#sorry to my casuals the context is uh | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sm-baby · 8 months

Text

OFF-LIMITS

freakshow AU by @hootbon

Context || The Chosen one (Part 1(??))

PRETEND MARRIAGE FIC LETS GO!! Off-limits is a non-canon sort of continuation for The Chosen One!! Also Just putting it here: Showtime is not canon in freakshow AU!! I'm just.. being indulgent-👉👈

Word count: 7750

The pacing is a little off but I'll let you be the judge...OK ENJOY BYE HUGS AND KISSES!! NO BETA WE DIE LIKE MEN!! also if Hoot's reading this I'm so sorry.

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There were many benefits to being the ringleader's favourite.

One of them is being proposed to, apparently.

She didn't think her body still had the capability to choke, but apparently it was all too possible. She gagged, punching her fist to her chest on the flavourly assault on her throat, hacking wheezing as the grip on the tea table tightened.

Pomni winced, eyes twitching and swallowing before sitting back down with a not-so-casual tone in her voice. She faked a laugh “Haha… what-”

“ I'm marrying you."

The man sat on the opposite side of the tea table, classy, with full manners. the way his hands were politely on the table, proper yet focused… Caine so specifically wanted the meeting in Pomni’s room... She was perfect for the setting. A doll playing tea party. Classic. Simple.

“ A-And what does-”

“ It means my brother can no longer claim ownership over you."

Pomni inhaled and stirred the tea in her hands. She fawned a fake sympathy towards his perspective humming along as if she understood his reasonings…but she choked, this time mentally.

Were they seriously still on that dumb brother’s quarrel? Ownership? She didn't think Able would want to do anything with her after their last meeting but it seems the tension she's been feeling between the both of them has been growing… Caine’s brother has been nicer to her lately, she assumes, still in the effort for him to be in her good graces… but she didn't think it would really lead to anything, nor would she let it.

“... Ha." Was all that left her. Pomni doesn't often know what to say in tense situations. She lost herself in her thoughts, cupping her tea in both hands, nervous and tense. Of course, she definitely doesn't want to do this. She was more so thinking about a way to decline him rather than a yes or a no.

Uhh… hmm..

“ You would still be performing, but this also means you get to sleep in the old manor. Or so I think that's what husbands do… unless my sources are wrong which—“

Pomni could spit out her entire drink! That changes everything! “ YES-" she slammed her hands on the table.

Caine wasn't startled, but rather, just looked at her, raising a brow at the rude interruption. he'd look down, seeing that pomni just spilled tea over herself and the table… what manners.

“ Uhh-... Yes- that- that is what husbands do, yes… “ she sat back down, her voice awkwardly lowering to a timid whimper.

The gentleman barely looked at her, rather levitated a napkin to wipe the table. It was a cruel silence, almost like he dared her to explain such rude behavior.

Pomni cleared her throat “ sorry, I-I would uh… love to be married- to-- You… ?” Is that how one says yes to a proposal?

“ Ha. It humours me how you think you have a choice in the matter. “ Caine snapped his fingers, and the napkin disappeared. If he were to be perfectly honest, he saw no qualms in letting Pomni live in the manor. He would relish in the thought of her walking past his brother knowing she was officially unattainable. A sort of trophy of sorts. A taunt mayhaps. A jest. A silly funny mockery.

Meanwhile Pomni’s brain was completely somewhere else…

To have access to the circus on the regular while having more time in the manor… no more stupid games necessary, no more-- having to kiss up and hold the balance towards both brothers! This was a win! Of course this isn't a ticket out of the circus, but she's going somewhere, and it's refreshing compared to the circles she's been running for the past few months.

Pomni looked up to see Caine, sitting across her, this time with a hand extended to shake.

As soon as she shook his hand, a ring formed around her finger, from thin air, seemingly out of nowhere.

“To show that you're reserved."

Pomni looked at her finger, and-- honestly the way he said that made her skin crawl. Caine always saw Pomni and the others as lesser than him. And the way he proposed was no different from a person booking a seat at a restaurant.

The deal was struck and Caine wasted no time to get up and leave the room. A small good bye greeting, closing the door behind him, but otherwise his business there was done.

Pomni was still sitting on the tea table, thinking to herself, staring at the ring on her finger. It was like it was part of her body. She would try to pull it off but to no avail, no budging or anything.

She grit her teeth… great.

The two went their own separate ways thinking nothing and everything about the transaction… though it must have been quite the sight to see Caine leave the room, and have Pomni follow a few moments later, now with a ring on her finger.

“ No f@#$ing way.” Jax thought, seeing the sight.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it was certainly a Caine wedding.

The ceremony itself? she could barely remember any of it. Rather, small clouds of memories that were important.

The way she walked down the aisle so stiffly, like a gun was pointed at her head. The way Caine placed a ring on her finger, Kaufmo’s death gurgles as he officiated their wedding…

There were small comforts. She didn't actually think of it as anything special— more just a necessity rather than an actual wedding, but some of her friends tried to make it special for her. Ragatha was sitting front row in support not for the union but for Pomni herself– Kinger hallucinating, holding her hand in a father daughter dance. And Gangle making the the effort of getting her a wedding gift– or what she could give anyway…which was a drawing of her in her wedding dress.

Caine wasn't even present in the after party. He just placed the setting and left the guests to their own devices. That was honestly a relief for Pomni for a short while, to be able to hang out with the closest things she had to “friends”. She had the lone memory of Ragatha and Kinger giving her a drink, and asking her how she was doing.

They've both been well aware of her motives by now. Exit, exit, exit. At this point they were convinced that was her form of insanity. But they supposed that little bit of hope was keeping her going.

Kinger turned Ragatha then back to Pomni. “ We hope you know what you're doing.”

“ I never said I did…” the bride said, her pitch getting timidly higher. “ But– it's a direction! I don't have a lot of expectations either, but…hey, I think I'd regret it if I didn't take the chance. ” She looked back up at them, embarrassed at her short rambling. “ Oh! I hope– you two are holding up relatively okay tonight?”

Ragatha chortled.

Kinger answered “ We haven't been okay for years, Pomni.”

“ Y-Yeah…I… I should have seen that coming, yeah…”

Suddenly, a slow song came on the reception.

Most of them weren't fond at the idea of a slow dance at first, but a tap from Ragatha to a ribbony friend (and a sister begging the other) later, people were on the dancefloor.

Ragatha danced with Gangle, then exchanging partners from her to Kinger. The Gangle AI found it funny to force Kaufmo and his rabbit friend in a dance. The night was going off with a hitch.

Ragatha swayed back to exchange partners from Kinger to Gangle, and the magician was off on his lonesome again. He took no offence to this, but standing in the middle of the dancefloor on his own, to a song that used to be considered romantic, he couldn't help but freeze.

He stared at one of the guests in the distance, the one who decided to sit out the activity. The one in the dark staring daggers at him as they dawned the very torso that used to bring him warmth.

Maybe…

… If she was still in there…

He could ask if—

Before Kinger could take one step further, a hand took his own, the hand of a very worried bride clearing her throat and walking him back into the dancefloor. “ Kinger, this sounds like a good song!” Pomni laughed nervously, heels clacking as she pulled him gently but insistently.

Kinger blinked, and turned to her. “...Oh! Yeah! It is!” And just like that, the old man was brought back to the dance floor.

It was almost like the poor were invited to their first celebration. Some were laughing, and there were definitely moments of teasing and natural play, but at the end of the day they knew they would be hungry again. It was an inevitability. Some chose to spend it to the fullest, some chose to wallow, some chose to make the best out of it.

Pomni struggled to keep up with the magician’s stature, but they figured it out after their earlier father daughter dance. She would be pleased to see that He was almost experienced with the way he moved.

Her dance partner wasn't all that mentally present, but she could see that he was calm. The way he listened to the music and closed his eyes was disassociated. But it was a look of contentment.

His grip was so sure yet gentle around Pomni. Holding her like it was the last dance he would ever have with someone.

She could only imagine what he was picturing in that brain of his. She dared not interrupt.

“ I've danced with someone before... I think.”

Pomni looked up at him. “ What do you mean?”

“ I don't know who that person was, but I remember feeling very nice when I was with her.”

Pomni sucked air through her teeth. She's heard… read… stories from Ragatha. Although it wasn't the most in detail, she figured out the jist just from hush-hush language she used.

She had a feeling she knew exactly what was going on. But it wasn't her business to correct him.

“ She must have been a great person.” Pomni said.

For the first time Kinger didn't feel like wood. His eyes relaxed just from that simple validation, a moment of blissful unawareness of where he was or who he was. Love spread from his heart, to his chest, to his finger tips, to the… little…friend? Yes, friend… that he was dancing with.

Pomni was well aware that she wasn't the person he was seeing at that moment. He had no thoughts, but the feeling of a powerful comfort took over him, he didn't care to take back anything else. Not his memories, not his sanity, not his mind. Like holding the hand that he once kissed. Spinning her, laughing with her, holding her close when the clock struck a romantic midnight.

He could feel a tear escape his eye.

“What about you, Pomni?” Kinger opened his eyes and suddenly realised that his hands were holding at nothing. Not a person, not anything. Kinger blinked and looked around, that blissful feeling suddenly becoming fleeting.

He was by himself on the dancefloor again

“... Pomni?”

Pomni would catch herself tripping forward. What was once the tiles that was the dance floor was now wooden, and unfamiliar. “Wh- wha- where…?”

In the blink of an eye Pomni was somewhere else. For a moment she was confused before turning around and seeing her new found husband, back turned to her, sitting, looking down from the balcony they were at.

“ Awfully rude of you to dance with someone more than your own husband.” He didn't even bother to turn to her. He was still looking down, hands on his would-be chin, sitting on a long chair made of cushion and fine wood.

“ I-I was just dancing with—”

Pomni was cut off by Caine slowly patting a space on the seat beside him. The cushion, comfortable, yet sturdy. Pomni gulped before approaching.

When she joined him she could see the view from above…it was an indoor balcony built for the rich to watch the poor.

From up high, Pomni could see the other performers, and quickly she scanned the dance floor to see Kinger, shaken, looking around and interrupting Ragatha’s dance in worry for where she went.

Pomni bit her lip and sunk down. Guilt over took her. She stood on her tiptoes, hands on the wooden railing and waved to be seen, to let them know that at least she's safe, and praying that they understood that she didn't leave them but-

Caine’s hand grabbed her arm. “ No, no. Let them figure it out.”

She froze from his touch. Caine guided her hand to make her sit down and she sunk in the seat right beside him. She looked down to read the others distress and felt immense relief when she made brief eye contact with Ragatha which then the assistant turned back to kinger, calming him down without making it obvious she's seen them.

Pomni sighed.

On her way to lean back on the chair, she felt an arm wrap around her shoulder, then pulling her to her side.

She stared at it for a moment, the arm. her body stiffened at the all too familiar touch, before looking forward, sweating, in denial at the situation.

Caine crossed his legs, an ankle on the other knee, still looking on at the view in front of them. His posture was far from hers. Swaying his crossed legs, relaxed, and confident. for a moment he looked at her and back down at the party.

Amazing reception as always, Caine. You've really outdone yourself with this one.

They stayed there in silence for a couple of moments. Caine was all too comfortable and Pomni had nothing to say to him. The groom would say that his bride looked beautiful that night, but in the most objectifying way possible. She was an accessory. She always was. Nothing different from a beautiful pearl necklace.

Maybe it was the way he was gripping her, but Pomni couldn't breathe with all the tension in the air. She let out a shaky breath, a face comparable to a cat hypervigilant towards a cucumber. Sometimes she forgets how affectionate Caine can get with her physically, and every time she just accepts it. Not like she can do anything about it really.

“ Wine, boss!” A servant walked into the balcony area. A voice so signature, and unmistakable Pomni didn't need to turn around. Caine and his bubble were inseparable except for the moments when they weren't. If she hadn't known any better she—

Pomni came back to reality.

…Wine?

“ Thank you, Bubble.”

Pop!

Caine didn't even have to lift a finger, the wine bottle was already levitating towards him as well as a wine glass, ready to pour.

“ Wine???” Pomni flinched, turning her whole body towards the bottle.

Caine blinked. “ Oh! How could I forget, you've never had this…” He thought to himself.

He would never let the circus members have wine for multiple reasons. The poor PG rating would go down if their mouths were without filter. And also he didn't need to have a bunch of wild animals run a muc and destroy the circus tent. But right then, he duplicated the wine glasses into two, pouring one for himself and for his bride.

“ Consider it a reward for being so attentive today.”

Pomni got her glass, and held it in both hands. God damn. She hasn't had alcohol in so long.

It was as plastic as expected but wine wasn't there for the texture. She was just about ready to drink the night away. Pomni tried to play it with manners but admittedly took longer sips than what she could usually handle.

They both continued the night in silence

and Pomni waited…

And waited…

And…

Motherfucker, this isn't doing anything to her!

The visible frustration was clear and Caine couldn't help but let out quiet snickering.

“ Huh—!?”

Caine snickered again, barely audible, but less is more. Pomni couldn't help but feel embarrassed. There he is again! Playing with her like always! “ You didn't actually think I would let it affect you, did you?”

“ No—! I… I didn't even think that you could--! I..!” The woman gripped the wine glass. “ ugh! ”Had it been for the fact that she had to watch herself around Caine, it would have been in pieces by now!

Caine would continue to laugh, not seeing any of the woman’s frustration as a threat. It would take a great deal to scare Caine. One could take a knife to his throat and he wouldn't take it seriously. Pomni wasn't even sure if fear was programmed in his AI.

But Pomni stared at the floor, eyes scribbled, forcing herself into disassociation to stop herself from doing something she’ll regret, and suppressing any more anger.

She hated him. She hated where she was. She hated so much of this. She had a long fucking day and she really didn't need this. She couldn't cry, she couldn't scream. She felt the strongest urge to have a tantrum in her room but that wasn't possible! She just can't win in this shit hole!

Ugh! God DAMN IT!

So much screaming went through her head, but it was nothing but silence on the outside. She was just about ready to be completely immobile for the night. Mentally skip pass the rest of the day, she could just explode and she would be okay with it.

