#we had a couple literally change their minds the DAY we were supposed to get the lass

[feral-gaming]

You've been doing extremely well so you can do it!

(⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠) heh

Give me, hm, two irl days and I'll get back to you on that

And that's a wrap!

I can't begin to describe how much love I have towards this route. Yeah Arven's is great because of Mabosstiff, but this one had so much to it, if that makes sense. Well, I think it has to do with how they handled such a sensitive topic that made me love it so much 🤔 All the characters were simply amazing ugh... Splendid. Absolutely, splendid.

Next up, becoming Champion! (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

[such-expensive-mistakes]

Superpham AU (part 4)

Original prompt + parts 1-3

Masterpost

-----

It's not the most awkward dinner Lois has ever had, but only because she's dined with literal supervillains before.  

Danny is poking at his Mongolian beef with his fork more than he's actually eating it.  Lois can hardly blame him; it’s been a difficult few days for her and she’s not the one who just landed in a different dimension from the one she grew up in.  But Danny certainly isn’t up to keeping conversation going.

Jon is making a valiant effort, but he seems distracted.  He keeps shooting looks at Lois and Clark when he thinks they’re not looking, and while he recounts everything he and Damian got up to (not too much trouble, thankfully, although that wasn’t saying much), he’s less enthusiastic than he would normally be.  

Clark keeps shooting Jon worried looks when he thinks Jon isn’t looking.  Lois will have to ask him how that conversation went; it seems like it was rough on both of them. 

Eventually, even Jon runs out of things to say, and the four of them sit around the table, eating their Chinese takeout in silence.  

“So, Danny,” Lois finally says.  “I don’t know how the dimension you grew up in differs from this one, but if you have any questions about anything, please ask one of us.”

“It’s not that different,” Danny says.  “I mean, it is in some ways, but it’s still Earth, you know?”

Lois isn’t entirely certain she does, but this doesn’t seem to be the time to ask.  Maybe when things are less fresh.

Jon has no such compunctions.  “What’s the biggest difference?” 

Danny looks thoughtful.  “You guys have a lot of superheroes here,” he finally says.

“What kind of superheroes did your other world have?” Jon asks eagerly.  

“We mostly didn’t,” Danny says.  “I mean, I guess Phantom kind of counts.  But that’s it.”

“That’s it?” Jon is clearly flabbergasted by this.  Lois fights a smile, and she can see Clark doing the same thing.  Jon has never known a world without the Justice League, but she and Clark can both remember when superheroes were much, much rarer.

“Most people probably wouldn’t even count Phantom,” Danny says.  “The kids mostly did, but a lot of adults didn’t trust him because he was… because he wasn’t exactly human.”

Combined with what Danny said before about that interdimensional portal, this is painting a picture Lois really doesn’t like.

“There are folks like that everywhere, unfortunately,” Clark says.  “And you can’t always change their minds. But I believe most people are better than that."

Judging by Danny's expression, he wasn't entirely convinced of that. Lois couldn't blame him; she has enough trouble seeing the good in people the way Clark did, and the other dimension sounds worse than hers in this regard.  

Danny doesn’t seem inclined to talk about it any further.  Silence lingers for just a beat too long before he speaks.  “Oh, the sun’s yellow here.  That’s different, too.”

-----

The front door slams, shaking the house, and Jon scrambles into the kitchen.  

“Where’s Ma and Pa?” he demands.

Kon mentally says goodbye to his tentative plans for the day.  Not that he minds hanging out with Jon, but he’s clearly upset about something.  Kon’s good at a lot of things, but emotional conversations is not one of them.

“They’re in town for the day,” Kon says.  “You’re lucky they didn’t hear you slam the door like that.”

“Did you know about Danny?” Jon demands.

“Who?”

“Dan-El.”

Clark texted a couple of days ago, telling Kon to call when he had time.  Kon has been putting it off, knowing that Clark has better ways of getting in touch with him if there’s a real emergency.  That’s starting to seem like a mistake.

He doesn’t answer Jon right away, which Jon seems to take as its own answer.  

“Did everyone know but me?” Jon demands.

The thing is, Kon is pretty sure he's not supposed to know about Dan-El. Lois and Clark have never breathed a word about him in Kon's hearing.

He only knows because he spent an afternoon helping Ma go through some old boxes up in the attic and found a box of photos-- mostly of Clark as a kid, but some of Ma and Pa when they were younger.

"Oh goodness," Ma had said, when she'd notices what Kon was looking at. "I keep telling myself I'm going to organize those and put them in an album, but I never get around to it."

She'd sat down next to Kon and looked through the pictures with him, pointing out her favorites and telling stories to accompany them. ("And that one was from just after Clark's tenth birthday-- we had to get a new door because his strength was just coming in and he broke the old one.")

Then Kon had pulled out a photo of a toddler, sitting on the front porch with Pa. He'd thought it was a picture of Clark at first, but Pa's hair was considerably more gray than it was in the pictures from Clark's childhood, and Ma had just told him that the porch had been rebuilt and expanded after Clark broke the old one in tenth grade.

"Oh, that's Daniel," Ma said. She'd gently taken the photo from Kon's hand and ran a finger over not-Clark's face. "He was our first grandson-- Lois and Clark's oldest." She'd gone on to tell him the whole sad story.

There's a small headstone for Daniel Kent in the Smallville cemetery, right next to Pa's parents. Kon thinks it must have been Ma or Pa's idea; there was no body to bury and as far as he knows, Lois and Clark never visit it.

“I don’t think that’s it,” Kon says.  “I think it’s just not something they talk about.”  Jon doesn’t look convinced, so he adds, “They told you now, right?”

“Only after he showed up!” 

“Wait, what?”  Kon is starting to think he really should have replied to that message from Clark.

-----

Not for the first time, Clark wishes there was a handbook for this sort of thing.  But oddly enough, parenting manuals generally don’t cover how to talk to your long-lost son about his alien heritage.  He’s put this off long enough already; Danny had spent most of the previous day out with Lois, picking up all the necessities he didn’t have.

“So…” Danny says, kicking his feet a little.  He’s sitting next to Clark on this skyscraper, his feet dangling over the edge.  It makes Clark a little nervous, seeing how Danny can’t fly yet, but he also knows he’s fast enough to catch Danny if he were to fall.

"Lois said you're an alien?" The words are softened by the blatant curiosity in Danny's tone, and Clark remembers Lois recounting how excited Danny was to meet J'onn and to see space from the Watchtower. 

It's a sentiment Clark can understand. He's traveled through space and met aliens both hostile and friendly. He regularly meets with his colleagues on an orbiting space station. And yet, seeing his adopted planet from space still fills him with awe.

"When I was born, my parents— my birth parents— already knew our planet, Krypton, was dying," Clark begins. It's not an easy story to tell, but the grief is old. Not gone, but distant. It's a place and a people he will never know except through stories and the archives in the Fortress— but those, at least, he can share. He tells Danny this, too, and promises to take him to the Fortress soon. It would be easier if Danny could fly, but he'll make it work. 

"You should talk to Kara, too," Clark adds. 

"Who's Kara?"

"My cousin. Right now she's in space, on a Justice League mission, but you'll meet her when she gets back. She was a teenager when Krypton was destroyed; she has firsthand memories."  He’ll save explaining the part where she got caught in suspended animation for later; he’s dumped a lot of information on Danny already.

“You said something the other night about yellow sun radiation?” Danny asks.

“It’s what gives Kryptonians our power, here on Earth,” Clark says.  

“And what powers are those, exactly?” Danny seems more hesitant than Clark would usually expect of a teenager finding out he’s going to develop superpowers— but then, they already know Danny grew up in a world where that sort of thing was feared and looked down upon.  

“Enhanced sense, enhanced strength and speed, flight, invulnerability— there are others, but those are the main ones to expect.”

Danny nods thoughtfully.

[thewritetofreespeech]

Tressym can be Fickle

WORDS: 692 RATING: G PAIRING: Gale x Tav SUMMARY: based on a very real arguement between my husband & I on who our cat likes more.

It had been a long, arduous, grueling day at the academy.

Though Gale loved his new role as a professor and educator, teaching the young minds of witches & wizards all across Faerun to harness their magic, induction week was the worst. He felt his life was in less peril fighting the Elder Brain or any of their other enemies & cohorts along the Sword Coast than he was now. Testing the new inductees to file them accordingly to their skill. ‘Skill’ being a very loose word tossed around this week.

He returned home that evening with a heavy sigh through the door, an even heavier thud of his satchel filled with books, and a desperate need to be tended to by his spouse. The whole day had been about soothing the egos, feelings, and on occasion literal wounds of new students that Gale thought he deserved some tending to now.

“Tav?” He called out as he put his cloak away. Usually, they greeted him at the door. Or at least acknowledged him when he came home. Curious, Gale walked through the house to try and find them. His search not long as he came upon Tav in the living room. On the couch by a low fire, with Tara on their lap. “Well….don’t you two look cozy.”

“Hmm, we rather are Mr. Dekarios.” Tara agreed. “Or at least we were, until someone started shouting.”

“Apologies for shouting in my own house.” Gale snipped at Tara. Taking his own plush armchair across from them. “Since when did you become a lap cat? And, before you get too ruffled under the feathers, it’s a figure of speech.”

Tara hummed. Seeming to debate about not letting it go but was perhaps indeed to comfortable to make a fuss. “Very recently I suppose. I never had an interest until now.” The tressym purred with her eyes closed as she tilted her head up towards Tav and her head scratches.

“You never took an interest with me.” Gale said with a deep frown.

“You do not have nails, Mr. Dekarios.”

The wizard growled and stood up. Unable to watch his dearest friend and lover betray him like this in front of his own eyes. It was still early for dinner but he stalked off towards the kitchen to focus his frustrations on what to eat.

A few moments later, Tav came in. Looking confused on why he was so upset. “Sorry.” He apologized quickly. “It’s just been a long day. And I am glad that you and Tara are getting along now. Guess I’m being….overly sensitive at being shut out. Tressym can be fickle, but I’ve never known Tara to change her mind about anyone. Again, not that I’m not pleased you two are getting along. I just never thought I would suddenly be second in her estimation.”

“Suddenly second? Please Mr. Dekarios.” The couple turned to see Tara trot in. Seeming interested in their conversation. “I wouldn’t say that you were suddenly second. Not given my high esteem of your mother. A better estimate is which one of you is second on the day, and who is third.”

“Really Tara? Kick a man while he’s down??”

“But, I’m a reasonable creature. Perhaps my estimations can be over swayed. Perhaps with a bit of chicken? Fried pigeons if you have any?”

“So a creature of reason but not honor, eh?” Gale stated, with a wave of his hand as if he wish to brush away this whole conversation.

Before he could leave, Tav wrapped their arms around his waist. Pulling him close. The smell of their hair in his nose. Something like ‘you’ll always be number 1 to me’ muffled into his chest, which causes him to smile and hold them back.

They tell Gale to go upstairs and relax. Take a bath if he liked, while they made dinner. That sounded heavenly, so he did just that.

When he came back down, he was not amused by the roast chicken on his plate. Nor the grinning little tressym in the corner, licking her chops like she’d just swallowed a canary. Or, perhaps, her bribery chicken.

[exhausted-archivist]

The Deep Roads are Complicated, and I am in too Deep...

I've been working on and off at mapping the Deep Roads for a while now and after writing 4 pages explaining my methodology of why I think it is mapped the way I put it and then moving on to orienting the ttrpg thaig map, I realized something while taking notes on the directions mentioned and cross-referencing it to the description of Horrors of Hormak thaig description.

You can't map the Deep Roads from a top-down perspective because sometimes the roads change directions and aren't actually going in a straight line.

They need an orthographic map. Or a map that essentially bisects the mountain. The literal map in the corner of both the Origins and ttrpg maps. The maps... that have increments of depth.

Now, I knew that the deep roads had to change elevation, especially considering how they're described and the way they're supposedly below sea level for most thaigs.

But somehow, despite knowing that, I never considered that thaigs and the roads themselves would essentially be stacked on top of each other. Don't know why that never crossed my mind up until I was checking my notes and the passages of the ttrpg and Horrors of Hormak to confirm directions. To which it finally clicked as they both explain how there are galleries/antechambers and staircases/pathways that change directions.

How do we get to the thaig? This tunnel leads to a series of galleries. Think of them as interconnecting wide flights of stairs linked together and occasionally switching direction. We head down these for a few hours and we’ll be on the outskirts of the thaig.

-- Dragon Age Tabletop RPG, Buried Pasts p. 18

Beside him, Lesha muttered a word and her staff began to glow. She pushed it inside the entrance to the hole, giving light to the darkness within. The edges of the circle cast by Lesha’s spell revealed a small staircase that descended into an antechamber slightly larger than the clearing above, carved with a skill and delicacy that rivaled the works of Orzammar, or even Kal-Sharok. At the other end of the chamber, a doorway and a second staircase beyond that which spiraled into the darkness, the entire space lit by the glow of lyrium. And above the entrance, written in dwarven runes, a single word—Hormok.

-- Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights, Horrors of Hormak (p. 86)

Which then gave me pause and had me rereading and looking back at the map. Because the maps looked like they were straight and didn't initially give the impression of any verticality to them. Until you look in the corner. That's when it clicked for me and the mountains suddenly made more sense.

And now I'm screaming about it here. Because both maps are depicting a small chunk of mountain(s) in the Frostbacks. Which, for reference, my wip of the Deep Roads looked like this.

If you follow BioWare's scale of 1 square = 15 miles / 24 km - if the Deep Roads were in working order the journey to the anvil would only be roughly around 2.5-3 days journey. However, we know to get to the anvil and back to Orzammar is a month-long trip. So, with the darkspawn and collapsed tunnels it becomes a 2-week journey there and 2 weeks back. Which is quite a large jump in travel times.

I have a personal scale based on population size, megafauna, and the fact that it is supposed to take over a week to get to the Circle from Orzammar on the surface, among other travel time increments. Which makes each square 38 mi / 61 km. A 4-5 day journey from the anvil to the void when functioning.

Now, I think this map still holds up in terms of placement considering that mountains can have a wide footprint and the map on the Origins Deep Roads has at least two major peaks and a plateau, whereas the ttrpg just has one major peak and a couple of smaller ones. The ttrpg map also speaks of ravines and such so it fits the geography.

But yeah, long story short I need to revise some of my methodology; and maybe rescale the map, so things aren't super tiny.

[shock]

This one is definitely my favorite so far in my collage solar system, so I wanted to post it. Hopefully I'll get some nice scans once all the pieces are done, but here's a spotlight on Neptune Side 1, "MEMORY".

The photos on the left are all pictures I took as a kid with film my gammaw got me before she died, and most of them are from the same day we took a walk together. The photos on the right all include her except for one. I can't remember HOW I managed to get ahold of the time they hired a stripper for her birthday, but I've always found that set of photos to be really evocative and I feel like I found the perfect use for them! 🤣

The text reads:

One fine day in 2006, a wild deer wandered into a Target store. When animals are traumatized, we make careful, logical calculations. Which is what the deer did.

After falling down the stairs, skidded around for a half hour, like when Odysseus opened a bag of captive winds, would surrender for a second, then dash from one event to the next. Until out of sheer frustration, I threw a bucket. But it made the deer race right through the window.

"F---ed up beyond all recognition."

If I had known what that maneuver would cost, I would probably have let the deer go.

A couple of days before she died, she took me to the ocean.

My log adds, I had some nice things to eat. I have never seen a being, human or animal, always so full of joy. Talking to her filled me with the power of the sun.

I wanted to hug her, but I didn't. I literally forgot to put my arms around her. We talked again that night on a ship-to-ship radio frequency. You weren't supposed to talk long on that because others might need it.

The next day, she died. I went into the woods, trying to clear my head. I could hear the deer breathing in the darkness. It was weird.

The day after she died, I called and cried. I don't like to yell or scream, but a bad storm brings something out of me. Not until I knew there's be no response did I realize how much pleasure I had taken in calling her. I bellowed up at the approaching storm: All right, you have the power of life and death! Love's no good! I know it! I had so many meetings with different people, I forgot! I'm sorry! So deafen me with your thunder! Go on, then! Scorch up my brains! I defy you! I'll defy you to my last breath!

Who was I defying? God? The deer? The storm? It didn't do any good to make noises of my own.

Sleeping helps. In dreams, I reach out my hand and grab the disease with my fist, drive that f---ed cancer back across an entire wavelength, refuse to contemplate the distant future, have a great talk with her held safely inside my arms.

I think It's worst than a nightmare. It's slow torture, it will drive you crazy, cunningly spooled and folded scenarios spin out in your mind.

Two years ago, I watched tapes of her that only reminded me of how I wanted to hear live people. It took me years to learn how to use them.

It is always interesting to see how situations change and people move from one to the other. Then you walk around a rock, and there it is: names and drawings, graffiti, all of one trade— MEMORIES carved in the rock:

Her life was a gift to me. She'd given me a greater one.

She sounded good.

I got the message. Follow the noise.

Retrace my route between the images of a continuous narrative. I went to the spot where she took her last breath. By then I could hear the deer running through the brush. I called again. This time, with a smile.

It worked. I made contact again.

Of course I knew this time she couldn't come, so my approach changed:

All right, REFLECTIONS can't support life.

That's okay. Keep moving.

GO AHEAD AND FREAK OUT.

Keeping busy helps, too— She lived every moment as though it were her last. It was wonderful.

I love her very much.

Do you want to know a secret?

I transformed into something grown for the pure happiness it brings me.

I feel really good now.

My attention most days is on the here and now.

It's the only real escape there is.

[sunny-speaks]

Siren Friend x Reader

So this is really late to the bandwagon :((( But here we are, resident yandere Friend! But Siren version cause I can't stop thinking about the chatbot... :P

You work a nice job, decent pay, the works.

You live near a beach in a decently populated city, you’re single and ready to mingle. But there’s no pressure! After all, your job is so tiring… There’s literally no room to romance people… But he'd change that.

Nothing too big, just studying an obscure species that emerged a couple months ago that look pretty similar to mermaids, mermen and other humanoid fish folk from mythology.

Of course, you weren’t too bothered, you just fed them and kept them occupied whilst other researchers collected data. You were more of a mer caretaker than an actual scientist.

Just the other day however… you found this really cute one washed up against the shoreline of your beachfront house !

You honestly didn’t expect much out of living so close to the water… but if that’s what it takes for pretty guys to get close to you, you weren’t arguing.

He was unconscious, dying in the sand or something when you chucked him into a bathtub.

Dark blue skin and hair the color of the sun, god, you couldn’t help but admire the pretty merman who was now chilling in your bathtub.

If you looked hard enough, you’d barely be able to see the way that the lightbulb in the ceiling catches the scales of his face in a way that makes the patches on his shoulders, cheeks and abdomen shimmer in a glamorous way.

Gold linings went up and down his body, marking contours and every dip in his body. They sectioned his abdomen and melded into his tail, they trailed up the sides of his neck to the back of his… webbed ears?

Wow, you’d probably stare forever at him until--!

You were busy admiring just how elegant the siren looked under the yellow-tinted lighting of your bathroom before you noticed his eyelashes fluttering awake under the water. How long he’d been out for, he wasn’t sure. When he saw the human that he’d always… admired from a distance hovering over him, he thought he had died and gone to fish heaven! He poked his head out of the water, black eyes looking up at you through his eyelashes, the lower half of his face obscured by the water. Water droplets accumulated on his long eyelashes every time he blinked. Which was quite a lot, seeing as how the unapproachable, ethereal human you were in his eyes, was right in front of him and had even saved his life ! He was the only one you'd saved, right? That made him special, right? He let out a small chirp in response, a little mix of shock and awe to which you awkwardly replied with, “Heeeeey?”

To be fair, you weren’t necessarily versed in talking to merfolk. It wasn’t your job- Well, it kind of was…

But you had context clues! You had diagrams and data to go off on in the lab ! 

This time around, you were too busy ogling the goddamn merperson to call your boss and tell him about a new discovery.

You were, as the kids call it, ‘faking it till you made it’ when you conversed with him.

