#unable to enjoy anything

[mightnotfeelrealbutitsok]

why homesickness why?? i forget it exists and then i leave the company of my family and for 48hrs+ I am mentally and physically debilitated

[bunnieswithknives]

I feel bad for neglecting Hazel so much, I do have many thoughts about her.. and also a mermaid au that im probably not going to do anything with

[anglerflsh]

[characters co-written with @sheerunfilteredhubris]

More of them

[sapphire-to-the-rain]

a spooooky devil crystal :)

HELLO GI <3 i come bearing spooky devil crystal !!! just as requested!!!

(and thank you so much for the luck with my midterm tee hee)

[karleksmumskladdkaka]

DIABOLIK LOVERS CHAOS LINEAGE Vol.3 Orange

Translation: Upcoming, and as always by courtesy of my buddy @otomehonyaku! Links will be added as soon as they are available ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

Audio: Here (CD owned by me). Please do not reupload anywhere.

Starring: Ruki Mukami (CV: Takahiro Sakurai), Shin Tsukinami (CV: Shōtarō Morikubo), Ayato Sakamaki (CV: Hikaru Midorikawa), Kanato Sakamaki (CV: Yuki Kaji)

Plot: After being held captive first in the Scarlet mansion and then the Violet mansion, "Eve" has managed escape into the forest, where she encounters Shin, a member of the Orange family. Desperate to get away from her captors and the purported dangers of the forest, "Eve" asks him if he knows of a safe place she can go to. Shin offers to hide her in the Orange mansion, and "Eve" accepts, following him to his home. There, she soon meets his brothers: Ayato, Kanato, and finally Ruki, the eldest and head of the family. It quickly becomes apparent that Shin lied about the mansion being a safe place for the poor girl, who has now, if not precisely jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, at the very least entered an equally perilous situation as the ones she's just escaped from...

Word to the wise: Use headphones. The noises these guys make as they suck Yui's blood can at times get a bit...intense.

My Thoughts: Aside from being slightly surprised that Shin got more lines and focus than his "brothers" (he's the only one that appears in every track), this CD gave me more or less what I anticipated: Ayato and Kanato being disruptive and rebellious; Shin telling them to "obey Nii-san"; Ruki effortlessly seducing both Yui and me; and, of course, plenty of bloodsucking.

I found the interactions between the Orange "siblings" pretty entertaining. Kanato fighting Ayato off with a bottle of shampoo, of all things, was not something I ever expected from this kind of Drama CD XD. I do feel sorry for Ruki, though – the amount of property damage the others must cause on a daily basis must be a headache to deal with. The fact that these boys feel the need to kick in locked doors rather than, y'know, teleport through them says a lot about their needlessly destructive tendencies. Gotta make a dramatic entrance I suppose? lol.

Getting back to Ruki (my favorite thing to do, tbh), I thoroughly enjoyed his portions of the CD. The scenes where he and Yui interact definitely did not disappoint ⁄(⁄ ⁄ ⁄ω⁄ ⁄ ⁄)⁄. I really appreciate the writers for saving the best Ruki's bloodsucking scene for last; his voice and the sounds he makes when he sucks blood always have me  _(´ཀ`」 ∠)_.

[pkmn-smashorpass]

blaziken will always be special to me cause after I had a car accident, holding onto my tiny blaziken plushie made me feel safe enough to get into a car again, so I'd say Blaziken has already smashed me, in my heart.

YOURE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE ME CRY ON THE POKÉMON SEX BLOG 🥺

[pikkish]

For as much as I love Doom, I think we can all agree that modern Doom's writing is a bit of a dumpster fire of questionable choices and TAG especially so. So,

I'm gonna play Dark Ages when it comes out, and probably even enjoy it, too, but boy, do I have next to no faith that they're not gonna somehow totally screw over the story they themselves already established...

[jorrated]

My inability to stop reading/ watching something whenever I really get into may be a blessing in studies. But it absolutely will ruin my life in anything else

[introspectivememories]

touch-starved bernard dowd is sooo canon to me

[ladykyriaa]

Ah. So THAT'S why everyone's losing their mind over the 5th volume

[sinfulsunni]

👀💖 (pairing is up to u 🙌❤️)

send me an emoji combo and I’ll write you a little nsfw ficlet!

hehe okie this one is public sex 👀 + praise kink 💖 featuring some Sprizzy and a side of Izzy/Crew! :)

this one uh. this got away from me a little bit.

