#talk about sex metal xD

[horizonspurple]

Song sharing Sunday

'Get a little bit higher So we can fall 'til we bleed Push a little bit harder Pull me into the speed'

[chaotic-orphan]

Intoxicating Fear (XX)redraft*

Revealing the Monster

Read part one here // Masterpost // Continued from here

Here's the tea, I am redrafting PART XX of this series and uploading it here, this is the canon - but I WILL POST THE NEXT PART TOMORROW!

The new part starts about halfway down XD

I am sorry, I wasn't happy with part XX! SO part XXI tomorrow, thank you for your time. :)

~*~*~*~*~*~

Kit was wary about following Ambrose down a very dark, a very concrete set of stairs. “If this is the fucking torture basement I woke up in initially—”

Ambrose waved the accusation away, as if it was daft for Kit to be wary. “It’s to the garage,” he told him, keying a code into the pin-pad beside the metal door.

Ambrose walked through the door and held it open, rolling his eyes when he noticed Kit still lingering at the top of the stairs.

“Come on.”

“I’m not going to willingly follow you into your torture dungeon.”

Ambrose blinked, tilting his head. “The sex dungeon is two floors down, Mallory.”

Ambrose laughed at the face that Kit pulled. “Come on. I can always force you to come if I want, and we’re kind of a time crunch here.”

Kit glared daggers at the man and begrudgingly walked down the stairs. He stopped at the last step, trying to get a peak into the room. Ambrose walked away from the door letting it close before Kit could. Kit lunged forward to catch the heavy metal door, but relaxed immediately when he saw it was in fact a garage.

Kit let out a long low whistle after stepping into the garage. The door shut with a buzzer after him. Ambrose opened a lock box with keys hung up in a numbered order.

He grabbed the keys named ‘01’.

“You’re such a control freak,” Kit snorted. “Do you have OCD or something?”

Ambrose shrugged, taking off through the cars covered by different tarps. The only car that wasn’t covered was the one closest to the garage door. The same car that Ambrose kidnapped Kit in last night.

He hated that Ambrose had a good taste in cars. He hated that Ambrose had this many cars when Kit couldn’t even afford one, nevermind a garage full.

Ambrose grinned at Kit over the roof of the Wraith as he unlocked the door. “If you like, I can give you one of the ones I don’t like.”

Kit rolled his eyes. “I thought I told you to stay out of my head,” he said, opening the door and climbing into the passenger seat. The cream leather was so comfortable under him as he put his seatbelt on.

“Seriously,” Kit went on, anger curling around him the more comfortable he became with all of Ambrose’s luxury. “Don’t you have any thoughts of your own?! It’s fucking creepy, man. Just ask questions if you want to know my thoughts.”

Ambrose laughed as he opened the garage door with a remote and they rolled out of the house and onto the road again.

“I mean, don’t you have any friends?” Kit demanded hotly. In all honesty, he didn’t know why he was getting pissed all of a sudden, it’s not like Ambrose invading his mind was a new thing, but now? It pissed him off. “Don’t you know how to talk to people?!”

“Relax, Mallory. You’re the only person I relay their thoughts to. It might shock you, but generally, people love when you know what they’re thinking. It’s why humans seek connection. To feel understood.”

“Okay, Socrates,” Kit grumbled. “It’s just fucking weird. I don’t like it when you do it.”

“All of a sudden.”

“Yes!” Kit snapped, glaring at the villain beside him as the forest zoomed past them. “All of a sudden!”

What had Ambrose seen? What parts of him did he know? Could he see everything or was it selective?

“After you found out I’m Mentor’s son,” Ambrose said pointedly. Kit scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring out the passenger window. They drove in a terse silence for a while, cause Ambrose was a psychopath and didn’t have the radio on.

“We have to talk about it, Kit.”

“Well, you already know my thoughts on it all, so enjoy having a conversation by yourself.”

“Mallory,” Ambrose said with a tired sigh, flicking on the indicator as they pulled to a stop. “I know it must seem like a weird coincidence to you, but I swear I didn’t know you were Mentor’s s—”

Kit’s hands tightened into fists. Son. He was about to say son.

“Prodigy,” he settled on, taking a right and messing with the gears until they were coasting again. The air seemed tighter. “I didn’t know that he meant anything to you. I swear— I just assumed that when you were scared of me turning you into him, that you had heard the horror stories in the academy, or Superhero told you. Not that you… not that you were personally affected.”

Kit’s eyes burned as he stared out the window, the forest growing sparser the closer they got to the city. “I didn’t know. You have to believe me.”

“And if you did?”

Ambrose hesitated.

Kit turned his head to look at him, studying the villain’s reactions.

“And if you knew that he was like a father to me.” Like a father, not an actual one. “If you knew how much it hurt to see a man who plucked me out of nothing be destroyed. Would it have been any different?! Or would you have laughed and rubbed it in like salt in a wound?”

“Kit—”

“Oh, come off it. There’s no one here, Rosey. It’s only me and you,” Kit said, his voice dripping with a horrible hysterical knowing. “You can be your usual sadistic, unfeeling, monstrous self and I can tell nobody about it—”

“Mallory—” Ambrose tried to interject but Kit spoke over him again.

“But you know the funniest part in all this? You already took away the one person who would have given a shit about this! About me, not the Hero. Me. And you made him a monster!” Kit roared, something wet hitting his cheeks and flowing like a stream down his face. “And now, because clearly God hates me, I have to team up with you of all people, to go and stop — the one man who ever treated me like a person — from becoming a monster like you.”

The silence was deafening. In some strange way, it was comforting. No electricity crackles or malfunctioning lights accompanied his breakdown with the power dampeners locked around his wrist.

It was cathartic.

They had just pulled into the main road that brought them to the outskirts of the city, the skyline visible over the horizon when Ambrose spoke.

“He wasn’t a hero to me,” said Ambrose quietly, almost imperceptibly. Kit glanced at him, but his eyes settled on the white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.

“Don’t fucking tell me you have daddy issues.” When Ambrose didn’t answer Kit let out a strangled laugh. Blinking in bewilderment, Kit raised his brows. “Are you telling me you have daddy issues? Mr Big Bad villain?”

“Oh fuck off, Mallory. At least I had parents.”

The words stung. They cut deeper than Kit would have ever admitted out loud or shown physically, but Kit knew that Ambrose was in his head after the villain winced.

Shifting in his seat, he said: “I’m— I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off snarky. I just—” Ambrose let out a groan. “You just rub me up the wrong way.”

“Well who’s fucking fault is that, dickhead?!”

“Do you want me to explain, or are you just going to argue with me the entire drive to the hospital?” Ambrose snapped. “I can only do one of those things in our limited time, so choose.”

Kit clenched his teeth, glaring forwards at the car in front of them. “Fine. Tell me.”

“Mentor is my father. As you know, he only rose to prominence within our lifetimes, though you may be too young to remember. Before him, heroes and villains weren’t really a thing. There were a couple dotted here and there, but mostly they were vigilantes. The good guys and the bad guys.”

“Yeah. I remember learning about that in the academy.”

“Right. So after my father rose in public opinion and word of mouth, well the government started stepping in and trying to regulate it. Which they did and the rest is history, but he wasn’t the same heroic good man when he came home.”

Kit swallowed, tightening his fingers into fists. He didn’t want to hear this, he realised. He really wanted Ambrose to shut up and not tell him anymore, but he asked for this, didn’t he? To know the side of Mentor that Ambrose knew?

“He wasn’t abusive,” Ambrose said softly and Kit released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Not physically, anyway. When he discovered that I was born with powers he sought to train me, to make me in his image. A family of Superheroes. My Mom, she didn’t want that for me. She saw the toll it took on him to be the city’s saviour everyday, and that’s when they started fighting.”

Kit sat rigid in his seat, staring forward. He couldn’t imagine Mentor fig— well, no. He could, actually. How many times had Kit walked in on Mentor and Mr Silver arguing? Or Superhero trying to tell Mentor that the next step was a bad idea, that it was too risky.

“I trained hard. When he wanted me to push myself, I pushed myself. When he wanted me to commit 100%, I did 200%. It was never enough for him. None of it was. He wanted a son and a wife who adored him, who worshipped the ground he walked on, and instead he had a family. His ego was a problem.”

Kit cringed at that. Even he knew that Mentor wanted people to adore him, no matter who or why. He wanted to be the city’s saviour, the man on everyone’s tongue and in their thoughts.

Kit let out a breath of a laugh, running a hand through his hair.

“I guess… that’s why he adopted me, isn’t it?” Kit asked, his voice hollow. Ambrose didn’t answer, and that was answer enough. God, how could he be so stupid? How could he not have seen that to Mentor, Kit was just some charity project he knew would always support him. Worship the ground he walked on, defend him even when Kit knew he was in the wrong.

Ambrose opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, setting his lips into a thin line.

“Mallory…”

“No. It’s okay,” Kit replied, letting out a long breath. “It’s fine, go on.”

Ambrose hesitated, fingers lifting from the steering wheel, before curling around them again. They passed the memorial garden in silence, taking the diversion around the square towards the hospital. They weren’t far away now.

“He started the Hero academy when I was twelve. A school for children with powers to develop their abilities to become heroes. I saw it for what it was though, incentive and resentment. He failed to teach me to control my abilities, and found a fault in me that I couldn’t rectify. My ability wasn’t flashy enough, or showy enough for him, for the great Mentor.”

“He wanted a child who would make the world stop and look at them. Someone who was as fast as him, as strong, but not stronger. In his eyes, I may as well have been born with strong charisma because you couldn’t see the effect of what I could do, only experience it.”

Kit looked down at his wrist, at the power dampeners locked around it. Lightning was flashy. Lightning gave Kit strength and strong reflexes, he was fast, he was flashy. He trained hard, to the point of exhaustion everyday in the Hero Academy. Not caring if he had no friends. Not caring if he passed out from pushing himself too hard. He just had to be the best. It was all he had. It was all he could do.

It wasn’t until he was beating people three years above him that Mentor started to pay him any attention. It felt good at the time. It felt like somebody finally recognised him for what he was.

Mentor made him feel seen. He saw that Kit had put his everything into training, because everything in him was all he had to give.

He didn’t have a family to worry about him getting hurt.

He didn’t have friends that would mourn him if he died in action.

All he had was being a hero.

Of course Mentor would latch onto that. Of course he would pick up on the fact that Kit was desperately trying to prove himself. Of course he would take pity on the orphan and bring him home like a trophy. Show him off to the world.

But that… that wasn’t the Mentor that Kit knew.

He brought him home, but it was after Kit denied him so many times. Told him to piss off, and asked if he was a pervert that prayed on boys his age. Kit had grown up on the streets, he knew what happened to skinny kids like him. One day they’re there, and the next, you never see them again.

Mentor was patient, and kind. He didn’t push Kit after Kit said no, told him he had everything he needed in the academy.

“Then my Mother got sick, and well…” Ambrose said, trailing off, pulling Kit from his memory and back into the car. “After she died it was like he… he didn’t even care. All he cared about was building the city up, saving everyone from possible Villains that lurked in the night. He didn’t sit with her in the hospital because he knew he couldn’t rescue her. He wasn’t there when she—”

Kit was quiet beside Ambrose, head tilted down. He knew what loss was like. He knew the absence a parent can leave behind, but losing someone who meant that? Kit didn’t know how to relate to that. When Omen destroyed Mentor’s mind, it wasn’t the same as if he died because Kit could still go and see him. Still talk to him, even if the Mentor he remembered was dead.

“I’m sorry,” Kit said softly. Ambrose cleared his throat, turning his head so Kit couldn’t see his face.

“Yeah,” he agreed, going rigid. “Me too.”

They drove the rest of the way in silence. It wasn’t far. Five minutes in the car, and two minutes to park.

“Are you…?” Kit began, then cut himself off when he met Ambrose’s black eyes. What was he going to say? Are you Okay? Alright with going into see the unfeeling man who wasn’t a good father? The man you cursed for being…

Ambrose shook his head, no. “Of course I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Kit said with an awkward shrug. They got out of the car, closing the door in unison. Kit thought nothing of it.

It was borderline awkward in the lift. Ambrose kind of just, stood there like a totem pole. His hands behind his back, standing straight up like a serial killer.

“Would you relax?” Kit said, rolling his neck. “You’re making me nervous.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“I’m fine,” Ambrose said slowly, voice cold. Kit shrugged and said: “fine.”

He ahead and almost cried in joy when the doors opened to the ground floor. He stopped at the reception desk. Ambrose was walking and stopped when Kit stopped, two steps ahead and glancing back to see what Kit was doing.

He joined him a moment later, standing beside him and glowering at Heather when she turned and beamed at Kit.

“Hi Heather.”

“Hey, Kit. You goin’ up to—” her big blue eyes trailed to Ambrose beside him, who looked as if he was under a storm cloud, or extremely constipated. “Oh. Hi. Is this your brother?”

Kit’s eyes blew wide, but Ambrose didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Older. We’d like to see—”

“I didn’t know you had a brother, Kit. Of course, darlin’s, go ahead. I’ll let them know you’re coming.”

Ambrose nodded stiffly and stepped back. Kit blinked, shaking his head, and smiled at Heather. “Oh, actually. Was there anything strange with him? Any new visitors or—”

“I’m sorry, hun. I’m just the receptionist for the main desk. You’ll have to ask the nurses up there.”

Kit nodded, standing up. “Thank you, Heather.”

“Anytime. And nice meeting you.”

Ambrose nodded at her. “You too.”

Kit clapped him on the back, a wide grin on his face. “Let’s go, bro.”

Ambrose made a noise and Kit had to stifle a laugh until they were in the stairwell. “What was that!” He barked, laughter bubbling up his throat.

“I— panicked.” [***RE-DRAFT STARTS HERE***]

“I thought you weren’t nervous,” Kit teased. He was turning to walk up the next set of stairs when Ambrose slammed his forearm against Kit’s throat, shoving him back into the corner of the stairwell, pinning him there.

Ambrose’s nostrils flared, his eyes blazing with cold fury down at Kit. “Of course I’m nervous, you fucking child. Tch. Don’t you ever switch off?”

Kit pushed Ambrose’s arm off him, and to his surprise, Ambrose let him, running a hand through his hair and letting out a breath.

The realisation only dawned on Kit, his mouth opening into a small ‘o’.

“You’ve never been to see him.”

Ambrose straightened. The villain returning as he stared down his nose at Kit, a sardonic smile on his lips. “And why should I? He didn’t give my mother that courtesy.”

Kit put his hands up, showing Ambrose he meant nothing by it. “Hey. It’s your decision. Not mine. He’s your dad, not—” the words choked up before he could say them. Ambrose didn’t pry. He knew what Kit was going to say.

Ambrose stared for a moment longer before glancing up the stairs and nodding stiffly.

“Yes. Well.” He cleared his throat and started walking up again. “What floor is it?”

“The fifth,” he replied, starting up the stairs beside Ambrose. “Top floor. They don’t want anyone stumbling amongst the crazies.”

“Probably for the best,” Ambrose muttered. Kit had meant it as a joke, but, he didn’t disagree with Ambrose as they climbed the stairs. Thankful that their footsteps filled the silence he couldn’t in the lift. They knew something had happened when they got to the fifth floor.

Kit stepped in first, Ambrose craning his neck around the door into the hall. Kit breathed a sigh of relief. No police tape, no police, no anything. That meant there was nothing to worry about.

Kit smiled at Ambrose and slapped him on the back, walking towards the door to the locked ward. “See! You were irrational. Overthinking everything. Nothing’s insidious about Mentor. He was here the whole time.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because if he did somehow magically vanish, there would be police and Superheroes and politicians here to interrogate him about what happened.”

“And if they just moved him down to the station to do that?” Ambrose asked, raising his brows. Kit’s smile dimmed a little, but it remained on his face.

“Too much risk. Trust me. Everything will be fine.”

The door buzzed open after Kit waved to the camera and the pair stepped through. Kit walked his usual path to Mentor’s room, and only realised halfway there that Ambrose wasn’t following him anymore. He paused, looking over his shoulder for the villain, before turning after laying eyes on him.

Ambrose stood in the middle of the hall, his eyes blazing and his little finger twitching by his side. A muscle in his jaw clenched and tightened when he met Kit’s questioning eyes.

He swallowed. “This was a mistake.”

“No,” Kit said, coming to stand beside the Villain. “It wasn’t. He’s out of it most of the time anyways, Rosey. He probably won’t even recognise you.”

Black eyes flashed like two burning coals. “He’ll recognise me.”

Kit didn’t tell him that Mentor didn’t recognise Kit for months after his accident. Then again, he didn’t have to. Something smoothed out in Ambrose’s face as Kit remembered his first meeting with a stark raving mad Mentor, who screamed at Kit to get out and leave him be. Kit thought for a minute that Ambrose could see the memory, but quickly remembered that the ward was built of the same power dampening material as the supers-prison and power dampeners.

Ambrose swallowed. “Let’s get this over with,” he said through clenched teeth. This time Kit led the way beside Ambrose, and let Ambrose walk into the room first. Ambrose didn’t falter as he stepped through the door, black eyes settling on his father for the first time since he drove him insane.

Kit followed him in, leaning against the wall beside the door. Mentor was sitting in an armchair, gazing out the window when they arrived. He turned his head and locked eyes with Ambrose and didn’t even glance over at Kit.

The tension was palpable in the air, tied like a three-way noose over their throats as nobody dared breathe in the room.

“Oskar,” Mentor said softly. Kit’s eyes blew wide, glancing at Ambrose who stiffened at the mention of his name. Mentor recognised him? He— remembered Ambrose?

“Hello Father.”

Mentor grunted a huff of a laugh. Almost like a derisive scoff, but Kit had never heard Mentor make a sound like that. A sound so like— well, Ambrose. Kit didn’t dare move, but he had the sneaking suspicion that Mentor didn’t notice, or if he did, didn’t care, that was Kit was in the room too.

“Is that all you can say to me, boy?” Mentor demanded, his voice hard, like gravel grating against gravel.

Ambrose shrugged, but Kit noticed the tightness to his usual casual gesture. “I can say a whole lot more, but word on the street is you have trouble remembering things lately, old man.”

Mentor’s eyes were cutting. “I remember the important stuff.”

The words came like a sharp slap to Kit’s face, almost staggering him out of the room, but Kit didn’t move. He just stared, eyes burning at the man that helped shape him into who he was today. But this man he was staring at may as well have been an alien. This wasn’t Mentor. This was the cold father that Ambrose told Kit about. The man who looked like Mentor, but was a monster beneath skin.

“What are you doing here?” Mentor spat. “Have you come to take more from me, hmm? The breath from my lungs.”

“Well it would be a wasted trip if I didn’t take something from you,” Ambrose replied with the cold smile that Kit was so used to seeing.

What he wasn’t used to seeing was Ambrose flinching. Kit pressed off the wall, eyes wide as a cold, dark chuckle filled the room. An empty laugh that caused shivers to run down his spine and freeze him in place.

“You’re still good at talking, Oskar.” Black eyes met Kit’s across the room, aware that Kit had just seen him flinch at Mentor’s raised hand and it was like the world slowed down around him, his heartbeat rushing in his ears.

