#what kills me is how zoomed in it is on his face like you can't even fully see the gesture that he decided to invest in at that moment

[dankovskaya]

Why did he fucking do that 😍

[moremaybank]

Any Dad!JJ? You’re just one of the best at writing him.

dad!jj for the soul !!!!! i hope you enjoy, angel! i really enjoyed writing this one! 🤍

jj's elated when he sees his six year old babygirl, avery, walking out of her classroom. it's three-thirty on the dot, a time jj looks forward to daily when he picks up your daughter and takes her to work with him while they wait for you to meet them there after work.

avery reaches him, and he crouches down to her height so he can press a kiss to her cheek. "hi, babygirl."

"hi, daddy!"

he loves how chipper his little girl gets when she's around him. she lets it be known that she adores his presence, and that's what he's always dreamed of as a parent.

"mama killed it on your hair today," he says. he yanks gently at one of the braids you'd put into her hair earlier this morning. "look at these. phew. think my babygirl's a model."

she giggles at her father's affectionate words, cheeks heating with love. her squeals grow louder when jj scoops her up and makes his way to his truck. he buckles her into her booster seat, ruffling up the top of her hair playfully before shutting the door and getting into the driver's seat.

"hey, daddy?"

"'sup, aves?" he asks, pulling out of the parking lot and starting on the journey to the auto shop.

"what colours do boys like best?"

he arches a brow. "what d'ya mean, sweet girl?"

"dunno...like what colour do you like most on mama?"

"hmmm," jj says, pondering out loud. "that's a hard one, baby. i think your mama looks good in everythin'."

an adorable huff escapes her pursed lips. "daddy. 'm serious. you have to pick one."

the truck zooms down the road, passing by avery's favourite fast food joint. jj can't help but speed up just a smidge, hoping and praying that she won't look out the window and wrangle a chicken finger combo out of him. 'cause then he'd have to get one for her. he's never said no to his princess and he doesn't plan on changing that any time soon.

"mm, i guess i'd say red. i like when she wears that matching lipstick too."

jj looks up at the rear view mirror, catching the way avery nods before a presumable heat takes over her face. the dimple she'd gotten from him peeks through as she smiles to herself.

"what're you smilin' about?"

"nothing, daddy. i just think i'm gonna wear red for the dance tomorrow."

he arches a brow, but he doesn't push her on her answer. "whatever you want, babygirl."

˖ . ݁ 𝜗𝜚. ݁₊

jj hears the click-clacking of high heels against the floors of the auto-shop, and he doesn't need to wheel out from underneath the station wagon he's working on to know it's you.

"hi, mommy!" avery greets cheerfully, getting off the spinning chair jj had secured for her from the break room. she runs over to you as quickly as her smaller feet can manage, and you meet her with an equally thrilled grin. you pick her up and squeeze her into a tight hug.

"hi, baby." you smooth down some of her frizz. "how was school?"

"it was good. chrissy shared her chocolate bar with me, and kyle gave me a flower at recess."

neither of you can see it, but jj makes a face under the car.

kyle? who the fuck was kyle?

"he's a good best friend to you, baby," you tell her. "did you thank him?"

"yes. and he's not my best friend anymore, mama. he's my boyfriend."

this time, you do see jj's reaction. or, rather, hear it anyway.

"what?!"

something that sounds like a bang rings through the air, followed by a shit (to which your daughter snickers, always one to find her father hilarious). then, he rolls out from beneath the vehicle, rubbing his forehead to ease the sharp pain. his eyes find your daughter's, though, and he's as stern as you've ever seen him.

"aves— you can't have a boyfriend!"

"daddy, i'm six. i'm not a baby," avery reminds him, sounding every bit like a teenager instead of her actual age. the sass never failed to make you smile.

just like her daddy.

"yes, you are still a baby! my baby!"

"j—" you interject.

"nah. nope. no way."

"why don't you go back over there and colour, angel?" she nods, and you set her down, watching as she runs back to her chair. she takes a sip of her apple juice, bringing her attention back to her artwork.

deciding she's not at all bothered by jj's theatrics, you walk over to him and help him stand. you look up into his cerulean eyes when he towers above you. "babe, relax. she's six."

"exactly! she's a baby! she can't have a boyfriend. s'just not happenin'."

you give him a knowing smile, your arms looping around the back of his neck. "you were my boyfriend when we were six," you remind him. "don't think you found anything wrong about that back then."

he frowns, but pulls you in closer by your hips anyway. no matter what, any time he's around you without touching you, it just seems like a waste.

"that's different. i was a nice boy."

you both realize avery's been listening quietly when she chimes in. "kyle's nice too, daddy. he kisses my cheek everyday at the end of school."

she says it like it's a fact. like kyle never misses out on what infuriatingly sounds like a tradition to jj.

jj thinks he's having a stroke.

"he's puttin' his lips on you, now?!" his forehead falls to your shoulder, and he slumps against you like the six-foot baby he is. "oh god, i think i'm gonna be sick." a beat passes, and then he distances himself from you. the sulk is still prominent on his face, and now, it's probably permanent. he pulls at his collar, shifting uncomfortably as he tries to fan himself off. "'m i sweating?"

avery hops down from her chair, strutting over to her father and tugging at the leg of his coveralls, silently requesting that he crouch down to her height. of course, jj immediately falls in line.

"don't be mad, daddy."

"wait, wait, wait— is kyle the reason you're wearin' red tomorrow?!"

"don't worry, daddy." she pats his cheek like he's the one who needs reassurance. to be fair, he clearly is. "kyle's nice. just like you."

and with that, she trots off back to her chair with a cheshire cat smile, clearly feeling accomplished.

"yeah. he better be," jj mutters bitterly, standing back up.

your hands reach out to grab a hold of your husband again, and it draws his attention back to you. your hands frame his face and you give him a smile. "you're gonna be a total nightmare when she grows up and gets a boyfriend or girlfriend for real."

"damn right, i will. like i said, she's my baby."

you raise a brow. "i thought i was your baby?"

his tongue darts out to wet his lips, and then his mouth forms into a smirk. "see now, she's my baby. but you're my baby." his hands migrate down to your ass and he gives you a squeeze. "you pickin' up what i'm puttin' down?"

"oh, i think i am."

concepts ; concepts (ii)

[xxstylefntsyxx]

Daisuke darling, you're my bestfriend

Daisuke X Reader; bestfriends to lovers

Themes: sex and etc... not proofread

Bestfriend!Daisuke

Man oh fucking man... Swansea ain't never happy when you two come around. Young Intern? Bad... TWO Young interns!? Oh, give him a break! When you're not being occupied by Anya and her mock exams for your nursing position; you and daisuke were running around playing tag and making stupid jokes. It hurt swansea's head when he heard that suspicious giggling outside the doors, "Jesus fucking-"

"Hey, swansenator!" Daisuke giggled through a tight smile. You stood beside him, licking your lips with a smile creeping across your face. Swansea would groan internally before relieving himself from his work to turn around and deal with you two.

"What!?" He growled. He folded his arms across his chest with a loud huff. Daisuke was choking, trying to keep it in, "You wanna know what's better than twenty-four?"

Swansea wanted to slam his head into the upper shaft of the tulper. You too, standing in his face with those dumb eyes staring back at him. Face puffed out and tears streaming down your cheeks.

"What daisuke, what could possibly bring better than twenty-fuckin' four!?" He'd entertain, just waiting for his dumbass to Crack.

"Pfft-! Twenty-fuckin' five!" He burst into tears, choking and coughing on his laughter. You as well, doubling over and crying laughter.

Now you were being chased down by an angry Swansea. Jimmy would be leaving his room, and you two zoomed past. You would throw a angry, "Move Bitch!"

And daisuke would be cackling as you run. "I'll kill em' you better run you little assholes! I'll show you what's better than twenty-fuckin' five! It's called never being able to see twenty-mothafuckin' six!"

And best believe when it's time to find your best friend, you know who to bother and just how to do it. Even if Swansea had his annoyance with daisuke, you were a demon.

In you came, "Swanseaaa! Where's daisuke? Told him we could have lunch together, so if you'll kindly relinquish your pen pal, that would be most heavenly!"

You'd come up poking his face as he grumbled and tried shrugging you off. "I DON'T KNOW AND DON'T EXPECT ME TOO!" He yelled.

you were adiment on finding your best friend so, if gramps couldn't accept it then oh well. "Cmon gramps! You gotta know, he tells you everything with his loud ass." You rolled your eyes, pushing off and sitting in daisukes seat.

"Then his loud ass shoulda' told you! Dontcha' think!?" He'd answer.

You leaned back in it, earning a loud and annoying creek. Swansea cringed, hoping he wouldn't notice his annoyance.

A smirk danced across your face as you hummed and leaned back forward with a louder creek, even slower than the last. On and on until Swansea slammed his hands on the desk, "Kitchen... he is in the god damn kitchen! Now get out!"

"Thank you, pop-pop!" You winked, getting up and walking away. Leaving Swansea frustrated and tired, "Damn kids..."

Bestfriend!Daisuke

If curly had a dime for every time he caught you and daisuke sneaking the sweetener out the cabinets, he wouldn't have to work for Pony Express. Every time he'd hear you two speaking quietly about how you'll get it to his room and how to avoid curly. You just didn't notice the poor guy standing there looking st you two from the breezeway like a disappointed dad.

"Shut the fuck up! He'll hear us!" You'd whisper at daisuke, who was currently wincing at the loud ass noise he made with the cabinet. He gently hushed you with a finger and said, "Dude fuck! I'm sorry! Don't yell at me!" He'd whimper about it later that you could've said it without yelling. But you'll disagree and tell him his dumbass can do it by himself if he gonna be noisy.

Nonetheless- poor curly stood there for a good second until you two were trying to exit the kitchen.

"I assume you two are going to-?" He questioned with a furrowed eyebrow. You two almost jumped out of your skin. You can't run from the captain, unwritten rule between you and daisuke. And don't run from nurse Anya either. That's not cool.

"We were- gonna, uh..." daisuke looked at you for a response. You shrugged back and said, "Yeah, we were um..." you didn't know either. To be fairly honest, y'all were gonna just eat then and then bounce off the walls listening to music.

Curly sighed deeply and outstretched his hands to the both of you to relinquish your sweet snacks.

"Dammit..." He'd hang his head, giving up the delicious packets to his captain. Later that day, curly made a cake for 'special' reasons.

"Never again, unless it's for birthdays." Curly would lean over to you. You'd nod and curly nodded back.

Bestfriend!Daisuke

He was always so nice to you and Anya. You'd occasionally catch them talking and would watch from a distance. As they talked, he'd catch you out the corner of his eye and finish up his conversation with Anya. Before he left her, he'd give her a tiny pat on the head and walk to you.

"Did you just pat a grown woman on the head?" You asked. Daisuke blushed before raising his hands in defense over his face, "Hush! You don't get it! She just reminds me of someone I know... caring and all that. It just felt like the right thing to do!"

Bestfriend!Daisuke

(I think that he likes Tyler and finds him a music idol. Yeah, he watched all his old videos of when he was a vine-star)

Acts like a miniature tyler, the creator. "Look, all I'm saying is, music isn't bad. You're just not listening, right?" He'd complain to Jimmy who didn't understand his love for that type of 'Music.'

"That shit is trashy and offensive." He'd say with a disgusted face. Daisuke would turn around with a bland expression, and he'd scrunch his nose up, "I'm not gonna take this from someone who doesn't listen to music. Fuckin' Oldhat."

You were in tears. Swansea spit up coffee, and Anya turned on a swivel. Jimmy sat there looking embarrassed and confused. Daisuke turned his head back to his music and continue bobbing and listening as if he didn't say a word.

Bestfriend!Daisuke

There was a tiny power outage on the tulpar. You and Daisuke where daisuke locked in the storage room. "Shit! It's locked!?" You hyperventilate. Daisuke stood their, trying his card to open it. He bit his bottom lip and turned to you, "Y-yeah, are you scared?"

You stood their a bit shakey. Daisuke came to your side, worried about you. He rubbed your back, pulling you close for a hug.

"Hey, hey, it's alright! Curly will figure this out, and we'll be right as rain!" He said cheerfully. He held you for a good while as you slowly calmed down.

Fuck, now it was awkward. He was just holding you and not moving. Breathing slow and slightly swaying with the small movements of the ship.

He was your best friend, but right now, in this moment... you weren't sure.

Bestfriend!Daisuke

He smelled good. What was that flowery scent? Maybe it was you, but he felt really warm. You never really analyzed Daisuke, but you were close enough to now. He had a slight muscle texture, must be the boxes Swansea forces him to pick up. Shit made sense. He had so much youth, and Swansea was so old. His chest fell and rose with yours almost in sync.

You gasped when he pulled you closer by your waist, one hand in your hair rubbing your head. It was a tiny one. You were glad it wasn't caught by him.

"You good?" He asked you. You felt his words vibrate through his chest, making you smile unconsciously. "Yeah! All good! Just... a little longer, please?" You asked. He didn't move. he just swayed you back and forth.

Bestfriend!Daisuke

The sound of electricity surging through the tulper pulled you from your thoughts as the lights slowly flickered on. Daisuke pulled back, looking around at the lights before giving you a smile. "See? All fine! Told you! Right as rain!" He exclaimed, opening the door and leaving you with your thoughts.

Oh my god, he's hot... but he was your best friend...

Bestfriend!Daisuke (NSFW)

"Oh my fuckin~" He shivered. Daisuke was in shambles. He never held a girl that close! Not since he was in high school. Why did it feel so sensitive now? Your scent still lingered on his shirt. It wasn't weird if he-

Sniff

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that was that shit right there. He took a deeper breath, the sweet scent mixing with his sent shock down his spine. One hand traveling to his aching groin. He couldn't believe he was gonna do this.. but you smelled so good, and you were so soft. How come he couldn't just have this?

He made his way to his bed to lay down. Rubbing and gripping his hard-on, he thought about the things he could've done to you if you two weren't best friends...

If you two were closer than that and the lights went out, he'd hold you if you asked. But from behind if you were facing that way. Sway with you, holding your waist and resting his head on your shoulder. Then he'd slowly start trailing kisses down your neck, smiling against your soft skin.

"Mngh~!" He whimpered, pulling his dick out to stroke slowly. His eyes unfocused, listening to the wet sounds he was creating off a sick thought.

Just your body against the wall, bent over and presenting yourself to him. His back arched instinctively, "Oh fuck~," stars danced across his vision. The thought of the sounds you'd make for him... he was tense.

"Daisuke~ Mm so scared, hold me~" You moaned. He'd love to grab your hair and just ram into you like a mad dog. You were so cute... scared of the dark? Cutie, how do you sleep without him?

He started gasping and stuttering for air. His body twitched before finishing on his stomach.

His head felt fuzzy. Eyes rolled back in ecstacy. It wasn't until he came down that he realized what he had just done.

He just came to the thought of you. All because he held you because you were scared of the dark!? He rubbed his hand on his shirt and cringed on the inside at the mess in his lap.

"Too much cum... wayy too much, Jesus fucking christ! I can't tell her, I can't she'll think I'm weird! And Swansea! Argh!" He groaned, hands on face and laying back down. "Ew! I thought I wiped it off!" He recoiled when his cum stained hand touched his face. Fuck, this as gonna be akward.... what the hell is he gonna do now?

Outside the room...

Curly was just walking past when he heard daisuke talking to himself. "-And Swansea! Argh!"

"What if he thinks I'm weird for liking my coworker!? Any how!? Fuckkk!" He yelled to himself.

Curly knew who he was talking about. Curly smiled, "Poor kiddos... There's about to be a lot of sneaking around from here on out huh?"

He continued his walk to the cockpit with a smile.

Prt 2?

[pinkmirth]

Wait imagine being enemies to lovers with alucard

now, i love the sound of this! ( i think about it more than i should, tbh . . .) a mostly harmless , banter-like dynamic is what comes to mind, similar to what he’s got going on with trevor. you’re a sharp woman with an even sharper mouth, and as much as he admires your tenacity, alucard isn’t one to hold back from delivering his own petty retorts. you throw jabs at the vampiric man, and more often than not, he’ll bite.

at times, real disagreements ensue— over the proper way to effectively kill night creatures, how to reduce any casualties, how you think he’s passive, and how he sees you to be so incredibly brash. you’re defensive about doing things your way, as is he. you know how two people are just going at each other’s throats until they’ve found themselves face to face, chests heaving from the heat of their argument? yeah, that’s exactly where you find yourself now; alucard standing only inches before you, blonde brows drawn together with his cheeks dusted red from what you assume to be boiling rage.

once you finally acknowledge how slim the proximity between you is, you step away and coil your expression into one of distaste, attempting to mask the thrill of having him so close that his nose almost brushed yours. “you’re disgustingly pretentious,” you try snapping at him, though he can hear that bitter, mocking tone of your diminish. is it just him, or is he catching onto a bit of . . . softness? from someone like you, towards someone like him? it couldn't be. you can hardly stand him, anyway. he's sure that the only one harboring any affections, even in the slightest, is him. as much as you boil his blood and make his head spin, you're also able to make him laugh, motivate him to new heights. not that he'd ever admit it, though. you'd probably punch him square in the face.

