#she’s looking behind herself in this case

[star2fishmeg]

CONGRATS ON 1K 🥳

Could I request Quinn Hughes helping reader through a stress breakdown + #13?

Thank you for requesting <3

FLUFF #13 "You came." "You called."

📞 dialling…

Quinn had never gripped his steering wheel harder in his life. Never had been so impatient and desperate to get back to his apartment before. He’d never burst through the front door, dumping his bags and almost tripping through his hallway like he had after he saw the notification back in the rink’s locker room. The second he opened his phone after practice and saw her name on the ‘missed call’ notification, his stomach dropped drastically, and all clothing and equipment was shoved into his bag without much care.

Following the sniffling, he peered into his living room, slowly and quietly stepping closer to y/n curled up on his sofa, as if she were trying to melt into the back cushions from how tight she had pressed herself against them, like she was trying to get as far away from her laptop that sat on his table behind her and curl up into a ball. He thought for a second that the way she had positioned herself, she didn’t want to look at the device she usually would be working from when he got home, her eyes red and wide, wet with glistening cheeks, choked sobs falling from her chest staggered.

Taking a seat next her, lips pulled into a compassionate frown, Quinn wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her onto his lap and holding her to his chest, “Sshh, I’m here, darling, I’ve got you.”

For some reason, one she could not explain, she cried harder, a lump in her throat that was cured by wails and uncontrollable tears as she melted into his hold, tucking her head into his collarbone and letting his voice and hands sooth her. His heart ached, a sting in his chest as her hand clutched his hoodie.  

After allowing herself to fall into vulnerability, safe in his warmth, y/n sniffed, eyes bleary and grip on his hoodie loosening. Quinn’s hands remained soft, caressing over her back and placing gentle kisses to her head. 

“You came?” she croaked, voice only loud in the silence of the apartment. 

His hold tightened, wiping her cheek with his thumb and gazing softly into her eyes, “You called, why wouldn’t I come?” 

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry I…I know not to call when you…you’re at practice but, but-” the words seemed to blurt out into breathless sobs, the kind that had her ugly crying where strings of saliva coated her lips, and she sniffed every few seconds to spare the embarrassment of getting mucus all over him. 

“No, no. It’s okay, you can call me whenever you need.” He cooed, leaning back into the cushions. 

He didn’t need to ask what she meant; they’d been together so long he just knew. She would never call him during practice unless it was an emergency. Not that he’d pick up until he’d re-enter the locker room, but y/n had a stone pride, a fear of asking for help and case of responsibility she felt obliged to even when she wasn’t. Being a hard-worker and carrying a weight were two different things and she couldn’t tell the difference, which led to situations like Quinn had walked in on. Y/n wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t out of desperation and the only time she ever called was when the weight of her stress crushed her into a mental and emotional collapse.

The sobbing gradually dulled into sniffing, y/n staring into space while he stroked her hair, “Do you wanna talk about it? Or I can run a bath with the candles? Or we can just cuddle and watch something?” 

She didn’t ask a lot from him. Just to be held when she needed him the most and to let her hold him. And that intimacy was enough for her heart to slow into a peaceful rhythm.

“It’s too much, Quinn.” Her voice was strained, cheeks hot from her outburst. Yet, he didn’t know how long she’d been crying and panicking for until she called, and that pained him the most. “There’s so much work to do and so little time, but if I don’t do it, I’ll let everyone down and they’ll hate me and I’ll lose my job and-”

“-and you don’t have to do it alone. Why don’t we take a bath, cuddle on the couch and we can talk it through?” 

She’d never met a gentler man in her life. She’d seen him tussle on the ice, throw a punch or two but that never made it outside the rink. He never raised his voice, never left any argument unresolved and his voice was always softer with her, whether he knew it or not. His arms, his warm and inviting arms paired with him knowing exactly what she needed without her saying a word broke away the distress chip by chip.

Shaking her head wearily, her lip quivered, “No, Q, you don’t have to go through all that, I can handle it, I swear. You’ve got your own things, I’m just overreacting, I’m fine, it’s fine. Yeah.”

“Y/n, look at me.” Quinn pulled her away from his chest, hand cupping her cheek and bringing her head to look him in his eyes. “Breathe. You’re not going to do this alone. I’m here for you and I love you, I will do whatever it takes to make you feel better, okay?”

She nodded, his thumb wiping away any excess tears. She swallowed the lump in her throat, breathing in for five seconds and exhaling for another five, just as Quinn taught her. Soft lips pressed to her temple, and she gave a small smile, leaning against his chest once again.

[absoluteocellibehavior]

WOUGH- Alright, fellas. Alright, let's wipe away the tears and push through! While I usually leave the music up to Potato Lord, might I recommend "Remember Me" by Thomas Bergersen for this particular read. To be honest, I've flipped back and forth between whether or not to see Faroe as The Fool or The World but, yes. The World fits her the best. The World is a continuous cycle of completion and new beginnings. I find it evident to revisit something said in Noel's card analysis:

Faroe is a constant presence in the narrative of Malevolent, representing and bordering the cycles and arcs within it. This is represented by the continuous wreath around Faroe as well as the borders of Faroe's song on the outside of it. While this wreath is usually laurels, they are Forget-Me-Nots in this case. This especially hurts for many reasons. Firstly, we know that Arthur carries that guilt over Faroe with him. He won't forget her. She is his guiding light (quite literally as we learn from Malam) and continues to motivate Arthur to keep going. This is evident in episodes like Coda, where memories of Faroe are the things that are keeping Arthur fighting for his life. Secondly, if you weren't aware, the patrons were given three options during the chapters of Part 40 I for Arthur to have written down to "forget" before heading into the Order. These being 1.) forgetting meeting John, 2.) forgetting meeting Oscar, or 3.) forgetting about the duck pond. We are well aware of what was chosen. Arthur won't forget her. And I believe that Oscar would have been willing to take on that sacrifice if he knew and was given the choice himself. Notice the teeny, teeny, little star on Faroe's cardigan. Near her heart chakra. Both Faroe and Oscar are incredibly empathetic, compassionate, and forgiving which are all aligned with this chakra in particular. It was discussed previously, about the parallels between everyone in the cards looking in particular directions. John and Arthur are looking upward. Noel and Oscar are looking downward into their respective pools. Kayne sees through it all and directly at us (he is aware of us listening, you know <3. Just listen to Part 20 again <33. All of that "determinist" stuff he tells Arthur? Yeah. Referring to those silly little votes each chapter). And Faroe is looking away. For The World, this represents looking into the past while your body is moving forward to the future. Faroe, herself, is suspended in both worlds. While her physical being and presence is something of the past, she still remains a key figure in the present. She looks back to Arthur shining brightly with the echoes of John behind him. Something akin to tears rain from the Moon, disturbing the still waters and memories of Faroe. It's not a bad thing. No. Remember that Arthur is honoring her memory by knowing that his life is still worth living. He lives for her still and she is with him always. To me, this focuses much on the transition from Season Four to Season Five. Season Four is where Arthur shined the most, leaving John mostly in the dark. This is in the past now as the Moon hangs high within the wreath. Now we step into a new beginning where it is John's time to learn and time to grow. This is certainly shown in his acceptance of him being something entirely his own during the encounter with the Hag. Outside of the wreath of Forget Me Nots, you see the Sun shining brightly and hanging above.

Well, doesn't that look familiar... <3. The Sun represents hope and joy. The prospect of what they have to do for Kayne in Season Five is difficult and conflicting in of itself. Miles to go... However, there can be the tiniest bit of hope that maybe. Just maybe. The next time their cycle completes, three pairs of feet step through instead. That finally, like Faroe's favorite story, all three of them are able to cross that bridge into the next chapter.

XXI The World

I love you so (I love you, too)

pssstt sheet music reference from @kkachis btw <3

[kyunniebuns]

˗ˏˋ Entry : 055 - Big Brother! Sylus x Little Sister! Reader ◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ ˎˊ˗

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚ 𝕊𝕪𝕝𝕦𝕤 ˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

‼️[ tw: contains some spoilers for his myth except i dont fully understand but all ik is waw dragon man ayeeee. Child abuse mentioned as well as human trafficking. Murder and body horror. pure fluff ending btw....]‼️

╰┈➤ ❝ [ Hush Little Bird, Brother is Here to Keep You Safe ] ¡! ❞

Sylus had finally awaken from a long and tiring slumber that felt like he would be asleep for an eternity. But somehow he had awaken... In a body of a child.

His tall and proud body reduced to a bunch of stick and bones. He's wearing an oversized white shirt. He takes a deep sigh and decides to look at his reflection on a puddle.

Surely enough, he still has the bloody crimson eyes and the same silver hair except his masculine body is that of an 12-year old's.

Great.

Just great.

He died a miserable death in the arms of his beloved and yet here he is in the body of a child.

How the hell is he supposed to survive in this case?

"...."

Sylus takes a deep sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose.

He needs to figure out what the hell to do before setting off to look for his dearest.

He'll figure it out.

He has to.

꒰ .... ꒱

Sylus managed to figure out how the world works through some snooping and watching other mortals go about their days. He figures out that the 'city' he resides in is known as the n109 zone. It's an underground city similar to the slums of his time full of crime and well... Danger.

Not that he's afraid of course.

Sylus had already managed to make a living through street fights and occasionally stealing from oblivious passerbys.

What else can he do for now anyway?

It's demeaning in his honor as a proud dragon who once guarded a cave of luxuries but he needs to live.

This city he's in leaves everyone struggling in it's murky alleys.

It was either he succumbs to it's mercy or he overcomes everything as the topdog.

Survival is his priority if he wants to find that person again. He needs to make a name for himself and secure money in order to live in this brutal world where anything and everything is after his throat.

Cough... Cough....

He hears small sounds coming from behind a slanted signboard abandoned on the side of the alleyway. It sounded like it comes from a little girl.

Against his logic to leave it alone incase it might be a catfish pretending to be a helpless child— Sylus cautiously approaches the sign board and peers underneath it.

And there, he finds a little girl all ruffled up with her hair sticking everywhere, dressed in a makeshift adult shirt covered in grime and dirt.

Sensing his snooping, she lifts her tiny little face and looks up at him with her wide and tired beady eyes.

"...." Sylus stares back at her for a while before reaching behind him and handing her a pack of crackers.

After that, he just gets up and leaves her be.

What good is there to bring deadweight on you? She's a child, she'll be a hindrance to him. Giving her some food should sustain her enough to survive a few more days.

꒰ .... ꒱

Maybe he shouldn't have helped the little girl back then.

It's been three days since she started following him around whenever he's out to pickpocket or get into street fights to make some money.

She's a stubborn one.

But a clever little girl too.

She knows how to utilize her small body well to hide herself from the adults and everyone else. She never once got him into a tricky situation.

Oddly enough, Sylus had a feeling she knew more of the city than he did since she always manages to pop up anywhere he is and disappear just as fast whenever she senses danger.

At least he doesn't have to worry about her getting mixed up into the mess he gets himself into.

... Why is he worried about her anyway?

Ugh.

Anyway.

Sylus just finished one of his matches and secured a hefty sum as well as some food to sustain himself with.

Humans in this age are really fragile bastards. How come they're shitty at even the most basic fight? Their fighting forms are all over the place and it's pure bullshit they call themselves proud fighters!

They mind as well frolic in the arena waving their stupid delusions of being top fighters.

It irritates him to no end that they are no match eve a twelve-year-old's body but atleast he has it easier in building himself a name in this shitty place.

"You're here again, sweetie" Sylus said coolly as he lifted a cardboard box where the little girl was hiding herself in while watching him fight. "Aren't you scared someone might sit down on this wobbly box and crush your cute little body?"

"..." She starts giggling as she shows him a toothy smile with a missing front tooth.

'Does she think I'm playing with her?' Sylus thought as he watched her jump in her steps when she stood up and took his hand with her smaller ones.

The little girl started dragging him by his hand and leading him somewhere.

"You..." Sylus sighs and lets himself be dragged by her.

He followed her through winding alleyways and even went so far as entering a pipe just hanging in the backside of the tall buiding of n109 zone. When they came out of the dripping and dark pipe, they arrives at a makeshift base made in a withered and empty building.

It's lightsource is nothing more than a flickering light bulb and the contents of the little fort held up by sticks is a small blanket serving as a bed and a ruined bunny plush that is covered in dirt and dust.

"!!!!" She rummages on a box she had stashed under the blankets and pulls out a piece of bread then offers it to Sylus with twinkling eyes. "Brother... Eat!!!"

He was quite for a little while, scrunching his nose at her little action.

Regardless, he takes it and takes a small bite out of it before shoving the bread to her little mouth.

"Much appreciated, sweetheart" He said, glancing at her with less hostile crimson orbs. "But I'd rather you eat this."

Sylus made sure she finished the food before laying down on the makeshift bed, crossing his arms behind his bed.

He didn't have shelter yet, and since the little girl was so kind and naive enough to lead him to her hideout— What else should he do but rest? He has a lot to do tomorrow and he cant go around sleeping on the streets like he usually did.

So mind as well, right?

꒰ .... ꒱

In contrary to his previous thoughts, he ended up taking care of the little girl who always followed him around quietly or running behind him calling him "Brother, brother!" with that awfully cute voice of hers.

She's just like a stray kitten that he can't shake off no matter what he did.

Does he push her away? A few days back he would have, but now?

Yeah. No.

Absolutely Not.

It's another day of pickpocketing and petty street fights.

Sylus knew his shenanigans are going to catch up to him, but does it have to be so soon?

"Ack!" Sylus groans as he was hit with a pipe straight to his stomach.

He curls himself on the floor, panting heavily as he tries to school himself.

'These... Bastards!' He curses at them repeatedly in his head.

The fuckers followed him all the way to the back alley and ganged up on him in revenge for humiliating them in the previous fights.

"Fucking little shit" One of the men scowls, inhaling his smoke then stomping it out on the floor after blowing it out while his face is black and blue from being hit by Sylus earlier. "That son of a bitch put up a fight despite already being tired. What the fuck is he anyway? A fucking monster?"

"Shit, that must be it" Another sneers, kicking Sylus's stomach when he was already down. "What should we do with the bitch anyway?"

"Break his fucking legs, maybe even cut off his arms"

They laugh wickedly at that, making Sylus feel more pissed off at them.

"B-brother!" He hears a familiar voice crying out for him.

"What the hell?!" Another one of the group grabs the girl by yanking her back by her hair. "Why is there another rat here?"

"She's young?" The main perpetrator moves forward, ignoring Sylus's hand that grabbed his ankle to try and stop him.

"Don't touch her!" Sylus yells desperately, coughing out blood when his head was slammed down on the pavement.

"Must be his sister?" The one holding his head down laughs.

"Nah, I see no resemblance, this bitch looks like trash" The head man yanks the little girl's face. "She's around 5 or six? Maybe even younger? Either way, she'd fetch a good price at the black market"

"!!!!" She wriggles out of his hand and bites it, causing the fucker to pulls his hand out and hiss at the sharp pain.

"Fucking dipshit! She's just like that brother of hers!"

Sylus's eyes widened when he saw the same hand raise itself— About to hit her.

'Wake up.'

'Wake up.'

'WAKE UP'

'I'M TELLING YOU TO FUCKING WAKE UP!'

Boom.

An explosion suddenly resounded in the otherwise decrepit alleyway.

The hand that was holding Sylus down exploded, blood splatter painting the walls and falling onto his dirty silver hair.

He stands up, breathing heavily as crimson black wisps covered himfrom head to toe. Blood dribbles from his mouth to his chin, creating a wicked image with his bloodshot eyes.

The men attempt to scatter and call for help, but they only ended up having heads either severed or their limbs exploding.

He raises a hand towards the fucker that tried to hurt his dearest little sister.

"You..." He snarls, his red eyes overflowing with absolute malice. "I don't give a fuck even if you kidnap me to beat the living shit out of me, but involving my little sister who has nothing to do with anything crosses the line."

And with that, the man's head with suddenly explode into nothingness and his body would flop on the floor with a thump.

Blood puddles beneath him as the dead men spill out what they had in them from the injuries he gave them.

Sylus was in great pain.

Regardless, he stumbles towards the little girl he calls his family and tugs her to his chest.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Oh I'm so sorry" Sylus breathes heavily, stroking her head lovingly and placing kisses on her hair. "Brother is sorry, I should've awakened earlier. I'm so sorry."

"Brother... Wahhh!!..." Her loud sobs pierces at his heart, opting Sylus to hold her even tighther.

