#still got to finish fin but have to get over/fix what I hate first

[cellard0ors]

Dedicated to @be-side-my-self - because they couldn't see the Laura .gif on the last set but was still kind enough to leave tag/notes! 🥰

[redheadsinmybed]

Broken

Wanda x Natasha x Reader

Reader is little, part of Loving a little series

Summary: Reader is on a mission. What happens when she gets hurt???

Notes: Hiiii guys, don’t forget to leave a comment :)

You were on a mission. Since you’ve got your new powers you’ve been going on missions more often. You are on a mission with Natasha and Wanda, although you were the only one who was out on the field. There was no one in the base and all you needed was to get some information. You are running through the woods towards the Hydra base.

Your lungs burn and your legs ache, but you keep running. The training didn’t seem to be helping you run for longer. You wish you had powers like Wanda. If you had powers like Wanda then you could just fly. Wait. You have fire powers, and possibly more. Suddenly you stop running to find yourself floating. Just like Wanda. What the?

“Guys, Wanda!!”

“What?!? What’s wrong, did you get hurt??”

“I’m floating, like you when you use your powers, but the magic isn’t red, it’s green. It looks like your guy’s eyes,” You say with adoration. Wanda and Natasha smile at each other at how cute you are.

“What did you do?” Natasha asks.

“Well I was thinking of how I wish I had powers like Wanda so I could fly to the Hydra base instead of running.” You say through your coms.

“And the next thing I know, I’m floating!” You exclaim.

“That’s great baby, you'll have to show me when we get home,” Wanda says.

“Now you can teach me!!” You squeal happily.

“Yes baby, now I can teach you. But you have to finish the mission first,” Wanda says.

“Oh right,” You say.

“Hey, so now how do I get down?” You ask, still just hovering above the ground.

“I don’t really know, maybe just think of the ground?” Natasha says after a while. You stare at the ground. Nothing happens so you close your eyes and let the overwhelming thought of the ground fill your mind. One moment you are floating ten feet above the ground and the next you are free falling down towards the ground.

When you hit the ground your right ankle takes the brunt of the fall, you land on it awkwardly and scream out in pain. Tear prick in your eyes and little you wants to come out so bad. But you fight it, you have to finish the mission first. You slowly pick yourself up putting all the weight on your left foot. You think that it’s not that bad, you just feel a lot of throbbing pain in your right ankle, nothing a good walk wouldn’t fix. You take a deep breath and take a step with your right foot, and you groan out in agony when you shift your weight.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” You say taking a shuddering breath.

“Are you back on the ground?” Wanda says through coms.

“Uh y-yeah, I’m back on the groun-ah,” You say as you take another step.

“Baby? What happened?” Natasha says worried over the coms.

“Nothing I-I just fell on my ankle weird, I’m fi-ah-ne,” You say sniffing as you take another step. You don’t hear anything back on the other end, believing that you convinced them that you were fine. You take step after step, breathing heavily as tears fall from your eyes every step. You hear something behind you and you set yourself aflame.

“Hey, it’s just me baby,” Wanda says to you, as you turn around unlighting yourself.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking up on you, come on you need to go back to the jet.” She says walking towards you.

“No, I'm fine, I've got to finish the mission,” You say as you start walking again. You groan out in pain every time you shift your weight to your right foot. Wanda watches you for a little while, but it breaks her heart to see you in pain.

“Y/N stop,”

“No, gotta fin-ah-ish t-the mission,” you say, taking another step.

“Please don’t make me do this,” Wanda says, as you keep walking.

“Do what?” Taking another step. You stop and look back at her, she walks towards you, her eyes glinting a red.

“Wanda, don’t do it,” You warn her.

“Hey, look there’s Tasha,” You say pointing behind her. She looks behind her to find nothing. You hobble away as fast as you can letting out sounds of pain. You didn’t make it very far before you are swept up by Wanda and flying through the air. Surrounded by her arms, you relax and grumble about not being able to finish the mission. Eventually you rest your head in the crook of the neck and kiss her.

“Thank you,” You say to her.

“You’re welcome baby,” She says back. When you get back to the jet Natasha is already waiting for you. Wanda sets you down and you take off your shoes sitting down next to you and holding your hand. Careful, not to touch your purple swollen ankle. Natasha carefully grabbed your right foot.

“Ahhh, Tasha,” You hiss out in pain and squeeze Wanda’s hand. She gives you a sympathetic look and grabs some pain pills, you take them.

“You’re gonna have you get that checked by Bruce baby, it might be broken.” Natasha says. You whine, if it’s broken then you won’t be able to do anything. At least not with Wanda and Natasha being mother hens.

“No it’s fine, I promise.” You lie to them.

“Oh yeah? Stand up and put all your weight on your right foot.” Natasha says back. You look up at her.

“Baby, we don’t like seeing you hurt, we just want to make sure you’re okay,” Wanda says squeezing your hand.

“I know,” You say back, setting your head on her shoulder. Wanda strokes your hair while Natasha pilots the plane. You move so you're laying down, head in Wanda’s lap. You eventually fall asleep when the pain medicine pills kick in holding Wanda’s hand still.

When you wake up it’s to someone carrying you. You snuggle in closer to the person holding you.

“Hi baby, how are you feeling?” Wanda asks as she feels you move against her.

“Mmmm good,” You say sleepy.

“I see the pain pills are working,” Wanda says.

“Mhmm, stop talking lemme sleep,” You say to her.

“Baby you have to get checked by Bruce first,” Wanda says to you. You whine and snuggle further into Wanda.

“You have until we get there, then I’m gonna have to put you down baby,” Wanda says, that means you have at least 3 more minutes, depending on how long the elevator will take. In reality it only takes 30 seconds.

“We’re here baby,” Wanda says as she tries to set you down. You wrap your arms around her tightly and wrap your legs around her too. Going into full koala mode.

“Baby, don’t make me do it,” Wanda says.

“Do what?” Suddenly feel Wand’s hands at you sides.

“Wand’s don’t you dare.” You say looking at her seriously.

“Then get down and get your ankle checked.” Wanda says as her fingers move a little.

“Fine,” You say with a whine, untangling your arms and legs from her, hitting your ankle on her leg.

“Ahhh,” You gasp out in pain.

“Hello Y/N, I see that your ankle is a bit swollen and a nice shade of purple.” Bruce says with a smile.

“Is Natasha coming, or can I start.” Bruce asks.

“No she’s bringing everything to our room, she said she’d meet us after,” Wanda says. Bruce checks your ankle and deems it’s broken after an x-ray. He says you’ll need a shot that will heal it instantly. Tony and him just made it and need a test subject other than a bunny, so what better test subject than you?

“Can I go get Bunny and the love blanket please?” You ask Wanda with big puppy dog eyes.

“Yes baby, let’s go.”

“Wait, I can get it myself, please I promise ill be careful, I'll even fly if it makes you feel better,” You say to Wanda with pleading eyes.

“Okay fine, but no flying, that’s how you got this broken ankle anyways. I’m only letting you do this because I have to talk to Bruce about your new power.”

“Okay no flying, promise,” You swear on your life. You walk out the room and make your way to your room. You walk up the stairs and quickly look around. You don’t see anybody around so you quickly get into the vents. Clint had taught you how to get around in the vents whenever there was an emergency. And this is an emergency. You hate shots with every fiber in your body. Absolutely hate them. So you’re hiding out in the vents for as long as it takes for your ankle to heal.

Wanda was getting worried, your room isn’t far away and you have been gone for ten minutes.

“Hey Bruce, I’ll be back. I'm going to check where Y/N is.” Wanda says while she walks out. She makes her way up to your room. When she enters she finds Natasha sitting on the bed.

“Hey, where’s Y/N?” Natasha asks.

“Wait? Did she not come here?”

“No why would she come here?”

“She said that she wanted to get Bunny and the love blanket before her shot.”

“Ohhh! She’s probably hiding, you know she doesn’t like shots.” Natasha says holding Wanda’s hand.

“Great, now we have to look for her.” Wanda says with a groan.

“I have an idea where she is,” Natasha says.

“Clint told me he showed Y/N the vents in case of an emergency.”

“He what?!? Why would he do that, doesn’t he know that she’s a three year old little, she could get lost in there,” Wanda says with her head in her hands.

“Hey, baby it’s okay. We'll find her and set some rules for her, okay? Everything will be fine,” Natasha says hugging Wanda. Wanda and Natasha get up and go downstairs. You can hear them walking down.

“Y/N? Hey I know you’re scared but I need you to come out now,” Natasha says out loud not really knowing which vent you are in.

“Wait let me try,” Wanda says to Natasha.

“Baby girl? I need you to come out from wherever you are okay baby girl? Mama needs you to come out.” Wanda says.

“Mama!” You say happily, coming out and waddling twordas her. You make grabby hands at her and she smiles and picks you up. You rest your head on her shoulder.

“Mama, hurts,” You say.

“I know baby girl, you are gonna have to get a shot and it will make it all better” Wanda says.

“Nooo,” You whine and try to get out of Wanda’s arms.

“Yes baby girl, you have to get it,” Natasha says. Wanda and Natasha walk you all the way back to the medbay where Bruce is already waiting with the shot.

You start to cry as she sets you down and Bruce takes your ankle gently.

“You’re gonna feel a little pinch and then it will be over, okay Y/N?” Bruce asks. It really didn’t hurt that bad but you still balled your eyes out, the pain in your ankle instantly went away.

“Do you want Mama to carry you back to the room baby girl?” She asks. You shake your head no because you’re mad at both of them for making you get the shot. You rub your arm across your face angrily and get off the bed you were on. You walk with a pout and anger on your face back to your room. Wanda and Natasha follow behind you.

When you get back to your room Natasha had made your favorite and it is waiting on the table next to your bed for you. You get up on the bed and look straight ahead with your pout.

“Do you want something to eat baby?” Natasha asks. You make a noise of no.

“Are you sure baby girl, I made your favorite,” Natasha says, a little hurt that you don’t want the food she made special for you.

“No!” You say loudly.

“Do you want Bunny?” Wanda asks you.

“No!” You say again. Wanda and Natasha look at each other.

“Okay, well we have to go baby, we’ll be back in a bit okay?” Wanda says. You don’t look at them even as they get up and leave. When they shut the door you stare at it. You wait for them to come back, but they don't, so the door stays closed. You wait and wait, until all the anger goes away along with your pout. You look over at the food Natasha made you. Now all you want is Mama and Mommy. You get up from the bed and open the door.

“Mama, Mommy?” You say looking to the left.

“Yes baby girl?” Natasha says startling you. You jump a little but when you see them smile at you, you run into their arms.

“M’sorry,” You say while hugging them.

“It’s okay baby girl, do you want to eat now?” Natasha asks. You shake your head pulling them back into the room.

After you eat you snuggle up with Wanda and Natasha in bed, Bunny in your arms and the love blanket wrapped around all three of you.

“We love you baby girl.” Wanda says as she sees you start to drift off.

“Mmm love you too,” You say sleepily. They watch as you fall asleep in their arms, and slowly drift off with you.

[httpjeon]

FISH ARE FRIENDS — KTH (M.)

synopsis. after moving to the seaside, there is a dreadful storm. when all is clear, a man washes up on shore...only he isn’t quite human.

pairing. taehyung/reader genre. angst, smut, fluff au. hybrid!au wordcount. 10,605 contents. seahorse hybrid!taehyung, possessiveness, mating kink, lots of kissing, fingering, size kink, taes big dick as usual, cunnilingus, slight pain kink, multiple orgasms, squirting, overstimulation, blow job, UNEDITED note. this is the result of the fic title game i’ve been playing! thank you to whoever sent in the title ‘fish are friends’

blog masterlist.

© httpjeon 2020. do not repost, modify or translate.

You sighed as you dropped the last cardboard box onto the floor with a muffled thud. Placing your hands on your hips, you let out a few deep breaths to allow yourself to relax after moving everything on your own. Looking around, you felt a sense of dread flow through you at the reminder of having to unpack everything as well.

You left your door open, letting the sound of seagulls and ocean waves waft in along with the tangible scent of seasalt. Inhaling, you allowed a smile to drift over your face.

You couldn’t believe that you had actually left the city, after living in it all your life. You felt so light and free, unable to keep the giddy feeling down as you began to unpack the essential things -- your bedding, bathroom sundries, and kitchen utensils so you could eat. Although, as you stood in your sparsely decorated kitchen, you realized you didn’t actually have any food to eat at all. Tossing your head back, you let out a low groan. The sun was already beginning to set so you quickly grabbed your purse and keys, intending to rush to the grocery store before it closed for something to get you through the night and morning.

The town was pretty small, a main grocery store and a few other shops located on a strip. It was the kind of place where everybody knew everyone and when you stepped out of the car, you could feel the eyes on you as people assessed the newcomer. Throwing a few polite smiles, you ducked into the grocery store.

“Welcome!” the nearest cashier waved, a smile on his delicate face.

“Hi,” you greeted softly with a nod as you glanced up at the aisle signs above your head.

Grabbing a basket, you first went to the cereal aisle -- breakfast foods were always your main source of snacking. Going over a mental list in your head, you decided cereal, milk, ramen, break and some lunch meats would suffice until you could do some genuine food shopping.

“Did you find everything okay?” the young man asked as you approached the counter.

“I did, thank you,” you smiled, glancing at his nametag. Jungkook.

“Hey!” someone called from behind you, making you look over your shoulder, “You just moved here right?”

“Um...yeah,” you smiled, holding your hand out, “I’m _____.”

“Jimin!” he beamed, “And that’s Jungkook, a buddy of mine. Everyone here is kind of...friends, you know?”

You nodded, “Yeah, small towns.”

“Your total is $32.50,” Jungkook said, “Hey Jimin.”

You pulled out your wallet to fish your card from the slot before placing it into the chip reader. The two of them chatted a bit about something you weren’t interested in listening to as you put your pin in. The machine dinged with your card approval and Jungkook handed your receipt to you.

“Hey, hang on a minute!” Jimin called before you could walk off.

Turning, you watched him urge Jungkook to scan his item quickly -- a gallon of milk. He paid in cash and quickly rushed after you, taking one of the extra bags from your hands.

“Thanks,” you smiled, leading him towards your car.

“So, where did you move to?” he asked, “I live around the corner from here.”

“Oh, I live over on Pearl Ave,” you said, opening your trunk to place your items in.

“Cool, right on the shore, huh?” he smiled, “Where are you from?”

“I lived in Sunhua,” you replied, “Born and raised.”

“What the hell’d you leave a city for?” he chuckled, slamming your trunk shut for you.

You shrugged, “I finished college so...I just figured a change in scenery would do me good.”

“Really? What’s your major?” he asked, leaning back against your car.

“Hybrid Studies,” you smiled.

He opened his mouth to reply but there was a low rumble from the sky.

The both of you looked up, simultaneously realizing it had gotten much darker with the arrival of storm clouds.

“Shit, I better get home,” he sighed, “Hoseok absolutely hates thunder and if I don’t get home I won’t hear the end of it for 3 months.”

You laughed, waving him goodbye, “It was nice meeting you, Jimin!”

“Ditto!” he grinned, tossing a smile over his shoulder as he began to jog down the sidewalk, milk jug in hand.

By the time you pulled into your driveway, it was beginning to sprinkle. You hurried inside with your belongings -- putting the milk and meat in the refrigerator. Outside, the thunder rumbled a bit louder, signaling the storm getting closer.

Unfortunately, no one had gotten around to hooking up your TV cable or internet so all you had was to sit on your phone until it was a reasonable time to get ready for bed. When you got out of the shower, you could hear the roof being pelted by the downpour of rain. After putting your bedding on, you stopped by the double doors of your bedroom that led to a small balcony. Pulling one open with a small creak, you were greeted with a view of the ocean in the midst of the storm.

The waves crashed angrily against the shore, the sound of the water amplified due to the force of the impact. The sky was pitch blank, the moon and stars obscured by the storm clouds. The only outside light you got with the flashes of lightning that came from within the clouds.

After a particularly loud crack of thunder startled you, you decided to slip back inside, making sure to lock the door in case the wind could throw it open in the night.

When you woke up, it wasn’t to beautiful sunshine. Gray clouds still hung over the sky, pelting the Earth in a light rain drizzle. You sighed and sat up, stretching your muscles.

When you got downstairs, you suddenly realized you never pulled your coffee maker from its box. So, you had to sit there and search through your boxes until you found the one labeled as containing your appliance.

You grumbled listlessly to yourself as you hooked it up and filled the reservoir with water. As you listened to the coffee drip into the carafe, you fixed yourself a bowl of cereal. It was quiet except for the rain and coffee drip.

In the city, the silence would have been filled with the honking of horns and shouts of people on the street which would eventually drive you mad. But here, now, it was peaceful and serene.

By the time you finished your cereal, the coffee was ready and you xoed yourself a cup before making your way to the door, pushing it open before closing it with just the screen door to allow the air to drift through your house.

Taking a seat on the little chair you’d placed in the corner with a small glass table, you relaxed. You took a couple sips of coffee before looking out across the beach, squinting against the rain.

However, you paused when you saw a dark form across the shore. The angry waves crashed against it, pushing it across the sand.

Standing up, you hopped down the stairs and into the rain, uncaring of how cold it was against your skin. Looking around, you didn’t see anyone else standing outside.

The waves crashed forward again and the thing on the shore rolled, making you gasp. It was definitely human.

Running forward, you winced at how sharp the rain felt against your skin. The sand was coarse beneath your feet but you didn’t take notice of it.

Coming to a stop, you knelt beside the person; a man.

Well, sort of.

“What the…” you whispered, taking a good look at him.

He was completely naked, thankfully face down in the sand. He had a small fin on the center of his back, lying limply as it stuck to his skin. On the exterior length of his arms and legs he had little spines that protruded from his skin. Rolling him over, you avoided looking down as you assessed him for any injury.

Cupping his face, you hissed at how cold his skin was. Moving his bangs aside revealed a small cut across his forehead that was still steadily seeping blood. Leaning down, you pressed your ear to his chest, quickly detecting a heartbeat.

Sighing in relief, you desperately looked around in hopes of finding something to help you. The rain was beginning to come down harder and thunder rumbled above, making you curse. You were already thoroughly soaked from the waves crashing against you. They only began to get more violent, however, easily knocking you down and jostling his limp body.

“Sorry about this,” you whispered to the unconscious hybrid as you slid your hands under his armpits to haul him up the beach towards your house.

By the time you reached the shelter of your patio, it was a full on downpour once again. The hybrid was still limp, deadweight.

You didn’t care about your carpet getting wet as you laid him down, rushing to your bathroom closet to fetch a couple towels. When you returned, you set to drying him off, frowning as you watched goosebumps rise over his skin from the chill he no doubt felt.

You pulled a throw blanket you had on the back of the couch down to toss over him.

The next thing you needed to do was tend to that wound on his head. You knew you had a first aid kit around, it took some rifling through boxes to locate it.

The poor hybrid was still out cold and you were beginning to worry about how much damage had really been done beyond a cut. You’d have to see if the town had a hybrid doctor located somewhere.

You set to cleaning the wound, getting the sand and debri out of it before applying ointment to promote healing. Since it was across his head, a bandaid wouldn’t work so you settled for some gauze and a bandage wrapped around his head to keep it in place.

Sighing, you sat back, resting against the wall as you stared down at him.

A marine hybrid. You couldn’t believe you had a marine hybrid in your house.

They were the rarest species of hybrid -- virtually impossible to find although they were being seen as pets as time passed. Illegal hunting and capturing as people grew increasingly interested in owning an ‘exotic’, ‘rare’ hybrid.

Just having him in your home was a crime and you prayed that none of your neighbors were nosy and watched you drag a body into your house.

The best you could guess was that he was a seahorse hybrid judging by the little horns in his hair and the little fins on his temples that were otherwise obscured by his hair.

You stood up, wincing as your knees cracked from sitting on the floor for too long. Walking quietly, you grabbed your phone and looked up a hybrid doctor nearby.

Much to your dismay, the town did not have one and the nearest was over an hour away. Sighing, you stepped back out onto the porch to grab your coffee cup.

You kept peeking around the wall to check if the hybrid was still there as you fixed yourself another cup.

It was just a little past noon by now and you were already exhausted. Taking a seat on the couch, you began to google information about seahorse hybrid. Your major was Hybrid Studies but unfortunately you’d focused on ecological side of domesticated hybrids. You knew virtually nothing about marine hybrids beyond being able to identify them.

As expected, there was very little resources available on seahorse hybrids. All you could find was that they were fragile species and exceptionally terrible swimmers but still preferred to be near water although they survived just fine outside it. There were 45 subspecies of seahorse, though you had no idea what one the stranger would be.

It continued to rain as the hours passed and eventually you succumbed to boredom and fell asleep.

You were awoken by soft groans, however, shortly after you dozed off. Glancing over, you gasped as you watched the hybrid squirm where he laid, slowly waking up. You dove to the floor, sitting on your knees as you watched his eyes flutter open.

Deep brown irises locked with yours. He inhaled sharply and sat up so fast you fell backwards onto your butt to avoid being hit by him.

“Whoa, hey,” you whispered as he groaned and clutched his head, no doubt hurting himself from moving like that, “You got hurt, washed up on shore.”

He looked at you with a frown on his face, his brows furrowed together as he looked around. He eyed the boxes and the couch, leaning to the side to peer into the doorway of the kitchen before his eyes drifted to the window where rain tapped against the pane.

“This is my house,” you muttered, drawing his attention back to you, “My name is _____,” he didn’t reply but he slowly laid back down and relaxed, “I know the floor isn’t too comfortable, you can move to the couch if you’d like. You were too heavy for me to lift up there on my own.”

He just stared at you, those deep brown eyes fixated on every inch of you. He scanned your face and the length of your body down to your feet, making you feel a bit self-conscious being analyzed. For a moment, you were sure he couldn’t even understand you -- it wasn’t unheard of for hybrids without human contact being unable to understand languages.

But after a second, he stood up, making you avert your eyes as you were reminded of how naked he was. You grabbed the blanket and waited for him to lay down on the couch before placing it over him.

He picked at the material for a second, feeling the texture between his fingers before looking at you, “You were getting a chill so I thought it’d be best you were warm while you were out. I’ll get you a pillow, hang on.”

You could feel his eyes on you as you hurried down the hall to your bedroom. You grabbed a pillow from your bed before running back. He was sitting up when you walked in, gazing out the window but looked at you when he realized you’d returned.

Placing the pillow behind him, you urged him to lie back. He did, a look of utter confusion before quickly smiling when he felt the softness of the pillow behind him. You chuckled and took a seat on the recliner across the coffee table from him.

After a few minutes, he fell back asleep, his bare chest rising and falling rhythmically. He understood you at least, but he didn’t speak. You weren’t sure if he was mute or just didn’t know how to. Standing up, you went to the kitchen to make yourself something to eat.

Humming to yourself, you filled a pot with water intending to make ramen. Spinning on your heel to go to one of the boxes tucked into the kitchen’s corner, you stumbled and gasped. He was standing in the doorway, the blanket wrapped around his shoulders thankfully shielding his nakedness.

“You scared me,” you groaned, continuing to the box.

You knelt down, tugging at the tape to open it but quickly realizing how well wrapped it was. Standing up, you scanned the kitchen to look for your scissors before remembering they were packed away somewhere too.

“Oh man!” you complained, knowing you didn’t have any sharp knives out either.

Wandering into the living room, you zeroed in on the first aid kit you’d left out. Popping it open, you grabbed the little scissors which were inside that you used to cut the bandage. When you entered the kitchen, however, you were surprised to see the hybrid crouched down with the box you were fighting with already open.

“Did you open that for me?” you asked him, watching as he stood up and nodded, “Thank you.”

He gave you a crooked smile and stepped back to let you fish through the box until you pulled out the container you’d put your spices in. Giggling happily to yourself, you returned to your ramen.

The hybrid stayed in the kitchen the entire time, watching you flit about as you cooked until you finally went back to the living room. He followed you, taking a seat on the couch again, simply watching you.

“So…” you mumbled to break up the silence, “Can you not speak or…?” he didn’t reply, making you hum before bringing you bowl closer to take a bite of the ramen you’d cooked. His burning gaze made you pause though, a thought occurring to you, “Are you hungry?”

Immediately he nodded, making you sigh. You had no idea what he ate or what he could eat. He seemed to sense your dilemma and smiled, standing up. Immediately, you averted your eyes, unsure how you’d get used to his nudity.

That made you pause. He was a wild hybrid, the only reason he was there was because he was injured in the storm. Once it cleared up and his head healed, he’d be gone so you didn’t really need to get used to it.

