#she said I'm not allowed to until FRIDAY I'm so fucked

[butchsailor]

Do u guys know how hard it is to be in my bed that she was sleeping in earlier and under blankets that smell like her and not jerk off about it

[lunar-fey]

oh yeah not sure where we're at w money btw. we might be able to get some of it back but we wont know anything concrete until friday

[ybcpatrick]

.

[ningvory]

SCREAM - jang wonyoung

1,740 words // yall i wanted to do kinktober sooo baddd but im so outta ideas and school and work has been draining😔 so instead i'll just write 2-3 more halloween themed fics

CW: noncon -> dubcon, ghostface!wonyoung, big dick wony, bully!reader, a little knife play, choking, backshots, doggy, missionary, a little tit play, mentions of reader getting impregnated, squirting, not proofread lolz

its about 11pm on a friday, 'means girls' is playing on your living room tv while you were in the kitchen searching for a pot to put your noodles in. your parents left for their business trip to wherever, you weren't really paying attention after they mentioned you'll be alone for two weeks and that you had a spending allowance of 5k, which is why you were wearing your new black lingerie set under your fuzzy pink robe.

you were humming a song as you head to the pantry to get a bottle of water to fill the pot with until you heard your phone ringtone go off. you went to mute the tv and grabbed your phone, tapping the answer button. you held the phone up to your ear but you're met with silence.

"hello?~" you questioned, dragging out the word. it was a habit of yours when you were annoyed,

"didn't think you'd pick up." the voice was cheerful, too cheerful to the point where it had you furrow your eyebrows trying figure out who's calling you at this time.

"well, i did. so.." you responded with a little bit of attitude. you were starving and here this stranger is playing on your phone. "listen, who the hell are you and what do you want?" you raise your voice a octave.

"your tits look good in that bra, wish i can see the way your ass looks in the panties." you furrow your eyebrows once more. every window was locked and your curtains blocked any prying eyes from seeing inside.

"um—you must've gotten the wrong number or something. i'm hanging up now." you smile half heartedly, trying to wrap things up, whoever this girl is can probably hear your labored breathing.

"hang up this fuckin' phone and i’m killing you myself!" she quickly responded, you froze immediately. especially after hearing some sort of bang coming from upstairs, “not so tought without your friends here, hm y/n?"

you were assuming this was a silly halloween prank call but she knows you personally! she knows your friends and even your name—you can admit that you were a bitch to most people but you didn't think that someone would break in and kill you for it!

"w-what kinda joke is this? this isn’t funny!" you let out a nervous laugh. no way this is fucking real, this is just a prank, right?

the person lets out a hysterical laugh—almost like she’s gone crazy. "you think this is a joke? was it a joke when you make every single day a living hell for me?" she asked but you remained silent, "now you wanna act like a scared little girl? don't you think its time to get what you deserve?" she asks.

the amount of people you’ve been a bitch too, its hard to guess who this person was. the fact that this persons voice was low and raspy to the point where you couldn’t even identify who’s voice this is didn’t help you either.

"i think we should play a game. i’d advice you listen, if you want to live that is." you can hear her smiling through the phone.

your heart is racing now, you have a gut feeling that this person is in the big ass house somewhere and that promise of her killing you is haunting you.

"fine. what's this game?" you try to put on that tough façade, still holding onto your pride.

"go upstairs. into your room." she commands you and you hate it but all you can do now is obey her words.

you grip your phone tighter and walk up the stairs—just like she said. you walk into your room. your pink led illuminated the room.

"good girl~ now, strip." her praise breaks the silence.

"what?" you whispered in disbelief.

"you heard me, don't make me do it for you."

you sigh, you really aren't sure why she wants you to strip for her. maybe to humiliate you on the internet on something but you comply to her demand, untying your robe and letting it drop to the floor. you stand, praying that’s all she meant when she said strip.

"do you not know what strip mean, bitch?" she questions, noticing that you're just standing there.

you stay silent, tears were beginning to form in your eyes and you let out a whimper, “why? are you some kinda sick pervert?” you demand, looking around the room.

it was silent for a while, it was like she hung up the phone on you. your heart was racing, you were getting anxious, “hello! where are you!? who are you!?” you cry out.

as soon as you asked that your closet door opened, revealing a figure dressed up like ghostface charging right at you. you let out a loud scream, backing up into the wall but the figure used that to her advantage, her long hands engulfed your neck, pushing your head into the wall and tightening the grip, forcing a strangled whine to fall from your mouth as you gasp for air desperately.

tears began to fall from your cheeks, your hands came up to hold her wrists before hitting them, desperately trying to pry them off your neck. she swiftly slapped you right across your face and manhandled your frail body on your bed, choked whines coming from you in the process.

“you look so cute like this, crying and at my mercy.” her tall body straddled yours, under her coat and her skirt, you can feel her bulge on your tummy. no way she’s hard from this.

if you were gonna die like this you might as well see who this sicko is, you removed your hands from the hands that were on your neck and you reached up to the ghost mask, removing it from their head. your eyes widen when you realized who it was. wonyoung.

her soulless eyes looked down at yours, a smile slowly found its way onto her face which made shivers run down your spine. she removed her grip on your neck, but still remained ontop of you.

you inhaled air almost immediately, trying to catch your breath before you can question the girl. but before you could even speak, she held a butcher knife right under your chin, “don’t scream or move.” she spoke menacingly.

“since you can’t seem to follow orders i’ll force you to,” she sighs. she starts to slowly move her knife down to your shaking body. the metal causing goosebumps to awake on your body. she trailed down until she got to your bra, she easily sliced it in half with her knife. “hey! i just bought this!” you spat, your first time wearing this set and it’s already ruined? this really isn’t your night.

“shut up, whore.” she’s quick to bring the knife back to your neck, pressing down on it but not enough to draw blood.

your bottom lips quivers which makes her coo before she gets off your tummy and flips your body over. you yelp in surprise with how easy she’s moving your body.

before you can complain she’s pushing your head into the sheets and placing the palm of her hand to your back, forcing you to arch your ass up in the air. to position muffled anything that you might’ve said and you felt your heart drop when you feel her bulge prodding against your ass.

wonyoung slices your panties as well before placing the knife in her mask. she pulls her boxers down along with her miniskirt. she giggles as she hovers over you of you, large hands pinning yours to the bed before she leans into your ear with a wicked grin.

“i’m going to make you scream.”

“w-wait!” you quickly retort squirming under her iron grip.

she wastes no time before she pushes her cock deep inside your virgin cunt.

it was like the wind got knocked out of you. you can't even make a sound, all you can concentrate on is the burn on your hole being stretched out. she had just pushed in and her cock is already kissing at your cervix, just how big is this girls cock?

wonyoung harshly gripped your hips and pulled out until her cock head was the only length left inside you before violently thrusting forward, letting out a long groan at the satisfaction. her hands left your back to grab your wrists to hold them behind your back, and forcefully yanking you back down onto her cock. she wasn't letting you get out of this anytime soon.

she was using your body like you were her human sized sex doll. drool was running down your chin and down to the valley of your tits and your eyes were crossed over, "for someone that hasn't taken a real dick before--you take it like a cock drunk whore." wonyoung muttered loud enough for you to hear. if you hadn't been too busy cryin' n moanin' on her dick, you would've made a snarky comeback.

she's never heard your voice become this high-pitched but she wasn't complaining, "s-so big! y-you're gonna break me!!" you whined through your tears.

"and you're gonna keep taking it all in your little cunt. even after i impregnate you." wonyoung quickly agreed to your statement, shooting three spurts of cum into your cunt.

you thought she'd be done but her hips never stopped smacking into yours, instead, she flipped you over into missionary. she swiftly picked up your left leg, placing it on her shoulder to reach a deep angle.

she continued to drill into your cum-stuffed pussy, her cock heavily throbbing inside you due to just seeing the lewd sight below her, "like being fucked by a killer, gonna cum all over me?"

"uh-huhh~" your eyes rolled back and your body began to shake. she took one of you tits that's bouncing with her thrust into your mouth, earning a loud moan from you. you suddenly felt a little funny, almost like you had to pee? your body soon went limp before you let out a whiny moan, squirting all over her dick and pelvis.

"at first i was just gonna fuck you and then kill her." she pulls out of your sloppy pussy and grabbed her knife. you flinch at these words, a bit terrified of what was gonna happen next, "but i think i'll make you my cute cock sleeve."

[lunarflux]

x: Thomas Shelby found his match in an information bookie who has eluded the grasp of the Peaky Blinders long enough to crumble their power over Birmingham. But at last, he found you. The ghost he'd been chasing was finally in front of him, but you were trickier than he expected. Dangerous, cunning - and a bit too much like himself. To buy your loyalty, he would have to sell his in equal measure. Loyalty for loyalty - blood for blood - how much were either of you willing to spill before the game changed entirely?

a/n: chapters 9 & 10 are queued for thursday and friday aaaahhhhh

part 8: a talk over whiskey

word count: 2,232

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"I'm gonna fuckin' kill her, Tommy," John grunted with his fist clamped tightly at his side.

Tommy watched as his brother paced around the room. Arthur managed to find something unsettling about you, a night months ago when you reported police movements to a quiet rival that led to John laying bloodied on the street. The moment John learned it was you, his face turned with rage, demanding Tommy speak to you about what else you'd done to damage the Blinders through your dealings.

Tommy remained stoic. Polly sat with her cigarette softly burning between her fingers, unamused and unphased by John's anger. Arthur watched, unwilling to admit he was entertained by the sight.

"Call her in here, and we're going to have a chat—"

"Settle down, John boy." Arthur tried to place his hands on John's shoulders but was pushed away.

"Tommy, those fucks nearly gutted me!" John pushed further, "and I'm going to return the favor."

"We already put an end to those boys, John," Tommy sighed, lighting his cigarette to numb the tension in his head. "Nothing more to be done, so let's move on."

John grabbed a letter opener from a nearby desk and gripped it until his knuckles turned white. "Call her here, Tommy. I swear to God. Just one fucking cut, and I'll avoid her face for your sake."

Tommy blew smoke towards John's face, and it encased him in fog. He grabbed the edge of the opener and pulled John close. "I said, enough. You're not going to touch her. With a dull knife or your cock—no one touches y/n. Am I clear?"

Polly chuckled from her quiet corner. She held her cigarette to her lips with a sigh, entertained yet annoyed with a man's ability to hold a grudge. "Maybe it's time you have a serious talk with your ghost, Tommy."

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The room cleared, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Tommy stood by the window, his silhouette outlined by the soft light of the streetlamp outside. You could feel the tension in the air between you thicken with each passing second. The door clicked shut behind Polly, John, and Arthur, leaving you two alone in the quiet of the room. Tommy turned slowly.

“We need to talk,” Tommy said, his voice measured, though you could hear the edge in it. He wasn’t angry—not yet—but there was something sharp, something raw in the way he spoke. “And if we don't settle this now, then my brothers will resort to much less graceful methods.”

You didn’t respond. You let the silence drag on, allowing the weight of his words to hang in the air.

"We know about Cheltenham. And the blueprints."

Without a single shift in your expression, you spoke, your voice cold and steady, every word calculated.

“Were you expecting an apology or did you want me to skip ahead?” You watched him closely, your gaze unwavering. “Maybe get on my knees and beg for forgiveness?”

Tommy’s jaw clenched. His eyes narrowed as he took a step closer. “And we know that you sold out John to a dealer. Not that the aftermath is something you'd care to look into, however,” he muttered, low and dark, like he was trying to find something in you that would make sense of this entire mess. “You need to tell me how many fucking times you've put me in a compromising position.”

You allowed a small, almost imperceptible smile to tug at the corner of your lips. “So, I suppose we're past apologies, and we're going straight for the begging.” You took a slow step forward, closing the distance between you both. “Is that what you want?”

Tommy stiffened, his eyes darkening as he leaned in. “This is not about what I want,” he shot back. “I need to know who I let in my fucking house and who I'm trusting with my business. Now, I have kept John at bay. He's ready to jam a knife in that pretty little neck of yours, and if you don't give me an explanation, I might let him.”

You held his gaze, your eyes unflinching.

“Well?” he asked, the single word hanging in the air.

You took another step closer, so close that you could feel the heat radiating off him. The air crackled with tension, the weight of his anger threatening to spill over.

“Yes,” you said, your voice dropping lower, teeming with mild intimidation. “I did sell the blueprints. Yes, I did tell men when not to place their bets. Yes, a man came to me and asked where the police would be that night. And yes, I told him where John Shelby would be. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Tommy thought, at the very least, you'd sound remorseful, but you didn't. You didn't sound scared at all. You were confident in your words, and you didn't grace him with any of the details. He took the folder from his desk and placed it in your hands.

"Only took Arthur a few days to find all of this."

You laughed, a sound that never failed to leave him unnerved. You threw the folder back on his desk, then crossed your arms across your chest with a deep sigh. "Tommy Shelby, you are... Far more predictable than I thought you were.

"I wanted to see how far you’d go to unwind something you couldn’t control. And I wanted to see if you’d ever truly confront me about it. The real question, Tommy, is whether you’re going to let me walk away now or if you’re going to keep pushing—because I’ll give you what you’re looking for, but I need to know how far you’re willing to take it. What are you willing to risk?”

Tommy didn’t answer. His gaze locked with yours, and it was almost as if time slowed, the two of you measuring each other in that space. There was no fear in your eyes—only cold certainty. But there was something else in Tommy’s. His lips parted, but he didn’t speak. His jaw worked for a moment as if he were deciding whether to challenge you, to press further, or to let the conversation drop.

You lifted your heel and pressed down onto the scattered papers, twisting your ankle like you were stomping out a dying cigarette. "Everything in here... Never asked yourself once why it was so easy to find. Didn't consider even for one fucking second that it was left in the open because I put it there for you. Practically handed it to you on a platter with tea."

You held your head high, not once giving him the room to tear his eyes away from yours.

"Sokolov never leaves that office on the edge of Birmingham. Him, yes? And Caddell, the man who bets every Sunday. Probably at the Irish pub because he's there most nights. You wouldn't have found Bedlam, no, because you and Arthur chased him out of town with your razorblades in tow. So, that means, you found his former bookie, Kennedy."

Fuck, he continuously swore under his breath as you used all of your knowledge against him like a pistol slowly pressing into an open wound, ready to fire with the twitch of your finger.

"It is not in my nature to be vengeful. It's the vengeful who come to me if only to ease the burden someone else placed on their heads. They paid. I delivered. You've made a lot of enemies, Tommy, and many of them were willing to pay me to dwindle you down until you were nothing. Now, I gave them what they wanted," you explained with the subtle shake of your head, "and here you stand. Alive. So that means that regardless of what I sold, none of it was enough to take down the great Thomas Shelby."

The faint twitches in Tommy's fingers stayed hidden at his side as he listened to every word, each pushing on the back of his neck with a force only you could remove.

"You are one flame that no amount of truths and lies can snuff out." You let out a slow breath, your posture unchanging. “It was never anything personal. Just business.”

He looked at you for a long, lingering moment. For the first time, he seemed to hesitate. Then, with a slight shift of his expression, he finally answered, voice quiet but firm.

“No more games, y/n.”

You didn’t smile. You didn’t give any hint of satisfaction. You merely gave him a long, knowing look.

“That's not for you to decide.”

You turned to leave without another word, but the weight of Tommy’s gaze followed you as you walked out.

