#so now im here and fucking shaking from stress cause all signs are pointing to me being stuck here

[foggysirens]

.

[opal-owl-flight]

Can you please tell us more about Neo4. What's their background.

“I need your help.”

Thing is -- I dont exactly own that character! Hes owned by @pastille-pain ... I asked them abt his deets, so here it is under the readmore!

His recruitment by 3 is also under the readmore :) (+more notes abt pre-sploon3)

(From my pal)

My Precious Soy Sauz

Aka croissant

Where he comes from is inkopolis

Lived there his whole life actually. A very sheltered kid due to being raised by grandparents that were in Octaria at one point. So they wanted to make sure nothing really happened to him

An only child but he had his cousin (Nakji, Takoyaki) of the three, he'd be the middle child with Nakji and the youngest.

He's got two friends (three if we count malachite -- the smallfrt) outside of the platoon. Dulce, and (unfortunately) Scara

He dating Melon (oc of mine), we know this

Kinda funny it started as her just battling with him cause he was good but then it turned something more

His time before the platoon was mostly

"Hey are you related to that Sauz idol?" Or "hey, you related to that Sauz wrestler?" It got annoying very quickly so he started introducing himself as croissant and nothing else

Aside from that, if he wasn't turfing he was at home reading or watching shows. Guys a very boring person

He's a pretty big OTH fan...

All this above is still the same even while being apart of the platoon minus the constant questions about his relatives and adding college into the mix

He can do some really cool shit when he's focused (like absolutely demolish competition in turf) but he's also easily distracted so I think you can imagine how that goes

His stress relief is shopping (mostly window shopping, very rarely does he actually buy anything)

He never gets too mad but we know the face if he does

Fun fact, you will never catch this man in pants

Short and anything else

Not pants

The only time he's ever seen wearing pants is in his agent gear and that's cause it's what was given to him.

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

Heres a bonus too, of 3s recruitment of him!

It was a turfing match, and theyve been watching the krak-on user the whole round. They took note of how he responded to stress, to bad calls, and how he acted on his own following calls he had judged as bad. Once it was over, they followed the team into the lobby.

They stand tall against the doorframe theyre leaning against, presence as cold and as commanding as ever.

(Nevermind that Croissant is taller AND older than them, that squid is intimidating as FUCK)

A whistle, calling the team over.

"|May I have a word?|" they sign, "|Ive been watching your team turf for the last few rounds.|"

Scara, the team captain, spits a "Who the FUCK are you."

3s eyebrows raise in surprise. But they should expect it... casual turfers dont usually know their name.

They went to the smaller leagues for a reason. If something happened to a big name in the scene, and its found that they had something to do with it-

No. No. They mentally shake their head. They are NOT picking this person because they are going to be fucking canon fodder.

"|Who I am is not important. Not much, anyway.

I am... interested in one of your teammates.|"

a nod towards Croissant. "|As a krak-on user myself, his performance has impressed me.|"

"Has he now. You seen our losses?? Are you making fun of us??"

"|He has great potential.|" they sign, ignoring the outburst. "|I would like to...|" theres a slight pause. "|...train with him.|"

"I can train my team perfectly, all by myself. Get lost."

They give a cold stare back. "|Im sure that has worked very well for you thus far.|"

The captain didnt seem to want to back down. 3 continues, ear twitching.

"|This request was not aimed towards you, anyway. Im asking him.|"

"BUT-"

"|I want to hear HIS answer.|"

A test. 3 saw that Scara was pushing him around and the only reason they won the match was bc Croissant decided to go his own way. Will he go his own way now?

"Well I know he'll choose to stick with me-"

"Oh I'd love to train with you I like helping others :D"

"You weren't supposed to say that."

3 nods. "|It begins now. Come. We have much to discuss. And as for you.|"

They clack their beak. "|Captain to captain. You need to listen to your teammates more.|"

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

Once they are in a more private space...

"|Training is only one part of the deal.

I apologize for not being upfront. This is a matter of national security, and I cannot mention much about it beyond base.|"

I suppose Croissant hasnt heard...or at least, isnt into much of the so-called Hero of Inkadia thats plastered everywhere in Inkopolis? If he was, hed at least start thinking of all that being like... "wait all that media was based on something real???"

(3 mentioning national security and a base may also inspire thoughts of "wow this squid's a fucking nerd...")

"|You are free to reject my request if you feel unfit for the task at hand. But where are my manners? I have yet to formally introduce myself.

Topside, I am known as FOR3VRFRSH. Here, I am the Captain of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

I suppose youve heard of such a force...? No?|

Mm.

|Just know that we keep Inkadia more or less safe from nation-destroying threats.|"

He accepts the offer... but he also wasn't thinking too hard on it cause he saw an opportunity to step away from Scara and took it immediately.

3 nods, beckoning him towards the sewer line. As they walked backwards into base, they signed to him. "|From this point onwards, you will be referred to as Agent...Four.|"

Theres a very slight waver of their hand as they signed the number.

"|You show much promise, from what Ive observed in turf. Dont disappoint me.|"

"The only person I disappoint is that guy, but he's just very critical-"*

Theres a glint in 3s eye, a look of amusement... "|...Overly critical is putting it lightly.|"

"I promise to do my best still."

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

3 introduces him as the new Agent 4 and I feel Marie just scrunches her nose a bit. Then sees the look in 3s eye...

To the folks from the regions around 3s home (Callie, Marie, Cuttlefish), theyre not subtle about missing her.

[apocalypticgargoyle]

𝙈𝙀𝙀𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙅𝘼𝘾𝙊𝘽𝙎𝙀𝙎. | 𝙠𝙖𝙧𝙡 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙤𝙗𝙨 (18+)

edit by @raeganlolz <3

∘ requests: I tried to use as many as I could that made sense! Hope you enjoy!

“the things i’d do to meet edgy karl’s parents.”

“ok but next time you want to write smut for edgy!karl...post pregnancy scare...karl having a fixation on readers tiddies...like the whole time. -🧚🏻‍♀️”

“i stg this is my last thing ill send in today about edgy!karl but karl letting reader dom him completely.-🧚🏻‍♀️”

“CONSIDER edgy!Karl saying ‘that's my girl’”

∘ pairing: edgy!Karl Jacobs x fm!reader 

∘ warnings: nsfw (minors dni), mentions of underaged sex, asphyxiation, domination, this being 4k

∘ word count: ~4000 (im so sorry)

∘ links: 𐐪 ao3 𐑂 𐐪 previous part 𐑂 𐐪 submit an edgy!karl edit 𐑂

∘ disclaimer: I made up all the dynamics and Karl lore. This is also an au and I do what I want so

You rolled your shoulders, twisting your back to alleviate some of the stress in your back as your mind raced at the possible outcomes of spending the weekend at Karl’s parent’s place. He seemed to deal with the situation in his own way, a cigarette lazily hanging from his lips as he scrubbed the nail polish from his fingers. You wondered if his parents were sticklers for order, then again, knowing Karl, there was no way they weren’t crazy strict. You thought about your own family and what would happen if Karl were to meet your mother.

Karl seemed almost absent-mindedly going through the motions of visiting them like you had nothing to worry about. There were occasions when he even made it clear that you had your life more intact than he did, so it was doubtful they would hate you.

You peered over at him, taking your eyes off the road momentarily as he paused to blow smoke out of his window. “Why do you have to take it off?” You asked, gesturing to his hands.

He scoffed slightly, sitting up and throwing the dirty cotton ball into the small bag beside him. “My mom hates the dark colors,” he murmured, flicking his cigarette bud outside. He moved a hand to settle over your thigh, wrapping his fingers around the flesh. “Don’t worry, I’ll paint them again when we get back,” he chided. “I know it’s the only reason you keep me around.”

You snorted at this, shaking your head at his joke.

The two of you came to a small stop-over town, swapping seats after filling up the tank at the local gas station. Through the crack in the passenger window, you could hear the cashier greeting Karl as if they were old friends, smacking him on the back and walking him out the door with a smile. As Karl sank into the driver’s seat you furrowed your brows. He looked at you with a shrug. “We vacation around here sometimes,” he brushed off, making your mouth twist in disbelief. He was downplaying the extent of his family’s hold over the town.

As the two of you drove through the main street of the town, your eyes snapped to the various stores with his last name plastered on the signs. You nearly asked him about it, instead opting out as you figured he would give you a half-assed answer and only give you part of the story.

His house had its own street, a long winding road that ended in a looped driveway the size of a suburban cold-de-sac. You willed yourself not to let your mouth gape at the sheer size of the mansion as it stared back at you, blocking the moonlight as Karl opened the passenger door for you to climb out. “Stop treating me like the fucking Queen of England,” you murmured, elbowing him as he pulled on his hoodie, shaking out his hair slightly.

He laughed at you, popping a piece of gum in his mouth, and pressing his lips to yours in a nearly heated kiss as if to give you a taste of what he had in store of you. As he broke the embrace, his nose brushed against yours. “I can treat you worse if you want, pet?” He offered, causing you to shove him away from you.

“We are literally in your parents’ driveway. Chill out,” you urged, making him chuckle as he laced his fingers with yours, pulling you towards the front door. Your heart hammered in your ears as he pushed open the door. You tugged on his arm. “Shouldn’t we knock first?” You whispered, making him pop his gum and shrug.

As if telling you not to worry, he pulled you the rest of the way in the house, only to be greeted with an old man barely reaching over your height. “Karl! My god, you nearly scared the living daylights outta me!” He hooted, as Karl wrapped his arm around the old man, the two chattering away like the best of friends.

You smiled at the warmth between the two, watching Karl blossom. He moved to stand by you, wrapping his arm around your waist and gesturing to the man. “This is my nanny, Leslie. He wouldn’t leave so I think he just dusts the books in one of the libraries,” Karl joked, making the man swat the air in front of Karl.

You raised your eyebrows. “One of the libraries?” You repeated quietly as if to make sure you heard him correctly.

He smirked at you, disregarding your surprise. “This is my girlfriend,” he introduced, rather proudly as Leslie’s face lit up. He grabbed your hands and rambled on about how he had never thought Karl would introduce a girlfriend to the family.

“I thought I heard Karl’s voice. Did he make it?” A feminine tone rang out into the foyer, capturing Karl’s attention a beat before she had started talking as if he had sensed her. You wanted to smirk at the vision, knowing he did the same when he heard you.

A woman came around the corner of one of the walls, her hair and makeup applied to a professional standard and her clothes were cleanly pressed. She looked as if she had just gotten home from an office job with a corner office. Her intimidating aura vanished along with his as soon as she saw him, scooping him up in her arms as he chuckled slightly. She held him out an arm’s length away, pinching his sides and calling him a beanstalk. Another man a few years older than Leslie entered the room, draped in a flowery apron. He embraced Karl as well, the couple fawning over him like they hadn’t seen him in years.

Karl gestured for you to come closer as he showed you off to the pair, introducing them as his parents. Karl’s mom immediately embraced you, murmuring about how Karl hadn’t brought a girl home in ages let alone a girlfriend and you were quickly being to notice a theme amongst the group.

The house was massive, which you had quickly noticed was even bigger than it looked outside, as Karl’s mother looped her arm around yours, giving you the tour and explaining the extensive history of the Jacobs family and their impact on the house. Leslie and she served as some of the most entertaining tour guides you’d ever experienced as they giggling and joked. Karl walked quietly behind the group of you, hands in his pockets as he looked up at the ceilings and pictures as if he hadn’t seen them a thousand times growing up.

You peered over your shoulder, making sure he was still with the rest of you. He set you a wink, lips curling at the sight of you getting along with his family members.

After you were finally beginning to lose track of time Karl broke into the charade, and after vaguely mentioning he was tired, his mother when into a mock cuddling mode, cooing to him sarcastically, yet letting the two of you slink away for the night with the promise of finishing the tour before Karl’s brother showed up in the morning.

Soon it was just you and Karl again, him leading you up a flight of stairs. The hallways were lit with small lanterns that at one time had probably fostered candles but were now replaced with electric ones. You weren’t sure where to look as the walls were crammed with painting and photographs. Half of you wanted to admire the architecture while the rest of you was attempting to identify who the artist was that had done most of the artwork.

Karl sighed tiredly, popping open a door and switching on the lights. You bit back a smile at the view of his room in its pristine condition. The various shades of blues and greys accenting the features of his bed and various pieces of furniture. As you looked around, he threw his wallet and keys onto the dresser beside his bed, shutting the door to drown out the faint music coming from the kitchen. You sat in one of the massive chairs beside the fireplace, your mind running blank with disbelief. A fire was already burning in anticipation of his return.

You ran your finger along the seam in the leather. “When you said your family had money… I didn’t picture all,” you paused gesturing around you, “… this…”

He shrugged with a small smile on his face. “Do you wanna know a little piece of Karl lore?” He asked, smugly.

You perked your eyebrows at his words. “You know I do.”

He gestured with his fingers for you to come towards him as he walked closer to one of the massive windows. He settled his hand in the crook of your neck, turning you to look across the pond at a few of the other massive properties. He pressed a kiss to your shoulder before pointing at one directly in front of you. “I lost my virginity in that one,” he stated, making you chuckle.

He wrapped his arms around your waist. “And to whom?” You queried, as his teeth nipped at your ear.

You could practically hear him smirk. “Her name was Ms. Scarlet back then, but I think she’s been married again,” he answered, making you freeze in his hold. “I think she was between husband two and three.”

“Wait, what?” You turned around to face him.

He brushed his lips against yours. “You jealous?”

You furrowed your brows at him, pulling out of his touch. “Were you of age?” You questioned, voice coming out in almost a winded laugh.

He shrugged, plopping down on the bed behind him, leaning his weight back on his hands. “Not the first time.” He smiled up at you. “She’s a friend of mine’s mom. I cut her grass that summer.”

You rubbed your eyes. “Jesus Christ,” you murmured. “Did you hook up again after that?” It was like he had opened Pandora’s box, a mass of questions echoing like bees within your mind.

He looked at the ceiling. “We stopped before my sophomore year of college, I think.” He furrowed his brows in thought. “Yeah, so almost five years.” Your mouth gapped slightly. “But only when I came back for breaks.”

“You were seventeen?” You stressed. “And when you came back from where?” You sat beside him, attempting to decide if you should be worried or not. Obviously, it wasn’t a fact you could change, but the fact that a woman had him at so young-

He hummed slightly. “Boarding school,” he mumbled, trying not to seem smug. He wrapped his arm around your waist. “I know it sounds bad now, but she wasn’t taking advantage of me or anything,” he assured. “I think you’d like her, honestly.”

“You think I’d like a woman that preys on little boys?” He snorted at your comment and you smacked his chest, making him laugh louder.

He dug his face into your neck. “Age of consent is lower here,” he continued to assure. “Baby, I’m okay.” His teeth nipped at your skin. “Plus, I don’t think I’d know how to make you feel so good without her.” That made you green around the gills. You attempted to put the thought of Karl and an older woman out of your mind. “How did you lose yours?”

You swallowed your questions, deciding to save them for another day. “In a treehouse before I left for college. With my roommate’s twin brother,” you murmured.

He chuckled. “Oh, shit. We’re both bad friends, aren’t we?” He jested.

You shook your head, chewing the inside of your cheek. “I was dating him, actually. It was really brief.”

“The sex or the relationship?” He asked, making two gesture two fingers into the air. He pulled away from you, sending you a small smile. “And what’s his name? I need to know who you’re comparing me to.”

You scoffed. “Clay,” you answered, the image of the boy flashing into your mind for an instant.

Karl’s demeanor changed. “Clay?” He repeated, sounding like you earlier as you wrapped your brain around the extent of the Jacobs fortune. “What does that seem so familiar…” he trailed off in thought. You perked your eyebrow at him, knowing full-well the two could have unintentionally crossed paths on campus.

The next morning, you could have sworn you were on the set of a period piece if it weren’t for Karl’s father’s golfing attire and his mother’s tight black dress as they welcomed various family members into the house. You had finally met Karl’s older brother, an accomplished man with a good job and an even more impressive education, yet each time he attempted to boast about his earnings or the progress he was bringing to the family business, he was swatted off only for his parents to gloat about Karl’s fraternity connections and grades.

You peered over Karl’s shoulder as he showed you Todd’s Instagram post, the two of you scoffing before you liked his picture from your account, making Karl roll his eyes as you snickered.

“… And that being said, renting cars is no longer a strenuous task,” Karl’s brother finished.

Mrs. Jacobs nodded her head slightly. Karl had mentioned the family joke of disregarding what his brother said, even if it was impressive or you were interested. It had been a running gag since Karl was in high school and they weren’t planning on letting up anytime soon. “Yeah, that’s neat. Did you hear Karl learned how to do his own laundry?” His mom boasted with a small chirp to her voice as if Karl were the best thing on the planet.

You bit back a laugh as his brother grumbled to himself, his wife patting his arm reassuringly. “He was also one of the most expensive at KA. Very impressive son!” His dad added, sending him a thumbs up.

You stood with Karl in the living room; his arm draped around the top of a bookshelf you were leaning against as you both listened to one of his cousins talk about a new boat they had just paid off.

Your heels felt tight on your feet as you switched the weight from one ankle to the other, leaning closer to Karl. He moved so his lips were near your ear. “Don’t let him fool you. It’s a hollowed-out log with a rudder,” he chided, making the corner of your mouth twist up.

“It’s not much, but it’s honest,” you mockingly defended. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

“Inexplicably,” he murmured back, making you laugh quietly. He let a beat of silence pass between the two of you before wetting his lips. “Say the word and we’ll find a random room and I’ll ruin your makeup,” he whispered.

You scoffed, inching closer to him while your eyes remained on the center of the room where everyone was talking. “How can you be horny around your family?”

You could feel his warm breath against your neck. “Because I’m more focused on you in that tight little dress than Kevin’s boat.”

You took a sip from your cup. “Dirty boy,” you joshed quietly.

Karl smirked at you before his eyes drifted to the front door, a new flow of people filing into the house. You noticed him grow quiet, following his gaze to a woman and a boy around your age. They greeted Karl’s parents happily before integrating into the living room with the rest of you. You could tell by the way his face twisted smugly that the woman was Ms. Scarlet. You drew in a breath as she neared the two of you.

Karl stood up a bit straighter and you bit back a laugh, making a mental note on having to tease him about his MILF. The woman smiled brightly at Karl, pinching his cheek. You attempted to piece together who the boy was and if Karl had mentioned him before.

Karl cleared his throat after they shared their pleasantries. “Uh, this is Nick, but everyone calls him Sapnap, and this is his mom… Ms. Scarlet?” He questioned the last part as she charmingly laughed.

“Oh, no darling. I’m Mrs. Donahue now.” Sapnap rolled his eyes slightly at her words, taking a sip of his drink as she winked at him.

Karl smirked. “Right, congratulations. Anyway, they’ve been our neighbors for years-”

She cut him off, squeezing his arm. “Oh, come on! We were trying to marry Karl off to one of Nick’s cousins and finally join the families, but it’s just funny how things work out,” she stated. You wracked your brain, attempting to figure out if it was a dig at you or Karl. The two of them went off on a tangent about the array of Sapnap’s cousins that Karl had had to take on dates and whatnot.

“So, you’re dating Karl then?” Sapnap asked you, more of an aside as they had seemed to forget about you.

You nodded; the fact still rather foreign to you when given the chance to think about it. “Yeah, I’ll claim him,” you joked. “Did you guys go to the same high school?” You asked, attempting conversation.

He looked at you tiredly. “Yeah, yeah. We’ve been classmates since we were little.” You hummed in interest. “I mean, since he fucked my mom we haven’t been hanging out or anything,” he added as if you had been itching to ask.

You had been.

You snorted at his words as he smiled slightly. “Sorry, that’s not funny,” you apologized, covering your mouth.

He shook his head, laughing softly. “No, it definitely is, don’t worry.”

“How did, uh… that affect you guys?” You asked, biting back your humorous response.

He seemed to relax from his stiffened introduction a few minutes prior. He wet his lips. “Honestly, there’s no going back from that, you know?”

You giggled. “No, I don’t.”

He laughed at your answer, covering it with a cough as Karl seemed to remember you were standing beside him. Sapnap’s mom suddenly spotted an old friend of hers, the two parting from your life almost as quickly as they had entered. You leaned against Karl’s arm.

“I like Sapnap,” you hummed, watching the two leave. “He seems quiet.” Karl shrugged beside you. Your mind wandered to whether Sapnap knew Todd. Part of you wished you had asked him, but you were struggling to remember Todd’s real name anyway. “Did you have fun with your lady friend?” You mocked, looking up at him.

He shook his head, biting back a smirk. “You’re my lady friend.”

You chuckled. “Oh? I thought you’d forgotten.”

Before you knew it, you were pressed against Karl in a coat closet in a remote part of the house, unable to make it to his room before his hands were up your skirt and his lips were attacking your skin. He pinned you against the door as if he were worried you would slip out of his grasp as he ground his hips against yours. His teeth grazed against your neck in a mess of hands and hair.

You pushed him further into the closet before he plopped down in a chair towards the back. The both of you shared a look of confusion as to why it was there yet shrugged and went back to carding your fingers through his hair and tugging at his lips with your own. He moaned into your mouth as you climbed into his lap, his hands gripping the flesh of your thighs before snaking up to slip into the top of your dress and take your breast into one of his large hands.

Kissing him felt strange without his tongue ring; if you weren’t so desperate to get yourself off, you would have complained about missing it.

You ground yourself on his lap, groaning at your newfound friction as he spread his legs further for you, his free hand dragging you against his crotch. You pressed your lips against his neck, biting at the skin, determined to mark him as yours. You weren’t doing it to ward off Ms. Scarlet, no. This was for you, knowing full well that Karl always wore your hickeys with pride.

Your hands went to his belt buckle, impatience taking over as you nipped at his skin, earning moans of pleasure as he let you have your way with him. He pressed his lips to your chest as you freed his cock from its cloth entrapment, stroking him with your hand. “Give me your panties,” he whispered, breathlessly as he hooked his fingers around your waistband. You obliged before angling him at your entrance and sinking down onto him. The two of you let out moans of pleasure, swallowing each other’s appraisal.

The air grew warm around the two of you as you began to roll your hips against him. Your head tilting back as you tried to quiet yourself down, knowing the last thing you wanted was for someone to walk in… again.

Karl’s fingers moved to unzip your dress, exposing your chest to his mouth as your fingers moved to tug at his dark locks. He ground his hips up into yours, a thankful moan slipping past your lips as his tongue pressed against the valley between your breasts.

You pushed him against the back of the chair, capturing his lips against your and slipping your tongue into his mouth. He completely submitted to your actions, wanting nothing more than to taste you as you began to ride him harder. Your nails dug into the back of the chair, your other hand moving to unbutton the top of his shirt and wrap around his neck. “Is she better than me?” You asked; your breath husky and demanding as his teeth flashed back at you, his leering smirk mixing with his blissed-out expression as he tried not to roll his eyes at how good he felt with you taking all of him.

“N-no. Of course not,” he groaned. His lips were pink from your teeth, cheeks flushed with lust and adrenaline as his blunt nails raked up your body to claw at your back. “Fuck, you feel so good,” he moaned, voice almost a whimper.

You moved your hand to press your thumb to brush against his bottom lip, loving the pleasured expression on his face as he looked at you like you owned him. “Good,” you answered plainly, swirling your hips and tightening your grip on his neck before you could feel your impending orgasm nearly within reach. He almost smiled up at you. What a little freak.

You moved your hand to fist in the front of his shirt, pulling him up to press your lips against his as you bounced on top of him. He let out a deep moan before you felt him release, making you scoff sardonically. His fingers moved to grip your hips, thrusting against you harder, determined to get you to follow him. You dug your face into the crook of his neck, his teeth digging into your skin.

Shamelessly, you let him drag you over the edge, your orgasm ripping through you with a flash of heat and relief. Karl kissed you roughly, desperate to taste your moans as if looking for your approval. "That's my girl," he moaned, smiling against your lips.

As the two of you straightened your clothing and cleaned up your appearances, you went for your underpants in Karl’s pocket, but he grabbed your wrist, drawing you to his chest. “You got to be on top, that means I’m in charge of foreplay for the rest of the night,” he answered, pressing a brief and sultry kiss against your lips to wipe away your shocked expression.

“Fine, then I’m in charge when we get back and I’ll send lewds to Todd,” you threatened with an empty conscious on the matter. “Just to make it spicy. Stir it up a bit,” you joshed.

He groaned, making you smirk. “You’re playing with fire,” he mumbled.

Tag List:

@mrwinemaker @madsbbg @idiotinnit @xxtakechancesxx @chxrrymilkshake @westyywifee @kiritokunuwu @theholycakehole @itgetsatadhazy

[zachsreaderinserts]

c! philza and c! technoblade x reader who has a panic attack

i can’t even say that im upset with how specific this is bc it just works (also i kinda changed it a lil up for phil’s bc i was inspired to do something)

tw for abuse (mental and physical) and panic attacks

wc: 1,150

C! PHILZA

you normally don’t argue with anyone! in fact, you have a tendency to avoid arguments for the sake of your mental health. and phil was typically a more passive person, so you two had gotten on pretty well.

however, one night you’re late to come home. like, incredibly late. almost three hours pas the time you normally come home.

phil? he’s super stressed. from the loss of wilbur, he’s grown to be more protective of his family and friends and that includes you. his foot would not stop bouncing and he couldn’t help that his head keeps snapping to the clock next to the couch.

the front door finally opened and you stumbled inside, looking deliriously tired. phil shoots up off the couch and meets you before you could start heading towards your room.

“where have you been? i asked techno, ghostbur, and tommy and they all told me they haven’t seen you since you entered l’manberg earlier!”

you looked down, unsure of what to say. you can’t exactly explain what was happening, it would just bring more danger to everyone involved.

so you flounder for the words, not looking phil in the eyes as he waited for your reply. and when you just settle for a simple shrug, he feels irritation build in his chest.

“you’re not even gonna tell me?”

you steel yourself. you can’t let him know. so you look up with a glare and shake your head soundlessly, telling him that you weren’t gonna budge. and phil is now officially pissed off.

at every attempt he tries to pry an answer out of you, you respond with hostility, practically asking him to just drop it.

the fight escalates slowly as you go up the stairs and you turn around just in time as phil gestures passive aggressively at you.

you can’t hear anything, you can’t see anything other than a faint glimpse of a hand hitting you at one point and you crumbled backwards, eyes wide and tearing up.

“pl-- please don’t hit me, i didn’t-- i didn’t do anything, i swear!”

phil recoils backwards at your shriek, watching as you scrambled away from him and into the nearest wall, curling into a ball. 

“dream, pleas-- please, i promise!”

and the sound of a name he was far too familiar with, everything clicks in his head. this has something to do with a certain blonde manipulative mother fucker.

he walked forwards softly and crouches in front of you, noticing your tears and the fact that you’re shaking so hard he could feel the ground moving slightly. he settles his hand lightly on your knee, shushing you when you jump.

“i’m here. it’s only us, and i will make sure nothing ever hurts you. you’re safe with me.”

he keeps repeating the words, until they finally reach your muddled mind and you begin to breathe softer and slower. after five minutes of him calming you down, you lean into his touch and wipe away your tears.

now that he knew you were in the right frame of mind, he didn’t hesitate to lunge forward and pull you into a smothering hug. with your head on his shoulder, he tucked his own into your neck and let out tears of relief.

“please tell me what’s going on.”

how can you say no to that?

you spill out that dream has been threatening you, him, and the rest of his family, and has used it to make you fulfill tasks he felt like he didn’t want to do. you admitted to the mental and physical abuse, watching phil get more infuriated as you said this.

at the end, he pulls you in for hug again and sears that he, tommy, and techno are going to handle this.

C! TECHNOBLADE

you and techno are relatively okay with communication, considering he’s not too into being super vulnerable with you and you’re the same way

but the next few days, you notice that techno wasn’t coming home as often as he used to. he would come late at night, covered in blood and just take a shower and go straight to bed.

obviously, the first few times, you let him go without confrontation. if he wanted to tell you, he can. you weren’t obligated to know everything he does. that’s how your trust works.

but after almost a week of it, you were growing curious and worried. what could he be doing?

one night, you stopped him before he could move up the stairs by grabbing him by the wrist.

“hey, blade, are you alright? i’m worried about you.”

he turned around and looked at you, jaw tensing slightly. that was the first sign he was hiding something from you.

“i’m fine, why?”

you weren’t just gonna take that for an answer and began to pester him the entire way to your hared bedroom. he would respond in short and choppy answers, shaking his head the entire way.

eventually he just snaps out of irritation and whirls around, face contorted angrily.

“just drop it! fucking drop it, it’s none of your business where i go or what i do!”

techno was unaware of this, but when he got angry, his body language got extremely aggressive and defensive.

so when he turned on you with hunched shoulders and eyes glinting dangerously, you stumbled back so hard that you bashed your elbow into the wall.

techno would’ve gone on with his day had it not been for the fear in your face and how quickly you slid down the wall and cradled your head, with muffled begs of him not to hurt you.

he was on knees instantly, awkwardly holding your hands and attempting to ground you and make sure that you were okay. though he was covered in blood, you found comfort in the texture of his hands against yours and slowly eased into his embrace.

by the time you could think clearly again, you found your tears being wiped away and techno hunching over you as if he were protecting you from anything and anybody else.

“i’m so sorry i caused you to react like that.” he hums when he sees you in the right state of mind. “i’m so, so sorry.”

you do your best to comfort him back, telling him it wasn’t his fault. that night was when you unloaded past trauma, telling him about an abusive past that you were trying to move away from

he’s never felt guiltier about anything before.

techno helps you to stand and you both take a nice, long shower together (mostly to get the blood off of you both but also to make sure you’re well cared for) before heading off to bed.

once again, techno is curling his entire body around yours protectively and holding you with such an iron grip that you know nothing bad will ever come to you again.

[ravysu]

Sannin headcanons and thoughts

The last thing I would like to post for the sannin week. It is still 24.04 here! :D @sannin-central

This is long. Spoiler alert. Mostly Orochimaru, some Tsunade, a little of Jiraiya (because his story is pretty clear and spoken and idk what I can add). Also I recommend to read this meta about Orochimaru, it has influenced me a lot and has some good points. Sorry for any posible grammar mistakes. Also I really should put here a lot of references to the manga or anime but it was something that was piling up for a year and I'm soooooooo lazy. After all, those are just headcanons. Also: Im not excusing Oro's bad stuff here, Im trying to understand the reasons.

Ive already posted some hcs, here, here and here.

1. First if all, the chronology pic of sannin lifetime based on the info i found on naruto wiki and also some statements about wars from this post. It was tough considering what a mess naruto’s chronology is.

2. Sannin story shows what it cost to be a legend. They're like Team 7 but more realistic. Tsunade literally carried the war but left with nothing and developed a ptsd and have problems to just live on. Also anger control issues. I think she can be pretty bossy and stubborn which is not always nice. Jiraiya is the hero of the day but also very idealistic and can ignore some important details in the real word whether its the fight (he always injured during flashbacks maybe because each time he took too much to handle and on the one hand it's heroistic but on the other is a mistake that can lead your team to situations like in that Iwa cave) or your friends issues (I bet he saw what's going on but thought it's fine until Oro actually got red handed and left). He lives in his world and may have problems to get out to see it through someone else's shoes. As for Orochimaru, it seems like he was a normal guy for 20+ years (I mean, he didn't do crazy criminal shit and had something good in him and it was stated somewhere that it was his teammates influence. It is obvious they considered him as a friend, I don't thinks it was for nothing) but we mostly know his darkest side. Despite being a moster he is a human that have empathy and some ordinary human traits (man just decorates every bit of an environment he is in lol).

3. Tsunade was the leader of team Hiruzen.

4. Tsunade sometimes hit Jiraiya for some stupid things he did or said but never touches Orochimaru even if he did something same. Jiraiya complained about it once and almost got another hit.

5. Jiraiya had problematic parents that didn't care about him much and a lot of time he was wandering in the streets.

6. Judging by the look of Oro bangs and hair, he sometimes cut it off. A stress relief huh? And the fact that he doesn't do it now in Boruto..

7. It was shown that Tsunade and Orochimaru was acknowledged before they become a team. Maybe they did just before, or maybe some longer time before. I prefer the second option and hc that they met because both had no real friends - Orochimaru seemed weird and scary for everyone and Tsunade was Senju so everyone wanted to hang out with her but didn't really care. They weren't seen as what they were - people put the labels on them. But they didn't care about each other's labels and actually saw each other in true lights.

8. Tsunade knew it was an accident and it's not right but still she blamed Orochimaru for Nawaki's death for some time. It was something that seriously damaged their friendship and the team. Orochimaru was mad but also guilty, after all, he was responsible at least as a shinobi since Nawaki was under his watch. So he started to act cold and emotionless and was trying to distance himself from his teammates.

9. Jiraiya was in Ame while Dan died.

10. The whole his orphans mission was a bit irresponsible tbh. They already fought Hanzo and as he stated the conflict between Konoha and Ame is going to an end with Konoha's win. It's weird to stay here for three years in the middle of the war while there were other lands to fight. He left his teammates for some idea. Maybe that caused another crack in their team friendship.

11. If Tsunade would have find a way to live on with her trauma and follow the will of fire and stuff it would affect Orochimaru as well just as her grief affected him. It's like he would get an example that you can live on with this pain. So death isn't above human capability and we are not just the slaves of mortality (sounds stupid but i dont know how else to describe sorry). But as we know what he actually saw is that it broke her crucially to the point she couldnt be herself again. And so the death is above everything.

12. Oro wasn’t just acting as a cold pragmatic bitch in that cave but also tried to save Tsunade. Jiraiya knew it and that’s why he showed this sign to him like "I see what youre doing here" and that stunned Oro because he would prefer to look rather like a cold pragmatic bitch hehe

13. Just a thought. People in the village probably treated Oro as a foreigner or just wouldnt accept him because he looked so differently and had a weird attitude. That's why he sometimes didn't feel that Konoha is his home. After the wars where people were treated as means and tools, even the children, he himself developed this view on people - he dehumanized them and used as the means to his goals, just as his village did. Funny thing some people were straightly dehumanizing him too like Ibiki thought that he was a demon (tho he was a child). And he probably weren't the only one. Anyways the point is that it's logical that Orochimaru don't care about anybody but some few people, he's the product of his era. He's like Naruto that would chose the hatred way. But naruto had some good and understanding people around him and.. Orochimaru had them too, but match how Iruka treated Naruto and this Hiruzen's "I sAw tHe mAliCe in This cHiLd fRoM tHe BegGinNinG". And oro didn't even have a big ass evil fox in him. sry i hate hiruzen

ANYWAYS the moral of the story is not "go criminal if they hurt you" but always treat people like people. Waving my hand to Kant.

