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mysticstarlightduck · 5 months ago

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Looking For Feedback: Updated Prologue Chapter of Supernova Initiative

I mentioned I was looking for feedback for this chapter of Supernova Initiative, and after some feedback from my friends and mutuals, I did some editing and am going to post the new version here now!

Please give me feedback on this new version! It's still not the final one!! 💕

Important Context: The Prologue chapters take place around ten years before the main story of the WIP takes place. Those chapters serve to establish character backstory and showcase how the MCs became the characters they are in the main story - which takes place almost ten years later, where all the MCs have become famous outlaws. Each backstory chapter follows important events of the MCs past, and establishes who they used to be before. (However, only the Jack & Cassie backstory chapter is a part of the prologue, all the other backstory chapters are peppered throughout the book). In this backstory chapter Jack is 15-years-old, Cassie is 8-years-old and Deimos 16-years-old. (In the Main Story, ten years later, Jack is 25, Cassie 18, and Deimos 26)

SUPERNOVA INITIATIVE

We’ll Make It to the Other Side

CETHEA III - TEN YEARS AGO

One could say Jack Tithus was having a bad day - in fact, he had been having ‘a bad day’ for the past couple of years. Good salaries were a far-gone illusion that Jack, and pretty much everyone else who called this broken moon a home, had long since forgotten. Right now, Jack took what he could get - and as things grew dire, started accepting gigs and odd jobs from lowlifes and mobsters of all kinds, having long since been familiar with their moon’s bustling, and cutthroat underworld. Yes, he was an errand boy for criminals, but at least it put food on his sister’s plate - and on especially lucky days, on his too.

Today was not gonna be either of those days, apparently.

“Hey, what the fuck?!” Jack counted and recounted the pitiful amount of units Zeke, the thug sitting leisurely on the swivel chair across the grimy desk, had tossed to him. He could not believe his eyes, and it took every ounce of self-control he had to not lunge across the desk and strangle the smug right out of the guy’s face here and now. He didn’t even get a quarter of the price they’d settled on the day before.

Jack hit the desk with his hand, rattling the cheap metal in his anger. “I did the job. It was so fucking dangerous, but I did it. Got the merchandise past those stupid guards at the Station. You said you’d pay me in full.”

The man across the desk burst into laughter. “And you were stupid enough to believe me?” Zeke mocked, lighting a neon-blue cigarette and leaning back on the chair “I just needed someone desperate and gullible enough to smuggle those parts to my clients. You fit the bill like a glove.”

Jack fumed, staring daggers at the man. “Oh yeah, Zeke? Well, I think maybe a broken nose would fit your face quite nicely.” His words came out with a bite to them and he closed his hands into fists “You sure talk a lot of game for someone who needs a teen to do your dirty work.”

At that, Zeke’s eyes turned dangerous. He took one slow, long drag from his glowing cigarette, letting the cyan smoke billow from his mouth lazily. At a motion from his head, two figures stepped out from the shadows behind Jack, seemingly out of nowhere. “If I were you,” Zeke began, coldly “I’d be grateful for the scraps and call it a day before you find some real trouble. You’re treadin’ on thin ice here, being this mouthy on Onyx Striker territory.”

The young man didn’t move, but he could see - from the corner of his eye - the guns glimmering on the duo’s holsters, ready to be drawn. The unspoken threat caused his bravado to falter - he swallowed nervously. Jack couldn’t afford the risk, he couldn’t leave Cassie all alone in the slums. Kids didn’t last long on their own around here, and when they did, it was at a cost. He couldn’t get himself killed for something stupid, as much as his pride told him to fight.

Thanks to the Junction, Jack and his sister, Cassiopeia, hadn’t had the concept of a ‘home’ or ‘money in a long, long while. And that as the basic reality for most of the mismatched families that managed to make it in Cethea III - the third and most forsaken moon of the frozen planet, Ivion, below. A Junction mining colony, where poverty and crime run amok, while the government strips their supplies dry day by day. Pride was a luxury most had to abandon early on in this place.

Swallowing his anger and all the instincts that told him to stand his ground. One last time, he tried to bargain, but this time more controlled. His attention didn’t leave the two thugs lurking behind him. “This isn’t enough, you know I have a sister -”

Zeke cut him off. “Eh, cry me a river.” The man took another drag of glowing smoke, and Jack instinctively held his breath - out of anxiety and rage combined “Fuck if I care, that ain’t a problem of mine. The brat’s yours. Ain’t none of my business and I ain’t wasting even more money on you.” The man dismissed him with a scowl, waving to the door vaguely. “Now scram, kiddo, before I change my mind and take back those units we already gave ya. I’m growing bored.”