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That evening at the Garrison, the usual bustle settled into a calm that felt almost too peaceful. Following your less-than-pleasant conversation, Tommy left to tend to other business, but Arthur and John were restless, pacing around the bar. Assuming Tommy told them what transpired between the two of you, it seemed as if Arthur was weary, and John was irate, his anger towards you spilling out until you felt it from the other side of the room.

You kept to your own corner, nursing a tepid glass of whiskey while the Blinders jeered over nonsense that you didn't bother to try to understand. The muscle in your neck was tense. It didn't happen often that you felt like you overstepped, but backing Tommy into a corner felt much different than you were used to. He listened without argument, but the twisting of his nerves left you uneasy. Perhaps it was too much.

The other side of your thoughts slowly overshadowed the doubts though, reminding you, once again, that he started this. He looked into you. And while you knew that would happen eventually, the scene was much more poetic when you imagined it in your head.

The undercurrent of eyes watching you attempted to pull you from your moment of solitude, but they knew, underneath the face of indifference, you were studying them, too. For the first time, they could feel it: you weren't just a cold, calculating ally. You were watching over them—closely.

With a heavy sigh, you pulled a cigarette from its box and held the match to its tip. It burned, and within seconds, your lungs filled with the crackling numb sensation you needed.

It happened quickly—the subtle shift.

John stumbled by the bar, his head turned down with drunken laughter as Arthur commanded the room with a story from another night. A stranger approached him slowly, a glass in one hand while the other was pinned to his thigh. You narrowed your eyes, the faint glimmer of silver catching your attention.

In that moment, it wasn't instinct that took over. It was cold, calm, controlled fury.

You pushed your seat back, grabbing the neck of the open bottle of whiskey as your cigarette fell to the floor. With a single swing, the sound of glass shattering broke the noise, and the inevitable silence fell soon after. You barely made a sound as the man's head knocked against the bar. Pieces of glass protruded from his cheek, blood trickling down his neck in a scarlet ribbon.

John and Arthur watched you. Your chest heaved, and your eyes were squared on the man who only moments earlier held a knife at his side. The dagger lay in a pool of whiskey, staring back at you from the floor.

John's eyes narrowed, flickering to you then to the men who arrived at the Garrison with the stranger. He picked up the knife slowly, toying with the tip against his palm with a gentle chuckle.

The men, seeing that you weren't just another patron, hesitated. They looked at each other, then back at you, not knowing who was the bigger threat—John, who played with the knife, and you, silent and still. It wasn't fury, not blind rage. It was control, and somehow, that made you all the more terrifying.

They didn't bother with words as John walked towards them with a face that said he just needed to give the word. One word, and the Blinders would tear them apart. They left quickly, one of them muttering something about this not being worth the fight. Your gaze never wavered from them as they retreated.

John placed the knife on the counter and turned to you, his head tilted like he was processing what you'd just done.

Arthur was the first to speak, his usual cocky demeanor a little more subdued than normal. “That was... Interesting.”

John nodded, suddenly sober and all too aware. “We could’ve handled it.”

You scoffed softly, shaking your head with a low chuckle. "I'll remember that next time."

Arthur and John exchanged glances, both unsure of what to say. Arthur cleared his throat as he pulled a cigarette from behind the bar. He reached forward to give it to you, but John held up his hand. He pulled out his own box of cigarettes from his pocket and held it out.

“I guess, we're even.”

You didn’t respond at first, instead stoically pulling one from its box. John held the match for you, and in the silence as the cigarette burned, his lips turned upward in a smirk. He watched as you blew the smoke into the air.

"Arthur," you sighed, holding up your hand as the whiskey dried against your fingers. "I'm going to need another drink."

[rogue-durin-16]

HEAD-TO-HEAD (part II/?)

Summary: Joe thought she was pretty. Had he just said that, things might have been different for them. Maybe they wouldn't have gone head-to-head at each other for three years like it was a contest.

Pairing: Joseph Liebgott x Reader

Genre: angst splattered with fluff/rivals to lovers

Tags:

Head-to-head: @derersketnoget

Band Of Brothers: @fernando-jpg @chubbypotatoepie @tvserie-s-world @clumsy-wonderland @lordndsaviorwinters

Permanent taglist: @elia-the-bibliophile @randomparanoid @karlthecat15722 @thebutchersdaughtersblog @amourtentiaa @comfort-reads

Warnings: language, mild allusions to violence? Idk this is surprisingly mild (for now lol)

A/N: in case you couldn't tell, this chapter came out of the notes I had written down for "Poison In Your Coffee". It's one of the snippets I was DYING to flesh out, so here's to a little self-indulgence from time to time. Enjoy<3

Head-to-head masterlist

Band of Brothers masterlist

Rogue-durin-16 masterlist

I noticed.

My eyes didn't miss Liebgott's rushed half turn when we were dismissed after our Friday night march. It stood out to me; he didn't wait for anyone, not even Grant or Tipper.

I figured he was just eager to get to the barracks after a long day and didn't think much of it.

At least until our Commanding Officers retreated each to their own quarters, and Talbert hurried to fall into step with Luz, a few feet ahead of me and Shifty. I didn't catch much, but the hushed words 'beaten up' from Tab and 'again' from Luz as the latter tentatively explored the faces surrounding them stirred suspicion in me.

"George." Calling his name was enough to make the two of them slow their pace with mildly concerned faces, allowing me and Shifty to join them.

"You were marching with Liebgott, right?" I nodded in response to Luz's question, Talbert's inquisitive gaze on me. "You saw where he went?"

"Looked like he was headed to the barracks." The way both men scanned the moving crowd of soldiers made me become unsure of my own reply.

"He took a turn." Shifty corrected me, motioning ahead of us before taking off his helmet. "Second on the left."

"What the fuck's his game?" George complained, swinging his rifle over his shoulder. "Malark— hey," he stepped in the ginger's way, making Penkala, Muck and More come to a confused halt. "Mind helping us out?"

"What's wrong?"

"Liebgott's at it again." Tab finally disclosed the obvious, making all of us let out different levels of desperate groans and sighs. "If Lip finds out—"

"Is he tryna get himself kicked out of the Airborne?" Don rhetorically inquired with raised brows. "Where'd he go?"

"Shifty says he turned left. Y/n says the barracks."

More's eyes pivoted from Luz to me. "The barracks? Really?"

"I'm not his babysitter, Alton." I spat, taking off my own helmet to hold it under my arm. "I don't know where the fuck he went."

"Weren't you two marching together?" Muck echoed George's question whilst gesturing at Perconte to join us.

"In case none of you noticed, we don't have the smoothest conversations." I retorted. Just like Talbert was growing tired of covering for Liebgott in front of the other Sergeants, I was growing tired of getting the third degree everytime he disappeared.

"This about Joe?" Perconte chirped in, and without missing a beat, his thumb pointed behind him. "He was in a rush to get to A Company's area."

A flash of realization flashed across George's face, the back of his hand nudging Talbert. "What's his name? Bailey?"

Oh. That one asshole from Able. The one who was double Liebgott's size. Taking a peek among the group sufficed to let me know we all were on the same page.

"To hell with getting kicked out," I blurted out, worry seeping through my words. "he's gonna get himself killed."

"He's an idiot."

Penkala's words were followed by Don's decisive steps. "C'mon, we're no help here."

"Wait," I took a hold of George's sleeve. "you're gonna go to Able's barracks?"

"Got a better idea?"

"Maybe." I mused about it for an instant before striding back. "You guys be careful."

"You're not coming?"

"I'm gonna try the smarter option for a change." I replied to Don's baffled question in a slightly louder pitch before rushing to the Winters' quarters.

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

Word had spread faster than a forest fire over the weekend about the incident that never happened.

By the time our friends had found Liebgott on that Friday night, he was being led back into the camp —along with Bailey and three other men from A Company— by Winters, Able's First Lieutenant and a couple of privates who happened to be on patrol duty that night.

The eight boys who had gone looking for him hadn't said a word about what they knew, or how they thought the event had unfolded for Liebgott to come back to his barracks in one piece and with nothing to say.

He didn't get to leave the camp that weekend.

None of the men disclosed anything, yet somehow rumors still ran around; whether or not they carried my name in them was up in the air. Of course, it mattered little to Liebgott, who more often than not found a way to tie things back to me.

This time, though, he happened to be right.

JOE'S P. O. V.

It wasn't the violent swing of the mess hall's door that brought some of the men's attention to me, it was the fact that I stood still at the entrance, scanning the place with intent and how I zeroed in on her before making a beeline across between the packed tables.

"You couldn't mind your own business, could you?!" I didn't need to call out her name for Y/n to look up from her breakfast. The way my hands slammed her table as I leaned on across from it made her jump on her seat.

"I don't know what you're talking about." It was barely a mumble and she was trying to make it sound like a careless response.

"Cut the act. You reported me off camp." I looked away with a bitter sneer at her discomfort, my voice loud enough to draw unwanted attention. "Got my weekend pass yanked because you couldn't help being a prissy."

She shifted in place, trying not to look around too much as she struggled to stay composed. "Maybe you shouldn't have been sneaking around where you don't belong."

"That’s rich, coming from you." I snapped, leaning in for only her and the ones close to hear. "I didn’t think you'd stoop to snitching, Y/l/n."

A part of me had expected to be wrong, so when she struggled to even meet my glare and her voice turned quieter, the anger brewing inside me bubbled to the surface.

"It’s not like you didn’t bring this on yourself." She made an effort to gain control in our conversation, but her fidgeting was giving her away. "Maybe you should think twice before picking fights with people twice your size."

Wait, what?

"How the hell did you know about that?"

"You're not exactly quiet." It was an instant, almost unnoticeable, but she averted her eyes. "Don't you think?"

With suspicion, I followed her sight and found Talbert who, unlike the rest of our nosy company-mates, seemed more interested in his breakfast than in the confrontation I was provoking. "You kiddin' me?"

Another hit to the wooden table on my part visibly shook her, and it dawned on me that she wasn't only uncomfortable— she was uneasy.

"What? You want a thank you?"

"I wanted to have breakfast in peace." She snapped, her emotions tilting more towards anger now.

"And I wanted my weekend pass. Go cry about it."

She jolted up and mirrored my stance. The soldiers around her moved away as if being too close to us would get them caught in the crossfire.

"Don't worry. Next time I'll let them take a swing at you." It took longer than she would have liked for her usual temperament to start up. "See if I care."

"That's what you should've done, instead of tampering with someone else's business."

She squinted at me with an irritation that reflected mine. "I think you're just mad someone had to bail you out of trouble."

"And I think you don't know how to stay in your goddamn lane." She had that piercing look in her eyes; the one that only showed up when I had her on the ropes. "I didn't ask for your help."

"Okay, you got your little moment," She grabbed her tray, threw a leg over the bench she had been sitting on. "now leave me the fuck alone."

I scoffed and, unwilling to let her walk away for whatever reason I myself didn't fully understand, I stalked around the table, only to be stopped by Toye's arm, lazily raised to block my path.

"why don't you sit down, alright?" His raspy voice sounded tired.

"Yeah, knock it off, Joe." Malarkey jumped it, a mild concerned on his demeanor.

"Piss off." I countered, smacking Joe's hand away and resuming my walk.

By the time I reached her, the tray had already been returned to its place and she was about to exit the mess hall.

I huffed, trailing behind her. "You don't get to walk away on me—"

The words were knocked off me when she halted dead in her tracks, did a half turn and took a step forward. "After the bullshit you just pulled," her index finger dug into my chest. "I get to do whatever I want." I opened my mouth but no retort came out of it before she clapped back, as if she was reading my mind. "You don't need my help. Noted. I'll make sure to remember that next time you get a whole squad running around to stop you from getting beaten up."

"I didn't say—"

"That you needed their help either, yeah. You're such a tough guy, aren't you?" Unlike me, she wasn't rising her voice, which was just as infuriating to me as the bite in her sentences. "You're a fucking idiot, that's what you are."

I didn't have the chance to follow her out; Lieutenant Winters crossed paths with her, getting a quiet salute from a flustered Y/n before his inquisitive, unreadable gaze fell on me.

"Liebgott." It was a warning disguised as a greeting. I wasn't that stupid.

"Sir." I repeated Y/n's salute and took Winters arched brow as a cue to sit down at the nearby table.

Guarnere, having breakfast by my side, muttered something under his breath after giving me a side glance.

"What?"

"C'mon Joe," Luz sighed, turning from an adjacent table to make eye contact with me. "You really think you would've won that fight?"

"She made you a favor." Smokey clarified.

"She's got no right to make that call." I grumbled, stealing a bite from Perconte's plate, earning a muffled complaint from him.

"Jesus Christ, Lieb." Muck complained, shaking his head. "Bailey could deck you any day. She's looking out for you. We're looking out for you."

"Yeah, can you think about the rest of us for once?" I rolled my eyes at Luz's tell-off. "You know the amount of crap we'd get from Sobel if he ever finds out?"

"Alright, that's enough." I dismissed them with a grimace. "I get it. 'M sorry for the trouble. Jesus."

"Good." Penkala nodded, pointing at the door. "Now apologize to Y/n."

"Don't hold your breath, Penk." I retorted before standing up to grab a proper breakfast for myself before drill training.

Maybe the boys were right and I did owe her an apology. Not that she would ever get it, though.

[peachy-panic]

Lonely

Hi everyone, I'm alive! Have some Torley Era Jaime content.

This kind goes along with a (much happier) future piece I'm hoping to finish writing and post soon, so stay tuned for some better vibes. For now:

WARNINGS: BBU/BBU-Adjacent, hunger, the sadness of stray cats (no animals were harmed in the making), brief suicidal ideations, gun mention, implied noncon

Restless. That is how Jaime thinks of the long weekdays in the Torley house, when the boys are at school and his Keeper is at work, and Jaime is left on his own until they return home to demand his attention. 

It is not that he is without work; Mr. Torley holds high expectations for his home, and Jaime strives to meet them all, even if it means double, triple, cleaning over a room he’s already scrubbed bare or taking all of the glassware out of the cabinets just to polish and arrange them again. But there are days when he finds himself with idle hands, in the time between completing his chores and his keeper’s return. That’s when anxiety creeps in. He knows it’s a conditioned thought, but it’s in him too deep to ignore. He can’t rest, can’t be useless, can’t be found being lazy when Mr. Torley comes home. 

It gets lonely, though, these pockets of restlessness. He is so fucking. lonely.

Sometimes he wishes that he had permission to go out on errands—collecting groceries, making returns, dropping off suits at the dry cleaner—just so that he can have a reason to talk to another person. He was trained to believe that many domestic contracts allow for that kind of thing, but Mr. Torley has made it clear that Jaime’s place is in the house. In the month that he has been here, he has never once been allowed to step foot outside, and he knows better than to ask. 

He is usually good at avoiding temptation, but on one Friday morning, Jaime is caught off guard.

He is cleaning the sliding glass doors at the back of the house when he catches a flash of movement in the corner of his eye. Jaime flinches, startled, but when he looks into the backyard, he finds that the source of the motion was a fluffy, white cat, now tucked halfway behind a thick tree root, peeking up at Jaime with obvious apprehension. Through the thick glass, he can make out a muffled meow.

It must be the same cat Kade saw last night. Jaime hadn’t seen it himself, but he overheard the argument between him and his father from the next room. 

“Dad, we should keep her!”

“It probably already has a home, Kade.”

“No it doesn’t,” he shot back. “Look, she doesn’t have a collar.”

Ubidden, Jaime’s hand rose to the metal band at his own throat. Funny, he thought, how a collar is the mark of a safe home to some. 

