#runnin with scissors

[spotsupstuff]

Does Spore faint when seeing Iterator insides because they are squeamish or because it's the closest thing to being naked an Iterator can be? Or a mix of both?

it's cuz they are all squeamish up in that Iterator Hivemind!!! i find it vewy vewy funny that this thang used to spectate surgeries (oh, idea- Spore was present during the polar war as a medical professional of sorts- while her facilities are unlivable, her overseers hung around Terminus and in the battlefield hospital often to offer her pool of medical knowledge from distance) so she has seen Some Real Nasty Shit. she also passed judgement on who to kill and who to try and save, since the respawn mechanic is essentially a part of the whole medicine deal. always tried to do her best to avoid doin that, but sometimes she had to give the last word like that. show her however gruesome thing on an Ancient, she's just gon' roll with it, treat it, make sure the patient is as okay as they can be

do it with an Iterator puppet n they are a fuckin goner for up to ten minutes. just falls to the floor like a log. boom. thunk. metal pipe.sfx. sayonara

[mysteryshoptls]

SR Grim - Apprentice Chef Vignette

"Let's keep on doing aaallll these fun things together"

[Kitchen]

Grim: It's… It's…

Grim: IT'S DONEEEE!!

Grim: Look, [Yuu]! My super special awesome cake's finished!

The cake looks like a tuna can…

Grim: Yeah! I made it look like the most delicious thing in the world. See how even the word "tuna" looks good?

Grim: As for what I put inside the cake… That's a surprise for when we eat it! MYAHA!

Grim: I bet this is gonna be the bestest thing on the table. We gotta hurry and get it back to Ramshackle!

[Ramshackle Dorm – Anniversary Party]

Grim: Slowly… Slowly…

Grim: Gently, gently… Careful…

We're almost back to the dorm, you got this!

Grim: Gah, carrying a cake so it doesn't collapse is so hard…!

Grim: …But all the guys we passed on the way here from the cafeteria said it totally looked tasty, yeah?

Grim: Y'know, maybe my genius ain't just in eatin' food, but makin' em, too.

Grim: Back when you and me took the Master Chef course, I thought all this work was a pain, but…

Grim: Now I'm thinkin' that it was good we did it. 'Cause now tasty things can be made into even tastier things!

Grim: Myahaha! Thanks to this cake, today's party's gonna be the cat's meow!

Grim: Ah! But that annoying guy Trein is gonna be there… He might get mad if I get too excited.

Grim: Maaan, he's always findin' things to nag me about. Like the other day, he tried scolding in me when I was runnin' in the halls.

Grim: It pissed me off, so I tried pokin' fun at him, but then he just came at me!

Grim: Obviously I ran, but that old man is faster than he looks…

Grim: And then he just caught me in no time, I wasn't expecting that. Just nabbed me by the neck.

Grim: "Try to be a bit more like Lucius," he said… But I ain't a cat, y'know!

Grim: Don't know if Trein snitched on me or what, but even Crewel got mad at me, saying "Stop causing problems."

Grim: But then Crewel whispered later, "If you're going to tease Trein-sensei, make sure you don't get caught."

Grim: Myahaha! Crewel might be a teacher, but sometimes he's got a wicked side. He gets me.

Grim: …Though, he can be a huge stickler if ya mess around in class or get bad grades.

Grim: I remember the other day was pretty scary. He had us all lined up in a row, and was grilling everyone on who spilled the chemicals on the table…

Grim: No one fessed up, and Ace and Deuce were silently keepin' their heads down, so I stayed quiet too.

Well, we all got held responsible, in the end.

Grim: Tch. Trein and Crewel are both way too strict!

Grim: I like Vargas's class the best. 'Cause I don't need to take difficult notes in his class!

Grim: Like the other day, he started going on and on, saying, "If you want to be a great mage, then you need to have muscles as rippling as mine!" or whatever…

Grim: I was just nodding along, and then class ended with just him talkin' about his own muscles. Myahaha, waaaay too easy～

Grim: …Hm? Wait a mo'.

Grim: Do you think… The reason that Vargas showed up here randomly one morning a few days ago to go exercise together…

Grim: DID HE THINK I WANTED TO TRAIN WITH HIM BECAUSE I WAS NODDING DURING ALL HIS BOASTING!?

Grim: The sun wasn't even up, it was still dark, so that was a real pain!!

Grim: …Man, I think I might like Crewel or Trein better after all, ‘cause they don't cause me problems.

[Ramshackle Dorm – Anniversary Party]

Grim: Y'know, now that I think about it, all the profs here are really strange… Is this school really alright?

Grim: Oh. But I think the strangest guy ain't one of the teachers, but Sam. I'm sure of it!

Grim: And that's cause… Remember the other day when I lost at rock-paper-scissors and I had to go buy snacks by myself?

Grim: Before I even got inside the store, I heard Sam talkin' with someone inside.

Grim: But… When I got inside, he was all alone.

Grim: When I asked who he was chattin' with, he said his "friends on the other side," but… WHAT DOES HE MEAN FRIENDS ON THE OTHER SIDE!?

Grim: He wouldn't tell me no matter how many times I asked. It's so eerie. But man, he's got a ton of cool stuff for sale, so I keep going back.

Grim: I remember then, too, before I could say what I wanted, he already had out the perfect number of snacks I had money for.

Grim: Oh yeah, and Crowley came in the shop right after me. Looks like he's always shoppin' at the Mystery Shop, too.

Grim: He started braggin' to me that he gets to order whatever he wants.

Grim: So I told him I wanted some special tuna cans then, and he says, "This privilege is for teachers only!"

Grim: He just kept on bragging, he's the worst! Crowley's so useless!

We should be thankful, since he let us attend here.

Grim: THANKFUL!? He should be thanking me for gracing this school with my genius!

Grim: And I bet Crowley'd gobble down the whole feast we got prepped if I take my eye off him for even a second…

Grim: No way I'm gonna give him a single bite. This time I'll make sure he's jealous of me.

Grim: Hey, [Yuu]. You 'n me're gonna protect this cake with our lives!

Grim: I might not be able to rely on you to do everythin' yourself, so good things we also got those ghosts.

Grim: If all us Ramshackle folk work together, we could even take on two Crowleys. We'll stun him silent!

Grim: I bet the ghosts're feelin' real alive right now. They were really getting' excited for Founding Day.

Grim: They were all, "It's so wonderful everyone is throwing a party here at Ramshackle～"

Grim: They also said that everything's getting' amped up 'cause we came to Ramshackle.

Grim: Myahaha. So that means… All the fun and happy times are all thanks to me!

1. Exactly!

Grim: Yeah. So you just keep on following me, no worries. Grim: As the boss, it's my job to take care of my henchie!

2. I think you're going a little overboard there.

Grim: Myah!? Y-You… You don't get how good I am to ya, huh!? Grim: I'm always pushin' myself hard doin' things for ya. Like, uh… Uh… ALL SORTS OF THINGS!

Grim: So let's keep on doing aaallll these fun things together!

Grim: Ah. Looks like everyone's here.

Grim: Hey, [Yuu], open the gate. We gotta bring the cake in quick!

Grim: I bet everyone'll be so surprised and happy. Myahaha. I can't wait～!

Requested by @butterflyremix.

[darkwaveho]

Damage Control

Summary: You went through hell just to get this vacation, and everything has been going smooth but how long will it last?

Parings: Mob!Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Warnings: 18+, violence, fluff, jealousy, hurt -comfort, angst, drug use, alcohol use, bondage, edging, orgasm denial, Oral, fingering, overstimulation, scissoring, tribbing, psychotic le$beans <3

A/n: This shit is long asf lmaoo so if you don't have time to read it in one sitting I would probably wait until you do, buut that's just me idk? never again (unless on A03) anyway, I hope you guys like it and thank you guys for being patient with me. I know I promised this chapter like a year ago but I'm happy to finally post this and get it out of my dusty drafts folder.😂💜

Damage Control Masterlist

During the whole vacation trip Natasha was insatiable, never letting you get an inch before her hands and lips were on you. she fucked you anywhere she could. That whole situation in the warehouse was a wakeup call for her and she would never take you for granted ever again.

“Tashh, enough.” you whine into the pillow she licks a long stripe up the center of your neck before she bites your skin. “That’s not what you said last night.” she drags her lips against your skin and drips her head down to lower each kiss further down your body. “In fact, I believe the words that came out of your mouth was ‘more, don’t stop, more." She mocks you with pride, smirking against your skin as she travels dangerously closer to your covered sex.

“Shut up.” you harshly yank her hair in retaliation. “Shut me up then.” she smirks after she bites your cheek in retaliation and tugs on your panties you move her hand away from the expensive lace. “I’m serious, I still need to get dressed. we both still need to get dressed” you correct yourself and huff beneath her. “We can stay in and go to the club another night.” you roll over on top of her as she was caught off guard. thinking she’s won you over she places her hands on your hips waiting for you to give her what she wants.

“We’re going.” you untangle her hands from your hips and walk into the bathroom to fully dress yourself. “You know you want to; I don’t even know why you’re denying it right now.”

“We’re not staying cooped up here in the penthouse tonight, Tash. we already missed our dinner reservations.”

“Well, whose fault is that? you’re wearing my favorite set. what’d you expect?”

“I expect you to have some self-control but we both know you don’t know what that is, don’t we?” you snap back at her not caring if you bruised her ego or hurt her for bringing the amber thing back up in her face. Okay you haven’t completely forgiven her; you still threw things up in her face any chance you got, and Natasha couldn’t do anything but sit there and take it. she sighs on the bed waiting for you to return from the bathroom.

She checks her phone for any updates on anything back home. nothing out of the ordinary, Yelena bugging her about when you’re coming back because she misses her bestie and Clint dealing with import deals. She also saw a couple of text messages from Melina. Once she saw the mention of his name on her screen, she shut the whole thing down completely. She needed to take her mind off of it. There was no way she was going out tonight, she wouldn’t be up to partying now.

“Why aren’t you dressed yet?” you stand in front of her on the bed hand placed on your hip annoyance present on your face. say lays there on the silk sheet in her button up blouse that she was too lazy to button up at the moment and no pants. she stands giving you a better view of the lace that pressed against her body. she nears you with hunger and an unwavering gaze. she was mesmerized. staring at you, admiring your beauty. there was also a look on her face that you know too well, something set her off and she needs a distraction, a way to release her emotions.

“Look at you baby, absolutely breathtaking.” she swiftly slides her hand under the tight dress running her hands against your soft skin. “Tash, no. I already said we were going.” you try to remain firm on your plans, she’s done this many times before to sway you into doing what she wanted.

“Please.” you groan from hearing her beg and she knows it’s a weakness of yours. you rarely ever heard her beg. after almost losing you forever she’s wanted nothing more than to keep you to herself in this penthouse. “I’ll make it up to you in the morning, sweet face. We can have our own party right here.” You stand firmly on your decision by unlinking her hands from around your waist. “No, I said we’re going, if you're not downstairs in 10 minutes I’ll just go by myself.” You grab your jacket and make your way to the door.

“You wouldn’t leave me.” She replies with confidence, maybe the old you wouldn’t have but the Amber situation brought things up in a new light you were tired of her shit. You had just as much if not equal power as she did; you were no longer going to let things slide so easily. “I guess you’ll find out in about…” You glance at your phone to view the time. “Seven minutes now.”

Natasha sighs heavily as you leave her alone in the penthouse. She really didn’t feel like going out and maybe she should’ve given you more details about why she had a change of heart but then that meant she had to talk about it. She also didn’t want to spend the remainder of the night alone, so she put the rest of her outfit together, but she didn't rush to finish. Ignoring the time frame, you set for her. She was deliberately ignoring the timeframe you set for her just to remind you of who was still in charge regardless of how sorry she was for her mistake. Natasha is the one calling the shots, at least that’s what she thinks.

She makes her way downstairs coming out of the building as the doorman holds the door open for her. She waits patiently still not seeing the driver's car. She calls you promptly and you let the phone ring on the first call just to be petty. Truth, is you left immediately after you made it downstairs. Telling the driver that you had a change of heart and that you were still going to the club. “Y/n, where are you?” She has to shout into the phone and now it away from her ear as the loud screams and music drum through her ear. “I’m at the club, duh. You took too long.” Natasha goes to yell at you for leaving her. You weren’t even sitting outside for no longer than ten minutes. Her lips part but remain in place as she hears the mentions of body shots. She hears your voice agreeing and cheering on the crowd. “Y/n I swear to god! We’ve been doing so well on vacation, don't do anything stupid to ruin it.”

“It's called having fun Natasha, you could be having fun with me and my new friends right now if you came downstairs in a timely matter.” The only words that seem to register in her head is “new friends” “Listen, very carefully I will leave bodies all throughout this city if I have to, don’t add more deaths to your consciousness.” If Natasha could see your face on the other end of the phone, she would have regretted saying those words to you. She knows how hard you tried staying away from actually getting your hands dirty, not only was Amber a contest reminder of infidelity but a constant reminder that no matter how hard you tried you still had the blood of a killer in you.

“Well, I guess I should tell you to have fun on your Gta rampage then. I’ll see you back at the penthouse.” just as you finish your response the drunken woman you've come really close to in a matter of minutes comes back with your drinks. The only thing Natasha can accurately make out is that it was your turn for body shots. If that meant you licking someone else's body or someone else licking your body, she didn’t know, and she didn't care. It shouldn't be happening. She doesn’t expect the growl to escape her throat as she yells into the phone again, but this level of disrespect was causing her to lose every inch of restraint she's been holding back on this entire trip.

“Y/n!”

“Bye Tash!” You end the call with a muffled laugh as the phone goes dead. Natasha fumes by the curb, the realization of the club music no longer playing on her phone. Your voice filled with excitement. You, having fun without her. Having fun with strangers. Would you be bold enough to get even with her after everything she's doing to show you how sorry she was? Natasha’s not going to stand here and think about scenarios like that. If this is the game you wanted to play, fine she down to play but she won't be holding herself accountable for what comes out of it. Natasha gathers her thoughts and calls a contact to pick her up. As she sits in the vehicle dangerously calm, and stone faced. The inner part of her is excited. Yes, excited to cause a bit of chaos. She’s been loving vacation time with you, but it wasn’t every day that she gets to go on a rampage. The other non-rational devil on her shoulder keeps repeating that you're pushing her to do this. You want her to act this way. You want to see innocent people die and get hurt. One thing Nat is always good for is making your wish come true.

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

Natasha swears she made it in record time telling her driver to run every red light that tried to slow her down. Her fast-paced steps hold a rhythm as she searches for you within the dark and crowded room. when she spots you by the bar preparing to lay on the counter the rage overloaded as she stomps her way over to you.

“Did you think that was fucking funny?” she adds more force behind the yanking of your neck. She practically drags you to the corner of the bar before a bystander approaches her for her aggressive actions. "Hey, leave her alone!” She naps her head around to face the person who dared speak to her and inserts herself in her relationship conflicts. “What the fuck did you just say to me?” The man doesn’t back down clearly not knowing who Natasha is and what her level of power was. “You heard what I said.” he reaches for you, thinking that you were actually in danger. You’re too buzzed to actually tell him that everything was okay. That and the fact that Natasha was jealous and angry had you wanting to see how things would play out.