- ♥️ -

“Are you sure about this? You can still call it off at any time.”

Spriggs - no, Lucius - whispers close to Izzy’s neck, a question meant only for him. Izzy suppresses a shiver at the feeling of warm breath against his skin, and shakes his head.

“I’m sure. Fuckin’ wet already, check if you don’t believe me,” Izzy grumbles, face flushing. Lucius chuckles and Izzy blushes harder.

“Don’t worry, I’m getting there. Just promise me you’ll tell me if anything feels wrong.”

“I promise,” Izzy affirms.

“Good boy,” Lucius smiles, and presses a peck to Izzy’s cheek, right over his tattoo.

Izzy shudders at the praise, his chest heaving as his heart starts to race in anticipation of what’s about to happen.

When he finally manages to bring himself to look up from his kneeling position, a dozen pairs of eyes are looking at him. More specifically, the crew of the Revenge, minus the captains. They’re arranged in a crescent moon shape in front of him, most of them sitting or kneeling on the deck, and all staring at him intently. Izzy feels his pulse skip at the sight of them.

His audience.

Having all those eyes on him, as Lucius slowly starts to unbutton his vest from behind, should feel wrong. It should be humiliating, perverse, like he’s just a cheap whore putting on a show. But it isn’t. Somehow, the only thing he can feel is… safe.

And horny, his dick reminds him as Lucius’s hands slip underneath his shirt. That too. Safe and horny. It’s an electrifying combination. His cunt throbs in his leathers.

His heartbeat seems to echo through his entire body as Lucius pulls off more and more layers until Izzy is completely exposed. The cool air hits his hot, aching cunt, and a shudder runs through him.

“Gosh, aren’t you gorgeous,” Lucius murmurs fondly. He runs his hands over Izzy’s scarred back, gently massaging his shoulders, and Izzy’s already melting like butter in his hands. He spreads his knees involuntarily, earning a few intakes of breath from his audience. A spark of strange pride and excitement flutters in his chest.

“Isn’t he so pretty, everyone?”, Lucius says louder, addressing the crew this time. He strokes a single wooden finger down the side of Izzy’s face, smooth carved wood grazing over rough stubble.

The crew doesn’t make him wait for praise. Immediately, Izzy hears several small sounds of agreement, and sees a few of them smile in a way that can only be described as adoring. Who would have thought anyone could look at Izzy Hands with adoration?

“Qué hermosa…”, Jim breathes, staring at Izzy in a way that makes him tremble. “Un muy buen chico.”

Izzy doesn’t know Spanish, but he understands enough to flush at the words. That low, warm rasp of their voice… their dark eyes trailing down his naked body…..

“Yes, he is very good isn’t he,” Lucius agrees. “Are you ready to show them how very good you are, darling?”, Lucius asks, hands trailing slowly down Izzy’s chest.

Izzy barely manages to breathe out his consent before he’s desperately stretching up to meet Lucius’s lips in a hungry kiss, eagerly opening his mouth to grant him entrance. The heat goes straight to his core, pounding through his body in tidal waves of arousal, making him shake.

All at once he feels like he’s loose in a storm, tossed about by the sea, completely at the mercy of this man and his honeyed words. Lucius pulls himself around to face Izzy properly, bringing both hands up to cup his face as he kisses Izzy deeper, hotter, unraveling him.

Izzy feels splayed open, pinned like a butterfly for display, more naked than he’s ever been and more alive than he’s ever felt.

“God you’re so good, you’re so fucking good, you’re just made for this aren’t you,” Lucius gasps into his mouth in between kisses, suddenly sounding almost as desperate as Izzy.

His touch turns almost frantic as he pulls Izzy into his lap, exploring every inch of skin with his hands, raking his nails through silvered chest hair. He tweaks a nipple and Izzy gasps.

He loses himself in Lucius’s touch, almost forgetting about his audience until they break apart for breath and Izzy finds himself shaken by what he sees.

