#the problem is that he's truly pointed towards Ray even more than towards Top

[heretherebedork]

Mew is going to hurt Ray so much and the worst part is that the way he's hurting him is by trying to be him when he knows how much being himself hurts Ray.

Mew is going to break Ray because for all that he should know how deep his trauma and pain goes he never seems to fully internalize how deeply hurt his friends is and focuses instead of the face he presents the world.

Mew is going to tear Ray to pieces because he is going to take on all his vices without his pain and he is going to lead Ray deeper into his own addictions because he wants the love that Ray can give him, the love that will never hurt Mew and will never leave him.

Mew is going to take Ray's heart and destroy it because he is so intent on his revenge on Top that is perfectly willing to take advantage of his best friend's love for him and of his best friend's pain and of his best friend's vices to try to proof that he doesn't need love at all.

Mew is making all these choices to hurt Top and to prove himself to Top without any thoughts for what this will do to Ray because Mew, despite knowing better, fully believes in Ray's persona as his real self.

Mew saw Ray in that tub and held him and promised he had a reason to live but still looks at him smiling and laughing and having a good time and believes that is the real Ray and that Ray is coping with his pain rather than actively drowning in it.

Mew's pain is real and his reaction is real but he's also taking advantage of Ray and he is going to hurt him more than he's been hurt because Mew comes from a place of a destroyed fantasy while Ray comes from a place of already broken.

Mew is so hurt by Top's destruction of his fantasy that he is embracing his own friend's destruction in order to get a revenge fantasy straight out of a romance novel.

Mew learned nothing from Top's hurt and Top's betrayal because he is still trying to lead the same life and still fighting for the same fantasies and still living the same books and the same ideas. He is living in those fantasies and he is embracing a different fantasy now but it's still a fantasy, the same fantasy that lead to him punching Ray to keep his fantasy of destroying Top private.

Mew's fantasies will destroy Ray in a way the rest of the world has failed to do so far because he will give him love he has always wished for and then take it away because fantasies are not reality.

[lostinthewiind]

Piss Off Your Parents - Part 8

Ukai Keishin - Haikyuu

Synopsis: freshly turned 18, you want to prove to your parents that you aren’t a child for them to push around anymore. First, get a job at the local corner store. Second, use the store owner’s 26-year-old son with piercings and a cigarette addiction to piss your parents off. Third, accidentally fall in love.

Rating: PG13

Warnings: none

Song → 18 by Anarbor

Previous → Part 7

Next → Part 9

Feeling a body shift beside you, you slowly began to wake from your deep, dreamless sleep. With thin rays of sunlight shining through the crack between the curtains, you let a content, sleepy smile toy at the corners of your lips as you rolled over in Keishin's arms and came face to face with his sleeping form.

It had been over a week since you had started staying with Keishin and even though waking up beside someone every morning definitely took some getting used to, you were a little surprised by just how quickly it was beginning to feel normal. Not only that, but you never slept better than you did in Keishin's bed with his warm, calming presence beside you and strong, protective arm draped over your waist.

Eyes closed and lips slightly parted, Keishin was fast asleep. His chest rose and fell rhythmically and at some point during the night, just like every other night, his hair—which wasn't tamed by the headband while he slept—had gotten all messed up and a few strands had fallen into his face.

Whenever you woke up before him, you would always take the chance to just look at him. While he slept, he seemed completely and utterly at peace—no longer burdened by the stress of coaching volleyball, working at the store, and no doubt whatever extra problems you had brought into his life. You thought back to the time you had watched him sleeping on the couch in the back room and sighed happily; the thought of how much things had changed in such a short period of time truly putting things into perspective.

Unable to keep your hands to yourself any longer, you reached out slowly and brushed the loose strands of hair out of his face and tucked them behind his ear—the same way you had done when you two had first had sex and the same way you had done countless times since.

Keishin could sleep through a thunderstorm or the sound of you calling out his name, but as soon as he felt your fingertips graze against his cheek, his eyes fluttered open. Upon noticing he was awake, you made your touch more prominent and caressed his face.

"Good morning," you whispered, unwilling to raise your voice any more than that and ruin the soft ambiance of the early morning.

Keishin leaned into your touch and smiled softly. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," you answered as you ran your thumb along his bottom lip, internally debating if you should ambush him with kisses now or wait until he had woken up a little more first. Chuckling to yourself over your own thoughts, you caught yourself staring at his lips and directed your gaze back to his eyes. "I'm just looking at you."

Keishin scoffed as he pressed a gentle kiss to your thumb. "Why?"

"Because you look so beautiful when you're asleep," you told him matter-of-factly. "Not that you don't always look beautiful," you added quickly before he could make some sort of sarcastic comment.

Keishin rolled his eyes before pulling you flush against his chest and kissing you. "You're such a sap, you know that?"

You laughed. "First, I'm dramatic. Now I'm a sap. What's next?"

"I have no idea." Keishin shrugged the best he could while lying down. "What I do know, however," he glanced at the clock, "is that we need to get up and get ready."

Following Keishin's gaze to the time, you huffed sadly when you noticed there were only five minutes left until your alarm would go off, forcing you to get ready to open the store. "Can't we just stay in bed all day?" you asked, hoping you could convince him to stay under the covers with you.

"Not unless we want to go broke and end up living under a bridge together."

You chuckled as Keishin crawled out of bed, the temptation of slapping his ass gently when he stood up almost too much but you managed to control yourself. "Together?" You grinned. "You'd stay with me even if we were both dirt poor?"

Keishin rolled his eyes playfully at your takeaway from his statement. "Of course." He collected his clothes before making his way around to your side of the bed and pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. "But I think I like plumbing and heating too much to give them up, so let's shower and get ready."

Sitting up in bed, you cocked an eyebrow. "You want to shower together?"

Keishin flashed a devilish smirk as he headed for the bathroom. "Purely for the purpose of saving water." He disappeared into the bathroom and seconds later his boxers flew out and landed on the floor, indicating he was completely nude. "But if you hate the planet, then I guess that's on you."

Your cheeks flushed red but nevertheless, you swung your legs over the side of the bed and began removing your clothes as you approached the bathroom. "Sure," you laughed as you closed the bathroom door behind yourself and let your eyes wander over Keishin's wet, naked body as he stood under the steaming water. "If it's for the planet, how could I possibly say no?"

20 minutes of passionate kissing and soapy hands exploring every inch of each other's body later, the two of you towelled off and finished getting ready before sitting down for a quick breakfast together.

"So the volleyball team has a game today, right?" you asked Keishin as you poured milk into your bowl of cereal. Keishin nodded. "What time do you think you will be home?"

Keishin thought for a moment before answering. "Probably around six or seven tonight. The game is right after school so it shouldn't run too late."

"Okay." You sat down across from him at the table. "Should we get dinner after I close up the shop?"

Keishin nodded again. "Sounds like a plan."

With a few more bites of his breakfast, Keishin was setting his dishes in the sink, pressing a quick kiss to the top of your head, and rushing down the stairs and out of the building to start his day.

As you listened to his footsteps stomp down the stairs, followed by the sound of the back door opening and closing to indicate that he had left, you sighed to yourself and sat back in your chair. It was then that you took a minute to think about everything; your job, your boyfriend, your living arrangements, your tattered relationship with your parents. In the span of a few months, your life had completely turned upside down, but that wasn't the part that freaked you out the most.

What really got you thinking was the fact that, even though your life had done a complete 180, you had never been happier; which led to the constant internal questioning about if you had ever really been happy before you had met Keishin at all, or if this was just a different kind of happy—a happy that only a stable, supportive significant other could provide.

Before you had the chance to get lost in your thoughts, you snapped out of it, finished your breakfast, and headed downstairs to open the shop and begin your day.

As usual, you dealt with the typical morning rush of people stopping in to grab a coffee or other various food items on their way to work or school. Once the mid-morning slump hit and the customer traffic went way down, you took the time to do some routine cleaning and inventory. By now, you were like a well-oiled machine when it came to the daily task of running the store.

Around noon, as you were finishing up stocking some shelves, the front door opened and a very well-dressed man strolled into the store. "Hello," you greeted him, standing from where you were kneeling in front of the shelves and dusting off your pants.

The man gave you a once over, eyeing you from head to toe. Without so much as an acknowledging nod, he brushed past you and toward the full-length fridges at the back.

Assuming the man just wasn't in a chatty mood, you took the empty boxes to the storage room. When you exited, the man was already standing at the front counter, impatiently tapping his foot while he held two bottles of water in his hands.

"Sorry for the wait," you apologized. "Just the waters today?"

The man just nodded and let out a grunt.

Trying not to take his dismissive attitude too seriously, you rang up his purchases and gave him the total. Instead of pulling out his wallet, however, he just gave you a dirty look.

"That's a little expensive for two bottles of water, don't you think?" he retorted.

You didn't know what to say to that, so you shrugged. "I'm sorry, I don't make the prices, sir," you told him. "I just work here."

Huffing loudly, the man fished his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out some bills before tossing them haphazardly onto the counter. "Fine. Don't forget my change."

Before you could open the cash register, the front doors opened again and a woman dressed in a beautiful dress with her hair done up elegantly walked in and stopped beside the man before you. "Have you paid yet?" she asked the man, who was either her boyfriend or husband based on the way she was hanging off of his arm. "I just realized I'm out of cigarettes."

"I'm just paying now," he told her, his face softer than you had seen it yet before he turned back to you and asked for the brand of cigarettes that his partner smoked.

Spinning around, you felt your stomach twist at the sight of the empty dispenser of cigarettes, meaning that you were out of the brand he had requested. Of course, the delivery for that day hadn't come in yet, making your job even harder right now.

Plastering the warmest smile on your face that you could muster, you turned back to the couple. "I apologize, but we are all out of that brand. Can I get you something else?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "No, everything else tastes like garbage."

"I see." You stepped back up to the cash register. "So just the waters then?"

The man nodded. "I guess so if your shitty little store doesn't even stock up on popular brands of cigarettes." He watched you intently as you opened the register and counted his change. "I knew we should have stopped somewhere other than this hole in the wall."

As much as you so desperately wanted to rip this man and his spoiled girlfriend a new one, you bit your tongue instead and grinned as you handed him back his change. "Here you are." You dropped the coins into his outstretched hand. "Have a wonderful day."

Neither one of them said anything in response as they turned on their heels and marched out of the store, noses turned up at everything around them. As you watched them get into their fancy car and speed away, you wondered if they treated everyone like that or just lowly corner store workers like yourself.

Trying to let the incident slide off of you like water off of a duck's back, you returned to the remaining tasks on your to-do list and tried to forget all about being treated like a second-class citizen.

As the day turned to late afternoon and the after-school and after-work rush hit, you had found your way back into your groove again.

An hour or so before closing time, and roughly around the time Keishin would be returning, you heard a pair of heels clacking against the tile floor and stood up front behind the counter only to come face-to-face with your mother. Dressed in a pencil skirt and blouse, it was obvious she had just come from work, but your attention was more focused on the envelope she was holding out to you.

"This came for you the other day." She didn't even bother with a simple greeting even though it had been weeks since you had seen or spoken to her or your father.

"Oh, okay." You reached out and took the envelope from her. Turning it over, you felt your heart jump into your throat when you read that it was from the University of Tokyo.

You looked up at your mother expectantly but she waved you off. "Don't ask me what it says, I didn't open it," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "Why didn't you tell your father and me that you applied to the University of Tokyo? It's a very good school."

"Because I didn't do it for you," you said as you tucked the envelope into your back pocket. "And I certainly didn't do it to go to law school or anything you guys would approve of."

Your mother narrowed her eyes at you. "Then why did you do it?"

"To play soccer," you answered, your mind immediately going to the conversation you had had with Keishin while taking inventory together. "And because I told someone I would."

Your mother eyed you for a minute more, waiting to see if you would reach for the envelope again to open it. When you made no indication of sharing your application results with her, she hummed softly. "Well, whatever that letter says, you should take some time to seriously consider what your next step is going to be." She turned to leave but stopped halfway to the door and looked at you over her shoulder. "It's not too late to make the right choice. Think carefully before you throw your life away."

With that, your mother exited the store, leaving you with a mixed slurry of emotions and no clue how to deal with any of them.

Pulling the envelope out of your back pocket, you set it down on the counter in front of you and stared at it. Whatever was printed on the single piece of paper inside would set a course for your future . . . although you were unsure if you even still wanted the future that this piece of paper could give you.

All you wanted was to be happy, and all you knew was that Keishin gave you that.

Anything more felt like asking for too much.

Anything more felt like a gamble that wasn't worth the risk.

[samplingmoonsters]

What if Techno is like a walking heater cause he's from the Nether and Dream who's naturally cold??

Snow crunches under their feet, warm clouds of fog escaping frozen lips, evaporating quickly in the icy air like ghosts. Endless whiteness surrounds the pair, an empty canvas yearning for a splash of color. But there are no colors for miles, nothing but an abyss of white, except for the red cloak fluttering in the wind like the wings of a newborn bird. Not for the first time, olive green eyes find themself staring at the only interesting color since they started their never-ending journey through the north.

He stares at the broad back of the warrior, well aware of the muscles hidden behind the thick fabric. A hog-like snort escapes his companion as the tall warrior lets out a hot gust of wind. Dream’s tired, freezing body jerks at the loud noise. They haven’t spoken to each other for hours, only Dream’s exhausted breath and the snow crunching under their feet filling the silence around them.

Olive-green eyes widen and he stumbles back, almost falling into the snow, as Techno rams the end of his ax into the snow next to him. They stop in their tracks, finally giving the ex-prisoner’s body a precious second to rest after hours and hours of non-stop walking. Dream’s chest rises and falls in a mix of exhaustion and fear as he stares at Techno’s back. Even after spending weeks in a tiny cell together, building a relationship that doesn’t fit into any category but runs far deeper than simple friendship, Dream’s still gets nervous when he’s confronted with the view of a sharp object. A spike of anxiety settles into his chest, his fear rising the longer he has to look at the damn netherite ax sticking out of the snow.

He trusts Techno more than anyone else on the SMP but it is still hard to let go of old fears even after months of recovering in the Piglin's small cottage. Swallowing, Dream forces his body to relax and instead moves his eyes towards Techno’s face. Anything to distract himself from the weapon still glinting in the corner of his vision like a poisonous snake ready to strike.

At one point, Technoblade has turned towards him, ember eyes staring at the lanky blond, “We should search for a place to rest for tonight.” Techno murmurs before picking his ax back up, swinging it over his shoulder before walking straight towards the line of woods surrounding the snow-covered trail.

“Ah- wait for me!” Dream calls after the other man, small feet stamping through the snow like a newborn fawn who is just learning how to walk from their mother.

Away from the trail, the snow is even higher, reaching Dream’s knees and causing the blond to get stuck on multiple occasions. He has a hard time keeping up with the pink-haired man who doesn’t seem to have any problems navigating through the snowy landscape, his thick leather boots keeping him from sinking into the snow unlike Dream’s pathetic excuse of footwear which can’t even keep his feet decently warm. He can already feel his toes starting to freeze off. If this goes on he won’t have any feet to complain about coming tomorrow morning.

If it weren't for Techno's strong hands pulling him out every now and then Dream would be forever stuck in the middle of the woods.

"Be careful where you are stepping." Techno grunts after pulling Dream out of the snow for what must be the tenth time.

Dream grumbles a curse under his breath, patting the snow from the pants before throwing a dark glare at his companion, "I do! It's not my fault the snow is, like-- ten feet high!" He stomps his feet into the snow, his childish tantrum only resulting in him soaking his pants even more.

Dream could practically hear the other roll his eyes, "Don't be dramatic...it's not that deep." As if to prove his point Techno stomps one foot into the snow. The appendage barely sinks into the snow. But all too soon Techno’s attention is stolen away once more by the distant howls of wolves. The warrior grips his ax tightly, red eyes jumping around the trees, searching for any potential danger while he waits for Dream to stop sulking around so they could start moving forward again.

Dream lets out a huff, seemingly indifferent about the continuing howls. He knows that Techno will keep him safe, so he doesn’t even bother taking out the dagger hidden inside his dark-green coat. It’s not like he would be any good in a fight. Ever since they escaped the prison, Dream quickly realized that his hands would never be able to truly hold weapons of any kind anymore, not with how much they trembled and shook. He’s happy that he could hold a cup of tea without spilling hot liquid everywhere, and hey, he can even hold a spoon without too much of a hitch.

Small progress as Techno would say.

And maybe, with a lot of training and patience, he would even be able to hold an ax again one day.

Though, that dream is rather blurry for now. Let’s rather focus on re-learning how to use a knife and fork for the moment....or Techno would have to help him cut his steak forever and that’s just fucking embarrassing. He already feels like a helpless child 75% of the time when it comes to holding anything.

Which also includes not being able to walk on snow like his companion.

Fucking piglin hybrids and their natural ability to walk over loose ground.

"...that doesn't prove anything. You-you're used to walking through snow." Crossing his arms, Dream glares at a random patch of snow near Techno's left foot. Now that they have stopped moving, Dream can feel the unbearable coldness sinking into his already half-frozen skin. Dream hates to admit it, but he does have a low tolerance when it comes to low temperatures. All his life, he has lived in hotter regions, places where the sun never stops shining all year round, and where hurricanes and heavy storms are a monthly concurrence. But now, he's forced to live in a snowy biome, far away from the sun, where it never stops snowing and the nights are long.

Dream couldn't remember when he last felt truly warm. Even in the safety of Techno's beloved cottage, there's still something cold lingering in his chest, freezing his body from the inside...

Maybe that's just his trauma showing his ugly head... Nevertheless, Dream really missed lying among the flowers, grass tickling his cheeks while he let the sun heat up his body.

And while the prison had been warm, unbearable so, the warmth wasn't the same as the feeling of sun rays on his freckled skin.

Ender, when was the last time he had worn a crop top? Felt like a billion years ago. He couldn't even wear cute outfits in this shitty weather. Fucking Antarctica...

Yearning for an outlet for his building frustration, Dream angrily kicks a small pile of snow, accidentally spraying Techno's face with the powdery substance.

For a second the woods go deathly silent as if the trees themselves could feel the tension rising between the rivals. The two men stare at each other, a silent battle taking place. Techno's narrowed red eyes promise unbearable pain, causing Dream to fidget nervously.

If there is one thing Dream hates more than raw potatoes it's complete silence. He remembers a time when silence didn't bother him. A time when he could linger in his base far underground unbothered by the pure quietness surrounding him, even enjoying it. He was used to being alone, doing his own thing, a lone wolf some would call him, but after the whole prison thing...Dream began to hate the sound of his own voice, the silence that would linger after he screamed his lungs out either from hours of torture or talking nonstop to his own reflection in the lava.

Yeah, he would much rather listen to Techno's monotone voice for hours, all day long, if it means he wouldn't have to listen to his own scrambled thoughts.

"Uh...Tech--"

Before Dream could finish his sentence his feet suddenly left the ground as his tall, lanky body was raised from the snow. The blond squeezed his eyes tightly, expecting to be body slammed into the cold abyss for revenge but instead, he felt a pleasant warmth surrounding him from all sides.

Fluttering his eyes open he's met with the sight of Techno's broad chest. Jerking his head up he stares at the piglin but the other is ignoring him, red eyes stubbornly looking forward as they continue their way through the foggy woods. Green eyes focus on the warm puffs of air escaping Techno's pink lips, the way his sharp tusks glint in the faint light like hidden daggers, and how his red eyes seem to sparkle brighter than the ice crystals littering the ground. This close, Techno's beauty is almost otherworldly.

Truly the God of Bones and Blood.

And now the God is carrying him. Carrying him bridal style while curling his precious red cape around them both.

Dream's cheeks quickly catch on fire at the unexpected turn of events.

Forcing himself to relax, he leans his cheek against Techno's armored chest, almost jerking back in surprise at how warm the other feel even through the thick layer of metal.

Oh Gods, Techno is burning, a steady warmth spilling from him in waves like a dying star. With the cape curled around them, keeping the cold air away and trapping Techno's body heat, Dream feels like he's sitting in a furnace.

A very soft, grumpy furnace.

He almost forgot how warm Techno is. When they were still in prison Dream didn’t really notice Techno’s abnormal body heat. Back then everything, the air, the water, the obsidian blocks, was hot to the touch. Soon Techno’s body heat just turned into another source of heat in the already stuffy cell.

Now, Dream welcomed the warmth.

For what feels like the first time in months, Dream feels the coldness leaves his body.

Letting out a sound that comes close to a purr, Dream leans back against Techno's chest. With his cheek pressed against the other’s armored chest, he can clearly hear Techno's strong heartbeat. The steady sound pulls him into a placid state where each one of his problems and haunting memories leaves his mind for a little while until all he can feel is the vibration of Techno's heart and the strong hands holding him up.

Protecting him.

"Just so you know, if the wolves decide to attack us, I'm throwing you into the snow." Technoblade's monotone voice drifts through the blurry edges of his mind, almost throwing him out of his serene bubble.

Not wanting to leave the peaceful corner of his mind just yet, Dream cuddles deeper into Techno's chest, successfully ignoring the Piglin's warning.

Above him Techno let out a long, tired sigh, yet, the hands around his waist are pressing him closer, a silent promise to shield him from any upcoming danger.

With a small smile on his lips, Dream lets himself sink into the peaceful abyss, the sound of Techno's heartbeat guiding him. He falls asleep to the familiar lullaby of Techno’s heartbeat.

And so, far up in the north where the sun rarely shines and the snow never stops falling, the blond warrior found his own sun to warm up his broken soul.

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

This ask has been sitting in my inbox for weeks! Sorry that it took me so long, dear anon! I hope you like it!

[ekaterinatepes]

Nothing but the Best

Author Notes: hello again my loves! Thank you for all your likes, reviews and specially your comments! I love it when you make questions and in general let me know what you think about the chapter. Thank you once more for all your support!

XII.

They say time heals all wounds, but there are some wounds that run so deep they refuse to stop bleeding.

https://youtu.be/s1tAYmMjLdY

A cold September afternoon welcomed the dying rays of the sun, the incandescent amber tones of the twilight illuminated the streets of Tokyo, ever so vibrant; full of life, people, delicious food, kaleidoscopic colors, laughter, children running…. Couples holding hands.

A tall man with a blindfold walked down a heavily transited sidewalk with his hands in his pockets and a small bag of pastries hanging off the side. Slowly, he made his way further away from the more concentric streets towards a park, he found a bench near a fountain and took a seat placing his bag right next to him.

The world remained the same and yet everything seemed to have changed, the days were now long and boring, conversations with people didn’t manage to hold his attention for long; missions were repetitive. Everything seemed… dull, opaque, flavorless, empty…

Everything, except perhaps his students who were the only sliver of hope he had left. Those kids would make it far in life, they were going to change the world and he was going to be there to help them along the way. A sad smile pulls at his peachy lips. You would have liked that. After all, the kids also enjoyed your company back in the day when you were still his. It was as if you had become their adoptive mother of sorts at some point. Your nurturing nature guided you to care for others.

A year ago when Yuuji was placed under his care and tutelage at Jujutsu High it had been hard for the boy. At the time the kid had just lost his only living relative and to top it off he also consumed the most powerful curse ever known to man kind.

He had so much responsibility on his shoulders Satoru couldn’t help but make the connection with himself when he was a kid his age. That’s how Satoru decided to take him home for dinner one night; he couldn’t have been more pleased with his decision. Of course, you adored Yuuji. His sweet snd enthusiastic personality, his polite manners and naiveté made him just endearing in your eyes.

Even Megumi, who barely spoke with his more taciturn approach asked about you. Satoru didn’t know how to answer. The dark haired boy would also come and visit your home to help you prepare some foreign delicacies you loved to cook. Sighing once more he ran his hands through his white hair.

***-Flashback-***

“So where’s Y/N-san? I haven’t seen her in a long time?” Asked Megumi right after Satoru returned from New York. It caught him by surprise

“She… she doesn’t live in Japan anymore” was all he said before changing the subject. Megumi looked at him with eyes wide open but decided not to pry.

Yeah… that probably was weird. Someone asks you about your spouse and you say they moved out of the country. It was pretty obvious what that meant.

***~End Flash Back~***

Sighing he opened the small paper bag containing his mochi, he loved his desert but lately he didn’t even have the will to indulge in sweets anymore. Satoru consumed insane amounts of sugar to stimulate his brain. The problem was that during the past year all that stimulation manifested in the form of vivid memories of you. Your voice, your smell, your presence. It was as if his brain chose to take him down the path to misery, as if to rub on his face what he could never have.

As of last week you were officially not Y/N Gojo anymore. He finally signed those blasted papers giving you your freedom and his capitulation.

It had been one of the worst days of his life.

After signing the divorce Satoru went straight to the liquor store where he found that exotic apricot liquor he liked in New York and bought a bottle. Once he made it back home he proceeded to get drunk out of his mind. The next morning he woke up by the pool, laying down on a tanning chair, wearing only a pair of boxers and hugging your wedding picture.

His head was killing him, at some point he had emptied his insides in the pool. A disgusted grimace reminded him he had to hire some help to take care of the house that was an absolute disaster, faithfully reflecting the state of its owner.

That morning, nursing a hangover he swore off alcohol for the rest of his life.

But hey! On the positive side he didn’t remember at all that night! Which means he ‘probably’ didn’t think about you (yeah right! As if he was ever not thinking about you) and how much he hated the fact you were not his Y/N Gojo anymore. You were not his wife anymore…

The memory made him want to cry like a baby. He lost the person he loved the most in his life because he had been one flaming idiot.

Despite all his efforts he could not forget you. Wherever he went, whatever he did… there you were, tormenting his waking and sleeping hours like his own personal curse.

He tried to get over you. He tried to be the asshole you knew him to be. He slept with so many women he couldn’t even count. But at the end of the night, in the throes of passion it was your face that he saw, your body that he craved, your flavor that he yearned and your name the one he called out when he climaxed.

He was absolutely fucked.

Revisiting memories of the last night he saw you he couldn’t believe how stupid he had been at the time. It took him so long to realize he had always been in love with you but Satoru, being well… himself, he didn’t want to see or admit that he had been head over heels, madly in love with you. He was a cynical bastard and that had cost him dearly. He chose to lie to himself thinking that THE Gojo Satoru was above all human weaknesses… including love. What an ignorant fucker he had been.

He wondered how you were doing and if you ever thought about him.

A frown made his handsome face look stern. Well… you were not alone anymore. Suguru also had stayed back in New York with you. After Satoru returned to Japan, Ijichi told him Geto Suguru wouldn’t be working out of Japan anymore. He had requested a transfer to the Americas.

Of course he did…

It had been one of the reasons Satoru fucked so many women. In his delusional mind he was ‘getting even’ with you for sleeping with Suguru. Not that he knew for a fact you were sleeping with him or not but… I mean….

Come on! It’s mother fucking Geto Suguru we are talking about here! 6’2 of pure sculpted muscles, tattoos and bad boy looks but with a Prince Charming complex. Yeah… Satoru was green with jealousy because he knew his former best friend was a better man for you than he ever was.

Looking down at his mochi bag he realized the small item had paid the price of his anger as he uncurled his death grip from the bag. Sighing he tossed the ruined pastry in the trash can to his left.

“Miss you….” He whispered to the wind.

———–

“I’m home!” You announced walking into your apartment. Setting you bag down as well as a couple of grocery bags “did you start dinner already?” You ask pleasantly surprised although you already knew the answer to that question since all the apartment smelled fantastic. Suguru walked out of the kitchen with a big smile wearing an apron that read ‘Kiss the Cheff’ nods “yes! I figured I would give you a hand tonight!” He answered as you walked to him to wrap your arms around his waist and give him a chaste kiss on his cheek “thank you Sugu. How was your mission?” You asked deciding to set up the table while Suguru finished dinner. “Not too bad actually, it was a special grade but nothing I couldn’t deal with” you returned a bright smile “I’m glad”

Your friendship with Suguru had slowly evolved into something else. You both spent all of your free time together. Your connection was deeper than mere sexual attraction. Suguru truly understood you, cared for you, shared your dreams and hopes. He was the type of poetic soul who would stay awake with you well into the night just to talk about the stars, the book you read that week that you loved, the new music you liked. It was wholesome.

On the more carnal side you desired Suguru and he desired you but you hadn’t taken what was going on between you two further than a few passionate make-out sessions and some cuddling.

After you last saw Satoru everything became worse before it got better. Suguru had been your rock, he had been there for the sleepless nights you spent crying. Without a word he held you in his strong arms and allowed you to let go. He knew you were deeply wounded, your emotions in disarray and your mental stability in peril. But Suguru never asked anything from you, he gave you the strength to go on. To take care of yourself, to keep going with your career. To have… hope.

It seemed like a dream to think that your life had changed so much in the span of a year. You weren’t able to recognise yourself anymore. Pain and duress molded you into someone new, better, more resilient, harder to hurt.

At this point, the only person you fully trusted was Suguru, he was always honest with you, no matter what happened or how much something hurt, he always remained true to himself and to you.

It was impossible not to love someone like him. He was the whole package.

Suguru was handsome, that was indisputable. But Geto was more than a pretty face. He was kind, truly kind! He did things out of the goodness of his heart, not because he expected anything in return. He was honest, Suguru Geto would never lie to you and THAT is what you loved the most about him.

He was patient.

He wanted you to be his but at the same time Suguru wanted you to heal, to have the chance to trust and love again, not as a means to forget about Satoru but because you wanted to choose a new path for yourself.

After diner you helped with the dishes and then settled on the couch. Suguru joined with a smile and two glasses of wine. He handed you one and sipped on the other one “what would you like to watch tonight Kitten?” He asked sitting next to you while picking a movie from the titles available on the screen of the tv.

“Anything you like! It’s your turn to pick” you said with a smile, leaning your head on his shoulder making Suguru smile. These tender displays of affection always made him feel so warm. Passing an arm around your shoulders he kissed your forehead.

You look up into his hazel eyes you blush. Suguru didn’t lose a second before he closed the space between your lips. The kiss was soft but meaningful, you didn’t hesitate to return it; wrapping your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to then climb on his lap straddling his hips.

The handsome sorcerer leans back, relaxing and running his hands slowly up and down your naked thighs covered only by the small fabric of your shorts, he strokes them softly leaving a path of warmth in the wake of his touch. Suguru deepened the kiss. His tongue delved in your mouth, slowly inviting yours to join the delicious dance. After a few minutes you pulled back, you are breathless. Your heart beats fast and the adrenaline was making you dizzy in anticipation.

Suguru looks at you, leaning his forehead against yours “I missed you” he ads before engulfing you in another passionate kiss, not even giving you the chance to reply. This time his lips are more demanding, his teeth nibbling your lower lip, requesting entrance. His tongue still tastes like the wine and you recognize his addictive flavor. Suddenly you find yourself laying on your back on the white couch, Suguru is on top of you and your legs are wrapped around his waist. Things are getting much more heated than you anticipated. Your hands roam the expanse of his back over hard muscles and warm skin covered only by the thin layer of his t-shirt. You know if you keep going this way you won’t be able to stop.

https://youtu.be/yBatuRGZAmA

A part of you doesn’t want this to end, you want to go all the way with Suguru. But… as much as you hate it, there is a tiny part of you that feels ambivalent about it. You wonder why is that you can’t just… do it!? You want Suguru! God! You desire him more than you can express with words, the growing wetness between your legs is evidence that you indeed were very much sexually attracted to him and yet your mind kept torturing you.

