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A Small and Tall Collection | Chapter Fifteen | Candle Lit Christmas
~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~
Chapter Fifteen | Candle Lit Christmas
First thing the next morning, one thing was absolutely certain – it was freezing. Ashlynn huddled under her blankets in every clothing layer she possessed and still she was insufferably cold.
Were her thoughts occupied with the dangers of her interaction with the three brothers last night?
No.
Was she thinking about how to keep herself safe and to avoid any unnecessary confrontations with the three humans she had decided to trust?
No.
Was she considering the possibility of returning?
No.
All she could think about was how cold it was.
What on earth is going on? It’s absolutely frigid! Did Soren turn off the heat? Is there something wrong with the heater? Is this some kind of human ploy to get me out of the walls? What time is it even?
Ashlynn dared to poke her head out from under her layered blankets, brow and eyes instantly stiff with an unforgivable chill, as she looked around her home. It was here that something caught her eye – her lights weren’t on. The little lights she’d tapped into and borrowed from the neighboring apartments were completely out.
That’s weird. The chances of this being a simple fix dwindled fast. What made it weird was that the power for the lights came from lots of different places. If there was a short or something along those lines, just one strand would be affected. Did this mean something happened to the power in all of these places?
It was with regret and reluctance that Ashlynn bundled up and hauled herself out of her bed, the imprint of warmth left behind in a perfect silhouette of her body. She shuffled over to the plugs and places she’d wired together just in case, but found nothing in the light of her hip lamp that indicated that the wires were bad or that something had burned out. Bulbs tested. Wires checked.
Ashlynn watched her breath form a steaming fog with every breath out, and every breath in felt like she little icicles were jabbing her lungs from the inside. She quickly retreated back to the warmth and safety of her bed, relieved her warm spot was waiting for her, and extinguished her lamp.
Just a few minutes longer, and then if nothing happens I’ll go check and see if the boys are here. Maybe Soren is doing something with the electricity. Then again, I haven’t heard them all morning. Hope everything’s okay…
~~~^*^*^~~~
And, for the boys, everything was more than okay. It was great!
First thing, early in the morning, Soren woke up his brothers and showed them the fresh layer of snow spread across the yards. Layers and layers of gray snow already scraped from the road was once again concealed by a duvet of white, frozen flakes. He usually let his brothers sleep, but sledding on Christmas Eve day was too good to pass up.
So, he picked out the warmest clothes they had and bundled them up into the car to go to his favorite secret sledding spot. It was a treasured place. Sometimes hard to get to, and rarely visited since everything happened, but it didn’t diminish the special meaning it had for Soren.
The trio set out into the snow, unaware that moments after they left that the power would go out for them and the rest of their neighborhood.
“Soren? Where are we going?” asked Dorian, interrupted momentarily by a yawn, as he peered out the window.
“Sledding. I told you that,” reminded Soren as he glanced back at his brother.
“I know, but… you turn left to go to the part; or we walk. You… see? You took a right,” pointed out Dorian. Rey’s eyes gleamed as he attempted to bounce and squirm. His efforts were severely thwarted from his layers of puffy winter coats and the seatbelt protecting him.
“Oh! OH! I know! I know! We’re going to The Hill, right?” grinned the youngest brother. Soren couldn’t hide his smile.
“Maybe.”
“Oh! I knew it!” cheered Rey.
“Wait. The Hill? Really?” Dorian chimed in eagerly.
The Hill, as Soren called it, was a place that he and his parents used to go to whenever it snowed because it had the best hills, hence the name. There was a park he and his parents used to enjoy when he was younger right next to a thick, wooded area. The park was an old-fashioned one, with rusted spring bound horses and metal slides. The swing set rocked back and forth due to years of abuse and the earth leveling beneath it.
It also had the best places to sled down. Old trails took you to several quiet, steep hills. It was here that Soren and his father, Aaron, had the all-time record for hills to jump. If you started at the top of one, you could crest over some of the smaller ones beside it, and Soren and his dad had managed to make it all the way to the end during one particularly icy snowfall.
That was before he got sick…
As if the brothers behind him could read his mind, Dorian asked, “Isn’t this the place your dad brought you to?”
Soren had to clear the tension in his throat before responding, “Yes, it is.” His eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror to see Rey and Dorian exchanging elated glances.
“Just like you’re dad took you!” Rey smiled. Soren swallowed hard and continued to nod rather than respond.
“But you’re not our dad,” stated Dorian in a matter-of-fact tone. It made Soren chuckle.
“No, I’m not. I’m something better – your pesky older brother,” he said as he glanced over his shoulder at his brothers. Rey started giggling before going off into his own side tangent.
“Soren? Soren? Do… wasn’t that so funny yesterday? When Ashlynn was like, ‘Isn’t Soren your dad?’ And! And…”
“That definitely was interesting,” admitted Soren. In a way, Ashlynn wasn’t wrong to guess Soren’s roll here in the family. He had taken on quite the heavy mantle after the accident with the boys’ father and their mother. It still made his blood boil, the way it all had to happen.
Brady should’ve never been behind the wheel. Soren’s grip tightened on the wheel. Serves him right. Drunken scumbag.
He was so focused on his loathing that Soren almost missed the turn. Quick jerk to the left with a little skidding that made the boys giggle and squeal and, all of a sudden, Soren felt like he was back in a memory. He followed the unplowed road through the arcing trees up one road and down the next before, just like before, he saw the all-too-familiar sight of the place he’d adored as a child.
“We’re here!” the boys cheered in tandem.
Yes… yes we are.
“Alright you two, unbuckle and let’s get going. We have some sledding to do.”
Soren hoisted the sleds onto his back and led the way around the park, over the creek, and then began the trudge up the series of small hills. He and his brothers paused frequently, mostly because of Rey wanting to eat icicles and draw smiley faces in the undisturbed winter around them, until they saw it.
The Hill.
It towered over them, a mass of white that made both boys pause and look up with their entire bodies since their bundled bodies couldn’t simply move their neck. The motion reminded Soren of the original Batman costume, but the reference would be lost on his brothers.
Maybe we’ll watch that if they don’t want to watch something else more Christmas themed tonight. Soren thought.
“Alright. Final push, and then we slide down,” huffed Soren.
“Soren? I’m tired. Could you carry me?” asked Rey. Soren looked over his shoulder to see his brother standing pitifully in snow almost to his knees with his lower lip puckered out. Whether Rey knew it or not, Soren could never say no when his brother made that face.
“Alright. Get on,” he relented as he knelt in the snow.
“Hey! Can I go too?” Dorian asked.
Figures. I knew this would happen. I did the same thing at their ages.
“Pile on!”
It took some finagling, but Soren managed to get both his brothers onto his back while dragging the sled behind. With both boys secure and Soren realizing this was going to be quite the challenge, the eldest forced his quaking knees to push him upright as he began the climb. The boys knew better than to flail and bounce. They knew Soren would make them walk if they weren’t going to behave themselves, so they remained motionless and fastened tight, clutching onto Soren’s shoulders for dear life.
Step after step, Soren ascended The Hill.
Each step made Soren feel stationary. No matter how much he pumped his legs, the top was nowhere to be found. He didn’t relent. Everything worth having was worth working for, and his brothers deserved this. Finally, out of breath and a bit achy, Soren crested over the top and partially as a joke and partially because his legs were screaming in protest, fell face first in the snow.
“Soren! Are you okay?” Rey squeaked.
“Did you get hurt?” asked Dorian immediately after. Soren rolled over and, in the blink of an eye, had grabbed his brothers and rolled them into the snow. The chorus of laughter erupted as the three were now covered in snow.
“Ugh, just crushed by you two. When did you decide to get so big?” groaned Soren as their laughter died down. The boys opened their mouths to protest, but paused as they saw the look in their brother’s eyes. It was unidentifiable for the youngsters, but it was unlike any way he’d looked at them before. Pride? Nostalgia? Realization?
Their mom had that look a few times…
As fast as the moment came, it went and soon Soren was on his feet and setting up their three person sled.
“Okay, Rey first, Dorian, and then me. Let’s go!” Soren’s commanding voice set the boys to action immediately. If only I could get them to do chores that easily, thought Soren sarcastically. Snow crunched under their feet as they assumed the correct order. The oldest remembered how his father did it, and now he was going to do the same. “Alright. Hang on tight and don’t lean, bounce, or let your feet drag. Ready? Set!” On “Go,” Soren pulled the sled back and ran with it, only jumping on at the last moment as it careened off of the edge.
The boys’ squeals were caught in the top of their throat as the frigid wind whipped past their faces. They held on tight, death gripping the edge of the sled by the improvised handles Soren made for them last Christmas. The weightlessness carried them down the hill and over the first two bumps before sliding to a stop on the third.
Almost! Thought Soren. Gotta get the record though. Not worth the trip without it.
He turned around and, using the handle, began dragging his brothers back up the series of hills. Thankfully, the boys didn’t make the next few climbs difficult, stomping through the snow beside Soren instead of getting a free ride off of his back. It wasn’t until the fifth try that, finally, the snow was flat enough for them to make a proper run of it.
“Ready? Set! GO!” Soren sprinted as he pushed the sled, his muscles aching in the cold, as he leapt on at the last moment. They soared over the first hill and the second, caught air on the third, and coasted through the last one all the way to the tree line before coming to a skidding stop right before the creek.
“We did it! We did it!” cheered Rey, bounding like a puppy in the snow with Dorian cheering right beside him.
Yeah… we did. See that mom? Dad? Keeping the tradition alive.
“Ready for another round?”
“Yeah!”
~~~^*^*^~~~
Hours passed in the freezing cold before, finally, the boys returned home. Everything felt numb, but neither boy could stop talking about what an awesome time they had. Now, a promise of hot chocolate and a warm bath lured them back to the car to make the drive home.
Soren had to admit that he could also use some time in a nice hot shower, but hot chocolate and getting the boys warm took precedent. They would pass out like played out puppies and nap the moment Soren left them alone for more than a minute, and it would be better if they were already PJ’d up and ready for a night in than trying to wake them later.
They rounded the final corner to their neighborhood and up to their place. Soren tapped the garage door and, to their surprise, nothing happened. Twice. Three times. Nothing. Soren put the car in park and stepped up to the keypad to press the frozen through buttons when he noticed the light failed to come on.
“Oh no,” he grumbled. This wasn’t good. He tried once more, just to be safe, and sadly received the same result.
The power was out.
How long has it been out? We’ve been gone for a while. Please tell me the pipes haven’t frozen. Looks like it’s improv time.
“Soren? Is everything okay?” Dorian had unbuckled himself and was leaning out of the car, concern etching its way into his thawing features.
“Maybe. I think the power’s out. Storm must’ve taken out the power lines and the generators,” replied Soren, who returned to the car and shut it off. “We’ll have to go in through the front. Come on.”
He guided the boys inside and, to keep them from tracking in snow, quickly undressed at the front door step so he was in nothing but his long pants and long sleeved shirt before picking up one boy and then the next, shoving them in the garage to rid themselves of their snow covered gear. The moment he stepped inside, Soren could’ve sworn he could see his breath. Evidently, the power had been out for a while, and that wasn’t good. The emergency flashlights flooded the room with small beacons of light, but that was all with the blinds closed and curtains drawn.
At least I remembered to keep the curtains sealed. It would be unbearable if I’d thrown open the blinds first thing.
He was prepared, as always, for emergencies, but it would add time and, sadly, the boys wouldn’t be getting a bath today unless the power came back on. Jammies on the boys and his own gear drying in the garage, Soren set to work.
“Soren? Why is it so cold in here?” asked Rey as he shivered and pulled his sleeves over his fingers.
“Well,” sighed Soren as he grabbed one of his own jackets and slid it onto his brother, instantly dwarfing the youngster, before pulling up the hood to cover his head. “When the power goes out, that means there’s no electricity. The heater runs off of electricity, so no power means no heat.” Soren pulled Dorian closer and slipped one of his jackets on him, zipping up the front all the way to Dorian’s chin.
“So… does that mean…” Soren knew where Rey was going with this.
“Yes. Operation Survival. You know where the flashlights are,” grinned Soren, biting back a shiver as he pulled a hoodie over his head.
“Yeah! Tent city! Campfire burner! Candles and fire! Let’s go!” Dorian cheered as he and Rey scampered off.
“Flashlights first!” Soren called. He rolled his eyes and stared at the kitchen sink, daring to reach forward and flicking the tap on.
Nothing.
Curses. Either the pipes are frozen or the backup generator is out too.
Soren crouched and opened the cabinet to see if he could find any signs of freezing pipes when he heard something on top of the counter directly behind him.
“S-s-soren?”
He glanced over his shoulder to see Ashlynn bundled in blankets to the point he could only make out part of her face.
“Ashlynn, hey,” he breathed.
“Wh-what’s g-going on?” Ashlynn’s teeth were chattering hard. “Is the p-power out?” A million things were going on in his mind to help get everything prepared for a potential power outage long haul, but pausing for a second to explain wouldn’t do any harm.
“Yeah, unfortunately,” Soren grumbled. “Usually, there are generators and stuff to kick everything back on, but this snow storm must be hitting a lot of people all at once. So, we’re going into what myself and the boys affectionately call ‘Survival mode.’ We’ve also called it pioneer night, but operation survival motivates the boys.”
“Ah, I s-s-see,” muttered Ashlynn. “Explains the c-cold.”
“Oh… oh yeah, wow. So… gosh yeah, that would probably affect you more than any of us since you probably don’t have access to direct heat, huh.” Soren saw the small woman nod sheepishly. I couldn’t imagine not having access to electricity and modern tech. Basically every night is like pioneer night for someone like her. Soren shuddered to think of what it would be like to have to take care of him and his brothers if he were Ashlynn’s size with basically nothing to his name.
It made his heart ache, but then an idea hit him.
“Well, I don’t know what your plans are for the evening, but you’re welcome to join us. Dorian and Rey are going to be back here in a second and I’m going to set them on tent duty, which is basically a giant fort made of blankets so we can all be together and keep warm if the power doesn’t come back on. If you want to join them, I’m sure they’d love to have you,” suggested Soren. “Or not. Whatever you prefer. You might’ve just come down to figure out what was going on.”
“And… what are you doing?” asked Ashlynn.
“Me? Checking for leaks and breaks in the water pipes, but I don’t see any here and I can’t do much else except wait and see if there are any leaks,” replied Soren as he ducked back into the cabinet and, using his keen eyes, started seeking for any seam splits.
“Why can’t you do much else? Why wait?” asked Ashlynn, who knew the dangers of water leaking for more reasons than one. If there was a leak in the pipes, walls and floors were instantly torn up. She’d seen it happen to a friend’s family when they were growing up, and they had to move shortly after. The damage water could do was also dangerous. It could lead to mold and would ruin everything if not dealt with properly.
“Well, a lot of that stuff is either under the house where I can’t reach it right now or it’s in the walls,” explained Soren. It was like a bolt of lightning struck them both, giving the same idea at the same time. “Ashlynn…”
“Soren… er…” They accidentally started talking at the same time. They both chuckled as Soren gestured for Ashlynn to go first. “Well… if you need someone to check the walls, I could do that. It’s easy enough. I’ve already mapped out most of the pipes and stuff. It’s how I… well… er… let’s just say I know how to check for that kind of stuff.”
Soren’s smile was nearly from ear to ear.
“That would be great. Seriously, Ashlynn, thank you.” It felt like a boulder had been lifted off of Soren’s chest. With Ashlynn checking the walls, I can get everything else going. If she finds something, it’ll be a quick fix. If not, I’ll know it’s a generator. “Come back as soon as you’re done.”
“Sure,” Ashlynn replied. It was the first time she actually felt useful, like she was paying back a debt that wasn’t being asked for.
She’d almost made it to the walls when she heard Soren’s soft, “Oh.” She paused and looked back at him. “By the way, what kind of hot chocolate do you like? Have you… had it before?” Ashlynn had heard of this drink, but had never had a chance to borrow any. So, she shook her head. “Little of a few different ones then. Good to know. Thanks.”
Ashlynn clicked on her hip lamp and, like the shadow she was, slipped into the darkness in search of a leak.
Soren, in the meantime, gathered up a few pots and set them on the gas stove to start boiling snow for hand washing and other miscellaneous things. He had drinking water reserved in the closet and the garage. He retrieved the electric generators from the shelves and set to work making a big bowl of ramen for lunch and then soup for dinner.
When he told the boys Ashlynn would be joining them, they just about lost their minds.
“Twice? In two days!” They cheered as they set to work on the tent, saying, “Let’s make this one the best one ever so Ashlynn will be impressed. She’s probably never been in a fort before.”
Ashlynn determinedly began scouring the walls for every water pipe she could remember in the apartment. Up walls. Down corridors. She placed her hands on each frigid pipe and examined it up one side and down the other looking for bulges or poking out ice. She even made sure her area was secure before snagging a few things she would need if she was going to spend the evening with Soren and his brothers.
Brothers. Ridiculous. I should’ve seen it. They just… whatever. They look related, but not by much. Dorian and Rey must take after their actual father or Soren just really takes after his. Ashlynn crouched and flipped over some of the nearby pipes when she heard something.
*Hiss… Drip… Drip…. Drip…*
Everything stopped. She held her breath. Every little motion froze in place. Ashlynn listened as hard as she could, turning her head one way and then the other to tell where it was coming from. She picked up the pace, following the sound down one corridor and having to crawl on all fours under a support beam, but still finding nothing.
“Well, shoot,” she muttered, hands on her hips and reaching up to scratch the back of her neck. “Where are you? Sounds like it’s coming from… hm…”
She had an idea.
Ashlynn had a good sense of direction, and she knew this part of the house was near the outside of the house. If I’m right… Ashlynn slid down a line she’d secured when she first arrived in case of emergencies and, instantly, felt the bitter cold freezing her solid. It was the passage that led to the outside, and she was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea.
Just a peak. Just a pe-AK! Ashlynn was halfway down the line when, suddenly, her foot hit solid ice. The jolt made her lose her grip and, as she slid down the rest of the line, she saw the culprit.
The water hose on the outside had indeed burst, and the spray had coated her emergency line in a thin coating of ice. Ashlynn plummeted straight down into a frozen mud pit, water spraying over her and into her hair. The wind kicked up again, sending millions of tiny snowflakes rushing right past her. The frigid air nearly brought Ashlynn to her knees once she was upright again.
Shoot! This is bad. Curses! Of course this happens to me. Ashlynn thought as she wiped the mud on her pants. She thanked her lucky stars she had her spare line and didn’t have to spend any time knocking the ice off of her safety line. It was that one more second that she needed to get inside instead of sitting outside freezing to death.
Though it took a bit longer to get inside because of her mud slicked hands and pants, Ashlynn was finally back inside and certain the pipes were alright.
“Great. Now I just have to get back and be a muddy mess for the rest of the night,” mumbled Ashlynn as she made the long slog back to her bag and the electrical cover on the counter.