Lost in your thoughts, you missed him moving towards you until his hand wrapped around your wrist.

Surprised, your eyes snapped to his hand -- how big it was and how long and pretty his fingers were. You allowed him to control your movements as he moved your fork to his mouth to take a bite of the ramen you’d made.

He hummed, his eyes closing as he chewed. It was the first sound he’d made -- so he was capable of making sounds at the very least.

“You can just eat human food?” you asked, watching as he nodded, “Do you want me to make you some?”

He nodded and you paused. By the time you cooked his, your would be cold. Standing up, you placed your bowl in his hands, making him frown. He attempted to hand it back to you, apparently not wanting you to give up your food for him. But you shook your head and moved to the kitchen with him hot on your heels.

He whined, making you pause, looking over your shoulder. To your surprise he looked genuinely distressed.

“It’ll get cold while I’m cooking,” you shrugged, “So you eat it while it’s hot and then I’ll eat this one. Get it?”

He was still for a second, gazing down at the ramen before slowly nodding. You chuckled and turn your back to him again to fill the pot with water.

Behind you, the hybrid slowly ate standing in the kitchen with you. By the time you finished cooking, he was finished and standing with his empty bowl.

“Just put it in the sink,” you said, breezing by him to sit on the chair again.

You could hear him clinking around for a second, the water in the sink turning on for a second before shutting off. He walked into the living room, holding his hands in front of him as he walked up to you.

Taking a bite, you watched him hold his hands out to you. Raising a brow, you stared at him. You realized his hands were wet and he moved them closer to you. When you still didn’t understand, he sighed, shaking his head. As you went to take another bite of your ramen, he flicked his fingers and splashed the water all over your face, making you flinch.

“Hey!” you whined, “What’s the big idea? It’s just water I don’t under…” you blinked a few times as your mouth opened in a small ‘O’, “Ohhhhh…” he perked up slightly, “Are you wanting...water then? To drink? Or…?”

He bit his lip and shook his head. You were already tired of trying to communicate with him -- at least he understood you though, you suppose.

“A shower maybe?” you asked, making him cock his head, “Let me finish eating and I’ll show you, okay?”

He nodded and took a seat, waiting ever patiently for you as you ate. When you went to put your bowl in the sink as he had, he followed you. You quickly realized you were now used to seeing him naked -- thank god.

When you turned the water on to rinse out your bowl, he immediately stuck his hand under the water. You laughed, and shook your head. He was actually really cute.

“Alright, c’mon,” you led him down the hall and into the bathroom, flicking the light on quickly. When you sat down on the edge of the tub to drop the bath drain, the bathroom went dark. Turning to look towards the door, you watched as he flicked it back on, watching the light bulb in wonder.

His attention was brought back to you, however, when you turned the water on. Excitedly, he took a seat beside you, watching the water begin to feel. You weren’t quite sure what temperature to make it so you chose lukewarm. Before it was even halfway filled, he was sliding into the tub with a smile on his face.

“I’ll let you be alone,” you said, making him look at you, “Just turn the handle this way to turn it off,” you showed him, “Stop the water before it overfills the tub, though, okay? Do you understand?”

He nodded and you stood there for a second before nodding and turning away from him. You decided to leave the door open, figuring he would prefer to not be closed up in a small room. It wasn’t like he cared of privacy or decency anyway.

While he soaked, you decided to wash the dishes you’d used to cook. It was beginning to get dark now and the rain had stopped for the meantime, the storm no doubt finally moving out. After putting the dishes away, you moved to unpack the box Taehyung had opened for you, placing everything neatly where it needed to be.

Realizing, when you were done, that he still wasn’t out of the bathroom led you to peeking in to check on him. You couldn’t help but smile when you saw him in there sleeping. For a second you were concerned that he could drown before reminding yourself that he was literally a fish hybrid who came from the ocean.

Deciding not to disturb him, you went back to the couch.

You didn’t realize you’d dozed off until you felt someone gently shaking you shoulder. Opening your eyes, you jumped at the sight of the naked hybrid.

“Oh, you’re out,” you hummed, standing up to allow him to sit, “I should probably change your bandage.”

He hummed, sitting back as he watched you pull the materials from the first aid kit before taking a seat on the edge of the table.

Reaching forward, you carefully unraveled the bandage until it fell away before peeling the gauze off. The cut was red, no doubt probably stung with a bruise growing around it. But it wasn’t bleeding at least, so you cleaned it once more before doing exactly what you had before.

While he was awake, he moved a bit more to avoid the little fins on his temples from being jostled. You whispered a soft apology when he winced at the bandage catching the corner of his fin. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled to let you know it was okay.

“Okay, all done,” you smiled, standing back up, “It’s pretty late so I’m going to head bed,” he didn’t say anything but you could feel his eyes burning into you so you tossed a soft, “Goodnight,” over your shoulder.

As you entered the hall, you heard a soft voice mutter something. You froze and turned, looking at the hybrid with wide eyes.

“What? Did you say something?” you asked.

He nodded, smiling, “Taehyung.”

His voice was deep, soft with no edge to it at all. It was like listening to the most gentle voice in the world.

“That’s your name?” you asked, making sure you understood. He nodded and you smiled, “Goodnight Taehyung.”

“Goodnight _______.”

You didn’t know why your heart skipped a beat as he uttered your name.

“Taehyung!” you called through the house as you kicked the door closed behind you. After a second, you heard the back door open and Taehyung’s tall form entered the living room. You smiled in greeting, “This package is for you.”

He looked surprise, walking forward with his arms extended. You deposited to package in his hands and stepped back to watch him examine it.

He’d been there for almost a week now and in that time you’d learned he was very curious. He examined anything and everything, you’d had to stop him several times to keep him from licking something questionable.

After a moment, he moved to place the box on the kitchen counter, pulling the scissors from where they hung on the wall to cut the tape open. You leaned against the wall, arms crossed over your chest as you watched him pull out the contents.

Holding the t-shirt in front of him, he looked curiously at you.

“I know this…” you motioned towards his naked body, “Is something obviously normal for you since you’re a wild hybrid but...it’s getting increasingly weird on my part over having a naked person in my house.”

He stared at you for a second, a frown on his lips and for a second you were afraid you’d offended him. You held in a sigh as he grabbed the box and breezed past you, down the hall.

“Well, so much for that,” you whispered to yourself, grabbing the discarded scissors he’d left on the counter and put them back where they belonged.

“I like it,” Taehyung’s voice made you jump.

You spun around and were pleased to see him fully clothed. Part of you felt bad for forcing something human on him like that but the way he happily touched the fabric made you smile.

“I chose the softest materials I could find,” you explained. After the first day, you quickly took notice of the way he enjoyed textures -- specifically anything soft.

“I like it,” he repeated.

“I’m glad,” you breathed, “Come on, let me look at your wound.”

He nodded and took a seat on the couch as you took yours on the coffee table. It was practically a routine now. He didn’t even flinch as you pulled the bandage and gauze away.

The cut was practically healed and you sighed. It definitely wasn’t a concern anymore and both of you knew it. Still, neither of you questioned your situation. He didn’t seem to want to leave and you, truthfully, didn’t want him to leave. You enjoyed his company; he was sweet and endearing. He took up your time in the best way and gave you something to look forward to coming home to.

“I think we can leave the bandage off now,” you said, “Just don’t scratch it, even if it itches, okay? If you pull the scab off you’ll have a big old scar across your forehead for the rest of your life.”

He pouted a bit but nodded, taking the discarded bandages to throw away. He returned from the kitchen a second later, a pack of ramen in hand. He handed it over to you, head cocked to the side.

You smiled, “I’m hungry too,” he followed you, as usual, to the kitchen and hovered over you as you began the cooking process, “Oh! By the way, the cable guy is coming by at 3 to hook up internet and stuff.”

He looked confused and you laughed, pointing over to the TV. He’d hovered around it a bit over the last few days, turning it on the watch the static on the screen. As he realized you were doing something with the TV, he lit up and smiled.

As you both sat down to eat, you glanced at the clock. It was 2:40, causing you to hurry up eating so you could move some boxes out of the living room.

The hybrid had been helping a bit set things up for you; lifting heavy objects and boxes. But you still had quite a bit to unpack -- you had to fill a whole house, after all.

By the time you moved the boxes to the spare room, the doorbell went off. Rushing into the living room, you caught sight of Taehyung’s wide eyes.

“Hi, come on in,” you smiled, waving the cable man inside.

“Hello,” he greeted with a polite smile that quickly faded as he looked behind you.

When you turned around, you caught sight of Taehyung booking it out the back door in the kitchen. Shrugging, you closed the front door and led the man to your television.

“It’ll take me about an hour to set everything up securely,” he explained.

You nodded, “Let me know if you need anything.”

As he went to work, you made a beeline for your back porch. Taehyung was sitting on the stairs, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked up when you opened the door and despite the way he’d run away, he appeared calm nonetheless.

“Did you get spooked?” you asked, sitting beside him. He nodded and you hummed, “I take it you haven’t interacted with humans much?”

He shook his head, “I like to watch them.”

“Oh? People watch?” you asked, “Humans like to do that too. When I lived in the city I would go to the park and just watch people go about their business.”

Taehyung could speak and understand very well but his own vocabulary was quite limited. He didn’t say much regardless, mostly spoke to share his opinions. You’d adapted easily, speaking primarily in yes or no format and it was mostly you doing the talking.

He didn’t seem to mind, however. He gave you his full attention regardless, interest gleaming brightly in his eyes.

A question lingered on your lips, one you dreaded asking but as you looked at the smile on his lips, it dissolved on your tongue and you sighed.

The two of you fell silent, sitting together listening to the ocean as you waited for the cable man to finish.

You stood in the kitchen, making dinner as you listened to the laughing on the TV in the living room. Taehyung had immediately been intrigued by the colors and noises from the device and promptly sat on the couch, becoming glued to it. You briefly wondered what the effect of TV would have on a wild hybrid but when you heard him laugh, all worry was wiped free.

When you’d heard him laugh for the first time, at some cartoon that came on, you felt your heart skip a beat. It was melodic and delicate, almost a giggle, really.

Not wanting to disturb him, you brought the food to him.

“Thank you,” he beamed, waiting for you to sit beside him before beginning to eat.

You smiled, sitting there watching him for a second before picking up your own plate. The way he enjoyed things so organically was charming, it made you see things as if they were new as well.

As the days passed, you noticed a change in the hybrid. He began to talk more, question things and seek out a conversation with you -- which he’d never done before. Sometimes at night, you could hear the TV on at night, the sound carrying through the walls.

One such night, you awoke in the middle of the night with a dry mouth and desire for water. Climbing out of bed, you grabbed your bathrobe and put it on, messily tying the belt to hold it closed. Your door creaked quietly as you opened it, allowing the TV’s low volume to be heard much easier from the stairwell.

Wandering into the living room, you paused to look at Taehyung.

He was sitting on his knees on the floor, close to the TV. You opened your mouth to tell him he shouldn’t sit so close when you realized he was muttering to himself.

Moving closer, you glanced at the screen to see an infomercial was playing. And he was repeating the things they were saying.

“Taehyung, what are you doing?” you asked, fighting back a smile when his head whipped around to look at you.

His eyes were wide and he looked almost guilty as he moved back from the TV, “W-Watching the…” he motioned to the television with a shrug.

“You were talking along,” you pointed out, a brow raised curiously.

He bit his lip and folded his legs in front of him, “When they talk...I learn new words.”

His words bounced around your head for a second before you chuckled, “Is that how you’ve gotten so good at speaking? You’re learning from watching infomercials at night?”

“Cartoons during the day,” he added with a sheepish grin, “Why are you up?”

You knew he was changing the subject to avoid the conversation but you went along with it, “I’m thirsty is all.”

He hummed and it fell quiet, his eyes flicking back to the TV for a second before going to you once more. You sensed he was wanting to get back to what he was doing so you bid him a soft goodnight before moving to the kitchen.

When you were passing through to the hallway, you saw that he was sitting in front of the TV muttering again.

The morning came and you were surprised to find yourself awake before Taehyung. He was usually an early riser, up before the sun was even fully out.

You frowned at the sight of him curled up, knees tucked to his chest as he snuggled into the blanket. He looked cold but it wasn’t like the temperature dipped very low -- you’d slept with your balcony door cracked.

Seeing him lay there, you noticed how he was almost falling off the couch. Sighing you reached over and shook his shoulder until his eyes fluttered open.

“Hey sleepyhead,” you smiled, heart melting at the tired smile he gave you as he sat up and stretched, “How late were up last night?”

He shrugged and sighed, swinging his feet onto the floor before padding to the bathroom. You hummed and decided to start a pot of coffee for the day.

Pulling out your phone, you pulled up google and decided to search for a bed. You had a spare bedroom you were currently using to store the boxed you hadn’t bothered to unpack yet. It wouldn’t hurt to get a bed put in so you could have guests over.

At least, that’s what you told yourself.

“Hey, Taehyung?” you called when you heard him flick the TV on.

“Yeah?” he immediately responded, poking his head into the kitchen.

“I’ve been thinking,” he frowned and fully stepped into the kitchen, “Instead of sleeping on the couch, how about you take the spare bedroom?”

“Really?” he gasped.

“Yeah,” you hummed, “There’s a mattress shop in town, I can pick you up some stuff.”

“I can’t go with you?” he deflated slightly, making your heart ache.

You sighed, looking at your feet, “N-No...I think it’s best you stay here,” he opened his mouth to say something else but you cut him off, “You can help me assemble everything, though! And I’ll need your help to carry the mattress.”

He grinned once again and nodded, “Okay!”

While you were in town, you stopped by the grocery store to get more food and ingredients to cook with. With Taehyung there, you ran out of food a bit quicker than if it were just you.

Jungkook was there and greeted you with a bright smile as he rang you up, commenting how he hadn’t seen you around much. You blew it off with a quick shrug and explanation that you got internet and cable set up now so you had no reason to leave the house.

Pulling up to your house, you got out and popped the trunk. As you began to pull groceries from the back, the front door opened. Taehyung came bouncing down the stairs with a little grin on his face.

“So, where is it?” he asked excitedly.

“Oh, the guy was right behind me,” you said, “He’ll drop everything off.”

“Here, I’ll take these,” he said, grabbing the three bags you were holding before you could argue, “You got more ramen!”

“Of course,” you laughed, following him inside with the last two bags in your hands, “It’s your favorite right?”

“Yep!” he chirped happily from the kitchen.

The two of you go inside where you ask Taehyung to boil a pot of water and cook some ramen. He wasn’t quite good enough to be able to cook it correctly but you would be back inside before it was ready, anyway. Just as he began to fill the pot, you heard a horn beep from outside.

Taehyung gave you an excited grin and you chuckled before going to the porch.

“You sure you don’t need any help assembling this?” the man asked, a brow raised.

“No, I have a h…” you paused and cleared your throat, “A friend willing to help!”

“Alright,” he smiled kindly and tipped the brim of his hat before moving back to his truck, “Have a nice day!”

“You too!” you waved and sighed, eyes falling to the large box and plastic-wrapped mattress that now sat against your porch railing.

You pushed the door open and poked your head in, calling the hybrid's name. His feet thump against the floor as he runs toward the sound of your voice.

"Yes?" he asked, eyes wide.

"The bed is here," a smile blooms across his face and he excitedly nods his head.

"Come help me finish cooking so we can do it!" he turns his back to you and scampers back to the kitchen.

You chuckle and step inside, deciding to leave the door open. Taehyung was incredibly eager to get things started so the second his ramen was done, he was scarfing it down like a man starved.

"You're going to burn your tongue!" you chastised.

"Too late!" he whined, sticking his tongue out with furrowed brows. It didn't stop him though because a second later he was shoveling another bite into his mouth.

"Are you ready?" you ask, watching with an amused smile as he dumped his bowl into the sink and raced to the open door. You followed behind him only to stop when you caught him staring at the open door, "What is it?"

"You shouldn't leave the door open like this," he said, voice level to show how serious he was. He looked over his shoulder with a frown, your own face a mask of confusion, "It's dangerous."

You opened your mouth to respond but before you could, he was running down the porch steps to the mattress.

It took almost an hour for the two of you to get everything up the stairs into the spare bedroom. With the mattress leaning against the wall, the two of you sat on the floor reading the instructions of assembly for the bed frame.

"God I am beat," you complained, watching Taehyung twist the screw in like you had showed him.

His hair hung in his face, a little damp from sweating. His bottom lip was trapped between his teeth and his brows were furrowed in concentration.

"Yep," he hummed, sitting back with a sigh. He dropped the screwdriver on the floor and fell silent.

"Now we have to put the mattress on the frame," you chuckled at the tired groan he let out.

He stood up and held his hand out, helping you stand up as well. Then, with exhausted determination the two of you finally dropped the mattress down into its rightful place.

"What's next?" he asked with a sigh as he finally took a relaxed seat on the couch.

"Well, we need to get sheets and stuff for the bed," you said, pulling out your phone.

As you typed into the search engine, you felt a hand on your hip. You look down, finding Taehyung was urging you towards him.

You were suddenly pulled into his lap, making you gasp in surprise. Your cheeks immediately heated up, feeling his strong chest against your back with his arms around your body, holding you.

Doing your best to ignore the position, despite your racing heart, you allowed him to look over your shoulder to locate bedding he liked.

"I saw this on TV," he spoke suddenly, voice deep and oh-so close to your ear.

"Wh-What's that?" you whispered, hoping he didn't notice the tremble in your voice.

"Sitting like this," he replied, reaching forward to click a link on your screen, "The guy held her like this."

"You shouldn't be watching things like that, Tae," you joked.

"What things?" he asked, making you chuckle, shaking your head as you dismissed him. Before he could question more, you brought his attention back to the sheets he was looking at.

That night, after bidding the hybrid goodnight, you sat in bed gazing out the window at the beach below.

You truly couldn't believe there was a wild seahorse hybrid sleeping just down the hall. If someone had told you that there would be one living with you not too long ago, you would have laughed in their face.

You never thought you'd be a person who illegally kept a wild hybrid. But it wasn't like he didn't want to be there.

Right?

You shook all thoughts of him from your head and closed your curtains, basking the room in darkness.

One morning, you're woken up by a loud thump. You sigh, staring up at the ceiling as you listen to the hybrid bumble around downstairs.

He'd been there for over a month and had grown increasingly comfortable living in the house. Sitting up, you stretched and threw on a robe before descending down the stairs.

He was in the kitchen, as you expected. His back was to you but there was something off about him.

His body was stiff and his jaw was clenched tight. With a frown marring his face, you grew concerned. It was clear he wasn't in a good mood.

"Taehyung?" you called, watching him freeze for a second before resuming what he was doing, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," he mumbled, voice flat.

You crossed your arms over your chest, leaning against the wall as you watched him crack an egg into the pan. It sizzled, filling the tense silence.

Neither of you said anything, although you had a lot on the tip of your tongue. You simply watched as he prepared his breakfast on a plate which he promptly deposited on the kitchen table.

He avoided your gaze, grumpily glaring at his plate as he silently ate. You sighed and he tensed again but didn't say anything.

"Taehyung," you breathe, taking a seat across from him, "You can't ignore me forever," he remains silent, "Talk to me...what happened?"

In the silence of the kitchen, he slams his fist down. You jump and look at him with wide eyes. His gaze is fiery, and he bares his teeth in anger before squinting a glare towards you. You can't help but cower away when he suddenly stands up.

"What happened?" he tosses his head and lets out a humorless laugh, "Seriously, what? Did you think I wouldn't find out, hm?"

"Find out what?" you gasp, realizing his anger was directed at you.

"Everything!" he snaps, shaking his head as he makes his way to the back door. You get up and follow after him quickly, "I learned everything about you! I-I can't believe I was almost tricked into--" he cuts himself off and runs down the stairs.

You chase after him, your feet meeting the cold sand as you follow him, calling his name, "What are you talking about?! I don't understand, Taehyung!"

He doesn't offer anything more and you let out a frustrated groan. You stumble, however, you watch him begin to shed his clothes the closer he gets to the shore.

"Taehyung?!" you cry in horror as he steps foot into the ocean. He looks at you over his shoulder and the look of disgust in his eyes makes you falter. In that second of hesitation, he disappeared beneath the surface.

You gasped and stopped at the waters edge, desperately looking over the dark surface.

"Tae..." you whispered, realizing he was gone.

You stand there, waiting, for what feels like forever. The temperature drops and you begin to shiver. Backing away from the shore, you begin to collect the articles of clothing he'd discarded which have long since lost the heat of his body.

Stepping inside, you let out a soft sigh and place the items on top of the driver.

The sun vanished beneath the horizon and the house was dark and silent. You were filled with empty lonliness as you went to bed, passing by his room to take a small peek even though you knew it was going to be empty.

You don't sleep well that night, your mind plagued with thoughts of the hybrid. Every time you shut your eyes, you would wake up with the hope that he would be back by morning.

When you got up, nice and early like he usually does, it was to an empty house. There was no Taehyung sitting on the couch or in the kitchen. It was just you.

He isn't back the next day either...or the next...or the next.

Eventually, you gave up on hoping to see him when the sun rose. You grew accustomed to the habitual silence -- though you didn't like it.

His bedroom was left untouched, the bed sloppily made with the blanket uneven as Taehyung didn't bother getting it quite right before going about his day. The house seemed so big without another party occupying it.

Eventually, you couldn't stand being in the house all the time by yourself. So, you started exploring the town -- which you hadn't bothered doing before.

On one afternoon, you ventured into a little comic book shop where you stumbled upon the familiar faces of Jungkook and Jimin. They were more than excited to see you; gushing about how it had been so long. They were a funny, charming pair who eagerly took it upon themselves to subject you to a day of touring the town.

You discover there was a little bar near the edge of town that most of the young adults frequented. A friend of Jimin and Jungkook's, Namjoon, owned it and allowed friends free drinks.

It was one such night that began with drinking among your new friends that ended with a drunk Jimin crashing on Taehyung's bed. He hadn't bothered getting under the blankets, passing out face down on the mattress with his feet dangling off the end of the bed.

You shut the door, leaving him to sober up overnight on his own.

While the outside company was lovely, kept you occupied and happy outside of the house, when you came home to the empty house you felt the liveliness dissipate.

It was an offhand comment from Yoongi where he expressed living in such a big house must be lonely -- advising you should get a pet or something. The idea bloomed into you begging Jungkook to take you to the pet store in town on his day off.

He was a bit hungover but still agreed after listening to you pester him about how lonely you were.

That led you to getting the sweet little black cat you promptly named Tux.

It felt wonderful to walk into your house after spending a day with your friends to greet someone -- even if he couldn't greet you back beyond a meow and rubbing up against your legs. He began to sleep in your bed, letting you curl around him as he purred himself to sleep.

Never in your life would you expect to be awoken in the middle of the night by your bedroom door slamming open. You bolted straight up in bed, eyes wide as you could vaguely make out the figure of a person standing there.

Your heart began to race in your chest, the sound of your blood pumping as adrenaline flowed through your body. Two seconds felt like hours before you finally scrambled out of bed. With him blocking the doorway, you could only run to the balcony.

As you threw the door open, you screamed when a strong arm wrapped around your waist and lifted you up.

"Calm down!" a familiar voice snapped, immediately halting your thrashing.

"T-Taehyung?" you panted, your feet meeting the floor as he finally put you back down.

"Who else?" he asked, voice flat.

You could barely make him out in the dark but you relaxed significantly as the relief caught up to you, "You can't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought you were a burglar or something--"

"Why do I smell another man in my bed?" he cut you off, not caring for the panic he had caused you.

"Huh?" you responded, running a hand through your hair as you skirted past him to flick the lamp on beside your bed.

"I went to my bed," he began, stepping closer to you, "And it smells like another man. Why?"

You huffed a laugh, shrugging your shoulders, "A friend crashed there like a week ago, why?"

"Why?" he scoffed, stopping when he was right in front of you. Your heart skipped a beat when he leaned down, his nose almost brushing yours, "Because there shouldn't be another man in my bed."

His voice was dark, sending shivers down your spine, "W-Well, I thought you were gone so I had a friend over! You left a-and what the hell do you think you're doing here anyway?! You can't just show back up like this!"

"Why not?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"B-Because it's not okay!" he snapped, reaching up to shove at his shoulders so he would back off. He did, straightening up so you could stand up. You breezed past him in a huff, crossing your arms over your chest, "You just left, yelling at me! For weeks, Taehyung! You can't just come back like nothing happened!"

"I'm sorry," he sighed, "I shouldn't have done that."

"You were blaming me for something you didn't even bother explaining!" you cried, "Tell me what the hell happened."

