Leon was finished saying everything he needed too, she promised she'd go and tell Vlad, Mathias, him, everything and try and convince him to come to Leon's room so they could talk. Well actually she didn't say 'try', she said she would convince him. She seemed very sure of that. Leon thought he was starting to like her.

There was no creaking of floorboards, no footsteps. Only a cold chill seeping in from under the door.

"It's open," Leon said before anyone could knock.

The handle turned behind him. A footstep, then another, then the door closed.

"Finally have the courage to face me, old friend?"

"You visited my wife." His voice, Christ, Leon had almost forgotten what it was like. Smooth and dark and all caressing.

"I did. I wanted to talk. To understand. And I wanted you to understand that I merely want to talk"

"Hmmm, so she said."

Silence. It was Leon's turn to speak and he... He breathed, tried not to shudder, knew the damn vampire could hear it in his lungs.

"You speak of me facing you, yet you do not turn to face me. Are you frightened of what you might see? Or are you a mere trick after all. Lisa has heard stories of you, seen your face, but I would know you anywhere, little lion-"

"You do not get to call me that!" Leon whirled around, hands clenching, tears stinging his eyes and...

And there he was. Tall. Taller than Leon remembered. Perhaps the vampirism had added to his already stupid height. There were lines under his eyes, around his mouth. He had never had facial hair when he'd been Mathias. His once green eyes still that crimson red and wide, wide open as if he too was in shock.

"It really is you..." Vlad said as if in wonder. Leon could not fathom how he could be wondrous any more.

"And it really is you," And because sarcasm and stubborn was in his blood. "Nice beard."

Vlad laughed. Actually laughed. As if Leon's remark had cut through all the insanity of what had happened over the last twenty-four hours. And Leon's lips quirked up as he fought against the contagious laughter.

"Well," Vlad said. "I was never good at growing any when I was human. But..."

"Things changed. You changed."

"You haven't," Vlad took a step closer. "Leon you look... It's as if not a single day has passed. You look... perfect."

Leon drew in a breath, stepped backwards to keep distance between them and hoped by doing that he could ignore the beating of his heart. But he knew Vlad couldn't.

"Don't pity me."

"Leon, that's not... I'm not-"

"I know what I did, alright. I fucked up, I ruined everything. I couldn't save Sarah, couldn't defeat you, couldn't see that it was all one big trap, and despite all of that you know what also won't leave me? That I couldn't see that my best friend, the person I loved most in this world, was in so much pain that he'd go and turn himself into a fucking vampire so he didn't have to feel any more and try and claim some stupid revenge as if he could kill God himself, as if God even gives a fuck about any of us, after everything I gave and the world still becomes this mess, ridden with monsters and I couldn't stop any of it Mathias, I couldn't stop it, I couldn't stop..."

Leon was sobbing. He could hear it in his voice, the way it slid up in pitch made him feel sick. And Vlad was just watching, hands clenching, one arm stretching out as if he wanted to reach out to comfort him like old times. But this wasn't old times any more.

"None of it was your fault, Leon."

"Why? Because you're too damn smart I never stood a chance?" Leon spat.

"No... No... Because it wasn't your job to take care of me. It wasn't your job to track anyone down or defeat monsters. You took that upon yourself because you're good, Leon," Vlad shook his head. "You know I was jealous of you?"

"No you weren't."

"Oh, but I was. Not of your stubbornness, or impatience, or how you'd fall asleep during the Commander's lectures and I'd have to wake you up every time you were almost caught... But of your light. Your kindness. Your willingness to help others. If you are at fault for anything it's caring too much, and I would not fault you for that. And then I infected your light, with my darkness. And for that, and all the pain I have ever caused you, I am sorry."

Silence stretched between them. Leon heaved and tried to control himself, shuffling back every time Vlad tried to get any closer. Hating himself for how much he wanted to allow Vlad to touch him.

"Why are you here Leon?" Vlad said, eventually. "Why did you come to me? What do you want?"

"I... I don't know. I don't know what I expected. Probably that I wouldn't believe any apology if you gave one... but now... I don't believe you're lying and I don't know what to do with that. I spent so long being angry at you. And... I'm tired, Mathias."

"I know. I am too," A pause. "But you didn't answer my question."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"The truth, Leon. You were never a coward. Don't start being one now." He stepped closer again. "Lisa gave her blessing for me, for us, to do whatever we want in here. So I ask you again, what do you want? Why would she say that? Unless she knows something about you that I don't."

Another step closer.

"I've confided in her about everything. She knows our history. She knows what you look like because I still have an old painting of you. Did you know I never thought it out? I couldn't. Do you know why, Leon? Did you ever wonder why I asked you to join me? Do you need it spelled out for you, little lion?"

Leon was backed up against the window now. He could run. If he ran maybe Vlad would let him go and he could start a new life, no vampires, no fucking Dracula.

"I can feel your heart race, Leon. I'd beg you to not hide your truth from me. Not now we're getting this second chance."

Leon scoffed. "As if you'd ever beg."

"You wouldn't know, would you?"

Images raced across Leon's mind. His breathed hitched.

"Why do you want to hear it? So you can gloat? That after all this time, I'm so pathetic that after everything you've done I am still in love with you."

"...All this time?"

Leon winced. "You didn't know?"

"Catching you staring back then, and hearing your heart racing now... Attraction is different from love, Leon."

"Would it have changed anything? If I'd told you back then?"

"...I don't know," Vlad shifted, his hand brushed Leon's arm and when Leon didn't flinch he grew bolder. "And I don't know how we're here now, alive once more, and next to each other. It is almost as if we were fated to find each other again. And despite your... feelings, if you wish me to leave and never come near you again, I will do so. I don't wish to cause you any further pain, Leon, but..."

Vlad towered over Leon, nails scraping over his neck, his chin, tiling his head up. Leon should be afraid.

He wasn't.

"Should you want otherwise..."

Vlad leaned in, slowly, slow enough to allow Leon to back out. He wasn't caged. He could leave.

He placed his hands against Vlad's chest, holding him there.

"Leon?" Fuck his voice sounded wrecked. As if merely being this close was ruining him. As if he was possibly even scared that Leon was rejecting him once more.

But Leon wasn't going to make a mistake twice.

"I need to know this is real, that you're real, that you... That you really want me."

"Sweet boy, I have always wanted you, even when I didn't realise or accept it. I was so blinded by rage and grief, as seems to be my continuous folly. But don't think I didn't see you. That I didn't want. When I offered you a place by my side, I meant it in every way. As my friend, and as my consort. Did you not realise that?"

"It... it wouldn't have mattered, it couldn't have mattered. I would have never joined your crusade against humanity."

"I know. But that's not what I asked."

Leon tried to laugh. "Did I notice that you liked me in return? No. How could I? You were... everything, Mathias. I never thought I could be... enough."

"Oh, Leon," Vlad forced him to meet his gaze once more. "You were always enough."

His warm hands clenched the dark grey tunic as he pushed himself up onto his toes and he sobbed as Vlad's mouth met his.

He'd imagined how his first kiss with Mathias might go many times. Whether he would shyly confess his feelings and Mathias would take him into his arms, or Mathias would come into Leon's tent already knowing what Leon wanted and finally doing something about it, or whether before one last battle Leon would throw caution to the wind.

Being pressed up against a wall by a vampire almost twice his size being kissed as though he might disappear at any moment had never once been one of those fantasies. But Leon was not complaining.

He whimpered and clawed at Vlad, until the other pulled away, letting him breathe.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to shut you up by doing that," Vlad rumbled.

"No," Leon panted. "I don't. I still don't know if I believe all of this is real but, if it is... Perhaps you should show me?"

"Leon... I have to know exactly what you want. I won't hurt you again."

"Anything. Everything. All of you," And then he added. "Please."

Vlad made a noise at the back of his throat and then he was kissing Leon again and picking up him off the ground into his arms. Or at least he tried too, but Leon was already pawing at his belt, his tunic, trying to push everything off him.

They broke away laughing.

"Always too eager and impatient, Leon. Hush. We're both here. Somehow. And after all this time I am going to take my time and enjoy you."

Slower than before, belts were unfastened, boots were kicked, and shirts were pushed off each other's shoulders.

Leon felt unsure of himself for a moment, nervous under Vlad's gaze. But Vlad simply trailed a thumb down Leon's throat, his chest, and curled his hand where it rested around his hip.

