#update: ...i did try to order some from somewhere. but they closed their orders right before i pressed send it seems

[daz4i]

i would kill for a sufganiya rn fr.

[honeypiehotchner]

Devil's Backbone (Unsub!Hotch x Fem!Reader) -- part ten

I listened to the stripped version of "Good Looking" a lotttt starting around now as I wrote this fic. It's perfect for how the reader is beginning to feel, the sadness and confusion, remembering how Hotch was and realizing how she no longer knows him 😭😭

Warnings: things are beginning to unravel

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Ten: The skyline falls as I try to make sense of it all -- "Good Looking" by Suki Waterhouse

“Hotch said he didn’t have any of the files, JJ,” Dave said, stepping into her office. The two of them spoke on the phone last night, as promised, and Dave wanted to give JJ the update first thing in the morning, as promised. “He said he had older ones.” He listed the names off and JJ nodded along.

“I have those accounted for,” she said, looking at her computer, shaking her head. “I know he had those. The others are probably in here somewhere. It’s just weird.”

“I agree,” Rossi said. Files didn’t disappear randomly. If some were taken or even copied, JJ was notified, and she logged it. “But we’ll figure it out.”

“Did you look through Hotch’s office?” JJ suggested. She seemed hesitant to even ask, chewing on her nails after proposing the question. 

“No,” Rossi said. “Should we?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, should we?”

Rossi thought it over. Strauss’s concern. Your odd reaction to his questions. Hotch’s strange character every time Rossi called. None of it made any sense. Rossi assumed it was grief, just like you told him, just like he told himself, that maybe it was Hotch even trying to convince himself that he was feeling better than he was. But there was a nagging feeling deep in his chest that he couldn’t get rid of.

“Yeah,” Rossi finally said. “I’ll go look.” He knew how it looked and felt: like an invasion of Aaron’s privacy. But this was becoming too convoluted to worry about privacy.

Rossi went back into the bullpen, glad to see you sitting at your desk already. He tapped your shoulder as he went by, nodding his head up to the second level.

You got up and followed, assuming he was going to his office. Your heart began hammering in your chest when Rossi stopped outside Hotch’s office. No one had been in there since Hotch left. It was locked. 

You watched in terror as Rossi took out his keys and let himself into Hotch’s office, flicking the light switch.

You walked inside slowly, your voice low as you asked, “What are you doing?”

“What I don’t want to be doing,” Rossi replied in a hiss, pinching the bridge of his nose. He gestured toward you. “Shut the door.”

You closed the door and pulled the blinds for good measure. Or to help your paranoia. You had a bad feeling in your stomach and a bad taste in your mouth. “Rossi, what the hell is going on?”

“JJ can’t find a few files,” he replied, stopping in front of Aaron’s desk facing you, placing his hands on his hips.

“I know, she told me--”

“One of them she can’t find is Issac Holman.”

“What?” That was not right. That had to be a bad coincidence. The file showed up missing and Holman was dead? Impossible. Too eerie to be a coincidence.

“Another one missing is Nicholas Edwards,” Rossi continued. “He died two days ago. Shot in the back of the head, executioner style.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell us?” That was a brutal method; it was necessary to alert the team.

“Because I didn’t want to say anything just yet,” Rossi replied. His fuming eyes landed on you next. “I need you to come clean with me.”

Fear shot through you so hard that you took a step back from him. “What?”

“When I called you into my office a couple of days ago, you acted like I was interrogating you when I asked simple questions,” Rossi recalled, stepping closer to you. “What did you and Aaron talk about? Tell me the truth. Right now.”

You shook your head. This was a nightmare. This was not happening to you. “Rossi--”

“Agent L/N, I am ordering you,” he pressed, raising his voice. He stepped closer, pointing an accusatory finger at you. “Tell me. This is bigger than whatever secrets you might have, so I need you to get over it and--”

“We had sex!” you blurted, shame rising in your chest like flames, burning their way to your neck. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Stunned, Rossi struggled to find words, eyes blinking and jaw opening and closing. “You-- Are-- Are you two seeing each other?”

“No,” you replied, your face burning with embarrassment. You wished that was the reason behind the sex, that it was a sweet, romantic, domestic relationship you were hiding. “He kicked me out. He wanted nothing to do with me. Can we move on now?”

“Yeah,” Rossi said, turning around slowly. “Help me look for any files he kept in here. Holman and Edwards might be in them.”

You nodded, glad your failed fling with your boss was forgotten for the moment. “Why would they be in here?”

“He liked to go over them afterwards,” Rossi explained. 

“Yeah, I know.” You turned to look on the side tables by the couch, but there were only random magazines, no doubt put there by someone else. Strauss probably put them there one day to liven the place up a bit.

Rossi studied one section of Aaron’s desk against the back wall. “This is empty.”

You leaned over. “Yeah.” You stared at it, eyebrows furrowing. “He used to have a lot of books and…” Files. You remember. You watched him close his briefcase as he said he was sorry but you knew he didn’t mean it.

Rossi turned and looked at you, the same haunted expression on his face. “He took them with him.”

You nodded slowly, your hand covering your mouth. “I watched him take them.” You paused, a sick feeling settling into your bones. “Rossi…what is going on?”

“I don’t know,” Rossi said slowly, shaking his head. “I don’t know.”

But he knew. You both knew. Neither of you wanted to admit it.

+++

Aaron was washing the blood off his hands in the unsub’s bathroom sink. 

He didn’t mean for that much blood to be shed, but he got carried away. The unsub fought back harder than Aaron expected him to. One punch led to another and then Aaron had flashbacks to George Foyet. The unsub’s face no longer existed. It was only Foyet, and Aaron got revenge. Again. And again.

Unfortunately, it made a mess of the fucking bedroom. Thankfully, none of Aaron’s blood was shed. He caught a few blows to his chest and abdomen, but none to the face, none that bled, not like the unsub bled all over the goddamn place. Aaron knew the human body carried 5 liters of blood -- thanks to Reid -- but it looked like much more.

He needed to leave as soon as possible, so he settled for cleaning his hands thoroughly and forgetting the rest.

He rode back to his home in Quantico in silence. No music, no news. He needed to think.

But thinking only landed him in places he didn’t want to be, so he stopped. He stopped for food and carried on back to Quantico to get his things together.

He had one more unsub to hunt, and it wouldn’t be easy. The fucker ran from him once, he assumed he would do it again. So, Aaron needed to be careful and meticulous about this one. It would take longer than a weekend getaway.

+++

You were called into Strauss’s office the following day. You knew it wasn’t good, but you knew that even before you saw Rossi sitting in one of her chairs, fingers pressed to his temple. 

“You called for me, ma’am?” you asked, shutting her office door behind you.

“Yes,” Strauss rounded her desk, gesturing to one of the empty seats on her couch. “Sit.”

This is not good. You did as you were told, sitting on the very edge of the cushion. Rossi refused to look at you, and it made your stomach turn. You took a deep breath. 

“What do you know of Hotch’s whereabouts?” Strauss asked conversationally. She went over to her minifridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

“Uh, he’s at his apartment, I guess?” you replied, taking the water from her.

“You guess?” Strauss pressed.

You chuckled awkwardly. “Ma’am, with all due respect, I don’t know where Agent Hotchner is. We haven’t spoken since he left.”

Strauss laughed as she sat down across from you. “Well, Dave told me you did speak to Aaron.”

You looked at Rossi with wide eyes, sensing betrayal, but he shook his head only slightly. So he told her the truth, but not the full truth.

“I went to his apartment to offer condolences,” you said. “And to check on how he was doing.”

“And how was he doing?”

“He seemed fine,” you shrugged, putting the water down on her coffee table. “What is this about?”

Strauss sighed. “Agent Hotchner’s behavior has been worrying me since the day I sent him home,” she said. “Now, supposedly, he needs to get away, with no phone, no devices. And frankly, I cannot let him do that.”

You looked at Rossi, your eyebrows furrowed. “Where is he going? What is he thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Rossi replied. “He wouldn’t tell me. Just that he is heading out tomorrow morning.”

You turned back to Strauss. “Ma’am, I had no idea--”

“I know,” she stopped you with her hand in the air. “I don’t care to know the details of your relationship with Agent Hotchner. I hope there aren’t any details. But seeing as you are someone he trusts, I need you to follow him.”

“Follow him?”

“Yes. See where he goes. If it’s nothing troubling, you will return to the BAU. This is a private assignment and you are not to discuss this with anyone outside of this room, do you understand?”

You nodded. “I do.”

You felt like you were signing your life away.

[msmc-796-official]

[BEGIN AUDIO TRANSCRIPT]

> Ladies.

// Comman- er, sorry- Kennedi! Welcome back!

welcome back, K. how did the house call to Gray go?

> Exceptionally well, all things considered. Commander Gatsby has informed me that Gray's been working himself to the bone and neglecting to take breaks to the detriment of his physical and mental health, so he's on "medical leave" until he sorts his sleep schedule out and gets some rest.

// I figured as much. He's never been the type to sit still for long, has he? Always busy with some new project.

> Indeed. As of late, he's been occupied with building a new subaltern in memory of someone he was once very close to - canine in form, if memory serves.

interesting - I've seen some chatter around the Omninet about that. did he tell you he's never seen a dog before?

> No, he did not - I imagine that complicates matters a great deal.

// I can't particularly blame him; I didn't see my first canid in person until after I left the Argo Navis system. We don't have a ton of terrestrial animals around Carina - ocean world, and all that.

fair enough. so the kid's doing good otherwise?

> It would appear so. He has made great strides in building a lasting connection with his squadmates, and Gatsby appears to have taken quite the shine to him. I think he'll get on with them just fine.

// Good to hear! I'm happy he's finally found somewhere he can call home and feel safe.

> As am I. Next order of business: now that I have returned from my "house call", as it were, a deployment to the Baronies awaits us.

ah, right. that...

// Torrentes said transportation would be provided for us at his own expense. We need only give the word that we're ready to deploy - Shoddy got our mechs cleaned up and ready to go.

that I did. everything's calibrated, repaired, and combat-ready per usual deployment milspec - unless you had modifications in mind?

> No, normal calibrations should be more than sufficient. I don't foresee us doing much combat in-mech; if anything, I would make sure our sidearm weapons and personal affects are in order. If the House of Sand does attempt an assassination, as Torrentes fears, we will be of far more service on the ground.

// Right - I can go do that, Shoddy; you already did the mechs. (I should go sharpen my swords, anyways - it's been a minute since I've needed them for actual combat.)

> Before you run off, Phoenix; a question for you.

// Yes, Kennedi?

> How are you doing? I understand that the news received from CMC in the wake of the Thirty Hour's War was highly distressing to you, and I worry that you may be psychologically compromised after your latest PTSD attack.

// Oh, no, I'm alright - Morse reached out while you were gone. I've lifted the legal embargo against CMC, and Legal is going to try to help her purchase back what's left of the Requiem after Union finished demilitarizing it. Talking with her again after all that... it gave me some much-needed closure, I think.

I chatted with Morse as well. got some things sorted out regarding a stolen weapon, made some arrangements for funerary matters - nothing major. I think P will be alright so long as there are no balors lurking about anywhere - speaking of which, P, we gotta get your psych profile updated. this is the first time I've seen you have a breakdown outside of the mech - if balors are triggering you this bad, we gotta stop accepting deployments where you might encounter one

// I suppose you're right. Chernobog was... bad. Even for a Balor. I didn't think it would hit me that hard outside of my Dusk Wing, but- but it did, and it scared me. I think I'll be okay for this deployment, though. I'll rest up afterwards.

> If you say so, Phoenix. You're free to give the go-ahead to Torrentes whenever you feel ready to do so, and not a moment before.

// Understood, Commander. If either of you need me, I'll be in our armory preparing our weapons.

> Very good. As you were, Phoenix.

see ya later, P

[transmission picks up the sound of footsteps exiting the room]

...you still hanging around for a reason, K?

> Yes. I have something for you. A gift. From TR-GRAE.

a gift? what kinda bullshit is this?

> I felt much the same way when it was first revealed to me. I have been reassured several times that it is not, though my suspicions are by no means abated.

...fuck it, I'll bite. what is it?

> An encrypted data drive. Supposedly, it contains information relevant to your last conversation with GRAE. Information which, as I understand it, was highly confidential to the point of accidentally deadnaming you in the name of keeping it secret; the entirety of which is now entrusted to you as a show of good faith. You'll need to decrypt it yourself, but after that, the information is yours.

relevant to my last-? woah, woah, hang on a sec - if this is what I think it is, this has a LOT of incriminating shit in regards to how Gray and GRAE interact on it. shit that Gray hasn't seen - that he hasn't been allowed to see. you're telling me that GRAE gave this to you willingly, for me to have?

