#this will accomplish absolutely nothing but i have to get it off my chest you know

[feitanii-ll]

ᰔᩚ 𝗠𝗬 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟, 𝗠𝗬 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟 ᰔᩚ

husband! katsuki x afab!reader

(implied advances/pursuing (not from katsuki), cursing, hella fluff, little ooc kats.)

★ — in which,, katsuki finds someone trying to pursue his wife in a grocery store.

katsuki has a lot of pride.

how could he not? being one of the top heros in Japan, bursting through the ranks at unimaginable speeds, accomplishing things that no one else in the world can even comprehend. he's got a house (a few of them), nice cars, neat clothes, ect— overall, an exceptional lifestyle. something that he deserves to be prideful about. things to be proud of. and though he appreciates it; the fame, the wealth, the prestige— nothing, and I mean nothing, trumps the pride he has for you. his wife.

it's all he feels in the moment, staring at you from across the isle of the grocery store, unbeknownst to you. his sweet little wife, going off on a stranger, an absolute weirdo, for not leaving you alone, he believes. for not accepting your rejection, maybe? he can only assume. hell, who cares anymore?

he had driven you both to the grocery store, wanting to do some quick shopping for the upcoming weekend. but your man was just so so tired from working all week, you insisted on going in alone so that he could relax, promising you'd just be a minute.

he took it upon himself to go looking inside the store for you when 45 minutes pass, leading him to now.

katsuki is grinning, almost maniacally as he watches you, arms crossed over his pride-swollen chest. the conversation is something along the lines of,

'I said no, didn't I? back the fuck up.' with your brows furrowed cutely, a disgusted sneer on your face.

when the loser persists, you get loud, almost wanting to make a scene. you cut him off with a, "nuh uh! I'm tryna' be nice, but you're pissing me off, now, sir"

katsuki's still watching, wanting to see how things plays out. he won't let the man get too close. won't let anything escalate further. he just wants to see you handle yourself, like he knows you can. you're his girl, after all.

and when the man doesn't let up, you take to slipping your phone out of your pocket, taking your eyes off the man for only a second to speed dial katsuki. he sees it all, watching as you press the phone to your ear, ready to summon him. he grins wider, biting back a smile when he feels his phone vibrate in his front, right pocket. you're still cursing the stranger out, now embarrassing him in front of the other shoppers as you wait for your husband to answer the phone.

"—don't know what you thought this was. my husband don't play that. he's crazy." you scoff, thoroughly pissed.

and that's the icing on the cake. it's what has him cackling, celebrating, almost to himself. he basically doubles over as his giggles hit him hard. he wasn't expecting those words to come out of your mouth, but God, were they music to his ears.

'thas' my fuckin' girl.' he sighs internally.

you did everything right.

he thinks it's about time he interferes. slipping a cllaosued hand into his front pocket, katsuki pulls out his vibrating phone, declining the call as he approaches you.

the confusion you feel when your husband doesn't answer is temporary. your expression goes from frustrated to surprised when his voice rings out just above you, swimming pleasantly through your ears.

"kats—" you look up, surprised as you meet his gaze, a wave of relief washing over you.

"don't worry, babe," he's still grinning, but the look he gives the man is one of familiarity. you might have to be the one to deescalate the problem now,

"your husband's riiiight here."

your once frustrated features shift at the sound of his voice. his form was so big and imposing behind you, and you knew you were safe.

"baby, I was just gonna grab one more thing for you before paying for the groceries—"

God, he thinks, you were shopping for him.

"don't worry 'bout it, ma." his voice is gruff as it sounds in your ears, rough in a way that it makes you almost plaint. and it's around this time that the stranger realizes just who he's talking to, not expecting dynamite to be in his vicinity.

"you did good. c'mon." he praises as he grabs your hand, leading you to the register and taking the basket from your hands, gingerly.

by the time you get back into your shared vehicle, katsuki is still smiling— like he's on the verge of laughing. it makes you smile, too, albeit, extremely confused.

you slip on your seat belt when you feel the car roar to life, rumbling softly in the background. when you look back uo, you're sighing, flopping back against the seat, exhausted. when you look to your man, he's still grinning. it makes you smile, albeit extremely confused.

"what??" you ask through a giggle, almost desperately, needing to know just what the hell was so damn funny.

he stays silent, simply smiling, and you emphasize again,

"whaat?"

"nothin!" he laughs, palms lifting off the wheel and by his ears in mock surrender, "can't fucking look at ya?"

"you're being weird, kat!" you swat his shoulder playfully, "what arenyou looking at me like that?"

"nothin', baby, nothin'." he's giddy, which is so so odd to you.

"is this about what happened just now." you lift your brows expectantly.

he pauses, and then speaks,

"just... 'm proud of my girl, is all." he shrugs, making a smug face. "told that man off, yeah? told him that your husband is crazy about you? makes me all...I dunno." he trails off, and you laugh.

"what else were you expecting?" you scoff out a laugh, shaking your head. "he was hitting on me, and—"

"baby, you don't gotta explain it to me. just.. know that I'm proud of you." he smiles, and it's so genuine. so pretty. so rare from your husband. your heart races at the praise.

"okay." you whisper, smiling shyly.

"okay." he confirms, looking down at you, still grinning.

he's definitely proud of himself. but not more than he is of you.

[moonselune]

Can I get a Halsin x short reader (Either fem, or GN you pick) where the reader tries their best to cuddle with him despite how small they are.

I would make him my little spoon no matter what, I may be a short mf but I will diligently be his backpack

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Halsin x reader | Let me love hug you

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Halsin sat by the campfire, the flickering flames casting shadows that danced across his broad, muscular frame. The night was cool, and you couldn’t help but feel a surge of determination as you approached him. Despite the size difference, you were resolute in your mission to cuddle with him and make him the little spoon.Halsin glanced up as you approached, a warm smile spreading across his face.

"Hello, my heart," he greeted, his deep voice rumbling pleasantly, as he lay by the fire, often preferring the stars to his tent canvas, "Is something on your mind?"

You returned his smile, your eyes sparkling with mischief. "Yes, actually," you replied, standing before him with your hands on your hips. "I think it’s high time you experienced the comfort of being cuddled"

Halsin chuckled, his eyes twinkling with excitement. "Is that so? I must admit, I am curious to see how you plan to manage that. No offence my love but you are not exactly a giant."

With a playful huff, you climbed onto the bedroll next to him, motioning for him to lie down. Halsin, ever indulgent, obliged, stretching out on his side. You positioned yourself behind him, trying to wrap your arms around his broad back. It was a challenge, given the significant size difference, but you were nothing if not determined.

You pressed yourself against him, your chest to his back, and tried to pull him closer. Your arms barely reached halfway around his torso, but you tightened your grip as much as you could. Halsin chuckled again, the sound vibrating through his body and into yours.

"You’re very persistent, aren’t you?" he murmured, his voice filled with affection.

"Absolutely," you replied, your voice slightly muffled by his back. "Just because I’m small doesn’t mean I can’t be the big spoon."

Halsin shifted slightly, making it easier for you to hold him. He reached down and took your hand in his, bringing it up to rest on his chest. "You’re doing wonderfully," he said softly. "I’ve never felt so… protected."

You laughed, the sound light and joyful. "I’m glad to hear it. You deserve to be pampered and cared for, just like anyone else."

Halsin sighed contentedly, relaxing into your embrace. Despite the awkwardness of the position, you felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Your determination had paid off, and you were successfully cuddling your much larger lover.

As the night wore on, you continued to hold Halsin, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath your hand. The warmth of his body against yours was comforting, and you couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at having accomplished your goal.

Halsin’s breathing slowed as he began to drift off to sleep, and you snuggled closer, your face buried in the back of his neck. "Goodnight, my heart," you whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to his skin.

Halsin murmured something in response, his words slurred with sleep. You smiled, your eyes closing as you allowed yourself to relax fully. You did it, you made him your little spoon.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

[bellewintersroe]

Joe Liebgott x Reader

You and Joe are ‘best friends’ that occasionally mess around… Joe’s feelings are revealed to you when he defends you from a rather nasty D-company soldier.

“Yeah D-day was a whole new level of crazy.” I agreed with the conversation that was occurring in the British pub. It was late, everybody had drunken more than a few beers and somehow the topic circulated back to war. It was never a good mix, alcohol and such traumatic conversations. I crossed my legs, taking a sip from my wine, only glancing up again when I heard the soft laugh of a man from D company who’d joined in on the conversation.

“What would you know about it?” He was laughing at me. The question was something I was used to, it seemed the men sometimes forgot us field nurses did more than just stay back in England- which on its own was an accomplishment, but I wouldn’t let mine go forgotten.

“More than you think.” My brows raised in amusement, I’d dealt with this hundreds of times before. “Here’s a girl, what can’t be more than 20? Telling me she knows all about Normandy.” He laughed, nudging his buddies.

“She does. She was there.” Joe spoke from besides me, responding to the man as though it was obvious. I felt my heart swell at Joe butting in, shutting this guy up. We were nothing more than what seemed to be fuck buddies- but my feeling argued otherwise.

“You? Out at Normandy? You can’t even lift a pint, girl, nevermind carry a grown man.” The comment caused a sense of anger like no other to trigger inside me. Men being surprised we nurses were capable of such strenuous work was understandable. But disbelieving and shaming me? That was a step too far. Just as I opened my mouth to snap back a response, another voice cut me off.

“Oh fuck.” Joe borderline laughed, sliding his pint carelessly onto the bar. “Don’t you speak to her like that.” The laughter died out fast, clearly he was pissed. He answered before I could, I didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing, considering this had been an issue before where he’d physically fought a man for me- I didn’t want to see that again.

“Oh what, Liebgott, are you her boyfriend now or somethin’?” The man attempted to laugh again. My mouth fell slightly agape, attempting to place a hand on Liebgotts arm.

“So what if I was?” Joe scraped his chair back, walking past me, daggers formed on this other guys stupid face. Oh great. “Joe, sit down.” I muttered but he waved his hand slightly towards me, anger obvious seeing as the vein had began to bulge out of his neck. His chest was puffed and he began speaking again.

“What’s it to do you with you, huh? Last I heard you didn’t even make it out the plane.” People had started to take notice now, attempting to hush Liebgott and his harsh responses.

“That’s none of your fucking business!” The man now stood up in return, clearly aggravated by Liebgott’s comment. “Joe!” I exclaimed, knowing I’d have absolutely no input on what the outcome of this would be. My heart was in my chest, fearing what would soon follow.

“Watch your fucking mouth then, talking about shit you don’t have a fucking clue about.” Joe spat back, several pairs of hands attempting to pull him back. Out of nowhere, the man reached forwards, pushing Joe back. It was as though he expected it, barely moving too far, and instead springing back and bounding forwards, fist colliding with the man’s jaw with a horrendous crack. Drinks went flying and men jumped in to try break apart the sudden outburst.

I gasped in shock, sliding off my barstool in order to not get caught up in the chaos. Limbs were flying everywhere, body’s pushing to either get involved or get a view of the fight. “Hey, Y/n.” Guarnere tugged me out of the way, thankfully, I was too stunned to move otherwise, trapped by multiple bodies surrounding me. I felt sick, guilty, overwhelmed. I was so powerless in a situation I felt I could’ve diffused. Liebgott would jump into a fight for me, but I didn’t understand why. We weren’t exactly together.

A quick exhale escaped my lips as I scurried out, away from the crowded pub, struggling to manoeuvre my way through the nosy crowd. Being here with Liebgott in the first place was a mistake. I was so stupid, so so stupid, and so was he. I shoved the door open, scurrying out into the chilly autumn breeze, wrapping my arms around my front in an aid to protect my bare skin.

I felt like crying, not only was I humiliated, but I was reminded how much I really fucking was in love with Joe. I hated myself for catching feelings for him, so badly. As my feet hit the pavement I heard the door slam open followed by rowdy noise that was soon drowned out when it shut again.

“Hey!” Joe called out. I huffed, looking up to the sky and continuing with my quickened pace. “Hey! Y/n, wait!” He jogged up to me quicker than I’d expected. “Wait up.” He let out a gentle laugh, thinking this was all some big joke.

“Leave me alone, Joe.” I spoke as he held onto to my arm gently, causing me to pause in the middle of the road, facing him directly. “Are you ok?” He asked seriously now, lip slightly bloodied and busted from where he’d caught a punch. Joe didn’t hesitate to pull off his blazer, wrapping it over my shoulders. “Fuck that guy, y’know. You’re way better than him.” He muttered as he tugged it further down my shoulders. I hated the way my stomach fluttered, my heart was beating way too fast and I didn’t have the willpower in me to shrug his blazer off.