Jack took in a sharp breath, instinctively clutching the small pouch of coins tighter, knowing they could be taken away at any moment. He glared at the thug for a moment longer, before relenting. “... Fine.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, instead turning around and pushing past the two men stationed behind him, storming out of the greasy and now smoke-filled office. “Stingy fucker.” Jack mumbled, mind racing faster than a hoverbike, a million thoughts a second. He didn’t look over his shoulder nor slow down his pace until the mob-owned building was far behind him.

As he trudged through the dusty, bustling streets and alleyways, he scrambled to figure out what he was going to do next. 5 units wouldn’t even be enough to pay for half a meal in the greasiest, cheapest diners of this settlement. It wouldn’t even scratch the surface. Jack wanted to curl up and die at the thought of telling Cassie they were gonna have to skip dinner tonight. Again.

He ran a hand through his hair with a drawn-out groan, trying to come up with good enough excuses that wouldn’t sound like blatant lies to a genius 8-year-old. The best he could come up with were excuses he’d already used a million times before. Which didn’t help at all.

Turning a corner around a quieter part of the slums, he made his way to the local junkyard. He knew the path with his eyes closed by now. Cassie loved the place - to her, it was like a playground where she could build as many bots as she wanted, and to him, it was a safe enough hiding spot for when he had to leave her unattended. He hoped to all the stars he knew that she had stayed put for the past seven hours like he told her to. She usually did.

Climbing over the broken chain fence wasn’t much of an effort, nor was finding a way to maneuver through the assortment of scrap metal and broken spaceship parts. After a minute or so of walking, he spotted a familiar head of blue-dyed hair barrelling toward him, as small arms wrapped around his waist tightly.

He let the resentment and anger he’d been feeling before wash away for a brief moment, thankful that his sister was here, and that she was okay. With an arm still wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her close, they began to make their way out of the junkyard.

Jack avoided the pressing subject of dinner, pushing it to the back of his head after giving up looking for solutions where there were none. He could feel his blood still boiling from his interaction with Zeke, and it took almost everything he had to hide the frustration and slip into his usual doting, brotherly role. Jack never wanted Cassie to be upset about things he should be able to solve. So, meanwhile, he asked something else, voice practicedly happy and calm, a complete opposite of the annoyance he was still feeling at the mob. “Did you have a good day, Cass?”

The girl, who was skipping along beside him, holding onto his arm, nodded. “I did, I think. Got bored after a while because you were so late, so I went for a walk in the city. Was pretty fun.”

Jack bit back the knee-jerk instinct to berate her for wandering into that settlement alone, “Yeah?” He hummed instead, in a kind tone, injecting optimism into his answer despite his every thought “That’s good. A bit risky though, but sounds fun indeed! Did any of the other kids give you any trouble?” They stopped by the broken fence once more, and Jack gave her a boost to get over it, before following suit with ease.

Once on the other side of the fence, standing once more at an alley, Cassie answered, holding his hand “Not really. Some older kids were being loud and causing trouble at a pub. Didn’t go near them though.”

Jack sighed in relief, “Good,” He nodded at her “You did the right thing, never get involved with those sorts, ever. They could hurt you.”

He wasn’t sure if Cassiopeia was listening, as she seemed pretty focused on following the cracks on the concrete, walking over them like someone tracing a line on the floor. Jack found it cute and didn’t bother repeating himself at the moment.

They wandered aimlessly for a while, taking the ‘scenic route’ - if one could call anything on this heap of space rubble scenic - around the settlement. Jack was in no hurry to find somewhere to stop, as it would mean facing that subject, so he simply let Cassie ‘guide’ him around town.

Eventually, after crossing a tight street, weaving their way through passersby, vehicles, and robots alike, the siblings reached one of the city’s few ‘plazas’. Calling the place ugly and unsightly would be an understatement, but at least it allowed for freer movement than the cramped alleyways behind him.

However, a commotion drew their attention, and Jack skidded them to a halt. An armored Junction airship was landed in the middle of the square, surrounded by officers in their tight, grey uniforms. A man, who seemed in his mid-thirties, could be seen struggling against the soldiers, clutching some kind of bag in hand. He must’ve stolen something - and by the looks of it, that something was food. A quick punch from one of the Sentries ended the struggle, and as the man doubled over in pain, his arms were quickly restrained in cuffs, the bag swiftly removed from his grasp as the officers pushed him towards the vehicle.

Jack felt his heart tighten in sympathy but began walking in the opposite direction, gesturing for Cassiopeia to follow quietly. The last thing he wanted was for the Sentries to turn their attention towards them, once they were capturing that poor man. Jack knew how Junction Sentries functioned - and he knew you didn’t have to do anything wrong to be put under their aim. You just had to be born here - that was enough to earn their disdain.