Then it was as if a switch flipped of indifference. Ambrose straightened, black eyes smiling as he faced his father again. He slipped one hand into his trouser pocket, shifting his weight to lean on one leg and shot Mentor a cold smile.

“You’re still good at being a piece of shit, only, now you’ve exposed yourself to a witness.”

Mentor’s eyes narrowed and he got to his feet, turning his body to face Ambrose. He had only just turned when his eyes found Kit’s frozen blue ones staring as if he were a deer in headlights.

Mentor’s expression shifted into something softer, something kind. “Kit my boy—”

Kit’s eyes burned, his nostrils flaring. “Don’t.”

“This is-” Mentor began, gesturing between himself and Ambrose. “Family issues. They go back a long while.”

“I don’t care about your explanation,” Kit told him, shaking his head.

Mentor’s hard eyes looked between Kit and Ambrose, scrutinising. “What are you even doing together? Aren’t you a strange pair.”

“Not at all,” Kit said before Ambrose could even open his mouth. Kit stood talk, feeling Ambrose’s black eyes slide over to him as he commanded the space. “He’s helping me on a case. A new Supervillain.”

Mentor scoffed, folding his arms over his toned chest. “Have you considered him?” He asked, nodding his head to Ambrose.

“I have,” Kit ground out through clenched teeth. “But it turns out this new Supervillain has telekinesis. You wouldn’t happen to have an alibi for last night, would you?”

Mentor’s mouth fell open. Even Ambrose raised a brow at the accusation in Kit’s hard voice. He had never seen him so angry. It was very entertaining to watch, especially when it was directed at his father.

“I was here,” Mentor said, spreading his hands in a helpless shrugging gesture. “Obviously.”

“Can anyone corroborate that story?” Kit demanded, spitting venom at his old Hero and Mentor. Mentor glanced between Ambrose and Kit, his expression tightening as some understanding flashed across his face.

He rubbed his temple with the palm of his hand, kneading it into the soft flesh, letting out a disbelieving huff. “I can’t believe this. You’re seriously trusting this man over me, Kit? You're like a son to me.”

“Clearly I wasn’t,” Kit practically yelled, but he didn’t shout. His voice was surprisingly level despite everything. “Or you would have told me you had an actual son.”

Mentor’s gaze was cutting. “Surely you know what he did to me,” Mentor said, his voice a quiet fury. “What he did to our family, to this city! He—”

“Is Omen,” Kit finished, his eyes flashing. Mentor took a step back as if he’d been hit. Kit didn’t stop there though. “Yeah. I know. And I know he’s not a liar. So do you have an alibi or not?”

Ambrose was quite happy to let Kit take lead on this interrogation. It was true, Ambrose wasn’t a liar. If he said he’d torture you, he would. If he told you he liked you, he did. If he said he was Omen, he was. Something Ambrose didn’t think Kit picked up on, but was happy by the turn of events all the same.

Mentor was halfway through stuttering out a reply when a Doctor walked into the room, a clipboard in hand and already speaking. “Mentor, how are we tod—” Doctor, sensing the tension looked up and smiled at his obvious intrusion. He put the clipboard under his arm and stood taller. “Ah. Sorry, Mentor. I didn’t know you had visitors. Ah, hello Kit.”

“Doctor,” Kit replied not taking his eyes off of Mentor. “Can you confirm Mentor was here last night?”

Doctor’s eyes went around the room before bouncing back to Kit. “Uh, yes. I mean, CCTV and the hospital logs can probably. I wasn’t on personally, but as Mentor’s doctor today I can tell you there was no anomalies last night.”

“Great. Thank you,” Kit said, nodding at Ambrose. “That’s all we needed to know, we’re leaving.”

“No, wait—” Mentor protested, but Ambrose was already talking to the Doctor and walking back out the door. Kit turned to do the same when a hand was on his wrist, stopping him from leaving. Kit glanced back over his shoulder to see Mentor clinging to him like a desperate, old man.

“Kit…” he said with shining eyes. “M’boy. Please, let me explain.”

“You lied to me,” Kit hissed, finally letting the hurt shine through his features. “You told me, you— you made me feel special.”

“You are special, Kit, and not just to me.”

“Was I only special to you because I was strong?” Kit asked. Mentor hesitated. Kit pulled his arm from Mentor’s grasp. “You never saw me as a son. You saw me as a tool that you could mould and use to further your great image. Superhero. Saviour. Good charitable man,” Kit spat, tears springing suddenly to his eyes. “He even rescues orphans, the übermensch. Mentor: The great man.”

“Kit—”

“You were everything to me,” Kit said, his bottom lip trembling. “My only normal in the world. My family. My father. I worshipped you, and you used me!”

“Kit, please. Let me explain.” Mentor said again, pawing at Kit’s jacket. Kit recoiled, shrugging his hands from his shoulders.

“You have two minutes before I’m walking out that door.”

“In the beginning, yes, I wanted to be close to you because I saw your potential. Nobody else in that academy ever came close to you. You were extraordinary. I wanted a sidekick when I walked through those doors on the day of your exams, and instead I found a second chance.”

Tears streamed continuously from Kit’s red rimmed eyes as he listened, occasionally wiping them on the cuff of his sleeve.

“I found a son in you, and from that day onwards I decided that I wanted to help you. To give you the start in life that you deserved, not the one you were given. I patrolled the Rookery looking for you every night because one of the other kids told me you slept rough on the streets. I wanted to offer you kindness, and you had such hard eyes. It was weeks before I ever saw you smile, and when I did, m’boy, I swear the heavens themselves opened.”

Kit sniffed, his breath catching in his throat, taking in fretful breaths once he saw the glisten in Mentor’s eyes, and the tears welling up behind them.

“I never wanted to use you as some piece of equipment to further my image. I wanted to make sure you had bread, and safe water to drink. I wanted to give you a home.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me you had a son?” Kit asked, barely above a whisper. “Why… why- why didn’t you tell me you had a family? I would’ve understood.”

Mentor shook his head. “I had already left them at that time, Kit, and I was too ashamed to tell you. To tell you that I fucked up my last family. How could I tell you that? A child yourself when I was trying to gain your trust so I could help you, and the way you looked at me…”

The pair of them stared at each other, tears streaming down their faces the longer they spoke. “You saw something in me that I hadn’t seen in years, and it made me feel special, Kit. It made me want to be the better man you thought I was. To change, for the better, for you. For us. I thought it was my second chance when I met you, and I can tell you now for certain, it was.”

Kit looked away, afraid he might collapse if had to listen to any more of this. Mentor touched a hand to his cheek, thumbing away the tears, drawing Kit’s attention back to Mentor.

“Just please,” he blubbered. “Please say you don’t hate me. I will fall to my knees and beg for your forgiveness, Kit. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Please.”

Kit didn’t say anything. He just stepped in and hugged his old man, wrapping his arms tight around him and holding him up when Mentor sobbed harder into Kit’s jumper.

“I’m sorry,” Mentor cried into Kit’s jumper, muffling the sound. “I’m so sorry. I love you, I’m so sorry.”

Kit held him tighter, trying to compose himself but there was nothing to be done except wait it out. Ambrose stood outside the door, leaning against the wall to his father’s room, downcast eyes staring unseeing at the clinically clean floor in front of him.

Kit stepped out after a few minutes, his tears dried but the red rimmed eyes gave him away. Ambrose stood, face impassive as he took a deep breath. “You good to go?” He asked.

Kit nodded dumbly. They walked to the exit of the ward, but Doctor shouted from down the hall and the pair turned. “Oh good, I caught you before you left. Here. I’ll walk you out.”

Doctor quickly caught up to them, half-jogging towards them with a self-deprecating smile. “Sorry. Shall we talk outside?”

Kit glanced at Ambrose before nodding. Doctor fell into step with them, flashing his keycard on the control panel and the doors to the locked ward opened with a beep. He pushed through them and held it open for Kit and Ambrose to walk out. They stood just outside the ward, Kit tilting his head at Doctor.

Doctor smiled at the pair, a handsome smile. He was a little older than Ambrose, his eyes crinkled at the edges when his smiled. His tan skin contrasted against Ambrose’s paleness to a stark degree that Kit would’ve laughed if he didn’t feel so drained.

Kind green eyes found Kit’s. “I double-checked the log’s after you asked about Mentor’s whereabouts last night,” he said. “He was here all night, I can confirm with 100% certainty.”

“Okay, thank you Doctor.” Kit said nodding.

A copycat? Ambrose said in Kit’s mind. Kit glanced at him, but Ambrose was still looking at Doctor.

Maybe. Or maybe another telekinetic… Kit thought, pushing it towards Ambrose.

“Well,” Doctor said, clapping his hands together. “I hope that is everything you need?”

“Yes, Doctor, thank you for confirming the alibi,” Kit said. Kit reached his hand out which Doctor took and shook it. Doctor turned to Ambrose as well, offering his hand which Doctor took with a smile.

“Nice meeting you.”

“Thank you Doctor,” Ambrose said coolly before withdrawing his hand and stepping away. The pair walked down the stairs, hearing the buzzer of the ward door open and close again.

“What now?” Ambrose asked. Kit ran his hands through his hair, letting out a sigh.

“I don’t know. I need to get my phone from my apartment, just to see if anyone’s been trying to call.”

“Right. Of course.” Ambrose said as they walked to the car. Sensing the stiffness in Ambrose’s body language, Kit kept quiet, not wanting to poke the bear, but feeling too bad to just remain silent and not say anything.

They got into the Wraith in silence. It was only when Ambrose turned the key in the ignition that he broke the silence. “It’s not your fault, Kit.”

“I’m still sorry.”

Ambrose turned his head to look Kit head on. The expression on his face would’ve floored Kit had he been standing up.

Ambrose’s eyes were like two rainbows, his eyebrows drawn low over them, his lips were curled up on his face, exposing his smile lines that usually looked so annoyed.

Was Ambrose smiling?

When Kit wasn’t even covered in blood or bruises or struggling to breathe?

“Really, Kit. It’s okay. I don’t have any ill will towards you. Just think of it like, we both had one good parent and leave it there. Okay?”

Kit nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. Ambrose’s face went back to neutral and Kit felt like he could breathe.

Then his eyes narrowed as they pulled out of the parking lot. “What?”

“I just—”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I don’t think you should smile, Rosey. It doesn’t suit you.”

Ambrose almost hit the roof. “What?! My smile is charming.”

“I feared for my life. It is mortally terrifying. Do you smile at babies like that?”

“Babies love me,” Ambrose hissed.

Kit laughed, running a hand through his hair. “Actually can you drop me off at a therapist before we go back to my—”

“Oh yeah yeah,” Ambrose grumbled, turning the indicator on and taking off onto the main road. “Laugh it up.”

Kit did, and he felt good after it. The laugh smoothed everything out in his chest, unwinding the tension that weighed heavy on it and for a little, fleeting moment, he felt lighter than he had in a while. Ambrose turned the radio on.

*~*~*~*~*

Continued here

Orphanage roll-call (lmk if you wanna be added or removed): @beatenbruisedandbloody @404lunar1216 @whumpyworld @nameless-beanie e @andithewhumper @annablogsposts @whumpasaurus101 @0eggdealer r @rejectedbytheempty @sleepy-pearl @n3rv0usn0v4 @whumpatize-me-captain @sunshiline-writes @burningkittypoet @honeyed-euphrates @sacredwrath @theonewithallthefixations @m3rakii @xxgalgurlxx @princess-bubble-blossom @blood-enthusiast @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @andtheysaidspeaknoww @dutifullykrispyland @mononeigbour @tippytappytyping @shinokoro @bedtimescenarios @whatwhump @memepsychowhowantsuperpower-blog @ehobep @acer-whumpstuff @fa1rie

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

When I was an edgy teenager, I was listening to a lot of punk, specifically grunge and riot grrrl (make fun of me later). While I liked how the music sounded (LOL, I was fourteen/fifteen and had no taste), the messaging was patronizing, even if I was the target demographic, technically. (I'm a woman with a lot of "checked boxes"). All of these artists were saying outwardly that "women, POC, and The Homos™ are totally oppressed and if you hate them then we hate you." Grunge/riot grrrl/punk, despite their desire to "make a difference," really didn't, I don't think, unless they wanted to make social relationships worse. It was also a genre full of white people who were drowning in white guilt and actively admitted as such - I blame feminism.

In their quest to sound non-bigoted, this group of woke/leftist heterosexual white men and bisexual white women were calling all minority/"underrepresented" people helpless victims and advocating for violence and degeneracy (which worked). Yes, non-homosexuals with white saviour complexes, you totally know what you're talking about. (There were a couple homos in there too, unfortunately, and they loved that these people were giving into their victimhood mindset - I still think we're better than this shit).

Oh, and the best part? If any woman, POC, or homosexual called them out on their bullshit, they called them handmaidens, Uncle Toms, or under the heterosexual's boot, including actively harassing them. They called them names, said they were unwelcome, and pushed them out of spaces they claimed to have made for minorities. Really sounds sexist, racist, and homophobic if you ask me.

The bigoted leftists who claim to be "fighting bigotry" is not new. The rhetoric people think is new and from the 2010s has been around for a long time. These genres came out in the 1980s and 1990s, but it feels like even back then they were lying about how bad things were. I've seen multiple videos, including street interviews, home videos, etc, from the time and socially, it was much better than things are today. People of any sex, race, or sexuality were friends and outwardly said they cared for each other. "I love my white brothers," "I don't care if she's a woman as long as she loves rock 'n roll like I do," "Straight people in my community don't give a shit about lesbians/gays, even when we're in drag/cross-dressing." (paraphrased)

I've also noticed that the metal bands that were grouped in with grunge/riot grrrl/punk purely by association (rather than by genres overlapping) had not only the best music, but the band members actually had brains and didn't fall for the victimhood bullshit, even if they weren't explicitly conservative. I still listen to Layne Staley and Kat Bjelland because of this, and metal has so many conservative (or at least non-leftist) artists. That's where it's at.

The "grunge/punk icons" who are still alive today are now the type who are advocating to let trans-identified males into women's spaces and cheering on the female teachers (trans-identified or not) who are grooming kids in classrooms, among other popular leftist viewpoints. None of their viewpoints have changed in over thirty years. I'd say it was a fall from grace, but I'm not surprised at all. My generation (Gen Z) loves them because they were/are saying the same stuff my generation says today, and my generation acting all shocked that this rhetoric isn't new ("They were saying this stuff in 1992!!! Can you believe it??? Can't believe nothing has changed >:(.") is unbelievably cringe and shows how uninformed they are. Yeah, nothing has changed - leftists are still pushing the same dividing, hustler bullshit.

TLDR: Punk has always been shit and full of pussies, metal reigns supreme.

Worthwhile read.

Also a great endorsement for late 90s-mid 2000s pop punk. Most of that was about how much school sucked and how no one can find girlfriends. Very apolitical. XD

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer In The Dark -- The Advocates

Hey everyone! Time to do a little worldbuilding in the Valicer In The Dark universe today, by talking about everyone's favorite cult -- the Advocates! :D While I plan for organizations and cults centered around all of the major coasters in Alton Towers to show up in some form or another in this verse (in particular, the Beornen of Wickerman will occasionally show up to cause trouble for our beloved Three Pillars), the Advocates are the ones I developed the most. Because, you know, one of the main characters belongs to this cult. XD Felt important to know what their deal was and how they operated! As such, I did a playbook write-up for them and a quick summary of their history, which I would like to share with you now:

-->Playbook Type: Cult – acolytes of the god Mar-Mal

-->Name: The Advocates

-->Reputation: Tier III (decently large and renowned cult), Strong Hold (they have a solid grip on what's theirs in terms of turf and whatnot), seen as Bizarre

-->Lair: The main cult sanctum is in Silkshore – a large building painted black and yellow, full of maze-like corridors, with private quarters (including bedrooms, kitchenettes, and bathrooms) for those who chose to live there; large communal areas with various ways for cult members to entertain themselves (ranging from music rooms to reading rooms to games rooms to – let's say "chill-out" rooms ;) ); a small radiant garden around the back and a couple of mushroom farms in the basement; various labs and workshops for experimenting with ways to spread joy; and a decent-sized main library and museum for holy texts and artifacts. The chapel to Mar-Mal sits in the center, dominated by a strange twisted and looped metal structure meant to represent the god – there is a seat in the middle of it for new Advocates undergoing their “marmalisation” ritual. Most things are painted yellow, black, white, or purple, though other colors are allowed (in fact, a lot of the stairs in the place are rainbow-colored), and many areas are marked with the distinctive swirly-eyed-and-piano-keyed smile that serves as the cult’s “logo.”

-->Deity: Mar-Mal – The Unending Smile, The Joy That Supersedes All Else! Radiant and Alluring, usually manifesting as a strange, spidery mass of twisting machinery and hypnotic lights and spirals, Mar-Mal is a being of pure happiness, and wishes to draw all of the Shattered Isles into their loving embrace, eliminating all bad feelings and bringing everyone together in perfect, blissful harmony. The main problem is, it’s still not sure why its acolytes insist things like “hunger” and “thirst” aren’t “bad feelings…”

-->Sacred Sites & Cult Practices: The Advocates’ preferred operation is Consecration – anointing more and more of Duskwall (places and people) for their deity. Naturally, the bulk of their operations are in Silkshore (given it's the "party district," so to speak), but they have other holdings across the city – an interesting mix of vice dens (Smiler isn't the only one peddling drugs – the cult is kind of known for its chemist Leeches experimenting with new concoctions to increase happiness), brothels (staffed by the most sex-positive members), theaters (they put on all sorts of shows, and have a lot of people who just travel around to other parts of the city performing for anyone who will have them – Smiler's uncle Felix is one of these), restaurants (where half the time the food is given away for free), and bunk houses (where people are encouraged to do whatever makes them happiest and told about the wonders of Mar-Mal and becoming an Advocate). They also own a dedicated shop in Nightmarket where they sell various happiness-increasing items from stationery to clothes to kitchenware to stuffed animals (this is where Matt and Carol work). Cult practices include orgies of pleasure among the congregation (this CAN be the standard sex orgy among the adults, but most of the time just means a big old party with dancing and music and food), “marmalising” new members, and blessing their various sacred sites with special artwork (generally the cult’s logo) and artifacts.

-->Special Abilities:

Chosen – Each member adds +1 to their rating for Attune, Study, or Sway! As Smiler was part of the cult before joining the Three Pillars, this is probably where they got their spare Attune dot! (Which means I could probably ditch the “it cost them two stress boxes” trade-off...but part of me wonders if it would be more interesting to have all of the Advocates have that problem with being able to take less stress...)

Zealotry – Everyone involved in The Advocates believes utterly in its message and will do anything they can to spread the will of Mar-Mal, no matter how potentially dangerous or strange! Mechanically, this means the cult's "cohorts" (NPC groups that can act on their behalf) get +1d when acting against “enemies of the faith”

Conviction – All members have the Worship vice – though, given this is Mar-Mal, it works like they all have the Pleasure vice – and when they indulge this vice by subsuming themselves and/or others in happiness, Mar-Mal takes notice and makes sure their stress is cleared without issue. Additionally, the god will happily assist its worshipers with a single action after such proof of devotion! (...this has to be somehow linked to Mar-Mal being able to safely take over Smiler's body when they have their stress-out and get the Vessel trauma – I'm just not 100% sure how yet.)