Natasha lands a swift and impactful hit to his throat, crushing his air supply momentarily. As the man holds his neck in pain while coughing up a lung Natasha watches him still not satisfied with the damage. “Fuck!” The man cries out in pain. Always the observant one, Natasha picked up the abandoned glass off the bar and in one swift motion she lodged the shattered piece of glass into the man’s neck. Blood splatters out as the man's face raises in panic, he holds the wound on his neck for dear life desperately trying to keep all the blood from flowing out as much as possible. “You crazy bitch.”

The outburst caused a scene within the club, people yelling and screaming from the escalated fight that just occurred before their very eyes.

“What the hell is going on?” The woman's voice sounds louder than the music and the frantic screams in the club. Natasha turns her head with pinch brows as she recognizes the voice. “Long time no see.” she smirks to the woman and you stand there clueless looking back and forth between the two. “I should've known it was you Romanoff, what the hell are you doing wrecking my club?”

“Relax Sharon, it’s just a flesh wound he’ll be fine.” the blonde woman sighs and brushes it off, calling her worker over to clean up the mess. “Come on, let me show you to the VIP section.” Natasha quickly interjects Sharon’s offer.

“Oh that won't be necessary, we aren't staying anymore since this one wanted to get a rise out of me.” she clenches your forearm as she responds to Sharon, an obvious sign that you really made her mad tonight.

“Oh, come on, you can't come to madripoor unannounced, trash my club and then leave, have some class, Natasha. I mean unless you’re still working under Alexei and have no time for fun, or a social life then never mind.” Sharon pokes fun at her knowing she'd get her to stay at least for an hour by bringing up Alexei’s name. She turns away from you and Natasha and halts when Natasha's voice reaches her ears once more.

“We’ll stay for about an hour or so, my sweet face here already started partying without me.” she reminds you of what you did just to make you feel guilty. For making her lash out like that when this was supposed to be a relaxing time for the both of you to reconnect and just enjoy the sense of a normal relationship vacation trip.

“Ah so this is y/n? Had I known that you were in my establishment I would have treated you to a much more luxurious greeting.” Sharon grasps your hand with the utmost gentle care. “I’m Sharon Carter, nice to finally put a name to a face.” You rarely were involved with Natasha’s business. After what happened to your father you tried to block that part of your life out. So, it shocks you that Natasha would mention your name to someone you haven’t met before. “Sup Sharon.” You reply back to her and shake her hand that hasn’t left yours during this whole interaction. She accepts the greeting and releases your soft hand. Sharon turns to Natasha and motions with a tilted head nod for her to follow.

“So, I can count on you to spend a little more for that outburst you caused earlier?” Sharon speaks over the loud music as she leads you both to the top level of the club.

“Well, that depends.” Natasha shouts back and keeps you pinned to her side to make sure you don’t wander off causing more headaches for her.

“On what?” Sharon questions Natasha's response, only her focus was on you and your inebriated, loopy state. “If you keep making sly touches and glances at my girlfriend ” It takes Natasha to yank you by your clothes for Sharon to bring her attention back to Nat’s unamused glare. Sharon clears her throat and rolls her eyes. “Right, I forgot you’re not big on sharing.”

“Let’s hope you don’t forget that again, for your own sake.” Only Natasha could be this unfazed about making threats to Sharon in her own environment. The remainder of the walk was silent apart from the loud music and passing conversations.

“Let me know if you need anything.” Sharon showed you to the table right above the dance floor. Natasha sat down in the booth and drinks were brought to the table immediately. Natasha didn't say one word to you, she spoke about you as if you weren't sitting right next to her silently begging for her to acknowledge you, touch you, look at you or something.

You start thinking that maybe you went a little too far tonight, but then you remember that she had no right to act this way when she was the one who stepped out on you and this relationship. You throw back a vodka shot and stand from the booth. The sound of the glass firmly slamming against the table brought her attention to you, only this time you weren't really seeking for her anymore and she could sense that. The sudden movement of you standing has Natasha's grip on your wrist in an instant. “Where are you going?” Natasha's grip on your arm for the second time that night did not hold back on the amount of strength she used on you. "The restroom.” you reply back to her with gritted teeth and an annoyed attitude. She raises her eyebrow at the tone of your voice, maybe she’s been too soft with you. Let this be no mistake she was sorry for what she did, and she wanted to do anything to make it up to you, but she would never tolerate this level of disrespect, especially in a public setting. You know better.

The image she possessed was everything to Natasha, it always has been and it always will be. She releases you and turns back to her abandoned drink and lights a cigar. Silently telling you it was Okay to leave from the vip section. Sharon comes back to the vip section not expecting you to be absent. “Where’s your troublemaker?” She sits down across from Natasha casually fixing the cuffs of her suit jacket.

“What do you want, Carter?” Natasha takes the cigar out of her mouth as smoke fills the area. “Well, I wouldn’t be a businesswoman if I didn’t at least try to tempt you into something, now, would I?” Natasha doesn’t even hesitate with an answer. “No.” Sharon’s face drops from rejection and Natasha’s blunt but playful response. “Oh, c’mon you haven’t even heard me out yet.” Natasha looks Sharon over for a moment and thinks what warm could it do to at least hear the proposal. “Alright, fine but don’t waste my time.” Sharon smiles as she’s won Natasha over; she also knows the amount of money the two of them could make would have her set for life without any worry.

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

During that time of discussing business Natasha lost track of time and your absence. She searches the crowd from above until her eyes land on you, on the dance floor dancing but of course you're not alone why would you be when you look that good in a club filled past its maximum capacity. “Nice, catching up with you Sharon but we have to get going now.'' Natasha puts the cigar out and throws back her drink before slamming the glass down against the marble tabletop. The glass cracks from the brutal force but Sharon doesn’t complain about it, she could care less about a glass right now, her mind was too busy focused on her future financial luxury that would be coming her way.

You let the music take over as all the negative energy fades away from your body. You dance close with strangers, well one woman wasn’t really a stranger you met her in the restroom. After a few traded compliments you two have since then become best friends even if she doesn’t know your name. As your body grinds against others without a care in the world you're once again snatched up and pulled away from the dance floor. "Ouch!" You yell out in pain, but Natasha continues on her mission to exit the club with her hand firmly around the back of your neck.

“Get in the car.” she shoves you into the backseat. “Aww are you mad at me baby?” you inch toward her with a condescending pout on your face. You reach for her face to bring her closer, she dodges with ease. Setting her jaw and sticking to keeping her eyes on the window she wasn’t in the mood to play your game.

The moment you were about to cave in and apologize to her, the car door opened on your end, surprising you both. Natasha was seconds away from blowing a hole into the intruders head just because she’s away on vacation doesn’t mean she let her guard down. She was always aware and alert. The sound of the bullet never comes as she blinks away the utter disbelief that someone would be stupid enough to enter her vehicle. It’s the woman you were on the dance floor with.

“Omg I was looking all over for you! One minute we were drowning in vodka, sharing a blunt and then the next you were gone babe by.” She moves the hair from her eyes and leans a little closer to you. She was obviously more drunk than you, not even taking notice of the gun barrel that was aimed at her head. “Omg you found me!” You move away from Nat scooting closer to the other side of the seat.

“Of course, I did! Now why don’t we take this party back to your place, we can have more fun with just us.” her hands start to travel in places that only belonged to the fuming red head seated on the opposite side of you.

“Absolutely not!”

“Cmon Tash live a little, I don’t mind at all” The woman snorts thin white powder from her wrist, that seemed to get Natasha’s attention again but what comes after it has her considering cutting this trip short and ending her no kill rule for this trip. The woman plants her lips onto yours. Humming in delight and moaning in ecstasy. It was quick but calculated so much so that her tongue sneaked its way past your lips for the second time tonight.

Natasha had enough. There was a part of her that thought this through, thoughts of participating in a threesome, thoughts of letting you sleep with someone else for what she did to you, but she could never go through with it, she was selfish and a hypocrite.

Her apology would have to be enough because once again she’s not big on sharing and she’s definitely not big on sharing when it comes to you, she’s had many requests over the entirety of your relationship. All have been shot down over the request and some have literally been shot at for even proposing such a thing. “Get the fuck out!” Natasha shields you away from the drunken woman pulling you onto her lap and raising the gun to a better eye level. “Woah, hey! No need to get violent red. I was going to give you a taste next.” She raises her hands up in surrender. She furrows her eyes and does a seductive motion, slowly lifting her dress up to change Natasha’s mind. “Mm can we take her home Tash?” You bite your lip as you slowly wait for the drunken women to reveal more.

“Don’t move your hands any further unless you want me to chop them off! Now get out!” You can only giggle hysterically at the interaction between the two of them. Natasha smacks your ass to quiet your annoying drunken giggles and gives the woman one last chance to exit the vehicle before the entire back seat interior was covered with her brains. If she even had a brain. She understands the seriousness now or either she’s started to slowly sober up but she doesn’t say anything else as she exits the car finally. “Byee madissyn.” You slur your words as you watch her leave the vehicle. Natasha grabs your face harshly turning you around to face her, and for the first time tonight she looks deeply into your eyes and lifts your eyelids. “Did you fucking take something?” You giggle and mock her as a reply “dId yOu fuckin take something.”

“Relax, it’s nothing we haven’t done before.” Natasha doesn’t need you to go further she can tell by your dilated pupils and the way you can’t sit still in the leather seats. Ecstasy. She knows the signs partly because you’ve done it together a few times when you were younger. She can’t decide if she’s upset that you took it from a stranger or the fact that you took it without her.

“Are you out of your goddamn mind? You don’t even know her!” Natasha shoves you to the other side of the seat and instructs the driver to head back to the penthouse. You've made her mad, mission accomplished but at what cost?

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

Entering the penthouse Natasha goes straight to the bar by the window, taking her jacket off and tossing it on the bar stool. For some reason it annoys you, how could she be so upset and hurt when all you did was dance and participate in harmless body shot fun. Okay maybe it wasn’t as innocent as you made it out to be but the fact that she was being hypocritical right now only angered you more. “You’re upset about a dance, body shots, shotgunning some weed and some ecstasy pills?” She keeps her back turned towards you as she sips on her drink. You walk closer to her stumbling a bit when you near the bar.

“It was more than that and you know it, the whore even followed us out to the car and had the nerve to touch you! We didn’t discuss anything about bringing a strange whore into our bed!” She deeply inhales and exhales, closing her eyes to maintain her calm demeanor. “Get away from me y/n, I’m not in the mood to even look at you right now.”

“Aww did you not like her touching my body?”

”Y/n” she says in a warning tone, her face is stern but the way her lips pout in a cute way only makes you want to push further.. “Did you not like her lips grazing mine?”

“I’m warning you, watch what comes out of your mouth.” You challenge her, what could she possibly do when she vowed not to hit you in that way again? You brush off her warning threat and you can’t fully blame it on the drugs and the alcohol for what comes out of your mouth because truth be told it’s been on your mind since that day.

“I would hate to see the look on your face when I actually do decide to fuck someone else!” Her hand finds comfort around your throat, your back pressed against the wall as you struggle to breathe. Natasha doesn’t look like she’s letting go of you anytime soon. Being in this position was a sense of deja vu. Being back home in the bedroom after finding out about Natasha's true actions at Tony’s club, but this time it didn’t end with you receiving a slap to the face and a split lip.

“You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t tell me what I don’t m-“ your snappy response gets cut off when you feel the ripped fabric of your skirt. cold air exposing you and the wet spot of your fancy lingerie. “You think someone can fuck you better than me?”

“The way you’ve soaked your panties tells me otherwise, did you like making me mad? You like seeing me go crazy over you?” Your breathing picks up as she moves closer to you. Her lips ghosting over yours. Everything she said was true, you just wanted to be petty tonight, and give her a taste of what could happen if she ever stepped out on you again. There is always someone out there that would kill for a night with you.

“I asked you a question” she tightens her grip on your neck no doubt a bruise will be left when her hand finally retracts from your skin. You offer no reply back to your girlfriend, only smiling menacingly at her and placing your hand on top of hers adding more pressure to your restricted airway. A flash of excitement rushes through Natasha. You weren’t always like this, so willing to initiate certain kinks like airplay. “I know everything about you and your body, I know what sets you off, and I know I’m the only person that can make you cry out to god.” You don’t hide any sense of humility. Smugness plastered across your face. It’s not enough, you really want to push her.

“Unfortunately for you the same can’t be said for me.” You’ve pushed too far deep now. She knows you can find pleasure from someone else. Of course, it won’t be on the same level as her, but your body will react and openly welcome the pleasure. For her it’s not the case, the prime example of that is now dead. The darkness within her eyes had you retreating. No longer wanting to toy with her but the damage was done, and Natasha had her mind set, once she finally had confirmation that you wanted her to lash out at you and use your body to take out her frustrations. Finally, she slams you to the window, not hard enough to truly injure you but hard enough to have more than a hangover in the morning.

Her lips crash into yours leaving your plea unheard. The kiss was rough and messy, as it normally would be in this situation of claiming you. The feeling of her rough hands tearing at the remainder of your clothes.

“Fuck, you know I love this set on you.” She speaks with mesmerized once again as her eyes land on the lingerie set that had her begging you to stay on for the night. It was a midnight black two piece. Mostly basic, Natasha didn’t need much despite her lifestyle, at least when it came to you she welcomed simplicity she found it just as sexy as you dressing up for her but the reality of it all was she just loved you. No matter how long or how hard it’s taken her to admit that out loud and under the circumstances it came out.

“Duh, that’s why I put it on.” You don’t receive any form of reply. Natasha snatches the fabric of your bralette finally exposing your Breasts. Her animalistic growls only increase the burning desire to have her near your throbbing core. She briefly breaks away from the kiss, roughly turning you around to face the bright lights and industrial buildings. Your face pressed against the window and her fingers plunged into your warm cunt without warning. You didn’t need any foreplay, that started the minute you decided to leave her for the club. Riling her up any chance you got. You hoped that she would fuck you, but you didn’t want to be fucked against this high rising window. You teased her, you angered her, and edged her on, now you were just going to have to deal with it and take what she gives you. She keeps a steady and brutal pace pushing you closer to your high and pulling away just at the cusps.

“Hm, Tash- it’s enough.” You reach behind you with intentions to push her arm away. Natasha smirks and forcefully pushes your pleading hand away and plants it against the window as well. She keeps her hand there for extra security, squeezing your wrist as a silent warning not to do it again or to move it. She wasn’t done tormenting you just yet, but she’ll allow you to cum. She lifts your leg and hikes your thigh up for a better angle, adding another finger to your overstimulated hole. She grunts as her breath fans over the shell of your ear.