“and you're far too stubborn. it wouldn't kill you to adapt, you know." he grunts, tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ear. would it be wrong of you to admit just how beautiful he is? "it might. i surely won't be taking my chances," you bump past him using your shoulder, and he scoffs upon impact. just as you attempt to zoom past the man, his lithe hand encircles your wrist and pulls you back into him.

against the wall is where you find yourself, with his tall, firm body keeping you pressed there. alucard's grasp is unrelenting, and he's far too strong for you to even try pulling away. his long, golden hair drapes over you, curtaining over you so that the only thing you can see is his cold, glowing eyes. "must you make everything so . . . fucking difficult?" you pray he can't hear it; the erratic thumping of your heart.

“unhand me, you fuck.” he does not. you've pushed him to the edge for the very last time. "why on earth do i put up with you?" he sourly chuckles, as though he's asking himself rather than you. he watches your shaken gaze scour his entire face— from his piercing eyes to his pale-pink lips. you're staring, hard. he much rather prefers gaining this kind of attention from you.

“then don't. i never asked you to." you spit, trying to yank away with no avail. he only shakes his head, closing in on you. at this rate, his lips and your own could practically touch.

“i can’t just leave you alone,” he rasps. you listen with a deep pause, and your breath is caught in your throat. “haven’t you noticed? as irksome as your company is, i can’t seem to go without it.” you finally understand— alucard, of all people, has taken a liking to you.

“so, you’re attached?” your laughter is taunting, and somehow, he’s come to love it. “unhealthily so.” he breathes out. his bottom lip grazes yours, and you shudder at even the slightest contact. god, how he’s already ruined you. “and what exactly will you do about that, alucard?” you call his name with a feigned amount of spite, and your lashes flutter up at him in that provoking way . . . fuck, he can feel himself getting harder beneath his trousers. alucard gives you this particular look, and that’s how you know he won’t be telling you— the man’s about to take initiative and show you, just as you’re always telling him to.

a deep, breathless kiss is what you get in response, one where his mouth are pressed to yours in a way where you can bite at his lower lip and he can groan into your mouth. he knew you’d like it this way— messy, heated, desperate. you suck at his tongue and cup his face, breaking away only after you’ve gotten a proper taste of him. you feel something firm nudge your thighs, and it gets you to peer down and take notice of his apparent bulge, straining at his fitted black pants.

“god, you’re pathetic,” your lips curve into a smile, teasingly taking his bottom lip between your teeth. you bring your knee up to press against his crotch, and his moan comes out sounding so broken. only the stars above could explain why your insults rouse him as much as they do. alucard pecks your lips once, then twice, with a quickness he knows will leave you chasing for more.

“for you, perhaps i am.”

[mehiwilldoitlater]

No pressure but really liked the yandere macaque so what if reader was found by some miracle by DO or by someone else and had escaped the mountain what could Macaque do then🤨

You thought that after the torture, the Kills, and the so many bodies, you would finally get used to the violence, that in the end you had at least enough stomach to not throw up. Instead, while he was holding the severed head of another monkey, with his annoyed face that seemed like the one of a parent that is scolding his child, you had to put your hands on your mouth to resist.

"So," he said, with a calmness that made you shiver, "should I know something about this young one?"

Your eyes Met those two orbs, now completely drained from their life. You averted that gaze, feeling your guts moving and contorting in your body. He stopped closer, moving that head to the left and right.

"He was roaming not far from her... saying something about searching for the Lost One... and about some message..."

You started to shiver uncontrollably; the knowledge struck you like thunder. He looked at you, sighing, reminiscing about how easy it was to see how ready you were.

"May I know something about it? ...Have you sent some message around?... Did you?" He kept that head high ,treating it more like something trivial, as a broken vase, not what was left of a living being. You tried to cower in the corner, trying to not look at it, to not smell the blood, or hear it dripping on the floor. You felt his grip on your stump, a bad habit that he had when he started to get angrier, harshly twisting you around, forcing you to stand closer to the head and to face him and your own actions.

"I'm talking to you! Answer me, did you or did you not send a message?!"

"YES! YES! I'M SORRY, PLEASE, I'M SORRY!"

You tried to cover yourself with your good arm, afraid of some kind of repercussion. Instead, he just sighed, and after a loud thump, the head that was thrown away, he gently guided you into his arms, caressing your shoulders, comforting you in that sorry state. You didn't dare to even lament yourself in your cry; you were too afraid to even make a sound.

"I know, Draling... I know you're sorry... I know you hate this thing... but I have to..."

His voice was sweet like honey and soft like a breeze, and everything seemed so wrong on your ears, and yet you kept listening to his words.

"I can't let them hurt you... and I can't let you leave... the more you try to run, the more I have to kill them; do you understand?"

He spoke as if he were talking with a child that had made a mistake or misbehaved. It was his trick, tripping and guilting you to make you believe that it was your own responsibility if he had killed every kind of monkey that had tried to rescue you or even crossed those mountains. You even started to believe those lies.

"That's why you must stop sending messages...stop trying to get away from me...understand?"

You nodded; your hiccups were stuck in your throat and made you jump here and there, or it was his hands that were roaming too far?

"You must feel so bad... Let me take care of you..."

And while he kissed your neck, you started to zoom away in your thoughts. It was easy that way.

///

Every time he left, you used those moments to find a way to escape. You thought that, if you were lucky enough, you would be able to get as far away from him, cover your tracks, and maybe be able to find some help.

Then you lost your arm, and then he started to bring dead people that had found your messages...

You stopped; those moments were made now for something else. You liked to stay in the grass, alone with your thoughts and the soft wind on your skin. You preferred to close your eyes.

It was easy like that, to imagine being so far away from that nightmare. And, like that, you could pretend to sleep, and, at his arrival, he would just take you back to your bed and leave you be.

You hated his kindness. It felt wrong, used to make you feel guilty about your resistance to his love. But even the idea of loving him was just wrong...

You didn't want to love him, but what if giving in was your only way to finally stop the pain?

Abandon yourself to him... Maybe it was easier that way...maybe it was the only way...

When you felt a pair of steps coming closer to you, a sigh escaped to your left. He had come back sooner than the others. Days, he must have found food quite easy this time...but...what was that?

You kept your eyes closed, and yet you wanted so badly to open them up. You felt a rush of adrenaline, like a calling. Your heart pounded in your chest...was that a panic attack?! No, no. It was different! You still could breathe correctly!

Was that another of his tricks?! No, it didn't seem like that...

And this feeling seemed familiar... When did you feel it before?

You decided to finally open up your eyes, and when you did, you felt like a warm wind had rushed towards you.

Instead of those black pitch eyes, you met a pair of brown and warm eyes; they seemed gentle and ready to start a fire at every second. His ragged clothes moved with the small breeze, showing the many signs of struggle that he just endured climbing the mountain, fighting the demons and monsters. A brown chocolate fur, a few scars and cuts here and there...

You met him before... the day that you realized that the Macaque had lied to you.

He had found you,After months from your first encounter, he had found you! The first time he saw you and the macaque, he knew something was wrong, especially since he had found out your role in this story.

He was searching for you even before actually meeting you, sensing your presence on these lands; the calling of his Destiny resonated with yours.

And then you had disappeared again... No, the macaque made you disappear, holding you away from whoever tried to rescue you. The many heads on pikes that he had encountered along the road were quite the message...

But now that he was there, in front of you, all of the fear and thoughts were gone. What really mattered was that he had found you at least.

He made one step ahead in your direction, and suddenly you awoke from that trance. The images of the many monkeys killed by your captor came like a cold wave. No, he wasn't supposed to be here! 

In one move, you rose up and started to walk away as fast as you could, trying to reach the house.

"WAIT!" His voice followed you like a prey; his bare feet resounded behind you, "Don't go! Please, I'm here for you!"

"Stay away!" You try to control your voice: "You can't stay here; go away!"

"I can't! I've been searching for you for so long! He had taken you away and—

"I know what he did! Now leave me be!"

"Stop! Look at me at least!"

He had reached you, and his hand tried to grasp yours to hold you and stop you, but he felt nothing.

In his fingers, he didn't feel your warmth or your flesh, only air and the fabric of your robe.

You felt his grasp only when the sudden pulling of your sleeve made the hand slip from your shoulder, revealing, still covered in bandages, the clean cut of your arm. The macaque had ripped it off from your body, and to save you from infections, he had to cut the damaged tissues and use a piece of red-hot iron to cauterize. And he was kind enough to let you sleep while he fixed the damage that you have done by denying your love for him.

"...what...what is..." His confusion met your look, and a river of ideas came when he saw those pitiful eyes. You tried to cover your mouth, feeling tears coming in your eyes, full of shock from the fact that he had seen what the macaque did to you. He let go of your sleeve, looking at your good arm holding your trembling body, and attempted to calm you down from what had happened. You didn't dare to look at him; you wanted just to hide in that house and never come out in fear of being seen again.

He didn't need to hear you; he was smart enough to know what he had seen and to understand that your reaction was connected to your injury. 

"Did he do this to you?"

A small movement in your shoulder was a clear response. 

He felt a fire in his chest, diacamping in his veins like a poison. His breath became heavier, and his hands squeezed to the point that the knuckles had turned white. He felt a growl trying to escape from his chest.

The macaque did this to you... He had hurt someone who had no fighting skills, and the monkey knew that he did it because you had done something that the macaque had disliked.

Maybe it was the connection with the Bián Huá, but even you were still now a total stranger; he felt a deep sense of hunger for what had just happened to you.

He was furious, and he felt shame for not being able to protect you. Now, he wanted nothing more than to crack open the head of that macaque.

But seeing you like that made him remember that he wasn't there for him. He took a big breath, trying to calm down a little...his face turned back to a gentle one.

"...I'm...Sorry... I wanted to meet for so long... Tell me how I can help you!"

"I don't need your help!" You were fighting with every being of yourself to speak without crumbling, "I need you to leave before he comes back!"

You wanted to believe that you were used to the pain and the fact that many had died because of you, but you were a terrible liar. You wanted to be strong enough, cold enough, maybe an insensible bastard, but no, you had to feel all of the guilt. And this connection between you and this monkey, you felt that if anything was going to happen to him, that would have been your breaking point.

But he... he knew that he would have never forgiven himself for leaving you behind.

"I can't just leave you like this!"

"Please," you begged now, "if he comes back and finds you, he'll... he'll kill you! I can't... I can't take it anymore... Please leave!"

So it was this? You feared that he couldn't handle the macaque?  In some way he should have felt his pride hurt, but in the way that you were saying that there was nothing of it.  All those monkeys killed on the road, all of them came for you, and he had made sure that you felt responsible...

"I'll leave," he said with some determination, "but you have to tell me this to my face! Tell me that you want to stay here, and I'll leave you alone! But just tell me NOW in my face!"

You thought that maybe, with enough time, you would be able to accept that fate. You really wanted to be strong enough to accept the pain, to indulge in his own fantasy, and to protect others from his sick love.

"...I don't want you to trust me... it's too early for that, but just know that I would protect you..."

But you know you weren't; you weren't strong enough to hold it together, to not crack in a spiral of madness. It was easy to succumb, but you didn't want that at the same time.

And there he was...After months, he came. After the fear and tears, he came. Despite the danger, he came.

He came for you. You could just accept everything; you just needed to tell what you needed...

But, with tearful eyes, you met his pleading gaze.

"...help....me..."

///

A whistle echoed around, a simple melody. Heard some time ago from you while he was walking towards your shared house. 

He was in a good mood. After that last problem from the other day, he had found fewer creatures roaming his mountain, meaning that his warnings were making their effects. He wanted to create a small heaven for you and him, and no one needed to find it. 

He had found some good pheasants ,fat enough to be roasted and being served as dinner! He Remembered the last time you had pheasants, it was the day that he had decided to finally stop starving you after your silent treatment. You were so cute with your check-all stuff up on food!

He started to humming happily, thinking about your feast when he stopped in his tracks, his heart perching around, his face now painted in a worried expression. One of the main reasons that he had chosed that mountain was that it was quiet, very quiet, and his warnings, still unmatched from everyone, could get a single cricket even from km apart.

His power didn't allow him to have eyes in the future like in the past, but he was still capable of hearing from a great distance, listening to conversations from houses apart, hearing the songs of the phoenixes in the skies, and hearing the cries of dragons. He had learned that what had led him to calm in his stressful nights was your heartbeat, a rhythm that reminded you that you were there and alive.

That rhythm now was absent.

Leaving the pheasants behind in his rush, he started to march upon the mountain towards the house that he had always made sure was harmless for your own good.

No, no, you couldn't possibly be that broken already. Yeah, he had always been harsh, maybe a little too rough with you, and took drastic measures when needed, but he wanted you sane and safe! He wanted you complacent towards his affection, never too far in his own madness!

Did you find any poisonous herbs around the area? No, he was smart enough to have cleaned around, even from the most harmless mushroom! Did you harm yourself?! Maybe you broke a window, or maybe you had used part of your robes and...

The single image of your hanged body made his muscle move faster. When he reached the house, the fear of the worst made him rip away from the wall the door, throwing it away like it was nothing. He called for you, frantically searching for a single trace of you everywhere.

He found nothing; the lunch that he had left for you was still on the table, completely cold and untouched. The bedroom was empty; everything was like he had left it in the morning, just like in the living room and in every other part of the house. When even in the bath he had found no trace of your lifeless body, a sigh of relief escaped from him.

You were not dead; you were alive; simply, you weren't there...

Ah...you weren't there...you just disappeared... His teeth start to clench, feeling his own blood boiling in his veins. You had finally managed to leave the mountain, but how?! Even with a body with both arms, it was suicide trying to leave that place, especially without a trained body and agile like his own!

Like a monkey, he exited the houses and started to sniff around. He detected his own smell, your own, and... another scent... a male... someone that he had met... the Destined one...

He started to growl; he had found his secret heaven; he had found you! That DAMN MONKEY! He had really ruined everything he had conquered, right?! Can't he just let this one slide, eh?! Leaving you alone with him?!

Then, his growling stopped...he started then to chuckle, then a laugh, then more, more strong and sinister.

You really didn't learn your lesson, huh? You were enjoying seeing so many of his own kind dying and getting killed by him, eh? Darling, you were just as evil as him...

He retrieved his weapon and prepared a few other trinkets, slowly approaching the road and searching for your scent and heartbeat and the stench of the other one. You wanted to get chased? Fine, if that was the way to show his love to you, then he was ready to rip his rival's heart out of his chest and gift it to you.

He was coming for you, and you had better be ready.

[fishsticksloser]

Digital Hearts

Shelldon x reader's ai

Warnings: fluff, robots, technically not their kids but also their kids, slight angst, request at the end

A/N: robot playdate. Robot Playdate. ROBOT PLAYDATE! I wish we got more Shelldon... What if... What if...

Donnie couldn't believe it when Shelldon talked about another ai like him. Who would even be able to do that? Kendra? The one who turned his dear son against him?

No.

Kendra wouldn't think about getting that close again.

Jace? Jeremy? No, they followed Kendra.

From the way Shelldon was talking, itsounded like Donnie had never met the person who created the ai. Donnie was so focused on who the mystery inventor was that he couldn't even be mad at Shelldon for going out alone.

"And she like flew around like so elegant like." Shelldon hums, his LED eyes turning to slits showing he was 'closing' them. Donnie's eyes snap over to Shelldon, realizing something. Shelldon liked this ai.

"Well... Why don't you show me where you met this other ai. Maybe we can see her again." Donnie suggested, feeling this was the best way to find our the mystery inventor.

"Oh, Dee, you're the best!" Shelldon laughs and immediately zooms off. Donnie follows to come to a park, pulling his hoodie up to not draw attention to himself.

He keeps an eye on his drone, seeing no other drones in sight. There were kids with their parents, couples on blankets having picnics, but no drones. Shelldon didn't seem detured in the slightest, continuing through the park.

"Shelldon..." Donnie began when a purple blur flies right by his face, followed by Shelldon. Donnie turned and watched Shelldon chase after this other drone, hearing them both laugh.

"Isn't she amazing?" Shelldon stops in front of Donnie, his green eyes shining bright. The other drone stops next to Shelldon, her own eyes lite up as well.

"I'm Wisteria." The other drone introduces herself, Donnie noticing some similarties between Wisteria and Shelldon's designs. "It's so nice to meet you!"

"Wisteria!" Donnie and Wisteria both turn at the sound of her name, seeing you running up. "Wisteria, you can't just run off like that, what if someone came after you?"

Donnie watches you scold your drone a little, amusement dancing in his eyes. "It never ends." Donnie tells you, motioning to Shelldon. "He runs off all the time."

"So you're Shelldon's person." You say, holding out your hand. Donnie shakes it, nodding. "I figured you'd be... Different..."

"How do you mean?" Donnie asks, cocking his head a little.

"Well... Shelldon is... Amazing, I mean his design, his personality..." You say, both drones fly off, chasing and playing together. "I figured you were some loser, not caring where he went."

