#unfortunate and i really wish i had made different choices before this. but i don't have any control over that so there's no use

[coquelicoq]

usually i don't have any problem not thinking about work when i'm not getting paid to do so, but i made a big mistake earlier this week and spent five hours today dealing with the fallout and still have not managed to resolve it, and when i clocked out it was actually with this vague dread about leaving it unsolved instead of relief that it's finally the weekend. like it's bad that it's the weekend because it means i have to stop working on it?? wow. gross.

[anna-hawk]

L'étranger

Frank Castle x f!Reader

Summary: You decide to hit a bar after one hell of a day at work and meet a man who's willing to listen to you rant away. As the chemistry seems to build between you, you choose to be bold and ask him to come home with you. He doesn't give you what you want, but ends up giving you what you need.

Rating: Explicit 🔞 // WC: 5,9k

CW: PWP, sex as stress relief, bj, finger fucking, soft and emotional sex, first meetings

A/N: this is based on my current work life. I just wish I could meet Frank that way too 😅. Also, the title means "The Stranger" in French.

Read it on AO3

Stumbling through the doors of the first decent bar you found after leaving your job, you made a beeline for the counter, desperately needing a glass of wine or beer. Or whatever. You weren’t picky tonight. You threw yourself onto a free bar stool, slapped your purse onto the counter with a resounding smack, and uttered a large and miserable half sigh, half groan. 

“Sounds like someone had a day, huh?”

You tiredly glanced to the side and caught the sight of the man the voice belonged to. Absently, you thought to yourself that you’d at least managed to sit down next to a good-looking guy. The sharp jaw, broad nose and wide shoulders definitely did it for you. Unfortunately, you were too exhausted, mentally and physically, to really take more note of him right now. Instead, you stared at him with half open eyes and a flat expression. At his lopsided smile and expression of genuine concern, however, you huffed out a bitter laugh that transformed into another one of your long sighs.��

“More like month.”

The man cringed in commiseration and lifted his hand for the bartender to get his attention.  

“Hey, man, serve the lady whatever she wants and put it on my tab, yeah?” 

Your eyes widened in surprise at his words.

“That's really kind of you, but you don't have to,” you said softly, waving a hand around. 

“I know,” he replied simply, but shrugged in a way that clearly stated that he was still doing it. 

You stared at him for a second while he took a gulp of his beer, observing his profile. And what a profile it was. You weren’t in the mood for dealing with a man trying to hit on you, but this guy wasn’t showing you more than genuine kindness. 

“Thanks,” you finally said, giving your order to the waiting bartender. 

“Don’ mention it,” the man smiled, inclining his bottle of beer towards you. 

Silence fell, but you could see him watching you out of the corner of your eyes, contemplating you as you pulled out your phone and put it on do not disturb. You refused to be bothered by anything from work or anything else for that matter. You muttered darkly under your breath as you saw the text in the most recent notification for your job’s group chat, but chose to ignore it. They could deal without you for the next two days. 

“Wanna talk about it?” The man asked tentatively right when your drink arrived. 

You gave him an amused side eye and took a long sip of your drink, groaning in satisfaction at the taste.

“I don't wanna bore you with my shit, but thanks for asking.”

You weren’t blowing him off, but really didn’t think that he’d be interested in listening to everything that was bothering you. 

Apparently he figured that he wasn’t the issue, since he shrugged. “I don't mind. Not a lot I can do, I guess, but if you just wanna rant at someone, go ahead.” 

You laughed at the suggestion and sighed deeply, turning towards him with your head tilted to the side. 

“Oh, you're not ready for this.”

He smirked and faced you as well. “Try me anyway?”

You stared at him for a while, considering him, but he only looked back calmly. Before you knew what was happening, you were talking.

“It’s my job… My manager is retiring in the next few weeks, and the guy replacing her is the worst choice the higher ups could have ever made. He comes from a different field, knows jack about what we do, and trust me, it’s not the past month he spent with my manager while she trained him, well, tried to at least, that will teach him everything he needs to know. It’s just impossible. She always has so much to take care of, and I don’t think that he realizes it yet. And if at least he was putting in the effort and showing us that he wants to do well, that would already be great, but he doesn’t. He keeps putting the blame on other people or the system or whatever whenever something isn’t working, or he messes up. He’s all fake smiles and laughs, but he complains about everything. It’s a nightmare. The thing is, he isn’t the only one at fault. The general manager handpicked him because she knows that she can control him, something she couldn’t do with my old manager. Our office is kinda far away from the headquarters, and we always did great work without anyone’s help. I’ve been working for that company for fifteen years, and my coworkers and I felt that everything was flowing pretty well, even if we knew that the company has more flaws than good sides. Although the salary isn’t what I’d love it to be, I love my coworkers, and the job itself is fine too. But now, with the manager gone, we all suddenly realize just how much shit is going on behind the scenes and what might happen to us. They tried to bribe us by giving out bonuses, but only to certain people. It was all supposed to be hush-hush, y’know. The people getting the bonus weren’t supposed to talk about it, but that’s not how we work. So instead of making us happy, it made us more angry. Not at each other but at the higher ups. Why would some of us get a bonus and others wouldn’t, when we’re doing the exact same job? That, and don’t get me started on how they’re basically kicking my old manager to the curb. She gave thirty years of her life to that company, worked her ass off, spent hours upon hours working so the job wouldn't transform into a giant shitshow. Her work ethic is incredible, and the higher-ups don’t seem to realize just how much she brought to the company. My guess is that they’ll have a rude awakening once she’s officially gone and everything is going to come crumbling down around us.” 

You paused, sighed explosively, and drank down the rest of your drink. 

“Well, shit,” the man said with raised eyebrows. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. These people really don’t sound like they deserve to have you or your coworkers puttin’ all that effort into the company.”

You scoffed as you stared into your empty glass. 

“You bet your ass they don’t,” you muttered sourly. 

The man chuckled at your vindictive tone, which had your lips pulling up on one side. 

“Hey, man, can we get a refill?”

You lifted your eyes to find your stranger addressing the barkeep and waving a hand over his beer bottle and your glass. While the barkeeper nodded and started on the drinks, you smiled ruefully as your seat neighbor turned his attention back on you, your heart squeezing at the soft smile he sent your way. 

“Thank you,” you whispered, ducking your head. 

“No problem,” he replied in a low tone. 

After a few seconds of silence, you realized that he was still watching you expectantly when you looked at him again. He chuckled at your expression. 

“Somethin’ tells me there’s more.” 

You laughed, loudly and with a wave of relief washing over you. Talking to him was lifting a giant weight off of you, as if getting the words off your chest had been more necessary than you could have ever imagined. His grin was wide as he watched you laugh, which had your stomach warming at the attention. 

“I wanna quit,” you started before pausing briefly and watching the barkeeper bring your drinks. You thanked him and took a fortifying sip. The drink you chose wasn’t too strong, since you just wanted to take the edge off, so you weren’t even really tipsy now. You definitely felt more loose, though. “I’ve thought about changing careers for ages. I don’t mind my current job as it is, it has good and bad points, like any job, I guess. So I’ve put my actual dream career to the side for years, focusing on staying financially stable instead. But now, I realize that I don’t wanna stay in that fucking company. I just can’t, you know? I can’t work ridiculous hours for a barely decent salary anymore. The thing is, I can’t just up and quit like that. I’d lose all the benefits I got over the years, and getting the degree that I need to be able to do what I really want costs money. So right now, I’m still checking out my options, but if the CEO doesn’t agree to let me go with my benefits, I don’t know what I’ll do.” You shook your head miserably and swirled your drink around in the glass. “Going into work and being stressed has been part of the job since day one. But mostly, it was never in a bad way. Especially lately, because I know my job, and I’m good at it. Now, though… When I’m going in, I feel pure disgust and contempt for the people employing me. I’m just so… done.”

You finished with a long breath, your anger simmering down after getting it all out, leaving you with mostly frustration. Your face suddenly grew hot as you realized that you’d basically word-vomited in front of a complete stranger, showing him all the ugly feelings and resentment you’d been carrying around for the past couple of months. 

“I’m sorry,” you sighed, closing your eyes and rubbing over them with your thumb and index. “I know you said you were okay with this, but I still feel like I basically just dumped everything on you like a whiny kid.” 

You heard him chuckling, the sound low and warm. 

“Yeah, I told you to go for it, but you didn’t sound whiny to me at all. Just like someone who really needed to get it all off their chest.” 

Leaning your head over your folded arms that were already lying on the counter, you turned your face towards him with a small smile. 

“Guess I did.”

“Do you feel any better?” He watched you intently, his eyes moving over your whole face. 

You looked to the side, taking stock of your emotions, before you met his gaze again with a smile. 

“Yeah… I do.”

“See. Worth listening, then.”

After the past weeks of absolute nightmare, you couldn’t believe how lucky you were to have happened upon someone as kind as this man. 

“You’re something else, you know that?” you said with a tone of wonder, taking more of him in. You'd noticed his prominent nose earlier, but his mouth was just as worth looking at, as were his brown eyes. 

He scoffed, the sound self-deprecating, but he didn’t say anything, and instead, took a swig from his beer, which brought his large hands into your line of sight. 

“Thank you,” you continued, keeping your eyes on him from your slouched position over your arms. 

“No problem.” This time, he was the one to look away, as if suddenly shy, which only intrigued you more. 

Straightening again, you propped your elbow on the counter and put your head on your fist, leaning slightly in his direction as you observed him with interest. He automatically looked at you again, beer bottle halfway to his mouth. Your heart started to beat faster as his eyes dropped to your mouth. You bit at the side of your bottom lip, as if in reply to his staring, and felt a zap of want when he met your eyes again with a different kind of intensity. Emboldened by your drink and his reaction to you, you leaned in enough for him to be the only one able to hear you. 

“Come home with me?”

The man blinked at you once before simply staring at you quietly, which was the only sign that he was at least slightly surprised by you being this straightforward. You held his gaze, no matter how much you wanted to look away, as embarrassment started to run through you despite your boldness. As his eyes drifted to your mouth again, your anxiousness began to evaporate. 

“Hey, Will,” he said, while keeping his attention solely on you as he addressed the bartender who was walking past you. “I’ll close my tab next time, yeah?”

“Sure thing,” Will answered easily, grabbing the beer bottle and glass from in front of you to put them away. 

Biting your lower lip on a giddy grin at the realization that this was actually happening, you got up and grabbed your purse. The man rose as well, a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth at your reaction. As you walked out of the bar and onto the sidewalk, you hailed a taxi that was just turning the corner of the street. The both of you got into the car, and once you’d given the driver your address, you spent the ten minutes it took to get to your building in silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but your heart was beating like crazy as you tried not to overthink your decision. You refrained from looking at him directly as well, opting to keep your gaze on the street. However, you were aware that he was watching you through the semi darkness of the cab. After arriving in front of your building and stepping out of the taxi after paying for it, you made your way towards your apartment, with the man following one step behind you. He stayed beside you as you fished for your keys, staying just as quiet as before. 

“Right, um, I’ll quickly hit the shower, okay? Been in these work clothes for much longer than I like,” you laughed awkwardly, as you stepped through your apartment door. 

You internally rolled your eyes at yourself at your babbling, but the man just sent you a small smile and hummed in understanding. You nodded and began walking off, but after only one step, you quickly turned back to him. 

“Make yourself at home, yeah? Um… I don’t have anything interesting to drink but if-”

A warm palm cupped one of your cheeks and tilted your face into the man’s direction as he stepped close to you, effectively shutting you up. 

“I’m fine, ‘kay? You go take that shower, and I’ll just wait here, alright?” he said soothingly, his voice low and gentle. 

Staring into his soft brown eyes, you blinked at him before you nodded with a small smile. He let go of you, and you immediately headed into your bathroom, shutting the door and taking a deep breath. You rushed through removing your clothes and finally stepped into the shower. The hot water helped relax your nerves, and by the time you were done, you were still nervous but in an excited way this time. Once you were done drying off and brushing your teeth, you put on a thin bathrobe. As you looked at your underwear selection, you bit your lower lip as you chose to forgo putting on panties. If things went as planned, you wouldn’t be wearing them long anyway. As you stepped out again, you found him standing in front of your bookshelf, his head inclined to the side as he read the titles. He lifted his head towards you, his eyes drifting over your whole body as he watched you approach. 

“Hey,” you said quietly, giving him a small smile. 

“You got a nice book selection,” he commented casually, while standing close to you. 

You threw your bookshelf a small glance and smiled. “You can borrow whatever you like.” 

He hummed, the sound contemplative, but he leaned in until his nose was almost touching yours. 

“Maybe not tonight.” 

You nodded, going nearly cross-eyed as you stared into his warm eyes. A second later, you were closing them anyway, as he tilted his head and pressed his mouth against yours. It was only a gentle press of his lips at first, which he repeated as he leaned his head to the other side this time. His hands came up to cup the sides of your neck, using his thumbs under your jaw to direct your face how he wanted it. Your hands lifted to his biceps, squeezing them as you tentatively sucked at his bottom lip. He seemed to enjoy it, since he grunted and moved in further, causing you to take a step back and against the bookshelf. You moaned softly and opened your mouth as his tongue gently slid over your top lip. As the kiss deepened, you slid your arms around his waist, grabbing at the shirt, while he cupped the back of your neck and placed his other hand on your lower back, bringing you fully against him. You tried pushing for more, but the man simply stroked his tongue lazily against yours while keeping you flush against him. Despite the slowness of the kiss, your knees were beginning to shake anyway with how thoroughly he was delving between your lips. 

“Be — bedroom,” you gasped in between two presses of his lips against yours. 

Your stranger leaned his head away to quietly stare into your eyes, his expression intense, before he took a step away from you, indicating for you to lead the way. Biting your bottom lip, you briefly hesitated before you took hold of his hand to pull him towards the bedroom. As you reached the foot end of the bed, you turned back to him, meeting his gaze. He stepped back into your space without waiting for you to pull him towards you, his hands drifting over your hips and to your back as he sought out your mouth again. You sighed into the new kiss and ran your fingers through his lush hair. A thrill rippled through you as his hands moved down to your ass, squeezing it sporadically while the kiss turned hungrier. Wanting to get to your skin, his hands slowly parted the sides of the bathrobe until his fingers could touch your bare thighs. He ran them up slowly, making you shiver as he progressively reached your hips. They stilled for a brief moment as he realized that you weren’t wearing anything underneath the robe. His answer to that fact was to exhale harshly through his nose and make you take a step back towards the bed as he gently bit down on your bottom lip. You gasped at the sharpness of his teeth, and moaned into his mouth. His hands kept exploring your back, ass, and thighs, until you couldn’t stand it anymore and swiftly moved away from him to untie the robe and remove it at last. You were about to return between his arms, but the way he watched you attentively had you stopping and, instead, moving back, taking the last step needed to get on your bed. You did so slowly, moving backwards as you knelt down at the end of the bed. His eyes roved over your body, observing you with such obvious desire that it almost left you breathless. You hadn’t realized just how much you needed this kind of undivided and honest attention. The man licked his lips quickly, before he walked up to you and bent down to cup your face and bring his mouth back to yours. Your eyes fell shut as you let him explore your mouth again, tipping your head to the side when he drifted his lips to your jaw before he tilted your head up to kiss down your neck and throat. Needing more of him, you reached for the buckle of his belt and tugged at it meaningfully. He leaned back a fraction to stare at you with a small smile, which you returned before you attacked the belt with needy fingers. Your heart beats were stumbling over each other at the sight of the sizable bulge in his jeans, making you almost clumsy in your haste to get to see all of him. Your stranger let you work in silence, but you knew that he was watching you. His shirt got in the way of your fingers a couple of times, making you huff and tug it up. 

“Off. Now,” you ordered almost snappishly, which only had the man chuckling in amusement. 

As you finally popped open the top button on the jeans, the man complied with your request and began to undo his shirt. With most of the buttons undone, he lifted his hands to the collar of his shirt to pull it over his head. While he did so, you fully opened his fly and tugged the jeans and underwear down enough to free his length. You took in a shaky breath as saliva pooled in your mouth at the gorgeous cock standing proudly in front of you. Right as your stranger was having his face covered by the shirt while he pulled it off, you dropped to your front on the bed and leaned in without a second thought, sliding your lips around the tip. His hips jerked as he uttered a short curse of surprise, finally ridding himself off the shirt, which he threw to the side. 