“Nat”

“Tsk, what happened to all of that mouth you had a few minutes ago? she knows your fear of heights and still proceeds to fuck you against the thick glass. The fear and the pleasure has your mind going foggy, experiencing both at the same time. She pounds into you harder with each thrust reminding you of who you belong to. The thick glass brought some sort of comfort to your skin, cooling it off from Natasha’s burning touch. No words come from you, only panting and whines. Your breath fogs the glass as Natasha keeps her brutal pace, slick runs down your legs . She doesn’t relent until you practically turn into mush against the tall frame window.

As you feel her body weight slightly removed from your back you sniffle as the tears built up in your eyes struggle from falling down your cheeks. The edges her on even more, the sound of you trying to catch your breath and the small sound of your sniffles push her further. She’s definitely not done being petty. She takes her previous position behind you and pulls your back against her front; she grazes her lips against the warm skin of your ear and her raspy voice lights a fire inside of you from anger and arousal. “Who’s the sensitive one now?” You didn’t need to turn around to know she was wearing that shit eating smirk, you didn’t even need to look at her reflection in the smudge stain glass, you could hear it.

You use all the strength you have left on your shaky limbs to push her away. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You asshole!” You wipe the stray tears that fell from your eyes and Natasha only returns a smirk in response before she reaches for her abandoned drink on the bar counter. “Relax, the window is custom made, there are very few things that would make it shatter and our body weight isn’t one of them.” Natasha isn’t hiding her enjoyment right now, it’s on a very rare occasion when you actually cry for her. After the small moment of silence the soreness and weakened state of your body starts to take effect. Your eyes feel heavy and the drugs start to come back in full effect. It's pretty normal for you when you do smoke, not to mention the post orgasm clarity.

Natasha stood next to you the entire time watching you and she knows you had the idea of sleeping on your mind next and that just wasn’t enough for her, she’s still angry at you. Natasha picks you up and heads for the bedroom, she lays you on the bed gently totally different from her aggressive demeanor in the living room. You think she’s helping you get more comfortable, but the light tap against your cheek tells you otherwise. “Oh, no sweet face, wake up we’re not done yet.” She removes your shoes and tosses them to the floor. You hear shuffling around you still not quite aware of your surroundings.

“You’re a hypocritical, psychotic, asshole.” You mumble into the cool air of the night with closed eyes. The small break was enough for you to gather yourself again and you’re still upset about her putting you into danger like that just to get back at you for what happened at the club. She stops unbuttoning her blouse and kneels over your body until she’s face to face with you, her hands softly rub against your cheeks. “Don’t act like you don’t love it.” Natasha takes her clothes off and sits everything she needs on the other side of the bed, the next thing you feel is the bed dipping. Natasha grabs both of your arms and lifts them above your head, the feeling of soft fabric against your wrist causes you to jerk your body. She pays no mind to you as she continues to focus on knotting the fabric and connecting it to the headboard.

Your mind is still hazy, so every little movement Natasha makes is keeping you alert. “Nat, what are you doing?” You say, your voice is scratchy and hoarse. Natasha returns with a liquor bottle, two shot glasses and one regular glass. “We’re gonna play a game, since you’re in a playful mood tonight.” Is all she says before pouring into the two shot glasses. You curiously watch her in anticipation. She kisses up your stomach leaving bites and wet kisses along the way before she stops at your neck and pulls away all together.

“If you spill any of my drinks you lose.” She places one shot glass on your bare stomach as you shudder from the cold glass she sends you a warning sound. “Careful buttercup you don’t want to lose before we even start now do you?” You have to compose the little self control you have left. Her fingers slide against your thighs as they get closer and closer to your sex her smirk grows wider. Her finger grazes your swollen clit and you have no choice but to react causing the drink to shake but thankfully the alcohol remains in the glass.

Natasha crawls up your body and takes the glass in her mouth while remaining eye contact, she doesn’t finish all of it, she leaves a small amount in the glass and removes it from her mouth and pours the alcohol down your body starting from the center of your chest. You shudder from the contact and Natasha doesn’t give you much of a break as she starts her attack going down your body. She follows the trail that the alcohol leaves behind for her with her tongue. Leaving deep marks and bites along the way until she makes it back to your clit with a gentle kiss that leaves you wanting more. She looks up from your clit at the sound of your moan.

“Isn’t this much better than doing body shots with strangers?” You don’t reply to her, your head is too busy wondering how long she’ll keep this game up. She pours another shot but this time she has a new agenda on her mind. She makes her way up your body right in front of your breathless face. “Are you thirsty?” She knows the answer to that question just based on your appearance. The tension in your throat was becoming too much. You need a sense of relief. She takes your head leaning forward as a yes. Just as your lips were about to make contact with the glass, she pulls it away from you and drinks the shot herself and chuckles from the bewildered look on your face. “What the hell Nat!” You don’t even know what number of shots she’s on right now, but it takes a lot for Natasha to be drunk. A drunk Natasha was a completely different story than an annoyed Natasha.

“You still thirsty?” She whispers against your lips. Her stare is intense and intoxicating. You look away from her to show her just how annoyed you are, of course she thinks it’s cute. She refills the glass and hooks her finger under your chin bringing you face to face with her again. She downs the shot once again and tosses the glass across the room. She keeps your face in place as you try no ring away from her. She smashes her lips against yours and pushes the alcohol into your mouth. It’s fast and sloppy, so small amounts of it leak down the corner of your mouth and as Natasha pulls back she uses her tongue to catch every drip she sees.

“You want more Detka?” She still remains close to you as she reaches over to grab the bottle of alcohol off of the small cart. You only silently nod eagerly, wanting her to do it again. Except this time she hooks a finger underneath your chin tilting your head backwards and tips the bottle over. She notices the sudden change in enthusiasm at the change of direction. She can only laugh at you and your expressions but she can’t get too lost in it. This was a punishment after all. There was no time to be soft, at least so early into things. “Don’t pout.”

The next time she reaches for a shot to place on your stomach she sits the bigger glass on your stomach as well. She follows it up with dropping a few pieces of ice into the glass. “Nat you’re not being fair” frustration grows more when you realize this was a losing game either way it went. It’s not a game at all, it's a punishment of overstimulation. She pulls the wand out and turns it on to the highest level, your moans rise in volume at the first touch. “What was that I can’t hear you?” She keeps a firm grip on the toy and doesn’t relent on the pressure against your clit. “Fuck” you whine from the overstimulation, your legs are numb, and you no longer have the strength to try closing them from Natasha's access. The drinks spill over your body and the sheets Natasha takes in the sight with pride even though you’ve clearly just lost she has not intent on letting up on this game “You lost, baby and you’ve made such a mess.” She taunts you with fake concern as her hand stays firm and she starts moving the toy against your folds.

“Natasha, please.” She pouts at you with her fake sympathy. “Natasha please, what?” She gave your messy pussy a break by turning the level to the lowest Instead of taking it away completely. Your facial expressions plead more towards her than your words do. “Y-ou made your point, okay? now can you please- fuck! untie me?” She hums, weighing her decisions on if she thinks you’ve learned your lesson or not. Not really though because once Natasha Romanoff’s mind was set on something she made sure to go through with it no matter what. She took a little bit of pity on you right now but she really wanted to see this through, plus she was beyond turned on. She’s just stubborn like that.

“You know I don’t like pity cards and you know I don’t like cop outs, but nice try buttercup. You take what I give you and be happy with it.” If you were truly in unbearable pain, you’d use the safe word or Natasha would notice your breaking point and stop everything immediately. “Besides, don't you want to cum?” You growl in frustration as you glare at her, forgetting about the tight silk fabric strained against your skin you hiss in pain after your little tantrum. Natasha chuckles as she presses the toy firmly back into you. “You’re worried about me hurting you, it looks like those are doing it all on their own.”

“Mmh- h-how much longer are you gonna keep me like this?

“Until my feelings are no longer hurt or until I’m satisfied enough with how puffy and messy your pussy gets for me.” You were about to say something until the sensation of the wand tapping against your clit and the curl of Natasha’s finger entering your hole sent you further into ecstasy “Oh! Oh my-“ your fingers clench hard around the fabric of the restraints. “You know you haven’t even said sorry.” The look you gave her made her laugh but you can tell that she was being serious, maybe you did cut a little deep with your words knowing she has abandonment issues among many others. “I’m sorry, please. I’m sorry Tash.” You desperately apologize to her and she gives you no sign that she’s acknowledged it. Natasha turns the toy back on but not to the highest level and trails her tongue to your throbbing and neglected hole. She teases you for a moment by swirling her tongue around the hole before she spreads your folds, dives in and fucks you with firm and fast strokes. The sound of your wetness egging both of you on even more.

Every stroke and flick of her tongue was so intensifying that you forgot all about the silk fabrics restricting your hands from her grasp. Your body jerks from overstimulation but hearing the sound of Natasha’s praise filled moans made up for it. You ignore the stinging pain as the pleasure was much more overpowering. Just as you were getting used to the feeling of being on the edge again Natasha abruptly stops and pulls away from you with your juices smeared over her face. She enjoys the baffled look on your face right now. “I hate you.” You say, breathlessly while glaring at her as your legs shake uncontrollably with the loss of another orgasm.

You both know that’s not true she is using this moment to trap you, she wants to get a reaction out of you, she wants you to beg her to fuck you after you’ve been pleading with her for a break. “No, you don’t.” She places a soft but burning kiss on your skin while doing absolutely nothing to hide that smug expression from her face. You arch your back off of the bed, the sensation is now becoming too much to withstand. Natasha takes note of it and silently looks at you for any signs that you are at your limit. You wrap your legs around her as tight as your worn-out limbs will allow. “Keep going daddy, I’m okay.” Natasha’s strong hands have to keep you in place as she devours what belongs to her.

“Naat” your voice was finally at its breaking point. Worn out and hoarse. Natasha doesn’t budge, she keeps her focus on gaining her pleasure. “Hm fuck, just hold on a little longer” she thrusts against you groaning just how you like it, breathlessly panting with extra rasp in her voice. The moment her breath fans against your earlobe you felt your control slipping away. “Hold on for daddy?” She hooks your leg up for more security. Her fingers would surely leave behind imprints from the way she’s pressed her fingers into your soft thighs. “You feel so fucking good throbbing against me.”

“Just for me” she whispers the words out loud more so to herself than to you, but you respond to her anyway.

“Uh huh” you nod with eagerness as your nails claw at her skin. Natasha endures the stinging pain as she gets lost in the feeling of your warm slick. “Say it!” The sound of her hand making contact with the side of your ass jerks your body. “Just for you! Fuck, just for you!” You cum before Natasha does, you were already worked up and well spent she however still had energy left to use against you. Anger and jealousy were always a motivational boost for Natasha’s sex drive weirdly enough. As you lay there catching your breath Natasha’s movements slow down only for a moment before she’s repositioning herself on top of you. She finally frees your hands from the silk binds. Quickly massaging your wrists and leaving a chastise kiss on them. She spreads your puffy folds and begins angling herself against you. “Tash.”

“You can take it.” The sigh of relief and pleasure that takes over Natasha’s face was definitely worth the soreness that you will feel in the morning. She positions her clit against your dripping hole, she slowly pushes into you. The warmth of your pussy against the tip of Natasha’s clit was pure joy, she doesn’t do it often, or rather she didn’t really have time to do anything other than a quickie. Her mob activities and her regular nine to five businesses were always top priority now with new goals and a clean slate she wouldn’t dream about leaving you and your feelings out of the equation anymore. Especially not if she gets to fuck you like this more often.

Natasha snaps her hips forward, with each thrust your tits bounce in perfect rhythm. Her thrusts start slow but firm, until she can no longer hold on. Even though her entry point was small it didn’t take away the indescribable feeling of you sucking her in. Natasha pulls back for observation and once she sees the tip of her clit still inside of you something snaps inside of her. The perfect bounce of your tits soon starts to become erratic and sloppy just as Natasha’s thrusts. The loud sound of skin slapping, and wetness was almost enough to drown out anything else.

she buries her face into the crook of your neck, her muffled moans send the last bit of sensation you had left through your body. You don’t move. All of your limbs were non-functional at the moment, your bodies are still pressed together, and you hope to the highest heaven that Natasha meant what she said this time because you could still feel her throbbing against your folds. Your warm juices continue to flow as you watch Natasha come down from her high. “That was so hot.” She bites the side of your neck and soothes it over with her tongue. She takes a moment to place soft kisses anywhere she can on your body. You lay there in comfortable silence as you bask in the warmth and affection, she’s showing you right now because you truly don’t know how long it will last. How long this side of Natasha would stay before she’s back to her cold and set ways of thinking.

You fought off sleep as long as you could, but you were no longer winning the fight, Natasha obviously notices you trying to keep yourself awake. She makes quick work of cleaning you up, during your moment of dazed and fuzzy afterglow you only come down when you feel her in the same area she just abused. “Fuck off tash.” You limply try swatting her hands away from your cunt. Natasha scoffs and chuckles in the same breath. “Shut up and stop squirming. I'm cleaning you up, I should leave you a mess for what you did tonight.” She slaps your pussy once just to add on to the ‘asshole of the night award’ and you call her a bitch which only makes her chuckle. You know it’s a lie, Nat has never deliberately skipped aftercare with you. Only in times when she had to rush out unexpectedly, back when she was still in training to take over the business. Back when your relationship was in an awkward place.

During your small moment of reminiscing, you feel the bed shifting. The warm heat of Natasha’s skin against yours and the faint feeling of her breathing gets you to crack your eyes open to be greeted with her patiently awaiting your gaze. “Hey.” Your groggy greeting is cut off forcefully by Natasha’s lips smashing into yours. She pulls back looking you over as her nimble fingers ghost over your skin, over every mark on your neck and chest. She’s satisfied with her work tonight. She gives you a few more kisses before pulling you close to her side of the bed and turning the lights off. “Y/n.”

“Hm?” You hum in response while she rubs your back soothingly. “You're the only one for me." She wants to say, “I’m sorry I fucked up for me to realize that.” But she doesn’t want to get deep into that conversation right now. She doesn’t want to be vulnerable and open; she'll save it for another day. “Sleep.” Not long after that you were out cold.

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

The next time you shift in bed your eyes are halfway open. You notice Natasha is still sitting up with her back against the headboard talking in a hushed whisper. She hears you stirring beside her. She doesn’t want you awake, she doesn’t want you to hear the conversation. Panic bells sound off inside of your head anytime she gets a phone call in the early hours of the morning. “Let me guess, vacation is over.” Your voice still dripped with slumber but it wasn’t a question it was more of confirmation, confirmation that usually results in you being tossed to the side and neglected. Natasha pauses the conversation you weren’t too focused on trying to hear. You were nearly on your way back to sleep. “No, baby, just go back to sleep.” She gives you a soft kiss to distract your curiosity so you fall asleep without any hesitation or any push back.