"I..." he looked sheepish, clearing his throat, "I watched something on TV that talked about human’s treatment of wild marine hybrids. I...I got upset for...well, no good reason. I know you didn't do anything at all. I was the one who wanted to stay -- you helped me and let me stay. I'm sorry, _____."

You sighed, relaxing your shoulders, "That's so stupid, Tae," he nodded his head but didn't say anything, keeping his dark gaze on you, "Alright...go to bed, we'll...figure this out in the morning."

You moved towards your door, motioning for him to get out. As much as you wanted to jump for joy that he was back, you were too tired and, quite frankly, still pissed off. When he didn't make any attempt to leave, you cleared your throat.

He sighed and made his way towards you. Instead of walking out the door however, he wrapped his arm around your waist and kicked the door shut, pinning you against it.

"Tae--" before you could get out the rest of his name, his lips were on yours.

Your words were knocked from you as you found yourself kissing him back, wrapping your arms around his shoulders as he gripped your hips. You could feel the heat of his body through the thin, silk fabric of your nightgown.

He growled against your lips, reaching down to grip your thighs to pull you up. You gasped as you were hoisted up against his body and the door, your knees locked around his waist. His nails pinched the sensitive skin of your thighs but you paid it no mind.

"You're mine," he growled, voice barely above a whisper, "No one else can have you."

You didn't get to reply as you were yanked from the door and tossed onto the bed. You squeaked out his name when his weight was suddenly thrust on top of you. He caged you in, resting his weight on his forearms beside your head, keeping you locked in a heated kiss. Your legs were forced to spread around his waist, letting the cool breeze from your cracked window reach the damp material of your panties.

Simply kissing him, feeling his hands on you was enough to make you wet.

"I'm going to mate you, baby," he growled, nipping your bottom lip before suddenly pulling away, "Prove that you're mine."

You nodded, breathless from his kissing. Your heart was racing in your chest and your stomach fluttered with butterflies. He reached down to find the hem of your nightgown where it had bunched against your hips. He pushed it up until you were forced to sit up to allow him to pull it off. He groaned at the sight of your half-naked body.

"You're so pretty," he whispered, leaning down to press a kiss against your breast, "You're never going to look at another man when I'm done with you. I want to be all you think about, all you need...all you want."

You whimpered when his lips wrapped around a perked nipple, lashing the bud with his tongue. You gripped his hair, mindful of the horns hidden within the mess of black hair. He reached between your thighs to find the material of your panties, cupping your heat with a sigh. You were wet, he could feel it soaking through your panties.

"Please, Tae," you whispered, letting your head fall back to expose your neck as he trailed kisses upwards from your breast.

He hummed but didn't supply a response, too preoccupied with your scent. He brushed his nose against the column of your neck, over your artery where he could feel pounding in time with your racing pulse. He nipped at the skin, a promise of leaving a mark before he slipped his hand into your panties.

You cried out as his fingers immediately delved between your folds. He bypassed your clit to find your entrance, a fleeting graze over the sensitive bud making you whine. One long, lithe digit slid into your entrance, drawing mutual sighs from the two of you.

"A-Another," you gasped.

He chuckled and easily added his index finger, giving you that sweet stretch you craved, "You'll have to take more if you want to fit me," he breathed, making your walls clench around his fingers, "I have to stretch you real nice..."

"Fuck," you cursed, eyes rolling back as he curved his fingers to find your g-spot. Your thighs trembled around him at the fleeting stimulation before he suddenly withdrew, sliding off the bed.

You watched his shed his shirt, a long sleeved t-shirt you'd tossed on his bed shortly after he left when you found it mixed in with your laundry. His body was lean and built from swimming and you could see his biceps flex as he pushed his sweatpants down.

Left in just his underwear, you could see his cock through the thin material -- just as big as you'd hoped. It would definitely give you that painful burn you needed.

Stepping forward once again, he hooked his fingers into the hem of your panties and pulled them down. You raised your hips to allow him to pull them completely free. Once they were off your ankles, he tossed them to the side.

You felt yourself grow even wetter at being exposed completely beneath him. He gripped your knees and pinned your legs open. You whined, clenching around nothing as he gazed at your wet folds.

Moving his gaze back to your face, he lowered himself to the floor until he was level with your pussy. He tightening his grip on your legs so you couldn't close them and leaned forward, sliding his tongue through your folds, making you gasp.

He grazed over your clit, your hips jumping in response to the sudden stimulation. You let your head fall back against the bed, letting him eat your cunt as he pleased. Opening his mouth as wide as he could, he wrapped his lips around your cunt. Your eyes rolled back as he sucked, the wet sounds of your juices only serving to turn you on more.

His tongue found your entrance, licking at your slit before pushing his tongue inside. You gasped, grappling at his hair for purchase.

He doubled back to your clit again, suckling on the bud as he introduced his fingers. He slid three in at once, drawing a moan from you.

The stimulation to your sweet spot and your clit had you hurdling towards release quickly. He fucked you with his fingers, feeling you clench around them as he worked your clit with his tongue. Your bud was swollen and sensitive, eager for release that he was more than willing to provide. He could taste how much sweeter your juices got the closer you grew until suddenly your body froze.

A long, high pitched moan left your lips as you came -- spasming around his long fingers as he diligently worked you through your high. You gushed around his fingers but he didn't case, continuing to fuck you with those digits until your juices were dripping down to his wrist.

It wasn't long before you were pushing him off, needing a breather from the stimulation. He pulled away, watching you close your thighs as you trembled through the last remnants of overstimulation.

You were so wet, the insides of your thighs coated with your cum and his saliva from where his mouth watered from your enchanting taste.

As you recovered, he stood up and shed himself of his final layer -- his boxers. He was finally completely bare to you and you couldn't help but sit up. He wrapped his hand around the base of his cock, giving himself a few good strokes to ease the arousal that had painfully built.

You shifted to sit on your knees, licking your lips as you reached out to wrap your own hand around him. His lashes fluttered as he released his own hold to wrap his fingers around your wrist. He was hard and hot, throbbing in your hand as his tip drooled precum. Your mouth suddenly felt dry and you had the urge to taste him.

Glancing up, you saw he had let his head fall back, losing himself in your touch. Leaning forward, you wrapped your lips around the tip of him. He hissed, eyes flying open as he snapped his head down to look at you. His teeth were clenched and you felt more precum drip onto your tongue and you whined.

He suddenly wrapped his hand in your hair and pulled your back, making you gasp.

"Lay back," he ordered and you hurriedly, scooted back until you laid comfortable in the pillows.

He crawled onto the bed and gripped beneath your knees, forcing your legs open . You bit your lip as your cheeks burned when he spread you obscenely open with your knees up to your ears.

Your cunt was spread open, vulnerable as his cock prodded your entrance. He met your gaze for a split second, waiting for you to stop him. When you didn't he buried himself into your tight heat in one swift stroke.

It burned and ached just as you thought it would; it was amazing.

"Go, please, fuck me," you begging when he paused, intending to let you adjust.

You wrapped your own arms around your legs, keeping yourself spread as he wanted. The sounds that emitted as he began to fuck you were lewd; the wet sound of your juices around his intruding cock and the sound your skin meeting every time he sunk into you.

You were still sensitive from your first orgasm that when he hit your sweet spot, it caused a tingle to run down your spine to your toes. Your mouth fell open in a silent moan; he was forcing you higher and higher onto your peak but you couldn't fall over. Without stimulation to your clit, you felt you would never cum.

However, when he dropped his body over you, meeting your lips in a heated kiss, you finally found release. He groaned as you tightened suddenly around him, trembling and latching onto him as you came around his cock.

He didn't slow, however, reaching down to find your clit. You cried out, your nails digging into his back as your orgasm was pushed higher and higher. You weren't able to come down, being forced to new heights until you were suddenly soaked in your juices.

Taehyung gasped, sitting back on his heels, keeping your thighs pinned open as you squirted around him -- soaking the bed beneath you, his thighs and your own. You whined, pushing him back so his cock finally popped free and you were left you stuttered, trembling mess.

He gave you a second until your body relaxed a bit before he pushed his cock back into you. You whimpered, eyes rolling back as he gave several more thrusts, sinking balls deep into you before he came.

His cum was hot as it filled you up and he let out soft whimpers of pleasure before finally pulling away.

Neither of you said or did anything beside shuffle to lay close together. He wrapped his arms around you and tucked you close against his chest, kissing the top of your head.

"There's something...you should probably know," he suddenly said, voice a little hoarse. You hummed, glancing up to look at him as he continued, "My kind...seahorses...we kind of...mate for life."

"Do you?" you raised a brow, feeling the inklings of exhaustion begin to prick at you.

"Mhm," he cleared his throat, "And I really am...sorry for leaving the way I did. I hope that you'll keep me around because now...you're it for me, _____."

You sat up and smiled, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

There was a soft scuffling noise from outside your door, making Taehyung jump. You sighed and pulled away from him, despite how he tried to keep you from going.

"What is it?" he asked, frowning.

"It's Tux," you mumbled, opening the door.

The cat ran in, taking a running leap onto the bed. As you closed the door, you heard a loud thump. Turning around, you found Taehyung on the floor, the sheet tangled around his legs.

"It's a cat!" he cried, pointing an accusatory finger at the cat who sat on your pillow licking his paw.

"Yes..." you mumbled, bending down to pick up your nightgown.

"Cats eat fish!" Taehyung whined.

You rolled your eyes, sliding your nightgown on, ignoring the slickness of his cum seeping down your thighs.

"Taehyung," you sighed, grabbing his arm to pull him up, "I promise Tux will not be able to eat you."

[brainrattlers]

Play It Cool - Tyson Jost (28/n)

Pairing: Tyson Jost x OFC (AJ)

Word Count: 3688

Warnings: Language. Sexy times implied. Just to cover my ass, if you're under 18, get thee outta here. Looking for Chapter 27? https://at.tumblr.com/brainrattlers/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-27n/187cuft9d2jv Looking for how this whole thing started? Chapter 1: https://at.tumblr.com/brainrattlers/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-1n/onij73btqw05

Author's notes: Well, first, I'm doing even worse this week than last, it's nearly 4am. I have to be work in 4 hours. We'll see how this Tuesday goes. Otherwise... It's time for a roadie... the first lengthy one that Tyson's been on since AJ moved to Minnesota. It'd only been a few months since the last one, and even more than that, them living apart for weeks at a time. But it doesn't make it any easier. Also, AJ's intuition starts gnawing at her again.

As always, 3am typos are likely to happen, so I'll reread and fix in the next day or so. Thanks for sticking with me in all this!

The first win was still eluding the Wild, and Tyson was definitely trying to figure out how to elevate his game, to help his team. They had one more game at home before an extended road trip, one that he was not particularly looking forward to.

AJ wasn’t looking forward to the time apart either, but in her head, she knew that at some point things would go back to being long-distance for a few days at a time, anyway. Fortunately for her, she was realizing there were some good things about Tyson being on the road.

Staying up late.

Sleeping in.

Eating all the things that would derail Tyson’s nutritional habits. Or eating all the things he generally didn’t like.

Sprawling out in bed.

There were a handful of other things too, but AJ didn’t want to go overboard. There was the thought of heading to Denver to see Jess, but she was elbows deep in her nursing program, so that was probably out of the question. Also, AJ did still have to be a functioning adult and work in the mornings and such.  So maybe 1 and 2 would at least be on the weekends, and finding out when Jess had her next break in classes would help determine that trip.

With the game against Vancouver coming up, Tyson threw himself into workouts and watching the previous games to pinpoint what went wrong for him. AJ was doing her best to help out, even if she didn’t really know what to say or do at times. Mainly, it was just listening to Tyson trying to talk through things, working the thoughts out, out loud.

What she hated though was the fact that she felt selfish that he was spending so much time working on his game, knowing that he’d be on the road for ten days soon. But AJ also knew that this is what she was signing up for when she started dating him, the idea being driven home by veteran WAGs and players alike.

Fortunately, that first win happened against Vancouver, in a thrilling overtime victory. Didn’t matter that Tyson had a relatively quiet night, he was absolutely amped. After the post-game wrap-up finished on Bally Sports, AJ’s phone started buzzing from the coffee table.

Tyson: Hey baby girl, guys are going out. But I’m thinking home.

AJ: If you want to go celebrate, it’s okay.

Tyson: I don’t think you are catching my drift. (winking emoji)

AJ: … oh my

Tyson: Home in about 30.

Realizing what was likely about to go down (oh ho!), AJ quickly took a shower, cleaning up a bit, shaving her stubbly legs and washing her face. Toweling off, she found one of Tyson’s jerseys, and threw it on over a pair of boxers she was going to sleep in. Checking herself out in front of a mirror, it didn’t even look like she was wearing anything under the sweater. 

Impatiently, she waited for Tyson to get home. In her head, she was attempting to find a sexy pose for Tyson to find her in when he walked in, but she just felt awkward. Instead, waiting by the door to simply ambush him as he got inside was the new plan. AJ anxiously watched the clock on the wall, and looked at her phone, checking timestamps on the messages on her phone. 

Finally, the door lock clicked. AJ couldn’t come up with a casual enough looking pose, so she just went for the door.

As the door swung open, Tyson stood in the doorway originally with a surprised face, but it morphed into him arching an eyebrow up, biting his lip as AJ saw his eyes blatantly trail from her face, down to the floor, and back up again. The teeth that were holding his bottom lip were quickly replaced by his tongue sliding over the very same lip. Something about her wearing his jersey like that set off a fire inside him. He took a few strides into the apartment, shutting the door quickly behind him.

“You look good in green,” Tyson’s eyes were full of mischief, pupils large and dark.

Fighting the flush on her cheeks, AJ took a step toward Tyson, grabbing the lapels of his suit jacket, pulling him toward her. He found that her eyes were just as dark and it added fuel to that fire. Leaning down, Tyson’s lips found AJ’s, and the two stayed connected as they both fumbled to get his jacket off, followed by unbuttoning the shirt underneath. He had kicked his slacks off before they made it to the bedroom.

AJ squealed as Tyson picked her up and gently tossed her onto the bed, him following close behind. She rolled over to put her phone on the nightstand. He stopped to admire his name and number on her back, thinking about what was (or wasn’t) under it all. The tiny hint of shorts under the jersey caused a minor short circuit in his brain, and all Tyson could think about was taking them off but keeping the jersey on.

Grabbing one of her feet, AJ shrieked in fear he might start tickling her, but he had other plans. Lips lightly grazed the skin of the top of her foot, causing her to shudder, in a good way. Tyson looked up toward her face with a similar look of surprise that graced her face as she gasped.

“Did I just find a new spot that we didn’t know about?” Tyson smirked, then continued to let his lips wander over AJ’s ankle, and up the inside of her calf.

Breathing becoming erratic, AJ couldn’t contain the whimper that spilled out without warning. Between the warm, soft touch of Tyson’s lips and the contrast of the fuzziness of his scruff against her skin, her eyes pleaded with his to stop the slow tease he was pulling off. AJ could even feel his lips curl into a grin as he continued his torturous pace up and over her knee. For some reason her skin just seemed more sensitive than it normally was, and he loved seeing her unraveling just from simple kisses, her fingers tangling into the sheets.

It’d been a minute since Tyson had seen AJ this way. The couple had been so focused on the mental aspect of each other, that the physical side of things had been pushed away a bit. The timing hadn’t been right.

But it was right now, especially knowing that he was leaving for the roadie the next afternoon, and wouldn’t have the chance to touch her for the next ten days. The night was all about AJ, prolonging the inevitable departure in the morning. Tyson was quite proud of just how riled up he managed to get her, and with a little help, was able to witness her letting go of all control multiple times. 

The two made some memories that night, and as if the memories weren’t going to be enough of a reminder, a few new bruises littered their skin from overzealous kissing. Luckily, they were all in places that typical clothing and/or hockey gear would cover, but in places that while getting dressed or in the shower that were easily seen - little reminders of their night. As they’d fade, it meant they were that much closer to being together again. Tyson did make mental notes about the spot on the top of AJ’s foot that set the wheels in motion, and AJ was already plotting for the next time she’d surprise him, ONLY wearing the jersey.

With the adrenaline of the wins (on and off the ice) wearing off for Tyson, and the utter exhaustion had by AJ, the two curled up, after she shed the jersey. Finding their ground in curling up, skin pressed against skin, he heard the soft snores coming from AJ. He soon followed down the same path.

The morning alarm came way too early. Optional skate was a thing for Tyson, and he knew he couldn’t miss it.  He was starting to feel some pressure as a couple of guys were called up from Iowa. And straight from practice, the team was slated to head to Boston.

It was a tough “see you later” - an emotional “I’ll text you when we land.” This would be the longest the two had been apart since AJ moved to Minneapolis. Remembering the list of things she had looked forward to doing while Tyson was gone didn’t stop the tears from falling from her eyes as he held her tight, kissing her forehead.

The two finally pried apart, knowing Tyson couldn’t be late. Heading along I-94 to TRIA Rink, he too was fighting the tears he was trying to be strong enough to hold back earlier. Letting a few out, he felt better, especially after texting from the dressing room at the rink.

Tyson: Love you Eggo. Try not to miss me too much. I’ll text you before we take off.

AJ smiled at the noti on her watch as she was replacing an imaging unit in a printer. With the flight leaving at 2pm, she planned her text to hit around 1:30, before takeoff.

AJ: Here’s a little something for you to listen to while you’re traveling around, a little something to remind you I’m thinking of you. Love you too babe (Spotify link)

Tyson hurriedly opened the link, and looked at the playlist, smiling at the title.

A + T 4ever 

Downloading the playlist to his phone before takeoff, he put on his headphones and pulled his hoodie down over his face, waiting to fall asleep to the playlist AJ had made him. Mind you, Tyson’s and AJ’s musical tastes are VASTLY different, but they were both trying to find some common ground. But this time, this playlist was pure AJ and her music taste chaos. But there were definitely some themes woven into the tracks.

Tyson being Tyson, he passed out quickly on the plane and missed most of the playlist. But he fell asleep to it that night, and listened to it while showering the next morning after morning skate. He found a few songs in there he liked, and added them to his own Liked Songs list. He found himself humming a few of them in the locker room with a smile on his face.

Unfortunately after the previous win in OT, the Wild lost in OT against Boston. The team took it pretty hard, but at least they got a point out of it. But the flipside was that they were traveling to Montreal early, and spending a handful of days there, rather than traveling back and forth so often. While AJ would have preferred Tyson being home, it was far less stressful on the team, with less jetlag, to stay out and about. 

When they weren’t in practice, they all ventured out and explored, visiting friends and seeing sights. Tyson constantly was sending photos and texts about his adventures to AJ, with most of them saying “I wish you were here to see this with me,” or “Next time, you’re coming out with me and we’re eating here.”

AJ simply sent photos of the things she was doing back home, regular routine stuff. Boring in comparison, really. But he still appreciated the glimpses of home. Calls before bed were a thing again, and the occasional attempt at phone sex and sexting. It just wasn’t quite the same as the real thing, and knowing these two, it ended up in some traded photos trying to be sexy but took a hard left and were just silly instead. 

The Montreal game was a win, and not even in OT this time around. But there was something gnawing at AJ’s intuition with the game. Tyson had been put on fourth line, and didn’t even break ten minutes of ice time. She didn’t say anything about it when they talked, figuring if it wasn’t bothering him, it shouldn’t bother her.

The team traveled to Ottawa the next day via train, instead of flying. It was a beautiful day, and the team was in good spirits for the trip. Guys were able to relax a bit, playing card games, some read as the countryside sped by. 

And then there was Tyson, hoodie pulled over his face, headphones in. 

Tyson: Getting ready for a nap on the train. Miss you baby, so much. Text you when we. Not when we land. When we get to the station. (heart emoji)

AJ: Sweet dreams babe (kiss emoji)

Tyson slept the entire trip, waking up to her playlist somewhere on repeat number three, coincidentally on the Rolling Stones’ Miss You. He screenshotted the song playing and sent it back to her, showing it was indeed from her playlist as well. It made her musical heart happy that he was still listening to it. They talked on the phone a bit that night, but called it an early night as he was an hour ahead, plus had practice early to loosen up the legs before the game that night.

AJ still felt like something was off. Her suspicions were confirmed with the announcement that both Tyson and Goligoski were scratches for the night. She was angry, but it was out of her hands, nothing she could say, do, or feel, was going to change it. However she didn’t even bother watching the game. Instead, fired up Fortnite, and played a few matches, texting Nate to see if he was in. Unfortunately he had a game the next day and was already preparing for bed.

(Author’s note: I wish I had that sort of self control. It’s.. 2:58AM right now, and I have to be at work in 5 hours!)

Letting her emotions get the best of her, AJ truthfully wished the Wild would lose, because Tyson wasn’t playing. Un/Fortunately, they did win, 4-2. The texts were short that night, especially as they were an hour ahead still, and flying into Detroit. But he didn’t mention the scratch being upsetting to him, so she was trying to play the same card. Tyson did tell her he would text when he landed but didn’t want to wake her up, no response needed. 

AJ was wired still when the text came in, saying he was heading to the hotel. She snapped a photo of a fading bruise on the inside of her thigh, near her knee, sending it in a text.

AJ: It’s almost gone, can’t wait for you to be back. (Photo)

AJ: However maybe not so many next time, they’re a little sore (kiss emoji)

Tyson: (evil imp)

After some sleep, the team headed to morning skate, and afterward was an interview with Evason. Someone questioned Tyson’s scratch status.

“It could have been anyone, it was just his turn this time.”

While the response should have made AJ feel better, it did nothing to make the negative feeling in her gut go away. It compounded when it was announced both he and Goligoski were scratched AGAIN for a second game in a row.

AJ was livid at this point, and felt stupid for feeling that way when again, there was nothing she could do to fix it. But what was upsetting her was that this was supposed to be Tyson’s chance to have that fresh start that he missed out on with the Avalanche. Play with a mixture of players that would challenge him. He was promised that chance for ice time, to get to play on special teams more, to show why he was the 10th pick overall his draft year. To AJ, he was getting the Avs treatment all over again.

She didn’t even have a chance to compose a text, not that she knew what to say anyway because her words wouldn’t form a coherent sentence as upset as she was - Tyson already had.

Tyson: Watching the game tonight?

AJ: No.. I… this… fuck I don’t even know what I want to say.

Tyson: I need to work harder. Gotta show them I belong here. It was the wake up I needed. It’ll be okay. Just trust the process, k? And I need you to be part of it.

It was hard for AJ to come up with anything really in response. Her heart hurt for him.

AJ: I’m not going anywhere.

Instead of watching the game, AJ actually decided sleep sounded good.

The game was a 2-1 loss. The flight to Chicago after the game was quiet, which was good, they needed the rest, going into a back to back. From the hotel, Tyson snapped a photo of his collarbone, the faintest of marks showing in the photo, and sent it to AJ.

Tyson: Almost gone, but I’ll see you tomorrow night. Perfect timing. (photo)

Tyson: You’re probably asleep, so I hope you’re having the sweetest dreams. Of me lol (heart emoji)

AJ woke up super late with a migraine, but the photo and message brought a smile to her face. (Followed by her getting some caffeine and meds, and heading back to bed for a bit longer.) After a couple more hours of sleep, her phone buzzed with notifications from the Wild showing lines for the game - with it came a wave of at least temporary relief - Tyson was playing against Chicago. Feeling a little silly, AJ drew a sign on a piece of paper, nothing flirty, but a sign for Tyson nonetheless, as she couldn’t be there.

LET’S FUCKING GO JOSTY!

AJ sent the sign via text, and received a video clip in response:

Opening the file, Tyson kissed his knuckles, then bumped his phone screen with them, “See you tonight babe, LET’S GOOOO!”

There was something different about Tyson that night. He definitely was trying harder. And he seemed grittier… which wasn’t his style, but he was trying to prove a point. A few hits landed their intended target. But late in the third, a Wild player got hit awkwardly in front of the bench, right next to Tyson… and he didn’t take it well. He checked Patrick Kane, but the timing was off, and was called for boarding. But before that even could be deciphered, Max Domi skated up to Tyson, and they squared off.

AJ watched in horror as Domi pulled him to the ice, and then wouldn’t let go. The two linesmen were on top of both of them, trying to pull them apart, one of them clearly still hanging on. (It wasn’t Tyson, I can tell you that much.) After all was said and done, Tyson got two for boarding Kane, and five for fighting. Domi was bounced after an instigating minor, a fighting major, and a game misconduct for the incident. Tyson skated to the box with a grin on his face as he ran his fingers through his hair before replacing his helmet.