“I know.” I responded, blinking back down to the ground. “Good.” He nodded. “Joe, you didn’t have to get hurt for me.” I sighed out, gazing back over to his face.

“I’d knock out anybody who spoke to you that way.” My breath became caught in my throat as I turned away from him once more. “What, what is it?” He taught on quick. My jaw was tight and I slowly peeled the blazer back off.

“Joe we can’t sleep together anymore.”

“What? Why?” He seemed stunned as I held out his blazer. “No, keep it- what? What makes you say that?” His voice genuinely sounded disappointed, hurt, confused?

“I-I don’t know, Joe.” I lied.

“Was it the fight cos I swear I-”

“Joe, no-”

“- I won’t do that again, I didn’t mean to scare you-”

“No it’s not tha-”

“- I won’t do it again! I’m sorry, dammit!” The two of us spoke over one another, only shutting up at his curse. “I won’t do that again, y/n, I’m sorry. I-I never expected you to get scared.”

“Im not scared of you, Joe. Im scared that you got hurt.” I felt tears beginning to brim my eyes.

“Im fine, you should see the other guy.” He now reached out, nudging the blazer in my hand back towards my body. “I don’t care about the other guy, I care about you! God damn it, Joe. Why are you so blind?” I burst into tears, stuffing his blazer back onto his arm as I completely turned away, beginning to walk. He stood for a moment, stunned before following me.

“Hey, hey, c’mon. Talk to me, baby.” There he was with his pet names, the stupid ones that had me so weak in the knees. His blazer was quickly wrapped over my shoulder, arm hugging me close as he walked slowly beside me. I was mortified that I’d just started crying like that, wiping my tears quickly and swallowing any other urges to cry quickly away.

“I’m fine, I’m not hurt. Did he hurt your feelings?” Joe muttered again. “No.” I pathetically sighed, feeling the admission burning heavy on my chest. The words were on the tip of my tongue, threatening to be spilt.

“Then I don’t understand, Angel, c’mere.” He attempted to hug me close. “No! We can’t do this anymore, Joe!” I desperatly spoke, pulling backwards. “Y/n?” He blinked in confusion. “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t sleep with you anymore! It’s killing me, Joe.”

“Y/n…” he repeated, much softer this time, brows furrowed and lips parted as he watched me through my distress. “I love you, Joe. I do, and I hate it.” There it went. Clearly, he was stunned, eyes widening as he stuttered a little.

“You hate it? Why?” He slowly asked as I sighed, continuing my walk. “Dammit, y/n, just stop walking away and speak to me!” He tugged at my arm, standing closer to me.

“You love me?” He asked in borderline disbelief. “Don’t rub it in, Joe.” I wiped at my eyes. “No, you fucking love me.” He commented again as I sniffled out, attempting to turn away until he tilted my face back to look at him.

“It’s a good thing, huh, doll?” He breathlessly spoke, stepping closer to me so our bodies stumbled backwards slightly. I didn’t know where he was going with his words, I’d already accepted the rejection. “Yeah, it’s a good thing I fucking love you too, huh?” His hand held under my chin, smiling at the slight gasp that escaped my mouth.

“I really fuckin’ love you.” He added on, moving down and pressing his lips firmly against mine. Holy shit. My surprise was unexplainable. Our teeth almost clashed from how strongly he was kissing me, Joe held me a little tighter than all the other times, pushing his jawline forwards to eagerly kiss me.

Who would’ve thought all this would come out of a stupid fight, huh?

[xmads-omensx]

Once Upon A Dream

Masterlist

Word Count: 2,781

Pairing: Noah Sebastian X Reader

Content Warnings: fluff, wearing, kissing, mentions of a slight fear of rollercoasters and mild anxiety

Summary: Noah takes Y/N to Disney for their anniversary... except they can't quite get rid of the rest of the guys

Thanks @tosoundlessdarkistare for the idea <3

I have also never been to Disney Land before so please be aware that there will be inaccuracies.

I had always wanted to go to Disney, ever since I was a kid, but I had never had the chance to go. It was always too expensive when I was younger, and by the time we could afford it, I had pretty much outgrown it.

Part of me still wanted to go, but with balancing work and spending time with Noah when he wasn’t on tour, it was hard to find the time to visit with enough time to do everything that I wanted to do.

This wasn’t something I had told Noah outright. It wasn’t exactly something I openly told people. The circle of people I surrounded myself with were, much like Noah, intimidating metalheads covered in tattoos who would have absolutely no business being in Disneyland. The mental image made me laugh.

One day, I had some time between meetings. I was working from home that day, so I didn’t really have anything to do in this particular thirty minute gap, so I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to have a glance at prices for a hypothetical trip to Disneyland. My very surface-level research confirmed the astronomical prices for tickets, and did not factor in accommodation, snacks, souvenirs or a second person to join me on the trip.

I promptly gave up on my side-quest and went back to my meeting, feeling ever so slightly defeated at my lack of accomplishment.

The rest of the day felt heavier. It wasn’t like I desperately wanted to do, but more so something the small child within me yearned for. Plenty of kids my age, friends included all got to experience the joys of Disney, but I never quite reached that.

Crawling into bed after dinner felt nice. Especially with Noah wrapped around me.

“How was your day?” He asked softly.

“Not bad. Work was a bit boring, as usual.” I laughed into his chest, making him laugh as well.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t around much today. We were making real progress in the studio.” He said softly, a twinge of regret in his voice.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re making progress, honey.” I replied, snuggling further into his chest.

“Me too.” He kissed the top of my head. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” I drifted off to sleep easily. I always did with Noah there.

The next day I woke up to an empty bed. I didn’t like waking up alone. I looked around the room but couldn’t see Noah anywhere. The bathroom was empty and it was only 9:45am, so he shouldn’t be at the studio just yet.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and left our shared bedroom. My office was down the hall and the light was on. Weird. I was sure I had turned it off when you finished work yesterday.

Walking closer to the slightly ajar door, I started to hear voices coming from inside. Noah? Matt? Jolly? Why were they in my office?

I lightly pushed the door open and they hurriedly stopped their conversation. Noah had a look that was equally suspicious as it was guilty.

“What are you guys doing in here?” I asked sleepily, rubbing my eye.

“Nothing really, just chilling.” Noah said, trying to act calm but ultimately failing.

“In my office?” I asked sceptically.

The guys looked between eachother as I just stared at them. From an outside perspective, it must have looked like a mildly disappointed mother scolding her three sons.

“You better take this one man, it was your idea.” Matt said, clapping Noah on his back, making Jolly laugh.

Noah sighed before speaking. “So, you know how our anniversary is coming up soon?”

“Yeah.” I said, a small smile appearing on my face, as it did every time someone mentioned our anniversary

“I thought maybe we could go on a little trip, instead of just going on a nice date or something.” He said quietly, with a small smile on his face.

“A trip where?” I asked, excited.

“That’s a surprise.” Noah replied.

“Disney Land!” Matt and Jolly exclaimed at the same time Noah was speaking.

“Are you both fucking kidding me!” Noah shouted, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

Matt and Jolly laughed at his outburst, hurriedly escaping the room to avoid Noah’s anger as well as the pillow he had picked up to throw at them.

I just watched, laughing at them.

“I’m sorry baby, it was supposed to be a surprise.” He mumbled, looking down at the ground in defeat.

“Hey.” He looked up at me when I began to speak. “It’s okay. I’m looking forward to it.”

He smiled softly and pulled me into his lap, placing a kiss on my cheek. “Good morning beautiful.” He said softly.

“Morning handsome.” I giggled.

We stayed like that for another few moments before deciding to go and get ready for the day.

The rest of the week rolled around quickly as Noah and I’s anniversary approached. We had packed for three days at Disney Land and were eagerly awaiting our trip to roll around.

After what felt like eternity, the time had arrived for us to begin our journey to Disney Land. Luckily, we didn’t live too far away, so we could drive there and back relatively easily, but we still booked a hotel to make out lives easier.

Moving our bags by the front door, Noah began loading up his car. Since it was our anniversary, he wasn’t letting me help him with anything, which frustrated me, but seeing as he was significantly taller than me and could lift me up like it was nothing, there wasn’t much point trying to help him.

“Noah come on. Let me help.” I had argued.

“Nope.” He simply replied.

“Noah ju-“ I started before he interrupted me.

“I said nope.” He looked at me with a jokingly stern expression.

I had sighed, giving up.

Once the car had been packed, Noah clapped his hands together, proud of himself, and we began to make our way to his car.

Before we could even open the door, a small commotion from inside the house made us pause, before what can only be described as a gaggle of arguing men poured out the front door carrying bags with them.

Nick, Folio, Jolly, Matt, Bryan and Steven now all stood on our driveway looking mildly sheepish.

“Where are you guys going?” Noah asked with a suspicious tone, nervously eyeing the bags they each carried along with them.

“So, we may or may not have booked tickets to go with you guys to Disney Land.” Folio said sheepishly.

“Out anniversary trip to Disney Land?” Noah asked, still eyeing them all suspiciously.

The rest of the guys had a guilty look on their faces. “We’ll stay out of your way, we just liked the idea.” Nick added, trying to lessen their guilt.

“You fucking better.” Noah huffed before getting into the drivers seat of his car.

“See you guys later I guess.” I laughed before climbing in the passenger seat.

Noah sighed before starting the car and pulling out of the driveway. He remained quiet for the first ten minutes of the drive, which was unlike him. He usually asked for a specific playlist, or talked about our plans for the day.

“Are you okay babe?” I asked, placing my hand on his knee and squeezing it affectionately.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He sighed. “I just wanted to take you somewhere special for a break away from the others. You know? Just us.”

“And whilst that is a very nice idea babe, we both know that neither of us will ever escape those guys.” I laughed.

“Yeah you’re right.” Noah sighed, a weak smile appearing on his face.

“I have a nasty habit of doing that.” I smirked at him.

“shut up. Put some music on babe, you’re choice.” Noah laughed.

“Okay.” I giggled, queuing up my musical theatre playlist, which I knew Noah secretly liked, despite stating that he hated it several times.

The entire drive there I performed every single song, which was probably why Noah constantly protested the playlist every time. I more or less made a mockery of his job.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we unloaded Noah’s car and brought our things up to the hotel room, which wasn’t fancy in the slightest, but did the job for four nights. The guys had booked rooms in the same hotel, but luckily not on the same floor as Noah and I, so we still got some peace and quiet away from them.

Dinner time rolled around and Noah took me out for a very nice, quiet, romantic meal for our anniversary, as had become tradition between the two of us over the last few years.

The morning sunshine lit up our hotel room and aroused me from my sleep, Noah still lay beside me snoring contently away. As much as I hated to wake him, I knew that we probably had to leave soon to avoid the rush at the entrance. I gently brushed the stray hairs off of his face, before placing gentle kisses all over his cheeks, making him stir and his eyes flutter open.

A soft smile appeared on his face. “Hey beautiful.” He groaned.

“Hi baby.” I replied, kissing his forehead.

He wrapped his long, strong arms around my waist, trying to pull me back into bed, but I resisted. “Noah, baby, as much as I would love to hide in bed all day with you, we need to beat the rush and the rest of the guys.”

Noah groaned and buried his face in the pillow.

“This was your idea honey.” I laughed, shaking his shoulder gently, making him roll over and face me again.

“I know.” He sighed before climbing out of bed and dragging me into the bathroom behind him.

After we were showered, dressed and I had done my hair and makeup, it was time to go. We planned on grabbing some breakfast at the park as well as lunch, and just seeing how we felt for dinner.

The drive over there was short and we got parked relatively easily, despite our parking being far to the back of the car park.

We collected our wristbands and entered the park. Neither Noah or myself especially liked rollercoasters, but we were both determined to try at least one before our trip was over.

“Hey! Y/N! Noah!” A voice called from behind us.

Turning around, we saw Jolly towering over the rest of the crowd and waving at us. Noah sighed before waving back at him.

“I guess we aren’t getting our trip for just us two after all.” He groaned.

“Don’t worry about it. We still have our hotel room to ourselves and we can go out and have dinner just us two. It’s all going to be fine, Noah.” I comforted him, squeezing his hand affectionately.

The rest of the guys all crowded around us, shouting out different things that they wanted to do and explore. Most of the guys wanted to try the Guardians of the Galaxy ride, whilst Noah and I were more hesitant. “Maybe we should just say fuck it and try it out.” I murmured to him.

“Babe, if I’m being honest, that sounds like hell to me.” He laughed in reply.

“I think I’ll try it.” I said confidently. “How bad can it be?”

Noah laughed at that. “Sure.”

“No really. I’m going to do it.” I replied confidently. I was determined to prove to him that I could do it, no matter what.

“Fine. If you do it, I’ll buy you as many churros as you want.” He replied.

“Okay. And what do you get?” I asked

“Oh babe, there is no way in hell I’m doing that.” He laughed, pulling me into his side.

