#to try and keep the panic attacks from being as highly visible

[mejomonster]

You know when your anxiety is so bad it's physically obvious :/

Yeah I have no idea how to unlearn that

[dixbolik-lovers]

For pet au

How would the mukamis + Reiji and carla handle being rehomed after a really abusive owner got rid of them, with a new owner who’s nice but does invasive daily medical exams against their will but tries to reassure them through it. They’ll be leashing them in place to draw blood and feel them over (and inside a bit) but they’re telling them they’re doing well

Ruki

As much as he hates you doing this, Ruki is all too aware of the fact that the examinations are just part of keeping a decent home. You're kind to him otherwise, and he knows he can't risk being thrown out again. Thus, he tries his best to endure the invasive touching and stay still... though he can't help but flinch every time your hands wander too close to his burns. The whole process is humiliating, but what can he do other than put up with it?

Kou

He does not take that well. After everything he's been through, Kou can hardly handle normal forms of touch. The invasive examinations are borderline torture, and even though he knows that you're better than the people he's been with before, he's still having violent panic attacks during every one of them. You'll probably have to sedate him so he doesn't hurt himself trying to struggle... and that only makes the process more terrifying.

Yuuma

The first couple of times, he almost lashes out at you on reflex. Yuuma doesn't like the weird touching at all, especially when he's not familiar with you yet. And yet, he knows that behaving is the only way he's going to keep this home— and that as a result, he has no choice but to tolerate the examinations as often as you see fit. He's visibly uncomfortable every time, though, and he can't stop himself from flinching at the more violating touches.

Azusa

He doesn't mind the examinations too much. Being touched is never a bad thing in Azusa's mind, even if it's painful. He also has virtually no concept of shame, so there's little you can do to him that he won't compliantly accept. If anything, before long, he starts to enjoy this daily time with you— being so thoroughly handled feels almost like spoiling, especially because you're going out of your way to make sure he's functioning to your standards.

Reiji

Although he's determined to behave himself and not lose another home to failure, the examinations are difficult to put up with. The touching, humiliating as it, bothers Reiji less than the thought that you might find something you're displeased with, and he's dreading what will happen if he doesn't stay still enough during them. It's all highly stressful, to the point where he quickly comes to dread the daily inspections and the close scrutiny by you.

Carla

Because of his former use in shows, Carla isn't unused to humans handling him in vaguely violating ways. He doesn't like it, though, and your brand of inspection is far, far worse than anything that's been done to him before. The whole process is humiliating, and the fact that you see a need to restrain him for it is almost worse. Even though he's stoically compliant whenever you examine him, it's not hard to tell that he's struggling to remain composed.

[karume-selfshipper]

Tohikana Mer-May

All under the cut because long post and big pics

BakuMer AU by @hotpotatopotat

The only mer-child to survive because Stain was able to hide her when he was released, the environment they were in wasn't able to hold them and the cabe he had left all the babies in was raided by a hungry shark

Toshinori never knew he and Stain had children that survived so he never tried to check

When Tohikana was big enough to not be swept away by currents, she was finally able to leave the cave her mer-father left her in

Traveling for the sake of traveling and learning how to interact with humans the hard way but choosing to keep a happy disposition but she doesn't fully trust humans

She does have a smattering of small scars across her body from various humans hunting her for various reasons (she never stopped to find out why humans were throwing nets at her)

She arrived at Bakugo's little cove just before the research center went up and was talked into staying by Kirishima

She has her own little cave a decent ways away from Bakugo's cave neither Kirishima or Shouto feel very comfortable attempting to share her cave so they flock to Bakugo's cave for actual nesting

Bakugo thought for the longest time, given that they were the only mer in the area, that they were supposed to be mates

Tohikana shot him down every time, pointing out how their mating stripes weren't coming in very clearly (and that they clearly didn't have any deep feelings for each other)

Bakugo was stubborn however, even after meeting Midoryia

He went to Tohikana to show how vibrant his stripes were but she showed how hers weren't even visible

"Dude, you're gay and in denial."

Midoriya had the strangest feeling of recognition around Tohikana and couldn't put his finger on why until Toshinori showed up

Then Midoriya had a panic attack and Toshinori had a heart attack

It got worse when Ururaka conducted blood tests and interviews with Tohikana to see if there was a connection

Toshinori was relieved that his secret daughter hadn't mated yet, though found it highly ironic that Bakugo kept trying only to go for his son

However, without any evidence to prove her story and no way to go back to check the area, Toshinori just had to bite his tongue about being her human father

Though when Tohikana very flippantly mentions that Bakugo had mer-children (and that she was helping) he nearly had another heart attack

...only for Midoriya to come swimming up with one of the mer-children in his hands

"Oh hey! You got the runt of-- HEY! DON'T IGNORE ME TWO LEGS! YOU DEAD BEAT!"

Toshinori in the background (well that's another secret I have to take to my grave...)

Typical/Disney AU

She likes flitting around like a mad-mer at top swimming speed

[elianamarie-blog]

The Things You Give Part 23

Guys...I don't even know where to begin. I'm so sorry for the ling hiatus. My life has been so chaotic lately and every time I would sit down to write, I wasn't able to focus and get so sleepy. I've started a new job position, working on my own personal book that I've been writing, working through my mental health issues, and on top of that trying to save and plan for a wedding. So, I am so, so sorry for the long awaited chapter. I hope I didn't lose any followers from this. You all mean so much to me.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Make sure you listen to Lean On Me by Bill Withers and Love by John Lennon during some certain parts. It makes it more emotional lol.

Red’s eyes widened and quickly and swiftly shut Eric’s door, and turned back to the boys. “What do you mean you can’t find him?!”

“He’s not here,” Kelso repeated, visibly sweating. “We’ve searched the whole house and he’s not here.”

Red pinched the bridge of his nose, already feeling a raging headache already coming on. “Are you telling me that you didn’t see him come home last night?”

“We did!” Kelso defended. “Or at least we thought we did.”

Red growled, holding himself back from strangling them two. “Well, find him! I don’t care what you have to do. You. Find. Him. And soon!”

“Yes, s-sir,” the boys stuttered.

“And say nothing to Y/n,” Red continued. “I don’t need her finding out and worrying. I’ll keep her distracted for the time being.” A beat passed before Red quickly grew frustrated again. “What are you still doing here?! Go! Now!”

“Daddy?” Y/n called out, emerging from Eric’s room. “Is everything okay? What’s going on?”

One look at his youngest child, and his breath was taken away at her beauty. She reminded him of Kitty on his own wedding day and if he could allow himself, he would cry. The way her hair flowed down her face and her eyes popped made him realize that this was the moment he had been waiting for since the day she was born. “Wow, Sweetheart…you look beautiful.”

Y/n blushed and smiled at her father. “Thank you. Is everything okay? Where’s Steven?”

“Everything’s fine, Pumpkin,” Red responded, plastering on a fake smile and rubbed her shoulder. “He’s just getting ready.”

She smiled in relief. “Oh good. I was getting worried that he might’ve run off or something.”

The three men chuckled nervously.

“Oh, he wouldn’t do that,” Fez said, avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah, because he knows that my foot would be in his ass,” Red responded, chuckling. “Now, go back with your bridesmaids and we’ll see you at the venue.”

“Okay, Daddy,” she chirped and went back in her room, her bridesmaids following shortly behind her.

Red chuckled as he shut the door behind them and then snapped back to the quivering young men. “Find him!”

Kelso and Fez didn’t respond as they scrambled down the hall and down the stairs. Red stood there, sweating and panicking. He went through Korea and survived his heart attack and he still never felt this scared up until this moment. Where was he? Was he okay? Did he bail on her? And most importantly, how would Y/n take this that her husband was missing on their wedding day? His forehead glistened with sweat as all these questions ran through his head. He had to act—and fast.

--Scene Transition—

The two rushed to the basement in a rushed panic.

“Alright, Fez,” Kelso said, frantically looking around. “We need to retrace our steps from last night.”

“But I barley remember last night,” Fez whined, rubbing his head from the slight hangover. “Should we check his room again? Maybe he came home while we were upstairs.”

“We’ve already checked his room three times,” he Kelso responded, pacing. “Unless he figured out how to be invisible, I highly doubt that he’s going to be in there.”

“Oh, man, what do we do?” Fez asked, rubbing a hand through his perfectly quaffed hair.

“What’s going on here?” Donna called from the stairs as she and Jackie made their way down. “Where the hell is Hyde?”

“Nothing’s going on here!” Fez responded. “Just playing a fun little game of Hide-and-Seek. Hyde’s…hiding. And boy, is he good at this game.”

“What the hell are you doing playing a game for when he needs to get ready?!” Donna practically shouted.

“We thought it’d help with his pre-wedding nerves,” Kelso responded, nervously clasping his hands behind his back.

“You guys are mor—wait, a minute,” Donna said, holding up her finger. “He’s not even here, is he?”

“What? Of course he’s here!” Fez responded with fake enthusiasm. “We’re just looking for him. Hyde! Hyde! See, he’s a master at this game.”

Donna stared at them with wide eyes. “Did you lose Hyde?!”

“Oh, my God,” Jackie gasped.

The boys slumped their shoulders in defeat.

“Is Y/n here?” Kelso whispered.

“No, she’s upstairs,” Donna responded. “What the hell is going on?!”

“Okay, okay,” Fez said. “Hyde’s not here and we can’t find him.”

“I knew it!” Jackie shouted.

“How do you guys lose a grown man?!” Donna exclaimed.

Fez and Kelso shushed her furiously.

“Y/n doesn’t know and she can’t know,” Kelso responded.

“Well, no duh!” Jackie shrilled. “She’s already onto you guys and if she finds out, you’re all dead. And if there’s anything worse than an angry Y/n, it’s an angry, pregnant, Y/n.”

“Oh, God,” Kelso and Fez whispered in horror.

“This is great. The groom’s missing and the officiator has to go to the hospital because he’s having a severe allergic reaction!” Donna screeched, rubbing her temples.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God,” Kitty said frantically as she scurried down the stairs. “I just got a phone call from the restaurant from where the kids are buying their cake.”

“And?” Jackie asked.

“They forgot to bake their cake! Now, the kids don’t have a cake for their wedding and their wedding is in four hours! What are we going to do?!”

“Oh, God,” Donna groaned and sat on the couch, holding her head in her hands.

“Don’t worry about that Mrs. Forman,” Jackie assured, placing her hand on Kitty’s shoulder. “I got the cake. I know someone who can whip one up before the reception. As the maid of honor, it’s my duty to make sure they get their cake on time.”

“And what about Hyde, Jackie?” Donna asked.

Kitty snapped her head towards Donna. “What about Steven?”

“He’s gone,” Donna responded gravely. “So, now we have the groom is missing, the officiator is in the hospital, and now the cake wasn’t even made.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S GONE?!” Kitty shouted and shot her glare over to the two young men and took a couple steps towards them. “WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“Nothing!” Kelso defended, putting his hands up in surrender and taking a step back. “We woke up this morning and he was gone!”

“How do you lose a person?!” Kitty continued. “You boys had one job last night: get him out and then get him home! What’s so hard about that?!”

“We’re looking for him, Mrs. Kitty,” Fez said sweetly and nervously.

“Clearly, you’re not doing a very good job!”

“Okay, okay,” Donna said standing up. “All we gotta do is retrace your steps. Where did you guys go last night?”

“We went to the strip club,” Kelso answered sheepishly as he watched Kitty’s face contort into a grimace. “And then we went to a couple different bars and clubs afterwards.”

“Okay,” Kitty said, breathing in and out to steady out her anger. “You three,” she pointed at Donna, Fez, and Kelso. “Go look for him and make sure he’s safe and more importantly: here and present. I don’t care if you have to hold him up while he says his vows, just bring him to the altar! And you,” she turned to Jackie. “Call whoever you need to call to get a damn cake to the venue by no later than three!”

“You got it!” Jackie chirped and skipped her way out of the basement. She couldn’t wait to be a hero for this wedding.

“And you three, go!”

Donna, Kelso, and Fez didn’t say another word as they scrambled out the basement.

“Ugh, this is turning out to be the worst wedding day ever!” Kitty said to herself as she hurried up the stairs. She prayed that everything would fall into place before the ceremony.

--Time Skip--

“Hurry, honey, we gotta get you in and out,” Kitty stated as she rushed her only son through the double doors of the ER. “How are you doing? Can you breathe?”

“Mom, I’m fine. I justh need a pill ta help tha thwelling,” Eric responded through his swollen tongue.

“No, honey, they’re going to have to give you a shot,” Kitty responded with a shake of her head.

“But I don’t wanna thot,” Eric whined.

“Sorry,” she said and lead him to the front counter. “Hi, Stacy.”

The young receptionist looked up and gave Kitty a warm, welcoming smile. “Well, hello Kitty! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at your daughter’s wedding?” Her attention turned towards Eric and her eyes grew wide. “Oh, my God. What happened to you?!”

“Nutsth,” Eric responded.

“What?” she asked, not understanding.

“Nuts. He ate nuts,” Kitty responded. “Look, I’d hate to pull my nurse card on you, but he needs to be seen right away and be out within the next hour at the latest.”

“Well, we can get him in right away, but he would still need to stay here to make sure he doesn’t have a worse allergic reaction to the shot,” she responded, looking at Eric. “Can you see okay? Your eyes are pretty swollen.”

“Kindth of,” he responded. “I justh needth ta get back to tha venue on thime becauseth I am performing tha theremony.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Stacy asked.

“Oh, you know what, we don’t have time for this,” Kitty said impatiently. “You know what, I’ll get him a room and I’ll go and grab what we need. I work here, I can do that.”

“Actually you can’t—”

Kitty threw her a death stare. “I’ll deal with it Monday, Stacy. Thank you.”

She pushed the button that opened the doors to go to a room.

“Room 108!” Stacy called out.

Kitty waved her hand as if to say ‘thank you’ and escorted Eric back to the room. “Okay, sweetie, take a seat and I’ll grab the medicine.”

“Thank you, Mom,” Eric said slowly, trying not to bite his tongue.

“Of course, Sweetie. Just don’t eat nuts ever again.”

“Trusth me I won’t.”

--Meanwhile—

“Okay, are you sure this is the bar you came to last night?” Donna questioned the boys.

“Yes! We came here and had a few—okay, a lot—more beers before everything became hazy,” Kelso replied.

They entered the building to see it very empty with just the bartender wiping down glasses. He was bald, burly looking man with a intimidating look on his face that was mainly hidden by his thick mustache. Once he heard the door open, his gaze fell on the two boys and shook his head.

“I thought I banned you last night. Get out before I call the cops!” he barked.

“Whooaa!” Kelso said, putting his hands up in defense. “What’s with the harassment, bud?”

“You damn know why!” he retorted and turned to Fez. “And you owe me a new table!”

“We don’t even remember what happened last night!” Kelso countered.

“Oh?” the bartender asked, his eyebrows shooting up. “Allow me to remind you. You two and your curly haired friend and rail thin friend caused havoc on my bar last night! You got so belligerent I had to call security on you. You,” he pointed at Kelso. “kept breaking my glasses and beer bottles all over the floor causing one of my waitresses to slip and fall and cut up her arm, and then you tried to convince her to go home with you! And you,” he pointed towards Fez. “Took your shirt off and danced on my table, breaking it! Then your curly-haired friend got into fight with one of the customers, getting more people involved than they should've! And your skinny friend…well he didn’t really do anything but he was still with you three dumbasses!”

“Sir, on behalf of idiot friends, I deeply apologize,” Donna said, stepping forward trying to do some control damage.

“You’re friends with these morons?” he asked, pointing at them.

“Sadly, so,” she responded. “And girlfriend of the skinny one.”

“I’m sorry,” was all the bartender could say.

“It’s okay, I am too sometimes,” she grumbled. “Especially on times like this. But we need your help.”

He crossed his thick arms and stood up straight. “With what, exactly? I don’t feel like helping these two bozos out.”

“I know, I understand. But our curly haired friend is missing. Have you happened to see him?”

The bartender shook his head. “Sorry, little lady. I haven’t seen anyone like him since last night.”

“Did you happen to see which way they went at least?”

He eyed Kelso and Fez. “You guys seriously don’t remember?”

They shook their heads sheepishly. “No, sir. We do not,” Fez responded.

The bartender sighed heavily. “After I kicked you guys out, I saw you guys go across the street and turn right. I think I might’ve even seen you go to that club down the street. But I’m not sure.”

“Thank you, sir,” Donna said and tapped the bar. “Let’s go.”

When they reached the club across the street, it wasn’t even open.

“Argh! They’re closed!” Donna shouted in frustration. “Now what?!” She sharply turned to them. “This is all your fault! If you guys hadn’t gotten stupid drunk last night, Hyde would be here!”

“We’re sorry, Donna. We really are,” Kelso said quietly, wringing his hands. “We’re just as worried as you guys.”

Donna rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Do you guys happen to remember any other place you might’ve went to?”

“I think it was just the strip club, the bar, and this club and then we left,” Fez said.

“Yeah, we were on our way home and then I think we passed by those jerks that Hyde supposedly fought and…oh no,” Kelso said, suddenly recalling all the events that happened last night.

“Oh, no what?” Donna questioned, taking a step forward.

“Um…I think I know where Hyde is.”

--Time Skip—

“Have you heard from anyone?” Y/n asked her sister and father as they waited for everyone to get back. “Steven? Kelso? Fez? Donna? Or even Jackie?”

Red glanced at his daughter nervously. He had heard about the cake incident and knew Jackie was on it, but he couldn’t help but sweat when looking at his youngest daughter. He checked his watch and it showed a quarter ‘til one. “I’m sure they’re just getting ready, Sweetie.”

Y/n sighed as her stomach growled. She started making her way to the kitchen when Red stopped her. He jumped in front of her with a phony smile plastered on his face.

“What cha doin?” he asked her.

“I’m just going to get a snack…?” Y/n answered, giving him a quizzical look.

“Uh, I’ll go with you!” he said excitedly and jumped up to meet her.

She studied him, tilting her head to the side. “Are you okay? You’ve been acting kind of weird.”

“I’m fine,” he responded. “Just really excited for you…and Steven.”

“Okay?” she said, letting it out slowly before slipping by him and entering the kitchen.

He followed after her and watched her as she grabbed some stuff to make a turkey sandwich. Afterwards, she grabbed a water and sat at the table while Red stood at the doorway near the phone the whole time.

“Are you going to stand there and keep watching me or are you going to join me?” she asked once she was situated at the table.

Red chuckled to himself and rubbed his eyes. “Yes, yes. Sorry.” But halfway through his walk from the door to the table, the house phone rang, making him nearly jump out of his skin. He ran over to it and quickly answered, ignoring Y/n’s confused look. “Hello?”

“Hey, Red,” a familiar, but tired, voice came over the receiver.

“Steven?” he whispered, hoping Y/n wouldn’t hear.

“Hey, man,” he responded.

“Where the hell are you?!” Red whispered yelled into the phone.

“See, that’s the thing Red,” Hyde answered. “I can tell you, but you got to promise not to get angry, or tell Y/n.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Steven sighed. “To be honest, I’m not even sure how I got here.”

--Meanwhile—

“So, you idiots left him in jail?!” Donna shrieked as she sped down the highway. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“In our defense, we were drunk,” Kelso said, not-so-subtly gripping the door for dear life.

“So?!” she continued to scream. “Us bridesmaids were drunk last night and we didn’t lose Y/n!”

“She has a good point,” Fez said from the back seat.

“Shut up, Fez!” Donna snapped. “You’re just as guilty as he is.” She sped up to a car who was going the speed limit, but to Donna in that moment was going just a speed too slow. She whipped around him and sped off, completely ignoring the middle finger the guy was giving her.

“Donna, what the hell?!” Kelso screeched. “Slow down!”

“No!” she yelled. “You’re the reason we’re here in the first place! If you guys could keep track of a human being, then we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“Sorry, Donna,” the boys mumbled in unison, looking down at their shoes.

“Don’t apologize to me,” she said and turned off the highway onto a less crowded road. “Apologize to Y/n if she ever finds out.” She pulled up to the county jail and turned the car off. “Now, let’s get the groom so we can get this wedding started.”

They all exited the car and walked into the building. At the front was a female cop sitting at the reception desk, looking down.

“Let me handle this,” Kelso said confidently, making his way in front of the other two. “They know me.” He turned to the police officer with a dopey smile on his face. “Good afternoon, Sergeant Howes. I’m here looking for my friend.”

Howes looked up from her desk and immediately wore a scowl on her face from seeing Michael Kelso. “Sergeant Kelso. I thought you were on suspension.”

“What?” Donna said coldly.

“It’s not what it sounds like,” Kelso defended.

“You caused a horse to buck another recruit in the stomach, resulting him to be in the hospital for a few days,” Howes responded sassily.

“On accident!” Kelso defended and turned to his friends in shame. "He looked bored."

“He was irritable!" she snapped and turned back to her work. "Either way, you’re not supposed to be here."

Donna pushed her way passed Kelso—again, frustrated that she’s had to do this more times than she can count today. “Ma’am, I’m so sorry, but we’re to bail out our friend.”

“Name?”

“Steven Hyde.”

“He’s right back here,” Howes said and led them passed the locked door.

When they entered the room, they saw Hyde behind bars, sitting hunched over and clutching his head. His black t-shirt from the night before dirty and stained and his pants torn at the bottom also dirty and stained.

“Hyde!” Kelso called out and ran over to the cell.

Hyde looked up, showing his bruised jaw and broken lip and breathed a sigh of relief. “Finally.” He stood up and met Kelso at the bars, but not before slugging him in the arm. “Moron!”

“What happened?” Donna demanded, crossing her arms.

Steven sighed and rubbed his neck. “I don’t know, man. Last night is still kind of hazy, but from what I remember, these guys at the bar started smack talking us and wouldn’t let up. I don’t remember what it was about, but they mentioned Y/n and I just lost it. I ended up jackin’ him in the jaw and before I knew it, a brawl had broken out. We get thrown out and start walking home when those dillholes caught up to us and started kicking our asses. We were able to get a good couple hits in before the police showed up.”

"Do you remember what these two dillholes looked like?" Donna questioned, beginning to realize who they might've run into.

"Ah, I don't know," Steven responded, running a hand through his tangled curls. "Some 6-foot jackass with black hair, wearing a hoodie."

"Does that description sound familiar?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really," he responded before it happened. "Son of a bitch!"

"What?" Fez asked. "What?"

He shifted his gaze to his two best friends and shot them daggers. “We ran into Zack and his dumbass friends!"

Fez gasped dramatically. "No!"

"Did we win?" Kelso asked and Steven threw him daggers.

"What d'ya think?!" he responded, throwing his arms in the air. "I'm behind bars while those morons walk free!"

"Sorry, Hyde," Fez and Kelso mumbled together.

“And then by 7 am I realized you dillholes weren’t coming so I called Red.”

“You called Red?!” Donna shrieked. “Oh, God.”

“What?” Hyde questioned, furrowing his brows.

Donna looked at him with worried eyes. “You don’t know, so allow me to catch you up to speed.”

Hyde leaned into the bars, resting his arms on them as he listened intently.

“Eric is in the hospital and your cake wasn’t made so Jackie is out trying to find a cake. And while all of this is going on, we’re trying to keep Y/n in the dark so that she doesn’t freak out.”

“Forman’s in the hospital?” Hyde questioned, genuine concern written all over his face. “What for?”

“Turns out he’s allergic to peanuts, not bananas,” Donna responded.

Hyde didn’t hesitate and cackled his infamous laugh. “Now, that’s funny.”

“Is it?” Donna asked, not finding this funny at all. “Because now you don’t have an officiate.”

Hyde stopped laughing immediately. “Aw, crap.”

“Yes, so let’s get you home and ready before Y/n figures everything out,” Donna said and stepped aside so that a cop could let Hyde out of the cell.

“You don’t think she knows by now, do you?” Hyde asked.

“I don’t know, but let’s not wa—” Donna began but was cut off by a familiar and very, very angry voice.

“STEVEN HYDE!”

“I think she knows,” Fez said, eyes wide.

“Ya think?” Hyde asked and turned to see Y/n stomping in with Red trailing behind her. He wanted to look away, but she looked so stunning that it was almost impossible for him to. “Hey beautiful,” he said, trying to defuse the situation. “You look absolutely gorgeous.”

Y/n didn’t respond, but stare at her husband angrily, barley blinking.

“You know, I’m not supposed to see the bride before the wedding.”

“And you’re not supposed to be in jail on the day of the wedding, but yet here we are,” she seethed, eyes completely bewildered. “What the HELL, man?! You couldn’t stay out of trouble for one freaking day?!”

“I can explain!” Steven said, shifting his gaze to his groomsmen. “They were supposed to bail me out before you found out!”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she hissed. “My husband is in jail the day we are supposed to get married!”

Hyde directed his gaze to Red. “What happened to her not finding out?”

“She pulled it out of me!” he answered.

Hyde sighed and turned his attention back to Y/n who was examining his face.

“What happened?” she asked, this time a tad softer, but still stern.

“I got into a fight last night with a bunch of these guys.” He avoided saying who he got into fight with.

She stepped towards him and gently placed her hand on his face. “You look terrible.”

“Thanks, you look beautiful too.”

She chuckled at his sarcasm and sighed. “I wouldn’t be marrying the Steven Hyde if he didn’t end up in jail on our wedding day.” She removed her hand and stood up straight. “We need to get you cleaned up before the pictures. And maybe some makeup to cover up that bruise.”

“No. I am not wearing makeup,” Hyde resisted. “That’s chick crap.”

“You’re wearing it,” she responded. “Only to cover up the bruise. It’s not like you’re going to have wear mascara or anything.” She smirked with a twinkle in her eye. “As a matter of fact—”

“No!” he said quickly. “Get away from me!”

She cackled and turned back to the groomsmen. “Get him cleaned up and get him down the aisle, yeah?”

Kelso and Fez nodded.

“You got it, boss!” Fez said enthusiastically, happy to have this part over.

Y/n sighed in relief and turned around, letting Red know that she’d be in the car. Once she left, Donna turned to Red.

“She still doesn’t know about the cake though, right?”

“No, if she hears that, her head might explode,” Red answered in a hushed tone. “Have you heard from Eric?”

Donna shook her head. “What are we going to do?”

Red rubbed his neck. “Beats the hell out of me. Let’s just get to the venue and hope for the best.”

“I don’t think hope is going to do us any good at this point,” Fez said.

“Not helping, Fez,” Donna said, leading her way back out to the car.

--Meanwhile—

“Ow! thon of a bitch!” Eric cried out as the needle went into arm. “What the hell isth in that?”

“Medicine,” Kitty answered casually. “Now, give it a few minutes and you should be back to normal.”

“Thanksth, Mom.”