The breath that AJ didn’t know she was holding finally made its presence known as she gasped, feeling the relief that he was okay. She knew Tyson wasn’t a fighter, but he still tried. And maybe it was the spark the team needed - they went into OT, and ended up winning the shootout.

It was a sweet way to end the road trip and head back home. Finally at the airport, Tyson’s phone started buzzing with notifications, mainly from AJ.

AJ: TYSON WHAT ARE YOU DOING

AJ: NOT THE FACE!! NOT THE FAAAACE!

AJ: FUCK DOMI, FUCK HIM UP BABE

AJ: I DON’T KNOW WHY I AM YELLING IN ALL CAPS

AJ: OKAY GOOD YOU’RE ALRIGHT

AJ: Ngl that was kinda hot though (water drip emoji)

Tyson chuckled as he tapped a message back.

Tyson: Be home in a couple hours, can’t wait.

Tyson: Love you babe

AJ: Can’t wait either, I’m still a little *rowr* from the fight. Come to bed when you get home (winking emoji)

Tyson: You wearin my jersey? (evil imp emoji)

Chapter 29 is here! https://brainrattlers.tumblr.com/post/700974148357390336/play-it-cool-tyson-jost-29n

[wipodu-ao3]

Fueled by revenge - a HTTYD fanfic

Read it on Ao3. Join the Discord!

A work in the Cannibal AU.

Summary:

A simple day in the life of Hiccup, with a few twist that can change a life, not his though.

An explanaition on how the chapter 'Fueled by revenge' came to be.

Words: 2,502

[One-shot]

After they had taken care of the tribe who were responsible for Toothless’ injury, Hiccup had used the forge on that cursed island to build the Nigh Fury a temporary fin. It had disturbed Hiccup that he felt nothing when he stepped over the dead bodies of the cursed tribe, but they were responsible for their own situation.

The tribe that had captured him had held dragons as food, nothing more, nothing less. Hiccup had learned from Storm that they had been capturing dragons and ate them as their main source of meat. While Storm was okay with fish that Shadow managed to catch, Hiccup grew a preference for… something else.

It was easy for Hiccup to take a knife to the body. It was easy to cut the flesh and taste it again. The fact that Toothless indulged in the taste too, just made everything seem okay. Hiccup knew it wasn’t, but he didn’t care.

What had shocked Hiccup, was that Storm didn’t seem to care. She had stumbled upon him with the knife in his hand and a cut up body below him. She didn’t scream or seem afraid. Storm had looked at him in disgust and scoffed.

“Cook it at least,” she told him.

And that was that. Hiccup’s new meat preferences were left undiscussed and an understanding was born between the two humans.

While Hiccup was making Toothless’ first ever prosthetic, they talked.

Hiccup learned that the man he had killed was Storm’s father. He learned that the reason the girl was with the dragons, was because she refused to eat the dragon flesh and her father didn’t have it in him to kill her. The reason Shadow was alive? ‘Skrill wasn’t tasty’.

The more Hiccup learned, the more he felt justified in his actions. Something he hadn’t noticed in his rage, was that the girl didn’t have a leg, just like him she had a prosthetic. It was a simple wooden one and she had clearly not gotten used to it. When asked about how that happened, Storm simply said:

“Just because he didn’t kill me, doesn’t mean he didn’t try.”

The fact that she joined him so easily made sense, she wanted revenge and she got it. Still, Hiccup had taken upon himself to make her a prosthetic, like the one he had, as a gesture of his gratitude. At first she refused, but the prospect of having a comfortable leg won her over.

Fortunately for both Hiccup and Toothless, Storm knew a little bit about healing and she took care of the injuries they sustained. Their injuries needed time to heal and Hiccup gladly stayed on the island for a few more days.

When he was done with both prosthetics, he asked Storm what she was going to do. She had hesitantly admitted that she didn’t know, but she wanted to but the cursed island to the ground. Hiccup was hit with an idea, he knew that learning to fly with Toothless’ new tail would take some time, but he wanted to get back to Berk sooner rather than later. He offered Storm a place to stay if he got her help one more time.

That was about two years ago.

Hiccup was hammering a metal rod for Toothless’ new tail. The new tail would seamlessly blend in with the Night Fury’s body and nobody would know that Toothless doesn’t have a tailfin. It was the third fin Hiccup was making for the dragon. The first one was on the Edge, and Toothless’ current one would join it in Hiccup’s room.

The Edge was the place Hiccup had offered to Storm. At the time it was just an island with a lone abandoned hut that Hiccup sometimes used to spend the night. While Hiccup had been at Berk, Storm had taken it upon herself to fix it up, she didn’t want to explore without Hiccup, so she spent her time building. At this point, the Edge had two houses, one they used for sleeping and the other was like a common space, with a simple kitchen and a library in progress.

Hiccup would leave for the Edge and be long gone by the time the morning rolled around. He had plans to explore and check out some spots frequented by Dragon Trappers. He also wanted to make sure the new tail was okay and that the saddle didn’t need any adjustments. Hiccup had already adjusted the saddle twice, his growth spurt making it uncomfortable.

Hiccup finished with the rod and put away the used forge equipment. He took the rod, also taking some nails he had made previously, and left the forge. It was late evening, but people were still milling around. He didn’t bother hiding the rod or nails as he could just claim they were for his prosthetic, nobody would care, because his growth spurt did mean he had to build a new prosthetic.

Hiccup let his eyes wander across the village. A lot of people were trying to finish up their chores for the next day, as from tomorrow, for almost a week, his father would be in the Meade hall, answering the tribe’s problems and solving their disputes. A good time for Hiccup to disappear for a while.

“Hiccup!” he heard his name being called from behind him.

He kept walking, not even glancing back to acknowledge his cousin. Hiccup hoped his obvious dismissal would discourage Snotlout from pursuing him. Luck was not on Hiccup’s sight it seemed as Snotlout caught up with him and stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Hiccup stopped and looked at the hand in disgust and Snotlout quickly removed it.

“We’re going over to the Meade hall, want to join us?” Snotlout asked him, gesturing to the rest of the gang standing a bit away.

“No,” Hiccup answered after glancing at the others, he went to leave, but his cousin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder again, and even Hiccup’s disgusted look didn’t make Snotlout remove his hand this time.

“We-we’re gonna take some mead and head out to the academy,” Snotlout tried to persuade him.

Hiccup almost laughed. How times have changed… a few years ago, he would have jumped on the chance to hang out with the others, but now he knew that they didn’t have any real value in his life. With Toothless he could see faraway lands and explore, with Storm he could talk about his thoughts and have meaningful conversations. The others just didn’t offer him anything, at least not at this time.

He knew that if they were a bit more mature or adventurous, and forgot their hate for dragons, they would be great friends. Also, Hiccup was still a bit mad that they had tormented him in his younger years, the torment stopping only when he stopped reacting to them and started treating them with indifference. His cold disposition somehow made him cool in their eyes.

“I don’t drink,” Hiccup told him and shrugged of his hand, going back home without looking back.

Hiccup didn’t linger at home, he didn’t need to. He just took a loaf of bread and put it with his other things. He left through the back door so nobody would see him leaving, because while they generally never noticed he left, but that was because they didn’t see him leave.

Toothless excitedly bounced towards Hiccup as he entered the cove. Hiccup greeted his best friend and went over to his stash of things. His stash consisted of the armor he didn’t want to wear around the village, the armor that could easily be recognized as the Dragon Master’s get up, some spare bags and a few of his own made weapons.

He dressed in his armor, mounted Toothless and with one final pet to the dragon’s head, they took off. They flew through the air as fast as they could, making short work of leaving Berk behind. Hiccup knew the way to the Edge by hearth, he could find it with his eyes closed.

Flying was freeing for him. Soaring through the air like nothing mattered, because it didn’t when he was there, Hiccup let his mind wander. He thought about the dragons he had found, the places he had explored and the people he had ‘met’. He used the term ‘met’ loosely as the people met his persona of ‘Dragon Master’.

He didn’t know who had given him that name, but he had no problem with it. The name gave him notoriety and opened doors that could never be opened otherwise. And he couldn’t say that ‘Dragon Master’s’ reputation was unwarranted, because it was. He didn’t hesitate to land a killing blow if he needed to, he frequently went around Dragon Trapper ships and freed the dragons inside, killing anyone who came in his way. And, of course, taking some of his preferred meat with him anytime he could.

Halfway to the Edge, in the middle of the night, Hiccup saw a ship in the waters below him. Curiosity got the better of him and he steered Toothless down. They flew around the ship, the darkness hiding them. Hiccup felt anger rise within him when he heard the roars of scared dragons come from within. Hiccup hated Dragon Trappers, he had taken care of countless ships on his own before, this time would be no different. He doubted anyone would survive.  

Hiccup touched down on the ship, the fact that the deck was clear of people surprised him. He dismounted Toothless and gestured for him to stay quiet, he listened closer and he heard a voice mixed in with the roaring of the dragons. The shouting was filled with pain, it was clear to Hiccup that whoever was beneath the deck was being tortured. That did not surprise him, Dragon Trappers were rarely smart or compassionate people.

Hiccup motioned for Toothless to stay on alert and went beneath the deck. It was light there, torches on the walls giving enough light for him to see clearly. There were about ten people there, all ganged up on one tied up man. The tied up man was screaming as one of the trappers, donned with a cloak made of dragon hide, took a knife to his bicep – carving away the skin there.

Hiccup didn’t waste time when he saw the keys dangling on one of their belts. He sneaked toward the man with the keys, luckily he was in the back of the group so Hiccup found it easy to cover the man’s mouth and pull him back. A dagger to the man’s throat was a quick and silent way to dispose of him, the body went down and Hiccup took the keys from his belt.

It was done silently, not alerting the others in the group. Hiccup used the keys to unlock the cages that housed dragons that did gain the group’s attention. Startled shouts rang out as the dragons ran out, Hiccup used the commotion to his advantage. He took his sword and managed to kill three more of the men before the others register what had happened.

The remaining six were easy to dispose of. Hiccup’s sword was sharp and he managed to behead two of the six, their head landing on the ground with a thud. One took a stab at the heart, two took fatal blows to the neck. The last one was the leader of the group, the one who had been carving at the man’s bicep. Hiccup managed to push the man to the ground and used his sword to cut the man’s leg at the hip clean off. The leader screamed in pain as he bled out.

Hiccup took the dismembered leg and with one swig he separated it at the knee. Hiccup called for Toothless, the dragon bouncing in with a croon. Hiccup took a mesh bag he had in the sack with his other things and wrapped the thigh in it. He fixed the slab of meat on Toothless’ saddle and turned to the man who had been tortured.

The man was looking at him with fear and confusion. Hiccup went over to him and took a knee to stay in eye level with the man.

“What’s your name?” Hiccup asked him with a tilt of his head.

“E-Eret,” the man gasped out, his face screwed up in pain.

“You have a choice Eret,” Hiccup told him, his eyes turning to the man’s bleeding bicep, the wound would scar if the man stayed alive, “Join me.”

“Or?” Eret asked when Hiccup didn’t elaborate.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and looked around the dead men, making a show of his wandering gaze. Eret gulped as he understood, he took a deep breath and nodded.

“Join you.”

Hiccup smiled and went around him to cut the rope that held his hands. Eret was another person for him to train and be friends with. Even if Hiccup could do this on his own, more people meant more saved dragons. Hiccup got Eret in Toothless and they took off.

Hiccup wasn’t scared that Eret would try to hurt him. For one, the man’s bicep must have been killing him. Eret had also been tortured by the dragon trappers, which meant he was someone they hated, and he didn’t share in their believes, at least not anymore. Hiccup could easily recognize people who could be assets to his cause, Eret was one.

By the time they landed on the Edge, Eret was struggling to stay awake, even the pain from his injury and the excitement that came with flying for the first time, couldn’t keep him awake. They had landed by the main building and, even though it was still dark, Storm had come to greet them.

“Who’s this?” she asked instead of greeting them, Eret’s presence coming as a shock to her.

Hiccup jumped from the saddle and helped Eret down, letting the man lean on him. Toothless went over to Storm and nuzzled her in greeting, she petted the Night Fury’s head as she watched the two men. Hiccup started leading Eret to the house.

“A new member of our team,” Hiccup told her as she held the door open, “He needs a bit of medical attention, if you don’t mind.”

Storm sighed and went over to their kitchen, she opened a cabinet where they stored their medical supplies, and took out everything she would need. Hiccup sat Eret down at the table and pulled out a seat for Storm.

She sat down and looked at the man’s bicep, she blew her hair out of her face and glanced at Toothless. The Night Fury was sitting near the door, waiting for Hiccup to take his things from the dragon. Storm eyed the mesh bag and turned to Hiccup.

“Put the meat on ice, at least,” she sighed and rolled her eyes, “Thor, you never learn…” she mumbled and got to work on Eret’s wound.

[thedeathdeelers]

Word prompt for fic: headphones

ok first of all i am so sorry for how long it’s taken me to get back to you with this but. yes

here’s a little juke fluff based on the word headphones (i apologise in advance for how basic this is)

without any further ado

—

study break (AO3)

“Hey Jules, what’s up?”

Julie was sat on the couch in the living room, trying to get through the massive pile of homework her teachers had decided to throw at them throughout the last week. She had spent the whole morning trying hard to focus on the task at hand, and ignore the very strong pull that led straight to the studio.

“Hey, Luke.” She looks up at her band mate as she pulls out one of her old wire earphones from her ear. She foregoes pausing the music, hoping that by doing so, it might help keep this interruption brief. She can’t get distracted, and unfortunately, she is very aware of the fact that just by having Luke in the same room as her, she was already fighting a losing battle.

“I’m just trying to get through this,” she gestures vaguely to the scattered mess of books and notes and pens and highlighters littering the overpopulated coffee table. “Teachers are throwing work at us faster than we can keep up.” Julie hunches forward, her elbows resting on her knees as she rubs her face with the palms of her hands, hoping to wipe away the headache she can feel coming on.

She feels the sofa dip to her right, suddenly very aware of the teenage boy (ghost) sitting next to her.

“You don’t look too good Jules. Maybe you should take a small break? Doesn’t matter how much work you try to get through in this state - if you burn yourself out too quickly, you won’t be able to finish.”

With her head still resting in the palms of her hands, Julie turns her head, her eyes peeking through the strands of curls falling between them. He’s looking at her in earnest, and she’s finding it exceedingly hard to say no (even though she knows she really, really should).

As she continues debating with herself internally, Luke reaches over with his hand, something purple and glittering in it, pushes her curls out of her face, and pins them back.

“Where did you get that?”

Luke looks at her sheepishly even as his hand lingers on hers cradling her face for a second before he pulls away.

“I- uh, I found one lying around the studio the other day. I guess I kept it in my pocket in case of emergencies.” He shrugs, trying to brush it off with a quiet, albeit awkward, chuckle.

“Emergencies?” Julie was finding it hard to control the smile quickly taking over her face at Luke’s reddening cheeks.

“Ya, you know,” He clears his throat, scratching at his hair as he tries to look nonchalant. “In case you hair got in the way and I suddenly couldn’t see your face anymore.” Wink.

Even as she felt her own cheeks start to redden in turn, Julie stood her ground.

“Really?” She deadpanned.

“Cross my heart and hope to die!”

She smacks his shoulder, trying hard not to giggle. “Not funny!”

He nudges her with his shoulder, an easy grin on his face.

“Come on, you know it was.”

She shakes her head at him, as her attention is brought back to the music still playing in her ear. She pulls her phone to her with the earphones wire, and starts scrolling through her playlist, trying to find a song that might motivate her to focus back on the work at hand.

“What’re you listening to?” Luke leans over her shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of the song names passing by on her large screen.

“Uh, I’m just trying to find something to listen to on my study playlist. These songs usually help me focus...although I’m definitely finding it hard to do that right now.” She shoots him a pointed stare, as he curls a strand of her hair around his digit.

“Whatever do you mean?” He asks, a picture of perfect innocence.

She just stares back at him, unimpressed.

“Come on Jules! I told you, you need to take a break. You’ve been cooped up in here for like 4 and a half hours now.”

“You’ve been keeping track?”

“Of course. What else do you think I do when you’re not around?”

“Uh, not count the hours spent apart? Write music? Do ghost things?” She shakes her head at him, not really sure whether to laugh or cry. “You know, normal stuff?”

“Where’s the fun in that.” He moves in a little closer, eyes fixed on her playlist. “There’s not much ghost stuff to do that’s super exciting, plus I write better when we’re working together. You know that.”

She’s not sure what to say to that, so she turns her head and continues scrolling.

“I’ll make you a deal. You take a half hour break - we can literally just sit here and listen to some music - of your choosing of course - and then I swear I’ll leave you alone.”

Julie moves her head slightly to her right, trying to get a better look at her band mate.

“Half an hour? And then I can go back to work? No interruptions, no distractions?”

Luke’s chin dips slightly as he nods, his eyes trained on hers. He then grins at her, tacking on a last minute term. “For another 4 hours.”

Julie rolls her eyes at him, a small smile playing on her lips. Alright then, she can do that. And it’s not like she hasn’t been counting down the hours until she could finally spend some time with her boys (read: Luke). So she nods, her eyes already moving back to her phone screen.

“Alright, fine. But only half hour.” She reached over and grabs the left earphone, passing it on to Luke.

“I hear better with my right ear.”

She looks at him for a second, confused. He stares at her, then looks pointedly at the L earbud in her hand.

“....Luke, you’re a ghost.”

“So?”

“You don’t- never mind. Fine then..Move, we’ll need to switch sides.”

“I don’t see why that’s necessary. This is perfectly fine.”

“You’re on my right, yet you want the right earpiece. I hate using the wrong earphone for the wrong ear, so no. Switch.”

“We don’t have to use the wrong ones, just pass me the right one.”

“These are wired earphones..They’re not long enough for this.”

“Sure they are.” He reaches over as he snatches the Right earphone from her fingers, pops it in his ear and waits for her to do the same. Julie purses her lips at the ridiculousness of this situation, but grabs the dangling Left earbud and puts it in.

They’re now much closer to each other, his head nearly resting on her shoulder, his cheek brushing against hers. And Julie is starting to think that this was Luke’s plan all along.

“Hm, actually you’re right. This isn’t working.”

She’s about to retort, the words ‘I told you so’ on the tip of her tongue, when she suddenly feels hands grabbing her waist and hoisting her up. She squeals, arms flailing a little until she’s settled back down. Onto Luke’s lap.

His arms snake their way around her, coming to rest on her stomach.

“Okay- this works.”

He rests his head on her shoulder, pressing his cheek against hers more firmly. She can even feel the tips of his hair tickling her temple.

“Was this your plan all along?”

“Ah, but a magician never reveals his secrets.”

“Wh- Luke what are you talking about? There was absolutely no magic trick involved in any of this.”

“But it’s always magic when I’m with you.”

“...No.”

“Come on, that was cute.”

“No.”

But neither one could miss the large smile taking over Julie’s face as she leaned back against Luke’s chest, eyes glued on her phone screen, ready to enjoy her well deserved half hour break.

FIN

[chowtrolls]

Inferno

Length: 2155 Words TW: General Violence, brief mention of drugs. Brief: Boe causes problems for Bruuno. Credits: there's a reference to the Divine Comedy.

Google Docs

Bruuno knew the office building like the back of his hand. Walking in through the back cargo entrance was the easiest way in. The violet guard had basically watched Bruuno grow up and actually smiled as he passed. He towered over the violet at this point but always felt a small connection to the stranger, and made a point of smiling back. The elevator complained loudly when Bruuno stepped inside. The elevator only had twelve buttons. The thirteenth button was disguised as the emergency alarm. It was muscle memory by now, Bruuno held the alarm as it rang for fourty five seconds. The alarm stopped and the elevator started to go up.

It opened into a dimly lit hallway. Expensive art decorated the walls, each painting in the same exact spot as it had been the first time Bruuno walked past them. They always had a way of making him feel small. Chilly air encouraged him to stuff his hands into the pockets of his jacket. The secretary was gone, but the door to Boe's office was unlocked, so Bruuno invited himself inside.

"Hello, Bruuno. Always a treat to see you. How are you? It's been ages." Boe's voice filled the silence immediately. The jade had been waiting, standing in the center of his wide office. He always spoke too much. Despite being spoken to, Bruuno instantly knew something was wrong. There was a deafening silence. More notably, there was no fuchsia wriggler jumping up and bodyslamming him while laughing.

"Where's Shi?" Bruuno turned to the jade with a look of confusion. Boe's relaxed smile planted a seed of worry in the fuchsia's chest. His shoulders lifted slightly in a nonchalant shrug, as if they were discussing the location of a book and not a child.

"She's safe." Boe's voice, smooth as silk and honey, did nothing to ease the growing concern.

"I didn't ask if she was safe." Bruuno stepped closer to Boe, brow furrowed, "I asked where she was."

"And I asked how you were. You've been clean for a while, isn't that nice?" Boe closed the gap between him and his former charge. Bruuno's intimidation attempt went entirely ignored, the jade was seemingly unafraid of anything Bruuno may do. Boe's hands left his pockets so he could straighten the fuchsias' jacket, closing it slightly. "Your little moirails helped with that, right? Awfully sweet of them. You really owe them one."

"I don't owe anyone shit." Bruuno didn't stop Boe from touching him, but made no effort to hide the hostility in his voice. "Boznik, where is Shiloh?"

"Mmm, wrong there buddy. You still owe me." Boe smiled and patted Bruuno's chest, knowingly ignoring the constant pestering over Shiloh. Bruuno's expression must have been blatantly confused once again, because Boe laughed. The jade turned away from the conversation, walking over to his desk. He straightened out some papers as he continued.

"I only let you go because you became a liability. Became sloppy! Messy! Hard to fix your mistakes. You must've thought you were so smart, blaming that pesky little addiction problem on your matesprit. I knew what you were doing, Bru. You're not as clever as you think you are." Boe snickered softly as he spoke. Normally an unprofessional move, but Boe didn't care too much for the formalities when it came to his former charge. "I saw what you did to that other little fish, Klasha's brother. Both arms! Impressive! Ripped them off like they were nothing! Now Bruuno, that is the man I raised." Boe paused and looked up from his desk. Bruuno's silence was deafening as the horror started to sink in.

"I let you have your little fun. I helped you, even. You got to have your fifteen minutes of fame. You seadwellers live for so long...it really was just fifteen minutes out of that ancient lifespan of yours. And be honest with yourself Bru, who do you think helped you get there?" Boe's voice got softer, near a whisper, "I spared your life. I gave you fame. I let you have this glorious little life. And now you have to pay me back."

Each word that left Boe's mouth was a dash of salt on the ever growing wound. Anger started like milk on the stove, it always did. Slowly and slowly heating. One had to keep their eye on the pot every second it was there. It was so easy to just glance away for a moment, but doing so would cause the entire pot to boil over. Bruuno's anger was the same, growing slowly and unchecked until the pot boiled over and the contents burned everything around it.

"I never fuckin' asked you to spare me." Speaking between his teeth did little to hide the venom dripping from his voice. "I would've fuckin' preferred you didn't. But I didn't get a fuckin' say in any of this." Bruuno's fins pressed down flat like a cornered cat's ears.

"Well, that's unfortunate." Boe's smirk faded into an unamused frown. Any normal troll would've thought twice about being alone in a room with such a furious highblood. Boe knew better than anyone how catastrophic highblood rage could be. And yet, he stood before Bruuno, cool as a cucumber, collected as ever. He knew in his heart that Bruuno was a pushover, too soft to cause problems or stir the pot. Boe knew the troll he raised, how could he not?

Just as Boe knew Bruuno would never hurt him, Bruuno knew the jade would never harm Shiloh. There was an unspoken line between them that neither would dare to cross. Shiloh happened to stand directly on that line. Despite his rage, Bruuno knew Shiloh would be fine. She was most likely with Chowow, or Kamuuk, and they just hadn't told him. She certainly hadn't a single clue what was going on. Good, because this wasn't about her. His anger was less about Shiloh, and more the sheer audacity. The gall that Boe possessed to even dream of having that control over Bruuno's life. As the two stared each other down, Boe felt safe. Secure. He was certain that Bruuno would bend to his whim. After all, the fuchsia seemed to bend however someone wanted him to, why would he do any differently to Boe?

