#teen lit fest

[thisbluespirit]

I was a librarian in the 2000s, not the 2010s, so wrong decade, but you need to remember Susan was in London (the UK), not the US, and there can be a big difference between what's popular in the two.

In the 2000s basically the only thing the actual YAs liked much in my libraries was Point Horror, which I think Susan would have found very amusing. Or screamed at. Could have gone either way. But those would be mostly a little younger than that - at 15, she and her friends would either be in the adult section already, or too cool for reading.

But cool, in-reading for 15 year olds in the UK? Probably still likely to be popular adult horror.

This, somehow, made me wonder:

If Susan Foreman was trying to blend in as a Regular Teenage Girl in the 2010s, she'd certainly be into a YA series. Which one?

Discuss.

[romione-trope-fest]

In Your Arms

2024 Romione Trope Fest - Only One Bed

In Your Arms by Hpfanted

About 5400 Words

Rating Teen - No Archive Warnings Apply

Many, many thanks to KateNotEight for encouragement to dial up the angst and Johnna for proofreading

Any text in italics has been taken directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 

Starts in the woods where they held the Quidditch World Cup. Somewhere enclosed, undercover, the first place Hermione thought of. 

Enjoy :)

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It only took Hermione a second to regain her composure, scrambling to her knees amongst the fallen autumn leaves, wand raised. The brightly lit glade assaulted her eyes. But she forced herself to squint, desperate to assess the situation, to check for danger. 

Yaxley wasn’t with them. Thank Merlin! So she had shaken him off at Grimmauld Place. That was…good…in a sense. Even though the tension in her shoulders relaxed slightly, they were, after all, out of immediate danger, she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. They wouldn’t be going back there today, tomorrow, maybe not ever. Grimmauld Place could hardly be described as home, but it had been a sanctuary, a safe place for the last few weeks. Now they were exposed, bare.  

Harry was lying on his back nearby, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose, the other holding his glasses. He looked confused but he was moving so Hermione knew he was going to be ok. She frantically sought out Ron, her eyes landing on his figure lying motionless a bit further away.

Hermione momentarily froze, stuck on all fours, a rush of heat ran up her spine and fizzled at the back of her head as panic set in. The only movement was from her heaving chest as she took deep ragged breaths. She wasn’t sure if it was adrenaline, fear, or anticipation as she willed him to sit up but it felt like she couldn’t breathe.

He didn’t sit up. She watched horrified as a dark crimson bloom appeared on the borrowed shirt, the fabric soaking from beneath. It started at his upper left arm. Within seconds it seemed his whole left side was covered in red. Her heart lurched as he let out an agonised groan. It seemed to break the spell holding her in place, and she frantically jumped to her feet.

Hermione raced to Ron’s side and fell hard onto her knees beside him. There was so much blood, it was pouring out of him, the blue flannel turning a dark purple as it rapidly threaded the soft cotton. She wondered how long it would be until he had no more blood to bleed. She took in his pale complexion. He was as white as a ghost. His eyes screwed shut and his mouth opened in a silent scream of pain. 

Hermione reached for the place where the bleeding had started and pulled at the fabric. The shirt tore easily like she was ripping a piece of ink-soaked parchment. She’d expected it to be more difficult to pull the material apart, her strength surprising her. 

Harry had now realised something was wrong, very wrong. He crawled across the forest floor to join them. He watched as Hermione pulled back the cotton and revealed the damage to Ron’s arm. They both winced at the sight of the bloody mangled mess. To their absolute horror, Hermione and Harry realised there were huge chunks of Ron’s arm missing from shoulder to bicep. She felt nauseous looking at the exposed sinewy tissue that expelled more vital fluid with every pulse. 

“What’s happened to him?” Harry asked nervously.

“Splinched.” She cried. Wasn’t it obvious!? Hermione applied pressure to the ghastly wound. Ignoring the grotesque feeling of flesh and hot blood against the palms of her hands. She needed to think fast, they could be about to lose their best friend. “Harry, quickly, in my bag, there’s a small bottle labelled Essence of Dittany.”

“Bag – right –” Harry was shoulder-deep in her purple beaded bag, it had only been seconds but it felt like hours. What in Merlin was taking him so long?

“Quickly!” She shouted desperately. Didn’t he realise Ron was bleeding out right in front of them?

“Accio dittany!” Harry finally shouted and scrambled back to them. 

Hermione watched as a sense of calm came over Ron. She felt his entire body relax and sag beneath her hands. His eyes rolled back into his head leaving strips of white eyeball visible below half-closed eyes. ‘He’s not dead. He’s not dead. He’s not dead.’ She chanted in her mind. Harry offered the small brown bottle to her. But she shook her head, not wanting to take pressure off the wound until the last second. 

“He’s fainted. Unstopper it for me, Harry, my hands are shaking.”

Once it was opened she raised her hands from his incomplete body. They were trembling, dripping with the viscous red liquid. She quickly rubbed them back and forth on her thighs, partly to wipe off the excess blood, but also to ground herself. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists in a bid to take control. Despite her clumsy hands she managed to take the bottle from Harry and drip…drip…drip the potion onto damaged flesh. It sizzled and emitted small puffs of purple smoke.

“Wow,” Harry breathed as the air cleared. He sounded impressed but she wasn’t. The skin healed rapidly over the trauma, taut and shiny. The bleeding had stopped, mercifully, but the gouges remained and she knew he’d already lost too much blood. She was terrified they’d been too late. She lowered her cheek to his lips and felt a soft breath. He was alive! He was breathing! That was all she knew right now. Time would tell if there was lasting damage.  

“It’s all I feel safe doing. There are spells that would put him completely right, but I daren’t try in case I do them wrong and cause more damage…he’s lost so much blood already…” She knew the spells, had practised them before but she didn’t trust herself to do it right, not when she couldn’t stop shaking enough to pull the cork from a potion bottle. Not when she’d caused this. 

“How did he get hurt? I mean, why are we here? I thought we were going back to Grimmauld Place?” Harry asked, looking around at the surrounding forest. 

“Harry, I don’t think we’re going to be able to go back there.” She answered honestly suddenly on the brink of tears. 

“What d’you –?”

Hermione cut him off, not wanting to delay her confession. “As we disapparated, Yaxley caught hold of me, and I couldn’t get rid of him, he was too strong, and he was still holding on when we arrived at Grimmauld Place, and then – well, I think he must have seen the door, and thought we were stopping there, so he slackened his grip and I managed to shake him off and I brought us here instead!

“But then, Where’s he? Hang on … you don’t mean he’s at Grimmauld Place? He can’t get in there?”

“Harry, I think he can. I – I forced him to let go with a revulsion jinx, but I’d already taken him inside the Fidelius charm’s protection. Since Dumbledore died, we’re secret keepers, so I’ve given him the secret, haven’t I? Harry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” She could see the disappointment on Harry’s face. The tears wanted to fall but she blinked them back defiantly, there were more important issues right now! 

“Don’t be stupid, it wasn’t your fault!” He said but she didn’t believe it.  

Suddenly Ron groaned, interrupting their conversation, reminding them that he needed them. They both watched him eagerly, hoping he was coming round, but he drifted straight back into unconsciousness.

“Let’s stay here for now.” Harry hastily decided and she found herself so grateful. 

Hermione jumped to her feet to secure the area. She tried to focus on the spells she needed to cast but as she raised her hands she was almost sick at the sight of the deep red stains. She looked down at herself, she was covered in his blood. Another deep breath to push down the nausea and she set to work. “Salvio hexia … Protego totalum … Repello Muggletum … Muffliato…you could get out the tent Harry…”

“Tent?” He asked dumbly.

“In the bag!” Even in this stressful situation, she had to try hard not to roll her eyes. It hardly mattered, her back was to him as she circled the clearing casting protective wards. Did he not know how urgent it was that they make a safe place for Ron to recover? 

“In the…of course.” Harry summoned the tent and started to pull apart ties and poles. This time Hermione most definitely rolled her eyes. Between the protective enchantments, she pointed her wand at the jumble of the tent. 

“Erecto!” She shouted, Harry jumped backward as the tent magically constructed and grounded itself to the forest floor. He went inside, she could hear him casting charms and moving things to get the interior ready. A minute or so later he appeared at the entrance swearing profusely.  

“Ugh ahh, fuck, something bit me.” He was shaking his left hand.

“What?” Hermione looked over at him as she finished securing the wards. 

Harry only distracted her for a moment though. She glanced at Ron, he was shaking, convulsing on the darkened patch of soil, stained with his blood. She threw herself to the ground once more and wrestled off her jacket. She placed it over him, leaving her hand to linger on his chest. ‘Still beating, it’s still beating’, she silently whispered. Harry watched her, eyes wide with concern, then mimicked her actions. He handed her his folded coat and she gently lifted Ron’s head to place it as a pillow.

“His body’s going into shock.” She breathed, more to herself than anything. “We need to get him inside and warm.” She pleaded, turning to Harry again.

“Hermione there’s doxys…the beds are covered in them.” He said urgently. 

“What!? Bring them outside Harry! Don’t let them infest the whole tent!” Hermione’s attention snapped back to him, and another wave of panic flooded her mind, constricting her airways. That tent was their backup plan, the only backup plan she had. There was nowhere else to go. 

Hermione heard pops as Harry hit reduction charms on the bunk beds and single cot. He reappeared at the entrance. “What do we do?!” He called as he threw the matchbox-size bed frames into the clearing. 

“I don’t know. Harry, I don’t know! But we need to get Ron inside right now! Wait…you’ve been bitten?! Doxys are highly venomous.” She eyed him as he sucked on the bite mark on his hand and jumped to her feet. 

“I’m ok. It was only a wee one, barely broke the skin.” Hermione sighed, it would be just like Harry to overlook something insignificant and wind up dead from a Doxy. Then who would fight Voldemort? She grabbed his hand to check on the bite, thankfully it didn’t look to have infected him. It wasn’t deep or green and there was no symptomatic foaming pus.

“Ok, it must have been a juvenile, I think you’ll be fine.” She agreed.   

“Do you have any doxycide?” Harry asked stupidly, obviously thinking of the long days spent cleaning Grimmauld Place with Mrs Weasley. 

“What? No, I don’t have any doxycide! How silly of me to have overlooked packing sufficient cleaning supplies!” She shouted back at him, dropping his hand.

“Alright alright, sorry!” Harry held up his hands in defence. She knew he hadn’t meant to intentionally insult her, but it still stung. She’d packed everything for everyone and to be asked for something she didn’t have made her feel like a failure. “Let’s try stunning them. We’ll do the cot first. That way we can at least get him off the ground.” 

“Ok.” Hermione hovered for a second, looking back to Ron. She bent down and stroked the hair from his forehead while Harry grabbed the tiny bed and placed it as far from Ron and the tent as possible while staying within her wards. “Let’s do this quickly.”

“Engorgio.” Harry cast and the cot grew to its full size.

Over the next few minutes, both Harry and Hermione tried to stun individual Doxies. They captured a few but there seemed to be hundreds more. The pests moved so fast, darting in and out of the bedding and burrowing into the mattress. Hermione could hardly concentrate on the task, throwing concerned glances at Ron almost constantly.  It was hopeless.

“It’s no use. Harry, I need to get back to him.” Hermione complained. She looked over to check on their best friend; desperate to touch him again, to check his breathing.  

“Yeah, you’re right. There has to be a better way.” Harry grumbled. 

“Wait! What about the knockback jinx?”

“The what?”

“Why didn’t I think of it before? Professor Flitwick taught it in first year. Try this.” In typical Hermione mentoring fashion, she squared her shoulders, flourished her wand, and cast the jinx. The swarm of doxy’s were pushed from the bed into the open, but as soon as the charm ended they zoomed back into the bedding.

“Brilliant Hermione! Do that again. I’ll stun them from this side.” Harry ran around the cot and stood ready. 

Between them, Hermione jinxed the Doxys from the bed and cast a shielding charm so they couldn’t return to where they’d set up home. Harry stunned and grabbed them. As ever they worked well as a team and 15 minutes later the cot was Doxy-free. After cleaning and sanitisation charms it was ready for Ron. Harry once again reduced the cot to a manageable size and re-enlarged it in its rightful place within the tent. 

“Finally.” Hermione cried as she raced to Ron again. “Help me, Harry.”

Ron was drifting in and out of consciousness as they half lifted, half dragged him inside. He was ghostly white with a horrible tinge of green. Once they’d got him onto the bed she cast a warming charm. Hermione and Harry stood for a moment watching him, considering what to do next. 

Finally, Harry spoke up and voiced the worries she had. “I don’t think he should be left alone. Felt like that took forever to sort one cot, how about we deal with the bunk beds tomorrow or whenever he’s a bit better? We can sleep in the armchair?” Hermione nodded in agreement. “You know more healing magic than I do. I think you should stay with him. I’ll keep watch outside.”

“That makes sense I guess.” She nodded again, thankful that she wouldn’t have to leave his side. 

Harry reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You’ve done a great job, Hermione. He’d be dead without your quick thinking.”

Hermione couldn’t help but break down in tears, Harry being nice to her seemed to open the floodgates. “No Harry. I’m the reason Ron’s been hurt. I let him get splinched. It’s my fault we can’t go back to Grimmauld Place. I haven’t packed any food or…or doxycide and I’m so so sorry.” She sobbed, hiding her face in her hands.

