#still too many plants and books and small shit

[klaus-littlestwolf]

would you make a Klaus fic, where he and reader are under a sex spell? just a sex magic fic, you can decide on the plot🥰

love your fics btw💕

Warning:Dubcon cause sex pollen, talk and use of sex toys, desperate/passionate fucking, needy Hybrid sex, brief realization of Yandere behavior at the end

‘You’re joking!’ I exclaimed, unable to unhear what Bonnie had just told me.

‘No, not at all. We need to keep you away from everyone else because this spell can potentially effect others who come in contact with you. Caroline has already said you can stay in her parents cabin, Damon is taking you there now.’ She shooed me out of the room and outside to Damon’s car.

‘Get in the back!’ He snapped as I moved to slide into the passenger seat. ‘I don’t need this shit effecting me next-‘

‘Why can’t I just stay in the cell in the basement? That way I won’t be alone…I’m scared-‘

‘Because Klaus was hit by that shit too, we don’t know if he knows what it was yet and with how desperate he is for you every other day without being bewitched, I can’t even imagine what he would do with you now.’ He explained as if I were a small stupid child and I wanted to hit him desperately.

A warlock coming after Elena (as always) for Doppelgänger blood for one of his spells had attacked us. I had grabbed a potted plant outside of the Grille and cracked it over his head which gave Elena enough time to run and find Damon, though as he whirled around to me there was suddenly an angry Hybrid standing in front of me which gave the Warlock pause.

Klaus had seemingly taken an interest in me as soon as he arrived in town and while I don’t encourage him, I’m also not cruel or mean either, which seemed to make him think he had a chance.

The man reached into his jacket and pulled out a small spell bag before dumping some pink powder into his hand and blowing it at the both of us. I couldn’t help but inhale it, only breathing in more when I began choking and hearing Klaus do the same, my eyes and nose burning as I felt his hands holding onto me. Though he was still coughing himself he checked on me (which I found very sweet), hands on my face and inspecting me before brushing the powder off of me leading to me returning the favor. He had no clue what it was and neither did I but after a quick thanks I left to find my friends and a witch to tell me what the fuck I just inhaled.

Turns out we had both been choking on a very powerful potion that people had dubbed “Sex Pollen”. Many witches used to use it several hundred years ago but most stopped once people began insisting that it led to way too many people becoming effected (since all you needed to do was injest a drop) and ending up sexually assaulting whoever came across their path. The potion is typically in a liquid form but talented witches can make it in a powder, however it is about ten times more potent.

‘Stay here, theres food and water, TV, books. Everything you could possibly need. Caroline also bought you some…play things…to help. God this is so gross, they’re in the bedroom. Get out of my car-‘

‘No! How long do I have to stay here?!’ I snapped making him roll his eyes.

‘Bonnie said in the powder form it can take several hours to kick in but it lasts a few days, though with how much you breathed in probably a week at least. Go! Before you infect me too and we really have a problem!’ I grabbed the bag that Elena had packed me and slid out of the car, walking inside and locking the door behind me with a heavy sigh.

‘Fuck All Of You Assholes!’ I screamed, hating my friends for abandoning me just so they wouldn’t suffer as well before I looked around the cabin, finding the bedroom with a large California King that was quite comfortable. I also came across a basket on the bed which contained a rechargeable wand, a 7 inch pink suction cup dildo, a butt plug and a bottle of salted caramel flavored lube. ‘Why The Fuck Was She So Thorough?!’

I set the basket aside and stripped out of my shirt and jeans as I began feeling warm, climbing into the bed under the sheet and deciding to try and take a nap before I get hit with killer horniness.

The nap didn’t last more than an hour before I woke up rolling around restlessly, my body sweating now as a hot feeling in my stomach began intensifying. I couldn’t tell you how long I laid there writhing in misery before I heard a loud knock at the door, instantly hating the world that much more.

‘What are you doing here?!’ I snapped as I finally dragged myself to the front door, moody and uncomfortable which made me unable to be kind.

‘I thought I would come and assist you. Wouldn’t want you suffering through this alone, now would we?’ Klaus asked, looking every bit as put together as always but I could see in his eyes how desperate he was. I could also see his impressive bulge tenting his jeans.

‘How did you find me? I was-never mind. Go away Klaus!’ I groaned, moving to shut the door.

‘I followed Damon, he wasn’t very careful, my guess is he didn’t much care if I found you. They just wanted you away from them before they had to suffer too, your friends that you protected sent you away to save themselves. Seems really selfish to me.’ Any other day I would disagree but with how I was feeling I couldn’t argue with him, prompting me to agree.

‘You’re right…Fuck them! Couldn’t even put me downstairs! Had to leave me all alone!’ I raged as I was overcome by a cramping pain straight down to my pussy causing me to double over.

‘Invite me in Love, let’s help each other? It’s going to be days with only brief hours of relief between…let me help you get some relief?’

‘Klaus, I can’t-‘

‘You want me just as much as I want you, don’t lie!’ He growled, eyes glowing gold now as he showed how desperate he really was, so far gone that he wasn’t able to hide it anymore.

‘It’s just this stupid magic-‘

‘No! No, I’ve wanted you since I first set eyes on you, and you…you need me too.’ His hand reached down to grab his crotch, pupils nearly swallowing his entire eye whole. ‘I can make your pussy feel so good baby, you need me! Who else could go anywhere near as long as a Hybrid, huh?’ He was right, if anyone could help me it was Klaus, especially with how pent up he is himself. ‘Please Y/n? I need to be buried in your little cunt, and you know you need it too! Your fingers can’t help you the way my cock can and I know you’ve dreamt of my cock in your needy little pussy since long before this ever happened-Fuck! I Need You! Please?!’ He begged and as I felt a rush of wetness coat my panties I whined, nodding my head. ‘Say it Y/n…Say It!’

‘Come in Klaus! Please?! I need-‘ I didn’t get to finish my statement before I was tackled to the floor with the Hybrid yanking his pants open and shoving them down enough to free himself before tearing my panties off of my body and shoving himself into me roughly.

‘So Fucking Perfect! Knew your cunt would be perfect! Tightest little cunt-Fuck! Never gonna stop fucking you baby!’

‘Yes! Don’t Stop! Fuck Klaus, your cock! So good!’ Tears leaked from my eyes as he continued thrusting into my body. The sound of skin slapping together echoing through the house and out the front door that hung on one hinge from where the Hybrid had nearly ripped it off as he entered. ‘Oh Fuck!’ I threw my head back against the carpet as my first orgasm rushed through me out of nowhere, only realizing he had finished with me when I felt the hot cum inside of me as he continued thrusting, never once even slowing down.

‘I need to feel you squeeze me again Babygirl, cum for me! Cum for your Alpha!’ The second orgasm was just as strong as the first as I came and felt his body tense up as well before he finally stilled, breathing heavily into my neck.

‘I think…we’re in trouble…’ I panted heavily and he chuckled before looking down at me, hesitating only a second before pressing his lips to mine in a soft, lovely kiss. ‘Don’t stop.’ I insisted when he pulled back, grabbing onto his neck and pressing my lips to his this time as I enjoyed our kiss.

‘This isn’t how I wanted it to happen, I wanted to take you on a date, show you how much I love you��then I was going to fuck you…wanted to make you feel so good you would never leave me again-‘

‘It’s okay, you’ve just done it backwards…you can still take me out, just after this is over because I don’t think people would appreciate you fucking me over our table.’ I teased, enjoying the genuine smile that I got from him, only ever seeing it when he looks at me which has always made me feel special.

‘That’s the spell talking-‘

‘I liked you before that you idiot! I just never really thought you were all that serious.’ I admitted, pushing him up and feeling his (once again) hard cock slide out of me as he helped me stand up.

‘How could you think that? I’ve gone out of my way to show you-your friends told you I was using you, didn’t they?’ I nodded and he huffed a heavy sigh before wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me into a rough kiss. ‘I love you, regardless of any doppelgänger or your awful friends. After all of this I will take you out properly, I promise…but until then-‘

‘No! No more floor fucking, there’s furniture and a bed here for a reason, no more carpet, it hurts.’ I explained, feeling the rug burn against my back and ass.

‘No more rugs, but I need you now.’ He growled, lifting me by my thighs and appearing in the bedroom instantly, dropping me onto the bed. Just as he spread my legs he paused, glancing over to the table and reaching out to grab the basket with the things Caroline had left. ‘What-‘

‘Caroline left them for me. I guess she wanted to help me since I’m all alone.’

‘Interesting…does she know you well, or not?’ He wondered, picking up the butt plug and raising his eyebrows making me blush as my body started sweating.

‘Klaus! Stop the teasing and get inside me! The cramps are starting, so if you’re not going to help me then get the Fuck out and I’ll do it my-Ah!’ I cried out, feeling the rounded end of the plug pressing to my tight hole and rubbing against it. ‘Oh God!’ Klaus took the lube bottle and squeezed a healthy amount onto the plug before tossing it to the other side of the bed and pressing it back against my ass.

‘Relax Precious, this is going to make it feel so much better!’ He promised, pushing the plug harder until it popped into my hole. Klaus could feel his cock throbbing even harder at the sight of the jewel on the end of the plug. ‘You are so fucking perfect! How do you fee-‘

‘Klaus! Please?!’ I begged, pulling him closer and yanking at his shirt before getting it off and sighing in relief at the feel of his hot skin against mine.

Klaus shoved his jeans and boxers the rest of the way off, finally naked as well before taking hold of his cock and pushing himself back inside of me. ‘There you are love, feels so fucking good, doesn’t it? Both of your slutty little holes stuffed up?’

‘T-Too much-Never-‘

‘Never been so full before, I know Baby! I-Fuck!’ Suddenly as if he could no longer control himself he began thrusting into me frantically. ‘Mine! My Fucking Cunt!’ He snarled, Hybrid visage taking over as he fucked into me so hard I briefly wondered if he could shatter my pelvis like this.

‘Yes! Yours! All yours, don’t stop! Please don’t stop?!’

Y/n couldn’t have said how long Klaus continued like that. How long he thrust into her cunt at a painful speed, how many times the both of them had climaxed together while he still continued to fuck his (somehow still) hard cock into her, she couldn’t even say how many times he had buried his fangs into her throat in an effort to mark her as his like a werewolf marking his mate…and maybe he was. Odds are she was never getting away from him now-not that she wanted to.

It was a week later that Damon finally came back to the house to check on her finding the front door ripped open.

He ventured inside, not hearing anything and figuring that it was over for Y/n and who was inevitably Klaus that had torn the door off the hinges. He was prepared with jokes galore for the the drive back, excited to pick on the young girl for giving into the monster that had been after her for months but sadly he never got to use those jokes.

Damon opened the door to the bedroom to find his girlfriends friend snuggled into Klaus Mikaelson’s naked chest fast asleep. The Hybrid however seemed to have awoken as soon as he turned the doorknob, his yellow eyes finding his with an intensity that he had never seen. He bore his fangs, lifting his head and Damon (one of the only people who had never truly feared Klaus Mikaelson) was instantly terrified. It was like a bucket of ice water dumped on him, alarm bells ringing in his head declaring the danger that he is in prompting him to throw up his hands instantly. As Klaus moved to sit up, the young vampire shut the door promptly and hightailed it back to his car, peeling back down the driveway.

He doesn’t know how long that stuff will take to wear off but it definitely hasn’t yet and he would not be disturbing them again!

Y/n and Klaus were in the house for nearly 2 weeks before they felt as if their bodies were back to normal though they stayed for another week after that. No one could have imagined how close such a spell would bring them…no one except Klaus of course.

The witch he had hired to make that powder had done a wonderful job, money well spent in the Hybrids mind. The spell had worked better than he ever could have imagined and it had gotten him exactly what he wanted.

The only thing left to do was to kill the witch that had helped him and ensure that his mate never learned that he was the one who had dosed her.

He finally had his girl, he couldn’t let something so trivial ruin it.

Klaus Mikaelson Masterlist

[hellfire--cult]

toot toot

Eddie has a very important question for you - just eddie being a loving boyfriend with something i know we all struggle with as we enter a relationship (fem!reader) - self indulgent

a/n: idk man. i had this talk with @ghost-proofbaby and I was like, 'yeah, i should write this' and she agreed.

Wc: 1k

-

“Why don’t you fart in front of me?”

You almost spat the water you were drinking all over the book you were reading as you laid on his bed with your back propped up on the headboard. 

“Eds, what?”

“You never fart in front of me.” He was dead serious, looking at you while his arms rested on his guitar, sitting at the end of the bed, his legs crossed. You were blinking at him as if he had just sprouted a leaf over his head.

“What are you going on about?”

“We’ve been dating for a whole year, and I have yet to hear a fart from you!” Your cheeks flushed in embarrassment and you shook your head, looking back at your book.

“And you never will.” He rolled his eyes at you and scooted a little closer with a little jump that made the bed move underneath you, making you jump and glare back up at him.