“That doesn’t mean it’s our responsibility.”

“Daddy,” Jaime recognized the edge of frustrated tears slipping into Kade’s voice. “What if she’s hungry?”

“She’s fine.”

“Can I give her some water at least?”

“Kadence.” Even from the next room, Jaime couldn’t help but flinch at the impatient tone in his Keeper’s voice. “You will not give this cat anything, do you understand me? You feed it once and it will keep coming back. That’s the last thing I need to deal with.”

“But Dad—”

“I said, do you understand me?”

“Yes.”

Without really thinking about it, Jaime stuffs the washrag into his back pocket and crouches down, putting himself closer to eye level. The cat perks his head up in response, fixing him with a steadier stare. 

“Hi,” Jaime mouths, lifting one hand to wiggle his fingers in a half-wave. The cat puts a hesitant paw forward, and Jaime smiles. “Hello, there.”

Another soft meow, and then it pulls its paw back. 

“Don’t go,” he whispers, struck by the sudden, urgent fear that it will dart away and leave him alone. All at once, it is Jaime’s greatest wish to keep this small animal in his sights, if only for a little while. If only to feel just a little less alone for a few minutes. It's desperate and sad, but it's true.

Jaime’s eyes flick up to the latch on the sliding door, just above his head. It would only be for a moment. Just a moment, just long enough to see if the cat will come closer. He won’t be breaking any rules—not really. 

When he looks back to the cat, he sees that it has moved several paces closer, and it’s all the push he needs. Slowly, Jaime reaches up and flips the lock open. The sound is enough to freeze the small animal in place, but it doesn’t retreat. Still, he slows his movements even further as he wraps his fingers around the handle and pulls it to the side. The burst of clean, fresh air on his face is the best thing he’s felt in months. 

The noise of the door startles the cat into motion again, but when Jaime stretches out his arm, his palm open, it bounds toward him instead of away. It slows its approach as it gets within a couple feet of him, stretching out its tiny, pink nose to sniff at his hand. 

“It’s okay,” he whispers, keeping himself still and steady. When the tip of its nose makes contact with Jaime’s finger, the cat only jumps back for half a second before it twists its neck, pushing its tiny head into Jaime’s outstretched palm. 

A sound bubbles out of Jaime’s mouth, and it takes longer than it should to recognize it as his own laugh. Carefully, desperate not to scare it off, he scratches between the small animal’s ears and elicits a soft, vibrating pur. 

“Hi,” he says again through another burst of delighted laughter. “Hi, sweet girl.”

He’s not sure if he’s right about that guess, but it feels better than referring to it like an object. He decides to trust Kade’s intuition on this one. She meows up at him, and he chooses to take that as approval enough.

“Are you lost?” Jaime asks, noticing without conscious thought that his voice has risen to a pitch he only ever uses for Kade’s bedtime stories. “Do you have a home around here?”

He knows the answer before he asks it, though. The edges of her white fur are caked with mud and grime, and he can feel her spine a little too prominently through her skin. 

Jaime remembers well what that kind of hunger feels like. A dangerous thought begins to take shape. 

He glances at the clock in the hallway. He still has a couple of hours before he expects Mr. Torley home. That should be plenty to sneak something out. Even if it’s just some water. Jaime can clean it up and put everything away before his Keeper comes home. He never needs to know. 

He flinches as the thought lands. These are the kinds of things he’s not supposed to think about anymore. 

But Mr. Torley does plenty he isn’t supposed to do, doesn’t he?

He hesitates, just for a moment, before he stands, knees cracking. 

“Will you stay here for a minute?” he asks, scratching under her neck when she raises her head. “If I go to get you something to eat?”

She scuttles back a few steps at the sudden movement but doesn’t run away. He will have to hope for the best. 

In the kitchen, he goes straight for the plastic bowl in the cabinet that is designated for Jaime at mealtimes. He used to think about the fork scratches in the bottom when he first arrived at the house, wondering how many boys before him had eaten from the same bowl. He would never use any of Mr. Torley’s good dishes, but this serves him perfectly well as he fills it halfway with water from the tap. 

Food is another matter. Jaime has never had a cat before, but he knows the basics. Normally, he would expect to find a can of tuna or two stashed away in the back of someone’s pantry, but Mr. Torley isn’t the pantry staple kind of person. He likes his food fresh and expensive and expertly prepared, and—

Salmon. In the refrigerator, there is a small strip of leftover salmon filet from two nights ago. Mr. Torley never eats leftovers, and the boys hardly touched their fish to begin with. Jaime might have allowed himself to it before he would be expected to throw it away, but this is a far better use. No one will notice it's gone. No one will miss it.

Before he can talk himself out of it, Jaime carries out the bowl of water and the strip of salmon on a paper towel, relieved to find the cat waiting for him in the same spot. 

“Here you go,” he says, setting the offering on the cold cement patio. Her hunger becomes more apparent as she dives headfirst for the small piece of fish, tearing away large bites at a time. Jaime feels a pang of guilt that he doesn’t have more to offer her. 

She purrs as she eats, poking her head up every few seconds to glance at Jaime—either to check that he is still there, or to make sure he’s not coming close enough to snatch away her food. He sinks into a crouch a couple feet away, happy to watch her filling her belly for the night. In the back of his mind, somewhere well into dangerous territory, he starts to think of ways he might be able to sneak her food in the future. Maybe, if he’s smart about it and he plans his meals right, he will be able to save back small portions of whatever meat they have for dinner. Even if Jaime needs to slim down his own portion, it’s not a big deal to save a little bit for her the next day. Maybe if he only keeps her fed during the daytime, Mr. Torley won’t ever see her when he’s home. 

He is pulled from his planning when the cat suddenly stops eating and goes rigid. There are still a few bites left on the napkin, but she has turned her attention toward the side gate, her little ears twitching at something unseen. 

It takes Jaime another second, and then he hears it, too: the low, almost silent electric hum of Mr. Torley’s car in the driveway. 

He’s home early. Hours early. 

Fear ices him over, but Jaime has no time to freeze. He has less than a minute before Mr. Torley will make his way around to the front door.

It breaks his heart to have to pull the last bits of salmon away before she can eat them, but he hurriedly bunches the napkin into a fist, trying to pick up the tiny shreds that have fallen on the patio with shaky fingers. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers to the cat, who has started meowing in objection. “I’m so sorry. You need to go now. You should go.”

He curses under his breath as he spills a bit of the water bowl, but that’s easily explainable enough, he supposes, if he’s asked about it, he just—

He has one foot through the patio doorway when the sound of the gate latch stops him cold. Mr. Torley never comes through the back gate. Why is he coming through the back gate?

“Stop,” Mr. Torley says simply, low and cold. Not a shout, but a single, flat syllable that raises the hair on the back of his neck. Jaime nearly drops the bowl of water with the lurch of dread that curls in his stomach. In his periphery, he sees a ball of white fur retreat across the yard and disappear. 

He knows that, no matter what happens now, the last thing he should do is keep his Keeper waiting, so Jaime pulls in a shuddering breath and turns to face him. 

“Put it down,” Mr. Torley says, “And come here.”

Of all the things he could have said, that unexpected directive inspires a spike of fear. Regardless, Jaime places the water bowl and the wadded napkin on the ground at his feet and makes his gallows march across the yard. 

He stops a couple of feet away, keeping his eyes trained on Mr. Torley’s expensive shoes. Helpless words race through his mind, scrambling to arrange themselves into a coherent explanation, an apology, anything that might soften the blow of his inevitable punishment. 

But his Keeper doesn’t ask for an explanation or an apology. He simply raises a hand to the gate latch—making Jaime flinch—and pulls it open once more. 

“Get in the car,” he says. 

Jaime’s eyes rise to meet his, confusion and alarm ringing through his skull. “Sir?”

Mr. Torley doesn’t move toward him, doesn’t raise his voice. He simply repeats, a beat slower this time, “Get. In. The car.”

On trembling, boneless legs, Jaime walks through the gate. He hasn’t been this far outside in nearly a month, but the terror and the strangeness of the moment takes away any joy he might have derived from the fresh air and sunlight. 

Mr. Torley’s car sits in the driveway, sleek black and still humming quietly. Jaime has never ridden inside, and he hesitates a moment before reaching for the back door handle. It’s locked, much like his throat when he tries to vocalize it. Instead, he stands silent and unwillingly disobedient with his fingers clutching the handle, waiting. Mr. Torley takes his time latching the gate and walking to the driver’s side. He gets in, closes the door, and fastens his seatbelt, all before Jaime hears the quiet click of his lock being undone. He scrambles into the backseat and barely closes the door behind him when the car lurches into motion. 

Jaime flattens himself against the leather seat back as they glide faster than what he’s sure is legal down the road. He doesn’t fasten his own seatbelt, too afraid in this heightened unknown to make a single move without explicit permission. His fists curl into the soft material of his pants, and he only realizes then that his feet are still bare. 

Where are they going? Where is he taking him? Why isn’t Mr. Torley saying anything? The quiet feels like a threat of its own, but Jaime doesn’t dare be the one to break it. Should he? Would an apology gain him any ground? What is expected of him here: his silence or his contrition?

The lump in his throat makes the decision for him, blocking any hope of words along with the ability to draw a full breath. 

That is, until, the car jets past a familiar sign on the highway, and cold acid releases into his bloodstream.

“Sir?” The words come out less than a whisper, and are met with more stony silence. Jaime grasps for another pull of oxygen and sits up further in his seat. “Mr. Torley?”

Nothing. 

Jaime’s heartbeat pounds in his fingertips, his temples, his throat, his chest. It could be a coincidence. Wherever they are heading could just be in the same direction. The sign doesn’t have to mean anything. 

And then they pass another sign, in bold, harsh, undeniable lettering: EXIT -  WRU PITTSBURG. The car glides smoothly onto the ramp, and the dam holding back Jaime’s panic bursts wide open. 

“Please,” Jaime whispers in horror as the first corner of the concrete hell comes into view. “Mr. Torley, please. Please.”

Nothing. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Jaime babbles, tears blurring the massive wall of false windows that seems to stretch a mile long. He is suddenly struck by the irrational fear that Handler Smith can see him already, that he already knows Jaime is here, is being returned, is being surrendered for early termination. 

“Let me catch you back here early from a contract, even once,” Handler Smith had whispered to him a week before he was assigned. “Let me find out you’ve embarrassed me by forgetting your manners, and I promise you, you’ll wish you would have slit your wrists before ever showing up in my training room again.”

Wildly, he pictures the razor sitting out on Mr. Torley’s bathroom counter and thinks, He was right. I should have.

“Please don’t do this,” Jaime cries, tears falling openly now. In a desperate corner of his mind, he wonders if it will help. Jaime so rarely grants him the opportunity to see his tears, and he knows just how much he enjoys them. In any case, he can’t stop them now. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry, please, I won’t do it again.”

The car slams to an abrupt stop, hard enough for Jaime to jerk forward, jamming his wrist as he catches himself from slamming his face into the seat in front of him. They are stopped short of the entry booth for incoming cars, veered to the side of the road. Mr. Torley spins around to face him, making Jaime shrink back. 

“What are you sorry for?” he asks, eyes hard and resolute.

“F-for—”

“For getting caught?”

Jaime presses his lips together to stop them from quivering. Mr. Torley reaches into his pocket—and Jaime has the wild, hysterical vision of him pulling out a gun and dumping his body on WRU grounds. But he only pulls out his phone, flipping the screen around to show Jaime a camera feed of the back door at the house. 

“I have an alert set,” Mr. Torley says, “To monitor all exits of the house. Imagine my surprise when I was on my way home for an early weekend, and received a notification of my backdoor opening, unauthorized.” 

“I wasn’t trying to get out,” Jaime rushes to assure him, shaking his head. “I wasn’t… I wasn’t going to run.”

“No?”

“No. I promise.”

“What, then?”

How much will his honesty buy him now? Is it worth anything when Mr. Torley has clearly already seen, already knows? It’s better, at least, than a lie, and it’s all he has at his disposal.

“The cat,” he whispers pathetically. “She seemed… hungry. I fed her the leftovers that would have been thrown out. I gave her water. I’m sorry.”

“And you did so thinking you wouldn’t be caught?”

The affirmation feels like slipping a noose over his head. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“I’ll have you say it.”

“Yes, sir. I did.”

“And you did so after hearing me explicitly forbid it to my own children?”

He swallows. “Yes, sir.”

Mr. Torley inclines his head toward the building ahead of them. “What do you think the people behind those doors would have to say about such abject deceit and disobedience from someone they sent out on a paid contract?”

Jaime pinches his eyes shut, shaking his head. 

“Answer me.”

“I…” Jaime begins, his voice pinching. “I would be disciplined.”

“What kind of discipline do you think this warrants?”

Behind his eyelids, he sees the lash of a thick leather cord, a shock clip locked to his throat, a tub of ice cold water. 

“I don’t know,” Jaime whispers. 

“You don’t know,” he echoes.

Jaime shakes his head, and he can feel Mr. Torley’s stare burning through him. 

Then, as abruptly as they had arrived, Mr. Torley faces forward in his seat and turns the gear shift. Jaime opens his eyes as the car rolls into motion once more, making a U-turn away from the facility. 

“Well,” Mr. Torley says once they’re back on the highway. “You’ve got thirty minutes to think of a better answer.”

Jaime spends the rest of the night, and the rest of the long weekend that follows, atoning.

On Monday morning, he sees the cat again. When she catches a glimpse of Jaime cleaning in the next room over, hunched on his hands and knees, she raises one tiny paw and scratches against the glass. He forces himself to look away. And when her hungry meows come muffled through the glass panel, he scrubs harder, bending his head closer to the floor so that the scritch scritch scritch of bristles on the hardwood almost manages to drown out the noise. 

After that, she gives up on coming back at all. 

***

@whumpervescence @shiningstarofwinter @distinctlywhumpthing @whumptywhumpdump @nicolepascaline @anotherbluntpencil @hold-him-down @crystalquartzwhump @maracujatangerine @batfacedliar-yetagain @thecyrulik @pumpkin-spice-whump @finder-of-rings@melancholy-in-the-morning @insaneinthepaingame @skyhawkwolf @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @mylifeisonthebookshelf @dont-touch-my-soup @whump-world @inpainandsuffering @cicatrix-energy @quietly-by-myself @whumpsday @extemporary-whump @the-whumpers-grimm @thebirdsofgay @firewheeesky @whumperfully @hold-back-on-the-comfort @termsnconditions-apply  @cyborg0109  @whumplr-reader  @pinkraindropsfell  @whatwhumpcomments @honeycollectswhump @pirefyrelight @handsinmotion

[existslikepristin]

This is completely unrelated to the fic I was working on last week, and also unrelated to... anything else I've ever written. It was almost just a joke between me and @buddysmut ... but then I wrote more than I thought I would (buddysmut has 100% permission to steal this and any concepts/phrases/etc in this due to basically suggesting it, btw). This is 0% effort, 0% editing, and 0% giving a shit. So, enjoy?

Tags: Gfriend, Sowon, another "anonymous" character, trashy porn script, TECHNICALLY no smut despite deepthroat and titty play... nah saying it isn't smut feels like the wrong call to make for legal reasons, this is very bad smut

Sowon sat on her grubby couch, reading the only script her agency could get her. "What the fuck? Dammit, I can't do this! This is... Dammit!"

Open scene on Sowon in security line at an airport.

