#we're getting deliveries and have to open all doors for a few minutes

[kitsuneinjapan]

The things that came into our working place through the door:

A firefly (lovely, surprised me wow)

Cute jumpy spiders~

Countless cockroaches lol

One of those giant bees (got smashed, poor thing :( )

And the cutest of all: a sparrow :D

[harunayuuka2060]

Vil: Riddle, please be honest with us.

Vil: Do you have an issue with the lady?

Riddle: No?

Azul: My, you don't really know how to lie, do you?

Idia: Maybe Riddle doesn't like to vibe with her. Why are we making this a big deal?

Vil: Well, let me point out a few things. All of us here, except Riddle, have become friends with her and her son.

Vil: And don't deny it, Idia. You're so comfortable when she's around that you even invited her to Ignihyde.

Idia: What? She made me a bento. And Ortho likes her too. And her kid is cool-

Leona: Yeah, yeah. We get it. She's almost like a sister.

Azul: That's why it's a question to us why Riddle is avoiding her.

Riddle: I am not avoiding her!

Azul: Oh? *pulls out his phone* *then makes a call*

Azul: Hello, my lady! Yes, yes! I'm in a housewarden meeting right now. Please come here so we can see your samples. Yes. Thank you so much.

Riddle: ...

Riddle: I'm taking my leave-

Vil: Hold him.

Leona and Kalim: *grabs him so he won't sprint away*

Riddle: Hey! Let go of me!

Azul: Now, now. MC will come here in a few minutes.

Riddle: I have better things to do!

*Someone knocks on the door, then it opens.*

F!MC: *carrying a picnic basket* *with her son sitting on her shoulders*

Toddler Riddle: Food delivery.

F!MC: Hello, everyone- Eh? What's going on here?

Vil: Hi, MC. The one Leona and Kalim is holding right now is the housewarden of Heartslabyul. Riddle Rosehearts.

F!MC: Oh. *smiles and waves at him* Nice to meet you.

Riddle: ...

F!MC: But why are you holding him like that?

Leona: He's shy.

Kalim: Yeah! And he's the only housewarden you haven't met yet! *beams*

F!MC: O-Oh... Y-You can let go of him now...

Leona: *shrugs* Okay. There you are.

Kalim: *also lets go of Riddle*

Riddle: *frowns*

Vil: Riddle, introduce yourself properly like a proper gentleman would.

Riddle: You don't have to tell me, Vil-senpai.

Riddle: *approaches MC* My name is Riddle Rosehearts. It's a pleasure to meet you.

F!MC: It's a pleasure to meet you too. *smiles*

Toddler Riddle: *takes a quick look at Riddle and-*

Toddler Riddle: Mama, he looks too short.

Riddle: ...

The other housewardens: ...

Leona, Idia, and Azul: *ended up laughing at Toddler Riddle's remark*

F!MC: R-Riddle! You don't say that! *immediately apologizes to Riddle*

F!MC: Please excuse my son- Ah, wait. *opens the picnic basket and pulls out a dessert* This is for you. *then hands it to him*

Riddle: ...Thank you.

F!MC: *to her son* Riddle, we're going to talk. *then tells everyone to try the food inside the picnic basket as she excuses herself*

Toddler Riddle: *came to visit Heartslabyul to personally apologize to Riddle* *his mother is waiting outside the gate*

Trey: He's in his study. Do you want me to take you there?

Toddler Riddle: *nods* Please do, Uncle Trey.

Trey: *chuckles* So polite.

Cater: Ridz, where is your mom?

Toddler Riddle: She's outside.

Cater: Okay! I'll go and chat with her. *goes to meet MC*

Toddler Riddle and Trey: *entered Riddle's study*

Riddle: *is in the middle of eating the dessert given by MC*

Riddle: *blushes in embarrassment when he gets spotted by them*

Riddle: *puts it down and sips his tea, then clears his throat*

Riddle: I didn't hear you knock, Trey.

Trey: Of course.

Toddler Riddle: Was it good?

Riddle: ...

Riddle: Yes... Your mother is a good cook.

Toddler Riddle: *smiles proudly*

Riddle: ...

Riddle: What is he doing here, Trey?

Trey: He came here to apologize. But I think he had already forgotten, *chuckles*

F!MC and Cater: *waiting at the gate and they saw Riddle and her son approaching*

Toddler Riddle: Mama! I said sorry! *runs to her*

F!MC: Really? *carries him up* Great job, Riddle! And please don't do it again, okay?

Toddler Riddle: *nods*

Riddle: ...

F!MC: *looks at Riddle* *smiles* Did you like the dessert?

Riddle: !!!

Riddle: *averted his gaze because he felt shy* Yes. It's good.

Toddler Riddle: Mama, he wants you to make more.

Riddle: !!!

Cater: *internally laughing at his reaction*

F!MC: Oh. Okay! *chuckles* I'll make sure to bring some for you, Riddle.

Riddle: N-No, miss! It's fine!

Toddler Riddle: Mama, his face is turning pink.

Riddle: IT'S NOT!

Cater: *laughs* No, Riddle! Ridz is right! You are really pink now!

Riddle: *is angry now that Cater is teasing him*

Cater: Oops.

F!MC: So... Riddle? Feel free to visit us in the Pop Music Clubroom. *smiles gently at him*

Riddle: ...

Riddle: *immediately calms down* I will when I have time.

Cater: *snaps a photo of him*

Riddle: ...

Riddle: Cater.

Toddler Riddle: Rest in peace, Uncle Cater.

Cater: Ayo- Don't say that, Ridz!

[vanteguccir]

── ୨୧ !　𝗖𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥

　　　　　𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒐 x brazilian!reader

SUMMARY: Where Y/N teaches Chris how to cook a typical sweet from her country.

WARNING: None.

REQUESTED?: Yes, by @gfgcgntxrhg

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That is my work, I DON'T authorize any plagiarism! | English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry if there's any grammar error.

　　　༻✦༺ 　༻✧༺　༻✦༺

"Honey?" Y/N called in a low tone. Her steps were light and almost muted by the orange socks that reached up to her calf, which she had grabbed from Chris's drawer.

Her eyes darted around the kitchen briefly, before finally finding her boyfriend, who was standing between the dark brown table and the open refrigerator, his right hand holding the door while his left rested on his chin, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What are you doing?" The girl asked, approaching her boyfriend as she looked into the fridge, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"I wanted to make something different for us to eat." His arms fell over his body and hit his hips in frustration.

Chris and Y/N were getting ready to start a movie marathon. The two were already lying on the double bed, their bodies covered by the fluffy duvet. The lights were turned off, the television on being the only source of lighting between the four walls; when the boy had the idea of ​​popping popcorn to accompany them.

About 15 minutes had passed and Chris still hadn't returned to the room with the snack, and Y/N had no choice but to see what he was up to. She knew that her boyfriend had a childish soul and that if he was left unsupervised for too long, he could destroy the whole house.

"Didn't you want popcorn, baby?" Y/N questioned, moving closer and closing the fridge door.

Chris turned to her with a sigh, shaking his head.

"I wanted to, but I'm hungry, and I want something sweet." The boy said, leaning on the table behind him and crossing his arms.

He didn't know exactly what he could have made for them to eat if Y/N hadn't shown up, he didn't know how to cook anything at all and he would have definitely burned any idea he had.

"You know bakeries can cook for us, right? I can order delivery, honey. That bakery you like is still open." Y/N informed, taking half of her phone out of her hoodie pocket and quickly looking at the time before putting it away again.

"No, I want something homemade." Chris continued, tapping his right foot lightly against the floor. He really could act like a child when he wanted to.

Y/N sighed as she looked around, her mind trying to come up with ideas of something they could cook that was sweet and got ready quickly.

She took a few steps towards the cabinet on the left side of the refrigerator, opening the doors with her hands and looking through the items, a smile appearing on her lips when she saw exactly what she was looking for.

"We're making brigadeiro." Y/N informed as she grabbed the ingredients she would need.

"Briga- what?" Chris tried to utter, moving closer to his girlfriend as he looked at the items in her hands curiously.

Y/N let out a laugh, placing the ingredients on the counter next to the stove, turning to her boyfriend.

"Brigadeiro." She spoke slowly and clearly. "It's a Brazilian sweet, I sent you a picture of it once when I was back in São Paulo, but you saw it in the birthday party format, which is a small ball with sprinkles."

"Oh, I remember!" The brunette spoke excitedly, nodding his head. "But are there other formats?"

"Yes, you can use brigadeiro in everything and in every way, literally. But the easiest and quickest is to make it in a pot, also known as spoon brigadeiro, which is what we're going to do right now." Y/N turned to face the ingredients, arranging them in order of use. "Get me a medium pot, baby. Please."

The girl took her phone out of her pocket, resting it on the counter behind where the ingredients were, so that the screen was staring back at her. Her fingers worked on opening the camera and going to the video tab, clicking the red button to start recording.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked after standing up again, having bent down to pick up a pot from the cupboards on the floor, placing the requested object on the stove while looking at her phone recording them in confusion.

"I need to record this moment. My boyfriend is going to learn how to make his first Brazilian cuisine, and it's my favorite sweet." Y/N smiled big, turning to her boyfriend and sealing his cheek with her lips, stroking the skin lightly with the tip of her nose.

Chris smiled back, pulling her by the waist and kissing her forehead softly, before releasing her so they could begin.

"Okay, for this recipe, we'll only need butter, chocolate powder, and condensed milk. Thank God I brought some condensed milk from Brazil when I went last time. The ones here don't turn out the same." The girl explained to Chris, who was watching her closely.

"Butter and chocolate?" He asked as he wrinkled his nose in discomfort.

"Honey, butter is part of the ingredients of at least 80% of the cakes we eat anywhere." Y/N's tone was obvious, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Alright, chef." Chris raised his arms in surrender, earning a laugh from his girlfriend.

She opened one of the drawers on the counter and took out two tablespoons and a silicone spoon, which they would use to stir the brigadeiro over the heat, placing the three items on the counter before turning to Chris.

"What?" He asked, looking at her suspiciously.

"You will do it, and I will watch." Y/N replied, shrugging her shoulders and receiving wide eyes in response.

"Do you want to kill us both?"

"Don't be dramatic!" She smiled in amusement before pointing to the ingredients. "First, you'll need a tablespoon of butter."

Chris took the jar of butter and opened the lid carefully. His hand reached for one of the spoons and dipped it into the contents before looking at his girlfriend, waiting for the next step.

"You can put it in the pot." She indicated, pointing to the pot as she leaned her hips against the counter, watching him carefully.

Chris tapped the spoon on the edge of the pot a few times until all the butter contents were in before throwing the spoon into the sink.

"Perfect, now you're going to need four tablespoons of chocolate powder." The girl instructed, pushing the chocolate towards Chris.

"Four of chocolate for one of butter? Won't it be too thick?" The boy asked, wrinkling his nose as he lifted the chocolate powder packaging, looking briefly at the label.

"No, baby, there's still the condensed milk. I normally only add three tablespoons when I make it in Brazil, but because the one there has more sugar than the one here." She explained, waving her right hand for him to continue.

The boy raised his hands in surrender before opening the lid of the package, dipping the spoon into the brown powder and taking it out before throwing the contents into the pot. He repeated the action three more times, counting low each time so as not to get lost in the count, earning a laugh from Y/N.

"That's it. Now it's condensed milk." Y/N took the chocolate powder and the spoon from Chris's hands, throwing the spoon in the sink next to the other and closing the package before taking scissors. "You can cut off the top and throw everything into the pot."

"Everything? Do you want to give me diabetes?" Chris's blue eyes were wide as he stared at the condensed milk packaging as if it were a monster.

"Enough with the drama." The girl spoke with a smile in her voice, pushing the condensed milk and scissors into Chris's hands, who took them.

"If I die, it's her fault." The boy whispered to the phone's front camera, looking sideways at his girlfriend, who was rolling her eyes.

"Hurry up." She ordered, pushing the boy's hips with her own.

He sighed, cutting off the top edge of the package before returning the scissors to Y/N, turning it over the pot and squeezing the wrapper, watching the pasty liquid drain completely.

"That doesn't feel right." The boy muttered, placing the empty package on the counter next to him and staring at the ingredients together inside the pot, before grabbing the handles and turning it on its side, showing it to the camera. "It looks like-"

"If you drop it on the stove, you'll be the one cleaning it all up. This is full of sugar. Ants will come, and Matt will kill you." Y/N interrupted, slapping Chris on the shoulder and pulling his arms so he could put the pot right on the stove again.

"But it doesn't make any sense." He scratched the back of his head with his right hand, looking at his girlfriend with uncertainty in his eyes.

"When it's done, you'll see that it will look better than it does now." The girl spoke, dipping the index finger of her left hand into the condensed milk before taking it into her mouth, sucking out all the contents.

"Hey! Don't touch my work." He shouted, looking at Y/N with an offended look.

"If you don't turn on the heat and start stirring, it will never become a "work"." Y/N snorted while making quotation mark gestures with her fingers before pointing at the stove.

Chris rolled his eyes, turning to the stove again and turning on the heat under the pot before taking a step back and looking at it.

"Are you just going to watch and wait for it to be ready by itself?" Y/N's voice came out loud, her hand working on quickly grabbing the silicone spoon and placing it inside the pot, lowering the heat before it burned. "You have to stir constantly, baby. Otherwise, it will burn, and sugar burns very quickly." She informed, taking Chris' right hand and leading it to the spoon, before taking his left and bringing it to the left handle of the pot, keeping it steady there so that it didn't move with his movements.

"Ah, obviously, I already knew that." He said with a shrug, his cheeks turning red as a smile appeared on his face due to Y/N's laughter.

"Okay, that's it. Wait, you have to move it like this." Y/N murmured, positioning herself behind Chris and taking his right hand with her own, standing on tiptoe and placing her left hand on his waist to maintain her balance, starting to move the spoon with her boyfriend.

Her head was the only part of her that the camera captured, being shorter than Chris, his body covered her completely. She had her head tilted to their right side, next to his covered shoulder, looking intently at the stove.

Chris briefly looked at the phone screen that showed them back, letting out a laugh at their position.

"It seems the roles have changed." He teased, pushing his ass back so that it pushed Y/N's body slightly. She firmed her grip on her boyfriend's covered waist to keep from falling, pinching the skin lightly.

"Hey, if it burns, I won't do it again, and you'll eat it burnt!" She exclaimed, joining Chris in his laughter seconds later, rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to the pot.

It didn't take long, and soon the brigadeiro was at the right point. Y/N let go of Chris's right hand and turned off the heat, before starting to move away from his body, but her action was interrupted by him, who turned and pulled her back towards him, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his head in the crook of her neck, exhaling the natural scent of her skin for a few seconds, before sealing the area momentarily.

"Thank you, baby."

The girl let out a laugh at the tickle that Chris's beard caused on her skin, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing the top of his head, squeezing him lightly, before taking a step back.

"Come on, silly. Let's eat." She spoke, taking his right hand and making him stand next to the stove before picking up a round ceramic plate and two smaller bowls.

Y/N lifted the pot by one of the handles with her left hand while holding the silicone spoon with her right, turning it onto the plate.

"Hold the plate for me, baby. Please." She asked, and Chris didn't take long to do so, watching the way her tongue escaped between her lips in concentration, a smile appearing on his face as his blue eyes traveled over the features he loved so much. "If you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to drop it on the counter." The girl whispered, her cheeks taking on a red hue.

Chris let out a laugh, suppressing his desire to shower her with kisses.

Y/N tipped almost all of the brown content onto the plate with the help of the spoon before straightening the pot and taking it over the two bowls, dividing what was left inside each one.

"What are these for?" The boy asked, dropping the plate he still held on the counter and looking at the bowls in confusion.

"Nick and Matt." She responded simply, finishing all the contents of the sweet before placing the pot in the sink, filling it with water and making a mental note to wash it before going to sleep, so as not to get ants from the sugar. "Would you like to taste it?" The girl asked, bringing the spoon closer to Chris's face, who had a soft smile on his face.

Chris felt himself falling in love with Y/N all over ​​again every time she remembered her brothers when they were doing something, including them even if they weren't there; he loved the way she took care of the three of them with so much love and affection, like a family.

The boy nodded, opening his mouth slightly and bringing his face closer to Y/N's hand, wrapping his lips around the silicone spoon and licking the contents. His blue eyes instantly widened at the taste. It wasn't extremely sugary like he thought it would be. It was just the right amount of sweet.

His hand quickly took the spoon from Y/N's hand and finished licking it all, as if it was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted - and maybe it really was.

The girl leaned over the counter and took her phone back, waving at the camera before stopping the recording, making a mental note to rewatch it the next day and, perhaps, post a snippet for the fans who loved seeing videos of the two of them together.

"I told you it was good." Y/N spoke as she laughed at his reaction, putting her cell in the pocket of her hoodie and opening the cutlery drawer, taking out four small spoons and placing one in each bowl and two on the plate. "Now, help me take this to your brothers."

"Yes, ma'am."