It was… complicated.

Your marriage with Satoru have been over longer than that piece of paper you got last week said. But erasing your feelings wasn’t something you could ever hope to do.

As much as you wanted to give yourself to Suguru it felt wrong that you were holding a part of yourself back. You wanted to give him everything, he deserved EVERYTHING of you. It wouldn’t be fair to just have sex with him when he deserved to be made love to.

You love Suguru, everyday that goes by your feelings for him grow and intensify, it was hard to even understand why would you hesitate and yet you did.

Your passionate kiss slowly becomes more tender until you are just sharing small pecks. Suguru pulls back with a little comforting smile; he felt the change in your body language, he knew what was going through your mind. You explained it to him before and he didn’t want to push you. He knew you needed to go at your own pace and he respected that.

“I’m… so-“ you starts apologetically but Suguru stops you with a little kiss “don’t… don’t apologize, I know baby…” he said reassuringly. Sealing his tender words with a kiss. When you separate again he asks “Alright little kitten, tell me… what’s it gonna be? ‘Dorian Grey’ or ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’?” Pulling you in his strong arms he cuddled with you on the couch, returning to the choices for movie you had.

You were so thankful for this man in your life “let’s go with ‘Only Lovers left Alive’”

With a last kiss he started the movie and pulled a blanket over you both.

He could wait, he would wait till the end of time. For you.

———-> Chapter 13/Part 1

Tags:

@sleepyamaya

@cloudsinthecosmos

@jxvajxy

@satoruhooraaa

@my-reality-is-in-my-head

@dok-ja

@jscarlet06

@fiona782

@thatsharklovingwoman

@heichoustheoryofcleanliness

@syynnaaah

@shaylove418

@coldvillainess

@vampgguk

@sukuna1stwife

@tampon-earrings

@actualdeemon

[fatui-gf]

Childe x Dom!Reader

this work will contain femdom, slight bdsm, bondage, light degradation and overstimulation, so if you're uncomfortable with any of these, don't read!

the reader IS NOT Lumine or Aether, they are an adventurer from the guild but have no relation to the protagonists of the game, they are over the age of 18

Everyone knew Childe as somewhat of an unpredictable and dangerous man. He was quite the problem childe, easily ending up in fights, getting a kick from danger. That's what really got him excited, the uncertainty if he'll even make it alive. Always ignoring all of this pain, sometimes even enjoying it which he wouldn't like to admit.

But he felt something special, something more while fighting with you. There was something so alluring about the way you would move and gracefully use your weapon of choice while still remaining gentle about it. He could see that you never wanted to hurt him, even though you knew he was trouble and a fatui, not the guy to be trusted.

As the days went by, you've developed an interesting relationship. Childe would surprise you when he got the time, taking you out to eat or just have fun in the city, always being the one to pay for everything, of course. Gods, this man loves spoiling you.

Slowly, this turned into a friendship but you wondered if this could turn into something more. He would sometimes make dirty jokes or some suggestive remarks but never something that would make you sure that he's into you. He looked like a player after all, he was quite hard to decypher.

This day, you were in your apartment in Liyue, you've just finished cleaning yourself up after getting done with the commissions for the day when you saw a familiar man's face looking at you through the window, standing on your balcony as if this was normal behavior.

As soon as he saw you, he started tapping on the glass, wanting to be let in. You sighed and opened the balcony door. He just laughed nonchalantly

"Hey girlie, long time no see" he said with a smile on his face.

You wanted to ask how he got up there but then realized that it might be better not to. You shot him a small warm smile.

"Are you bored again or injured from. a battle?" you asked.

He laughed "Not this time, I wanted to be better and was more careful this time, for you. But I can see that you like acting as my little nurse though, huh? Do you really love me this much?" he giggled softly, teasing you.

You felt warmth on your cheeks. Again not being obvious, this man... Trying to hide your initial response, you just rolled your eyes and sat on the bed. He followed, still not taking his gaze off of you. He rested his hand against his cheek with a grin. He looked so adorable, it was hard to believe that he was a fatui harbinger.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about you lately. You have no idea how much I've dreamed about those hands of yours around my... I meant to say, your hands intertwined with mine"

Wow, was he bold. You didn't know how to interpret this but you've had enough, all of this teasing and remarks, it drove you insane at this point. You firly grabbed his chin, positioning it so that he would look directly at you. There was no turing back from this point. You could see his eyes widening from surprise and a pink flush appeared on his face.

This boy was so caught off guard and damn, did he look absolutely adorable like this.

"Playing rough with me, girlie? Just don't be surprised if I bite back" he teased you again.

He truly was a one hell of a brat. It filled you with excitement, how endearing it would be to tame him.

"As I expected from a dog like you, all you ever do is bark and threaten to bite but as soon as I'd raise my voice, you'd turn into a puppy".

Childe felt his length harden in his pants. You could notice it too but focused on his embarrassed expression.

"I'd like to see you try, make me" and so he provoked you.

You gently pushed his shoulders so that he fell on his back on the bed. You started to kiss him deeply while undoing his shirt and tossing it aside.

You could see all the healed scars on his stomach as well as two pink nipples. You gradually made your way to them, sucked and bit on them resulting in a few moans escaping Chile's mouth.

You then unblucked his pants, paying attention to his glowing vision. It looked so pretty glistening in the rays of setting sun. You gently put it away, trying not to damage it and just wondered if using it in some form to play would be too much. You then used his belt to tie him to your bed.

"Confident, are we?" he laughed, his blue eyes staring at you from underneath his long eyelashes.

"I'm just doing what had to be done since long ago, you're always talking, always looking like the cocky guy but truth be told, you're just a little bitch when someone finally knows how to handle you properly".

You could see him gasp, probably never been told something like this before. But saying that it didn't arouse him would be a lie.

"Then turn that little bitch into your bitch" he winked at you.

You removed his pants and looked down at his bulge. You slightly poked it with your foot, slowly stroking it which made him breathe more heavily, a few moans escaped his lips. You kept going as you took off your top and later your bottom, keeping only a beautiful new lacy lingerie. You wanted to just feel fancy today, chilling at home feeling confident in yourself with this new set on but it turned out to be so convinient.

He practically could eat you with his gaze, he loved how it looked on you, you looked like a goddess. You then pulled down his underwear, allowing his dick out, it was pink and very erect, leaning towards his stomach. You placed your hand on it, caressing it with your fingers and you could feel the precum on them. You looked at them and then at Childe and put your finger in his mouth, making him taste his own precum. Due to the humiliating nature to what you've just done, he would like to admit that he got off to the taste of himself but he did. He closed his eyes and sucked on it. He looked so desperate.

You went back to touching his member, picking up on the pace and put a few fingers inside his ass. This made him moan the loudest and you could see his eyes get a little bit teary.

"Y/N please-" he somehow muttered between the moans.

You were practically milking him at this point, going rough with no mercy.

"Please what? Use your words."

He felt so embarrassed but managed

"Please make me cum, please- I feel like I'm so close, I will do everything to you, I'm your personal slut".

It was hard to believe that Tartaglia would say such explicit things in this manner. You then stopped which was met with a displeased groan from Childe.

"You have to earn it".

His eyes sparkled as you unblocked his hands.

"On your knees".

He complied and stepped from. the bed to then kneel right in front of you, his cock painfully twitching. He moved his hand to your thighs getting high of the smell of your skin. He wanted you. So bad. At this point he felt like a bitch in heat, lost all of his self control as he spread your legs open, his tongue basically automatic, going on your clit. It took you by surprise that the harbinger knew what he was supposed to do right away.

He was skilled or maybe just the heat got to his head so much that he tried his best. This didn't really matter though because anyway it felt so good. Not only did you make such a dangerous man get on his knees but also serve you. You were truly special and he had masochistic desires but let's just focus on you being special.

He kept going with all his might while also caressing your thighs. You felt the pit in your stomach growing as you grappled his hair and pulled on it. You came right on his face.

"Such a good boy..." you whispered.

You then tugged on his hair again and placed him below you. You then took your panties and placed them on top of his dick. Childe gasped. You then proceeded to stroke him with the lacey panties right on top of his length.

"I wonder what the other fatui would think of this pathetic image. Tartaglia, the great harbinger getting jerked off with panties as he pants and moans like a slut. You're so embarrassing" you teased him which finally brought him to his climax.

Sharp breaths accompanied his moans. You tossed the cum stained pa tied away, will probably make him wash them later. You then placed yourself right on his cock and started moving.

"No! Wait, you can't do that i-it's- fuck.... It's too sensitive!" he exclaimed breathily.

You kept on going as he basically screamed underneath you.

"Fuck, this hurts so much that it's good" Chile's eyes practically rolled back, he was such a mess, teary eyes, drool rolling down his chin.

But he was your mess, your adorable boy. You kept going as you felt him cum again, feeling his warm semen filling you as he gasped and moaned and groaned. You touched his cheek lovingly, wiping the tears with your thumb. You got closer to him and placed a lot of kisses on his face. He was wrecked, in a good way.

"Soooo... does that make us, like, a thing?" you asked while looking away. You really did fall for him and didn't want it to be just purely sex. You wanted more of him.

He pulled you closer, putting his shaky hands in your hair as he gave you a peck. "Does that answer your question?"

You cuddled him, holding him very tightly and close, making sure he stays with you. You both fell asleep like that, curled up together. In the morning when you woke up earlier than him, you made sure to make breakfast for the both of you. It felt so warm and domestic. Childe felt like home to you.

Author's note I had to move blogs because I wasn’t satisfied with it being a side blog, I wanted to keep it as a main so if you’ve seen this ff before, that’s why! Also, this is my first fic so please don't be too harsh on me dhdhjdnd. I'm posting it at 5am for me because I couldn't sleep so I'm sorry if I missed any typos, feel free to correct me! And I hope you liked this little scenario, pls share your thoughts about it with me 💗

[fairytalesofthewind]

Can I request The Avengers with winged!male!reader, who is a new member of their team? Reader is a ball of joy and love, he's like everyone's kid, until he gets snatched by Hydra agents and later is found with one of his wings cut off, leaving a permanent and ugly scar on his back. After that he shuts down completely, lays in his bed all day long and doesn't talk to anyone : he became a wreck of the person he used to be.

I really would like to see The Avengers helping him cope and Tony coming up with some crazy idea, which lead to Reader receiving a prosthetic wing and once again becoming an official member of The Avengers.

Anon, you are a true genius!

warnings: hydra (so also torture, a bit of gore, and kidnapping)

+ implied Stucky 

I called the male reader Icarus, you’ll find out why ;) I may be a little bit too obsessed by mythology. Sorry that I didn’t write with ‘you’. 

wordcount: 2424

Requests are open!

Icarus was found by shield at age 15. He had been an experiment of hydra for 3 years. He remembered the day the Avengers had infiltrated the facility where the majority of hydra worked. He remembered hearing the explosions and screams while he was trapped in the many cells of the building’s basement. The only occupied cell what that of his.

He had felt his surroundings shaking, had felt the dust falling on him as the building was ready to collapse. And then the bombs stopped getting fired. The screams had stopped. Icarus had thought the fight had completely stopped and that the people were either dead or that the people had fled. Icarus had thought no one was coming for him, and that he was trapped in his cell, no way to escape.

But then he had heard a single loud bang. It came from the door leading to the basement. He saw that the metal door had an imprint of a fist in it. Then he heard another loud bang, and saw how the imprint expanded. After a few more hits, the door gave away and fell to the floor.

A man with a metal came walking up to him. Icarus knew who he was, emphasis on was. Because the man ushering towards him wasn’t the Winter Soldier anymore. That was what the agents had told him.

“Hey kid. Hang on in there, we’ll get you out as soon as possible.” He said and came closer and inspected the outside of his cell. More specifically, the keypad in front of it. “Hey Stark, I’m gonna need your help here with some tech.” Bucky came even closer to his cell and Icarus’ eyes widen as his hands neared the glass.

“Stop!” Icarus yelled. Bucky froze at the command, and dragged his eyes up slowly to the panicked boy in front of him. “You can’t touch the glass.” Icarus warned him, his tone a bit softer. “It’ll trigger the alarms and then gas will come out of the ceiling.” Bucky frowned looked up at the top of the cell. In each corner was a camera, along with a small metal tube coming out of the walls. He supposed that the gas would come out of there.

“Is the gas deadly?” He asked the boy, there were probably going to trigger the alarms trying to get him out. But they would have to find another way if the gas is really dangerous.

“No,” Icarus started, “it just makes me go to sleep.” Bucky nodded as stepped away from the glass container. They would have to wait for a few minutes until help – the help being Tony- arrived.

“So…” The boy drawled out, “Are you really a 100 years old?” He wanted to look at Icarus with a ‘are you serious’- look but as he saw the curiosity written on his face, he responded a soft smile.

“I’m 106 years old.” He felt a pang of amusement as he watched Icarus’ eyes widen.

“Isn’t that a bit weird?” Bucky tilted his head, silently asked the boy what he meant by that. “You know…with friends, and lovers. You’re much older than them.”

Suddenly Stark entered the basement and said: “Well, Bucky doesn’t have any problem with that seeing as his boyfriend is also a super soldier and also very old.” He strutted over to the keypad on his cell. Icarus stared at him with wide eyes because – oh my God this is The Tony Stark.

“Friday baby, tell me how to get the angel out.” He said. Icarus blushed a bit, most of the agents didn’t call him an angel because of his wings. But rather demon. He didn’t which one fit the best seeing as he had neither white wings, nor black, but brown wings.

Tony was quiet for a few long seconds. He looked concentrated, not that they could see his face through the helmet, but his head was tilted just a bit. He let out a loud drawn-out sigh and said: “Yeah, no can do, that’s going to take hours. I’m just gonna blast it.”

Icarus straightened up immediately, if he were to do that he would just trigger the alarms. It wouldn’t do much to the glass either, because it was made of something special. Before Icarus could let out a warning, he heard the zooming of Iron Man’s blasters and then he heard a small explosion.

The boy made eye contact with Bucky after he saw gas coming out of the metal tubes. Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he picked up the curse words both of the men let out.

Only a few hours later did Icarus wake up. It was very quiet around him, but there was also an unfamiliar sound that he didn’t recognise that made him realise that he wasn’t in his cell anymore. Did the agents change their mind on waiting a few more months to send him on a mission? Did they suddenly decide to get rid of him? Did they-

“Ah, you’re waking up.” The voice was so much more gentle than he was used hearing. It reminded him of how his family used to talk to him.

They were dead now, by the way, with courtesy of hydra.

Icarus opened his eyes and looked to his right where the voice had come from. He recognised the man, he was the Falcon. Sam was still wearing his suit, with his metal wings. Icarus eyes fell to the said wings and frowned.

“You know, you guys are in big trouble.” The people around him straightened up. Already thinking of the possible things the boy could say. There was something you didn’t think about, this was just a distraction and now the shield base has been taken care of properly. You lost-

“These are copyrighted.” Icarus pointed to his own wings. “I could sue you for plagiarism.” Sam lowered his head in relief as he let out a little chuckle.

“I’ll pass it on to the boss.” He said as he looked to the other side of Icarus. The boy followed the line of sight and saw Tony sitting on the other side of him. He was immediately attacked with concerned questions about how he was feeling. Tony told him that they were going to bring Icarus somewhere safe, there were going to give him a home. But all Icarus could think about was, oh my God, this is The Tony Stark.

Icarus was 16 when he started his training. He was done basically living in the hospital wing of the tower. Apparently hydra had really taken a toll on him. Physically and mentally.

He had begged the captain to train him. But Steve had refused time and time again claiming that Icarus wasn’t ready yet.

Between recovery and asking for training, he became friends with Sam. Well, he became friends with everyone. You could even say that he became their family. But it happened with Sam the fastest. Sam took care of him from the start. He visited Icarus every day to check up on him. He helped the boy get comfortable. Icarus saw Sam as a…dad?

They would fly together almost every night. They would soar over countless buildings in New-York. They would stop on skyscrapers and talk about everything and nothing. Sam became his best friend, he became his family.

Icarus was 17 when he realised how much the Avengers truly cared about him. It was his first mission, and the Avengers were acting like overbearing mother hens. It wasn’t even a big mission, it was just to pick something up and bring it from place A to B. But due an unexpected rainstorm Icarus couldn’t fly back. He arrived hours later than he should’ve had at the meeting point.

And to say he had received an ear full about it was an understatement. For the next few days after that mission, he had heard one rant to the other. It was all the same: about how he was precious, about how bad it would be to lose him because he was their family. He was their ray of sun- no scratch that- he was their sun. He was their kid.

Icarus was 18 years and 2 months old when one of his mission went seriously wrong. Sam wasn’t there to support him in the sky. And Tony was needed on the ground. But as multiple planes left to escape, he had to go after them. There weren’t only hydra agents on those plane, but also innocent hostages. Hostages that would probably get used for the same purpose Icarus had been used for.

So he couldn’t just let the planes go. He went after the plane of which he thought was filled with hostages, but was only filled with agents. He had entered the plane just before it’s backdoor had closed. He realised his mistake as he was suddenly surrounded by a dozen men with guns.

One of the men closest to him raised his gun towards him and shot. Icarus felt a sharp prick on his neck and he already knew what was going to happen. Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he picked up the curse words his family let out on the comms.

Icarus was 18 when he was recaptured by hydra.

Hydra had claimed they had no use for him. They already had a better reproduction of him.

But that didn’t mean that we are just going to get rid of you, no stupid demon boy. We are going to have a bit of fun with you.

Icarus was 18 years and 5 months when he lost one of the most important things of his life.

He lost of one his wings. That means that he not only lost one of his limbs, but he also lost being able to fly.

He wouldn’t be able to do the thing he loved the most, he wouldn’t be able to fly anymore.

Icarus was 18 years and 8 months old when the Avengers had to save him again from hydra. But the boy they saved wasn’t the Icarus that had been captured. He was missing something –besides from the obvious; his wing.  

From the moment Icarus had returned home, everything went just a bit worse day by day. He was unhappy, of course he was. Not only had he lost his wing, but he also had a very large scar where it used to be.

He felt terrible. He would spend almost every hour buried under the safety of his blankets in his bed. He didn’t leave his room, no matter how much his family tried to get him out.

One day Bucky entered his room, he brought some tea and breakfast with him. “Good morning, little angel…” The rest he said fell on deaf ears. Icarus had buried himself under his blankets himself.

A few seconds later felt the cold rushing over him. The bed dipped beside him, Bucky sat on the blanket so that Icarus couldn’t use them to hide anymore. But it didn’t really help much as the boy just turned his back to him, his one wing currently hiding himself.

Bucky cleared his throat. “Look, I know how much this sucks. I lost my arm, I know how it feels.” Suddenly Icarus had sat up, and was now looking at him with an angry face.

“You think you know how I feel?!” Icarus pushed him off the bed. They were now both standing with Icarus pointing a furious finger at him. “You just lost your fucking arm! I didn’t just lose my wing, no I lost the thing I loved the most! I can’t fly anymore, and you know whose fault is that?” Icarus kept walking closer and Bucky kept stepping further away from the boy.

“It’s my fault! I was overtaken by my giddiness of the mission and I got distracted, I was too overconfident.” Bucky was almost in the hallway with the way he kept backing up.

“And besides, James. You got a metal arm in return. You can still do everything!” Unlike Bucky, Icarus didn’t have another wing.

And that, had given Bucky an idea.

Icarus was 18 years and 11 months when Tony had dragged him out of his wing towards his lab. He didn’t give him any choice to struggle back, he was coming whether he wanted to or not.

Tony had covered his eyes just before they entered the lab. He had made him sit on a stool. He heard a few nervous coughs, so he knew that the other were there as well.

Tony granted his sight back after a few seconds of rambling something that Icarus was too tired to listen to.

“-and we hope you will like this…”

In front of him, on a stand, was a metal wing. It was a similar size of his own. He had thought: what is the point of a monument? But then Icarus realised that what he was seeing wasn’t just a metal wing, it was also a suit. He felt a few tears roll down his cheek and immediately afterwards felt someone’s arms going around him.

“Oh, it’s alright, angel. It’s going to be alright.” They let him cry his heart out, patiently being there for him.

It was a few days later that Icarus sat in the craftsman’s lab again. Tony was securing the many straps on his new suit. He explained him the rules of the new suit, of what it could and couldn’t do. “Now, Sam will help you fly again. He knows how the metal wing work. My advice for now is to not fly too low, or too high. You don’t want to hurt yourself.”

Icarus was 19 when he was given back the thing he loved most; being able to fly. He was able to be happy again. He picked up the nightly flights with Sam again. Sometimes staying away from the Tower until 5AM. He was almost back to his normal self; he was already back to being the most energetic member of the team, and he showed how grateful he was almost every second of the day.

This night he was sitting on a building with Sam eating his pepperoni pizza.

“You know, you’re in trouble, right?” Icarus looked up at Sam with raised eyebrows.

“These are copyrighted, and you know, I could sue you.” Sam pointed at his metal wings with a small smirk.

“Copyrighted my ass, you can’t beat the original.”

[evilmortys]

okay,  so,  here  are  my  thoughts  on  the  finale,

i’m  gonna  start  with  the  things  i  didn’t  like,  just  because  of  who  i  am  as  a  person!  my  feelings  are  mixed,  but...  looks  lovingly  at  evil  morty.  he  truly  was  the  only  exception  as  usual  ♥

i’m  not  going  to  lie,  this  whole  thing  felt.  rushed.  although  some  of  rick’s  meta  commentary  about  not  touching  citadel  shit  because  it  was  canon  and  he  and  morty  were  supposed  to  be  going  back  to  lighthearted  one  off  adventures,  and  “the  second  he  reveals  that  he’s  evil,  we’re  out”  made  me  laugh,  it  also  felt  very  disingenuous  and  ham-fisted.  having  him  do  all  these  fourth  wall  breaks  honestly  took  away  from  the  impact  of  what  this  episode  could  have  been,  but  whatever.  

i  just  got  the  vibe  that  they  wanted  everyone  to  stfu  about  the  citadel  and  evil  morty,  so  they  quickly  stuck  together  this  episode  that  dealt  with  fans’  demand  in  one  fell  swoop  so  they  could  move  on  from  the  existence  of  both  plotlines.  i  honestly  thought  it  was  a  bit  wasteful  since  tales  from  the  citadel  resonated  with  a  lot  of  fans  and  it  was  an  interesting  bit  of  worldbuilding  with  compelling  narratives  going  on.

you  already  all  likely  know  how  irritated  i  am  with  morty’s  character  degrading  so  much  once  again.  this  entire  season  has  been  building  him  up  to  becoming  so  much  more  capable,  only  to  wrench  it  away  from  him  again  by  instead  having  his  co-dependency  with  rick  ramped  up  to  the  point  it  was  literally  out  of  character.  this  has  come  out  of  nowhere.  at  no  point  in  the  show’s  entire  run  has  morty  ever  been  this  needy  with  rick.  

again,  i  feel  like  this  may  have  been  written  around  what  eventually  ended  up  happening  at  the  citadel,  with  the  revelation  that  mortys  are  ‘bred  for  forgiveness.’  it  would  have  been  far  more  compelling  for  our  morty  to  have  continued  to  go  down  the  path  of  being  decidedly  unforgiving  of  rick’s  bullshit,  thereby  making  him  deviate  from  the  norm  in  a  similar  way  to  evil  morty  himself  and  implicating  that  the  cycle  of  a  morty  going  to  these  extremes  is  going  to  be  repeated  once  again.

rick  did  not  deserve  or  earn  voicing  the  recognition  that  his  dynamic  with  morty  was  toxic,  and  abusive.  are  you  fucking  kidding  me?  the  smartest  man  in  the  universe  only  JUST  clocked  onto  that?  bullshit!  he’s  known  all  along,  and  he’s  been  using  it  for  his  own  gain!  he  doesn’t  get  to  just  say  it  with  that  regretful  voice  as  if  he’s  been  clueless  /  oblivious  to  it  this  entire  time.  they  just  wanted  the  audience  to  feel  sympathetic  for  him  by  throwing  in  this  tidbit  and  a  tragic  backstory,  as  if  that  even  sort  of  makes  up  for  everything  he’s  put  his  family  through.  

abandoning  the  people  you’ve  hurt  is  ALSO  abusive  and  toxic  behaviour!  he’s  done  it  time  and  time  again!  how  is  acknowledging  the  fact  that  you  hurt  people,  that  you  hurt  your  family,  the  people  that  love  you  despite  the  fact  you  objectively  don’t  deserve  it,  then  ditching  them  once  again  instead  of  staying  with  them  and  improving  as  a  person  and  helping  everyone  heal  from  what  you’ve  put  them  through,  ANY  BETTER??  he  never  changes!!

i  also  couldn’t  really  process  the  fact  that  rick  just  handed  morty  his  portal  gun  like  it  was  nothing--  i  feel  like  him  topping  it  off  and  using  it  behind  rick’s  back  should  have  been  a  bigger  deal  than  what  it  was.  also,  morty  would  not  break  a  guy  out  of  a  mental  asylum  without  a  second  thought.  he  simply  wouldn’t  do  that.

we’ve  fallen  right  back  into  the  status  quo  of  morty  being  stupid  and  rick  being  the  smartest  one  in  the  room  who  always  knows  what’s  going  on,  even  when  he  actually  shouldn’t  for  the  sake  of  a  few  meta  jokes.  which  is  more  annoying  than  i  can  put  into  words  tbqh

obviously  i  hated  all  the  parallels  they  were  attempting  to  make  between  rick  and  morty  having  a  romantic  relationship  and  “breaking  up.”  never  has  morty  behaved  so  uncharacteristically  in  any  other  episode  of  the  show.  it  honestly  felt  disrespectful  to  all  the  growth  he’s  had  as  a  character  to  reduce  him  to  something  so  pathetic.

i  guess  this  is  less  of  a  thing  i  disliked,  and  more  of  a  commentary  on  rick’s  character?  but  once  again,  his  hypocrisy  really  leapt  out  at  me  once  it  was  revealed  that  he  always  has  a  hand  in  bringing  together  beths  and  jerrys  in  order  to  ensure  that  more  mortys  will  end  up  in  the  multiverse.  i  find  it  unbelievably  sad  that  he’ll  willingly  ensnare  the  two  of  them  in  the  throes  of  a  relationship  that  he  knows  is  likely  to  become  toxic  and  cause  the  both  of  them  to  be  miserable  throughout  their  time  together;  they’re  rarely  happy  /  compatible  together  and  always  end  up  sticking  it  out  for  the  kids.  it  also  makes  his  constant  shitting  on  jerry  even  more  egregious  and  almost  serves  to  call  his  love  for  his  daughter  into  question  for  me.  he’s  using  her  as  a  means  to  his  own  ends  by  manipulating  situations  so  she’ll  meet  jerry  and  they’ll  likely  end  up  together.  

don’t  get  me  wrong,  i  actually  really  loved  the  fact  he  had  a  hand  in  founding  the  citadel  he  now  loathes  so  much,  and  i  think  the  constant  creation  of  mortys  as  grandsons  ‘bred  to  forgive’  ricks  is  so  fucked  up  and  awful  in  the  most  intriguing  way.  it’s  akin  to  him  fiddling  with  the  concept  of  keeping  mortys  in  constant  pain  to  cloak  his  comings  and  goings  around  the  multiverse  (on  paper,  morty,  on  paper!),  except  this  time  he  did  it  in  reality.

evil  morty.  oh  my  god,  evil  morty.  my  saving  grace.  my  ray  of  light.  i’m  so,  so,  so  pleased  with  the  way  he  was  handled.  while  i  admit  i  was  looking  forward  to  more  of  a  slow - burn  thing,  getting  a  bit  of  insight  into  his  presidency  and  possibly  exploring  a  dynamic  with  him  and  c-137  (we’ll  get  to  that)...  i  honestly  still  really  loved  what  ended  up  happening  with  him,  even  though  i  still  believe  on  some  level  that  they  just  wanted  to  tie  up  his  narrative  thread  so  fans  wouldn’t  remain  fixated  on  him.

of  course  he  did.  of  course  that  motherfucker  rick  created  a  boundary  within  the  infinite  multiverse  that  ensured  he’d  always  be  the  smartest  man  within  it  as  far  as  mortys  and  other  people  in  his  life  were  concerned.  i’ve  always  found  it  odd  that  such  universes  were  never  brought  up  even  in  passing;  the  nature  of  infinite  possibilities  always  dictated  that  someone  smarter  than  him  must  exist  out  there,  and  that  worlds  existed  where  he  was  nobody  special.

him  being  morally  gray.  i  could  cry.  i  was  clinging  on  to  the  hope  that  it  would  be  shown  he  hates  ricks  more  than  he  looks  down  on  mortys,  and  it  absolutely  was.  while  he  was  okay  with  killing  and  hurting  mortys  to  achieve  his  own  “selfish”  ends,  it’s  clear  that  he’s  unhappy  with  the  cycle  of  abuse  from  their  infinite  grandfathers  that  pushes  him  to  these  extremes,  loathes  the  concept  that  mortys  are  not  supposed  to  defy  their  ricks.  “if  you’ve  ever  been  sick  of  him,  you’ve  been  evil  morty  too.”  he  hates  ricks  FAR  more  than  he  does  mortys,  and  you  can  pry  that  from  my  cold,  dead  hands.  he  believes  mortys  are  beyond  help  because  of  the  way  they  stick  by  rick--  the  fact  they’re  literally  created  with  being  yes-men  for  rick  in  mind.

he  didn’t  seek  to  make  changes  for  the  greater  good  of  other  mortys  within  the  citadel.  i  think  he  understood  on  some  level,  it  was  impossible.  i  think  he  has  this  belief  that  other  mortys  are  part  of  the  problem,  because  they  perpetuate  the  cyclic  dynamic  of  toxicity  and  harm--  they  don’t  move  to  break  free  from  it  the  way  he  does,  and  so  he  feels  no  guilt  leaving  them  behind  while  he  breaks  into  the  aspect  of  the  multiverse  where  rick  has  no  power.  it’s  honestly  heartbreaking  that  he’s  come  to  have  a  mindset  like  that.  

i  think  seeing  c-137  reach  out  to  help  rick  up  once  again  instead  of  accepting  what  i  hope  and  pray  was  a  semi - genuine  offer  to  join  him  as  he  departed  was  just  yet  another  instance  of  him  witnessing  a  morty  doing  the  most  to  save  the  man  who  makes  their  lives  a  living  hell.  if  he  was  truly  unsympathetic,  he’d  have  made  no  such  offer.  if  he  thinks  a  morty  is  capable  of  pulling  away  from  the  hold  ricks  have  on  them,  he  wants  them  out  of  this  shit  just  as  much  as  he  himself  wants  to  break  free  from  it.  i  think  he  has  the  mindset  that  i  know  they  tried  to  play  it  off  with  “haha  the  other  seat’s  a  toilet,”  but  i  don’t  think  that  was  the  case  and  they  were  once  again  just  undermining  the  moment  for  no  good  reason.  SCREAMS!!  don’t  get  me  wrong  what  he  did  WAS  selfish  and  evil.  but  in  a  way  you  can  understand  where  it  derives  from

again,  it  REALLY  irritates  me  they’ve  undone  so  much  of  morty’s  character  just  to  ensure  he  wouldn’t  end  up  taking  evil  morty  up  on  his  proposition.  if  morty  had  retained  even  a  tenth  of  the  character  growth  he’s  been  having  from  late  season  four  until  towards  the  end  of  season  five,  wherein  it  began  to  unravel,  he’d  have  left  rick.  undeniably.

the  yellow  portal.  oh  my  god............

it  made  me  so  fucking  emotional  to  see  that.  he’s  won.  he’s  free.  