"Sshh..." He hushes her lovingly. "Brother is here, baby bird. It's alright"

He can't continue on like this.

He needs to be stronger and better.

Not just for the sake of the beloved he is looking for, but for this little girl who clings onto him so weakly.

This sweet little thing who still calls him her family despite the monster that he is.

He isn't really human even, but this girl loves him as a little sibling would for an older brother.

What can he do but to pamper her and shield her away from everything?

And so, he holds her against him, soothing the sweet little thing he calls his beloved sister.

꒰ .... ꒱

Through the years, Sylus rose in the ranks and soon enough was crowned as the Onychinus leader. He became the rightful leader that he should be with all the wealth and power he can flaunt as much as he pleased.

He raised his little sister along with the struggles he went through.

She didn't have to be involved in the bloody things he does, so it's alright that she herself is just hiding away in his home safe from the dangers of the n109 zone.

He is comforted as long as he knows she is safe and sound.

Sylus made sure no one touches her or even aware of her existence as his family.

So, he managed to live a peaceful life with his little sister who often banters with him for fun.

If there's anyone who can be outright shameless and call him insulting names— It's his baby sister who can do it without fearing for her head to be flying.

"Bastard Santa"

"Old man onychinus"

"Walmart edgelord santa claus"

"If only everyone knew that the leader they all fear is shit at singing"

... Yep, totally shameless.

But does he do anything? Nope.

He just teases her back and pinch her cheek as a form of revenge for each insult she throws out to him.

Right now, he was accompanying his little sister in linkon city for their weekly outings. She was quite sickly and fresh air is a need for someone like her with a weak body.

And what better way to do that than to take her out to Linkon since the air here is much more cleaner?

The colors in the city are also brighter, lifting anyone's mood despite the fact he absolutely detests the sunlight.

"So I managed to pull a new five star in the game yester...day." Her voice drifts off as she passes by a tall man.

She turns her little head to the stranger, glancing back at the tall back wearing a black coat over his broad shoulders. His hair is neat and the ebony black locks made him captivating, underneath those black locks are a pair sharp and charming hazel-green eyes behind rectangular glasses that gave him an air of sophistication and maturity.

His features are sharp and extremely handsome, not as intense as her brother's but still giving off this ethereal air to him. He's beautiful with the small bump on his nose, but not as prominent as Sylus's nose bump.

The stranger's gaze is cold but alluring, almost captivating even.

So captivating that she doesn't realize the fact that she is holding her breath.

Sensing her gaze, the man politely nods at her— Causing her to be a bit flustered and nod back before turning back to Sylus.

"Something catch your eye, sweetheart?" Sylus cocks an eyebrow up as his sister suddenly clung onto his arm.

"No, no!" She shakes her head, bashfully hiding her expression with her hair.

"... Is it a handsome man?" He teases, nudging her gently causing a pout on her lips to form. "What? You always tease your brother when it comes to his girlfriend, why can't I have a bit of fun when my baby sister finds someone attractive?"

"...I'm telling Rei-unnie about this!" She spites at Sylus who always chuckles, amused at her little tantrum and then ruffles her hair up with his free hand up.

"Don't grow up too fast, baby sister. Brother isn't willing to walk you down the aisle and hand you off to someone else" Sylus said affectionately, earning him a soft punch from her.

"Oh don't be so dramatic! If you're so upset about the idea then go and propose to Rei-unnie!"

"Help me pick up a ring then?"

"Buy me plushies after~"

꒰ 🪼 A/N: //Gasp!!!. Kyunnie posted twice for a day???!!! Omgg!!!!! Hahah jk x3!!! I was hit with inspiration because I've been daydreaming about being Sylus's baby sister for quite a while now!!!~~~ I'm always rambling to my mootie about this idea because I like the idea of being Sysy's baby sis who roasts him everyday heheh!!! I even sneaked in Zaynie//giggles. My hubbyyy~~~~ Should I make a fic where the other three lads men date sysy's lil sis 🤔🤔🤔. Maybe? Heheh٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡. Soon, one day>:3!!! ꒱

ʚ(੭´͈ ᐜ `͈)੭ .｡✧: ~ —! stories written by kyunnie; translations, reposts, plagiarism are strictly forbidden.

[sturniololuv08]

TreeHouse Prologue

Summary: A glimpse at what is to come...

"The sharpest pain is often caused by the people we love the most." 

"I think I want to be Barbie." She giggled.

Chris sat upwards in a semi-ab crunch to look at her. "Barbie is a dumb choice." He rested his head back down on his interlocked fingers. He inhaled the earthy smell of the freshly cut wood surrounding them from top to bottom and side to side.

"But she's so pretty." Sienna sat cross-legged, gently stroking her Barbies' bleached hair. She fiddled with her pink frilly dress and sighed.

"Be a transformer. At least they have a purpose." Chris scoffed. He wanted to be openly honest with her and tell her how he thought she was prettier than Barbie but decided against it.

"Barbie is useful. My mommy said she is a tool used to empower women." Sienna nodded her head, proud to know that information. Even though she had no idea what it truly meant, she liked sounding smart.

"Nessie." Chris groaned, annoyed. He also didn't know what that meant. He rolled over to look at his best friend. She looked up from her Barbie with big brown doe eyes. "At least transformers have handguns." Chris was ready to fight his case. He playfully pointed finger guns at her and popped them off, making 'pow' noises. "See. Now your Barbie is dead."

"Oh, shut up." Sienna stuck her tongue out at her annoying best friends.

"Kids, it's time for dinner!" They both looked up in the direction of the wooden window to see the sky painted a dull, darkening blue outside. The old Christmas lights half hanging from the ceiling cast a soft false white glow on both of them. Neither of them realized what time it was.

"The last one down is a rotten egg." Chris stood up fast and shoved her back down to the ground when she was about halfway up as he ran by her.

"No fair! You're cheating." Sienna frowned, getting up again. Chris was quick to position himself down the ladder and took one rung at a time hastily.

"You're just slow, Nessie," Chris yelled back up. Nessie peered down the hatch and tucked her Barbie in the corner of the tree house. She slowly took one step at a time down the ladder, upset she wasn't as fast as Chris. He waited for her at the bottom of the rope frame, holding it steady for her. As soon as she hopped off and her feet were in the cold, dewy grass, Chris propelled his body forward toward the house. "I told you!" He laughed. Sienna didn't want to give up without a fight, so she tried to play catch up but was still behind.

"You are so mean, Chr -" Sienna stopped talking when she walked through the door frame. She looked upwards to see her parents talking with Chris' parents. Her parents looked apologetic and his; angry.

"Chris, can't stay for dinner tonight." Her parents tried to sound nice about it.

"Why not? We were supposed to play Transformers after dinner." Sienna whined. She tucked her arms and began to pout.

"It's okay, Nessie. We can play tomorrow." Chris smiled one of his classic big cheesy smiles.

"Promise?" She huffed.

"Secret handshake promise." Chris looked at her with happy eyes. She immediately dropped her angry stance and started smacking, clapping, and even kicking their handshake. They ended it on her favorite move, where Chris would princess twirl her. He hated it, but she insisted she had to have the princess twirl. If she couldn't be Barbie, she was going to be a real-life princess. Her parents were smiling in awe as their babies got along so well. His parents looked irritated.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Sienna waved as Chris followed his parents out the door.

"Bye, Nessie." Chris waved back with the big smile he usually had around her.

The next day, Sienna asked about Chris relentlessly. She had her parents call him over what seemed like a thousand times. She waited by the front door, hoping to see their car pull up or to see him trotting down the sidewalk, which was rare before. She would go and sit in the treehouse by herself, hoping his head would pop up through the hole in the floor and scare her like he loved to do. She waited. Chris never came back. The next day was the same routine of waiting, looking around, and having her parents call his. She waited and waited for him, but she was met with disappointment.

A whole week went by with no word.

Then, a long, lonely month had passed.

She thought it was because he didn't want to be friends anymore.

After every month that passed, she worried less and less about it. She got used to spending alone time in the tree house. She started to get herself to believe he moved away after school started up again and he wasn't in any classes. She would play Barbies and Transformers by herself in the tree house. Even though she pretended not to care, she still looked for him at lunch and during recess. She even hoped he would miraculously show up at their bus stop one day.

It wasn't until Chris missed her 11th birthday party that she realized it was time to give up on him.

She gave up.

She stopped going in the tree house.

She made new friends and began to grow up without her childhood best friend by her side. She started playing sports and excelling in Language Arts. She had a few fights with her parents about personal space. Those very fights made her think about going up to the rotting tree house one more time, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she slammed her bedroom door in frustration.

She was becoming a young woman learning to navigate her life. But deep down, she held onto the little girl who would sit cross-legged in a pink frilly dress that almost matched the Barbie she once held in her hands. She felt a little heart-string break every time she would envision the little boy with blonde hair shifting into brown with a big toothy smile laying down on the fuzzy carpet, staring up at her with icy blues. She didn't think about him often, but when she did, she always hoped he was still a big goofball like the nine-year-old she knew once. She only had one regret, one thing she would have done differently if she could have.

She wished she had known that he was going to disappear that night because if she had known then what she knew now, she would have twirled a few more times under his arm just to make the memory last a few seconds longer.

Treehouse Taglist: @trevorsgodmother @mintsturniolo @wysmols

Random taglist: @chrislilcumslvt @matthewslover @middlepartmatt @thenickgirl @miss-sturn @christophersmiddlefinger @chrisswife4lf @blushsturns @lovesturni0l0s @delusionalbri @abbilmao @sturnshood @sturnkial @sturniolowhore @chrissweetheart

Dividers ALWAYS @issysh3ll (fucking babe)

**This Fic Series will NOT be for people with triggers. This Fic Series will have very descriptive moments of abuse.**

Please Read At Your Own Risk.

[specialagentartemis]

discussing with @ontologicalsynaesthesia as we watched Return of the King: I don’t quite remember how it’s presented in the books, but in the movie, Théoden doesn’t want Éowyn to fight for the normal sexist reasons but also because he tells her that she’s needed back in Rohan, to be a leader to the people who are staying in Rohan while the men ride out to fight. And like… he has a point! That’s a very important job! Théoden the king and Éomer his nephew and now his heir are both riding out to battle in Gondor against a larger and better armed fighting force of Evil; Rohan needs a leader who’s strong, brave, and respected to stay behind with the people, and to take over and rule in the very real possibility that all the Riders of the Mark get slaughtered in battle against the Orcs. And Théoden is recognizing that Éowyn has that capacity! If Gondor falls—and it very likely may have if Aragorn hadn’t managed to recruit the Army of the Dead—Rohan is right next door and the armies of Mordor certainly won’t leave them alone. They’ll need a leader to look to in that case, and if the whole royal family is wiped out, that’s a very bad sign in a world where the Divine Right Of Kings is very real.

Éowyn rides with the army of Rohan into battle at Gondor, of course… but it makes me wonder, who did she leave in charge back in Rohan? Éowyn you are cool and brave and I love you but Éowyn your country! Your people! Who’s left in charge. (I‘m sure Éowyn has more cousins—Théoden had four sisters, one of whom was Éowyn and Éomer’s mother—but Éowyn and Éomer were adopted by Théoden after their parents died and was the main one involved in royal politics and an obvious choice for acting queen)

I totally get Éowyn, living in this culture, wanting to be recognized as a warrior and a rider and to win renown and respect with courage and strength and true-heartedness because that is what’s valued here, and to join the battle for the fate of the world because like it’s also true that if Gondor falls to Mordor what’s Rohan realistically gonna be able to do after that anyway. But also who’s looking after your people Éowyn!!

(anyway now I want a story about Éowyn’s cousin… let’s call her Eadthryd… who hasn’t really been involving herself with family royal politics because Théodred and Éomer and Éowyn were obviously the heirs… who is now left behind to defend and rally the people of Rohan and prepare for the worst if the Riders don’t come back…)

[trrenchertrash]

The initial tag is mine. The issue is that episode 7 is not about Ekko “learning to trust” an “ideal version of Powder.” It’s about Ekko being reminded who she is. It’s about him realizing that Jinx is still the girl he loves/trusts/remembers from when they were kids. That’s why we’re seeing him bond with AU Powder and that’s why we don’t need to see him do it again with Jinx, because the point is that she’s the same person.

You’re right that it doesn’t develop Jinx, but again, it’s not supposed to. Episode 7 is about Ekko and the way he sees/feels about Jinx. Jinx has been developed all season long and doesn’t need that time the way that Ekko, who has been missing for an entire arc, needs it.

The biggest problem with this argument is that the show does in fact give us everything we need to know about Jinx and what gives her the hope she needs to move on. She tells Vi, “there’s no good version of me,” and then Ekko shows up and tells her, in not so many words, yes there is and I met her. Vi tells Jinx “maybe we can rewrite your story” without understanding that it’s too late for Jinx to go back. Her only way out is to move forward by leaving her past behind, which is exactly what Ekko and Powder talk about in e7 and what Ekko passes along to Jinx in that key moment. He says it’s never too late to build something new, and that he learned that from “someone worth building it for.” Then we see Jinx look at the Z Drive and see her little signature monkeys in there and THAT’S when she changes her mind. We’re supposed to understand that she understands what Ekko is saying to her here and that the reason she finds the strength to move forward is because Ekko is presenting her with proof that what she said to Vi isn’t true. She was wrong about herself, and that’s what changes her mind. We don’t need to see them talk it out in detail and honestly I’m glad we don’t because in this case I think less is more. I can’t imagine anything they could’ve written into Ekko’s mouth that would’ve been more powerful than what we got and I don’t see how anything more they could’ve written wouldn’t have come across fanfictiony and cheap.

It’s one thing to say you wish we got to see more or that you would’ve liked to see more, it’s another thing to criticize the show because it didn’t cater specifically to your desires. There’s no flaw in the storytelling here.

S2 skipping over Jinx and Ekko bonding, rallying zaunites together, and both realizing they can built a new future, motivating them to fight for Zaun is the equivalent of taking s1 ep9 or arcane, keeping it the exact same, except the dinner party scene happens off-screen and we just cut to Jinx blowing up the council.

[heaven-s-black-box]

Head Down- Jing Yuan x fem!Reader

Return to File

Recovery date: January 6th, 2025

Description: Hi I was just watching the first episode of the apothecary diaries and I had an idea, what if the reader was in a similar situation with Jing Yuan

Notes: This work was recovered in conjunction with an anonymous researcher, we thank them for their contributions. I took the whole, trying to keep to yourself but wanting to help and getting dragged in to stuff, aspect. Hope that's good enough.

Word count: 1 371

Back to directory

Survival is predicated on keeping your head down; at least that’s what Y/n has been taught.

It was how she’d made it through life so far, working hard through school and never going above and beyond, finding a quiet career as a waitress at the Sleepless Earl. Even her hobbies were fairly mundane.

Y/n stood in the kitchen, hugging her tray to her chest and watching the water boil as she made a new pot of tea for one of her tables. The door to the shop opened and closed, and there were heavy footsteps on the polished wooden floor. Her lips curled into a barely noticeable frown.

Cloud Knights rarely entered the shop, it was inconvenient in case they were called off for an emergency. Only once or twice had Cloud Knights come in, still armored, right after a shift.

She waited with baited breath for the footsteps to pass, to find a table inside, but luck was not on her side today.

“Excuse me, ma’am.” Y/n looked up from the water. “Can we speak with Ms. Mengming?”

“Ms. Mengming isn’t here today, but she left me in charge.” Unfortunately. “How can I help you?”

The Knights looked at eachother, having a silent conversation, and then addressed her again.

“Is there a way we can contact Ms.Mengming?”

“I can get you her number,” Y/n offered, not bothering to probe.

They agreed, and Y/n excused herself to the back; coming back with Mengming’s contact information scribbled on a note. Surely she would understand that Y/n had to interrupt her day off, though she did feel a little bad.

The Cloud Knights left, and Y/n assumed that would be the end of it.

It was not.

A week later Y/n showed up for her morning shift and was immediately met with a gossip circle in the break room.

“Y/n!” One of her co-workers called her over.

“What’s up?”

“What did the Cloud Knights want the other day?”

Y/n shrugged, putting her stuff in her locker. “They were looking for Mengming, I didn’t ask why.”

“That’s Y/n for you,” someone else commented, he was new so Y/n didn’t take it to heart.

Most of her co-workers appreciated her behavior, because she’d definitely caught them doing things they technically shouldn’t and she’d also gone above and beyond without credit to lessen their workloads. Because technically, one could live with their head down as long as they never got caught doing more than the bare minimum.