~~~^*^*^~~~
“What happened?!” Soren’s voice was saturated with concern as he watched Ashlynn march back onto the counter, mud and ice on her clothes and in her hair. “Are you okay? Did you find a leak? Gosh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”
“It’s fine, Soren,” Ashlynn interrupted, feeling a bit flustered that Soren was fussing over her so much; not that she minded. In fact, she kind of liked it. She reached up and scratched the back of her neck, body still shivering from her exposure to the outside world. “Really. I just need to change and I’ll be good. On the positive side, at least we know it’s just a split hose outside and not something in the house.”
Soren sighed, right hand reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb, before glancing over at the lit stove where he had successfully melted several bowls of snow.
“Well, at the very least you can wash off that mud if you want. I’ve got some warm water here, and we’ll give you the bathroom to get changed and everything,” said Soren. The mention of warm water instantly made Ashlynn’s body tingle. She’d only ever had warm baths here, and she liked the experience. “Though technically, if you’re cold, it’s skin to skin that is recommended, but…”
Ashlynn didn’t hear the rest. Her ears instantly started ringing and her cheeks began burning hotter than her candle burning stove at the thought of skin to skin with Soren. Gosh! What’s wrong with me?!
“Ashlynn?”
The Borrower woman startled as she suddenly realized Soren’s hand was only a few inches from her. She looked down at his hand and then back up to his features, only now noticing the bowl of steaming water in his left hand.
“Is that… something you’d like?” he asked.
She swallowed hard and, realizing he was talking about the bath, nodded bashfully and stepped onto his fingers as she snagged her bag with her spare clothes in it. The heat radiating off of his palm was soothing, and she was tempted to see if she could just sit there and keep warm. The Borrower thought better of it and let Soren carry her to the bathroom, which was lit with candles.
“Um… there’s soap here and give a shout or come into the living room when you’re done. I’ll leave the door open a crack for you,” stated Soren as his hand glided down to the surface of the countertop to set her down.
“Th-thank you,” she mumbled as she disembarked and watched Soren go. Good grief! I can’t blank out and think about something as ridiculous as skin to skin with a human! What on earth is wrong with me?! Even if I took him up on that, he probably is treating me like he would a little sister. He treats his brothers with this same care. Good grief! What am I even thinking?
Ashlynn stripped and slid into the warm water, dunking herself in the hopes that warm water would cool her head.
~~~^*^*^~~~
Twenty or so minutes later, Ashlynn was squeaky clean with fresh clothes and clean ones drying on the edge of the sink. After getting clean, she scrubbed her clothes free of mud and set them out so she’d have something to get into later if she had another wardrobe malfunction.
Then, she wandered into the living room to see what exactly this “fort” was supposed to look like; and, in all actuality, it looked like a Borrower fort. The blankets were ramshackle and pinned in every which way between the two couches, which were now facing one another instead of being perpendicular. Other blankets and something that looked like foam were on the ground in between the two couches. There were also miscellaneous games and padded boxes that Ashlynn didn’t recognize, but one thing she did know for certain.
Heat was coming from somewhere. Based on the mild glow and the cord going from it to one of those padded boxes, Ashlynn guessed it was the reason there was any semblance of warmth anywhere here.
“Ashlynn!” Dorian’s face peered out from under one of the blankets on the couch as he gave a little wave. “Do you like it? It’s not done, but it will be. Want a grand tour?” Ashlynn spotted Soren not too far away unrolling some kind of plastic thing, so she elected to nod.
Dorian slipped out from the blankets and was at her side in a few simple steps, something Ashlynn would’ve had to short distance sprint to cross in the same amount of time.
“Okay, here you have the grand foyer. This is where we’ll have food and play some games and where the heater is pointed. That’s that thing over there,” Dorian explained.
“Heater? I thought…” Ashlynn’s confusion was evident and Rey, who was carrying in more blankets from Soren’s room, dropped everything to answer.
“Yeah! It needs electricity, but Soren has that covered. This thing here. It’s called a generator. It is like a big battery that Soren keeps charged in case we lose power. It also plays music and can make emergency Morse code signals if we’re in danger.” Rey was beaming with pride at his concise answer, and it earned him a scrutinized look from his brother.
“I was gonna explain that,” complained Dorian. “Any-who! That one there is my couch, so that’s where I’ll sleep. And that one there is Rey’s couch. That’s where he’ll sleep. He’ll probably also lose some of his toys in there because he always loses his toys in the couch.”
“I do not! Not always,” Rey claimed indignantly. “I can’t help it if I like working on my inventions before bed and… well… sometimes I fall asleep and sometimes things fall out of my hands, but that’s part of being an inventor, which… OH! It’s Christmas Eve! We can give you your thing!”
Rey scampered off while Dorian continued to talk about the entrance and how it’s important to have blankets in a particular order because, otherwise, you’ll still be cold even under a mountain of blankets. To Ashlynn’s surprise, she actually found this useful.
By the time Rey returned, Soren had lunch in bowls for all of them, even Ashlynn, as well as a cup of hot chocolate for each of them. It was the first time Ashlynn ever had anything like it. It was warm and sweet and made her insides toasty like warm soup. And then adding marshmallows? Something else she’d never tried?
A Borrower could die happy if this was their last meal.
They finished lunch and played a few games, which Dorian and Rey barely made it through because they were exhausted from sledding, and then decided to lay down while Soren cleaned up. It was admirable, seeing the way Soren diligently tended to his brothers, and Ashlynn couldn’t stop herself from staring as Soren came back and practically collapsed onto something they called an “air mattress.”
But it’s not made of air… just filled with it… whatever.
It was when they woke up that the real, as Rey called them, “reindeer games” actually started. They took turns having Ashlynn on their team as they played things like “Cadoo,” more Pictionary, Jenga which Ashlynn was especially good at since she could climb and maneuver the pieces so well, and a few others Ashlynn hadn’t heard of.
It was only after dinner, yet another meal Ashlynn found herself groaning over, that they celebrated Christmas Eve. Soren did something called praying, which Ashlynn had seen some other humans do, before he retrieved several boxes from under the tree, each wrapped in green or red wrapping paper. He handed three each to the boys and, to Ashlynn’s surprise, one to her.
“Sorry I don’t have the same to give like I do the boys,” apologized Soren. “It’s what I could come up with in time.” It was a beautifully wrapped blue package that was about as tall and as wide as herself. She worried it would be too big to bring back to her own home, but banished those thoughts as she poked a hole in the paper and tore away the sides.
It was a massive, fuzzy blanket with an elegant “A” stitched into the side which was about the size of her hand. One side was a blue checkered flannel and the other was a cloud like fluffy material that was softer than anything Ashlynn had ever touched before in her life.
“Y-you… made this? For me?” she asked, craning her neck to look up into Soren’s golden hazel eyes. The illumination of the flashlights and candles only accentuated the flecks of green in them.
“Yeah,” Soren muttered as he reached up and nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry it’s not much. But…”
“I love it. I… I just…”
“Wait! What about ours!” Rey interrupted as he quickly snagged a flashlight and darted into the darkness of his bedroom.
“Mine too!” Dorian called as he raced after his brother.
Soren chuckled, completely unaware that they’d managed to pull something together, when he heard a little sniff by his knee. He honed in his attention onto Ashlynn, who was clutching the blanket to her chest and shivering slightly.
“Hey… Ashlynn. Are you okay? Did we… do something wrong?” asked Soren. Ashlynn shook her head, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and along her sleeve. Her voice barely carried through the air, and Soren had to leave over to hear Ashlynn’s mumblings.
“I just… I haven’t don’t anything to deserve this. You’re all just being… being so kind. It’s something I would never have thought a human would do for a B…” Ashlynn stopped herself short before continuing, not finishing the word she had in mind. “You know? You hear these stories about others getting captured or killed. It just makes you so afraid, and then someone like you comes along… all three of you… it’s just…”
“It’s a lot?” Soren ventured a guess after Ashlynn was silent for a minute. When she nodded, he continued. “Yeah, I can understand that. And, please, if this is too much all at once you can just tell us. It’s okay.”
“See? Stuff like that. You’re all just so understanding. I just… I wish there were more humans out there like you. I’d even take more like you for my kind if I’m being honest.” Soren felt a rush of flattery making the tips of his ears burn. It was nice to know his efforts were worth it and that she wasn’t feeling hostile or as secretive anymore.
“Well, as long as you’re comfortable, you’re always welcome. It’s quick, but it definitely feels like you’ve joined the crew, if that’s what you want,” offered Soren. Ashlynn, emotions running wild like a rampant tornado in a jar, found herself nodding. It had been so long since she’d been a part of something – part of a family – and having it happen so quickly only affirmed in her mind that it was meant to be.
“We’re back! Here, Ashlynn! Open mine first.”
“No, me!”
Dorian and Rey both presented their gifts, which were, at the very least, good efforts that showcased the boys’ charm. Dorian had made something that looked like a coat rack out of some pencils and rubber bands. He also claimed it could function as a makeshift tent as he draped a blanket over the edges.
Rey, on the other hand, had managed to create a type of “quick descending” device using a skillcraft lanyard zip and some extra fishing hooks. He was also working on a quick ascension device, but he was having trouble getting it to not lock up.
“I… I don’t know what to say.” It was true. Ashlynn felt at a loss for words to show her gratitude, but an idea came to mind that she knew she had to act on. She stood and, to each of the boys, she went over and hugged their fingers, seeing that was the only part of them she could actually get her hands around. Despite her body shaking with excitement and so many other emotions, she managed to hug and thank each of the brothers.
Soren’s gifts to the boys included one toy they’d both been asking for separately, which was a Lego set of their choosing, something that interested them independently, music box mixing for Dorian and an electronics kit for Rey, and something they could do together, which was two new card games. In exchange, Dorian gave Soren a tool kit with medical and practical supplies, which Soren knew he was getting since he purchased it, and Rey gifted him some homemade flashlight gloves and matching head mount for his flashlights.
So… this is Christmas. I like it, Ashlynn thought as she watched the brothers hug. They crawled into their prospective beds not too long after and, using her new “tent,” Ashlynn found herself turning in for bed too. Both Dorian and Rey were breathing softly in their makeshift beds under a warmed tent, obviously knocked out from the events of the day. Ashlynn wasn’t far behind. Her eyes were just beginning to unfocus when she heard Soren’s signature cough.
“Hey, Ashlynn? You awake?” asked Soren.
“Mm-hmm, yeah,” she replied, sleep saturating her voice. How much time had passed since the boys had fallen asleep? Was Ashlynn asleep? Or that odd twilight between awake and not?
“Thanks for spending Christmas with us, and thanks for checking out the house. You really saved a lot of time and eased my mind at least, and I know the boys would say they had a great time with you tonight. So, thanks.”
Soren’s voice was growing fainter with each passing word until he completely drifted off to sleep. Ashlynn wasn’t far behind. Sleep played at the edges of her vision, eyelids lulling like shades that wouldn’t pull down. Up. Down. Further down. Up again. Closed. Up.
Sleep beckoned her with open arms as she nestled deeper into the cocoon she’d made from the blanket Soren gifted to her. Weightless. Effortless.
It was everything she’d always wanted – to be part of a fam-…
*WHAM*
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Continue | Coming Soon
Previous
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A Tall and Small Collection | Original Story
#borrower#g/t#g/t community#borrowers#giant/tiny#giant tiny#handheld#tiny#giant#gianttiny#g/t fearplay#g/t related#g/t writing#g/t ocs#original character#fiction#fantasy#angst#handheld tiny#chapter#season one#sfw g/t#g/t author#g/t concept#g/t characters#g/t story#g/t scenario#g/t sfw#g/t fandom#g/t fiction
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attachment styles of tiktok have started going into their pathetics once again
"anxious attachment can only be happy when they're loved by you :(" learn to not depend on others for slimmers of happiness dumbass
"avoidant ppl are human too :(" cool and they should stay away from me
#wah wah wah#not that i don't understand that all of the attachment styles are a literal trauma response#i get it! i need to put genuine effort into not sinking to my anxious attachment every damn time#but like sorry#that effort is what keeps you from being completely insufferable#can you guys tell i absolutely loathe the fact that social media paired with hyperindividualism has made therapy language a weapon?#not even a weapon but just a card to pull when you're being bad to other people and doing better inconveniences you#yes trauma is terrific#yes the harder you childhood is the more effort you'll have to put into building your life when you're an adult#but it's what has to be done. mental illness is an illness. mental problems are problems#and solution requires effort#you have two choices: never get better and have no one beside you#or put that effort since you open your eyes until you close them#seek happiness even if it isn't there#fight to be nice. fight to be soft fight to be patient and kind#because even if there is people who want to be around you initially#those connections wear out so much faster when someone else has to endure the brunt of you refusing to take the reins of yourself#it sounds harsh but support goes both ways#so does love#it's not a transaction it's an effort put by everyone to make the life better for others and themselves
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hot chocolate!
(last one i promise)
reader & spencer who aren’t exactly enemies but they’re def not friends but reader always double checks if spencer’s fbi vest is secured correctly which in return makes spencer check her over as well and they’re always like ‘stop checking up on me and worry about your own safety’ and it just happens every single time and they swear up and down that they dislike eachother deeply (they need to make out)
BANE OF MY EXISTENCE | Spencer Reid x reader
description: Spencer hates you, and you hate him, until it comes to protecting each other in the field
length: 0.7k
His fingers wound through the back of your vest as you made a move to dart past him, trailing after Hotch as you loaded your glock.
You felt a yank at your neck, his obnoxiously long arms giving you a firm tug back with little to no effort, all but making you stumble backwards as he forced you to stop, and his fingers were at your hip, adjusting the strap before you could ask him just exactly what he was doing.
“Wha- Reid, let go, my vest is fine,” You snapped, huffing when he ignored you, in the interest of fixing your belt, his brow turned down into a frown.
“Don’t come crying to me when you get shot in abdomen and suddenly you’re bleeding out, and you lay there and thinking, dang if only the smart FBI would have told me to adjust my kevlar, and I’ll be right there to point and laugh and say I told you so,” He huffed, his fingers making light work of the fiddly strap, tightening it until he couldn’t see a single inch of your shirt to the point he heard your breathing constrict, but he thought he’d rather you be a little uncomfortable than shot.
“I mean, if I’m laying bleeding out I won’t really have much to say other than, Reid, get medical, I think they hit something serious, please don’t come to my funeral, you were insufferable enough when I was living,” You said, allowing your body to be tugged back as he started on the other side, because there was no use fighting it when he got in those moods when he always needed to be right.
He paused, his brain catching up to your words and he drew in a silent breath, wondering if the other side of your jacket needed tightening even more, or better yet, if there was any way Hotch would make you stay in the car as back up.
Spencer yanked the strap with a vendetta, ignoring the way you whined it was too tight, and his lips pursed together.
“Would you relax, I was clearly kidding,” You said, thinking his mood had come from your teasing, because you seemed to know exactly what to say to push every one of his buttons, “What I would probably be thinking however is if you’ll be able to flag down a medic with your shoelaces untied,”
His gaze snapped to his converse, and sure enough the double knot he relied on seemed to have failed him, and his strings were hazard material as they dragged along the pavement, already mucky where they’d probably been undone for hours.
“Make sure you do them before we move in, I’m not carrying your bone head out of there if we start taking hits and you trip over your own feet,” You snipped, and he finally released you, immediately leaning down to fix his own issues, completely missing the way your eyes trailed down to make sure he did the loops tight enough because you were being serious when you said it would loathe you to be the one to carry him away from the danger, though probably not in the way he thought.
He huffed, standing back to his full height and giving his feet a wiggle in their shoes to make sure they were comfortable, and he looked back at you where you were watching him carefully, catching the split second where something close to worry pooled in your eyes.
It snapped back into your usual cold demeanour when you realised he was looking straight at you, and you whirled you keep your back to him, inspecting your loaded gun some more as a way to busy yourself.
“Try not to miss, it doesn’t look good on the reports when I have to save your ass twice,” Spencer snarked, and he practically heard the scoff before you even gave it.
“That was one time, Reid, and it was only cause I couldn’t see past your stupid fluffy hair. You’re a cop, Reid, not a poodle, you don't need that much volume,” You snapped back, the two of you squabbling the entire walk to the building, until Hotch separated you for the sake of his growing headache.
He just wished you two would talk things out before he seriously considered Emily’s proposition of locking you in the broom closet together.
#spencer reid x reader#spencer reid imagine#criminal minds x reader#spencer reid fanfiction#matthew gray gubler x reader
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Hey babe! I’m sure you get lots of requests but I’ve been reading all your stuff lately(so good omg and so addicting) but I was wondering if you could do enemies to lovers. With either Jack or ethan. Whatever comes to mind. Love ya!
⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain
ᡣ𐭩 word count: 1.2k
ᡣ𐭩 pairing: ethan landry x fem!reader
ᡣ𐭩 summary: ethan and y/n have a rivalry going on, until one day y/n explodes and ethan decides it’s time to change the core of their relationship.
ᡣ𐭩 contents/warnings: academic rivalry. enemies to lovers(ish). insecurities. fighting. screaming. making up (and out). a little bit of toxicity.
y/n left the classroom practically fuming, with a smug-faced ethan trailing behind her. they had just been given their marks on their econ exam, and while y/n had passed, ethan had beaten her once again. by far.
it was exhausting. the boy was so smart, he didn’t even need to study. paying attention to class sufficed, he memorised everything and understood easily. y/n, on the other hand, wasn’t a natural. she had to stay hours on a chair trying to get the contents in her mind. and while she made an immense amount of effort, ethan always managed to come out in top of her.
she was insanely jealous of ethan. yes, maybe the few times she achieved higher marks than him she’d gloat a little bit (a lot). and yes, maybe the nonsense rivalry between them had started because of her and her bitterness but she couldn’t help but put up a fight.
some days y/n would feel bad about being the detonator of the stupid enmity, but today was definitely not one of those days.
“hey, y/n/n, it’s okay. econ is a very hard subject, not everyone understands it quite like i do.” ethan said, cockiness trying to be disguised with a very poorly-done empathetic tone.
y/n kept stomping, not even the rain could stop her from trying to get away from him.
“i could tutor you, if you’d like.” he continued, ignoring the way the fabric from her polo shirt was starting to get soaked.
“what i’d really like is if you’d leave me alone.”
“nope, this is my favorite part of feedback day. i love rubbing my high marks all over your face.” the tall boy smiled.
it was a crime that the cutest smile she’d ever seen belonged to the most insufferable man on earth. it only made her more furious. “get lost, landry.”
“we live in the same dorm building.” he laughed.
“well, take another route.”
“my god, you’re such a sore loser. i don’t say a thing when you gloat. which doesn’t get to happen very often, but still.” he rolled his eyes.
was he right? of course. was she going to admit he had a great point? no. was she going to keep unleashing her fury and jealousy? hell yes.