"Gorgeous," Vlad murmured, and then his lips were back on Leon's and Leon hadn't really registered they'd moved until the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed.

He braced himself as he expected to be pushed down, but no such push came. Instead, Vlad's hands slid down over his hips, and the rest of his giant body went down with them, kissing his way down Leon's chest until he was kneeling at Leon's feet.

"How would you let me have you?"

Leon shuddered as Vlad looked up at him. Having this powerful creature on his knees before him, asking what he wanted, asking how he was allowed to have him... it made Leon's head spin.

"I already said. I want anything, everything. Place me how you want me."

"I want you to feel good, Leon."

"Yes, and," Leon cut himself off, realising he sounded irritated as if Vlad should know, as if he could guess. "I, I like, that is I would like, I... It would feel good for you to place me how you want me."

"Oh," Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Feeling suddenly embarrassed, Leon raised a hand to his face, but Vlad snatched it and pinned it to his hip.

"Is that what you enjoy Leon? Is that what you've thought about? Me taking what I want from you? Ravishing you in any way I see fit? Telling you what to do for me?"

Leon moaned. Vlad hadn't touched him and he'd moaned. The urge to crawl into a hole and hide flew from his mind as Vlad smiled. Leon wanted Vlad in control, and Vlad wanted Leon to want him in control.

All Leon had to do was nod his head and Vlad was pushing him onto the bed, moving him, positioning him up on his knees, his back pressed against Vlad's cold chest. Like this, Vlad could run his hands over Leon's body, peer down over Leon's shoulder to see the flush spreading down his chest. But that's not why he'd chosen this position.

"You are a vision, Leon," Vlad signed into neck. "Don't you see?"

He didn't know how he was supposed to see, and whether he was anything special at all in the eyes of someone who had lived long enough to see countless beauties. But a hand grabbed his chin and forced his gaze across the room.

Oh.

His cheeks were red, hair starting to matt against his forehead, thighs shaking, his, fuck, his thighs were slick. He must have already been wet and then pressed his legs together while they were moving. And he could see all of this because there was a mirror in the corner of the room.

He watched, transfixed and embarrassed, as Vlad's hand reached down between his legs.

"You will tell me if I do anything you dislike?"

Leon nodded and that's all the warning he got before a finger dipped down and swirled against his cock.

It was cold. Leon knew it would be cold, but that didn't prepare him. But it wasn't bad. Fuck, it wasn't bad. The finger gently moved in circles, around and around his cock. Leon cried. He bucked his hips but Vlad tutted and held their bodies together with his other hand. That didn't help Leon's want to squirm as now he could feel it. Doubts he had about Vlad's want for him were dripping away as he felt Vlad's cock pressing into the base of his spine.

Vlad teased him like that for a while, drawing circles around his cock until Leon was babbling, begging for more and calling him a fucking tease. Vlad laughed before finally sliding two fingers between his folds and pressing them against his hole.

"Leon," Vlad shuddered as though he could still breathe. "Already this wet for me. I really have kept you waiting, haven't I, little one?"

"Please," Was all Leon could gasp out as he fought uselessly to be able to rock his hips against Vlad's.

Leon cried and his hold body went taught as one of Vlad's fingers pushed inside. He clawed at Vlad's arms, scratching him, head throwing itself back against his shoulder. All the while Vlad hushed him, praised him, while he slid his finger back and forth until a second one joined it.

Vlad's lips mouthed at where Leon's neck met his shoulder, sensitive skin that Leon had exposed by turning his head away, trying to hide his face away in his hair. If he let his eyes wander up without moving his head, he could see his toes curling against the crimson sheets, his calves shaking, his thighs-

He averted his eyes, suddenly scared he would become too overwhelmed if he saw Vlad's fingers thrusting in and out.

Nails scratched at his cheek before Vlad's left hand snaked around them and fingers dug into Leon's cheeks. His eyes half-lidded as his vision shifted, Vlad's hand pushing his head backwards.

"Look."

Vlad's voice had always been beautiful. How many times had Leon's mind wandered whilst Mathias gave some lecture about their next movements, his next plans? How many times had Leon received an order and flushed? How many times had he gone back to his tent, imagining what other orders would sound like in that voice?

It was too easy to obey.

"That's it, Leon. Look at what you've become for me. The proud lion turning into my wanton whore," Vlad's voice was right in his ear, if he could breathe Leon would have felt it. "Were you always like this, underneath? When you would retire to your tent in the camp early, would you put a hand over your mouth while you played with your cock? Would you cry out over having nothing big enough to fill your dripping cunt? Did you imagine any of your knights coming to your aid, I wonder."

"No!" The volume of his own voice shocked Leon. "No, no, I, you have to have... you have to know that it was you, it was always you. Couldn't- Couldn't think straight during briefings, you, you, God, Mathias, it was always you."

He couldn't see Vlad in the mirror, couldn't know if he was shocked, if he was pleased. He couldn't hear his breath hitch. But he could feel Vlad's grip tighten.

"And what would you have done, little lion, if I had heard your muffled moans? If I had heard you crying out my name? If I'd stepped into your tent?"

"Anything. I, I would been embarrassed but if you'd shown any interest, if you'd asked... I would have done anything you asked. Anything, Mathias please."

Leon's hand scrambled and clasped itself around Vlad's arm as the fingers continued to pump in and out of him. It looked obscene, seeing himself stretched out in the mirror, clenching down on seemingly nothing.

"Please, Mathias, I want to see you," He tugged on Vlad's arm, tried to turn his head towards the other man. "I need to see you, need to see you, to know you're real, Mathias please."

Vlad sighed and his fingers pulled out and for a moment Leon was worried he'd ruined everything. But then Vlad was pressing him back into the bed and kissing him. Hands that could crush him were carefully cupping his face.

He'd always been the taller of the two, but whether through his own will or not Vlad had definitely added to his height and Leon and never felt how vastly different their bodies were until now. With a thrill, he realised he was caged.

"Need you," Leon mumbled between kisses.

"You were never good at being patient" Vlad chuckled. "Though I suppose in a way I've made you wait far longer than you should have had too."

"Indeed you have. So will you get on with it?"

One of Vlad's nails flicked against his cock and Leon yelped.

"Imprudence must surely be inherited in you Belmonts. I thought I taught you manners years ago. You were so prettily begging me a second ago and you've already forgotten how to say please," Vlad slunk down the bed until his face was between Leon's legs.

Leon gulped.

"Please."

One long, slow swipe of his tongue over Leon's cunt was enough to have him already wailing. His hips fought to stutter and arch off the bed, but Vlad's hands had him pinned by the hips.

Leon's hand came to his mouth on instinct, embarrassed at how easily he fell apart, afraid he'd give away how touch-starved he was down there.

"None of that, little lion," Vlad growled. "I want to hear every noise I wring out of you, you sweet oversensitive thing. No one has touched you since you've been reborn, hm?"

"Half-right," And this was exactly why Leon wanted to cover his mouth, lest it speak without asking his brain for advice first.

"Half?" Nails dug into hips as Vlad's voice darkened. "Leon..."

"You could call me an old romantic and say I was waiting for you?" Leon's shoulders tensed awkwardly. "It really doesn't need to a huge issue, I don't want you thinking you can't do anything to me, or that I don't know what I want just because I haven't... Just because I'm..."

"A virgin? You didn't think to mention-"

"I wanted you to still want to do this."

"-that I'd get the pleasure of being the first to touch you here? The first to taste you? The first to take you? You thought that would lessen my pleasure?"

"I..."

"You want to put that hand of yours somewhere? Here."

And with that Vlad dove back down, thumbs, pulling apart Leon's labia, spreading him open. One of his hands grabbed Leon's wrist and pulled it down, pulled Leon's hand onto his head. Leon's fingers trembled.

"Take from me, Leon. Take your pleasure, use me to make you come. And only after that shall I fill you like you need."

Well, Leon had never been one to refuse a challenge. Though this was out of his usual area of expertise and was uncharacteristically unsure of himself.

All it took was Vlad wrapping his lips around his cock and sucking to charge Leon into action.

Gasping, he grabbed onto Vlad's hair and started rocking his hips. Vlad moaned at every tug of Leon's hand, and that only made Leon grow bolder. He relished in Vlad's muffled noises as starting grinding into his face, pressing desperately as if he could fuck his cock down Vlad's throat if he tried hard enough.