14. The reason why Orochimaru didn't pick some good morals to stick with through the hard times no matter what (like, idk, Jiraiya or Naruto) is because 1) I think he is/was pretty depending on people around him 2) the war fucked him and his friends up too much (Nawaki incident + Tsunade) 3) twisted addictions (though I don't think he's that sadistic, we never saw him torturing randoms just for fun, it was always some science experimental shit. He tends to get fun out of cruelty only when it's personal) that maybe developed as a way to sublimate anger and sadness caused by his parents loss (that's what they share with sasuke - unlicke naruto, they knew their parents and it's other kind of pain. Sasuke developed a revenge issue and Orochimaru - cruelty pleasure which... is kinda the same but less epic and more occasional lol).

15. Speaking of that, Orochimaru cared for Sasuke because he saw himself in him.

16. Oro hold grudges against Hiruzen for not choosing him to be Hokage not only because he was ambitious and/or egoistic, but also because Hiruzen was some kind of a father figure for him and his approval was important tho i doubt he was aware of that. He also probably could tell that Hiruzen was suspicios about him when he was a child and that led to many conflicts and was hurting as well.

17. Tsunade knew things weren't pretty with Orochimaru after the wars but she never expected them to be this bad. During the week that she was given in her arc she thought not only about how much she wants to see Nawaki and Dan again despite how wrong would it be but also was trying to bury all the good memories she had left of Orochimaru so it would be easier to kill him.

18. She poisoned Jiraiya exactly because she knew he would not let her do it. Jiraiya was always hesitant to kill and inclined to forgiveness, while Tsunade, as mentioned by Orochimaru, could be merciless (so much so that he was not surprised when Kabuto suggested that she wanted to use Jira for Edo Tensei).

19. That was one of her traits that scared Jiraiya and fascinated Orochimaru.

20. Remember how Oro grabbed Jiraiya's neck when the latter was trying to cover with hair jutsu? On the snake, in Tsnade's arc. Orochimaru could have easily kill Jiraiya by pulling the sword out of the mouth (arteries are right there) but he didn't. As well as he could kill Tsunade when she was still shaking - just aim for the neck or the heart. Instead, he just injured her lung and kicked her which is not a big deal for the kind of shinoby like her at all.. Also he helped Anko not accidentally kill herself but it would be way much profitable to let her do it. "Orochimaru has no feelings".

21. The reason he suddenly wanted to kill Tsunade instead of forcing her to heal his arms as it was planned (which is weird since it will not going to get him heals and he kinda said that he wouldn't want to kill her just minutes ago) is that not only she refused to help him (he thought he could work it out) but she also prefered the village over him (from his point of view). Out if everyone she was the closest to being able to understand him since the village caused her painful losses too but nevertheless she agreed to be on it's side.

22. He wasn't fighting her back in the end partly because he thought he deserved that. Somewhere deep inside hahah.

23. Tsunade got a fear to develop deep bonds so they probably weren't very close with Shizune (also the way she knocked her down in this hotel.. oh).

24. Orochimaru will be here when she'll die.

25. Orochimaru's eng dub to Tsunade: "I often wondered what it would be like to ring that pretty neck yours". No comments.

26. Orochimaru is either bi/pan or ace. Anything or nothing lmao

27. Hiruzen knew about at least some of the Oro’s illegal experiments and was okay just as he was okay with the Foundation all the time. Because it’s useful. Then he has discovered he went too far OR he knew everything and oro just became too inconvenient because of his methods. The way Orochimaru tells Sasuke about reasons they are well treated as the criminals is based on in his experience with Hiruzen.

28. As you may know the lyrics in Orochimaru’s music theme goes “don’t talk with the silence of the heart”. It was taken from one Indian song that also had lines like “don’t question life too much”, ”pain arose somewhere in the chest”, “don’t speak to the wounds of the heart”. Though I’m not sure 100% because I was translating it with some hindi dictionary with like zero knowledge of hindi

29. I like to think that this “silence of the heart” theme and the fact that he called his village a hidden sound village are somehow connected. The hidden sound is the possible explanation of all things waiting to be listened to but the truth is silent and you know it deep in your heart and it bothers you. The world is silent just like the life is meaningless but people can only hear. *Sigh* anyways

30. Orochimaru’s journey is the one about accepting death. When he saw Karin released her chains while was trying to get to Sasuke he understood that the death is a part of human’s strength.

Can’t wait to feel that everything I wrote is wrong or not enough or stupid and obvious lol. Anyways, it’s something that I wanted to share until I move to some other fandom.

[jean-kayak]

I Fell For You, No Literally

Summary: Your ex-boyfriend comes walking back into your life, causing a whole bunch of emotions to resurface

Pairing: Terushima Yuuji x black!fem!reader

Warnings: mentions of past relationships, like two handfuls of angst, real fluffy at the end, A LOT of dialogue at the end, Terushima being soft, brief mentions of sickness (like real brief), hurt/comfort, exes-to-lovers?, a huge misunderstanding, it gets really stressful at one point in this thing, implied past reader x oc, smut!, fingering (f. receiving), oral (f. receiving), unprotected sex, squirting, overstimulation, little bit of aftercare, Terushima has a dick piercing LMAO, domestic things, mentions of alcohol consumption (reader gets drunk), it’s basically an emotional rollercoaster, Terushima being suggestive *sighs* i think i covered everything

Word Count: 12,881 (BITCH im sorry it wasn’t supposed to be this long)

A/N: This was originally going to be apart of the writing event that I was doing, but this was really long, and it took me a little bit longer than I thought so I figured I would just do it separately. And also I tried to do fluffy smut, I don’t really know if I did that lmao. But anyways, enjoy! 

P.S.: I also gave the reader a name bc this is really long!

All characters are 18+!!

"I think I have more lights in the back, I'll go get them," your best friend tells you, and you nod as you continue to hang up the lights on the top of your shop.

Although you realize your mistake when you lean over, and the ladder starts to slip. "Shit," you whisper, and you feel your heart drop, fear coursing through your body as you feel the ladder going down and not stopping.

You squeeze your eyes shut, bracing for impact on the freezing cold concrete, but it never comes. "Oh, my God, are you okay?!" It's a deeper voice, and you open your eyes to see that you're nowhere near the ground and that you're in someone's arms.

You're still a bit shaken from the fear of the fall, but the voice and the scent are all too familiar and it brings you back fairly quickly. You look up and see a face that you never thought you'd see again.

"You know, I'd always say you'd fallen for me," he quips, and you roll your eyes as you try to squirm out of his grip. "Wait, where you going? I like holding you like this." You chuckle softly as you roll your eyes playfully, and he lets you down. "But seriously, are you okay?"

You release a deep breath. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for saving me, Terushima."

He takes a few steps closer to you. "Come on, baby, you don't have to be so formal with me." You scoff as you take a step back, fully taking him in.

Terushima Yuuji. Your ex-boyfriend. Your relationship lasted all through high school and your first year of college until things went rocky. You prefer not to think about the details, but you can't not think about how good he looks right now.

He's still blond, with the undercut, and piercings, and even through his winter clothes, you can tell he's filled out a lot since you last saw him. Matter of fact, how long has it been? Three, four years?

"Three and a half," you flinch slightly. Shit, were you thinking out loud? His eyes rake down your figure, and even in the cold, you can feel the heat course through your body. "You look good."

"So do you," you reply, not really knowing what to say. How are you even supposed to talk to your exes? You've had others besides him, but you haven't made contact with them since you called it off.

There's a weird tension in the air, and you don't know what to say to break it, but luckily Kiya comes out of your shop, her eyes widening when they land on Terushima. "Oh, now, this is a surprise," she says, smirking as she looks between the two of you. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know, just being her knight in shining armor and catching her from falling off the ladder," he tells her smugly, and she looks at you in horror.

"Via, what did I tell you about doing things on the ladder without me watching you?" she scolds, and you shrug as you kick at the ground.

"I'm sorry, okay? And besides, I think that's enough lights for the front don't you think?" you ask, looking at the front of the shop to take in your work. Kiya follows suit, taking in the lights.

"Yeah, they look good. And I would tell you good job, but you almost killed yourself in the process." You roll your eyes again as you scoff. "Thank you, Terushima," she says, and he waves her off.

"Any time." So he still has that smug, confident personality. That hasn't changed much. You clear your throat as you gesture to the door.

"Well, I should probably open up shop. Thank you, Terushima, I really appreciate you catching me."

"C'mon, what'd I tell you about the name?" You tilt your head as you raise an eyebrow.

"See ya around, Terushima." And you're walking through the door.

Kiya comes in behind you a few seconds later, and you just brace yourself for the conversation that's about to happen and is going to last at least twenty minutes. "Holy crap, he is still hot as hell." You sigh as you put on your apron. You don't respond, and she knows you're agreeing with her, so he continues talking.

"No, Kiya, don't even go there."

"What? What's wrong with rekindling the flame, at least a little?"

"You remember how we left off," you remind her, and you see her wave you off before washing her hands.

"Okay, that was a few years ago. People change."

You scoff. "Yeah, I doubt he's changed." The conversation is quickly put to bed as people start to come in, and you submerge yourself in your cooking.

This week was your shopping week, but Kiya had family things so you're at the store by yourself, collecting a ton of food to stockpile for the shop. You feel a headache coming on as you cross out another item off the list, your vision full of lines every time you look up from the crumpled piece of paper.

You also have to carry and put all of these groceries in your car, and you want to whine in annoyance, that headache starting to beat behind your eyelids, and the cold isn't helping either. "You look like you could use some help, m'lady." You sigh heavily, recognizing the voice immediately.

"You're not following me are you, Terushima?" you ask, playfully, but a part of you is serious.

"Of course not, but it seems that whenever you're in trouble, I'm always around." You let out a surprised laugh, but you don't turn your attention to him, keeping it focused on putting the groceries in your car. "Let me help you," he offers, already moving to grab a bag, but you stop him.

"I got it, it's fine. Thanks anyway," you quickly tell him before catching your breath and starting again.

"Via, seriously, let me help you." Your movements falter at the nickname. Even though everyone calls you that, it always sounded different coming from him. You want to scoff at how easily your body reacted to it. You don't have the energy to fight, so you scoot over, giving him enough room to help pile the bags in your car. "So, you have your own shop," he starts, and is he really trying to make casual conversation right now?

"Yeah, I do," you respond, deciding to partake in whatever this is.

"American, right?" he asks, and you hate how he still remembers, and you drop the bag into your car a little bit more aggressively.

"Yeah. We have Japanese as well, but Kiya knows more about that than I do." He helps you put the last bag in, closing the trunk shut and returning the shopping cart.

"Well, that's great. I'm happy for you," he tells you when he gets back, and you nod as you purse your lips.

"Thanks." And there's that awkward tension again. Why was he trying to act like everything was normal? Why is he talking to you like nothing happened between you two? "Listen, Te--" You're cut off by his phone ringing, and he quickly fishes his phone out of his pocket and grimacing when he looks at the screen.

"I have to take this, uh--"

You cut him off with a wave of your hand. "Go ahead, it's okay. Thanks again," you say, quickly signaling the end of whatever this conversation was. You don't give him another look, turning around and getting into your car, thankful that it's still warm. You crank the car up and you look out the window as you do, seeing Terushima walking away on the phone.

You rest your forehead against the steering wheel. What are the fucking chances that he out of all people would walk back into your life? You take another deep breath. Thinking about it too much will only make your headache worse. You give him one last glance before driving off, hoping that you're actually getting away from him this time.

~

"You saw him again at the store?" Kiya asks, her eyes wide as she sits up on the couch. You roll your eyes from exhaustion as you stab your fork into your takeout.

"Yes, he said it's like whenever I'm in trouble, he's always around." You stab your food again, but you don't know if it's out of annoyance or anger this time.

"Okay, Via, come on, this is like a sign, isn't it?" You give her a look before shaking your head. "Why not?"

"Kiya, you were there through all of it. He's...he's not--he's probably still the same," you say, trailing off quietly, and Kiya's face turns into concern as she finally sees that the hurt you've tried to push back down is now coming to the surface. She moves closer to you on the couch before wrapping an arm around you, pulling you into her.

"You're right. I'm sorry, I just thought, maybe this one could be different. Different from those other douches you were seeing." You huff slightly, a smile forming on your face as you remember everything she said about what she didn't like about every last one of your exes.

Some of them were just flings, others could've easily gone further, but they always broke it off. You don't really know the reason, but you've sort of come to terms with it. Maybe dating just isn't your thing right now. "Yeah, I know," you say, burrowing yourself further into her embrace. "It's just, I don't know, what if it happens all over again?"

"If that does happen again, then I'll actually kill him this time." Both of you laugh at her words before she speaks up again. "But, all that aside, it's up to you what you want to do. Don't listen to me, I'm just the crazy best friend."

Your smile grows wider. "Crazy, you definitely are."

"Hey!" she says, shoving you away playfully, and you both dive back into laughter as you finish your takeout and the cheesy rom-com playing on the TV.

You sigh as you wipe off the bar counter, the shop quiet due to the fact that you're about an hour and a half from closing. You usually enjoy the serenity, grateful that it's not a rush like it is during mid-morning, lunch, and dinner. Around this time, you and Kiya usually get a chance to sit down and take a break.

You finish scrubbing off a stubborn stain on the counter when you hear the door open. "Welcome, I'll be with you in a moment," you greet out of habit without even looking up as you turn around to throw the rag into the sink.

"The place looks great." The familiar voice almost makes you stop in your tracks, but you recover quickly, wiping your hands off on a towel before turning to see Terushima sitting in the middle of the bar counter. You walk over to him, standing right in front of the counter, feeling like the counter isn't a big enough gap between the two of you.

"Thank you," you tell him honestly as you plant your hands on the edge of the counter. "What can I get for you?"

He smirks at you before he answers. "We both know you already know what I want," he says confidently, and you want to punch yourself because of the fact that you still know what his favorite food is even after you've been broken up.

"Coming right up." You turn around quickly, getting started on his order so that you can get him out of here as fast as possible before Kiya can see him. Unfortunately, that isn't the case, and she comes waltzing in from her office, her eyebrows raised high.

"Oh?" she starts, her voice a whisper. "What's he doing here?" she asks, and you shrug.

"I dunno. He just walked in here like a few minutes ago." You turn your head to look at him over his shoulder, and you see that he's taken off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. You notice that he's got a tattoo on his left arm that snakes all around his upper arm. Yeah, he's definitely gotten bigger since you've last seen him.

He looks up from his phone, catching you in the act, and he smirks at you before flexing his muscles, and your face heats up quickly, your head turning back to what you're doing. "He actually ordered something?" Kiya asks playfully with a huff, and you return it as you flip the patty.

"Yeah, I was surprised too. I thought he'd be here to bother me again," you admit.

"Which is what you would've wanted, right?" she teases, and you shove at her which makes her laugh, and yours soon follows.

"You guys talking about me?" you hear him speak up, and you roll your eyes with a scoff as you glance at him.

"Yeah," Kiya starts, "we were talking about how we could've closed up early if it weren't for you," she tells him, and you chuckle softly as you continue cooking.

"Well, I had to try the food for myself," he responds, and Kiya hums as she nods, obviously believing that he's not telling the entire truth. She starts to walk away back towards her office, but not before she nudges you softly, wiggling her eyebrows at you. You give her a look before waving her off.

Once she's left, you shudder lightly, feeling his eyes on you. You know he's watching you and everything you're doing. His eyes never leave you, watching you as you move along through the kitchen. You can't remember the last time you felt so heated under someone's gaze.

But you do remember that it took absolutely nothing for you to melt for him, and you internally shake the thoughts that are starting to pool into your head. You finish his food, sliding the plate to him softly, his drink following shortly. "Enjoy," you tell him easily, and he starts speaking before you can turn around.

"Thanks, but I think there's something that I want that's not on the menu." You roll your eyes, knowing what he's implying, but you play dumb anyway, leaning forward on the counter, resting your chin in your palm.

"Oh, and what would that be?" you ask, and he's leaning in, his face dangerously close to yours. He moves his eyes from yours to your lips before bringing them back up to your eyes. You feel your breath starting to pick up, your mouth falling open slightly, but you don't move away from him. You can't.

And then he's smirking at you again, and your knees almost give out. "You."

There's a knock on the door, and you let out an exasperated sigh that echoes throughout the walls of your apartment. You grab the baby currently sitting on the floor in the middle of your living room as another knock comes from the door. "I'm coming! Just give me a second!" you yell, your thin patience starting to disappear.

You walk to the door, yanking it open, getting ready to yell at whoever is presently throwing a monkey wrench into your day. "What are you doing here?" you deadpan, blinking a few times in confusion as you take in Terushima standing outside your apartment. "Actually, how do you even know where I live?"

He has the actual audacity to look sheepish as he rubs the back of his neck as he looks down. "I may or may not have gotten it from Kiya." You roll your eyes. Of course, it would be her. You really are going to kill her. Your niece starts fussing and you sigh. You really don't have time for this right now.

"If you wanna come in, come in," you rush out as you make your way back into your apartment. You vaguely hear the sound of the door closing and some footsteps, but you pay the sounds no mind as you set your niece in her high chair.

The first thing Terushima didn't expect when the door swung open was for you to have a baby in your arms. That alone almost distracted him from how you looked. Your hair was thrown together in a ponytail, curls falling out of it. Your shirt is covered in all kinds of stains, along with the sweatpants you're currently wearing, but Terushima thinks that you look amazing.

He slips off his coat and his shoes, throwing his scarf over his jacket before slowly making his way into the kitchen where you disappeared to. He takes in your apartment, the decorating and furnishing matching your personality to a T. The sound of fussing brings his attention to the baby that you were holding not too long ago, and he hears you speak.

"I know you're hungry, sweet girl," you say, opening the fridge. "What do you want?" you ask her even though you know she can't respond. Terushima smiles fondly as he sits down next to her, resting his arms on the island in front of him. "You want bananas?" You lift your head to look at her, and when she fusses, you try again. "How about peas and carrots?" Both her and Terushima's face screw up, and you smile softly as you turn back towards the fridge.

"Let's see," you bend over to look further into the fridge, and his eyes zero in on your ass before he snaps himself out of it. "Strawberries?" you ask hopeful, and when she laughs lightly, you smile before pulling out the container and warming it up with your hands as you bump the fridge closed.

You walk over to a drawer, opening it to pull out a small spoon before bumping it closed with your hip. The movement makes your boobs sway, and Terushima can't help but notice that he can see your nipples through your thin t-shirt. "Eyes up here, perv." Your words jolt him out of his spell, and he smirks at you as he shrugs.

"What can I say? They're nice tits." You scoff at his words, trying to fight the heat rising in your cheeks that he was checking you out, and it dawns on you how you actually look right now. You feel a little bit embarrassed, but the damage is already been done, and could you really blame yourself? You've been watching a baby all day.

Satisfied with your reaction, he turns to your niece, leaning forward to pinch her cheek softly, which makes her laugh. "And who is this pretty lady?" he asks as you smile at the interaction before walking to stand at the opposite side of the island.

"This is my niece, MJ." You set down the container of mushed food, taking off the lid before swirling around the food. You look up to see Terushima hold out a finger which she immediately grabs onto, and she smiles widely at him. "She seems to like you," you comment, feeling conflicted at the way your heart skips at their interactions. "You wanna feed her?"

You push the bowl his way, and he picks up the spoon with his other hand, his finger on his hand still being held hostage by your niece's hand. He feeds her with ease, and she even seems to be accepting the food a lot better from him than from you. "Do you think you could watch her while I get in the shower?" you ask. "I'll be quick, I promise."

"Yeah, go ahead. We'll be fine," he tells you without even looking your way.

"Are you sure?"

He finally looks at you after wiping some of the food off of her face with the spoon. "I'm sure, Via. I can handle it. Go do what you need to do." He quickly turns his attention back to MJ, and you quickly dart out of the kitchen making your way to your room.

You've been in the shower for about ten minutes, and the only thing Terushima keeps thinking about is the water running down your naked body, and he keeps shaking his head, forcing the images out of his head.

MJ's already eaten all of the food, and Terushima lightly presses on her stomach, seeing that she's completely full, and he looks around to see all of her toys in the living room. He finds the baby wipes, cleaning her up before he takes her out of the high chair and carries her to the living room.

He sets her down on the blanket you have out for her, and she immediately moves towards one of the toys as he sits on the floor next to her. Terushima's plan was mostly to bother you when he came over, and the last thing he expected was for him to be babysitting. He doesn't mind it though, he'll take any time he can spend with you. He'll take as much as he can in order to try to get you back.

He doesn't really know why he came to America, but part of him knows it was because of you. He knows that after you both graduated college, you moved back here and started your own shop. He hates how things ended between the two of you, and he wants to fix it, but he knows he's going to work hard especially because of how bad he hurt you.

He's been punching himself for three and a half years because of how stupid he was back then. If he could back in time and punch himself, he would curb stomp himself instead. He notices that he doesn't hear the water running anymore, and then he hears a door open. And he thought the clothes you had on before made you look good.

You walk out into the living room, your hair damp from the shower, and you're wearing a tank top and shorts, and he's glad you have a bra on this time. You're definitely not the same girl he dated back then. At all. "She wasn't too much trouble?" Your words jolt him out of his trance, and he forces himself to look at your eyes.

"No, she was not," he says, standing up before picking her up. He plants a small kiss on her head, but she's preoccupied with the toy in her hands to notice. "She was an angel." You sigh in relief, and Terushima moves her higher up on his hip. "Were you cooking something before I got here?" he asks, recalling something smelling really good vaguely filling his nostrils. Now, that smell has been replaced by your scent due to the fact you're standing so close to him.

"I was," you say, turning to walk into the kitchen, and he follows behind you while MJ smacks him in the face. "It was a new recipe," you continue, opening the oven. Terushima almost delays his response, his eyes zeroing on your ass again, but he manages to catch himself.

"New recipe for what?" he asks, and he's thankful when you stand up straight even though it's not that much better. When you set the pan down on the stove, you glance behind you nervously before speaking.

"It was a new recipe for cheeseburgers," you say, and he almost misses it, but he smirks as he walks around the island to stand beside you. You'd been keeping the burgers in the oven to keep them warm, and he looks down at them.

"They look really good," he comments. "You weren't thinking about me, were ya?" He has to jab at you, loving your reaction as you glare at him before looking down. "Can I try it?" he asks, and you nod before getting a knife to cut the burger in half. You grab a piece, bringing it to his mouth, and he puts the whole piece in his mouth, making sure to wraps his lips around your fingers briefly before pulling away.

The action has you feeling things that you shouldn't, and the moan he releases while he closes his eyes doesn't help either. "Oh, my God, that is amazing."

You feel your heart flutter at the compliment. "Really?" you ask softly, and he looks at you like you're crazy.

"Are you serious? This is the best thing I've ever tasted." He grabs the other half, stuffing it in his mouth before you can stop him. "Wow, you really are an amazing cook." You hate how easily your face heats up at the praise, and you just respond with a shrug. He reaches for another burger, and you grab his wrist before he can grab another one.

"You can't eat all of these!" you chastise. "I can make you some if you want me to." He uses the fact that you're still holding onto his wrist as an advantage, yanking his arm forward which causes you to bump into him. He barely moves, just wraps his arm around your waist, keeping you close to him.

"That sounds good. Thanks." You both lose yourselves in each other's eyes, time seeming to slow down as you feel your body going warm all over. God, you both missed being close to each other like this. You feel yourself starting to lean closer to him, your breaths started to mingle when MJ cries out, startling the both of you out of the spell you were in.

You jump away from him as you slightly shake your head. You did not almost kiss him. You quickly turn your attention to your niece, plucking her from his arm before walking back to the living room. Terushima sighs heavily as he puts the tray back into the oven, giving himself something to do to try to distract himself.

What would've happened if he had kissed you? Would you have kissed him back, or would you have pushed him away? He knows he's making some progress, but he doesn't know if kissing you would've ruined all of that. Do you want to kiss him? He sure wants to kiss you. He hasn't felt your lips on his in so long, and he wants to feel them so bad.

He forces those thoughts out of his head, and just as he's about to walk back into the living room, there's a knock on the door. "I'll get it," he tells you when he sees you about to stand up. He jogs to the door, and he opens it before almost being knocked down by two kids running past him.

"Boys, what did I tell you about that--Terushima?" The voice is filled with shock and confusion, and when he steadies himself, he looks at who's standing in front of him.

"Autumn?" he asks, and he steps to the side to let her in, closing the door behind him. "It's been a minute," he says, and she scoffs.

"It's been longer than a minute," she says almost in disbelief that he's standing in front of her. You walk to your sister with her daughter in your arms with your eyebrows raised.

"Aut, you wanna explain what this is?" you ask, gesturing towards the noisy boys running through your apartment. They run into your legs, both grabbing one, luckily you don't falter, still glaring holes into your sister.

"Auntie Via!" they both yell at the same time, Terushima wincing at the loud volume, and Autumn gives you a sheepish look.

"Look, something came up at the last minute, and I didn't know what else to do," she tells you, and you blink slowly.

"We have another sibling!" you argue, and she smiles at you.

"Yeah, but I don't trust him as much as I trust you," she says like that'll work, and you give her a deadpanned look. "I'm sorry, but I shouldn't be long, I promise. I owe you one," she continues, and you sigh as you roll your eyes.

"Fine," you give in, and she jumps up before giving you a hug on the side that isn't holding her daughter. She starts to head towards the door, and she waves goodbye to her kids, who really aren't paying her any mind, and she quickly slips out the door before they can see that she's leaving.

Your nephews are now focused on Terushima, prodding him with questions about his piercings and his tattoos. "I'm sorry about this," you tell him, and he looks up at you as he shrugs.

"I don't mind. I can stay if you want me to." He moves to go to the living room, but the boys jump on his legs, and he has to drag them to the living room as he walks.

"I can't ask you to do that," you say, smiling at him and your nephews.

"That's okay," he says, "You're not asking me. I'll stay," he concludes before sending a wink over his shoulder.

~

Turns out Autumn's "I won't be long" turned into five hours. Yeah, she definitely owes you. You're thankful that Terushima stayed, he was able to occupy the kids while you got stuff done that you had planned to do today. But you also hate how domestic it all felt, and it makes your heart do something weird. Like it doesn't know how to feel about the whole thing.

He even somehow managed to feed MJ while keeping your nephews distracted so that you could make dinner. You all eat in the living room, watching a movie that's more so for the boys, while MJ keeps herself entertained in her bouncer. When you all have finished, Terushima takes the dishes and even washes them before planting himself right next to you on the couch.

You notice that MJ is starting to get sleepy, she keeps rubbing her eyes and her bouncing is beginning to slow down. You grab her out of the bouncer, rocking her softly until she falls asleep. You're so glad that she doesn't fight sleep like her brothers did. You start to feel tired yourself, your eyelids feeling heavy, and Terushima seems to notice because he wraps his arm around you, pulling you into him.

You don't even fight it, his body heat pulling you further into sleep. As you're drifting off, you feel someone moving your arm, and you look down to see your nephews laying on either side of you and Terushima, laying down in your laps. You smile fondly as you rub his back before laying your head down on Terushima's shoulder. And before you fully fall asleep, you feel him kiss your forehead.

When Autumn uses her key to get into your place, she doesn't expect to see all of you asleep on the couch along with a questionable guy, but she can't help but smile as she pulls out her phone to take a picture. Once she's got them, she flicks your forehead. Your face scrunches up before you're blinking sleepily. "Oh, hey, you're back," you say, your voice filled with sleep. "Took you long enough."

She laughs quietly as she grabs MJ. "I know, I'm sorry," she whispers. "The twins weren't too much trouble, were they?" she asks, rocking her daughter back to sleep when she stirs.

"Then they usually are? No, not this time." You both exchange a soft chuckle before you carefully remove yourself out of Terushima's grip, not wanting to wake him, and you freeze when he shifts, but he just rolls his head to face the other way.

You help Autumn load her kids in the car, all of them still fast asleep. "I think they've only been asleep for about thirty minutes," you guestimate and she nods, but you know she wants to talk to you about the massive elephant in the room. You sigh. "Go ahead. Let it out."

"What the hell is he doing here? And in your apartment of all places?" You can hear a faint sound of disappointment in her voice considering the fact that you told her what he did to you and what led to your breakup.

You throw your hands up as you shrug. "I don't know. I didn't even know he was here. I found out when he caught me after I fell off my ladder." Her eyes go wide, and you wave her off before she can yell at you. "I didn't know he would be coming over here today either," you admit, and you sigh as you shove your hands into your jacket pockets.

"I just don't want you to get hurt again," she says, and you nod. "You've got nearly four years unaccounted for." You nod again, understanding what she's saying.

"I know, I know, but I don't know. He seems different now," you explain lamely, and you hear her sigh before you raise your head to meet hers.

"I know you don't want to hear a lecture from me, but be careful Via," she warns, and you nod firmly before moving in to give her a hug. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Text me when you get home," you tell her when you pull away. You watch her get in the car and drive off. You sigh again, watching the puff of air disappear into the chilly, night air before you make your way back to your apartment. You smile softly when you see that Terushima is still in the same position you left him in.

You take off your jacket, warming your hands up as you walk over to him. "Teru," you whisper, and when he doesn't respond, you tap him lightly. "Teru," you repeat, and you jump slightly when he grabs your wrist quickly, and he peels his eyes open.

"Your hands are freezing." You chuckle lightly as you see him look around. "The kids are gone?" he asks, rubbing his eyes with his palm.

"Yeah, my sister came and got them." He hums before he starts smiling widely, and your eyebrows come together as you look at him. "What are you smiling about?"

"You called me Teru." You feel your face heat up for the millionth time, and you scoff softly as you move to turn away, but he stops you, grabbing your wrist and pulling you towards him. He starts to stretch out on the couch, but you don't move, and he pulls you down with a little more force. "Lay with me," he murmurs, his body starting to drift off.

"You need to go home," you tell him, the nickname on the tip of your tongue, but you bite it back. He whines before pulling you down, making you fall onto him, and he traps you with his arms.

"I'll go home when I'm not tired." You chuckle again, situating yourself so that you're comfortable, and you notice that he's staring at you.

"What?" you ask, fighting the urge to shrink under his gaze. He brushes a strand of hair from your face before he rubs your cheek softly with his thumb, and you lean into the touch.

"You're just so beautiful," he whispers, and you huff as you look away, even your ears heating up at the compliment. "Hey." He turns your face so that you're looking at him again. "Can I kiss you?" There's something in your head that's telling you that you're already too deep and that doing this is a really bad idea, but it doesn't win.

You both lean in, and when your lips meet, you feel like you're back in high school, kissing him for the first time all over again. Tingles are sent all through your body as you sigh contently, and you feel yourself falling in love with him all over again. You know this is bad, but you can't bring yourself to care, blaming it on your fatigue.

He pulls away, a sleepy smirk on his face as he pulls you closer to him, your face buried in his neck. "Man, I've missed you so much." You feel your heart flutter at his words, and you're scared to respond with the same thing even though it's clear as day, but the soft snores filling your ears tell you that you don't have to worry about response right now.

Things seemed to do a complete one-eighty after that night. You thought when you would've woken up the next day, things would've been awkward, but to your surprise, you found yourself alone on the couch, and the smell of breakfast food filling your nose. He had made you breakfast, then sent you off to work with a kiss goodbye and a promise to call you later, which you wish you've would've let out when you were telling everything to Kiya.

"So, you guys are dating now?" she asks as she pours a cup of coffee for a customer.

"I don't know, I wouldn't call it that?" you say, unsure of where you both really stand right now. You serve two more plates to a table, and Kiya continues the conversation when you come back.

"But you guys have kissed?" she argues, and you respond with a shrug. "I don't know, from what you've told me, it seems like you two are back together."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about it," you notice, and she replies with a pout as she tilts her head and you sigh. "Look, I know how things left off between us, but we'll talk about it," you try, and she holds her hands up.

"I'm not trying to tell you who to date or what to do. I just want you to be careful." You nod quickly at the repeat of words, and you really appreciate how much Kiya and Autumn care for you, and you smile as you nudge her.

"I know, thanks for looking out for me," you tell her, and she gives you a smile.

"Of course, that's what I'm here for."

Naturally, things are very prone to blow up in your face, and the blow-up happens about three weeks later. Everything with Terushima has been going pretty smoothly, both of you agreeing to talk about how things were left those years ago. He had been spending a lot more time over at your place, even more than you were spending at his. He'd been helping you babysit whenever your sister had to drop them off. It was like he had inched his way back into your life and planted himself there.

You decided to surprise him and make some of the burgers that he loved the first he came over. You can't help but bound happily to his apartment, the burgers in a plastic container, warm in your hands, and you finally get to his apartment, but just as you're about to knock, you hear laughing. Your hand stops midway as you lean in to put your ear against the door, careful not to alert anyone inside.

You assume it was the TV, but as you listen closely, you can hear Terushima's voice, but you feel your heart shatters when you hear a woman's voice coming from inside. You feel the tears forming in your eyes as you take in more of the conversation before you hear them erupt into laughter.

You finally find it in you to move, slamming the container on the ground before hurrying away from the door, your vision blurry from the tears. You were so stupid, so pathetic. You were so easy, that you fell for it. Again. And you thought that he had changed. You were dumb enough to think that things would be different this time around.

~

You don't tell anyone what happened, and you don't talk to Terushima. You don't even tell him what you heard, you just stop talking to him. It's not like you had time anyway. You and Kiya were hosting a Christmas party are your shop (her idea, not yours) and you barely had any time to really sit down and breathe. You both spent all day making the food, that you barely had time to sit down.

You luckily had enough time to run home and get in the shower to get ready. You came back just in time for the party to be in full swing, both you and Kiya's families here along with some friends. You've greeted everyone, and now you're just standing around, enjoying the atmosphere around you, while at the same time feeling a little bit insecure about the dress that Kiya made you wear.

It's a red sweater dress that's off the shoulder, but it hugs your body, stopping very close to the bottom of your ass with thigh-high boots. Why she had you wear this, you have no idea, but you decide that you're going to go change when she's preoccupied. "Via." You turn around, your heart dropping at the sight of him in front of you, and you hate how good he looks right now.