I really loved churros, but was the price I would have to pay worth it? Yes.

We decided as a group to head there first and beat the crowds. Queuing took no time at all and we sat down in our seats. Steven and Noah stayed back holding our bags, whilst the rest of us went on together.

I was sandwiched in between Matt and Jolly, gripping both their hands tightly. My heart raced inside my chest as the attendant came over and lowered the security bar, securing us in place.

“You good?” Matt asked.

I just nodded my head.

He laughed in reply. “It’ll be over before you’ve even realised it’s started.”

I nodded again. Having Matt and Jolly beside me helped calm my nerves ever so slightly.

Suddenly, the ride jolted forward and we were off. Music flooded into my ears, but I couldn’t make out what songs they were playing. All I knew was that it was cheesy 80s hits that I presumed were in the movie. The cart flew along the tracks quickly, taking the air out of my lungs. But it wasn’t fear that I was feeling. It was joy. Pure joy.

I laughed and screamed alongside the rest of the people on the ride. Who knew something like this could be so much fun?

Like Matt had said, it was over before I knew it and the ride pulled to a stop.

My legs felt like spaghetti as I stood up after dismounting the ride. I laughed and clung onto Matt as we walked back to Noah and Steven who were sat on a bench nearby eating something that looked like… a turkey leg?

“Have fun guys?” Steven called out to us. We erupted in various replies of “yes”, “holy shit” and “fuck yeah” as we rejoined them.

“Have fun babe?” Noah asked as he put an arm around my shoulder.

“Yeah, I did actually.” I replied with a wide grin. “It was way more fun than I expected.”

“That’s great babe.” He laughed.

“What the fuck are you eating?” I asked.

“Oh this?” He held up what I thought might be a turkey leg, and ripped a chunk off of it with his teeth, before chewing aggressively. “It’s turkey.” He said with his mouth still full.

I turned away from him with a grimace, making the other guys laugh.

The rest of our day was filled with countless more rides, as Noah now couldn’t keep me off of them, and stupid group photos, obviously pulling weird faces and poses. Keeping up his end of the bargain, like a true gentleman, Noah bought me as many churros as I wanted. In fact, he kept it up for the rest of our stay at Disney Land, which filled me with immense joy.

On our last day, Noah said he had a surprise for me. The guys had shared a knowing look before leaving us to it and heading back to the hotel for the night.

Noah took my hand and guided me to a quiet spot near a restaurant that was on a slight hill and gave us a brilliant view of the Sleeping Beauty castle, whilst being completely out of sight from the crowd.

“What’s going on Noah?” I asked with a laugh.

“Nothing, just wanna show you something.” He replied with a smile.

I gave him a suspicious look before returning my gaze back to the castle.

“I guess I just wanted to say that I love you, and I’m glad we did this trip.” He said after a long pause.

“I love you too.” I said, squeezing his hand. “I’m glad we did this too, even though it’s a bit out of your comfort zone.”

“You got that right.” He laughed.

“Well I do tend to-“ I started.

“Don’t you dare say you’re always right.” He laughed, shoving me playfully.

“Well, I am.” I repied.

“Shush.” He pulled me into his side.

“Why did you even suggest Disney Land?” I asked, looking up at him.

“You never got to go as a kid, and it’s pretty much right on our doorstep.” He replied.

“You remembered that?” I asked, surprised.

“Well, duh. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t.” he laughed, kissing the top of my head.

We stood there in silence as the fireworks started, I leaned back into Noah’s chest as he began to gently sway us back and forth to the music that was playing.

“I love you.” He muttered into my hair.

“I love you more.” I whispered back

“Not possible.” Noah replied softly.

He began humming along to the song, his chest vibrating behind my back as the fireworks illuminated the night sky.

So this is what having a soulmate feels like? Like living in a dream that never ends.

[addicted-to-dc]

AK!Jason Todd x Catwoman’s protégé! Reader - Just for tonight, Kitty - Pt 2

I really had to squeeze my brain to get this out, but I cannot wait for maybe part 3 👀? I have some ideas revolving around a fic or two for Gotham Knights! Jason. We shall see.

Link to part 1

Content: mind control, violence (obv), toxic af relationship, lovers to enemies to lovers (again)?

----------

It feels like you’re being puppeteered, every movement meticulously controlled by strings and sticks. It almost feels like last Tuesday. You had infiltrated Star Labs to steal some new tech designs, especially when Batman was distracted by Catwoman.

Security is nothing compared to your skill, even if you’re not completely yourself. It takes a bit longer than you’d prefer, but you finally make it to Stagg’s office.

Adjusting your goggles, you scan the area for anything that could spoil your fun. One by one, you check off your mental list until you clear the room. Most rich CEOs usually hide their deepest darkest secrets, not wanting an inkling of them to be discovered. Not Stagg, though, you know his type.

Walking around the room, your eyes scan over the décor. A man like Stagg likes to be reminded of his accomplishments. The publicity photos, front page Gotham Gazette articles, the whole nostalgic works. Everything seems to stroke his ego one way or another, but then you finally see what you’re looking for. At first, it seems like a piece of trash thrown onto a table. No, it’s the focal point, the center of it all.

You scan over the structure before carefully opening it. A flash drive appears, absolutely begging to be taken away from this place. Readying yourself, you snag the drive and place the top back on.  Just as you’re about to head to the door, you hear footsteps approaching. You immediately head for the window, quickly dismantling the alarm as you pry a panel open.

Closing it just in time, you push yourself up against the exterior of the building. Letting out a breath, you move further away from the window and jump. Falling with the rain, you crack your whip and swing off a flagpole. The momentum sends you buildings away from Stagg Enterprises, finally completing what Jason… what the Arkham Knight ordered you to do.

“It’s done.”

Despite the job being done and over with, you still have no control over yourself. Your body keeps moving, heading deeper and deeper into parts of the city you’ve never even seen. Landing softly in an alleyway, your body heads straight towards the end of it. Even your sensors fail to pick anything out of the ordinary. Why has he brought you here?

You hear him land behind you after a few moments. Turning around, you move to hand him the flash drive. The Knight acknowledges it with a head tilt before taking it from you. It disappears in one of his pockets. As soon as his hands are free, he presses a button on his wrist.

You tear your helmet off as soon as your body catches up with your mind. Rage builds into your chest as you lash out at him. He can’t prevent your claws from screeching along his armor until you finally find skin.

“You just come back from the dead and USE ME?!” you scream, grunting as he grabs your arm and twists it behind your back.

You try to lash out with your free arm, but he quickly dodges the attack. Before you know it, your back is against the cold brick wall of the alleyway. One hand holds yours above your head, the other trails across your cheek to wipe away rogue tears.

“They wanted me to kill you, this was the only option,” Jason reveals, using his spare hand to open the front of his mask. “I-I couldn’t do it.”

“Why are you doing this, Jay?” you beg, sick of the mind games that he’s putting you through.

“Batman.” A wave of cold washes over you at his tone, riddled with a hatred you’ve never seen before. “He left me to die, (Y/N), he deserves to die for what he’s done.”

“Jay, he searched for you. We all did, but when we saw him shoot you, we thought you were dead,” you whisper, flinching as he leans closer to your face.

“You did find me, though, in Venezuela,” he growls, leaning closer until his helm digs into your skin. “Do you know how hard it was to let you leave? I couldn’t believe my girl finally found me.”

“What are you going to do now that you have me?” you ask, staring into his cold blue eyes. “Lock me away as you take over Gotham with your buddies?”

His eyes darkened at the suggestion. “I don’t want to lose you again.”

You shake your head, more tears escaping from your eyes, “I lost you, Jay, really lost you. I just got you back and you’re just going to do it all over again.”

He remains silent, unsure how to respond. Jay slowly leans in, his lips ghosting over yours before lightly kissing you. Your resolve shatters quickly, leaning into the kiss and giving in to your desires. You can’t lose him again.

He releases your hands, abandoning them to grasp your waist and yank you closer. The softness of the kiss disappears, desperation forcing the kiss to become feral. Both of you break away to breathe, taking each other in as you recover.

“Can we pretend, just for tonight, Kitty?” Jason asks, his eyes desperately pleading you to agree. “I can’t stop what’s in motion, but I’ll explain everything.”

Fuck it.

“Just for tonight, Birdy.”

[stars-and-inkpots]

Promise Me | Gale x Reader

Gale accepts his fate so eagerly, and you don't understand why. You don't understand how he can leave everything- how he can leave you behind without hesitation.

Pairing: Gale/Reader

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, can be read as platonic

Notes: I don't have much to say about this one other than that I love Gale a lot and the fact that he just agreed to this in game makes me so sad when I think about it too deeply

Ao3 Link: Promise Me

Word Count: 1,415

When Elminster showed up, in the Underdark no less, to tell Gale that he could earn his Goddess’s forgiveness by effectively killing himself, you could hardly understand it. What made you even more confused, was Gale’s apparent acceptance of the task.

You had tried to interrupt them. You tried to explain how irrational the whole idea was, but Gale only waved away your attempts. He was accepting the task, seemingly eager to be a martyr. 

You expect Gale to change his mind once Elminster leaves. You expect him to tell you that he only agreed so he could get the orb under control. But when Elminster is gone, Gale affirms his choice once more. Nothing you said could change his mind, and he refused to talk on the matter any more for the rest of the night. 

It was cruel of Mystra to ask this of him, and you can’t understand how Gale can’t see this. 

The next morning, Gale acts as though the whole interaction never happened. 

He’s still smiling, still full of sarcastic comments that always seemed to lighten the mood while you all made your way through the Underdark. The next day is much the same. 

Everytime you try to talk to him, he’s conveniently out doing something else, or so busy with his studies that he “absolutely cannot spare a single moment.” As much as you care about him, it’s starting to annoy you just how long he’s willing to continue ignoring you. 

“Glaring at him every time he’s not looking isn’t going to accomplish much, my dear,’ Astarion says quietly. You’ve been walking back to camp for the better half of an hour, and you know you should be paying more attention to what’s around you given how dangerous the Underdark can be. 

“I know,” you grumble. 

“Have you talked with him about it?” The two of you are quiet enough that Gale won’t hear you. 

“No. He’s been avoiding me.” 

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Astarion hums. “I imagine he’s scared.” 

“Of me or blowing up?” You joke, maybe in poor taste, but it’s the first smile you’ve had in a while and Astarion appreciates the humour given the situation.  

“Both, definitely both.” Astarion smiles. “You can be quite scary when you’re angry. Maybe he thinks blowing up will be easier than answering to you.” It’s an awful thing to joke about, you think again, but you laugh anyway because there really is nothing else you can do. “I mean it though, that’s probably why he hasn’t said anything about it. As much as I hate to defend him, I’m sure he’s just trying not to think about it.” 

“You’re being strangely thoughtful, Astarion; dare I say considerate,” you tease. Astarion raises a hand to his chest in mock pain. 

“You wound me, pet. Am I not such a beacon of empathy all of the time?” 

“Alright, alright,” you laugh, loud enough this time for the whole group to hear. You wait a few moments before speaking again, sure that no one is still listening. “I’ll talk to him tonight then. I promise I won’t be too mean to him.” Of course, you couldn’t be mean to the man if you tried. You could be annoyed with Gale all you wanted, but you know that you would never be able to voice that anger. You know the look on Gale’s face would be too much, and you would immediately feel terrible. You know your anger is not truly anger. It’s fear, and it’s sadness. 

---

“Gale, I wanted to talk with you.” You watch as Gale freezes, hand reaching for the book he wasn’t quick enough to pick up before you arrived. 

“Ah, my apologies, I was just about to-” Gale trails off when he finally looks up at you. 

You don’t look angry, you look like you’re already grieving. You can feel the tears that already threaten to fall, and you know they likely will soon. “Gale,” you whisper, because you know your voice can’t handle any more than that without faltering. “Please. I just want to talk.” 

“Alright,” Gale relents. He lets you inside the tent first, sitting down across from him on the organised mess of blankets surrounded by books. He looks guilty when he looks back at you, but he doesn’t say anything yet; you know he’s waiting for whatever you have to say. You can’t bring yourself to look at him yet. 

“I’m sorry,” you start, and Gale is both surprised and confused. “I haven’t been very fair to you. I was so caught up in how I felt about everything that I didn’t consider how you might think of it.” 

Gale expected you to yell; to show some sort of resentment for his apparent acceptance of the terms of his ‘apology’ to Mystra. 

“I know I can’t change your mind. If you decide you want to go through with this, it’s your decision. I just want you to promise me something.” You finally look up at him, and Gale can see you’re crying now. 

“I can try,” Gale answers honestly. He’s never been fond of promises, especially when they could be so easily broken. 