-->Upgrades:

Training: Resolve – they’re better at training any and all skills related to Attune, Command, Consort, and Sway thanks to the influence of Mar-Mal, who wants them to spread joy as far and wide as possible

Cohort: Gang – The Adepts of the cult, eager to embrace happiness and Smile Always! They are Scale 3 and Quality 3 (say 24 NPCs to fill out the cult), have the edges Loyal and Tenacious (they are devoted to Mar-Mal and will stop at nothing to spread their word and their happiness), and the flaws Unreliable and Wild (a lot of them find pleasure in drugs and alcohol, which can affect their availability, and some just don’t know when to keep their mouths shut)

Quarters – Their lair in Silkshore is intended as living quarters as well as a place of worship, and much of the cult lives within its walls

Workshop – Multiple, in fact – various chemical labs and tinkering workshops, plus a decent-sized library on happiness and whatever passes for psychology in Duskwall

Training: Prowess – Due to having been a faction in Duskwall for a while, all members know the value of knowing how to Finesse things, how to Prowl, how to survive a Skirmish, and how to Wreck things as necessary (I admit, I chose this one simply because my excuse for the Three Pillars having this same upgrade when they start their official career was the Advocates giving them assistance in this regard – I'm picturing it as them having a gym to practice fighting and prowling and giving the trio some spare equipment)

Ritual Sanctum In Lair – An additional arcane “workshop” next to the main chapel, where rituals to summon Mar-Mal’s essence and interpret its will are done

-->Claims: These are extra items, upgrades, and places that the cult has claimed during their time in Duskwall (this didn't come up for the Three Pillars because I hadn't decided what I wanted them to get at the time I did THEIR crew playbook write-up – the greenhouse would probably count as a "claim" though). So far, I have –

Main Lair & Two General Turf (to represent their general "hold" in the city)

Offertory (which gives them +2 coin for all occult operations – though rather than this being tribute from frightened locals, it’s generally donations from people who have actually had their lives improved by the Advocates)

Sanctuary (not the Sanctuary, that's Dr. Kelman's place and he's not part of the Advocates – instead, this represents the bunkhouses where they put people up who are down on their luck. As they're generally run by the most charismatic of the cultists, they get +1 to Command and Sway people as a result – they tempt a lot of people into joining their cause in these shelters!)

Vice Den (as stated previously, they've got multiple of these, with coin generated from people who pay for drugs, alcohol, games, and company)

Sacred Nexus (any spot where the glow orb grows is a place where Mar-Mal's essence is felt more strongly, so the physickers of the Advocates generally take patients to those gardens to help them recover faster – Mar-Mal is only too happy to offer a healing touch to those Advocates who are hurt! Mechanically, this means +1d to all healing rolls)

Ancient Altar (in addition to the big main altar in the center of the lair, the Advocates have also set up a smaller altar in the spot where their founder found the original glow orbs. The show of devotion mechanically gets them +1d engagement to occult plans)

-->Favorite Contact: Cuthbert Beckett, a Tycherosi (from the far-off land of Tycheros, where all the inhabitants have a bit of demon blood – his tells are his iconic red eyes with crescent-shaped pupils and hairy arms and hands with claws) occultist and historian who studies the history of the Shattered Isles and the various religions and cults that have sprung up across it, and will happily do them favors in exchange for information. As it happens, Beckett is in fact a secret vampire (one of the few who actually managed to repossess his own body after his early death back home), who leaves a small crescent mark on his victims after he feeds – the Advocates found him out, but rather than telling the Spirit Wardens, they welcomed him and let him feed on their members. This has earned them a certain degree of trust and respect from someone who is normally the most snarky person you will ever meet.

-->Faction Relationships:

On good terms with the Three Pillars, of course, as one of their own is part of that gang – I'm thinking +1 at least to start

-2 with the Beornen – neither side is yet ready to go to WAR, but Robert Wickerman and his cult hate the Advocates, and the feeling is mutual

-->Notes & History:

The head of the cult is one Dr. Gerstlauer, who in fact used to work with one Dr. Kelman on the problem of "social compliance." They hit upon the idea that happy people will be less prone to disobeying the law...and then promptly had a rift with Dr. Kelman over his rather bizarre ideas on how to make people happy (“showing them decaying animals?!? Seriously, Kellard?”)

After splitting with Kelman and going his own way, Dr. Gerstlauer stumbled across a curious fruit growing near the lightning barrier on the edge of the Spark Grounds (an open field where many circuses set up and feats of acrobatic prowess are displayed on the edge of Silkshore) – glowing yellow orbs dangling from black stems that twisted into spirals. Curiosity took him and he tried one of the fruit – and was promptly utterly subsumed in joy and contacted by the god Mar-Mal, asking him to help spread its influence over the city. Gerstlauer immediately agreed, found some people to try the fruit and teach about the god, and the cult was born!

Originally the cult was called the Ministry of Joy, with the “top brass” being the Ministers – however, one politely-worded letter from the Lord Governor saying “hey, people think you’re an actual government agency, knock it off” later, they rebranded as the “Advocates.” They still call the building the Ministry of Joy, though they often shorten it to just MOJ. Leaders are now called Smile Ministers, or SMs for short.

Spiders are holy creatures to the cult because the standard manifestation of Mar-Mal kind of looks like one (very kind of; the main body has five radial legs, and is surrounded by a mass of twisted, curling mechanical tentacles – though it’s hard to look at it too long as it makes your vision fuzz up)

A new inductee to the cult must undergo the process of “marmalisation” to become a full member (usually after they’ve been part of the cult for about half a year). Originally, this simply involved having the inductee sit within the representation of Mar-Mal that serves as the cult’s altar and having them drink glow orb juice to open their mind to the god’s influence. The process has been refined over the years, however, and now a typical “marmalisation” involves sitting within the altar, receiving an injection of Smiler’s Joy Serum, then being tickled by mechanical brushes while a flashing light disrupts the inductee’s thoughts, before a spiral array is put before them to guide them into a deep trance to help them feel Mar-Mal’s influence even more. This not only allows inductees to feel the god's will more potently, it also has a shorter recovery time (as drinking glow orb juice straight tends to completely knock people out for a while). Smiler's working on a new addition to the whole thing, Giggler Gas, which they hope also to turn into another drug to sell. A common side effect of the process is Advocates gaining permanently upturned lips (Smiler) or smiles that stretch farther across their face than should actually be possible (Matt, Carol to a lesser extent).

Despite being a very young cult (they got their start during Smiler's lifetime, to the point where Dr. Gerstlauer recognizes them when Matt and Carol first bring them in), they've grown in power and influence pretty quickly – mostly because, well, they preach a message of happiness to all who come to them, and that is in short supply in Duskwall if you ain't rich! Opinions on them from non-members range from "a little weird, but they're trying to make people happy" to "those idiots who claim to worship pure happiness" to "one of the manifestations of all that is wrong in Duskwall today" (that last one is Bob and his Beornen).

As for Smiler's personal history with the cult – as previously stated in other posts, after growing up in Dr. Kelman's Sanctuary horror-show, they ran away at age 12 with whatever money they could scrape up to sustain them. They ended up in Silkshore, where they managed to keep themselves going for a while, sleeping in alleyways and buying food from street vendors...but when the money ran out, they were utterly lost as to what they could do. Fortunately, that's when Matt and Carol Alton stumbled across them, and – upon learning they had no home – invited them to come back to the MOJ. There they were warmly accepted by the other members, including Matt's brother Felix, who – upon learning that the poor kid's name was Marmaduke – told them that they could choose whatever name they liked that best represented themselves, like he had as Felix E. Lated. The kid, already feeling happier and more at home than they ever had at the Sanctuary, chose the name Smiler, and asked to stay at the MOJ. This request was cheerfully granted, and Smiler was "officially" adopted by Matt and Carol at 13 (not that they filled out any paperwork or anything, but that's when Smiler started calling them "Dad" and "Mum") and made a proper member of the cult at 15. The very next year, they successfully invented Joy Serum, and a delighted Mar-Mal bestowed upon them a blessing, re-marmalising them in a dream and turning their formerly-green eyes a bright glowing yellow. Smiler's thus seen as the "golden child" of the cult (especially since Mar-Mal managed to bless them without turning off their ability to feel hunger and thirst and whatnot), and even when they technically leave to go live with Victor and Alice as the Three Pillars, they maintain close ties with the Advocates, who are only too happy to lend a hand to their new friends. (And THEN Smiler proves able to host Mar-Mal's essence, which really gets the attention of the other cult members...)

[unhingedbutpretty]

20 TAV/OC QUESTIONS

I made it as suggested by @thetavolution! I'm tagging @clandekariios because I'd love to see it for the family, @felynafae, @lanafofana, @certifieddragonenjoyer , @jellymellydraws (because I feel like Rose deserves it xD) and anyone else who wants to do it, feel yourself tagged! But please it's not a pressure tag! Totally optional.

Nyssala Baenre

I. what do they smell like at their freshest? (and/or after a tenday. your choice)

She loves floral perfumes like cloves and roses, with a touch of cinnamon.

II. what would their blood taste like to vampires?

I guess it would taste either like the drinks she consumes the most (cheap, dry, red, citric wine) or as barmy citric fruit brewed with too much sugar on it.

III. how would they kiss their LI?

She is very adaptive and can vary the way she kisses, adapting to the tastes of the LI (a skill she acquired in her years as a sex worker). If given the liberty, though, she's all into nibbles and sucklings, and she loves to bite and scratch. Although she pretends otherwise, she loves to leave red marks and nail trails.

IV. how do they sleep with their LI (what position, does one steal the blankets, is one too hot/cold, etc)?

She had learned to sleep (or trance) with one eye open, so she is a very light sleeper. She’s always cold, so she'll monopolize the blanket (or she'll hide under her LI for warmth).

V. what does their tent area look like? where do they prefer to pitch their tent (next to water, covered on three sides, etc)?

A total mess, but no one can tell this until they go inside. The exterior area is pristine, clean and organized with fluff pillows and a comfortable carpet around a narghile, but there are piles of junk hidden inside every crate or canva, and inside backpacks her belongings are in complete disarray since she just tosses it there and forgets that they exist — just like pretty much every other aspect of her life :’D

VI. if they had a set of dnd dice, what would they look like?

Pink and gold metallic dice (she'll never financially recover from that purchase)

VII. do they collect anything (gems, bottles, keys, etc)?

Do debts and abusive ex-lovers count?

VIII. if either, are they part of the astarion/gale book club (magic & literature) or the wyll/shadowheart book club (trashy romance novels)?

Completely into Wyll/Shadowheart book club, with the addition of her own erotic novels.

IX. if they had to be put in a “get along shirt” with a companion, who would it be?

Either Astarion or Jaheira. Astarion because they're always sassing over each other, resulting in long bickerings of mutual venom spilling. Jaheira because she is the “High Harper” and this group refused to help Nyssala flee from Menzoberranzan, so she's a bit sour against them. 

X. do they prefer speak with dead or speak with animals?

She likes speak with animals (like a disney princess), but uses speak with dead more often, for some reason.

XI. what are their thoughts on clowns?

A poor career choice (actually she wanted to become one, but was refused in every audition she made - it seems that Underdark humor is not very appreciated in the surface, so she became salty about clowns in general).

XII. their companions are gossiping about them behind their back! who is it and what are they saying?

She is the major gossipper of the party, but probably Astarion would talk shit about her “lower tastes” for foods and drinks (she's not very selective, and due to her financial problems she often consumes whatever is cheapest), or disclosing how much Nyssala would be an easy prey for vampires, given her former profession… Or a general gossip about how she managed to stay alive all this time (since disaster seems to follow her everywhere), complainings about how overall careless and financially irresponsible she is, the family name she never disclosed to anyone until Minthara came to camp, or why the hell she is dancing with a sword at the riverbank alone at night. She pretends it doesn't affect her, because she is somehow convinced that she doesn't deserve people's affection anyway.

XIII. what makes them laugh? what does their laugh sound like?

She has the silliest sense of humor, it's pretty easy to make her laugh, actually. As a child, she had a noble education, so she learned how to laugh “politely”. She also practiced charming and cute smiles to charm customers of Sharess’ Caress into buying another drink. But if left unchecked, the girl can cackle real LOUD, so she does whatever is possible to avoid that, since she learned the hard way that people often find it annoying.

XIV. do they have any inside jokes among their companions?

Probably she has some with Minthara, since they both hail from the same place and very likely know about the same people. I also headcanon them gossiping in their mother tongue about drow nobility and other companions.

XV. what’s the description of their camp clothes in the inventory menu?

“This is made of fine fabrics and delicate silvery details. Things like this are probably the source of half of her debts.”

XVI. what’s the description of their underwear in the inventory menu?

“The lace embroidery reads: free to stare, $40 to touch.”

XVII. how do they celebrate their birthday?

During the day, she buys herself a good birthday gift (one that most certainly further compromises her financial life). At night, she hangs out with her friends/coworkers to dance and get drunk on cheap alcohol.

XVIII. what modern day tv show would they binge over a weekend? do they get their LI to watch with them?

She'd be a sucker for doramas (romantic and comedy ones) or true crime series. Or both. But she'd watch whatever her LI is watching because she wants to please them so bad.

XIX. do you have a playlist for your tav? if so, what’s the title + description?

Amor de Quenga - Pablo Vittar (this is in Baldur's Gate, before the game, where she had given up on romance after several romantic disasters)

Baby Said - Måneskin (before the game)

How to Be a Heartbreaker - Marina and the Diamonds (also before the game)

Angry Too - Lola Blanc

Blues da Piedade - Cássia Eller (originally by Cazuza, but I like her version more)

I Miss the Misery - Halestorm

Hot Girl Bummer - Blackbear

Wasabi - Little Mix

Mad Hatter - Melanie Martinez

I'm a Mess - Bebe Rexha

911 - Lady Gaga

Panic Attacks in Paradise - Ashnikko 

Bad Girl - Avril Lavigne

Sweet but Psycho - Ava Max

Zitti e Buoni - Måneskin

Raise Hell - Dorothy

Kiss and Make Up - Dua Lipa & Blackpink

Beggin' - Måneskin (originally by Madcon)

Typa Girl - Blackpink (endgame, if she manages to pay off her debts)

Empire - (G)I-dle (endgame, if she manages to grow her ambitions)

XX. if you were to try pickpocketing them, what would they be carrying?

Make up, hair pins, and excerpts of dirty song lyrics and erotic novels written by herself.

[thereaderinsertlady]

🎃👻🍬 helo it is meee the melvinborg freak :333

Y'know those sexy school costumes where it's like, a really short skirt n shit? Well i wanna flip that. Sexy TEACHER outfit. The reader wears THAT and surprises borg with it. Like he comes home from a stressful day at work and the reader is wearing one of his lab coats over the costume (because 1. dramatic effect, 2. those outfits be COLD AS HELL reader need warmth, and 3. Melvinborg surely owns a labcoat yk) so he doesn't know theyre wearing it. The reader helps him relax, lets him sit on the couch or something, then they start talking about Halloween. Then they bring up costumes and BAM the lab coat comes off and the reader is revealed to be wearing sexy teacher outfit because knowledge is sexy as fuck yk yk. And uhhhh borg loses his mind. He just looks them up and down before dragging them to the bedroom (he has strong cyborg hand,, can throw reader over him shoulder very easy and carry them). And ykkkk he had a stressful day sooo blowing off steam may do him some good yk yk yk (sex he wants SE—)

Sorry 4 writing so so much I got carried away :333

I love cyborg coc— 💥

Hello,, my lovely dkmunrjfhjeri i love your littel brain xd. Also toootally didn't do this a day late lmao. Here's the link on ao3, and I hope you enjoy!

Melvinborg x Reader - Tiresome Day (Semi-NSFW)

It’s been a long day for Melvin– you could immediately tell as soon as he walked in through the front door. His weary footsteps echoed through the hallway, each one a testament to the day he had endured. When he stepped into the living room, you saw that his shoulders were slumped under the weight of fatigue, and his normally vibrant eyes were now dull and heavy.

You gave him a weak smile from your spot on the couch. “Hey darling. Tired?”

He released a deep sigh, opening his mouth to speak… only to squint at you when he saw what you were wearing. “Is that… one of my spare lab coats?”

“Is it?” You looked down at yourself, playing coy. “I really hadn’t noticed.”

Melvin rolled his eyes– in which you only now noticed that his robotic one seemed much duller than usual. “Sure you haven’t, you… unbaked poptart…” He flopped down onto the couch next to you.

"Unbaked poptart, huh? I think that's a new one," you teased, nudging him gently. When he didn’t respond, your hands migrated to his shoulders. “Though, it is a bit cold in here.”

He relaxed to your touched, letting you do as you pleased. “Is that why you’ve stolen my lab coat?” 

You chuckled softly, continuing to knead his shoulders. It felt weird trying to massage metal, but he seemed to enjoy it so you chose to keep going. "Well, you know, your lab coat has this certain... warmth to it. Plus, it makes me feel a little closer to you when you're away."

Melvin leaned into your touch, a faint smile playing on his lips as the tension melted away from his shoulders. "Fair enough. Just don't get any strange ideas about conducting experiments of your own."

“I make no promises.”

The next ten minutes continued in a similar manner, with him making mild comments and with you making him comfortable. As you worked on his back, you could sense the stress slowly dissipating. Melvin seemed to be gradually unwinding, the weariness of the day fading into the background.

Eventually, he let out a long, contented sigh. "You have magic hands, you know that?"

You grinned, giving his shoulders a final squeeze before leaning in to kiss his cheek. "Years of practice. It's all in the technique."

“Technique?” He snorted. “If you say so, my lovely. I guess all these years of shoulder and back rubbing is starting to pay off.”

You hummed thoughtfully in response, looking down at yourself… “Say,” you began randomly, “What do you want to be for Halloween?”

“You want me to dress up for Halloween again?” 

You nodded, mischief dancing in your eyes. "Of course! It's a tradition, isn't it? Last year's intergalactic explorers costume was a hit at the workplace. I think this year we should do something even more… exciting.”

Melvin took a moment to respond, thinking. “Well… we could do couples costumes. Something that’s different from one another, but has the general theme.”

“Well… what if I already have a costume picked out?” You said, trying not to smirk.

He looked down at you. “And what did you…” He trailed off, seeing that you had slid off his lab coat, revealing the outfit underneath.

You were wearing a sexy teacher’s outfit, showing a decent amount of skin. After a moment, you spread open your legs. “Do you like my outfit?” You fluttered your lashes at him. 

“I… love your outfit,” he said slowly, his hands going to your hips. 

“Do you?” You shifted around to where you were facing him. “Can you show me how much you love my outfit?”

The robotic half of himself made a soft whirring sound, slowly rubbing up and down your sides. “Were you… just sitting here, waiting for me to come home?”