His reborn body not having even been touched by himself, and how long it had been since he had slid his hand between his legs meant he was never going to last long. He curled inwards, stomach tensing, hardly able to get out any words but Vlad understood. And all it made him do was grab Leon's hips and pull them against his face, mouth opening as wide as it could, tongue breaching Leon's hole and Leon was arching against the bed and flooding Vlad's mouth.

Leon panted as he came down, whimpering as he pushed Vlad's head away from his oversensitive cock. From his lips down, Vlad's face was soaked, but he could not look as though he cared less.

Smirking and pressing a kiss to the inside of Leon's thigh, he asked. "Do you still wish to take me, Leon?"

And any tiredness from his orgasm left him as he remembered what he wanted, what he was finally going to have.

"Please, please," Leon's could hear how slurred his words sounded, as if he was drunk off the pleasure Vlad was giving too him. "Don't, don't fucking tease me anymore, I can take it, please let me take it."

Vlad crawled over him, making hushing noises and kissing his cheeks.

"I don't want to hurt you, Leon."

"You wont. Look at me," Leon pulled their foreheads together. "I want you to fuck me like we've been starved for it, I want you to stretch me open and ruin me for anyone else's cock, you understand?"

Vlad was silent for a moment, before groaning.

"Fuck."

And Leon yelped as he was grabbed, pushed up onto the pillow, legs pulled up into the air, knees trying to reach Vlad's shoulders, his body being bend over itself, as Vlad arranged him to his liking. He could feel Vlad's cock sliding against his hole, not pressing in yet, and fuck he wasn't sure he'd ever felt this desperate for anything in his life.

He reached a hand up, cupped Vlad's cheek, and simply said please once more.

The hand flew away as he gasped, arching, as Vlad's cock pushed inside of him. Vlad grabbed his hand and pressed it back against his cheek, nuzzling into it, kissing it.

"Fuck, Leon, so tight, so warm for me, so perfect," Vlad babbled that and other such praises as he sunk into Leon's welcoming body.

"Don't wait, I can take it, please move," Leon's hand slipped backwards, sliding into Vlad's hair and tugging once more.

Vlad growled, causing Leon to clench around him, before starting to fuck him like Leon had asked.

Leon had never felt this full. Shoving his fingers inside himself in his tent was nothing compared to this. Vlad's cock grazed over every sensitive spot, stretched him out like he'd begged, and he realised he'd been right. He was going to be ruined for anyone else. And fuck the thought only made him wetter. The idea that Vlad was making him take his cock, moulding his body into the perfect sheath. And Leon wanted it, he wanted to be used, he wanted to be useful, to do finally do something right.

"Oh Leon, little lion, my love."

He hadn't realised he was crying, until Vlad's face came down upon his, foreheads touching more move.

"Don't you dare stop," Leon choked out.

So Vlad didn't. He kissed Leon's wet cheeks, licked up his tears, and then licked his way into Leon's mouth.

Leon sobbed, hiccupped, and flung his arms around Vlad's back, trying to pull him closer, burying his face in Vlad's neck.

"Leon, I- Gorgeous boy, I won't last much longer. How many nights I'd thought about ordering you into my tent to have my way with you, having you on your knees like the loyal pup you are, you were always so eager to please, I wondered how pretty you'd look with my cock stuffed inside of you- Fuck- And if you keep clenching around me like that I'll-"

"Do it," Leon begged. "Please, Mathias, inside, come inside. I need it, I've needed it."

"Leon, fuck, I-"

"Please, Vlad."

Vlad's body caged in on Leon, his moan coming out through gritted teeth as he pressed his head down into the pillow beside Leon's. He picked Leon's hips up off the bed and he buried himself inside as he came. And Leon, crying underneath him, shook at the sensation of being filled and held and was so oversensitive, his cock brushing against Vlad's stomach, that he came again, leaking around Vlad's cock.

Time seemed to stop for a while. Leon gasped over and over, trying to regain a normal pattern of breathing. His body finally started to move when he willed it too, hands reaching for Vlad's face, coaxing him up from the pillow and peppering his face with kisses even as Vlad flinched and shook. Christ, Vlad was trembling.

Slowly, Leon rocked his body to the side until Vlad moved with him, the two of them rolling over, gasping as Vlad's cock slipped out of Leon.

Vlad seemed far away. Eyes unfocused, either lost in the haze of his orgasm or lost in thought. Leon pursed his lips, starting to worry. He wasn't regretting his actions. Maybe he should, but he wasn't. For the first time in a long time, he had felt wanted, and safe... and loved.

He traced the sharp lines of Vlad's cheekbones with his fingers.

"I don't know what happens now," Leon sighed. "I loved you for so long, and then I hated you for so long... but I never stopped loving you, even though all that hate. And I don't know this new world, I don't know how to start again."

"Come with us."

"What?" Leon would have sure he misheard but, Vlad was looking at him as though he was precious, as though he couldn't bear to have Leon say no to him again. "You're serious? What about..."

"Do you think I would have come here with discussing what happens next with my wife?" Leon flinched at her title, perhaps he was a little jealous, but more than that he didn't want to become some sort of homewrecker. "Cease your worrying, Leon. While it was not our original plan... Though none of this was our original plan, she does not view you as competition to my heart. She... understands, she always does. And she would like to know you better, and with that I suppose ask all manner of questions about my youth which will embarrass me, and you will tell her, and you will bond over whatever annoying habits I will carry out, and then, should you wish it, she may join us next time."

"She, she what, she, she would want...?"

"She said you looked 'quite adorable' when you got flustered."

"Oh God," Leon groaned, hiding his face in his hands as Vlad laughed.

"She is right of course. But then she is about all things."

"I can tell. She seems... Wonderful."

"She is... far more than I deserve."

"I think that's up for her to decide."

Vlad barked a laugh. "That's exactly what she would say."

"Well, it appears to me you have a thing for self-assured blondes."

Vlad's expression fell and Leon wondered if he'd crossed a line, but Vlad's mouth twisted and he wouldn't meet his gaze. Oh fuck he looked sheepish, almost embarrassed at having been called out.

Leon took pity on him and leant in to kiss his cheek, the corner of his mouth, drifting across his lips.

"I would find it an honour to get to know her better. And I would... I don't think I have it in me to refuse you again."

"Truly?" Vlad's hand came to rest upon Leon's cheek, tentatively as though he was purposely trying to be gentle and feared he couldn't be.

"Ask me like you did back then."

It was a selfish request, a twisted fantasy Leon thought he should have felt wrong for, but he asked anyway. It made Vlad pause and furrow his brow.

"Leon," He hesitated. "Would you join me?"

He should feel wrong, it should feel wrong. But it didn't. And after everything, maybe he was allowed to be selfish.

"Yes," Leon breathed against Vlad's lips. "And I'll tell any god who tries to stop us to fuck off."

Vlad laughed as Leon kissed him. Tomorrow Leon and Lisa would gather whatever supplies and food they could carry, and find a place to stay that was further away from anyone who could potentially recognise Dracula. And they would talk, and eat, and Leon would share embarrassing stories about Vlad so that when he woke Lisa couldn't look at him without giggling. And Vlad would kiss her. And Leon would feel wrong for a moment, before Vlad called him over and kissed him as he blushed and stammered. And when they would part Leon would flush deeper at Lisa staring at them, having watched, as she smiled with ideas swirling in her eyes. And Leon would wonder what he was getting himself into.

But he wouldn't regret it.

[evan4ever]

hiii! can i request a long cuddling session with kit walker x reader where hes really affectionate? you’re writing never fails to impress me <33

Long Day

Warnings: mentions of (child)death at readers job, but mostly fluff

a/n: thank you for the request 🤍

—

It had been a long day. As a nurse, you were on your feet more often then not and a 12 hour shift turned into a 16 hour shift when there was a no call no show and your facility had patients who needed to be taken care of. You often stayed after anyways, so it was no big deal, but goodness you were tired today.

You arrived home late. 9 pm. When you entered you front door, the living room was dark, only lit by a lamp in the corner — Kit always left it on for you. You made your way to the kitchen and saw the dirtied dishes that had been hand washed and were in the rack drying. You frowned slightly realizing Kit had also cooked supper for the two of you since you were supposed to be home at 5. He cooked, ate, and cleaned all by himself. You wondered how you found such a wonderful man.

You opened the fridge and looked around for something to eat since you hadn’t ate since breakfast, deciding on just an apple. You leaned against the counter as you bit into it, you mind wandering as you continued eating away at it.