He walks closer to you, and his scent fills your nostrils, the way he fills out his suit should be illegal. "You look, wow," he says, shaking his head at a loss for words.

"Ridiculous, I know," you say, pulling at the hem of your dress and he scoffs.

"Gorgeous." You want to accept the compliment, but just looking at him makes you angry and upset at the same time. You mumble a soft thanks, and you're trying to find an excuse to get out of this conversation when he speaks up again. "You haven't been answering my texts or my calls," he starts, and you look away from him as you find an answer.

"Terushima, listen--"

"Via?" You turn your head towards the soft voice, and your eyes widen at the man walking towards you. He gives you a hug, and you reluctantly hug him back, disarray raging inside of your head.

"Kaleb! What are you doing here?" you ask incredulously, and he gives you a quick look of confusion before it's replaced with a smile.

"You invited me?" You raise your eyebrows. You did not invite this man to this party. You didn't even invite Terushima, and they coincidentally show up here? You internally roll your eyes. Kiya.

"I did, didn't I?" you lie. "Right, I'm sorry, I forgot, I've just been so busy." You haven't spoken to Kaleb in about a month. He was the recent guy you were seeing, and he was alright, but he really wasn't your type. You didn't even have his number saved in your phone. You sense even more tension in the air as Terushima and Kaleb stare each other down, and you definitely need way more alcohol.

"Terushima this is Kaleb. Kaleb this is Terushima." They both shake each other's hand, but the tension only seems to get thicker, and you feel like you're suffocating in it.

"If you guys would excuse me for a minute. I'm just going to check on the food," you rush out, not waiting for a response before darting off to find the culprit. When you spot her, you yank her to the side, and if looks could kill she'd drop dead on the spot. "You invited them both here?!" you yell, making sure to keep your voice lower than the music.

"Both? Who are you talking about?" You rub your forehead, feeling the stress really starting to hit you. This was the last thing you expected and you really don't need this right now.

"You invited Terushima and the guy that I ghosted a while ago." You sigh heavily, rubbing the back of your neck as her eyes go wide.

"Oh, shit. I did accidentally text a wrong number by accident, but I thought it was nothing." You give her a tired look, and she tilts her head in confusion. "I mean, it's gonna be okay, but you sound even more frustrated."

You sigh again. This really isn't the place to tell her, but you were going to tell her eventually. "I heard a woman's voice when I went to Terushima's apartment a couple of days ago."

"What?!" she nearly screams, her eyes wide before she slaps a hand over her mouth, realizing how loud she was. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. Because there was just a lot going on, and I didn't want to be sad during the holidays or ruin yours, but that plan has failed miserably." You laugh bitterly, feeling completely drained.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Via. I didn't know." She reaches up to rub your arm as you shake your head.

"No, it's okay. You didn't know." You close your eyes as you take a deep breath, regrouping yourself. "It's okay. We'll worry about it later, 'kay?" You don't let her answer as you walk off, ignoring her calls of your name.

You linger around the party, hoping you don't run into Terushima, but your eyes land on him talking to your mom like they've been friends for years, and it feels like someone ripped your heart out of your chest. How could he just go about his life knowing that he was playing you? Just like he did before.

"Via?" A soft voice and soft hand shift your attention to Kaleb who's come up next to you, and you smile despite the fact that you feel like complete shit and that you're tired. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.

"Hi, Kaleb, what's up?" you ask, and he hands you a drink which you gratefully take, almost downing the whole thing in front of him.

"It's just, um, you're standing somewhere pretty cool." You look at him in confusion before you glance up, seeing mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Kiya must've put this in last minute. You feel your stress building up as you look at him, chuckling softly.

"I guess I am." You know he's going to kiss you, and you've never been so conflicted in your entire life. You don't really want to, but you want to, secretly hoping that Terushima's watching so that he can feel how you're feeling right now. But at the same time, you just wanna go home and cry yourself to sleep.

You've been quiet, your thought preventing you from answering, and you feel his lips on yours, and you feel your body sag slightly at the fact that you don't feel a spark from kissing him unlike when you kiss Terushima. When you pull away, you just happen to look to your right to see a very pissed off Terushima.

You see him shake his head before heading out of the door, and you hand your drink to Kaleb. "I'm sorry, I have to do something, I'll be right back." You rush to the door, disregarding your jacket as you follow Terushima out. "You got a problem or something?" you ask angrily, and he stops in his tracks, his back facing you for a few seconds before he turns around.

"Yeah, I do. You're over here leading me on while you're kissing other guys." You scoff at his accusation.

"Oh, like you're not doing the same thing," you spit back, and he raises his eyebrows at you.

"Excuse me? I haven't been seeing anyone else besides you, but you obviously have other plans."

"You know you have some real balls to accuse me of leading you on when that's all you did the entire time we were dating." He goes to speak, but you cut him off. "No! You entertained girls all the time, sometimes right in front of me. How you reacted to them is not how you're supposed to react when you have a girlfriend. Do you know how pathetic I felt?!" The tears are spilling, and you don't have any more will to stop them.

"I felt so stupid. You made me feel so...ugly." You see his face soften, but you don't wanna hear what he has to say. "And you're accusing me when you had a girl in your apartment a couple of days ago." His eyes widen at that, and he stops his trek towards you.

"What are you talking about?" You scoff as you throw your hands up. You'll have to spell this one out for him too.

"I went to your apartment to give you the burgers that you wanted, but when I went to knock on the door, I heard your voice laughing with another woman's voice." You see his face drop in realization, and he starts to wave his hands. "Did you both enjoy my burgers?" you ask, your voice cracking as more tears fall down your face.

Terushima recalls hearing something fall outside of his door, and when he opened it, he saw the burgers, but he didn't think anything of it. He should've been more aware. How could he be so stupid?

"Wait, Via, baby, that wasn't what it looked like, I swear--"

You chuckle bitterly. "You expect me to believe that?! Because that was the same shit you told me four years ago!" You're past done. You're exhausted. "Fuck you, Yuuji Terushima for being the same piece of shit guy you were four years ago! And for breaking my heart again." Your voice breaks when you say again, and Terushima feels his heart breaking into a million pieces. "I never want to see your face again."

You turn around quickly making your way back into your shop while Terushima stands there frozen, letting you walk out of his life once again. The words you just spoke to him the exact same words you said back then. He feels the tears on his face before he registers them. How could this happen? How did it all go so wrong so fast?

You walk back into the party, thankful that you didn't put mascara on as you wipe your face off, and Kiya walks up to you. "Girlfriend, are you okay?!" she asks you, concern etched all over her face as she pulls you to the side.

"No, I'm not," you tell her honestly. "But, this is a party, and we're supposed to have fun. So, that's what I'm going to do." For what seems like the tenth time tonight, you walk off without waiting for a response.

After everyone left the party, that's when you decided to get yourself drunk. You usually don't drink this much, but you couldn't bring yourself to think about anything else. Kiya takes you home, and she stays with you as you scream, cry, rant until you finally crash on your bed due to a mix of the alcohol and your emotions being all over the place.

She sighs worriedly at your figure, and sits next to you on the bed, brushing her hand over your head before your face which is stained with tear tracks. Your phone on your nightstand rings and Kiya picks it up, seeing that it's Terushima and she rolls her eyes before hitting the decline button. She sees that he's called you non-stop through the night, and she scoffs again. She's pretty sure she could get away with murder.

When the phone rings for the fourth time, Kiya angrily picks it up. "Via, baby, I am so sorry, please listen to me, it was just a misunderstanding--"

"Olivia can't come to the phone right now," Kiya cuts him off curtly. "She's passed out because a fucking piece of shit decided to walk back in her life and break her heart the same fucking way he did four years ago," she spits, and she hears him sigh heavily before he sniffles.

"Kiya, you gotta let me explain, please let me explain." He sounds completely wrecked, Kiya can barely understand what he's saying.

"I don't think so, Terushima. You barely deserved a second chance, and you definitely don't deserve a third. Goodbye."

"Wait, wait, wait! Please! Please let me explain!" He's practically yelling in her ear, and she knows that if she hangs up on him he'll just keep calling. But she's also never heard him like this before.

"Fine. You have five minutes."

It's been roughly a week since one of the lowest moments of your life, and you're not entirely healed, but you definitely feel better, and you swore off getting that drunk ever again due to the awful headache you had when you woke up the next morning. Right now, you were hanging with Kiya, which she fully insisted for whatever reason, and you assume it's just because she wanted to spend time with you before the new year.

"He proposed?!" you yell as you practically throw yourself off the couch. Kiya laughs as she nods. "What? Show me the ring!" you demand, and she holds her hand out which you quickly take into yours to examine her finger. "Woah, that is expensive," you comment as your eyes go wide.

She pulls her hand back as she agrees before looking at it again, her eyes full of love and happiness. You can't help the ping of jealously that stabs at your heart, but you push it away, replacing it with the happiness for your best friend. "So, I'm obviously going to be the maid of honor," you say matter-of-factly, and she laughs as she rolls her eyes.

"Of course you are. There's no one else I would want it to be." You both talk for a couple more hours, and you look at the clock on your phone.

"I should probably go. I don't want to implode on the newly engaged couple. He's going to be home soon, right?" you ask, standing and stretching.

"Yeah, but it's okay, you can stay. We won't mind." You shake your head as you start to gather your things.

"It's okay. I've got a bunch of takeout and some wine calling my name at home." You slip on your coat and your boots. That's mostly the reason why. The other reason why is that you really don't want to see any happy couples right now. That's just putting salt in a wound that's slowly healing. "Congratulations again, Kiya. I'll text you when I get home." She nods while walking you to the door, and she watches you walk to your car and drive off before closing the door.

You yawn loudly when you get home, kicking your boots off and throwing your jacket onto the couch. You decide that you're going to take a nap first, and then you'll eat, and as you walk to your room, you feel something under your feet. At first, you thought it was something weird on your sock, but when you keep feeling it, you look down to see rose petals?

You turn back to the door. You had locked the door when you left, and you just unlocked the door when you came home, so...

"Hello?" you call out into the quiet apartment, but you receive no response, and you follow the trail of rose petals, assuming that this is possibly the way that you're going to go out. The trail stops at your door, and you slide the door open, gasping when you see what's inside.

The lights are off, the only light being provided is from the vanilla-scented candles all over the room. There are rose petals all over the place, and there are vases of your favorite flowers spread out across the room, and standing in the middle of it is Terushima.

He's facing you, wringing his hands together nervously as he watches you take in the new changes made. "What is all this?" you ask in disbelief, and he steps forward before he speaks.

"An apology. I mean, I don't really think I can make up for the pain that I've caused you, but there's been a huge misunderstanding." You sigh softly as you look away.

"Terushima..." you start, and he startles you when he falls to his knees before grabbing your hands.

"Via, I'm begging you to let me explain. If you let me explain, then I'll be out of your hair. You won't hear from me ever again. And I know I don't deserve this, but please, please, let me explain." You only respond with a nod, mostly because of how he's acting right now. "For starters, I am so sorry for how I've made you feel. This year and four years ago. It was never my intention to make you cry or to break your heart, and I did both of those things, and so much more."

He takes a deep breath before speaking again. "Second, that girl in my apartment is not what you think," he tells you firmly making you roll your eyes, and he quickly starts speaking again. "I know, I know, but let me explain." He quickly pulls his phone out of his pocket like he's afraid that you're going to leave.

You watch as he brings up a conversation with a number before scrolling up to a certain part of the conversation, and he turns the phone to you. You hesitantly grab the phone, looking at him before bringing your eyes to look at the phone. You scroll through the messages, the messages themselves not outright telling you that he was seeing another girl.

One of them says 'it'll be ready in a couple of days,' another one says that 'you can meet me at my place.' That one's from Terushima. You hand him back the phone, not convinced at all. "You told her she could meet you at your place."

"And I should've realized how that would've looked. I was stupid, I wasn't thinking, and I'm sorry." You gesture to the phone.

"What was supposed to be ready?" you ask, your voice full of disinterest, and he quickly pockets the phone before reaching into his front pocket. Your eyes widen when he pulls out a box small enough for a ring, and he grabs your hand before you have the chance to move.

He opens it to reveal a small, simple ring with your birthstone in it. "Terushima..." you trail off, and he shakes his head.

"It's not what it looks like. It's a promise ring." A soft, surprised expression comes over your face. "It's a promise to you that I'm going to be better. Everyone knows that I don't deserve you, but this is a promise to you that I'm going to become the man that you deserve." Now you feel the tears coming, and he keeps going.

"It's a promise that I'm never going to hurt you again." He stands up quickly, your head now lifting upward to look him in the eyes. "Olivia, you mean the world to me. There's no else but you, there hasn't been, and there never will be." He takes the ring out of the box, setting the box on your dresser.

"I love you so much that it hurts. You're all I ever think about as soon as I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. Please, give me another chance. I promise I won't make you regret it." The tears are falling more frequently, and you wipe them away.

"How do I know you're not lying?" you ask quietly, trying to keep your weak resolve up. He steps closer to you.

"You know that I'm not lying," he tells you confidently, his gaze never wavering from yours, and you sigh knowing that he's right. He's one of the worst liars you've ever met, having tells for days. And none of them are showing. You're still fighting it in your head, looking down away from him, and he tilts it back up by your chin.

"Please. I will never make you feel that way ever again. I promise." He tells you firmly, his voice solid. Terushima feels like his heart explodes when you nod your head. He slides the ring onto your finger before wiping the tears from your eyes. He's so happy he could cry. He plants his lips on yours quickly, wrapping his arms around you, pulling him into him.

"Please, let me show you," he pleads after he pulls away, holding your face in his hands.

"Okay." That's all he needs before he's picking you up, your legs wrapped around his waist as he carries you to the bed, and he never breaks the kiss as you land on your back. He moves you further up on the bed before moving his lips to your neck, pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses on your skin.

Your hands move to his hair as you feel him biting marks into your skin, and you know that you're going to look like a freaking leopard tomorrow. He pulls your shirt off, throwing it somewhere off to the side, your bra soon following, and he doesn't waste any time attacking your breasts, one hand stimulating one while his mouth is on the other.

He pulls your hardened nipples between his teeth and his fingers at the same time, making your back arch off the bed at the different feelings. After marking up one breast, he moves to the other, doing the same thing before he starts to kiss down your abdomen.

He looks up at you when he reaches the waistband of your sweatpants, and you nod quickly as he groans seeing how your pupils are blown with lust. He quickly gets rid of your sweats, groaning again when he sees the growing wet spot across your crotch.

He licks a broad stripe up your covered cunt, both of you moaning simultaneously as you squeeze his head with your thighs. He makes quick work of your panties, almost ripping them with how eager he is to taste you. He digs his fingers into your thighs, almost entranced by your naked sex, and he teases you a bit more by marking up your thighs, whining when he pulls the skin between his teeth.

"Yuuji, stop teasing," you whine, and he smiles wickedly before he spreads your legs.

"I gotcha, pretty girl," he coos before licking another stripe through your folds, the action so sudden that it makes you jump slightly. His hands press your legs into the mattress as he eats you out like you're his last meal. "You taste so fucking good," he moans, the vibrations only elevating the feeling, and the taste of you on his tongue and the sounds you're making are like heaven, and he's close to blowing his load that he has to force himself to hold back.

He moves up to your clit, running circles over it with his tongue before sucking it into his mouth, making the grip on his hair tightening just shy of painful. He prods a finger at your hole before slowly inching his way in, and he ruts against the bed to find some release. You already feel so good on his finger, so he can only imagine what you'll feel like when you take his dick.

He slides another finger in while continuing to use his mouth on your clit, stretching you out before sliding in a third. He curls his fingers, hitting that spot inside of you with ease, making you release a loud moan. "Teru," you gasp, and he smirks against you.

"You close, baby?" he prods, already knowing the answer. He keeps curling his fingers, the squelching sounds almost overpowering your moans, and he feels you pulling at his hair, this time painful, but he can't bring himself to care as he licks up your clit making sure his piercing strikes it.

You cum with a scream, and he moans when you clench on his fingers, but he keeps going, his fingers seeming to go deeper inside of you, and a weird feeling sits in your core, and you try to push him away, but he keeps going until you feel another release.

"Fuck. Holy shit, babe." You come down from your high, gasping for air as you watch him come up with your juices all over his face while he sucks his fingers clean. "You just squirted." You move to cover your face with your hands but he stops you. "Don't be ashamed. That was really hot," he admits, licking around his mouth to get some more.

He kisses you hungrily, and you moan as you taste yourself on his tongue and when his piercing knocks against your teeth. He hisses and breaks the kiss when you palm his straining erection through his jeans. "Do you want me to return the favor?" you ask, still breathless from your previous orgasm, and he lightly brushes your hand away as he shakes his head.

"Later, right now is all about you," he tells you, and you wrap your arms around his neck to pull him close to you.

"Then I want you to fuck me," you whisper against his lips, and he groans before making quick work of his shirt and his jeans. You can see a huge wet spot in the front of his briefs, and he gets rid of them quickly, his dick smacking his abdomen once it's free.

He stands at the edge of the bed, lazily stroking himself, and you feel your mouth go dry at how beautiful he is, so you tell him, and he responds with a soft chuckle, but you can see his face deepen with a blush at the compliment. "Nah, that's all you, baby girl." He smirks when he sees your eyes widening once they land on the pair of metal balls at the head of his length. "You like it?" he quips, and you just gulp, your eyes having a hard time looking away from the angry red tip dripping with pre.

His eyes drag down your figure, making you hot all over and he moves onto the bed, hovering himself over you. "You're so gorgeous. The prettiest woman I've ever met." You don't have time to feel flustered by his words because he leans down to kiss you, this one different from the previous ones.

This one is softer and filled with love, but still has the same amount of passion and hunger. "I have a condom," he tells you when he pulls away, and you shake your head.

"I wanna feel you," you tell him, lust dripping in your words, and he bites back a moan as he gives you one last kiss before guiding his dick towards your leaking hole. He pumps himself a few more times before sliding in, and you can't help the whine that falls from your lips.

It's been so long since you've felt him inside of you. And it's an addicting feeling you didn't even know you were missing until now. "Fuck, you are so tight. Shit." He bottoms out, stretching you in the best possible way, and he rests his head against yours.

"Move, Yuuji," you urge, and he nods while he pants.

"I know, baby, I know, give me a second. Fuck." He takes a few more deep breaths, and when he's sure that he's not going to bust just from how warm you feel, he backs up until only the tip is inside and he rams back into you, making the bed knock against the wall.

You cry out, your arms wrapping around his neck again as he repeatedly slams back into you, the feeling of the piercing rubbing against your walls foreign, but it feels so good. He keeps shifting his hips until he finds that spongy spot inside of you, and he grips the headboard, using it as leverage to piston that spot, and you feel like you're going to explode with pleasure.

You rake your nails down his back, and he feels it hit every nerve ending all over his body, and his hips falter just a tad when you clench around him. "Fuck, baby, touch yourself for me, please touch yourself," he spills out, knowing he's not going to last much longer.

You bring your hand down to roll hard circles on your bud, clenching at the sudden stimulation, and Terushima shudders. "Feels so good, Yuuji," you moan out, and he can't help but reciprocate it as his face scrunches up in pleasure.

"You feel too good, baby, oh my God." You can sense that he's close, so you clench around him again, and that's what send him over the edge, letting out a shout of your name as his hot seed shoots into you.

He doesn't stop moving though. He brings one hand down to your shoulder and fucks into you harder than he had before. He whines at the overstimulation, but he's determined to get you there. "Cum for me, baby, cum for me."

With one last hard thrust, you cum hard, back arching off the bed as you scream his name while Terushima moans at you coming undone under him. Your back meets the bed again, and Terushima rests his head on your forehead as you both catch your breath.

He pulls out of you slowly, wincing at the overwhelming feeling of pleasure mixing with pain before he gets up and makes his way to the bathroom the best he can on shaky legs. You feel yourself starting to drift off, and you jump when you feel something warm at your core.

"Sorry, I gotta clean you up," he tells you softly, wiping the mix of your juices away before putting the rag in the sink in the bathroom. He comes back, pulling the blankets down and getting in before pulling you into his chest. "I love you so much, Olivia. And I am so sorry. I won't make you regret giving me another chance."

You look up at him with a sleepy smile and sleepy eyes before sitting up to kiss him. "I love you too, and I forgive you, maybe," you joke, and you giggle when he pinches your side.

The rhythm of his heartbeat and the finger dragging up and down your arm lulls you to sleep fast, and the last thing you remember is hearing "goodnight."

~

Terushima wakes up before you, the sunlight bleeding in through the blinds and into his eyes. He takes a deep breath in and looks around, thankful that he remembered to blow out the candles before he went to sleep. He looks down to see you still sleeping peacefully, and he feels his heart do a somersault. He finally has you and he going to make sure that you don't leave. Not again.

He never realized what he was taking for granted until you broke up. He had slept with a few other girls, but they weren't you. All he could think about was you. He even got kicked out of a girl's place naked because he accidentally called her by your name. He pulls you closer to him, and you stir slightly, moving your head so that it's angled more towards his.

He thinks you look ethereal. The way the sunlight makes your brown skin glow almost makes him melt. He runs a finger down your sleeping face lightly before brushing the hair out of your face. "I'm sorry for being so stupid," he starts even know he knows you can't hear him. "I didn't realize what I had lost until it was too late. I wish I could go back in time so I could fix it or beat myself up, one or the other," he jokes laughing softly. "Probably both."

He rubs your back softly. "I don't even know if I have enough words to describe how much you mean to me. I should've never entertained those girls, like I said I was an absolute idiot, and to be honest, I didn't think you would've given me a second chance. I would've understood if you didn't." He holds you a little tighter. "But I'm glad that you did. I love you, and I'm going to keep saying it until you get tired of it, but I want you to know that. I want you to know that it's true and that I seriously mean it."

He takes a deep breath. "After the Christmas party, I cried so hard I almost threw up." He laughs bitterly, he doesn't really know why he's saying this, but he feels like he should get it off his chest. "That night it felt like my heart had been ripped out and stomped on multiple times. I only have myself to blame though. And I figured that must've been what you felt like because of me, and that happened to you twice.

"I was almost in hysterics. I kept calling your phone, but you never answered, and when I was about to give up, Kiya picked up the phone." He laughs again." And she almost hung up on me until I explained to her everything that happened and the huge misunderstanding that caused all of this. She held me put this whole plan together actually. She got you out of your apartment so I could do all of this."

He looks down at you again, giving you a kiss on your forehead. "I hope you stay with me forever. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You really are sappy in the morning." Your groggy voice makes him jump, and you smile as you struggle to hold back your laugh, peeling your eyes open to reveal a very red Terushima.

"You were awake?!" he asks, and you laugh fully as you nod. "You heard everything?!"

You nod again. "I did, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking in your sleep, but I realized it was too coherent for it to be sleep talk." You sit up, resting your hand on his chest and putting your chin on top. "Did you mean everything you said?"

He responds quickly. "Every word." You fight back tears as he pulls you in for another kiss, his hand resting on the back of your head softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Yuuji Terushima."

EPILOGUE:

"Teru, you're not taking me to the woods to kill me, are you?" you ask, looking around blindly due to the blindfold wrapped around your eyes. You hear him laugh as you feel him take another turn.

"No, I'll do that for our next anniversary." You laugh as you try to figure out where you are. Terushima had woken you up saying that he was going to show you your anniversary present, but then he blindfolded you and led you to the car. "Stop trying to figure out where we are with your weird powers!" he yells at you, and you nudge at him while playing with your necklace that he got for you after you both made up. It has his name on it, and he bought a matching chain with your name on it.

"It's not my fault I know this city like the back of my hand." You feel him take another turn, and you close your eyes as you try to narrow it down. "Are we in a subdivision?" You smirk when you hear him groan, knowing you guessed right.

"Can you please stop? You'll ruin the surprise."

"It's hard to focus on anything else," you admit, and you quickly go quiet when you feel his hand rubbing up and down your thigh.

"It is hard now?" he asks you, lowly, and you feel your core clench at his words and his actions. Now you can't focus on anything but his hand, but you're abruptly pulled from his actions when you feel the car stop. You hear him turn the car off and you hear his door open and close while you take your seatbelt off.

Your door opens, and he's guiding you out of the car. "You ready?"

You jump excitedly in impatience. "Yes, yes, hurry up!" He peels off the blindfold, and you blink a few times, letting your eyes adjust to the light before they focus on a two-story house. "A house?" You feel something cold touch your hand, and you look down to see a pair of keys in your hand.

"Our house." Your eyes go wide as you snap your head up to look at Terushima before looking back at the house. "Happy anniversary, baby."

"Are you fucking serious?!" you say, jumping into his arms, almost taking him out before you run towards the door, unlocking it as fast you can. Terushima smiles at you fondly as he follows you around the house as you tour it.

"This bedroom's kinda small though," he comments, looking around, and you step in the room, spinning around as you look at the room before stopping to face Terushima.

"I don't know. I think it's the perfect room for a nursery," you admit, and you see him shrug as he looks around again before the words dawn on him. He almost breaks his neck to look at you, and you smile widely as you nod.

"You're fucking serious?! I'm gonna be a dad?!" He runs to you, picking you and spinning you around. You both laugh loudly before he sets you down, pulling you into a loving kiss that leaves you breathless.

"Happy anniversary, Yuuji."

A/N: If you stayed this long thank you for reading, but if you didn’t, I don’t blame you LMAO

[ddarker-dreams]

Can I request head-cannons for Dabi, Shigaraki and Overhaul when their Darling escapes and ends up at an old friends house? Like the friend and the Darling had feelings for each other but never new until now and the Yandere finds them kissing? Idk lol just an idea. Sorry for wasting your time.

i found this idea so interesting that i went ahead and wrote mini scenarios for it!! yall get to watch shin suffer three different times LMAOO

click here to check out my commissions ! 

TW: for death, torture, mutilation

Shigaraki: 

Comfort and security have been rare in your life for the past few hellish months. Even now, as you sit with a blanket wrapped around your shivering frame; you can’t relish in your small victory over Shigaraki. It’s only been a matter of hours since you managed to escape him, and you can only imagine how desperately he’s searching. 

“[First], are you sure we shouldn’t go to the police?” Shin eyes you with concern, his lips frowning at your shivering form. Shaking your head, you take a sip of the tea he had given you earlier. The bitter flavor brings you no comfort, but the scorching warmth steels you in reality. 

“I don’t know. I’m sorry, I really don’t know,” you murmur to your friend, who takes a seat next to you on the couch. “I just need to… I need to get a hold of myself first. I can’t think straight.” 

Shin offers a reassuring smile, his hand reaching out. You flinch slightly as he places it on top of your free hand, being mindful of your fearful form. The pad of his thumb soothingly rubs circles into your skin, temporarily taking your mind off everything.

“I was surprised when you came to me,” Shin confesses, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m sorry if I’m being out of line. I’m just glad you thought of me. That you know that you can rely on me.” 

Your breath hitches, and you look away from his face. The blush lining his cheeks says it all; but you’re unsure of what to do with it. Before Shigaraki had come into your life, Shin had been someone you adored wholeheartedly. His charisma and friendliness attracted you, he was someone that was always so well put together.

“T-thank you again for helping me.” 

All you’re able to offer is your genuine gratitude. At this, Shin shifts in his seat. 

“Of course,” Shin graciously accepts your words, moving closer to you. Your eyes widen when soft fingers delicately touch your chin, prompting you to look at him. “I would do anything for you.” 

“Shin–” 

His lips softly press against your own, muffling the squeak you let out. Apart of you feels uncertain of what to make of this, but the other part doesn’t care anymore. Why should you deny yourself any comfort you could get after the nightmares you’ve endured? 

Fluttering your eyes shut, you shyly return the affection being bestowed upon you. For a few blissful seconds, your mind is relieved of your previous woes. 

That is, until you hear a crumbling noise in the direction of Shin’s apartment entrance. 

Pulling back at the alarming noise, Shin furrows his eyebrows at a figure that makes your blood freeze. 

“Hey, who the fuck do you think you are?” Shin goes to stand from his position next to you, only for you to put your arm out in front of him. Bloodshot eyes look from your form to Shin’s, Shigaraki’s form hunched over. You hear his labored breathing, as he stalks towards the couch with a sense of urgency.

At this point, a part of you knows there’s nothing you can say to convince Shigaraki to stop what he’s doing, but it’s not enough to stop you from trying.

“Shigaraki, please, don’t do anything–!” 

It’s too late.

His hand extends out towards Shin’s, wrapping viciously around the young male’s neck. Before Shin could even let out a scream at the sensation of being chocked, his skin turns an inhumanly gray pigment. Shrieking in horror, you spring up from your position as Shin’s body turns to a pile of dust. 

“N-no…” your voice is weak, eyes blurred by tears. 

Shigaraki turns his head towards you, pupils dilated and chest heaving. He watches as you press your knees to your chest, bottom lip quivering from anxiety.

“Come,” Shigaraki beckons, voice devoid of any humanity. “I’m tired of this little side quest.” 

Dabi: 

“Got room for one more?” 

The intrusive, lighthearted words are accompanied by a grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Dabi begins snickering as you instinctively pull back from Shin, eyes wide as saucers. Shin grimaces in disgust at Dabi, immediately putting two and two together.

“So you must be the fucker who’s been harasser her,” Shin growls, reaching into his pocket to reveal a switchblade. “Get the fuck out, or I’ll call the police.” 

The small blade gleams threateningly, pointed in an accusatory stance towards Dabi. Dabi’s hands remain in his pockets, not even so much as blinking at the threat presented before him. He all but ignores it, preferring to look over at your shaking form. 

“You gave me quite a shock, doll. I didn’t think you had it in you,” Dabi tilts his head, voice lowering with intent. “But enough’s enough. Come right over here princess, and I’ll give some thought to forgiving you.” 

After the time you’ve spent with Dabi, you’ve been able to pick up on the subtlest of nuances in his body language. To the untrained eye somewhat might mistake Dabi’s disposition for carefree, but you know better. He’s toying with you purposefully – there’s a concealed fury in his eyes from your string of betrayals. 

His patience with you is gone. 

“A-alright,” you pathetically concede, eyes stinging with tears. On unsteady legs you stand up, earning a look of confusion from Shin. “I’ll do what you say. But please don’t hurt him. I-I dragged him into this, he has nothing to do with it.” 

The pleading tone doesn’t garner a strong reaction, Dabi instead shrugging his shoulders at your heartfelt request. 

He waves off your feeble concern, “Sorry to say sweetheart, but you’re in no position to be making demands of me.”

“I’ve heard enough of this!” Shin abruptly stands up, firmly steeling himself next to you. Dabi’s eyes follow his every movement carefully, undoubtedly assessing if you’ll get caught up in a blast of fire from his quirk. In a protective reflex, you fling yourself in front of Shin; arms reaching out on each side. 

Dabi clicks his tongue at your interference. “What a bad girl you’ve been.” 

With that, he suddenly charges forward, your eyes barely processing the events unfolding in front of you. Dabi moves to your left abruptly, causing you to swirl on your heels. Before Shin has the chance to plunge his knife forward, Dabi’s hands grab Shin’s shoulder and wrist respectively.

A sickening snap reverberates in the air, accompanied by a hellish scream of pain. What is most likely to be Shin’s ulna erupts from the skin of his forearm, blood gushing out alongside it. Shin drops to the ground, clutching his mutilated arm while tears leave his eyes. 

A string of curses leave his lips, but Dabi responds by kicking him onto his back. Jaw agape, you lunge forward to assist your friend; only for Dabi’s hand to grip harshly onto your wrist. Hissing at the pressure, you twist your wrist around in hopes of freeing yourself. The movement only serves to bring you greater pain, so you stop momentarily. 

Shin’s cries continue on in the background as Dabi forcefully shoots you a chilling smile. The hand that isn’t holding yours flickers with blue flames, revealing Dabi’s malicious intentions. 

“I didn’t realize you’d be so eager to watch. Let’s see, what part of him should I break next? If you tell me, I’ll put ‘im out of his misery faster,” Dabi offers, making certain you had a front seat to the events that were about to unfold. “Probably, that is.”

Overhaul: 

“Please stop! This isn’t right, he has nothing to do with this!” 

Cold amber eyes glare through your soul, showing no sign of softening with compassion at your incessant begging. Kai’s lifeless gaze moves from you to your struggling companion, who currently has his arms twisted behind his back by Kurono. 

“What should we do with him, boss?” 

“If I recall correctly,” Kai begins, stepping forward to minimize the distance between himself and Shin. “One of our subjects recently passed from the stress of testing. This one will serve as a replacement.” 

“Go… to hell, you... monster,” Shin wheezes out, struggling to lift his bruised face to meet Kai’s stony stare. “[First] will always hate you.” 

The room goes silent, save for Shin’s labored breathing and your own rapidly beating heart. All the struggling in the world isn’t enough to remove you from Mimic’s tight grip, but it’s not enough to stop you from trying. The sudden emergence of the Shie Hassaikai was hell on earth, but one you were eventually expecting. 

Kai had acted faster than you thought he would, finding you after your escape in only a few hours. With his expansive number of contacts and manpower all it took was a few phone calls and orders, and here they were. 

Kai’s exchanged no words with you, ever since he and his subordinates walked in on Shin kissing you. You can’t begin to comprehend the volume of his vexation towards you, but whatever he’s feeling he’s keen on not showing it.

You wince at Shin’s words, realizing that the combination would make his fate even more painful than it would’ve been before. Kai suddenly holds one of his gloved hands up, in the direction a few other subordinates were standing.

“Knife.” 

The order is simple and to the point, and a masked individual brings him the item he requests. With the glistening weapon in hand, Kai moves it closer to Shin’s face. Before you can even let out a scream, Kai begins to steadily move the sharp end of the knife against the skin of Shin’s lower lip.

A bloodcurdling shriek leaves him, as he desperately struggles against Kurono to no avail. Kurono moves a hand to steady his face, effectively allowing for Kai to continue with the task he had started. As Kai continues his cruel task of flaying the skin off Shin’s lips, all you can think to do is close your eyes and pray it’ll all be over soon.

There’s not much more you can take of this nightmare. 

A few more excruciatingly slow seconds pass, before Kai moves back, scrunching his nose at a drop of blood that marred his white gloves. 

“Filthy,” Kai murmurs underneath his breath, a frown set on his face. “Treat him before he goes into shock. I don’t want him dying anytime soon.”