“yeah, well, once you get to beat mr. perfect, it’s an inevitable thing to do.”
his jaw tensed. “why are you so frustrating?” he screamed over the rain and thunders.
“why won’t you leave me alone?!” she screamed back, stopping in her tracks. “if i’m so frustrating why don’t you just stay away?” he stayed silent because he didn’t have a reason why. at least, none that he could say aloud without her running away. “huh, ethan? why do you keep sitting next to me even though the classroom is always empty when we arrive?!”
truth was, he was addicted to the rollercoaster of a relationship they both had. y/n always challenged him, made him feel alive. it wasn’t sane, it was completely intoxicating and wild and crazy, but it was his serotonin and he was addicted to it.
but this? up until today, it has been silly bragging and comebacks. this y/n seemed deranged, absolutely insane. he didn’t want her to truly hate him, because there was not a bone in ethan’s body that held any hatred towards her.
ethan admired her. he admired her perseverance, her intelligence, her witty, her humor. and even though it had never been towards him, he witnessed how kind she was to others. he wondered when it’d be his turn to have that part of y/n—the one that smiled genuinely, the one that joked, the one that laughed warmly.
it was clear the end of the stupid rivalry was in his hands because it would be an endless battle if it were for y/n, she was never going to let her armour down. he was ready for their relationship to change.
so with determined steps, ethan made his way towards her until he was so close that her chest almost touched his. “because i’m so fucking attracted to you. never thought i could feel this much about someone that hates my guts, but here i am.”
y/n’s eyes widened and searched in his face for any sign that he was messing with her. but she only found pleading brown eyes and eyebrows furrowed in anguish.
“and i’m going to kiss you right now, in risks of getting kneed in the balls, which is something you’d one hundred percent do.”
y/n might’ve laughed at that, but before she could do anything, ethan’s big hands grabbed her waist and pushed her towards him, closing the distance.
they stayed kissing in the rain for a while, not caring about the clothes sticking to their skins or the amount of water that fell down their faces. maybe their fights had been the perfect foreplay, because the kiss was unlike anything they’d experienced before. the rush that ran through their veins was intense and heart-racing.
“wow.” y/n said when they had to pull away for air. her fingers were still threading through his wet hair.
“yeah.” he agreed, letting out a laugh. “now that my kiss sort of sedated the beast within you—”
“fuck you.” she muttered, but this time there was nothing but playfulness in her tone.
“—let’s talk about what is going on inside your head, because we can’t keep on going like this.”
the walk back to her dorm was silent but the tension that always seemed to surround them was gone. their fingers were intertwined, and y/n leaned on ethan’s arm with his jacket around her shoulders.
“i’m sorry, ethan. i’m the one that started this stupidity.” y/n said as they settled on the couch.
“i never put a stop to it.” he pointed out.
“you were just playing the game i started. you never had bad intentions, but i fought with you because i resented you.”
“resented me? why? why did i do?” he asked, taken aback.
“no. nothing, not really. it’s just… i envied that you were so good at every class. i hated that i spent hours trying to make sense of what was in front of me while you understood everything so effortlessly. and the marks always hit me in the ego and insecurities.”
“and everytime i paraded my mark… i was just fuelling your anger.”
“well, yeah, but it’s not on you. it’s all me, in my head. during high school, everyone practically patted me in the head and congratulated me for my marks… and now, in college, i’m struggling like i’ve never before. it’s so horrible, i feel like a failure.”
ethan pulled her into his arms as she broke down. “you’re not a failure, y/n. college is very different from high school, and everyone struggles in their own way. no, i don’t have any problem when it comes to clases but socialising? trying to make friends? that’s where i struggle. it terrifies me.”
and now she hated herself more because it was at that moment that she realized she had been mean to someone who did not deserve it at all. “i’m so fucking sorry, ethan. you’re amazing and i’m sorry that i ever made you feel bad.”
“i’m sorry, too. i never meant it, but i still hurt you with my mocking. so let just call it even and move on, please.”
“we’re not even close to being even, but i want to move on, too. i want to get to know you. start over.” she said, brushing away the wet strands of hair that sticked to his forehead.
“but can we, maybe, please, not obviate the kiss? cause that was really fucking good and i want more of that.”
y/n laughed and hugged his neck. “that sounds perfect.”
#ethan landry#ethan landry x reader#ethan landry angst#ethan landry fic#ethan landry oneshot#ethan landry scream#ethan landry x y/n#ethan landry fluff#ethan landry smut#jack champion#jack champion x reader#jack champion x y/n
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Sihtric Kjartansson x Reader
Just Sihtric and Uthred's stubborn sister separated from the rest in a forest after an attack
The forest is dense and soon getting darker as you and Sihtric move quickly, the chaos of the enemy's attack scattering your group. Uhtred and the others are nowhere to be found, leaving just you and Sihtric to navigate the treacherous woods.
"Could you at least try to keep up?" Sihtric grumbles, glancing back at you with a mix of annoyance and concern.
"I'm keeping up just fine," you snap back, stepping over a fallen branch. "Maybe if you didn't stomp around like a wounded boar, we'd be harder to track."
"You're insufferable," he mutters, though there's a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"And you're a brute," you retort, picking up your pace to match his.
As the sun sets, the forest grows colder. You suppress a shiver, trying to hide your discomfort. Sihtric notices, his eyes narrowing. "Here," he says, shrugging off his warm cloak and holding it out to you. "Take this."
"I don't need it," you insist, crossing your arms.
"Stop being difficult," he replies, stepping closer to drape the cloak over your shoulders.
"I said no," you snap, pushing it away.
Sihtric sighs, clearly exasperated. "Fine. Freeze, then."
He starts gathering wood for a fire, his movements precise and efficient. You watch him out of the corner of your eye, grudgingly admiring his skill. Despite your constant bickering, there's no denying that he's good at what he does.
The fire crackles to life, casting a warm glow that pushes back the darkness. You sit close to the flames, the heat soothing your chilled skin. Sihtric settles across from you, his eyes scanning the perimeter.
"I'll stay awake," you declare, determined not to appear weak. "In case we're attacked."
Sihtric raises an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. "You won't last the night."
"Watch me," you challenge, glaring at him.
Before he can respond, the forest erupts with the sounds of approaching enemies. Sihtric springs to his feet, pulling you behind him protectively. His sword flashes in the firelight as he parries an attack, his movements quick and precise.
"Stay back," he orders, his voice firm.
"No," you argue, drawing your own weapon. "I can fight."
An enemy charges at Sihtric from behind, and without hesitation, you step forward and plunge your sword into the attacker's chest. Sihtric glances at you in surprise as the enemy falls at your feet.
"Impressive," he admits grudgingly.
"Don't sound so shocked," you quip, panting slightly.
With the immediate threat neutralized, you and Sihtric exchange a glance that holds more than just respect. There's a shared understanding, a recognition of each other's strengths.
As night falls completely, the temperature continues to drop. Sihtric sits close to the fire, his eyes never straying far from you. "Get some rest," he says softly. "I'll keep watch."
You shake your head stubbornly. "I'll stay awake with you."
"You're exhausted," he argues. "You need sleep."
"So do you," you retort, glaring at him.
"Please, just rest," he insists, his tone softening. "I'll keep you safe."
Reluctantly, you nod and settle closer to the fire, your eyelids growing heavy. Despite your best efforts to stay awake, exhaustion soon claims you. As you drift off, you miss the soft, affectionate look Sihtric gives you.
He waits until your breathing evens out before moving. Quietly, he drapes his cloak over you, careful not to wake you. In your sleep, you instinctively pull it closer, a contented sigh escaping your lips. Sihtric settles by a nearby tree, his eyes never straying far from you.
The night is long and cold, but Sihtric remains vigilant, his thoughts never far from you. He watches over you with a mix of frustration and something deeper, something he isn't ready to name.
Morning breaks, and you wake up to find the cloak still wrapped around you. Sitting up, you see Sihtric, bleary-eyed but alert, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"You stayed up all night," you say, more of a statement than a question.
"I told you I would," he replies, meeting your gaze.
You pull the cloak tighter around you, feeling a mix of gratitude and something you can't quite place. "Thank you," you mumble, the words foreign on your tongue.
Sihtric stands, stretching. "Don't mention it. We need to find Uhtred and the others."
As you prepare to move out, you can't help but notice the way Sihtric looks at you, a softness in his eyes that you hadn't seen before. It makes your heart race in a way you don't quite understand.
"Next time, try listening to me," Sihtric says with a smirk.
"Only if you admit I'm not just some stubborn fool," you retort, a smile tugging at your lips.
He laughs, a genuine, warm sound that surprises you. "Deal."
#sihtric tlk#sihtric x you#sihtric fic#sihtric x reader#sihtric kjartansson#the last kingdom one shot#the last kingdom imagine#the last kingdom#tlk sihtric#tlk imagines#tlk imagine#tlk#tlk uhtred#tlk fanfic#sihtric#the last kingdom fic
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Court Dismissed
Rhysand x Reader
Your first time in court as High Lady proves to be a bore, so you find a way to entertain yourself with Rhys.
A/N: this can be read as a part 2 to Claim Your Throne or as a standalone
Warnings: SMUT dirty smut, nsfw below the cut, exhibitionism, cockwarming, p in v sex, oral m!receiving, throne sex, minors dni
Rhys had somehow undersold how grating conversation with Keir would be. Once you got past the initial irritation of dealing with the insufferable male, you tuned out of his conversation with Rhys in favor of relaxing into your seat on your mate’s lap. You lazily stroked his arm which he had propped on the armrest of the throne as you mindlessly watched over your subjects, reveling in their mixed expressions of lust and disgust at the low-cut strip of fabric you had draped over you, leaving your sides open and little to the imagination.
Rhys could sense your impatience, sending reassurance down the bond as he pressed a light kiss to your neck. What he didn’t realize is the effect that move would have on you. You feigned a stretch, arching your back and rear against Rhys, leading him to tense and harden beneath you. You smirked, finally having some fun for the first time this evening.
Rhys let out a low exhale as you felt a talon drag softly along your mental shields. You lowered them for him, and his voice purred in your mind, you are playing a dangerous game, darling. You subtly adjusted your hips against him, watching his knuckles turn white against the armrests as he struggled to maintain his composure. Well I’m in the mood to play, High Lord, you answered, following up with a mental image of you kneeling in front of the throne, sucking his cock completely naked except for your crown.
Rhys’s eyes shuttered as he moved his hands to hold your hips in a bruising grip. You were wearing a vague smile in your efforts to appear disinterested and aloof in front of the court, but you couldn’t help the surge of pride you felt from making your High Lord melt under your touch in front of the court. Rhys leaned forward, harshly biting your earlobe before soothing over the mark with his tongue. Your body tried to squirm under his demanding touch, but his solid grip held you in place. You want to play, darling? Let’s play.
Rhys assumed his previous position on the throne of bored condescension, resting one hand under his chin while he dragged the other up and down your side, before slipping it behind you and dragging the side of your dress over just enough to expose you to him without it being obvious to anyone else. You brought down your mental shields in an effort to tease Rhys further, but he kept his up as he pulled out his hard cock from his pants and wrapped one arm around your waist, pulling you up to align himself at your entrance.
Rhys leaned forward again, whispering in your ear, “still want this, darling?” You put on your best arrogant smirk despite the fact that he could probably feel your heart pounding in your chest, giving him a single nod as you cocked your brow in a silent challenge. Rhys wasted no time pushing into you, taking advantage of your mental shields being down to keep your body still, silencing the load moan that would have escaped you. Rhys pulled you tight against him so his cock was resting deep inside you and you let out a shaky breath. He showed you a mental image of you bent over the seat of the throne while he took you roughly from behind, and you clenched around him. Rhys let out a quiet hiss at the feeling, and you reciprocated his play by clenching and rocking on him slightly as you showed him your own image of yourself in your current position on his lap, with your legs tucked under you to ride him hard on display in front of the court.
You heard Rhys swallow hard behind you, taking a moment to compose himself before slipping on his mask of nonchalance and dismissing the court. He wasted no time winnowing the two of you to the room you were staying in, roughly pushing you back on the bed and ripping off his shirt. He gave you a wicked smile as he strode toward the bed with predatory grace, leaning over and caging you in between his arms. “You almost had me losing control in front of our court, darling. I suppose we’ll need a lesson in proper court etiquette in the future. In the meantime, why don’t we act out that little scenario you envisioned for me just now?” He stood up, slipping off your dress and removed his pants so you were both completely naked save your crowns.
Rhys made his way over to lie down on the bed for you to ride him, but you preferred to reenact one of your other visions first. Before Rhys could slide up the bed, you grabbed the back of his legs and kept him sitting on the edge. You smiled up at him as you scraped your nails up his thighs while kissing down his stomach. “Don’t tease me right now, love,” he ground out through gritted teeth. You happily obliged your mate, grabbing his cock with one hand and swirling your tongue around the tip. Moving your head down, you licked up the sensitive vein on the underside of his shaft, eliciting a moan from him. You lightly stroked his balls at the same time you took him fully in your mouth, causing him to jerk his hips against you, “fuck darling, just like that.” You bobbed your head at a ruthless pace, but it didn’t last long before Rhys pulled you up by your hair. “I’m not going to last long like that darling, and I still need to fuck that beautiful pussy tonight.”
He placed a sweet kiss to your mouth before tossing you on the bed on your hands and knees. “You know what to do, love. Elbows down, back arched, legs spread for me.” You felt tight and breathless with anticipation as you followed Rhys’s orders. Positioning himself behind you, Rhys bent over your back and pressed kisses all the way down your spine. He brought his hand up to your entrance, swiping a finger through your soaked folds. “Fuck, you’re so wet for me, my love,” he murmured as he brought that finger into his mouth and sucked, groaning at your taste. Rhys grabbed your hips, kissing his way back up your body while you panted beneath him. “Please, fuck me Rhys,” you pleaded impatiently.
“As you wish, my High Lady,” Rhys said as he pushed into you. Your head dropped forward as you released a loud moan at the feel of him stretching you. Rhys began moving at a slow but hard pace, hitting the perfect spot every time that had you mewling and clawing at the sheets. “Fuck, Rhys, faster please,” you pleaded. Rhys was quick to oblige, pounding into you at a punishing pace that had you quickly approaching your high.
Rhys’s thrusts were getting sloppy behind you, and you knew he was close too. He brought one hand around to your clit and breathed, “come with me, darling,” as he began rubbing in tight circles. You quickly came, Rhys following shortly after. You both laid down on the bed and you nestled into his side as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head.
You began to drift off to sleep with Rhys rubbing soothing motions along your back as he whispered, “don’t think I’ve forgotten about fucking you on our throne, High Lady.”
#acotar#acotar fanfiction#acotar smut#rhys smut#rhys#rhysand#rhys acotar#rhys x reader#rhysand acotar#rhysand smut#rhysand x reader#rhysand x you#rhysand x reader smut#rhys x reader smut#acomaf#a court of thorns and roses#rhysand week
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Headcanon that next season it’s Steve not Jonathan who catches Will staring at Mike with patented Wheeler Longing. He knows that look, hell he invented that look.
And is very first thought is God Damn I’m just collecting Gays at this point.
He makes an effort to spend more time with Will when he realizes. While they’re all volunteering and just doing their best in the weeks after losing Eddie, he always tries to make sure Will knows he sees him.
As they get closer he starts taking wise cracks at El and Mike whenever they’re around, stupid sassy comments that never fail to make Will smile or even laugh. Eventually he even starts roping Will into teasing Robin for being hopeless with girls. (Robin is of course in on it and has approved being outed in this scenario, Steve would never have revealed it otherwise)
The first time it had happened Will had frozen up completely looking around to see who was listening, he looked terrified. But Steve just kept his reaction natural and Robin just rolled her eyes talking about all of his strike outs last summer. Their usual banter filling the space until Will could breathe again, could join back in to give Robin shit.
His smiles are even brighter after that, even more open, and sometimes when the three of them are alone he comments on a cute boy he saw, or really rants about Mike. Steve and him bond over Wheeler rants, even though Steve really is over Nancy now.
When shit inevitably kicks off again, Steve keeps an even closer eye on Will. He’s one of the people that he’s overprotective of now, and it’s the first time one of those people have been the focus of the enemies. Have had a target painted on their back. It has him so stressed already, that he hits his breaking point the day they encounter Kaz.
Not Eddie. Cause he’s not Eddie, not anymore. He nearly took a bite out of Dustin, and Johnathon had to restrain Mike to stop him from running to him. Only stopped fighting when Kaz grinned at him blood covered fangs and dead eyes.
It was a bad day.
They somehow all make it back to the cabin unscathed, and Steve has to keep it together. Has to make himself strong while Dustin falls apart in his arms, and Mike is pacing and shouting at anyone who will listen. Tears streaming down his face. He keeps it together for hours, til Dustin falls asleep against him, and Will finally got Mike to sit down and pass out. Only when he’s sure he can escape unnoticed, does he stand and let himself outside to the back of the cabin.
The second he’s there he collapses into sobs. Falls to the ground and puts his face in his hands to muffle them. Shakes with the effort of it all.
It doesn’t take long for an arm to wrap around him as he’s tugged into and awkward side hug. When he looks up it’s to see Will comfortingly just there as much as he can be. They sit silently for what feels like hours before Steve finally speaks,
“I’m sorry”
“Why on earth are you apologizing?”
“I can usually keep it together better than this, they need me to be strong right now.”
“Nothing about this makes you weak. This is such a fucked up situation, this is worse than just losing him. And I know how important he was to the party. Im sorry I didn’t realize how important he was to you” Steve just shakes his head at him,
“He wasn’t not really, I only knew him after everything started going down. Only really spoke to him a handful of times. And honestly I didn’t even like him!” Steve’s voice picks up hear going higher and almost frantic, “He was annoying! And touchy! He gave me so much shit, and was always all over me! He flirted constantly, and was totally insufferable, and honestly I’m pretty sure Dustin liked him more than me! And! And….” His voice deflates on the last and, the fight and anxiety going out of him, “I couldn’t get him out of my fucking head man.” Will almost cant believe what he’s hearing.
“Steve are you?- Did you?” He almost cant ask the question, figured Steve would’ve told him by now if he was. What with their little group of queers that Steve tends to watch over. Heck Robin had even called him the unicorn collector! Like he was separate from them!
Steve just shakes his head frantically, “No! Or yes? More like maybe” He just sights putting his head back in his hands, “ I don’t even know anymore, there had always been fleeting attraction to guys but never anything- real, never anything like this! And then- well, he was gone before I ever got a chance to figure it out. Before we ever got a chance.” And he looks small, defeated like he doesn’t know what to do with himself, and Will can’t stand it.