“...Yes.” You gave him a slight giggle. “Yes, I suppose I was…”

His robotic hand went under your shirt, sending a slight chill up your spine. He was either extremely hot or extremely cold to the touch– no inbetween. Though, it was easy to warm him up…

“Tuh-Take off my shirt for me?” You whispered.

His hands went to your front, slowly unbuttoning your shirt for you. You were pretty sure he was purposely going slow. 

Once he had unbuttoned the shirt completely he tossed it to the side, completely focusing on you.

“How far do you want to take this?” He asked, keeping his hands away just for the moment.

“However far you want to go right now.” You leaned in to kiss his cheek. “I know you’ve got to be tired, so you can do whatever you like.”

Melvin hummed in response, nuzzling your neck. “I can do whatever I like?” 

“Anything.”

A smirk slowly rose up across his features, rubbing his hands up and down your sides once again. He placed kisses along your neck, though occasionally nibbled and sucked your flesh, creating bright hickeys you’ll have to hide later.

You released soft noises, combing your fingers through his vibrant orange hair. You highly doubted your neighbors could hear your moans… but you were never certain if they could or not. Maybe they could hear you– maybe that’s why they never seem to be around outdoors. You didn’t know. And, you sooort of didn’t care, either.

“Melvin,” you mumbled, relaxing against him. 

He went further down, nibbling at your collarbone and shoulders. His mouth had a strange texture, being half metal and half normal, but it was very easy to get used to. 

After a while, he glanced back up at you. “Should we… move elsewhere?”

You paused, glancing around the living room. There were two windows, though it had curtains covering them…

“Let’s go to our bedroom,” you told him. 

You were about to stand up– but before you could, he picked you up as if you were a petite little princess, holding you carefully in his– somewhat– strong arms.

“Melvin!” Your face warmed, causing him to laugh. 

After adjusting his grip on you, he began to walk in the direction of the shared bedroom…

[anotherghoul666]

FUCK ME DUDE I sent the ask off without the damn answer in XD I'm so sorry hahahaha @devoured-by-shadows here's the actual post holy fuck.

(Answers 19 and 25 are below the others under a read more cause there’s talks of sensitive topics in there, 19 light mention of the topic of death, and 25 especially be wary of if you’re sensitive to topics like addiction, overdose and someone withering away over years.)

12:A song from your preteen years Ooh, interesting, what was big in my musical life between 9 and 12. Let's see. I got into metal at age 7 thanks to my dad showing me Iron Maiden, so needles to say Maiden was My Band in those years. While yes, there were other bands that managed to pique my interest then - things like Linkin Park, System of a Down, Nickleback (people need to chill with the Nickleback hate, yes they're commercial as fuck but dear god Silver Side Up and The Long Road fucked back in the day ok, and I will respect and appreciate those albums for what they were) and my first forray into power metal through Gamma Ray and Helloween and Blind Guardian - let's be real, Maiden was basically my whole life. When I discovered Maiden through their older albums, they were currently fronted by Blaze Bailey. Bless the guy, he tried his best and there are legit good songs on his two albums with Maiden, but you just can't fill Bruce Dickinson's shoes man, nobody can. All we were waiting for was Dickinson's return. So when he did come back in 2000 for the Brave New World album, that felt like the biggest event of my short life, and that album became my hyperfixation and favorite thing on the planet.

Iron Maiden - The Wicker Man I could link the entire album here as my “song of my pre-teen years” but this is the first track off of the album, it’s the start of the obsession, it was one of my favs to drum to back in the day. Lots of good memories with this classic!

15:A song that is a cover by another artist You know what's excellent music? 80s synth-pop / new wave like Tears for Fears.

Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World

You know what's even better? When a silly-yet-actually-super-talented youtuber band does it over 30 years later and nails the atmosphere.

Ninja Sex Party - Everybody Wants to Rule the World Listen, the world can say that it wants about the whole Game Grumps / Ninja Sex Party / Danny Sexbang persona, I kinda don't care. Objective truth is, Dan Avidan has fucking pipes, his voice is a fucking treasure, and serious albums like that one cover album from 2016 really show off these guys' potential. I get what their shtick is and I respect the hustle. But dude, when they cover 80s tracks like this one or A-ha's Take on Me? This is where they shine in my opinion. There's something so comforting, so soft and smooth in this version, this song feels like a hug for my brain. I remember multiple occasions in 2016 when this song alone carried me through panic attacks.

18:A song from the year that you were born So I was born in ‘91. Solid year in music, and in metal specifically. Metallica’s Black Album came out in ‘91. Ozzy Osbourne’s No More Tears, Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger, classics everyone knows. Over in Europe in the Nordic countries, the late 80s to early 90s with ‘91 smack dab in the middle was the creation and solidifying of black metal. And while of course I did not listen to black metal as a baby (tho I wish XD) the genre became my favorite genre of metal nowadays. ‘91 was the year when Darkthrone released their first record. When Samael released their first record. And when Bathory, already legends back then, released Twilight of the Gods.

Bathory - Prologue / Twilight of the Gods / Epilogue Piece of fucking history this track is.

20:A song that has many meanings to you Ha XD Come try to crack the code of Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway storyline hahaha. 23 songs of the most beautiful madness in the world. Listen, I have listened to this album countless times, pondered meanings, I read the story, my dad saw the original show, we saw the officially sanctioned replica of the show together multiple times, with the costumes, the original videos, everything. I understand The Lamb, and at the same time I understand absolutely nothing about The Lamb.

Genesis - In The Cage Make your own meaning. The more you look at The Lamb, the more confused the creature will make you, and that’s the way I like it! Peter Gabriel era Genesis is the best music that humanity’s ever created. You can spend your whole life trying to get it and you won’t and you’ll still be on awe.

19:A song that makes you think about life I tend to think about life through the lens of death most often. Idk how morbid of a person that means I am, or how much of a realist it makes me maybe? I don’t like to spend too much pondering life cause I know it can easily take me somewhere dark in the mind. But I do instinctually think about the value of life and artistic output, and the limited and fragile nature of life itself, when I listen to songs by people I’ve never known or met or seen while they were alive, and yet here they are, alive and well somehow in my hands and ears. How trippy.

Windir - Journey to the End Raising a (non-alcoholic) glass to Valfar for his soul to share in whichever hall of the afterlife he’s at. The soul of the Sogndal scene, unbeatable creative who I firmly believe could have influenced black metal and changed the course of the scene if he hadn’t died walking home in a snowstorm in 2004. Life’s funny like that. Sometimes all it takes is a walk home that you never arrive from. That type of shit makes me ponder life and its weirdly thin meaning. You take a look at the lyrics, it’s almost like Valfar knew what was coming. Nevertheless, Valfar and Windir left us some of the absolute best black metal offerings in the history of the genre. You cannot tell me this guy wasn’t ahead of his time with that synthy / electro / dreamy second half.

25:A song by an artist no longer living Aaah I unknowingly preemptively answered this one with the Windir answer before uh XD Alright, well, let’s talk about another artist that’s passed away then. An artist I actually got to see playing live multiple times before his passing. An artist that we, in the melodeath community, thought was so fucking cool. His self-destruction, which was very vividly broadcasted to the public mind you, was glorified, it was so epic and wild and awesome. The Wildchild, Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom fame. We aspired to be half as cool as him. Because for some strange reason when you’re a teenager, a person showing off how much he can drink and do drugs is cool. A metal musician you admire showing himself blackout drunk and passed out and making himself sick day and day out, was cool.

That’s nuts to me now, as an adult, as someone who has mildly dealt with addiction and even that fucked me up, as someone who works with addicts and sees the damages of this disease day in and day out. We all watched Alexi killing himself slowly in front of us, at shows, on camera, on the tour buses, etc. and thought it was cool. We encouraged him, egged him on. Fucking madness. It claimed him, in the end. In 2020. I saw it coming for a few years so I was zero percent surprised. I know it caught some fans off guard, I don’t understand how.

I saw CoB in 2019, less than a year before the guy passed. I also saw CoB multiple times from 2011 to then, so I saw the decline of the frontman, and I feel you had to willingly be blind to it to not see it. In 2019 the guy was a living skeleton. No energy, barely able to play on stage, haggard unfocused eyes, caved in face, skin over bones. I read reviews of this 2019 show, people wrote about how he looked good and had energy and was “at his best”, like?! Was it denial about their favorite musician’s health status? Or pandering to the music industry, unable to review a show honestly? That performance was beyond difficult to watch. It hurt. Still hurts when I think back on it. I was physically uncomfortable. We left before the end. I couldn’t stand watching a literal wraith shredding guitar on stage knowing full well this night too would end with him passed out drunk at the bar after.

It was a whole story, Alexi’s antics. It caused tension and conflict within the band, and of course, how can it not be harmful to watch your frontman and friend do this to themselves. But metal was and unfortunately still is a culture of excess and substances, and nobody did it “better” than the Wildchild. We all thought it looked rad, but in the end we watched this guy die for two decades. When the news of his passing came out in 2020 (from an overdose of lots of different substances on top of liver disease and basically an organ breakdown) I cried a ton. For the reality behind this precious piece of my childhood and teenage years that was CoB; but mostly for how unhealthy the live music scene can be and how it can encourage artists down very dark paths. I don’t understand anymore how watching people get fucked up on substances is supposed to be cool. So I do my part when I can, to honor Alexi Laiho and other musicians like him whom addiction claimed, and to remind whoever reads me that alcoholism and drug abuse isn’t “cool”. Taking shit doesn’t make anyone more manly or more metal or impressive. Addiction shouldn’t be trendy. It cost us too many great musicians already.

Children of Bodom - Thrashed, Lost & Strungout Man I miss this motherfucker.

[olivia200312]

(Series) Sex Lessons~ TFP! Orion Pax x Human! Reader (Lemon) *Request*

Requested by the lovely nora_the_bride_fan

Plot: Orion became very interested in how sex works on humans so he asks Y/N for help. Since they're mates, she shows him by having sex with him.

I saw this as a perfect opportunity to make this part of the series of Optimus in a break from being a leader.

P.S. I decided to finish the requests first before I'm completely lost XD

Note: the art goes to the owner!

Head area:

Brain: Processor / Brain Module

Head: Helm

Face: Face plate

Ears: Audio receptors / Receptor Orifice / Audials

Nose: Enstril / Olfactory Sensor

Eye brow: Optical Ridge

Eyes: Optics

Mouth: Intake

Lips: Dermas

Teeth: Denta/Dentas

Tongue: Glossa

Chest area:

Chest: Chassis / Thoraxal Cavity

Back: Hexa-Lateral Scapula

Spine: Bipedalism cord / Back Strut

Chest and back armour:

Chest plate

Back plate

Mid-section plating

Neck guard

Side plating

Arm area:

Arms: Arms / Restarlueus

Forearms: Bitarlueus

Hands: Servos

Fingers: Digits

Arm armour:

Gantlets

Shoulder pads

Arm guard

Lower area:

Pelvis: Pelvis

Butt: Aft / Skid-Plate

Thighs: Tibulen

Calves: Cadulen

Feet: Pedes - the high heel bits are called Struts or Heel Struts.

Lower armour:

Skirt plates

Aft plate / Skid plate

Thigh guard

Ankle guard

General/Internal components:

Muscles: Cables / Pistons - It depends on the area in question.

Veins: Fual lines

Stomach: Tanks

Lungs: Vents - used to stop the con/bot from over heating.

Heart: Spark

Tattoos: D-con/A-bot Insignias and the lark

T-Cog: The thing that allows all Cybertronians to transform, be that their arms or their whole body.

Bonus:

Penis: Spike

Vagina: Valve

Body: Frame

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

Time passed by since Optimus transformed into Orion. It's actually very fun! So many cute moments, more fun stuff, etc. But one day, Orion asked a very embarrassing question. He asked about how humans have sex. Once this came out of his intake, Y/N spit out her water in shock and her face got very red.

This is how Y/N did. She sat on her and Optim- er Orion's bed. Since Orion is using his bipedal holoform, he sat next to her while his arm is wrapped around her waist. Y/N held her Android tablet and went on YouTube. She did found good videos once where they explained sex, how babies are made, dangerous STDs that you can have, etc. Orion paid all of his attention to the videos that his sparkmate showed him. He couldn't help but be interested and also listened carefully to the female parts like how they react to pleasure and other stuff. Then he couldn't help but give his mate pleasure.

He wants to see the reactions right in front of him. His cute and innocent processor is being naughty and having full of lustful thoughts to pleasure Y/N. Even when he was Optimus and making love, he talks in a dirty tone... A LOT. Let's see how Orion will react to sex since he's not Optimus for now.

After the last video was over, he looked deep into Y/N's E/C eyes. "Can we... maybe have a lesson? Just to practice and s-see?"

Aaaw, Orion was getting embarrassed and shy. Y/N blushed as well. When he was Optimus, he NEVER EVER asked these things! He is a smart leader and knows how sex works! Cybertronians are lucky that the human sex is almost the same as theirs. Holy frag, Orion is much different.

Y/N blushed bright red as she stared at Orion's optics that were sparkling. No, he's not a baby. Y/N shyly nodded then and Orion felt happiness in his blue spark. The door was locked so that no one will suddenly enter and interrupt them. Imagine if someone entered while you're busy making love, uh oh.

Orion pinned Y/N down on their berth as he crawled on top of her. He stared into her deep E/C eyes. He then remembered the videos and started to kiss her soft delicate skin. He's kissing her neck. That caused Y/N to shiver and whimper. Orion smirked. he may look adorable since he's completely different than Optimus Prime, BUT... Orion can be naughty as well. Holy frag...

He then suddenly bit when he found her sweet spot, causing Y/N to gasp and moan. "O-Orion.~"

Orion only purred and continued to leave a love bite so that others can see who she really belonged to. Y/N wrapped her arms around his neckcables and moaned, enjoying the feeling that Opi-Orion was giving him.

Once the clerk was done, he pulled Y/N's shirt off and pants as well. She's now in her lacy bra and panties, making her look so sexy and matching the colors of her lover. Orion couldn't hold it anymore that his spike broke free from its panel cover. Y/N blushed bright red and saw that pre-cum came out from Orion's tip spike. Orion left kisses, watching like a hawk to see if he's pleasuring his mate. He's very proud of himself when he heard his favorite noises: moans of pleasure.

He unclipped Y/N's bra and got her panties off. She's very wet that it's throbbing, begging to be taken. Even though Optimus has a big spike, Orion has exactly the same inch as Optimus' spike! Orion is basically Optimus! Well, Optimus is on a break so he's Orion for now.

"Still a big boy.~" Y/N couldn't help but feel full of lust. Even though this was basically a lesson that Orion followed in order to learn, this was the best way to teach! But ONLY when you're a couple. Like Orion and Y/N.

Orion then entered her and immediately grunted at how wet, warm and tight she was. It gave... such a good feeling! He growled like a predator that was obsessed with his prey. Sometimes during sex, the male can feel obsessed with his partner, the female. Some females don't want to admit it, but they're fascinated and love-sick when their male partners show obsessive behavior. But keep in mind not all females were like that.

Y/N squealed and moaned loudly when she felt his spike entering her wet throbbing pussy. It gave her a very nice yet sometimes painful feeling, like her walls were ripping apart. She panted and pulled Orion extremely close to her that Orion's metal body pressed against hers that was skin. Orion's helm was buried in her warm and soft neck while he waited for his mate to adjust to his size. Orion was still panting while Y/N left soft kisses on his helm and spooned him, causing Orion to purr.

When Y/N finally felt no pain anymore, she bucked her hips to give her clerk lover a signal to move. He immediately understood the signal and began to move slowly and gently first. Y/N rolled her eyes into the back of her head in pleasure that she let it hit the pillow. "F-Faster, please."

Orion then remembered the videos and the explanations that a lot of females love rough and fast sex. Of course, not all females loved that but you never know. He then smirked and gladly granted Y/N's wish and moved faster. This caused Y/N to moan and yelp in pleasure. Orion, for an unknown reason, loved watching her expressions, sweat, her face red, and much other dirty stuff. Her legs were slightly in the air since Orion was between her legs, giving him access to be buried deeper, brushing, hitting, and making contact with her G-spot. Y/N screamed in pleasure and saw stars everywhere. It continued to be like this until a knot finally formed inside of her stomach.

"O-Orion, I'm c-cumming!~"

Orion let out cute noises, meaning that he's cumming as well. He never felt this good before as a clerk! Yeah, he did felt good as Optimus Prime when it comes to having sex with Y/N, but as Orion... Oh boy.

Y/N screamed and whimpered as he felt Orion's hot and sticky transfluid in her. It even reached her womb! She let out a sigh of bliss when it was all over. She whimpered when Orion slowly pulled out and some of his seed dripped out.

Orion then looked innocently at her. "Did I do a good job?"

Y/N looked surprised at him by that cute question. She then smiled and pulled him into a kiss. "You did a very good job, Ori."

[writteninsunshine]

Defining “Boyfriend” Clothes - Fizzarolli/Asmodeus - NSFW

Title: Defining “Boyfriend” Clothes

Author: Keith

Fandom: Helluva Boss

Setting: Ozzie’s House

Pairing: Asmodeus || Ozzie/Fizzarolli

Characters: Fizzarolli, Asmodeus || Ozzie, Verosika

Genre: Romance/Humor/Erotic

Rating: M

Chapters: 1/1

Word Count: 1019

Type Of Work: One-Shot

Status: Complete

Warnings: Gay, Slash, Yaoi, MLM, Oral Sex, Public Sex, Voyeurism, Clothing Fetish, Sort Of

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.

Summary: Ozzie didn't even need clothes with Fizzarolli around.

AN: Hey guys, it’s me again! Just thought I ought to say, if you want vague updates and to talk to me more, I have a writing Tumblr, too! Twitter is Sunshinecackle, and Tumblr is Writteninsunshine! I also have a writing Discord that is currently pretty dead. xD If you want it, please contact me on Tumblr/Twitter!

This was actually the first thing I wrote for these two, and the fandom at large, buuuut I actually got other things edited first, so this one kind of fell to the side. I’m still pretty happy with it, though I feel like I need to learn Verosika better. Regardless, I think that this fic is fun and silly so I’m good with it being a little OOC. I hope y’all enjoy it!

Helluva Boss Fic Masterlist

Defining “Boyfriend” Clothes

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Woah, Ozzie, what the dick are you wearing?” Verosika rose an eyebrow, pointing at the crude, black metal belt around his hips. It seemed that that was all he’d decided to put on for their bar crawl that night, and all she could manage to pull onto her face was disgust. It was tasteless in a way that she couldn’t quite describe, and she didn’t see how he thought it was a good look. 

Ozzie turned slightly to look over his shoulder at her, a smirk working onto his lips. He’d been just about to respond when he was cut off by a loud slurping sound and a frustrated huff.

“Me.” Fizzarolli’s voice had her jumping back in surprise, claws curled tightly around her clutch purse before she lurched around Ozzie just in time to see the jester’s head being pushed back down. Fizzarolli couldn’t hope to hide his lover’s cock at all, and it looked like he was wiggling his hips near Ozzie’s pussy, probably doing his best to fuck and suck him at the same time.