> Indeed. That much was made exceedingly clear. For my part, I know very little of what transpired in that conversation, but if we have both come to the same understanding of what GRAE is and how it is connected to Gray, then I also understand your reservations. I have informed GRAE as much myself - perhaps to an extent which may be called an overreaction.

you blew up at GRAE too, huh? color me fuckin' impressed, K - I knew you cared for the kid a hell of a lot, but holy shit. how did he take it?

> Gray, thankfully, was not privy to our conversation. As for GRAE... it remained silent on my way out, and offered no resistance to my taking the data drive. I can only hope this means that I made my point clear, and is not a sign of some greater retaliation to come.

goddamn. alright then - where's the drive?

> Here.

[transmission picks up the sound of fabric rustling; an item retrieved changing hands]

looks legit to me. no clue what kinda cognitohazards GRAE hid in here, but I think I speak for both of us when I say this is gonna have to wait until after the Baronies

...we're definitely not telling P about this, yeah?

> Unless the information becomes relevant to her further interaction with Gray, I see no reason to disclose its contents to her.

gotcha. what about telling Gray?

> ...that decision I leave to your own discretion. I do care for Gray, deeply, and wish to protect him as best I can... but at a certain point shielding the truth from him any longer only causes him more harm. I trust your judgement in these matters.

...right. we'll have to see what's on here first. I'll go lock this up somewhere safe before we take off - can't afford to lose this. see you later, K

> As you were, Slipshod.

[END TRANSCRIPT]

[littlebluentebook]

Alastor x Reader pt.6

A/N Oh my goodness! I didn't expect the story to get this much attention! Im going to do some sort of second story where Alastor and the reader are in hell. If theres no objections I'll also feature some helluva boss characters (just to advance the plot!)

I am very sorry for not updating! I went out of town, nearly broke my hip, got sick, and started a new job all in the last 2 weeks. I should be able to post once every three days now :)

Thank you to everyone reading the story! I love sharing my ideas and feel free to reach out if there are any stories you want to see!

TW-Animal Blood(?)

Chapter 7

You woke up in Alastor's arms. It wasn't on purpose! You both had agreed to split the bed, pride getting in the others way. Apparently, somewhere in the night you each reached for the other. Not minding the extra warmth, you fell back asleep. There was no point in moving away; you liked him, he was comfy, and kept you warm. The second time you woke up, the sun was bright and the bed was empty. Worried you checked the clock to make sure you hadn't overslept to open the shop. You had forty five minutes to get the store open. Not as much time as you would have liked, but also not anything too out of your range.

"Ah! My sleeping beauty, glad you're now awake!" a voice said from the doorway. Alastor? You thought he had left. "Come now! I have made us breakfast."

Alastor could cook. Breakfast tasted like it was picked up from a five star restaurant on the more expensive side of town. Over breakfast he told you that he was unable to leave such a beautiful person alone and you needed the rest from the previous night. He actually didn't leave you at all that day.

He sat talking with you in your shop keeping well mannered company. Alastor would never admit it, but he absolutely loved listening to you talk. He spent so much time talking on the radio it was nice to finally be listening to others. He never really cared for sewing but asked you questions about how you did certain things and complimenting your stitch work. He also would assist you while you worked; measuring, flipping things right side outing grabbing fabric as needed. He liked feeling useful to you and watching you work on something you were passionate about.

:Thank you so much for your help today Allie."

"Allie?" He tilted his head like a puppy hearing 'no' for the first time.

"Yeah! Like a nickname," you beamed at him. Alastor mulled the name over in his head before deciding it was okay when it rolled off your tongue and into his ears. No one else could ever be allowed to call him Allie aside from you.

"Hmmmm. Alright" He was at a loss for a nickname truly just wanting to call you his. "Why don't we go and fetch ourselves dinner. I know the most exquisite place!"

"that would be lovely!" Your demeanor was much calmer than your racing thoughts. First, Alastor had stayed the night and made breakfast. Secondly he spent the entire day with you. And now he wanted to take you to dinner! You felt like a romance character from the books you had read and heard stories of.

He had helped you close the shop, took your arm in his (it was the only way you two ever walked together) and he led the way to the restaurant.

It was a nice place with candles and flowers on the table. There was a live band playing softly to entertain guests as they dined.

Alastor was sweet and kind with you, he made excellent recommendations about what drinks to try and meals to order. You both split a cake together for dessert. The night was wonderful, absolutely perfect! The only thing that there you off was the way in which Alastor ordered his steak.

"Alastor!" you had whisper-yelled "that cow is so undercooked I can still hear it moo-ing in the fields. Do we need to have the waiter take it back for just a moment longer?"

"Haha oh no darling! I just enjoy my cut of meat like this. It holds so much more flavor!" You gave him a quizzical look swearing you had just seen blood dark as your wine pool on the plate.

When your night had come to an end, Alastor had walked you home and kissed your cheek. It had left you red and blushing thinking about it as you slept.

The next morning you had awoken ready to start your chores. You folded the blanket and pajamas that Alastor had borrowed and cleared a drawer for the items to reside in. Today you had a new activity you hadn't done in years.

You walked down the stairs leading to your shop and to the circular display table at the center of your shop. Grabbing the wilted flowers and vase you got to work and put them in your oven to dry them out. You loved keeping gifts, flowers were beautiful but difficult to keep but you made it work.

The entire day you were all that was on Alastor mind. He simply could not get enough of you despite spending the entire day together before. He was talking to his mother about the feeling and how he had never experienced it, unsure of what to do he was searching for advice. His mother was not helping the situation, she merely laughed at him. "Oh Al, why don't'cha go onna date together and court the poor thing!" What if you didn't like him back? What if he made a total fool of himself. His mother could sense his worries, "well whoever can put up with ya for a full day definelty doesn't not like you." She pinched his cheeks and went back to cooking for the both of them

[sportswriters]

priorities - h. son

pairing: heungmin son x female!reader | angst | co-workers to (?) | wc: 738

Heungmin is very focused on his job, so he's not considering a relationship at the moment. However, he can't help acting like a gentleman with Y/N.

He's kind, he remembers the things she likes, he pays special attention to her videos, the glances last longer, the smiles too. When he arrives at the building with another player and finishes his own interview, he makes a point of 'waiting for his friend' as an excuse to stay in her presence for a little longer. He's a homebody, and although he doesn't text her, he often updates her on what he's been watching when she greets him in the hallway.

One fine day, they meet at the entrance to the restaurant where a mutual friend's birthday is happening. The place is packed, but the celebration is on the top floor, where there is a cozy terrace. She enters together with Heungmin and the people who have arrived, but as the movement ends up causing someone to bump into her, Heungmin decides to intertwine his fingers with hers for safety's sake. 

As they are last in the order of friends, no one notices what is happening, only Y/N — who’s panicking. When they reach the terrace, where it's more spacious, quieter and better lit, one of his friends turns around and notices them holding hands. "Won’t you look at that? Ben will be pleased to hear about it."

As soon as he realizes it, Heungmin snaps out of it like he's touched an electric wire. "Oh, you idiot, I was just stopping her from being swept away by the movement downstairs. Keep moving." He turns to her and says: "Sorry about him." But that's not what she's focused on. 

Dinner goes well, but she can't get the restlessness that has built up over the last month out of her head. She asks if there's somewhere they can talk in privacy. Later, they go to Ben's house for an after-dinner drink, so Heungmin takes her to the front of the house, since everyone is either in the kitchen or in the backyard.

"I don't know if we're on the same page, but I need you to be aware. I like you... romantically."

Heungmin's eyes widen, genuinely taken aback.

"What do you mean? When did it start?"

She frowns, trying to look for some sign of pretense in his actions. There’s none.

"Are you... Is this serious?"

"The other day we talked about my focus, don't you remember? Romance isn't something I can prioritize right now, I thought I'd made that clear."

She puts her hand to her forehead and takes a deep breath.

"It's not possible for you to be so oblivious. Maybe I'm being too innocent by refusing to believe that you're being selfish," she says.

"I'm sorry, Y/N, I really am." He fiddles with his hair, nervously. "I didn't think our closeness would make you feel that way. I didn't mean to."

"Oh, I know very well. I know all your reasons very well. But I also know that there's no way that everything that's happened over the last month is something common. You don't act like this with everyone, be serious. I didn't create this alone, I didn't feel this alone. The difference between us is that I'm not afraid to be honest with myself. If you want to do this with your own heart for the sake of your career, be my guest, just don't take me along on an adventure only to discard me when you remember your unwavering purpose. I won't stand for that."

"Y/N..."

"Don't apologize anymore. Your regrets aren't going to help me get rid of this feeling that's now floating in an aimless river." She sighs. She wants to confess that said river that has been flowing towards him, calm and smooth, is now struggling to regain its rhythm because of the stones in the way. "I'm going to say goodbye to the guys. I need a whole night without alcohol and without you.”

Heungmin's eyes are restless on her face, his labored breathing shows that he's not saying everything he'd like to. He feels like he should make her stay, but what would he say? How to get around what this has become? He can't even remember what happened last month. Everything has snowballed and the only thing processing in his head is the desire to make her stay.

[nattikay]

fursuit making update: both ears are now complete and attached to the head! I've decided I'm not going to post any more WIP pics because at this point she's close enough to done for it to feel like "spoilers" for the finished thing lol

I leave for AWU just one week from today and have made a list of all the tasks I need to get done to finish the suit. There are 14 tasks in total (sounds like a lot but most of them are relatively small/quick things). Eight of them are absolutely mandatory to have a finished wearable costume, the rest are things would be ideal to have but aren't strictly necessary/it won't be the end of the world if I don't have time to get to them (mostly small internal things that no one will actually see when I'm wearing it, like bias tape on the edges of the handpaws or around the neck hole, inside lining for the back of the head (right now only the front is lined), stuff like that).

Of the 14 total, I've deemed seven of them to be minor/simple enough that I could theoretically do them in the hotel the night before the con if I need to. Obviously trying to do all seven of them there would probably be a little much, but if I reach the day I have to leave and there's still one or two, maybe three of them that I didn't get to at home, it should be fine.

So yeah, I think I'm pretty confident now that I can finish this thing in time to wear her at the con! Yay!

Right now the only thing I'm a little unsure about is the eyes—not about whether or not I can do them, but about which material I'll be able to use.

See (no pun intended lol), I was originally planning to use the same method I'd used for 2.5's eyes, namely making a digital iris design and printing it out on cotton buckram (with just my regular home printer). I thought I had some buckram left over from the last time I made fursuit heads, but even after digging through all my craft supplies I couldn't find it, so I had to order some more. Unfortunately the place I usually order from was out of stock, so I had to find some elsewhere.

While looking for somewhere else to get the buckram (this was two weeks ago now), I saw an Etsy listing that said they could print custom fursuit eyes on a plastic mesh with the fancy dye sublimation printing, which caught my attention because hey, that could be even better; I'd still get to use the iris art I made but on the fancy vibrant waterproof mesh. So I decided to give it a shot...the problem is I don't know if they'll arrive before I have to leave 😅

I found and ordered some regular buckram too, as a backup, but I'm really hoping the fancy dye sublimation irises get here in time. The seller said they'd print and ship them on Saturday (last Saturday, not this coming Saturday) but I haven't gotten any kind of shipping confirmation so I don't know if they actually did or not.