[solalunar-eclipse]

45.06°N, 1.656°E

Summary: Rouge deserves more cool.

Word count: about 4200 words

Author’s Note: Hopefully my writing abilities haven’t deteriorated too much over the hiatus- but either way, please enjoy! (Side note: this is technically set after Scars You Can’t See, but it isn’t vital to read that if you haven’t already)

...

It was truly a beautiful day outside in Empire City. Puffy clouds drifted across a rich blue sky, a light breeze pushing them along as the sun shone down brightly- just enough to bring the temperature up to a comfortable range. Its rays shimmered upon one of the many tall, silvery buildings that this city was known for, threatening to leave a temporary mark on the vision of anyone who looked at it for too long. This particular building advertised itself as an insurance company’s headquarters, and it looked perfectly in place amongst all the other skyscrapers in the city.

The activities going on inside, however, were anything but ‘in place’.

Near the very top of the towering structure, a bat sat in front of a wall-sized computer screen, her black-gloved fingers flying across the keyboard. Firewalls and security systems fell like sandcastles swept out by the tide- no corner of this building was safe when she was in control. Identity checks meant nothing to her, passwords were a breeze, and two-factor authentication? A joke.

Rouge smiled in satisfaction, taking a break to stretch out her fingers now that she was successfully through the various measures designed to keep hackers like her out of these computers. With a click of the mouse and a few keys tapped, the various sums of money the people who worked here had stolen began to make their way back to their rightful owners’ bank accounts.

After all, this building didn’t actually house an insurance company. That was just a cover story for the real business here- draining the cash out of innocent people’s funds. Rouge had been determined to stop this as soon as she’d learned about it before any more people got hurt (when she stole it was usually from rich people who could afford to have one of many diamonds go missing- this was just cruel!), and now she’d successfully completed about half the job. Just returning the money wasn’t quite enough, of course- this scheme had been running for over a year now, and it was about time someone put a stop to it for good. 

That was where her friends came in.

While she manned the cameras, Shadow and Omega were grabbing plenty of physical evidence from the various offices throughout the building- more than enough to incriminate everyone who worked here. Rouge’s job was mostly to ensure that they could get what they needed without any serious trouble. It might be a difficult task, considering that Omega was set on blowing up most of the tech stored here...but she was prepared to deal with that.

The bat leaned back in her chair, catching a quick glimpse of herself in the window as she did so. Ever since they’d left G.U.N., a great perk (in addition to the lack of association with a corrupt military organization, obviously) was that they could wear whatever they wanted on the job. Before, Rouge had really been pushing it on ‘formality’ with her jumpsuit alone, and even then she hadn’t been allowed to wear anything else while on the job for the sake of ‘consistency’.

Now, in a drastic change from her usual style, she wore a tight black leather jumpsuit over a purple shirt, complete with white gloves and high-heeled boots. The latter two had neon blue accents, too, providing a burst of color as well as an actual light source to see by- perfect for dark missions.

Shadow and Omega hadn’t been allowed any personal effects re: clothing before due to the fact that a few too many supervisors saw them as weapons and not people. Rouge had of course argued against this, but there was only so much one person could do.

Now, though, the bat had insisted that both of her friends get more clothing- ‘if nothing else then to stick it to them’ were her exact words- and they had both taken to it quite well after an initial period of hesitancy. Omega in particular had been quite devastated (and then promptly offended) upon discovering that no leather jackets were currently produced in his specific size. Eventually, however, he was placated with the offer of a fedora, claiming it made him look ‘VERY MYSTERIOUS’. He had now taken to collecting hats as well as weaponry.

Shadow could fit into a leather jacket, on the other hand, and consequently owned about five of them, three of which he’d bought within the same week. Today he wore one with red stitching, and while he hadn’t had anything to say about it, Rouge had caught him admiring it in the mirror before the mission (at which point he scowled, blushed green to his ears, and teleported away).

Right now, though, he and Omega were quietly discussing which documents to take and which ones to leave behind. It would raise suspicions far too quickly if the criminals inhabiting this building came back to discover a completely bare office, after all, so they only took several receipts of major transactions as well as a list of the bank account numbers that had been hacked- and some future targets as well.

(Was this whole thing illegal? Kind of. Did anyone really mind so long as they were helping others? Not really. After all, Tails was totally not old enough to fly a plane, but at this point the government had basically thrown up their hands and said ‘whatever I guess’, so it was fine.)

“ROUGE.” Omega said suddenly, making the bat stop her musing and drop her feet from the desk. “THIS IS IMPORTANT.”

“Yeah, hon? What is it?” she asked, ready to deal with any problems that might arise.

“MY HAT KEEPS FALLING OFF. I REQUIRE SOME SORT OF METHOD TO KEEP IT ON.”

The bat sighed and gave a relieved laugh as Shadow hissed, “Omega! This is a serious mission!”

“It’s alright, Shadow. Omega, we’ll find some double-sided tape or something when we get home, alright?”

The robot paused for a moment, thinking. “THIS IS ACCEPTABLE.”

As Rouge watched, they gathered up the rest of the items and began to move towards the lobby. Today was an off day for the ‘business’, so most of the hallways would be empty. The secretary out front would take his usual break to go get lunch in two minutes as well, giving them a clear chance to escape.

And of course that was when everything went wrong.

It turned out that leaving G.U.N. (while the right idea) wasn’t without its occasional disadvantages. If they’d still been part of the military organization, then they would’ve had the resources to figure out that these criminals were more than a little paranoid, so their security system ran diagnostics every hour on the dot. When it discovered the hacking, it locked Rouge’s access to any other computer terminal and then restricted every single application on that one computer.

These people weren’t exactly beginners when it came to computers, after all.

The bat jumped out of her chair the second her computer glitched and froze, panicked. “Guys. Guys, get out of here right now.” she said urgently into her microphone. “I can bust out a window but you two have to go right now-”

She froze as, on the screen, multiple armed guards and two gigantic mechs dropped down onto the ground level and pointed their guns at Shadow and Omega. The robot moved to cover the hybrid’s back as Shadow pulled his favorite katana sword out of its scabbard.

Rouge refused to sit and watch another minute, kicking the door off its hinges hard enough to slam it against the opposite wall and tearing down the hallway to save her teammates.

Shadow and Omega fought well in the meantime, managing to take out one of the mechs and several guards too. Occasionally, Shadow even curled up and was promptly fired out of his friend’s cannon at top speed, turning into a deadly projectile all by himself.

Eventually, though, one of the guards got too smart and pulled out a stun gun, shocking Omega long enough to put the robot temporarily out of commission. Shadow spun around to defend his friend, using the Chaos Emerald he’d brought along to deliver a devastating blow- but he had nobody to watch his back now, and it barely took a minute before the mech found an opening to slam him into the wall as he dealt with the guards.

Shadow dropped to the ground weakly, temporarily unconscious. Omega was still struggling to get his systems back online.

Rouge, meanwhile, was furious.

The bat rushed to the balcony overlooking the lobby from the third floor, her teeth bared as she watched the mech move into position, prepared to bring its giant fist down on Shadow’s unmoving body. Flipping over the railing, she free-fell the three stories to the ground, slamming both heels into the marble and leaving a long crack across the floor. She snatched up the Emerald from the tile where it had fallen out of Shadow’s quills, holding it tightly in her hand. 

“Leave him alone. Now.” she snarled.

When the mech pilot gave her nothing more than a cursory glance, raising the steel fist higher, Rouge charged.

An ultrasonic shriek exploded from her lungs, making every other human in the room double over and clutch their ears. At the exact same time, the glass in the extra-tall windows of the lobby vibrated, cracked, and then shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Rouge didn’t see any of that. Rouge didn’t care about any of that. All she could see was the hedgehog she’d come to care about so much about to be crushed by someone who barely even knew his name.

She jumped up and whirled around in the air, the power of her wings suddenly (strangely) strong enough to send the mech swaying backwards slightly, before lashing out with a kick that dented the chestplate of the thing and hit it hard enough to-

-and Rouge’s eyes widened-

-to send it flying through the shattered windows and down the street that the building faced, so far that it became nothing more than a speck in the horizon.

This was, incidentally, a mech that weighed over two tons. 

Omega, near the other end of the room, silently thanked every inventor that had ever lived (aside from Eggman) that he had powered back on in time to see this.

Rouge, however, didn’t spare more than a second to think about it, instead dropping to her knees to check on Shadow. The moment she pressed the Chaos Emerald back into his hand, the hybrid’s eyes began to open slowly.

“Ugh….what happened…?”

“That moron of a pilot smacked you into a wall, hon. Are you gonna be okay?” Rouge asked, scanning his face for any sign of a concussion.

Shadow blinked twice, then suddenly sat bolt upright, his eyes wide. “...Rouge? Are you sure you’re alright?” 

The bat frowned, confused, looking over herself. “Yeah, hon, I’m….”

She froze.

While Rouge had seen many strange things in her time, the sight of her lower legs and feet glowing bright purple was certainly a first.

As she jumped back from Shadow in surprise, she let go of the Chaos Emerald in his hand, making the aura surrounding her fade. “What...what was that?”

“YOU WERE SO COOL. THAT IS WHAT THAT WAS.” Omega declared, hauling himself to his feet and walking over. “YOU BEGAN TO GLOW AND KICKED THAT INFERIOR CREATION SEVERAL MILES AWAY. THE ONLY REGRET IN THIS SCENARIO IS THAT YOU WERE UNABLE TO CONTINUE DESTROYING YOUR ENEMIES, AS THERE WAS ONLY ONE OF THEM.”

Shadow looked up at her in surprise and- was that a little bit of awe? “I should have known you’d be able to use Chaos powers!” he said, shaking his head as he got to his feet. “Incredible...it’s no wonder you’re so resilient in battle.”

Rouge pointedly ignored the light flush on her face from all of this praise. “Well, we’ve got what we came for, so there. We’ll leave all of this evidence-” and clearly she wasn’t just talking about the papers- “for that new organization the government’s setting up. What’s it called again?”

Omega shrugged- an odd motion with his bulky shoulders. “THEY’RE STILL DECIDING. HOPEFULLY IT TURNS OUT TO BE SOMETHING COOL.”

“Well, whatever their name is, it’s their job now to deal with all this.” Rouge said, gesturing around at the general mess.

At that moment, the secretary returned with his food, only to stop dead in his tracks and stare at the three members of Team Dark amongst the wreckage of two gigantic robots and a lot of broken glass.

The bat ‘s face split into a wide, wicked grin, pointing directly at him. “And you’ll be the one to explain it to them!”

(It took one extremely short chase to retrieve the man- who foolishly thought he could lose Shadow and Rouge in the alleyways- before he was tied to one of the disgustingly ostentatious pillars by Omega. The team then went home and spent the next two hours watching Rouge glow and then break things…mostly things she meant to hit.)

…

Several days later, her team and Sonic's crew (plus Amy Rose) were in a different city, dealing with the usual biweekly Eggman attack. This one seemed, unfortunately, to not have most of the weak spots that usually came into play when fighting one of his giant robots, as both the power source and the mad scientist in question were heavily guarded.

However, after a particularly well-timed attack from Omega, Amy, and Knuckles all at once, Rouge spotted a panel that was currently rather dented and bent open with some wiring spilling out, and knew exactly what to do.

“Shadow! Omega! Cover me!” she shouted, leaping into the air and soaring towards the robot.

Immediately, she saw several smaller robots explode in her periphery, having fallen victim to the deadly lasers and Chaos Spears that her friends used. Her focus was on one thing and one thing only, though- making it up to that panel.

The moment Rouge latched on, she pulled open the panel the rest of the way and began to rewire the machine at an impressive pace. While she might not be the same kind of tech expert as Tails, who built devices and wrote code most people with a PhD couldn’t understand if they tried, one thing she certainly knew was how to make computers do what she wanted.

Eventually, though, Eggman caught on to what she was doing and tried to swat her off his mech with its two giant metal fists. “What do you think you’re doing down there with my robot?” he shouted, swinging at her wildly.

Suddenly, one of the fists in question promptly vanished, replaced by a smoking hole and a bunch of wires where a functioning steel hand was supposed to be. Rouge, startled, looked around for what could possibly have caused this- and promptly relaxed upon seeing Omega retracting his biggest laser cannon (which was glowing red-hot) back into his chassis with a glare up at his creator.

Thankfully, he’d also provided just the distraction she needed to rewire the last few parts, at which point she jumped off just as the robot began to spin wildly...and then its entire midsection exploded, launching the command center with Eggman still inside a good fifty feet into the air.

The bat landed on the ground to cheers from her friends and took a dramatic bow. Omega clapped a hand on her shoulder in a friendly way (which meant he only knocked the wind out of her and didn’t shove her several feet deep into the asphalt) as Shadow looked on with his arms folded, but still clearly proud.

“Wow, Rouge!” Tails exclaimed, his eyes wide and smile wider. “I didn’t realize you knew your way around that kind of tech that well- you should totally stop by my lab sometime!”

The bat shrugged. “It comes with the job, that’s all.” she insisted, but internally she was more than a little surprised- it still didn’t quite come naturally to her to consider that people would be impressed by what she did. All G.U.N. had ever told her was that she’d done ‘as well as was expected’, which made it seem like her skills were just average. Seeing someone who she’d mostly considered an acquaintance telling her how incredible her skills were when to her it was just ‘something I can do’ was...pretty nice, actually.

Rouge offered him a quick grin as the other three heroes came rushing up to her in varying states of surprise and excitement. “I just might take you up on that offer sometime.”

…

A week after that, Team Dark was spending time at the Station Square mall together- a common occurrence for them. It had good clothes, tolerable food, and most importantly lots of jewelry stores. They were here today because Rouge’s favorite was having a sale, and she refused to miss out on any opportunity to shop for gems.

After about an hour of looking around in the store (most of which was spent attempting to prevent Rouge from emptying said store and/or sneaking things out from inside locked cases), the three finally left with about four tiny bags of jewelry, which Omega wore hooked over his fingers. “THIS SEEMS WASTEFUL, BUT ALSO AMUSING.” he’d commented, at which point the bat riding on his shoulder gasped in mock outrage and began to vehemently defend the store’s choices.

They hadn’t gone more than a few steps, though, before she heard some gasps and squeals somewhere off to the left. She sighed. Some people seemed to have this odd hero-worship thing around Shadow, but the attention only made him feel awkward, so it looked like she’d have to play guard as usual here. Drifting down from her perch as the three young women approached, she said, “Alright, ladies, what are you here for?”

The bravest of the three moved forward, clutching something in her hands. “Uh…”

Rouge prepared herself to say no on behalf of her friend, to hear complaints like ‘why can’t we talk to Shadow?? You suck”, but then-

“...can you sign this poster, please?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t— wait, what?”

The bat stared at the poster, her eyes wide. A picture of herself looked right back at her, a smirk spread across her printed self’s face as jewels dripped from the hand not resting on her hip.

The photo was rather outdated now, having been taken not long after the ARK disaster. Post-crisis, Sonic had insisted that everyone (except for Eggman, since he’d caused that whole mess in the first place) get recognition for trying to save the planet together...and that included her. 

Rouge and Sonic had both been wearing Shadow’s inhibitor rings during that photo shoot. It was their way of making sure that even though he wasn’t with them any longer, even though nobody would really remember who he was, he’d still live on in some little way without a big announcement.

She took the poster quickly, shaking off old memories, and gave them a genuine smile- rare for strangers. “Of course, hon!” she said, taking the offered pen and signing her name with a flourish and a little heart.

The one who’d asked promptly squealed and clutched at the poster, a big grin on her face. “Oh wow, thank you sooo much!” she gushed. “You know, you’re, like, my hero, right? Everyone always just, like, says that you can’t look good and be a real hero at the same time, you’re either a sell-out or too serious...but, you’re, like, both?? And that’s just so, y’know, empowering? To see someone looking fabulous and being a hero, but like not taking any nasty comments about it?”

Both her friends agreed eagerly, and Rouge found herself blushing just a little at all this praise. “If either of you have anything else, I could write something on those too,” she offered, still feeling a little bit bewildered at the moment.

This earned her two simultaneous squeals of “Really?!” followed by a lot of frantic searching for paper. Rouge was more than happy to sign her name there too, even adding a little message to each of them- and to the poster for good measure. As the three fans cheered, snapped a quick selfie with her (which was something she so wasn’t used to either), and then rushed off with a “thank you so much!!” Rouge found herself still smiling as she turned to walk back to her friends.

Shadow and Omega had moved a little ways away during all of the fuss, and now they were sporting similarly pleased expressions with more than a little bit of smugness mixed in. “SEE?” Omega asked, and Rouge could tell he’d be smirking if he were able to do so. “WE HAVE TOLD YOU OVER AND OVER AGAIN THAT YOU ARE EXCEPTIONALLY COOL. YOU DIDN’T BELIEVE US THEN, THOUGH….DO YOU NOW?” He stopped there and somehow promptly assumed an even stronger I-told-you-so air than before.

“Maybe you’ll even get your own fanclub before long...oh, wait. Look what I just found.” Shadow added, tossing his phone over to her. Only the faintest of smirks was visible on his face (they were in public, after all) as Rouge stared at the screen proclaiming the current website to be “The Official Rouge Fansite (anyone feel free to join!!)”.

The bat found herself blushing to her ears, flattered and surprised by all of the support she hadn’t known existed until now.

Omega picked her up and set her on his shoulder, turning his head to look up at his friend. “COOL PEOPLE LIKE YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO WALK PLACES.”

“And-” Shadow added, slinging the bags she’d acquired at the store over her shoulder. “-cool people like you shouldn’t have to carry anything either.”

Rouge wondered briefly if her grin might strain her face if it grew much wider. Leaping down for a moment, she hovered in the air just long enough to ruffle the quills on top of Shadow’s head before perching back on Omega’s shoulder and patting the robot fondly. “You two dorks are the best.” she said warmly.

Shadow huffed and began to walk on ahead, clearly embarrassed. “DORK.” Omega called after the hedgehog, his eyes brightening by about fifteen percent in good humor. 

“She called you one too, you know.” Shadow replied without looking back.

“YES, BUT YOUR DORKINESS IS MORE OBVIOUS.” Omega declared, by now shouting across several stores as Rouge tried to stifle a laugh.

“If you don’t catch up and stop talking I’ll hide all the hats in your favorite store and you’ll never find them.” the hybrid growled.

Rouge promptly discovered that Omega, despite weighing a thousand pounds, could in fact move quite quickly when threatened with the loss of a chance to add to his new clothing collection. The robot fired all of his boosters at once, sending them flying down that particular wing of the mall and nearly slamming into a wall in the process.

After a spirited chase that lasted over five minutes (along with lots of shouts of “get him, Omega!” and jumping off balconies and general taunting), the group was promptly escorted out of the mall without a chance to enjoy the store they’d started the ‘fight’ over in the first place.

Rouge watched her two friends sulk for a minute before smirking suddenly. 

“Guess what?” she asked, stepping back to look at both of them.

When she had their attention, she pulled out a nice new summer outfit with a laugh…from that same place.

“You didn’t.” Shadow said, staring at the clothing.

“OH, SHE DID.” 

Rouge then proceeded to pull both a cool hat in all gold and a nice blue bomber jacket out from behind her back as well, her smile widening even more. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you two at all. Or forgotten to pay, either.” she added quickly with a sigh. She soon shifted to watching with delight, though, as Shadow’s eyes widened considerably and Omega’s head whirled to fixate on her hand. 

“HAND IT OVER.” he ordered, holding out his clawed, metallic fingers insistently.

“Well...since you asked so rudely...no.” Rouge replied, before leaping into the sky with a grin.

“What?” Shadow gasped.

The robot’s eyes narrowed. “DON’T YOU DARE.”

Rouge flew higher at that. “Oh, but I do dare.” She wheeled around and began to fly off at top speed, snickering at the sound of indignant shouts behind her. Soon enough, she heard the swish-swish of Shadow’s skates and the clanking of Omega not far behind.

They might be able to catch her eventually, she mused, soaring through a gap between buildings- she wasn’t that fast, really. It wouldn’t be easy for them at all, though. 

After all, Rouge was just as powerful as they were, in her own way.

[bonny-kookoo]

Hangang River Bride (OT7 x Reader) 🐾☁️💜🔞 Chapter 2: Dog Teeth

🍁Pairing: OT7 x Hybrid!Reader

🍁Genre: hybrid AU!, mild angst, fluff, romance, smut

🍁Warnings: fluff!!, clingy Jimin 🥺, playfighting, cursing, minor injury (Little fox burns her hand), protective Jungkook!, a lot of cuddling, suggestive themes, kissing, heavy making out, alpha!Jungkook, Sub!Reader, knotting, threesome, two to be exact, or is it more like a six-some I dont know okay, big dick! Gang Koo & Tae but wbk, Sweet aftercare, naked cuddling, biting, marking, can someone get me a guy like Namjoon pls, pack dynamics, Yoongis tongue technology, so much soft love gestures like nuzzling and Eskimo kissing and pls don’t touch me this was a wild ride okay-

🍁Summary: after slowly settling down, little Fox slowly gets used to living with the bunch. It’s safe to say that she’s never experienced so much happiness in one place; and sometimes that can get quite overwhelming. And also, she's far from done with experiencing new things; there's so much more for her to explore. Good thing she had more than enough help to teach her the proper way of living- and loving.

Chapter 1 (summary of past events) || Chapter 2: Dog Teeth || ???

Again, major warning for mobile users: The wordcount on this one is a bit over 7.3K words.

It had been a while since you officially moved in with them.

Slowly but surely, you got more and more comfortable with the different personalities of everyone around you, at first a bit overwhelmed with all of the energy and sometimes chaos- after all, all you had known was order and discipline. Yet it felt like this was an actual family, a pack of some sorts; it made you feel safe and warm. Every time everyone was home, it was like everything was complete as well.

Even Namjoon and Seokjin, who you'd admitted to being quite wary off since they were human, had somehow managed to win your little heart along the way.

But what exactly were you all?

You sometimes caught Jimin stealing a kiss or two from Yoongi, who'd never been shy about it at all, yet he also never truly admitted to anything romantic going on between them. Asking any of your owners was useless as well, since Seokjin had just laughed his signature squeaky laugh at you when you'd asked. He'd simply pat your head, telling you to find that out yourself- and you were frustrated ever since. You couldn't just go out and ask them all if there was some sort of relationship going on, that would be way too intruding! After all, you were still the last one to join the dynamic, the lowest in rank if you will. Your entire nature didn't allow you to simply outright ask for what the hierarchy was; it was normal for foxes to find out themselves by simply observing.

Yet that was the issue.

Jungkook was clearly an alpha male, yet he never showed true intentions of actually dominating anyone in a sense of taking leadership. Sure, he was very much dominant in getting what he wanted, yet he never truly used that to his own advantage- for example, he always made sure Jimin got his food first, which, for a very short period of time, made you believe that maybe he was the top dog. Yet then you saw how Yoongi always changed the entire dynamic of everyone's behavior as soon as he'd step inside the room- making you wonder if he was the highest. But that all changed yet again when Seokjin playfully lectured him one time for cutting him off mid sentence. Both humans may stayed oblivious, but you could see his ears tilt back a bit in shame.

So what was true now?

It all didn't make sense at all. How were you supposed to find out your place if you didn't even know what everyone else's was? It confused you to no ends, leading to the situation you were in now; frustrated and sulky inside your room, covered under soft blankets as if to shield you away from the group until you'd finally figured it out. A knock pulled you out of your thoughts, as you could hear a voice soon after.

"Y/n? I called for dinner but- what are you doing?" Seokjin asked with a slight chuckle, sitting down next to the lump of fabric he suspected you under. His hand lifted a part of the blanket a bit, revealing one of your ears and your face to him. "Why are you hiding sweetheart?" He asked gently, scratching behind your ear as he began to look a bit worried.

"I can't figure it out." You huffed, sitting up and looking at the broad shouldered man with a desperate look in your eyes. "You said I should but I can't- none of it makes sense!" You whined, making him smile and deflate a bit as he finally noticed what the issue was. He sighed.

"What did I tell you the first day you were here?" He gently asked, running his fingers over the velvety smooth fur on your ears, chuckling as they snapped back and forth from the tickling feeling.

"You said you're all equal.." You answered, yet it didn't truly satisfy you at all. There were five hybrids in one household, six now with you counted in, there had to be some sort of balance. "But how.. Jungkookie is an alpha but he never eats first.. Jiminie is too soft to be a top dog, and Yoongi always puts himself lower in rank when you're there.." You queried, genuinely feeling your head throb at that.

"Well, you answered your question though." He said, and you tilted your head to the side, not understanding his statement at all. "It all depends who is with who." He said, sitting down a bit more comfortably before patting his legs, inviting you to climb out of your makeshift den and to sit on his lap, which you happily did. "If I'm not there, but Namjoon is, Namjoon is in charge of everything. If he's not there either, Yoongi is. And if he's not there-" He said, smiling at you, "then Taehyung is." He said, and your eyes widened. Sweet and jumpy Taetae? Jin seemed to almost hear your thoughts as he grinned. "Taehyung had quite a problem with his dominance when he first got here. I know it doesn't seem like it, but he's quite demanding at times, forgetting that this household isn't solely his. He's a bit overprotective, you could say." He explained, making you nod your head. It did make sense why you never noticed him bei like that- after all, you hadn't left the house much, and if so, always with someone at your side, never alone. You basically knew no one apart from them. "Jungkookie is a special case you could say. He can dominate any situation at any time, but he chooses not to willingly." He clarified to your now absolutely interested gaze. "He doesn't want to mess with the dynamic too much, and keeps himself in check most of the time. That doesn't mean he won't get into fights with someone- he and Jimin fought a lot when Jungkook first got here. It was a mess, really." He remembered, making you furrow your brows a bit. But jimin was so sweet and soft? "Jiminie was used to being a bit.. pampered you could say. He was looking forward to finally not being the lowest one, so he tried to get Jungkook to fill that role. It didn't work, obviously." He stated, and you nodded. "You could say, Jimin is above you now, which is why he got so emotional when you left back then. He's not a dominant character, but he hates being reminded of that." You flopped against Seokjins chest, making him huff out a breath as he grinned. Your head turned towards the door as you noticed Namjoon. How long had he been standing there?

"Don't be too upset though." He simply said, walking closer until he sat down on the side of the bed, hand reassuringly running over your back, making you purr against Jin's chest. "Since you're a female, I highly doubt anyone will treat you as a true lowest. They all simply want to keep you safe, which by the way, isn't exclusive to them." He said, looking at Jin with fondness as he nodded. "Everyone wants that." He stated, and you attempted to say something, before you heard feet running over the floor, someone sprinting up the stairway as well.

"Hyung no, thats unfair!" Taehyung exclaimed with a loud whine, bursting into the room and jumping on top of the mattress, hugging you from the side and rubbing his nose against your neck in an attempt to scent you- even though that was really not necessary. Now that you knew about him more after what Jin had told you, you could actually see it more clearly. He was claiming you even though Seokjin and Namjoon were way too close to make it useful for him to do so, yet he did it anyways as if to prove a point. Namjoon gently tugged on his ear, a small reminder for the hybrid to tone it down and not get carried away with his antics.

"Hey, we're waiting downstairs to start eating while you guys have a comfy cuddling session?" Jimin exclaimed scandalized, making you laugh into the white shirt of Jin.

"What happened?" Hoseok asked frantically as he bursted into the kitchen after hearing you yelp. You instinctively hid your hand behind your back as he offered his own, waiting until your showed him your hand, fingers a bit red as you had accidentally touched a hot plate in the microwave. He cooed at you, leading you towards the sink where he gently let cold water run over them to soothe the pain a bit. "Better?" He asked, as you nodded, smiling at him again. "Good!" He exclaimed, leaning down to give you an eskimo kiss, making you giggle.

He loved these moments.

At first, you'd been a bit intimitated by his sheer endless energy, worse than Taehyung as he would at least calm down after a bit. Hoseok was always energized it seemed, randomly singing or underlining his actions with cute sound effects here and there. This was him, and you slowly learned to simply adore these things instead of questioning them; after all, you really loved him, and he'd been nothing but sweet to you. He was an absolute ray of sunshine.

It inspired you.

You learned from him to slowly come out of your shell, getting more bold and brave in your actions, even sometimes playfully fighting with Jimin over food- a fight he'd always let you win, even though he was higher in rank than you, and typically always ate first. It didn't matter however, as everyone adored you too much to deny you anything.

Hoseok loved holding you like this, simply having you close and breathing in your scent as he thought about absolutely nothing. He didn't need to, because as long as everyone was in one place, everyone was happy as well, and that instead made him happy. It was as if it was an energy exchange, as he always diffused situations and lightened the mood, his own batteries would charge the most effectively whenever everyone had fun.

This was how it was supposed to be.

"I'm gonna get you!" He exclaimed with a playful growl, before you sprinted away from him, knowing that you couldn't outrun him- but this wasn't a true chase, it was a playful game, something that you have had to learn. It was now a regular thing with everyone around the house; sometimes even Yoongi would join in, yet that was pretty rare. Taehyung and you however bantered quite a lot, usually ending up cuddled together after getting told to stop before you could break anything.

"Careful-!" Namjoon yelled, yet Seokjin simply put a reassuring hand on the shoulder of his husband, turning his attention back towards his cooking. "Those two.." He sighed, trying to not slice his fingers as he began to attempt to chop a carrot under Jins surveilance.

"They'll be fine. Y/N is way more confident these days, she'll tell him if things go too far." He said, and Namjoon nodded. He'd noticed that shift in your behavior as well, a special change which made him incredibly happy. It meant that you had truly accepted everyone and your own place, feeling comfortable enough to sometimes even challenge Jungkook- even though it was never truly meant seriously. He had been worried at first on what could happen if that ever was to occur, yet the wolf hybrid had surprised him entirely, by simply letting you jump on his back at random times, and even letting you win in tickle fights sometimes, even though he was clearly stronger than you were. He was so gentle with you that it made him feel absolutely comfortable leaving the house to his hybrids whenever he had to go to work and Jin couldn't stay home either.