Caine rolled his eyes and took a sip from his glass, but Pomni’s overall energy was too loud to ignore. He sighed.

The groom lifted her head up by poking a finger on her forehead, and forcing her to look up at him. “ As much as how beautiful you are pouting, it's really ruining my night.”

Silence.

“ Pomni, do you want to be intoxicated?”

Silence again.

…Caine patted her face.

“ Huh? What? Where am I?”

“ I'm noticing your desire to be intoxicated. Do you want to be drunk?”

Pomni squinted her eyes and furrowed her brows, looking at him in question. Suspicious. “ What's in it for—”

“ I will give you the ability to be intoxicated if you stop seething. I will not have this attitude on my wedding night.” Caine said, grumbling, taking another sip at his glass. “ So I ask you one last time, would you like to be-”

“ YES!” pomni cried!

Caine squinted his eyes at that reply, once again unamused by Pomni’s rude interruption. But this time she wasn't apologetic at all, rather grabbing at his collar desperately.

she continued. “ God, yes, please—”

Oh he really shouldn't be rewarding this behaviour.

And just like that, Pomni's glass was filled once again. It didn't take her long to start sipping but their mini deal came with boundaries:

(1)She is to take her time and behave while drinking.

(2)Caine has the ability to make her sober again at the snap of a finger.

(3) She may only have one glass of wine.

That was it. Truth be told, I didn't care for anything else. If she gets aggressive he could easily subdue her. If she hurt herself, as long as her dress wasn't ruined he was fine.

At first it felt like nothing. Pomni was just calm, her speech becoming slightly slurred, but otherwise it was just Pomni. She looked light weight and she was light weight.

Ah, that's more like it. Quiet.

He wrapped his arm around her again, and this time Pomni just accepted her fate. She leaned into his touch, thinking of him as nowhere different from a pillow.

Pomni’s vision could go blurry with how little attention she was paying at that moment. But she couldn't help but wonder. The blinding lights, the food, nice decor… and asked: “ Why all the effort?”

“ I don't say no to a celebration to my name! and yours I guess.” Caine mumbled that last part in the middle of a sip. “… and if my brother asks one of you, you have the right to say that our wedding was official.”

“ God, you two are such brothers….” Pomni muttered under her breath.

“ Only by code.”

The bride put a palm on her face, muffling her words. “ No… the fighting. The quaralling, the one upping… you act like little boys.”

“ …Excuse me?”

“ I didn't even think marriage can be official in the digital realm… you make the rules. Might as well make wedding certificates and it would be just as official.” Pomni chuckled. “ But you married me cuz you wanted to make your brother jealous.”

… He didn't have the energy to reply to such an immature, untrue, false, made up, retort. He just rolled his eyes. He had too much self respect to entertain such false assumptions. “ Ugh…” his face grew in disgust. Pomni without filter is worse that he thought. At this point he'd prefer if she got aggressive instead.

Time passed. Pomni wasn't very pretty when she was drunk. She'd have the ugliest laugh, and the crudest things to giggle at, though, the last one was a little amusing. But Caine was just waiting for til the moment the glass was empty so he could— pop! Snap her back to soberity.

But something intrigued him.

She started talking about his brother.

Her filter became less and less. And Caine perked up when she did. She talked badly about Able’s taste in music and art, how annoying it was whenever he visited the circus, how much she despised his very existence…

…Caine filled her glass again.

“ —a-and that nagging voice! ‘That sounds wonderful, sweetie!’ ‘ Oh, Pomni, you're so smart!’ God!”

Caine chuckled, and started leaning closer towards Pomni to hear her better.

Pomni continued,“ Oh he's so pretentious! And so-- so—”

“ Condescending?”

“ Yes! C-Condescending, patronizing, I— what am I? Nine??!”

Caine laughed! Oh hearing slander about his brother was music to his ears! And to hear it from someone to passionately-- he can't get enough! This was making his night!

“ S-say… was my glass always so full?” Pomni turned to her wine glass. She could have sworn she's been drinking for an hour at this point… she doesn't remember refilling it!

“ Hm? Oh, no no, digital hellucinations, my dear. Do carry on with what you were saying.” Caine pushed her wine glass closer to her chest, not bringing much attention to it.

“ Oh. Right. As I was saying…”

Oh Caine was having the time of his life. Smug chuckling left his teeth, absolutely enraptured by Pomni’s unfiltered bad mouthing. Shes been putting into words feelings he held for far too long. Ahh, he could stay there for hours.

“ I mean— at least you don't even-- try to hide that you don't like me. You don't act like friends with any of us.”

Caine could feel himself blush, playfully swiping his wrist at her. “ Oh you're too much.” She was praising him now? Why, Christmas came early! How can he not enable this behaviour? “ Keep going.”

The trauma bonding would further on, but at some point Pomni tuckered herself out. The alcohol was getting her, she's been talking long enough, she's been full of hate enough today. Pomni leaned her head back on the chair to doze off, before Caine shook her awake.

“ Hey!” He grabbed her face, mushing both her cheeks. “ Awaken! Tonight hasn't ended yet. We have yet to full-fill the husband/wife quota.”

“ Mmm…you're already my husband, remember? Kaufmo said so at the..the..” Pomni yawned. “Wedding.. ceremony…”

Caine groaned!

Snap!

“ Oh- damn it!”

And just like that all alcohol was erased from Pomni’s system. He also fully woke her up. Pomni can never truly escape that day. She groaned into her hands as she felt energy return to her body.

“ Come, come.” Caine got up and fixed his suit. “ Let's at least greet the guests off. Then you'll sleep at the manor.”

“ On my way…”

Alcohol truly was a temporary darling. Just when she felt her sorrows were drowned away, she came back into reality— at an even worse state.

The two teleported back downstairs to end the party. Caine announced it's end and Pomni was saying goodbye to her friends. She greeted Kinger goodnight, waved Ragatha goodbye while she was busy with (one of) the twins. Jax’s goodbye was nothing but mockery, gesturing to her like she's some little princess in her wedding dress, which Pomni froze in embarrassment. Zooble wasn't even there when she came downstairs…for the better maybe. They always made her skin crawl.

The guests were away and the two were alone once again. At the snap of a finger, Caine fixed the entire reception. Any mess, streamers, decoration, gone, as if there never was a party to begin with.

Caine fixed his coat and arranged his gloves, dusting off all the mess that came with being in the vicinity of the others. Meanwhile, Pomni was thinking to herself— something she never thought to question…

“ Hey, Caine…” she looked up at him. “ When you said ‘sleep at the manor’, what —”

And swoop! Next think she knew he swept her off her feet in the traditional bridal style position, and before she could react—snap! They were teleported somewhere else! A bedroom that was nowhere like the others.

“UH—” Before she could say anything, Caine put his arms out straight and dumped her on to the bed. Man. What a romantic guy.

Oof Pomni frowned when she was dropped head-first, so carelessly and aggressively on the cushions… she groaned in misery— before remembering where she was.

She quickly got her head up and looked around! She was wrong! This place was familiar!

“ Huh!?”

“ My bedroom.” Caine said so passively. “ Well technically now it's yours as well, but. It's mine.” It looked like his mind was occupied with something else, he was staring forward but he was not at the present moment. She knew that look, he was searching something in his database.

“ When was this??”

“ Since I told my brother you were moving in.”

“ Why??”

“ I'm ignoring you if you keep asking questions.’

Pomni looked around… this was like the guest room they made for the performers but grander. The bed was even a little higher— God forbid she falls off in her sleep.

Caine fits right in the room’s aesthetic, Pomni was completely out of place. The room’s palette was red and black, with linings of gold here and there… Caine really hadn't bothered to make it accommodating for her. She just sat there in silence awkwardly like she was just invited to a friend’s house.

Man…can she even sleep in this? She looked down on the sheets: they were red, The pillows as well. the wood was furnished black and if she looked up, she'd see a chandelier at the ceiling.

She shivered… Her old bedroom was weird, but she's spent just enough time in it to grow comfortable. at least she fit in its overall aesthetic. But she doesn't think she could say the same for this one. This whole room screamed Caine.

“ Ah. Here it is. ‘How newlyweds spend their wedding night’.” Caine said, and continued to look forward.

“ What…N...No. Caine, don't read that.” Caine really…really…did n o t need to know about human customs. She's going to die from how awkward this was about to be..

The AI muttered what he was reading, “ ‘ Spend time together, Newlyweds often feel drained after a day of celebration …’ skip.”

“ Caine.” Pomni winced. “ Caine, did you not do research beforehand-”

“ ‘ When both couples lay in bed together it's important to have both parties feel safe in each other's presence—’ ickk.. skip. Are there any alternatives?”

“ Caine, I'm going to throw up.”

“ ‘According to a new survey with over 350 recently-married couples, nearly 40 percent of newlyweds had—’...”

Caine squinted in disgust.

“ I'm not reading that.”

Pomni at this point just gave up and put her head on the pillow.

“ Seeing as none of this is applicable to us, let's just skip this step of the consummation. As much as it pains me not to properly follow the process. I'll just leave you here and you can sit out the night. Good?”

“ I-”

“ Wonderful.” Caine snapped his fingers and the two were back in their usual outfits. He was back in his ringmaster clothes and Pomni was in her sleeping wear. And by sleeping wear, it means her usual tutu. Because she does not have sleeping wear.

Caine fixed himself up and pulled a blanket up on Pomni’s body. That's good enough. Husband's say goodnight to their wives if he was correct?

Caine scanned his database again.

Yeah, he was correct.

“ Goodnight, dear.”

“ Ahh…” This was weird. “ G-Good.. Goodnight.”

And just like that, Pomni was off to sleep. Meanwhile, Caine teleported out of his room into another place at the Manor. He dusted his hands off and was already somewhere else mentally. he had other matters to attend to, another show to organize. He's spoiled himself enough with a night celebrating his name, now it was back to work. How Caine liked to work.

Morning followed and Pomni was snapped awake with a booming greeting “ Good morning, dear.”

Pomni screamed.

Her heart would beat out of her chest from the surprise-- forcing her up from her fight or flight

She flinched away at the sight of Caine's face inches away from hers. They sat there in silence for a moment… Pomni gulped, before looking pass him and seeing where she was then remembering the night before.

“Wh…” the red bed, the chandelier… “Oh.” Pomni look at her hand, the left, and saw the ring that stubbornly stuck to her finger. but before she could say anything more, the blanket was thrown off of her, a snap, and the next thing she knew she was sat on the vanity table.

Oh god-- everything was going so fast… Caine snapped his fingers again and her grooming mannequins teleported in. “ I'll leave you here to get ready. I must awaken everyone else for role call. There should be a door to the circus down the hall! Be there.”

Pomni forced a smile and two thumbs ups, then, Caine was off.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She hadn't considered how little privacy she had now that her and Caine shared the same bedroom. Will he be doing this every morning? God, not only is it an incredibly inconvenient start of her day, it's also like having the world's most dangerous alarm clock.

Pomni put a hand through her face and grumbled, keeping herself awake— less so in the physical sense more in the emotional motivation sense. And before she knew it, the mannequins brushed her hair and did their work.

The next few days were something she had to get used to. Every morning Pomni would be greeted by a routine wake up, and every night she would be dumped back into bed, greeted goodnight, and Caine immediately leaving a second later. “Goodmorning, dear.”, “goodnight, dear.” again and again. Caine really was committed to the husband role-- though it wasn't far for AI to follow certain routines and patterns after acquiring a new set of data.

Oh how could she forget:

Able spent more time in the Manor than Caine did. She would often see him around the house minding his own business, doing his own half of work. He never tried to make small talk anymore which was a stark contrast to his overly friendly persona towards her before she got married. The sounds of violins would go quiet when she walked in the room. It was as if he could just walk pass her with how invisible she was to him. He didn't have lips but she felt that if he did, it would turn into a scowl.

Once, she remembered walking pass him in the hallway, that time she tried to start conversation and—

“ Able?”

“ Don't talk to me.” With out even turning around, his heels were already clacking away, posture more spiteful than his usual.

It was odd but Pomni rolled her eyes.

Good riddance.

During her stay though she never stopped looking for an exit. Being in the brothers’ home was a system all in itself. Ever since she moved in, Caine apparently was there more often. This made it hard to navigate but memorizing both the brother’s schedules didn't take long. Being ai they were very systematic, consistent, as long as there were no human interruption nothing was stopping them from following the same routine.

To be in close vascity between Caine and Able meant no privacy. Pomni snuck around to investigate, less she’d be caught and teleported back. She's tried most of everything, but the brothers’ Manor was bigger and more…liminal, than she thought.

For every one hallway it felt like there were 50 more. Door after door, an endless maze of nothing but unfinished projects and code. The Manor was a testing facility… a place where the brothers tested out code and concepts before applying them at the circus… there has to be something.

At some points she was so deep into it she didn't think either of the brother's could hear her. She didn't know if anyone could hear her. She could scream or laugh as much as her manic mind can get, and no one could. It was comforting in a way to finally be left alone, but dread came with it.

The dread or never making it back home. The dread of never leaving this torturous realm.

Things started to get blurry.

The wallpaper was repeating. Doors, every single one looked the same. She didn't know if one door was the other. She turned back and— did the lay out change?? The wallpaper was all so fancy and clean but headachingly repetative. The world was spinning. Her head had a pulse. Her heart was wriggling in her chest. It felt like someone reached inside her back and pulled her spine out.

She opened a door,

And another

And another.

Random generations, code and miscalculations, projects abandoned and left to dust, circus acts left to die. To die. To die. To die. She envied it. She envied the ability to die.

She got so dizzy. So frustrated, but there was nothing to break, nothing to focus on. she was on autopilot. With how she's been opening doors for the past few hours, she didn't even care to find an exit anymore. Simply open doors. Wander around. If you find an exit on the way, congratulations. But otherwise, there was nothing anymore.

One hallway had a mirror and all she could do was stare with broken eyes. What she saw, she couldn't care less about anymore…who was that she was looking at? Where was she? Who was she? How did she get here? What was her name again?

She kept staring and her eyes wandered to her hands. Amongst all the dissociation was a pit of anger in her throat. She looked at her finger. The ring. And all she saw was the very thing keeping her trapped there. The cruelest person— the cruelest thing, in the world.