“Hey, hey don’t be silly, you’ve been amazing. We’re lucky we all made it out of the ministry alive.” Harry gently pulled her hands away and ducked to make eye contact. He tried to console her with a much-needed hug. “I can’t believe you’ve been carrying around a tent this whole time. I don’t know what we’d do without you, Hermione. Really. We’re lucky to have you!” He pulled back and held her shoulders.  

“Thank you.” She sniffed. “I’m sorry, it all just feels a bit much right now.”

“Yeah, I know. Look, I’ll see if I can find something to eat. You keep an eye on Ron.” Hermione nodded sadly, her gaze drifting back to their red-headed best friend as Harry disappeared through the tent flap. 

“Wait! Harry?” She suddenly shouted.

“Yeah.” His head appeared back at the entrance. 

“We can’t leave him covered in…we need to clean him up.” 

“Right, yeah.” Harry agreed looking confused. 

“Well umm…don’t you think you should undress him?” She asked nervously. 

“Err…I think you got it covered.” He said quickly and disappeared without waiting for an answer. 

Hermione blinked at the tent entrance, her vision blurry from the previous tears. She wiped her eyes as she shook her head in disbelief. For goodness SAKE Harry Potter…I guess I’ll do everything myself, she thought. 

Taking a deep breath she knelt beside Ron’s cot to take a proper look at him. She wasn’t sure if he was sleeping or passed out again. It felt surreal to be this close to him, to properly take time to look at him. And she was meant to, she was meant to keep watch over him. She had a proper excuse this time. She reached over and pushed the hair away from his eyes, letting her fingers trail down from his temple along his jaw. He looked so peaceful and handsome, even if he was out of it and had leaves and twigs sticking out of his red hair.

The thought crossed her mind that she needed to touch him, in her nursemaid capacity of course. Purely to help his healing process. She’d already torn his shirt to put dittany on the wound but she wanted to remove the blood-stained garments. Too gruesome a reminder of the danger they had just faced. 

She leaned over and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Button by button she revealed pale skin speckled with freckles, allowing her fingertips to brush against his chest and stomach as she worked. It was just as she’d imagined him to look. It was unfortunate that he was unconscious. She’d pictured him whole and a willing participant in such undressing fantasies. Keeping a careful eye that she wasn’t disturbing him she pulled the shirt from beneath the belt buckle and carefully peeled the torn material from his skin. She moved slowly, especially where it was stuck with dried blood. When his injured arm was free she used magic to banish what remained of the blood-soaked item.

She gasped at the sudden sight of him. She’d rarely seen his naked chest, maybe once or twice at The Burrow when they’d all gone swimming in the pond, but on those occasions, she had made a concerted effort not to stare. Now she had the opportunity to appreciate his broadened chest, strong from playing Quidditch. He’d really started to develop into his once lanky frame, he was more solid, more muscular now. His chest had a light smattering of red hairs which thickened below his navel running a trail that disappeared below the stolen trousers. She blushed at the thought of where it ended. His creamy white skin was interrupted by pale freckles and stained by blood. The whole of his left arm, from fingertips to shoulder, was almost dark brown. It changed to bright crimson across the left of his rib cage and eventually faded to a dull pink as the stain spread outwards to his neck, right pectoral and stomach. 

She conjured a basin of warm water with a sponge and proceeded to clean the blood from his upper body. There were spells she could use but she wanted to tend to him properly. Doing it the muggle way gave her something to focus on, something to keep her hands occupied. It felt almost intimate giving him this sponge bath. She watched how little rivers of water moved over his skin as she gently washed away the blood. It took quite a while, the dried blood taking some time to remove from creases of skin and body hair.   

Once he was thoroughly cleaned and patted dry with a soft towel she noticed his older scars, little shiny crescent shapes ghosting up his arm branching across his shoulder. She knew he’d been hurt the last time they’d broken into the Ministry of Magic, the tentacles of those horrid brains attaching themselves to him. She’d seen him bandaged in the hospital wing as they both recovered. But she couldn’t think if she’d ever seen these pale scars up close before. He mostly wore long-sleeved tops and school robes so she rarely had a chance. Tracing over crescents lightly with her fingers, she wondered if he was self-conscious of them. She thought they made the most beautiful pattern even if they did come from another life-threatening event. 

Working her way to his new wound she saw it was weeping slightly and looked an angry red. When she touched the surrounding skin it was hot, which concerned her. Summoning the dittany she dropped a little where the flesh had reopened. 

Hermione walked her fingers down the trail of ginger hairs on his stomach and blushed as she unbuckled the belt. Careful, not just to be gentle, but to prevent touching anything forbidden. She paused then summoned a blanket to pull over him, not prepared to intrude any further. If she ever got the opportunity to see what was below Ron’s waist she definitely wanted him conscious and consenting. She certainly wouldn’t want him to look at her most intimate areas without her knowledge. So she held the blanket in place with one hand and used her wand in the other to banish the belt then trousers, replacing them with a comfortable set of pyjama bottoms she’d retrieved from the beaded bag. 

She left him topless, rationalising that she needed to keep an eye on the injury. She fashioned a sling from a clean tea towel in the hope it would restrict his movements when he woke and pulled the blanket up over his chest, tucking in his right side.  

Hermione was satisfied that she’d done all she could for him at the moment, pleased to see him tucked up in bed no longer bloody or shaking. She pottered around the tent, sorting their things, and unpacking what they may need. She brought Harry a cup of tea and he offered up mushrooms he’d managed to forage for dinner.

She never left Ron for longer than a minute or two. Constantly checking to see if he was developing a temperature, which would be a sure sign of infection. But he lay peacefully all afternoon. She was anxious waiting for him to wake up but she finally pulled the armchair close to his cot and settled to reread the healer’s texts she’d packed. Checking to see if there was anything else she could do for him.

It was hard to concentrate on the textbooks and she found herself just aimlessly watching him. When she tended the wound hours later he stirred. 

“Er…my…nee?” He whispered.

“Yes Ron, I’m here. How are you feeling?”

“Sore…th…thirsty.”

“Here, have some water.” Hermione used one hand to lift his head and held a glass of water to his lips. He sipped it down slowly.

“Wha…happened?” He said, sounding groggy. 

Hermione started to explain but he dozed off again within seconds. She watched him for a few minutes to see if he’d come around again before deciding to tell Harry.

“Harry, he woke up for a moment there.”

“Yeah?” Harry smiled looking relieved.

She nodded. “He’s confused and weak which is understandable. I’ve been through all the healing books I brought. With that much blood loss, I was afraid he was at risk of organ failure but I don’t see any signs of anything shutting down.” Harry winced. “And I don’t think there’s an infection. All we can do is let him rest.”

“Thanks, Hermione. I’m glad you’re here, I wouldn’t have a clue.” Harry’s statement should have reassured her but all she felt was guilt. If she hadn’t been with them it wouldn’t have happened. There was no use dwelling on that now though. 

“So. What now Harry? We haven’t even talked about the locket. At least we got it…it wasn’t all for nothing.”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying everything I can think of to destroy it. But it’s been no use.” He pulled it out from beneath his jumper to show her. 

“You’re wearing it?” She said shocked. 

“Yeah. We can’t let it out of our sight.”

“OK, so we’ll take turns? Keeping watch and wearing the locket?” 

“Yeah, I guess so. Until we figure out what to do with it.”

“Right well it must be my turn. You’ve been out here for hours.”

“No! Can you…err…stay with Ron? You know what you’re doing there. I’ll try to stay up tonight. I don’t think I could sleep anyhow.” Hermione furrowed her brow. She knew she was exhausted but Harry must be too. There was no way he could stay up all night. As if reading her mind he answered. “If I’m falling asleep on duty I’ll come get you? Go on, he’s been alone long enough.”

Those words convinced her. She gave him a weak nod and a grateful smile before returning to the tent. Inside she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed before taking up residence in the armchair. She tucked the blanket tightly around her and settled to try and sleep. It wasn’t comfortable and she was cold. She was also too worried about Ron to let herself relax long enough to let sleep come. Instead, she stared at him. Watching his chest rise and fall rhythmically gave her a sense of calm. There was a weight of longing in her chest, and as the evening grew darker it seemed to get heavier. 

Finally, she jumped up and walked to the other side of Ron’s cot. “This is ridiculous.” She muttered to herself and waved her wand. “Engorio.” She watched Ron’s face anxiously for any sign of pain as the bed grew by about a foot in all directions. Then, checking that the tent entrance was still closed, Hermione lifted the blankets and slipped in beside Ron, nuzzling against his right side. 

It wasn’t quite comfortable, not close enough. So she pulled his right arm away from his body and manoeuvred into the gap it created. Lying on her left side she very gently rested her head on his right shoulder and placed her arm across his chest, constantly searching his face for any sign of him waking or causing him pain. His body was so lovely and warm, she could feel his heart beating under her hand and his breath moving her hair. She knew it was madness, completely ridiculous to lie so intimately with him while he was unconscious, but she needed it. His proximity and his smell finally soothed her. It gave her the confirmation she needed that he was alive, still with them. 

“Ron…Ron…I’m so sorry.” She whispered. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I’m pretty sure you’re going to be ok but it’s going to leave a nasty scar. No…that’s not even the right word. It’s more than a scar…there are huge, deep chunks of your arm missing. Oh, Ron, it’s awful! I tried my best, I really did, but I don’t know how to fix you up properly. Maybe if we ever go back to any sense of normalcy a specialist at St Mungo’s will be able to heal you fully. But that isn’t really an option right now. I don’t know if we’ll ever get there, I don’t know if there’s going to be an after all of this.” Tears pooled in her eyes again. “It isn’t all bad though, maybe you’ll like it, a heroic sacrifice while you helped to save the wizarding world. You’ll have witches falling at your feet.” She sniffed and tried to laugh despite the looming sadness. 

“We can’t even go back to Grimmauld Place, Ron. Yaxley took hold of me when we tried to escape and I’m sure I’ve let him past the fidelius charm. So now we’re stuck in a tent…for Merlin knows how long.”

“Ron…I hope you don’t mind me getting in beside you. We’ve only got one bed at the moment. I wasn’t comfortable in the armchair and it’s a bit cold. But you’re lovely and warm…” She whispered again, pensive. “Who am I kidding…I really just want to be close to you. I’ve wondered…what it would be like to lie in your arms. It’s nice. It’s really really nice.” She trailed her hand over his chest, hair tickling her fingers as she mapped his freckles.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, Ron. We got the locket though, so at least it wasn’t for nothing. But we don’t know how to destroy it. I guess we’ll figure it out. Somehow. We have to. It’s just us now, just the three of us.” A lump caught in her throat and a tear leaked down her cheek onto his chest. 

“I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t mean for us to end up like this. I’m so sorry you got hurt again. It’s only been 6 months since I was last talking to your unconscious self. You do like to get yourself hurt or poisoned far too frequently you idiot!” Hermione gave a sad giggle. “I must say, Ron, you are an extremely good listener while you’re unconscious. I…umm…I care about you very very much. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you. I don’t know what I’d do if…” She wiped her eyes and used her sleeve to dry the pool of tears she’d left on him. “Today’s really scared me and I have this horrible feeling it’s only going to get worse, much much worse. I’m not sure there is going to be an after, for one or other of us. But Ron there has to be. Please say it’s going to be ok. Once all of this is over I hope we can talk…about…us. Properly talk about us.” Hermione sniffed and snuggled into his nook further. She couldn’t help but think how well they fitted together. She closed her eyes listening to his breathing, feeling his heartbeat, enjoying his warmth. She didn’t know what was going to happen but right now, in this moment she had him.

Hermione wasn’t sure when she fell asleep but she woke in the dead of the night and realised Ron was stirring. She froze, she hadn’t meant to stay in his bed, and certainly hadn’t planned on being caught.   

“H…Hermione?” Ron croaked in the darkness. 

“Yes.” What else could she say? She leaned up on her elbow to check on him. 

“W…water?”

Hermione sat up properly, grabbing her wand stowed under the pillow. She conjured a glass and filled it before helping him to drink again. This time he gulped down three full glasses before laying back against the pillow, slightly out of breath from the exertion. She didn’t know what to do. Should she slip out of the bed and take her place back in the armchair? Or…or what…he was awake and aware. It was completely absurd that he’d want her in his bed. Especially since he was feeling so unwell, she’d been selfish to do this. She twisted on her bum to slide out of the cot. 

Suddenly she felt his right arm wrap around her waist and pull her back into him. Her heart almost burst from her chest as she took it as an invitation to stay. Tomorrow they’d pretend this never happened but for now she resumed her position and cuddled in close. It was even better than earlier with his arm now draped around her shoulders. She lay there thinking, heart thundering. He didn’t mind that she was here, didn’t mind she was so close to him. Not only that but he seemed to want her there.

“Hermione?” His voice sounded stronger. 

“Yes, Ron.” She asked nervously. 

“Who changed my bottoms?” Ron asked. There was a long pause.

“Umm…I didn’t look.” She promised, holding her breath. Was he about to get mad? But all he did was give her shoulders a squeeze and lean his cheek to rest on top of her head.

Hermione relaxed again and decided this was the best place to be in the whole world. She couldn’t stop her face breaking into a wide smile as she felt him fall back asleep, his breathing deepening and his grip slackening from around her. She almost wished the bed situation couldn’t be remedied, she’d happily fall asleep in Ron’s arms every single night.