Once the commotion was out of sight and the sounds of sirens gave way to the familiar buzz of the city’s center, with voices overlapping, cars flying past and a myriad of other familiar sounds filling their senses, Jack muttered bitterly, under his breath, to no one in particular “I can’t wait for us to get outta here. I hate this fucking place.”

Still holding onto his hand, Cassie seemed to have caught onto his words, despite all the background noise. “Mhm.” She hummed in agreement, nuzzling closer to his arm. Before he could reply, she skipped a few stones on the ground as if she were playing hopscotch, each jump punctuating her words, “Got us some snacks though!”

Jack couldn’t believe his ears, blinking rapidly at the concept “You… you did?”

Cassie didn’t look over her shoulder, still skipping stones “Yep.” She answered simply, apparently unaware of the importance of what she just said “Saw some folks at this fancy eatery-place throwing out a box of tarts because they didn’t sell the week before. It’s a bit stale but tastes good enough.”

Jack could sob in relief right now - in fact, he almost did, barely holding onto his composure by a thread as he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He stopped walking for a moment, simply basking in this moment, watching her absentmindedly skipping around ahead of him after basically saving their night. After a second, he caught up to her once more, playfully ruffling her hair.

She giggled, batting at his hand and combing down her now-tousled hair. Jack smiled down at her. “You’re the best, Cassie. Did you know that?”

Cassiopeia looked up at him with bright, mischievous eyes. “Mhm. I’m pretty amazing.” She beamed, proud of herself.

Jack laughed, nodding “That’s the Cassie I know.”

As they continued walking down the empty, Cassiopeia always skipping and running ahead, Jack enjoyed the feeling of a weight lifted from his shoulders, for a split second, before the feeling returned tenfold once they walked into another alley. There were droplets of what looked like blood splattered on the concrete - and before he could tell Cassie to slow down and get away, she’d already turned the corner. That same corner. The one with the blood.

His heart skipped a beat, “Cassie, wait!” He yelled as he ran after his sister, ready to yank her away from whatever was waiting for them in that alley, but stopped in his tracks once he turned the corner. There, hidden behind a metal trashcan and broken containers, was someone. Someone around his age, who looked a little more than worse for wear.

“...Is he dead?” Came his sister’s blunt question, shaking him from his shocked ‘trance’. Jack watched the strange kid intently for a moment, tilting his head to the side as he tried to gauge whether or not the other was dead or alive. The boy didn’t seem quite completely conscious, but they didn’t look dead either.

“I…” Jack stammered. “I, um, I’m not quite sure myself.” His answer was as unsure as he himself was right now. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to grab his sister and get them both away from this place and this random person right now. But another portion of him seemed to claim that it wouldn’t be right. His conscience, apparently.

“Maybe we should just go away…” Jack said, tentatively trying to ignore his better judgment, tugging on Cassie to come back near him. The eight-year-old looked outraged and sad at the same time.

“But he’s hurt!” She protested, pointing at the limp figure near the wall “He needs our help. We can’t just leave.” Then she added, with big, sad eyes, like a puppy “You always say we should be kind to others. That we should help those we can help,” By the looks of it, and the sound of her voice, she knew exactly what she was doing. And Jack hated that it was working.

“Ugh, don’t you turn my words against me,” He complained, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. She continued staring up at him, and there was a long moment of silence - Jack didn’t want to budge, and neither did Cassie. Eventually, her puppy-eyes won. Jack groaned. “Fine, fine. But if I get stabbed, I say it’s your fault” He says, half-heartedly poking at her, to which Cassie answered by sticking out her tongue at him and making a face.

Moving toward the other teenager, Jack could see a bit more of their appearance - they weren’t human, that much was clear. Bright blue skin, long ears, dark blue hair. Peeking their mouth, which hung slightly agape, Jack could see a row of small fang-like teeth, as he closed the distance and knelt down beside the stranger. From what he could tell, this kid was a Zatrian - a species native to the tundra deserts of the planet below - who had somehow ended up battered and bruised on a grimy alleyway in Cethea III. Someone else was also having a very bad day, it seems. That level of irony wasn’t lost in him.

Jack, hesitantly, reached forward, giving the figure’s shoulder a gentle nudge. Deep down he didn’t know if he wanted the figure to stir or not - he knew it was a selfish notion, but years of ingrained survival instincts told him a situation like this was often a perfect setup made by a gang looking to mug whoever intended to play the good samaritan. It never did them any good to help someone they didn’t know. Still, a small, shy part of him, for reasons he could not quite comprehend, hoped that this kid - whoever they were - would respond.