Honestly, what were you supposed to do with a random attractive siren stranger in your house?! Just kick him out?!

Nah, you'd have to let him stay. After all, you didn't know what tests they did on the other merfolk, but honestly? You didn't want to know.

You just wanted to protect this one. You weren't sure why.

Maybe if you paid any attention the studies by scholars, you would've realized about their charmspeak and how they can lull you into a hazy state of mind...

But to the siren who’d only ever been enamored with you from afar? Only ever gazed at your smile, waiting for a day it could be displayed to him? Only ever hung onto every morsel of speech he could make out from that pretty mouth of yours?

He was hoping you’d let him stay with you… forever.

[eternalsams]

City of Stars ⇴ B.Bradshaw

pairing: bradley bradshaw x gn!reader

warning: tooth rotting fluff

summary: Bradley always hears you humming that same song but can’t put a name on it. It’s 24/7 on his mind and it’s starting to drive him crazy. But without forgetting his new best friend, Google.

words count: 855

a/n: this comes from a discussion I had with @rockchicj4y​ the other day and I couldn’t not write this, so enjoy! (also, Miles Teller was supposed to play Sebastian in La La Land before Ryan Gosling was chosen, I just give you that, you do whatever you want with that info)

masterlist

The first time he heard it was when he came home from work on a Friday night. He was about to greet you like he always did but stopped at the moment he heard you humming the song. The second thing he noticed that day was the delicious smell coming from the kitchen. He silently laid his bag on the floor and took off his shoes. A smirk appeared on his lips when he saw your figure behind the counter. You were meticulously cutting the vegetables for dinner and humming the song that Bradley couldn’t get out of his head for weeks.

He tried to be as quiet as possible and snuck behind you. “What are you doing?” He asked, startling you. “Bradley!” You hit his chest and he simply laughed before pecking your lips. “Hi honey, I’m home.” He whispered in your ear and kissed your forehead. “What are you cooking?” He then asked, looking over your shoulder to see the numerous bowls of ingredients on the counter. You turned around and finished cutting the broccoli. “A risotto, your favorite.” Your boyfriend literally moaned and wrapped his arms around you. “God, I love you.” You giggled and leaned back against his chest. “You should go take a shower before I finish this. And then we can have a movie night, if you want.” You rapidly glanced at him and saw him nod. “Sounds like a great plan.” He kissed your head another time and gently slapped your butt before leaving for the bathroom.

The second time it happened was three days later. He had almost forgotten about it when he heard the familiar melody coming from your lips. You were both laying on your couch, Bradley’s head on your lap while you were running your fingers in his sun bleached locks. You weren’t singing any word so he couldn’t clearly recognize or put a name on the song but he was pretty sure he didn’t know it. It sounded soft and he closed his eyes, enjoying the sound of your voice. That night, he managed to fall asleep still on your lap, lulled by the humming and your fingers in his hair.

The other times he heard you humming, he didn’t ask anything about it, trying to finally put a name on this song he couldn’t get out of his mind. Weeks passed and he still nothing on the mysterious song. He even asked Phoenix and the guys if they’d ever heard you humming but he seemed to be the only one having that privilege. After three weeks without any results, he decided he had to do something more, but still couldn’t ask you. He wanted to find without your help. So, when he heard you humming the song in the shower, he took his phone out of his pocket and asked Google to recognize what you were singing. God, he loved technology! He slightly panicked when he heard the artificial voice telling him it found multiple results and quickly left the bathroom.

What led you to follow your boyfriend into the Hard Deck instead of staying home like you always do on Saturdays. He said he wanted to change your habits, but only for tonight. You found his behavior a little bit weird but sometimes that’s just Bradley, acting weird for no reason. That’s the man you loved. His hand was still in yours when you both reached the counter where you found Penny and you greeted her with warm smiles. Bradley got you your favorite drink and a beer before you saw your friends coming to you. “Who are you and what have you done to the old couple we know?” You heard Jake chuckle and couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “We do go out. Sometimes.” You said and Penny gave you your colorful drink. You thanked her and when you turned to thank Bradley in turn, you couldn’t find him next to you. You frowned and try to look around you to find him. Nothing.

Then you heard it. The piano. Someone (most likely Bradley) unplugged the jukebox and he was now sitting at the piano, his fingers running on the keys. You quickly recognized the song he was playing and was surprised he knew it since you’ve never listened to it with him. Then it hit you. It was 24/7 playing in your head and sometimes you surprised yourself humming it. Bradley must have heard you and guessed you liked the song. You grabbed the drink on the bar and headed towards the piano. Bradley was focused on the keys and didn’t see you sitting down next to him. He only felt you put your head on his shoulder and smiled.

“City of stars, are you shining just for me?” He started singing softly before giving you a knowing look. “City of stars, there’s so much that I can’t see.” You looked up at him and smiled. “Who knows?” He kept singing, the bar had now gone quiet for you. “I felt it from the first embrace I shared with you.”

“That now our dreams may finally come true.”

[mirkwoodshewolf]

A departed farewell; Eddie Munson x reader

*Author's note*

To all out there, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Okay so this one is kinda heavy but after getting reintroduced to the great film known as The Crow, this little fic was born and I wanted to post it up on Halloween night. But there is also some heavy warnings which I will say below, so to the faint of heart or those at are easily triggered, I won't be hurt if you decide to skip this fic. Have a happy Halloween (and if you don't celebrate it, have a good day/afternoon/evening).

Warnings: Eddie's death scene, drug use (not just weed, I'm talking hardcore drugs shown and mentioned here), depression, angst, some fluff, Vamp Eddie(? You decide), death.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@gay-and-ready-to-cry

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

__________________________________________________________

Dustin Henderson and Steve Harrington walked out along the wooded trails all the way to Reefer Rick’s boathouse.  In his hands, Dustin held some wild flowers that he had picked before he had Steve drive him up here.  They stopped before the boathouse and Dustin placed the wild flowers amongst the pile of already decaying flowers that had been placed there throughout the year.

“I still can’t believe it’s been over a year since it happened.” Dustin said weakly.  “He didn’t deserve any of this. And he deserved to have a proper burial. Why did I have to break my damn leg?!”

“You didn’t break it. But you can’t blame yourself for what happened Dustin. You didn’t know Eddie was going to do what he did.”

“I just……I just still can’t believe he’s really gone. He of all people didn’t deserve what he got. I mean the people we lost when all this started, they didn’t get any of the shit that Eddie got. This town—hates him. Still hates him. They really think he did all of this and we can’t change that.”

“It sucks, I’ll admit that. But small minded people can never be changed, no matter how hard we try. At least we know the truth that Eddie Munson went out a hero. A hardcore, metal hero.”

“Have you and Robin tried talking to (Y/n) recently?” asked Dustin.

“Do you really need to ask?”

“Right, dumb question.”

“As her twin brother I know we’re supposed to rag on each other at times, but now I really mean it when I say it. She looks like she’s been through hell, chewed up and then spat back up. She’s not sleeping, she’s barely eating. And what’s worse are the drugs.”

“You mean…..”

“I wish dude, she’s been at the hard stuff. Don’t know where she’s getting it but I’ve seen the syringes and rubber bands. I can’t stand to see her in that much pain. She needs help but everytime I try to talk to her about it she—”

“She was right there with him when he died Steve. Those bats literally held her back just so that she could watch as they devoured him alive. On one hand I don’t blame her for falling like that, hell if I were in her place and I saw Suzie die like that, I’d probably fall that hard too.”

“Don’t you ever say anything like that you little butthead! I don’t ever want you talking about drugs again understand?!”

“On the other hand, she isn’t grieving properly. And that’s on all of us, we were too focused on how we had to move on with the rest of the town after the earthquakes happened that we completely ignored (Y/n)’s feelings. And it’s not just your fault Steve.” Steve shook his head, stroking his fingers through his hair anxiously.

“I’m 12 minutes older than her. I’m her big brother, and—I wasn’t there for her. Not ever since we entered high school. These last couple of years we’ve managed to rebuild our sibling bond but now I……I’m losing her again man.” Tears started to build up in Steve’s eyes.  “I can’t….I can’t lose another person.” He thought back on Max and how he had failed to keep her safe.

She was a sarcastic child who suddenly came in when she and Billy came by but after reading her note, she had admitted to him that he was the big brother she had hoped Billy could’ve been for her, and it all happened ever since he stepped forward to keep them safe when Billy came looking for her.  Sure he got his ass beat but he was willing to keep himself in the line of Billy’s rage and not let any of the kids get a single punch.  Now—now when she needed him most, he failed her.

Dustin looked up to see that Steve had buried his eyes behind his right hand and saw how his shoulders began shaking as he choked on his sobs.  Dustin gave Steve a one armed hug.

“We’ll get her back. We’ll get them both back.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m not. But it’s all that’s going through my mind. And I’m not gonna rest until we finally find a way to kill Vecna and send that son of a bitch straight to hell.”

“You’re a tough kid Henderson, hell of a lot tougher than me.” Steve ruffled his hair then the two of them left Reefer Rick’s boathouse and drove back to town.

*Halloween 1987*

It was Halloween night and unlike in the years before, Hawkins wasn’t celebrating Halloween this year.  There was no yearly town hall Halloween party, no trick-or-treaters going out and about to get candy, not even the high schoolers dared to try and host a party of their own.

At Forest hill trailer park, the crack that had spread from this part of Hawkins had actually driven most of the trailer homeowners to leave Hawkins all together.  Most took their RV’s and fled, while others just packed whatever they could and skipped town or ended up homeless and were currently staying at a shelter on the other side of Hawkins.

A hand suddenly shot up from the cracks and began crawling out from the earth.  Groaning and grunting in agony as he pulled himself out from the red light of the Upside town glowing from beneath the earth.  Once he was free, he lay there on his back exhausted and stared up at the night sky.  The stars shining like diamonds high above the abandoned trailer park.

Suddenly the man heard a meow and when he opened his eyes, a long haired black cat stared down at him with piercing green eyes he could make out from the light of the full moon.

“Loki?” the cat let out a purr as his eyes squinted but then he licked the man’s finger before nuzzling into his hand.  He lifted his hand and stroked through the cat’s long soft fur and asked. “Wha—what happened here?” suddenly something flashed before his eyes.  A flash like seeing the tv suddenly go static after a power outage.  He gripped his forehead before he found himself standing up and walking forward.

He stumbled about, falling a couple of times but as his vision kept flashing he kept standing back up and trudged onward.  He saw himself standing on top of his trailer, shredding on his guitar.  A swarm of bat-like creatures surrounding him and two other people, he then found himself falling down once more but he also saw himself falling, this time off a bike and he had been attacked by one of those bat creatures.

He saw himself stand up wielding a spear as well as a trashcan shield with nails sticking out and he stood up getting into the same position as he saw himself in that vision.  He then saw the girl from before coming toward him calling his name.

“EDDIE! EDDIE!!!”

“(Y/n)?! What are you doing here?! You weren’t supposed to come back!”

“I made a promise Mr. Frodo! A promise! Don’t you leave him Samwise Gamgee. And I don’t mean to, I don’t mean to.” She told him.  He shook his head and found himself saying as he heard himself in his vision say.

“Into the fires of Mount Doom milady?” She nodded and together the two of them stood as the bats swarmed around them before charging head on, the two of them using their trashcan shields to block off the attacks.

He copied his fighting movements of spear and shield, as he saw the girl, (Y/n) use a bottle of hairspray and with a lighter, she had created her own flamethrower to burn any bats that came near her.  He then felt and saw himself being choked by one of the bats and felt himself being pulled to the ground. 

His arms and legs were pulled outward and he saw the bats beginning to feast on his flesh.  He saw and remembered the pain of their teeth piercing his skin and digging out chunk after chunk of flesh.  All the while he could hear (Y/n) screaming out his name as she was forcefully held back by the bats.  Their tails wrapped around her arms, legs, neck and stomach, even as she pulled to free herself, they pulled harder until suddenly they dropped dead.

She crawled over to his bleeding body whimpering out his name and picking him up into his lap.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no baby! Teddy-bear! Don’t you leave me don’t you die like Boromir did!”

“Bad huh?” he choked up.  Soon another voice spoke up, this time a younger man’s voice assured him.

“No, no you’re gonna be fine we just need to get you to a hospital okay?”

“Okay.” He choked up.  Together (Y/n) and the young man tried to pick him up but the pain in his body was too great as he pleaded.

“I-I-I think I just need a second, I need a second, okay?”

“Okay, okay we—we’ll give it to you.” (Y/n) assured him as she rested his head on her lap, stroking through his hair.  He looked up at both (Y/n) and the young man and strained out as blood started coming up his throat.

“I didn’t run away this time right?”

“No. No baby, you-you didn’t run. Though I wish you did. Whatever happened to having no shame in running?” she asked him.

“You both are gonna have to look after those little sheep for me okay?” he told them.

“No! You’re gonna do that yourself!” the young man said but he found himself saying along with his vision.

“No man. Say you’re going to look after them. Say it Henderson.” He saw as the two of them were sobbing over him.  (Y/n) took his left hand and raised it up to her face, the blood along his arm seeping into her hands but she didn’t care.

“I’m gonna….I’m gonna look after them.” Henderson choked out.  He then found himself looking up at (Y/n), only at her even through his hazy vision as he asked her.

“And you…..fair Ravenna.” She choked out a sob.  “Please smile for me…….please.” with as much strength as he could, he managed to move his index finger along her jawline.  She kissed the back of his hand and gave a small, sweet smile.  “Good…..cause I…..think I’m actually going to graduate. I think it’s my year sweetheart—Hen-Henderson. I think it’s finally my year……” he remembered feeling the blood starting to rise in his throat, preventing him from speaking full sentences but he did manage to make one last statement before he fell silent.

“I love you guys.”

“I love you too.” Henderson wept.

“This belongs to you Eddie Munson, and always will.” He felt her hand cup the side of his face, watched as she leaned forward and felt the soft touch of her lips on his bloody ones.  Even with the taste of iron that was now seeping between her lips, she dared not move as she kept the gentle, loving kiss going until she separated from him.

And it was at that moment he had felt himself slip into darkness.

He remembered who he was.  He was Eddie Munson, three-time senior of Hawkins High.  Dungeon Master of the Hellfire club, and the love of his life was (Y/n) Harrington.

Eddie stood up and walked towards a trailer that had somehow miraculously survived the earthquake.  He opened the door and knew that no one was home as the place had been ransacked and just left behind for anyone to have.  Loki followed him inside, racing into the bathroom and hopped on top of the sink.

Eddie stared at himself in the mirror as memories of him and (Y/n) together flashed through his mind.  Them cuddled on her bed when he’d sneak over to her house.  The times they’d both try to cook something only to end up nearly burning the trailer down and his uncle having to stop the flames from spreading cause the two of them would be panicking too much.

Seeing her read all her favorite fantasy books from Tolkien to C.S Lewis and even J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan.  Him hovering over her as she would be sitting on a chair while she read and kissing her neck and face, pleading for attention.  And even though she tried to fight it, giggles would come out from her lips until she ended up succumbing to his will and they’d end up making out, or even going further beyond that.

The love he felt for (Y/n) both filled him with joy and agony.  How could he leave her like that? He knew that she had many people in her life abandon her.  Her parents, her friends, even her own twin brother had left her behind.  He was all she had and he left her.  His anger rose until he snapped and punched the mirror with his bare fist, breaking it in half.

His knuckles bleeding until he saw them heal up in the blink of an eye.  He turned to Loki who merely looked at him and slowly blinked before letting out a throaty meow.  Eddie dug through the cabinets and drawers of the bathroom until he had found some white base makeup and black lipstick.  He dipped his fingers into the white base, rubbed his hands together and covered his face in white makeup.

With the black lipstick he drew down from his eyes what almost resembled tearstains, as well as covered his lips black and even drew a line upward at the corner of his lips.  He stripped out of his torn and bloody clothes and managed to find a skin-tight along-sleeved black shirt, a long leather jacket, black pants and some old black boots.  He donned on the new look before turning over to Loki who raised a paw at him letting out a small meow.

Eddie rubbed Loki’s head before picking him up and walked out of the bathroom.

“I blame myself for wrecking your home Loki. I’ll bet it hasn’t been easy for god knows how long it’s been. But I’m going to make this right.” Loki meowed and as Eddie sat him down, Loki ran out the trailer and he followed the black cat.

At the Henderson household, Dustin had been pretty much kept under his mom’s tight thumb.  He wasn’t allowed anywhere unless it was school and back home.  Hell he was lucky if he was able to even get to visit Max once if not twice a week just to see how she’s doing or if anything had changed (even though nothing had. She had been in her coma for over a year now).

As rain now began to pour down heavily on this Halloween night, he looked at his old Ghostbusters proton pack from three years ago and thought back to simpler times.  He wished that those days would come back, long before the whole Upside down and he and his friends were the four weirdos who loved to play DnD all day and night at each other’s houses.

He heard a gentle rap at the window and when he turned around he saw Loki sitting right outside his window.

“Loki?” he remembered seeing the long-haired black cat over at Forest hill whenever he’d go to visit Eddie.  He opened the window and allowed the drenched cat inside.  “I thought you had gotten caught up when the Upside down opened up, guess (Y/n) was right to name you after the Norse god of mischief.” Loki let out a meow.  “Oh yeah, think you can let me dry you off?” Loki let out a merp (a mix of a meow and a purr) and Dustin left to get a cat-sized towel that his mom uses on their cat whenever he got out.

When Dustin returned with the towel, he gently dried off Loki then allowed the cat to lick himself clean.

“What are you doing all the way over here anyways?” Loki paused and turned to the corner of Dustin’s room and there he saw a figure hidden within the shadows.  Dustin jumped back fearfully and Eddie said.

“You know you gotta learn to shut your windows Dustin Henderson. You never know what freaks lurk in the night.” Dustin narrowed his eyes as he heard the voice.

“I can’t believe it…….Eddie?”

“Nice to see you again butthead.” Dustin took large strides across his room and embraced Eddie, tears falling down his face.  Eddie hugged the young boy back and Dustin looked up at him.

“How did—I mean how is…..I saw you die. How are you alive? Does (Y/n) know? When did you get back? How long have you been alive? What happened?”

“Henderson, you’re rambling like a mad man.” Eddie stopped the young boy’s frantic question asking.

“Sorry.” Dustin said meekly.

“I honestly don’t know how it happened. One moment I was dying in (Y/n)’s arms and next thing I know, I’m crawling out of a gateway from hell. I don’t even know if I’m really alive or not.”

“What do you mean?” Eddie walked over to Loki and stroked down his chest before trailing his finger towards his right paw.  He knew that Loki once had been attacked by another stray cat and his right paw never fully healed, so now anytime someone goes to touch that paw, he’ll bite since he had been declawed by his previous owners.

After Eddie got a nasty bite and Loki went over to sit on Dustin’s dresser now, his tail twitching.

“Eddie what the hell did…..”

“Just watch.” Eddie showed Dustin how the nasty bite wound now began to close up, just like what happened to his knuckles after he had punched the mirror.

“Holy shit.” Dustin muttered.

“But that’s my least concern right now. I need to ask you some questions. How long has it been since that day?”

“It’s been over a year. It’s 1987 now, Halloween. Of course no one really celebrates that holiday here anymore ever since the gates opened and split Hawkins in four ways.”

“I take it we didn’t kill Vecna?”

“Nancy, Steve and Robin definitely laid one on him. But there wasn’t a body after Nancy gave him one last shot to the chest. Will even says he can still feel him, that he is weak but bidding his time.” Eddie looked down grimly.  “We…..also lost Max. I mean we sorta did but she hasn’t woken up yet. And I’m sorry Eddie, I’m really, really sorry. But the town put all of this mess onto you.”

“No surprise there. Last anyone knew of me, I was wanted for Chrissy’s and Patrick’s murders. Once the satanic freak, always the satanic freak.” Eddie plopped down onto Dustin’s bed.

“I’ve tried to get Hooper to work with the government to clear your name but they’re still in the processing phase, which is basically them saying they’ve got too much on their plate right now to deal with this specific request.” Eddie perked his head up.  “Oh yeah, apparently Hooper was alive in a Russian gulag and Joyce brought him back along with Murray the conspiracy maniac.”