“Shit,” he rasped, as you slowly licked around the head, lapping at the nerves surrounding the crown and using your hands to guide him this or that way. 

Using your elbows for support, you took more of him into your mouth, raising your eyes to his as you did so. His fingers landed in your hair, stroking over it in a gentle caress as he watched you with hooded eyes. You bobbed your head, filling your mouth with as much of him as you could. He felt incredible, big and hot, coating your tongue with his taste and making you moan. Tilting his head to one side, he slowly pulled all the way out, keeping himself a few centimeters away from your mouth. You lowered your eyes to his cock, before you met his hungry gaze again, and opened your mouth. Licking his lips again, his nostrils flared as he slid back between your lips, groaning as you sucked him in eagerly. You let him fuck in and out for a few slow thrusts, delighting in the way he was watching you and how he filled your mouth. Which only made your core ache with the need to have him inside you. 

Pulling off with one last lick, you rose to your knees and grasped the back of his head with both hands. There was no need for words as you met in the middle for a heated kiss. He quickly stepped out of his boots and the rest of his clothes before following you onto the bed, the both of you moving back on your knees until you got to the center. With one arm around your back, he lowered you to the mattress and slipped between your thighs. He draped his body over yours but held himself up with one elbow, using his other hand to stroke the fingers over your jaw. The way he stared at you had a warm shiver going through you, which only got stronger as his hand traveled down your body. His eyes didn’t waver from yours as his hand arrived at your mound before it went further. Your lips parted in a small breath as his fingers drew around your slick folds in a gentle caress, only for your mouth to open wider when he gently began pushing two fingers inside you. You moaned softly and bit your lip as he removed them before he slid them back inside. He watched you intently, drinking in each of your expressions of pleasure as you gripped his shoulders while he slowly fucked you with his fingers. 

“Please,” you begged, clawing at his skin when he didn’t move faster. 

Instead of picking up the pace, you felt a third finger pressing in alongside the two others, forcing a sharp gasp out of you. Throwing your head back against the pillow, you squeezed around his fingers, which earned you a low groan from him. He didn’t go faster, though, content to watch you squirm and moan as your hips undulated on their own to get more friction. Finally, he stopped moving, however kept the fingers inside you, and used his thumb to lightly rub it against your clit. Your hips jerked and thrust up into the contact, while you cried out at the sudden shift in erogenous zone. On any other day, and had you been in a different mood, you would have actually loved having his fingers inside you like this, teasing you, but tonight, you needed him to fuck you. Extending an arm towards the bedside table, you blindly grabbed for the drawer. 

“Please,” you repeated, meeting his attentive gaze with your half lidded eyes. “Fuck me.” 

His eyes followed the length of your arm towards the bedside table. He glanced back at you briefly, before he withdrew his fingers from you, which had you sighing in loss but also excitement at what was to come. Quickly rolling to your side, you opened the drawer to get a condom out of it before laying back under him. He held himself up with his hands level with your shoulders now, watching you as you tore the wrapper open and pulled the condom out. He leaned down and placed a long kiss on your lips before moving up again. 

“Go on,” he rasped, the tone telling you that he was at least as affected by the situation as you. 

With your heart slamming in your throat, you peered between your bodies and rolled the condom down his length, licking your lips as it twitched between your fingers when you made sure it was secure at the base. Usually, doing this was something perfunctory, just a step to get to the good part, but with this man’s low grunt as he watched you, you felt yourself burning up even more. Slowly, you shifted your gaze back to his, meeting molten eyes as he lowered himself to one forearm again. He curled his hand under your neck to slip his fingers into the hair at the base of your head, while his other hand vanished between your bodies like earlier, only to line himself up with your entrance this time. You threw your legs over his hips as he did so, and let your fingers run through his hair before closing them in the soft strands on top. His gaze found yours as he pushed inside you slowly, so incredibly slowly. Your mouth fell open on a silent cry as you felt every inch of him inexorably burying inside you. He grunted and hissed when your fingers tightened in his hair, but his eyes remained focused on your face. When he was finally completely inside you, you brought his head down to kiss him deeply and squeezed around his cock to get a better feel of it. He groaned into your mouth and pushed his hips further into you, only resulting in making your head press into the headboard since he was already so deep inside you. While keeping his lips locked with yours, he began to pull out, using the same pace as while moving inside. You moaned and tightly wrapped your legs around his hips, while your walls tried to keep him inside you. He stayed there, with only the tip still inside you. Sucking on his lower lip harshly, you pressed your heels into his ass to get him to move, which he finally did, albeit as unhurriedly as before. He did it again and again, going slow but deep every time, tilting his hips in just the right way and driving you absolutely mad with need. 

“More,” you moaned brokenly, tugging at his hair and shoulders. 

His hand slid down your hair until it was curving over your neck, with the thumb lying at the hollow of your throat. He did move faster then, but it was still too slow for your liking. Drawing your nails down his arms, you keened, halfway between intense pleasure and intense frustration. 

“Fuck me,” you begged, as your fingers squeezed and gripped at his arms and shoulders. “Please, just-”

But the man kissed you quiet. Your eyes closed at the thorough kiss, except that it didn’t last long, since he knelt up and thrust in deep. You cried out, but as good as it felt, he still wasn’t fucking you harder. As you were about to grab his arms again, he caught your wrists and crossed them over each other. You gasped in surprise when he used one of his large palms to press your crossed hands between your breasts, keeping them there with strong fingers. Staring at him with wide and desperate eyes, you whined feebly as his hips gently rocked into yours, making a sharp bout of pleasure run through you. 

“Please,” you repeated for the nth time. “Just… please,” you whispered the last word, feeling your throat constrict. 

His expression was tender as he watched you while he leaned over you. 

“I got you,” he promised in a low tone, kissing you once. “I got you, Sweetheart.” 

The endearment and affection in his words had your heart missing a beat. 

Straightening again, he began moving once more, one hand at your throat, the other still holding your hands secure against your chest. His hips moved firmly; not quick and hard, but firm and intense, letting you feel all of him, while your legs, the only point of you able to do anything, kept pressing the heels into the back of his thighs. You whimpered at the pleasure he was giving you, so utterly different from what you had expected. As your stranger slowly but unrelentingly had your body climbing to its climax, you realized that he wasn’t giving into your pleas because he didn’t want to, but because he knew what you really needed. He’d listened to your story, observed you keenly, let you take the lead. He’d silently taken all of you in to reach this moment and give you what you needed and didn't realize you wanted: letting him take care of you and making you let go of all the negative things that were part of your life. It was with that knowledge that you were suddenly coming, the intensity of your orgasm so strong and so abrupt that your head flew back, your eyes closing tightly, as a cut-off sob spilled over your lips from the overload of feelings. 

“Sh, sh.” 

You felt his body leaning over yours again as his voice drifted closer to your face. His lips moved between your mouth and jaw, placing gentle kisses here and there as he let go of your hands. You instantly wrapped them around his shoulders, holding him tightly as he slid his nose against your neck while his hips picked up speed. Your thighs were trembling against his sides, but you didn’t let go of him, clinging to him as he rode towards his own release. His fingers combed through your hair as another sob ripped through you, which he followed by lifting his face to kiss you fiercely. You welcomed his mouth with gratitude, letting your tongues stroke against each other sensually until he came with a deep groan, his cock pushing as far inside you as possible. 

As you both panted softly, you met his gaze when he slightly leaned up, his eyes moving between yours searchingly. The hand that had been at your throat rose to your face, his thumb stroking away the wetness under your eye. 

“You good?” he asked in a quiet voice. 

You stared at him silently, letting your eyes slide over his face with its warm gaze and worried pull of his mouth. Uncurling your arms from around his neck, you cupped his face and let your thumbs brush over his cheeks. 

“Yeah,” you answered softly, and smiled as his lips pulled up before meeting him for an unhurried kiss. 

After a minute, he pressed a final kiss to your cheek and gently pulled out before rolling to the side and off the bed. You watched him pick up his clothes and leave the room in silence. Biting your lip as you gathered your thoughts while climbing out of bed as well, you grabbed the loose T-shirt you wore to bed from the hook behind the door and slipped it on. With a small glance at the empty doorway, you returned to the bed and pulled down the covers to settle into a sitting position against the pillows, feeling unsure of what to do now. The man came back with only his jeans on, which had you taking a couple of seconds to admire his gorgeous form before you met his eyes. He remained in the doorway, looking as unsure as you. His fingers fiddled with the shirt absently as his eyes dropped to the floor and then to the side. When you had asked him to come home with you, it had been a spur of the moment decision, only done to get all the frustration out of your system. A one-time thing, purposely choosing to keep the encounter anonymous. But you didn’t want him to leave. Not yet, anyway. If he wanted to leave, that was okay, but-

“You could stay if you want,” you found yourself saying, as he still hadn’t moved away from the doorway. 

His eyes snapped to yours, then to the spot next to you, considering it for a second before he nodded a few times. He moved towards the bed and joined you under the covers after taking off his clothes again. Lying down next to him, you faced each other. His eyes traveled over your face again, stopping at your mouth a few times, which had you smiling lightly. At that, his gaze found yours, but you both stayed quiet as you observed each other. 

“Thanks for tonight,” you finally said softly, with a faint smile. 

The man frowned and shook his head as he looked down. “You don’t gotta thank me for nothin’.”

You smiled fondly at his display of shyness. “Maybe, but I haven’t felt this… peaceful in weeks, and this means a lot to me.”

He nodded in acknowledgement and lifted his eyes to yours with a tiny, one-sided smile. You bit your bottom lip as you observed him.

“You really are something else,” you murmured, before chuckling at his unconvinced huff. “No, you really are…” you trailed off meaningfully. 

“Frank,” came the answer after a beat of silence.

Your smile widened at finding out his name.

“Nice to meet you, Frank,” you grinned before sharing your name as well. 

Frank snorted at your antics. “Yeah,” he said in a low and pleasant tone. “Likewise.” 

A second later, a giant yawn split your face, which had Frank chuckling in amusement, while you tried to muffle the yawn with a hand and push at his chest with the other. 

“Maybe we should get some rest, huh?” he suggested with a small laugh. 

You only hummed in agreement and turned briefly to your other side to reach the light switch, sinking the room into darkness with only the city lights coming through the blinds. 

“Good night, Frank,” you said softly, the name sounding private in the small space between your bodies. 

“Night, sweetheart,” he repeated in an almost whisper, shifting closer to press a tender kiss to your forehead while he pulled you into his side. 

[in-death-sacrifice]

Pleasant Suprise's

Lucanis Dellamorte x GN!Rook

(Antivan Crow Rogue)

Warning: Violence, Slight Angst, Hurt/Comfort (not proof read)

Summary: After a year of thinking he's dead, it's time to save him and bring him back only he's different this time

The mention of his name had made your blood run cold as the group were fangirling over the infamous assassin made you uneasy. That part of your past had to be buried after you joined Varric, using his work as a base to move forward from him. Treviso was never really the same once he disappeared the coffee shop visits with Illario didn't hit the same as the ones you did with him. You held onto hope that anything could happen that he still could have been okay despite everything. I mean the sky was ripped open in the south by a blighted self made god a few years ago...literally anything could happen.

You sat on the edge of Varric's bed as he rambled on about whatever information he could offer or the book he was thinking about writing as he healed. "You alright kid?" His rough voice startled you, breaking you out of his trance. You blinked at him, trying to get your brain to catch up with the conversation. Varric only chuckled, groaning lightly as he adjusted himself against the cushions. "Yeah...no I'm good, I think" you rambled looking over to the dwarf, your chin now resting on your hands. "Spit it out kid"

The sigh that left your lips was comical, earning another laugh from your companion. How could you just explain the situation? You weren't going to leave him in the prison they were keeping him in you knew that much, but so much had happened since then. You spent a lot of time mourning him, wishing there was something you could have done that made him listen to you when you asked him to stay away from the boat. " 'The Demon of Vyrantium'...I know him from the Crows" you began. Only to be cut off by another laugh, "I assumed that much kid, you are also a Crow or have you forgotten"

You scoffed, but his charm was working, the words felt easier to release in the peacefulness between the two of you. The trust and bond you had created with Dwarf often felt like it ran deep than hired help. "We have a past, we grew up together. Trained together. He was more than a friend" you said. Varric didn't chuckle this time, his eyes scanning for any signs of discomfort that you might have. "He's meant to be dead. I mourned him with his family- he was ambushed in the middle of the ocean before I could say anything"

Varric smiled sadly as you, his perception was something you were grateful for as you could see him reading between the lines of your admission. "I don't know if I'm ready to see a ghost" you whispered. Varric's heart broke looking at you, someone he's always admired for finding the humor in situations, keeping moral high and helping anyone they can. He's seen you walk through the streets handing out money to the unfortunates or having to wait for you to catch up as you pet one of the many cats that roamed the streets. It was like he was seeing a different person. "You've stopped a ritual, fought and entire group of antamnn 20 vs 1. You'll be able to handle it."

"It's not about handling it, it's just...weird. I worry he thought that I wasn't coming for him. Or worse...he's actually dead, and I'd have been given this slither of hope for it to be ripped away from me" you admitted. He didn't reply to that, he had no idea. Varric had seen so much, lost so much over the years. You knew he was understanding, listening to you but we didn't have a choice. If was alive you all needed him no matter what. Your footsteps echoed as you began to leave the room only pausing after Varric spoke your name. "You've got this kid...no matter what". You didn't reply, only giving the man a small nod before the door shut behind you.

The Venatori that greeted you was a welcome distraction as you and Neve passed through the compound with ease. "It's going to take weeks to get the sand out of my boots" you whispered under your breath as you began to break the crystals that held the barriers in your way only to then be met with yet another small group of Venatori. You were part way through peace talking, not that it was going to make a difference your hands itched to sink your blade for revenge - for either taking him away from you or killing him. The sound of feathers was loud as they whipped around the Venatori in a purple flash, you recognized the fight pattern your body freezing on the spot as you observed him work. He was there, right in front of you. You watched as the purple wings disappeared before he turned, holding your breath until your eyes fell upon his face.

Your legs wobbled as you finally made eye contact desperately trying to hold in the sob that threatened to be released. He has changed, you could tell. His body is leaner than you remembered, his eyes and skin having a slight purple glow...and that all without mentioning the new wings that he created moments ago. "L-Lucanis?" You whispered stepping forward. His eyes flashed with recognition his own body stiffening as they scanned your face taking in every detail. The new scars that littered your skin, the way your hair fell now. "Is it really you?" He whispered, his hands tightening around his daggers as he watched you creep closer. He had dreamed of being with you again, the feeling of your comfort as your hand held him. Your smell of that expensive perfume you insisted on buying at the markets. You nodded smiling brightly as you were finally in reach with him. His arms enveloped you first, his head buried in your neck as he took in your scent. "You're really alive?" You whispered. You felt him nod against you, his arms tightening not wanting to let you go. "Let's get you out of here"

The fire crackled as you sat in the common room, the flames dancing heating up the space. The stiffness in your body was the need to go through the door on your right and talk to him, say all those words you wanted to tell him when he returned from that trip a year ago. But he had changed, he wasn't your Lucanis anymore. Demon or no demon you weren't going to ignore him, you just needed to follow his lead. You didn't react when the door opened, or when his footsteps approached the other chair. The two of you stared into the flames finding comfort in the silence. "I never thought I would see you again...nor did I expect you to be the one to rescue me finally" he spoke. You almost felt hurt at the accusation from him about how much you cared. "If I knew where you were a year ago, that bitch would have been long dead" you spoke, venom lacing your tone. He looked at you again, spotting the bags under your eyes, the weight of expectations that now laid heavy against you with the looming threats on Thedas. "I'm happy to have back, there's no one else I'd want by my side during this than you Lucanis"

"Even with spite?"