　　　　　༻﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡༺

extra - comments:

"I'm so happy she posted this moment for us all to see together 😭"

"chris is such a drama queen 💀"

"omg that must have been so good 😫"

"Y/N separating a little for Nick and Matt, this is so sweet 🥺"

"Y/N standing behind Chris to help him make the brigadeiro LMAO that's so cute"

"Chris counting the spoonfuls of chocolate so he doesn't lose the count 😭😔"

"they are so beautiful together omg"

"I want what these bitches have 😔"

"petition for Y/N to make TikToks of her teaching Chris how to cook different things ✏️📄"

taglist:

@lustfulslxt @ladybunny44 @worldlxvlys @earth2starkey @remussbitch @freshloveforthefit @il0vebeingdelulu

(If you want to be added to the taglist, go to this post)

[ninigummysmile]

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 - 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞

Summary: The five times Jennie almost said she loves you + when she finally does

Jennie x Fem!Reader

Category: Fluff

Important: English is not my first language so, please, forgive me if there are any mistakes

Words: 4.161

Zero

Jennie has always been an independent woman, who knows how to get by on her own and who doesn't necessarily need to have a partner to be happy.

When you started dating, you saw more and more of her beautiful interior, sweet as honey and a smiling girl.

It's hard for Jennie to open up to others, to be intimate. She doesn't show affection that easily, which is ironic since she often overflows with love and care for those she cares about.

After a frustrated relationship, in which she already had to hear many things that weren't true, including that her intense way was often irritating, she had to learn to keep her feelings and plug that well of hers so that it wouldn't overflow again and scare someone else. That is until you arrived, you were patient and determined enough to get her to start talking and expressing herself, and now she doesn't know if you already feel the same way as her or if it's too soon, but every time you show her in small ways how much you care, it's hard for her not to say those three words…

One

You finish checking the meat in the oven and start preparing the mashed potatoes. You know how much your girlfriend loves homemade food, despite the fact that most of the time she wants to order food for delivery claiming that the time you have to spend together she won't leave you cooking.

Her kitchen is spacious and complete, at first you didn't feel good cooking alone in the big space, but now that you're more familiar with it, it's relaxing to be able to cook while listening to music and leaving your thoughts a little aside, focusing only on the task of prepare a meal.

The front door unlocks and you hear the keys lock it again. Footsteps approach the kitchen and you turn to greet your girlfriend.

“Hey, baby. How was today?” you ask a clearly tired Jennie, giving you a brief peck.

“It was exhausting, we're training a lot for the next concerts” you make a move to hug her, but she soon stops you. “I'm sweaty, love. Let me take a shower first, okay?” she gives you another peck and with dragged steps goes upstairs. Not that you mind sweating, she knows that, but you figure dancing and singing all day nonstop to make everything perfect makes the only thing you want when you get home is a nice and long shower.

The oven beeps and you finish preparing the dinner and setting up the table. A few minutes later Jennie appears with a towel over her head and her eyes heavy with sleep, you stifle a chuckle at her cuteness as she practically walks around with her eyes closed in her fluffy pink pajamas.

“Let's eat so you can rest” you put the plate in front of her.

She takes a deep breath and a lazy smile appears on her face. “I really like it when you cook, especially this kind of food”

“I know” you laugh. “This is why you should let me cook more”

You talk about how each other's day went and after your girlfriend's second yawn, you decide that you're going to do the dishes tomorrow and that as soon as you get into bed you'll pass out.

You see her sitting on the end of the bed removing the towel from her head and you think she won't have enough strength to comb her hair. With a styling product in your hands, you stop in front of her and start towel-drying her hair.

You sit behind her and start applying the product by lightly massaging her scalp. At that moment, Jennie feels her body melt against yours and her eyes close in satisfaction, it's in those little moments that she wishes she could live forever.

Brushing and untangling her hair, you feel her calm breathing and limp body and for a moment you think she slept in that position.

When you're done, you place a kiss on her neck. “Ready to sleep?”

“I've been ready for a while” she murmurs and you smile at her short sentences when she’s sleepy.

“Then get under the duvet” you direct her and let her lie down comfortably while you brush your teeth and do your nightly routine.

You lie down on the bed and turn off the lamp, Jennie hugs your torso and you hug her so she can lay her head on your shoulder. Soon you are enveloped by sleep and everything around you becomes distant.

Your girlfriend feels warm inside after a nice dinner, from your fingers combing her hair and from your body fitting hers so well when you go to sleep. She almost said how much she appreciates your gestures, how much she wants more nights like this one, but maybe it wasn't the right time, maybe it was just tiredness taking over. She knows it's not tiredness, she knows that what she feels is real, but she was afraid that you would think that was it.

Two

You finish editing some work documents on your laptop when Jennie walks into the room.

“Hi, how was your meeting, love?” you take the object off your lap and place it on the empty space of the bed.

“Well, nothing new” she places a kiss on your cheek and walks into the bathroom. You realize that maybe the meeting didn't go so well and she needs some time to herself.

The house was silent for the rest of the day, as if no one was inside. You know your girlfriend tends to keep things to herself, but every now and then you make an effort to let her open up when she feels comfortable, not so much that her emotions explode all at once, but enough so that she feels good to talk.

You make prepositions of what might have upset her, it might be a small problem and you don't even need to worry, you also don't want to cross any barriers and meddle in something that is none of your business.

By night, you believe she's doing better because your little conversations seem light and without any apparent problems.

During the week, she didn't seem to care anymore about what was perhaps bothering her, but you know her very well and you know that despite her pretending everything is fine, something isn't right.

You set the bags on the kitchen counter after coming in from the market and go to the bedroom to announce your arrival, pausing in the doorway when you hear sniffles and sobs.

You take a deep breath and knock on the door, not wanting to startle her. “Baby, is everything okay?”

“Yes, I'm coming” her voice full of sadness breaks your heart and you slowly open the door seeing her quickly wipe her face sitting on the floor with her back resting on the bed.

“Hey, what happened?” you kneel beside her.

“I can't take it anymore” she hugs you with her face buried in your neck.

“It's okay, my love. I'm here” you wait for her to calm down, but she doesn't break away and doesn't even look up in shame.

“I'm sorry”

“Why are you apologizing?”

She shrugs.

“You do not need to apologize. Tell me what happened?”

“I thought it would get to a point where I didn't care anymore, but it seems to affect me more than I realize”

“Tell me what I need to do to help you, I will solve it”

“You can’t solve”

“Why?”

She pulls away and lowers her eyes before answering, not daring to look you in the eye because if she does, she feels like she's going to cry again. “It’s these hate comments”

You feel your heart sinking in your chest to see her in this state, you've always been aware of the absurd amount of comments she receives, many of them being disrespectful comments and your blood boils knowing that they come from people hiding behind a screen of cell phone, because if you saw someone say that in front of you, you would not be responsible for your actions.

“Look at me” you ask holding her face and making her look into your eyes. “Nothing they say is true. I know that I can say a thousand nice things to you, but that if you read a mean comment on a bad day, it will stick in your head and erase all the good things I said to you. I know it's hard to ignore and that it's easier to say you don't care than to really not care. But you have me and I'm always open to talk, it doesn't matter if it's about just one bad thing or ten, we're not always going to talk about nice things and I'm willing to listen to you, you don't have to hold everything and think you're disturbing me”

Jennie stares at you without saying anything. If it was her old relationship, her ex would tell her to stop the drama and that these comments only affect her because she looks for them and keeps reading them. She hates comparing you to her ex, but unconsciously her brain does that, because she can't believe that someone like you, who has so much patience with her, who always demonstrates to be willing to solve whatever is needed, who always knows what to say at the right time is with her and that above all understands not only her busy life, but also her deepest feelings.

She wants to say how grateful she is, she wants those words to just slip out of her mouth so she doesn't have to say them so precisely. But that doesn't happen, instead she just lets your words of comfort flow through her mind and nods her head as a sign that she understands what you mean.

“Great” you smile. “I bought popcorn, how about we watch cartoons?”

“I think it would be perfect”

“Then let's go” before getting up and extending your hand for her to accompany you, you place two kisses on her forehead and gently wipe her nose with the sleeve of your shirt.

Three

If it weren't for the countless times your girlfriend has said she misses you over video call, you wouldn't be getting on a plane right now. For the few minutes of the call, you could see the rush and preparation for the third consecutive day of concert, imagining the stress of all the team to fix the last details.

You've quickly packed a small bag for travel, as the concert is taking place in a nearby town, and after dropping your belongings at the hotel, you stop at a coffee shop near the stadium to buy Jennie's favorite sweets.

You send a message to a staff you befriended once while backstage letting her know you're coming and as soon as she spots you, she helps you get past the security guards leading you to where your girlfriend is.

“Decided to come at the last minute?” she asks as she shows the access card to another security guard.

“Yes, I decided to surprise her” she smiles.

“She will like it, we had some problems in rehearsal and stage preparation today and not everyone is in a good mood”

You leave the sweets and a bouquet of flowers on a table behind the stage, and stepping onto the large platform, which overlooks countless seats, you see Jennie at the end of the catwalk, much smaller than she is because of the distance.

You greet your friends who are also part of the group closest to you on the stage and start walking around the huge platform.

She has her back, giving you the opportunity to hug her. “Hi, love” you say in her ear and she gets tense for a few seconds, but then relaxes when she hears your voice.

“What are you doing here?” she asks in surprise, turning her head slightly to check that you're really there.

“Ouch, is this how you receive your girlfriend who came from another city and stayed on the plane for hours just to see you?” you ask jokingly with mock offense.

“You know what I meant!” she pouts and you kiss her.

“Yeah, I know. Since you can't live away from me, saying you missed me so much, I decided to come stay with you” you chuckle as she pats your arm rolling her eyes.

“If you're going to tease me, let's stay in separate rooms at the hotel” you know she doesn't mean it, she turns into your arms with a smile on her lips.

“Right” you laugh and seal her lips. “But I’ll let you know that I brought my camera and I’m going to record everything”

As she finishes rehearsing on stage, you take countless photos. It's not like you've never been to a concert before, but seeing her so happy and comfortable in the place she was born to be, makes you smile for hours until your cheeks hurt.

You go to the dressing room so she can get ready and you hand her the bouquet and a bag of sweets. She radiates happiness and you can't resist pinching her cheeks as she chews on one of the macarons.

Jennie has already received thousands of flowers, but when you give them, the feeling is much more special and her heart skips a beat.

She tries to hide her emotion as she eats and hopes you didn't see her eyes fill with tears. She really missed you, even though you texted or called her every day, she couldn't wait to come home and be with you. She knows it's not easy to take a last minute break from work, find a flight and spend the day doing practically nothing during rehearsals. And yet you did it without a second thought and with a beautiful smile on your face, going on and on about how cool she looks on stage.

She thought about confessing her deepest feelings before going onstage, so that she wouldn't have to look you in your eyes if you didn't return them yet, but the only thing she was able to say was “thanks for coming”.

Four

One of Jennie's hobbies, and one that she hasn't done in a while, is cooking desserts. She always liked to make cakes, pies, waffles and many others simply for the pleasure of making them and many times some of them stayed in the fridge for weeks until you could eat everything.

In an afternoon with nothing to do, you saw a video of stuffed cookies on your cell phone and showed it to her. She soon got excited about making them and you wouldn't expect that she wanted to make them right away.

Searching the cupboards and fridge for ingredients, she places them on the counter and begins reviewing the recipe.

You simply stand beside her, waiting for some instructions on what to do, she soon tells you what you have to do and you get in tune while working.

You ask a few times to try the stuffing, but she denies saying it's not ready yet. Some time later you see her with a spoon in her mouth.

“Hey, you said it wasn’t ready yet!” you accuse her indignantly and she laughs in your face.

“It wasn't ready at that time, now it is” she mocks and starts stuffing the cookies.

“Jennie Kim, if I were you I would be careful how you talk”

“Why? What are you going to-” her sentence is cut off as you take flour in one of your hands and throw it in her face.

Laughing uncontrollably, you lean against the counter and your stomach starts to hurt from laughing so hard. She processes what just happened for a few seconds and you almost swallow flour when she takes her revenge, laughing out loud of your face when you run to the sink to spit the ingredient out of your mouth.

You've never seen her laugh so hard, her laugh is infectious and you start having a fit of giggles as you dirty each other up.

Jennie always thought you were extremely beautiful, with your eyes that always seem to have that unique sparkle and a laugh that could light up the entire planet. Before she can say anything, you've pulled her into a shower while the cookies get cold.

A small sound coming from the back of her throat makes it clear that she is enjoying you shampooing her hair. You repeat the process and apply conditioner, securing her locks in a bun.

When you go to start washing your hair, she takes the shampoo out of your hands and does to you what you did to her. Jennie smiles at how stunning you are, with the water coursing through your body, with your eyes closed feeling her fingers on your head and the orange light of the sunset illuminating you.

Jennie must be the luckiest person in the world to be able to experience paradise while still on Earth. If when she arrives at the gates of paradise and finds anything less than that, she will believe that everything they imagine about this angelic place is a lie and she will want to go back immediately. Why is it possible that a place known as the best place to be, with peace, joy and an indescribable feeling doesn't have you in it?

Five

The summer breeze makes your hair fly in the wind as you walk with your dogs. Each leading one on a leash, you make your way to the park that you always go when the weather is nice for a walk.

You stop at an ice cream parlor and you order your favorite flavor and Jennie chooses a different flavor every time, claiming that her new favorite flavor might be out there and she won't find out if she doesn't try it.

You sit on a bench in the park and you feel Jennie staring at you. “Something wrong, love?” you ask already knowing the answer.

“I didn't like that flavor very much” she confesses and you exchange your ice creams, giving yours to her.

“What flavor is that?” you ask with a little ice cream in your mouth.

“Rainbow” she laughs at your grimace.

“And what should that taste like? It has almost no taste, it feels like I'm drinking water” you laugh.

After she is happy having your her ice cream, you move to a more open space and let go of the leashes, letting the dogs run and play freely. You run, jump and throw the toys for them to fetch while Jennie watches you sitting on a picnic blanket.

You decide that's good for today and it's time to go home. When you go to bend over to put the leashes back on, she bends down at the same time and you bump your foreheads. She was going to pretend she got hurt so she could get a peck on the forehead, but she sees you laughing and starts laughing at your reaction.

In the middle of the park, with two dogs watching their owners and laughing at something so silly, you look like two idiots in love. You two are idiots in love. Who laugh at the dumbest things, who watch their partner with love and a smile on your face, with a look that says it all at the same time.

Jennie will tell you. Not today, not this time. But she's determined to take that step and put all her fears and insecurities aside because if you haven't walked away by now, if you've been with her through her ups and downs, if you've seen her cry, laughed, heard her secrets and goals she wants to achieve in the future, all of them including you, it's because you're going to stay in her life as long as she allows it and that means forever.

With butterflies in her stomach, she intertwines your hands and you walk back home in a comfortable silence, talking only with looks and smiles.

Six: when she says the three words

It wasn't a good day for you at work today. Everything seems to have gone wrong, starting with your alarm clock that didn't go off and you were late, your boss who is almost never at the company but coincidentally was today and noticed you were late, thousands of emails to answer, short deadlines for document delivery and an extremely boring meeting that you barely paid attention to. On the way back home, a car almost hit yours for trying to overtake you at a red light and you almost had to rummage through your bag in the driveway because when you left for work, you just threw the object in your bag and you was frustrated that you couldn't do something as easy as finding the keys.

There are days and days. There are days when few things shake you, it's very difficult for you to get upset, it's easy to forget the problems and carry on as if nothing had happened. And there are days when your sensitivity is at an all-time high and a single hair out of place makes you want to cry with rage.

Despite being tired, you agreed with Jennie that this week you would be the one to do the laundry. If you said you weren't well, she would immediately tell you to lie down and do the chores for you, but you think it's good to do something to distract yourself.

You change and start taking the clean clothes out of the machine to put the dirty ones. You sort the clothes carefully so as not to make the same mistake as your girlfriend who once missed a red sock in the middle of the light clothes and turned everything into pink.

You put the clean ones in the dryer and for a moment you sit on the laundry room floor watching the laundry being done. Jennie frowns when she finds you on the floor and crouches down to your level.

“What are you doing there, doll?”

“Waiting for laundry to do” you mutter. She looks at the machine's dashboard that says the laundry will be clean in an hour.

“Are you going to wait an hour here?” you shrug and she strokes your hair.

“Bad day?”

“Bad day” you confirm.

“Get up” she extends her hand for you to take. “I'm not going to let you sit on the cold floor for an hour because of a bad day. Your back will thank me later”

You get up and she walks you to the kitchen. You stop in front of the counter, where her cell phone is and she puts it on a playlist, you immediately recognize the song. You don't know it, but she made a playlist with all your favorite songs, so when she's far away, she can feel close to you, whether it's the lyrics, the melodies, the memories you have sung through the songs or just because you likes a song is enough for her to like it too.

She places her hands on your waist and you place yours on her neck, lightly caressing the back of her neck. You lean your head on her shoulder and you start swaying lightly to the rhythm of the music. She makes circles on your back, not because you're crying or because it hurts, but to comfort you from the bad day you've had to go through.