“All be damned. One of the only cops in this town I actually liked back from the grave. Guess we have that in common.” There was a brief moment of silence before Dustin said.

“Eddie……” Eddie looked up at Dustin and knew what the kid wanted to say.

“There’s nothing you can say Henderson. What happened, happened. Me being associated with you had nothing to do with my death.” He stood up and walked over to Dustin.  He placed two firm hands on Dustin’s shoulders, looked him square in the eye and continued, “It was a shitshow there’s no question about it. But the fact that you were the first and only one to truly believe I wouldn’t do this besides (Y/n), I couldn’t ask more of a friend. Hell even a little brother. But don’t go getting a big head about it, okay?” Dustin slightly chuckled as tears fell down his face.  He wiped them away and choked out.

“I’ve missed you Eddie.”

“Missed you too yah little shit.” Dustin immediately held onto Eddie as tight as he could.  Eddie rested his head on top of Dustin’s as he patted the young man’s back.

“Eddie, there’s something else you should know.” Eddie separated from the hug and Dustin told him, “It’s about (Y/n). She…..she’s really spiraled ever since you—well you know. And I’m scared she’s going down a path she can’t come back from. It’s more than just shutting herself in or not talking to us. Steve told me she’s been getting into drugs. And I don’t mean the light stuff.”

“And what has Steve done?”

“He’s tried everything. And I know he doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s not just hurting him emotionally. I saw the faint scratch marks on his left cheek. I know she’s not doing it on purpose but…..I’m scared we’ll lose her too if she keeps going down this path.”

“I’ll get the info I need from Harrington. But this meeting never happened, understand Henderson?” Dustin nodded.

“Thank you Eddie. Love you man.”

“Love you too butthead.” With a loud boom of thunder and a bright flash of lighting, Dustin found himself once again alone in his room.

Over at the Harrington’s place, Steve was cleaning himself up in the bathroom.  Once again he and his twin had their daily screaming match of (Y/n)’s wellbeing, this time she had given him a hard punch to the nose and he had finally managed to get the bleeding to stop.

He walked into the kitchen and got out a beer, needing to take the stress out of him.

“Might wanna take something a bit stronger if you wanna take the edge off after a fight, trust me.” Steve jumped back but saw no one there.

“Who’s there?” Steve called out.

“Surely you know, after all this isn’t the first time I’ve snuck into this house.” Steve’s eyes widened and he immediately raced up the stairs and opened up his sister’s room and saw Eddie stroking his hand along (Y/n)’s acoustic guitar which sat at the corner of her room.

“This-this—that’s not possible. How are you—”

“Henderson asked me the same question.”

“Wait you saw Henderson? I swear if you’re one of Vecna’s tricks I swear to god……”

“One way to prove it’s actually me is that back in 81, I snuck in here to be with your sister after she had failed the SAT’s. Poor thing was so devastated she wouldn’t come to school for nearly a week cause it happened to be the time your parents came for their daily check in and she had a screaming match with your old man. So I came here that night and stayed with her. Then you barged right on in and said to me ‘Get out of my house freak! And don’t show your face around here again!’”

“Jesus Christ…..it really is you.”

“Nice to know when it comes to your sister you’re not that clueless anymore Harrington.” Eddie couldn’t help but mock with a smirk.

“If you’re here to mock me for being a horrible brother I already know that Eddie.”

“No, no I didn’t come here to gloat or to mock. Henderson gave me a brief summary on all that happened, but I want to hear your perspective.” He fully turned towards Steve holding up the locket necklace he had given her for a 16th birthday present their junior year.  “What happened to my best girl?” Steve sighed heavily.  He sat down on (Y/n)’s bed and confessed.

“(Y/n) was amess. At first it started off with her barely eating, then it was the constant nightmares of seeing you die over and over again. Then I noticed how she’d end up disappearing at night. I didn’t know where she was going until I caught her sneaking back in and her nose was bleeding. But not in the way where she’d been in a fight, and I didn’t want to believe it but I swear I thought I saw some white powder under her nose. Then it was the injections on her arms, I’ve been trying to get her to get some help but she’s lost it Eddie. Your death seemed to really fuck her mind up.”

“Jesus Christ.” Eddie mumbled solemnly.

“Now I don’t blame you, no way in hell am I blaming you. I just….It just pains me to see my twin sister like this. It’s like I’m feeling her pain like some weird twin telepathy if that shit’s even real. But I can’t stand to see her in that much pain, and for her not to know that she still has people here for her. Hell Henderson was there when you died too, and she’s acting like he wasn’t. You don’t think he’s feeling the same pain as she is?”

“She always did tease that we should’ve just grown a pair and shared custody of the twerp.” Eddie softly chuckled.

“She’s always struggled with depression ever since middle school. Our parents chose to ignore it and kept telling her to get over it or smile more. You’re not depressed, you’re just being dramatic. When she met you, that was probably the first time I’ve ever seen her truly happy.” Steve walked over to an old picture of her and Eddie together at the junior prom.  “Deep down I guess I also grew jealous of just how happy she was around you, and not me. Now I see that it was because of my selfishness that I drove her away. And even when I got our relationship back to the way it was before, I knew she’d put you over me in a heartbeat.”

“Your wrong.” Steve turned to him.

“What do you mean?”

“You remember how we were on Lover’s lake to find that gate where Patrick was killed?” Steve nodded.  “And you remember how you were dragged under the water, and I told you that Wheeler didn’t hesitate to dive in after you?” Steve nodded again.  “She wasn’t the first. In fact, the second you went down, your sister dove in straight after you. Even for not being the best swimmer, she dove straight in after you. She does love you Steve. Like you said, twin telepathy is a serious bond. Now old King Steve, he wouldn’t have dared try to help (Y/n) in her grieving stage. But you’re not him anymore, you’re her twin brother Steve Harrington. The one she always believed was still somewhere deep inside of you.”

Steve scoffed but Eddie came up to him and placed a hand over his chest.

“You’re still trying, still fighting for her. But before you can save her, you have to save yourself. Not just for what happened to me, but for all that happened. That includes Mayfield.” Steve’s eyes slightly widened.  “I’ve seen how you are with her Harrington. Ever since that mall fire, I’ve seen how you’ve come around to check in on her, how you’ve always tried to be there for her at school, and how you’ve been with her since I found out about this Upside down and Vecna shit. How can you even try to help your sister when you’re clearly not ready to forgive yourself?”

Steve couldn’t believe it but Eddie Munson was actually making sense.  Ever since he had been knocked back into reality since all of this began, and ended up forming a bond with the kids who started it all, he’s been trying to be the big brother he naturally was to the kids who began it all.  He knew none of the adults (minus Joyce and Hooper) wouldn’t understand and that the kids needed someone to protect them whenever no one was around.  So he ended up becoming the ‘babysitter’ as he was deemed at first.

And at first it was an annoying title but now, ever since their first big failure, he began to truly understood why he was called that.  He felt a strong need to protect these kids because who else was going to when Joyce had moved, when Nancy decided to try and return to her normal life, who else was there to talk to about all this stuff? Only him.

“She’s been dealing with Daniel Thompson.” Steve told him.

“Daniel. If there’s any drug dealer that should be in jail it’s that prick. At least Rick and I never dealt to pre-teens.” Eddie hissed as he felt his teeth starting to grow a bit sharp before they receded.  “Does he still live in Hawkins?”

“After the earthquake he moved over to the next county about 20 minutes’ drive from here. You know what, screw it.” Steve raced over and grabbed his keys as well as his bat with nails.  “C’mon.” Eddie followed close behind them and Steve started up his BMW and drove out of his driveway and through the storm to get his sister back by any means necessary.

With Eddie’s abilities, they were able to track down exactly where (Y/n) had gone to see Daniel and to Steve, it looked exactly where a drug dealer would live.  A very run down apartment complex in what appeared to be an unsafe part of town.  The rain still pouring down as Steve grabbed his bat.

“So what, you gonna come with and we bust his ass open?” Steve asked.

“This isn’t West side story Harrington. Daniel isn’t one to be messed with especially if he’s using with her. You go in there ready to bust his ass in, he’ll have you shot dead before you can even blink.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“Just follow my lead.” They exited the car and crept towards the fire escape on the side of the building.  Steve then watched in shock as Eddie leapt up and across the railings of the fire escape with ease.

“That would normally scare the shit out of me but I’ve seen freakier shit than that to be surprised.” He climbed up the fire escape until he stood by Eddie as he looked into a darkened room.  He placed his hand along the window and said.

“She’s in there. They’re both high as kites right now.”

“How can you tell?”

“I can smell the burnt spoons and blood inside.”

“Blood? Eddie are you—are you some kind of vampire or something?”

“Or something.” Eddie slowly opened the window and slipped inside like an assassin on a mission.

Once he was inside the room, he saw (Y/n) passed out on the bed while Daniel was up against his headboard staring up into space after getting his high.  Eddie scoffed before letting out a low whistle that seemed to stir them both from their high.  (Y/n) let out a groan and opened her eyes slowly raising her head while Daniel looked on ahead.

“What the…..fuck?” As Eddie continued to whistle, he noticed a lightbulb just hanging above him and trailed his head around it like a dazed man.  He then once again felt his canine teeth grow into fangs as a sudden primal instinct came over him.  He slowly walked towards them then once he got to the bed, he let out a leopard-like roar, baring his fangs which scared Daniel but startled (Y/n).  “JESUS CHRIST MAN!! You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!”

“Are his…..eyes glowing red? Damn his costume is like…..all in.” (Y/n)’s tone was slurred.  Eddie couldn’t believe that this was the woman he had fallen in love with.  She had fallen so far and so fast ever since his death, but he was going to make it right.  But first he had to get her away from Daniel for good.

“Just the morphine yah dumb bitch. This is just some….freak looking for some kicks.” It was then Daniel withdrew his gun out from under his pillow. “Time for you to get out of here psycho. I ain’t got no more stuff, me and the girlie here used it all up.” Eddie withdrew his fangs and his glowing red eyes turned back to his normal dark brown as he pulled up a chair and sat down.  He pressed his palm against the barrel of the gun and dared him.

“Take your shot Thompson. You got me dead flank.”

“You are seriously fucked up.” Daniel said.  (Y/n) laughed in her high as Daniel continued, “Like you really need psycho-therapy help you sick fuck.” It was then Daniel pulled the trigger making Eddie jump back holding his hand in pain.

Daniel stood up and cheered in his victory on a bullseye but after his brief cries of pain, Eddie soon began laughing as he showed them both his hand and he then let out a cheer as the bullet hole healed instantly.  Daniel’s joy soon turned to panic and fear as he muttered.

“Jesus Christ.”

“Jesus Christ. Stop me if you’ve heard this before; Jesus Christ walks into a hotel.” Daniel shot Eddie in the shoulder which made him lurch backward a bit but he recovered and started walking towards him, continuing with the taunting joke, “He hands the innkeeper three nails and asks,” another shot rang out this time to Eddie’s stomach.

(Y/n) got out from the bed staring at the figure in fear.  At the second gunshot she ended up tripping over the bed sheets trying to get away but for some reason she couldn’t help but stare at the figure before Daniel.

“Don’t you ever fucking die!?” Daniel demanded.

“Can you put me up for the night?” in a flash, Eddie had forced Daniel to point the gun down at his own leg, the gun went off firing straight through Daniel’s femur, blood splattering everywhere.  Daniel cried out in agony, clenching his bleeding thigh between his hands.  “Hurts doesn’t it? When someone takes advantage of your weakness? Imagine what she’s gone through before you coaxed her into your web. In fact I’ll let you feel it.”

Eddie extended his hand and placed it over Daniel’s eyes and with a deep growl, Eddie allowed Daniel to feel every ounce of pain both he and (Y/n) felt on that day.  Daniel let out a scream before he fell still and stiff as a board.

Once Daniel was taken care of, Eddie heard the bathroom door shut.  He dropped the gun and slowly walked toward the bathroom.  He opened it and saw as (Y/n) was waving her arms back and forth meekly holding what appeared to be an old razor.  Her screams of fear piercing the bathroom echoing as she pleaded for her life.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!! STAY AWAY!!” Eddie grabbed both her wrists and got the razor out of her hands.  He pressed her back against his chest as he dragged her towards the mirror, her wailing making his heart ache but he had to fix this.  He had her stand before the mirror, one hand holding out her arm that had been filled with old and new puncture wounds, while his other hand held her across her forehead.

“You once said; What is grief if not love persevering? It is okay to cry and mourn for those we lost,” she then saw as the veins in her arm suddenly began to move and she felt the morphine slip down her arm.  “Drugs however is not the way to grieve.” (Y/n) soon felt her mind starting to clear up and when she turned to the man, she swore she was seeing Eddie looking at her.  He cupped her face between his hands and he said to her, “your brother is outside willing and ready to help you.”

(Y/n)’s lip trembled as tears poured down her face and she fell to her knees as she wept hysterically.

“Harrington!” Eddie called out and soon enough Steve came in and immediately he knelt down beside (Y/n) and held her in his arms.  Even as she felt him drenched from the rain, (Y/n) gripped onto her twin brother as tightly as she could all the while weeping out Eddie’s name.  As Steve rocked his little sister back and forth, he looked up at Eddie in sorrow but also gratitude while Eddie looked down at the sibling solemnly.

Eventually (Y/n) passed out from her hysterical sobbing.

Steve had taken his sister to the hospital to help get whatever else could’ve been in her system and she ended up sleeping all throughout the night, all throughout the rest of the next day up until it was nearly sunset.  She stirred away to hear machines beeping and the sound of voices speaking over intercoms.

She looked over and saw Steve along with Dustin talking with one another in a hushed manner.  When Steve noticed (Y/n) waking up, he came over to her saying.

“Sleeping beauty awakes. You okay?”

“A bit.” She said groggily.  “Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital. Had to bring you here to get all that crap out of your body.” (Y/n) leaned up against her pillow shamefully.

“I am so, so sorry Steve. I am so sorry and ashamed of what I did. I know it doesn’t excuse me for my behavior, and I don’t expect you to forgive me. But I…..” Steve stopped her heartbroken confession by hugging his sister as tightly as he could.  “How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you’d never wanted to speak to me again?”

“I was never angry with you for turning to the drugs. I was upset because I was afraid you were losing your way.”

“I did lose my way Steve.”

“But you found it again. And I swear, I’m gonna be there for you every step of the way. No matter what it takes to help you get back on your feet.” The Harrington siblings smiled at each other softly as they embraced one another as (Y/n) said.

“Thank you Steve. You really are the best big brother.” After a few visits from the kids, as well as the older members of Hellfire, (Y/n) would soon be on her way to recovery.  After speaking with her doctor, he prescribed that she would need to go up to Indianapolis to their rehab center where she would get the coaching and help that I needed.

She and Steve signed a few forms and it was settled that after a couple of more days here for observation, she would take the first bus up to the capital for her rehab treatment.

Later that night as the hospital had closed down their offices to visitors and the night shift staff were doing their rounds.  (Y/n) lay there on her bed watching the Golden girls on the tv.  She was just about to fall asleep when she felt a cold brush of wind blow across her cheek, she turned and there she saw Eddie’s silhouette appearing from her window until he finally made himself known to her.

“Hello milady.” He greeted her with a warm smile and a gentleman’s bow.

“Eddie?” she softly whispered as her heart meter began to spike.  Eddie raised a finger to his lips softly shushing her as he walked up to her.

“Guess when you say your heartbeats faster everytime I’m in the room, you’re not lying. But it’s best we don’t alert the staff about my presence sweetheart.” He stood at the foot of her bed.

“Is it…..is it really you? Were you there that night? Or am I going crazy again from the drugs?”

“It’s not the after effects of the drugs, nor is this a trick from Vecna. I am here sweetheart.”

“I…….” (Y/n) was speechless.  “I’ve thought over a million, trillion things to say when I’d—” her breathing was shaky as she gasped softly, “How?”

“I had a mission to help three grieving souls who needed my words of wisdom. And you were the last one that needed saving.”

“So you’re…..you’re leaving again?” she asked sadly.

“Sweetheart I’ve heard and now seen just how my death has affected you. But there’s something you must understand. The Eddie Munson you once knew and loved has become someone entirely new. And I can’t let him near you until I’ve figured him out for myself.”

“But I…..I just got you back. Eddie I…..I see it happen every night when I sleep, and everytime when thunder rumbles, I’m back down there with you. Seeing those things rip you apart, not able to free myself or save you. Why must you leave me again?”

Eddie walked closer to her and hovered his upperbody over hers.  He leaned towards her left ear and whispered to her.

“This belongs to you, and always will.” He came back up, cupped the left side of her face.  His dark brown eyes staring down at hers as he leaned in closer to her face and captured her lips with his in a soft, hidden kiss.  (Y/n) raised her hand up and stroked along Eddie’s face with the back of her hand and buried her hand underneath his curls.

As the clock by her bed chimed midnight, Eddie separated from the kiss and took her hand into his.

“Where can I find you again?”

“You know that place between sleep and awake? That place where you still remember dreaming?” he asked her.  She softly nodded, “That’s where I will always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting.” He told her in a soft, loving manner.  His eyes soon glowed red as he told her, “Sleep now meleth nin, sleep.” A feeling of exhaustion came over her as she soon fell asleep.  “Sleep until dawn.”

Eddie placed into her hands her necklace he had taken from her room and rested her hands over her chest.  He gave her one last look, almost as if he were taking a mental picture to keep forever in his mind before he forced himself away from her bedside and with the last chime of the clock, and a wave of the curtain, Eddie Munson disappeared from the hospital.

[seokmthw]

butterfly effect | shen ricky

⇢ pairing: ricky x reader

⇢ warnings: stalker!ricky, angst, horror, thriller, explicit language, depictions of stalking/graphic murder, major character death, gore (no photos), violence, blood, manipulation, literally not a drop of romance

⇢ word count: 9.8k

⇢ synopsis: after deciding to prank text a phone number written on the wall of a diner, your life takes a turn for the worst.

⇢ note: this fic is not for the faint hearted. i do not actually think this is something ricky would do or has done, nor do i condone any of the actions displayed in this fic. please read at your own descretion. this is actually based off of a seventeen fic i wrote years ago, and decided to actually fully develop. the plot is meant to move fast, and show just how quickly someone's life can be ruined by things like this. i'm actually quite proud of how this came out, so i hope those of you that read it enjoy.

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the city of seoul was always bustling at night. streetlights casted a soft orange hue on the sidewalks below them, which allowed people to feel safe as long as they were nowhere near the darkness. the laughs of drunk friends filled the air as they got into their ubers and went home. signs to diners that were open late flickered welcomingly and the smell of greasy burgers and fries was almost hard for anyone to resist after a long night of having fun.

which was exactly why you were sliding into the booth across from gunwook at 1am on a saturday night. the two of you made plans to venture out into the city, opting to let your feet guide you into a club for the two of you to dance and sing your hearts out for the first time in a while. you deserved it; you were busy nonstop through most of the week from both your shitty attempt at online schooling in hopes of getting your master’s degree and working full time at the breakfast diner just a couple blocks down the street from where you lived. 

“i could eat an entire fucking horse right now if i could,” gunwook groaned. he picked up one of the worn plastic menus from the table, his gaze holding a hint of suspicion as his eyes scanned the questionable pictures of food that were fading with time. he was always so dramatic.

your own stomach was churning at the thought of finally being able to stuff your face with food. you had eaten earlier in the day, so there was really no need to eat a second big meal so late at night, but you supposed an evening full of sweating and more physical movement than you’d done in the past month warranted for it. besides, it was impossible not to have your mouth water at the aroma the moment you opened the door with the little tinkle of the bells above it.

you knew what you wanted from the moment gunwook suggested grabbing a bite to eat. chicken tenders and fries with ranch to dip both of them in. it was always what you wanted, really. you were a creature of habit, you didn’t see any issue with that. 

but the boy sitting across from you did, so the moment the waitress went to put in your order with the chefs in the kitchen - who were probably exhausted considering the time of night - he didn’t hesitate to call you out, “you really need to change it up sometimes. you’re going to turn into a chicken tender before it’s over with.”