“I fart all the time with you, with sound, with no sound… I mean, we trust each other, and darling, I do know you hold them in.” Your mouth opened with an o shape, not believing the words coming out of your boyfriend’s lips. 

The worst part, he was right.

You complained many times because of tummy aches, and you knew it was retained gas you weren’t letting out. You were just embarrassed about it. He didn’t care whenever he did it, and you didn’t either. You even laugh at some of his farts because they sound straight out of a cartoon, and sometimes, you die a little bit because they are deadly.

“I don’t feel comfortable doing it!” You retorted back, and he sighed in frustration, shaking his head again, putting the guitar to the side of his bed. 

“I promise you, it’s normal, it’s natural, and the stigma of all the women being proper ladies is such bullshit.” You knew it was that as well. You were also afraid of it being too loud, or smelly, and just utterly repulsive to him to the point he would not be attracted to you in some way.

“I know it’s natural… But I still won’t ever fart in front of you.” He groaned loudly at your words.

“You’re impossible princess.”

“But you love me.” You grinned at him with a sway of your body and he smiled back at you and crawled towards you to plant a smooch right on your lips.

“That I do.”

But it wasn’t even a week later that you were both lying on bed again, and you both were laughing as Eddie told you a story about Steve completely fucking up his date with Heidi.

“He literally tumbled back when he saw a roach sneaking in front of him and he made her fall onto the fountain at the park! That’s why his face is fucking red!” Eddie was cracking up by now and your eyes were filled with tears as you laughed with him.

“Oh shit, she slapped him!?”

“Of course she did! It was a fucking roach! Not a goddamn monster or some shit!” You cracked up at that, and it was a bad idea, because your stomach had been contracting in pain and twisting for the past hour because you were holding your gas in. 

You had tacos for dinner, and that was a very poor decision knowing that you were spending the night at Eddie’s, and knowing how the night might end. Everytime you held your gas in, sex was almost painful sometimes.

And now, with the laughter, with your belly going up and down against your stomach, it happened. And your laughter and his immediately seized, leaving the room completely quiet for a few seconds.

It was small, very thin, but it could be heard. Your face immediately heated up in embarrassment, and you turned to the other side, not being able to face him. Was he going to think you were disgusting? Not lady-like? Was it a boner killer? Why isn’t he saying anything–

“Oh, FUCK YES! I’VE BEEN SAVING THIS FOR THE OCCASION!” You felt him sit up on the bed and your eyebrows frowned, making you turn to look at him rummaging in his drawer from the night table. A small confetti popper in one hand and its string on the other. He pulled and the confetti exploded with a pop, startling you.

“What the hell Eddie–”

“Congrats on your first fart in front of me!” Your eyes were wide at his antic, but he had a wide smile on his face and you couldn’t believe your boyfriend got happy from you letting out an accidental fart from laughing so hard. 

“It was an accident Eds!” You whined as you sat up next to him and you had a terrified look on your face and he shook his head, holding onto your face with both of his hands.

“It’s the first step! Next one is an intentional one, so come on darling, I know you’re holding it in~” He cooed and you pushed him away, shaking your head in utter embarrassment.

“You’re so weird Eddie… you don’t… find it disgusting?”

“Fuck no! Makes me happy you trust me enough to do it in front of me! Accidental or not!” He was smiling at you, and your heart fluttered as you stared at your loving boyfriend. You leaned towards him and pecked his lips softly, only to then shake your head.

“You’re insufferable.” 

“But you love me.” He smiled at you and you couldn’t help but nod and lean in to kiss him again.

After that, you never do it intentionally, but now, if one escapes you by accident you are able to laugh it out with him. 

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

a/n: purely self indulgent plus WE CANT DENY EDDIE WOULDNT CELEBRATE OUR FIRST FART WITH HIM. ALSO, FARTING IS NATURAL.

[bluestriips]

⊹₊ ⋆࿐ primadonna ୨୧

⌗ synopsis: vampire!matt uses serpent!reader’s absence as an advantage to study some gardening terms and impress her.

⌗ content: fluff, swearing, vampire!matt x serpent!reader

@z0mbbie-kissed THANK U AGAIN for prompting this 🤑

books. so many books. it’s a library, obviously, but matt must’ve pulled out every book in the gardening section. he’s practically surrounded. swallowed in the madness. he skipped dinner on campus for this, and he’s now convinced the bloodlust is eating his brain.

this is insane.

as disappointed as he was to wake up to a text from you saying; “i just threw the fuck up 😭 dorm supervisor is putting me down as absent don’t die pls” he decided to use this to his advantage. so that’s why he’s skimming through every gardening book in baudelaire and studying up on anything that looks cool so he can impress you.

the book he’s on? “fatal beauty”. way too cliche for a fucking non-fiction book title in his opinion, but he’s a poet. he would know. he knows you like purple, which is why his eyes are glued on the page on deadly nightshades, or a.k.a, belladonnas.

he’s seen them in the greenhouse and he’s pretty sure you like them, so he figures if any of them are worth remembering, it’s this one. “poisonous, huh..?” he mumbles to himself, sitting cross-legged against one of the bookshelves with the book open across his lap.

“symptoms if ingested include rash, headaches, hallucinations, dea— woah, what the fuck?? why does she have these?” he reads off the page, furrowing his brows. guess they really are the definition of fatal beauty.

he spent the rest of his friday evening researching the belladonna, as well as a few others he’d thought you’d like or knew you had in the greenhouse.

“who the fuck locked it??” you mumble, glaring at the greenhouse door handle as if it was magically going to open. “i’m gonna kill larri.”

“let’s not murder our friend.” matt grins, sneaking his hand into your pocket and pulling out the greenhouse keys you’d obviously forgotten you had, jangling them in front of your face with that little fucking smile as he unlocks the door.

you roll your eyes, snatching the keys from him and pushing past him once the door is open. “wooooow, what would i do without you.” you mumble, walking over to your section of the greenhouse, grabbing some supplies.

“nothing. you need me.” he shrugs, glancing around the all-familiar greenhouse. there’s sections where people have permission from the dean to keep their plants, including you. yours is in a little corner, every plant strategically placed based on light exposure for optimum growth.

“my carnosas are looking dry.” you frown, studying the white-red flowers as some of them have turned sort of brownish.

matt silently steps in next to you, examining them. these are one of the ones he read about. “the porcelain flowers? switch them with the aloe vera, they don’t like direct sunlight.” he says, gesturing between the carnosas and the aloe vera plants.

you turn to him, raising a brow. he wasn’t the type to pretend to know shit, which is evident because he was right. you did need to switch them. “how the everliving fuck did you know that??” you say, switching the two plants.

he shrugs, a small smile on his face, trying not to give anything away. “just picked some terms up. you’re always calling me the nerd, but i think you know more about plants than you realize.”

“huh.” you say; adjusting the plants. you didn’t think you talked that much about plants, but then again, you yap too much in general. it’s possible.

you continue to work on your plants, talking mindlessly with matt. it’s easy to just say whatever comes to mind around him, and vice versa. there’s just a comfort around eachother that neither of you can really explain.

you talk about gardening, and he listens, occasionally throwing in some term or fact that you still don’t fully understand how he knows. or you’ll talk about teachers you hate, or the conversation will drift to one of tara’s parties which matt never goes to and you don’t understand why, or a new song he’s trying to learn.

and typically, he’s doing more listening than talking. at first it was solely because he was sorta shy around you. and then, getting more comfortable, he realized he just really likes looking at you. he’s scared to admit that, for obvious reasoning, but it’s true.

“yo, you good?” you say, tilting your head slightly as you realize he’s zoned out. you’re moving around and watering a few plants, still yapping mindlessly. “yeah- yeah, m’listening.” he says, his eyes landing on a certain purple flower, being moved into a larger pot.

“is that one new? the uhhh…” he snaps his fingers a few times, trying to remember. “the primadonnas?” he says. you furrow your brows, glancing back down at the plant. that’s not right. “prima- you mean belladonna?” you say, tilting your head as you look back up to face him.

“oh. shit. that’s what the book said. i knew that sounded wrong.” he laughs slightly, growing quieter. how smooth, dumbass. your head perks up, a grin threatening to control the small smile on your face. “book? matt— did you study plants while i was sick?”

shit. he freezes, slowly turning his head to look back up at you like that one roblox meme, looking to the bench to your left instead of your face. “…….no.” well what the fuck. he can literally feel the redness on his face. and there’s no doubt you can see it.

“oh my god, you fucking cornball.” you say, but the grin on your face and the hug you pulled him into said the opposite. in all honesty, this shouldn’t surprise you. matt’s the sweetest person you’ve ever met, and he’s always doing dumb shit like this. but that’s exactly it, you’re not used to this level of care in general.

“barely. not when i fucked up the name of that flower.” he mumbles back, slightly annoyed with himself for making himself look like an idiot. he went through all those books just to impress you, and he still fucked up. he probably looks so weird now.

little does he know, whether or not he fucked up, the fact that he used his free time to try and impress you rather than doing something he values means more than anything to you.

and little do you know, to him, you’re more valuable than anything else.

[ravetillyoucry]

PUPARIA

Chapter 26 - half return

prev - chapter 1

Hosah hadn't expected airports to be so tiring. Despite sleeping for a short while in Teddy's hand before they'd need to make their merry way, clearly the flight's take off in the early hours of the morning wasn't doing him any good.

It was best to stay small for as long as he possibly could before they'd go, otherwise he'd just suffer longer with a severe case of the itching. On the outside, being five foot seven inches tall was normal, it seemed like it would be Hosah's default height, but it wasn't, and he'd acknowledged that a while ago. When he wasn't tiny, he'd yearn to be. His muscles tickled uncomfortably under his skin, beckoning him to shift again, to ease the aching and the pulsating in some way. It hurt, chronically, but he could deal with that. It was the itching that drove him crazy.

"Our seats are separate from my family's, if you need to, you can just.." Teddy's voice trailed off as he spoke, tilting his head, as if the shifter knew what he was going to say.

He did, Hosah was just far too sleep deprived to cooperate.

"What? No, I'll be alright. I need to get used to staying like this for longer anyway, it's not sustainable, y'know, shrinking all the time." Hosah spoke far louder than his counterpart, enough so to prompt the frantic gripping of his shoulders with a hush from Teddy.

He looked around, specifically for someone, before turning back to Hosah, "Quiet, he's onto us."

"Who, Dean?" The shifter scoffed, pulling himself out of Teddy's now gentle grip, "I don't care if he finds out- hell, it's not a secret. He can ask me about Arthur Emily all he wants."

"I don't want him to ask you. It's.. It's wrong, these things are supposed to be confidential." The change in stance from Teddy was surprising to say the least.

Hosah tilted his head, his scoff turning more into an amused smile, a curious one at that, "Since when did you defend the rights of Arthur Emily? You hate that guy, right?"

"I find him grating in every way of the word, but... I'm put off by Dean in a different way." Teddy kept his hand rested on the shifter's shoulder as he looked out for his brother in law.

"Why, because of what he said? About shifters?" Hosah couldn't help but push, poking the bear until he'd get an answer that satisfied his curiosity.

"Maybe.." Teddy was far too distracted to give an in-depth explanation on why exactly he didn't like Dean.

Now that he thought about it, it was rare for Teddy to hold high opinions of anyone, really. He didn't like Arthur Emily for his abuse of power and cowardice when admitting to doing so, which was a fair point, he didn't like Scotty because he was a dick, which was also a rather fair point- he didn't like Jules, or Dean, and he'd only recently had a good word to say about Jeanne. It almost made Hosah feel flattered to be in his good books, but it also awoke a deep paranoia within him that he couldn't shake off.

The feeling of being observed at any given time had ruined his life completely, to the point where he even found himself second-guessing Teddy in his nature. A little voice in the back of his head, asking if his disdain for so many of their peers and associates was a tactic, to isolate Hosah, to plant the seeds of distancing himself into his head, to make it so it would only be himself and Teddy in their inner circle by the end of it. That wasn't the case, it couldn't be, there were plenty of things to prove the idea wrong, like all the people Teddy did in fact enjoy to be around that weren't the shifter, but he still sometimes found himself with no thoughts to distract from that little voice.

"That was really cool, by the way, what you said to him." Hosah smiled, this time out of genuine endearment, ".. D'you remember what you said forever ago, about how I should give inspirational speeches or something, cause I say cool shit on occasion. I think you were projecting, because that, that was cool-"

"You don't need me to speak for you." Teddy put it bluntly, his head still turned away, eyebrows furrowed in focus.

It was difficult to not be disheartened whenever Teddy spoke particularly bluntly. Nobody could be expected to keep up a kind and gentle demeanour 24/7, and it was hypocritical for Hosah to expect as much when he himself did a fair share of snapping at his partner, but it still hurt. The good thing was, he didn't need to vocalise it for Teddy to catch on.

He turned around, his expression softening a fair amount, "Sorry, my heads all over the place. But, really, that wasn't something I really came up with myself. You're my inspiration, I suppose. I was trying to embody you when I said it."