[Officer] "Ma'am, please lift your arms above your head."

[Sowon] Complies. Her cropped tank top is short enough that the action reveals her areola. Linger on underboob shot as Officer slowly demands for Sowon's name and bra size.

[Officer] "Ma'am, you're going to need to come with me to the pat down inspection area."

[Officer] Roughly grabs Sowon by the arm to drag her to an open area, within full view of the rest of the security line. Informs the crowd that they will need to wait for the inspection before proceeding.

[Officer] "Ma'am, are you carrying any weapons?"

[Sowon] "No, officer! I promise!"

[Sowon] Squeezes boobs defensively.

[Officer] "Don't lie to me, bitch! These are too big to be natural!"

[Officer] Pulls Sowon's hands away. Angrily gropes Sowon's boobs. Linger on groping shot.

"What the fuck?! They can't even follow a logical plot... Why do I care?!"

[Officer] Pats Sowon down very slowly.

[Note] Jiggle boobs as much as possible.

[Officer] "We'll need to strip search you. Remove your top, bitch!"

[Sowon] Complies.

[Note] Squeeze boobs with tank top while removing. Allow to drop and bounce.

[Officer] Lifts, separates, bounces Sowon's boobs. Linger on all shots.

[Note] Crowd extras are taking pictures in the background.

[Officer] "Impossible! These feel natural! I'll need to taste them to make sure."

[Officer] Licks, sucks Sowon's boobs. Linger on all shots.

"If they want to linger on every shot, why do they need to keep saying it?! Fucking idiot perverts!"

[Sowon] "Officer, please! I promise I don't have any weapons!"

[Officer] "Don't talk back, bitch! What are you? Drunk? High?"

[Sowon] "No!"

[Officer] Covers Sowon's mouth.

[Officer] "I said not to talk back, whore! Get on your knees for a breathalyzer test!"

[Sowon] Complies.

[Officer] Presses dildo to Sowon's lips.

[Note] Do not use the small dildo again. Ratings fell dramatically last time. Dildo must be thirty centimeters long to leave room for handling, flexible, and at minimum four centimeters in girth.

[Officer] "Open wide!"

[Sowon] Complies hesitantly.

[Officer] Inserts dildo until visible through Sowon's neck.

[Sowon] Gags.

Sowon held a hand over throat, gulping with fear. "No... no way..."

[Officer] Thrusts dildo for a few seconds at a time, occasionally releasing so that Sowon may cough throat slime onto her boobs. Spreads throat slime over Sowon's boobs.

[Officer] "I can't get a good reading if you resist, slut! Comply with my instructions!"

[Sowon] Masturbates with a hand in her shorts.

"That... Nothing like that was in the contract!" Sowon threw the script onto the couch. Her phone buzzed insistently.

"What do you want?!" she shouted into the microphone at her agent.

"Where the hell are you?!" came the equally emphatic response, "Filming starts in half an hour, and you need makeup, now!"

"Half an...! The shoot isn't until Friday!"

"Exactly! What day do you think it is? Get down here now! If you're late, I'm not sucking off the director for you again! You're doing it!"

Sowon hung up and sprung off the couch, rushing downstairs and onto the street. She caught a taxi and was on her way. Timing was tight, but if the makeup artists were fast, she'd be good. She shuddered to imagine what her members would think of her if they knew she was taking a trashy porno gig to make ends meet. Her phone buzzed again, briefly this time.

A group text from Yerin to all of the members, along with a picture. It was a selfie, with Yerin dressed up as an airport security officer, winking into the camera, on a set Sowon had seen very, very recently.

got an acting gig baby! dunno who my costar is gonna be but i get to pump her up if you know what im sayin!

Sowon buried her face in her hands, suddenly feeling sick. "Shit..."

[captainimprobable]

Huntlow: "I've got my suit, we have a full tank of gas, and you look beautiful."

(Hope things get easier soon.)

Willow could tell that something was very wrong, because Hunter had been quiet for at least three minutes straight. She loved her boyfriend with everything she had, but, more importantly, she knew him. And after three years of dating, she was quite aware of the fact that Hunter liked to talk. The topic of conversation varied greatly; depending on the hour it could be anything from a one sided debate on the mechanics of the Cosmic Frontier ships to a rant about how gorgeous his girlfriend was. (Willow was rather partial to the second, but she was happy to listen to anything he had to say, really.) So when Hunter went quiet in the living room, she exited the bathroom mildly concerned that he'd passed out at the computer where she'd left him. "Hunter?" she asked as she walked across the room. Hunter didn't respond, but he did turn his chair around to slowly face her with a look of great shame on his face. "I'm so sorry Willow," he said, nervously biting his thumbnail, "I, uh, I kind of fucked up." Willow smiled reassuringly and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you're making it seem, babe."

In addition to being a certified yapper, Hunter also happened to be extremely hard on himself. Hunter flinched. "No, it's actually bad this time," he assured her. "You know those plane tickets we got? The ones for Tuesday?" "The tickets to get to Connecticut?" "Yeah..." Willow started to feel a great sense of unease in the pit of her stomach. "What happened?"

Hunter took a deep breath and then finally blurted it out: "We don't actually have tickets for Tuesday. I'm so sorry." Willow blinked at him, not quite certain she was hearing this right. "What...what do you mean?" "I mean, I just got an email confirming our tickets to Connecticut....for Friday. And yes, before you ask, I looked up literally every single airline in existence for seats on any plane for Tuesday. Or Wednesday, or Thursday, or even Monday." Willow closed her eyes and backed up a few feet until she was sitting on the couch. "Shit. How...?"

Hunter stood up, dawdling in the middle of the room like he wasn't sure whether he was allowed to join Willow on the couch or not. "It's my fault. I was distracted when I bought the tickets back in May, and I must have clicked the wrong day, and now-" "-And now we're going to miss our best friends' wedding," Willow finished.

"I'm so sorry, I feel awful, I didn't do it on purpose, I-"

"I know," Willow said gently, "I don't blame you. It's just...what are we gonna do? Not being there is not an option." "Yeah, I know, which is why I got a kind of....crazy idea." There was suddenly a mischievous glint in Hunter's eye, and in spite of herself and in spite of the situation, Willow found herself smiling. Whatever Hunter was going to say next was sure to be at best helpful and at least entertaining. Hunter smiled back at her, and Willow was not surprised to feel the butterflies in her stomach. Even after all these years, she still felt them all the time. "What if we drove there?" Willow let that sit in the air for a second before saying "As in, road trip across the country? In four days?" "I mean, we've done crazier things, and besides, this is Luz and Amity. I know you'd do anything for them, and I sure as hell would too. So..."

"Hmmm. When would we leave?" Hunter's grin got even bigger. "I was thinking...maybe now?" "Now???" Hunter shrugged. "Why not? I've got my suit, we have a full tank of gas, and you look beautiful." Willow giggled. "What does me looking beautiful have to do with anything?" "Nothing, really, but I've only told you like two times today, which definitely wasn't enough." God, Willow loved this man. "Okay." "Okay?" Willow stood up and stretched before walking over to her boyfriend and giving him a kiss. "Let's do this," she said, "Think you can handle being stuck in a car with me for four days?" Hunter snorted. "As if being stuck with you for four days isn't, like, the best thing that could ever possibly happen to me? Come on, Willow, you know me better than that." Willow laughed again and got on her tiptoes to ruffle Hunter's hair. "I love you," she said, as if he didn't know, as if she could ever, in any universe, pretend she was anything other than deeply in love with him. "I love you too," he said, "Now let's get our butts to Connecticut." ~ (I CANNOT THANK YOU FOR THIS ENOUGH ANON! This is the first time I've been able to write in MONTHS, ty ty ty!!! <3)

[abybweisse]

I couldn't find a post that you have answered this ask before but, how in the world did claudia didn't change her name after getting married? And how the fuck does her children have her last name,not their father? Specially considering that this was victorian era and woman literally had no rights

Oh, I have lots of posts about this, including some asks.

She likely didn't marry

You see, if she had married Cedric, she would have likely become Mrs. Ros--. I'm not sure about this part, but she might have even been stripped of her title of countess. Not what would normally happen, if she married someone untitled (which I suspect about Cedric) but because the queen would be furious. I don't think the queen would allow Cedric to rise up to Earl.

Also take into consideration that servants had to get permission from their masters to marry, and, as the queen's watchdog, Claudia was a servant of the crown, not simply a random member of the peerage. Members of Victoria's household would need to ask for permission to marry, too, like Phipps, Grey, Brown (if he were even human, which I'm sure he's not), etc.

So, she either asked to marry Cedric, and the request was denied... or she knew it would never be accepted, so she tried to keep her relationship with him a secret. There's a slight chance there was a wedding ceremony that wasn't recognized by the church. The kids would have been scandalously born out of wedlock, either way.

Defying the queen in this way, as well as other ways (probably), is likely what gets Claudia killed when Vincent is only 15. It's like the queen waits until she thinks Vincent can handle the watchdog duties before she has Claudia deleted. And, to add insult to injury/death, it happens on a Friday the 13th, to symbolically tell Claudia (and remind anyone else who knows) that this is punishment for bearing children on a Friday the 13th (for a reaper). We know Vincent was born on a Friday the 13th, and I suspect Francis was, too. They are confirmed to be full siblings, after all.

The family tree that Sascha and Ludger view doesn't have anything to do with marriages. Just biological lineage. Technically, Claudia could have married someone else and then taken his name but then had an affair with Cedric. It's just that I don't think so, since her own father seems to be a Phantomhive. Due to her station and the Phantomhive legacy, Claudia might have been barred from marrying anyone (and taking their name). It's even possible that Victoria wanted the Phantomhives to die out, and Claudia kept that from happening. And, if there's an heir who can fill the role of watchdog, ah well. Guess we get another generation of watchdog.

I've also said before that I think Vincent and Francis/Frances were named in defiance of the queen. Vincent is a French name brought by the Normans, and it means "conqueror". Francis/Frances was also brought by the French, and it means "French-born" or "free". I'm reminded of how, in Ivanhoe, Cedric of Rotherwood was called a "Franklin" by the Normans, because he was a free man and landowner. In fact, he owned several slaves, including a swine herd and -- even more notably -- a jester (named Wamba). I'm also reminded that the "treasured" "Courage Badge" in Mother3 turns out to be the legendary "Franklin Badge" from earlier games in the series....

Anyway, I theorize that Vincent and Francis/Frances were named in defiance of the queen, perhaps looking forward to a time when the Phantomhives would be free from her control (and from her descendants).

[nerdthatsiriuslylovesteaxx]

Helpless parts 1-10, it's it strange how nothing's changed

Nico was finally allowed to leave the infirmary, he'd been stuck there for three days because of Solace since apparently he 'was about to turn into a puddle of darkness'. He was mainly alone for the most part which was fine with him, but the Apollo kid wouldn't leave him alone half the time, Nico knew it was his job and everything but with the amount of people in the infirmary after the war you would think he has something more important to do. Nico was on his way to cabin 13 when he was intercepted by Annabeth and Percy,

"Hey Nico, it's camp fire time. You can't avoid social situations forever, you might actually enjoy it. Come with us." Percy said brightly almost like there wasn't a war three days ago, Nico was about to decline but for whatever reason decided to go. A decision he was sure he would regret in a hours time but still he replied,

"Sure why not."

***

Nico sat down next to Annabeth, gods what is wrong with me? Nico thought to himself as more people arrived; he was very quickly starting to regret his decision but he thought he'd try to stay. Annabeth gave him a smile and leaned over.

"Nico I promise you'll love it," she said quietly hugging him. Nico normally hated being touched but now it was strangely fine; the only reason Nico stayed was for Annabeth and he did end up kind of enjoying it. Everyone was singing loudly and they all seemed happy, forgetting momentarily about all that happened just a few days ago. Then he heard Will Solace sing, his voice sounded angelic which was surprising for someone so stubborn and annoying but hey people surprise you sometimes he thought to himself. The night passed and Nico was actually happy he had come; as he returned to his cabin with Hazel, but as hard as he tried he couldn't get his mind off of Will Solace.

---

"Morning Haze," Nico said the just as he woke up.

"Here we have a true miracle occurrence the Nico di Angelo is awake before 11am is this the real di Angelo or is it really a fake." Hazel said in a teasing voice, it was nice to be back with her.

"Very funny Hazel," Nico said petting her on the head. "Anyway how much longer do I have with you until you go to back to New Rome?"

"I'm leaving today at 10pm, after campfire." She responded hugging Nico. "I'm gonna go get breakfast, cya later bro." Walking out the door, right after that there's a knock on the door. Nico opens it reluctantly and saw Solace outside the door,

"Great you haven't left yet. Can you come back to the infirmary tonight at 5 and do that every Friday for the rest of the month? I was asking Reyna and Annabeth and they said you'd shadow traveled a lot recently which isn't good for you, also-"

"-No underworldly stuff, just because I'm out of the infirmary doesn't mean I'm okay and I have a bunch of deficiencies. Solace I know, you don't have to worry, I'm not too big a fan of passing out myself. Yeah I'll come down at five, I don't see any use coming till the end of the month but you're too stubborn and I do not have the energy to argue with you today." Nico finishes his sentence,

"Okay great, that was surprisingly easy. Bye Nico I'll see you this afternoon." He says smiling as he closes the door behind him, Nico realised that he was smiling and cursed under his breathe in Italian. There is no way he liked that annoying doctor but the only thing he could think about were his bright blue eyes and how they look like the ocean. How his hair was perfectly golden and he was almost glowing in the sunlight, fuck, no, he couldn't do this again. He couldn't like anyone again, that would mean he has to tell people, what if they abandoned him? These are the times he sadly requires advice from Jason Grace.

***

Nico knocked on the door of his cabin hoping he hadn't left yet, he get lucky.

"Hey Grace, can I talk to you?" Nico asked stepping inside, Jason was (aside from Percy and Annabeth) the only one who knew.

"Yeah sure," Jason said calmly, Nico was thankful he still wanted to talk to him considering last time they tried to have this conversation Nico swore he would never talk to him again.

"Well, um.. I feel like I should tell the rest of the seven and Reyna. Percy and Annabeth already know-" Nico starts but is interrupted by Jason pulling him into a hug.

"Oh sorry, I forgot you don't like being touched I'm just proud of you." Jason say's quickly.

"It's fine, I'm trying to get used to human contact. Just I also wanted to tell you, I like this guy...and he's so stubborn and annoying but at the same time I want him to be mine. It's....Will Solace and I just...yeah." Nico finishes, slightly blushing after and rushing the part about Will Solace.

"Nico I'm so proud of you for wanting to tell them, and if any of them react badly I will personally strike them with lightning while simultaneously getting Percy to drown them. But they won't , these people love and care about you Nico they won't hurt you. As for Will Solace, well I know he's friends with Leo but not much else, I don't really see him much but he's a cool guy. Good luck mate." Jason says keeping his voice stable and calm as always,

"Thank you Jason, I guess I should go and talk to the other five now." Nico says hugging Jason, it was kind of shocking but Jason didn't show his surprise.

“Good luck Nico, I promise it’ll go well.”

“Wait, um, could you please come with me? I was going to ask Annabeth but-“

“Yeah of course I’ll come with you.”And with that the ghost king and Superman were off.

***

“Guys umm… can I talk to you?” Nico said walking up to Reyna, Leo, Hazel, Frank and Piper, finding them sitting under a tree.