“You’re welcome dear,” she said and started packing up everything. “Now, let’s get you home and ready.”

“What time isth it?”

Kitty checked her watch and her eyes bugged out. “Oh my gosh…it’s already 2:30! Where did the time go?! Hurry, hurry!”

Eric jumped off the table and grabbed his coat and rushed out the door with kitty.

“What if my faceth isn’t better by tha time she walksth down the aisle?!”

“Then speak slow and clearly so people can understand you!” Kitty rushed as she practically ran out the door, but not before stopping a nurse and handing her a file. “MaryAnne! Thank God, can you please finish this for me? It’s for my son, Eric.”

“Sure, no problem, Kitty,” she said with a red-lipped smile and looked at Eric. “Holy hell, what happened to you?”

“Nutsth,” he responded.

“Okay, thank you, bye!” Kitty said and pushed Eric out the door. “Move it!”

“I’m going asth fast asth I can!”

“Clearly not fast enough!”

Eric made a face at her before he hurriedly got in the car with Kitty taking off before he could even get his door closed.

--Scene Transition—

“How do I look?” Hyde asked as he emerged from his old room from the basement.

Kelso and Fez had taken to the couch, relaxing as much as they could before having to leave for the wedding.

“You look great,” Fez said. “Very clean and sharp.”

Steven made a face, squirming in his suite. “I feel uncomfortable.”

“Well, yeah. It’s not your normal t-shirt and jeans,” Fez answered and walked over to him, adjusting his bow tie. “But you look great, man. Congratulations.”

Hyde sighed and grinned. “Thanks, man.” He brought Fez in for a hug, clapping him on the back.

“Yeah, congratulations,” Kelso said and stepped forward, also bringing Hyde in for a hug. “Who woulda thought that the Steven Hyde was able to settle down.”

“I know!” Hyde laughed. “I honestly thought if I ever were to get married it would be to a stripper while drunk in Vegas.”

“Wouldn’t that have been a trip,” Kelso snorted as all three men headed out the door.

--At the Venue—

The bridal party sat in on opposite sides of the barn as they waited for the guests to show up, but still there was no sign of Jackie.

“Man, where the hell is Jackie?” Donna whispered to Kitty.

“I don’t know,” Kitty whispered back. “The wedding is about to start.”

“I know! Where’s Eric?”

“He’s still trying to get some of the swelling down,” Kitty answered, shaking her head. “His face is very pink—he looks like a newborn baby!” She laughed at her own joke. “But seriously, I don’t think he’s going to be here on time to perform the wedding.”

“Oh, my God this is terrible!” Donna whispered, fighting the urge to scream.

“I know! I decorated this barn so beautifully and for what? For the wedding not to happen? That’s two weddings now that he didn’t show up to!”

Donna gave Kitty a glare as Jackie showed up in the distance.

“Hello, the maid of honor has arrived!” she announced as she walked towards the bride.

“Where the hell have you been?!” Y/n shrieked. “The wedding starts in five minutes!”

“Okay, well, chill. I’m here aren’t I?” Jackie replied, avoiding the question.

Donna grabbed her by the elbow and lead her away from Y/n. “Did you get it taken care of?”

“Why, yes I did,” Jackie beamed and Donna sighed in relief. “The cake is in the reception hall. And may I add, it is more beautiful than the one they had originally wanted.”

“Thank God,” Donna sighed again and wiped at her perspiring forehead. “But we still have a problem. Eric still isn’t able to perform the wedding.”

Jackie stared at Donna for a minute before turning back around. “Gimme a minute. Maid of honor to the rescue!”

Donna let out a shaky breath and turned back to Y/n who was staring at her with concern.

“Is everything okay?”

Donna looked at her best friend and picked at her teeth—a nervous habit of hers that she had since she was a kid. “Here’s the thing—”

--Meanwhile—

Jackie approached Steven and his groomsmen on the other side of the barn, seeing them stand by the building.

“What do you mean Forman can’t do it?!” Hyde practically shouted in aggravation after listening to Jackie’s unfortunate news.

“He’s still puffy from his reaction,” Jackie responded.

“Can he at least talk?” Hyde asked.

“I don’t know,” she replied, shaking her head. “I just got back from getting your cake.”

“The cake is here?” he asked. “How did you manage to pull that off?”

Jackie smirked. “I got a way with talking to Louie down at the bakery…and I also owe him five hundred bucks.”

Hyde sighed and rubbed his eyes under his aviators. “Well, now what?”

“I need to find you someone to perform the wedding,” Jackie responded.

“I’ll do it!” Kelso volunteered, throwing his hand in the air.

“No, I’ll do it!” Fez cried out, stepping in front of Kelso.

“No, I’m more good looking so I can do it,” Kelso argued.

“You can’t if you can’t stand,” Fez said, and when Kelso gave him a confused look, Fez kicked him in the shin.

“Ow! What the hell, man?!” Kelso cried out. “Well, you won’t be able to do it if you can’t see!” He poked his fingers into Fez’s unsuspecting eyes, causing Fez to stumble back, holding his face.

“You son of a bitch!” Fez cried out and threw his body into Kelso’s, toppling him onto the ground.

“Oh, for the love of—” Hyde said and quickly broke up the fight. “Neither of you are doing it!”

“What?!”Fez cried out.

“Why?!” Kelso asked, out of breath.

“Because you’re morons, that’s why!”

“Well, then who’s going to do it?” Jackie asked, feeling completely defeated.

“I don’t know,” Hyde sighed and leaned against the building.

“Hey, is this where the party is?” a familiar, deep voice piped up from behind them.

The four teenagers turned out and Steven’s eyes almost bugged out of his head.

“Leo?!” he exclaimed in excitement and walked over to the long haired hippie, wrapping him in a tight hug. “What’re you doing here?!”

“I was told there a party, man!”

“No, I mean what are you doing back in Point Place?” Steven clarified.

“Oh!” Leo giggled. “I can’t remember, man.”

Steven laughed. “Classic Leo.”

Leo giggled again with half lidded eyes. “Who are you?”

“Leo, it’s me!”

Leo stared at him for a minute before it finally hit him. “Hyde, man!” He wrapped him up in another hug. “What are you doing wearing a suit for?”

“I’m getting married, man!”

“No!” Leo replied excitedly. “Steven Hyde finally found an ol’ ball and chain. Who is she, man?”

“Well, it’s Y/n. You remember Y/n?”

Leo raised his eyebrows with a confused smile and turned to Jackie and shook her hand. “Congratulations, Y/n. You got yourself a fine man here.”

Jackie raised her eyebrows in return, taken aback.

“Leo, man, that’s Jackie…my ex-girlfriend,” Hyde responded a little uncomfortable.

“Whoa,” Kelso said, blowing out air. “Awkward.”

“Y/n is Forman’s twin sister,” Steven continued.

“Oh! The cool girl?” Leo recalled. “The girl who bailed you out of jail multiple times?”

Steven chuckled. “Yeah. That one.”

“Oh, I like her a lot, man,” Leo said. “She even brought me brownies.”

“Yeah, she’s awesome,” he responded. “But, listen, the wedding is about to start. Why don’t you go take a seat and I’ll meet up with you later?”

“Uh, hello, Steven?” Jackie shrilled. “There isn’t going to be a wedding until we have an officiate!”

“Aw, crap,” Hyde said, mentally kicking himself for forgetting that in the midst of his excitement. He rubbed his head, screwing his eyes shut. “Okay, uh…what if we got Bob to do it?”

“Why? To have that sweaty, weird afro man say jokes the whole time?” Jackie countered and flipped her hair. “No, thank you.”

“Okay, Jackie what about your dad? He’s out of prison now right?”

“Wow, you’re really grasping at straws, aren’t you?” she replied unimpressed, crossing her arms.

“I’ll do it,” Leo piped up.

“What? No, Leo, man, I don’t want you to feel like you have to,” Steven argued.

“No, I want to, man. You’re like a son to me. I’d be honored.”

Jackie looked to Hyde. “I don’t see why not.”

“It is kind of perfect,” Hyde agreed and rubbed his chin. “Ah, you know what? Screw it, let’s do it.”

“Alright, man!” Steven said excitedly as Jackie squealed.

“I’m going to go tell Y/n!” she said. “Finally, this wedding can start!”

She darted off to go find to finally share some exciting news. When she got to the side where Y/n and everybody was residing, she saw a very nervous bride.

“What do you mean he can’t do it?!” she cried out, clutching her head.

“I know, I know,” Kitty said, attempting to calm down her daughter. “He’s just…well, he’s still pretty—” she gestured towards her face. “You know.”

“So? Can he at least still talk?”

“He’s just now able to say his S’s,” she responded.

“Oh, my God. This is unbelievable,” Y/n groaned and put her head in her hands. “Where is he now?”

“He should be with your dad.”

“Guys, guys, I’ve got great news!”

--Meanwhile—

“I need to go! They’re counting on me!” Eric argued with his father as they stood behind the barn.

“Not while you look like that!” Red countered back. “We don’t need to have a wedding and a funeral in the same day!”

“It’s not even that bad!”

“You look like a marshmallow head!”

“Oh, c’mon, Dad, I really want to do this.”

Red exhaled and looked at his son. “No.”

Kitty skipped from the side of the barn and informed him that Leo would be performing the ceremony instead.

“What? The hippy?” Red asked. “I thought he left town.”

“He did but he’s back,” Kitty said, waving her hands in the air and shaking her head in confusion. “But it’s alright because he came to the rescue.”

“No!” Eric cried out. “They asked me to do it! I should be the one doing it. Mom!”

“I’m sorry, honey, but you’ll scare the kids,” Kitty said sympathetically. “And possibly grandma enough to give her a heart attack.”

“This is so unfair,” Eric whined, feeling completely devastated.

“Yeah, well, life isn’t fair,” Red snapped and huffed. “Can we please get this wedding started now?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Kitty said with a smile.

--15 Minutes Later—

“Alright, everyone! Places!” Kitty called out as the bridesmaids and groomsmen lined up by the entrance with Y/n clinging onto Red’s arm in the far back. Kitty peered over to Steven who was already standing at the front with his hands clasped in front of him waiting patiently. Leo stood straight with a wide smile on his face and hands clasped behind his back.

Kitty turned to the DJ and signaled for him to begin the music. “Remember, kids, just like we rehearsed last night.”

“Yes, Mrs. Forman,” all four kids said in monotony.

“Alright, let’s go!” She had grabbed a recording camera before leaving the house that morning and scurried off to her seat.

As Lean On Me by Bill Withers started playing, Jackie and Kelso took their first steps down the aisle, arm in arm, smiling. Kelso winked at one of the guests—a hot blonde that went to high school with them. Hyde stood there, adjusting his bow tie and let out a nervous sigh. He didn’t know why he was nervous—they were already married, but here he stood, stomach erupted in butterflies.

Jackie and Kelso broke apart to stand on their respective side. Next, Donna and Fez took down the aisle in the same manner, smiling and keeping a steady pace. As they reached the front of the aisle, Donna gave him a reassuring smile before breaking apart from Fez.

Then Laurie walked down the aisle by herself, smiling and staying in beat with the music before joining her fellow bridesmaids.

Before Red and Y/n could walk down the aisle, Red reached over and adjusted her veil so that it hung loosely over her shoulders. He looked at her with love and adoration; he knew this day would come, but was never ready for it. He watched her grow from this sweet little girl to this beautiful young woman who was going to be a mother too. He recounted over the years from her first words, first steps, their first argument, and the many, many hugs and kisses.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her chubby cheeks, bright and twinkling eyes, and her cute pigtails when she was little. How her little voice sounded when she called she’d say “daddy”, or when she laughed. How his heart broke when she’d cry. He was always there to pick her up to comfort her whenever she had a skinned knee or a broken heart.

He remembered her first heartbreak over a boy at just thirteen years old, so devastated that the boy didn’t like her back and how hard she took it. She hadn’t wanted Kitty at the moment, she had wanted her dad. He wrapped her up in his arms and gave her the speech that all boys are dumbasses and that one day, the right man will love and appreciate her. And that each heartbreak will lead her to the right one. Then he reminded her that one man will always love her no matter what—him.

As she stood there, looking absolutely radiant and beautiful, he couldn’t help but his eyes get misty.

“Are you okay, Dad?”

He smiled and swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’m fine, Sweetheart.” He touched her hair, adjusting to come over her shoulder. “You look beautiful.”

She smiled at him and leaned into him. “I love you, Daddy.”

He kissed her head. “I love you too, Kitten. Are you ready?”

She nodded her head and turned so she was facing the front of her. Kitty then signaled for the DJ to switch to the bridal song. As Love by John Lennon started playing, Y/n and Red took their first steps to the aisle, with Red holding onto hand with his arm and his other hand reaching over to place it over hers. Everyone turned to look at the beautiful bride, their breaths getting caught in their throat. Sasha sat in the back, smirking. She did a damn good job finding the perfect dress for her.

It felt like the first time for Steven seeing his wife all over again. His heart picked up speed when he saw her. Except this time, she was wearing a smile and not a scowl. He almost chuckled to himself, but luckily he was able to hold his composure, goggling at her. His face softened as she got closer and then broke out into a smile when her eyes met his.

As Y/n and Red got to the front, Y/n went to break from her Dad’s grasp, he tightened it, refusing to let her go.

“You got to let go, Dad,” she whispered.

When he still didn’t, Kitty stood from her seat and leaned over. “Red, honey, let her go.”

Y/n smiled and leaned into his touch once more. “It’s okay, Daddy.”

He looked at her with a sadness in his eyes that she’d never seen before and nodded. He kissed her cheek before handing her off to Steven who stood there with his hand stretched out.

“Take care of her,” Red whispered to him.

Steven gave him a single nod. “I will.”

He turned his attention back to his bride and smiled warmly at her before leading her up the stairs. Y/n handed her bouquet to Jackie before turning back around.

“Leo?!” Y/n asked in shock.

“Hey! I’m back, man!”

“This is amazing!” she said, turning to look at Steven who looked elated. “Welcome back!”

“Thanks! Now, uh, before we start, I’d like to say a few words,” Leo began. Kitty looked around nervous to see the other’s reaction.

“I’ve known Hyde for a very long time,” he continued. “He and I became quick friends after he started working for me at the Photo Hut. He was awesome, man. Always helped me out when I needed him. I was there from his first girlfriend, his first car, and when his family adopted him.”

Kitty and Red smiled at each other at Leo’s reference, making their hearts feel warm.

“And now I get to see him get married to this amazing young lady. You became like a son to me, Hyde, especially after my old lady took my kid and dipped. So, thank you for being there for me.”

Hyde clapped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Thanks, man.”

“Now, onto the wedding. Dearly beloved—”

“That’s my line!” Eric’s sudden voice boomed through the barn.

Everyone turned to see a slightly less, but still puffy Eric as he stomped down the aisle. Some audible gasps were heard from the audience.

“Eric, what are you doing?” Red hissed.

“Doing my job!” Eric announced and stood next to Leo.

“What the hell happened to your face?!” Hyde asked, taken aback.

“It’s the allergic reaction we were telling you about,” Kelso said.

“Damn,” Hyde said.

“I want to do it!” Eric said.

“Eric, you’re acting like a child. Sit. Down,” Y/n said through gritted teeth.

He slumped his shoulders and stood off to the side next to Kelso.

“Where was I?” Leo asked. “Oh, yeah. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Steven Hyde and Y/n Forman in holy matrimony. I don’t know what else to say besides that. Do you have your own vows written?”

“Yes,” Y/n said and turned to Jackie who had her vows written on a piece of paper. She opened it up and took a deep breath. “Steven, when we were younger, I had told you about my dream wedding and then you turned around and made fun of me for it. Then, I told you to shut up and to thank God that I wasn’t going to be marrying you. Oh, the irony in that.” The audience chuckled at that joke as Y/n continued. “But God and the universe had something else planned. And now there’s no one else I’d rather be standing here with today, other than you. Over the years, you have given me good memories, good times, and a good friendship. You were there to comfort me when I needed you the most. And over the short time we’ve been together, the things you give me are nothing but love and comfort. You make me feel safe and I promise that until the end of time, I will always support you, I will always comfort you, I will always make you feel safe, and I will always love you. You are my rock, my heart, my soul, and my best friend. And I couldn’t be happier and more blessed and lucky to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you.”

Kitty sniffled as she tried so hard and failed to fight back tears. She pulled out her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.

Leo sniffed and looked at Y/n with watery eyes. “That was beautiful, man.”

Steven turned around to grab the piece of paper from Eric and opened it up, more terrified than he was a minute ago. “Y/n,” he began and cleared his throat. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Because…I’m not very good at expressing how I feel. But, when it comes to you…you make it easier. And…and I promise to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you. Before you, I’d never thought I could land a someone as kind, as wonderful, and as beautiful as you. But here I am, promising to spend my life with you and I can’t help but think how lucky I am. You are not only my best friend, but you became my family. And that’s all I ever really wanted.”

Y/n’s eyes began to fill with tears as she smiled lovingly at her husband. Leo went to speak, but choked. He cleared his throat once again and finally found his voice. “May we have the rings?”

Jackie gave Y/n Steven’s ring and Eric gave Steven Y/n’s wedding band.

“Shall I do this part?” Eric whispered to Leo.

Leo balled his fist and brought it to his lips, struggling to compose himself. He waved at Eric to come stand in front, stepping off for a moment.

Eric exhaled in content and stepped into Leo’s place with a proud smile.

“Y/n, do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband? To promise to honor and cherish him, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” she responded, smiling and slid the ring on his finger.

“And Hyde, do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife? To promise to honor and cherish her, for better or for your worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” he said, smiling as he slid her ring onto her finger.

“Okay, I got it from here,” Leo said, sniffing and stepping back up.

“No, man, I can do this,” Eric argued.

Leo ignored him and stood next to Eric.

“By the power vested in me—” he began.

“I now declare you husband and wife,” Eric cut in, glaring at the stoned hippy.

“You may now kiss the bride,” Leo and Eric said in unison.

Steven didn’t hesitate and grabbed Y/n’s face, bringing it closer to his, kissing her passionately. Everyone stood up, crying, clapping, and whistling as they watched Steven dip his bride to deepen the kiss.

When they pulled apart, the DJ started playing Lean On Me again. The couple beamed at the guests as they walked arm in arm towards the exit with their groomsmen and bridesmaid following after them.

Once everyone had filed out, all the guests and family stood in line outside the front of the barn waiting for the bride and groom to come out, each holding a fistful of rice. The photographer held them back behind the barn to take pictures.

Soon enough, the doors opened up and the groomsmen and bridesmaids walked out, now this time Donna on Eric’s arm and Laurie on Fez’s. The guests clapped, but soon erupted into applause and hooting and hollering once the bride and groom showed up. Rice was thrown in their direction and Y/n could’ve sworn that it was the happiest day of her life.

As they reached the El Camino that had white streamers and “Just Married” written on (much to Steven’s disapproval), Y/n grabbed him by his lapel and pulled him in for one more passionate kiss. She could see the flash of photography go off behind her eyelids and could hear more whistling coming from her friends.

They pulled apart and Hyde opened the door for Y/n to get in before waving at the crowd and hopped in the car himself.

“Ready to go, dear?” he asked her as he started the car.

“As long as I’m with you, baby,” she responded and he revved the car to life, leaving their friends and family behind—until they’d get to the Forman house.

Y/n looked at Steven as his handsome face was illuminated by the setting sun. Her whole world right there, in front of her along with her babies still growing inside of her. This was love. And this was happiness.

Tags: @jeeperky​ @05-feet-off-the-table-06​ @cooloclown​ @mdittyz123​ @n-dg-wm​ @undead-sierra​ @random-thoughts-003​ @lieswithoutfairytales​ @taysirene @ xxivy-32 @supertrappy @chloem4a1

[ganymedesclock]

Hey I got question for something in hollow knight that nobody talks about: What is up with the goddamn delicate flowers? Like seriously what kind of flowers they are?? They seem to have the ability to make characters poof since Grey Mourner fades away when her quest is finished and godseeker disappears with the shade lord if given a delicate flower like what exact power do these seemingly delicate flowers have??

I don’t think that the Grey Mourner’s disappearance is specifically tied to the flowers; I personally took it that she’s a kind of undead by the time you encounter her since she visibly sheds dust as she trembles upright to talk to you (and her silhouette in Ogrim’s memory is significantly less... wilty) and bleakly asks why she still ‘persists’, and if/when you succeed in the quest, she states that her grief might eventually end, and then amends that to say that she can potentially ‘end’. In short, very much someone who is supernaturally bound to last regrets, even if she lacks the typical ‘cues’ of a ghost.

What we know about the flowers seems to be that they react dramatically with the void in particular; White Lady has no hostility to it, but she does make an assumption that Ghost wouldn’t hold it so close if they knew what it was. She also tells us that Ze’mer brought it with her from her homeland, wherever that is, a place described as “lands serene”- so mostly of note here is a motif of serenity, of peace and rest- which are even concepts associated with the void itself, counter to the Radiance’s influence. The Traitors’ Child- the proper recipient- has the same void-drippy eyes as several other characters, and only shows up to thank you if you deliver the flower to her grave.

My personal take on the void is that the abyss is a sort of akashic record in some ways; as an ‘emptiness’ it drinks and receives heavily from other entities. It’s the final darkness that accepts everything- in a sense, a kind of afterlife, or at least the threshold to it. We don’t have anything explicit about bug heaven, but it is worth noting Radiance, who keeps people both dead and alive in a state of dreaming undeath, actively hates the void and names it her enemy. No Eyes, who seems to have blinded herself and others desperately trying to escape the plague, speaks warmly of her defeat by Ghost as a “warm stillness” falling over the ghosts she gathered to herself, and asks Ghost to “Take us there, please. A place where light can not haunt us, a place without dreams...”

In some ways, I’ve always read Ghost as a kind of reaper figure, and with the dream nail, they are actively characterized as gathering to themselves the spirits of the deceased. Their power, and their personal composition, is very much tied to the memories, and spirits, of Hallownest and wherever else they’ve been. This may be why implicitly they had some memory troubles and had to refresh themselves by coming back to the Birthplace and dream nailing their reflection- it’s very hard for them to separate from all the clamoring ghosts they carry with them.

In that sense I don’t think the Delicate Flower is a literal void-be-gone in the way that you might brandish a cross to repel a vampire; I think that rather, the Delicate Flower is exactly what we are told: specifically, a funerary token. Something symbolically and practically for laying a spirit to rest, given to you by one restless ghost to try and appease another, so that the two, as lovers, can be reunited in whatever afterlife might be waiting for them. Everyone else who accepts it gains some reprieve from their own ‘hauntings’, whether that’s Oro’s relationship with his siblings and teacher, or Elderbug who remembers his fading town and at least one specific dead friend.

I think the Shade Lord is Ghost in the sense that I don’t think there’s a separate being there, but I think in some ways the Shade Lord is not Ghost in the sense that the extra mass comes from somewhere, and in both endings where Ghost manifests the Shade Lord, they plunge into the teeming mass of all of the Siblings, and emerge out of that. When horns are really the only ‘unique facial feature’ that the vessels have, the Shade Lord has a complex tangle of horns, though Ghost’s are clearly the main/prominent ones. So basically the “body mass” of the Shade Lord is 95% the unquiet dead and Ghost themselves as the conduit / centerpiece is also acting like an unquiet dead being.

Godseeker, as a valid delicate flower recipient and someone who has literally her entire civilization crammed into her head such that it has messed her up body and mind to a staggering degree (that she seems in denial of / rejects, but the ‘tuner workshop’ memory makes it clear just how much she’s suffered to get to Hallownest) is also a highly haunted person, and when Ghost becomes Shade Lord, they basically open a thoroughfare to the void, inside her head. In that sense, they try to escape her, but no longer have a body to do so having cracked theirs open to assume this form; so Godseeker pouring void is basically because Godseeker is leaking restless ghosts.

The delicate flower, thus, doesn’t destroy that (one of its petals does turn black!) but ‘lays this to rest’ by sending it down to the abyss.

I feel like this makes the most sense, since using void magic while carrying the flower doesn’t hurt you at all, and you can actively go swim in the abyss with it in your inventory not affecting anything provided you have the void heart so it doesn’t attack you. None of this prompts the flower to vaporize Ghost- so clearly the flower is not “void-opposed” fundamentally. But it makes a lot of sense if the flower, as a funerary gift to its core, does ‘act on’ restless ghosts, so at a point Ghost no longer really has an active ‘unfinished business’ but is lashing out in a blind chaotic panic, potentially getting disoriented in the chorus of their siblings, that the flower in essence falls onto their grave and quiets them.

[lunar-wandering]

Genshin Monkie

@dietyprophet so uh- i might be sleep deprived so if this makes no sense i apologize in advance but. happy birthday, here’s a fic-

Word Count: 1k

"...MK."

"Yes, Diluc?"

"Would you mind explaining to me why there is a- a monkey sleeping on my couch?" Diluc pinched the bridge of his nose, half considering going back to his bed and falling back asleep. It couldn't be past 3 am in the morning, which, in Diluc's opinion, was a highly unreasonable time to be awoken to intruders within ones own home. MK, apparently, either didn't share this opinion, or was simply too tired to think straight.

"Oh, that's just my mentor." MK said, as though this explained literally anything. "I've told you about him before, remember?"

MK had, in fact, told Diluc that he was currently being trained by the Monkey King, but Diluc hadn't thought that the 'monkey' part of that title had been literal.

Diluc sighed.

"That doesn't answer my question." He said, "Why, is he crashing on my couch at 3 am in the morning?"

"Oh. Uh." MK nervously rubbed his arm, a habit he'd picked up from Bennett. "Y'see, we were on our way to visit Mondstadt but uh...we got attacked by a group of Treasure Hoarders....nothing we couldn't handle of course, but Monkey King did get hit on the back of the head a little hard, and he was acting a bit loopy- the Dawn Winery was the closest place nearby so-"

"Alright, okay, I get it." It was far too early for this. "Just- you're sure you're alright?"

"Not a scratch on me."

"Okay. Okay. Alright." Diluc sat down on one of the nearby chairs, still trying to process the events that were currently taking place. "Just- one question actually, how, exactly, were you planning to explain away walking around with- with a monkey god in the middle of the city?"

"Oh, Monkey King usually wears his human glamour when he's out and about." MK said, "I don't think he can keep it up when he's asleep though. Which is why I dropped in here, you're the Darknight Hero after all, so you know how to keep secrets."

"Archons." Diluc whispered under his breath. "Why am I the designated secret keeper?"

-

Diluc offered MK one of the guest rooms, making sure the other had actually gone to bed before returning downstairs and dropping a blanket over top of the Monkey King, making sure that none of his 'monkeyness' was visible.

The staff at Dawn Winery were amazing secret keepers, but there was really no need to cause any unnecessary panic.