At his nudge, the other boy whined softly in discomfort - but didn’t seem to rouse.Jack frowned, growing unsettled with this alleyway more and more with every passing second, wishing for this to be done with as soon as possible. He tried again, with slightly more strength “Hey, can you hear me? Hello?” Jack asked as he shook the other’s shoulder a few times. It seemed that the figure would remain unresponsive, but when Jack was about to give up, the boy finally stirred, eyes blinking open with a groan of pain.

Grey eyes, first glazed over with pain and confusion, then filled with a look of sheer dread and panicked rage that Jack knew all too well, met his. Before he respond or do anything really, the boy stumbled backward with a sudden jerk, which caused him to hit his head on the wall behind him. “G-Get back!”

The alien yelled, followed by a cat-like hiss that took Jack off-guard. He pushed himself further and further into the corner between the trash can and the wall, curling into himself as tightly as he could, pressed against it, The figures’ eyes flitted between Jack, who was still kneeling near him, and Cassie, who was standing a few feet away, with her brows furrowed in a puzzled look.

Unsure of what to do, Jack withdrew his hand, instead raising it in a placating gesture. “Hey, hey, hey... Take it easy” He said, in a clear voice, backing a feel inches away himself - fearing that the kid may lash out. Those claws, a detail of the alien’s hand that Jack had only just noticed, looked sharp. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

Apparently the gesture was anything but calming, as when he backed away and raised his hands slowly, the boy cringed way with a violent flinch, hugging himself and pointedly looking away for a moment. As if expecting to be hit, Jack realized. That reaction alone said more than words ever could, and despite himself, Jack felt his walled up heart thaw a little bit.

Finally, after a drawn-out while that felt like an eternity, the alien boy realized nothing was going to happen, and looked up once more. There was a sharp look of distrust and paranoia in his eyes, one that Jack knew all too well - he often saw that same look reflected in the mirror. Much to both of their surprise, the boy spoke.

“...What do you want with me?” His voice was weak and fearful, carrying a sharp accent, though it seemed he tried to inject as much venom into the words as he could “ His face scrunched up into what was supposed to be a menacing look, but he only looked more anxious.

Jack answered, using the same calming voice as he used when Cassie had nightmares. It usually worked, and though he wasn’t quite sure of why he was even doing any of this “We want to help.” He gestured to himself and then to his sister, trying to muster a reassuring smile but still eyeing the boy anxiously, as if waiting for something to go wrong and for trouble to begin. Cassie waved at the other boy, who seemed even more confused, before Jack added, trying to provide some much needed explanations “Look, we kinda…stumbled into you - not literally, but y’know what I mean - and you looked like you needed help. You seem pretty hurt…”

At that, Jack’s words trailed off. He saw a deep, crimson stain pouring from the torn up sleeve of the boy’s shoulder, and noticed how the other nursed that arm protectively, holding it to his chest, face scrunched up in a grimace of pain. He was no expert, so he couldn’t quite tell if it was a stab or a gunshot wound, but thankfully by the looks of it, whatever had caused it had only grazed the arm.

Better than the alternative, Jack guessed. Though it must still hurt like hell.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but the other boy was faster, cutting him off as he spoke instead. “Ha. As if someone like you would want to help someone like me.” His breathing was labored, pained, but even then, Jack could feel the resentment and sarcasm in his voice “I know… I know your kind. It’s all just a big game. And I won’t go back to that place -” The boy’s voice cracked, but he steeled himself with a growling, bitter chuckle “You can’t trick me like they did. I won’t fall for it.”

Jack tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, cocking an eyebrow in confusion, trying to make sense of what the other meant. “Who said there was any trick? Why would there be any?” He asked, genuinely, glancing over his shoulder slightly to check on Cassie. She gave him a shrug, just as lost as he was, “We have no clue who you are, my guy - we only just happened to find you. By accident. And you look like you need help so someone” Jack nodded towards Cassie “convinced me to come check on you. And that bleeding arm of yours only confirms that yes, you do need help. So let us help.”

Jack wasn’t quite certain if he wanted to help this guy they’ve just met. It could very well end poorly. Very poorly and very bloodily. But he already started this, so he might as well commit to the whole thing now.

Meanwhile, the boy seemed torn between giving into relief or succumbing to fight-or-flight instincts and trying to dart away. Jack was certain that, if it wasn’t for the exhaustion the other must be feeling, that kid would have run away the second he woke him up. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, looking at Jack suspiciously. “Leave. Me. Alone.” The boy hissed, punctuating every word in that sentence, a jaded, tired look in his eyes.

Jack facepalmed slightly for a moment, dragging his hands down his face in frustration, before taking a deep breath and collecting all the patience he didn’t have to continue this conversation. This dead-end conversation. In a shady alleyway. With someone he did not know.