You had two codes today, one whom happened to be a small boy. All patients who code bother you, but the children always tugged your heart harder. It was never something that was supposed to happen. No child should go before their parent. And despite your every and hardest attempt to revive this boy, he was gone. You held him while the doctor went to his parents to bare the worst news of their life, until he brought them back to which you handed him over.

You cried with them. You rubbed his mothers back as she cried over his small body wondering why this had to happen. You wished you could’ve told her, but no one knew the answer.

It was a rough day and you couldn’t get the picture out of your head as it replayed over and over.

“What’s wrong baby?” Your eyes shot open at Kit’s concerned voice, looking up at his as he stood before you with furrowed brows. You hadn’t realized you were crying.

“Oh.” You quickly wiped the tears from your cheeks and set the apple down and you stood up, shaking your head. Kit’s hands had found their way to your waist, holding you gently as you recomposed yourself. “It’s nothing. Just a bad day.” You nodded giving him a reassuring smile though he didn’t buy it.

“Doesn’t look like nothin’?” He tilted his head to the side urging you to talk to him. You gazed at him for a moment before sighing and allowing yourself to rest into his chest, his arms wrapping you up and his fingertips gently tracing over your back while he waited for you to open up to him.

“A young boy passed away today. I wasn’t able to save him.” You sighed deeper, your jaw clenching. “He was only 5.”

You felt Kit’s body tense as his grip around you tightened. He was the same when it came to children. And it always worried him when you had patients pass away on your watch, because he’s seen how hard it affects you. You never let go of those patients. They stay with you.

“Oh darlin’.” He sighed before pressing a kiss against your head. “M’sorry. Y’know it wasn’t your fault, right?”

You pulled yourself back enough to look up at him, giving him a tight lipped smile and a small nod. “Doesn’t make it any easier, though. No child should ever die. It’s not fair.” You whispered the last sentence as your eyes became glossy again, Kit quickly pulling you back to him tightly.

“Maybe you should take some time off. You’ve been workin’ a lot lately. Y’gotta take care of yourself too, suga.” He said softly into your hair. You smiled against him, appreciating how much he cared for you and your own health.

But you guys couldn’t afford for either of you to take off, so it was off the table.

“You know I can’t, babe.” You said quietly into him. You felt him sigh but he didn’t push further.

“Let’s go lay down. You need to get some rest.” He pulled away from you, taking your hands in his as he pulled you with him gently. You smiled up at him while allowing him to guide you to your shared bedroom.

He pulled the comforter down on your side for you, you crawling in as he crawled over you to his side and made his way under the blankets too. He wasted no time in wrapping you back into his arms, pulling you tightly to his chest while you confined yourself into his hold. The room filled with silence as you snuggled your face into the crook of his neck and listened to his breathing, each breath out relaxing you more. He was so warm and you always felt so safe in his presence.

“Do you think heaven exists?” You finally broke the silence, blinking a few times as you stared at the window behind Kit. You felt his arms pull you closer as he let out another sigh, your eyes finding their way to his now that were fixated on your hands that were between you and him. You gazed at his face wondering what he was thinking now.

“I’m not sure. But I think there’s something after life. And I think it’s a beautiful, pain free place.” he nods, his eyes flickering up to meet yours now. You raised your eyebrows a bit before you nodded in response.

“I hope so. It’s be nice to know for sure, so when these children do pass away, I can reassure myself that they’re going somewhere better than this life.” You looked down as you thought about it more.

Kit continued looking at you, his hand finding it’s way to your hair and brushing through it with his fingers in a form of comfort. His other hand found it’s way under your shirt, tracing more figures over your soft skin.

You guys cuddled often, but he was being extra affectionate tonight, knowing you needed it. It hurt him knowing you were hurting inside.

You felt him take a deep breath, looking back to his face.

“You know what my favorite thing about you is?” He asked, looking back down at you. You raised your eyebrows and shrugged, shaking you head in wonder. A small smile formed on his lips. “Your heart.”

You pressed your lips together and sucked in a deep breath, nuzzling your forehead against his chin which allowed him to place small kisses against your head. Your hands parted so they could wrap around him, his head lifting enough for you to slide your arm under it and into a hug. One of his arms still wrapped under your waist and pulling you into him so your body was plush against his, his other arm wrapped around your neck delicately, his hand against the side of your head holding it against him.

“Everything you feel, you feel so deeply. You care about those around you. You’re kind.. you’re loving.” You listened to his every word, your eyes closing in the process. “You have a heart of gold in a world of stone. I admire it. M’so happy that I get to call you mine.” You tightened your arms around him, his hand running gently down your face and to your shoulder. “I’ve never loved anything or anyone more than I do you.”

Your eyes squeezed closed tighter, trying not to well up again at his words. You didn’t realize how much you needed to hear them.

You were practically on top of him at this point, holding him to you still. One of his hands now rested on your back as his other played with your hair again, brushing through it gently. Every once in awhile he’d place another small kiss on your head, your cheek, your ear. Wherever he could. He just showered you in them while allowing you to hug all of your sorrows away through him.

“I love you so much” you mumbled into his neck where your face was snuggled into.

You finally felt the weight lift off of your shoulders, able to completely relax yourself into him and let your worries wash away.

“I love you baby.”

—

Tags: @evanpetersmood @witchsbitchestime @demxnicprxncess @yes-divine-ruler @shjjpm @evanpsrealwife @iruzias @jangsuzchap @quicksilversg1rl @submissiveforahsmen @angelmenace @lovelizzie-blog1 @justa19 @daylas-life @simp4petermaximoff @totta69

[exy-shmexy]

TW: angst, depression, mental health, loneliness

Andrew finding himself completely alone in his apartment during his first year going pro. the sole idea of calling something his fucking with his mind.

He dropped Neil off at the airport a couple hours before. A hollowness already gnawed at his mind when he watched Neil walk away to go back to PSU and leave him alone, but now that night has fallen and everything around him is quiet, the hollowness grows rapidly into something debilitatingly stronger. He hates himself for having let himself grow attached to people, to things, to stability and the constant presence of others around him which constantly reminded him he had people he could rely on, no matter how hard he tried and ultimately failed to keep them at arm’s length.

He heads to bed without eating, having no energy to smoke either. He sleeps, but he wakes up the next day even more tired than before. He knows what it is, knows he should call Bee, but he doesn’t even have the strength for that. He tells himself it’s his new life, he doesn’t have to text anyone, doesn’t want to bother them.

Neil texts him every day. Andrew can barely find the energy to answer most of the time. The Foxes’ group chat pings too much too often. He mutes it indefinitely.

Weeks pass and Andrew’s responses become even more sporadic. He is convinced no one wants to hear from him anyway.

Neil is worried.

Andrew hates that Neil is worried.

Andrew wants to disappear. He wants everyone to forget about him as if he were never there in the first place.

One day when he forget once again to sustain his own basic needs, there is a knock at his door.

Andrew doesn’t move from his couch. No one should be there, it’s probably some asswipe who wants to sell him something he doesn’t need. He ignores it but the knock comes again, more aggressive this time.

Andrew’s temper flares up immediately. He gets up and swings the door open only to find his carbon copy staring back at him with anger burning bright in his eyes.

“Good to know you’re still fucking alive, you asshole,” Aaron snarls, letting himself inside Andrew’s flat uninvited.

He shouldn’t be here. It’s the middle of the week. Aaron has classes and lives five hours away with Katelyn now.

“Why are you here?”

Aaron looks this close to exploding at his face. “You haven’t answered your phone in five fucking days. I thought you had done something incredibly stupid.”

Andrew is stunned. He didn’t want anyone to think about him, he didn’t think his own family would worry so he let his phone’s battery die completely. He doesn’t feel bad, not exactly, but he hates the angry relief in Aaron’s face now that he sees he’s alive.

“You look like shit,” Aaron sneers. His twin looks tired too, either from his flight or med school, or with worry but Andrew doesn’t want to think about that now. “Josten is on his way too, just so you know.”

Andrew doesn’t want to admit it, but relief floods mercilessly through his veins at the idea that there are people who care enough about him to check on him despite him putting his distance.

He doesn’t thank Aaron for coming all the way here, but he doesn’t push him away the entire time he is at Andrew’s place either.

[sharuruwrites]

Pretender

Goodbye. I am not your soulmate.

It’s heart-breaking, but I can’t deny reality,

Still, leaving your side is so hard.