[bulkyphrase]

Fluffy Steve Fest Rec List Day 4 - Birthday Comedy

It's @fluffystevefest day 4 - Happy birthday Steve! The theme for Thursday is Birthday, but, like yesterday, you're getting something completely different—comedy!

Please enjoy this not at all birthday-themed list of some of my favorite funny fluffy fics.

Son or Dog? by SucculentHyena (@succulent-hyena) (Stucky, General Audiences, 2,518 words)

Summary: Nobody can stop talking about Steve Rogers, the newest employee in the office. He’s nice, he’s handsome, and he adores Charlie. There’s only one thing they can’t figure out: is Charlie his son? Or his dog? Bucky’s going to try his best to find out.

How to Train Your Superheroes by StuckySituation (Gen, Teen And Up Audiences, 3,150 words)

Summary: “But of course, no matter how much we practice on schedule, we will need to learn constant vigilance and manage to get our reaction times down to the minimum,” Steve continues and takes the last burger beef from the grill and puts it onto the table next to him. Natasha has a brief millisecond to frown and think “Constant vigilance?”, before Steve kicks the grill so hard that the coals rain on top of the flammable carpet feets away. “What the hell-!?” “STEVE!?” Steve is already sprinting towards the ledge. “First training session started! Wanda, Sam, Tony - someone CATCH ME!” Then he jumps off the Tower.

Check One by JenTheSweetie (@jenthesweetie) (Stony, Teen And Up Audiences, 4,263 words)

Summary: The important thing to know - and I mean really, the actually important thing - is that no matter what Bucky said, Steve was not flirting with Tony Stark. (“Yes you were, you son of a - ”) Steve has an annoying best friend. Tony has an elaborate plan. Sam has allergies. Bucky has no idea what's about to hit him.

Blind Date by @aggressivewhenstartled, quietnight (@quietnighty) (Teen And Up Audiences, 8,294 words, No Archive Warnings Apply)

Summary: “I just had the best idea I have ever had in my life,” Bucky said, punching straight through a doombot with his metal hand and clutching the napkin with Steve’s phone number in the other. The formerly (somewhat) dark and peaceful corner of Central Park was now lit up with energy beams, flashing robotic lights, and panicked astronomy buffs running for cover. Oh well, it wasn't like they'd been going to see many stars what with all the Christmas shit everywhere. “The bar you are setting for that is not high,” Natasha told him over the coms. Also available as a podfic read by quietnight (@quietnighty)

Situation: Normal by redcigar (Mature, 3,155 words, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings)

Summary: AU wherein Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers never met, Steve somehow manages to rescue the Winter Soldier anyway, and Avengers Tower ends up with the world’s angriest duckling and a whole new brand of entertainment. - (“He was dragging him out of the river,” Natasha argues later. “Nat, be honest, he was going for the Full Monty.” Says Clint. “I’m pretty sure we interrupted him in the middle of giving ‘emergency CPR’,” Tony agrees, “Or the stage after emergency CPR. Emergency Dick? Is that a thing?” “That’s not a thing,” Natasha and Clint reply.) Also available as a podfic read by quietnight (@quietnighty)

How Steve Rogers Singlehandedly Lost the Cold War by redcigar (Mature, 3,880 words, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings)

Summary: AU wherein Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes never met, but the Winter Soldier takes an interest in Captain America anyway, and has an odd way of showing it. -- (On the helicarrier, hurrying to reach the central hub of the third aircraft in time, the chip clenched in his gloved fist, Steve turns to find a ghost blocking his path, and is abruptly reminded on what the road to hell is paved with.) Also available as a podfic read by quietnight (@quietnighty)

The God of Solid Life Advice by kehinki (Stony, Teen And Up Audiences, 1,583 words)

Summary: It's 2012. Steve is just informed by Loki that Bucky's alive. Loki also tells him some other things.

Bait and Switch by @galwednesday (Teen And Up Audiences, 2,650 words, No Archive Warnings Apply)

Summary: "Post-action tacos?” Tony suggested. “I’m thinking that place by Fordham. BattleBot, you in?” “Can’t,” the Soldier said, typing something into his phone. “I have a date.” Tony stopped talking for an entire three seconds. “You. Have a date.” The Soldier looked up and blinked, clearly nonplussed to find Sam and Tony both staring at him. “Yes.” “With who?” “My boyfriend.” “You have a boyfriend. You have a boyfriend?” Tony looked like he’d just walked into a lamppost, and then the lamppost had handed him a birthday present. Also available as a podfic read by Nendian

[justcallmeanobsessor]

-Unseen Stalker-

-Trigger Warnings: Non-Con, Sexual Content, Stalker, Yandere, Hinting at Death

-Pairing: Supernatrual Yandere x gn Reader

INTRO:

I am warped in warmth while I sleep in the arms of a faceless creature. Their hands caress my hips as they lay behind me, our legs tangled in a way where you can't tell where one of us starts and the other begins. They mold us together so tightly to ensure I can never leave their side, so I can never escape from them.

I had recently moved to a small town with little to no plan and with almost nothing but the house that was now in my name. So here I stood looking up at the tall wooden structure with a less than friendly appearance, trying to convince myself to step inside. As I continuously sike myself out of stepping into my new humble abode of a murder house, It starts to rain ‘how classic’ I say out loud, less than amused. And as if the world was offended by my sarcastic remark, the drizzle of rain turned into a full blown storm in the matter of seconds.

With my clothes now soaked, I ran into the death trap that I now call home, to find the few boxes of items I brought along, all piled in the foyer. The house was bigger than imagined with a grand stairway right in front of the main door and one larger door on each wall to the sides of me. The left leads to the kitchen and the right looks to be a living room with a clam glow of an orange light coming from it. The house looks decrepit with cobwebs everywhere and you can see the wall paper peeling off.

As I take one more look around I hear a creak of the floorboards coming from the living room, I freeze in place, flight or fight instincts kicking in. It felt like I stood there frozen in place for hours but was probably only a few seconds. The only thing shaking me out from my frozen state was my need to take a breath of air that I didn't even notice I was holding. Every ounce of my body told me to run and get the hell out of there but the sound of thunder behind me served as a warning to not leave and the feeling of something pulling me towards the growing warmth of the living room did nothing to help my need to escape from this fright fest of a house. ‘It was probably just the house settling.’ I brushed off but In my rationalization I failed to realize when my feet started to move on their own, leading me towards the doorway of the living room. 

I seemed to gain control again when I was sitting on the dust covered couch in front of a fireplace that seemed to have lit itself. I was both in awe and completely petrified at how this could be possible. Did someone light it before my arrival? But then why didn't I see a light from outside?

Yet as more time passed the fire seemed to wash away my worries and the exhaustion of the long day of travel seemed to overtake me as I laid my head on the plush coach. In my half sleeping state the sight of a figure in front of me went unnoticed with my drowsy mind.

The next morning I awoke to a blanket covering me and the once burning fire had been put out. While trying to come up with an explanation for this, I had yet to realize that this was just the beginning of these strange encounters. 

Overtime Things would be done without me doing them, like dishes and laundry, even coming down to a meal that was already prepared. I would also have little notes pop up, that were more than strange, most were compliments written in elegant cursive, then others looked frantic begging me to stay and how much they longed for me. I came to the conclusion that It was a stalker, especially when I had begun to lose items of mine, be it a toothbrush or a piece of clothing. To say I was creeped out was an understatement. 

This went on for at least a month when I finally decided to call the cops who I found completely unhelpful. When they couldn't find anything they just brushed it off, cocking it up to teens making a prank and animals that found a way in the house, oh how wrong they were. 

I have to say, now I entirely regret ever calling them, for the events that took place after was a nightmare brought to life.

The days after, I was bombarded with dozens of letters from the unknown stalker. The handwriting was crazed and forceful, like they were putting all their strength into writing each letter. All of them all had the message of a singular word that caused chills to run down my spine. MINE. To say I was scared shitless is an understatement. 

After a while the notes turned into nightmares filled with the same voice repeating that word over and over again. MINE MINE MINE. Getting louder with every repetition. After a week of this I didn't try to stay in that house for any longer. I was afraid that if I did I would start to believe the unknown creatures' words, that maybe in some way I was thei- NO. I shook my head rapidly trying to clear it of these thoughts as I ran to my car as fast as possible, speeding out of the driveway and down the road but not without getting a glimpse of a tall figure standing in the window. I didn't stay any longer to investigate who or what that was because frankly I value my life and just staying in that house for as long as I did was an utterly stupid decision.

As I continued to freak the hell out and put together what was happening, I failed to notice the headlights that were coming right for me and with a screech of tires and the view of my car heading straight towards a tree, I fell unconscious as the same word echoed in the back of my mind. MINE MINE MINE. 

WIth the cushion of my bed beneath me and the warmth that engulfed me, for a second I thought everything that had happened was just a bad dream that my mind made up from watching to many horror movies but through the sounds of my own breaths my hopeful thoughts were rudely interrupted by the growl of the very same words that caused my whole body to convulse and my brain to be put into panic mode, MINE. A baritone voice echoed into my ear with a breath of air fanning across my face as it spoke that one frightening word solidifying where I stand in this predicament, I have no choices, what I am and what I have belongs to them and only them. 

This only becomes more real when I feel their rough hands move from around my middle to my hips, caressing me as if to calm my rapidly beating heart. YOU'RE MINE. They keep saying over and over again, like an echo in my mind. Their demonically enchanting voice does nothing to help my panic that seems to increase. I try to wiggle out of their grasp but to no avail. Instead they pull me back into them even harder, making my back flush against them, allowing me to feel their growing erection that rests between my thighs. I struggle even more, disgusted, unwanting of what I might be in for if I stay in the arms of this unknown being. 

The next sound that comes from this makes me stop my struggles instantly. An unearthly groan of pure pleasure rips through the silence of the room as he pulls my hips closer to him, grinding his length into the crevice of my ass. I try to scream but my throat closes in on itself keeping any sounds from escaping. His hands slip down my hips into the waistband of my pants pulling it along with my underwear down to my mid thigh, leaving just enough room to gain access to my hole. My mind races, panicking on what is about to happen. As my eyes are blocked with my unshed tears, all my thoughts are pushed away by a fog coming over my mind when I feel his bare length rub against my thigh.

I gasp and look over my shoulder to see who my perpetrator is, but all I see is the empty bed beside me and yet I can still feel them there, I can still feel their hands caressing me, I can still feel their breath against me, and I can still feel the head of their dick sliding it’s way into my hole. I tried so hard to scream for help and now I'm trying even harder to not let out a single moan, I can not give them the satisfaction they want.

I'm stuck in place as I hear them groan loudly when they finally sheath themself fully inside of me. After a few seconds they begin to move into me, holding on to my hips to pull me back with every thrust making their cock sink deeper into me than I have ever thought possible. As they speed up their thrusts they angle themselves in a way that hits a spot that makes my efforts of holding back my voice go in vain as I let out a loud moan that echoes against the walls of the bedroom. 

They chuckle breathlessly into my ear, amused at my fruitless struggles. After one moan it was impossible to stop the onslaught of sounds that came after almost putting porn stars to shame. I had gone from cursing this beast to begging them for more within seconds and this being did not hold back on giving me what I asked. Their thrusts had sped up to ungodly speeds and the force of them caused the bedframe to shake. I felt the coil of pleasure form in the pit of my stomach, that tightened with every calculated thrust they made. Soon they had me screaming beside them in a pile of sweat and tears trying to calm from the high they had brought me to. 

they did not stop their onslaught of thrusts, even with my body that had become sensitive to the touch. 

I begged them to stop when the pleasure soon turned into pain. All that they responded with was a grunt in acknowledgment yet still did not relent till they finally came with a few more thrusts letting out their warm fluid inside of me with a loud groan of pleasure. My face was covered in tears and snot. My body, spasming from the overstimulation. I hiccuped as their hands rubbed over my hips in a comforting manner. They refused to pull out of me, so they stayed there unmoving from their place within me. Pumping into me every so often. Even when I tried to move my hips away from them, they would pull me right back on to their cock. STAY. They grumbled, more as an order than a question. I stayed in that spot, sobs still raking through my body, knowing that against this unknown creature I have no chances of escape.

[crow-caller]

hiya papaya! my partner and i love your youtube videos, and we recently started a book review podcast focusing on books with queer themes. i wanted to ask if you had any lesser known queer ya book reccs, cuz i'd love to hear about them of so! also, i would love to cover your book at some point and perhaps talk with you about it, but that's future things cuz i don't want to fully ask that when we're only one episode in ourselves. thanks for making such awesome videos!~

I'm a huge huge huge podcast nerd so I may check out yours and would totally love to be on it! I really do despite all appearences spend most of my time gaming while listening to podcasts. Most of those podcasts are old episodes of mbmbam but look, we don't choose our autism.

I so don't do enough reading of NOT bad books in truth. Reading is hard and I take my occasional bad book breaks to read... like random stuff rather than specifically lgbt ya. But digging through my review archives and memory:

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention The Butterfly Assassin series by Finn Longman, which is foremost a spy assassin story set in a closed city but also has (and goes into more later) an aro ace lead character! And a very keen specific focus on close platonic bonds!! Stuff like that always gets passed over talking queer lit because it's not that bombastic I think to go 'there's good friendship here' but honestly so important to me to see books on purpose intentionally highlight platonic bonds as just as important as romantic or sexual. Anyway, great books. Caveat I know the author a bit but like, I am too autistic to hype up a friend's book that I DIDN'T genuinely love.