“I didn’t say you could stop, did I, Olli Baby?” Ozzie emphasized his large hand on the back of his lover’s head, watching Verosika’s seconds’ long surprise melt into a playful smirk and roll of her eyes. Of course, Asmodeus was going to wear his weird little accessory tonight, if only because of course he was. She was no stranger to Ozzie and his obsession with the weird little imp he’d brought home one day and just never really let go.

In fact, just about everyone in the lust ring, at the very least, knew about the duo fairly well. Everyone fairly widely accepted that it was a ‘tale as old as time’ down here; If the literal embodiment of lust was your first taste of sex and sexuality, there weren’t many others that could please you even half as well. As far as Asmodeus’ preoccupation went, it usually boiled down to Fizzarolli’s presence, or even general sense of self, being some kind of fetish of sorts. 

Naturally, Ozzie could reach his completion with just about anyone, in, on, or around just about anything, but it just wasn’t the best. It left him antsy, maybe even intensely unsatisfied, but nobody really could say for sure. If nothing else, Olli usually was there to watch; They both rather enjoyed that.

More sentimental types, usually those from other layers, had the bright idea that it was love. And maybe, on some level, it was. The pair of them shared something that neither had with anyone else, something tight, something deep, something nobody else could touch. Neither of them wanted to think about it, wanted to admit to anything, and so they kept it to themselves and continued their casual but so important lives together.

Even still, that didn’t mean Verosika didn’t snicker behind her hand as she watched Olli swallow down as much of the head as he could in this position. Ozzie was, first and foremost, so much larger than Olli ever could be. Sure, the robotic limbs usually helped with the height difference, but that wasn’t the only size-related issue, here. The best way she could come up with to explain it was to liken it to watching a snake trying to swallow an alligator whole.

“As if you wouldn’t take the chance if you had it, girl.” Ozzie snickered at her derisive snort, and she shrugged, eyeing both demons before nodding. 

“Yeah, I would. Getting someone so into sucking and fucking me that they want to be my fucking g-string sounds great.” And it wasn’t even sarcasm, the idea had her giving a shudder, her wings stretching out as she adjusted her stance, rubbing a hand over her mound, a promise for later as much as it was an admonishment for how fucking horny she was already.

It wasn’t like Ozzie hadn’t worn Olli around the Ring as various other things, either, most commonly some kind of shit-talking scarf. He’d been a belt here and there, suspenders, and anything from a necklace to an anklet, what was a boyfriend g-string between friends? A b-string, Verosika thought with another laugh behind her hand. Not that she’d say they were boyfriends out loud.

“Let’s just go,” She insisted, tugging on one of Ozzie’s hands weakly, dropping it when Olli’s chittering growl caught her ears. Rolling her eyes again, she stepped to the side and thumbed towards the door, “The car’s waiting, and I need some, too. Feels like a cocktail and sloppy flirting kind of night.”

“Rrrrright behind you~” Ozzie offered a winning smile around a low moan, a returned one flashed in their direction as the succubus turned and sashayed towards the door. Standing up a little straighter, Ozzie rolled his shoulders, stretched out one leg, then the other, before his hands slid down beneath the loop of his lover’s arms. Truly, the best augmentation had been those arms, because Ozzie couldn’t get enough of them. In general, he seemed to like keeping his silly little guy close by, and never really wanted to let him get far away, but that didn’t stop him from having favorite parts.

Following Verosika out once he’d made sure his little Hoover was properly in place, he trilled as he patted his eager imp’s little head.

“If this party ends up tits up,” He began, a promise neatly laced into each word, “We come back home and finish the party on our own.” The little jingle that told him almost as well as the feeling of Fizzarolli’s tongue sliding over his cock that he’d nodded brought a smile to each of his heads, “Alright, Olli Baby, just remember to play nice.” 

A playful growl left the imp still tightly wrapped around his hips was followed by a loud, obscene slurp that left any admonishments at the door. If Olli felt like being a possessive little jockstrap that night, then so be it. Ozzie wasn’t particularly inclined to care, as long as neither of them felt the need for violence.

After all, blood was still gross.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Well, there we are, first one down. I will probably write way more for these two, and have a big canon divergent thing I plan on writing that my husband and I have been talking with these two. With any luck, I can at least get the ball rolling on it. I think it’s probably important to say that all my work for these two will be canon divergent, possibly even heavily so. 

[asknarashikari]

Aruto: Kadoya, what is it now?

Kadoya: Nothing.

Aruto: You're not here to raid our cafeteria's fridge or have sex in my office?

Kadoya: What? No?!

Gai: You know, Kadoya-san, you kind of deserved that.

Gai: The amount of times, I see you and Daiki-san do it at the Gokai Galleon, is something I would like to forget.

Gai: You're lucky that only Don-san and me were the ones who caught you in the act.

Gai: I can only imagine what Luka-san and Ahim-san are going to do to you if they catch you.

Gai: Marvellous-san would simply kick you out.

Kadoya: *sigh* This is Ikari Gai of the Gokaigers

Aruto: Gai?

Kadoya: He's here to ask you some questions.

Gai: Hello, Aruto-san, can I call you Aruto-san?

Gai: I'm a big fan of 01 and heroes in general.

Gai: Although the jury is still out for my companion today.

Kadoya: Fair

Gai: I would like to ask you some questions.

Aruto: Sure?

Aruto: For what?

Gai: Oh, the Zenkaigers used your powers once through a gear

Gai: *brandishes a picture of the 01 gear*

Aruto: O-oh...

Aruto: I thought you were here to talk about Ark-One

Kadoya: Not to interrupt, but I'm literally the former leader of Shocker, I probably did things a lot worse than you did as Ark-One...

Kadoya: Probably

Aruto: Probably?

Gai: He has amnesia

Gai: He doesn't know anything about his time as Shocker's leader in his universe.

Aruto: O-oh.

==sometime later==

Amatsu: Oi, Hiden, I need your help.

Aruto: What is it now, Amatsu?

Amatsu: Amatsu? Why're you so cold?

Aruto: I'm talking to another Gai, it’s to differentiate the two of you.

Amatsu: Oh.

Amatsu: Anyway, we're needed in the city, Fuwa and Yaiba are already fighting the monsters.

Gai: Excuse me, but who are you?

Gai: I can understand why Aruto-san would be needed to fight alongside Fuwa-san and Yaiba-san.

Gai: But you, aren't you just some messenger boy who's probably paid a big salary.

Amatsu: A-an e-errand boy?

Aruto: *holds back laughter* No, Gai-san, this is Gai Amatsu, he's Kamen Rider Thouser.

Gai: Who?

Aruto: It's fine.

Gai: If you don't mind but I'd like to help.

Aruto: If you're sure.

Aruto expects chaos and only chaos whenever the Magenta Menace is in the vicinity XD And arguably he has done some things that are worse than Aruto, even after the whole "Leader of Shocker, Destroyer of Worlds" thing

Though... shouldn't he be asking Flint about the Rider Gears? She's the one who made them. Plus, he has a Rider Key himself (OOO SaGouZou, the other Gokaigers have Keys for OOO's other Full Combos) as well as a Metal Heroes Key, though I can't recall which one he has at the moment.

Bahahahaha lol RIP Amatsu Gai. Actually, no, don't RIP, he doesn't deserve peace after everything he did.

[malika-carnelian]

A heart meme pls? o.o

Drop me a character name and I’ll reveal my muse’s heart...

|| @tfp-optimusprime || going to reply this with a personal view also, since I feel inspired XD

VISUAL ATTRACTIVENESS: (purely aesthetic appreciation of looks) 💗💗💗💗💗 Despite being a metal-bodied extraterrestrial race made up of circuits, gears, processors and motors… Malika can't help but recognize in him a rather interesting shape in her own eyes, even more when she sees his body change into alt-mode, which is a beautiful peterbilt truck (and this makes her ecstatic like a child). It has always fascinated her to observe every body plate change into something belonging to a Earth-vehicle… plus, being a mechanical engineer doesn't help much, since her interest seriously skyrockets. Her greatest wish would actually be to go on a travel with him though, however difficult that may be.

FRIENDSHIP LEVEL: (how close a friend they consider them) From💗💗 to 💗💗💗💗💗 I headcanon this as a step-by-step friendship between Optimus and Malika to be honest. At the beginning Malika shows herself to the leader of the Autobots as a girl who bears a certain respect for his authority, at times it would seem even more than agent Fowler (even if she cares about that old man), however despite the smiles, availability and kindness she shows to him and the rest of the team, in her heart is always afraid of becoming more attached than necessary, living with the fear of losing again what she cares most about (trauma gained after the loss of parents), but after a while it's really difficult for her not to open up to the leader. Although the duties on both sides, those rare moments of conversations it happen that pushes the same engineer to speak and open up that Pandora's box concerning herself, as well as her interest in learning more about Cybertron and their origins. She doesn't and will never know what Optimus thinks of her person (unless stated by himself ofc), if he considers Malika as a friend of the human race or simply an ally without more, but from the girl's side, Mali will always see him both as a leader and a good friend with whom you can have a serious or lighter conversation, talking about both serious and important issues or easier topics like hobbies, humans and cybertronians culture, the differences between them and similar things. In addition, she shows blind loyalty towards him, as well as the rest of the team.

SEXUAL DESIRE: (wanting to have sex with them) 💔 Non-existent "How does that even could work, exactly?!?!" she's having chills about even received such a question. If Malika was a cybertronian being, then maybe things could be different, but being a human is definitely making this more than awkward.

ROMANTIC INTENT: (hoping for a romantic relationship) 💗💗💗 More than a romantic relationship, a very higher platonic one could occur yes. And she doesn't even have to be reciprocated to be honest.

[attemptingtowriteagain]

Masterlist - Updated 08/17/2020

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Reader - Kiss prompt #1

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Reader - Kiss Prompt #2 (NSFWish)

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Senator!Reader

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Senator!Reader

Obi-Wan Kenobi - I’m tired of being your secret

Obi-Wan - I might have slept in your robe while you were gone

Commander Cody

Commander Cody x Jedi!Reader

Commander Cody x Reader Imagine

Cody - I had a nightmare about you and I just wanted to make sure you’re okay

Cody - We both know that I should walk away but I can’t

Captain Rex

Imagine tripping over your own feet and Rex catching you in a dip

Rex x Padawan!Reader

Rex x Reader

Captain Rex x Jedi!Reader

Imagine Rex asking you to marry him

Rex - What’s in the box

Rex - So... Breakfast?

Arc Trooper Echo

Imagine spending a lazy day with Echo

Arc Trooper Echo x Reader

Echo - I don’t know why I’m crying

Echo - I adore you

Arc Trooper Fives

Imagine Fives always telling you lame pick-up lines

Fives x Reader

Fives - This is by far the dumbest thing you’ve ever done

Clone Trooper Jesse

Jesse x Reader (NSFW)

Jesse - If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were flirting with me

Jesse - Are you really flirting with me right now

Jesse - Ugh, not you again

Commander Wolffe

Commander Wolffe x Reader

Commander Wolffe x Reader

Commander Wolffe x Reader

Wolffe - Well this will make an exciting diary entry

Wolffe - Let me tell you exactly where in the hell you can go

Wolffe - The baby’s kicks are keeping me up

Clone Trooper Kix

Kix - I brought you some caf

Kix - Are you still awake

Clone Trooper Hardcase

Hardcase - First one to make a sound loses

Hardcase - I love you a lot, but please stop trying to cook me dinner, you suck

500 Follower Appreciation 

14 - Morning wood sliding against your ass - Kix

25 - His fingers sliding between you own - Wolffe

NSFW 5-10 Sentence Requests

(Below the cut in case people don’t like NSFW)

NSFW with Fives or Wolffe playing strip-poker? XD Thank you ;)

NSFW Headcanon: Can I get a hc where the reader strip-dances around Hardcase during a night at 79’s? owo

Hello there! For NSFW headcanon thing: may I please request first time with Obi?

NSFW head cannon request: Rex likes to surprise his S/O in the shower to initiate intimate times ;) Thanks a ton!

You said so yourself, you can send as many as you want!!! THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD!!! Lemme request a Tup ficlet, where they do a quickie before battle?

NSFW headcanon Request. Fives enjoys morning sex. Please and thanks!!

3rd time here again, back and betta aye Lemme get a Kix ficlet where Kix teases the reader throughout the day, and when they get into the barracks shit really starts going uphill?

NSFW Headcanon request please! Wolffe likes marking his s/o😏 p.s your writing is AMAZING liebling😍i love you💞

NSFW headcanon request: Cody finds the reader masturbating to him; Cody gives them an intimate time after finding them in that stance? ;)

NSFW headcannon: Hardcase loves the risk of getting caught. Thank you so much!

Hi! Can I request a NSFW with Fives and Reader having sex after having some stupid fight? Thank you!! :)

THERE HASN’T BEEN A CODY NSFW HEADCANON SO HERE IS MY THOT ASS- Nsfw ficlet Where Cody likes to use leashes on their s/o?

I love your writing! Can I get a 5 sentence NSFW Wolffe? That he loves to eat out his s/o on the kitchen table? Please and thank you!

Can you do the the Nsfw headcannon of Captain Rex fucking his gf while she wears his helmet? THANK YOU🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

For the NSFW headcannons can you write Hardcase loves cumming in his ladyfriend? I need more of him❤️ You’re the best!

For the NSFW headcannons can you write Hardcase loves cumming in his ladyfriend? I need more of him❤️ You’re the best!

NSFW head cannon please and thank you : Echo is reeeeaaalllyyy good at oral ;)

NSFW head cannon request: Anything with Rex and blindfold. Pretty please and thanks!

Hello! NSFW with a frustrated Wolffe after lost a battle? Thank you!

I just had this thought as like, an NSFW headcanon where Fives likes to talk dirty in his s/o’s ear just to tease them during the day and to just get them in the mood

NSFW ficlet with Hardcase? His S/O and him went on a secret mission, and his s/o is dressed up in a extremely revealing costume, and Hardcase just does them when they go back to Coruscant. Thanks! I REALLY LOVE THESE

NSFW heascanon for Cody. He starts off slow and loves foreplay but once the first article of clothing gets removed the whole mood changes 😉

Nsfw ficlet where his s/o is a pole dancer, and during their break, Cody just takes them backstage and just pounds into them relentlessly until his s/o cannot walk straight?

NSFW Ficlet with Kix? Kix likes to do BDSM with his s/o?

NSFW request: Rex’s reunion with his girlfriend after a long time apart gets heated ;). Thanks!

Nsfw ficlet with Fives? He likes to use sex toys on his s/o?

Your writing is awesome! Can I request nsfw Cody with a jedi lover after thinking they were dead (dat sweet ‘i almost lost you’ stuff tho)

Hi! Can I request an NSFW head cannon w/ Wolffe please? He really likes it when his s/o rides him? Thank you!

NSFW Request: Captain rex being the readers first time. Thanks a ton!

NSFW with Fives throwing a “special” birthday party for reader?

NSFW ficlet with Rex? He loves to use sex toys on his s/o in bed?

Hello! I really love your stories, and I am so in love with these NSFW ficlets!! Could I request with Jesse, please? Jesse likes to use his hands on his girl to make her cum a lot???

Nsfw headcannon? Fives loves getting head in public Thank youuu

i see that you’re writing again!!! may i get a nsfw request where cody likes to finger his s/o and see her squirt? 

I see NSFW requests are open again >:D Rex gets too stressed sometimes working on files so his s/o decides to help relieve his stress by riding him

....nsfw clones? Hmm. Any that doesn't get enough love or your muse...or who fits best for this. GF that loves going down on them. And if your feeling it. Separate or together. F2f who loves being railed against a wall by their lover ;p

I love your writing! Could you write NSFW with cyborg Echo and his s/o? His metal arm could vibrate and they used it in bed. S/o convince Echo that he's still her Echo no matter how he looks.

im a hoe and im back for the requests. ANYWAYS, can i get a nsfw request where hardcase has his s/o pose up as a stripper and he gets really turned on so he fucks her really hard in the back rooms 😳😳😳

Yo I asked for an nsfw request a long time ago when they were closed and I'm so glad they're back. ❤ Can I *cough* *slides a $20* get: Can I request a rex nsfw ficlet and he and s/o got a thing for cum. Like lots of it and everywhere. 👌

Headcannon idea, Obi Wan wall sex? Or sex standing up, where he is holding the reader?

Could you do Obi Wan face sitting?

can i get a nsfw request where cody likes to get called ‘commander’ in the bedroom?

Nsfw request: Rex making his s/o squirt for the first time and being really into it??

hey! can i get nsfw request with commander cody where the reader fingers herself on a comlink video call with the commander? he commands her on what to do and stuff? thanks!

nsfw headcanon thing idk - for kix: he gets a holovideo of his s/o masturbating and he jacks off to the video then his s/o catches him; then they masturbate to one another before fucking ❤️ thanks

Can I ask for an NSFW headcannon with obi wan and the reader engaging in some bdsm?

nsfw headcanon - tup loves to eats out his s/o on the table; his s/o loves to praise him and run her fingers through his long hair. thanks!

Hello there! I love the frustrated Wolffe NSFW headcannon and was wondering if we could get one for Rex?

NSFW for Rex- reader is a huge tease and Rex finally snaps and roughly fucks the reader

nsfw request with hardcase pretty please? he likes to pick up his s/o and eat them out against the wall as he squeezes at her tits? thank you☺️

NSFW with kix needing some help from his “nurse?”

NSFW: fives eats you out from under your desk while a commander tries to talk to you!

nsfw prompt w/ jesse - they catch their s/o pleasuring themselves and see their lewd expressions and sounds; jesse teaches them some patience

hello! can i have a nsfw prompt with fives? reader is his s/o and she gives him a lap dance for him? fives takes care of her ;)

nsfw with wolffe asking his s/o if he's making them feel good

NSFW for captain rex and s/o where the s/o is pleasuring themselves when rex walks in and they're super embarrassed and tries to apologize when rex decides to help them

NSFW Jesse eating out mechanic reader while she’s bent over fixing something?

for the nsfw request! Echo talking dirty to reader at inappropriate (and appropriate) times 💙

Nsfw prompt with Cody - Cody saves reader and she repays him for his heroic act

nsfw prompt for echo - his s/o wears very revealing clothing around him and echo can't take it anymore and rips off her clothing. thanks

NSFW request: teasing Jesse in front of the shinies and he orders them to clear out so he can fuck your face 😜

NSFW: Fives x reader where it’s the readers first time please? Thanks!

i’d like to request a nsfw prompt with echo? his s/o always sends him lewd photos of herself for him when he’s away, and when he’s coming back she sends him a picture with her in his favorite set of lingerie. thank you❣️

Idk if it’s canon but I feel like Jesse is a bit bigger than your average clone? I was hoping for the NSFW prompt you could write something about him having a size kink and teasing the reader by saying dirty things throughout the day! Thank you!

NSFW with Rex where the reader made him jealous and he snaps? Thanks Love

nsfw prompt - reader is wolffe’s s/o; s/o rides/sits on her commander’s face ;)

Can you do a NSFW with Cody where he just teases her throughout the whole day please? Thanks.