-Pretender by Official Hige Dandism

Tags: Dazai x Fem!Reader, Dazai cranks up his self-loathing to a 100, hurt, break-up, angst, Dazai longing, before the events of entrance exam and after events of Port Mafia, Unedited

Disclaimer: I don't own BSD.

Masterlist

-------------------------

It was a silent morning in your apartment when Dazai uttered this words to you, his girlfriend of two years.

“Let’s break-up.”

Despite the indifferent tone in his voice, your expression didn't change as you silently drank your tea. Were you too shocked to process this information? Or, perhaps you knew you'll be parting ways with him?

You gently placed the cup down on the tea saucer, before meeting your soon-to-be ex's gaze. "If you truly want me to bawl my eyes out, you shouldn't have warned me in the first place, Osamu."

Before fate pushed you two to meet, Dazai recently passed his entrance exam as the new detective for the agency, and to celebrate his success, he chose to go to Lupin. And at that bar, you were there, drinking by yourself. After few exchange of glasses and, he found himself fascinated with you.

“Wanna go out?”‌ You asked, lazily tracing the lid of your glass. "I'm serious about it."

Dazai looked down at his alcoholic beverage. He didn't know you well enough for him to warrant to have a relationship with you, but neither do you. If he pursued this relationship, maybe you would help him understand more about humanity.

“Sure,”‌ Dazai smirked. “Although I agree to it, I just want to give you a heads up that our relationship will be short lived and one-sided.”

True to his words, he had the front row seats of his love story turning into a one-man show ran by you. What he didn’t expect, you stood by his side for the past two years. He couldn't pinpoint on what made you stay, but he liked to think that it had something to do with his love for dramatic flair. Afterall, you were just there whenever he needed someone to lean on. You never failed him. Because of it, he learned how to fall for you.

Except, him on the other hand, he lost count on the many times he knew you're disappointed on him. At first, he thought of many ways he could make up for it by showering you with gifts and affections. However, the moment you nursed him back to health from the annual flu, it became clear to him that you were never meant to be his.

Dazai Osamu was never gonna be your soulmate, because of how selfless you were. Perhaps, for the first time in his life, he feared the concept of 'us' between you and him, especially with his dark past and his line of work. He rather have you be well and alive, instead of fearing the possibility of you dying for him.

It was a strange idea for him to come into terms with it which it took him another 365 days to accept it. He always yearned to die with a beautiful lady like you next to him, but, his love for you wished that it wasn't you.

“I'm sorry, love.”‌

Like always, his apologies were devoid of life and meaningless. You never flinched away or got mad at him for it. It made him wonder why you're indifferent with his aloofness. Maybe you're aware of his shortcomings, or your too blinded by your love for him.

"What's there to apologize for?" You got up from your seat, before grabbing your used dishware. "It was nice while it lasted."

After what it felt like an eternity, he had to go and get ready for his mission in the afternoon. He left your spare keys to your apartment at the coffee table, and you assured him that you would drop his stuff at his place later in the day. All that's left of him was to open the door in front of him and leave.

But, his feet was cemented on the carpet floor like it was telling him not to leave. He already accepted the reality it wasn't you on his side at the end, but why does his heart kept trying to deny the truth?

“Osamu?" He looked behind, and saw you tilted your head to the side. "What's wrong?"

Dazai gently cupped your cheek with his hand, and his thumb brushed against your skin. He noticed three things immediately that brought a small smile to his lips. Your eyes were getting watery and red. Your temperature was unexpectedly hot. Lastly, the sudden stillness of your breath as if you have forgotten how to breathe after he touched your face.

A question popped in his head. Were you putting that strong facade for the both of you?‌ Or, to convinced yourself not to look pathetic in his goodbye?

Your warmth, your laughter, and the sound of his name from your voice, he wanted all of them ingrained it into his memory. He knew he’s a selfish and cruel man who loathe life itself, but…for once in his life, he wished he could change.

And, If he had the power to choose a life line, he would choose a different version of himself with a different set of personality and morals. Yet, it made him wonder if you still love him despite him being an entirely new person. He wished he could say 'I love you' to you without any repercussions.

But, his wishes and playing around the scenarios of what-if's were all in vain as you were another chapter in his life that he needed to move on from.

“I don’t…want to forget you that’s all…” Dazai took a deep breath before he smiled bittersweetly at you. "You're still beautiful that it made me left breatheless."

[gumballavocadoharry]

Letting go is harder than you think; Jack Chambers:

*Mentions of overprotectiveness, smothering, close relationships on edges, angst, a bit of a controlling parent (Jack), sadness, depression and some grief. And also some fluff with baby Roger and Jack's relationship with him.*

From the moment Jack's steady touch traced the soft smooth skin of his son, a deep bond formed. That day forward, his agape love for Roger never failed. Even on his worst days and moments, a harsh word or action never left his lips and would dare not to cross his mind, even for a second.

Looking into those spirited green orbs brought life into his own. The way Roger's miniature hands wrapped around Jack's lone finger sent a pitter-pattering of a throbbing heartbeat. No one could deny the special relationship Jack shared with both his children. But especially Roger. Likewise the same could be said for Alice and Susan.

Jack just had this complex relationship with Roger, especially at a time period where fathers were meant to be more tough and rigid in their demands of their children, especially their sons. But Jack was the complete opposite. He invested so much time, energy, emotion, money and even his own health- as did Alice- into his kids.

But he worked extra hard to install affection into Roger by setting a tender example in the way he made a 'man' out of him. The emotional attachment he had towards his little boy was shatterproof. The two were inseparable. It would be Jack holding Roger in his little sling and them exploring the world together.

Tummy time would be filled with laughs and tickles, as Jack would hold Roger up to the ceiling with his feet on his tummy and his arms stretched out holding his little ones in his own. The toddler would stare down into his father's playful eyes with ones of his own; the same frisky ones that he attained from Jack.

Then snack time would be made with yummy but healthy little foods that Jack would get Roger to taste test. Of course sneaking in the occasional ice cream treat for him too. Then of course diaper changes were made for Roger to feel better instead of fussy from the cool air and the full diaper that was swiftly changed into a fresh one.

Bedtime routines were filled with soft voices, gentle laughter, and a sentimental bedtime story and a ardent kiss would be planted to one of Roger's chubby cheeks or forehead. Jack would coo an "I love you," to lift Roger into his dreamworld for the night.

The bonding of father and son didn't end there. Baby Roger would be carried around in his baby carriage for a morning stroll around the block with Jack before he would send himself to work and allow Alice to catch up on her sleep so she could be up and ready for Susan. Jack loved Roger more than anything on this planet and never failed to show or prove that.

Late night cuddles from bad dreams, Kisses for boo boo's on knees, bedside worries for fevers and forbearance for turbulent tantrums. But all was done for love. Love that flourished within the two.

But the pangs were just beginning. Roger.....just didn't feel any uses for it anymore. He wanted more adult treatment, for Jack to loosen the umbilical he tied tightly to each other and wasn't about to let go either. So the eight year old started to rebel. Harder than he ever had before.

The tension of not having the measure of independence he wanted- despite most of it unreasonable- started cracking into an overwhelming gap between the two. To make matters worse, that harder Roger pushed, the more Jack would pull back. It wasn't just a matter of safety that concerned Jack and Alice....but it was also a deep rooted fear Jack had brewing inside of him like a loch ness monster that was waiting to sprew up from the depths of the lake and swallow up as many as possible.

That fear was a vivid nightmare for Jack......losing Roger. Not in a cynical, woebegone image of death, but in a metaphorical scene, drenched in a heartsick, forlorn dismissal of Jack from Roger. Him not needing his father anymore and thus severing ties to him. Just the thought made Jack disturbed. Sure, he knew it would be a selfish and poisonous excuse to use in holding back his child from reaching his full potential, but it just wasn't that simple.

Susan and Roger were his life. And imagining one without them just wasn't possible. He could cope although a bit herculean with Susan growing up. She of course was his little princess and he couldn't see her as anything else, but he still saw the mature young lady she was trying hard to blossom into. Roger on the other hand, didn't help his case. He wasn't as mature and still needed extensive guidance.

Roger saw things differently. He felt Jack didn't wanna believe that he was growing up and was choosing to see him as the little two year old who still wore diapers. He wanted more from the hollow bubble he was in and put more space between his father and started spending more time with his friends. This made Jack suspicious, so he didn't hesitate to question or even spy on Roger a little to see what was going on.