You listen to her hum the lyrics and close your eyes to feel this moment as much as possible. You might feel a little better with that small gesture, as if the world doesn't exist, just the two of you dancing in the kitchen, in a parallel reality belonging only to you, where nothing bad can reach you because you're in the arms of your love, in the arms of the person who makes you feel safe, in the arms of someone who cares. And that's enough to make you feel good.

“I love you” Jennie finally says. She doesn't have to say it with her eyes closed or wanting to run away. She says every word. She faithfully clings to those three words that mean the world to you.

And a tear escapes your eyes, a single tear. It's not sadness or anger. It's for being able to hear this and being able to know what it's like to feel loved. To be loved by someone you love too, to be loved by someone who knows and accepts your flaws. Being loved by someone who would kill and die for you is the best thing you could ever feel in your entire life. To be loved by Jennie.

[poop-fartious]

can i request a wally x reader who ends up in the neighborhood by accident and really doesn't wanna be there, but wally and the others try to turn their frown upside down?

Sure! Hope you don't mind me using this as a more general thing to test the waters out with the other characters (still Wally focused tho). This is also my first time writing Wally as a non-yandere.

WALLY DARLING X GN!READER

cw: none! reader is a human.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Knock knock knock

"Y/N!?" Julie cried out, "Are you in there?"

You huffed and covered your face with your pillow, trying to resist the urge to groan.

This happens every morning since you somehow ended up in this strange lost media world. Your neighbors Julie and Barnaby knock on the door to try and get you out of your house. Eventually, they'd give up.

You hated this. You hated how everything here was so cheery. Not that you hated cheeriness but it was all too cheery. This isn't a world for you.

You listened to the knocking, and Barnaby's endless slew of horrible jokes about being a shut-in. You don't care, kinda, you already tuned them out.

A few minutes pass, and they leave. You heave a sigh of relief and collapse on your couch. You're desperate to return home, and you'll find it eventually. But for now, just being like this was fine.

It wasn't long after both Julie and Barnaby leave that another knock on the door came. Two knocks and a message.

"Mail's here,"

It was Eddie, the only one of your neighbors you ever opened the door for. You didn't particularly like Eddie either, he's just the mailman and if he has mail then you have to get it.

Usually you exchange a quiet "thank you" after his deliveries, refuse to engage with his small talk, and then shut the door and leave him. He knows this, and doesn't engage with you for long.

But today is different, as when you opened the door you found that he has no packages to deliver, and was just standing there with a smile.

"Today's package is…" Eddie said, before wrapping your arms around you and lifting you up off the ground, "Spending some time outside,"

Your breath hitched as he spun you around. You regret opening the door.

Eddie has placed you down on your doorstep, quickly shutting your door and blocking your doorway.

"We're having a picnic and we'd like you to come," Eddie said. You huffed, knowing there was no other option.

—//—

You weren't even close to the picnic site when Barnaby ran over and engulfed you in an eager hug, causing you to stiffen like a board.

"Took you long enough to get out of your house, ey?" Barnaby said, "Did you have a bad ten mornings?"

He patted you on the back. You looked down at the ground, embarrassed. You didn't want to be here. Obviously, Eddie and Barnaby picked up on this.

"You getting embarrassed?" Barnaby asked.

"There's nothing embarrassing about being loved by friends!" Eddie said, acting as if you were buddies, pals.

You didn't want to be here, let alone make friends. You wanted to go home, not to your house here, but your actual home. Yet if you voiced that concern you'd know they'd laugh you off.

You aren't gonna be friends with anyone here.

You got to the picnic site, and was greeted by your cheery neighbors. Julie brought you into another hug, thankfully it was a short hug. She began hopping up and down and flapping her hands as she reveled in your appearance.

Howdy and Poppy gave you friendly waves, while Sally twirled happily. Yet their reactions were nothing compared to the stare that Wally Darling himself gave you. You didn't know how to describe it.

Frank split the neighbors up from you.

"Don't you think they're being a bit overwhelmed? This is their first time out of the house since they got here!" he said.

You took the only blanket available, a very splotchy yet colorful blanket, and sat still. You didn't want to interact with anyone else. You wanted your time here to be as short as possible.

Howdy brought out the food, each of them catered to the specific tastes of the neighbors, you assumed, as each neighbor got something different.

You were last, to which Howdy brought out a cake that said "Welcome!"

"I know you've been here for a little while," Howdy said, "but I still wanted to give you something special as a proper welcome gift,"

You gave a silent thank you, as is polite, and started to eat the cake. It was actually very tasty. You're keeping this to yourself.

"How's the food?" asked Eddie, "Howdy makes some good stuff,"

You then spoke your first words to them. "It's alright,"

You continued eating it, trying to tune out the conversations around you. You were focused on finishing the cake and getting out of there, yet Julie broke you out of your focus.

"They really like the cake!" Julie said, "They finished eating before anyone else!"

Your face flushed, "No!" you let out, "I just eat fast!"

The neighbors chuckled at you, clearly making up their mind.

You turned down everything that they offered after that, saying you were full even though you were not full at all, in fact you were starving before Howdy's cake. The food in the fridge that was somehow there ran out yesterday, and you hadn't eaten anything since mid day yesterday.

Yet you wanted out. You wanted to go to your house and somehow survive there. You didn't want to be around these puppets.

Wally seemed to see right through you, as he made his way over to you and spoke in a soothing voice you didn't expect.

"You do look rather hungry," Wally said, "How long has it been since you've last eaten?"

You didn't answer.

"That long, huh?" Wally said. He pulled out an apple, handing it to you, "Here, eat this. You better watch out for yourself,"

You ate the apple, giving a silent thank you to Wally as you scarfed it down. The others all made comments, as they did, but you didn't mind that.

—//—

The day went on, and it was excruciating. Once the picnic was done everyone went over to Sally's house, as she had made a new play that she performed.

Then, Julie and Barnaby set up some games for everyone to play and you wanted to not play, yet Julie forced you to.

More and more things happened, and by the time the sun started to set you were lying catatonic underneath a tree.

You heard footsteps, it was Wally. He was carrying something in his arms and he smiled upon seeing you.

"Y/N," Wally said, sitting down next to you, "Today was exhausting for you, I could tell,"

You nodded.

"Well, I wanted to give you something,"

He handed you the thing in his hands. It was covered but as you uncovered it Wally started explaining it.

"You didn't smile at all when you were around us," Wally said, "I noticed that. I noticed a lot about you,"

He got closer.

"You really did like that cake, and you may have liked Barnaby's jokes more than you let on,"

He touched your face.

"You aren't made of the same materials as the rest of us… and your chest rises and falls,"

Wally stopped, and you realized you had uncovered what he gave you.

It was a framed portrait of you, smiling, looking up at something.

"I also noticed that you only let yourself smile during Sally's play," Wally said, "It was beautiful, I had to capture it,"

You were at a loss for words the entire time, but Wally spoke up first.

"You truly are perfect, from head to toe," Wally said, "You're the absolute most, and I love every single thing about you,"

He got down and sat by your side, resting his head on your shoulder as he looked up at you with a look filled with adoration and love. It was the same look he gave you at the picnic.

Wally was comfortable, and wordlessly you gave into your tiredness, your eyes closed and you fell asleep.

When you awoke, you found yourself unable to move, as every single one of your neighbors joined you in a sleep pile.

You were a stranger, you came here by accident and you were exhausted by every single one of your neighbors, but just once you thought maybe life here wouldn't be as bad as it seems.

[agustdiwillsueyou]

WHEN HE SURPRISE YOU ON YOUR BIRTHDAY • MYG FF

"Okay, we're going now," Mom said while putting on her shoes. "Mummy can go tomorrow; stay here tonight," I asked her. I can live alone, but living alone on my birthday seems a bit depressing. "Dear, I have work, or else I would have stayed," she said hurriedly and then hugged and kissed my forehead. "Happy Birthday, dear. Bye," she wished me.

"Bye," I bid her. I started washing dishes. "No call, no message. Does he even remember that today is my birthday?" I muttered. After finishing the dishes, I moved on to clean the living room.

"After finishing all the house chores, I was about to leave when I heard the doorbell. "Is he here?" A smile spread across my face. I jogged towards the door and opened it. However, as I did so, my smile quickly faded.

"Hello, here is your order," said a delivery boy.

"But I didn't order anything," I told him.

"No ma'am, it's from Mr. Yoongi," he informed me.

"Oh, okay. Give it to me," I said and took the parcel."

"What's inside?" I asked the parcel, fully aware that it couldn't talk. It's a side-effect of living alone. I eagerly tore open the package and to my amazement, it was an ALBUM! WOW!!

This man sure knows how to steal my heart, yet I couldn't help but feel unimpressed. Alongside the album, I found a letter tucked inside.

Dear YN,

First and foremost, a very happy birthday to you. I hope you're having a wonderful day. I deeply regret not being able to celebrate with you in person due to my tight schedule. However, I'm determined to make it up to you. I learned that you weren't able to get the PROOF ALBUM, so here it is, my gift to you.Once again, happy birthday.

With love, Yoongi

There something else in box, Enjoy 😉

"What's with the wink emoji sticker?" I narrowed my eyes and saw a little box inside the box. I took it out and it was wrapped in gift paper. "He wrapped it himself," I said and examined the box.I unwrapped the box, and what I saw made my eyes widen and my jaw drop. A VIBRATOR!!WTF??? Now he's making fun of me. "We've been married for two years and we haven't even... and now he's making fun of it." "This is why people shouldn't marry their best friend." I vented all my anger.

I put all the gifts on the table and went to take a bath.

YOONGI POV

"Did you deliver that parcel?" I asked one of the staff, to which he replied, "Yes, Sir." I thanked him and hung up the call. Entering the building, I headed for the elevator, pressing the floor number where YN lives.

"Today, she'll be surprised," I thought, rubbing my hands together. After a few moments, I arrived at our doorstep. I gently pushed the door open, entered, and quietly removed my shoes. I noticed she had arranged the gifts on the table. "But where is she?" I pondered.

Curiosity piqued, I entered her room and heard the sound of the shower. "Ah, she's taking a bath," I mumbled, deciding to find a hiding spot.She emerged from the bathroom, towel-drying her hair. I took out my cell phone and sent her a message.

'Hi YN'

' Happy Birthday Darling 🎉'

"Her phone chimed with a notification. She picked it up, her expression shifting into an angry pout. She messaged me back.

With a frustrated gesture, she tossed her phone onto the bed and turned her attention to combing her hair in front of the mirror. 'Just a few more minutes, honey,' I mumbled to myself.

Then, I heard the sound of rain. Oh no, she hates rain on her birthday."Oh, it's raining now. Hence, today is officially my birthday," she sighed. "Rain always brings a touch of melancholy to my birthday," she complained, before walking towards the balcony. She opened the patio door, allowing the cold air to kiss her face.

"Now is the perfect time to try out the gift my eccentric genius of a husband gave me," she declared before heading to retrieve the gift. I covered my mouth in amazement, thinking, 'Is she really going to do it now, here?' I nervously muttered to myself, "YN, please, not now."

She returned to the room and opened a drawer. "I'm not exactly thrilled about this vibrator, but my dear husband thoughtfully gifted it to me, so I can't just dismiss it. Although, I have no idea how to use it," she said while examining the intimate toy. Eventually, she placed it back in the drawer, reassuring herself, "No worries, he'll teach me. And if he doesn't, I'll give him a piece of my mind." Her firm resolve left me facepalming in embarrassment.

Next, she retrieved the CD speaker. 'Ah, she's going to play a song,' I thought. She carefully placed the CD labeled 'Yet To Come' on the speaker and settled onto the bed.

The song's melody was truly soothing.

Before long, the song came to an end...

YN POV

"The song came to an end, prompting me to rise from the bed. Suddenly, the bulb started blinking on and off.

"Now you're showing your tantrums," I scolded the bulb, crossing my arms. After giving it a stern second look, I fetched a stool. Placing a small ladder on the floor, I climbed up to try and fix the bulb. However, it proved futile. "Hmm, it's not working," I sighed, descending from the ladder. Unfortunately, my foot slipped, and I was on the verge of falling. I instinctively closed my eyes, bracing for the impact, but I landed in someone's arms.

I opened my eyes, expecting pain, but found none. Instead, I saw Yoongi holding me, though my right leg was still entangled in the ladder. Our gazes locked, and I felt that same rush of emotions I'd been trying to suppress. The intensity of his eyes always had the power to stir something within me, and it still did. What are you doing to me, Yoongi?

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he slid his right hand behind my legs, lifting me in a bridal style. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concern evident in his eyes. I looked away, nodding in response. He gently set me down.

"Why are you here?" I inquired, wasting no time."First, let me fix this bulb, then we'll talk. Alright?" he suggested, pointing at the malfunctioning light. I nodded in agreement.

He ascended the ladder and skillfully fixed the bulb. As he descended, he declared, "Done," then turned his gaze towards me. I silently pleaded for him to look away; his gaze always had the power to melt me. Eventually, I broke eye contact.

"Are you still upset with me?" He asked, wearing a sad pout. He approached me, and I couldn't help but sigh. "You know I can't stay upset with you," I admitted, wrapping my arms around him. He reciprocated the hug, and I thought to myself, 'Only I know how much I missed his warmth.'

"Happy birthday, YN," he murmured, breaking the hug to kiss my forehead. "Thank you, Yoongi," I replied with a bright smile.

"Let's sit," he suggested. We settled near the patio door, admiring the rainy weather. Though my gaze was fixed on the rain, I could sense him watching me. When I turned to meet his eyes, he simply smiled and shook his head, redirecting his attention to the rainy view.

Then, we both heard the doorbell. I was about to get up, but he stopped me. "Wait, I'll check," he said, and I nodded. He went outside.

After a few minutes of waiting, I suddenly heard the familiar tune of a birthday song. I saw Yoongi, holding a small cake adorned with flickering candles. Overwhelmed with happiness, I instinctively covered my mouth.

"Oh my God, this is so sweet," I gushed in gratitude. He settled beside me, carefully placing the cake plate on the floor. "Blow out the candles, then make a wish," he instructed. I took a deep breath and blew out the candles. Yoongi broke into applause, his voice joining in the birthday song. In that moment, I couldn't help but silently wish for a future filled with Yoongi's unconditional love, hoping to spend my entire life with him.

After cutting the cake, I offered the first bite to him, and in return, he fed me a piece. Together, we finished the entire cake, and he playfully adorned my cheeks with frosting. A few tears welled up in my eyes, though they were only feigned

He grew concerned. "I'm so sorry. It's just cake," he apologized, reaching for a tissue to gently wipe my face.

He then lay down, resting his head in my lap. I tenderly stroked his hair, watching as he closed his eyes and settled into a state of relaxation. As the rain ceased, a gentle, cool breeze caressed us. "This is the best birthday," I finally spoke the sentiment my heart had been holding.

He opened his eyes, sat up, and cradled my face in his hands. "I'm sorry, YN, for not giving you my time. I promise you'll see me every day soon," he assured, a smile gracing his lips. His words puzzled me.

"What do you mean? Please don't tell me you're planning to go public with our relationship," I scolded gently, pointing a finger at him. "You don't have to take such a big risk. I'm content even if we meet infrequently. Your happiness and pursuit of your dreams matter more to me."

He took my hands in his, his gaze filled with concern. "But you are my dream, too. I'm not truly happy without you; my joy is complete with you by my side. And I know you feel the same. You have every right to say that your dream is me, and everyone should accept it," he declared, cupping my face as tears escaped my eyes. "I love you so much, YN... and I can't hide it any longer. Just give me one month. Promise, YN," he implored, kissing my hands.

"It's alright, Yoongi. I understand," I assured him, a mixture of emotions swirling within me.

He gently wiped away my tears. "Now don't cry, you look so ugly when you cry," he teased, and I couldn't help but laugh at his joke.

This time, I shifted to lay on his lap, gathering courage to confess. "I love you too, Yoongi," I admitted.

"I know," he replied with a soft chuckle.I closed my eyes, savoring the relaxation his touch brought. Suddenly, I felt soft lips press against mine, and there was no doubt whose they were. I couldn't help but smile, even between our kisses. Eventually, we parted.

"Nice taste," he commented, and I giggled in response, feeling a warm glow spread through me.

"Now, I'm asking you one last time, what are you actually cooking?" I warned him, my curiosity piqued.

"Okay, it's Aloo ka Paratha," he finally revealed, while stuffing spicy potatoes into something resembling bread, but not quite.

"Aloo ka what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"PA-RA-THA," he emphasized, breaking down the word for me."Ah, got it," I nodded,

then picked up my phone and opened Google to learn more about 'Aloo ka Paratha'.

"Ah, got it," I nodded, then picked up my phone and opened Google to learn more about 'Aloo ka Paratha'.

As I read aloud the search results, "Google says, 'Aloo paratha is a bread dish originating from India. It is a popular breakfast dish in the Indian subcontinent. The recipe is one of the most beloved breakfast dishes throughout the western, central, and northern regions of India, as well as the eastern regions of Pakistan.' This sounds really tasty," I remarked, my mouth already watering at the thought.