Boe's sense of security held Bruuno in his place. He felt small, smaller than he ever had in his entire life, because he knew what Boe thought of him. A passive troll who simply wishes to please everyone, who has no self worth beyond what he can present to others. He had done so much to get to where he was in life. Even if Boe really WAS pulling the strings, Bruuno was happy. He was genuinely happy with his life, the path he was heading down. For the first time in sweeps, Bruuno finally felt like he was healing. He no longer lamented over the torment he caused others, and the days spent awake wondering if karma would present itself with glittery fins once more seemed rare now. The pot of anger had boiled over moments ago, and was starting to burn in Bruuno's chest. One can never remember pain, brains aren't programmed to remember pain, but the raw burning in his lungs was so painstakingly familiar. It was an infection he covered up so well he started to believe it was really gone. An infection he had for so long that he almost felt empty when he covered it that well. Now that the anger fought through the makeshift gauze of happiness, Bruuno realized he missed it, in the same way someone misses a toxic friend or a migraine they had for too long. It had become a piece of him.

Bruuno remembered snippets from working under Boe, but more importantly he remembered how much he hated it. He hurt so many trolls for no reason beyond being told to. He was taught how to hold a gun before he was taught how to write. He learned the best methods of a hidden execution before he learned how to cook. The best took for pulling fingernails, pressure points to incapacitate someone, the direction to aim a weapon so it looked like an accident. From the best cleanup crew to call, to the safest places to dump a body, and the best excuses to tell a drone. Everything Boe taught him centered around pain and violence. Destroy lives and cause destruction for the sake of money and power. Breaking bones and shooting trolls at point blank did nothing but cause anxiety and depression, and created the insecurity that allowed Bubble to seep into his life like a virus. Bruuno was never happy with who he was or what he was doing. Who was Boe to decide if Bruuno got to be happy or not? Only Bruuno could decide that.

And Bruuno decided that he did deserve to be happy. That he didn't deserve this; not from Boe, or Bubble, Carina, the Empire, Shrivo, anyone else. He was worthy of being happy. And he didn't need to make himself valuable to others to be worthy of it.

By the time Bruuno had come to this mental conclusion, Boe had started and nearly finished another cheesy and demented monolog. He strolled right up to Bruuno once more, chattering away while folding some boring origami crane. At the end, he just crumpled the crane up in a dramatic show of power. It was apparent that he thought of himself as some kind of villain, that the hero in this story would do as every hero does. No hero would ever harm the villain, because that'd make them equal and just as evil.

But Bruuno was not Aeneas, nor was he Paul. There was hardly anything heroic about him.

"So, you see my point, Bru? Just a pawn in the game of life. An important pawn to some, sure. But you, too, can be so easily crushed." Boe's smile was sinister, but frankly Bruuno found it annoying. The burning anger had created the desire, no, the need to destroy, to break things.

The fuchsia silently looked at the crumpled paper in Boe's palm. After a moment, he gingerly took the crane from Boe. It was so small in his hand, so fragile, but he still craved to demolish it. Boe's smile returned, obviously pleased that his words stuck with his charge. That was, until Bruuno dropped the crane without a care and instead grabbed onto Boe's robotic wrist with one hand, and the opposite shoulder with his free hand. Without hesitating, Bruuno destroyed. He tore Boe's arm off, just as he had done with Meduza. The prosthetic came off like a breeze, but it was obviously never meant to, permanent prosthetics are so expensive and difficult to replace so they were secured in the socket so neatly. There was nothing neat about it now. Boe's expression was horrified. If he made a sound, Bruuno didn't hear it. All he heard was the crumbling of metal and the tear of flesh. The prosthetic may have been sturdy once but it bent and folded under the pressure of Bruuno's closing fist. The jagged parts of the metal cut his hand but the pain was a welcomed feeling, grounding almost.

The arm dropped unceremoniously to the floor, and Boe did too. Jade started to pool under him and stained his white button down. Boznik tried to prop himself up and move away, but was pushed back down by Bruuno's foot.

The weight of an 8 foot fuchsia on his chest was nothing compared to the weight of the trauma that hovers over Bruuno's heart constantly.

"How's that fer the man you raised? Still like 'im?" Bruuno's expression was deadpan as he spoke, with just enough weight on Boe's chest to hurt. "A real fuckin' asshole, ain't he? Takes after his lusus. Y'know how it is. Like lusus like son, eh?" A bitter laugh escaped, and only grew louder as more pressure was applied. Bruuno heard and felt a couple cracks, the pain being confirmed by Boe's strangled gasp of pain.

Boe was no stranger to pain, but the crushing weight on his chest and white hot burning from his arm had him fading in and out. Breathing was difficult, but not impossible, and was instantly better as Bruuno got off his former lusus.

"I hope we both rot, ya daft fuckin' jackass. Don't try this shit again." Bruuno wasn't certain if Boe even heard him, but he felt better saying it out loud.

He made sure to hit the emergency alarm on Boe's desk before he left out the way he came. The violet security guard was still at his post by the cargo entrance. The radio on his vest was going off with frantic chatter as Bruuno passed him.

He made sure to smile on his way out.

[infiniteoddball]

Hi love the writing ❤️❤️could you possibly write something where the svu squad accidentally meat Rita’s wife...like they didn’t know she was married especially to a woman 😂❤️I mean it’s just a suggestion but I haven’t read anything like that before... what are your thoughts on this???

// Thank you so much for such a fun request!! I thoroughly enjoyed writing this and thank you so much for all the love! You really made my night (: Since there wasn’t a specific character pairing for Rita, I did Rita x Reader!//

Rating: Friendly! This is light and fluffy with a bit of obscene language. Nothing too serious! 

Tag: @vivis-ghost-wife @teamsladsandgents @angelicdestieldemon @storiesofsvu

Surprise Cocktails 

You and Rita sat in the back of the bar, happily hidden away from everyone else. The both of you sipped on your separate drinks. Rita enjoying a dark & stormy while you were on your second glass of chardonnay. You enjoyed the feeling of your thigh touching hers, only to lean in and steal a soft kiss, “I have missed us doing this,” You murmur against her lips, smiling. 

Rita smiled, “I am sorry I have been so busy baby. I have missed you. I have missed us. I am glad that we are finally able to have a date night.” 

You glanced at her hand, enjoying the ring on her finger. You knew that this was something that you didn’t get to see in public, so it was definitely something that you enjoyed when you could. Rita smiled even bigger, sliding her arm around your waist as she pulled you closer, placing a few kisses up your neck, “What else do you have in mind for tonight?” 

“Making your dress hit the floor,” You murmur, moving your hand further up her thigh as you hear her breath hitch. You enjoyed the feeling of the silky black wrap dress, but enjoyed the feeling of her skin even more.  

“Mm, that does sound perfect. But how about we eat some food so we have energy for that later?” 

“Okay,” You smirk, watching as she called over a waiter. You smiled even bigger as she ordered for the both of you. 

“One chicken alfredo and a chicken parmesan please,” She smiled, “As well as another dark & stormy.” 

“Water too please,” You add in. You felt the familiar warmth in your stomach. Her dominance was something that turned you on quickly, “How was your day?” 

“I gave Rafael a run for his money again. That was fun,” Rita smirked, finishing her drink before continuing, “My client, I am not saying they are the most squeaky clean person ever, but they are not guilty of this crime. I can just feel it, plus I don’t think they are lying to me. Rafael will be putting his star witness on tomorrow and when I cross examine, he is going to feel the annoyance in his bones,” Rita giggled. 

“You never cease to amaze me.” 

“Good or bad?” 

“Good,” You squeeze her thigh, “Definitely good. You make everything that much better.” 

“Y/N you have gone soft on me,” She smirked, thanking the waiter for her drink before leaning back in the curved booth to smile at you. 

“Not soft, I am a high school counselor. What else would you expect?” You question, spinning the wine glass between your pointer finger and thumb. 

“Nothing,” She answered honestly, “How is Ryan doing?” 

You heave a sigh, finishing off your glass, “I don’t know how to help him. I can see it in him. The need to prove himself, but something is holding him back and I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how to fix it.” 

“Babe, you are doing everything that you possibly can. I know that you think you can save everyone, but sometimes you can’t and that isn’t your fault. Okay?”

You nod, knowing she is right, but after all these years, you still struggle to accept that, “I know...I know. I just don’t know how else to feel about that.” You feel Rita take your chin in her hand gently, pulling you closer before you feel her deliciously warm lips on yours. 

Rita slips her hand to the back of your neck, pulling you in closer, before finally moving away, “I love you. Please don’t let this wreck you. I hate seeing you so broken up over something like this.” 

You bite your lip, but nod, “Okay,” You murmur, sniffing the air appreciatively as the food is delivered to your table. 

*** 

Rita can’t help but smile as she wraps her arm around your waist, whispering all the things she is going to do to you once you two get home. You feel a delicious chill run down your spine as you slide your arm around her shoulders. 

“Aye Calhoun! Is that you!?” Carisi called, smacking Amanda’s shoulder as he turned on the stool. 

You felt her tense up before you both look at the voice who said your wife’s last name, “Who is that?” 

“Get ready,” Is all you get as she drops her arm from your waist, but intertwines your fingers. 

“Holy shit,” Amanda says as shock spreads through her features. 

“Olivia, Odafin, Dominick, Amanda, Kat. I would like for you to meet my wife, Y/N.” 

You can help but smirk as you see Odafin blow his own beer into his face and the rest of the SVU squad utterly speechless. You were barely able to hold back your laugh with the way that Kat nearly choked on her drink. Of course you knew who they were, but they had no idea who you were. Your marriage was kept exceptionally quiet due to the fact that Rita was a defense lawyer with a lot of enemies. The last thing she wanted was you to get harmed because of that. 

Kat was the first to recover before she stood, holding out her hand, “It’s wonderful to meet you! I had no idea that Rita was even...” 

“A lesbian?” Rita finished for her, “Yes. I have had many amazing relationships, but once I met Y/N, I knew that I met the love of my life.” 

You felt your cheeks warm, hearing the way that Rita talked about you. You knew she loved you, but this was a rare occasion where she could demonstrate it so publicly, “You must be the infamous Olivia Benson,” You smile, shaking her hand. 

“I wouldn’t want famous anywhere near my name,” She joked, “I am happy to meet you. Rita, how long have we known each other and you just simply didn’t tell me?” 

“Some things are simply better left unsaid. I am surprised to see that the entire crew is able to make it out.” Rita grinned. 

“You owe me ten bucks Rollins,” Carisi smirked before turning to Rita, “You are a profile that is hard to miss. Rollins and Sarg didn’t believe me when I said that was you.” 

You burst out laughing at this before turning to Rita, “How terrified do you have them?” 

“Scared enough to where the most private question they have outright asked me is what I like to drink.” 

You squeeze her hand, not feeling surprised in this fact of the manner. Every time that you think your wife couldn’t surprise you, she always manages to do that, you fall more in love with her. 

“Aye, why don’t y’all join us for a drink? This revelation has definitely made the night more interesting,” Fin smirked. 

“And you are?” 

“Fin Tutuola,” He smirked, holding his hand out to you. 

You smirk back, taking his hand, “Fin? Like a fish?” 

“Haha, very original! What can I get you two ladies?” 

You glance at Rita, accepting her shrug as a yes, “Knob Creek Bourbon, neat please. A dark & stormy for Rita,” You smile before feeling Rita’s arm wrap around you again. 

“So,” Olivia looked between the two of you, “How did this even happen? As far as I knew, all Rita does is work.” 

“Hey there, you are the pot calling the kettle black!” Rita pointedly said. 

“I have slowed down. I don’t want to hear it,” Olivia responded, “How did you two meet and why didn’t we know about you sooner Y/N?” 

“Well, we met because of a blind date. One that I reluctantly accepted. Let me tell you, I wasn’t sure if we were even going to make it past the second date. But then, out of left field, Rita surprised me and the rest is history.” 

“Please,” Rita scoffed, “You make me sound like a softie!” 

“Well, you are with me,” You smiled brightly. 

“But definitely not me,” Barba smirked, “Rita, Y/N. It’s nice to see the cat is out of the bag!” 

“Barba, you mean to tell me that you knew the entire time!?” Kat’s jaw dropped. 

“Careful. Flies will be around soon. Yes, I have known Rita longer than any of you. Please, tell me this,” He watched as Fin handed them each their drinks, “Was this planned?” 

“Rafael, please,” Rita rolled her eyes. 

“You haven’t even gotten to the good part yet everyone. Y/N, why don’t you tell them what it is that you do for a living.” 

“I am a high school counselor. I work at Martin Luther High.” 

“No fucking way,” Fin said slowly, a smile spreading over his face, “That is amazing.” 

You did a double take before noticing that Rita was smiling at you, “I know,” Rita grinned, taking a long sip off her drink. 

“How did this happen?” Barba questioned. 

“Date night,” You responded before giving him a brief hug. 

“Mm, so how does this work?” Rollins questioned, “You’re okay with the fact that next to no one knows you two are together?” 

You touched Rita’s shoulder, before nodding, “Yes. It was something we had a long discussion about. Rita is a high profile defense attorney. I know that on the rare occasion that she doesn’t drag Rafael, her clients can tend to get hostile. So, for the sake of both of us, we chose to keep a low profile so my safety and her safety isn’t put at risk.” 

“Smart move,” Olivia laughed, glancing at Rafael. 

“Anyways,” Rita said, finishing her drink, “If you don’t mind, it’s date night and I would love to be able to spend some more time with my wife. Thank you for the drinks Odafin. Shall we go Y/N?” 

You finish your bourbon quickly before nodding, “It was nice to finally meet everyone!” You say brightly. 

“Rita, now that we know, you are so going to have to bring her around for drinks sometimes,” Olivia stated. 

“And submit her to torture? Pass.” 

You can’t help but laugh at this, “Okay, okay. No promises! I hope that everyone has a great night!” You smile, tugging Rita away from the group. As much as you enjoyed telling more people that you got to marry the love of your life, you wanted more than anything to follow through on all the things that she wanted to do to you. You couldn’t help but smile at the chorus of goodbyes behind the two of you.

[hit-me-with-a-ladle]

Ch.10 Creepypasta x Fem! Reader

Before even realising, the week had ended once more, perpetuating the endless cycle experienced day after day. Though not as severe as the previous, it was still very tiring in its own way. As the first day passed, Ben wanted to perceive her potential, making her brew something after every lesson and making sure the notes taken were comprehensive and correct. But what he failed to inform her was that the slightest miscalculation could end up in an explosion. The combining of two opposing substances ended up in a chain reaction that gave the girl burns and potential scars, their severity somewhat dulled by the elixir Ben would create after, but still very painful.

That week was strange, as Ben was inept at any social interaction. Struggling with reading the room and understanding others thoughts and feelings. Though he hated silence and many-a-time attempted to end it with a random ramble about a certain topic that would last hours at a time, tiering the poor girl forced to listen. His tendency for not understanding physical boundaries had begun to become a problem too, invading the girl's personal space at very unwanted times and always flashing that creepy smile whenever he saw her, making her tense up.

Though the perpetual cycle had begun to have a toll on her. Her body was on autopilot most of the day. Walking around and doing the same things as a robot. And the last day of the week hadn't been any different. She'd fallen asleep the previous night at exactly ten pm after launch and woke up the morning at around five-fifty six am, before her alarm. Getting up taking a shower, bandaging her wounds, getting dressed, and heading towards the stairs for a nutritious breakfast before she'd have to meet the new person sent there to train her. Toby had presumed.

Right as she was about to take her first step down the narrow wooden staircase she stopped in her tracks, looking back towards her bedroom door. Stepping back she walked towards it and walked in, looking around quickly before spotting the thing she was looking for. The necklace Ben gave her, she took it off the previous night and forgot to put it on. Quickly snatching it and clasping it around her neck and putting it under her jumpsuit she hurriedly ran downstairs, not wanting to be off schedule. She wasn't sure why she'd gone back to grab it, but something was telling her that it was special.

Looking at the clock she sighed, twenty minutes left before her training starts. Her thoughts were in shambles as she imagined what the new man was going to be like. A sadistic narcissist like Jack? An aggressive control freak like Masky? Or maybe, a blabbering creep like Ben? She wasn't ready to find out. But it was inevitable, no matter how much she wished she could leave, to get an end to this madness. But she didn't have to wonder for long as she heard light footsteps on the hard floor approaching her. Usually, she wouldn't have noticed something as minute as that but recently her senses have heightened significantly with the constant rushes of adrenaline her body had been going through to stay alive.

Gazing in its direction she finally saw the man, he looked to be around twenties years of age. He was of average height, around five-foot-seven or about hundred-and-seventy-three meters, a bit bigger than Ben. His mouth, covered with a black striped mask and a pair of orange-tinted goggles over his eyes. Bushy dark brown hair peeking out from the blue hood of his stained zip-up. The only feature visible was his pale almost grey skin that seemed cold as ice. Below the waist, he had two old hatchets harnessed on either side of his long baggy jeans, with his gloved hands firmly gripping both whiles staring at the girl. As he stood he would occasionally jerk or twitch to the side without warning. She gazed at him, confused by the sudden motions of his body.

Suddenly the man coughed, grabbing her attention and snapping her out of the daze that she was in. Shaking her head and apologizing immediately. He approached, now right in front of her.

" He-llo. I'm To-toby."

He stuttered as he stretched out his right hand at her. Swiftly grabbing his hand to shake it. The leather that collided with her skin was worn out and patchy.

" Hi." She retorted, trying to pull her hand away but he would let do. She could feel his flesh twitch underneath his thick glove. " So when are we going to begin training?"

She awkwardly addressed trying to soften the ever-growing tension. The man only nodded his head and softly huffed, finally letting go.

Glancing behind her shoulder, staring at the back door with a blank stare he pushed her aside and walked towards it. She was perplexed by him, not expecting such an act as a frown formed on her face. 'Who does he think he is? He didn't even answer my question. Jerk.' She thought, her eyebrows scrunching in irritation while going back to making herself breakfast.

"I'll wait for you to fin-finish outside. Be quic-k."

He said quietly as he stepped outside.

Sighing dramatically she began to eat, starting at the clock on the wall, counting down the seconds with dread. Eating had become a choir, her mouth always feeling dry. The food itself was bland too, devoid of odour and taste made the texture unbearable at times. But she didn't have much of a choice. It sometimes felt like eating sandpaper but she couldn't complain as it would only stir up a problem. Most of the food was meant to strengthen her body and make her more durable. Forcing down the last bite she got up but the dishes in the sink and went towards the back door with a black expression on her face.

Opening it up it made a loud creak, annoying the girl as she slammed it behind her, searching for the googled man. She assumed that he was in the armoured area of the forest. Remembering passing it while doing Maskys test, grumbling at the memory. Picking up her speed and running towards it she got there in about ten minutes. Abruptly stopping when she saw the back of his head, a sense of accomplishment washing over her when she realised that her judgment was right. As she was about to inform him of her arrival he swiftly turned around. His orange stained goggles reflect the sun's rays making them shine.

" Si-since you arrived, w-we should begin." He softly said as he reached for his hatchet and pointed to the middle of the small clearing. It was perfect for close-range combat, especially if what they were using were close-range weapons. It was specifically designed for the people training in them to be wary of their surroundings and to focus their movements. Small bumps and rocks were scattered to make it more of a challenge. Battered practise dummies were also present on the sides, some had throwing stars and objects logged on their body. A small shed was tucked in between two trees, made to store some of the weapons they practise with.

As he stood in the middle Toby walked up to the shed, shoving his hand in his pocket searching for something, suddenly pulling out a set of rusty keys and looking for the one that matched the shed's lock. Going inside he searched for something, the girl wasn't sure what as she wasn't able to even see him. After a minute, he finally walked out holding something in his hand. Approaching her he extended his gloved hand letting her see it, a small hunting knife. The blade sharpened to perfection as the thick mettle it was made out of shine in the light, encased in a large worn wooden handle, finger-like dents could be seen from previous use.

Taking it in her hands it fits almost perfectly, holding firmly she studied the mettle further. Just like Maskys pocket watch, there was a crossed-out circle on it; her face was now showed intrigue by the particular design.

" The b-blade you're hol-ding in your hand is o-one of the most impor-tant things you need to sur-survive. Not only is it used fo-for self-defence it's also used for ever-everyday tasks. For ex-example, cutting down vines and or carving th-ings into wooden sur-surfaces."

As he spoke he would occasionally twitch and jerk but he didn't seem distracted by it, already used to the constant random unwanted motions his body made.

The girl nodded her head, thoroughly listening to his every word said, she'd come to terms that if she expected to escape she had to use everything that they thought her to good use. Toby had started to show her different techniques of cutting and use of the knife, explaining the proper stance and movements. But the girl seemed to struggle, shuffling her feet trying to get the stance right. Toby rolled his eyes and went behind her, starting to fix her mistakes and instructing her while doing so. The girl could faintly feel his uneven breaths on her neck. He was noticeably rough with the way he grabbed her hands, fixing them in place. When he was satisfied he let go and went to the side to watch her work.

The silver blade shined as the light hit its clear surface, the girl quickly jabbing and slashing the tree she was told to work on, creating noticeable scratches as she did. At first, her movements were quite slow and sloppy, not being able to get the hang of the small weapon, but eventually, she got the hang of it, quickly gliding around the tree with pretty much no effort and slashing it with remarkable precision. Toby watched her every step, pleased by her sudden improvement.

"I th-think that should b-be enough." He said loudly, disturbing the girl from her trance. Making her quickly straighten up and look at him.

" I-i think yo-you learned the bas-basic, now le-lets see how you will do it hand-to-hand."

The girl nodded, approaching him without saying a word, blade in hand ready to use. Toby also didn't bother to say a word, only pulling out one of his hatchets and getting into a fighting stance, she quickly followed. Neither of them tried to attack at first, only scanning their opponent, anticipating their every move. A cold sweat started to form on the girl's back as panic slowly arose in her mind, the tension was unbearable, and she feared that it showed on her face, but even still she had to muster up the courage and finally strike first.

She leapt at the googled boy, attempting to slash him with her blade but he avoided it in the nick of time. He was quick to react as he soon tried to sweep her off her feet but she blocked his blow and sprang a bit away creating a small distance. He was the one to attack next, facking a strike with his hatchet to her head, quickly using his other hand to punch her in the jaw, making her stumble and slip. Going to her lever and attempting to strike her again, she was quick to block, using all the possible strength she had in her arms to protect herself. She managed to somehow push him off as she quickly tried to get up, but made one fatal mistake by averting her gaze from his, giving him the Milly-second of a chance to slash her upper thigh.

Screaming in agony she fell to her knees, quickly feeling her weight turned on her back and crashed on the ground, the impact causing the necklace around her neck to come out from the jumpsuit, catching Toby's attention. The bottle shined in the light and wasn't hard to spot, he approached her aching for, carefully kneeling to her lever. Her face was in a mix of emotions, ready to defend herself again at any moment, but as he extended his gloved hands what she didn't expect was for him to reach for the necklace.

He held the small thing in his hands, twisting it around to get a better look at what was contained inside of it.

"A-a protection ch-charm." He murmured, but the girl still managed to somewhat hear it.

Her face showed a mixture of confusion and distress. Moments ago he was trying to slice her throat and how she was softly gripping her necklace, not saying another word.

They stayed in that position for a few minutes, the tension in the air occasionally being broken by the googled man ticks.

" Did Ben gi-give you this?" He asked sternly, twisting the tiny bottle between his thumb and pointer finger as he held it in front of her face.

" Yeah" She only said, averting from his gaze. He scoffed harshly letting go of it and firmly standing up, taking a few steps away from her.

Shooting pain ran up her leg to her back as she tried to stand, quickly holding the wound on the back of her thigh, adding as much pressure as she could so the blood would stop pouring out. Toby did say a word only looking in her direction. The girl's thoughts were racing, anger and fear swirling all in the bat of rage. She has enough of this, recollecting her strength slowly she took a long breath in, subtly looking in her peripherals to spot where Toby was standing. And the moment she felt the adrenaline kick in like all those times before she leapt.

The pain didn't concern her anymore; she only wanted him to feel the same she felt. Tackling his feet, he let out a low yelp as he fell on his lower back, she then quickly acted by pulling out the second hatched holstered to his person and putting it to his neck. Heavy jagged breaths escaped her chapped lips as she stared at him with a wide eyes gaze, sweat coming out of every pour.

Shaking uncontrollably while firmly holding the hatchet to his neck. She whispered, "I win."

[breanime]

How do the boys react to reader getting home late and not answering their calls because she lost her phone!?