The aro/ace database is a key friend and work of art.

I think Angels Before Man is very widely known but a very interesting queer angel book!

Valhalla trilogy by Ari Bach is a very fun far future sci fi action fest with norse mythology parallels and dangerous lesbian valkyries

Archangel Protocol series, Lyda Morehouse isn't YA I think. Maybe. The fourth book could be, that one has a teen lead. Anyway, look!!! My fav angel weird sci fi universal unitarian religious 90s cyberpunk series...

I don't think my reccs help much at all here but there you go! I KNOW a lot of indie lgbt books. I just haven't actually read them.... yet......

[gaybananabread]

Eda and Raine tickle Luz and Amity? It would be cute

This is so late omfg. There is no excuse. I live in shame. (T^T) Idk with the gifs anymore, I'm running out

Lees: Amity, Luz

Lers: Eda, Raine

Summary: Eda and Raine are trying for some privacy. When Amity and Luz keep annoying them, they have some fun together.

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don't like that, scroll away!

Cuddling in her nest, Eda and Raine were spending some alone time together. Raine was reading their book while Eda scrolled through Penstagram. It was a comfortable silence, sweet and peaceful. That is, until two teens decided to crash the cuddle-fest.

Amity and Luz flung the door open, disrupting the quiet aura. Well, Luz was dragging Amity along, but the witch had no protests. Luz didn't read the room, launching into an explanation of something she found in the woods. Amity was just kinda there, nodding along with the rant and adding a comment or two.

The rest of the day was no exception. Sitting outside together, the girls accidentally launch a Frisbee at Raine's head. Relaxing on the couch, Amity bursts in, covered in abomination goo, an embarrassed Luz trailing behind. Finally, on a hill a few miles away from the house, they were alone. Or so they thought.

"Hey you two! We were wondering where you went!" Eda groaned and flopped back on the grass, and Raine shut their book. Man, those kids were persistent! Swearing under her breath, Eda sat back up, giving Luz the stankiest stink eye ever. The girl remained blissfully oblivious.

Raine took a deep breath, speaking before Eda gave herself a hurnea. "Well, seeing as this is the fourth time you've interrupted us today, you're either bored or desperate for attention." Luz blushed, looking away. Amity spoke next. "Luz was bored, I couldn't think of anything to do. Stalking you two was the only idea we had." The young witch cringed. Saying it out loud, she could feel the stupidity in those actions.

Eda slowly sat up, holding three fingers upwards. "Run. You have three seconds." Luz took off, kicking up dirt behind her. Amity opened her mouth to speak, but Eda kept counting. "Two, one, you're dead." With striking speed, Eda grabbed Amity, pulling her to the ground and pinning her arms above her head. Realization dawned on her face as she squirmed, trying to escape her iron grip. It was useless.

"Have fun with the kid, Rainestorm. Me and Amity are gonna spend some quality time together." Smirking, Raine took off after Luz. Eda turned her full attention back to Amity. She was, in short, utterly screwed. "Now, let's have our fun."

....

Luz is fast when she wants to be. In that moment, running for her life from Raine, she was a purple bolt of lightning. The bard had a hard time catching up to her, puasing to take a breath every minute or two. When they did catch her, Raine immediately used some magic to hold her in place. They weren't taking any chances.

"W-wait! Lehet's talk about this!" It was almost cute at how quick the anticipation got to her. "No, I think not." They went for her belly button, going for the kill. With a squeal, Luz was plunged into hiccupy laughter. "NOHOHOHO! RAHA*hic*HAINE!"

Honestly, she had it coming. Though Amity had a hand in it, Luz was the main reason they had no peace. So no, they wouldn't be stopping until revenge had been wrought. Besides, they knew Luz enjoyed it, no matter how much she denied it.

Raine couldn't wear her out so quickly, so they moved over to their sides, peppering them with little squeezes. Squeaky giggles filled the room. Luz tugged her arms, put the spell held strong, keeping her trapped. Maybe bugging her mentors hadn't been the best idea.

....

Eda was enjoying herself, scribbling on the witchling's belly. The shittiest shit-eating grin was on her face. Amity was trying to hold in her giggles, chest shaking with pent up laughter.

"Why ya holding back, Boots? You know that only makes it worse." Her face lit up in one of her signature stop-light blushes. She opened her mouth to retort, a slew of giggles accompanying it. "Hehehehehehey! Shuhuhuhut uhup!"

Eda's nails toyed with her belly button, getting a few snorts out of her. Titan, why are Eda's nails so pointy?! "Ehehehe*snort*hedaha! Quhihihit ihit!" The older witch gasped, making a somehow even more mischievous face. "Oh my Titan, you snort? That's adorkable!" Like she had any room to talk, Eda was a snort machine. Still, fun to mess with Amity over, her face getting even redder.

The girl's giggles were contagious, and Eda caught herself laughing along when she snorted. She wanted more than giggles, though. If Luz's info was credible, because she just loved to talk, Amity's armpits should do the trick. True to the human's word, she roared with laughter when Eda dug into her pits. "NOHOHAHAHAHAHAHO! GAHAHAHA!"

....

After about ten minutes, Raine and Eda met back up on their hill, leaving two very giggly, very tired teens in the grass. The sun was beging to set, painting the sky a warm, glowing orange. The two held hands, basking in the beautiful sky.

....

Meanwhile, Luz and Amity crawled onto the couch, utterly exhausted. They fell asleep together, faint blushes still visible on their faces. (Of course, Eda snapped a photo when she saw them. Blackmail!)

[mightbekelly]

The Sea Witch’s Bargain - A NamGiSeok MerMay Fic

Title: The Sea Witch’s Bargain

Rating: Teen and Up

Words Count: 6.9k

After the queen usurped power, Yoongi & Hoseok thought their friend (Prince Namjoon) was dead. After a decade’s long quest to avenge him and take back the kingdom they learn the truth: he was merely given to the Sea Witch - a mysterious water-dwelling entity with strange powers. So begins their new quest: rescue their friend from the Sea Witch’s claim on him. Written for Underwater Mystery Fest.

SNIPPET

After riding their horses hard for the last two days, these last steps are the hardest for Yoongi as he and Hoseok navigate the treacherous caverns of the sea witch’s domain. Daylight has long since been left behind as they walk the rocky path beside rushing waters lit only by the dim green glow of bioluminescent algae and their torches.

“Do you think he’ll remember us,” Hoseok asks as they navigate their way through the caverns. The path is wet so the duo have to move carefully to keep from slipping into the water and being carried away by the fearsome tide.

“If he’s even still alive,” Yoongi grumbles as he tries to find his step. It’s been too long to let hope soothe his pain.

Hoseok frowns at that. “He has to be,” he says with determination. “We’ve come so far.”

Yoongi hates how crestfallen Hoseok looks as he picks his way along the rocky path, both of them clinging to the slimy wall of the cave as they traverse a narrow passageway. Perhaps after all these years, Hoseok is the only one who can still remember who Yoongi used to be and that has to be worth something. “Yes,” Yoongi offers up. “If he’s alive I’m sure he’ll remember us.”

His friend’s smile returns, brighter than the sun in such a gloomy place. “We aren’t knobby-kneed teens anymore,” Hoseok says with an almost reminiscent sigh. “I wonder how different he looks.”

“You look the same,” Yoongi offers to keep the conversation going. Any distraction he can offer his friend on their final quest.

Hoseok laughs. “You don’t,” he says. “Well, maybe your height hasn’t changed.”

Yoongi has seen his reflection and he’s no longer the fresh faced boy Prince Namjoon last saw. He’s become a man, even if his height hasn’t changed much, his body has become leaner with muscle. A scar over his right eye is the most obvious of changes, but Yoongi knows he no longer smiles as easily or shares a kind word with anyone who isn’t Hoseok.

They were set on this path ten years ago when the Queen declared Prince Kim Namjoon, Yoongi and Hoseok’s closest friend, dead and her own son the rightful heir to the kingdom. A lie only brought to light after ten long years of plotting and bloodshed.

[ao3feed-ateez]

Between Heartbeats and Heartaches

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/YQEyRjl by BlueButterfly4 Last winter Hongjoong had finally accepted a truth that was haunting him for many years. Back when he was just a rookie this truth first came to him. In the safety of the night it wrestled itself into Hongjoong's concious thoughts. Since then it was a steady companion for Hongjoong. The first apperance of the truth was sudden, but after that it was a steady progression. Even though it had been persistent and always there, it took many years, that Hongjoong decided he didn't mind that truth anymore. Then he learned, that he could even bask in that truth. But he would also learn, that in the following years, the truth would turn into something that hurt him. The summer, after this one faithful winter, was when he finally decided to act on this truth. So one evening Hongjoong sat on the balcony of the dorm, vibrating with excitment but also trepidation, while he was staring at the neon-lit cityscape, planing the next evening. The evening where he would reveal the truth he was no longer able to ignore and also didnt want to ignore anymore.   The truth that he was in love with Seongwha.   If he had known what was to follow, would he do it again? Words: 4678, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: ATEEZ (Band) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Kim Hongjoong, Park Seonghwa, Jeong Yunho (ATEEZ), Other ATEEZ Member(s), Choi San (ATEEZ) Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa Additional Tags: Hurt No Comfort, Angst, Unrequited Love, One-Sided Attraction, Internalized Homophobia, Love Confessions, Rejection, Emotional Hurt, No Happy Ending Fest, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Open to Interpretation, Angst and Feels, Pining, Miscommunication, Coming Out, Idols, Canon Compliant, Kinda, Friendship, Soft Song Mingi (ATEEZ), Kim Hongjoong Needs a Hug, Sad Kim Hongjoong, Sad Ending, How Do I Tag, I Made Myself Cry, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kim Hongjoong-centric read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/YQEyRjl

[tracingpatternswrites]

My entry for the @hp-mcd-fest is a look into Draco's and Lucius' relationship.

Title: This is how it ends Rating: Teen and up Category: Gen WC: 6,238 Warnings: MCD Summary: The executioner leaves through the same door that he came, his face hidden behind a mask. It’s ironic, really. Draco’s father was sentenced to death because of the mask he had worn, and now his life has been taken by someone wearing a different one. A mask for a mask.

Teaser below the cut.

Draco steps through the doors and into a dark room. He feels the walls closing in on him, but the witch sitting by the desk just inside barely looks up.

“Name?”

“Draco Malfoy.”

That gets her attention and he can see her put her quill down, pushing her glasses up her nose as she lifts her gaze to him. She’s a few years older than him but he doesn’t recognise her. She recognises him though, he can tell, but then again everyone knows who he is by now.

Her expression is unreadable as she studies him for a moment before looking back down at the ledger in front of her. She runs a finger down a row of names before she finds what she’s looking for and she gives a small nod.

“Wand,” she says, holding her hand out expectantly and he has no choice but to hand it over. He hates being without it, it makes him feel vulnerable, naked, but he knows there is no point in arguing.

He watches as she slips it into a wooden box, tapping her own wand against it and he can hear as the lock clicks shut. 

“You may collect it here when you return. Go through there, someone will meet you on the other end.”

She nods towards the grand fireplace at the far end of the room, as if he doesn’t know exactly where he’s going. The walls, ceiling and floor are all made out of stone in here, a far cry from the warmly lit Ministry hallway he has just come from. It’s as if the room itself wants to prepare him for where he’s going, but Draco has done this enough in the past year to know no matter how unwelcoming and cold this room feels it’s got nothing on where he’s going.

He grabs a fistful of Floo powder before stepping into the fireplace. There is only one destination, only one connection from this fireplace, but he still needs to say it. He throws the powder, clearing his throat.

“Azkaban.”

Continue on AO3.

[our-flag-means-death-ao3feed]

Bonnet and Teach Meet the Were-Lizard

by Winter_of_our_Discontent

The office was at the far end of a corridor lit by yellow fluorescent lights, flickering in a way that strongly suggested the maintenance staff really didn’t bother to keep track of where the hell this place was. As he got closer, he could see a sign on the door, indicating that he was finally in the right place. Interesting. Ed knew -- or at least, could make an educated guess -- why some chucklefuck junior agent had taped a computer printout saying “Spooky Bonnet” to the door along with a mylar balloon of a green alien, now deflated enough that the alien’s head flopped forward to hit itself in the chest. Ed was much more interested in learning why Bonnet had chosen to leave them both up.

For OFMD AUpril Fest Day 29: Specific TV Show (X-Files)

Words: 2481, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 20 of OFMD AUpril Fics 2023

Fandoms: Our Flag Means Death (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Stede Bonnet

Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - X-Files Fusion, First Meetings, Ed Teach is pretty much immediately down for Stede Bonnet, Cryptozoology, References to institutional bigotry

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46840036

[poemswhileyouwait]

On Saturday April 22, PWYW-er Kenyatta Rogers led some of his Chicago High School for the Arts students in Poems While you Wait at Chi Teen Lit Fest. 

They wrote over 100 poems total, and here are just a few of the results. 