“Look, let me be open with you real quick: I don’t want to be here, and she doesn’t want to be here, in this exact situation and place, either. So I think if we could move the topic forward a bit that would be great.” He said, gesturing vaguely to the other in hopes that he would develop the conversation a bit more. When the kid remained seethingly silent, waiting for an answer Jack sighed, “Okay, then.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. After a second more of silence, his patience wavered and Jack stood up, dusting off his clothes and turning to Cassiopeia with a shrug. “Eh, fuck it. I can’t deal with this right now.” Jack gestures for her to follow him, but his sister won’t budge. He groans in frustration and stops in his tracks. “We tried, Cassie. Kid’s hopeless, and if he’s keen on being a sitting duck to a mugger, let him. This alley looks wrong in all the worst ways.”

He tried to reason with her, hand outstretched waiting for her to grasp it. For a moment, it looked like his sister would agree, before instead of taking his hand she sauntered over to the blue-skinned alien still curled up near the wall. Jack stared at her silently, a mix of tired frustration with deadpan disbelief as she crouched down close to the other kid. “You’re from Ivion, right? The planet this moon orbits?” She asked, innocently, head tilted to the side. Surprised, Jack could hear it in her voice that she was going somewhere with this, so he just watched, ready to yank her away in a second if he sensed any danger. The alien boy didn’t move for a moment, curled up like a statue with big, fearful eyes, before silently nodding. Cassie continued, “If so. Um. How did you end up…?”

He saw Cassie gesture vaguely to their bleak surroundings and then to the boy himself, the absurdity of their situation painting a clear enough picture on its own. Much to Jack’s surprise, who half-expected the other kid to just shut down or worse, straight up push her away, he saw Deimos, slowly, ever so slowly, uncurl himself from where he was pressing up against the wall. The boy fiddled with what looked like a colorful string bracelet for a moment, pensive, but still seemed tense like a string ready to snap. His eyes seemed distant, confused and terrified at the same time, and Jack instantly knew that, whatever the answer was, it wasn’t going to be anything good. And he briefly wondered if he should let Cassie stick around to hear it.

“Bad people. Raiders.” There was a quiver to his chin, and his words are less coherent, sentences cutting off sharply, as he painfully struggled to put his thoughts into words “There was so much blood. So much. Raiders said they would sell me.” Deimos started to hyperventilate, trying to catch his breath as he hugged himself tightly “... I don’t remember… I don’t remember how I escaped. I- I don’t know anymore -”

The other kid’s words had a slightly…broken edge to them - a sound that born out of desperation, panic, rage and all things in between. He noticed that Cassie seemed slightly concerned - and anxious, if the way she tugged on the strings of her backpack was any indication. Startling even himself, Jack felt his legs move of their own volition, gently pushing past from where he was standing next to his sister until he was once more kneeling at arms-reach of the kid.

The boy seemed tired - too tired to keep arguing, too tired for anything anymore, like he was giving up, looking up at him as if he simply didn’t care what happened next anymore. Jack didn’t need a full explanation to get the picture, to understand what the boy was feeling. He felt it himself almost daily.

Without saying a word, Jack pulled the other boy into a hug, for reasons he could not comprehend - and it seems that was an action that surprised both of them. The alien stilled, frozen like a board for a moment, too shocked to move. Meanwhile, Jack himself was confused out of his mind - he’d never trusted people like this. Usually, he would have suspected any story like that was a lie. But somehow, this one felt different. Likely it was just his ‘big brother instincts’ taking over, or maybe, and that thought surprised him even more, he hoped this day could get a little bit… ‘less bad’.

The concept was almost laughable, given all of their circumstances

He thought for a second that the alien boy would surely push him away, but then, he felt two skinny, long arms wrap around him, hesitantly but surely.

The boy melted into his hug, and Jack realized that was probably the first kind physical contact this guy had felt in a long, long while. Tears wet his shirt, and Jack was unsure of what to do, but he let the boy hold onto him for as long as he needed. After a few minutes, Jack let go and put his hand on the other’s shoulder “I’m sorry for what happened to you. Seriously.” He turned to look at Cassie, who was looking at them with a mix of confusion and awe. She gave him a thumbs up, and Jack chuckled. “So, this is gonna sound really weird, but what do you say we stick together?” He stretched out a hand, waiting for Deimos’ answer.

The alien gave him a puzzled look.

“Whatever do you mean?” He asked, tilting his head sideways, trying to analyze him.

Jack shrugged. “Well, I dunno” He sat cross-legged on the floor, tired of crouching down “You’re all beaten up, we’re starving, and there’s no one to look out for kids like us. Maybe we could… stick around each other and see what happens? Look out for each other maybe, just maybe…”

He could not believe the worlds coming out of his mouth. Either this day had driven him mad or he was really looking for trouble. Jack almost cringed, but even have the energy to care anymore, he just waited for an answer.