Pomni started to pull at the ring.

She hated him. She hated him so much. She hated how much he toyed with her. She didn't understand how such fucked up things could even happen to a block of code, she didn't know what peice of shit of a person would ever create him. If god can be proven then the devil can be too. And he was living proof of that. The entire circus was proof of that.

Pomni grunted a tearful cry, desperately aching for the ring to come off, but it wouldn't budge. If there was pain, she couldn't feel it. She would bleed if it meant having to take it off. Pain was the last thing on her mind at that moment, just the desperate need for something, anything to go her way. Out of anything in this god forsaken realm, she wanted freedom from something, living breathing proof that there was hope in leaving, that she had a semblance of control in this hell.

“ God DAMN IT!!” The pain on her fingers were apparent, yet she hasn't processed any bit of it. “ I hate you! ” She sucked air to her teeth as tears formed in her eyes. She saw no use in keeping anything in anymore.

Tears streamed down her face with no means of stopping. Pomni, with bruises and scratches on her ring finger, collapsed with her knees on the floor, bent down, letting her tears be absorbed by the carpet. Her whimpering, cries, tears she hadn't let out in ages. She soon let her forehead touch the floor, complete and utter loss of hope and motivation.

And for a few moments she just sat there… adjusting by sitting on the floor, leaning her back on the wall, tears streamed empty emotions. Crying didn't help. Running didn't help. Screaming didn't help. And so she sat there. Like a puppet left to sit until their next performance.

That's all she was. And that's all she'll ever be.

Was she any different in the real world? She didn't care anymore.

Pomni let out her last hiccups. The floor wasn't comfortable at all…The doll stood up, body heavy. Her steps towards any door were heavy and unmotivated. The only sound echoing through the halls were the sound of her muffle heels, clacking above the carpet.

She could use some sleep.

After a long day of organising and work, Caine reached into his coat for his pocket watch. It was about time where the performers would be off to bed, and he didn't need to tell them that. This is one of the rare times of the day where he leaves them to their own. He, however, doesn't need sleep. Caine AI knows no tire. He turned his heel, ready to do more work before remembering— ah. His wife. That part of the daily routine.

See, for the past few days he's been having the formula to wake Pomni up in the morning, and putting her to bed at night, leaving seconds after. Always with his “goodnight, dear” and “good morning, dear”s that one. That's right. He was officially given the trait husband, and-- he's heard that that's what husband's do. And so he Incorporated it in his system.

Of course, even after their wedding night he never put in the effort to even think about laying in the same bed with her. First of all, he has no use for sleep. Second of all, that would be a complete waste of time and resources—He can do work simply standing up and staring into oblivion, but there is only so much he can do. Third of all, it was terribly boring. Fourth of all, he can touch Pomni but laying in the same bed for a prolonged period of time-- no amount of snaps would rid him of all her filth. And fifth—

The list can go on and on, and yet… something ached him to his core. It's been bothering him since the wedding night actually. The very act of not spending the night with her as husband and wife, that skipped a step in the process. And that bothered him more than any boundary he has up. It was part of a system, and he didn't officialize it because he wasn't feeling it that day? Caine AI, were you coded in a barn? Frankly, he was disappointed in himself for letting his ego— perfectionism get the better of him. Was he even truly husband without that final step? He felt like a fraud.

That whole thought process took place in the matter of .0001 seconds. And he was off.

He teleported to The Manor on his way to atleast clean up the bedroom first. But just when he made his way up the stairs, he turned, noticing the clearly dishevelled and previously distressed looking Pomni coming out of one of the hallways.

He squinted and scanned her.

Dirty clothes, eye bags, wet and sore eyes, sniffling, head low…

Oh. She had been crying.

He rolled his eyes. As long as she wasn't doing it on stage he didn't care. And frankly he didn't want to deal with it.

He cleared his throat to let her know that he was present, in a way, also telling her to gather herself.

“ Oh…” But Pomni didn't budge. She wasn't as disassociated as earlier but still had little energy to be scared at that moment. “ Hey, Caine. I’ll get upstairs soon, I just need a minute to—”

He didn't have time for this.

Snap!

The usual routine continued. He teleported her to their room, dumped her to bed and sent Pomni face down on the cushion. She doesn't think she would ever get used to that. She put her head up groggily, still too tired to even really complain, before crawling to her usual side of the bed, the right side. She let out a few sniffles of misery. But before she could tuck herself in, she realised that Caine hadn't greeted her goodnight. Or— hasn't even teleported away yet, actually…

She turned to Caine in the bedroom and would notice that he was looking at himself in the mirror. He was snapping his fingers, switching through different kinds of sleeping wear— what??

She squinted in confusion. Caine usually wouldn't stick around for any longer than a few seconds.

“ Wh…what are you doing…” Pomni said, voice clearly still sore for all her time crying.

Caine finally found pajamas that fit him and fixed himself in the mirror. “ I'm spending my time here tonight.”

“ …Why…?”

“ It doesn't concern you.” he turned to her, and floated his way to the bed, before noticing what she was wearing. She was still wearing her uniform! Is that what she was sleeping in the whole time? Honestly he hadn't cared, and he wouldn't care had it been for the fact that he was joining her tonight. He was in classy night wear while she wore her tutu. That simply isn't uniform.

A snap of a finger, and Pomni was wearing a nightgown that matched his shirt and pants. With bags under her eyes, she looked down. She didn't have the energy to comment on it as anything special. It was nice to be comfortable for once. But there was nothing more she can say about it.

“ There we go.” Caine said. “Goodnight, dear.”

“ …Goodnight.”

He put himself under the covers, but Pomni was still staring off. Someone who cared for Pomni would ask her how she was feeling, but they were not in the room at that moment.

Pomni wasn't feeling good. She was feeling terrible. If this was any other day, she would be terrified to be sleeping next to Caine. But the fact that she doesn't feel anything strong…

She didn't have a good day… entirely honestly, she was hoping to cry herself to sleep that night. It wouldn't be her first, and it wouldn't be her last. But with the devil beside her, he had no choice but keep herself together.

Her breath was shaken. But she laid down for sleep.

A few hours passed. It felt like the longest night the two would ever spend.

Pomni didn't know if it was her nerves or the room temperature, but she buried herself in her blanket. She could close her eyes all she wanted but no amount of pretend could distract her from all the voices in her head. She wasn't hallucinating, it wasn't anything. Rather the voices were more of doubt, insecurity, and fear. It would come often, but that night was especially loud. Terribly so.

Caine on the other hand was staring at the ceiling. Hands on his chest. He's been staring in silence for hours at this point —and he had the artificial patience to go on for longer—but he found this activity inconvenient. And even worse so when he could hear his wife sniffling right beside him.

Pomni finally started shaking under the covers. Hands shielding her head-- her knees were on to her chest with how curled up she was. It hurt to be quieter than she was already being. The voices got to her and all she could do was cry at that point.

Neither of the couple could get themselves to sleep.

Caine could only roll his eyes. While he stared at the ceiling, Pomni was faced to her side, away from him, curled up cold and unrested. For a moment she looked at the hands shielding her, and the representation of her entrapment looked back. With several bruises and scratches around it, her finger still dawned the very ring that put her there.

The memory of Caine in the wedding ceremony played back-- the very moment he put the ring on her at the altar. That was the moment that sealed her fate. She wished she could take it back. The image felt like dying a hundred times over.

Caine wasn't stupid. Although he knew little understanding of the human condition his processors picked up on certain symptoms and body language. He would usually ignore them as they were a waste of energy, but he had nothing else to process other than the ceiling he'd been staring at for the past few hours.

He knew Pomni wasn't well. What for? He didn't care. All that he knew was that she was upset, and it wasn't worth his time. It wasn't anything that he hasn't already heard a hundred times from the other performers. She was going to cry again and again anyway. What was the use?

Her hiccups and sniffling were tiny compared to the rest of the room. And yet no one was willing to hear her, listen to her. Perhaps that was all she wanted. If she had someone to be there to trust-- maybe this would have been bearable. Maybe in a different timeline she would still have the strength to go on for just another day. But that wasn't realistic. Not in the digital realm. She could scream all she wanted and no one would bat an eye.

This wasn't the first time she cried tears this painful. And it certainly will not be the last.

#The amazing digital circus #freakshow au #pomni #caine #The amazing digital circus pomni #The amazing digital circus caine #tadc pomni #tadc caine #caine x pomni #pomni x caine #showtime #showtime shipping #tadc #fic #writing

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upsidedownwithsteve · 2 years

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Steve Harrington x WednesdayAddams!Reader [1.2K]

“Good afternoon, Family Video, Steve speaking,” Steve tried not to yawn his greeting down the receiver, the plastic wedged between his ear and his shoulder as he skimmed through a copy of Kerrang!

Hopper’s voice came through a little staticky, a fuzziness to his words but the boy heard them loud and clear.

“Hey kid, you able to come ‘round the station?”

Steve dropped the magazine, gaze flickering to Robin who was watching him with furrowed brows. He stood up a little straighter and gripped the phone a little tighter.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Is someone hurt—?”

Hop let out a huff and a sigh that sounded like a laugh and the tension left Steve’s shoulders, if only a little. “No, no, sorry, nothin’ like that - didn’t mean to panic you,” Hopper spoke quickly. “We, uh, we’ve got your friend here.”

The more confused Steve got, the closer Robin became, until the receiver was eventually pressed between the two of them. “Eddie?” she asked, because really, who else was it going to be?

Another laughter came from the line. “Shockingly, no. Another delinquent — this one is smaller, wears even more black and belongs solely to Steve.”

The boy sighed and rubbed at his eyes, trying to ignore the way Robin snorted as she left to collect the stack of videos she’d abandoned.

“I’m on my way.”

—————

“A knife?” Steve whisper yelled, eyes wide and leaning over Hopper’s desk. “What?”

The older man shrugged, way too casually for the context of the conversation. “It was only a small one,” Hopper took a sip of his lukewarm coffee and gestured behind him to the window that gave a view to a locked waiting room. “Besides, that Carver kid is a real asshole, you know. I had to bring her in ‘cause I had a rookie in training with me. Setting an example and all that.”

Steve sighed and swiped a hand through his hair, peering through the window at you. You were sitting cross legged on a chair, the dull lighting making you look gloomier than normal and Steve could see the glint of your switchblade still tucked into one sock. He caught your eye and you almost smiled, that lift of the corner of your lips that he knew so well.

You raised one hand, fingers wiggling. You looked far too pleased with yourself.

“You didn’t book her, right?”

Hop snorted and shook his head, throwing some paperwork into an unorganised drawer and he looked at the boy with an offended expression. “Of course I didn’t, c’mon.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at you. “She’s a little weird and I don’t normally condone knife crimes in this town but she’s your girl, right?”

Steve turned a little pink, unable to help himself. He nodded, eyes still on you.

“Then she’s part of the family,” the chief replied and it sounded firm and official, like there was no argument necessary. “I don’t arrest family.”

“You put Mike in handcuffs that one time,” Steve reminded him, but Hopper was already unlocking the door and waving you forward.

“That was a necessary means to an end,” Hopper grimaced, he turned to you and gestured to your black dress, the black shirt you wore underneath, the black boots that gave you an extra two inches of height. “c’mon, Elvira, your ride’s here.”

You were already walking towards the two men, your gaze set on Steve and that same almost smile on your lips. To a stranger, you looked entirely unimpressed, but Steve knew better. You looked smug.

“Hey old timer,” Steve greeted you with fingers catching your chin, doing his best to not grin at you. “Knife crimes, huh? You after a blood sacrifice or somethin’?”

“Don’t be silly,” you said sullenly, waving to Hopper as he opened the front door of the station for you both. “It’s not even a full moon, Steven.”

The older man snorted at your words and Steve turned to glare at him. “Yeah, good luck with that,” Hop told the boy before pointing at you one last time, “and you: no more threatening people with pointy things, you got it?”

You made the motion of a cross over your heart before you gave the man a small salute, a scouts honour that Steve rolled his eyes at because he knew damn well it was a lie.

Steve caught you by his car before you could clamber in, pinning you between the closed door and his body, sighing heavily as he cupped your face in his hands. He was warm and smelled as good as he always did, like expensive cologne and mint and Steve.

“What am I going to do with you?” He mused softly and you let him push at your cheeks, gentle and fond until your lips squished into a pout and he pressed a quick kiss there. “Is this like a twelve step process to becoming an actual crime lord?”

“You act like I’m not already comfortably on step nine,” you quipped back.

Steve snorted, pressing another kiss to your cheek, your jaw and your neck, simply ‘cause you were letting him. “Oh yeah? What’s the next step?”

“World domination,” you told him, a hand pushed up the inside of his jacket, palm seeking out the comfort the warmth of his skin brought you — not that you’d admit it. “Naturally.”

Steve hummed, pulling back to nudge his nose against your own. “Naturally,” he agreed. “Threatening Jason Carver with a knife to taking over the world seems like a rather large leap.”

Your eyes glittered and you brushed your lips against the boy’s when you spoke. “I have big shoes,” you whispered.

“What happened?” Steve sounded more serious now, but he didn’t pull away. He knew what happened when he did, you’d find the space to break away and run, figuratively, of course. Although Steve wouldn’t put it past you to actually take off across town. “What’d he say?”

You were still in his arms when you replied, hand pressed to his side and if you were still enough, you could feel the thumpthumpthump of his heartbeat vibrating through his ribs. It was nice.

You picked a freckle on his cheek to look at, expression neutral and gaze lowered as you explained.

“He was talking about you,” you said it so simply, so matter of fact and Steve sighed. He didn’t want you getting in trouble because of him. But you kept talking. “And he was saying things that weren’t very nice and they definitely weren’t true.”

“Sweetheart, guys like Carver are always gonna talk sh—”

You pressed closer, chin resting on his chest so you could look up at the boy from behind dark kohl and darker lashes. “I told him to shut up.”

Steve blinked down at you.

“He didn’t listen.”

Steve’s lip twitched. “How stupid of him.”