The next time you wake up you hear voices, and you feel yourself being moved around. The cool breeze hits your face, but you still remain with low lidded eyes. You’re not in danger, you would know if you were. The hands that hold on to you and occasionally caress your face weren’t unfamiliar ones. You could spot them instantly; you drift back off to sleep with the reassurance of a body nestled close to yours and warmth radiating into you. You wake up feeling the aftereffects from the evening you had last night with Natasha. You stretch your arms out while remaining to keep your eyes shut. You feel the bed for Natasha’s body and freeze when you come up empty. She wasn’t here.

You vaguely remember being put in the car and seeing your luggage being carried out of the penthouse. You sit up in bed with pinched brows after you’re aware of your surroundings, you search for your cell phone and find it on the side table plugged into the charger. Most of the messages were from Yelena and a few emails about your new night club. You were just about to call Natasha’s phone to demand answers about the change in location when you heard voices above you on the top deck of the yacht. Not only is Natasha standing there but she has Bucky and Clint with her as well. This was supposed to be a trip away from the mob life and that includes them. You storm up the last few stairs towards her. She knew you’d be yelling at her sooner or later after you woke up.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I thought this was our vacation time?” You cross your arms as you await her answer while also being aware of the extra bodies that were not supposed to be present. “Good morning to you too honey, I slept great thanks for asking.”

“Don’t fuck with me, I’m not in the mood to play with you right now Natasha.”

“We’re still on vacation…this needed to be dealt with immediately.” Her response doesn’t do anything for you to ease up on her. “Oh, c’mon sweet face, I thought this would be better by settling this here so we wouldn’t have to cut our trip short.” She rubs your waist and kisses your face hoping it will cool your temper. “You couldn’t have handled it at the penthouse?”

“You’d rather have me do that in a place where we lay our heads?”

“Natasha, we’re in fucking madripoor! Shit happens here every hour on the hour! Packing me and our things away at the ass crack of dawn for this? was not necessary!”

“Will you relax? You’re always complaining about me being romantic. Well, I was trying to be spontaneous while also getting things done efficiently!”

“Nothing about this is romantic and your whole excuse is a cop out.”

“Surprising you with a morning on a yacht isn’t romantic?”

“Don’t condescend me Natasha, it was the way you did things while also having an ulterior motive behind it.” Natasha grabs your hand before you walk away from her. Linking her fingers through yours and somehow your eyes drift up her body just in time to see the flex of her muscles in the tank top she was wearing. “Calm down, have some breakfast. I have all of your favorites prepared Already. This is not the end of our trip, it's more of a small interruption.” “Fine.” You turn your face away from her and start moving towards the kitchen area for some breakfast. if you were going to be around for this you were not doing it on an empty stomach. Natasha stops you and places her lips to the shell of your ear. “It won’t take long I promise.” She kisses your neck. “We can go back to our room and make that champagne and ice bucket useful, hm?”

“No, absolutely not you’re not touching me after last night, I’m still sore.” You brush past her as she scoffs and glares at you, you can say that now but maybe when she’s finished, you’ll change your mind. Natasha walks back to the group at the seating area and picks up a few pieces of fruit as the paranoid man sits in silence. “It’s my understanding that I haven’t received your payment.” She holds her hand up when the man attempts to speak, no doubt to apologize or make an excuse for his actions. “I don’t want excuses” Natasha doesn’t like pity and she doesn’t like excuses. You'd be lucky enough for her to even ask you for a solution instead of killing you. Charles stupidly ignores her response hoping she’d be able to understand when she hears the full story and his side of things.

“We’ve been having a tough time at the shop and-“ Her fists cut his words short he wasn’t even aware of when she stood up to even get near him. “I thought I just said I didn’t want to hear any excuses.” Natasha sighs with disappointment as she checks her nails like the narcissist she is. “You interrupted my lovely trip with my sweet face over there.” She points to you while you sit at the counter sipping your orange juice. “This was not the way she was supposed to be waking up, Charles. Do you understand my dilemma here?” The man hesitated to answer Natasha. The question was dripping with a sexual undertone, not knowing if he would end up with a bullet between his eyes for answering truthfully. “I-“ Natasha delights in his uneasiness to reply, one wrong word would set her off completely, changing the mood of this meeting. “It’s okay, you can answer.”

“I understand, trust me.” He takes a little too long to turn his attention back to her. So, she grabs him by the collar. “Aren’t you going to apologize?” She tilts her head hovering above him. “I-I apologize for the intrus-“ the back of her hand makes contact with his face. “Not to me you fucking idiot!” She grabs his face and turns it towards your direction. “To her.” You grow awkward with the man’s eyes on you while you are trying to eat. “I’m sorry.” “She can’t hear you! Say it louder!” You heard his apology but you wanted to be left alone for now. After having a week of silence and wild nights with Natasha you weren’t ready for things to start going back to normal. You weren’t ready to go back home and fall into the same pattern again. “I’m so sorry” fully catching your attention you flip him off in response and go back to eating and drinking your juice. He turns around to look at Natasha for what to do next. She insists on him trying again for an apology. Shooing him away with her hands. He moves further into the kitchen area as you eat your breakfast. Unfazed by his presence. “Um miss I wanted to sincerely apologize for-“ his apology was stopped abruptly when the weight of the waffle iron collided with his face. “What the hell!” He shouts out in agony clutching his broken nose on the floor.

“Why the hell are you in my face? You already ruined my morning, now you’re going to ruin my breakfast too?” You grab him by the collar of his shirt. “No, that was not my intention.” Even if he was telling the truth, you were still pissed about it, so you use this opportunity to use him as a punching bag. Throwing multiple punches to his already broken and bruised face. Clint once again steps next to Natasha. “You just gonna let her do that? We don’t need him dead, Nat.” Natasha looks at Clint with a smirk on her face. She honestly loved that you let out your dark side more now. “I suppose you’re right, but I just love seeing my sweet face go sour and bad for a bit.” Clint makes a face of disgust.

“Please spare me the details of you and y/n’s psycho relationship dynamic, I already told you that you two need therapy like yesterday.” She rolls her eyes and walks away. You stop your attack on his face and you hold him up by the collar of his blood-stained shirt. The small blade presses against his skin; you trail the sharp knife down his cheek and stop at the curve of his neck. “What type of work do you do?” He seems caught off guard with that question as he nervously licks his lips. He doesn’t know if he is supposed to look at you or keep his eyes trained on the cabinets. “I own a butcher shop.”

“Oh, this is perfect.” You take pride in his blatant display of confusion and fear. “You cut and trim meat all day, what’s so hard about that?” You don't give him a chance to reply to you, not that he would even dare try to respond to that loaded question. “Since you’re a butcher I’m sure you’re aware that a single incorrect cut could ruin a good piece of meat.” He stares up at you in pain and confusion as you tilt your head adding more pressure behind the knife. Natasha arrives in the kitchen area just in time.

“Okay, that’s enough, buttercup.” She pulls your back to her front and holds you in place. “Put the knife down.” She rubs your body soothingly to bring you back to a calm state. It takes you a few seconds, but you eventually flick the blade back into its safety pocket and place it into Natasha’s hands and let the man go in the process. As she puts the small knife in her pocket Natasha looks down at the bloody figure on the floor. “I know how much you wanted to cool off a bit, I don’t know what possessed him to bother you.” She snuggles her face closer to your neck inhaling deeply, She loved the scent of you. As Natasha was distracted the man quickly defended himself once again.

“You literally told me to come over here and apologize!” He shouts out at her stupidly once again not knowing how dangerous that is. “No, I don’t think I did, actually.” Instead, she replies back with a cool and calm demeanor she wanted to see if you’d attack him again. ”Yes you did!” Charles shouts back defensively and Natasha kicks him in the face “Shut up!” You crane your neck to watch Natasha’s body language. “Don’t listen to him baby Especially since I know how grumpy you get when something interrupts our plans.” She softly kisses your neck when she’s done telling the lie. You take a moment to look down at your silk pajamas and groan frustration.

“He got his blood all over my new pajamas, now we have to buy another set of matching ones.” Natasha just chuckles at your response. Blaming that poor man for getting blood on your expensive robe when you were the cause of it being there in the first place. She loved it. Part of her wished your father would’ve made you more involved with the mob activities like she had to. She would’ve had this sight of you way early on into the relationship, but she loves you just the way you are right now. “Don’t worry about it. We can buy all the matching pajamas you want, I’ll take care of it.”

“Yeah, you will especially since this is your fault for sending him over here in my goddamn face in the first place.”

“See, I told you!” You both speak at the same time. “Shut up!” When the man quiets down Natasha doesn’t try to deny it this time she just laughs and pulls you closer to her. Of course, you knew she was lying. “I’m sorry, I just thought you wanted to let some anger out and I was clearly right.”

“How thoughtful of you.” You gently pat her cheek. “I know.” She leans forward placing her lips on yours. She growls in surprise when you take control, shoving your tongue down her throat. Backing her up into the counter and harshly biting her lip. “Don’t tease me right now dekta.”

“Can you two stop sucking face? We have import shit to deal with here!” Bucky was getting annoyed. From the time being wasted and just from seeing you two showing public displays of affection. You clench your jaw, looking over Natasha’s shoulder. Who the hell did he think he was? You pick up an empty champagne flute and launch it at Bucky. “Shut the fuck up!” He dodges the glass before it makes contact. Clint pulls Bucky aside with force. “You seriously need to let it go, Buck.” Clint harshly whispers to him. He snatches his arm from Clint and goes to sit down on the padded couch. Seeing him be seated like a good little guard dog that he should be. As Clint snatches the man from the floor and away from the kitchen area you focus back on your girlfriend. “Finish everything up here and I’ll be downstairs. Don’t take too long though, I’m not promising to keep my hands off.” You slide your hand underneath the silk waistband of her pajamas. Natasha’s eyes blown wide, she couldn’t wait to get this over with to have you screaming out in pleasure and pain once again. You bring your hand back out into the open. Natasha licks her lips at the glistening wet slick dripping down your fingers. You place your fingers on her lips. She welcomes them openly, sucking the flavorful juices off your fingers. You lean in ghostly whispering against her lips.

“If you get this handled quickly the next time, we kiss I’ll have the taste of your cum on my lips.” Her breath hitches and she’s more determined to get this shit done now more than ever. Hell, she might even give him more time and just have Clint and Bucky take Charles back home. That would be the only time she would show forgiveness. The only time she’d be so lenient to someone who wronged her.

Natasha makes her way back to the seating area; she makes a show to whistle from your previous actions. “Yeah, she’s pissed. I was going to put on a show for her but I’m feeling merciful and gracious.” She pops a few pieces of fruit in her mouth and turns directly to face the bruised and bloody man. “So, let’s talk about how you’re going to move forward to get me the money that I’m owed and how you’re gonna pay extra for this inconvenience, shall we?”

They found a way to come to an agreement and the instant that the problem had been solved Natasha jumped up from her seat with haste and intended to run downstairs to you. “Natasha, we have another problem.”

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

“No, we just fixed it…any other problems can wait until tomorrow or until I officially return from my vacation.”

“Uh, Nat you’re not listening…”

“And you’re not listening to me Clint, this trip was to make things up to y/n, and I don’t need calls interrupting the time I made for her. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have holes that I need to fill downstairs and you’re making me late.” Clint visibly gags and Natasha’s satisfied with his reaction to walk away from him to leave him with that burning image. “Jesus! Keep that to yourself I swear to God I’m this close to ditching my earring aids whenever I’m on duty! and I’m serious Nat it’s about Alexei.” Just as she was walking away from him she stops in her tracks as soon as he mentions the name. She slowly turns around to face him and a silent Bucky. “What kind of problem is it?”

Time passes longer than you would’ve liked but once again you were used to it. This trip did nothing but show you the reality of your life and your relationship. You could never truly get away from this lifestyle. You quickly change into normal clothes, your mood has drastically changed and the likelihood of your girlfriend returning to you anytime soon was uncommon. As expected when the bedroom door opens you know it’s Natasha and you know she’s come to tell you the bad news but what she doesn’t expect is for you to already have the bags packed and ready to be put into the car. Her apology falls dead on the tip of her tongue as you cut her off before she even had the chance to release it. “I don’t want to hear it.” Your response is cold and calm, two signs she’s much familiar with now, you could snap at any moment. Which furthers the internal need to be close to you she knows there’s a chance of a fight happening, an item being thrown at her hell you could be hiding a knife somewhere just waiting to make your move. She ignores her thoughts and cautiously takes small steps towards you at a time.

“Hey, it’s another emergency that needs to be addressed and it’s much bigger than what happened this morning.” You don’t say anything to her as you sit in silence on the edge of the bed. She tries to be near you to bring you some sort of comfort, but you stand up and head for the door with your luggage in hand. “I told you I don’t want to hear it; I don’t want to hear excuses.” Natasha already felt bad and now you’re using her own shit against her which makes her feel even worse. She reached for you hoping you’d let her explain the situation further. Maybe it’ll ease the pain if you knew just how dire it was to fly back home. All she got in return was a stinging slap to the face before you stormed out of the room with your luggage completely. Natasha wasn’t expecting it but she isn’t mad at it, you’re upset, angry and hurt. She knows you’re not letting it all out, so a slap to the face is something she’d have to endure. She grabs a duffel bag and tells Bucky and Clint to get the rest of the luggage as she follows after you.

You remained silent in the car as Clint and Natasha discussed business matters. You settle for keeping your focus on the car window knowing Natasha is staring at you intently waiting for you to address her. To say something. Anything. She leans closer to you, and you counter her movements by sliding closer to the door. She tries again by placing her hand on your thigh to silently apologize for cutting the trip short. You remove her hand immediately. In your eyes it looked like she lied about what happened earlier, which in truth she didn’t lie, things just played out that way. How Inconvenient for her. She leaves you to deal with your emotions and goes to her phone texting Yelena about your incoming attitude and about this meeting that Alexei demanded to have.

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

You make your way onto the private jet, and you still have not said one word to Natasha other than your outburst from earlier. You flop down in the seat after taking a sucker from the candy bowl and popping it into your mouth. Natasha brings two champagne flutes over as she sits next to you. She asks you something and your only response is to grab the abandoned pair of headphones and turn the volume up to true maximum level to drown out her repeating apologies. “Can I have some?” She removes the left side of your headphones to speak directly into your ear. When she has your attention, she nods to the candy that’s in your mouth. You roll your eyes and hand her the bowl only she never reaches for it. Instead, she goes for the sucker in your mouth, and she reaches for the end of the stick. Lightly tugging on it for you to release it from your tight grasp. Making a sound of annoyance and disapproval you swat her prying hands away.

“You’re not gonna share with me?” You once again shove the bowl of candy near Natasha, and she still doesn’t budge. That’s not what she wanted. This was her way of getting you to interact with her. To acknowledge her. It’s not the first time something so childish as candy could bring you back from a fit of rage and anger and back into her embrace of understanding and forgiveness. A little lighthearted interaction to let her know how deep in shit she was truly in once the two of you were back home and things went back to the everyday routine. Natasha makes a disapproving noise and tosses the candy bowl on the empty seat next to her. She’s had enough of your attitude and your unwillingness to hear her out, this wasn’t like any other excuse that truly needed her presence. Natasha quickly grips your face and turns your attention back on her.