As the alien boy seemed to mull over the offer in his mind as well, Cassie piped up, slinging her arms around Jack’s shoulders a tad too suddenly. “...We got food!” She said, like someone tempting a cat, pointing to her threadbare, butterfly backpack. Somewhere, in his mind, Jack was digging himself a grave and giving up on life. He regretted even saying anything. He regretted all his life choices including getting up from bed today. Nice going, Cass. Now we’re definitely getting mugged.

Jack immediately craned his head to protest Cassie’s offer, a million rebukes at the tip of his tongue - that was their food. Her food. Food they needed so badly and couldn’t afford to share it with someone else they’d just barely met… Before he could even say anything, however, the words died in his throat - he saw the hopeful glint in the other boy’s eyes at the prospect of dinner. He recognized that same, desperate hoping without hope, look - he knew how much a ‘no’ hurt in that situation, when one’s far beyond caring for pride and only wants to survive. It killed a part of him he could never get back, everytime something like that happened to him.

Cassie looked at him expectantly, and he hated how, instead of standing his ground and saying ‘no’, he relented with a sigh. “Alright, alright” He said to her, playfully sharply. “It’s fine. You win this round.” His voice was fondly resigned.

She gave a joyful, enthusiastic hurray, at that. To Jack, that almost made up to the fact that they were going to have to share their already limited dinner with another kid they barely knew. Just almost.

As Cassie sat down beside him, swinging her backpack from her shoulders and unceremoniously plopping it down on the dusty ground, Jack spoke, pinching the bridge of his nose again and willing himself to have patience. “So, you heard her. We’ve got… ‘dinner’.” He said that word with air quotes to emphasize his point “Are you going to join us or is The Corner too comfy to move away from?”

He looked at the other boy, waiting, impatiently, for an answer.

A bit too slowly for his liking, the alien slowly peeled himself from where he was basically cosplaying as a wallpaper, and sat down closer to them, mirroring their crossed legged positions. “...Yes. Let’s.” He said in a small voice, plainly. The kid’s mouth seemed to water at the simple thought of food, and Jack couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the fellow.

While that transpired, Cassie had already opened her backpack, placing a dented and slightly stained cardboard box in front of the three of them, opening it quickly. “I think its cheese tarts” His sister said bluntly “I think. It tasted a bit funny.”

Jack knew that was Cassie’s attempt to make some small talk but cringed inwardly just the same at the implications. He hoped their new ‘friend’ - who was still essentially a stranger whose name they didn’t even know - didn’t mind.

There were a few of those pocket tarts in the box, a jumbled assortment. They looked like they would have been tasty, fresh off the frier - though now they looked like they’d be tough to chew on. Luckily though, there seemed to be enough to divide it between the three of them equally - something Jack considered a rare treat, given that someone else was eating with them. He couldn’t help but think about how the snack might’ve lasted longer if it was just the two of them, but quickly suppressed the thought.

Without wasting a second, the trio got to eating the now-cold, fried morsels. At a first bite, Jack immediately understood what Cassie had meant by ‘it tasted funny’. The pastry was chewy, but not in a good way. In an insistent, sticky way that was hard to swallow. It seemed to have absorbed some of the plastified cardboard taste, and that… didn’t make it tastier, to put it shortly. Still, it was better than nothing. Much better than nothing.

And it seemed that their new alien ‘friend’ agreed, given how he absolutely devoured all three of his tarts in record breaking speed. If Jack hadn’t been feeling just as hungry, he might’ve even have been a bit astonished. As it stood, Jack didn’t think twice about it.

Sooner than he would’ve liked, the cardboard box was empty, with nothing but a few scattered crumbs, crumpled napkins and oil stains littering it. His stomach seemed to still need more, even though there were none. At this point, Jack was just grateful that this day hadn’t gone from a ‘bad day’ to the ‘worst day’. Small wins, but still wins.

Wiping off his fingers on one of the napkins, and then straightening his clothes, Jack stood up, stretching himself a little bit.

The weight of this entire day - which was, quite frankly an ordeal after the other - was catching up to him, and quick.

After adjusting Cassie’s backpack on her back and making sure to dust off her clothes properly, he turned to the alien boy once more. “So.” He started, a bit awkwardly, trying to come up with the words he needed “We had this… moment. Ate together and all that. I think an introduction’s in order: I’m Jack, and she” He gestures at his sister, who was admittedly giddy for some reason “Is Cassiopeia, my sister. I call her Cassie for short. What’s your name?”

He gave the boy his best friendly smile, and hoped that after all that the guy would finally start to open up a little and help break the awkward ice. If he didn’t, Jack was almost 70% sure he would implode out of frustration right then and there.