"Stupid.. Just take my compliment, don't spin it back on me." Hosah couldn't contain his happiness at the statement, giving Teddy a jab in the ribs to make sure his point got across.

"Hey, I'm serious. Really." It was nice to see him laugh for a change, "Speaking of inspiration.."

Teddy let go of the shifter, shuffling around in his backpack for what seemed like an eternity, before he found what he was looking for, it seemed.

"I brought my camera. I mean, you, the Italian countryside, that sounds picturesque, no?"

There was a plethora of things Teddy hoarded. Train tickets were a big one, and so were pieces of fine china, and old watches he promised he'd take to a watchmaker to resell for more, but always ended up saying he'd gotten too attached to do so. The most important thing Teddy seemed to hoard, however, were photos. Albums upon albums, with every picture he'd ever taken. He must've spent half his monthly wage getting them printed, on film and various other things to keep his half a dozen cameras in good shape.

The backstory for his love of photography was a silly one, if Hosah was recalling correctly. His mother made a great attempt at landing him a job in the modelling agency she was under, but he ended up working with the photographers upon arrival rather than her intention of utilising his face for what it was born to do, to be photographed.

"God, stop it, whenever I think you can't possibly get any cheesier." Hosah let out a deep breath of what he assumed to be exhaustion, but there was a good chance it could've also, just partially, been a relief at his partner's own relaxed nature.

It felt wrong to be so happy in the moment. To share laughs, to look forward to the trip in general. Hosah had long let go of any morsel that remained of his religious beliefs, but it had to be some kind of divine disrespect to think of a death as a good opportunity.

These sort of moments of relaxation, of stillness and serenity, always seemed to be cut short in one way or another. Whether it be Dean's invasive nature, or the fact they had a plane to board, something always got in between the two.

To say Hosah had never been outside of the country before, never mind on an airplane, he took it all surprisingly well. It wasn't like he wasn't used to such a change in altitude already, to be lifted up higher than he could perceive, to feel the weight from under him be lifted entirely. It was strangely comforting in a way, a sense of familiarity when he couldn't shrink to a comfortable size. What was most relieving was the fact they were away from Teddy's family for a period of time, even if it made him feel guilty for thinking it, the stress of being around such a cast of characters weighed heavily on Teddy in particular. That much was obvious.

Hosah had heard plenty stories of his partner's grandfather, but still, he soaked in his uncertainty, even in the car from the airport to Teddy's family's farm, the unease just wouldn't wash away. It was a different sort of discomfort, he wasn't afraid of being around insufferable people like before, he was afraid of not being liked by the man. That was strange, Hosah usually couldn't care less what others thought of him. Nonetheless, he'd push it down, catching up on some sleep in the rental vehicle.

He hadn't expected to dream when he rested his head against the car window. He rarely dreamt during naps, his dreams were prolonged and vivid, when he napped, he could never get deep enough into unconsciousness to conjure up anything. It seemed lately that anything and everything was capable of completely evading his expectations. Things had never been as unpredictable as the present.

It was the familiar breeze of the air conditioner that made Hosah jolt to attention. That was the thing with the facility, no matter the time of year, that stupid machine always whirred away, even when the tips of his fingers had turned white, going numb as they were rendered completely useless. The grey prison-esque uniforms everyone was forced to wear didn't help him much in the case of finding warmth, the fabric being heavy and scratchy against his skin as it hung off of his form like an old rag. The relevance of him being a teenager in the dream was lost on him, but then again, it had only just began.

In his dream states, Hosah was always far, far more sensitive and emotional. He couldn't recall a single dream as vivid as this where he wasn't crying out in some way. The total loss of control, despite how real it all seemed, was the thing that scared him the most. He had no composure in his subconscious.

Everything in his vision was as clear as day, although he knew it wasn't real. It couldn't be real, he had all of his memories up until the current day, and he knew he wasn't in the facility the last time he checked. Now would've been a great time to get up, to look through everything in the shoebox of a room as best as he could, despite being shrunken and stuck that way- even in the depths of his dreams, to relive the little parts of his adolescence. It was the same as how he'd remembered it, plain, mind-numbingly so, appearing to be more of a holding cell than any sort of bedroom- a place of comfort, of intimacy, of safety and normalcy. His dreams never allowed him much indulgence in the things he wished to do, especially not exploring and, God forbid, finding enjoyment.

"Hosah," The voice rang familiar, but it wasn't at all accurate to the time and place he was supposed to be in. It was Doctor Aronov. Huh.

One accurate part of the dream, however, was how the door creaked open. It was a horrible, grating sound that made Hosah recoil and curl into himself, covering his tiny, sensitive ears in hopes to protect them from the loud noise.

He could tell the sound had stopped now, but it didn't mean he wanted to lift his head just yet. In the safety of his own head, Hosah was still afraid to face Doctor Aronov.

"There you are." His smile could be heard, even in his quiet whisper, "It was foolish of you to think you could run and hide from me for so long. Going as far as to miss your check-ups, were you?"

The quiet tutting of disappointment that left his lips was enough to send Hosah into a spiral of distress. It was a teasing gesture, that much was clear, but even the slightest sign of a disapproval from the doctor broke the shifter's tiny heart into a million pieces.

Hosah shook his head, his foetal position with hands being held over his ears more so to block out the sound of a reply than the creaking of the door, "I'm sorry, I would've come back- I was going to- but.. things just keep happening, and I keep putting it off, and- it's just, now it's a big mess that I can't even begin to untangle—and the only way I know how to deal with it is to pretend it's not there at all."

He wished he could control what came out of his mouth. He'd rather had stayed silent, but that would just be reinforcing the explanation his subconscious had conjured up for him to give to his doctor. In his dream state, Hosah didn't just struggle to control his tongue, but his physical reactions and outbursts too, as he began to cry. This was usually the state he'd end up in whilst he slept. It was raw, uncontrollable, and terrifying. The fact it wasn't real was the reason he was ever able to sleep at night, but even then, his dreams had become so vivid, it was hard to discern them from reality nowadays.

Even when curled up, completely avoiding his surroundings both visually and audibly, the shift in weight underneath him as the giant sat beside him on his bed filled Hosah in on the details of his situation. God damn his size, and how very gradually he slipped down the pillow, involuntarily dragging him closer to the doctor. God damn physics especially.

"There, there." Even his comfort was cold and clinical, "I understand. I understand all too well. Whilst I agree it's not in the patients best interest to read up on them before they come to see you, I'm aware of the previous diagnosis you've been given. Usually, I'd wait for you to tell me yourself, but, given your situation, the fact that help isn't something you willingly went out of your way to receive, I felt it to be necessary."

Doctor Aronov waited. It seemed he wanted to pique Hosah's interest with how vaguely and strangely he worded his statement, but in his most raw and honest form, Hosah couldn't hide his lack of a care for learning just what the doctor knew about him. Ignorance is bliss, and he'd much rather be in the dark, as he remained still as ever, curled up in himself on the pillow.

The heavy sigh that followed his expectant silence instantly drove Hosah over the edge, his instinctive need to beg for forgiveness being quickly dismissed by the raise of the Doctor's voice again.

"It's typical for these things to go hand in hand. What you said, about things leading back to one key source, or, I suppose you said event- it's not so far off. It can all be related back to something in your core. You're an anxious person, Detective. What you eat, the events in your life, maybe.. How you're perceived."

Even in a state of pure honesty and vulnerability, Hosah still couldn't manage to not be stubborn. That was more or less his 'core'. "I don't care about what people think of me."

"No, I suppose not." The doctor hummed. Hosah began to wonder what exactly was the difference between psychiatrist and therapist. "It's more like.. You're anxious about their outwardly approval of you. What they really think isn't a problem, as long as you can't tell. I'm right, aren't I?"

The shifter could sort of understand the difference, but being difficult was another core aspect of himself, "Those sound like the same thing. Outward approval, and their true opinion."

"Exactly." The fact Doctor Aronov chuckled wasn't one that put Hosah at any ease, "You choose not to acknowledge the difference between the two. That's the point. Like how you have been choosing to ignore the appointments I so graciously reschedule and replan my life around for you."

"I'm really sorry." Even in his dreams, where he is devoid of any control over what comes out of his mouth, the lingering taste of shame is still ever present on Hosah's tongue nonetheless, "I wasn't thinking about anyone but myself when stopped showing up. I'm just scared, you said you understand, do you understand- that I'm really sorry, and it wasn't a conscious decision, it just sort of happened."

"You don't have to be so sorry." His answer was fast, too fast for comfort. "You can't go back, but you can make a start to make things right- or, to make things better. Why do you think you're here?"

Hosah surprised himself with the speed of his own answer, "Because my mind won't let me out of here."

"And have you not thought to question why that is?"

"Because I know I can't go back. And I don't know how to make things better. I don't want to go back, but if I could, maybe I'd know. I've tried fucking some sense into me, to relive it, but it just piles on the dirt. Every time I've tried, I've just found myself even more lost, more... stuck in here." Hosah no longer found himself laid to appear as small as he could possibly seem anymore, as he stared up at the familiar bright off-white overhead lights he'd seen in his memories almost every day, even over ten years later.

Hosah could tell the doctor was smiling at him, even though he wasn't even looking. There was a weird sense of all-knowing he had in his dreams, he knew what was going on, and that just made his lack of ability to face and or stop it even more painful.

"That's already a start- acknowledgment. You just need to say it. Properly, I mean. We can come back to this another time, hopefully in the near future. You'll just need to fill me in, of course."

Despite alluding to the one thing that caused all of his problems to unfold, Hosah never actually told the doctor what exactly it was that happened. It was for the same reason he couldn't admit it to Teddy- he was afraid. Of being called a liar, of having misremembered, of making it all real by acknowledging it ever happened at all outloud.

"Hosah." The voice wasn't the same as the one that greeted him earlier, no, not at all.

"Hosah, cmon, what's a matter..?" It was gentle, shaking the world he currently resided in, gripping his shoulder with a light, yet earth shattering force.

"Talk to me, wake up, hey.."

The shifter jolted awake, the seatbelt having left a dint in his hollow cheek. That wasn't the only thing imprinted on his face, however, as his tears also left a stain, a tracking trail of where they'd travelled before pooling in the space between his collarbones.

"Hey." Teddy's relieved face could be made out, even through hazy, tear filled vision, "Sorry I had to wake you. Didn't seem like too pleasant of a dream, huh?"

"I need to call Doctor Aronov. I need to talk to him."

It wasn't until Hosah had blinked the coming tears out of his eyes that he realised the impossibility of it all. They were in the middle of nowhere, only a few minutes away from Teddy's family farm- where phone service was nonexistent and the closest form of civilisation was a good few miles away.

The look of pity on Teddy's face was an unnecessary one as he squeezed the shifter's shoulder, "Aw,"- he hummed- "it'll have to wait.. I spoke to him not so long ago, remember? He's happy to have me there with you, as long as you actually turn up."

"No." Hosah cut in, gripping his seatbelt until his knuckles were white, "I mean.. There's something I need to say to him, privately."

"When the time comes to it, I can give you your space." Teddy gave a reassuring jostle of the shifter's hair, before starting the engine once more. "Cmon, we'd better clock in, have dinner, get some rest.. Funerals tomorrow, after all. Then we have a day to do whatever, then we'll be back. You can talk to him soon, just gotta get through the long weekend."

That was right. Just the long weekend, then they'd be home. That was what Hosah had to keep reminding himself, as the itching began, once and for all.

Like clockwork, the car started again. His nap didn't help Hosah feel any more well rested, but he didn't dare to risk trying to get some more shut eye for the rest of the journey, not whilst he wiped at his blocked nose with his sleeve, his eyes still red and sore from how tightly he'd squeezed them shut.

"So, you dreamt of Doctor Aronov, then?" Teddy asked, innocently, his eyes focused on the country dirt road.

They would've landed around about eleven or twelve, if they were still in the US, but given the change in time zone, they hadn't gotten out of the airport until six in the evening. It wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't November, as the sun had set early, leaving the pair to wade through the roads with only the headlights of the car to guide them.

Hosah shook his head, still snivelling to try clear his breathing, "Something like that."

Teddy repeated his words back to himself a couple times, quietly, all smiles as he stared at the road in front of him.

"You're in a good mood." Hosah commented, more focused on trying to find tissues as he shuffled around in his bag as it sat in the footwell.

"I'm excited." He clarified, "I haven't been home since I left. My Grandpa sends post cards and letters, and all, but that's not the same."

Hosah nodded, sagely. Whilst he didn't understand the feeling that came with no longer having his grandfather be in his physical presence, he understood that letters and cards weren't the same. His own grandfather would send cards every Hanukkah, one for each of his grandchildren, besides his younger brother Noah, whom he didn't know existed. He'd address Hosah's older brother by name in writing, but he never sent a card specifically labelled for a Hosah, just 'habibi'. That was the reason specifically, why his father and his father's father stopped speaking to each-other. Complicated feelings regarding the original Hosah, and how each of them chose to honour him.