[roscgcld]

DAYDREAMING!READER || carnival fun

request: Heyy i saw your request are open can i request for the tokyo students and daydreaming reader go to disco pang pang if you don't know that you can search on youtube or this link

Thank you!♡

note: i honestly love this a lot. I actually recently saw a video on my fyp on tiktok of a girl summersaulting into a guy’s lap because it started to move and just found it funny. honestly i wished there is something like that here T^T i might scream and feel terrible after it, but watching it seems so funny and interesting. plus - i saw a video of a guy pulling his girl onto his lap cause it kept making her jump everywhere and i want that.

pronouns: she/her

reference: one | two | three

“Sometimes I feel like we let you get away with too much.”

Maki’s lamenting flew over Y/N’s head as she, out of pure excitement, grabbed onto her and Yuta’s hands before she excitedly drags the teens underneath the brightly lit signboard above. At the moment Y/N, somehow through sheer willpower maybe, had convinced everyone that it was time to drop their books down and go out to have some fun - even while they had finals in two weeks. 

But she had grown bored of staying indoors, and because Nanami had taken away both Toge and Y/N’s Switches and refuse to return them until after finals, she was ready to tear her hair out from sheer boredom. But Toge, also going insane with the lack of his gaming console, had accidentally stumbled upon an indoor carnival that is being held in a recently renovated mall. Hence why they were suddenly so motivated to bring everyone out of their rooms and towards the trains.

“Shouldn’t we be stepping in, sensei?,” Ijichi whispers to Gojo harshly as the three adults (Nanami, Ijichi and Gojo) followed behind the small group of teens; the taller man raising an eyebrow at Ijichi’s nervous glance around the crowded indoor amusement park. “I-I know that it’s important to have a balance between fun and studying, but we are so close to the finals week,” Ijichi tries to whisper, to which Gojo just grins in response.

“To be fair, we wouldn’t be here if Nanamin over there didn’t play father figure and take the brats’ lifeline away.”

“Because I know that if I don’t, neither of them are going to study,” Nanami sighed and shakes his head, handing Y/N her bag when she had ran over and made grabby hands at him. He had been her designated bag holder, since Yuta is recovering from a shoulder injury during one of their sparring lessons. “And someone needs to be the adult besides Ijichi-san.”

Gojo first just hummed as he watches the students go and get them tickets, but after a few seconds he snapped his shocked eyes over at Nanami; who had long been distracted since Y/N had came skipping over again with three bands for the adults that had followed them. “W-Wait, what does that  mean!,” He whines as Ijichi just gave him an awkward smile and hands him a band, his own hand being held out to Yuji who had offered to help him wrap the band around his wrist. With Nanami ignoring Gojo as Toge did the same for him. “Nanamin~”

“Shut your whining,” Megumi said with an annoyed sigh as he grabbed the band that Gojo had almost dropped from his whining fest, grabbing his wrist before he puts it on as Gojo pouts and looks down at Megumi. “You’re an adult, and at the moment you are being judged by every single sane person right now.”

Gojo just grumbles in response, his reaction garnering no reaction from Megumi besides an annoyed roll and a light click of his tongue; that reaction causing Gojo to whine even loudly as he follows Megumi behind the barrier leading into amusement park. Immediately a shower of different coloured lights greeted them along with a few different theme songs playing from loud speakers that were along the various rides. All that were attracting their own crowds of amusement park goers. Immediately Nanami and Yuta had to grab onto Toge and Y/N respectively so they do not run and get lost in the crowd. 

“Let’s go and see what rides they have first before we run around,” Nanami said to Maki and Megumi as he handed them the map he had taken from the kiosk outside the gates, ignoring the pout and glaring puppy eyes from Toge from being held back. Yuta was trying to reassure the whining Y/N that they are going to be heading to the rides soon as he leads her back towards the group, adjusting her teddy bear backpack as she grumbles with her arms crossed over her chest.

It didn’t take long for them to go through the different rides, and it also didn’t take long for a giggling Y/N dragging a smiling Yuta away towards the Ferris wheel at the middle of the amusement park. After waiting briefly with a small line of people the couple got onto a horse beside one another; a few of their friends following close by. Nanami, who had declined on going on, had been set on photo duty by Y/N; so he just smiles at the giggling and waving girl as he aims her cutely decorated phone at the couple, taking a few pictures of them smiling and waving at the camera before the took pictures of the others as well.

Ijichi, who had stayed behind with Megumi; who had been tasked as the bag holder. He didn’t want to go on, since he had just recovered from a bad stomach ache after agreeing to become Toge’s taste tester two days ago. He was sure that he will throw up again if he gets on the Ferris wheel. “I am worried for the other riders,” Megumi said with a tired sigh, already noting how they were more females that seemed to gather around a certain white haired man - who was distracted because Yuji was trying to tell Gojo about the different types of horse breeds each seat was based on.

It was an odd conversation to see them having in the middle of an amusement park. “I am sure the others can act normal enough.”

After a ride on the Ferris wheel (where Maki actually had a little bit of motion sickness), the others were off, soon scattering amongst the crowd after agreeing to meet up at a random restaurant that Nanami had chosen for lunch. And because it was Y/N, while she was on the Ferris wheel, she took the chance to scout the many different game stalls and the different gifts they were offering. So it really didn’t shock Yuta when he was pulled towards the direction of a few stalls, chuckling as he made sure Y/N did not trip on her own two feet from walking so quickly in her heels. 

“Hold on, babe - we don’t have to run,” Yuta said with a chuckle as they finally reached a stall; where the top prizes were huge stuffed bears in different colours. “But I want the pink one! And it’s the last one left!,” Y/N whines with a pout as she gently shakes Yuta’s arm once they were in line, where Yuta just looked over a few heads to see that it was a can-shooting game. Knowing these games, there was probably a catch that made it so people did not win the game often - but Yuta has an idea.

“You wanted the pink bear, right?”

It didn’t take long for Yuta’s turn to come, and after paying a small fee he accepted the rubber bullet gun with a casual smile. Y/N moved aside after giving him a good luck kiss on the cheek, eyes wide in excitement as she watches Yuta load the first bullet in. Once he was sure it was secure he got to position, and without anyone knowing he infuses the rubber bullet with Cursed Energy. After aiming his gun properly he pulled the trigger, biting back his smirk when the mountain of stacked cans came falling down on impact. 

The rest fell accordingly, and the crowd around them cheered as Yuta chose the pink bear that was almost the same height as Y/N. Who was jumping and squealing in delight before she accepts the doll with the widest of smiles on her face. “You’re the best!,” Y/N squeals with a giggle as she wrapped an arm around Yuta’s neck, who laughs and wraps his arms around her waist the best he can. But it was hard to do that with the bear in place. 

But he’s trying his hardest; all while trying to make sure she does not fall on her ass because of all the jumping she was doing. “I know, I know, I am the best. Now be careful, babe - you’re going to fall.”

It took some time for Yuta to calm Y/N down, but soon he was dragged to other games as well, where he won a few more of them to win her the few gifts that she has been eying. By the time they were done they had accidentally bumped into the first years, where Yuji was doing the same for Nobara. And although Megumi looked annoyed, Yuta can tell that he was happy as he clutches the two white and black stuffed dogs in his arms. “Seems like you three had some fun.”

“So did you,” Megumi replies back as he eyes the giant bear that Y/N was holding, who was proudly showing it off to Nobara as the other girl stares at it in awe. “I have a feeling we are going to need a bigger car by the end of this.”

All he got in response was an awkward laugh from Yuta, since Yuta believes that Megumi might be right. And even if he wanted to say no to Y/N...well, everyone knows that the word ‘no’ is not in Yuta’s vocabulary when it comes to her. “We’ll figure it out later.”

Soon Y/N had decided that she had won enough gifts, so they started to look for the others as well; since apparently Y/N has a ride that she wants everyone to go on. “Come on, it will be fun!,” Y/N said with an excited giggle after Yuji and Maki (who gave an awkward Yuta an annoyed look when she saw the size of the bear) managed to find a chair to sit the bear in with the amused employees. 

However the ride was far from innocent - Y/N, having watched a few TikToks online, was ecstatic to find that a this indoor amusement park had rented a full size Disco Pang Pang ride as its main attraction. Honestly the others were first not keen at all, since hearing the screams and watching the ride bounce and spin at such a speed would make anyone’s stomach turn. But Y/N had begged and pleaded with them; so all the teens decided to go on. With the adults just watching them on from the side-lines; minus Gojo, as Nanami had lost him after the white haired man got distracted by a group of girls that were nearby.

Y/N was excited as she lead the others onto the ride, and it was then Yuta realises that he has a few problems. One, there were clearly a lot of teenagers that were their age on the ride; two, Y/N was in a dress of all things, and three, there were seemingly more boys than there were girls. This had him making a face as he settles down in a free seat beside her, gesturing for Maki to sit on her other side; which she wordlessly as she gave Y/N a look. “You better be wearing protective shorts under there, brat.”

“Huh?,” Y/N asks in confusion as she looked over at Maki, since she was too excited that she wasn’t necessarily paying attention to what she had said. Yet before Maki can repeat her words the machine beneath them suddenly jerked violently; causing everyone to let out a unified scream as they grabbed onto the closest thing to them. Y/N had let out an excited laugh as the machine lets out another rough bump, immediately grabbing onto Yuta as he tried to make sure he does not end out tumbling out of his seat.

“W-What the hell is this?!,” Megumi groans out from somewhere as he was tossed into the air and back onto his seat; or partially into Yuji’s lap while Toge lets out a delight laugh just as he was sent tumbling into the laughing stranger next to him. Who had wordlessly allowed Toge to grab onto him as he reaches over to make sure Toge doesn’t fall off his seat. Instead of getting an answer Megumi suddenly grabbed onto Yuji’s arm since the machine started to spin; his eyes sliding shut in fear. 

For the next few seconds the machine jerked and spun around, sending a few of the riders out of their seats and onto the floor, or rolling around whilst trying to cling onto one another for dear life. Yuta, having gone through much worse under Maki’s training, was for the most part quite stable. Being able to both hold onto the railing tight enough to not be sent flying, while also being stable enough on his feet where he does not bounce around much either.

Y/N, on the other hand, was trying desperately not to fall off her seat as she clung onto Yuta tightly. Yet she was laughing along with everyone else, giggling and squealing in delight as she bounced and moved around wildly. Yuta was trying desperately to make sure that her dress, which was unfortunately quite flowy this time around, does not ride up enough where it will be indecent. He had shifted one of his legs so it was placed in between her knees, locking her into her seat while also preventing her from flashing anybody. But he was one second too late, as she had lost her grip and had fall half off her seat as she lets out a loud squeal of shock.

“Shit!,” Yuta grunts as he grabbed onto her shoulder so she didn’t roll away, Maki letting out a laugh when Y/N ended up falling on her ass while clinging onto Maki’s legs so she doesn’t roll away. “Get back here!,” Maki said with a grin, and when the machine briefly stopped, Maki looped an arm through Y/N’s armpit before hauling her back into her seat.

Y/N laughed and thanked Maki just as another jerk caused her to tumble into Yuta; who automatically wrapped an arm around her as she squeals out a giggle. Her own arms going around his neck as they were jerked again before they were sent spinning. Yuta, worried that her skirt had shifted, immediately moved his hand down to smooth the fabric down, not at all caring how others will view it as Y/N giggles and shifts so she was comfortably straddling his lap. “This is the worst idea you’ve ever had!”

“It’s fun!,” Y/N tosses back to Yuta with a giggle as she gripped onto his neck as she bounced again, laughing once more as one of her hands gripped at the metal railing behind her so she does not face plant into the padded railing. Yuta just gave her a desperate glance before he tightens his arm around her, willing and praying for the ride to stop soon so they can get out from this situation.

The ride was no longer than 2 minutes, and soon the ride came to a stop as the ride handler, who had been controlling the ride as he played music, cheerful thanked everyone for joining them today as everyone tried to catch their breath. Yuta, grateful it had ended, just lets out a relieved sigh as he leans his head back with his eyes closed. His grip automatically tightening on Y/N when she wiggles and grips onto his shirt with her hands. “That was fun! Can we go again?!”

“Absolutely not,” Yuta replied instantly as he lifted his head up to give Y/N an aspirated look, the girl in his arms whining as she gently smacks at his chest. All while ignored her as she whines and tries to convince him to go again; but he didn’t give into her whines as he helps her back onto her own two feet. Deciding to leave her with a grinning Maki, who was agreeing to line up for another round, he went to check on the others that were around him.

Megumi was the worse one off, being held up by a laughing Yuji while Nobara was grinning as she teases Megumi; who looks far paler than usual. The others slowly made their way off the ride, worried that the conductor would pull another mean trick on them and move the ride all of a sudden. Yuta had never felt more relieved when they finally reached solid ground, where he hastily led Y/N to the locker area so she can grab her bag and smaller stuffed animals tucked away into a shopping bag that Yuji had brough with him while Yuta went to collect the huge stuffed bear from the employees.

Nanami was quick to meet them at the entrance, his eyes wide behind his gold rimmed glasses as he hastily ushers them over. Ijichi was stunned into silence, shuttering out soft words of what seems to be questions of if they were alright. Maki and Yuji reassures Ijichi that everyone was okay while Nanami gave a look to Y/N. Who caught onto his annoyance and quickly hides behind Yuta when he joins their group once more.

“You are not allowed to put me through that sort of stress ever again.”