Luckily, the other kid, who was still nursing the wound on his arm, spoke up after a few seconds “...Deimos.” He answered, a bit too under his breath, before quickly adding “My name, is Deimos Soll. My full name.”

He seemed shy - looking torn between his fight-or-flight reflexes and giving two strangers a chance. Jack could understand how overwhelming that felt - after all, he was taking a similar gamble by helping him.

Still, ignoring his best judgement entirely, he reached out a hand to Deimos, hoping to help him get to his feet so they could get out of this filthy alley once and for all.

Swiftly and without a second thought, Deimos grasped his hand, latching onto it like a lifeline. Somehow, despite this being a random kid he just met, Jack felt as if a silent pact, was being made. He didn’t know why and it was one hell of a strange feeling, but he preferred it over the alternatives. Though it is far too early to even consider calling… whatever this strange ‘truce’ is a friendship, Jack definitely was glad that this interaction ended up amicably.

Jack helped Deimos up, hauling him up from the floor with considerable effort. As he helped the other maneuver into standing, Jack realized just how much taller Deimos was from him - he’d met few people who’d reached that height before coming of age. Supporting him to the best of his abilityuntil he was sure the other had gained his footing, Jack said, “Alright, since we’re apparently gonna do this, we need to get that wound” He gestures to Deimos’ free arm, the one who isn’t wrapped around his shoulders, “Fixed up. I think given our recent ‘feast’ you can tell we don’t have the funds for that” Jack adjusted his grip on the taller teen, as Deimos’ legs faltered slightly. “We can shoplift some supplies, but that would imply risking getting caught by those prim and proper arseholes in armor and that we’ll need to be lucky enough to do everything right. Or…” Jack muttered a swear word under his breath “I can cash in a favor. But it isn’t gonna be easy. I know a retired mobster lady who owns a tattoo shop and has some - and I mean some - first aid knowledge, but she always asks something in return.”

Deimos looked at him, befuddled. “Why are you helping me like this?” He asks, this time not judgemental, but genuinely curious, “I don’t think I quite understand.”

Jack stammered to find an answer. He didn’t quite understand what or why he was doing this either. “Well…” He trailed off for a moment, “I’m not quite sure. You were hurt, my sister convinced me to help you. We had a snack together. Kinda feels weird to not help you now, I guess. Plus, its the right thing and all that. I hope.”

The young alien seemed intrigued, but was satisfied with this answer for now, it seems. Or simply just didn’t have the energy to ask any more questions, which wouldn’t be surprising given his state.

With his free hand, Jack motioned for Cassie to follow.

Once she saw that Jack trusted the other boy, for some reason, Cassie came running towards them, tugging on Deimos’ shirt and almost making him lose his balance. She had a bright, kid-like smile on her face. “Hi! I’m Cassie. Jack told you already, I saw, it’s nice to meet another kid! Why do you look blue? Are you made of ice? I heard that Ivion is made of ice, are you too? I like the winter, winter’s nice…” Her endless string of questions continued into almost unintelligible rambles. Deimos looked at Jack as if asking for emergency help in handling whatever that was, Jack chuckled, starting to walk slowly so that the other could keep up with him. “Get used to it, haha,” He said playfully “There is oh, so much more where that came from.”

Deimos keened slightly “Why am I already reconsidering our partnership?” He said, this time with a mischievous smirk. Jack knew they were on the same page, and chuckling, continued walking them both out of the alley, as Cassie rambled on ahead of them about her knowledge of planets, stars, and constellations.

Her ramble paused for a moment, as she heard their little conspiratory quip. She turned around, little arms crossed over her chest - she wanted to look angry, but given her entire style and age, she just looked more adorable. “Hey!” She protested in a playfully berating tone, imitating authority “I heard that, mister alien-guy. Just because, I’m gonna talk even more now!” She chuckled after her mock ‘scolding’ and went back to skipping stones and rambling even faster about an assortment of different and increasingly unhinged topics, just out of too much spite and sass on the same small package.

Keeping a close eye on Cassiopeia ahead of them, Jack began maneuvering Deimos down the alley. Well, all things considered, this bad day actually ended better than most of his usual days. They ate something serviceable, met someone new who did not want to kill him, and got to unwind a bit. Overall, not quite such an awful day as it had started out. From there, they walked to Madam Cyrax’s tattoo parlor, where, with luck and a bit of smooth talking, they could get that wound fixed up half-nicely.

Though he knew that this might just be yet another debt to pay in the future, he found it worth it to help this unusual ‘friend’ they met.