"Gotcha!" Taehyung barked out, as he spotted you hiding behind the couch, playfully throwing himself over your form as he nipped at your neck.

What happened next however, caught him completely off guard.

He could suddenly feel your behind pressing upwards- straight into his pelvis, as your tail flopped to the side, front dipping low. You had seemingly misunderstood his actions entirely by the way you suddenly presented yourself- or it was simply out of instinct. After all, Taehyung was a domestic breed; he didn't understood nor felt his hybrid animal instincts as much as you or Jungkook did. However, with something as absolutely obvious as this gesture, even he felt himself pick up the pace of his breathing, skin suddenly feeling clammy. He'd never thought about you in this way- sure, you were absolutely pretty, but he'd been so concerned over your past that he'd never quite seen you as a potential partner.

"Yah, could you not do that in the living room you two?" Seokjin yelled, spotting the two of you. "Also stop dominating her Taehyung, you know this!" He said, getting closer to him. Yet he stopped in his tracks at what happened next.

Taehyung actually growled at him.

Namjoon, hearing the words, came into the living room soon after, instantly pulling Seokjin back by his shoulder as if to warn him. The way they could see Tae's eyes watch them warily, and the fact that he now held you firmly, canines holding your neck in a possessive way making your ears tilt back flat against your skull.

He'd fallen into a feral state.

The only reassuring thing was that you seemingly had no fear towards him, just pure submission, which did ensure your safety in this very high-risk situation you had found yourself in. Taehyung was way taller and stronger than you, so you fighting against his hold could end with injury- even if Tae was a sweet young man. In this state of mind he wasn't to be messed with, even if he was only a domestic breed. Yoongi came inside the living room after hearing the commotion, eyes widening at the scene. He immediately turned around, Pushing Jungkook inside the nearest room- which was the guest bathroom in that case, before the wolf could react any further.

This was bad.

Seokjin however, held nothing back, shaking his husbands hand off as he went closer to the two of you, not backing away or getting intimitated in any way, not even as Taehyungs growls got louder, Namjoon getting more and more nervous. Jin however, held his ground, grabbing the younger hybrid by the hood of his shirt as he pulled him off of you, pulling him to the ground. It may seemed awful what he was doing, as he held him down to the ground by his neck, yet this was necessary to make him snap out of it. Your eyes widened at the dog hybrid down on the ground with the elder holding him firmly by his neck, knee positioned on his back to keep him where he was. You jumped up, running upstairs as you shut your door, burying yourself under your blankets. This was your fault.

And you felt horrible.

"Taehyung, do you know why I did that?" Seokjin asked gently as he ran his hand through the hybrids hair, now sprawled over the elders lap on the couch. Namjoon had opened windows to get rid of the stuffy air, while Yoongi talked to Jungkook, calming him down and reassuring him that nothing had happened, and no one was hurt. As a predator he was way more sensitive to shifts in a situation like that, so it took a while, but he eventually became calm. Taehyung was back as well, now a bit teary eyed as he held onto a pillow, his very sudden adventure into a feral state leaving him vulnerable. It was normal, Namjoon said. He would get over it in an hour or two, as soon as his pheromones were back to normal again.

"I know- I know and I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to I-" He stammered, holding onto the pillow even tighter as he remembered what had happened. "I don't even know why I-" He said, and Namjoon squatted down in front of the couch, scratching the boys ears as Jungkook emerged from the bathroom, a bit on edge yet visibly calm enough to walk into the room and not bite the head off his elder packmate.

"Well I know." He simply said, sitting down a bit further away, back against the cold glass door that led to the front porch. "She was presenting, it was normal that you did what you did." He explained, and Yoongi nodded as well as he stood near the sofa, watching Taehyung.

The cat hybrid sighed. "I don't mean to you know, sound like a pervert or anything, but it's bound to happen at some point." He said, explaining further as Seokjin and Namjoon looked at him questioningly. "She's a female, she's submissive, and due to her species she compliments both canine and feline hybrids." He clarified, Namjoon nodding. "It doesn't matter if we all take surpressants or not; as long as she doesn't undergo some procedure to prevent her from being able to get pregnant, we're all walking on eggshells." He stated, making Namjoon furrow his brows.

"But that doesn't make sense." He disagreed. "She's a completely different species. There is no way for her to get pregnant in the first place." He argued, making Jungkook nod this time as he chimed in.

"Thats true." He said, before looking at Tae. "But that doesn't mean she won't smell ready." He clarified, and Seokjin became more serious, making Taehyung sit up now. "So, to make it clearer; just because we can't knock her up, doesn't mean we won't try." He said, making Yoongi snort a bit at the way he phrased his sentence. That diffused the situation a bit, making everyone less tense.

"I'm gonna go to Y/N now.. I-" He said, slowly getting up. "I need to apologize. She's probably feeling super bad right now." He said, and Namjoon nodded, against the very concerned face of seokjin. The elder however didn't say anything, trusting his partner that he knew what he was doing. He had more knowledge after all.

"So what does that mean?" Jin asked, now a bit torn. Could this mean they had to give you up?

Namjoon sat down now. "It means we'll have to see. If she doesn't want to be intimate with anyone, we'll ask her about a procedure to be done. If she doesn't want that either, we'll simply have to adjust. We can't simply give her away anymore, with how much she's bonded already." He said, and Jungkook nodded.

"There's another issue though." Yoongi grumbled, as he sat down next to Jungkook. "You can't just try and fool me by saying you aren't attracted to her in a romantic sense. Lets face it;" He offered, letting his head rest against the cool glass behind him. "We're all whipped for her."

Everyone was silent for a moment, before Namjoon sighed. "We can't force her to love any of us. After all it took us all enough time to settle down our feelings with each other as we were, and that never involved intimacy apart from Yoongi and Jimin, and me and Seokjin." He said, and everyone agreed.

This was a mess.

"Y/N?" Taehyung timidly asked, knocking at your door softly when he couldn't spot you. He saw some movement underneath the amount of blankets piled up on your bed, making him sigh. He went closer, sitting down as he let his chin rest on the mattress, hand reaching out. "I'm sorry for what happened, I didn't.. I don't know why I did that." He mumbled, and suddenly a small hand emerged out from the blankets, searching a bit on the surface before finally finding his, holding it. He smiled gently, unfolding some blankets to finally meet your eyes; thankfully not scared, but hesitant nonetheless.

"I don't know why I did that either, I.." You mumbled, now sitting up and playing with his hand. "And you got in trouble because of me." You apologized, gaze falling downwards in shame. "m' sorry.." You said, as he shook his head, climbing onto the bed to sit, his hand running over your head a few times.

"No, it's alright, we were both kinda out of it." He said, and you looked towards Jungkook and Yoongi entering the room, body suddenly curling up and trying to appear smaller as they came closer.

"It's alright sweetheart, no need to back down." Yoongi said, walking closer and sitting down next to tae, leaving Jungkook to simply pick you up and settling you onto his lap, tail softly swaying from side to side in fondness at your body being so close to him. "But I think its best to talk about it." The eldest in the room said, looking at you. He felt a weird sense of comfort seeing you in Jungkooks arms, as if you were right where you were supposed to be. He shouldn't quite feel that way, considering his actual romantic interest in you, yet it somehow didn't feel wrong- there was no envy whatsoever.

"Do you like us?" Jungkook questioned, voice rumbling in his chest against your back, making you shudder a bit. The question was absolutely out of the blue and so unexpected that you had to collect your thoughts a bit before answering with a yes. Of course you did, after all, they were your family- you trusted them with your life with both eyes closed. Taehyung however shook his head, as Jungkook asked again, this time, a little differently. "No, not like that. Do you like us, as in, love?" He asked, and again, you nodded.

Yoongi sighed from his spot, crossing his arms with a flick of his ear, showing his irritation. "Jungkook is being shy again." He said, making the wolf look at him with an absolute scandalized expression you couldn't see, but it did make Tae laugh, so it must've been hilarious to see. "Let's phrase it like that." He said, crawling a bit closer to you as you swallowed. Yoongi had always had this charm to him- his feline eyes had always made you feel weak. "If, let's say, Taehyung would kiss you-" He asked, making yours and said dog hybrids eyes widen. "What would you do? Or better- what would you feel?" He asked, making your skin suddenly feel all tingly.

Those were thoughts solely kept to yourself. You surely had wondered what it would be like to feel them in a more romantic sense of skinship, of course, but you respected the boundaries too much as to ever let it go from a simple daydream to more. And now Yoongi sat in front of you, all serious, and asked you.. this? What in the hell were you supposed to answer? "I'd.. I- don't know.." You said, and Yoongi hummed, sensing your nervousness.

"Then what if we tried it?" He said, making you almost stop breathing. "Not him, but let's say, me." He offered, making Taehyungs ear fall a bit, yet he understood why he was changing the person of interest now. Even though he was calm again, there was still a high risk that he could fall back again, and with Jungkook in the room, that could end horrible. "Only a peck, alright?" He asked, and you nodded- maybe a bit too enthusiastically, as Jungkook chuckled behind you, and the cat hybrid in front of you smirked.

It all went so fast.

His lips were suddenly on yours, molding perfectly in your opinion, before pulling away, giving you no time to really think about it. It was short, way too short, yet it only ignited something inside you you'd held captive for so long. You whined, ears flattening against your head as your head chased after him, making Jungkook hold his hand against your chest, holding you back. "No, I said just a peck, not more." Yoongi said, making you pout in defeat. "So?" He asked, and you scoffed.

"I wanna go again." You argued. "That was too short, I wanna go again-" You said, before Taehyung placed a kiss just barely on the corner of your lips, making you squeak. "Nooo, Tae that's not fair, now I-" You whined, before Jungkooks hand found its way underneath your chin, making you tilt your head and body a bit to allow his lips to fall against yours as well, just for a short moment, before pulling away. You growled, and it made everyone coo- since it sounded nothing but cute to them, considering you didn't mean it seriously whatsoever. "How can I concentrate now?!" You complaint, as Yoongi pulled your attention towards him again.

"So, you want to kiss all of us now?" He asked, and you nodded, before turning red, and trying to undo that statement. "No darling, you don't get to take that back. We don't mind that, it actually makes us really happy." He said, genuinely smiling at you as you could spot his sharp canines, gummy smile now blinding you. He rarely ever smiled this widely. Taehyung chimed in, now excited as ever as his tail thumped on the mattress beneath him in a fast pace.

"What about Jiminie? Or Hobi?? Or Namjoon and Jin?" He asked, and you shrunk down in Jungkooks lap with a red face, simply nodding as Taehyung smiled brightly at Jungkook, who chuckled. "Hyung, hyung, she loves us!" He exclaimed as if Yoongi hadn't heard nor seen any of it, his tail going a mile a minute as Yoongi laughed, shoving the hyperactive hybrid off of him with a grin.

"Who loves who?" Jimins voice asked from the doorway, making Taehyung jump up and cling onto the cat hybrid, grinning at Hoseok and their two owners behind him with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Y/N loves us all!"

Things continued actually quite normally, apart from the fact that everyone- including the two humans- got way more touchy than they used to be. Kisses were shared, some more in secret while others were placed with purpose, showing open affection and or to tease you. You didn't mind at all- it made you feel special, and loved.

Sometimes however, kisses would turn warmer than usual, more needing, and leaving doors to uncharted territory opened for you. It wasn't like you were a virgin by any means- yet you never truly tied sex to romance at all. For you, those things were two entirely different things, one of them making you feel good, and the other simply necessary act to try and produce offspring. So you were a bit surprised when Taehyungs kisses got a bit more demanding, his hands wandering underneath your soft cotton sweater, roaming over the skin underneath. Why was he being so.. delicate? If he wanted to take you, why be so unsure with it? "Hm, I love you.." He hummed in between kisses, making you smile a bit. He chuckled before slightly lifting the piece of clothing, as if asking for permission. You seemed confused. "Do you.. not want me to.?" He silently asked, making your eyes widen a bit.

"Why do you ask?" You wondered, making him detach himself a bit from you, eyes now a bit glazed as if hurt. You were confused.

"I do but-" He said, voice a bit strained as he realized what your confusion could be a sign for. "Sweetheart I don't want to do it just because I want to. I want you to want me too." He said, and you still tilted your head, unsure what he meant. You couldn't give him any pups whatsoever, so why would it be something you would want as well? "Have you ever, you know.. made love before?" He asked, now confused as well.

"Made..love? Wait, is that what you guys call sex?" You bluntly said, and Jungkook stopped in his tracks as he walked past your room, now peaking inside, curious what you were talking about. "Hello Kookie!" You waved, happy smile on your face as Taehyung couldn't tear his eyes away from you, deep in thought.

"Hello love." The wolf greeted, walking closer and patting your head, tapping Taehyungs back a bit. "You okay?" He asked the older one, who suddenly looked at Jungkook with eyes holding somewhat of a helpless glint in them. "What're you guys up to?" He asked, trying not to get too concerned for now.

"Taehyung asked me if I ever made love, but I don't know.. how do you make that?" You asked Jungkook, who's eyes only softened at that, understanding more deeply than the dog hybrid did. He came from a place similar to you, still sure he'd seen you before in the halls back then. He knew what female hybrids were typically used for, yet until now he'd hoped you were one of the few who'd escaped before it could happen. But if you were that clueless, then he was wrong- meaning that you had already been 'taught' what intimacy was.

It had been confusing for Jungkook as well at first, when he'd noticed Yoongi and Jimin emerging out of their room one day, way more clingier towards the other than usual. It didn't make sense why two male hybrids would ever want to be together in that sense, considering there was no actual use of it. There was absolutely no way that offspring would occur, so what was the point? He'd had a long talk with everyone back then, as they explained to him that no, sex didn't need a purpose other than showing another one that you deeply cared for them. It was not just a way to reproduce, but to also feel close to someone else in the most pleasurable and intimate of ways, and Jungkook had to really get used to that concept for a while, before eventually finding the sense of logic behind it.

It seemed the same with you.

"Look, little fox.." He hummed, sitting down close to you as he combed through your hair with his fingers. "I know what they probably taught you about all this. Please forget everything about that, okay?" He said, and you looked at him confused. "Your purpose is more than just getting bred, alright? You're more than your body, and you're more than just a pet." He stated, making your eyes glaze over the same way as Taehyungs had done.

Said dog hybrid nodded, before hugging you close, licking over your ear as if to console you as he noticed your scent shift. "H-how do you.. make love then?" You asked timidly, now curious but also too hesitant to take any initiative. You felt so open and exposed, you felt as if the only way to mend you back together was with the gentle touch of those two lovers of yours, who had such a delicate way of touching you. "Can you.. show me?" You asked, and Taehyung wanted to disagree, telling you that you should wait until you're ready, but Jungkook simply nodded.

This was difficult, because you would never know when you'd be ready. Right now you were vulnerable and at the same time sensitive to everything around you, making it the perfect moment to exchange any bad memory you had with this kind of stuff with new, loving and warm ones made out of affection and love, not out of pure reason. "What do I have to do?" You asked, ears now alert, ready to follow whatever they'd tell you. But Tae simply shook his head, nose nuzzling the crook of your neck where your scent was strongest.

"Nothing at all sweetheart. We'll take care of you." He mused, as Jungkook gently pulled your sweater over your head, exposing your skin and underwear to both of them, making him lick his lips. He should be angry at the large hands of Taehyung which wandered over your skin, mapping out your body to for his mind as if to imprint it for himself so he could forever feel you whenever needed, yet Jungkook simply watched in absolute endearment as the size difference of the hybrid and you got more prominent, your tail now swaying from side to side, ears moving frantically as you sighed, experiencing new feelings. He should be concerned with the open door, but they were all well aware of each other's antics, so there was no need to keep anything a secret. "Hm, is that good?" The deep voice of the dog hybrid whispered almost, as you nodded your head, own hands now reaching for Jungkook who'd simply watched until now. You turned on Taehyungs lap to face the wolf, as the alpha leaned forwards, kissing you with a newly ignited fewer, tongue immediately exploring your mouth as you mewled, moving on Taehyungs lap as he kissed along your spine, unhooking your bra for you before he tapped your arms, making you slip out of the straps holding the underwear safe on your shoulders.

As it was dropped carelessly onto the ground, Taehyungs hands instantly moved to fondle your breasts, sighing in content at the soft feeling of them, making you squirm a bit on his lap, putting pressure on his already rapidly hardening length. Jungkooks hands turned their attention towards your shorts, pulling on them a bit more impatiently as Taehyung had done with your clothing, making you wriggle out of them, your underwear alike, making both of your lovers sigh at the view of glistening slick already dampening the fabric.

You tried to turn around, getting ready to present as Jungkook held you in place firmly, making you slip lower with an oof as your head landed in Taehyungs lap, who smiled above you. Jungkook immediately changed his position, face immediately dipping lower, as his tongue licked from your entrance up to where your center began, growling possessively at the taste and scent of it. "You're so precious, sweetheart." He hummed against you as he continued his motions, making you close your eyes at the foreign feeling of pleasure. You held onto Taehyungs arm as his other made sure to give your chest enough attention, eyes full of adornment as he watched you cling onto him in pure bliss, hips moving in a rhythm only you seemed to feel. You began to huff suddenly, getting more sensitive as Jungkook stopped, moving to get rid of his clothing as well, nodding towards his friend to do the same, as they began to both shed until they were bare, Taehyung now taking charge as he crawled over you, Jungkook taking your hands as you reached for the dog hybrids length, ready to please him. "No, this is about you." He gently said, making Tae nod as he held himself in his palm, running his head over your slick entrance before entering you, making you take in a sharp breath, before your eyes glazed over. "Are you okay?" the wolf asked a bit concerned at your reaction, making the dog hybrid stop for a moment.

Were you okay? You were more than that, you were overwhelmed with the feelings that shot through you. You felt so loved, so comforted, so complete that it made your eyes water, making you cry in happiness as you sniffled, nodding your head to console both of them. "I'm just.." You began, voice a bit croaky. "I feel so happy." You said, making both of them coo at you, as the dark haired hybrid wiped away your tears, kissing your forehead, then your cheek, then the tip of your nose as Taehyung began to move, slowly, without any goal in mind. "Tae-" You chanted, making him chuckle as you whined at the teasing tone of if, as he licked at your neck, mouthing at the sensitive spot there, while your hands kept seeking contact with Jungkook, who's heart swelled at the gesture. "Hng.." You hummed, as Taehyung slipped out of you, palming himself towards his release, before switching spots with Jungkook, who was quick to fill you again, his pace much more aggressive, yet not less filled with love. "Want-" You began, getting interrupted by your own moan as Taehyung ran his hands over your shoulders, giving you a silent reminder that he was still there, as he nipped at your ear playfully. "Want you knot-" You whined out, and Jungkook growled along with Tae at the pleading tone of your voice.

"You want my knot little fox?" Jungkook queried, a hint of teasing color to his tone as you nodded, back arching so enticingly as you came closer to your own release. "Hm, you sure you can take it sweetheart?" He asked, picking up his pace as he felt his end approach. "Want me to fill you up? Hm?" He asked, and again, you nodded, craving him, slowly understanding what he'd meant with feeling close. You felt so safe, so protected, so utterly loved and adored that you could've sworn you were able to fly, able to grow wings and reach for the heavens without any boundaries. He grunted out a curse as he dipped down, biting the unoccupied side of your neck hard, yet not hard enough to truly hurt you long-term. His hips stuttered as he felt himself swell up, making you mewl out as you felt him inside you, locking himself safe as his warm cum spurted out, filling you up with its warmth. Taehyungs hand reached between your bodies as he noticed your frustration but tries to keep quiet over the fact that you were so close- yet unable to come. You violently breathed out as his fingers reached your pearl, using your slick to run over it a few times, making you finally tumble over the edge, your walls clenching as Jungkook breathed deeply, the feeling making him a bit oversensitive as he let you both fall to the side, careful to keep you close as to not hurt you with himself still locked inside you. Taehyung laid down close to your back, making it possible for you to rest against his chest comfortably without fearing to tug on Jungkooks knot.

The simple feeling of skin against skin, the way both of them groomed you with outmost care, and how they both had you in their middle, shielded from the world, made you purr out in happiness, breathing in your now mixed scents.

It smelled like home.

"Seems like you guys had fun." Yoongi grumbled from his spot leaned on the doorframe as Jungkook still held you, and Taehyung continued to sleep as he buried his head into your neck. "You good there, little fox?" He asked amused, as he saw your head emerge from between both males, happiness clear on your cheeks as they were still a bit red, your hair a bit unruled. He smiled at you, before Jimin stepped inside.

"I want to cuddle as well.." He carefully asked, unsure if both would really want him close. Taehyung giggled and patted the bed behind him, as Jimin jumped in, making you all giggle as the carefree situation shifted when Jungkook sighed, his knot having gone down enough to finally have him slip out of you, his cum seeping out, still warm from how you safely kept it inside. Yoongis pupils contracted, sharply locking his gaze on the scene as he felt the need to claim you as well grow inside of him. He stepped forwards, kneeling down as he pulled on your legs, making your body slide towards him as his hand ran over the mess you unintentionally made, before placing his tongue onto your bundle of nerves, tasting not only you but also his two packmates on you, making him smile. You squirmed a bit at the feeling, entirely different from Jungkook or Taehyung, as Yoongis tongue was naturally a bit rougher due to his feline nature.

He hummed, a bit teasingly still. "Hm, Tae and Kookie been eating good as well, it seems?" He wondered, as you slowly grew red around your cheeks. "How about I'll show you how to really enjoy a meal, yeah?" He stated, and you simply whined as he dove back in again, this time a bit more demanding, a bit more dominant as he held your legs open for him, Jimin now crawling over, watching the ordeal with his own eyes darkly on your pleasure- drowned face. Taehyung moved to the side a bit as he made space for the feline hybrid to take his place next to you, watching Yoongi eat you out like a starved man, exactly knowing how to push your buttons by instinct. Jimin turned your back towards him, pulling you close towards his chest as he laid on his side, having already gotten rid of his clothes simply because the majority of you didn't wear any as well, and he craved a more intimate skinship with you either way. He was a clingy lover, always trying to keep the people dear to him close, needing physical touch as a form of confirmation that he was loved. It was logical, in a sense; as a male calico cat he was said to be weird and unnatural as they rarely ever occured in cat hybrids. He was everything but that, but it had taken a bit to boost his confidence to a more normal level.

"Hyung's really good, isn't he?" He whispered into your ear, voice lower than you'd ever heard it being, making you arch into his body as he carefully led his length towards your entrance, slipping in with ease as Yoongi momentarily stopped, watching as the younger one filled you up so perfectly, making him palm himself in his sweatpants, painfully hard at this point. "What do you think, little fox.." Jimin wondered as he spotted the older one on the ground. "Think you can help Yoongi?" You nodded, already reaching out to him as Jungkook moved tiredly to the side, Yoongi sitting on his knees close to you, your hand already finding his cock, soft hands moving with gentle motions, inexperienced yet oh so pleasurable, simply because it was you. He felt his precum smear over your hand as you looked at him with such warm eyes, full of bliss and happiness, as he grunted, leaning down to kiss you hungrily, making your movements falter a bit before you resumed, now a bit more confident as he sighed into the kiss, breathing a bit heavier as he struggled to shed his pants and underwear, finally joining the rest in ridding himself of his clothes, room way too stuffy and hot anyways to keep them on. Jungkook and Taehyung simply watched from the sides, enjoying the show as Yoongi spilled into your hands, catching his breath for a moment until Jimin bit into your neck, teeth a bit sharper than Jungkooks and therefore leaving more distinctive marks as he stalled, cum spurting inside you as you came as well, with yoongi rapidly rubbing over your lower lips, making you yell out silently, reaching for yoongis hand to push him away in oversensitivity as Jimin pulled himself out of you, cum slowly dripping down.

"What a mess.." Yoongi mused, moving to stand up, yet Jungkook suddenly held him from behind, cuddling up to the older one as he made him lay down with you, everyone suddenly needing to be close again.

"Just sleep, hyung. We can clean up later." He grumbled into the older ones neck, grooming him respectfully as Jimin still held you close, Taehyung behind him as well.

"Hyung." Namjoon hushed, catching the older one's attention as he pointed inside Taehyungs and Jungkooks shared room. "I think the issue solved itself." He whispered, making Seokjin smile.

Yes, maybe it really did solve itself.

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

“A GOD’S GIFT”.

HAPPY LOWMAN X READER

Prompt 54 requested by @HOOOLI13 and an anon. “She’s my girl”. “I’m what?”

WORD COUNT: 3.1k

Thanks to my lovely beta reader @chibsytelford 💘

WARNINGS: Smutt and fluffy Happy.

AUTHOR COMMENTS: I hope you all enjoy. English isn’t my first language, I’m sorry if I have some mistakes with grammar. The gif isn’t mine.

Tag list: @STARRYNITE7114 @CHIBSYTELFORD @DAZZLEDAMAZON @MARA-MPOU @SAMMSKELLINGTON 💥 (if you wanna be tagged, send me a message!)

** Flaco = skinny man.

The first yawn appears near to twelve in the morning. You've been working for the last six hours with the motorbikes of the crew, after deciding that it was a good time to go over the bodies. Covering your mouth with a hand, making a bad move, you cut the back of the other. A slight scream goes out of your lips. Seeing how the blood begins to sprout, you jump from the floor to take a cloth to wrap it. It's not a deep one, but goes all over the back of your hand and it stings too much. You're not the kind of girl who has a low pain threshold, but you've been feeling weak these last few days and sounds like someone has cursed you.

Walking through the yard, with the work jumpsuit knotted to your waist, you notice that your shirt is stained with your own blood and seems more exaggerated than it really is, just because you shook your hand as a reflex act.

“AYE! The bloody hell, kid?!” Chibs is the first one who practically jumps off of his chair, leaving the cards on the table, to take your arm between his fingers. You release the cloth to show him with a smile forced on your lips.

“You ok?” Happy is worried too, placing his body behind yours, looking over your shoulder. He's not surprised, not as Juice, who has a look of horror in his face. Unbelievable he's a Son' and all the thing he has done.

“Not sure if I should gotta' the hospital. It's not... deep, not even painful, but the body of the bike was covered in grass and oil”. You raise your gaze to the president with a soft shrug.

“Ya' shoul', kid”. He nods after some seconds looking thoughtful.

“Got you, love”. A tattooed arm surrounds your abdomen, pushing you to follow him in his way to the parking on the front yard. “How you did it, uh? What were you thinking about that distracted you?”

Happy looks at you intrigued. He knows you well, he knows how concentrated you are when you're taking care of their motorbikes, but you don't have a correct answer for him. The man clicks his tongue, leaving some hidden caresses on your belly now that you two are so close. And with the hand you placed before on his shoulder, you give him some tickles, with one of your nails trailing the skin of his neck. He pulls himself away abruptly from you, with a shy smile on his face, rubbing the area where your finger was.

It happened seven months ago. You were drunk and you lost a bet against him. One thing led to another, and you began to be friends with benefits, with the difference that you don't fuck with other people. You never talked about it, but seemed like Happy was satisfied with you, and you with him. Even if Chibs told you it was fine, you're not the kind who mixes business and pleasure; but sometimes, you like play soft games like this one. Happy is not someone dearly, and you're sure that you are the closest thing to having a girlfriend for him, but he tries to make you feel comfortable all the time.

┅┅ ┅ ┅ ┅┅

You don't know what's going on, but the emergencies are almost collapsed, so seems like you're gonna have to wait. Another yawn forces your mouth, shaking your head hoping this helps you to stay awake. Happy has an arm on the back of your seat, turning slightly with a raised eyebrow. Now he knows what happened, making him snort looking away. Last night you were talking until very late with Tig and probably you didn't sleep much longer than three hours.

He's not jealous. But he is. But he's not gonna tell you. But you feel it. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's annoying. You come closer with the intention of giving him a kiss on his cheek, next to his lips, before he pushes his face away under a deathly silence that is going to give you some problems today. You try again, and again, till you notice how he's hiding a smile.

“I could do it all the fuckin' day, until you kiss me”. You say proudly, and he already knows it. “Kiss me”. You demand in a whisper with pursed lips, and his eyes challenging you. Your fist goes straight to his shoulder, making him rub it with a mock wince on his face. “Kiss me, you fuckin' jerk!”

“You're so aggressive. You should work on that”. He finally says, making you frown.

“‘YOU’ are calling me aggressive? Seriously?”

Lying his back on the chair, he nods very sure about his words. Fortunately or unfortunately, when he's about to kiss you, with his lips so desperately close to yours, your name sounds through the megaphone. It's been thirty minutes since you came and probably your hand is gonna fall into pieces, if they don't clean it quickly.

Crossing the hallway, you go to the indicated query, having a seat on the hospital gurney unwrapping your hand to show the wound. The nurse moves a small side table, having a look before healing you.

“What happened?” Shanon asks wetting a cotton with alcohol.

“I was working in the workshop, with the bikes”. You say, while your friend shakes his head starting to clean it. “It was with one of the bodies”.

“You're coming to the dinner, tonight?” She inquiries, while Happy is on the opposite corner against the wall.

“Yea'course!”

Wednesday is for girls, because Thursday is your free day. You and your crew meet at Shannon house to have some dinner together, before go to drink some beers in Charming. Usually, you end at Happy's house.

Five minutes later, your hand is covered by a bandage. The nurse gives you a prescription for some analgesics in case you continue feeling pain on it. With a kiss on her cheek, you head out having a look at your hand, moving your fingers for a second. Happy walks by your side, opening you every door on your way, to avoid you have to do unnecessary efforts.

“You wanna me 'ride you home?” He asks, helping you with the helmet.

“Club, please. I've to talk with Chibs”.

He nods. Man of few words. Sometimes it's maddening. But you take advantage of a traffic light a red, tightening your arms a little more on his waist, to kiss his nape dearly. He tries to avoid it pulling away as he can, making you laugh.

“Stop, I'm pissed off”.

“Why? 'Cause I was talking with Tig? He called me, why didn't you?”

He doesn't answers, rolling your eyes with a heavy snort. Dealing with Happy is fucking hard sometimes. He's not the kind of man that talks a lot, mostly in silence listening and judging. And you like it, but just sometimes. And of course, not in a moment like this one.

┅┅ ┅ ┅ ┅┅

“Ya' good, kid?” Chibs walks towards you, hitting softly your forehead with the palm of his hand. “What 'da docta' said?”

“That I should rest the hand today and tomorrow. But I finished your motorbikes, so it's practically like I'm enjoying my free days”.

“If Friday ya' don' feel rai', stay at home. Or come to see us. Three days without ya' is pretty much”. He nods, putting an arm on your shoulders in a warm hug. 

“Wanna whisky, ah?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Hey, what happened”. Tig goes out of the main hallway, walking next to you to take your hand carefully.

“Just a cut”. You shrugs, even if he looks worried.

“Yea', if she had slept more hours, she wouldn' have been distracted”. Happy says, 'cause of course he can't keep his mouth closed as always.

“I'm not talking to you”. He replies with a frown.

“But she's my girl and it's your fault, shithead”.

“What?” You're not sure if your asking for the first thing that he just said, or about the second one.