Gojo soon joined the students, no one wanting to know where he had gone or who he had met. Y/N, who usually greets Gojo even after his escapades, was currently being distracted by Yuta who had bought her an ice cream cone from a nearby vendor to cheer her up after she had been ‘lectured’ by Nanami. All the blonde man did was stare at her intently as she shivered in fear behind Yuta; but the silent message was loud and clear. The other students, too grossed out by what their shameless sensei is capable of doing, just shifted one extra seat away from him as he grinned at them mischievously.

“So, what was that disco ride thingy that Y/N was so excited about?,” Gojo asks as he settles down beside Nanami, who didn’t acknowledge him besides slapping his hand away when Gojo tried to snatch Nanami’s drink off his tray. Ignoring the whining man, Nanami just hands his phone to Gojo to watch; since Nanami had recorded most of the ride from the side-lines. He had originally thought it would be cute to take a video of the students waving from the ride to send to Gojo later, but when the ride started to spin and jerk so violently, Nanami had just forgotten about the phone as he stared at the ride in horror.

Gojo can’t even stop the snort at the mixed reactions the students gave, finding it amusing since he can clearly hear Y/N’s excited giggles from the video along with Yuta and the other’s screams of terror. “Leave it to Y/N to find fun in the most dangerous of rides,” Gojo chuckles before he returned Nanami’s phone, who just hummed as Gojo called for a waitress to order his food, since he had glanced over the menu earlier. 

“But I am glad. At the end of the day, everyone had fun,” Gojo states simply as he looks over at the students. Who had all let out a few belts of laughter as they watched the video that the conductor had shot of their friend group. Toge and Yuji had asked in advance if the ride handlers can do it. Although they were scared and event nervous on the side, watching it back now was just amusing to them. Even Megumi let out a chuckle or two at the sight of him clinging onto Yuji and Nobara for dear life.

Seeing the teens now laughing at the video, surrounded by gifts they had gotten from the cheesy carnival games. From Y/N and Yuta leaning into the giant bear that he had won her, to Megumi resting his head on the twin dog stuffies that Yuji had won him that were seated in his lap, to even Maki gently squishing the narwhal stuffed animal that Nobara had won her - just seeing them surrounded by an insane amount of stuffed animals, along with some greasy carnival food and snacks scattered on the table in front of them had the adults sharing soft smiles between one another. 

Even though neither Ijichi or Nanami would prefer if they return on that accident waiting to happen of a ride, both of them are happy that the students are happy. Maybe letting them go on rides like these from time to time isn’t that bad.

wanna read more?  >  daydreaming!reader masterlist

© roscgcld — all rights reserved to me, rose, the author and creator of these works. do not repost/translate/claim my work as yours on any platform

[copperbadge]

I can't be alone in rereading the Dark is Rising sequence at Christmastime to bring the Halloween (or more accurately, the Mari Lwyd) vibe to the midst of cheer-fest

I dunno, I could never get into The Dark Is Rising -- I always felt like I was missing some vital context that would make it make sense, but I haven't tried since I was a teen and I'm a lot more genre-savvy, so maybe I should give it another go sometime. I usually do some dark media stuff around the holidays; I've got at least one spooky Christmas playlist floating around out there somewhere, and some of the stories in my Christmas series on AO3 are pretty dark.

I wonder in fact if that's one reason Hallmark Christmas movies get so much flak. Like, there's a lot to give them flak about, don't get me wrong, but it always feels a bit disproportionate, especially since a lot of the haters have never actually watched any. I wonder if they're really just very brightly lit targets for people who feel the holiday could use a little of its original darkness brought back. Something to consider.

[padfoot-n-moony]

Back in Sokovia (Wanda Maximoff x reader)

A/N: H e l l o ! ⚠️Trigger warnings⚠️: Mentions of death, death, Idk what else I think that's it.

I hope y'all like it ❤️❤️

"Where's Pietro?" you asked, running towards Wanda. She flicked her hand and several versions of Ultron were blasted in the other direction.

"H-he's d-dead," whispered Wanda, running towards you.

"No," you muttered, hugging Wanda. "He can't be! Ultron's manipulating you! Pietro is too strong!"

"I love you Y/N," breathed Wanda, tears spilling down her cheeks. "But you're wrong. I felt it. Even Ultron couldn't manipulate me like that. It was stronger and deeper than anything that could be reached; it's being a sibling."

"Oh Wanda," you murmured, squeezing her. "C'mon, let's go in here, you need a break- we both do." You guided Wanda into a large shed, there were a few holes in the wall so it was lit, but dimly.

You were leaning against the wall and Wanda was stretched out on your lap. You were mumbling comforting words to her while rubbing her back.

You had known Wanda and Pietro forever. Your parents' were close friends too. You had always established your true friendship and loyalty to Pietro- and Wanda. Yet with Wanda, there were feelings behind those claims, claims that weren't just friendship claims. Claims that had love behind them.

"Wanda-" you began gently. You were cut off by Avenger, Clint Barton, walking in on you two.

"Hey," he said loudly, "Sorry to break up this little love fest but in case you two haven't noticed, there are giant, demented robots out there that are trying to destroy human civilization. I have a bow and arrow. I can't do much with a stick and string designed to look like a weapon. You two, on the other hand, are extremely powerful young people. You two could kill Ultron on your own. We need you. Yet, you both lost a person who was very important to you, Pietro. If you don't want to help, that's fine but we could really need you. The second you step outside that door, you two are both Avengers. I'm going to go now because I didn't come to babysit two crying teens."

You grunted and helped Wanda up as Clint left.

"What do you want to do Y/N?" asked Wanda softly.

"I think we should go help," you answered gently. "If you don't want to go, that's totally ok."

"Y/N," said Wanda quietly, chuckling to herself. "Haven't you noticed? If we go down, then we go down together. I'm coming if you're going."

You smiled and held her hand. "Then let's go."

[msookyspooky]

So scream universe head canon

Billy family one hundred percent had a lake house and Billy would host fourth of July parties. Stu would somehow get his hands on illegal fireworks from Mexico and almost blow a finger off

Bro that whole friend group was loaded look at Sidney's freaking house!....IN CALIFORNIA??? They all definitely had big parties and bbqs. Hank had to invite his lawyer friends and the teens are rolling their eyes at what snooze fest it is before having their own fun away from the adults. They snuck some beers, maybe a joint, Stu got illegal fireworks, Randy is helping him even tho he's being a backseat driver, Stu almost blows off a finger and everyone scatters. Dewey is motherhening everyone and scolding them on how dangerous and illegal it is but doesn't charge them. Stu thought it was funny, hurt hand and all, while everyone else did not.

Fun story... I live surrounded by open fields in rural area. It's nothing to have guns and fireworks go off all year long and no one thinks anything about it bc a gunshot in the country = hunting or target practice and fireworks = someone got out the moonshine and beers and are about to do Jackass style shit. So you have fireworks out here all the time and lots of ppl get their own and let them off with uh...Half ass ways of doing it.

So my uncle and my dad lit some fireworks for my sisters party one year. Me and my cousins are in the back of a pickup truck watching. They set it in a bucket with NOTHING weighing the bucket down.

Next thing we know...THE BUCKET TIPS TOWARDS US. A firework comes soaring at my head, explodes 3 feet above me on the side of the garage and we're screaming and hauling ass. I shoved my one cousin out of the way and we barrel rolled out the back of the truck. My Uncle and Dad ducked into the grass because this bucket started SPINNING and hurling fireworks at everyone before it shot itself into the field.

No one got hurt but it was like a warzone for about 30 seconds of my life 😭😭😭 Stu and Billy are my male family members in this. I could just see them shoving each other and scattering to get away from the fireworks while Tatum is me shoving Randy out her way to save herself and Sid's ducking down behind something.

[lover-of-skellies]

Marked

So uhh, this isn’t off the prompt list thing and literally no one asked for it, but I decided to go back and edit a super old thing I wrote. It’s supposed to be part of something a lot bigger, but for now, the whole thing’s been discontinued

Essentially, this is an OC insert kinda thing with my girl Adrienne. She’s been trapped in Horrortale for a little while, and since Sans decided to be merciful, she’s been allowed to live in a spare room in his and Pap’s house. She has free roam of the house and can do pretty much whatever the hell she wants (as long as it doesn’t involve getting into the pantry and digging into their reserves), and in exchange for all of that and being allowed to live, he and Papyrus have some super basic rules they expect her to follow

Rule number 1 is that she is to be helpful, and try to maintain the house while they’re away. Rule number two is that she’s not to leave the house without covering her face and hands. Rule number three is that she’s never to leave the house alone, without one or both of them nearby

Out of boredom and hunger, she leaves the house one day, following the smell of food. This doesn’t seem like it’d be anything huge, but it’s a major no-no, and it doesn’t go unpunished

Papyrus is also surprisingly good at giving advice, too. He might not have much experience with dating, but he knows exactly what he's talking about

If you make it to the end, I have to give you kudos because this is a complete cringe-fest ^^"

((Gonna add some potential trigger warnings for: angst, slight violence, and public humiliation))

Pain.

Searing pain.

The once blue-nette had been exploring the town, much to her guardians’ displeasure. She’d known it wasn’t a good idea, and for what reasons, she was well aware, but she had to do something. Staying holed away in the house every moment of every day was a completely new level of boring, one that she hadn’t even known existed. Her guardian had made it very clear that she was to never leave the house unless he or his brother were to accompany her, but today… well. His brother was away, probably at the capital getting physically and verbally abused by their queen, and he himself? She wasn’t sure what he did while he was away, but she’d learned not to ask too many questions. The first few times she tried asking, he’d been quick to change the subject or dodge her questions entirely, or he’d simply laugh and make a joke which he deemed hilarious when in reality, it wasn’t. Once he got tired of her asking, his humor quickly dissipated and was replaced by anger. He didn’t even have to look at her for her to know he was upset; all it took was a few short, clipped responses, and how she could practically hear him frown when he spoke. That’s beside the point though.

At the moment, she was suspended in mid air by her throat, her legs flailing as she began clawing at her assailant’s arm, her teeth bared as she struggled to free herself. The slightly withered fire monster shrugged off her attempts to attack him as if they were nothing at all; even though his strength had been diminished and was now only half of what it used to be, he was still far tougher than she could ever hope to be. Having smelled food, she made the mistake of slipping into the bar he owned, her hood tugged as far over her face as possible. She had glanced around the establishment, taken note of the other monsters nearby, and made another mental note of where all the exits were, should she need to run. After very cautiously crossing the bar and taking a seat at the old, worn counter, the flamesman had wordlessly poured a glass of water. He nudged it in her direction, and she’d eagerly accepted it, being mindful of how much of her face was concealed as she sipped the cold beverage.

For a moment, she was relaxed, and she nearly forgot the very real danger she was in. She was snapped out of her brief feeling of serenity as the Grillby fully shifted his attention to her. He made a soft, questioning sound, and she kept her head low, speaking just barely loud enough for him to hear, “What’re ya serving, Grillby?” He grunted, well prepared to offer her a short, yet simple answer, but was cut off by another monster who seated himself beside the girl, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around these parts before, friend… where are you from?” The teen lowered her gaze to the countertop, catching a glimpse of what looked to be faded blue fur. She didn’t know what monster could possibly want to talk to her, but she remained as calm and casual as possible in hope of not drawing any more attention to herself, “The ruins.”

With their interest now fully piqued, the monster beside her hummed incredulously, “The ruins, huh?... I take it you’ve met our former queen then. Toriel.” Upon hearing the familiar goat monster’s name, the teen saw images flicker in her mind; memories of her time in the ruins before she managed to escape. How Toriel had guided her through all the traps and puzzles that laid in waiting. How she held her close and allowed her to sob into her shoulder. How she’d convinced Adrienne to go back to her house, where there’d be a warm bed, food, and all the love and care she could ever want. Toriel had baked a cinnamon and butterscotch pie, very excited to share it with her, but not long after the teen had eaten a small slice, she’d felt her stomach turn. Her world went black, and when she awoke, she was tucked into a bed in a dimly lit room, which looked as though it had once belonged to a child. She felt incredibly ill and had almost no strength, and she could barely stand without feeling light headed. To her surprise, however, her willing ally, Flowey, had made a surprise return. Adrienne had seen Toriel had burn him alive, so she didn’t understand how he was even still alive.

Flowey had been through this exact same situation too many times to count, as it turned out, and he’d revealed Toriel’s true intentions: make the teen weak enough to require constant care and attention, and make her stay in the ruins forever. Or at the very least, until she died. Taking advantage of a distraction provided by Flowey, she’d waited for the goat monster to disappear to another part of the house. She’d then made her way to the kitchen and began to search around the floorboards. According to Flowey, there was a panel that could be removed, and underneath it, she’d find the remedy she needed to regain her health. She’d found the vial and downed it without question, only to look up and see the crazed goat monster staring at her from the doorway. The look on her face was one that still occasionally haunted Adrienne's dreams, and she’d been trying to go as long as possible without thinking about it. It appeared as though she’d be getting no such luck today, though.

Clearing her throat and trying to force down her growing anxiety, she nodded, keeping her head down, “Yeah, I have. I’ve met her.” The blue furred stranger watched her with an unnerving amount of intensity and she fought the urge to squirm and lean away from them. As they spoke again, their voice held a curious edge, “Huh. I can only imagine how that went.” Nodding silently, the teen returned to her glass of water, more than ready for the stranger to go away. She knew what would happen if she was discovered, and she wanted no part of that whatsoever.