Billy Russo: The fear and anxiety he feels translate directly to anger. He’s pacing the room when you come home, and your confused, innocent expression just pisses him off more. He starts an argument immediately, accusing you of being careless and forgetful. He was worried about you, but instead of saying that, he just argues with you... until you huff and say you’re going to spend the night at your friend’s house since he’s being an ass, and then he switches tactics. He races over to you and crushes you to his chest in a hug. “You’re so frustrating,” he sighs into your hair, “Just... Let’s go to bed, and tomorrow we’ll go get you a new phone...and an Apple watch...and maybe a pager too, just to be safe.” *cue make up sex*

Logan Delos: His mind immediately goes tot he worst. He’s spiraling out, eyes wide and chest pounding, thinking of all of the horrible things that could happen to you, wondering if you were ignoring his calls because you found someone else, someone better... So when you walk through the door, sighing and complaining about your shitty day, he’d run up to you, cup your face in his hands, and kiss you, taking your breath away. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you,” he’d ask, hating how insecure and panicked he sounded. But when you explained, sitting on his lap on the couch, he’d calm down. The next thing you knew, Logan was pulling out his laptop and ordering you all kinds of new gadgets that you hadn’t even heard of. 

Jax Teller: Jax puts the prospects on the case, sending them out with strict instructions not to set foot in the clubhouse again until they found you. They found you in town, shopping, and they called Jax and told him that you’d lost your phone. Less than 15 minutes later, Jax was pulling up beside you on the street on his bike. Grinning, he held out his helmet to you. “Hop on, darlin’,” he says, “We’re getting you a new phone.” Jax takes you to a local electronics shop and buys you a new phone. He also gets you a burner phone because he assumes you’ll have to use it at some point in the future lol. 

Coco Cruz: He was already feeling anxious when you didn’t answer his calls or respond to his texts, but as the day went on and he didn’t hear from you, his anxiety was getting worse and worse. He’d snapped at Chucky, been mouthy with Bish, and almost got into a fist fight with one of Miguel’s guys, and so Bishop had told Angel to take Coco for some air before he (Bishop) shot him (Coco) in the foot. So Angel, Coco, Gilly, and EZ went for a ride--partly to calm Coco, and partly to look for you. When they didn’t find you, Coco went back to the clubhouse and broke a few tables and chairs. He’s still keyed up when you walk through the door, and he yells at you. Thankfully, you stay calm and your gentle explanation calms him too. Coco hugs you to him for about 10 minutes then, before pulling back and growling “we’re getting you a new fucking phone right now, querida”

Angel Reyes: Angel knows you, and he knows this isn’t like you, so he’s immediately on guard. Living the kind of life he lives, he’s instantly afraid that something bad has happened to you. You always respond to his calls, and it’s getting late now... EZ, Coco, Gilly, and Felipe go out to find you, and Angel--on his father’s suggestions--stays home to wait for you. It’s hard for him, and when he hears your car pulling up out front, he’s outside and opening your door for you before you even turn your car off. The first thing he does is ask if you’re okay and checks to see if you’re hurt--which you’re not. Once that’s established, he’s glaring down at you, angrily telling you how worried he was and how much he loves you. Then he’s taking you to bed, and it isn’t until you’re both lying on your backs, grinning up at the ceiling that he realizes...he never told the guys that he found you. 

Miguel Galindo: Miguel doesn’t even give you the chance to come home late. He has his men out and about looking for you, Dita at home in case you come back, and he and Nestor are out in the streets, too. He’s worried as hell--in his line of work, there are so many threats and so much potential danger, and you know that. He knows that you wouldn’t ignore him or field his calls, so there’s something that is preventing you from calling him back, and that terrifies Miguel. But when he finds you--safe and sound--he finally allows himself to breathe. He holds you close, whispering into your hair how concerned he had been. He doesn’t want to scare you, but his mind is still racing, thinking back on all of the horrible things that could have happened to you. And that’s the last day you go ANYWHERE without some kind of escort. 

Nick Amaro: Nick is the human embodiment of anger and anxiety, and he goes into overdrive when he doesn’t hear back from you. Being a SVU detective, his mind circles back to some of the incredibly terrible crimes he’s seen on the job, and he’s nearly shaking with fear for you. This isn’t like you, and so he reaches out to the squad. Liv drives him around the city, going to some of your favorite places in search of you, while Carisi, Rawlins, and Fin canvas other areas. Cragen even reaches out to a few of his contacts, and it’s through him that Nick finds you downtown, trying to purchase a new phone. He’s out of the car and running over to you before Olivia can even finish parking, and as soon as he’s close to you, Nick pulls you to him. You try to explain what happened, even pointing out that you were in the middle of fixing it, but all Nick wants is to hold you--so you let him. 

Johnny Tuturro: “You seen Y/N?” He asks everyone in the house a good 10 times. Johnny can’t sit down. He paces, he works out, he goes running (and looking for you), he bounces on Mike’s bed... He can’t stop moving. He’s trying not to come off as an overly protective, paranoid boyfriend, but it’s getting late and he hasn’t heard from you... Eventually, Charlie makes Mike and Paige play football with him on the beach while she goes out looking for you... You actually stumble upon the trio as you’re walking home. Johnny is so happy to see you, he tackles you to the sand. He’s still on top of you as you explain that your phone broke and you lost your wallet, so you had to walk home... So then he picks you up and carries you inside for a ���Johnny Tuturro Spa Night’ where he pampers you, gives you a foot massage, and gets out a map of the city and shows you all of the places that have phone booths...for future reference. 

Rio: This dramatic king... He’s sitting in the dark in the living room when you get home. After you missed his third call, Rio tracked you down and found you having dinner with some guy. So he went home, that cold, cool anger right in the center of his chest, and waited. “Jesus, Rio,” you gasped when you turned on the light, “what the hell are you doing?” “Yeah, you know, I was gonna ask you the same thing... Had a good meal? You enjoy yourself?” He asks back, his hands clasped in his lap as he glares over at you. You quickly explain to him that it was a business dinner, and he’s almost ready to believe you, but... “Why didn’t you answer my calls? Your job more important than me, mama?” At that, you walk over to him and dump the contents of your purse on your lap. It doesn’t take him long to see that... “Where’s your phone?” Once he gets all the details and learns that, yes, is was a business meeting, and you lost your phone, that knot in his chest loosens. He stands up and holds you, apologizing for thinking the worst, and promises to get you a new phone before lovingly taking you to bed. When you wake up in his arms, you see a box on your nightstand with a red bow on it, and you know that he’s already replaced your phone. 

*******************************************************************************************

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! Also, who’s gonna write an elaboration on Rio for me?...

Everything Taglist: @sweetybuzz25​  @mrsjaxtellerfan​  @rhabakoli​  @encounterthepast​ @realduckvader​   @justvnash​ @knowles-morgan  @ateliefloresdaprimavera @evanlys19  @nyxxnoxx​ @carlaangel86  @luminex3 @jigsawlover10  @gollyderek @otomefromtheheart  @lexxierave @crushed-pink-petals @amethyst09 @falsehopesndreams  @a-dorky-book-keeper​ @witchygagirl @glimmerglittergirl @nich0lasmatthews  @ben-c-group-therapy​

[barbasbodaciousbeard]

If You Love Someone, Let Them Go: Part 7

Summary: Since starting with SVU, Sonny hadn’t kept much terribly close to the chest. The squad knew about his family, growing up on Staten Island, the classes at Fordam. What was hidden was why he didn’t date. Sonny Carisi was also separated from his childhood sweetheart, a separation neither ever took to divorce. They had the same haunts. They’d grown up neighbors. Their paths crossed every few months, and divorce talks would turn into reminiscing would turn into a night spent together, sometimes sex sometimes just talking until the early morning. It always ended with one of them waking up alone however. How will that change when the squad finds out?

Pairings: Sonny Carisi x Original Character

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

May 2015

“Dominick, where’s the box with my shoes?” Victoria called, stepping over the piles in the apartment they’d consolidated into over the last month and a half. Both their leases were ending, so they decided to go ahead and overlap their leases with a new place for a month. They needed to start fresh, and neither of them wanted to do that in the solitary spaces they’d inhabited without the other. She was nervous now, however, because Olivia had extended Carisi’s invitation to celebrate Noah’s adoption to her as well. It struck her that she was the only SVU spouse, so it might just be the group that spent every day and lots of long nights together and her, someone suddenly thrust into their world. That meant she was exceptionally nervous as she got ready; meeting them on their turf felt more serious than being at Bella’s wedding. Everyone had dispersed within hours there.

“Kitchen counter. Got mixed up for the pots and pans in our room somehow,” he called, and she could tell he was brushing his teeth. She stepped over the not yet assembled shelves she’d gotten, digging each chunky heel from the cardboard box. The wedding heels had been hard on her because the brides wanted stilettos. These she could walk in all day, and she liked reaching Sonny’s shoulder. She went to the bathroom, leaning on the door frame as she watched him style his hair, the tip of his tongue between his front teeth. He caught her eye on the mirror, and his mouth shifted to a grin as he shot her a wink.

“Lookin’ hot, Mrs. Carisi.”

“Why thank you,” she grinned, striking a playful pose. “You look pretty hot yourself.”

“You just like these shirts on me.”

“And your ass in those khakis.” 

She felt triumphant as his cheeks turned pink, grabbing her purse and fixing her lipstick. Soon enough, they were knocking on Olivia’s door, and Sonny pressed a kiss by her ear. 

“You’ll be fine,” he whispered, straightening up as Olivia opened the door.

“Carisi, Victoria, come on in,” she smiled, and Victoria couldn’t help but grin at the sight of the little boy on her hip, putting the gift bag on the counter. 

“It’s so great to see you again. We brought a present for you two. Wine for mama and a toy for Noah.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s a celebration,” she smiled, and Sonny watched fondly as Victoria made faces at Noah, who squealed with delight. 

“Carisi,” Barba nodded, scotch in hand as the detective opened a beer. “Things seem to be good?”

“Yeah. We’re unpacking the new place.”

“I’m sure it’s a delight.”

“Tor’s back home. Of course it is.”

“Can I give you one piece of advice, if you still want to be an attorney?”

“If you’re going to say ‘don’t’ again-”

“I’m feeling sentimental on this, the celebration of Noah’s adoption.”

“Go on then.”

“You’ve expressed an interest in the DA’s office. Prosecution. It’s all the pain from SVU, plus you have to be the bad guy and demand proof. You’ve hated my guts more than a few times, no?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t fuck up again. You’ll need that anchor. I have had two opportunities. One ended up with the friend. The other I drove away trying to keep secrets and seem tough.”

“Liv rat me out?”

“On accident at the wedding. But only because she knew I’d understand. Being able to talk to her will be what keeps you sane during some of those trials.”

“You know, cousin Tony is a real good listener and seemed real into you.”

“He is quite the listener and is quite into me. Now, shut up before you ruin my good mood.”

“There’s the Barba I’m used to.” A roll of the attorney’s eyes told him whatever sentimentality he was going to be at the receiving end of was over, and Sonny felt confident that when he asked to shadow him later, Barba wouldn’t be as put out as he pretended. When he looked back to Olivia, Victoria was chatting happily with a glass of wine in hand. He was excited he still got to make an introduction between Fin and Victoria. It was nice to be able to say This is my wife, Victoria without having to eventually explain they didn’t live together. When he heard a knock, he moved to her side, anticipating his entrance. Once he’d greeted Olivia and Noah, Sonny was pleased with the look on his face. As the detective who’d been there the longest, Sonny found himself caring what Fin thought, and Fin seemed to be forming his opinion.

“Fin! I want ya t’meet my wife, Victoria,” he said happily, arm slung over her shoulder. She extended a hand, which Fin shook gladly.

“It’s nice to meet you! I’ve heard so much!”

“Nice to meet you too. Your husband ain’t shut up about you in weeks. Once he started-”

“He’s pretty sappy?”

“So you been putting up with him a decade?”

“I mean technically my whole life. We grew up next door to each other.”

“I hear I gotta come to a bakery in Brooklyn now.”

“Oh yeah. You got any favorites? Tell me, and I’ll send a preview with Dom next week.”

“I’m pretty traditional.”

“You want brownies, cookies, or cake?”

“Cookies.”

“Deal. Sonny’ll have you a batch Monday.”

“I like her, Carisi,” Fin said, clapping a hand on the younger detective’s shoulder before going to get his drink and greet Barba.

“It’s not fair. You can make cookies and everyone instantly likes you.”

“You seen your goofy grin? You don’t even have to talk to be likable.”

She was rewarded with a kiss to the temple and the aforementioned grin. Soon enough, Amaro and Rollins were there, and Barba poured the pricey champagne he’d brought to toast. Everyone finally got comfortable after that, Sonny settled on the arm of the couch beside Victoria, and Noah was teetering around the coffee table. Victoria was happy to babble to him, and he could see she felt proud when Noah decided to climb onto her lap. God, she was going to be a good mom if they ever stabilized. Couples therapy would start soon. They’d always said when he finished school, and that would actually be happening the next year. Maybe if they were doing well they could have their own baby. All of his sisters were pregnant or already had kids, and fatherhood had been Sonny’s dream.

 As Noah leaned into Victoria, he looked up at Sonny, who was happy to wave down at him. It seemed Lucy liked getting a break to talk to the adults, and he could see the look on Olivia’s face watching Noah. She liked seeing the boy bond with the family she’d made through work. He probably owed a lot of the growth that got him Victoria back to her. The squad was a family with Olivia as their matriarch, and he’d felt safe enough to verbalize his feelings in the first days with her team, when he still had the moustache Victoria had recently informed him really was awful when he tried to defend it. 

“I can take him if you need me to, Victoria. He’s out,” she said from her spot beside Barba. 

“It’s fine. He’s so cuddly.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. Long as Sonny doesn’t mind getting me a glass of wine.”

“On it, doll,” he grinned, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Victoria had always loved when their nieces fell asleep on her like this when they were babies. Mia had been the first one, and they took to each other quickly, even if Victoria had been the neighbor kid at the time. They hadn’t broached kids again, and frankly she was afraid of the prospect, but she’d wanted to have kids with Sonny since they got married. Logically, she knew they had to wait until the time was right. Originally, that was just when he finished school, but now they had to play it by ear again. Either way, she was going to savor the smell of baby as Noah slept with his cheek pressed against her shoulder. She wasn’t as good at the play as Sonny was; every child he encountered bonded with him easily, something that had to be helpful in his job. Victoria was good at cuddling and nurturing though. When the first members of the team trickled out, she settled Noah in his mother’s arms and gave her the best hug she could. 

“Thanks for including me. I’m so happy for you, Olivia.”

“Thanks for coming. Noah loves you. Mind being added to the babysitter list?”

“I am honored.” Sonny led her out, hand on the small of her back and a crooked smile plastered across his face. Everyone loved her, like he knew they would. How could someone not? It was near dinner, so without checking, he led the way to a sushi bar near Olivia’s. As he guided her in, she looked up at him with her brow furrowed.

“Dinner date?” He was proud to see her cheeks turn pink.

“I’d like that. You been spoiling me lately.”

“I just been acting like I should. You been pretty damn good to me too.”

“Wanna get saki?”

“Are trying to get me drunk?”

“You only have to go in tomorrow if there’s an emergency.”

“Saki it is.” 

“I was thinking I might plan us a trip in November.”

“Yeah? Could be fun.”

“Any place you wanna go? You’ll be who we’re celebrating.”

“Oh?” he asked, brow lifted as he smiled at her. 

“Dirty thirty.” 

“Dirty thirty? Really Tor?”

“It’ll be fun.”

“I was thinking about New Orleans next year. Could be fun near the holidays instead. Do something bigger for our anniversary.”

“I like the way you think. Plus, July is hot as hell. I’ll tell you the dates when I know.”

“I can’t wait. I’m glad we’ll be together over the holidays.”

“I’m glad we’ll be together on our anniversary. We missed two.”

“One,” he said, puzzled before he winced. “Wait no, you’re right. I was being a bad husband.”

“Nah, you weren’t doing well,” she assured him, hand on his thigh. 

“Ninth, we’re staying here. Tenth, we’re going big.”

“Deal. I love you, Tor.”

“And I love you.”

“You were real good with Noah.”

“He’s such a cuddly boy.”

“I told Lieu I gotta hang out with him sometimes. The girl gene runs real strong with the Carisis. Four nieces, no nephews? And then non Carisi niece on her way from Rollins.”

“Only two have been born. Mom thought I was going to be a boy.”

“True. Fingers crossed. Or maybe we’ll have a boy.”

“Dom-”

“I ain’t saying tomorrow. I’m just saying therapy is going good, we’re doing good, couples therapy is soon, and I bet we have a kid in before I’m forty.” She laughed, kissing him softly. “I think it’ll be sooner than that. Maybe in like three?”

“Even better. I can’t wait to feel our baby kick one day. Know they’re there. It’ll happen when we’re ready. Not a minute sooner. God’s got a plan.” 

“We just gotta be careful, okay? I want to try to not get pregnant for a while.”

“I know, Tor.”

“Don’t get testy. I wanna make sure we’re ready.”

“I know. Just- seeing you with Noah and Jessie? Set off the ‘I want kids’ bell stronger than last time.”

“Me too. Every time I see you hold the kids.”

“We gotta baby sit more to tide me over.”

“I got a feeling I’ll be getting calls from Liv. You make that clear to Amanda. Then soon enough? Gina’s almost due. Then Bella.”

“True,” he smiled softly. “If we wait they get to be the only Carisi baby that year. Even more attention.”

“You’ll spoil them rotten.”

“That’s my job.”

“We get the day tomorrow, unless somethin’ happens.”

“We do. I gotta go to the bakery for a couple hours at least to help train the newest hire. Margy picked good, but they’re taking weekends for me.”

“I’m really excited about that. I think it’ll be good now that it’s an option.”

“Me too. We both get to be in case of emergency for the most part.”

“Yeah. Liv will rotate all of us taking a Saturday.”

“I guess I’ll just have to find somebody’s baby to play with,” she teased, poking his side and he grinned. 

“Y’know, I think we ought to start practicin’ when we go home, doll.”

“Read my mind, Sonny.”

Tag List: @cycat4077​ @fear-less-write-more​

[blackjack-15]

Hunting For Some Buried Story — Thoughts on: Ransom of the Seven Ships (RAN)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK, TRN, DAN, CRE, ICE, CRY, VEN, HAU

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it. Like with all of the Odd Games, there will be a section between The Intro and The Title called The Weird Stuff, where I go into what makes this game stand out as a little strange.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: RAN; STFD; mention of FIN; GTH; mention of SPY.

The Intro:

We’re two-thirds of the way through the meta series officially (yay for meta #20!), and what a way to cap off that marker: with the last of the Odd Games.

And my land, how Odd it is. And that’s ignoring that in August of 2020, this game was very quietly discontinued — speculated to be because of the…well, pseudo-brownface in the game.

Oh yeah, we’re starting with that little bomb.

Before we truly begin, however, let me state one fact: the controversies over this game do not make it any more interesting, unfortunately. I don’t know how a game can be both this objectively bad and this objectively boring as a mystery, but RAN is an example of many, many impossible feats in the video game industry (boring yet bad, controversial yet uninteresting, finicky yet sluggish in controls, so it might as well begin as it means to go on.

I’m also stating here for the record that I’m not really going to focus on the social aspect of this game; it’s always been out of the scope of these metas to focus on current events or social issues, and race is such a hot button issue that no matter what anyone says, someone gets mad. Besides that, it’s really not an interesting tack to take with this meta, not when there’s so many things to talk about regarding RAN as a game and/or as a mystery. If you came into this meta expecting a breakdown as it relates to any social issues, this might not be the meta for you.

If you came for a beat-down on RAN, however, you’re in the right place. Get comfy.

Ransom of the Seven Ships had all the pieces in place to make it a great game; we’ve got Bess and George in the (weird, plasticky) flesh, a fascinating and beautiful location, a historical background based in Spanish exploration, the Age of Piracy, and treasure hunting…all of these are great, honestly, and it’s part of what makes RAN so offensively bad — it could have been really great.

Instead of a wonderful game based around pirate treasure, however, Nancy plays games with monkeys, drives on the world’s slowest golf cart, and trusts the only other person on the entire freaking island when he says he didn’t kidnap her friend. Even though he is the ONLY OTHER PERSON ON THE FREAKING ISLAND.

This game is based off of a Nancy Drew mystery entitled “The Broken Anchor”, which actually is fairly close to the plot of the game — the girls win a contest (though in this case it’s one they didn’t even enter) to go to the Bahamas, Nancy arrives (with Carson) and can’t contact Bess or George, there’s a mysterious treasure, etc. etc. In part, I think, RAN’s problems come from following the book too closely, as there’s really very little to the plot of the book. Game plots necessarily have to have a little more meat to them, as you can’t spend the whole time with Nancy pontificating on the scenery or food (as she is wont to do), and RAN is missing a lot of meat.

Specifically, the meat that it’s missing is any suspects at all. Like I said, there’s only one other person (other than Nancy, Bess, and George) on the island, and it’s ‘Johnny Rolle’ — a self-professed fisherman and loner who’s boat has been wrecked by the monkeys.

There are way too many effing monkeys in this game, side note. How I wish the monkeys were a side note.

Nancy, despite her normal M.O when a kidnapping of a friend has taken place, just kinda rolls with his story and accepts it, digging pointless holes in the sand while he definitely has Bess trapped. And then there’s the weirdness with the monkeys trying to kill her as she scales a sheer cliff wall.

Honestly, if I go any more into it, I’m just going to end up tearing it apart piece by piece, and that’s for the Fix section. So let’s move on to the specific things that make this game truly the capstone of the Odd Games.

The Weird Stuff:

This game is, first and foremost, a story about personal revenge — or, at least, that’s the big takeaway, no matter what HER actually intended for it to be about. After being busted by Nancy (and Lillian, and Ralph, but he apparently doesn’t care about them), Dwayne sat in prison stewing over his ignominious defeat at the hands of a teenaged sleuth until he heard about the supposed treasure on Dread Isle. His greed for the treasure combined with his hatred of Nancy began to fester together, culminating in a slightly complex but ultimately stupid plan to get both money and revenge.

This is a motivation unlike any we’ve encountered. Sure, a handful of Nancy Drew villains have sworn their revenge on Nancy (most notably at this point in the series Helena from VEN), but no one has actually done it — until Dwayne.

This should have made the whole game feel intensely personal — and indeed, bringing back tokens and things from Nancy’s past cases and locations should have built to that. However, the game never really comes to a fever pitch of a feeling of someone is watching Nancy and actively hates her, even though it makes a few attempts. More than any other game, Nancy should have been scared here — and it’s odd that she isn’t.

The second odd thing here is the returning villain. I don’t think this is a bad thing at all — I love the idea of a returning villain — but I do think it was a mistake to pick Dwayne Powers. At this point in the series, STFD was hardly a well-known game, and was generally unplayable due to technological advances.

Yes, later STFD would get a bit of a sprucing up and become playable again (and this game, funnily enough, would be relegated to the ‘unplayable’ pile — Dwayne never can win, I guess), but that didn’t matter at the time that RAN was coming out.

There were several better choices — VEN’s Helena, SHA’s Shorty, DOG’s Emily (who had already received a mention recently in DAN) — so why go with Dwayne? Did they pick him on purpose because no one would suspect (or rather, remember) him? Was he the most obscure villain they could think of? Mitch Dillon (who never appeared really) from SCK would have been an equally obscure but somehow more frightening choice. I’m really at a loss to figure out why they chose Dwayne, of all people.

The third thing that makes this game odd is the lack of suspects. Sure, they give a hat-tip to the Gibsons perhaps being hidden on the island (which, let’s just say, they shouldn’t have — never use as a red herring something that would have made the game so much better), but Dwayne/Johnny really is the only suspect.

I have no idea if they were rushed, if they thought that his different identities counted as extra suspects, or if they just wanted to try something different with this game, but it in no way worked. It’s so mind-bogglingly simple to figure out who kidnapped Bess that it makes Nancy look like she’s quite a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

The last Odd thing that I’ll hang on is how incredibly out-of-character Nancy is in this game. We’ve only seen Nancy work kidnapping (or supposed kidnapping) cases a few times in the series as a whole — FIN’s Maya, RAN’s Bess, and GTH’s Jessalyn — but in both FIN and GTH Nancy takes them very seriously, being harsher and more impatient with less time for people’s lies and stories than she usually is, and really feeling the pressure of the clock.

It makes sense; even discounting the Missing Mom trauma that sits deep within Nancy, the first 48 hours of a kidnapping are basically the only window that she has, statistically speaking, to find the victim still alive and okay. She nearly flies off the handle at the suspects in FIN, and digs uncomfortably deep even at very touchy subjects in GTH.

It then stands to reason that, with FIN in the past and GTH in the future, that Nancy would react similarly in this case. Bess is one of Nancy’s best friends, and the friend that we’re shown most often (think of the flashback in SPY; Bess is the one who comes over after Kate and Carson’s fight) around Nancy, like in CRY.