The crew. His crew. They’re all just… looking at him. Looking at him like - like he’s -

“You’re beautiful.”

Lucius whispers the words into his skin with a kiss, soft as sea foam. His hands are trailing lower, lower, chasing the heat between Izzy’s legs.

Beautiful. Beautiful. The words echo in Izzy’s head like a chime, like a song that’s lifting him up, making him gasp and roll into Lucius’s touch. The crazy thing is, he believes it. It makes him feel mad, but right now, he fucking believes it.

He chances another glance at the crew, and his heart soars in his chest as he looks at them. They’re beautiful too, he realizes. They’re all so fucking beautiful. He wants them, he wants them so fucking much. All of them, anything they have to offer him. He wants to be held, and kissed, and touched, and praised, he wants them to whisper a dozen sugar-sweet promises to him and he wants to believe it, he wants them to bring him to his peak again and again and again and he wants to make all of them feel good too.

Lucius’s fingers tease over his cock, sliding down to collect the wetness between Izzy’s legs, just how he promised to before.

“Tell us what you want, Izzy. We’re gonna take care of you.”

Lucius’s beard scratches against Izzy’s collarbone. The sun is warm on the back of his neck. The hushed sound of the ocean is a soothing lullaby in the background.

“Everything,” Izzy says. “Give me everything.”

- ♥️ -

thank you for reading! this will be posted to my ao3 as well <3

[chaoticwholesome]

my workaholic ass is finally instead just sitting down all cosy and watching Gravity Falls, can i get a hell yeah

[dontmindme2600]

The Gravity Falls website is so cool if middle school me saw this she would be losing her SHIT

Edit: entering all the character names is so fun lmao

[icharchivist]

I think you said Siete and Lucanis would get on fine but would Solas like him?

Actually, also, do you think you could leave Lucanis and Solas in a room together or would they be at each other's throats?

Solas and Lucanis?

They do interreact in late game so i have a few ideas about that.

Contains Veilguard spoilers, and unfortunately some negativity about it too:

Mainly esp with a romanced Lucanis, Lucanis wants to kill Solas for what he did to Rook. So huh. Well. That's already not exactly a stellar start. Though he does say that if Rook wants to spare Solas, he will follow Rook's desire -- but if Solas even endanger Rook even once, Lucanis will not hesitate to kill him.

Meanwhile Solas feels a lot of pity for Lucanis. Both Lucanis AND Spite were forced into cohabitating and Solas comments that it's a horrible thing to inflict over two souls. He even offers that, at the end of all things, he could separate them if they wanted. Both Lucanis and Spite refuse on the spot because not only they came to an agreement, but they don't trust him. Not after what he did to Rook. And Spite comments that all he smells over Solas are tears and lies.

(Solas was responsible for the thing that got Rook locked away for a few weeks, and if Solas' plan went according to him, Rook wouldn't have been let out. Lucanis mentions that he cannot bear the thought of losing Rook and those past few weeks are hinted to have been agonizing for him. So even outside of just "you hurt Rook" i think the fact he felt like hell for a few weeks also makes him want to kill Solas. He does fall back on revenge a lot, especially while fuelled by a Spite demon.)

Before that, i'd have to rewatch the Solas regrets scenes to refresh myself on Lucanis' feelings about it but i think i recall Lucanis being a bit more on the understanding side? or maybe i'm projecting.

But i think Lucanis would understand where Solas is coming from but he can't accept the cost or the means to get there. He always saw what a threat Solas could be, and after he hurt Rook this was done and over for him. I think Lucanis will remain hostile because he's good at holding a grudge.

One thing the game never really mentions but is from the books is that Lucanis genuinely goes out of his way to get revenges for slaves and free them. I always thought it would be relavent to connecting with Solas or not because like. The extreme Lucanis goes through to punish slavers and anyone who enable them should be something Solas would connect to. In the same book we see Solas ruthlessly punish slavers as well. As per the books, i think the two of them would actually relate and understand each other a lot. and i think Solas would like the extends in which Lucanis is ready to go to free slaves outside of his orders.