“And why it's my fault, genius?”

“'Cause she couldn' sleep enough, listening your cocky problems about which legs you should open, 'cause hers are closed”. Happy is sitting calm on a chair, raising his feet and supporting them on the table.

“Ya' know? I'm gonna fuck you up, man!” Tig is angry, looking that the poisoned dart of the other has hit him right where he wanted.

“C'mon! 'Am fuckin' wishing kick your ass!”

Two deer fighting, horns against horns, in a time of constant mating. This is what it looks like, when you have to push them away from the other.

“You're not gonna fuck her! Put those words in your fuckin' damaged brain!” Happy is truly screwed, pointing him with a finger.

“Gentlemen, stop!” Chibs yells sharply, before taking a deep breath. “(Y/N), have Happy and get him the fuc' outta my clubhouse”.

You obey, with your hands on his chest to pull him out. But you know he's not gonna talk to you. Not after you didn't say anything to Tig, feeling like you're defending him. He's walking fast to his motorbike, but so are you, grabbing his forearm to make him stop his footsteps.

“Hey! What has come?”

Happy is staring at you with an impassive grimace on his face.

“What was that I'm your girl?”

“Aren' you?” He asks curious waiting for an answer.

“No, 'cause you didn't tag me”.

“And I'm not gonna do it. It's not necessary. Everyone knows what's between us”.

“Tig does, the bitches around the Sons' don't”. You weren't going to say it, but you couldn't help, spitting it out at last.

The man rolls his eyes taking the helmet of the top of his motorbike. You push his shoulder, calling his attention again.

“Say it!” You shout at him, really upset with the situation, hoping that he finally makes it real.

But there are no words coming out of his mouth, starting the bike before leaving you there alone. You bit your cheek inside, assuming it's over. And hurts. It hurts a lot actually.

┅┅ ┅ ┅ ┅┅

For the first time in years, you're missing the girls night. You're not in a good mood for drink with them, preferring to lie down on the sofa with some tv show that you aren't paying attention to and a big bowl of ice cream resting on your belly.

It's not that difficult, and you don't know why the hell he doesn't say ‘yes, you're my girlfriend’. You feel jealous too, with all these women walking towards the club almost naked, but you have never said anything, drowning your feelings until you couldn't help it anymore. Is he afraid of something? Or, does it mean he only says what you wanna listen to take you to bed?

Some knocks on the front door have your attention, leaving a sigh hoping that it's not a workshop emergency. Leaving the bowl on the table, you go barefoot to the entry, opening it. Happy is there, staring at you.

“Not today, Satan”. You roll your eyes, with the intention of closing the door on his nose, 'cause you're not going to listen the bullshit he has to say.

“I gotta go some days”. He says hoarsely. “Stockton need us. I came to say goodbye”.

Yes, he always does. He drives to your house, gives you a kiss and asks you if you're gonna wait for him, even if he knows that you're going to.

“Enjoy the ride”.

“You're fuckin' annoying, you know?”

“Yes, it's a god's gift”.

“Why is so important to you that I tag you as my ‘girlfriend’?

“If you have to ask, then you don' get it, Happy. And the only reason why are you so jealous of Tig, is because you're fuckin' possessive. Not because of you care about me”.

“You know what I feel for you, don' play fool”.

“No, I'm not. And I'm tired of being your ‘maybe yes, maybe not’, flaco. So it's over. Enjoy your ride”.

You close the door without giving him the chance to reply, holding your tears inside your eyes until you hear the roar of his motorbike.

━━━━━━ ﹅ ━━━━━━

One week has passed. He called you and texted you every day, but you didn't reply. So, when you find him at six am at the door of the workshop, it doesn't surprise you. Keeping the headphones in your pocket and throwing away the cigar, you unlocked the big door of the garage, pressing the button of the remote control. And yes, you're ignoring him, but he's waiting to go in the workshop to talk.

Leaving your bag on the main desk, giving him your back, you hear how the metal shutter goes down again. You snort shaking your head for a second, turning on the laptop to check what's on your day.

“You're gonna give me the treatment silent?”

“I have work to attend, Happy. If your bike doesn't need anything, leave”.

“You don' have nothing to do till seven. I asked Matt”. He catches your lie. “We need to talk”.

“No, we don't”. Turning at him, you rest your waist against the desk cross-armed. “I told you what was tormenting me, and you shit in”.

“You wanna hear it? Fine. You're my girlfriend”.

“No, I'm not, Happy. I was”. You sentence. “In past”.

“You are. In present. And you will. In future”. He adds walking towards you. And, even if he looks calmed, he's fucking pissed off. “And I care 'bout you, not only 'bout your pussy”.

“And when did you realize that? After one week practically ignoring your bullshit?” You join to shorten the distance between both, facing him.

He doesn't say anything keeping your gaze.

“You're like a fuckin' mime five years old”. You joke on him in a bad mood. “When you get bored of a toy, you pull it away. And when someone takes the toy, you get furious 'cause you don' have the balls to fight for it”.

“I'm here”. He says, pretending that it's enough for you, pointing his chest with both hands.

“Yea' like a fuckin' statue”.

Losing his mind, he takes off the heavy gold ring out of his finger, putting it in your forefinger 'cause is the only one where fits in without falling off.

“Everybody knows that it's mine. You got it. 'See what it means?”

“I see what it means for the world, but not for me”. You're pushing him into the limits of his patience, till you got what you really want. “Who hurt you so bad that you're not capable of saying ‘I love you’ when you love someone? I'm not asking you to say it all the fucking time, I'm good making it real by just one damn time”.

“These are only words. And I think I've shown you in the last few months”.

“Fuck off, Happy”. You say tired of the talk that is not going to anywhere, taking off the ring and pressing it against his chest.

But before you can continue with your task, he puts his hands around your body pushing you against him. His furious mouth finds yours in a kiss full of anger, guiding you to the nearest table. And even if you want to pull him away, you can't. You missed Happy and you're fucking weak. The ring falls on the floor when you place your hands on his head.

“You're like a fuckin' nightmare”. He groans turning you, to stick your back to his chest, before pull down your jeans as he does with his. “But I fuckin' love you”.

Those words sounds like a sweet melody dancing in your ears, being interrupted when he thrusts his cock inside you making you moan needy. One of his hands travel to your hair, getting tangled in it to tie you arching your back, while he uses the other to stimulate your clit. You don't have much time, but the enough one for an angry quickly to mark his territory again, in case you forgot it.

“Shit, love... You're so fuckin' wet and so fuckin' hot”. He gasps hoarsely in your ear, with your hands clinging on his nape. “'You missed me, uh? 'You missed your flaco?”

“Fuck... 'course I did”. You say with your eyes closed.

With his free hand, he pushes your back on the table making you lie on. Pounding you hard, listening the dry sound that his abdomen produces against your buttocks, he clings his fingers on your hips. You're so close and he knows it when your legs start to tremble.

Happy holds your throat with a hand, getting you up putting your back against his chest, moving faster and deeper, with the free arm around your body.

“Fuck... don' stop... don' stop”. You beg as he loves hearing you.

“Cum for me, love”. He demands you, biting your shoulder and leaving a slight trail of saliva in the mark he's making.

And he doesn't need to ask twice. Crying out his name, without mattering if someone hears you, the orgasm shakes every inch of your body making it burn. But Happy doesn't stop till he fills you completely with a growl full of desire drowned in your neck.

You rest your arms on the edge of the table, with his forehead against your nape and his warm breath bristling your skin, taking a break in which you both recover. He pulls himself away of you, making you moan one last time, to take a rag and clean all the mess. But you're gonna take a shower anyway. Getting dressed again, Happy picks up the ring from the ground, putting it back in your forefinger.

“You're fuckin' beautiful after bein' fucked by me”. He says proudly, leaving a kiss on your cheek with one of his hands in the other. You hold it, closing your eyes for a second, drawing a smile on your face. “Only ‘your flaco’, love”.

You lick your lips nodding, seeing how he presses the button to raise the metal shutter again.

“Good luck working with those shaky legs”.

“You fuckin' disgrace...” You chuckle crossing your arms on your chest.

“Yea', but you love me”. He shrugs with no gesture on his face, as always like a statue, walking away from the workshop.

[womenstan]

I See You When You Run From The Light (within your eyes) - Chapter 3

Ao3 Title : The end of the line Chapter :

When he woke up, the first thing Robbe felt was warmth. It was all-enveloping, seeping through his every muscle. He felt so relaxed and at peace that he found himself wishing he’d never have to get out of bed. Just lay there forever wrapped up in the covers that were hugging him close. He snuggled a little deeper, trying to get a hold of the covers to bring them closer to his body, only to lay his hand on something far too hard to be silk.

Robbe’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as he tried patting the surface, trying to understand what was thrown over his stomach, but feeling far too lazy to open up his eyes and be attacked by the sun rays.

“Why are you feeling up my arm?” A voice chuckled, deep, next to his ear.

Robbe startled, opening both his eyes at once, only to lay his eyes on the blonde body next to him. Sander, of course . He’d forgotten they’d both gone back to his place after the party last night, Sander insisting until Robbe caved under his adorable mimics.

Laughing, Robbe switched to softly caressing Sander’s arms, making him smile softly. “Royal secret. If I told you, they’d have to kill you.” He said, trying to sound serious, but ending up barely containing his laughter.

Sander snorted, playing along. “They? Do you have body guards then?”

“Oh yes, only the best ones in the whole country. From the King’s own personal army!”

Sander smirked, in that way that told you he was about to crack a joke he was particularly proud of. He lifted his hand up, bringing it on Robbe’s biceps, “Good, there’s no way you’d be able to defend yourself with such small arms anyways.”

Robbe scoffed indignantly, swatting Sander’s hand away. “Me? Small arms? I’ll show you small arms”, Robbe said, before launching himself on top of Sander, trying to immobilize him. Sander laughed, pushing back. They kept pushing at each other for a while until Robbe decided to show off a little.

In one swift motion, he got one leg over Sander’s hips, effectively straddling him and preventing him from moving away. Sander let out a small gasp of surprise and Robbe used that momentary confusion as an opportunity to grab both his wrists and pin them down to the mattress.

Chest heaving, Robbe smiled, lowering himself over Sander, pressing his arms further into the covers. Sander was panting too, even more so than Robbe was.

“Still think I’m too weak to defend myself?” Robbe teased, proudly.

While Robbe had been expecting more teasing, Sander’s face softened and he relaxed his body under Robbe’s. “I think you’re perfect.”

The fondness in Sander’s voice took Robbe by surprise and, for a moment, he wasn’t sure how to respond. If it’d been anyone else… but it wasn’t. This was Sander and he was like this, always affectionate and saying things like this without realizing what they sounded like.

So, Robbe laughed, brushing the remark aside with a soft ‘idiot’, which only made Sander’s smile widden. He rolled off of him, laying back on the bed and sighing deeply.

“I don’t want to get up, like, ever.” Turning his head towards Sander, he added, “Can we just stay here forever?”

Much to Robbe’s confusion, Sander shook his head. “No way”

Getting up on one elbow and turning his whole body towards Sander, Robbe asked, “What? Why not?”

Sander didn’t answer at first, throwing his feet off the bed and onto the floor. He got up and turned towards Robbe expectantly.  When he didn’t hear any sound coming from Robbe, Sander threw his hands up in exasperation, a small smirk playing on his lips.

“ Because , Robin, I’m going to make you the best breakfast you’ve ever had”

Robbe hesitated, chuckling slightly in case it’d been a joke, but Sander seemed dead serious, extending an arm towards Robbe.

“Allez, come”

Robbe sighed, putting his hand in Sander’s and letting himself be tugged up. “Sander…”

Robbe’s whining didn’t deter Sander however, as he led them to the kitchen.

“Ok, get me a pan, some bread and, hm… Ah! Cheese” Sander said, dropping Robbe’s hand in favour of feeling around on the counter to find the stove.

Robbe squinted his eyes at him, slightly worried this wasn’t going to end well. “Sander… Can you even… Like, since you can’t…?”

Sander turned towards Robbe. “Since I can’t see? I’m twenty years old, Robbe, I’ve used a stove before. Don’t worry, just get me the ingredients, you’ll see.”

Still uncertain, Robbe walked slowly towards the cabinets, bringing one over to Sander.

“Ok, I’m going to trust you Sander, but if you burn down the apartment, I’m telling Milan it was your fault” Robbe added, only half-jokingly.

Sander waved him off, before starting the stove.

After a while, Robbe caught onto what Sander was making him.

“Croques? Really? Is that even breakfast food?”

Sander tutted him disapprovingly. “Robbe, everything can be breakfast food if you eat it at breakfast.”

“I don’t think that’s how this works Sander, but whatever you say…” Robbe teased, sitting up on the counter next to where Sander was cooking.

Sander sighed, reaching for a knife and cutting the first croque in half. He took it in his left hand, reaching it out to Robbe. “Stop complaining and try this”

“I’m not even com-” Robbe began, before being interrupted by Sander quite literally shoving the croque into his mouth. He made a noise of complaint, but bit into it anyway, determined to scold Sander immediately after.

Only, as soon as he began to chew, Robbe felt his taste buds explode with joy. The flavour was perfect, the crispiness impeccable, every single bite into the food felt like a whole experience of its own. Robbe couldn’t help but let out a very satisfied hum, making Sander’s face beam with pride.

“Good, right?” He said, clearly already aware of the answer.

Robbe finished swallowing his bite before he answered, sounding bewildered. “Good? Sander, I’m convinced this is the best croque ever made”

Sander blushed a little under the compliment, dipping his head downwards. “I mean, I told you I wasn’t going to fuck this up”

Robbe smiled, extending his arm to ruffle Sander’s hair fondly. “I know, I’m sorry for doubting you. My mind is truly blown right now. I’m going to force you to come over every day to make me breakfast from now on”

Sander only raised his head, softly letting out a “Anytime”.

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

The rest of his weekend passed by in a happy blur, his time spent between joking around with Sander and catching up on his homework. But, as all things do, monday eventually came around the corner, and with it came university.

In all fairness, this time, something else was exceeding his dread of having to go to class: the thought of seeing Noor.

She’d been texting him all weekend, but he’d managed to ignore her easily enough by staying busy. In school though, it would be a lot harder to avoid her.

The worst thing was that he knew he’d promised Sander he would break up with Noor. And it made sense: all they did lately was argue and get mad at each other. So, the problem wasn’t that Robbe didn’t think they should break up, but rather that he would do literally anything to avoid confrontation.

He hated it more than anything else. He didn’t want to hurt Noor, although he supposed ignoring all of her messages and calls was probably also hurting her. If he’d listen to himself, he would simply fire her a breakup text to get it over with, but he wasn’t that shitty.

So, while he was trying to gather the courage to walk up to her and get this over with, his plan was to avoid seeing her at all cost. The good thing about them being together for a while was that he pretty much knew her schedule by now, so he could try to take alternate paths to his classes or hang-out in different spots during his breaks.

It wasn’t exactly convenient, but it wouldn’t be for long anyway. Robbe was going to break up with Noor soon enough and then everything would go back to usual. Or, well, almost everything.

At least, that’s what he told himself Monday, as he had to take a five minutes long detour to get to his first class just so he wouldn’t run into Noor, who had a class next to him.

Coincidentally, it’s also what he told himself Tuesday. He was going to hang out with the guys in the cafeteria for lunch, as they had a common break. Only, as he’d made his way towards the cafeteria, he’d seen Noor exiting the girl’s bathroom and walking in the same direction. He’d quickly fired a text to the boys with a dumb excuse about having forgotten a textbook at home and ran the other way. He ate outside.

On Wednesday, Robbe had been determined to do it. He’d even drafted a little ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech the night before. So, he was ready, right? Except, he’d barely made two steps in Noor’s direction before he was stopped by Yasmina who needed him now , and ‘ no, Robbe, it can’t wait ’.

Turns out one of her friends was into Aaron - which, really? Aaron? - and they needed Robbe to subtly figure out if Aaron could be interested too.

“Yasmina, it’s Aaron . As long as she’s got two eyes and a heartbeat, I’m pretty sure he’ll be up for it.” Robbe sighed, trying not to appear as aggravated as he was. Seriously, did she need to have such a shit timing?

That led him to Thursday, at which point Robbe was almost convinced the universe was against this break up. He’d waited for her before his first class, but to no avail, as she didn’t even show up.

They had one break in common that day, around 1pm, but Thursday afternoons were reserved to hang out with Sander, and Robbe was not about to cancel on him just so he could break up with Noor. So, Robbe decided it would have to wait until friday, as he threw his bag over his shoulder and made his way towards the library where he knew Sander was waiting.

Robbe stopped at the tiny student coffee shop on his campus, ordering for both Sander and him. While he waited in line, he quickly shot Sander a text message to let him know he was done with his class and on his way to him, smiling dumbly at Sander’s answering ‘:D’.

He’d been so busy between school, first trying to avoid Noor, and then trying to find her, that he’d barely had time to text Sander since the weekend, let alone see him. He was glad they could still honour their Thursday tradition, just the two of them hanging out without having to worry about anything - or anyone - else.

The barista handed Robbe the two cups and Robbe hurried to the table where he knew Sander would already be sitting, all of his books and material spread over the table. Sander would probably be hunched over some paper, drawing, that concentrated look on his face. He would slightly stick his tongue out, sitting in between his teeth, his eyebrows furrowed and his hair falling in front of his face. Robbe had to admit it was quite the sight.

At first, Robbe had wondered how Sander could be an artist, seeing as he was blind. He’d always just assumed blind people had no way to draw, since they couldn’t see the paper, the colours or the drawing itself. Sander had simply snorted at that, before patiently explaining his method to Robbe.

He used mostly textured art, like pastel or paint. He’d draw with one hand, alternating between tracing the surface of whatever he wanted drawn and the surface of the paper with the other one. Robbe’s curiosity had pushed him to ask for a demonstration, and Sander had gladly obliged.

It was a fascinating process, and the respect and appreciation Robbe already had for Sander’s talent grew tenfold in the space of a single drawing. He’d just looked at Sander, moving seamlessly across the paper and found himself speechless. The only thought that came to him was that Sander was clearly in his element, that he belonged to the arts.

Still now, every time he’d had the privilege of catching Sander drawing, he’d been overwhelmed with this feeling of pride and warmth, watching entire worlds take form on the blank pages under Sander’s touch.

Sometimes, Robbe found himself thinking that Sander had the ability to make everything he touched turn into art. From the dull beige paper cup of coffee that could rival Albert Anker’s Coffee Drinking once it was held in between Sander’s fingers, to Robbe’s own pale skin that shined bright pink under Sander’s soft strokes.

Or the way he was stroking his hand through his hair right as Robbe walked up to him, pulling it back off of his forehead. That was true art.

Robbe shook the thought out of his head as he scraped back the chair next to Sander and sat down, slowly pushing Sander’s coffee to his hand.

“Robin! Finally!” Sander exclaimed enthusiastically, making Robbe chuckle.

“Missed me?” Robbe teased, taking a sip of his own coffee.

“Obviously,” Sander answered, sending him a beaming smile

Robbe laughed, getting his books out of his bag and carefully placing them next to Sander’s stuff on the table.

“What are you drawing?” He asked Sander, trying to peek into his open sketchbook.

Sander smirked, closing his sketchbook before Robbe could properly distinguish the shapes.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, huh?” He teased, making Robbe drop his head to the side in fond exasperation.

“Yes,” Robbe sighed, “I would like to.” He tried to sound annoyed, but he couldn’t help the smile slowly etching its way up his face.

“How badly?” Sander asked, his growing smile indicating he had a joke ready to go.

Robbe rolled his eyes, sighing loudly. “As bad as-”

“Robbe fucking Izjermans!”

Oh . Oh no .

Robbe whipped his head towards the voice, while Sander visibly startled on his chair, dropping his smile instantly.

Robbe mentally groaned when he saw he’d been right about who this voice belonged to. From the library’s entrance, Noor was storming his way, a visible scowl on her face.

Why was it that when Robbe was trying to find her, she was nowhere to be found, but as soon as he’d wanted a moment of peace, she suddenly showed up? What had Robbe done to get such bad karma?

“Noor,” Robbe sighed, “What are you doing here?”

Noor raised an eyebrow, coming to a halt in front of Robbe, arms crossed in front of her chest.

“What do you think I’m doing here? You’ve been ignoring all of my texts and I couldn’t find you anywhere!” Noor half-screamed, earning them a few dirty looks from nearby students.

Before Robbe could answer, Sander scoffed loudly.

“What? You got a problem?” Noor asked him, clearly offended by his reaction.

Sander sighed, bracing himself on the table as he got up to properly face Noor.

“Look, I get that you’re pissed, but Robbe dumped you. He doesn’t owe you anything.” Sander said, keeping his voice levelled, although Robbe could hear the hidden layer of frustration.

It took Robbe’s brain a few seconds to properly realize what Sander had just said, and when he did, it was already too late.

Noor made a surprised noise in the back of her throat, halfway through anger and disbelief.

“Dumped me? What the hell are you talking about?” Noor said, chuckling humourlessly. “Don’t mistake your dreams for reality, Anders.”

Robbe stood up at once, feeling all the blood drain from his face.

“Noor, come on, let’s talk in private.”

Robbe made a move to step towards Noor, but Sander’s arm shot up in front of him, barely missing his face by a few centimeters.

“Robbe didn’t break up with you?” Sander asked, turned in the general direction Noor was in.

Robbe didn’t know what hurt more, the anger in Sander’s voice or the look of pure disappointment on his face.

“Sander, look,” Robbe began, desperately trying to diffuse the whole situation.

Noor’s laugh cut him off, loud and obnoxious, clearly meant to irritate Sander. It seemed to work wonders, as Sander’s jaw clenched in response.

“I don’t know what kind of fucked up fantasies you’ve got going on in your head, Sander, but this is the real world. I guess you might be too crazy to understand what that is.” Noor spit out.

The words hit Sander the same way a punch would have. He stumbled a little backwards, dropping his arm. He turned around, hastily threw all of his stuff inside his bag in a jumble, picked his bag up and walked away without a word.

“Sander!” Robbe yelled, cringing at the desperation he could hear in his own voice. “Sander, wait!”

Robbe started putting his papers back into his own bag, determined to run after Sander, but Noor’s fingers settled around his arm, pulling him back softly.

“Come on, Robbe. Let him be, he’s not good for you anyway.” Noor said, smiling as if Robbe’s world wasn’t falling apart in front of him.

Robbe gave a sharp tug on his arm, freeing himself from Noor’s hold. He shook his head at her, feeling rage boiling up inside of him and threatening to overflow.

“You know what, Noor? We’re through. Over, done, finished!” Robbe yelled, too angry to find it in himself to care that the entire library was witness to their spectacle.

Robbe threw his bag over his shoulder and stormed towards the entrance, where Sander’s back had disappeared barely a few seconds ago.

“What the fuck, Robbe? Do you not love me anymore?” Noor asked, her voice high-pitched and frail.

Robbe sighed, turning back around to face her one last time.

“You’re cruel, Noor. You’re just cruel.” He said, voice tired.

He didn’t wait around to hear her try to convince him he was wrong and that Sander had somehow manipulated him, instead choosing to take off after Sander.

Robbe’s heart was beating so fast that he feared it might fly straight out of his chest. His mind was immediately going to the worst scenarios, telling him Sander would never forgive him, that it was over, that there was no point going after him... But Robbe knew better than that.

He knew that Sander was probably the best thing in his life right now and that he wasn’t going to let him walk away.

So, out he ran, the heavy library doors shutting behind him with a loud ‘thump’ .

Robbe looked around frantically, trying to spot a patch of blond hair in the sparse crowd of students, but to no avail. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging a little at the strands in frustration.

That’s when he heard a loud crash coming from the boys’ washroom, and something clicked inside his head. He ran towards the room, which warranted him a couple side-looks, but his attention was focused on one sole thing: getting to Sander.

Inside, there didn’t appear to be anyone. All the stalls seemed closed, and the general area was empty. As Robbe stepped further in, he heard a small sniffling sound that broke his heart at once.

He put his bag down against the wall and walked along the stalls, softly pushing the doors open. When he reached the third to last one of the row, the door didn’t open, locked from the inside.

Robbe sighed softly. “Sander?”

The sniffling stopped.

“Sander, please. I just want to explain.”

Nothing but silence.

Robbe leaned his forehead on the door with a small thud.

“I’m sorry, Sander. I really am. I… I should have told you,” Robbe began, unsuccessfully trying to swallow the lump in his throat. “I did mean to break up with her.”

A scof came from the stall, turning into a sob halfway through, and Robbe wondered if there was any piece of his heart left to shatter.

“Sander…” Robbe whispered, worry seeping through his tone. “I’m not lying. I spent the week looking for her too. I couldn’t do it over text, that’s just… I’m not an asshole. Or, trying not to be.” Robbe explains, “I broke up with her just now. What she said to you…” Letting out a frustrated sigh, Robbe shakes his head at the memory. “She’s so horrible. I’m so sorry Sander”

“Don’t be.” Sander’s voice came from the stall, muffled. “She’s right,” He laughed, but it was a bitter sound.

“Sander, no. She isn’t.” Robbe said, a little destabilized at Sander’s sudden lack of self-confidence.

He heard Sander breathe in deeply inside the stall, and Robbe prepared himself for the worst.

“I’m fucking crazy, Robbe, ok? I’m bipolar.” Sander yelled, but he didn’t sound angry. All Robbe could hear was pain, and fear. Just so much fear. “So, yeah, she’s right. She’s right and you should probably go before I fuck up your life too.”

The silence that hung between them after Sander’s declaration was heavy. Robbe felt suffocated under the weight, and he could only begin to try to imagine how Sander was feeling.

“Sander,” He said, keeping his voice low but firm. “Let me in.”

Time stood still as Robbe waited for Sander to make a decision. Seconds passed by, maybe even minutes, Robbe wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, forehead against the door.

Slowly, he stepped back, prepared to argue his way into the stall, when he heard the lock slide open. The door didn’t budge, but Robbe wasn’t mistaken. This was Sander’s way of letting him in, both literally and figuratively.

Robbe took a deep breath, slowly pushing the door open. Sander was leaning on the opposite wall, head hung low and turned away from Robbe, in an attempt to hide his distress.

Robbe slowly closed the door behind him, locking it, before turning back to Sander. The stall wasn’t big and with the two of them, the space was definitely cramped. Robbe took that to his advantage, merely raising his arms to be able to graze Sander’s shoulders.

Sander stiffened, but didn’t move away. Robbe took that as an encouragement and, little by little, wrapped his arms around Sander’s now-trembling form. As soon as Sander’s chest collided with Robbe’s, Robbe felt Sander’s entire body give up on him.

Sander hid his face in Robbe’s shoulder, body limp in Robbe’s arms. As for Robbe, he had one arm caressing Sander’s back in large, circular motions, while the other was stroking his hair softly. He could feel Sander shake through his sobs, but Robbe ignored the urge to make him stop crying.

Sander needed to let it out, and Robbe would be there for him, even if it killed him to see Sander suffering.

Robbe whispered a steady stream of ‘it’s ok’, ‘I’m here’ and ‘let it out’ into Sander’s ear, and slowly but surely, Sander relaxed against him and his sobbing subdued.

When Robbe felt like Sander had calmed back down, he took his chance.

“Sander, you’re not crazy.” Robbe started, making Sander snort humorlessly. “You’re not. Having bipolar doesn’t make you crazy, Sander. And it’s definitely not going to make me go away.”

Robbe tugged Sander back, just enough to look at him as he said, “You’re not some kind of monster, Sander, and you sure as hell aren’t ruining my life. You’re like, the best person in my life right now.”

Sander’s eyes glistened with tears that threatened to fall, but the corner of his lips lifted up a little at that.

“I don’t care what happened between you and Britt, and I care even less about what Noor thinks of you. I know you, and I know that you’re an amazing, caring and talented person that I want in my life for as long as you want to be.” Robbe said, all at once, like the words were spilling out of his mouth the same way Sander’s tears were spilling out of his eyes. Out of his control, filled to the brim with emotions, but, oh, so liberating.

Sander stayed silent, a thunderstorm of emotions hidden in the quiet. Robbe was suddenly glad Sander couldn’t see him, because he was pretty sure his face looked like an open book, and he wasn’t ready to confront what was written on it yet.

He didn’t know why exactly, couldn’t pinpoint what it was about this moment specifically, about Sander’s stare, but it felt like something had shifted between them. Like there would be a before this, and an after this.

Robbe smiled at Sander, stroking his hair one last time before unwrapping his arms from around him.

Sander laughed, wiping at his wet cheeks in embarrassment. “I can’t believe we had this conversation in the school’s bathroom.”

Robbe chuckled, shaking his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Sander. I have all of my heart-to-hearts in school bathrooms!”

Sander raised an eyebrow, a teasing look on his face. “The empty paper toilet dispensers and the vague urine smells really do it for you, huh?”

Robbe tried to suppress his smile, keeping his tone serious. “Oh, yeah. Big time!”

Sander wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Robbe responded by giving him a light push on the arm. They made their way out of the washroom, while Robbe avoided the stares of curious students wondering what all the fuss had been about (and probably questioning the tear streaks on both of their faces…).

When they reached the front doors, Robbe hesitated a moment, holding Sander back with a hand to his forearm. Sander stopped, turning back in Robbe’s direction.

“Do you maybe wanna go hang out at my flat?” Robbe asked, cringing at how fast his heartbeat had gotten at the simple sentence. He never got anxious when he asked the boys to hang around, although he hadn’t done so in a long time. So, why was it that whenever he had to ask Sander to hang out, Robbe’s hands got clammy and his heartbeat increased tenfold?

Sander just snorted in response, which only served to make Robbe even more apprehensive.

“You scared me! Of course, I do.” Sander said, now smiling brightly at Robbe.

Robbe wanted to be a little mad at Sander making fun of his hesitation, but he couldn’t help but beam in response, a comfortable warmth settling in his stomach.

They walked to the flatshare, arms locked at the crook of their elbows (if anyone asked, Robbe would say it was to guide Sander, despite them both knowing that Sander didn’t actually need it).

It was a sunny day, and it would have been too warm for Sander’s leather jacket had there not been a chilly breeze flowing through the air. Robbe wasn’t much of a fan of warm days, but when he saw the way the sunlight hit Sander’s face, perfectly illuminating his side profile of a golden hue, he figured he’d like them a lot more from now on.

Robbe couldn’t make himself look away from Sander’s face, intoxicated by the way it looked under the daylight. From the curve of his nose, to the way his eyes glistened, everything about Sander’s face had Robbe in a trance-like state.

He did eventually turn away, after he’d stumbled over a crack in the pavement and Sander had made fun of him, asking ‘who’s the blind one, huh?’ Sander had only been teasing, but Robbe figured it might be smarter for them to have at least a pair of eyes on the road.

Once they reached the apartment, Robbe didn’t even have to unlock the door to know that everyone was home. The sounds of cheers and laughter came through the door and resonated all the way to the staircase, warming Robbe’s heart instantly.

He barely had time to open the door and usher Sander in, before he was attacked by a swarm of bodies.