Sighing again, he chose to return to bed, hoping to get a few more hours of sleep in.

However, with his mind still swirling over the monkey sleeping on his couch downstairs, he forgot one important thing.

He had visitors in the morning.

This fact was very quickly brought back to the forefront of his mind when he was awoken by the sound of a loud thump, quickly followed by swearing.

Not even bothering with getting dressed, Diluc leaped out of bed, running down the stairs.

The scene at the bottom was pretty much the one he'd expected.

Venti was standing off to the side of the room, looking slightly nervous. Beside him, Kaeya stood with a shocked expression that was undoubtedly similar to the one Diluc had been wearing last night.

Wukong, who had seemingly fallen off the couch, pulled himself back onto the furniture, before lounging casually, as though he wasn't at the center of what was about to be chaos.

"What the fuck is that." Kaeya pointed at Wukong, the monkey simply looking him up and down, as though analyzing him. "No, don't look at me like that, what the fuck is that??? Blink motherfucker-"

"You're from Khaenri'ah, aren't you?" Wukong said, simply.

Diluc and Venti choked on thin air, while Kaeya suddenly looked like he was 2 seconds away from a panic attack.

Wukong ignored that, turning to Venti instead.

"Barbatos."

"...Wukong."

"Nice to see you when I'm not stuck under a mountain." Wukong stood up, stretching his arms out a little, not noticing or not caring about how Venti chuckled nervously. Walking over, he did a circle around Kaeya, who still remained standing frozen, as though inspecting him. "Hm. Hey, Barbatos?"

"Yeah?"

"This tall child is mine now." Wukong said, patting Kaeya on the back, and acting like this was perfectly normal. "He's part of the monkeys now."

"Wukong just because you were attached to the people of Khaenri'ah-"

"No take backs."

"I don't recall agreeing to this." Kaeya said this in a quiet voice, clearly still confused about what was going on.

"Too bad." Wukong said, "No take backs."

"Honestly Kaeya I don't think you're going to have much of a choice here." Venti said, "Also, Wukong, if you're planning on 'adopting' Kaeya or whatever, you'll have to take Diluc too, since they're brothers-"

"Deal, done and signed." Wukong was suddenly standing by Diluc, inspecting him up and down too. "Hm. A bit too similar to a specific nephew of mine, but I guess that's fine."

"I am not- You're not adopting me." Diluc leaned away from the Monkey King, Wukong simply walking closer, seemingly not understand the concept of boundaries.

"Oh, well just because you said that, now I have to do it out of spite-" Wukong started, but was interrupted as a door slammed open upstairs, MK quickly appearing at the top of the stairs, rushing down them, practically going two steps at a time, before wrapping an arm around the Monkey King's and starting to drag him out of the house.

"Monkey King- have you seen what time it is- oh we're so late for our meet-up with Razor, Bennett and Fischl, oh I hope they're not going to be mad at us, hurry up and put your human glamour on, we don't have any time to loose-" He rambled, not even noticing the other occupants of the room as he rushed out of the winery. The three remaining people in the winery watched as the door closed, leaving them alone in the room.

"Well." Venti said, "That's certainly one way to start the morning."

[bonny-kookoo]

Smart Girl (J.JK x reader)🔞🌼☁️🎀

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Good Girl!AU, Fluff, Angst, smut (what did you expect?)

Warnings: a bit of separation anxiety and a small panic attack sprinkled into it, but y’all know me by now, Reader is kinda lost without her Koo and emotionally a MESS (TM), sad boy Jungkook, Grumpy Jungkook, a fight between the marshmallow couple yikes, Dom/sub dynamics, Dom!Jungkook, Sub!Reader, Oral (m receiving), manhandling, mild DDLG themes, reader is a bit bratty this time and koo is having none of it, slight hair pulling, I think that’s it? Jungkoo is just the best boyfriendo ever okay

Summary: Jungkook loves how dependent you are on him. You however start to feel a bit different about it when you overhear a coworker of yours, who’s coincidentally also someone he’d slept with in the past, talking about how childish and most of all how much of a burden you are. You try to show Jungkook how independent and strong you can be on your own. And fail miserably. But luckily he's always gonna be there, won't he?

Good Girl || Sweet Girl || Smart Girl || Brave Girl

You don't even know how it started. Maybe it was when you'd told Alex how Jungkook had just recently thrown your small pink plastic chair away, which you had used to reach the highest shelve in the kitchen so that you didn't have to ask him. Truth be told he'd said he didn't do it, yet his smirk afterwards told other words. He was always like this- it was as if he fed his own pride every time he helped you with even the smallest of things. Soohyeon had sighed at that, and you had simply asked what was wrong.

"What I'm saying is, Y/N sweety, maybe he just does it because you seem so lost all the time." Up until now, you and Soohyeon had gotten along quite well, considering the fact that she'd revealed to you early on when Jungkook had picked you up from your work that she and him had a bit of history- bedstories, for that matter. It did made you uncomfortable at first, but she'd reassured you that it had been a one-time-fun thing, no feelings involved. You believed her, considering that he really had been a person like that. Right now however, you began to feel a bit uneasy. "Trust me, I think he's just too soft for you to actually say it out loud." She said, and Alex scoffed.

"You're just bitter Soo, get over it or get out." She said, placing her hands on your shoulders as if to shield you from her words. You both quickly went to change after finishing your shift, however, the uneasy feeling stayed. "You okay?" Your friend asked, clearly concerned over your lack of happiness considering you had been so over the moon earlier that day when you'd explained how you were invited to a company-trip; and Jungkook had agreed to come along. You shook your head yes, but she was clearly not having it. "Look, I think she really is just bitter. Don't let it get to you, okay?" She said, and you smiled.

Back home, things didn't get better though. You were suddenly on edge, Jungkooks presence around you as you started to pack your bag for the next few days felt suffocating, and you couldn't concentrate on his voice at all, even if you wanted to. This was horrible. Were her words really getting under your skin?

"Y/N?" He asked, and you looked up. "You've been staring at that pair of pants for almost ten minutes now. Do you want me to pack them in my bag? That way you don't have to lift so much-" He said, already reaching for the piece of clothing, yet you slapped his hand away. You didn't intend for it to look as harsh as it did, yet you also couldn't apologize in time. "Whoa okay, that's new." He said confused, crouching down next to you on the floor to inspect your face turned downwards. "Whats wrong?" He asked, now actually a little concerned.

You simply folded the pair of jeans, packing them into your bag instead of his like he had suggested. "Nothing, don't worry about it." You mumbled, not noticing the way his eyes started to harden a bit at your attitude. It wasn't the fact that you went against him that bothered him, but the lack of communication going on. He hated it if you didn't talk to him, something you'd promised him to keep to a minimum.

"Okay there, stop." He said, shutting your bag to keep you from continuing, not even letting you protest. "I don't like that attitude baby, you know I hate it when you don't talk to me." He said, looking at you. Normally this would be the extend of your 'bratty-tantrum' how he playfully liked to call it- but no, it seemed like this wasn't just a random outburst, because you genuinely tried to pry his hands away from your bag. He was not having it. "Stop this bullshit-" he said, but you didn't let him finish this time.

No, this time you'd gotten up, making him stand up as well. You shrunk back a bit, but whatever had set you off, it really did it this time. "Fuck off, Stop treating me like a kid Jungkook!" You said, trying to run away from this upcoming argument by leaving the room, yet he didn't leave you alone. In that moment you didn't even think really, because if you had, you would've never reacted the way you eventually did. He waited, leaned against the counter with crossed arms, making you scoff at him. "Maybe you should just stay home Jungkook." You said, leaving him in the kitchen. You were mad. And ready to sleep in your old room- which was technically your room to begin with, yet you had slept in Jungkooks bed for as long as you were together now, so it was more like a guest room at this point.

You didn't care. You needed to be alone.

Jungkook was utterly confused. There was no simpler way to put it. Maybe he really had overlooked the way he was starting to get more and more on your nerves with his constant helping and looking after you- but how could he really overlook that? Maybe he really didn't know you as much as he thought he did. After all, you two hadn't been dating for overly long at this point, and even though he has had relationships before, this was the first time he genuinely felt completely at ease with you. Didn't you feel the same way with him? Maybe Taehyung had been right, and he secretely was pushin his own likes onto you instead of openly communicating- ironic really, considering that he was always demanding to speak up whenever something was up with you. This was a mess. So thinking you truly meant what you'd said, he silently went back into his room, unpacking his bag.

  The next morning, he tried to be as normal as possible. You didn't really fight after all, did you? Yet as soon as you walked out of your room, hair already brushed and clothing chosen carefully for the 7-hour busride, the air felt tense. He suddenly felt as if he was walking on the thinnest of glass shards, and if he wasn't careful he'd prick himself and bleed out on his kitchen floor. This was worse than any mafia-movie had ever depicted a torture scene. What the hell was he supposed to do?

In the end, none of you both really spoke at all, simply silently consuming a bit of breakfast, while you checked your phone to make sure you were on time. You'd seen your pastel pink bag next to the front door, and wanted to go off again. He really expected you to leave alone now? Mad as you were, you stood up and placed your cutlery in the sink, silently grabbing your coat. "Wait, let me-" you turned around and looked at your boyfriend, wanting to cry on the spot right there. He stood like he was genuinely scared to help you with your stuff, and you, intending to not make him even more uneasy as he was, grabbed your bag, opening the front door. You pretended to not see him standing behind you, expecting at least a hug- one which you never gave him, instead shoving your way past him, leaving him at the doorstep, dumbfounded as ever.

The trip wasn't as fun as you thought it would be. In the end, Soohyeon was visibly dissapointed to see that Jungkook didn't join in, which made Alex scoff at her in disgust. Now you felt even worse for letting her words get under your skin. Enjoying anything was a challenge you never wanted to accept, considering that he was supposed to be beside you, making weird remarks at the way your guide was struggling to speak in front of you and your coworkers. You felt bad.

Back home, Jungkook wasn't doing much better. He'd called up Taehyung to talk to him about the fight you both had, and immediately wanted to hang up on it as soon as he told him to just 'fuck it out'. This really wasn't an option with you. You both were so much more than just sex, but he highly doubted Taehyung would understand this.

Maybe he should give you control for now. He'd just let you choose the pace from now on, no sexual innuendo here. Yet he couldn't help but call you anyways after biting his lower lip until he faintly tasted metal on his tongue. He could call you to tell you goodnight, right? You'd like that.. right?

  The Night was even worse. You never liked loud places such as clubs, and Alex wasn't really much help either, since she had just dissapeared somewhere as soon as you all went out. You sat in the hotel bar, busying yourself with your phone because you didn't even drink at all. The more you thought about it, the more you really started to feel like a child. A lost one. So to try and at least get some good rest, you simply went up to your room, shutting the door, and throwing yourself onto your bed, your phone forgotten.

Fighting with Jungkook sucked. That much was kind of obvious to you if you were being honest, yet you never truly thought about why it sucked. It wasn't so much that you knew you were overreacting. It wasn't the fact that he was right, even though that did kind of hurt your ego a little bit- it was more the aftermath and your own stupid hardhead that made you react like you did.

You were a softie. In a sense of, emotionally very easily affected. Things other people simply didn't care about sometimes had a huge effect on you. When you had talked against your mothers advice for the first time at the age of 10, convincing her to buy a blue teddybear for you instead of a pink one made you feel horrible that night- so much so that you found yourself crying way after your bedtime, staring at the soft blue bear in your hands. Not only because you felt bad for doing something simply different than what was expected of you, but because you felt bad for the bear- as stupid as it sounded. Your mother later on talked to you, explaining that it was okay to do things how you wanted sometimes, yet even though you always held that stuffed toy dear to you (even to this day, its still sitting on your bed), your attitude towards things never truly changed. You still had a hard time coming up with the courage to really speak your mind and let things go your way, because you knew you couldn't deal with the aftermath. Just like now.

Jungkook had been right. Oh so right. Yet you couldn't text him, because for once it was actually way too late at night, which was kind of ironic considering the previous story about your childhood, but also because you didn't know what exactly you should say. 'Sorry for being bitter about being bitter?' this was stupid, and you just wanted to throw this stupid white hotel pillow against the stupid hotel wall in front of you. Instead you simply pulled your knees closer to yourself, battling with your own tears. Why did you always cry so much? This was so unfair. Why wasn't Jungkook here, why did he actually let you go on this trip alone, why didn't he stop you, why did you tell him to fuck off, why the fuck did you shove him- so many thoughts started to make the tears finally fall. This was ridiculous. You just wanted to go home. What if something horrible happened and the last thing you said to him were these words?

But had Soohyeon been so wrong? You really were a burden, weren't you? Remembering all those times you'd asked Jungkook to help you made you feel awful, a stark contrast to how these little memories used to remind you how much you loved him. Now they just made your stomach feel stale and empty. Or maybe it was the fact that you had forgotten to eat. Again.

A buzzing sound from under your sheets made you sniffle, grabbing your phone to see who the fuck would be calling you this late.

Jungkook.

You hesitantly picked up.

And before he could even finish his 'Hey doll', you started to sob. Why was he so unfair? And why were you so upset about it?

"Whoa Angel, what's wrong?" He cooed over the phone, and you knew he just wanted to help, but the way he talked to you just fueled your inner thoughts even more. It was like trying to put out a fire by throwing a cardboard box on it- it just made everything worse. And you could physically feel it too- the way your fingers started to tingle, then curl into fists, the way your ears began to sound fuzzy and your head started to spin. You faintly heard Jungkooks frantic voice, counting. Counting? "One.. two.. three.. and out. Thats it baby, breathe." He said softly, and you could slowly feel your fingers again, sniffling softly and rubbing your eyes- before instantly regretting it when you saw your mascare on the back of your hand, smeared like the words of your first essay in school when you'd accidentally wiped across the ink that wasn't dry yet. "Talk to me baby."

His voice was like velvet over the phone, and you wanted to cry again. You had to swallow several times, searching for your voice before you spoke. "I'm sorry." You said, and before you could continue, your own sobs thought it would be nice to choke you up again. Now you just cried out of frustration, and it pained Jungkook way deeper than he liked to admit. This was horrible for him, the way he could clearly hear your painful whimpers, he just knew you were getting a headache already- and he couldn't do anything from this far away. He could only wait for you to continue. "You- I was so mean to you and so so dumb and I didn't mean it, I promise." You said tearfully. "I love how you drive me to work sometimes, how you get me things from the upper shelves in the kitchen, how- how you help me carry the groceries, a-and how you help with- with reminding me to eat, and how you tried to help me with my car even though you had no clue what to do and-" You said, and he hushed you again, noticing how you got riled up again. "I feel so bad 'Koo, I didn't even hug you goodbye when you stood behind me and I even pushed you and I didn't answer your texts and I really wanted you to come here too cause everyone's just drinking and I hate that, and there's this weird arcade place close by and you always told me how I suck at video games so I wanted you to show off there again even though I always tell you I hate it and-" You said, and he laughed.

"Baby stop, breathe." He said, grinning so hard his cheeks started to hurt. He always told everyone how soft you were, yet no one believed him when he said it. Taehyung always said you probably held the reigns in the bedroom, yet how could you ever? He just wanted to shelter you from the entire world, your soul way too gentle and fragile to be placed in such a rough environment in his opinion. He'd started to google the fastest route to your hotel, internally sighing when he saw the 6-hour mark on the quickest way. He didn't care however. "It's alright angel. First of all, you're not dumb." He said, sending the route to his phone while getting up to grab some clothes and his bag. "You're the smartest girl I've ever met okay, and nothing will change that." Not really caring what exactly he grabbed, he made sure to get an extra sweater for you to put on, knowing how you didn't pack any of his in your anger. "Second of all, why were you even mad in the first place baby? I really don't get it. If you want me to take care of you the way I did, why did it set you off yesterday?" He asked, genuinely confused.

You bit your lip, curled up on the way too large double bed which had been booked since Jungkook was technically supposed to be here. "Soohyeon said-" you began, but he groaned loudly at that, making you pout.

"Soohyeon? I really should've known. That woman really can't take rejection can she?" He said, his mood rotting the more he thought about her. "I don't think I wanna know what she said. Look baby, whatever she said, it's bullcrap okay?" Zipping up his bag quietly to not raise suspicion on your side, he sat back down on the corner of the bed. "I love you, alright princess? I'd tattoo that onto my forehead if I could keep my job after that." He said, and you giggled at that, making him visibly deflate. Thank god. "I love that sound too. Now go wash your face and drink some water so that your headache won't be so bad in the morning, alright?" He said, and you nodded, before internally cringing and answering him verbally. "Good. Now sleep baby, we'll talk tomorrow, alright? Love you." He said. And you immediately said it back, rushing into the bathroom after ending the call.

The next day started with a message on your phone, reminding you to drink lots of water to conquer your headache, and you smiled this time. When you met up with Alex for breakfast in the Hotel Lobby, she had greeted you with a hug, yet she also asked what was wrong, and why you'd left so suddenly last night. You explained to her what happened, leaving a few smaller details out that would be embarrassing down the line, like your slight panic attack over the phone simply because you remembered how you didn't hug him goodbye. That was your secret to keep.

She'd helped you with carrying your plate, when suddenly someone took it from her with a thanks, and your eyes widened when a hand was placed on the small of your back, the warmth of it slowly seeping through your shirt. You should be terrified but at least a bit uneasy, yet it was the smell that suddenly hung in the air that made your eyes almost water. Not because it was too present like your mom's perfume every time you went out to dinner as a family, but because you knew this- because Jungkook hated strong smells, and always washed his clothes with a specific fabric softener. But- how?

"Surprise?" He said, looking over your shoulder with his sugary sweet bunny smile, and you hugged him, careful of the plate he held in his hand. He simply laughed, already feeling way better than back home. Because even if he didn't outright say it, even just a day apart, especially when you both have had an argument before, had been hell for him. He was concerned for you whenever he couldn't be close to you, not because he thought you weren't capable, but because he thought why should you deal with things he could deal with way easier? When it came down to it, he was sure that you could stand up for yourself- you weren't a child before, as much as you may thought you were in his eyes. It was tricky, to say the least.

Soohyeon's eyes widened at the view of Jungkook walking into the hotel restaurant for breakfast, yours and his plate in his hands while looking for a table you could both sit at. It wasn't so much so that she was jealous, not really, because the dynamic you both had was nothing she wanted in a relationship- yet she couldn't help but feel a bit upset over the fact that he had gotten into a relationship with you. Technically, you were absolutely not his type, but what did she know?

Jungkook chuckled as he sat down with you next to a window, knowing even though you didn't outright say it that you liked this particular seat. He could spot Soohyeon in the corner of his eye, and wanted to laugh a bit, yet decided not to, simply as to not embarass you. You smiled, happy that he was there, and that was all that counted. "So, about that arcade place-" He started, and you groaned a bit, making him laugh. "Hey, come on, let me tease you a bit baby. You were the one leaving me cold like that, remember?" He said, and regretted it as soon as those words left him when he saw you visibly deflate. "Hey- sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Let's not talk about that right now, okay?" He said, and you nodded, shoving another piece of toast between your teeth.

Suddenly that trip didn't feel so boring after all. Having Jungkook at your side made almost everything way better- and funnier. You felt more freedom now, knowing that you had someone at your side who would have your back if you did something bold. It was like Jungkook's presence gave you a sudden boost in confidence, Alex smiling every time you made a sassy comment, being a stark contrast to how you'd acted before. But that was just the effect he had on you.

You both later on ditched the rest of the group and decided to go back to the hotel room- simply because you insisted, even though Jungkook himself told you over and over again that he wasn't tired, sometimes even being interrupted by a yawn as if his body was trying to tell you how big of a lie his words were. You didn't mind at all that he needed a bit of rest, you loved sleep after all, and it was even better when you could sleep in the arms of a loved one like him. He immediately fell onto the bed, sighing in relief and you laughed at that, putting down your handbag before going into the bathroom to take off your makeup. It was still mid-day, but you honestly didn't feel like wearing anything anymore, rather happily grabbing your makeup-wipes and cleaning your face. Jungkook came into the bathroom, smiling as he took in your now clean face. "I love it when you don't wear makeup." He said, wrapping his hands around your middle and placing a kiss on your cheek. Ever since your little 'moment' a week ago, he'd been way more generous with his kisses around you. It seemed like he'd officially broken down an internal wall, like he learned something new and had to experience it over and over to really get the hang of it. And you loved it.

Back on the bed, you had your phone in hand, randomly checking your twitter feed for anything interesting, when Jungkook finally emerged from the bathroom, having insisted on taking a very long hot shower because 'look, I payed for this shit so I'm gonna use it'. You'd laughed at that and the fact that he insisted on having you shower with him, yet eventually giving up after you'd explained to him that that's dangerous, that you could slip and hurt yourself because you just knew he wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself- that thought alone made him shut up, if a bit pouty. He had a towel wrapped around his lower parts, but the view of his bare upper body wasn't something unusual. He had a habit of normally sleeping without a shirt, and generally walking around the apartment without one on a day off for that matter. You didn't really knew why exactly he did that, but hey, you weren't complaining at all. He suddenly laid down on top of you in a teasing way, his arms resting next to your elbows keeping your upper body up since you were laying on your stomach. Of course he didn't let himself fall down, knowing he would probably crush you under his weight, but he also knew that you loved being this close to him, even if you sometimes made pouty remarks on how he was bullying you for being small. "what'cha doing?" He said, placing his chin on top of your head, trying to catch a glimpse of your phonescreen while you scrolled down. He became increasingly more touchy, suddenly running his fingers over your arms, moving his head to rest on your shoulder, before he eventually started to softly kiss the side of your neck. You had to admit it was hard resisting, but you liked to test his patience once in a while. "Yah, pay attention to me.." He whined, playfully biting the skin just above your collarbone, making you squeak, and him laugh darkly. Today, it seemed like he wasn't really up for playing. Because once he saw that you still refused to give into his advances, he eventually placed his way larger hand over yours, pressing the lock button on your phone before taking it from you.

"Hey!" You said, turning around and sitting criss-crossed while watching him place your phone on the bedside table, even making sure to connect the charger before turning around to face you again. His hair was still damp, his skin soft and still a little red on some parts where the water had heated him up. Even though his eyes held something mischievous and impish in them, you noticed just how young and fierce he looked; it made you remember just how much of an untamed person he really was. While you were someone attached to him like a newly grown limp, he was free to go wherever he wanted. Maybe he was just as uncaring then? Would he really slow down himself in order to make you catch up to him? Maybe he would. He'd shown you again and again just how gentle he actually could be, yet he also never backed down from a challenge with anyone. You really weren't as competitive as him, yet his nature had started to really colour your soul as well, making you bolder whenever he was around. Turning back time to the beginning of your relationship, you would've never seen you being so open with him like you were now. "You aren't even wearing clothes, gimme my phone back 'koo-" You started, but he'd seen through you already.

He smiled and crawled up to you, his towel getting caught under his knee during his movements making it eventually just lay on the matress underneath his legs as he towered over you, this time your body laying on its back underneath him and his gaze. You blushed chrimson, trying hard not to look down at all, and it made him laugh. "Oh baby, I don't plan on sleeping right now." He said, hands grabbing your wrists and putting them over your head. "And I don't need clothes either for what I'm about to do." He whispered, turning his head to the side and watching your face for a minute before chuckling. "Seriously doll? You've seen it all more than once by now, how are you still shy?" Moving his hands to run over your form, he stopped for a second, face serious. "Do you want to? We don't have to right now." He said, and you shook your head at that. You'd missed him. You wanted him too.

Moving to throw your shirt over your head, he instantly leaned in for a kiss, the newfound sensation now one of his favorite feelings with you. Back then kissing had been somewhat of a taboo for him; not because he didn't like it, but because he'd always been a hopeless romantic deep down, promising himself that he would keep a signature offering just as kissing for his actual lover, not just anyone he'd screw. It was such a meaningful gesture to him that he could not bring himself to kiss anyone other than you- but he'd never tell you that. That was embarassing. Your soft mewls eventually brought his thoughts back to you, moving his hands and lips away from where they had been to new destinations. Your lavender colored shorts had to go as well as your white lacy bra- and he smiled at the fact that this time was a rare occurance where you didn't match up your underwear. He thought about teasing you about it, but eventually decided against it, feeling way too needy for your taste and touch at this point. Suddenly however, you spoke up.

"Ngh, wait-" You said, and he immediately stopped what he was doing, eyes searching yours for any explanation. A blush covered your face and heaving chest, a view he would describe as heavenly if it wasn't for the slight concern that made its way through his brain. I wanna, uhm.." You started, but went into panic mode. How where you supposed to ask him that? You'd been so bold before with pleasuring him with your hands, yet you wanted to go even further- however, you never even saw so much as porn of it before, clicking away as soon as you thought you could watch it. Maybe it was really childish, but this was something you wanted to try, your curiousness getting the best of you at this point, but you also didn't know how to express that properly. Maybe he didn't even like those things, maybe he would be against it, and then the moment would be ruined and the night would become awkward as hell. His hand was placed on your chin, his thumb gently pulling your lower lip out from your teeth to stop your biting. This was your Jungkookie for god's sake, he would never laugh at you for this! (He actually would, just a little bit, but that was besides the point.) "I uhm.." you started again, before closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. "I wanna go down on you too." You rushed, and waited for his response. Which did take a bit.

His eyes were wide open, and for a moment he looked just like the phrase always said, 'like a deer caught in the headlights'. You wanted to... what? It wasn't like he was against it or complaining, hell fucking no, but when did you even get that idea? It was always a little confusing to him how you could be so angelic, yet so mature at the same time. Suddenly his mind started to go nuts, visions of you on your knees in front of him, eyes so innocent staring up at him while he had his length placed inside your mouth- good lord. "Are you.. sure? You don't have to, you know-" He started but you cut him off.

"I'm sure, I just-" You said, playing with your fingers out of habit. "You would need to, you know, tell me how.." Jungkook almost growled at that. Of course that was your first time; and the fact that you trusted him so much as to ask him for this made his pride swell up- well, not only that, but right now he had other priorities. He gently traced your cheek, before moving to get a pillow from the bed, placing it on the floor at the corner.

"Alright baby." He said, and you nervously went down to kneel on the pillow, thankful that he didn't make you place your knees on the hardwood floor. But then again, he'd never do anything to hurt you whatsoever, so it wasn't too surprising. Somehow, even though you'd seen it countless of times you still avoided eye contact with his hard on, making him smile a bit. Your nervousness was quite endearing to him if he was honest, yet he would never voice that out loud. Instead, he slowly took your hands, placing them just underneath his navel, before he ran a hand through your hair, brushing it out of your field of vision for you. "Take your time pretty girl, just do what you think feels right." He said, voice low but steady. "I'll lead you on the way. Just relax." He spoke, hands never stopping his gentle reassurance. Even though you felt like you would never be ready, you slowly started to move your hands. At first you placed them on the inside of his thighs, getting a feel of it, before moving them to his hipbones and leaving them there. You slowly breathed to calm your own nerves before you placed a kiss on the side of him, making him breath out a bit heavier. Easing into it, you eventually took the tip inside your mouth, bitter and salty tastes combining in your mouth from the taste of his skin and slight precum. It wasn't unpleasant though, so you didn't shy away.