In a way both Solas and Lucanis were forged to become weapons by a matriarch figure in their lives. Solas just eventually rebelled, while Lucanis still is loyal to her, even though he breaks away from it to disobey and free slaves. And i think it's like. In the Books, we have kind of this built up of how Lucanis is more like when Solas was still young, still in the service of Mythal, yet still unable to look away from the misery of people.

And they're both pretty mellow people. They're understanding and listens to others a lot. They have their share of hyperfixation. I didn't pick the option but i think Lucanis also doesn't like tea so it makes them bond on that.

But at their core they are freedom fighter who had been molded into giving death only. Solas broke free from it. Lucanis didn't but he disobey when he can.

The game....... doesn't really touch on that. In fact it barely even touch on Lucanis' complicated feelings toward Caterina despite being a perfect foil to Solas being molded by Mythal to be who he is. .... the game also pretty much just makes Caterina a loving Grandmother, which is understandable bc she has been missing Lucanis when he was gone for one year, but therefore makes nothing to address the very complicated dynamic in the Dellamorte family as it is hinted in the book.

If their storylines focused more on that, i feel like they would see more of each other into the other, or at least Solas would see himself in Lucanis, because i don't know if Lucanis is self aware enough to really understand the depth of the abuse he went through with Caterina.

And the problem with Veilguard imo is that, while i love the storyline and i love Spite, focusing all of Lucanis' struggles on Spite leaves no room to actually address the deep root of his trauma (i mean there's Illario but. I think overthinkers can manage to tie the plot back together but the game itself will do very little effort to dive deeper into how it plays on both their CPTSD.). Lucanis has both CPTSD and PTSD. CPTSD because of the Crows, and PTSD because of the experiments made on him the past year. The game only really dive into the PTSD and the way it intersect with the CPTSD when you free him from PTSD prison -- but it does very little to address the CPTSD. Which i get because this would be long and hard (but the ending of this quest makes it very bitter to me), but is definitely something i have to take into account here.

But as the game goes... I don't know i think i still need to get my thoughts more sorted about it, i had years to really dive into Lucanis' story in the book and only a month to think about his story in the game, i'm clearly not on the same level of depth here, and the bait and switch with Spite means i didn't pay enough attention early on -- which is why i'm replaying it too!

And there's also the whole.... The thing is that i think if you take the book AND game together, an idea of them together, you could get something extremely compelling about the Benevolent but Abusive Matriarch That Formed You Into A Weapon, and the Betrayal Of Those You Considered Brothers. Like i feel like if they bothered to show more about the Felassan betrayal in game aside from the revenant, there could be some introspection and elements of Lucanis putting himself in Felassan's place after Illario's betrayal. There is a concept, right here, ready to be explored, that is... just not enough invested in, and wouldn't even be something you'd bother to pick up if you hadn't read the books and read Lucanis' complicated feelings about Caterina and the depth of his bond with Illario, when the game made the two of that... very one dimensional without the context.

But Spite makes things a bit difficult. Still Solas would see that it's two souls being bound, and he detests this idea. He detests the inherent slavery, he detests the way it is altering the both of them. But he admires that they managed to make it work and he admires that Lucanis gave this opportunity to Spite as well, as humans and non mage are rarely this opened to Spirit possession and understanding.

But yeah ultimately i think the difference, especially in game, is that Lucanis is more driven by his personal feelings than the bigger picture like Solas is. So Lucanis will hold grudge over how Rook was hurt regardless of the bigger picture. And while Solas CAN get petty and arrogant with someone who is hostile to him, he's less so when he agrees he's in the wrong, and he does agree it was horrible of him to do that to Rook, so he's been withstanding Lucanis' anger. That said Solas would get rid of Lucanis if Lucanis stood in the way of his goal.

So like.

I think pre-Rook betrayal they could stand in a room together and be cordial with each other. they'd be wary of each other and have difficulties being nice, but they are professionals. They won't start fights for no reason.

(unless Solas would address the inherent slavery of the Crow system but Veilguard kinda retconned everything about it so what is there left to comment on. where is slavery even in Veilguard.)

but Post-Rook betrayal Lucanis would have a dagger out the whole time. He'd be glaring daggers. And Solas can't even be mad because he knows he has every reasons to be treated this way. If Rook tells Lucanis no, Lucanis will behave, but he will make clear he won't forgive Solas and that he's ready to kill him if he does anything wrong. If Rook does nothing, Lucanis will just keep to whatever he would have promised about it before. But if Rook is mean to Solas you can be sure Lucanis will go "AND ANOTHER THING" supporting his lover while making sure Solas feels like shit and knows the dagger is ready to go to his throat anytime.

so huh.

that's my take away. I think.