“Well the Cloud Knights are back, and they’re interviewing everyone individually.”

“I think I saw the General here too.”

“Why would the General be here?”

“Must be serious if he is.”

“Great,” Y/n mumbled.

Y/n was the first interviewed.

She’s barely started the first batch of snacks when Mengming called her into her office. The foxian bid her good morning with a reassuring smile and held the door open for her.

Even before stepping in, Y/n took note of the room. The only person in the room was, surprisingly, General Jing Yuan. Outside the door were two Cloud Knights on either side, and Mengming who excused herself to go help the rest of the staff.

Y/n nodded politely at the Cloud Knights before stepping into the office. The Cloud Knights closed the door behind her, and she stopped to stand behind the chair across from the General.

“General, is there anything I can help you with today?”

This was not the first time they’d met; Jing Yuan was a fan of the Sleepless Earl, and Y/n had been working here for quite a while.

“Please, sit.” Y/n did as she was told, crossing her hands in her lap. “Apologies for interrupting your day.”

“It’s alright, I’m sure the matter must be important if you’re here yourself.”

Jing Yuan laughed. “Always straight to the point.” The General leaned forward, lacing his hands on the desk. “Have you noticed any of your co-workers acting suspicious lately?”

“No.” Y/n bit the inside of her lip to stop herself from wincing, she’d answered too fast. “I mean, I don’t really pay attention to know what’s suspicious and what’s not.”

The General raised a brow, scrutinizing her lie.

You see, Jing Yuan is very perceptive. He has to be. He also likes to think he knows Y/n pretty well, so he does know that she definitely pays attention to the things going on around her. It’s very hard to pass unnoticed when you don’t know what the norm is.

“Y/n.”

“Yes?”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out two pieces of paper. One, a receipt from the Sleepless Earl with a note scribbled on it. She doesn’t need to read it, or see the second paper, to know what he’s getting at. The second paper, which she glances at anyway to confirm her suspicions, is a note.

Side by side, she wants to kick herself.

It is very clearly her handwriting both times, rushed but legible.

“If you have a tip what’s with the interviews? Surely the Cloud Knights can investigate on their own.”

“How did you figure it out?”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“A bit of an abuse of power, no? You’re disrupting our business for your own curiosity.”

“You wouldn’t have answered me otherwise, now, the sooner you answer the sooner we leave.”

Y/n sighed, setting her hands on the desk and leaning in.

“She’d unpacked a shipment of tea and ‘thrown out’ the shipment box saying it was damaged. Unfortunately for her, I’d already checked the shipment and knew it wasn’t damaged.”

“So you investigated.”

“No. What do you take me for, a PI? It was one box and I’d scratched off the approval seal, I do that with all our shipments. But she didn’t want it to get something past inspections, did she?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Y/n sat back, dragging her hands along the desk. It shouldn’t matter that Jing Yuan couldn’t tell her, she was already more involved than she liked to be. Survival was predicated on keeping your head down, and not getting involved with dangerous people– and anyone could be dangerous.

But, Y/n wasn’t the type to let injustices she could stop pass her by. That was why she was here, wasn’t it? Because she couldn’t keep to herself like her parents taught her to.

That was why she had packed that stupid note in Jing Yuan’s order of tea cakes to go.

“Is that all then?”

Jing Yuan nodded. “You’re free to go.”

She stood up, bowed politely, and left.

Her co-workers practically swarmed her, asking what to expect and what it was about. They were silenced when the office door opened again and Jing Yuan stepped out. He apologized to them for disrupting their day, and then Mengming escorted him and the Cloud Knights out.

Y/n watched them until the door to the shop closed.

The next day, one of her co-workers was arrested for the trafficking of illicit substances on the Luofu. Y/n had been half right, it didn’t matter that the boxes no longer had inspection seals because they were only being used to hold and move the substances within the Luofu. She’d had a feeling it involved illicit substances, she hadn’t mentioned anything to Jing Yuan but there had been more to her tip than just the boxes. 

Since she was using empty tea boxes, she would keep some of her wares around the Sleepless Earl. Y/n had taken great care to keep anyone else from finding out; it would be too much of a hassle. The Sleepless Earl would have to close during the investigation and everyone who worked here would be implicated. It would do more harm than good to report her.

As Y/n watched the news, her phone lit up with a text from an unknown number.

Unknown 8:16 AM I think we work well together I hope you’ll keep me updated in the future It’s a lot of effort to pull a stunt like yesterday, and it’s counter to your motto I do believe

[the-crooked-library]

I noticed something near the end of Dracula when Jonathan and Mina separate for a final time (so she can go to Dracula's castle), that a difference between Harker and Hutter is also near the end.

For context, several chapters earlier Jonathan gets two weapons “put these flowers round your neck”—here he handed to me a wreath of withered garlic blossoms—“for other enemies more mundane, this revolver and this knife;.

Then when Mina and Van Helsing are about to depart for their ride to the castle, Jonathan keeps the knife and gives the revolver to Mina. Even for me a large-bore revolver; Jonathan would not be happy unless I was armed like the rest.

I know the phallic analysis of the weapons in the book are overstated in scholarship but I think it's telling that Jonathan insists Mina to be armed with a big gun while he lets her go do what she wants without him. Thomas didn't arm her and likely wouldn't even it were suggested imo.

omg yes! That is definitely another detail that really stood out to me during my watch, and yet another reason I genuinely start getting annoyed whenever people conflate Thomas with Jonathan - because frankly, that is allowing Thomas to reap what Jonathan sowed, so to speak. I've seen a lot of people absolutely in love with him, and yet the traits they list as the reasons are none that he possesses; in fact, the great majority of them are in exact opposition to his canon personality, and this is one of them.

Don't get me wrong, I love Thomas as a character. I think he is quite sympathetic - and, on the Watsonian level, really trying his best; but at the same time, I think it is essential to acknowledge that he is deeply flawed, if only because on the Doylist level, these flaws are fundamental to his arc in the story. It is purely a question of structure and function; because, at the end of the day, he is a fictional character, and thus, a narrative component, rather than a person.

In this case, his choices prior to the vampire hunt provide the viewer with further evidence -> of an aspect of his characterization -> that acts as one of the driving forces behind the plot of Nosferatu. Specifically, he does not notice that Ellen is lying to him; he leaves her at home as he goes off to "fight"; he doesn't even consider arming her; and he does all these things because, even though he does care for Ellen, he never really thinks of her as a person.

Thomas doesn't notice that Ellen is lying, even though she is clearly nervous when she does it, because he doesn't know what she looks like when she's hiding something (I personally think it is because she masks around him, at least to some degree - throughout the film, he is uncomfortable every time she's honest). He doesn't bring her to the hunt because it doesn't occur to him that she could help with tracking down Orlok - despite him being aware now of her immense psychic abilities, despite Von Franz describing her as a native in a world he is only visiting. And, exactly as you said, he doesn't even think to leave her a weapon; because, even as he sets out on his "quest," even after she's told him of Orlok's obsession, even though the point of the hunt is apparently to "save" her, he doesn't consider the possibility of Orlok going after her.

Contrast that with Jonathan - who knows Mina so well that they can get concerned over three lines of writing, who works with Mina's brief psychic connection to Dracula in order to track him, and who arms Mina before the final fight, because he is not satisfied unless he can do everything in his power to ensure her safety. When it comes to their relationship, Mina's revolver, while not exactly phallic (seriously, why is that topic so overwrought?..), becomes a narrative symbol of his thoughtfulness.

The difference here is that, while Ellen is important to Thomas, this importance only extends insofar as she is his wife. He sees her as a responsibility, but never as herself; and, ultimately, he never actually considers her a factor that could conceivably affect his - or anyone's - decision-making. He plans their life without even asking what she wants from it, he neglects her emotional needs, and he leaves her like a sitting duck during the hunt, without a weapon or anyone to guard her. She continuously slips his mind, utterly inconsequential beyond whatever their surrounding society defines as her role and value; and Thomas, tragically, is unable to overcome this ingrained, rigid set of rules.

This is an essential aspect of his character - because, as stated previously, the plot wouldn't happen without it. If Thomas took Ellen's wants into consideration, he wouldn't have been so hell-bent on chasing a promotion, and he wouldn't have left her right after their honeymoon to go to another country, especially if she begged him to stay. If he knew her better, he would've picked up on the plan she made with Von Franz - or she would've told him!.. Most certainly, if he saw any real personhood in her, he wouldn't have dreamed of leaving her unarmed and undefended.

Nosferatu is about Ellen's continued systemic dehumanization. The point of the story is that every single human character contributes to it on some level, despite whatever love and best intentions they might have for her. It's about the inherent monstrousness of being othered by humanity, and Thomas is - inherently, narratively, crucially - human.

[aptbelle]

FOREST BOY

pairing: earthfairy!jun x female!reader

summary: y/n was a lonely little girl. she had no friends, just her imagination and the forest behind her home to get her through the day. the forest is where she’d run to to escape reality and day dream. one day, after running from her bullies, she meets a strange, yet charming boy, wen junhui. junhui shows her what lies deeper in the forest, and she is amazed. every single day, she goes to the forest just to see junhui, and they spend hours together. one thing y/n had noticed about junhui was that she never saw him outside of the forest, nor did he have any interest in leaving. they spend every day together until y/n has to go away for college. the news breaks junhui’s heart, and he goes away, which hurt y/n in return. four years later, y/n lands a job in her hometown, allowing her to come back home. she is excited to see junhui again, but he is nowhere to be seen, no matter how far in the forest she travels. however, she meets another boy, who is very similar to junhui, or so y/n thinks.

warnings: this story only includes jun and minghao! they are characters in this and not related to the ones irl. lower case intended! this story may have possible angst!

author’s note: this is a story i had started on wattpad a couple years ago, but i never published it. so i decided to continue it on here! i hope you enjoy! i am a student, so i will update as much as i can while juggling school.

next chapter: chapter 1

CHAPTER 0: PROLOGUE

THE branches on the ground crunched as 9 year old y/n ran farther away from the neighborhood. she could hear a group of girl's following her, which made her just want to go farther. she knew most of the forest like the back of her hand, but never really made it out this far.

"you can't run forever!" one of the girls from the group yelled, "i'll get you for tripping me!"

it's not like y/n intentionally meant to trip her, her foot was just in the wrong place in front of the wrong person.

she panted as she heard the voices of the girls grow louder. she looked behind her, and could see them coming after her.

not paying attention to whats in front of her, y/n felt herself knock into something, which caused her to fall back. she hit the ground with a loud thud.

"nrggh," she groaned as she propped herself up. she put her hand on her head and winced. her forehead was burning with pain, and seemed to be bleeding too.

"ow," she heard someone else say. she quickly turned around and saw a young boy sitting on the ground in front of her. he looked up, and his eyes widened.

"oh my," he said, quickly dusting himself off and standing up, "are you okay, miss?" he asked politely and stuck his hand out.

y/n hesitantly took the boys hand, and he pulled her up. "yeah i'm okay," she said, "are you?"

"yeah, im fine!" he said, smiling. the boy had chocolate brown eyes, some of the prettiest eyes y/n had ever seen.

"there she is!" a voice yelled from behind y/n. she quickly turned around, and remembered that she was being chased.

it seems like the boy quickly took notice of this, as he kept a hold on her hand. "come on, i know a good hiding spot."

y/n hesitated once again, not knowing if she should trust the mysterious boy or not. with the girls getting closer, she had no choice but to go with him.

she nodded, as the boy began to run farther into the forest with y/n following him. her thoughts began to take her over. 'what if hes just luring me away?' 'what if hes not even a kid and some short old man?' were just some of the things she worried about.

"over here!" he said, interrupting y/n’s thoughts. he pointed to a large bush beside a pond, and the two children ran towards it.

the ran to the other side and ducked down, hiding. y/n sat down on the ground, and put her legs out. both her and the young boy were breathing heavily.

"thank you," y/n panted, smiling at the boy.

he flashed a warm smile and nodded. "my pleasure," he said, bringing his knees up to his chest, "who are those girls anyway? are they your friends?" he asked curiously.

y/n crossed her legs, and chuckled. "no, far from it," she replied to the boy.

"then why are they chasing you?" he asked, turning his head to the side.

y/n sighed. "i accidentally tripped the 'queen bee' of the group," she explained, "and i think she got pretty mad, cause now i've been chased into a forest."

the two children laughed, but quietly so that the group of girls wouldn't hear.

y/n raised her head a bit over the bush, to look for the group of girls.

"damn, where is she?" one of the girls called.

"i don't know," the queen bee of the group said. "when we find you, we'll kill you!" she yelled, and the girls' footsteps stranded farther away.

y/n sighed a breath of relief, and went back down beside the boy. she looked at the pond in front of her in awe. she had never seen it before.

"i never knew that there was a pond back here," she said, "it's beautiful."

"it really is," the boy said, standing up and walking to the edge of the pond. he turned to y/n, and motioned her to come with him.

she stood up and walked to the boy, and crouched next to him.

"look," he said, pointing to something on the water. y/n looked and saw a small frog on a lily pad. it was looking at the two children, before jumping off of the lily pad and onto the ground in front of them.

the boy held his hands out and the frog jumped right into them, croaking. he cupped his hands and sat cross-legged on the ground.

y/n joined him and watched as he held the frog so gently. most people would be scared to touch a frog, but it was as if the boy had some connection to it.

he looked up at y/n. "you wanna hold it?" he asked, holding his cupped hands out.

"uhm," y/n hummed, never having held a frog, or any small animal, for that matter.

"don't worry!" the boy said, his eyes lighting up when he smiled, "just hold your hands out like i did."

y/n hesitantly held her hands out to the boy, and he carefully placed the small frog in her hands.

she tensed up, not wanting to hurt the frog in anyway.

"just relax," the boy said, "just keep your hands like that and it'll be okay."

y/n looked at him, smiled, and looked at the frog. she took a deep breath, and relaxed her body. the frog let out a small 'ribbit,' which made the two kids chuckle.

"it must like you," the boy said, and y/n nodded in agreement.

only a few seconds after he said that, the frog jumped its way up y/n’s arm. she began to feel her body tense up again.

"oh!" the boy noticed, and he reached to grab the frog off of her arm, "it's quite energetic, isn't it?"

"y-yeah," she replied, her voice shaky.

"don't worry, it's fine! frogs do that all the time," the boy said, as the frog began climbing up his arm too. "see?"

y/n softly smiled as the boy took the frog off his shoulder.

"i'm wen junhui, by the way," the boy said, holding his free hand out.

y/n took his hand in hers, and shook it. "i'm y/n," she said, introducing herself.

junhui smiled as he let go of xinya's hand. "you know what, y/n?"

y/n cocked her head to the side. "what?" she asked junhui.

he gave her another sweet smile. "i feel like we're gonna be good friends."

-

and that they were, good friends. would spend every day together.

jun showed y/n every little aspect of the forest. she visited him every single day after school and spent hours exploring with him. she had finally found a good friend.

but like all good things, it slowly came to an end.

-

y/n, now 17 years old, ran up to her room and slammed the door. she bit her tongue and sighed, letting the tears fall down her cheek as she remembered her mothers words.

"the only available dorms are going to be closed if you don't move in right now. this is the greatest college in the country, you need to go." her mother's voice repeated in her head over and over like a broken record.

'i can't leave yet,' she said to herself, sniffling and sitting on the bed. she thought about having to leave junhui, the one person who she trusted in that god forbidden town. the only person who ever listened to what she would say. the only person who cared for her.

'i just can't.'

she laid back on the pillows and stared at the ceiling, her thoughts running all over the place. the main thought that was taking over her mind was how junhui would feel when he found out. she couldn't bare the sight of seeing him hurt.

she sat up and wiped another tear that fell from her eyes. she turned her head over and looked beside her.

"hey there, m'lady," someone from the window called to y/n. it was junhui, sitting in the window sill and giving her a smile.

she jumped, before sighing. "christ, jun, you scared the shit out of me," she said, putting her hand on her chest.

jun laughed, and fully climbed into her room. "well thats what you get for leaving you're window o-" he paused, taking a look at y/n’s face. his smile slowly faded into a concerned look.

he quickly got on the bed and sat in front of y/n, cupping her cheek. "are you crying? whats wrong?" he said worriedly and wiped a tear that was falling on y/n’s cheek.

y/n put her hand on jun's hand on her cheek. "yeah, it's nothing though," she lied, "i was just watching a sad movie."

jun gave her a sweet smile, and used his other hand to wipe tears falling down y/n’s cheek. "aw, princess," he comforted her, "don't cry! it was just a movie."

jun took his hand off of y/n’s cheek and grabbed her hand. "come on! i have something to show you!" he said excitedly.

y/n’s sniffed and gave her friend a confused look. "i-in the middle of the n-night?" she asked, her voice breaking a bit.