For the first time in a while, Kai’s attention returns back to you. Noting the puffiness of your eyes, it’s difficult to mask the irritation he feels at your compassion for this cesspool of trash. He begins to walk towards the door, you being prompted to follow suit alongside the other members of the Shie Hassaikai. 

“We’ll discuss your punishment in detail later.” 

All you can do is nod, feeling numb to the world as you return back to your hell. 

[simplybakugou]

Zapped

↝ Notorious for his usual happy-go-lucky and goofy personality, you’re stuck with having to look after Kaminari’s new change in ego after he was hit with a villain’s quirk.

BINGO SPACE: Mean x Nice

⋆ PAIRING: prohero!kaminari x prohero!reader ⋆ WARNINGS/TAGS: swearing; fluff ⋆ WORD COUNT: 2245

A/N: another @bnhabookclub​ fic. i initially was going to write this as kaminari being mean to reader but i genuinely can’t imagine kaminari being mean like that so i decided to take a different approach to this! thank you to the anon who requested for kaminari for this prompt and this is the last kaminari fic for the bingo event! also the transparent kaminari cap is from the bnha bookclub drive.

also i had no idea how to end this so im sorry if the ending is actual shit omg

FULL BINGO MASTERLIST

✐posted 08.11.2020✐

“Man, I’m so tired,” Sero said with a sigh. “I feel like we’ve been chasing after this guy for hours.”

“That’s ‘cause we have been chasing after him for hours,” Kaminari groaned to his friend. Normally he would’ve been excited to be able to spend time with Sero who he hadn’t hung out with in months due to their jobs keeping them busy but chasing after a villain was not easy nor was it enjoyable. Kaminari started his tiring day with an early morning patrol, roaming around the blocks of Musutafu to keep an eye on any criminal activity. 

For some reason on that particular day Kaminari couldn’t catch a break as he had to reprimand and track down several villains. This time was no different as he was pursuing a man who was attacking bystanders randomly with his peculiar quirk. Kaminari ended up running into Sero on the way and now the two men were working together to take the evildoer down.

“How the hell does this guy keep disappearing so much? Is that his quirk? Invisibility or something?” Sero asked, looking up towards the rooftops of the many buildings surrounding the area.

“No, he’s zapping people or something. All I know is that I kept seeing a weird light when he used his quirk and the people he attacked acted really weird afterwards,” Kaminari informed Sero, peeking through a window of a local clothing store for any sign of the villain. 

“Zapping people? Like how your quirk works?” Sero asked as the two continued to stroll down the path, briefly waving to any bystanders that recognized them as they weren’t able to stop and sign autographs at the moment.

“Yeah but I don’t attack random people with my quirk!” Kaminari exclaimed.

The two heroes turned down the road, reaching a dead end as the area was led to a vacant lot. “I think we should just head back to the station. I don’t see that guy anywhere around here so he must be long gone.”

Kaminari nodded, letting out a sigh. “You’re right.”

Sero said his goodbyes to his friend as the pair split up, walking in opposite directions to their respective agencies. Kaminari was a little bummed out, upset with himself that he managed to lose sight of the villain. Although he wasn’t able to catch the man, at least he was able to leave early and go back home to you, his significant other who he missed so much and whom he wasn’t able to see as often due to his busy job.

Just as he had finally cheered himself up and was on his way back to his agency so he could go home, Kaminari heard Sero yell after him. “Kaminari! I saw the guy run down here!”

Kaminari turned his head around to face Sero who was using his tape arms to propel him through the rooftops. “Really?! You saw him?”

“Yeah he’s somewhere around here. You check out this area, I’ll be down there,” Sero said, pointing to the plaza a few blocks down.

“Got it!” With this information Kaminari continued to scope out the area, once again irritated with having to deal with such a nuisance of a person.

From the corner of his eye he saw a dark figure dashing in the opposite direction and Kaminari didn’t hesitate to run after it, his quirk activating as small yellow sparks arose from his body. He continued to chase after the shadowy figure down the alleyway and they finally reached a dead end.

“You’ve got nowhere to run so why don’t we just make this quick, alright?” Kaminari offered. 

The man whipped his head around, his face covered in a black ski mask as his lips curled up into a devious smirk. “Sorry, but there’s no way I’m letting a little hero catch me.” 

He grabbed a few bags filled with trash that were left on the ground, green light flashing into his hands as he threw the bags at Kaminari, who caught both bags in confusion as to why the villain would throw something so easily catchable. Just as the bags touched his fingertips, Kaminari felt a shiver run down his spine as the green light from earlier crept up from the bags and onto Kaminari’s arms. 

The villain laughed, watching as the green light from his quirk engulfed the pro hero’s entire body. “I’m tired of you heroes playing nice all the time so here’s my way of helping you out.” 

The villain cackled as Kaminari fell to the floor, a pounding sensation attacking his head and causing his temples to ache. Before Kaminari had the chance to recover, the villain ran past him, wanting to escape as fast as he could. 

“What’s going on?” Kaminari grunted as he writhed in pain on the floor, his glasses from his costume strewn on the floor. His heart was racing and he felt like something inside him was bubbling, like someone had stuck a spoon inside him and was stirring up his stomach.

Sero finally turned around the corner, finding Kaminari hunched over on the bare floor and immediately went beside him. “Kaminari!”

Sero hooked his arm around his back, holding Kaminari up from the ground. “Hey, man, are you okay? Did the guy hit you with his quirk?”

Kaminari shook his head, rubbing his temples as the pain finally subsided. He blinked a few times to adjust his vision that had become blurry and he looked over to Sero and shoved him off. “Don’t fucking touch me. Get the fuck off.”

Sero stared at him blankly, completely bewildered by what had just happened. “Huh?”

***

You thanked the receptionist at the front as you quickly sped through the hospital lobby, managing to get into the elevator before a line formed which would force you to take the stairs.

Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay was all that you could keep saying in your mind as you rode up to the fourth floor. Sero had called you, informing you that your boyfriend had been put into the hospital after an encounter with a villain. He didn’t specify if Kaminari had gotten gravely injured, well more like you didn’t give Sero enough time to specify as you immediately hung up and raced over to the hospital after hearing the news.

You got out of the elevator, scanning the different rooms for the room that Kaminari was staying in. Just as you located his room, the door slid open and a doctor exited it. She seemed visibly stressed as she rubbed her temples and looked down at her clipboard.

“Hi, um, I was wondering if this is Kaminari Denki’s room?” You asked the woman.

“Oh, you must be the person Cellophane told me about,” the doctor said, shaking your hand as she briefly introduced herself. “Well, Chargebolt is fine, physically at least.”

You let out a sigh in relief, placing a hand over your chest as you were grateful that he wasn’t hurt. “Is he okay?”

“He was hit with a troublesome quirk by a villain. It seems that the quirk can change a person’s personality as the user saw fit. The villain must have decided to change Chargebolt’s personality completely because at the moment he is being quite… difficult,” the doctor said. “You’re free to take him home now but if you need help getting him out the door, please don’t be afraid to call one of the staff to support you. The quirk’s effects should wear off in an hour.”

You nodded slowly as the doctor patted your shoulder reassuringly as she left to administer another patient. You weren’t too sure about what she was going on about but nevertheless you opened the door to Kaminari’s room, peeking your head in and smiling to see Kaminari sitting up in the hospital bed.

“Denki!” You exclaimed, quickly going over to his side and holding his hand in yours. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Kaminari looked down at your hand entwined into his and shoved your grip off him. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

Your face fell as you stared down at your fingers. “Denki?”

“I’m guessing you’re here to get me outta this shithole?” Kaminari asked, raising a blonde brow at you. “Took you fucking long enough to get here.”

You were taken aback by his abrasive behavior, speechless for a moment before you were able to gather yourself together. “R-Right. The doctor said you’re free to leave now.”

“Thank god,” Kaminari muttered, swinging his legs over as he exited the room, not bothering to wait for you or to grab his things.

“Denki, wait!” You called out, grabbing his briefcase with his hero costume. He didn’t even care to change out of his hospital gown as he practically sped down the hall.

You managed to catch up with him and slip inside the elevator before the doors closed in on you. You glanced over at him, staring intently at the frown on his face. You knew you couldn’t take what he would say from now and the next hour to heart as it wasn’t his fault for behaving this way. 

Kaminari looked down at you, irritated that you were staring at him. “What?”

You shook your head, a small smile on your lips. “Nothing. You just look really pretty.”

Kaminari’s eye widened slightly as he blushed, his cheeks adorning a light pink shade. “Whatever, idiot.” He sped out the elevator but you still kept up with him, laughing at the many stares he was receiving. Then again, who wouldn’t stare at the sight of one of the top heroes dashing outside in a hospital gown.

Seeing that he was about to walk straight into incoming traffic, you grabbed Kaminari’s hand, stopping him before he got run over. You tightened your grip on his hand as you practically had to drag him in the other direction towards the parking lot.

“The fuck you think you’re doing?” Kaminari said, his voice filled with annoyance.

“You’re going to get hurt so let’s just get to my car,” you said adamantly, not caring if he didn’t want to listen to you or not.

Kaminari scoffed, attempting to shake off your hold but actually surprised by how strong you were. Eventually he stopped fighting you and let you lead him to your car. Once you located your vehicle, you unlocked it and opened the passenger door for him.

“I don’t need you to open my door for me,” Kaminari grumbled, entering your car anyways.

“I know I don’t; it’s called being nice,” you said, shutting the door as you entered the vehicle through the other side. 

You began driving, making your way towards your shared house with Kaminari. Normally car rides with your boyfriends were enjoyable as you would both scream out your favorite song lyrics or do small things to make each other laugh. 

But this car ride was one of the most stressful experiences you had ever encountered as Kaminari would frequently lean over, slamming his fist over the wheel and honking and cursing at anyone who was driving safely at the right speed limit. You apologized as much as you could through the window, wanting to sink into your seat to recover from the embarrassment you were going through.

Finally you managed to make it home in one piece and you were more than happy to leave your car and go inside. Kaminari trailed behind you, relatively quiet with his hands in his pockets as he immediately beelined for the couch, collapsing on top of it as he sunk his face into the cushions.

You smiled, dropping his briefcase to the side and joining him on the couch. “I’m so fucking exhausted,” Kaminari grumbled.

“Do you want me to cook something?” You offered.

Kaminari scoffed, sitting up as he glared at you. “I don’t give a fuck. I don’t need you to do shit for me.”

“Denki, you can’t even make toast correctly.”

Kaminari glared at you, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fine.”

You chuckled, getting up and whipping up something quick and easy to make as you weren’t a great chef either, even though anyone could be a top tier chef compared to Kaminari. As you were cooking you looked at the clock, relieved that an hour had passed, meaning the quirk’s effects would wear off at any time now.  

As if on cue, Kaminari began coughing from his spot on the couch as the pounding sensation in his head returned. You could see him rubbing his forehead and you went by his side, confused at what was going on. “Denki, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s okay,” Kaminari said, sighing once the painful sensation finally diminished. He opened his eyes, not hesitating to throw his arms around you. “Y/N!”

You were taken aback, still disoriented by what was going on. He pulled away, his hands on his shoulders. “I’m so sorry for treating you like an asshole. I’ll do the dishes for the next week and do whatever you want me to do.”

You laughed, planting a kiss on his cheek. “It’s alright, Denki, I know it wasn’t your fault.”

Kaminari hugged you once more, not letting you go for the rest of the night in compensation for his crude behavior. It was safe to say that he was going to be more careful in the future about being zapped by certain villains...

If you’d like to be added to my taglist, please join here!

Taglist: @pinkcowgirleggpanda​ @xtsundere-princess​ @wesparklebitch​ @hot-pocket01​ @iamthe-leaf @ahrininetales​ @kirisclementine​ @happygalaxymilkshake​ @hookedinto-fictionalworlds​ @entraptas-kid-sister​ @mirakeul​ @thatpeachybandgirl @icy-hot​ @lmaobroccoli​ @anastar-legion​ @lowermoons​ @mykuronekome​ @susu-chan​

[peachessashaven]

Sucker - Ben Hardy x Reader

Synopsis: Your best friend, Ben Hardy, was cast as Roger Taylor, the drummer from Queen in one of the most anticipated movies of the year. You were always a sucker for drummers, and turns out, you always will be.

Word Count: 5.6k

A/N: hi soz about this pos - i haven't proof read this bc im lazy af, sorry about this mess i haven't written ffs or one shots in literal y e a r s

i hope u enjoy i guess AHA

Your Uber rolls up the driveway to the set where they were filming ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the film your best friend was in. You thank the man who drove you, slid out of the backseat of the car and closed the door firmly to ensure it sealed. You walk up the drive way, large buildings fielding your view. You mention your name to the guard, hoping Ben remembered to put you on the list of visitors.

She handed you the badge with a big smile. “Enjoy your time here!”

You thank her, “Where do you go for the Bohemian Rhapsody set?”

“You turn left at the end of the street and then keep going. You’ll definitely see the sign, someone else will be able to help you there.” She points and clasps her hands together.

“Thank you again!”

You take her directions, following to the end of the street then turning left. She was right, the large sign in front of your eyes showed the four boys, with Rami Malek starring as Freddie looking towards the camera. You gaze at the photo for a few seconds, finding yourself staring at Ben. You smile as you recall the memory of finding out Ben got the part as Roger Taylor in the biopic.

*

He was fidgeting, something he only did when he was nervous.

“Ben, what’s up? Why are you shaking your leg so much?” You joke, hitting his leg with your foot. He looked up at you and smiled timidly.

“I find out whether I have a job for the next few months.” You looked at him in shock. Since when did he go for an audition? “I went when you were out with your mum for the day, you know, the spa day you so desperately needed - to help you de-stress from work?” You blush, not meaning to say those words out loud. “Why else do I have a drum kit in my living room?” He points to the obviously placed drum kit in the corner of the large living room.

“I just thought you were getting lessons.” You pout, crossing your arms with a small smile.

“I was, I was getting lessons so many times during the week, multiple times a day, hours at a time. They asked me if I could play drums, and I said ‘yes’, you know, like a liar. Since when did you not notice me being out almost every day for the past few weeks?” Ben chuckles, pulling your legs on top of his lap, rubbing your ankles. You smile slightly at the comment, but then you remembered why you didn’t notice as much as to where he goes.

“Since your ex-girlfriend told me that I don’t need to know your whereabouts every second of every day, since that was ‘her job’ to worry where you were all the damn time, as if she didn’t trust that you were out with friends and not another girl,” Emphasising the last few words while grumbling, you try to pull your legs off of his lap, he shakes his head and pulls them back. “Sorry that I care about my friends?” You exclaim sarcastically. Ben laughs and rubs your ankles again. “Plus! I thought you were out with friends all the time or helping your family.”

“It’s fine now, she’s out of my life and you’re the only girl I care about at the moment, well, except my mum-.” He gets cut off by the sound of his phone ringing, loud and clear.

He pushes your legs off from him and stands up with lightning speed, causing you to scoff with a smile.

“That’s gotta be my agent, I’ll be back!” He runs off into the kitchen with his phone. You give him a small salute, whispering to yourself ‘yes sir’. You stand up and walk over to the drum kit, seeing many drumsticks in the holder, the broken ones in the bin – probably from hitting the drums too hard or from frustration. You giggle at the thought of him throwing a drumstick in frustration, then feeling bad for throwing it and walking to pick it back up. That’s just the kind of person he is, honestly. You pictured him playing the drums, getting flushed at the idea of him slamming the sticks against the drums with desperation and vigour.

“Are you serious?” You heard Ben yell. You zip around to see him standing at the doorway to the living room with a gigantic smile on his face. “Thank you very much! I’ll see you next week!” He concludes and ends the phone call. He throws his phone to the couch and raises his hands, in accomplishment. “I got the role! I get to play Roger Taylor in the new Queen biopic!”

“You’re playing Roger Taylor?!” You scream with him, running to throw yourself into his arms, he wraps himself around you, placing a kiss on your head. You can feel his heart racing and he’s shaking. He didn’t think to mention he was playing one of the band members in your favourite band? Idiot, he is, isn’t he? He knew you loved drummers.

“Fuck yeah I am, I thought I botched the second audition! I’m so fucking excited!”

*

You saw many people running around with props and papers, people hanging onto their phones for dear life as they run from building to building. You walk slowly up to one of the entrances of the many buildings surrounding you. You look behind you, admiring how chaotic this whole scene looked but before you know it, you’re bumping into a tall man with bouncing curly hair, causing him to drop his pages on the floor.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry!” You apologise, picking up the booklet before he could even register what just happened. You glance at the booklet, seeing a name and the words ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ written in large letters. “Here’s your script.” He smiles and takes the script off of you.

“Thank you for that, sorry for bumping into you.”

“No, it was so my fault! I wasn’t looking where I was walking!” You claimed, feeling heat rise up your neck from the embarrassment. “I’m just trying to find my friend, Ben Jones? Or Hardy? Whichever one he goes by now, I guess.” You scratch your neck slightly and look up at him. He has a look of surprise on his face.

“Oh! You must be Y/N L/N, right?” You nod suspiciously. “Ben’s told us so much about you! I’m Gwilym! I play Brian May,” he gestures towards the abundance of hair on his head.

“Wow! I didn’t recognise you with the hair, oh my goodness, you really do look like Brian May when he was younger,” You ponder, he smiles and gives you a nod. “Ben’s told me about you guys on the phone!”

“Here, let me take you to Ben, I’m sure we can find where he is.” He takes your hand and pulls you into the area where they were filming. You saw the cameras, the lights and the crowds of people wearing clothes you only wished would suit you. You smile as you see Ben sitting with a man with curly hair, who you assumed to be Joe and Rami. Gwilym saw them also, yelling out to them.

“Oi, Ben, your girly friend is here!”

“What?” Ben looks up from his phone, almost sprinting out of his seat as soon as he sees you. “Y/N! I can’t believe you made it!” He hugs you tightly with a grin on his face. “You didn’t say you were visiting today?”

“I did say I would visit you some time,” You choke as he squishes the air out of your lungs. He had to move into a hotel room in the city to shoot this movie. You hadn’t seen him in 6 weeks, you’d begun to miss your best friend. It didn’t bother you as much at first, you took care of Frankie at your place, it was like a little piece of Ben was still with you, but in the form of an adorable dog. But as the time went on, you felt a little lonely without him there to bag the shit out of you.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you could get off from work, I thought your boss wanted you to stay for longer hours.” He furrows his eyebrow.

“Well, I may or may not have chucked a sickie and need to go to the doctors after seeing you, because I had a massive migraine and couldn’t go into work today?” You smiled cheekily, he shook his head with a smirk.

“Only you would do that, L/N,” He put his hand on your shoulder, caressing it lightly, a soft smile played on his lips.

“Uh, Ben, are you going to introduce me to your little friend?” Joe walked up to you, curly hair bouncing as he walked. “I thought I was the only person in your life,” he adds dramatically.

“Joe, Rami, Gwilym, this is my best friend since we were in Primary School, Y/N,” Ben announces proudly.

You smile and give a small wave. “Hi guys,” you squeak nervously. Joe smiles and gives you a hug.

“Don’t you try to steal my Benny Boy away from me!” He laughs, pulls off from hugging you to hug Ben from the side. Ben stands there with a smile.

“He’s just joking, aren’t you, Joe?”

“Oh, yeah totally!” He fakes, when Ben looks away, he glares jokingly at you with a shake of his head. You giggle slightly and nod your head with a thumbs up. Ben looks at Joe, who acts like nothing happened. Ben pushes Joe’s head away with a laugh.

Rami walks up to you, his full Freddie gear on, even the teeth look amazing.

“Hello darling, how are you?”

“I’m great now! I’ve been stressed at work, but nothing like a day off to see my best friend at work!” He smiles at you, hearing his name yelled by the director and bids you a farewell. Gwilym and Joe follow suit after the director called them too. You smile awkwardly as you point at Ben’s hair.

“What’s with all this! It looks great on you!” you play with a few strands of the wig.

“Should I grow my hair out? Would it look this good?” he poses a little, flashing a blue steel, making you cackle out of pure happiness.

“Definitely not, the makeup and costume department are amazing here, oh my gosh! They’ve really made you into Roger, huh?” You point at the vest that shows his open and toned chest. How did you not notice this before?

“You think so? Well, Roger almost did a double take as soon as he saw me dressed as him from the 70’s.” Ben chuckles as you stare at him with your mouth wide open. “Hey, Y/N/N, you’re gonna catch flies if you keep your mouth like that.” He goes to close your mouth, you slap his arm.

“Roger fucking Taylor is here?” You whisper, trying not to draw attention to yourself.

“Yes, he is, as well as Brian May. They’re consultants for the movie,” He points out, rubbing his arm. “You really didn’t do much research, did you?” Ben chuckles and pushes you slightly.

“I’d like to surprise myself when the movie comes out,” You look down, but catching yourself staring at Ben’s chest. “And if I cry, you can’t judge me.”

“Ben! Stop talking to your little girlfriend and come back on set!” The director yells with a smile, causing Ben to look back and nod towards him.

“I gotta go back on set, you can just sit back and watch, I guess,” He smiles and runs back to the drum kit that’s at the back of the set. You see Gwil and Joe laughing to each other – looking in your direction. They grin at you and wave, you wave back meekly. Taking a few steps around the wires and poles, you get a better view of the stage.

You smile as you see Joe dressed as Deaky, Gwil as Brian and Rami as Freddie. They really did cast people who looked like the members in the 70’s, you feel as if you want to thank the casting directors for that sole reason. Your eyes fall back on Ben as Roger, you’ve got to admit, Ben’s hot as himself, but extremely hot as Roger too.

You shake your head as you hear the music in the background. ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ – a song you loved, it made you feel good about your body – which you didn’t feel great about in the first place, a song you can dance around in just a shirt and underwear with socks on your feet in the kitchen while cooking dinner by yourself.

You hear them stop and start the song many times, getting different takes from different angles. You switch your gaze from the camera, to the director and finally landing on the boys. Ben’s slamming the drums, looking into the makeshift crowd, singing occasionally. Your breathing stopped, struggling to swallow the saliva that seemed to pool in your mouth.

Ben caught your eye, winking at you and continuing to play the drums with all his might. He looked great, amazing, perfect – sexy even. You blushed and walked away from set, wiggling your body to the sound of the music in the background. You walked outside to get some fresh air. You fanned yourself as you nodded towards the workers who were looking at you with strange stares.

After about five minutes, you went back to the set and see Ben’s eyes light up as soon as you are in his peripheral vision. He gives one final hit to the cymbal, finishing off the song and getting up in a stance where his arm is raised with his drumsticks in his hand, a legendary grin on his face. His vest lifts and shows more of his torso, you look down stop yourself from looking at him, playing with the hem of your shirt.

“Cut! Alright everybody, well done, you get an hour and a half break, use it wisely!” The director yells to the cast, pulling off the headphones, speaking to what appears to be his personal assistant. The boys walk up to you, with a girl by Rami’s side, you assume she’s Lucy.

“How was my drumming, Hun?” Ben mutters cheekily.

“It was great! Honestly, I am such a sucker for drummers.” You say with a flirty smile. He cackles and hits your shoulder with his.

“Would you like to get lunch with us?”

“Sure, why not?”

Sitting down next to Ben and Joe, Ben pulls his phone out and furrows his eyebrow. “Joe, are you fucking kidding me?” He laughs. Rami looks up from his phone, Lucy and Gwil stop talking to each other to listen.

“What happened?”

“I did nothing!” Joe exclaims.

“You took a photo of Y/N and I and posted it to your Instagram stories, you dickhead,” Ben tries to hold in his laughter as he shows you the photo. You and Ben are looking at each other, smiling and arms linked together. It says, “she took my ben away, luckily I have a ben at home :)” You cackle and put your hand over your mouth after hearing the noise come from your mouth. Embarrassed, you cover your face and let out a muffled scream.

“What the hell, Joe?” You say in between giggles and gasps.

“Hey, you two looked cute, I wanted to capture it and put it out into the world!”

“We ain’t cute, I ain’t cute,” You say, with a ‘matter of fact’ tone.

“Do you want to fight me on this, because I will,” Lucy comments, “You are freaking cute, oh my goodness! Your boyfriend must fall at your knees!”

“Oh no, I’m actually very single, and have been for a very long time.”

“For how long?” Lucy asks, genuinely curious. You look at Ben with an eyebrow raised.

“Ben, how old am I?”

“Oh, shut up, you have had many dates!”

“But I seem to scare them all off! It’s like as soon as I kind of like them, and they seem to be even slightly interested in me, they run off as soon as they meet my friends!” Ben smirks at this comment, chuckling to himself. You eye him suspiciously, “Do you have anything to do with me being single this very moment? Because when my last date met you, I went to the bathroom and he was gone when I came out!”

“I do nothing to them, I just tell them what’ll happen if they break your heart! They seem to get the point and leave,” Ben smirks, leaning back in his seat and puts his arm around your chair. You turn to him and hit his stomach. You look a little sad, Gwilym sees this and changes the subject to something that is supposed to happen on set. You keep eating, giving Gwilym a small nod to thank him. Joe pokes you slightly, you turn to him. You felt Ben move his hand to your shoulder and squeezed slightly, you put your hand on his.

“You okay? I can delete the story if you want,” he murmurs, I shake my head and give him a smile.

“No need, it’s already out there in the world, may as well deal with the consequences tomorrow.”

You’d quickly excused yourself from the set at about 7pm to get that medical certificate you needed for work, the doctor had told you to take off today and tomorrow and see how you feel after that. You’d made it back to the set before they all started to pack up and leave for the day, it was 10pm. Were you gone for that long?

Ben saw you once again and pulled you to his trailer, his wig was gone, and his costume had changed into something that was a deemed ‘appropriate’ for this century. You’d never say this out loud, but you missed the long mop of hair on his head, it did him wonders.

“You can come back to my hotel with me if you’d like, the guys and Lucy are coming back, we’re going to have a couple of drinks,” he tells me as he pulls his leather jacket over the maroon jumper he’s wearing. He grabs his bag and heads to the door, you following shortly after him.

“Uh, I guess? I mean, the doctor gave me off tomorrow as well,” You mumble as you pull your phone out to text your boss. “Where would I sleep though?”

“With me in my bed, of course, I wouldn’t invite you to sleep at my hotel to make you sleep on couch, Love,” He pulls you close and hugs you tightly, “I’m not that much of an asshole.” He smirks and kisses your forehead.

“Ben! Are we going back to your hotel? Or might we leave you with your lady friend?” Joe yells from the other side of the road, closing and locking his trailer. He laughs loudly seeing your very clear confused expression.

“Fuck off,” He laughs, “Yeah mate, I’ll meet you there!” Ben looks back to you, with a quirked eyebrow. “You ready?”

“Yeah, I think all my stuff is in here,” Quickly checking your handbag you nodded, your phone, a portable charger and your purse were all there, as well as the unnecessary pads, tampons, makeup wipes and Panadol, you can’t be too careful, can you? He nods back at you and puts his arm around you as you two walk to the car park, kissing your hair. You instantly lean into him, and you would say to him that it’s for warmth, but any excuse to get close to Ben.

You arrive at Ben’s hotel, becoming increasingly tired, just wanting to crawl up into a ball. You yawn, three times in a row, tears welling up in your eyes. You try to blink them away while sniffling. Ben looks at you with concern on your face.

“What’s wrong?” He grabs your shoulders, looking down at you with his eyebrows furrowed. He pushes your hair behind your ear, leaving his hand there.

“Oh! Nothing, I’m just really tired and when I yawn, I cry,” You laugh as the others burst through the door. Joe instantly turns to you, noticing the redness in your eyes.

“Ben! What did you do to this wonderful woman?”

“Nothing, she’s just tired,” he turns back to you, “Do you want to go to bed? We’ll try our best to be quiet.”

“No, no, it’s fine, I’ll have a few drinks and then go to bed. I’ll be fine...” You trail off, yawning once more.

“You’re going to bed and that’s final,” Ben says, turning to the group. “I’ll put her to bed, you guys get started without me.” Ben drags you to the hotel bedroom, which was down the hall from the lounging area and kitchen. He didn’t bother turning on the light, the lights from the windows were enough to see the general whereabouts of everything. He bends down to his suitcase and throws you a pair of tracksuit pants and a tank top. “Change into that, it’s comfier than what you’re wearing, Sweetheart.” He points at your outfit - leggings, a black spaghetti strap top with a forest green woollen cardigan and boots.

You blush a little at the endearment, “What are you on about? Leggings are so comfy, I can’t wear any other pants out.”

“I’d rather you not wear those to bed, you deserve to change into something fresh.”

He stands in the room still, not seeming to want to leave. You stare at him with an awkward smile. “Does that mean you’re gonna leave, or…”

“Oh yeah, sorry, I’ll be outside the door, just yell out when you’re done, Love.” You quickly change into the clothes he gave you, whipping off your shirt, taking off your bra and placing it on the floor next to the bed. The pants he gave you were a tight fit, so you just took them off and placed them back into the suitcase.

You pulled the shirt down to cover yourself, being only in his shirt and underwear, you sat cross-legged on the bed, the blanket covering your legs. You call out his name, thinking for a second that he went to his friends, but when he opened the door, you smiled. He looked down at his suitcase and saw the pants tucked back in there. He looks at you - frowning.

“They were kind of tight on me, so I didn’t wear them… You were always thinner than me, Hun,” You smile.

“So, what have you got on?”

You are glad it’s dark in his room, otherwise he would see the large blush creep onto your cheeks and over your neck. “I’m just wearing my leggings,” you lie. You never even liked to wear long pants when sleeping, even he should know that by now. “Thank you for this Ben, I’ve missed you a lot.” You smile, a yawn slowing your speech.

“I’ve missed you so much as well, Love, I’m glad we got to see each other.” He walks over to you and sits on the bed. He kisses your forehead, pushing a strand of hair behind your ear, staring intensely into your eyes. You can’t help but notice when his eyes flicker to your lips and back to your eyes that you do the seem to do the same, a light pink shading your cheeks as you notice his breathing become faster.

You tried your best to not kiss him and apparently your body heard your pleas, so to ruin the moment, you let out a huge yawn, causing you both to break contact. He lets out a nervous chuckle. “You should be going to bed, darling, you’re very tired.” He pats your cheek and stands up from the spot on the bed he was in. You nod, eyes fluttering shut as you’re still sitting up. “Love - lie down before you fall asleep,” he laughs.

“Oh yeah, that would probably help,” your head crashes down onto the pillow, almost instantly putting you to sleep. You hear keys jangle and a ripping sound, then feeling a wipe over your face. “Thanks for taking off my makeup. I’m surprised you knew they were there,” You mutter sleepily at him, he smiles down at you. Your eyes close once again while you hear a faint “I love you” come from the door, but you’re too tired to answer back.

You wake up at 3am when you roll over to the other side of the bed. Ben hadn’t occupied the other side. Your hair was all over the place and sweat covered your face and body, the blanket thrown off to the end of the bed.

You stand up, walking out of the bedroom of the hotel. Not hearing any sound come from the lounging area, you tip toe out to see Ben on his phone, watching the T.V with no noise, but with subtitles. He really did try to keep the noise minimal as possible. He must’ve sensed someone was there and whipped his head around to see you standing there, one of your hands rubbing your eyes. He let out a small chuckle at the sight of you.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty, how’d you sleep?”

You fought off saying ‘great until I felt you weren’t there when I woke up’, instead saying “It was okay, why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“Eh, I haven’t felt the need to go to bed yet,” he stretched, turning off the T.V. “Now I do though,” He stands up and looks at your legs. “You were wearing leggings, my ass,” a sarcastic tone runs through his voice. You look down and shrug.

“It got really hot in the room, I took them off at one point.” You lie again, you’d bombed as soon as you got the chance, “where is everyone? I thought you guys would’ve woken me up at some point.”

“We had a few drinks, congratulated each other on a great job on set, but everyone got tired after their 3rd or 4th drink, so they all went home. I didn’t drink though, didn’t feel the need to.”

“Oh, okay,” you mumble. Ben walks up to you, towering over you, you crane your neck to look at him. “I want to go back to bed, you coming?”

“Right behind you, Love.”

You two walk back to the bedroom, you instantly crashing onto the bed and curling up, Ben chuckles as he sees you spoon the blanket, cuddling yourself into it. Ben strips to his boxers and throws them in a direction he’ll probably regret in the morning.

He gets into the other side of the bed, almost hesitantly. He looks at the way you’re situated on the bed, admiring how you can fall asleep almost instantly, anywhere. He turns to face the way you’re facing, his arms crossing against his chest as he sees your chest rise and fall.

You stir a little bit, turning yourself over so you’re facing Ben. You open your eyes and see him staring at you, smiling as you admire the way he’s looking at you. Almost as if he’s looking at you with love and adoration in his eyes. He doesn’t seem phased with you seeing him stare at you, as if he wants you to know.

You don’t notice, but he scoots closer to you, resting his hand on your cheek. His eyes flicker to your lips and eyes, back and forth constantly. He opens his mouth and lets out a desperate sigh. “Just tell me to stop if you don’t want this,” he whispers, but you don’t.

You let his lips fall onto yours, gently and lovingly. You instantly move your lips against his, placing your legs between his as they twine together. He caresses your cheek, moving deeper and deeper into the kiss. You pull away to catch your breath, “Why’d you do that?” You ask with confusion.

“Did I completely misread the situation?” He breathes.

“I didn’t realise there was a situation to begin with, Hun,” you place your hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating faster. He chuckles slightly, placing his hand on your waist. The movement caused you to let out a jagged breath, you swallowed thickly. You look up at him with pleading eyes, “Kiss me again?”

He didn’t answer, he immediately placed his lips in between yours, sighing in delight. He pulls your waist closer to his, you throw your leg over to the other side of his, climbing onto his lap – straddling him. The movement caused you both to deepen the kiss – the kiss that made you dizzy, that made your legs weak, made your head fuzzy. What was happening and why did you want to stay like this?

Both of his hands were placed on your waist, squeezing at times to comfort your trembling knees. One of your hands were grasping his hair, the other on his chest still – you pull slightly at his hair, causing him to let out a small moan. You smile into the kiss as you begin to pull away, his lips trying to chase yours to not end the fun you two were having. He lets out an annoyed huff as you press a chaste kiss to his lips.

“What are we doing?” You laugh, slightly out of breath.

“Well, I think it’s time I told you that I love you – more than a friend and I hope that you feel the same way.” He places his hands on your thighs, rubbing up and down in a comforting way.

“That was so nonchalant – I would have been shitting myself,” You gaze at him – seeing love in his eyes, something you yearned to see from his eyes.