[puhpandas]

Take Me Home 1, 2

(to see new chapters release, sub on ao3 :))

(3227 words)

When Cassie wakes for the second time, it's not with a pounding head and limbs as heavy as iron. No. This time, her awareness of the world rolls in smoothly, and all she feels when she wakes fully is faint buzzing throughout her body.

She revels in it; the fact that theres no pain. She doesn't think too hard about why, she just shifts, moving to stretch her limbs, but hisses when going to move her arm sends a wave of soreness pain up her arm.

She grits her teeth, yelping and suddenly re-entering the world fully when the pain throws her into alertness.

Her eyes shoot open, and she moves to sit up in bed, heart racing when all she can remember is last being in the dark, dingy, falling apart Pizzaplex, but she calms when all she can see is someone's bedroom.

"...Huh?" She mumbles, her mind still not having fully caught up to her yet. She glances around the room, painted a pale blue, with furniture tucked against the neighboring walls and flowing curtains covering most of the sunlight filtering through the window, a light breeze ruffling them.

Movement catches her attention in the corner of her eye, and she glances over just in time for Gregory to snort awake, eyes trailing across her, not really seeing her, until they blow wide in recognition.

"Cassie!" Gregory exclaims, rushing to stand up from the position he was in where he had been sitting in a chair, laying his head in his arms, hunched over on the bed. "You're finally awake!"

Cassie feels her heart warm when she realizes that Gregory had been waiting for her to wake up by her bedside, never leaving her prescence. Long enough for him to fall asleep. Her heart slows to a normal rate when she sets eyes on him, immediately feeling at ease, and she breaths a deep breath, shifting to sit up more and allowing Gregory to help her when he rushes over.

She hisses when the movement jostles her leg and arm, and she finally takes a good look at them, realizing that at some point, in her sleep, her cardigan had been taken off, leaving her in her button-up, and her shoes and socks had been discarded, leaving her in her dark purple tights and shorts.

Gregory notices her staring at her foot, which is propped up on a pillow, peeking out from under the thick comforter, with some sort of makeshift splint made from cloth wrapped around the ankle.

"We had to improvise." He informs her, that lopsided grin Cassie'd always see in her dreams and on her homemade missing posters stretched on his face. "Ness cant exactly take the chance of getting involved with authority."

Cassie furrows her brows, her mind still kind of foggy from her -what she guesses- long sleep. "Ness?"

Gregory perks up. "Oh. It's a nickname we use for Vanessa a lot. Y'know, that blonde girl that was with us in the pizzeria?"

Cassie nods in recognition, remembering her blonde ponytail with rainbow streaks. "Yeah, um... how exactly did--"

She gets cut off when the door clicks open, and speak of the devil. "Oh, you're awake." Vanessa peeks her head in the room, a smile on her face when she sees Cassie sitting up and awake. "We were just making dinner, and I wanted to see if you were up."

"Um..." Cassie trails off. "Dinner?" She settles on.

Gregory senses her uncertainty, and settles a hand on her shoulder. "Vanessa's makin' chicken alfredo. And since you're awake, now you can finally eat."

Her stomach rumbles as if on queue, and her cheeks redden. Gregory has no problem laughing at her. "How long has it been?"

Cassie tries to think. "A few hours before you came and got me, since I ran to the Pizzaplex as soon as I got the message. So... that plus however long I slept for."

"Eighteen hours." Vanessa supplies helpfully.

Cassies eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. "Eighteen hours?!" She exclaims.

Gregory laughs, and Vanessa just looks at her with a crooked smile that reminds her of Gregory's. "Yup. You were exhausted physically and emotionally, and were injured, kiddo. The fact that you slept for so long checks out."

Gregory giggles. "Remember when we first got back, you slept for twenty-one."