"yeah!" jun replied, "this is the best time to go, now come on!"

y/n’s smiled at her friend's excitement as she was pulled off the bed. jun lead her to her open window and he stepped out.

y/n’s stopped in her tracks, and furrowed her eyebrows. 'out the window?' she asked herself. "we have to go this way?" she asked.

"yeah, why not?" jun asked, popping his head back in the window.

"what if i fall?" y/n’s asked, stepping closer to the window.

"you won't fall!" jun reassured, grabbing her hand again, "i'll catch you if you do."

y/n sighed, trusting jun, and following him out the window. thankfully, there was a part of roof under her window, so she was able to step on that.

she stood straight up on the roof with jun right in front of her.

"do you want me to help you?" jun asked, holding his hand out to her.

y/n waved her hand to jun. "no, no," she said, "im fine." she laughed nervously, knowing she'd most likely fall.

she tried taking one step, but as she thought, she almost slipped. "woah!" she yelled, trying to balance herself. thankfully, before she could ever fall, jun caught her.

"come on," jun chuckled, holding her waist and hand, "i got you."

y/n’s heartbeat quickened. she was more scared now than ever. she held on to jun as tight as she could until they got to the edge of the roof.  jun let go of her, and she felt her whole body tense up.

"i'm gonna go down first," jun explained, walking over to the edge, "and then you can jump down, and i'll catch you, okay?"

y/n nodded, but she still had that gut feeling she was going to fall.

jun went to the edge, sat down, and pushed himself off the roof. y/n heard him hit the ground not too long after.

"are you okay?" y/n asked, still froze

"yeah, i'm good!" jun called from the ground.

y/n sighed. 'okay, i can do this,' she told herself, 'jun said he'd catch me.'

"come on!" jun called, "don't be afraid."

y/n gained enough courage to finally walk over to the edge. she looked down, and saw the ground. it had to be at least a 7 to 10 ft drop.

she took a few deep breaths to calm herself, and she copied jun and sat down on the edge.

she closed her eyes, once again telling herself that she would be okay. she began to count.

"1..2.." before she stopped counting, she put her hands down beside her, "..3!"

she pushed herself off of the roof, and began to fall to the ground. not even a second later, she felt hands grab onto her waist. she opened her eyes and saw jun holding her. she put her hand on his shoulders, and he set her down.

"see?" jun chuckled, looking down at y/n with his chocolate brown eyes, "it wasn't that bad!"

y/n chuckled, nodding in agreement. she took her hands off jun's shoulders, and he took his hands off her waist.

he grabbed y/n’s hand. "come on now!" he said, pulling her towards the forest. he began running, so y/n did too.

jun was a very fast runner, so y/n struggled to keep up without tripping. jun took notice of this, and slowed down to a good pace for y/n.

"what is it you're wanting to show me?" y/n asked as the two passed some trees.

"its a suprise," jun said as he began to slow down, "come on. its right this way."

he walked up to two trees, whose leaves were blocking the path between them.

"close your eyes," jun said to y/n, and she obeyed.

y/n heard the sound of leaves rustling, and felt jun pull her forward. she began walking, and felt her upper arms rub against the leaves.

"just a few more steps," jun said, and y/n could practically hear him smiling.

about two steps later, jun let go of y/n’s hand. y/n stood still, and heard jun stand beside her.

"open your eyes," he said. y/n slowly opened her eyes, and looked out in front of her.

she was standing on top of a hill that looked over the forest. thousands of trees were below her and jun.

"woah," she said, admiring the view, "its so pretty up here." she smiled, looking a jun, but he shook his head, and pointed to the sky. confused, y/n looked up, and her eyes widened.

up in the sky, thousands of stars shone. the moon was bright and big. the sky looked like one huge painting. it was...beautiful.

"oh my god," y/n said in awe, "jun, it's beautiful up here."

"you always said you wanted to go stargazing," jun said.

y/n heard something hit the ground, so she looked down, and saw jun laying down in the grass.

"so," he continued, putting his hands behind his head, "thats what we're gonna do."

y/n chuckled, and laid down right next to jun.

the stars were more visible now that she was laying down. the sight was so elegant that it felt unreal. y/n had never seen so many stars before that night. she was amazed.

"that there," jun said suddenly, pointing his finger, "is the big dipper."

y/n squinted her eyes, but couldnt see no dipper at all. "where?" she asked.

"right above my finger," jun said. y/n looked closer, and saw what looked like a huge spoon in the stars.

"i see it now!" she said, smiling.

"and if you look over this way," jun said, moving his finger over to the side, which y/n followed, "is the little dipper."

y/n looked and saw what looked like the big dipper, but small.

"woah," she said, awing at the two shapes in the sky.

the two watched the stars in the sky for what seemed like hours. jun told y/n everything he knew about stars and astrology. she could listen to him talk about it forever.

“why did you wait so long to do this?” y/n chuckled, “i’ve been wanting to do this for years.”

jun smiled. “i wanted it to be perfect for you,” he replied, “and this is the prettiest it’s ever been.”

y/n felt happy in that moment. she always felt happy with him. he was always so considerate. she felt happy doing something she had always wanted to do with him.

then, like a train, reality hit her.

she was leaving tomorrow.

leaving the forest she loved.

leaving.

leaving him.

it broke her heart knowing she had to tell him soon. she wasn't ready to leave, but she had no choice.

she was going to have to tell him in the next couple minutes, too, since she saw the sun rising in the distance.

"hey, jun?" y/n suddenly spoke up.

"yeah, whats up?" jun asked, sitting up.

y/n sighed. "thank you for tonight, this was really fun," she said to him, her smile wide.

jun smiled back. "my pleasure!" he said, "im glad you enjoyed it."

"but," y/n said, pursing her lips, which made jun's smile fade a bit, "i think i should head back. i don't want my mom finding out im not in bed."

jun nodded. "oh, yeah," he said, chuckling a bit, "it is getting late, isn't it?"

y/n chuckled and nodded, dreading going home, knowing that this was the last time they would hang out.

"do you want me to walk you home?" jun asked, interrupting y/n’s thoughts.

she nodded. "yes please," she said, and jun stood up, holding his hand out. y/n grabbed his hand and he helped her stand up. she dusted the grass and dirt of her clothes, and the two began to walk back into the forest. on the way back to y/n’s house, the two stayed silent, trying not to trip on any roots.

in about 30 minutes, y/n’s home came into view, and they stopped running.

"you know," jun said, looking at y/n, "we should do this again tomorrow."

y/n’s breath hitched. she was going to have to tell him right there. she wasn't ready. she didn't want to, but she didn't want to lead him on.

"hey, uhm," she stammered, biting her tongue, "about that." she looked down as tears flooded her eyes.

she felt jun place his hand on her cheek, and lift her head up. "hey," he said concerned, "is everything okay?"

y/n pursed her lips once again, and put her hand on jun's. she grabbed it and took it off her cheek, "i-i can't," she said, her voice breaking.

jun turned his head to the side, and furrowed his eyebrows. "can't what?" he asked her, his voice sounding worried.

"i can't go stargazing anymore," she told him, letting a tear fall down her cheek.

"why not?" jun asked, "did i do something wrong?"

y/n quickly shook her head, feeling worse by the moment. "no no," she reassured, "its not you trust me."

"then what is it?" jun asked, sounding hurt.

'i don't want to,' y/n said to herself, but she knew she had to.

"i-," she paused and sniffled, "i'm leaving tomorrow. for school."

'i did it,' she thought, feeling guilty about it all.

jun looked confused again, and as if he didn't believe her. "i thought you said you weren't leaving until a week before school started, and thats 3 months away."

y/n wiped a tear from her cheek. "the only available dorms need to be occupied right now or i won't be able to live up there. plus my mom's making me go right now, so-" she paused, and was now crying.

unexpectedly, she heard the sound of someone laughing. she looked up, and saw jun shaking his head, laughing.

"you can really be funny sometimes, you know," jun chuckled, but his eyes said otherwise, "you are joking, right?" he asked, his voice sounded hopeless.

y/n kept her head down, not wanting to tell him, or make eye contact with him.

she heard jun scoff, and looked up to see him shaking his head. "you're really leaving?" he asked, his voice breaking.

y/n nodded. "im sorry, it's not my choice," she told him, and he just laughed again.

"not your choice?" jun asked, his voice going from sounding hurt to sounding mad, "it was your choice to go to that school."

y/n kept silent, not knowing how to respond, but she knew she was just making it worse.

"so, thats it?" jun asked suddenly, "you tell me you're leaving then you go silent?"

y/n sniffled. she wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say.

jun exhaled, furrowing his eyebrows. "when are you leaving?" he asked, his voice calm, but the tone was still the same.

y/n wiped her tear. "early tomorrow, before noon."

jun pinched the bridge of his nose, and took a long breath. "so," he said, gulping, "this is it, huh?"

y/n felt her heart shatter when he said that. she really wished it wasn't 'it', but she had no other choice.

“im so sorry, jun," she cried, looking up, "i wish it didn't have to be this- jun?"

she paused, for when she looked up, junhui was no where in sight.

he was gone.

she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

[thatsmzbitchtoyou]

Sugar & Spicy Books Chapter 3

Summary:  Y/N is an accomplished writer who is newly divorced, and out of fear of the unknown, moves back to her small hometown she swore she’d never come back to.  She comes across her best friend that never left, who helps her out of a tough spot.  Will old feelings arise?  Or is she just too big for such a small place now?

Warnings:  language, smut

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Y/N got into a routine with Bucky and Autumn.  On the days she picked up Autumn from school she would take her out and about to grocery shop on Mondays, accompany her to softball practice on Wednesdays, and every Friday was take out night.  She loved spending time with Autumn, and could see childhood Bucky in her whenever they would play, or in the way she smiled or laughed.  She also got to spend a lot of time with Winnie, which she was grateful for.  People around town recognized Y/N from way back when or from her books and would try to talk to her sometimes, but she always politely brushed them off whenever she was with Autumn, not wanting to be a spectacle.  Every night after they all got home, had dinner, and Autumn went to bed she and Bucky would talk for way too long, catching up and having in-depth, intellectual conversations that she missed.  She could feel that crush coming on full force as their friendship picked up right where it left off all those years ago.

Two weeks later they all came home one Friday with Bucky acting extra excited.  “Alright, Autumn!  You’re having a sleepover weekend at Grandma’s!” he announced.

“Yay!” Autumn cheered, running up to her room to gather a bag of her things.

“And you and I,” he said quietly, pointing at Y/N, “are going out.”

“Out?” Y/N smiled.  “Out where?”

“Boston,” he smirked.

“Boston?” Y/N scoffed.  “What the hell for?”

“To celebrate,” Bucky said.  “Go change into something nice but warm.  And pack an overnight bag.”

Y/N watched him walk up the stairs with wide eyes.  She quickly followed, changing into one of the nicer dresses she still owned, fixing up her hair and makeup and wearing sensible shoes, just in case.  She grabbed her fluffiest cardigan and a larger purse to carry her overnight things.  When she went back downstairs Autumn was jumping in place, holding her own bag and pillow as Bucky was fixing his hair in the mirror in the entryway.

“Daddy let’s go!” Autumn whined, then turned to Y/N and gasped dramatically.  “Y/N you look beautiful!”

Y/N smiled at her.  “Aw, thanks lovey,” she said, looking down at herself.  She looked up again at Bucky who was more dressed up than she had seen him since she came to town, looking dapper and cleaned up.  She whistled at him.  “Wow, Barnes, you really know how to clean up,” she smirked at him.

Bucky blushed at her compliment.  “Says the woman who came down looking like that,” he gestured to her.  “Looking good, Y/L/N.”

She hid her blush behind a laugh and reached out to squeeze his arm.  Autumn pulled on the sleeve of her cardigan and she quickly placated her.  “Alright, alright, let’s go.”

After dropping Autumn off the ride to Boston was two hours.  She and Bucky talked the whole way, reminiscing on old times and crazy things from their childhoods.  Bucky pulled up to a small hotel downtown, checked them in and dropped off their overnight things, then ordered an Uber.  The driver pulled up to The Bell in Hand Tavern.  “Oh Jesus, I remember this,” Y/N giggled.  “When Sam got us fake IDs and we drank way too much.  I had to haul your ass down the street before the cops came.  You were trying to kiss me the whole way.”

“I remember everything up until that point,” Bucky laughed.  “Then Steve drove us all the way home but missed the turn off and took us to Sugarbrush Farm.”

“Where you bathed in the smallest vat of maple syrup I’ve ever seen,” Y/N laughed as he helped her out of the car.  “You were sticky for weeks…Sugar.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and wound an arm around her shoulders.  He dipped his head down to her ear.  “You think you’re teasing me, but I like it when you call me Sugar,” he said.

“Oh really?” Y/N scoffed, looking at him.  Bucky arched an eyebrow at her as he steered her to the main front bar and flagged down the bartender.  “Hi, I’ll have a Jameson Black Barrel.  And she’ll have a,” he eyed her, “Nantucket Lemonade?”

“Ugh, yes,” Y/N moaned, her eyes rolling back.  “I haven’t had that in ages.”

Bucky’s eyes widened at her expression but he quickly looked back at the bartender.  “That’ll be it,” he nodded.  

When their drinks were ready he took her over to a small table by the window and they sat.  “So, what are we celebrating?” Y/N asked.

Bucky held up his glass.  “Cheers to your divorce.”

Y/N laughed loudly and clinked her glass against his.  “Cheers!” she said, drinking the cocktail.  “Fuck that’s good.”

They ate and drank the night away, laughing and talking too loud as they got more tipsy.  They didn’t notice people leaving until the bartender yelled out, “Last call!”

“Oh shit,” Bucky giggled and took out his phone.  “We gotta go, honey.”

“Aw,” Y/N whined.  “But I’m hungry!”

“We’ll find something to eat on the way back,” he smiled as he stood and helped her get up.  She leaned on him heavily as he paid the tab and then ordered another Uber.  

“How are you still standing and I’m struggling?” Y/N asked, gripping his arm tight.

“‘Cause I had two whiskeys and drank water, and you had…four cocktails?” Bucky chuckled.  

“Ugh,” Y/N groaned as he helped her into the Uber.  They convinced the Uber driver to stop by a fast food place to grab food before going to the hotel, inhaling the burgers and fries while they stumbled in and eventually found their room.

Bucky fumbled with the key card, dropping it twice while Y/N fought back fits of giggles.  When he finally opened the door they both fell inside, laughing maniacally as they sprawled out on the floor and the door shut loudly.  “Ssshhh!!” Bucky shushed her, bringing a finger to her lips.  “It’s late!”

Y/N playfully nipped at his finger, making him gasp.  “Gotcha,” she teased, before rolling over and crawling toward the bed.  Bucky crawled after her, and as she started to climb the bed he slapped her ass.  “Buck!” Y/N gasped, looking back at him.

“What?  It’s not my fault you have a great ass,” Bucky smirked.  

“Oh no, are you gonna try to have your way with me like last time?” Y/N laughed, lifting herself up onto the bed and laying flat on it.

“How dare you!  I would never take advantage of such a refined lady!” he said in a horrible British accent.  He flopped onto the bed next to her.  “Though I can assure you…you’d love it,” he winked.

“So sure of yourself,” Y/N giggled.  Her head was feeling fuzzy, the filter fully gone as she turned to face him.  He leaned on his elbows, making it so he was slightly hovering above her at the angle she put herself in.  Y/N stared at him for a moment before her hand reached up and her finger traced his lips.  “You’re a good kisser, did you know that?” she asked.

“What?” Bucky scoffed.  

“The night before I left,” Y/N frowned.  “You kissed me, remember?”

“Yeah,” Bucky nodded, blinking rapidly.  

Her thumb ran along his bottom lip, slightly pulling it down before she dropped her hand between them.  “Softest, prettiest lips,” she whispered, then closed her eyes.  “Felt like my heart was…flying that night,” she breathed.  

“Really?” Bucky’s voice sounded closer.

“Mhm,” Y/N nodded, her eyes still closed.  “Been dreaming about it ever since.”