You make a pained sort of noise. “Please. Promise.” You move closer to him, close enough that your knees are touching his. 

“I promise,” Gale decides. He’ll keep this one. If there are any promises he will keep, it has to be this one. You look relieved, but the frown creasing your brow hasn’t left you yet. The expression doesn’t suit you, Gale thinks, having grown accustomed to seeing you smiling so often despite everything. Knowing that he’s the reason for it only serves to make him feel worse. 

“Whenever you decide you’re going to do it, whether you decide that morning or the night before, you have to let me say goodbye. You can’t just leave when no one is looking. You have to tell me. You have to say goodbye to me.” Even though Gale already promised, it still feels like you’re begging him for this. The thought of never knowing when the last time you would see him would be made you sick. If he was going to go through with this, he had to give you this. You had to have the opportunity to say goodbye to him. To see him one last time. 

Gale doesn’t know what to say. He’s made the promise, but he knows it will be easier for himself if he leaves before he can change his mind. He knows that he has to leave well before anyone can hope to catch up with him if he wants any chance that they would be safe from the aftermath. He knows that if he has to face you before he leaves, he’s not going to be able to go through with it. You’ll only make him remember how much he truly doesn’t want to die- how terrified he is of death. 

So instead of saying anything, Gale leans forward and hugs you. 

You’re quick to wrap your arms tightly around him, clutching at the back of his shirt like he’s already about to leave. He lets you sob into his shirt, only just holding back tears himself. 

Is this what it’s like? To have someone care about you so completely- unconditionally. Someone who cares for not only your safety above all else, but would beg you for just the chance to say goodbye before you leave. You had assured him there had to be another way, and at the time, Gale assumed it was simply because you didn’t want to risk being caught in the crossfire. But now he knows that it wasn’t that at all. The thought of Gale’s death scares you just as much as it does himself. 

“I’m not leaving,” he says quietly. “You said we can find another way. We’ll find it.” 

“I don’t want to stop you from doing what you want to do. It’s your choice, Gale, but you have to know that it’s unfair of Her to ask this of you. You don’t deserve this.” You don’t want him to change his mind because of you. You want him to change his mind because he understands his life is worth it. His life is worth more than the forgiveness of a Goddess who doesn’t care about him. 

Gale’s arms tighten around you. He may not believe your words just yet, but it’s a start. 

It’s a promise. 

[quimichi]

'*•.¸♡ SAMPO BF HEADCANONS ♡¸.•*'

A/n: the Sampo hcs that have been sitting in my notes for way to long now, unfinished, not proof read, enjoy the crap ♡

Sampo x Reader

¡! ❞ the fact that you rizzed up the rizzlord is already a big accomplishment by itself

¡! ❞ but that he also never lied one bit to you and is fairly reliable, is an even bigger one, for him that is

¡! ❞ he gets you lots and lots of presents. Are they stolen? Are they bought? Are they pulled out of the trash and cleaned? Who knows...

¡! ❞ its a mystery, the whole relationship is a mystery in itself. People really thought this was not gonna work out, you heard the comments and honestly, it didnt only upest you. It also upsets Sampo

¡! ❞ he never showed it to you, how it affected him and his confidence that poeple truly think hes incapable of workinh this relationship out. But for you he always put on a brave face, "Sampo Koski always takes care of his friends and love!"

¡! ❞ but the truth is, he crumbles inside. You did saw the true Sampo, who can listen to you for hours without saying a word, who comforts you at your lowest and pulls you up again, who stays by your side and never leaves, who never lied to you

¡! ❞ very affectionate and touchy. Has his arm around either your shoulder or hips while walking. Even is the type of guy to put his hands in your back pockets, sometimes even pinching you to tease

¡! ❞ sometimes, he just like, is gone. Not after important things tho but you could be out for a walk and boom hes gone like??? And comes back with something for you, as an apology yk. He mostly just disappeared because yk hes on the run anyway, the moment he could get arrested anywhere hes gone

¡! ❞ also for your sake, if they see you together then...he would never forgive himself if they'd use you or treat you bad, maybe even arrest you too!!! Its one of his nightmares tbh, the kinds where he wakes up all sweaty and out of breath

¡! ❞ Sampo is Sampo after all, and Sampo kiiiinda needs care too. Especially yours. If youre a natrually caring and affectionate person, it would help so much. But just your presence at all puts him both at ease and not. Like I said, hes scared for your safety even tho he will give his everything to protect you

¡! ❞ He changed to good? Kind of, like he is more reliable, trustworthy and all that. Only around you that is but he will be more honest with other's too. Although he still has his flight instinct by any danger or problems with others. You kind of taught him confrontation ig?

¡! ❞ but now to more cute stuff!!!! Like i said, loooads and loooads of presents. They range from cute to absolutely creepy, usefull and useless, expensive and for free. There's everything. But the best is when he comes home, all wet and soaked clutching the chocolate he got for you with his dear life against his chest to protect them and the box

¡! ❞ "Don't worry! I had everything under control!...Kind off" --- Sampo, having nothing in control besides you in bed----

¡! ❞ oop no jkjk---unless you're into that :)

¡! ❞ hes such a tease too! Like have you seen his outfit, Sir, this is my blog pls put your FUCKING V-LINE AWAY

[mortiskiller]

Ruin The Pig

Content warning: This story contains extreme fat shaming, non-consensual weight gain, health play, and death feedism.

I am going to ruin you pig. I told you that when we first met up after you spent weeks begging me to feed you and use you.

You were lying in the hotel bed naked after I stuffed and pumped you full of 10K calories in a few hours, you were so small then, barely 300 pounds. It was cute that you pretended to be immobile while I fed you. Listening as you played the panic up and begged “fuck fuck fuck we have to slow down! I’m getting too big I don’t want to be trapped in bed!” I would silence you by shoving a messy burger into my face a shush you, "Shut your dumb fucking mouth and eat." I said forcefully but calmly, I saw the acceptance and submission wash over you as the realization that no choice is being offered but to eat and like a passive cow as you let out oinks and weakly pawed at my crotch.

I remember that fat ball gut you had, so small compared to now. That was pure surface-level fat, pushing your organs down, putting pressure on your GI tract, and making it harder for your body to pump blood. You are at a point where every new pound of fat is a step toward utter and complete obesity.

We would meet up every few weeks and you would pretend your arteries were clogging already from an absolute binge of cheese and grease, that you I loved only wanting the cheapest unhealthy slop. Preferring a ketchup-slathered triple cheeseburger and a pile of chocolates to some fancy steak and a nice cake.

I remember the first time you panicked and begged for me to slow down, right after you hit 690 pounds. I had woken you up for your 2 a.m. funnel session, I never let you sleep for more than 4 hours without eating till you passed out, I say, "Get up and walk to the scale.", pointing to a large black metal livestock scale in the middle of the room. Your mind was weak from being fed nothing but junk, weed, alcohol, and the hormones mixed into your slop. You throw your heavy flabby arms up to gather enough momentum to heave your billowing body up. I watched as nothing happened, you tried again. Again your body moved not an inch off the bed, all you accomplished was shaking the sea of lard that was your body.

Your face flushed with sweat and burned red as you strained your body, but you were stuck. Attempt after attempt, after an attempt to lift yourself, grunts and wheezing fill the basement.

A minute later your eyes went wild, and my hand on your chest felt a heart racing faster and faster.

I see that panic, it makes me hard. You are locked in now. A complete loss of agency and now you are nothing. I own your life. Any money, anything you own is gone. All you have is my pity.

Pity that feeds you.

Food and nothing else.

I told you my plans now that you were a helpless fucking lard-ass NEET in my home.

1. Hormones to make you the perfect pile of shame. Bury your dick in fat, widen your hips and tits, make a perfect pussy for Daddy to fuck.

2. We are starting an Only Fans! You get to be my immobile plaything that I take every sadistic desire out on, and I get all the money.

3. Some more feeders are going to stop by and have their way with you. You are my toy to loan out to other feeders and chasers.

I lean into your sweating, beat red face, and put a hand around your neck roll. "You are just a waddling weak whore doing what I say till your bloated wrecked corpse is left in a hotel room covered in cum and food, got it?"

As you opened your mouth to answer, I shoved the funnel in. You asked for this pig. 

[ihavetoomanyocsdealwithit]

Azul pt 1

The fact that he waited until the next day to find her was a bit surprising, but that didn’t make it any less scary when Floyd Leech catches Yuu outside class.  

“Shrimpy.” his tone is flat. The hand around the collar of her uniform isn’t tight, but it’s clear she isn’t going anywhere. “With me. Now.”  

“Ah shit, he’s actually pissed.” Ace mutters, stiff beside her.  

“Floyd, how you doing?” Yuu smiles. Nope, definitely not in the mood.  

“Wait,” Deuce puts a hand on her wrist. “We still have class. She'll get in trouble if she skips.”  

“It’s not skipping, Azul can write a note as house warden.” He picks her up again, no more than a ragdoll. “If you pull the same trick you did yesterday, it’s not going to be pretty. Nobody has escaped my squeeze before, and we aint starting with you.” He bares his teeth, tapping her nose with his free hand.  

Yuu can’t recognize if he’s genuinely angry or just annoyed with her escape. She isn’t willing to test it, and she knows she is too tired to do so again. Mary had already warned her off of doing so outside of Ramshackle for now, until she got used to Underground magic.  

“Um, I’ll see you guys later?” she waves, hoping that this will be quick at least.  

He doesn’t put her down once, even when she politely asks. He isn’t quiet though. He seems more annoyed that he had to pull in Idia to provide camera footage that she actually disappeared and didn’t just decide not to get her. The twins don’t seem to enjoy arguing with Azul, though the lines look fuzzy from the outside.  

The bubble always feels odd going down, and then the coolness of Octavinelle settles in. It isn’t always a pleasant feeling when you are warmblooded, but maybe that’s why she rarely sees any Octavinelle student without a jacket on?  

Azul’s office is the same as ever, clean down to the last dust speck on the nearly excessive bookshelves surrounding the whole room. The soft glow of the aquariums below offer a nice touch that she’s always enjoyed though, and finds it difficult to not relax when looking at them. 

 He sits at his desk with the strange fishbone pen scribbling over a softly glowing contract. The laptop, some type of the line model probably, almost stands out like a sore thumb amongst the antique designs.  

It better not be for me, she thinks.  

“Thank you Floyd,” Yuu mumbles as her feet finally touch the ground.  

“Ah, Shrimpy gonna be all grumpy now?” He teases, pulling at her cheek.  

“Floyd, please.” Azul says, almost smiling at her swatting hands doing absolutely nothing. “We have business to discuss.”  

“Yea, I never got a text yesterday, so it must not have been that important.” Yuu crosses her arms.  

“Oh, that’ll come later. I am far more interested in what this was. A unique magic perhaps?”  

He turns his laptop monitor to show the footage of her turning into glitter, her wide eyes the last thing to literally blink out of existence.  

“Even if I had a good idea what happened, I wouldn’t tell you. It was a fluke, I haven’t been able to do it since.” Half of it was true at least. She wasn’t able to recreate the distance, though it may be the desire just wasn’t strong enough.  

“Ah, no need to be coy.” Azul smiles, the polite one that makes her eye twitch. “If your magic base is expanding that’s something to celebrate! How about a drink and dessert, on the house of course.”  

“What do you want?” she asks bluntly. “Nothing comes for free with you.”  

“Prefect!” he places a hand on his chest, “Do you think me so low as to not celebrate my friend's accomplishments?”  

“Are we friends?” Yuu snaps, “I didn’t know that friends made each other homeless.”  

His mouth snaps shut with a click. A huff of air behind ear reminds her that Floyd is still behind her, not at his usual spot beside Azul’s desk. Making sure to guard the exit?  

“I-” Azul takes a deep breath, twirling the neck of the fishbone pen before carefully setting it inside the holder, putting a lid on the ink bottle. “I’ll admit, not my best moment.”  

He sighs, walking around to the front of the desk and leaning against the ledge.  

“Ms. Yuu, you clearly have an expanding magical core, which is wonderful. I congratulate you on effort and achievements. But it’s clearly powerful magic.” He adjusts his gloves, avoiding her eyes. “I, of all people, understand powerful magic without a medium to balance it out. We both know what it looks like when there are...no guidelines.” 

Azul was capable of his spell without the contracts. The contracts are what allowed him to keep his sanity and mind. His step father had been the one to teach him and help, the best gift he had ever received from him truly. But there was something addictive in the power, and to see Yuu overblot, even by accident? 

“I...I do apologize for my transgressions in the past.” Even Floyd raises his eyebrows at him. “I’ll admit that I did not think of the repercussions of my actions as I was self-assured in my own victory. And, at the time, it was the only thing that mattered.”  