"It is," he affirmed, carefully arranging the parathas on a plate.

He placed the plate on the dining table, then nervously rubbed his hands. "Let's eat," he suggested, and we both settled into our chairs. He took a piece, offering it to me, and I gladly accepted it into my mouth. As the flavors burst, my eyes widened, and I glanced at Yoongi, who was awaiting my feedback.

"Oh my God, Yoongi, it's incredibly tasty," I exclaimed, thoroughly enjoying the paratha.

"See, I told you," he declared, his voice filled with pride.

"Eat more," he encouraged, and I nodded. "You should have some too," I insisted, offering him a piece."No, I can't. I'm on a diet," he protested.

"YAHH.. PLEASE, JUST ONE PARATHA," I insisted firmly.

"Okay, okay," he relented, finally giving in and savoring a paratha as well.

....

"We both were in an elevator, our arms were linked to each other, and my head was resting on his shoulder. 'I'll miss you, Yoongi,' I said with a sad tone. 'Me too,' he said, rubbing my hands. I looked up at him, and he was also looking down at me."

"He leaned down to kiss me. Our lips met, both soft and passionate. We broke the kiss, and soon the elevator doors opened. He covered his face with a mask. 'I love you, Honey,' he said, patting my head as he went out of the elevator. However, he came back inside and handed me a small box."

"Then he went out again. 'This will always fill my emptiness when you feel alone.' And then the elevator closed. I opened the box, and there was a necklace. 'I love you,' I mumbled."

THE END

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[generic-sonic-fan]

OFFICE COFFEE DELIVERY

Summary: Rouge needs an extraction. When Omega is presented with a situation he can't shoot his way out of, it turns out he's more crafty than she thought.

644 words

Five minute break. The boss had finally stepped out of the room. Rouge put her head down on the table and rubbed her temples.

She jerked back upright, however, when she heard a familiar set of mechanical footsteps turning the corner of the hall outside. There was always plenty of warning with Omega around. She spun around in her seat to greet him.

"Hey, big boy, what's up?" She asked with a smile as he opened the door.

He entered with his right shoulder first, straightening once he was through the doorframe. To her surprise, in his enormous left hand was a tiny styrofoam cup. He handed it forth. The smell of coffee hit her nose.

"CAFFEINATED SUBSTANCE DELIVERED."

"Shadow tell you to do this?"

"NEGATIVE. YOUR CALENDAR FORECASTED YOUR EXTRANEOUS THREE-HOUR MEETING TODAY. I DETERMINED YOU WOULD NEED MY STRATEGIC BACKUP."

"Aww, thanks. I appreciate it." She took one of his claws in her hand.

There was a cough from the other end of the table. Another officer, something corporal adjacent, someone less useful than a paper bag full of air, looked up from his laptop and at Rouge.

"You've got the robot to deliver you coffee? Man, that's awesome. Could you get it to get me some coffee too? Two sugars, no cream."

Rouge looked back at Omega and smiled. Well, not really smiled, per se. More like parted her lips in a way that might indicate, don't maim him or we're both in trouble.

But to her surprise, Omega simply turned around and left the room. Her facade cracked for just a moment as she stared at the door. Not a single word? Not even a nonverbal threat?

"Sweet, thanks." Mr. Air-For-Brains said. "Man, this meeting is sure going on for a long time, huh?"

Because you wouldn't shut up about your new little proposal, Your Airiness, Rouge sniped back in her thoughts.

"When this meeting's over, want to go, I don't know, blow off some steam?" He winked.

Ugh. His wink was some droopy, twitchy motion, where is other eyelid closed halfway as well. He'd clearly never practiced in front of the mirror. Did he think it was effortless?

Before Rouge could snap and tell him to shove his head where the sun didn't shine, the boss came back, looking rather confused. He resumed his seat at the head of the table, and stared as Omega squeezed through the door after him.

"Oh, my coffee, thanks." Sir Winks-A-Lot held his hand out.

Omega's optics flashed. Rouge recognized the glint immediately, and scooted her chair out of the way.

In a testament to the targeting system of the Ultimate Robot, the largest splotch of coffee hit dead center on the guy's white button-up. The rest trailed behind, splashing all over his face. He howled and began scrubbing his face off with his sleeves. When those became soaked too with brown, he grabbed his suit jacket from off his chair.

"E-123 Omega!" The boss stood from his chair. "What is the meaning of this?"

Omega didn't look at him, instead continuing to stare at Mr. Coffeeshirt, before announcing, "YOUR COMMENTS TOWARD AGENT ROUGE HAVE BEEN RECORDED."

-And there was the coup de grace. A metaphorical execution so clean that Rouge would have applauded if she could.

"Agent Jenkins?" The boss said sternly.

"The robot burned me! It burned me, and I didn't say anything to her! I-"

"Agent Rouge, you're free to go. Jenkins, you and I are going to have a word."

Rouge slid out of her seat. Omega held the door for her before following her out.

"Thanks." She said once they were a few hallways away from the carnage. "A lot more subtle than your usual style, hmm?"

"I EMULATED THE MOST COMPETENT PERFORMER OF SUBTERFUGE I KNOW."

"So you can be taught." She grinned. "Who would have thought?"

[steve-faglan]

Seek and Find (Pt. 2)

Reader x Steve Raglan (William Afton)

TW: NON CON // DUB CON!!!! (But this one is mostly non con)

Summary: You can't stop thinking about him since your last meeting and fate finds a way to place you right in front of him again.

[Read part 1 here]

Steve takes you over and over until the sun begins to peak over the horizon. When he finally leaves, you pass out from exhaustion. When you wake up, you can finally move your body, though you're still very weak. A soreness you've never felt before tears through your body as you attempt to sit up. You groan in angry ache, rising to your feet and making your way to the bathroom. After a warm bath in silence, you hobble into your living room.

You wince when you see the two wine glasses. One-half empty and the other untouched. The sight of the light liquid inside reminds you of the way his cologne smelled as he carried your motionless body to your bedroom. Like you were nothing.

To your dismay, you feel the arousal pooling in your underwear and a heat building in your stomach. What's wrong with me? You wonder. Suddenly, you remember the men who had ghosted you. How did Steve know about them? And how was he using their phone numbers to communicate with you? Your mind races too much to continue dissecting the mystery, all you can think about is Steve. He's nameless to you, but the memory of his tongue inside of you is enough to have you yearning.

You slip a hand into your panties and gently play with your sore, used clit. You have to be careful after the way Steve left you, but you can't resist it. He's done something to your mind. You never want to see him again, but he's consuming your every thought. You're seconds away from climaxing, your shameless moans grow louder by the minute. A sharp knock at the door tears you from your pleasure, edging you.

You're certain it's Steve. Or maybe... You hope that it's Steve. As long as he's forcing himself on you, you don't have to face the shame of how badly you want it. Your heart begins to race and you hesitate before finally opening the door. It's a delivery man, dropping off a package you'd ordered a few weeks ago. Your shoulders fall in disappointment and you thank the driver before closing your door. You toss the package to the side and forget about it. It's just another gadget for the house. Something superfluous that you didn't need.

The weeks drone on and the memory and desperate craving for Steve seems to subside, though you can't help but still feel watched at every turn. You barely leave your house and the paid internship you started this year and soon coming to an end with no promise that your employers want to keep you. When the day finally comes, the news is enough to break your spirit.

"We're looking for someone a little less distracted," your former boss explains.

"I'm... Distracted?" You blink in disbelief.

"It just seems that lately, you've been meeting deadlines later and later."

"But I am meeting them, am I not?" You want to raise your voice, but you realize there's no point. "Okay. Thank you for the opportunity." You stand to leave and the woman wishes you well. You give her an understanding smile and head out the door. Now, you're just angry. At everything. At yourself, your old job, and especially Steve. He's the cause of your downfall in more ways than one. Even while he's not touching you, he's still violating you. Taking from you everything you have.

You take a day to be angry and resentful, and then you set up a meeting with a local temp agency. The woman on the phone says they have the best career counselors around, so you feel a sense of relief when you wake up to get ready for the day. Feeling less than yourself, and a bit rejected, you spend a little extra time on your makeup this morning.

Your large, doll eyes are highlighted with light eyeshadow and a courteous layer of mascara. You finish off the rest and get dressed in your best professional clothes. You're nervous, but hopeful after the phone call you had yesterday. After you arrive at the temp agency building and check-in, you sit in a waiting area. One other temp sits in a chair across the room and reads a magazine.

"Micheal, Mr. Raglan will see you now," the kind older lady behind the desk calls to the other temp. You are now alone in the warmly lit waiting area. You scan the room a few times, occasionally checking your phone until the same woman's voice pipes up again.

"You can head back, now, sweetie." The woman smiles at you and you return the sentiment. You walk confidently down the hall, passing Micheal on his way out. He looks disappointed. As you step into the room a familiar scent fills your senses, but you can't pinpoint it. The career counselor is placing a file into the filing cabinet behind his desk, his back faces you.

You're standing in the doorway, carefully inching forward as you wait for him to turn around. The chair creaks when it swivels around. You're looking down at your shirt, flattening the fabric to be more presentable when you hear the man start to chuckle. You look up to see Steve. Whose name you're only just now learning when you glance at his nameplate. Your mouth hangs open in silent shock.

Steve continues to laugh before releasing an amused sigh and leaning forward on his desk. He looks pleasantly surprised and all too happy to see you. Like he's relieved.

"Guess you found me," he jokes, tilting his head to the side. You try to find a word, any word, but nothing comes out. You take a step backward. "Absolutely not. Have a seat." It's as if he knows the power his words will have over you. You do as he says and shakily take a seat in one of the chairs sitting in front of his desk.

"I- I-" you desperately search for the sentence, but he doesn't have time.

"Impressive detective work." Steve smiles slyly and leans back in his leather desk chair.

"I wasn't... I wasn't looking for you."

"Are you sure? You look like you got dressed up for me." He teases, causing you to blush and pull the low collar of your shirt up to cover yourself more. "Wow. Lucky me." He sighs as he folds his hands together and rests his chin on them, staring at you like he's admiring artwork. "So you need a job, huh?"

"I think I better go." Your voice trembles.

"Don't be ridiculous. Only an idiot can't distinguish business and pleasure." His lips curl into a devious grin, deepening the dimples on his cheeks. "You know, I think I have the perfect job for you, Y/N."

"Please, Steve. I-"

"Oh, no, sweetheart. It's Mr. Raglan when you need me to do you a favor." He tilts his head mockingly.

"M-Mr. Raglan. I can just go somewhere else, it's fine."

"Where? This is the only employment office in town and every surrounding town sends their lost causes to us. Where do you think you stand right now?" Normally you'd think more highly of yourself, but after being let go and everything with Steve, you're having a hard time with self-worth.

"Okay, right."

"Now, the job I have in mind for you is easy. The hours are so-so, but I think you'd learn to like it. You interested?"

"What is it?" You swallow the lump in your throat, unsure you want to know the answer.

"I run a little side operation outside of the temp agency. I'd love an extra pair of hands." Steve's demeanor is so different than the night he spent in your home, using your holes freely as if you were merely a doll meant for pleasure. He awaits her answer with a flat expression.

"You... You want my help? After what you did to me?"

"Sweetheart, to me, it looks like you need my help. I'm just offering you a job. I didn't do anything you're not still touching yourself over." He licks his lips, exposing his knowledge of your pastime. Your face flushes and you can no longer look him in the face.

"I- I-"

"You're a depraved slut, Y/N. Do you want the job or not?" His patience is running out. You cower at the idea of upsetting him so your answer falls out without thought.

"I'll do it." Your words catch him off guard, but a pleased smile invades his face when he realizes what you've agreed to.

"Good girl," his words send tingles down your spine. "You start tomorrow, 9 AM, sharp."

"Tomorrow?" You furrow your brow, overwhelmed by the rushed nature of the offer.

"Yes, tomorrow. At this address." He slides a post-it note across the desk and you take it in your hand. The address doesn't look familiar. "I'll see you then. Don't be late." Steve turns his attention to the paperwork on his desk as if he's bored with your presence already. Still in shock, you rise from your seat and exit the building. When you get in your car, you look at the post-it note again. What just happened?

The next morning, you wake up early to get ready for your new job. Steve didn't specify what kind of work it is, so you try to dress business casual. When you arrive at the address, it's nothing more than a run-down restaurant. You already feel terrified to be here, but with how much Steve knows about you, you don't know what he'd do if you upset him or turned him down.

Nervous and overdressed, you approach the front door. The two thick barred doors that are meant to protect it from intruders are open today, but you're still unsure if you should go in. The place looks liable to collapse at any minute.

Finally, Steve comes to the door.

"Y/N, you're late." He frowns.

"I was here on time, I've been waiting." You protest.

"You don't know how to use a door? That's strike one. Let's try to do better." He disappears into the doors and you quickly trail behind him with a look of disdain. "You know, Y/N. You're not very bright, following me to a secluded location after I ruined you."

You wince at his choice of words. The description makes you feel worthless. Maybe that's why you find yourself so willing to be around him. You still never learned what happened to those other men.

"I need a job. I can't lose my house..." You look down, embarrassed to be so desperate.

"Then you should try being on time." Steve leads you to a room full of disassembled animatronics. "This is where we will be working very closely." His emphasis on "very" makes your skin crawl.

"I don't know anything about robots, sir."

"Good thing I'd rather die than have you messing with my life's work then, huh?" He snaps. "Your job is to keep the area clean. It has a way of becoming a disaster even when we're not here."

"Oh, okay. Yes, sir." You begin picking up the shredded bits of metal and faux fur. Steve watches intently, mostly objectifying you, undressing you with his eyes. Something about being in charge of you. Having you here serving him even after his night with you. It drives him crazy.

Your fight-or-flight senses are going off all day. Everything in your body is telling you not to be here. Not to be near Steve. You try your best to ignore it until you hear a dripping sound.

Tap, tap, tap.

Something viscous is slapping against the floor over and over at an almost steady pace. You follow the sound of the dripping out of the room you're meant to keep clean and down a short hallway. You glance into one room and see a sleeping security guard. He looks like Mike from the employment office. You decide to let him be and continue to search for the leaky pipe.

The dripping grows louder as you approach and you think you can spot it in the back of a janitor's closet. The light is blown so you retrieve your cell and turn on the flashlight. As you approach you notice the dripping water is much darker than expected. It's... Red? Your pulse feels like it halts when you prod it with your finger and realize it's a dark crimson syrupy substance. Blood.

You follow the drops to their source and it seems to be a discarded mascot of the diner. You tug on the chest place out of curiosity and it seems to fall right off. You release an intense, guttural scream of pure fear when you recognize the mangled, crumpled body stuffed into the sharp inner workings of the mascot.

You continue to wail as you run out of the closet and straight toward the back door.

"Y/N!" Steve calls after you with a loud, stern, angry voice. You've never heard anyone so livid. It's as if for the first time since he saw you he wasn't already aware of your next move. You run until your legs feel like they've caught fire. You reach the back door and quickly learn it's locked and warped shut with age. Mike pokes his head out of the security office confused and half asleep. As Steve passes by, he demands Mike return to his duties and slams the office door shut.

"You need to come back here right now, Y/N!" He calls, menacingly. You're certain you know too much now. He could get away with forcing you into sexual ecstasy, but there's no way he'd keep you silent about murder. If he catches you, you're done for.

"Stay the fuck away from me!" You scream as you slam your entire body weight against the metal double doors. Finally, with one last heave, you fly through the exit. The hard thud of you hitting the bare ground knocks the wind out of your lungs. You're temporarily stunned as you gasp for air that won't fill your chest no matter how hard you try. Steve is dangerously close now. You force yourself to your feet and bolt into the woods surrounding Freddy's. You barely make it 10 feet before Steve wraps a strong fist in your flowing hair.

You scream again as you're yanked backward by the head. Steve pulls you into him. You can feel the heavy breathing of his chest pressed against your back. One hand holds one of your arms back while his other arm is wrapped painfully around your neck, cutting off your air supply.

"What the fuck, Y/N?" Steve hisses in your ear.

"Let me go! You're fucking insane, let me go!" You fight and squirm, but nothing works. Nothing frees you from this torment.

"Stay where the fuck I tell you to stay and you won't see things you aren't supposed to see!"

"You-" you try to continue hurling insults at him, but you're choking out at this point. Your knees go weak as you teeter on the cusp of consciousness. Steve throws you on the ground. You land hard on the dirt and debris of the forest, scraping up your face and arms. He's quick to climb on top of you, pressing his pelvis against your ass to pin you down. It's hard not to notice the growing bulge he's grinding against you.

"Steve, please!" You beg and all he does is laugh at your pathetic pleas.

"Shut up!" He slams your face into the leaves and dirt while his other hand starts working on his pants. He quickly shoots a hand up your skirt and excuses your panties to the side before painfully forcing himself inside you. Once he's started thrusting into you at an impossible pace, he takes both of your arms behind your back, rendering you helpless. "Look at you, look at who you belong to."