Vanessa rolls her eyes. "I think I had a perfectly good reason to sleep the whole day away. Unlike you." She points two fingers from her eyes to Gregory. "Its not my fault you have the same amount of energy as a hyperactive dog."

"You mentioned a dog! So is the dog talk working?" Gregory asks, smugly. "Come on, Ness. Just concede. Its only a matter of time before you cave."

Cassie just watches, unsure of what to do when Gregory and Vanessa talk. Theres a grin on Gregory's face, not one she's used to. Not like the mischievous, pointed ones when Gregory was brewing something up, or the slight, hopeful ones, when Cassie would talk about when they got older, and she and Gregory could work towards getting a car and finally being able to give Gregory a life where he doesnt have to worry, and they can just live. Just a few more years, they'd always say.

This one is easy. Its gentle, with no kind of edge to be detected, and it looks so right on his face. It doesn't look forced, it doesnt look rare. Cassie can tell just by looking that Gregory has smiled like this often, and hes been allowed to be used to it. To smile without the quirk of worry.

It warms Cassies heart, to see that theres been change. But it also hurts.

Because he'd been away for so long, and although Cassie is so, so glad to have him back, she can't help but wonder why he never reached out to her. If he'd been able to smile so easily like this, while she couldn't muster one at times, too empty from his absence.

"I can barely take care of you and Freddy, kid." Vanessa points out, and Cassie is thrown back into reality. "And now I got another destroyed animatronic to fix and another kid. Not even mentioning a dog."

Cassie gasps, big and sudden at Vanessa's words. "Roxy!" She exclaims, and she winces when her voice rasps, and her dry throat burns from dehydration. "Roxy! Where is she? Is--Is she okay?!"

When Cassie starts to shift, arms moving to roll the comforter off of herself and somehow leave the bed, Gregory and Vanessa both rush to gently push her back down.

"Its okay, Cassie." Gregory says in that soft voice of his where it feels like it's only reserved for Cassie. "Shes in parts and service. While you were asleep, we wanted to fix her up a little, so we took turns watching you and fixing Roxy up."

Cassie feels the tension melt off of her body when she hears that Roxy is here, and has been fixed a little, but she still furrows her brows in confusion at 'parts and service', because are they not in a house right now?

Cassie can see Vanessa roll her eyes and go to explain. "He means that shes in one of the spare rooms we use to work on animatronics." Vanessa tells her. "We used it to build Freddy a body, and once Freddy started calling it parts and service, Gregory jumped on it, and it just stuck."

Cassie nods slowly, taking in the influx of information that she cant fully sort through right now. "So thats why Freddy didnt have a head."

"Do you want to see her?" Gregory asks. "Roxy, I mean. I'm suprised she hasnt barged in here already. I had to fight her to get her to trust me and Ness enough to work on her and watch you."

Cassie smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. Because Roxy is so worried about her, and Cassie is happy that she cares, but shes upset that Roxy and Gregory are so hostile towards eachother. "Yeah. Um. I would like to see her."

Gregory nods, and smiles. "Kay. She wont look the exact same, since I tried my best to restore her some, but at least she isnt about to fall apart."

Vanessa leaves the room with a curse, and Cassie ignores the slight burning smell coming from outside the door. "...Okay. Just... when you get her, can we have some alone time?"

Gregory nods, halfway out the door. "Okay. Sure. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay." She says, and then Gregory is gone.

Cassie breathes deep, playing with the frayed edges of the comforter when theres nothing else to do. She can hear the clattering of kitchen utensils from further in the house, and hushed voices.

The silence stretches further in her room, and when Gregory doesnt return, not right away, Cassie can feel her chest tighten, and something grip her lungs.

She breathes harshly through her nose, and notices how her hands begin to shake slightly.

Something grabs at her chest, something akin to panic, feeling like a giant hand and squeezing.

Gregory. Is all she can think about. He said he'd be right back. Where is he? He shouldn't have been gone this long, right?

Have I lost him again?

She squeezes her eyes shut, trying really hard to keep still, to keep calm, but her brain is jumbled, like its tied itself in knots, and all she can think about is how Gregory isn't here with her.

She has half the mind to get up, to tear through the house to search for him, to make sure she hasnt lost him again, that she wont have to look for him again. But one look at her ankle thats wrapped in cloth and she knows it isnt possible.