“I didn’t plan this. Trust me I would rather still be on that yacht with you right now, but this is serious." You shrug her off of you, annoyed with her cryptic responses, she never really goes into detail about why things were serious or so urgent that you sit at the dinner table alone most nights. You remove the candy from your mouth and lick your lips, an action Natasha focuses on intensely. “You still haven’t told me what’s so serious that you cut our vacation short, a vacation I only got because you let Stark get in your head and you couldn’t keep your hands off of an attention seeking whore!” Your voice raises in volume and Clint and Bucky share a look but they remain in their seats unbothered. They’re pretty much used to the outbursts between you two and they’ll only intervene if Natasha tells them to. Meanwhile you lean away from her and place the candy back into your mouth seemingly being done with this conversation. Natasha rubs her face harshly and exhales a deep breath that she’s been holding since she got the news. Natasha calms her nerves trying to stay on her new path by managing her temper. She’s trying her best to communicate properly. “It has to do with Alexei.”

“Alexei?!” You could’ve cut the inside of your mouth with how fast you pulled the candy out of your mouth from hearing his name. She nods her head and swigs down her champagne. She was nervous. “You know just as much as anybody how dreadful this surprise meeting is going to be for me.” Natasha hasn’t spoken to Alexei directly in a long time and she hasn’t seen him in the flesh for even longer. The two of them never got along and when Natasha started to rebel against him and his orders, that caused the drift between them. The final straw that broke the camel's back was her continuing to defy him by being in a relationship with you. Once he found out about you two, things changed. He treated you differently, he deemed you as a distraction to his daughter. Of course, his attitude could only be expressed slightly back then with your father still being around and being the man in charge but once he was murdered, Alexei didn’t hold his tongue any longer. He had free reign to say anything he wanted. He Finally got to release the built-up aggression that built up over the years starting from the moment you came back, and the moment Natasha set her eyes on you.

The harsh and cruel words spewing out of his mouth no longer held back in the depths of his throat. The words remained there from the first day he caught you and Natasha together. The memories brought back pain not just yours but Natasha’s as well. You saw how she was treated by that man for as long as you’ve known her. You finally turn your whole body to her and the first thing you can see is the sincerity in her eyes. “I know.” You say with softness and love. You hold your hand out to her and she doesn’t touch you. You move your hand closer to her, placing it in her lap. “Are you gonna hold my hand or what?”

“That depends if you’re gonna slap me again or not.” You shake your head ‘no’ in response and she links her fingers with yours. Now you feel bad for slapping her knowing she has Alexei on her brain already, that abuse was enough on its own, even though your feelings and reaction was valid you needed to apologize. “I’m sorry for that by the way.” You use your other hand to rub against the cheek you previously struck. “No, you aren’t.” She cracks a smile and you return the same mirrored emotion back at her. “Okay, maybe not completely but I’m sorry for not hearing you out earlier.” You slowly exhale, lowering your gaze down to your abandoned hand on Natasha’s lap. “I was just really starting to get used to this kind of lifestyle.”

“You’ve always had a luxury lifestyle, what are you talking about?”

“Not that, I meant being normal. Having a normal and domestic lifestyle, that doesn’t involve waking up to random strangers in our living room or having to be pulled away from vacation after the shit I had to go through to even get here.” You take a brief moment to calm down. You weren’t trying to start another argument with her, not after you know what awaits her when this private jet lands. The mindset and preparation she has to readjust to. You feel the warm embrace of her hand in yours. Natasha gives you a firm and comforting squeeze before she finally links her fingers with yours. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I know I’ll never be able to truly escape it but it would be nice to put things on pause more often and just...get away.” You look to Natasha to answer your response as if your statement was a question. She understands perfectly without the use of your voice. She’s known how long you’ve wanted to get away and it was always put on the back burner, had she known that a vacation trip meant this much to you, your passport would’ve been overfilled with stamps by now. She feels guilty for neglecting you and not being attentive to your needs. All she had to do was make a call and everything you wanted would be everything you’d have. “We’ll take more trips…I promise.” You give her an annoyed look, it's something you’ve heard before and you’d rather not hear the lie again. “I’m serious, if you want to take a trip just book a flight or call Fitz to have the jet ready and we’ll go wherever you want.”

“Tash, you talk a sweet game, but we both know how this will play out.”

“I’m making changes, I’ve put in the effort and I’ve owned up to my mistakes. I’m being serious, I really mean it this time.” You hum with satisfaction as you see new determination in her eyes. Your hand tugs the collar of her shirt forward, you hold eye contact for a moment before your lips ghost over hers. “Next time something like this happens just tell me straight up, and don’t start with apologies. Do you understand Natalia? She smirks against your lips as they slightly graze each other. “Yes, my love.”

“Good.” You say, softly and finally lean forward to peck her lips you pull away way too soon for Natasha to even get started on her attack. You pull away with a smug smile while Natasha licks her lips tasting the remnants of sweetness from the cherry blow pop, she was practically begging for moments ago. “I’m stressed out over here and you’re teasing me?”

“You’re right” you go in for another kiss, but this time Natasha pulls you in and holds your face in place as she deepens the kiss. It’s sloppy and desperate, which is another silent sign that means she needs comfort and support right now. when you try pulling away again, she places her hand around your neck giving you a subtle squeeze as a warning to keep still. Natasha makes sure to savor the artificial flavor as she strokes her tongue around every part inside of your mouth. The noises you two pull from each other caused Clint to fully turn his hearing aids off and Bucky turns his headphones on max volume to drown out the lewd sounds. When she finally lets you come up for air, she admires your dazed expression and goes back to drinking her champagne as if nothing just happened.

“You just tried to kill me!” You say as you finally get the sensation of oxygen coming in again. she chuckles and turns her head towards you. “It’s your fault for not sharing with me.” Is all she says before shrugging her shoulders and sighing before she makes a move to get up. You quickly place your hand on hers stopping her movements, a silent question hung in the air about why she’s leaving her seat. “I need to plan things out with Clint and buck” you move your hand and silently nod in agreement but before she leaves you beckon her with your finger for one more kiss which she happily obliged to.

After a few playful nips and bites, you both pull away and you place the blow pop against Natasha’s wet lips. “I also forgot to mention that Alexei is meeting at our house tonight for dinner.” The moments of normalcy and domestication were over, now things were officially going back to what you've been used to since you were born. You just hope and pray that no one ends up dead but maybe that's asking for far too much when Alexei is at the center of the equation.

[chaosfairy18]

perchance some binch (buttons + finch) drabble??? they're my sillies and i love them so dearly /nfta

@finchesslingshott

First of all Hello!

I do have to say I don't really do much livesies/stage musical stuff (sorry) nor have I ever really done much thinking on Finch or Buttons even as individual characters nor as a ship (I prefer Redfinch) but since you've been so kind to send me an ask I tried my best. I really only have Hotshot as a recurring character in my writing and even then she is very different from canon Hotshot.

Buttons is Tadhg McCarthy (his canon name in UKsies) and he got the name because he 'has his buttons' (being smart) but I still made him sew. (Thanks to Nox for the UKsies infos <3)

Finch isn't even here that much but I write him mostly like my dear friend @clevereverest makes me think of him, I love her Redfinch writing

Mostly this is actually Buttons character study a bit and his friendship with another pickpocket who sews: Swifty. Because I am 99% 92sies focused and I needed to at least have one character I already know how to write.

Now enjoy: (750 words)

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

Buttons wasn’t sure what to do with Finch always having some rip in his clothes. Naturally he’d help him, but he wouldn’t be happy about it. For most people he’d ask for a fee for patching their things up – if they didn’t want that they could go to someone else – but with Finch he regrettably couldn’t do that as they were close.

Didn’t mean he had to be happy about not getting a bit more money.

Admittedly he had gotten more than enough today by relieving some people of their change.

In the bunkroom – where his sewing kit was – there was only one other newsie, Swifty, apparently doing the same thing. They got along well – thief’s codex and all that – so he sat on the bunk across from him to do his own stitching. “Hey Swifts.”

“Buttons.” Swifty grinned his usual lopsided grin. “Finch again?”

Buttons groaned, looking at the ceiling. “Idiot tears his thin’s every day. Shirts, pants, hat. Last week t’was his socks.” Of course he knew partly how it happened, Finch climbed up some tree and the branches nicked his clothes, he fell down and scraped his knees, he got in fights and teared something else.

“You’d earn a fortune if ya actually took his money.” As much as his tone was teasing, Buttons had a feeling Swifty was thinking something more than what should be going on.

“Can’t rob ‘im blind like that.”, he just said dismissively, getting out his scissors and thread.

“Mhm.”

“What’re you doin’ anyways? One of the littles ripped somethin’?” The kids always tumbled around and Swifty was close to both Flipper and Tumbler – mostly through them being close to Skittery and Bumlets, who were his best friends – and he’d also do a lot for Boots or Snipeshooter, not to mention Splasher. Though Splasher would have come to Buttons for sure.

Swifty held the shirt he was doing something on closer to Buttons, showing a little cat on the hem of it, embroidered in black. “I’m puttin’ little cats on all of Skittery’s clothes to see when he notices. I’m runnin’ out of clothes actually.”

“Bold of you to assume he’s lookin’ at his clothes when he puts them on.”

“It’s still fun. Tumbler loves it, says Skitts is like a cat anyways.”

They talked a bit more, also about what they had stolen the last few days, laughing about some of the close escapes they’d had or reactions they got after stealing various things. Swifty even managed to get a whole dollar, not even wanting to show it, already having it stocked away somewhere. Not that Buttons would have stolen it from him… probably. It would have gotten him such good clothes and sewing equipment though.

It was tempting, but thief’s honour kept him from actually doing it.

A bit later Finch came in, just as Buttons was almost finished, looking eager to get his vest back. “You done yet?”

“Almost.”, he just said dismissively, Swifty snickering from his bunk.

“Let the man work. With how much you’re givin’ him one could think you’re doin’ it on purpose.” Before Finch could reply to that, Swifty had jumped up, shoved the newly embroidered shirt in Skittery’s drawer and quietly disappeared down the stairs, steps light as always.

Finch’s eyes widened a bit, and he looked apologetic. “I promise I ain’t doin’ it on purpose, Tadhg. Just happens.”

“Yeah yeah. You’re just a clumsy bird.” Jumping up, cutting off the last thread, he held out the vest, newly patched, almost looking like new. Or at least the same as before. “There you go. Don’t go and rip it open again, if you keep givin’ me that much business I will have you pay for it. Runnin’ out of thread with all this.”

“I’m sure you won’t lose your buttons though.”, Finch laughed, referring to how Buttons got his nickname, from having all his wits with him. Having his buttons in order, so to speak. It was one of the better nicknames anyhow, as it also fit with sewing.

Finch slipped into the vest and grinned, leaning forward and kissing Buttons’ cheek. “Thanks again, really. I’ll get you some thread or cloth or somethin’. Promise.”

He rolled his eyes. “Sure. Just don’t keep making people suspicious with all this. They’s bound to notice I treat you special.”

“Not that they’re wrong.”

“Finch.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He pecked his lips. “See you later.”

Buttons got to sew up two more of his clothes just this week.

[charliedawn]

Bo *pulls out a cigarette and a lighter*

You *grabs his lighter* : "Smoking isn't good for you."

Bo *give you a death stare* : "Lessy just started raisin' a damn colony of possums' that decided to turn my bedroom into their personal headquarters of munchers this mornin'. Vince lost one of the tourists who set fire to the church and stabbed me with a pair of scissors. It's my fifth hour runnin' around town tryin' to find a quiet place where those two dumb birds I call brothers won't bother me. Now, ya tell me...Is it gonna be yer ass or the cigarette that I'm gonna light on fire ?"

You *gives him back his lighter*

Bo : "Yeah. That's what I thought."

[friday-im-in-love-with-crowley]

When you get this, list 5 songs you like to listen to, publish them, and send this ask to the last 10 people in your notifs 💗

how can you ask me to choose only five??? i think it’s actually physically impossible???

1 guilty pleasure by chappell roan

1.1 super graphic ultra modern girl by chappell roan

1.2 we fell in love in october by girl in red

1.3 it’s over isn’t from steven universe

1.4 kiss me son of god by they might be giants

1.5 apt by rosé & bruno mars

1.6 sexy love by t-ara

1.7 i can’t stop the loneliness by anri

1.8 the cruel angel’s thesis by yoko takahashi

1.9 idol by yoasobi

2 oh no! by marina

2.1 problems by mother mother

2.2 arms tonite by mother mother

2.3 dance macabre by ghost

2.4 rats by ghost

2.5 the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny by lemon demon

2.6 jaws by lemon demon

2.7 misery fell by tally hall

2.8 Cotard’s Solution (Anatta​/​Dukkha​/​Anicca)’s by will wood and the tapeworms

2.81 The Song with Five Names, a​.​k​.​a. Soapbox Tao, a​.​k​.​a. Checkmate Atheists! a​.​k​.​a. Neospace Government, a​.​k​.​a. You Can Never Know by will wood and the tapeworms

2.82 Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Mary Bell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally by will wood

2.83 6up 5oh Cop Out (Pro/Con) tapeworms

2.84 Aikido! (Neurotic / Erotic) tapeworms

2.85 White Noise by will wood

2.86 Marsha, Thankk You For The Dialectics, But I Need You To Leave. by will wood

2.87 Venetian Blind Man by will wood

2.88 Chemical Overreaction / Compound Fracture by wwatt

2.89 Cicada Days by ww

2.9 labyrinth by miracle musical

3 and your bird can sing by the beatles

3.25 eleanor rigby by the beatles

3.5 norwegian wood by the beatles

3.75 you never give me your money by- guess who- the beatles

3.9 for no one by the beatles

4 romeo and juliet fantasy overture by tchaikovsky

4.25 europapa by joost

4.5 shostakovich’s second waltz

4.75 i can’t decide by scissor sisters

5 psycho killer by talking heads

5.1 there is a light that never goes out by the smiths

5.2 starman by david bowie

5.3 hang on to yourself by david bowie

5.4 ashes to ashes by david bowie

5.45 changes by david bowie

5.5 runnin’ down a dream by tom petty

5.6 paradise city by guns n’ roses

5.7 dirty deeds done dirt cheap by ac/dc

5.8 edge of seventeen by stevie nicks

5.9 anarchy in the uk

wow, i think i did well restraining myself to around five songs. idk i might have been a bit off, i’m not very good at math 😅😅😅

[bun-parade]

When I heard Gojo call Hanami "Weed"

"We always knew it would come to this. I would be the one to eliminate you...

Weedkiller, runnin' with scissors!"

[gingerwerk]

it's wednesday my dudes aka wip wednesday so here is another blurb from my current wip

*

“Good morning, Walter,” Eugene Roe greeted Walt kindly as he slowly stumbled into the blindingly bright and empty clinic lobby at eight o’clock sharp Saturday morning.