His V.I.P backstage passes were now back row seats with heads bobbing up down; constantly in the way of seeing the full show. Well Jack finally reached a boiling point. This time he decided he would be the one to take Roger and Susan to school. "Oh thank you honey, that would help so much! I have to get the whole shower set up for Margret. She's getting married in two weeks and I need to get a move on if I'm going to get all the decorations she wants."

Jack kissed his pretty wife's temple. "I'll see you when I get home." He grabbed his oak colored suitcase and made a dash for the car only a couple minutes before the kids. Pulling up to the school, Jack's eyes darted to the rearview mirror.

"Alright guys, have a wonderful day at school, I love you both,"

"Love you too daddy!" Susan pecked a kiss to Jack's cheek. "Love you too dad," Roger patted Jack's shoulder and tried for the car door. "Oh, I have some important papers I'm supposed to give to the heads office- a work thing- so.....I'm going to go inside with you."

Roger gave a scunnered eye roll before begrudgingly agreeing. The walk inside was on tenterhooks to say the least. The constant struggle of Jack reaching for Roger's hand and Roger snatching it away, raised tension in Jack, leading him to make a final grab and squeezing it a little so Roger couldn't let go.

"I like holding you hand." Jack said with a fond tone, only for it to be bitterly slapped away with a complete cold shoulder from his son. Upon reaching Roger's locker, Jack stood beside him; gazing at him with soppy eyes. He smiled to himself thinking of Roger's very first day of school. The little boy in a white polo shirt, blue shorts and a red baseball cap.

"Daddy will see you after school champ, he has to go to work. But I promise, after school, I'll be home waiting for you with a big hug and kiss and nice game of catch." A cheeky smile distended across his little face before falling into a hug with Jack's arms reached out. He smooshed his chubby cheek into Jack's puckered lips; smooching his little face all over.

Jack's thoughts disintegrated upon hearing the locker slam of his son. "Bye dad," "Wait, woah....what about your kiss?" An irked Roger only stopped dead in his tracks, becoming furious by the minute hearing the snickering of his classmates. "Raincheck." He gritted through his teeth. How could he be so clueless? Roger picked at his agitated thoughts, like an itchy scab that was trying to heal.

But Jack didn't take no for an answer. He followed Roger into the classroom and kissed his cheek while hugging him tightly. For Jack, it was a nostalgic moment brought back to life of the cherished memories he shared with his son. But Roger......well, if looks could kill, Jack would be 6 feet under and burned by now. Roger's deep umbrage made his soft warm cuddly skin turn cold blooded like a preying snake; ready to sink its teeth into nescient flesh, ready to devour it whole.

"Bye Rogie." Jack whimsically said, before disappearing out the doorway. Roger's stomach turned into this deep rooted knot. His lungs were running out of pressure and the phobia of not being accepted seemed to be coming closer and closer towards him like a fire that slowly burns the trail of rope that it passes.

He took heavy steps to his desk; head hanging low with affront and infamy. Roger seethed with odium at his father. The whole lesson, he wasn't even focused on the judging stares from his classmates. His mind led him to merry-go-round the spite he had for Jack's obsessive fidelity. Of course his overreaction lead to Roger producing scenarios to a diabolicalness movie scene in which a woman holds her lover captive out of 'love' and even kills him because of it!

Granted, Roger's overactive imagination would be the only logical reasoning for such a grim, monstrosity mental picture show to detail something so far fetched that even Roger had to laugh.

But the ferocious feeling of suffocation was nothing to laugh about. Even Jack knew his public display of affection was a bit over the top, but yet that didn't seem to shudder the excuse of closeness with his son away. In fact, everything reminded Jack of little Roger; his little baby picture of him playing on the swings, his first bowl of ice cream and the two little diminutive baby teeth that protruded from the bottom gums that counted as his first ones, were all a simple feeling of utopia that eroded inside of Jack.

"Jack, what are you smiling about?" The man hadn't even noticed his deep dimples were parading. "Oh, nothing...just this baby picture of my son." Frank nodded with a basked smile; body casually relaxed. "Yeah, I'll tell ya....you know my brother's son is already going off to college," The mention of any symbolization of growth make a deep shudder slither through Jack, like a sinister thought had entered his mind. "Yep....he's already picked himself out a girl too. They grow so fast, don't they?"

Jack gave a tight lipped smile before burying his head into the piles of paperwork at his desk.

At home, Roger had arrived only a little after Susan. She was already blabbing about the history test she had and how hard it was, while Roger only gave Susan reserved answers before marching up to his room. Jack had arrived with a huge family sized bucket of chicken from KFC. "I'm home!" He said, almost melodic. It only took him 2 seconds to realize Roger was missing. "I'll get him."

"Hey buddy!" Roger let out a repugnant low hiss in irritation of Jack once forgetting to knock. "Dinner's here, I bought KFC." Roger's head perked up at the sound of that. His stomach growled louder than a lion's roar. "So, what'd you do at school today? Anything fun?" Roger shrugged, "Same." Well that's interesting Jack thought. He invited himself next to Roger, wrapping his arm around him.

"Maybe one of these days, we could catch a game together?" Roger nodded, not breaking his gaze on the floor for one minute to look at Jack. "You know?" Roger only hummed a response; looking up to Jack's eyes finally. But they weren't full of excitement of admiration like they did 5 years ago. Now they were aloof and cavalier only agreeing to end the conversation. Jack panicked internally. So to ease his fear, he walked Roger down to dinner, hand in hand like old times.

Roger silently scoffed at this, unamused with Jack's attempts to bond. The dinner table was filled with happy chatter and comments from Alice, Jack and Susan. Roger kept rigid focus on his meal, only giving varying glances up from his plate and to Alice's eyes; as he was across from her. "So, Roger what's going on with you?" Jack had interrupted Roger's protest of silence.

Roger bit his lip and swallowed the remainder of the dinner that was in his mouth. "Oh, nothing really....I guess the highlight was Makie had secretly taken a ruler from the teacher's desk." Jack sweetly listened intently, not flapping his focus from Roger. He had this fatherly smile pressed tightly on his face. But Roger kept his attention towards Susan and Alice....he would glance at Jack.

Jack grated at this type of rejection. So he would buckle down harder and decided to fancy up a bedtime story for Roger; along with setting his pajamas out for when he emptied out from the shower. "Hey sweetie, ready for a bedtime story?" Roger pursed his lips. "Uh, may-"

"I've got Peter Rabbit, Goldilocks, Harry and the dirty dog..." Roger knowing he couldn't escape this, chose Harry and the dirty dog. Jack felt a sense of satisfaction from Roger giving into his distant act, but yet failed to mollified Roger himself into the same euphoric outlook.

Roger sat sulkingly a couple spaces apart from Jack on the bed in his cloud themed pj's. He barely even looked at the pictures, only looking astray almost with shame and spleen. Anger because of Jack smothering him; forcing him to retort to babyish ways as a pick in keeping him controlled; keeping Jack happy and content.

Mom gives me space, Roger thought, Why can't dad? Jack finished the story, but the charade didn't end there. Roger found himself being lifted into his bed, covers being tucked tightly under his nose and his teddy bear smushed next him. The topper on the cake was Jack's puckering lips being rammed into Roger's cheek; forcing the screeching whistle and loving hum of a kiss being planted to evaporate through Roger's blushing face.

Jack's lips were finally sucked off his boy's face and coupled with a cooing of: "Sleep tight teddy bear, I love you." Roger's face was soiled in a tight frown; eyebrows pinched in a deep dour. Roger ejected himself upright and aggressively wiped his cheek or any residue of Jack's love. He growled and turned over with a brewing bitterness, groveling around inside of him; ready to spew out like a jack in the box.

The anger only grew as Jack would be up at the school, delivering Roger's teddy bear hat because he "might catch a cold." Or making him hold hands with him while crossing the street and not letting him watch the new monster movie that had come out. The icing on the cake was when Roger caught Jack listening in on a phone call with Simon.

"I was just worried." Was his excuse. But it blew up into a huge disagreement leading Roger to call Jack "a possessive, overprotective busybody," and Jack hustling out a stern: "Don't speak to me like that young man!" Followed by: "I have a right to know what's going on and it's hard for me to trust you when you don't let me in."