“Well then we save him, we get him back, and you figure it out”
#so this is rough#and unedited#but just#Steve and Will being close please#and Will and Robin getting queer solidarity please#steve harrington#will byers#robin buckley#eddie munson#steddie#steddie drabble#angst#Mike wheeler#he’s there’s for a second#Byler if you squint#they’ll get there#queer solidarity
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meddle about pt. 1
pairing: matt sturniolo x fem!reader
summary: when Y/N finds herself falling for her big brothers life-long enemy, will she choose love or family?
warnings: mentions of blood
⭒˚.⋆
3:43 pm
I watched Matt storm off, blood dripping from his nose, and chest heaving like some sort of MMA fighter after a match. My head whipped back towards my brother, who stood there like he was some sort of god, shoulders broad, face solemn, and that same bloody nose leaking wine-looking stains all over his white shirt.
“What the hell Jack!” I shouted. This is all they ever do: fight, fight, and fight. My brother Jack and Matthew Sturniolo have hated each other for as long as I can remember, which I completely understand. Matt’s an insufferable dickhead with an ego the size of the Titanic. Despite my best efforts to avoid him, I always manage to find myself around him, caught in the crossfire of their endless feud.
Matt’s brother Nick has been my best friend since 2nd grade when he punched a boy who made fun of the tiara I wore to school that day. Since then, I have been forced into a house that always consists of Matt. Although my hatred partly came from my loyalty to my big brother, Matt’s attitude had a way of making me hate him all by myself. Like all the times he’s made snide comments about Jack’s ability on the hockey team. Or the way he looks at me like his eyes are bullets piercing into my skin with every remark he makes.
“What? he was being a dick!” Jack hollered back, his face contorting with a mix of confusion and anger. His short, permed, brunette hair fell messily in front of his eyes, and the back stuck up all which ways. He stood tall like Dad, but his green eyes came from our Mother.
“Mom is going to kill you Jackson,” I say through gritted teeth, my frustration with their constant fighting boiling over. Mom had explicitly warned Jack that the next fight with Matt would result in him being done with hockey, but it seemed like these two senseless men couldn't keep their hands off each other, no matter the consequences.
Jack only had the energy to roll his eyes at me and stumble away, most likely to go clean up his battered face. I sighed in frustration, feeling the weight of our recurring “Sturniolo” drama settling in once again. Ignoring the turmoil brewing inside me, I reached down to my back pocket and pulled out my phone, immediately clicking on Nick’s contact.
Y/N:
our stupid brothers fought again 🥱
nick😛:
you HAVE to be fucking kidding me.
Y/N:
I wish I were bro
Nick😛:
at this point I think they’re secretly in love and this is all a cover up
I giggle to myself cause honestly, he’s probably right. Nick always has the perfect way of making me laugh, and he’s one of the only people in my life I never feel judged around. Nick has held me as I cried and laughed with me hours later over the stupid boys who’ve broken my heart. He’s even forced Matt to pick me up after I had been stranded at parties or events. Overall, he’s always been there for me. I have other friends of course, but those friendships have never felt real to me, always one-sided on my part.
Looking up I slide my phone back into my pocket and begin the most dreadful trek across the football field. Okay, that was dramatic but looking for Jack isn’t exactly something I'm up for right now. Tonight is going to be restless from the amount of bickering I'm about to hear from him and Mom. The house was already loud enough with Mom and Dad fighting. Ever since I was eight years old, Mom and Dad haven’t gotten along. They’ve tried almost everything to mend their marriage. Even couples counseling, but nothing ever worked, so me and Jack just have to deal with it.
I sigh to myself as my mind races, and the gentle trudge across the field continues toward the locker room, where I assume I’ll find my brother. But the fighting won't even be the worst part of it all. The worst part will be tomorrow when I'm over at Nick’s house, hearing Matt bitch and moan about Jack. I swear every time I’m around him I have to fight the urge to strangle him. All he talks about is the stupid cheerleaders he’s hooking up with, or lacrosse this, hockey that. His voice is unbearable and it’s genuinely the reason I question if I want to go over every time Nick asks.
Suddenly I'm broken out of my thoughts when I hear my name called from behind me. I turn around and see the one and only center of my anger. Matt. His voice cuts through the tension-filled air like a knife. His expression is unreadable, but his body language exudes a mix of exhaustion and hesitation.
“What do you want?” I yell back at him. He’s standing about twenty feet away from me with the same bloody face he had about thirty minutes ago. My face drops when he starts to jog towards me and I’m filled with a feeling of ‘please leave me alone.’
As Matt gets closer the sound of his sneakers hitting the wet, sloshy turf rises, and so does my frustration. “You have a ride home?” He breathes out, panting lightly. Matt places a hand on his knee to steady himself, while the other scratches the back of his neck. His face is flushed and red. The fight obviously damaged him, and he looked nervous to be standing in front of me.
“That’s seriously all you wanted?” My face gains a snarky scowl and I look him up and down, noticing the way his hand is running through the hairs at the back of his neck and the way he lightly taps his foot on the ground. It's apparent he’s on edge, which I assume is because of the fact he just beat my brother's ass, but I couldn’t care less about either of them right now. I mean I do love my big brother, but not when he’s acting so prideful after doing something so wrong. Even if he wasn’t the one to initiate it. Matt’s loud but unsteady voice cuts off my thoughts.
“Well I just assumed Jack left, and Nick's order is to always look after you, even if I want to kick your face in,” He exclaims as he smiles sarcastically at me. I scoff and look away mumbling a quick ‘I’m good’ under my breath. I hear him start to speak, but I cut him off by turning around and continuing my path toward the locker room. I assume at that moment he turns as well, going off in search of his car.
As I walk away my feet drag against the turf, little beads coming up beneath me and I’m overwhelmed with strange, alluring thoughts of Matt’s bloody face.
⭒˚.⋆
11:47 pm
God, will they ever shut up? I listen to Mom’s and Jack’s muffled voices from the kitchen. Tossing and turning in my bed, I put my fluffy, pink pillow around my ears to attempt to surround myself in silence. That doesn’t work as the pillow is too thin, and the yelling continues pounding into my eardrums.
When the school called earlier and told our parents what happened, Mom was pissed immediately. Even though the fight was after school hours, it still took place on “school property” so both Jack and Matt ended up suspended. On any normal occasion, I’d be delighted to hear about Matt’s suspension (as it happens quite frequently), but now that Jack’s involved I think I might go insane. His presence in the chaos only amplifies the tension in our home.
But I keep thinking about Matt, and what he said to me. He’s usually not the type of guy to walk over offering any type of help. He’s one of those mysterious types of guys who always get into trouble, even though you barely see them talk. I think it’s all an egotistical act he does to seem tough. Whenever I’m at Nick’s he’s hidden away in his room playing video games made for children. It’s so out of character of him to even think of me and the more I contemplate, I can’t help but grin. Sitting up on my mattress I slap my face. What the fuck am I thinking? Nothing about Matt Sturniolo should be making me smile. Not the way his hair flops in front of his eyes, or the way his mouth lifts to the side when he smiles. Even the way his arms flex when he wraps his hands around a lacrosse stick. Ew! What am I doing?
I lay my head back on my pillow, letting the thoughts of Matt drift out of my mind. My brain starts to calm and just as I’m about to fall asleep- Ding!
“Ugh,” I verbally groan at the sound of my phone snapping me back awake. I reach my hand out and turn it over, and the bright screen practically blinds me. As my eyes start to adjust I’m finally able to see what the message is.
Matt Sturniolo:
hey I gotta ask you something
⭒˚.⋆
a/n: first chapter lmk what you guys think! 😊 comment to be on my taglist!
#matt sturniolo#matt sturniolo x reader#matthew sturniolo#sturniolo triplets#chris sturniolo#nick sturniolo#Spotify#sturnsluv#sturniolo x reader#matt sturniolo fanfic
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Into, Across and Beyond! Scripting: Unused's Therapy Session
(Unused by Nominal Dingus)
EV!Silver: Alright. So, the therapy wing's just over this way for you.
Unused: Woah, you really know this whole HQ like the back of your own hand?
EV!Silver: You know, pretty much. How have you found it so far?
Unused: It's... a little strange, really. I mean, I never thought I'd see a whole group of multiversal people getting along so well. Surprisingly, even the "Boyfriends" here have been a lot more tolerable?
EV!Silver: Had bad experience with one?
Unused: I'm gonna be completely honest with you, dude. You have no idea how insufferable the Boyfriend I met was the other day. My guess is that the other guys are "non-canon" to whatever he's got going on.
EV!Silver: Yeah, that's the thing with all the AUs and parallel timelines, Unused. Anyway, how are you and your Majin doing?
Unused: I mean, we're all good with each other. Sure, I've driven him up the wall a few times, but he's genuinely a great guy to be around, honestly.
EV!Silver: Heh, glad to hear it. You wanna grab a chilli dog together once your session's finished?
Unused: Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Silver.
EV!Silver: No worries.
They arrived at the therapy area as Unused stepped inside.
CD!Sonic: Welcome in, Unused. Please have a seat.
Unused: Thanks, dude. Really appreciate it.
He hopped on the table, feeling downbeat a bit.
CD!Sonic: I heard a bit about what's been going on, but I'd like to hear about it from your perspective, if that's alright with you.
Unused: Very well, then. I swear, things have been... rough, as of late.
CD!Sonic: In what ways?
Unused: Well, I noticed Majin was getting more reclusive as time went on. Believing I did these things when I can barely remember much about it, exhibiting a behaviour that's seriously unlike him to one EXE that only materialised for a brief period of time... And to top it all off, he just straight-up vanished for some reason. I really don't know why.
CD!Sonic: I'm guessing, in that case, it's because he's been trying to get to the bottom of these Eigengrau problems.
Unused: Ei-gan-what-now?
CD!Sonic: Or, erm, "Gen" for short.
Unused: Ah, I see. Still, I can't help but think about where it all went wrong. Like, sometimes, I can hear more of Nominal in Majin than I can hear the friend I grew close to throughout our podcast together.
CD!Sonic: So what's been the lingering issue related to... you know?
Unused: It's just... I overheard Nominal the other day, and he was on a rant about how he absolutely despised creating "A Date to Die Four" and how he only completed it just because of constant nagging from the majority of our fans who only crave for his "usual" output. Like, I tried twice before to push out the non-EXE content on Nominal's channel, but even then, nothing's really changed. People are still solely giving views to Nominal's EXE works than they are about his other stuff that he spent genuine love and care making.
CD!Sonic: Right...
Unused: Like, there's so much on the dude's channel that people keep ignoring! The Pretty Girl series, Minecraft Casual 100 Days, little discussions, original music like "Thank the Sun"... Heck, he did crazy Deltarune and Five Nights at Freddy's stuff back then! And yet all people crave to see nowadays is the SONIC.EXE CONTENT! Like, do they not care about the stuff Nominal puts true time and effort into?! Are me and Xanthus literally all people care about from Nominal?!
He sighed sadly.
Unused: I keep telling myself a miracle will happen where people properly flock to his non-EXE stuff, but... i-it's hard to tell if it'll ever happen, honestly...
CD!Sonic: I mean, I did hear some people had been sharing their condolences for Nominal after hearing about the burnout.
Unused: Yeah, but it's pretty much impossible to tell if, like, more than 25% of them are actually being honest. I-It feels like most of them are just doing it to force Nominal back on the grind doing stuff he deep down hates... YouTube's literally fuelled by an algorithm, and if his stuff isn't getting views, he's more and more likely to fail doing what he actually enjoys. It's always "Oh, where's The Fighters V2?", "Give me Unused and Majin Episode 11!", "Please finish A Date to Die Four!", all that bullcrap!
CD!Sonic: God... it's really that bad, huh?
Unused: You have no idea, man... You have no idea...
CD!Sonic: I'll be honest, Unused, fame is pretty much overrated these days. Some of the worst people in society have let fame and fortune get to their heads. I know Nominal's not crossed that point yet - heck, it sounds like from what you're telling me that he loathes the fame that his EXE content has given him and that people just expect that from him. To be honest, it's what you want to do that's more important, not only for your creativity, but for the sake of your mental health. Doing something you dislike just to appease ungrateful people is just gonna cause ongoing mental decline that I don't know if many can spring back from.
Unused: Yeah, you're right, man. I just doubt anything truly positive's gonna come for quite a bit yet, considering the Xanthus version of "No More Souls to Play With" will be coming out fairly soon as a one-shot FNF mod.
CD!Sonic: Honestly, dude? You deserve a break from having to do stuff like that over and over. Heck, you really aren't on a channel that's going to do nothing but EXE content until the end of time. Doing what you do really isn't easy, especially on improv, but I know you're just doing your best, Unused. I really couldn't ask for anything more than that.
Unused: Yeah... Thanks, man. Sorry you had to hear such deep ramblings from me.
CD!Sonic: Hey, I've been through worse than this myself, so I understand where you're coming from. I really hope people realise Nominal's actually got a life outside of YouTube.
Unused: Me too. If it's alright, I'd like to stick around here for a bit just to clear my head of all of this.
CD!Sonic: That's perfectly fine, Unused. You deserve it considering the rough stuff you've been through.
Unused: Thanks! I'm gonna go ring my family to let them know what I'm doing at the moment.
CD!Sonic: That's fine. Take care of yourself, Unused, and just remember we're always open here to help you out.
Unused: Thanks for that, dude. I really mean it. Hopefully I'll see you again later, Sonic.
CD!Sonic: You too, Unused!
He headed out, with CD!Sonic logging what info he got from Unused for future sessions.
After-Post Stuff
Okay, seriously, it's not okay seeing what Nominal Dingus is having to go through, even now. An unfair algorithm, toxic fans craving for EXE content and nothing else... It's clearly taking a toll on him, you know? Dude really deserves to make the content he wants to make, views be damned. It'll definitely help him feel happier in the long run, honestly. Nominal, if you ever happen to stumble across this and read it, I just wish the best for you, dude. It's all I can ask for myself.
#sonic the hedgehog#sonic exe#sonic#sth#sonic fandom#spider verse#sonic au#sth au#spider man#sonic into across and beyond#unused and majin#the unused and majin show
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The Sneeze Room
A Sven and Elex Rqst SnzFic
FT: Sick Remi
⚠️Content Warning⚠️
Fluff, Sick Fic, Contagion, cursing, bullying
Description: Sven finds a reason to compete against his brother, Draeko. Rightfully so, he tags his boyfriend Elex in, who is extremely apprehensive when he finds out a sick Remi is going to be there…
Author’s Notes: I really wanted to torture Elex in this one and what better way to do that than poke at his germaphobia with a disgusting contagious Remi! :^D I hope you like this one Nonny! Art, Remi, Sven and Draeko all by @aller-geez
Sven came racing into the living room, Elex was putting together some sort of lego project when the cat stumbled upon him, paying no mind to the fact his boyfriend was already busy, he began to buzz. “Babe! Babe! So, I was out at the park, right? And I ran into my insufferable brother, Draeko,” rolling his orange slitted eyes to emphasize his annoyance. “And cause he can’t help but torment me, he and his little friend Levi came to tell me that they’re entering a competition tonight,” Elex was paying little to no attention to the story his boyfriend was prattling on about, simply just trying to make sure he had the right bricks for the right parts.
“Yeah, and?” the badger scoffed at the idea of the leopard and the hybrid being able to accomplish any sort of competition between the two of them.
“It’s 25k and it’s an escape room! I told him I bet half that chunk, me and you could finish before them two,” snickering a bit at the idea but then crossed his arms. “However, they’re bringing Remi as an advantage because they said it was entirely unfair if it was me AND you, seeing as you can escape even a prison cell,”
“Heh, yeah I can,” Elex smirked, still tinkering with the colored blocks as his head grew a size too big.
“Okay, sweet, so you’re in then right?” the other lit up, almost completely ready to start bouncing off the walls he was full of so much adrenaline.
“Wait hold on, you said Remi is going?” Elex suddenly looked up from his project and over at his boyfriend, his face full of skepticism and caution.
“Yeah, why?” The cat suddenly paused, curious to his partner’s reserve.
“I’m not going anywhere near that fleabag,” the badger officially met his boyfriend’s gaze, his own clearly written in distaste now. “He’s been ranting and raving all over Barkbook about how he’s sick again, no, nuh uh, keep that sack of illness the hell away from me,” the germaphobe shuddered, just the thought alone of being next to that mongrel with his open maw expelling hundreds of bacteria at him….he shuddered.
Sven's voice was laced with annoyance, yet tinged with a hint of pleading as he tried to persuade his partner to take on the daunting quest. "Babe, please. We need you to take one for the team," he urged, knowing that their success depended on their joint effort and determination.
“N.O. No. Not doing it, he’s gross, he’s unsanitary, he’s also extremely fucking pigheaded and wont cover his god damn MOUTH, NO!” Elex now sat back, crossing his own arms over his chest, and turning his back to the other. Sven raised a thin brow and cocked his head to the side. It seemed he was going to have to pull out the big guns. Time for operation “Question his manhood.”
“So just like that then? Just gonna let that behemoth be the reason you don’t win this for us? Shit well, I guess I’m dating a pussy instead of a man,” the cat shrugged his shoulders loosely starting to turn on his heels when he could almost physically hear Elex’s last strand of patience, snap in half.
“Excuse me? What the fuck did you just say? That I’m a PUSSY?” the man slowly turned his head to glare daggers in the direction of his audacity filled boyfriend. “A PUSSY?”
“What? It is what it is, you’re scared of a little germy wolf, and that’ll be the reason I never truly out due Draeko, so long as he has that damn wolf,” shaking his head back and forth, clicking his tongue with disappointment. “It’s a shame, you know?” Elex’s mint green eye twitched in response, his fingers pulsating until they closed in to quick, tight fists.
His words were tinged with frustration and a hint of fear, as he vehemently denied being scared. "I'm not afraid…" he insisted, "just…CAUTIOUS... I don't want to risk getting SICK," He emphasized his words through clenched teeth. Despite his efforts to remain calm, the tension in his body was evident as his face flushed with a deep red color. Every muscle in his body seemed to be on high alert, ready to flee at any sign of danger. He was determined to stay level-headed, but the emotions were slowly creeping in.
“No, yeah, right, scared, cautious, pussy, same thing,” Sven clicked his tongue and shrugged yet again, and that was seemingly pissing the badger off even more than his words. How he was so careless and casual about denying his manhood, and his strengths?
“Fine! Fuck! I’ll go! But at the end of the day, if I catch whatever freak virus that asshole has, you’re gonna be the one nursing me back to health, you hear me?” He narrowed his dual colored eyes before aggressively, and less than politely, started packing up his lego project, mumbling to himself with disdain. “Stupid fucking Draeko…always having to trigger Sven into some dumb shit that I get dragged into….why cant that idiot have a….idk..donut eating contest or something? Why is it always so absolutely irritating…” the green haired man was fuming as he went back and forth between cleaning up his mess and keeping what he already had built, safe.
Sven couldn't contain a small chuckle, careful not to let the grumpy badger hear his quiet victory. He was determined to prove himself as smarter, stronger, and more resilient than that damn hybrid, by blowing him out of the water of this competition. With Elex’s innate ability to escape more situations verbally or physically, they had it in the bag.