"Oh, no. I've grounded him many times for his escapes." Donnie shakes his head, brow furrowing. "The personality he curated himself. That's kind of the point of ai, isn't it?"

"You've got a point." You shrug, turning to watch Shelldon and Wisteria. "What made you create him?"

"To clean the house." Donnie answers simply, making you turn and glare at him. "I'm being serious. That was his original purpose. Then my brother's reprogrammed him because he showed favoritism towards me..."

"Your brothers... Reprogrammed him? What do you live in a family of geniuses?" You look at Donnie in shock and intrigue.

"Sweet Galileo, thankfully not." Donnie laughs, shaking his head. Donnie crosses his arms, watching as both drones stop. "Perhaps they just listen to my ramblings more than I believed. Either way... I fixed him before he killed me and here we are." Donnie uncrossed his arms and called for Shelldon. "We should get back home. Before he dies, he's been too stubborn to charge."

"Wait, take my number. I think both of them would like to see each other again... We can... Schedule playdates." You tell Donnie, grabbing his arm before he leaves.

"Fair enough." Donnie nods, taking your phone and putting in his number. He types it in quickly, handing your phone back. "Text me, I guess."

⋆｡ ﾟ｡☁︎👾｡ ﾟ｡⋆

"Dee! Did you see Wisteria today? She said she got an upgrade." Shelldon chirps, sliding under Donnie's arm as he tries to work. "She's now a 15.2!"

"Yes, Shelldon." Donnie sighs, managing to get his arm away from Shelldon and continue working.

Shelldon continued to gush about Wisteria, getting in Donnie's nerves. Sure, it'd been at least 6 months since the drones met, but just recently Shelldon has been non-stop talking about Wisteria.

"I just... I don't know what to do about him. He's driving me crazy!" Donnie groans, flopping back onto Mikey's bed. Mikey laughed, pushing his glasses up. "It's always Wisteria this, Wisteria that..."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Shelldon's feelings for Wisteria have... Progressed?" Mikey asks, pushing his glasses up.

"Progressed?" Donnie turns to look at Mikey, his brows furrowed. "What do you mean 'progressed'?"

"What if Shelldon has developed more romantic feelings for Wisteria?" Mikey explains, crossing his legs. Mikey likes at his brother, seeing the confusion on Donnie's face. "Let's face it, Shelldon isn't a little drone anymore. He's so far beyond that. Who's to say that he doesn't have these feelings."

"He's a kid."

"Technically—"

"He's only version 16. He's too young."

⋆｡ ﾟ｡☁︎👾｡ ﾟ｡⋆

"Can we talk about Shelldon and Wisteria?" Donnie asked you one day when he went to pick up Shelldon. You smile letting him inside. "Has Wisteria said anything to you? Been acting different?"

"She's has been talking about Shelldon more." You muse, smiling a bit wider at Donnie. "It's cute."

"I don't think so..." Donnie shakes his head, frowning a little. "They're young and... They don't understand what they're feeling."

"They won't ever learn if we don't let them experience."

[st4rb3rries]

summer activities with the main 4

pairings; stan, kyle, kenny, cartman x fem!reader (aged up 18+)

summary; going to the water park/gas station with them

warnings; cussing, mention of drugs

a/n; sorry for being inactive!! i love you guys hope you enjoy<3

key colors; blue= stan green= kyle orange= kenny red= cartman pink= reader

so i feel like you guys would go to the water park because it's so hot. kyle is the one who suggested it because cartman can't stfu. "what the fuck it's so hot" "then how about we go to the water park tubby" "DON'T CALL ME TUBBY YOU STUPID J- that's actually not a bad idea" "shiii im down it's hot as fuck" "fr" "but not as hot as hot as me😘" "who said you were hot in the first place🤨" so all of you guys walked back to your houses and to go get ready. we all know kyle is the mom friend so he brings extra towels, sunscreen, and floaties and puts it in a suitcase. once you all meet up you guys just decided to walk there. "god kyle did you not get the memo were going to the waterpark not the airport🙄" "WELL CARTMAN I WAS JUST TRYING TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU GUYS LOOK AT YOURSELVES YOU GUYS DIDN'T EVEN BRING A SINGLE TOWEL" "thanks for bringing us stuff mom ilysm🥰" "yeah yeah whatever let's just start walking" when you guys get there for some reason kenny and cartman BROUGHT A WHOLE ASS SPEAKER??? *random song playing on speaker* "AW DUDE WTH YOUR EMBARRISING US" "BITCHHH TURN THAT SHIT DOWNN😭" *kyle grabs the speaker and throws it into an "empty" pool* (rip to the kid who was in the pool) "come on stan and y/n lets go swim, but first we gotta put on sunscreen" "bro think's he's the main character💀" "im gonna fucking kill him" "bro thinks he's the villain 💀" your guys favorite thing to do at the waterpark is the slides for sure. or should i say it's you and kenny's favorite thing to do. "WOOHOOO WATER SLIDES Y/N LET'S GO" "YYASSS" "god they're so childish, real men make kids fall of slides" "CARTMAN NO-" so after you and kenny were finished with all the slides. you decided to invite stan because he hasn't done anything being the emo bitch he is🙄. "come on stan lets go next" "no" "yes" "no" he's only saying no because he's afraid he's gonna barf on you since. you guys have to hold each other tight on the slide. (it's in the rules😉) bro is not tryna get caught lacking with having a crush on you. yeah you guessed he finally said yes to you. "ARE YOU READDY STAN HOLD ON TIGHT" "oh god" *not even 5 seconds later* "BLEGHHHHH-" "EW DUDE SICK WTF" bro doesn't even say sorry cause he's too embarrassed. good thing kyle only saw you guys. cartman and kenny would've been laughing their asses off💀. "looks like someone threw a love bomb on you guys *wink*" "shut it kyle" anyways good thing kyle had his big ass suitcase prepared with towels and extra bathing suits. at the end of the day kenny is flirting with the life guards and cartman is torturing kids. but you, stan, and kyle always look foreword to the sunset each day and luckily. the water park has a perfect view for that so you guys were excited. (you guys got kicked out before the sunset)

after getting escorted out the water park you decide to go your local gas station for slushies and snacks. "you guys you guys w-wait up" "come on cartman walk faster" "CAN'T YOU SEE IM TRYING STAN WE JUST CAME FROM THE WATER PARK" "yeah like 2 mintues ago" "LAST ONE WHO GETS THERE HAS TO PAY FOR ALL OUR STUFF" all of you guys start zooming just to piss off cartman. "GODAMMIT WAIT UP" when you guys finally arrive (yes you guys waited for cartman) the cashier always has a look of terror on his face because he knows that you guys. might end up buying the whole store, or accidently set it on fire. "LOOK Y/N SOUR CANDY OUR FAVORITE" "BY THE WHOLE ROW RN" "oh no no no you guys we aren't doing this again." he's only saying this because one time you and kyle ate so much sour candy that you guys passed out. when stan saw you guys he thought y'all did c0k3 because there was white powder everywhere. in reality it was sour dust💀. so he's still traumatized from sour candy because he thought his best bud and future gf died. "stan relax we won't even eat this much this time, right kyle?" "righttt" meanwhile kenny and cartman are fucking up the slushie machine. "kenny i'll give you $5 if you pour slushie into your shoes" "alr bet"*puts slushie in shoes* "BAHAHA KENNY YK I WOULDN'T GIVE YOU $5 FOR THAT" "ik that's why im gonna drink it nothing ain't going to waste😈" "look kenny real men drink out of the slushie machine not their shoes🤓" "you guys are you ready to go🙄" "nah hold up dude lemme get my razzberry slush real quick" as stan tries to get his slush the machine literally explodes everywhere😭. "AH SHIT" "HAHA STAN YOU DUMB BITCH" "ah hell nah smurf nut exploded everywhere" "HAHAH SMURF NUT" "fuck it i say we make a run for it and never come back we can't this shit in time" "at this point yeah😭" "and you guys know damn well none of us brought cash" "NO WAY KYLE BEING A MAN FOR ONCE AND TRYNA STEAL WOAHHH😮" "SHUT IT F@T@SS THEY'RE GONNA HEAR US" "LETS GO THE CASHIER IS SLEEPING" "HELL YEAH FREE STUFF" "PURR LET'S GO😜" you guys ran out with all your snacks and never came back😭. but we all know kyle is gonna come back and repay for the damages and stealing. until he see's photos of himself and you guys on the door saying your banned. "oh fuck"

[darlingshane]

Salt of the Earth ~ Part 3 (Final)

Pairing: Michael Berzatto x OFC

Summary: She was Carmy's best friend growing up, and Michael never looked at her as anything other than that until years later when she comes back to Chicago to start over. In the process, she turns his sorry excuse of a life upside down.

Content/Warnings: 18+. Explicit, Friends to lovers, Fluff, Heavy Angst, Smut, Shower Sex, BJ's, P in V, Family Drama, Dysfunctional relationships, Addiction, Alcohol, Pets, Pet names, Dialogue heavy, Undisclosed age gap.

Word Count: 12.3k // Chapters 8-10 // AO3 Link.

— Part 1 (Chapters 1-4) // Part 2 (Chapters 5-7)

A/N: This part includes my version of the famous 'Fishes' episode. Though having Maya in it changed a few things, most of it is pretty faithful to the actual script. I also borrowed some of the dialogue to keep it as close as possible.

Chapter 8: As warm as toast

Maya is hugging Michael’s back when the warm breath of her dog is pressed against her ear. She tells the dog to go back to sleep, but Coco, ignoring her request, whines a couple of times until Maya has no choice but to get up. Though it's still terribly early, she takes Coco out to the park down the street from Michael’s building. It's freezing outside, but that doesn’t stop Coco from zooming across the park a hundred times until she’s spent while Maya paces along the fence, wrapped in thick layers of hat, scarf, mittens and a bulky coat.

Upon their return, Maya fills Coco’s bowl and makes some coffee.

They’ve fallen into a nice routine with Michael. He’s made room in his life for them, as much as they’ve welcomed him open into theirs. Half a week they spent in his apartment, and the other half at Maya’s house.

While she sips on her coffee, she tries to guess what's inside the big wrapped box that has been sitting in Michael’s living room for a week. Curiosity has been killing her since she saw it the other day. Her fingers tap on one of the sides and lightly pull on the edge of the red and white paper, trying to sneak a peek of the box.

“I told you to leave that alone, Maybird. That’s not for you.” Michael catches her red-handed as he comes out of the bedroom.

“C’mon, Bear, let me open it already. It’s Christmas.”

“Uh-uh, it’s Christmas Eve.”

“Is it a sex swing? It feels like a sex swing.” She keeps tapping on the box.

“It's not a sex swing. Keep guessing.” Michael snorts, leaning over to kiss her good morning. “Your face is cold, did you go out?”

“Uh-huh.” She glances at Coco, who’s currently devouring her food by the kitchen. “She woke me up and dragged me outside.”

“At least she knows how to hold it and ask for the head.” Michael goes around the breakfast bar to fill a mug with coffee. “Remember that yorkie that Francie had that couldn’t stop peeing everywhere.”

“Well, training goes a long way.”

“That's what everyone kept telling her, but her parents ended up leaving a poor thing in the kennel.”

“I mean it's Francie. I'm not surprised. She really can't be trusted to take care of anything. How's she? I haven't seen her in ages.”

“She's around. I think. Last time I saw her was probably a couple of years ago. She’s banned from our house.”

“Why?”

“Beats me. It's a Sugar thing. I think Francie tried to hit on Pete or something. You'll have to ask Sug.”

“Really? Just when I thought she couldn’t sink lower.”

“Tell me about it.” He pulls up his sweats as he takes a seat on the couch next to her.

“Okay, stop trying to distract me. So, if it’s not a sex swing, or a pizza oven, which I really wanted by the way…”

“The sex swing?” He lifts a brow at her and takes a sip of his mug.

“The pizza oven, smartass. How about… a weighted blanket?”

“First, you don’t need any of those. You can cook pizza already in your oven, and why do you need a weighted blanket or a sex swing when you have me?”

“That’s true.”

“You know what? Go ahead and open it, but you’re gonna need Coco, cause like I told you, that’s not for you. C’mere Coco Girl.”

Coco’s floppy ears perk up at Michael’s call. The dog turns her head to look at Michael for a second before continuing chewing her food.

“She’s too busy to open presents right now.”

“Figures.”

They wait till she’s done, and Maya beams in delight, quickly tearing apart the flashy wrapping paper. That delight turns into a mocking frown when she finds out it’s a big, fluffy dog bed for Coco.

“Oh, you weren’t kidding. It’s not for me.”

“Aw, don’t be jealous, sweetheart. You know I have something else for you. She needed a bed here. This couch is so uncomfortable, no even a dog wants to lay here. She’s always either hoarding the bed or sleeping on the rug.”

“Yeah, I know.” Her lips curve up, watching Coco inspect her present before attempting to curl inside. “That’s it, baby, lay down. Good girl.”

“Are we still up for tomorrow?”

Maya sighs, “yeah, I think so. Did you tell them I was coming?”

“I said you might. Just in case you change your mind.”

“Do you want me to change my mind?”

“No,” he strokes her hair with his free hand. “I really want you there.”

“What are we going to tell, y’know… everyone?”

Everyone – meaning Carmy. Though their relationship is practically nonexistent, the last thing she wants to do is show up holding hands with Michael and flaunt it on anyone’s face without a warning.

“Well, Richie is the only one who knows.” Cause he caught them last week making out at their usual bar. “I guess Tiff knows too. Does it freak you out? Do you wanna back out now?”

“No, no. I just… I guess I’m not ready to announce it on a day like this. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s okay, baby. I get it. It’s driving me crazy, too.”

“If they find out, that’s great, but I don’t just wanna put it out there right away.”

“We’ll just have to keep a low profile, then. How hard can it be?”

“I’ve never had a secret relationship before. It could be fun pretending, even if it’s just for a few hours.”

“We just have to hope Richie doesn’t blow our cover.”

“Oh, we’re screwed.”

“I don’t know about that. But I can tell someone is about to get screwed. Shower?” His brow playfully arches.

“Hmm, you’ve read my mind.”

It’s that rush of excitement of being with someone new that leads them quickly to the bathroom. He undresses her just as fast as she pulls his sweats and underwear off him. He hasn’t finished taking off her bra and his lips automatically invite themselves into her neck as she fumbles to get the water going so it warms up before stepping inside.

Under the warm spray of the water, their bodies fuse together. Lips against lips share a vicious amount of kisses and laughs. Their arms tangle around the other, her hands become his, and vice versa. The steam filling the room boils hotter when Michael turns Maya around and presses himself on her ass while one of his hands slides between her legs. Her palms brace the tiled wall, as his mouth bites the flesh at the curve of her neck. Her moans and curses sound like heaven when the blunt tip of his cock slides into her opening. His hips push painfully slow as her walls stretch inch after inch. Once he’s fully sheathed in her tender pussy, his eyes squeeze shut, he lets his desire guide the pacing of his thrusts. Maya waves her hips at the same time, countering his moves until both find the same rhythm. One of his hands clutches the curve of her ass, keeping her secured, as the other stays right on her pussy, rubbing her swollen clit with passion.

His back turns red as the hot water keeps pouring over him. The fiery pressure rising up in his core makes his cock throb inside her. He looks down to see his length disappear inside her fast with each push. At the same time, his mind dissipates somewhere up, above the mist of the bathroom, somewhere above clouds. It’s like he’s traded one addiction for another. As long as he’s with her, he’s safe. It’s not the healthiest way to deal with it, but right now he doesn’t give a shit. The climb to that high is way faster, it feels better, it’s less toxic, but it lasts shorter. That’s the only downside.

“Michael… please,” her breathing swallows, as she inches close to the finish line.

“I know, sweetheart, shh…. Come for me. C’mon…”

Following her plea, he pushes a little harder, rubs a little faster until her body seizes up. She lets out a strained moan that bounces off the steamed walls, as her opening contracts around him harder than he’s ever felt. Maybe it’s the position. It feels like pure bliss to have her squeezing every last drop of him.

Catching his own breath, he hangs his head down to rest on her nape for a moment. While still riding that high, he slowly slips out of her and drops to his knees on the shower floor. His hands handle her body around so she's facing him. As her abdomen lines up with his face, he glances up to capture her glowing aura, stunning as ever. Maya’s still floating in that same sea of ecstasy he floats on. It makes her look like a goddess from his position. Her dark hair cascades over her shoulders, sticks to her skin as it touches the curves of her chest. Water trails down her body as if she was standing under a waterfall. And like the Goddess she is, he aims to devout himself only to her.

He gently holds one of her legs up, letting his lips glide across the surface of her thigh as he drapes her leg over his shoulder. His mouth waters as it gets closer to her center. Licking his lips, his eager tongue just to taste the heaven between her legs. It's slicked and tender, ready to consume. His mouth fits perfectly against it. Wide open. Desperate to please her with the flick of his tongue and ease his own affliction.