You smiled at him sadly. The guilt and fear over his possession is laced throughout his features. "Even with spite" you whispered. His hand touched yours as he laced his fingers through yours, he felt himself needing the connection. "Does spite like coffee?" You questioned enjoying his touch. Lucanis chuckled, squeezing your hand. "Yes we can still go on our coffee dates"

[heiayen]

so, when i die, which i must do neuvillette x gn!reader

summary: "how unfortunate it was, that the later you longed for… never came. not how you wished for it to do." of fate's cruel joke and tragedy

tags: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, braiding neuvie's hair!! fluff/angst. reader gets shot but it isn't described in details. not proofread

notes: i don't know how to write neuvillette. alsooo at first it was meant to just be a fluffy fic of braiding neuvie's hair but thanks to écrin network yall are getting angst <3 and yes. the title is mitski lyrics

Every morning, you would wake up early to braid Neuvillette's hair.

It started as something small at first, as hushed morning conversations in bed, with your fingers lazily braiding a strand of his hair. It was always sloppy, a little out of shape and you would always unbraid it before he would leave the bed— and you back to sleep, but… it was here. Always was here, a quiet declaration of your love for him.

Only with time did it evolve into actual braids. You remembered clearly this one time when you woke up in surprisingly good spirits and with the sudden urge to properly braid his hair.

He didn't refuse, because how could he? Seeing the shine in your eyes as you asked him, his only choice was to say yes.

He looked beautiful, you remembered.

The braid wasn't perfect, no, far from it even. One of the three strands was a little thicker than the other, the shape was a little off at the end but, really, you just woke up minutes ago and were running on nothing but pure will and adoration for this man. You'd make a perfect braid for him later, you said to yourself.

And as your hands moved to brush your fingers through the strands to free his hair from the plait, he stopped you.

He wanted to wear it for the rest of the day, you remembered him saying. That he didn't care about it not being perfect.

It was yours and it made you happy.

He looked so beautiful, smiling softly at you.

That day marked the beginning of your little tradition of braiding his hair every morning, and today was no different, accompanied by your rambling about the upcoming day.

"…wish I could sleep longer today, though. Right after I am done with the fighting, I will go to your office and take a nap there."

Today was an important day for you. You were one of the Champion Duelists, known for your elegant, but efficient swordplay, and today you had a duel to win. You were confident in your skills and, if anything, more worried for the man who challenged you. He didn't seem like someone adept at swords enough to win, but if he wished to fight for his honor, then it was his choice.

"You are welcome to do as you wish, love. But be careful during the duel." Came his reply in a low voice, with traces of morning sleepiness evident in his tone, "I don't want anything to happen to you."

You appreciated his concern despite your confidence. It made warmth bloom somewhere inside you, as you continued gently brushing his long hair.

"Only Clorinde surpasses my skills as a fighter, there's no reason for you to worry about me." You said softly, finally putting the brush away and starting to part his hair, "But no matter, I will be careful either way."

You leaned to peck his cheek before you went back to braiding. You and Neuvillette talked about mundane things for the rest of it. You shared your plans for the rest of the day, how you planned to meet up with Clorinde in the afternoon, feed her some good desserts or just food because, archons, you two finally managed to find a moment of free time to meet up and talk and you wouldn't pass on the occasion to share your favorite sweets and other dishes, no.

When you were finally finished, you tied it with his usual ribbon and moved from your place behind him to get up from bed. You stood in front of him, smiling.

"It's all done!" You clapped your hands and gestured at Neuvillette with your hands, "You can now go and do your important court duties, dove."

A small chuckle slipped past his lips and he reached out to hold your hands, tug you a little closer to him.

"Thank you, love." He got up and placed a gentle kiss on each of your hands, for your hard work, "I'll be waiting for you to come later."

You wished the later could come faster and that today wasn't so busy for you both. How you wished to spend the entire day with just him, his loving embrace, and the blooming warmth in your chest.

"Me too."

How unfortunate it was, that the later you longed for… never came. Not how you wished for it to do.

In all of your confidence you failed to notice the conspiracy, the tragedy brewing behind the shadows. You took your safety for granted, believing you wouldn't get hurt because why? You were so good at it, and the man who challenged you barely seemed to know how to hold his blade and–

Maybe that was your undoing. The damned self-confidence that prevented you from understanding what was really happening before it was too late.

Only when someone yelled in the crowd, the defeated man smiled wickedly at you from the ground, only when your eyes met the gun's barrel did you realize that your safety never was granted, and that being the Iudex's lover had its price one you didn't wish to pay any soon.

He was your beloved, your Neuvillette in the warm embrace of your arms and at home. Your lover, for whom you would do anything, even if it meant waking up early just to braid his hair and sleepily mumble into his shoulder, your fingers doing the job on their own but in people's eyes you were one of the Champion Duelists, someone important to the Iudex of Fontaine, a playing card in a greater scheme of revenge.

Right.

Before you could react, the bullet hit its goal and you fell to the ground, gasping in shock and scowling in pain. You stared at the man who shot you before someone came and dragged him away, another person trying to move you away, but you could already feel your consciousness slowly slipping away from you.

You weren't ready to pay with your life for simply loving, and yet the decision was made for you.

Your lips parted as you tried to say your lover's name before losing consciousness but you barely managed to utter it, light as a whisper and as lovely as a prayer.

Oh, no.

You didn't want to leave him. Not yet, not anytime soon, not at all, not before spending an eternity with him. Was it foolish to wish for it? To wish for something impossible, yet something your heart longed for?

You wanted to braid his hair again, get all the rainbow roses and other flowers, and ribbons, and weave it into the strands. You wanted to kiss him once more, share your favorite desserts, and talk about your day to him, sleep peacefully knowing he was next to you, knowing that you were–

To think about it, you never were safe, not with how fate loved cruel jokes and tragedy.

Someone's warm, gloved hand cupped your cheek and soon, you could feel the first drops of rain on your skin. You wanted to speak an apology into his palm, but you didn't have enough strength for it anymore.

It seemed the rain wouldn't stop for a long time.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Sabezra Week, Day 6, “Stars” STAR crossed rebellion heroes... UPDATE!!!!!

summary: sabine and ezra finally share their first kiss. unfortunately, it’s on a broadcast to every rebel cell in the galaxy. chapter word count: 1674 a/n: i couldn't think of anything good to do for this prompt, but i had the fourth chapter of a fic with star in the title just WAITING to be posted and knew i had no choice. shoutout to the unbelievable super cool outrageous and amazing @kanerallels for betaing! taglist: @laughingphoenixleader@accidental-spice@kanerallels  @piraterefrigerator @jedi-nurse@dootchster  @lucasbridger@redroverrider  @light-umbra   @commander-tech  @jedimandalorian@notanodinarygirl  {if you’d like to be added to or removed from my Sabezra taglist, let me know!}

also on ao3!

Ch. 4 Ezra Actually Has The Worst Friends In The Galaxy

 At first, Ezra almost wished he hadn't missed the opportunity to ride the purrgil express to a distant galaxy. What was worth sticking around for, anyways? Life would be so much simpler if he was a million parsecs away, living out the rest of his days as a hermit, a street rat once again, without all these people watching his every move.

 Instead, he was in his own galaxy. The crewmates he cared about so much were making a field day of teasing him. The rebellion that hailed him a hero now smiled for different reasons when they saw him. And Sabine?

 Well, Sabine was actually what made it all worth it. He'd kissed his best friend, and now she was avoiding him.

 This was good, of course. If what happened between them was no big deal, she wouldn't be avoiding him. Instead, she would've just said something along the lines of, "oh that was so dumb, let's never do that again," and made sure a recording of that rejection was broadcast to every rebel cell, too. If that kiss meant absolutely nothing, she wouldn't say they'd talk about it later. She would shut it down faster than it started.

 Knowing this, he was still in pretty good spirits as he made his way down to the city square, with Sabine a respectable distance away from him.

 But he lost her pretty quickly, as the first place he made it his goal to stop by was the holo-footage control booth, where Jai sat, watching his datapad.

 Ezra didn't say a word as he entered, but watched as his friend looked up at him, a nervous expression crossing his face.

 "Well, if it isn't the man of the hour!" Jai said, "shouldn't you be off enjoying the celebration?"

 "I'm on my way there," Ezra said, taking his best "I'm not disappointed, I'm just mad" face for a test-drive, "just had to take care of something first."

 "I, uh," Jai said, "I take it you're not happy that your first kiss was live-streamed to the entire galaxy?"

 "Not particularly," Ezra said, before his train of thought hit a snag, "wait, first kiss? You didn't broadcast that piece of information too, did you?"

 "Was it your first kiss?" Jai asked.

 "That's not the point," Ezra said.

 "Chill your jets," Jai said, "I didn't add any context other than what the video itself gave. You ought to see the comments section, though."

 "Comment section?" Ezra asked, "since when do our broadcasts have a comment section?"

 "Oh, ours don't," Jai said, "but with millions of people watching, it's not a stretch of the imagination to assume at least one of them would've recorded and re-uploaded the footage."

 Ezra took the datapad out of Jai's hand and looked at the series of thumbnails on a holosite, seeing more images of him and Sabine kissing than any of his teenage dreams could've put together.

 "You and Sabine are already trending," Jai said.

 "Really?" Ezra asked. As upset and somewhat mortified as he was, he was also, at least a little bit, delighted to be associated so closely with Sabine.

 "And besides," Jai said, "we're already seeing an exponential increase in views today because of you guys' special moment— how's that for sticking it to the Empire?"

 "They're not watching the part where were talking about sticking it to the Empire," Ezra said, glaring at Jai before turning back to the datapad and reading off one of the video titles, "they're watching 'star crossed rebellion heroes share a passionate kiss on live broadcast, not clickbait.'"

 "Close enough," Jai said, taking his datapad back, "either way, nothing we can do about it now, sorry."

 "That's alright," Ezra said, "but do yourself a favor."

 "What's that?" Jai asked.

 "All that information you just told me? Don't tell Sabine."

 That warning had been more than fair and less than deserved, and there was admittedly a small part of Ezra that almost wished his friend wouldn't heed it. As he walked away from the booth, he couldn't help but relish the idea of Jai sharing all that data with someone involved who fundamentally leaned much more towards violence than him.

🧡.📱.💜

 It wasn't that Ezra had forgotten to silence his commlink. It was more that most of the people who communicated with him were either at the festivities, knew he would be at the festivities, or only had his contact signal for emergencies.

 Unfortunately, one person fit into none of the above categories.

 "This better be important," Ezra said, as he stepped aside to answer his comm.

 "Of utmost importance," the weequay pirate on the comm responded, "I just wanted to give my deepest congratulations."

 "For rescuing Lothal?" Ezra asked, "Hondo, you were there for that."

 "Not that," Hondo said, "when Melch started to talk about it, I thought it was only a wonderful rumor. How delighted I was to see you and the Mandalorian girl are, as they say, trending!"

 "I don't have time to talk about that," Ezra said, rolling his eyes.

 "Though, of course," Hondo continued, "it's bad business practice to become so popular under your real name, or to broadcast your affections so openly. I admire your audacity, Bridger."

 "Not really my choice," Ezra said. "Listen, I'll talk to you later, okay?" "Oh, but of course," Hondo laughed, "I'm sure you have something much more fascinating you could be doing right now than babble with an old pirate."

 "Thank you."

 "And someone much more fascinating to do so with, if you know what I mean."

 "Hondo!"

 "So long, my boy!" Hondo responded, quickly, before Ezra turned off his comm in frustration.

 So far the score was Friends Who Were Teasing Ezra: 4, and Ezra: uh.

 Well, he couldn't tell if he'd scored anything yet, but he certainly didn't feel like he was winning.

🧡.📱.💜

 Ezra hurriedly shoved his comm into his pocket and slipped out of the alleyway he was in, thankful he'd stepped aside to take Hondo's message rather than listen to it in public view.

 All his annoyance and frustration melted away, though, when he saw Sabine across the way from him, and, even from a distance, noticed the twinkle in her eye. How quickly her presence soothed him and slowed the rapid pace of his mind!

 "Yeah, Sabine doesn't want to talk to me about us," Ezra thought, already making his way through the crowd to her, "but hopefully she still wants to talk to me about other stuff, right?"

 He hoped the best moment of his life hadn't ruined the best friendship of his life.

 "Hey," Sabine said as he approached.

 "I know you don't want to talk about, well, you know," Ezra said, "but, uh, we're still chill to hang out, right?"

 He hoped that didn't sound as desperate as he thought it did.

 "Uh, sure," Sabine said, and though her response sounded cold, her eyes were warm and inviting, and Ezra felt it would be rude and against his own self interest to refuse their call.

 "Good," Ezra said, relief painting a smile across his lips, "because no matter what happens to us, I hope we never stop being friends."

 Sabine only nodded and smiled and said "yeah, me too," but it was enough to stop Ezra's heart, then start it up again, this time beating faster than before.

 There were a million things Ezra could say, but not here, not now, not with everyone in the world watching them.

 No, the words and requests that reigned in his mind would have to find their place later.

 "Glad to see we're still cool," Ezra said, turning away, hoping he could formulate a normal sentence if his gaze wasn't fixed on hers.

 "Yeah," Sabine said.

 The silence between them ended while it could still be called beautiful instead of awkward, and Ezra couldn't help but watch as Sabine walked away, intermingling herself into the crowd.

 A sigh forced itself out of his lungs, followed by half a dozen deep breaths in an attempt to bring his heartbeat back to a normal level.

 "Dude, you've got it so bad for her."

 Ezra turned to see Wedge standing next to him, datapad in hand. "At least, that's what the comments say," Wedge continued.

 "You believe everything you read on the holonet?"

 "Sometimes they've got some truth to them," he said, and began to read off the screen in front of him, "'A major win for swagless cringefail boys everywhere.' 'This was not on my 3273LY bingo card.' 'Didn't know Bridger could pull.'"

 Ezra looked over his shoulder at the screen. "Wedge, that last comment was yours."

 "Come on, let us have this," Wedge said, "rogue squadron's been waiting for something to happen with you guys for cycles now."

 "Why's everyone so interested in me and Sabine anyways?" Ezra asked. "Don't you guys have your own lives to worry about?"

 "Rebellions are built on hope, Ezra," Wedge said, "and if there's hope for you to somehow work your way out of a five cycle friendzone, there's hope for us all."

 "Shows what you know. Until I get a chance to talk things out with Sabine, I'm still in the friendzone." Ezra stopped talking and thought about his words for half a second. "That sounded a lot less pathetic in my head."

 Wedge laughed, as though he thought Ezra's verbal slip-up was an intentional attempt at humor. Ezra laughed along just to keep that illusion alive.

 "Whatever you say, Bridger." Wedge said. "Just do me a favor: If things don't work out with you and Sabine, wait to tell Darklighter until after I've gotten the thirty credits from him."

 Ezra shook his head. "I oughta tell General Dodonna that your squadrons have nothing better to do than place bets on other people's personal lives."

 "Like that's gonna do any good," Wedge said, "Mart's already got him down for seventeen credits too."

 For those keeping score, like Ezra was: Supposed Allies Making A Joke Of Ezra's Personal Life: 7, Ezra: zero.

 Definitely a zero.

🧡.📱.💜

[tossawary]

I've only seen 3 episodes of the new "Percy Jackson" show so far and my main complaint with the first two episodes was pacing. I thought the pacing in the third episode was much improved and overall very good, but a lot about the first two episodes felt rushed to me.

I think episodes 1 and 2 both could have been two episodes each to slowly introduce us to Percy, Grover, Sally, Mr. Brunner, Mrs. Dodds and the Minotaur, and then to the Camp, to Annabeth, Luke, Clarisse, the satyrs and the different cabins, etc.. I mean, I think what was there was pretty solid! I like the actors! I don't think it's badly written (I think making Luke show Percy around the camp was a good choice to make later things hit harder, since we will have more time with Annabeth on the quest itself later), but I would have liked more breathing room scenes, like when Percy burned the blue jellybeans, for things to settle in, and I blame the studio for not giving this show a longer season to work with.

As it stands now, the first two episodes felt more intended for existing fans, rather than for onboarding new fans. I feel like a frog being thrown into boiling water instead of the water coming up to a boil around me. If you're not familiar with this religion & lore already, if you don't know who the Twelve Olympians are, the introduction to the Camp doesn't give you much of a foothold, which is quite unfortunate when PJO was many people's introduction to this stuff.