“Milan, you’re kind of crushing me” Robbe croaked out, the strength of Milan’s hug pressing all of his internal organs together painfully.

Milan loosened his arms immediately and stepped back, an apologetic smile on his face.

“So, what? Robbe gets all the love and I get none?” Sander asked, with a small (irresistible) pouth.

“Sander! Of course you do, come here!” Milan exclaimed, practically jumping in Sander’s arms. Zoë followed suit immediately, eyeing Senne, who just shrugged before joining in. Robbe laughed, moving to take his shoes off before they could attack him again.

“Come on guys, don’t suffocate him to death!” Robbe said, which got him a snort from Sander in response.

“You’re just jealous Robin,” Sander said, winking. The group hug slowly dissolved, as Milan let out a ‘ooooh burn!’ that made Robbe shake his head, amused.

“Sure, I am. It’s not like I’ve hugged you a thousand times before already” Robbe teased, while everyone returned to whatever they were doing in the kitchen.

Sander bent down to untie his shoes, shaking his head. “See, that’s precisely it. I’ve got you addicted”

Robbe laughed, sending a small ‘you wished’ Sander’s way, seemingly unaffected, despite his heart that skipped a beat in fear at Sander’s words.

They navigated to Robbe’s room, where Sander immediately laid down on the bed in a star shape.

Robbe went to his desk and took his books out of his bag, while Sander groaned in the background.

“Sander? You ok there?” Robbe asked, stifling a laugh, his back to Sander.

Sander sighed, hard. “Yeah, but I hope you realize that I’m never leaving your bed again. I’ve melted into the mattress.”

Robbe threw him a glance, seeing Sander had somehow snaked his way under the cover.

“Suit yourself, just don’t steal all the blankets,” Robbe answered, to which Sander scoffed.

“I would never do that! I’ll have you know that I’m a perfect blanket gentleman.”

Robbe hummed, sitting down to start working on his essay. He was quickly bored though, and with Sander in his room, Robbe didn’t really feel like slaving away doing homework. He turned to face Sander, only to find him fast asleep, his mouth open and squished against the pillow.  

Robbe chuckled under his breath, getting up to take a closer look. Once he got within reach of Sander, he slowly caressed his hair. The gesture made Sander frown a little, before he buried himself closer to the pillow, sighing happily.

Robbe smiled fondly, before moving away and to the end of the bed. He still didn’t feel like working on his homework, so he grabbed his controller and decided to game until Sander woke up from his impromptu nap.

After his third loss in a row, Robbe threw his controller aside and figured he was too out of it to keep playing. Looking at his phone, he saw that Sander had been out for a little over thirty minutes, so Robbe figured he might as well join him.

Taking his hoodie off, he walked to the other side of the bed in his shirt and jeans. He laid down next to Sander, who had turned to face Robbe’s way at some point in the past half hour.

When he was awake, Sander’s face always transpired a panoply of emotions. Even his eyes would glisten, darken and light up in the span of a single conversation. Robbe had always thought that blind people’s eyes wouldn’t hold much emotions, but he was clearly wrong. There were more emotions in a single one of Sander’s pupils than there was in most people’s entire face.

Robbe was pretty sure that’s what made him so fascinated with Sander’s face (because, let’s admit it, he was absolutely obsessed with it). He’d read somewhere that eyes were the window to someone’s soul, and while he was more inclined to think it was pure bullshit at first, since he’d met Sander, he’d come to understand the meaning of those words.

Robbe brushed a strand of hair that had fallen over Sander’s face, softly, trying his best not to disturb Sander’s peaceful sleep. Robbe didn’t know how to describe the swelling that overtook his chest as he watched Sander’s body raise and fall with each breath he took. He’d never felt this before, this peaceful yet gut-wrenching feeling that was filling up his heart.

There were a lot of feelings that Robbe had never felt before he’d met Sander. He didn’t know what it was about Sander that provoked those strong, undecipherable feelings that swallowed Robbe whole, but… He would be lying if he said he hated them. Whatever was causing this, Robbe didn’t mind. He liked Sander and he liked feeling like this, giddy in a way alcohol could never provide, yet rested in a way no amount of sleep could bring about.

He rested his hand in between his body and Sander’s, laying his head down on the pillow. He could feel Sander’s hot breath hit his cheeks from how close they were laying, but it didn’t annoy him. On the contrary, it made Robbe feel safe, content even, as he slowly drifted in and off of sleep.

His state of semi-slumber was interrupted when he felt Sander stirring awake next to him. Sander’s hand stretched and fell down on Robbe’s chest, which made Sander startle.

“Robbe?” He asked, voice still full of sleep.

Robbe hummed in answer.

“What did I just hit?” Sander questioned, his eyebrows furrowing as he felt around Robbe’s chest for clues.

“Chest” Robbe answered, chuckling at the concentrated look on Sander’s face.

“Ahhhh, all good then. Sorry for that,” Sander said, giving Robbe’s chest one last apologetic pat before rising to sit up. Robbe followed.

“Hey, what time is it?” Sander asked, sounding a little stressed all of a sudden.

Robbe looked around for his phone, finding it near his desk. “Hmmm, just about four, why?”

Sander rose to his feet so fast that Robbe feared he might fall down when he started swaying. “Shit! I have to be back home by four thirty to babysit, I’m so sorry. I promised my mom and-”

Robbe interrupted Sander, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Sander, it’s chill. Don’t worry”

Sander nodded, but didn’t seem convinced, as he chewed on his lips. He mumbled something under his breath, too low for Robbe to hear.

“What?” Robbe prodded, curious.

Sander sighed, running a hand over his face. “I can’t believe I spent our time together sleeping. I’m so sorry, Robbe.”

Robbe sighed as well, but a little more tenderly. “Sander, I swear it’s fine. I slept too. Besides, we can always hang out tomorrow, once we’re done with classes, right?”

That suggestion seemed to enchant Sander, whose eyes immediately lit up. He snapped his fingers as if he’d just had an illumination, a smile spreading on his face.

"What? You look like you’ve just had a moment of genius.” Robbe teased.

“Even better! I’m going out with friends from uni tomorrow night.” Sander said, excitedly.

Robbe couldn’t help but feel his face fall at that. “Oh. Ok, I get it”

Sander shook his head. “No! No, you don’t. I meant to ask you this earlier, but forgot…” He took a breath, as if steeling himself. “Would you want to meet them? Tomorrow?”

Robbe was stunned into silence, staring at Sander, his mouth hanging open. Sander wanted to present him to his actual friends? He wanted to include Robbe in other parts of his life?

“How is that even a question? Of course I do!” Robbe said, getting just as excited about the idea as Sander.

“Yeah?” Sander added, his smile ever growing.

“Yes!” Robbe said, adding, “Since when do you even have other friends?”

Sander stuck his tongue out at Robbe. “Ha. Ha. Very funny, Robin.”

“Thank you, I think so too”

Sander grabbed his stuff after that, promising he’d send Robbe the address as soon as he’d be home. Robbe suggested walking Sander to the tram, but Sander declined, insisting he could get there on his own.

When Sander was gone, Robbe closed the door and leaned his back against it, slowly sliding to the floor. He was going to meet Sander’s actual friends. He was going to meet Sander’s actual friends! Fuck! Why had he accepted the invitation? This was such a bad idea, they were probably going to hate him and-

Groaning, Robbe lowered his head on his knees.

“Woah, there. Someone’s having a crisis,” Milan said, to which Robbe only grunted in answer.

“Come on, Robbe. What’s on your mind?” Milan asked, sitting down next to him.

“Sander invited me to meet his other university friends tomorrow night.” Robbe sighed.

Milan blinked at him, confused. “And?”

“And, I said yes!” Robbe half-screamed, exasperated by his own actions.

Milan chuckled, looking just as puzzled. “How is that a bad thing? It’s good that he wants you to meet them!”

Robbe groaned at Milan’s incomprehension. “They’re gonna hate me Milan! They’re probably all cool art kids and I’m…” He gestured vaguely towards himself, “not!”

Milan sighed, patting Robbe’s back sympathetically. “Come on, Robbe. You’re smart, interesting and super cute! There’s no way they won’t fall in love with you the second they see you.”

Robbe threw a glance Milan’s way, “Thanks Milan.”

Milan nodded, “Good luck! You’ll be great,” He said, getting up and walking away.

Robbe’s worries were far from gone, but he was glad that Milan thought so highly of him. If all else failed, he knew he’d always have the flatshare to fall back on. That was a constant Robbe was so grateful to have in his life, he didn’t think he could ever find words to express it properly.

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

The next day passed by so slowly that it felt painful. It’s like time had decided to mock him, by prolonging his suffering.

Robbe hadn’t registered a single word from his lectures, spending the hours looking back and forth at the clock, so much so that he feared he might end up with a torticollis by the end of the day. If the end of the day ever came, that is.

The second his last lecture of the afternoon was dismissed, Robbe had pounced on the door, practically running all the way back to his flat.

Sander had, as promised, texted him the address the night before. They were meeting at a local bar, nothing too fancy, but Robbe’s usual ‘jogging and sweater’ school attire would probably be too lowkey.

Robbe tried rummaging through his closet, throwing about half of it out before giving up.

“Milan! Milan!” He screamed, hoping Milan would be willing to help.

A second later, he popped his head into the room.

“You called for me?” He asked.

“Yes. Milan, can I please borrow something of yours for tonight? Everything I own is just… wrong” Robbe sighed, pleading Milan with his eyes.

Milan seemed to mull it over, before he threw the door wide open. “Of course you can! Come with, I’ll turn this pumpkin into a prince!”

Robbe laughed, following Milan around the house. “I’m pretty sure the pumpkin gets turned into a coach, not a prince.”

Milan stopped dead in his tracks, turning back to Robbe with a warning finger.

“Do you want my help or not?”

Robbe nodded vehemently.

“Then don’t question my Disney knowledge, Robbe! Flatmates rule #35!”

Robbe raised his hands in surrender, laughing, before Milan started back towards his own room, Robbe on his heels.

Milan did deliver on his promise, after all. Robbe was dressed in a nice long-sleeved shirt with fitted jeans, nothing too flashy, but classy enough to look like he’d put an effort into his outfit (which he, or rather Milan, had).

The bar wasn’t far from Robbe’s home, so he decided to simply walk there. He figured he could shake his nerves out on the way there, and, hopefully, be a little calmer once he’d reach his destination.

The breeze was nice, flowing through his curls. He had been smart enough to bring a jacket, in case the night grew colder as it got later. Despite the atmosphere and his precautions, Robbe couldn’t help the hammering of his heart against his ribcage. He felt even worse than he had that one time in second grade when he’d been called out in class to make a presentation about a book he’d never bothered to read.

Soon enough, he reached the bar, which seemed to be busy with customers. Robbe closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. He tried to tell himself that everything would go smoothly, that Sander’s friends would like him, and that he’d get out of this alive and with his pride intact. If the shaking in his hands was anything to go by, he wasn’t very good at convincing himself.

He sighed, shaking his hands out, before walking into the bar. A radio was playing in the background, just barely covering the noise of the chatter. Robbe walked a little further in, immediately spotting Sander in the corner, sitting at a table with three other people.

Robbe took another deep breath for good luck, and made his way to their table. All three pairs of (functional) eyes were staring at him as he walked, more curious than austere, which reassured Robbe a little.

A blonde guy was the first to signal Robbe’s arrival. “This must be the famous Robbe!”

“Yeah, hi!” Robbe said, nodding in everyone’s direction.

Sander’s whole body whipped towards Robbe when he spoke. “Robbe! You’re here! Sit, sit,”

Sander fumbled with the chair next to him, making space for Robbe to sit next to him. Robbe thanked him, sitting down, trying not to be too unsettled by the looks Sander’s friends kept throwing each other.

Sander’s right hand came to rest on Robbe’s left shoulder immediately.

“Did you find the place easily? I think it’s pretty close to your place, isn’t it?” Sander asked, with the same considerate tone he took every time he wanted to make sure Robbe was ok.

Robbe figured he could probably sense his nervousness. Hell, anyone in a five mile radius who took one look at him could probably tell he was shitting his pants.

“Yeah, it was fine, don’t worry Sander” Robbe answered, smiling.

Sander smiled as well, more to himself, but Robbe still caught it and it made him feel a little more at ease.

Only a little though, because the same boy from earlier decided to clear his throat at that moment, making both Robbe and Sander turn their head towards him abruptly.

He had both of his eyebrows raised, and a knowing smile floating on his face.

“Sooo, Robbe, what are you studying?”

The night went on pretty similarly. After the initial interrogation, Robbe stayed a bit more silent, observing how Sander interacted with his friends.

At some point, Robbe was listening to a drunken story from one of the girls, Marie, while tapping the fingers of his hand on the table. He hadn’t even noticed the nervous tic, before Sander’s hand came to rest on top of it. Robbe’s eyes were instantly drawn to their overlapping hands.

Sander squeezed once in reassurance, and it made Robbe smile. Even in social situations like these, Sander always had a way of knowing exactly how Robbe was feeling, and exactly how to make him feel better. Robbe squeezed back, before Sander slowly took his hand back.

The night wasn’t much different from Robbe and Sander’s regular nights, in that Sander acted exactly the same way he always had with Robbe. When something really funny made him laugh, he would softly knock his forehead on Robbe’s shoulder, hiding his face as he giggled. When he couldn’t remember where he’d placed his glass, he’d lightly tap Robbe’s hand with his own, a silent signal that Robbe had long learned, and Robbe would silently pass Sander’s glass over to him. And when Sander felt Robbe become too antsy, he’d place his hand on Robbe’s bouncing knee, tapping fingers or shaky hands.

Before knowing Sander, Robbe hadn’t been used to touchy people, but now that he was, he found Sander’s small, mindless gestures calming, in the same familiar way that your childhood beddings or your mama’s hugs appease you.

After a while, the blond guy, Max, sipped the last of his beer, knocking it back against the table.

“So, who wants what? This round’s on me!” Max said, already pushing to get up.

Sander stood up at once, surprising everyone at the table.

“No! I’ll go. It’s my turn with the tab, anyway.” Sander said, sounding sure of himself.

Robbe furrowed his eyebrows, but said nothing when he saw Max sit back down and cheer Sander on. Everyone passed their orders and Sander repeated them once before expertly making his way to the bartender.

“How does he navigate so well everywhere?” Robbe asked out loud, to no one particularly. Max probably assumed the question was directed to him, since he took it upon himself to answer.

“Oh, that? It’s like his little superpower. Bring him somewhere once or twice and he’ll know the place by heart.” Max said, earning a few chuckles from the girls and a curious glance from Robbe.

If Sander was so good with directions, then why did he always let Robbe guide him by the arm? Robbe had never really thought about the fact that Sander could seemingly perfectly get back home by himself, but required Robbe’s assistance in the flatshare or when they went out somewhere.

His thoughts were interrupted by Marie.

“Say, you two are pretty close, huh?” She asked, her smile telling Robbe that her question covered a hidden meaning.

“Yeah, sure, he’s a good friend.” Robbe shrugged, smiling politely.

Marie and the other girl, Anne, exchange an amused look.

“Yeah, I bet you must be really good friends,” Anne added, laughing.

Robbe’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“I don't get the joke” He said, a little annoyed.

Max sighed, like an exasperated parent. “Robbe, haven’t you noticed that Sander is a little…” He looked towards Marie, “touchy?”

Robbe frowned. “Yeah? He’s blind, touch is, like, his way of seeing.”

Max nodded. “Then, why does he only ever touch you ?”

Robbe could feel his features harden. He wasn’t dumb, he could clearly understand what Max was insinuating.

“He doesn’t.” Robbe answered, his tone sharp and severe.

Max smiled, as if he could clearly see through Robbe’s bluff. He held Robbe’s gaze.

“He does, though.”

Robbe thought back to all the times he’d been with Sander and other people. He did accept Milan’s group hugs, but even when he came over to eat at the flatshare, he wouldn’t purposefully brush his hands on Milan’s, Zoë’s or Senne’s. If they went to catch a movie with the boys, Sander would only ever lay his head on Robbe’s shoulder, curling up into his side. Even at Sander’s house, Robbe couldn’t remember Sander being so tactile with his mother or his sister. He always did stuff himself, and if he needed them, he’d call them out loud instead of touching them to get their attention the way he did with Robbe.

And tonight. Sander had kept a free seat next to him for Robbe. He’d touched Robbe, almost constantly in one way or another. But he’d never even accidentally brushed against one of his other friends. He wasn’t cold towards them, and you could see the friendship that was linking them together, but still… No touch.

If Sander was truly that tactile, then wouldn’t his childhood friend, Max, and his other uni friends notice he’s tactile as well?

So, if Sander was only ever tactile with Robbe, then why? Was it funny to him? Did Sander think he could try and see what he could do, how far he could go, before Robbe would catch up?

The befriending, the breakup, the mysterious past with Britt… Everything was making sense, now. Robbe had been played, hard. He didn’t know why, what motive Sander could possibly have to make a fool out of Robbe, but he’d succeeded.

Robbe felt angry, betrayed and ashamed. But most of all, he felt pain. He could sense his heart cracking and falling into tiny pieces, as more and more worries overtake his mind.

Whatever he had left of pride was holding back his tears from rolling down his cheeks. He got up, grabbed his bag and coat.

“I... I have to go.” Robbe told the group of three, hurrying towards the entrance like his life depended on it (and at the moment, he felt like it truly did).

He slammed the door open, stepping outside as the first tear streamed down his face. He tried to wipe it away, but it only got replaced with even more tears. He walked down the small steps and leaned against the wall, his head tilted to the sky.

He was furious. He wanted nothing more than to go back in there, make a scene and demand explanations from Sander. But even more than that, he was humiliated. It wasn’t the first time he’d been made fun of, but this time, it hurt a lot more and a lot deeper. What he felt with Sander…

It’s true what they say, he supposes. Ignorance truly is bliss.

Robbe heard the doorbell of the bar ring, but he didn’t pay attention to it.

“Robbe? Robbe!” a voice shouted from his right.

Sander.

“Fuck off, Sander.” Robbe said, getting ready to walk away, but Sander was quicker in grabbing his arm. Robbe sighed tiredly, too exhausted and hurt to fight. “Let go,”

Sander shook his head firmly.

“No. No, Robbe, come on. I don’t know what they told you, but whatever it was, it’s definitely not what you think.” Sander pleaded.

“I don’t care, Sander. Whatever little game you were playing, I hope you had your fun. I’m out.” Robbe said, trying, unsuccessfully, to shake his arm out of Sander’s grasp. “Let me go, Sander!”

“Robbe, Robbe, listen to me. Please. I wasn’t playing any game, I swear, I can explain. Please.” Sander was practically begging, and Robbe could see tears forming in his eyes. He turned his head away.

“Let go,” was all Robbe said, trying to appear cold and composed.

Sander loosened his grip, and Robbe thought he’d finally listened.

A second later, Sander’s hands were cupping his face. Another second later, and Sander’s lips were on his.

Robbe was frozen in place at first, his brain unable to process everything that was happening.

The warmth from Sander’s hands on Robbe’s cold, wet, cheeks. The warmth of Sander’s mouth against his own. The explosion of heat pooling in his stomach. The explosion in his own brain.

Sander was… Kissing him?

Robbe brought his hands up to Sander’s shoulders, pushing him back. He felt a little bad when he saw Sander stumble backwards, not realizing how hard he had pushed him away.

“Sander… I…” Robbe started, unable to form a single coherent thought.

“I like you, Robbe. A lot. A lot more than other people. So, that’s why. I wasn’t playing you.” Sander said, a sad smile dancing on his lips.

Robbe took a small, tentative step back. He could feel his body shaking, badly, as if the temperature had suddenly dropped well under zero.

“Sander… I don’t… I’m not…” He swallowed painfully, “I don’t like you, not like that .”

The word was said with a bit more venom than Robbe had been shooting for, and he could see the second it hit Sander.

Sander’s face crumpled, as he whispered a small, desperate, “What?”

Robbe tried to breathe in, but even his breathing was shaky. “I’m so sorry, Sander. I’m… I have to go. I just… I can’t. I’m sorry.”

Robbe threw Sander one last apologetic look, turning on his heels and walking away.

The last thing he heard were Sander’s first sobs. His own followed soon after.

As soon as Robbe turned the corner, he let his tears flow freely as he took off in a run. He didn’t even know where he was going, or where he was, but he didn’t care.

His whole world had just fallen apart and the most important person in his life was gone.

[chidoroki]

"DC3"

I wasn’t planning on writing out my thoughts for this one, but with Demizu delivering wonderful artwork as usual and Shirai in control of yet another interesting story, I couldn’t pass it up. I definitely enjoyed this story more than I originally thought I would too, so here we are.

Honestly, like right away it had me laughing with Saho and I was so happy to see this girl being capable of defending herself. Ya gotta love a strong main character.

She’s also smart too? Apparently she’s the reason her father’s robotics company is so successful, all because she solved some problems on his laptop effortlessly, or something..? Reminds me of Norman in that aspect. With the large impact the robots had on the world, she’s regularly targeted by kidnappers, cults, anti-robot terrorists and the paparazzi, but she takes them all out with ease. (Emma vibes are coming in strong y’all)

Until a sudden explosion causes a car to come flying at her, resulting in a quick save by father’s newest android, DC3.. which apparently stands for “Danshi Chugakusei” and at this point I was highly concerned on what the 3 stood for. I imagined this would be the third attempt at creating this android and wondered what could’ve happened to the first two, if there were indeed any previously, but we didn’t dive into that. It’s just a number, from what I gather, which I find kinda ironic since the numbers in TPN carry such weight and meaning to them.

Anyways, I adore him, even if Saho doesn’t at the present moment. She insists she doesn’t need a bodyguard, which is understandable as she clearly just demonstrated her skills moments ago, but father thinks otherwise. The thought doesn’t seem to bother DC3 at all either, as he finishes the job without question.

I freakin’ died at the “artist’s impression.” The humor in this story is great and probably a good reason why this story jumped into my heart so quickly.

Even though Saho isn’t thrilled about DC3 following her around, and even enrolling into the same class as her, there’s so many little moments I also enjoyed from them, and everyone else.

But I’m a fool for thinking that the good time would last, especially with Shirai behind the narrative. We learn about the one friend Saho had who (presumably) died protecting her from some angry anti-robot maniac strapped to a bunch of dynamite, which eventually shapes her into the girl she is today. A girl who defends herself so no one else would die for her, thus leading her to dislike bodyguards.

With the backstory acquired, DC3 seems only a little hesitant with following Saho around, but that lasts briefly as he continues to do so anyway and without any regard to the girl’s feelings.. or any girl for that matter. Oh you clueless boy, I love him.

We cut to Saho walking around in the park, which seems nice as no one is attacking her, but the peace is filled with loneliness. We learn that she trained herself how to fight and how she distances herself from others so they aren’t in danger by being around her due to her father’s success. Though she’s proud of how strongly she can rely on her abilities and how independent she became, she still longs for some kind of interaction with others. Repeatedly telling herself “I’m fine on my own. I’m fine. I’m fine.” when it isn’t what she truly wants hit a little too hard and too close to home and I just want to hug her please.

But here we are flipping the mood around again as those two girls aren’t as sweet an innocent as they once appeared.

And this Akechi dude, I dislike him. Not because he ends up being a massive threat or accomplishes something really horrible, but because that face of his reminds me of Peter Ratri for some reason. I don’t know if it’s that stupid smile, the way he speaks or whatever else, but that’s all I can think about whenever I look at him. The humor still gets to me though.

What didn’t occur to me was that DC3 was indeed the friend that protected Saho from those bombs all those years ago. Clearly my emotions kept getting tossed around too much throughout this entire story that I SOMEHOW didn’t even begin to think of this possibility? After all the self-sacrifices the full-score trio pulled, it’s a twist Shirai would obviously include too and yet I was still taken by surprise.. I must have “idiot” written on my forehead today.

For real though, we get this touching moment of Saho finally accepting help from someone else and then a second later I’m laughing at her due to DC3’s quick escape? My heart is getting a workout today y’all I can’t handle it.

I can absolutely handle DC3 kicking some ass though. “He’s a total badass” indeed! On top of physical therapy after the accident, he went through some intense training as well. Not against mere humans, but androids. Boy has power for days.

The knockoff Ratri eventually gets arrested so yeah everything ends well as expected. The two androids DC3 mentioned actually had some use too, like providing a safe landing for Saho and even knocking out Akechi with a simple plunger.. but hey, if Ray can knock down two demons with a metal pipe, then whatever works, go for it.

With how TPN S2 went “original” I had a small wish that they would’ve given Ray a flamethrower just for shits and giggles.. but nope! DC3 got one instead! I can’t believe it.. but YES!

Oh but I love this duo very much! I’m happy that Saho is learning to let people into her life more and seeing how excited DC3 gets about it all is so damn adorable.

Even though we all would’ve preferred a story more geared towards TPN for the series’ 5th anniversary, I say this one was still a joy to read. But that’s just me. When it comes to Shirai & Demizu they never miss.

[lowkeyaesthvtic]

Not So Devilish Pirate

Pairings: poly!Sea Three (Harry x Uma x Gil)

Summary: In his own drunken stupor, Harry gets a little bratty towards his captain. He soon learns that is not a good idea.

Word Count: 3,489

Warnings: underage drinking/partying, choking, sub!Gil, brat!Harry, dom!Uma, this is also on AO3 so if you want all EXPLICIT tags then you can check it out there.

Author’s Note: Requested by @theamericanjewitch​ and follows smut dialogue prompts #8 and #79, prompts will be in bold

The music roared throughout the dorm halls. Pumping like the blood roaring through all of their veins. They never thought that, after the life they had lived so far, they could be so happy. So elated, so excited for what’s to come. So...so...so DRUNK. It started out tame at first, the three of them took a quick shot with all of the other pirates to celebrate not only their admission into Auradon Prep, but the permanent banishing of the barrier and their successful attempt at getting all of the pirates roomed in the same hall. Then, music started playing, pirates started playing ‘Vodka Pong,’ and the next thing they knew, Uma, Harry, and Gil were getting pretty close to shit-faced. 

Due to her incredibly high tolerance for alcohol, Uma doesn’t change much when she’s drunk. She may slur her words a bit or stumble on a stair step, but her mind remains relatively normal other than a pretty large increase of confidence. Anybody who thought that Uma was arrogant on the Isle likely got said impression because they either let Mal’s rumors about her stick in their head or their first meeting with her was while she was drunk. When Uma’s drunk, she truly sees herself as the walking sea witch goddess that Harry and Gil (mostly Harry) make her out to be on a daily basis. She can be found proudly dancing and singing on tables or challenging anybody and everybody to a shotgunning contest. Drunk or sober, she’s always young and wild, but when she’s drunk..she finally feels free. 

Contrary to most of the Lost Revenge crew, Gil doesn’t drink very often. He either doesn’t like the taste, doesn’t see a reason, or just isn’t in the mood for it. The bad news about this is that it causes such a low tolerance that the pirates never let it go. The good news? Gil is the best person to be around when you’re drunk. Either he’s sober and helps you get home safe or, if he’s drunk with you, he gets 100 times more protective and compassionate. At drunken times like this, you’ll find Gil stopping fights between the pirates, hyping up his partners as they engage in their own alcohol-driven stupor, or cheering up the crying drunks in a nearby bathroom. 

But Harry? Harry gets horny and bratty as all hell.

The three pirates were happily dancing in the middle of a joyous, chaotic clump. Uma swayed her hips, singing and laughing with her boyfriends sandwiching her. Normally, it’d be way too crowded for her taste. But tonight was a celebration, one that they’d never get to experience fully ever again. She flipped her long hair behind her and let any kind of problem fall away as she grabbed Gil’s hands and raised his arms to the air, waving them around. Harry danced behind her, taking in every curve and sway he saw. It was already enough that he saw her as this goddess with no physical flaw in sight on a normal day. But with the alcohol flowing through his veins like blood, it was hard to keep his hands off of her. He placed his hands on her hips and leaned in close, hoping she’d be able to hear him over the bumping music. “I hope you don’t mind me getting this close, Captain.” He whispered, leaving a couple of small pecks up her neck and looking up to Gil with a seductive smirk.

“Of course I don’t mind, especially when it’s the two of you.” Uma answered, leaning her head back against his chest as she began to grind her hips a bit closer to his. She took Gil’s hand and pulled it so he was mere inches away from her. With a grin, she pulled Gil in for a passionate, heated kiss. Their tongues quickly intertwined like a gorgeous pirate’s knot as Harry could do nothing but nibble Uma’s earlobe as his pants began to grow tight. Usually, it’d be easier for Harry to contain himself in public settings like these. But, with the rum flowing through his veins so rapidly and Uma and Gil looking as beautiful as they did, it didn’t take long for Harry’s fingers to find their way around Uma’s neck. His long digits roamed across her skin like a hand eager to turn the page of an old book. In response, Uma quickly turned around and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“You know the rules, Harry. No playing in public. Get control of yourself.” Harry quietly whined as he began to move his hand back down to her hips. As he lingered, however, a smirk spread across his face as his hand trailed up Uma’s thigh.

“Why don’t you make me, hm?” The pirate chuckled as he placed his hooked hand under Uma’s chin, tilting it up as he leaned in for a heated kiss. Before anything could get too passionate, however, Uma moved to his ear to whisper once more as she nibbled on his earlobe. 

“What did you just say? Don’t forget who’s in charge of you.” She let the words flow smoothly from his ear to his mind. Harry loved belonging to his Captain. But at the end of the day, he was a villain kid. He was a rebel. He did like to stir her up every once in a while. Sometimes, Uma didn’t mind that. But if she were to let go of her power over him, it’d be on her terms. He knew that. 

“You heard what I said, Uma. You want me to control myself so badly...why don’t you make me?” Harry snuck his fingernails into Uma’s thigh, leaving tiny little marks that would be there the rest of the night. Uma huffed out a quiet, evil laugh in response as she grabbed both Harry and Gil’s free hands, leading them away from the party.

The three of them stopped when they found an abnormally large closet. Once the light was turned on, the male pirates were shocked to find all of Uma’s special toys that she had previously kept on the Isle, along with some new ones they hadn’t used before.  Gil stood slightly confused but excited at the idea of a hot round with his loves. “Not that I’m complaining, but what are we doing in here?” Uma almost immediately pinned Harry against one of the empty shelves of the closet, quickly snaking her hand around his throat and putting it in a tight grip.

“If you’re going to act like a little brat then I’m going to treat you like a little brat. Strip. Now.” Uma hissed, seething with a sensual anger that made Gil’s pants grow tight. Harry slowly obliged, attempting to tease the pirates while still obeying his Captain’s order. Gil ate up every bit of it, taking in every pale crevice of Harry’s chest and nearly falling to his knees with hunger once Harry presented his thick cock. It was sexy for Uma, too, but she wasn’t thinking about that nearly as much as she thought about the punishment she was about to give him. “Good, now turn around. Hands on the top of the shelf, do not move them.” She barked to Harry before turning gently towards Gil. “Sunshine, can you hand me the red leather paddle from the black box? Our little devil needs to be punished.” 