As soon as you started to suck just a little, his head fell back. His breathing was a bit shaky you noticed, and when you took a little more of him in, you noticed how the muscles of his stomach tightened. "Just like that-" He breathed out, getting interrupted when you swallowed around him a little as to not drool all over the place. You moved backwards to let him pop out before taking him in again, soft lips leaving a heavenly feeling behind. He looked at you with admiration, and if his mind had been trying to display an image of what you maybe looked like in this situation, nothing could've prepared him for the view he actually got. Second after second you got more comfortable in what you were doing, but it was when your eyes innocently looked up at him while your head turned a little to the side, hair bruhing his thigh, that he broke. A grunt was leaving his lips as you reached for his hand, intertwining your fingers in his. The way how you made something so filthy feel so romantic made him a little jealous- you always did things like this so effortlessly, while he struggled with writing a fucking birthday card the right way without making it sound over the top or cheesy. "God- yes-" He choked out, before you placed your free hand around the rest of him that wouldn't fit into your mouth, moaning a bit yourself around him. "I don't even have to- fuck- teach you anything-" he said, chuckling a bit under his breath, chest heaving and dusted in a mild watermelon shade, sweat starting to glisten on his skin. "you're such a smart girl, ah- you're my good girl, so so good, fuck-" He said, thighs suddenly trembling. His hand found its way into your hair, his grip tightening a bit without being too rough. "Baby I'm gonna cum, princess, stop I'm- ah-!“ He said, but you almost cockily didn't stop, instead swallowing again around him, before you could feel his cum heavy on your tongue as he actually whimpered out a moan. Your nose scrunched up a bit at the taste yet you swallowed it down, and he fell backwards, taking a deep breath. You moved to stand up, legs a bit sore from your position, laying down on your stomach next to him, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. "You really are something else dollface." He said, his hand placing itself behind your ear before he pulled you closer, kissing you deeply. He didn't mind the slighty weird taste of his own release on your tongue one bit.

The way you could rile him up in a matter of seconds was witchcraft, he was sure of it, yet he didn't mind being cursed if it was you putting a spell on him. It didn't matter as long as he could be like this with you forever at this point. Was this what love actually was? His kisses were deep, rushed, as if he was running out of time again, but that was who he was. Jungkook was an impatient man, only slowly learning to take a break or stop and stare for a second. He'd been a selfish and hurried being before he'd eventually met you, nowadays starting to make time for things instead of squeezing his happiness in between seemingly important tasks during his day. Moments like these however made him fall back into his old steps, yet you didn't mind at all. This was just who he was, and you loved him either way. His hand travelled lower, eventually finding your folds, slipping between them with ease, your juices making every motion glide softly as ever. Putting pressure on your pulsing nub you mewled into his mouth, back arching off the matress and chest pushing against his, your hands grabbing the sheets in small fists before loosening up, just to grab them again. You gasped when he eventually let your lips go, instead playfully biting and sucking on the skin of your shoulder down to your collarbone, making sure to leave his marks on his way. His fingers eventually slipped inside you, curling up to have you moving to a beat only you both could feel. He took them out of you after a bit of making sure you were ready for him, impatiently pumping his length to get himself ready as well, before he grabbed his travelbag, opening it hurriedly and grabbing a familiar foil package. Ripping it open with slightly shaking hands, he rolled it over his sensitive tip, making sure it was properly placed before he joined you again on the now dishelved hotel bed. The first push made you both groan out, before you had moved your legs, heels placing themselves just above his behind, trying to keep him close to you. He sighed, swallowing between breaths, sweat now making his skin glow as the sun slowly peaked out beneath the clouds again, shining through the window, blinds drawing patterns of glowing stripes on your skin wherever it could reach you two. He whished he could take a picture right now, the entire scenery so sappy and aesthetic to him that he couldn't help but plead that he would never forget this view. He groaned when you started to clench around him. "Ugh, you're so good to me princess.." He pressed out between grunts. His pace picked up again, the sound of skin against skin ever so present in the room. "Such a good- good girl for me, yeah?" He said, and smiled when you nodded at him, hands grabbing at his biceps, holding onto him for dear life. Your orgasm came sudden, so sudden that it made you yelp a bit, an in your ears way too loud moan escaping- while it sounded like music to Jungkook himself as he released inside the condom inside you, body shaking as he slowly pulled out making you whine at him cutely.

You both laid beside each other, Jungkook putting the sheets over your body, knowing how easily you got cold afterwards. He curled up behind you after getting rid of his condom, pulling you as close to him as possible, sun slowly glowing warmer and warmer, before you both fell asleep.

"hey." Something touched the tip of your nose. You scrunched it up, groaning before pulling the sheets higher to cover your face. "No no, baby." The voice of your boyfriend was evident, sleep lacing it a little but he seemed to be awake. "If you sleep any longer you'll get a headache princess." He said, and you turned around again to face him, hating how he was right. "There you are. Good morning." He said, smile ever so present on his features. You remembered briefly getting up late at night and showering after Jungkook helped you with it, before falling asleep again. Now it was almost 11 in the morning, and you were surprised how long you'd slept. "We missed breakfast, but I wanted to take you out for some fast food anyways." He said, sitting up and making you smile impishly.

"Chicken Nuggets for breakfast?" You asked a bit timidly, and he chuckled.

"Only because you gave me head yesterday." He bluntly said, and you hid yourself again.

He really was the worst boyfriend ever. And the best.

"I still can't believe how that was your first time doing that."

"Please stop talking about it-"

"Oh I will. If I can get another one tonight?"

"Shut up 'Koo."

"Oh you love me!"

Yes. Yes you did.

Thank you so much for reading, and again, don't hesitate to send in asks for 'koo or the MC to answer! Much love, Bonny <3

[alsikamiwrites]

I was wondering how Muriel would react to a traumatized war veteran who had his brother exicuted by his commanding officer

(He/they)

Muriel reacting to a traumatized war veteran M/c whos brother was executed

Story style: Head-canons Requested by: anon Note: I wasn't sure if you wanted your ask to be a head-canon or a scenario, but I thought it'd be easier to write as a head-canon, so I went with that. I was also unsure of how you wanted the relationship to be, so I went platonic. I hope this is okay, though of course, if you would like something different, let me know! Thank you for sending me an ask💛 Slight Spoiler warning! Tw: Mentions of trauma, murder, panic attacks, and Ptsd

Muriel isn't a stranger to trauma himself.

He knows of the way it haunts you. Keeps you up at night. He knows of the phantom sensations that trick your mind into reliving things that were long in the past. The flashbacks that replay in your minds eye, like a silent movie you can't turn away from. He knows how much it hurts, and how much it will always hurt, everyday. That it never really truly goes away.

That's why he knew the man was going through more than he let on, the more he got to know him.

He was quiet, kept to himself a lot of the time, much like himself.

He wasn't all that interested at first, given the fact that he was trying to avoid others as much as he could.

But after getting to know the man who had come to be one of his dearest friends, he finds himself caring.

Concerned about the far away look his friend had in his eyes, the one that sometimes left him sitting in the same spot for hours on end.

The flinching at sounds that were a bit louder than anticipated, away from unexpected touches, (accidental, of course. He wasn't a touchy person much in the first place.) things that moved too quickly in his already wary sight.

The unprompted attacks of panic that had him screaming his lungs out, chest rising and falling sporadically as if the room were swallowing him whole, punching and writhing out of Muriels' confused and frantic hold as he tried his best to calm him down.

Muriel hated confrontation.

Hated having to ask something of someone when he knew he would hate the same thing asked of himself. Knew he'd never open up.

But he recognized what he was going through.

Could see it so clearly it hurt.

He could see himself.

So he couldn't just...Stand by and watch his friend fall apart right in front of his eyes.

He's not the best at comforting others, not having much experience, but he would try. So one day, after a lot of contemplating, he'd sit him down, deciding to ask him about what was going on

Honestly, he really didn't expect him to talk about it, but he'd definitely listen if he needed someone to lend an ear.

If he'd rather not talk, Muriel would be more than okay with that.

Would suggest going somewhere to get his mind off of it for a little while instead, even though he knows how hard that can be.

Maybe they'd go for a walk in the forest, or he'd go with them into the city, (even though the large man didn't care for it much there, with it being so lively.)

Pretty much anything to distract him from the inevitable and overwhelming grief he knew his friend was going through.

Inanna would even allow him to pet her, sensing his distress, knowing she could trust him given Muriels' friendship.

But if he does end up telling Muriel what happened, he'd let him talk about it without any interruption, his face almost holding no reaction.

Though as soon as trembling hushed words of the horrifying reliving goes into the air, his skin is as white as a sheet, hands shaking atop his knees and tear burned eyes holding sheer remorse as he watches them break down.

It hits almost too close for him, with his past. How he'd...What he was forced to do in the colosseum.

How he had to watch the life of numerous victims eyes drain at his hands, over and over again.

While he knows his situation is much different, his mind can't help but to make the connection.

The constricting ropes of guilt wrapping around him without relent as he watches him try and hold back sobs, try to keep his voice steady, visibly at the brink of another panic as his eyes stare off like they often did.

Somewhere far from where they were sitting at the moment.

Somewhere Muriel knew he couldn't reach. Did they...Did those people go through this hurt too? Did they fall apart with sobs wracking their bodies at the thought of their loved ones dying at cruel hands- his hands.

Did they flinch, and scream, and relive the same nightmare over and over-

He'd force himself to snap out of his own down-ward spiral, blinking away the remaining tears in his eyes with a shaky breath, arm going to wipe away any that strayed quickly.

He didn't deserve to cry.

He, his friend who had helped him when Muriel was in a state not much different than his own, who had understood his traumas, understood him- he needed him right now.

He knows of how much his friend had cared for his brother, having heard so many stories of the man, seen the smile that didn't show very often lift his lips.

Knew he'd held so much pride for his sibling.

Even though Muriel hadn't met him himself, with how much his friend,( who didn't speak so much otherwise)- had spoken so highly of him, he found himself having respect for the man himself.

He's not much help in the regards of wording, but he hopes that his presence is enough.

He's not sure if a pat to the back as comfort would do any good, not knowing how he felt about touch at the moment considering what he had gone through in the past,

But he would definitely sit a safe distance beside him, and ask if he needed anything from him.

Muriel would allow him to vent and let it out for as long as he needed, to grieve.

To lose a brother, family, in that way no less- was nothing short of horrible.

He resented the man who had done it, wanting nothing more than to do something about it. The urge to hurt someone, an urge that usually made him sick to the stomach- to hurt that man, the person who left his friend in this state.

But he knew he couldn't.

The devastating event, while somewhat recent, had happened a little while ago by the sounds of it.

Though, even if he couldn't do anything quite substantial, Muriel could at least be there for him.

Calm him down when he had another trigger induced panic,

Distract him when he noticed he wasn't quite there like he should be,

Do whatever he knew would make the man temporarily happy,

Just...Be the person he wished would've been there for him.

It would be a long ride, these kinds of things; trauma, never just up and left.

But it would subside, little by little. Be a little less painful everyday.

And Muriel knew some days would be harder for him than others, progress seeming to disappear within the blink of an eye at the smallest of remembrances.

But Muriel also knew he would be okay.

He would be there for his friend, for as long as it took. Every step of the way.

[constantlyunlightening]

Work, work, work

Day 15: Cockwarming

Warnings/Other Kinks: Anxiety/Depression implications and mentions (Doppo is just like thattt), Doppo kinda snaps at the end, office sex/sex at work, dubcon (there's not explicit consent in this so I'm going to put it just in case but the reader and doppo are in a relationship and I meant for this situation to be consensual, but Doppo's anxiety in this situation made it seem kind of sus)

I have nothing but Hypmic on the brain. I love feral screaming Doppo. Would highly recommend listening to him belly scream here. :D I really do want the best for this boy tho. I love him so muchhhh.

Disclaimer: 18+ years and older to read. All characters in this work are 20 years or older. This is a fictional depiction of a relationship and is not meant to be mimicked in real life. I do not condone cockwaming your partner in their place of work irl.

It was always work, work, work with him. Well, work and rapping but Doppo hardly ever talked about his Matenro. It was always about his balding asshole of a boss, his terrible coworkers and work, work, work.

You knew he was a workaholic. You knew that when you fell in love with the guy. But geez. Time for him to learn that self care was a priority.

You had stormed to his office after having spent two hours - past the time he was supposed to get off - waiting for him at home. This overtime was bullshit. The man worked himself to the bone. And he didn't know how to say no. You worried about him! It was the reason why you marched right over to the cubicle. The place was deserted, all except for poor Doppo, sitting at his desk pinching the bridge of his nose and surrounded by paperwork.

"What the hell is all this?" You asked as you came up behind him and you almost felt bad watching as the man let out a shout, jumping out of his seat and scrambling like a frightened rabbit. A few of the papers he had on his desk got caught up in his whirlwind and dusted around the room - a fact you assumed Doppo would be disgruntled about later, but he looked far too nervous right now as he took labored breaths and let wide eyes take in your form.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

".... You're being worked too hard if the sound of your girlfriend's voice is enough to panic you," you quipped back, ignoring his question for now as you bent over to try to help organize some of the scattered documents that had fallen to the floor. Let him have the time to bring his breathing back to normal. You were mainly pissed at his job for overworking him - not so much him. Didn't need to go give him a heart attack. "You're here late again. I was checking in on you." A pile of paperwork stacked against your chest, you moved over closer to him to set it down on the desk and took your time eyeing the assortment of work he had lying around. This couldn't all be his. Some of them must be pawning off their work, and Doppo just so happened to be the biggest doormat around. A sigh heaved from your lips, and you didn't miss the way Doppo shuddered. How could you? The man tensed up like he was being shot by lightening. "Looks like it was a good thing I did too. This work would have kept you here all night if someone didn't come to stop you."

"I'm sorry!" You weren't surprised but the volume of his apology made you jump and as he started to spew off more and more apologies, you quickly grabbed him by the tie and yanked him in, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. You weren't trying to invalidate his feelings by cutting him off, but there was no reason for him to be panicking like he was. And luckily, kisses from you always seemed to soothe him - at least as soothed as someone like Doppo could be.

"Baby," you purred gently, pulling your lips from his and watching the way his cheeks lit up with a dusting of pink. Always so stressed, this one. But the face he made after you kissed him made your heart flutter. Dumbfounded but he still managed to swoon in subtle ways - those aquamarine eyes zoomed in on you like you were treasure. The simple strokes you gave to his hair made him melt - the tension zapped out of his shoulders and he almost started to slump into you. "You don't have to say sorry. But it's time to go home now. No more work."

That cute daze in his expression only lasted a moment more before it was like all that anxious energy plowed right back into him. The word 'work' was enough to flip a switch with him. "That's not right! I have a whole ton of it!" His arm extended outward, waving at the stacks piled high. "I'm sorry but I have more work to do. I'll finish as soon as I can but - I gotta do this or my crazy boss will pile even more work on me! Or I'll lose my job or worse I-ll-"

"Doppo!" You cut him off and tried to calm him down. It worked to some extent but only enough to keep him from screaming or spiraling into one of his crazes. You didn't convince him to stop working though and eventually you had to settle for watching him drown himself in the work in front of him, trying to suppress your groans.

You loved the man. But really?

Playing the waiting game wasn't something you were interested in though. Which is why, after a bit of working, you somehow managed to not only weasel your way into his lap but you also got his cock out of his pants, stroking it just enough to get him riled up as you watched him try not to panic.

"You can't just do that-"

"I just did. Don't worry. The cameras can't see in here. It's fine," you coaxed, letting him stay nervous anyway as you pushed your panties to the side from underneath your skirt causing him to visibly gulp. But he wasn't pushing you off.

"I have to work," he declared, whispers on the verge of being shouts fell from his lips but cut off into a whimper as the head of his dick was suddenly being warmed up by the heat of your body as you slowly sank down onto him - taking him in inch by inch. 

It wasn't until you were fully seated to the hilt, listening to his breath hitch that you gave a tiny huff. "Then work." And your body stilled. No movement other than the flutter and clench of your walls against your hung lover, letting your eyes watch his flustered face. He clearly didn't know what to say and you watched as his gaze flickered around like a chicken with its head cut off - to your face, to his paperwork, to where your bodies were joined and then anywhere but you. Good. Get him riled up. He was panicking but you could feel him twitch inside of you, like he was anticipating for you to move - waiting for it. But you kept your hips locked in place as you leaned in and rested your head on his shoulder. "Work, Doppo. Just giving you some motivation for when you finally get done." Your voice was much to kindly for someone who just pulled somebody's dick out in the middle of a public office. But it managed to keep him from tipping over his brink just yet. Poor thing always got so worked up. Your physical actions may not be helping that necessarily, but your voice always seemed to soothe him over, even if it was only a little at a time. 

"H-how?" You listened to him practically squeak, shifting under you and instantly giving a whine at the slight push against your walls. How was he supposed to work when you were on him like this? How was he supposed to concentrate when you were constricting around him? When you were filling him with molten lava from the bottom up?

With feather light kisses, you trailed a line across his neck, trying to remain still on the cock that was stretching out your insides - forcing the urge to bounce on him like a pogo stick until you both lost even the capability to think of work. You would behave somewhat for now though. Doppo could get his work done. You could get some form of closeness in the meantime. Besides, maybe a good vise grip on him could speed up the process? Or make him say 'fuck it' altogether - hopefully, literally fuck it. "Just work, Doppo. Since it's so important. Ill wait," you cooed, almost as if you were being thoughtful. Too sweet for him to argue and you listened to him give a defeated groan of a sound before he tried to level out his breath and refocus. 

Oh, but that was easier said than done. Doppo had restarted on the paperwork, working around you as your warm body nuzzled into his chest. He usually felt like he was suffocating at work but right now, it felt like your body was trying to strangle the life out of him from somewhere other than the neck. How were you so tight? How come velvety walls were squeezing down on him over and over again without either of you even moving? You were starting to leak out around him, a sticky mess starting to spill out onto his lap slowly - torturous. Maybe you were actually trying to be sweet. Maybe you were actively trying to mess with him. But either way, it was kicking up a bad habit within him. He would reach for another stack, shifting in the chair and causing the tiniest of mewling to escape from your lips. It was a blissful sigh here, a hitched breath there, a tiny hum into his chest and it was going to break him. He was supposed to be focusing but at this rate, he was going to start making mistakes on his work.

You were causing him to silently work himself up. Each climb of his emotions resulted in a string of jitters, and in return had your body clenching even tighter on him. How could you even feel like that? He choked, tugging at his tie to try and gasp for air. You were messing with him. You had to be. You must be mad he wouldn't leave. This was his retribution. To be strangled by your wet cunt over and over without reprieve- without any motion for relief. Well, fuck that. He may love you. But he worked far to hard day in and day out. Pent up didn't even begin to describe it. If you were going to try to rile him up like that, then he would give you riled up because he couldn't take it. Not a second longer. Not with that familiar primal darkness beginning to flare inside him.

His body rocked and you instinctively lifted your head from his chest to peer up at him, the first actual movement he had made since you had sat on him. "Are you okay?"

"O-okay?" He was stuttering his words but unlike his panic from before, this time he sounded angry. It wasn't a tone he took entirely too often. But you knew Doppo. You knew if his buttons were pressed enough, he would snap. He was tea kettle, getting hotter- "how do you except me to be okay-" and hotter "- when your purposely trying to make me-" until he screamed "-loose my fucking mind!?"

You only had enough time to widen your eyes before he flew out of his chair, taking you with him and slamming you onto his desk. The noise he made was positively feral - teetering between a growl and a scream - and without a warning, he was wrecking you, bludgeoning into you with a speed you hadn't even been aware he was capable of. 

"D-D-Doppo!" You were trying to talk but the sudden thrusting was knocking out your capabilities to think. You had been stretched out and horny for a while now but at this pace you couldn't keep up. You were trying to grip at his shoulders for some type of stability. "H-hang on a sec-"

"Hang on?!" He sounded unhinged - a growl ringing in the back of his throat so different from his usual meek - if not panicked - composure. "I've been hanging on! I've been hanging on this whole time! You just had to be on me huh? When I'm at work!" Papers were tossing up into the air around you and you could hear the clatter of the cubicle as he knocked you into the desk over and over. Oh, you couldn't even keep your eyes opening with the way your senses seemed to overload. "All this work - all these damn excuses to pile it onto me - and then you still come in here and give me more work. Too needy? Need my to pound you senseless before I can finish my work? Then that's what I'll do. I'll take you over and over and over again until you're out for days!" He declared, his hands clamping down on your hips and you could already feel the bruises even as the head of his cock shifted up enough to find your sweet spot, leaving you wailing out. "Again and again and again!" He got louder and louder with his sounds, growls and grunts turning into wanton groans and gasps as he split you in two. 

This would teach you not to mess with him at work. Or maybe it would teach you to mess with him more.

[yandearest]

May The Odds Be Ever in Your Favor (Hoseok x Reader Hunger Games AU) Chapter 6: What Happens When You Care

Summary - Living in District 4 you never thought you would have to worry about being selected for the Hunger Games. With a training centre right near the dock of the houseboat you lived and fished from, your district was known for volunteers who trained their whole lives for a shot at glory and riches. But at age 18, your name is called and no girls volunteer to take your place. Your devastation is answered when Kim Namjoon volunteers for the males shortly after. Tall, muscular, highly intelligent and charming, the years of diligent preparation have bestowed Namjoon with the expectation of being the next District 4 champion after Finnick Odair last won 3 years ago.

Fishing for a living has granted you skills with a knife but, as your mentor Finnick is quick to describe, your beautiful face may well be your best asset.

Upon arrival in the Capitol you are quickly faced with the reality that Namjoon may not even be the biggest danger inside the Arena. Especially when you capture the obsessive attention of District 2′s own volunteer, and killing machine, Jung Hoseok. Hope soon fades from ‘survival’ to ‘the mercy of a painless death’ but Hoseok certainly has other plans.

Pairing - Hoseok x (fem)Reader

Genre - thriller, angst, yandere

Word Count 4.1K

Warning: This chapter is quite heavy with 3 deaths described in detail. There is also a (foiled) attempt at sexual assault.

PLEASE AVOID READING IF YOU CONSIDER THIS CONTENT UPSETTING

The following is a dark fic featuring a yandere character, violence, obsession, and coercion. By no means does writing about this in a fictional setting condone any of those behaviours, much like Stephen King writing horror doesn’t mean he approves of psychotic killers in reality. Please avoid reading if any of these warnings makes you uncomfortable.

Previous Chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Cross posted on A03 so people can subscribe for updates/notifications

Hoseok had been on edge ever since the careers had collectively agreed to move to the top of the waterfall. He had kept his eyes peeled on the journey upwards, hoping to catch a glimpse of you amongst the trees, but to no avail. When they had eventually reached the top, the group had quickly set up a camp along a part of land near the edge, using the tent, fire supplies, pot, rice, and multiple weapons they had carried with them. The tent was rather small, most likely designed to fit two people, but with the dropping temperature three was a comfortable fit.

After a dinner of boiled rice, the group of five agreed to take turns of three sleeping in the tent and two keeping watch outside. Hoseok took the first guard shift, far too anxious to sleep, with Yoongi taking the other. Hoseok didn’t mind Yoongi, he didn’t annoy him by talking and mostly just sat by the fire.

The top of the waterfall was cold, but Hoseok felt himself becoming increasingly concerned watching the fog crawling across the trees, as he paced around the edge of the cliff. It looked like a blanket was covering the entire arena, as far as he could see, with the top of the trees just barely being visible from where he was. He knew it was pointless, there was no way he would be able to see you tonight, and from the projected faces displayed earlier he knew you were still alive. But he couldn’t help but feel worried sick.

His unease only grew at the sound of the first canon in the night, causing him to stop in his tracks.

“She’ll be fine,” Yoongi’s gruff voice sounded from his place by the fire.

Hoseok grunted in return. He could easily snap, asking how Yoongi would like it if it were Krystal out there instead, but that wouldn’t do anything to help.

He was concerned to the point it was like his stomach was in knots, but at the same time he felt like he just knew that canon wasn’t for you.

The rest of the night passed slowly. Hoseok declined to swap during the first rotation of the guards/sleepers, still feeling too high strung. But by the time the next swap was scheduled he knew he had to sleep in order to be alert and have the best chance of finding you the next day.

There were lingering doubts in his mind about whether his alliance could betray him and kill him in his sleep, but that was a fear everyone had to face when working with others in the game. Yoongi was asleep on the other side of the tent and Athena was next to him, he doubted either of them would try to make a move first. So, with his thoughts entirely on you, he eventually fell asleep.

 ***

 To say that you didn’t sleep well throughout the night would be an understatement. Rather than “sleep” you would describe it as momentary pauses where you passed out from sheer exhaustion. You had spent the last eight (or so) hours either waking up between canons (three in total) or from your own nightmares. Whether the tributes who had died were a result of the freezing temperatures or from a more vicious end, you had no idea. As creepy as you found the concept of a fanclub, you couldn’t help but be extremely grateful for their gift of a blanket. Without it you had no idea if you would have managed to survive the night. And if you had managed then you were sure you would have been in a much worse state.

You were woken up by your body temperature, feeling much too smothered and hot beneath the blanket. Pushing it off your body (but being careful not to lose it over the side of the branch), you noticed that the fog from last night had been quickly burnt off by the morning sun, poking through the trees. You quickly realized how thirsty you were, and took a swig from the bottle of water in your bag, making a mental note to find a water source to refill it as soon as possible. You folded your blanket tightly and stuffed it into the bottom of your bag, followed by the water bottle and lastly the rope from the tree as you untied yourself. You kept your new knife inside the front pocket of your pants.

Looking down to try and map your descent, you felt dizzy seeing just how high up you were, and you certainly were not excited about having to climb another tree all over again (assuming you even made it to the end of the day). With a shaky sigh, you clasped onto the trunk tightly and slowly began to lower your weight until you felt your feet touching the branch below. Cautiously you climbed down, gradually becoming more confident with each branch that you passed, as the distance to the ground below lessened.

You were half way through leaning your legs down to the next branch, when you heard the sound of snapping twigs and footsteps. In a panic, you quickly scrambled to swing your legs back up and tried and hide. Lying flat with your legs, stomach and chest, pressing onto the bark, you felt your heartbeat pounding in your ears as the footsteps increased, meaning there was more than one person coming your way. As the sounds kept getting louder, you pressed your eyes shut, begging that whoever it was wouldn’t be looking upwards.