~LATER THAT NIGHT~
They arrived at the venue, Elex feeling less and less inclined to be there as they parked and started to get out of the vehicle. “Are you sure I have to come? Like…I can’t just stay in the car?”
“No El, you can’t just stay in the car,” the Cheshire rolled his orange eyes impatiently, shutting the door and locking the vehicle behind them with the fob. “Am I really going to have to go into round two of the conversion stage?” the badger sighed deeply at his boyfriend’s response and grumbled back.
“No…please don’t bring my manhood back into this,” sighing with exasperation and an avoidant…distant look in his eyes. As they entered the building, the stench of sweat and stale air filled Elex's nostrils. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, grumbling under his breath about the lack of cleanliness of the venue alone. He followed Sven, who was already strutting towards the entrance, trying to present himself as much more confident than he was.
The two made their way through the sea of random people, avoiding the pungent smells and germs as best they could. They reached the registration desk and handed over their entry forms. "Welcome! You're just in time we start in 5 minutes," the speaker behind the desk said with a grin, handing them a map to their starting location.
Elex could feel the eyes of the other competitors on him, anytime he’d make eye contact with some unsuspecting visitor, he’d lift the left side of his upper lip and scowl. Effectively turning away lingering eyes with his threatening gazes. He then ignored their stares as he and Sven followed the map to their starting point. As they approached, they saw Levi, Draeko and Remi all standing outside a door marked “11” the same number given to them on their map sheet.
“Draeko,” Sven glared at his brother, the two sets of competing eyes glaring down at each other. The first thing Elex noticed however, was Remi, dry heaving and coughing into the crook of his elbow with sunken, swollen and pale glowing green orbs.
“Oh…dear god,” Elex whispered with a terrified expression written across his face. Levi looked up, and noticed the apprehension, and in usual fashion tried to soothe the badger’s worries.
“Hey, El, sorry, I know…but I swear, he’s on the mend! It doesn’t look like it but…I’ve managed to not catch it!” The cat nervously scratched at the back of his neck, voice slightly muffled as he was the only one adorning a mask. The badger narrowed his multi colored gaze.
“Okay well, do you have an extra mask?” crossing his arms over his chest in an impatient, but waiting stance.
“Shit, no sorry just this one…I mean you could have it if you wa-…” the cat embarrassingly shuffling through his pockets and jacket to see if he might have a second but coming up short. He knew he would, but he had to play it off like this wasn’t part of Drae’s plan to keep Elex at his lowest.
“No, no thanks,” shaking his head quickly in response, there was no way in fuck Elex was sharing a mask. YIKES. Especially not with someone he barely even knew. “I’ll just…try to…stay away,” Looking the sickly wolf up and down who could only smirk in response before jolting forward with his hands out to scare the apprehensive man.
“Boo!” Remi chuckled as Elex stepped back significantly to avoid the other’s sudden threatening touch.
“Remi! Knock it off!” Levi nudged the large man with his elbow, trying to hide a snicker of his own. ‘Fake ass bitch,’ the badger thought inwardly catching the leopard’s response. Despite the ongoing fued between Sven and Drae, and Elex at the rest of them, things were seemingly pretty calm at this moment, no insane bragging quite yet just narrowed eyes and stale, uncomfortable vibes.
Sven ignored the bickering three, his focus on the task at hand, scoping out the map and trying to see if he could already spot the first answer but it was really a whole lot of nothing. "Alright El, let's focus on the competition," he spoke without looking up, trying to bring their heads together on this, but Elex couldn't avoid the ill-fated wolf's stern emerald gaze, and the sight of him churned his stomach. He could practically envision the germs seeping from the wolf's every pore, a reminder of the bacteria that could infect him if he didn't keep a reasonable distance. He noticed the way the large man suddenly froze, and hitched…his mouth opening slowly. Elex now stepping back 3 notches when the wolf lurched forward and let out a loud, obnoxious sneeze that sprayed within the few feet radius in front of him.
“Hi”DTSCHIEW!!…SndDff…my bad..” he snarfed loudly, rubbing his wet, red, chuffed nostrils against the sleeve of his button up, Elex almost gagged.
"I think..." Elex began, but hesitated. "I think I made a terrible mistake coming here, Sven, seriously, this guy looks terrible, I want to go home…” he whispered to the side so only his boyfriend could hear his anxious worries.
Sven raised an eyebrow. "We just got here and you already want to tap out? No, don’t make me go into the pussy lecture again..” they both made eye contact now, each one’s gaze stern but neither of them broke.
“Fine,” the badger folded, knowing there really was no telling his boyfriend, no, when he wanted to do something. So instead, he pouted, and tried his best to avoid Remi’s consistent, slightly distant, but cold stare.
“Alright folks! We are getting ready to open the room doors, are you all ready to get going?” one of the hosts announced through a megaphone at the different teams all awaiting their entrances.
Sven, Draeko, and Levi nodded in unison, readying themselves for the challenge ahead. Elex, however, hesitated. He could feel the tension rising in the room, a palpable sense of anticipation that made his stomach flutter. He looked around the room, taking in the different faces of his friends and competitors, each with their own unique qualities and motivations. He swallowed hard and turned his face back to the door. He could do this.
As the host's voice boomed through the speakers, the doors buzzed open, and the group stepped forward. Sven and Draeko pushing and shoving at each other to get through the door first, fighting to take charge. He looked at the map in his hands, studying the intricate layout and trying to envision the path to victory but everything they could see ahead of them was on the paper as well. “Elex check out that right side of the room,” Looking over to make eye contact with the badger who was very apprehensive to move anywhere in that direction seeing as Remi was leaned up against the wall of that side, hanging on for dear life and certainly no help to the challenge itself. Sniffling loudly, his eyes rolled back, he wasn’t even sure why he was there at this point himself. He just did whatever Levi begged of him.
“Fffffuuu…—h’DttTISHh!” Remi sprayed violently in front of himself and Elex groaned loudly, looking back over to Sven who was now back to shoveling and fighting Drae to get a better look under the dressers and furniture. Taking a deep breath in, the germaphobe took a few steps closer to the wolf, that was directly blocking his way.
“Hey can you just…move a little that way?” His voice was neutral, he didn’t want to add too much emotion behind it, because he knew that Remi didn’t do too well with overtly emotional people. Despite that he was physically shaking, his brain swarming with the endless possibilities of illness and death that were haunting him, he remained calm enough to meet the other’s sunken gaze.
“Yeah, no cad do bud, Lebi wands me do keeb you from helbing…maybe, don’d be sugg a baby…SNDDFfF” the wolf tried to tease and chuckle, knowing full well he and Levi were really here to offset the badger. Elex’s brows furrowed and he let out a deep, irritated sigh before he shook his head.
“Fine, dont wanna move? Then I’LL move you my fucking self,” The badger stepped closer, and Remi stood up straighter, crossing his strong arms over his chest and smirking downward before letting in a deep inhale. “Dont….Dont you fucking do it,” the wolf could only grin larger despite the obvious tired look written behind his eyes.
Draeko, Sven and Levi all deeply invested in their searches for clues that they could not even spare a second to notice the ‘man off’ going on behind their backs.
“H-Hah!…” the wolf started, Elex took one step back, he winced but then took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally and shoved at the wolf to move him aside. “Oh-…Hell no,” Remi stumbled loosely to the side, truthfully not suspecting that the badger would grow a pair enough to stand up to him. He reached over, trying to grab the badger by the shirt but he was entirely too fast as he bobbed to the side.
“No! Just mOVE! Dude!” he argued as they did a sort of two step around each other, the badger quickly grabbing a painting off the wall to use as a shield while Remi finally blew his lid unable to contain the sneezes he was using as leverage.
“HNkt’KNXTuhh!! tch’ISSH! iH’tSSH!” the large man sprayed a cloud of salivic mist across the painted frame that was being held a good 6 inches from Elex’s body initially.
“This is my NIGHTMARE! Sveeeeeen!” he finally called out to his boyfriend, who gasped loudly as he turned around, the badger thinking finally he was going to be rescued.
“You found the first clue El! Great fucking work ! “ the spot to which the painting had once hung, was bare, but a single note in the middle of the empty space. The Cheshire snatches the piece of paper and covers his viewage of it. The badger practically turned into the saddest puddle in the world when his boyfriend walked right past him to immerse himself within the escape.
“Hey! Let us see!” Drae reached over to grab at the note the feline snatched it off the wall, but to no avail, completely unable to see what the clue was.
“NO! I dont have to for at least 5 minutes, Elex found it, thats the rules!” the green haired badger looked over at his boyfriend with a raised brow. Did his man just…whine? Like a child? Over rules? He shuddered. Everything about this was not right.
Sven huddled around Elex, both of them curious about the clue he had accidentally found. The cat held the note up, his eyes flicking over the contents. "This is a tough one," he said, shaking his head. "I don't know if I can see anything useful here…” It was just a bunch of lines in a strange pattern. What were they looking at? The badger knew he’d seen this before, somewhere in a codes book, he squinted and scanned it, suddenly feeling a harrowing feeling hover him.
Remi had been stood off to the side, but was becoming curious as he watched Drae and Levi who were desperately trying to peak around the two men. The wolf, still recovering from his sneezing fit, his nose red and raw, slowly approached the group, his open breathing mouth casting over the two as he towered them to read the note. Elex felt the entire world suddenly rattling around him as he felt the man, hosting his hot breath over them. “YO, dude can you, BACK the fuck up?” The badger immediately got defensive, backing a few inches away while the wolf could only snicker again, wetly, the sound of an inhaled and swallowed knot echoed around them. Elex’s lips pulled back in disgust. “GOD, You’re so fucking gross when you’re sick dude,”
“Yeah? Do someding aboud id,” the wolf flexes his chest as he stands firmly in his position, crossing his arms over himself and smirking with a cocky resolve.
"I’m going to-…” Elex begins to wind up his fist and Remi gets ready to respond appropriately, but the two of them are suddenly snapped out of it when the sound of Sven’s irritated voice cuts through them.
“Guys! Knock it off….here Remi, take it…shits useless,” The wolf goes to reach for the note but not before the badger quickly intercepts and snatches it from between them.
“It’s not useless, before Caveboy wonder here walked up to muck up my fuckin’ air …I know what it is…” he stepped away to stand on top of a chair he looked down and pointed at the ground. “There, it’s a super rough, detail-less pattern of the rug…snDff…” he sniffled, unexpectedly, unconsciously, at the end of his grand announcement, something, wasn’t right.
However as proud of the moment it was, immediately Draeko started clawing up the rug to find the next clue. The Cheshire looked over at his boyfriend with a look that almost made the green haired man want to let Remi just eat him. "My bad…” he said sheepishly before avoiding eye contact with his boyfriend who was now just trying to get over to the rug before Drae.
“This damn thing wont pull up!” The hybrid grunted struggling to lift the rug off the floor from any of the four corners, Sven, watching carefully to see what the loophole might be. Elex now climbing down from the chair he shook his head back and forth moving to approach the two before Remi side stepped him and blocked his path.
“Dude, move,” the wolf shook his head. “MOVE,” the duo color eyed man squinted at the miserable wall that was Remington Connors.
“Loog, normally, I lige you, ok, no hard feenings bro,” He paused before shrugging with certainty. “Buuuuuud…whadeber Lebi wands he geds so…" The green haired badger rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me? You can’t just allow me to play the game? Isnt that cheating? Two V One?” shaking his head, he could feel a slight tingle in the back of his throat, unbeknownst to him, the same tickle that was building every second within Remi.
“Yea bud…Lebi lowkey blows ad puddles,” he admitted of his little leopard before he hitched, his mouth falling open and before Elex could even step back, spewed outwardly in a loud, quick, spritzy series of sneezes. “ITSCCCCHH’ah!.. iH’tSSH!.. Hh’IISHH!” each one left him and greeted Elex, who practically went pale, his soul leaving his body as he felt each little droplet invading his skin.
“AAAHHHHHHH!!!” He cried dramatically, loudly, the whole room turned to look at him. “I want OUT! Let me OUT! Oh my god… that was so foul….WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” The badger turned to scratch at the walls, tearing paintings down, knocking over objects wrecklessly in a fit of panic and slight rage. “OUT!! I’m DONE! I do NOT want to be in here with him anymore, nOPE!!”
“Elex! Elex! ELEX!” Sven tried to call his panicking partner who was probably only envisioning his skin burning alive from the amount of sickly contact he’d had.
“No! Sven! I quit, this sucks, I don’t wanna fucking do this anymore,” the cat sighed with disappointment and nodded.
“Fine…Fine…you can leave, it’s fine…” but the badger looked up and he could see the heart break written all over the other man’s face.
“No…nevermind…it’s fine…Um…” he walked over, and leaned into his boyfriend’s ear to whisper. “Try pulling at the middle of the rug…” trying to give his partner the assurance that he was still in this. Sven smiled, only pulled up half his face but regardless, it was a smile. The cheshire walked over, plucked at the middle of the rug and a small square of it came up and a little key was hanging from the bottom of it.
“Holy shit!” the teal and orange haired man was actually stunned to see his boyfriend’s street smarts were still keeping them ahead of the game.
“Fucking A…we were so close,” Draeko sighed with slight irritation, Levi patting his friend’s shoulder to comfort him on their second L of the night.
“Okay bud, where doed thad gey eben go? SndFf'…” the wolf interjected, sliding his sleeve across his running, reddened nostrils. Elex grimaced.
"Ugh, okay there can’t be too many keyholes in this room right?" Elex replied, still bothered by the germy, contagious raven haired man, feeling his own immune system losing the battle against him.
"Well, it's a key...to where? Do we have any idea?" Levi asked as he examined the small key hanging from afar as Sven held it up.
"I don't know," the other cat admitted, "but we should probably start looking around…" He gazed about the room and amongst the many scattered objects on the ground, Sven having to manually turn and check, taking in the chaos caused by Elex's fit.
"Alright...let's move on, then," Draeko agreed, trying to control his frustration.
As they began searching the room for more clues, it didnt take long before Remi was back at it with following the badger around, hovering his every movement. “Look dude, if you’re gonna be on my dick, fine, but at least cover your fucking mouth….I’m already starting to feel light headed” he started to palm at his forehead, testing his temp. “I swear if you get me sick…”
“Heh, probably already are pal,” the wolf stated with another cocky grin plastered across his stupid, red and tear stained face. Levi looks over to see the two of them back at it, bickering over the fact that his boyfriend was pretty disgusting when he was sick. All according to plan. The leopard looked high and low but all three of them were falling short of finding anything that resembled a key hole.
Elex trying to look around the stupid wolf, immediately noticed something off about the wallpaper that was exposed in a spot one of the paintings had been hung up in, but couldn’t get himself to focus with Remi constantly stepping in front of him. “Okay dude seriously! Stop! You’re pissing me off,”
Elex growled, attempting to shove his way past the wolf, but Remi simply laughed and stepped back further, crossing his arms as he sneered. Elex took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and focus on the task at hand.
Sven, noticing Remi's irritating behavior, quickly stepped between them. "Look, this is straight up blocking, which is cheating, stop," he said, placating him with a stern glance. Remi snickered putting his hands up defensively now.
“My bad, my bad…snDddFf..” stepping to the side he snarfles loudly, his glowing gaze never leaving Elex as the badger cautiously walked past him now.
“Jesus…” Elex shook and then finally stepped close to the wall he had been trying to get a better look at. There was an obvious bump, like the wallpaper had been poorly placed over it. “This is weird…” he ran his flattened palm over it and then began to slowly peel the paper away. Levi stood up, taking notice now and watching along side Sven, Draeko deeply invested in the search still, he hadn’t even noticed the rest of them found a hint.
The badger carefully peeled away the wallpaper, revealing a hidden door behind it. "Babe, I think I found something," he said, excitement creeping into his silently whispering voice trying not to draw too much attention despite the fact Remi and Levi were watching. Well Remi actually had stopped watching to check his phone, he was more than bored being there.
Elex, Sven, and Levi quickly gathered around, staring at the door in disbelief. It was small, but they could all easily squeeze through and nondescript, blending seamlessly into the wall. "Well, let's see where this leads," Sven said unoptimistically, inserting the key into the lock. It clicked as he turned it. The door creaked open, revealing a dimly lit hallway with a faint flickering light at the end. "Well I mean…" the badger said, crawling inside the medium sized entrance that wound him up into a tall but cramped hall. There were large body sized mirrors that followed down. Elex took a deep breath but felt his anxiety creep in when he realized they would all be stuffed in this hall together with Remi.
As they ventured deeper into the mysterious corridor, Remi's lingering coughs began to echo through the narrow space, causing Levi to place a hand over his mask to double shield him from his boyfriend’s germs. Draeko and Sven shared a worried glance themselves but it was quickly melted and masked into that of competition again.
The hall seemed to never end, and the flickering light grew dimmer with each step. The group was getting increasingly claustrophobic, and the smell of Remi's sickness filled the air. Elex’s head felt hot, his throat feeling tighter than it had been and he was starting to sweat at each side of his temples. This wasn’t good. He needed to get through this puzzle, and lock himself in his room away from Sven if he could. “H’H…Hih…HHH…” they heard it from behind them as they squeezed through the hall.
“Please no…” the badger whimpered but not before long the horrendous sound of germs being displaced around them, they echoed in their ear drums and the badger could see the mess of salivic clouds misting painted reflections in the mirrored walls.
“iit”shHIEW! ihh-ih’TSSHHH!!” The other three men shuddered in disgust, covering their mouths and noses as Remi continued to hack and sputter. "We need to get out of here," El said, his voice cracking with panic.
Sven nodded, his face pale as he took a deep breath. "Quick, let's hurry…we’re getting closer to the light we just gotta keep going…” the cheshire managed to motivate the weary crew that continued to push through, but to their dismay, the light was nothing more than a mirror at the very end of the hall reflecting off the light above it. “So what it’s just a long hall of mirrors?” he asked with confusion.
“I guess so…SNdDf…” Elex sniffled, this time realizing it, and quickly snapping his hand over his face to hide it from the cat. “mMmhh…” he hummed as if he was deep in thought. Sven noticed the peculiar behavior but decided to pay more attention to this, apparent puzzle they were locked into.
“Okay, so maybe…one of these mirrors are the door?” Draeko and Levi looked at each other and immediately started peeling mirrors off the walls to check behind them. Quickly, Sven followed suit. “Come on babe! “ El was starting to feel worse for wear as he tried his best to keep it all under wraps, and at bay. It was seriously insane how fast Remi’s super germs spread through one’s immune system and just disables it.
As the group frantically searched through the hall of mirrors, Remi continued to sneeze and cough relentlessly, his horrible and contagious sounds “Hh’IISHH! -hd’ISCHhh!” echoing through the cramped space. Elex could feel himself growing weaker with each passing moment. Disgusting, defeated and downright disappointed. He took a deep breath and forced himself to focus, his eyes scanning the crowded reflections in search of a clue.