She felt Bucky’s nose nuzzle her nose, his breath fanning her cheek.  “I liked kissing you,” he breathed.

Y/N opened her eyes, looking up to see him staring at her with a soft look in his eyes.  “Really?” she asked.  

“Been dreaming about it ever since,” he repeated her words with a smirk.

Y/N sobered up as she processed his words and the position they were in, this moment that hung precariously in the balance between friendship and something more.  She had the sudden realization that she had loved this man since she was a child, but it had just never been their time.  He had only entered her life again recently, and as different and separate as their lives had been, it was like no time had passed at all.  She wanted this.   This life, with him and Autumn, in the town that she had initially run away from.  

Bucky slowly leaned down, his gaze flickering to her lips.  “Can I…can I kiss you, honey?” he whispered, his lips ghosting over hers.

“Yes,” Y/N whispered.

He smiled, then kissed her.  Y/N sighed into the kiss, her entire body relaxing into the bed.  It was like all the stress, tension, uncertainty, how lost she felt and how big the world felt, it all disappeared and tunnel visioned into this moment.  All that mattered was that it was Bucky and he was kissing her…and it was perfect.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her hand holding the back of his head to keep him close, scratching into his hair.  Bucky moaned at the scratch, pulling his body to completely hover over hers, his hips nestled between her legs.  Y/N got lost in his kisses, the euphoria of feeling his lips, his tongue, his teeth, his hands caressing her everywhere, his heaviness on top of her.  She didn’t realize when they’d gotten naked, but suddenly they were and she felt him everywhere she could reach.  The planes of muscles built up over time, the tuft of chest hair, his calloused fingers, and the pure pleasure at his cock rubbing between her lower lips.  

Bucky kissed down her neck, her chest, giving plenty of attention and care to her breasts, then down her stomach to her core.  He lifted her legs over his shoulders, gripping her thighs as he kissed over her clit, making her gasp and buck her hips, Bucky forcing her to stay put.  He made out with her pussy, kissing and licking it like it was the most delicious dessert he’d ever had.  Y/N’s head wrenched back as he sucked at her clit, then flicked it repeatedly with the tip of his tongue.  She was cumming in seconds, squirming in his hold as she whimpered above him.  Bucky licked and drank all she gave him.  When he helped her through the aftershocks of her orgasm he slowly pulled himself up and crawled back up to kiss her, his mouth and chin shining with her slick.  “And you call me Sugar,” he smiled as he bent down and kissed her again.

Y/N moaned at the taste of herself on his lips, her fingers scratching down his back.  “Buck please,” she breathed.  

Bucky nodded as his hand gripped his cock and slid it through her pussy again.  “I’ll take care of you, honey,” he said.  He aimed himself and started pushing forward.  Y/N slightly winced at the stretch, her hands gripping his biceps as he thrust into her.  When his hips were flush with hers he let out a grunt, his head leaning on her shoulder.  “Fuck, Y/N…you feel so fucking good.  Jesus,” he kissed her collarbone.  

“You’re amazing,” she replied.  “Please fuck me, Sugar.  Fuck me.  I can take it.”

Bucky huffed a laugh against her skin.  “I’m sure you could, honey.  And as much as I’d love to fuck you, right now I just wanna make love to you.”  He lifted his head to look at her.  “I just wanna feel you, nice and slow.  Is that okay?” he pleaded.  “I’ve wanted you for years, Y/N.  I’ve loved you for so long.”

Y/N could feel tears start to build in her eyes.  “I love you, Bucky,” she sniffled, cupping his face in her hands.  “I’ve always loved you.”

Bucky smiled wide then kissed her.  He started thrusting slowly, pulling keens and groans from her throat.  His cock felt perfect, like it was meant to be in her.  As much as she and Raf had had a mostly fulfilling sex life, it had never felt like this was him.  Bucky’s hips rolled and thrust randomly, the switch up making her eyes roll back every time.  He dug a hand under her neck, gripping her by the back of the head and the nape of the hair on her neck, forcing her head certain ways as he kissed her repeatedly.  He would nip at her jaw and her earlobe, before kissing his way back to her mouth, where the kisses would change from sweet, soft pecks to demanding, sloppy, and passionate.  She felt lightheaded at how he played her body like an instrument only he knew.

Her pussy fluttered around him, making him shudder above her, pulling away from another kiss as he gasped.  “Damn, you gonna cum for me, honey?  Cum all over my cock, huh?”  Y/N nodded like she was still drunk.  Bucky’s hips picked up the pace, his cock dragging in and out of her exquisitely.  He suddenly hauled himself up and held her against him so she was sitting in his lap, her arms and legs wrapped around him as he changed the angle and started thrusting up into her even deeper.  Y/N squealed, her nails digging into his back.  “You feel how deep I am, Y/N?  God, you’re perfect.  Most perfect pussy.  Better than I could have ever dreamed.”  He kissed her deeply again, his hand still holding her by the back of the neck and his other hand splayed on her back, holding her where he wanted her.  When he broke the kiss he leaned his forehead against her forehead and stared in her eyes.  “You’re my perfect dream, you know that?  Goddamn, I love you.”

“And you’re mine,” Y/N said, her breaths huffing against his face.  “Love you…love you, Sugar, Bucky, love you.”  She rattled on, feeling the build up in her belly.  “Mine,” she groaned.

“Yours,” Bucky nodded, his hand at her neck sliding down to her clit and flicking it with his thumb fast.  “Mine,” he nearly growled.

Y/N stiffened in his arms and came hard, shaking as it felt like lightning shooting through her veins and she cried out his name.  He buckled at how her pussy gripped his cock, falling back onto the bed with her, his hips rolling into her as he shuddered again and whimpered loudly in her ear as he came.  They held each other tightly as they calmed down, hot breaths fanning each other’s skin.  Bucky lifted his head from her shoulder and looked at her.  His gaze made her heart leap with how soft and wondrous he looked.  “Did you mean it?” he asked quietly.

“What?” Y/N frowned.

“That you love me,” Bucky said, tracing her face with his fingers.

She smiled.  “I do.  I love you, Sugar.  I’ve loved you since we were kids.  I wish I would have realized it sooner.”

Bucky smiled.  “Been dreaming about me ever since?”

Y/N laughed and smacked his shoulder.  “Yes, you little shit.”

Bucky chuckled, but his eyes looked mischievous.  “Did you think of me when you were fucking your husband?”

Y/N scoffed incredulously.  “Okay, first of all, ex-husband, and secondly, you cheeky bastard!” 

“Answer the question, honey,” Bucky said, dipping his head back down into the crook of her neck, nipping at her skin.  His hold on her tightened again, and his hips rocked into her, pulling a gasp from her lips at how he was getting hard inside her again.  

“Sometimes,” she replied breathily.  

He hummed in her ear.  “I’m gonna take real good care of you, honey.  All that sexy stuff in your books?  God, you got me feeling horny for years from your stories.  Now I’m gonna take my time and show you what it can really be like.  You want to show me how well you can take it now?”

Y/N groaned.  “Holy shit…yes!” she cried out.

Bucky chuckled darkly.  “Good girl…”

[chameleon66]

Ticklish tornado; An epic battle

Author’s note: About a week ago I got asked to write a tickle fanfic for Pomni and Jax and I have to say I had a blast writing this. I never really thought much about Pomni before but writing this helped me get to know her better (and of course I had fun writing Jax) So if any of you reading have a suggestion for a tickle fic for any characters from Sanders sides, Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, Murder Drones, or The Amazing Digital Circus then please send in your ideas and I may write them (Won’t promise anything though). Also this can be read as romantic or platonic. With that being said, enjoy your reading.

Word count: 2535

Warnings: Tickling, Teasing, Mild touch aversion, Anxiety, Negative spiraling, Jax being a mischievous little bunny, angst, (Let me mknow if I need to add anything)

How many adventures must one go on to get used to this wacky place? Pomni thought as she walked through the portal Caine had opened up for them to go back into the circus tent.

It had been another crazy adventure of surprises, traumatic events, and trombones, and Pomni was feeling the drain from it. Not only did she feel exhausted but she also felt her anxiety racing in each of her fast heartbeats and rapid breathing, each movement around her felt like an abrupt explosion with her brain feeding her thoughts that did the opposite of soothing her troubles.

Will I ever get to leave this place? Does my family know I’m gone? Does anyone in the world miss me? How long has it been since I put on this headset? The digital world became increasingly drowned out to Pomni as her anxious thoughts began to snowball.

She was acutely aware of everyone sitting down in the couch area with her muscle memory being the only thing to pull her to sit down on a couch alone, away from everyone else. Whatever they were talking about was a distant murmur.

Her chest felt tight, her vision felt hazy, and her stomach felt like it was trying to digest itself. Pomni was indeed spiraling and like with most cases she didn’t know how to bring herself back.

Time passed, or maybe it didn’t? Pomni couldn’t be sure anymore. When the snap of fingers in front of her face seemed to pull her out of her spiraling thoughts and suddenly she was back on the couch with a close up of Jax’s face jumpscaring her.

“Ahhh!” Pomni screamed quietly as she flinched back.

“Oh good, you’re still alive.” Jax stated assured, while moving out of Pomni’s face and behind the couch.

Pomni then watched him walk behind the couch then lean both of his arms down then rested his head on them all while looking at her.

“How long have I been sitting here?” Pomni asked.

“If I had to guess~.” Jax dragged out the last word as he looked skyward in consideration of his answer. “About four hours.” He shrugged.

Pomni only sighed, even if Jax had been there far longer than her, how could she trust his ability to keep track of time?

“Everyone else checked in for the night.” Jax clarified, tha mean’t it was only her and Jax here.

“So~ something on your mind or is staring out into space with your eyes going on all scribbly scrabbly just a new hobby of yours?” Jax titled his head at Pomni waiting for her answer.

Pomni hesitated, her and Jax had never been close, in fact no one was close with Jax. Mostly because he bullied everyone and just generally made everyone feel uncomfortable.

Though he had seemed pretty nice back at Spudsy’s when he got back from…wherever Gangle had sent him off to and they had a short exchange, where he didn’t even try to joke or make fun of Pomni, so maybe part of him wasn’t all that bad.

“It’s just been…a lot, lately.” Pomni’s voice dropped in volume while talking just out of habit but Jax seemed to have no problem understanding.

“How so?” Jax pushed further. Pomni supposed if Jax got mean she could just ditch him and hide away in her room.

“Just - the idea of being here forever and missing out on everything life has to offer, you know.” Pomni wrapped her arms around herself before continuing.

“My whole life was just taken from me, I’ll never see my family again, I won’t ever die because that’s impossible here! But at the same time I won’t ever get to live because I’m trapped here for eternity! OR AT LEAST UNTIL I COMPLETELY LOSE IT AND ABSTRACT, THEN I’LL BE THROWN INTO THE CELLAR TO BE FORGOTTEN ABOUT BY EVERYONE-.”

“Pomni!” Jax yelled, stopping Pomni’s ranting. “Ok short stuff, I want you to take a deep breath.”

Pomni didn’t realize until then how audibly she had been hyperventilating so she did as told and inhaled as much air into her as she could then holding it.

“Now let it out. Slowly.” Jax instructed and Pomni did so, they repeated the process five more times before Pomni felt remarkably better and Jax saw the change too as the next thing he asked was. “Feel better?”

Though Pomni still felt heavy with worry she hummed with a nod giving Jax the answer he wanted.

“Good. Now I know it’s easier said than done here but try to relax. You don’t have to worry about a problem that doesn’t exist yet.” Jax hopped over the back of the couch and laid back beside Pomni sighed as he sunk back into the cushions.

Pomni fiddled with her gloves and her body refused to comply with the idea of relaxing as her muscles were still tensed and brain kept trying to throw her back into her anxious spiral despite her best efforts to think about something else.

“You’re not relaxing.” Jax cracked open one eye to look at Pomni who was visibly not relaxed with her tensed posture, leg bouncing under her, and her eyes fixated on her gloves.

“Ugh! I can’t help it, how can I possibly relax in this f#%king place!” Pomni exclaimed to the empty circus tent.

Jax had to admit she had a point, relaxation was a skill one had to master after coming into the circus and there was really no such thing as being completely relaxed, but if anyone needed to learn how to it was the chronically anxious and traumatized jester girl.

“Do you need some help?” Jax asked only to get a suspicious side eye from the jester in return.

“What are you gonna do?” Pomni asked back clearly, not sure of any idea Jax had.

“Oh chill Jingle bells. I’m not gonna try anything, I just wanna help out a friend. It's so hard to believe.”

“Yes.” Pomni said flatly.

“Fair enough, but this time I swear I just wanna help.” Jax smiled at her. This had a bad idea written all over it but Pomni decided that if Jax really was just gonna prank her or something then at least it'd take her mind off everything.”

“Fine, but don’t even think about trying anything.” She warned the rabbit.

“Alrighty then.” Jax stood up from the couch and went back behind it, leaving Pomni’s line of sight. She felt a little uneasy about this but tried to keep her mind calm.

Pomni then felt the pressure of two hands on her shoulders, her initial reaction was to flinch at the contact then immediately feel her skin prickle under her jester outfit.

She was close to asking Jax to stop whatever he was doing but then he started rubbing his fingers into her muscles and immediately Pomni eased up. While physical contact was something she had a love hate relationship with she was enjoying the pressure and warmth of Jax’s hands on her shoulders rubbing slow gentle circles with each of his fingers.

She could feel Jax smirk behind her as he continued rubbing her shoulders but she didn’t find it in herself to care, right then she tried to focus on the good things because that’s what had worked for her so far, holding onto the good things she remembered and from in the circus.

Reassurance from Ragatha, games of chess with Kinger, the pretty stars at night in the sky, no longer having to deal with–

A sudden shock moved through her nervous system as she felt a squeak involuntarily come from her mouth.

Her hand flew to cover her mouth as her tension suddenly returned with a bite. She realized that Jax’s hands were no longer on her shoulders but near her mid back around her ribs, he had probably just brushed against them but it was enough to create a ticklish sensation.

“Pom pom?” Jax hummed. He knew it, the jig was up.

“Yes?” Pomni answered back in the most hesitant way known to this digital world.

“Did I just hear you squeal like a little chubby piglet?” Jax’s grin was a mile wide, he knew what he heard, but he’d never give up the chance to fluster someone.

“Umm…” Pomni stuttered but lying would do her no good in this situation. “Yeah…”

“Don't tell me you’re ticklish~.” Jax was now wiggling his fingers at Pomni only succeeding to make her even more unnerved.

Pomni was stuck and no words were coming out of her mouth to try and defend herself against the claim.

“I’m not hearing a ‘No’.” Jax’s hand went back into Pomni’s ribs though she did see how he left the window open for her to push him away if she didn’t want it.

But once the first notes of Laughter rang through Pomni’s body she let her body go limp. She hadn’t thought about it but it had been so long since she had truly laughed. She recalled how laughing supposedly released hormones that make you happier.

She wasn’t exactly too sure how biology applied to the digital circus as biology and technology were two very far apart subjects but she certainly felt a little lighter than before.

“Aww! Look at the cure face you’re making.” Jax cooed at her. She was trying to squirm away out of instinct but Jax took the chance to jump over the back of the couch and over her to keep up the tickles.

Pomni’s face was now significantly red even though she hadn’t been holding her breath. The tickling sensation over her body was at the same time too much and too little in some paradoxical way.

“Jahahahahahahaxx, you M@H@H@Th$$RF###%%%R!” Pomni’s laughter even though the profanity censor was still present which only encouraged Jax to rile her up.

“Pom pom, how come you’ve never told anyone you’re ticklish?” Jax’s eyes were completely trained on her and her reactions to each spot, boy he loved getting reactions out of the others.

“Quhuhuhuhit teheheheheheheheheasing meHHEHEHEHE.” Midway through her sentence Jax‘s hand got in her armpit which caused her laughter to intensify greatly and she found herself getting a little overwhelmed by the stimuli.

“But you’re so much fun to tease.” Jax made a pouty face at her but then his signature grin reappeared as he focused one hand to tickling her ribs while the other tickled her armpit.

It was quite odd how not much effort behind the tickles was needed on his part. Seemed Pomni was quite sensitive to light stuff.

If her memory didn’t lie her pits were always a bad spot for her and she didn’t know how much longer she could take it there. Then she got a devious idea.

Pomni realized nothing was stopping her from fighting back. In fact Jax hadn’t even pinned her arms and hands down anywhere, he had just let them try and deter his hands from their tickle assault. Huge oversight on his part, as he would soon learn.