"No!" You try to kick him away, but his broad frame is too strong. You grow weaker and more tired by the minute. The fear and lack of prep for sex this rough causes a sharp pain that only accelerates the growth of your orgasm. Tears fall down your face causing nature to cling to your cheeks.

Mike can see all of this happening from the outside security cameras, but the office door won't budge after Steve slams it. Mike does everything he can, not giving up, but certainly not succeeding either.

"You're mine, Y/N. Look at what I can do to you any time I want. I know where you live. I watch you sleep." Steve rambles on between thrusts as his anger and climax begin to build.

"Hey! Get off of her!" Mike yells from the office, trying to distract or deter or anything that might help you, but he can't be heard from so far away.

"Say it. Say you're mine," Steve huffs as he holds back his climax.

"No!" You sob, fighting yours just as hard.

"Say it or you'll be the next body I crush in the fucking suit, Y/N." He grits his teeth, rutting into you like he has no control over it.

"I- I'm... Yours. I'm yours," you sob in defeat and Steve releases inside of you. His breathing is heavy in your ear as you feel his cock twitch inside you. Steve slides out of your dripping, overfilled pussy and stands to fasten his belt.

"That's strike two, Y/N. Don't make me regret hiring you. Get the fuck back inside." You shakily do as he says. Your weak legs irritate your abused hole with each hobbling step. As you pass by the security office door, Mike stares at you in horror. The debris still covers your face and body. There are scratches and scrapes all over you. You look like you've seen a ghost, but Steve... Steve is fine. Mike can't look away until you're completely out of his field of view.

Back in Steve's workspace, you stare at the wall. A thousand-yard stare. Steve sits back and admires his handiwork. Though you're in a state of shock, he considers you fucked into submission. He's not entirely wrong. You feel a tear drip from your chin.

"Don't be so dramatic. I'm not paying you just to sit there," Steve says, mostly as some sort of inside joke meant just for him, but you attempt to work anyway. You begin to organize the papers on the long work desk when you notice a series of sketches for a new animatronic that seems to resemble you. The dates go back much further than when you first met Steve. How long has he been watching me? You wonder. Your stomach drops as you imagine the mangled state of your own body to be crammed into a robot of this stature.

"Don't go running off again, Y/N. I'll always catch you." He wraps his arms around you from behind, placing his chin on your shoulder. You swallow the lump in your throat before organizing the concept sketches into a folder and placing them in their proper filing cabinet.

All you can do now is hope so badly that he'll never need them.

[monkey-network]

The Disposable Era of Cartoons

There exists many cartoons in the world that a vast majority never really bring up, and that's okay. Not everyone can watch everything all the time and you can argue that we only scratch the surface since the beginning. I've always had this deep seeded thought however of how animation's been treated, notably of tv shows. Browsing my usual "streaming" sites, I often come upon a show I've never heard of before. One just recently was Zokie of Planet Ruby, a series made by Nelvana, hosted by Nickelodeon, with its entire first season dropped on Amazon Prime on the last day of 2023. Overall, it's not a show I'm interested in, but how it was just dumped onto streaming upon other factors like that got deep seeded thought resurfacing into a theory. A theory regarding the potential era where excess is reaching its apex.

Animated TV shows I say are more arduous to make than films. Not to say films are more effortless to produce, god no, but have better limits given you'll have a set script and runtime to work off of as opposed to having to constantly produce multiple at a time for episodes ranging from 7 to 22 minutes. We work on a timeline where it's hard to believe any new story isn't derivative of already told stories, but the beauty does come in how we're able to transform them with new purposes and concepts. The workload however can be a lot many recognize but don't grasp themselves only as outsiders. The pitch getting greenlit is just the big toe in the door, finally stepping in is a matter of juggling multiple episodes a day, revising and editing, deliveries to the animators, all for the hope that it gets back in time to air. This is where I've come to appreciate The Simpsons, good and bad. Regardless of a recent season's quality, it's undoubtedly difficult to schedule fresh ideas that can stick with the same concepts for 30+ years, all to meet the quota by the beginning of the autumn season. Things have shifted thanks to streaming.

In retrospect, what felt like a novel idea was inevitably gonna turn into a capitalistic nightmare. It makes some sense that Netflix wouldn't have a monopoly on hosting every show from cable TV to be put on their newly founded streaming site in 2007. It wouldn't have been long before every other studio threw their hat in, developing their own stream sites with the properties they made and owned themselves. Competition is natural, but now you're basically spending the same prices as cable or satellite if you wanted to watch every show you remembered seeing on TV. Sites like Tubi and PlutoTV I say are the saving graces where you can shockingly find a ton of film/shows old and new for free, but you've probably seen shows and films getting removed from the sites they originate from, either to be traded to another site or written off for good because investment returns weren't a shake 'n bake. All this is because of rights ownership and a complex web of cost cutting against the people behind said shows and films. What does this mean for cartoons, though?

Like TV shows, you're gonna have a few poster boys upon a ton of shows nobody beyond avid seekers are gonna bother remembering. This has been a trend long in the making, but while many shows can be greenlit and made it can be a crapshoot as to whether the company actually believes in that show enough to market it. For Nickelodeon, it's an open secret that any cartoon not an instant hit like Spongebob, despite little promotion from the company, would be chucked onto the Nicktoons network to run out their remaining episodes. With streaming however, you'd either get something like Zokie of Planet Ruby where everything's dumped without warning or Glitch Techs where it's stuck in development limbo with half its episodes un-aired or incomplete. This isn't just with Nick however. Disney and Cartoon Network has had its fair share of duds everyone's slept on if they weren't massively eyecatching regardless of quality. The fates of their existence is dependent on who's keeping an eye on the companies. This isn't to say shows like Infinity Train and Final Space, which got removed digitally back in October and December respectively, didn't have their supporters who expressed outrage. It's to say other shows couldn't get that level of reported support, and I feel it's only going to get worse.

This is what I believe amounts to the theoretical "Disposable Era" of television, where we aren't just having companies dispose shows but create shows that are purposefully disposable. For websites designed to stream cyclically endless content, this will mean an exponential ton of commissioned projects for cheap that anyone will pick up once, never watch again, and can be written off immediately after a small period because no one outside the crew responsible would notice, incapable of viewing unless someone miraculously torrents everything. While I've brought up TV in general as opposed to just animated stuff, I personally feel the efforts and imaginative possibilities of animation count more for the generations that grow up with them as much as the influences they can have on artists. And I can feel it's discouraging for creators to know that their work can be eventually assembly lined, worst than reality tv, and then erased for tax breaks because nobody thought about them for more than the weekend they binged it all.

This is all if you don't account for anime studios like MAPPA which are a whole other horrifying story

I say "theoretical" because we aren't that far to where it could be possible. Shows do take time to make, and even if companies are pushing AI it's barely able to be anything more than an asset for certain cases. People have their reasonable fears, but an animated show fully AI generated that lasts more than 2 7-minute episodes, at this point in time, is a wet dream from investors. AI will not easily replace the craft, but the craft will be abused year after year with of how many shows get greenlit, made within a couple years, only to be thrown out when the numbers don't appease. This doesn't mean we won't get quality gems, but the rough they come from will pile more and more, and the gems some find that the majority will ignore will be written off and vaulted. I say the inception behind my theory wasn't exactly from the recent stuff like David Zaslav or Paramount's haphazard treatment of their content, it goes a little further back.

Hanazuki: Full of Treasures wasn't a huge series back in 2017, but it was one I enjoyed a lot when it was premiering on Youtube at the time. After its first season finished, Hasbro would produce a theatrical short to coincide with the My Little Pony movie in October. This is where I felt things fell apart. While the film was a commercial success, the short was basically overshadowed and I can't help imagine was what affected the series by the time it got a season two. 2019 was where Hanazuki not only got its broadcast season cut, Hasbro would basically start erasing its existence while supposedly having in development limbo since. While it was all thankfully reuploaded, you wouldn't have been remiss to know Hasbro couldn't even allow it to stay on Youtube after its TV broadcasting.

Everything surrounding rights ownership and royalties has basically developed an endless turmoil of how shows and their crew are treated. I don't blame anyone for not discussing or mentioning everything that gets to exist. Variety is never a bad thing, and sometimes people want certain things because again not everyone thinks or enjoys stuff homogeneously. It's just always increasingly bothered me that so much can get pumped out to be either taken away or left there for people to stumble across. TV's become Youtube but more business heavy where creativity is a tightrope of whether their appeal gets to live for more than a week or not. Like Youtube though, can also be lost to time to no one looking back. Let's just say David Zaslav running WB is only considered the worst because he's become the biggest face of an open secret. He could very well be the beginning of a shift that could lead us into the Disposable Era, and it's anyone guess of how bad it could get.

With all this said, I don't believe preventative hope can't exist, especially without the effort. Piracy is already doing enough for preservation and availability, even if you gotta have adblock to watch them properly. More creators I feel should learn and process the rights they can have with their properties. If there's anything I learned from artists Bill Watterson and Making Fiends' creator Amy Winfrey, is that production syndicates will abuse their knowledge of the law to do as they see fit, especially when it comes down to what you're offering them. The eventual animators and VFX work strikes could provide something more stable, but that's all in due time. How much the average audience member can retain or hyperfixate on is not something to concern, rather that it happens at all. The best solution is finding a middle ground between the disposable and sentimental; more people being vocal about good stuff they found no matter how small. There can be pushback from online lethargic asshats, but it's far better than complaining about the multitude of reboots or how woke everything's become. Something is only as disposable as nobody proclaims otherwise.

but that's all just a theory.

[pbandjesse]

I am very excited that we have the ac off and the windows open. It is so beautiful out right now. It is basically feeling like fall and I'm so excited about that. I know we will probably still have more got days, but wearing a hoodie for a lot of the day heals me.

And thankfully I didn't feel sick for a lot of the day! Like yeah it wasn't perfect, I'm exhausted at every little thing. But today was a lot easier. I ate better. Things were good.

I slept alright. I only woke up once. Smells were really bothering me last night. My own deodorant scent made me feel unwell. I had to get a different scent from my storage today. When I woke up I struggled to get up. James came and sat with me and we hugged for a bit. They were getting ready to leave, but I would be staying here until the appliances were delivered. And thankfully that would actually happen today!

James would head out once I came downstairs. I would get some cereal and bring Crabcake outside. Sweetp was fast asleep upstairs but would eventually come down and joined us.

I was just enjoying laying out in the porch swing. I really wanted to do stuff today but it just wasn't going to happen. Best I could do was move the furniture in the studio so that the delivery people could easily access the basement. And after that I was just exhausted and had to lay down on the couch.

I would heat up the last couple pieces of pizza from last night. And was texting with James. It was a nice and cool morning and even though I was exhausted, I was in a good mood.

James would let me know when the truck was about 20 minutes away. So I moved to the studio so I could watch for the truck. And when I finally saw it pull up I scooped up Sweetp and ran him upstairs to put him in the bedroom.

The delivery men were very nice. They were very concerned that I was going to be upset that the washer and dryer didn't match. I told them it was fine. I didn't realize the washer was going to be shorter then the dryer but I knew they weren't the same brand. It doesn't bother me. We're going to put the laundry basket on top of it anyway.

They had a strap system to help them carry the things. I stayed out of the way best I could but also our basement door swings the wrong way for being out of the way. So I would get the door when I could.

They were very quick. The only issues was that we didn't have a vent for the dryer (I would end up finding it, but we need a longer tube) and thr outlet for the washer wasnt working?? So weird. I said it was fine and we would figure it out. I signed off for the delivery and said goodbye to the nice men.

I wanted to figure out the outlet. I looked at the circuit breaker but everything looked right. So I was like. I'll try and extension cord. But the dryer still wasn't turning on?? I was worried we got something defective. And was even more worried when I tried plugging in something else to the original outlet and it worked right away??? So I texted James in a panic. But I took a breath and looked at the manual and all I had to do was hold the button for 3 seconds. Came right on. Sang a little song even! I was very happy. And James would be too.

I would gather everything and put things away. Brought Crabcake inside. Took a few minutes to rest my brain. But I knew I needed to go to work.

I brought my tablet with me. And I'm so glad I did. I got so much done on my tablet and that just felt really good.

I would t go straight to camp though. I decided to go to McDonald's. I went to the one in Hunt Valley. And I was being so silly and on the drive there I was like. I should get two larges!!! But I did not do that. I got one large and a diet coke.

I ate in the parking lot. And it was honestly great. By the end of the fries I was like. I could have gotten a medium. And laughed at myself about the double large dream. I would finish my fries (with the bottle of ketchup I brought firm home) and headed to camp.

I would get very very emotional about a song on the way there. Just heaving sobs. The hormones got me. And then I embarrassingly had to explain why I was red faced when I got to the office.

I would have a nice time at camp. 4 hours is a pretty good shift for me I guess. Especially when I actually had things to do. I would do some actual camp stuff. But once we started our staff meeting I would just fully jump into working on my commission. Working while people talk always helps me focus and makes me work better. I don't know why that it but it has been true for a long time.

And I'm super excited for how the commission is coming. There's only a little more for me to do. I'm honestly thrilled.

And the meeting was pretty productive. Going over the calendar and upcoming stuff. Like tree planting and more info for the indoor riding ring that they are going to build in the next year or so. Hopefully. I honestly really like meetings. At least they feel like we are moving towards goals.

After the meeting I would make a small poster for a wedding this weekend at camp. And went over to the trading post to sweep. I will sweep outside tomorrow too.

I would also work on a training for spotting child abuse. And while I did that I worked on making a flat lay for the stickers. I reached back out to Chris to ask about a reference for the painting of Mary's uncle. I was sure his name was flowers but I couldn't find him online. And Chris was so fast to get me the reference and I made my little drawing and played with tints to make it look less crisp. And I have a small plan about making a design your own scene. But because the flag drawing was so large I need to draw some other options. Like a folded flag, some fabric scraps, ECT. That's what I'm going to focus on tomorrow while I finish the training.

I would pack up and on my way out I showed Heather and Alexi my drawing and they loved it. Alexi asked if we could make a camp themed one to sell in the trading post and I was like. Yes!! I'm going to work on that next. I want them to let me do more graphic design stuff and let me design more things for the trading post and merch in general. So this is a very positive turn of events.

I headed straight home. While the 4 hours wasn't so bad I was on the verge of not feeling amazing. And I was really excited when I was about to turn into our street and James was there waiting to cross. So I let them cross first and followed them.

I got an excellent parking space. Ms Washington was outside and had protected our mail. I had three packages today! It was very exciting.

I followed James inside and was very happy to see them. Gave them a smooch and went to open my packages. Was interesting to see that Crabcake was awake and eating a pepper. He's usually asleep around 430 but he finished his pepper and went right to sleep. Such a cutie.

I got my new orange dress I have wanted for months. I plan on wearing it for a wedding next month but also for other things. Halloween color. And my snood for my renfair costume. Which lead to James telling me about when they worked at the Franklin Fountain all the girls had to wear snoods and one girl could make them so the bosses commissioned her to make a bunch. That's really neat. And the last package was my sunflower shirt I got from depop. I will probably wear that tomorrow. Very excited about that.

I would go upstairs and laid down. I would spend most of the evening just resting. I took a shower. And discussed with James about our next construction project. Planning space for baby. And I would do my cuticles and made them all nice.

Mostly though I've been hanging out. Watching videos. Enjoying my evening. James made me veggie nuggets for dinner. And then went to play DND with their friends.

I am very tired though. I am going to brush my teeth and get ready to sleep. I am hoping tomorrow feels as productive and good. Fingers crossed.

I hope you all have a great night. I love you all. Goodnight.

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

All Of Me {Part 09 of 13}

Pairing: Robby Keene X Reader

Chapter word count: 1.2 K

Summary: Being the new girl in the Valley wasn't as bad as you expected, and you were finding your place when the dynamite you were living into exploded. You were kicked out of your house by your stepfather with nothing but a backpack with a few pieces of clothing. There was nowhere to go, and you were preparing yourself to spend the night in the streets when a guy finds you. After being invited to crash at his place, you didn't know the war you were walking into. A war you became determined to end.

<- Previous part (08)

Next Part (10) ->

{Cobra Kai Masterlist}

Masterplan

Robby rings the bell, and you exchange a nervous look. “I think something is burning,” You say in a low voice, hearing a curse coming from inside.

“He was going to make pasta. I think we'll just have to order something.“ He says, just as the door opens.

“Hey,” Johnny says, a hand in his pocket as he looks at Robby, then at you. “Come on in. Robby never brought any girlfriend to meet me. Must be a good sign.” He steps aside and you both walk in. Robby guides you to the couch, and you sit down next to him. “I'll call a pizza place. The pasta is–”

“How do you manage to burn pasta?” Robby asks.

“I forgot it was there.”

“How do you–.” He's cut short by the cellphone ring. Robby picks it up, then looks at you. “I'll have to answer it, give me a minute.” You nod and he gets up, disappearing further into the house.

Then, you're left alone with Johnny, who looks through a small notebook, eyebrows furrowed. “I have a food delivery app. I could just order it.”