The monster leaned closer to her and sniffed the air, letting out a pleased sigh before mumbling, “Friend… you don’t exactly smell like one of us. Monsters have their own natural and unique scents... But you, however,” A fuzzy paw-like hand seized her arm with a vice-like grip, and the stranger's voice shifted from a mumble to what was more like a hiss, “you smell like you belong on the grill.” Adrienne began attempting to yank her arm back out of the monster’s grasp and they laughed, simply using their free hand to tug her hood down, revealing her identity to Grillby and the other bar patrons that surrounded them. Her faded grey eyes widened in fear as the monsters began to shout at the flamesman, excitedly demanding that he cook her for them. Despite how the teen shook her head in protest, the mass of living fire moved closer to her, rapidly snatching her up by the throat. She was lifted off of the ground, and he ignored her pained screams as the heat from his hand began to scorch the skin of her neck.

With adrenaline now coursing through her veins, she let out a string of expletives and pulled both of her legs up until her knees touched her chest. The flamesman took a single step toward his kitchen, and then froze as both of her deceptively weak legs shot toward him, delivering a sharp kick to the space just below his chest. She didn’t expect her little stunt to actually work, but to her pleasant surprise, he’d released his grip on her out of shock, gingerly touching the now injured part of himself. Adrienne dropped to the floor and quickly regained her balance, paying no attention to the few monsters who rushed to Grillby’s side. She proceeded to climb over the counter and sprint toward the door, the footsteps behind her a clear indicator that she was being pursued now. Not that she could blame them for any though; food was insanely hard to come by, so if you had a chance to eat but the food got up and ran, wouldn’t you go after it too?

Reaching out with a clawed hand, some unseen monster snagged a fistful of her hair and harshly pulled, causing her to yelp and almost tumble to the floor. She glanced around, surveying her surroundings and checking the exits again. Part of what looked to be a dog’s muzzle could be seen in her peripheral vision and she winced, struggling to free herself from the creature's grip. She only received an amused cackle from the monster in question, followed by him instructing some of the others to grab her and haul her back to the kitchen for Grillby. Looking around again and seeing them approaching her, she stuffed her hand into one of her pockets and fished around, searching through the various items inside for a moment before revealing a pocket knife. Unsure of what she might do, some of the monsters around her stepped back, but the one still pulling her hair only growled. Though she felt the hair on the back of her neck raise at the sound, she lifted an arm and made one single, fluid slicing motion with her hand, the blade of the pocket knife slicing through her hair. While she hated having to cut her hair and knew it’d take forever to grow back, she bared her teeth at the large dog monster, her lips curling into a smug grin as she noticed the look of surprise on his face.

Taking advantage of the moment, she darted to the nearest door, fully prepared to run out into the freezing streets and make a mad dash back to her protector’s house. Freedom and safety were so close and within her reach now, but as she whipped the door open and scrambled to get outside, she slammed face first into yet another monster. Letting out a frustrated and startled screech, she began trying to squeeze past them. They simply chuckled, wrapping an arm around her nearly size-zero waist and pulling her flush against themselves. Hearing the chuckle, realization dawned on her; this was her protector. She would be safe now.

She stole a glance up at his face and his scarlet iris flickered briefly down to her, his amused grin shifting into a taut line. Oh, she knew that expression all too well by now.

From that look alone, she knew someone would be hurt today.

Though his arm was almost uncomfortably tight around her, she said nothing, only turning her body slightly and burying her face in the front of his heavily blood stained shirt. The teen whimpered, wordlessly admitting just how scared she really was at the moment. He shifted his focus entirely to the other monsters that were now staring at both of them, and sensing their gaze, the teen whined faintly, her guardian lightly squeezing her in an effort to reassure her.

Thoroughly confused as to why she wasn’t dead yet, someone called out to her protector, “Perfect timing, Sans. Now how about you kill her so we can all eat already?” The skeleton’s normally rough voice held a bitter edge and he practically growled, “She ain’t free game, pal. I’m sorry ta say it, but I won’t be hackin’ this one ta bits for ya.” A crowd was beginning to form now and Adrienne tried to press as close to her friend as she could, wishing everyone would hurry up and leave. She already hated crowds on their own, and knowing that this particular crowd all wanted to see her get roasted alive didn’t exactly make her feel any better. Clearly taken aback, the same monster that’d addressed Sans spoke up again, “Oh really? And why’s that? You never helped the humans that fell before her, so what makes her so special?”

Curiosity piqued, she glanced up at the skeleton again, though he didn’t return the gaze. He just continued staring the other monster down, his iris nearly glowing now from the extent of his agitation, “Because she’s mine. Ya hear me? This little slab a’ meat belongs ta me.” A tiny burst of heat rushed to her face upon hearing his response; was he really claiming her right now? Claiming that she was his, and using his power over the others to coerce them into sparing her? Unbelievable.

Another monster decided to interject, countering Sans’ statement with, “Then how come you haven’t marked her yet?”

Oh boy. Of course someone would ask. Why wouldn’t they? She had no idea what she was expecting, but it clearly wasn’t that. With an annoyed huff, the skeleton spun her around, making sure everyone could see her face as he fired back with another sharp retort, “Heh, funny you should ask. I was on my way home with the intention of doin’ just that, but I guess we won’t have the privacy now. Oh well. All you fuckwits better be watchin’, because I’m only gonna do this once.”

Wait, he was going to mark her? Here? In front of everyone?

Face burning with embarrassment, she dropped her gaze to the floor, letting out a soft squeak as he grabbed the collar of her shirt and jacket and pulled them aside to reveal her shoulder. Not bothering to give any indication of what he was about to do, a faintly glowing blue tongue snaked out of his maw and traced over a very specific patch of her skin. The feeling of his tongue - which consisted solely of highly concentrated magic - on her skin was like nothing she’d experienced before. There was some warmth to it that was followed by a tingle, which was likely caused by the magic itself, and another involuntary whimper slipped past her lips. Her face grew hotter at hearing herself make that sound again, which to her horror, Sans had also heard. It earned a soft chuckle from him and his mandible shifted into a pleased grin.

And then he sunk his teeth into her shoulder.

It happened so fast that she didn’t even have time to register what happened, but at the lack of the expected pain, she unconsciously fidgeted. Wasn’t this supposed to hurt?... What was preventing her from being in pain right now? She felt his tongue trace over her skin again, accompanied by more tingling and… numbness? Had he intentionally numbed her shoulder before biting her?

Seeing that he had been true to his word and had in fact marked her, the other monsters quickly grew bored, the vast majority of them also visibly disappointed as they returned to their prior activities. A sense of relief washed over her and she sighed, stealing a quick glance at her friend as he slowly released her. His tongue lingered behind momentarily and lapped up the blood that seeped from the injury, and his voice took a husky tone as he purred, “Ya taste good, kiddo. I think I could get used ta this.” Her already flushed face became a much brighter shade of red than before and she scoffed, refusing to look at him, “Don’t count on it, mister.” “Awe, c’mon Addy. Help me out here… it’s not my fault that ya taste as good as ya look.” Growling softly, Adrienne scrunched her face up into a look of annoyance in hopes of masking her embarrassment as she rolled her eyes, “Pervert.” “No idea what you’re talkin’ about.” “Uh huh, right. I definitely believe that.” He lightly jabbed her side with the tip of a phalange and she squirmed, yelping in surprise. She tried to twist her small frame away from him and he laughed softly, “Whatever. How about we ditch this place and head home now? This bar is no place for a little lady like ya.” Looking back at him over her shoulder, she flicked her tongue at him.

They’d left the bar and began to walk home in uncomfortable silence. The moment they made it back to his house and he’d set her down, she found herself being roughly shoved against the closed front door with one of his large hands catching her wrists and pinning them above her head. Her eyes widened in shock and she squirmed, “H-Hey, what the hell are you-” Meeting her gaze, the look he wore was enough to silence her, his completely dilated red iris both captivating and terrifying her all at once.

Then he spoke, his gruff voice low, “You disobeyed me, Adrienne.”

Forcing her voice out and reaching nothing louder than a whisper, she frowned, “I… I know I did. I’m really sorry, Sans. I won’t do it again, I swear.” “Do you have any idea what would’ve happened if I didn’t get ta you in time?” “Yes, I do! Really!” “If you knew the risks, then why’d you do it?” Feeling much smaller than before as he continued staring her down, Adrienne sheepishly looked away from him, “There’s just.... Not a lot to do here when you and Paps are gone, and I was bored. I did a bunch of cleaning and reorganizing, and I even tried to fix the TV. I dug through the hallway closet and looked through the games, but do you have any idea how hard it is to actually play a game by yourself and have fun at the same time?”

With his free hand, the skeleton cupped his face, letting a deep sigh, “You risked your life… you risked dying, because you were bored? Am I hearin’ that right?” Feeling guilty, she slowly nodded, choosing to keep her mouth shut this time. Catching her completely by surprise, what sounded like a giggle could be heard, and though it took a moment to fully register, she had a realization that made her blood run cold; the giggle came from Sans.

Nervously lifting her gaze again to look up at him, the only thing that began to pulse within her was regret. Regret that she’d disobeyed him, regret that she went against his wishes, regret that she’d upset him so badly, regret that she even opened her mouth at all to speak to him, and most of all, regret that she’d decided to look at him.

He leaned back the smallest bit, one hand still firmly pinning her wrists above her head. Her eyes widened in complete terror as his giggling began to escalate, growing louder and louder until he was roaring with laughter as blue tinted tears pricked at the rims of his sockets. Not bothering to wipe away the tears, he placed his free hand on his face. His open palm rested on his cheek as he curled his fingers, the first two settling inside his empty socket; judging by the slight movement his arm made, he’d begun lightly tugging on the rim of it. That was never a good sign. Yes, she loved it when he relaxed enough to laugh with her from time to time, but this display right now? This was the stuff of nightmares.

Then almost as quickly as it’d started, his laughter came to an abrupt halt and his wide grin vanished, leaving only a resentful scowl behind in its place. As his focus shifted back to the teen, her heart began to race. She honestly had no idea what he planned to do now. He then began to slowly tighten his grip on her wrists, a soft growl rumbling from within his chest. Paying no attention to the grimace of pain she wore as his phalanges began digging into her skin, he leaned down, the space between them reduced to almost nothing as he hissed, “You’re an idiot. Get out of my goddamn sight, human.” Adrienne opened her mouth to force an apology out but was quickly cut off, crying out in surprise and pain as the skeleton dug his phalanges even further into her wrists and began to break skin. Rolling his single eye light, he scoffed, stepping back and suddenly yanking her to the side, releasing his grip on her wrists in time to make her small body become airborne. With the sound of something cracking and collapsing beneath her, she knew she’d landed at least partially on the coffee table.