It went back and forth like that until Roger stormed upstairs and slammed his bedroom door and Jack pounded his fist on the kitchen counter. Both of the Chambers men had irascible temperaments at crotchety times. Except, Jack's was a protective papa bear mixed with angst of just simply wanting his little boy back, while Roger's was of an angst pubescent who just wanted a bite of the outside world beyond the caves of his family.

In the morning, Roger darted out of the house at a premature hour and strolled to school with a somber tone to his stride. The damp sky allied with Roger's murky attitude; his hands in his pockets, slumped over lazily and looking at the ground in a rebellion to watching what was in front of him.

Which is what sent him bumping into Mila Murphey. "Watch it Roger!" Roger blinked, taken aback by her stern face. "Sorry." He trailed off before continuing to his locker. "Roger!" Susan hot on his tail came running up to him. "What's wrong?" He shrugged, "What do you mean?"

"You skipped breakfast this morning and left for school super early! You hate school, why would you do that?" "Look Susan, I just have a lot on my plate right now okay?"

Susan shook her head before diverting her eyes towards the ground. "You know....I can talk to dad if you wan-" "No! I mean...." Roger continued, "Just let me handle it. It's obvious dad's not backing down from this so I will fight this. Don't worry about it okay?" Susan felt this unnerving pinch in her gut. "Okay...." Her voice drifted.

Roger started away from his locker. "Roger wait!" He turned. "Before you go.....just know that.....mom and dad love us both very much...they're worried about you."

Suddenly the collar around Roger's shirt felt tight. Those words sunk in more than they should've. It wasn't until the middle of class when Roger realized he had belched from the house so fast that he had forgotten his lunch. He dug through the pockets of his jeans for any money for lunch. None. Oh well, there was always his backpack.

In fact, Roger didn't even feel that hungry anyway. His stomach was in such a tight knot that it would be for the best to not challenge it.

Meanwhile at the office, Jack's hair was practically falling out. His fingers ran through his hair so hard, that little strands would come out one by one out onto his desk. Jack's eyes went from the project papers laid out on his desk, to the family photo that neighbored beside it and finally to the clock on his office wall.

Why didn't Roger stay for breakfast? He doesn't have his lunch with him...is he being bullied? These were all thoughts that raced through Jack's mind like bullets in a race. But his mind was made up...on his lunch break, Jack would bring Roger his lunch. He couldn't conjure the idea of Roger sitting with nothing to eat in the lunchroom.

Jack thought back to when he was a little boy and he had made the same mistake. His father didn't even bother. "Well I guess you'll learn not to waste food now boy?"

Jack swallowed harshly recalling the lecture his father rammed into him based off a notion of a silly innocent human nature mistake. It took years for Jack to realize his father was just bitter. But as a father now, he couldn't even dream of saying such a thing to his children. Especially when they're starving.

But despite the well meaning intentions, the earlier gray sky, now had become one of cloudburst. Rain pricked the ground mercilessly making it impossible for Jack to do any food delivery. So Roger sat alone, nibbling off a half eaten granola bar in his backpack. Well, he turned back to his early ponder of not being hungry anyway.

Roger glanced over to Bryce Macmillan and his friends. A mixture of euphoria over the dream of adulthood and dread from the resistance of his father made Roger's stomach quack. The emotions were too much to handle as he was pressed face to face with the wrestle of breaking free from the smothering of Jack. He was underwater, unable to breathe in and out to ease the pressure of no oxygen.

The stress.....it all sent the boy into a bellyaching spiral. Claustrophobia set in and the walls became narrow and thick. The laughter of his classmates shot louder and louder.....then there was Jack.....standing on one end of the gym with a baby book and a sippy cup of warm milk and on the other stood and ferocious beast; fangs dripping to his chin, eyes harboring a savage stare, chest puffed ready to attack. It held the fear of falling fast, deep into the pangs of maturity: going out late, dating, driving, middle school, high school, being exposed to all the things he had been taught to avoid.

And then the floor disappeared; a big hole opening up, about to swallow Roger whole with only a tightrope choice of choosing Jack's hand back into baby land, or the beasts forward into a whole new world of becoming an adult.

The hole threw Roger in before he could make any decision and suffocated him to his demise. Blackness.

He banged on the invisible glass, screaming, begging for help. But no one could hear him....no one could see him....no one could help him. Bubble gurgled of Roger's breath being cut short and then sinking deeper and deeper with no one....Susan, Alice, Jack.....all gone.

And so was Roger. He was suffocated by the monster of his battles.

A loud sharp gasp shook his whole dream.

Roger woke up to the ground. He had fallen over in the middle of his egregious fantasy. Roger rubbed his head before getting back up and following his classmates back to class.

The walk home consisted of Roger holding his backpack over his head from the downpour. The rain pecked at his skin like a glass rain was taking it's revenge against the bitter heat of city. Roger's tummy growled incensed the longer his slow steps took one after another with each other. Upon arrival, Roger's eyes zeroed in on neither of the cars being in the driveway.

It snapped in his head that Alice had probably driven to school to pick them up so they wouldn't have to brave the cold winds of the storm. It had to have been 20 minutes until Roger's legs went numb and his fingers damp and sore from holding the backpack for so long, until the sight of Jack and Alice's cars pulled into the driveway.

Roger's stomach turned as he knew how angry they'd be seeing him stand there by himself. But...he didn't eat lunch, so surely his mind wasn't right from that. "I just got home." He blurted out. But of course, that didn't stop Jack from running out of the car and wrapping his suit jacket around him. Once the door was unlocked, Roger was ordered a hot shower and dry clothes.

Roger was surprised with his family's calm reaction to such a careless, foolish choice.

"I'm worried about Roger...." Alice helped Susan's jacket off. Jack nodded, "I don't know what's gotten into him, but I'm gonna find out." Susan let out a small sigh. She knew how hard of a time her brother was having with the whole 'growing up' thing and much it knocked him down in the dumps because of Jack's silent protests to it. But Susan knew well enough that it was just his way of keeping Roger close to him and not losing him to insubordinate friends or a charming crush.

Roger getting out of the shower gave Susan to march upstairs and set her brother straight. "Roger, we need to talk....at least before dad gets to you."

He scoffed putting his shirt on. "About what? And what do you mean before dad gets to me?" "I mean that dad wants to know why you've been so distant. You're not talking or being sociable...you're not like yourself Roger and even I'm getting worried."

Roger took a deep sigh, "It's dad...he won't stop treating me like a baby! Mom accepts that I'm growing up, but dad doesn't! It's a tug-of-war between getting him to accept that and....." Susan listened intently, "Or getting some of the older kids approval. I'm not basing my entire reason of being grown up on that, but it's embarrassing when you still have to hold your dad's hand everytime you cross a street at times," Roger continued.

"All I want is to be treated my age for once and I'm utterly sick and tired of dad refusing to do that! He won't let me be capable of anything and any little mistake I make, he uses that as ploy to add to his masterplan of making me his baby forever!" Roger sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands.

"Well, I can understand that Roger.....but I can also see dad's perspective," Roger looked up, "How?"

"Well.......you are his baby though Roger. I mean it's hard for anyone who's changed your diapers or fed you or wiped your face when you were younger to just see you as this adult overnight. And I think in some ways you're expecting that to happen." Roger scoffed.

"Roger, dad has put eight years and counting of love into you. He's always been by your side and seeing you reject him like that of course isn't gonna sit well with him-"

"Who said anything about rejecting him?!" Susan gave Roger a look. "You don't have to say it, you kinda just show it when you give him the cold shoulder or just flat out ignore him."

"Look, I know dad may have his ups and downs with this, but I can't help it if he feels insulted or takes my need for independence as a threat! He acts like I'm holding a gun to his head!"

"Roger, dad's not trying to be controlling. He was the same way with me, but....once he saw that I still loved him and that didn't change then he became more casual with it."

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. "Susan, I'd like to talk to Roger alone please." Susan excused herself and now once again Roger and Jack were forced to talk. "Hey," Roger gave a nod.

"Roger, I know that sometimes we face challenges in life that make us tighten up...for example, bullies. They can make anyone feel scared. And I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything......although I do have one question...who's Jennifer?"

Roger's gut grabbed ahold of his throat. "What? Jennifer?" "Is she a girl you like?" Roger's eyes blazed fire inside. He's never told anyone about a Jennifer.....only his journal.

That was it. Roger's vivid green eyes became ones of dilated fury. "Tell you anything?! You'll just go through my journal anyway! What next, bug my bedroom with some stupid baby monitor?!"