The blue food is not really explained. The tension of the mystery with Mrs. Dodds kind of gets thrown out because it all happens so fast. There's no time to slowly build a feeling of normalcy and then wrongness. Percy's relationship with Chiron is undermined by how little time they get together. Percy finding out who his father is happens SO QUICKLY that we don't have a proper understanding of what's wrong about his claiming when it happens. The camp looks cool and I want to see more of it! How it functions is barely explained! We barely get to meet anyone! It feels like Percy is there for less than 48 hours before he's leaving on a quest again, so there's very little time to build up his attachment to it. I have less emotional investment in Percy's conflict with Clarisse because we barely get to understand what daily life at Camp Half-blood might be like (although I understand putting less focus on Clarisse now knowing that you'll be able to play catch-up during future storylines).

I think the show is making pretty good choices with the time that they have, I just wish they had MORE time. I don't think that they have to include every little detail and scene and character from the books. I like a lot of the changes they've made just fine. I just feel like the writing and acting is being undermined by the fact that there's very little time to set things up so that you can knock them down, and that it takes more time to show something visually than it does to read a sentence. Everything in episodes 1 and 2 is moving so quickly that some of the magical aspects feel... less magical to me because there's less time to develop contrast. And the show doesn't have as much time to potentially develop cool NEW things, to slide in more new funny character interactions, because it's all so smushed down. I want more time to see these actors shine together.

(Although, admittedly, it is VERY funny to feel like Percy is stuck in some sort of speedrun version of the story. Every day is a new rollercoaster of Percy not knowing what the fuck is going on and going with it because he's not given the time to ask questions. Sure! This might as well happen next! His life sucks already. That part feels very true to the books, although I think the feeling could still be preserved if the show was given more time.)

I'm tired of 8 episode seasons. I don't know if I think that PJO needs a full 20+ episodes to tell the story of the first book, probably not, but being constrained to only 8 instead of at least 10-16 feels disappointing.

[sohardlovingyou]

i feel like you have the best Beatles women takes! I love hearing you talk about them. Like any Beatles adjacent women, girlfriends, moms, employees, Apple scruffs... I don't even care what you get into specifically lol but I would love to hear any thoughts you have and here's some questions if you feel like it.

If you had to switch lives with a Beatles-related woman which one would you pick?

If you could time travel with a really good therapist but she can only see one of client who are you sending to her?

Which woman do you most wish was looked at more for her life outside the Beatles than with them?

Who had the best style?

Which one would you want to go on a trip with?

Assuming it's 100% guaranteed to succeed, which woman are you helping to gone girl her boy?

If you had to pick one of them to be your mom which one would you pick?

Do you have Taylor songs or albums that you think match anyone?

Oh, thank you so much! This ask means a lot to me as someone who spends much of her time fantasizing about going back in time to give all these women a feminist lecture🥰 I could be a better boyfriend than any of those men, but anyway here are my answers:

If you had to switch lives with a Beatles-related woman which one would you pick?

I used to talk about this all the time before, but I'd switch lives with pre-Paul Linda in a second. Living in NYC, and working with rockstars, enough money to live my life with no man bothering me. I would probably be a journalist instead of a photographer, but everything else sounds like a dream to me! (this is extremely romanticized but alas). I guess I'm a bit bitter about all she left behind when she married him, lol, because that is the life I would love for myself (even though I understand why she made her choices and truly believe she was pleased with their life together!)

If you could time travel with a really good therapist but she can only see one of clients who are you sending to her?

Love that you specify "only one client" because we know all of them needed the help, lmao. I'm going with Pattie for this one. For all the pain Ringo, John, and Paul caused to their partners, none of them was hurt enough to believe marrying Clapton (🤢) was the solution to their problems. Also, the way she talks in her book about the PTSD she suffered from being married to George haunts me to this day, like. So so so terrible. (I almost chose Cynthia, but unfortunately, i think she was unsavable).

Which woman do you most wish was looked at more for her life outside the Beatles than with them?

This was harder because I think most of them were somehow happy with being "the wife of" or "the girlfriend of". They loved those men so much, and it hurts me because all of them deserved better, lol. Buuuuuut I'm going to choose Jane! It's obvious that she really wanted to have a career and make a name for herself as an actress, and I can only guess how frustrating it must be to be known as Paul McCartney's ex-girlfriend sixty years later.

Who had the best style?

There's only one correct answer to this question and it is Maureen! Yoko gets an honorable mention tho.

Which one would you want to go on a trip with?

Oh, I think I'm going with Linda. Her vacation style and mine might be a little different, but I'm sure it'll be soooo much fun regardless. She looks like she would be up to anything and has so many interesting opinions about any place. Also, she was a Mom so I'm never going hungry, and never not staying in a decent place, lol.

Assuming it's 100% guaranteed to succeed, which woman are you helping to gone girl her boy?

Cynthia. Funny because she would be the last one to agree, but I don't care, I'm giving up my John girl card and making him pay for all the shit he put her through. We ride at dawn!

If you had to pick one of them to be your mom which one would you pick?

Linda, because she has always reminded me of my own mom🥰. (And the way her children speak about her is also the way i speak about my mom lol)

Do you have Taylor songs or albums that you think match anyone?

Better Man!!!! for ALL OF THEM. But also:

Cynthia: Dear John and Tolerate it

Jane: The smallest man who ever lived and Mr. Perfectly Fine

Pattie: Peter and Sad Beautiful Tragic

Linda: King of My Heart and London Boy (the implications!!!), also Renegade

Yoko: Dancing with our Hands Tied and Guilty As Sin

Now I'm wondering if you meant albums or songs that matched their personalities instead of their relationships, but I did the latter because i have those extremely clear haha

[kitsune-oji]

Hi! I saw that post of the 22nd of August when you asked if anyone had ideas for fics, could I suggest a fic where Mammon comforts a gn MC who is scared to death after an horror game marathon with Levi but tries to hide it?

I hope I respected the rules and this made sense, English isn't my first language.

I wish you the best of days.

With You

I don't have to feel scared

Thank you for this cute idea!! Your English is very good, don't worry :) it's not my first language either btw. I hope you like it ✨

Mammon x/& gn! Mc (you/yours)

Word count: 653

Warnings/Tags: comfort, fluff, Reader being scared after playing horror games and being a bit shy

It was fun, it really was. You enjoyed playing with Levi and the fact that it was a horror game was alright too. While you were there, even though you jumped and yelled and held on tightly to the blanket in your lap or the controller, you weren't too scared.

But now it was different.

Levi wasn't next to you anymore, yelping and saying you scared him by getting scared yourself. You didn't have anything to focus on, no goal in a game to work towards. Somehow, not actually being in such a suspenseful situation made it worse.

The darkness of the corridor, the endless silence stretching on until you got to your room. Every little creaking sound made you flinch and look around, as if expecting something to jump out from the next corner and see something crawl away in the corner of your eye.

Sort of stupid, wasn't it? When you lived in a house with demons, one would think you wouldn't get scared so easily anymore. Unfortunately it didn't work that way.

Your room felt cold and uninviting when you stepped over the threshold. Even turning the light on didn't save you from the uncomfortable, anxious feeling in your gut. Images from the game kept flashing through your mind, scary scenes replaying again and again to the point you feared they would actually manifest in real life.

You couldn't be alone. Not right now. Should you go back to Levi? Maybe not, you weren't sure. Either way, you needed someone around you, so you quickly walked out of your room again and screeched when suddenly there was someone right in front of you.

Mammon held his ears and shot you a look you couldn't quite place. It wasn't happy at least.

"It's just me, what the hell is your problem? Damn that hurt..."

Despite his choice of words, he didn't sound too angry. You tried to calm your racing heart.

"I noticed ya weren't with Levi anymore so I thought I'd come over. What's with the screaming? I don't look that horrible."

He really didn't. Mammon was like a sight for sore eyes, his mere presence made you feel better already. Yet your hands still shook.

"I'm sorry, I-, there's just, I wasn't, I'm just a bit.. jumpy right now", you stuttered, trailing off and looking at Mammon's reaction tentatively.

His eyebrows lifted and you could basically see a lightbuld over his head lighting up.

"What, yer scared cause of some dumb video game? Why did ya play it then?"

"I wasn't that scared when we actually played it, it's just, now that everything is quiet I keep thinking about it..."

He blinked, then looked to the side and scratched his neck, stepping from one foot onto the other.

"Ya know...", he started, "If you want me to keep you company, you just gotta say it."

You tugged on one of his sleeves until he looked at you again and nodded. There was a pause before Mammon took your hand from his sleeve and held it in his own instead. Looking straight ahead, he marched towards his room with you. You could see the tips of his ears twitching slightly.

Once you were in his room, Mammon put on one of his action movies. The sounds of racing, explosions, gunfire and talking was much better than the suffocating silence from before. You crawled under the blanket with him and he tugged you close to his side when you leaned against his shoulder.

Like this, all the fear from before felt so far away. Like a distant dream.

Slowly, you closed your eyes and took in Mammon's scent, the sounds of the movie, the gentle rise and fall of his chest, the warmth of his arm securely around you. With your own demon, you didn't have to fear anything else coming to hurt you. He would be stronger than them all.

[astridhoff03]

For the love and life/Chapter 5

"Hiccup, do you really think this is a good idea?" Astrid asked as they stopped in front of Hiccup's parents' house in Old Berk. “We have no choice. And where else should we go if we don't have any money left for an apartment." Astrid nodded and got out to get Zephyr out of her child seat, while Hiccup took the pastries from the trunk of his used Peugeot.

The two went to the big house and rang the bell. The door was immediately opened to them by Hiccup's mother Valka, who immediately took her son into her arms. "Hiccup, I'm glad to see you, I missed you so much." "Mum, we only spoke on the phone a week ago." Valka then smiled at her son with so much kindness that Astrid almost felt sad that she was coming to hers Parents no longer had contact. “Astrid, good to see you,” she was torn from her thoughts by Valka, who took her in her arms. “And hello little Zephyr. Stoick! Come quickly, they're here now!” Just a few minutes later, Hiccup's burly father came down the stairs. He patted Hiccup on the shoulder, who looked very grateful that his father didn't pull him into a bone-crushing hug.

Astrid looked out the window of the attic room that she and Hiccup had just moved into. Zephyr would be sleeping right next door. Astrid's gaze wandered further, over the numerous small houses of Old Berk to the coast, where she saw crashing waves and large, black dorsal fins rising from the sea. Orcas, the wolves of the sea, as her mother always liked to call them. Astrid could still remember what her mother had always called her, her little warrior. She missed her parents so much, unfortunately they didn't see each other often as her parents were away from the archipelago on business trips most of the time. Sometimes she wondered if her parents even cared about her, or if they even cared about their grandchild, if they wanted to be a part of Zephyr's life.

She scrolled through her photos and saw some photos of her, her mother and her father together. Her heart was filled with sadness and longing as she saw all these memories captured in photos in front of her. Back when her parents made a little more time for her, like for her high school graduation or her birthday. But today everything was different. “Astrid, is everything fine with you? You seem so distant.” Astrid looked up and found herself in Hiccup’s loving gaze. She sighed and looked out the window again. “It’s just…I miss my parents. You know they travel a lot.” Hiccup nodded understandingly and placed her hand in his. “I know you miss them a lot, darling.” Astrid looked at him briefly before throwing her arms around his neck. “I don't mean to sound childish, I just wish my parents were home more often, would be more involved in Zephyr's life. But who knows if they even want that?” A quiet sob escaped her. She couldn't remember the last time she cried. Was it the day Zephyr was born? Or was it the day she found out about her Aunt Alva's death? She didn't know anymore. As soon as she finished that thought, she felt Hiccup's warm lips on her cheeks, kissing her tears away. "I think you need a little distraction," he whispered, kissing the beautiful shape of her neck. Astrid sighed relaxed. Hiccup always knew how to cheer her up. As if she were floating on clouds, she let Hiccup lie her down on the bed and watched as he looked at her with his forest green eyes. With so much love and desire that she almost lost her breath as he began to unbutton the buttons on her jeans. A grin crept across his lips when he saw Astrid's lacy underwear, which covered little of her feminine beauty. “What did I do to deserve this view,” he whispered in her ear as he unbuttoned one button at a time on her white blouse. Astrid felt a shiver run down her spine as he kissed her stomach and then moved further up to the valley of her full breasts, still held up by her lacy bra. He kissed her collarbone passionately, one of his hands went under her bra and caressed her hardened nipple. Astrid sighed and buried her hands in his hair. "I wonder what I did to deserve this too." Hiccup grinned and pulled back a little to take off his t-shirt and unbutton his jeans. He came over her again and pressed his erection against her vagina making her moan softly. "See what you're doing to me, you beautiful, fiery woman." Astrid gasped, she kissed him passionately to drown his words under her love, lifting her hips to meet his body. Suddenly a loud cry tore the two of them out of their hot session. Exhausted, Astrid fell back and adjusted her bra, which was a bit slipped. “What’s wrong with our sweetheart now? She screamed like that on the way here too.” Hiccup sighed. "I'll check on her." Before he left, however, he stroked Astrid's inner thighs one last time, making her shiver and bite her lip. “We both finish this tonight.”

[rmorde]

Trigun Manga Reaction

Now reading Volume 1 Chapters 7!

Oh. Nice foreshortening!

Have I mentioned before that the art in the manga is amazing? I mean not only is it pretty but the techniques and the visual storytelling!

This manga really spoils me rotten with beautiful double spreads.

Was Trigun a weekly manga or a monthly comic in the 90's? Like, how is this level of quality maintained every chapter?!

This sweet apologetic smile. Baby Girl Vash. SOMEONE PLEASE PROTECT HIM!!!

I love this part because of how the "tech" looks. Maybe I'm just high on nostalgia but if you ask me, the best and most creative visual takes of futuristic technology are from the 90's. OK... 70s to 80's too. BUT 90'S ARE THE BEST!

LMAO! I remember this! Vash loves teasing his enemies with cheeky notes, doesn't he?

Dime novels??? Penny dreadfuls?? Gasp! HARLEQUINS?!!

DOES THE SETTING OF TRIGUN HAVE AN EQUIVALENT OF HARLEQUINS?! IF SO, I'D BE SO HAPPY BECAUSE I HAVE THIS HC ABOUT WOLFWOOD'S FASHION CHOICE BEING CONNECTED TO THOSE RAUNCHY CHEAP ROMANCE NOVELS!!!

Also, another amazing nightmare face! But then...

WHIPLASH! Vash adding levity by hyping himself up. Tho more likely, he is telling the truth. Not that anyone would really believe it with the facade he puts up.

Oh, wait. I only notice this just now. The Vash's glove design in the manga is what was used in in Tristamp. Only three fingers are covered. In '98, it was all of his fingers are concealed by the glove.

AH! I REMEMBER THIS! ESPECIALLY HOW IT ENDS! I'm laughing already. Kaite... is not the best navigator.

Ah Classic Vash. Deflect. Deflect. Deflect.

Oh... This scene. It's kinda scary how catching Vash off guard is deadly for his attacker. Really highlights how much he has to control all himself all the time. Killing is too easy for him with his abilities. So, he has to exercise strict disciple and caution for the sake of others all the time.

This is also sad. A kid telling off an adult for not wanting to kill. It really hammers down how awful their world is - that killing is the norm and logical thing to do. Avoiding violence and killing is seen as stupidity.

This page makes my heart hurt for so many reasons. Vash is suffering physical pain from being shot. However, I think what is more devastating is his ideals being questioned and insulted by a child - someone who should be innocent from the concept of taking lives.

Vash was hurt by what Kaite said. But, I think he also understands why he did it too. It was out of both worry and the unfortunate circumstance of their violent word. Hence, his intense glare at the top of the page then softening into a sheepish look at the bottom.

Oh wow. Another beautiful art and amazing composition and...

Rem just has strong presence in the manga, doesn't she? It's something that was in Tristamp but kind of lessened in '98.