“That’s what I said,” you murmured, giving him that same almost smile that was just for him. You leaned up, pushed onto your toes to gift the boy a rare, public kiss. It was quick and soft and it caught his bottom lip in the most lovely way. “So I showed him my knife.”

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington oneshot #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington x wednesday!reader

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calumsargwife · 10 months

Text

'i told them about you.'

calum hood x fem!reader

summary: for the first time in a while, Calum tells his friends about you

warnings: bad language maybe, mentions of drinking or smoking. (English is not my first language so there may be some grammatical errors, sorry!)

word count: 1.9k

note: hey! i know this took a while but here it is! i hope you guys like it. question: do you think i should also write for other people? maybe characters from movies or smth. tell me your thoughts!

"So, how's this new girl going?" Luke asked with his second drink of the night in hand.

As they normally do, the boys had gotten together today to hang out, to see each other in another context other than work (as if they didn't see each other every day already).

They had dinner and were now having some drinks prepared by Ashton, who had 'accidentally' made the drinks a little stronger than normal.

"Yeah, you haven't told us anything about her." Michael added as he sat in one of the single chairs.

Calum sighed as he took a drag on his cigarette and sat down in the large armchair in the living room, trying to hold back a smile as he exhaled the smoke from his mouth.

"What's that smile for, uh?" Ashton teased and pinched Calum's arm, also with one drink on the other hand.

"Don't know..." Calum modestly answered.

"Aw, c'mon. Just tell us something!" Michael insisted.

"How long have you been dating already?" Luke questioned as he smiled mischievously at the other two boys.

Ok, the truth is, you two weren't dating, you were still just getting to know each other and the boys knew it, they just liked watching Calum get all red.

"Two months." Calum answered shortly as he diverted his gaze towards the large window, which gave the view of of the tall illuminated buildings; the suppressed smile on his lips made his cheeks hurt. He remembered that surely you would love to have one of these windows, you liked to have a great view of the entire city.

"And...?" Ashton pressed.

Calum took another drag of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke and sighed to give the long-awaited response to his friends. "Wrote a song about her."

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed what was said until Ashton spoke again. "There's no fucking way." He spoke in disbelief while he leaned his back on the chair in surprise.

"A song?" Michael asked you. "About this girl?" The boy turned his head to look at his friends with wide eyes. "You've never done anything like this so quickly."

They weren't wrong. Calum was normally one to have casual relationships, he said he was in a moment in which he couldn't focus on a completely exclusive relationship with so much commitment. I mean, he and the guys were at the peak of their career now, they were recording an album, doing a lot of interviews, maybe they were going on tour and... well, he just didn't have the time.

So it's obvious that his friends are confused. Calum was quite strict about the rule of not dating for a long time.

"What changed?" Luke asked, who was now analyzing his friend a little more.

"Her." Calum responded immediately without taking his eyes off the window. "She changed everything." He said now taking his eyes off the window and looking directly at the group. "She broke every rule that I could have ever set for myself."

Calum finished his cigarette and placed it in the ashtray on the living room table. "So, I wrote her a song."

"Damn."

"I know." Calum sentenced with a smile while he rubbed his hands and played with one of his rings, the one you gave him for his recent birthday. A birthday that the boys assumed had ended early because of you. "I just really like her, you know?" Calum raised his head to look at his friends. "I know it sounds crazy but..." he tried to explain himself.

"No, it's alright... I get it, really." Luke interrupted him. Calum quickly turned his eyes to him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, man." Luke answered with a smile and looked at his friend tenderly. "Maybe you're falling in love, who knows." He teased.

The boys laughed at the joke. Calum laughed lightly and looked out the window again, instantly thinking of you. Luke's joke resonated in his head, maybe it wasn't that crazy.

That night While Calum was telling the boys about you, that same night, they spent the night over together at Michael's and Calum was the first to wake up and leave. He didn't say anything but he was walking frantically around the house while he picked up his things and had breakfast with his friends, who were very relaxed sitting in their chairs while looking at Calum with an amused expression.

Once in his car, Calum began to reflect. He had to pick you up at your house in exactly twenty minutes to go have lunch together at his house.

He knew he had changed, he knew he was different and that things were different with you. And he didn't see it as a bad thing, really. Because for the first time, he was taking his time to do things the right way. He wanted to know you well before making things official, he wanted to know you deeply.

Calum was enjoying this little secret situation of getting to know each other. He liked that no one knows what's happening and that it is something that only he can witness. He was fascinated by the feeling of privacy and that no one could steal those moments, they were his and his alone. So, telling his friends about you was a big step for him.

Calum liked you a lot, so he couldn't contain his smile as he turned the corner of your house while simultaneously trying to remember that spice you like so much in salads, he wanted to have it mentally written down.

His smile widened when he saw you standing waiting at the door of your house. He got out of the car and came out to greet you with open arms.

"Hello there, beautiful." He greeted as he eagerly brought his lips to yours without waiting for any response from you.

You giggled before connecting your lips to Calum's. "Hey..." You received another kiss from him on your cheek. "I missed you."

"Me too." Calum had recently started to admit that he missed you when you weren't together. You couldn't deny that you liked the feeling of him missing you. It warms your heart a little every time he says it.

Calum at first was... complicated, to say the least. You really had a lot of patience and trust in the process because this guy wasn't easy. He was very closed to the idea of being in a relationship again or even trying to be in one. It took a while for him to really open up fully, you knew who he was before you started dating and Calum was careful about it. He thought that at first he couldn't trust you, but oh how wrong he was.

You were the most fantastic person Calum had met in recent years: completely honest and spontaneous, you were really patient with him, you never rushed him or pressured him into anything.

Maybe it sounds like you chased him around but the reality is that it was Calum who asked you out (as contradictory as it may sound) after having seen you several times in the same places as him, he developed a crush on you the moment he saw you.

So being here now, opening his car door for you to go to his house, makes it seem like everything was really worth it.

"Have you made any progress on that song you told me about?" You asked after the trip started, your hands intertwined, you felt Calum's finger lightly caress your hand. You definitely didn't know that Calum had written you a song.

Calum smiled to himself as you remembered what he told you, something he was excited about. "A little bit yes, we've been with the boys defining the chords a little so then moving on to polishing the lyrics a little more."

"Sounds fun." You answered him while with a sweet smile observing the panorama through the window.

Calum looked at your profile for a bit and sighed discreetly.

"And how are you doing with your thesis?" He asked you now. "Have you been able to find out anything else or...?"

You laughed a little before answering. "It's not a thesis, it's a research." You gave him a tender caress on the cheek when you saw that he didn't remember the difference. Calum did know the difference, he just likes to play dumb with you so he can see you explaining the same thing to him for the fifth time. "But it's going well, we changed the methodology so it's giving us better results."

The small, casual conversation continued throughout the remainder of the trip. Once they arrived, you didn't wait for Calum to open the door for you before rushing to his house, eager to see his little dog, Duke.

"Why do you seem more excited to see my dog than me?" He asked with an amused smile as he reached your side at the door.

"Because I am." You answered without looking him.

"Rude." Calum answered as he pretended to be offended.

You giggled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Once the door opened, Duke instantly jumped onto your lap. While you were busy greeting the dog, Calum went to the kitchen to start preparing lunch.

Minutes later you joined him and you began cooking a simple but delicious lunch: a classic pasta. Calum was fascinated, he'd never tell you but deep inside he was completely giggling and kicking his feet. Everything came so naturally to the two of you, nothing was forced and you functioned as if you had known each other your whole life.

After a while, the two were eating in Calum's dining room. You made casual small talk, mostly in silence as you enjoyed the food. Calum savored this moment and tried to imprint moments of this tranquility into his brain.

"You know..." He began as he took a sip of his drink. "The guys..."

"Your bandmates?" You finished his sentence.

He nodded. "I told them about you."

Now you were in shock.

He told his best friends?

He told them about you?

You did know that they knew Calum was seeing someone. But that he told them specifically about you.

Wow.

Now that was a big step. Especially for Calum. You knew how much his bandmates meant to him, how much he trusted them. You also knew how Calum hadn't been in anything serious with anyone for quite some time, so it was probably a surprise to them as well.

You swallowed nervously. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, and they were happy for me." He answered you with a sweet smile as he blushed a little and looked down at his plate.

"Well, I'm happy for you too." You told him with your most honest smile as you took his hand across the table and gave it a light caress.

"They want to meet you..." Calum told you, a little nervous that you would say no. "And I want you to meet them too, honestly."

"Seriously?" You tried to contain your surprise. It wasn't a secret that you were also a fan of the guys's music, so you felt the pressure.

Calum nodded with a smile and looked into your eyes again. You saw hope in them, he didn't want you to say no. "Then I would love to, it would be an honor, really."

Calum smiled happily and pulled your hand to pull you over to where he was sitting at the table. He smiled and sat you on his lap. "Thank you, it means the world to me." He told you with a genuine smile while with one hand he caressed your waist and his other hand cupped your face and brought you close for a sweet kiss.

As you shared that kiss, Calum couldn't help but feel a great emotion inside of him, for the first time in a long time, he had a good feeling about this.

#5sos blurb #5sos fic #5sos x reader #calum 5 seconds of summer #calum blurb #calum hood #calum hood fluff #calum hood x reader #calum hood x y/n #calum imagine

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lgbt-tiktoks · 2 years

Text

Transcript:

[The video shows two people, Divinity (left) and Nik (right). Text above their head says "Happy Aromantic Awareness Week". Their socials are also above their heads, with "@/officiallydivinity" and "@/nikhampshire (ig)". Divinity has the label "Aromantic/GreyAce" under her and Nik has "AlloAromantic".

Divinity: "What's up potatoes, it's Divinity."

Nik: "I'm Nik Hampshire."

Divinity: "Some of you may know it's Aromantic Awareness Week and we're both aromantic. We wanted to do a fun little video of some things we may find repulsive or that we may be into as romantic repulsed aromantics."

Nik: "True."

Divinity: "So we just wrote down a couple of things and we actually don't even know each other's answers yet, so this is gonna be fun. Hand holding. One, two, three."

Both of the hold up a thumbs down.

Divinity: Same! Cuddling. One, two, three.

Both hold up a thumbs up.

Divinity: (laughing) Yes!

Nik: Non-holiday gift giving. One, two, three.

Divinity holds a thumbs up. Nik holds a thumbs down. He switches to a thumbs up.

Nik: Nah. Like it depends who it is though. Like if its somebody that I-

Divinity: It depends what it is as well.

Nik: That too, yeah. So really there's like a lot of context that comes into that.

Divinity: If it's a funko pop, I- I want it. If it's flowers for no reason...

Nik: And it's like if we don't know each other, if we're just hanging out as like we're hooking up or it's just something casual and you start giving me gifts. I'm like... nah.

Divinity: That's suspicious. Nicknames. One, two, three.

Both give a thumbs down.

Divinity: No! Do not call me babe!

Nik: Pop Ins. One, two, three.

Both of them give a thumbs down.

Nik: Don't come by my house.

Divinity: You better text, call, send a smoke signal.

Nik: Don't call, don't call either- Good morning/good night text. One, two, three.

Divinity keeps her thumb sideways while Nik gives a thumbs down.

Divinity: I'm indifferent! (laughing) It just depends on who it is.

Nik: True.

Divinity: PDA. One, two, three.

Both give a thumbs down. Nik moves himself out of frame completely.

Nik: Uh, playing with a partner's hair. One. two, three.

Divinity gives a thumbs up and Nik gives a thumbs down. He switches it up and down a few times.

Nik: Eh, kinda depending on context.

Divinity: I mean it's a wig, you wanna wear it. You know. Cooking for someone. One, two, three.

Both give a thumbs up.

Divinity: I love cooking!

Nik: I love to eat.

Divinity: I love cooking!

Nik: Covering the bill. One, two, three.

Divinity gives a thumbs up. Nik hesitates before giving a thumbs up.

Nik: Uh yeah it depends.

Divinity: I like to go dutch though because if someone is paying for everything I start to feel like-

Nik: Yeah that's kinda how I feel.

Divinity: It just feels so much like a date.

Nik: So I go halves.

Divinity: Yeah, I'm a halfsies...

Nik: Again, until there's like a repertoire and we know we're friends then I'll cover-

Divinity: Yeah.

Nik: That being said, obviously what is and isn't romantic is subjective per person and even per incident. Like sometimes with the same person something might feel romantic at one point, it might not feel romantic at the next. So it's up to you guys.

Divinity: Never let what the appearance of what something looks like stop you from enjoying the activity with someone because you're afraid of being "perceived" as something.

The text "Bloopers" appears on screen, showing parts they messed up on.

Divinity: All that being said, I forgot what I was about to say (laughing). That's what she said, I'm sorry. That being said I hope that you all know romantic gestures- what are they?

Nik: Gestures.

Divinity: Yeah.

End Transcript]

Note: This video is at least a year old (maybe 2??) but it's been in my drafts forever so better late than never! Also happy aromantic spectrum awareness week (I'm so late I'm sorry)!!!

#tiktoks #videos #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #asaw #aro #alloaro #grayace #user: officiallydivinity #she/they pronouns #for divinity #he/him pronouns #for nik #transcribed #long post

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klbwriting · 7 months

Text

Broken Prism

Chapter 11

Fandom: Red Hood

Pairing: Jason Toddxfemale!Reader

Warnings: none for once, this is just fluff, I needed fluff

Summary: Jason decides to go see YN

Jason paced the alley next to YN’s apartment. He had parked his bike, picked up his duffle bag full of gear and no couldn’t decide if he actually wanted to go up or not. Should he go to her window like she said? All dressed for a fight? Or should he knock on her door like a normal guy going on a date? Wait, no, this wasn’t a date, they were going to be…friends. That word sounded ridiculous in context. She literally brought color to his life how could he just be friends with someone who did something like that? He sighed and hiked the duffle bag up on his shoulder and went to the door. He could do this, hang out for an evening with his friend. He was insane. He was a zombie walking the streets thinking he could date, what in the hell? He laughed at himself a little but then the Joker’s laugh burst through his ears so clearly, he thought it was real. He frantically looked around the hallway before realizing he had imagined the whole thing. He closed his eyes tight, trying to will the sound away. He considered turning back but pressed on, now wanting to see if she could make it go away again. He knocked on her door, the laugh seeming to get louder, taunting him, then the door opened, and he saw YN and the laugh vanished, his mind felt clear for a moment. She looked surprised before smiling at him.