“Yeah, I've heard of that. But this place isn't in it.”

“Let me check. What's the name?” Johnny passes you the restaurant's name, and three minutes later, the food is ordered, and it says it'll get here in half an hour. “See? It's easy.”

“I rather do things the old way.”

“Yup.” You mutter, putting the phone back in your pocket. “So... How's the Eagle Fang?”

“We're ready to take Cobra Kai down.” At that, you simply nod. “Are you going to compete? If the new subdivision is made?”

Sighing, you shake your head. “No. I don't think Robby will, either.” Sensei Kreese and Silver are hopeful about the new subdivision, hoping to get their best students, now eighteen, to fight again. “I guess this whole fight among the dojos is tiring him.”

”I'm only in this because I need to take them down. Kreese and Silver are too dangerous. If I let them, they create an army of dickheads all over the Valley.”

He's not wrong... The Senseis are very strict, you can't deny that. “I get that, but... They helped me, you know? So maybe they're not... That evil?”

“Think. What could you possibly offer to them?”

“Offer?” The question makes your brain start working. “It couldn't be money... Even though my mother said something about the Senseis asking her to give me some? It doesn't make sense.”

“They don't need money. Gotta be something–” A loud beep cuts him short, and Johnny bends over to take his old phone from the coffee table. You wouldn't give it much attention, ready to take your phone to have some distraction, but the way his face changes makes you furrow your eyebrows. “What's your stepfather's name?”

“What?" The question is so unexpected that it takes a while for you to process it. “Philip. Philip Greyson.”

Jonny doesn't say anything, just hands you over his phone, and your eyes are quick to read the text Mr. LaRusso sent him. “Philip Greyson was the vote they needed to approve the new subdivision.”

“I really don't... ” You're still speaking when another text comes, and you just open it, without thinking too much. It's a picture of a news website. And it shows Philip behind a desk, a half-smile on his lips... Under the desk, you can see that his entire left leg is in a cast. “They got what they wanted.” You mutter before giving him the phone back. “This is my fault.” Feeling your eyes fill with tears, you get up. “He has more students than you and Miyagi-Do put together. He knows the odds are in his favor.“

“Everything alright?” Robby asks, coming from the hall. “What happened?”

“The Senseis used me. They were nice just because they needed Philip to approve the new subdivision for students over eighteen. They broke his leg! It has to be their doing.”

“What?” He immediately comes, wrapping his arms around you. “We'll fix this. I don't know how, but we will. Cobra Kai won't win.”

“How? They have the numbers. They have double the students.”

“We need to gather everyone for this,” Johnny says, bringing the phone to his ear. “LaRusso. Call the kids, we need to talk.” He makes a pause. “Of course, now. Do you think I'd waste my time calling you if it wasn't urgent?”

“I'll cancel the food.” You say, grabbing your phone to do just that.

An hour later, you're at Miyagi-Do, hungry and getting stressed out because of your empty stomach. Seated on the wooden deck, you look at the grey clouds above. “It'll rain,” Robby says, and you look at him.

“Good. It's a hot day and I'd love to dance in the rain.” It's an attempt to lighten up the mood a little bit.

He chuckles. “If you'll dance in the rain, I'll dance in the rain.”

That makes you smile. “Sounds like a date.”

“Alright, what's going on?” LaRusso says, the moment she slides the door open. The rest of the students are right behind him.

And Johnny tells him everything, and you, knowing this shit is all your fault, keep your mouth shut. “The only way to destroy Cobra Kai once and for all is to defeat Kreese and Silver. But with this new subdivision... The numbers are on his side.” LaRusso says, hands on his hips.

“And more students are joining every day,” Sam adds.

You planned to keep quiet, but LaRusso's speech feels... Wrong. In more aspects than one. “We have a problem.” You speak up, all eyes set on you.

“We do,” Hawk mutters, crossing his arms. “If you found another one, we better know what it is before it comes to bite our asses.”

You know he thought the same, and you nod at him. “Do you really think Kreese and Silver will keep their promise?”

Johnny and LaRusso exchange a glance. “He did say Cobra Kai would cease to exist if any of our dojos win.”

“Another problem right there.” You add, stepping forward, and gesturing at Johnny. “I don't think that's fair. Mr. Lawrence worked hard to make Cobra Kai a thing again, and I don't think it should just disappear. It should go back to its owner.”

“Yeah, but the original owner isn't me. It's Kreese.” Johnny says.

“Not if we make a contract of some kind,” Robby speaks, and you look at him. It's a good idea. “Official papers that he will sign, and if he decides to break his word, we can sue. Both of them.”

“Not both, only Kreese,” Johnny says, furrowing his eyebrows. “I've seen the dojo's papers. Silver is an associate, but Kreese is still the head of the dojo. It's his signature we need.”

As he speaks, an idea pops into your head, and it starts to take form. It's the best plan you could come up with, and, if carefully played, it will fix everything. For good. It makes you smile, a wicked smile that slowly has everyone looking at you again. “What's with the villain grin?” Hawk asks.

“I just had the idea that will give Cobra Kai back to Johnny.” You simply say, shrugging your shoulders.

For a while, nobody says anything, until Hawk, as usual, speaks up. “Well, are you saying it or not?”

@eddiemunsonsbattoo

[grieveps]

Park Jihyo - Pizza Boy

Y/n parked his work bike near the entrance, just right on the parking space, and quickly get's inside because of the cold that South Korea has been getting for the past few days. He removes his helmet and starts to talk to his co-worker.

"Did we get the overtime salary for today?" Y/n shoots up a question. "I don't think we're gonna get one for today, not many orders are coming by" his co-worker or to be exact, the cashier explains.

*ding ding ding* a bell sounds can be heard through the docking station where the cashier is placed. The cashier immediately responds to that call, writing down all the requests that the person has ordered, after that he hangs up.

"Y/n, be ready to send this one okay, after that you can go home. No need to overtime for today" The cashier said while entering the prices for the bills. "Glad to hear that," Y/n said with joy.

I grab the paper containing the address and getting ready to get going, but when i was about to push the door. "One lucky son of a bitch" suddenly the cashier yelled. He was confused as fuck with him yelling that.

'Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm-' Y/n stops his singing and scans the area, he knew this place already, he used to deliver to Twice's dorm back when they haven't moved out to a new dorm. He checks the address again.

'Hold up, wait a minute' he squints his eyes as he read the address, double-checks it. It was the old Twice dorm, they must be rented that place already. He locks his bike near a light pole and pulling out the pizza from his backpack and ready to knock his "Used to be" the dorm of his fantasies.

*knock knock* "Pizza Delivery," he said as he waits in front of the door.

Jihyo was taking a shower while singing their new song Heart Shaker, her beautiful voice was loud enough to hear outside of their dorm room.

Y/n can hear that over and over again, but the pizza might get cold, so he pressed the doorbell maybe twice until he got an answer. "Wait a minute please," Jihyo said. 'Dang her voice is so loud' Y/n thought.

He could hear wet footsteps coming closer to the door and it finally opened and instantly Y/n eyes almost came out of his socket, Jihyo was standing there with all of her glory with her wet hair cascading down to her shoulder and her curvy and beautiful body was covered up by a towel and only her cleavage was visible.

"Ehem" Jihyo faked coughed gaining his attention and she could tell he was checking her out, truth be told she didn't mind, why? Because she may have a little crush on him since the first time he delivered here.

He found him attractive and funny, "Oh.....uh sorry here's your pizza and drinks, thank you for ordering with us," he said stuttering and blushing so he quickly hurried to try to get out of that situation as soon as possible. "Hey pizza boy, i haven't paid yet" Jihyo giggled. "Come here, you can wait inside. I'ts cold outside" she said, he turned around and mentally prepared himself. When he was about to go in, Jihyo purposely sway her hips back and forth making the growing tent in his pants worse, he mentally cursed himself for having a boner, and face palmed.

He scanned the whole room, getting all the flashbacks from TWICETV 1 back when they were all still newbies in the entertainment business. Everything still looked the same, He guesses that they never came back here again.

But then a loud scream came out of her room, he quickly checks on what's happening to jihyo, he first went into the wrong room but then found it.

"What's wrong jih....." He was speechless on what he saw, Jihyo laying there naked with her legs spread wide showing her cleanly shaven pussy.

"Jih....Jihyo ssi, what are you doing" He asks, gulping and avoiding eye contact. She slowly walked over to him her breast is fully out and making him even hornier but he has to fight it or he's going to lose his job if the manager found out.

"Awe come on I know you like what you saw," She said as she comes closer pinning him against her wardrobe door "And it seems like your little fella down there like it too," she said, all he could do is look elsewhere, but eventually looked into her lust-filled eyes.

She cupped his cock with her hands and kissed him passionately, he finally gave in and grabbed her by the waist and fiddling with her nipples making her moan to his mouth, he broke the kiss and trail them down onto her neck, and to her left boob.

Sucking on them and twirling in her nipples, she was in bliss, she pulled his head back and continued to kiss him madly.

She went down on her knees and eagerly unbuckled his belt and pulling down his uniform short along with his boxers making his 9-inch cock to come loose, she was shocked at first and was worried she couldn't fit it inside her.

"Don't be scared, I know you want it," He said cockily to Jihyo. "Oh please, i want to," she said and slowly started to stroke him. "Ugh..... yes jihyo...... just like that" He groaned, she slowly started to fasten the pace, but then she got an idea.

She stopped and put his dick in between the valley of her breast and squeezed them together, his dick fits perfectly there and the tip of his cock hits her lips.

Y/n decides to thrust into her breast giving her some help. "Oh fuck jihyo that feels great," He said fastening the pace. "You like that huh, you like how your dick feels between my tits," She asked seductively and he nodded.

"Ugh.... i think I'm close," He said, then she lets go and started to suck his rod "Oh..... God your mouth feels great" He said, Jihyo then slowly started to suck his cock.

He was in bliss right now, seeing his bias fully naked and sucking on his cock right now felt so surreal.

"Jihh......." He came out and filled her mouth with so much that some came out of it, she stroke it making some of it came out and hit her hair boobs and body.

"As much as i wanna continue my members are coming to get their stuff," She said while licking the excess cum that was still dripping. "Here give me your phone," She asked and he picked up the phone that was on the ground.

She opens the camera app and took a selfie of her current state "Don't share this to anyone else or you're gonna lose your job," She said smirking. "Now hurry, they'll arrive any minute now," She said and he put on his pants and went back outside. "Oh hey Y/n" She called and he looked back. "Here's the money," She said and handed him the money. "Ill see you later" She smirked and kissed his cheek as a goodbye.

[thiswasinevitableid]

Thrill of the Hunt (Indruck)

The other winner of the "continuation of a fill" poll was this fill. CW for blood since we're dealing with vampires. Also cw for dubcon roleplay, although even then it's clear everyone is consenting and into it.

When Duck was twenty-two, he was paying for his forestry degree by–among other things–working the graveyard shift at a 7/11. Among the regulars was a tall, pale-haired man who always wore red glasses and bought himself a large slurpee and four donuts. Duck thought he was cute, in a weird way, and allowed himself a few minutes of flirting to break-up the monotony of the buzzing lights and whirring drink machines. 

One rainy night, after not seeing his favorite customer for over two weeks, Duck was working alone and went into the back alley to dump the trash. One minute he was closing a dumpster, the next his back hit the wall and exquisitely sharp fangs sank into his neck. 

He came almost instantly, harder than he ever had in his life. Which was a shock to him and to the vampire who was now having to ease his limp body down to the damp ground. Duck was starting to cry at the thought of someone finding his dead body in a fucking alleyway before his life ever really got started when cold, gentle fingers did their best to brush the tears away. 

Blinking through them, he saw a pair of red glasses. 

The vampire apologized profusely, explaining the presence of vampire hunters in town meant he’d gone too long without fresh blood, that he was afraid to even seek out blood banks or butchers, and so he’d been half feral when Duck appeared, and would Duck please let Indrid make it up to him?

Duck had nodded, weakly, scrambling to his feet when the bell rang inside the store. The vampire, Indrid, promised he’d be waiting for him when his shift was done. Three hours later, in the grey twilight, Duck stepped out to the parking lot to find a vampire standing by his car with a bouquet of flowers. 

Ten years later, Duck is on a twisting, mountain road, on his way to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Indrid arrived yesterday to set the scene. Duck guides the car around a bend and tries to get into the headspace of a single man out for weekend alone, rather than a married one heading for a lake house his husband bought so that Duck could have the whole family over during the summer. 

He pulls up to the house a little after five, brings his bag inside and checks his phone for any messages from Juno, who’s house sitting for them back on the coast.  Duck loves his native Monongahela, but the Olympic National Forest is a much better workplace when your husband is sensitive to sunlight. 

Duck does his best to move through the house like he’s seeing it for the first time, stashing his half-finished soda in the fridge and ignoring the six pack of pineapple Jarritos on the lower shelf, just like he ignores the red glasses on the bedroom dresser and the pink and yellow bathrobe hanging on the door. 

As he flips through the little stack of delivery menus from the nearest town, he wonders when Indrid intends to strike. The vampire told him the nature of the game, but not the details, and right now all he’s hoping is that Indrid doesn’t wait too long to show himself; he misses him. 

For the first hour, he knows there’s no one there but him and the birds paddling on the lake. 

Then the sun sets. 

He looks out the bedroom window and swears he sees something moving against the tree trunks. Rather than throwing the door open and yelling that it’d sure be a shame if there was no one here to eat this butterscotch swirl ice cream he bought, he hurries down the stairs and makes sure all the doors and windows are locked. As he clicks the deadbolt on the door to the porch, there’s a rustle of large wings over the house.

When he hangs up the phone after calling in his dinner order, he turns to find glowing, red eyes watching him from just outside the reach of the porch lights. 

Duck decides to wait for dinner upstairs. The moment the lower level is out of sight, there’s a faint screech of claws on the living room window. 

He thinks about a different version of himself, one who doesn’t know what kinds of things lurk in the shadows, and decides that what he heard must just be a big raccoon. Maybe a deer. All the same, he closes the bedroom door before changing into his pajamas. 

When he’s down to his shirt and boxers, the door creaks open inch by inch, as if whatever’s on the other side is savoring the slow reveal. 

“Hey, uh, who, whoever’s out there, think you got the wrong house. I’m just renting this place for the weekend, so it can’t be where you’re stayin’.”

“Oh, I am well aware you are a guest here. I am the one who rented it to you.”

The door swings all the way open, revealing a monstrous, insectoid figure. Its feathers are a mottled mix of browns, and its fluffy antenna nearly brush the door frame as it steps into the room. Red, glowing eyes regard him hungrily as the mothman adds, “After all, what better way to obtain fresh blood than luring people into a place which I require no invitation to enter?”

Duck steps backward, all too aware of the fact the monster is between him and his only means of escape, “Look, man, I don’t know what kind of sick fuckin joke this is, but it ain’t funny.”

The mothman cocks his head, “That is because it is not a joke. I feed on blood, which you will be providing me like a good little morsel.”

Duck’s back bumps into the wall, “Bullshit, moths eat fruit and flowers and stuff.”

“Vampire moths are another story, I’m afraid.” The monster opens his mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, his canines sharp and menacing as needles. 

“Fuck that.” Duck pushes off the wall, racing around the intruder. Claws grab his hair, yanking him back and then around to face the creature. 

Red eyes meet his own, “Stay still.”

The voice is lilting, gentle, but Duck finds his feet and arms obey the command no matter how much he begs them not to. 

“Much better. Now, let’s have a look at you. Arms up.” 

Duck complies without intending to, letting the vampire lift his shirt free. One hand runs through his hair and tips his head to the side so another can run a single, sharp claw along his throat. The lower two hands glide along his chest and belly, seemingly uninterested in the predation going on above them. 

“Mmmmm” The claw presses on his skin, “such a deliciously unmarred little human.”

He barely avoids laughing at that; there’s a patch of scar tissue just next to where the claw is tracing a heart, a memory of the six month span when other blood supplies were nearly impossible to find and Indrid had to feed from him regularly. He hadn’t minded one bit. 

“Please don’t kill ME” he yelps as three claws graze down his neck. 

“Oh, don’t fuss so. I did not live as long as I have by exhausting such a robust meal in one go.” The mothman kneels, narrow tongue flicking out to tease Duck’s stomach, distracting him from his boxers hitting the floor. 

“What, what are you doing?” 

“Enjoying myself.” The tongue flicks out again for an experimental lick of his dick, “other vampires may not play with their food, but I have never had such qualms.”

“Ohfuck.” He tries to jerk away from the sensation but he’s still under a thrall, feet planted and spread enough for two claws to slip between them and play with his folds. 

“There we are” the vampire purrs, “aren’t you a lovely and eager little thing?”

“I ain’t!” 

“This” the pad of one hand rubs against him and comes away wet, “suggests otherwise. There’s no need to be shy; I find humans taste best when aroused. All that blushing, blood coming to the surface” his teeth graze Duck’s belly, “delicious.”

The mouth pressed to him widens and he braces to be bitten. He’s saved by the doorbell, the mothman’s head swiveling towards the stairs. 