Oh... I wish this had not been cut out from '98. I don't think this can be rehashed in Tristamp, can't it? Damn... it deserves to be animated.

Kudos for '98 in doing a great job animating this page.

Boo for not doing justice for this page, '98! WHAT THE HELL?! Why was Rem not featured a lot in '98?! At least, Tristamp made up for it... BUT I LIKE REM'S LONG HAIR DESIGN BETTER!

HAHAHAHAHA!

AH.... Ah? AHHHH?!

Fuck! I forgot. This was not supposed to be funny?! Why did I remember this scene is funny?!

Also:

@poofyphluff 

I read about the filler thing. Didn't expect it to be that much. And yeah, I'm really admiring Nightow's skills with scaling in his art. It really enhances his visual story telling.

@revenantghost

It is slowly dawning on me the differences between '98 and the manga PLUS the similarities between Tristamp and manga.

I guess my memory is not as accurate as I believe. I thought the OOC-ness from '98 is not that much yet. I thought Vash being a horndoggy perv is just a Badlands thing. It's really nice that it is nowhere here in the manga tho and Tristamp.

It begs the question tho, why make Vash like that in '98?

Oh. So Wolfwood's situation and I guess the '98 ending is similar to what happened with the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime? The studio was forced to do an AOE.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Feel better soon.

[vera-deville]

Poor Unfortunate Souls

06/24/2023

Pairing: Azul Ashengrotto x Reader

Word Count: 976

Warnings: None that I can think of!

Gender: Gender Neutral

Tags: @rose-the-witch1

In which Grim is a poor unfortunate soul.

"My dear sweet child. That's what I do. It's what I live for~" Y/N sang, sending shivers down Grim's spine.

All he wanted was a can of tuna. Not whatever possession this was. It was a Tuesday. Why in Twisted Wonderland was his henchman acting weird? (Weirder than usual, anyways).

"And I fortunately know a little magic" Y/N continued, throwing in a wink for no good reason. "It's a talent I've always possessed, And dear Grim, please don't laugh! I use it on behalf of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed." Grim wondered what Y/N was on about now, and could have sworn that they'd muttered "pathetic" off to the side, and was highkey offended at being called miserable, lonely, and depressed.

Y/N switched on the lights to the kitchen in a dramatic flourish. They then grabbed the opened can of tuna, as well as a bunch of other ingredients and pots and pans and ladles and other things that suspiciously looked like potions.

They started cooking up a storm, and Grim could only watch in horror as they continued their singing about poor unfortunate souls. Grim messaged the first year's group chat. He asked Sebek if he could hide out in Diasomnia, but of course, the ever upstanding retainer of the infamous Malleus Draconia denied his request.

This led to him begging all the others in the group chat to allow him asylum, but of course Jack wouldn't let him in his house for no good reason, and Epel didn't want Vil going off again about Grim and his usual...Grimness.

So who was left? Ace and Deuce.

After much begging (Grim was not too proud of that), they finally gave in and let him escape to Heartslabyul.

In the meanwhile, Y/N was still not done cooking up...whatever they had been cooking up. Throwing in this and that, they added in a few jigs here and there, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The infamous Octatrio were making their way to visit the Ramshackle Prefect, as over time, they'd made good friends (one of them in particular). Just before they entered Ramshackle, Grim ran past them in a tizzy, somehow not even noticing them.

This worried Azul slightly. What had Grim done this time? Jade and Floyd half expected to hear Y/N yelling at Grim inside the dorm, but to their surprise, they didn't hear any yelling.

They heard singing.

The prefect was saying, "The men up there don't like a lot of blabber. They think a girl who gossips is a bore!" Floyd, now more curious than before, followed the sound of Y/N's voice, Jade and Azul following closely behind.

Azul found Y/N's words rather weird. What did she mean that the men "up there" don't like a lot of blabber? Did someone say that Y/N talked too much? And gossip could be really helpful in a bunch of situations. It's somewhat a form of gathering information, after all! But Y/N didn't sound too sad when they sang out the words, so maybe that's not it.

"Yet on land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word! And after all dear, what is idle babble for?" Y/N continued.

"Is Shrimpy depressed?" Floyd asked unhelpfully. Jade considered his question. Humans were much different from them after all, and Y/N wasn't even from this world.

"Maybe they're stress cooking. I've heard that it is something that humans tend to do as an outlet for their stress." Jade added. Azul shushed Floyd as the three listened to Y/N continue their frantic cooking and song.

All of a sudden, Y/N belted out, "Come on you poor unfortunate soul! Go ahead! Make your choice!" It startled poor Azul out of his skin, and he bumped into Jade. Muttering an apology, Azul refused to take his eyes off the sight in front of him.

Y/N was holding their ladle in a way that no one would wish to be in a 7-feet radius of them, and with the way they waved it around blindly, Azul definitely did not want to be the one to bring them out of their concerning reverie.

It was when the Ramshackle Prefect sang, "I'm a very busy woman, and I haven't got all day. It won't cost much, just your voice~" that the Octatrio finally recognized the song. Everyone from the Coral Sea knew the song.

"If you want to cross the bridge, my sweet, you've got to pay the toll. Take a gulp and take a breath, and go ahead and sign the scroll!" Y/N mimicked their signature in air as they began plating the tuna food they made for Grim. "Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got-"

And it was at this moment that Floyd decided to make their presence known.

"Shrimpy~ You never told me you could sing!" Floyd practically jumped towards said shrimp. Finally acknowledging the Octatrio's existence, Y/N put down their ladle, and ran over to Azul, intent on hugging their boyfriend.

"Oh, I just sing a little here and there! You guys came at the right time! I made some dishes out of tuna for Grim, and you guys can taste test!" The Ramshackle Prefect exclaimed.

Looking back at the array of dishes Y/N had placed on the kitchen island, Azul, Jade, and Floyd looked at each other. It looked...edible. So it wouldn't kill them, right? It didn't smell terrible, but Grim running for his life did have a slightly unsettling feeling.

Azul, deciding to be brave, took the first bite.

"So how bad is Shrimpy's cooking?" Floyd asked.

Shooting him a dirty look, but nonetheless awaiting Azul's answer, Y/N sat down opposite to him.

"How much?" Azul asked in all seriousness.

"What do you mean?" Y/N asked.

"How much for the recipe?"

Author's Note: So, I'm working on this month's entry for the @briarvalleyarchives, but, I haven't finished it yet. Part of the reason is because some time through that fic, I suddenly had the idea to write this one.

...So I did. I though it would be funny to spook Grim.

Lately, I've felt that my writing style is kind of bland, so I've been trying to level up that aspect. Still have a long way to go-

Keep in mind that this is not the entry for the @briarvalleyarchives. It was just inspired by this month's prompt.

[fox-quills]

Do have any additional thoughts/ideas you’d be willing to share about Mobius?

OKAY FIRST AN APOLOGY BECAUSE THIS HAS BEEN SITTING SINCE???? NOVEMBER????? I'm so so sorry anon I'm on mobile 99.9% of the time and I don't know where that stupid app hides asks but I'm like the t-rex from Jurassic Park I can only perceive movement 😭

Second thank you so much for taking the time to ask about my mostest favorite topic in the whole wide world! Unfortunately there's not a lot I can say about the fic story-wise without spoilers, although I have SO MANY post-fic thoughts I'm dying to share. Unless someone really wants my thoughts on how gender works in this particular omegaverse variant?? I spent so much time thinking about something that's only tangentially mentioned lol BUT, I can talk a bit about the process of writing Mobius! Because it has been an experience. I started Mobius just over a year ago (april or so), but didn't really knuckle down and and get cracking until June/July. It started as aideku, because I thought it was an interesting ship idea, but the few fics I'd come across hadn't really scratched the itch. I didn't even plan on writing it, but my beta at the time kept nudging me, and before I knew it I had a wholeass plot. And then a first chapter, at which point I was done for. In the original iteration of the fic, Hizashi was only meant to be the supportive BFF, but something in the original idea run (I forget what exactly) made my beta go.... hey how come this isn't a poly ship? And the answer was, I'd never written one before and didn't think of it, BUT IT IS NOW. (If you've read any of my other fic you may have noticed that this has become A Problem, and also led to a stealth love of dekumic, because apparently I wish to languish in rarepair hell) The fic has gone through about four major version changes. Aideku -> aidekumic (which came with some major detail pivots even though the overall plot hadn't changed) -> suffering reduction (it was gonna be so bad) -> suffering reintroduction, but different. It's gonna punch everyone right in the heart but I don't think I'm sorry about it. I'm also going to have to sneak back to the first chapter and retcon a detail once I get the actual logistics sorted. OH WAIT I DO HAVE A DETAIL I CAN SHARE THAT'S NOT A SPOILER ANYMORE. Although maybe skip it if you haven't read the latest chapter. Hizashi was, originally, not going to get together with them this early (not until near the end of the fic, actually). They still had the bond, and Izuku did eventually figure it out, but for [redacted] he decided not to act on it. So they both thought they had a one-sided bond, and just... never did anything about it. For a long while. Which eventually culminated in Shouta being away, Hizashi having an untimely heat, and him and Izuku sleeping together because mash an unfulfilled bond together with overwrought pining in a hormone cocktail and you get bad choices. Which resulted in a lot of immediate guilt in the aftermath, even though Shouta had clocked them ages ago and wasn't all that upset about it. Then something immediately happened to make things worse, but I can't disclose that part because it's still going to happen. ;)

That continued to be the plan until chapter 11 happened, with all the snuggling and purring, and @fondofeveryprickle read it and was like, "...if you wanna keep this I think you need to reevaluate The Suffering because these things do not mesh." Which resulted in a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth because that was a HUGE upset to the back half of the fic, and not something I was excited to re-jig. But she was right. And the new way was better. And then @scratchxiii said, "Hey what if we added Different Suffering?"

To which I replied, "Ouch my heart, that's absolutely devastating let's do it."

The blorbos uh, tend to get the worst of it when we're left unsupervised. BUT fresh suffering aside, the happy ending tag still applies, I'm just gonna make them earn it. :)

[armpirate]

The Only One || JJK || Ch. 31

Pairings: mafia!jk x fem!reader

Genre: smut, angst, mafia, contract relationship

Warnings: Prostitution, torture, blood, use of drugs and weapons

Summary: You've always wished for a better life. Every single day at work, you were hoping something would change. Although you didn't think that change would come in the form of one mysterious man and a contract.

His controlling and selfish behaviour only wanted to keep you away from any other man that wasn't him, and you only had to wait for him.

Too bad you really thought you'd be smarter than Jeon Jungkook.

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

Aprox. time of reading: 13 minutes

Seoul, South Korea. 4 am

The room went cold after she left, and his heart started beating differently all of a sudden. It felt heavier on his chest, as it sank deeper in his body as time went by and it made all of his senses go numb almost instantly.

Supporting his weight on the wall behind him, his head fell back. He didn't want to think about what happened and what he did, but suddenly all the thoughts of a future he never thought he wanted started showing up in his head, in front of him, as if a movie was rolling in front of his eyes. Everything that could've been, showing up in his eyes, torturing himself with the images of what happiness would be like if things had been different, if only they had met in different circumstances.

All the smiles she gave him, the short cuddly moments they lived together, the softness of her skin, the taste of her lipstick when he kissed her that night... All of it vanished. All of that was replaced by her eyes trying to hold back the tears, her trembling lips fighting to get her words to be pronounced properly, and the pain that was coating every single one of them.

If only he hadn't been as selfish, and had allowed her to leave on time, maybe neither of them would be suffering as much.

—Sir.

Called out by the male voice coming from the entrance door, Jungkook turned his body fast, trying to hide his face while he wiped the tears away with the reverse of his hand. He got his phone from the bed, putting it inside his pocket again, before he turned to the door and faced the man that was calling for his attention.

—Mr. Kim is here —he let him know.

Jungkook nodded, motioning for him to let Namjoon pass. His lungs were filled with air that soon would leave as he tried to control his breathing again and make that knot in his throat disappear.

—I know how you're feeling —his deep voice tried to sound relieving, but to him it just was filled with false empathy.

—No, you don't —he sighed—. And I don't need you to know either.

—You did the right thing anyway —Namjoon's hand fell over his shoulder, in a reassuring gesture—. Not only for the family, but for her as well.

Without saying a thing, he huffed, finding it annoying how Namjoon found the way to make his choice about the family. If it had only been for Bangtan, and his father's legacy, he probably would've found a solution, just like he did when he gave up on Busan to keep the relations with the Choi family. He didn't care in the slightest about any of that, not when her life was in danger and he couldn't keep playing around with nothing.

—Unfortunately, the people we care about are always our biggest problem —Namjoon mentioned—. We see them as a source of strength, but others see it as a weakness, the best spot to attack. We can't be too attached to anyone, unless we want them to be in danger. It's the life we have to live.

—I know —he nodded—. We still made a deal.

Jungkook lifted his eyes from the ground, setting them on Namjoon's before he turned his whole body to him again.

He knew Jungkook would bring up the conversation they had back in the Watchtower. Although he insisted on separating them both for their respective protection, he was still hesitant of moving away from her.

"She can count on one of Jimin's men to take care of her. She'll be safe" that was Namjoon's promise.

—Jimin is already aware —he assured—. As soon as she lands in Mallorca, she'll have someone watching her every move.

—Namjoon, if something happens to her...

—I know —he nodded—. If something happens to her while you two are away from each other, we'll go on with your plan. But, for now, I need you to keep as much distance as you're able to. You can't contact her, you can't send people her way to get to know how she's doing. For you, she's dead. She hasn't ever existed, and you have never claimed her. Remember it's her life that you're risking.

Jungkook sighed, sitting back on the old armchair in the corner of the room, embraced by the darkness again.

—Do you know something about the message you received?

Namjoon looked away, shaking his head when the black haired man brought up the anonymous note he told him about in the party. He thought that it could've been Sanhyuk after Jungkook took Y/n back after giving him Busan, although it wasn't like it made a lot of sense to him -and he realized his intuition didn't trink him when the discussion ended with the conclusion that Sanhyuk not only didn't know about the attack, he didn't care about whatever happened with Y/n at all.

That young boy was too worried about his own pride and how powerful he looked to care about a woman that only brought him problems. And there was no reason for him to be so angry to throw a death sentence at her. At the end of the day, he was the only one that gained something after she left his place.

Jungkook was familiar with that threat, and the whole meaning behind it. Women's clothes, stained with blood, were sent to Namjoon's apartment the same night Jungkook was trying to hide at Sanhyuk's place. His guts twitched just thinking about it, while also finding impossible the fact that someone else was using that threat.

It was often used to declare how the lover of the enemy would be marked with blood. The men that received that same warning ended up seeing the people they loved dying -and it went further with the females in their circle. He had learned the bad way how some people were punished by being forced to see how their lovers were tortured, raped and killed in front of them.

He had never used it, because he was keen to believe those who deserved to be punished were those who chose to be part of the family, swore with their lives they'd follow the rules and still managed -at some point- to mess it all up for everyone. There was no point in punishing those who were unaware of everything going on.

Y/n was marked with that threat, which meant she'd be in danger if she stayed in Seoul. He knew she wouldn't have left if he had explained it to her, because somehow she'd have found the way to make it about strength and support. And while she could've been right, that strength and support was too far away from his grasp. It didn't matter how many men he had watching over her, whether he was glued to her or not, whoever marked her as a target, knew every step he took, knew how his security worked -enough to break into his house and kill everyone watching it without making a fuss-, and knew how important Y/n was for him to make him weak.

She couldn't come back until he had found out who was behind it all.

—We're trying to work on it as much as we're able to —he shrugged—. There's only one person who used those threats, but it's impossible that it was him.

—I know —he nodded—. Could be someone is imitating him to deceive us.

—Sanhyuk?

After hearing his name, Jungkook quickly shook his head.

—That asshole is way too busy rubbing on everyone's faces how he got Busan —he sighed—. He's so dumb he doesn't even know we barely used that spot in the past three months, and our focus is something else. I can't expect him to be that smart. And I doubt he'd target Y/n.

—Wouldn't be the first time...