“Of course, Captain. Can I...um..”

“Spit it out, sunshine.” 

“Can I watch? Please? I promise I’ll keep quiet.” He whimpered, looking hungrily at the both of them. He wanted that cock all inside his mouth, but he knew his Captain had other plans. Maybe if he could watch quietly, she’d let him have a reward. After all, it was only Harry that was acting bratty, right?

Uma smiled and pointed to an empty spot beside her and Harry. “Sure, sunshine. Kneel over there and you can watch all you want. But keep quiet, alright? I may need your help with our little brat here.” Gil walked over to Uma with the paddle in his hand, then knelt down on that empty spot beside the two of them after handing it to her. Harry waited in anticipation, his naked body slightly shivering from the cold air in the closet. But he didn’t worry about the cold air too much, he knew he’d be warming up any moment now. 

“A little bit of leather? Is that all you got?” He whispered out, his inner brat craving as much sensation as possible. His craving was suddenly satisfied as the paddle hit his back with a strong wack, leaving a sting on the area. Uma left little time for any more of his bratty remarks as she came back with another, and another, and another. Each smack on a completely different area of his backside, all increasing in intensity. With each hit of the paddle, Harry’s breath got heavier and his cock grew harder, leaving him near uncomfortable with his own arousal.

“You would want the wooden paddle, wouldn’t you? You dirty..dirty boy. The idea of a punishment is that you’re not supposed to enjoy it. I bet you’re wanting something more, aren’t you?” Uma cooed as she snaked her hand around and glided it down Harry’s chest to grip his rock hard cock. At her touch, Harry near bucked his hips into her hand, hoping she’d pump and stroke it fast enough to drive him mad. As quickly as her hand gripped it, Uma took her hand away and gave his ass another smack with the paddle. As she revelled in his pained hiss, she glided the leather down his back as she spoke. “Look at you, grinding against everything, you’re really desperate for it. Aren’t you? Normally, I’d let our little ray of sunshine here suck you dry. But, you had the nerve to break our rules.” Uma swiftly turned Harry around, his body near weak and limp from her touch. She pinned him up against the shelf, his naked cock lightly brushing her clothed bliss. He leaned his head back in a whine, begging to do more, to feel more.

“Uma, please. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again. Just give me something. Please.” He gasped, tempted to run a finger along her beautiful braids. But, at this point, he couldn’t risk getting punished even more than he already was. Uma scraped her nails along his chest, leaving long, red marks. She moved her hand up towards his face, but misled Harry as she put away the paddle on the shelf behind him.

 “Alright. I’ll give you something. Go stand against that pillar over there. Face me. Hands around the pillar behind your back.” She ordered, smirking as he eagerly followed. Uma looked down at Gil, hoping he didn’t feel forgotten or ignored as she focused on her devilish brat. He felt nothing close to ignored. His breath was hot and heavy and his pants clung tightly to his stiff cock. He loved to watch, especially his captain and first mate. Seeing Harry’s naked body tighten and turn red with every smack of Uma’s paddle made him near dizzy with pleasure. “You can stand up, Gil. We’re gonna give our brat here a little show.” Like an obedient dog, Gil stood right up and waited for what was to come. His eyes grew wide when he saw Uma pull a pair of black fuzzy handcuffs from the shelf behind him.

“A-are those for me?” He gulped. His last experience with bondage was ecstasy, but in his drunken state, he didn’t know if he’d be comfortable with something so physically restrictive.

“Oh, no. These are for him.” She sweetly spoke as she walked over and cuffed Harry to the pillar he was wrapped around. “Now I know you won’t be able to touch yourself. You’ll come when I tell you to, not any moment before. So lean back, relax, and enjoy the show.” Harry used every drop of will in his body to hold back any whines or groans, knowing that they’d only piss her off even more and make the punishment longer. All he had to do was lean back, watch the show, and keep quiet. It’d be like watching porn, right? Just porn without any masturbation. Easy. Simple.

Nope. Not easy. Not simple at all. Harry watched longingly as the two quickly engaged in another passionate kiss. This one was rougher, more heated, and filled to the brim with lust. Uma slowly removed her jacket and top, letting them fall to the floor as she revealed her ocean blue bralette to the blonde-locked pirate. She tilted her head to the side, giving him access to her neck as she swiftly took off his brown leather vest and orange tee. Gil took this access to his advantage, branding her brown skin with multiple nibbles and love bites. Gil leaned his head back and let his jaw drop just slightly as Uma began to leave hickeys on his chest, slowly snaking lower and lower. He was so needy. Needier than anybody could ever be. And since he behaved, he was going to get exactly what he wanted from his Captain. With swift and efficient hands, Uma took off his belt and threw it to the side as she knelt down and took off his pants. Gil’s cock sprung up eagerly, longing to be engulfed by Uma’s beautiful mouth.

There was something so beautiful to Harry about seeing Uma on her knees. Something so unbelievably about seeing her immediately devour his boyfriend’s cock, leaving long licks along the veins as she bobbed her head up and down. Gil was already drifting into a dizzy euphoria as her warm mouth took him in. If Harry were in his position, he’d be reaching his hand down to grip Uma’s braids tightly, begging her to go faster. But Gil could never do such a thing. Unlike Harry, Gil was never one to break his Captain’s rules on purpose. Harry and Uma both loved him for that. They felt a little guilty at first, seeing that they had someone they could constantly make putty in their hands. But after a while, they realized that letting go and doing whatever they told him to was what made him feel so great. Because it was Harry and Uma telling him to do it, and he loved them.

Due to his drunkenness, it didn’t take very long for Gil to explode inside Uma’s mouth. He reached his peak quickly after enduring the hellish heaven that was Uma’s warm mouth and wet tongue. She quickly swallowed every last drop and stood up, looking admirably at Gil as she did so. “Are you okay? Do you want me to get you water real quick? Harry can wait.” Through his high, Gil looked behind Uma at his raven-locked boyfriend. Harry had been practically humping the air, rubbing his thighs together at an attempt to get some sort of friction. Gil chuckled and shook his head, his smile peeking through amidst his post coital high.

“No he can’t.” He said, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the poor, horny pirate across from him. Uma jokingly rolled her eyes and gave Gil a small kiss on the cheek before walking over to where Harry stood. God, he was a mess. 

Harry eyed Uma’s near naked form up and down, taking in the way her curves were locked into the ocean blue underwear she wore. If he could get out of the cuffs she’d place him in, he’d find a way to indulge her right then and there. A small whine slipped through his throat and off his lips as his mind raced with thoughts of how Uma looked under the clad fabric. “God, you are killing me.” He said.

“You’ll get what you need soon. But first, I need you to admit something.” Uma tightly wrapped her fingers around Harry’s throat, forcing his head back against the pillar. “Admit that you’re a brat. Admit you’re a brat and promise that you’ll never break one of my rules again.” Another pained moan left Harry as he felt his head slightly dizzy itself from Uma’s grip, a feeling he worshipped. But not as much as he worshipped his Captain.

“Please, Captain. I’m a brat and I swear on my life I’ll never disobey you again. Please, Captain, I need you.” His voice rang out despite being hushed by the beautiful brown confine around his throat. At this point, Harry would do absolutely anything to get inside his Captain. Her mouth, her glistening sex, it didn’t matter. Uma, both proud of her submissive beauty and excited for what was to come, smiled sweetly and sauntered behind Harry to undo his restraints.

“See, baby boy, was that so hard?” She gently took Harry’s hands and led them to a desk in the back of the closet. She propped herself onto the desk and slowly spread her legs open, showing the small glisten that had been growing on her underwear. She was needy too, and now that Harry’s punishment was over, she could finally show it. Harry immediately cupped her face as he kissed her with all the fire he could. He missed the feeling of her skin against his. He longed for the feeling of her hand gripping and tugging at his hair. As he slowly broke the kiss, he looked down at the lacy, blue pair of underwear screaming to be removed and tossed to the side.

“Can I take these off, Captain?” He asked quietly, scared the question would cause another punishment. Uma smiled and placed her fingers under his chin.

“Don’t be shy, Harry. What’s my name?” Harry smirked as he ran his hands slowly up her smooth, naked thighs.

“Uma, please.” He spoke her name like he was praying to a shrine. With a nod from Uma, he slowly removed the underwear and brought the tip of his cock closer to her. The shine from her wetness entranced him more than any drop of alcohol ever could. He leaned down to mark her neck as he slowly entered her, wrapping himself in her ecstasy. Moans escaped them both as Harry started to thrust in and out of her, each movement heightening the pleasure even more. Their moans and slowly quickening breaths began to fill the closet, likely letting people at the party know exactly what was going on in this dim, abnormally large closet. 

Mere minutes pass before Harry’s pace picks up to a rough thrusting. Uma’s fingers are permanently interlocked in his hair, gripping and pulling at it as a form of praise for his perfect pleasure. Uma used her other hand to stabilize herself on the desk as she leaned her head back and lost herself in Harry’s thick, pounding cock. As she began to near her peak, she pulled Harry’s head down to lock his eyes with her as she attempted to speak through her persistent moans. “God, Harry, I’m close. Come for me, baby. Come for me like you know who’s in charge.” It didn’t take long for Harry to obey that order. He thrusted into her rough and deep, making sure she came hard and long before pulling himself out of her. His orgasm came powerfully and fast as he let his release cover Uma’s chest and stomach, screaming out her name like he knew she wanted.

Harry leaned up to the closest shelf, attempting to balance himself despite the dizziness and wobbliness of his legs. For just a moment, the two stayed in their spots filling the room only with the sounds of their breaths. “Wait...shit..there’s no towels.” Harry muttered as he finally caught his breath. Uma’s eyes widened as she realized the situation the two were stuck in. They both looked at each other, hoping their minds would click on a solution. Then, as if they were psychically connected, the pair landed their eyes on Gil. By now he had fully redressed himself, and was knelt down on the ground once more, watching it all go down.

“Hey, Gil, there’s a bathroom somewhere down and on the right. Do you think you could bring us some towels?” Like an energized bunny rabbit, Gil jumped up to his feet and smiled.

“Yeah, sure. Do you guys need anything else? You two are going to need some serious aftercare.” 

The two laughed as they noticed the other’s exhausted euphoria. Uma locked eyes with Harry as she responded. “We can go back to our place if you guys want to. We’ve got blankets and water and stuff. And I could use a shower.”

Harry had trouble holding back a low chuckle as he replied. “Mind if we join in?” To which Uma narrowed her eyes and regained enough to throw a seductive glare at the not-so-devilish pirate. 

“Only if you do as you’re told.”

[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, May 10

You can buy a brand new copy of this issue without the mailing label for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Prince Charles orders Prince Harry to divorce Meghan Markle

Page 2: In a sniveling fit of pique, scorned Alex Rodriguez has trashed former fiancee Jennifer Lopez as a dud in the sack and A-Rod is moaning J. Lo drove him to chase excitement elsewhere because she couldn't keep up with his sex demands and Alex is defending his piggish behavior by saying Jennifer pushed him into it and their spark died long ago, and they were barely intimate for the best part of a year before calling it quits -- Jennifer would pack on the PDA for the cameras, but the moment they were in private she pushed Alex away and even made him sleep in a separate bedroom and he says it was like dating an ice queen and pities the next guy she ropes in -- Jennifer thought she and Alex had a pretty good connection during their happier times, even though she'd likely admit things really petered out toward the end when the lack of trust set in so it will sting her that he's trashing her skills in the bedroom

Page 4: Robert De Niro is getting pummeled by estranged wife Grace Hightower's free-spending ways and his bitter spouse is intent on taking the aging legend for every penny as their nasty divorce drags on -- Robert's lawyers argued in court that greedy Grace's extravagant lifestyle has forced him to take every job he can snag, causing the 77-year-old to toil 12-hour days, six days a week and what's more, Robert's Nobu restaurant business has hit hard times and his tax bills to Uncle Sam are piling up but he is reportedly worth a whopping $500 million, and Grace's lawyers have countered he's pleading poverty but regularly charters a helicopter to Sunday brunch, a charge denied by his lawyer and her attorneys also claimed Robert frequently flies to Florida on a private plane and spends millions and millions on himself -- meanwhile, Robert's relationship with 66-year-old Grace has taken such a nosedive, she's spending frivolously just to punish him and she's walked into a shop a spent $80,000 in 15 minutes and she will go on vacations to the Bahamas, stop at the duty-free store and pay four times the price of what things usually cost and she has more wigs than Imelda Marcos had shoes -- Robert met Grace in 1987 when she was working as a waitress in London, and they married a decade later but they split in 1999 then reconciled and renewed their vows in 2004 before finally calling it quits in 2018 -- De Niro has forked over as much as $375,000 a month to his spouse since their split and the financially squeezed star may resort to doing product endorsements just to pay the bills -- under the terms of the couple's prenuptial agreement, once Grace and Robert are finally divorced, she's allowed a $6 million home, $500,000 cash and $1 million in annual alimony, but her lawyers have argued she should be entitled to half his fortune

* Nearly two years after Hayden Panettiere accused ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson of brutally attacking her, the bully was sentenced to serve time in Los Angeles after he pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend, and the remaining charges of battery, assault with a deadly weapon and dissuading a witness were dismissed and he was hit with 45 days behind bars and four years' probation but he'll get credit for 12 days served -- he's done his own damage and will pay a permanent price for it -- meanwhile, Hayden is now in a great place in her life

Page 5: Danny Masterson has dragged Leah Remini into his rape case, claiming her docuseries Scientology and Its Aftermath influenced his alleged victims to file police reports against him -- former Scientologist Leah offered the women inducements and benefits to report Masterson to cops, his lawyer Tom Mesereau told a L.A. criminal court -- Danny, a 45-year-old Scientologist and That '70s Show alum, has pleaded not guilty to charges he raped three women in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003 -- Mesereau also called an LAPD detective who worked a second job as security for Leah a double agent and questioned how a 2000 police report made by one alleged victim went missing, but Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller dismissed Mesereau's double agent claims as hyperbole and said the defense got a copy of the missing report and Mesereau's request to push back Masterson's preliminary hearing, a Scientology delay tactic, was also rejected

Page 6: Kelly Osbourne's shocking relapse after nearly four years of sobriety occurred amid intense family drama for the former reality show clan -- Kelly's mom Sharon Osbourne's exit from The Talk amid racism claims by co-hosts and dad Ozzy Osbourne's struggles with crippling Parkinson's disease and excruciating nerve damage frazzled her and she confessed she relapsed and she's not proud of it, but she's back on track and she's truly learned that it is just one day at a time -- her parents' problems weighed heavily on 36-year-old Kelly, who first struggled with substance abuse in her teens, and there's no doubt her mother's scandalous exit from The Talk played a big role as Kelly was crushed over the beating Sharon took in the press and retired rocker Ozzy's relentless suffering also pains Kelly and throw in brother Jack Osbourne's progressive MS and she's dealing with a lot

Page 7: Distressed Dolly Parton is ready to stage an all-star country intervention for her party-hearty goddaughter Miley Cyrus after recent photos of the troubled wild child swilling booze triggered alarm bells for Miley's family members and inner circle, including Dolly who has acted as a mentor to Miley and Dolly has always fussed over Miley like a mother hen and she's worried Miley is going to throw away her career and her life -- 75-year-old Dolly is so concerned about 28-year-old Miley that she's talked about reaching out to other country icons to arrange a meeting with the former Disney child star and help her consider her options and Dolly wants to enlist women she knows Miley truly admires, like Reba McEntire and Loretta Lynn, and organize a sit-down and Dolly knows if Miley hears from legends who achieved so much in the music industry, she's likely to understand any mistakes she makes now can affect her life forever -- every time Dolly thinks Miley's got her demons beat, she hears of another slip-up, so she feels like it's time to take action and Miley's parents Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus, who are good pals of Dolly, are thankful for Dolly's concern because Billy Ray and Tish have tried talking to Miley, but she tunes her parents out and they agree their daughter is more likely to respond to Dolly and her legendary friends

* Angelina Jolie blamed her ugly divorce with Brad Pitt for dashing her dreams to direct movies -- she and Brad split in 2016 and the two have been locked in a mudslinging legal slugfest ever since -- Angie says she love directing, but she had a change in her family situation that's not made it possible for her to direct for a few years and Angie, who last directed 2017's First They Killed My Father, said she needed to just do shorter jobs and be home more, so she kind of went back to doing a few acting jobs

Page 8: Shamed sleaze Matt Lauer has been snubbed by his old Hamptons crowd, and it's got the scandal-scarred scumbag down in the dumps and the super-rich who live and socialize in the fashionable high-society playground won't forget how Lauer was axed from his longtime Today gig over bombshell allegations of sexual misconduct and Matt's done everything he can to regain his place in the community, from hanging out in the village to splashing money around and tipping too well and he's convinced he can make a comeback, but snooty residents turn their noses up and it must be difficult for him because it's tough for anyone who wants to get in with this crowd but for Matt it's become almost impossible -- with scandal raging, Lauer's marriage to Annette Roque collapsed and they divorced in 2019 after a two-year separation and they share three children, daughter Romy, 17, and sons Jack, 19, and Thijs, 14, and Lauer has denied any wrongdoing and insisted his reputation was wrongly smeared in a media feeding frenzy intent on destroying him -- after his divorce, Matt hooked up with public relations guru Shamin Abas and the two have reportedly been pals for years and were first linked when Matt took her to his New Zealand home in December 2019 and Matt's friends are saying he's talking about a big Hamptons wedding when he and Shamin make things official, but it would be a failure if no one attends but Shamin has a lot of connections, so maybe that will help in time -- Matt's obviously an embarrassment in the area and he's not getting much joy at the swanky country clubs he likes to frequent either and it's clear to see that doors from many A-listers, like Martha Stewart, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson, who have had ample time to put out the welcome mat and Matt won't be getting invites to their homes anytime soon

Page 9: Kourtney Kardashian is packing on the PDA with new boyfriend Travis Barker and insiders said her desperate bid to compete with her sisters has gone way over the top and ever since Kourtney and Travis first went public, the oldest Kardashian sibling has made it a point to post the couple's passionate romps in racy pics and videos on social media and people in her circle feel it's beneath her to advertise her personal moments like this and even her family thinks it's unflattering, but she's getting a kick out of showing off her wild side and Kourtney has been desperate to raise her profile to keep up with internet-savvy sisters Kim Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian, who promote themselves by posting incessantly and Kourtney was always more low-key, but now she thinks she needs to be outrageous to keep up but her friends and family say it's not who she is, and she should put a lid on the steam

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Alison Brie helped tend to newly planted trees in Malibu, Chris Rock tuned out the world with a set of headphones while walking in Miami, Dylan McDermott plays a bad guy on Law & Order: Organized Crime, Dancing with the Stars pro Sasha Farber buzzed around L.A. on an electric bike, Margot Robbie skating in Malibu

Page 11: Paula Abdul is filling in for Luke Bryan on American Idol, but she's gone crazy with fillers and Botox to the point where she can barely move her face -- 58-year-old Paula, one of the show's original three judges who left before the ninth season, jumped at the chance after Luke tested positive for COVID-19, but when she showed up for work, she was far from the familiar face everyone was expecting and she must have given her co-hosts quite a fright because her face is blown up like a balloon and her forehead has no lines and her eyes have no crinkling at the corners that you would normally expect on someone who's pushing 60 and people are saying she never did know when to quit and this time she's really gone overboard and it was a shame, since it's no secret she'd love to make a comeback on the show and she's still in fantastic shape, but it's kind of sad to see her fall victim to these Hollywood trends as she's a lovely lady and should leave well enough alone -- her heart-shaped face may predispose her to a slower aging process than longer facial shapes

* Jessica Simpson has plumped up her kisser, but one expert thinks her new inflated piehole would look better on a fish because she's gone overboard with filler in her lips and the end result is an unnatural and very unattractive look because the M-shape of the middle upper lip is distorted, creating a fishy appearance she surely wasn't going for

Page 12: Straight Shuter gossip column -- James Bond will be gunning for Top Gun: Maverick on movie screens in November, and Tom Cruise isn't happy -- moving the Top Gun sequel from July to November has left Tom shaken and stirred and no one is more competitive than Tom and going up against the new 007 film starring Daniel Craig has put the fear of God into him because Tom likes to win and coming in second is not an option so get ready for an all-out box office war between Tom and James Bond and this is going to get ugly

* Just out-of-the-closet Colton Underwood has been invited back to his old stomping grounds on The Bachelor but he won't be the new Gay Bachelor, but there's been talk about him returning to help contestants through the process -- he'll literally play the gay best friend who helps the straight contestants find love

* Bridgerton stud Rege-Jean Page won't be back for season 2, but crossing the show's powerful producer Shonda Rhimes was not smart because Shonda is not used to being told no, especially by an actor no one had heard of before she cast him -- Rege-Jean was naive about the business of Hollywood, but he's learning fast but saying no to Shonda is a move he's now thinking twice about

* Irina Shayk had her hands full during a photo shoot in NYC (picture)

Page 13: Racy reality series The Bachelorette has so disgusted some American viewers, they've flooded the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with complaints and calls to yank the sexy show from TV -- according to documents, a season 16 dodgeball game that turned into a stripping competition among Clare Crawley's suitors in 2020 especially fueled viewers' rage, even though the aired footage was blacked out to protect the men's privates but the game was not over until one team was fully naked

* Matchmaker Olivia Newton-John is itching to play Cupid for longtime pal John Travolta as her Grease co-star approaches the one-year anniversary of the death of his beloved wife Kelly Preston and Oliva would like nothing more than to bring some joy and happiness back into John's life and she has lots of beautiful, fun-filled lady friends from the U.S. and Australia she could set John up with but he may not be ready for a new romance, and John himself has admitted mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead to healing and John still hasn't gotten over Kelly's death yet and it feels like yesterday to him

Page 15: Tiger Woods' former mistress Jamie Jungers is dishing about her doomed 18-month affair with the then-married golf great and the fallout that triggered her harrowing spiral into drug addiction in a juicy new tell-all -- Jamie, 38, said she met the skirt-chasing links legend, now recovering from a shattered right leg after a February car crash, during her stint as a party host in Sin City and she claimed they kicked off a fling behind the back of his wife Elin Nordegren and Tiger would often fly his new squeeze to his L.A. home for their secret trysts and Jamie said she even once signed for a package at the newlyweds' pad that turned out to be wedding photos of Tiger and his bride, who divorced the sex addict in 2010 -- but it was not too hard for Jamie to convince herself the couple's marriage was on the skids because Elin spent so much time in her native Sweden and Jamie confessed she loved Tiger in a way but knew they'd never have a real relationship -- things came to a screeching halt when the tightwad millionaire refused to help her find new digs and Jamie kept her lips zipped about the hush-hush affair for three years, but she claimed her ensuing media appearances, in which she was dubbed Mistress No. 4, left her feeling humiliated, triggering a $500 a day pill habit that led to her getting hooked on heroin and meth and homeless Jamie endured failed stints in rehab, went through detox while behind bars and hit rock bottom before getting clean in 2018 and now sober, she said of her former flame she's not in love with him anymore

Page 16: Picky parents Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin have found one thing that's even tougher than raising six kids: finding the right nanny -- Alec and Hilaria have high expectations for prospective carers and exacting demands when it comes to their duties and Hilaria is so involved with the kids, so she's especially vigilant and has the final say when it comes to hiring and firing though Alec definitely has his checklist on what makes a good nanny and try as they might, they realize they can't do everything themselves and need help, lots of it, but it's been a logistical nightmare getting a team of nannies organized as Alec and Hilaria are tough on them and firm and long hours and multitasking are a must and of course they must be quick on their toes and know what to do with a cranky set of children without losing their cool and a good disposition, a clean and tidy appearance and the ability to step in last minute when needed are all prerequisites to be a Baldwin nanny -- Hilaria and Alec feel guilty about using more help than they initially thought they'd need and typically have at least two nannies on duty and they're doing their best to keep their home from becoming a nuthouse and stay sane and even when Hilaria and Alec are both home at the same time, they still need help changing diapers and doing endless loads of laundry, preparing meals and snacks and assisting homeschooling for the older ones and making sure they all get plenty of exercise and playtime -- it's been a challenge and they won't settle for anything but the most skilled nannies, and their friends can see the efforts are paying off

Page 17: Britney Spears has taken to social media to insist she's OK, but there are increasing concerns over the singer's state of mind -- Britney, 39, has shared bizarre Instagram posts showing her maniacally dancing and also bellyached that she's trying to learn how to use technology in this technology-driven generation, but to be totally honest she can't stand it -- the wacky videos followed the documentary Framing Britney Spears, which cast an unflattering spotlight on her troubled history amid her fight to have her conservator dad Jamie Spears removed from overseeing her personal and financial affairs and Britney, who has not had control over her own cash or major life decisions since her notorious 2008 breakdown, said the documentary's portrayal embarrassed her and brought her to tears and she cried for two weeks -- still, Britney reassured fans she's totally fine and she's extremely happy, she has a beautiful home, beautiful children, referring to her sons Sean, 15, and Jayden, 14, and although Britney, who's been coupled up with 27-year-old personal trainer Sam Asghari since 2016, insisted she's enjoying herself, she was caught on camera in Malibu appearing out of sorts and she looked a total mess and she looked like she hadn't brushed her hair in days and the truth is she's wracked with anxiety and she doesn't trust anyone in her orbit except her boyfriend

Page 18: American Life -- Like many dads, J.B. Handley couldn't understand his teenage son, but in this case, 18-year-old Jamison Handley is autistic and has not spoken a word since he was born -- using a breakthrough strategy called Spelling to Communicate (STC), J.B. discovered his son was hyper-intelligent and now Jamison is graduating from high school and will go to college to study neuroscience in 2022

Page 19: Newly single Kanye West is in the market for someone to cuddle with now that Kim Kardashian is out of the picture and the National Enquirer has decided to help him in his quest: Amanda Gorman, Bjork, Quay Dash, Marina Abramovic, Maria Cristerna

* While Kanye West is looking for a new lady to be his creative muse, his estranged wife Kim Kardashian sees the dating pool as the source of her next career move -- Kim has not been romantically linked to anyone since she filed for divorce in February and she's not dating anyone because, if she were, it would be a career move and Kim can't date quietly; she doesn't even understand what that would be like

Page 22: Katie Holmes and her boytoy beau Emilio Vitolo Jr. haven't been photographed together in more than a month, leaving people to wonder if the once snap-happy couple's romance is cooling off -- after being constantly caught on camera packing on the PDAs, the coosome twosome's vanishing act has sources suspecting work stress is taking a toll -- they're still together but things aren't anything like they were, and Katie seems pretty down and Emilio has been working long hours at his dad's restaurant, which was hit hard during the pandemic and that's meant less time for him and Katie to hang out and their romance may have gone from full boil to simmer

* Hollywood Hookups -- Danica Patrick and Carter Comstock dating, Zac Efron and Vanessa Valladares split, Madison LeCroy is dating a mystery man

Page 23: Lizzo stripped nude on social media for an unedited selfie to promote body positivity in all its glory and the 32-year-old defied the haters by bravely going makeup-free and wearing only her birthday suit -- she said she's letting it all hang out to encourage girls struggling with their self-image and self-confidence to embrace their natural beauty

* Bethenny Frankel plans to spend a whopping $10 million on her upcoming wedding -- she is set to wed Paul Bernon after she was spotted flashing a ginormous sparkler reportedly worth over $400,000 and movie producer Paul, 43, has given Bethenny, 50, carte blanche to spend whatever she wants so she's thinking 50,000 roses, champagne, gilt-edged glasses, a garden setting with fountains, dancers and a choir and Bethenny wants it to be perfect and she expects the best of everything

* Julianna Margulies has admitted things were hot on the set of ER, and it was because she and co-star George Clooney had a crush on each other and the chemistry on the beloved TV series between Julianna, now 54, and George, 60, was organic, she gushed in her upcoming memoir -- she also said when you create an environment that people feel safe in, then you do your best work and George taught her that and she felt so safe with him

Page 25: Troubled Tori Spelling is convinced having a sixth baby is the only way to bring her rocky 15-year marriage to Dean McDermott back from the brink -- Tori, 47, and Dean, 54, have been living separate lives for months and she has frequently been seen in public without her wedding ring and lately they've been more like brother and sister than husband and wife, but Tori is under the impression that another baby will give them a fresh start -- Dean has tried to repair their romance by taking on more dad duties and he even pushed for a recent family getaway to Palm Springs, where Tori socked her husband with the ultimatum to give her another baby or hit the highway and it's true they got along a lot happier when she was pregnant, but a lot of people think she's being delusional since they still have a lot of issues to work through and having another kid isn't going to be a magic fix and in fact, it may even add to their problems

Page 26: Cover Story -- Prince Harry's desperate bid to make peace with his estranged royal family exploded spectacularly when his father Prince Charles gave him an ultimatum to divorce Meghan Markle or you're out forever -- the secret showdown came after the funeral for his grandfather Prince Philip that forced family members to reunite for the first time following a year of bitterness and shocking allegations and any hope Harry had of mending fences and being welcomed back went out the window when he broke Queen Elizabeth's heart by snubbing her 95th birthday right after the funeral because he flew back to California the day before her birthday and it was the last straw for Charles, who was furious and he was stunned his son couldn't wait just 24 hours more to show respect for his grandmother and felt compelled to rush back to his pregnant wife Meghan and it would have meant so much for Her Majesty, who was still mourning her husband and needs all the comfort she can get but instead Harry headed back to his ritzy $14 mansion and Hollywood lifestyle, callously leaving his grieving grandmother on what should have been her big day -- the word is Meghan ordered him back as he'd been gone 10 days, their longest separation since they wed, and she didn't want his family playing mind tricks on him, trying to convince him he should return to the U.K. -- Charles confronted his younger son about snubbing Her Majesty during a phone call from his country getaway in Wales, where Charles was grieving his father Prince Philip and considering the future of the monarchy and Charles didn't mince words and he called Harry selfish and blamed Meghan for ripping the family apart and he bluntly admitted he and other royals, including the queen herself, were deeply disappointed and very angry by what the couple said in an explosive tell-all TV special and he couldn't believe Harry would agree to such a devastating interview without pressure from his publicity-obsessed wife or her advisors and Charles told Harry he was ashamed of him for turning his back on his family and breaking his grandmother's heart and Charles said he didn't believe Harry's marriage can survive long-term and suggested that Meghan was so ambitious, she'd dump Harry when something, or someone, better came along then he shockingly told his son he would only be welcomed back if he divorced that American actress and Charles insisted divorce was the only way to save the royal family and Harry himself -- Harry faced a great deal of frostiness from other members of the family after he arrived for Philip's funeral: Princess Anne, Prince Edward, his wife Sophie and other relatives didn't even look at Harry, they are so angry with him and Meghan, and Prince William and his wife Duchess Kate tried to put on a united front, speaking to Harry as they walked away from the service, but it was all for show as the queen had ordered a truce in the feud to avoid another public scandal, but family feelings are running very deep against Harry and Meghan for quitting royal duties and trashing the royals in their interview and the truth is if Harry doesn't divorce Meghan, this rift will never be mended

Page 36: Ellen DeGeneres confessed she'd swilled three cannabis-laced drinks and popped two snooze-inducing pills before driving wife Portia de Rossi to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy -- during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen said she'd downed a commercial beverage containing the weed compounds THC and CBD and admitted she didn't feel anything and then she drank three, and she also took two melatonin sleep pills and she's lying in bed and realizes Portia is not in bed -- after finding Portia on all fours and in pain, Ellen claimed her adrenaline kicked in and she rushed Portia to the hospital

Page 38: Gwyneth Paltrow knows at least one person who is not a fan of her catalog of sex toys: her mom Blythe Danner -- while Gwynnie loves to bang the drum for frisky female fun by hawking vibrators, whips, handcuffs, genital-themed jewelry and even a candle called This Smells Like My Orgasm, her 78-year-old mother is always shocked by her raunchy online inventory and is very proper, but Gwyneth said even proper ladies have sexuality too -- although her mom is not lining up to purchase the BDSM starter kit or the $15,000 gold-plated dildo, Gwyneth remains committed to tackling taboos related to female pleasure, saying she thinks that our sexuality is such an important part of who we are and one of the things they really believe in at Goop is eliminating shame from these topics

* The Entourage crew might get back together, with Charlie Sheen joining the gang -- the creator of the bro show and 2015 spinoff movie said he may bring the boys back with his buddy Charlie in the reboot and Doug Elin says whether he would ever be in Entourage as Charlie Sheen or whether he would create a character for him, he would be all for it -- Charlie hasn't been seen on the big screen since a 2018 guest spot on Saturday Night Live

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Sofia Vergara

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #87: Fionn mac Cumhaill

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the golden King of Spooks, Fionn mac Cumhaill! Finn mcCool knows the shape of water, and can use it to smack around enemies or heal allies. He also knows everything, as long as he’s biting his thumb.