“i will order chicken tenders every time we go out if i want to, thank you very much,” you poked your tongue out at him in response after taking a rather large sip of your drink, “besides, we both know i end up being sad after ordering something different.”

the night feels cozy and familiar, your heart glad to be spending time with your best friend after a stressful week and your mind relaxed. you even forgot about the opening shift you agreed to take in the morning because happiness was riddling every single cell in your body. you grinned contentedly, wrapping yourself further into your jacket and falling into a pleasant conversation with gunwook.

your food was brought out to you quicker than you thought it would be considering the amount of people filling up the tables in the room. gunwook dug in, grateful for finally being able to get something on his stomach. he had told you he was sure he would wither away to nothing if you guys didn’t scarf down a middle of the night meal, and with a quick roll of your eyes you followed him into the restaurant.

but you had to admit, the hot food on your belly was one of the most satisfying ways you could have ended the night. you wouldn’t ever tell gunwook that though, didn’t want to boost his ego and all. 

while the two of you awaited your checks from the server, you took note of a phone number scrawled in thick black letters on the wall behind the ketchup and mustard bottles. you smiled slyly, pointing at it to show gunwook, “should i text it? for old times’ sake?”

“go for it! i can’t even remember the last time either one of us prank texted someone,” his grin held just as much mischief as yours, his large hands clapping together excitedly as you opened your messages app and started a new conversation.

[you] wanna see a picture of my cock? ;)

this was usually the thing you always texted to people. sometimes you got varied responses and you were hoping that with this one, you could actually get somewhere with it. most of the time people simply just ignored you or said that you were childish and immature. people just didn’t know how to take a joke, in your opinion.

your server finally returned to your table with your checks and within minutes of paying you and gunwook were in his car and on the way back to your apartment complex. the warm air of the night filtered in through the windows and the music shuffling on gunwook’s phone played softly through his speakers, completely unlike the music at the club. 

you nudged gunwook’s arm gently as he pulled into the parking lot, “i had fun tonight, even if you did force me to go out to eat at one in the morning.”

“shut your mouth, you know you wouldn’t have been able to resist the thought of chicken.”

by now you were heading up the stairs to the second floor, stopping just in front of your door with your key already shoved into the lock, “you’re right. my addiction to it is concerning sometimes.”

that earned a laugh loud enough for you to hiss at him to be quiet, “i’ll see you sometime this week?” gunwook questioned. you gave him a nod, “yeah! maybe we can just hang out at my place or yours? have a movie night?”

“sounds good. have fun waking up in four hours.”

“god, don’t remind me.”

with that, gunwook bid you farewell and walked down to his end of the hall with a yawn. you pushed open your door, allowing it to gently close behind you once you stepped inside. you were a little relieved to be in the comfort of your home if you were honest, simply because going out and dancing as much as you did exhausted you more than you thought it would. 

you breezed through your nightly routine of brushing your teeth, washing your face, and changing into your pajamas before you finally crawled into your bed with a content sigh. there was nothing like curling up under your heavy comforter after exerting more physical work than you initially anticipated. your phone buzzed on your side table next to you, and you quickly picked it up to see a text from an unknown number.

[unknown] who the fuck is this?

[you] your mom LOL

[unknown] if you know what’s good for you, i would stop texting.

feisty one, this one was.

[you] it was just a joke, lighten up

[unknown] if you want to play games with me then so be it. i promise you that you will lose.

[you] what is that supposed to mean?

[unknown] you’ll find out eventually.

[you] is that a threat?

[unknown] maybe, maybe not. it depends on how well you play the games and if the decisions you make are beneficial to you or not. calling the cops will only make things worse. i hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.

opening up your phone app, you quickly typed in gunwook’s number, hoping he would pick up. after the second ring, you heard his voice on the other end of the line, “why are you still awake?”

“hello to you too,” you joked, “i just wanted to update you on what this person i prank texted sent to me. they’re like, really pissed.” you couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, screenshotting the messages and sending them to gunwook so he could see for himself.

he was silent for quite some time, before finally clearing his throat and saying, “they seem serious, y/n. i wouldn’t reply to them again if i were you.”

“this isn’t the first time someone has threatened me, you know,” you teased, your smile still never faltering despite gunwook’s concern for you. he was being dramatic as ever, but you expected nothing less from him in a situation like this. 

“don’t do something to get yourself arrested, yeah? i do not have the money to bail your dumbass out of jail.”

you laughed at his response, “yeah yeah, don’t worry mom, i know what i’m doing.” with that, you said your goodbyes and hung up for the night, throwing your phone on the charger and nuzzling yourself down into your blankets with a tired sigh.

you decided not to take that person’s messages to heart; surely it was just someone who was trying to mess with you right back. this wasn’t the first time people threatened you with things and it definitely wouldn’t be the last.

if only you had known what kind of trouble this would cause you.

the harsh sounds of your alarm clock painfully reminding you that you needed to go to work was not how you wanted to start off your morning, but here you were; head pounding, makeup smeared underneath of your eyes, and your body unbelievably sore. it’s what you deserved, you supposed, it was your fault for staying out with gunwook so late. 

you waited until the last possible minute to get ready for work and head out the door, apron messy and hair lucky to have even been brushed through. you were fortunate to have a ten minute drive at most, so your commute to and from was a lot easier than other jobs you’d had in the past. however, you horribly regretted agreeing to the 7am shift because you truly felt as if you were dying a little bit inside. 

you let out an audible groan upon seeing the amount of cars in the parking lot of the breakfast diner. if you were being honest with yourself, you probably should have just made some excuse and called in, but you also needed to pay your bills so it really wasn’t an option unless you were in dire circumstances. you trudged inside through the back door, quickly clocking in and at least appreciating the aroma of pancakes and coffee. 

“good morning, sunshine!” one of the only co-workers you could stand, taerae, chimed, his bright smile complimenting his chipper mood. 

“morning,” you half-heartedly responded, giving him a tired smile to attempt and make up for it. 

there was a slight pout on taerae’s lips, “what’s got you all grumpy this morning?” he poked your arm playfully, this time earning a more genuine smile from you. 

“a miserable hangover and the worst body aches known to man,” you laughed, mirroring the boy in shoving your apron with straws and napkins for the tables you’d be waiting on in a moment, “gunwook somehow managed to keep me out until one in the morning.”

“let’s get this day going, yeah?” it’ll be over before we know it,” taerae nudged your arm playfully, “you get off at 3, right?”

“yep.”

taerae just beamed at you, his mood never faltering despite your short responses, “if you want, you can come over to my place after our shift and we can hang out and watch tv or something.”

“as tempting as that sounds, i think i’ll just go home and take a nap,” you gave taerae an apologetic look, though he took it well and reassured you that he understood. 

your day drug on longer than most, and you absolutely hated it.

you weren’t sure if it was due to the exhaustion consuming your entire body and you were desperate to go home, or if it was that after the morning rush, the restaurant seemed to be dead. nonetheless, it had been awful and you wanted nothing more than to just curl up in your bed and sleep for twelve hours straight. 

throughout your shift, you’d managed to spill syrup on your shirt - which was white, by the way - and also dropped an entire platter of eggs for a huge party of people who’d come in after morning church. you hadn’t had such an off day since you first started a couple of years ago, so your entire groove being unbalanced only worsened your mood. by the time three o’clock had rolled around, you couldn’t be happier to clock out and bolt to your car with taerae by your side. 

you waved goodbye to your friend and plopped down into the driver’s seat of your car, letting out a long, much needed breath. you were glad to finally be off your feet for the first time since your break earlier in the day. once you pulled into your parking spot, you decided to park your car and relish in the air conditioning for a little while longer. 

you felt your phone buzz in your pocket, and upon pulling it out and glancing at your screen, you were greeted with a text from gunwook begging you to play video games with him and a text from the unknown number you had pranked last night. you blinked slowly upon taking in what was said.

[unknown] looks like you had a rough day. you’re definitely messy.

a shiver ran down your spine, causing goosebumps to rise up on your arms. you quickly typed up a response, which soon turned into more than unpleasant conversation.

[you] haha, very funny. you’re not as intimidating as you think you are.

[unknown] hm, is that so?

[unknown] you drive a small white car and you live in the same apartment complex as your best friend.

[unknown] am i scaring you know?

[you] you’re wrong, lol. you don’t even know me.

[unknown] if i’m so wrong, how come i can see you sitting in your car?

[unknown] you look stunning from afar, i can’t wait to see you up close.

your eyes widened, mind frantic as you looked around in hopes of spotting someone unfamiliar, but you saw absolutely nobody. the vehicles surrounding yours were vacant and there was only your neighbor outside walking their dog, and you knew for a fact it wasn’t them texting you because you hadn’t seen them pull out their phone the entire time they had been outside. you shook your head, finally finding it in you to give the person another response. 

[you] why are you doing this to me? just leave me alone.

[you] i won’t hesitate to call the cops.

[unknown] i wouldn’t do that if i were you.

[unknown] trust me, it won’t work. 

[you] lmao okay.

[unknown] what, you don’t believe me?

[you] not really.

[unknown] what if i told you that if you even attempt to call the cops, or tell anyone else for that matter, that your friend gunwook might be in a lot of trouble?

as much as you tried to suppress your anxiety over the entire situation, you couldn’t help but let it entirely consume you as you shakily dialed gunwook’s number, hoping to god he would pick up the phone. thankfully he did, though you were greeted with a yell of frustration, “damn it!”

“are you okay?” you frantically asked, fearing the absolute worst was happening to him. however, gunwook simply laughed, and you could hear the sounds of fornite and intense key smashing in the background, “that’s what you get, dumbass! i could out shoot you anyday.”

“gunwook,” you practically demanded, ripping him out of his trance from his game. he let out an annoyed sigh, “you got me killed, y/n! this is the most kills i’ve ever gotten in my life!”

you couldn’t keep the tremor out of your voice as you spoke, “gunwook, i need you to listen to me.”

“woah, what’s with the serious tone?” you hoped gunwook was finally taking the hint because you felt like you were going a little crazy. now was definitely not the time for his usual antics.

you sighed, looking around the parking lot once more before answering in a hushed voice, “listen, i’ll explain later, but i need you to lock your door and every single window in your apartment. then i need you to hide somewhere you can’t be found, okay?”

“y/n i don’t under-”

“just do it, gunwook.”

you could imagine him putting his hands up in defense at your words, “okay, jeez. why are you acting so weird?”

you could feel your heart beating out of your chest as you took your car key out of the ignition and slowly exited the cab, making sure to take in every movement and every person you were able to see within your line of vision. you sighed, “i told you i’ll tell you everything soon, okay?”

you were met with silence on the other end, which caused your heart to drop into your stomach. quietly, you whispered, “please tell me you’re still alive.”

“i’m trying to hide like you told me to,” gunwook grunted, and you could hear rustling in the background of the call. at least he was listening, it was way better than him arguing with you and not listening because you had no explanation, “you’re not doing this just to make me look stupid, are you?” you couldn’t help but chuckle at his honest question, answering, “no.”

by now, you were inside of your apartment complex, hurriedly climbing the stairs to the second floor and rushing into your apartment, hastily locking the door and looking around to see if anything was tampered with or off. thankfully, everything seemed to be okay, and while you let out a sigh of relief, you knew it wouldn’t last for long.

“seriously, y/n, what’s up with you?”

you locked yourself in your bathroom, leaning your back up against the door with a sigh. it was difficult finding the right words to even say, let alone tell him he was in danger with someone you didn’t even know the name of. finally, you parted your lips to speak, voice still hushed despite no longer being outside, “i think i’m being stalked, and i’m being threatened with harm coming to you because of it.”

there was radio silence on his end for a moment; surely he was freaking out, hell, you were too, and you knew that this entire situation was scary. relief washed over you upon hearing his voice, knowing he was okay, “is it from the same number you texted last night? there’s no way someone is stalking you after a silly little prank text. besides, it's only been a day.”

“i-i can show you the texts, they’re dead serious i think. they know where i live, where i work, and what color car i drive, your name,” your voice was beginning to tremble, panic settling in now, “i don’t know what to do, and i don’t want any harm to come to you either.”

“we’ll stay on the phone the rest of the night then, okay? they’re less likely to strike if you have someone on the other line.”

“i’m so sorry you have to deal with all of this and that i’m the reason you’re involved,” you felt a tear race down your cheek, eyes closing as you took a deep breath to keep yourself from bursting into a full on sob, "i should have never sent that text."

“it’s not like you asked for this. besides, even if i wasn’t involved, i would make sure i was because there’s no way i’ll let you go through something like this alone,” the sincerity in his voice was enough to make you feel slightly better. the boy chuckled softly, “since we’re staying on the phone, is it okay if i come out of my closet? it’s not very gunwook friendly.”

you nodded, though you remembered he couldn’t see you, and finally you replied, “yeah, that’s totally fine.”

there was some rustling on his end once more, and once it stopped, you assumed he had finally made it out. however, upon getting no response from him when you asked a question, you pulled your phone away from your ear to take a quick glance at your screen, only to be met with your call log instead of gunwook’s name taking up most of the display. you swore you could feel your heart fall to your stomach, fingers hurriedly moving to try and call him back, but it rang until it went to voicemail.

“no! no no no,” you chanted, flinging open the bathroom door and beginning to head toward your entryway. 

your phone pinged, letting you know you were receiving text messages, which you assumed were from the person causing your most recent slew of events. 

[unknown] big mistake on your part.

[unknown] i told you not to say anything to anyone.

[unknown] you fucked up, y/n.

[unknown] your actions have consequences.

[unknown] my game, my rules.

[unknown] he’s not dead this time. 

you shook your head in disbelief, sprinting through your front door and down the hallway, only to be greeted with gunwook’s door slightly agape and the sounds of his muffled groans resonating from somewhere within his apartment. you rushed in, desperately searching for him, calling out, “gunwook?”

“in here,” he grumbled, and you followed the sound of his voice until you found him in the fetal position on his bedroom floor, hands clutching his stomach and eyes screwed shut in a futile attempt to cope with whatever pain he was feeling. 

you were on the carpet next to him in an instant, taking note of a thin stream of blood trickling from his nose and a deep, purple bruise already beginning to form just beneath his eye. you let your tears freely fall. gunwook was like this because of you. sparing him an apologetic look, you quietly whispered, “i’m going to check and make sure they aren’t here.”

“he and whoever was with him are gone,” gunwook replied, “they both left a few minutes before you came in. they also wanted me to tell you his name was ricky."

upon hearing gunwook’s words, you pulled a napkin out of your apron, leaning forward to wipe some of the blood from beneath his nose. he winced a little, but allowed you to continue, tears still blurring your vision at the sight of him like this. the both of you fell into silence; you wanted to give him a chance to recoup from everything that had occurred and not overwork himself too much. 

after a few more minutes, and helping him sit up straight, you eventually mumbled, “i’m so sorry, wookie.”

“don’t worry about it,” he chuckled, gingerly touching the area around his eye, “maybe now things will stop.”

you huffed in annoyance, averting your gaze from his gentle one, “i just don’t understand why he felt the need to do this to you because of me.”

by this point, your mind was reeling. why would someone get so upset over a silly little text? to the point of following you, tormenting you, and bringing harm to the people around you that you care about? it made absolutely no sense to you. 

it almost felt as if whoever was taunting you did things like this frequently. you were beginning to feel hopeless, as if there was no way out of this. it hadn’t even been a full day since you sent the first text and things had already escalated to violence and blatant stalking.

your phone dinged with another text message, jolting you out of your thoughts and causing gunwook’s eyes to widen in fear. you pulled it from your back pocket, reading the message aloud so gunwook could know what it said too.

[unknown] let this be a lesson. you’re not out of the woods yet, nor do i think i want you to be. here’s a hint as we continue to play our little game: make good decisions, face less consequences.

gunwook shook his head in disbelief, “why is he doing this? what is he even gaining?”

“i don’t know, but i’m already tired of it,’ you answered, a deep frown forming on your lips as you shoved your phone back into your pocket. 

“i guess we’re gonna have to find out.”

a few days had passed since your ricky had made his appearance into gunwook’s apartment, and the same amount of time since receiving any kind of text from him. you weren’t sure if that was because you and gunwook stayed attached at the hip for the entirety of that time, or if it was because he was truly done messing with your head, but you were glad to have been able to feel some sort of relief. you hardly slept, but you managed to make it through your shifts at the breakfast diner without any issues somehow. 

taerae had checked up on you a couple of times, taking note of how exhausted you were and the dark circles that had made their new home beneath your eyes. you decided to play it safe, just telling him you’d had issues with your neighbors keeping you up all hours of the night. the last thing you needed was for him to get involved in the situation, too.

soon, you were clocking out after your third shift since ricky’s attack, a tired sigh slipping past your lips. you waved goodbye to taerae, letting him know that you would see him once more tomorrow morning, which was going to be one of the busiest days of the week for the two of you. despite him asking you to hang out at his house, you’d managed to get out some excuse so you didn’t expand ricky’s knowledge of your whereabouts and bring another innocent person into the entire situation.

you walked through the back door to the parking lot, greeted by gunwook’s idling car as he’d waited for your shift to end. you clambered into the passenger seat, shoulders slumping and a wave of defeat overcoming you. he rested his hand on your knee, squeezing gently before he began to drive to your apartment complex, his music playing softly in the background.

he was the first one to break the silence, stating, “i did some research to see if i could find anything on ricky.”

“you what?” you shot up, eyes wide in disbelief, “gunwook, that is so dangerous.”

a slight pout made his way into his expression, “i’m just sick of seeing you like this, and i want to put an end to it.”

“you don’t have to put yourself in danger because of me.”

“i would do anything for you, you know that,” you could feel your gaze soften at his words, “besides, we’re in this together now. something has to give eventually.”

you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth, picking absentmindedly at the skin, curiosity eventually getting the best of you, “did you find anything?”

“i found an article saying he’s wanted for breaking and entering,” gunwook answered, “but that was it. i think it said he was twenty three or something like that? i honestly don’t know, but he’s notorious for this apparently.”

you were quick to pull your phone from your pocket, quickly looking for the article gunwook had mentioned. the headline was written in bold, black letters, a photo of him accompanying it just underneath. you felt terrified finally being able to put a face to the name. 

he was handsome, though you hated to admit that. dark, black hair was parted in the middle, his kind eyes deceiving to the person he actually was. he was almost cat-like, features slender and a slight smile twinging on his lips. you felt your stomach begin to churn uneasily.

angrily, you opened up your messages app, deciding to finally give ricky a taste of his own sick, twisted medicine.

[you] what you did on sunday was fucked up.

[unknown] gunwook is still alive, isn’t he?

[you] yeah, with a couple of broken ribs to make up for it.

[you] you’re sick, you know that?

[you] i’m tired of playing this game, ricky.

[unknown] oh, but darling, the fun has only just begun.

[you] what is that supposed to mean?

[unknown] i’ve already told you that your actions have consequences. for lack of better words, i get to control your life now.

[you] please, just leave me alone.

[you] gunwook too, he’s done absolutely nothing wrong. he wasn’t the one who texted you in the first place.

[unknown] it doesn’t matter, being able to use him as a pawn makes this all the more fun.

[unknown] i get to use him against you.

[you] that’s not fair, none of this is fucking fair.

[you] there’s an article i read about you.

[you] i’m going to find you and turn you in, mark my fucking words.

[unknown] okay.

[unknown] whatever it is you do, you will suffer, one way or another.

[unknown] i have ways to get under your skin, y/n, and i’m not afraid to exhaust all my options.

[unknown] threatening me will get you nowhere.