“Oh, I am, but I’d prefer not to show it. Especially with a gorgeous lady on my lap.”

“Well, you might be delighted to know that I actually love you too – surprisingly,” you shrug and smile.

“Well, I’m glad.”

You both had fallen asleep cuddling into each other, feeling the breaths and heartbeats of each other. By the morning, your arm was slung over his body, your leg perched into his and head on his chest – his arm under your neck and his head leaning on yours. The blinds were kept open –the natural sunlight waking the two of you up. He smiled down at you seeing you stare at his chest, your fingers tracing circles around his abs.

“Good morning, Love,” He gives you a kiss on the forehead, another on your nose and a peck on your lips. “I still have to go onto set, you want to come again?” You nod, too sleepy still to talk. He got up and before closing the door to the bedroom, he looked back to you, “I’ll let you wake up a little, I know how cranky you are in the morning – if you want a shower, just let me know. We’ll leave in an hour,” he closes the door.

You let out a small squeal as you remembered that Ben fucking Jones loves you back. You had believed the love was one sided, unrequited, unwanted. You smiled as you realise that wasn’t the case. You stood up and quickly got changed, keeping the shirt Ben gave you on. You’d thrown your hair into a messy ponytail as Ben walked in the door again, wet hair, beads of water dripping down his chest and a towel hanging low on his hips.

“I forgot my clothes - did you want a shower?” He asked, looking to you for an answer.

You’d forgotten how to talk – looking at Ben’s body, “Uh…” was all you muttered, as if you were real life buffering. You’d somehow snapped out of it, looking at him with a cherry shaded blush on your cheeks and ears. “Sorry, uh, I don’t shower in the morning, I shower at night, so I’m okay, thanks. I will need to borrow deodorant though.” You smile cheesily, “I really am a sucker for you, huh?”

“I thought it was only drummers?” A smug smile slips onto his lips.

“Oh, no, it was always you, Sweetheart,” You giggle, he walks over to you giving you quick kiss, but you wrapped your hand into his wet hair, pulling him closer. He pulled away slightly with a slightly concerned look on his face, “Do I get to call you mine now?”

“You could’ve called me yours, long ago, Jones.”

You arrived at the movie set, your hand set in Ben’s, chuckling to yourselves. Joe had seen you two walk in, immediately rushing you away from Ben. “I know why Ben kept pushing away those dates you had with those guys!” He rushes out.

“Oh really, what is it?” You say – struggling to keep from laughing. You’d realised why he didn’t let you go out with those guys last night. Ben walks up to you and wraps his arm around your waist, Joe almost goes to say something to him until he sees Ben kiss your lips.

“I’ll see you in a bit, my love, I need to get into costume, come to the makeup department when you’ve finished talking to Joe,” he smirks, kissing you one last time before walking off. Joe is pointing half heartedly with his mouth wide open.

“Well, at least you two finally sorted your fucking shit out.”

[erikismybitch]

Drillmonger:Conclusion part 1

This conclusion will be 2 parts .

_

It was finally happening. After nearly a year of flying as an international crew member , she was finally flying to Africa. And because the universe hated her , as she thought , Candy was running late . In her heels and uniform she ran through the terminals in search for hers . She was at the Heathrow Airport in London, a major connecting hub and a middle ground for overseas flights .

By faith , Candy made it to her gate , spotting the passengers lined up to board the plane . They couldn’t start the process without her .

“I’m so sorry you guys , my Uber driver got lost!” Candy lied to the other crew members . Truth was , she had overslept.

“Girl they are pissed that we are six minutes behind schedule “ she teased . Candy knew her as Maria, a bubbly Mexican girl who she’d flown with before . They weren’t necessarily friends, but they could relate to each other . Candy laughed and dragged her carry-on down the tarp and onto the plane.

This flight was a long one . It would take them eleven hours to fly into the beautiful East African country of Wakanda. Candy began to quickly do her pre flight duties . She stocked food in the rolling carts , made sure the blankets made it to each seat and all entertainment tablets were functional.

“We are now boarding” the head Flight attendant warned to the crew .

Candy stood in economy awaiting the passengers. As soon as the people began to load , she assisted them with their carry-ons and stowaways . There was such a shift in Candy’s work ethic . Usually her smiles and upbeat speech was a part of the act . This time it was genuine . She would be spending three full days in East Africa. On the third she had to head back to work . Her itinerary was already planned , three days full of exploration. The historic museums , hiking through the beautiful mountains and eating everything she could fit in her mouth .

The plane taxied along the runway and awaited take off . Candy stood in the middle of economy and did the safety belt and air passage demonstration . The pilot informed them of take off and the crew took their seats .

Once they reached the correct altitude the pilot turned off the seat belt sign and everyone was free to move about the cabin.

What Candy didn’t know was that her trip plans would soon take a shift . Erik was taking the long journey to visit his family after four years .

Erik was on that very same flight .

Candy had been so distracted by her lateness that she didn’t see him waiting in line to board the plane. But he saw her and it made him happy... it made Erik very happy.

Seeing her was like a light , that lead him from the darkness that had been his life without her . She looked good , he missed her. At first instinct he wanted to walk up to her and hug her. Even if that was too much , he just wanted to feel her body on his. It had been so long, even a handshake would do .

“Alert: B-2”

Flashed across the call screen. It flashed each time a passenger called for assistance.

“B-2, that’s in first class right?” Candy asked the group . They all let out a laugh at her naiveness, even Maria who spoke up first .

“Yeah, you’ve never served first class?”

“Always economy “ she told them .

Maria told her that she was assigned to first class for this flight. And that first class passengers were almost always ass holes. Maria asked if Candy wanted to switch and she complied .

The alert signaled again . Why not, Candy thought . She figured she might meet someone with connections and they could suggest some great places to go on this short trip .

Candy walked carefully to the first class section of the plane . Seeing nothing but a man with headphones and a beanie seated in B-2. The famous smile that was always plastered on her face slowly faded as his face came into view. She couldn’t believe that Erik was before her.

A year had almost passed without any communication on his part . Candy felt that she had finally gotten to a place where she wasn’t affected by his absence. She had blocked his name from her brain. She had even had sex with other men.

Then what was this feeling of silent panic . Erik hadn’t even opened his mouth to speak a single word . He looked up at her and slid his headphones off of his ears. Erik’s dimples imprinted in his cheeks with his small smirk . “Can I get a blanket or somethin’? “ he spoke as if this transaction was platonic . As if he and Candy had no history at all . “Please?” He let off his full blown smile now, after he noticed that Candy wasn’t the least bit amused.

“Sure thing “ Candy gave him an answer just as platonic as his question . She avoided looking into his actual face and walked to the back of the plane. Maria noticed the look on her face upon her return . She just assumed that the first class passenger was rude . “I told ya”

“It’s not that” Candy told her .

“What is it ?”

“Just a familiar face”

Maria asked if it was an ex boyfriend, Candy told her it was . She didn’t want to get into the actual details of their situation . Maria offered to take the blanket to him also . Candy thanked her because she didn’t have to do her that favor .

The flight was five hours in . Candace was off her A-game. Erik’s presence really threw a wrench in it. She dropped a drink on a passenger, she got a food order wrong , she even chipped her nail. Seeing how stressed out she was, the lead attendant advised her to take a quick break . She sat in the back and took a couple sips of cold water. Her hands were shaking . Fuck him for making me feel this way! She screamed out , but only in her head .

“Alert: B-2”

Unfortunately her break was cut short . Candy was the only person in the back who could answer the alert . She looked around for Maria, she was tending to a passenger .

“Do you think you can check on B-2, everyone is busy” the lead attendant called softly to her . She obeyed his order and dragged herself to the front of the plane . The lead had just asked her to take this break. “Fuck” she mouthed and approached his seat . She wasn’t smiling , nor did she say anything .

“How you been?” He asked , Erik had been purposely pressing the call button all flight . He finally reached Candy.

“I’ve been busy Erik, like right now” Candy’s voice cut at him with so much venom , it caught the attention of his seated neighbor .

“You mad at me or something?”

Candy let out a huge breath of frustration . She wanted to scream at him, and release all of the pain he had caused her. This situation wasn’t worth her job, she had worked too hard to get here .

“Do you need anything sir?”

“So I’m sir now?” Erik laughed , and how cute he looked when he laughed angered her . She kneeled down and leaned in close to him. Then spoke only for his ears to hear .

“Don’t press this fucking button anymore ”

“I ain’t mean t-“ he began to speak but Candy stopped him.

“Sir, do you need anything else ?“ Her friendly hand patted against his shoulder.

“Nah, Im good”

————

This wasn’t the first time Erik had seen her. He was in her city not long ago . For the first time since the last time they had spoken.

“Hope you didn’t scratch my shit” Erik has gotten to a point where he was rude with everyone. Especially when thoughts of Candy clouded his brain. He was speaking to the hotel valet .

The gentleman gave him keys to his rental car. Compliments of a night club, a midnight matte Ferrari 458. Erik was scheduled for an appearance that evening . It was moving past midnight and now was the perfect time to go. He and a few other socialites were getting paid for it .

The only thing . Being this close to Candy without seeing her bothered him. Next month would make it month seven since he indirectly broke things off. After he left her house and never spoke to her again.

It came to the point where he was passing her exit , he found it funny that he remembered it . Even only after visiting her once . He remembered everything about her . The way she laughed at everything, even if it wasn’t traditionally funny . How she smacked when she drank out of a cup . Even her hate and sustain for football.

“Because I don’t understand all the rules , it’s so stupid!”

She told him one night as they laid naked in a Las Vegas Hotel . They had sex all night , and in the morning Candy almost missed her flight from exhaustion.

He pulled his phone out and swerved through the lanes , Erik was tempted to call her ... but it would be no use . Especially after she sent those many unanswered texts to his phone .

You unfollowed me , what going on?

Erik , so after everything ... this is it ?

I don’t know what I expected from you .

Fuck you .

Erik had read those texts over and over throughout time, even the ones from the beginning. When they were happy . He couldn’t delete them yet.

Someone’s Horn honked as he sped to the exit and tapped into his mental memory to find her house . Erik knew she was home. He had checked her Instagram story earlier .

Erik parked his car directly across from her house. The lights were off and he didn’t see her car in the drive way either . He glanced at the clock .

It’s 12:46 am. Where the fuck was she at this late?

He wasn’t quite sure what to do , or why he was there. Walking to her door wasn’t an option, Candy made it clear through texts that she hated his very existence. Erik had avoided coming to her city for just this reason

It was 1:03 when her living room light came on. Erik was just about to leave . He spotted London through the thin white curtains. She came into view , in her robe and bonnet . Unknowingly Erik’s face turned at the sight of her. “Wheres my girl?” he said to himself . He tapped impatiently on the steering wheel.

London fiddled around the living room for a couple of moments then cut the lights off again. He gave himself another moment before he pulled off , just incase .

Still nothing .

Erik started his engine with the smack of his teeth and left .

“And what was you gon’ do if you seen her?” He downtalked himself as he sped back to the freeway . He put the club address in his navigation and set off to have a good time tonight . Erik would get drunk off the free bottles of liquor and have a cute girl come with him back to his hotel .

Only he didn’t . He spent his night disconnected from everything in V.I.P. Sulking in the corner. Thinking of how much he missed Candy and how much better he felt with her in his life .

______________

Candy was so happy when the plane landed and all the passengers exited the aircraft . She and the others did a cleaning sweep and de-planed . When Candy walked into the gate, she spotted Erik standing . She knew he was waiting for her . His back was turned and she had the option of not being spotted. She watched him for a second , still looking from behind at his wide back and commanding stance . She thought about a time in the past . Where she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head between his shoulder blades. He pushed her away screaming about how “...he didn’t do shit like that!”. Candy laughed to herself because later on he did the same thing to her . Only, she didn’t push him away. She never did .

Something told Erik to turn around , when he did he saw her . Candy was stuck , he was walking towards her now. She looked around , oddly enough it was just the two of them .

“Can you give me a second?” He finger tipped his hand around her arm so she wouldn’t get away .

“I’ve given you too many seconds “ Candy took her arm back and placed it at her side.

“All I need is one more”

He walked over to a near by seat and sat down. Erik slouched inwardly and spread his legs for comfort . Candy couldnt help but to find his dick . With a straight face she snuck a peak at his print through his pants . That thing was worth listening to , or listening to Erik. Right ?

She sat down directly across from him . “We don’t have much time, we have a shuttle taking us to our hotel “ Candy noted the time , the shuttle would be leaving in twenty six minutes.

“You good, I’ll have my people take you to your hotel”

“You can’t control this situation like you always do, I’m catching my shuttle “ Candy contested with unnecessary attitude , Erik felt it . He clinched his jaw, trying not to scare her away with what he really wanted to say . “And who are your people ?” Candy asked .

“My family, that’s why I’m here”

She had forgotten that he was from here, Erik told her that it had been a long time since he had visited . “What’s the occasion, a funeral or something?” Candy’s expression softened.

“No, nothing like that” he expressed as if he was saddened by something . Erik knew just how to play on Candy’s emotions. She couldn’t help but to get up and take the seat next to him .

“Why did you decide to come back ?” She asked again.

“As corny as it sounds, I’ve been doing some soul searching and it lead me back home “

Erik grazed his fingers along Candy’s hand . It was resting along the armrest , until she allowed Erik to hold it . His gentleness surprised her . In the past she had to show him how to be this way . He leaned his head into her vision, making sure she looked into his eyes.

“Soul searching ?” Candy repeated .

“I been thinking a lot about you “ he tightened his hold , it made her wince .

“After all this time” she glanced at a monitor near by and clocked the time. “I gotta go”

Candy attempted to lift from her seat but Erik pulled her back down. It wasn’t alarming, he was still being gentle .

“Think I can see you , while you’re here?” He asked . Candy hesitated and thought of an answer , that let him know that she would be here longer than overnight.

“I’m only here for three days and I have plans”

She stood up, he let her hand go as he stood with her . Erik let her know that he only needed a small moment of her time . She agreed to call him once she got things settled at her hotel .

“Me being on this plane , it has to serve a higher purpose. Things happen for a reason” Erik stressed , as if he was trying to further convince her to see him .

“I told you I would call you “ she read right into him as she gripped her carry on and began to walk away . She only had a few minutes to catch the shuttle.

“Don’t make me come find you !” He called out , grabbing the attention of strangers around him. He had no shame , because he would .

[a-copper-butterfly]

Title Suggestions Needed!

OK so i posted this before but i have edited it a bit and added a new intro. im still not sure if i should continue this but what the hay, have a look and give us some feed back. :)

here is my re-write of good omens where the ineffable husbands raise Adam.

Monday, five days before the end of the world.

It was sunny, well, as sunny as it every was in the centre of London.

For those you don’t know, London is a vaguely potato shaped blob about ten miles across, with its own weather system which is almost entirely different to that of the rest of the UK.

Warlock was moping along his nose glued to his phone (not literally, thought Crowley sometimes wished he could get close enough with some glue without the little nuisance noticing.) Warlock had perfected the art of nearly completely ignoring the world around him, but remining just aware enough that he could complain at anyone who might distract him. His mother was walking along admiring the sculptures, pausing now and then to read an information sign. She did this much in the same manner as most people the world over when they want to look more intelligent than they are. They don’t actually read what is written on the information board, just frown and nod like you agree with what ever had been said then point to it and repeat a few lines when a friend or family member joins you. Thus, the whole cycle repeats itself.

A little way from the stroppy pre-teen, representatives of both heaven and hell discussed the fate of the world.

“I mean, he could just disappear,” suggested the Demon. He was slouched on the wooden bench. This was a master level slouch of someone who had trained for years to hold his body in such a position. A normal person if attempting this would pull a muscle if not worse.

The Angel that sat prim and proper next to him frowned,

“I don’t see how hiding him would help?” he said, which earned a glare form his companion. The thick sunglasses that covered the Demons yellow eyes obscure the fond irritation directed at the angel.

“I mean kill him Angel,” he clarified.

The Angel shuffles in his seat uncomfortable about this conversation. He tried to change the subject, but not too much avail.

“Are you going to get him a dog?” Azriaphale looks over at Crowley, know full well that he had been asked to provide the hound and that this was purely a diversion.

“I thought you were going to sort that out.” Crowley responded, rolling his concealed eyes.

“Why are we getting him a dog anyway.”

Crowley gave a side glances at his companion, silently noting the use of “we”.

Azriaphale wasn’t done with his grumbling, “Do remember the hamster?” he continued.

“Sir hamserlot? Yeah.” Crowley cringed at the memory of the tan and white little rodent. The poor thing when through so meant names it was a wonder it didn't have identity issues.

“How meant times did we have to pull that poor creature back from the jaws of death?” Aziraphale says shaking his head. The poor thing had eventual snuffed it permanently when the boy had gotten it into his head that hamsters could swim. They can, much like rats, but being put in a crudely made ship and pushed out on a duck pond in the middle of winter would be terminal for most rodents or any other small mammal.

A dog is a bit bigger. This was the only argument Crowley could come up with at the time.

“Well” Azriaphale relented “he is a bit older now.”

Crowley shuffled further into his slouch.

“It's the end if the world Angel.” He muttered gloomily, “Just give the kid what he wants. And he wants a dog.”

Aziraphale flinched at this painful truth.

“Well you have a point dear. Fine, he can have a dog.”

There was a pause as they watched Warlock ignore the world around him and play on his phone. The cartoonish sounds of games annoying the people around him. Crowley smirked; apps had been one of his ideas. Well, according to hell they were. Humans were always doing his job for him; he just took the credit when the higher ups asked about it. He sighs and slips back into the conversation about the end of the world.

“We’d better be there when the dog arrives” Crowley said darkly.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary. I think he can look after himself and a dog for a few hours. He is old enough now, don’t you think?” Aziraphale smiles nodding in agreement with himself.

Crowley shot the angel a withering look.

“I meant the hellhound and Warlock, not some overly excited puppy with a bladder size of a spoon. This is going to a monster. The biggest they have got, according to downstairs.”

Aziraphale lip touched in a pout. “Oh” was all he said.

“I'm going as waiting staff don't want people recognizing me.” Crowley continued. “Can you bring him?”

“He said he doesn’t want to go. Said warlock isn't fun to hang out with anymore.” Aziraphale said, fumbling with a button on his sleeve cuff.

“Too bad. He is going to seeing a lot more of him whether he likes it or not. That is if there is anything after.” Crowley responded darkly. He still hadn’t figure how they were going to make it through the next few days.

A sudden though shot through Aziraphale mind.

“I could be the entertainment! I’ll brush up on my magic!” he said excitedly, beaming at the idea.

“Oh no, angel, please don’t. Really, it’s humiliating.” Crowley protested, “You can do miracles, why bother doing sleight of hand when you’re not good at it?” Aziraphale bounced in his seat. This was going to be fun.

  One late august night just outside the small village of Tadfield,

 When a snake regurgitates its food, its normally because it had been grabbed or handle soon after eating or is otherwise subjected to stress.

As Crowley knelt in damp grass on the bank beside the road, he wiped his mouth. The light from the Bentley’s open door revealing the grey sludge that was even now burning the grass. The small part of Crowley’s mind that wasn’t screaming in panic wondered when the last time he had eaten was. Without the help of the rest of his brain, he guessed around six years ago.

Pushing himself up onto wobbly legs, Crowley slid back into the driving seat, switched on the radio as he did so. As he pulled the car back onto the road, Crowley checked the rear-view mirror. The carry cot was still there. This was real.

“Shit, shit, shit, why me, why me?” he muttered to himself. The radio crackle,

“BECAUSE YOU EARNED IT CROWLEY” came the voice of Freddy Mercury.

“Fuck…” though Crowley.

 Sister Annabelle Houghton was totally normal, much to the annoyances of her parents. They were traditional occultists who gave her supposedly cursed china dolls and pretty, frilly dresses in attempts to get her possessed. They had even moved at an old house which the nice estate agent had made very clear was the site of quite a few murders and ghost stories. It even had its own graveyard in the garden. Her swing was hung in an old knarred oak tree which legend had it was used as a hangman’s gibbet, but she never used it. When Annabelle eventually grew up, her parents had lamented and had sent her off to the Sisterhood of Chattering Nuns of St Beryl. Not too worried about this, Annabelle went along as she thought it might be interesting.

Now she sat looking out of one of the convent’s window keeping watch for the arrive of Master Crowley and the baby boy he carried with him. The Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of this world, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness. She was very excited; this was a big day and she, Sister Annabelle, would be part of it. A cup of tea sat on the windowsill beside her. It had gone cold hours ago, No matter.

A car came screaming through the gates of the convert an excitement jolting up her spine. Sister Annabelle leapt from her seat and began to quickly click her way down the hall towards the foyer. She turned the corner expecting to see one of her sisters talking to Master Crowley but broke into a run when she saw which sister it was. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Sister Mary Loquacious, she was a lovely person when you were sat having a chat, it was just that things, important things, tended to go wrong when she was involved.

“Mother Superior! Mater Crowley is here!” she half-yelled, her fists full of her skirt as she leaped down the three little steps leading up to the corridor. Crowley quickly ducked behind a column in responses to the shouting. Shouting mostly lead to pitchforks, torches and a bad time for him.

“Greeting Master Crowley” she said, tried to smile and make her voice sound cheerful but her eyes were screaming at Sister Mary Loquacious. If she wasn’t holding The Anti-Christ, she may have shoved her out of harm’s way (harm’s way meaning any damage Sister Loquacious could cause to others, not the other way around). Sister Annabelle stopped next to her sister, peering at the bundle in her arms. The baby gurgled quietly. She quickly curtsied to Master Crowley who was still looking between the nuns wondering if he could slip out before anyone noticed.

The double doors leading to the hospital rooms flew open and a furious old nun stormed through. This was not part of the plan. She ran her icy gaze over the two nuns, who both know the consequences of that stare. Her eyes found Crowley who was trying not to look like a rabbit in the headlights, he was a demon after all. There was no escape now.

Long hair, sunglasses, modern suit, snakeskin shoes? Not what she though one of hell’s best demons would look like. She raised an eyebrow and forced a smile.

“Master Crowley, you’re just in time.” she walked slowly with an air of control. Crowley drew himself up to his full height. The Mother Superior had the eyes of a school master and they are well known for making even the naughtiest individuals squirm.

“Sister Annabelle, please go and retrieve the child of the ambassador and inform the other sisters that the switch will be taking places presently.” she smiled at the terrified nun who swallowed and nodded, turning to hurrying down the hall. Crowley tried to sidle towards the door. He stopped dead when the older nun eyes dropped on him. He tried to give her a confident smile.

“Master Crowley, if you would just pop over to the desk, we have a few papers for you to sign just to keep everything in order.” she turned and glided over to the foyer desk and began to draw papers out of a file. Crowley reluctantly followed her, dumping the now empty carry cot on the desk before propping himself up on it.

Sister Mary Loquacious frowned. She rocked the Anti-Christ in her arms. He was chewing on his hand. She had checked, it didn’t have claws. She looked up at Master Crowley and frowned again. She walked over to the desk,

“Umm Master Crowley?” she asked and terrifying yellow eyes looked at her over dark sunglasses. Something in the very pit of her soul screamed and told her to run. It was the same part that makes skulls scary, even though they are always smiling. She took a step back,

“Yeah?” he grunted. Mother Superiors levelled her glare at the Sister. She didn’t notice, now over the shock of yellow eyes she felt bolder,

“What is going to happen to the spare baby?” she asked. Crowley rolled his eyes to the Mother superior who was trying to set the younger nun on fire via sheer force of will. Without taking her eyes of her pray the Mother Superior said,

“Yes, that was something I was going to ask you as well Master Crowley. We are willing to go through with the switch, but we want nothing to do with disposing of the baby,” her eyes now turned on Crowley “We may be satanic Nuns, but we are not monsters.” Crowley paused at this juxtaposition. He huffed and turned back to the paperwork, one of hells better inventions,

“Put it in the carry cot, I will deal with it,” Crowley replied absentmindedly. “Sure, why not?” Crowley thought “Not like it will matter in a few years anyway”. Sister Mary Loquacious ginned the kind of grin that would suggest she didn’t quite understand what was going on.

“Sister Mary, please take The Young Lord down to Sister Annabelle.” Mother Superior said as she started pulling out more official looking papers. Crowley slouched at the prospect of more paperwork. Sister Mary Loquacious nodded happily and pushed through the double doors leading to the hospital rooms. Now that The Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of this world, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness was out of eyesight, Crowley felt a weight off his back. He no longer wanted to vomit.

Sister Mary Loquacious had found a potable cot for the anti-Christ, in which he now rested. his red blanket tucked around him. She pushed him down the hall spotting sister Annabelle pushing a similar cot out of room 4. Sister Mary paused outside room 3 ready to make the swap. A putrid smell began to waft up the hall. Both sisters gaged. A similar smell began to rise form the baby in the cot in front of Sister Mary and the babies began to cry in unison. Sister Annabelle reached Sister Mary, her face pushed into her shoulder and her eyes watering.  

“I think our lord has made us an offering,” she gaged as she spoke, “and this little man has also given us a gift too”. She pushed open the door to delivery room 3 and hurriedly pushed the cot in. Sister Mary followed with her own charge.

 “You change the babies and I will fetch the carry cot from Master Crowley.”. It was clearly just a excuse to getting out of having to be in same room as the stench for any longer but Sister Mary didn’t want to argue. The smell was truly awful.

In the bed, Mrs Young turned over a frown wrinkling her brow, some internal mothering instinct told her that a baby needed changing but something else told her it wasn’t hers so sleep on.

Sister Mary hesitated as she plucked the Anti-Christ from his cot and laid him on the changing table beside the door. She unwrapped the blanket and dropped it back in the cot. The baby whimpered as she removed the dirty nappy and cleaned him. She cooed at him. “Imagine little me changing the Destroyer of worlds’ nappy and powdering his little tush.” Sister Mary thought to herself. The baby in the other cot began to cry.

The mother in the bed yawned but stayed asleep. In an attempted sooth the baby, Sister Mary picked the ambassadors baby up. He was a chunky baby and quite heavy. Sister Mary had to shift him about a bit before they were both comfortable. The white blanket was lost in this juggling. As she bounced the baby the door to the room opened. Expecting sister Annabelle, Sister Mary turned to face the door where a man peering around the door.

“Err Hello. I’m the father, the husband, whatever.” He stammered, walking over to stand by his wife. Looking up he wondered over to the babies looking down at the baby on the changing table.

“Is this him?” he asked in awe. The baby looked up at him and immediately began to cry. Terrified about what he had done he scooped up the baby and began to pat his back.

“Umm no, these two not yours. Your baby is with your wife over there.” She nodded towards Mrs Young and the cot next to her.

Sister Mary was beginning to gag over the smell coming from the baby in her arms, she laid him on the changing table and began to clean him up.

After soothing the baby in his arms, Mr Young laid the baby down in the empty crib. He picked up the white blanket and tucked it around the baby. He walked over to the cot next to his wife and looked down at the baby. A small part of him was hopeful that he would look upon the face of his child and instantly recognized it as his own. But when he looked down at the sleeping baby, he looked identical to the two with the nun. This one was a little smaller but there wasn’t a moment of recognition. Of course, he didn’t say that. He smiled and looked back at the nun who was disposing of the nappy in a small bin next to the table.

“You know he looks like me.” He said proudly. The Nun smiled at him, rewrapping the baby,

“Have you thought of a name?” she asked. There was a nervous air about her. That probably came with having to look after two babies at once. He had new respect for people with twins and triplets.

 They had discussed names but not come to any solid concoctions, they had a name if it had been a girl and after twitching the blanket back it couldn’t be used anymore. The baby snuffled in its sleep; Mr. Young jumped back afraid that he would make it cry like he had the other child.

“We haven though of any names for a boy,” he explained as the nun had finished changing the baby in front of her. Then, looking down at the second with a frown, she looked at the baby in her arms. After a moment hesitant, she seemed to come to a conclusion and plopped it in the second cot wrapping it in the red blanket.

 “Well, what about the classic like Luke, John, Adam. Bible names and the like?” She rocked the babies in the cots. Mr. Young though about this for a second as he looked back at his son. He didn’t really look like any of those names, but they were good honest names. Suddenly a nun scuttled into the room. She looked a little out of breath. She looked at Mr. Young the way one would look at a velociraptor. She managed to school her features and smile at him.

Sister Annabelle had returned to the front desk and immediate run into Mr. Young who had asked what room his wife was in. Directing the man to the room without a though until she had picked up the carry cot. She had just sent an imposter into the same room as The Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of this world, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness. Picking up her heels again, she took off down the hall and was now stood with Sister Mary, two babies and the carry cot. She turned her slightly manic smile on Sister Mary. She winked. Sister Mary Winked back. They smiled at each other.

 “Baby removal services,” she laughed pushing the baby with the red blanket out of the room. She pointed at the carry cot next to the remaining baby and nodded down the hall. Sister Mary nodded back. She placed the carry cot on the changing surfaces and placed the remaining baby in the white blanket in it. Scooping up baby and carry cot she moved to leave the room,

“Umm,” said Mr. Young using the tone of someone who doesn’t want to be a bother but is no doubts going to be a problem.

“Is there any paperwork I need to fill in,” he asked nervously. Always ready to be helpful, Sister Mary nodded and beckoned for him to follow her. It wasn’t until they entered the hall that she realized this might have been a bad decision. She could see Master Crowley’s back to her when Mr. Young held the door open. Trying to think fast she walked up to him putting the now full carry cot next to him on the desk.

 “Here is you son Master Crowley,” she said as way of explanation. The yellow eyes turned on her and the primal urge to run shot up her spine. Mr. Young was too distracted to notice, walking up next to her and leaned against the desk.

“Umm, does the birth certificate need signing?” he asked looking over the desk at all the papers. The Mother Superior who had been overseeing Crowley filling out all the correct papers in the right places. It wouldn’t do to have buggered up the paperwork on such a big job. She pulled a file over the papers and put on her best plastic smile. She flicked through the relevant files and produced a birth certificate for Mr. Young. She also pulled one out and handed it to Crowley. Conscious of the presents of Mr. Young, Crowley took the offered page. Mr. Young peeked into cot at the baby.

“He’s a cute one,” he says trying to rope Crowley into a conversation so he can talk about his own kid. Crowley doesn’t acknowledge him. Not deterred, Mr. Young filled in the birth certificate leaving the name till last. He still needed to talk to his wife about it.

“Though of a name yet?” he asked. Again, this was met by silenced. Mr. Young looked over at Crowley, he was well dressed and very out of places here. He didn’t have the look of expectant father. He looked worried.

“We were thinking about Adam,” he continued. This conversation was going to happen even if he had to do it himself. However, this got a reaction out of the other man. He laughed. He snorted then laughed out loud.

“Something wrong with Adam?” Mr. Young questioned, getting slightly defensive over a possible name for his son. The man pushed his long hair back away from his face. He was handsome, even Mr. Young had to admit that.

“No, it’s a fine name. But I knew an Adam once, he was a complete bastard,”.

Sister Mary giggled under her breath. But then frowned at the thought of how a demon knew the original Adam. She puzzled over this for the rest of the conversation.

Mr. Young let his shoulders drop,

“What would you suggest then?” he asked sheepishly. Crowley turned on him and Mr. Young had to squash a sudden urge to back away and make himself small. Crowley looks him up and down before speaking. His emotionless sunglasses making it feel like he wasn’t blinking. He wasn’t but behind the glasses no one could tell.

“Something royal may be. Henry, James, William?” he suggested. Mr. Young felt better about these names.

 Crowley looked back at the almost complete page in front of him.

“It doesn’t matter, it will all be over in eleven years anyway.” Crowley mumbled glumly as he looked at the last section of the certificate

FIRST NAME:

It was blank. He stared at it. Did he have to name it?

“Oh,” Mr. Young said confused. In an effort to change the typic he looked into the cot again, “You know, he looks like an Adam.” he added.

Crowley huffed but he couldn’t think of anything better. Plus, it made sense in an ironic way. Crowley scribbled the name down on the final dotted line on the page pushing it towards the nun. He snatched the carry cot of the desk and strode out the lobby. Mr. Young tried to wave goodbye, but Crowley was long gone.

 Sister Annabelle handed the baby to the ambassador’s wife who looked down at him with the love of a first-time mother,

“Sorry that took so long Your Ladyship, he is such a scrumptious little man. Every nun in the convent had to coo at him,” Sister Annabelle sighed as she stood back, her job was done. She really needs a cup of tea now.

Mother Superior quietly pushed open the door and came in.

“Oh what a little lord,” she said causing all nuns in the room to smile. “Have you thought of a name?”

 The convent burnt down that night. However, the only paperwork that was destroyed was form that night. Apart from the birth certificate of one James Henry Young

 Crowley pulled the Bentley into a short dead-end road that was the entrances to a farmer’s field. He cut the engine and the lights of the snarling beast of a car disappeared, leaving only the dark hedgerow in front of him.

The silence enveloped the car, seeming to seep in through all the gaps in the doors and poured out of the vents. Soon Crowley was engulfed in it. He paused, appreciating the moment. The sound of the engine cooling was the only noise that could be heard inside the car. The carry cot next to him cooed. He looked over at his new acquisition and pulled it closer to him. He carefully pulled the small and oh so delicate baby out and laid him across his knees looking up at him. The baby yawned but seemed very much awake. The white blanket that was bundled around him stopping his arms from moving.

Crowley huffed and rubbed his faces pushing his glasses off slightly. He squeezed his eyes shut and began to mutter at the baby,

“Okay first test,”

He pulled his glasses off completely and crouched over the baby sticking his tough out. Letting the glamor over it drop so the tips flicked over the babies scrunched up little nose. His eyes almost glowed yellow in the darkness he didn’t show his true, true form just these small parts. The Baby screeched and Crowley jerked back worried, but unsurprised, that he had terrified the poor thing. When the screech turned into a gurgling laugh, he looked back at the baby who had wiggled free an arm and was grabbing at Crowley with a gummy grin. Slight confused Crowley rewrapped the baby in his white blanket and shifted it to be cradled in his arms,

“Okay so you passed the first test. Now we need to go other some ground rules if this arrangement is going to work out.”.

The baby babbled at him trying to wiggle free of his confines. He seemed fine with the whole yellow eyes and snake toung though. Probably knew no different, Crowley wondered leaning back in the driver’s seat.