There are some deals that you prevent from happening, for the sake of his own skin of course.  

“I have teachers that are helping me.” Yuu relents, “Though I understand your concerns better now. If, and it’s a big if, I need help, I will...actually consider your offer?” 

He laughs, something a little softer than his usual one. “Well, as a show of good faith.” He pulls out a small metal piece from his pocket, “Take this. A representation of our benevolence, guided by the Seawitch and her two beloved eels.” 

It’s a simple band, two dark eels wrapped around a small nautilus shell. It was in the style she preferred, something elegant but minimal. It didn’t look like a cheap tourist thing either, she could feel that the shell was smooth, thin but strong. It wouldn't shatter easily at least.  

“Are these actual eel scales?” she asks, feeling the bumpy texture.  

“Why yes!” he smiles, “I thought something handmade would be of preference. You do seem to prefer things of a more sentimental variety.”  

She huffs, raising her pant leg to wear it as an anklet instead.  

“Alright Azul, I’ll choose to forgive, but I won’t forget. Afterall, forgetting how powerful you are would just be stupid for me.”  

A surprised huff leaves him, but he allows her to leave at last. Jade meets her at the door before she can even turn the knob, Floyd staying behind.  

“Huh,” he mutters, “Went better than expected.” Floyd stretches his body out, small pops along his spine that wouldn’t be there in a human body. “You get what you needed out of it?”  

“Enough, though not all.” Azul nods. “We do need her to trust us, and if that means giving away a token to show good faith, it’ll be worth the small energy exchange.”  

“Also allows us to keep an eye on her.” Floyd adds, rubbing the small spot along his upper arm. They were eel scales. Specifically, theirs. Azul wouldn’t be able to see through her eyes the way he could with his or Jade’s, but with a sprinkle of their scales and a small sample of all three of their magics in the shell itself, they’d always be able to have a vague idea of where she was at least. With the way she was progressing in and out of class, she was becoming a threat.  

And the best way to neutralize a threat was to make them a friend.  

“It’s for her own good.” Azul goes to sit back down. He thinks it is for her good at least, and it’s not totally invasive. “Besides, I would like to know more about these teachers of hers. Perhaps they are looking for more students.”  

Floyd shakes his head, making sure that Azul has a drink before heading out himself. He can’t afford to fail this next test if he wants to stay in the advanced classes. At least the advanced classes aren’t as boring as the main ones, but damn if they don’t test his patience some days.  

[bellysoupset]

The “sick but caretaker doesn’t believe them” troupe has been absolutely stuck in my mind!!

I keep thinking of a scenario where Wen/Vin have a bit of an argument or disagreement and they part ways. After a bit they meet up again where Vince starts feeling a little sick but Wendy thinks it’s him playing it up for her since he feels bad about the argument. However suddenly, it hits him like a train and Wendy feels sorry for laying of his comments

We haven't been in a scenario where Vince/Wen would work like this... Until now. A little more lighthearted than your normal "caretaker doesn't believe them" fic, though! I just can't see Wendy being mean like Bell.

------

Wendy let out a squeal as Ma scoffed and planted her calloused hands over Wen's, sinking them in the dough, "what?" the woman said roughly, forcing Wendy's fingers in, "you're disgusted by the food?"

"No!" She said quickly, "I just didn't want to mess it up-" and now she was all sticky and had no idea of what to do next. Couldn't even scratch her nose because there was flour up to her elbows and sticky dough keeping her fingers glued together.

"There's no messing it up," Magda rolled her eyes fondly, "don't just stand there like a statue, knead it, Wendy!"

"Sorry! Sorry-" Wendy chuckled, starting to press the dough in. It seemed like she was making a bigger mess and she had no idea how Ma was so calm, considering Wendy's mother would've been having a stroke.

"Aw, there you are," Vince's voice rung through the kitchen and Wendy looked past her shoulder. He was standing in the doorway, sweaty and panting from being in the yard playing basketball with his dad and his sister, "I lost you."

"Don't come into my kitchen all sweaty, Vicenzo!" Ma cried out, but her son ignored her, all but draping himself on Wendy, resting his chin to the top of her head.

"Vince, you're all sticky," Wendy whined, cringing. Vince had been all over her lately and after his little jealous episode with Max, she had thought it was over with, but nope. He seemingly didn't want her out of his eyesight even for a minute, causing for some embarrassment with his family.

"Uhm," Vince pouted, squeezing her despite Wendy's complaints, "what are you cooking?"

"Ma's teaching me how to make gnocchi," Wen perked up, continuing to push around the sticky mess, that was slowly coming together, "scratch my nose?"

Vince scratched it for her, still refusing to let go, paying no mind to Wendy squirming or his mother complaining about his presence. He was like a furnace and Wendy more than once tried to push him off of her, to the point she was getting increasingly frustrated. There was being loving and there was... Whatever this was.

"Vince, let go off me," she jammed her elbow on his chest, not to hurt him, but so it was uncomfortable enough he'd stop hugging her like an octopus. He pulled back, frowning and seeming terribly upset.

"I don't feel well, can't we just cuddle and watch a movie?"

Wendy had to restrain herself not to eyeroll, while Ma let out an open snort, "you're not six, Vince, learn how to share your friends. Get out of here."

He glared at his mom, then at Wendy, and turned around without a word. Wendy cringed, it was really hard to annoy her boyfriend and she didn't want to find out how it was being in his bad side.

"Okay, now where was I- Right, the potatoes," Ma wasn't bothered at all by her son's behavior, pulling Wendy be the elbow and demanding her attention.

It was almost an hour and a half later when she was released from her almost-mother-in-law claws, feeling incredibly accomplished with herself.

Vince was draped in the living room couch, while Liv was cuddled up on his side, both of them watching Inside Out. He raised his eyes when Wendy walked in, but other than that said nothing and Wen pouted.

"Aw, honey, don't sulk," she grinned, running to the couch and jumping over them. Livia let out a squeal and Wendy attacked her with kisses, before turning to do the same to her boyfriend, but Vince had an angry frown on and instead he moved so he was sitting up.

"I'm not sulking," he scoffed, pushing himself up and Livia nearly fell off the couch. Wendy caught her by the armpits, pulling the little girl up to sit on her lap and taking her previous spot, so she could be in the small edge that Vince's body left on the couch.

"Do you think he's sulking?" Wendy grinned to Livia, who had wrapped her arms around her neck. Liv studied her brother, before nodding enthusiastically.

"Very."

"Very? He's sulking very much?" Wendy leaned in, kissing Liv's nose, "how can we cheer him up?"

"Wendy, get off of me," Vince groaned, clearly not in the mood. Wen's amused smile wavered and then vanished as Vin pushed her thigh, all but shoving her out of the couch.

"VIN!" Livia cried out as they both fell on the rug, her shrill voice muffling Wendy's much more pissed off, "Vince, what the fuck?"

Her desire to yell at her boyfriend though disappeared in an instant, because Vince was sitting up straight, hunched over his middle, a hand hovering over his lips.

"MAAAAAAA Vinny's SIIICK!" Livia yelled, getting up, and Vince winced at the screaming, while Wendy scooted closer, planting a hand on his shoulder.

She cursed herself, he was so warm. Wendy had erroneously assumed it was because of the basketball game. She rubbed his back, "Vin, honey, let's get you to a bathroom, c'mon-"

"No," his voice was thick with nausea and Vince squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing convulsively, "not- Not-"

"Liv, stop yelling!" Sophia exclaimed, entering the room holding a popcorn bucket and shoving it in her brother's chest, "Babbo told you, you looked green earlier... Couldn't you have gone sit in the bathroom like a grown up, Vin?" she sounded annoyed and Wendy shot her a glare.

"Soph, not now," she said gently, while Vince hugged the bowl, a small burp coming up as well as some watery saliva. Both women cringed, while Livia let out a loud "eeww."

"Liv, shush it," Sophia glared at her baby sister, as if she was being all that much thoughtful. Livia pouted, glaring right back.

"You shush it," she showed her tongue, causing the teenager to do the same and Wendy rolled her eyes at the interaction, thanking God she was an only child, then jumped slightly as Vince gagged and an impressive wave of his liquified lunch fell in the bowl.

He panted over the bucket, clearly feeling like hell and Wendy rubbed his back, heart clenching as Vin let out a little moan and heaved again. Over his head, Sophia gulped up, paling and just like her brother did, she turned a little green.

"Sophia, get out of here," Wendy sighed, "I got him."

Soph gulped down, nodding and grabbing Livia, who let out a squeal at being picked up as if she was a doll.

"But Vin is sick, Soph, I wanna be with him-" Wendy heard the little girl whining at being carried away. Under Wen's hand, Vince let out a relieved sigh.

"Thanks..." He croaked, resting his forehead on the edge of the bucket.

"No, don't thank me," Wendy sighed, sitting next to him, "I should've heard you when you said you felt sick."

"I didn't- I didn't say it like that-" He tried to argue and she shook her head, frustrated.

"Vince," she pushed his curls back, away from his sweaty forehead, "I shouldn't have brushed you off, I'm sorry."

He leaned against her hand, moving so his mouth was once again hanging over the bowl and spat the saliva pooling in his mouth, "Gon'be sick..."

"That's okay, get it up," Wendy moved so she could hold the bowl with her free hand, not trusting his weak grasp, "you're gonna feel better soon."

Vince let out yet another airy, empty burp and gagged once, twice- He lurched forward with another heave and she cringed, the bucket getting considerably heavier as her boyfriend turned inside out.

He coughed, then let out a moan, head hanging and a line of drool falling from his lips, "M'sorry..."

"Don't apologize for being sick," she berated him lightly, kissing his feverish forehead, "you know this stuff doesn't gross me out."

Vince gulped down, then forced up a bigger burp and spat another foul mouthful of liquid, before leaning back and away from the bucket.

"Done...?" Wendy wasn't sure she believed him when he nodded, he was still really pale. Still, she took the bucket and planted it on the coffee table, carefully moving on the couch in order to rub Vince's arm, "deep breaths, honey."

"I'm really..." His voice broke and Vince cleared his throat, "really sorry."

"Honey, don't-"

"No, not-" he pressed a fist to his mouth, muffling a burp and gagging. Wendy's hand shot to retrieve the bucket, but he settled back down, "not about this."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Bou'everything...Else," his voice was thick with nausea and Vince closed his eyes, breathing through another wave of queasiness. Wendy frowned, unsure of what he meant, but not liking one bit the direction this conversation was heading to.

She combed her fingers softly through his hair, nails on his scalp, and Vince opened his eyes once more, turning his head so his forehead was against her palm. His dark eyes had little pained lines around them and he looked damn close to tears, causing something horrible to settle in Wendy's stomach, "Vin?"

"You're working so much because I left," he blurted out, then glared at her when Wendy promptly opened her mouth to retort, "no. Don't lie to me."

"I- I'm not- I..." And she wasn't. Wendy loved her job and she loved all of her hobbies and her classes, she wasn't doing any of that to get back at him or to fill in any voids... But she missed him. She missed him so much, being in Doveport for such an extended amount of time just highlighted how much she adored being Vince's company.

It wasn't the sex that she missed or doing all the cutesy couple things that they couldn't thanks to the long distance — although, those as well — but it was him. She missed how warm her boyfriend was and and how upbeat and caring he was, how he refused to kill even a spider and the way his hair products had started to take over her vanity back when they shared a town. She missed his cooking and how Vince never ever shouted no matter how annoyed she made him and the way that he looked in those rare mornings where Wendy managed to wake up before him...

"Wen?"

"I miss you," she was choked up all of sudden, "but I'm not- I'm not-"

Vince frowned, then moved slightly on the couch, so he could get closer to her. Wendy felt another stab of guilt, why was he comforting her, when he was the one so sick?

"Hey, it's okay-"

"Is this why you're all over me?" Wendy realized, moving her hand from his hair and sitting up straight, "because you're guilty?"

Vince's eyes were dazed with fever as he shook his head, "I miss you," he said, in a small voice, before he jostled with a cough, hand rushing up to his mouth. Wendy helped him lean forward to cough, only to immediately be forced to grab the bucket as the fit turned into gags.

He held it with a groan, face twisting in disgust since it hadn't bee emptied, and Vince gagged harshly. Wendy held the bucket as well, her free hand rubbing his back up and down, while her mind whirled. She hadn't thought things were bad between them, they were making long distance work, right? They were great at it...

"Aw, piccolino," Giuseppe stepped into the living room and caused Wendy's head to snap. She was always a little amazed by how young Vince's dad looked, although he was well into his sixties. The man was wearing the basketball shorts from when he had been playing with Sophia and Vince, but now with a dad sweater on top, creating the weirdest combo, "Wendy, let's get him to bed, okay?"

"No," Vince moaned, gagging once more and spitting up another mouthful, "I wanna go home..."