Luckily installing the eyes doesn't take very long, so I'm gonna give the fancy irises until Wednesday to show up. If they're not here by then, I'm just gonna have to cut my losses and go back to the regular printer on cotton buckram like I was originally planning. Which, hey, not the end of the world, that method worked perfectly fine for 2.5...just a mild letdown after getting excited about the fancy option 😅

[kaiannae]

Life update (in lack of Starling update)

So, I think I would like to avoid another "going dark" episode like the one from the last two-three months. That one was because of war, and war is still very much present, but at the moment, my lack of writing is mostly due to other matters. CW Cat Medical Stuff: I have a cat. My mother is his human, but I take care of him and I love him very much. Unfortunately, he started feeling unwell two weeks ago on monday morning. He hid all sunday night, he wouldn't eat all day, he was not moving from his hidey hole, I was worried. I called the vet monday evening after confirming he was feeling worse and worse, and was instructed to give first aid painkillers and bring him the next morning. Since then, its been an ordeal of unclear diagnosis. Obvious infection without a source. My vet is very professional, but even after hospitalizing him for close care, going through multiple in-depth tests and giving him broad antibiotics, he wouldn't eat, while the tests were showing nothing but a sourceeless infection. Eventually I was sent with him to a vet hospital to do a specialized ultrasound. That too showed inconclusive results but there were enough findings to make my vet press for an abdominal operation. Its very lucky that they did, and very lucky that they insisted on doing it that same eveing. Turns out the poor thing had a gall bladder infection, which did not show in blood tests or ultrasound, and somewhere in the few hours between the last ultrasound and the operation the gall ate a hole in his stomach and it was leaking into his abdoman. The operation saved him in the nick of time, though it was touch and go for a couple of days. It is now the third day of him being back at home, he has a feeding tube and has to be tube fed 6 times a day. He also gets 9 types of meds, some of which need to be taken with food, some away from food, so I am his home nurse for the next two weeks at least, that assuming he'll keep improving. END CW Cat Medical Stuff. And as if to add insult to injury, I've been feeling ill since the begining of this week, and after testing negative at first, I am now positive for COVID and feeling it heavily. In fact, my mother now has COVID too and she needs care as well. So to summarise, I hardly have time to sleep, so investing myself in the angsty Bren and Fairy PoV enough to write is not really working right now. I must focus on taking care of parent and cat, and though I don't know how much the vet bill is yet (still pending on that) I do know its going to be in the several thousands, so I must focus on that as well. (Sadly, if you don't have pet insurance, any intensive care or test costs a fortune here.) So, please stay tuned as I try to restore some order to my life and calm things down a bit. The wizards are still very much on my mind, in fact, they are one of the things keeping me sane at the moment. If you like my writing and would like to tip me on Ko-fi, there's a link in the header of my page, or you can just search Kaiannae. (sadly I hardly uderstand Kofi, but I know the page works. I intended to make an actual content page there but never got the time with everything that's happened in the last few months.) It would all go towards bills and would be very much appreciated. Also, if you'd like to see or have an idea for a short oneshot you always wanted to see with the wizards, Starling AU or just Shadowgast, feel free to toss them in my direction. I might not be able to invest myself in my main writing right now, but I might be able to do a short thing as I wait for feeding times to post seperately for ya'll, especially night feeding times... Again, I apologize for the wait. Please stay tuned.

[jonathankatwhatever]

It’s 15 Mar 2024 and the most amazing work is occurring. Here’s one bit: I was coming upstairs from putting the laundry in the washers and wondered if I’d taken my lactaid, because I’d made a hot milk/coffee and left it on the table to be reheated. I realized too many steps had occurred between for me to know for sure. I could guess I had because I’d made the drink and cleaned up, which indicates a degree of care, but what if I put the lactaid off til return? The choice of perspective seems a coin flip biased by which goes first, like in any game where going first endows an advantage of choice. Aside: thought about this yesterday as I was running, so it was blown entirely out of my head a few miles after, that choice of which path to take is an ordering issue because all which respond to that path being chosen now order. This is like when the sink is draining slowly and you can make it drain fast by closing and opening the drain. This creates a disruption which allows the water to organize and that ordering is more efficient at draining. Kind of the way heroin drains the person more efficiently. I’m using drain a lot on purpose, of course: the idea is to be like Stein and allow the associations to build across the usages. The idea comes from the lifeblood and the connection of that to water.

I find that stuff fascinating. I was working through a question that troubles me: the explosion of violence and the decline of cities during my lifetime. I was able to articulate the idea that it was a partial consequence of increasing freedom as a few things happened. On the idea level, the church that led the movement had developed a theology which downplayed the material world, and that ideology did not fit the developing reality that success in gaining basic rights naturally leads to questions about prosperity in this world. The former is more abstract. At a practical level, Martin King’s murder deprived the movement of the natural leader, the guy who brought a bunch of voices together.

That idea came out of thinking about how unprepared people were for success. Institutions didn’t exist. This really helped me sort out something from the family story, the one where I actually meet you as a character in which in the story itself I’m essentially you as a male in this other family, except I’m a different you, the one who does the music and who needs a sister to write lyrics. Like I said, they’re all version of me and you, so I’m really comfortable there. That storyline involes investment in poor communities by a bank. How to improve a neighborhood so the people who live in it benefit as well. Or at least the people who own homes in it can prosper. I mean ‘loans’ to improve homes so the value of other homes improves, as actual community investment which benefits the bank. I mean grants so people get their homes fixed up in important ways rather than needing to sell low to a flipper. Updated electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc. Try to cut costs by recruiting from the community and by encouraging local contractors to try out people, to see who works well, etc., the idea being you want to encourage the work itself to be an investment in the people.

Somewhere in my mind I see 5 houses near each other, and a structural contractor goes through each, etc. Project manage the scheduling. So this would require a development corp. Another complication would be tenant protections and how those might go away or change, but the complications of another set of interests, that third party, don’t resolve to 1Space; they require some compromise that shifts each perspective, each End. That is an important part of the gs and Triangular process: the ideal, which cannot be achieved, means flicker through states, which of course organize. And connects to the Julia set which connects to the Mandelbrot set.

Anyway, that was a detour. That’s what comes from drinking hot milk and decaf.

Example: Pi in our work is the count of connections at any specific level, and that directly translates in relation to the M-set because Pi appears as the number of iterations increases as the real count, which is compressed xyK to real, approaches the cusp of the M-set at ¼. That is, if you apply Mag10, which is (1+(SBE3)+1), meaning it is iterative over base10, so the actual iteration is that which approaches the M-set at the tangent point of ¼ on the real line. This generates a count of iterations before it exceeds the same value of 2 used in general in describing the M-set. I keep hearing a reminder that this is around 0, that it begins with a count of 0, and the reason for the 2 is that if a 2 appears in the calculation then it can’t go back.

So when we count to 2 that means counting imposed to complete.

I need a break.

[confessionsofareindeer]

Needless to say, she let me down, a singular person who's company I enjoy went, I told her convince my betrayer, convince my Unbranded Table Top Role Play GameMates (not DND), convince my followers on my fan page, which she runs might I add, any of the other Costume Design majors in my favor (it's an art school, no jokes, we're all serious business here) I even asked her to try and call back another friend who'd graduated, and nothing, none of them would go, not a single one, except for the one who did, but I found that out later now our school has a reputation for bad at events, we'd snuck out other friend (the betrayer, and I hope he sees this) into an event or two before for me to jump on the stage and gaining crowd approval, just for her to laugh as I fell on said stage, but not so bad no one would attend, I knew she was lying to me, for the fame. She was going to take credit for my idea, (that I only sort of shared with her) and take the glory to our friends, to spite me, so she could be framed and popular, like I once was. She'd rub it in my face to my adversaries who were probably going.

As the day becomes nearer and guest passes go on sale, she refused to give the 'government mandated form to prove that I will not be endangering minors' form to me, she kept telling me she would, but by that point, I'm onto her, I know she's doing it on purpose, to keep me away from my liege, she was always living in my shadow and now she was getting her revenge. She went on to lie to me about the price, saying it was $20 and then raising the price to $43, but tell me, why would she do this, and a that specific price (the meaning of life) if not for fame, if not for for recognition, she wanted what she never could have... FAME.

Long story short, I saw through her lies and was a bit fed up, so I told her I wasn't going to pay $43 dollars and hung up the phone on her. Now I had a background scheme of my own, see, I went to some of my friends she had said supposedly asked to come and see me (clearly she hadn't) and told them to plan a party the same night and casually invite everyone but her. Then she would make an elaborate plan to try and get to that party and forget all about The Homecoming and the ball pit until it was too late and my spy had struck. While she was busy with all of this on Saturday Night I was messaging, I was making sure the story was alive, complaining about Heartstopper and sending her texts out of order to mess with her sense of time.

Then I had my spy take photos of the Ball pit and send them to her with updates, making her feel bad she had missed it, but like a good friend that she hadn't gone without me, but to a party with friends instead. Everything was falling into place. And then as the stars aligned on a post and pre hurricane night, she got the message that the ball pit had closed. See that one friend who said they'd go, I'd organized a little something with them to make sure that she knew she'd failed, that because she was not there disaster had struck on her precious child she'd stolen from me. She would not get fame, but infamy. She'd be forever remembered as a failure.

There's photo evidence floating away somewhere, I'll have to dig it up, but now everyone will know before she gets her grimy hands on the right side of the story and ruins for her own gain.

If you want to hear a mystifying story that I stole about my friend related to DashCon sort of, it's full of hijinks, treachery, and repute:

A few weeks ago at my former school, a friend of mine was asked by the party planning/politics but doesn't know what down with cis means teacher what to add to the homecoming, (a football themed party if you aren't American/southern? I don't actually know where this is a thing, I don't fully understand the concept) now I have graduated, so I don't have the full story, I decided high school was stupid and I could waste my life elsewhere (but @throwingmelons has some firsthand experience, I didn't bother to reask her about any of the details but I figure she'll figure out when she sees and that I'm stealing her fame and will fill in the holes, if she doesn't try and change your minds).

Anyway as homecoming became more of a thing, the theme being after one of those like old victorian shows with the fancy rich people with their drama and their ankles, she secured a suggestion... a ball pit, I really think that I inspired this, I mean I got her onto Tumblr and told her about dashcon and she knows how much I love ballpits, we were supposed to go to one together but she said she had other plans that day, so really I should get some fame. She kept telling me stories of how people were 'not excited' about it and she was told she was 'ruining homecoming' and that this was 'a disaster waiting to happen' when I mentioned it to the people at my new school their response was 'what's DashCon?' and 'what's Tumblr?, is that like Twitter?' and 'you blog in 2024?' So clearly this had all of their blessing.

I told her you know what'd be funny or maybe she told me, but how much more fame does she need, so we'll say it's me, that I should go back to the school and buy a ticket so I can go, because it is seriously hilarious that I never went while I was there, but coming back after the fact, that leaves an admirable amount of pathetism, like singing Creep by Radiohead at a Kava bar at last call, (someone, knows what I'm referring to). I told her to ask my friends and enemies back at school if they were going, I needed to prepare a good look, she was thinking mime, I was think thinking SFX alien, so we had our own personal looks prepared, but I didn't want to be a friendless loser so I gave her an ultimatium, if you can't restore me to my former glory of constantly having beautiful people bowing at my feet, I don't want to go.

In school, last year, I had made her a mime once and the cops dragged her away for breaking dress code, and made me wipe her face of the crime, so it made sense this would be her outfit of choice, she was obviously planning something big, something disastrous. She wanted to make me into a fool, she wanted to ruin my reputation and for what? A ballpit and some hits on Tumblr? She wanted to be me, it was clear. And to insult my confidence in the process, of course, I think she's jealous of my mental stability and taste in music. (She likes Post rock and the Smiths, I like Post-Punk and the Cure).

[deceitfuldevil]

Kinktober 10/1

Prompt: body worship

Character: Matt Murdock

Warnings: smut, 18+, MDNI, oral, blasphemy, not proofread, will update later.

—

You and Matt didn’t need to try anything new to have fun in the bedroom, that was for sure. But when you were caught amidst a binge of both Fleabag and Heathers: the musical, an idea struck you.

What if you could get Matt to worship your body like he worshiped god?

The idea definitely has some sacrilegious undertones, besides the point. There was always a guilty mark left on your moral code whenever you’d attend church with Matt and get that deliciously familiar warmth flooding your core watching him pray and kneel.

Oh just the thought of Matt kneeling before your bare pussy and maybe ever saying a—

“Whatcha thinking about doll?” Matt spoke gently, coming up behind you and resting his hands on your waist— interrupting your thoughts entirely.

“Oh, nothing!” You squeaked, Matt tilted his head at you inquisitively. “It’s really nothing Matt.” You reassured him, knowing damn well that he knew you were lying. Both the pace of your heart and the heat from your core gave you away in an instant to him, and both of you were aware of that fact but chose to not acknowledge it.

You managed to push on for a few more days without bringing the suggestion up to Matt, wondering for a moment if the idea was just an intrusive thought after all. Until Sunday mass came around and you lost all resolve for holding back the suggestion after all.

Sitting down at a cute diner nearby the church, somewhere you and Matt always went for an after-mass brunch, you were uncharacteristically quiet. Matt sensed your heart racing since the sermon.

“Sweetheart?” Matt chimed, you merely hummed in response as you put a piece of pancake into your mouth. “Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?” He asked in a gentle tone, assuring you he was here for whatever you needed.

Matt always satisfied your needs in every way possible, so why were you so afraid to suggest this little idea you had?

“How would you feel about worshipping me? You know… in the bedroom.” You said with haste, your words practically falling over each other. Matt tightened the grip he had on his fork as he took a bite of his eggs. You were unsure if your suggestion had offended him, or based on the way he was gripping his fork maybe you prompted another reaction entirely.

Matt stood up without another word, walking away from the table and making room for the guilty feeling that poked holes in your moral code to now sink deep into your stomach. Shame heated your face as you watched Matt go up to the host as pay for the meal.

Little did you know Matt wanted to do nothing more than throw you over his shoulder and rush you home, but he was aware it would look right if a blind man carried a woman over his shoulders, even if it was only a few blocks.