Through her laughter Pomni found it in her to reach out fast as a bullet and latch onto Jax’s waist and gave it multiple squeezes.

Jax let out a squeal of his own as his body went limp like a noodle overtop of Pomni. She turned the tables on him as she pushed him back into the couch and scratched much more ruthlessly at the front of his overalls

She took the chance and went for his stomach which earned her a stream of non stop chuckles.

“F$$$$%%%%K Pohahahahahahm Poahahahahaham! Nohohohohohohoho!” Jax’s attack on Pomni had been put on halt as his hands now tried to grab hers. His smile now miles wider.

“Aww~ Is the big tough bunny too sensitive to take what he gives?” Pomni put on her baby talk which only succeeded in making Jax’s laugh even more squeaky. He sounded like he was an actual rabbit who was getting loved on. It was just as adorable as it was hilarious.

She was frankly amazed that he hadn’t thrown her off him yet since he was like twice her height and she weighed about as much as a baby kitten according to Caine

Feeling eager to experiment with her new found power over Jax, Pomni went up to his ears and stuck one finger into one of them and began to swirl it around. Jax lost it.

His laugh grew ever more sporadic and uncontrolled and he began kicking his feet too. Though it seemed his ears provoked the same reaction within him as Pomni because he went on to go right back into Pomni’s ribs while Pomni Hands clung onto his ears continuing her retaliation.

They continued going back and forth for a while after that with each of them taking turns pushing the other one back into the couch and gaining the upper hand from them. They couldn’t even tease each other through their shared laughter.

At one point they had both even fallen off the couch and were both just on a floor still laughing like they were high on helium. After a couple minutes both of them were now just laying on the floor together giggling and smiling.

After everything went quiet for a few seconds when Jax spoke up. “So, that make you feel any better?”

Pomni sighed “Yeah, it- it did. Thank you Jax.”

“Yeah, yeah don’t get all mushy on me Jester. Just do me a favor and don’t tell the others about this, I don’t need them thinking I’ve grown soft.” Jax shook his head.

“Aww~ Does that mean you’re going soft for me?” Pomni broke out her baby talk voice again seeing how much it embarrassed Jax before.

“Hah!” Jax huffed out a fake laugh as he flicked one of the bells in Pomni’s hat. “In your dreams Jingle bells.”

Oddly enough Pomni laughed too.

Both of them said their goodnights and went back to their respective rooms both oblivious to the four sets of eyes that were secretly watching them from around the corner.

Ragatha felt like her heart was about to burst at the two’s cuteness, Gangle was scribbling down notes for her next tickle fanfic for her OCs, Zooble was smirking on the inside they planned to use Jax’s weakness against him the next time he tried to steal their limbs. Meanwhile Kinger was facing away from the group staring off into the hallway wondering what they were all looking at.

[livefromthedas]

Lifeless, barren, hazy and grey. At first, Rook could see nothing that would indicate where she was. She felt disoriented and unusually, bitterly cold.

“Spite?” Rook asked, her voice sounding weirdly hollow and distant in the space, “Are you—“

She turned and gasped. The form that Spite cut here felt surreal. Hunched and watching her with intense curiosity, the demon was a near carbon-copy of Lucanis, but shorter, somehow, and kohl black in color, as though dark, billowing smoke had worked itself into a person. Lucanis’s usually dark, kind eyes cut through that black in a bright, glowing purple.

“Maker, he wasn’t kidding,” Rook said pensively, slowly dawning on her just where the demon had brought her, “You’ve managed to look just like him. A demon with good taste.”

Spite didn’t immediately respond. He seemed unusually tense and twitchy, as though coming to grips with this very real new person encroaching upon a private space.

“Hey,” Rook said quietly, “Hey, buddy. It’s okay.”

Despite nerves that crawled in her belly, she steeled herself. Trust was a decision, albeit a potentially reckless one, and as had repeatedly been the case, Rook willed herself to trust Spite… at least until he gave her a reason not to.

The demon shied away, initially, at the careful hand she extended its way. But as she remained calm, he managed to still himself. And Rook found herself endeared as he nuzzled into the palm of the hand she’d graced to his cheek. Every bit as touch starved as his unwitting host.

“Spite, how did you manage to pull me… here?” Rook glanced around. It looked like the fade, but different, somehow. It was neither truly beyond the veil, nor a memory, as she’d experienced from Solas… It was, instead, somehow more familiar.

“Lucanis keeps us here. Always,” Spite said, “Behind locked doors. I can’t break through.”

“Keeps you here…” Dawning struck her and Rook’s eyes went wide, “Literally here… Mythal’enaste. Are we in Lucanis’s head? How?”

“Rook tastes his blood. Spite reaches Rook,” the demon replied matter of factly.

Rook winced against memories of waking to crimson on her lips, warm copper, and the immediate panic that had followed. Always a bit chaotic, with Spite.

“Okay, we are going to have to have a nice, long conversation about using blood magic. And soon,” Rook sighed, feeling ill. Spite seemed to tumble into an immediate panic, fidgeting where he stood, and she was quick to add, “But first, let’s figure this out. Lucanis is here?” The demon nodded quickly, and Rook glanced up and around, squinting against the gray haze, “Then, let’s go get him.”

No sooner had the notion left her lips, the haze of their environment began to clear - solidify. Rook took several paces forward, wide eyes blinking and mind doing her best to register what she saw.

A cold, despondent man’s voice - a memory? - rang in her ears.

“Couldn’t you simply die already? This experiment has gone on for far too long.”

Rook knew that voice.

“That was Calivan,” Rook stammered, “That son of a bitch. And this…” She was fighting internally what she already knew.

Spite ambled up beside her, watching closely as she admitted, “I know this place… It’s the Ossuary… the prison we freed Lucanis from.”

“Freed? No!” The demon scoffed, “We’ve always been. Here.”

Rook’s heart felt lodged in her gut as the full picture of what was going on here took shape, “Aw, Vehnan…”

She swallowed hard, shook off nerves, and did her damnedest to focus, before catching Spite’s gaze, “Ok, if he’s here, then where? Where they kept his blood?”

The demon grew excited. Hopeful.

“Yes! Go there!” Worry was quick to shadow Spite’s features again, though, “But… The locks. Everywhere. I can’t touch them.”

“Well, then, the least I can do is try,” Rook decided, “Come on.”

It was the Ossuary, but wrong. Darker. Somehow even colder and more cloyingly damp. Rook walked uneven ground that felt ready to drag her to her knees at a moment’s behest.

“So…” she thought aloud to the demon on her heels, “Less the actual Ossuary… more like.. the experience of the Ossuary.”

“Yes. Yes!”

“So, locks to the experience of the Ossuary…How do we get past those? Turn ourselves into mice? Fight giant spiders?”

Spite looked at Rook as though she’d grown a second head.

“By getting past the guards. It’s a prison.”

Rook managed an awkward laugh, “Right. Naturally.”

This was Lucanis’s consciousness, after all. And the man was nothing if not a pragmatist.

… A pragmatist with some very deep shadows, Rook was quick to find. With as damp and isolated as the Ossuary had felt in passing, it became nearly intolerable when combined with the weight of genuine fear. Of hopelessness. Of meager scraps of longing for revenge. The deeper Rook traversed its crumbling hallways and surprisingly claustrophobic ocean as sky, the more she felt all of these things. Viscerally.

“You feel the same pain he does,” she noted carefully, after his breathing once again matched the calm of her own, “Do you not feel his exhaustion as well?”

“All. Of it. And he feels. Mine.”

The depth of Lucanis’s shared experience with Spite hit Rook hard alongside this memory, and fast. It was horrible here. And heartbreaking.

“Promoted from flying vermin to malicious spirit,” Rook heard the memory of another familiar voice, “Whatever will you become next, I wonder?”

Zara Renata. That bitch. Rook bit hard, quelling anger. She pressed ahead with an even more determined stride.

“… Nobody’s here,” she said, baffled, as they waded into The Ossuary’s storage. Memories of blood vials - Proof of prolonged, meticulous torture and control - hovered eerily near by. Lucanis, however, was nowhere to be found.

“Of course not,” Spite said, “Rook can’t be here.”

Rook had barely begun making sense of that statement when she found herself bracing, hearing the memory of another familiar voice. Another absolute bastard.

Illario Dellamorte.

“If I were in charge, you wouldn’t have to do this anymore.”

“Oh, absolutely fuck you, guy,” Rook spat.

Still, she took the memory as a hint, and wandered in the direction of that voice.

It was a long, disparaging walk. Frayed memories and frigid, deeply compartmentalized feelings of grief seemed hidden in shadows around every corner. They broke her down, slowly and methodically. It was impossible not to share those sensations here. It was awful.

Worse still were scraps of parchment Rook kept finding, singed at the edges and written neatly in Lucanis’s hand.

…But we’re more like brothers. Caterina took us both in… (all we had left.)

What if I go after him and get Caterina killed? (All I have left.)

Rook was startled then, bracing to fight, when she rounded a corner to find someone else in the room with them.

And not just any someone.

The First Talon of the Crows, Caterina Dellamorte.

“Rook,” the old woman bit coldly, “Did you forget our deal?” She somehow stood taller than was natural.

Rook struggled to harangue the electricity that crackled anxiously at her fingertips. She breathed deep, and righted her stance, though no less baffled by the question.

“You were to bring my grandson back to me.”

Rook eyeballed the woman cautiously, “I… did?”

“You brought me an abomination,” Caterina sneered, “Where is my grandson?”

Rook was immediately incensed, “Oh, fuck yo—“

Spite’s slither up beside Rook, accompanied by a curious sniff, stole her attention.

“Tenderness and terror. Rage and relief. Old, stale fear of disappointment,” said the demon.

That’s right, Rook thought, this is the memory of Caterina - Lucanis’s idea of her - not the woman herself.

With everything he had told her in confidence about his family’s long-time matriarch, their relationship had been contentious, at best. Stories of days without food, time locked away in dark, tight spaces. Countless beatings with that damned cane if he so much as put a toe out of line.

“Lady, I don’t give a singular fuck who you are,” Rook sniped. This was a lie, of course - Rook did care. Deeply. Caterina was important to Lucanis. And, admittedly, Rook found the woman absolutely terrifying. But by the maker, she was mad - and it felt good to lay into Not-The-Real-Caterina, “He’s not fielding insults from anyone monstrous enough to do everything you did to a child.”

“I kept him alive,” Caterina replied simply. Frigidly.

Rook struggled to swallow, still furious. “Look, you say that you love him?”

“He is my grandson,” she said, as though that made it obvious.

“Lucanis is trapped here. Somewhere. He needs our help… he…” Rook sighed, “The idea of disappointing you terrifies him, do you get that? I think that’s part of the reason he’s even here.”

Caterina eyed her down the bridge of her nose, “What is it that you want? To release a demon?”

“The demon isn’t the one who’s trapped!” Rook gestured to Spite, who hovered - practically hid - at her left shoulder, “Lucanis is. Out of fear that he’s failed you… when you know he hasn’t done a damned thing to deserve what he was put through here.”

Rook stumbled back a pace, bumping back into an equally startled demon. Caterina’s entire visage had suddenly undulated and churned. Seconds later, it evaporated into a haze of white light, the old woman’s last words fading with her, “My poor boy.”

“Ok, Lucanis,” Rook muttered before righting her stance, half-smiling that the man’s demon seemed uninterested in releasing his grounding grip on her arm, “What’s next?”

There were more people to be found, it turned out. Or, visages of people they knew, at least - shallow projections of them rooted deep in a fear of rejection.

First came Lace Harding. This surprised Rook at first - He and the tenacious little dwarf had gotten on quite well over the past many months. Rook often caught Lucanis smiling fondly after the little woman, like one would an endeared little sister.

But then she remembered their rocky start. With so much experience fighting demons beneath her belt, Lace had been more vocal than most about their new “team abomination.” She hadn’t trusted Lucanis in the least, and made no qualms about saying so. Out loud. Repeatedly, and oftentimes as though Lucanis wasn’t even in the room.

And then, there was Neve.

Ah, Neve Gallus. Stunning, brilliant, irritatingly charming Neve. Rook liked Neve. Truly, she did. But she also doubted it was lost on anyone by then that Rook had stopped bringing the detective and Lucanis on missions together after only a handful of outings to Dock Town within weeks of the Crow’s joining the team.

They had chemistry, Neve and Lucanis. She also clearly found the man attractive, having little problem saying so - Neve was a flirt, and a talented one. And petty thought it was, it drove Rook nuts. Doubly so when Lucanis started playing right along.

Unsurprisingly, there was something extra satisfying about watching Lucanis’s gorgeous mental image of the woman erupt into blinding white smoke.

Rook was more than happy to leave that mess in her wake.

Still, the further she and Spite ventured, the more memories and fear found them. The sound of Zara Renata’s voice circled overhead like a vulture, and every time it crowed, Rook felt a seed of nausea that she wasn’t entirely sure was her own.

“I was supposed to have a useful demon, and instead I have a useless abomination. Wonderful.”

“Still fighting? How tiresome. There is no point, you know. Nothing awaits you anymore. You’re long dead.”

Rook caught a singed piece of parchment as it flittered down into her path. Some of its words she remembered, others Lucanis had kept to himself.

“I didn’t want you to see that. Again.”

(I’m not this… I cannot be this.)

Rook felt absolutely gutted, and for the first time since arriving, she stumbled against the weight of the grief this Ossuary held. She choked back hot, furious tears.

“Rook?” Spite hovered at her flank, growing nervous. His rescuer breaking into tears had certainly not been part of the demon’s plan.

“Rook… you’re too good to be wasting your time in a place like this.”

Rook suddenly glanced up with a ferocity that could have cut glass. That voice again.

Illario.

She grabbed Spite by the hand, and immediately strode in the direction of the disembodied voice.

The visage of Illario Dellamorte stood, suave and cocksure as ever, at the bend of an especially dark hallway. Even as a concept, he peacocked where he stood - a man fully aware just how obnoxiously gorgeous he was, with no qualms about putting those looks to use.

“You have my attention, all right?” Rook said irritably, “So, where is he? Where is Lucanis?”

A forced but no less gorgeous smile stretched across immaculate white teeth.

“Forget my cousin,” Illario purred, “You’ve got much more important things to worry about, don’t you?”

Spite stepped in flush with Rook. She could feel the emotion radiating from the demon - it nearly mirrored her own, amplifying it all the more. Righteous anger threatening to boil over with a healthy dose of fear. He inhaled deep.

“Sharp. Jagged edges. Hurt with every breath,” Spite growled, “Grief and relief. Hope and anger. Mixed.”

“You’ve no right to tell me or anyone else what’s important, you dick,” Rook managed to keep her voice steady, though barely. “And you don’t even owe this bastard the time of day. Do you hear me, Lucanis?” Rook found herself shouting at the endless, watery grave that consumed them.

Spite added, snarling, “He. Put. Us. HERE!”

Illario was furiously unthreatened.

“You’ve got to leave this be, Rook,” he crooned with another flirtatious half-smile, “You turn my cousin loose, it’s only going to cause more grief.”

“Yeah? Who’s?” Rook sniped, “Zara Renata’s? Her Venatori thugs? Because they’re all dead, Illario, without a single innocent bystander so much as breaking a nail. And that just leaves you.”

“You know,” the assassin ignored the threat completely, “that Caterina had five children. Eight grandchildren. All dead now, except for Lucanis and me.”

“I…” Rook trailed, “Yes, I know. I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Last time the Crows fought a war of succession,” Illario continued, “House Dellamorte lost everything. Except the seat of First Talon. This time, we fight ourselves. What will be left then?”

Rook shot the man a look to kill.

“You think you’d survive as his friend, let alone his lover?” Illario smirked darkly - authentically, for once - as the observation made the pretty little elf before him squirm, “And what about your friends? Your cause?”

“Yeah… yeah, no,” Rook shook off indignation, before speaking past Illario again, “This asshole doesn’t get to speak for you, Lucanis. I’m not going to stand here and act like the bastard who stabbed you in the back gets to tell anyone how to feel about it. This is his fault. All of it.”

“Is it? Are you sure?” Illario mused, “Do you really think he made a deal with a demon? He’s not even a mage! Or do you think, maybe, he just found the one there already? He’ll carry this prison with him forever, and he’ll fill it with corpses, given time.”

Spite was only growing more anxious, radiating heat where he glowered at Rook’s side.

“We. Need. OUT!”