It was like his father had been slapped and Wendy cringed in sympathy. Surely Vince's parents hadn't expected him to no longer consider his childhood home... Well, home.

"I got him," Wendy said gently, "really, I got him."

Giuseppe blinked quickly, collecting himself, "of course, sweetheart. You just holler if you need anything?"

"Yeah," Wendy's whole face was aflame, as Vince took measured breaths, trying to get his stomach in check. Without thinking she added, "I'm sorry" and the older man waved her off, face turning all wrinkly as he smiled.

"You got him," he said in a soft, fond manner, that caused Wendy's eyes to well up in tears unprompted, "I'm not worried."

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

Okay so, I have a headcanon that Alastor's distortion ability means that Vox just straight up can't see the guy properly even if they're face to face.

Imagine the rage you'd feel, the frustration and sorrow and anger, of knowing that what you want is literally within reach but what's the point if you can never SEE it properly?

What if the only time the distortion stops is if Alastor wills it, or he's unconscious and unable to project it. And after all this obsession, after everything he has had to do to just get a glimpse of his old friend, his rival, the person he-... well, once upon a time and all that shit.

The pathways between desire, obsession and violence are all melted blobs of plastic in his mind, and he starts to find a perverse joy in harming the other. Soemthing Valentino encourages because of course, sinners regenerate no matter what he does to them, why not indulge?

It's also infuriating because it stops Vox from using his hypnotic suggestion on the other. Sure, it hasn't worked before... but that was then, and he's almost more powerful and influential than any other overlord around these parts now.

He itches to try, to see if this time he could win. If he could turn things back to how they Should be, how he Planned for them to Be. Not whatever this shitshow is.

His ace up the sleeve comes in the form of the drone footage from the battle. Alastor would rather die a second time than allow that to fall into the public domain, of course... all ego, Vox would think with not the smallest iota of irony.

A lure, a call and a taunt across the radio waves that draws the other close enough to blur before him. Triumph spreads through Vox's chest, a smug satisfaction that even the snide dismissal he receives can diminish.

What does he want?

You.

A sharp laugh stings something inside that felt too fleshy to be purely mechanical. He clenches sharp talons into fists, fans whirring as he fights for calm.

'Alright fucker, what are you willing to do to keep your dirty little secret off the air?' he needles.

"...why, nothing, my dear box. If you release it, I will sway the peoples to my side... after all, I faced down Adam and you... watched."

Enraged, he lashes out, fury rising as the other dodges with ease. Or, no... wait, his mechanical mind caught something and he runs back footage from a camera across the room. Hah, fucker's still hurt, isn't he?

Well, no need to share that he knows, just yet.

He presses on, using just enough telegraphing to let Alastor know where he intended to strike and how... subtly moving the other in the right direction. He sees, SEES with a hundred hidden eyes, the distortion starting to fade... the tremble in the rigid limbs, the taut way the other refuses to bend and twist as he normally would. The hint of sweat on a brow and the quiet wheeze with each breath.

"C'mon Al, I promise that if you were to just... forget all the mess of the past and join the Vees, we could absolutely help you turn this PR nightmare into a campaign to get that shitty hotel at full capacity. You just need to play along for a bit, and maybe consider letting us try out some modern tech with you. It won't burn."

'I'd rather no- ack!'

Vox grins wildly as the cables of his command chair lash out about the other Overlord, ensnaring whatever it could to tangle the man into motionlessness. Normally, the other would drop into shadow... but this... was a victory unanticipated, it looked like Al couldn't.

He pulsed low currents through the cables, forcing the other to focus on not screaming instead of bantering with Vox. The urge to laugh maniacally came and went. Subsumed with momentary awe at this accomplishment... at the glimpses of Alastor's form he saw between the electricity. Fuck, he'd missed that face.

"Hey, just... stop fighting and we can get the ball rolling on our new collaboration, right?" Vox filled the silence, his hands outstretched to take the half-glitched face between his palms. "Shhh, c'mon, just give it up already. You know this is the best thing for us."

"There isn't. An. US." Alastor ground out, limbs shuddering in the metallic web. His next words fell into garbled static so distorted that Vox couldn't even guess at the sentence... but the world seemed to snap silent a second later anyway.

The distortion fell away, as the fully-defined exhausted expression of the Radio Demon came into his view. The man finally unable to cloak any longer as electricity crackled thrrough his veins and blood dribbled through several layers of attire.

Vox's heart thundered, his eye swirling, body tensed like a spring about to launch skyward. "Al... I see you. Fuck, I can-... no, just-..."

He takes a breath, letting the sensation of his power slip into place like a glove, even as he made certain to capture the gorgeous features from every angle for the future in case this didn't work out...

"It's okay, Al. You're going to be okay, and you're going to be part of the Vees... part of the Us we were always meant to be." Something hot pooled in his abdomen at the sight of swirling irises overtaking the radio dials in those beautiful, sinister eyes. "We can take as long as you want, I'm patient, promise. But the Radio Demon will join the future, if I have to drag you kicking and screaming into it..."

He laughs, but the sound trails off as the wet plip-plip-plop sound of crimson striking the metallic floor can be heard, and the subtle shuddering under his hands became more pronounced.

"Shit... seems like he hit you harder than we thought, huh? It was hot as fuck, but the Vees take care of their own. You're going to listen to my voice now, and push the pain aside to somewhere you can't feel it anymore... then when I say the word, you're going to take a nice long nap while we fix this mess you made of yourself. Get you all sorted out, huh? Then when you wake up again, you'll remember how badly you wanted to join us, and everything we talked about just now. Okay?"

Alastor shuddered, one hand clenching like he was tugging at an invisible string. Something green flared to life briefly.

"...lotte... lp" the Radio Demon mumbled around the hypnotic hold.

Vox wags a finger in front of that angular face, grinning at th audacity. "Uh-uh, that's being sneaky, Mister. I think it's time you went to Sleep."

As the form slumped, Vox took the other into his arms.

Well, if the stubborn beautiful bastard had really summoned someone here maybe he could use them to get a message back to that Princess and her father. See if they'd be open to a little deal or two for good press, if one of them could heal Adam's little 'love tap' here.

No sense going to all the trouble of capturing his beloved nemesis if the man died immediately of angelic stupidity.

He hurled them into the electicity stream through a nearby camera and stepped out into the combined Vee suites in the penthouse.

"Daddy's home, and he brought a friend!" he crows, as Valentino and Velvette move over to assess the situation.

"No fuckin' way, I can actually get a picture of the red-haired ponce!" Vel exclaimed, and lowered the phone. "Maybe not now, cause that's a right bloody mess, but soon... I'm going to have the rarest selfie in all of the 7 rings, I will. Might wanna let me have a go with my threads though, looks a bit fucked up, there."

"If you don't mind, babydoll, I would love for you to fix whatever mess he's got going on..." Vox responds, using cables to keep Valentino's hands from straying too far in any direction on the deer. "Hey, this is mine first, you know that, look but don't touch too much right?"

"Aw, but Voxxy, I wanna see what he's hiding..." Valentino grinned, but pulled back his hand as the wetness of the shirt made contact. "Ugh, maybe later then... I'm all for fluids, baby, but that's just gross."

The contact jarred the Radio Demon back to some level of wakefulness, earning Val a glare from Vox. The moth rolled his eyes and exhaled pink smoke over the deer, dulling the sharpness of whatever discomfort Alastor may have been experiencing.

"See? I can be kind, Voxxy... you let me know if you need more of that to keep him settled. Not that I don't want to see the feisty side, but... well, he looks a little close to second-death, which is a bit of a turn off."

Vel storms back in with a first aid kit the size of an imp in one arm and the Anti-Horni-Val squirt bottle in the other. He gets doused.

"Okay, everyone fuck off and let me fix this."

----

Across town, Charlie paused mid song as the chain at her wrist flared pitifully, tugged upon in something that felt like suffocating panic clawing up the back of her throat.

"Char...lotte... he...lp..." seemed to fill her mind, and she knew at once who had called her. Her head throbbed, unused to hearing the other through the links.

Vaggie stepped forwards, nearly slamming into Lucifer, as they both tried to find out what had happened. Why she'd stopped singing.

The link on her wrist flared again, and her father's eyes filled with rage.

She waved them off, desperately.

"Listen, I don't know how or what's going on, but I just heard Alastor in my head asking for help... and he sounded really hurt. We... we have to go find him."

"No."

"Dad, I'm going."

"Do you feel a compulsion to go anywhere specific?" Vaggie asks.

"...somewhere full of... my skin is prickling like there's static all over me now." Charlie replies, trying to wrack her brain for a clue.

"Reckon he's probably trapped at Vee Tower, and this has something to do with Vox, Princess." Husk interjects, holding a frantic Niffty in one arm as he entered. "That's where the chains are running to when we summon 'em. And if he's there, we gotta move fast. I hate the bastard but... he don't deserve what Vox will force him to do if he gets the chance."

"Hey, King of Hell? Can I speak now? Good. Charlie, forget the deer. I can get you a new overlord!"

"Dad, NO. It's part of our Favour anyway... I would have to go even if I wasn't planning on doing it anyway because he's my friend.

"...fine. But if he's pulling a prank, I'm gonna pull... his legs off and beat him with them."

"Well fuck me sideways..." Husk mumbles, catching attention from around the room. He turns around his phone screen. "Angel just took this, said Vox came into the penthouse with Alastor, and Val was so interested in the situation the moth forgot he was there. Looks pretty bad."

Charlie tugged at her hair as the image depicted an alarming amount of blood on her hotelier... and something wrong with his eyes. Then it hits her. "Wait, how did Angel take this photo? He does the..." she wiggled "to photos and videos."

"That's never a great sign." husk agrees, and rolls his shoulders, releasing Niffty. "Well, let's go beat the shit out of three overlords who need a reminder on the concept of consent, I guess."

Niffty was the first through the portal, her laughter shrill as the world filled with the sound of Valentino's horrified screaming, and the wet slick-crunch-slush sound of a blade in motion.

"Alright, hands off the bellhop, that's hotel property..." a bored Lucifer mumbles, blasting the sinners away from the red overlord on the couch. He glances at the wound, and winces as a sudden swell of Adamness washes over him. "Ugh, okay, I'm gonna throw up... and we'll need to patch that up later, alright? Don't you die on us, Busboy, because if I have to take on your paperwork tasks for the hotel I can and will launch myself into the Abyss between Worlds. So many fucking forms, I swear..."

As long as he's talking, the King doesn't have to acknowledge any kindnesses done to the daughter stealing motherfucker he's basically carrying out of there.

"Char-char, got your deer, let's go home!"

She's got Vox pinned under the trident, wrath on her face as he frantically tried to hypnotise her. "I think we can help you, Mr Vox, with our therapeutic approach to making Good Choices. Maybe Valentino too... a lesson can be learned about keeping our hands to ourselves, maybe?"

"Charlieeeeeeeeee my darling, we can kill them later, let's just go before my shirt turns red."

"Oh, oh shit... that's not great, huh?" Charlie is back to her regular self, frantic once more.

Vaggie, on the other hand, pointed her spear at the barely alive Valentino. "Hand it over, fucker. I'll call Niffty off if you give me the contract..."

He spat at her feet and used a truly heinous slur. But after a few more gentle prompts in the form of Niffty's knife and the spear, he grumblingly handed over the scroll binding Angel to himself.

"Much obliged."

"t-ttttake him from meeeee3333 and I will make sur3333e all of Hell sees that fight!" Vox yelled, desperate as control spiralled away. "He333'll be killed the next ttttti1111me3 you let him out of your s-iiii-iiight, Hell lov33335ss a chance to ki111lll an Overlo0000rdddd when they're WEAK!"

Vaggie swings her spear around. "What are you on about?"

Charlie has her eyes narrowed. "I think... when he fought Adam, something went wrong and he had to leave... and Mr Vox was watching. But we're not leaving him here. You can release the video, but hell will go through me first to get to him, to any of my friends."

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Give me 45 seconds without all this drama and I'll have this fixed. What were you gonna do with it, stitch it closed and hope for the best with your little brain trick keeping the pain away? Now THAT'S weak planning at its finest."

"Yer a fuckin' creep, Vox... so we're going. Stay classy." Husk grins, tugging a stunned angel with one hand and holding a writhing Niffty by the back of her dress with the other. "Don't forget, we can always release Niff back into yer space anytime, and you gotta sleep eventually... so best back off. You know she loves Al almost as much as you think you do. Not a fan of you tryin' to hurt him, got me?"

That blank, feral eyeball falls on Vox. "He... hurt Sir?"

The knife raised pointedly.

Vox felt he was about to Download in his tailored slacks.