"Yeah.." Hosah wasn't sure how else to respond, saying 'I get it' was a lie, and anything else just didn't feel right. ".. Are you okay? With the funeral and everything- if you're upset, I'm here for you, you don't have to act like you're not."

"I'm not upset." Teddy's smile faltered, just slightly, "I'm more upset that I'm not upset. I feel like I should be, that I shouldn't be this happy despite it.." His words trailed off, much like the paved road, that had turned to grass and dirt now. "We're here now. And, the day after the funeral, if the weather is still good, I'll take you somewhere."

"Getting all that it's worth out of renting a car?" Hosah joked as he prepared to undo his seatbelt.

"We'll bike it. If you can manage." His words rang half honest, although the other half was just a tease, in which Hosah rewarded it with a gentle push of his shoulder, careful of the fact he was still parking all the while.

It was hard to see in the dark, but the light through the windows of the farmhouse up on the hill was enough to convince them to walk up towards it. Seemed as though everyone else had beat them to arrival. Something in Hosah's stomach churned. He wasn't afraid of what people thought of him, but the incoming reaction of the pair walking in late weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Teddy had gotten out of the car all at the same time as the shifter, and even with both their bags slung on either of his shoulders, he still paused.

"Wait." He muttered, his eyes on the house rather than on Hosah himself. Still, he was beckoned towards him, so he obliged in the request.

Despite his arms being obviously too full to embrace him, Teddy still managed to pull the shifter in close. He was always touchy, but this was far more overly romantic than he was usually willing to go outside the confines of their home. Kisses were methodically planted across Hosah's face, on each cheek, his forehead, both the bridge and the tip of his nose, his chin, and especially, a gentle, closed mouth kiss on his lips. It was extra, that was for sure.

"Because I'm not really going to be able to whenever I want." Teddy clarified, deciding just one more would do, before Hosah could come up with an answer.

Hosah smiled, knowing he’d have to let go shortly, but taking Teddy’s hand in his own anyway, “Oh, God forbid.” - he shook his head, “Let me carry one of the bags, at least?”

-~-

It was when they entered the house itself that it seemed to hit Teddy. Like a ton of bricks, the sheer amount of mass burying him beneath them. Surprisingly, he didn’t panic under the pressure. A comforting weight, one that kept him grounded against the earth.

The evening was so pleasant, as long as he could ignore everyone but Hosah and his grandfather. It was perfect, like he’d never left at all, but bringing back everything that made his leave so great in the first place. The rooms were the same, the cats he’d raised from birth still wandered around the patio, purring and rubbing around his legs as a welcoming gesture, it felt more like a celebration of victory than a mourning of what once was. A looming threat had been disarmed. The wooden spoon he remembered so vividly being struck with was still hanging on its peg, except this time, it had no one to wield it.

By the time his internal clock had decided it was bed time, despite how everyone still sat in the living area, taking up every seat there was to offer, Teddy had excused himself to ‘the bathroom’, signalling for his partner to come out alongside him. The flashlight was still in the same place as it was when he was thirteen and pulled this trick.

“When you feed them at night, it makes it more likely for their calves to be born in the daytime. Less risky, that way.” Teddy explained through his steps, the shifter following along at his side.

“Besides,” He continued, “I needed a break, I think.”

Hosah wasn’t sure what he could add to the discussion, but he listened anyway, intently so. The day had been busy, that was for sure, between a long ceremony of what was described to him as ‘sin eating’, and generally being an accessory to a long overdue catch up between the family he wasn’t quite a part of, Hosah could definitely get behind a break from it all.

The pair got on with the task in a comfortable silence, taking a brief pause as Hosah discovered a new found fear of the large animals as they approached, much to Teddy’s delight. Any excuse to hold the shifter close was a good one; even if it were a ridiculous one. Taking a detour to wander around the farm he could navigate with his eyes closed seemed like a good way to pass the time, even if it were pitch black out by now.

Despite it not being visible to the eye, Teddy still knew where they were as they passed it. The slaughterhouse. He lifted the flashlight up to it, taking a moment to stare, to relive his childhood. It was clear what it was, even to the shifter, who was oblivious to such a lifestyle as Teddy’s own.

“Bad memories.” — Was all the taller of the two could mutter, “I don’t think I’ve been able to enjoy chicken since.”

That much was understandable. Hosah remembered the story, even if it was told to him a while ago by now.

“How long ago exactly was it- since you’ve been back?” A shift in topic was due, as they trailed back the way they came. They’d spent long enough wandering around in the dark.

“Twelve years, give or take.” Teddy took the lead, though not failing to thread his fingers between the shifter’s, just whilst he could.

Through the glimpses of the flashlight’s clarity, Hosah could still make out the general look of the farm house, even at such a distance away. It was scary how close it resembled the one he’d mustered up from his mind, for the painting he’d gifted to Teddy. That reminded him, actually, of the total lack of birthday wishes he’d received from his family that day. The realisation hurt his heart, enough for him to squeeze the larger hand that held his own.

Hosah’s eyes had grown used to the dark by now, the scrunching of Teddy’s face being apparent, even when it was partially turned away from his own. He didn’t want to let go, even as the patio’s light made their physical connection apparent. Neither of them did. So, they stayed that way, just until the door had opened wide enough for them to be visible by the entry way.

Everyone had seemed to go to bed, besides Yves- Teddy’s grandfather. He didn’t pay any mind to the pairs closeness, approaching them with a warmth that wasn’t found in any of Teddy’s other relatives. When Hosah pictures ‘grandfather’ in his mind, one like Yves wasn’t what it defaulted to. He wasn’t as fragile or decrepit as expected, in fact, he was the opposite, with the only true sign of his aging being the white colour of his hair, even his wrinkles being rather vague. He was younger than expected, that was for sure. Hosah knew how rude it was to guess peoples ages, but early seventies had to be the absolute oldest he’d pegged him for.

“Fed the cows?” He asked, still in an accented english, as Teddy’s father had insisted upon. Hosah considered that to be quite a rude gesture, also. He’d rather have his age guessed.

Teddy responded back, not in english, but the shifter pretended he understood what was being said either way, trying not to let how lost he was become apparent in his demeanour.

“Nonsense, I never get to use what I’ve learnt, so now you’re all here, I will use it as much as I can.” Yves gave a look to both of them. He had similar freckles and moles scattered around, just as Teddy had. “Hosah, photo album?”

The shifter was surprised to be addressed directly. The majority of Teddy’s relatives had done their best to ignore his presence. He was surprised his name was even known.

Hosah looked to his sides to make sure there wasn’t a third person at the doorway with the same name as him, before responding:

“Sure.” He tried not to let both his confusion and his enthusiasm be too evident.

Despite the taller of the two giving a sigh that could only be described as one that would be let out when preparing for further, they both followed along to the living room. It looked different now that it was empty, although the fire still crackled as if it was full of people it had to warm.

Maybe Teddy’s hobby was more of a hereditary thing, rather than one that stemmed from avoidance of his mother’s wishes regarding his future career path.

[itsheccincheebs]

The calm before the storm...

You’re about to call it a night, not because you’re all that tired but because Kaminari, in his increasingly desperate bid to kickstart his high school romance once and for all with the remaining time he has left, has started trying to goad some of his classmates into playing some childish American game of spin the bottle. Much to your horror, some of them are starting to warm up to the idea.

And frankly, you’re not about to run the risk of locking lips with that whole mess. So you make a show of stretching and yawning and you’re just about to get up when the front door opens.

Midoriya walks in, looking adorable in a fluffy cable knit sweater and you slowly settle back down to admire the rosiness of his freckled cheeks and the sparkle of those large doe eyes that somehow retain that youthful, boyish glimmer despite already nearing his 18th birthday. It’s taking every atom of your very being to not rush over and plant a fat one right on those pink lips.

To your left, Shinsou does a spit take (gross) and almost chokes on his tea. “Oh my god,” he wheezes while thumping his chest. He’s doing this weird coughing laugh and you curl your lip, moving away slightly. “You’re so whipped, holy shit.” You freeze as he gives you a look that says all his dreams came true at once. “That’s your type? I never would’ve guessed.”

You stomp down hard on his foot while ignoring the sinking feeling of dread. He’s definitely going to blackmail you about this later, the bastard.

Shouto appears right after holding a small paper bag, which he hands over. “I remember you saying you liked these,” he offers as explanation and when you take a peek, you smile at the paw print candies stashed inside.

“You keep doting on her and people are gonna get the wrong idea,” Shinsou interrupts before you can thank Shouto for the gift.

“Like what?”

“Shouto, I thought you had detention,” you cut in, derailing the conversation entirely. You’re so done with Shinsou today and he’s starting to get on your nerves. “Aizawa still let you go out?”

For some odd reason, Shouto’s face colors, just the faintest line of pink across the bridge of his nose. He glances at a spot over your shoulder and scratches his neck. “I…had today booked since last week. He didn’t keep me too long.”

You blink. This is very uncharacteristic behavior from your best friend. You’d almost think he was…

“Sho — ah, Todoroki-kun,” Midoriya pipes up from behind you, sending your heart into overdrive. From this close, you can see he’s wearing lip balm for the weather, making his lips look so soft and just a bit shiny. You want to scream. He has no business looking that cute, what the fuck — “Do you want to come up to my room later and start on that essay for Mic-sensei? I’m having a bit of trouble with it and I could use some help.”

Your heart leaps into your throat. As the resident English expert, you’ve already finished that essay. Wouldn’t it be the perfect opportunity to…perhaps help Midoriya with said essay? You try to catch Shouto’s eye so he could do you a solid and be your wingman, but alas, your best friend has many strengths, but picking up social cues isn’t one of them.

“Yeah, I’m just going to take a shower first. I’ll be up later,” Shouto answers, shrugging off his coat and missing your sullen glower completely.

“Shut down,” mutters Shinsou under his breath.

You round on him, having just about enough of his shenanigans. “You are just asking to get your ass kicked today,” you hiss, swearing when he catches your oncoming fist. “It’s like you don’t know when to shut the hell up.”

Shinsou barks out a laugh, mocking grin on full display and snagging your other fist. “Not my fault your game’s so weak,” he retaliates. “Watching you was starting to get painful.”

With a snarl, you shove him off the couch, but he takes you down with him and you land hard on your elbow. “Asshole!” you snap, eyes watering from the pain. What follows feels like the world’s most aggressive wrestling match, with Kaminari and Sero sliding in to do some improv sports commentary on the side and several spectators cheering you on.

Eventually, Shinsou gains the upper hand because the guy’s got at least forty pounds of pure muscle on you and you’re tapping out before long. “Good match. Just no biting next time,” he pants, trying to ruffle your hair.

You duck away with a grunt, out of breath and sour-faced. “Whatever. Hope it gets infected,” you add just to be spiteful.

Midoriya’s long gone, and so is Shouto, the traitor. You straighten up with a stretch, twisting from side to side when you spot something lying on the arm of the couch. “Oh…Shouto forgot his coat,” you mumble. When you pick it up, you pause at the faint whiff of cologne that wafts from it. The hell…? Since when does Shouto wear cologne?

---

Oh good golly gosh, y'all are not ready for the shitshow that's comin'. I don't do Hurt No Comfort cuz I'm too chickenshit, but there's definitely a lot of whump in this future one-shot. So hold onto yer butts.

[dingbatnix]

Venture

Chapter 6

Aww yea, an update! Eeeee. Also totally not me typing out whole chapters with a screwed up hand, sorry Becky xD

Anyway anyway, enjoy! Not much happens here and it's a bit short compared to the last one, but y'know. Injured hand and all that : D

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Chapter 5

Dream + Tommy reference

Word Count: 1,901

Warnings: mmmm, mentions of starvation? Fear of reprecussions, I suppose. Not much going on here : D

They continued to travel, days passing as they grew closer and closer to the edge of the forest. Tommy wasn’t exactly sure how far they were from Manberg, but…it had only taken four days for the men who had previously kidnapped him to get as far as they did. Dream was either taking his sweet time getting to the capital, or…or he had lied to the teen about their destination. Tommy tried not to think about it too much.

It was a bit…disconcerting for Tommy, spending his days on a human’s shoulder, and, occasionally, in the human’s hands as Dream walked. The motions of Dream’s body as it moved felt different than when he had been in the cage, more…telegraphed than before, but Tommy couldn’t really find it in himself to complain. Often, he found himself being lulled into short, hazy bouts of sleep from the rocking, repetitive motions. He honestly felt more rested than he had been for several weeks, and it was very refreshing.

His clothes, unfortunately, were stained from the blood that had soaked into them. Both Dream and Tommy had tried their best to wash the remains of the faint tan smudges from his shirt and shorts, but they stayed stubbornly in the fibers of his garments. Tommy didn’t have anything else to wear, and Dream didn’t have any convenient stashes of smallfolk clothes, so the teen just had to deal with it for the foreseeable future.