Maya leans her back on the wall, anchors her only feet hard to the floor, and grips at his soaked hair as his tongue works restlessly all over her sex. He sucks her clit between his lips, licks her folds, circles her dripping opening, and revels in tasting both, him and her. In a wild frenzy, he devours it all. It consumes his need and desperation for more. Her moans are exquisite. Her body writhes in his hold as she rises up gracefully to a higher plane.

Chapter 9: Bigger fishes to fry

“Are you really going to wear that?” Asks Maya as soon as she sees the outfit Michael has chosen for Christmas dinner.

“What’s wrong with this?” He gazes at his blue Under Armour shirt and jeans ensemble.

“Workout shirt, jeans and kicks, really? Why don’t you put on a nice sweater at least?”

“Baby, it’s just dinner at my house with the same fucking people I see every year. It's not like the Queen of England is gonna show up to have tea and biscuits.”

“C’mon, Bear, do it for me?” Maya pulls out her big adorable eyes and disarming smile.

“Ugh, alright, only for you.” Unable to resist her power, he easily yields and goes into his bedroom. From a drawer, he collects a dark blue fisherman sweater. Then he sticks his hand into the closet to pick up the vintage jacket she bought him for his birthday. To finish his new getup, he trades his sneakers for ankle boots.

Maya is taking out a dessert from the fridge that she bought this morning to take to The Berzattos.

“Wow,” her head turns when hearing his footfalls. “See, you look so much better now.”

“Yeah? You clean up pretty nice too,” he picks up her hand and makes her spin under his arm, capturing the stunning shape of her body hugged in a cream knitted dress that almost touches her knees. Right below, black leather boots cover the rest of her legs.

“Thanks, handsome bear.” After her spin, her head tilts to the side, capturing a chaste kiss from his lips.

“What’s that?” Michael points at the dish covered in tin foil on the breakfast bar.

“It's a strawberry tart.”

“You made a tart?” He lifts part of the foil to uncover the well-crafted pastry.

“What? Surprised that this tart made a tart?”

“Well, yeah. You almost poisoned me the last time you cooked.”

“You got me. I didn't make it. I bought it this morning when I took Coco out.”

Michael softly chuckles. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring that. Have you forgotten about pudding-gate? Donna's going to eat you alive if you show up with food.”

“Oh, I think that night was the first time I got drunk. I don't remember the details. But I do remember the pudding and eating a bowl with Carmy in the garage. Who brought it?”

“Uncle Jimmy's first wife.”

“That's right. She was never seen again after that. Okay, I guess I could bring a bottle of wine.”

“You're gonna make me look bad if I show up with nothing.”

“You could bring the tart, and say that you made it. I bet Donna will be delighted if it comes from the golden child.”

“That's a great idea, baby. It'll be a great distraction when she starts strangling me that people won't even notice this other tart.” His hand boldly squeezes her ass.

“Hey!” she swats his shoulder with the back of her hand. “I thought we agreed to keep our hands off each other.”

“I meant later. Here, I can still get a piece if I want.” He links his arms around her waist and peppers the curve of her neck with kisses, making her laugh with the coarse tickle of his beard.

“Oh, this is gonna be harder than I thought,” she whines when his lips nibble her earlobe.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” He laughs against her ear, gripping tightly at her hips. “I’m not sure how long I can make it without touching you like this.”

“Well, we better think of something…”

Ready to go, they hop in the car and drop Coco first at Maya’s house. While Michael waits in the car she collects a bottle of wine to bring for dinner.

It’s then that she gets jittery about the whole ordeal. It’s been years since she attended one of their functions. Christmas at the Berzattos was never a walk in the park, and as she has heard recently, they still aren’t. But she’s not the one to talk cause the Silvas have always had their own issues, proof of that is her desertion from her own family dinner.

“Okay, kiss me one more time,” she requests after parking at the end of the street. They both lean in to meet in the middle over the center console for a chaste kiss. “One more.”

Michael delves into her mouth a little deeper, hoping it’d ease her up.

As they walk up to the house, they pass Maya’s empty childhood home, and Michael just wraps an arm around her and kisses her hair.

“Their loss,” he mumbles. “Don’t think about them, Maybird.”

“I won’t.”

His arm unfurls away from her body as they get closer to the Berzattos’ house. When they reach the door, they stay there for a minute, filling their lungs with cold air as they muster the courage to cross the threshold.

The house is loud with people talking and laughing when they step inside.

Maya can see Michael's face changing as the door closes behind them. That raw vulnerability, his bashful expression he's not afraid to show her slips once again behind that mask he's fought so hard to get rid of. She can't hold it against him. Everyone has their coping mechanisms and this is Michael's.

She becomes suddenly the new sensation, everyone openly welcomes her as if they hadn't seen her in ages. Which is actually the case. She's bombarded with questions she doesn't really want to answer like — How are your parents? How does it feel being back? Are you seeing someone?

Mirroring Michael's, she just draws her best smile and tries to satisfy their curiosity while Michael takes a smoke break with Sugar leaving her to be eaten by wolves before she can protest.

To Maya’s disbelief, after the third degree, she’s welcomed with open arms by Donna Berzatto, who is just as intense as she remembers. Hair on point, makeup on point, fresh manicure softly scratches Maya’s jaw when she briefly holds her face.

“We've missed you, Mayhem Maya.” Donna actually coined that nickname after that incident when she broke one of her figurines when she was a kid. And she'd never live that down. It makes her feel like a child every time she calls her that or the way she manages to compliment her and patronize her at the same time.

“Hey,” she hears the familiar voice as Donna disappears into the kitchen.

Maya turns around to see Carmy climbing down the stairs.

“Hey, you made it,” she says a little hesitant, trying to decide whether to hug him or just shake his hand as he reaches the last step.

“You too.”

Hug. She goes for it and tucks her arms around his shoulders for no more than two seconds. It feels a little awkward and cold given their history but understandable. They're not as close anymore, and it doesn't come as natural as it used to. She tries to internalize that as best as she can, but there’s still something that doesn’t feel right. Maybe this wasn’t the best moment to show up back again into his life. Being Michael’s girlfriend, no less. Perhaps deciding to hide that wasn’t the best choice after all. It sounded reasonable when she chose that, but right now, it feels like she’s betraying him.

“How's Copenhagen?”

“Cold. How is being back?”

“Weird.”

“Tell me about it… Never thought I'd see you again in one of these functions.”

“Yeah, Michael insisted. You knew I was coming, right?”

He nods. “Sugar told me.”

They shoot back and forth meaningless questions without really diving into anything substantial. For the first time, she looks at his cold blue eyes and realizes they're not best friends anymore. She might have known everything about him once upon a time, but now it feels like talking to a stranger, and it breaks her heart not being able to pass that invisible wall between them.

Maya stares at him one last time as they are interrupted by the rest of the party. He’s dragged to a mindless conversation with Neil and Ted Fak, while Michelle brings Maya a drink and settles with her on the couch to catch up.

Carmy manages to escape the Faks and asks for some help from his siblings that were hiding outside.

Michael does another quick round before disappearing again somewhere with Richie.

“I thought you weren’t serious about bringing her.” Richie takes him to the garage where they open a couple of beers.

“I was dead serious. And please, don’t say anything. Tonight, we’re just friends, alright?” he gives him a menacing look.

“You’re dead for sure when Carmy finds out. Don’t get me wrong I love Maya, but is she all that? Is she worth the trouble, Cousin?”

“She’s all that and a basket of biscuits.”

Soon, Michael thinks. Soon everyone will know how much he loves her but for now, this is for the best. This is what she wants and he respects that.

When they go back into the house, Michael goes checking if she needs a break from socializing. Figures, she probably does as much as he does. She's not in the living room anymore, or anywhere on the first floor. He climbs upstairs and from the cracked door to his room, he finds her snooping around the bedroom with a glass of wine in her hand.

“Hey. What are you doing up here?”

“The bathroom downstairs was occupied, so I came up here, and I realized I never really saw your room. Was it always like this?”

“Kinda. It’s cleaner for starters. The walls used to be covered in Red Sox merchandise and movie posters. It’s all in the basement at The Beef now.”

“Traitor,” Maya mockingly squints her eyes before taking a sip of her glass.

“Why do you care, you don’t even watch baseball?”

“Yeah, but if I had to pick I wouldn’t even dream of going against my own home team,” she says, scanning a pile of CD’s on the corner of the desk and picking one from the middle. “Marky Mark, really? Who are you?”

“That’s Sugar’s.”

“Sure it is,” she laughs.

“This is why you came up here, to make fun of me?”

“Nope, I just like snooping.” She turns around and keeps flicking through those albums while Michael shuts the door to seize that as an opportunity to kiss her again.

“Hey, c’mere.” Quickly wetting his lips, he cups her face as it turns to the side and gently captures the flavor of her mouth soaked in white wine.

“Hmm, we’re a lost cause,” she says as his lips bounce a few times against her.

“I know.” Michael hums, unable to stop himself from going deeper into her mouth.

As she places her glass on the desk, his tongue swipes past her lips.

Michael moves his hands to her hips, as Maya links her arms around his neck, letting her tongue slowly play with his.

His mouth grows hungrier and desperate for more. She can feel it at the eager tip of his tongue demanding more action. He blindly guides Maya to the bed, and almost without breaking from the other, as she settles on her back, he pushes all the coats people left on his bed to the side. Michael lies on top of her, nestling between her legs, claiming ferociously another kiss from her mouth.

From zero to sixty, his hand slips beneath the hem of her dress and hikes the skirt up to her waist to grab her ass. He digs his fingers on her skin over her tights. He could rip the fabric apart in a second if he pressed a little harder.

Maya hums in his mouth, struggling to keep up with the burning passion he's pouring into her lips as the coarse texture of his beard scratches her face.

The setting is a little off-putting for her right now no matter how much she wants him and as his bulge hardens between her legs, she promptly puts a halt on.

“Michael, baby, shh. We can’t do this here.”

“We’re just making out. The door is closed.”

“We’re not just making out. You’re already hard. What if someone comes in?”

“There’s a lock on the door. I closed it.”

“The lock is not the problem. It's this place. This house.”

“The house is cock-blocking you?”

“Pretty much. Yeah. Let’s just take a breath and go back down. We’ll finish this later at home. See, this is why we can’t be left alone.”

“Okay,” he begrudgingly rolls to the side with a sigh, feeling a little disappointed to be honest and stares at the ceiling. “Is it the house or is it Carmy being here?”

“I don't know. Maybe both.” She leans on her elbow to look at him.

“I see.”

“It’s not like I don’t want to. I do. More than you know, Bear. I just feel weird about doing this right here. We said the other day that we should be honest with each other to make this work. And this is me being honest.”

“I know, baby. I get it. I just… All I wanna do is be with you right now. Can't stop thinking about you. That’s why this happens…” he gestures vaguely as his crotch.

“Now, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to give you blue balls. I know how much that hurts.”

“I don’t think you do,” he snorts.

“I’m sorry,” her palm covers her smile. “I really am. But I… I guess I could do something about it. Don’t move.”

Maya’s fingers glide over his crotch to undo his fly.

“Wait, are you changing your mind?”

“No, but I don’t wanna leave you like that either. Just trust me.” She shifts on the bed as her hand slides under the fabric to feel the pressure of his straining erection.

Biting her lip, she locks eyes with him as her fist curls around his shaft as Michael’s hand wraps around hers.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I wanna. Just because I can’t, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. Let me do this for you. Please.”

“You’re fucking amazing, you know that?” he sighs, letting her hand move up and down his hardness.

“I know. Just relax for me. I'll make it quick.”

Maya leans closer to his face to lock her lips with his. His low grunts echo in her mouth while her fist prompts him to spill his early drops of arousal. They help her pump more swiftly. He has to bury his sounds deep in his throat when she parts from his mouth and moves her head down his torso so he can finish him with a blow.

“Fuck, Maybird,” he moans as her lips wrap tightly around his swollen gland. Her hand keeps a nice pressure at the base as her head bobs quickly to have him climaxing all over her tongue.

She cleans him up, licks her lips and makes sure nothing was spilled on their clothes before taking a long swig of the glass of wine on the desk to get rid of the aftertaste of his cum.

“God, sweetheart, that was…” he stands up and pulls his clothes together while she finishes her drink. “I’ll make it up to you later.”

“You better.” She collects a pocket mirror from her purse to check her makeup. As she moves Michael's jacket out of the way, something falls from its pocket — a round pill container lands at her feet.

She means to bend down and pick up, but she freezes. It's Michael the one to reach and grab it. Maya stiffens, stares at him as he quickly tucks in his pocket. Unable to process any thought at all, she pins that in her head to revise later. As she intended to do, she fixes her hair and makeup.

Michael should have left those at home. He didn’t even mean to grab them. It was just exactly that– a habit he can’t break yet. Especially on a night like this.

“Hey,” he says softly, holding her chin under his finger and tilts her head up so he can capture her eyes. “We'll talk about it later, okay?”

“Okay.”

She checks her face in the mirror a second time to make sure there’s no visual signs of her just going down on Michael before leaving the room.

Their hands are still linked together when they step into the hallway, and it isn't until they spot Natalie coming from another room that they quickly pull them apart.

So much for being sneaky… There's no way she didn't see that. The shock flashing across her face is telling.

“Michael, can I talk to you?”

“We should go downstairs before… Carmy can't handle all those people.”

“This won't take a minute,” she says firmly.

He glances at Maya, and they nod at the other.

As Maya returns to the party, Sugar can't help but question Michael about it.

“I don't know what you saw, but it's not what you think, Sug.”

“You came out of your room holding hands. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to put two and two together. Are you dating her?”

“Would you have a problem with that?”

“I don't know… It's just… She's Maya. She practically grew up here. In this house. She and Carmy were… you haven't told him, have you?”

“Nobody knows yet. Well, just Richie. But it hasn't been going on for long, and we just thought it'd be best to wait.”

“And you brought her here tonight?”

“I didn't want her to spend the night alone. Do you think it's weird, me and her?”

“I don’t think it’s weird. I… I guess it's a little unexpected. It just caught me off guard. If you had given me a warning…”

“You wouldn't be so shocked. I'm sorry. I wanna tell everyone, but it's all so new, and she's…”

“Maya.”

“Yeah.”

“Look, it's an adjustment, but if you're happy with her, then I'm happy, Bear. Does she make you happy?”

“She does,” he smiles bashfully.

When Michael and Natalie join the rest, Cicero and his wife arrive. Uncle Lee follows.

The delicious smell of food cooking fills every nook with the house and Maya's stomach rumbles under layers of wine. She desperately needs to soak all that alcohol before it's too late.

She goes into the kitchen to find Michael casually leaning on the counter bantering with his mother as she works against the clock, cooking those seven fishes that’s the staple dish of her house.

“You doing good?” He gives Maya a look as she props her hands on the breakfast bar.

“Hm-hm.”

“You hungry too?” He guesses and Maya only nods at his question as Donna points at the meatball casserole on the counter.

“Here,” Michael grabs one meatball from the casserole, dabs the sauce on the edge so it drips as he lifts it up to her mouth. His eyes light up as she carefully bites half of it directly from his fingers. Then he shoves the other half into his mouth. Smiling at the other, both thinking about what they did earlier as they fight the urge of eating each other's mouths again.

A beat after, Maya looks to the side to see Carmy standing by the door as Donna barks something at him. She swallows, watching people come and go out of the kitchen. The timer goes off as voices get louder all around. Maya helps herself to another drink in the middle of the whirlwind of chaos of the heart of the house while Carmy takes him upon himself to organize the mess of the kitchen against Donna's wishes.

“Ma, why don't you let him help you? It's all he fucking does.” Michael picks up another meatball and offers it again to Maya, but she declines this time.

“What was that?” Carmy glances annoyed at Michael. “Like uh, that was a shot or…”

“Wasn’t a fucking shot.”

“Mikey, he’s helping me. Back off.”

“Yeah, that was a shot.” Carmen states more sternly this time. “I'm the guy that does food. You're the guy that what? You-you, uh… You start 100 different businesses and have zero follow-through.”

“You’re the one to talk,” Maya rolls her eyes, taking a long sip of her wine.

“Yeah, what are you doing here? Thought you had a husband.”

“Wow. Leave her out of this, Carm. She’s here cause I asked her to.”

“It’s fine, Michael. Let Annie Oakley take her shots at me.”

“Okay, this is why I didn't wanna come home. This is why.”

“Fuck you!” Donna shouts.

“What the fuck? Why the fuck would you say that?” Michael raises his voice. “It's fuckin' Christmas. Why would you say something like that?”

“Whatever, okay? Whatever.”

“Maya, sweetie, can you bring some ice from the freezer in the garage?” Asks Donna in the middle of the argument, and she just silently agrees.

All their voices ebb as Maya disappears into the hallway that leads to the garage to grab some ice and pull herself together. She stays there for longer than she should, collecting her thoughts and checking her phone for all her friends and co-workers messages and sending some of her own. Her eyes pull away from the screen when the door swings open.

She tucks her phone in her pocket as Carmy climbs down the two steps into the room.

“What are you doing here?”

“Grabbing some ice.” She glances at the freezer where her ass is propped.

“No. I mean, why did you come here at all?”

She shrugs, folding her arms against her stomach.

“Michael invited me.”