Charlie clapped, "Okay veryone, let's go home!" she chirped. Her eyes shinging as her brain caught up with the fact everyone had worked together to achieve this goal.

They stepped through the portal in a clump of bodies, leaving behind a decimated tower and at least one half-dead overlord.

Vel couldn't help herself. "Well that could have gone better."

Vox briefly thought about electrocuting her... but first he needed to switch pants.

----

etc.

[misc-obeyme]

more kitchen barb thots

playing music while mc and barbatos are cooking, each doing their own tasks. mc starts swaying their hips to the music- knowingly or not, but its enough to distract barb once he notices and he cant help but continuing to glance over bc the movements are just so captivating he cant help but watch despite all his usual self control. muscle memory has to take over for his task to continue but eventually even that falters (hopefully not while hes chopping stuff lmao) but mc hears the change in rhythm/slight clattering of the bowl and obvs has to check if their cooking buddy is ok!! and barbatos barely manages not to stutter as he assures them hes fine, just a bit distracted because of an "upcoming event" or some other excuse but hes got a pink tint to his cheeks from nearly getting caught staring.

at this point mc can either be oblivious to the reality and just reach out to give a gentle reassuring arm squeeze and a reminder that theyre 'always here if you need anything, we can take a break to decompress for a few minutes :) ' or theyre wise abt it and decide to tease the poor butler and go up to him, turn him to face them and put a hand to his forehead ""checking for a fever"" (pressing their chest into his at the same time ;) ). pull him away from the busy counter and dote on him worried 'but barb your face is so warm! i dont want my favorite demon getting sick :( especially since you look so cute with a blush it would be so unfortunate if the cause was you not feeling well' but internally theyre all >:3 lets see what it takes for his resolve to crack

i feel like the moment you catch him off guard with this kinda thing if you just keep up the "innocent/unaware" flirt teasing it would make it more and more difficult for him to pull it back together. but if he gets that moment then he'll start teasing back. this may be ooc rip and it got Way long but scenarios are fun lol

-🥐

Oh welcome back, 🥐 anon!

One of my favorite things about Barb is the way he teases. However, I also think it's fantastic when the tables are turned and he's the one who's flustered.

The thing about this guy is that he isn't easily flustered, but if there is anyone who can accomplish it without even noticing, it's absolutely MC. I have actually written scenes (though I think they later got scrapped) where Barbatos straight up cuts himself while chopping vegetables because of something MC did or said. So not like him! But that's the point! MC makes him do things he wouldn't normally do. And he can either lean into it or try to resist it and I think you end up with different scenarios depending on which way he decides to go.

MC's reaction certainly matters, too. If they're oblivious, I think Barbatos could safely pretend nothing happened and move on, but I also think he could be the one who teases MC and gets them all flustered.

But a wise MC who's all I'm just trying to make sure you're okay! Listen. I very much think that Barbatos would have a hard time controlling himself at that point. Even if he knows that MC is doing it on purpose. Maybe even more if he knows.

The best thing about Barb is that I feel like I can write him being a real troublemaker where he just messes with MC a lot, but I can also write him being the one who is easily flustered. Like yeah he's got that rigid facade, but you can say beneath it there is a man who is fully aware of what he's doing and deliberately does things just to get a reaction out of MC. Or you could say that beneath it is a suppressed man that gets blushy when you start to tease him. However, I do think either way he'd eventually give in because MC is the only person for whom he is lenient about anything ever.

MC might tease him and fluster him and get him all riled up, but as soon as he realizes what's going on, he starts playing into it. I think he'd use the whole situation to his advantage. Especially if he's like yes let's take a break because secretly he wants to get naughty but he doesn't want to mess up the kitchen lol.

[corrodedbisexual]

The Fall

Steddie | T | ~3.4k | AO3 link

I picked my beloved pre-s04 Steddie for @steddie-week day 7: free space 🥰

Prompted by Steve Harrington's tendency to be a health&safety hazard in school corridors. (@sidekick-hero pspsps, it's here.)

Eddie probably shouldn't have been reading his book while walking the school corridors. Faceplanting on the floor in front of his laughing schoolmates and getting a concussion wasn't the greatest high school experience to have. But being then helped by his crush, someone he would never have expected to have a conversation with? Certainly wasn't the worst. Set in January of 1985, after the events of season 2.

In hindsight, Eddie probably shouldn't have been reading his book while walking the school corridors. But he only just got his hands on a copy of the second installment from Guardians of the Flame, and he couldn’t make himself put it down. It was hard enough that he couldn't keep reading it in his previous class, since the teacher discovered it wasn't the textbook he'd been hungrily devouring page after page and confiscated it. 

Besides, he was glad to escape the incredibly dull reality that any school break presented. None of the Hellfire members were in his year; although, if Eddie kept up with his unimpressive academic performance and repeated senior year again, a couple of them would be, so at least there would be some consolation for his misery. But for now, it was a choice between listening to his normie classmates' boring conversations about parties and hookups and homework and college picks, or disappearing into a fascinating world of adventure, magic and dragons. Eddie's pick was kind of obvious.

Still, he could have at least waited until he got to his next class, so he could sit down in the corner and read in peace. Instead, he inflicted upon himself the absolute humiliation of tripping over something soft, yet firm in his way and falling face first, not even having enough time to react and drop the book so he could soften the landing with his arms. His face connects with the floor; pain explodes in his forehead and nose, which immediately starts gushing blood; his arms, too, which are uncomfortably trapped beneath his body along with his book. Cold terror washes over him at the thought that he might have broken his wrists. If he can't play his guitar anymore, might as well keep lying on this floor until he bleeds out to death, or something.

As the initial shock of pain subsides and his ears are no longer full of cotton, he immediately hears it. The laughter all around him, the snarky comments.

Of course. It was probably one of them who tripped him up in the first place, to have some of what in their pathetic fucking lives passed for fun. Wouldn't be the first time. Yet another reason he should have been paying attention to his surroundings.

Eddie's usually very good at nipping that kind of attitude in the bud, laughing right back in their faces, using his creepy gimmicks to get them to back off with a parting, "what a fucking freak ". But he'd have to be standing upright for that, for starters. So he makes the first tiny move to accomplish that, tries to raise himself on his arms - nothing broken there, at least, thank fuck - but his hand slips on something, his own blood, apparently, and his chest once again connects with the floor, causing another ripple of laughter around him. 

And then, when he's seriously considering just lying there until the bell rings and hoping that they eventually find themselves some other entertainment, he feels a hand grip his arm, and a voice standing out of the whole ruckus.

"Jesus fucking Christ! Can't you see he's bleeding?! What is wrong with you people?!"

Eddie turns his head a little, and his eyes widen. Steve Harrington?! 

The rest on AO3

[sturmovik]

Elden Ring: my new player experience so far

I finally picked up Elden Ring on sale after all these years. I knew it would be difficult for me as a casual gamer who's never played a FromSoft game before but I've been itching to try it out for years now. Here's what's happened to me so far:

(some early game spoilers btw. for those who want to visualize, my Tarnished is a Vagabond Knight that kinda looks like Saoirse Ronan)

The First Hour:

I struggled hard with the PC controls. Eventually managed to limp my way into a cave where I killed an angry dog man after dying to it like 3 times (skill issue + i'm not comfy with the controls yet). Only after all that did I rest at a grace site outdoors. That's when Melina appeared and said "You suck. Here's a horse."

Wandering:

I spend some time going around aimlessly, killing whatever small fry I run into to get my level up as much as possible. I was feeling confident so I decided to challenge the Tree Sentinel. I was most comfortable using the halberd and I read he drops a good one. As expected, I died multiple times. Eventually, Renna appeared and said "You suck. Here, use summons" (i still couldnt beat the tree sentinel)

WTF:

For the next 2 or so hours I accomplish nothing except killing more small mobs. At one of the ruin sites I massacre some unarmed... people(?) and then deal with some giant rats. A player message said the chest was a trap but I love Frieren and I know she wouldn't let that silly message stop her.

It was a teleport trap to some godsforsaken mine in a hellish death zone. Surprisingly I only died 3 times before I successfully escaped. During those three attempts I followed a phantom I saw jumping up so I also jumped up and followed that path upward (i'm in a mine, and the exits to mines are upwards duh), managing to juke the big monsters and kill one of the smaller ones that got in my way. I made it to a gate which I assumed was the escape/entrance route. I did it. Now I can get away on Torrent with some runes to spare!

To my horror, the gate opened to an isolated chamber, and a health bar appeared on screen with the words "FALLINGSTAR BEAST." I could only watch helplessly while my character was locked in an animation pushing the gate open to meet certain death. Fuck it, we ball. (there's no happy ending here, I suck at this game lol)

Turns out all I had to do was run downstairs a bit to get away.

The Erdtree:

I think there was grace in the mine but I didn't use it because I wanted to see where I ended up. I surveyed the red hellscape before me, and thought, "yeah this sucks I'm going back Limgrave." I mounted Torrent and began taking the scenic route back to greener pastures.

That's when I noticed that the Erdtree was much closer than before. So I decided to go for it. Let's head to the big tree and become Elden Lord! We fell off a cliff and died.

At this point, I have accomplished nothing but the multiplication of my own pain and suffering. Waking at the nearest site of grace, Melina appeared once again and spoke thus: "You're an idiot. Welcome to the Roundtable."

-- In summary, I feel like one of those absolute loser main characters in a fantasy/isekai anime that's stuck killing rats in some ungodly corner of the world trying to build up skills and power to eventually kill God. Idk if I'll ever get there because so far I am horrible at learning attack patterns and can't seem to time movement/dodging to save my life but so far the journey has been hilarious and I want to keep going.

(decided to post here cuz r/EldenRing automatically deletes this there. I read the rules and dont seem to be breaking any of them, even tagged spoilers and all. so fuck 'em. wassup tumblr)

[timechange]

MCFLY JULY ‘24 — on the radio.

JULY 15, 1989

Marty sighs, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. He flexes his hands, rolling his shoulders, trying to work the kink out of his back before getting back to work. That’s pretty much the only downside of tinkering around with various unfinished projects of Doc’s; way too many hours spent hunched over. 

“That was Tom Petty with ‘I Won’t Back Down’ here on KWHV 108.3 and I’m your host, Jamie Lee.” The deejay’s voice is sweet and smooth, and he remembers, warmth creeping across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, that Jamie Lee was his first crush. As if it wasn’t enough she was the coolest girl inside the halls of Hill Valley High, outside of school she was the best basketball player and had the best music taste. A triple threat for sure. 

“Next up we’ve got something kinda special: a new group that’s been soaring through the charts and sent the music world spinning with their electrifying debut.” 

Marty feels his heart quicken in his chest and tries to tell himself to calm down, the radio static buzzing in his head. He drops the screwdriver, which clatters to the table clumsily. There’s no way. There’s absolutely no way in hell she could be talking about–

“So, without further ado, with their lead single ‘Strangerland’ off their album 88, give it up for Hill Valley’s very own hometown boys, McFly and the Flyaways!’ 

His stomach drops. He’d recognize that opening riff anywhere.

“Future sight can’t help me tonight, tired of waitin’ for time to restart–”

“Holy shit,” he breathes. “Holy shit!” he exclaims, leaping to his feet and not even caring that he hits his head on the way up. “Doc! DOC!” 

He only feels a little bad when the door gets kicked open and his best friend bursts into the room like he’s goddamn Batman, clad in safety goggles instead of a cape and wielding a fire extinguisher instead of a Batarang. 

“MARTY!” Doc cries, looking around like a man possessed, frantic in his search for some threat. “What is it? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

He runs to the scientist, grasping his upper arms. His face hurts from smiling so much. 

“Doc! Doc, listen!”

“—ghosts in my head, there’s a ghost in the mirror that I see instead—" comes his own voice a moment later. 

Marty bows his head, grip momentarily tightening. There’s a lump in his throat and when he looks up at Doc again, his blue eyes are watery.

“My song, Doc,” he whispers. An awestruck, dumbstruck, disbelieving smile on his face makes him look all of thirteen again and he couldn’t care less. He lets out a laugh that’s a little too close to a sob for comfort. “They’re playing my song.” 

The fire extinguisher falls to the ground with a thud as Doc returns the embrace, holding Marty at arm’s length so tightly he thinks he’ll wake up with bruises in the morning. If Marty thought his own smile was big and stupid, it had nothing on Doc’s. 

“Do you know what this means?” he murmurs. 

“You were right,” Marty replies. “All the stuff you said to me.” 

“If you put your mind to it…” Doc starts, gently.

“…You can accomplish anything,” Marty finishes. 

The chorus starts, crackly over the radio, but it’s the greatest thing he’s ever heard. 

“Oh, I’m lost in my dreams, fallin' apart at the seams, and time is slippin' through my hand

But I got somethin' to prove, so what have I got to lose?