“Home. Now.” Matt said with a firm tone, a recognizable tone. That was Matt’s bedroom voice peaking out behind the stern facade he worm just long enough to get you back to his apartment.

You still weren’t sure if this was a very bad or a very good reaction. Matt was either taking you home to scold you for your suggestion in the privacy of his apartment and not a public restaurant, because at least he had that basic level of decency. You were almost sure it was that very reason, either that or he liked your idea so much he was taking you home to ravish you. Based on the steady face paced walk he kept as he walked ahead of you, you assumed it was the former.

But when you arrived at his place, he proved you very wrong. “Bedroom, now.” Matt ordered as he closed the door to his apartment behind you after letting you in. This order made your nether regions tingle with anticipation, wondering what he had in store for you.

You sat anxiously on the bed, eyeing Matt as he walked in with his tie loosened and a few buttons of his shirt undone. “Just when I worried I hadn’t prayed enough for the day, you give me a second chance.” Matt said as he walked closer to you. “You’re more than holy, and you definitely deserve to be worshipped.” Matt said as he fingers easily undid the clasp at the top of your dress and dragged the zipper down. “Because baby, you are my god.” He finished off, letting your dress fall off your shoulders and poll at your feet.

“My religion.” Matt spoke softly as he kissed down your body. “My reason for worship.” He added as he pushed you down onto the bed as you legs fell off the end. Matt spread your thighs and kneeled between them, peppering hot open-mouthed kissed just shy of where you needed him most. The sight alone was almost too much to take in without hearing a moan. That moan escaped your lips moments later anyways as soon as Matt laid a soft kiss right at your heat.

Then he stopped and he was… talking?

Oh god, he was praying.

He was saying grace before devouring your soaking wet pussy.

The mix of heat from his breath fanning over your core and the vibrations from his lips as he inched closer and closer to your sexual appendage as his prayer came to an end.

His lips connecting to your lower ones as soon as he finished reciting the prayer. Pleasure building inside you as Matt’s lips formed a suction around your slick entrance and his tongue lapped at you like a man starved, this was a new kind of hunger Matt had never experienced before.

A very familiar knot began to build quickly in the pit of your stomach as your hips started to lift off of the bed because the pleasure was becoming damn near too intense. But Matt was having none of that, instead he snaked one arm around and pressed it done in your hips— keeping you pinned to the bed. His other hand slipping between the vice-like grip your thighs had on his head and removing his lips from your soaked entrance only to replace them with his fingers.

You couldn’t help but scream as Matt scissored and flexed his fingers inside your throbbing cunt while attaching his lips onto your swollen clit. Your hands gripped onto his hair, finding purchase in his thick locks, he was simultaneously grounding you to reality and letting you float far above it.

As soon as Matt started to curled his fingers inside of you and brush over that perfect spot inside of you, the knot inside of you started to snap. As he could feel you falling off the edge he spoke right into your core saying: “you are my god.” The vibrations from his voice borderline overstimulating you as all you saw was stars. If you were god, this had to be heaven.

Once you were finished screaming with pleasure and your body had gone limp enough to allow Matt to slide out from his place in between your thighs, he held your close until you had completely come down from your high.

“And here I was worried suggesting a little bit of worship in the bedroom would offend you.” You said breathlessly with a laugh, looking up as Matt whose face was drenched in your slick. But you kissed him sweetly because you couldn’t care less.

Matthew Murdock made you see the heavens because he himself believed you were god.

—

A/N

I’m currently on a road trip so like I’m aware this isn’t my best work but I really wanted to try Kinktober this year

Much Love,

—Skyler

[xiubaek-13]

Chapter 41 - Baby Don't Cry

Requested: No Genre: Canon-AU Pairing: ? (at this stage undecided) x Reader or is it now Baekhyun x Reader? who knows!?

Warnings: Nothing major just some angst, anger and sexual tension

Word Count: 6,094

A/N: What's this? A semi-regular update? Honestly I'm surprised too but we are just gonna run with it ok. I hope you enjoy it.  If you want to help me out, reblog this for me (you don’t have to though, so no pressure there). I would like to thank @leewalberg @myeoning-call & @thesammtimes for proof reading this and listening to me while I tried to make this chapter flow properly and feel natural.

As you stood in front of the door to his room you wondered if you were going to regret coming up here. Should you have simply let him brood? Would you just be his verbal punching bag or would he flat out not engage in conversation with you? You had no idea but you felt a pull to go to him, to at least try to help him. You were reminded of that day that he and Yixing came to you by the river when you were homesick. They were in no way obligated to make you feel better but it showed you how much they cared for you that they made the effort. They hadn’t tried to make light of your struggles either, they simply sat with you, hugged you and talked until you were ready to return to the dorms. Now it was your turn to be there for him when he was struggling with something. 

Chanyeol had told you what to expect and you had listened closely to him. After all, he and the other members had all experienced Baekhyun like this more than once during their time together and they’d learned not to crowd him but rather have one of them go and try to bring him out of his mood, even if it was only a slight improvement. They hated seeing their normally happy go lucky friend be down on himself. Chanyeol said that those moods could last a few days but that Baekhyun always tried to look at the positive side of life and so he only fell into one if he was really upset. A fact that did not sit well with you because it meant that tonight’s shift was due to exactly that. What you didn’t know was if it was tonight’s concert, the guys’ teasing or if it was something related to you. 

No matter what it was, standing in front of his door wasn’t going to fix it. No, it was time to go inside and try to help your friend, or whatever label should be put on the relationship the two of you had. You cared about him and didn’t want him to wallow in anger at himself for the entire night, at least not alone. Sometimes the best thing to do was address the issue and talk through it, sometimes distractions worked best but other times a person just needs to sit in their feelings and wallow. The last option was usually a little easier to do if you realised that you had people in your corner who were there for you.

You knocked once, deciding that you’d rather not surprise him while he was in a bad mood. It gave him the option to decide if he was going to open the door for you or not which would give you an indication of what you were walking into. You weren’t sure if Chanyeol had told him that you were going to see him or if he’d just fled the room as soon as the offer came up. “You have the wrong room. I haven’t ordered anything.” His voice sounded from somewhere behind the door, far away enough that you knew he hadn’t checked the peephole. His voice was muffled by the door but you could still hear the irritation in it.

“It’s me.” You said as you knocked again. You waited for his response. Would he let you in willingly or were you going to have to let yourself in after he made it clear that he didn’t want you there? The latter could result in more hostility that you were prepared for so you were really hopeful that he’d just let you in. 

Baekhyun sighed audibly from right behind the door. He must have looked through the peephole to verify that it was you, and that you were alone. You could have sworn you even heard a soft Aish followed by some swearing before you heard the chain being removed from the door. He didn’t open it straight away, which made you more nervous than you were happy to admit. 

At long last the door handle moved and he opened the door enough for you to see his face. He didn’t fully open it but whether that was due to his current mood or learned behaviour to protect his safety you weren’t sure. You were calling it progress because he had opened the door and he had spoken to you. So far no yelling or pushing you away. “What do you want noona?” He said flatly. 

“I came to talk to you and if you didn’t want to talk then I came to just sit with you.” You smiled softly. 

“I’m fine. You should just leave me alone.” He replied, voice still flat and devoid of emotion which was almost scary because Baekhyun was one of the most emotionally fuelled people you had ever met.  

“Obviously something is wrong and I’m here for you whether you like it or not.” You stood your ground, making sure not to sound too forceful but also letting him know that you were not going anywhere. 

He huffed at you but took a step back, your invitation to enter the room. You didn’t give him time to change his mind as you entered through the opening he’d made, closing and re-latching the door behind you. 

Once you were inside the room he went back to his bed, flopping down on the mattress and scrolling through his phone. His body language was closed off, telling you that talking to him was not going to be an easy task. You sat on the edge of Chanyeol’s bed, placing the bag you brought with you by your side, and waited. He continued to ignore your presence as he scrolled through his phone but as you watched him you could see that his eyes weren’t focused on his screen. This was his tactic? Pretend to look at his phone until you get fed up and leave? You pushed your bag somewhere on the bed behind you and glanced around the room. Normally after a concert or big schedule there were two things that always occurred. Food and more food. The amount of food they consumed after a concert was ridiculous, but it proved to you just how much energy they burnt during the three and a half hours. Their bodies needed that fuel to propel them through the performances safely. There were no empty containers or room service trays in the room which meant that Baek most likely had not eaten.

“Baek.” You started. His fingers ceased scrolling though he still refused to look at you.

“Mmm?” 

“Have you eaten?” You asked softly.

He resumed scrolling through whatever it was that he was using to avoid actually having a conversation with you. “I’m not hungry.” He said flatly.

You sighed. His dismissive tone was not something that sat well with you and though it was irritating you, you were worried about him. “You just sang and danced for hours under incredibly bright lights. There’s no way that you aren’t hungry.” 

“Well I’m not.”

If he was going to be like that then you were going to have to try another approach. So you tried to sound stern as you responded. “You need to eat Baek. Regardless of what is bothering you, your body needs the nourishment.”

He tossed his phone to the side and glared at you, his eyes devoid of the friendly light that they usually had. “Nothing is bothering me and I’ll eat when i fucking feel like it. I’m not a child.”

“Bullshit.” 

He looked at you, really looked at you and it made your skin crawl. You’d never felt such hostility from him before. “Excuse me?”

You weren’t backing down. You’d at least gotten him to put that fucking phone down and although the conversation was not pleasant, he was talking to you and was looking at you. Even if the look he was giving you made you want to leave the room and not come back. You never thought you associate Baekhyun with the word intimidating but here you were, borderline intimidated by him. “You are obviously angry. I don’t know who it's directed at or why but you are angry.”

“Just drop it.” He snapped, the volume in his voice increasing.

Well he’s already pissed off, you thought to yourself, might as well go for it now.  “Is it because you messed up your ment? Because I thought you play-”

“Just fucking drop it ok?! I said I didn’t want to talk about it.” He all but yelled as he glared at you. His features were anything but relaxed. You had hit a nerve. 

“No.” You replied.

“What?” He asked incredulously. You’d never seen him so tense before. His normally bright eyes were dark, his jaw clenched and body uneasily still. 

“This kind of shitty attitude might work with the guys but it’s not gonna fly with me. You can tell me that you aren’t angry about something but we both know that is a fucking lie. You are pissed off about something. I don’t know what it is, hell you don’t even need to tell me what it is but I am going to sit here with you whether you like it or not. We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to but I’m not leaving.” You were pushing your luck by pushing him like this but leaving him in the state he was in was out of the question for you. You knew that the likely outcome was making him so mad that he finally cracked and snapped at you. Baekhyun was able to keep his cool a lot longer than anyone expected him to when he was pissed off but you were being relentless in your approach on purpose. He needed to express his anger rather than bottle it up and you were pretty sure that he’d forgive you for it… at least you hoped he would. It would either help him or you were actively destroying your relationship with him.

He moved off his bed and stood over you, pressing a finger into your shoulder harshly before gesturing at the door. “And if I don’t want you here? Am I not allowed to kick you out of my fucking room?! You’re not the teacher here.” 

“Then you’ll have to cause a scene and either have me removed or be so horribly mean to me that I’ll never speak to you again.” You stood your ground, refusing to allow yourself to be intimidated by him. You had to admit that angry Baekhyun was frightening if only because of the jarring contrast to his usual demeanour. Warmth usually radiated off his being but when he was angry? It was like warmth ceased to exist.

“I just want to be alone! Fucking hell!” He yelled as he turned away from you, balling up his fists in his hair. He walked away from you, letting out a yell of frustration as he flung himself back down onto his bed. “Are you crazy? Why won’t you just leave? Or do you enjoy making me yell at you?!”

You made sure that your tone was calm before you spoke again. Matching him with anger or sass wasn’t going to yield you positive results. “I’ll leave if you tell me what is so terrible that it has put you in this abysmal mood. I can handle being yelled at or spoken to in a harsh way because I don’t think this is about me. I think you’re just projecting your frustrations on me at this moment. Now if you aren’t going to talk to me then I will sit here and keep you company. I am, after all, your personal cheerleader.” 

“Don’t try and be funny.” He said flatly, his fingers absent-mindedly tugging on a loose thread in the quilt. 

“I mean it you idiot. All jokes aside.” You smiled sincerely, even if he didn’t see it. 

He rolled on the bed so that he was facing you and propped his head up on his arm. “And calling me an idiot is supposed to make me believe you?”

You shrugged. “Stop being such an idiot then.” 

“Yah! You -” He started to respond but you cut him off.

You could feel the beginnings of warmth starting to return to the room as his anger morphed into something less severe. “Anyway, I was trying to tell you something before you so rudely interrupted me.” You pointed at him. “You’re getting very chatty for someone who doesn't want to talk.”