Suddenly, he spotted a slight distortion in one of the mirror surfaces. He pointed it out to his boyfriend silently by walking up to him and nudging the cheshire. They both approached the mirror quietly and they hesitantly began to pull, revealing a hidden door behind it. Sven immediately inserted the key into the lock and turned it, the door creaking open to reveal, the very large warehouse they had started in.
They reached the end. “Congratulations!” Sven threw a fist in the air and snickered throwing his index finger at his hybrid brother.
“In your face! We finished first!”
“Oh, actually, you guys are 4th place…but you made it out and thats always a reason to celebrate!” the crew cheered for them and both Sven and Draeko’s faces fell with defeat and disappointment. Elex shook his head and slapped a hand over his forehead.
“We were in competition with EVERYONE in the ware house??”
“Y-yes, that was explained in the sign up and rules section,” the man seemed confused as he looked at the frustrated green haired male. The badger could only shake his head back and forth.
Elex couldn't believe their luck - or lack thereof. Fourth place in a warehouse full of competitors was not the outcome they had hoped for. Deflated, he turned to the group of people he’d come with, who were also wearing expressions of disappointment. So he was basically going to spend the next few days in bed, deathly ill without 25k to smooth it over.
Sven let out a frustrated sigh and Draeko kicked at the ground, mumbling under his breath. "Well, at least we made it out," Levi said optimistically, trying to lift their spirits.
Drae nodded, forcing a small smile. "Yeah, you're right, We did make it out in the end." He glanced over at Remi, who was still coughing and sneezing uncontrollably. "But I think it was probably a mistake bringing Remi…I have a bad feeling we’re all gonna be worse for wear tomorrow," he said, concern evident in his voice.
Remi waved him off weakly. "I'b fide, you guys will be fide too, id’s judt a liddle cold," he rasped trying to clear his throat after the fact.
“Yeah well…this was a bust,” the badger grumbled, his fever starting to burn hotter, his body weaker by the minute as he tried his best to stay focused on getting back home and maybe locking himself up in the shower.
Remi, on the other hand, wasn't doing much better as he continued to sneeze and cough, his entire body wracked with chills and a throbbing headache, the cold he had caught threatening to take him down. “Huh’GDTS’ue! hdt’ishhhh!” the sound of his fit causing Elex to jump out of his skin.
“Alright guys, I’m gonna get him home and in bed….this was fun!” The leopard took his mate by the arm and began to lead him to the exit of the warehouse leaving the three left to stand in awkward silence. Sven avoiding Drae, Drae avoiding Sven, And Elex just desperately trying to swallow his symptoms of illness. He was sweating at a much more profuse rate now.
"Let's get out of here," Sven finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. Elex nodded, staying quiet knowing that is boyfriend was probably feeling extremely defeated after all that effort they just put into trying to win. Draeko didn’t say a word to either of them, simply dialed up his phone and called his demon for a ride. Elex definitely wanted to make sure he was gone before that asshole showed up.
They made their way out of the warehouse, the door creaking behind them as they emerged into the cold night air. The three stood in silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. Elex clutched his chest, feeling the weight of Remi's germs bearing down on him with each crushing inhale.
Sven shook his head, a look of disappointment spreading across his face. "We should've never come here," he muttered to himself. "We should've known better than to trust that idiot to have given us all the information ahead of time,"
Draeko sighed, glancing over at his brother, shaking his head. “You know, Sven, I was almost actually starting to just enjoy spending time with you by the end of this…but you’re just so stuck on the past, it’s really a shame,” the hybrid furrowed his brows before ditching the two with their own thoughts. The badger dare not speak, knowing 7 was already feeling fragile enough.
As they walked away from the warehouse, the frosty air seemed to penetrate Elex's every pore, making him shiver involuntarily. His fever was raging now, and he could feel the cold settling deep within his bones, but he dare not pay it any mind as they made the trek to the car.
"I can't believe we actually went through with this and lost," The words escaped Sven's lips in a low, grumbling tone, barely above a whisper. His body posture slumped as he dragged his feet closer to the vehicle now.
Draeko's eyes clouded over, his thoughts drifting to the harsh words he'd spoken earlier. "Yeah, if they hadn’t been so focused on cheating we might have had a chance," he said after a moment, his voice low and tinged with annoyance.
For a moment, they fell into silence, each lost in their own thoughts about the night's events. Elex could feel his strength ebbing away, his body screaming out in protest as he struggled to keep his footing.
"Let's just go home," Sven said pressing the fob twice to unlock the car, they both slid inside, silently, they started the drive back home.
“Can I play some music?” Elex asked nervously, truthfully he couldnt stand the silence and he needed to drown out the possible noises of him struggling for his life on their way back.
Sven sighed heavily, glancing over at his boyfriend, who gave him a flushed, but innocent smile. He pressed a button on the stereo, and the familiar strains of their favorite band filled the car. For a moment, they let out a sigh of relief, lost in the music. But the awkwardness that haunted them was deafening, and Elex knew he couldn’t hold back his overbearing symptoms any longer. As the music played, and the cat white knuckled the wheel as they drove without a peep, the badger slunk in his seat and allowed his face to fall from the mask a bit. He felt like shit.
His head was on fire, his body felt cold, he was shivering and sweating at the same time, he very steathily, pulled a tissue from the side of the door. He then crumpled it into his sleeve and brought his hand up with the tissue hidden behind his sleeve, he sniffled gently into it. Softly rubbing, trying to relieve himself of the itch. Sven was lost in his own universe, unaware of his boyfriend’s suffering.
Meanwhile, the misery was slowly but surely getting the best of him, and yet he couldn't bear to disturb Sven, he knew that he would only feel worse on top of losing. He couldn’t also deal with the fact he’d forced his boyfriend into illness. The music filled the car with a melancholic melody that somehow seemed to comfort them in that moment.
As they drove through the empty streets, Elex's fever raged on, the cold that had settled deep within his system now spreading to his very core. The heat of the car seemed to only magnify the discomfort, and the pain in his head was becoming almost unbearable. He wriggled in his seat, desperately wanting to peel his shirt off or at the least blast the AC. He took a deep breath in before his nostrils flared, twitched and tickled. Immediately he shut his mouth, trying to hide any indications that he might just sneeze, his nostrils wet with anticipation.
With every mile that passed, Elex grew weaker, and the virus that threatened to consume him grew stronger. He clutched his chest, trying to hold himself together, his body wracked with chills that didn't seem to want to let up.
Fifteen minutes that felt like several days, finally they arrived home. The ill feeling badger pictured himself sprinting inside and locking himself in the bathroom and dying in the shower for a couple of hours until he felt well enough to emerge. Yet, he was unable to even move, it was starting to worry Sven as he saw Elex just laying there with his eyes closed, head slumped back and mouth gaping open. “Babe? You good? It’s time to go in….” asking cautiously.
Believe it or not, the green haired man was conscious he was just incredibly weakened by this point and his legs felt like jelly. He was also beyond drained from trying to pretend like he wasn’t knocking on death’s door. “Y-yeah..gimme a sec…I’ll meet you in there…just tired…” he cleared his throat trying to sound more convincing before he noticed his boyfriend nod, turn and give him his space.
“Holy fuck…finally..SNDFfdF..” he sniffled loudly, it filled the car with the wet sound as he brought a tissue to his persistently itching nose. He rubbed it so hard there was a rhythmic clicking sound that rang in his ears. “H-H…Hh’…” he struggled against the tissue. “H’uSSHHhhiew! h’USHhh’iew!” he suddenly burst from within, his tickling nostrils getting the better of him as he sprayed into the already pretty dampened mulch. “Gross…” he muttered weakly. It felt good at least to get that off his chest…it might have been just what he needed to get in the house, past Sven and into the bathroom.
He mustered up the last of his strength and pushed himself out of the car, stumbling slightly as he made his way towards the house. Each step felt like a monumental effort, but the thought of finally being able to rest in the warmth of their home drove him forward. The badger's pallor was ashen, his eyes heavy with fatigue. Without a word, he walked into the house, quickly, as much as he could, past his boyfriend that spun around to try and catch up, into the bathroom, locking the door shut and sliding down the door in agony. “Fuuuuuu…” he groaned stubbornly, he made it, but at what cost. His head was now spinning. “H-H…Ih…” he struggled against the quickly building sensations inside him.
“Els? You good in there?” He already knew the truth, it was obvious as night and day. Elex only ever rushed to the bathroom like this when he was ill, and trying to actively hide that from him. Idiot. Why did he ALWAYS go to the bathroom? He knocked gently. “Babe?”
“N-No I’m okay just go-gotta piss…” he lied through his teeth before the inevitable came barreling out through his mouth and into the quickly rising palms of his hands. “Heh’EhDTSHiEw! etUSCHOO!” it was like he had entered his own personal hell, he groaned weakly his hands wet of his sickness, and his nose starting to leak down his darkened skin.
Sven's heart clenched with worry as he heard his boyfriend struggle on the other side of the door. He knew Elex too well to believe the feeble excuse he had just given, and the sound of his sneezes only confirmed his suspicions. Without another word, Sven retrieved a spare key from its hiding place and swiftly unlocked the bathroom door. “h’UHtTSCHhiew! hh’ieXSSHH!” more distressing sounds of illness and ache echoed from behind the door, the green haired man falling further into his sickly resolve.
What Sven found inside once he ripped the door open, tore at his heart. Elex was hunched over in the corner closest to the door, pale and shivering, his face contorted in discomfort. The tissues in his hands were already soaked through, and his eyes reflected a mixture of pain and embarrassment.
Sven knelt beside him, placing a comforting hand on his back. "Elex, why didn't you tell me you were feeling this bad?" he asked softly, concern lacing his voice.
“I….didn’t want you to feel worse…after the loss,” he grumbled, avoiding eye contact like a small child that’d been caught in the cookie jar. The sick badger then managed a weak shrug in response, a fresh wave of static tingling over him. He felt utterly defeated, both by his illness and by his inability to hide it. Stupid. The cat's chest ached at the sight of Elex trying to bear the burden of his sickness alone, all for the sake of sparing him more grief. He gently took some tissues off the roll of paper and began to wipe at his hands and then handed him a warm washcloth, using it to dab away the sweat that dotted his feverish brow.
"You’re a pain in my ass you know that?" Sven chuckled jokingly, a mix of fondness and exasperation in his tone. "You don't have to go through this alone. We're a team, remember? I'm here for you, no matter what,” the man emphasized as he leaned closer to kiss the man on his clammy forehead.
Elex finally met Sven's gaze, seeing the genuine concern and love behind those serious orange orbs. A feeling of relief washed over him as he realized he didn't have to suffer in silence. With a shaky sigh, he leaned into Sven's touch, letting himself be comforted by the warmth of his presence.
As the Cheshire helped Elex to his feet and guided him to their bedroom, the badger felt an instant sense of relief, guilt and fondness wash over him. He couldn’t believe what a fuckin dick he was to this man sometimes, truly he didnt deserve him. "I can sleep on the couch if you prefer babe…I dont want you to have to be put ou-..H-Hh’uhSSCHHIHHww!” out shooting another one but the delinquent was quick enough to aim into the crook of his elbow.
Come on you, just get into bed don’t worry about me,” he shook his head at his ailing mate, all he could really think about was getting him rest. Elex sniffled loudly trying to wobble his way to their shared bed and slide inside but was stopped by the cheshire who let out a harmless chuckle. “Babe, you’re still wearing your clothes,”
“Oh…righd…sNdnfF..” he grumbled and groaned the whole way through trying to undress himself before 7 had to step in.
“I’ll do it babe, it’s fine,” taking over as he helped Elex out of his clothes and into a fresh pair of pajamas. The badger let out a soft sigh of relief as he finally settled under the warm covers, feeling a sense of comfort wash over him. Sven tucked him in gently, making sure he was comfortable before climbing into bed beside him.
As Elex lay there, his body still trembling with fever, he couldn't help but feel grateful for Sven's unwavering support. Despite his stubbornness and attempts to push him away, Sven had never wavered in his care and love for him in the last decade of being together. Though his reflections were short lived when he felt a down pour of trickling madness. His nose was on fire, his throat was demanding and it was going to come out again. That same, messy, loud, affliction. “Hh’UmfsHhhiew! h’UsHh’iew!” it was almost like he couldn’t catch a break but the cat handed him a tissue and he smiled weakly. "I love you…" Elex mumbled hoarsely, his voice barely above a whisper.
Sven's response was immediate, his hand reaching out to caress Elex's cheek tenderly after the man had taken the soft material. "I love you too, you stubborn fuck," he replied with a soft chuckle. The green and brown eyed man squinting with distrust now but still cracking a side smile.
“You’re not wro..h-.UShh’iew!” he released into the pit under his blanket, more so into the fabric than not, or else he put himself at the risk of getting his chest wet with sick. He shuddered and Sven leaned in closer to the other, wrapping his arms tightly around the slightly taller green haired grump.
“Bless you, my little earth pig,” immediately Elex rolled his eyes into the back of his skull.
“Stooooobbb I hade when you call me dhad,” Sven couldn't help but chuckle at Elex's grumpy response, finding solace in the fact that even when he was feeling at his worst, his partner still had enough spirit to protest endearingly.
"Alright, alright, no 'earth pig' then," he conceded with a smile, pressing a gentle kiss to Elex's forehead. The badger let out a tired huff of contentment at the affectionate gesture, his eyes fluttering shut as he leaned into Sven's embrace.
In the comfort of their shared bed, surrounded by warmth and love, Elex finally allowed himself to relax. The weight of his illness seemed a little lighter with Sven by his side, offering unwavering support and care. As sleep began to tug at his consciousness, he whispered softly, "Thank you for taking care of me."
Sven held him closer, feeling a surge of tenderness for the stubborn badger who had captured his heart so completely. "Always,” and the two found themselves closing their eyes, and drifting to sleep.
The End
Author’s Notes: I had so much fun with the dialogue in this!!!!! But I really truly hate myself for choosing escape room because A: I’ve never done one B: I put forth no energy to research them either and just hit a road block for two weeks instead 😭🥲 Which is another reason there’s no smut cause I just really wanted to be done 😂 I hope this was at least enjoyable!!! I’ll do better with the next Svelex rqst I promise 😂
#oc#original character#writer#fic writer#snzblr#snz kink#snz#snz ocs#snzfucker#a shifters tale#Elex Parker#Sven Wistari#svelex#fluff#caretaking#snz fucker#snzfet#sick fic#sickfic#sickness#sick#snzzzzz#snz oc#snz fet#snzkink
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scylla and charybdis - a snippet
severus snape/lord voldemort explicit graphic depictions of violence | major character death
i'm having the time of my life writing regulus being a complete flop... so much so that the next chapter of scylla and charybdis - which if i manage to display basic executive function [...] will be posted tomorrow - features him really getting into the swing of his "i hate you" / "i don't know you exist" arc with barty crouch jr.
The two of them were in the library. Severus was trying to decipher the emerald-inked opinions which covered the latest edition of Advances in Potioneering, which the Dark Lord had sent that morning. Regulus - despite the fact that he was ostensibly there to revise for his OWLs - was picking morosely at his quill, sighing - theatrically and insufferably - at ever narrower intervals.
Severus couldn’t take it any longer.
‘Don’t you have work to be doing? Your exams start next week.’
Regulus looked at him with a hangdog expression. ‘I think the Dark Lord has written to Crouch.’
‘Well, yeah. Obviously. He’s the head of the Department of Magical Law -’
[He stopped dead in the doorway, the vial of Veritaserum almost slipping from his shaking fingers, the Mark continuing to sear and throb on his left arm, the elf Dumbledore had ordered him to collect sniffling and muttering to herself as she peered around his legs.]
‘I don’t see what’s so bloody special about him. He’s a weirdo! We have Herbology with them and he just sits there muttering to himself like a freak. He’s not important. He’s not popular. And I know everyone acts like he’s a genius, but he’s not that clever… I just don’t understand why the Dark Lord would be interested in him…’
[There was a hollow-eyed man - his flaxen hair dishevelled, his fingers stained with nicotine and ink - sprawled in the chair, where Moody had been only minutes before.]
Oh, right. Of fucking course. Severus - gold-plated moron that he was - had allowed himself to think that Regulus was occasionally capable of not being as thick as mince, but - nope - it was too much to ask that he would be having a conniption over a matter of actual political importance. He was worrying about Crouch Junior - someone he inexplicably saw as his mortal enemy, but whom Severus (and, he’d have put money on it, pretty much everyone else in the castle) couldn’t have picked out of a line-up of one.
[‘Crouch! Barty Crouch!’]
‘I mean…’ Severus paused, determined to find a way of phrasing his next point which didn’t involve calling Regulus a daft cunt (although he couldn’t deny he was tempted…). ‘It’s because of his dad. You get that, right? His dad’s the person responsible for the Ministry’s entire campaign against the Dark Lord. He’s basically the second most important person in the government… And there have been rumours that he’s next in line for the top job for years. The Dark Lord’s obviously going to want to keep an eye on him. He probably just wants Crouch to pass information about what his dad’s doing. It’s not that he thinks Crouch is brilliant, or whatever. It’s just that he can offer him something useful. And you - well - it’s not that you can’t - obviously - but…’
He trailed off as - for the first time that evening - Regulus opened a book. Although it wouldn’t have hurt him - Severus thought - to do it without an expression of smacked arse disdain which made him look exactly like his fucking brother.
[He looked exactly like his brother.]
[As he sulked his days away in the dank little cave which passed as Grimmauld Place’s kitchen, making Molly Weasley trot around him like a house elf and acting like cleaning was beneath him; as he stayed up until sunrise and got out of bed at dinnertime; as he stopped shaving or showering or making any effort to hide the haunted look in his eyes; as he regressed to a teenager, with a mardy slope to his shoulders and a petulant twist to the mouth which Azkaban had filled with rotting teeth… He looked exactly like his brother. He shouldn’t have - Reg had never been anything other than soft and delicate, pink-and-white like a blancmange; Sirius had become a calcified wreck after twelve years of agony - but he looked so much like his brother.]
‘I don’t care.’
Severus jabbed his quill into his ink-pot, to make a note about a modification to the Draught of Living Death the Dark Lord had described as audacious. ‘It seems like you do.’
‘Well I don’t.’
‘Fine.’
They sat in stony silence, Regulus turning pages with ostentatious stroppiness, Severus debating whether to take advantage of this sulk to finish his reading or tell him to stop sitting there with a face like a -
‘I just think,’ he said, setting his quill down, ‘that if Crouch didn’t bother you, you wouldn’t -’
‘He doesn’t bother me! I just don’t see why he gets to have everything for no good reason and I -’
‘- have convinced yourself that he’s important. Nobody else thinks he is. I mean - Look… I wasn’t going to tell you this, because it’s none of your business -’
‘Tell me what?’
‘And so if I tell you - if I do you the favour of telling you - can you keep your trap shut?’
‘Tell me what?’
‘Can you?’
‘Yes.’