“Wow, dear Lord that armor hides a lot,” she said, looking slowly over him in his combat pants and fitted long sleeve athletic shirt. He felt a blush on his cheeks, not remembering the last time someone had flirted with him. Being dead and then an assassin didn’t really allow for flirtation. If you had needs you could find someone to satisfy them, but there was nothing behind it, lest someone be told to kill you in the morning. This, flirting, was new and he actually found it pleasant.

“I thought I’d dress for going out, just in case,” he said, holding up his bag. She nodded, understanding and opened the door. He noticed she had dressed casually, leggings and an oversized long sleeve t-shirt, she looked adorable honestly. He looked around her place slowly, running the checklist in his head of exits, vulnerabilities, weapons he could use in case someone attacked. YN locked the door and stood near the kitchen counter, watching him. He realized he hadn’t said anything, lost in his thoughts. “Sorry, uh, do you have somewhere I can put this?” She reached out to take the bag and he pulled back. He didn’t trust her that much yet.

“Come on, we’ll hang out in my room, if my roommates come back and see you they will ask questions that I’m not ready to answer, like who is he and what does he do for a living?” she said, turning and moving through the connected living room. She opened her door, and he walked in, stowing his bag right by the window in case he needed a quick getaway. She locked the door, turning and looking at him. He knew he looked strange; fists clenched as he assessed this room now. He couldn’t relax, always thinking about the next move. He vaguely heard her voice and startled.

“What?” he asked. She sat down on her bed and patted next to her.

“Come on, let’s play a game, you like 500 Rummy?” she asked, pulling out a deck of cards from her nightstand drawer. He almost laughed at them being Batman cards.

“Really?” he asked as she dealt. “And why would I want to play with these?”

“Because you can lose twice with Batman around,” she shot back. He stared at her for a moment before she started laughing and Jason found himself laughing. It was strange, something he hadn’t done in years, not like this. God, he was enjoying himself too much. She was going to be in such danger if he didn’t pull back. He frowned then, looking back at the window, thinking about leaving again. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” he asked, turning back and seeing her watching him closely.

“Don’t go, don’t…don’t sit there and think that just because you know me, that we spend time together and I’ll be in danger,” she said. Jason shook his head.

“You will, constantly, if anyone figures out who I am, who you are, what we are. You will never be safe,” he said. She shook her head. “What if you were killed? I don’t know what I’d do…”

“I do,” she said. “You’d survive. Like I had to.” Jason’s next words died in his throat. He had never thought of that. She was the one with the knowledge that he had died. She knew faster than Bruce did. Her world had gone dark when his did and yet here she was, she had survived.

“What happened, when I died?” he asked softly, setting his cards aside. She looked down but he reached out and touched her chin, guiding it to look at him again, almost to remind her that her memories were not real now, he was here again.

“It was hard, I mean, I was watching a nature documentary, they were just starting the ocean. I loved the part about the ocean, its so beautiful, but then everything went gray, I stupidly thought I could blink and it would be back to colorful, but it wasn’t. And I’m not going to say it was easy. I was so upset, about your death yes but even more so because I never got to know you. I mean, I didn’t even know your name. I wanted to know who I was missing, because I missed you so much,” she said softly. “But, if you were to go off and die, again, I know you now, a little bit at least and I would probably feel better because now I at least have memories of you to think about when I miss you.” Jason looked down and wondered if he would have been this strong had the roles been reversed. He honestly wasn’t sure, but the way she talked he knew he agreed, he wanted memories of her if anything happened. He wanted to know her.

“Do you know what my final thoughts were before I died?” he asked. She shook her head. “Your eyes. All my regrets about not talking to you, not finding you, and then your eyes. And honestly, those eyes haunted me when I came back. I saw them in my dreams, and they calmed my nightmares. Then I am in this alley, trying to get information on what Batman is doing and you run into, look at me and those eyes again.”

“Is that why you just vanished on me?” she laughed. He nodded, somehow feeling even more embarrassed about the event now. Jason moved a little, leaning to the side on her pillows, trying to get comfortable. It was strange, how he was feeling. He normally didn’t talk so much, didn’t try so much to stay around someone. “Jason, take your boots off and you wouldn’t feel so awkward probably.” He looked down at the shoes he was trying to keep off her blankets and sighed again. He was a mess. He turned, undoing the laces and looking out the window. He saw a shadow across it and stood up, walking over and looking outside. He could see across the street to the fire escapes where Dick was sitting as Nightwing. He waved to his little brother and Jason flipped him off.

“O, Bruce out there? Or Dick?” YN asked, peeking around Jason’s shoulder. He grunted and went back to taking his shoes off. YN saw Dick and also flipped him off before closing her black out curtains. “Better.”

“They probably want to make sure you don’t tell everyone who Batman is,” he grumbled, finally sitting back on her bed and leaning to the pillows. He looked at the nightstand beside him and picked up the book, The Outsiders. “I never got to finish this one.”

“O, I’ve read it a few times, I kind of keep it as a default book,” she said. “You can borrow it if you want, any of my books.” She motioned to a small bookshelf and he stood, going to peruse it, not noticing her pulling a rather large suitcase from under bed. “Or these.” She opened it and there were dozens more inside. Jason stared at them. There was everything, classics, YA, horror, mystery, romance.

“You read a lot,” he said, stooping down to look over these, picking out a couple copies of things. She nodded.

“Sometimes I have to wait for information, or targets if I’m following someone, always good to have something to appear like you’re not paying attention,” she said. “You can take them.” He looked at her.

“Can we read together?” he asked, actually blushing again. If he spent any more time with YN he was going to become a lobster. She smiled wide and nodded eagerly. She turned to her shelf and grabbed another book, Six of Crows and then laid down, leaning against her pillows. Jason grabbed The Outsiders and laid next to her, starting the book over. He listened as he read, his mind divided, alert to everything around him so he wouldn’t get taken by surprise. He found himself listening to her, turning pages, letting out a laugh or a gasp at parts of her book. He was aware of when the book came to rest on her chest, her head sliding down to his shoulder as she fell asleep. He didn’t move for another hour, reading and enjoying the feeling of his soulmate against him, her soft breath tickling his neck a little. It was the most amazing feeling he’d ever had. Finally, he closed the book, leaving it on her bedside table. He put her book away, spread a blanket over her and wrote her a note on a post it, attaching it to The Outsiders, asking her to keep his place for when he came back. Jason grabbed his duffle, took one last look at YN, sleeping peacefully and climbed out the window into the night, feeling lighter than he had since he emerged from the pit.

#jason todd x y/n #jason todd x you #jason todd x reader #jasontodd #jason todd #red hood x you #red hood x reader #redhood #red hood #red hood x y/n #brokenprism

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bellysoupset · 5 months

Note

i DO have a crush on bella and PROUD. also somehow on vince and leo despite being a straight guy. they are up there with ryan reynolds

as for my request. this is the first time i request anyone anything but i was thinking any scenario where bell goes from hungry (or hangry) to stuffed :] if you don't want to write the hunger part because it's just not your thing that's fine honestly. i am a tummy noises enjoyer but it doesn't have to be hunger. that's preeetty much it. whatever context is fine as in if you want to take a break from whatever you have going at the moment and just write a casual meal between bella and luke or if you want to write it as a part of the main story either is cool with me

🍉 anon

AAAh I'm so happy over Vince making the roll of guys you have a crush on despite being straight!! My most special babe!! I'm definitely judging on Ryan Reynolds being up there tho. Ryan Reynolds?? 😵‍💫

This story might be a little too frankenstein, as it starts as Jonah and Leo part 4 and then goes into Bella/Luke.

...Hungry Bella to stuffed? Let's see what I can do about it:

--------

“I told Jonah I didn’t want any of you men in my hospital tonight and what do I get?” Wendy huffed, with her hands on her hips and Luke let out an amused snort, as he sipped his can of diet coke.

“Sorry…?” He sheepishly, then let his smile fade as he looked over to where Leo was lying down, with an IV hooked to his arm.

“It looks more scary than it is,” Wendy reassured him, as if she could read his mind. She walked closer, reading Leo’s chart hanging off the stretcher bed and then circling the bed so she was near his head, “he’s just dehydrated, I’m gonna inject some antinausea medication in his IV and we’ll let him finish the whole bag, then reevaluate. How’s Jon?”

“In a rough shape,” Lucas answered truthfully, continuing to pace the small space around Leo’s secluded corner. He wasn’t in a poor enough condition that the hospital allowed him to take up a room, instead they were in the ER, with the curtains creating some semblance of privacy between beds, “Bell’s there with him.”

Wendy looked away from Leo’s IV bag, which she was already injecting with medicine, “you think he’ll end up here as well?”

“Hopefully not…” Luke scratched at his cheek, then chugged the rest of his soda, “but I don’t know, I’ll call Bella in thirty minutes to check on them.”

“Alright,” Wendy nodded, then her whole face turned red as Lucas unabashedly let out a burp in his fist, wrinkling his nose as the bubbles tickled it. She cleared her throat, looking away, “keep me updated, will you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he frowned a little at Wendy’s red cheeks, but shrugged it off. Certain things he didn’t want to know or think about. Instead, all of Lucas’ attention was on Leo. He hated to see the blonde so down for the count, it had been a struggle to drive him to the hospital and not freak out as Leo continued to dry heave most of the trip.

“Buzz the button or just holler if something changes, you know the drill,” Wendy patted his arm, before walking away to deal with the other thirty people who demanded her attention.

Luke walked closer to the bed, pushing Leo’s hair back with a sigh. It was the longest it had ever been, around his cheekbones, “you really can’t do anything in halves, uh?” Luke mumbled, sitting on the comfy large chair that every stretcher had accompanying it. He bounced his leg nervously, taking his phone out of his hoodie’s pocket.

It was so annoying that Vin was four hours away, when he could be there to keep him company and keep Luke from going out of his mind with anxiety. Instead, he had to settle for texting him.

Vince: So?? HELLO? You stopped answering, are they ok??

Vince: I texted Wendy bc u suck and she said Leo’s fine. 🤘🤘🤘

Vince: did they get rid of the middle-finger emoji? Duck that. TEXT ME about Leo.

Vince: Lucas Howard Atwood.

He snorted at the dramatics, then texted back an answer, updating Vince on the nitty gritty details.

After a couple more reassurances that both their friends were fine, Vin changed the subject to that week’s game, inviting Luke to come over to watch it with him and then went on to rant about some field trip he’d have to take with his coworker from hell, the chemistry teacher.

Lucas knew damn well what his best friend was doing, keeping him distracted from the hospital atmosphere, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t working. He was so sucked in the texting, that it took him a minute to realize Leo was awake and watching him.

Luke jumped as he glanced up and met blue, bloodshot eyes.

“Christ!” He exclaimed, heart racing at the dead, scary stare, “don’t do that, you look like a fucking corpse, Leo!”

“Uhm,” was Leo’s grunt in response, “feel like it… My head hurts…”

“How much?” Luke typed a quick “gtg, Leo’s up” and then pocketed his phone away, “one to ten?”

“I don’t know…” Leo rubbed at his eyes, then glared at the IV needle sticking out of his arm, gulping down thickly, “I feel like crap.”

“You look it,” Lucas pointed out humorously, moving closer, “do you think you could stomach some water?”

Leo immediately grimaced, shaking his head, “no… My tummy feels really weird,” his eyes closed for a second, “where’s Jon?”

“Back in the apartment,” Luke reached in without thinking, rubbing Leo’s arm, “Bella’s with him, he’s alright.”

“I poisoned him,” Leo pouted, turning his head and pressing his cheek to the back of Luke’s hand, “the guy organizes me the best birthday ever and I fucking poison him.”

Luke snorted at that, moving his hand to pet his friend’s hair and grinning when Leo nearly melted under the touch, sliding lower on the bed, “I don’t think he’s holding it against you,” he promised, “maybe he’ll just prohibit any outside food.”

“Probably,” Leo mumbled sleepily, “can they do something about the headache?”

“I’ll check,” Luke whispered, squeezing his shoulder and walking out of the privacy of the curtains in order to find a nurse.

When he did come back, Lucas had a nurse following him and his phone was buzzing in his pocket. He was fully expecting it to be Vince, so his stomach dropped when he saw Bella’s face across his screen.

“Is everything okay?” He asked stepping out of Leo’s earshot and watching as the nurse questioned him about the headache, “is Jonah-”

“Hi,” Jonah answered and in the far distance Luke could hear Bella saying something teasingly about him being a worried mother, which one of them she meant Luke wasn’t sure, “is Leo alright? Is he awake? Did Wendy check on him yet?”

“Hi Jonah,,” Luke sighed in relief, “yeah, he’s fine. How are you? Did you drink anything? Leo’s super dehydrated.”

“I’m okay-”

“He threw up the gatorade,” Bella ratted him out, “we’re trying the nausea meds again.”

“Amazing,” Lucas scoffed, not one bit amused, “maybe you should bring him here, baby-”

“He is right here!” Jonah cried out, “and I’m really fine, I was just burping too much. I know better now.”

Another little scoff from Bell, her mumbling something that Luke couldn’t make sense of, but that made Jonah tell her to shut up.

“How’s Leo?” Jon asked once more, stronger this time, “can I talk with him? Is he coming back? Did Wendy check on him? Let me talk with her-”

“He’s got a headache so they’re giving him some painkillers on top of the nausea meds,” Luke explained, glancing at where Leo was curled up on the bed, “he’s probably gonna fall right back asleep. Wendy checked him, yeah- Hold on, let me see if he’s still awake…”

He walked closer to the bed and Leo blinked sleepily at him, his eyes squinted because of the pain, “is Jon alright?” Even sick as he was, his guessing skills were still sharp.

“He wants to talk with you,” Luke whispered, “are you up for it?”