You’d think that, in the face of Bess’ unambiguous kidnapping, that Nancy would be raising hell — contacting anyone she could, taking no prisoners, ripping Dwayne’s tarp down, turning the island upside down, etc. — but instead, she’s calm, almost relaxed, spending time playing games with monkeys and driving aimlessly around the island.

It honestly makes no sense that she’s like this. This is one of a small handful of games where Nancy is deeply, personally invested, where she has a quick running clock, and where the stakes are deadly yet somewhat unknown.

Nancy comes into this with no background, no contacts, no ability to really look things up, and no help — George’s meager efforts do not count — and yet she acts like there are really no stakes. It doesn’t make me dislike her, it doesn’t make me fold that into her characterization — it just makes me say “wow, the writing is really bad here, huh”.

The Title:

Ransom of the Seven Ships is an amazing title; there’s really no getting around this fact. And for the bare bones of the game, it’s more than a suitable title. You’ve got the word ‘ransom’ doing double duty — meaning both treasure and the price to return someone who’s been kidnapped — you’ve got the ships indicating pirate treasure, and that also tells us we’re probably on an island.

Honestly, this is a far better title than this game really deserved (which is half the reason for this meta: turning the game into something that deserves its title). It’s certainly far better than “The Broken Anchor”, its source material, while keeping a pirate-y nature about it. While it’s a little different than most Nancy Drew games’ titles have been up to this point — as they’re usually “The (Adjective) Noun of Location” or “The Adjective Noun”, that’s not a bad thing at all.

This title really does make me sad with how wonderful it is. It deserved so much better. Same with Ship of Shadows, which is also boss.

The Mystery:

Having won an all-expense paid vacation to Dread Isle in the Bahamas (which should have been their first clue that something hinky was afoot), Bess invites Nancy and George along with her. Nancy arrives the day after the cousins, having stayed for a later flight because of a prior engagement with Carson, and is greeted by a frantic George who tells her that Bess has been kidnapped, that the owners of the resort – the Gibsons — aren’t there, and that she’s been worried sick.

  Nancy, naturally, senses something Amiss, and sets off to explore the islands, beginning from the pink sand beach where Bess’ water powered golf cart (yes, I know) is still sitting. She discovers Bess’ shoe next to the only other person on the island — a fisherman named Johnny Rolle from Jamaica — and sets off to explore the rest of the island.

Along the way she finds notes from Bess’ kidnappers, instructions on digging for treasure, twisting island paths, and monkeys. So many friggin monkeys. All of whom Nancy must appease in order to progress in her hunt for one of her oldest friends.

Yeah.

As a mystery…well, what is there really to say about the mystery? It should have been over the second Nancy found Bess’ shoe right outside Dwayne’s camp where a Suspicious Tarp Just Big Enough To Hide the Body of a Young Adult was hanging. An intelligent way to draw it out would be to have Nancy discover Bess there, but for Dwayne to pull a fast one on her and trap her below…but this isn’t the fix section, so let’s just move on past that.

If you weren’t going to add in any new characters or suspects, it might be best to have this game flip from a whodunnit to a howdunnit/howcatchem after the first third; as it is (aka since I’m going to add far more characters in The Fix section), we’ll move right along to the suspect in question himself.

The Suspects:

Yes, I know that this part should just be “The Suspect”.

Believe me, I know.

Wearing a whole cornucopia of masks, Johnny Rolle — aka John E. Poole — is an Australian accountant, hiding from ‘bad clients’ by painting himself brown and adopting a horrible (and horribly stereotypical) Jamaican accent. Nancy discovers his ‘true’ identity by finding an ID with his name on it while he’s still in the ‘Johnny’ disguise. Of course, this ‘true identity’ isn’t his true identity as all…

Dwayne Powers —aka Owen W. Spayder — is sitting underneath the bad wig, bandana, brownface, and horrible accents, and is voiced in this go-around by HER’s chameleon of many voices, good ol’ JVS. After hearing about Dread Isle’s rumors of treasure and their monkey research lab shutting down from a volunteer at his prison (yes, we’re already way too complicated for this game), Dwayne started planning to get the treasure and get revenge on Nancy at the same time.

As the culprit…man is Dwayne horrible. He’s so stupid that it really kills me that Nancy actually falls for his act, because it makes her even stupider. It’s not a good plan, it’s not well thought out, it’s not even a complete plan — it relies on too many unknowables. What if Nancy and George had just stormed his camp and found Bess? What if Nancy figured out it was him? Like, I know Dwayne is an egotist, but this is just dumb.

Before I eviscerate any more, let’s just move on to the few good things in this game.

The Favorite:

The best thing about RAN (other than its music, which as always is super good) is honestly its location. Dread Isle is beautifully and uniquely rendered, and doesn’t look like any other game with the pink-sand beaches, beautiful horizon line, and foliage all befitting a Bahamian resort.

I also like the idea of a returning culprit; while it wasn’t handled well here, I do think it’s a great idea as quite a few culprits have promised revenge on Nancy at the end of their games. Do I think it would have been better if it was Helena, who promised revenge only 2 games ago, rather than going back 18 games to a game that most hadn’t played due to lack of availability? Of course; but the idea behind it was sound.

I don’t have a favorite puzzle or favorite moment; even Dwayne’s dramatic reveal is ruined by the fact that Nancy is at all surprised that he was wearing a disguise and, once again, that the only other person on the island was responsible for kidnapping her friend.

The Un-Favorite:

As far as this section goes…there’s a lot that I don’t like, but there are a few things that stand out more than the rest as truly un-favorite.

My least favorite thing about this game, as you might be able to guess, is that it makes Nancy seem so stupid. We’ve had 19 games of Nancy (mostly; this meta series does go over the exceptions) figuring out clues, chasing bad guys, and solving puzzles without breaking a sweat, and then for this game she’s fooled by some makeup, a wig, and a bad accent? At least in STFD Dwayne put some effort into his work; this is just sad, and it’s even sadder that Nancy falls for it.

My least favorite moment in the game is probably the first conversation with ‘Johnny’. Nancy finds Bess’ shoe, gets strung up in a trap, and then believes that the guy sitting a few feet away is innocent and telling the truth? It’s a moment that truly sets up what a crap shoot this game is about to become, and that alone is enough to make it my least favorite.

My least favorite puzzle is anything to do with the monkeys; playing games with them, scaling the cliff, talking to them, talking about them — literally anything. I don’t like monkeys on a good day, but to have so many puzzles in the game revolve around playing their stupid little games with them? Not a good thing at all. Especially since getting around the island (and, of course, the monkeys live quite far away from anything else on the island) is so aggravatingly slow and clunky — it makes everything feel like a total slog.

The Fix:

So how would I fix Ransom of the Seven Ships?

My gosh, just remake the game.

More seriously, there are quite a few things that I would do in order to make playing through RAN a little more enjoyable and a lot more story-driven (and in line with Nancy and George’s characters). As always, I’m trying to keep this as close to the actual game as possible with few or no huge changes, so Dwayne will still be our culprit, Bess will still have won his giveaway, and Dread Isle will still be the spot of El Toro’s treasure.

The first thing I would do is get rid of Dwayne’s brownface/first disguise, and have him be the Australian accountant named John E. Poole, running from Bad News clients who he didn’t allow to cheat come tax day. That sets him up as a good guy to begin with (if a little foolish to cross such powerful clients), and gives a reason why he’s not staying at the resort (he’s trying to hide and not leave a paper/money trail at the same time). He should be staying in a little homemade hut, not with a Suspicious Tarp Obviously Hiding Bess, as he would have had to been on the island for a while to perfect his disguise (and seem trustworthy to the people at the resort).

I would also have the game take place on Nancy’s 19th birthday; if we assume she was barely 18 at the time of STFD, that makes it about a year that he would have been plotting and escaping and setting up this contest and such. It also makes sense as to why Nancy would have a banquet-thing with Carson and why Bess invited her and George — it’s a fabulous birthday party trip, even for the well-off Nancy Drew. That would also add to her anger — this was a great present that Bess (and George) gave her, and Dwayne has just straight-up ruined it.

Another change that would help the atmosphere is to have at least half the game take place at night. I would have the game take place over roughly two days — it ends the night of the second day — so that you can see the island at night. A lot of the demands made by ‘the kidnappers’ should be done at night — treasure digging, in particular — so as to not be more disruptive to the island than a missing persons case would already be.

Of course, one of the biggest things to do would be to add more suspects.

The Gibsons — both of them — should definitely be there at the resort. I’d have one half of the couple be in the resort during the day, and the other at night, so Nancy can interact with them both differently and have different tasks/discussions with them. Perhaps Mrs. Gibson is an expert on the island’s ‘lore’ — El Toro’s treasure and stuff — while Mr. Gibson is more up on island life and is the law enforcement liaison for the island (who can effectively deputize Nancy to help with the search for Bess).

I would also add one other guest who was supposed to check out right before the first note from the kidnappers came in, and is now stuck on the island until the case is solved. What I’d probably do is make them a Secret Australian (to contrast with Dwayne’s fake Australian accent) — sporting an English accent due to a posh upbringing and studying in England for most of their school life, living in England somewhere (maybe near Blackmoor Manor for a cool Easter egg) — who is Very Grumpy about this and thinks Bess ran off to explore and just got lost. I’d probably make them unhelpful to the last — even when Bess is found and had definitely been kidnapped, to just shrug it off and to board the plane to get home as quickly as possible.

The last person I’d add in is someone working the desk — specifically, an older teenager who is very cagey about themselves and how they know what they know, but who seems to know a lot more than they let on. This person would, of course, end up being a member of ATAC, and once Nancy figures it out, would be able to connect you with help from the Hardy Boys. This ATAC member would be scoping out the Gibsons for evidence of getting guests under false pretenses, but would ultimately change their suspicions to Dwayne and help Nancy and George catch him. Through this ATAC teen, the Hardy Boys could use outside information to give Nancy information about monkeys, the island, treasure, El Toro, and anything else that she encounters, as well as spread their feelers out about the Gibsons, the other guest, and John E. Poole.

I would of course want to improve the tone, which would be helped by having more people on the island — Nancy should feel scared that Bess disappeared with this many people around, and it should feel personal. As the game goes on, even with the added help, the walls should feel like they’re closing in. I would include way more second chances, traps, threatening notes, maybe even recordings of Bess screaming or scared or in pain — something that might push the rating to E+ because, quite frankly, the situation calls for it.

Mechanically, I would put way less focus on the monkeys; they really shouldn’t control everything on the island. Keeping them for a minigame and location is cool, but they definitely shouldn’t have their place of prominence in the game.

I would also remove the fact that you can control George. Out of all the games where I think controlling people other than Nancy would be great, this is not one of them. As worried as Nancy should be, this is George’s cousin — practically her sister, from how close their families are and how much time they spend together — and George would probably be in a State. Sure, she can help with some of the tech stuff, but the player definitely shouldn’t be playing as her in this game. It just feels forced, and it’s not necessary.

Would these changes make RAN a fantastic, award-winning game? No, honestly, they wouldn’t. In order to do that, you’d probably have to scrap the game entirely and start over with even barer bones. But I do think it would help to make it at least better and more playable, and I think that’s a win. Let RAN be remembered for its returning villain and its kidnapping plot, not for being the game that everyone skips during a replay of the series.

[jjsjuiceboxx]

LOVE THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

SUMMARY- You and JJ hang out for the day but he goes home grab his back pack and had a run in with his dad.

⚠️WARNINGS⚠️: mentions of abuse, blood, cussing, slight angst.

A/N: I love writing for JJ but I HATE writing him being hurt in anyway it makes me so sad #protectjjseason2. I got carried away this is SO Long also I can’t find where the person asked for these from my prompt list but I remember who it was for so @hemogoblin-s this is for you, happy reading :).

☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎ ☮︎

Currently you and JJ were hanging out feet in your pool, your parents had good money but not enough to qualify you as a kook. You were listening to JJ tell you stories about him and the pogues adventures, you and JJ’s relationship was a secret not because either of you were embarrassed or ashamed but Just because it was new and you and JJ wanted some time to just be together before the whole island found out.

“Ok so this one time John b and I were surfing and we were waiting for another wave and something got my attention and I looked over and saw this triangle swimming close to us, and that can only mean one thing....a shark” JJ said dramatically you started to laugh “baby, why are you laughing that isn’t funny” JJ pouted at you.

“No no not laughing at the story I’m laughing how you described the shark fin as a triangle coming to you” you said laughing some more JJ started laughing too “well it is a triangle isn’t it?” JJ asked still laughing. Once you to calmed down you looked at JJ and how the water reflected off his face he looked so angelic.

“Do you want to sleep over?” You asked JJ looking at him with so much love he looked back at you and blushed slightly but smiled and nodded his head “oh shit I have to go get my back pack I left at my house with all my shit” he said putting his head in his hands and sighing, you knew about JJ’s home life and why he always slept at John b’s once he told you that story you told him he is always allowed to come to your house and stay you even had a key made for him and then painted it for JJ so he knew it was to your house.

You wrapped your arms around JJ and kissed his head “do you want me to drive you over there?” You asked softly you felt JJ shake his head no. “I don’t want you to go to my house I don’t want anything to happen to you” he said looking at you you nodded your head “ok then I won’t, but I will always be here for you” you reminded him he stood up and put his hand out you took it and he helped you up “I know and I’m so grateful, I’m here too you know” JJ said you hugged him.

“Ok I’m going to head to my house hopefully my dad is at the bar considering it’s not even 5 pm” JJ said pulling out of the hug and kissed you “ok, be safe hurry back” you said kissing him once again he smiled “I’ll try, but I’ll literally run back here soo fast, you know you’re my favorite hello and hardest good bye” JJ said blushing you giggled “then how about a see you later?” You asked “yeah I like that better I never wanna say goodbye”

The sun had went down and you were cooking dinner for you and JJ you knew he would be back soon, you lived in the cut just before you got to figure 8 but JJ’s house was a long walk so you weren’t worried. JJ’s dad was probably at the bar so you were sure JJ got his stuff and was on his way back.

You had hoped JJ would get back just as dinner finished so it was stuff warm and fresh for him, you always wanted the best for JJ and any chance you got you made sure of just that, you heard the door open you knew it was JJ as your parents were out of town they love JJ and actually prefer he stay with you while they were gone they trusted JJ and JJ knew this and had never felt so loved in his life.

You continued to cook dinner waiting for JJ to walk in but instead you heard a loud thud and then a painful groan, you immediately stopped what you were doing and ran to your front door to see JJ on the floor in a fetal position, “babe, oh my god what happened?” You questioned extremely worried JJ slowly rolled on to his back and you could see his lip and nose bleeding something awful he weakly smiled at you and responded “my dad, he was home” was all he had to say you knew the rest hell you could see the rest.

“Sorry for getting blood on your floor” JJ said meekly as he looked to see he had bled on your white tiled floor, “JJ I don’t care about the damn floor I care about you, can you stand up?” You asked brushing hair off of his forehead, JJ nodded and started to sit up you helped him and brought him to your downstairs bathroom where you kept your first aid kit, you had bought a big one online for serious injuries it broke you heart doing so because you had only bought it to help aid JJ’s wounds.

JJ say on the toilet seat already knowing the drill you had don’t this enough times that he knew where to sit and what you needed him to do to fix his injuries, as you got out what you needed; hydrogen peroxide, bandaids, gauze, cream ( to help his swollen face and bruising you knew he had under his shirt ) and some aspirin. You gave JJ a towel to apply pressure to his still bleeding nose. After you got all the things you needed out you came over to JJ and he removed the towel he had to his nose, he was staring blankly at the plain wall in front of him.

You knew after times like this that he was still processing what had happened, he would tell you why it happened this time after you were done patching him up he would always end up crying later holding you so tight while he cried his eyes out you always held him back even tighter if it was possible while you had silent tears streaming down your face, you had to be strong for him while he was breaking so you did just that you did what he needed you to In that situation, you opened the hydrogen peroxide and a q-tip dunking the q-tip into the liquid you came over to JJ and tilted his head up slightly to have better access to the cut on his lip.

You bent down and gave a soft peck on his nose to help comfort him, “I’m Gunna clean your split lip now” you stated moving closer to his lip he nodded. You always told him what you were doing before you did it after something as traumatic as this, you didn’t want to scare him as you applied the liquid to his split lip he watched you as your brows furrowed in concentration. You threw the q-tip that was coated in blood in the trash next to the toilet.

You then started to examine his nose that had stopped bleeding to make sure it wasn’t broken; it wasn’t. “good news it’s not broken but it’ll bruise” you told him he nodded again and you grabbed the anti swelling cream it was one of those creams that eases pain by leaving it feeling a cool and tingly feeling, you popped open the tube and put some on your finger a dime size amount, “I’m gunna put this on your nose now ok?” You asked JJ he smiled slightly and nodded he always liked how soothing you sounded and how you always made sure he was aware and ok with what you were doing.

You put light pressure not wanting to hurt his nose and rubbed in the cream once you did that you washed your hands and went to the bandaids you opened them up they were butterfly bandaids for his lip, “I’m going to put the band aids on and then your face will be done” you told him you squatted in front of JJ and places the two butterfly bandaids to his lip, the whole time he was staring into your eyes he saw how concerned and soft your eyes were as you focused.

You put you hands on his knees and used it as leverage to stand back up, “anywhere else?” You asked quietly you didn’t want to talk too loud and scare him either he shook his head no you nodded and turned back to the first aid kit and put all the supplies back into the bag and stuck it back under the sink.

“I’m going to clean the mess up In the foyer and I’ll be right back” you said turning around to walk away but JJ Had grabbed your hand and spun you back to him “I should clean that up I’m the one who caused the mess” JJ told you you shook your head no “no you go and sit down I’m going to clean it up, I’m taking care of you” you told JJ he could tell not to argue so he just looked down and nodded his head.

After you mopped up the blood you went to find JJ you handed him his bag “he was mad that I wasn’t at home often and told me to stay and not go out, but I didn’t listen I can’t be in that house anymore even when he is gone and when I went to leave he...he hit me” JJ said looking down at the floor you came and sat next to him “you don’t have to ever go back there babe you can stay here with me you know my parents adore you, and I know John b will let you stay there you can go back and forth, but you don’t ever have to go back to that place” you said hugging him from behind JJ nodded you held him for a bit and stood up holding your hand out to him “go get in the shower I’ll throw your clothes into the laundry and try to get the blood out” JJ took your hand and stood up allowing you to walk him to the bathroom upstairs.

Once you both got in you shut the door behind you, JJ raised his hands in the air to let you take his clothes off for him you always did this because you knew he was probably so exhausted and JJ always let you do it. Once his clothes were off and he was butt naked in front of you usually you would make a joke about shower sex or something like that or he would but now was not the time, you started to move JJ’s body around just to make sure he didn’t have any injuries he was unaware of, it’s happened before.

When you were sure it was just his face you turned to the shower turning it on for him and making sure it wasn’t to hot or to cold, once you got it at a good temperature you turned to JJ “ok I’ll be downstairs putting your clothes in the wash and then I’ll be finishing up dinner if you’re up for it?” You asked picking up JJ’s clothes that was covered in dirt and blood and you noticed some new holes in his shirt making a mental note to see them shut, JJ nodded and pulled you into his arms and hugged you, he sighed into your hair “you smell nice” he said you giggled and thanked him “I’d say you smell good to but I don’t want to lie to you, after your shower though you’ll smell very very good” you told JJ he laughed at that which made you smile knowing you took his pain away from a slight second.

“Thank you for always being here no matter what and for loving me and for helping me put my broken pieces back together” JJ breathed out, you pulled away from the hug “of course babe I take care of my people you’re my people I will always make sure you’re ok” you told him rubbing his arm “I love you” he said “I love you too bubby, now get your hot ass in the shower” you said slapping his ass gently of course you heard him laugh before you shut the door behind you.

Once you put JJ’s clothes in the wash you went back to making dinner after you did that and put it into a bowl then set it on the kitchen table, you went to JJ’s bag on the couch and pulled out all the stuff he would need for the night; sweat pants, phone, phone charger. He didn’t have a tooth brush in the bag because he has one at your house for when he stays over, you went to your room and plugged his phone into the charger it was dead. Then you took his sweat pants and sprayed your perfume on it JJ says he likes the way you smell and that it comforts him you then folded his sweatpants up and opened the bathroom door and set them on the counter so JJ saw them when he finished his shower.

You went back down stairs and watched some tv while you waited for JJ, soon after he came down the stairs in the sweat pants you laid out for him “did you spray perfume on my sweat pants?” JJ asked you while smirking you nodded “yeah i remember you told me it comforts you because it remind you of me” you said after you said that you heard JJ sniffle and immediately ran to him “what’s wrong are you ok?” You rushed out holding JJ into your arms he held you back “yeah I’m ok these are happy tears, I’m happy you make me happy, you remember small things I tell you like your perfume it’s just nice to know that someone cares enough about me to remember those things and then to do them without me saying it, it just feels good. I love you and I’m so grateful to have you in my life” JJ said still crying you were crying now too.

“J of course I remember it’s important even if it’s something so small like how you love Mac and cheese by the way I made it for dinner, or how you hate mustard. I remember all of that because it’s what makes you you and I love you so fucking much JJ” you said holding his face in your hands gently using you thumb to wipe the tears off his face, “you make me forget my life is fucked up, when I’m with you I’m my best self I love you more and I always will everyday I love you more and more” JJ said before he kissed you he pulled you closer you ran your hands through his hair kissing back.

“I want my friends to meet you, I know we were waiting but I want them to meet you because I know they will love you but I obviously love you more, it doesn’t have to be tomorrow but think about it?” JJ asked still holding you you smiled “I’d love to meet them next time you go out on the hms pogue count me in” you told JJ he smiled so wide and kissed your head “now let’s eat some Mac and cheese” JJ said dragging you to your kitchen table.

[hieludoboi]

Or so You Believed

A/n- sorry I’ve been gone! I’m trying to get requests done but I’ve been going through quite the writers block! I’ll get those requests out as soon as I can, I promise! For now please enjoy some Kuroo Angst

A/n- Ahahahahahahaha I feel like garbage and I can’t write. I put this through grammarly and it said I had bland writing and that made me sad? Anyway, I’ll try and get to finishing requests but I’m going through a bit of an episode rn :( I really do hope you guys enjoy this though, and I’m sorry if this is bad :(

A/n- I went through and fixed a few spelling and grammar mistakes! This story should now be entirely gender neutral! If you fin any mistakes pleaseeeeee let me know! 

Pairing Kuroo/Gender Neutral! Reader

Summary- A summer fling had led to more than either one of them had bargained for. 

Warnings- Mentions and slight portrayal of nsfw things, yelling, breakdowns, Angst, breaking up, crying, just very sad in general :(

At that moment it had all felt right. His lips were gentle against their skin, fitting perfectly on theirs. His scent had stained their sheets, and the taste of his lips constantly lingered on their lips. It had felt right, being tangled in a disarray of sheets and pillows, hands and lips roaming yet never straying too far. At that moment they were gone, wrapped away in a blissful dance of warm comfort and empty words. Kuroo could feel their hands leaving a trail as they drew maps on his skin, he could taste the desperation on their lips, and for moments he wondered if they could taste his desperation as well. 

A little fling was all it was. Constant text messages and calls, flirtatious joking, it was perfect. So where had they gone wrong? One way or another they began to spiral, separate pieces of the same thread unraveling to reveal frayed edges and tips; they were never a whole thread, always separate strings. Some days it was his fault, other days it was their fault. Official, it was all they had wanted. They wanted him to hold them close, play with their hair, and stroke their arms. Intimacy is what they craved, sought out in any form he was able to offer. 

Long nights were spent in bed together, frayed threads tangled in desperate attempts to pass through the eye of the needle as one. They had hoped that his warm touch would fix it all, hoped that the words he mumbled in their ear as their bodies messily embroidered, were truth and not false nets of lies to catch onto as they fell. 

Tonight was different. Hands and lips wandered but never strayed, and not for Kuroo’s sake, but their sake. Kuroo knew, even though they never talked about it, even though their lips were sealed, Kuroo could still see the haze that fogged their eyes. Their last relationship had pulled a plug on their certain spark, left them empty, and Kuroo could see it. As they looked for ways to fill an empty shell, they had stumbled upon Kuroo. Kuroo and his cocky charm, Kuroo and his purring voice, Kuroo and his stable arms. Kuroo provided safety, security, touch, emotion, something that was previously unavailable in their last relationship. So maybe that’s why they thought they loved him. 