“It’s pretty fucking weird, don’t you think?”

“Why? I used to come here all the time when we were kids. Hell, the first time I got drunk was right in this garage with you.”

“Yeah, that’s my point. You and I aren’t friends anymore, Maya. It doesn’t make sense that you’d come anymore.”

“You've made that clear but hey, you’re the one who stopped talking to me in the first place.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know. You tell me. I’m not psychic, Carmen.”

“Doesn’t really matter anymore.”

“No? It matters to me.”

“Guess I got tired of waiting for you.”

“Waiting for me? You’re completely delusional, you know that?”

“Am I? I thought you were different, but you’re just…”

“Just what? Are you going to call me a slut or something? You better watch your mouth.”

“No. You’re… reckless.”

“I'm reckless? For what? Living my life? Growing up? Marrying another guy?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d rather be reckless than be anything like you, Carmen. You think you're better than me, than anyone in here, but you're not. You're conceited. You've always looked at everyone down from your ivory tower like you've never made a mistake in your life. You said you were waiting for me? You had many opportunities to say what you felt, and you never did, why is that? Because you’re a fuckin’ coward. I’ve watched string along girls you weren’t into for longer than you should have. Anytime anyone has shown you an ounce of love, you’ve run the other way. You've shut down me and everyone out cause you don’t know how to love anyone but your self-righteous, narcissistic ass.”

“That’s rich coming for someone who’s fucking my brother.” His voice comes out deeply loud as Maya swallows. “You think I’m dumb? It’s written all over your face.”

Her posture stiffens all of a sudden. She opens her mouth to contradict his words, but she can't. It's pointless. He's chosen to attack, and she's going to stand and take blow after blow without throwing some of her own.

“You had your chance, Carmen, and you never took it. And the worst part is that you expected me to do something about it, but it really wasn’t up to me. I’m sorry I never felt anything for you… but I don’t think you ever loved me like you wanted either. You only thought you did cause I was there all the time. It was easy, right? We were friends. Best friends. And you ruined that.”

“So did you.”

“Yeah, we can agree on that.”

“It’s fucked-up, y’know?”

“What is?”

“You and my brother.”

“You know what’s fucked up?” She pegs him with a harsh twisted brow. “You. Coming here judging everyone and pretending you know anything about me or him. Say, when was the last time you said I love you just cause you wanted to and not because someone said it first? When was the last time you were in a relationship that lasted more than two dates? When was the last time you woke up next to someone and the thought of leaving them ripped your heart apart? I'd rather take risks and be called reckless than feel nothing, do nothing, say nothing at all, and turn into a bitter asshole like you.”

Maya walks past him and heads out the door without giving him the opportunity to respond.

As tears threaten to come out, she stops in her tracks and draws a fortifying breath to keep herself from falling apart. Though she knew sooner or later she’d have to deal with Carmy, that conversation was truly more difficult to deal with than she expected. She couldn't handle that better if he wasn't acting like an asshole.

Disheartened… Maya feels just at home. It really is no different from being with her own family. Next year, she swears she's going to take a trip or just stay at home with Coco, which sounds like something she should've done today. Coming here tonight was a mistake. If she could turn back time to earlier in the day and convince herself to stay at home she would.

In the never-ending night of riffs, she overhears Donna yelling at Natalie in the kitchen as she crosses the hallway. In the living room, Michael has everyone's attention while telling one of his stories. Every one seems entertained except for Uncle Lee that has to poke the bear as usual.

It feels like an eternity until dinner is finally served it doesn't get better once everyone is sitting at the table. No. Because, of course, there can't be a moment of peace, everything escalates from that point.

Maya’s taking a swallow of her glass when Lee starts telling the story about the seven fishes and the Dutch oven when Michael makes a buzzing sound and throws a fork at him. It hits his shoulder.

“Wrong answer.”

“Did you just throw a fork at me?” Lee's high-pitched tone breaks.

“I did,” Michael snorts.

They both start bitching back and forth. The tension strains harder after every word, every sentence interrupted, every thought unfinished.

She places her glass down as the animated conversation grows more heated by the second. The voices get louder. There's a countdown hovering over the table showing how many seconds are left for the bomb to go off. Maya hears the ticking in her head, or maybe that's just the sound of her own heart racing.

In the heat of the moment, Michael borrows a second fork from Fak and repeats the same action. This time he misses Lee's head by an inch.

Everyone tries to put off the fire before it rises, but Michael is too far gone into his own head, nobody can talk sense into him.

“Cousin, you're scaring the normals.” Richie nervously laughs.

“This is fine. It's nothing.”

“Mikey, can you hear me, buddy?”

“Not now, Stevie.”

“Cut it out.”

“Hey, look, here's the thing.” He leans back on his chair ignoring everyone. “You see, I can throw forks cause this is our father's house. My father's house.”

“Okay you have everyone's attention so go ahead, tell us a story we've all heard a million times already.”

“That's good Lee.” He laughs manically while Lee goes on a rant about him living off his mom and borrowing money from everyone.

“… I don't know what the fuck you're on, but if you can hear me through the fog, throw another fork at me, you're gonna get fuckin’ rocked!”

There's a long moment of silence. Michael scratches his beard and gazes to his side, where Maya is sitting trying to process the whole thing happening before her eyes.

“Hey, Maybird.” He says softly, and waits until she looks at him. “I just… You think I could just borrow that for one second…” he points at her fork.

“Michael don't,” she tries to say, but the rest of the table speaks louder over her voice.

“It's okay, baby.” It slips out as he picks up her fork. “This is fine. I’m fine.”

“Michael. Please don't do this!” It's Natalie's words that stand out over the others. “Hey!” She calls his attention and when Michael glances at the opposite side of the table and Sugar lowers her voice. “I love you. Okay?”

“I love you, too, Sug.”

“I'm begging you. Don't do it.”

He vaguely nods. But he's dead set on making everyone shift in their chairs as the ridiculous dispute picks up again.

The flames touch the ceiling, and there's nothing she can do to smother the fire.

Maya nudges his thigh under the table with her knee, and says his name softly, hoping it'd be enough to calm him down. But it's too late, he's already so riled up that not even her can't stop him from rising from his chair, fork in hand taunting Lee non-stop.

Petrified, she stares at the man she loves, the one who looked like a dreamboat when she woke up next to him this morning, turning into something completely different. The cracks of his mask can't hold any longer. Behind it, it all slips out. His haunted expression taking over the rough edges of his face, the sorrow in his eyes, and his tired voice, makes her heart hurt.

“Bear.” She resorts to a term of endearment, but there is no use. He's on a different plane now, guided by his addiction.

Her eyes well up as Lee keeps repeating that he’s nothing. She can see his gears spinning in a different direction and for a moment everyone stays still watching everything unfold until Donna comes into the room.

That only puts a temporary patch on the wound. It's only a matter of time before someone takes it away to let blood spill all over the table. Michael sits back down, pushing his hair back before clutching the fork again in his fist as Donna lights up a cigarette and takes a seat.

“What did I miss?”

“Nothing.”

“I missed something.”

“Uh, Stevie, Stevie's about to say grace, Ma.”

“Ooh, good, yes.”

“Go ahead and take it away there, Stevie.”

“I uh… I don't think…”

“Just say the fucking thing, Stevie.”

The tension eases up for those couple of minutes while Steve improvises grace. It all seems perfect for a moment, they all nod and smile a Steve’s kind words, but that countdown is still ticking down every last fucking second.

Everything afterward is a tableau of surreal events tangled together that would play in Maya’s head for years to come… Donna’s meltdown, Michael throwing the last fork, flipping the table and taking a more physical approach against uncle Lee, Donna losing her hinges and crashing the car into the house, the police attending the disturbance…

Out of all the memorable dinners she's had in this house, this one really takes the cake.

It's the shitshow of a lifetime that nobody will ever forget.

Chapter 10: Basket of biscuits

It’s past the witching hour when all the voices, all the noise, all the sirens, and rumblings of his own thoughts quiet down in his head when he closes the door as he settles on the driver's seat. And at once, the only voice he wanted to hear the most echoes in his head with one simple word — his name. The fear in her tone haunts him. He probably scared the shit out of her after what went down. Staring at the ruins of the front of his childhood home, Michael turns on the engine and takes a final look before steering Maya’s car out of that place.

Maya left earlier, after the police took everyone’s statement. Though she wasn’t as drunk as he was, he begged her to take a cab back home. While Donna refused to leave the house, everyone eventually left as well. Michael stayed all the way through while they boarded up the hole in the wall as a temporary measure.

Sobering down, the road gets clearer the closer he gets to Maya. He can't stand the thought of her being witness to his frantic meltdown. All he can see now, clear as day, the utter disbelief and fright in her eyes when she was pleading him to stop. He should have listened. He should have held himself better in that situation. Drugs or not, there's nothing or no one to blame but himself. That was… Embarrassing. Even for him. He swore he'd never sink that low, that he'd never let anyone see that part of him. It was bound to happen. He lost control and everyone saw. And if he wasn't for Donna interrupting his act, he's not sure how far he'd have gone.

For a split moment, he blames it on something else taking over his actions, like being possessed by one of his demons. But it doesn't last long. He can’t continue denying the fact that he’s the only one responsible for his actions. Claiming otherwise would only delay the inevitable.

They say all roads lead to Rome, and if keeps driving in the same direction, he’d surely find the only possible outcome to this. It’s time to veer off the path and find that there’s more world to see besides Rome.

He has to find a new way, and she is the only thing that could save him from this right now. However, after tonight, it wouldn't surprise him if she was already thinking about kicking him to the curve. He would blame her.

Christmas lights and empty streets quickly take him to her house. He can even imagine what’s going through her head right now… but it’s time to find out.

He parks on the driveway and takes measured steps toward the front door as the weight of the world perches on his shoulders. He feels like shit and the biggest asshole in the world for breaking his promise.

The glow of the TV and tree lights shine faintly behind the curtains when he knocks on the door. He should have called before, he realizes on that spot. Or even just text her to say he was coming so she would know what to expect. But there’s not going back now.

She takes her time to open the door and when she does, he’s met with the reflection of all his fears coming true. It flashes across her face the disappointment and disgust and utter terror of what happened at the table.

“I brought your car.” He reaches out to hand her the keys.

Hesitantly, she collects them, and makes room for him to enter before closing the door behind him.

“I… You shouldn't be driving.”

“It's fine. Sobered out pretty soon after… Where's Coco?”

“Upstairs. Hoarding the bed.” Maya puts the keys on the console table as they stand by the staircase railing. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, Carm and Sug stayed with her at the house for the night. Everyone else left. ”

“She wouldn't leave?”

“No, she locked herself in her room.”

“That's crazy.”

“Yeah, another Christmas at The Berzattos. Hey, but at least none of us got locked up.”

“That's not funny, Michael.”

“It wasn't meant to be funny.”

“I think you should go… You should've stayed with them.”

“I wanted to check on you.”

“I'm fine.” Her tone says otherwise.

“Are you?”

“I was about to go to sleep.” She’s already slipped into her pj’s and was just watching TV cause she couldn’t fall asleep.

“That doesn't answer my question.”

“What do you want me to say? Of course, I'm not okay. You lied to me.”

“What… When did I lie to you?”

She fights the urge of rolling her eyes and instead, crosses her arms against her midsection to keep herself together.

“You said you weren't using when you were with me, but tonight you did. Instead of coming to me and saying — hey I'm dealing with this and that, you straight up hid it, and then you just… went off. I thought we were being honest with each other.”

He hangs his head down as she tiredly leans her back against the wall.

“I don't know how to help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on, Michael.”

“There's nothing you could've done.”

“Maybe not but you didn't even give me the chance to. I'm really concerned about you and after tonight… I don't know… I'm out of my depth here. I knew it was bad, but it's worse than I thought… If you're not seeing that, if you're not willing to admit that… Then maybe we should take a step back and consider our options before going further.”

“Consider our options? You're getting cold feet now?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I just…” she sighs in exhaustion. “You should go. It's been a long night. And I'm not in the mood for this.”

“If you're gonna break up with me, just say it. Don't wait till tomorrow.” Though it’d be the right decision for her to do, he can’t stand the thought of not being with her now that he’s seen what it is to have her in her life. It would rip his soul and heart apart to hear her say those words.

“I don't wanna break up with you, but I can see that you're going through something right now, and I think it’d be best to talk about this tomorrow or the day after with clear heads.”

“Okay, okay…” he says under a heavy breath, as he shortens the distance between them.

Michael cups her jaw, and places his lips gently on her forehead.

“Can I stay here tonight?” He tries to not sound desperate but it fails so badly.

“Michael…” He grabs his wrist and takes a step back to detach herself from his hold.

“Please, Maybird, I don't wanna go. I… I can’t be alone right now. I’d… I don’t know what I’d do…” There’s something brewing inside him and if tonight wasn’t bad enough, not being able to be with her would send him down to that hole of despair he’s dug himself.

“You're scaring me, Michael.”

“Fuck, I know… I know I’m an asshole. I just…” He frantically runs a palm over his beard as he keeps pleading. “I need you. Don’t make me leave. I'm begging you.”

Those words put her between the sword and the wall. As much as he loves him, as much as she’d want him to stay, she’s still shaken and would rather be alone right now. But she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if something happened to him because she sent him away.

Before she has the chance to reply, while she gathers her thoughts he dramatically drops to his knees on the verge of tears.

“Please. I’d do anything for you, but don’t ask me to go.”

“Michael…”

“Shh, shh, shh,” he grabs her waist, pulls her close, and links his arms around her hips, planting his full face on her abdomen. He swallows his sobs in his relentless ramble. “Please, baby, I need you… I’m sorry I lied to you… I’m so sorry that I'm scaring you… I swear I’d never hurt you…”

Her eyes brim with tears and unable to pull away she just holds his head protectively in her hands, threading her fingers in her hair to calm him down.

“You’re everything to me, Maybird. I know I’m a pathetic loser and that I don’t deserve you, but I’m fucking ready… just tell me what to do… I don’t know how to fix this… please just… let me stay…”

“Shh, it’s okay, Bear.” She’s so overcome by the love she has for him, she doesn’t have the strength to kick him out. So, she just gives up to his implore. “We’ll figure it out.”

Michael’s breaking point came like the most unexpected Christmas gift he didn't ask for. He can't return it or exchange it for something else. It's only up to him to either throw it away and pretend it didn't happen or use that as the catalyst to his recovery. They say that sometimes you have to break down to break through. And he went down so many levels, that there’s only one option but to go up from there. No because he feels like he has to, but he'd do anything to stay with Maya, and he knows the only way to do it is to climb out of the dirt.

After falling asleep in Maya’s arms, he wakes up in her bed alone the next morning. The clock says it is 10am when he looks up to her night stand and from the feet of the bed is only Coco, keeping a close watch of him. Her tail starts wagging when he gazes at her and extends his hand to scratch her head.

“Hey, Coco girl.” His voice rasps as she climbs up closer to lick his face relentlessly, slobbering all over his beard. “Okay, okay, that's enough, sweetheart.”

He holds her close and scratches her neck to calm her down, as Maya’s measured footfalls make the stairs creak when she climbs up. He looks to the door and watches her as she enters the room. She's fully dressed and by the amount of layers she's clad in, it looks like she's been outside.

“Morning.” She smiles softly as she proceeds to take off her hat and scarf.

“Morning.” He props himself on his elbow while Coco jumps suddenly out of the bed and circles around Maya’s legs before leaving the room at once. “Went out?”

“Yeah, just went for a drive and grabbed some breakfast. You two looked so cozy together, I thought I should let you sleep a bit longer. You're not opening today, right?”

“No. C’mere, sweetheart.” He finds her hand and gently tugs on it so she would sit down next to him. “I'm sorry about last night, I shouldn't have come here like that. I thought I was…”

“Sh, it's okay. You already apologized, hon.”

“No. That wasn't me. That was fucking embarrassing.”

“Is this you now?” She tenderly moves his straightened hair away from his forehead and combs it softly.

“Think so.”

“You look better.” Her fingers keep gently peppering him with caresses all over his head and neck.

“I feel like shit.” He gets a hold of her hand and kisses her knuckles. “You’re not mad at me anymore?”

“No. I can’t really stay mad at you for long. You know that. And the good thing about all this is that since last night, I haven't really thought about being ditched for Christmas by my family.”

“Fuck, I'm such an asshole… I had all these plans with you after dinner… and I totally ruined everything. We didn't even get to open our presents.”

“It's okay. I promise. We'll try again next year. Maybe just the two of us.”

“You still think we'll be together next year?”

“I have no idea. But I'm hoping so… I want to.”

“God, you’re a fucking angel.”

“I’m not,” she laughs softly.

“Yeah, heaven-sent. You took care of me last night when you had your own thing going on. Not many people would’ve done that.”

Maya leans in and kisses his temple before wrapping her arms around his neck. She bathes him with love cause she’s not sure what else to do than to show him that she needs him just as much.

“How about we get some food in you?” She smooches his head and as she attempts to stand up, he curls his arms around her, pulling her down with him.

“Not yet, baby. Let's stay here for a minute. I'm not hungry.”