Dream had been…surprisingly accommodating to Tommy, despite the fact that he’d had to carry and keep a general watch on the teen for the last couple of days. He hadn't even tried to put Tommy in any of his pockets, not since the teen had mentioned his fear of small spaces. That, among other things, had Tommy growing less and less wary of the human as the days went on. He learned that, pretty much no matter what he did, Dream wouldn’t hurt him. Even after the one time Tommy had managed to get his hands on an especially sharp stick and had stabbed the thing into Dream’s hand in a bout of defiance, all the human had done was curse, pull the splinter out from his bleeding skin, and ask Tommy not to do it again.

As usual, the human’s actions puzzled Tommy down to the extremes, but he wasn’t about to complain. He found himself enjoying the simple days of travel, especially when he got away with being ‘a little shit,’ as he had been called many times before. He thrived on being able to vocalize every little thought he had, and the fact that Dream would add on to whatever Tommy had to say made it all that much better.

Tommy didn’t think about their destination, or his approaching future, focusing more on the current moment. He’d decided that he would enjoy every second of his life while he still could, while it was still fun and painless. But, in the very back of his mind, the cesspit of anxiety, paranoia, and self-preservation roiled, waiting for just the right moment to rear its head and take control.

That’s why, when Dream had let Tommy down on the forest floor for a few minutes as the human dug up some sort of medicinal plant, Tommy took the chance and booked it, impulsively darting away from Dream and towards a nearby clump of weeds. He sprinted as silently as he possibly could away from the hunched, towering silhouette of the human, leaping over stray twigs and dodging around branches of grass and dead leaves. He dove under the arch of one such leaf when he heard Dream start moving, stifling a gasp with one hand as he sensed more than saw the shadow the human’s body cast over Tommy’s hiding place as he stood to his full, impossibly colossal height.

He heard the human’s voice, loud and pervading, blare out through the forest air. Tommy pressed himself lower against the cool, mulchy ground, holding his breath even though he was sure Dream wouldn’t be able to hear him.

"Tommy? Tommy?! Where’d you go?” The sound of shuffling, as if Dream were searching through his pack, then around in the nearby foliage, and then, Dream’s voice again, this time slightly hissed and flecked with an emotion Tommy couldn’t quite identify. “…Goddammit."

A small, triumphant grin slid across Tommy’s face, and he had to hold back a small laugh of victory. He was free! He was free! For the first time in nearly two weeks, his life was in his own hands, and nobody could grab him and keep him captive!

All he had to do was make his way further from Dream without being spotted, and he’d be free to go wherever he wanted!

It almost hurt to keep his gaze so high up towards the sky as he ducked and sprinted through patches of cover, but it was necessary for Tommy to keep an eye on Dream, and, more importantly, where the human was looking. Tommy didn’t think anything bad would happen if he were caught, per se, but his freedom to roam about the camp at night would definitely be taken away. Tommy frowned, realizing that, if Dream caught him, he might just stick the teen in a pocket and not let him out until they reached Manberg.

Well, I guess that’s just more incentive to not be caught, then, Tommy thought, swallowing down the knot in his throat and clambering over a particularly large log of a stick. He glanced back and was unable to see any sign of Dream behind him.

Deciding that he was far enough out of sight to properly start moving, he set off, picking the direction that would take him furthest from Dream, and started fast-walking. He was eager to see where his path would take him, and even more eager to see where his newfound freedom would bring him.

°°°°°

He’d been walking for about an hour now, and was gradually coming to realize that this, escaping into the forest, had been a terrible idea. He’d already had to run away from two trapdoor spiders, and one huge lizard that had persistently chased after him until Tommy managed to juke it out through some roots curling up out of the dirt.

He was tired, and his feet kinda hurt. He had a nasty scrape across his right shin from a broken stick he’d tripped over, and his hands were still shaking with the vestiges of adrenaline from the lizard encounter.

Huffing slightly, Tommy plopped down on a stone that jutted out of the ground at about knee height, slouching as he caught his breath and rested his legs for a moment.

Tommy knew jack-shit about the world of nature. He'd spent most of his life learning the ins and outs of being a borrower, an inchling that lived inside big-folk houses, where there were very few dangers aside from being caught by the owner of the house, or being bitten by a wayward spider or rat. Tommy knew that there were smallfolk that lived their whole lives outside in the wild, and that there were even whole villages built out in hard-to-reach places, like burrows and crevices and hollowed out trees, but he wasn’t one of them. He didn’t know the first thing about outside living, or, hell, even outside travel!

In the house that he’d lived in before he got kidnapped, there was a garden balcony with many, many plants. In the seven years that he had lived in that house, he’d only gone out to that garden twice. There were so many crows and bugs and critters bigger than he was populating that small patch of greenery that he hardly ever dared to venture out into it. He would have been plucked up and eaten in a heartbeat, he just knew it.

The point was, Tommy didn’t really know what he was going to do now that he had escaped. What the fuck had he been thinking? He was gonna get himself killed! He’d been safe with Dream, if only until they reached Manberg.

He couldn’t go back, though. It was partially from a point of pride, because he didn’t want to go crawling back to Dream just for the simple fact that he couldn’t handle being outside. The other part was from a slowly growing sense of fear, an unnerving buzz in the back of his head that tried to convince him the longer that he was gone, the madder Dream would get. It had already been a little more than an hour. Tommy didn’t want to know how pissed Dream was. Of course, there was the small chance that the human had given up chasing after the teen, but Tommy didn’t take Dream for the type to let go of something so easily. The human was definitely still trying to track him down.

He had to keep moving. Tommy pushed himself up, and continued walking.

Eventually, he came up to a massive wall of stone that blocked his path, rising at nearly a ninety-degree angle to bar Tommy’s trek forward. The teen’s brow furrowed as he scowled, glaring at the unprecedented obstacle. Now what?

His only options to continue were to go right, left, or to climb the stone cliffside all the way to the top. Tommy took one look at how high the crest of the cliff was and chose left. After that, it didn’t take him long to find a crack that split into the stone, one big enough that it might as well have been an invitingly wide door. It took little effort to scramble through it. Tommy hoped that it would lead to a path to the other side of the cliff.

The crack opened up almost immediately into a huge, dimly lit cavern, so huge that Tommy couldn’t even make out the ceiling above his head. He gaped for a moment, thrown off by the sudden expanse of space, but shook it off fairly quickly. He wanted to keep going.

Oh, what if he found diamonds in this cave? The thought brought a grin to his face, and he started moving, keeping close to the wall he had come in from.

As he wandered deeper, searching for a way through the network of caverns to the other side, his mind started drifting towards what might happen once he got out of the cave. What would he eat? Where would he sleep? How would he find fresh water that wouldn’t steal him away with a simple current?

It had gotten so dark. Tommy didn’t feel the most confident about wandering through the caves now, unable to see much other than the occasional flash of the pale skin of his hands as he felt his way forward. He should probably go back. What if the cave only got deeper and deeper and deeper? He could get trapped down here, and he’d starve to death, or die of thirst.

Tommy needed to go back. This was a terrible idea. He’d find some other way around the cliff, or pick a different direction to travel in. Anything would be better than continuing on in this abyss-like darkness.

The ground disappeared out from under his feet before he could turn around, and a terrified shriek escaped from Tommy’s lips as he plunged down, down, down…

…

…

Poor toms...Anyway, taglist!

@brick-a-doodle-do @i-am-beckyu @da3dm @kayla-crazy-stuffs @local-squishmallow @skullsnbruises @munchkin1156 @gt-daboss

[slytherhys]

12 Days of Christmas - ACOTAR Edition

In the spirit of the Holidays, I will be writing & posting short stories about the ACOTAR characters for the next 12 days. Please note that some will be shorter than others and that this is simply meant to be a fun time for everyone that loves these characters as much as I do!

PS. I'm open to requests.

AO3

3rd day of Christmas - Mistletoe

Unsuspected Kissing

Rhys eyed his family, noting the happiness on their faces, the ease that seemed so familiar now, when years ago, it had felt so foreign. Sitting by the fire, Nesta and Elain chatted about whatever book they’d both been reading lately, Amren intervening with her own thoughts ever once in a while. Morrigan was sitting across from them, sprawled on the couch as she drained yet another glass of wine, cackling loudly at whatever Feyre said that made Azriel blush in his seat. They were all so content, so relaxed. It was exactly what he had wanted for the Solstice.

And yet, Rhys couldn’t help but feel…extremely fucking grumpy.

Not that anyone could tell, of course – leaning against the door frame, Rhysand stood with his arms crossed as he watched his wife with a scowl on his face. Really, he was the epitome of grace and joy.

When he had first asked Elain to bring him some mistletoe, he had assumed kissing his mate under the unsuspected green branch would be easy enough.

Everything had been going exactly according to plan. Rhys, a man-prepared if there ever was one, had gotten out of bed while Feyre still dozed, sneaking away from their bedroom to hang the damned mistletoe and make her breakfast. He had been extremely pleased with the idea of spending his day kissing his mate senseless whenever they oh so accidentally crossed paths under the wooden beam of the door frame.

So, when he first spotted her coming down the stairs, his sweater covering her body, hair still messy from sleep, Rhysand had smirked.

“Good morning, darling.” He had drawled. Feyre had rubbed the sleep away from her eyes, smiling as Rhys handed her a mug filled with freshly pressed coffee.

“Good morning,” she had said, standing on her tiptoes as she reached for his lips.

And then the doorbell had rung, signalling Elain’s arrival with boughs of holly under her arms, Azriel right behind her carrying what appeared to be a small pine tree.

Rhysand had stared at them blankly, his well-thought-out plans crashing down right in front of him. Elain, clearly misunderstanding his confused look, had simply smiled.

“It’s a human tradition.” She had offered as an explanation, breezily walking past them as if nothing was wrong. Feyre had followed after Azriel, excitedly pointing to where exactly she wanted the greenery to go.

From then on, it was chaos. Soon, Nesta and Cassian arrived, quickly followed by Amren and Varian, all bringing food, presents and entirely too much cheer. Still, he persevered, trailing after Feyre in what he hoped to be a charming, helpful manner (sure, she had cursed him inside his mind more than enough times, but such was their bond).

Needless to say, Feyre hadn’t noticed the mistletoe, let alone his intentions of kissing her for approximately two hours. Give or take. And as it was, all hope had gone down the drain when Morrigan announced her arrival, carrying too many bottles of wine. Rhys had merely sat down on the couch, slumping away in his defeat and disappointment.

A solstice without a single kiss from Feyre. It made him sick even thinking about it.

Hours had passed and he now stood under the wooden beam once again, glaring at the shrub. Rhysand had never noticed how accusing a plant could look. What had promised to be a delightful tradition, was now a perverse reminder he hadn’t kissed Feyre all day.

An obnoxiously loud sigh sounded from his side. Rhysand didn’t have to look to know Cassian was standing there with was probably a shit-eating grin.

“You know,” He lowered his voice, standing too close for comfort. “they say it’s bad luck if you don’t kiss under the mistletoe.” He whispered seductively. Or at least trying to sound it.

Rhysand gave him a dull look. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Party pooper.” Cassian grumbled, taking a sip of his mulled wine and, unfortunately, making absolutely no move to leave.

Rhysand raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you with anything?”

“You’re looking extra jolly this evening, brother.” Cassian smirked. “Trouble in paradise?”

Rhys stared at him, making a show of exactly how unimpressed he was.

Cassian sighed loudly. “It’s starting to get pathetic how needy you are.” He threw an arm around his shoulders. “You could just ask her, you know?” He suggested. “Communication is key.”

“Aren’t you the little relationship expert?” Rhys drawled. Cassian preened at that, grinning as he stared at Nesta.

“I don’t know brother,” He could hear the pride in his voice. “I’m actually very good at it.” He said, just as Nesta turned around, a not so happy look on her face as she stared at her mate, signalling him to go to her. “Mother’s tits.” He grumbled.

“Clearly very good at it.”

“That’s just love.” He shrugged, making his way towards Nesta as he said too loudly, “Just talk to her.” And then he was off, kissing Nesta before she even had the opportunity to scold him for whatever he had done this time around.

Rhys turned to Feyre. Asking her would take away the surprise element he was going for, but it was better than to not kiss her at all. Just as he was about to make his way towards his mate, Feyre tried to get up, losing her balance just as she stood. Falling down on the couch, she looked up at Rhysand, a sheepish smile on her lips. He couldn’t help but smile back.

Darling, are you drunk? He asked down their bond.

“That’s not a very appropriate question.” Feyre answered out loud, earning confused looks from everyone in the room.

“That’s a yes.” He smirked, watching her as she got up once again – this time successfully - making her way towards him.

“I’m having fun.” She shrugged, throwing her arms around his neck. Rhysand’s heart started to beat wildly inside his chest, as it tended to do whenever she was around.

He raised his hand, pushing a lock of her hair away from her face. “I know, my love.”