“Sure di Angelo, what’s up?” Leo said hiding his shock that Nico di Angelo was willingly talking to someone who wasn’t Hazel, much more with Jason standing beside him. He looked like he was barely breathing so Jason placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Nico (much to Leo’s surprise) smiled and continued, “Well….shit.., Jason I can't.” Nico says shaking.

"Breathe di Angelo."

"I fucking can't, what if they-"

"-I promise they won't react badly."

"That's what I thought about- doesn't matter."

"I know it's hard, especially after living in the 1930s for most of your childhood. Nico, are you sure you want to tell everyone, you're shaking."

"I SAW PEOPLE GET KILLED FOR IT, what....what if they hate me?"

"You don't have to tell them if you don't want to."

"I want to I'm just, scared."

"They care about you di Angelo, I swear on the River of Styx they won't hate you." Nico took a deap breath and continued.

"I'm..I'm gay.." he tenses up, waiting for someone to call him a fag and yell that he was going to burn and potentially try to kill him. After no such reaction he continued,"Also I may or may not have fallen for that insufferable doctor, Solace. Percy and Annabeth already know,” Nico turns around and hugs Jason,

“Good job Nico; damn three hugs in one day. You’re progressing,” Nico was tempted to yell ‘shut up Grace’ but decided against it. He broke the hug with Jason after he was able to keep his breathing under control, suddenly he was suffocated by a hug from Piper and Hazel

“Can’t. Breathe.” Nico muttered quietly and the girls let go,

“Thank you for telling us,” Piper said “I’ll look into Will for you.” She grinned walking off giving the siblings some privacy,

“I proud of you for telling us.” Hazel said hiding a grin,

“You don't hate me? You already knew didn’t you?” Nico asks,

“Well I had some suspicions.” Hazel said smiling,

“How? I didn’t talk to anyone?” Nico says failing to suppress his laughter,

“Younger sister magic. Also Nico why would I hate you?"

"Bianca..."

"Nico, you're my brother, I couldn't hate you. I can't imagine what you've gone through but I'll always be here for you."

"Thank you Hazel, I love you."

"Love you to bro." Hazel smiled and kissed Nico on the cheek, by then Jason was talking to Leo.

“Nico, I’m proud of you. Hope Solace likes you back, maybe impress him with Jules-Albert. If anyone hurts you because of it then I will send the Roman Legions on them. ” Reyna said, messing up his long black hair that went a couple of inches past his shoulders before leaving not giving Nico time to reply. Nico smiled, pathetic, I haven't smiled this much since I was ten year old he thought to himself.

"Di Angelo! I'm warning you about Will, his sense of humor is worse than mine and Percy's combined and do not and I mean do not ask him to sing unless you are prepared to listen to him for three hours. Also um.. good job on telling us," Leo said patting Nico on the back.

"Thanks for the advice Valdez, but I'm not sure it is possible for someone to have a worse sense of humor than you." Nico said bluntly yet still smirking,

"Good luck on Solace, Nico. Proud of you for telling us, if anyone ever gives you shit I'll turn into a poisonous snake and kill them. Everyone will think it was an accident." Frank says so seriously that Nico almost shakes, Nico has to look up to meet his eye. Frank was a foot taller than him,

"Thanks Frank, but let's try to avoid murder for now." Nico smiled, this was going much better than he expected.

"Thanks for coming with me Grace." Nico said,

"No problem Nico, I'll catch you later yeah?

***

It was almost five and Nico had embarrassingly spent the whole day thinking about Will Solace, he was stubborn and got on his nerve but he was cute in a way. Nico headed to the infirmary where Will Solace stood there waiting for him,

"Hey Nico." Wil called out brightly,

"Hello Solace." Nico said coldly, this Apollo kid could not know anything. Will did the routine of lecturing him about how he needs to eat more, his severe vitiam D deficiencies, iron deficiencies and about twenty more that could never remember.

"Okay so, I'm giving you some vitamins. Take this one with breakfast and the blue one before you sleep, also I looked through the tests you did. You have PTSD and depression, I would recommend therapy but then you would send an army of skeletons after me, pass out and potentially die and I really don't want you to die. I think we have reached a level of kind of friendship and would not like you to die right now, take one of these a day first thing in the morning with water before you eat anything." Will said walking around the room picking up three different containers and placing them on a table in front of Nico.

"Solace I'm fine. I'm not taking them." Nico spoke bluntly,

"Yes you are, doctors orders. I will be telling your sister to make sure you take them and after she leaves I'll make sure you do." Will respond firmly,

"Solace you aren't my father, I don't need you checking in on me. I won’t take them, I am fine." Nico said avoiding eye contact as the blonde boy towered over him.

"Nico di Angelo, it is my job to make sure you are healthy. I do not care whether you like it or not, you need to take the medication. I don't care if I have to shove it down your throat, I can't have you dying on me di Angelo so take the fucking pills. Please for the love of Apollo or I guess Hades just take it, I don't care how much you say you're okay, you are not. Do you know how many times I have considered putting you in the infirmary on an IV because you looked like you wouldn't last another day? Have you even eaten today Nico? It may seem shocking to you but I actually care about you, I don't want you to drop dead." Will finishes, his usual gentle voice lost replaced with a shaking yet harsh one."Shit, Nico I'm really sorry I just, I'm really concerned about you. Please just take the pills, doctors orders." Will replies in his usual gentleness.

"Okay I'll take them, I swear I'm trying to eat more it's just I forget I need to. Spending years with ghosts and then trapped in that jar I always forget I'm meant to eat." Nico whispered, he was actually trying to eat, but it just makes him feel sick.

"It's at dinner I'll sit with you and Hazel at the Hades table." said Will.

"I thought you weren't allowed to do that?" Nico wondered.

"For medical purposes, I am." Will added simply, Nico didn't argue after that. Seeing Will speaking in that harsh voice, it made him seem more real. He didn't want to admit it but after that he wanted him even more.

***

They walked to the Hades table,

"Oh hey, Will Solace right? I thought you were an Apollo kids, why are you sitting at Hades?" Hazel asked,

"Medical reasons; you're Hazel I presuming?" Will responded, after that they started talking. They got on quite well. With Will there Nico felt more pressured to eat, even then he barley finished half a plate. "It's getting better, just try to eat a bit more each day. I'll see you at campfire, yeah Nico?" Will said before walking away.

"So that's loverboy?" Hazel grinned as Nico tried to hide his blushing,

"Shut up Hazel, there's no chance he likes me." Nico responded softly, looking down. "Especially after today, I'll see you at campfire Haze." He finished before leaving.

***

"Gods Will, just tell him." Annabeth sighed,

"There's no chance he likes me back. I quite literally yelled at him today because he wasn't taking his medication."

"Will, please if Nico di Angelo was going to get scared by yelling he would not have survived Tartarus."

"I know but what if he's straight?" What if he was homophobic.....he was from the 30s...Nico probably didn't know he was bi since he was never at camp constantly. Will didn't say anything to Annabeth but the thought was in the back of his mind. Annabeth thought quickly, she didn't want to out Nico but also he didn't want Will to think he had no chance, he'd been pining over Nico for so long it was kind of hopeless.

"You won't know until you talk to him Will."

"I swear he hates me, he won't even say we're friends."

"Will, Nico does not hate you. If he did he would have made that very clear."

"But-"

"I promise he doesn't hate you Will, trust me."

"Okay Annabeth I trust you, but I still think there is no chance Nico di Angelo, the living embodiment of darkness will ever fall for the son of Appollo." With that Will walked off to the infirmary, just as Percy and Jason came running in.

"Hey Wise Girl." Percy said while kissing her,

"Hi Seaweed brain." Annabeth replied as she messed up his hair,

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I did want to tell you two something." Jason said, "Nico came out to the rest of the group today as well as Reyna. "

"Wait really? Gods I'm so proud of him." Annabeth said, she felt a strange amount of protectiveness over the son of Hades. He'd gone through so much and she was so proud of him for telling everyone.

"I'm guessing I'm still not his type? Wait there's no one I need to drown right? Because I gladly will drown anyone if required,"

"Thankfully no, but I did also offere to strike anyone with lighting if required." Jason responded as he and Percy high fived. Piper walked towards them after leaving a group of Aphrodite kids, she had a look in her eyes which Annabeth could only assume meant she was planning something.

"Guys so you know how Nico likes Will-"

"Wait what?" Annabeth said shocked.

"Nico said you and Percy already knew?" Piper said extremely confused,

"So his type is blondes? " Percy asked,

"Well um..anyways what's the chance that they get together? I need to hear your predictions, Aphrodite kid tradition except they don't know this time so I thought I would ask you guys."

"80%" Percy and Jason said in unison before Annabeth just smiled and said,

"100" and walking off.

"Anyways bye you two, I should probably go and help plan that date for Clarisse and Chris. I told Clarisse we would have it planned by campfire." She said kissing Jason and walking back to where her siblings were.

"Bro I bet I can beat you in a sword fight right now." Jason said,

"Not a chance, your on. No prep time allowed."

"Let's go then."

Percy and Jason both ran off to the forest likely going to do something extremely stupid and probably electrocute a few people but honestly no one cares as their fights were some of the most exciting things to watch.

***

Will was headed back to the infirmary until he saw a very stuck Leo laying under what looked like 3 tonnes of metal, Will could barely lift it but managed to life it up enough for Leo to get out. Thankfully he was extremely scrawny so that didn't require much lifting,

"Leo I just have one question, why were you laying under sheets of metal? Also infirmary, now. I very much doubt that you don't have a single broken bone after having something tripple your weight laying on top of you." Will asked mildly concerned yet laughing.

"Well I was carrying metal sheets to the forest on Festus so I could make a guard around everyone else when Jason and Percy fight because while it is fun to watch people also do not like getting drenched apparently. Who would have thought? But turns out duct tape was not the answer this time and a few of them fell on me." Leo explained as they walked to the infirmary.

"Duct tape has let you down, I hope you can recover from this sense of betrayal Leo."

"I don't know man I just didn't think I would ever be betrayed so deeply." They both burst out into laughter as they reach the infirmary. They walk into a room

"I'm going to take a guess and say your leg isn't broken considering you walked here but still is there any pain?" Will asked him,

"Just a bit in my arms but like that's it mate, I think I'm fine."

Will feels the bones on Leo's arm's checking for any broken bones.

"Well your definition of fine is quite different to mine considering you've broken your left wrist, and your right arm is fractured in two places." Leo cracked a smile, like he didn't feel any pain.

Will hands him some ambrosia,

"Leo, you know how you managed to make an immortal girl to like you? Specifically one that hated you?"

"If you want romantic advice you have come to the wrong person, I'll try to help but like I have no clue how I got Calypso. I think she liked me more when I stopped talking to her and I don't think that normally has the same effect on most people. "

"You're the only person I know who has managed to make someone go from hating you to loving you so I'm gonna take my chances."

"Sure mate I'll try," Leo laughed as he pulled something out of his pocket and started mindlessly fiddling.

"Well, I need to make Nico di Angelo stop hating me."

"You're gay? Was I meant to know this information pre-hand because you are acting like you have told me this before." Leo asked, looking slightly confused.

"I'm bi, it was probably before you came to camp when I came out, but basically the whole camp knows." Will said, for better or worse he thought but didn't tell Leo that.

"Yeah probably, now I'm giving you a heads up before you continue. If Nico hated you, you would be dead by now so you already have that section cleared." Leo said grinning.

"Well how exactly do I change from kind of not hating to hopelessly in love with me?"

"Mate I'm barley passed the I will kill you on the spot stage, but I guess show him you care. Jason said that's what he did and I think it worked out pretty well for him."

“Thanks mate, if you want you can leave the infirmary but no life risking events or anything that requires your hands for 24 hours.”

“I’ll try but no promises mate," Leo said laughing as he walked out."I'll catch you at campfire, yeah?"

"I'll see you there Valdez." Will nodded as Leo walked out the door likely getting himself severely injured, Will knew that he would probably get himself hurt again, Leo was like a magnetic for injuries.

***

The Ghost King finally stands up and splashes his face with some cold water as he started to clean up, no one needed to know. He would be fine, it'll go away soon enough. Every single time he had eaten since being in that jar he had thrown up, his eating had never been very stable but ever since the jar it had gotten a lot worse. When he was on the Argo II he had mostly gotten away with not eating but now with Will Solace watching over him like a hawk he would actually have to eat, Nico hoped he wouldn't realise but he probably would soon enough. Still there was no reason for him to find out any earlier than that, maybe if he got lucky it would fix itself and no one would know but Nico had learnt to not test his luck as it could always get worse. He had left the table as soon as he could and hoped that Hazel wouldn't come back to the cabin too soon.

***

"Good match Jace," Percy sighed, struggling to catch his breath after their fight. They did this a lot to fill in boring parts of the day, or to put on a show. It was also a great way to get your mind off of the last few years when you are nearly killing your friends for fun, the healers had given them many lectures about electrocuting and drowning each other many times but hey they weren't dead yet so they must be doing something right.

"Back at you bro." Jason said putting his shirt back on, "Percy I just realised. We don't have a ship name for Will and Nico, wait Will is bi right? I think I overheard someone talking about it before we went to New Rome."

"Yeah, Annabeth told me that he came out to the whole camp a few days before you, Leo and Pipes came. Now ship names....Wilco?

"Bro that's a terrible ship name, come on we can do better mate."

They both thought for a solid 10 minutes until Jason faceplamed and said,

"Bro, Solangelo, it's so simple yet so perfect."

"Did it really just take us that long to think of that?"

"We've lost our touch bro."

The two boys were laughing as they walked back out of the forest to join the rest of the camp for campfire.

***

Nico had regrettably made the decision to show up at campfire, later making the even worse one to sit with Percy Jackson. He didn't realise how bad of an idea this was until he heard Percy sing, it sounded kind of like a dying bird. Sadly Nico had a lot of experience with dying animals and thought that it almost sounded worse. The hour was going by, then Will started to sing again. Nico didn't know the song, he just watched Will. The light from the hearth made his blonde hair almost glow, his blue eyes were so bright they reminded him of the ocean. His voice was spinning though the cold wind, Nico couldn't control himself, he stared at the Apollo boy until he finished singing. He was there laughing with the rest of his cabin, Nico looked away before Will found out he was looking.

***

"Bye sis, I'll miss you." Nico said pulling Hazel into a hug,

"I'll miss you to, you'll visit New Rome yeah? Frank, Reyna and I'll miss you."

"Course Haze," Nico said kissing his sister on the forehead and pulling her into a hug. A single tear fell from her eyes as she got on the bus, heading back to New Rome.

"Bye di Angelo, it was nice getting to know you. I hope you visit soon, and good luck with the healer." Reyna said pulling him into a hug, Nico had blushed at the last part.

"Send an Iris message when you get there yeah? I'll miss you Reyna." The Ghost king said holding back tears, over their journey he and Reyna had become close. Nico walked over to where Frank was standing, "Good luck on your new role as Preator Frank. Take care of Hazel while you're at New Rome, if I hear one word that you're hurting her in any way I will make you wish you were dead." He said looking up at the boy,

"Don't worry Nico, I'll take care of her. I'll see you next time yeah." He said before getting on the bus, the sky was dark, covered in stars.