—I know, I know. I still don't think it was him —he turned to Namjoon—. He knows killing Y/n would get him nowhere, and would mean his family would be fucked if they ever entered a war against us. Everything he did would be thrown out the window.

—So, we're at square one.

—I need everyone in Seoul to watch every suspicious move, and I want to be informed of absolutely everything they find out. That's the main priority as of now.

—Should I send a notice to the rest of the members?

—Yeah —Jungkook nodded—. We don't know where they're working from, so the more we can cover, the better.

Namjoon stepped towards Jungkook, patting his shoulder and pressing his fingers over his shirt in a comforting way, before he stepped outside the apartment again. It wouldn't be an easy operation, but he knew Jungkook was working better under pressure, which meant he'd get a name and a face in a matter of hours -or, at most, days. And for his and Y/n's sake, he better do it. If whoever sent that threat thought it'd make kick her out and forget about her, they didn't know who they were messing with.

✸ ✸ ✸

Palma de Mallorca, Spain. 9:17 am

When Y/n landed, she was barely able to open her eyes. Her eyelids felt heavy and puffy, and her drenched eyelashes tangled on one another everytime she blinked. She wasn't able to think about something else that weren't his words, repeating in the back of her head like a broken record, while she remembered the way he looked at her.

She wiped her tears again with the reverse of her hand, annoyed at herself for spending the flight crying over someone that played her. But she wasn't even hurt about that. It was the fact that he bothered to earn her trust, and had her getting comfortable around him after their long journey, only for him to kick her away as soon as he thought it was too much to handle for him.

She was a burden? She wasn't special?

She already knew that when he first spotted her in the club, when he made her sign the contract and when he forced her to go to Korea as a penalty. He still bothered to accept her around, opened his home for her, and tolerated every wrong move she made for whatever reason he had. But, out of nowhere, he decided she wasn't that important to keep doing all of that. And she should've seen it coming. She knew she was just a whim, and that he'd lose interest after a while. But her first thoughts and ideas got blinded by some type of illusion when they started getting on well, when she started seeing further than that contract.

She was stupid for being fooled like that, even more after how she tried to find an excuse for his sudden actions still. Because she was unable to believe someone could fall out of attraction and interest so fast.

Landing back in Spain felt strange, and it took her aback how it didn't go as she thought. She wasn't excited, she wasn't happy... She didn't want to be there. It didn't feel like home. Probably because she stopped considering that place her home.

She sighed when a tall auburn man in a suit guided her to a black car, once she walked down the stairs of the private jet.

—Tell your boss to get this car up his ass —she crossed her arms—. I'll be able to get back home by myself.

There was no lie in what she said. She knew every trick and every way to hop on any transport that could take her where she needed to go. Sneaking inside the bus was her speciality before Jorge took her in, so it wasn't like she'd be lost and helpless like Jungkook probably thought she'd be.

—He insisted —he cut her off.

She also frowned when he replied in Spanish. Another reality check for her. She was indeed back there, it wasn't part of her imagination.

They drove through the highway, traveling all the way from the airport to the centric area of Palma, going deeper into the city and the humble neighborhoods until they reached the place where she used to live.

—No, I need to get to the hospital. Didn't your boss tell you that? —he let him know— Either way, I don't care. Take me to Son Llatzer.

But the man didn't move. Instead, he just stopped the engine and got off the car, before he surrounded it and opened the door for her. Not waiting for her to hop off as well, he opened the truck and took out a small suitcase that he left in front of her.

—Those are your belongings —he was limited to say—. If you want to go to the hospital, go by yourself.

—Dickhead —she muttered.

She grabbed her things, dragging the suitcase behind her while she walked to the old building. Stepping inside the common area for the first time made her heart sync in her chest, disappointed at herself for feeling so empty despite being back where she wanted to be.

—Oh my god, Y/n —an old voice got her attention—. I didn't know you were coming back. Jorge told us you were sent overseas for work.

—Yeah, yeah —she answered fast—. There was a change of plans, so I'm back.

—That's great —she clapped—. Jorge has become so messy in the last months, and that kid doesn't even look after him. You'd think that after he came back from the hospital, she'd... —but Y/n cut her off.

—Came back from the hospital? —she frowned— Isn't he interned now?

—No, he came back two months ago. He had a really fast recov...

Y/n didn't care about what else she had to say, her body moved faster. Sprinting upstairs, she didn't bother about her looks or how out of breath she'd be after she rang the door. It took her a few seconds, but she heard those familiar steps behind it. Lazy, dragging the sole of her slippers over the ground tiles before the door clicked in front of her.

—Y/n...

A teardrop rolled down her cheek, followed by several others when she looked at him, completely paralyzed. In the almost fifteen hours in the air, between one airport and the other, she couldn't take away the picture she saw of him in the hospital bed. And now he was standing in front of her, smiley and looking as healthy as he hadn't looked in the six years she had been living with him.

Her arms wrapped around him tight, hiding her face on his chest while she cried away all the frustration and worries.

—My girl —he sighed, patting her head—. You're back. I thought you said you'd be here for lunch time.

Y/n looked confused, only moving away to look at him. As if her looks were judging him, Jorge took out his phone and read out loud the texts he supposedly received from her, making her take his phone and read the chat by herself.

She didn't care about the text that was sent that day. She kept scrolling up to the oldest part of the chat, aware that he thought he was talking to her ever since she left. And then she understood why he didn't seem annoyed or upset when she called him for the first time. Jungkook managed to always make him believe she was speaking to him every day.

Her part of the chat was filled with grammatical errors, and there were several words she hadn't used in her life. But it seemed like it worked to deceive Jorge into believing she was the one he was talking to.

—What? —he snatched his phone from her hands again.

—Nothing —she shook her head—. It's just... I thought I sent that I'd be here in the morning, that's it.

—You look so thin, and pale —he sighed out loud—. I bet you weren't eating properly.

Jorge took her in, closing the door to their home behind her. Although her paleness had nothing to do with what she ate or not. She didn't understand what was going on there, or what she was supposed to believe after she saw everything she thought was real -and concerned her- wasn't even something she had to worry about.

—I'll cook you something nice for breakfast —he assured her—. And don't worry, I'll pay back everything you spent these months.

—These months? —she turned to him.

—Yeah. You kept paying the rent, although you weren't living here. And you also paid for the private insurance when I was interned —he clicked his tongue—. You went abroad to earn money for you, and instead you spent it on me and Carla. I can't allow that.

When he was back in the kitchen, she tried to make some sense out of everything she found out after stepping in her house after a minute. She didn't pay for any of those things, which meant Jungkook was the one who paid for all of that without telling her. She knew he told her he'd still pay the quantity they agreed on when she signed the contract, but looking after Jorge and also texting him in her name was off limits.

Then she was aware, the phone...

She licked her lips, opening that chat with whom it was supposed to be her, clicking on her name only to be redirected to the user's information. She tapped her thumb over the phone number, instantly being redirected to a call.

Her heart started beating fast, while she tried to understand what was going on. He lied to her to get her to leave, and at that point she also doubted any of the words he aimed at her were also real. She just wanted to hear an explanation from him, feeling nervous with every dry tone that came out of the speaker.

She was hopeful to hear his voice, but the tones got more constant after a minute, letting her know the call ended automatically. She would’ve been fine with hearing anything he had to say, even if he wanted to repeat everything he told her before she left, making her able to hiss how bad she hated him for lying to her that way just to move her away from the equation without giving her the real reason.

Just like that? He would end everything just like that, without giving her a proper explanation? 

Taglist: @kaiparkerwifes @sheylamc @amy2006jones @allamericanuniverse @00frenchfries00 @massivelyfullenthusiast

[color-cacophony]

I was going to make a Big Official Review Post about Rayman in the Phantom Show but I don't really have enough complete thoughts to make something comprehensive and organized, but I still want to share some points from my experience with it so uhhh without further ado, here's a bunch of thoughts on what dazzled me and what I thought could have been done better.

Here I go...

I'll start with the stuff that bugged me first because I don't like to end on a bad note:

I think the biggest issue is that giving the player the option to complete each set in any order diminishes the opportunity to have a linear story. Without a series of events building up to the finale, the actual climax doesn't feel as grand or substantial as it should be (it definitely feels like a few lines were cut from the moments before Phantom's first verse with how abruptly it starts). It would have felt more immersive to see actual scenes of the heroes trying to play their roles and have more varied quests based on puzzles or even characters and dialogue (like the search for Sweetlopek's stolen axe), all whilst gradually putting the pieces together that they were led into a trap.

Speaking of putting the pieces together, it would've paid off to have Beep-0 learn from his own arrogance in the past instead of repeating his assertion that he knew what Phantom was up to all along. That part made me kind of sad because I really like Beep-0 and it seemed like they were setting him up to eventually become less uptight and more open to admitting his mistakes, which would be more satisfying and obvious!

As we all know, Beep-0 isn't the only one who repeated himself. I remember an exchange I had with @randomrabbidramblings about our predictions for what would happen in the climax; they were hoping the final showdown with Phantom would not be redundant with his first encounter, having the same battle gimmick as before. Unfortunately that is, in fact, what they ended up doing. While framing it as Phantom being unoriginal or making a callback helps it a little bit, ultimately it made me feel let down (although I love Beep-0's delivery when he reiterates his line from Kingdom Battle. he means business).

As for the aftermath of the battle, I want to know where Phantom went. There doesn't seem to be any sign of him anywhere in the studio. It's really odd, given how this was supposed to be his grand comeback (alongside Rayman, of course), but we don't get even a simple explanation of what happened to him after he was defeated for the second time, unless I missed something. I presume this is his last major appearance in a game (unless they decide to do something completely different with him in the distant future??? wishful thinking but not ruling it out!), so it's a strangely underwhelming and mysterious send-off to our beloved ghostly diva. I would have been bummed that we didn't get lore paintings for him, but the memory entry summarizing his surprisingly short-lived career actually made me laugh and honestly, the thought of him only releasing one album and becoming so well-known just because he's notoriously a huge jerk and a producer of incredibly terrible films is so in-character for him.

Another choice I found unusual was the lack of any explanation as to how he got his voice back, since it's been established that he screwed it up by overdoing it. Although, they must have dismissed it knowing that not everyone is going to find the mural containing the only source of that detail. His voice could have healed over time anyway, but it just doesn't entirely make sense that they don't acknowledge it at all (I did see @bramble-scramble 's post mentioning a detail @randomrabbidramblings pointed out where a gramophone can be seen in a box in the studio's control room and it is supposedly the one Phantom replaced with a new one when he messed it up, but even if that's true, it's still a bit easy to miss).

I understand that a lot of these issues were due to restraints since it's only a DLC and they could only fit so much in, but that goes to show that this concept is a little too big for a DLC, but not quite big enough for a full game.

Now, for the things I loved...

I must give massive props to the artists and animators for taking reference from multiple Rayman games and essentially making the pinnacle of his goofiness. Rayman was HIGHLY entertaining to see (and listen to, thanks to David Gasman) and very lovable in this! And the way his dynamic with Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Mario changes up until the end where he becomes friends with them and realizes that he can work with the Rabbids now instead of against them it's just 🥺 awgh... It feels cheesy to talk about it but it really does make me happy now that Rayman has a chance to be an equal to the Rabbids and have something resembling a mutual understanding.

I appreciate them bringing back characters from the main game and giving them their own sets. Fittingly enough, it's like a curtain call for the final installment of SoH.

The return of Beep-0's swearing. SERIOUSLY IT'S SUCH A SMALL THING BUT IT DELIGHTED ME

The studio's lobby is gorgeous. Absolutely STUNNING I love all the details and the music notation motifs on everything.

Honestly the rest of this is just going to be me gushing about Phantom hehehe...

First of all, I was completely awestruck at the decision to give him a swing/jazz sequence because I love the aesthetic of the whole sassy big band musical number kind of thing so when I saw that Phantom was going to do that I went INSANE. The animation in the song sequences is absolutely top tier. Phantom is ALL OVER THE PLACE, very charming, very energetic. The swing bit made me realize just how unbelievably coordinated he is. Like when he's zipping and spinning around the stage and it doesn't affect his singing at all? Holy crap. Then, I went even MORE insane when rock/metal Phantom showed up. I would have wanted a verse in that style too, but I get that it was cut because it would mess up the pacing of the battle.

I love Phantom's inability to contain his excitement at the start of the battle, his annoyed lines when you destroy the lights, his smug remarks even when he's taking damage. He's just so- I'm just gonna say it- so freaking cute in this! His line deliveries in general made me fall so hard for him, especially "were you EVER a thing, Rayman?". The way he drops his voice sounds so cool...

Regarding his abilities, I thought they were going to explain why he could turn people to stone in Kingdom Battle, but they simply took that detail away. I don't have a big problem with this, as the Stone Deaf ability could have been part of the Megabug's influence (and it makes him at least a bit less OP lol). I'm also satisfied to finally know that he can indeed phase through things like any other ghost and isn't limited to just teleporting.

His death acting has definitely improved since last time, in that it's silly and makes me smile instead of just making me feel embarrassed lol.

So uummmm yeah that's all the noteworthy stuff I can think of! Overall I thought the DLC was delightful during my playthrough, but after I finished it I felt kind of sad because it just didn't feel "thorough". However, given that Sparks of Hope generally improved on so many aspects from the last game, I'm confident that they'll keep adding and experimenting with more characterizations and scenarios and make something even better if they decide to continue with Mario + Rabbids. And even if they don't, we'll always have the amazing fans to continue the story and put even more wonder into this wild crossed-over universe!

Anyway, thank you for reading through this highly disorganized rant/gush! And while I'm at it, thank you to everybody in the Mario + Rabbids community for making such amazing art and just being here to share our love for the series. That means thank you to @randomrabbidramblings @bramble-scramble @salamifuposey @hostess-of-horror @phandrow @pastelprince18 @critterzone13 @hostdoozy @majorpepperidge and more! You guys are super cool and I appreciate you even though I've never directly interacted with all of you, hehe. I suppose all I have left to say is goodnight, so goodnight/day everyone! Until next time I decide to dump more nonsense onto your dashboard :D

[androgynousblackbox]

How To Lose A Lucifer In 10 Days. 3 [Appleradio, Radioapple]

Step 3: Make a deal with him

After Bel was gone, Charlie promised that first thing on the morning she would help out Lucifer to think of a solution to this whole mess. Lucifer seemed biting his tongue strong to resist the urge to just break all hell loose right there and then, his hand squeezing at his hat like a stressball. At least he thanked Charlie for being understanding.

"And uh…" added, scratching his cheek. "Sorry for freaking out like that at seeing you. You are really pretty and I am sure your Lucifer thinks the same, but to me it was like seeing my kid without some of the parts that make her, you know?"

"Aww, it's okay" Charlie rubbed his shoulder. Lucifer squeezed his arms against his chest as if hugging himself, smiling up to her. "Don't worry about it. This has been quite a shock for everyone. Hopefully we can solve this quickly and you can get back to her."

"Thank you, sweetie" Lucifer could not believe his luck in that even other versions of his daughter, in an another whole dimension or pill bottle or whatever, was still the best thing anyone could find in Hell. "Have a good night you two" wished to Vaggie, the two of them returning the gesture as they went back to their room.

"Well, that was mildly entertaining" let out Alastor, conjuring his staff as he walked past the king to the lobby. "Now, if you will excuse me, I do actually have a bed to go back to."

Lucifer blinked at him.

"You are not even a little concerned about your Lucifer?" asked, following him behind.

"No" answered Alastor with ease. "I would hope that the literal king of hell can take care of himself anyway. Not that is my business either what happens to him, that is for his daughter to concern herself with, as she is so used to it. Regardless of what kind of… partnership you may have with your own Alastor" Alastor said like those words were objectinable on themselves, " I assure you that is not the case here. I wish you all the luck with your endeavor though. Have one Lucifer or another here does not make much of a difference for me."

"First of all, that partnership is called marriage. Don't make it sound like a transaction" said Lucifer, frowning. "Second of all" added, teleporting suddenly to stand in front of Alastor before he went inside the elevator, "I do not believe for a second that you don't know at least someone that could have a solution to this. If you are anything like my Alastor, then you know every person on this ring with any amount of power or someone that knows them. Isn't there anyone that could just, I don't know, open a portal or something?"