Leo nodded, but didn’t move, so Luke held the phone against his ear and cheek. The blonde let out a raspy sigh, “hi angel,” he whispered, “I’m really sor-”

Luke couldn’t hear Jonah, but he knew the guy had just bitten Leo’s head off for daring to apologize. The blonde snapped his mouth shut, taking a deep sigh, then answered his fiance, “I’m fine, Jon, I swear. Sore, nauseous, but I’m fine. Sleepy. How are you?”

More silence and Leo nodding along, “okay… Alright, get some rest then- I love you. I’m going home soon.”

Luke pressed his lips in an amused way. Only three hours without seeing each other and they were acting as if it had been a whole week. He waited until Leo was done speaking, clearly too tired to go on, then pulled the phone back.

“Let me talk with Bell?” He asked, since it was still Jonah holding the phone. There was some fumbling around, then his wife’s voice answered him.

“Yeah?”

“How is he? Really?” Lucas fell back down on the big chair, squeezing Leo’s arm as the blonde started to drift back asleep.

“Still really nauseous,” Bella answered truthfully, “but he’s keeping the meds down and was keeping gatorade down earlier. So I’m hopeful…”

“Okay,” Luke yawned, “we’re gonna be back in three more hours. Please text me if something changes, Bell.”

True to his word, it was another three hours before Wendy released Leo, the blonde sound asleep. Another half an hour as Luke struggled to manhandle his sleepy friend back into the car and then up the apartment once more.

Jonah was passed out on the couch, with Bella sitting by his legs and going through her phone, scratching his thigh up and down without thinking since his legs were on her lap.

“Hey,” she looked up as Luke stumbled in with a half asleep Leo, “you need help?”

“Yeah,” Luke nodded, arm wrapped around the blonde’s waist and drunkenly guiding him down the hall, “get the blankets for me?”

Together they dragged both men to sleep in the bed, Lucas taking a minute longer, as he overdotted to his heart’s content, tucking his friends in and making sure they had water at reach and a bucket on each side.

He left the door half open and walked out of the main suite.

Bella was sitting in the living room, arms crossed over her stomach and a frown on her face, so Luke raised an eyebrow and walked closer, "what's wrong, baby?"

"I'm hungry," she sighed, "nothing to eat around here. I mean, nothing tasty."

Luke snorted, "didn't you bring groceries?"

"It's all for soup," Bella sighed dramatically, pressing her hands to her belly. It was empty enough that it was curving inwards slightly, a rare sight. While she was far from chubby, she was a bombshell and had the tummy to justify the amount of ass and tits.

Luke circled the coffee table and sat down next to his wife, throwing his head back with a yawn and raising his arm so she could fall against his side, "order in?" he suggested, when Bella's stomach let out a loud growl.

"It's past 11," Bella groaned, pressing her face to his chest and grabbing Luke's hand, moving it to rest on her stomach. He raised his eyebrows, he could feel the organ crying out for food, whining and growling, lightly vibrating under his hand, "there's no place open on iFood."

In times like these Bella hated their small, university town. Her tummy growled again, a snarling sound and she curled up, muffling a small empty-belly burp against Luke's chest, "I'm dying."

He snorted at that, pressing a kiss on top of her curls and his hand against her stomach. Lucas' hand was almost big enough to cover its expanse and the warmth and pressure helped a little.

"I'll go get us dinner," he yawned and Bella looked up, feeling a pang of guilt. Lucas looked exhausted, after all the hauling Leo and Jonah around. Not only they were a heavy lift, but she knew damn well that hospitals always drained him, no matter how harmless the reason.

"No, it's fine," she shook her head, "I'll get an apple or something, it's fine-"

"I'm hungry too," Luke reassured her, "how does pizza sound?"

It sounded heavenly and her mouth immediately watered at the thought. She didn't even need to say anything, it probably showed in her face, because he chuckled and cupped her cheeks, pressing a kiss on her mouth and saying, "be right back."

Bella busied herself getting them settled. There was no way they were going home without knowing Jonah and Leo were 100% OK and she knew that the couple wouldn't mind them taking the guest room — not that Lucas cared about imposing himself.

She made sure the house wasn't a mess, something that didn't come naturally to Bella but she knew Jonah would appreciate, the neat freak that he was. JD was following her around, clearly confused about her presence, so after cleaning everything up and checking on the two sick men - they were cutely cuddling in bed, both passed out - Bella sat back down on the couch and the cat promptly climbed on her.

She wasn't the pets type of girl, had killed all of her goldfishes as a kid, but JD was too cute to ignore. The cat rubbed her head against her stomach, eyes squeezing into little black lines, then jumped back as Bell's stomach growled.

The ginger snorted, "sorry, kitty," Bella scratched JD behind her ears, sliding down on the couch and planting her feet on the coffee table, "you're real cute, you know that?"

The cat probably did know that, given how much Jonah and Leo spoiled her. She purred, snuggling up on Bella's lap and pushing her paws on the woman's stomach, trying to shut up the incessant snarling.

Bella continued to scratch JD, while grimacing as her stomach squeezed with hunger. She had no energy to be hangry, but had it been a different occasion she’d definitely be. She curled up on the couch and the cat moved so she could snuggle right between her breasts.

“Excuse me, I think the cat is on my spot,” Luke commented, entering the apartment and getting a glimpse of the scene. His voice had the kitten running to greet him and Bella rolled her eyes at his comment, stomach hurting from how hungry she was.

“Gimme, gimme, gimme-” she got up in a flash, tip-toeing to grab the pizza box that her husband was holding high, as if JD was genuinely able to climb him in order to get it.

Bella didn’t even bother taking it to the kitchen or the dining room, she opened the box right there, breaking a piece of the cheese filled crust out and almost moaning as she finally got it in her mouth. Her tummy let out an angry growl, a pang of hunger echoing through it and she squirmed.

“One would think you didn’t eat all day,” Luke commented, retrieving the box from her and taking it to the kitchen, making her groan in a frustrated manner and follow him.

“I know, but it’s almost midnight Luke. Last we had any food it was lunch…” She squinted at him, as Lucas dug through Jonah and Leo’s drawers in search of a knife, “unless you ate at the hospital.”

He had the decency of blushing, “Leo was asleep! There was nothing for me to do!”

“I hate you,” Bella whined, then took the knife from him and cut herself a slice, genuinely having to stop herself from drooling over the pizza.

They sat by the kitchen counter, barely talking at first since she was too busy devouring the pizza, but slowly becoming more human. By the third slice Bella let out a heavy sigh and leaned back, undoing the buttons of her jeans and causing Luke to let out an amused snort.

“Done?”

“Uhm, maybe,” she leaned back, wiping her fingers on a paper napkin and ducking her head, letting out a burp. Besides her, Luke chuckled at the noise and reached for his third slice, since he was eating slower than her.

Bella sipped her drink — Sprite, because Lucas knew it was her favorite — and gave up at the idea of another slice. She could handle it, but it would probably leave her feeling horrible and after seeing so much puking all day, Bella didn’t want to try her luck.

“Weak,” Lucas grinned, leaning in to steal a kiss, “really thought you were gonna have it all.”

“Thought so too,” she leaned in, licking off the salty residue of his bottom lip, “I’m gonna go change into something more comfy and check on the guys while you finish it up.”

“There’s some sweats in the guest bedroom, but they might be too big for you,” Lucas nodded, closing the pizza box to put the rest away, “I brought a spare shirt, if you don’t feel comfortable wearing those.”

“I’m comfortable,” Bella shrugged, looping an arm around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek, “you’re the sweetest, most thoughtful husband I’ve ever had.”

“As opposed to your other husbands,” Luke grinned, turning his head so he could kiss her again and Bella smiled against his mouth, pulling back.

Like Lucas had said, there was a dresser in the guest room, with some folded track suits and old clothes. They looked ridiculous on her and Bella chuckled to herself as she put on the pants and pulled on the cords in order to keep them from falling to the ground. The leg length was too long and she had to fold it twice. It was too warm for the long sleeves, so instead she decided to keep her bra for now and put on one of the tank tops.

She tiptoed to the master suite, cracking the door open and squinting until her eyes settled with the darkness. Jonah was on the right side and he hadn’t moved at all. Still flat on his back, with the blankets tucked around him, peacefully asleep. On his left, Leo had rolled around until his face met Jon’s bicep and he was curled up on himself.

Bella frowned at that, walking further inside and circling the bed, so she could get a closer look at the blonde. She lightly touched his forehead, half expecting to feel a fever, but instead only clammy skin met her palm. His bucket was untouched, thank God.

“What are you doing?” Leo whispered, jerking slightly as she pushed his hair back.

Bella grimaced, “sorry, didn’t mean to wake you. Are you feeling ok?”

“Better than before,” he moved on the bed, throwing an arm around Jonah’s waist and snuggling up with a yawn, “sore and tired.”

“Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?” Instinctively, she rubbed his back and Leo all but melted. He shook his head, yawning again.

“No, just gonna go back to sleep…”

“Okay,” understanding she had just been dismissed, Bella leaned in to plant a kiss on his temple and got up, “Luke and I are in the guest room. Just shout if you need us.”

“Goodnight Bell…” Leo answered softly, falling right back asleep.

Luke had already managed to clear up the kitchen and, unlike Bell, he hadn’t bothered changing into anything, just stripping down to his boxers and falling flat on top of the covers, pestering JD. The cat kept swatting him away like an annoying fly.

The guest bathroom had spare, never used toothbrushes, and finally Bella made her way to the bedroom. She hit the lights, but didn’t bother trying to get Luke to move, crawling over him on the mattress and falling against the pillows with a sigh.

He stirred in the semi dark — the door was left half open, the hallway light was still on — then pressed his face to her stomach, planting a kiss there, “are they okay? Did you check on them?”

“They’re fine,” Bella’s hand moved to his hair and she combed through the messy waves. At this hour of the night Luke looked closely related to a mad scientist, “you’re gonna make me burp lying on my belly like that.”

“Uhm,” he shrugged, snuggling and sliding a hand under her oversized tank top in order to hug her closer. Lucas sighed heavily, exhausted and she moved her hand from his hair to the middle of his back, scooting up on the bed as his weight pushed up yet another burp, that she muffled on her fist.

“Sleepy?” Bell whispered, grinning when she felt JD snuggling on her side as well.

“Your stomach is lullabying me,” Lucas said with a huff, turning his face and pressing a kiss to her belly, “push me off if I get too heavy…”

“Okay, baby,” she folded in the middle, kissing the top of his head, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

#sickfic #mywriting #🍉 anon #leo wagner #isabella martinez #isabella martinez-atwood #jonah banks #fluff #domestic fluff #bellyache #food poisoning #hunger #belly rubs

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fandangotales · 2 years

Text

Venti and the “Hatsune Miku”

Summary: You tell Venti about a singer named Hatsune Miku <3

Warnings: None, pure fluff with a hint of crack! <3

Reader is GN! <3

It was a warm day, the soft rays of sun caressing the grass blades on Starsnatch Cliff. You and Venti were currently having a picnic, relaxing on top of the plaid blanket beneath you.

You both were eating various snacks, casually talking about random of subjects.

“Say, Divine One…” Venti trawled, picking up an apple slice from a plate, “What’s your favorite song?”

You had just stuffed a large portion of food in your mouth, so you motioned for him to give you a second to respond. He didn’t seem to notice though, as he continued to speak.

“I wonder… would it be a song from Teyvat, or a song from your old world? Would I know it? Well probably, since I kinda know all songs.”

He giggled to himself, seeing the questioning expression in your face.

Your cheeks were stuffed with dessert, and it looked quite amusing as you tried to chew your food faster.

Finally, you swallowed. You rolled your eyes, responding to his laughter.

“My favorite song would probably be World is Mine”. You said, after some consideration.

“I would always listen to it back when I was younger, and it just really stuck around for me as a comfort song.”

Venti put a hand on his chin, looking off into the distance as if he was pretending to be some wise philosopher.

“Ah, one is most unfamiliar with the tune you speak of.” He croaked, absolutely nailing his impression of an old man. You were almost sure he was impersonating a certain funeral consultant, but you decided not to comment on that.

You choked on your drink, snorting as you laughed.

“Seriously?” You asked, jokingly raising your eyebrows. “The tone-deaf bard has never heard of World is Mine? One is quite shocked.”

“Divine One…!” He pouted, pretending to be offended.

“Could you tell me who sang that song? I might be able to recognize it from that.” He asked, leaning closer to you.

You sucked in a breath, looking wistfully off into the skyline. The sun has began to set, bringing an orange glow across your features.

“Our Queen, Hatsune Miku.” You said, placing a hand over your heart.

“Uh… Queen?” He asked, looking over at you in complete confusion.

“Luscious teal hair that flows to the ground, an angelic voice that none other could rival, the keeper of the leeks… Miku.”

You smiled, reminiscing about your days in middle school.

The hours spent listening to Miku and the other vocaloids, the time spent watching her music videos, seeing her change outfits for the 100th time in a song.

Truthfully, it brought the beginnings of tears to your eyes.

“D-don’t cry Your Grace!” Venti exclaimed, panicking at your state. “I’m sorry for not knowing the song…”

You grinned, looking back over in his direction. “It’s alright, don’t worry about it. I just was remembering my old life before I came here. Miku was my favorite singer of like… literally EVER. I used to adore her so much, always collecting plushies, merch, and even going to one of her concerts. That was one of the happiest days of my life.”

He looked mildly reassured by your words, but you could tell he was a little put off by your misty eyes. Another emotion was surfacing too, although you couldn’t tell what it was.

“Your Grace, would you say that she was a better singer than me? Do you love her more?” He questioned, voice quivering with vulnerability.

You laughed, before realizing how rude you probably sounded.

“I’m sorry…” you wheezed, “I guess I forgot to tell you that Miku wasn’t a real person. And, of course, I could never love her the same way as I do you.”

Venti’s cheeks darkened, staying silent before his curiosity got the best of him.

“She wasn’t real? How did that work? How did she sing? What did her voice sound like?” He said, bombarding you with questions.

You groaned, not wanting to explain the whole context of vocaloids. It would probably take at least an hour for him to fully understand, and the sun was nearly set.

You glanced at him, before asking, “Would you like me to teach you the song? Explaining would take awhile, and I’d love to share World is Mine with you before our picnic has to come to an end.”

His eyes widened, no doubt about to hastily agree to your proposition.