Jesse smut pre order 66

nsfw with wolffe when the reader enjoys teasing

wolffe fucking his s/o inside a laat gunship? thank u❤️

NSFW: could you please do one where the reader is Cody’s first time?? I’ve never seen it done before, and your writing is amazing I thought I’d as you!

Nsfw of Wolffe fucking the reader.

[nurgletwh]

For fluffy prompt oh gosh maybe quirrel/ghost and they break into an abandoned jewelry store and have fun trying on various things and make fun of the people who wear a lot of jewelry. Gottah have silly fun in the apocalypse lol.

All the Pretty Things

Summary: Ghost and Quirrel find a jewelry store with an odd feature, have some fun poking around in the glitter and glam, and have a talk.

Notes: This is from the Ghosts That We Knew universe, at some nebulous point in the near-ish future. xD Things get convoluted enough, and writing for this prompt definitely didn’t go anything like I expected, but also doesn’t end up going anywhere I wasn’t planning on going anyhow. This is considered (future) canon for my story.

Quirrel snorts when the crumbling passageway they were making their way through drops down and dumps them into a closet. Looking up at Ghost, he smiles and says, “It’s another closet. By my count, that makes twenty-two. Do you want to place bets on what’s going to be on the other side?”

Shaking their head, Ghost lays on their stomach and props their head on their hands as they look down at him. Of the twenty-two closets below this crumbling maintenance hallway, four of them were second closets that led into the same shop. Out of the eighteen shops so far, six were some variation on small art objects for five different themes, seven were bizarre herbal remedy/soul reading/soothsaying setups, four were shops for cloaks, capes, robes, and hats of some sort, one was furniture, and the last was bedding.

Sadly, they were too far away from the Pleasure House to take advantage of the furniture store, but they had raided the options for bedding, blankets, and pillows. Ghost was surprised at Quirrel’s creativity for how to get the pillows down to a size such that Ghost could manage to store them, but he does love his pillows. Well, he loves anything soft and squishy that he can lay in, on, or wrap around himself. Watching him surround himself with the silk they had given him makes them feel warm and happy, because he sounds so happy.

He watches them for a few more moments, then asks, “You seem lost in thought; what are you thinking about?”

They huff softly. Caught. They point at him.

“I… me?”

Ghost nods.

“Ah… well!”

They chuckle silently when this seems to fluster him. Dropping his gaze, he looks around the small closet as if it will have suddenly sprouted magical mushrooms while they talked. It seems only fair – they feel similarly when they catch him gazing at them and looking all soppy and affectionate.

The only warning they give him is a quiet snort, and they roll off the edge of the ceiling and drop beside him. He startles back with a yelp, and they snicker.

“So kind,” he grumps, but steps up beside them to rest his hand on the side of their head, gently pulling them against his hip. He caresses the base of their horn with his thumb when they wrap their arm around his leg.

With a last gentle squeeze he says, “Shall we?” and gestures at the door.

Ghost nods, and he steps forward to open the door.

They find themselves in a room of… mirrors?

Ghost turns around slowly as they walk into the room, watching thousands of reflections of themself spin slowly, followed by thousands of shocked-looking Quirrels.

There is a divan with several cushions on one side of the room, and a small dais on the other.

Quirrel quietly closes the door they just came through, which fully completes the mirror enclosure.

Ghost looks up; the ceiling is also mirrored.

What the fuck is this place?

“Uhmm…” Quirrel says intelligently. Not that they should judge, it sums up their thoughts quite nicely.

Ghost walks over to the divan and hops up onto it. It’s surprisingly comfortable, and they poke the cushions a few times before flopping over.

“Uh…”

They roll onto their side and prop their head on their hand to look at him. He seems a bit distracted.

He stares at them for a few moments before suddenly turning away. Being as there are mirrors everywhere, this in no way allows him to disguise the fact that he is getting turned on by seeing them lounging.

Ghost is confused.

Which doesn’t surprise them, as they are confused approximately 100% of the time that he is so reliably aroused by anything, particularly by them. They can’t find any logic to what titillates him, which would probably make him laugh as he tells them it’s the root of their confusion.

There are a number of things that are almost 100% guaranteed to turn him on; many of the things that he finds arousing are also things that other bugs consistently find arousing, at least as far as they have managed to pick up from reading or listening to other bugs. So, while they don’t find those things arousing for themself, his reaction isn’t necessarily surprising.

Sometimes, he just seems to be in a mood where merely existing appears to be arousing; trying to anticipate what he will find alluring on those days is impossible. That hadn’t been his mood today, at least so far.

A room full of mirrors with a divan… wasn’t on their mental list of things that might possibly float his boat. It’s weird.

He rapidly figures out the folly of having turned away, and sighs as he crosses his arms across his belly, meeting their gaze – one of their gazes anyhow – in the mirror.

They tilt their head, hoping he will explain.

Quirrel groans softly, glancing up. He goes absolutely still when he sees the mirrors on the ceiling. After a moment, they hear him swallow, and he whimpers slightly.

“Ghost…” he says, his voice sounding mildly strangled.

They sit up and hop down, walking over to stand beside him. He doesn’t look down, but seems to be tracking their movement using the mirror on the ceiling, so they look up. He whimpers again when they meet his gaze.

They watch him for a few more moments, then take pity. They are absolutely not interested at the moment, so they shake their head and drop their gaze. Reaching up, they grab one of his hands and step closer, kissing his palm. Looking back up at the ceiling they once again meet his gaze, and press another kiss into his palm as he moans softly. Huffing quietly, they press their tongue against the base of his thumb before kissing his hand again.

Stepping away, they squeeze his hand gently between both of theirs. When he looks down they sign, “I go see what out front. You go feel happy, come out after. Ok?”

He shakes his head and starts to say something, but apparently makes the mistake of glancing at the divan, and groans.

Glancing back, they sure hope it isn’t the divan that’s arousing. Although it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing they’ve heard of, they suppose. Shaking their head, they pat his thigh and then abandon him to his fate with the divan.

- - -

The front of the store appears to be a jewelry shop. It still doesn’t explain the mirrored room, at least not to the extent of having that many mirrors. That room would have made far more sense in the shops that sold capes and cloaks, but those had just had a few curtained off areas with one of those tri-fold mirrors in each. One of the shops actually had small rooms instead of curtains, but the rooms were still outfitted with the standing tri-fold mirrors and not… that.

Poking through the drawers behind the counters, Ghost hopes Quirrel is willing to explain. They aren’t completely sure they will want the explanation, but if he’s going to randomly be so completely and utterly floored by furniture, they figure they need to know about it. Maybe it’s the mirrors? They know some bugs like watching other bugs get it on. Maybe it also applies to watching oneself have sex?

They shake their head. Sex and arousal are confusing as fuck. Having had sex a few times now hasn’t opened up any vast depths of understanding, nor have they suddenly been graced with unassisted arousal. They hadn’t actually expected that to happen, but had occasionally heard some pushy bug or another claim they could do that kind of thing. Quirrel’s only comment on the subject had been that sex was different than masturbation, and that they may or may not find the experience more pleasurable, but that he would be surprised if it changed their overall drive, even if the novelty of it all temporarily boosted it.

That conversation had happened a week or so before they had actually gotten around to having sex, but a day or two after they had tried to initiate when they had been so desperate to avoid thinking about the whole mess that was the other Vessel and that fight.

In retrospect, they are glad he stopped them that time and made them think it through.

The drawers are full of a variety of chains for necklaces, and things one would hang on a necklace. The contents look like they are duplicates of several of the items on display, which makes sense. They pull out one of the chains and drape it across their hand. The metal links are fine, and flattened somehow. It doesn’t fold over the way they would have expected, instead curving into an arc, and then stopping.

Fascinated, they push on it gently. Their experience with jewelry and other luxury items is limited. They don’t need things like food or water, and have gone without for years from time to time. It’s boring to not eat or drink, but it certainly makes running away and hiding far easier. When they need to hole up, they can literally hole up. But it also means that they haven’t gone shopping for much of anything beyond paper, ink, and journals.

Holding the chain up, they watch the light reflect off of it as it swings. It’s pretty, and they drape it across the back of their hand again. They like pretty things, similarly to how Quirrel enjoys comfortable things. Ghost is certain they would like comfortable things as well, if falling asleep on them didn’t tend to result in them attacking and ‘killing’ the pillows or blankets.

This on the other hand… Ghost pulls the chain across the back of their hand, feeling the metal slither across. This is pretty and it feels nice. It isn’t something that they would be sleeping in, just something they would wear. Like Quirrel wears his mask.

They fiddle with the clasp until they figure it out, then put it on. They sigh when it dangles down to their crotch. Being small is fucking annoying sometimes.

Leaving it on, they lean over and start digging through the drawer of chains, trying to see if there is a pattern to the storage and – more importantly – a much shorter chain.

By the time they find one that only dangles down to the middle of their chest, they have bedecked themself in six other chains. Huffing, they step back. The flattened shape of the chains mean they don’t jingle the way they expected, although they can’t see how they look with all of the chains on.

Likely ridiculous, but they need a mirror to confirm that. Quirrel has usually been quite flustered if they interrupt his current pursuit, so they should probably be polite and find a different mirror.

Ghost discovers an additional problem when they start trying to walk around and find another mirror – the slope of their shoulders means that the various necklaces keep slipping down, refusing to stay put. They’ve currently draped them over the top of their cloak, but Ghost is certain that shifting the chains under it instead wouldn’t help anything. Sighing, they stand there and fiddle with one of the necklaces, running the flat chain over the back of their hand, then through their fingers. Deciding that they want to see how silly they look more than they want to not feel foolish, they lift their hands up and walk around the room until they find a mirror.

Standing in front of it with their arms in the air, they snicker. They definitely look absurd this way. They drop their arms to their sides, and their cloak falls back into place.

While a bit less absurd, wearing seven necklaces of lengths varying from short enough to fall to the middle of their chest to the one that is dangling just below their knees is definitely not dignified. They giggle as they run their hands along one of the chains again.

Hearing a door open, Ghost turns to see Quirrel emerge from the room of mirrors. They snort as he glances away; this has to be the first time they’ve ever seen him act embarrassed by anything regarding sex. They know they regularly catch him off guard, and often fluster him, but he hasn’t ever seemed genuinely embarrassed before

Either their snort or the chains catch his attention because he immediately looks back and then just stares at them. Well, they can give him something to giggle about. Having him acting awkward about sex is upsetting, and is not something they ever expected to see. They don’t want to ever see it again, either.

Sticking their hands back up in the air, they walk over to him as he continues to stare at them, speechless.

When they stop in front of him, he finally manages to utter, “Uhmm…”

That again? Maybe they are magic mirrors, and steal brains?

Ghost puts their hands on their hips and glare up at him.

He shakes his head but doesn’t say anything, choosing to look around the store first. Looking back down at Ghost, he asks, “I take it we found a jewelry store?”

Ghost nods.

He continues to stand there, hand on the door handle, staring at them.

Ghost sighs.

“You sit down, please? You upset, I not understand why. I want to understand, please tell?” they sign.

Quirrel sighs.

Turning, he pulls the door to the apparently brain-stealing mirror room closed.

They dig the pad out while he closes the door, moving slightly to the side so he can lean against the wall instead of the door when he sits. They don’t know the range of the mirrors’ effect.

He continues to stand there facing the door once he’s closed it, eventually resting his head against the door. He finally sighs again, turning back around and then sitting in front of them. He takes the pad when they hand it to him, draping it across his chest and belly, and they step into his lap and wrap their arms around his neck, nestling their face into the side of his head and rubbing against his kerchief.

He huffs quietly as he wraps his arms around them, pulling them in for a tight hug. They work one of their hands up under his kerchief, massaging the back of his head as he finally relaxes. They kiss him through the kerchief, then the side of his face as they pull back. They can’t kiss his cheek while his mask is on, so they rest their hands there and press their forehead against his mask.

Quirrel chuckles softly as he cups their head in his hands, his fingers brushing the back of their head.

“Abandoning me to my own devices didn’t upset you at all, did it,” he murmurs.

Ghost huffs and shakes their head. They aren’t sure why he thinks it would, but are aware enough to know it frequently bothers bugs. However, expecting him to adjust his libido to match theirs is just as realistic as trying to go the other way. He might not explode, but he’d likely feel like he was going to. For them to say no and then try and make him feel guilty for handling things himself would be manipulative.

He gently pushes their chin up and ducks in to kiss them, humming softly as he brushes his fingers along the back of their head. When he finishes, he presses his forehead against theirs again as he says, “I love you.”

They trace their thumbs along his cheekpads and press against him, then kiss the middle of his mask as they pull back to sign, “I love you, too.”

Quirrel trails his fingers down the side of their face as he sits back, smiling as he looks at the necklaces again. He meets their gaze as he tangles his fingers into the longest of the chains, saying, “You look preposterous in all of these, you realize.”

Ghost snorts and pulls their arms out from under their cloak to wrap them around all the necklaces, shaking their head firmly.

He laughs. “You’ll trip! You have to hold your hands up to keep them from falling down!!”

Giddy that he’s laughing, they bounce back and attempt to flap away, only to discover that having all of the chains on top of their cloak prevents it from transforming into the wings – or at any rate prevents it from lifting up and flapping. They crash to the ground on their back and stare at the ceiling, slightly dazed.

They hear Quirrel snicker, and his face appears above theirs, grinning brightly. “See?”

They flip him off, and he sits back, laughing. He reaches forward and wiggles his hand under their head, and they huff as he helps them sit back up.

Pushing to their feet, they choose to wrap their arms around the necklaces again and go back over to the mirror. Yes, they look silly as fuck, but… but. They hadn’t ever wandered into a store like this and poked around to see what they might look like if they wore something different. They might be stuck with the cloak, but…

Sighing, they start fiddling with one of the chains again, running it across their hand as they watch it in the mirror. They huff quietly, and trace the chain to find the clasp, starting to open it. They jump when Quirrel closes his hand over theirs; they hadn’t even noticed him move. He’s sitting beside them, and smiles when they meet his gaze. He gently tugs their hands away from the clasp.

“Have you ever had the chance to put anything like this on, wear jewelry or decorative wear?” he asks softly.

They retrieve one of their hands and wobble it, then turn to look in the mirror again. The few times that they may have had the opportunity – that they recall – they felt far too self-conscious about it. It would have meant letting someone know their cloak wasn’t something they could take off, and at some point they decided that if they couldn’t remove their cloak, it meant there wasn’t any point in trying to wear something different.

Ghost touches the necklaces again, feeling the smoothness of the links, looking at the colors against their cloak. They think they recognize the gold ones as… well, as gold. But there are two silvers, one that’s bright with a slight trace of blue, and one that’s softer, yet still just as bright, but has a slight trace of pink instead of blue. The gold and the slightly blue silver both look nice against their cloak. The slightly pink silver also looks nice, but the other two look better.

Quirrel asks, “Do you know what the metals are?”

They shake their head.

“Would you like me to tell you?”

Ghost turns to look at him and nods.

“I’m sorry I teased,” he says softly.

They snort and shake their head. “You not worry, I not upset. I know I look silly, it ok I look silly. I…” They turn back to the mirror, touch the necklaces again. “I not see before, not try before. I see now, I feel… I not know I feel. Unsure.”

They watch themself in the mirror as Quirrel leans over and softly kisses their horn. It feels different, watching. Seeing him kiss them, not just feeling it. They aren’t sure how that makes them feel either. It’s both surreal and more real. He hums softly, kissing them again before sidling over to sit closer, moving so they are standing where he can loosely fold his leg in front of them but still be off to one side, his other leg – the one he usually keeps more upright – behind them.

Lifting the gold one, he says, “I expect you know this one. It’s gold, or at least mostly gold. It gets complicated, but gold is soft enough that for a longer chain like this, one that’s also thicker, pure gold is often not the best choice.” He laughs softly. “It wasn’t something the aristocrats liked to hear, of course.”

They can feel his knee brushing their cloak near the small of their back, and watch him as he sits casually folded around them. Can see, for the first time, what they look like as a couple. How other bugs might see them; as lovers, maybe more.

He lifts the slightly pink silver one next. “This is platinum, which is rarer than gold but has the unfortunate characteristic of looking an awful lot like silver, and not being obvious that it’s more valuable, so the nobles didn’t tend to bedeck themselves with it. It’s also a fairly soft metal.”

Maybe more? They hadn’t thought about it before Ogrim had brought it up, and the idea had shot straight through their likely non-existent heart, short-circuiting their void-displaced brain. Perhaps it had been self-defense, their subconscious refusing to look at something they had always believed they could never have. Because now, now… oh, how they want the more. It doesn’t make sense in this ruin of a kingdom. There’s no legal benefit, and the gods have abandoned it. There are only a dozen or so bugs here who would possibly ever know.

Pausing, he leans in and brushes a kiss against the base of their horn again, turning to look at them in the mirror as he leans his head against theirs. Their chest seizes up as he smiles at them, wrapping his arm around them. He looks happy, he’s holding them and he’s happy. He’s with them, and he’s happy to be with them.

And they want; want to call him their spouse, to call him their husband. To be called his spouse in return.

Gasping, they turn and grab him in a tight hug, shuddering.

Maybe mirrors have a magic to them after all.

“Ghost? Are you ok?”

They nod firmly; he sounds worried. They didn’t mean to worry him, they are just… overwhelmed. Love is far more overwhelming than they had realized.

“Alright,” he whispers, pressing them against him and tucking his chin over their shoulder, hugging them firmly and then holding them.

- - -

Quirrel finishes up his explanation of the various metals and short tidbits of information about their properties, and helps them remove all but the shortest of the necklaces – which happens to be silver. Ghost promptly puts the ones they removed around Quirrel’s neck as he laughs. They certainly fit his body better, although the longest one might get caught somewhere inconvenient if he’s wearing it and gets aroused again.

They continue to poke around the store, looking at the assorted styles and ways to adorn a bug’s body. There are plenty of pins and brooches for those bugs who choose to wear clothing or cloaks, and Quirrel helps them choose a few to try on. He starts laughing when they decide to see how many they can put on, and shakes his head as he sits down to help.

Ghost definitely clinks now, and the monarch wings refuse to even try to transform. Laughing, they stand in front of the mirror and turn around. They almost glance back to the other room, but Quirrel still seems to feel mildly guilty. They don’t like that fact – they want to poke their nail into whoever said no to him, but then told him no for himself as well.

Maybe there’s another room that has more… normal mirrors for seeing behind yourself? There’s a door on the other end of the counter that neither of them have opened. Which… Ghost turns back and faces the door where the mirror room exists, finally realizing that it’s not exactly an obvious door. In fact, if they didn’t know it was a door, they probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

Interesting…

They shake their head and then take off for the other door. Quirrel looks up and smiles at them as they pass him where he is browsing some of the various rings and bracelets, and they wave back.

Opening the door, they find a short hall with a couple of alcoves that ends in another door. Unlike the stores for capes, cloaks, and whatnot, these alcoves don’t have privacy curtains, but they do have a couple of chairs and small versions of the tri-fold mirrors. Which makes sense, they suppose. One generally wouldn’t bedeck themself with fifty or so brooches and want to see what that looked like. They snicker again as they poke into the other alcoves.