"I thought you agreed with Charlie to wait until tomorrow?"

"Charlie doesn't need to worry about this more than she does. You may not care about the Lucifer of here, but she obviously does. So I prefer to work on this as fast as possible and if you can help, then I am taking my chances."

"The king of hell wants the help of a simple sinner?" Alastor smirked. "Now that is a new one. But I am afraid that I will have to dissapoint, your Majesty. I can't think of anyone with such power. How unfortunate, but oh well" He summerged himself on his shadows, goinger under the feet of Lucifer, and only came out inside the elevator, already pressing the button to his tower. "Good night, your Majesty" said with a little grin, letting the doors close over the expression of total desolation that was so beautifully painted all over Lucifer's face.

In his humble opinion, it was the best face he ever saw on him. It was almost a pitty he wasn't going to be able to see it all the time, but have this other Lucifer as a permanent presence wasn't exactly his first choice either. Not if he was going to continue telling people about his Alastor and whatever bizarre choices he had made. The joke about him being a father for Charlie only worked as far could elicit a strong negative reaction on the most powerful being of hell, not if Lucifer was going to fully suscribe to it and expect him to take it seriously. Then it was just weird, uncomfortable and he didn't like it anymore.

But in any case, that was truly nothing worth losing any second of his precious sleeping hours over. Either they were going to return that Lucifer where he came from or they won't, simple as that. As long that Lucifer understood to keep away from him and don't ever call him with those ridiculous nicknames again, then there was no reason why his routine had to be affected at all.

He changed into his sleepwear and slipped into bed, hearing the subtle sounds of his bayou to lullaby him into sleep. For a fleeting moment he considered how hilarious it would have been for their Lucifer to find himself in the presence of an Alastor who considered him a husband and how truly shocking that would have been. He chuckled to himself in the dark, almost wishing he could have seen that trainwreck happen. That if he wasn't in a completely different place altogether. Maybe one with beings more powerful than himself that could teach a little bit about humility, for once. Maybe he was dead already for all he knew and that made Charlie the queen. Who knew. Alastor stopped thinking about it soon enough, enjoying the comfort of his bed instead and not bothered one way or another.

Someone was knocking on his door. Alastor peeked one eyes open to see his window, the relative darkness of the night still present. He went to grab his clock at his nighttable. He had barely had two hours of sleep.

"Who is it?" asked, willing to throw out of the window to anyone that wasn't Charlie or wasn't an actual emergency. The place better be burning up or someone had to be in the middle of a especially painful dead to make it worth bothering him like this.

"Lucifer. Can I come in?"

"No" said Alastor, turning on his bed. Literally the only being in hell he couldn't just kick out. Just his luck.

"I went to Stolas's house because he knows a lot about the stars, so maybe he would know anything about this. Thank goodness that kind of thing is still the same here" continued on Lucifer, not minding at all to talk through the door. Alastor grumbled to himself. "The issue is he has to go through a bunch of books and he seemed to have already a bad night, so he told me he would look into it tomorrow in the morning. Apparently he is still dealing with his divorce so, you know, you don't want to be an asshole to a guy who is already down either" Lucifer waited a moment, as if expecting that Alastor was going to talk. He didn't, waiting for him to take the hint. But how could this be Lucifer if he didn't dissapoint someone. "Can I stay with you?"

Alastor sighed deeply, resigning himself to leave his bed and put on a night robe on top, going to open the door.

"No" said as soon he opened up. Lucifer looked up, pouting like a fucking puppy. "Didn't we make it clear already that I am not your Alastor? We have no relation at all. I find that to be the best kind of arrengement."

"But you are an Alastor" said Lucifer, twisting his fingers together. "Just let me sleep on the same room. You don't have to do anything else. I can make my own bed and you can stay in yours. I um" Lucifer swallowed thick, looking down "kinda really don't like sleeping alone. At all. My Alastor had to… go for a long time, so now I get a little bit nervous when I don't know where he is. And you are not him and I know where he is, but… please, I don't want to wait until morning awake."

Alastor passed a hand through his face, already knowing this Lucifer was definitely more annoying than the other one.

"Still no" said with a sigh. His room was a sacred space and to trust in another demon to be there while he wasn't conscious or able to defend himself was unconceivable. The fact one of those demons was one he could never take in a fight made it all the more easy to reject. "Take those pills the queen left you if you are so desperate for a pleasant sleep."

He was about to close the door when Lucifer blurted out:

"How about a deal?"

He opened it up again. Lucifer's brow was slightly crinkled, a determined look on his head.

"What kind of deal?"

"Hah, that never fails" Lucifer chuckled to himself and then cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "Well, it's pretty simple. Just let me sleep on the same room as you until I can get back to my Alastor. I won't try to do anything, I swear. I just really want to sleep. If you do, then for every night you let me do that I will tell you one weakness of mine you can use on your Lucifer."

Alastor's eyes shined with interest at that.

"The king has no weaknesses" pointed out carefully, not paying close attenton to whatever trace of trickery on his face. "Not physical at least."

"Oh, he has weaknesses. I should know, I am him" Lucifer nodded. "I don't garantee you will be able to kill him, though."

"You would be willing to sell out another Lucifer for such a simple favor?" asked Alastor, not knowing if to be impressed at the casual disregard or at how obviously stupid it was.

"I know what I am asking of you and is not small" said Lucifer, frowning again. "I am basically asking you to trust me, something that nobody ever does in hell, so I have to offer something of equal value to you. As long you promise that Charlie will be safe, you can do whatever you want with the other Lucifer when he returns. It won't be my problem to deal with anyway."

Alastor considered this for a long moment. Maybe this Lucifer was a little more interesting that he gave him credit for.

"What is stopping me from using those same weaknesses against you?" asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I mean, you can try" said Lucifer, shrugging. "But my Alastor already went through them all so they won't work the same on me. On another Lucifer that won't expect it, though? That is different. He won't stand a chance."

"And all you want to do is stay in my room and sleep away from me in your own bed?"

"Exactly" The eyes of Lucifer turned red with golden pupils as he extended his hand, a smile on his face. "What do you say then, radio demon?"

Alastor looked from his hand to his face, feeling the increasing energy like an electric feel that was putting every hair on his arms up. A sound of estatic filled the room when he returned the same room and shook hands with the devil.

"You got yourself a deal, your Majesty" said, their energies twirling in the air around them. A portion of golden energy entered his body, just as a green one went inside of Lucifer. Alastor was the first one to break the contact, whipping away his hand on his robe. Lucifer didn't seemed to mind, his face brighting up a little as Alastor made himself to a side to let him in. "I hope I don't have to ask you to please don't go through my stuff or destroy anything."

"I have shared a bedroom with my Alastor before, I am not an idiot" said Lucifer, looking up to his bayou as a smile extended on his face. When he turned again to Alastor, he looked a bit more sheepish than the devil he shook hands with. "Thank you, I know this is a huge bother" said, so casually that Alastor found himself uncomfortable.

"This is not out of generosity, your Highness. I expect something in return" said, opening his night robe and letting one of his tentacles to put it away.

He sat on the edge of his own bed, waiting. Lucifer blinked.

"Oh, right" said, turning to him. "His first weakness is lemon tea with sweet cookies on the side. At least five sugar cubes. Give him that for breakfast and he will be putty on your hands."

Alastor stared at him without understanding.

"Is that a joke?"

"I am just giving you what I promised" said Lucifer, a mischiveous smile appearing on his face. "I said I would tell you his weaknesses. I never said of what kind" He winked an eye as he snapped his fingers, a small bed appparing in front of Alastor's library, one half on the soft grass of his bayou and the other on the wooden floor.

Alastor stared at him, going over their previous conversation and realizing, suddenly, that it was true. He just assumed that Lucifer meant the kind of weakness one could use in a fight and Lucifer used that against him. That was unquestionable his mistake.

Alastor looked at the tiny king changing his own clothing for a blue pajama decorated with a duckie pattern, with a new found respect he never had before.

"Touche" said slowly with a snear. Just because he had lost fair and square didn't mean he had to like it. "What I am supposed to do with that kind of information?"

"Whatever you want" said Lucifer, accomodating on his own bed. "Use it, don't use it. Maybe actually try to be friendly with him when you see him? I don't know" Lucifer rested his head on the pillow, exhaling deeply at last. Alastor slowly got on his bed too, making extra sure that the king would stay there. Lucifer turned to the other side without minding the inspection, his eyes still shinning a bit of red in the dark. "You two seem like pieces of work for what little I could gather."

"Some people are just not meant to get along" commented nonchalantly Alastor.

"My Alastor and I do. We don't always agree on everything and sometimes he is a dick, but we usually get along" Lucifer let out a tiny yawn. "Good night, b… Alastor. Sorry, force of habit."

"Mmm" Alastor let that be his only response as he saw the king turn around, giving him his back with full confidence.

He waited and waited as the breathing of the king became slower, his body seemingly fully relaxed in his presence. Like a complete fool. Maybe being the king of hell gave someone that inflated sense of security, of thinking that even if someone tried to attack them on their sleep they would be able to fight it off. Alastor wasn't stupid enough to try his luck that way.

Eventually, looking at the king, he also fell asleep too. He didn't saw when Lucifer turned on his bed, staring up to his side.

"I understand, Stolas" was saying Charlie, walking back and forth on the kitchen. After a while listening on the line, she covered the mic of her phone and looked at Lucifer sat at the table. "Stolas wants to know if you have been in contact with any disruption in the time space, as in…" She listened again. "Some kind of black void floating in the air or a zone where the light wasn't right?"

"None of that" sighed Lucifer, passing his fingers through his hair. "I told you, I literally just woke up from my bed and I came down to eat breakfast. I didn't see anything else or felt anything different, until this one started talking to me" commented, pointing at Alastor, who have been alternating between glaring at him, as if he had the fault of any of this somehow, and looking at Charlie as she made the call.

Lucifer was starting to feel that whatever had made him nice before had already dissapeared in the air as if never existed. He had heard the cliffnotes already of what kind of life the Lucifer of this place had before him and how different it was from his own. This Lucifer had fallen alone, as horrible as that sounded. There was never any Lilith to share his dreams with. Only after many years he got to know this one sinner that originally was supposed to be his guard, fell in love with, married and later have this Charlie by magical means to by pass the whole sinners can't reproduce norm.

It was just a total coincidence that the sinner this Lucifer was married to turned out to also be the assholes that worked with his daughter.

"He says no" Charlie added, walking again. Lucifer had to see again her little blonde tail to convince herself that this was all real. As cute as that tail was, it only remind him of his actual daughter he wasn't seeing. "Have you maybe step up to any machinery designed to open portals? Even if just be on their vecinity. Or know someone that would make a machine like that? Experiments of any kind related to that?"

"No and no. And frankly, if I did know someone like that I would be back home already. No offense, sweetie" added, smiling up to Charlie and she returned the gesture briefly, before listening again.

"Also no" She nodded, biting his inferior lip. "Mmm. Are you sure? Yes, I understand" She sighed, rubbing an eye. The red one, noticed Lucifer. It was so weird to see a face that otherwise was so very familiar and still see something that made it completely different. "Okay. Yes, thank you. Thank you a lot. We will see you then. Have a good night."

Charlie put down her phone on the counter and sighed, squeezing her brow. Vaggie squeezed her shoulder.

"Alright" Charlie patted the hand of her girlfriend, grateful. "Stolas says that this if there isn't any sign of scientific intervention, then this problem has a magical origin. He might be able to descipher the origin of the magic and it's nature, which might help us know how to undo it, but he needs to read more on it to be sure. He says that we should visit him tomorrow morning so he can see papa."

"He is not papa, little fawn" commented Alastor, his face soften up when he saw Charlie. "You don't have to call him like that."

Before Charlie could respond, Lucifer spoke up.

"I don't mind" He smirked, winking an eye at Charlie. "I technically am papa, aren't I? You can call me whatever is that you want, sweetie."

"You might have raised a Charlie, but not this one. Don't flatter yourself" pointed Alastor with a tense smile, narrowing his eyes, and Lucifer chuckled softly, now understanding why being on that position was so fun for the other Alastor. To see the perfect control of this demon slip away from his hands was a treat for his gaze.

"I am just saying, she still has my magic. I dare say a smidge more than she has yours" added with a full grin.

Alastor's lip twitched on the corner, drawing half of a snarl.

"Let me make something clear now" said slowly, standing up. He walked over where Lucifer was at, gripping both hands behind his back. "You can stay here. We will help you out get back to your own place so my husband can get back. As far as royal duties go, you will keep fulfilling them because nobody else will want to do it. But you are not our Lucifer and you are not part of our family, so don't start getting ideas. You are just a temporary guest, an uninvited one at that. Understood?" Alastor finished the word, looking down on him.

Lucifer almost let that hurt him. He couldn't care less about being the replacement husband for this guy, but being told that about someone that was essentially his daughter did struck a nerve inside of him he tried hard to suppress to not give this asshole the satisfaction. He stand up from his chair, staring him back.

"Shouldn't be Charlie the one to decide that?" responded, keeping up his own smile. "There is no reason why you should get jelous, buddy."

"Jelous?" Alastor scowled.

Charlie groaned loudly, going up to him.

"Enough" she said, looking at both of them, but landing in the end on Alastor. "Dad, it's okay. I don't mind calling him that. I know that papa will return soon enough, so it's fine."

Alastor's gaze threw a final dagger in Lucifer's direction before losing all the edge for Charlie. He nodded slightly.

"If you say so, little fawn" he sighed, taking a step back. Lucifer tried to make it no obvious how much that surprised him. "If there is nothing else to do…"

"Not right now" Charlie confirmed. "Papa is going to be okay where he is, dad. One night away from home won't mean much and then he will be back" She looked over at Lucifer, who suddenly had the impulse to reassure her of every concern she could have.

"Oh, yeah, totally!" said, implanting a smile for her. "The worst that can happen is some stupid comment from the Alastor over there, but otherwise he will be just fine. My Charlie surely will want to help him out too so who knows, maybe he could be coming here sooner that I can get back!"

"Exactly, see?" Charlie looked over at Alastor and hugged him by the shoulders, squeezing him against her. "Everything is going to be okay. Don't worry."

Alastor patted her back with one hand.

"Who is worrying?" said and booped Charlie's nose with one finger, smirking. Lucifer had to look away at how nonchalant they both were. It made his chest ache thinking about his Charlie. "You are right, as usual, little fawn. You should probably get back to sleep now. I will be going to bed too."

"Alright" Charlie got on her tip toes to kiss his cheek before letting him go.

Lucifer perked up to receive his own hug. Instead Charlie smiled at him and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"Go to rest too, papa."

Lucifer cleared his throat, hiding his admitedly stupid dissapointment. No matter how she decided to call him, it wasn't still the same, just like she wasn't the same for him. Charlie didn't notice, but Alastor rolled his eyes behind her.

"See you tomorrow, kiddo" Lucifer smiled, seeing the two girls wishing them a good night as they went down the hallway.

Alastor didn't say another word. He barely threw a glance to Lucifer before he got lost on his shadows, seemingly melting into the floor. Lucifer snapped his fingers and gave a single stept, landing outisde of the elevator. In front of him it was either the door to the room he thought was his or beyond that the radio tower. Neither options was particularly attractive. Even less so when between his feet a dark figure extended to the door, Alastor straighen up his back as he manifested himself.

"You are not sleeping here" declared.

"Who the fuck was asking?" replied Lucifer. "It was just force of habit to come here. I will pick any other room anyway."

"Glad we are on the same page" Alastor opened up his door, but before he could close it Lucifer put a hand on it. Not making pressure to close it again, just to make himself known. Alastor regarded him with an arched eyebrow. "What now?"

"I think I understand most of everything here" started Lucifer, looking him up and down. "The part that is still nagging my brain is why Charlie called you a sinner and then you stink up as a fallen."

"Does it matter?" Alastor rolled his eyes. "If you are going to get back to your world tomorrow, you don't need to know all the details."