She relaxes in his hold and cuddles with him until his phone goes off.

“It's Sugar.” Maya sees on the screen. “Are you gonna pick it up?”

He vacillates, but he ends up taking the call while Maya dislodges herself from his embrace. She collects a tray and some food from the kitchen while Natalie tells Michael that they finally got their mother out of the house. She'll be at Nat's for a few days until they fix the front of the house.

“Yeah… I'll take care of it. See you later.” Maya overhears as she returns to the bedroom with his breakfast.

“Everything alright?” She sits down on the mattress, placing the tray in the middle.

“Yeah. She asked me to go talk to uncle Jimmy's friend. You know, the contractor? He said he could get it done fast.”

“That's good, yeah?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“What's wrong?”

“I don't know… I just… how can I look at these people in the face after what I did.”

“Because you're Michael fucking Berzatto. And you don't take shit from no one.” She tries cheering him up. “Uncle Lee was an asshole. Nobody cares that you threw a couple of forks at him. They're worried about you. And I don't think anyone remembers what you did. Donna upstaged the two of you, I'm afraid.”

“How do you manage to put a positive spin on everything?”

“Someone has to.”

As much as he loves hearing her talk like that is time for a reality check. Besides Maya being the brightest light in his life from the past few months, the rest have been hell. The restaurant has been struggling for way longer than he’d like to admit and has become the biggest failure of his life. His dependency has only been exacerbated by the pressure he’s put on himself to try to fix all by himself. All the lies, the high expectations, and the way his family look up to him for answers and comfort have become a lead weight on him.

The Beef was an inherited mess that was passed down to him when his father died. He took it upon himself to carry the family business to keep the family afloat, especially since Carmen and Natalie were merely teens, and there was nobody else but him to provide for all of them. He always thought he’d had his own restaurant and part of that pipe dream was bringing Carmy along. That dream faded as soon as he got hit with the hard cold truth that managing a restaurant, even a sandwich shop wasn’t as easy as his father made it look. But to be fair the late Berzatto didn’t have the best system either. It was all back door deals and handshakes and fucking agreements with this guy and this other guy. It made him wonder if the old trio had some shady business going on. Even Maya’s uncle was involved at some point, he recalls seeing his name a couple of times in one of the accounting books.

To sum it all up, he was set up with a business that was already failing before got it. His optimism and passion could only keep him trying for so long. The last couple of years have been hell, and at this point he’s not sure if he wants to run it anymore. He’s toyed with the idea of burning it to the ground and starting over, or just selling it and walking away. But there are a lot of factors in play that are stopping him from doing that. Like disappointing his family or the people who work for him. And let's not forget the big question of what Michael would do if he didn’t have The Beef.

With a heavy heart he finally pours everything out to Maya. If someone can understand, it’s her. She knew when her life needed a turn and took it. He’s at the same crossroads right now, but unlike her, he doesn’t feel brave enough to do what needs to be done.

Maya draws a breath, absorbing every single thing Michael has laid out. It’s a lot to process, but her mind is already spinning ideas and questions that could potentially help him.

“You could sell and start over. The Beef is not your failure. It wasn’t even your dream to begin with. And I don’t think anyone will hold it against you if you give it away.”

“I guess I’m not ready to give up, you know? I don’t know what I’d do if I walked away now.” He shifts in the bed, laying on his side, placing his head on her lap while she plays with his hair.

“What about the restaurant you wanted to open with Carmy? It was all you talked about once upon a time. ”

“I can't bring him into this. He's better off without me.”

“He's not. Your brother is fucking miserable.”

“How do you know that? Did he tell you that?”

“No… but we shared some words last night, I don't want to get into the whole thing right now, but I could tell that he's not happy either.”

“Last night… He gave me this thing. It was a sketch he did about that restaurant… I just don't know how to make you both understand that I have no idea how to make it true. He's worked so hard to be where he is now…. I won’t be the one to keep it away from all that.”

“Have you ever thought that maybe you could learn something from him and that teaming up would solve all your problems?”

“Yeah, maybe. But I don’t want to take that chance. I won’t ruin his career. He’s where he’s supposed to be.”

“You know, you’ve talked a lot about not wanting to let everyone down and keeping everyone happy. But when are you gonna start taking care of yourself, Bear? All those people you’re caring for, they’re pretty much grown up. They don’t need you to keep holding their hand. Not Natalie, nor Carmy, nor your mother. And don’t get me wrong, the way you care for them is part of the reason I care for you… but at some point you’re going to have to care for yourself too. Cause I can’t keep an eye on you 24/7.”

“Did you go to shrink school or something?” He scoffs, glancing up at her eyes from his comfortable spot.

“No, I wish! It’s hard to put yourself above anyone else… I get it. But you’re going to have to, Michael. If you don’t, it’ll eventually catch up with you. The pressure, the pills, the need to please everyone…”

“What if it’s too late?”

“It’s not. I promise it’s not. I know it seems that way, but you, asking the right questions… That tells me it’s not too late. And the thing is that you don't have to decide anything right now. But hypothetically speaking, if you didn't have The Beef to take care of, and could do anything in the world, what would you do?”

“Well, If I could do anything, I'd stay in this bed, day, and night with you for a year.”

“Okay, let's say you've done that now. You wake up, get out of bed and where do you go?”

“I've always….” he pauses as the corner of his mouth pulls up.

“What? Tell me.” Her hand fists his hair without pulling.

“I've always wanted to buy a bike and drive across every state.”

“I could see you doing that.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Stop doing that. It's not an unattainable dream, Bear. You can do whatever you want.”

“Would you come with me if I asked you?”

“Hm, I don’t know… I’m not a huge fan of bikes. But I guess if I could follow along with my car and bring Coco with us, I’d go.”

“How about next summer?”

“Bring it on.”

“You know I’m joking, right?” He scoffs.

“I’m not. If you really wanna do that. Do it. What’s that thing you always say… Let one rip?”

“Let it rip,” he snorts and shakes his head, utterly amused by her way of messing up his motto.

“So, let it rip!”

“How? How do you walk away from everything?”

“You put one foot in front of the other and repeat.”

“Well, thank you for just describing walking, baby.”

“I’m serious, Michael. You take enough small steps and one day you’ll look back and won’t be able to see what you left behind.”

She holds his face firmly and dips to leave a small peck on his lips, then plants her forehead on top of his.

“I’d go anywhere with you. Would you?”

“Yeah, always.”

Michael’s palm slides along her jaw as his lips capture her mouth one more time. In this room, on this bed, he feels more safe and loved than ever before.

In the evening, Maya takes Michael to meet the contractor who comes into the house to survey the damage. After that, they swing by Natalie’s to check how Donna is doing.

Maya stays in the car. Her choice. She’s not ready to have another Berzatto reunion so soon.

She’s listening to the radio when all of a sudden a tap on the glass startles her. She glances to the side and finds Carmy motioning with his hand to roll down the window.

Sighting, she turns off the radio, as the glass slides down.

“Hey, can we talk?” His breath manifests in the air.

“I'm not in the mood for you to keep jabbing at me.”

“I wasn’t going to… I just…” he props his forearm on the roof of the car. “I wanted to say I’m sorry. You were right about… well, about almost everything. I have no right to tell you how to live your life and shouldn’t have talked to you that way. I still think it’s pretty weird that you’re dating my brother… but I guess I’ll have to get over it.”

Maya swallows, staring at her hands curling around the steering wheel. It feels forced to hear him say that so soon, but not completely dishonest. He’s making an effort, and she appreciates that.

“Thank you for saying that. I’m sorry that you had to find that way and that I called you a self-serving asshole that doesn’t care about anyone but himself. I know you cared about me… I just…”

“Hey, I get it. We both said a lot of things we didn’t mean.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“I don’t know… I couldn’t sleep last night and Sugar and I started talking, we were up for hours… I guess she knocked some sense into me.”

“Do you think we could ever be friends again?”

“I don’t know.”

“Could we pretend that we are just for five minutes? I need to ask you something.”

“I… I suppose we could. Can I get in? It's freezing out here.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Carmy goes around the car and hops into the passenger seat as Maya closes the window.

“What is it?”

“How's Copenhagen? Are you liking it there? Is it everything you ever dreamed of?”

“It's one of the best jobs I've ever had.”

“That's not what I asked.”

“I… I don't know what you want me to say… I guess I always thought I'd end up here with Michael… But I don't think he even wants me here anymore. Why are you asking me this?”

“God, he's going to kill me for telling you this… But hypothetically, what if he was in trouble and was too prideful to ask for help? What if he wanted to build that restaurant you dreamed of but wouldn't want you to give up your career for him? What if he was thinking of selling the shop but was too afraid of disappointing all of you?”

“Fuck, that's a lot of what ifs, Maya. Is that all true?”

“I can't tell you that, but if that were all true would you consider coming back?”

“You know better than anybody that all I wanted to do is work with him. If he asked, I'd be here in a second. But he's not going to ask, is he?”

“I don't think he's ready yet. I'm trying to help him as best as I can, but I feel like I'm not enough.”

“What do you think I could do if he doesn't want anyone's help… ”

“I don't know… he's too stubborn to ask for help. I'm just running out of ideas here… and he's looking at me like I have all the answers…”

“You think if I came back that'll change?”

“Maybe not, but if there's just a small chance that you were considering doing what you always wanted to do… if he saw that you weren't going anywhere, perhaps it’d point him in the right direction.”

“It takes guts to ask for help like that. And I'm not talking about him. I know you wouldn't be asking if it wasn't serious.”

“Yeah, like I said, if he knew I was telling you this…”

“I won't tell, if you don't.” He smiles softly.

“Thank you.”

“I'll think about it though.”

“Yeah? I'll keep trying too.”

As Carmy leaves the car, Michael comes out of the front door. They meet in the middle and Maya watches them quickly sharing some words before saying goodbye.

“Everything good here?” Asks Michael once he's taken his seat and closes the door.

“Yeah, we were just straightening some things up. I didn't want to tell you earlier, but we had an argument last night. It's all good now…” and she feels like an asshole for going behind his back, but if Michael is too proud or ashamed to ask for help, someone has to. She'd love to have all the answers laid out for him, but she has no idea what she's doing half of the time.

“He knows about us, does he?”

“Yeah, we weren't as careful as we wanted. Even Sugar saw. I mean… you even called me baby at the table. Don’t think anyone really noticed but… I guess it’s out now.”

“Does it freak you out that they know?”

“No. It was never about that. I just wanted to keep it just between us for a little longer.”

As they drive back home they toy with the idea of recreating the Christmas dinner they never go to have the previous night. They make a quick stop at a couple of places to gather some ingredients and scramble something together.

Michael has a lot of faults, but he's a natural in the kitchen. He feels right in his element when he's crafting a meal, especially when it’s for her. There’s no pressure laying on the counter, no bills to worry about, but the need to impress her makes him rise to the occasion.

After dinner, they exchange those gifts they put under the tree in her living room a couple of days ago. There’s a gift basket for Coco with toys, her favorite snacks, a blanket, and bathing products. While the dog is distracted with a chew on the rug, they sit on the couch to open theirs.

Maya’s gift to Michael is considerably bigger than what he got for her, which is a thin flat box as long as her palm.

“You want me to go first?” Asks Maya.

“Yeah, sure. Go on, baby.”

She’s kneeled by his side on the cushion, and he closely watches her hand unwrap the jewelry box that contains a dainty gold necklace with two twin pendants. Two small discs share an M etched on one side but are different on the back. One of them has the outline of a bear, and the other a dog paw.

“Do you like it?”

“I love it, Mikey Bear.” Her free palm slides at his nape. “Thank you.”

“Thought you could wear this one,” he points at the one with the bear, “and I could take the other.”

“Yeah, that’d be perfect.” She inspects the pendants for a bit longer before sliding the one with the paw on it out the chain. “We’re kind of an institution now, like M&Ms.”

“Or Eminem.”

“For sure,” she laughs at the same time she clasps the chain around her neck. “Are you gonna open yours?”

Michael nods and extends his hand to open the big wrapped box waiting on the coffee table. In it there's a record player set with speakers and a couple of Otis Redding albums.

“You’re the best, you know that?” He holds his chin on top of his fist for a second, mesmerized by how much he adores her.

“Hm, I’ve been told.” She smugly slings her arm around his lower back as he inspects his new gift and starts setting all the components on. “Wasn’t sure if you liked Otis, but it’s one of my favorites.”

“Yeah, I dig it. Everyone loves the king of soul.”

Tucking her palm under the hem of his shirt, she kisses his shoulder, as he carefully slides one of the vinyls out of its sleeve before placing it on the platter.

“I haven’t used one of these in a while, let’s see if I remember…” he thinks for a beat, staring at the levels and buttons as he figures out how to set it up.

“You know, there are instructions on the box, right?” She playfully scratches his back.

“Don’t need instructions.”

“Typical male response,” she scoffs.

“Look, it’s done.” After settling the needle in position he hits the on button and stares at the record as it starts spinning. It rotates a couple of times before the first track comes out of the speakers.

Michael curls his arm around her, pulling her flush against his chest as they lean back on the couch. Maya drapes her legs on his lap, pillowing her head on his shoulder as the ever so beautiful melody of These Arms Of Mine plays on the speakers.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Maya tucks her hand in her jean's pocket to collect a keychain of a miniature motorcycle she got at the gas station earlier. “I also got you this when we stopped for gas. I didn't have time to get you a real bike in time but– what do you say, you wanna go on a road trip with me and Coco?”

“A Harley-Davidson? I don't think the three of us can fit here.” He dangles the keychain between his fingers. “But we'll see.”

Maya smiles against his shoulder as he kisses her head.

“Hey, can I tell you a secret?” His voice changes to a softer tone.

“Uh-huh.”

He knows this is far from perfect and that he's probably going to screw everything up at some point, but whether it's perfect or not, right here, in her arms, everything is like it's supposed to be.

“I love you, Maybird.”

She tilts her chin up so he can capture the glint of eyes. She doesn't say it right away, it takes her a couple of beats to build up the courage to say back…

“I love you too, Bear.”

The End.

[iridescentdove]

can you do a continuation of full power Lumine with Fyodor, Sigma, and Ranpo. I feel like Fyodor would interested because of how complicated she is and how he would have a hard time understanding something for the for the first time I’m assuming. Same goes for Ranpo. I think he would be exiting too because the traveler is always willing to help and his type is someone that spoils him. For Sigma I feel like he would understand her in a way because he is a supernatural being that came into existence under interesting circumstances. And he would have someone to help him because we all know how the Decay Of Angels is I would also feel unsafe 24/7 😭

feel free to take your time if you have a lot of requests! (this was longer than I anticipated)

Fyodor, Sigma & Ranpo x Lumine! Reader

Hi! ♡ I'm quickly zooming through requests to make up for the time lost in my absence lol. Lumine is skeptical but shares the same curiosity her twin has for everything, she's rational and courageous, along with being generous and helpful towards others that need assistance. And most especially, rather beautiful and somewhat quiet, yet considered rather expressive.

As if a primordial being – Lumine holds power able to destroy worlds and travel through them with ease, and yet, most of it having been sealed away by the Unknown God's own bidding. What happens when she regains her full power and travels through the world of BSD?

Soukoku, Jouno & Atsushi Ver.

FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY:

You're a strange new specimen, and he actually finds interest in you. Plus – Fyodor actually likes pretty people, so seeing you for the first time is actually surprising.

Who knew someone so beautiful in this world existed 🗿

But honestly, although this man can read you like book if he wanted to, that's not happening.

You're rather complicated. Like no fr. You're pretty and small as hell, but you're so fucking strong hello? And you're not very talkative yet so expressionable it's alluring

He has no idea what to think, but all he knows is that he wants to keep you around.

The fact you're helpful draws him to you more. He learns to trust you overtime, and you have no ulterior motives when you go warm him up and make him feel comfortable.

Whenever he needs help or basically just you spoiling him and comforting from his anemia, that's cloud 9 ok idfc

He's starting to really ... really like you and I don't

You're basically everything he'd want tbh. Since you're from a different world, his ability probably don't work on you.

And just be glad it doesn't honestly. You're like God level strong and rather smart yourself, so he isn't bored and actually finds you worthy of being with him.

Well even if you weren't, you'd be an interesting playtoy on it's own. Please let me punch him already.

He'll have you run errands and do different things to go according to his plans, but he doesn't tire you out or anything because he still pretty much cares.

BRO this guy reminds me of the Fatui idk 💀

Dude is fuckin unhinged, commits warcrimes, hot and is very strong. You can't tell me he's literally the emobidiment of the harbingers in an alternate world lmfao

Even though he's a red flag you don't really care 'cause you can kill him whenever you want. Slayyy girlboss.

One of the rare times he'd take his ushanka off, and put it on your head because you're just too adorable to resist. The innocent, curious look on your face afterwards sends him.

You're a cute, complicated being he's just addicted to.

He's rather amused himself – so whenever you're like beating up Dazai or something (much to his satisfaction), he's watching in the back with his popcorn or sumn.

Probably smirking the entire time. He loves you more now

Imagine Dazai being Childe and that weekly boss you always fucking destroy every week? Peak comedy.