“Uh, it’s Walt, Doc,” he reminded the man through a heavy yawn; Doc Roe had been running the clinic in town for the majority of the past decade now and even though the man saw him regularly for yearly vaccinations and multiple semi-serious bumps and bruises, he always seemed to forget that not a soul alive called him Walter.  

“Right, of course,” the doc nodded. “Now, lemme show you what you’re gonna be helpin’ us with today.”

As Walt followed Doc Roe behind the front desk- both men politely nodded to Anna, the head nurse, who was busy typing away on the ancient computer -and down the hallway that led to the examination rooms, he took in the man’s appearance. Between the blinding fluorescent lights, the pale blue scrubs he wore, and his inky black hair, Doc Roe had the unfortunate habit of looking perpetually washed out, making his already pale complexion more extreme in this setting. Walt remembered a time after he first took over the clinic when there was a rumor amongst his grade school friends that the quiet doc was actually a blood thirsty vampire in disguise.

“It makes perfect sense,” Ray had persistently argued whenever he had a minute to fight for his case. “Vampires acting like classic Dracula wouldn’t fly nowadays, there’s too much surveillance. Cops and doctors would easily be able to figure out it’s vampires when bodies start dropping drained of blood. But Doc’s smart- by playing doctor, he can work night shift and he has constant access to human blood that he can just sit back and enjoy like a Caprisun. Why d’you think he’s always promoting blood drives?”

As fun as that theory was for Walt and his friends to argue about, it eventually got thrown out the window after Dr. LeMaire joined the team and Roe could actually be seen out and about Matilda during the daytime. Despite other recent additions to the clinic, the poor man always seemed to be running himself ragged and had perpetual dark bags under his eyes. Walt had no idea what he was getting roped into with his community service assignments but at least he would probably be doing something actually helpful to the overworked Doc instead of wasting time getting sunburnt in that stupid reflective vest.

“I don’t know if you’re aware but every couple months we do an inventory of all the supplies we carry in the clinic,” the Doc spoke, bringing Walt back to the present. “It’s a time consuming process but unfortunately regular work at the clinic don’t stop to let us count all the cotton balls. So we usually have’ta rely on help from the community during this time to get it done.”

“So, I’ll be counting cotton balls all weekend?” Walt asked flatly, shoving his fists into his hoodie pocket and thinking that at least he wouldn’t get eaten up by bugs or come home smelling like hot garbage.

“And tongue depressors, bandages, and gauze,” Doc corrected him with the faintest hint of a smile. “It’s an extremely important part of keeping this clinic runnin’, so you’ll be doing us a big service.”

“Right,” Walt muttered skeptically.

“It’s the truth,” he persisted, blue eyes locking onto Walt’s with an unexpected intensity. “This clinic runs mostly on government funding and the government loves to know exactly how many bandages, scissors, and Tylenol we got before they’ll think about sending us another penny.”

“So, I guess I better not fuck up,” he realized after a beat.

“Important work don’t always mean complex. I think you can handle it.”

[shrineofprophecy]

🔊 + 🌠

@deathsmaidens / song associations / accepting

I already had the first song in my head before you asked for a leifmotif which is a classic. It's probably what Sparkle's chaotic mind sounds like lmao and besides, a lot of people are afraid of bees even though they're tiny and cute.

Rimsky Korsakov - Flight of the Bumblebee

The next song, you don't have to take in the romantic sense but it reminded me how Sparkle can abuse the feeling of love. She does love Milou in the sense that she knows she can play with her and that she plays along. They're both each other's sharp objects.

Sorn - Sharp Objects

♪ Been told this all my life The heart cuts deeper than a knife It's dangerous But I play with sharp objects There ain't no guarantee That loving you won't make me bleed It's dangerous But I play with sharp objects ♪

♪ If there ain't any difference (oh oh oh) Between lovin' and runnin' with scissors (oh oh oh) Then I'm a-okay (okay) 'Cause that's the type of the rush I'm cravin' ♪

[stfuviolet1]

Today, hamzah drove me crazy. It’s not like he doesn’t do that on any other day, but today was just too much I almost lost it. Yes I’m talking about my patience runnin thin with this one kiddo right here ☝🏼Idk what was his problem he was throwing tantrum and acting up the whole day. Some of the things he did just today that are enough to make me go nuts ;

1. He pushed widad off the chair just because widad took his seat during breakfast. Mind ya widad was seating there and saved the seat way before him yet he wouldn’t give in. Like come on boy, didn’t we just discuss of what happened in Palestine and how their land got stolen? We don’t want anyone getting ‘israel-ed’ don’t we?? Anyhow, the fighting lasted the whole day between these two siblings and most of it was because of hamzah getting mad over petty things. He wouldn’t even let widad sit next to me and whenever widad sat on my lap, he pushed her. Sighs

2. I asked Hamzah to draw what are the things that make him happy and what are the things that make him sad. It was all fun and games to see him drawing sonic, legoland, Roblox, tic tac toe at first until.. my eyes got caught on something.

Me; hamzah, what is this? *points to a weird creature draws by him Hamzah: that is devil. Me: okay… so devil makes you sad? Hamzah : yes, devil eats cat. I don’t like devil Me: okay… faham… and what about this one? *points to another weirder creature but this one in the happy list Hamzah: oh that is jesus. Me: IM SORRY, WHAT?? Hamzah: that’s Jesus. You don’t know Jesus ? Me: yes I do know jesus,,, I mean WHAT? HOW? WHY? Hamzah: I watched in YouTube. In YouTube it says Jesus is happy.

GUYS. MY 5 Y/O STUDENT JUST DRAW A JESUS.FUCKIN.CHRIST.

3. The intense fight between hamzah and Adib. It’s well aware that hamzah and Adib are not fond of each other but at this point, hamzah really be going off limit. The fight was about who gets to become imam for solat sunat dhuha. Hamzah, despite him being the youngest and smallest, always eager to lead the prayer. And hamzah being hamzah, always wants to lead every prayers and that is why we come up with schedule so Haris and Adib can take turns too. But Haris was absent today and Adib was supposed to replace Haris as imam but hamzah was soooo against it and he insisted to be the imam for the day. Adib was expressing his frustration and I tried to convince both of them. Rock paper scissors? Meh who cares who loses hamzah still wants to be the imam.

Hamzah; teacher Nurul, if you don’t let me become imam I will cry (baby voice). Me: oh really? If I don’t let you become imam you will cry. But if I let you become imam, Adib will cry. What are we going to do about it? Hamzah: *points to elsa* elsa be the imam Me: I’m sorry, you do know girls cannot be imam right?? Hamzah: then you be the imam. Pleaseee 🥺🥺 Me: (astaga ini anak)

Anyways after 10 minutes of trying to resolve the disputes;

Adib: starts crying* Hamzah: cries** Adib: starts crying HEAVILY***

so the solution? I made them pray twice. Hamzah lead the solat dhuha, Adib lead the solat hajat. Fair and square.

[furien]

Weedkillеr, runnin' with scissors I made knives out of broken ribs

[pxrifiedmxniac]

@melleniasisters​ sent: "Before ya freak out, Missi's workin' on revivin' me but.. I had the unfortunate luck of runnin' into Dante's dad who just so happens to be a hunter and.." Lilly sighed as she gestured to now her ghostly body.

Ryuko was speechless over what she was seeing right now. Lilly had been killed by some schmuck!? And now she was seeing her ghost as well!? This was definitely a lot to process at once. But, she did manage to say something.

“Where is this guy? I-I just... wanna have a conversation with him.” Ryuko replied, practically quiet and monotone while she was sharpening her Scissor Blade.

[twistedisciple]

“‘cause I’m not a tailor,” Griss corrects testily. Truthfully, he just likes scissors. Needles. Fabric blades had to be pretty sharp, too. And most of what he’d done to his clothes had once been a rip or tear or bloody patch from his regular, everyday chaos, made permanent because he liked it. Getting people like Celica to balk was a plus in his book. They didn’t need to know the hows or whys of his little hobby.

“Actually, now that you mention it, I did find a rat scurrying around the refreshments.” He stares at her as if to say ‘what do you think of that?’ He hasn’t forgotten the way she’d reacted to the waiters and attendants at last year’s event. “Don’t worry though—“ The smile that’s come back to his face is dubious at best, pointing to an untold story as full of chaos as the facade he presents to Celica is docile. “I took care of ‘im. Found a nice girl to look after it even!”

Even if she was probably dead. Details.

Griss flicks the collection of bells hanging from his brooch. “Let’s cut to the chase though. This is what you came over here for, wasn’t it?” Eyes narrow. “I’ll give ya one, but… we keep runnin’ into each other, and I remember how good a team we made back in Elyos. So, Celly—“ Smile spreads just a little wider, a little smarmier. “—now I wanna hear you call me your partner.”

[ Fashion Police ] ( hi griss my good """friend""" griss )

While there was a non-zero chance of seeing him, Celica is still surprised to see the nigh shirtless man near the refreshments. His barely there shirt has the queen clicking her tongue—leave it to Griss to blithely ignore conventions such as public decency.

"By the Mother. Even for this occasion, you decided not to dress yourself? Though... I suppose you should be the last one I would expect to be setting good examples."

For a moment, Celica's eyes flick from side to side; scanning every nearby server, silently seeking out one of those accursed rats she may have missed. He wouldn't get the jump on her this time.

"...Anyway." Gaze turns back to him, "You seem uncharacteristically docile. Nothing here grabs your interest, I take it?"

He knows the sound of disapproval anywhere, and he loves it. Glancing up from where he’d been picking at (desiccating, really) a fruit tart on a napkin, Griss finds that it’s his favorite priestess who’s come to chide him and his lips peel back in a lopsided grin. It was almost like she liked it as much as he did!

”What do you mean I haven’t dressed myself?” He steps back from the table to open up his arms and present to her the netted shirt that hardly covers much of anything, but certainly more than his usual attire - which is no shirt at all - and the tattered coat that looks, intentionally or not, a size or two too big. He looks down at himself like he doesn’t know what she could possibly mean, and when he raises his head, it’s with a nearly-believable pout.

”I got all the right stuff on! And besides, I made it all. How’d you get everyone callin’ you ‘Caring Princess’ when you’re so judgy all the time.”

He lets his arms fall back to his sides, and with it the facade of hurt as he gives Celly’s own attire a once-over. The saturated red fading to white calls to mind a murder victim bleeding out, and he admires especially how it looks like whoever had done the deed had hit all the major arteries to get it soaked like that.

Then he blinks back to the present reality, and lifts his attention to her face - rosy-cheeked and very much alive, unfortunately.

”What?” he smiles slyly and steps closer. “‘Surprisingly docile?’ That almost sounds like I gotta start making a scene. You want that?” And he points abruptly at the destroyed fruit tart. “‘Cause I don’t.”

[violetarks]

going to bed after an argument

anime: cowboy bebop

characters: spike spiegel, jet black

summary: it's time for bed and you and your lover haven't quite settled on your little fight from earlier.

warnings: afab! reader, she/her pronouns used, kinda of hc that spike doesnt use 'i love you' in words that much

↣ spike spiegel:

He loved sleeping. It was a time where he could worry about nothing and just let himself rest.

Except now, he stood there with Y/N on the other side of the bed, looking right back at him. She had her arms crossed over her chest, contemplating what the two of them should do. None of them had apologised for earlier that night. They thought the other one was being inconsiderate and childish, which led to no end of the argument and no 'sorry' being said.

He then huffs out, trying to make light of the situation, "Rock, Paper, Scissors for the bed?"

She glares at him a little more before shifting into the bed, on her own side as she faces away from her boyfriend. Still so childish. Sometimes he could be unbearable, not thinking about anything and how it would effect them later. It made her crazy. But he was always this spontaneous. A factor of himself that she had to learn to deal with.

"Then... can I sleep here with you?" He inquires, placing a testing hand on the bed.

In return, Y/N mumbles out quietly, "I don't care what you do."

But she really did. Which had sparked this whole argument anyway. Spike knows this himself, so he waits for her to say more before deciding for himself.

Spike gives a sigh, moving under the covers himself and facing the ceiling. As much as he loved sleeping, Spike would find himself unable to do so without talking with Y/N for a few minutes. It was something he picked up on right after they began dating. Wasn't easy, but he managed.

"Are you still mad at me?" He questions, looking over to his side to see Y/N stay unmoving. He waits for an answer, but receives none from her. But he knows. "I guess you are."

A part of him aches because he knows that they're both wrong. He went wild and cut off all communication with the others. And Y/N went following after him without a plan. The two of them being so reckless. But he knows that he started it, so he needed to face that.

"I didn't mean to scare you like that." He claims, scrunching the blankets beneath his palms, "It was stupid, but we really needed the money for that bounty. Runnin' low on fuel and food... just don't want you to regret coming with us."

They met while he was in the middle of a job. She was enticed by both of the guys and he found that she got along well with Jet, who in return was that little bit nicer to Spike. But if she had ever decided that she made the bad choice by staying with them, Spike wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He wants her to stay with him. Even if he shows it in the most weirdest ways.

"I don't regret anything." She retorts, Spike finally hearing her voice after parting ways right after the mission, "I just... I wish you'd tell me when you're about to do something crazy."

Spike scoffs back, a smirk on his lips, "You're just as crazy, following me in there, guns blazing." He turns his head to see that she's lifting her shoulders, as if a little embarrassed. "It was cute, don't get me wrong. You were all 'give me back my boyfriend or else you're all going to Hell!'."

She can't help but chuckle at that. Y/N rolls onto her back, turning her head to the side. Her eyes meet with his, and she sees just how much that bounty meant to him. Or to the both of them through his mind.

She reaches out her hand and holds his cheek. "Spike, I just don't want you constantly coming back here with so many bruises and cuts." She claims, watching him lean into her, "Sorry that I ran after you so carelessly... I didn't have a plan, I just wanted to see you again."

"As if i could stay mad at someone as lovely as you, my dear. So brave, comin' after me like that." Spike chuckles out, pressing a kiss to her palm. She gives a small smile as he stares. "Let's just agree we're both dumb, aye?"

She nods her head, wrapping an arm around his neck and leaning her forehead against his. "I guess. We should both apologise to Jet tomorrow morning." She suggests, earning a hesitant nod from her boyfriend, "Good. I love you, Spike."

He gently presses his lips against hers, holding the back of her neck as support. He hums against her, "Right back at cha', sweetheart."

With that, she closes her eyes and lets herself fall to sleep, head against Spike's shoulder as he laid on his back. He watches the ceiling, rubbing the other side of her shoulder as she snoozed away. Spike was awake for a little longer.

He should really watch out better for themselves.

"Sorry for worrying you, Y/N."

↣ jet black:

She was already in bed by the time Jet came back to the ship.

Y/N was all cleaned up and swapped clothes, laying nicely on her side of the bed. Jet watched as she shifted in her spot as soon as the door opened. That meant she was still awake, seems like she hadn't fallen asleep at all.

Jet puts his things down on the dresser, taking off his vest. He wants to ask her about their disagreement before, but that's somehow stopped from speaking. He just silently puts away his belongings, even pushing his shoes under the bed.