Check out Fionn’s build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Bring me the biggest spear you have. No, not “a big spear”, the biggest you have.

Race and Background

Fionn’s a Human, giving him +1 to all ability scores. He’s also a Knight of Fianna, or more generally, a Knight of the Order. This gives him proficiency in Persuasion and Arcana. He has plenty of magic knowledge on top of his magic fish knowledge, so he should be able to know some stuff even without biting his thumb.

Ability Scores

Fionn’s smart, but we’re going with Strength as his highest stat. We won’t focus on it too hard, so it’s important that it starts off strong. Second is Intelligence; Fionn’s surprisingly intelligent, and trained in spellcasting. Third is Constitution: you hit people with a sharpened stick to fight, you’ve got to be prepared for some pushback. Your Wisdom is a little low, considering your classes, but we’ll fix it in post. Your Dexterity is also low, but you can get away with that; you actually wear armor. Sometimes. Dump Charisma, you’re famous for your marital problems.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: You are a lancer, your main method of combat is Sharp Stick A Goes in Enemies 1-3, and that means you’re a fighter. At first level, fighters get a Fighting Style, and Dueling will help balance out your spear’s damage between one- and two-handed modes. You also get a Second Wind, letting you spend a bonus action to heal yourself 1d10+your fighter level.

2. Fighter 2: At second level, you can use an Action Surge once per short rest to add an extra action to your turn, for when you really need to push yourself.

3. Fighter 3: At third level, you get a fighter subclass, and the Eldritch Knight will pick us up a couple spells that we wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. They use Intelligence as their casting modifier. You also learn how to make a Weapon Bond. It takes an hour but can be done while resting, and bonding with a weapon lets you summon it as a bonus action if it’s on the same plane, and you can’t be disarmed unless you’re incapacitated. You can have up to two bonded weapons at a time, but can only summon one per action.

For your spells, Shape Water, Ray of Frost, and Frost Fingers will give you some useful ways to use water, whether for utility or combat. There aren’t really that many damaging water-based spells, so we have to reflavor ice instead. Also pick up Shield, because everyone deserves a good shield, and Healing Elixir from the Unearthed Arcana “Starter Spells” to create a healing potion that lasts up to 24 hours. This is the most accurate version of your healing water we’ll get, but there’ll be plenty of other healing options later as well.

4. Cleric 1: Your powers of wisdom came to you from a fish, but it isn’t nearly as needy as a warlock patron, so a Knowledge Cleric is your closest alternative. At first level you can cast and prepare Spells using your Wisdom. You also get a Blessing of Knowledge, giving you doubled proficiency in History and Nature. 

For your spells, Guidance and Resistance help you figure out ability checks and saving throws respectively, adding 1d4 to the next one the target does while you’re concentrating on the spell. Light creates light to help your dumb human eyes see in the dark. You also get first level spells, including the domain spells Command and Identify, which don’t count towards the number of spells you can prepare per day. The former is part of your subclass’s mind control spells, which don’t fit your build at all, but the latter lets you bite your thumb to find out more about a magical item you’re touching, or the spells affecting whatever it is you’re touching.

For other spells to prepare, Create and Destroy Water and Purify Food and Drink both give you more water creation spells, and Healing Word is another way to use your water to heal someone as a bonus action. Just hope somebody else has prestidigitation so they can dry off afterwards.

5. Cleric 2: Second level clerics get Channel Divinity options. Turn Undead forces all undead near you to make a wisdom save (8+your wisdom modifier + proficiency) or be forced to run away from you until they take damage. The more in-character option is Knowledge of the Ages. Spending an action biting your thumb gives you proficiency in one skill or tool for 10 minutes. Regardless of which one you choose, you can only use them once per short rest.

6. Cleric 3: Third level clerics get second level spells, including the domain spells Augury and Suggestion. Again, ignore the mind-control and check out how Augury lets you determine how a strategy you’re about to put into action will turn out within the next 30 minutes. Everything you got before this point only helps you determine things that already happened, now it’s time for some true wisdom. 

For non-domain spells, Lesser Restoration and Protection from Poison both increase your ability to to heal and protect your party members.

7. Cleric 4: At level seven we finally get our first Ability Score Improvement. Round up your Intelligence and Wisdom for stronger spells and more prepared cleric spells.

Speaking of spells, pick up Mending to help yourself repair your armor when it inevitably gets cut up by your next marital spat.

8. Cleric 5: At fifth level, your Turn Undead becomes Destroy Undead, automatically killing any undead of CR 1/2 or lower that fails your wisdom save. You also get third level spells, like your domain spells, Nondetection and Speak with Dead. Sometimes even your thumb doesn’t have the answers-check in with the local skeleton for another shot at figuring out what’s going on.

You could also use Clairvoyance to see other areas, or Spirit Shroud for your first new offensive option since level three. It wraps your weapon in water for extra cold damage, and slows down enemies starting their turn within 10 feet of you.

9. Cleric 6: You can now Channel your Divinity twice per long rest, and you can use it to force a creature to make a wisdom save. On a failure, you can Read their Thoughts for up to a minute, or until you end the effect to cast Suggestion on them for free, and without a saving throw. This probably isn’t really in the Salmon of Wisdom’s wheelhouse, but it’s your campaign, use what you’ve got.

10. Cleric 7: Seventh level clerics gain access to fourth level spells. Arcane Eye lets you create an invisible spy drone that lasts for up to an hour and has unlimited range. You also get Confusion.

For out-of-domain spells, Divination gives you an even more powerful augury, with a time limit of a week instead of 30 minutes. You could also use Locate Creature to lock onto a target, or Control Water to, you guessed it, control water. This lets you create a flood, part the water, redirect the flow, or create a whirlpool within 100′ cube of water. The spell lasts for up to 10 minutes, and you can change or continue your chosen effect each turn.

11. Cleric 8: Use your next ASI to bump up your Strength for a stronger spear. Also, your Destroy Undead kills creatures of CR 1 or lower, and you gain Potent Spellcasting, adding your wisdom modifier to the damage of any cleric cantrip you cast. If only you knew any...

12. Cleric 9: Ninth level clerics get fifth level spells, like Legend Lore and Scrying as part of your domain. The former gives you information about things you already know about as long as it’s legendary, and the latter lets you spy on a creature that fails a wisdom saving throw or location you have seen before. As long as you can stand the taste of your own thumb, you’re truly omniscient.

Pretty much every other spell we’re interested in past this point is another kind of healing, so I won’t keep pointing them out to you. 

13. Cleric 10: Tenth level clerics can get Divine Intervention; as an action, you can roll a d100, and if you roll equal to or lower than your cleric level, your god descends from on high to aid you. You can use this once per long rest, with a seven day cooldown after a success. I’m not sure how much a tasty salmon will be able to help, but maybe you need help distracting some bears? You also pick up Spare the Dying, in case your healing hasn’t been enough already.

14. Cleric 11: Eleventh level clerics see their Destroy Undead kill creatures of CR 2 or lower, and they get 6th level spells. Unfortunately, it’s more healing- you’ll just have to upcast your damaging spells if you want them to keep up.

15. Cleric 12: Use this ASI to empower your Wisdom for more and stronger cleric spells. 

16. Cleric 13: Use your seventh level spell slots for Regenerate, or even higher casted spells.

17. Cleric 14: Your Destroy Undead reaches its penultimate form, killing creatures CR 3 or lower.

18. Cleric 15: You gain 8th level spells for even more healing. Frankly, the dearth of cold spells in general is appalling, but especially so at higher levels.

19. Cleric 16: Anyway, use your last ASI for more Constitution, for better concentration checks and more health.

20. Cleric 17: Your capstone level is a pretty sweet one. Your Destroy Undead increases in power, destroying undead of CR 4 or lower. You also gain Visions of the Past, letting you meditate for at least one minute to receive visions of the recent past. You can either meditate on an object, learning about the most recent owner of the object (other than you, obviously), and learning about another owner for each extra minute you spend. You can also meditate on an area, seeing a different significant event in the area for each minute you meditate. In both cases, you only see visions from up to a number of days equal to your wisdom score ago, and you can use this feature once per short rest.

You also get access to ninth level spells, like Power Word Heal, the most powerful healing magic you could have.

Pros:

You’re a solid Healer, like most clerics are if they want to be.

As a knowledge cleric, you’re probably the most learned member of your party. with the ability to be proficient in any skill you need to be and your ability to learn the impossible, very few mysteries will stay that way for long while you’re around.

You’re also pretty hard to kill as a front-line fighter. Combining your weapon skills with your amount of healing means you can last a long time in combat.

Cons:

Your eldritch knight spells make up very little of your spell list, but they’re also the majority of your magical damage, so that splits up your casting modifiers and makes it harder to level either one up as high as you could otherwise.

Multiclassing into fighter gives you extra martial options, but it comes at the cost of missing out on a guaranteed divine intervention at level 20 of cleric.

There aren’t that many spells that do cold damage in the cleric spell list, especially at high levels, so your ability to deal damage doesn’t grow with you as you level up.

[regardingseas]

Ttile: Echoed Vexations (Part One, part two linked)

Fandom: Hermitcraft

Rating: Teen and up audiences (violence warning)

AO3: here! (Full story at once)

•••

Plot Summary:

It's all too easy to turn a blind eye to the past-- to believe that because someone has been shielded from harm's way, they should no longer fear the wrath of their opponent's creed. They're safe now, after all, so why would they..?

Yes, Scar and Cub are certainly "safe", but they're still haunted by memories of the Vex and their deals all the same.

OR

An average afternoon during the HCB Base Swap is cut short when Mumbo accidentally digs up a remnant from Scar's Vex partnership days, and unfortunately for the town's mayor, the other Hermit is far from aware just how triggering the topic can truly be. Things only dissolve from there, and in the end, Grian lends a helping hand to console a friend.

•••

Additional Content Warnings:

Depictions of trauma disorders, panic attacks, flashbacks, paranoid thoughts/delusions, manipulation, gaslighting, threats, injury, and violence. Mentions of religious themes, unintentional self-harm, and non-permanent character death.

Do be careful, but otherwise, enjoy!

•••

The sun was still high in the sky even as Scar finished decorating the monument's support chains, sweltering rays beaming down and adding to the oppressive humidity of the jungle around him. With his usual jacket set aside to fight the heat, he wiped away the beads of sweat that had gathered on his forehead and grabbed a stray bucket from the sidelines. He'd nearly finished the waterfall aspect of the design-- crystal blue streams cascading over the edges of four white spanners, all joining together in the octagonal pool at the base's foundation. It was looking quite spectacular, if he were to say so himself, with the vine-coiled braces and additional water currents tying the otherwise juxtaposing themes together nicely.

Scar scooped up a fresh pail of water, filling it to the brim and hauling it towards the last pillar. He glanced down at the container as he carried it, catching a glimpse of his reflection from the liquid inside. His face shone red with effort, misplaced strands of hair having clung themselves to his tan skin.

Though unsurprised, he still couldn't help but laugh at the rippling image. "It's just my luck I'd swap with another jungle dwelling Hermit. I swear, I can never escape this climate for long. First the island last year, then all this."

With a shake of his head he returned his gaze upwards, continuing to muse aloud to the landscape before him, "You tropics are wonderful and all, but it sure would've been a nice change of pace to set up camp in somewhere like the mountains. Or pull total 180 and have landed in the tundras!"

Concepts for each design raced through his head, each idea fighting the others for dominance and tacking details onto itself, trying to land its place on the metaphorical pedestal of his imagination. A cottage with medieval influences? No, that would be far too typical, amp both of those components up. An entire village with a steampunk driven aesthetic, built into the mountainscape itself; no doubt with custom terraforming to integrate the buildings into the natural environment. That was more like it.

Scar could envision working windmills and waterwheels accompanying purposefully makeshift farmlands, historic blimps having reclaimed skies where they'd soar high overhead. Below them, eye-catching pops of colour, shining through as floating lanterns that hover above connective rope bridges.

As for the arctic concept? Something more grand would be ideal. In his fantasy, he'd created an absolute oxymoron of the words cabin and mansion jumbled together, and he adored it that way. A bottom floor made of bricked stone, the top made of logs and large windows to oversee the view. Accompanying them in the same manner would be a balcony, propped on columns that hugged the building and curved around its corners. The top deck would be open for clear days, and the space below it safe on harsher ones. Sloped roofs would be adorned with chimneys, and the interior warmed by cozy flames that were kept organized with inviting lofts. The living area could be split leveled, sinking down to create its own margin where guests could comfortably gather by the fireplace and--

There was a tug at his ankle, and next thing he knew, a bemused Scar went crashing to the ground, having been too caught up to notice the trailing plants blocking his footway. His hands shot out to catch himself, palms scraping against the concrete floor in a way similar to the childhood stunt of crashing and burning on the pavement. A stinging snapped up his arms, and the water bucket dropped from his grasp, clattering down with a metallic rumble before spilling its contents across the floor.

Scar pushed himself upright with a hiss of air through his teeth, shaking off his grazed palms and wiping them on his jeans. Pulling his foot free from the greenery and gathering himself up was no problem, what was a problem, however, was the troubling sight now before him.

The water had spilled all over one of Mumbo's redstone contraptions, causing the device to short circuit and emit a sort of maroon-grey smoke. The wires fashioned from the compacted dust had been all but washed away, any remaining pieces hanging on by threads and failing miserably whenever a signal attempted to fire; more so sizzling rather than surging alight with energy.

"Oh, crud!" he shouted, racing towards the machine and yanking on the shut-off switch to divert any further input from the broken setup.

It powered down, but Scar was still left swatting the coloured smoke from his face, coughing as the scent of burnt metallics filled his nostrils. When had he gotten so absorbed in possible building opportunities that he'd managed to miss the foliage in front of him? Why had he even been wondering so deeply about it, anyway? This event was about improving one another's bases by adding their own personal touches, not starting a new project entirely.

Scar sighed, he wasn't sure why his mind had begun drifting so far. He'd like to blame it on the wild imagination of a builder, but he had a feeling there was a little more to it. Sometimes, when the world wasn't too much to handle, it was too easy to let fall away. Maybe he spent too much time daydreaming-- he was sure there was a word for that, when trances became so all encompassing, so engrossing.

"But I don't have time to think about that right now," he reminded himself, "I really need to fix this. It doesn't look like most of this redstone is salvageable, I'll have to get new supplies to repair it. Maybe some of the circuits are okay..?"

Scar nudged a repeater with his shoe, the device making an unnatural sloshing noise in his attempt to change the feed-in. He scrunched up his nose, "Okay, nope, gonna need to replace that, too."

Running a hand through his hair in defeat, he glanced towards Mumbo's storage system before shaking his head. It wouldn't be right to use the other man's supplies without asking, let alone waste them on a mistake made due to Scar's own carelessness. He'd have to make his way back to his original base and gather the materials from there once more. When he dropped by initially, he figured he'd gotten everything he needed, but apparently hadn't accounted for dissociation-induced redstone mishaps.

"I guess we're making a trip back," Scar announced to no one, finally picking up the empty bucket to set it safely aside. He made his way over to his tent, temporarily discarding any excess materials and bidding adieu to Jellie before grabbing his elytra and setting off.

Taking to the skies, Scar squinted against the wind as it roared in his ears. His hair parted itself from where it had stuck, short locks brushed back by the flowing breeze. With arms extended for balance, and maybe a dash of amusement, he lit his rockets and propelled himself into the distance.

-----

It wasn't long before he encroached on his base again, allowing his faux wings to glide him downward where he kicked out his legs to come to a soft landing. Scar stopped before the massive drill site just on the outskirts of the forest, heading towards the agglomeration of crates and boxes he had haphazardly stowed aside. He was certain there had to be the necessary hardware in one of the many containers, though which that may be was lost on him. At least, thanks to Mumbo and his new storage system, the chest monster he'd created would soon be a thing of the past.

"I wonder how that's going for him..." Scar pondered, striding over to a random shulker and beginning his sure-to-be protracted search.

"Scar?" a familiar voice interrupted, making him peer ahead to see the moustached man himself rounding the corner. "Hello there! I see you've made yourself rather at home at my base," Mumbo teased.

He couldn't help but chuckle, "That I have. I just needed to stop by and pick up some redstone and iron. With all the ore this place has quarried up, I was sure there's bound to be more of that here than back at Larry."

Mumbo faked surprise with a hearty grin, "Getting into mechanics, are we? Have the inner workings of the temple really had that much influence on you after only a few days?"

"Now I wouldn't say that," Scar shook his head and closed the lid of the grey shulker, seeing no point in hiding the truth. "I took a tumble holding a bucket of water and it kinda spilled on one of the contraptions. I'm sorry for the trouble-- but don't worry! I came here to fix it right up. I just didn't wanna waste your materials fixing my silly error."

The suited man waved his hand dismissively, "Nonsense, it's no trouble. Have you seen the improvements you've made to that place? I mean, of course you've seen them, you built them, but rhetorically speaking--" Mumbo cleared his throat, "Just don't fret over it, I trust that you'll have it fixed right up in no time."

Scar smiled, "Thanks, dude. Now I just have to find where on Earth I put those ore…"

Mumbo gave another laugh, "You know, you can feel free to use some of my things if need be. I have no idea how you expect to find anything in this mess. I'm only trying to do a basic look through so I know where to begin when it comes to the item sorter, but even that doesn't seem to do much good. I swear, it's like trying to play a very intense game of memory, with thousands of nonsensical cards all scattered about."

Scar snickered sheepishly at the comparison, "Yeah, no kidding. But being able to use some resources without flying all the way over here would be great. Thanks again, Mumbo. I don't know if there's anything you'll need here while working, but hey, consider it free range. We're doing these things for each other in the long run, anyway."

"I'd say, 'unless we don't switch back our deeds', but in all honesty? I'm beginning to miss the ol' living monument already."

The two exchange a chuckle before returning to their previous tasks, both going back to digging through the pile of chests in preparation for their projects.

It took longer than Scar wanted to admit to finally find the crate stocked with valuables-- sighing in relief at the sight and immediately beginning to pile the items into his inventory. There were pre-smelted metals from an iron farm, so he didn't have to bother with the ore, and the redstone he'd gathered was already in dust from, meaning all he'd have to do was craft the items after returning.

"I wonder if it would've been easier to stop by the shopping district and buy these directly, instead of making them by hand..." he said, "Oh well, saves on diamonds, and these had to be used some time, I guess."

"Talking to yourself over there?" Mumbo asked.

"Just thinking aloud is all."

"I see," the moustached man nodded, pushing himself up from where he'd been examining the supplies. "I found something neat from last year! Do you wanna see?"

"Sure!" Scar agreed, setting aside his intent of flying back in favour of seeing what it was Mumbo had to show him.

He smiled and stepped over to Scar, holding out a faded piece of paper for them both to see, "I found it stuck to the bottom of a shulker box! Can you believe we used to be competition so recently?" He joked.

Scar could only stare at the advert before him, a steele blue page embellished with a vault-like ring in the center. It meant nothing to the untrained eye, but to him, all of the company's horrors were sealed underneath. ConCorp read bold text in half-connected lettering, the logo finalizing its signature with a black bow tie adorning the bottom.

"Hardly," managed Scar, having just remembered he'd been asked a question, "But it wasn't that recent."

"It was practically yesterday if we're talking business," Mumbo snickered, "but we aren't. I'm not very good at business."

"Me neither, I prefer mayorship," he said in an attempt to change the subject.

Mumbo, however, didn't seem to notice, only turning to stare at Scar with eyes wide. "Are you kidding me? You were quite literally the richest Hermit of all last year! You're wonderful at business. Sahara was amazing, and I don't for a second doubt it was the most ambitious project of our group to date, but she had plenty of bugs, being the machine powered industry that she was. ConCorp, however? That was an utter monopoly! The thing lasted two bloody seasons!"

Scar chuckled awkwardly, "I know, I know, Cub and I worked very hard. But it wasn't all us, we couldn't have done it alone."

"Give yourself more credit," Mumbo insisted, "I'm more than convinced you could have gotten your business up and running even without the help of your Vex friends. Weren't they less prominent in your company last year, anyway? You did change your guy's name from ConVex to ConCorp, after all. I think that would imply less input on their part."

"Not really," he explained, though the tension building in his body was becoming harder to conceal. He had to keep his arms rigid so that they wouldn't shake, forcing in deep breaths to avoid the shaky ones that threatened to take their place. "We just thought it would be better for business, rebranding to something more gentlemanly and all."

Mumbo nodded, "Ah, that makes sense. Though I still don't understand how you managed to work with them to begin with. I likely wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes. I mean business partners with the Vex? Friends, even? How'd you do it? Not to mention why? With all due respect, what makes one seek that out?"

Scar blinked hard at the influx of questions, "Oh, it's- it's really complicated, you might not understand. Cub started it, though. I joined the team not long after, but I wasn't there when he first struck the deal with Them."

"Huh, some deal," Mumbo remarked thoughtfully, and Scar nodded.

He had no idea.

"So what made you leave that behind?" Mumbo continued.

"What?" he asked, finding his thoughts hazy. They were static nothingness, but somehow also crashing into his skull. He found himself having to dig his way through them, while at the same time trying to bury them once he passed. The last thing Scar wanted was to do was hark back to the Vex, to beckon forth Their memory with his own.

The other man simply chuckled, oblivious to Scar's inner turmoil. "ConCorp, the Vex. Did you two just get bored? Having done the same thing for too long?"

"In a sense, you could definitely say we were tired of it. It just- well, it wasn't what we wanted to do anymore. We wanted to move on to new things."

"That's fair enough. Do you blokes still get along? Or did they take the corporation's end like a sour breakup?"

This time, Scar couldn't contain his wince. "We're still friends!" he insisted, "Of course the Vex are my friends."

Mumbo finally quirked a brow, "Are you sure about that? You don't have to worry about hiding some burnt corporal bridges from me, I'm not here to judge."

"Oh yeah, I'm positive," he nodded eagerly, "I'm just- I'm gonna go work on fixing that contraption I damaged, best to get it fixed before we have to switch back."

"Buddy, are you sure everything's alright? I'm sorry if I upset you or anything."

"Nah, I'm just peachy!" Scar announced with far too much false enthusiasm, internally cringing at his failed masking abilities. Not allowing any more time for his ruse to be cracked, he uttered a quick goodbye before adjusting the straps on his elytra and dashing off, leaping into the air and back towards the ruins.

"Scar, wait!" Mumbo tried, but he was already gone.

------

The returning flight was far from the peaceful journey he'd made to the excitation site. His artificial wings beat frantically, struggling to keep up as he charged forward with excessive firepower. He paid no mind to the safety protocol regarding the rocket's cool-down period, simply heralding through the air as fast as his elytra would carry him. Scar arrived back to the monument in a trip overall much faster than when he'd left, but it seemed to drag on for an eternity. The entire excursion consisted of a battle with his own mind-- a war in which he knew he was bound to lose, but he had to hold down the fort until he was on solid ground.

Scar was lucky not to crash into the debris upon landing, frantically stumbling to the dirt and having to grasp onto a piece of wreckage to maintain his balance. His legs nearly buckled under his weight, form trembling in spite of the deep breaths he gave it his all to draw in.

He grasped hard to the rubble, trying to anchor his brain into focus. He couldn't let his thoughts spiral, he couldn't think about Them. He knew grounding techniques, and he tried to rush his way through them.

Five things you can see.

He could see the golden heart, plants, stone, the golden heart again-- the thing was too anatomically correct, he'd seen horrors too similar to it before. And the sound, it was too damn loud, too hard to ignore. Its unsteady rhythm hammering in his ears alongside his own faltering pulse.

Forget visuals, four different noises?

Scar squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to listen, focusing hard on the world around him. Still, he could only hear the heart. He could only hear it pounding, its once melodic notes like nails on a chalkboard. He could remember far too many times when he was left alone with nothing but his heartbeat and his pleas.

Tactile. Texture. What can you feel? Three things you can feel.

Internally, he screamed at his dulling senses to return. God, he didn't want to think about Them, it wasn't worth the risk. They'd been inside his head before, and the mere idea of having his thoughts broadcasted again made his stomach churn. Scar tried harder and harder to suppress the images bubbling to the surface, festering like maggots in an old wound. The more he tried to push them down, however, the fiercer they'd rise back up, and he choked down a sob in attempt to list the sensations he could currently identify.

He could feel the stone-- but he already said the stone, didn't he? He could also feel the sun. It was hot against his back. So hot. He was overheating.

The notes should have been a success, but the drops of sweat felt too akin to tricking blood. The sting of his hands felt too much like the friction burn of a rope. It felt too much like he was back with the Vex again, and as he finally sunk to the soil, he could no longer swim against the onslaught of memories crashing over him like a tidal wave.

They could still hear him, They could still hear him, They could still hear him, They could still get him--

------

The day he and Cub first found the courage to try and cut ties with the Vex had been a hellish one, and the two men weren't even successful in their attempt. Hence, of course, it being the first.

Still, it had taken ages for Scar to persuade Cub that it was even worth trying, the other man having believed it was impossible to sneak anything past the Vex on their own. Scar was persistent, however, and eventually convinced his friend they had a shot if they played their cards right, if they made the right proposal without their intentions being discovered.

They'd constructed their plans in secret for weeks; discussing them only inside of untold locations with hushed whispers, or in the form of coded scrawls they'd burn immediately after reading. They couldn't be too careful, that's what they'd tell themselves whenever they worried their precautionary measures may be over the top. Even so, when a so-called conference was put on the schedule --such events were far from any type of cordial meeting, despite having been assigned the title of one-- the men were hardly prepared for it.

Their conference room consisted of a needlessly grandiose suite, with floors of marble and walls carved from deep umber wood. The polished lumber was adorned with expensive paintings in aureate frames; antique laden shelves taking up the spaces they did not. Aesthetically pleasing decorative tactics were discarded in favour of showing off their riches in a possessive cluster, with the only average items being the table and its chairs sat in the dead center of the area. A chandelier of gemstone and gold swung from above, dangling by the same chains fated to one day bind their vassals.

"Concordats, greetings!" A Vex declared as the men were led through the doorway, hovering in the air at the opposing end of the surface.

"Greetings," parroted Cub minimally, Scar giving a plain nod beside him. Fewer words meant less chance at letting their guard down.

"We've been needing to speak with you," a different Vex chimed.

"Speak with you about the business," yet another visitant confirmed.

"We actually need to discuss similar matters with you all," Scar noted, voice and expression a façade of tranquility.

"You do?" the first asked, wide smile replaced with inquiry.

"Yes," managed Cub, "we want to make you an offer, one you can't refuse."

"I do like the sound of that!" the second snickered.

"We'll hear your offer," the Vex grinned, "we only have one question first!"

"Of course, what is it?" asked Scar, in mental awe of how well their exchange was going.

"Do you recognize these?" it asked, gesturing towards the white table where a blue light flashed, fading away to reveal a small pile of ash.

Cub and Scar glanced to one another in evident confusion, the latter of the two speaking once again, "Forgive me, but we're not sure what you're talking about."

"Oh, silly me!" the Vex giggled, another flash of luminesce encompassing the soot and leaving a stack of papers in its place. As if caught in a controlled gust, they blew from the surface and organized themselves midair; levitating in a cloud of magic.

All of their once burnt notes were lined up before them, cyphers needed to crack their messages included.

Still beaming with innocence, it continued, "How about now? Look familiar?"

The blood drained from their faces, and Scar could have sworn his heart was going to burst from his chest with how hard it was drumming. He wanted to wake up, because this had to be a nightmare.

"No, we have no idea what those are," he tried.

LAIR!

Overlapping voices screamed in his head, all sounding in haunting unison. Scar hastily clapped his hands over his ears, but it did nothing to silence the uproar emanating from within.

You try to break our contract then lie to our faces?

Foolish concordats.

Terrible secret keepers, terrible subjects.

Cub seized hold of Scar's arm and made a break for the door with the brunet in tow, reaching the exit and tugging desperately on the handles. They refused to turn under his grasp, and his eyes darted back towards the Vex; floating creatures growing ever closer to their imaginary bubble providing them with the illusion of safety.

More of Them were phasing in through walls, forms non-corporeal and having no need for the sealed entryway.

Apologize.

They all ordered, Scar flinching at the simultaneous projection. He lowered his hands and turned towards Them, watching Their unmoving grins with wide eyes.

Kneel before your gods and divulge your prayers, we may just show you mercy.

"I'm sorry-" Scar whimpered, but Cub was having none of it.

"No!" the man barked, "Screw this! This isn't worth it! None of this is worth it! He's right! The business, the money, the power, it-- it means nothing! Not when you treat us like this!"

They watched him step forward, his furious yells echoing through the expanse of the room, "We're done! And we mean it! You're going to get us go or else!"

An orchestra of shrill cackles filled the air.

Oooh, it's angry.

They're fighting back!

Teach them a lesson.

"You won't dare make another-" Cub's retaliation was cut short with a cry, the bearded man dropping to the ground in a swift crash.

"Cub!" Scar called, but his attempt to step towards his friend was met only with a searing pain through his legs and the subsequent buckling of his knees. He fell to the marble, limbs heavy as if they'd been weighted. It took considerable force to balance on his arms, appendages left shaking as he peered back up towards the Vex.

He regretted it instantly.

•••

(Part two)