The alcove at the very end of the hall has one of the taller floor-style tri-fold mirrors – so, maybe someone would want to do that. Happy, they step into the alcove and position the mirror so they can see all the way around themself.

It’s something else they hadn’t done often, look at their backside. Not that it’s generally exciting, except for when it contains thirty or so of the fifty or so brooches and pins they have all over themself. They bounce, and watch as everything shifts around and clinks. They bounce again, and hear a soft chuckle as Quirrel walks down the hallway. They look up at him as he smiles down at them and steps into the alcove. He’s still wearing the five necklaces that had fit him, although he has added some pendants to a couple of them. His hands are full of rings and bracelets, his body language full of mischief.

He sits down beside them and dumps what he is carrying beside him. Shifting to be next to them again, he snickers and leans in to kiss them, and they huff. Turning to kiss him back, they ignore the magic the mirror is trying to tell them to focus on the magic in front of them.

Quirrel hums as he caresses the side of their face, fingers curling around their horn as his thumb rubs along their cheek. They run their hands along his cheeks, start to brush them along his mandibles before stopping and cupping them under his chin instead.

He briefly deepens the kiss before sitting back with another hum, trailing his fingers along the side of their jaw as he smiles at them. Huffing softly, they capture his fingers as his hand drops, pulling it back to kiss his knuckles and then press it against their chest.

He ducks back in to kiss their cheek, and gives them another smile as he sits up. Turning to his pile, he starts shuffling things around before looking at them in the mirror.

“Are you ready to look truly ridiculous?” he says with a grin.

They laugh as they nod.

“I don’t think they had rings small enough to fit your fingers—” Ghost glances up briefly as they shake their head, and he chuckles “—but some of these might actually work as bracelets or anklets, depending on how your body shifts.”

Ghost cocks their head as he holds one of the larger rings out, then shrugs and holds a hand forward. He grins and they slip their hand through it, and he laughs as it is blatantly too large.

They snort and look at him as they sign, “I small! You silly, you forget.”

Shaking his head he says, “It’s not easy to forget, love, but more a matter of I don’t think about it much any longer.”

He sets the ring aside and goes back to pushing through his little stash, and they fiddle with the edge of their cloak, slightly embarrassed.

“Not many bugs can actually wear rings,” he rambles on. “Even I have some difficulties with it, despite having fingers. To wear a ring, most bugs need it to have little prongs to hold it in place, and the ring needs to have a latch rather than just slipping on and off.”

Turning to face them, he holds one of the rings up to show them what he means. “I don’t think you would find it particularly comfortable, though.”

Ghost shakes their head, but takes the ring to look at it as he goes back to the pile.

“Other rings would be glued in place, and the bug would need to have a solvent that would work for that particular glue to get it back off. Some rings actually had a rubber backing and would either slip on or had a clasp and would clamp into place.” He turns to face them again, showing them a different ring that he opens. “This should be far less uncomfortable,” he says with a smile, and they hold their arm out again, holding the other ring beside them.

He clamps it on, and it’s still slightly big but not by much. Unless they tuck their hand in, it wouldn’t come off. Huffing, they look down at it. It’s wider than several of the others, intricately braided fine wires of gold that have been set onto a solid backing of… they think it’s platinum. It has several small emeralds worked between the braiding. It’s gorgeous.

They look back to the mirror, and huff. Set against what they’ve done with their cloak, it does indeed look absurd, but like the necklace they are still wearing, they think they might keep this one. It spans from their wrist to the middle of their forearm, but it’s light and doesn’t seem like it would get in the way. Stepping closer to the mirror, they hold their arm up and look.

Quirrel shakes his head and holds his hand out to them. “I think I have a better idea,” he says quietly. They turn to face him again. “I think you are perfectly content to figure out how ridiculous you can be, but I also think you’ve discovered you like pretty things,” he says with a smile.

They’d known they like pretty things, they just hadn’t put that thought together with the idea of liking jewelry. They glance back at the mirror, and see he is still holding his hand out to them. They turn back and take it with a sigh. He tugs them over to where he is sitting, leaning his forehead against theirs. Ghost drops the ring they are holding and puts their hands on his cheeks, gently rubbing their thumbs under his eyes.

Pulling his face to angle it better, they kiss him. He hums and rests his hand on the back of their cloak, chuckling as his fingers catch on all the brooches.

Sitting back he asks, “Do you want to take these off and see which ones you may actually want to keep?”

Ghost snorts, then nods and turns around to have him start removing the ones from the back as they get to work unpinning the ones they can reach.

- - -

They’ve both selected several items to keep. Ghost is still wearing the necklace, and the ring/bracelet Quirrel had put on them earlier. He’s down to one silver necklace with a sapphire pendant, although he chose a couple of others with different chain styles as well.

The pendant has a thin band of finely braided silver filigree around the edges of a deep blue sapphire. There are a couple of small purple sapphires embedded into the filigree, as well as a few tiny diamonds Quirrel called ‘seed’ diamonds. Ghost had run across it tucked in the back of a drawer, and when they saw it they thought it would match his shell nicely, as well as the blue silk they still wish they knew how to use to make a cape or robe. Unlike some of the other pendants they have handed him, he cooed softly and immediately pulled the necklace off to string this pendant, putting it back on and finding a mirror. He still touches it every once in a while, and it makes them feel warm.

Ghost is now standing in front of what they finally recognize is a variety of engagement and marriage identifiers. They’ve seen a wide variety of them as they wandered, and while this array doesn’t have quite the extreme range, it is varied enough that they hadn’t picked up on what this corner of the store was until a few minutes ago. Quirrel joins them, looking at the assortment.

As far as Ghost can tell, almost all of the options are for monogamous marriages. They know it’s quite common for polygamous unions to simply use the more common identifiers and just stack them up, but know that isn’t always true.

Quirrel huffs a quiet laugh and steps forward, picking up a small dual-banded bracelet. The two bands are held together by small, twisted loops, although they must be attached somehow because they don’t move.

He stands there and looks at it for long enough that they touch his leg, curious why it’s holding his attention.

Glancing down at them, he shakes his head and starts to put it back. “It’s not…”

Stopping, he sighs. “These are the marriage bands my parents wore,” he murmurs. Glancing at the shelves for a moment, he leans forward and picks up a tray that is displaying several small bead-like items.

He sits down slightly behind them, pressing a kiss against the base of their horn before tucking them into his arms and resting his head against theirs. If they had wider shoulders, his chin would be on them.

“They didn’t specifically wear these bands; these are new,” he says quietly. “But this is the style that was used within our community in general, as well as some others. The self-pin and four twisted circles hold the two bands together and divide the circlet into five general relationships. The two bands represent life and death.” He leans against them briefly, then turns to kiss their cheek before continuing. “This pin here is the clasp, and represents the person wearing the bands. Depending on who you asked it could simply be the easiest place to mark the top of the circle, or a representation that the person is an important part of the whole family, and something is missing when you pull that person out of the circle.”

He huffs quietly. “Before I left, I was one of those that figured it was just a convenient starting point. But I think I’ve changed my mind. It’s a starting point, but also required to hold a family together.”

His fingers run around the circlet, pulling out the pin and opening it before closing it again. “The top band represents the living family, although it is usually limited to parents and children. Some families would expand it and add a third circlet, representing grandchildren.” He holds it up, with the clasp at the top. “The top of the self-pin is slightly different than the bottom, so you know which of the two circlets represents life. Those outside the community often found the inclusion of those who have died morbid, but it wasn’t. Anyone who was a part of the family has affected it, and continues to affect it even after they are gone. Trying to hide that fact doesn’t change the truth of it. It’s why even if someone left a family group for other reasons, their marker was usually modified but not removed.”

Quirrel turns and kisses their horn, pressing his forehead against it after. He’s trembling slightly, so they turn to lean into him, hooking their arm over his shoulder and working their hand under his kerchief to caress the back of his head.

He takes a shaky breath before kissing them again, looking back at the circlet he is holding.

“There are two main divisions, partners and children,” he says. “There are five overall divisions, represented by the self-pin and the four twined circles holding the two bands together. Partners are divided at the self-pin, one section to each side. The one to the left as you face it from the top represents what most bugs would traditionally recognize as ‘spouses,’ and the one on the right is usually described as ‘siblings.’”

He chuckles softly. “They are all your partners, your spouses. Bugs you choose to share your life with, love. Sometimes you share your life with bugs you are romantically involved with, sometimes you share your life just as intimately but not romantically. Sometimes your true, related siblings are part of that family. Sometimes, your partners bring in a someone you aren’t so involved with, but they are still a part of the family. Sometimes the markers move back and forth between the two sides.” He laughs as he says, “Papa said that was to keep everyone guessing.”

Quirrel nuzzles their cheek. “The bottom three sections represent any children.” He chuckles again. “Or for those you regard as your responsibility, including pets. Not all families want or can have children.” He hums softly. “Any children in a family are the children of all partners. The divisions are mostly so that the genetics can be kept untangled within the community, which is particularly important if partners change.” He taps the bottom left division of the circlet and says, “The leftmost of the three is for children genetically related to any of the partners on the left-hand side of the self-pin. The middle section is for children genetically related to the person wearing the band. The rightmost division is for children that have no direct genetic relation to the person wearing the band.”

He falls silent, flipping it over in his hands a few times.

Turning it so they are looking at it edge-on he says, “This one has the death band made from a different material than the life band. Not all of them were that way; it was a fairly even mix, even within a family group. If someone died, their marker was moved from the life band over to the death band.”

Quirrel picks up the tray he had grabbed before sitting. “These are one style of markers, or beads. Currently blank, they would be marked somehow to make them unique for the bug they represent. Usually it was a part of their name, sometimes it was more creative. How they are attached to the band varied wildly; it looks like these have a little clasp so you can shift them around.”

He sighs. “This one is obviously meant to be a bracelet of some sort. There are as many ways to interpret the general symbology as there are bugs to think it up. Generally you wouldn’t find a ring trying to represent this style, as it would be too large. But pendants for necklaces were common, as were the bracelets.”

He looks at the bracelet for a while before setting it into the tray with the beads. He pulls them against him, turning them so he can tuck his chin over their shoulder. His breath catches, then he shakes his head slightly and sighs as he shudders.

Ghost wraps their arms around his neck and hold him tight. They wonder… no, they don’t. They know that if they turned around and chose one of the circlets or pendants and gave it to him, he would accept it with joy. They just don’t know if there should be more to it than that. They doubt they could get him distracted long enough for them to seriously peruse the options and choose something to give him later. The circlet he’s been using to tell them what things mean is obviously far too large for either of them, although Ghost could possibly wear it around their waist. They’d need suspenders to keep it in place.

Huffing at the mental image, they turn their head to kiss the side of Quirrel’s face and then step away to pick up the circlet. They poke at it, looking at the self-pin before pulling it out and spreading the bracelet apart. It isn’t hinged, and without the pin holding it together it’s definitely flimsy. Once the pin is in place, however, the whole thing becomes far sturdier. Holding it, they decide they like the symbology it represents.

They glance up at the wide variety of selections in this corner. They doubt very many of them reflect this particular kind of relationship. Most of them seem to be for the two bug partnership type. Ghost looks at the bracelet again, leaning back against Quirrel. They hadn’t ever even thought about being in a relationship, much less a larger one. Quirrel obviously grew up in such a family, and listening to him talk about his partners they know he relishes the idea of a large family.

They aren’t sure why he hadn’t been married before he left, although they think it’s for the best. They can’t begin to imagine how much worse it would be for him to have come back and learn he had walked away from partners, possibly children.

Ghost steps back forward and picks up one of the little marker beads, fiddling with the clasp to see how they open. If they give him one of these, it means that if they survive, they are accepting the possibility of having more partners – platonic or otherwise. That Quirrel would have other partners, although they are certain it’s far more complex than him showing up one day with someone else in tow.

Do they know how they feel about that?

Probably not, but they feel a warm happy glow at the idea of a larger family. They certainly don’t have an aversion to the idea of Quirrel being with someone else as well as them, even if they aren’t exactly excited about it.

Clamping the little bead into place, they figure that neutral is probably an acceptable place to start from. They can see their future opinion on the matter being highly dependent on whoever the future theoretical additional partner is.

Ghost looks at Quirrel, sees that his gaze is locked onto their hands where they have been investigating the bead and idly turning the bracelet around and around. They falter a little, unsure of what that focus means. His eyes snap to theirs when they stop turning the bracelet, his breathing slightly uneven. They shift so that they are facing him, and hesitate. They don’t have the right signs, but the thought of using the slate for this feels wrong.

Taking a deep breath they don’t need, they see Quirrel tense up but force himself to relax. They force themself to ignore it, and slip the circlet onto their arm for now so that they can sign.

“I love you.”

Quirrel smiles and touches their face, thumb brushing along their cheek. His fingers are trembling. “I love you, too.” he says softly.

“I want you. I not know how to tell you, I not know if there a way to say, a way to ask. I also not know right signs.”

Ghost hesitates as Quirrel goes absolutely still, relaxes slightly when they see a tear form. “I want to have a home with you. I want you to have a home with me.”

Quirrel seems to have stopped breathing, his gaze fixing on their face as they pull the circlet off of their arm. Knowing it isn’t the one they actually want to give him, they simply hold it up between them, lifting it up far enough that he can see it without glancing down.

Gasping as he shudders, he shakes his head slightly as he grabs the sides of their head and pulls them forward to press his forehead against theirs. Breath heaving, he starts to say something but gets stuck. Uncertain, they hook the circlet back over their arm and then put their hands on his cheeks. They’d been certain of his answer, but now they are starting to get nervous.

He shudders again as he inhales deeply, forcing the breath out slowly as he grips their head. His hands are trembling. He takes another deep breath and exhales slowly. Unsure, they start tracing their thumbs along the edges of his cheekpads. It’s not like they can take back what they said. They don’t want to either.

“There are traditional words and phrases,” he says, voice shaky. “I like yours better.” He laughs breathily, squeezes again. “Ghost… I…” He puffs another breathy laugh. “Although the problem with you choosing your own words means I have to figure out my own words. Ghost, yes, you are my home, my heart, my everything. I want nothing more than to be your home. Yes.”

Ghost huffs, stunned. They probably shouldn’t be, although their thoughts are all scattered.

Quirrel pulls them forward and wraps his arms around them with a laugh, squeezing tight as he rocks back and lifts them off their feet. He laughs again as he clasps his hand against the back of their head, holding them against his shoulder, and they wrap their arms around his neck and hug him back.

“Ghost! Oh gods, my love! You are an eternal source of surprise, but I have to wonder, do you surprise yourself as well?”

They snort. He knows that answer, knows that this was semi-impulsive.

Ghost wonders how much longer he’d have waited before he asked them. They are fairly certain he’s flinched away from asking at least twice in the last week or so.

But they nod, because they know it will make him laugh, and they love it when he laughs.

And Quirrel does laugh, tipping over sideways and laying them on the floor, his arm behind their shoulders as he rests on his elbow and looks down at them. Laughing with him, they reach up and pull his mask off, and he takes it from them to set it aside, humming as they start to work at the knot of his kerchief. As it falls to the side, his antennae swing around and start pattering along their horns as he leans back in to kiss them, humming as he smiles.

They don’t go any further in their explorations, setting up camp for the night in the store.

But not in the room with the mirrors.

End Notes: This will be incorporated into the main work at the appropriate time, which I will do my level best to make happen soon. I have been trying to figure out how to get these events to happen, but hadn’t managed to come up with an appropriate lead-in for the story. The prompt I received allowed me to find that scenario! Now I just need to get them back to the City of Tears for a day as an excuse to link this in. xD

Hopefully the fact that this doesn't quite match the parameters of the prompt is acceptable!

[kiraofthewind]

The 88 sapienti species of the Pentagonal Dominion

No, I’m not here to describe all eighty-eight lol. Actually, my plan is to write short bios about each of them and post maybe four or so at random intervals? Depends on how long it would take to write them up, it could be weekly or just whenever I finish. In the future, I’d love to have artwork of all 88, but of course that takes a lot of time and money lol.

Currently, I have art of specific characters of the following species. An asterisk means that species is represented in at least one character I have art of:

A note on my invented word ‘sapienti.’ Some might be asking “Erika, why don’t you just call them sapient?” I do, quite often in fact. However, when I was writing my books, I found that ‘sapient’ didn’t always do what I wanted it to do. ‘Sapienti’ is essentially my fantasy-world’s version of the word ‘human.’ If a characters stumbles across the bones of a person, they would refer to the bones as “sapienti bones” meaning “the bones of a sapienti person.” Imagine instead if they’d referred to them as “sapient bones.” That makes it sound like the bones themselves are alive and chatting with you!

So how did a world manage to get eighty-eight different species of people living in it? Time travel, son. The world is only 1450 years old anyway. Ain’t no evolving from a single-celled organism in that amount of time!

Many of the sapienti species evolved over billions of years in timelines that the Time Spirit left alone to just let nature take its course. These are usually the more “human-looking” species. Ones with opposable thumbs or which can otherwise use tools.

Some species were made sapient by the blessing of a Mind God. Wynnles came from lions. Yosoe came from goats. All the insect-based species came from, well, insects lol. In the Pentagonal Dominion timeline I write about, there were actually only 87 sapienti species to begin with. The Domovye (singular: Domovoi) were animals. They would be yoked together and trained to dig deep underground, uncovering metals for their sapienti masters. This was seen as no different than yoking oxen to plow a field, or dogs to a sleigh, or a horse to a carriage. The Domovye turned sapient overnight by the blessing of Lucognidus. His purpose in doing so was to punish Ulinor, whose dictator refused to accept the (at the time) new Spiritism religion. Ulinor was the primary civilization that used Domovye as working animals. The Ulese lived underground and needed the Domovye to keep their city functional. But the Ulese abhorred slavery, so when the Domovye became sapient, they could no longer be forced to work.

Many of the species are capable of interbreeding, largely thanks to Life elemental magic. Biologically, without magic, most of them would not work. Their chromosomes would be incompatible or the sperm wouldn’t be able to merge with the egg. Life element magic just “makes it work, damn it.” It will fuck around with genetics until it creates something that can exist. I made this chart a while ago when I was playing a game with some people to create demigods:

It shows how some interbreeding works, but it was within the context of a certain time and place. For instance, the Morenzi can interbreed with any of the others that aren’t in colored boxes, but they currently live in the Quarantined Plane, so none of their hybrids currently exist. It also says Odonata cannot interbreed, but the entire point of Calinthe is that she’s the first and only Odonata hybrid.

The Pentagonal Dominionists use specific language to describe sapienti based on the number of limbs they have. A human might be described as a biped-bibrach (two legged and two armed). A few sapienti look a lot like humans, including the Olivians, Ulese, Umi, Omi, Yetrians, and Myralese. In these cases, the things that make them non-human are deeper than their appearances. Olivians will bond strongly to whoever they first have sex with. Ulese have advanced intelligence. Umi and Omi can control certain internal functions which are automatic and uncontrollable in humans. Yetrians can eat things that a human’s stomach would reject. Myralese are Ice elementals and can survive in frozen environments.