[you] we’ll see about that.

by now, gunwook had pulled into his parking spot and was reading over your shoulder, his mouth agape at the conversation that had just unfolded right in front of his eyes. you met your gaze with his, determination filling you up, “we’re not going to let him win.”

gunwook swallowed, adam’s apple bobbing in his throat before he nodded - albeit, wearily - and you could tell he was beginning to trust your entire thought process. that’s really all you needed; his support and willingness to bring ricky down with you, though you knew you didn’t have to try hard to convince him otherwise. the two of you headed into your building, trudging up the stairs and into your apartment, ensuring every single lock was enabled on the door.

the next two days went by rather smoothly, the two of you doing research on self-defense and many other things pertaining to your current situation. you were finally able to get a few hours of sleep, which was a lot more than you’d been able to get the entire week, so you couldn’t help but feel a little grateful. 

things had gone smoothly, once again not hearing anything from ricky and feeling a false sense of security beginning to blanket over you, though you knew better than to let your guard down until you knew for sure everything was truly over. 

you’d spent your nights sharing a bed with gunwook, entangled in one another’s arms in hopes of providing some sort of comfort. it also let you both know you were still there, still breathing, and still by each other’s side. despite your newfound confidence of being able to take ricky down, you couldn’t help but still feel the lingering fear in the back of your mind.

there was always a chance things could go horribly wrong.

you were now at work, your exhaustion for more evident now than it had been earlier in the week. taerae was quick to notice, finally telling you, “no offense, y/n, but you look awful.”

his sudden appearance behind you caused you to jump in surprise, the bag of coffee grounds in your hand tumbling down to the ground with a soft thud, its contents spilling out onto the floor. you groaned to yourself, burying your hands in your face in an attempt to hide any tears that ight have involuntarily dripped onto your cheeks.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to scare you,” taerae apologized, crouching to the ground alongside you, “here, let me help.”

the two of you worked together to get them cleaned up off of the floor, discarding everything into one of the trash cans once you were finished. you gave him a solemn look, finally answering his first statement, “it just hasn’t been a good week, is all.”

“do you wanna talk about it? i’m all ears,” he offered, patting your shoulder in reassurance. 

your eyes flitted up to meet with his, concern dancing in his dark irises, and you felt a plethora of different emotions. on one hand, you wanted to be able to rant about it to someone other than gunwook to try and get an unbiased point of view, but on the other, you didn’t want to put his life in danger either. 

you sighed defeatedly, “do you promise not to tell anyone? it’s kind of a big deal.”

“of course not, anything you say is safe with me.”

with a hushed voice and eyes soaking up every inch of your surroundings, you began to recount the week’s past events to taerae, sparing no details whatsoever. you showed him the initial prank text and allowed him to read everything afterward, filling him on the attack on gunwook, the article, everything. 

you eventually pulled up ricky’s photo upon taerae’s request, and his eyes widened with fear, “this is some serious shit, y/n, you need to call the cops.”

“i can’t, and i won’t,” was your automatic response, “he’s threatened me multiple times to bring worse harm to gunwook and i’m sure he’ll somehow find out that i’ve told you all of this somehow and hold it against me,” you added.

taerae frowned at your reply, “i’ll help you out in any way i can, alright?”

he pulled you into a tight hug, and you couldn’t help but feel a little bit better knowing you had someone else on your side to help you get to the root of your problems. it almost felt as if a weight had been lifted off your shoulders.

taerae’s signature catchphrase was the next thing to come from his mouth, “let’s get this day started, yeah?” giving your frame one final squeeze before you dove into your work of waiting tables and sending orders to the back.

the day had gone by a lot better than you expected it to despite fearing anything could happen to you or gunwook, and now taerae, at any given moment. you didn’t mess up any of your orders and gunwook had periodically texted you to inform you of what he was doing and to check in overall with you.

for once, you didn’t feel on edge. that is, until the man who had been causing you severe mental turmoil had walked through the front door, the little bell signaling his arrival. 

you felt a lump rise uncomfortably in your throat, blood running cold at the sight of him. you hadn’t expected him to blatantly show his face to you like this, but you supposed this was karma for even saying a single word to taerae about the entire situation. 

you accidentally made eye contact with him, his piercing eyes and slender figure looking more intimidating in person than in the photo you’d seen of him. luckily, another one of your co-workers seated him somewhere that wasn’t in your realm of tables. you quickly ran to the back hands trembling as you reached out for taerae, who was surprised by your sudden panic.

“he’s here,” you barely managed to squeak out, “i’m kind of freaking out.”

“do you want me to call the police? if he’s wanted, anyone could, and if i do it the it can’t be traced back to you,” he inquired, appearing to be in the same state of shock as you. 

you nodded, shoving the diner’s phone in his direction, “please hurry, he saw me.”

the string of events following afterward felt like a blur; the wailing of the police sirens, the officers putting ricky in handcuffs, and gunwook having rushed directly to the diner to comfort you. his arms wrapped tightly around you, his chin resting on top of your head as you cried into his chest, mumbling into your hair softly, “it’s over, y/n. it’s finally over.”

the day of ricky’s arrest, you were finally able to sleep without the fear of anything happening to you, gunwook, or taerae. however, you still remained glued to gunwook’s side for the following couple of weeks. you weren’t sure if it was lingering paranoia, or if it was that something inside of you still believed that ricky would be able to contact you from jail. 

you tried to suppress those thoughts, though it didn’t work for long, because the moment you plopped down onto the couch next to your best friend to eat your dinner, the news flashed a headline that made you almost drop everything from your hands entirely.

man found not guilty at trial for breaking and entering into various homes.

and there, displayed right behind the thick words, was the same photo of ricky you’d had nightmares about. your jaw fell slack in shock, gunwook mumbling beside you, “what the fuck?”

“shh,” you waved your hand to prevent him from talking any further, “let’s listen and see what it says.”

“this is sung hanbin, reporting to you live with an update of a story we covered previously. a man under the name of shen ricky was suspected several weeks ago for breaking and entering into various different homes, and police believed it to be the man you see here on screen.

however, we have been informed that this is not the case.

the man you see here proved himself innocent at his trial on monday by presenting the court with evidence of his birth certificate and driver’s license. we have learned that this man’s name is kim jiwoong, not shen ricky.

he was arrested at the wake up cafe in the heart of seoul. police are still on the hunt for shen ricky, so if you have any leads, you can anonymously leave them at the number running along the bottom of the screen. there is no accurate picture of him at this time.

kim jiwoong has been released from the custody of authorities. we’ll keep you updated when we find out anymore information, but as of right now, this is all we have.

once again, this was sung hanbin with your local news. let’s head over to seok matthew for the weather forecast of the week.”

the moment the weather came on, you and gunwook shared a look of sheer panic, completely frozen with no inkling of what you should do. as if on a cue, your phone lit up with a string of text messages from your stalker. 

[unknown] did you really think you could get away with this, y/n?

[unknown] this is going to have some major consequences.

[unknown] i can only imagine how your pathetic little brain convinced you that you were out of the woods, but you could not have been more wrong.

[you] why won’t you just leave me alone? haven’t you done enough damage?

[you] you’ve ruined my life.

[unknown] that was the whole point of this, darling.

[unknown] i’m hoping to teach you the lesson to never, ever prank text phone numbers again.

[you] i think i’ve learned that lesson, please, just stop.

[unknown] not yet.

[unknown] you haven’t even come close to learning your lesson.

[unknown] but you will, soon. trust me.

[you] i’m sorry, okay? is that what you wanted to hear?

[unknown] sorry won’t fix this.

you locked your phone and threw it across the room, the object clattering onto the floor. you couldn’t help but silently hope that it was broken and ricky could no longer contact you. tears welled up in your eyes - you knew your peace was too good to be true, that something was bound to go horribly wrong, but you never once thought it would be this.

you found it hard to breathe, finally locking your eyes with gunwook, voice cracking as you told him, “this is what i imagine living in hell feels like.”

he pulled you into a hug, desperate to hold you as tight as possible, and make sure you were close to him, “we’re gonna get through this, okay? don’t you worry.”

“how can you be so sure?”

“i’m not, but we have to believe it in order to survive, okay? we don’t know what this man is fully capable of, so we need to brace ourselves,” was his answer, and all you could do was nod. 

gunwook fell silent for a moment, deep in thought as he rubbed your back gently, a sniffles able to be heard from him as he did so, “let’s get out of town.”

you pulled away from his embrace, flashing him a sad, defeated smile, “i don’t think that’s going to work.”

“why wouldn’t it? we could get a rental car or something so he can’t trace us. it’s worth a shot.”

you were hesitant for a moment, worried that there would even larger consequences for this, but finally said, “fine, let’s do it.”

after your discussion, you packed a suitcase full of things for your journey, hoping to god you were bringing everything essential. you knew there was no returning to this place once you did, so you needed to make sure anything sentimental was stored away in between your clothes and hygiene products. 

the tension in the air was thick, so much so you could almost cut it with a knife. you were risking your lives for this, for an escape into the freedom from this nightmare you’d been longing for the moment it started. 

you zipped the suitcase shut, hands visibly shaking as you did so, and once you were finished you looked at gunwook and said, “let’s get your things and book it.”

you ventured to gunwook’s apartment, deciding to stick together through it all. you couldn’t jeopardize a single thing; you knew that somehow, every move you made was being watched like a hawk. gunwook made a beeline for the bathroom, you following closely behind, and keeping an eye out as he rummaged through the cupboard beneath his sink. 

as he began to rise to his feet, rustling was able to be seen behind the shower curtain. you parted your lips, desperate to spit the words out sitting on the tip of your tongue, “gunwook, watch out!”

but you were too late, because in one swift motion, the curtain was thrown back and a baseball bat was swinging down with a sickening crack to the back of his head. the recoil echoed against the walls, the sounds of bone crushing being enough to make you feel as if you could vomit at any given moment. 

you watched in horror as gunwook’s body crumpled to the cold tile floor, a labored wheeze erupting from him. thick, crimson blood that reeked of copper pooled around the back of his head, tears slipping out of the corners of his eyes as he looked up at you through them, bottom lip quivering. 

you were next to him in an instant, attempting to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. it was hard to ignore the way his skull felt like rice krispie treats in your hand, or how his erratic breathing was becoming the more he realized what was happening. you weren’t sure how you managed to get any words out of your mouth as you said, “i need you to stay with me, wookie, please.”

it was almost as if the world around you was completely gone, and in this moment, it was just you and gunwook as you held him, watching as he took his very last breath. a mangled cry ripped from your lungs, your hands trying like crazy to get him to say something, anything, but it was no use. 

he was gone. 

“i’m so sorry,” you wailed, “i’m so fucking sorry, gunwook. you did nothing to deserve this.”

you sniffled, brushing his hair out of his eyes to get a better look at his face, which held an almost peaceful expression. warmth radiated against your back, hot breath fanning against your ear, goosebumps arising on your skin as he spoke, “it’s not what he did, it’s what you did. i told you that there would be major consequences, didn’t i?”

his fingers trailed up and down your arm, “you just don’t know how to keep that stupid little mouth of yours shut, do you?”

“get the fuck away from me,” you growled, voice coming out a lot stronger than you had anticipated, “now.”

“getting all tough, are you?” he backed away slowly, hands mockingly up in the air, and you took this as your opportunity to turn and look at the man behind you. 

blonde hair was sitting atop his head, slicked back in an almost elegant way, forehead glistening with sweat. he had plump, dark pink lips curled up into a sinister grin, and blood was splattered across the expanse of his face. gunwook’s blood. a shiver raced down your spine at the sight of him, entirely too terrified to act on any thought of harming him that came to your brain. 

the sounds of sirens blaring on the street below carried into the small bathroom you were currently inhabiting, which alerted ricky that it was his time to go. he stepped behind you once more, his chin resting on your shoulder as he murmured, “if you know what’s good for you, he slipped and hit his head.”

and with that, he pushed past you, slinking away before you could fully see which direction he went and how he managed to escape the apartment. within mere seconds, police officers, firefighters, and emts were questioning you, asking how this had happened and for how long he’d been unconcious. everything was a blur and you honestly didn’t remember most of your encounters with the emergency personnel, but you knew one thing for certain. you didn’t fight back this time.

you gave in the shen ricky. 

the next few weeks were arguably the worst of your life. you had to bury your best friend, work double after double, and barely got any sleep. the lie of gunwook suffering a freak accident kept slipping through your teeth, and you felt an unexplainable amount of self hatred for it. 

but you knew gunwook would have encouraged you to.

you were determined now more than ever to take down ricky, no matter what it took, which was why you were currently sat down with taerae in his living room spilling your guts, completely unafraid of what consequences might come to you because of it. the look of bewilderment and shock on his face was hard to miss as he stated, “you need to tell the police the truth.”

“you know i can’t, taerae,” was your immediate response, followed by a sigh, “i wish i could, but i want to try and take him down myself. it started with him and i, so it should end with him and i.”

taerae looked at you inquisitively, a deep frown settling in on his lips, “i’m not sure that’s a good idea. i mean, what if he kills you too?”

“that’s the price i’m willing to pay if it means i at least attempt to get justice for gunwook.”

taerae fell completely silent, as if entranced by his thoughts. his expression was difficult for you to read and if you were being honest with yourself, you didn’t really have the mental capacity to try and decipher his emotions. 

you were just about to retreat back to your own apartment before taerae’s words stopped you dead in your tracks, “i’ll help you.”

“really?” you questioned, brows furrowing, “are you sure? i don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“no, no, i want to,” he retorted, “gunwook was my friend too and i want to make sure he’s avenged as well. we can do this, yeah?”

with that, you and taerae had planned for weeks on how you were going to lure ricky in and try to get the upper hand on him. you knew the plan was becoming more and more well-developed, and soon, you were feeling confident that it would work, that you had a chance. taerae was quite clever, you had learned, and had come up with things you would have never even thought of on your own. 

you were beyond grateful for him, especially since he was distracting you from the giant, gaping hole in your heart that was missing gunwook. you still cried until your lungs gave out, visited his grave as frequently as possible, and texted his phone even though you knew you would never get an answer. it just kept feuling you to perfect this plan, to finally catch ricky off guard, to finally put an end to whatever it was he was trying to accomplish.

you hadn’t heard from him in a while, so you suspected that you would need to do some provoking in order to get him back into your life. you were currently working on thinking of something to text him, deciding to head over to taerae’s apartment to ask his opinion on what you currently had drafted.

you knocked on his front door, almost instantly greeted by his bright smile, and stepped into the entryway of his home. you began to speak, eyes flitting down to your phone screen so you could open up your notes app, focus entirely on getting to that. he was oddly quiet today, which you were going to ask him about, but you were too late.

the dark haired boy you’d been spending your time with was holding a cloth to your nose, apologizing as you lost consciousness. 

you slowly peeled your eyes open, greeted by complete darkness, absolutely no source of light able to be found despite your efforts. you were still groggy from whatever sleep you had just awoken from, but soon, you could feel yourself begin to panic. you were sitting straight up in a chair, thick, coarse ropes bound around your wrists and ankles and a blindfold around your eyes. you struggled against them, but to no avail.

everything was starting to flood your mind; telling taerae the truth about gunwook and him being the last person you saw before you slipped into your deep slumber. to say you were beyond angry with him was an understatement. you were honestly enraged, unable to think clearly as you began struggling once more, desperately trying to break free from your spot, but it was no use.

a voice sounded off next to you, “they’re awake, ricky.”

the creaking of a door opening followed by heavy footsteps was able to be heard, and the next thing you knew, ricky was behind you once more, all too familiar of the night he killed gunwook. his warm breath fanned across the side of your face, and you could almost hear the smirk on his face as he inquired, “how are you, sweetheart?”

“what do you think?” you sarcastically remarked.

ricky chuckled lowly, “i know it’s not comfortable, but we can’t risk you escaping, can we?”

slowly, ricky untied your blindfold, letting it plop down on your lap. a harsh, white light greeted you, causing you to squint in a futile attempt to gather your surroundings. the floor was made of concrete and the walls were decorated with many things that you didn’t even want to begin to imagine they were used for.

your heart rate began to quicken at the thought of ricky torturing you with them. you knew what he was capable of and he would likely have no opposition to making your life a living hell - he had definitely done that already, but still.

you finally found the courage to speak again, meeting your gaze with ricky, who was clearly satisfied with the sight of you entirely helpless, “why are you doing this to me?”

“oh darling, don’t get ahead of yourself in thinking your special enough to think you’re our only victim,” the mock sympathy in ricky’s voice made you queasy, “this is taerae and i’s little game, we’ve had countless people like you that we’ve toyed with.”

“you’re sick!” you exclaimed, disgust contorting your facials features into a look of disbelief.

ricky circled around you, slender fingers trailing across your shoulders as he did so. you flinched at the sensation, wanting nothing more than for him to get his hands off of you entirely.

“that’s the whole point, y/n,” taerae piped up from his spot, arms crossed over his chest as he watched his partner torment you with each and every move he made.

“you see,” ricky started, beginning to trace the pads of his fingers up the side of your neck and to your jaw, “we put that phone number on the diner wall to lure people like you in. we’ve been doing this for a little over a year now. it’s quite fun.”

you shuddered at his words, unable to believe that truly evil people like this somehow existed in the world. tears welled up into your eyes, involuntarily dripping down onto your cheeks the more ricky touched you. it was almost as if his touch was poison, and you felt a burning itch on every inch if your skin that he ghosted his fingers over.

the blonde finally stopped, cupping your cheek and catching one of your tears, “you’re the most beautiful one we’ve gotten so far, you know. you should be proud of that.”

your voice was shaky but firm, “yeah, because it’s some prestigious award. got it.”

“you’ve also been the most interesting one,” ricky mused, his head cocked to the side slightly, “you put up quite the fight.”

his words gave you the final push to do what had crossed your mind the moment he stepped in front of you. taking a deep breath, swiftly lifting up your legs and jutting them forward into ricky’s gut, forcing him to buckle over at the impact, a dissatisfied grunt falling from his mouth.

you somehow found the strength to stand up despite still being restrained to the chair beneath you, swinging it around to smack ricky with its legs as he attempted to lunge at you. his voice echoed throughout the room as he yelled, “get them, taerae, don’t just stand there like a dumbass!”

by now you had begun to hop away, desperate to find something, anything that to get the rope at least off of your wrists. There were multiple tools and weapons hung on the walls and scattered about the room, and you were able to set your focus on a knife that you saw sitting on the edge of a table within reach in your current state.

you hopped along as fast as your bound up legs would carry you, but you didn’t reach it in time. instead, taerae had yanked you backward, sending you toppling to the ground with a harsh thud. the wood of the chair had split as you did so, a sharp piece sinking into the flesh of your thigh. you let out a pained yelp, “fuck!”

“i bet that hurts,” taerae snorted, “glad it’s not me.”

you laughed dryly, “you know, i never expected you to be part of whatever this is. i thought you were better than that, taerae.”

the boy frowned, one of his dimples peeking out as he did so, “yeah, well, that’s what you get for letting your guard down so easily. i was able to tell ricky absolutely everything.”

“figures.”

the blonde was now standing next to taerae, anger dancing dangerously in his dark irises. it was hard to miss the knife in his hand, gleaming teasingly at you in the light, “can we just put an end to this?”

“wait!” you cried out, attempting to reason with ricky, “if i’m so interesting, why not let me try and put up a fight of my own?”

ricky cackled loudly, “you won’t win.”

“please, just let me try.”

ricky observed your current state and ultimately decided to nod at taerae, signaling for him to let you free from your restraints. he did as he was told, cutting away the ropes from your hands and feet quickly, soon standing back in the spot he behind ricky was previously occupying.

you got up, gingerly touching where the wood was currently impaled in your leg. you winced at the feeling, deciding to bite the bullet and pull as much out of your flesh as you could. if it was sharp enough to hurt you, then it was certainly sharp enough to hurt ricky.

you finally straightened your posture, gripping onto the wood as tightly as you could. you furrowed your brows in concentration, “let's do this.”

ricky immediately lunged forward, attempting to sink the knife into your shoulder, but you managed to dodge him. you were caught in a cat and mouse game, trying your best to get as much leverage over ricky as you possibly could, but to no avail. all of your attempts would up with a quick slice of the knife on your arms and legs, and you had only managed to get one hit on the blonde with your makeshift weapon.

the more blood you lost, mainly from the injury in your leg, the weaker and less adept you became. it hurt to put much pressure on it, let alone attempt to run from the situation entirely. you supposed that's probably what you should have done from the beginning, but with taerae there to aid ricky in any way, your chances of fully escaping were slim and you knew that.

you were panting, trying like hell to get something on ricky, but instead, he managed to get the upper hand, lurching toward you and finally sinking the blade into your abdomen, your back pressed against the cool tile of the wall behind you. freezing in your place, you found it hard to process what was going on, glancing down at the handle and his skin coated with your blood. this was it, this was the end.

he got impossibly close to you, his lips brushing your ear as he said, “play stupid games, win stupid prizes, love.”

you were beginning to fade in and out of consciousness, sliding down the wall and leaving a streak of thick, crimson blood in your wake. your trembling hands were beginning to steady and you were feeling yourself slip out of touch with reality.

the last thing you could remember was ricky’s evil chuckle and the loom of satisfaction in your eye before your vision blurred and everything went black.

except this time, you wouldn't be waking up.