“Stop! Please!” a loud shriek sent a shiver down your spine at the sheer panic in the girl’s voice.

Very cautiously, you peered over the side of the branch to see a petite girl wildly running through the bushes, whilst a larger boy chased her. He was much stronger and faster, narrowing the distance between them with every step, as the poor girl pleaded with him in shrill gasps to stop. Neither of the pair were looking upwards in your direction – the girl too busy trying to escape and the boy’s eyes were focused squarely on his target. It was as the girl was directly under your branch that the boy made his move, tackling her brutally to the ground, and slamming them both into the trunk of the tree. You gripped onto the branch to stabilize yourself, but being only a few meters above the ground, you weren’t in a life-threatening position if you fell. Instead you felt sickened at the sight below of the boy rolling on top of the girl, his larger body obscuring her entirely from your view.

You immediately thought of the boy from 7 yesterday tackling you into the river. You had been lucky enough to have had a weapon to defend yourself with, but you doubted the girl below you had anything as you couldn’t see any movement coming from her. Maybe she was being strangled, maybe the boy was bashing her head into the ground below. All you knew is you couldn’t just lay there and watch her be assaulted.

Grabbing the knife from your pocket, you unsheathed the cover and grasped the handle. With only a few meters to fall, you pushed off from the branch and landed directly onto the boy’s back. Your weight pushed him to the side and off of the girl, before he could even turn to see who had attacked him, your blade was sinking into the side of his neck.

Not making the same mistake as yesterday, you ripped it out in order to keep your weapon. You watched in horror as the boy took strangled gasps, choking on his own blood as it gushed from the neck wound and soaked his clothes, along with the ground that he fell forward onto. Feeling the red sticky substance on your skin you frantically began wiping your hands on the bark of the tree, picking up leaves from the ground and trying to get it off of you.

It was as you were grabbing for more leaves that you realized you hadn’t heard a single thing from the girl that the boy had been attacking. You didn’t want to see, but you felt a sickening compulsion to look. Turning towards her body on the ground you saw her lying flat on her back, eyes staring wide at the sky above. Her neck was bent at a grotesque angle, leaving her quite obviously paralyzed, however you could very faintly still see her mouth twitching, indicating that she was barely still alive. But what made you feel significantly better about the lingering blood on your hands and knife, was the buttons from her shirt being torn open, exposing her bra-covered chest beneath. You didn’t want to think of what would have continued to happen if you didn’t intervene.

Ignoring the last choke of the boy along with the sound of his corresponding canon, you hesitantly approached the girl. Dropping your knife at your feet, you held up your hands to show her you meant no harm. Her eyes were glazed over and her breath was now nearly nonexistent. You doubted she even knew you were there. Feeling tears stinging in the back of your eyes, you dropped to your knees beside her and pulled her shirt back over her chest. What buttons were still left, you looped back into their holes, trying to restore her dignity in her final moments. You stayed by her side, and it didn’t take long, until her canon sounded too.

 ***

 “That’s it, I’m fucking going, now”

With every canon that sounded, Hoseok had only become more unsettled. But it was the two sounding near back-to-back that finally sent him over the edge. Typically, in the games the opening blood bath is the major loss and things simmer down over the next few days, but there had now been five deaths since you were separated. The fog had definitely been related to some, but for the number to be that high, other tributes had to be killing too – the Capitol wouldn’t want to wipe out so many themselves, it was still too soon.

“Wait, just hold on a second,” Athena snapped “You don’t even know where you’re going to start.”

“Well it’s better than me sitting on my ass up here,” Hoseok snapped back.

“No, actually, it isn’t. You want to go run off into the jungle and get yourself killed? You don’t even know if she’s still alive and you want to leave the rest of us one man down to chase after some idiot who ran away?”

Hoseok’s anger was palpable and it was surprisingly Krystal who leapt up from her seat on the ground, to try and ease the tension. Quickly she stood in front of Hoseok before he could go after Athena, raising her hands to try and calm him down.

“I get it. She was attacked, she didn’t run away. If I was in her position, I’d want someone to look for me too.”

Hoseok nodded curtly. He was infuriated by Athena and also at Krystal from stopping him before he could’ve knocked the teeth out of her mouth. But Athena wasn’t his priority, you were.

“Don’t even think about it,” Yoongi growled in Krystal’s direction.

“What? It’s true, what if it were me? Wouldn’t you be trying to find me?” Krystal turned away from Hoseok to reply to her brother.

“I never said he can’t go,” Yoongi nodded towards Hoseok, who was now grabbing an empty bag and shoving a few supplies inside, preparing to leave. “But you’re staying here.”

“Excuse me?”

“I didn’t volunteer, just to watch you risk your life for someone else. She could have come back to us after she fought off seven. She made her choice when she ran into the forest instead.”

“But-”

“I’m not asking you to come with me,” Hoseok cut Krystal off before Yoongi could.

“YN’s in my alliance too,” Krystal frowned.

“I don’t care,” Hoseok bluntly stated, swinging the bag over his shoulder and following it with a quiver of arrows.

“So what? You’re just going to run off through the trees alone, and hope you magically find her, without you or her getting killed by the other tributes?” Athena asked, her sarcastic question laced with a biting tone.

“He’s not going alone.”

The group turned towards Namjoon stepping out of the tent, with his own bag across his shoulder. He had been the last to switch from guard duty to the tent last night, and everyone had just assumed he was still asleep.

“Well that’s great. Did I miss the memo for this alliance where half of us are whipped for some girl we’re eventually going to have to kill anyway?” Athena threw her hands up in exasperation, before angrily taking a seat on the ground next to Yoongi (the only person left with half a brain if you asked her).

Namjoon rolled his eyes at Athena’s outburst, instead taking his pick from the weapons pile. The sword would be too big to carry whilst trying to remain hidden, so he opted for a smaller dagger.

“YN is my district partner and someone I’ve known for years. If your mentor taught you anything you should have known to watch our interviews, and you would have seen I had my own feelings for her long before these games,” Namjoon dismissed.

Athena scoffed and shook her head as Hoseok narrowed his eyes.

“But this isn’t just about her either. The cornucopia is still loaded with supplies, because no one can camp there. We can take empty bags with us and bring back more food items, along with any remaining weapons. Whatever we take means less for the other tributes, and more for us.”

Hoseok pretty much had the same idea, his own bag was only packed with a water bottle, knife, a few protein bars, and a lighter, leaving plenty of room for more supplies.

“Good, it’s settled then.” Yoongi spoke up, eager to see the two leave before his sister could try and force her way in to join them. “You two go get the supplies and try to find YN whilst the rest of us stay here and look after the camp. I’m going to try and use a spear for fishing, but you’re not getting shit unless you bring food back too”.

“Fair enough,” Namjoon agreed. Hoseok nodded once in acknowledgement.

“Let’s go.”

 ***

 Krystal cared too much, at least that’s what her brother had always told her growing up. They had been born into as wealthy a family as one could possibly be from within the districts. Their father worked for the Capitol as a peace keeper, and insisted they begin training as soon as possible, in the event their names were ever called for the games. But despite an authoritarian regime supporting father, and daily lessons on how to kill other children since the age that she could read, Krystal somehow still found herself caring about other people.

Growing up she questioned things – like why other people had to starve on the streets whilst she always had food to eat – that always lead to her father angrily yelling that it’s “just the way things are!”. Her father’s reaction had been enough to stop her from asking him again, but it hadn’t been enough to stop her from trying to help. She would sneak extra bread rolls out of the cupboard and into her lunchbox, so she could share with other children in her school that didn’t have any food to bring. The harsh world around her couldn’t beat the kindness out of her, it just caused her to hide it better.

Krystal’s gentle nature was exactly why Yoongi had volunteered when her name was drawn – to her dismay. Yoongi had similar thoughts on how awful the world was, but he lacked the optimism to see it as a place worth saving. He didn’t even see it as a place worth living in for himself. His sister was special, she could actually have a life worth living if she returned. Yoongi reasoned his life could have some purpose if it was used to keep someone like Krystal alive for longer. He had told her as much on their train ride into the Capitol.

They didn’t have a ‘plan’ besides aim for a career pack alliance, let Yoongi do all the killing, and find a way to make sure Krystal would be the one to leave at the end. But what little plan they did have was disrupted through the inclusion of you.

Because Krystal cared too much, she saw how terrified you were of another member from your alliance. So, she took you under her wing and tried to protect you from Hoseok as much as she could. Yoongi didn’t like it (“she’s going to have to die anyway, may as well let him be the one to kill her”), but she could tell that there was something more sinister to Hoseok’s actions than what appeared on the surface. She reasoned that if you did have to die in the arena, it shouldn’t be from an obsessed stalker.

Because Krystal cared too much, she imagined herself in your position being attacked from behind at the cornucopia and having to fight for your life. Seeing Hoseok’s violent torture with her own eyes, she couldn’t blame you for running into the forest – especially knowing how fixated he was on you.

Because Krystal cared too much, she waited until her brother was distracted with his spear fishing attempts – yelling out to him that she was going to use the ‘bathroom’ and would bring back some firewood – to sneak off into the forest, following the tracks that Namjoon and Hoseok had left.

Given she had to sneak off, Krystal didn’t have the luxury of packing a bag or making any real plan. All she had was the pocket knife that she had been able to slip inside her pocket. Her basic idea was just to use her tracking experience (from childhood training) to find Hoseok and Namjoon. From there she was mentally tossing up the options of; joining them as a group to look for you, following from behind and just watching to make sure that you were okay if they found you, or looking for any traces of you that appeared along the way to then split and try to find you first.

Taking off in the direction that Hoseok and Namjoon had left in, Krystal began the descent back down the steep land, towards the bottom of the waterfall. The trip upwards yesterday had been far worse, given the careers were all having to climb with supplies loaded on their backs. Going down was far easier, but came with its own challenge of being careful not to slip and be sent tumbling. Krystal was also facing a different issue of needing to be as quiet as possible. For now, she didn’t want Hoseok or Namjoon to know that she was tracking them, and she also didn’t want to risk being attacked on her own by any other tributes.

The fog from last night had left a dewy moisture on the land, which made for optimal tracking conditions. Once Krystal came across two sets of footprints in the muddy dirt, all she had to do was follow the path that had already been walked. Because she had to wait for Yoongi to go fishing before she could leave, Namjoon and Hoseok already had a solid twenty-minute head start. Judging from the length between each step, they were also moving rather quickly.

The descent into more even land took around thirty minutes. Judging from the lack of deviation in footprints or sounds of a canon, Namjoon and Hoseok hadn’t run into anyone yet. True to their words from earlier, the duo’s footsteps seemed to be heading in the direction of the cornucopia. The arena was large and based on her memories from yesterday the cornucopia was still another twenty minutes, or so, away. Whilst she was no longer on the side of a cliff, the part of the forest Krystal was in now, remained on a hill. Only now there weren’t gaps between the trees where she could see how much further downwards there was to go. Instead the treetops were all above her, making it difficult to navigate her direction given she couldn’t properly see the sun. At least she still had the foot prints to track.

Krystal really wished she had been able to pack a water bottle. The temperature had rapidly increased as the morning went on and the atmosphere in the forest was extremely humid, causing her to sweat from the physical work. Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Krystal let out an exhausted sigh as she continued to follow in the footsteps before her. She tried to place her foot inside the prints that were already there to avoid being tracked by anyone else, and also try to reduce any noise her steps would make.

Another fifteen minutes later and Krystal began to find herself getting frustrated. She should be close to the cornucopia by now, except there wasn’t any sight of water nearby and she couldn’t hear the sounds of the river either. This was making no sense, had Namjoon and Hoseok gotten lost? But Namjoon had been the one to guide them to the top yesterday and he had a clear sense of direction then. Maybe they had been side tracked? But by what? There were still no signs of any altercations. It was probable that one of them had seen you (or something of yours) and that was why they were still moving inland. But she found it strange that she hadn’t seen any signs of starting to catch up with them. She was expecting to have spotted them, or to be able to hear them by now, given it had been nearly an hour, but so far there was nothing. Just the same footsteps.

Krystal continued further on before a weight suddenly knocked into her side, causing her to stumble into the closest tree. Before she could even think to reach for her pocket knife, her body was spun around and her back slammed against the trunk. The force of the shove sent her neck swinging backwards, causing her head to painfully knock into the wood, leaving her momentarily stunned. A large palm covered her mouth to stop her from screaming, as a muscular forearm pinned her body in place, just below her shoulders, preventing her from being able to reach for her knife or try land a punch.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a little follower.”

The panic Krystal felt eased slightly upon realizing Namjoon was the one to have caught her. She let out a sigh through her nose, preparing to tell him off for excessively throwing her against a tree, except Namjoon wasn’t releasing his grip over her mouth that would allow her to do so.

“Now what are you doing so far away from camp? Especially after your brother told you not to leave… unless he doesn’t know that you’re here.”

Hoseok’s familiar voice drawled as he stepped out from behind the trunk of another tree close by. There was something foreboding about his tone that she immediately didn’t like.

Flickering her eyes between the two, Krystal began to pick up on details of her surroundings she had otherwise been missing from focusing too much on the footprints. Certain trees with odd shaped branches looked strangely familiar, and finally the penny dropped that she had been walking in circles.

Krystal quickly realized that what little relief she had felt at being caught by her alliance members was very much misplaced. Her eyes widened in fear and she began to thrash against the bark, as Hoseok stepped closer whilst withdrawing a knife from his back pocket. But it was too late, with Namjoon’s elbow over her shoulders and his palm covering her mouth, there was no way for her to even scream before she felt the blade being plunged between her ribcage, straight into her heart.

Because Krystal cared too much, she was dead before her body could hit the ground.

 ***

 Character kills:

Day 1 – 8

Boy D3 (Unknown attacker, knife)

Boy D7 (Hoseok, knife – O.B.)

Boy D11 (Opening Bloodbath)

Boy D12 (Hoseok, arrow - O.B.)

Girl D3 (Namjoon, sword - O.B.)

Girl D9 (Hoseok, arrow - O.B.)

Girl D10 (Hoseok, arrow - O.B.)

Girl D12 (Opening Bloodbath)

Day 2 (so far) - 5

Boy D5 (Overnight conditions)

Boy D6 (YN, knife)

Krystal D1 (Hoseok/Namjoon, knife)

Girl D5 (Boy D6, broken neck)

Girl D11 (Overnight conditions)

Initially this chapter was planned to be combined with the next one, however, after hitting 4000 words and thinking about how much I want to include in the next part - I decided to split it.

[vagabondreamer]

After the Fall (5)

Pairing: Lucifer x Angel! Fem! MC

Word Count: 2.3k

Series Summary: Angel! Fem! MC is part of an exchange program that sends her to the Devildom for a year.

Chapter Summary: MC finds out what Lucifer's been hiding.

CW: panic attacks, attempted murder, PTSD

Author’s Note: Sorry it's been a hot minute; school has been keeping me busy.

***

Your fingers felt like they were going to fall off and your eyes burned from not blinking. The room was so dark you weren’t sure how long you had been in here. The bright screen was your only source of light, and it was no wonder Levi was so pale. You looked over at him, he was hunched over his controller, his eyes glued to the tv.

“MC are you not even trying?” He exclaimed, a tint of anger in his voice. You looked back at the screen, a giant ‘K.O.’ flashing before your eyes.

“They don’t have these games back home.” This felt like your hundredth loss against him. “You’re just way too good.”

He blushed at the small compliment - not used to the praise. You looked at your DDD to see the time, it was already 3 in the morning.

“Geez! I need to get to bed.”

“Already?” He pouted, not wanting you to go to your room yet.

“Let’s do this again.”

“Fine.” He grumbled, but the small smile on his face was enough to show he wasn’t mad.

You said goodnight to him and his fish - you learned the name was Henry based off of his favorite fantasy novel - and walked out the door into the hallway. It was pitch black, you couldn’t see a thing. Standing still, you tried to let your eyes adjust to the darkness. Barely, you could see the railing of the stairs, and some decorative paintings on the wall. You started walking towards your room when you heard a small voice coming from far behind you. Didn’t Satan say this house was haunted? Surely, you thought he was just trying to scare you. Again, you started walking towards your room - hoping to not run into whatever was making that noise.

“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.”

The voice was stronger, more distinct sounding. You recognized that it was the same lullaby from a week ago. You recalled that there was a set of hidden stairs, that Lucifer forbade you from going up. Debating whether or not you should risk it, you turned around and headed down the hall. The darkness didn’t help, you couldn’t remember how to get to those stairs - last time, you had found it by chance.

“And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem.”

There it was again! You followed the sound, trusting your ears rather than your sight. It was strange how clear the voice was, considering that you had to walk through several doors and halls to get to the base of the stairs.

“But if I know you, I know what you’ll do.”

If Lucifer ever found out - no - he would never find out. And if he did? So, what. You were tired of obeying him - who was he to you? A nobody. Slowly, you ascended up the spiral staircase. The voice was masculine, yet soft, almost sleepy sounding.

“You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.”

Reaching the top of the stairs, you see a door that is barred up. Peering in, you see a man laying down, lazily humming the rest of the tune. His head turns, feeling your presence.

“Hmph. They went along with the exchange program, I see.”

His aura was strong - purple and luminous - he was a powerful demon. He must’ve read yours as well.

“Who are you?”

“Belphegor. Who are you?”

“MC. What are you doing here?”

“Lucifer locked me up.” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing - you absolutely knew Lucifer was mean, but to lock up his own family? That was beyond evil. “You have to help me out of here.”

You took a step back from the bars, taking a moment to think about the situation you landed yourself in. It was no wonder Lucifer didn’t want you up here, but was it justified? From what you had gathered, he was mean but not without reason, right? He insulted you, but only because you were acting like a brat. He was also the same man that saved you, and he was highly respected by Michael - even as a demon.

“Why did he lock you up?”

“I didn’t agree with the exchange program.”

Was that really the only reason? Something as simple as disagreeing could end up in imprisonment? Belphie must’ve seen the look on your face - a war raging inside your mind.

“He’s horrible, you know?” You looked up at him. “He locked up his own brother, and he dismissed Lilith’s death like it meant nothing!”

“Lilith.” You repeated to yourself. You were told she was the start of the Great Celestial War.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t remember you at all.” He eyed you carefully.

“I wasn’t created until after the war. I’m Lucifer’s replacement, basically.”

This statement caught his interest.

“So, you’re powerful; I think you can get through this magic.”

Touching the bars, you felt a powerful magic radiating off of the metal. Lucifer must’ve put a spell on the door, to ensure he’d never escape. He was right, you were a powerful angel, this shouldn’t be an issue, but you were still hesitant.

“What are you going to do once you’re out?”

“I just want to talk to him.” If that was really all he wanted to do then you were ready to let him out.

You closed your eyes, and took a deep breath in, hands still gripping the metal. It had been weeks since you last transformed into an angel, ever since your failure you had been hesitant to even try. Slowly, your white wings sprouted from your back and your magic flowed through your fingertips. The bars began to glow, and gradually disintegrated from existence. A smile spread across his face, and he stepped out for the first time in who knows how long. You transformed back to your normal state.

“Thank you.” He opened his arms, you gladly accepted his hug. You had begun to appreciate how touchy-feely most of the brothers were. His grip, however, was a bit too hard for your liking. You stopped hugging him back, this time placing your hands against his waist trying to push off - but his grip was relentless.

“What are you doing?” It was getting harder to breathe; your ribs felt like they were being crushed.

“I’m doing the world a favor, Lucifer’s replacement.”

He hadn’t bothered addressing you by your name - it suddenly clicked in your head. Lucifer was part of the blame for his sister’s death, and to him you were just another Lucifer in the making. You pushed him and tried to transform but you had exhausted yourself trying to break him out. The trauma from weeks ago was just beginning to heal, and now you were reliving it. You could hardly breathe, but now it was becoming even more erratic - you were having a panic attack.

“Please -” The words were barely coming out. “Lucifer.”

The room was spinning, and darkness crept in.

***

When you woke up, you were in an unfamiliar room. The bed was spacious, a huge chandelier hung down in the center, and soft music could be heard. You take a deep breath in - you notice the smell - notes of sandalwood wafting in the air. Trying to sit up, a sharp pain erupts in your ribs. Glancing down, your torso is wrapped up - unexpectedly, the memories flash in your mind. You released Belphie, and he tried to kill you. How the hell did you make it?

“MC, you’re awake.” Lucifer walked in, holding a tray of food. “How are you feeling?”

His face held a concerned look, but he was hard to read. There’s no doubt he was upset, he told you not to go up the stairs and yet you disobeyed orders.

“Where’s Belphie?” Lucifer sighed, and put the tray down on the nightstand.

“Why’d you let him go?”

“Did you hurt him?”

The both of you were getting nowhere. Too many unanswered questions and so much distress, you couldn’t take it anymore. You moved to get out of bed, Lucifer tried to help but you slapped his hand away. Standing, you looked him straight in the eyes.

“What is going on here?” Lucifer stood his ground.

“You’re prying. This isn’t any of your business.”

“I almost died. I think it is my business.”

“You didn’t die twice because of me. A thank you would be nice.”

You couldn’t believe him.

“I didn’t ask you to save me.” That was a lie, and he knew it. Your eyes watered up. “I’m capable. You might not see it, Michael might not see it, but I know I am!”

You walked to the door before the tears could spill down your cheeks. You were tired of feeling weak in front of him.

“MC.” You stopped without turning around, waiting for him to continue. “I think you’re plenty capable, but I don’t regret helping you.”

Wiping the tears away, you turned to look at him. He was seated on his bed, elbows rested on his legs, looking down pensively. You walked to him, standing directly in front of his form. The sleeves on his dress shirt were rolled up, and the top buttons were undone revealing his collarbone. The locks of his hair were messy, like he had been consistently running his hands through it. Subconsciously, you raised your hand and began to smooth out his hair, putting each strand back in its rightful place. He looked up at you, curiously. His eyes were sunken, the darkness underneath visible to you from your proximity.

“I’m sorry," you whispered.

Ever since your arrival, you had become another burden to Lucifer. Before coming to the Devildom, you had a preconceived notion that he was the reincarnation of all things evil, but it didn’t take long to realize how complex the man in front of you really was. Your internal battle with yourself didn’t help, and you were taking it out on him. And now, with Belphie’s appearance, there’s no doubt in your mind that Lucifer would never forgive you.

“I just wish you’d understand I have your best interest at heart.”

“I guess it takes a near death experience to see that,” you joked. “Thanks. For both times.”

You fixed the last strand out of place, framing it against his temple. Your fingers lingered, tracing down to where his jaw curves. It was as if an electric current ran from him to you.

“You’re welcome. Both times.” He went to grab your hand, but you removed it yourself.

“Does everyone know what happened?”

“Yes. You’ve been out for a few days, and everything’s been taken care of.”

“Everything?”

“School, home, here. Everything.” He got up from his position, leaving you little time to take a step back, his chest is nearly touching yours. “I’m not letting you get hurt again.”

He placed his hand on your shoulder, and in that moment you felt so small. You vowed right there and then to be less of a burden to Lucifer. You had already caused so much damage, now you were going to make things right.

“Michael wants to speak to you.”

“What? You’ve spoken with Michael?” Oh, crap.

“No, Simeon has. Michael requested you take a brief trip back home after you wake up.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll open a portal, if you’re ready?”

“You can open a portal?”

“Yes, can’t you?”

“No…” Guess Michael decided you weren’t good enough for that ability. “I’m ready.”

Lucifer performed his spell, which allowed a little portal to open up. You thanked Lucifer once again, and stepped in; a bright, white light blinded you. The portal had transported you to right in front of Michael’s office. You gave two knocks before being called in.

“MC. Who knew it only took sending you to the Devildom for you to finally learn how to knock.” You laughed dryly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I -”

“What happened?”

“Well -”

“Don’t answer. I already know.” Ah, so you were here to be reprimanded. “Why are you causing so much trouble? Did I not tell you that you represent the Celestial Realm?”

“Yes sir, but -”

“I don’t want to hear any excuses. It’s embarrassing that I even have to do this.” You bite your lip, too afraid to make him angrier. “You’re going to go down there and apologize to Lord Diavolo and Lucifer. And you’re going to stop causing trouble, do I make myself clear?”

You opted to nod your head, not trusting your own voice. As quick as you had gotten there, you were sent away just as quickly. The portal reopened back in Lucifer’s room, he was standing there waiting for your arrival. You wanted nothing more than to be alone.

“What did he say?”

“He said I need to apologize to you and Lord Diavolo, but can I please do that later? I just - I need to get out of here.”

“MC…” He reached out to you.

“No, I’m serious - I feel like I can’t breathe.” It was happening again. You could hear your own heartbeat in your ears, and you saw the room spinning. Why was this happening?

“MC!” Lucifer held the sides of your face. “Okay, you’re okay. Let’s get some fresh air.”

His words were going in one ear and straight out the other. He held you in his arms, and you could feel him moving, but your dizziness made it hard to decipher what was going on. It wasn’t until he sat down, you were still being held by him, that you became aware of your surroundings. Somewhere deep in the forest lay a small lake, and a singular bench. The air was fresh, and the serenity filled your soul.

“I come here when it feels like everything is falling apart.”

After the Fall Tag List @ptv-hades @everyday-girl9041-blog

[rosiehunterwolf]

And the Walls Kept Tumbling Down

Prompts: Trust and Breakdown

Word Count: 3,706

Characters: Pixal and Lloyd

Timeline: right before season 8

Trigger Warnings: Mental Breakdown/Panic Attack, Lack of Self-Worth

Summary: Pixal has been Samurai X for awhile, now- a role that allows her to be herself, to be happy. But it’s also... incredibly lonely. Luckily, she’s not the only one alone- Lloyd has been left in the city while his friends go after Master Wu, and his presence is comforting. But as they struggle with a mysterious biker gang, Pixal can’t help feeling the want to be part of something more.

Link to read on FanFiction.Net:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13897921/1/And-the-Walls-Kept-Tumbling-Down

“Master Lloyd, maybe you should go get that checked at the hospital.”

“Pix, I’m fine, it’s just a scratch,” Lloyd mumbled through the gauze as he snapped it with his teeth, winding the last several inches around his forearm. “And I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Why? You are our master now, aren’t you?”

Lloyd snorted, tentatively testing his arm as he moved it back and forth. “I’m no master. I can’t even keep our team together.”

Pixal stared at him, shocked. “We all agreed on this, Lloyd. It is the most efficient plan to find Master Wu.”

“Yeah, and whose plan was that?” Lloyd’s voice was suddenly sharp.

“I believe it was Zane’s, but-”

“Exactly! It was Zane’s plan, not mine. I did nothing. And now, they’re off searching for Master Wu, and I’m sitting here, doing nothing.”