***

Nico woke up shaking, his screams muffled in his pillow. Nightmares, Nico stuck in the Jar, Tartrus, Bianca dying, Hazel hurt, the battle of Manhattan, the last time he talked to Bianca. Everything was so realistic, he couldn't control the tears. Nico checked the clock, 12:07 shit he thought to himself as he took the small pill the blonde boy had given him. He could barely swallow it, he hadn't stopped shaking. The nightmares hadn't been as bad with Hazel there but alone they were so vivid and realistic, he couldn't get the images out of his head. He opened up his bedside table and pulled out a pocket knife, another thing on the list that no one could know. He wanted to die, he was cursed, everything good in his life was overrun by fear and sadness. By the end of the night his is arms were covered in shallow cuts, they would heal soon enough and he knew they wouldn't scar, no one has to know. Nico barely slept the rest of the night, the less sleep he got the less time for nightmares.

---

Nico woke up to a loud knock on the door, he had slept in his jeans and camp shirt so he just put on his jacket and ran his fingers through his hair before opening the door. Standing there, with far to much energy for someone to have in the morning: Will Solace.

"What in the Hades are you doing here Solace?" Nico asked rubbing his eyes before spotting the sun towards the east, well it wasn't past 12, truly a miracle. "And what time is it?"

"It's 9:30 and I am here to make sure you take your meds, it's protocol to make sure it's been taken."

Nico rolled his eyes as he grabbed the container that was next to his bed as well as a glass of water that he had left there, as he swallowed he said.

"Happy now Solace?"

"I told you it's protocol, normally we get someone else from the cabin to check but Hazel went to New Rome."

"Aren't you head? Doesn't that mean you made the protocol?" Will put his finger to his lip before responding with,

"Bye Nico, I'll wait for you at the Hades table for breakfast. Oh and watch out for Piper, she is insistent on taking you shopping and Chiron already agreed to letting her take you." He said as he walked out the door. Nico sighed, well there was no chance he was getting out of something if Piper wanted him to do it. He needed a new jacket anyways.

***

Will had annoyingly made sure Nico got food, he picked up a single slice of toast and was forcing himself to eat.

"Neeks don't forget to take the other one as well."

"Don't call me Neeks." He said grumbling as he put the pill in his mouth and swallowed.

"It's a cute nickname."

"Would you like an army of skeletons chasing you? Is that cute enough?"

"No underworldly stuff Neeks, or else-"

"You're kidnapping me and locking me in the infirmary again."

"Exactly." Will smiled resisting the urge to ruffle the Ghost Kings long hair. Then Piper ran up to them,

"Nico I'm taking you shopping today. You can't stop me, I've already asked Chiron and he agrees you need more social interaction." Nico gave her dagger eyes, the Apollo kid had already left to go to the infirmary seemly please with Nico's eating. "Also you need a haircut-"

"Not a chance McLean, I do not trust those people."

"Nico it'll be fine, unless you would rather me cut it."

"No chance."

"One or the other, come on di Angelo. Son of Hades scared of a haircut?"

"Oh fuck you McLean."

"You aren't denying it...."Piper grinned as Nico thought about his options, he knew he wasn't getting away, Piper would probably charmspeak him into getting it cut anyways so there's no point resisting.

"I hate you so much McLean, either way I trust you more." Nico sighed, Piper's face lit up.

"You're the best Nico, trust me I know what I'm doing. Oh you're still not getting out of shopping by the way, you need to own something that isn't black."

"I don't think I do,"

"You act like you're allergic to colour I swear, hey you might even enjoy it."

"Impossible."

"We can go to McDonalds? I remember Percy saying something about you loving that place."

Nico considered the offer, it had been two year's since he had gone to McDonalds. He was almost certain Piper had charmspoke him considering after that offer he agreed.

"Great, I'll meet you at thirteen in an hour." Piper said before walking off to celebrate her success with Jason. Then he reaslied what he agreed to, Piper would probably find out about his eating thing. Fuck. At that point though there was no going back, 'well let's hope that Piper McLean can keep a secret.' he thought before walking to the Hades cabin and throwing up everything he had eaten. He still thought it was a miracle no one had found out, he always made sure to be in his cabin before it happened. People worry about him enough already, he didn't need them worrying even more, he would be fine, it would fix itself.

***

Nico heard a knock and went to open the door, Piper looked back at him with a smile.

"Hey McLean, please do not make me regret this."

"Trust me you won't Nico, and you do realise that people have first names right?" Piper smiled as she walked inside; Nico rolled his eyes at the comment and closed the door. As they walked inside the bathroom the Aphrodite girl pulled out some scissors, a comb and a spray bottle filled with water. "Okay so since your hair is straight so it'll be easier to cut while it's wet, I'll cut it to around your shoulders and add some layers, any objections?"

"You forced me into this, I'm hoping you know what you're doing."

"You have so much confidence in me, why are you so against getting your hair cut anyway? I'm genuinely curious."

"Reason."

"Great explanation." Piper muttered as she started brushing Nico's hair, it was soft and wasn't that thick but not thin either.

"Last time I got it cut was like two years ago, I asked for it to but cut around my shoulders and this bitch cut it shorter than Jason's saying it 'Wasn't right' so now I refuse to have it shorter than my collar to spite her."

"I'm surprised you didn't kill her, I probably would have." Piper laughed as she continued brushing,

"Well social anxiety is a real bitch." Nico smiled as he said it. The daughter of Aphrodite started to spray his hair with water and cutting carefully half an inch above his shoulder and adding layers into it. Nico stood perfectly still the whole time, neither talked until Piper had finished.

"So di Angelo, thoughts?" Piper asked,

"You're surprising good at this McLean." Nico smiled, a often a rare occurrence for the child of. Hades yet it had become more common in the last few days.

"Don't be so shocked Nico, my mother is Aphrodite, Goddess of beauty." Piper said as she handed him some hair ties, "You'll need these, I have no clue how you've survived so long with your hair out but you don't have to suffer any longer. Also Will would love it." Piper winked, Nico rolled his eyes.

"Oh leave me be McLean, but thanks for the hair ties." he said as he put them around his wrist. The two cleaned up, Piper started collecting her things and glaced at her watch.

"I'll go get ready, meet you back here in twenty minutes." She said running out of the door, giving Nico just enough time to overthink. Piper had actually done a good job at cutting it, he ran his fingers through it, pulling some part from the sides in front of his face. It was shorter than he was used to but it probably looked more decent, the longer hair had started getting on his nerve either way and he mentally noted to thank Piper for cutting it. He wondered what the Apollo boy would think; he took one of the hair ties off his wrist and tied his hair back, trying to stop thinking about it, before getting ready to be dragged out by Piper. He wore the first pair of black jeans he saw with a black T-shirt and his aviator jacket, he suspected the colour may be making less of an appearance in his closest after Piper was done.

***

The two stepped into a mall in New York that Nico could not bother to remember the name of, Piper grabbed his hand dragging him through the mall. Nico constantly reminded himself that human contact would not kill him and that it was probably a good thing Piper was dragging him along considering he had no idea where he was going.

"I still don't understand why I couldn't just shadow travel us here."

"Will threatend to kill me and Chiron if we let you shadow travel."

"Of course it was Solace, I would expect nothing less from him." The son of Hades said, rolling his eyes. The two demigods walked through the stores both trying on different clothes and Piper this time failing to convince Nico to get anything that wasn't black. All while Piper teased him about a certain son of Apollo,

"Be realistic Piper, he's probably straight anyways."

"No he's not actually, he's bi. Leo was going to tell you but he couldn't find you, apparently the rest of Camp knows." Nico's face lit up for a second before looking back down.

"There's still no chance. He is literally the embodiment of sunshine, I am the child of Hades, God of the fucking Underworld. There is no sunlight there."

"Nico he clearly cares about you."

"It's his job."

"But he checks in on you so much more than anyone else."

"Because he doesn't trust me to stay alive."

"If he didn't trust you to be alive he would have kept you in the infirmary."

"There's still no chance he likes me."

"You're the only one who thinks that Nico, he gave you a nickname for Aphrodite's sake. He doesn't do that with anyone else who is 'just a patient'"

"He did that to get on my nerve."

"Gods you're so dense, wanna go to McDonald's now?"

"Oh, sure." Nico said trying to hide the shake in his voice.

"Oh and di Angelo, Will threatened to kill me if I didn't make you eat a full meal so yeah."

"Of course he did."

***

They finished ordering, Piper had only gotten some fries and a drink because apparently the vegetarian options 'were so bad they tasted like grass'. Nico just nodded, not pointing out the fact that not ten minutes ago she was threatening him to eat a full meal today because Will would kill her if he didn't and here she was barely eating herself.

"Number 57!" Nico walked up and grabbed the tray, he breathed in deeply. He'll be okay, if he acted calm then he could play it off. He would just walk off for a bit, Piper didn't have to know. The two started to eat, it still tasted as good as Nico remember but he could barely get anything down his throat. He already felt sick but he knew he could withstand at least another five minutes without throwing up, he tried to keep conversation to a minimum putting all his energy into seeming fine. After another few minutes passed, then Nico muttered,

"Bathroom." Before walking away, he tried to keep his pace normal but already knew he was walking away too fast and Piper would know something was up. He quickly walked inside and was extremely thankful the bathroom was empty, he went into the stall furthest away from the door. He threw up everything he had eaten like countless other times, at that point he was just hoping no one would walk in. He cleaned himself up a bit and headed back towards Piper,

"Okay tell me. What happened?"

"What?"

"I know something happened, you're biting your nails and you looked sick before. Also you practically ran and you look nervous."

"Nothing happened."

"Nico don't lie, I know something happened. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Piper desperately wanted to know what had happened to the Hades boy but she knew when to stop pushing, she didn't want to charmspeak it out of him, that's purely invasive. He'll tell when he's ready.

"Come on, I want to do something I'll regret in a week."

"Which is...?"

"I'm getting my ears pierced."

"Oh my Gods, yes. That is an amazing idea; if they say you look too young to do it without parents concent, I'll charmspeak them."

"Thanks McLean, didn't particularly like the plan of asking the God of the Underworld to come to a mall in New York." Nico was relieved Piper had either forgotten to continue interrogating him or was leaving the topic for now, he had been meaning to do this at some point either way and this seemed like a good occasion.

***

Piper had to do some charmspeaking, but finally Nico had gotten them done. He decided to get doubles since he was going to regret it anyway might as well go all out, he hadn't even flinched when it happened. After that they went to a few more stores and Piper finally convinced him to get something that wasn't black, instead a very dark blue.

"I would ask if you are actually allergic to bright colours except I've seen you in a bright red shirt so that clearly isn't the case."

"I just like black, is there a problem?"

"It makes you look like the Grim Reaper."

"I was hoping for that."

"You're hopeless di Angelo."

"Finally you're giving up, took you long enough."

"Nope, simply stating facts. If I can bring a metal dragon to life I can make you look less like a ghost without the use of charmspeaking." Turns out however that she could not, maybe some tasks really were impossible.

"I'll shadow travel us back, it's not that far."

"Nico, I would get killed by your loverboy if you did that. We'll just take the-"

"That is probably more dangerous if we're being perfectly honest, also shut up."

"Never. By the way not that many people died, it was-" but the daughter of Aphrodite didn't have time to finish. A wooden club hit her over the head, Nico cursed under his breath and pulled out the only weapon he had, a small pocket knife, he knew he couldn't do much against a fully grown cyclopes. He didn't know where it had come from but that wasn't important, the monster had probably found them because of his blood, children of the big three were the easiest to be tracked by monsters. He had skeletons but there is no way he could stab it with the celestial bronze blade, Piper had passed out and was bleeding on the floor. Meanwhile Nico was struggling to not get hit by the 15 foot cyclopes, he didn't know what everyone else had seen but they didn't pay much attention. He raised a few skeletons to try and keep it in place, he felt himself getting weaker. He knew he shouldn't be doing these things but he was fine for those years he was alone, he would survive now. Piper had lost a lot of blood, he didn't know how well this would go, he had some squares of ambrosia but couldn't get it to her without dying. There was nothing else he could do, he grabbed her wrist and shadow traveled back to camp, but still got hit with the club before he was gone. His head hurt and he tasted blood in his mouth, he collapsed as he showed up somewhere in front of cabin 13.

---

"Nico, God's you scared us."

"What? Am I in the infirimry? Is Piper okay?" He said barely able to speak, coughing after each word.

"Piper woke up in an hour, you've been out for three days Death boy."

"Don't call me that, wait WHAT? I've been out for three days?"

"Try to breathe, I'll get you some water and then I'll explain." The blonde boy walked of and Nico tried to comprehend what had just happened, he'd passed out for three days. Shit, what had happened with the cyclops. Solace had returned with a glass of water and handed it to Nico after he had sat up, "Jason's been worried sick about you, I finally forced him outside today to get some food. You had a concussion and you were practically dead, I forced as much necter down your throat as I could without killing you."

"I didn't kill the cyclops, what happened after?" Nico coughed as he spoke, Will ruffled his hair.

"Neeks it was handled, but right now that isn't important. Three days rest in the infirmary, no underworldy things for 11 weeks 6 for this time, 5 for last time. I'll go and get you some food it'll probably help. Also I'll get Jason, he's hasn't slept for the past three days and would kill me if I didn't tell him instantly." Nico wanted to protest but he physically couldn't, he just nodded as the golden boy walked off. He wondered how longs Jason had been waiting and instantly felt guilty, he also desperately wanted to see Piper to make sure she was okay but right now he could barely breath. Jason ran into the room wrapping his arms around Nico,

"I was so fucking scared di Angelo, I thought you were dead."

"S-sorry.." Nico muttered,

"What are you apologising for?"

"Will told me you haven't slept for three days."

"Well yeah, I was worried about you, not exactly your fault you got attacked. Nico you don't know how bad it looked, you we're laying on the floor covered in blood with Piper on top of you. When we first took you to the infirmary sometimes you would go through solid objects like you were turning into a shadow, you had a broken arm and were barely breathing. Fucking hell Nico I'm so happy you're alive."

"Is Piper okay?"

"Yeah she's fine, just gave her a bit of ambrosia and she woke up. She's been beating herself up over not noticing the cylopese before though."

"That's what she's worried-" Nico started coughing violently before he managed to drink some water, before wincing at the pain in his ribs.

"Nico! Are you okay?" A mixture of fear and panic washed over Jason's face,

"Fine. Go back to dinner, you look like you haven't eaten in far to long."

"Irony," Jason smirked before walking out the door.

***

The Apollo boy walked in carrying two plates of food, placing one on an empty table and handing the other one to Nico.

"Neeks you okay?"

"Hurts...to...breathe." The blonde boy quickly walked up to Nico lifting his shirt and touching his torso feeling his ribs, the son of Hades flinched at the contact.

"Sorry," Will said, yet still keeping his hands on the small boy.

"Still getting used to human contact." Nico mumbled, the Apollo boys hand was warm on his skin.

"Shit, Neeks. It's broken, I should have checked but I completely forgot with the whole passing through solid objects and hoping you would wake up. I'm really sorry." He pushed on the bones a bit, it hurt but Nico showed no reaction. Then he started softly singing a hymn, Nico felt warmth rushing over his body. He exhaled softly as the blonde boy that he just realised had been faintly glowing faded, he lifted his hands off leaving Nico's skin warm. "That should have fixed it," Will said as his bright blue eyes locked with Nico's. "You okay Neeks?"

"Yeah, fine." Nico muttered realising he had just frozen, he quickly grabbed his shirt and pulling it down before starting to process the fact that Will Solace can heal when he sings and glows.

"You seem surprised," Will noted, he was as well, his healing had been less reliable after the Gods disappeared for months.

"YOU HEAL PEOPLE SINGING? FUCKING SINGING OF ALL THINGS?!?" Nico said in pure shock,

"Apollo's the God of music, healing and the Sun..?"