“That’s the delivery guy. If, if I don’t go down there they’ll know somethin’ is wrong.”

“I highly doubt an underpaid twenty year old will think it any more than a nuisance that you didn’t answer. However, just to be safe” He stands, shrinking as he does until the winged shape is replaced by a tall, willowy human, “I shall retrieve it. Stay put like a good little snack.” He reaches the door, then turns, “did you tip ahead of time, my love?”

“Yep.”

Indrid disappears, taking his thrall with him. Duck uses the opportunity to grab his pine green bathrobe and throw it on like he actually gives a shit about his modesty and huddles up on the bed. 

“Oooh! They gave us extra crab rangoon. That was nice of them.” Indrid returns, setting the take out bags on the top blanket, “how do you like my game so far?”

“It’s fuckin amazing. But, uh” Duck looks at the growing pile of take-out containers, “maybe I oughta have ordered something else. Not sure I’m gonna be ready to bone-down after eating my weight in fried rice.”

Indrid swallows a small, pink pill, the one that allows him to consume human food, “I was rather thinking the same thing. Perhaps we considered it paused for the evening and I can show you what else I have planned in the morning?” 

They agree that this is the best option, and so Indrid cuddles up beside him, back against the headboard, talking animatedly about his day and the wolf spider he shepherded from the bathtub when he arrived yesterday afternoon. 

Duck’s tired enough from the drive that they don’t do much besides clear the dishes and make sure they’re not setting themselves up to find anything gross in the sink or on the counter in the morning before turning in for the night. Indrid’s sleep schedule operates by a logic unknown to humans or vampires, but he never turns down the chance to warm his chilly skin against Duck’s bulk as the human drifts into his dreams. 

When he wakes up, an osprey is calling from the sky above the lake and a sharp fingernail is tracing up and down his throat. 

“I have a proposition for you, my little morsel.” Indrid is on his side, facing him with a human face free of glasses.

“I ain’t little” he grumbles, trying to get into character even as he nestles closer. 

“That, like all things, is relative, and given that in my true form I outweigh you, I will call you whatever I please. My offer is this: you allow me the opportunity to show just how well I treat my things. If, by sundown tonight, you are not convinced that all I offer is a fair trade for a little blood now and then, I will fly off and leave you to vacation in peace.”

Duck pretends to think about it. 

“Yeah. Yeah that seems fair.”

“Excellent. You stay here for as long as you like; I will return shortly.”

Duck stretches under the blankets, enjoying the laziness of the dawn as the odd clank reaches him from the kitchen below. When Indrid returns he’s in his moth form, two hands carrying a breakfast tray while the others hold a mug of black coffee and a bottle labeled “Tennessee Ernie’s Eggnog Iced Coffee.”

“Et voila.” Indrid sets the tray across Duck’s lap, “a southern scramble for a southern gentleman.”

Duck snickers and digs in, Indrid looking pleased with himself as he shoves his tongue into the coffee bottle, lapping it up like a hummingbird on a feeder. 

“Gotta say, if the service is good all day, you might just convince me.” 

Indrid’s antenna twitch, “It will be. Of that you can be sure.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------

In his nearly two centuries walking the Earth, Indrid must have done enough good amidst the hunger and fear that flowed out around him to convince fate to bring Duck Newton into his path. 

He’s loved his human for such a small fraction of his existence, yet their decade together outshines all the years before it. Some days he thinks that if Duck chooses a mortal life and death, Indrid will spend at least a hundred years laying on his grave, letting flowers grow over them both. 

These are, admittedly, odd thoughts to have when the most handsome man in creation is walking around his house in a bathrobe that keeps falling open. But Duck has always had such an effect on him, where no matter how much lust he’s feeling–blood or otherwise–his thoughts return to the simple fact that he loves this human very much. 

Among Duck’s many excellent qualities is his enjoyment of Indrid’s predatory nature. Discovering he got pleasure from a random human twisting in his grip as he fed did nothing to quell Indrid’s guilt when he was first turned. And while he’s found a few humans over the years who liked being fed from, none of them ever reacted as Duck does. Nor did they actively encourage Indrid to hunt them down, toy with them, or lay in wait before pouncing. 

It’s a little after one p.m, and Indrid has tended to Duck’s every whim and want (which is why he’s currently washing massage oil off his hands). The human is lounging on the couch, remote in hand, so once Indrid can touch things without smearing peach-scented shine all over them, he fetches a box of gourmet candy bars from the cupboard.  He unwraps a Rocky Road one as he circles the couch, breaking off a square and presenting it to Duck, who takes it with his mouth. 

“Feels like you’re tryin to fatten me up.” Duck teases. 

“Not in the least. Though I have been told that well-fed, spoiled humans often taste the best.”

“Seem real confident you’ll get a taste.” Duck takes the bar and breaks off another square. 

“Is my service not to your liking?”

“Got some needs that ain’t been met yet.” The human opens the bottom half of his robe and spreads his legs. Indrid saw this as a possible timeline, and he’s exceedingly glad this is the direction they’re going.

“Then please, allow me to remedy that.” Being in his human form means it’s easy to kneel between Duck’s legs and nose at his thighs (without sending him into a fit of giggles; a peril of having feathers all over one's face). 

Wearing nothing under the robe is an excellent touch for a character of an overconfident human, and Indrid would commend Duck for it were his mouth not already occupied with kissing up his legs. 

When his mouth finally closes around Duck’s cock, there’s a little gasp and a hand tangling in his hair. Indrid always feels so surrounded by his human when he does this, like his senses give up on paying attention to anything that isn’t Duck. Even his foresight quiets, content to let the futures spin about on their own for a few moments in favor of fully taking in his husbands moans. Today is no different, and with no work to get to or cat yowling for a meal, Indrid takes his time, resting his hands on soft, warm thighs as he loses himself in his task. He has no idea how long it takes Duck to cum, only that when he does it’s with a charmingly prolonged moan.

Indrid pulls his face back and sits up just enough to rest his head on Duck’s belly, blood pulsing beneath his ear. They can return to the game in a moment; right now he can’t think of anything better than being here.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Duck’s still in his bathrobe, reading on the bed, when the sun disappears behind the trees. He hasn’t even had time to close the book when Indrid’s moth form is in the doorway. 

“Well, my little snack, have you come to a decision?”

He stands, sauntering over to Indrid, “That I have.” He runs his fingers through the down of Indrid’s chest. 

“And you have accepted my offer?”

He flashes his best smile, “Nope. Sorry, sugar, but you just ain’t convinced me.”

Ruby eyes blink once, slowly, as their owner processes the answer. 

“Ah. I see.” Indrid taps his claws together and sighs, “well, in that case, there is only one choice left to me.”

The attack happens with superhuman speed, the vampire grabbing him with all four arms and wrestling him to the bed. 

“What the fuck man? We had a deal!”

“Let this be a lesson to you, sweet one: creatures of the night are not creatures of their word.” Teeth scrape across his chest, “oh I am going to have so much fun with you.”

“The fuck you are!” Duck kicks at him, “you didn’t keep you end of the deal so I’m not keepin’ mine!” He adds a shove, which only gets claws dug into his chin. 

“I have had quite enough of you arguing with me. Kneel on the floor. Now.”

His body drops and he pretends it’s due to the thrall he can sense throughout his entire being. 

“Good” Indrid purrs, one hand rubbing between his legs, “now, open your mouth. There we are, that’s a good boy.” There’s a rustle of feathers and then the head of a large cock with four, vertical ridges presses into his mouth. It slides in easily until it bumps the top of his throat. He tries to pull back and discovers he can’t. As the cock forces itself farther, he whimpers and looks pleadingly at the vampire. 

“Ah ah, none of that. You will relax. And you will take it all.” 

The thrall does the work for him, the muscles of his jaw and throat going slack to take Indrid inch by inch. Indrid is still purring, still pushing Duck’s head until his mouth reaches the base of his cock, feathers tickling his nose. 

When Indrid experimentally rolls his hips, Duck decides he’s not done with the game and tries to push off Indrid’s hips (it’s not their sign to stop, and so he knows Indrid will take it as a sign to be rougher). 

A clawed hand  instantly closes around his throat, the thumb rubbing at the front of it, “I would think carefully before doing that again. Do you feel that?” his thumb presses down, stroking his own cock through Duck’s throat, “do you feel how you can barely contain me?”

He manages a muffled moan of assent. 

“If you continue to pretend you have any power here, I will remove the thrall. You will gag and choke as a result, and I will get a great deal of added pleasure from the vibration of your screams for mercy. So be a good little toy and let me use you.”

Duck whines and slightly nods his head. Then his arms fly out, scrambling for something to hold onto as Indrid fucks his throat with slow, demanding thrusts. He finds the edges of his wings and clings to them even as his mind slips up into the clouds. Even with the thrall there’s an ache in his jaw and the sensation that something is forcing its way in, claiming him. If he trusted his hands not to just flail uselessly the instant he lets go of Indrid, they’d already be between his thighs. 

“Mmmnff” Indrid’s hips speed up, “I shouldn’t have even bothered with, with that bargain. I should have dragged your mouth onto my cock first thing this morning and used it like the lovely toy it is. Leave you gasping and pleading while I rolled you over to help myself to the rest of you.”

Duck moans, petting the edge of one wing.

“Do you like that dearest? Good, we shall do it tomorrow. For now” He pushes Duck’s head away, hand still on his throat, “have you accepted your place?”

Through the haze, Duck mumbles out, “Fuck you.”

He’s hauled up and tossed onto the bed, two hands pinning his shoulders to the mattress while the other two hold down his hips.

“Then I think it is high time I show you what humans are really for. Do not move.”

Then Duck is covered in by a massive, feathery figure and fangs pierce his neck, his cries splitting the air. For a brief flash, his body is nothing but an animal, all signals telling him this is it, this is the end. Then the flood comes, pleasure spreading from the wound into every nerve. It carries him away, makes the world into dull sounds and soft, forgiving angles. 

Indrid’s command to stay still wasn’t just part of the game. Without the thrall forcing his body to obey its instincts, there’s a chance he’d flinch or thrash in pain or pleasure. It’s a chance they can’t take when Indrid is in this form; his mouth is much bigger, his other teeth much sharper, and a sudden, unintentional movement could tear Duck’s skin.

A claw taps his hip; Indrid is counting, each tap a second of the bite. Duck usually goes woozy at a minute, and the way his head is spinning suggests Indrid is carefully pushing past that. One claw is on his wrist, another the chest above his heart, tracking his pulse, and in ten more taps Indrid finally pulls away with a satisfied moan. His tongue laps at the punctures, coaxing them to coagulate and close. 

Indrid blinks and the thrall is gone. Not that Duck can do much with this change of events; his whole body is limp and heavy, a fact which Indrid coos over as shoves Duck’s legs open and drags his ass into his lap. 

“Mmmm, this is much better. Not only are you delicious, but now you have no choice but to lay here and let me do as I wish.”

“Hell yeah.” Duck murmurs, his voice seeming to come from outside him.

“That is all I ever asked of you. That is all I want, to glut myself on the taste of you, the feel of you beneath my hands, the sensation of being inside you” He pushes his cock into Duck and moans, “is that so much to ask?”

“Nuh uh.” Duck shakes his head, finds the nearest hand and holds it. 

Indrid grins as he fucks him gently, “Good, because it was not really a question. You are mine now to do with as I please. And what pleases me now….” clever fingers find Ducks dick. His hips jerk, his body desperate to chase the sensation but without the energy to do so.

“‘Drid, please, need, need it more, need it harder.”

The strokes intensify and he groans, any movements he manages resulting in him fucking himself on Indrid rather than rubbing off on his hand. Findall his husband takes actual mercy on him, moving his fingers just right to make him cum so hard he forgets not only his name but what time and place he’s in. 

He’s reminded by Indrid lunging forward, fucking him frantically and trilling until he cums with a chirp, wings spread so wide Duck can see the eyespots on the underside. 

He’s floating through reality like a jellyfish in the sea when Indrid is suddenly fluttering about the room. 

“S’wrong?” 

“The bite, it’s bleeding more than I’d like. Hold still dearest, let me get it bandaged.” He eases Duck into a sitting position, kissing the bite a final time before wiping it with antiseptic and placing a band-aid across the marks. 

“There, all better.” Indrid cups his face, studying it, “can you stay here for me while I get you something to eat? I took an awful lot this time.”

He nods, letting Indrid help him change into actual pajamas before the vampire scurries off to the kitchen. When he returns this time it’s with Gatorade and cookies, the former complete with straw so Duck doesn’t have to move his neck to drink. He does so, watching Indrid change; first into a human, and then into his mothman patterned sleep pants. By the time his husband helps himself to a Chips Ahoy, Duck is back to himself. 

“I mention lately how much I love you?” 

“Yes, my sweet. About an hour ago.”

“Guess I better say it again, huh?” Duck leans over, kissing Indrid’s cheek, “because I do, sugar. I love you so fuckin much.”

“I love you too.” Indrid rests his head on Duck’s unbitten shoulder, “how else shall we spend our vacation? I could get us a reservation at the little fine dining place on the cliffs, or you could take the paddleboard out while I nap in the shade.”

“Both sound good to me. But, uh,” he squeezes Indrid’s thigh, “I got some other plans for you too.”

His husband says nothing. He simply laughs and kisses him another time.

[skyland2703]

Write for 15 minutes without deleting anything

Taking this opportunity for CalPresto Smut (maybe its a liil OOC but who cares) because man oh man did I need an excuse to start this~ Fine tuned and actually finished version on Ao3

"I don’t know how to swim—"

"you can wear a swimsuit and sit at the corner of the pool, if you want" Preston had laughed at Calvin's pathetic excuse to not get out of the hideous sweatpants he was wearing, "we're cheering you up, and you're going to do as I say"

"What do you mean—"

See, Calvin and Hayley had broken up as an aftermath of Hayley leaving Calvin for Sarah, and that had come as a great shock to Calvin. Calvin had spent the last eight days cooped up in his little hostel room, with nothing but ice cream, chips and pizza to survive on, hadn't even showered, hadn't even changed his clothes. The post-breakup depression was hitting him right in the gut, and Preston finally decided it was time for him to pull his best friend out of depression, and maybe cheer him up. He dropped by Calvin's room, and tricked him into opening the door by pretending to be a pizza delivery guy, then once inside, he refused to leave, until Calvin left with him. He made him take a shower— he did not invade into the shower, as much as he'd have liked to— dug out a clean change of clothes for him, (the boy lived in a BARN, by the looks of it. Everything had something or the other spilled on it, goddamnit) and then pushed him out of the room, with him grumpily mumbling curses on Preston for dragging him out of his little hideout.

"where are we going?"

"My place"

That should've been enough of a clue for Calvin, but it wasn't. Preston's dad was one of the leading industrialists of the state, and Calvin knew Preston lived in a fucking mansion. He didn't expect to find himself in a summerhouse atop a hill bordering the suburbs of los angeles, for grid's sake, HOW RICH WERE THESE PEOPLE with pretty lights, and an even prettier pool.

Preston had been obsessed with pools since he had been a little child. Calvin had been Preston's best friend since they had been eight, and he knew that very well. He also knew Preston never really minded that Calvin never got into the pool with him, but he always liked having him around. He believed a little bit of water could fix anyone's mood.

Once at the summerhouse, he'd strictly advised all the staff to not wander around the pool section, and the old and ancient butler had waved his hands and said, in a very Batman's Alfred-esque style, "Yes, Master Preston. Not one servant shall disturb your pool time"

Preston had then tugged at Calvin's hand, and dragged him into the changing room, tossed a pair of swimming trunks at him, bright lemon yellow, and pulled on a pair of dark blue ones for himself. Calvin had protested, with a "I don't know how to swim—", but Preston had interrupted, telling him he could just put them on, and sit with his feet dipped in the pool.

Calvin thought about the idea, it seemed appealing, and he was about to protest, once again, on the grounds of "I’m feeling sad! I don't want more water induced depression because I can't swim!" but five minutes later, when Preston emerged from the changing room, Calvin found his cheeks heating up. He bit his lip, as his gaze flicked over Preston's chiselled abs, the sweat covered, glistening muscles, and the very, very obvious bulge in his trunks. Preston had been hiding quite a few things under that oversized magician's coat, all this time, Calvin wondered, a part of him felt attracted to what he saw, but another part put a full stop on that, yelling at the top of its lungs, "THAT'S YOUR BEST FRIEND, YOU DOOFUS, LOOK RESPECTFULLY—", but who was Calvin to listen to that annoying voice in his head? Calvin gulped, and immediately ran into the changing room, all excuses about not swimming forgotten, and as he walked out, having changed, he found Preston waiting for him, with a broad, dorky grin on his face, "Hey Cal! ready for some pool fun?"

Calvin shrugged, "whatever you say, dude, whatever you say"

His eyes just flicked back and forth from his shoulders to his ass that was hidden in his swimming trunks, as the erstwhile Blue Ranger led him towards his private pool, Calvin's heart racing around in his chest, as if it were the end of the world.