[discar]

HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network

Chapter 23 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

Zo: Alva, I have questions about your empire's agriculture.

DIVINER: Well, I'm not an agriculturalist or a biologist, but I'll answer what questions I can!

Zo: Do you have land-gods? Machines that tend your fields?

DIVINER: No, we had to learn to do everything ourselves! Much of it was discovered in the labs belonging to Eileen Sasaki, which is why she's one of our most revered Ancestors. The Empire wouldn't exist if we couldn't expand our fields!

Zo: I suppose our reliance on our land-gods has limited our expansion.

DIVINER: Um, this might be an awkward question...

Zo: That's fine.

DIVINER: And by awkward, I mean insulting.

BoyNextDoor: Apologizing before the insult. Erend, you can learn a thing or two here.

HIMBO: IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU'RE ALL TOO SENSITIVE!

Zo: Yes it is.

HIMBO: OH REALLY? GRANOLA GIRL?

Zo: …

Zo: So what was your question, Alva?

DIVINER: Do you um, know how to farm?? Without your land-gods, I mean!

DIVINER: Sorry!!

Zo: Oh, that. Yes, we do. Not all our villages are directly in the paths of the land-gods. We haven't expanded much, but we have some.

HIMBO: SHARING A BORDER WITH THE TENAKTH PROBABLY HELPED KEEP YOU GUYS FROM PUSHING OUT.

MARSHAL Kotallo: The Tenakth have always had fine relations with the Utaru.

HIMBO: YEAH, AND I'M GUESSING THAT ANY TIME ANYONE SUGGESTED EXPANDING, SOMEONE BROUGHT THAT UP.

Zo: One of the biggest problems my people have is that we are passive. The land-gods provide more than enough for what we need. Even in our outer villages, we rarely actually need to farm. It is always easier to just sit by and let nature take its course.

FlameHairSavior: In my experience, the people in power generally want things to stay the same.

Zo: True, the Chorus is the worst, but this is a problem common among the Utaru. As much as I wish otherwise, the Chorus are not forcing their own passivity on anyone. This is simply the way we are.

BoyNextDoor: Except for a few brave members of the tribe who will charge into a Cauldron with a couple of strangers.

Zo: You say the sweetest things.

HIMBO: EW, THEY'RE KISSING.

BoyNextDoor: How old are you, twelve?

β: flirt on your own time its science now

DIVINER: Right! Zo, did you have a reason you were asking about the Empire??

Zo: I found a story of the Old Ones about an empire making a colony. It just got me wondering if your people had the expertise to do something like that.

β: what story was it

Zo: Terra Nova.

β: i dont know that one

DIVINER: I don't either! But I'm guessing it's sci-fi?

Zo: What's sci-fi?

DIVINER: ...oh, wow, I just realized how much cultural context you're all missing.

FlameHairSavior: We are not having a movie night. At least not until I can go two consecutive days without having to put out literal fires.

DIVINER: I'm sorry to say, I don't think this is something that can be solved with a movie night!!

β: sure it can there are documentaries on film making or whatever

DIVINER: Oh, documentaries!! Those would be so useful!

DIVINER: I don't have any on my Focus, though!

β: nether do i

β: neither

HIMBO: WHAT'S A DOCUMENTARY?

DIVINER: It's a movie for teaching you about something!

HIMBO: SOUNDS HORRIFYING.

FlameHairSavior: I've changed my mind; we can watch one.

HIMBO: HEY!

FlameHairSavior: Though I do seriously need to find a day without an emergency.

FlameHairSavior: I found a Tenakth town in the desert that is flooded, and still doesn't have any drinking water.

BoyNextDoor: What were you doing back in the dessert?

FlameHairSavior: Okay, this was a while ago. Back when I was traveling to Vegas.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Many of our villages are suffering from such problems.

HIMBO: I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT SORT OF SLAG. DON'T YOU GET MOST OF YOUR FOOD FROM THE UTARU?

MARSHAL Kotallo: We still live off the land where possible, one way or the other. We don't just steal everything from our neighbors. We are not savages.

β: also raiding is not a sustainable long term economic practice

β: pirate nations never last long and aloy said all the bandits are always starving

FlameHairSavior: Yeah. That was back in the Sundom and the Sacred Lands, though. The rebels seem to have things a little more thought-out.

MARSHAL Kotallo: They are attempting to wrest control of Tenakth society. There is more to them than mindless raiding for supplies.

DIVINER: So! I've looked over the archive, and there aren't really any documentaries??

DIVINER: Well, there's one on the history of sourdough bread, but that's probably not going to be interesting to anyone??

MARSHAL Kotallo: What in the name of the Ten is sourdough bread? That sounds like something that has been fouled and is unsuitable for consumption.

DIVINER: I don't know! I haven't watched it!

β: aloy we have a new mission for you

FlameHairSavior: I don't know what sourdough bread is either, and I'm not finding any.

β: no not that you need to find the documentary on film making

FlameHairSavior: And where would I find that?

β: youre supposed to be the anointed chosen baby or whatever thats your job

FlameHairSavior: If there's an undamaged library or something out there, no one has told me about it.

DIVINER: There's one in the Quen lands! Well, not UNDAMAGED, but much less damaged! It's where we obtained much of the Legacy we still have today!

β: see there you go

FlameHairSavior: I'm not going to the Quen lands.

HIMBO: AND HERE I EXPECTED YOU TO SWIM ACROSS THE OCEAN.

FlameHairSavior: No, but I can come back to the base to smack you.

HIMBO: OW!

DIVINER: ...did Aloy somehow get all the way back to the base in seconds to smack Erend??

DIVINER: Oh, never mind, I see.

FlameHairSavior: What?

HIMBO: VARL SMACKED ME!

Zo: How WOULD you go about finding specific data, Aloy? Surely this has happened to you before.

FlameHairSavior: Usually, if it's important, I at least have a lead. I knew Faro was at the center of everything, so I went to Faro HQ. Then I found out about other bunkers and labs. That sort of thing.

DIVINER: All right! Then that just means you have to go to Hollywood!

FlameHairSavior: [Sigh.gif]

FlameHairSavior: Fine. Where is it?

ADMIN [GAIA]: The location of the former Hollywood Boulevard is approximately three hundred and thirty-six miles south-west of this facility. Assuming constant use of striders, and not accounting for detours or sleeping, it would be wise to budget at least forty hours for the outgoing trip.

FlameHairSavior: …

FlameHairSavior: I'm not riding forty hours straight to get you a movie.

DIVINER: Aw.

β: erend what are your plans for the weekend

HIMBO: HAHAHA NO.

Chapter 23 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

[flutter2deceive]

Bitching about financials and job things under the cut

My company announced like 2 months ago that our jobs are being eliminated, but it's like this nebulous thing because they're outsourcing and we need to transfer all our products, so my end date isn't until 3/31/2026. Like that's so far in the future and I'm gonna get severence (at end date, i will have worked there for 20 years literally over half my life) + a retention bonus, so I'll be ok for a little while after the fact i think i hope

But anyway i decided to immediately start cost-cutting 2 months ago:

•canceled subscriptions (canceled hulu, paramount+ (i have a plex server hookup anyway), canceled ubereats (and also stopped ordering from them altogether), canceled or went down a level on my minimal patreon subs)

•signed up for Shell's rewards system (it's literally free and you save at least 20cents/gallon every single time and sometimes more without having to spend any money you just click a button and boom extra 10cents if you fill up on a specific day.)

•haven't done *any* fun online shopping or regular store shopping for that matter

•severely cut down my fast food spending (i'm sorry taco bell ily), and as my friends are in similar financial woes, we've stopped ordering food every weekend and opted to make cheap dinners where we each bring some small component like 1 brings pasta 1 brings sauce 1 brings garlic bread

•this isn't a recent change, but i never go out anywhere for like drinks or to see local comedy shows like i used to frequently do. I'm a homebody who goes into the office twice a week and goes to my best friend's house on saturdays and just sits at home the rest of the time

Even with all that!! My debit card is at $26, my 1 credit card is $3 away from its limit, the other is $21 from its limit. I *thankfully* get my paycheck at midnight, but like... woof!

Last paycheck i was down to less than $100 the day before as well. It's so mind-boggling to me that it's this bad. Partially because I've had some unfortunately-timed plumbing issues and had to pay a pricey deductible (but glad i have the insurance obv cuz of how much the total cost would've been otherwise.) But also partially cuz i feel like shit is so much more fucking expensive than it's ever been!! And the last gallon of milk i bought and properly refrigerated went sour like a full week before its expiration date.

I have a decent job and make pretty good money (for now at least.) I have made several cost-cutting measures recently. I feel like I don't *do* anything. And it literally doesn't matter!!

My best friend who has an equally comfortable job told me he had about the same amount of $ as me to last him til his next paycheck too.

And on top of the financial stress, i am so fucking stressed at work because no one knows what they're doing and i keep getting roped into things at the last minute with an IM that says "hey got time for a quick call?" And then i end up having to put together a complicated spreadsheet that is needed by end of week. Why didn't you fucking ask sooner than 2pm on a thursday?! Oh cuz someone who will still have a job at the end of this didn't do what they were supposed to? Ok sure I'll get right on that. And I do. I do get right on that and have it back to you within a couple hours. Because i stupidly care about my job.

Ugghhh i hate everything atm... Except i was able to livestream my favorite singer Terri Clark's debut concert at The Ryman tonight. And i have a ton of Fran/CC fanfics queued up to read. And the Ghosts discord is constantly coming up with the cutest scenarios for H$, my current otp. And i am off the entire next week because next Friday is my birthday. And my dog is snoring.

So i guess it hasn't been such a bad day after all, Charlie Brown... or some such sentimental nonsense 🙃🙃🙃

[whattraintracks]

Today on thinking about The Next Mutation as a continuation of the 90s movies, let's consider brotherhood and origins:

At 15 years old the turtles call each other brothers and have always wondered about their origin.

In TMNT II, Leo asks Splinter why he only now shows them the TGRI canister (why did you wait this long to tells us when you know how much we've wanted any clues?) Donnie privately imagined there was a deeper purpose to the ooze, that they were special. He hates the idea that their genesis was a mistake.

Don says he always thought there was more to the ooze and Leo's response, his immediate, soft I know, makes me wonder if these two have had conversations about this before. Have they confided in each other about their questions and fears and hopes? Whatever the case, they're on the same page, but Splinter tells them they need to focus on the mission at hand.

Jump to 17-18 years old and the turtles don't call each other brothers and only Donnie cares about understanding their mutation.

TNM Leo talks to Venus and insists none of them are siblings, but Donnie seems to consider them a family unit (particularly a dysfunctional one). What changed in two years that caused such a shift and took Leo and Donnie so far off the same page?

Story time, I have a half sister. I don't typically refer to her as such because she's just my little sis, you know, but when I was younger the distinction was important to me. Not because I loved her any different, but for some reason I couldn't ignore the technicality. I often felt compelled to inform people who asked about our relation that we were half siblings then immediately reassure them I didn't love her any more or less for it.

So I wonder, if TNM Leo is experiencing something similar here. He's had a couple years to process what they learned about the ooze and maybe he's stuck on the point that they're literally not related, that it was never supposed to happen like he hoped thought, that his family wasn't really a family it was just a coincidence, a careless accident, and he hasn't yet been able to move past that technicality to realise their brotherhood has value and meaning despite not being conventional.

And I'm hopeful he'll get there! It took me a few years, but even in my own mind my sister is my sister and actually I seem to collect siblings left and right these days. I still consider every foster kid who ever lived in my home to be my sibling and that means I have more little siblings than I know what to do with. I still see my mom's best friend's kids every now and then and they're definitely like siblings. There are probably too many folks I consider siblings, Leo doesn't need to go to this extreme but if we're being honest that would be in character for him.

Let's move on from me, because the more interesting point is how he compares to Donnie. Here's the thing, Don has held onto them being a family (though he's likely examined and reshaped this belief), but I don't think he walked away from TMNT II unaffected. He ultimately didn't let the information and disappointment about their origin affect their familial status in his mind, but he doubled down on understanding their mutation. Professor Perry fully admitted to the ooze being a unforeseen side effect and then presumably disappeared with the rest of TGRI before Donnie could try to pick his brain. So Don tries to figure it out on his own and eventually seeks out Dr Quease's insight.

Anyhow, this is just one of my many thought experiments about how the 90s movies could provide context for different aspects of TNM.

[marksbear]

Hello Mark! May I request shameless male yn x hangman? Yn would ask hangman to have sex all the time in public, private, or literally anywhere you can imagine. He's also very flirty and like to grab Jake's ass as a joke. One day yn want to try something new so he decided to put a vibrator up his ass and go visit jake but he accidently broke the remote controller which results in the vibrator vibrating uncontrollably. In the end hangman have to come to the scene and rescue naughty yn.

-B

Hey B! Of course you can request this I love Hangman! I hope you enjoy it! And sorry for taking so long😭@belosstuff

Warnings! public sex, walking in, Y/n and jake are just total sluts, teasing, dirty talk, blowjob, vibrator

C/s- call sign

HANGMAN X MALE READER

"Hey who's that?" Bob asks and points at the man who is currently just grabbing and slapping Jake's ass. "Y/n L/n Jake's boyfriend." Coyote answers eyeing the couple.

"They have been dating for a while I think" Coyote adds watching Y/n try to pull Hangman's pants down. "Jesus they're all over each other." Phoenix says turning her chair away from the dirty couple.

"It's everyday with them two. Y/n is one shameless motherfucker. Let me tell y'all. One time I invited both of them to my house over the holidays right? I leave them for twenty minutes in the living room by themselves. I came back to Y/n and Jake banging on the floor." Coyote tells the story and seems kinda normal about it.

"They never changed. Last week Maverick saw Y/n grinding his crotch on Hangman ass and Y/n got in trouble, but he kept on doing it."

The team was warming up in the skies just doing y'know basic removers and dog fighting.

Y/n and Hangman were paired up and currently hunting down Maverick while the others listen to their conversations.

"Hangman do you hear over?" The group circle around the intercom to hear better.

"Loud and proud babe. Over" Hangman answers turning his around looking at Y/n jet besides his own.

"After we take the old man down, lets fuck for a job well done alright?"

"Couldn't think of a better way to celebrate Y/n." Y/n turns his head around to face Hangman. Y/n takes off his air mask and blows a kiss to Jake. Jake acts like he catches it and puts it on his chest.

"The two of you will be doing three hundred push ups after this exercise." Maverick says breaking the two conversations with an irritated tone.

"Oh oh old man is jealous." Jake says with a smirk.

"Don't worry Mave. You can watch we don't mind. Since I know it's probably been a while since you had some action. But you can watch me and my boyfriend so you can learn. We will even invite the whole team so they won't get jealous."

Y/n offers flying above Maverick while Hangman goes under Maverick.

"Might as well start prepping yourself Hangman cause i'm about to get him." Y/n says smugly.

"God just fuck me already Y/n." Hangman lets out a fake moan which makes Y/n let out a loud laugh.

"Bring it on you two!" Maverick says flying faster trying to get away from the two.

"What the hell are those two doing?" Maverick says looking at the couple who was supposed to be doing push ups, but instead Hangman has his legs around Y/n waist holding onto his shoulders as they kiss. And for Y/n hes pinning Jake to a Jet grinding his hard clothed cock onto Jake's ass.

"If you think you can tame them two. You're wrong. Hangman is already rude and cocky by himself but when Y/n is with him hes arrogant and more of an asshole than he is. And hes a bit of a trophy boyfriend with him but in the nice way." Phoenix walks up to Maverick already knowing about his confusion.

"Are they always like that?" Maverick asks turning around to Phoenix. "Always. I think the universe made them for each other. Both of their egos and personality boost the others. So in short words no them two wouldn't change for the world." Phoenix answers.

"I knew you would wanted to watch old man!" Y/n shots with a smirk on his face.

It was a quiet day in the classrooms and Maverick is going on and on about safety and loyalty also about trusting your teammates. Y/n is clenching on his shirt for dear life and his mouth is shut tight.

Y/n is sitting in the very back so the vibrator couldn't be heard from the others only he can hear it.

"C/s. Answer the question." Maverick picks Y/n since Y/n is looking out the window not even making an effort to make it seem like he was paying attention. "C/s?" Maverick asks again crossing his arms looking at the young lieutenant. "C/s are you with us?" Maverick asked sounding a bit worried causing everyone to turn their heads facing Y/n.

Y/n turns his head back around facing Maverick. "f-fuck uhm... It's about s-shit!" Y/n covers his face feeling his body heat up and he feels the vibrator stuck on the highest setting making him almost non-verbal.

"Its about the speed you or your partner goes and the--- oh fuck~ t-the outcome of the whole mission..." Y/n throws his head back and covers his mouth hiding his moans and curses.

"Y/n are you not feeling well? Do I need to send you to the medbay." Maverick says walking closer to Y/n. Y/n panics and stops Maverick by saying. "Yeah! All good just having a little headache you know." Everyone but Hangman buys the excuse.

Hangman knows his boyfriend is lying and knows he isn't okay so he asks Maverick could he sit next to him. "Fine but no funny business I mean it C/s." Hangman moves to his seat and walks and sits to his boyfriend.

Jake immediately hears the buzzing once he sat next to him and gave him "What did you do?" Look on his face. Y/n puts his hand in his pocket and takes the vibrator remote and hands it to Jake. "It broke and now it's ten." Y/n answers the question turning his head slightly.

Jake sits back getting comfortable in his chair thinking about ways he can help his boyfriend. Jake smirks once he gets an idea. "Well we got to go to the bathroom but you can't go now because of your problem." Y/n picks up what Jake is saying and pulls up his chair for hes closer to the table.

Jake moves his chair closer as well making sure Y/n would be covered and as well his hands. Jake sneaks his hand to Y/n crotch and pulls down the fly. Y/n helps him out by pulling his pants and underwear down slightly giving Jake easy access.

Hangman runs his fingers around the tip of Y/n cock play around with the head. Y/n glares at Jake for teasing him and Jake smirks and mumbles a fake "Sorry." Before wrapping his hands around his cock giving him lazy pumps. Even though Jake is being lazy it is still satisfying him.

Y/n bucks his hips a little making sure to cause no attention. Jake feels Y/n thrusting up into his hand so he decided to help his boyfriend by jerking him off at a faster pace feeling Y/n cock twitches.

"Oh didn't know you can cum this early." Hangman teases feeling precum slides down his hand. "Don't get cocky. It---it's just~ the vibrator. g-gah fuck im close." Y/n moans are quiet but some huffs and tiny groans can be heard if someone really tries hard to listen.

Y/n's whole body almost gives out from his intense orgasm. He had to bite his hand to old back his noises as he painted Hangman's white. Y/n covers his face as he bolts his hips back and forth as he rides out his orgasm. Once Y/n is out of his high he puts himself back in his pants and fixes his clothes.

"Look at my hand. This is probably the biggest load you ever shot. All because of me." Jake says smugly looking at his cum covered hand. "It's all hot and sticky." Jake adds trying to show Y/n, but Y/n pushes his hand away. "Go ask to go to the medbay and go to the nearest bathroom. I'll be out soon after you." Hangman tells his boyfriend the plan.

"Sir! May I go to the medbay?" Y/n asks with a shot standing up from his seat. Maverick gives Y/n his permission. Y/n bolts out feeling his cock begin to get hard again from the vibrations.