“I can’t believe you don’t shut up.”  He groaned, the ghost of a smile passing over his features. You were making progress. For some people the phrase don’t poke the bear rings true but in Byun Baekhyun’s case he needed to be poked. He needed an outlet for his frustrations and you had no idea what he did when he was at home in Korea to expel those emotions but you knew that his options were limited while he was cooped up in a hotel room. You were willing to be that outlet since you were sure that he did not hate you, rather that he liked you quite a lot, even when you frustrated him.

You shifted on your bed, sitting up and fidgeting with a pillow on your lap. You had the sudden urge to tell this story to him but for some reason, the idea of saying the words aloud made you nervous. It pulled you back to one of the most sincere and vulnerable moments you had shared with him. It was also one of your most difficult moments since moving to Korea. It was difficult to think about it without getting a bit emotional. “Baek?”

Your sudden soft tone grabbed his attention and he cocked his head to the side, still resting it on his arm. “Mmm?” His features shifted from irritated to curious. The way you’d called his name, almost timidly, had him fully focused on you.

You took a deep breath to steady yourself and let the words flow out of you. “There was a time when I wanted to get away from everyone and just be alone with my darkness. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want comfort. I just wanted to get away from everyone and everything and allow myself to dwell on my feelings or rage at the universe.” You glanced over at him when you saw movement in your peripheral vision. He’d shifted on the bed and was now sitting up, watching you as you spoke. You let your eyes fall back to your lap as you fidgeted with your fingers and continued your story. “I found a spot away from everyone and sat in silence for what only felt like minutes. I was there for hours lost in my thoughts.” Your fingers kneaded the pillow as you spoke, the only sign that you were a bit anxious in telling him these feelings. It was the only time since moving to Korea that you thought you didn’t belong, that you should just go home and stop pretending like you could build a life here. You had contemplated quitting that day, going as far as writing your letter of resignation in your head while you sat on that bench. Then those two had turned up and without saying the words, they reminded you that you were building a life, that you did belong and that things were going to work out as long as you stayed.

No matter how anxious you were you couldn’t help but smile as you proceeded to the next part.  “Then, the most annoying person in the known universe called me. I contemplated not picking up but I knew if I ignored them that they would just bug me incessantly until I let them in. So I answered their call and for once, rather than being annoying, teasing or flirtatious they were concerned. So I let them come to me. They, and another friend, sat with me until I was ready to speak to them and continued to sit with me until I was ready to return to the world.” You had rushed through the last part because you were oddly shy about sharing it even though he was there when the whole thing happened. He just didn’t know all of the exact details of your thoughts that day. He still didn’t, but the idea of telling him those thoughts made you feel small so you kept them to yourself and hoped that he could read between the lines and work out that it was more than homesickness that he’d helped you with that day. You kept your eyes focused on your hands after you spoke, not as mentally prepared as you had thought you were to see his reaction.

What you hadn’t seen was the way he’d listened intently as you spoke, his features shifting from confused to understanding. He had smiled softly at you as you’d spoken once he realised what time you were talking about. He remembered that he was supposed to be irritated at you even though you were being incredibly endearing and open with him. However, he took umbrage with being referred to as the most annoying person in the known universe, schooling his features back to the picture of indifference before replying with a semi bored tone. “So?”

You lifted your head and stared at him. How could he react like that? “Fuck’s sake Baek. I appreciated what you and Yixing did for me so much. I had no idea that any of you cared that much about me or my well-being and so I’m trying to tell you how grateful I am and that even though I wasn’t in the right head-space at the time, I can see exactly what the two of you did for me that day and so I am going to do for you what the two of you did for me that day. Even if you’re being a jerk about it.”

He shrugged. “You were sad. I’m fine.”

You bit back. “Sure, and cucumbers are your favourite food. Don’t bullshit me Baek.”

He couldn’t hold his laughter at your random remark. You didn’t understand, you’d shared something with him sincerely and he responded so indifferently to it, as though he actually didn’t care at all. It confused you because you knew that he did care, you thought you’d brought him far enough out of his dark mood to feel empathy towards others again but apparently you were wrong. But why the laughter? Why was this now funny to him? Ten minutes ago he was ready to throw you out of the room and now he was laughing earnestly at you? Was he this unhinged? Had something broken in his brain? 

He rolled rather ungraciously off his bed and walked over to yours and plonked himself down next to you. “Yah.” He smiled at your confused pout, laughing softly as he tried to speak. “Yah, calm down. You didn’t look at me while you spoke so I messed with you.”

“What the fuck Baek?!” You shoved his shoulder with yours. An action that only made him laugh more.

“You called me the most annoying person in the known universe. That wasn’t fair.” He pouted.

“Your present actions say differently.” He laughed as you poked his shoulder as you spoke.

“Thank you for telling me.” He said as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled both of you down onto the bed into a hug that could have been a lot more comfortable. Even with your arms pinned to your sides and his arm digging into your back you smiled. 

***

The two of you had spent the better part of the last hour talking about the concert and at some point repositioned yourselves on the bed so that he was spooning you which was much more comfortable that the previous iteration of the hug. There was an unexpected level of comfort for each of you to lie like this as you spoke. “I just… I feel like I let them down.” He mumbled into your shoulder. 

“Let who down?” You asked.

“Aeris.” He rolled onto his back, breaking the hug. “They wait for so long to see us, especially internationally, and I fucked up. They must be so disappointed.” He sounded so deflated. You were glad he was finally talking because now you could explain all of the reasons why the only person he’d let down was himself because his fans were anything but disappointed in him.

You rolled over, resting your head on a pillow so that he could see your face as you spoke. You felt like it was important that he could see the honesty in your words. “I can assure you that the last thing they are is disappointed. They got to see EXO’s concert in all of its glory. They heard you sing, watched you dance, witnessed the joy on your faces as you performed. They got to hear each of you speak in Korean and English AND they got to see their Byun Baekhyun get frazzled but in the most endearing way. If anything, they love you more for it.”

His brows knitted together, still too focused on the details rather than the big picture. “But I messed up. I didn’t perform how I wanted to. It wasn’t what they waited to see.” He frowned. A grown man should not look that cute while frowning you thought to yourself.

“Baek. With all due respect, shut the fuck up.” You nagged. “They saw you. That’s literally all they needed. You sang perfectly, and you were adorable and funny when you messed up your lines. They fell even more in love with you. You looked into their eyes. Tell me that you did not see pure unfiltered joy and adoration in them.”

“But -” 

“I’m going to give you a slight reality check. Maybe your trainers have taught you to believe that it would be frowned upon to be even slightly off your game but over here they actually love it. It shows that you are human, that you make mistakes just like everyone else and it is also a special memory for them that is different from every other show that you do on this tour.” 

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Can we agree to disagree?” 

“Absolutely not.” You shook your head. “You can be mad at yourself but you need to know that aeris are not mad at you. Not even a little bit.”

At this point you knew you’d gotten through to him but that he wasn’t ready to admit that he had gotten mad because he held himself to such a high standard and that because he didn’t feel that he delivered to that standard the concert was a failure. He pouted. “I’ll work on it.” You had done it. Those four words were as close to being told you were right as you were going to get and you were claiming them. There was more to discuss, you knew this much. Being off his game for the concert was the result of something and it was time to dig a little deeper to find out what the cause of the problem was.

“Is the concert the only thing eating away at you? I’ve never seen you that upset before.” You asked.

His pout deepened as he thought for a moment before sighing. “Honestly? No. It wasn’t just that.”

You let your hand rest on his shoulder, giving it a little squeeze to reassure him before you asked. “What else is going on?”

“I think I finally understand how Minseok felt when the guys teased him during truth or dare. We always tease each other and banter but it's always playful.” He frowned. “Today didn’t feel playful for me, it felt like some sort of cruel joke and I let their words get to me. I think that’s why I messed up. I was too in my head.”

You hummed in agreement. You knew why they’d teased him but you didn’t think now was the right moment to give him all of the details. “They were weird today. I picked up on that as well.”

His frown deepened. “I don’t know noona, it all just felt kind of targeted at me. Like they all know something I don’t.” 

You were entering dangerous territory. You weren’t going to lie to him but you really hoped to hold off on telling him everything until he’d had his lesson. “They were trying to get a reaction out of you. You know how much pleasure Dae & Yeol get from teasing someone to the point that they snap.”

He placed his hand over the one you were resting on his shoulder before he spoke, keeping his eyes downcast. “Yeah well, I might not have snapped at them but I let them get in my head and mess up my performance which then made me yell at you when you tried to help me. Which I’m really sorry about by the way. I was in a foul mood when you turned up at my door tonight but that doesn’t excuse the way I treated you.” He looked at you once he’d finished speaking, a look that was full of remorse and guilt. The look in his eyes was more of an apology than any words he could utter.

And there was the apology that you’d been unsure if you’d receive from him. You smiled, a warm feeling spreading throughout your body. “We worked through it. I forgive you, most annoying person in the known universe.”

“Yah!” He yelled but there was no anger behind it. He was laughing at the same time. You couldn’t resist the opening for this new joke. Baekhyun rolled over so fast you didn’t even see the tickle attack coming until he was on top of you and you were unable to escape his clutches. You screamed as his deft fingers waged their tickle war on your sensitive waist. There was no escape for you though, not now that you were caged by his arms and thighs. He looked down at you as you writhed beneath him in a futile attempt to evade his attacks and smirked. “Come to think of it, there was another reason I was so on edge today.” He paused his attacks, removing his hands from your waist as he propped himself up with his arms, allowing you a moment to catch up.

You stilled beneath him, suddenly realising the position the two of you were now in and the change in tone of his voice. Baekhyun was on top of you, his weight effectively pinning you to the bed. He was so close to you. You’d been this close to him before, sure, but never like this. Never with the feel of the weight of his body against yours as he spoke to you like that. “Oh yeah?”

His breath was warm on your neck as he spoke, that flirtatious tone returned to his voice, mixed with something more.  “Mmm. Someone sent me some very interesting messages during lunch.”

You played along, trying to appear nonchalant as he resumed your game of cat and mouse. “Did they now?” 

He nudged your neck with his nose, having moved even closer to you than he was before. Surely he could hear your heart hammering away in your chest. You felt the press of his mouth against your skin as he spoke. “They did. They put all sorts of images in my head, ones that will live there rent free until I can follow through on them.”

You swallowed. “And these images, did they distract or frustrate you?”

His long fingers twisted in your hair, causing your head to tilt back slightly, exposing more of your neck to him. “Both.” 

You wanted him. You felt that pang of desire flow through you as he held himself back from connecting his mouth with your neck. You wished he’d take that next step. You wanted to feel the press of his tongue on your neck, of his teeth as they left small love bites in their wake. Even though every fibre of your being was busy attuning itself to his every breath, every twitch of a muscle, of any movement in his body, your brain could not resist teasing him. “And I even refrained from commenting on it earlier.”

His movements halted. “In what way?”

“When you were mad and saying you wanted to be left alone. If you’d been less incensed I was going to ask you to give me a hint as to why you wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with me given earlier today it was pretty clear that that was exactly what you were after. There was going to be a wink and everything” You arched your back slightly, the movement pushing your chest against his.

“Fuck.” He whispered, his hips involuntarily rolling into yours. You bit back the moan that threatened to come out of you, allowing logic to penetrate the haze of lust that was rapidly overtaking your senses. You needed to talk to him first, otherwise he might take everything the wrong way. You needed to slow things down, no matter how much you wanted to finally give in and have him to yourself. You had to find a way to delay proceedings yet again. The problem was that you didn’t want to delay this. You wanted him to keep rolling his hips into yours, to keep exploring your body with his skilled fingers and sinfully soft lips. You wanted to rid yourselves of clothing and spend the entire night giving in to every fantasy you’d had about one Byun Baekhyun. You could feel the press of his body against yours, his warm breath on your neck as he held himself back. He was waiting for you to make a move to tell him that you wanted this as much as he did. 

You needed to stop this before it went much further. Granted the last thing you wanted to do was put a stop to this because it was hot as hell and you were loving every second of it. The two of you were experts at the build up but it had always been safe, either through a phone or as a stolen moment. Not like it was now. No one was coming to call him to a schedule, no, you were closer to crossing this line than either of you had been before. But there it was, that small voice in the back of your mind. Telling you that you needed to do the lesson first so that you could explain the entire thing to him prior to having your back blown out. That voice also kept going with its idea that he might never want anything to do with you again after he knew about the reward/punishment system but you felt a moral duty to have him know before crossing this final threshold. “Baek, before this evening gets derailed.”

“No.” He groaned.  “No more interruptions. I refuse to prevent this from happening again. Especially when we are literally in a bed, alone in a room with no one coming to interrupt us.” His head fell against your shoulder, his weight still pinning you to the bed. It took every ounce of self control that you had to not give in to your desires but the fear of the aftermath was stronger.