He listened to Preston, and sat along one of the edges of the half moon shaped pool, his feet dipping into the cool water, just where one of the jets were, which Preston switched on for Calvin to enjoy, and then dove into the water himself. Calvin watched in awe, as Preston glided along the water effortlessly, cutting through it like a knife through butter, swimming, pedalling though... And meanwhile, Calvin sat, struggling to control his thoughts from wandering in many, many directions....

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, the hormones being a little too out of control, seeing his best friend being so... slick.... and he yelled, "PRESTON! TALK TO ME I'M BORED!" he didn't know how else to divert the other man's attention, but this seemed like a nice enough way.

Preston heard him, and stopped in his tracks, standing up in the middle of the pool and turning towards Calvin. Then he dove into the pool again, and swam towards Calvin like a predator shark towards its prey, and Calvin sat rooted to the spot, watching Preston make his way towards him. He didn't expect Preston to come up between his legs, but that was exactly what Preston did, resting both arms on his thighs, and placing his chin on their intersection, holding himself up between his legs, his elbows digging slightly into Calvin's soft flesh.

"yes, Cal, I didn't bring you here to get bored, did I? So, what's up?"

Calvin tilted his head, and eyed the man in question, who looked a little less hotter with the swimming cap and goggles on. That was a vibe killer, and so, Calvin, with one smooth motion, tugged at the cap and pulled it away, followed by the goggles, and tossed them to a side, and grinned at him, as his wet hair fell flat across his face, his dark skin glistening with the water droplets, shining in the California sun.

"Nothing much. Just... chilling"

"The water is very... wet... bro" that elicited a laughter from Calvin, which turned into a nervous chuckle, as he realised Preston's eyes were now obseriving towards the bulge in Calvin's yellow swimming trunks.

A bulge that was growing even more, thanks to Preston's close proximity.

"And sitting out here is... very hard" was he trying to flirt? he was trying to flirt. He was bad at flirting.

"Maybe I can help with that" Preston wriggled his eyebrows, "if you don't mind, that is"

"Is that why you asked me here?" he almost laughed, turning redder than a tomato. Preston grinned at him cheekily, "I asked you here so I could bring you out of those break-up blues" he did a ridiculous eyebrow slant at Calvin, that had the blonde boy doubling over in laughter, and just as he did, Preston pushed himself up, along with the buoyant force of the water, palms hitting his thigh as he used them to hoist himself up, and crash his lips against Calvin's.

Calvin's first response was shock, initially, not knowing what was happening with him, but then he realised Preston was kissing him, and his next immediate response was kissing him back. All worries of the world forgotten, Calvin kissed him back like he was the last thing left in the world. Seconds later, the kiss was over, and Preston was back on his initial position, hands on thighs, chin on hands, and a broad smirk on his face.

"Did you like that, Cal?"

Calvin nodded, speechless, breathless, and Preston eyed his boxers again, "I think you really liked it" he teased. Calvin's eyes widened as he realised what Preston was referring to, and before he could protest, one of Preston's hands was on Calvin's crotch, and pulling down the elastic of his swimming trunks, and then without a warning, grabbed onto Calvin's cock, which was already fully hard. He smiled goofily, as Calvin squeezed his eyes shut.

“You little fucker.” Calvin moaned, opening his eyes.

“Uh huh,” Preston mumbled, eyeing Calvin, “Would you let me suck you off?” he asked, palming his cock, getting Calvin off.

“I would like that.” Calvin groaned, running a hand through Preston's hair, and the guy in blue trunks leaned his head on one of Calvin's thighs, just staring up at him, making comfortable eye contact.

This was going to be fun.

[sakurafairymage]

Chapter 3: Forgotten connection.

Akagami no Shirayukihime fic.

Obi x Oc Ayla

Warning: slight blood.

Once the door was closed Shirayuki grabbed Ayla's hand and dragged her to the bed. They both sat down looking like excited school girls at a sleepover.

“Now that we're alone. Spill,” Shirayuki commanded.

"I will I will, but first I got a present for you…” Ayla stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out the bracelet.

“Oh, how pretty! Thank you,” Said Shirayuki as she put it on her wrist. It was a little big, not big enough to fall off, just to move up and down her wrist freely when she moved. Ayla smiled, twirling the end of her braid in embarrassment. Finally she decided that it was about time to tell Shirayuki about when she met Obi.

“Shirayuki, you wanted to hear about when I met Obi, didn't you?” She prompted the conversation back to that topic.

Shirayuki nodded and got comfortable.

“So four years ago, remember how I told that on the way back from a job I found someone hurt,” She paused and Shirayuki nodded. “Well that was him.”

~~~

Four years ago.

Ayla just finished a delivery job and was walking through a forest. She was headed to a little cottage that she found shortly after she started staying with Shirayuki, It was in a sorry state when she found it and she had spent months restoring it. Thinking back to how it looked the last time she stopped by, it has improved a lot; the windows that were broken are now replaced and the roof doesn't leak anymore. I still have some things that need fixing like-

Ugh.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of a groan. She froze, listening intently for another sound. The birds whistling, the wind in the trees, where? Where did it come from?

Uhh.

There!

She ran towards a clump of trees. As she got closer the figure of a man came into view, he was sitting crumpled against a tree, his clothes stained with blood coming from a gash in his chest. He was barely conscious but when she approached the glare he gave her made her stop in her tracks. She put her hands up in a friendly manner.

“I won’t hurt you,” She said, approaching him slowly. He lashed out weakly and there was a flash of metal just before she caught his wrist.

“Woah! Careful.” She said as she grabbed the knife that was clutched in his hand. Too weak to resist he gave up the knife before slumping to the ground unconscious.

Obi could hear sounds drifting in and out of his consciousness and something cool was placed on his forehead. His first instinct was to lash out, to protect himself, but he couldn't move. He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids were like lead.

“Shhh, shh…. It's alright it's alright,” said a soothing voice before everything got far away and he slipped back into unconsciousness.

He's asleep again. That's good. She thought changing the cool cloth on his forehead. It's been two days since she found him and his fever hasn't gone down at all. She pulled back the cover to check the bandages wrapped around his chest. Shirayuki had taught her basic first aid and it's a good thing too because if she hadn't found him, he would have been in worse shape than he was now, possibly dead. She pulled the blanket back up and sat back in her chair in thought. Even delirious he was guarded, the first day whenever he was awake she asked him question after question but all she learned was that his name is Obi and he got injured doing some sort of job. She rubbed her temples, she hadn't slept for the past three days and was starting to get a headache.

“Only for a few minutes.” she muttered, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

It's so hot… My throat is so dry..

Obi opened his eyes, his vision was blurred and shifting like the room was alive around him. He tried to focus and the room stopped shifting. Good. That's when he noticed the person sitting next to him. On instinct his hand flew to his waist where he kept one of his daggers but all he felt was cloth. He could feel himself panicking but he fought the panic back and tried to focus again. The person hadn't moved an inch the whole time. Are they asleep? He tried to get up but his body wouldn't work right and he ended up falling to the floor with a soft thud. With that movement the room around him swirled again and faded to pinpoints in his vision. He grabbed the bed frame, hoisting himself up he staggered forward, he saw a counter in front of him and when he reached it he leaned against it trying to get his breath again.

“..ait you shouldn't…Obi,” He heard someone's voice behind him through the ringing in his ears. There was a knife next to his hand, grabbing it he slash out behind him blindly. He felt it connect and then heard a scream before the knife was knocked out of his hands. His legs gave out and he felt someone catch him, wrapping their arms under his arms to keep him steady. He was pulled to the bed and set down gently. The woman made a pained sound, red blood was dripping down her right arm and he saw the long gash where his knife had caught her. He reached out and gently brushed the arm he had cut. I shouldn't have done that.

“It's okay. It's not bad,” She said almost as if she had read his mind. She pulled a roll of bandages from a bag by the head of the bed and started to wrap her arm up. His eyelids felt heavy so he closed them, listening instead. He listened to her slightly uneven breathing, after a minute or so it evened out. He felt a feather light touch on his forehead.

“You're not well enough to get up yet,” Something cool was placed on his forehead. “I understand the instinct to leave and protect yourself, but know that if I had wanted to hurt you, I already would have,” another cool patch was laid on his wrist, another one on the other wrist a second later.

“Go to sleep, you need rest,” She said gently, then started singing, "Laa la la~ na na~ na na~ laa laa~da na na na~laaa la laa~"

He fell asleep.

When she noticed him fall asleep she let her voice drift off. Her arm ached, red stained the bandage that she messily wrapped around it. Should take care of that later. She thought absently while she pulled back the blanket to check his bandages.

“Well, you didn't open it back up.” She said more to herself than to Obi. She looked at the knife on the kitchen floor, her lips turned down into a frown. I've got to be more careful. She thought as she picked up the knife and tossed it into the sink.

She got him to eat some soup, one spoonful at a time till the bowl was half empty and he fell into a deep sleep. It's been five days now. His fever seems to be going down which she had noticed with relief. She glanced at her near empty cabinets, this cabin is her hideout; a pit stop to wherever she was headed, she only stored up enough food to last a week or so for one and she was feeding two.

“I need to get more supplies….” She mumbled to herself. But, she looked back to Obi sleeping, but that would mean she would have to leave him alone. He wasn't in any danger from the fever anymore and she knew he would be safe here if she left him for a few hours. So with that thought she grabbed some money from her stash hidden in a can in her cabinet. On the way out the door she grabbed a tall basket with two straps attached to carry it on her back, with one last glance back she closed the door.

Obi woke up with a start. Sitting up quickly made his head spin, but it wasn't as bad as before and it stopped within a minute. He searched the room for the woman; the kitchen, out the windows, she was nowhere in sight. Where did she go? He wondered. Looking around at his surroundings he noticed his jacket, shirt, and knives were piled neatly on a chest at the foot of the bed. There was a cup of water with a note propped up against it on the nightstand. Written on the note in looping handwriting was ‘Went to town to get supplies. I'll be back soon’. So now he knew where she went. He touched the glass of water, it was still cool so she had only been gone for a short while. He drank quickly and put on his clothes which he noticed were cleaned and mended. She's a good person. He hesitated to just leave after she had been so kind to him. He went to the small desk, put the note in his jacket pocket, and opening the drawer he found a pen and some paper.

~~~

Present time.

"When I got back he was gone and there was a note on the nightstand that said 'Thank you'," Ayla told the last bit of her story.

"So that's how you two meet, and Obi doesn't remember because of the fever,"

"Yeah,"

"Can I ask you something Ayla? Did you fall in love with Obi when you were taking care of him?" Shirayuki asked carefully.

"What made you think that?" Ayla's eyes widened in surprise.

"I remember back then you had acted sad for a while,"

Ayla tilted her head thoughtfully with a sad look in her eyes, "You know how I feel about love, Shirayuki. I think it was more of a kinship, he reminded me a lot of myself back before I met you," She gave Shirayuki a grateful smile.

"I see…,"

"So, now that I've shared my story, it's time you tell me yours."

"Hmmm, where should I begin…" She told her about everything that happened were prince Raji tried to make her his concubine.

"That Raji! I swear he never learns. I hope you put him in his place,"

"I had trouble with him at first but now he's trying to change. We're friends now,"

"Hahaha, leave it up to you! You always amaze me. If he's really changed maybe I'll go pay him a visit sometime, it's been a long time."

"Maybe if you go I'll go with you."

Shirayuki continued her story and they talked late into the night before falling asleep together.

[saythemagicword]

PIERCING THROUGH THE SHADOW OF FAITH

Part 11

"A pizza delivery?" I asked my husband who seems to be unbothered about the doorbell ringing a few minutes ago. "My dear, it's currently 2:30am. What are you doing?" I added. There I was, left unanswered as if I was talking to the wind. Before my suddenly-became-deaf husband could close the door after receiving the box of pizza, I was stumped by what the delivery guy said.

"Mrs. Luna, enjoy! I hope you'll have good night sleep!" he cheerfully said before leaving. Dominique then thanked the delivery guy and closed the door. A confused look etched on my face. I was not shocked about the fact that he knew who I was; I was not shocked that he called me Mrs. Luna. What baffled me is what he meant when he said I should enjoy.

"What was that all about?" I asked Dominique, again, hoping that this time, I would get an answer. "Finally, it's here. I've been waiting for this for the past two hours." he muttered, still acting as if he never heard all my questions. "Avijandro Dominique Luna, answer my question! What are these for? It's past 2 in the morning. Your daughter is sleeping and we're about to go to bed. What is this all about?" I ran out of patience, he keeps pretending he doesn't hear me. "H-huh?" he stutteringly responded. That's his weakness: his full name being called by me. I am his weakness. "Dominique Luna, answer my ques—" "I love you." he uttered passionately and kissed my left cheek.

What? He said that? He knows how to say that? Knowing Dominique, he would show how much he love me in every way possible except saying "I love you." The times he uttered those words can be counted on my fingers. My goodness, this guy. I was supposed to be mad at him. I hate this(of course I don't), he really knows my soft spot. "Y-you think saying that and kissing me would make me forget I'm mad?" I defended, my pride won't let him win over me. "It's for you, darling. I had this made specially for you." said my weakness: him.

"You and that flowery mouth of yours...I hate it.." I don't know what to say. I was dumbfounded by what he did. "Why? My dear, did I say something wrong?" he asked sincerely. His confused face say it all. "Those pulchritudinous words, I hate them. It makes me lose my sane."

He then smirked, trying to hold back the euphoria. But he didn't succeed; a downward smile formed across his lips as he open the box of pizza. "Oh, my dear Diana. Diana, Diana, Diana. Be careful of what comes out of that mouth of yours... or else Quiana might get a sibling a little sooner." he teased. Was he being serious? I hope not.

"You serious about that? Really? After what happened to me when I birthed your daughter? I nearly died, and you have the guts to tell me that?" I argued. I know he's just pulling my leg, but still... I have to say something. I told you my pride won't let him win.

"C'mon, why don't we take a seat?" he insisted while his right hand was pointed on the left side of the soft couch, signaling that I should sit beside him. He just ignored what I said, as always. "Here, have a bite." He offered me the first slice of pizza. It tasted so good; Pepperoni Pizza, my favorite.

We gobbled up all the pizza except the 8th and last slice; Dominique told me he's saving it as it's the best part. "Now baby, you can have that." referring to the slice of pizza. I was about to pick it up but Dominique warned me to not eat it. "Why can't I?" I threw a question because who's in the right mind to offer someone the last slice of pizza and warn them not to eat it? "You'll know why once you get to touch it." After picking up the pizza, I understood my husband right away. I now know why he doesn't want me to eat it. Something bumpy was under it.

"Why is there a folded paper under it?" I asked. I found a folded brown paper soaking in grease. "Open it." he said. A letter was printed on it. What was said in the letter made me shed tears. It goes exactly like this:

"My dearest Diana, how are you? I know it's dumb to ask you this question because we're already with each other. But I still wanted to make sure you are doing really fine. How does it feel to be a first-time mom? I know it's tough but you can still manage to feed our baby, clothe her, clean her, put her to sleep, prepare food for the both of us, and make sure everything is going well. You always check on me even when I'm at work, even when there's already someone who needs you more than I do.

Does this letter takes you back somewhere? I hope it does. Remember when we first met after college? Your first day at work? I know you hate even my slightest presence, but the moment I saw you enter the office, I knew we're destined to be with each other. Ever since I saw you open that door, I started looking forward to see it swung open every morning hoping that it was you entering. Starting from that moment, I wrote letters for you everyday. Back then, the contents of my letter were all about why you should stop loathing me and how much I adore you; it was all about only you. But now, a precious little being is included. It was our dream. Now, it's happening.

Thank you for being a loving wife and a mighty momma. Quina and I are so lucky to have you in our lives. I love you so much, my darling Diana."

What did I do to deserve this kind of love? It was so touching that I cannot help but cry. Yes, he used to always write letters for me. They were written on a brown paper. And to boast, I still have them. And yes, as much as I hate him, or so I thought, I kept the letters he would give me back then because it was so heartwarming. Maybe I already like him back then, I was just indenial.

"Thank you so much, my love. I love you." I retorted. "I love you more." he replied. We were drawn by the affectionate hap that we didn't realize the clock was ticking. "Let's go back upstairs and sleep, you still have to go to work." I told him while walking towards the light switch. And there he was, cleaning the mess we have made from being emotional and eating pizza.

Later that morning, Dominique was taking a bath in preparation to go to his company. Oops—correction, MY company. I am the chairwoman of our company; he's the vice. But since I'm on a maternity leave, he's in-charge of taking care of of everything.

While I was breastfeeding Quiana, Dominique was still in the bathroom, someone's mobile phone seems to be ringing. It wasn't my phone so there's only one answer: it was his phone.

"Babe!! Someone's calling you." I shouted as he's still in the bathroom. "Babe!!" But he doesn't seem to hear me so I thought I'd answer it. I was still holding my baby on my way to our closet since I can't put her down and my husband's phone was there. I was about to pick it up but the contact's name suddenly made me think twice.

"Unknown number?" I murmured.

------- End of Part 11 -------