An unfamiliar sensation squeezed at Pixal’s chest, one that felt hot and fierce and miserable all at the same time, before she had to remind herself that no, she didn’t have a body, didn’t have a chest to feel pain in, and that she was just speaking to Lloyd over the monitors.

At least, in the moment, she was.

“Zane trusted me to watch over this city,” she insisted, her voice unstable- which it shouldn’t be, she was a nindroid, not affected by such things- “He trusted us.”

Lloyd flinched visibly, looking away from the computer they were using to talk. “Pix, I didn’t mean- look, I’m sure Zane much would’ve rather had you come along with him, but instead you got stuck babysitting me.”

“Normally, I would object, but I think you’ve already proven your own point,” she commented, shooting a pointed glare at his bandaged arm.

Lloyd gritted his teeth, letting out a slow breath. “I get it, Pixal, I’ll be more careful next time.”

“A doctor’s visit couldn’t hurt, Lloyd.”

“Will you drop it already?”

She frowned. “I wish you wouldn’t grow cross with me, Master Lloyd. I am only trying to look out for you-”

Lloyd stood up sharply. “I get it, okay? I’m incompetant. You don’t need to keep calling me ‘master’ out of pity, I know I’ll never be able to live up to my unc- Master Wu.”

Pixal blinked at him, stunned. “Lloyd, I never-”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear it!” And then he was reaching forward, slamming down the laptop’s lid, and Pixal’s world went dark.

He knew how much she hated that, when he turned her off or walked away without her consent, like she was some sort of object.

He hadn’t meant it- she had learned a lot about Lloyd in their past year alone together, and he often became impulsive when he was angry in order to cover up his sensitive, insecure side. It would probably only be a matter of hours before he came running back, apologizing repeatedly, and sobbing over what a horrible friend he was as Pixal patiently waited for him to calm down. But she had grown to like and respect Lloyd, and it still stung when he snapped at her, even though the logical part of her mind knew that it wasn’t really her that was the problem.

What bothered her even more so, though, was the things he said about himself. It had been abrupt, this time, but she hadn’t missed the times he had slipped it in more subtly into conversation. It made her angry, how he refused to appreciate himself.

And now, stuck in this stupid form, she couldn’t go after him.

Well. Technically, she could.

The Samurai X suit had been up and operational for a few months since her last major upgrade- the one that had finally given her her own, independent body, separate from just the mech itself.

But she was nervous to remove herself from the computer entirely. She was aware that she was so incredibly useful as a program, with instant access to all sorts of technology and data. She had become an asset to her team.

She liked feeling important, feeling like she was part of the group.

But being the samurai allowed her to physically be there. In these last few months, she felt like she had really grown to know and trust Lloyd- even if he didn’t know it was her beneath the samurai mask. She wanted to get to know the others fully, too- she was already fairly close to Zane, but she liked the rest of the team, too- Cole, Jay, Kai, and especially Nya, Pixal felt intrigued by. She had spent some time connecting similarities between them- there were a lot of differences, too, but she felt like they could be friends. A physical form would allow her to bond with them, like a human. She was well aware she wasn’t one, but she wanted to understand.

But she was afraid, too. Except for Zane, and maybe Lloyd, now, seeing the others again felt daunting. They had never been particularly close before she had been scrapped. What if they thought she was infringing on their team? The six of them had been close for so long. It would make sense if she wasn’t wanted there.

She just wasn’t ready, not yet. Communicating with Lloyd through the monitors would just have to do for now. It was difficult, though- it didn’t seem like he took her as seriously this way.

For now, though, they had bigger problems. Lloyd’s injury hadn’t been too severe, from what she could tell, and would heal quickly. But it had been a sizable wound, and could leave some pretty severe scarring, if he wasn’t careful with it- she knew he wouldn’t be, which was why she had to keep him in line- but the point was, these were no common thieves going around, dealing this kind of damage. This gang- whoever they were- were something bigger, more dangerous than their day-to-day threats. Pixal wasn’t sure if it was severe enough to start calling the others back- she didn’t want to interrupt their search for Master Wu. But she would certainly have to keep a closer eye on Lloyd from now on, to make sure he didn’t get in over his head.

She should probably start playing a more active role as Samurai X. Although the ninja had a tentative relationship with her mysterious persona, she wasn’t about to send Lloyd against this gang alone again.

She just hoped he would have her.

---

The next call came in much sooner than Pixal had anticipated. At the unappealing hour of four in the morning, Lloyd hauled himself out of bed and stumbled drearily out the door at Pixal’s report of a prison breach alarm coming from Kryptarium. With the rush, there was no time to talk to him, and the drive to the prison was awkward and silent.

When they arrived, it turned out the alarm had been triggered by accident. The good news was there were no criminals to stop, the bad news was that they had woken up at four am for no reason.

Not that Pixal particularly minded- sleep was inconsequential to a nindroid, but Lloyd was less than pleased.

“I mean, if you’re going to have an alarm system that immediately pages the city’s ninja team and makes them stop everything they’re doing to rush over there, it should at least be heavily guarded. How do you even accidentally set off an emergency alarm? I thought these guys were supposed to be professionals!”

Pixal stifled a laugh as he paused, taking a sip of the iced coffee he had picked up as they had headed back. He had told her, “If I’m already up and ready, I might as well spend some time in the city for a little while. Y’know, in case they trigger any other ‘alarms’ that I need to go rushing off to.”

“Perhaps they need a lesson from the ninja,” Pixal suggested.

“I’ll say,” he grumbled. “I don’t know how this city ever survived before we showed up.”

“Well, experience is the best teacher, and you guys have triggered enough traps and alarms to last a lifetime.”

“Wait, what?” Lloyd spluttered. “No, we haven’t! We’re highly trained ninja, we’re better than that.”

“Oh, really? I seem to remember quite a few in the Tournament of Elements, or the time with the technoblades, or when General Cryptor tracked you- shall I go on?”

“Shut up,” Lloyd snorted, trying to hide his grin. “You don’t know nothin’.”

“You’re right, I don’t. I was only with you for a short time before I was uploaded into Zane’s head, and after that, my view of your adventures was extremely limited. I can’t imagine how much more trouble you got into when I wasn’t there.”

“I hate you,” he said, attempting to scowl and failing miserably, the look on his face was too comedic for Pixal to bite back her laugh this time. It wasn’t long before Lloyd joined her, and soon, he was bent over, clutching his stomach, and he had to sit down for a moment to catch his breath. Pixal felt warm inside as she watched him take a long sip from his coffee. She enjoyed seeing him like this. He had been far too tense over the last few weeks, and she missed the more childlike, carefree side of him.

After a moment, though, the expression on his face fell solemn, and he turned to the tablet they were using to communicate to look her directly in the eyes. “Pix, I’m really sorry for yelling at you last night. I was being a brat.”

She paused carefully, both relieved and nervous that they were finally addressing this. “Lloyd, I know you were hurting. I am only trying to look out for you.”

He put his hands behind his head. “Yeah, I know, I need to work harder-”

“Lloyd,” she interrupted firmly. “That’s the other thing. I need you to stop saying things like that about yourself.”

He cocked his head at her. “Like what?”

Good grief, he doesn’t even know he’s doing it. “Talking down on yourself. I called you ‘master’ because that’s what you are now. You’ve earned this title, Lloyd. Just like you’ve earned everything else in your life, and more. It was not my intention to say you would take your uncle’s place, but say that you can be just as great of a leader as he was.”

Lloyd suddenly found the cracks in the concrete to be very interesting. “See, people keep saying that, but- it’s just so hard. I feel like I always mess everything up. Something always goes wrong, or worse, someone gets hurt-”

“Lloyd, you’re one person. You can’t expect to be successful all the time. You may be a ninja, yes, but your job is very difficult and dangerous, something most people wouldn’t even dream of tackling. You’re part of a team for a reason, and I’m sorry they’re not here right now, but until they return, you’re going to have to give yourself a little credit.”

Lloyd’s breathing hitched, and he scrubbed at his suspiciously wet eyes. His next words were so quiet, Pixal could barely hear them. “I just miss them. Everyone… everyone always leaves, and I’m tired of being alone all the time.”

Pixal was struggling to breathe herself- even though she was a nindroid, didn’t need to breathe- the sensation was still there.

She could remember when she had been alone too. Those nights after Zane had… had died, had been some of the worst times of her life. The emptiness had only made it sting worse, but when Lloyd had reached out to her, she had refused him.

She had been scared, scared to let anyone else into her life in case she lost them too, but now she realized that he had been hurting just as much as she had. She knew his friends had gone off on their own like she had, leaving him just as alone as the rest of them. She had been the cause of that, she had only hurt him more when he was already going through so much.

When she spoke again, it wasn’t just for the situation at present.

“I’m sorry, Lloyd. I’m so sorry.”

He looked up at the screen, his watery green eyes staring into hers, then raised an arm, his fingers ghosting the screen, before falling back to his side. He looked away, swallowing.

“What is it?”

“I just… I wish I could hug you. I wish you were here. Like, actually.”

“I am much more useful in the computer, Lloyd.”

“Yeah, but you’re not… you’re not here. I don’t care about how useful you are.”

Pixal let out a trembling breath, but Lloyd hardly seemed to notice, already beginning to stand up. “Sorry about being such a downer. I better get back to the Bounty, I’m sure the police have something for me to do.”

“Lloyd?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I just… they’ll be back soon. I know they aren’t like… other people. They’re going to come back. And besides, until then, I’ve got you, right?” He gave her a shy smile.

Pixal froze. This was it. He was extending- a metaphorical- hand to her. Offering her to be part of something that she had been wanting for a long time.

But it felt wrong. She wasn’t a ninja. She wasn’t one of his teammates. What if she was assuming wrong? What if he wasn’t really asking that?

“I’m not one of the ninja, Lloyd. I can’t help you the way they can.”

“No, you’re whoever you want to be, Pix. But you’re still my friend.”

Friend. Pixal felt a sudden urge to correct him, to tell him he was mistaken. “I’m not part of your team. I… I can’t be.”

“Trust me, Pix- in every sense that matters- you are one of us.”

---

“Pixal, I need my car! Now!”

The nindroid’s voice came out slightly crackly from the radio. “Your coordinates, Master Lloyd?”

“I’m somewhere around… well, you know how to find me.”

The cable he was gripping onto slowed to a stop, then quickly began to swing back down. Squeezing his eyes shut, Lloyd prayed that Pixal knew what she was doing, and let go.

Air whipped past him as he fell freely, the fall feeling both agonizingly slow and alarmingly quick at the same time, but before he had time to question what the hell he was doing, a blur of green darted out from a nearby alleyway, and Lloyd fell into his car.

He quickly pulled himself up and took over the controls. “Impeccable timing, Pix! You’re getting good at that.”

“I have to do something while you’re busy fighting crime, don’t I?”

“Speaking of which…” Lloyd cut off, gritting his teeth as he wove in between cars on the busy street, chasing after the biker. “Who is this person? Anything you can tell me about them?”

“They appear to be affiliated with the same criminal biker gang we have been having trouble with over the last few weeks. I am afraid I cannot tell you anything other than that. They have been keeping a very low profile.”

“Well, whoever they are, they’re good. I’ll keep you posted.” Gritting his teeth, he pushed on the gas and shot through the streets after the mysterious biker. They were a skilled driver, but Lloyd wasn’t lacking in that department either, and soon, he had caught up to the biker. The person’s eyes glowed an eerie red through their mask, their expression emotionless, and Lloyd forced his gaze away for a moment to examine the object in the back of his bike- presumably the stolen item. It was a red mask, with an ugly, beast-like face patterned over the top, complete with a mouth of crooked, yellowing teeth, and deep, glowering eyes. It looked like nothing more than a costume. Lloyd wondered what they could possibly want with it.

Putting on another burst of speed, he pulled in front of the biker, making them screech to a halt to avoid a collision. The two of them stared each other down, only a short stretch of road between them.

The criminal revved his engine, and suddenly, was racing towards Lloyd. Lloyd began to do the same, and just when he thought the biker was about to hit him head-on, mechanical arms extended from the bike, driving into the road, and sending the biker flying over his head. Lloyd slammed to a halt and jumped out of the car, running over to the bridge as the biker went over the edge. He yanked something near his chest, and all of a sudden, a big sheet was billowing out from his back, gray and black and red-

Lloyd’s breath caught in his throat as the parachute unfolded fully, revealing the emblem of a face that Lloyd had never thought he would see again.

No, no, no. Lloyd stumbled back from the railing, his breath hitching in his chest as he tried desperately to draw it in. This doesn’t mean anything. Perhaps they just are a fan of Garmadon, it doesn’t mean he’s here-

But it wasn’t working. His body just wasn’t listening to him, his heart beating too fast, his breath trembling and shallow, and his head-

“Lloyd!” A voice came from seemingly out of nowhere, and in his panicked state, he couldn’t, he couldn’t-

“Lloyd, it’s Pixal. What’s happened, why aren’t you responding?”

Oh. It was Pixal, on… on the radio. With trembling fingers, he reached down and switched on his mic. “...Pix?”

“Lloyd, don’t scare me like that, what’s wrong?”

“Pixal… Pixal, I don’t know…” Oh gosh, he was spiraling, spiraling hard, panic swamped his brain as images of his father flashed before his eyes, first running off with the golden weapons, then trying to kill him when the Overlord had taken over, then when he had submerged under the ocean, down, down, down with the Preeminent-

No! Lloyd’s eyes snapped open, scattering the images. He couldn’t be thinking about this now, not- not when-

Oh gosh. His father couldn’t be involved with this gang, he couldn’t. He was gone, gone for good. He missed him, so, so much, but nothing with his father was ever that simple. Something always went wrong, and Lloyd was just beginning to get over his last death, he couldn’t- couldn’t live through the pain again-

“Lloyd, Lloyd listen to me, just try to breathe-”

He could barely hear her. His legs had stopped working, and he sunk to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest, trying to remember to breathe. The last thing he needed was to pass out from lack of oxygen.

He buried his face between his knees, gulping through the sobs. Dammit, why was he like this, he hadn’t had an episode this bad since Morro-

And now he was thinking about that part of his life, one he had so desperately hoped to forget- it had been years, why was still not over that, he had gotten good at suppressing those feelings long ago, but when he got like this, he couldn’t control anything-

He hated when he got like this, it was so terrifying, he just wanted to go home, he just wanted Kai to be here, why was he always all alone-

Suddenly, firm, cool arms were wrapping around him, pulling him close. Lloyd gasped, his eyes flying open sharply.

A pair of glowing green eyes stared back at him, shadowed with fear. “Hey,” she whispered, her metallic jaw moving with the words, “I’m here now. You’re going to be okay.”

He had lost it, he was hallucinating, how was- how was she here-

“Pixal?!”

“Yeah,” her voice was quiet, rubbing her fingers across his palm. “It’s me. I’m here.”

“How?”

“I’m Samurai X, Lloyd.”

“Oh.” Vaguely, a part of his mind told him he should be more surprised by that piece of information, but he was just tired. His mind was already on overdrive, he couldn’t afford to take in anything else.

“Lloyd.” Pixal’s voice was scared, and he realized he was trembling in her grip. “Please, what has happened to you?”

“It’s- it’s…” Lloyd gasped for breath. “My dad, he- the biker, he was- he had-” and those words alone were too much. Everything was breaking, splintering apart right in front of his eyes, and he clutched onto Pixal like she was his lifeline- in a way, she was. She felt different from Kai’s warm, soft touch- harder and cooler- but sturdier and stronger, too. And right now, Lloyd could use a bit of strength.

But most of all, she was here.

“Why did you tell me?” He managed to get out. “Out of everyone, you told me first? Not Zane?”

Pixal was silent for a moment. “I know what it’s like. I mean, not exactly- I can’t feel what you are feeling right now. But… feeling emotions has been hard. Draining. You, out of all people, seem to know that. But you’re still so strong through everything. I just… you helped me to see how to heal. How to get better.” She paused, looking down at her hands. “But I guess it doesn’t always work out that way. I figured it was about time I helped you back.”

He leaned his head into her lap, examining her long, silver fingers, brushing them gently. “I like you like this. You’re pretty.”

He wasn’t looking at her face, but he could almost feel her smile. “Thank you. I worked hard to make this. I wanted to make sure… that I was better, this time. I still have some modifications to make, but…”

Lloyd winced, feeling a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry I made you show me before you were ready.”

“Lloyd,” she said firmly. “This was my choice. Not yours.” She took one hand and turned his chin so their gazes met, green on green. “I trust you. I always have.”

Lloyd felt his lip tremble. “I-”

Pixal stopped him. “It’s okay, Lloyd. You don’t have to say it. I know.”

Lloyd curled into her side and wept.

[suituuup]

pandemic shenanigans

Chloe discovers TikTok and decides to do a bunch of pranks on her girlfriend

rated: T

word count: 3k

ao3 link

*

It’s the pandemic’s fault. 

Chloe was bored af one day at the start of quarantine, and decided to download TikTok, the app Gen Z has been raving about. Little did she know five minutes on the app could turn into four hours without her being aware and brought procrastination to another level. 

She quickly becomes addicted to cute animal videos (duh) and couple pranks. So addicted that the temptation of trying a few on her girlfriend is too great. 

i. Did you forget what today was

“Morning,” Beca mumbles, rubbing her eye with the heel of her palm as she shuffles towards the coffee pot. While Chloe’s an early bird, Beca rarely makes it out of bed before ten on the weekends, and Chloe is usually already showered and dressed by the time she does. 

She and Beca live in that same studio which they used to share with Amy, until their Australian friend inherited some serious money and moved out. 

It’s been really nice to have an actual bed instead of that crappy pull-out couch. 

“Good morning,” Chloe chirps, craning her neck to accept the kiss Beca brushes to her lips. Beca slides in the chair across hers, pouring some milk in the bowl Chloe’s set out for her, followed by cereals.

(yes, she’s that weirdo who puts the milk first.)

“What?” Beca pauses with her first spoonful halfway to her mouth, finally noticing Chloe staring at her. 

“Did you forget what today was?” She asks with a raised eyebrow, cradling her mug in her hands.

Beca blinks, and Chloe can nearly see the fuck popping up in her brain as panic flashes in her eyes. “Uh, Saturday?” 

Chloe purses her lips, both to appear annoyed and to keep her bubbling laughter in. “Beca.” 

Beca’s nose scrunches up. “I know, I know, gimme a sec. This is not our anniversary, or your birthday, you’re not working today so there’s nothing important regarding your job,” she lists off, her eyes lighting up a beat later. “Oh! Is it this weekend Aubrey’s coming up?” 

“No,” Chloe sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I can’t believe you forgot.”

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Beca rushes out, standing up and crossing the distance between them to sit across Chloe’s lap. She kisses her softly, looping her arms around her neck. “I’m sorry. What’s going on today? I promise I’ll make time for it. And I’ll give you a massage tonight to make up for being a bad girlfriend. And we can eat whatever you like.” Smirking mischievously, she adds in a lower tone, “And, I’ll let you do whatever you wanna do to me later.” 

Chloe grins, unable to hold it any longer. “Nothing’s going on, babe. I was just messing with you.” 

Beca’s jaw falls open as she pulls back, glaring. “Not cool, dude!”

Chloe simply giggles, nuzzling her neck and pressing an apologetic kiss to Beca’s skin. “You’re cute when you’re panicking.”

A huffs puffs free and Beca pouts. “Whatever.”

Chloe tightens her hold around Beca’s waist so she can’t get away. “Can I still do whatever I want to you tonight?” 

The whimper that rises from Beca’s throat shoots a chill down her spine. Beca’s cheeks redden and she squirms a little in Chloe’s lap. “Yeah--yes.” 

Safe to say Chloe won’t be uploading that video on TikTok. She also won’t tell Beca this was a Tiktok prank, because this turned out to be a lot of fun and she’s got more up her sleeve.

ii. climb on their lap while they’re busy doing something else

Friday nights are Chloe’s favorite. As none of them work during the weekends, it means they get two whole days of quality time with each other. Tonight though, her highly professional girlfriend needs to take care of a few work things to make sure she can spend a stress free weekend, but it’s been hours, and Chloe is kind of craving some attention. 

Beca’s working on her laptop while sitting on the couch, and after changing into her PJ’s, Chloe unceremoniously curls up sideways on her lap, looping her arms around her shoulders and resting her forehead against the side of Beca’s neck. 

“Oh,” Beca breathes out, setting her computer aside before her arms loosely wrap around Chloe’s body. “Hello.” 

“Hi,” Chloe murmurs back, brushing a kiss to Beca’s neck and releasing a soft sigh of contentment. 

Beca’s hand runs up and down her thigh as she pushes a kiss to Chloe’s hair. “You alright?” 

Chloe hums, forgetting all about her phone propped against one of the shelves capturing the moment to make a TikTok, instead basking in the instant comfort being in Beca’s arms provides. 

Beca peppers her face with soft, featherlight kisses that make Chloe warm from the inside out. She really is a slut for Beca’s affection. “M’sorry I had to work tonight.” 

Chloe smiles. “It’s okay.” She pecks Beca’s lips and brushes her nose against hers. “I’m heading to bed. Don’t work too late, babe.” 

Beca nods, winking softly. “Right behind you.” 

True to her word, Beca slides under the covers less than five minutes later and tugs Chloe’s body against her own. Chloe releases another happy sigh, which is cut-off by a yelp when Beca runs her freezing toes along Chloe’s bare calf. 

“Becs!” She cries, moving away and slapping her arm. “Your feet are freaking icicles!” 

Beca snickers like a teenager, seemingly very proud of her act. 

“Put some socks on.” 

Beca’s nose scrunches up adorably. “Ew. No way.” 

“Then stay on your side,” Chloe grumbles, tugging the covers higher around her as she rolls away from Beca, settling on her opposite side. 

“Sorry,” Beca whispers into the dark, shuffling closer. “I won’t do it again.” 

She feels her resolve break as Beca’s lips trace a trail from her exposed shoulder blade to the side of her neck. She hates her traitorous body for not having any willpower when it comes to Beca’s ministrations. “You better not, or I’ll kick you,” she half-jokes. 

“Kinky,” Beca breathes along with a soft laugh, pressing one final kiss to Chloe’s cheek as she drapes her arm around her middle. “I love you.” 

Chloe laces their fingers and squeezes. “I love you too, weirdo.” 

iii. walking out naked while they’re in a zoom meeting 

“Well what doesn’t he like about it?” Beca’s voice carries from the living-room as Chloe stands in their bedroom, a towel wrapped around her naked frame. 

That video of her and Beca cuddling on the couch blew up, hitting 3 millions views and about 400k likes. The few homophobic comments that popped up were quickly drowned out by thousands of people gushing over their relationship or crying about wanting the same kind of relationship. 

Beca was of course aware Chloe would post that video on the internet and weirdly wasn’t opposed to it. 

“Again?” She hears her girlfriend sigh and steps out, losing the towel as she rounds the corner. “I mean, yeah, sure. I’ll see what I--” 

Beca’s words die on her tongue the second her eyes flicker up from her computer screen. Her jaw drops and her mouth gapes wordlessly for a few seconds. 

Chloe is briefly concerned she might have broken her girlfriend.

“Beca?”  Her boss’ voice carries through the speakers, snapping Beca back to her meeting. 

“Yes, yeah-- um-- sorry, I…” She stammers as her cheeks burn, and clears her throat. Her eyes quickly glance back to Chloe, who is fighting against a string of giggles. “I’ll-- I’ll work on something else, no problem.” 

“Alright, keep me posted.”

Beca nods. “See ya.” She shuts her computer so fast Chloe’s concerned she might have damaged it. “You’re evil,” she mutters, shaking her head. 

“Are you complaining?” Chloe husks, strutting over in her birthday suit and tossing her phone on the couch.

Beca visibly swallows, bracing on Chloe’s waist as she settles down her lap. “Never. But next time try not to give me a heart attack?” 

“Deal,” Chloe murmurs, bending down to capture Beca’s lips in a searing kiss. 

iv. Ask them what they would do if they were at a party and a hot girl came up to them

“Hey Bec?” 

“Mm?” 

It’s a rainy rainy afternoon, the ones Chloe loves as they don’t have anywhere to be, and she gets to chill on the couch with her favorite person while listening to the rain pelting against the window. 

Chloe’s head is on Beca’s lap as she lies on the couch, reading a book while Beca messes around on her phone. Beca has absentmindedly been scratching her scalp, and Chloe was about to fall asleep when she got a prank idea. She discreetly propped up her phone against her mug on the coffee table a minute ago, pressing record. 

“What would you do if you were at a party and a hot girl came up to you?” 

Beca lowers her phone, peering at Chloe over it. “What do you mean?” 

Bending her knees, Chloe shifts to sit up and faces Beca. “What would you do if a hot girl flirted with you?” 

“You know I don’t know when people flirt with me, right?” 

Yes, Chloe does know. She lost count of how many times she’s flirted with Beca over their four years of friendship pre-getting together without Beca having a freaking clue. 

“Okay, but still,” Chloe clears her throat and straightens a bit from her slouched position, tucking her legs underneath her. “Let’s say you’re at a party, and I’m a random girl, not your girlfriend, alright?” 

Beca rolls her eyes but nods anyway, setting her phone down and angling her body towards Chloe a bit more. 

Chloe props her elbow on the back of the couch and cradles the side of her head in her palm as she smiles softly, getting into character. She reaches out to run the tip of her pointer finger along Beca’s forearm while keeping her gaze locked on hers, her teeth racking over her bottom lip in an over-the-top flirty move. “Hi.” 

“Hey you,” Beca murmurs with a small smirk, leaning closer a little. Chloe swats the back of her head. “Ow! What was that for??” 

“It’s not me,” she reminds Beca as the brunette rubs the spot with a glare. 

“Sorry, it’s just hard to remember that with those eyes of yours,” Beca laughs. “I can’t focus, they’re pulling me in.” 

“Aw,” Chloe beams. She leans in to peck Beca’s lips, raising an eyebrow when Beca pushes her away. 

“Dude, I’ve got a girlfriend.” 

Chloe rolls her eyes, shoving her as Beca laughs. “Touché.” 

v. ask them if they still get butterflies

“Bec?” 

“Mmm.” 

Spring morphed into summer. A hot, sticky and humid summer. The pandemic is still very much a thing, and Chloe can’t even tell you what day of the week it is anymore. To make things worse, their AC is down, which is why they find themselves on the rooftop of their apartment building that evening, laying on a couple blankets as they stare up at the night sky. Chloe misses the hundreds of stars she would gaze at when she was a kid in Oregon, but she sort of finds the steady sound of cars passing by in the street below them soothing. 

Or you know, maybe it’s the joint she smoked twenty minutes ago with her girlfriend that is finally hitting her. 