"But just imagine if you get stabbed and someone just starts singing."

"It makes more sense on paper okay!" Will says raising his hands in surrender, "Nico you should probably eat something, you've been on an IV for three days." Nico glanced over realising the needle was in his arm.

"I'm not hungry." Nico muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Wil to hear.

"Neeks you haven't eaten in three days, just try to eat something. It'll make you feel better, you'll need it." Nico knew that he wouldn't be able to keep anything down, but maybe if he acted right he could play it off as a one time thing, he just felt bad this time thing. Will started eating an apple,

"What happened to an apple a day keeps the doctor away?" Nico smirked, before forcing himself to take a bite of a sandwich and instantly regretted it. Will just smiled and rolled his eyes at the comment; Nico kept forcing himself to eat, no matter how sick he felt. He was hoping that Will would leave soon but doubted he would be that lucky, the Apollo kid seemed insistent on keeping him company. Will looked over to the small boy realising how sick he looked,

"Neeks you alright?" Nico just shook his head, Will quickly handed him the closest bin and held back Nico's hair as he threw up the sandwhich he had just forced himself to eat.

"Cazzo." He muttered under his breath, normally he could force himself to last a bit longer but after the last three days he couldn't handle it. Will gave him a glass of water before sitting down on the bed next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. After a few minutes he ran his fingers through Nico's hair, taking out every tangel.

"Di Angelo, you should probably get some rest, it should help you feel better. Tomorrow morning see if you can eat anything, we'll keep you on the IV for now." Nico just nodded already half asleep leaning against the blonde boy. Will lifted up the sleeping boy with ease, laying him on the bed. He was too light, he weighed 90 pounds at the very most which was dangerously underweight. Will made a mental note to talk to him more about that; he looked at the small boy laying there. He seemed so peaceful, he had gone through so much, this was the first time Will had seen him relaxed, even in his sleep. Last time he'd been in the infirmary he had slept for most of it but he always seemed ready to attack or run, Will couldn't help but smile at him. He flicked off the lights and checked his watch, 8:42, that meant he would have some time to talk to Annabeth before campfire.

***

"How's he doing?"

"He woke up today, turns out he had a broken rib and I didn't fucking realise."

"Will, he almost died. You were panicking, you helped him in the end, don't beat yourself up."

"It's a fucking broken rib not a paper cut."

"I know and normally I would be scolding you over it but this is a different situation, anyway any progress?"

"Well I mean he didn't threaten to kill me when I touched him and he talked to me so that's something I think...?"

"See he doesn't hate you!" She says punching him in the shoulder lightly,

"He's so fucking hot, how the Hades is someone allowed to be that hot?"

"Damn Solace, you're more obsessed than I thought."

"No shit. Also how do I get past the 'I won't kill you but I don't like you very much' stage?

"Try to talk to him, make him play 20 questions with you? Then he can interrogate you while you interrogate him, but also have few skips. He's gone through a lot, you don't want to force him to answer if he doesn't feel comfortable."

"Thanks for the advice Anni-Annabeth." He catches himself before using the nickname, he knows it's the one Luke always used.

"No problem Will, I wish you the best of luck in not getting killed."

"Hopefully I won't need it." he sighed with a smile before walking off to join his siblings. Annabeth smiled to herself, this would be entertaining. It was honestly painful to watch them pining over each other like this much while being so clueless about the other, it took all of her willpower to not lock them in a room together until they kissed.

---

"Morning Death boy." Will smiled as Nico got up,

"So creative, how long did it take for you to think of that?"

"Would you prefer Neeks? Or Doom and Gloom?"

"You are a child, Sunshine."

"Wow Nico di Angelo has discovered nicknames; anyways how do you feel?" It still surprised Nico how quickly Will could go from joking around to very much serious,

"I'm fine."

"Do you think you can eat anything?" Nico shook his head, as Will checked his pulse and breathing before taking out the IV needle. "Neeks I'm gonna take a blood sample, we need to see if the underworldly things have any other effects." Nico nodded but Will noticed the uncomfort on his face, he decided not to point it out but made a mental note. Nico didn't flinch at the needle but he looked like he was re-living something, Will didn't ask but wished he knew. "You feel alright to get up?"

"Yeah,"

"Great we're going outside, you need sunlight."Nico muttered something under his breath not loud enough for Will to hear.

"Aren't I on infirmary arrest?"

"Technically no, but it's either stay in the infirmary or have a healer with you at all times right now."

"Amazing," Nico grumbled following Will outside towards the edge of the forest.

***

"So Solace what exactly are we doing?"

"Down to play twenty questions?" Nico considered the offer and smirked,

"Sure." The two sat down next to each other on a log.

"Two skips each, but they get replaced with other questions."

"What's something that isn't a secret but most people don't know about you?" He was ridiculously bored and thought he could use this game to his advantage.

"I'm not actually blonde."

"Explain. Now."

"I was brunette but when I got claimed any part of my hair that was in the sun turned blonde." He pulled out a piece of his hair that wasn't normally visible, it was a light chesnut brown colour.

"Well that's shocking, you know when I asked that question that was not an answer I was expecting."

"I'm a mysterious person di Angelo, now, do you have any exes?"

"Solace I spend most of my time avoiding people."

"In hindsight that was a pretty dumb question."

"Too late, if you had to kill all the people in one cabin which one would it be?"

"Demeter. That was a bit of a violent question." He tried to play it off but his answer had been so quick and confident Nico started to wonder what had happened. "Have you ever drunk?"

"More than you would expect."

"Neeks! You're fourteen, have you ever wondered why there are age restrictions?" Nico just smirked,

"You asked Sun boy, anyways technically I'm older than that. What's the worst crime you have ever committed?"

"Love how you just assume I've committed crimes, but assult. The only reason it wasn't murder is Annabeth pulling me off."

"The fuck Solace, are you going to explain that?"

"I'd rather not, let's just say I was pretty...pissed that day."

"Well that's terrifying."

"I told you I have secrets di Angelo, who's someone you used to care about but now hate?"

"Skip."

"Is it true you liked Annabeth?"

"Really Solace? No it is not, otherwise Percy would have already murdered me."

"Had to ask, the Aphrodite cabin was trying to figure that out for two years."

"Truly incredible, can you fight with a sword?"

"Not in the slightest."

"I'm teaching you, archery will be useless in close combat. You will die in a matter of seconds ."

"You have so much confidence in me Neeks, but thanks for the offer."

"Wasn't an offer, more so a kidnapping where I teach you by force how to fight."

"Okay then...do you prefer the 1930s or now?"

"Now, better arcades."

"Great reasoning."

"What's your worst fear?"

"Pass, I would never hear the end of it."

"Can't be that bad."

"You would never shut up about it Neeks, I can guess that much." Nico locked eyes with the blonde boy, he considered the question he was about to ask.

"Do you regret coming out to all of camp?" So he did know, Will thought to himself. He didn't answer instantly but he didn't want to pass it either.

"Well, um.."

"You have skips, you don't have to answer Will." That was the first time Nico had used his actual name, Will desperately wanted to kiss him.

"I want to answer it just, thinking. I'm happy they know and I don't have to hide it but...some people aren't the nicest. Cabin four has the most for whatever reason, they seem to get joy out of making me feel like shit. Most people are nice enough, with the rest, well you get used to it." Nico grabbed his hand,

"Who. Has. Been. Giving. You. Shit? Give me a list, I will make sure they'll never do anything again."

"Neeks it's fine, I don't need you threatening them."

"I'll be doing a lot more than threats Solace, give me a list of every single person who has hurt you."

"Nico it's okay."

"Did I ask? You're a ball of sunshine, no one and I mean no one has any reason to hurt you."

"They do, there's so many people I couldn't save, I killed them. I deserve to suffer because of that, they deserve revenge on me for killing their friends." Will had tears forming in his eyes.

"Will it's not your fault they died, and either way you shouldn't have to go through this."

"Nico, are you straight?" He froze for a second, he had still been holding Will's hand but he didn't want to let go. He was warm, his thumb was stroking his hand warming up the usually freezing Ghost king. After Will had told him so much he couldn't lie, he always had a skip but part of him wanted Will to know.

"..n..no...I'm gay. Not that many people know, the seven and Reyna that's it. Please don't tell anyone." Nico shakes a bit and a few tears fell, he didn’t want to cry in front of him but he couldn’t help it. Will wrapped his free arm around Nico and pulled him closer to himself,

"Thank you for telling me, I know it's hard Neeks."

"How did you tell so many people?"

"Didn't like people assuming things, also I just...didn't want to hide I guess. Still though, I've been too scared to tell my mum, barely seen her since I'm here all year but even if I had the chance to I probably wouldn't tell her. As for the actual time well it was a while after Percy was missing, before Jason, Piper and Leo showed up, campfire, just kinda said if at the end."

"Did anyone know before that?"

"I told Annabeth first but Kayla and Austin found out by themselves pretty quickly. Who was your first crush?"

"Do not hold this against me, it was Percy." Will started grinning,

"Same, half the camp has liked him at this point I swear."

"Half of camp is pathetic."

"You're including yourself in that statement you know."

"I am fully aware, honestly I should have given up on him when I saw him talking to Annabeth the first time."

"Didn't they hate each other for a few years?"

"Hate is a strong word, I prefer to use hopelessly in love and oblivious."

"Lovely wording; I gave up when my brain started working and I realised he is straight."

"You think Percy is straight? Have you talked to him before?"

"Percy isn't straight?!"

"With the way he talked about Luke? Not a chance, and that was after he betrayed him. I can only imagine him pining over him at the age of twelve, completely oblivious, then also being hopelessly in love with Annabeth and being a helpless simp once more."

"So you are telling me Percy Jackson liked Luke Castellan, aka. the person who tried to kill him multiple times?"

"When he was twelve definitely, at least in the way he talked about what he was like before when I met him. Don't know if he realised it then, but he is not straight. You haven't seen him and Jason talk, if I didn't know how much he loved Annabeth, going to Taturus with her I would have been sure they're secretly dating."

"The more you know I guess. What's something you can do that no one knows about?"

"I can braid hair, I mean Hazel knows that but still."

"Emo Death boy can braid hair."

"Firstly, I'm not emo."

"Keep thinking that Neeks."

"Secondly, this is why I don't tell people this."

"Honestly the fact you can braid hair is adorable, also it proves that you are no where near as scary as you think."

"I could kill you right now."

"You sure about that di Angelo? Right now you can't do much without melting into a puddle of darkness, you're just a nerd that's pretending to be dark and mysterious."

"Oh shut up Solace."

"Never."

"Have you been on a quest?"

"Nope, I just try to prevent deaths after them."

"How many languages can you speak?"

"Wait give me a second, Itallian, Greek moderen and ancient, Latin, English, French, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese, Polish, Finnish, German and Dutch. So that's twelve and a half I'm fluet in and I'm trying to teach myself Russian and Japanese." He said counting them off on his fingers

"Gods Nico, what exactly do you do with your free time?"

"Well first four are pretty obvious but Bianca taught me French and Swedish and the rest I've taught myself, writing's hell with dyslexia but I've survived. It's a pretty useful skill when you randomly show up in different countries."

"I can barely speak English properly half the time!"

"That sounds like a problem on your side Sunshine." He said messing up the blonde boys hair, Will desperately tried to hide his blushing. "Have you ever passed out because you healed too many people?"

"Yeah, happens quite a bit." Nico slapped him, not that hard but hard enough for it to hurt. "Hey what was that for?"

"You can't be overworking yourself like that Solace, you're a doctor for Zeus's sake. What help is it going to be if you pass out while healing someone?"

"It's the most effective way, plus I get more people healed."

"So let me get this straight, you risk your own health while telling people not to?"

"Okay when you put it that way-"

"Yeah it sounds bad! Please do not do that, can't have you dying on me Solace"

"I thought you were plotting to kill me anyways?"

"Exactly, can't have you dying before I kill you myself."

"Sure di Angelo, have you ever killed anyone?"

"Pass." He had become friendly with Will, he didn't need anyone else leaving him.

"Cats or dogs?"

"Do hellhounds count? I have a pet hellhound called Mrs O'Leary."

"Was that a gift from Hades?"

"Nope, from Percy."

"Wait what? I'm just going to accept that at this point."

"Good idea, I wasn't planning to explain."

"Course you weren't," Will checked his watch. "Come on Neeks, it's time for lunch, we got through ten questions each, same time tomorrow?"

"I don't have a choice do I?"

"Nope; head to the infirmary I'll get you some food."

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten for a few days, just try to eat a few bites."

"Fine.." Nico muttered before walking off to the infirmary.

***

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I really hope this helps peeps :)

[im-a-simp898]

Why does everyone hate teenage girls so much??

It's the way a girl can be more in tune with their feminine side & get clowned for 'only caring about looks', 'being stupid', 'being annoying' etc. But then when they are more in touch with their masculine side, 'they're a pick-me', 'they need to dress more girly', 'they just wanna get with their guy friends' etc. This shit is actually so annoying, it's funny.

The criticism teenage girls get for liking “immature” or childish things is part of the reason why so many young girls want to grow up so fast or act/dress older than is appropriate for their age. Society also wants to sexualize us once we reach a certain age.

If a girl shows interest in games she's a fake gamer. Yet people complain there's no girl gamers. Jojo Siwa people complain about her just because she's happy singing and dancing. If a girl likes art "oh how quirky, she thinks shes different" if we show interest in sport we're seen as "trying to get with a guy" WHY CAN'T WE JUST LIKE SOMETHING JUST BECAUSE WE LIKE IT?!

I remember in high school, girls would literally get bullied for being one direction fans...meanwhile guys would never shut up about their fantasy football bullshit. Are teenage girls allowed to enjoy anything?? What girls like is hated by society until men "find it". Just look at the Beatles and Elvis, whose fanbases were first exclusively young women. Now that men like them, they are now considered classic and cool. Along with interests, you know how many times I've felt embarrassed to cry even when I'm by myself out of fear of looking like an "angsty teen girl"

We get insulted for being happy. Then we get insulted for being sad. Then we get insulted for being mad that we were insulted for being sad. Then we get insulted for trying to forget what happened and trying to be happy again. Then we try to be happy again and big shocker we get insulted again. Now we have anxiety but told we are faking it (some are but not everyone). Then we try to tell people to not insult others interests and we get insulted. Then we are insulted for feeling hopeless. Now everything inside of us dies and we will still be insulted.

The hatred for teen girls is so bad that even actors who play on "teen girl movies" get hate for being in said movies and aren't taken seriously, like WTFFFF. Someone I wanted to bring up: Rebecca Black. She was just 13 when she made Friday. Literally got death threats and had to drop out of school just for making a music video. I don't want to sound stupid but i feel like sometimes people forget that teenage girls are teenagers? like we're still technically children??? untill suddenly a 40 year old decides your not or when its an adult bashing you on the internet your not a child your an adult like excuse me i- im confused

And then there’s the whole ‘you’re a 15 year old girl, you must be faking your depression’. It’s so ridiculous. My age and gender doesn’t determine whether I have a mental illness or not. You wouldn’t tell someone they don’t have cancer because they’re a teenage girl. There was a girl that I saw in the comment section of a video about how everyone who listens to billie eilish fakes depression, and she was like ‘no, this is wrong, I’ve spent months in a psychiatric ward with depression and billie gets me through’, and the first comment was a man telling her she was lying and faking for attention. It’s ridiculous.

i read all dis

its true like its so fucking true

i wouldnt say its as bad as theyve described it tho

[nqmonarch]

Was thinking about the fake dating troupe and wondering which of my original characters would be able to pull it off. I realized none of them would. Anyway here's a short little writing I did of two characters from a book I'm working on :)

Quick little terminology for the series

Light and Dacoa are types of magic that people from certain areas are born with. Two of those areas are Arsotis and Greanim respectively. Which Iris (the MC) and Odette the other person in this scene are respectively from.