She frowned. “But you are not.”

“Of course I am.” He smiled softly. “How could I not?”

“You’ve been brooding all night long-”

“I’m not brooding.” He grumbled.

“And you haven’t kissed me once.” She said indignantly. That shut him up.

“I’m sorry,” Rhysand whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead before looking into her eyes. “I never meant to deprive you from such a gift.” He teased – like the hypocrite he was - yelping when he felt her punch his arm.

“I sure hope not.” She huffed.

“Is…” He gulped, looking around. “Is this what you wanted? What you wished for today?”

“This is everything I ever wanted.” She said, honesty shining in her eyes as she stared up at him. “You?”

Rhys didn’t even need to think about it. “I couldn’t imagine a better Solstice.” He kissed her nose. “A better life than this one, where I get to spend my days with you.”

Feyre smiled brightly at his words, her eyes flickering up as her cheeks pinked further. “Look,” She gasped. “mistletoe.” Mischief alighted her gaze.

“How convenient.” He heard Cassian’s grumble from across the room.

Rhys felt himself smile, pulling Feyre’s body closer to his, his left hand gently tilting her jaw just right. He felt his heart settle, felt as Feyre, too, settled against him. There was nothing else that mattered. Nothing else that he could think of saying other than, “Finally” as he pressed his lips against hers.

Just like he was supposed to.

[fictionalmenmakemecry]

Batman therapist - Part 2 (prequel)

Summary: While been taken hostage under the Wayne's residence helps you develop a severe case of boredom, you occupy your mind with thoughts of Bruce. Understanding his strange behavior leaves you with more questions than answers.

Characters: Bruce Wayne x Reader

Warnings: Fluff

Looking up from my book and seeing the god like sculpted muscles with what the towel would let me see. The little of light that would brush against his skin softly.

Water droplets fell from his hair and rolled down his back. Would it be too much from me to say that I would lick it off his body in an instant?

Hearing him in the shower when walking past his room. I swear he would tease me, the way his door would be ajar.

I spent most of my time here barely existing. I daydreamed most of the time whether that was while deep in many of the books that were here or looking at particular someone. Bruce had a routine and by the first week I had it down.

Mostly of his routine was by himself in his little cave from what it looked like.

As weeks went by, I stayed. I questioned first, many many times. But the same response came from Bruce and Alfred. My safety.

Somehow I got tangled into Gotham's troubles. Bruce wouldn't let me go. For how long? No answer.

I know I've definitely lost my job. My plants are probably dead. My apartment could be broken into by now and I wouldn't even know.

In the events that lead of up to strange existence, I lost my phone so I felt pretty much cut off from the world. Alfred would give me a private line to contact my family to tell them I'm safe. But other than that, not much else.

"Miss, do you want to have the rest of that sandwich that you were saving for later?" I snapped my head back.

My attention completely broken from the corrupted thoughts running in my head.

"Oh.. Yeah, that actually sounds great" I smiled crawling out of my big cozy chair I made a den in for the last couple of hours.

"I've noticed you have taken quite a liking to that chair when reading over the last couple of weeks. Would you like Mr. Wayne to move it to your room where you might be more comfortable?" Alfred offered leading me to the kitchen.

"There's really no need. I kinda like the cozy corner I have in the living room right now. Unless.. I'm in the way?" I asked realizing this might be "Mr. Wayne's" request more than Alfred idea.

"Of course not, I just suggested. I know I just like reading when I'm in more my space" He wholesomely smiled while handing a plate of my left over sandwich.

As I ate, some stray piece of lettuce fell out of the sandwich. I felt a presence walk behind me. With that, the chair beside me pulled out.

I casually glanced over to see the towel still around his neck but underneath a black t-shirt was now covering his soft pale skin.

"What's that?" He gestured to the food on my in my hands.

"A sandwich" I stated holding back a smile that was peeking through my poker face.

He rolled his eyes and I noticed his jaw clenched. My thighs automatically pressed together.

"No shit.." He mumbled.

Before he looked away a small smile crept up on his face. My heart jumped at the thought of me making him smile.

I looked down at his hands, they were fidgety. He couldn't sit still. Within a couple of minutes, he was gone again. I looked over at Alfred who was busy pouring himself some coffee.

"How do you relax around him?" I smirked

"Change you mind about the chair now?" Alfred chuckled taking a sip of his coffee.

-------

After saying goodnight to Alfred, I made my way to my room. Every night I past this stairwell that lead presumably to the basement. I argue with myself most night whether to go down or not.

"Fuck it" I whispered to myself. I glanced by to make sure Alfred wasn't near and quietly made my way down the stairs.

Dim lightening peeped from the bottom of the door. I pressed my ear against it, nothing.

I turned the knob expecting it to be locked but hearing the latch click. I paused realizing the door was unlocked. I opened the door gently hoping it didn't squeak.

Through the crack, I could see him at his desk, all surrounded by computer screens which were casting a bright light on to his face. That was the only light source in the big open void space. I would see shapes of object in his room but nothing too detailed.

I tried to focus on what was on all the screen but I couldn't make out anything. I just knew two of the screens had several CCTV footage on them. I squinted my eyes, straining to see anything further.

As I leaned more forward the door hinges made a high pitch squeak, ripping me from my focused trance. I pulled back quickly not knowing if he noticed or not. I held my breath for a second listening to any cue of what may be happening.

Suddenly the ajar door jolted open.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust in such darkness.

"What the hell" He voice stayed low with a hint of annoyance.

"Uhh... " I fumbled my mind going completely blank.

"That's all?" He replied I couldn't really make out his facial expression.

"I didn't realise taking you in means I would be losing my privacy" He sighed leaning up against the door frame shoving his hands in his sweat pants.

"Well... I think you're being a bit dramatic" I smirked.

"What were you doing then, peeping Tom?" He snapped back.

We both stood in silence in the near pitch black doorway. The only thing I could see was the silhouette of his frame from his computer hub.

"So can I come in?" I whispered, breaking the silence.

He didn't say anything. He just shifted his weight and turned, leaving the doorway free. He made his way to his desk and plonked his body on his chair. As I slowly entered the room, I watched him exit out some windows on his monitors. The CCTV monitor stayed. The closer I came the more I noticed that it was live footage of Gotham city.

He spun around in his chair to face me. I continued to look around, but the room was in the depths of darkness. Making out anything was a mission. I think there was a wall full of book shelves on the left of me. That's where a couple of reading chairs and a coffee table were, that I could make out.

"Satisfied?" He stated, bringing my eyes back to him.

I nodded but felt lost in the middle of the room. I didn't want to leave knowing this was probably going to be the last time I would be here. It's the only part of the building I haven't explored, and I wanted to see more. To be honest, I wanted to watch Bruce. I wanted to see what he does for hours and hours. I know I won't get that now due to my presence.

I walked over to one of the leather reading chairs, feeling his eyes on me the whole time.

I sat down, the cold material pressing against my legs. I brought them up on the chair and rested my head back.

We looked at each other for a couple of seconds before he turned back to his desk and continued with whatever he was up to.

The quiet clicking of a mouse every so often was the only noise that filled the room. I glanced down to see his leg shaking under the table, nonstop. It was a tick I didn't expect from him. His eyes stayed focused on the screen in front of him.

As time went by, I felt my eyes getting heavy. I fought the urge to stay awake until the next think I remember is waking up in a bed.

My bed.

My eyes followed a beam of sunlight, cutting my bed in half and continuing all the way up my wall.

I laid there wishing I was in his room instead.

Masterlist for other fics

[blorbologist]

hehehe. hi :3

FMA AU: 🦋 | AooD: 🐜 | Jurassic Park AU: 🤪 or 🎨 | OFS+TFJ: 🎉 | Ruidusborn Percy: 💕 | BDSM Modern AU: 📖

answer as many or as few as you want!! i wanted to touch on multiple AUs >:3 and also search for things i don’t know yet lmao

OH BOY!!

AU Ask Game

FMA AU: 🦋 ''Share a downstream ‘Butterfly Effect’!

OH! hmmmm... see, the tricky thing is that this AU does broadly follow the plot beats of the manga, right? Some things are shifted around, but you know. Roy/Vex fucks up Envy/Delilah before Envy kills themselves, final fight involves Al/Beau giving their body back to Truth so Ed/Caleb can have his arm back...

I think the biggest butterfly is that our Hughes equivalent, Vax, doesn't die - because Vex, instead of being the Flame Alchemist like Roy is, is the Sewing Life Alchemist. So she can patch him up - or he ends up as a chimera through nefarious means instead. Either way, yahoo! yippee!!

AooD: 🐜 'What’s the smalllllllest change you want to share?'

SEE NOW THIS ONE IS A BIG AU SO IT'S GOT SO MANY BIG CHANGES?!?!

Ok, hm. Small change:

I'm almost at the point where I'm writing an almost one-to-one replica of the Feast of Imyr. Bar a few tiny details such as...

Loquatius needing new jokes to make fun of Vex's name instead of Purvan's.

Percy either freaking out about Bolo being there or commiserating with her about 'this BAG. not MACHINE.'

Vex and Percy clocking pretty quickly that Dean Hollow was up to no good inviting the Champion of Ravens and behaving accordingly.

That '[S]he was one of us' comment from Hollow about the Matron being really fucking painful for Vex to hear about the Warden

Oh, yeah - and a Gau Drashari is going to Transport Via Plants out of the tree Nydas brought. Hey, hi, sorry! Don't mind Keyleth, she's making a great first impression.

More under the cut!!

Jurassic Park AU: 🤪 'Silliest part of the AU?'

The Briarwoods are collectively sharing John Hammond's role (the more evil book version). They are The capitalist assholes. Something something a necromancer bringing shit back from the dead, something something a vampire not letting things grow old and being a blood sucking billionair. It's perfect. It's awful. Do you see my vision!??!?

or 🎨 'What’s the most creative part of this AU?'

OKAY SO! The og Jurassic Park was written in 1990. A lot of our scientific knowledge has advanced in leaps and bounds since then: not just the paleontology and understanding of dinosaurs, but standards of zookeeping and animal behavior, genetics, computer systems and security, etc.

So most of JP's original failure points don't actually apply if you tried to rewrite this today - and either way they're all very well known. The lysene, the frog DNA breeding, the tracking glitch, the raptors having no fucking enrichment, etc.

The tricky and fun part about this AU is finding new, sensible ways to run the park / protect the guests and dinosaurs / get certified so they can run at all... and still have it go to shit when Vax, Keyleth and co have the introductory tour.

OFS+TFJ: 🎉 'What change are you most proud of?'

DALEN'S CLOSET HAPPENING OVER THE YEAR BREAK. GENIUS MOVE @ ME. Compounded on all the prior changes and gave Delilah a chance for an amazing entrance, and had so much dramatic irony compared to Dalen's Closet in canon.

Ruidusborn Percy: 💕 'How are relationships impacted by the AU?'

Oh god. So: Percy is both a lot more sheltered (no one wants to be friends with a mind-reading rich freak) and is lacking social skills (why bother when he can read minds if he has to?). He is... way less cool and more of a huge pain in the ass until VM can socialize him. like a feral cat. He's probably even closer to Keyleth than canon, and to some degree Grog too (easier to understand what's going on in that thick head), but the twins and Scanlan trust him far less due to not wanting him poking around in their heads.

The thing is, Percy is also acutely aware of all that from when he does slip up and get a grasp of what's going on in their heads.: he can pry behind Vex and Scanlan's masks in a way no one else can, and Vax just doesn't trust the spying potential. (Vex especially is terrified of Percy seeing her budding feelings, once that pops up, so she's slower to fall for him.)

I think things probably improve once Percy gets something like Imogen's circlet to block out the influx of thoughts - then he becomes extremely awkward and bumbling without that fallback of information and everyone goes 'oh wow he's harmless and also down SO bad for Vex he doesn't know what to do with himself'.

BDSM Modern AU: 📖 'What’s The defining moment of your AU?'

OHO!! OHOHOHOHOH!!

I think The moment I think of in my head about this AU is... Percy working on Vex's custom toy after he finds out it's for her. Getting very hot under the collar (HAH!) and trying so very hard to keep his cool. It's that tension I'm most excited about - but of course this is a BDSM AU! They'll likely start playing together before romantic feelings pop up (but after Percy comes clean ofc)! Which is its own bag of worms. sexy, sexy, writhing worms.

Also just like. All the horny tied up (HAH) with Percy's character growth and healing as he realizes that he's a switch, not a firm dom as he'd forced himself to believe for the longest time due to #trauma. muah!

[xxladyballadxx]

Reckless

Yamato Kai x F! Reader

✿ Wordcount (I normally don't do this shit XD): 477 words ✿

Summary: Just (Y/n) getting constantly worried about her boyfriend (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥)

ꨄ dividers by: @saradika-graphics ꨄ

Your boyfriend headed out to do an important job, it sounded urgent and he told you reassuringly that he will be extra careful when fighting off those military men. To be honest, Yamato always ends up heading home with minor injuries. His younger brother Minato tells him off for it and so do you. 