“Do you still get butterflies?” 

Beca’s head rolls to the side so she can look at her. “Still?” She asks, smirking softly. “They never left.” 

Chloe giggles, shoving her lightly. Beca is known to grow sappy and affectionate when she’s high, and Chloe absolutely loves it. “Dork.” 

“Felt them just this morning when you were singing in the kitchen while making breakfast and almost pinched myself because I still have to wrap my head around the fact that I get to marry you.” 

Chloe does a double-take as she registers Beca’s words. “What?” Her voice is barely there, hidden under the layers of emotions seizing her throat. 

“Well… yeah,” Beca shrugs, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re like, it for me, you know?” 

Moments where Beca splits herself open like that are rare, and they never fail to make Chloe’s heart soar. 

“Are you going to say something Beale or keep staring at me like a weirdo?” Beca eventually quips, chuckling softly. 

Chloe shakes her head a little, then leans forward to push a lingering kiss against Beca’s lips. “I love you, future wife.” 

She feels Beca sigh contentedly as she curls up against her side, her arm wounding around Chloe’s back. “I love you, too.”

vi. sigh loudly in front of them

“What’s wrong?” 

It’s day two hundred something of quarantine. Chloe is bored out of her mind. 

“Nothing,” she whispers, keeping her tone unconvincing on purpose. She’s lying on the couch while Beca sits at the end working on her computer, a Friends rerun playing low on the TV. 

Beca shuts her computer and sets it on the coffee table before crawling up Chloe’s body and settling on top of her. She presses a light kiss to the side of Chloe’s neck. “You sure?” 

“Mhm,” Chloe hums, looping her arms around her girlfriend’s waist. 

“I can stop working,” Beca suggests softly, placing another kiss to her chin, then to the tip of her nose. “Wanna go grab some Chick-fil-A? Then we can watch one of those cheesy rom coms that you like.” 

“M’okay,” Chloe agrees quietly. “Can we just cuddle for a bit?” 

“Yeah,” Beca breathes. “Course we can.” She settles her head on Chloe’s chest, lifting it a second later. “Wait, is this a TikTok thing?” Upon Chloe nodding, she groans. “My reputation is taking a blow with each one of those, you know that right?” 

A giggle bursts past Chloe’s lips. “I’m sorry, your what?” 

That earns her a glare. “Bite me, Beale.” 

vii. wipe their kiss away

“I hate this fucking pandemic,” Beca grumbles as she makes it inside, kicking the door shut with a little more force than necessary. “I hate those Karens who don’t wear masks,” she continues as she hoists her two grocery bags on the kitchen counter. “Scratch that, I just hate people in general.” Beca eventually takes off her mask, heaving out a sigh as she drops it onto the counter. “Finally.” 

Chloe smiles in amusement, walking over to start putting the groceries away. “Thanks for going out, babe.” 

“No problem.” She pecks Chloe’s lips on her way to store the yogurt in the fridge, doing a double-take when Chloe wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “Did you just… wipe my kiss away?” 

“What? No I didn’t,” Chloe replies innocently. 

Beca stares at her, cocking an eyebrow. “Was it not up to your standards or something?” 

“I mean…” Chloe shrugs nonchalantly. “It was just a peck.” 

“Mmm.” She resumes her task, closing the door to the fridge behind her before making her way over to where Chloe is standing, setting her hands on her hips from behind and coaxing her to turn around. 

“What are you--” the rest of her sentence is cut off by a moan as Beca’s lips capture her own. Chloe’s knees wobble from the heat of the kiss, its intensity sending shockwaves throughout her body, all the way down to her toes. She’s left in a daze by the time Beca pulls away, blinking twice in slow succession as she rolls her swollen lips together. “Holy shit.” 

Beca puffs out her chest a little, smirking. “That’s better.” 

Groceries forgotten, Chloe slides her hand into hers and drags her to the bedroom. 

viii. call them your spouse during a phone conversation

“I’m home,” Chloe calls out as she steps inside their studio apartment. She pauses in the doorway, taking in her surroundings. 

Their small kitchen table is beautifully set, two candles lit on each side and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers sitting in the center. Soft acoustic music is playing through Beca’s portable speaker. “Hey, you.” 

“What’s all this?” Chloe asks, smiling brightly as she slings her purse off her shoulder, setting it down. 

Beca approaches, a sheepish smile spreading across her features. “Well… because of this freaking pandemic, we haven’t been out in months, so I thought we could just do a home-date. I ordered from your favorite sushi place, should be here any minute.” 

“Aww.” Shrugging off her jacket, Chloe steps up to place a soft kiss to Beca’s lips. “You’re sweet. And very sexy,” she adds with an eyebrow waggle, taking in Beca’s fancy jumpsuit and hairdo. “I’m gonna go change real quick.” 

Chloe hurries to the bedroom and opens her closet to pick something; she can’t remember the last time she wore a dress, her main outfit having consisted of a hoodie and sweatpants for the better part of the year. Plucking her navy blue, knee length dress out, she changes into it and takes ten minutes to arrange her hair and put on light make-up. 

Beca is on the phone as she steps back out into the kitchen, grinning when Chloe appears. “Yep, got it. Listen, I gotta go, my wife and I are about to eat dinner.” 

Chloe freezes mid-step, her heart stuttering as she registers the term Beca used. 

“Sorry about that,” Beca says once she’s hung up, casting Chloe a smile as she sets her phone down. 

“You just called me your wife,” Chloe murmurs, her eyes shrinking suspiciously a beat later. A gasp follows when it hits her. “Wait, are you TikTok pranking me??” Her gaze quickly sweeps the room. “Where’s the camera, Mitchell?” 

Beca simply grins, shaking her head as she reaches for something in her pocket. “Not a prank, babe.” 

Shocked eyes lifting from the square velvet box nestled in Beca’s palm, Chloe watches as Beca steps closer and lowers herself on one knee. Her heart trips dangerously and she stops breathing altogether. “Bec, you better not be lying.” 

The way she seems nervous all of the sudden tells Chloe this is definitely not a prank. “Chloe--” 

“Yes,” Chloe croaks out, tears pooling in her eyes as her head bobs up and down in a frantic nod. 

Beca’s chuckle comes out strained as she blinks back the moisture in her own eyes. “Dude, let me ask the question at least.” 

“Sorry.” Chloe clamps her lips together and squeezes Beca’s hand to wordlessly let her know she may keep going. 

“Chloe,” Beca repeats, her voice wavering slightly. “This year has been weird as fuck, and the most challenging one yet, but despite everything, I had a near constant smile on my face because of you. You’re my best friend, and the most beautiful person I know, inside and out.” She sucks in a deep breath through her nose, letting go of Chloe’s hand to open the box. Chloe gasps softly at the sight of a simple, yet elegant oval cut diamond set on a rose gold band. “Will you make me the happiest person on earth by accepting to become my wife?” 

“Yes.” She tugs on Beca’s hand, capturing her lips in a searing kiss as soon as she straightens. “I love you so much.” 

Beca grins against her mouth, backing away just enough to seek out Chloe’s eyes. “I love you, too.” 

As she stands there basking in this new, overwhelming wave of feelings, Chloe decides that 2020 wasn’t that bad, after all. 

[ideasaboutpokemon]

Note: I have no idea how tagging someone works on this app, but I’m trying :(

So, I was on Tumblr and I saw someone with the username @prismtowerprincess (they’re awesome btw, I recommend checking them out) and it gave me an idea:

The story of Rapunzel BUT make it Pokémon XY. More specifically, Diodeshipping (Clemont X Ash)

Let me explain.

Basically it’s a rewrite of the Disney film Tangled but in the Pokémon XY universe.

So for the plot, Clemont is the lost gym leader trapped in Prism Tower, locked off to all of Kalos (there are only 7 gym leaders of Kalos because the 8th one went missing as a child and therefore Prism Tower was put out of business) Clemont was kidnapped at the age of 1 and a half by Xerosic (on Lysander’s orders but we don’t know that yet) because he was somewhat prophesied to be some kind of genius that shaped the future of Kalos and Lysander didn’t want that prophecy coming true. Xerosic is manipulative through Clemont’s childhood and convinced him not to go outside, as Xerosic only enters through a window at the top of the tower. To get up, he asks Clemont to let down his HAIR [Handy And Indestructible Rope] which Clemont does ever day without fail. Whilst he accepts his life, Clemont is getting bored of the way his life is since he’s seemingly read every book, worked on every calculation, made every invention, etc. He wants to see the Pokémon made electric shower that happens to fall each year on the night of his birthday, but Xerosic won’t let him, telling Clemont in greatly exaggerated detail about the dangers of going. When Clemont asks Xerosic again on his 16th birthday, he snaps and yells at Clemont, who hides in his room out of fear. Xerosic leaves, and Clemont goes and sits in his closet like he does when he needs some alone time. Xerosic tells Clemont that he’ll get the him a new wrench for his birthday, and leaves to go to the mechanics shop.

Meanwhile Ash is on the run with Jessie and James, who don’t trust Ash but need him for their heists. Whilst Jessie and James like stealing unique Pokémon from Kalos and trading them for money, Ash prefers stealing gym badges. They just stole the only Mega Evolution Stone from Professor Sycamore’s lab, so the professor sends the Royal Kalos Defence Force to arrest them with the chase being led by a Pikachu, who is at first underestimated by Ash and his crew. But after witnessing first-hand the power of Pikachu’s thunderbolt, the trio end up separated with Ash having to fly solo. After complaining that the wanted poster messed up his nose, he spots Prism Tower, and comes to the conclusion that since it’s a gym, he can rob the gym leader there. And since Pikachu is hot on his tail, he has no choice but to climb up and hide. Clemont hears Ash enters the building, ventured out of the closet and knocks ash out with an old wrench, tying him to a chair with his HAIR in a panic. When Ash wakes up, he sees Clemont walking around the room looking highly anxious, and mockingly asks him questions like if he was a boy or a girl due to Clemont’s longer than average hair, referring to him as “Gender-bent Goldilocks” on occasion. Clemont demands to know who Ash is, and naively believes the wanted man when he says his name is “Tom-Ato” Ash asks for the stone back and Clemont says that he’ll return the stone if Ash takes him to see the electric shower. Ash reluctantly agrees, but secretly plans on betraying Clemont at the earliest opportunity. Ash gets Clemont to use his HAIR as a way of escaping the tower rather than letting Xerosic into it, but still, Clemont is terrified. Reluctantly, Ash carries Clemont to an isolated first as the blond haired man is too scared to walk on the floor since he’s never been outside before and when Clemont gets on the grass he runs around in an excited phase. He continually flips between a mood of joy and depression/fear of Xerosic’s response. Ash uses his guilt to try and force Clemont back to the castle, but Clemont refuses. However, he bumps into a Luxray and is scared easily. Whilst Ash is tempted to leave Clemont stuck up a tree he climbed to escape the playful Pokémon, he eventually gives in to his gut and goes to rescue Clem who proclaims his gratitude for “The Heroic Tom Ato” which makes Ash laugh. Clemont eventually grows to trust the Luxray, who joins them on their quest into the centre of Lumious City where the electricity event takes place.

Meanwhile, Xerosic asks Clemont to let down his HAIR, and when he doesn’t, Xerosic grows concerned. With Lysander’s orders to never let Clemont leave the tower ringing in his head, he runs up a hidden emergency staircase, breaks into the tower and is dismayed to see that Clemont isn’t there, as well as the stolen mega evolution stone laying in the closet floor. He pockets the stone and begins using a set of goggles to track Clemont’s footprints. After seeing another set of prints next to Clemont’s he lets out a panicked cry and chases after them, running into Jessie and James along the way. The duo are musing about the lost stone and Xerosic demands they tell him who stole the stone (and Clemont). They challenge him to a battle - if he wins, they tell him everything as well as help him, and if he looses, he gives them all his possessions. Xerosic agrees.

Ash takes Clemont to a pub in order to scare him back into the castle as the people inside all have reputation of somewhat dangerous trainers. When Ash and Clemont walk in, the entire pub turns on them and recognises Ash from the wanted posters. They close in on the duo, and as they’re backing up Ash tells Clemont that it’s not too late to “run back home.” This approach almost works until in a state of fear, Clemont asks some of the people closing in on him if they’ve ever had a dream to follow. One by one the “menaces” in the pub reveal their not-so scary dreams. Brock wants to be a doctor. Misty just wants to be better than her sisters. Tracy wants to be an artist. Serena and May just want to dance and Cilan wants to open up his own restaurant with his two brothers. Ash confessed his dream is to be seen as a champion and Clemont says his dream is to see the electric shower. Ash sees Jessie and James directing an unfamiliar man in a red lab coat (Xerosic) to where him and Clemont are, and panics. He grabs Clemont and they try to escape out of the back, where they are confronted by Pikachu and a squad of Dedennes. Cilan grabs Clemont and directs him and Ash to an underground tunnel that will get them out of there, which the two and Luxray run down before Jessie, James and Xerosic can get in. Unfortunately for them, Pikachu also manages to follow them through the tunnel. Xerosic walks in and demands to know where the tunnel went. One of the people in the pub - Alain - tells him against the wishes of Brock and Misty. Xerosic takes Jessie and James to beat Ash and Clemont to the exit.

Clemont and Ash are halfway down the tunnel when Ash hands Clemont a pokeball. Clemont asks what it is, and Ash revealed that it would be easier for them to travel if Luxray was inside the pokeball. Clemont bolds the pokeball out, Luxray bops it with his nose and is sucked into it, and caught. Clemont is panicking that Luxray disappeared, whilst Ash reassures him that Luxray is safe in the pokeball. As the two get near the exit of the tunnel, it ends up looking like more of a cave and a stone is knocked loose, causing the cave to start flooding. This results in the water blocking their light source and the exit is hidden from view. (I don’t entirely recall what happens in the film here so I’m sorry and this bit might seem a little random in terms of the rest of the plot) Clemont and Ash are at the point of nearly drowning when Ash tells Clemont he’s really Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. Clemont then confesses to Ash that he always takes a few of his inventions with him, and pulls out his HAIR, which when turned on, somehow gives off a little bit of light. The duo realise they can use this to escape, and when they find the exit of the cave, Clemont asks Ash why he lied to him and Ash says it’s because “It was easy.” Pikachu then fires an electroball at Ash, but Clemont takes the hit for him. Pikachu stops attacking whilst Ash looks at Clemont’s injury, which is quite a minor one, and Clemont asks Pikachu to trust Ash just until he gets back to the tower after seeing the electric shower. Ash notes that since Jessie and James were trying to capture both of them, they’re probably enemies now. He blames the stone heist on them and Pikachu relents, joining them on the journey. He sits on Ash’s shoulder to make sure he doesn’t do anything illegal.

Night falls and Ash shows Clemont how to make a fire. When he goes to get more firewood with Pikachu, Xerosic emerges from the bushes and grabs Clemont by the arm. He attempts to drag the lost gym leader back to the tower but Clemont breaks free and yells that he trusts Ash entirely. Xerosic laughs and mocks Clemont, saying Ash would never be trustable as the only reason he tolerated Clemont in the first place. He then dares Clemont to put his trust in Ash and give him the stone to watch how fast Ash would leave him. Xerosic then tells Clemont that he’ll be keeping an eye on him, leaves Clemont with the stone alone in the woods near the fire and disappears. Meanwhile Ash is trying to collect more wood but Pikachu is giving him a hard time. Pikachu seems to question why Ash is doing this, to which the boy has no idea. He says that something in his gut is drawing him to Clemont, but passes it off as an “opportunity”. He tells Pikachu how he feels obliged to take care of Clemont and yet again, passes it off as an “opportunity”. He returns to see Clemont visibly shaken and rushes to comfort him. Clemont then shows Ash some calculations based on the fire he did, but didn’t know how he did them. This amazes Ash who tells Clemont that the science he just did was so amazing, causing the lost gym leader to blush. They basically chat and have joke fights like an old married couple for a while, but neither of them are aware of this due to Ash being dense and Clemont not knowing what love is. Meanwhile, Xerosic is watching from the bushes, plotting how to use this to his advantage. He watched from afar as Ash pulls Clemont into an embrace as they go to sleep under the stars.

The next morning, Clemont prods Ash awake due to being scared of the unknown Pokémon surrounding them. It turns out that it’s actually the Royal Kalos Defence Force to arrest Ash and now Clemont as well. Ash asks Pikachu to help fight them off, and Luxray helps Clemont. They fight off the Dedennes and run into the city where preparations for the festival are being made. Clemont is overexcited at the sight of all the machines and Ash actually walks down a whole street is pop-up stands without stealing anything for once! Telling Clemont that, he takes the lost gym leader’s hand and drags him to the middle of the festival where a man called the Blasekin mask is giving a speech about it being his lost son’s 16th birthday. Clemont tells Ash that it’s his 16th birthday too, which shocks Ash. He buys Clemont a slice of cake to celebrate and the duo spend the day playing in three streets with everyone else. Pikachu and Luxray bond as well, and Luxray asks Pikachu and not arrest Ash. Pikachu says he’ll consider it. Non of the other humans know what the two Pokémon are saying.

During the festival, Clemont starts to come out of his shell whilst Ash is also having fun, no longer thinking of the stone. Clemont meets a young girl who says her name is Bonnie, and she’s the sister of the lost gym leader. Clemont asks what the lost gym leader is, to which Bonnie remarks that he “must’ve been locked in a tower all your life if you haven’t heard of him.” unaware of the irony of that statement. She explains that due to a prophecy, her brother was abducted at the age of 1 and a bit, and taken away from his father. Bonnie then proceeds to explain that after her brother went missing, her mother started to grow ill from heartache. When she gave birth to Bonnie 8 years later, the stress of having a baby drained the life from her, and whilst Bonnie survived, her mother didn’t. Both Ash and Clemont are horrified by this revelation and Bonnie remarks that Clemont’s eyes look like hers. She gives Clemont the Lumiose gym badge and smiles at him. Her father then approaches them, tells her not to talk to strangers, and leads Bonnie away. Clemont starts to cry into Ash’s shoulder as Ash stands there looking shocked. Clemont apologises for his emotions and Ash tells him not to worry about it as everyone feels sad sometimes. To put him at piece, Ash takes Clemont to see the flowers that decorate the memorial of the lost gym leader’s mother, which had a stone with the engraving of “The future is now thanks to science.” Clemont says quote feels familiar to him but he can’t place where from, causing Ash to look at him in confusion. Brushing it aside, he drags Clemont all around town to see all the inventions, all of which intrigue Clemont.

On the night of the festival, Ash says that the best place to see the festival is on top of the Pokémon Centre, but Clemont is scared of the heights. Ash helps him up and they watch the electric shower together. In the climax of the shower, Ash leans in to kiss Clemont for a reason he can’t quite place, but before he can actually kiss him, he sees James and Jessie behind Clemont on a building roof across the street and pulls away to go and talk to them. Clemont then gives the stone to Ash, surprising the their greatly, and agrees to let Ash go. Whilst Ash is gone, Xerosic emerges from behind and tells Clemont to be wary of Ash’s motives. Clemont is confused by this but Xerosic merely says he’ll wait for him by the back entrance to the Pokémon Centre. Ash goes to talk to Jessie and James but is captured by them and tied up by an electric net. They take Pikachu and go, leaving Ash to call for help in a soundproof room.

After Xerosic leaves, Clemont is sat by himself on the roof when he’s grabbed by Jessie and James, who tell him he’ll make them a lot of profit. He pulls himself out of their grasp and runs outside and calls for Ash’s help, to which the duo tell him not to bother as Ash was the one who told them to kidnap him before taking the stone and leaving. They back a resistant Clemont into a corner whilst telling him in detail how Ash said he was pathetic but could be used for other purposes, therefore making him a good trade. Clemont breaks down into tears when hearing of Ash’s betrayal and as Jessie and James are about to knock him out, they are attacked by a Malamar. As they’re knocked out, Xerosic returns the Malamar to a pokeball he’s holding, walks out towards Clemont who rushes to embrace him, and yells him that he’s here so everything will be ok. He puts an arm around Clemont and explains that Ash pretended to love him just to get the stone, which breaks Clemont’s heart. Xerosic leads Clemont home whilst the Royal Kalos Defence Force arrest Ash as well as Jessie and James.

Laying awake in the tower, Clemont is looking at the Lumiose gym badge in sadness when Xerosic sits on his bed. Clemont asks Xerosic why he saved him since Clemont disobeyed direct orders and left. Xerosic tells Clemont that whilst he’s very disappointed in him and will most likely punish him later, he still lives Clemont as “That’s what family does.” Clemont questions how they can be related, to which Xerosic ignores him. Clemont wonders aloud where Ash is now, and to distract him, Xerosic pulls out some of Clemont’s old inventions to remind him that he doesn’t need Ash. Clemont looks closely at his inventions and realise that the Lumiose gym badge has been carved on all of them, like some kind of sign. Rushing to his closet, he pulls out his old notebook, the first page reading “The future is now thanks to science.” He confronts Xerosic about it, using the signs and quote to question why he even knows these things from years ago if he’s only learned about them today. Clemont then questions why he’s so good at inventing as Xerosic never taught him, and reflects on how he shares the lost gym leader’s mother’s eyes. He points out how there was a physical resemblance between him and Bonnie, and how the electric shower happens to fall every year on his birthday. He tells Xerosic that his birthday is the same as the lost gym leaders birthday, which sends Xerosic into a panic. Clemont tells Xerosic with no question that he is the lost gym leader, which Xerosic feebly denies. As Clemont starts to question why Xerosic wouldn’t tell him, Xerosic yells at Clemont that he will never leave the tower. Clemont says that Xerosic can’t stop him, at which Xerosic tells Clemont about lysandres “contingency plan” and proceeds to back Clemont up into a corner. He takes the pokeball containing Luxray and puts it in his pocket, causing Clemont to cry out in guilt et not being able to stop Xerosic taking his new friend. As Clemont is stood helpless, pinned in the corner by Xerosic, he pulls out a phone in front of Clemont and phones Lysander, saying half to Lysander and half to Clemont, “Director, it’s time for plan B.”

Meanwhile, Ash is sat in jail with Jessie and James, and he asks them how they could betray them. They say that Xerosic bribed them, and Ash leaves it at that. As Ash tries to break out, they muse about how they need a cool new duo name when a Meowth walks up to the cell and talks in the human language, shocking the three criminals. He says he heard from people within Lysandres organisation called Team Flare that they were using a new method of confining the lost gym leader to prism tower. Whilst Jessie and James are shocked that this Meowth knew where the lost gym leader was the entire time, Ash realised that Clemont is actually the lost gym leader, and that he’s in danger. He begs the Meowth to break them out, to which the Meowth replies “Back up’s outside.” As he breaks the cell open, all of Ash’s new friend from the pub help break him out. Pikachu jumps on Ash’s shoulder, and Ash realised that Pikachu got the people from the pub to come break him out! He thanks Pikachu, and together they rush off to prism tower to help Clemont escape from Xerosic.

When Ash gets to prism tower, he asks Clemont to let down his HAIR, which is lowered quickly. Ash climbs up the rope only to be met with the sight of Clemont in chains with a gag around his mouth, trying to tell Ash to flee. Xerosic creeps up behind Ash and stabs him with a dagger, causing Clemont to cry out in guilt and Ash to tell in pain as he falls to the ground. Xerosic tells Clemont that this is his fault and proceeds to drag him towards a secret trapdoor leading to an isolated basement that Clemont didn’t know about. Clemont is resisting this and eventually manages to get the gag to fall from his mouth and hang around his neck. He then tells Xerosic that he will never stop trying to get away unless he lets Clemont use his invention to save Ash. Xerosic reluctantly agrees and unchains Clemont, who frantically rushes to Ash’s aid whilst Xerosic watches from by the trapdoor. Ash asks what the invention does and Clemont explains quickly that is would patch up the wound. Ash then asks how much it can be used, to which Clemont replies “only once.” As the lost gym leader aims at Ash’s wound, Ash deliberately knocks the invention as Clemont pulls the trigger so that the invention fires at Xerosic instead, causing is body to freeze over in some kind of cocoon. As his face freezes over, the last this he addresses to Clemont is “What have you done?!” He drops Luxray’s pokeball causing the Pokémon to come out. Pikachu then runs up to him and with Luxray they both aim a powerful thunderbolt star Xerosic’s comatose from gyre, causing it to break into small pieces, effectively killing Xerosic. Clemont is too caught up sobbing into Ash’s chest to notice - he asks Ash why he sacrificed himself for him, to which Ash merely replies that “science is so amazing” As Clemont accepts that he’s going to loose Ash for good, he leans in to kiss Ash, to which Ash responds by putting his lips on Clemont’s. Suddenly, Clemont’s glasses light up and like he suddenly pulls out an old fabreze. Using different components from around the room, in less than 15 seconds, he manages to convert it to a “Heal my love-inator” and applies it to Ash’s stab wound. As the bleeding stops and the wound disappears, Clemont tells Ash that they need to get to a Pokémon center now. Ash says he feels fine, which surprises Clemont greatly. Ash asks Clemont how he knew how to do that to his invention. Clemont replies that honestly has no idea, and Ash kisses him again, causing Clemont to blush. He backs away, telling Ash that they can kiss after Ash is patched up by Nurse Joy. Ash says that he feels completely normal, and describes Clemont’s new invention as some kind of “super-duper max revive potion!” which causes Clemont to blush. Clemont reveals that he had no idea what he was doing, which amazes Ash even more. Clemont then goes to look at the remains of Xerosic, trying not to cry. Ash then takes Clemont and his HAIR, saying that he’s free to go and live his life now. Cutting the HAIR apart, Clemont says that he has no use for it and begs Ash to take him around the world because after being locked up for so long, he wants to know what he’s missed out on. Ash then says that there’s somewhere they need to go first.

Ash takes Clemont to the professor’s lab, at which Clemont is completely star-struck. Hearing the duo, Professor Sycamore emerges with Meyer and Bonnie in tow, to which Bonnie says hi to Ash and Clemont again. Professor Sycamore asks them who they are, and Ash merely replies with “So, I kinda stole your stone but I brought it back as well as someone else.” Clemont nervously approaches Meyer and holds out the Lumiose gym badge, saying quietly, “I think I’m your son.” Meyer looks down at him and simply responds with a hug, causing Clemont to blush and Ash to start crying quietly. Bonnie looks at Ash in confusion, and he just mutters “Shut up.” Professor Sycamore says that since the lost gym leader has been found, they can reopen prism tower since it’s been out of use since Clemont was taken as a baby. Clemont just looks at Ash and tells the room that he never wants to step foot in prism tower again, which is why he’ll build a replacement gym leader called Clembot. He also suggests that to celebrate the purpose for him meeting Ash, he makes mini electric showers for Pokémon like Pikachu and Luxray. Meyer explains that those Pokémon are called “electric types” to which Clemont says he wants to know everything about them. Taking his boyfriend by the arm, Ash says that there’s plenty of time for that, and tells Clemont to get ready for the world. As they leave, Professor Sycamore remarks that it’s the world that should get ready for Clemont. Bonnie asks Meyer, “What did the prophecy say again?”