You can go ahead and read it now, or you can read this little explanation on the two types of magic I mentioned.

Light - Pretty self explanatory, everyone (in Arsotis) is born with a standard level but some have excess light from birth or gain light at a faster rate. This allows them to use this excess light to enhance their stats or form tools out of the light which can either cause their bodies or tools to glow.

Dacoa - This is a word I made up. Everyone (in Greanim) is born with this it replaces the blood in their veins (also their organs and basically all of their inner body) and is like black cold water. Tools can also be made out of it but people with it can also transform into Dacoa (the black cold water) and become liquids and sort of move around faster and with the advantages of being a liquid.

“Alright, let’s fake date!” Odette declared and my head twisted toward her, my hair flipping behind me and smacking the wall.

“What? Why?”

Odette grinned leaning a bit closer to me, “Because I want to be with you but you clearly don’t want to be with me. And this is a great opportunity for us to pretend to be in a relationship!”

I looked down at her flat black shoes and then moved up to the collared shirt she was wearing until she had enough of me looking up and down and clasped my chin, tilting my head up so I was looking at her. “But what’s the benefit?”

“We can dance together, didn’t you say you wanted to try ballroom dancing?” Her black eyes twinkled in anticipation.

“I get to step on your toes though,” I negotiated, sure maybe being with Odette didn’t make me feel all too good morally but… I’m not going to get a chance to ballroom dance again, how many places even have ballrooms for dancing these days?!

She nodded as if what I said was a given, “You can step on all of me, if you want.”

“No thanks.” I brushed her hand off my chin, and began to walk away, “It’s this Sunday right?”

I heard Odette’s footsteps begin to approach from behind me like a little duck following its mother, “Well yes, but we’ll have to grow dress shopping much beforehand. How about this Friday, you’re free then right? I know Thursday you like to train until twenty two.”

I snapped my head around to face her as I took a step back, “Why the fuck do you know my schedule?” My voice was clouded with more confusion than anger.

Under the moon and sparse streetlights her face was perfectly illuminated and framed by her black hair. The pinkish-orange scar that took up about half her face was more eye-catching than usual. It reminded me of flames and Light which it had certainly been caused by. Those with Dacoa didn’t have scars unless if it was caused before they unlocked their Dacoa but most of them had it unlocked since birth. The reason I couldn’t brush her off entirely was because in a very odd way she reminded me of myself. I saw myself falling, the sun, although not my initial aim, was practically in my grasps. I remembered how I thought it would be okay to die like this, if hands did not reach out to save me.

“So I can know when I can do all those shady ‘evil’ things you hate me for,” She teased, a cat-like smile complacent on her face. 

I let out an exasperated sigh, “I never accused you of anything. It’s just– you being here is shady by itself!” I’d seen Odette’s face on the wanted posters of Greanim which was a surprise in itself. Arsotis’ was trying to restrict the flow of information of other nation’s events, they couldn’t stop everything though. Especially what had been considered groundbreaking in Greanim. 

More suspicious was how Odette hadn’t gone to Arsotis’ government herself, it frequently took in refugees. The most famous was Lyndon, albeit half his fame was from being in Eos’ circle. Even more suspicious than that was how Odette had refused to meet Eos despite my offer. 

Odette pouted, “Shady enough to get killed?”

“I was only going to detain you.” I stared blankly into her eyes.

She placed her hand on my shoulder, stroked it, then lightly lifted it up, and practically glided in front of me, “Of course, you’re too kind. But Iris, don’t you think it’s wonderful and special that I came to you? It means you’re important.”

“I’d rather be done with all of this.” My voice was flat as I stared at her. 

“You’re lying,” She crooned, eyes examining me carefully, “if not then why would the Light still hover around you like an anxious parent?” Odette paused, turning away, “It’s the reason I still have hope for you. After all, you didn’t have any excess Light at first. You know what it’s looking for, as well as I. We both know it wouldn’t be around if you still didn’t have it.” 

I stared at the empty space where she’d been but only wasted a few seconds doing so before continuing my walk home. Could it still be considered home after everything that had happened? Going along with Odette was a risk but it was one I had to take at this point. If it lead to my death, then so be it. At least I’d be able to try out ballroom dancing before I died.

[shion-yu]

Day 7 - Flatline

It gets more than Elliot can handle at home (part 2). Part one: Fever. Whumptober 2023! I’m using the @ailesswhumptober's prompt list. This story is about my OC Cliff - here’s his profile if you’re so inclined: https://toyhou.se/23741453.cliff

TW/CWs: Major chronic illness, hemoptysis

It was busy at the hospital on a Friday night. Since nothing obviously critical seemed to be happening with Cliff at first glance they had to wait for a long time to be triaged. Elliot tried to keep his cool, even though he was so on edge that he wanted to scream at every nurse that walked by. Even after an hour, nobody had seen Cliff to even do a set of vitals. It was noisy and bright, a bustling hell that Cliff would have had trouble handling even on a good day let alone when he felt so poorly.

"I wanna go home," Cliff muttered, burying his hot face in Elliot's shoulder. "We can... come back tomorrow... I’m okay.”

"Not with this fever," Elliot said firmly. "You need IV steroids, I’m sure of it."

"Fine..." Cliff fell quiet. Only for a moment though, because then he started coughing hard into the face mask he had on. He grabbed Elliot's knee; the room was spinning really fast. "Eli-" Cliff didn't have time to stop himself. He gagged and felt his mouth fill with what he thought was vomit. Except when he pulled down his mask and tried to spit only onto his shirt, instead it was horrible, bright red blood. Cliff stared at the sight, dazed, vision blurring. He'd vomited blood once before when his stomach ulcer had ruptured. But this felt different. It didn’t feel like it came from his stomach, but his lungs; this time, he felt like he was drowning in it. 

Elliot shouted in alarm, shooting up from his seat and grabbing Cliff by his upper arms. "Cliff! Oh my god, fuck!" The receptionist of the ER looked over and her eyes immediately went wide at the sight as she called a rapid response.

"It's OK," Cliff said faintly, but it was thoroughly unconvincing in every way from the guy whose lips were literally painted with blood. Several nurses came running and started working Cliff up right there in the waiting room. They got him onto a stretcher and ran him to the back where everything happened really fast. He got an IV even though he tried to tell them he had a port - there just wasn't time - and in minutes he was hooked up to everything imaginable. Vitals, oxygen, telemetry. They did an EKG and drew blood, including cultures. It was noisy and although he tried to reassure Cliff that he was right there, Elliot was shuffled to the side in all the commotion. There were lots of questions and Cliff tried to explain his sarcoidosis, but the average ER nurse wasn’t familiar. 

Finally though, after twenty minutes of chaos, it became a short waiting game to go to a STAT chest CT. Cliff and Elliot were left alone in their curtained off corner. Cliff was incredibly overwhelmed and scared, and also felt guilty when he saw Elliot's worried expression. "Sorry," he breathed weakly, searching for Elliot's hand. His grip was weak. Elliot tightened his own for both of them. The oxygen mask Cliff had on muffled his voice. "What's happening?" He asked, eyes filling with tears.

"I don't know baby, but we're in the right place," Elliot said, trying to keep his voice calm despite how scared he was. He couldn’t freak out now, not when Cliff was the one who was on the gurney. "They're gonna figure it out,” he reassured his fiance. “You’ll be fine.”

"Don't leave me," Cliff said shakily. He was scared, too. His fever and confusion made it impossible for him to put up a strong front for Elliot’s sake like he usually would. The sight of him made Elliot want to cry. He looked so sick.

"I'm not going anywhere,” Elliot promised him firmly.

"Good..." Cliff let his eyes close and he seemed to fall asleep for a bit until a porter came to take him to CT. Cliff tried to hold on to Elliot's hand as long as possible, but Elliot wasn't allowed to come into the actual CT room with him. "I don't wanna go," Cliff whispered to Elliot. Elliot had never seen him look so fearful. He wanted badly to send the porter away, but it wasn't an option. Elliot knew Cliff needed this test. They had to get to the bottom of this.

“It’ll be fast,” the porter tried to reassure Cliff kindly. Cliff refused to let go of Elliot’s hand.

"I'll be here waiting. Don't you worry,” Elliot said. His voice was shaking, but he tried to sound confident. Finally, Cliff nodded and let go. He disappeared between a thick set of double doors and was gone.

Elliot waited back in the curtained-off ER bay, his leg shaking up and down nervously. He wondered if he should contact Moira, but he didn't want to worry her when there was nothing she could do about it from all the way in California. On the other hand, there was no one else who really knew about Cliff's illness in such an intimate way. Plus, she was Cliff’s only family that was worth notifying. He decided to text her - that way if she was asleep, he wouldn't wake her up.

'Cliff's got a bad fever. We're in the ER.' He'd only just sent the text when there was a loud announcement over the hospital-wide speaker system. 

"Code blue to CT room 2, code blue to CT room 2."

Elliot dropped his phone in shock. CT. That was where Cliff was. Maybe it wasn't him, he hoped - but Elliot didn't need any confirmation to know that it just had to be. Everything went blank after that. Cliff couldn't be dead. They were going to get married after all. He sat there in a daze for a long time until a nurse came and told him Cliff was in the ICU. He was intubated, but alive. They led him up to the room in a daze. "We called his parents, but they said they don't live nearby. Do you know if they'll be coming soon?" 

"They won't," Elliot said blankly. 

"Oh... We'll have to talk to the social worker, then. We need his next of kin to sign some consent forms for him..."

Elliot's hands balled into a fist. They'd talked about doing power of attorney paperwork before but had never gotten to it. Plus, Elliot had figured it wouldn't be needed anytime soon, at least not before they got married. Now he regretted waiting, just like he regretted letting Cliff talk him into waiting for him to be "healthy enough so that it doesn't look like I'm dying" in their wedding pictures. Elliot had laughed then and agreed. It didn't seem funny at all now. 

Part 3: Coma

[scienceoftheidiot]

WIP Wednesday Friday

I do what I want

So I'm still working through the monster fic that is "dismissed Roy" and this fic starts each new chapter and change of POV with a small header that serves as a flashback to a specific moment, letting you glimpse what happened between Promised Day and the start of the fic. And this morning I had an idea for one of those flashbacks but. Like. This is not a header this is almost a fucking chapter by itself, it's so long 😅 oops, nevermind. I mean the fic will soon be 100K, has 10K chapters, so what if a header is a little too long 🤷🏻‍♀️

Anyway have a small part of it. They've made a deal: if Riza helps Roy, she has to allow him to help her, too. Harder said than done.

The white sound of the water fills Riza's ears. The Colonel - Roy, come on, he can't be anything else while they're sitting down in their pyjamas in his bathroom and he's getting ready to try and help her wash her hair with actual water for the first time in weeks - Roy tests the water by her side, running it on his forearm until he's satisfied with the temperature. "May I?" "I think I already gave you permission," she smiles, a nervous smile, why is she so nervous, why is she even here?

Roy nods, and his thigh presses more against her shoulder while he slowly extends his free hand towards her face. One of his fingers brushes her nose, and he pauses to interpret what he's touching before he course corrects.

Riza's eyes can't leave his face. She can't really tell what this air of serious concentration on his features does to her, but she takes it in. It makes something inside her swirl - it always has. She likes when he looks like that. It's the look that had her swear to follow him anywhere. He still looks like he could topple anything that stood in his way. It's reassuring. She'll keep on following him. That has not changed.

Roy's fingertips finally sit lightly on her brow, and he brings the water to her hair. "Temperature okay?" "Yes. Sir." Roy nods again, still incredibly focused, and brings the shower head yet closer, his hand on her head gingerly combing through her hair, letting it get wet. They're both silent. Him, obviously concentrating on his touch, her, hesitating between trying to close her eyes and relax or watching him while he works. She doesn't close her eyes.

[bendingwind]

🖋️ for Friday! :)

I couldn't decide which story to go with so I'm going with two excerpts :D

Adult!Toshiro/Byakuya, from the prologue, which takes place about three years before the story:

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

Spring crossed into summer. Toshiro was hot and grouchy and too tall and very clumsy, to his great dismay.

“My my, you do look older,” old man Kyouraku said one day, which was how Toshiro learned that all his hopes had been in vain, and Matsumoto had been gossiping.

“What’s the pot?” he demanded when he arrived back at his squad’s headquarters. Matsumoto looked up at him from her desk, where she had been doing paperwork for once, with a practiced innocent smile.

“The what, Captain?” she had asked.

“The pot, Matsumoto,” he growed. To his great dismay, his voice cracked, ruining any threatening effect he might have hoped to have had.

Matsumoto gave a valiant show of trying to keep a straight face, but in the end she collapsed into giggles. Toshiro crossed his arms and scowled at her.

“I’m not allowed in on it, since I have insider information,” Matsutmoto admitted at last, once her fit was over.

“You had Lieutenant Hisagi place your bets for you, didn’t you?” Toshiro demanded.

“That would be cheating!” she said, but she winked.

“Well?”

Matsumoto lowered her voice to an annoying stage whisper. 

“There are a lot of theories, but mine is that you have a crush,” she said.

Toshiro flinched with his entire body.

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

Rukia/Renji pre-academy (maybe discussion of underage sex, depending on whether you consider them to have been underage at this point or not. Nothing graphic. Proceed accordingly.)

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

“Okay,” Renji said, his head in his hands.

“That was bad,” Rukia agreed, perched on the decrepit porch beside him, “but I bet we can do better.”

“Don’t tell me you seriously want to, to keep trying after, after that,” Renji said, mortification dripping from his words. “I didn’t even--”

“We’ll ask around,” Rukia interrupted, not particularly interested in dwelling on that herself. “Someone will know what to do. I could just as easily be the problem.”

Renji groaned aloud.

“You’re going to ask every single person we know until we make this work, aren’t you,” he asked. Even his ears had turned red with shame where they poked out above his hands, Rukia noticed. Under other circumstances, it would have been hilarious.

“At least I finally found something you’re bad at,” she said, trying to distract him.

“Fuck off,” he said. “You didn’t exactly excel yourself.”

Teeth had been involved. Rukia felt warmth rise in her own cheeks at the memory.

“Shut up,” she said, but she leaned into his side and wrapped an arm around behind him.

“It was just supposed to be fun, not a competition,” she said. As if anything between the two of them had been anything but a competition.

There wasn’t a lot else to do during the long early autumn months when food was plentiful and easy to come by, after all. Most of their friends, and the other kids they’d lived with over the years, picked it up as a pastime once they got old enough to be interested. Rukia had been old enough to be interested for years. She just… hadn’t really trusted anyone enough to give it a try.

She eyed the sun, still pretty high in the sky. 

“Hey Renji,” she said, pulling away just enough to jolt her shoulder against his side, “I bet I can make you, y’know, before you can make me.”

He lifted his head out of his hands to glare at her.

“Cannot,” he said.

“Can too,” she said.

“I’ll fuckin’-- show you!” he said, and Rukia grinned at him.

There was no possible way that she didn’t come out of this a winner.