He probably won't even bother trying to fight against you, man knows his place so he gets humbled. But that probably won't stop him from testing you a few times.

He'll purposely get you in a tricky situation so he can observe more of you, and you'll never fail to surpass his expectations every time.

P.S. expect yourself to beat up Nikolai often. His orders lol

Rat king's actually found his match <3 fuck you

RANPO EDOGAWA:

You probably crash landed in the agency or smth. How would I know that?

I'm the writer, bitch /hjq

Now let's say both of you were just acquaintances at first, you'd help around the agency a lot though. And that also includes him.

So here we are! At this point, you're basically just spoiling him from all the help that you give.

He doesn't even mind he fucking loves it I bet

Other than Atsushi, he now drags you with him to go and buy candy, or just makes you go out and do it yourself. Either way the candy is bought so 🤷🏻

Dw babe he shares it with you <3

Must I say you're pretty once more? It's not even annoying bro I am SPEAKING FACTS stan lumine

Ranpo is very interested in you and your specie, if he ever got bored he'd probably take breaks away from doing some cases and listens to your talking.

Will get extremely invested in the world of Teyvat, learning more about it.

DON'T TELL HIM ABOUT HEIZOU

"Hehe! Number one detective you say? Even more so than I am~? After all, I am the greatest detective in the world!"

We get it babe.

Like if you ever honestly tried to put them both together in Poe's book it is very obvious who will come out first. Bro will legit rub it in your face too, not even cap

Oh, speaking of which – he'd probably invite you into one of them too. It would be a fun hangout ... maybe.

You're the bodyguard that fucks up any murderer tryna get to him while he deals with the shit and puts his glasses on then DAMN BITCH we boutta go usain bolt on this shit.

It doesn't even take that long. You guys did it in a heartbeat.

Ranpo honestly adores you, that much you can tell. He likes mostly everything about you and finds you so entertaining.

Especially your expressions which are peak comedy.

Definitely the type to do something real smart and show off his skills so he could see your reaction.

And maybe even get a bit of praise. You know this guy loves it when you compliment him and agree with things that he says. That's already fulfilling his heart.

I'd say you'd help him out a lot honestly, the ADA is basically the adventurers guild 💀

You'd be relaxing and having a chill time until Ranpo or some other member comes up and tells you to fucking beat up Mori or something

Yeah. They entrust it all to your capable hands.

But of course, Ranpo wouldn't leave you alone with that. You both make great teamwork in all cases.

Right after each remotely easy to borderline difficult case, Ranpo will be a sweetheart and take you out somewhere nice to relax. His treat.

kisses in the ferris wheel pls

It's already easy enough to tell, but you can see all the affection in his eyes as the night comes to an end once more. More than that, even.

It's such a cute sight. But honestly, who could even say no to this guy? It's literally Ranpo.

SIGMA:

So here you've already been in the world of bsd for a while and you're just doing random bullshit the agency adventurers guild gives you.

Mersault arc timeskip. Dazai off sucking and teaming up with some Nakahara toes, Nikolai being a material gworl

Fyodor is mimicking Odasaku's ashes

And obviously you're here in the back forced to do everything yourself because shit goes down 🔥

You have a pretty good knowledge on yourself in this world you're stuck in again, and it's necessary to use that info to your disposal because wow, the situation is complicated.

Especially during this arc now, but it's less difficult when you're only focusing on the DOA.

We'll say you only be familiar with the different organizations because you often go around a lot and travel.

Then meet various people and ... fight over half of them 😐

By this time, you and Sigma have been well acquainted. Due to his ability, he managed to get info about you easily. And boy does he use that to advantage.

Asked begged you to help him out in the DOA.

Look man he's suffering, don't leave babygworl all alone with all these gay men who're too broke to afford proper therapy sessions

Don't worry Sigma, we're here for you <3

By now you had no idea what was happening, just getting random info from everyone around you

Moving place to place (teleport waypoints are real handy right about now), collecting random shit and beating up enemies along the way

Classic genshin ripoff moment :/

Although you don't actually do a lot of stuff for the DOA, it's mostly personal mishaps coming from Sigma. Because no we don't want to be a wanted terrorist tf

So you soon arrived at mersault and saw poor Sigma either dead or unconscious.

Bro is in need of tevyat fried eggs

Anyways, you of course could not LEAVE him out of your sight after that. The one time you thought it was okay to stay out of business ... that happened 🤡

Sigma was indeed alive, but at the same time it wasn't okay to leave him since he was barely clinging on.

By the time he awoke, he thought he saw heaven. He frantically sits up from bed.

Oh wait, it was just you <3

You brought him back to the sky casino, as he was resting at a safe distance away from the three psychopaths in jail

You guys do end up having to go back much to his dismay, although this time it felt more safer because you were around. He's down deep and he can't return.

Sigma really likes you. Not because you're helpful and quite beautiful, but strong and empathetic in a sense both of you relate to various things.

He's seriously lucky to have you, his little shooting star ❤️

[pascallatte]

You're old now, ducky

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x actress!reader

Summary: Post it, it’s not a big deal right? Well, the truth has come out and it isn’t as bad as others make it to be.

Date: December 2017

Warning/s: age gap, that's all, pretty much fluff

Taglist: @benonlinear, @t-stark35, @heyitsme-2, @elleeeee21, @holmesstrange, @tagakalat, @flyestvenustrap, @oldermenaremyreligion, @cherryred444, @avengersheart, @guacala, @pukka-latte

A/N: so uhmmmm I sort of sped my editing process up cause I really wanted to post this already. Like always tell me what you think and happy reading!!

Let’s put it like this, after months— years in fact of speculation from netizens, one would think that whatever they’ve come up with in the first place would be false. This is just cause paparazzi rumour mostly ends up with it just being, well, paparazzi rumour. People Love proving them wrong, but more so on the fact that some fans would approve of a rumour when it involves one or both of their favourite celebrities.

Now, going back to the paparazzi rumour being, just, paparazzi rumour. Let’s talk about maybe, the 10% that was proven true. You see, paparazzi always find ways to know, more like invade, a celebrities personal life. Even with ones like their current muses Pedro Pascal and Y/N L/N, who are the quietest most private people to date, aside from some slip-ups and relationship rumours with friends and co-stars. So with them, having to go public and show themselves to the world, it might just mean that they and/or their team had enough or they just got fed up with being bombarded and interviewed with the same questions every time.

But based on how they’ve done it, people would think that they’ve just decided to do it because they want to. No pressure, no plans, just them wanting to show their appreciation to the other. Well, that’s just what happened on the eve of Y/n's birthday.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅────────•───────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

The day you and Pedro had decided to go public, no one knew. And no one expected that Pedro’s regular post would be as big as this. The post simply consisted of a video and a picture from both of your birthdays, followed by a caption that confirmed all their speculations.

The video started with Shakira’s “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” being blasted in the speakers in the background. The room you were in was decorated with balloons and strings alongside the “Happy Birthday Pedrito” that was strung on the wall, making the people realize this was taken months ago on his birthday. It was also known that Pedro was recording this because if his laugh didn’t give it away, it was his reflection in the mirror behind you. 

Bare-footed, holding pompoms whilst wearing an oversized hoodie filled with Pedro’s face and shades, you stood in front of him, dancing to the beat and singing along. 

“The only memory is us kissing in the moonlight!!”

Pointing a pompom at him, “P continue”

He just continued to laugh as the camera shook. Smiling at him, you wiggled your hips and gave him a look of mischief.

“I can't remember to forget you,”

Taking off your heart-shaped shades, you step closer to him with a wide smile and was seen putting it on him from the mirror behind you. Pulling him up, he tries to keep the camera steady as you tried to make him dance with you. 

“I rob and I kill to keep him with me

I'll do anything for that boy”

You gave him a little tug and laughed as he stumbled a bit, the camera zoomed in on you after that. Your flushed, glitter-covered face was seen but despite the mess you were smiling as hell, his reflection also gave away his expression because he was seen reciprocating your smile.

“I'd give my last dime to hold him tonight

I'll do anything for that boy”

Pulling away, you extended your arms while exaggerating a hug as you lip-synched. As soon as you had your arms around yourself you wiggled shouting “ TO HOLD HIM TONIGHT!”. You were then seen placing your hands in your pockets and pulling out a party hat.

Walking closer to him, “Can you bend down a little,” you asked him, still out of breath. As he moved closer you fixed the party hat before gently placing it on his head with a soft smile on both your faces.

“There,” you said before patting his cheek and placing a party hat on yourself too. Turning to the counter on your left you carried the already lighted cake to him while saying “Happy 42nd, mi Cielo.”

“Thank you, mi sol,” he blew the candle and hugged you, ending the video.

•─────⋅☾☽⋅────────•───────⋅☾☽⋅─────•

The picture he posted with this was taken the night of your birthday. The large window and purple carpet by it made it clear that this was in your apartment.

“Happy Birthday to you!!” they sang as they walked to you carrying the cake. Pedro and a friend of yours were seated on either side of you with wide smiles as they waited for the cake that would conclude your “30th year on Earth,” as they say.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear y/n, happy birthday to you!!,” you blew the candle as soon as they finished as claps erupted from the people with you followed by a kiss on the cheek from Pedro who was smiling at you the whole time. 

A friend of yours raised her camera “Come on, let’s take a picture.”

The first couple of shots were good, everything was proper and organized nothing “disastrous” has happened yet. But, of course, it won’t last long as long as you were involved. Dipping your fingers to the cake, you smudged it on the unknowing Pedro’s cheeks up to his nose while he was talking to someone. 

He looked at you, shocked, before he too, dipped his finger in the cake, spreading the icing on your cheek and forehead. You widened your eyes at him because you were not expecting him to do it to you too. But as soon as the shock wore off you were both laughing at your antics, you were then surprised when they called you two for a picture.

Taking the chance, you grabbed his cheeks and stuck them to your icing-covered cheek, and smiled for the camera. It ended up showing a picture of you guys, cheek to cheek, face covered in icing while smiling like crazy. One of your hands was placed on one side of his face and his hands were raised to show how much icing it still has on.

•─────⋅☾☽⋅────────•───────⋅☾☽⋅─────•

“I would like to introduce to everyone to my ducky, my sunshine, mi alma, el amor de mi vida, Y/N, who has entered her 30s today. Wishing you the best of luck for this new chapter, hopefully with old little me who's been with you these last two and a half years. Know that we love you so so much and remember to just be yourself, no matter what.

Once again, Feliz cumpleaños querida. This is also a reminder that you’re old now, ducky.”  

[fandomnerd9602]

Wolf Spider pt. 2 (set during Scream VI)

Sam Carpenter x Spider Man!Reader

For @deafeningsharkslimeempath

Halloween time had come at last. And yet all was not calm for the Carpenter sisters and you, their friendly neighborhood Wolf Spider. The city was filled with masks and people in costumes. You knew all too well that anyone could wear a Ghostface mask, slash, and blend back into the crowd.

Trouble arrived the night before All Hallow's Eve. A murder of a film school student and his roommate. You snuck into the crime scene, Detective Bailey greeting you politely.

"Normally I wouldn't work with vigilantes" He intones.

"Well we're not under normal circumstances." you answer back. "knife?"

"Matches the slashes we found on that film studies teacher" Bailey answers back. His face goes ghostly pale.

"Ghostface"

"We don't know that yet!"

"Need more proof?" you head to the nearby ledge and swing out into the open air. You knew what it meant for your beloved girlfriend Sam and her sister Tara.

Your ear bud rings with the sound of your cell phone. A glance down to your phone reveals the caller id of Sam herself. Speak of the succubus herself.

"Hey honey" you answer the call. "How was your day?"

"My therapist was a total dick" she huffs.

You keep up the conversation while webswinging through the New York skyline, "Sweetheart, if i know a thing or two about blood, it's that you define you."

"But what about that incident with Richie?"

"I know several heroes who kill bad guys, it's only if you went after some innocent person that I'd get worried"

"Are you swinging?"

"M-Maybe"

"What have I told you about texting while swinging?"

"Well I'm not texting-" WHOOSH! A semi zooms right past you as you course correct your swing. "and that's why I love you so much, Sammie"

"Can you check on Tara for me?"

"Send me the party coordinates" you sigh as you swing toward NYU.

You found Tara drunk and being flirted with an obvious predator.

"Hey the lady and I were heading upstairs" the drunk college student continued pulling on Tara's arm. "Nice costume by the way"

"Sorry pal, you're heading downstairs" you sock the drunk predator straight in the jaw, knocking him clean out.

"I can handle myself, Y/N!" Tara intones before storming out of the party. "You're as bad as Sam sometimes!"

You quickly give chase. And so does Chad and Ethan. You charge after Tara and scoop her up before swinging off into the night.

"Where'd they go, dude?" Ethan asks your confused friend Chad.

"Put me down!" Tara drunkenly orders you.

"Well if you insist" you drop her from the height of your swing. Tara screams on the way down before you swing and scoop her up again.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Drinking's bad for your health and your grades, Carpenter" you offer a smirking smile under your mask. You come and set her down on top of the apartment's roof.

"Why can't you or Sam just allow me to make my own decisions?" Tara huffs.

"When you can start making the right ones." you huff back. "I don't mean to scare you but I can't let you wander the streets alone anymore."

"Why not?"

"Three murders recently." you remove your mask, "I think it might be-"

"Ghostface." Tara immediately sobers up before hugging you tight. "Thank you"

"You're like a sis to me, kid, I won't let anyone hurt you"

"What are we gonna tell Sam?"

"I don't know" you sigh, "could you tell her? I'm still on the hook for the whole texting and swinging incident"

Ghostface was loose in the Big Apple. You already knew who the targets were. Luckily, they had a Wolf Spider to back them up.

To Be Continued...

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

Hi, Goodmorning/night! how has your day been? :3 i hope it went well!

If its okay, can I request mermaid reader (preferably fem), dropping some stuff down to Viper? It can be small jewelry she doesn't quite like or anything REALLY shiny — because she thinks sending him stuff would make him less interested in her and more on the stuff she drops. Basically her doing an offering and praying Viper would take the items instead of her

Always rest! And can I be "🦪" Anon? Im mostly a huge fan of Viper and Damon, so i might ask a lot about them! Again always rest and take care of yourself!!

Yandere! Male! Deep sea creature x mermaid! Fem! Reader: Viper route 1

That's so cute! Okay cuz I think Viper has like some similarities to Orion. He's also a collector! So I just let my hands flow and see where it takes me. Also, welcome 🦪anon! It's so nice to have more familiar faces here!

Also a bit sick, so I'll probably slow down a bit till i'm healed. Sore throat plus a runny nose, plus A FEVER WHAT LIKE LET ME BREATH????

Writing puts my mind at rest from being sick anyways...

You pursed your lips and looked down at the void below the trenches.

It's been quite a while since you escaped Viper's grasp, and Viper has continued to try and fail to seduce you back to him with that dang light of his.

You're a curious fish, but not that curious.

You're even deliberating on moving out of the trenches and back to civilization again, but something's telling you to don't do it.

Deciding on taking your mind off of the deep sea merman, you dedicated your time in talking to Orion and knowing more about human technology. He's happy to oblige too, anyways.

But you can't help but glance back at the deep, dark void down below, telling you, whispering that you belong there.

Surely you don't.

You're a creature of light, someone who enjoys the sunrays reflecting on the blue, tranquil sea. Someone who loves looking at the boats passing by, cleaning up trash, finding little treasures that you stock up and design your little pod inside the trenches...

You're satisfied...

Are you?

You can't help but remember how cold yet warm the darkness was. How Viper coiled his long tail around yours, his body heat enveloping yours. You can still feel against your back, your skin, the way his torso pressed against yours flush and fit. Significantly stronger, can kill you with one bite and yet...

You shook your head as you shivered away the daydream. No. No no no!

Slapping your face, you grabbed your bag and zoomed back to the trenches to start your little... Littering.

You've been sprinkling these little gems, trinkets, and jewels down below to him. Sure, you might need them as it's currency, but you're self sufficient enough with a farm and an aquatic ranch. You rarely even go to civilization anymore to really use these.

So, as valuable as these treasures are, and would literally make you rich, you decided to dump them on Viper.

Sweet, little naive you thinks that this counts as littering. You really didn't want to throw down actual trash-- you're environmentally friendly, you don't want to do that. And Viper is still a merfolk despite how um, scary he is. Hope he sees it as a bribe too. Who knows? Maybe he'll leave you alone if you make him rich enough?

But then again, you're sweet, you're little...

And you're naive.

Didn't you really thought that this practice looks like you're giving him gifts?

No, a wedding gift specifically?

He did propose to you to be his mate, his eternal partner.

And you're doing this?

Oh, little one. You're too cute! Acting all shy and bashful-- you're so upfront at wanting to marry him by giving him what's equal to a dowry!

Viper collects them meticulously. Putting them in a giant pit that's slowly but surely making him richer by the second.

Should you and him move out of the trenches and back to civilization with this money? With all of these riches, both of you are basically at the upper crust now.

Then, he'll show to those pesky upperdwellers that one of them is his, and only his.