“Baek, I promise. We will have this happen before the night is over but we need to finish the conversation before we get too distracted.” Even you didn’t sound convinced by your own words.

He lifted his head from where it had been pressed against your shoulder, propping his upper body up on his forearms. The position only pressed his hips more firmly into yours. “I am no longer mad or sad or anything bad. See I’m rhyming. Perfectly fine now.” His words were short, his tone clipped. He was not buying what you were trying to sell him and really, could you blame him?

“Baek.” You tried.

“Noona, you can’t tell me that you would rather hear me talking about how I was in a shitty mood earlier when my mouth could be put to far better use.” The matter of fact tone he used, the sheer confidence in it sent a jolt to your core. You could think of far better things for both of your mouths to be doing but that wasn’t why you were trying to delay this. You needed it to play out as planned so that he knew everything. Blurting it out now was also not an option since you were absolutely certain that it would completely kill the mood in the same way that throwing a bucket of ice on him would.

“Just answer me one more question.” You said, your hand softly gripping his bicep.

He sighed. “Fine. One question.” He didn’t have to look happy about the diversion, he just had to go with it. If after all of the cards were on the table he still wanted this, then he could have it. But until then you had to be the less eager of the two of you.

“To sum up, you were sexually frustrated earlier because of me. Then the guys, mainly Dae & Yeol, teased you and you felt like it went too far and they got in your head which caused you to not perform to the standard that you set for yourself and you forgot some of your ment.” You stated.

He rolled his eyes at you but responded nevertheless. “None of this sounds like a question… but yes.”

“Why do you think they were picking on you?” You asked.

He raised a brow at you and managed to gesture at the position the two of you were in with just a look. “Seriously? That’s your question. Right now?”

“Yup.” You moved your hand from his arm and poked his cheek until he tried to bite your finger.

He frowned as he thought about your question. The frown was also due to frustration at the fact that he was not kissing you or touching you properly at that given moment. “I still think it’s to do with those lessons that no one will tell me about.”

You held his eyes with your gaze as you stated bluntly. “Then have one.”

“What?” He asked, dumbfounded by the suggestion.

“Have your lesson. Once you have it there will be no more secrets. If they are just teasing you because you haven’t had one yet then that's incredibly simple to resolve.” How he responded to this would determine if things would go as planned or if you were about to come clean about everything and hoped that he understood.

“Are you seriously trying to convince me to have a lesson instead of having sex with you?” His frustrated face was incredibly endearing. On one hand you wanted to do the lesson because you had spent considerable time planning his once you knew it would have to be done while you were overseas and on the other you really did just want to have sex with him. The foreplay between the two of you had been going on since the moment you’d met and you felt such a great need to have him, to feel every inch of him. You were reminded of a saying. ‘Very often the things we most desire come only after much patience and struggle.’ The words had never hit home harder than they did now.

“Consider the lesson our final session of foreplay.” You winked. “Special, just for you.”

He groaned, resigned to the fact that for once you were going to beat him at being stubborn. “You are not leaving this room until we make some of the images in my mind a reality.”

“Is that a yes?” You asked hopefully.

“Are you going to take no for an answer?” You shook your head. “Then I guess it’s a yes but as soon as we finish this lesson… the things I’m going to do to you.” 

“Don’t start something you can’t finish Baek.” You warned.

A wicked grin formed on his face. “Oh noona, just you wait.”

A/N: Thanks for reading. It means the world to me to hear from you or see my fic liked and/or reblogged. We're closing in on the finish line now. Just Baek's lesson, his reward or punishment and Xiumin's reward to go!

Masterpost | Chapter 40 | Chapter 42

[cevans-is-classic]

Anniversary

(I wanted to try a moving cover and tumblr did not agree with me)

Aaron Hotchner x Reader

18+ only, please.

Warnings: Sexual content! Language! Me trying my hand at kinks??

If you'd like more head over to My Masterlist (which is under construction)

Masterlist Two

Hotch can be found Here (Links are being updated)

Requests are closed for now.

Aaron had driven Jack to school that morning, hugged his son and wished him a good day, reminded the office that Jessica would retrieve him at the bell, then spent five hours behind his desk.

In those five hours, Rossi had come to his door twelve times and said that if he came back to find Aaron still doing paperwork instead of going home, he would become the next case. It took the last time, Penelope in step behind him, for Aaron to remember he had a team of profilers who can make it look like an accident.

“Okay.” He had raised his hands up, a smile tugging at his lips. “I give in. Can you make sure Strauss gets the reports I finished?” Rossi raised one brow while Garcia folded her arms and Aaron had to hold back laughter as he maneuvered past them and towards the elevator.

“Happy Anniversary, Hotch,” Morgan shouted as the doors closed, the team crowded around the bullpen grinning as he had departed.

He’d stopped at the market on the way home and picked up some apples for you, smiled at your doorman when he made it to your elevator, and kissed you softly on the forehead when the door opened.

You’d ordered in, set up a movie, and had the living room ready for a cozy anniversary. Neither of you was expecting to be called away to work, and Aaron knew Jack was somewhere safe and sound.

The movie hadn’t even ended by the time he’d wrung two orgasms out of you and was well on his way to making it three.

“One more, Baby.” Aaron pumps his fingers faster, using the palm of his hand to rub over your clit. He can feel you tightening around him before fluttering and gasping with a whine.

“Aaron-” He kisses your temple, tasting the sweat there thinking of the way you tasted coming on his tongue, “Please- I- I can’t-” your thighs were shaking, your left hand squeezing his calf with all your might and your right hand reaching up to curl around his neck. You arched your body away from his chest; twitching in his hold. Both of your legs on either side of him, your back pressing into his chest — you were bare for him, sweaty and writhing, asking for more than he worked you over.

“Aaron- I can’t-” You whined, high pitched and needy.

“I know you can. I can feel you. You’re fucking soaking my hand, Baby and if you come again, you get to soak my cock.” You gasp, pushing upwards, and Aaron tightens his arm around your waist to hold you closer.

“Oh, is that it?” He’d used his tie to keep your eyes covered, but he knew you were squeezing them shut, nose scrunching up as you fuck down on his fingers, “My cock? Is that what’s going to make you give me what I want?”

“Yes-” You moan, throwing your head back into his shoulder, “Yes, yes- please.” You keen one more time and shake, thighs squeezing while you speed up your thrusts. God, he doesn’t even have to move his hand. You were doing all the fucking work.

He looks at the tie around your eyes, down to your mouth where you were biting your lips raw and over your chest — sweaty, heaving stopping where he can see his fingers inside you.

“Fuck, Sweetheart, I need you to come again. I want to fuck into you while you’re sensitive and needing. Get you on your back so I can slide right in.” He heard you gasp as you pulsed around his fingers, slick coating his hand again.

You pout when he lets go of your waist, “Sir — Aaron.”

He shushes you, “I’m not going anywhere, Baby.” He removes his fingers slowly, bringing the drenched digits up to your mouth for you to lick at. Your tongue is insistent, cleaning between his fingers and down his hand until he pulls them back and kisses your neck.

“I’m going to help you lay down.” He murmurs into your ear, moving you off his lap, helping you rest on the couch. You tilt your head back, arching your neck as he moves down your body and Aaron is rapt to leave a few marks along your jaw. He leaves two on each breast. Listening to your whimpers makes his body burn.

“Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart.” He utters into the inside of your left thigh. He has to move to get his pants down and you groan, reaching out for him until he shuffles closer again. His left hand lifting your leg, bringing it up and around his waist.

“Happy Anniversary, Honey.” Your voice is stronger than before. He smiles, moves his right hand to the slope of your ass, lifts in, and slides inside, moving forward so he can bend and catch your mouth in a kiss. The gasp you let out is addicting, his favorite thing to taste from your lips when he enters you.

“I want to see you.” Your hands claw at his back, “Please, Honey. Please let me see you.”

He kisses along your jaw, mouthing at the curve of your neck, and nods, picking up speed enough to move your body up off the couch. Your hands scramble for the tie, tugging at the knot and throwing it aside. Aaron isn’t sure where it lands, but he doesn’t care when you reach for him, grabbing his jaw and forcing his head to look up at you.

“I love you.” He says in a breathy gasp. The look in your eyes, the way you bare your teeth at him makes him lose whatever semblance of control he had.

“I love you too. Now let me come on your cock — then fill me up, Babe. Please.” Who is he to deny you?

I edited this during my lunch break for no reason other than I already had it written and couldn't work on what I needed to.

I hope you enjoy it!!

[technowoah]

Taunt

It only takes one time to realize you fucked up.

- ANON REQUESTED!

- WILBUR X FEM! READER BLURB

PROMPTS!

50) "Fuck off... I mean it"

24) "Get in the car" "..." "please get in the car"

⚠︎ angst to fluff, swearing, based on the song Taunt by Lovejoy ❤🐈 its short btw yall

[Updated 3 hours after upload I messed up the prompts sorry yall now it fixed]

She was always asking if he was alright. He always lied to her just to get her off his back for the night, but it was his fault that he wanted her to move in. He has to deal with that all of the time, it was her fault anyways. She made him upset, she made him not alright. She didn't know that. She constantly complained about things that didn't even concern her, she dodged their relationship making it more about her than them.

It was tiring to him. Constantly providing, trying to tie a broken knot, but he didnt let that get in the way of his career, or his friends. There's another issue, he never talked to his friends about her. She accused him of not being proud of their relationship and that became a problem that never got resolved.

Did anyone ever say "no" to her? Well if no one did, he would be the first one to do so. Fuck that.

He listened, and listened, but nothing kept this relationship together.

Wilbur talked to the three people chatting on his discord through his headphones as a soft LED lights flowed through the room. These nights were simple because she didnt have to see him when he decides to stream, he basically has his time set out for himself without trouble. He wasn't ecstatic, he felt horrible, but the facadè was there.

Her on the other hand wasnt happy either. She never got attention from him, and of course she could get moody from time to time like every other human being, but she always took it out on him. Who else was gonna be there for her? He acted like her cared, she knew he was lying. His "caring" consisted of humming and him responding like a default character in a video game. He didn't care, he acted like he never did. She needed that attention and he knew damn well she did.

She wasnt asking for much, at least to her it did feel like it. She knew when she was wrong, but she didn't want to admit it when they were both in the wrong too. They dont get each other, she didnt know why he asked her to move in when he didn't want anything to do with her. Ever since he moved her in he kept her in check like a child, she hated and loved that at the same time. Its true that she wanted her own way, she did what she wanted and gave her attention to whoever she wanted her attention to be. She thought that was fine, but apparently she dosent give any effort to the relationship.

Rolling her eyes at the thought she decided to leave the dishes in the sink dirty. She thought about leaving and finding someone who will get her, yes Wilbur listened to her, but there was no effort. When he's drunk and tries to "figure out what makes her brain tick" ends up in more distaster.

Lying in the couch her mind began to wonder, he always said that she could get away with anything. She always took it as a taunt. Everytime it was brought up. He called it "pretty privilege" and he always taunts her saying she abuses that power.

Her jaw clenched as she recalled those memories. Summoning the courage she brought herself up onto her feet and rushed to their shared bedroom. Taking a deep breath she opened their closet and started pulling her things off of hangers, not caring if she made a mess. She tossed her clothes onto the messy bed that they didn't bother to make this morning.

Bringing a small backpack out from underneath the bed she tried shoving most of her clothes into a bag for a night. In total frustration she emptied the bag and only backed necessities that she would need for the night.

She was tired of him and he was tired of her so she was doing both of them a favor. She made her way out of the door grabbing a coat and sliding on some simple shoes. Shooting a quick text to a close friend letting them know she's coming over. Her friend wasn't that close, but she decided to walk. As she locked the door to their shared apartment she debated texting Wilbur. She didnt want to, but she didnt want him to freak the fuck out because she wasnt home.

( Wilbur )

Me: Ill be back for the rest of my stuff tmrw.

[Read]

She closed her phone and started on her night time journey down the street trying to let everything from the past few weeks go with the cool wind.

Him on the other hand stayed silent. He had just finished his stream and had gotten a text saying that she'll be back for the rest of her things. This was inevitable, one of them had to leave, but to him it didnt seem right. He didn't want her to leave. Something in his heart was making him chase her back, the same thing in his heart that moved her into his apartment in the first place. Maybe it was love, maybe he wanted to persevere and have someone in his life. Something in his mind was telling him that he let go of something special.

Wilbue thought about it as he shut everything off and went to go grab his belongings, before rushing out the door to try and find her. Sadly to his discovery, she turned off her location. He finally made it to his car and started driving towards his house to see if she was around there.