“So I will house you, feed you and take care of you until you have worked out how to use a toilet after that we can look into the walking, talking, reading, writing business but there are some conditions that you have to uphold,”.

The baby sneezed, looked shocked at this strange turn of events, blinked a few times before looking back up at the demon. Now that he had the baby’s attention again Crowley continued,

“Firstly, the family you came from, the one that has the antichrist.” The baby watched him with uncanny eyes that seemed to understand what he was saying. That or more worryingly for Crowley he was ranting at a newborn infant that had no idea what was going on and was just watching him make noises in the dark car.

“Warlock, they called him Warlock.”

The baby gave him a half smile, hoping that the smile was from recognizing the name.

“You’re gonna have to be friends with that brat. secondly you will not get in my way or interfere with my work.”

The baby yawned at him. It seemed that all the excitement was getting the better of him its eyes began to slip closed. Crowley rocked him slightly trying not to enjoy holding the child, a small part of him that was thought to be long dead, started to thaw. He placed the baby back in the carry cot in the passenger’s seat. The baby whimpered at the movement but settled back in the crib snuggling into the blanket.

Crowley backed out and onto the road, where was the nearest mother care?

 Azriaphale had just got back to the book shop when the phone rang. He paused hanging his coat up on its peg, before picking it up, he suspected who it might be but wasn’t sure. He plucked the phone from the handle and held it daintily to his ear,

“I’m dreadfully sorry but I’m afraid we are closed at the...,” his polite but discouraging scripted was cut by a very familiar voice,

“It’s me Angel.”

It sounded although Crowley was making this call from a phone box. Oh dear, what trouble had he gotten himself into now.

“Crowley? Is that you?” he asked anyway knowing the answer,

“Yes. We need to talk.” He said matter of factly.

“Yes, I rather think we do.” Azriaphale thought of the conversation he had had with Gabriel earlier that day.

Crowley looked through the window of the Bentley at the sleeping baby inside. He hung up the phone and got back into the car. He looked over at the child. He was so small. Crowley stroked his cheek with a black nailed finger.

“You have no idea what is going on. I envy you Adam,” the baby sighed in his sleep.

[bannerswife]

Nightmares - Bruce Banner x Reader

Title: Nightmares

Pairing: Bruce Banner x Reader 

Word Count: 2139

Warnings: None

Summary: After Bruce has a horrible nightmare, you try your best to calm him down before he hulks out.

Authors Note: This is one of my older works, so im so sorry at how bad it is eek. also i havent been posting that frequently ik im a horrible person whoops

You awoke to the heart wrenching screams of your boyfriend. Quickly you scrambled to the lamp switch, turning it on giving the room some sort of light. You jumped to Bruce’s side of the king bed and went to hold him in your arms. From what you could tell Bruce was having another nightmare, it wasn't anything new to you, it happened nearly every week, but recently it became a nightly routine. Not that you cared, you would never sleep if that meant you could hold Bruce in your arms to calm him back to restful sleep.

It always happened at around 2:30am, every single night (well morning), and that was when you started your day. You could never ever go back to sleep after witnessing Bruce’s meltdown, it hurt you so much it normally would cause yourself nightmares of something to do with Bruce, normally of him running away because he couldn’t bare the pain of losing you if he lost control.

You were never ever scared of the Other Guy, he was apart of Bruce and you loved every single part of him, even if half of him consisted of a huge green rage monster. You didn't care one single bit, you loved him unconditionally just for who he was. Green and all.

After the Chitauri attack on New York, Bruce’s nightmares were so much worse, and from the little information you got from Bruce when he briefly tells you about them they’re becoming a lot more vivid.

You didn't know how exactly to help the poor physicist. You couldn't really do a lot but calm him as best as you could and tell him that you love him and that you’re there for him. Thankfully it never ended with him going to the Safe Room because he never got too far to the point of changing.

But out of all of his daily nightmares this was much worse. You could tell already.

Bruce was flinging his arms about, a pool of sweat all over him, his head, neck, chest, everywhere. You wrapped your arms tightly around Bruce’s arm, squeezing it, and softly but loud enough you told him what you would always tell him.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, shhh, you’re okay, i’m here, you’re alright. No one’s going to hurt you here Bruce,”

That was what you normally told him every night but you weren't even halfway through your sentence before Bruce shot upwards his eyes a bright rich green. Frantically he looked around the room, expecting some sort of danger that came from his dream. Though there wasn't anything and so his breathing slowed a little bit and his shoulders becoming less tense. Until it didn't. He looked over to you where your faced with worry, his heart becoming even more heavy (if it was even possible for him) as he was of course the cause of your stress and worry.

“Oh my god, y/n. I-i’m so sorry. Oh my fucking god, i could’ve- i could’ve-” He rambled, hardy able to form a structured sentence. His breathing quickened once again and his eyes widened as he looked upon you.

“No, no, no, Bruce i’m fine. Don’t worry about me, i’m fine, babe, please listen to me,” But you knew Bruce was only spiralling even more from here. His mind was already worked up from his dream and now he’s only digging himself a bigger hole.

“I can’t be here- i dont know if i can control it any longer, please. I need to- i need to go to the safe room,” He choked, trying his best to hold back the tears as he pulled tightly into himself. The previous events of his dream playing in his mind and what could’ve happened if he lost control with you so close.

It wasn’t unusual for Bruce to have his panic attacks, you always could calm him down, as well as his nightmares, but combining the two together would be a piece of work. You didn't know if you could.

“JARVIS, alert someone that Bruce is having a panic attack. I might need some help on this to calm him down. I’m just taking him to the Safe Room now,” You anxiously asked, as you slowly crawled over to Bruce who was currently hugging himself.

“Of course, y/n, right away” The smooth programs voice replied, alerting the fellow avengers for help.

“Okay, i’m going to help you up, yeah? Get you to your other room,” You got up and gingerly went to Bruce’s aid to help him onto his feet, he was wobbly at first but held himself up without your help.

In a second Bruce sped out of the room, one hand held on his head and the other helping him hold up right, you could barely keep up with the man as he sped to the elevator. Honestly you didn't know what you could do to help your boyfriend.

As the two of you made it down to the floor of the Safe Room, all of the avengers were sleepily (except Natasha who seemed to already be awake) waiting for the presence of the two of you.

“Hey big guy, is every-” The engineer asked groggily, sleep still sounding evident in his voice as he went to rest his hand on his friends shoulder, but before he could finish his sentence Bruce snapped, his brown eyes long lost to his alter ego’s green eyes.

“Stay back!” He yelled pushing Tony off of him, thankfully not too forcefully otherwise he would have flown straight through the glass window.

Bruce’s eyes softened and quickly returned back to his normal coloured chocolate eyes and his eyes welled with tears again, his hands returning to his head.

“I-I’m so sorry, but please- please just stay back, i don't want to hurt any of you,” he softly said, as he made his way to the room. The avengers keeping a good distance from the man hoping to not distress him.

You slowly walked alongside bruce, you too keeping somewhat a good distance, though as soon as you reached the room bruce instantly slammed the door in front of you. It hurt him to ever do that to you, knowing all that you were trying to do was help him, but he couldn't at all risk your safety.

He looked at you through the glass window of his room, your eyes glistening with tears. God you hated seeing him there, he wasn’t just some animal that had to be caged. It was ridiculous.

Bruce slowly took himself to the corner of the room and slid down the wall. He hugged his knees and rested his head upon them, and wrapped his arms tightly around him.

You could tell he was shaking, and mumbling things to himself to try and keep his temper down but it didn’t seem to be doing anything helpful anyway.

You held your hand up to the glass, a tear slipping from your eyes as you watched your boyfriend.

“Y/n, I think you should get some rest-“ Steve started as he spoke from behind.

“I’m not leaving him, I’m staying here until he comes out,” you muttered, keeping your eyes on Bruce.

“Cmon, I’m sure Bruce wouldn’t want you staying up all night just for him-“ Tony said, holding your shoulders to guide you back to your empty room - - without Bruce.

Bruce from inside the cage couldn’t hear anything but with his mind currently filled up with rage and anger he wasn’t exactly thinking straight but he could tell that you were distressed and Steve and Tony weren’t exactly helping you.

“NO! For fucks sake I’m not leaving him! Just piss off and leave us alone, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have bothered you all!” You pushed at Steve and Tony chests to get them both away and towards the exit.

And Bruce was up on his feet in a second, the other guy almost ripping through to try and protect you from any threat. In the back of his mind (that was all too blurry to even comprehend for Bruce) he knew that his friends were only just trying to help, most likely get you back to your room for some sleep. But The Other Guy didn’t see it that way, all that Bruce could grasp at the moment was that you were being hurt by these men and Bruce needed to help. The Hulk needed to smash.

Bruce walked up to the glass, swearing at the current men in front of you, which none of you could hear as the glass was so thick it was soundproof.

With a sudden touch of Steve when he went to try and calm you down, as tears poured down your face, the hulk was released. Bruce held tightly at his head, pulling at his hair, but it was all too much. The hulk was too strong at this moment and he couldn't stop him. And so you, Tony and Steve were stopped mid sentence when you could easily hear the deafening roar of the monster.

“Bruce,” You murmured, as you looked upon the beast.

You walked slowly to the glass and held your hand up to it, the hulk tilting his head confused, seconds ago he could of sworn you were in danger and now what was happening? You seemed pretty okay, aside from the little tears he could just see in your eyes. You then walked to the door of the safe room where you went to open it.

“Do you think that is such a wise move, Lady y/n?” You heard the voice of the god of thunder echo through the room.

You only smiled before looking up, noticing that everyone still had stayed in the room for Bruce, and nodded your head.

“He would never hurt me, he loves me, the only reason he transformed was because he thought i was getting hurt when Steve and Tony were trying to take me out, So i just need him to know i’m alright,” And with that you walked calmly into the big room.

You smiled at the beast among you, he looked down at you intently checking for any signs of injury, but thankfully he found none.

“Why y/n sad?” Hulk finally said as he took a seat in front of you, crossing his legs together. As if a child sitting in front of their teacher, waiting to be told a story.

You chuckled softly wiping the tears away and sat in front of hulk.

“I was worried about Bruce, he had a nightmare and wasn’t coping too well,” You simply explained to the big goliath in front of you.

Silence washed over the two of you and it was nice. Even Hulk could have agreed, he had never gotten the chance to just sit calmly and not have to worry about anything in the world.

“Hulk? Can you promise me something?” You interrupted the silence, hulk grunted and softly nodded his head in response.

“Will you look after Bruce for me? I’m not as special or strong as you are, i try my best to but with your help we can keep Bruce safe. Do you think you can do that, Big Guy? For me?” You leaned out and held the Hulk’s giant size hand in yours and looked into his bright green eyes.

Again the Hulk nodded in response, understanding fully what he had been requested to do.

You got up and wrapped your arms around the large beast and rested your head against his warm chest. Hulk not really knowing what to do with this small human on him just softly put his hand on your back and held you close.

Before you knew it the man in your arms was shrinking back to normal size and you couldn’t help but softly smile.

“Y/n? W-what are you doing?”

“Shh, Bruce i was enjoying the moment. Really you’re a good hugger-- and warm,” You giggled digging more into Bruce’s bare chest.

“Please don’t tell me you came in here and hugged the other guy?”

“That Bruce, is exactly what I did. Plus we spoke about… things,” you smiled.

Bruce sighed pushing you softly from his chest holding your arms.

“You do realise I could’ve killed you? If that happened I-“

“Bruce, I know you’re worried about hurting me but trust me when I say, I can handle myself. The Hulk is honestly the last person that would hurt me,” you replied hoping to finally get that through to him.

Bruce didn’t say anything else but just looked deeply into your e/c eyes, trying to search for something, you wouldn’t know. He softly hummed, a small smile setting on his face before enveloping you in his warm arms once again.

[fineline-live]

Ghost • ghost!cth

Title: Ghost

Reader Pairing: Y/N and Calum

Rating: so angsty but fluffy oh my god yEet

WARNINGS: talks of death and small mentions of suicide and depression

Description: Moving into a new house by yourself sounds fun until you have to deal with the unwanted guest.

Fiddling with the keys in my shaking hands, I stared at the door. This was it. I was moving into my own house after barely turning 19. I had a steady job, my own car, my own house. I felt successful and I was still young. I finally found the right key on my key chain, shoving it into the lock, and walking through the door. The house was cozy, only one floor. There were two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a laundry room. It was small, but perfect for myself. I stood in the wide living room, smiling to myself, my imagination running wild on how I was gonna decorate it. There was already furniture and boxes in the house, my family helped me move most of my stuff in a few days ago. I paced around the living room, reading the boxes, wondering where to start first. My mouth started to get dry, the house being a little warm, so I looked for my dishes box. I found the box with the cups in it, opening it, and pulling out a glass cup. I walked down the hall a little to the kitchen, turning the corner and walking straight over to the sink. As I was about to turn the water on I heard something move. I turned quickly, launching my glass in the direction of the man sitting at my island counter, a confused look covering his face. The glass flew right through him, hitting the island and shattering to the ground.

“Who the fuck are you?” I said, my voice laced with confusion and anger, fear not even a thought on to why someone had broken into my house and how long he’s been here. He got up from the stool slowly, inching forward by a few steps. “You can see me?” His voice was soft, laced with some sort of accent. I was still stuck in bewilderment, confused by his sentence. “I just tried to throw a fucking cup at you, of course I can see you. Why wouldn’t I be able to? A better fucking question is how in the hell did that cup just go through your stomach?” A wide smiled spread across the boys face, his chest starting to fall up and down with his excited laughs. “HOLY FUCK YOU CAN SEE ME!” He danced around in circles, pumping his fist through the air, my eyes about to pop out of my skull. Who the fuck was this kid? He had golden cinnamon colored skin, deep brown eyes with dark purple bags under them, raven hair with blonde streaks through the front, and plain black skinny jeans with a white t-shirt and checkered vans. Was he attractive? Yes. Did I know why he was in my house yet? No. Was I still wondering why that glass went through him? Definitely.

The boy still danced around in circles, small shouts of excitement racing through him. “Yo,” I called out. He didn’t even acknowledge me, just kept cheering to himself. “Dude, what the fuck. Why are you in my house?” He stopped dancing around, catching his breath and looking at me with a big smile. “Whew! Oh my god. This is awesome!” I still stood confused before yelling. “WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE? WHO EVEN ARE YOU?” He laughed loudly, clutching his stomach. “My name’s Calum. And frankly, I don’t have a good reason for that besides that I thought I’d get used to the silence, figured I might as well live on my own if no one was gonna see to me.” I leaned against the counter, utterly confused by the boy. “So you broke into a random house?” He shrugged. “I’ve only been here for a week.” I rubbed my temples beyond disoriented. “So let me get this straight, you wanted to live on your own so you broke into a random house because no one wanted to see you?” “Couldn’t see me,” He corrected. I started laughing. “Bro, what kind of drugs are you on? Are you homeless? A runway? Are you in trouble? Should I like call the police or something?” He shook his head smiling. “It’d be useless. They wouldn’t be able to see me. My own family and best mates couldn’t even see me.” I tried to wrap my head around the words, wondering if there was a hidden meaning. “What do you mean they can’t see you?” He leaned against the island and shrugged, nonchantly smiling. “I’m dead.”

I started laughing, throwing my head back. “What’s so bad that you had to fake your own death, man?” He shook his head with a smile. “No, deadass. I’m dead. My ass is dead. This ass? Dead.” He said, turning around and pointing to his back jean pockets. “Oh, so you’re also a comedian. Good one, now get the fuck out of my house.” He kept his back to me with his head turned. “Legit, dude. Touch my ass.” I scoffed at his words, not sure what to do. “No! What the fuck?” He shrugged his head down. “Seriously. Touch my ass, your hand will go right through.” I shook my head, crossing my arms tight. “I’m not gonna touch your ass, man.” He shrugged and turned back around so his chest was facing me. “Your loss.” He crossed his arms, copying my position. I tilted my head towards my chest, trying to hold onto the information. Finally I lifted my head, smirking at him. “So, you’re like Calum the friendly ghost?” He rolled his eyes, a groan leaving his throat. “If I was still alive, that would become the reason I’d off myself.” I chuckled at his statement, trying to think of what to say. “I promise, Im dead. If you want proof try to touch me.” I looked at the boy skeptically, he was definitely real. He had to be. I could list off every detail of him, it was all so real. Sure, he had a pale look to him, but maybe he was just ill or something.

Hesitantly I took a step towards him, then another, and another. I reached my hand out as did he, our fingertips brushing, my hands just feeling a cold chill, but no contact. “What. The. Fuck.” I whispered, my body still remembering the cold feeling it just encountered. “Told you, I’m dead.” I just sat with my mouth open, running my fingers back and forth through his palm, shivers running down my back. Most people on the first encounter with a ghost would scream and run away, but with Calum? I felt almost drawn in? Confused and needing to know more? Almost as if I could help him pass on? Is that what ghosts do? “So why’re you here then? In my house?” He sighed, watching my fingers pass through his hand. “After I died, I went home, not realizing I was dead, I guess. I screamed my mum’s name, my sister’s name. Neither of them could see or hear me. No one I’ve come across lately can. And then you walk in and throw a cup at me and it’s the first sign of human interaction I’ve had in over a week. I saw the for sale sign, figured it would be a while until someone moved in, so I thought Id make myself at home until then.” I pulled away from the boy’s hand, still looking as real as ever. I didn’t say anything besides analyze his features once more. He was easily attractive, but obviously dead nonetheless.

He sighed, pushing himself off of the counter. He walked towards the living room, not even bothering to say anything else to me. “Where are you going?” I called out. He looked around the living room and gestured to my stuff. “Someone moved in, now I gotta go find a different house.” I could feel myself become almost... sad? I didn’t want the beautiful stranger to leave just yet. “You don’t have to. Stay.” I said softly, leaning against the doorframe from the kitchen to the living room. He tucked his hands in his pockets, his shoulders drooping as his eyes looked at me curiously. “Seriously?” I nodded my head. “I just moved in, I need someone to keep me company while I unpack. I’m Y/N, by the way.”” He smiled softly, nodding his head towards the boxes. “So, Y/N. What room first?” I smiled at him and grabbed a random box to the kitchen, leading him back that way. We talked for hours, getting to know each other, and where we both came from. I learned he was originally from Sydney, Australia, a long ways from the California home we were in now. He had a sister named Mali-Koa, and three best friends named Ashton, Michael, and Luke. He played instruments and soccer, football as he called it. He loved dogs and was beyond irritated that I didn’t bring my old dog from home along with me to live here. I also learned that he was 19 as well, but never pressured anything about his death or how he died. I’ve never met a ghost, so I wasn’t sure what would offend him. I started to really get along with Calum, laughing at his jokes and his phrases, a smile never leaving my face.

Weeks passed, seven to be exact. Me and the ghost boy had become best friends, always talking when I’d get home from work, he’d sit at the dinner table with me while I’d eat, or sit on the couch and watch tv together. A soft cold weight would be wrapped around my shoulders, Calum somehow figuring out how to gain more power within himself to start getting some sort of force on things. He had started sleeping in my bed alongside me, a small weight making the bed dip on his side, causing a smile on my face everynight as it got heavier. His body was still airy like gas when I’d pass through it, the chill becoming less cold every day. It was safe to say that I had some sort of feelings for Calum, but I was too scared to admit it. How insane would it be to tell a ghost that you had feelings for him? How insane is it to actually like a ghost? Everyday my feelings got stronger for him and his beauty and shitty jokes. I couldn’t get enough of him.

Today I came home overly stressed from work, clients that I worked with today just being complete assholes and made my day terrible. I walked through the doorway, slamming the door shut on the way. “Y/N! YOU’RE HOME! COME CHECK THIS OUT!” I heard Calum’s voice yell from the kitchen. I smelt something like food wafting through the air, overly confused. I walked through the kitchen doorway to see Calum with a pot cooking on the stove. “I made spaghetti! I did it! I don’t know how! But I concentrated enough and I made you food. Isn’t that fucking sick?” He had the widest smile on his face, his cheeks a rosy color from being so excited. I giggled softly, a small smile taking over my face. “That’s amazing, Cal. I’m proud of you.” His smile faltered a little as he looked at me, a loud clanking sound of the spatula falling through his hand and hitting the floor. Spaghetti sauce was everywhere on the floor, Calum looking overly upset. “Shit, Y/N, I’m sorry. I forgot and wasn’t focusing and-“ “Cal, it’s okay.” I laughed lightly, walking over and setting the spatula in the sink, grabbing paper towels and cleaning the floor. I threw them away and grabbed a plate and fork, dishing myself up some of the pasta. I took a bite of it, leaning against the counter and moaning softly. “This is amazing!” He smiled softly, a blush covering his cheeks. “Thanks. It’s all I remember how to make besides toast if I’m being honest.” I smiled at him and nodded my head giving him reassurance on the food. I sat down at the island as he stood across from me and rested his chin on his hands.

“Are you okay?” I nodded my head as I took another bite of food. “It was a long day at work. Overly fucking stressful.” He nodded understandly, watching me eat what was left of the pasta since I didn’t get much. “Wanna talk about it?” I pushed the plate away from me, rubbing my hands against my eyes and then threw my head back. “It’s just so fucking stupid. Like I wish I could quit my job and just fucking kill myself or something. Throw myself in front of a car.” I closed my eyes and stared at the ceiling as Calum spoke up softly. “Been there, done that.” I opened my eyes and looked at him, his eyes staring at his hands. “What?” My voice was soft, scared of ruining the topic. “It’s how I died. Well how I think I died anyways.” The boy looked up at me, his eyes dull and not the pretty brown they always were. “I, uh, was really depressed. I dropped out of high school, quit my job, a bunch of this shit. Just kinda prepared myself to not exist anymore. Then one day I went to an overpass, jumped off and was hit by a car. Either a semi or bus. It was a 40 foot drop. I don’t remember the impact. I think I died the second I hit the car. It’s all kinda blurry after I jumped.” I felt my eyes well with tears. Calum, my calum, the love of my life, tried to kill himself and succeeded. He was so hurt and depressed that he killed himself. I felt bad about my earlier comment. “I’m sorry, Cal. I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have made the comment if I knew.” He shrugged, “It’s okay. I mean, if you think about it, if it never happened, I never would’ve met you and felt what it was like to really be in love, even if it’s too late.”

I felt my breath hitch in my throat. Did he just say he was in love with me? “Love?” I asked quietly. He just nodded his head, no shame to his previous sentence. “I’ve been so fucking afraid to tell you I love you thinking that you would’ve thought Im weird, and now Im here knowing that you love me and holy fuck.” He just chuckled, walking around the island to me. He kept one hand sitting on the island, the other tight to his side. He leaned his head close to mine, I could feel his breath fanning over my face. It was warm, not his usual cold. His eyebrows furrowed, focusing on something on my face. “Are you okay?” I asked with a small laugh. “I’m just trying hard enough to focus so that when I kiss you my face doesn’t fall through yours,” He chuckled, his eyebrows softening and his eyes crinkling. Without noticing my actions I leaned in quickly, cupping his face and kissing him. His lips were soft, and his skin was warm. His cheekbones were hard, but his skin so smooth. He felt nice, something I wouldn’t wanna ever let go of.

Then he pulled away crazily fast, I could almost hear his heart beating. His eyes shot open, and in front of my own eyes I watched as he dissipated into thin air in the matter of a second. Gone before me. I felt my eyes start to gloss over, so overwhelmed and confused, having just kissed the boy I was in love with, and it felt so real. So fucking real. But he was gone.

A two weeks had passed without Calum. The house felt silent and empty. It didn’t feel like home anymore. Without Calum’s dip in the bed at night along with his heavy breathing, or the movies we’d watch every night with the heavy weight on my shoulders of his comfort. It was all gone. And what left along with him was my feeling of comfort, safety, and most importantly reassuring love. I had taken the last week off from work, saying that I was ill, instead my mental health deteriorating and constant sobs of missing Calum echoing throughout the vacant halls. I couldn’t help but feel as if I was the reason he left, I moved to quickly and he became uncomfortable. Whatever the reason, I’d never find out. It was only 10 am, and I finally trudged out of bed to go make myself a cup of coffee. I was in a pair of fuzzy socks and pajama shorts along with a shirt Calum said he loved on me. It was an oversized The Maine shirt, saying he used to own one just like it. The coffee was finished, and I walked into the living room with it, sitting down on the couch and covering my legs with a blanket Calum and I had bought together on an impulse Target run. I had finally gotten comfortable, settling in while slowly sipping my coffee as there was a knock on the door.

I groaned, setting down the cup on the coffee table and flipping the blanket off of me. I drug my feet towards the door using both of my hands to open it. I rested against it, one hand on the doorknob inside, and the other resting on the side. In front of me stood a pretty girl, gorgeous golden cinnamon skin, blonde wavy hair, the prettiest gap between her two front teeth along with her wide smile that could only make me feel as if I’ve seen it before. “Can I help you?” I asked softly. Her smile widened. “Are you Y/N Y/L/N?” I nodded my head, the prettiest accent ringing through my ears. “Your name was my brother’s first words when he woke up two weeks ago. He got discharged from the hospital today, said he had to see you.” I cocked my head at her words, beyond confused. She looked back at the black car in my driveway, the passenger door opening and a man getting out of it. He kept his face down, not sure what to do. He walked up towards the front porch steps and stood before the first step, eventually looking up and staring into my eyes.

“Calum.”

“Hey, princess.”

[yourprayer]

“Quitting time at the plant. Time for supper now. Time for families. Time for a cool drink on a porch. Time for the quiet rustle of leaf-laden trees that screen out the moon. And underneath it all, behind the eyes of the men, hanging invisible over the summer night, is a horror without words. For this is the stillness before storm. This is the eve of the end.”

a twilight zone inspired one shot

based on the episode “third from the sun”

this is my it fandom secret admirer gift exchange (@itfandomsecretadmirers) present for @reddiesetrichie ! i hope you enjoy this piece, and i hope this is close enough to your interests i not so sneakily asked you about (x so sorry this is late! i hate being an adult with a job asdikkfdckj

pairings: reddie, stenbrough, benverly

word count: 12.5k

warnings: swearing, allusions to sexual activity, smoking/drinking, mild depictions of violence  + to avoid spoilers, i will say only that this piece centers around a fairly heavy political subject. please proceed with caution as you read as this may be upsetting to those easily upset by political turmoil. remember that this is fiction & for fun, don’t stress yourself out/upset yourself over it! i won’t be offended if you don’t read bc it is too heavy. this is in no way intended to be a proclamation of something to come (i mean only that im not trying to say i think this is going to happen; im not trying to scare you. this is just based on the episode, and that’s what it happens to be about. this was written in the 60s for the sole purpose of being an interesting and compelling piece of sci fi. im using it for the same thing) this is getting long winded but basically, if you have any questions about content before you read, shoot me an ask and i’ll tell you privately bc i don’t want to spoil the twist for anyone. i just thought it would be really fun to do a twilight zone au, but this show can be very thought provoking, sometimes in a scary way. 

the twilight zone is available on hulu, netflix and cbs all access! i recommend watching the ep before (or after, if you don’t want spoilers!) reading this piece but its not necessary! heres a link to the ep free online if you have none of those services, but the picture is off center so i recommend the services over this! + the opening theme to get you in the mood!

Richie Tozier sighed, shifting his identification card from one hand to the other in impatience. The sun had just began its descent from its highest point in the sky, and the heat of the afternoon started to seep into his skin through the heavy work suit he was wearing. Why his supervisors insisted they come to the factory is full dress attire was beyond him, but it was his own fault for leaving the suit jacket on. It was quittin’ time after all; he could just take it off. Perhaps it was the nervousness and distractions of the day that made him disregard the possibility altogether.

To say his mind was not on the task at hand would be quite the understatement. He could barely count with both hands the number of pieces he’d fudged the fabrication of; his average was usually two or three, but on this day, he knew he’d reached double digits. He almost laughed to himself, catching his mind thinking of the next weekly review; his boss, red-faced and shaking, telling him off for wasting materials. It would be quite a sight, quite a sight for a laugh, if it ever came to be.

Yes, he almost laughed to himself.

Almost.

“Mills, Germ Warfare Research.” The bored voice of the gate guard cut off his wandering thoughts as he stepped forward in line. The man in front of him had his card read and his person pursued for any out of place items or (as he knew was the real protocol) smuggled machinery by the two uniformed men minding the exit from the factory grounds. No matter the department, the employees at the facility were all funneled in a single file line through the one break in the fence, each required to show their employment I.D. upon entering and exiting the property. Richie flicked his own identification card between his fingers in impatience as he waited for the man in front of him to be cleared and begin his trek to the parking lot.

The man cleared the way, and Richie stepped forward, handing his card to the guard on his left.

“Tozier, Hydrogen Armament.” He read aloud, as the guard across from him checked Richie’s name off of a numbered list on his clipboard. “You fellas are getting pretty busy up there, aren’t ya?” The guard questioned conversationally as Richie returned his card to his breast pocket.

“Very.” Richie replied curtly, not wanting to continue the conversation. He stepped out of the line, off to the side of the path of the cars. He knew he should be rushing to get to his vehicle, he knew he shouldn’t be lingering on the premises; but he also knew his supervisor, Mr. Bowers, was just a few feet away, eyeing him suspiciously. I must maintain some image of normalcy, he thought to himself. Deciding it would be best to stick with his usual habits, he reached into the same pocket his card resided in to extract a cigarette and match from their respective packets. His nervous fingers brushed his departmentally issued employee identification button, the numbers that dictated his employee profile printed largely on the face. He sighed heavily, exhaling the smoke from his first drag, attempting to quell any physical signs of his fear that could possibly be showing.

“Hold that light, will you, Tozier?” A voice from over his shoulder jarred him as he went to shake out the match. Suddenly a hand was gripped around his wrist, raising the match towards the tip of another cigarette. The mouth behind the butt and the statement belonged to none other than Bowers himself.

“Long day, wasn’t it?” Bowers said calmly, exhaling his drag as he let Richie extinguish the match. “They’ve got us going full blast, on our end.”

Richie barely dared to give him a nod, averting his gaze as he pinched the end of his cigarette and raised it to his mouth.

“It’s coming, boy.” Richie gritted his teeth at the petty nickname, one Bowers had been using to demean him ever since he’d been hired at the plant. “It’s really coming. A big one, too.” Bowers glanced around conspiratorially. “Even now, as we’re speaking, I’ll bet you anything they’re gearing up.”

Richie swallowed nervously, taking a deep pull with slightly shaking fingers.

Bowers finally looked over at Richie, making eye contact, a frightening edge to his gaze.

“Talk is forty eight hours.”

Richie felt his blood run cold.

“Wait and see if I’m wrong.” Bowers continued, an almost goading tone to his voice as Richie took another neurotic drag. “Forty eight hours, and then…” Bowers’ expression was nearing a sneer, as he raised a hand and mimicked a projectile flying. “Whoosh..” He added the sound effect, opening his closed fist like the opening flower of bomb bay doors on the bottom of a plane. Richie watched his gesture with a clenched jaw, his trepidation and anger growing as Bowers’ fingers continued to stretch open, accentuating his boss’s apathy over the situation. “Then, there goes the enemy.”

“And what are they doing in the meantime?” Richie’s temper got the better of himself, pulling the interjection from his closed teeth, even as his mind screamed at him not to speak, not to reveal his truth.

“What do you mean what are they doing?” Bowers gave him a cross look. “Retaliating, of course, though not nearly in the same fashion as us.” He gave a small, crass laugh. “Big fucking waste of time, you ask me.” Bowers took another drag of his still-lit cigarette. Richie finished his off and crushed it under his heel, trying to push all of his anger out of the bottom of his feet so as to prevent himself from putting in his two cents again. “We get ours in first, then they can’t do much.”

“The can respond, with their own ‘whoosh…’” Richie found himself speaking again, barely able to disguise the frustration and disgust in his voice, the only thing keeping him from repeating Bowers’ gesture was his tightly clenched fist, which he refused to release.

“Oh, they can.” Bowers nearly shrugged, taking another pull. “But not so accurately. Not so powerfully.”

“Then instead of losing a million people, we lose a hundred thousand.” Richie said hardly, his voice rising in anger.

“Dangerous words there Tozier.” Bowers made eye contact again, his gaze piercing. “Not a defeatist, are you?” Richie made no move to respond, only returning the look. “You better watch what you say.”

“And what I think, too.” Richie bit back with a raise of his eyebrows, challenging almost.

“And what you think.” Bowers rejoined.

Richie huffed. “Goodnight, Bowers.” He leaned in, just enough to be in Bowers’ space. “See you tomorrow?” He said pointedly.

Bowers didn’t reply as he watched Richie retreat to his vehicle.

He just... observed.

________________________________________________________________

A light, airy tune floated upstairs as Eddie Tozier (nee Kaspbrak) busied himself with his workload. He could visualize easily in his head his husband downstairs, drink in hand and hips swaying casually to the beat as he began to unwind from a long day at work. Richie would have just arrived home, car parked safely in the garage, tie possibly still yet to be undone, hands still slightly greasy from the machines as he poured his favorite scotch. Eddie smiled at the thought as the music grew a bit louder, and decided that he should make the vision become his reality.

Taking the stairs nearly two at a time, the undone top buttons of his shirt causing the collar to open a bit in the breeze his momentum caused, Eddie rushed down to greet his husband as he did every day.

He was greeted by the sight of Richie, drink in hand, record turning lazily in their player, his back to the stairs.

Two things instantly alerted Eddie that something was off. The first: Richie’s glass contained a considerably greater amount of the amber liquid than his usual. Richie had been a heavy drinker in their youth, and after a particularly nasty bout of alcohol-centered arguments Richie had given in and placed himself on a strict regimen of limitation. The second: he was not, as he always, always did, swaying to his music.

Eddie’s smile fell as he adjusted the spectacles that had been jostled on his way downstairs, pushing the center further up his nose with his middle finger. He pushed his rolled sleeves up just a bit more, a strange way of preparing himself to comfort his husband. He then approached Richie from behind, preparing his winning smile that Richie always maintained could cut through every stressor in his life.

Eddie only prayed that now, it could do its job.

“Hey there, handsome.” Eddie said kindly, sliding a hand around Richie’s waist as he tucked himself into Richie’s side.

“Hey, baby.” Richie turned to him, a pleasant but obviously forced smile plastered on his face. He pulled Eddie into a distracted kiss, setting his drink down and snaking his arms around Eddie’s middle to pull him close. “Where’s Mike?” He asked, pulling away all too soon.