She makes a pitiful noise, breaths huffing out of her mouth now, short and heavy, and Gregory hasnt come back yet, and she cant do a thing about it.

It's only when Gregory pops his head back through the door, nudging it open with a creak that Cassie is ripped away from her thoughts and actually realizes how much shes panicking.

Gregory steps inside, a smile on his face, mouth open ready to speak, but it drops right off as soon as he sees Cassie.

Cassie cant find it in her to speak when Gregory rushes over to her, asking if shes okay. Her brain feels like its fogged over, or like its signal is blocked, and she cant think enough to respond to his questions.

All she can do is reach out to him when relief overwhelms her, enough for tears to slip past her lashes, and Gregory pauses in his rapid fire questions, seeming to understand something.

"I'm here, Cassie." He tells her, getting on the bed with her. He let's her wrap her arms around him and squeeze him as much as she needs when she moves to. "I'm not leaving again, okay? I'll be here with you. Nothings going to take me away from you. You arent going to lose me."

Cassie relishes in the reassurance. It reaches past all of the fog into some part of her brain, and it's like hosing down a wildfire. Her breathing slows down as she soaks up the feeling of Gregory right here, with her, and not going anywhere.

The panic that gripped her heart loosens some, and shes finally able to breathe, breathing deep breaths when Gregory does too.

"Sorry." She says after a moment, wiping at her eyes. "I dont... I dont know why that happened. I, um..."

"Separation anxiety." Gregory says, and Cassie startles. When shes finally able to unfuse herself with Gregory enough to look at his face, he has a knowing, serious expression on his face. "I had my rodeo with it, too... me and Freddy didnt have too good of a time with it."

Cassie furrows her brows, and it feels like she has ten thousand more questions added to the pile to ask, but Gregory stops her before she can speak.

"I'll tell you another time, okay?" He says, gesturing to the door where Roxy stands, waiting patiently for someone who was, when she last checked, willing to rip apart the guy Cassie just hugged to death. "Just... I promise I'll help you with it, okay? I dont think I'll be too different from you, after trying to reach you all night, and also..."

His eyes glaze over some, looking like a thousand different memories are playing over them, but he shakes it off, offering one more smile. "Itll be fine, okay? I'm gonna go make you a plate, cuz I think dinners ready, and you can talk to Roxy. Sound good?"

Cassie doesnt know what's wrong with her, because she almost tears up again at Gregory's words, because hes being so kind, and so understanding. She shouldn't be surpised, she guesses, Gregory had always found a way to catch her off guard with kindness when she'd been so used to being brushed off or disliked.

She nods, smiling back ag him, and he offers a thumbs up, moving past Roxy and shutting the door behind him.

It's only now that Cassies able to fully pay attention to Roxy, and she gasps, almost not recognizing her.

Before, she hadn't had anything resembling a face. Just her endoskeleton skull exposed due to broken casing. But now, she somehow has her face casing back. The colors are a little off, and it looks dusty and unused, but she looks like herself. Her last remaining strands of hair are fuller now, some new strands added. They've been shifted, too, styled to look adjacent to her old style, just shorter.

Her body isnt much different, one of her arms has its forearms back, a bright, clean purple compared to her filthy leg warmers, and she has her other foot back, just a larger size and different color.

But the most prominent change are definitely the eyeballs, glowing blue LED's, stuck securely in their sockets.

Cassie laughs disbelievingly, joyously, putting her hands up to her mouth with a wide smile.

"Roxy!" She exclaims. "You have eyes again!"

It's only now, when Roxy laughs along with her, that Cassie realizes her voice box has been replaced, too. Cassie laughs even more when Roxys voice filters through, sounding happy, instead of angry, no warbling or static to be found.

Roxy heads to her bedside, and shes walking much more surely, now. Not like her long, wide strides, always careful to not collide with something. She sways from side to side, ever confident in her looks.

"How do I look?" Roxy asks, fluttering her eyelashes now that she has some again and fluffing her new hairdo up with her hand. "The brat gave me a makeover."

Cassie giggles. "You look beautiful, Roxy."

"I know." Roxy says, but then turns her attention towards Cassie. "How are you doing, Speed racer?" Roxy asks, voice soft. "That elevator couldnt have felt good."