“Lucanis, anything could happen - we could literally die tomorrow!” Rook called out, feeling desperate, “But that’s not a good excuse to hide somewhere that’s hurting you. Please, just…”

“You always have an answer, don’t you?” Illario bit sharply, “Are you sure you can live with the consequences?”

“Better than I can live with the consequences of not even trying, like a complete fucking coward,” Rook sniped without a moment’s hesitation.

Spite sneered, and grinned at the younger Dellamorte, as though that sure showed him.

… And the demon was right. Illario’s visage shuttered and broke, erupting into a mist of white light like the others.

Rook breathed a massive sigh of relief, promising aloud, “Whatever happens, Lucanis, I’m going to be there to help you. You’ve handled enough alone.”

The deep, resonating clang of a deadbolt lock slipped loose through the air. Rook shared curious glances with Spite, before the pair of them followed the sound. Massive, heavily fortified double doors lay around the corner, and with a low, baleful creek, one of those doors had opened by a matter of inches.

Determined, Rook once again gathered their demon, “Come on.”

To say it was a relief to spot Lucanis the moment she stepped past that threshold was an understatement. Rook was quick to sprint his way, Spite on her heels like an eager wisp of smoke.

Lucanis looked as exhausted as he was startled to see her.

“What are you doing here, Rook?” He stammered beneath a deeply furrowed brow.

“I had to find you,” Rook struggled to catch her breath under the weight of relief, “If anything happened to you… I can’t even think about it.”

Lucanis sighed softly, barely masking a pained wince. He shook his head.

“You should go,” he said softly, “It’s better I stay here than risk losing you.”

Rook felt the threat of tears at those words, quelled only when Spite snarled in frustration, “You see? He breaks. Our. Agreement! His mind. Is still here. He wants. To stay here. So he keeps. Me here!”

“Mierda,” Lucanis cursed the demon, “Why would I want to stay? Even in my head, this place is a nightmare.”

“Right, but,” Rook said softly, “It’s a nightmare you’ve already defeated…” Her mind raced as she caught Lucanis’s gaze. Those warm, kind eyes were so tired. So utterly defeated. He quickly looked away.

She understood. And sometimes, it hurt to understand, too.

“I get it now,” she said with a sad smile, “As bad as the Ossuary was for you, it was better than the alternative.”

Lucanis glanced up past that knotted brow, “What alternative?”

“The Ossuary, Zara,” Rook explained, “You could solve those problems with a blade. But healing again? Living as an abomination? There is no simple answer there, vehnan. And, if you fail,” she shrugged, finally admitting to a very real danger, “You could hurt the ones you love.”

This sheer level of transparency seemed to rattle the assassin to his core. It was a truth given words that he had fought so hard to ignore.

“No! I… This is not…” Frustration boiled over and Lucanis growled angrily, “Damn it, Rook!”

It was frustration he apparently shared with his demon.

“Make. Him. Leave!” bellowed Spite.

Rook shuddered a sigh, determined to stay calm, “It doesn’t work that way, Spite, I’m sorry. It’s going to take time. And it’s got to be something Lucanis chooses to do for himself.”

Spite growled in frustration, but something about the presence of possibility at least helped him calm.

Rook, meanwhile, was watching Lucanis carefully, reading the storybook of emotions that played across his face. He finally breathed deep, a palm at his forehead. He seemed to settle on simply looking overwhelmed.

“Rook, you are right. There has to be a way through this,” he said, sounding like a raw nerve, “It’s just… so much. I cannot see how to begin.”

She watched him quietly for a moment. He seemed to find some calm in that silence, as did Spite. The demon became distracted, apparently content in the fact that there was a productive conversation between the two adultier adults in the room.

“Start small,” Rook suggested, “You and Spite. Figure out a goal you can both agree on. Then, make it happen.”

Spite’s attention returned - He lit up, curious, “A contract?”

A flicker of amusement teased Lucanis’s face, but he seemed to be giving it a serious consideration.

“Contracts are for clients,” he said to Spite. “Call this… an alliance.” Dark eyes came back to Rook. Always back to Rook, “But on what terms?”

“Didn’t you just learn your grandmother was alive?” Rook grinned - doubly so at the light it brought to Lucanis’ tired features, “What are you waiting for? Go rescue her!”

“That’s true.”

Spite looked eagerly between Lucanis and Rook, “Fighting Crows?”

“And anyone else who gets in our way,” Lucanis said to his demon, that steadfast fire returning to his eyes with a renewed determination. “Do we have a deal? We free Caterina together?”

Spite looked earnestly excited, to which Rook could barely stifle a grin.

“Together. We fight!”

Spite’s words rang in Rook’s ears as a flash of white light consumed everything in sight. She felt a distinct yank backwards at the navel, and a full-body halt, the sound of the Seventh Talon’s voice chiming as that bloom of light faded back into the fire-lit innards of the Cobbled Swan in Minrathos.

“Rook? Are you all right?” Teia sounded worried.

Viago, meanwhile, sounded very annoyed, “What is the matter with the two of you?”

Lucanis and Rook were both struggling with eyes re-adjusting in the dark.

“It’s ok,” said Rook as she caught Lucanis’s gaze, “We needed a moment, but… I’d say we’re ready for anything. Though, uh…” she pulled a face, asking awkwardly of the Talons, “How long were we standing here?”

Teia smirked, “Long enough for it to get awkward. Are you sure you’re all right?”

Lucanis smiled after the concern, “We’re fine, Teia. Don’t waste your worry on us. Can I trust the two of you to keep an eye on Illario? If he starts anything, I want to know about it.”

“I was going to do that, anyway,” Viago assured.

Teia’s gaze danced between Rook and Lucanis knowingly, “You’re planning something.”

“I’m getting Caterina back,” Lucanis grinned, “But Viago is right, we need more information before we move. Illario panicked when I came back alive. If he panics again, he could actually kill her this time.” He looked between the Talons and Rook, “We’ll only get one chance at this.”

“We will make it count,” Teia said.

Viago nodded in agreement, before his gaze fell on Rook, “That aside, we finally got word this morning on which contracts Caterina had in motion for House Dellamorte before she was taken. There are complications with three of them, and the chance that Illario will make any calls, let alone good ones right now is…” he looked to Lucanis.

“We will talk,” Lucanis agreed, “Give me a moment to show our guests out.”

“Rook,” Teia nodded and smiled as Lucanis took Rook’s hand and ushered her away from their murder of Crows.

“Find me, when you get back to the Lighthouse?” Rook asked. They came to a table near the door, where Bellara caught sight of their return over a fancy-looking bottle of wine.

Lucanis rounded to stand before Rook, his expression warm and soft. He had hands upon her shoulders as he often did to steady her, “This may run long, but I will find you as soon as I can. And Rook?”

She glanced up just Lucanis stepped in closer. A hand at the side of her neck, thumb brushing the delicate spot behind her ear, the assassin surprised her with a kiss.

Stunned and delighted at once, Rook pulled him even closer by the belts on his coat. Their kiss became a chuckle into a mischievous grin.

“Oh, you’re blushing,” Rook whispered teasingly.

Lucanis was already ambling away, back towards the Talons, looking endearingly smug.

It took a number of moments for Bellara to hoist Rook’s attention from the gutter well enough for Rook to realize her fellow Veil Jumper had joined her at her side.

“Heyyy. How we doing?”

“It, uh…” Rook finally managed to relocate words, before joking, “It got a little warm in here all of the sudden.”

Bellara giggled, “I’ll bet it did. Want to talk about it?”

“Oh my god I do.”

Rook’s enthusiasm had the pair of women cackling as they headed for the door.

Notes:

Oookay, so re-interpreting game stuff can be a little tiresome, but hey, we got there.

Also, just a heads up, the next chapter gets ( ˘▽˘)っ♨ SPICYYYYY ( ˘▽˘)っ♨ and will probably up the overall fic rating. So, avoid that chapter, if that’s not your bag (Though, we all know it probably is. Greetings, my people!)

Thanks for reading!

[thevoidstaredback]

One of the perks of being King means that he can talk to the Realms Herself and She usually responds. One of the cons is that She likes to mess with him. A lot. Especially when it’s inconvenient for him.

Phantom and Deadman found themselves outside the Phantom’s Keep, the castle in the middle of the Realms. She’d made the trip quick for them, but had been oddly silent the whole why. When they’d arrived, Phantom knew why.

When Dark Pariah had been sealed in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, Pariah’s Keep had deteriorated, breaking down and collapsing on itself. When Phantom took the Crown and Ring, the Keep rebuilt itself, changing to better fit Phantom. Looking at it now, though, it was changing again. The changes were unnatural, and obviously not the Realms’ doing.

Someone was making a claim before a challenge.

“Why did you hide this from me?” he asked the Realms. She didn’t answer.

“I’ll go report this back to the others,” Deadman said, “Do you think you’ll be able to come back?”

Phantom sighed, “Before this is dealt with? I don’t know.” He paused, his eyes still not leaving the Keep.

“You have an idea of who’s behind this, huh?”

“Yeah. I think he’s behind everything.”

“What?”

“The Comas that are practically a plagiarism of Nocturn’s work? Someone trying to open a portal into the Realms? It all screams human-orchestrated, but I think there’s a ghost pulling the strings.”

“Vengeful?”

“Most definitely.”

“What do we do?”

“Tell the others that I’m officially taking over the investigations. All of them. Have Constantine and Zatanna go to the League of Assassins, take a Bat if they need, and shut down anything that even looks like it could be a portal. If they can get Ra’s near the Pits, I’ll take care of it from there from inside the Realms. As for the Comas, I want you to take the Speedsters and the Supers and investigate any hauntings in the areas where the coma patients live.”

“Are you sure bringing them is a good idea? What if they get overshadowed?”

“Any Spirit or Ghost hauntings shouldn’t be strong enough to overpower them, but the House might have something to protect them. Take Captain Marvel, too, just in case.”

“Alright. Anything else?”

“Have Batman, Raven, and Wonder Woman, look into the D.M.A, specifically the branch that used to be the G.I.W.”

A gasp. “You don’t think…”

“They’re involved somehow, I know it.”

“Alright.” Deadman said, “You’ll be safe, won’t you, Phantom?”

“‘Course I will.”

***

Deadman made it back using the same door he and Phantom had come through in the first place, largely because that’s where the Realms lead him. The House greeted him on the other side, changing the halls so he’d be with the rest of his team almost immediately.

Zatanna was the first to see him. “Deadman!”

“What’s going on?” Constantine asked, “Why’d you two rush out like that?”

“We’ve got a problem.”

“Well, that’s comforting.” Raven snarked.

Deadman shook his head. “Get Batman, Superman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman on a call. I need to talk to all of you.”

“That can’t mean anything good,” Zatanna said, doing as asked.

The House brought them a T.V. for the conference call, Zatanna stepped out to make sure Superman was paying attention. Soon, everyone that had been asked for was present in the call, masks on of course, and in their respective bases.

“King Phantom asked me to inform you all that he’s officially taking lead on both the Portal Case and the Coma Case.” Deadman started, “With recent evidence, he believes them to be connected.”

“Where is Phantom?” Wonder Woman asked.

“Someone’s attacked Phantom’s Keep in the Infinite Realms, so he’s dealing with that.” Clearly, everyone had questions, but he ignored them. “He wants Constantine, Zatanna, and one of Batman’s cauldron-” there were snickers at the name, “-to go to the League of Assassins base of operations and shut down anything that seems to be related to the portal, natural or artificial. He also wants you guys to try and get Ra’s close to the Lazarus Pits.”

“Why?” Batman grunted.

Deadman shrugged, knowing the exact reason, “He didn’t tell me.”

Batman hummed, typing something on another monitor. “Take Red Robin with you. He’ll be able to get you in and out safely,”

“Alright,” Constantine nodded.

“Flash and Superman? Phantom wants you and your sidekicks to come with me and Captain Marvel to check out the Coma Case. He has a theory he wants us to check on.”

“Which is..?” Superman prompted, Superboy popping into frame behind him.

“If he’s right, then we’ll find some Ghosts or Spirits near where our victims were affected.”

“Oh, no,” Flash shook his head, “I’m not about to get myself, Kid, or Impulse haunted!”

Impulse ran in, skidding to a stop right on the edge of the frame. “What’s this about ghosts?”

Kid Flash was the next in, “Are we going ghost hunting? I’ll go get our stuff!”

“You have ghost hunting gear?” Superboy asked.

“Don’t you?” was the response.

“I guess that matter’s settled,” Superman sighed.

Wonder Woman muted both Superman and The Flash so the conversation could continue. “And the rest of us?”

“Batman, Raven, and Wonder Woman. He wants you to look into the Department of Metahuman Affairs. Specifically a branch formerly known as the Ghost Investigation Ward.” He watched their expressions carefully, though none of the three he was speaking to reacted. “Phantom thinks they have something to do with this, too.”

There were a few beats of silence before Raven spoke. “I guess we should get started.”

“Right,” Batman said like he was in charge, “Dismissed.”

Part 23 Part 25

[tachyheart]

Afib + Tachycardia + Hypertension… 🩸🩺🫀

What if your heart was racing at 130-140 bpm, irregular, and pounding so hard you could feel it in your chest? Add a blood pressure reading of 190/110 mmHg, and you’ve got the perfect storm. This post dives deep into a cardiophile’s fascination: the sound of a heart pushed to its limits and the sheer power behind those numbers. Let’s explore together… because every beat tells a story.

Listen to My Heartbeat: Irregular and Racing 🫀🎶

Close your eyes and listen... 🕰️ The rhythm stumbles, speeds up, slows down, then races ahead again. That raw, irregular pattern—a mix of atrial fibrillation and tachycardia—isn't just sound; it’s the music of life under pressure. Every beat resonates with chaos, a heart struggling to find its footing yet bravely continuing its journey.

Imagine a skilled cardiologist—or perhaps someone who's captivated by hearts—leaning closer, their stethoscope pressed to my chest. "Let me listen again," they’d say, a mix of curiosity and concern in their eyes. Their fingertips might linger on my pulse, feeling every irregular skip and thud. Would they wonder how such a rhythm still keeps me standing?

The Crushing Numbers: Blood Pressure 190/110 mmHg 🚨🩺

This is no ordinary reading. A blood pressure of 190/110 mmHg is like a storm brewing inside, straining every vessel, pushing the heart harder with every second. In the video, you’ll see the cuff inflate, squeeze, and then release, revealing the numbers in stark clarity.

If you look closer, you’ll notice the tremor of the hand taking the measurement. The sound of the stethoscope amplifies every beat, as if the heart is screaming to be heard. The slow deflation, the anticipation of the systolic and diastolic clicks—each moment filled with tension. Could you imagine the person behind the stethoscope? Perhaps a curious woman in a white coat, her gaze fixed on the gauge, completely in her element.

Her voice would be steady but intrigued: “190/110… That’s a hypertensive crisis. How long has it been this high?” she might ask, already reaching for her notebook to track every detail. But perhaps, secretly, she enjoys the challenge of monitoring this heart, this blood pressure, this case.

A Cardio Enthusiast’s Dream? ❤️‍🩹✨

For someone with a passion for the heart, there’s endless fascination in every irregularity, every skipped beat, and every dangerously high reading. Imagine a woman who finds herself mesmerized by these metrics—who’s determined to monitor every pulse, every shift in rhythm, and every fluctuation in blood pressure.

She might insist on checking my vitals daily, her stethoscope a constant companion. “Just lie still,” she’d say, pressing the diaphragm over my chest, concentrating as she listens to the erratic thud-thud-thud. Her fingers would expertly find my radial pulse, comparing its irregular rhythm to the heartbeats she hears.

And with the blood pressure cuff? She’d be methodical, inflating it with precision, her eyes fixed on the dial. After each measurement, she’d jot down the numbers in her notebook, charting trends, always intrigued by how my body fights to maintain balance.

Would she feel the urgency of the numbers or the thrill of uncovering their story? Perhaps it’s a mix of both—a unique connection between patient and observer, heart and hand, numbers and narrative.

[phosph-ate]

Tether

Dr. Phosphorus x GN!Reader

Rick is sent to collect someone from inside of seemingly haunted woods. He realizes he's bit off more than he can chew a little too late.

CW: violence, gun violence, swearing, canon divergence, no use of y/n

Word Count: 2k

A/N: they/them used for reader!! this veers away from the show. it is not set in it. it's just an idea i had and i want to run with it. it probably won't be too many parts/chapters. also, there is an oc in here, she is important to the story. just in case you have feelings about ocs! reader's abilities will be touched on more thoroughly next chapter! divider made by cafekitsune

The woods were considered haunted. They had not always been that way. In fact, they used to be beautiful and lively. But now, a heavy fog and dark shadows shroud them. Not a peep could be heard from inside once in them.