“Outside, begging the new peonies to sprout.” Eddie joked. Mike was their best friend from college, housemate, and avid gardener, who had insisted on landscaping their entire yard. Richie looked towards their sliding glass door that lead to the side garden, and made a move to exit, dropping his hands from Eddie’s back.

“Oh, no you don’t. Not before our dance.” Eddie pouted, placing Richie’s hands back on his own hips and linking his around the taller man’s neck. Richie gave him a ragged smile, for a moment considering joining him in their well practiced sway, but after a moment removed Eddie’s hands and held them in his own, between their chests.

“Some other time, honey. Promise.” Richie said quietly, before releasing Eddie’s hands, picking up his glass, and crossing to the player, turning the music off.

Eddie watched in quiet awe as Richie looked again to the door, then appeared to have thought better of it before crossing the room and sitting heavily on the couch. Richie had never been able to say no to a dance.

“Rich.” Eddie said, concern written plainly on his face and in his speech, as he moved quickly to sit on the coffee table across from his worn out husband.

“Yes, dear?” Richie joked half-heartedly, placing a hand absentmindedly on Eddie’s knee as he took a sip of his drink.

“What’s going on with you?” He placed his hand on top of Richie’s, giving him a pleading look. It was unlike Richie to behave this way, but even more unlike him to admit why. Eddie steeled himself, determined to get an answer out of the man. Richie had been a bit more tense as of late, but had often been fine after a nice massage or a particularly satisfying night spent in bed. But this nervousness and distance he placed Eddie in was downright out of character, and he needed to know exactly what the cause was, so he could destroy it.

“Nothing serious, Eds.” Richie offered that same thin smile, and it set Eddie’s jaw in frustration. Just as he was about to lay into the man, Mike came in through the sliding glass door, wiping the sweat off his brow with a rag.

“Afternoon Rich, how was work?” He called over his shoulder after he spotted Richie, crossing into their kitchen to grab a glass of water.

“Work.” Richie said in a strange tone, taking another drink. “Hey, Mike?” He said after a pause, as the other man appeared in the doorway.

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna invite everyone over for cards tonight. You’ll be here, right? Bill will want to see you.”

Eddie furrowed his brow, looking from Mike to Richie in confusion. They usually played cards on Fridays…

“Actually, guys, I uh…” Mike paused, taking a nervous sip of his water. “I have a date.” He said with a sheepish smile. “Maybe I could get home a little early, but..” His smile grew, obviously lost in thought of how his date might go.

“Call it off?” Richie said suddenly, worry briefly painting his features, and Eddie’s jaw all but dropped at the sight. On any other day in their normal universe where Richie was his Richie, smiling, joking, often highly inappropriate Richie, there would be congratulations and jokes about ‘making it’ and conspiratorial high-fives between him and his good friend. But here in this strange, hell universe where Richie was changing before Eddie’s very eyes into Richard Wentworth Tozier, a serious man, an alien on his couch where his husband should be, he was asking Mike to cancel a date.

“Rich, I- we’ve been planning this for awhile now, I’m very fond of her-” Mike said, rightfully flabbergasted.

“Please, Mike. I’ve had a terrible day. I’d like a night for us. Everyone, together again.” Richie pressed, giving Mike a solemn look. When he seemed hesitant, Richie extended his plea in a small voice. “Please, Mike? Just us losers.” A small smile at the end.

Eddie and Mike shared a look of concern.

“Sure, I guess.” Mike caved.

“Wunderbar.” Richie smiled, feigning his usual playfulness with his terrible German accent. Eddie noticed straight away there was no soul behind it. “Will you call everyone for me, Michael?” He asked before knocking back the rest of his drink. “I’ve got to have a private conversation with my husband upstairs, if you catch my drift.” He added a wink, some of his old energy creeping back into the conversation. Eddie watched the display in abject horror; this wasn’t Richie, this was a ghost trying on his clothing. No matter how much he tried to act like his rambunctious old self, with each attempt at humor Eddie’s worry grew.

Mike raised an eyebrow, finishing his water. “Sure I will. What time should I tell them?”

“Oh, around seven. Maybe earlier. Not before five, though.” Richie said as he stood and stretched, brushing off Eddie’s hand. Mike raised his eyebrows in confused concern and turned to use the phone. He almost reached it before he paused. “Wait, wasn’t Bill still out of town?”

“He got back this morning.” Richie replied, crossing to the fireplace and pulling another cigarette from his pack, before lighting it quickly.

“Really? I thought they were testing their aircraft all week-”

“They finished.” Richie said simply, his tone indicating the finality of the conversation. He had his back turned to both men as he took a long drag. Eddie stood, turning to look at Mike. Mike raised his eyebrow quizzically, to which Eddie responded with a shake of his head.

I’ll find out. Eddie mouthed to Mike. The other man nodded, and left to make the calls.

Richie finished about half of his cigarette before extinguishing it in the ashtray atop their fireplace. He then turned to exit the room, but was stopped by Eddie’s hand on his arm.

“Rich-”

“I just would like a game of cards, is all.” Richie asserted, not looking at Eddie. “Take my mind off of things.”

He pulled his arm out of Eddie’s grasp, and trudged up the stairs to their room.

“Richard.” Eddie said angrily, stopping at the bottom of the stairs with his hands on his hips. The use of the full name was usually a good way for Eddie to snap his husband back into seriousness; here it was only met with a retreating back. Richie did not stop, just continued until he hit the landing and turned to enter their bedroom, finishing his drink in the process.

Eddie huffed angrily, taking a minute to steal himself before storming up the stairs after him.

Richie stood before their bureau, idly examining a few trinkets spread across its surface. He placed his glass next to a watch their good friend Stanley had given him years ago, at the bachelors party before their wedding. Eddie watched as Richie trailed his long fingers slowly over the face, as if in attempts to memorize its texture.

“Richard.” He repeated. Richie did not turn around. “What is going on?” He demanded as he closed their door.

“Just feeling my years.” Richie said quietly, his shoulders falling.

“You’re thirty seven.” Eddie folded his arms across his chest.

“Touche.” Richie laughed to himself, catching Eddie’s gaze in the mirror above the bureau. Suddenly and without warning he turned, crossing the room easily in a couple of strides, and cupping Eddie’s surprised face in his hands. “But looking at you, dear,” He paused to kiss Eddie quickly. “Your beautiful face,” Eddie rolled his eyes, face reddening, more so as Richie peppered it with kisses. “It’s just reminding me of how old I feel…” He trailed off, gazing into Eddie’s eyes, but not looking, as though his husbands face was not truly there, not looking back at him. He looked instead as though he was glancing back through a pinhole, nostalgia and want written on his features, as his eyes saw not the man in front of him, but the boy he fell in love with. He saw Eddie now as he always did then; young, freckled, glowing. Memories swirled around him abstractly, no specific events coming to mind but rather an amalgamation of the years he’d passed. He thought briefly this was what it must be to have your life flash before your eyes.

After all, he was a dying man.

Eddie watched the display in a cocktail of wonder and horror.

“Richard, I need you to tell me what’s happening.” He said in a near whisper. “I- I don’t know if it’s work, but-”

“No, no, not work.” Richie shook his head, his fondness suddenly dropping off into exasperation as he released his grip on Eddie’s face. “It’s just work, it’s fine.”

“It doesn’t fucking seem like that.” Eddie’s voice raised as Richie turned around again, a hand sliding nervously through his hair.

“It’s just work! I’m just a cog in a machine baby, just a fucking part of the whole damned thing-”

“Richard-”

“Do you know how many men it takes to build a bomb, Edward?” Richie turned back suddenly, a dangerous expression in his eye as he stared down Eddie, still not seeing him. Eddie stared back in shock, bewildered by the strange question and terrified by the expression and the use of his name. Richie never called him Edward, not even in their worst fights, just when he was joking.

“What?” He sputtered, when it seemed the question was apparently un-rhetorical.

“Hundreds. Thousands maybe. I make lugnuts all day, babe, one fucking piece. Someone else cools them down. I operate the press, that’s all I do. All the other tiny pieces and functions, all of them need another person. Construction, assembly, execution… when it’s all said and done there’s so many of us. I’m just one piece. I just pull one lever….” By the end he’d worked himself into a frenzy, hands shaking as they pulled at errant strands of his barely-controlled hair, the curls Eddie had come to love so dearly over all these years protesting angrily against the gel applied that morning. Eddie wanted to jump back to that moment, Richie sitting in his trousers on the end of their bed, shirtless and smiling as Eddie worked the stuff through his hair, jokingly trying to distract him by snapping the waistband of Eddie’s boxers as he tried in vain to control the unruly locks. He wanted to go back so badly, and hold close the man he loved before he could turn into the one he saw now, frightened and frenzied as he rambled nonsense, pacing the self same room. He could not find an answer in his mind as to why his husband had come so undone; but then, he supposed he should have seen it coming, noticed it sooner. Even in that memory of the morning, even in Richie’s light smirk as he snapped the elastic for the twelfth time and looked up at Eddie, he should have seen that heaviness in his eyes. In retrospect he could see it; for weeks now, it had been there.   

“If you think of it that way,” Richie continued, more so to himself. “I’m- not solely responsible…”

“Responsible for what?” Eddie pleaded, shocked by the urgency in his own tone. “Rich, please, what is this about?”

Richie stood, one hand still on his forehead, looking off to the corner of the room.

“Please. Please speak to me.” Eddie begged, stepping closer and taking Richie’s hand in his own, using the other to make Richie look at him. “Tell me what has you so afraid. I- I can see it’s been plaguing you. For some time now.” Eddie swallowed, thoughts racing. “I’ve been- I’ve been frightened too. For awhile now. I couldn’t explain it if you asked but- there’s something in the atmosphere. Like this weight, this… wordless terror. I’ve seen it in others; especially in you. Please. Please tell me. Give it a name, Richard.” He stressed the latter, almost shaking Richie’s face as he held it in his hand, eyes searching the others for some give.

“Fear.” Richie muttered to himself as he placed his hands on Eddie’s arms, still staring at the spot on the carpet.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Rich. What is everyone so afraid of?” Eddie pleaded quietly, his hand trailing from Richie’s cheek to his chest, where his fingers brushed the button that proclaimed the numbers that dictated his husband. His Richie, complex, creative, beautiful Richie, reduced to a code. A cog in a machine.

“People are afraid because they make themselves afraid.” Richie said darkly, his tone shifting as he finally made eye contact with Eddie. His grip on the smaller mans arms tightened, and as he spoke he jostled Eddie a bit, his anger and frustration growing with each thought. “Because they do it to themselves, Edward, because they can’t just leave good enough alone. Because they have to take every inch they can possibly have, because there’s no compromise-”

“Chee, you’re frightening me-” Eddie breathed, attempting to pull Richie out of his trance with the pet name.

“Because no one makes any attempts at diplomacy anymore, because they’d rather play dice with our lives than pull their heads out of the sand-” Richie barreled on, Eddie’s feeble words falling on deaf ears as the taller man kept gripping, kept shaking him. “They’re afraid because now- now when it’s too late, far too late to change, to turn back, now they’re asking why-”

“RICHARD!” Eddie found himself shouting, shocking both of them, Richie’s anger lifting and being replaced with surprise, as he looked down at Eddie’s hands fisted in his lapels and gulped, realizing how tightly he held Eddie’s upper arms and letting go immediately, rubbing his hands over the muscles apologetically.

“Baby- I’m sorry-”

“What is this about?!” Eddie returned the jostle, desperately hoping he could shake an answer out of the man.

“I guess it’s too late for vagueness…” Richie nearly whispered, eyes roaming Eddie’s face.

Eddie huffed in frustration. “It sure fucking is.”

“It’s coming.” Richie said suddenly.

Eddie’s blood ran cold.

“No..” He breathed, feeling his knees go weak.

“It’s coming baby, sooner than anyone predicted.”

Eddie shook his head in denial, Richie’s arms around his back now the only thing holding him up.

“We have forty-eight hours.” Richie said solemnly, his eyes as grey as graves.

Eddie’s knees hit the floor.

“It- it can’t be-”

“It is.” Richie repeated, kneeling to pull Eddie back up into a standing position, his limp body refusing to cooperate.

“How- how bad?” Eddie caught his eyes, not moving, not allowing himself to be moved. Richie gathered his strength, both to haul Eddie up to the foot of the bed at least, and to say the heavier truth.

“Bad.” He said simply as he man-handled his husband to their bed. He sat down gingerly next to him, letting the smaller man rest his weight on him. “It’ll be the end… of everything. All of it. Our life as we know it… Gone. It’ll be a holocaust.”

Eddie could feel the world underneath him tipping and swirling as he tried to rationalize what Richie was saying. He knew that the situation was tense, that the enemy had their finger over the trigger-

The enemy, he scolded himself. No one is the enemy. There are no sides in a war that destroys us all.

He used what little strength he could muster to look up at Richie.

“What do we do?” He whispered, his voice shaking. He almost thought he might cry, but he was too shocked to form tears.

Richie raised a hand to cradle Eddie’s face, keeping it there so they could lock their gazes on each other, to help ground him.

“We’re getting out of here.” He said quietly, Eddie’s eyes widening. “Bill and I, we’ve devised a plan. The two of us, Mike, Bill and Stanley, Ben and Beverly and the kids too. We’re all getting out of here.”

“Where?” Eddie insisted, flabbergasted. If it was as bad as they’d been threatened, as bad as Richie had claimed, as bad as he had imagined, there’d be nowhere to go.

“I can’t tell you.” Richie said cryptically, instantly earning an expression of anger. “Baby, Eddie, I can’t tell you but you have to trust me. We’re leaving, tonight.” He squeezed the hand cupped around Eddie’s cheek, running his thumb over his cheekbone. “Between midnight and one, we have to be gone. Then we’re getting out of here.” Eddie just looked at him, fear freezing him down to his bones. “You can’t say anything, to anyone. Not even Mike, or the others. Bill and Ben are the only ones who know so far, and we’ve only just told Ben. But you can’t say anything.” Richie looked deep into his eyes, and Eddie nodded robotically. “What we’re doing… it’ll be dangerous. Anyone could be- could be on to us. They could be listening-”

“Richie, hey!” Mike’s voice suddenly filled the house, causing Eddie to nearly jump out of his skin. “Bill’s here to see you!” He continued as Richie wrapped his arms protectively around his frightened lover.

“I’m coming, tell him it’ll be a minute.” Richie called back, his loud voice strange against the heavy quietness that had been with them in the room.

“Chee…” Eddie sobbed dryly into Richie’s shoulders.

“Shhh… hey, I’ve got you.” Richie mumbled, rubbing a hand up and down Eddie’s back to soothe him. “Eds, it’s gonna be okay. I’ve got you.” Eddie shook his head, shivers wracking his body as the weight of his fate set in. “Baby, I have to go talk to Bill, but I’ll be back, I’ll be right back.” He gently pulled Eddie upright, wiping away the one tear that had managed to fall. “I need you to be strong for me. For yourself.” He stressed, a hand on Eddie’s knee. “I know you can, dear, you’ve always been. We can do this.”

“I’m so- I’m so frightened, Rich.”

“I am too. But you have to trust me; Bill and I have a plan. We’re going to make it. All of us; we’ll make it.”

Eddie watched, as though underwater, as Richie leaned over and kissed his forehead, before standing and leaving the room. He watched; drowning.

________________________________________________________________

“Well, buddy, you better have some fuckin’ fantastic work stories for tonight, I had to cancel a date for this.” Mike was saying with a laugh as Richie came down the stairs. He locked eyes with Bill over Mike’s shoulder, catching the same look of thinly-veiled worry that had been staring back at him in the mirror the past few days. They nodded to each other as Mike excused himself and left the room.

“Bill.” Richie said curtly, glancing out of a window near his front door.

“Rich.” Bill rejoined, shaking his head slightly to indicate they weren’t in the clear.

“You and Stan are still coming over tonight, right? Mike got ahold of you?”

“Sure did.” Bill said nervously, almost reverting back to the boyish stutter of his youth. “Wouldn’t miss it. Stan says he’s on a winning streak.”

Richie gave a curt laugh, before raising an eyebrow questioningly. “I’m sure I won’t hear the end of it, then.” He kept his tone conversational, plain, and unconcerned.

“He’ll be taking all your chips tonight, either way.” Bill said with a fake laugh as he tugged on his earlobe. Richie got the hint, glancing toward the window again. The slight rustle of a low hanging tree branch was enough to confirm his suspicion. Glancing around for inspiration, his eyes landed on the watch on Bill’s left arm.

“Say, Bill, S’at the watch Stanley got you for your anniversary?” Richie cocked his head towards the garage door.

“Sure is, made by his father, same as yours.” Bill nodded.

“Looks like it’s speeding up again, want me to take a look?”

“Sure, sure.”

The two kept their eyes locked on any open window they passed as they made their way into the garage, where Mike had set up his gardening bench, and Eddie had built his workstation. Eddie worked at a local chinaware store making ceramic figurines, each a tiny, intricate masterpiece. Richie took a moment to admire the small delicate pieces, the wonderful figures each holding the magic that he knew exuded from Eddie’s fingertips. These figurines were one of the things Richie found himself repeatedly falling in love with over and over again. Eddie never failed to amaze him with the things he could create. Every time he set about his work he would come out the other side with a magnum opus. Of course the man was always ridiculously humble about the affair, always blushing and brushing off Richie’s praises, but when he was at the bench, back hunched, glasses on the tip of his nose and his face scrunched up in concentration, he was a God in his element, and no amount of protest would ever convince Richie to think otherwise.

The reverie was ripped from his mind at the sound of Bill closing the door, the click of the latch as it slotted into place disrupting him.

“Rich, we’ve gotta change our plans.” Bill blurted urgently.

“Not yet.” Richie mumbled, eyes still on the line of figurines scattered across the work surface, a hand raised to silence Bill. He ignored Bill’s look of urgency and crossed to the bench, a hand trailing over it’s surface, before his eyes found the answer he was searching for.

Flipping the switch for Eddie’s fine sander, he turned to face Bill with a nod. The sound of the machine filled the room, as Bill crossed over to the bench to stand with him. Richie picked up one of the tools left out on the bench and gestured for the watch, fiddling with it and pretending to fix it.

“Okay, Bill. What’s happened.” He muttered under his breath, just so that he was barely audible to Bill underneath the hum of the sander.

“The guard we paid off- he’s had his shift shortened. He contacted me just a bit ago; he’s gonna be off at eleven instead of one.” Bill basically whispered, nervously watching Richie’s hands as they fidgeted.

“So we move it up a couple hours, big deal.” Richie feigned a shrug, his skittish swallow betraying him.

“Yeah right it’s a big deal, it’s gonna be a lot harder to pull off, you know there’ll be more guards on the field-”

“And if any of those guards stop us to ask, we’ll tell them we’re your family come to see the ships you work on.” He fixed Bill with a serious, placating look, steeling himself. Bill gulped.

“You think it’ll work?”

“It’s got to.”

“Does Eddie know?”

“I’ve just told him. Stan?”

“I have a.. A plan, to tell him… roundaboutly.”

“Mike doesn’t know.”

“Beverly got it out of Ben, but they didn’t speak of it in front of the kids. As long as they were careful…”

“Let’s just keep it that way, yeah? I wasn’t gonna tell Eds, but he looked like he would have about killed me if I kept talking cryptic… Maybe Stan and Mike should just…” Richie trailed off with a sigh. “God, does it even matter now? We just need to get through the evening, and if we’re only seeing each other…”

“Your point is sound Rich, but…” Bill’s fingers flew up to his earlobe again. “We both know there’s still some risk.”

Richie nodded, looking down at the watch and tool in his hands. He set both down on the bench and instead picked up one of the figures perched there. Eddie kept a small framed photo of the two of them at their wedding, surrounded by the rest of their group of friends, on the bench near his workstation. Bill, to Eddie’s right, a proud best man, and Stanley, on Richie’s left, Bill’s counterpart at the ceremony. Next to Bill was Beverly, red hair cascading and held tight in the grip of her then eight month old daughter Amelia, her proud father Ben on Bev’s other side, drink in hand and face frozen in a beaming smile. Beside Stanley stood Mike, a flower from his garden in his lapel, the arrangements on all the tables, and the boutineers of all the attending men in the wedding party. Each of them had a look of elation shining out of their faces, from Beverly’s crooked but blindingly white teeth to Eddie’s squinted eyes behind his spectacles. The wedding had taken place during the brief period in their timeline where they’d both had glasses; just before Richie’s laser surgery and just after Eddie had jokingly tried on Richie’s specs to find he desperately needed them. Richie’s eyes behind the thick frames were magnified, and in them he saw only love. His face was turned down towards Eddie’s, watching the smaller man laugh. He remembered the jab he’d just given Eddie’s side, trying to elicit a tickle-induced giggle for the camera. Richie studied his own face more. Written plainly alongside the endless stream of affection for the boy next to him was also another fountain; one of hope, of power, of bright longing for a future. The man that had gotten married that day had done so with determination to make that lovelight last. He had sworn that day he would love Eddie until he was a dying man, but had failed to consider just how soon that could come upon him.

Next to the photo was a small collection of figures Eddie had saved at Richie’s behest, one’s Richie had insisted were his best works and should be kept at home, instead of wasted in the outside world. Richie knew Eddie had only really kept them to get Richie to stop harassing him about it, but at this moment he was damn thankful to have won that fight. The one clutched in his hand was a small, vanilla painted bear, one Eddie had made clear back in the beginning of his career. It was misshapen in some places, and the paint was faded and uneven, but it was by far Richie’s favorite piece of Eddie’s. He loved it so much mostly because of the way Eddie had beamed when he had finished it, the way he had shyly handed it over to Richie and said Chee look I finished one, the way he had literally glowed with happiness as Richie lifted him in a swirling hug, laughing and kissing his face with praise. He remembered that moment every time he glimpsed the bear that sat on the bench, or sometimes their nightstand, or on the kitchen table. It was sometimes moved around, picked up on a whim and set down absentmindedly. Over the years Richie had developed quite the habit of moving knickknacks when he was unfocused.

Richie looked down at the bear in his palm, and closed his fist around it in determination. He suddenly stuffed it in is pocket, reaching out to grab the other six that sat near it. A bird, a bouquet, a bible, a key, a bicycle, and a slim silvery-black painted miniature vinyl record Eddie had given Richie for a gift one anniversary. In the shuffle it had made its way down here, along with the others, and was now joining them in the lining of Richie’s pockets. He then picked up the frame and began detaching the back, fingers trying to prize it open as Bill watched in slight confusion.

“The plan stays the same.” Richie said, still quiet under the buzzing machine, as he freed the photo from the frame. “We do everything the same, but we leave at ten.”

Bill watched him tensely as he folded the picture and placed it in the breast pocket of the suit jacket he still wore. “Okay. I’ll tell Ben when I get home.”

“Don’t. I’ll tell him when he gets here for cards. Just make sure they’re all packed.” He tapped a finger on the outside of the pocket. “You and Stan too.”

Bill nodded, fingers slowly moving to pick up the watch.

“I’ll see you at seven.” Bill said quietly as Richie turned off the saw.

“Well, Bill, I think you should be okay, but you should have the old father in law check that out when you and Stan go up and see him next month.” Richie said loudly, his raised tone casual enough to be convincing but a bit jarring after the noise. “I’m no horologist, so it’s not gonna be a perfect fix, but it should hold up till then.”

Bill nodded as he strapped the watch back on his wrist. “Thanks Rich. We’ll be over around seven for cards. Hope you’re feeling lucky.” He fixed Richie with a pointed look before turning to exit. Richie took one last look at the bench, eyes scanning over the figures scattered across its top, before deciding not to grab more and following Bill out of the room.

He did not turn to look when he turned out the light, thankfully so. Because if he had, he would have seen the not so slyly hidden face of Henry Bowers as he turned slowly to watch the two men through the window.

________________________________________________________________

“I’ll take three.” Mike mumbled, sliding his discarded choices across the glass table to Ben, who reached into the deck to grab three new cards for him. Mike took a small sip of his scotch as he accepted them, sighing a bit to himself as though he was displeased with what he received. He then dropped a single green chip into their pile in the center. He nodded to Eddie, who was absentmindedly twirling his hand through his fingers.

“Oh, uh, just two.” He took a moment to rifle through his cards before tossing two to Ben. “How much did you put in?” He asked Mike quietly as he accepted his new cards.

“Five.”

Eddie grabbed one of his dwindling stash of green chips and added it to the pile before taking a long drink out of his own glass. They had collectively decided with a silent agreement to crack open the bottle of high dollar alcohol Eddie and Richie had kept since their wedding, citing they were saving it for a special occasion. It had been forgotten when Bill and Stanley’s marriage had rolled around, and decided against each time one of the girls was born, and had remained gathering dust in their curio cabinet since.

Richie had thought tonight was as good as any to polish it off.

“Four.” He said after a swallow of his own, sliding the cards past the pile of chips between he and Ben.

“That bad, huh?” Ben joked, grabbing the new cards for Richie with a small, nervous smile. Benjamin, bless his soul, the only one of them who was still trying to find some kind of lightness in all their intensity. Richie only responded with a non committal noise as he viewed his new hand.

“I fold.” He sighed, laying his cards down and draining his glass.

“Damn shame.” Bill tried a smirk, reaching to deposit his green chip in the pile without trading in any cards. “You were just starting to turn a profit.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll just have to settle it with me next week.” Richie chided, causing silence to fall over the table. Bill gave him a small, quizzical look, as Richie raised his eyes to look at him. They shared that look for a brief moment, before Richie’s words dawned on them and they proceeded to dissolve into laughter. Ben laughed a bit timidly, like he was unsure of whether or not he was allowed in on the joke. Beverly and Mike shared a look of utter confusion as Eddie turned white. Stanley gave Bill an incredulous look, but was unable to decipher exactly what it was that had set his husband off. Bev and Ben’s daughters, Amelia and Lillian, sat undisturbed by the commotion on the carpet, playing with dolls they had brought along boredly.

Eddie cleared his throat as Richie and Bill’s laughter turned from mirth to neurotic bursts. “Maybe we should put up the bottle.” He tried, reaching to the center of the table to replace the stopper. “Um, tea, anyone? I’ve got a pitcher of iced…”

“That sounds wonderful, Eddie.” Beverly caught his eye, attuned acutely to his skittish behavior. “I’ll come with you and get some water for the girls.” Eddie nodded his agreement and the two stood, Beverly gesturing to the girls to come with them as they entered the kitchen. The sound of clinking glasses and pouring liquid pierced the silence that remained around the men in the living room before being broken completely by Mike.

“Bathroom break.” He muttered as he stretched, before standing and leaving the room. Richie waited until he heard the click of the latch before reaching for the bottle in the center of the table, unstopping it, and pouring himself another full glass.

“We finished the calculations.” Bill said after a moment of watching Richie drink. He gestured to Stan, who pulled a small folded square of paper from his shirt pocket. Stan unfolded it and spread it out on the table where Richie could see. Ben hopped the empty seat between him and Stanley that Bev had vacated, and joined the others in looking down at the diagram.

“By we he means I did.” Stan griped. “And I’d still very much like to know what this is about.” Stan gave Richie a hard look.

“You haven’t told him?” Ben asked Bill, brow furrowed.

“Coming from the guy who let it slip to Beverly-”

“She is my wife, you can’t expect me to just-”

“And I am your husband, so please, enlighten me.” Stan cut off Ben, joining him in staring down Bill, who was too busy looking at Richie for defense.

“Go ahead.” Richie shrugged, taking another swig.

“Stan-”

“Here we are, tea for everyone.” Beverly’s voice interrupted Bill, who flipped the paper over quickly in front of him. “Benny, you’re in my seat.” She joked as she handed Ben his glass, handing the other in her hand to Stanley, who was still eyeing Bill for an explanation.

“Sorry dear, just conferring with my financial adviser here.” He joked, elbowing Stan good-naturedly. “He says I shouldn’t bet so high next round.”

“And you really shouldn’t need Stan to tell you that.” She laughed as she sat down in Ben’s old seat. “Common sense should have that covered.”

There was a small smattering of snorted laughter at that, as Eddie came into the room with more glasses in his hands, doling them out to the remaining guests. Richie declined his.

“We ready to get back to it?” Stan said pointedly, practically daring Bill to respond as the the girls resettled themselves on the couch, snuggling up with the arm rests as though they were going to nap. Bill only glanced at his husband apprehensively, appearing like a fish groping for air as he searched for his words. Thankfully he was saved by Richie, who was rifling through his cards impatiently before calling out.

“Mike! Hurry up! We’re gonna get started!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” Mike sighed as he turned the corner to re-enter the room, bumping into Eddie as he tried to return to his seat. “Oh, thanks.” He muttered as he accepted the drink in Eddie’s outstretched hand. He took a seat and began conversing with Richie, while Bill and Stan carried on a mumbled but heated conversation to their left, with Bev and Ben still joking around across from them.

Leaving Eddie the only one to hear the doorbell.

He froze as the small ding echoed near him. Placing his full glass on a small table in the entryway, he walked as if in a daze to their front door, not bothering to look through the peephole before flicking the lock.

“Hello-?” He said as he swung the door open, his intended end to the sentence bottoming out along with his stomach.

“Why, hello there Mr. Kaspbrak. Lovely evening isn’t it?”

The sneering face of Henry Bowers greeted him from his darkened doorway, the streetlight of their cul de sac illuminating him from behind and casting an eerie glow around his silhouette.

“Mr. Bowers…” Eddie barely managed, voice wavering as he tried to pull in a breath.

“Say, is your boy home? I have some business to discuss with him.” Henry said casually as he removed his hat.

Eddie turned to look at his friends, all distracted around the table.

“Richard?” He said in a small voice.

Richie turned to look at him over his shoulder, as well as a few of the others, whose faces all dropped as soon as they took in the sight before them.

“Mr. Bowers is here to see you.” Eddie continued, gripping the knob of the still open door as though it were a lifeline.

Richie’s curious expression was instantly replaced by one of white faced anger. He’d become no stranger to seeing Bowers at work, hell, the man was one of his superiors, he had to interact with him regularly. But it was another thing entirely for him to enter his home, as he was doing now.

They could all feel it, the memories of their youth coagulating like sludge as Bowers casually trudged across the carpet, stopping between Bill and Richie, who sat with the diagram face down between them and identical expressions of distaste as they looked up at the man. Eddie remained frozen at the door, unable to make himself move enough to swing it closed.  

“Well, what have we here? A little game of cards, huh Tozier?” Henry said with a smile as he set his hat on the table, over top of the paper.

“Just a few rounds.” Richie forced himself to say, keeping his gaze on the man in front of him, no matter how much he wanted to check on his husband, still frozen at the door. He felt his blood boiling and singing under his skin, his rage over Bowers having the audacity to enter his home just barely being overridden by his terror of their plot being discovered. If Henry somehow caught them in the act, or reported them…

They’d watch the world burn from a prison cell.

He settled for clearing his throat. “Would you care for a drink?” He tried to sound as hospitable as he could.

“That would be excellent.” Henry smiled down at Richie, before turning to look at Eddie. “Does your Eddie here still make that wonderful tea?”

Eddie’s color went yellow as Richie’s jaw clenched, seething at the use of the name.

“He does. I’ll get you a glass.” Richie made to stand.

“Nonsense, he’s got it covered. Isn’t that right, Eddie?” Henry said sharply, eyes locked with Richie’s, who still sat because Henry was now far too much in his space to allow him room to stand.

Eddie stood frozen at the door, his mind fighting a million battles (first and foremost, stopping him from running out the open door altogether) before clicking back on again.

“I’ll be right back with a glass.” He closed the door, composing himself. He caught eye contact with Mike, who had been monitoring him with care. They shared their look, one perfected over many years of friendship and caring for each other, Mike’s raised eyebrow an unspoken question.

Eddie shook his head no, before disappearing into the kitchen.

“Nice night.” Henry mused as the group watched he and Richie with trepidation. The girls were settled on the couch, grateful they had gone unnoticed and hoping it would continue. Every once in awhile Ben would steal a glance at them, praying (as much as it hurt him to do so) that Henry’s attentions would stay focused on Eddie. He subconsciously reached a hand down to touch the faint scar that remained on his stomach, and remembered.

“It is indeed.” Richie responded mechanically.

“It’s a night for a tall drink on a porch. And sleep. Nothing else.” Henry gave Richie a pointed look.

“Right you are.” Bill said suddenly, trying to deflect the conversation as he watched Richie’s nostrils flare, sensing his friend’s anger was on a precipice. “Stanley and I are just about ready to head home and do just that.” Bill patted Stan’s leg, but left his hand there, hoping it would help comfort his partner, whose worry was plain. “I’ve been up north all week testing an aircraft, so I’d like to call it an early night. Haven’t gotten much sleep recently.”

“Is that aircraft the one we’ve been hearing about over in operations? The one they’ve said’s capable of even possibly leaving the atmosphere?” Henry questioned him with a raise of his brows.

“That’s uh, that’s the goal. Eventually.” Bill swallowed. “But we’re really not even close to that part yet. It’s mostly been about keeping her in the air.” He said with a timid laugh.

Eddie entered the room again, glass in hand, which was trembling as he crossed the space to give it to Henry. He reached out, slowly, doing his best to quell his quaking nerves as he extended the cup.

“Here you are.” He said, barely making eye contact with the man.

Despite his best effort, Henry took notice of his shaking hand.

“Say, Eddie, you’re a little nervous there.” Henry joked, reaching to accept the cup with one hand, the other coming up to wrap around Eddie’s wrist. Eddie’s hand shook violently, his frayed nerves betraying him. Henry removed the cup from his hold completely, the other hand turning Eddie’s arm just so, so that the jagged scar on his forearm was staring up at them. “You’re very nervous.”

Richie watched the exchange as though through a tunnel, his vision red. His mind filled to the brim with violent memories, each pulling more and more seedlings of anger out of his subconscious.

Thankfully Stanley, ever the observant friend, intervened before Richie could do something brash.

“He’s only upset over how much of their vacation money Richie’s lost to us tonight.” Stan joked. “Bill and I have been making a clean sweep.”

“I can attest to that.” Ben joined in, giving Richie a placating look. Richie missed it, his eyes locked on the hand still closed around his husband’s wrist.

“But we won’t settle it out tonight.” Bill said, looking up at Henry’s back. Bill had never been afraid to look the man in the eye, no matter how much he had tortured their ragtag gang. He only wished now he had the opportunity to. Bowers was still facing away from him, attention fully turned to the small man trapped in his grip, who was gazing at his face like it was a theatre screen displaying a particularly sickening sequence.