Jack blinked in shock at the sudden change in his son's demeanor. "Don't talk to me like that Roger, and definitely don't yell at me,"

"What about the way you invade my personal space? No one's obligated to do anything that extreme in the name of 'love' if that's what you're going to say," Roger hissed. "Okay, first off Roger, I do those things from genuine love. I love you and love spending time with you and talking....I want my little boy back,"

"I'm not your little boy anymore!" Roger said, through gritted teeth, "I've got my own life now, and friends and interests rather than reading Peter Rabbit or suckling down warm milk with cookies and having their 'boo-boo's' kissed or their cheeks pinched. I don't need my hand held with this super cheesy grin and these nostalgic memories of baby Roger doing this, baby Roger doing that...God, I can't stand that! You treat me like a baby and....I can't take it anymore!"

"Well I don't like my own son treating me like I'm nothing more but a nuisance in his life! I can't stand it when you ignore me, dismiss me or just plain old strategize to get away from me! And I know this has to be coming from those friends of yours and that girl too! Why else?!" Jack said that last part out loud to himself.

"See, right there! You can't stand the thought of me growing up so you blame everyone like I'm on this downfall when really it's you losing control dad! You're insulated at my having my own life and cutting off the dependence from you!"

"Roger," Jack warned. "Stop it!"

"It's my life! And you can't take that away from me!" Jack frowned even harder, "I never was!"

"You just say that but real-"

"I'M INSULATED WHEN YOU CUT ME OUT OF IT! NO ROGER IT'S NOT EASY FOR ME TO ACCEPT! AND DO YOU KNOW WHY? IT'S BECAUSE THE MORE WORLD YOU EXPLORE, THE MORE I DISAPPEAR! HOW CAN YOU GIVE UP SOMEONE YOU LOVE WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART AND SOUL?!" Jack put his hands over his mouth in utter disgust with himself for screaming at the top of his lungs at his own child.

But Roger still kept a rigid frown on his face, but not one of anger....more of concern and aghast. "Wow." He said silently. "I-I'm sorry Roger....I shouldn't have lost my temper."

Roger looked down, "Me neither......I love you too though." Jack rubbed his eyes, "Thank you."

"You won't disappear.....I mean....I'll probably still need you." Roger's lungs became heavy.....the floor became watery and the walls thick and small again. Jack looked sadly into his son's eyes. One minute, those eyes were filled with anger and frustration to how to express such a deep rooted sorrow in a way for Roger to understand.

The walls kept closing in, and the feeling of suffocation and rising waters hit Roger again...it was now or never. The beast and his father were now all waiting for his culminating decision.

"I don't really wanna grow up that fast," The waters still kept getting higher and higher..."I-I want to be treated my age...." Roger was drowning again, the beast swimming after him....claws ready to attack....

"I'm more angry at growing up then I am with you dad. And I'm sorry for being so stupid about it! I love all those things you do for me and I........I could never leave you behind. I love you too much to do that." The waters started receding. The beast now evaporating. Roger's eyes filled with tears that had now dripped onto the floor. The high expectations Roger threw on himself were just out of fear, but not a genuine want. He needed Jack more than ever during this time.

Jack threw his arms around Roger for a tight hug. "I know, I know," He cooed. "I felt that way too. But I promise....it gets better. And I'll give you your space....I'm sorry I read your journal and listened in on your conversations on the phone."

"It's alright dad. I overreacted." Jack kissed Roger's forehead. "Can I still kiss you?" Roger smiled and nodded. The two shared a long hug. "How about we get some food into that tummy of your's?"

The thought of food sent Roger rushing downstairs for a sandwich. He hadn't eaten all day. Jack smiled to himself before walking after Roger. The thought of Roger growing up didn't seem so tense anymore....out of anything, Jack was ready for it. And so was Roger.

*This one was soooooo good because it really highlighted the inner demons that both Jack and Roger faced.*

[shieldkeeper]

Writing Prompt: On Cloud Nine Word Count: 1097 ---> masterlist

Ever since birth, it was told by many a chirurgeon that young Duduni would not have so easy a life. Born with a frail body that was apt with sickness the older she would get. There were many things she was told that would be impossible for her growing up.

She couldn’t play rough like the other kids.

She couldn’t go outside as much as the usual person.

She’d have trouble keeping up with other children her age and fall behind.

Her body not be capable of bearing children without high risk.

There was a high chance she would die young.

All news and predictions that worried her parents for years on end. Duduni was their miracle child after all. With one too many failures at having more children in their lives, miscarriages, stillbirths… it was indeed a miracle when at last they had a babe to call their own. A precious little life they’d spoil and protect at all costs, go at great lengths to find the medical attention she’d need to grow hale and whole.

But Duduni was a headstrong gal who always pushed her limits. Always risking herself to live life to the fullest despite their warnings and worries. Even if that meant she’d find herself bedbound at times from pushing herself too hard. Even if that meant suffering from no other’s fault but her own.

She pushed on. Ever proud of whatsoever little thing she may accomplish. With no worry for what way she might one day lose her life. Whether it be to sickness or her body failing her, she was adamant to prove all wrong as she thrived.

Fate would have it her beliefs would thus be tried upon island invaders paying visit to their lands. A vessel full of pirates looking to plunder and run off with whatever treasures they could find.

When they first approached the docks and made clear their demands before they’d unload, it was Duduni who strode before all else. A single frail woman who stood up to their parked vessel and demanded they disembark, for they’d find nothing of worth on their small islands. Splaying out her arms and ready take whatever they might throw at her.

The pirate’s captain found themselves intrigued by the young lass. Decidedly sparing the island of their ransacking and in return, she would join them on their vessel. Though her parents and other island natives begged her to stand down, Duduni agreed to the proposal.

Trading her life for the peace of her people was worth every step she took as she walked willingly upon their ilk.

“Tell me your name, brave lass.” The captain demanded of her once the ship had begun to sail.

“Duduni.” She smiled as though in triumph. That they knew not the fool’s bargain they’d made for a girl who’s life was destined not to live for very long.

Though he knew not where her bravery came from, he answered in turn with a snarky grin of his own. “Duduni then. Prepare yourself lass, for you’ll find yourself busy on Captain Yavin’s decks.”

Despite the rough beginnings… she had been welcomed as one of the crew surprisingly. Captain’s orders. As luck would have it… the more the man spoke with Duduni and found himself in her company, the more smitten he found himself with her. As she described her life, her homeland, her very small world up until this point and the prospect that she might never know what were past those rolling waves until now.

It didn’t take long for the Captain to realize the sort of lass he’d bargained Duduni for. Nor did he suspect his captivation for her when he was able to take her places she could only imagine in the pages of worn books. Of the great city state of Vylbrand and the availability of wares and the like unknown to her and her people.

With a bit of digging around and checking with prospective chirurgeons of repute, Yavin saw it fit to have Duduni’s health checked by professionals. For she’d fought against enough odds against her that there might truly be a better prospect for her than once considered.

There was no cure for her weak and frail body, but there was a type of medicine that would prolong her life. One of great expense. Not something that could be so easily paid for by one person who was unable to work for long.

That’s when her life changed in inexplicable ways. Captain Yavin took care of the costs and then some because she was part of his crew now. Plenty of treasure and coin to his name that this was nothing more than a drop in the bucket to him.

And it continued this way. Of him caring for Duduni. Putting her above all else. Slowly but surely the days of piracy leaving him behind and his crew with it. No longer to be the most fearsome scourge of the seas—but a man ready to settle down and have a life with this one lass who’d captured his heart.

One might see it as a sad blow to his career, to throw it all away for one single woman. But that one woman brought him back to her home. Helped him settle into southern seas living with her, having a home together, making love with one another and cherishing such loving memories as they lived their years together.

Beyond all other odds and thanks to the medication keeping her steady, Duduni was able to accomplish the dream she wished for most in her life: To be with child. To give birth to her own blood and kin. To have as many children as the Twelve saw fit to give her. For there was nothing more to her in life than having a family of her own and leaving a spark of herself behind for when that inevitable day would come.

Duduni lived an incredibly happy life. With all the ups and downs it came with, but never letting her weakness keep her from achieving all that she desired. Many thought she’d never live for as long as she did.

But she made it.

Not long enough to see all her children grown and with family of their own, but enough to see that they were thriving and in good hands. Where she needn’t worry when she finally passed, surrounded by family and husband, the love of her life. Who she would patiently wait for once he too had his fill of adventures till his last breath.