“This can’t be normal.”

“No, Phosphorus,” Rick sighed, “it fucking can’t be normal.”

Bride, Nina, and Weasel stood a little behind Phosphorus, who was directly behind Rick. After what seemed like an hour of trekking through the heavily wooded area, they stumbled upon a cabin.

“This is it.” Nina chimed in from behind them. “This is what the hunter described.”

“You all wait back here,” Rick begins to walk towards the cabin. “I’ll handle this for now.”

Phosphorus groaned but stayed put. The only one seemingly not antsy was Weasel. He stood there, patiently. Or as patiently as he could.

Rick walked onto the porch. He immediately noticed spots of blood scattered on it. The wood creaked loudly; it was very noticeable considering how silent the area had been. Before he could even knock the door was swung open. Someone who could not be older than sixteen stood in front of Rick. She was chewing, no smacking, some gum.

“Who the fuck are you?” The teenager looked Rick up and down, staring at him with distaste.

“I was about to ask you the same question.”

The girl peeked over Rick’s shoulder and noticed the group a little way from the porch. She rolled her eyes. “Well,” She stepped to the side. “I guess you can come in.”

“Huh?” Phosphorus was loud and confused. “You’re going to let some monsters into your home.”

“Not my home.” She shrugged. “Anyway, we’ve been expecting you.”

“We?” Bride asked. “Where is the owner?”

“Resting.” The girl seemed too calm. Rick hummed a response. The girl walked back to the couch and picked up a controller and continued playing some old game. “Any of you want to play with me?” She motioned to another controller. “We’ve got plenty of games! Diddy Kong Racing, Mario 64, and Donkey Kong!” She was excited to share. “I’m positive I’d kick all of your asses simultaneously at any of the games… But I’m not going to stop you from playing.”

Phosphorus looked down the hall. His head cocked to the side. “Where is the owner?” He sounded more assertive than Bride had earlier. “There is no way some kid is living out in these creepy woods by herself.”

“I said they’re resting.” The teenager snapped. “Now get your ass back in here. They don’t like people pokin’ around. I’d hate to see what would happen if they came out to you looking through their home.”

Phosphorus walked towards the steps and huffed. “We need to see them. Who are they? More importantly, who are you?” The doctor turned his head towards the girl.

“I’m Oli.” She gave her name quickly. “And I thought you knew who they were.” Oli mimicked Phosphorus’ huff. “Why else would you be here?”

“We’re here because people have been going missing in these woods. One man got away and was heavily traumatized.”

Oli went pale. “Not people.” She was short. She turned back to her game. She began to play again, and Phosphorus groaned.

“Look, kid!” He shouted. He started to walk towards Oli, and she froze. She went pale. A scream ripped from her throat, and she began to wail for something. For someone. A name Rick was not familiar with ripped through the air, straight from Oli’s lungs.

The house began to shift. The floor creaked and the lights flickered. The TV shut off and Oli fell off the couch and hit the floor, covering her face, still screaming.

“I’m not-” Phosphorus had no time to defend himself.

The wall behind the TV, closest to Oli, became covered in shadows. A black ooze dripped from the center of the wall. A loud crack, the crack of bones, came from the other side of the wall. Wind whipped outside and suddenly birds could be heard all around. The silence had been broken in the worst way possible.

Fingers creeped out from the wall, and then a hand was visible. It grabbed the wall, pulling whoever it belonged to out from the shadows. Bones continued to crack as whatever the fuck was coming from the shadows made its way into reality.

“What the fuck!?” Phosphorus screamed.

A distorted yell came from the person and once they dragged themselves from the shadows, they stood over Oli, protecting her. Their eyes were pitch black, no sclera, and their body cracked as they stood up straight.

“That must be the owner.” Nina said, eyes wide and full of shock.

You had been trying your best to replenish your energy. To recover from the earlier visit. But when you felt Oli’s fear and heard her screaming you could no longer rest. You pulled yourself together long enough to crawl out from your hiding spot.

When you stood over her fearful form and looked up to see the exact people she said would be paying you a visit you groaned.

“Oli,” Your voice was distorted. You peeked down at her before looking back around the room, assessing the situation. “You’re okay.” Your voice slowly returned to something more normal. “Aren’t these the people who you said were coming?”

“Yes.” She sat up and looked up at you with a smile. “They wanted to meet you!” She grinned, proud of herself.

“Excuse me?” You scoffed at her, “You just did all of that for me to come out? You couldn’t just say ‘Hey! The people from the fucking prophecy are here!’ That would be just as effective, Olympia.”

Oli stood up. “Do not call me Olympia.” She gave you a nasty look. “You are not my-” She paused. She took in a deep breath and looked at the TV. “Anyway,” She turned it back on, “I gotta restart my game now. Because you turned the TV off when you showed up.” Her voice was low. “Go take care of whatever the fuck they need you for.”

You narrowed your eyes at Oli and turned back to the group of people in your home. “Sorry about, uh, earlier,” You gave them a nervous smile. Your eyes had returned to their normal color, “unless of course you came to kill me. Then I’m not sorry and you will not be leaving this property-”

“We are not here to kill you. My name is Rick, and we are investigating the missing people-”

You interrupted him. “Missing? They’re where they belong. Those men were fucking evil.” You rolled your eyes. “I try to keep this place unreachable. And yet, some people just cannot help themselves.” You glanced towards Oli. “Look, I’ll let you all go. I’ll make a path for you. It’ll be safe. I’ll even let a little sun come in, but I’m not going anywhere. We aren’t going anywhere.”

Rick ran a hand through his hair. “That hunter that escaped, was he…-”

“Oh!” You waved a hand around, “He was just a hunter. Happened to see a little too much, but he seemed like a nice enough guy.” You walked towards your front door and opened it. “I hate that I didn’t get to know all of your names, but… goodbye!” You smiled widely at them and motioned for them to leave.

“No.” Rick stood his ground. “What the fuck are you two doing out here? You just have this kid out in the middle of nowhere, where are her parents?”

“Dead.” Oli looked back from the TV and at Rick. “My family is fucking dead.” She paused her game and stood up. “Did Waller not tell you that? Or did she not know?” Oli snapped. She walked past you and straight towards Rick.

“Who’s Waller?” You asked, while quickly placing yourself in the middle of her and Rick. “What are you not telling me, Oli?”

Rick looked down at Oli with the amount of confusion you seemed to be in. “We were not aware you were here. We were told to bring them,” he pointed to you, “in. That is the extent of our knowledge.”

Oli’s nails were digging into her palms. Something in her seemed to snap. “You are not doing that!” She snarled at Rick. You tried to calm her. “That is not- I didn’t see that! You’re supposed to help us!” She had tears in her eyes.

“Olympia!” You grabbed her face. “What are you talking about?”

Her eyes glazed over, and her knees buckled. You were quick to grab her and hold her up and keep her from hitting the floor.

“What is happening?”

You looked up to see the obviously irradiated skeleton speaking. “She- She’s-” You did not get to finish your sentence. Oli sucked in air harshly, and her eyes widened. She looked at you in fear. You felt every ounce of her fear. Your stomach flipped.

“Oli,” your voice was soft, “What did you see?”

“Me-” She sucked down a sob, tears filling her eyes. “Dead.”

You sat at the kitchen table with Oli. You had insisted your visitors leave, she insisted on them staying. Because of that, you had learned who each of them was. Bride, Dr. Phosphorus, Nina, and your personal favorite: Weasel.

You grabbed water for Oli and sat down beside her. “It could be nothing.” You tried to reassure her, keep her calm.

“My visions are never ‘nothing’.” Oli sipped on her water. She sighed and looked past you and at the group of people in your home. “I haven’t been telling you everything…” She shut her eyes tight and gripped the glass in her hand. “The people who are coming to these woods, they aren’t coming for me. They’re coming for you.” She looked at you with a scared look.

“Well,” Dr. Phosphorus clapped his hands together and began to walk towards you, “we’d better get you out of here then!”

“I can’t leave her!” You snapped at him.

At the same time, Oli whispered “I can’t leave them.” She sounded defeated.

“Why?” Nina cocked her head. “Do you not have anyone else?”

You were growing frustrated. “No!” You pulled Oli into your arms and stood over her as she sat at the table. “Her family is gone! She was wanted for her abilities. I took her in and she’s safe with me-”

“I’m their tether.” Oli sounded distant. You froze, arms falling slightly, but not leaving her sides. You were shocked she would give that information away so freely. “If I die-” She stopped talking and closed her eyes tight.

“What is she talking about?” Rick swallowed hard. Things got a lot harder if what she was saying was true.

“I’m their tether,” She repeated. “You know how when a baby duck imprints on, like, a human?” She looked back at the group of monsters standing in your home.

“What does that have to do with this?” Bride crossed her arms.

“We found each other in times of need. And somehow, their need was much greater than mine. I’m keeping them sort of… holding onto humanity.”

You were standing there silent. She was talking like you were not even there. So, you decided to speak up. “If she dies, I’ll feel it. And I’m afraid of what I will do.” You watched the group, face deadpan. “I’m not leaving here. We are both safe here.”

There was a heavy silence before Dr. Phosphorus spoke up. “That’s too fucking bad, we need you to come with us.”

You groaned. And then you felt it. Something was getting close to your cabin. Your hair stood on end, your head snapped towards the window behind you and walked towards it. Oli pouted, she knew what that meant by now. You tried to pinpoint where they were coming from. Your head began to pound.

“What are you do-”

The window shattered and a bullet flew through, hitting you straight in the forehead. You heard Oli scream. Her fear was palpable. She was at your side in a second. “There’s blood!” Oli wailed. “They can’t even bleed!” Her screams wrecked you. Everything went black.

[irrealisms]

it's different this time, there's water liner notes

fic here if you haven't read it!

the original title for this fic was the (possibly) last summer, from this margaret atwood poem. this has been true for a couple months, since it was just a fic idea that i probably wasn't going to write. i was so excited for it! i love They are hostile nations & i haven't gotten to use it for a fic title yet! and i Do still very much recommend it both qua poem and as a pairing for this fic

(i got the fic idea after the first vitalasy stream on s6; it changed from "fic idea i probably won't write" to "yeah okay i need to write this" after the second one)

but then i was struggling with Writing Happy Things and batting around ideas of what specifically they're doing in the fic and got the idea for a Funnest Room Competition Take Two, and soooo recently i had been thinking and talking about the vitalasy & zam conversation i transcribed, where zam is convincing vitalasy to come down a 1x1 hole and vitalasy mentions the moment from s4 where zam jumped down a similar 1x1 in order to kill herself on dripstone and vitalasy followed immediately and died as well, and zam says It’s different this time, there’s water and I’m down here. the way that this is a physical representation of the ways it's different: in s4, when zam wanted to prove her love to vitalasy, she killed herself, in a microcosm of so many of the problems in their relationship. in s6, she tries to recreate something that vitalasy loved. it's safe; there's nothing there to kill herself or anyone else. you can't take fall damage or die on dripstone. there's water. and-- in the original Funnest Room, vitalasy's room had a secret entrance which led to a room with a lectern. the room with the lectern (and what was hidden behind the lectern) is, i think, familiar enough to all eclipse fans that i don't need to belabor the point too much, but it's a similar concept: making their base again, but it's different this time. no dripstone, no secret passages. they're trying again, but this time they're doing it without the problems that tear them apart. so. new title

btw have new fans seen the OG funnest rooms. they're so incredibly ugly. i love them so dearly. look at these and know that they all three have even more details that i couldn't get in the screenshot, such as "an end crystal" and "concrete powder being repeatedly shot up and then falling back down"

look at them. aren't they wonderful. anyway back to the fic

i...sort of considered either "zam-and-subz conversation about eclipse" or "zam coming out" having more of a presence. but it was never more than sort of; i was pretty solid early on that i didn't want this to be a reconciliation fic, i wanted it to be a post-reconciliation "tentatively learning to love each other again" fic. all the big dramatic moments are in the past. now: a moment of happiness, together.

something i wanted to make clear is that it's a very temporary moment of happiness. vitalasy is only on the server for very short periods of time. zam and subz have other plotlines and alliances going on (or, in subz's case, lifesteal public) that they can't & don't want to drop. the server itself is going to end. but....it's still real? and what it symbolizes in their relationship, that they're repairing it and getting closer as friends again, is going to keep being real.

the idea to intersperse some of the most painful moments of s4 is one i went back and forth on a bit but eventually decided in favor. they have a lot of very genuinely hurtful history that is sort of coloring every interaction. in the present day, they're able to move forward from it, but it's not...small? it was really bad, they all hurt each other a lot.

related to moving forward. something i said on discord about this fic: "i have written two Not A Fix-Its that do canon divergence from s4. i have broadly maintained my stance that they are doomed from the moment they got together & you cannot fix them. but it turns out that you can fix them and the way to fix them is by going forward instead of backwards."

uhhhhh i'm not sure how obvious this is but all three of them are sort of on high alert trying to Be Careful and Manage everything so everyone stays happy and nothing explodes horrifically. this is most obvious from vitalasy bc he's the one whose pov we're in but rest assured: zam and subz are doing it too. this will get better with time as they get used to each other & nothing continues to happen.

which: i do think that in fact it will not explode horrifically! not only have all of them grown as people since s4, there's also a thing of... eclipse federation only went as bad as it did in s4 because their long-term season goals were fundamentally opposed and vitalasy had important reasons that he could not tell zam the full truth about things. neither vitalasy nor subz have long-term season goals in s6; none of them have material reasons to lie to each other or keep secrets. i think they'll be fine.

change vs staying the same is another big thing. subz isn't a builder anymore, zam is. zam's a girl. but also there's the same hammock, the same familiar friendship. the things that are the same, the things that are different. once again this ties into the title & where it came from & why it applies to the fic.

uhhhhh zam gives subz slime blocks bc they were the walls of subz's funnest room. what zam may not know is that they were ALSO the walls of the post-s4 vitalasy&subz house. anyway that's a thing

vitalasy's cat isn't referred to by name because its name is vitalapuss and vitalasy is a PG streamer who tends to avoid the name. sorry vitalasy.

vitalasy smiles a LOT in this fic and there are two references to vitalasy's face hurting from smiling. this is because i watch vitalasy pov when he streams on s6 and when he puts on facecam he is ALWAYS smiling so so so big and occasionally mentioning how his face hurts from smiling so much. lifesteal makes him happy 🥺 (this in turn makes me happy)

similarly: vitalasy cubito often spins when Particularly happy and i so rarely get to include this bc i usually write vitalasy miserable. but he gets to spin here!!!

behind the scenes fact: i wrote the entire first draft of this fic a week ago in a single 6-hour sitting, from 11pm to 5am, while incredibly sick and off-and-on feverish. and then a week later (today) i did a bit of vod review, did 50 words of edits, and posted it. halfway through writing the first draft vitalasy tweeted that he was going to upload again accompanied by a gif of eclipse federation. i take nothing but Ws forever

discord message by me at 3am: "i cant believe he did this. he Heard me writing eclipse federation happy ending and was like Not to worry. i will make this real for you"

also i mentioned this earlier but i struggle SO MUCH with writing happy things. i'm proud of myself for both this fic and my previous one (memory foam, the tgcf fic, not the previous lifesteal fic) for being happier than my usual? in both of those fics there's still very much The Past Horrors but i'm expanding my repertoire! and from the reaction i think i did a good job of it ^w^

for eclipse fed particularly though there's also a thing of.... the reason i didn't see myself writing happy things for them wasn't just bc i'm bad at writing happy things, it's also bc they were doomed when they were together and incredibly unhappy when they fell apart and i couldn't imagine a path from where they started to a happy ending. certainly not in s4, and s5 didn't really give me hope there, either, with zam refusing to talk to vitalasy about the previous season, and then with subz and vitalasy both banning themselves off the server and quitting content creation (cutting off the possibility of any future reconciliation or even further interaction within the context of the lore). and then, well, s6 happened. vitalasy and subz are back; vitalasy and zam had a genuine conversation about s4 which went better than i could have imagined. this happy ending hasn't happened for them, and it may never, but i have genuine hope for them and the future of their relationship on lifesteal in a way i never have before, even when they were together the first time. i'm-- genuinely, truly so glad to have been wrong.