All his life Bill had sworn to keep any need for that expression from ever touching his friends.

“Next week. I want to give Richie here another shot.” He continued, urging the man with all his mind power to turn around.

“Next week?” Bowers turned just slightly to look at Bill over his shoulder, not releasing Eddie’s hand. “You certainly plan ahead.”

Bill swallowed, refusing to address the menacing intent in the statement. “A week? Nonsense. We play cards on a regular basis.”

“Shame you aren’t settling it tonight.” Henry shrugged. “A lot can happen in a week.”

Henry made eye contact with Richie.

“A lot can happen in forty eight hours.”

Bill’s stomach dropped.

“Not much that can sway me from collecting.” Bill managed a skittish laugh. “Though I’m sure Richie would take the gamble on that.”

“Oh I wouldn’t be surprised. I’d think Mr. Tozier here would gamble on most anything.”

Bower’s kept his eyes locked on Richie’s, his hand tightening almost imperceptibly around Eddie’s wrist.

Almost.

“Well.” The hand finally released, falling to Henry’s side. “I’d better head on home. Nice evening for a bit of a walk.” He raised the glass he had been holding and downed it quickly. He replaced it on the table, lifting his hat, his eyes on the paper underneath it. He made as if to scoop it up, but it was quickly snatched by Stanley.

“Better not lose this. I’d rather get my payment from Rich in full. He’ll swindle me, I have no doubt.” He tried to joke, but the power of it died out.

“Keep an eye on him then, lads.” Henry smiled, placing his hat back on as he turned, stopping to step even closer into Eddie’s space. “Have a good evening, Eddie.” He said lowly, eyes boring into the smaller man, who was nearly quaking. Bowers then turned fully to exit, finally stepping away from the table.

“I’ll walk you out.” Richie muttered, more so to the table than Bowers, as he stood quickly and followed the man to the door.

Henry stopped once the front door had been opened and he was stood on the porch.

“I’ll see you at the factory tomorrow?” He said pointedly, glancing down the street.

“Of course.” Richie said mechanically, imagining himself slamming the door repeatedly on the parts of Bowers that still remained in its path.

“Clear night.” Henry said as he looked up at the sky, a smattering of stars visible beyond the haze of the streetlights. He paused for a beat, clearly taking his time and enjoying letting Richie stew. He knew what his superior was doing; he got the message he was sending loud and clear. What Bower’s didn’t understand, however, was just how stubborn Richie could be. “Good night for stargazing.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Richie said quietly.

“Ever think about what it would be like? To be out in the beyond, among those stars? If there’s a life out there?” Bowers took out a cigarette and lit it.

“It’s crossed my mind once or twice.”

“Yeah.” He took a drag. “I don’t doubt it.”

With one last glance up at the sky, he walked away, a trail of smoke following him down the street.

Richie waited until the man had turned a corner before ducking back inside, slamming and locking the door. His friends had remained frozen in their places, listening intently to see if they could hear the hushed conversation.

Eddie still stood, frozen in the same place, his wrist held close to his chest and his face vacant. Richie turned, his back against the door, sighing as the tension dropped away in waves. After a moment the two made eye contact, Eddie’s awareness returning to him, before appearing as though he would burst into tears in that moment. Richie rushed forward, pulling his lover into his arms. He wound an arm around Eddie’s middle, the other coming up to cradle the back of his head and card lightly through his hair. Beverly watched the exchange for a moment before turning to Ben, and in one swift movement they had both arisen and crossed the room to check on the girls, who looked frightened and bewildered. Stan and Bill were holding each others hands in a death grip, while Mike looked at them imploringly for an explanation. When it seemed none would come, he spoke.

“Eddie, are you alright?” Mike stood, placing a hand on Eddie’s shoulder as he stayed wrapped in Richie’s arms. Eddie simply shook his head, face still buried in Richie’s chest. Richie stroked a hand through his hair, whispering encouragements occasionally as Eddie trembled. Mike rubbed a small circle with his thumb, sighing in frustration. “Anyone want to tell me why Henry Bowers was just in your house?” He looked at Richie, Bill, and even Ben behind him who all looked guilty. The three of them shared another look with each other before Richie spoke.

“The time is now.”

“The time for what, exactly?” Mike pressed, taking caution not to tighten his hold on Eddie’s shoulder in frustration, concentrating on keeping the touch comforting.

“Mike, I’m sorry, we should have told you sooner about this. We were trying to keep it as quiet as possible, so we figured the least of us that knew the better, but we’re leaving.”

“Leaving? Leaving where?”

“Far from here. Look, we don’t really have time to get into the details, but Ben and Bill and I have been planning this for a few months now. We’ve bribed a lot of people over at the factory, we’ve got a ship filled with supplies waiting for us, and we’re getting in it, tonight.” Richie rubbed his hands over Eddie’s back, hoping to help the man compose himself. “We have to go soon, because if there’s one thing I know for sure, that was no coincidence. I think Bowers is on to us.”

“Rich, this is a lot-”

“I’ll say.” Stan cut in, looking angry. “You didn’t think to let us all in on this?”

“It was to keep you safe-”  Bill tried defending himself, still gripping Stanley’s hand.

“What I don’t understand,” Mike said loudly, commanding the conversation again. “Is why it’s got to be tonight.”

“I think you know why.” Eddie said quietly, voice muffled by Richie’s suit jacket.

Beverly went white, Lillian clutched in her arms.

“It’s coming.” She looked at Ben, who nodded.

Mike’s anger dropped, fear replacing it instantly.

“How long?”

“Bowers didn’t pick an arbitrary number.” Eddie said bitterly, standing up straight, wiping quickly at tear tracks down his cheeks.

The room remained silent for a moment as the severity of the situation sunk into the adults. Richie silently fussed over Eddie, wiping his face and fixing his hair, occasionally dropping a kiss on his forehead as Eddie gathered himself.

Bill eventually broke the silence.

“We should head out now. I’m not sure how much time we’ll have before-”

He was cut off by the tone of the house phone.

It rang loudly from the corner, its shrill tone cutting to the core of the frightened adults, sending shock waves back into Eddie as he looked at Richie, fear plain on his face. He shook his head quickly.

“Don’t.”

“Eds, I’ve gotta answer it.”

“Don’t, let’s just go.” He pleaded. Richie shook his head before letting go of his husband and crossing the room to answer the phone.

“Tozier residence.” Richie said dryly. The rest of the group waited with bated breath, unable to hear the other end of the conversation. “Tonight? I’ve already gone to bed.” Richie’s eyes darted back and forth, his hand coming up to scratch his left ear, as it always did when he was trying to think of a lie. He made as if to speak again, before the dial tone sounded, signaling the end of the call. He replaced the phone slowly, heart rate increasing. “That was my work.” He addressed the room. “They’re sending a car for me. Production services wants us all in tonight.”

“We need to leave now.” Bill said, standing. “Stan, go get our bags from the car. Ben, I suggest you get the girls ready to go, you’ll follow us in yours. Mike, can you pack quickly?” Mike nodded numbly, his mind racing to struggle to accept what was happening. “Rich, go get the car started. I’ll help you pack it.” Everyone began a mad scramble through the house, collecting various items and packing them into cars. Eddie stood frozen through the chaos, eventually slowly moving to clean up the abandoned glasses left on the table. Richie found him and stopped him, gently placing a hand on his arm.

“This is foolish, isn’t it.” Eddie said dejectedly. He looked at Richie, sadness filling his eyes. “We’ll never be back here again.”

________________________________________________________________

“Here. Gate 6A.” Bill said quietly as he pointed at a diverging path in the road they had been following. Richie made a sharp right, glancing in in the rear view to make sure Ben had followed. The headlights behind him curved, hugging tight to their path without wavering. They continued along the road for a couple of tense minutes until they came upon a section of fence. Richie pulled up to it slowly, killing the engine and the lights as they approached. He looked into the rear view again as Ben swung up behind him, the headlamps illuminating the silhouettes of Stan, Mike, and Eddie in the backseat. Richie caught Eddie’s worried gaze, hoping to infuse as much courage as possible into his husband.

But as Ben’s lights clicked off, Eddie’s fearful gaze becoming shrouded in darkness, he thought perhaps he didn’t have much in the first place.

He undid his seat belt, swallowing thickly. He shared a nod with Bill, who climbed out of the passenger side. They closed their doors softly behind them as Ben emerged from the drivers side of his own car, Beverly staying inside with the nervous girls.

Ben approached the fence, fingers trailing over the thick piece of locked chain that held the opening closed. He continued to look beyond the barrier, eyes alighting on a large, circular aircraft a few hundred yards away from them on the field.

“So there it is.” He said quietly as Bill came to stand next to him.

“There it is.” He agreed, Richie joining them.

A small pinprick of light suddenly appeared from the shrouded area of black night beyond the fence, west of the aircraft.

“Is that out contact?” Richie whispered, recognizing the light as the short flash of a handheld light.

“Yeah, that’s him.” Bill nodded, turning to the car. “Stan, flash the lights, just once hun?” He whisper-yelled. Stan nodded nervously, climbing over the front seat to reach up and flash the headlights. When he sat back down, he placed a hand on Eddie’s quacking knee.

“It’s gonna be alright, Eddie.” He said calmly.

Eddie so badly wanted to believe him.

The light returned, illuminating a razor thin beam as it cut through the darkness from the same source. Instead of being a staccato beam, it remained lit, as the holder began walking towards their small group gathered on the other side of the fence. Mike could tell from the tense set of Bill’s shoulders that something was amiss in the situation, and was about to throw open the door and emerge from the car when the hand- and face- the light belonged to was thrown into relief by the new proximity.

“Evening, Mr. Tozier.”

Next to him, Eddie gave a small, terrified sob.

“You know, when I said it was a nice night for a walk, I didn’t think you would have walked this far.”

Stanley’s blood ran cold at the sound of the dry, short laugh that accompanied the statement.

Mike’s mind stopped altogether when he noticed the gun.

Eddie made another noise of fear, this one much louder, as he presumably saw it too. Bowers took notice, raising the flashlight he had in his right hand to illuminate his face, a small smile of victory playing on his lips. He slowly cocked the pistol clenched in his left. Mike had to physically restrain Eddie from leaping over him and out of the side of the car. The last thing they needed in the situation was Eddie’s brash behavior, the way he always got when his emotions were pushed.

“So here’s how this is going to go.” Henry lowered the light, sounding almost bored as he continued. “You three-” He gestured broadly at Ben, Bill, and Richie, earning a sharp intake of breath from the group as they each collectively braced themselves for the worst. “Are going to stay where you are, very quietly. You two gentlemen-” This time, he swung the light, shining it on Mike and Stanley’s faces. “Are going to get out of the car and join them.” He reached into his pocket for a small key, used it to unlock the chain, and opened the fence to step through.

Richie was fuming, every muscle in his body screaming to rush forward and tackle the man to the ground, to pulverize every possible piece of the other man until there was nothing left.

Bowers clearly noticed.

“Then, after I join our little Eddie here, you will all get in your other vehicle and follow us to the authorities.” He finished, his smile growing as he turned to Richie, his satisfaction being fed by Richie’s look of sheer rage.

“Why him, alone?” Ben said, voice unwavering.

“Because I have a strong feeling our testy Richard will try any manners of funny business. Though I’m sure those thoughts are flying right out of your head now, aren’t they?” He raised a challenging eyebrow.

“Most of them.” Richie said, his words poison through gritted teeth.

Bowers stepped closer, gun trained on Richie’s chest.

“I thought I made myself clear to you enough times today Tozier, but apparently I’ll need to remind you, bluntly.” He moved forward again, a small yell erupting from Eddie in the backseat as he attempted to scramble his way out of the seat. In a flash, Henry turned, eyes locking with Eddie’s, his hand flying up to aim, Richie rushing with a shout to throw himself in between them-

But the gun did not go off.

Richie lowered the arms thrown up to shield himself to see Bowers, pivoted from where he stood, gun raised and aimed directly at Eddie’s head, which was just visible over Richie’s shoulder. Eddie had fallen back into his seat, his arms held tightly by Mike and Stan to keep him from jumping up again (and to haul him down for cover if necessary).

“Still don’t understand, boy?” Bowers said venomously. “You’ve lost. Now if you don’t cooperate with me you’ll get your man pack in more than one piece.” He stepped closer again, the butt of the gun practically resting on Richie’s shoulder as it stayed trained on Eddie. “Is that what you want?” Henry whispered. “Would you like me to break him again?” He sneered. Instantly the memories came flooding back to Richie’s, and for that matter, all of their minds. He shivered in fear, his head pounding, and he was fourteen again, watching his best friend scream in pain as his arm was snapped, four boys much bigger than any of them pinning him down and pulling him apart. He was fifteen, staring at the strange misshapen scar as Eddie cried and languished over it, knowing he was doomed to live with it the rest of his life. He was thirteen, watching Ben stumble into the river with a gaping wound in his stomach. He was twelve, watching Beverly’s hands shake from across the cafeteria as she endured another string of insults unfairly thrown her way, her bruises stark and fresh against her skin. He was sixteen, hauling Mike away from a fight, the two of them running like their lives depended on it as Henry screamed profanities after them. He was eighteen, driving Stan at sixty miles per hour through their residential zone to the emergency room on the third night of Hanukkah. He was thirty seven, watching a gun be trained on the face of Bill, his Bill, one of his closest and most trusted allies in all his life. He was overwhelmed, completely terrified, as he felt the weight of the weapon over his shoulder. Henry would always have that power over him, he languished. All their years as children spent attempting to get out from under Henry’s hellish reign of the school yard, only for him to become Richie’s supervisor, to continue to torment him in small, destructive ways years into their adulthood. His constant jeers and jabs at Eddie, who used to come pick him up or bring him lunch, his constant need to drop into the dress shop Beverly ran just to tell her horrible, vile things, his insistence on driving slowly down the street next to Mike just to make him uncomfortable, just to put him on edge. He was overwhelmed, by all of it. The constant torment had worked.

In that moment, Richie felt like they had truly lost.

Thankfully for him, for all of them, Stanley hadn’t.

“Because if you keep pushing me-” Bowers had continued, unheard by Richie through his haze. “I will.”

Stanley curled his fingers around the door handle, silently thanking God that Richie was far enough to the side.

“If you’d like him to last the little time you have left,”

Stan pulled, ever so slightly, the latch releasing.

“I suggest you and your friends listen to my instructions, and-”

Stanley slammed the door into Henry’s side, taking extra effort to knock his knees out of place. Richie lept into action, hands immediately reaching for the gun to wrench it out of Henry’s hands. They flipped, Henry’s back hitting the car as Richie fought him in his daze. Bill and Ben erupted, Bill literally diving over the top of the car to grab Henry’s neck in a choking headlock. Ben jumped into the fray, helping Richie as he wrestled the gun from Henry’s hands, which were immediately restrained by Ben. Richie did not hesitate, disarming the gun before grasping the butt in his hand and clocking Bowers in the side of the head, knocking the man out cold. The three men panted as they let go of Henry’s limp body, pausing only for a moment to watch it slide to the ground. Richie then dropped the gun immediately, the cold metal suddenly searing his hands. Bill collected himself quickly.

“We have to go.”

Richie found himself nodding, his brain kicking into overdrive as Bill turned to pull the gate open all the way. Ben dashed back to his car, hopping in and turning it on. Richie followed suit, immediately, feeling Eddie’s hand on his shoulder, a silent need for affirmation that Richie was okay. He placed a hand over his husbands as Bill climbed back into the car, revving the engine and driving as fast as he could take it, his eyes locked on the aircraft swiftly approaching.

As soon as they hit the field, searchlights locked on them, a guards voice raising a call over the speakers as the security scrambled to meet them.

“UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES ON FIELD. UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES ON FIELD. APPREHEND IMMEDIATELY.”

Ben and Richie pulled up to the ship haphazardly, skidding to a stop and not bothering to kill the engines. Everyone scrambled to jump out of the cars, trunks thrown open. Beverly and Stanley grabbed the girls, immediately boarding the ship with them. Ben and Bill followed them, as many bags as they could carry in their hands as they ran up the small ramp of stairs leading to an opening in the craft. None of them had time to stop and process what exactly they were getting themselves into, in the most literal sense. None other than Bill had been anywhere near the machine, which looked so unlike anything they had ever seen that they couldn’t even come up with something it was akin to. Mike and Eddie grabbed what they could from their trunk as Richie checked Ben’s car for any left behind items, double checking the backseat in case the girls had left some treasured toy. Bill came back out of the craft, running to its base to detach a strange array of pipes and pumps running into the side. Eddie and Mike ran up with their bags, throwing them inside carelessly as they turned to grab more. Richie was behind them with the last from their car, handing it up. Before they could all ascend, guards came rushing from the dark, batons drawn and poised to fight. Mike pushed Eddie, who was at the top of the ramp, back up into the aircraft, as he, Richie, and Bill remained to fight off the guards. It devolved into a good old fashioned fist fight, their blows earning them more ground as the three men moved higher up the ramp. Bill hit a switch on its side that caused the steps to start ascending into the machine. He then landed a kick to the chest of the last guard, who fell off the end of the platform. He caught one last glimpse of the ground as metal came up to meet metal, and knew, heavily in his heart, it was the last time he’d see the soil of his home.

________________________________________________________________

“How are we looking?” Mike asked, looking up from the small guidebook he was holding.

“So far, so good. It’s holding steady, just like the tests.” Bill replied, eyes on a screen of data.

“Think we’ll be able to maintain that?” Stan asked the question on everyone’s minds.

“I couldn’t say for sure.” Bill answered honestly, looking up at him. “But I’m hopeful.”

Stan took a moment to process his thoughts.

“If you’re convinced, that’s enough for me.” He finally said, crossing the small space of the hull to sit on the low bench where Eddie and Richie were huddled together. On the other side Ben and Bev were sat on the floor, each with a dozing child in their laps, Ben’s slack face nodding every so often, signaling how close he was to joining them. Beverly had remained silent with her face trained on the small viewing screen the entire time they’d been flying.

“Where are we headed, anyways?” Eddie asked timidly. “It’s stars. Stars so far away…” he trailed off as he too gazed at the screen.

“See the bright one? To the right, in the corner?” Richie said, his head chin tucked over Eddie’s shoulder. The two hadn’t let go of each other since boarding. Stan and Mike shifted so that they too could look at the screen. “That’s our destination.”

“We’ve been researching it in our division.” Bill said, joining them as they all looked at the star. “It’s got life on it, like us. It’s so damn similar to our planet, it’s frightening.” He folded his arms over his chest. “We’ll get there soon enough.”

“What is it?” Bev piped up from her corner. “What’s it called?”

“It’s the third planet from the sun. It’s called… Earth.”

“That’s where we’re going.” Eddie breathed.

Richie nodded. “To a place called Earth.”

________________________________________________________________

authors notes: okay so this is OBNOXIOUSLY late to the party but im so glad this is finally done! this very much got away from me and i wrote waaaaaayyyyyy too much so here’s this whole damn ass thing lmao. anyways i rlly hope u love it and that it suits u! i got the idea and ran too too far with it. thank u so much for bein patient, i was on a long work trip this past week and a half, so getting the last couple of scenes written didn’t happen until today //: i may need to go back thru and edit but ANYWAYS !! thank u for reading and i hope yall enjoy <3 i may end up doing an anthology series of one shots based on twilight zone episodes, so if you guys are interested in that message me and beg me to do it!!! i live to please <3 

tags list: @stennbrough @s-s-stutteringbill @gazeboseddie @misssiriusblack @mythgirl96 @crackhousetozier @reddieaddict @wincestklaine @beepbeep-losers @ayyyymichele @ttrxshmouth @megelizabethvh @tapetayloe @flickerflies @ghostbustermike @i-is-gazebo @reddiesetrichie @jessicarayheyman @r-u-reddiee @wyttolff @gayzier @hanscombeverly @kaspbrak-is-our-king @babybyelers @28shoes @nicoperryy

[castlehead]

:wanna write a pome bout fire an call it sicc burrn.-

Be happy as you tie your shoes it is another day the will is written and I need no longer pray to organize what wishes left and throw out the lies about that death of mine that would have been had I not decided a mulligan on the whole damn escapade and doctors blowing up my phonepiece on my way to peace at the top of an office building called oddly enough the oracle office building i scoped the spcs it seemed high enough this time to break thorough enough larger numbers of bones

it was damn hot i removed identifiable clothing in case somebody sicced an ambulance on me i was out in the sticks some upscale suburb in Lexington with all these trees fucking my signal i made a wrong turn it was so damn hot i actually got farther from where i was going to go to die at the top tip point of an office building called the fucking oracle of all things i don't even know what kind of symbolism that shit is i just know it was damn hot and I was buying time by saying I was on my way till it became obvious I wasnt then prayed to lord jesus that if I killed myself let no one else do it because I did please do yr genie powers thing grant my wish if even I shake from the impact of meeting the fiery dearth of hell as simultaneously i met the boiling paved ground of a parking lot that has nothing to do with me hoping a thorougher break and no one too sad or not really sad too long

i wrote my will at a gas station im not a lawyer but tried to shaipshape the legality ok enough

but I thought of my daughter and all reason got ghosted right quick and logical comportment that made me calmly walk to this random office building GPS FUCKING MY SHIT UP folks wondering where I am i saying I am on my way but like it's been so long and no Dan knocking just wanted to buy time but my daughter unraveled my heart out of this daft empirical natty tightness and my tired shaggy patrician aspect which I resent for looking like ive spent long st studies and am back for the summer to get some sun i resent my eloquence that seems and seems all day when I know not even the semester seems unseemlywack fuck drenching a good shirt walking his way to die whwerever because catching an uber to my suicide well that would be rather tasteless.

when I got in here i found a fortune hiding in this cubbie shits it said this

"people who give happiness deserve happiness."

i remember in my intercessions to christ I asked for a visible sign I would be certain of and thought of my daughter and thought tha best mystic indication was whatever sign I myself conjured as all in the end must be assessed by the only great vacuity that does not inspire suspicion because it is the one we own love is irrational it is fortified from the best reasons to die as something simply for its own sake and like the deviant flexing purples of parnassian for the sake of art i guess I can still satisfy my gluttonous desire for logic and reason and proving by maintaining the practice of art as causa sui equally valid for denying any higher symbol or point to perform as on that reasonless beautiful spectrum as loving for the sake of love and living likewise if even i must endure another shameful cry of wolf i end up being sensible by tossing aside my book of reasons for why I am mostly a problem and the selfishness of continuing to live and be a problem and someone this reason discarding reason is more reasonable.

life is funny. my will is writ i my lawyer by proxy christ telling my why to live with some stupid fortune about happiness.

but His insight has always come after the fact else he would meddle too much in my freedom. but I knew he met what he said.

my will is writ. i write it everyday. i have thought of it living i have thought of it the insensible force and the meaning entire that has no argument and needs no proof and exists the more than those things that do

             ...A FEW WEEKS LATER.

WE BE OUT HERE, BUT IN HERE !!

since I cannot leave this unit i will go outside an inside place I will pretend my imagination is real which I guess is what that is anyway but

/||knockknockknockknockknock!,!!!||

ITS NOT FAIR IM AFRAID TO LAY DOWN SO MUCH STRESS TOO GOD DAMNED LONG THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON I NEED A WEIGHTED BLANKET SHIT I NEED A QUIET ROOM MEDITATION SOMETHING MINDFULNESS PLEASE ANYTHING to distract

this feeling I need.. I need to talk to my social worker.. for the love of goddddssdd

i will hear these screams as the conversation of nice birds

it doesn't have to be special genus sparrows sound beautiful the most often

because their crew of them aflitter about one tree produce a nice litany of voices

small and excited and excitable Lacking patience like anything small

a nice cheeping of a bushel of birds in the bush, ripe as any sound

to collect the same as shiny red apples nice very nice I will hear that

instead of the screams of this fat patient who

selfish in her grief makes all the other patients anxious and cuts in line-

-at the med window becuase she must be attended to its serious can I

talk to somebody please

her tears already squint her eyes nearly out of existence suffocated

by big puffy fucking cheeks raw with grief that's been goin on so ling maybe it's both simulated

and of a sincerity developed over all this time doing it every day all day

screaming about her situation she says she's smarter than everybody and knows what's going on here

this really stout lady who is on-

-this damned filibuster long time now it's been

saying tearfully I am scared-

-of ECT & I DONT BELONG HERE THE DEPAKOTE TOOK AWAY MY FEELINGS

my epidermis will turn over and I willl look as tho skinned

it is alright and even tho it is

this is an act of desperation considering it's absurdity and the fact I spend my days

better than others who pace to pass the time the halls lit in this unwell shit ass light

my single act of rebellion was in refusing to lower the volume playing fairest of the seasons as a tribute

or something for this girl who liked Buddha who was leaving, and I said in the least patronizing way I could,

CHIN UP, KID.

i feel like she valued that little pearl of wisdom that rosebud of shit like that comes out finally when ya

constipated from all the decaf coffee cuz ya need a high somehow riht?

actually silly now to think of that that song by nico that German lady who sang for VU // eh I unnoh its pretty i guess..

it was cause someone I knew was getting discharged

against the life of deeply felt boredom. thing is I feel for her

i really do but this reaction doesnt help yr case ma'am

. . . . . .

[...psych units stop helping and start being a wear on the soul at some point, like resorting to leather sandals too much for any outside excursions. Alas, the wind, I can tell she misses how she feels on my face. I miss her openness, divine golden ointment of reality. Blowing hymns. For there I found myself more truly and more street]

COMING AT U VIA RADIO BROADCAST FROM AB2 SOUTH IN THE McLEAN-ASS MORN

ITS RAGEFUL AMES, THE HOST W/ YR DOSE OF LITHIUM

THE ’No Biggie’ STATION CUZ WE ALL GOTTA CALM OURSELVES

FOR AL THE DEMENTS OUT THURR

THE FIRST MORNING INSTALLMENT OF YACK YACK YACKING

AND A FEW MUSIC THINGS TO JUST MAKE THE VOICES STOP

[sucaritra]

Bāṛi - Chapter 14

Word Count: 1766

Warnings: language, anxiety, Negan

Summary: what the hell was that bang?

A/N: we’ve finally moved and slowly getting settled in so updates shouldnt take so long now. also, it’d be nice to hear from some of you cause i tend not to get comments on here, let me know how im doing or youre still reading xo

Masterlist

“James is out there. You think he's caught up in that?” you’re very aware of the increased thudding of your heart as your eyes refuse to stray from the thick plume of smoke in the distance.

As soon as Negan was positive that there was no immediate threat or danger, he’d left the boudoir with nothing more than an order to all the wives and yourself to stay put. You barely registered his exit as your mind turned a million miles a minute trying to come up with a plausible motive behind the explosion.

“He's a survivor, I’m sure he's fine,” Kira’s words did little to calm your nerves, though her comforting hand on your shoulder was a nice touch. “Besides, even if he is caught up in that, you never know, he might’ve been the one to set it to distract some walkers or some other threat. You never know.”

You didn't think of that. It was a tactic you’d used yourself in the past whenever you had found yourself trapped by the dead with no escape. Sure, you’d never caused massive explosions to distract the rotting hordes, but you didn't have the supplies that the Sanctuary and it’s Saviors had. Maybe this was a particularly large horde that needed maneuvering away from the Sanctuary?

“That's not a bad idea, but it is wrong.”

The sudden, distinctly male voice in the room full of women was enough to bring your guard up and immediately tear your gaze away from the window, only to land on Mason. He smiles warmly at you before his attention is drawn back to a slightly offended Kira.

“And how do you know that? Hmm?”

Mason slowly makes his way towards you as he replies, “because, he and the rest of his crew have no business being anywhere near whatever the hell that was.” Once he was standing in front of you, Mason turned you back around to face the window, reaching around you and pointing in the opposite direction of the fiery mess. “There. That's where they went scavenging. I organised their route myself. They're nowhere near it.”

The relieved sigh that escaped your lips caused Mason to squeeze your arm in reassurance as you smiled up at him, wholly grateful towards him for lifting the suffocating weight from your shoulders.

“Not that it’s not nice to see you, but what are you doing up here?”

“Negan sent me up here to watch over you ladies, make sure nothing big goes down.”

“You mean bigger than a giant explosion that rocks the entire building and can be seen for miles?” you can't help but raise your eyebrow at him, slightly incredulous.

Huffing out a laugh as he shakes his head, Mason concedes your point, “alright, little Miss Snark, what do you ladies do to pass the time around here?”

You shrug your shoulders, not bothering to tell him that this was your first time in here, before turning towards the closest wife, who just so happened to be Tanya.

“Well, usually we've got Negan to bounce on to pass the time, but that probably won't work now.”

“No, probably not.” You couldn't help but grimace slightly at that lovely image in your head now.

“Uhm… I think we've got some cards around here somewhere?”

With Mason watching his girls, Negan could direct all of his attention on the fucking shitshow that decided to interrupt his dinner. He stood out on the balcony of the first floor, giving his Saviors time to gather in the games room down on the ground floor. No matter where he turned his head, the opaque column of smoke always lingered in his peripheral, seemingly a constant in the scenery surrounding the Sanctuary,

Negan’s gloved hand clenched around Lucille at the sound of heavy footsteps coming up behind him, only to relax seconds later as he recognised Simon’s gait.

“Everyone’s ready boss.”

With one last long look at the blemish in the distance, Negan turned on his heel and made his way inside to address his people.

The plan was simple, they’d done this many times before. The explosion was a clear sign of survivors, how many, he didn't know. As with the discovery of survivors in the past, Negan will send out a group of Saviors to locate the group and “recruit” them to join the network of employees providing for the Sanctuary. If there are refusals to bend the knee, then some sorry fucker’s brain matter painting the ground should do the trick. If the stupid fucks still refuse, well, then Negan gets to have his fun.

Once the crews chosen to venture out and hunt down the culprits of the eyesore had been briefed and sent on their way, Negan decided to head back upstairs where he can wait for news on the expedition in the comfort of his wives.

And future wife.

Entering the boudoir, Negan spots his wives, minus Sherry and Amber, sat around a table with Mason playing cards. You watch as he searches the room for the other two wives, quickly taking notice of them through the open bedroom door before his sight finally lands on you lazing on the chaise lounge. You scooch over and make room for him as he makes his way towards you and drops down next to you with a heavy sigh.

You know it’s going to be a long night for your leader, so you sit in comfortable silence, leaning ever so slightly against his arm and watch the highly competitive game of Go Fish taking place in front of you.

“Last we heard from ‘em was four hours ago.”

“They would've been close to the source back then. No communication for four hours is not a good sign.”

“Well, shit, Einstein, ya fucking think?!”

Negan’s smartass retort to Fat Joey was enough to rouse you from your sleep, though you kept your eyes closed as you registered Simon getting the discussion back on track.

“We’ve probably got another Alexandria situation, thinking they can kill us off and it’ll all be fine and dandy.”

“If that's the case, then another big show should put things right.” You weren't sure exactly what ‘big show’ Mason was referencing, though you could guess it would be something you'd rather be ignorant of.

“Taking that many men would leave the Sanctuary vulnerable. Luke’s crew are most likely walker chow at this point and taking the amount of men you're suggesting will leave this place virtually defenceless.” the obvious challenge in Simon’s voice would've been enough to show the shock on your face if you weren't being a sneaky little eavesdropper right then.

“I’ll stay behind. If so much as a scratch befalls the Sanctuary then Negan can take it out on me. Hell, he can demote me if he wants but nothing’s gonna happen. All of the communities are, for once, in line. And it’s not like we haven't left the Sanctuary like this before, we always come back to her. You need to relax Simon, the stress is showing on that pushbroom you call a ‘stache.”

“Alright, ladies, put the claws away. These pyro-fucking-maniacs clearly need to be shown who the big dicks are around these parts. Mason, you're in charge while we're gone. I want updates at the top of every hour through the long range talkies. I couldn't give two shits about anyone below this floor, but if I hear there was anyone up here that shouldn't be? Well, getting demoted will be the least of your fucking worries.”

The clear threat brought goosebumps to your skin. Through his charming grins and carefree attitude, it’s easy to forget the brutality that's contained within Negan, the savagery which establishes Negan’s position as leader of the Saviors.

“Right, get the fuck out of here. We leave in twenty.” waiting until the door was closed behind his men, you're slightly mortified to find Negan addressing you, running a gentle hand over your hair, “So, what should I do with sneaky little eavesdroppers?”

Opening your eyes, you find that you're still on the lounge, though now you're leaning heavily on Negan’s arm where you undoubtedly fell asleep. Feeling somewhat chastened, you smile sheepishly and mumbled an apology as you lift yourself off of him.

Negan’s signature smile tells you that there are no hard feelings, though you feel your heart drop to your stomach when his heartbreaking smile is quick to vanish, replaced by a more serious expression. Reaching for your hand, he gives it a light squeeze as he looks you straight in the eyes.

“You still have that knife I gave you?” at your nod, he asks, “you got it on you?”

“I left it in my backpack, I didn't think I’d be allow to carry it.”

“As soon as you get a chance, you're gonna go get it and come straight back up here. Don't let anyone see that you've got it.”

“I don't understand. You think something will happen while you're gone?” You figured Simon was just being paranoid, making sure all bases were covered, but Negan was really starting to scare you.

“No. But I’m not willing to take that chance. I wouldn't be where I am today if I disregarded shit like that.”

“Okay, I’ll be careful.” You watched him carefully as he relaxed at your words, before softly uttering, “Come back soon, yeah? This place feels a lot safer with you here, surprisingly, and you've got me all paranoid now.”

“Baby girl, I’ll be back before you fucking know it. I've still gotta make you mine.” There's that killer smile of his that manages to bring heat to your cheeks and make you try your hardest, and fail, to not smile back.

“If you had mentioned how good the food was up here back when you first proposed, you might be speaking to wife number six right now rather than just your secretary.”

“Oh, sweet girl, you're not just anything. You are so much fucking more.”

Before he could elaborate any further, a voice crackling through the walkie signaled that it was time for Negan and his men to leave.

After taking in your features for a few seconds more, Negan rose from his seat, grabbing his jacket and Lucille.

You watched in slight awe as he wore his cocksure leader personality in tandem with his jacket, gripping Lucille tight and heading for the door.

Throwing one last cheeky wink your way, you watched Negan leave to unquestionably bash in a couple of skulls, recruiting more worker bees in the process.

tagging: @neganisking @backseat-negan @jdms-network