TIMESKIP

Y/n is laying on the bathroom sink waiting for his boyfriend. Shortly enough Hangman arrives locking the door behind him. "Okay. Care to explain why the hell you have a vibrator in your ass?" Hangman asks watching his boyfriend take off his clothes and folding them on the sink.

"Well I forgot we had classes today and I wanted to surprise you with a visit since remember I told you yesterday I wouldn't be coming. But turns out I turned it on to the highest setting by accident and broke it..." Hangman laughs at his boyfriend story uncontrollably.

"Shut up Jake! Cause remember that one time you got turned on from the jet vibrations and I snuck inside your jet to help you-----" "OKAY! Moving on!" Jake cuts his boyfriend off. Y/n sighs and leans on the wall covering his face. "Just help me out Jake. Get this stupid toy out of me." Y/n asks with a groan.

Hangman turns his boyfriend around on the wall so his chest is on the wall. Jake moves Y/n hips out to make it easier to get the toy out. "God your wet. Maybe I should be the to----" "Jake don't even finish that thought." Y/n shoots down the idea.

After a while Jake finally takes the toy out of his boyfriend and Y/n sighs in relief. Jake throws the toy in the trash since it's useless now. "How about I get an award?" Jake says cockily pointing at Y/n hard cock. "You still have your clothes on and we can't make a mess." Y/n answers rubbing Jake's head giving Jake an idea.

"Fuck my throat. And i'll swallow every drop. Please sir!~ I've been such a good boy for you!" Jake sinks down to his knees opening his mouth wide and sticking his tongue out.

Y/n gives in to his boyfriend laying his cock on Jake's tongue. Jake immediately wraps his lips around the tip giving it lazy kitten licks. Hangman wraps his hands around the other half of Y/n cock as he suck the other he can fit. Jake bobs his head back and forth looking up at Y/n making eye-contact. Hangman lets go of the part he can't fit and puts his hands on Y/n thighs giving Y/n access to his throat. Y/n takes the invitation and uses both of his hands to pull Jake's hair yanking him up and down on his cock.

Y/n moves his hands to the back of Jake's head pushing him all the way on his cock out of nowhere causing Jake to moan and gag on his cock. Jake tries to push his head back but always gets pushed back to the base by Y/n. Jake gags and chokes on Y/n cock causing tears to run down his face. Y/n keeps Jake head down as he skull fucks him. Jake cries around Y/n cock as Y/n fucks him merciless.

Y/n feels the knot in his stomach tighten so he bucks his hips up and down throwing his head back. Y/n hears all of the gagging and whimpering from Jake and lets his head go. Jake pulls away as quickly as he can gasping for air. Jake looks up at Y/n and eyes his twitching cock. "Again. Again again! Make me pass out I don't care do just it again until you cum!" Jake begs eagerly clawing Y/n thighs. Y/n looks down at Jake a bit surprised but does the request.

Jake moans and screams around the cock but is muffled by his gagging. Jake never breaks eye-contact with Y/n as he destroys his throat. Hangman begins to feel lightheaded and stops trying to pull himself off of Y/n cock dropping his hands and letting his head lean into Y/n hand going where it's going. "F-fuck! Jake im cumming fuck! You're such a good boy~ for taking me all in such a good boy you are! Im cumming fuck take it nice and deep be a good boy and swallow everything!" Y/n praises with a few more thrust before shooting his load down Jake's throat.

Jake chokes and gags trying to swallow the load and his body trying to make him let some fall out or spit some out. but he ignores his body by putting a hand on his mouth to stop himself. Jake swallows everything and gasps for air "what the hell Y/n! How much cum you have today Jesus almost died trying to swallow all of that." Jake scolds slapping Y/n thighs.

"You been having blue balls huh?" Jake suggests and earns a harsh slap on the back. "No. we have sex like almost everyday. I don't know why I shot so much today." Y/n gets his clothes back on and fixes himself and Jake.

"You better fuck me with a load like that once we get home, so we can fuck for hours." Jake opens the door and turns around to Y/n with a smirk. "Bye C/s hope you had a good time in the clinic. Aren't I just the best doctor.~ Jake pokes fun at Y/n before shutting the door going back to class.

"Hangman where the hell have you been?" Maverick asks the young man. Who has the biggest smirk on his face and sits down beside the knowing Coyote. "Sorry the bathroom was kinda packed." Hangman answers with a dry voice. "You dogs..." Coyote whispers to Jake.

"What? We can't help it."

THE END

[andreafmn]

12 Days of Ficmas - Day 6

Prompt (by @12-days-of-ficmas): i know it’s supposed to be romantic to be snowed in but literally all i have in my apartment is pop tarts

Word Count: 1.9K

Story Description: Nick Miller has it all planned out. A rental just for him and (Y/N), a dinner reservation, and a week by themselves during Christmas in Chicago. The only thing he can't predict is how the weather will be.

Fandom: New Girl

Pairing: Nick Miller x Female!Reader

A/N: no, I am not posting on day seven day six, that is not what I'm doing 🫣

Follow 😊 -> TikTok • Instagram • Business

If you’d like to be tagged in 12 days of ficmas, let me know in the comments. 

For any other story: click here

Here’s the 12 days of Ficmas schedule: click me

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Nothing Ever Goes According to Plan

He meant well.

Nick Miller always meant well.

He had planned a whole trip to Chicago for the winter with his girlfriend (Y/N). They had been very busy as of lately. He with his writing and she with her graphic design clients. Especially as the holidays snuck up on them, they had less and less time to see each other.

But Nick wanted to change that. They had already decided to spend Christmas in Chicago with his family. And as much as he loved them, he could barely spend a few hours in a confined space with them, let alone a week. He also couldn’t bring himself to do that to (Y/N). Having to spend the holidays in the piercing Chicago winter was torture enough.

He had rented an apartment just for the two of them. Close enough that they could see his family on Christmas day but far enough that they wouldn’t drop by for a visit. A nice AirBnB to spend the week in together. It was even adorned with beautiful Christmas decorations.

Nick arrived a day before his girlfriend. He had said it was so he could spend some one-on-one time with his family. But in reality, he had something else planned for her arrival.

“Look, Jess, I have told you the plan twenty times already,” Nick sighed into his phone. “I’m sure it’s gonna be fine.”

“Just tell me one more time, Nick! I wanna make sure everyone is on schedule.”

“UGH! Fine. She gets here at three, we have some couple-y alone time, then at 6 we get to Piccolo where we will be escorted to the outdoor patio where I’ll finally pop the question,” he listed off. “Then, if she says yes…”

“When she says yes,” Jess interrupted.

“Sure. We’ll go inside where you will all celebrate the fact that she is crazy enough to want to spend her life with me.”

“Stop it, Nick. I’ve never seen either of you this happy,” she reprimanded. “Now, you’ve got the ring?”

“Yes.”

“You confirmed the reservation?”

“Ya-huh.”

“Did you check the weather for today?”

Nick kept quiet for a couple of seconds. He thought he had done everything possible to ensure the night would go without a hitch. Except check the unpredictable weather of the winter. He had gotten used to the warm and sunny days of California so it didn’t cross his mind to verify that snow would ever ruin everything he had planned.

“You know they’re saying it might snow a lot tonight,” Jess regained his attention. “Maybe we can think of plan B, just in case something happens.”

“It’s gonna be fine Jessica,” Nick laughed nervously. “I’m pretty sure it won’t snow that much. I would know. I’m from Chicago.”

He didn’t have a backup plan. He didn’t want one. Nick wanted everything to go as he had been playing out in his head. Nothing less than perfection.

Somehow, he found himself nervously cleaning the place as he waited for the clock to hit three in the afternoon, and (Y/N) knocked on the door. The apartment was already clean but he needed to hyper-fixate on something that didn’t make him lose his mind.

Before he knew it, a knock rapped on the door and the nerves built up once again inside him. If she was here that could only mean that they were hours closer to a life-changing decision. And (Y/N) had all the power to turn all his Christmases into a time to remember or a time he would always dwell on.

“Uh, Nick?” (Y/N) called from the other side of the door. “Can you let me in, babe? It’s freezing out here.”

“Yeah, yeah! Just a sec,” he responded as he took one final look around the place to make sure it looked perfect. “Hey.”

“Hey, you,” (Y/N) smiled as soon as her boyfriend opened the door. She gave him a quick peck on his lips as she passed the threshold, patting away the snow that had accumulated on her clothes. “It’s really coming down out there. Looks like I got here just in time before things get ugly.”

“What’d you mean?”

“Well, snow’s already coming down hard and they say that six more inches of snow are gonna fall.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, a tempting smile on her face. “But enough about that, huh?  It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve been together with no other things to worry about. Let’s make up for some lost time.”

“I like where your mind is, girl,” Nick answered, pushing his worries to the back of his mind.

***

The pair lay in bed, enjoying the warmth of the apartment. After engaging in the physical activity they had missed out on in a while, they were pretty worn out. (Y/N)’s head was on Nick’s chest, listening to his heartbeat as he drew circles on her back.

“It’s a bit romantic, don’t you think?” she said softly. “You and me, trapped in this very nice apartment, a white Christmas happening outside. It’s charming.”

Panic set into him once again. Whilst his mind was elsewhere, he had completely forgotten about the weather predicament. “Well, babe, being snowed in might sound romantic,” he said. “But all I’ve got in the apartment is beer and pop tarts.” 

“Very college-esque of you,” she chuckled. “I think we can manage for a night. You know, we can start now, be drunk by seven and back in bed by nine. We’ll sleep through the whole night.”

“But we’ve got that reservation at that restaurant I told you about. It took me a long time to get it.” 

“We can call and reschedule, baby. I mean, given the weather conditions I’m sure they’d understand,” she reasoned. “Now, I’m gonna go get a beer and sit by the fire. You can join me if you want. But I’m drinking with or without you.” 

As soon as she was out of the room, Nick scurried for his phone. Calling the only person he knew could help.

“Jess! I’m freaking out,” he scream whispered.

“You’re snowed in?”

“Uh-huh.”   

“And the only plan you had is falling apart?”

 “You know it,” he replied. “I know I screwed up by not having a backup, but I don’t want to hear an ‘I told you so’ right now.” 

“Okay, calm down, Nick. I’ll call the restaurant and have them set up the same thing for tomorrow. I’ll send out a message to everyone telling them about the change of plans. And you, my friend, are going to enjoy this night with your girlfriend soon-to-be fiancé.” 

“Thanks, Jess.”

“Sure thing. It’s all gonna work out, Nick,” she said in an attempt to calm him down. “Now, I’ve gotta go 'cause I am also snowed in with Sam and I’m gonna take advantage of the situation.”

“You dirty dog,” he chuckled. “Have fun!”

He hung up the phone, feeling relief wash over him before he walked out to the living room. There, (Y/N) had taken out a six-pack of beer from the fridge and had started on her first one. In front of her was a plate with two pop tarts, and one of them had a bite taken off.

“Ready to get drunk?” she asked Nick when she saw him come out of the bedroom. “As you can see, I’ve already started.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he smiled.

Two hours and twelve beers later, they were sat next to the apartment’s Christmas tree staring at the twinkling lights. They were bundled in each other’s arms, a warm blanket wrapped around them. They had drunk, watched movies, drunk some more, and ate half a box of Pop-Tarts. But they’d gotten to the point where their minds were hazy from the alcohol and everything around them was a very intriguing sight.

“This is fun,” she said. “I could do this forever.”

Forever triggered something in drunk Nick. Suddenly, the box in his pocket was burning a hole in his pants.

“Funny you should mention that,” he chuckled dryly.

“Mention what?” 

“That!”

“What are you talking about?” she laughed.

“Forever.” 

(Y/N) didn’t understand where he was going with his line of thinking. But it intrigued her. So, she asked, “What about forever?” 

“You know, I had a whole thing planned,” he started. “But I forgot to check the weather. I grew up here and I forgot to check the damn weather.” 

“Babe, why are you rambling on about the weather?”

“Might as well get this over with,” he smiled. “I, uh, had been planning something for a while now. But like most of my plans, things didn’t really turn out the way they should. You know, you start with one thing and make sure it’s perfect. Once it’s perfect you don’t want to mess with it. And you always do it with the best intentions, but the world doesn’t care about good intentions. And…”

“Nick,” she interrupted him. “Don’t mean to cut you here, but you’re rambling.” 

“I had this whole speech planned,” he went on. “But for the life of me, I can’t remember it right now. So, I’ll speak from the heart – 'cause I’m very good at that, especially when I’m drunk.” 

Nick moved his body until he was sitting face-to-face with her. He took her hands in his and continued.

“(Y/N), I love you. I love you so damn much,” Nick smiled. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Making plans that always get screwed up. I want to get drunk right before Christmas. I wanna go to crazy expensive restaurants with you and leave because we hate the food there. I want a house, and kids, and everything that comes with life. I want it all and I want it with you!”

“Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

He pulled the black box out of his pocket, revealing the ring he’d guarded for six months and somehow had managed to hide it all that time. “Will you make the craziest decision of your life and agree to marry me?”

“Nick! Yes! A thousand times yes!” (Y/N) exclaimed as she threw her arms around him, knocking him back onto the floor. She landed on top of him and they both laughed. “And if getting married to you is crazy, then let me be crazy. Because nothing would make me happier.”

“Can I ask you something else?”

“Anything.”

“Make sure you act surprised tomorrow at the restaurant,” he chuckled. “It was supposed to be a surprise, but everyone’s gonna be at Piccolo’s tomorrow expecting a proposal. They don’t have to know it’s gonna be a replay.”

“Nick, you suck at lying.” 

“But I’m great at make-believe,” he grinned. “And tomorrow I’m gonna be Nick from this morning. The nervous wreck that wanted today to be perfect.”

“Well, regardless if tomorrow doesn’t go well, today you gave me the best present in the world,” she smiled as she set a soft kiss on his lips.

“Merry Christmas, (Y/N).”

“Merry Christmas, fiancé.”

“Kind of like the sound of that,” he chuckled. “Nick Miller, fiancé.”

“I’d like husband a lot more,” (Y/N) smiled back. “And it’d be a Christmas miracle if you can pull off tomorrow. Again, you are terrible at lying.” 

“But terrific at make-believe,” they chorused before laughing.

Taglist: @honeylovemoon @hufflepuffobsessedwithmarvel @laylaskywalker

[whiskey-tango-matcha]

Long Day, Late Night (m)

Guys, idk what to say, clearly I’m going through a bit of a ~writing hyperfixation~ so please have this 2.5k mishmash I couldn’t get out of my mind even though I literally just posted a fic yesterday. 

This one is Greyson-centric, and takes place even earlier than the last one - like just a couple months after Greyson started at the restaurant (btw, the restaurant name is Elliot’s, which you find out in this story). It’s the first time Greyson is sick at work and Elijah is *oblivious*. I hope you like it, as always I’m not about to read it before I post it so you get what you get lmao. Also as always, I love and am obsessed with you all mwah mwah ok here’s the story gtg BYE

cw: male, cold, coughing

Long Day, Late Night

The only small mercy Greyson could think of was that this didn’t happen often.

In fact, Greyson couldn’t think of the last time he’d felt this shitty. It certainly hadn’t been in at least a year; definitely not since he’d started at Elliot’s. He cursed the unspoken chef rule of never calling out, never admitting defeat, and powering through everything; maybe he should’ve taken his mother’s advice and gone into accounting. Greyson seriously doubted that accountants prided themselves on going to work sick.

Greyson pushed through the back doors of the kitchen, squinting at the bright fluorescent lights against a killer headache. Silently, he said a prayer to the universe that today would be an easy day. They had a table of 15 that was supposed to occupy most of the evening – thank god, he found himself thinking. Maybe I can get out of here early.

“Chef,” Elijah greeted Greyson as the chef walked into the office and slammed down his backpack. The GM was fervently typing out a text message, a look of frustration obvious on his face. Greyson yanked off his sweatshirt and pulled his chef’s coat off the back of his chair before returning Elijah’s greeting.

“Boss,” he said, straining against a painfully sore throat. Elijah sighed, clicking his phone off and regarding the chef once again.

“We have a problem,” Elijah said, rubbing a hand down his face. Greyson froze in the midst of buttoning his coat; those were certainly words you didn’t ever want to hear from your boss in your relatively-new position.

“Problemb being…?” Greyson asked, cringing inwardly at the congestion he could already hear in his voice. Fortunately for him, Elijah either didn’t notice or ignored it.

“The fifteen top,” Elijah said, pulling up their reservations on the computer. Greyson peeked over his shoulder and widened his eyes when he saw it.

“Forty?” Greyson asked, incredulous. “Since when has it gone up to forty?”

Elijah sighed again, defeated, and turned back to the chef. “An hour ago they called and asked if they could up their reservation; the hostess answered.”

“The ndew girl? With half a brain and huge tits?”

Elijah snorted. “Yeah. That’s the one.”

“Fuck me, Boss. Tell mbe you called them back and said we can’t do it.”

Elijah winced. “That’s the thing, Chef. It wasn’t them who called; it was the concierge at their hotel. They’re out all day, won’t be back to the hotel until after dinner. So…”

“So we can’t change it,” Greyson groaned. “Fuck. I mean, I don’t know if I even ha – ahh...ahhHSTSHH-ue! NGTSHH-oo! Snrf.” Greyson covered his nose with one hand and snatched a tissue from his and Elijah’s shared desk with the other. He cleaned himself up and crumpled the tissue in his hand before finishing. “I don’t evend kndow if I have enough product.”

“Bless,” Elijah said, distracted. “I know. It’s fucked, and I’m sorry. If we have to change their menu, we can. I’m here for you, chef. I’ll even throw on an apron if you need.”

Greyson groaned once again; of course this would happen today, of all days. The day he woke up aching and congested and with his throat on fire. The one day in his almost-three-months at his new job where he wasn’t planning on working fifteen hours. Greyson bit his cheek against the frustration he felt building inside him and turned back to his boss.

“It’s ok,” he said, attempting a smile. He clapped a hand onto his boss’s shoulder and grabbed his knife bag. “We’ll mbake it work. Thanks for the offer, b – HNGSTH-ue! HRSHH! HFTSHH! Huhhh...Hhh...hnnn.” Greyson swore from the crook of his elbow, cursing that final stuck sneeze. He grabbed another tissue, before thinking twice and grabbing the whole box to take with him.

“Bless, chef. And thank you, you’re a beast,” Elijah said, turning back to the computer once again. “Oh, and one more thing: we still have that tasting with the owners of that winery upstate today. They’ll be in at two – can you still come taste with me?”

Greyson raised an eyebrow and sucked in through his stuffed-up nose again. “Uh. Sure, boss. I’ll mbake it a priority.”

“Appreciate it,” Elijah said, turning to smile at the chef for a moment. “Let me know if you need anything from me.”

***

It wasn’t that Greyson was mad; it wasn’t even that he was disappointed. If anything, Greyson was just...confused.

Don’t get him wrong, Greyson was usually the first person to deny a cold. But he’d known from the moment he opened his eyes that this was no cold; he’d felt the snake-like chokehold of a fever almost immediately, and he’d devolved from a slightly stuffed nose at seven am to near-constant sneezing fits by ten. His throat was nearly closed with pain, and he could already tell that the cough was going to be a problem. He didn’t expect sympathy from his boss, but...some acknowledgment of the fact that he was clearly ill would’ve been nice.

“Huhh...NGSTHH-uhh! HehhGTZSH-ue! Fuckigg hell.” Greyson grabbed yet another tissue from the box he’d placed on his prep station and blew his nose again. His cooks had begun filing in for their shifts, and every one of them had cringed at their chef’s appearance on seeing him.

“Wow, chef,” his sous chef, Matt, had said when he joined his boss at the prep station. “That’s dedication.”

Greyson had made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat before tossing the tissue and washing his hands. “Ndo choice,” Greyson said, turning to cough into his elbow. When the coughing fit finally subsided, he turned back to Matt. “Fifteend-top’s forty ndow.”

“Oh, Christ,” Matt said, unpacking his knives. “Of course it is. What should I jump on?”