He doesn't say another word as he grabs his pillow and heads to the door.

He hears her shuffle again, this time she's sitting up.

"Where are you going?" Y/N asks quietly, hugging her knees to her chest.

She never liked sleeping by herself, not ever since she began sharing a room with Jet.

Spike had made a joke about her sleeping with him, to which Jet had hit him for.

Jet stops at the door, lifting his hand from the metal. "Gonna' go sleep in the guest room." He states, looking over to her, "Don't want to force you to sleep with me when we're... fighting."

Eyes puffy and looking small, all alone on the bed. He never liked it when she ended up like this, in any occasion. Once she cried at a sad movie, and Jet felt his heart break into a million pieces.

She turns to the blankets over her lap, mumbling out to her boyfriend, "You can have the bed. I'll sleep in the spare room."

He's widened his eyes a little at that. She's already out of bed and picking up her pillow. "What?" He scoffs, furrowed brows as he holds tighter onto his own pillow, "No you're not. You were already in bed."

"I already ruined your day, I'll take the guest room." Y/N states, now standing in front of Jet with her pillow clutched to her chest, "Plus, that bed's always... cold. You won't sleep properly."

He clicks his tongue at that. "You won't either." He says back to her. She didn't really ruin his day, they had just lost a bounty because of their lack of communication. It was both of their faults. "Just stay here."

She glared at him a little more before huffing, moving back to the bed in defeat, "Don't like sleeping here without you." It's quietly said, but Jet heard all of it.

She doesn't like being alone.

That makes him sigh and walk back to the bed. He puts his pillow back in its place and sits on his side of the bed. Y/N feels a bit more relieved when she feels the mattress dent. She watches the wall.

"Hey..." Jet speaks out, looking over his shoulder to her, "I'm sorry for yelling at you before. Should remember that I'm not out on the field with you, so I don't know what's going on." He watches as she slouches her shoulders, which meant she was listening to him. "Just wanna' know you're safe."

She sits up now, fingers linked together on her lap. "I'm sorry as well. I got mad that I lost the target and took it out on you." She admits, playing with the pads of her fingers. He places a gentle hand over hers, stopping her little movements. Y/N finally looks back to him. "You're not sleeping out there, are you?"

He shakes his head at the question, crossing his arms over his chest. "No, you're right. The other bed is way too cold." He states.

He freezes once he feels Y/N slip her arms around his, burying her head into his shoulder. She held on tight. Jet chuckles, wrapping his other arm around her, "Tired?" She nods her head. "Okay. Let's get some rest for tomorrow."

She gives a slight hum as he allows them to lay down. He lets her head slot against his chest, her arms snaking around his waist. He keeps his own around her shoulders, holding her closer to him.

"Night, Y/N." He whispers out.

"Goodnight." She responds, hugging her boyfriend tighter.

He smiles, closing his eyes. He never liked fighting with her.

[advernia]

ARE YOU FULL OF LOVE OR HATE?

ONE —

The water that runs down the sink has a bright yellow hue.

Deuce sighs, watches everything go down the drain till only the small drops remain. He raises his head, stares at his own reflection in the bathroom's mirror.

Blue. Like his grandmother's. Like his mom's. The sight of it is familiar the same time it is not. He touches the ends, still dripping from his thorough rinsing. When was the last time he'd seen his own hair like this?

When was the last time he'd seen himself like this?

Another sigh, a reach for the scissors set aside on the sink. He might as well - taking care of long hair was starting to annoy him, anyway... and it might be better for his image. His new image.

New beginnings, and all that.

So he takes a portion of his hair with one hand, opens the scissors with the other, and then -

Snip!

TWO —

It looks nice, Cater decides.

He takes a few pics, gets about to choosing some nice filters to go with his shots. Hmm, maybe nothing too bright or glittery. A little blur? No, now that just looks like he took the pic in a rush. Some sharpness, a touch of a highlight? Oh, now that looks presentable!

"Not gonna eat that yet?"

Cater turns to the direction of the voice, to the person sitting on his left side - blonde hair, a heart drawn over his right eye. Ah. Weren't they of the same year?

"This stuff's delish, y'know," his seatmate says, stuffing his mouth with a forkful. He chews slowly, and with each chew he got he seemed to smile even wider. Cater simply laughed at the sight before turning to his own plate.

The slice of strawberry tart shone like a jewel before him. Brilliant with its glaze, sparkling with its fresh cream, alluring with its chocolate crust.

How absolutely sweet.

THREE —

The one manning the first three sections noticed him first.

Now the other ghosts are staring at him too. He's been going about one section from another, staring for some amount of time then moving onto the next section. Rinse, repeat. When it looks like he's actually about to pick something, he stops himself then starts looking around again.

Was this kid wishy-washy, or just a picky eater?

"Tough choices for lunch, kiddo?" the ghost manning the main course section speaks up, catching Silver's attention. "You've been goin' around n' still nothing's on yer plate."

"Oh...! I apologize for the inconvenience," Silver bows his head, scratches absentmindedly at his cheek. "It's just that there's a lot of choices... and every dish looks so different."

"Aw, don'tcha worry 'bout it. Der's tons like ya that get dazzled by all the food we serve 'ere at first. Why not grab what looks familiar? Ya can try some other meal anytime."

"... That's true. Thank you for the advice."

"Don't sweat it. C'mon then, time's a runnin', get that grub! Wanna try this beef? Or are ya more of a chicken guy? Pork's on this side, by the way. But if ya wanna eat light, then..."

.

"You're only having risotto for lunch, Silver?"

"I... had a hard time choosing, but this is enough, fa... er, Lilia-senpai," Silver shoots a small smile before before sitting down across from Lilia.

"If you're satisfied with just that, then it's alright, I suppose. But do remember that you can choose to have more food to eat next time," Lilia says, picking up his spoon and fork. "Now then - let's enjoy our meal, shall we?"

Silver nods - scooping up a portion of the risotto with his spoon, he blows on it for a moment before putting the spoon fully into his mouth.

A comforting warmth and a mild, delicate taste envelops his tongue.

FOUR —

"Aren't ya tired of cookin' all the time?"

Trey blinks at Grim, his stirring coming to a stop. The little thing's busy munching away on a basket of cookies - the leftovers from today's Unbirthday Party.

"If I were ya, I'd be dead tired making all this everyday," Grim continues, crumbs gathering around the fur of his cheeks. "Oh, but all this stuff's great, though!"

Cookie in paw, then munch, munch, crunch - Trey laughs, leaving the bowl of cream unattended for reaching out to the counter, taking hold of a napkin.

"Are you trying to dissuade me from cooking for the next party?" Trey asks, dabbing away at the stray crumbs on Grim. "I don't mind... but are you willing to take my place instead? I'm sure Riddle - and Heartslabyul wouldn't mind a new chef."

"Mya! Keep dreamin'! No way the Great Grim's just gonna cook for anyone - especially not for a whole dorm!"

"Haha, I thought so."

1: no dupe lmao! here's everyone's context:

deuce -> i can't be like this any longer... (pre-game)

cater -> haha, hate's a pretty strong word... (pre-game)

silver -> ... this is a lovely taste. (pre-game)

trey -> hmm... what do you think?

[goddessapostle]

Sewing Kit Essentials

Fandom: Obey Me! Shall we Date? Characters: Leviathan, minor Asmodeus and Mammon Summary: The stitches are small and even. An exact centimeter apart. Perfect. Practiced. He could do it in his sleep.

4.3k // AO3 // Masterlist

AN: Part of this fic was inspired by theories/art made by daplatypusway on tumblr! Specifically her Mammon and Beel works!

His sewing kit — he needs his sewing kit. It had pins in it, as well as fabric scraps and stain remover. Scissors and thimbles and anything else a self-respecting cosplayer might need.

But, most importantly, it had needles and thread.

Blood smears across the latches. That’s okay, though, he can clean those later.

It’s hard to remove his shirt and jacket with just one hand — well, maybe not, maybe it would be easier if his hand didn’t shake, his fingers didn’t tremble — but he can’t afford to remove the other, tucked under his shirt and pressed against his abdomen. It’s only when his clothes hang by one sleeve that he switches hands and shakes them to the bathroom floor. It’s hard to remove his shirt and jacket with just one hand — well, maybe not, maybe it would be easier if his hand didn’t shake, his fingers didn’t tremble — but he can’t afford to remove the other, tucked under his shirt and pressed against his abdomen. It’s only when his clothes hang by one sleeve that he switches hands and shakes them to the bathroom floor.

Water. Water comes next.

He fumbles the sink knobs, made slippery by his blood. It takes a towel to twist them open. He really didn’t want to do that. The towel is white, and bloodstains are one of the hardest things to remove.

He dunks the cloth into the cold cold water and rubs it on his skin, clearing away some of the red still leaking from his stomach. And then, breath held between gritted teeth, he looks.

The cut is smooth and long. It starts level with his navel but curves upwards to the opposite side of his chest. Shallow enough to cut through his skin and only graze the muscle below.

Leviathan gasps and doesn’t think too hard about the fact that he can see those muscles contract with his breath. Instead he focuses on clearing away the red to reveal sickly green veins branching from the wound.

Bile pools in the back of his throat. He forces it back down.

Celestial steel. He’s been poisoned by celestial steel.

Nevermind how such a low-level demon injured him. Even a severe wound would heal within minutes if made by a normal blade. He didn’t think he’d have to dodge. He didn’t think it would hurt so bad. It was a low-level demon. It wasn’t worth the effort.

But to think that that demon had a blade of celestial steel? It’s supposed to be impossible.

Well. It obviously wasn’t.

Clean. Disinfect. Stitch.

The alcohol is cold. His breath hitches as it burns.

Threading the needle is the hardest part, but not the worst. His hands are too shaky; even if they weren’t, he could only use one anyway.

He manages, though. He slips the thread through the eye.

A banging on the door shocks it out of his hand. There’s a barely audible tink as it hits the floor and rolls free of the thread.

“Yo, Levi!” Mammon calls through the door, “supper’s done.”

“I’m taking a shower,” Leviathan answers before he thinks.

Mammon snickers. “Fucking finally, huh? Ya stay locked up in that room too much.” He jostles the doorknob. It doesn’t give. “But ya been in there twenty minutes without the water runnin’. It can wait, come on.”

Shit shit shit. Water is always the first step — not just for cleaning, but for distraction as well. His tail lashes against the tub.

An excuse. What’s a good excuse? His eyes land on the sewing kit.

“My clothes were torn,” he lies. “I had to patch them up.” His tail flicks open the bathtub faucet. “I’m getting in now,” he shouts above the roar of water, “start without me.”

“Beel’s gonna eat yours if ya don’t hurry!” Mammon yells. He doesn’t say anything else — he must have left.

Levi slumps against the toilet. He needs to clean the wound again. 

More water, from the shower head this time. More alcohol, still burning. A fresh needle and thread, dipped in that alcohol.

He sucks in a deep breath. Bites into a rolled towel. And pierces the bottom of the cut.

His scream is muffled.

His head is swimming.

His hand is shaking.

He can’t stop.

In. Out. In. Out.

He pinches the skin together.

In. Out. In. Out.

The stitches are small and even. An exact centimeter apart. Perfect. Practiced. He could do it in his sleep.

In. Out. In. Out.

He grunts as the stitches go higher. It hurts more, up at his chest — closer to muscle, closer to bone. Nerve endings not as spread as they are in the fatty parts of his waist. He’s extra careful here. Careful not to dig too deep. Careful to catch only the top layer of skin and nothing else.

In.

Out.

Perfect.

Practiced.

This is not the first time he’s had to sew himself together.

He stops an inch from the top. Inconsequential, he thinks. The real danger was letting the flap of skin fall open. But that’s not a problem anymore. He’s fixed it. Fixed it like all the other times he almost died.

Almost died?

Almost–

Leviathan gasps. And gasps again. And again, and again — he can’t get air. His lungs are empty. He can’t breathe.

One fist finds his hair and pulls. The other tears the towel from his mouth to take its place under his fangs.

It’s only as his scalp burns and copper floods his tongue that he’s able to calm down.

And swears as his stitches are bleeding.

The clenching of his muscles has torn the skin around them. Not enough to need replacement, but enough to leave a scar.

Which is fine. He’s got dozens already. A new one won’t be so noticeable after a year or so.

A normal one, at least.

He clears away the blood again. The veins have spread far in the time he’s spent locked in the bathroom, now wrapping all the way around his neck.

Someone knocks at the door.

“Leviathan.” The voice is soft. Stern. Carrying, even, over the sound of the water.

Lucifer.

Leviathan gulps. “J-just a second!” he says. He dunks his head and shoulders into the spray of the shower and spreads a quick layer of shampoo over his head. He lathers just enough to scent his hair and rinses, then throws on a robe and removes his pants.

“You’ve been in there for an hour,” Lucifer tells him while he scrambles for presentability, “it’s time to come out now.” The doorknob turns — Lucifer has the key to every room in the house.

Leviathan kicks his supplies behind the swing of the door and snatches a razor that he uses to slit his cheek. Blood beads at the cut; it nearly makes him sick.

“Dammit, Lucifer!” he cries, jostling the razor away from his face. “Look at what you made me do!”

Lucifer takes his chin in a gloved hand, tilting his face to inspect the damage. “It will heal,” he decides. He releases Leviathan’s chin to grab the hand he bit; still it bleeds, albeit sluggishly. “And I suppose you did that to hide this?”

Leviathan looks down, unable to meet Lucifer’s eye. “I had a panic attack.” Weak. Weak. Such a weak brother is he.

“Leviathan,” Lucifer whispers, something indecipherable in his tone. “You must know you can come to me for anything, including this.” He doesn’t phrase it like a question, but it reads like one anyway. Like he’s hurt. Like he’s failed.

“I was frozen,” Leviathan mumbles. “Couldn’t move except…” he wiggles his hand in Lucifer’s, who closes his other over it.

“Let me know if it happens again,” Lucifer says. He holds Leviathan's hand for almost a minute, the gentle pressure grounding. Then he drops it and straightens to his full height — not quite towering but still intimidating. “Is that why you’ve locked yourself away in the bathroom for the past hour?”

Leviathan shakes his head. “Satan cooked up a new beauty serum, but Asmo doesn’t want to be the first to try it after last time. I volunteered to test it, and Asmo made me do his whole routine to know if it would react to anything he uses already.” Lies lies lies like poison on his tongue. Like poison in his fangs.

Like the poison in his veins.

His lips tighten and the wound throbs. Lucifer needs to leave. Needs to leave so Leviathan can cover it. Hide it. Hide it and go lay down and gather his strength again. The wound will heal, just like his hand is, just like his cheek is.

The poison will go with it.

Or so he hopes.

Lucifer hums. “Don’t make a habit of it,” he says. “I can’t afford to have two people obsessed with their beauty and not their grades.”

Leviathan’s not sure if that’s an insult or a statement. Either way his reaction is the same — scrunching his nose and feigning a noise of disgust that sounds a little too much like actual retching. “I would never!” he promises. 