He'll show them how he owns you, loves you, and will have a family just to piss them off.

Oh, how it makes him shiver just thinking about it.

So yes, continue giving him the dowry, little one.

Sooner or later, he'll snatch you up and drag you back down to the abyss,

and live happily ever after.

That's what you wanted, right?

[bearsinpotatosacks]

Rewatching star trek beyond so liveblogging it

God this film feels like coming home. Let me be a pharmacy assistant on the Enterprise please my life would be fixed

So does Bones just steal from people's lockers? Also they have lockers?

Oh LoRDy

I wish I could’ve been into star trek when this came out

Someone medicate Bones, man's so stressed out honestly

This film really makes me want star trek 4, make it a motion picture, getting the band back together thing

Love the way we see yorktown as massive and impressive then zoom in on the spaceport to make it seem lived in

Sulu's daughter has a toy enterprise

Fuck, prime Spock’s dead

The parts where they show prime spock really make me want a crossover between tos and aos, and it hurts that I'll never see it, guess i'll have to live in fanfic

Love the practical effects of this film

Also is Jim’s outfit in this scene, grey with yellow shoulders, the formalwear? If so I like it

Lovr Uhura's communications panel

Chris Pine's reactions, the cinematography, the set design, the sounds, fuck I love this film

Gonna start saying "i can't engage the warp drive" when i stall a car

Would love to see the borg in aos

Love the character consistency of Bones not carrying a phaser but spock is

Love Bones' portable scanner, i would watch a fake documentary about star trek tech

Does anyone wonder what happened to all the personal belongings that were destroyed on the Enterprise?

Jaylah’s coming soon 😆

There she is!

How many languages does she speak? English, her own and whatever those people she beat up were speaking?

Notice how Bones is still cut on the forehead while he's helping out Spock

Also why does Jaylah know about Krall’s plan? Is that why he shoots people down, try to find the Abornath then kill them to be immortal?

Just realised that Jaylah’s tech was probably from her ship before she got to Altamid, that's why she knows how to use it, her stick, her traps, the parts she got for the franklin (as well as other ships), makes me want to know what her people were like

How long has Jaylah been there?

Love how Bones is ready to throw hands

Bones dancing to achy breaky heart when?

Also Jaylah isn't introduced to Spock and bones, they just get beamed aboard and then spock collapses

Oo Krall’s looking more human

"You gave your girlfriend a tracking device?" Spock’s face 🤣

I really want to know about Jaylah’s family

This film literally proves that my "Jaylah is actually really fucking traumatised and definitely has (c) ptsd" agenda is canon

Also Scotty has his grandma's china hc

Love how Jim respects his crew

Also jim kirk is so Maverick/tom cruise coded it's insane. Bikes, dead dad, cocky attitude, shipped with someone who’s "ice cold"

Uhura has got to be traumatised after seeing a crewmate literally eaten in front of her

Jim Cruise is here! Tom Kirk!

After getting into top gun, the star trek navy inspired titles are funny to me, at least in aos by how quick they get them and how young they all are

Not sure why Jaylah’s fighting gives me kill bill vibes

Also jaylah has blue blood!

Love how sulu gets the dramatic line "they're going to destroy yorktown"

How long did it take to get the ship ready to fly? I mean, it's been at least a day and a night, the day they arrived, nighttime then they all got rescued and brought back together the next day just wondered how long it all took to happen

Also seatbelts!

Sulu would’ve won top gun

"I acknowledge and respect your concerns" Someone's been to therapy

"How do we get them to stop talking" is spoken so shatner

Just realised why certain jobs are the colours, yellow: anything running the ship (captain, pilot etc), red: anything about how the ship runs (engineering, communications, security), blue: science and medical

I love how the end of this film is similar to battleships where they use an old ship to defeat an alien ship

The picture of the original crew! He took it with him! I need a crossover now! I love how they used a more brassy theme there, makes it sound more original, more nostalgic

They had the chance to do futuristic dress but they just look like dudes from 2016

If they could just do an animated series for the aos crew...

Also the og theme at the end 🥲

[innerchorus]

Arslan Senki Chapter 130 (Part 1)

You know, I'm starting to get so nervous for these that the last ten minutes before the chapter comes out are a really unpleasant experience!

Arakawa reminding us of Innocentis's presence in this scene by having Hilmes's disarmed sword land between his legs... There's a reason for this (I already know it, but for readers who don't it's a good choice not to let us forget he's there).

Then we move to a flashback montage of sword training scenes for Arslan, some old and familiar (with Vahriz and Daryun) and some new (with Gieve in Gilan, and I'd have to check but I wonder whether that was mentioned as one of the ways Arslan passed his downtime there?).

Funnily enough, I did look back through Arslan's training scenes before to see if there was any sign of the move he pulled on Hilmes AND HERE IT IS; Narsus's approach to swordplay put into practise by Gieve. Basics, practice, application; all the components that Arslan drew on to help him defeat Hilmes. Yes, there was an element of luck in that Hilmes's mental state was so shaken, but not only did Arslan take advantage of that, behind it lay months of diligence in training.

Arslan's dialogue really shows that now Hilmes has been defeated, he has no clear way to deny Arslan's victory and therefore his right to the throne, and at this point I really just wanted to see his face but instead we backtrack a little more to Narsus and Gieve on their way through the waterways...

I think I uttered my first "holy fuck" of the chapter here?

GIEVE WAS LITERALLY READY TO HEADSHOT HILMES FROM A DISTANCE IF ARSLAN LOST, BECAUSE HE REFUSES TO ALLOW HIM TO BE KILLED.

(Never have I been more glad that Hilmes lost. For the record, Narsus did NOT try to stop Gieve, lmao. I imagine, though, that they will keep this agreement between themselves.)

(Also, things coming full circle etc etc with Gieve in a high place on Ecbatana's walls drawing a bow to protect Arslan versus his mercy killing of Shapur)

Anyway, Gieve lowers his bow when Hilmes stands there defeated and ZANDEH CRIES OUT HILMES'S NAME after seeing Hilmes stood there weaponless with Arslan's sword levelled at him (help me I love Team Hilmes so much it's really hard to be coherent right now but I love this moment and what happens next)

It really feels like Daryun just becomes an obstacle to Zandeh; nothing more than something standing in his way on his path to Hilmes's side. Duel be damned, he just wants to get to his Prince at all costs. Yes, I know he swings his weapon at him but Daryun is literally standing between him and Hilmes and in that moment I think it's clear that Hilmes matters more to him than revenge.

And he gets to Hilmes's side after having his mace swept away by Daryun and sustaining a wound to his wrist and honestly I'm sure Daryun could have killed him there and then but he lets him go to Hilmes... another thing to be thankful for

I'M FUCKING CRYING ZANDEH YOU GOOD BOY, look how he puts himself between Arslan and Hilmes without a thought, without a weapon in his hand, ready to protect him at all costs. He would die for Hilmes if need be (really hope I'm not tempting fate by saying that)

Sam asking for mercy because of course he would! If I remember rightly, in the novels he orders their men to put down their swords to prevent further pointless bloodshed. What's Hilmes thinking right now? In all likelihood he's as numb as his sword arm, but I hope he understands that both Zandeh and Sam value his life this much.

I can't zoom in on this any more but...

Zandeh's protective posture 👌

Sam kneeling to beseech Arslan that Hilmes be spared 👌

Both of them positioning themselves in front of Hilmes, between him and Arslan 👌

THANK YOU ARSLAN but surely none of those who know him were actually thinking he'd kill Hilmes.

Arslan: "He can live. But I'm not gonna forget about his crimes." That's fair.

MY BOY ZANDEH KNEELING TOO. He's giving thanks! I really think he must have been worried that Hilmes might not be spared; he looks so taken aback by this suggestion. Or perhaps it's also the fact that they're apparently not going to be restrained and imprisoned? Though I'm sure that room will be under guard.

What if Team Zahhak were to kidnap Hilmes from that room? Team Hilmes can't get out, but snakes can get in... But with a change that was made later in this chapter, I'm now considering that maybe it's not Hilmes who is in line to be a vessel for Zahhak? Or at least, there's another option.

Okay this marks the halfway point of the chapter so I'm just gonna post this part and then write up some thoughts on the rest.

[mars-rnr]

Incoherent Rewatch of the final episode of The Hollow

The Hollow: Season 2 Episode 010

Spoiler Warning when you keep on reading! Road Kill!

Reeve's lightning bolt joke always makes me laugh- he can be so so goofy and, in my head, he can compete with Kai as the funniest guy in the room

Damn..At the start of The Hollow (s1 e1), Adam was the one who both acted and preached being calm and at the end (s2 e10, 2:03), he unravelled a bit

Kai confirming he is a ride-or-die type of friend by helping Adam punch the pyramid

Woah! Reeve knows how to drive!? This means he had driving lessons before he joined The Hollow games! Also to me it is kinda funny that Adam was so adamant about getting a car yet it was Reeve and only Reeve who drove it

I know Team B is the opposing team but I love their dynamic- they are matching their willing-to-burn-down-a-building energy

Slight tangent in a tangent: It is confirmed that Mira can ride a scooter and a motorcycle, Reeve can drive a car- As for Adam, he never drove anything! Adam would be the most obnoxious Backseat Driver ever and he can't even drive any vehicl e!

Haha! Adam is a passenger prince- both times he hopped on the car, he was in the passenger seat

That flipping snail!! D:< I'm still mad and sad over what happened with Skeet :<

The fight scenes, the team-ups & power combinations- all of it is so cool!

I love how sincere and committed Gustaf/ The Weird Guy is in helping these digital copies of real people- I wonder if Gustaf has more empathy for 'codes' or NPCs than most people

I can rest knowing Mira is flipping cool! (She was ready to ride a motorcycle off a cliff!!) AND ALSO THE HOLLOW CREATIVES KNEW MIRA WAS FLIPPING COOL!! THEY MADE HER DO EXTRA BECAUSE SHE IS THAT AWESOME!!

Mira is so cool bro I'm legit not lying or exaggerating- I just need to repeat like it like a flipping life mantra because it is the truth- When she threw that rock to steal that motorcycle, it just reminded it is over for me. I'm willing to give up anything for Mira- She is that worth it

The way she just said one word, 'Go!', and Reeve immediately followed up on it by continuing to driving and that zoom up to her face!! I'll say it again- Mira is so cool and The Hollow Creators knew she was that cool and awesome!!

I LOVE REEVE AND MIRA- THEIR DYNAMIC IS 'Gotta stop this dude from eating his own shorts because he is hella mad at our other friend' and 'Damn, one word and I'll bring tools to a help your bank heist or something but I'll be really concerned about you'

I like the different times Mira, Adam, and Reeve became resolute in their resolve to continue fighting with their digital life. Mira had a philosophical talk about her experiences, Adam made a heartfelt and slightly funny speech, and as for Reeve- 'I'm not letting us get erased from existence' he is proactive/ taking charge about it, and the fact it he said 'us' instead of 'me' because he is also doing this for his friends- He'll continue his digital life because he wants to and because of his friends

I love- LOVE! The genuine care and worry Kai has for Vanessa!! It reminds me of Terry and Claudia from The Dragon Prince. And my love for Terry and Claudia is well-known already <3

[fandom-junk-drawer]

The Witcher Headcanon (Modern Au) - Error 404 Brain Not Found: Bonus Scene - Part 22

"You. You streaked through the Temple of Melitele?" Jaskier asked in disbelief as he steered his character away from an obstacle on the race track.

Geralt nodded.

Jaskier and Lambert guffawed and promptly crashed.

They both wailed in disappoinment as Yennefer's go cart zoomed past them.

Geralt: You don't believe me?

Jaskier: Seems a little sus to me. Like you would have the balls to run naked in the Temple and risk the Priestess' wrath!"

Geralt: I do, and I did. In broad daylight. Do you have the balls to streak in broad daylight?

Jaskier: I'll show you balls! *already taking off clothes*

Geralt: *stands and starts stripping*

Yennefer: :O

Lambert: You two better not be gonna f**k right in front of us!"

Yennefer: "Where are you going????"

Geralt and Jaskier ignored her question as they made for the font door.

"You're not--don't you dare go outside like tha--!"

Yennefer watched helplessly as her two bucka** naked friends disappeared out the front door and ran off.

By the time she reached the door, all she saw was a glimpse of a**cheeks and dangly bits bouncing through the front yard.

Oh, gods, this was it. They were both going to show up on an internet search with a blue dot! Welp, time to start packing!

Jaskier is giggling as he and Geralt run across the font yard. This is so much fun! The thrill of doing something that could get you into trouble it you got caught!

Ow! What the h*ll did I just step on?

I think I just bruised my heel!

F**K, my toe!

Ew, this driveway is really hard!

Geralt, how are you just running on the concrete barefoot like that?? Doesn't it hurt?

Why did I have to have such a big front yard?

Melitele's tits, Geralt, check out my d*ck!

Jaskier is running along, and it's just sort of... spinning in front of him. Like a propeller. They look like a pair of f***ing airplanes!

He can't help it, he has to make airplane noises now!

Geralt grabs him and quickly hauls him to the front door. Time to get back inside!

The fun turned to panic when they discovered the front door was locked.

Geralt tapped on the window rapidly, while Jaskier nervously kept a lookout.

He waved and gestured frantically at Yennefer and Lambert, who were still in the living room, playing games. Lambert straight up just gave him the finger, then went back to playing.

Geralt pushed Jaskier to the window so he could make puppy eyes at Yennefer.

It worked! She was getting up!

Yennefer walked over to the window, smiled, then drew the curtains. Lambert howled with laughter when Yennefer just casually closed the curtains. F**k, that had been so perfectly executed!

He'd seen the hope light up their desperate faces as she'd walked over. And then, the killing stroke! Bam!

The witch was more fun than he'd given her credit for!

Geralt and Jaskier quickly retreated to the relative safety of the backyard. They rushed straight to the back door, only to find it locked as well.

"They locked us out! " Jaskier squealed in lowercase.

"Mother f***ing Lambert!", Geralt growled. "I told you this was a bad idea!"

"What?!" Jaskier squawked, offended, "Are, are you blaming me for this?"

"Yes! It was all your idea! 'DeR, LeT mE sHoW eVeRyOnE mY bAllS !"

"aH dOoN't SoUnD LiKe ThAt!"

Jaskier jumped at Geralt.

Geralt danced off the porch, twisting out of the way as Jaskier tried to grab him. He pulled his hand back and slapped Jaskier's a**cheek as he stumbled past.

Jaskier's hands flew to his a** as he yelped, "Ow! You-you b**tart!" He spun to the side as Geralt swatted at him, trying to get the other cheek, and kicked him in the shin.

"Ow, you little f**ker!"

Jaskier's smug laugh turned into a little shriek as Geralt lunged at him.

The neighbor, one elderly Mrs. Biddlecombe, became aware of a quiet ruckus as she stood at her kitchen sink, washing up a few dishes. She took a quick look out of the window at the sink...

Goodness! Mrs. Yennefer's men were fighting outside!

And oh, my, they were in the nuddy!

*Puts on glasses*

Yes, they were very, very naked! Good gracious, they were rolling in the grass. Arms and legs and...bits were going in every direction!

Someone should really do something!

Yes.

Someone should stop them before one of them got hurt.

Look at all that gleaming skin and heaving muscle!

Goodness, someone should really do something.

Maybe offer them sunscreen so they don't get sunburned...

Mrs. Biddlecombe nearly ascended into heaven when the big, burly (and did she mention naked?) Witcher sat on the pretty, well-muscled bard (who, did she mention was also very naked?), and pinned his hands above his head with one massive hand.

Jaskier kneed Geralt in the a** and managed to pitch him off with a mighty heave. But Geralt was not about to let him get away. He grabbed Jaskier around the waist and yanked him back. Jaskier began doing a weird, repetitive lunging motion, trying to break Geralt's grip...

Mrs. Biddlecombe removed her glasses, cleaned them on her apron, then put them back on.

Melitele, preserve me!

Yennefer and Lambert were on the couch giggling about locking Geralt and Jaskier out, when Yennefer's phone rang.

"Yes? Hello, Mrs. Biddlecombe--! I--! They're in the backyard?" *Stifled snort*

"In the nuddy, you say?" *Smothered giggle*

"And they're fighting--! Not fighting? They're--! Oh. OH!"

Lambert saw the amusement bleed out of Yennefer's face as she stood up in shock. She rushed to the kitchen window and looked out to see them in the middle of the back yard, in front of the gods and everybody, looking like two dogs hate f***ing.

"Yes, Mrs. Biddlecome, I'll handle it immediately! Yes, ma'am, you go ahead and have a lie-down. Yes. Yes, he does have a very nice bum."

Yennefer raced outside, turned the garden faucet on, and proceeded to spray Geralt and Jaskier with the hose. Mrs. Biddlecombe got a nice encore performance as Jaskier and Geralt rolled and slipped in the grass, taken by surprise by the spray.

They were marched to the back porch, muddy and speckled with grass, and made to stand on the steps while Yennefer hosed them off.

The show ended with a lovely view of two sets of glistening a**cheeks bouncing inside.