I'm gonna make it outta this

Strangerland!

I gotta make it outta this

Strangerland!” 

“Woah,” Marty laughs, tears sliding down his face. “This is heavy.” 

Doc pulls him into a bone-crushing hug which he eagerly returns, the instrumentation that took them weeks to nail blaring in the background.

“You did it, Marty. You made it.”

“I made it,” Marty repeats, as if it’ll make it feel more real. He feels lighter than air and like he’s buzzing with electricity, like he’s flying over a thundercloud. “Holy shit, I made it.” A sudden realization shocks him and his eyes widen. “I-I gotta tell the guys!”

“Go on, go on!” Doc encourages, letting him go, watching him fondly as he almost trips over his feet and the rug trying to make it to the phone in Doc and Clara’s library and study. 

However, it’s already ringing when he gets there. 

“Yo!” he greets, out of force of habit.

“Marty!” his dad’s warm voice responds. 

“Marty, honey, turn on the radio, quick!” his mom jumps in. “They’re playing it! Your, um, your Stranger in a Strange Land song!” 

“It’s your song, kiddo!” His dad sounds full to bursting with joy. “And boy, does it sound great!” 

He laughs, using his thumb and forefinger in a fruitless attempt to try to stem the flow of tears.

“Thanks, guys.”

“Oh, sweetheart, we’re so happy for you. And so proud of you, too, so proud.” His mom sounds like she’s about to cry, too. “Linda’s taping it and everything and Dave has it playing at the office!”

“We love you, son,” his dad reminds him, “and you’ll be home for dinner, right?”

“Yeah, Dad. I will. Love you too.”

[wisecrackingeric-2]

“I’ll Help You Pray”

Word Count: 2,121

Rating: General

Summary:

Luis no longer believes in God, but old habits from his Catholic upbringing still stick around. So one day when Leon comes home, he asks him to sit with him while he prays.

And Leon is more than happy to be there for him

((Basically just a short and fluffy character study of Luis’ Religious Trauma!! :) ))

Fic below cut!!

A/N:

Hihihihi!! Long time no see on AO3 I know!!!!!! Ever since Seperate Ways came out my anxiety has been KICKING my ASS and I also had a LOT of art work to catch up on, so I haven’t been able to find the time to write, I’m terrible sorry!!!!!! I’m not sure when my next upload will be as like I said I’m very gradually getting back into writing and taking it easy on myself, but if all things go to plan, I should have to seperate rather long fics to post!!!!!

Again, thank you for being patient with me and apologies for the lack of uploads recently!!

—————————————————————————

“Hey, Leon? Do you think I could ask you a favor?”

“Sure, love,”

Leon shut the door to his apartment behind him and slipped his jacket off methodically, not even bothering to glance up at Luis as he called out for his help.

“Whaddya need?”

Leon had only just walked through the door and arrived home from work, but he was already feeling beyond exhausted. His feet ached and it felt like his body was made of lead. It’d been a long day of chasing the President around and getting orders barked at him; but then again, when wasn’t it?

Even still, Leon had all the time in the world for Luis. The man he fell absolutely head-over-heels with in Spain could ask for the most outlandish request and Leon would do his best to accomplish it like the loyal squire he was.

Luis didn't ask for favors often, but when he did, they were usually cheeky and along the lines of ‘Oh, Leon, could you help me get the flour down from the top shelf?’ (Despite the fact that he was significantly taller than Leon) or, ‘Leon could you be a dear and plait my hair?’ (Again, something he was fully capable of doing).

Which was why Leon was a little more than curious when Luis failed to respond with what he needed.

He looked up from his hunched-over position as he untied his shoes and took a look at Luis for the first time that evening; he had his back turned to Leon, and was seemingly chewing at his nails. He looked nervous.

Which was not a very regular thing for Luis to be.

“…Luis..?”

“Oh, right, umm…”

Luis jumped a little as Leon gave him a soft reminder, eyes darting to the sides as his hands clutched at his waist. Something was definitely off.

“What’s wrong, love?” Leon took a step forward and placed a hand on his hip. “Is something up?”

“N-No! It’s nothing, it’s just…”

Leon knew that look. He knew all the subtle ways Luis’ facial expression showed his thoughts; the way his mouth twitched slightly and his nose scrunched up as he debated whether or not to laugh it off and make a flirtatious remark or be honest.

Leon was grateful Luis chose the latter.

“…It’s just dumb. Really dumb. I don’t know if you’d even be comfortable with it-“

“Hey,”

Leon interjected and gently took Luis’ hands. He kept his surprise to himself when he realized they were trembling slightly.

“It’s not dumb to me, alright? Especially if it’s bugging you this much. You can tell me anything, I promise”

Leon reached his hands up and gently kissed Luis’ knuckles; spending extra time mulling over the Virgin Mary rings he had on his long fingers.

Luis just chuckled and shook his head; making Leon’s chest feel warm with triumph. It took his lover a couple moments to collect his words, and the blonde waited patiently.

“…Do you think you could sit with me while I pray? If, ah, you’re comfortable with that, that is…”

Leon’s eyebrows raised in slight confusion and surprise. He knew Luis used to be Catholic- He’d seen the metal Crucifix he wore around his neck, and the way he’d always sign the cross before charging into battle back in Spain- But he didn’t think he still was after all that.

“Oh? I mean, yeah, of course I can, easy peasy, but- I thought you weren’t religious anymore?”

“Oh I’m not,” Luis answered, a little too quickly.

“But I still, uh, joder, it’s hard to explain-“

Once again, Leon was patient and waited for Luis to collect his words.

“I still pray from time to time, just… Out of habit? I suppose? It’s like- Like even though I’m far removed from all that, it’s a little something I can have control over. Something that I feel in control of for once. Especially after….”

Luis trailed off.

“…After all that. Does that make sense?”

“Absolutely!”

Leon nodded enthusiastically. He knew Luis still had trouble coming to terms with what had happened in Spain- That he’d nearly almost died- So Leon was more than happy to help in any way.

Sure, he knew, like… Absolutely nothing about Catholicism. But Luis didn’t seem to mind.

“I totally get what you mean. I’d be happy to just, uh, sit with you? Is that what you want?”

“Yeah,” Luis blinked a couple times and gave Leon the biggest, most grateful smile he’d ever seen. His eyes were a little glossy as he continued to speak,

“I’d go and do it by myself, but ah, I haven’t done it properly in years and I’d feel a little awkward doing it by myself. Especially since I don’t even believe in the God I’d be praying to anymore”

Luis laughed dryly, but internally, Leon felt himself cringing.

He remembered what Luis had said when he told him about how he had fully cut ties with his religion;

‘After I got infected with the Plagas and built that machine on my own, I had no choice but to self-surgically remove the Plagas…”

Leon still remembered the way his stomach felt sick at the memory of Ashley writhing and screaming in pain. He didn’t want to picture Luis in that same position.

‘…The pain was so much greater than anything I had ever experienced. It was right then and there I realized that there was no God.’

Luis’ voice had been bitter as he spoke.

‘If there truly were a God, and if he truly were merciful, there is no way he would have let a single human being experience such agony.’

Leon didn’t know why, but that had really stuck with him for a long time.

“I’ll probably just go upstairs and do it in front of your windowsill, sí?”

“Oh! Yeah, sure,” Leon snapped out of his thoughts. “I’ll come with you”

Leon trotted behind Luis’ tail as they made their way up the stairs and into their shared bedroom- at first, the blonde just awkwardly stood at the door, hands to his sides as he waited for…. Something. Again, he knew absolutely nothing about Catholicism, or what was appropriate or not.

He watched as Luis shuffled to the window and got down onto his knees; propping his elbows up against the windowsill, he clasped his hands together and flicked some stray hairs out of his face, getting comfortable.

“You can sit down on the bed, y’know,”

Luis smirked at Leon’s awkwardness and chuckled to himself as the blonde very quickly took a seat on his bed.

“R-right, um, sorry.”

“Don’t be”

Luis gave Leon one last smile before turning to fully face the window, resting his forehead against his clasped hands and closing his eyes with a sigh.

Leon knew he probably shouldn’t have; but he couldn’t help but admire how Luis looked in that position.

The late afternoon sun hit his front and cast a harsh rim light around the edges of his body, framing his broad shoulders and slim waist and lighting his long hair aglow with a dark brown hue. Little strands that couldn’t be swept back stuck out in the light and fell over Luis’ face involuntarily; and it took all of Leon’s strength not to walk over there and tuck them back behind his ears himself.

The room was completely quiet. The only things that Leon could hear were the gentle sounds of Luis’ breathing and his own heart thrumming in his chest. How could it not, though? Luis looked absolutely gorgeous;

His face was relaxed and his pretty dark brown eyelashes fluttered against his cheek, and the sun hit them just right so that he could spot a couple gray ones coming through. The bridge of his aquiline nose had a soft glow to it and his body cast a long shadow across the room- Picturesque in nature. If Leon stared long enough, he could have sworn he was looking at a painting.

Luis’ shoulders gently rose and fell in time with his breathing. His expression was so calm- Something Leon was only ever fortunate enough to see when he was sleeping or watching the sunset from their shared balcony. It made him wonder what was going through his mind, what he was praying about; He couldn’t even begin to imagine what the disconnect to his old religion felt like.

Watching as his childhood home went from being a glorified cult to a literal one under Saddlers control and having every person he grew up with turn into zombie-like mind controlled followers of his must have been terrifying.

Leon remembered another anecdote Luis had shared; about how, in a desperate attempt at ‘saving his soul’, he had tried to surgically self-exorcize himself to spiritually escape from Saddler’s grasp. He didn’t go into details- and quite frankly, Leon didn’t want to hear them- But it sounded gorey at best. He had apparently palmed at his open-wound so much that it still left a scar. He had described it as ‘borderline blasphemous’, but also corrected himself by saying that almost everything he did with Umbrella was Blasphemous.

He didn’t like to talk about it very often.

Yet, somehow, through all of that trauma; Luis was still here. Alive.

And not only that, but he trusted Leon to watch over him as he performed an undoubtedly very mentally difficult task.

To say Leon was flattered would be an understatement. To know that Luis trusted him so much and so wholly- It gave him an emotion he honestly couldn’t describe.

It had been maybe at most a couple minutes since Luis had kneeled down, but for Leon, it felt like an eternity. He could’ve easily spent the rest of the day like that, just staring at Luis while on the bed with his head cocked and knees folded like a lovestricken teenage boy.

But alas, Leon was promptly broken out of his fantasies when Luis finally ended the prayer with a quiet;

‘Y espero que cualquier dios que esté escuchando tenga una muerte lenta y dolorosa. Amén’

Huffed under his breath.

Luis stood up; brushing himself off with his back facing Leon, he let out a little sigh through his nose. Just standing there.

Leon walked over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder when he still didn’t move after a moment.

“….Love?”

“Hmmm?”

Luis turned to face him, and suddenly, Leon could see why he hadn’t earlier.

His bottom lip was pouty and trembling, and his bottom eyelids were wet and shining with fresh tears. His eyes looked glossy and his eyebrows were knitted together in a furrow. Leon felt his heart break with sympathy.

“…Rough, huh?”

“Y-Yeah….”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Luis paused for a second. Thinking. Then he shook his head in a ‘no’, his shoulders hunching up slightly.

Leon instinctively opened his arms and Luis immediately curled himself up against his chest. He brought his wrists up to his chin and buried his head in the crook of the blonde's neck as Leon wrapped his arms around his back and began to rock him from side to side gently.

Leon often joked that Luis was like those giant dogs that think they’re small enough to fit in your lap; he easily towered over Leon, and was probably 80% limbs, but he still always insisted on being the little spoon in the relationship.

And Leon secretly adored it.

“Aww, you just wanted a hug, huh?”

Leon kissed the crown of Luis’ head and whispered in his ear softly, smiling as he felt him nod and give a little ‘mmhmmm’ from his position.

Leon could feel the fabric around his shoulder getting wet and assumed Luis had started crying. That absolutely tore his heart in two. He hated it when Luis cried. But he had no idea what to say- What words to use to bring him some semblance of comfort- So Leon did what he did best;

He just held Luis. Rocking him from side to side ever so gently. Occasionally pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Leon couldn’t tell if it was working, but he did it anyway. He loved Luis too much to see him cry like this.

Eventually, after a few moments of silence, Luis finally spoke up; his voice quiet and a little croaky.

“I’m so sorry for dragging you into this..-“

“Don’t be,” Leon whispered back, kissing the shell of his ear.

“I’m glad you trust me enough to do this, Luis. It means a lot to me.”

Another pause.

“…Gracias, Leon. For.. Everything.”

Leon smiled and gently took his chin in one hand to bring Luis up for a soft kiss on the lips.

“Anytime.”