He couldn't call a friend because she never introduced her friends to him. She did that on purpose because of him not doing the same. As he drove down the not so busy streets of Brighton he thought if he could get to know her, pull emotions and feelings out of her and see the real her. And if he cant do that? Who knows what will happen.

He remembers this face she always pulled when he always said "Im alright." She scrunched up her nose in annoyance and he always took it as a taunt because he couldn't figure out the real meaning. They were both going at this the wrong way, he dosent know anything about her and maybe thats the problem, but she needs to calm down as well. She needs to start paying attention to both of them instead of herself.

He was seated at a stoplight until he saw a figure on the sidewalk walking past him. The person looked shocked then kept walking, but even faster this time. He rolled down the window to see it was Y/n walking. Wilbur ran the red light and found a place to turn the car around to follow her. He drove a couple of feet in front of her before putting his hazard lights on and stepping out of the car to confront her.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Wilbur said while getting our of his car.

"Im getting away from you. And what are you doing here?" She said.

"Well I could ask you the same thing. Its not safe out here alone." He calmed down a little. Wilbur's main goal was to get her back home so they can have a civilized talk. He didn't want to be out here.

"Oh? Ive been fine for the past fifteen minutes." She sasser back.

"That dosent mean its not safe!" He exclaimed.

She stayed quiet so that gave Wilbur an opportunity to speak.

"See, I want us to go home so we can have a civilized talk without feeling defensive. I want to get to know you, I know you're my girlfriend and yes, it was my mistake rushing things. Im not putting the blame all on myself either." He finished and she stayed quiet with her arms crossed infront of her chest.

"Are you cold-?"

"Fuck off...I mean it." She said while trying to pass hin on the street.

He stood in her way and he kept doing that every time she tried to get around him. Wilbur saw that she was getting annoyed at his actions. Wilbur held her by both of her biceps trying to hold her still so he could talk.

"You're being childish!"

"Fucking listen to me! You cant just keep walking away from us! From me! This is not healthy!" Wilbur yelled. He let go if her and surprisingly she stayed there.

"Get in the car." He ordered but she stayed silent. "Please get in the car."

She turns around gets in the passenger seat if Wilbur's car. He sighed a sigh if relief and followed her lead. They both got settled into the car and he didn't move. He wasn't going to drive unless she talked to him. After a minute if silence she spoke up.

"I know its- its both of our faults. And i have some things I need to work on. I cant just run away. Also your thoughts of me need to be rearranged, but I need to give you all of me. At leat 50 percent so we can start somewhere. But Im sorry." She said while she looked down at her lap maybe in embarrassment.

In the end they both wanted to fix themselves. In the end they wanted eachother. And they can both see that.

He leaned over the armrest and gave her a kiss on her cheek. She turned to him with a surprise look on her face, like this was the most affection he gave her, because it was true. She grabbed his hand that rested on the armrest too as he started to drive towards their home together.

As the nightly drive continues on and now shes drifting off in the passenger seat as In Love With An E-girl plays softly. She's left too tired to talk with Wilbur and be in touch with her emotions right now, but she'll do it for the both of them this time.

[tssbelivet]

Bring Me Home, Shaw: Part Two

part one | part two

Writing about these two is so much fun, so I decided to continue. I’m curious to see where the story will take them (and me). Mostly just doing this for my own entertainment, but would love to hear your thoughts if you have any! Thanks to the lovely @fantasmaenweb for proofreading this update 😌

Carson was sitting at the bar by herself, watching the crowd. She had decided to take Greta up on her invitation to have a drink. After a little stroll through the streets of Chicago and a subway ride, they had found a place that seemed to serve some good beer and play decent music. Some people were even dancing a little. 

There was this guy that had kept staring at her, until he had mustered the courage to ask her to dance. Carson was not the best in saying no, so a few minutes later she was entirely too close to this man whose shirt smelled like a mixture of corned dog and cheap aftershave. 

Greta and Jo were in the corner, doing weird dances and laughing. Every now and then, Greta’s eyes would wander and inspect the dancing situation Carson was still trapped in. She had been dropping hints to her dance partner, of her wanting to take a break and sit down for a beer, but he had been too involved in showing her his signature moves. 

She was growing more annoyed by the minute and was getting close to just walking away, when she heard a newly familiar voice. 

Greta inched herself between Carson and the man, clearly trying to save her.

 “Hey girl, we were just discussing our favorite hangover-foods and I am really just dying to hear yours!”, Greta said while grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away. 

Carson looked up to Greta and thanked her for her service. “This guy was just completely oblivious. And his dancing to that Supertramp song was just obscene, really.” 

Greta smiled and asked: “Why didn’t you just wave your wedding band at him in the first place? Doesn’t that do the trick?”

Carson was a bit taken aback by this comment. The two of them hadn’t spoken about her being married. Looking back, she might have even avoided the topic a little. But the ring was there as proof of her marital status. Of Charlie. Of her life back in Idaho.

She looked down at her hand as she was contemplating the right way to answer Greta. But before she could speak, Jo popped up and waved a pack of cigarettes in front of Greta’s face. 

“Bird, I’m gonna head out for a smoke. Wanna join me?” 

She more or less ignored the fact that the two women were - clearly - in the middle of something. 

Greta nodded while turning to face Carson. “Is that okay with you? You could have a drink at the bar and we will join you in a bit?” 

Carson gave her a small smile. “Yes, sure. I won’t go anywhere”. 

“Well, good. Because our conversation isn’t over yet”, Greta said while winking in Carson’s direction. 

As the two friends tumbled out of the bar laughing, Carson was suddenly unsure whether she should stay. Jo was clearly trying to get between her and Greta and she was actually getting pretty tired. 

She took out her phone to check how long it would take her to get to her hotel. She hadn’t really paid attention to directions on their way here. 

Instead, she had been thinking about the way Greta had looked at her at some point during dinner. They had just talked about how Jo and Greta met, back when they were still kids, playing outside in Queens. 

“Joey here was always bullied for being too manly”, Greta had said. “Baby butch vibes, probably”. 

As Jo had bursted out laughing, Greta had looked at Carson, seemingly waiting for her reaction. 

Carson had just smiled, because she didn’t really know what Greta had meant. Maybe it was some sort of inside joke between two childhood friends? Then again, the word “butch” did sound familiar to her, like she had read it somewhere before. 

She shuffled towards the bar, ordered an IPA and took slow sips from the bottle. Maybe she should just google it? As she was unlocking her phone, Greta and Jo re-entered the bar, laughing again - or still. 

Greta confidently strode towards the bar, took a sip from Carson’s drink and placed herself on the empty bar stool next to her. 

“So, where were we?” 

[knightprincess]

In This Heart of Mine (Crosshair x Fem Reader) Oneshot

Words: 2336 Warning: Grief - Implied Character Death A/N - Not proof read also her/she pronouns used Description: Crosshair remembers how he lost his Runi. 

If there was one thing Crosshair hated about the empire. It was how they look his love away. Despite it being months since the Republic and Jedi Order had fallen, it still hurt him to remember it, he still hadn't dealt with the grief, the brokenness he so often felt. Despite his best efforts to ignore it, it always caught up with him during the quiet moments. Even now he could swear he heard (Y/N)'s voice, so clear as if she was standing right beside him. Crosshair guessed in a way she was, she was still with him if not physically then in his heart, closer than ever. 

"Wish you were here (Y/N)" whispered Crosshair, his barracks empty, his brothers having left him behind days after he lost (Y/N). Days after his life had been ripped to shreds. They had yet to come back for him, despite the obvious he still hoped they would, he hoped they hadn't given up on him, not now when he still needed them so much. His new squad members weren't his favorite people, if he was honest he hated them, to him it felt like they were replacing his brothers, or at least the empire was. They took away his (Y/N), now they were trying to replace his brothers with natural born soldiers, people he hoped would just leave him be. 

Crosshair didn't know the name of his new squad members. He didn't bother trying to remember them, even more so when comments had been made about how miserable he was, how they could do a better job just because they were natural born and he was a clone. Every time they were sent on an assignment he found himself hoping they didn't come back, or if they did they wouldn't return to the barracks. He wanted his brothers, if he couldn't have that, then he'd rather be left alone to grieve and remember the better times of the past. Times that he wished he could go back to now. If only so he could tell (Y/N) he loved her one more time. Even now he could still remember how he had lost her. 

Flashback 

The snowy terrain of Kaller was a welcome sight compared to the normal battlefields. Although the thick black smoke bellowing towards the grey filled sky, was a good give away as to where the battlefield actually was. Tech had made a comment about needing to reach General Depa Billada and her Padawan Caleb Dume soon. Wrecker mentioning something about not being able to wait to get his hands on the droids and destroy something, it was clear the oldest of the special unit was getting impatient, perhaps more so than he was on the Marauder heading over to assist. Echo and Hunter continued on with their conversation, although both keeping an eye out for any battle droid that was roaming the area or stragglers from the battle to have already taken place in the area they walked quietly through. 

Crosshair on the other hand was towards the back of the small group, walking just behind (Y/N), his Jedi General and lover. His normal smirk placed upon his lips, although shielded from everyone else by his helmet. The sniper not being able to help but look over her, to admire her beauty, even when she was determined to help those she considered friends. Her lightsabers attached to her belt, ready for when she needed them, a sure thing considering they were once again heading into the battlefield. At their current position at the top of some snow covered hills, they were in the calm before the storm. 

Also on the large steep hill was Caleb Dume, he seemed hopeful yet confused to see them, as if he was expecting more. Although he seemed pleased even reassured to see one of those sent as reinforcements was (Y/N) (Y/L/N), one of the many Jedi Knights, although one whom was rather well known to the republic at this point. Her power alone made her famous. Although she had also become known for her skills in battle since the wars had began just over three years prior. 

What would have been an ordinary reinforcements mission had quickly gone sideways. Crosshair could remember (Y/N) leading Hunter, Echo, Tech and Wrecker into the fight against the battle droids, blue lightsaber at the read. The young Padawan having returned to his master to keep them updated on what was going on. He had watched as they took out the enemy forces, how Wrecker was having the time of his life, even how Tech made a comment or two as if greeting an old friend. Even how Echo effortless took out the battle droids around him. Hunter using his knife and blaster as he always did, where as (Y/N) had effortlessly deflected laser bolts and helped destroy the tanks and spider droids. Crosshair had done his normal task and covering for those in the thick of it from his lofty perch. Shooting any and all droids who got to close to those he cared for and loved. 

Yet it was after that when everything went wrong. (Y/N) had given them orders to take out what remained of the droids nearby, to help with the counter attack, agreeing to allow the Caleb to go with them. Only when they were a distance away did they all receive an order, especially from the Chancellor. Execute Order 66. Caleb sensing something turned back, seeing his master fighting against the clones surrounding her, already too many of them for her to handle alone, he was about to go back when he heard her yelling for him to run. Although he had been frozen to the spot. Only moving when (Y/N) grabbed hold of his arm and running, her other hand hold the side of her neck. 

Crosshair had wished he didn't have enhanced sight that day. What he saw still haunted him. (Y/N) had appeared in shock, her eyes wide, one of her lightsabers missing. Yet the hand holding the left side of her neck, slowly turn crimson, as a trail of blood was left in her wake. Almost instantly Crosshair had felt fear, hate even. Yet none the less listened to the orders given by Hunter. Wrecker was stall the regs if any came searching for (Y/N) and the Padawan, Echo and Tech were sent to find out what was going on and why the regs and turned so suddenly? Why they fired on their commanding Jedi? Where as Crosshair was set to go with Hunter to find both (Y/N) and Caleb. 

As order Crosshair veered off to follow the tail of crimson staining the snow. Finding himself getting more anxious as he continued to follow it, dreading what he would find at the end. His worst fears being met when he come to the end of the trail of blood. Finding (Y/N), lent against a tree, more pale than the snow she sat upon. Her hand still holding on to the wound to her neck, as if to stem the bleeding or hide it from others. Fear shone so brightly in her eyes, yet so did her sadness and pain. 

Without a second thought Crosshair ran to her side, taking off his helmet as he did so. Ignoring the voice in his head yelling the same four words over and over again. Instead focusing on his lover. The moment he reached her, he reached for her hand, taking hold of it in a gentle grip, feeling as she weakly squeezed his hand in return, as if to reassure him he was still alive, all be it just. She still had some strength left. Within seconds Crosshair had pulled her into his lap, fighting back his tears, even more so when gently moved her bloody hand from her neck, seeing just how back to wound was. Instantly he knew there was nothing he could do to help her. Only make her comfortable in her final moments. Yet still he hoped his words would encourage her to fight a little longer, until help arrived at least. 