‘I was at a meeting. Of the - you know - over Easter.’
‘What, really?’
This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? Their positions reversed. Regulus down from his toffee-nosed tower, him atop some magnificent pillar. Regulus looking up at him with glittering eyes - as he always did when Severus spoke of the Dark Lord - like a peasant gazing upon some holy man, capable of speaking directly to God.
‘Yep,’ he said, with a primping quirk of his lip. ‘The Dark Lord personally asked for me to be there. And he didn’t mention Crouch at all. He’s not a priority, or a favourite, or anything like that. He’s only reaching out to him so he can use him for his own ends. You should be flattered he thinks more of you than to do the same.’
[No.]
[He should have run.]
#asenora fics#writing snippet#snapemort#severus snape#tom riddle#lord voldemort#scylla and charybdis
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Picrew link
"A... cake?" Natasha's expression was the epitome of confusion as she blinked repeatedly at the shiny plate placed on her desk, with a slice of what seemed to be a fresh-prepared cake resting on top of it. When Saeran suddenly disappeared for hours on end, she was not expecting to see this once he came back. What kind of trick was this exactly...?
Though, her boss's proud and puffed up appearance indicated that he was more than pleased with himself. Who knows why. Either way, she could only guess that it was going to be at her expense. As it usually was.
Saeran snickered, moving the plate closer to his perplexed assistant. While he usually hated that dumb, doe-eyed look on her face, making her feel all stupid was exactly what he was hoping for right now. He marveled at the opportunity to rob her of any sense of control. At least, that's how he viewed this whole exchange. "Don't give me that look. I know you're probably desperate to take a bite. Trust me, it's just as delicious as it looks. Strawberries are your favorite, are they not?"
Natasha's nose scrunched up slightly as her thoughts raced to make sense of this entire predicament. What was happening? Did they even have time on their hands for... whatever this was? She's pretty sure they had a deadline approaching just hours away... Then again, Saeran's methods were far different from Ray's carefully organized work flow. And he probably wouldn't appreciate her criticizing his work ethic.
She opened her mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by an insufferable groan as Saeran grabbed the plate back into his hand and separated a rather generous piece of cake with a fork, quickly thrusting it to her mouth. When she didn't respond right away, he raised a brow and pushed the sweet treat against her lips, but not going any further than that. She could smell the sweet vanilla mixed in with the strawberry, definitely making her mouth water a little. It sure looked and smelled tasty.
"Go ahead, then. Open wide. You did such a good job with your studies yesterday, I would be a terrible boss not to praise my little pet for being good."
...Alright, now she's sure this is a trick. He wasn't being very subtle about it.
She was unsure if Saeran just didn't want to put in the effort needed for a believable performance or if he really believed this would work on her. Either way, it's not like she was about to call him out on that. As far as she could see, he was in a good mood for once, and she would rather keep it that way. Whatever it may have in store for her.
So, Natasha sighed and leaned in to take the fork into her mouth. Only to have it snatched away from her in an instant. She just watched as Saeran put the piece of cake into his own mouth and exploded in a fit of roaring laughter that bounced off the bare walls of the Intelligence room. He laughed so hard, he even put an arm over his stomach, an action that probably wasn't fully conscious as his body shook in response to the waves of amusement he seemed to find in this whole exchange. She's pretty sure she never saw him laugh this hard before, especially over something so... to be completely frank, rather stupid.
Throughout it all, Natasha remained silent, feeling both puzzled and intrigued. Saeran sure was a mystery. She's pretty sure that the laughter was genuine. Did he seriously find it this funny? It was almost kind of... cute. In a very peculiar way. She was starting to understand why he looked so proud and energized when he entered. Did he plan this whole thing in advance? Now if that isn't excessive, she doesn't know what is.
It appeared that Saeran would have a good time playing pranks. Though, he probably didn't know about that activity in the first place. And she wasn't about to tell him. Who knows what kind of things she would have to deal with if she does.
"Oh, you should've seen your face! God- You looked so dumb!" Saeran cackled and started to bang his hand against the table a little. Natasha found it hard to suppress her own laughter when she saw the unusual sight, having to bite her lip to prevent anything from slipping. Saeran looked so proud of himself, that she is sure he was blissfully unaware of just how silly this all looked from the outside perspective. If he did, he wouldn't be acting this way in the first place.
"You got me, boss... How could you do this?" She found herself playing along, even though she couldn't control the light smile on her face as her eyes kept following the hacker. There was some amusement to be found in this strange situation. One she wouldn't voice outloud, but would indulge in nonetheless.
Saeran seemed totally oblivious to the 'victim' of his prank having a good time. After a bout of laughter, he released a final loud 'Ha!' before settling down and crossing his arms over his chest cockily. He leaned his hip against the desk in a way that radiated arrogance.
"You must be a real airhead if you think I would ever bake a cake just for you! This should be a nice lesson for you, assistant. Be grateful I am willing to give you such a heads-on approach."
Natasha blinked. Stumped.
Wait-
Did he...
Did Saeran make this cake? To perform this 'prank' on her? Is that why he was gone for hours? Was he out there, baking a whole entire cake, just for a joke?
"...You are something else boss" She murmured after a brief pause, shaking her head slightly.
"I sure am."
He was unaware of what she meant by that, wasn't he? By the looks of his confident smirk, he thought she was impressed by him or something. And, in a way, she was.
Just not in the way he would be pleased with, probably.
Still, in spite of it all, it was... nice to see this more silly and lighthearted side of Saeran. Even if it was in such a bizarre manner. She didn't mind being the cause of his laughter occasionally. Maybe she'll put up with some silly pranks in the future.
...And, his smile appeared somewhat cute for a brief moment when he was consumed by his own enjoyment and didn't care about appearing intimidating. A small glimpse into the human side of him that he seemed so set on denying. She kind of wished to see that more often.
Turns out, Saeran is a very talented baker.
#mystic messenger#mysmes#mysme#mm#saeran choi#choi saeran#suit saeran#saeran x oc#saeran x cmc#suit saeran x oc#suit saeran x cmc#oc natasha stakh#saeran x natasha#suit saeran x natasha#I WROTE THIS ON THE BUS AFTER PLAYING AROUND IN PICREW#suit is so silly fr#like i know he thinks he's mean#but in some of his calls#he's just so silly#natasha plays along because he looks so proud of himself#and also because she's a sweetheart#will play along with any prank tbh (saeyoung takes advantage of this more often than he should 😔)
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Watched Bridgerton with a bit too much wine and a new cross-stitch. Immediate thoughts:
highly watchable. Four hours sped by. Whatever else it might be, it's a very addictive, winning formula. Liked it much more than I anticipated despite feeling that a) Penelope's unrequited friends-to-lovers fantasy is going to hit me very hard and b) Colin Bridgerton is not attractive and never will be.
Francesca Francesca Francesca!!! I don't remember much about her book and from the trailers/promo pics didn't think much of the new actress but I am now obsessed with Francesca. Adore her being autistic coded with a music special interest. Adore that for her. Adore the music. Absolutely everything. She's my girl!!!!!! Love her being silent with John. I'm so sad knowing what happens but I want this for her. I cant stop thinking about how he listened to her info dump about that violinist and then got the damn piece transcribed for her to play. I mean. Listen. My hear, you guys, my heart. I don't care about anything or anyone else!
Penelope's glow-up is awesome.
Love Alice and Will Mondrich. Again, did not see this coming but finding their storyline pretty cool.
Love that we get more Hyacinth. She's my favourite Bridgerton because when I read her book I related to her so hard I had some kind of life crisis, so the fact she has more to do and is growing up just fills me with joy.
Weirdly love the Featheringtons and the very bizarre inheritance/pregnancy plot. The girls don't know what sex is and neither do their loser husbands? The whole thing is so utterly off the wall, it's compelling! Their S02 plot was so dull but I'm finding this completely bonkers and compelling. Maybe it's the wine?
Cressida and Eloise??!!! Like, Cressida is ticking all my "mean rich bitch with unexpected trauma and hidden depths" box and I hate myself for it but there we go. Here for it. I hope she isn't completely villainised.
Eloise's development baffles me. I hate that she's all "I'm not like other girls" with the sewing and she seems to veer towards learning that maybe she can get on with girls and change and then she's dragged back into her insufferable superiority. And how is the character who is written like this supposed to end up as the stepmum to Marina Crane's children vegetating in the countryside? It does not make sense at all for show!Eloise. Actually the only thing that makes sense is to make her a lesbian, or at least bi, which would be in keeping with her "I don't fit in/I'm different" narrative. Otherwise... what? ngl I want Cressida/Eloise fanfic and I did not think that would be my takeaway from this show when I woke up today.
Colin is just not sexy. He's not sexy, he has an unsexy name (4th on my ranking of "how sexy are the Bridgerton boys' names" btw: 1 is Benedict obv - top tier sexy name; 2 is Anthony - mid-level but clearly worked for Cleopatra, has definite potential in the right circumstances; 3 is Gregory - not sexy especially if abbreviated but could work with a lot of effort in a particularly charming individual but Colin? Nope. Can you imagine screaming "COLIN!" in the heights of passion? No, didn't think so.) And I just don't buy him as a character. Why must maturity and new-found confidence equal having threesomes? He lacks coherency to me. Oh well. I don't hate him but I would take John Stirling's silence and top tier gift giving or Lord Debling's honesty, kindness, and dedicated to real interests over his... whatever it is is Colin has... any day.
Penelope's glow-up is great and she looks hot af and I'm here for it and her arc is certainly compelling but it's actually... not the most compelling part of the show for me. Whoops!
The dig about embroidery was very unnecessary.
Don't know what Benedict is doing in this plot but he's still very entertaining and has more character than Colin.
Yeah. I enjoyed it way more than expected and I only feel mildly heartbroken about the whole friends-to-lovers thing but that's probably the wine. Part 2 is released on my birthday so happy birthday to me, I guess!!
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Whoa, you did amazing on your first run of P2! I made it through but like half the town died so I definitely enjoyed getting all the dialogue I missed the first time around. And just being able to spend a little more time appreciating the environment was nice, too.
You definitely make the first game sound interesting! And I would finally find out what everyone sees in Daniil 🤔
I also wanted to ask, do you have a favorite kid character? Sticky is mine.
Daniil, in the first game is... absolutely something. I love him, but god, I'm just in the first day of his route, and I can't stand his dialogue choices. He just keeps talking! he never stops. He has so much to say about everything and everyone at all times. He will fluff up the sentences with filler words and pleasantries.
Interacting with him as Artemy was fun because he was that silly dramatic guy from the Capital and you're only subjected to his theatrics once every two to four business days, plus the occasional letter he loves sending at the stroke of midnight, making you wonder if this is the time he inevitably went mad and is sharing the news with you as you open it.
BUT BEING DANIIL DANKOVSKY IS AN INSUFFERABLE EXPERIENCE.
I keep mansplaining everything to anyone who shows the slightest interest in me. Eva is flirting with me, and all I can do is abruptly change the conversation topic to be about death, very smooth Danill, I'm sure imagining her invetiable demise reeled her in.
...Am I describing myself? Is this what I'm doing right now?
Anyway, my favourite kid! My favourite child! this is gonna be a very long essay because I adore all the little rascals in Pathologic.
We're starting with Sticky <3
When I was playing P2, it was definitely Sticky. You mentioned him being your favourite!
With sticky, he is the first kid to actually give you a chance as Artemy. Sometimes, it feels like he adopted himself into your life and not the other way around. He just shows up and is immediately ride or die with you for life.
He steals for us! Breaks the law just to help us because he knows we are short on money! He doesn't have any medical knowledge but he tries his best to learn from watching you and the occasional questions.
He is endlessly curious and thirsty for knowledge. You can witness it each time you mention a medical term he doesn't know like serum or panacea, and he tries his best to understand what you're saying. Even if it doesn't make sense, he takes your words with blind trust. He wants to be just like you and it's so endearing.
I also adore how they gave him a personality that isn't just a docile student who agrees with everything you say.
No, Sticky will argue with you at times, insult you at others even. Especially his idle spoken dialogue where he keeps saying "How can people protect themselves from the infection? You're a doctor, you should know!"
It's the "You should know!" part that always gets me. He is upset that you don't know something! That's how much he secretly looks up to you and puts you on a pedestal. That when faced with the reality that you're not all-knowing and struggling to invent a cure, he's hurt and angry. Like you betrayed him by not being his superhero.
STICKY I'M SORRY MY SON I WILL DO BETTER I WILL GET 1000 COLLEGE DEGREES THAT WILL PUT THE BACHELOR TO SHAME PLEASE COME BACK!
His other idle spoken dialogue lines are also priceless. They tell a complete story on their own.
"I'll learn how to cure this plague myself. I'm a master of many skills!"
"I know the Lines, too. How else could I find my way around all the attics, and the cellars, and those twisty yards?"
He's trying to copy Artemy, to copy you the player and your effort to cure the plague. He's so small in this big world and can only effect so little in the grand scheme of the universe but he refuses to acknowledge that! He refuses that fate of being a helpless kid for you to save, he wants to be more and goddammit he will be more.
But he can't. He won't. At the end of the day, he is just a kid not matter how many tantrums he throws. He wants you to take him seriously and treat him with the same familiarity as other adults which is why insults you and jokes with you.
He wants Artemy to joke insult him too like he does with Stakh, he wants Artemy to confide in him and share theories like he does with Daniil.
HE WANTS HIS DAD TO BE PROUD OF HIM MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT.
"You don't look so happy. Musta come from the hospital"
He notices your mood, he studied your reaction and knows your routine by heart. He can tell the difference between Artemy's upset face and his normal resting scary ripper face.
Sticky tries to sympathise. But he has never seen a hospital before in his life, all he knew about them was what he read in picture books as a toddler while learning the alphabet and someone put Hospital under the letter H.
The makeshift Theatre-turned-hosptial could never compare to a real one. I've spent time in hospital and my doctor brother told me about the absolute horrors of the emergency care and surgery sections. The many peoples of which will die in front of your own eyes and there is nothing you can do to save them.
All of his world view is extremely limited. Artemy is the lense in which he views the world with, in an attempt to decipher and understand it. You've became his teacher since the moment the first ever question slipped from his mouth and you answered it with sincerity.
"My path was called In Defiance. I almost tracked down that weird creature, but then I found a better goal. I'm going to become a real doctor. "
In the marble nest, when Artemy's dead, Sticky attempts to still follow his fate and seeks the Bachelor. He confesses his dream of still wanting to be a doctor but Daniil is dismissive and only directs him towards the academic path.
It's clearly not the same, it clearly eats up at Sticky to have his old mentor die in order, a second time, to invent a cure and now he can't mourn because he has to convince the only other doctor in town to take him under his wing.
Artemy allowed him a chance, took him seriously, looked past his lack of education and taught him the same way his own father used to teach him. Because Artemy genuinely relates and understands Sticky's situation, he grew up in this town.
Daniil who lives in the capital where every child is handed a bright future and guaranteed education could never relate to the kids of the town who grew up without a single school. He feels bad for them yes but he can't see Sticky as capable of anything besides staying out of trouble and letting the real doctors do their job.
Daniil lives in his concept of a utopia where children are always protected and never put in dangerous situations while capable adults handle everything. A world where he closes a grocery to not spread infection because that's what's right and necessary, without caring about how the families will feed themselves now.
Artemy lives in the grim reality of orphans trading bullets and razors just to get enough food to stay alive, of them risking getting infected just to acquire plague maps for him to purchase, in the world where he helped a kid steal from a store for his own sake because he knew he couldn't afford saying no in these dire circumstances.
Sticky does a lot of work behind the curtains. He keeps the lair clean and takes care of Murky. It's a shame we don't get to see him doing these things in-game, besides his model changing spots depending on the time of day.
This interaction happens on the third (or second?) day! The kid barely knows us, and he is already looking for our approval and doing chores around the house. I mentioned before how the Haruspex's lair floors are constantly wet-looking in a different post, and that detail is probably due to Sticky constantly moping the floors and keeping things tidy.
I wish Artemy was more gentle with him, I wish he spoke softer to him like he does with Murky. I know he treats her like that because she is younger and more gaurded but god Sticky deserves to be told good job too!
Sticky absolutely adores Murky. He makes her candy with melted sugar and tries to cheer her up. But he also tends to idolise Isidor a little too much. They end up in fights a lot because he always defends Isidor and his actions no matter what anyone says.
In p1, Sticky absolutely did not get along with any of the kids. Notkin invited him to join his gang, and Sticky refused, Khan wanted him to do a favour too, and Sticky declined. He doesn't play with other kids, he doesn't engage with them, and he is mostly alone.
It doesn't seem like that changed much in P2, sure the others don't mention him by name but also you don't ever see him wandering to the hubs the other kids are so fond of.
So for him to be kind and befriend Murky despite all the alienation he has suffered all his life from other kids, it really must have been a challenging step for him to take. He immediately accepts her as his sister and doesn't ask any questions.
In his free time, before becoming a student, he used to uncover mysteries and perform experiments detective conan style. Camping at the steppe at night to witness one of those clay vampire creatures despite no one believing him, attempting to get to the bottom of remours.
He's clearly very fascinated by the kin folktales and mystical creatures beyond just fantasy. What others dismissed as childish beliefs, he looked at with rationality and attempted to make sense of. The same burning curiosity reared its head when Artemy shared stories about the kin with him.
Even his idle dialogue shows his lingering fascination with the supernatural world, with the miracles of the kin. He doesn't fear them, he wants to witness them despite the consequences.
"The murderer is a steppe demon! A shabnak-adyg! I just know it!"
"A long neck and a fat body. And hooves for feet—so it's an Albino. And people say it wasn't the earth that made it!"
"Have you seen a pale, glimmering man walking around at night?"
Just imagine Artemy passing down all of the kin tales to Sticky, the ones his father used to tell him, the ones he learned from the herb brides, the ones Oyun used to whisper to him, the ones Aspity shared during their brief interactions.
Isidor's death greatly affected him. He never speaks about him or shows it, but the fear of abandonment has already taken root. It's apparent in the endgame dialogue when he's refusing any idea of you leaving, even ten years from now, when he is a full 20-something adult.
Just the mention of leaving has him terrfied and panicking, he doesn't want to experience the loss of another father so soon. He clings to you like gum throughout all of the game and doesn't leave your lair out of fear you won't be there when he comes back.
He sits in that broken chair and watches over Artemy as he sleeps, that kid needs a hug and reassurance so badly.
Suddenly, he has a sister to take care of, a father who loves him and is willing to teach him, a house with his own room, a future ahead as a Menkhu doctor. He has his dream coming true, and he won't survive having it taken from him.
The devs leave a lot of room for you to influence Artemy's choices and reactions throughout the game, even when it's just flavour plot texts and I love that. In my version of events, Artemy rejected all the proposals and job offers from Young Vlad, General Block, Yulia and the rest to be their assistants or travel with them.