Yamato smiles it off confidently whenever you and Minato have a little go at him. Well, mostly you. There are times where he just needs a light bonk on the head with the back of the book. Yamato didn’t want you to make you and his younger brother worry so much. You just can’t help it. Yamato going out there, doing a dangerous job, getting wounded majorly and sometimes minorly.  You’re his girlfriend, you worry a lot about him and just want to make sure he takes care of himself properly. 

As you were doing the laundry, you heard an unlocking sound from the door which means Yamato has arrived home. You popped out for a moment only to see blood dripping from the corner of his forehead, “Oh my god! You’re hurt!” You shouted in worry, getting the clean cloth from the cupboard and wetting it in cold water. 

“It’s fine, it’s not a big deal.” Yamato tried to reassure you. You let out a grunt of little frustration with a sign of worry overflowing as you dragged your boyfriend to the couch, “ ‘Not a big deal’ up my ass!”

As he sat down with you in a calm manner, you damped the wet cold cloth gently towards the corner of his forehead. While you were doing that, Minato hopped out from his room to see what was going on.

“Oh hey Minato, you alright?” Yamato greeted his little brother with a small wave. Minato signed, walking over to him with a worrying look planted on his face, “I swear, you always get hurt. No matter how many times you promised to be careful outside..” 

Yamato gave an apologetic look, “I’m sorry to make you both worry…” you spotted a few scratches on his body and chest. You urged Minato to get some badges and ointment from the drawers. Minato chuckled when you once again bonked your boyfriend’s head with a book but not too rough since he’s hurt badly. 

Your reckless boyfriend gave you that softening gaze as you tended to his injuries, you noticed it and sensed that he was looking at you romantically. You turned a little red when he couldn’t keep his eyes off you. He shot you a small surprise kiss on the cheek in his poor state. 

You let out a sigh, your face softening, “What am I going to do with you, Yamato Kai?” 

“Love you too, (Y/n).” Yamato sweetened his face with a comforting smile, pressing down a kiss to your soft lips. 

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

(a/n) - *sigh* I feel like Yamato Kai deserves more appreciation :-; I still find it surprising that there ain't many project scard fanfics on here (╥﹏╥)

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨♡୧⋆ ˚｡⋆

[thedawningofthehour]

Galois Room Post!

I made Gale's room in the Sims! It took a ridiculous amount of time for such a tiny room. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out-it's faithful to what I was picturing, and the places it's not can be blamed more on the limitations of the Sims 4. One thing I struggled with was the size. It's supposed to be a pretty small room, most of the living areas in Draxum's house are, but I definitely had trouble placing everything I wanted in there. Sizing it up 1x1 made it feel too big though. (Sims 5, please let us build walls on half or quarter tiles, I'm BEGGING you) In the end I couldn't fit in a real bookshelf, which was my only real gripe, but he still has plenty of space for books. (plus Draxum has so many bookshelves, he can offload some if he gets too cramped)

I wanted to have it mostly Galois but not 100% Galois. He's a teenager and wants to decorate his bedroom to the nines because that's what teenagers do, but I also wanted to keep in mind that this furniture was not bought for him and was mostly left over from its last occupant/bought when Draxum viewed Donnie as his new science slave and not his son.

Without further ado, here we go!

It's...yeah, it's white. Nothing else really looked good. It was Bella's room first and Draxum didn't bother to repaint. She probably had this place papered with posters and cringey 90's wall hangings when she lived here. In retrospect pale purple walls were a trend in the 90's, but whatever it's done now.

(I also forgot to paint the walls originally so I might have just gotten used to the white)

Also just imagine the ceilings are a little lower, the wall height needed to be on medium for the rest of Draxum's house to work and due to how the Sims 4 works I couldn't give just Gale's room shorter walls. The top of the cabinet should be touching the ceiling.

Other side! Gave him some nice plants, he's got some hanging ones around his bed and computer area. :) I'm not sure how I feel about the rug but I was feeling a circular rug and the colors worked. Left door is to the bathroom.

Huginn and Muninn 100% made that knitted turtle for him.

Did I give him one of those fairy light canopies every movie and sitcom character had in the 2000's? Yes. Yes I did. Look, I wasn't planning on it, but I saw it in the lighting section and I had to give it to him. I know I'm terrible to him but he is my baby and I will spoil him.

Better view of the bed. (the canopy kept fading from existence) Got the salt lamp and the lantern Cass gave him, I'm so happy I found those. I'm probably the least happy here, he needs more stuff on his shelves and more pictures under them. There's so many goddamn pictures in this room but HE IS A TEENAGED BOY and this is how they express themselves.

Also the clutter under the bed. In-fic that platform is actually storage space, so it works. Please enjoy how he's hiding his fashion magazines behind the pillow.

His little computer corner! The Draxum family stays pretty unplugged when they're not at work, (Draxum would like them to be anyway) but Gale's allowed to have all the tech he wants in his bedroom as long as it stays in this corner.

Swing back again and-

Just pretend that the vampire doll is Atomic Lass, okay?

So that bookcase thing. Is NOT a bookcase. It is a thing of evil. It drove me absolutely nuts because I wanted to fill those shelves in with clutter. Those are not snap points. But the bookcase has snap points. So I couldn't alt-move stuff there or use 9-0 keys because they'd just snap to the bottom there. So now they just look empty and stupid while he has books on the floor.

But other than that, I like this corner. He's got some binders for schoolwork in the cubby there, got some artsy stuff for relaxing and his box of vinyl records with no record player. (Draxum probably has a record player somewhere) It looks like how an actual teenager would organize his shit. I'm not sure how I feel about him leaving a stack of books on the floor, but overall Gale is a very good book owner so I'm sure he's careful.

He doesn't get a window so I gave him a nice picture with curtains so he can pretend.

On a side note, I absolutely fucking hate the curtains in this game, that was the only set that looked good and didn't cover up the whole damn picture AND THEY DIDN'T COME IN PURPLE. Really, there's such a lack of purple in this room. Blame the color swatches, because I tried. God I miss Create-A-Style.

Again, please use your imagination and imagine the bulletin board filled with pictures of him with Cass or Pax and loving notes from the goyles. There's also a watch on his dresser-before he recreated his tech gauntlet, Draxum gave him a really nice watch to wear. He doesn't wear it anymore because having his gauntlet on hand is a major source of comfort, but he still loves the watch. I also realize this looks more like a girl's bedroom, but to be fair Donnie is very gender and Galois inherited that from him.

(I was SO tempted to put that box of kleenex behind his computer)

Close-up of the clutter in his corner. I know Donnie's canonically not into geology, but this game really wants you to use rocks as decor. Also purple.

I don't know what that orb thing is supposed to be. Maybe like a mini version of the orb Draxum was looking into during the Goyles episode? That sounds like something a Yokai teenager would have in their room.

I wanted to give him a stereo too but my game glitched out and wouldn't place any, so I put a mixtape there in honor of that. We'll say Cass made it for him.

I did make his bathroom too, but it's not the most interesting because

Yeah, pretty small.

God, doors in this game look so silly when they're up against a wall.

It was looking way too white so I gave him the fishies and the plants for a splash of green. That sink is also SO not the style I was going for but everything else was clashing with the other counter. We can say this bathroom was remodeled at some point when vessel sinks were in fashion. I don't know why because no one was living here when they were. (Huginn and Muninn probably did it as a weekend project just for fun) I feel like he needs a rug and a big piece of art on the opposite wall, now that I'm looking at it.

I definitely went overboard with the bathroom clutter. I was just very excited that I was able to squeeze in a whole counter just for decoration. Seriously, I just wanted to add in that eyebrow pencil so he could draw on his eyebrows, then that evolved into the blush palette and the makeup brushes and the lotions and the nail stuff. He doesn't even fucking wear blush.

He did make his electric toothbrush, though Draxum makes him keep a backup because he's skeptical about how that works.

And that's the build! I'm also building the rest of Draxum's house, but it's taking a while due to the absolute utter ridiculousness of the layout. (I mean, it's my own fault, I'm the one that chose this layout)(and also because I need to use the curved wall tool for his mushroom house, and by god curved walls are impossible to work with) Decorating should be quicker though, the only place with this level of detail should be the lab and maybe the greenery. I'll probably revise his room a little, maybe paint his walls an actual color. I also want to do something more with the cactus he has on his counter. Maybe I'll download some more CC so I can give him purple curtains.

I also have no idea if this is actually playable. Probably not, I feel like a Sim wouldn't be able to figure out the platform bed thing. But whatever, I didn't make this to actually play in.

[tricksterfiction]

Prompt #11 Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Time passed, somehow, but it was all blurry.

Active erosion, chiselling away at something, there were always so many distractions. The discontent was fleeting, sparks before being drowned away. She was conscious, propped upright, she had survived it all relatively intact. And yet... There was a pinprick of a hole, slowly widening.

Brief glimpses of the distractions, she was away from her ceiling hanging indoor plants, her beloved creeping ivy spilling over the window sill, the small animal bones, the messy desk piled with books with reference marks, dusty spines, and piles of old candle wax. A carefully tended shrine to Althyk with incense ash in pewter bowls. What all used to be such an important sanctuary.

Her bed was neat, orderly, sheets tucked so tightly you could bounce a single gil off it. It was cold and untouched.

Stranger's beds were so comfy, inviting, and she had tumbled endlessly into them.

"Would you like to join my girlfriend and I tonight?" He would ask, behind a blurry face.

"Sure," She would say, "Don't blame me if you break up once she realizes you can't perform oral for shit."

A good hearty laugh from both. Sen would laugh too.

Hands bound, the tip of a fang dragging delicately along the nape of her neck.

"Remember, you can do whatever you want. It'll be gone by the morning."

"I know, pet," A hot breath rolled over her neck, but their tone changed out of play mode, "Remember your safe word." Another, different blurry face swam into view as her blindfold was pulled down to make eye contact.

Another was seated beside her, similarly bound. Her posture was perfect.

"Of course." Sen would say.

Sat down at Carline Canopy.

"Sorry Sen, this isn't working out anymore. You-..." She sighed, "Barely take any time off, and I don't feel like we can fit into your life. You haven't told your parents about us." Both of them held hands, separate from Sen. They looked hurt.

"I-I understand." A strained frown, her heart ached, a spark of discontent flew. "I wish you both the best."

Another party of strangers, the sound of wine pouring. Holding out her mug.

"Whats the matter, little dragon?" A tilt of her chin.

She was suddenly shy, quailing, blushing. She was sandwiched by a handsome midlander and seeker, by her own deliberate efforts to join the party. Now that she was where she had wanted to be she was losing all nerve. Confused above all else why she was reacting so strongly to such a familiar set up. "N-nothing, just don't call me pet, kay?"

"Whatever you say," His face too was a blur, as he leaned in for a kiss and she gladly met him. More than ready to tune out the doubts, retreat gratefully into her body.

He stopped again, this time catching her hands and could tell her heart wasn't in it. He sweetly pressed his lips to her knuckles, searching her face, "Tell us, what is hurting?"

She brushed it off, cutting sharply, "I said it was nothing because it would only bore you."

A flick of leaflet, a letter, open exuberant excitement.

"Oh, Sen, the botanists commendations have finally arrived! Glowing as expected," Madame Dubois was elated, "Now only the military commendations...! Everything we've worked for is finally bearing fruit."

Sen stared at the leaflet, summoning a smile, "Yeah, I was wondering when it'd arrive."

Sensing something was off, Madame Dubois cautiously inquired, "You are still seeing the counsellor?"

"Yes, every week." She answered.

"Meditating?"

"Yes and praying before you ask." She answered dryly.

Madame Dubois wrung out her hands, worried, "Of course you're not expected to be here every night, I'll always cook for two- I..." She hesitated, "You've been so busy out of the house and speak so little of your social excursions."

"They're nothing really to talk about, truthfully. Please don't be worried, I'm just-"

"You miss Miss Kemp, yes?" She was taking shots in the dark.

Sen sighed loudly, "Everyday but that's not the problem. I'm just in a funk, okay? Untangle those hands."

---

Moons passed, summers came and went. Sen found herself in the spring again. Still stumbling in and out of her patterns. Presently bent over her current patient.

"Hold still." A small thin hook being threaded, aether surrounding her fingertips as pain relief, she stitched the back of some soldier's head. She blinked, zoning out. The soldier waited patiently for several moments, trying to stay still as time passed.

"Corporal?"

Every muscle was taut. Her entire body tensed, brow deeply furrowed. The hole in her heart had expanded so widely that the emptiness couldn't, wouldn't be ignored any longer. It throbbed hungrily to be filled, and not to be filled by sex, love or work.

Sen's breathing grew rapid, she flinched at the touch of her colleague tapping her shoulder. More time had passed than she realized, the soldier flinched as well.

"Ow!"