“Butcher the filets, please,” Greyson said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They’ll be mince mbeat if I try to do themb like this.”

“On it,” Matt said, putting his bag under the table. “You take anything for that?” he asked.

Greyson shook his head. “Ndo timbe. I’ve beend prepping since literally the mboment I walked in.” He started coughing again and Matt raised his eyebrows before striding into the server’s station. He returned a few minutes later with a steaming cup and a handful of pills.

“That’s what the servers have; not sure what they all are but it couldn’t hurt to just take them all,” Matt said, handing them and the cup of tea over to his boss. Greyson choked out a laugh.

“I feel like if anything could hurt it’s taking a savage handful of mbystery pills,” he said, tossing them all into his mouth and swallowing with a mouthful of tea. “But I’mb ndot too proud to admit when I’m desperate.”

“Chef!” Elijah called suddenly, bursting through the kitchen doors, obviously on a mission. “The people from the winery are here. Can you break away for a bit?”

Matt raised an eyebrow at Greyson, who just sighed in return. He turned towards Elijah, who was once again texting someone fervently. “Yeah boss, coming,” he said. When Elijah breezed through the doors into the dining room, Greyson turned back to his sous.

“Hold down the fort for mbe?” he asked. Matt huffed out an amused laugh.

“Sure thing, chef. Good luck, uh, tasting wine.”

“‘Tasting’ will be a strong word for it,” Greyson mumbled, untying his apron and pushing through the kitchen door.  

Seated at the corner table was Elijah, a man and woman who looked to be a couple, and about thirty bottles of wine. Greyson’s head pounded at the sight of it, but he took his seat next to Elijah all the same.

“There he is, the man of the hour!” Elijah clapped Greyson on the back as he sat down, and Greyson nodded toward their guests.

“A pleasure,” he said, his voice gravelly. He cleared his throat and asked, “What’re we drinking?”

***

Greyson looked down at his watch for about the tenth time since they had sat down an hour ago. Elijah, taking notice of at least one thing about Greyson, nudged him toward the kitchen.

“Alright, Chef, thanks for your input,” Elijah said, then regarded the winemakers. “He has a big night tonight. Back to the grind, right, Chef?”

“Yeah,” Greyson said, pushing back from his seat. “Thangks, guys. Great wine. Hopefully we can make sombething work out.”

The winemakers smiled back at him easily; the woman of the couple held her glass up as if to toast Greyson. “Cheers, Chef. Hope you’re feeling better soon.”

Greyson colored, and Elijah whipped towards the chef, confused, but neither of them seemed to dissuade the woman’s partner from tacking on his own sympathies. “That sounds like one hell of a cold.”

Greyson meant to deny their accusation, or at least thank them for their kindness, but was rudely interrupted by his nose. “I – HNGSTHH-uhhnn. GTSHH! HehhITSZCHUE! Snrf.” Greyson coughed a little, if only to clear his throat, and shrugged sheepishly.

“Safe travels back,” he said in return, and headed back towards the kitchen.

Once inside, Greyson ducked into his and Elijah’s office and slammed the door shut. He’d done his damnedest to keep his symptoms under control around their guests, but now the floodgates had opened he really fucking needed to – to…

“HNGSTHH-ue! HTSZCH-ue! Huhh...nggg. Huh, huhhhHHHHUHESTZCCHUE! ETSHCCHUE! GTSCHZUE! Fuckigg – HTSHHCHUE!”

Greyson pulled a few tissues out of the box on their desk and blew his nose, thoroughly spent. This is hell, he thought, putting his head in his hands. I’ve died and gone straight to fucking hell.

He considered maybe just crawling under the desk right then and there, cocooning until he was no longer the walking plague, when someone quietly rapped on the door.

Go away, Greyson thought, but whoever it was opened the door before he could say anything. When he looked up, Elijah was standing over him, a look of confused worry on his face.

“Um,” he said, stepping into the office and closing the door behind him. “Are you...ok?”

Greyson felt his face flame once again, his embarrassment near-palpable. Was he okay? Did he look okay? Did he sound okay? For the first time all day, Greyson felt something other than the depth of his illness; he felt livid.

“Yeah, boss,” he snorted, making himself cough hard into his arm. He sucked in through his nose and stood to tower over Elijah, his watering eyes glaring daggers. “I’mb great.”

Greyson pushed past his boss, threw open the door, and headed straight into the deep frezzer to take some breaths and collect himself. The frigid air was a slap in the face, and it gave him the clarity he needed. He may not even be a blip on his boss’s radar; that was fine. He would work even harder, then – make his name even quicker and get the hell out of Elliot’s as soon as was humanly possible. Get the fuck away from this restaurant and its haughty, clueless, thoughtless owner.

The chef pulled himself together as much as he could and stepped out of the freezer. Elijah was, of course, standing right outside the walk-in.

“Chef,” he said quickly, clearly attempting to get his point across before Greyson pushed past him again. “You could’ve told me if you’re sick – I mean, I could’ve called in backup, or closed reservations…” he looked up at Greyson then, apology plastered all over his face. Greyson wasn’t taking the bait.

“Too late ndow,” he mumbled, checking his watch. “Service starts in an hour. Please; I dond’t have timbe for this.”

Once again, Greyson pushed past his boss. He made his way back to the prep table and picked his knife up, before regarding Matt.

“Tell mbe what you ndeed from mbe.”

***

Service was, to put it lightly, hell.

The forty top had gone fine, as well as could’ve been expected, and fortunately there weren’t any problems or send-backs, but Greyson was in absolute agony the entire time. He couldn’t breathe, his voice was mangled from shouting orders, and he was pretty sure he’d infected his entire staff with the insane amount of sneezing he’d done.

The moment the last ticket was stabbed, Greyson put a hand on Matt’s back and said, “You’re up. I ndeed to sit down like...now.”

Matt nodded in understanding and stepped up to the line to make sure the cooks started breaking everything down. Greyson, alternatively, tripped into the office and immediately put his throbbing head into his hands and let loose the coughing fit he’d held back the last four hours.

In the midst of coughing, Greyson heard someone quietly enter the office and sit in the chair next to him. Then he heard something else; a paper cup being placed on the desk next to him. Greyson looked up to see Elijah sitting beside him, quiet. Greyson sighed.

“I’ll pack mby shidt,” he said, rubbing an aching eye with his palm. “I’mb sure you already have sombeone lined up, but I’d be happy to spend a day just showing themb the ropes or whatev -”

Greyson was cut up by his boss reaching up mid-sentence and placing a cool hand on his forehead. Greyson couldn’t help it; he closed his eyes in relief.

“You’re burning up, Greyson,” Elijah said quietly. “Have you had a fever all day?”

The chef wasn’t sure what to say. He shrugged. “I guess,” he said quietly, his boss’s hand still on his forehead. Elijah pursed his lips and took his hand away. Unsure what to do with it, he pushed the cup closer to Greyson.

“Tea,” he said, as if it wasn’t obvious. Greyson couldn’t help but huff out a laugh.

“Okay,” he said, taking the cup. They both sat in silence for another moment, which was only broken by Greyson’s breath hitching for the millionth time that day. “Huhh..hhhNGTSHH-ue! Guhhh.” Greyson grabbed the last couple of tissues out of the box and blew his nose, miserably.

“Bless you,” Elijah said, clearly still unsure what else to say.

“Thangks,” Greyson said, crumpling the tissue and looking back at his boss. “So...am I ndot fired then?”

Elijah chuckled and looked up at Greyson again. “You’re not fired.”

“Okay,” Greyson said again.

After another beat, Elijah blurted out, “I’m sorry. Greyson, I’m really, really sorry.”

Greyson wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Umb,” he said, brilliantly. “Okay.”

“Sometimes I’m just, like, in my own world, y’know? The restaurant...it’s all-consuming, man. I’m always fuckin’ worried about it, and it just gets exhausting. I wish I had more patience and was, like, more...observant. But,” he shrugged. “I’m just...not. So I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.” Elijah sighed, post-speech, and gave Greyson a small smile. “And I’m sorry you’re so fucking sick. You look like hell.”

Greyson set his jaw then, and looked down. He was absolutely not about to let his boss see him tear up, especially not at something so fucking stupid. Instead, he took the cup of tea and sipped it slowly. “I appreciate it, boss,” he whispered. “I’mb, uh… I’mb ndot feeling awesome.” He looked up, having composed himself, and gave Elijah a loopy half-smile. “Long day. Late ndight.”

Elijah smiled back and patted the chef’s knee. “Take the weekend. Okay?”

Greyson swallowed painfully and nodded. “Okay, boss,” he said. “Whatever you say.”

[sk8termikey]

Chapter 26 of 21 Questions

better interface on wattpad

Lily and Alex were finishing getting ready when their doorbell rang. They were supposed to spend the day with Jade and Lucas as they would finally tell their friends everything that had happened with the Sturniolo triplets since the girls first went to a show. After exchanging hellos, the four friends went inside Lucas’s car as he would drive everyone to an Italian restaurant they liked to go to. Once there and sitting in their usual booth with drinks, it was time for Alex and Lily to tell their story.

From the first meeting in Atlanta to the last in Fort Lauderdale, a lot had happened in between. While Jade was still shocked that Alex went on stage and managed to make her favourite triplet win the Orlando show, Lucas was praising Matt’s courage and brain for eventually leading to the actual friendship that was now happening with Lily. The two listeners were searching for every single detail in the story and kept asking questions, mostly regarding Matt and Lily obviously. When the discussion then came to the little time the triplets had spent in Spring Hill, the mood also shifted. Lily was clearly missing Matt a lot although she wished not to – she blamed it on attachment issues with a nervous laugh – and admitted her doubts about their relationship. The girl was afraid that Matt would eventually regret what he did and end up ghosting her, as it had been his initial thought months ago. Lily’s friends assured her that it wouldn’t happen and Alex started listing the proof that Matt valued Lily as much as she did him.

“Bro literally made this whole scenario up because he was afraid that you wouldn't want to meet him if you knew the truth about his identity,” Alex sternly reminded as she started counting on her fingers between each sentence. “He got you to meet his family and friends at the same time as him. He put us in the same fucking hotel where he was staying and even offered to pay for the room. He accepted to come spend two days in a stranger’s house – and bro drove us there for a while. Do I keep going with the vlog and how he was always looking at you to make sure you’re ok?”

“We get it, thanks.” Lily was now looking away in embarrassment as she found her pizza very interesting right now. She knew that she shouldn’t discard Matt’s efforts that he had made from the beginning but the ‘what ifs’ in her head didn’t want to leave. “I think we covered everything now though.”

“I wanna come back on something,” Lucas chimed in as a detail caught his attention. “May I?” When the girls nodded, he couldn’t help the smirk on his face as he looked at Lily. “You, Lily, let an almost complete stranger drive your precious car when it took me more than a year to get that privilege?”

“Bro stop”, Lily mumbled in reply. She hated him for pointing that out as she remembered Alex doing the same when it happened. “He’s a designated driver just like me, I had to trust him. And also, I was fucking exhausted so it was nice to just be in a car and chill.”

“I don’t blame you to be honest,” Jade chimed in. “Half of us have their licence so you and Lucas don’t really have much choice when it comes to driving – I swear Alex and I will get it one day. And I watched a couple of their videos, you must have had a great view from the passenger seat.”

As Jade winked at Lily before innocently taking a slice of pizza, Alex and Lucas snickered. Lily then laughed with them as she admitted that she wasn’t one to turn a blind eye when the occasion of having a handsome guy driving next to you arose. The atmosphere then went back to a more light-hearted one and the rest of the lunch was spent filled with smiles.

~~~

Four days had passed since Lily last saw Matt. Such a pathetic state I was in, the girl cringed at herself. Based on a brief exchange by text, Lily knew that Matt hadn’t changed his mind regarding their friendship and thanks to her friends two days ago, she had managed to bury those doubts deep in the back of her head. Reading back their quick conversation, Lily hesitated before starting to write a message.

Matt🍂

Hey there, landed safely in bos

Hope you’re doing well and not missing us too much :)

Ttyl

Glad to know!

And ofc ye we are devastated😔

You’ll survive, we’re not that far away

True true

For now i’ll have to survive the interrogation ab our crazy meeting so

Same here i think

We’ll have to complain more after it happens

We def will!

Seen

This was on Thursday evening. They had spoken a second time on Friday as Matt had replied to a funny Instagram story that Lily had posted about her cat Bernard. Getting herself out of daydreaming, she eventually finished typing her message – after deleting and rewriting it three times – and sent it.

Matt🍂

Hey Matt, how’s it going?

Lily hey

Gimme 5min and I’m all yours

She was surprised at how quick he had replied and couldn’t help but smile at the thought that maybe he was about to text her as well. Only two minutes had passed before Lily was surprise once again as her phone was showing her that she was getting an incoming from Matt🍂. Tapping on the green phone icon, Lily brought her phone to her ear.

“Hello Matthew, pleasant surprise.”

“Hey Lily”, Matt replied with a weird exhale. “Sorry, I just got home.”

“No problem, do your thing bro.”

“Just need to change quickly so I’m putting you on speaker but I’m still here. Catch me up on your life meanwhile”

“Don’t worry, take your time.” Lily could hear Matt rummaging through his clothes and almost laughed at the way he was probably making a mess. “And I’m all good to be honest, had the wonderful experience of being questioned like a suspected murderer but it went well.”

“Sounds wonderful”, Matt sarcastically answered. “Hope you’ve only said good things about me, because I did for you.”

“Of course!” Lily scoffed, feigned to be offended. “Who do you take me for? I’ve put you on a pedestal, but Alex was the one to call out your creepy plan.”

“Damn her.” Matt shook his head with a smile, although Lily couldn’t see him. “Can’t say she’s wrong though but it worked out well so…”

“That it did”, the girl agreed. “Tell me about your weekend, how’s your family? And Nate?”

“Everyone’s good, it’s nice to get some rest and be home.” Matt’s grateful tone made Lily smile as she knew from the triplets’ videos how much he loved being in Boston.

“When are you back in LA?” Lily asked. Although an innocent question, they both knew it was a way to ask when they’d be even further away from each other.

“Somewhere during the week,” Matt thought for a bit. “Gonna have to ask Nick for the exact time though but we’ll definitely be back there before the weekend.”

“Any plans already made? Except for all the videos y’all have to make.”

“To be honest, yes,” Matt sighed. He was happy to get back into a routine but he knew the next weeks were about to be busy. “We’ll start filming again soon, especially the podcasts. But the first thing on the agenda is just a concert with Madi.”

“Oh that’s nice, who are y’all seeing?”

“Travis Scott, you like him?”

“I can’t really say because I haven’t listened to him properly like–” Lily scrolled through her Spotify to see if she knew some of his songs. “I only listen to one song from Chris’s Playlist: NO BYSTANDERS. Haven’t checked anything else to be honest.”

“That’s a good one”, Matt approved. “Might send you a live clip if you want.”

“Please do”, Lily gladly accepted the offer. “Do you often go to concerts? I remember talking about mine but I can’t recall if you did the same.”

“That’s because we don’t go very often,” Matt chuckled as he reassured the girl that her memory wasn’t faulty. “Apart from Tril or Skies, this is one of the very few we’re doing without knowing the artists beforehand.”

“You saw Skies? That’s so cool!”

“You didn’t know?” Matt sounded confused.

“Was I supposed to?” Lily felt confused too. “Oh my god, have I forgotten? I’m sorry, I swear I pay attention to what you say the rest of the time!”

“No, no it’s not you. Have you been on Instagram or TikTok?”

“Hmm not since yesterday I think”, Lily replied as she went to check the first of the two applications before letting out a gasp. “You went on the fucking stage?!”

“Yeah”, Matt said with a small laugh at Lily’s shock. “Thought you knew and that’s where you were going with the conversation.”

“I had no idea bro. You and Chris look so happy damn, I’m truly glad for y’all.”

Replaying some videos, Lily was truly enjoying watching her two friends enjoying this experience. The smiles on Chris’s and Matt’s faces were enough to make one appear on her face as well. Lily was just silently looking at more videos, which led Matt to wonder about her not talking anymore.

“You good?” Matt asked after a couple of minutes of not hearing anything. “You’re unusually quiet.”

“Sorry,” Lily apologised by instinct. “I’m just so happy for you, it seems to have been great.”

“It was”, Matt confirmed. “Pros of Chris befriending him, we’re seeing him again in LA when we’re back.”

“Sounds amazing! Only the two of you again or?”

“Nick will come this time”, Matt replied as who else was going to be here. “Madison and her boyfriend too, plus a couple of mutual friends with Skies I think as well.”

“Madison?” Lily repeated as she didn’t know why Matt was using her full name. “Madi, you mean?”

“Madison Beer,” Matt clarified.

To say Lily was shocked was an understatement. She remembered that the triplets had filmed a podcast with the singer Madison Beer, but she hadn’t thought about them actually hanging out together after their collaboration.

“I am so jealous right now”, Lily admitted. “Y’all are so famous actually.”

“More like we’re friends with famous people though,” Matt denied. He and his brothers didn’t like to think of themselves as celebrities, more as lucky people who eventually managed to be around actual celebrities.

“You’re on the right path though”, Lily countered as she believed that the triplets could achieve so much more than they already had and would be even more successful as time would pass. “I entered your life early enough not to be a gold digger.”

“Please don’t joke about that, I’d feel terrible.” Matt didn’t want to be too dramatic so he let out a small laugh along with Lily's, but he really hoped deep down that this situation would never happen to his friend.

“Sorry, but for now it’s not happening so no worries.” Although he couldn’t see her, Lily was smiling at Matt being concerned about her. “I’ll stay in the dark and be the mysterious five-star baker that appeared once in a vlog.”

“That’s perfect.”

A comfortable silence then took place. Matt and Lily simply basked in the peaceful quiet between them before the girl found a new subject of discussion:

“By the way”, she started. “Have y’all seen the comments on the vlog we did together? I swear they’ve been cracking me and Alex up for the entire weekend.”

This is something Matt hadn’t expected to talk with Lily as he was now hoping that she hadn’t read anything that she didn’t like. However, given that Lily was introducing the matter with a positive tone, Matt felt glad even though he could probably guess that it was the comments he hadn’t liked very much when reading them.

“Can you believe people are shipping me and Chris? For literally thirty seconds!”

While Lily was chuckling at the ridiculous thought of her being with the youngest triplet, Matt had no choice but to lightly laugh with her, although a bitter feeling rose in him.

“That’s insane yeah…”

Although Matt thought he was hiding his annoyance, Lily immediately picked up on it and was confused about it. Was she imagining it? Were the triplets mad that people had commented about that? Lily knew that they were sometimes cases of Matt and Chris randomly being shipped with people – it had unfortunately happened with Madison Beer when they released their podcast with her – so she was now scared that this was going to be a problem for her friendship with the triplets.

“Is Chris mad?” Lily quietly asked, afraid of the answer she would get. “I’m sorry, I should have toned down my attitude but I just felt comfortable with y’all. I swear I didn’t want to create any issue–”

“Lily stop”, Matt quickly interrupted as he was surprised at Lily’s thought process. “No one’s mad about anything, don’t worry.”

“You’re sure?” She couldn’t help but want to confirm.

“Yes, I am. Chris and Nick actually found those comments hilarious, I’m just silly grumpy me so no worries.”

“M’kay, I’ll trust you on this one and let it slide.”

Although Lily knew that something more might be going on, she didn’t pry for more information and Matt was glad that he didn’t have to explain his stupid jealousy. Lily wasn’t one to force people to tell her everything and if Matt had anything to say to her, she knew that he would. Communication was a key element of their friendship, but small matters like that fortunately didn’t need full transparency.

After this small discussion, Matt and Lily kept talking about their plans to come as Lily was trying to get information on future video topics that the triplets would film. Matt just told her that videos regarding Halloween were going to be posted during the week but this was all Lily could have for now as Matt didn’t want to spoil her. They then hung up when Alex called Lily for dinner and promised each other to call again soon, even if their respective lives would get busy. 

Thank you for reading. Votes and comments are always appreciated if you like this story :) The story is co-written w @/little_grapejuice on wattpad