You decided to just start, after a particularly large inhale.

“SEKAIIIIII DEIIIII-“

#cultau #sagau #genshin impact #genshin impact sagau #genshin cult au #genshin crack #genshin sagau #venti #genshin impact venti #venti x reader #genshin fluff #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #gn reader

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ughkat · 1 year

Text

caught | l.r.h

requested

part two

part one here

luke x fem!reader

your brother ashton discovers you've been secretly seeing his friend and band mate luke behind his back

swearing, protective brother, angst, brother!ash, luke x reader

not proofread

part 3 coming soon

"We need to talk."

Ashton's stern tone made my body tense, I frantically searched my brain for any reasonable excuse for Luke's presence in my home. He looked at me briefly before making his way ti my couch, sitting down heavily.

I followed close behind, taking a seat beside him.

"What was he doing here...?" Ashton spoke rhetorically, his eyes glued to the coffee table in front of him. His jaw clenched tightly, as did his hands which were clasped together as he rested his elbows on his knees. I bounced my leg anxiously watching his cold expression.

"Ash, I-" I stuttered before he cut me off.

"The truth, Y/n." He interrupted, turning his head slightly in my direction. I let out a shaky sigh.

"We we're just... Hanging out... and stuff." I trailed off, looking down at my hands. My mouth was unable to get the words out to my brother. Ashton tossed his head back with frustration, not buying any of my excuses.

"Stop bullshitting me." He snapped, turning his head to look at me. I looked at him hesitantly, his anger was intimidating. "You think I can't tell what's going on?" He tilted his head, his face was plaster with a fed up look. I bit my cheek trying to find my words. I didn't know how to casually admit to my brother that I was fucking his friend.

"I'm sorry, Ash." I spoke softly, my voice trembling. Ashton shook his head in disbelief, running a hand through his hair.

"He's not to come back here without me, got it?" He growled. I wanted to argue back at my brother's protective attitude, however I knew I was in no position to do so. I glanced to Ashton briefly, meeting his angry eyes and furrowed brow, sighing heavily before giving him a gentle nod.

"Fine." I spoke just above a whisper, clenching my jaw slightly at the growing frustration inside of me. I knew I wasn't going to stop seeing Luke, however with Ashton's discoveries, our rendezvous' may be a little harder to come by. A brief moment of silence passed us before Ashton spoke up again.

"How long?" He muttered, staring at the coffee table in front of him. I stuttered in confusion at the context of his question.

"What?".

"How long, Y/n. How fucking long has he been seeing you." He snapped, raising his voice. I picked at my fingers in my lap anxiously, knowing any answers I give Ashton, true or not, will fuel his flame.

"Um... a couple months, I guess." I mumbled, choosing to tell the truth. I avoided Ashton's eyes as I felt his energy beside me become more and more furious by the minute. I slowly began to become fearful for his and Luke's friendship, as this was going as bad as I imagined it would.

"I need to go." Ashton spoke abruptly, standing from his seat with a heavy sigh. I looked up frantically, searching for any words to calm him down.

"Wait, Ash. You don't want to stay?" I stuttered softly, standing up after him.

"I'm going to talk to Luke. I'll see you later." He muttered deeply, his tone telling me everything I need to know. My heart began to race at the endless ideas of what Ashton would do to Luke. As he made his way to the entrance, me frantically following behind him, a few soft knock fell upon the front door. Ashton halted in his tracks, me right behind him. "Please don't be Luke, Please don't be Luke." I pleaded to myself.

Ashton looked at me briefly before turning the knob to open the door, revealing the exact guest I was hoping it wasn't. My eyes widened slightly as Ashton and Luke came face to face, Ashton's fist balled to his side.

"Uh. I left my phone..." Luke spoke slowly as he stuttered, glancing from me to Ashton back and forth cautiously.

"I'll go get it." I spoke quickly, wasting no time and trying not to add to the awkward encounter. As I was looking for Luke's phone in my room, Ashton chose to speak his mind.

"You're such an idiot, you know that?" He spoke mockingly, tilting his head slightly. Luke swallowed a lump in his throat, glancing away and then back at Ashton quickly.

"We were just hanging out, man. I don't-"

"Just stop." Ashton cut him off, raising a hand slightly. "I'm not stupid. Very obvious what's going on."

Luke looked away quickly, his fingers fidgeting in his pocket. Ashton moved in closer to Luke, inches from his face.

"If you lay another finger on my sister," He began, looking Luke sternly in the eyes, "You're dead." He continued. Luke's breath hitched in his throat as Ashton made his threats. His intimidating tone made Luke feel small.

"Stay the fuck away from her, understand?" Ashton spat. Luke nodded, glancing away from Ashton's burning gaze.

I returned to the front of the house with Luke's phone at almost perfect timing, I immediately noticed the extra drop in energy upon my arrival. Luke's bold posture had softened, his shoulder's slouched slightly. Ashton's eyes burned into Luke. I slowly handed Luke his phone as I examined the two's expressions.

"Thanks." He muttered, glancing to Ashton briefly before back to me.

"Go." Ashton ordered, ushering Luke out of my apartment. I shared a quick gaze with Luke before he turned to exit my apartment, closing the door softly behind him.

"I could kill him." Ashton huffed, fists still balled at his sides.

"Ash, it's fine." I muttered, as frustrated as I was I still wanted my brother to be okay. He shook his head quickly.

"If he comes back here, tell me as soon as fucking possible, okay?" He growled. I nodded hesitantly. He looked at me softly for a moment, noting my anxious expression before bringing me in for a generous hug.

"I'm sorry, Y/n." He softened his tone, hugging me tightly as he comforted me from his harsh manor, "I just know Luke differently than you do. You don't want a guy like him." He explained, pulling away from our embrace. I listened to his words, though selfishly not taking any of it in. The relationship Luke and I had, while parts of it were romantic, it was mostly sex driven. I didn't care if he was a good partner.

"I know, I understand." I spoke, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." I muttered. He placed a hand on my head, shaking it ever so slightly and messing up my hair.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." He half smiled, "Luke, however, is not off the hook so easy." He sighed, shaking his head. "Don't know what I'm gonna do with him."

I bit my cheek anxiously, knowing that by tomorrow I'd probably have Luke in my bed just how I had him today, completely ignoring my brothers words.

"I think you scared him off pretty good." I forced a giggle. Ashton chuckled through his nose.

"I'm gonna head out for real this time. You okay?" He spoke softly, giving my shoulder a light tap. I nodded with a smile.

"I'll see you." He departed with a single nod, heading out the door swiftly, leaving me to myself.

I let out a deep sigh, closing my eyes briefly as I calmed my nerves. The first thing on my mind was the blond who had just been attacked by my brother. I headed to my bedroom to my phone, immediately opening my texts with Luke.

"Are you okay?" I sent quickly, bouncing my leg nervously.

"I think Ashton wants me dead."

I sighed deeply at his words, wondering if Ashton's behavior turned Luke off from continuing seeing me.

"Do you want to stop?"

I texted vaguely. Luke took a moment to respond as I watched the three dots dance on the screen.

"Do you?"

I bit my lip, thinking carefully about his question. I was so scared of Ashton's reaction but didn't care in the moment.

"No."

"Me either."

I couldn't help but let a small smile escape my lips at our mutual agreement, the secrecy only making it more exciting.

"What now?"

I typed hesitantly.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

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jamneuromain · 6 months

Note

Jam, in honor to the song I was just listening I propose a battle for our reader.

😠 + 😉 with Andy VS Steve. Steve was your first love, Andy is your current amazing love. Fight fight fight (not physical obviously lol🥊!

hmmm.... It's such a tough call! But since Andy is your current amazing love, I rule for-

Ugh I hate ex-bf being all gloating and smug when you meet again

Not Him

Previous Steve Rogers x You; Andy Barber x You

Warning: Ex-Steve, Reader is in her late 20s, Andy a few years older than reader (but not mentioned specifically). None?

Summary: You met someone unexpected, your ex, Steve, on your way to your class. What's the worst that could happen? Answer: Andy happened.

A/N: Hiya! Sorry it took so long to get it out :( I've been clearing my draftbox as best as I can.

Someone called out your name behind your back, and you instinctively snapped your head in that direction.

Blonde, built, and that smile-

"Oh, Steve. Hi." You instantly recognized the man from your past.

You met Steve when you attended high school. While he was the famous football quarterback for the school team, you were practically nobody, and if it weren't for a class you shared, you wouldn't even know each other in your separate lives.

One thing led to another, and you became high school sweethearts, before breaking up a few months later.

"Hey." He jogged up to you. That sunshine-dazzling smile nearly splitting his face in two, "It's been... what, ten years? Wow..." He exclaims, carefully observing you from head to toe.

"Yeah, I mean, I haven't seen you since ... the prom?" You casually switched the pile in your hand to the other, smoothing your T-shirt.

Oh yes, the high school prom where you had two dances before he spent the whole night with the pretty British girl with a posh accent. What's her name? Petra? Penny? Next day, your phone was blasted with Instagram notifications telling you from all aspects and angles how they kissed as Prom King and Queen. Not that you didn't know it already, when you were there, under the stage.

"You-uh heading somewhere?" He pointed at your stack of papers, teasing ever so slightly, "I've seen you still not giving up on studying, huh?"

"Well, I-"

"I'm working as a coach now," He interrupted before you could finish your sentence, flashing his team jacket before your eyes, even tapping on the chest where the team name is visible to any man within eight feet if they weren't complete blind.

"Wow." You nodded, playing along, "Uni team, impressive."

Too bad you were never a decent sports fan that could share Steve's enthusiasm as to which legendary figure saved the day with a ball in their hands - nor did you find being a coach "impressive" ... or intrigued, for that matter, because being in front of glamouring Steve fucking Rogers made you shrink back to your high school self-image again: a small, inconspicuous, socially unidentifiable shadow of a being that you could barely recognize. And yet, the contrast between Steve and you reminded you every single time, that you do not belong to a world of his, a world where books and glasses are symbols of "nerds" or "geeks" and are perfectly fine to make fun of, a world where if you don't like sports - or not being a potential athlete, you should be eliminated in every social context.

"Yup." He popped the "p" with his full lips, "If you want the tickets next season-" Steve pointed towards himself with both thumbs, the lop-sided smile made him look smug as ever, "This guy is your go-to-guy."

More like your never-go-to guy. You scoffed, adjusting your expression to a small smile as soon as he turned his focus on you, "Sorry, I think I need to head to my next class."

"C'mon-" Steve dragged his tone almost annoyingly, "Skip it. Don't you have some time for me, for old time's sake?"

You could have ten more minutes for him before the next class. But you didn't want to. Which was the point.

"Hey, honey." Came a voice behind your back, startling you just a little. An arm draped around your shoulders, squishing you into a familiar embrace, "I've been calling."

You let out a sigh of relief. More so when the owner of this familiar voice took the stack of papers from your arms into his own, and rubbed your sore arm for having to hold the pile for quite a while.

"Sorry." You apologized to your beloved boyfriend Andy, "I must've silenced my phone during the class."

" 's okay." Andy pressed a kiss to your temple, whispering, "Wanted to ask you about lunch anyway. Nothing important." Andy slowly moved his eyes away from yours, and acted as if he had just seen Steve, a 6-foot man who appeared out of nowhere, "Who do we have here? Honey, would you mind introducing?"

"Sure. This is my ex, Steve, from high school. Steve, this is Andy, my boyfriend."

The moment the word "ex" escaped from your lips, you became aware instantly that your boyfriend had entered his suit mode, every available muscle tensing up in his body, and like a good huntsman, ready to strike when he sees the glimpse of a failure of his opponent. Where you hoped that "high school" from your introduction would calm his nerves, it certainly achieved the opposite when you heard your boyfriend say: "Oh..." in a thoughtful way, "the quarterback-captain, am I right?" as he extended his hand to shake Steve's.

Yup. It definitely made Andy slightly on edge.

"I'm part of the coaching team on campus, actually." Steve flashed his identity proudly before Andy, shaking Andy's hand in an equally firm grip, "Go Falcons."

"Oh..." said Andy again, more thoughtfully, "I'm a professor here in the Law School - You wouldn't happen to be the coach assistant of Karl?"

This just turned more competitive than you would think. Yet, it did bring a tinge of amusement when Andy confirmed your suspicion that Steve was too young to be made a coach, while the position of coach assistant was for brainless jocks who did all the dirty work coaches didn't want to, the heavy-lifting and paperworks, for instance.

"Well," Steve sneered, "I thought dating a student was improper conduct, Professor."

"Excuse me?" Andy raised his brows. So did you.

"You heard me." Steve nodded towards you, "Her, a student, obviously. It would be a great unfortunate if the dean might hear about such a rumour somewhere, wouldn't it?"

He said almost challengingly.

Wow. Typical Steve as ever. The girl he dated after prom, the British girl, was rumoured to have had a bad break-up previously. According to gossip that ran in the school bathroom, the British girl was told that her ex was cheating - which turned out to be a false alarm, but they broke up anyway.

Now you guessed you knew who was the little birdie that shared the false information with that poor girl.

Andy snorted out laughter. The corner of his lips could barely contain themselves as he struggled to keep a straight face, "Marvelous." Andy clapped - more like tapping his palm with the other hand, before asking for your permission, "Should you do this or should I?"

You scoffed. Really scoffed in front of the glorious quarterback that you liked a decade ago, "For your information, Steve, I'm working as a lecturer at this university. So, go start your devious little plan elsewhere. If you don't mind, I have a class to teach - C'mon, Andy."

You dragged Andy by his arm and led him out of the battlefield.

"Nice." Andy commented, not bothering to look back at his opponent, with a pleasing grin that was probably going to mold on his face for all eternity. "Did you see the look on that guy's face? Spectacular. So proud of you, Honey."

"Yeah, not my best moment having to face a dickhead-ex." You huffed out, "Jesus, why didn't I know he was that big of a jerk when I started dating him?"

"I know," Andy said, sympathetically, "Don't worry though, I noticed that your choice of man has had a significant change for the better."

You shot him a dirty glare, which Andy took, feigning he just got hit on the chest.