Note that I use ‘nullped’ for species without legs (Domovye, second-stage Orochijin, Poltergeists, Mizura). There is a single monoped species: the Collembola. They have a leg and a tail. They mostly get around by hopping on their tail, but their single leg helps to balance them.

Yet some of these species are so weird and nonhuman that describing them is… difficult. I still don’t have art of Päivi, who is fairly prominent in MoKaM, because I tremble at the idea of trying to describe her to an artist. xD

Many of my species are aquatic, too! Or at least *can* live and breathe underwater if they choose. Aquatic/water-breaking species include: Anemone, Daga, Ephemeropteran, Flora, Foma, Hemipteran, Kraken, Mizura, Phasmida (they can transform into other species, so a Phasmida wouldn’t drown likely because they could transform into someone else), Piniko, Poltergeist, Rubaiyan, Selachi, Sin-Derion, Thysanura, Tsuru, Vodyanoi, Zullia.

Wings are another common feature. Everything that has ‘pteran’ at the end of its name has wings. Other winged species include the Winyans, Pellas, Tsuru, Noklopae, Subrikae, and Nilians.

A few species are extinct in the time period the Merchants novels take place in. The Tellia and Pokki were exterminated by demons when the demons were first created and wanted to take over their homeland. The Mujin went extinct when the Death God Sawyer lost control of his powers in a fit of despair.

A few of these species are also so few in number that a person could go their whole life without meeting one. These include: Odonata, Iur, Mabera, and Phasmida. Technically Phasmida change into other species, so their true numbers are unknown. A Phasmida might live a lifetime in the body of another species and never tell their neighbors that they’re actually a Phasmida. The only one who has made her identity known is Mira, the Chancellor of Aloutia. Because Phasmida only age in the bodies they are currently using, they are effectively immortal. Mira has been the Chancellor since the founding of the Aloutian Empire. She has existed in the Pentagonal Dominion since its beginning. She is actually over 50,000 years old because she’s the Time Spirit’s toy, and she keeps getting put in alternate timelines.

In-world, people might refer to the sapienti species by other numbers. Some will say 87 because they’re excluding the Morenzi, who are unknown to everyone on Aloutia, Cosmo, Ophidia, and the Makai. Some will say 84 because they’re also excluding the three extinct species.

Some species have body parts that naturally produce elementrons, but they can only be used for specific types of ‘magic’ e.g. the Sin-Derion have teeth enchanted to shoot Death elemental beams. Wynnles have electric tails. Yosoe have electric horns. Most winged species have Wind elementrons to allow them to fly because otherwise their bodies would be too heavy/awkward for flight. Daga shells are gold, but enchanted to float on water. Sounites have fire for hair. It’s a whole lotta fun to design all these people!

One thing I want to be clear on, though: no species are monoliths. No species is ‘pure good’ or ‘pure evil.’ They don’t all belong to the same country or culture. They don’t all believe in the same principles, dress the same, speak the same languages, or worship their Gods in the same manner. Sometimes when I talk about my species, I may talk about the culture in which *most* of them belong. *Most* Wynnles live on the Wynndalic Plains of Cosmo’s Starsine planet, where they engage in ritual hunting, have strict sexual practices, and speak their own language which few other species speak. But… obvious not all Wynnles are that way. Amiere, Liesle, and their children are Wynnles, but they live on Aloutia, buy their meat at a market or fish it out of Deep Sea, eat a lot of tropical fruits, and speak a sort of pseudo-French patois most commonly spoken by Flora and Ebonoirs. All sapienti have individual, rational minds (some can connect to a ‘hive mind’, but they *still* retain their individuality, should they choose) and can come to their own conclusions about morality and society.

[surveyhoursss]

98.

Prep

I shop at Abercrombie, Hollister, American Eagle, or Aerospatiale.

I am/was a cheerleader.

I'm pretty ditzy.

I wear pink 24/7.

My looks are very important to me.

I can't live without my cell phone.

My hair is always straight.

I say 'like' and 'omigod' a lot.

I laugh 24/7.

I have a million friends.

I always hang at the mall or movies.

I'll only date popular guys.

I listen to rap & pop music.

I have at least one designer bag.

My myspace pics are of me making a kissy face or are mirror pics

It takes me at least an hour to get ready for school in the mornings.

Uggs + Miniskirts = Love

I don't have a job

I wear lots of makeup. (wouldn’t call it lots, though)

I can be stuck up or snobby sometimes.

I flirt with any guy, as long as he's cute.

Total = 5

EMO

I cry a lot.

I go to local shows.

I wear black everyday (typically I always have something black on)

I write sad poetry.

I play an acoustic guitar.

My favorite bands include: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, or Panic! at the Disco.

I think about suicide or death often.

People have told me to cheer up.

I cry when I see dead animals.

My myspace/Facebook pics are black or white or angled.

I wear many band shirts.

No one understands me.

I don't talk too often.

I look down when I walk.

I wear black eyeliner.

I have an ex I still cry over.

My hair is black

My hair covers one of my eyes.

I always say 'life sucks'.

Total: 4

NERD

I have straight A's.

I wear glasses.

I always do my homework and study.

Lord of the Rings was a massive achievement.

Computer games.

I'm 'teachers pet'.

I've never had a real boyfriend/girlfriend.

I have a bedtime.

I use an asthma inhaler.

I carry a calculator with me.

I bring my lunch to school.

I always follow the rules.

I'm shy around the opposite sex.

I'm always on the computer.

I've never had beer or cigarettes.

I always answer every question in class right.

I correct people's grammar.

I read a lot.

School is very important to me.

I always stump people.

Total: 8

REBEL

I always speak my mind.

I have 0% of school spirit.

F*ck you, I won't do what you tell me!

I stand up for what I think is right.

On spirit days at school, I wear the rival's colors.

Whenever people are doing something, I do the complete opposite.

I won't listen to authority figures.

I always break the rules.

I refuse to compromise.

I'm always arguing with people.

I love debate.

I always do what's unexpected of me.

I don't give a sh*t what people think of me.

If I watch a cruddy movie in theaters, right after it's over, I'll say 'that sucked'.

I'm not afraid to contradict others.

I only respect my own beliefs.

If I don't want to do something, I won't do it, no matter what.

I laugh at compromising people.

I cheer on the rival's sport team to stand out.

Rules were meant to be broken.

Total: 1

JOCK

I'm on one or more sport teams.

I always wear my varsity jacket.

I've won awards for my athletic ability.

I will only date popular girls/guys.

School Spirit

I'm going to a college for sports

I watch sports on TV all the time

I'm muscular.

I play sports or exercise at least 3 hours a day.

Go Team!

I'm a chick/dude magnet.

I eat a lot.

I'm egotistical.

I'm too focused on sports to make really good grades.

I sit at the jock lunch table.

All I talk about with my friends is sports.

I go to lots of sports games.

I'm very athletic

I wear sport inspired clothing.

play at least 3 different sports.

Total: 4

COMEDIAN

I'm funny.

I'm always making jokes.

I interrupt class by making people laugh.

I like to entertain people.

I worship Kevin Smith.

I watch comedies more than anything.

I also watch SNL and Mad TV a lot

I'm sarcastic.

I've been told I'm hilarious.

I always imitate people.

I pull lots of pranks.

I always make sarcastic remarks after everything.

I have to prove myself by being funny.

People expect me to make jokes, always.

I have a lot of pressure to make everyone laugh.

If I don't make jokes, people ask me what's wrong.

Jim Carrey is my idol.

I mostly get along with everybody.

At pep rallies, I'm the one acting crazy and silly.

My teachers or parents tell me I need to focus more on work and less on joking around.

Total: 3

SHY

I don't have a lot of friends.

I don't talk too much.

It's not that I'm snobby, I just get nervous when talking to people.

When people say my name, others say 'who?'

I'm pretty sure mostly no one knows who I am.

People have told me I need to talk more.

I only talk when other people talk to me first

I look down when I walk.

I avoid social gatherings, such as games, dances, or parties.

People have tried to help me be more outgoing, but it never works.

I always plan to talk to more people, but I never do.

I sit in the back of the classroom.

I never participate in class discussions.

I hide behind people to avoid being seen sometimes.

I could never be a cashier, talking to strangers.

I talk quietly.

People have called me shy or quiet.

I usually let others decide for me.

If someone is talking about my favorite book or movie in front of me, I don't join in the conversation.

Total: 12

GOTHIC

I wear black.

I don't like to be seen.

I'm very, very pale.

I only listen to metal or emo-ish music. (neither of these is goth, mallgoths XD)

I love creepy, weird movies.

I love gothic cartoons and drawings.

I don't like people.

I only go out during the night.

I have black fingernails.

I wear a long black coat.

I also wear big black boots.

'The Crow' is one of my favorite movies.

I only date other Goths.

I love black humor.

I love pain.

People think I'm crazy.

I don't talk to anyone who isn't as deep as me.

I love to scare people

I laugh at teenyboppers.

People are scared of me.

Total: 3

WEIRDO

I talk to myself.

I say really random things all the time/have to say it out loud.

I fidget a lot.

I still use a wheeled backpack.

People laugh at me.

I walk really funny.

I have a very different sense of style.

I talk in a robot voice often.

I'll stop whatever I'm doing, and break out in a crazy dance if the mood strikes.

I debate stuff with myself.

I hear voices.

I'm obsessed with aliens and the other planets.

I have a fascination with robots and machinery.

I use really big words no one understands, and they give me weird looks.

I say random lines of babbling that make sense to no one but me.

I dart my eyes from side to side.

I always pretend I'm a robot or other weird non-human thing.

People have no idea why I think the way I do.

I have some very unusual, extraordinary talents.

When people ask me if I like something that's trendy, I pretend to be scared or confused.

Total: 3

ANTISOCIAL

I hate/dislike most people.

I prefer to be alone.

When people talk to me, I just give them a death glare.

Actually, most people don't talk to me.

People are freaking idiots and I wish they'd all die.

I live in my room, writing in my diary. On the computer...

I go out my way to avoid everyone.

I never greet anyone.

I despise people who talk too loudly.

I want people to think I'm a freak.

I never talk.

I can't wait to get off this earth.

I always sit by myself at lunch or anywhere else.

I listen to music on full blast on my ipod/mp4 player/headphones to block out the world.

I don't know why I am the way I am.

People have said I'm antisocial.

I use drugs or alcohol to escape the loneliness.

Why bother when people don't like you anyways?

I occupy myself so it won't look like I'm a loner.

I just don't get along with anyone.

Total: 1

SKATER

I skateboard to everywhere.

If I'm not skateboarding, I carry it with me.

I shop at Pacsun.

I'm obsessed with Tony Hawk.

Oh yeah, and Bam Margera.

I always play skateboarding video games.

I have shaggy hair.

I wear baggy pants.

I wear only skater shoes.

I always wear hoodies. (well, much of the time)

I hang at skate parks 24/7.

I'm always learning new board tricks.

Forget school, I want to be a professional skateboarder.

I've been skateboarding for over 4 years.

I hang with other skaters.

I've been hurt while skateboarding.

I've been in a skateboarding competition.

I wear vans.

Tony Hawks games win.

I've met some of my closest friends at skate parks.

Total: 0

GANGSTER/HOOD

I say 'yo'.

I also say 'fo shizzle'.

I wear extremely baggy pants.

Mah chainz hang low.

I hang with my homies, biotches, and Hoe's

I'm a thug.

I only listen to rap music.

50 Cent is my idol.

I don't give a frick about school.

I steal/have stolen before (as a child lol)

I freestyle.

I breakdance.

Gold chainz is tha way to go, biotch.

I'm white but I act black.

All my heroes are dead rappers.

Tupac is still alive.

I party with all my nigs.

I wear a sideways baseball cap.

I wear hoodies.

I wear converse with the tongue flipped out.

Total: 2

BULLY

I always steal people's lunch money.

Geeks are afraid of me.

I get in trouble all the time.

I steal people's stuff to be an a**hole.

People have called me a bully.

I have beat someone up before.

I'm always looking for a fight.

I pick on people smaller than me.

I push people out of the way when I'm walking.

I've never been in a relationship before.

People are afraid of me.

People know not to mess with me.

I'm taller than most people my age.

I pick on people for the fun of it.

I make fun of everything anyone else likes.

If anyone crosses my path, they're dead.

People know not to try and stick up for themselves when I'm around.

I'm one of the strongest kids in school.

Even some authority figures are afraid of me.

People get out of my way when I'm walking.

Total: 0

GAMER

I own at least 2 different video game consoles.

I love Final Fantasy.

DDR & Guitar Hero

I've missed school before because I was trying to beat a video game.

I'm always trying to beat high scores on games.

I even play a lot of computer games.

I play at least 3 hours of video games a day.

My thumbs are sore often.

I spend all my money on new video games.

My boyfriend/girlfriend has to be into video games.

All I talk about is video games.

I've been in a video game competition before

I pay over 30$ a month in online games.

I have bought more than 5 accessories for my console

I know about more than 10 cheats and mods in the game I play most.

I have played at least a complete week in the game I like most.

I wouldn't know what to do in an afternoon without electricity.

My parents often tell the internet is broken or simply disconnect it so I don't spend whole weekends and holidays playing.

I have more than one online account on the same game.

Total: 2

GIRLY

I have long hair.

I wear make up every day.

I carry a purse.

I have to get someone else to come kill a spider.

I paint my nails.

I use perfume.

I keep my nails clean/shaped

I shower regularly

I used to or still do Dance, Gymnastics, or Cheer/Pom

I like to accessorize

I like flowers.

I don't like to be outdoors.

I'm more like my mother than my father.

I like hanging out with girls than boys.

I like going to the mall/shopping.

I watch my weight/ count calories.

I plan outfits ahead of time

People say I have a soft/sweet voice.

I dream about and am already planning my wedding day

I watch dramatic shows on tv, soap operas, reality TV, etc.

Total: 9

BOYISH

I have short hair.

I hate doing laundry.

I like war type video games.

I like playing or watching sports.

People say I have a deep voice.

I'm more like my dad than my mom.

I beat up or tease my younger siblings or friends.

I act tough, it doesn't matter what's going on inside me.

There's only two emotions.

I shower only when I start to notice I stink

I think about the opposite sex a lot.

My room isn't neat.

I bite my nails instead of using scissors/clippers.

My clothes don't match sometimes, but I don't notice or care

I like to play rough with dogs.

I like the movies 300, Transformers, The Dark Knight.

The best way to get the opposite sex to like you is to act like a jerk.

I don't read

I don't ask for help even if I need it.

Total: 3

scored highest on: Shy lmao

[galaxies-unknown-a]

💘 Writon?

where they first met and how

Mettaton and Writer first met where Frisk and Mettaton would have initially met.- And for Mettaton, he was smitten at first sight. Writer... Not so much.

how long their ‘flirting’ phase was before feelings got involved

Mettaton flirted from the start, but Writer did not start to return affections until ~five months in.

who fell for who first ( if applicable )

Mettaton, dur dur dur-

where their first date was and what it was like

Their first date was a night at a local club- Mettaton and Writer danced, and kindaaaa stole the show of the whole club.

who asks who out and how ( with a sign? spelled out on a cake? just a simple ‘will you go out with me’? )

Mettaton absolutely asked Writer (technically twice). The first time it was quiet because he knows about her anxiety, and the second (when they went public) he did with a giant concert.

who proposes first

Writer proposes first. XD

if they keep / kept their relationship secret or let everyone know right away

They kept it a secret initially (or at least tried to but it’s Mettaton so) because of Writer’s Social Anxiety.

where the proposal happens and how ( kiss cam at a baseball game? on a hillside surrounded by ducks? at a disney park? )

They were at Writer’s place, and Mettaton was sitting on the couch when he noticed a small box tucked near the base of Writer’s TV. He opened it, saw the ring... And turned around to Writer on one knee.

if they adopt any pets together

They so do. They adopt two dogs- a miniature pinscher named Cape, and a Shiba Inu named Jolt.

who’s more dominant

Mettaton, no contest.

where their first kiss was and what it was like

Their first kiss was at a Waffle House (think ‘highway-side restaurant’). It was 2:00 AM and Writer was tired, they accidentally leaned forward too much and oop- kissed Mettaton. The two didn’t really move for a minute..

if they have any matching couples stuff ( mugs? sweaters? pillowcases? )

They actually have opposite-colored stuff. Most of Mettaton’s stuff is pink while most of Writer’s is black- so when they’re out in public they actually match up to Mettaton’s color scheme. However, yes, there are several things that are ‘couple-match’ in their house (the bed, mugs, a few jackets...).

how into pda they are

Mettaton is SUPER into it. Once he has the go-ahead from Writer he basically tries to get as much PDA in as he can.

who holds the umbrella when it rains

Mettaton, he’s taller.

where their usual ‘date spot’ is ( if applicable )

There’s a quiet little lake near their house, just far enough away from town that the two can chill in peace.

who’s more protective

Neither. Both are crazy protective.

how long it is before they sleep together ( can be as in ‘had sex’ or as in ‘shared a bed’ )

Shared a bed, and... A year and a half.

if they argue about anything

They do, but it’s rare.

who leaves more marks ( lipstick, hickeys, scratchmarks etc. )

Mettaton. Hard to leave marks on metal, after all.

who steals whose clothes and how often

Both, Mettaton more than Writer.

how they cuddle ( spooning? facing each other? )

Facing each other, mate~.

what their favourite nonsexual activity is

Watching television together.

how long they stay mad at each other

Neither is good at staying mad at the other for more than a few hours at best.

what their usual coffee / tea orders are

Mettaton: Candy Frappe with Kit Kats and Oreo.

Writer: Caramel Crunch Frappe.

if they ever have any children together

Nope.

if they have any special pet names for each other

Mettaton for Writer - Sunspot

Writer for Mettaton - Star Boi

if they ever split up and / or get back together

Nope because I don’t like that kinda stuff~. They stay together once they start dating.

what their shared living space is like ( messy? clean? what kind of decor? )

Clean! It’s all pretty organized and chill- and very modern. A lot of the decor is either black, pink, or yellow. Mettaton owns three different vanities, and the two have separate walk-in closets.

what their first christmas / hanukkah / etc as a couple was like

Their first Christmas was pretty low-key. They spent it quietly making out and talking all day. At the end... Presents were exchanged and the two ended up playing on their new PS5 together until nearly 3:00 A. M.

what their names are in each other’s phones

Mettaton for Writer - Precious Sunspot (sun emoji) (yellow heart emoji)

Writer for Mettaton - DIS BOI HERE (robot emoji) (pink heart emoji)

if they have any ‘couple traditions’ ( buying a new mug for their collection every year? baking every friday evening? )

On Tuesdays it’s ‘reading night’. Otherwise known as the two read to each other while curled up together.

who falls asleep first and who wakes up first

Mettaton wakes up first. Writer falls asleep first.

who’s the big spoon / little spoon

Big spoon - Mettaton

Little spoon - Writer

who hogs the bathroom

Mettaton, no doubt.

who kills the spiders / takes them outside

Mettaton kills the spiders, Writer takes them outside.