Cassie shakes her head, gesturing to her splinted arm and ankle. "Nope, but... Gregory and Vanessa fixed me up pretty good. I'm not hurting that much."

"I'm glad." Roxy smiles, because she can now.

It's just Cassie and Roxy, now. And like with Gregory, everything she'd been feeling, all the thoughts she'd been having all bubble up to the surface, and now that everyones here, and safe, she just wants to get it all out.

So Cassie furrows her brows, and goes to tell Roxy I'm sorry, I didnt want to, I shut you down and you still saved me, why? But before she can, the door clicks back open, and Gregory steps inside her room, balancing two plates on his hands.

"Dinners ready." He tells her, smiling, and Cassie doesn't know why shes suprised when after Gregory hands her her own plate, he crawls up on the bed with her.

So she doesnt voice it. She just smiles, a big, wide one, but still small and soft.

Vanessa walks inside the room with her own plate, and Freddy, looking everything like the home-built animatronic he is, follows behind her, extra pillows and blankets in his arms.

"I was thinking we have a movie night." Vanessa says, sitting in the same chair Gregory was when she first woke up. "Better than you having to sit in here bored, right, kid?"

Cassie nods, and her mouth waters when she catches a whiff of the chicken alfredo sitting in her lap.

Gregory snatches the remote from Vanessa, holding it away from her arms when she tries to take it back. The TV in front of them that she just now notices is in the room comes to life, Disney+ appearing on screen.

Gregory hands the remote to Cassie when Vanessa finally gives up, and shes able to pick the movie, putting on a happy, animated movie, where all the characters have their happy endings and nothing bad really ever happens.

The chicken alfredo was delicious, and they sat in her makeshift room, pillows and blankets built up like jenga around her to make her as comfortable as possible for hours, laughing together.

Cassies cheeks hurt by the end, and although shes so thrilled after hanging out with Gregory again, just having fun together like they used to, she cant help but notice that Roxy was really quiet the whole time. Really quiet.

Cassie doesnt think shes very good at reading animatronics yet, not like Vanessa and Gregory seem to be able to with Freddy, but Cassie cant help but feel like Roxy wasnt really able to relax this whole time, and shes surrounded with people she feels unsafe with.

By the end of it all, when the suns long set and Cassie feels tiredness drag her eyelids down, she cant rest, even when Vanessa's retired to her room, Gregory's left, and Roxy and Freddy went to parts and service.

She feels the same panic as earlier grip her heart. It's not like a panic attack; she's had a few of those, it's more like any chance of relaxation has left her body, and all that's left is feeling tense, on edge, and like something bad is going to happen. Like Gregory isnt going to be there when she wakes up.

But she needn't have worried, because it isnt too long until Gregory re-enters her room, wearing pajamas and Roxy and Freddy plushies clutched in one hand, with a night light in the other.

"This helped me and Freddy when it'd get bad, too." Gregory explains, tucking the Roxy plushie into her own arm as he lays down with her, clicking the night light shaped like Sundrop on. "That way, you can see me if you get scared that I'm gone."

Cassie can't put into words how grateful she is, or how glad she is that Gregory's back, and that she finally has him again, so she just doesn't, even though she wants to. Instead, she just clicks the lamp off, and when she lays down, wraps her arms around his middle.

Once Gregory is pressed up against her, with her forehead against his collarbone, and she can feel his slow, calm breaths, she feels relaxed. She finally feels herself slip into dreamland, and has no nightmares.

2nd ao3 link

[mariocki]

Infinite list of favourite lyrics: 229/?

Bobbie Gentry - Ode to Billie Joe (1967)

"And Papa said to Mama, as he passed around the black-eyed peas:

'Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense; pass the biscuits, please.

There's five more acres in the lower forty I got to plow'

And Mama said it was a shame about Billie Joe, anyhow.

Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge

And now Billie Joe McAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

[...]

"Mama said to me, 'Child, what's happened to your appetite?

I've been cookin' all morning, and you haven't touched a single bite.

That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today

Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday - oh, by the way

He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge

And she and Billie Joe was throwin' something off the Tallahatchie Bridge'"