Despite the pain that shot through her with even the smallest movement, the cold stare she was receiving from the skeleton was enough to make get back up, her head hung low as her eyes began to water up. Not wanting to show him this weaker, more vulnerable side of herself, she darted up the stairs, her feet padding across the slightly creaky wooden floor for only a brief moment. She then took refuge in the upstairs bathroom, slamming the door shut behind herself and flipping the latch, locking out the world. Trying to force down the very minute amount of guilt that began to bubble up within him, Sans let out an annoyed huff and glanced at the now completely busted coffee table. He was going to have a hell of a time explaining that to Papyrus later.

~~~

What seemed like a century had passed before the youngest of the two skeletons finally returned home, the sight of the smashed coffee table still lying on the floor enough to induce a sense of dread within him. Normally when he came home, his elder brother would greet him, or at the very least, be lazing about on the couch and offer him a half hearted wave that was usually followed by some sort of pun or terrible joke.

But no. Nothing. Sans was nowhere in sight, and neither was Adrienne. This only made Papyrus’ concern grow; he hoped beyond all hope that his brother hadn’t done anything to her.

The tall skeleton let out a soft sigh and crossed the living room. The exhaustion from the long day began to set in as he ascended the stairs, eager to take a shower and change into something more comfortable. He loved his battle body immensely, but sometimes his sore, tired bones made the item feel as though it weighed a thousand pounds. He wished he could simply change his clothes and climb into bed so he could go to sleep, but life wasn’t that simple for him; before he was allowed to relax, he needed to shower and make dinner for his brother and Adrienne, then the teen was to help him clean up the dishes once the three of them had finished eating. After all that, he was to take Adrienne to the backyard to test prototypes for new puzzles and traps. She was kind enough to help him make sure they worked correctly, so he was always vigilant, always watching to make sure she was never injured on any of them. Aside from being a puzzle and trap tester, his rather small human friend also delighted in helping him think of new puzzles, and she even designed some of her own. She seemed to enjoy partaking in games of pretend when they messed around with the action figures he’d collected over the years, and when Sans wasn’t around or flat out refused to do it, she didn’t mind reading to him before he fell asleep each night, either. They’d grown very close, and he cared for her almost as much as he cared for Sans. It was for all those reasons why he promised to protect her; he had to protect her. He’d become used to her presence and had grown to appreciate their friendship very much, and having her as his friend helped fill the void in his soul that was once occupied by the queen herself. He still considered Undyne a close friend, but the way she spoke and treated him now was… Execrable.

As he twisted the knob and nudged his bedroom door open, the scent of blood hit his nasal cavity and he felt his body tense. Gently pushing the door shut behind his massive frame once he’d crossed the threshold, he made his way to his desk and flicked on the small lamp that resided on its far left corner, the light illuminating his multitude of action figures and an old map.

The faint sound of movement caught Papyrus’ attention and he looked down toward the source, almost unable to believe what he was seeing; the human was in his bed, lying on her side and wrapped in his old blankets. An open first aid kit sat on the floor next to the bed, and cloth bandages were wrapped loosely around her slender neck. Her hair, which was once nearly long enough to reach her lower back, was now much shorter; it looked as though it was cut hastily by some sort of blade. While her arms were mostly concealed by the blankets, he could see that her wrists had also been wrapped in bandages, a familiar crimson threatening to seep through the material. As she shifted again in her slumber, her shirt began to slip down her shoulder and revealed another large bandage, more crimson staining the fabric. His brow bones furrowed as he took note of how the crimson staining it formed a half circle… as if the injury was because of a bite.

In his consternation, Papyrus reached out, a single gloved hand settling on her uninjured shoulder. He leaned down, his spine already aching from the awkward angle as he lowered his voice and did his best not to startle her, “Human?... Adrienne? Please, I Need You To Wake Up. Come On Human, Please.” As she slowly began to stir, he fought the urge to scoop her up into his arms and shelter her from whatever had left her in her current condition.

As her eyes fluttered open and she took notice of the skeleton towering over her, all traces of exhaustion vanished and her eyes widened, a sound of surprise slipping past her lips. In her momentary panic, she’d sat up and tried to move away from him, her chest heaving as she drew in one deep breath after another. Papyrus gently shushed her, offering her a weak, apologetic smile, “Hey, Hey, It’s Alright. It’s Just Me, Adrienne. I Didn’t Mean To Startle You, I Swear. I’m So Sorry For Scaring You.”

Registering who was with her, the teen released a deep sigh of relief. She gave Papyrus no time to prepare himself before she practically threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around whatever she could reach before clinging to his battle body. Though he was visibly caught off guard, he delicately encircled her with his arms, one hand finding her uninjured shoulder again before he lightly squeezed, his voice laced with concern, “Adrienne?... What’s Wrong? What Happened To You?”

The only response he received from the girl in his arms was a muffled sob and he frowned, moving his hand from her shoulder to her face. He used his index finger to tilt her head back, allowing him to see her tear stained face, and as her bottom lip twitched and another tear rolled down her cheek, he frowned; normally she was such a strong, upbeat person. To see her this way was heartbreaking.

The skeleton lowered his voice even further, reducing it to a whisper, “Adrienne, Please… Tell Me What Happened. I Want To Help You.” Her lip twitched again and she sniffled, reaching up to wipe her tears away with her sleeve, “I just… Papy… I just wanted to go outside... I just wanted some fresh air… I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Still frowning, Papyrus gently ran his fingers through her hair and tilted his head, his voice remaining low, “What Do You Mean?... Did Sans Do This To You?” Upon hearing the name of the older skeleton brother, Adrienne tightened her grip on Papyrus, her voice beginning to waver as more tears rolled down her face, gathering at her jaw and dripping down onto her shirt, “Papy… I was so stupid. I made him mad at me. I upset Sans.”

Papyrus’ frown deepened; he knew how his brother could be whenever he had one of his episodes, and never in a million years would he wish for anyone to become the recipient of Sans' delirium. The skeleton sighed as he gently stroked the teen’s hair, “It’ll Be Ok, I Promise. You May Stay Here Tonight If You’d Like, And I’ll Be Sure To Speak With Him About This. Do You Think You Could Tell Me Everything, Though? I Can’t Be Of Any Help To You If I Don’t Know All The Details.” With a heavy heart, she slowly nodded and looked up, meeting his gaze, “I… I went outside today... by myself. I went into town, and I went to Grillby’s. It smelled like food in there, and I was so hungry… I thought I’d find something to eat. I kept myself as covered as possible, but I was caught and got grabbed by Grillby,” she paused, visibly ashamed as she gestured to her neck, “…I got burned.”

The skeleton made a soft sound in understanding and nodded, silently asking her to continue, which she did, “Someone else grabbed my hair and I had to cut it to get away from them. Then when I opened the door and went to run outside, I ran face first into Sans. He told everyone there not to mess with me, that I wasn’t free game because I belonged to him. Then he marked me. Right there, with everyone watching. He was a little flirty afterward and he seemed happy enough, so I thought everything was ok, but when we got here, he… he had an episode.”

Papyrus didn’t know what to make of everything he’d just been told; on one hand, she suffered numerous injuries and nearly died, and on the other hand, she was marked by Sans.

Normally whenever a monster marked someone, it meant that they saw that person as their mate and that they wanted to claim them as their own. That they loved that person with every fiber of their body and soul. Being marked also served as a way to protect someone from other monsters, but there had been cases of a mark not being enough to guarantee the safety of a monster's mate.

Being marked was not only a big deal, but it was also something that every self respecting monster knew should be done in private. The fact that Sans marked her in the first place was absolutely astounding, but the fact that he had the absolute nerve to take something that was meant to be special, shared between mates and no one else, and turned it into some obscene gesture that he performed in front of a crowd, undoubtedly humiliating Adrienne in the process… It was unacceptable.

He needed to speak to Sans, and he needed to do it now.

Releasing a deep sigh, Papyrus lifted a hand to idly rub the back of his neck, “I See… I Cannot Apologize Enough On My Brother’s Behalf. I’ll See If I Can Get Anything Out Of Him That Would Explain Why He’d Behave This Way. Hopefully… Hopefully He Doesn’t Clam Up, Like He Seems To Always End Up Doing. Will You Be Alright Here While I’m Away? I Don’t Want To Leave You Alone If You’re Still Feeling A Little Too Overwhelmed And Freaked Out By Everything.” The teen sniffled, absentmindedly wiping her face with her sleeve again as she nodded, “Uh huh… I think so.” Catching the slight uncertainty in her voice, he offered her a reassuring smile, “I’ll Try To Be Back As Soon As Possible, Alright? How About You Pick Out Some Puzzles For Us To Work On When I Return? A Few Good Puzzles Always Help Me Feel Better Whenever I’m A Bit Rattled, So I’m Confident They’ll Do The Same For You, Too!” Adrienne couldn’t help the small smile that curled her lips upward at how eager he was to help her, and she nodded again, “Ok, Pap… that sounds good to me. When you get back, do you think maybe you could help me fix my bandages a little? Some of them are still too loose and I dunno if I missed any little spots anywhere.” Perking up at the request, Papyrus beamed, gently unwrapping his arms from around her and ruffling her hair, “Yes, Of Course! The Great Papyrus Would Be Happy To Assist You, Adrienne!” Letting go of the skeleton, Adrienne smiled up at him; he was such a sweet guy, and despite their circumstances, he was always so optimistic. He still maintained a sense of morality as well, unlike the other monsters. She honestly wasn’t sure what she’d do without him at times.

Reluctantly parting from his small human friend, Papyrus slipped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind himself. Once he was gone, Adrienne sighed, climbing out of his bed and making her way over to a shelf. As she looked over the various boxes and puzzle books, she came to the conclusion that it probably didn’t matter which one she chose; as long as it’d keep her and that goofball busy for a while, it was good enough for her. As she reached out to grab a thick puzzle book, she winced. Her free hand moved to gingerly touch the bandage on her shoulder; at the twinge of pain, her mind drifted to Sans. After earlier, she should’ve learned her lesson and given up on disobeying the very specific rules that her friends had established. She was a curious being by nature though, and she’d be damned if she had to go on without receiving any answers.

Her curiosity and desire to know why Sans would mark her grew even stronger. She grabbed the puzzle book and dropped it on Papyrus’ bed, before peeking out of the room and glancing around the hall. Against her better judgement, she began to search for the pair of brothers. The most logical place Sans would be at this time of night would be in his room, or downstairs on the living room sofa. If those two places weren’t it, then she’d have to check the basement. No biggie. As she tiptoed down the empty hallway, she briefly paused to look over the railing and down into the living room, and found that Sans was nowhere in sight. On her way toward the stairs, she caught the sound of a mumbled conversation through Sans’ closed bedroom door and froze; she knew better than to go into his room without knocking, so she opted to stay in the hall and eavesdrop, rather than barge in on whatever he and Papyrus were talking about at the moment.

Inside the closed off room, Sans rolled his eye light, trying his best to brush off the lecture he was receiving from his younger brother. It’s not like he did anything to Papyrus personally, so he didn’t understand why Pap thought he needed to get involved. Not in the slightest. Completely exasperated with Sans’ stubbornness, Papyrus pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh, “Sans, Honestly. You Didn’t Have To Take It That Far. The Poor Girl’s Probably Traumatized And Too Ashamed To Ever Want To Leave The House Again.” Sans grunted, flopping down onto his back on his old, worn mattress, “Remind me how that’s a bad thing again, Pap. So far, I’m not seein’ any problems with it.” The taller of the two inhaled deeply, briefly closing his sockets as he tried to gather his thoughts, “Sans… Brother. I Love You, But What You Did Today Wasn’t Ok. I Don’t Understand Why You’re So Calm And Casual About It.” Gaining a very clearly agitated edge, Sans practically growled, “It’s really fuckin’ simple. If she’s too ashamed ta leave the house, then good! At least she’ll stay put then and save me a lot a’ trouble in the future.”

Not even remotely threatened by his older brother’s tone of voice, Papyrus snapped, suddenly shouting, “LANGUAGE, SANS. MAYBE SHE DIDN’T LISTEN TO YOU, BUT THAT’S NO REASON TO TREAT HER THIS WAY. IT IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT A VALID REASON TO GO AND PUBLICLY HUMILIATE HER, THEN COME HOME AND SCARE HER HALF TO DEATH, EITHER. YOU ALSO BROKE THE COFFEE TABLE, SANS. SOME OF US HAVE TO PAY FOR THINGS LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW!”

From her spot in the hallway, Adrienne flinched, her eyes widening. Not once had she ever seen Papyrus so upset that he shouted like this. This was a whole new experience, and she could already say that it was both surprising and terrifying all at once.

The shorter of the two let out an exaggerated groan, beginning to absentmindedly tap the tips of his phalanges on the bed as he stared up at the ceiling, “As far as the table goes, I’ll replace the damn thing if it really means that much ta you. What am I supposed ta do about the kid though? If I really scared her as much as you’re sayin’ I did, then she won’t want anythin’ ta do with me. It’s not like I can just walk up to her and go, ‘hey, you know that day when I got mad at you? I’m sorry and I won’t do it again.’” Papyrus hummed, crossing his arms over his chest, “Well… A Sincere Apology Is Only Half Of What I Think You Owe Her.” “Yeah? And what’s the other half?” “To Be Completely Blunt About It, She Knows What It Means To Be Marked.”

The older skeleton brother nearly choked on air, his cheekbones dusting a soft shade of blue, “What the hell?… Ok, then… What about it? Everyone probably knows what it means.” “What I’m Saying Is That She Knows Monsters Wouldn’t Mark Anyone Unless That Person Was Tremendously Important To Them, And Unless They Saw Them As Their Mate. Not Only Is There That, But She Told Me That You Were Somewhat Flirtatious Toward Her After The Incident Today At Grillby’s. You’re Sending Some Incredibly Mixed Signals, Sans. She More Than Likely Was Under The Impression That You Have Some Very Strong Feelings For Her, But Then You Came Home And Basically Told Her To Get Lost Before Throwing Her At The Coffee Table. She Has No Idea Where She Stands Right Now. The Other Half Of What You Need To Do Is Be Honest With Her. Tell Her If You Feel Something For Her, Or Tell Her If You Don’t. Just Make It Clear To Her So She Knows What She Is To You.”

Bolting upright into a sitting position, Sans stared up at his younger brother in disbelief, “So you’re suggestin’ that I go confess my love ta her or somethin’? Is that what you’re tryna tell me right now, Papyrus?” “If You Love Her, Then Yes, That Is Exactly What I’m Trying To Tell You.” Pressing his index and middle finger to one of his temples, the older of the two narrowed his sockets, grumbling under his breath, “Ya gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me… this is so stupid…” Taking a seat on the edge of the bed beside Sans, Papyrus arched a brow bone and tilted his head, “Language, Brother… All Of This Might Seem Stupid To You, Maybe, But It’s A Big Deal And It Needs To Be Addressed. If You Really See Her As Your Mate, She Needs To Know. And Hey, It’s Alright To Feel Embarrassed About This Sort Of Thing. It’s Completely Natural. For Starters, Maybe You Could Try To Help Me Better Understand Your Reasons For Marking Her? I’m All Ears! In A... Manner Of Speaking.”

Sans snuck an uncertain glance up at him and let out a deep sigh, leaning forward to cover both eyes with his hands, “...Don’t make me talk about this right now, Pap. Please. I can’t do it. I just can’t, what if I-” Papyrus was quick to wrap his arms around his older brother, lightly squeezing his shoulder, “Sans, No. Stop. You’re Overthinking Again. Take A Deep Breath And Try To Relax. It’s Just Me Here, And If You Preferred That I Don’t Tell Her What You Say, Then I Won’t. You Have My Word. Just Trust Me… That’s All I’m Asking Of You Right Now. Please, Just Trust Me.”