"Sorry, no joking, got it." Andy made a pained face which caused you to involuntarily grin. Quickly abandoning the idea of the ex in his mind, Andy finally returned to the topic for which he came to find you, "What's for lunch again? Cafeteria?"

Find Jammy's 500 Follower's Celebration here 👈

Questions? Comments? Requests? 👉Send them to my inbox 👂

#andy barber x reader #andy barber x you #andy barber fanfiction #andy barber fluff #andy barber fic #andy barber #defending jacob #jammy's 500 celebration #writing challenge

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epiclamer · 2 years

Note

RAT

write some h/c for me

Alright beetle ;)

Benign Betrayer

“Hey.”

An incredibly casual thing to say in such a situation. A word reserved for friends or newly acquaintances, used in context to a meet-up or bumping into one another. Hey, would not be the appropriate term used to greet one’s enemy at their doorstep whilst covered in blood.

“Uh… hi.” Hero’s hands unconsciously clutched the edge of the door tighter, the sight in front of them couldn’t blame them; Villain looked like something straight out of a horror film.

They were covered in scratches and scars, bleeding from various open wounds—some visible on the surface, some hidden under layers of raggedy clothing. Villain sported bruises young and old across their body and their face was red and puffy from crying, their voice remained hoarse as evidence to screaming.

Evidently, someone had devoted precious time into taking the villain apart, piece by piece. Now as they stood in front of their nemesis they looked beyond broken.

Villain cleared their throat with a rough cough, “do you mind if I…” they gestured with their hand at the door.

“Oh, yes, sorry of course.” Hero stepped aside, pushing the door back until it was open wide enough to seem welcoming. It wasn’t that they didn’t want the villain inside, it was simply that they hadn’t expected it.

They hadn’t expected any of this.

Hell, the last time they saw the villain they were being interrogated on Supervillain. Pressed to expose all of the other’s secrets at gunpoint, but they hadn’t caved.

Except once.

While their head was being shoved underwater for longer than humanly possible and their lungs burnt with the lack of air. Finally, the villain had begged for mercy when their head was pulled up one last time and in exchange for their life they surrendered the tiniest bit of information.

The absolute smallest amount that they could get away with. Villain refused to be labelled a traitor, but they couldn’t help it for their life.

Seeing the criminal at their doorstep was honestly the last place Hero expected to see them after their escape. Especially in such a delicate condition, but they weren’t going to turn them away either.

“It’s funny,” Hero voiced, following after the villain and into their apartment, shutting the door behind them. “I would’ve thought Superhero’s wounds healed on you already. What with the whole escape and disappearance shtick.”

Villain stood, out of place in the lavish housing around them, and let the hero guide them to the living room couch. “Oh, they have.”

Hero ventured into the kitchen for the first-aid kit before they returned, puzzled. “What do you mean? You look the same as when you left…”

Trying not to think too hard on the situation surrounding how Villain ended up with the lacerations, Hero began to patch them up. Years of medical field training proving itself useful and skillfully in their work. One thing they knew for sure was that if they got too wrapped up in their head, they would get sloppy. Villain didn’t need sloppy right now, in their state they needed a surgeon.

“Yeah, well, Supervillain got word that I ratted before I could even make it to my front door.” Villain flinched when the disinfectant in Hero’s hand hit its first cut. “It’s safe to say, they weren’t very pleased.”

A terrible mix of guilt and pity found its way to Hero’s stomach. When they had arrested the villain a month ago they never imagined this happening. They had hoped for the villain’s safety that they would pull one of their tricks and wriggle their way out well before they could be tortured. And if worse came to worse, Hero was more than ready to simply unchain them so they could get back to the supervillain and forget any of this ever happened.

But they were too late. Besides, despite everything, Villain was considered an enemy to both sides now and it was Hero’s fault.

“I’m sorry.” The crime-stopper’s work was getting clumsier with every thought racing through their mind.

“You were just doing your job. I don’t blame you.” Villain winced when the other prepared for stitching, watching in denied fear as they thread the needle and prepped their skin.

Taking a deep breath, Hero tried to steady their hand, when that plan failed miserably they looked up to see the villain’s half-lidded eyes.

They looked defeated, all of their energy used in trying to keep themselves alive and now they were safe. With Hero, they felt safe with Hero. Although they shouldn’t feel comfort with their nemesis so close-by, they couldn’t help the surge of relief each time the other’s hands were on their skin.

“Why did you come to me?” Frustration built in their gut, masking their guilt with anger, yet they were only upset with themselves. “I arrested you, I sent you to the Agency. I should be the last person in which you seek salvation.” They put the needle down, unable to continue while overwhelmed.

Villain smiled slightly, the edges of their lips curving upwards at the sound of Hero’s voice. Their eyes were comfortably closed now and Hero would’ve been assured they were going to fall asleep at any second if it wasn’t for their racing heartbeat. The criminal was afraid of needles, of course, they didn’t want to see the stitches happen.

“Ever since you confessed to me you’ve been distant. Don’t think I haven’t noticed,” both of their eyes opened to glare amusedly at the hero, then they shut once more. “Maybe you think that if you push me away or get rid of me then it will be like nothing ever happened, but you never even let me confess back, huh?”

Hero stared in bewilderment, a gentle blush creeping up their neck in shame. They hadn’t thought it was possible for the villain to love them back. It never even occurred to them.

“Either way, you’ll never be free of me. I’m going to pester you until you kiss me or we both die.” They had their full grin back now, the stupid smirk Hero was head over heels for.

And they didn’t need another sign to take the kiss they had dreamt of for years.

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auspex · 4 months

Text

VtM Fangfest 2024 Prompt 6: The Hierophant

Hello! Here is my sixth fic for Fangfest 2024 :)

All my fics will be about characters that are previously established, so you might not have context for everything mentioned or hinted at within :( Feel free to reach out to ask I love explaining!

I've never really posted my writing before so be kind!

my first fic is here

my second fic is here

my third fic is here

my fourth fic is here

my fifth fic is here

This fic is about the Gangrel from the game I am the storyteller for, Blood and Silicon, which has its own blog run by the player @chiss-ticism here: @sanguineasylum. The starting phone call dialogue is from in game - @vtmgremlin played Blake and BIG SHOUT OUT TO @eric-the-bmo for transcribing!!!

The cold wind blew smoke and sparks from the fire towards Nelida’s face. Repressing a shudder, she composed herself and answered her ringing cellphone.

Nelida picks up after a moment's hesitation. “Hello?” As she picks up, Rico gives her a look, and listens in. Whatever.

“Hey, it's B! I'm calling from a different number 'cause my other one broke. Sorry for the late-night call, do you remember that guy I was telling you about? That asshole? Hunter?” She didn’t know a guy named Hunter, but the way he emphasized that word… “Yeah, him? A few of his friends are in town, and they tried to start a fight, but we just took off. Just lettin' you know in case he comes by and tries to give you trouble. Probably stay out of the city for a little while. Yknow, Hunter and his crew are somewheres down there- they like to prowl downtown, so.”

This must be Blake calling - a new Gangrel, who had recently visited their little camp in the forest for the first time a week or so ago. “Wait, is- What- Do you think Hunter is coming tonight?”

“Eh, I don't think so. I think for the most part he kinda took off with his buddies, but they're probably gonna be somewhere downtown. Who's to say. I do think the sheriff's probably gonna be looking out for him too, 'cause he knows he likes to cause trouble, so.”

The sheriff? Like this was some Camarilla city? No, he surely just meant kine legal trouble, right? “Um. Can you come over to talk?”

Blake inhales sharply. “Eh- I would if I could, but the problem is I gotta head out tonight, just in case, 'cause I gotta head up somewhere warm for the holidays. Y'know, family and all that.”

“What the hell. Are you talking about?” Nelida may not know much about Blake yet, but she highly doubted he actually had family he could go visit. But it's time to worry about herself, and her pack. If he’s leaving, then perhaps she should too.

Before Blake can reply, she continues. “Should I head somewhere for the holidays?"

He replies, still casual. “I mean, if you want. I'll just say probably stay out of downtown for a little while. Uh, probably around South Market Street. Probably don't go around there’.

That’s downtown, which he had mentioned before, but this was near where Baron Harrison makes his domain. She didn’t know much else off the top of the top of her head about the area. “Okay... Wasn't planning on it, but thank you? When can we talk more about this?”

“Uh, probably be back in town... sometime next year.”

“Next year!?”

“Y'know, after New Years!” Blake actually laughs.

Oh. Cheeky. “Well, you better have a story for me then.” He still owed him one, and now this story clearly was one that involved her. Or at least, one that could.

“I'm plannin' on it. But y'know, I gotta go and make a story happen first for me to tell you one.”

“What the hell.” She caught herself before saying his name on the phone. “Are you sure you can't stop by really quick?”

“Nah. I gotta head out soon, so- Yeah, just wanted to call and let you know. I don't want this call to go on for too long- I'm sure you need your beauty sleep- so Merry Christmas and all that, happy holidays. Also, probably don't call back this number, 'cause I actually had to borrow a phone from somebody- like I said, my other one broke, so.”

Was he implying he needed help? “Do you need.. assistance?”

Blake had hung up.

“The fuck was that all about?” Rico stared up at her, crouching over the fire.

“I’m not sure,” Nelida pursed her lips. “Something odd happened tonight for sure, we may be in danger. Blake must have uncovered something, he did say we don’t have to leave or anything though. Not that you would leave even if the place was on fire.”

“Nope.”

“Do you know anything about South Market Street?”

Rico scratched his head as he replied. “Uh, the Hecata and Harrison had a small dispute over the area once, since resolved, it's a tourist trap area with a cathedral, not much else of note. Why?”

“Blake said to avoid the area.”

“You gonna elaborate?”

“He seemed to imply hunters.”

The group was silent, listening to the crackling of the fire. Nelida began braiding her hair, and then continued. “This wouldn’t be the first time there were hunters in the city.”

“Nope.”

After a moment's pause, Melinda, one of the newer Gangrel, spoke up. “Uh, mind filling me in?”

Rico and Nelida looked at each other.

Nelida’s eyes glimmered looking into the fire. “In the 80s, before your embrace, kindred society San Jose was settling down. The Tremere had accepted that there was no way they could push out the Hecata, and sequestered themselves to the North. A gang of Ventrue took it upon themselves to push down any would-be-upstarts, and so any who called themselves ‘baron’ only laid claim to small areas. Kindred were masters of their own domain.”

Mel scratched the back of her neck. “Not like now.”

Rico snorted, and Nelida gave her a small smile. “Well, do you know much about another kindred’s domain? Could you tell me what goes on in the Hecata’s turf, or up north, where the thinbloods are now?”

She shook her head.

“Right, no, we don’t know much other than what they tell us. And no kindred talks about their own business - we’re secretive, and for good reason. So, back then, no one knew what was going on in the city at all, only across the street from their own haven. There was no coordination to look out for threats. We were all blind. Now - keep in mind, this was the 80s, so kindred did not have to contend with the Second Inquisition. No one was worried about kine hunters.”

Melinda smiled. “Y’all were careless.”

Rico cut in. “Hey now. Me and Nelida, we were minding our damn business out here. Wasn’t our fault.”

“Yes Rico.” Nelida finished one braid and moved on to another. “But we are still affected by other’s recklessness. Now shh, let me tell it.”

Melinda spoke up. “Wait, do we not like, need to do anything? Do we have time for this or should we be preparing for an attack or something?”

“No, I think he just wanted to give us a heads up. There’s nothing to be done, unless you have friends that you wish to warn. Now let me fill you in, like you asked.” The winter wind whispered and Nelida lowered her voice. “San Jose was experiencing a population boom. Whatever kine was your preference, it was not hard to find them. The Camarilla was not threatening the area. Unlife was good.”

“So good in fact, that new kindred were moving in too. Without any centralized leadership, arguments over territory were common. Rico made his place here, and allowed other Gangrel to join him, but other clans were a lot more fractured. The Toreador and Malkavians practically drove each other out.”

“Harrison is the reason why there’s no Roses in the city?”

Nelida smiled. “Harrison wasn’t here yet. As I was saying though, there was conflict, and conflict draws attention. There was a Toreador named Miguel, a wonderful guitarist, beautiful, exactly who you are probably picturing right now. He had a penchant for attending concerts within the local music scene, even fraternizing with mortals there beyond one-night-stands. Unfortunately for Miguel, one of his favorite bands frequented venues in an area claimed by a Malkavian at the time named Gloria.”

“Gloria got sick of seeing him, and despite warnings, he would not stop interacting with kine she considered hers.” Rico looked like he was about to say something, but was silenced by a look from Nelida. “She was known to kine as the landlord, a rather cruel one at that, and Miguel took advantage of this. He spurred those she collected rent from into action, protests and such, and had the bands support it.”

“But some of the mortals he was supporting dug a little too deep, and found that she had been a landlord for two decades, despite only looking 30.” She looked from the fire into Melinda’s eyes. “If you wish to involve yourself in mortal business personally, your identity has an expiration date.”

“Two of these kine, a couple, were assigned to keep looking into it. I do not know when they began to suspect something supernatural, but they surely caught wind.”

“Miguel won his fight, and Gloria ceded some territory to him. However, many months later, the couple confronted Gloria directly one night, and she was found staked and beheaded in an alley behind her haven.”

“Such is the price of making mortals fight your battles - they have their own too. Miguel had put them on the scent. This all caused quite a stir, right Rico?”

“Oh? Yeah. Yeah we were all freaked out by that. Gloria had been here for a long time, and she had a lotta connections. We didn’t know what those hunters had found by searching her shit. I mean, I wasn't too worried about myself and my pack, but others were. And soon enough, another Malkavian was reported killed, and another.” He stood up as he continued.

“After the third death we all really started to get our shit together. In the end it was actually the Tremere who found the pair. Probably tortured them for info that they didn’t fully share with the rest of us, but whatever. The final deaths stopped. But ever since then, kindred who live in the city or own shit have been a hell of a lot more careful. Plus, some people just started leaving, good riddance. It was getting too crazy here. And I thought things were pretty peaceful, until, well.”

There was only the sound of the fire for a few seconds, until Melinda spoke. “Until tonight.”

#vtmfangfest24 #:D

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