Lucifer nods. “Good. Now finish up and come eat. Mammon saved a plate for you.”

Yeah, right.

Lucifer goes to the door, pausing with his hand on the frame to look back at him. “And Leviathan?”

“Yes, Lucifer?”

His eyes lose some of their sharpness, his lips some of their rigidity. “Get some rest. You look pale.”

“Yes, Lucifer.”

=•=•=•=

He grimaces at his tub-bed. It won’t be comfortable. He’s had worse, he thinks. Injuries that spanned the length of his leg, injuries that pierced his chest just inches from his hearts. He has those scars, somewhere. Faint and faded, but still there.

There was a bed in his room when he got them.

He lowers himself into the tub, trying not to flinch. Walking was hell. Every step sent tingles through his abdomen. He felt cold. An odd cold, a cold that reaches out past his stomach to spread along his spine and dance among his ribs. He thinks it’s an effect of the celestial steel, wreaking havoc on his body. 

The tub is cold. He’s not sure that the steel caused that.

He tries to rise from the tub, wincing as he pulls at the stitches again. He falls back down to check the gauze, unsurprised to find it soiled. It’s only been ten minutes, but it was an excruciating ten minutes, wasn’t it?

“Le-vi-a-chaaan!”

He tugs his shirt into place just before his door flies open. Asmodeus stands behind it, smile wide enough to split his face in two. He flounces into the room and falls to his knees next to Leviathan’s tub-bed.

“I saw everything!” he says, folding his arms on the edge of the tub and resting his cheek on them. “That was amazing!”

“It was nothing, Asmo.” He lifts a hand to wave it off, but Asmodeus snatches it to set in his hair.

“It was so something!” he says once he feels a gentle pressure massaging his scalp.

“What was something?”

Asmo half-turns to greet Satan at the still-open door. “Just my best big brother coming to my defense!” he says, to which Satan huffs.

“Best big brother?”

Asmodeus giggles. “Yep!” He pops the ‘p’ at the end and settles back down under Leviathan’s hand. Satan joins him, leaning his back against the tub and draping his arms atop one raised knee. “There were a couple of assholes at the mall today. Said that for one of the demon lords, I was nothing but an easy slut with a pretty face.”

Satan bristles. Asmodeus laughs. Leviathan leans forward(ignoring the cold that burn burn burns his body) and uses his other hand to rub Satan’s head. He chirps in surprise, then presses into it with a purr.

“It’s okay,” Asmo reassures. “Levi took care of them!”

Satan raises a brow. “You didn’t do anything?”

“Nah,” Asmo waves him off, “I didn’t care. They were just jealous, you know? And I can take an insult better than I can take a punch.” Which isn’t quite true, Leviathan thinks — none of the lesser demons can harm the brothers barehanded. Even demonic weapons need to be in the hands of at least a vice admiral before they do any lasting damage.

Which is why the celestial steel is such a mystery. Leviathan knows — or, at least, he did at one point — the effects celestial steel has on demons. He’d used it before, when he was an angel, when he slaughtered demons in droves. All of them had been burned by the armor they wore when they fell, the marks scarring into painful memories in their demon forms. The only reason any of them could even touch their weapons anymore were the leather grips.

“My bestest big brother ever,” Asmo continues, “overheard and kicked their asses!”

“Is that so?” Satan tilts his head deeper into Leviathan’s palm and stares at him through one half-shut eye. Leviathan runs his fingers through his blond hair.

“It was nothing,” Leviathan says again. “I couldn’t stand to hear them badmouthing my family.”

L-Lord Leviathan!

Don’t bow to this nerd! He’s absolutely worthless.

What did you say about my brother?

“I didn’t even know you were at the mall!” Asmodeus says. “What were you doing there?”

What was he doing at the mall? It feels like ages have passed since then, but he’s sure it was only an hour or two. His mind is too fogged to recall…

“A game I want was released today,” he finally recalls. “They had an event at the store with the creators. I wanted to meet them.”

Asmodeus pops up. “Why don’t we play it now?” he says, hopping on his knees. “To celebrate!”

“I…” They can’t play now. Why can’t they play now?

Oh, right. He didn’t get it.

He didn’t get the game. The fight happened before he reached the store. He should be concerned over that, right? Or should he be more concerned over the fact that he forgot?

“I’m tired,” he lies — well, not really. It’s not a lie. He is tired. That’s just not why they can’t play. His tongue feels heavy as he asks, “How about tomorrow?”

Asmodeus’ eyes widen and he turns to meet Satan’s concerned gaze. They turn to Leviathan as one, soft frowns on their faces. “Are you feeling alright?” Satan asks. “You usually play those games for days after getting them.”

“Just tired.” Is he slurring now? His words don’t feel solid anymore.

“That’s never stopped you before!” Asmodeus cries in a voice that sends tremors through his brain. “Remember the midnight release party for the first Ruri-Hana game? You stayed up for that and it barely even phased you.”

“Ruri-chan is different.” Leviathan mumbles. His hands drop into his lap.

“You’ve done it with plenty of other games, too,” Satan says, laying a hand on his forehead. He yanks it back. “You’re burning up!”

“Am I?” Leviathan mumbles. It’s hard to believe — that chill in his stomach says otherwise. “I’ll be fine,” he forces out, forces his mind to work for him. He rises to shaky feet and half-stumbles from his tub. Asmodeus and Satan catch him before he falls.

“Where are you going?” Asmo asks.

He’s cold. Too cold. He needs blankets and pillows and warmth. But they’ll worry if he says that. Force him back into the tub that’s trying to freeze him. 

“Food,” he poisons lies answers. “Haven’t ate since lunch.”

Satan sets him on the floor, back against the tub like his own position. “Wait here,” he says, “and I’ll bring you something.”

The tub is cold.

Asmodeus follows Satan from the room, glancing backwards. “I’ll tell Lucifer,” he whispers at the door. Satan goes left, to the stairwell; Asmodeus turns right, towards Lucifer’s bedroom.

Leviathan has to move. It takes him precious seconds to rise again, stumbling twice before standing on shaky legs. Then he takes a step. A baby step. A shuffling of his feet, repeated until he reaches his door.

He turns left — to the same stairwell that Satan descended. Leviathan goes up instead. He hears footsteps as he rounds the corner and he hides from Satan.

“…he feels better soon.”

That’s not Satan.

“I’m sure he will.” That one is Satan. “Hopefully this can break his fever.”

“I was worried when he wasn’t at supper. He doesn’t eat enough already.” Oh, that must be Beelzebub. He’s the only one to worry so much over lack of food for any of them. “He still has his plate in the fridge. I made sure not to eat it.”

“I don’t know if he can manage something so heavy…” Their voices fade as they walk down the hall. Leviathan continues to the attic.

He slips into the attic prison bedroom, mind drawing up a half-forgotten spell. It conjures a shield, he believes, one that can’t be broken except by a stronger demon. He throws it into the door behind him.

He almost makes the mistake of flopping face-first into the mound of pillows Belphegor calls a bed. He catches himself; he can’t do that. He’d bust a stitch. He’d bleed out.

the poison wouldn’t like that

Instead he sits on the edge of the mattress and scoots backwards to the headboard. He tosses the pillows until they’re some semblance of comfortable, then he leans back and shuts his eyes.

Dimly, on some deeper level of consciousness, he feels an arm settle around him, hears a content hum. Someone nestles into his stomach, pressing a cheek to the thick sweater that covers his (bloody bloody) gauze. Their head lifts up, they ask a question that sounds warped and worbled.

Leviathan ignores it. He ignores it again when they ask. And he ignores it the third time, despite the urgency that breaks through his fuzzy-fizzy mind. He cracks an eye open to see bloodied skin below one purple-pink eye.

“Belphie,” he breathes, and then he blacks out sleeps.

What happens next is a flurry. A flurry of words. A flurry of movement. A flurry of colors. Black and white and not-quite black and red and red and sickly green. The color of blood. The color of mucus. The color of the deep Devildom sky. The stars have doubled, tripled, wait. He can’t see them anymore. He can’t see anything.

And then a flurry of pain. His fingers curl into the blankets beneath him. His lungs refuse to work. His throat tears itself from his neck. An animal cries somewhere, snarling and growling and obviously in as much pain as he is.

Or maybe that’s just his own voice, twisted into some amalgamation of horrors.

It’s going to kill him. His last few moments are going to be spent in absolute agony.

His vision blanks.

=•=•=•=

Someone’s near him. A hand ruffles through his bangs; a scent that’s familiar — or was at one point — leads him away. He wanders the path the scent makes, into the open arms of his little sist….

His eyes slide open just to squint into the light above him.

“Shit,” he rasps, “I’m back in the Celestial Realm.”

“No. But you certainly tried, you dumbass.” There’s no actual bite to the words, no animosity. Rather, there’s a softness in its place. Leviathan blinks the stars from his vision to focus on the hands that are grasping one of his.

Warm. Tan. Chipped white nail polish (how did he get away with that? Asmo’s relentless when it comes to their manis). A few scars here and there, similar to his own.

“Mammon?”

Mammon grins. “The one and only.” His own voice is hoarse, like he’s spent days without water. Leviathan is pretty sure they both have.

He throws his head back against the pillow, too tired to keep it up. “What happened?”

Mammon gives Leviathan’s stomach a light tap. “This.”

Leviathan sits up, swearing, but Mammon pushes him down.

“Quiet, you,” he says, hovering over Leviathan’s shoulders. “You scared us half ta death!”

Leviathan groans, falling back onto the half-upright hospital bed. Mammon hands him a glass of water and takes his chair again. He chugs it in one gulp, then chugs the refill Mammon pours, too. “I feel like death.”

“You should be dead.” He takes Leviathan’s hand and lifts it up, rubbing his forehead against it. Leviathan scrunches his nose; it’s hard to get a stronger demon’s scent off, even if the gap in power is small. But it seems more to soothe Mammon’s mind than anything else, so he lets it go.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Mammon whispers, planting his cheek on the back of Levi’s hand. “We could have helped.”

“I was fine.”

“You were not!” Mammon stands and glares. “You almost died, Leviathan!”

Oop. Full name, from Mammon of all people. He’s in trouble now.

“It was nothing,” he tries to placate. “Just a cut. I can handle a cut.”

“You were poisoned! Don’t you remember your training? Don’t you remember what–”

“Of course I remember! I just-I didn’t expect-it shouldn’t have been celestial steel!”

“You should have known the second it hit you!” Mammon hovers above him again, his fingers digging into Leviathan’s shoulders. “You should have come to us either way!”

“Why?! Because I could have died?!”

“Yes!” His words grow louder and louder. “You’re our brother, Leviathan! Did ya think we wouldn’t care? Did you think we’d just leave you to die?! ”

“Yes!” Tears prick at Leviathan’s eyes. “Would you really miss me? Would you really–“

Would you really care?

He chokes over a sob, unable to finish.

Mammon falters. His legs give out, dropping him into his chair, where he slumps forward. “Is that what you think?” he whispers in a voice that makes Leviathan gulp.

“I…” He looks down at his hands, squeezing his fingers together. The tears finally spill over. “I’m not needed.”

He didn’t mean to say that.

“I… I know I’m the weakest one. I can’t do the things you guys can. I just sit around my room playing games and watching anime. But-but it’s okay! I always knew I’d be shut out. Ever since… ever since Lilith, I knew I’d be left behind. Even before, when she was still alive. I… I was just following everyone around. Until people got tired of me. And they never noticed when I left, so…”

Mammon growls. 

He should stop. He needs to stop. Why can’t he stop?

Something like cowardice, he supposes. Mammon’s getting angrier with every word. He needs to explain his way out of this.

He opens his mouth to continue, but Mammon beats him to it. “You think we wouldn’t have noticed?”

Leviathan holds his breath, not yet ready to face the only answer he has.

“You guys have each other,”  he relents when the silence becomes too much. “Beel and Belphie are always leaning on each other. Satan and Asmo are almost as close as them. And we can all tell that you’re Lucifer’s favorite. You all have someone else you can rely on. I don’t. I’m…” He gasps. “I'm useless.”

Mammon doesn’t say anything, bringing one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He takes a deep breath, then releases it in a long, slow exhale. He does this until his shoulders no longer shake. Leviathan copies his rhythm, counting along until–

“Are you doing my breathing exercises?”

“Satan taught me. Said he learned it from you.”

“I didn’t think he’d remember.”

“It’s helped him.” Mammon lifts his gaze to Levi, eyes rimmed red. “It helps us all when we need it.”

All?

Oh. Okay. That was… unexpected. His cheeks flush.

“Do ya really believe that?” Mammon takes his hand to rub against his face again. “That we don’t care ’bout ya?”

“I…” Leviathan takes a deep, shaky breath to settle his thoughts. “I don’t know. It just seems like it sometimes. Like no one ever listens to me.”

“Shit, sorry!” Mammon drops his hand onto the bed. “Forgot ya don’t like touching. I guess I don’t listen, huh?”

“No,” Leviathan says, wrapping his fingers around Mammon’s. “I don’t mind. Not now.”

Mammon stares at their joined hands before placing his other on top. “We’re going to talk about this,” he says, looking Leviathan in the eye. A tear escapes, the first he’s seen but surely not the first shed for him. “Everything you’ve felt, everything you think–”

The door slides open, and someone gasps.

“Mammon, you meanie!” Asmodeus storms into the room and pushes him out of the chair. “You said you’d tell us as soon as he woke up! You can’t hog him all for yourself!”

Then he turns around, ignoring Mammon’s protests, and throws his arms around Leviathan. “I was so worried! I saw the knife, but I didn't think it was serious! Why didn’t you tell us you got hurt hurt?!”

“He can’t breathe, Asmo.” Belphegor pulls him off of Leviathan only to take his place, laying down in the bed beside him. He wraps his arms around one of Levi’s. “You can’t scare me like that, Levi. I had to call Lucifer of all people to help. Mammon broke your barrier before he got there, though.”

“Sorry, Belphie. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Mm.” Belphie nestles his cheek on Leviathan’s shoulder, spreading his own scent across the plain t-shirt he wears. “You’re sleeping with Beel and me for the next three weeks as punishment.” Leviathan looks around, but Beelzebub isn’t present. Belphegor yawns and starts to doze.

“Where is Beel?” he asks.

“Beel and Satan are at the mall,” Asmodeus answers. “We noticed you didn’t have any new game, but Beel thinks he knows which one it is. They went to buy a copy for you. And Lucifer is in the hall talking with Simeon.”

When Leviathan looks, he does see Lucifer through the crack in the door. Mammon is out there as well, leaned in close to whisper to him. His mouth falls, his face pales, then he meets Leviathan’s gaze. He straightens his back, regains his composure. Then he nods and whispers back at Mammon, his eyes never leaving Leviathan.

All will be well.

Something inside him tells Leviathan that. More tears rise and fall, bringing Lucifer fully into the room.

Yes, Leviathan thinks as his brothers crowd around him, each trying to wipe his tears away without waking the youngest, all will be well.

They’ll make sure of it.