"Are you seriously asking why I would be curious about fallen angels? Me? Come on, man" He smirked, pointing with his eyes down to his hand over the door handle. "I couldn't help to notice too that despite all your my husband, my husband that you do, that ring is not the ring of a king married. I would know" said, showing his own. "What happened? Did you had a big fight and had a quick divorce that already regretted?"

For some reason, he had to know. Not only it would make all the sens eof the world that a marriage between a version of himself and Alastor wouldn't work out, but it would also make him feel less of a failure about the ending of his own marriage. It wasn't his fault that all Lucifer were just doomed to never have a happily ever after. At least he got a few amount of good years with Lilith instead of the thousands of single years. Maybe it wasn't the best thought processs to have. He comforted himself thinking that he had the decency to wait until Charlie wasn't present to satisfy his own curiosity. A divorce is never a pleasant subject for the kids to talk about.

Alastor's lip twitched, the static sound that surrounded him expanding, wrapping his presence like another barrier.

"We have been married for almost a century and I am the father of his children" said calmly, his eyes wrinkling. "I will call him whatever I want, I earned that right. If you are really that desperate to know, there was a mistake that neither of us had any control over that separate us briefly. But as my lovely little fawn could tell you, we have full intention of fixing that mistake in the near future. Not that is any of your business in the first place" He huffed through his nose, looking him down and up. "As for that stank you talk about, I will let you come to your own conclusions. I am sure you can manage a theory or two if the crown is not too tight in that head of yours, your Majesty."

Ah, there it was. That was the Alastor he knew and couldn't stand being around with. Lucifer was almost relieved to seeing that. An Alastor who gave hugs and was genuinely kind to Charlie was a lot less ennerving than one who felt the need to throw cheap shots just to see if it annoyed him. Finally something he was more familiar with.

"Alright, sure" said Lucifer, smirking. "Here is the first one: you ate a bunch of angels during extermination day and with your weird voodo magic that mixed it into your body, making this weird fake fallen smell."

"My husband has eaten more angels than I did, actually" commented Alastor with an smile wider than his face should allow, a glim of something light and fun in his eyes Lucifer couldn't quite define. "Full body too. So no, nice try."

"Wait, seriously? He is a cannibal here?" When Alastor shrugged with apparent delight at Lucifer's grimace, Lucifer sighed. "Why I am not surprised you would introduce him to that?"

"Careful to judge too harshly, sire. That is still another version of yourself you are talking about. Although a infinitely more tolerable one."

"Yeah? Well, you are still the same creepy asshole no matter what universe I am in" He frowned, looking at that engagement ring for a moment too long. "I still haven't completely rule out that you are just manipulating the poor guy. Without any Lilith to keep him company, it can get lonely. Some people would love to take advantage of that, I bet."

"Oh, is that what we are doing now? Putting doubt about my intentions with my own husband?" Alastor chuckled. "What an adorable little thought experiment you have cooked up now, your Majesty. Do please tell me" continued, resting his elbow above Lucifer's hand as he supported his head on his hand. "In that marvelous mind of yours, what reason could I ever have to staying married to my husband for more than 80 years?"

"Power, obviously" Lucifer shrugged. "Money, influence, authority. You won't tell me that this is the version of you that just so happens to not care about those things, don't you?"

"Mmm, I will give you a quarter of a point. I won't deny that was a thought that crossed my mind at some point, but who wouldn't have it in front of a king? Especially one so impressive as mine is? So what is the reasoning for why I would want to have a child with my husband then? That is just an heir that is going to take the throne away from me if Lucifer ever decides to stand down. Why would I create such an obstacle for myself if my motives are that simple?"

"Are you kidding me? To trap someone with a baby is one of the oldest tricks on the book. Even if he gets tired of you and kicks you out, a kid garantees that you will forever be tied together. You can also just use her as leverage whenever is convenient for you."

Alastor let out a short, loud laugh at that.

"My, you must have a very high opinion of my manipulation skills if you think I could raise a daughter that unquestionably loves me with such an agenda in mind. I am flattered, your Majesty."

"Charlie loves everyone. That doesn't mean much about if you deserve it or not" pointed out Lucifer, beaming a little bit at bringing one of the best qualities his daughter had. "Don't act as if you wouldn't. If you are anything like that guy, you don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself."

"You two must had a very close relationship to be so sure about that, sire" said Alastor, relaxed as ever, chuckling softly when Lucifer made another face of disgust.

"I don't need to be close to a piece of shit to know what it is. You understimate how much I have seen of hell and it's sinners if you think you are that especial in that regard."

Alastor sighed, as if dealing with an annoying little kid now.

"Your Highness, you are the one who has decided, entirely on your own, that I must have tricked a version of you into a sham of a marriage and is using our daughter just to get a taste of your power. If your position was supposed to make you oh so wise to my tactics, then how come my Lucifer allowed it to happen in the first place?"

"I don't know, desperation? Maybe he doesn't care as long you at least give him what he wants and don't hurt Charlie. The fuck would I know?"

Alastor's arched eyebrow went higher, his own face reflecting such contempt that Lucifer was a little taken aback.

"Now who is understimating the king of hell?" sneared. "You don't know anything about him or about us, sire" Alastor pronnounced the honorific like an insult. "If we are done with this little trip of yours through your wildest imagination…" Alastor opened up the door, throwing Lucifer briefly off balance, as he came inside. Lucifer impulsively went behind him, phasing through the arm that closed the door. Alastor blinked at him and snarled, his ears going back on his head.

"I told you are not sleeping here. Get out."

"I still don't know about why you smell to Heaven" said Lucifer, squinting his eyes. Something about his phrasing did bothered Alastor personally, if his clenched fist are anything to go by. He took as a good sign that something else was happening. "I just never seen something like it unless it's an actual fallen, so just imagine my surprise at finding that essence stick to you of all people. Just tell me how you do it and I will get out of your hair."

"I could kick you out too" Alastor's antler grew his antlers on top of his head and his body become larger, so much that the back of his head quickly hit the ceiling. The display of magic all around gave Lucifer pause for a moment, mostly out of surprise than any actual fear. This felt so much more different than anything he had seen with the other Alastor. He wasn't about any ordinary soul, that was for sure. "I have sparred with my husband before. I have no illusions about defeating you for good, but I can at least keep you away if needed."

"Yeah, cool. Destroy your entire room trying to defend it, that sounds smart" Lucifer dismissed the display of power, looking to a side. Seeing for the first time some family pictures frammed and hanging on the wall, some with Charlie smiling with her arms around one or two of her parents. There was another girl on them he did not recognize, probably a friend of this Charlie. "Oh, also, worry Charlie with all that noise in the middle of the night like I did already. That is oughta to come out excelent" The static and expansive darkness stopped on their tracks. He sighed, impatient. "I don't know why you can't just tell me. I have no reason to use that information against you if that is even possible. It's an easy question that shouldn't have such a complicated answer."

The head of Alastor twisted to a side, neck cracking. His form did shranked a bit, but it was mostly still there, his long claws scratching at the air as if wishing to have a target to strangle.

"Is the idea of privacy just a foreign concept to you?"

"No, no, no. Privacy is whatever you two do here, something you both can take to the grave for all I care. If it's a matter of fallens in my realm and someone possibly messing with angelic magic, then that is very much something that concern me" When Alastor didn't gave him any sign that he cared at all about that, he rolled his eyes. Fuck it. Time to take out the heavy guns. "How about a deal?"

"Deal?" Alastor's smile was already fixated, glowing a soft yellow light through his teeth eveytime he spoke, but something on his face told Lucifer that was exactly the magic words.

"Yes. A pretty easy one: tell me about why you are like that and I promise to not enter your room or involve myself at all on anything that involves your… relationship with your Lucifer. With the exception of Charlie that is. That already involves me too, since our magics are the same."

The green dials that Alastor had for eyes inspected him carefully, as if he had any other trick up his sleeve. For once, he didn't, actually, but who was going to say that to any Overlord in hell and expect to be believed?

"Fine" Alastor offered up his giant hand and Lucifer barely could contain rolling his eyes as he was force to shake the pinkie, knowing full well that it was intentional from his part. After the exchange of magic was done, Alastor returned to his normal form. "First of all, I want to know out of my curiosity that I hope you don't mind indulging me in. The day of the extermination, did someone died from your side?"

"Ah, yeah" Lucifer winced. "Sir Pentious, one of the residents of the hotel, and Razzle. I didn't know the man a lot, but everyone told me he was brave and selfless during the battle so I have to respect that. He gave his life to try to protect the dream of my daughter. Why?"

A moment of silence passed as Alastor seemed to struggle to take out the words out of his mouth. Lucifer almost got the impression there was some sense of embarassment as he waited for the other to speak.

"That is the first major difference then. Our Pentious is alive and well in this side. Razzle is also still Charlie's companion" started Alastor. "During the battle, I confronted Adam" Lucifer nodded. That also happened with them, for what Charlie had told him. Right after the fucker just disssapeared for months doing who knows what and came back when everyone else had finished the hotel already, without explaining anything to anyone and his own tower at the ready because Charlie really insisted on it. "I lost" Alastor pushed the word out of his mouth as if disgusted with himself for pronouncing them.

"So that is still the same" said Lucifer, not knowing where he was going with this.

"I meant definitely. My neck got cut off and I didn't manage to heal myself in time. I lost consciousness. When I woke up again, I was on another place. A place that wasn't here" Alastor put more emphasis on the last phrase, clearly hoping that Lucifer would get the idea without actually spelling it out.

He didn't seem particularly happy when Lucifer actually did, his eyes going wide at the realization.

"YOU WENT TO HEAVEN?!"

Alastor screeched, making a face that tell of how much he wasn't proud of it. He nodded slowly, avoiding looking at him.

"IS THAT… so it is possible! Redemption can happen!" Lucifer laughed, brushing his hair back. "Holy shit, my baby was right! She is going to be so happy when she finds out!" said, before noticing that the ear of Alastor were still flat and his posture haven't changed at all. "Wait. So you came back after that?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't" Alastor retort. "They wouldn't let me so I had to see myself out."

"Oh, fuck" Lucifer had to snort just imagining the face of Sera at seeing one winner who wanted nothing to do with Heaven. A winner like Alastor was such a hilarious image he found himseelf almost wishing he saw it. He must have been so utterly miserable there, without being able to cause the mayhem and destruction that hell gave him so freely everyday. "That is the funniest thing I have ever heard. Heaven must have been pretty upset about that, I bet."

Alastor's smile reflected some mirth at that.

"They are not fans of me now."

"Join the club!" Lucifer laughed again, whiping away the tears from his eyes. "Ah, that is so good. So, how did you do it?" asked, crossing his arms, now genuinely invested on that story. "How did you came back here then?"

"Aren't you going to question that they let me in in the first place?"

"Nah. I stopped questioning why Heaven does the things they do a long time ago" Lucifer shrugged. "They don't ever explain themselves anyway, so what is the point, right?"

Alastor nodded, as if reluctantly agreeing with him.

"So?" insisted Lucifer. "How did you manage to get back?"

"I caused some massive fires, killed a lamb cherub as a sacrifice to summon my husband and then made a deal with him to bring me back. The end" said Alastor on a roll, as if it was a very practiced joke that he knew killed in all the parties.

Such as one, Lucifer bursted out in a fit of laughed, holding onto his knees. He was positively wheezing as he looked up again to Alastor, looking satisfied with himself.

"Oh my name!" he said, almost breathless. He shook his head up and down to himself. "Yep, that is exactly how I would expect your redemption to go down. That is fucking hilarious. Oh, please tell me that Sera was there. Please tell me that your Sera was a pain in the ass the entire time."

"She was" confirmed Alastor and Lucifer had to support on his cane as he cackled.

The mental image of the stoic, composed, righteous Sera having her hands full with disasters around him and a winner dealing with the devil was the single best thing he could imagine. Show her the power that souls could still have outside of the rules they were so fond of. Show her that their paradise wasn't actually fit for everyone. Not to mention the simple chaos of releasing something of that nature in a place fully unprepared for it as Heaven had to be a total shitshow worth admiring.

After what seemed a pretty long time, Lucifer finally managed to regain himself enough to clean his cheeks. He couldn't remember at all when was the last time he ever laughed that much at anything.

"Oh, fuck, that was great. Dare I say it, divine? Hah! I am so glad I asked now. Thanks for telling me."

"It was a deal" said Alastor, regaining the tight smile as he opened up the door again. "I fulfill my part, now it's time for you to do the same. Have a good night, sir."

"Yeah, yeah" Lucifer conjured up a hankerchief to clean up his eyes. He passed to the side of the radio demon and patted his shoulder. When he Alastor took a step back, he pulled his hand away without losing the smile. "Ah, sorry. I will get out of your hair now. You are a much funnier man that I thought, I will give you that."

Alastor made a neutral hum sound as Lucifer walked out. When the door firmly closed behind him, Lucifer let out a chuckle and walked back to the elevator. The magic revolving around their deal made a barreir between himself and the door that only he could feel. He shrugged and made his way to the elevator, thinking of how happy his Charlie was going to be tomorrow when she was told the news. Maybe she could even appreciate the humor of the first redeemed sinner actively sabotaging it all up to end up in hell again. He did at least.

[popsicle-parfait]

Unfortunately I ended up losing interest in this draft and with the drama that keeps happening at Nijisanji I also lost the same likability in the streamers I once did. So if anyone wants to pick this up or just read it I'm going to leave it here.

It's a reader x Ike Eveland.

You have been playing video games for a couple of years now, and while you're not the best at them you do have a lot of fun while doing so. You've gone from gaming noob to posting professional tutorials for others like you on your blog. If you can't play a game you'll just watch streamers and analyze it so you can at least be aware of certain mechanics if you do end up buying said unobtainable game. The streamer you've spent the most money on was probably Ike Eveland, you weren't too interested in vtubers but something about his eloquence and how he engaged with his audience caught your eye. 

You've been watching him for a few months now so you can properly say you're a part of the quildren, as the fans put it. Apparently a new game came out and it was on everybody's wish list, but luckily you pre ordered it a long time ago, all that was left to do was boot it up and start playing. It was a classic mmo game and like the person you were, you decided to pick the female avatar since they have more cosmetic choices. You were a mage class so you'd have an easier time grinding and upgrading your skills compared to other classes, plus who doesn't like to buff yourself every now and again? 

You were in the middle of farming for a new armor set when someone sent you a group invite, who could this be? Their username was "TheNovelist" and they already seemed to be 5x higher than you in levels, so what could they possibly want with you? You decided to bite the bullet and clicked join, there were three people already active; one of them being the party owner in question. 

You took a quick look at their character profiles and the other two party members were a gunslinger called "Lionsgate" and a healer named "PotassiumFighter12", only one of those made your sweat drop. TheNovelist looked to be a swordsman, carrying a heavy greatsword and what looks to be a really OP armor set that got released. You all typed your hellos in chat before the forsaken conversation of 'Why' began to circle. 

Bellflower: Wow! You guys are stacked, are you about to do a raid? 

Lionsgate: Hell yeah! We're gonna defeat the newest mini boss! ∩( ✧Д✧)∩

PotassiumFight… : Unfortunately, we don't have enough potions to cover our stats so we asked our friend here to find someone who'll help

TheNovelist: It's ok if you're not a high level, we'll share the exp anyway! (^_^♪)

Bellflower: Oh alright! If you need anything from me just yell, my attention span is kinda bad lol

Lionsgate: Don't you worry your head Milady! We'll go in guns blazing! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

TheNovelist: Starting now

Honestly you've never been carried so hard in your entire life, but you can't deny the princess treatment isn't nice every now and again. The milady comment was odd considering you were sure you placed your gender as male in your profile but you'll take what you can get. After a few waves of monsters and drops to last you a few days, you were actually really enjoying yourself. The guys were funny and they all had such different personalities from what you could tell, plus they all seemed to know each other irl since the inside jokes were a bit odd. What the heck is a Shubert anyway? 

You were a bit confused but overall these guys really warmed your heart up! Afterwards you all parted ways and not even an hour later, you got a friend request from TheNovelist! The next day you decided to take a break for a bit since your hands were cramping and opened up YouTube to watch Ike's daily stream. It looks like he was playing that game you downloaded yesterday too, which you guess is pretty expected considering it was new and all.