"Don't you give up on me Mesh'la. Just hold on" quietly spoke Crosshair, his words seeming so loud in the quiet area. He soon placed his own hand over her neck wound, taking hold of her hands in the other. Only now when looking over her, did he see she had been hit more than just once. Another scorch mark on her lower leg, just beneath the knee and a third on her right shoulder. "Remember the plans we made for when the war was over. Finding a plot of land somewhere, somewhere quiet and off grid, somewhere away from all the chaos and hassle" started the silver haired sniper, recalling the many conversations he had with her about leaving everything behind when the war was finally over. Taking his brothers with them, only telling a few trusted ones where they were going. They had planned a life together. 

"I love you" whispered (Y/N) in response, lying against him. Her back against his chest, his long legs either side of her. Tears soon come to her eyes, as the inevitability hit her, she was going to die. Just like the other Jedi who had already fallen. Yet she had something they didn't, her sniper at her side and the knowledge of knowing none of her unit had betrayed her. "Promise me, you'll go on, you'll keep living" choked (Y/N), as she began to cough up her own blood, her end fast approach, even Crosshair knew it, he could feel her hands growing colder and heaver as her body went numb. 

"No" responded Crosshair, his voice as quiet as hers, as he fought the losing battle with his tears and heartbreak. "There's no living without you" added the sniper, showing how much he loved her, how much she meant to him. "I love you Cyar'ika, please just stay with me"  begged Crosshair. Tears breaking through his barrier as her hand fell from his, as she let out her final waspy breaths. All Crosshair could do was hold on to her tightly, hugging her, protecting her as he struggled to see anything past the blurriness of his tears. A strangled yell ripping from his throat moments later. "Come back (Y/N), Please come back. I love you, please" cried Crosshair, hugging her as tightly as he could, not wanting to let her go. Not wanting to do anything other than be there with her. 

Hunter had found him moment later, having heard his strangled yell. He lent down besides the pair, closing (Y/N)'s dull (E/C) eyes for the last time. Placing a hand on his brother's shoulder moments later, trying to be strong for his grieving young brother, knowing his heart had broken beyond repair. He couldn't bring himself to say anything to Crosshair, nor did he protest when Crosshair reached for her remaining lightsaber, tinted crimson with blood. 

End of Flashback 

Crosshair soon shifted, reaching for the box on the small shelf behind his pillow. With a heavy sigh he opened the box, (Y/N)'s lightsaber still inside. He'd made a point of preserving it, even more so when it was all he had left of her now. He cleaned it whenever he cleaned his rifle, it being part of his routine. If he was feeling down before a mission, he'd take the lightsaber with him, so how it always helped to make him feel a little better. Crosshair liked to believe (Y/N) was with him when he had the lightsaber. 

"I'll make the galaxy a better place (Y/N). I'll make sure they don't forget you" whispered Crosshair, knowing his choice to stay with the empire, wasn't one he made easily. It was difficult, yet his brothers had helped with his choice. They had saved him when Kamino was destroyed, yet the distrust had been obvious. "One day I'll avenge you my runi" promised Crosshair, recalling when he had retrieved the (Y/N)'s lightsaber from his old barracks in Tipoca city, his determination had kicked in to save it. Hunter had put it in his pack, returning it once they reached the landing pad. Yet the real and only reason Crosshair had remained with the empire was revenge, they took his runi away from him, took his home away, turned his brothers against him and tried to kill him. His only motivation was to ensure the empire would fall, even if doing so cost him his life. 

"We'll see each other again (Y/N). Reunited when its all over" whispered Crosshair, as he left his barracks on board the star destroyer he'd been assigned to. Determined to remind the oblivious imperials of what they had helped take away and destroy. Determined to do what he thought was right, in the name of his lost love. Determined to see through what he hoped would be his redemption, or at least that's what he believed he was doing by helping Rex located their brothers still within the empire, Wolffe, Cody, Howzer even Dogma, as well as passing on information regarding future plans for the remaining clones, besides being fazed out of service. 

"In this heart of mine. You'll live for a lifetime" uttered Crosshair, his attention being drawn to the photo he held on to now. One taken during the war, it was clear it was during one of the many assignments. (Y/N) held on to her blue lightsabers, he was just behind her, his rifle one her shoulder as he aimed at something in his sights. (Y/N) actually looked like she was covering him while he destroyed something in the far distance. With that Crosshair returning his focus to the self given mission of bringing the empire down, no matter the cost. 

Translation: Runi = Soul

[britishassistant]

What happens if Yuu goes on vacation or needs to leave the city for business?

Would they just leave and not tell the villains? Leaving them to wonder where they went and potentially tear the city apart?

Would they tell them and risk the full time villains showing up? Or Vil/Kalim/Jamil/Riddle to show up for business purposes?

Who hopes to catch them in a bathing suit?

@mister-jedblack said: I wonder what if Yuu and Yuuken took a vacation to Yuu’s parents house and they didn’t told the NRC villains that they’ll be gone for two weeks. What’s their reaction about it.

Thank you for the ask, dear anon and mister-jedblack!

Yuu and Yuuken decide to use their saved up holiday to go back to Yuu’s parents’ place for the week of Yuu’s birthday so they can actually celebrate with some peace and quiet and puppies rather than Yuu just being getting kidnapped and being unable to celebrate altogether.

Only Uncle Divvy knows what they’re doing, and was the one who came up with the whole idea in the first place.

Amazingly, nothing happens on the journey out of the city, and they enjoy a quiet drive to the country with very little traffic, debating playfully about what music they should be listening to.

Waterboy breaks into Yuu’s apartment on the evening before their birthday to see that it’s empty. Yuu isn’t at any of the other locations Snake Charmer told him to check if Yuu wasn’t at the apartment either. Even Grim can’t tell Kalim where Yuu is, depite promising the monster cat the best tuna money can buy.

Kalim panics.

He calls Tsunotaro and begs him to give Yuu back if he’s taken them, because he and Jamil have a really cool scheme that they wanna show Yuu, but he can’t find them anywhere! Please, please Tsunotaro, give Yuu back? They’ll only keep them for like, an hour tops, he promises!

Malleus, who does not have Yuu, is very confused. And once he figures out what Waterboy is yammering about, very, very panicked.

Malleus orders Sebek to call those two Card Soldier minions Yuu is hanging around all the time and see if Royal Flush doesn’t have Yuu in his grip.

Ace and Deuce are very confused when Sebek texts each of them and orders them to call and put Yuu on the phone. Ace and Deuce both that Yuu isn’t there, shouldn’t Sebek just call their apartment if he wants to talk to them?

Sebek is not good at hiding the fact that Yuu may be missing.

Ace goes to scope out Yuu’s apartment while Deuce messages Jack and Epel, asking if Yuu is in the King or Poison Queen’s lair. When Royal Flush, Trey and Cater assemble for dinner and ask Deuce where Ace has gone, he’s not able to lie very well to his boss and seniors.

Now Royal Flush is calling Ace every 3.25 minutes and demanding status updates on the search for Yuu. Meanwhile, Jack and Epel have questioned their respective seniors and employers to ascertain that Yuu definitely isn’t in their lairs. Leona and Vil aren’t stupid though, and this line of questioning inspires both of them to send their lieutenants out to investigate.

Vil calls Tsunotaro just to make sure Yuu isn’t just out on another odd gargoyle sightseeing walk somewhere abandoned. Meanwhile, Leona calls Leviathan to see if the creepy octo bastard has tied up the reporter in his basement to feed to his eels or something, fully willing to lay siege if this is the case.

While all this is spiraling out of control, since Malleus doesn’t have Yuu, Kalim has called Jamil in a tizzy, clutching Grim who’s similarly freaked out, blabbering about how Yuu’s gone, no one knows where they are, what if they’ve been kidnapped, what if they’re gone forever, what do they do?!?

Jamil spends thirty minutes trying to calm Kalim and Grim and himself down, before making the executive decision to get into contact with the one supervillain who could possibly find the missing reporter in the shortest amount of time.

Snake Charmer calls Charon and asks him for the current location of Yuu’s cell phone.

Idia is immediately sus of the request, not quite buying the fact that Yuu is with Snake Charmer and worried that they’ve lost it. His hackles are only raised when he does use the tracking app he covertly installed and sees Yuu’s cell phone is somehow miles out into the country. He answers Snake Charmer’s question more out of confusion than anything else, only to be met with a dial tone as Jamil suddenly hangs up on him.

The final nail in the coffin is when Leviathan then calls him, worry in his voice barely covered by the smarm turned all the way up to demand the same thing Snake Charmer just asked him. He tells Ortho to fly out to these coordinates with his tablet to see wtf is going on.

Meanwhile, Jamil, Kalim and Grim have stolen one of the Asim company cars and are speeding out of the city. They end up driving by where Ace, Ruggie and Rook are caught in a standoff, with Rook recognizing the occupants of the car thanks to his keen eyesight. Rook immediately calls Vil and tells him he’s in pursuit of a car with this licence plate.

Ace and Ruggie refuse to let him leave peacefully and not lose the car unless they get to go with him, so the three of them end up piled on the back of a moped to give chase.

Vil cuts off Malleus’ rambling to order Epel to get in the Queen Machine and get going. Malleus, suspicions roused, commands Lilia, Sebek and Silver to follow the Pomefiore villains in the Dragon Mark ‘59 Copter that Lilia bought on a whim because he said it “looked perfectly evil!”

This vehicle is much more like a dune buggy with a propeller on top than an actual helicopter, so Malleus and Sebek are forced to crouch on either side of the “cockpit” while Silver drives and Lilia gleefully hangs upside down from the undercarriage and freaks out passersby below.

Ortho is understandably shocked when he sees them flying alongside him, Sebek screaming above the wind to ask if they’re going the right way.

Riddle receives Ace’s text that he’s en route out of the city following a car that might have Yuu inside, and rallies Trey, Cater and Deuce onto the first train out the city in that direction available. It’s awkwardly packed with tired workers at this time of night who do not appreciate Cater’s attempts to document the journey through selfies.

Meanwhile Leona and Jack are having a standoff with Azul and the Leech twins over the bus that Jack and Leona are trying to steal to follow Ruggie’s directions. Jade suggested that if they couldn’t get an answer out of Idia, that they hitch a ride with one of the seven other supervillains who are all rapidly leaving the city, and Leona and Jack were the poor saps generous allies they found!

The poor bus driver who is caught in the middle of this conflict is almost glad when Azul tosses him a wad of cash and Floyd throws him out the doors, Jade taking his place behind the wheel. According to Jack, they’re very behind everyone else on the trail of the wayward reporter, so Jade obligingly steps on it.

The bus smashes through a closed mall and several speed limits on it’s journey out of the city. On the plus side, they catch up to the Queen Machine, Jamil’s stolen car, and the overloaded moped in practically no time at all!

All of these methods arrive at roughly the same moment, though the Heartslaybul villains are forced to frantically push their way off the train and run the mile from the station to get there on time. Poor Trey is very winded.

Whatever nefarious place they expected Yuu to be held, this certainly wasn’t it. A modest, two-story house in the middle of a street full of other houses just like it (and very confused neighbors taking pictures of the menagerie of vehicles from their windows). Still, whatever upstart thought that he could kidnap their reporter out from underneath the noses of the seven most feared supervillains in the city has got another thing coming to him.

The mass of villains and henchmen march up the drive and knock on the door—

Only to be met with Divus Crewel answering it in decidely more casual clothes than he would ever be caught dead in at work, glaring down at them all with a very full glass of red wine in his hand, as more Dalmatians than it seems reasonable to own try to jump up and get out the door to greet the new people behind him.

“Uncle Divvy, who is it?” Yuu calls from inside.

“No one, Yuu.” Divus calls back, one arm pointing imperiously and eyes screaming ‘Go right now and don’t come back, or I swear to the Seven you’ll all be waking up with baboon livers’. “Just someone trying to sell something.”

He waits until all the supervillains have sheepishly shuffled down out of the driveway to firmly shut and lock the door in their faces. They’re not dumb enough to try and infiltrate another way, not if Crewel’s in that house and probably has it filled to hidden traps and defenses up to the gills.

Well, everyone but Grim isn’t dumb enough. He’s currently making his way into the utility room, where he will soon be surrounded by a dozen dogs that want to play with and chase this new cat-like thing! It’s only Yuuken’s intervention later that evening that prevents anyone from getting hurt.

The others are all trying to work out how they’re going to get back to the city. Idia is rapidly firing off questions to Malleus through his tablet about the manufacture of the vintage copter they arrived in. The moped’s out of gas, and the train station is closed, so Azul volunteers the bus for the Heartslaybul villains too. Leona and Jack put their foot down on Jade being behind the driver’s wheel on the way back though. Rook is delighted to be able to go back in the comfort of the Queen Machine!

“Hey Ja—Snake Charmer?” Kalim asks suddenly. “Was it just me or did you see birthday decorations for Yuu in there?”

Yuu sneezes inside the house, wondering what the sudden cold feeling down their spine is.