Snapped back to reality, "Ah- I, sorry one moment." She rapidly finished the stitching, tying it off. Patting the soldier's shoulder, free to go.

They rubbed their neck, giving Sen a strange look before heading out of the ward.

Her colleague, face sharply in focus, young miqo'te woman with a bushy brow and slowly invading unibrow. She was climbing the ranks, and despite Sen's sharp tongue leaned on her for her experience, "You alright, Urabe?"

Sen blinked at her, before she knew what she was saying - the words smashed past all internal filters, "I don't want to do this anymore."

Her colleague began to laugh, "Yeah it's slow today, you don't have any physicals scheduled today right?"

Sen was uncharacteristically neutral, no hints of amusement to be found, she got up. In a flurry of movement she cleaned up her workspace, washed her hands, tugging off her uniform over her head.

Her colleagues complained, "Go to the change rooms, for godssakes-"

She didn't reply but pulled on a deep green cloak, fastening it, not sparing them a second look.

"Sen?"

She stopped, the three of them in total were staring at her. She reassured them, "I'll see you tomorrow." Then was gone.

---

Sen wondered through Gridania on foot, holding the reigns of her chocobo. Moonshine was kweh'ing with delight, expectant of exercise and exploration. The conjurer found herself by the massive community board, staring at the various flyers for bar nights, fights, and other social events.

A Private she recognized was pinning recruitment flyers up when she approached, squinting at something in particular. She reached tugging it free from underneath the colourful layers.

"Bokh?" She said aloud, "Authentic Bokh?" She deliberated, would it be a waste of time? How many scantily clad muscle men and women would be drawn to a traditional wrestling event?

The hyur private noticed her, a salute before leaning over to see what caught her eye. He chuckled, "You lizards really do like wrestling huh?"

"Don't call me lizard, Private." She warned sharply, folding the flyer to tuck into her belt.

He straightened, rolled his eyes, and returned to his flyer pinning while muttering, "Whatever, foreigner."

That got him a shove, "That's rich coming from you, Private Steele."

"Hey! Watch it-"

She continued, piercing, "When your family only moved to the Shroud two summers ago, you've barely got the stink of Greenwrath off of you." She cut deep, "I've lived here nearly my entire life and you would do well showing some godsdamn respect to the people mending your bruised ego after a snapped bow string nearly took out your eye three moons ago."

He blushed furiously, but elected wisely to shut up.

Sen walked away, reading the flyer closely. With the evening off she tapped the folded flyer to her chin with thought. She spared a look down at herself - not really dressed for the beach. It wouldn't really matter, she wasn't going to do any wrestling herself.

She went to Limsa Lominsa, down to the Mists, Moonshine happiest of all.

She arrived late for the start, riding up along the seabreeze markets, looking over the stone walls past patrons perched on them. She rode on taking herself down to the sands. It was busy - crowds were gathered around three separate rings of wrestlers paired off already in full swing of their matches.

To her surprise there was a great deal of variety of wrestlers from miqo'te, auri, hyur, lalafells, men and women across the spectrum. A rare smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she dismounted shooing Moonshine off to explore and find a good patch of grass to graze. Instead the chocobo went bounding to play in the surf.

Coming up behind a considerable crowd she pushed past to get to the front, many excuse me's, begging of pardons, gentle shouldering to get to the front for a good view to watch.

A dark keeper, only shades above shadow faced off against a towering xaela. He was lanky, distantly familiar, and the way he moved past the mountain he faced off against he was practically acrobatic. Fangs flashed with a confident grin. Red eyes lit up with adrenaline.

"I don't fucking believe it." A face snapped sharply into focus past all the noise. The same face smiling with latent approval while he carried home his younger sister Dolyea after their tree mishap. A face screwing up with disgust at tasting something foul they had snuck into his lunch. His face barely restrained fury, holding up his lance speared with a Bog Yarzon's limb shaking it at the pair of troublemakers, they snickered behind their hands.

The match ended, she found his discarded shirt thrown off to the side while two others swarmed to his side as he had all but collapsed in the sands from the exertion. They were congratulating him on the wonderful match.

Sen offered him his shirt, "Hey Twig."

He stared up at her, scrutinizing the nickname long since unheard. Jesser'to accepted his shirt, he replied curiously, "Pipsqueak?"

[gellavonhamster]

monthly media recap: may 2023

the lusty month of May! this one is gonna be long

read:

The Terror by Arthur Machen - a properly unsettling short novel about strange murders happening in England and Wales during World War II. I gotta say, I think the narrator is wrong :D as in, based on the story, I have a slightly different opinion on the cause of what happened

The Great Return by Arthur Machen - a novella about the reappearance of the Holy Grail in a small Welsh village; short, but beautiful

The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories by Algernon Blackwood - not bad apart from, as usual, certain period-typical yikes, but after Machen and M.R. James it just doesn't seem as good, and the endings to many stories felt too abrupt to me. However, I am a big fan of the character whose rooms were haunted by his friend's ghost, so he went to his other friend's place to study because "there's no hallucination about that exam; I must pass that whatever happens."

Issues No. 1-3 of the Hellebore zine - yep, still reading this, still in an absolutely random order. Witch trials, poison plants, the cult of Pan and other good shit; I've bookmarked the names of some books I might give a try later. I feel like the articles in earlier issues were more, uh, informal and essay-like and became more scientific as the zine continued to be released, which I think is a good change tbh

Temeraire series, Books 4-7 (Empire of Ivory, Victory of Eagles, Tongues of Serpents, and Crucible of Gold) by Naomi Novik - hell yeah! I started this series in 2019 (I believe?), read the first three books, loved them, but then kind of forgot to continue. Catching up on it now and greatly enjoying the alternate history (in very broad strokes: Napoleonic wars with sentient DRAGONS in the air force), constant adventures, anti-colonialist themes, and the extremely likeable cast.

+ progress on Lancelot-Grail: done with The Quest for the Holy Grail, The Death of Arthur, and the first part of Post-Vulgate (The Merlin Continuation). Currently reading the Post-Vulgate version of the Grail quest and Book 8 of of Temeraire - Blood of Tyrants

watched:

Daisy Jones & The Six (2023) - there were changes in comparison to the book that I liked (loved Simone's storyline in the show, for example) and that I disliked. I think the novel and the adaptation work together best. The soundtrack is amazing, and the original songs are very good even out of context

Valkoinen peura / The White Reindeer (1952) - older horror films often are more haunting than the newer ones despite limited special effects and mostly relying on things like lighting and music - or maybe because of that - and this Finnish film is a good example of that. God forbid women do anything (turn into a murderous reindeer)

November (2017) - fascinating folk horror set in 19th century Estonia - mundane magic, deals with the devil, and the unrequited love no spells can fix. Beautiful and sad and very well-made

Yellowjackets (season 2, 2021-?) - AAAAAAA!!! I know many people found this season much worse than s1, but I honestly enjoyed it, even if I didn't agree with all decisions (they better do something unexpected about Van's cancer, or I'll be mad). The finale is devastating, but I kinda expected that to happen :( it was one of the most likely character deaths. Alas, the only one of these women I'd be ready to let go is the one who's certainly not dying unless they all die in the end (which is not that unlikely, I guess). Anyway, this is one of my favourite shows at the moment, and I'm really excited for season 3 (and the mysterious bonus episode?..)

[ladykailolu]

Sometimes Gyro and Johnny get a little fresh and frisky in the stables and make love on piles of hay or on the floor in front of Slow Dancer and Valkyrie lol

Then they fall asleep in the stables and jolt awake, scrambling to find their clothes when they hear their oldest daughters already up and approaching the stables.

Gyro is the first to sense that someone is approaching. “Wait, I know that sound....Oh shit! It’s Paxe! Those footsteps are Paxe’s, and they’re coming right over here!”

“What are you talking about? I don’t hear anything.” Johnny says. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and watches Gyro dress himself in a panic.

“What are you doing? Get your clothes on! If she catches me here doing this with you, I’m dead!”

“Gyro, we’re already married.” Johnny pulled on his pants and fiddled with the buttons, but it was far too slow for Gyro’s tastes.

“I know, but,”--the footsteps were getting closer, Gyro had to act--“Oh shit...!” Without thinking, Gyro threw bunches of hay on Johnny, slowly covering his half-naked body in a small mountain of it.

“Gyro--!”

“Just for a little while! Be still, pretend that you aren’t here!”

“...” Fuming, Johnny obeyed and stayed quiet.

The door opened and Paxe entered with a huff, hands on her hips and feet planted firmly on the ground. “Where have you been?” She started and stared Gyro down. “Julia has been crying non-stop and it’s driving me crazy! You never told me where you keep her food, so I came out here looking for you. What are you doing anyway, and what happened to your shirt?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Gyro felt exposed, ashamed and silly for being shirtless in front of his daughter, but she didn’t seem to catch on yet. He forced himself to look away from Johnny still hidden a few feet to his right. Paxe rolled her eyes and didn’t question it further.

“And where is Johnny? He usually takes care of Julia anyway.”

Like nails grating on chalkboard, it occurred to Gyro that Paxe never referred to Johnny as her father. She called him by his first name only and nothing else no matter how many times Gyro reminded her that she has two dads now. Paxe never accepted it.

Poor girl. She must still miss her mother.

“School is about to start soon.” Gyro countered and moved toward her, shooing her away to the door. “Get your books. Now. I’ll take care of Julia. And play nice with the other kids today. I don’t want to hear you had another fight with a boy.”

“Well maybe if he knew what was good for him, he would stay in his place and not bother me.”

And so Paxe left to gather her school supplies, but Gyro didn’t follow her just yet. Once he closed the door, he turned back to the haystack and dug Johnny out of it.

“She’s a handful.” Johnny said and pulled his shirt over himself.

“Now you know what I mean when I said she’s a pain in the ass at times.”

“You can’t blame her though. She gets all that aggression from you.” That comment earned Johnny a glare from Gyro.

“Wise-ass.” Still, Gyro leaned in and kissed Johnny.

[soft-sweet-romances]

Valentine's Day

He sighed. A kind of absentminded thought drifted through his mind. A dream that lingered barely at the edge of his consciousness. He wondered sometimes. Tried to think about what, if anything, she saw in him. She was the breath of fresh air that filled his lungs in the morning. As he picked up his book, he stumbled to his feet. Barely steadying himself before slipping into the grass.

“Shit!” He exclaimed, as he fell forward. His hands barely caught himself before he could have cut his face against the nearby roses. Cursing himself under his breath, he couldn’t believe that, once again, he had been dreaming for too long. He had been thinking about how they met. He had been missing who he was.

Time had slipped by so easily; she was still his life. But those moments that passed like memories of angels across the sky lingered. He wished he could relive moments, but the body faded with age. The memory was still crisp sometimes, but he wished he could live with them all over again.

He picked himself up slowly and walked down the hill to his home. He had moments. Memories of chasing his kids and grandkids through the yard. Hiding Easter eggs behind so many of his wife’s plants and flowers. He had so many peaceful memories, far more than he could even remember. He had forgotten more stories than the blades of grass across the fields.

Walking forward to his home, he couldn’t wait until he could look into her eyes once more. He couldn’t wait until he felt the touch of her hand. She was worried for him, for he had fallen once more. Sixty years they had lived together and grown old together. She kissed away his fears and made sure he remembered the love of a younger man.

He remembered her as his love, his unyielding bliss. He remembered the first moment he met her. For she was a small-town girl in a bakery. And he had at once found his muffin, a love of a lifetime.

[lenses-to-see]

Hey I know I just use this as a fucked up way to talk about shit, but oh my god. I spent weeks thinking of and hunting down Valentine’s Day stuff for him. Time and effort and a fair chunk of money. Under our 500$ spending limit on birthdays and holidays but still. I just got asked to put together my own gifts and send them to him. The same thing kinda happened on Christmas. Is it ok for me to feel a bit upset? Like I put together a kit of something he loves to do and a bit of self care to also help with ingrown hair? He complains about it and I know it irritates him. He loves to be smooth and the bumps get infected sometimes. I literally told him verbatim a few things he could get me. Sprouts, oils, plants, a few books, a date night he plans, a small composter, a tall planter set up so I can grow us some food (save money, I get to grow things, cants can’t get into it as easily, and it tastes better) I feel like I make what I like so clear. I quite literally told him what oils I like for what kind of work. I don’t know if I should just be ok with it? Make a list he has access to so if he wants to he can easily give me something? I mean he gave me a tank I can’t even afford to fill because of the rent of where he had to live??? It was way too expensive, hence the spending limit. It was so sweet, but just too much. I would love to use all of it too, I just can’t afford the cost of filling it. I would love some plants, substrate (I have told him the type I like) and even a scorpion or small reptile. It doesn’t even have to be fish. And even the big one I want to put fish in, I want guppies colorful shrimp, and fresh water crabs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve mentioned it. He wants catfish and I’ve mentioned multiple times how I like panda catfish. Idk. I guess I just feel a little down