Tonight, it was different. There was an unusual intensity behind every kiss and nibble, an unexpected spark in every touch. Their eyes were fogged, clouded, and misty, Kuroo knew that something was different. So he stopped their hands, gently pushed them away, and stared at them with pitiful eyes. It was obvious what they wanted. They wanted Kuroo to have every inch of them, take them, and fill the void that was left behind.

“Why’d you stop?” Y/n stared up at Kuroo, a certain pain in their eyes. Were they not good enough for him?

“Y/n, you’re not in a good state of mind for this.” His voice was calm, gentle, and stable, but they didn’t like the look in his eyes, the look of pity and worry.

“Kuroo, I’m fine. I’m ready, okay? I want my first time to be with you. Kuroo I... I love you.” their voice was soft, shaking, and unstable. They were breaking, and Kuroo knew they were. Yet still, he flinched, stopping to hold one of their hands. 

“No. You don’t love me, okay? You-you think you do, but you don’t. You know what you feel, and you know it’s not for me, I know that you know this isn’t right.” Kuroo explained gently, squeezing their hand just a bit. Y/n aggressively pulled away from Kuroo, holding their hand to their chest and staring at him with frayed e/c eyes. 

“Who are you to tell me what I feel? I love you Kuroo, okay? I l-” Y/n flinched, practically jumping back as Kuroo abruptly stood up, towering over them.

“Stop saying that! You only think you love me because you don’t know what love is! All you’ve ever felt is toxicity, guys who use you and toss you to the side. Guys who want you to be emotionally available at all times but won’t even talk to you! Y/n, you don’t know what it is!” Kuroo’s voice was faltering. It was unstable and his eyes were beginning to fill with tears. 

“You know what I feel when I’m with you? I feel warm, okay? And-and I feel safe! I feel like I’m gonna be okay and that anytime I fall you’ll be there to catch me!” Y/n screamed at Kuroo, tears endlessly flowing down their face. Kuroo stared at them in disbelief. Maybe Kuroo did love them, but he knew that they still hadn't got over their past relationship. Kuroo could see the fog in their eyes anytime they spoke about it, he noticed the way they tensed up anytime they would see him in the halls, he could hear them mumble their name as they slept. 

He stayed quiet for some time, staring down at the sobbing figure before him. They didn’t know love yet. Kuroo looked the other way, his lip caught between his teeth. He did love them, but he wasn’t ready. Kuroo wasn’t ready to commit yet. He would only bring them more heartache, and he cared for them too much to hurt them. 

“I-” Kuroo could feel the air catch in his chest. His eyes were wide and his hands were shaking. He hated it, but for them to know what love really is, they would have to experience true pain. 

“I don’t love you, okay?” Kuroo looked the other as he spoke, glaring at the bunny plushie thrown into the corner of their room. He could hear the air catch in their throat, could hear the pain as it rattled their rib-cage with each shaky breath they took. It made Kuroo ache, made him shake with a burn he had never felt before.

“You don’t mean that...” Their voice was shaking, body trembling with despair as they clumsily stood up, hands desperately reaching for Kuroo’s. As soon as he felt their hand brush against his he snatched it away.

“Kuroo, please, please stop...” Every word they spoke was interlaced with breath hitches and stumbles. Their heart was racing and their world felt light. What were they feeling? Why were they feeling this?

“Kuroo, answer me! Please...” They screamed at first, the hysteria obvious in there voice, but as they spoke, their voice collapsed becoming nothing more than a soft whisper. He had to be lying, they thought to themselves, hands trembling as they clasped them atop their chest. 

“I mean it okay. I don’t love you. I never did.” Y/n stared at him with horror, mouth agape as they watched him walk out of their bedroom. As soon as he closed the door, they crumbled. The last pieces of thread that had kept them together were finally frayed, violently detaching themselves from one another for good.

Tears trailed down his face as he walked home, hands shoved in his pockets while his eyes focused on his shoes. Maybe he did love them. Maybe for a split-second, the threads had all twisted perfectly, maybe for a second, they had passed through the eye. Maybe, but it was better this way. Y/n deserved better, deserved someone who wouldn’t be afraid to truly love them, someone who would be willing to improve for them. That someone was not him. Or so he believed.

[why-do-i-like-you-ya-dumb-bean]

Prompt time!!!

Here is a Rejanis prompt that my friend @elphabuddy sent me! I loved writing it. Hopefully it’s turned out well! 

Regina does something that strains her back and turns into an absolute bitch because she’s too proud to admit that she’s in agony (or that her back even gives her issues anymore). Janis connects the dots and takes care of her.

From upstairs Janis heard a loud thud from the George’s basement and then a tone of voice she hadn’t heard in over two years but had been hearing since she had gotten to Regina’s. This though was the harshest it had gotten.

“Jesus fucking christ Gretchen can’t you do anything right?!” Regina yelled.

By the time she made it downstairs, everyone had frozen and there was ear crushing silence. Janis being on the stairs was able to take in the whole sense. The gang had been rearranging Regina’s basement since getting back from their first year at college. All of them surprisingly had chosen to work at the same local grocery store. They figured once they finished post secondary things that they might drift apart and wanted to have this time before full adulthood would likely pull them apart.

“Regina I-I’m sorry I really thought I had a grip on it.” Gretchen frightfully stammered out. 

“Don’t say sorry to me! Say sorry to Janis! It was her TV that you dropped!” Regina said, throwing an arm towards the punk. Janis watched with slight surprise as a twinge of pain crossed the blonde face. Well that’s interesting. Janis thought. 

“Hey guys why don’t you all head home for the day? Regina and I can take over. We’ve pretty much reached my stage of the design anyway.” Janis said casually. There was a moment of pause before five bodies started moving. Gretchen, still looking frightened, tried to stammer out an apology. Janis wrapped her in a bear hug and whispered in the brunette’s ear. “I know that wasn’t your fault. If you could before you go, find her rice heating pad and put it in the microwave for two minutes that would be awesome. Then just toss it down the stairs. No reason to come back into fire before I calm her down. Okay?” Janis waited to feel Gretchen nod before releasing her to go upstairs.

As soon as the basement door shut she turned her attention to Hurricane Regina. “I’m fucking fine thank you very much. Everyone’s just been showing their ineptitude today and it’s pissing me off!” Regina bitched.

“Oh of course.” Janis said finally walking over to Regina, her arm crossed tightly. “It wouldn’t have anything to with the fact that you’re in pain right? That hasn’t turned you into a raging bitch before.”

“I’m fin-” Regina tried to say. But when she swung her up to point in Janis’s face she gasped in pain.

Janis rolled her eyes and stepped into Regina’s space. The punk had noticed during their senior year that Regina couldn’t really handle Janis in her space. It made her all flustered and would cause her to just start rambling. It confused the hell out of her for a bit, but while on their first college winter break Janis’s suspicions were confirmed when the blonde came out as pansexual. From there Janis tested the boundaries to see if it was just girls in general or just her that could cause nervous Regina. Through some “research” she found it was really just her and the slightly emo drive thru girl at Taco Bell that got the blonde all riled up.

“What did you do to your back?” Janis asked pointedly, putting her hands on her hips giving the blonde a once over.

“I didn’t do anything. I-I’m fine.” Regina huffed. That ever familiar pink tone was on her cheeks. 

Janis smirked. “Oh cool then let’s try and lift the TV and take it upstairs since it’s probably broken. We can put it back in my truck.” Regina’s eyes trailed to Janis’s and glared. “What’s wrong? If Gretchen was really the one that caused it to fall, then with me helping you it should be fine.” Janis watched the fire fade from Regina’s eyes and saw a glass come over them.

“Jan… I’m sorry.” Regina said with a hitch in her voice. “I didn’t mean to, I swear. I-I-I…” 

Before Regina could flounder more Janis wrapped the girl in her arms. “It’s okay you stubborn idiot.” 

“But it’s broken. It was expensive.” Regina mumbled into Janis’s shoulder.

“I won it at a school raffle. We can paint the wall white and all pitch in to get a projecter for like a hundred bucks. It’s gonna be fine Reggie.” Janis said softly while rubbing her friend’s back. “Now will you please tell me what’s wrong with your back. Remember I’m going to school to be a physical therapist now.”

“I still can’t believe you’re giving up art.”

“I’m not?” Janis said, pulling away from Regina a bit but still keeping a hand on her shoulder. There was a silence. “Did I not tell you my plan?”

“No? Did you tell everyone else?” Regina asked, looking hurt.

“I thought I told you at Hecki- Oh shit you were sick that day. Reggie I’m going to school to be a PT and will be incorporating art into it. There’s been a surge in the desire to incorporate art into PT because it can really motivate people that are struggling. I can have my cake and eat too, don’t worry.”

“Jan that’s so cool I’m so proud of you.” Regina said, seemingly in aw. Janis watched Regina carefully. The blonde’s bottom lip was being captured by her teeth and was definitely giving her a very slow once over. “Can you really help me?” Her tone was quiet but somehow dangerous. 

It made heat flow through Janis. “I can try. This past semester was all about muscles.”

“Well that’s good because I fucked up some muscle in my upper back this morning trying to move the couch by myself.” Regina said rubbing the back of her neck while wincing.

Janis gaped. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I’m a strong independent woman who wants to impress girls by saying I move huge objects by myself.” The former queen bee said, quirking an eyebrow at Janis.

Before Janis could answer the basement door opened and down flew the heating pad. “Oh goody.” Janis said excitedly. She grabbed and brought it over to a shocked looking Regina. “You hate asking for help but if it’s offered you typically say yes… especially if I offer it. So I had Gretchen find this.” 

Regina rolled her eyes but there was a very present blush on her cheeks. “You lowkey know me the best so whatever. Why that?”

“Lay face down and just relax.” Janis commanded pointing to the couch. There was a pause and a defiant look in Regina’s eyes. “Now.” Janis said, cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head. Janis watched in satisfaction as Regina huffed but heeded Janis’s words and laid down, her face turned out to the punk. “Now where does it hurt princess?” 

“The upper right kind of by my shoulder blade and close to my spine.” Regina whined. 

Janis poked around the area until Regina took in a sharp breath. The punk felt around a bit more and realized there was a huge knot. “Jesus. Did you really just do this today or have you been doing dumb shit for the last week?” Janis asked peering down at Regina who had a guilty look on her face.

“I may have taken a few extra shifts at Barts. And those shifts might have involved stocking.” Regina mumbled. Janis placed the heating pad on Regina’s shoulder and the blonde let out a satisfied groan.

“Regina Blaire.” Janis said, shaking her head. “You need to be more careful. I don’t want to be getting phone consultations when we’re older because you decided to be reckless.” Janis flopped onto the ground facing Regina. 

“Who said I’d be calling you for help?” The blonde sassed.

“Well you called me this past semester for your boyfriend’s knee so I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting more calls.” Janis said, the slightest bite in her phrasing of ‘boyfriend.’ She looked away from Regina. She hated that she felt a little jealous of that boy. It fell silent for several minutes.

“Henry isn’t my boyfriend you idiot.” Regina smirked, breaking the silence.

“Oh sorry fuckbuddy.” Janis said, rolling her eyes.

“Ugh grow up Jan. He’s not that either, he gay dumbass.” Regina laughed.

“He’s- oh… well that’s cool information.”

“You really thought he was my boyfriend?”

“Well yeah you were calling each other babe so I just figured…”

“Well you figured wrong. And even if he was straight he’s not my type. I’m more into brooding artsy idiots who think they know everything.” Regina said cockily, giving Janis an obvious once over. 

Janis let out a nervous laugh and stood up. “Okay I think that’s enough heat for now. Let’s see if things have loosened up.” Janis pressed around the area and things had gotten less tense, but it wasn’t necessarily going to be fun for Regina. “This isn’t going to be like a spa. You’re going to be in some pain while I release the muscle.”

“Honestly you could saw off my arm and I’d be fine with it so long as the pain will go away. I haven’t been able to sleep for a couple of days.” Regina said bluntly.

“Why haven’t you gone to the chiro yet? They’d be able to fix this in like one section.” Janis asked.

“Well as you know my dad is trash and left us and mom doesn’t get her insurance until two months into working for some dumb reason. We still have two weeks to go.” Regina said casually.

“Oh right.” Janis said pushing into the knot. Regina let out a hiss quickly followed by a groan. “Too much?” Janis asked nervously. She knew what she was doing but still this was Regina. She didn’t want to cause more harm.

“N-no it’s fine. Do whatever you need to do. If it gets too bad I’ll tap out.” Regina said, hissing out the last bit of the sentence as Janis pressed in a little harder than the last time.

“Okay. Well I’m going to warm up the whole area a little bit before I really dig into the knot. So just breathe evenly and relax.” The artist said gently.

“I thought this wasn’t like a spa.” Regina teased.

“Yeah well I changed my mind. Plus my professors would kill me if I just tried to yeet this knot out of you without a little bit of a warm up.” Janis laughed as she ran a hand up to the back of Regina’s neck and slowly kneaded the muscles while resting the other hand on her lower back and pushed ever so slightly to stretch. The other areas were nearly as tense as the blonde’s shoulder blades. She applied more pressure to Regina’s neck and circled the tense muscles until they relaxed. Regina let out a gentle hum and Janis smiled. The punk moved both hands to either shoulder and began loosening the muscles there as well. Everything was so tense. “Jesus Reggie you need to get a professional massage. You’re as stiff as a board.”

“Why waste my money when I have you?” Regina said in a dreamy tone.

Janis felt blush creep into her face. Before she could stop her brain she spoke. “Who said this was free?” She managed in a smooth tone while pulling a soft sigh from the blonde.

“How much should I venmo you Jan?” Regina asked sarcastically.

Janis let out another nervous laugh. Jesus christ what was wrong with her? “A dollar is fine. It’s a flash sale today.” She said far less smoothly. She looked down at Regina and caught a smirk on her lips. 

“That’s reasonable.“ She sighed.

Janis rolled her eyes at herself. Smooth, very smooth Sarkisian. She let out a huff and tried to center herself. She spent a few more minutes loosening the muscles around the knot until she felt confident that it would detangle with the least amount of pain possible.

“Okay Reggie the not fun part is about to begin.” Janis started circling the knot gently. “You ready?” Janis looked down and caught Regina nodding her head. “Okay to start I’m going to hold my thumb in the center of the knot and push for a bit and all I need you to do is take deep breaths for me.”

“Okay.” Regina hissed out as Janis’s thumb began to sink further into the stubborn muscle. 

“Reggie, take five deep breaths for me.” Janis said. She watched the blonde back’s heave and hitch with each breath as she applied slightly more pressure with each hissing exhale. On the fifth breath Janis added her other thumb and slightly jostled them. She felt the muscle starting to release and pressed down harder knowing it needed just a little bit more. Regina let out a pained whine and whimper. “I’m almost done Reggie I promise. Just take as big a breath as you can and exhale slowly. I’ve got you.”

Regina whined again but complied. As the breath came up Janis pressed down harder than ever. Her heart skipped a bit hearing Regina’s muffled cry as she exhaled. Halfway through Janis felt the stubborn knot release and heard some strangled satisfied noise come from the blonde who had buried her face in the cushion. Janis very slowly started to circle out and away from the where the knot and been and gave Regina’s back a once over to make sure nothing else was messed up. A non-muffled sigh caught Janis’s ear and she looked down to see a blissed out Regina.

“Wow that was amazing. Thank you Jan.” Regina sighed while sitting up on the couch.

“It’s no problem I got some practice this past semester.” Janis said plopping down next to the blonde.

“Ohhh those girls must have been lucky.” Regina said with a smirk, turning so she was facing Janis better.

“What-oh geez-no no that’s not-it was for the muscle class. People paid like ten bucks to come be live practice dummies.” Janis said frantically. 

“Speaking of money…” Regina said while taking her phone out of her pocket. “I need to send you that dollar.” The blonde giggled.

Janis immediately tried to grab the phone. The blonde moved her arm away. “Regina Blaire you’re not sending me money.”

“But you provided a service. I need to repay you somehow.” Regina said with a pout, still holding the phone out of reach and placing a hand on Janis’s sternum trying to keep her just far enough away.

“No you don’t. Put the phone away!” Janis demanded, still reaching. But she stopped when she felt a grip on her shirt. She looked down and found Regina’s hand. When she looked at Regina there was a very mischievous look in her eyes. Janis was trying to speak but Regina was leaning very close to her and her brain and mouth had decided to take a vacation. 

The blonde was only a few inches away from her and still had a grip on her shirt when she spoke in a warm low tone. “Really? There’s nothing I could do to say thank you?”

Janis couldn’t believe what was happening. Where’d useless pansexual Regina go? Janis was supposed to be the slick one. She had a whole plan! The punk’s brain wasn’t firing so the plastic spoke again. “I have an idea that I think you’d like but it does also benefit me so I don’t know…” Regina pulled her bottom lip between her teeth ever so slightly, leaning even closer. “What do you say Jan? Will you accept my form of payment?” 

Janis was starting to wonder if maybe she tripped down the stairs. But against her doubts she just nodded her head. Regina giggled excitedly and pulled Janis into a kiss. The punk immediately melted and placed a hand on the blonde’s hip. It wasn’t too long before Regina pulled back. The pair locked eyes and Janis couldn’t help but pull the blonde back to her for just a second longer. 

“Am I going to have to fix your back every time I want one of those?” Janis asked dopily, finally able to find words.

Regina giggled and rubbed her chin thinking. “Hm I think if you say yes to a date tomorrow night at Ula’s, all requests for kisses can be free of charge.”

“I think that’s a pretty good deal.” Janis snickered before pulling Regina in for another kiss. She knew changing majors had been a good idea.

[petitprincess1]

My Roommate’s a Demonic Deer Ch1 (Day 1)

AO3 Link Summary: Don’t you hate it when you accidentally summon a demon to fix a problem within your home, only to find out that they don’t do that, so now you’re stuck with a cannibalistic demon that constantly tracks blood onto the floor, brings other unholy beings into your apartment, and makes amazing jambalaya? It’s amazing insanity! (Radiodust) Words: 1,407 No, I am not abandoning Good Evening. This was just yet another chat post that I made that I just had to make into a fic. However, this will be more like oneshots and it doesn’t, exactly, have a story/finish. It’ll end when I run out of ideas and I have quite a bit of fun ones. ~~~ The moon rose shining light into an apartment’s windows as the person within drew a circle around a star. Lit candles made the atmosphere even more eerie as the man left to grab a small steak knife from within his kitchen. He looked at the book that he carried around and gave a small chuckle, grabbing a wine glass from nearby, “This is the dumbest shit that I’ve ever done and I ain’t even drunk or high for this mess, but whatever.”

He grabbed a knife from a drawer and held his hand over the wine glass. The man groaned as he brought the sharp point of the knife close to his skin, biting his lip in readiness. He hissed through his teeth as the jagged blade stuck into his skin and he felt the warmth of his blood run down his palm, dripping into the wine glass. He moved the knife away, almost practically tossing it as he squeezed his throbbing, burning wound to allow more blood to go into the glass.

After a few more seconds, he moved his hand away and quickly grabbed a paper towel to wrap up his cut, cursing underneath his breath at the burning pain. The man wished that he had a first aid kit or even just a band aid nearby. He was too used to getting his bruises or marks cleaned up at the studio or by his friends. 

After placing so many paper towels on his hand that he’s on the tree’s FBI Most Wanted list, he brought the wine glass filled with a swallow of blood into the center of the pentagram. He mumbled to himself, “What you’re doin’ is really fuckin’ stupid, Anthony, but it seemed like a funny idea, so fuck it.”

The man, Anthony, took the book from the kitchen counter and walked back over to the pentagram, making sure that he had marked everything accordingly to what he saw in the picture. He gave a small shrug as he sat down in front of the pentagram, looked over the odd language in the book, and read the words aloud. ….And nothing happened.

Anthony looked around for the slightest of changes. You know, the usual schtick: Burnt out candles, open windows, random wind, or blood dripping down walls. Anything like that. He tried reading the words again and…again…not even the smallest of change. He sighed as he tossed the book over his shoulder, muttering in dissatisfaction, “I bet if I was high or trippin’ on acid I would see some crazy shit. Welp, the landlord’s gonna be pissed!”

The man brushed back his poofy hair with his non-wounded hand and turned to go to bed. However, the moment he took a step he heard someone clear their throat. Anthony quickly whipped around to see a brownish-greyed skinned man wearing the most amount of red that he had ever seen on a person, while also having red hair that seemed to be shaped like ears…somehow. The man spoke, sounding as if he was speaking through some shitty receiver, “My apologies for the lack of fanfare and overall spooks, I had just finished making dinner before getting so rudely interrupted! Didn’t wish to cause any damage to the roast, so I decided to drop in. Although, the look of surprise never gets old~”

Anthony noticed the golden sharp teeth of the man and wondered how he was able to speak without biting off his tongue. Not only that, but he wondered if he secretly did take some ecstasy or slammed down a bottle of cough syrup. He looked around and asked, “Um, are ya-”

“The demon that you called? Well, I’m certainly not the mailman,” The demon chuckled. He watched the, unbelievably tall, man stand up and walk up to the wine glass, picking it up and swirling the thick liquid within as if it were actually wine. Anthony wasn’t sure what he expected the demon to do with the blood, but still seeing him drink it down caused the human to shiver. He started, “Uh, I’m-”

“Anthony Dust, 28, bit of a drug and alcohol addiction, sex worker, and you may want to watch some of those freckles on that easily tearable skin of yours. I am Alastor,” the demon spoke as he gave a polite bow. Anthony blinked at him in shock and questioned, “Uh, how do you-”

“Your blood tells me all that I need to know about you. Although, I will say that it wasn’t much, most people would give a whole pint to me.”

“Are ya evah gonna let me fin-”

Al interrupted with a grin, “Probably not! Now,” he summoned a microphone cane, spinning it around between his fingers, and finished, “what have you summoned me for~?”

The demon’s eyes glowed a slight crimson as his grin grew in excitement of what the mortal may bring or tell him. Anthony stared up at the tall demon and then made a noise at remembering what he called him for. He quickly ran into his bedroom, disappeared for a few seconds, and then came running out with a sparking, smoking radio. He placed it on a table nearby and slightly moved away from the radio, staring up at a confused Alastor, who was still smiling. The demon blinked and started, “Uh…what i-”

Anthony explained, “You’re the radio demon, right? So, like, can ya fix my radio? I don’t really got the money to buy a new one or get it fixed or…I don’t know, throw it inna river and risk pollutin’ it.”

Alastor blinked at him more and said, “Uh…no, I- no. No, I don’t…I’m not called  that because I fixed radios, you moron!”

The mortal stared at him with his mouth agape and shouted, “What the hell! Why are ya called “The Radio Demon” then!? I ain’t got anythin’ else that needs fixin’! What am I supposed ta do with this thing!?”

Anthony gestured to the now flaming radio behind him, not even noticing that it was on fire. Alastor’s eyes widened, as well as his smile, and he got out from the makeshift pentagram, going over to the radio. He snapped his fingers and a bucket of water appeared over it, splashing the radio’s flames. The human got shocked at seeing him leave the pentagram and questioned, “How the fuck didja get outta there!?”

Alastor swiftly turned to him and snapped, “Because that’s not even a proper pentagram, most would use their own blood or even something mixed with holy water! What was that? Some chalk and whatever else you used!? I’m surprised it even worked!”

The fluffy haired man scoffed as he muttered, “Merda ingrata. Non c'è bisogno di essere così fottutamente maleducato. Yes, I used chalk and tape. I’m sorry that I didn’t fucking go to my local pharmacy ta get some goddamn holy wa-”

He trailed off at seeing the demon’s eyes turn into radio dials as he practically towered over him, making Anthony shrink underneath his gaze and stop talking. Alastor took a deep breath and rubbed his temples. He growled, “Could you just make a deal with me so I can leave this sheer stupidity?”

Anthony rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around and saw a few dishes that were peeking out of the sink. He suggested, “Uh, you can clean some dishes.”

Al’s eye twitched as he snarled, “Are you serious? Is that it? No one you want killed? Nothin-”

A hard knock came on a wall nearby as a voice barked, “Hey, shut the fuck up, damn faggot!”

The demon’s eyes glowed as he snapped his fingers in that direction. A few seconds of silence came before the blood-curdling screams came from the neighbor, including visceral cracking sounds and what sounded like begging. The shrieking became more gurgled after a while before it finally became silent. 

Alastor’s eyes turned back to normal and he seemed to get small dark circles underneath his eyelids. He looked down at Anthony,who stared up at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates, with a tired grin and sighed, “I’m going to go eat your neighbor. We will talk about this more.”

He then suddenly disappeared and Antony was quick to lock the door, trying to pretend this didn’t just happen and ignore the terrifying growling and nauseating wet tearing sounds happening next door.