As we see Clemont and Ash on their journey together, we hear the background narration of what the prophecy says, told by Meyer’s disembodied voice. He says that “On a dark summers night, all that is innocent and promising shall be lost. At the other side of the year after many have gone, it shall be found again. The nature of that which has been concealed shall rise to the occasion and bless Kalos with scientific discovery both great and little. A champion shall rise by his side, and together they shall take the world in electric storms, bringing knowledge and prosperity to wherever they go.”

The voiceover changes from Meyer’s voice to Lysander’s voice who closes a book containing the original written prophecy. Shaking his head, we see him walk around prism tower, kneeling by the remains of Xerosic as he sighs to himself. Standing up, he faces away from the camera and says to nobody in particular; “Oh Xerosic, your efforts still remain in vain. I suppose if you want anything done right, you have to do it yourself.”

The end.

That’s pretty much my idea. I wrote it on Notes so I apologise if the text format looks a little weird. I know the plot is a bit rough in some places but please bare with me: I am by no means a writer and merely had the idea in the heat of the moment when I saw the username. Thanks to @prismtowerprincess for the inspiration :) I know this idea probably sucks, but this is just an idea. Hopefully you like it :)

[toweroftickles]

DISTRACTIONS (Frozen Tickle Fic)

Requested by @sapphicsierramist !

Work, work, work; nothing but work.

That’s all Elsa did.

She sat in her study at the polished oaken desk, writing with her long brown quill. Every day was like the other. Early morning sun from the massive wall-sized window stroked the right side of her face. The queen of Arendelle had barely woken up for the day...her braid was loosely tied, her periwinkle nightgown fluttering around her bare ankles...and she was already scribbling her way through mountains of royal decrees. Next to her, antsy as ever, sat her sister.

Anna’s cheek rested in her left palm and her face settled into a dull, emotionless stare. But Elsa didn’t even seem to notice.

“And therefore as we the people of...no, the community...of Arendelle......must....convene....” Elsa muttered under her breath, barely audible. Like all tiny repetitive noises, her whispers danced around in Anna’s eardrums until they seemed loud enough to shatter boulders.

“You still talk out loud when you write?” Anna blurted.

Elsa’s concentration broke, and she frowned.

“It helps me organize my thoughts,” Elsa snapped defensively. “....I don’t HAVE to.” She returned to writing, a bit more self-consciously.

Anna rolled her eyes and rocked in her seat. She tapped her fingers against the desk, and against the unsigned property treaties in front of her. She played with her tied-up hair, twirled her own feather pen in between her fingers, and even picked her nose once or twice. But nothing relieved the boredom.

“UUUUGGGGHHH; come on, Elsa. If I have to read one more of these things my eyes are going to pop out. Let’s play a board game.”

Once again the snow queen snapped out of her work-induced trance.

“Anna, please, we have a lot of these to go over! We can goof around later, but this is important,” Elsa sighed frustratedly.

Anna was downcast. Since their reunion, she had hoped that Elsa would loosen up and have fun again. But all their time was occupied by the endless tedium of governance and paperwork. She’d simply traded Elsa’s locked bedroom for another, less-physical one.

Her tongue involuntarily clicked to the rhythm of the nearby wall clock...something which visibly began to annoy Elsa. The queen kept pausing and stumbling over her words when Anna clicked.

“And...this celebration of....rrrrg...this celeb shall be...ugh....a highly...a highly...gah!....A celebration of a highly relished fart! ....ART!”

Anna burst into giggles. Elsa blushed.

“Please stop doing that,” she moaned.

“Oh, cheer up! Being a queen is supposed to be fun.”

“Anna, I want to have fun with you but we’ve both been given so many responsibilities! Can’t you grow up a little?”

Elsa returned to her work. Anna pouted and wiggled her feather on the end Elsa’s nose.

“Gah, stop it! You have work of your own to do!”

Frustrated, Anna stood up and stepped away. All she wanted was to make her sis smile. Then she looked down.

Beneath Elsa’s chair, her bare feet rested on their toes and swayed back and forth over one another. They squirmed and wiggled as the busy queen tensed up. As Anna glanced at the long, thin feather in her hand, a big grin stretched across her face.

Without making a sound, Anna flattened herself against the crimson carpet and crawled forward on her belly until she was just behind her sister’s chair. She had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. It had to be a surprise attack. The tip of the feather wiggled in the air as she reached forward, until finally, it made contact with the arch of Elsa’s foot.

Elsa gasped. Something felt funny. But she shook it off and kept writing.

No real response.

Anna wiggled the feather again. Harder this time.

“G-HAH!” A sudden laugh burst out of Elsa. She looked horrified. “Anna, what are you doing?!”

“Heheh-Heh; you can’t get away now!” Anna giggled and grabbed Elsa’s right ankle. The queen’s pale skin always felt so cold to the touch.

“Anna, please don’t. Leave me alone,” Elsa stammered.

“Ok...I won’t leave you alone!” Anna immediately began to stroke her sister’s sole with the feather.

Elsa’s whole body twitched. But she couldn’t let Anna get to her. Maintain composure, she told herself. If she could just focus on her documents, she was sure she could ignore the tickling.

“Hooooo...At this next juncture in our history, we as countryhee...we m-hust...mmm...we mhuhust....!” Elsa jumped in her chair and covered her mouth. The feather caressed her heel, her arch, her toes...it tickled so bad. Having been locked in a room for so many years, with so little contact and such little outdoor life, Elsa’s skin was smooth, unscarred, uncalloused, inexperienced...highly sensitive to touch. She couldn’t pry her ankle from Anna’s grip.

Keep writing. Keep writing!

“Wheee must join together and remain f-hirm in our values. As a country uhundergoing a sh-hift in regiheehime...!”

Elsa buried her face in her hands and bit her lip, desperately trying to contain the helpless giggles bubbling up in her tummy.

“Come oooonnn; I know you’re ticklish right heee-errrrrrre...” Anna teased in a gratingly sing-songy voice. The tip of the feather danced around on Elsa’s bare foot, stroking the tender spot just below her toes. It was all the Snow Queen could handle.

She struggled. She fought valiantly. But she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Ha-Ha Ha-Ha Ha-Ha! *gasp*Ah Ha-Ha Ha-Ha Ha! Ahanna! Ahanna, stop!”

The drawback to such a husky, melodious voice...in Elsa’s mind...was how well it carried. When she laughed, she was sure the entire palace could hear her, and this notion embarrassed her to no end. She blushed.

“Heheh! Cootchie cootchie cootchie cootchie cooo!” Anna giggled excitedly.

“L-hee...leave my feet alone, Ha-Ha Ha-Ha!” By this point Elsa was doubled over against her desk, her ticklish toes desperate to escape. Her feet wiggled and kicked, but her right ankle was held still by Anna’s iron grip, and that feather was relentless. “Aha-Haha Ha-Ha Ha! I c-han’t...I can’t!”

Suddenly the tickling stopped.

Elsa gasped for air, still overcome by giggles. She fanned herself with her hand and tried to catch her breath. But in doing so, she didn’t notice Anna standing up behind her.

“You still feel like goofing off later?” Anna giggled. Snapping like a crab, Anna pressed her fingertips into Elsa’s sides and wiggled them furiously.

“Ha-Ha Ha-Ha Ha! Heehee! Cut it ou-hout! STOP!”

A wave of snow and icy air exploded out of the queen’s quivering frame, and without warning, Anna was thrown back 15 feet onto the floor.

But far from being hurt, Anna could only laugh hysterically. It had been so long, over a decade, since their last tickle fight. For all the changes, it was nice to know that she could still make her big sis lose control.

Suddenly Elsa’s head snapped around, and her eyes glinted with burning ice. Her scowl could have melted Marshmallow. Her breathing was heavy, labored, like an angry bull. It slowed. Anna’s playful demeanor vanished as she retreated into herself, overcome by visions of what punishment awaited her. She backed up on her hands, prepared to run from some expression of icy wrath.

But to her surprise, Elsa’s frown became a wicked smirk.

“So that’s how you want to play, huh?” From behind her, Elsa’s right hand emerged to reveal its own long quill, which she wiggled menacingly in the air.

Anna panicked.

“Wait...no....nonononono; NO....”

But it was too late. Elsa had already dived on her sister and pinned her to the floor, and her sharp fingernails dug their way into Anna’s tummy.

“AHH!! Heehee-Heehee Haha-Haha Ha! No fair! No fahair!”

“No fair? Oh, it’s not funny anymore, is it?” Elsa giggled.

“Heehee-HEE! Heheh, Heh; Haha-Haha Ha! Ah! Ok-hay, ok, I’m sorry!”

“Sooo, is this still your weak spot?” Elsa poked the sharp stem of her quill just to the side of Anna’s belly button.

“GAAAHHH, Haha-Ha! *gasp* Whoa-hoho; not there not there not there! *squeak* Ha-Ha Ha-Ha!”

“Hmm....ok! Let’s try something else.” With that threat, Elsa spun around, still sitting on her sister’s knees, and pulled off Anna’s green slippers.

“Wait wait...I lied! Go back to my belly!” Anna giggled. Despite her protests, she was having fun.

With one hand, Elsa began to viciously tickle Anna’s soles with her fingers. With the other hand, Elsa sawed the feather quill back and forth between her toes.

“AAHH! *squeak* HA-HA HA-HA! *gasp*Heehee-Haha Haha! St-hop, stop!”

“Cootchie cootchie coo!”

As the sisters laughed and wrestled, they were interrupted by an unexpected guest...a knock at the door.

“Your highnesses?” It was the voice of a soldier.

They froze perfectly still, and didn’t even need Elsa’s magic to do it. In a flurry of panic, the princess sisters straightened their hair, pressed wrinkles out of their gowns, slipped on shoes. Anna spit on her index finger and even made a half-hearted attempt to brush her teeth with it. Elsa pretended not to notice. 20 seconds had passed, and the door creaked opened.

“Um, yes?” Elsa said in as official a tone as she could muster.

The guard before her coughed awkwardly.

“The, um, the visiting royal family of Corona has arrived early. They’ll be at the castle within 5 minutes.”

“Oh! Ok, uh, well, show them in and give them a tour, and we’ll be down to entertain them in a few minutes.”

“Yes, your highness.”

The door shut with a loud click. Elsa looked back at her sister.

“Alright, enough horsing around. Get going so I can get dressed,” she laughed. Anna eagerly skipped toward the door.

“So I won, right? I totally won.” Her freckled smile could have lit up the room all on its own.

“Oh, get out,” Elsa replied, opening the door.

Instead of obeying, Anna simply stood there and gawked. Both sisters were visibly trying not to giggle, each wondering if the other would slip up first.

Anna didn’t wait for fate to decide. She jabbed her finger into Elsa’s tummy and then ran out the door like a shot.

“AH! Heheh!” Elsa yelped and reflexively bent over. By the time she steadied herself, Anna was already halfway down the hall.

“Oh, you’re gonna get it now!” Elsa chased after her sister, both of them laughing like little girls, the halls echoing with their reminiscing and their joy.

And so the day marched on.

These two are so cute though 😆

[internalsealpanic]

Cosmonauts

Summary: You always call Tim space related nicknames. No one knows why.

A/n: This is technically a follow up to Art Gallery Smile but it can be read on its own. This was posted on mobile so Idk how bad it got formatted. Will edit when I get to my laptop.

Warnings: mentions of panic attack and anxiety. No graphic detail but just in case. (Yes, I gave Tim anxiety. Fight me.)

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

“IT WAS ZOMBIE ADJACENT,” Roz protests, shoving another one of Tim’s fries into her gaping maw in a vain attempt to stop the petulant pout retching its way to her lips. You roll your eyes hard enough that your entire head follows along with their movement, taking a nibble of your own fries. Roz scowls, mouth twitching the way yours does (4 times to the left and 4 and a half times to the right) it was honestly the only way to tell that you two were related in any shape or form. 

“It wasn’t even close, you deep-fried stick of margarine,”

“It shambled, didn’t it?”

 

“So does Space Case over here when you don’t funnel enough caffeine into his system, what’s your point?” You bite out leaning back, slinging your arm over the back of the bench and over Tim’s shoulder making his breath hitch. Tim can feel his skin heat up. For once, he’s thankful for just how much Roz hordes your attention.  He’s starting to run out of excuses for the color of his cheeks. Not that you ever fell for any of it from the way you hummed every time he stammered out his excuse. 

 

Based on the way your hand flexes and not so subtly moves away, you noticed his flush but made no comment. Instead, you grin- all sharp teeth and cocksure and smug bastard- leveling your older cousin a look which roughly translated to ‘Checkmate, motherfucker’. Despite his apprehension, Tim can’t help the smile that twitched on to his lips. Your eyes flickered to him. It might just be his imagination but Tim was pretty sure he saw fondness chip away at your smug grin. Tim kind of wants to lean into your arm but instead, he leans forward pretending to pay attention hiding his smile in his hands. His face is gonna get tired from smiling too much around you. 

"It wasn't even close,"

"It was freaky looking,"

"Damn woman, you're being real judgy there,"

“Back me up here Duckie!” Roz screeches, shoulders hiking up making her look like a frazzled cat about to hiss pulling Tim away from his reverie. You roll your eyes all the way to the back of your head while Steph just snorts. Tim sighs. None of you have stopped calling him ‘Duckie’ or ‘Ducktective’ after that stint of being ‘Drake’.  Admittedly, it wasn’t his best idea but you didn’t have to laugh that hard and slap your knee. When you were done laughing, you vehemently protested the name change by wearing your precious, well-kept, one of a kind Red Robin hoodie for the duration of the ‘Drake’ thing. You had said it was to bring him back to his senses (sense of fashion).  Maybe you just wanted to fluster him. He certainly couldn’t put it past you. It worked. Oh, it definitely worked. Now, all he could think about was how nice you looked in his colors which inevitably lead him to think about how nice you would look in his shirts, in his clothes- Damn it. He’s doing it again. 

Roz clears her throat. It is loud and rough and it makes all of you wince despite the already loud atmosphere of the cafeteria. Really what does Roz expect him to say? One, Tim wasn’t fully paying attention. How could he when you two are smooshed together on a cramped cafeteria bench with you still wearing your Red Robin hoodie? Tim’s surprised he isn’t keeling over. Two- 

 

“See! Even our darling-” Tim’s brain short circuits. “Space Cadet can’t even defend your bullshit,” you laugh reaching over to Roz’s drink leaning a little too close to Tim’s face. He can almost feel the heat radiating off your skin. 

 

If I lean in just a little more, I could probably…

 

“It isn’t bullshit!”

 

“You’re right! Bullshit has more substance-”

 

“Sooooo, what’s with all the space nicknames for Tim? When do I get one?” Steph asks casually, popping another of Tim’s fries into her mouth. 

 

Has he even eaten any of his fries? It’s almost gone and he’s eaten at most one.

 

You choke making a pained noise, likely due to said carbonated drink going into your nostrils (and possibly your lungs), as you turn away. Your neck visibly red from where Tim is sitting. Based on the sparkle in Steph’s eyes, she can see it too. A manic grin spreads on Roz’s face wide enough that Tim legitimately worries that it’ll split her face wide open. A shrill sort of giggle escapes her which has you whipping your head to her direction to scowl at her. It does absolutely nothing to deter the sheer glee on her face as she sneers back to you. Some secret conversation passes between the two of you. Tim and Steph watch in slow motion as mortification creeps on to your face. 

 

Suddenly (not really), Tim’s thankful that his only sister is practically a saint. At least compared to the horror that is Roz. 

 

Actually, now that he thinks about it, you have a plethora of space-themed nicknames for him when you aren’t busy calling him whatever endearingly aggravating name Steph came up with that week. 

 

Cosmo

 

Space Case

 

Space Nuts

 

Rocket Man

Martian Manhunter

 

ET

 

Marvin (the Martian)

 

And your favorite, Cosmonaut.

 

At first, he figures it was because of his obsession love for Star Wars and Star Trek but no, that couldn’t be it since you had started calling him that long before you two ended up marathoning the entirety of Star Trek instead of working on your project. He can still remember just how engrossed you looked while watching as you hugged your knees to your chest leaning forward as you waited for the next episode to start up with bated breath. Your features highlighted by the glow of the laptop screen making it very easy for Tim to memorize the contours and angles of your expression. Yet another moment Tim really wanted to capture with a photo. You even did your mouth twitch thing without noticing.

 

 He really wanted to just keep an entire album of all the different expressions you made. Wait. That sounds weird. Does it sound weird? It probably does.

 

 Then again, maybe you called him those because of just how much of a weirdo he was. He couldn’t blame you if you did. But he found that highly unlikely. Sure, you can be mean at times (a lot of times) but you were too oblique for that. Years in customer service made sure of that. Your jabs were usually of the subtler, more needling variety. The type that makes you pause for too long.  Plus, you said every nickname with a fondness that made his heart skip a beat. It was like when you called Roz or Steph ‘Fucker’. Maybe a little warmer. Or he could just be imagining that. Probably. Hopefully not. It was hard to get the honey-sweet way you said them out of his head.

 

Maybe they were just jabs. Lighthearted one. They could have just had easily been comments on just how much he spaced out. Tim has a tendency to live in his own head and it shows especially when he’s stressed or tired or both. Sometimes he would completely shut down as a result of excess anxiety. He can still remember the number of times he had let his anxieties run rampant letting them drag him away from the moment. His breaths were too quick to back then. He felt like he was gonna faint but then you just smiled at him like you were there for him which as it turned out you were. You gently squeezed each segment of his fingers until his breaths slowed. Even when he did fully calm down, you didn’t relinquish his hand. You held them firmly in your own even as you looked entirely unsure of what to do and what to say. You didn’t whisper the usual ‘you’re ok’ or the classic ‘you’ll be fine’. No, you just sat there with him quietly. Letting his feelings ebb and flow as he needed them to. 

 

Tim really isn’t sure what he did to deserve even knowing someone like you but he would do it again and again if it meant being able to stick close to you. 

 

Roz, ever the agent of chaos, throws a conspiratorial smile around the table like a flail. You look like you’ve been hit by one.

 

“Sorry, Steph. You won’t get one,” she says glancing at you. Steph pouts before she and Tim follow Roz’s gaze expecting you to glower or snarl or get up to deck her. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. You just kind of sit there frozen and mortified with a face that simply says ‘Oh. God. This is happening.’. All you can really do is mouth a ‘fuck you’. This obviously pleases Roz. Say what you will about Roz, but there is abso-fucking-lutely no denying that she is petty as hell when it comes to revenge. Nothing is sacred to this woman. Nothing.

 

“Why’s that?” Steph asks innocently, smiling around her bendy straw also enjoying this rare chance to torment you. 

 

“I’m so glad you asked!” Roz answers her voice twisting into a horrifying facsimile of a daytime talk show host. You peel your arm away from the backrest and place your arms over your head and neck as you do in an earthquake drill bracing for impact. By the way, you were shaking, you’d think there was an actual earthquake. Your reasoning can’t be that stupid. 

 

“My dear Stephanie-” Steph scrunches her nose at the overly sweet tone Roz lathers on her name but makes no move to interrupt. “(y/n) only uses space-related nicknames for people they think are- and I quote- ‘waaaaaay outta their league’,” You let out a pained groan and Steph’s face unfurls as she lets out the loudest snort, loud enough to draw the attention of several tables around them. 

 

Tim’s mind is still reeling, still trying to process what Roz just said. 

 

Him?

 

Out of your league? 

 

Excuse him, isn’t it the other way around? 

 

What the hell? 

 

“Tim, for the love of Alfred, please unhear that,” you plead wetly, parking your head out just enough for Tim to see just how red your face has gotten. “God, please unhear it or I might just die,” Tim kind of didn’t doubt that you would. Steph somehow laughs even louder at this. Roz, not one to miss pouring salt in the wound, laughs along with her. You look like you wanted to implode out of existence.  You could certainly try but Tim seriously doubts the universe is kind enough to let you escape. 

 

Yeah, Tim’s brain has officially left the building. He’ll be back at 9 o’clock sharp tomorrow. Promise. 

 

“You mean to tell me that-” Steph chokes, unable to control her laughing fit. “-You’re telling me that you’ve been watching them pine for each other for over a year now and you just let them?!” Steph wheezes still holding her stomach.  

 

Roz looks offended and makes a whiny little noise. “Weeeell, technically I offered to wingman-”

 

“YOU WERE GONNA CHARGE ME FIFTY BUCKS,” 

 

“Hey, matchmaking is hard,”

 

“It isn’t worth fifty bucks!”

 

“You’re right! It is worth so much more,”

 

“God, I hate you,” you groan into the table. 

 

“God can’t help you now, kid,”

Tim frowns, mind backtracking to dissect the information. Apparently, his brain decided to clock back in. 

 

They knew. Even Roz ‘I don’t give a shit what you do as long as it doesn’t affect me’ Andrada, noticed. Was he that obvious?

A year? Wait. No. Over a year. They knew about this for over a year. 

Lastly, what do you mean each other?! As in mutual? Mutual pining? 

As if reading his thoughts, you ask “Wait… what do you mean each other?”

 

Roz blinks at you not entirely sure if you’re being funny. When you give her a look, she slumps back in her chair. “I’m related to a dumbass,”

 

“That you are. Speaking of dumbasses-” Steph whips her attention to Tim giving him a shit-eating grin.”-You said you were waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask (y/n) out, right?” Steph waves her hands doing jazz hands as she points at your still dumbstruck figure. She’s smiling as if she was the world’s best wingman at the moment.

 

 Tim suppresses a groan. “This isn’t exactly how I pictured it,”

 

Roz reaches into her pocket and produces a lighter. Grabbing the last of Tim’s fries and lighting it. “There. Mood lighting. Do the thing.”

 

“Ah yes, because surely the scent of burning potatoes is gonna sweep (y/n ) off their feet,”  Tim said flatly crossing his arms. He knows he’s definitely focusing on the wrong thing but as with all things it was easier to procrastinate. This is especially true when you’re afraid of the outcome.   

 

Roz huffs, waving the fry to extinguish it and muttering something about beggars and choosers. “Trust me kid that isn’t hard to do. Besides, did you not hear the part where I quoted (y/n) about you being ‘outta their league’,” You open your mouth to protest but slam it shut when Roz gives you a lopsided grin looking like she had a mountain of dirt on you which she likely did. He was definitely thankful that she has never met his family. He’s pretty sure Gotham wouldn’t survive. 

 

“How could I possibly be out of (y/n)’s league. I- I don’t- I mean- I’m not-”

 

Your body twists his way fast enough that he’s sure you either have whiplash or a twisted spine. Your eyes are set on him glowering as if he’d said something wrong. He’s pretty sure he didn’t although he did have a talent for putting his foot in his mouth. Your jaw is set tight, your teeth almost grind. He could see the tight hitch in your shoulders. He is 100% sure you’re going to deck him. 

 

“Do you want it listed alphabetically or what?”

 

“What?”

 

“Structure it like an argumentative essay. Speak nerd.” Roz instructs, earning her the full force of your glare. Your face pinches even more. Maybe this was the part where you implode. 

 

You suck in a calming breath before turning back to Tim. 

 

“Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, you are a fucking moron, and here’s why:” Taking another breath, you turn to face him fully your cheeks reddening but you press on either from pure unadulterated spite or determination. 

 

“You quite literally co-run a multibillion-dollar corporation. You’ve been doing that since you were seventeen apparently. You know several languages and you are not only fluent but proficient. You’re well versed in an insane amount of fighting styles. You are the smartest dumbass I know-” 

“Preach!” Steph jokes. 

 

“-You can basically operate any machinery I put in front of you. I have no doubt you can Macgyver one up if you fucking wanted. You could hack into any system you want just as a joke. You could probably throw the entire global economy into the toilet just for shits and giggles. Need I go on?”

 

Tim looks at you wide-eyed and speechless. You shrink a little as he continues to gape at you but you keep looking him in the eyes daring him to refute your claims. Really what was there to say? As much as he wants to come up with something witty to snap back at you, his chest is too crowded with warmth from the absolute sincerity of your voice. He knows you didn’t set out to make him fall deeper in love with you but he feels like he’s in free fall with your gravity pulling him downwards. Tim can feel the heat rising to the tips of his ears. 

 

You shrink again, your mouth twitching. “I-” Another calming breath. “I said too much. But my point stands!” The infinitesimal gap he felt between the two of you practically vanished. Still, he could do nothing but stare. Words fail him in the most inopportune moments even when you look so desperate for any kind of response.  You swallow thickly looking like you think you’ve ruined everything when the fact was you haven’t. Quite the opposite really. Tim feels like he could take on the entirety of Gotham’s rogue gallery right now. Still, his brain was drawing a blank. 

 

“Mood,” His brain has short-circuited and is now beyond repair. His palm is in his face before he even sees your reaction. You give him an entire speech about how great he is and all he can say is ‘mood’. Looking over at Steph and seeing her phone on her hands, he can tell she’s already transcribing the events to the group chat. Well, It can’t get any worse. 

 

You giggle snort eyes slamming shut from the force of your laughter. Joy suffuses throughout your tense body, loosening your tense muscles. “Thank you for proving my point,” you say between gasps.  

 

Tim falls victim to the infectious smile spreading on your face. He feels the warmth crowding his chest grow fuzzy. 

 

Now’s your chance.  

 

Tim takes a steadying breath. He rolls his shoulder back to straighten his posture. He waits for you to calm yourself a bit. When you do, he asks as confidently as he can “Are you free this Saturday?”

 

“No,”

 

Oh crap. He knew he screwed up. He feels cold seep into his feet.  

 

You shake your head at his panic. “I work Saturday, ET,”

 

“Oh, I-”

 

“I have all of Sunday off though,” A hum of excitement spreads through his limbs. “Name your time,”

 

“9 AM?”

 

You give him a look roughly translating to ‘You aren’t going to lose sleep over a date, so help me’.

 

“11:30?” He corrects. You smile and hum seemingly making the oxygen in the atmosphere disappear. He finds that he doesn’t mind, not when he feels like he’s floating on zero gravity. 

 

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

Bonus: 

 

Steph: Tim’s a dumbass😌🙃

Damian: Thank you for stating the obvious, Brown. 

Step: 🙄 Do you wanna hear about it or not?

Dick: 👀We’re listening…

Steph: (Y/n) made this whole speech about Tim and all Tim could say was 'mood' cycgu9c8ychic8td 5d8fcouv9ygpuv

Jason: F

Duke: F

Cass: F

Babs: F

Dick: F

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Thanks for reading!!!!!

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