Instead he remains home to be a Menkhu, watching over his town and helping whatever remains of the kin to survive. He accepts Lara's offer to help him take care of Sticky and Murky as co-parenting and friends. He raises both of them to be wonderful amazing adults who listen to their hearts and follow their own dreams.
Maybe add Aglaya survives and they have a long distance romance and the kids are intrigued by her terrifying aura-
ANYWAY.
Honourable mentions, Murky, Taya and Notkin.
Murky because of EVERYTHING SHE IS. I will surrender my own life to see her happy.
THIS MOMENT MADE ME CRY. ACTUALLY FUCKING FULL ON WEEP IRL.
Do you remember her words to us? to Artemy?
"What is there about you to love? Nothing. So I don't."
"I don't need you. Nuh-uh. Things were great without you. Great."
"Why did you come here? I don't need you. Nobody here needs you. We're not friends with her anymore, anyway."
"Why should I love you? I don't need to love you at all. I can stop loving you whenever I want."
She keeps repeating how she doesn't love us, how there is nothing to love, how she doesn't need you, she doesn't need anyone....She can stop loving us whenever she wants, she can stop if she wants to she is so sure of it...
And she knows she is lying the whole time.
She loved Artemy since the first moment she saw him.
Which was when he murdered those three people after getting off of the train. She saw a murderer, a ripper, and loved him as daughter loves her father.
Covered in blood in our worst, Murky looked at us and saw a gentle heart and a nurturing soul.
Sticky is scared of being abandoned again so he clings to us, Murky is scared of loving us so she clings to a lie. She wants a dad, she wants a brother, she only has her doll and a broken train car to call her own.
The only thing left from her parents, her lonely doll. And it was your father whom caused their death and orphaned her, what cruel fate to make her love you as a father.
The son of her parents killer.
Not a gradual love that we work for, No. She loved is since the single moment she saw us. How terrifying is that for a kid who has known no love or warmth in this life.
-
For Notkin, he always seemed like the most willing out of the bound kids to be your friend, not counting your own two adopted kids. By the end of the game, he asks to join the kin and says you're already one of his guys, you have a half soul too and it's massive and so cool.
He blatantly states how much he likes you, how much you've grown on him and stood by his gang's side through the game. He shares with you his dream of opening a warehouse in the future, describing something very similar to what Grief currently has minus the crime.
How poetic it is! Grief and Artemy being childhood friends only for Notkin aka mini-Grief version to end up liking grown Artemy too and wanting to be his friend.
Murky does remind of Lara now that we mention it. In one of the items descriptions, Artemy mentions how Lara knitted him the blue sweater that he's wearing ingame under the surgical grab and when he asked her why blue, she said because it's the colour of idiots and never knitted him anything again.
Murky and her are absolutely kind and selfless to a fault, both treating Artemy with apparent hostility and sharp words when in reality they care for him more than anything.
Notkin and Grief putting an air of being dangerous so Artemy wouldn't get any ideas, but eventually warming up to him and entrusting him with their sincere emotions in rare moments of vulnerability. Both are trying to be good leaders for people under their care, both appreciate his help in dire situations and give him back when they can. Grief is the first to hand you items to get you started ingame, and in Notkins warehouse, a kid gives you bread and milk, later they give you the first plague map for free.
In a way, it feels like Sticky adores Artemy in the same way Rubin must have idolised Isidor.
Jfwifjwkd Artemy straight up adopted the kids equivalent of his childhood friends that is so peotic.
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Finally, there is Taya!
For her, I feel more of a personal connection rather than any bond she may have with Artemy. She reminds me of myself as a kid in a way. She looks spoiled but in reality she is very isolated and only have interacted with adults all her life who keep reminding her of her responsibility.
She wants to be a kid so desperately but she is forced to play the mother superior role. And despite all her lack of emotional development at that age, she does her best to sincerely play that role. To be wise and study the responsibility handed to her.
In P1, she mentions nonchalantly how her father, the previous leader of the kin, was killed by the kin in her place, he died to protect her from being killed. She mentions that if you choose to sacrifice big vlad in place of young vlad.
Saying how the father should always pay for the sins of his children.
Isidor died so Artemy may live
Her father died so she may be spared
Big Vlad died in place of his son getting killed.
Taya is very childish at times in a way that I wish she was allowed to express more. Just look at these scenes.
SHE JUST WANTS CHOCOLATE AND SWEETS, BUT HAS TO PLAY THE ROLE OF A HOLY LEADER TO A WHOLE COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE WITH CULTURE OLDER THAN THAN THE WORLD. SHE IS TRYING HER BEST OKAY.
God it's like she's holding the weight of the world on her shoulders but laughing and smiling despite of it as she dreams of strawberries.
STRAWBERRIES! THAT'S LITERALLY HER BIGGEST DREAM.
Ugh she is so tiny too! LOOK AT HER. You can put her in you pocket but she might get lost between the loose change!!
SHE IS 4 GRASS BLADES TALL!!! FOUR! SHE IS PROBABLY 5 APPLES TALL LIKE HELLO KITTY! SHE IS JUST A LITTLE GIRL AAAAAAAAA
LET ME ADOPT HER GAME!! LET ME HAVE HER LIVE IN ARTEMY'S HOUSE WITH STICKY AND MURKY AS HER OLDER SIBLINGS! PLEASE I NEED IT! BRING NOTKIN TOO!
The remaining kids, Capella, Khan, Grace and even Taya herself, don't seem that fond or attached to Artemy. Their fates cross a lot and some of them clearly saw Isidor as a father figure but it's never the same with Artemy.
Taya only cares for him as Menkhu, she is mother superior and he is one of her "children" like any other person from the kin.
Capella sees him as a business partner in a way, she asks for favours and promises to repay tenfolds when she becomes a mistress. Her goals and Artemy's allign so they are partners in planning.
Sometimes, I wonder if Artemy was supposed to be born much later. Because Capella describes a future where he is included with these kids when it comes to rebuilding the town. The fact his own mother died during childbirth makes me consider that theory a bit more, maybe his parents rushed into having a second kid when his older brother passed away which caused health problems to his mother.
So Artemy was supposed to be born much later alongside these kids and play his role in rebuilding the town. But it's just a theory.
A GAME THEOR-
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Thank you so much for the praise about finishing the game! I want to lie and say it was effortless. But.It.Was.Not. 500 reloads. But I loved every minute, I would hate going to sleep because it meant I had to stop play and would open the game first thing after waking up. It was literally and addiction and I couldn't remember my own name and life event but I for sure had the list of items best to trade to which town npcs memorised.
I want to replay it after finishing it P1. It is fun but it can be boring at times which is why I'm moving at a slugs pace in Daniil's route. Part of me is also dreading finishing it since I will only have Clara's route to play by then....and its over like that.
Maybe by stalling, I'm hoping that P2 Bachelor's route will come out sooner.
I definitely enjoyed this conversation <3 I love talking and talking loves me, I have a million opinions on everything and so much to say about pathologic. If you ever get curious about a certain subject, character or concept, shoot me an ask since I will have so much fun writing out the essay.
I hope you had fun reading this! I try to sprinkle in jokes so it's not just a big dump of information but eh, I love mansplaining guilty as charged.
Take care anon! I hope your day is wonderful. Also wanna be called Sticky anon if you're going to be a frequent quest on here?
#♧artemy#artemy burakh#♧sticky#sticky burakh#murky burakh#♧Murky#Pathologic#pathologic 2#pathologic classic hd#♧character study#♧Notkin#notkin pathologic#taya tycheek#♧Taya
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The Most Beautiful Thing In The World Is Love.
Book: Dracula A Love Story
Pairing: Mehmed x Lale / Mehmed x MC
Characters: Şehzade Mehmed, Lale Hatun, Shahi Hatun, Zağanos Paşa, Sultan Murad,..
Summary:
October 1448.
Lale Hatun remains in Edirne as all her loved ones head for war. But one man occupies her thoughts despite her greatest efforts.
Şehzade Mehmed is preparing for battle when he receives the most striking news..
Chapter 1:
Time seemed to hold still in the inner courtyard of the palace. All the servants had been sent away, and it seemed that even the birds had left some privacy to the two young people.
Lale had come here full of anger at him, but now she was the one clinging onto the Şehzade, their lips sealed in a bloody kiss. But despite his inner desire, the young man suddenly broke the kiss; a form of punishment for Lale’s action.
Do you taste the blood?” Mehmed whispered against her lips, almost out of breath. “Remember this taste. We are of the same kind, the same nature. And no matter how much you deny it, you can’t escape it.” He released Lale’s arm from his grip and took several steps back, eyeing her intensely.
“And now farewell, Lale Hatun. I need to prepare for the campaign.”
The young woman stood still as he departed, her fiery gaze fixed on his back, until he disappeared completely from her sight and that the only thing she could hear was her shallow breath.
In a harsh movement, she whipped the blood from her lips with her sleeve and clenched her fists before leaving the inner court with a decisive step.
The few maids that crossed paths with Lale, as she headed towards her chambers, barely had time to step out of her way, her fury making her oblivious to anything around her.
After closing the door of her bedroom with a little more strength than usual, she rested her back against its wooden surface and closed her eyes. But no matter how hard she tried to regain some composure, the feeling of betrayal still lingered inside her. She had trusted him ; believed him when he said he'd help to keep her friends safe, only to send them away in the middle of the night. And solely out of fear that she would choose them, instead of him.
Lale eventually turned her head towards her bed, where another embroidered shirt remained. The third shirt, the one that kept her awake for the rest of the night after the boys’ departure and Alexandra's return to her own chambers.
“I didn't want to put you in the position of choosing to spend this time with them or me…"
She closed the distance between the door and her bed in a few steps. Then, in a fit of anger, grabbed the shirt and threw it to the other side of the room.
“You selfish, insufferable man!” her voice, neither a whisper, nor a cry, started to shake ; her eyes staring daggers in the shirt as if she could pierce Mehmed's chest through it.
After being deprived of sleep from embroidering the two shirts for her friends, Lale had felt a weight in her heart as she realised another person, dear to her, would be left without any protection. So she had summoned the rest of her strength to sew the remaining flowers into a third one.
Alas, they weren't enough for an extra talismanic shirt, but the young lady had remembered a rumour about Mehmed's birth, one whispered in some hallways of the palace.
It was said that, as Huma Hatun was giving birth to young Mehmed, her uncle had retreated in his chambers in prayers, reading the Holy Quran. And that Mehmed's first cry was heard as the Sultan was reading the Surah of Victory. The Al Fath Surat.
And so, Lale had embroidered the shirt with the same verses, with the firm conviction that these Holy words would indeed offer protection and Victory to the Şehzade. Her needlework ceased only with the last notes of the morning prayer call, and some drops of blood would have mixed here and there with the golden embroidery.
“Lale Hatun!” Her tutoress’ voice brought her to her senses. “What happened here?” The older lady gasped as she looked at her protégée. “Is that blood on your dress?!”
Lale looked from Shahi Hatun to her dress, where indeed, Mehmed's blood had left a stain from their embrace.
Her blood on his talismanic shirt, his on her dress, they were even. For now.
Yet, how was she to explain this to her tutoress? How could she tell her that she went to see the Şehzade, unchaperoned, and that the blood was Mehmed's, from a stab wound that she inflicted upon him as revenge for sending her friends away. And that he, in return, claimed her lips in a passionate and bloody embrace?
Luckily for the young woman, a knock on the door saved her from the elder woman's inquisitive gaze. One of the ağa entered, and after bowing respectfully to the Sultan's niece, informed Shahi Hatun that Daye called upon her urgently.
“Change yourself, before anyone else witnesses you in such a state.” she cried as she turned toward the door, before gazing at her sternly, with her index raised toward her. “But you will tell me what happened as soon as I return.”
Lale only replied with a smile and waited for her to leave the room.
“Idris Ağa?” she called the eunuch as he was taking his leave. “Has the rest of the army left the palace?” She asked innocently, while fidgeting with her sleeve.
“The Sultan and the Şehzade are about to depart with some of the pashas. They will be escorted by the Janissaries.” The eunuch bowed to Lale once more, then took a few steps back before leaving the room.
The young woman eyed the shirt still laying on the floor next to the mirror, then the window from where some agitation could be heard. With a sigh, she hurried to change into some more appropriate clothes, and quickly packed up the shirt before rushing out of her room.
The rest of Ali Bey's squad were already leaving the first courtyard as Lale made her way out of the Harem and Privy Quarters. Still hidden by the colonnades bordering the yard, she deftly walked around the inner corridor decorated with iznik tiles, readjusting the beige veil covering her from head to shoulders. She did not want to attract attention, especially not from the Bostanji that were guarding the palace. As a woman, even from the Sultan's entourage, her trips out of the palace had to be approved of by the Sultan or by the Grand Vizir, in the Sultan's absence.
She noticed her Uncle, saddled on the white mare that had been given to him by Mehmed. He was the only one allowed to ride within the palace walls, and as such, the rest of the troops were to march until they reached the Meriç bridge to cross the river with the same name and reach the mainland.
The Şehzade was nowhere to be seen. He probably wished to oversee the preparations of the remaining troops; another opportunity to prove his value to his father, most probably.
The other option was that his wound needed to be patched up before leaving and that he was still at Shervani’s, but that seemed unlikely to Lale. Mehmed was too proud to be late at such a gathering, especially for an injury as such.
However, she couldn't help but hope that his wound wouldn't prevent him from riding such a long distance. But this hope was toned down by the knowledge that, should such a discomfort happen, it would at least remind him of his fierce Cousin left in Edirne.
Lale smiled quietly at the thought, and her grip on the package grew firmer.
Eventually, she spotted one of Mehmed's trusted advisors, who was serving her uncle as a great military commander, walking toward the gate with the rest of the squad.
“Zağanos Pasha!” She spoke softly as he walked past her, which caused him to stop in his tracks, and to step to the side of the courtyard in order to hear her better, but without ever looking at her, as it was forbidden.
“Lale Hatun.” his gaze remained fixed on the marble floor as he respectfully addressed the Sultan's niece. “You should not be here, my Lady, especially unchaperoned.” He spoke in a low voice, without trying to chastise her, but with a certain amount of concern in his voice.
If the Sultan, or the Şehzade were to notice him interacting with the young Lady, they would probably not be happy about it. Especially Mehmed.
“I lacked time to greet my family before their departure, ” Lale whispered quickly as she surveyed their surroundings. “which is why I have a request for you. Please make sure to leave this in the Şehzade's tent, once you have settled.” She cautiously handed a silk package to him, then added in a firm tone “You may, of course, verify that nothing dangerous will come out of it. I would not expect anything less from my Cousin's trusted advisor. But there is no need for Mehmed to know about it now. Let him discover it on his own.” She eyed the pasha as he secured her gift in his hands, then bowed his head to her, without ever looking up.
“It will be done according to your wishes, Lale Hatun. Please be safe here. I'm sure your prayers for our Sultan and our Prince will bring us Victory. With your permission…” He kept his head bowed as he regained his previous position, then made haste to join the rest of the army, securing the package with his own belongings.
Still hidden in the shadows, Lale remained in the inner courtyard until the last soldier walked through the gate, Ottoman flags flapping through the wind as the army marched toward the enemies. The view was interrupted as the Bostanji finally closed the massive gates, locking them from inside.
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Another coward-anon.
I appreciate how much effort you put into trying to be civil if harsh, and explain the situation.
Reading one of your asks about their love for YOI, and 'non-academic' posts from other people in the fandom, considering these rants, it doesn't seem to be really about 'academic' discussion or 'love for YOI', but much more about the good ol' love for one's own headcanons and hatred for some *inconvenient* elements of canon/headcanons of other people.
https://imgur.com/a/cB0S3mm
https://imgur.com/a/R5KgpDC
It's not cowardice to not want your name and face publically attached to this. I'm the one who started this, you don't have to be more than a witness on the stand. Of course being anonymous does make it harder to verify the legitimacy of asks but that's up to each reader to decide. I'm going to treat every ask, unless it's completely outrageous, as genuine. I'm not making that call for everyone. I'm just going to give my honest take on what I see.
Anyway, thanks! It's been weighing on me an seemingly a lot of other people so I don't mind being the platform for people to speak their truth. Everything comes back to you eventually. Karma is only a bitch if you've been one. Samurai getting their comeuppance like this is just the dam breaking.
And I agree, I don't personally think it's much about academia and canon loyalty at all. Samurai might disagree but it does come across as being about getting her headcanons and interpretations accepted as the "most accurate" ones. That's at least how I feel when I read her posts. She pretends it's about the academia (dgmw I think she does like academia) and yet shuts down others with insults and accusations when they try to engage with the show from other angles, even if that approach is highly academic.
And yes, I know I keep bringing up the academia thing, but that's because it's one of the things that annoy me most. I have basically no patience for people who look down on others for simply not being highly intellectual and that patience is in the negatives when said people don't even live up to those standards themselves. Rules for thee, none for me. It's just arrogance. That might be cultural on my part, I find self flattery, boasting, arrogance, showing off, bragging, etc. indescribably insufferable. You're allowed to compliment yourself but you need to do it tastefully or I'll assume you don't actually possess any of the qualities you proclaim to have.
And in Samurai's case, she uses this self flattery to not just artificially inflate herself and lift her up, but also to push others down into the dirt. Being good isn't good enough. They need to be better. They need to be the best. And when you don't have what it takes, you have to lower the average.
When you consider your own words better than everyone else's, you shut down any real discussion. You're making your own echo chamber, no TikTok algorithm needed. As I've said before, it's okay to disagree, it's good to disagree, and it's great to engage in polite discussion with people you don't agree with. It challenges what you take for granted and makes you explore other lines of thought, even if only as a thought experiment. It makes you more empathetic. It makes you a better person.
And if you're wrong, that's okay too. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being wrong. You just have to accept it, take accountability for your behaviour, and move on and try to be better. You don't have to keep beating yourself up over and over and over again about a thing. You're allowed to not take criticism personally. And I know, the thoughts don't go away like that, it's not that easy, but I also know that that's a matter of practicing and finding ways to deal with it. Trust me, I went through that practice and am still doing it. It really does work if you're willing to genuinely try.
But you not being good at shutting the thoughts down is still not an excuse for poor behaviour. Maybe you can't control your thoughts, but you can control your actions or at the very least fix what you broke if you lost control. Regardless of your situation or mental state, you still did what you did, and you have to accept accountability and criticism for it. For example, if you know you can't control yourself when drunk and do horrible things, people shouldn't just forgive you because you can't control it. It's on you to not get drunk if you know this is the consequence.
Oh and get a therapist, Samurai. You might already have one, but you're clearly not talking about the right things with them.
Thank you for the ask, anon.
Edit to add: I realised some might not want to bother with opening the image links anon provided so here are the images they link to:
I'm not going to go into analysing these posts here, I've already discussed very similar topics at length here. Not even gonna comment right now because I can feel the pettiness beating strong today and I'm going to say something I'll regret. But if you've been following this closely or know me well, you can probably guess what I'd have said.
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