Tagging (for Feedback) @saturnine-saturneight @ray-writes-n-shit @diabolical-blue, @saltysupercomputer @agirlandherquill

@sleepy-night-child, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @smol-feralgremlin, @oh-no-another-idea, @littleladymab,

@winterandwords, @cowboybrunch, @eccaiia, @sarahlizziewrites, @illarian-rambling

@agirlandherquill, @anoelleart

@leave-her-a-tome, @writernopal, @anyablackwood, @unstablewifiaccess, @forthesanityofstorytellers

@i-can-even-burn-salad, @cakeinthevoid

@lassiesandiego, @thepeculiarbird, @clairelsonao3, @memento-morri-writes, @starlit-hopes-and-dreams and OPEN TAG

#wip supernova initiative #looking for feedback #writeblr feedback #writers #writers on tumblr #writerblr #writing #character writing #my characters #my wips #my writing #asked and answered #writeblr

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nokingsonlyfooles · 10 months ago

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Finish the Feed and Plug the Thing!

I write this! Steampunk! Dieselpunk! Indy! Found family! Magic! Listen: social media is very challenging for me, I'm only sticking around here because I want people to look at my work. Did you hit "follow" at some point because you like what I like? MAYBE YOU'LL LIKE THIS!

I SEE 44 FOLLOWERS AND I WILL GET EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU TO CLICK EVENTUALLY! I WILL WEAR YOU DOWN!! I'M A FROG ON THE EDGE! I MEAN IT!

Ahem.

Known readers: 3 (hi!) 1st goalpost: 10?

Known supporters: Still not asking yet, just letting you know, I will take your money when I start posting more story!

And now, so as not to be too ridiculously long for your feed (thank you for your patience) a sample under the cut!

[Ha-ha-ha, yeah, but the thing I'm writing right now is more of a side gig. It's been stressful this week. I fell into a Hazbin Hotel fic that I'm afraid to show anyone, because it looks like I made a Mary Sue and that's not what I'm about. But it's got David in it, who has returned to Soldier On from the grave and begun impacting the plot again. (That's a mild spoiler, but, c'mon, you must've suspected. He's always getting into places he doesn't belong.)

[Mind if I shoot you a few paragraphs from this otherwise useless, self-indulgent thing, so you can meet him in noodle-bird form? The gag about the Stages of Grief was that they are Denial (Charlie), Anger (Husk), Apathy (Angel), Concern For Your Girlfriend (Vaggie) and Blowing Shit Up While Obnoxiously Australian (Cherri) but I trimmed off the opening so it's just David's arrival, and all you see is Serial Murder (Alastor). Oh, god, I am forever explaining myself...]

A glowing orange hand, much the same shade as the portal, peeked hesitantly out of one side, and swiped through the air as if testing the temperature of the bathwater. Finding no bathtub, it eventually lit on the wall, and scratched the wallpaper with a red lacquered talon. It slid down and found the floorboards. “Oh, well,” said a male, but terribly fussy voice. “Might as well give it a shot!”

The hand vanished. An instant later, it returned, clutching the handle of a purple cloth suitcase. The suitcase thumped on the floor, followed by a shiny shoe with a white spat, and a striped trouser leg.

A fiery orange bird-creature in a purple frock coat emerged, trailing red and blue flames from its head like the tail of a comet. Then again, that wasn’t even the weirdest hair in the room right now, let alone historically. “Ah, hello.” He bowed. “Sorry to bother you. Is this the Happy Hotel?”

Charlie squealed. “That guy just deadnamed my Hotel!”

“Sorry…?”

“Hazbin,” said a grinning shadow with narrowed eyes. One might call this the unprecedented seventh Stage of Grief (Serial Murder), and a very good reason to stop at five.

“What is it now?” said the bird, with apparent sincerity.

Alastor materialized, smiling — as always — resplendent in red, and with a razor-thin veneer of patronizing levity concealing his violent nature. “Ha-ha!” Two syllables, not quite a laugh. “We have an Abbott and Costello fan!”

“Abbott and Costello?” said the bird. He shook his head. “Sorry, it’s always a bit disorienting. Must’ve dropped my timely references. Mind if I go out and come in again?” Without pause, he exited via the portal, and climbed back in. He pointed a knowing finger at Alastor. “Abbott and Costello! The comedy duo! Vaudeville! Oh, you must be ancient…”

Alastor was still smiling, with narrowed eyes, one of which gave a slight twitch.

“I don’t get it,” the bird admitted. He leaned closer and blinked at the smile. “Are you feeling quite well? Do you have head trauma?” He laughed. “Or do I?” He touched his own head, feeling it, and the flames, with both hands. “I do seem to have something worthy of traumatizing. Does anyone have a reflective surface?” He glanced aside at the man in red, who was still grinning. “...Although I quite understand if you’ve covered them all.”

“...Who the fuck are you?” said the Radio Demon, with unusual clarity.

“David Valentine!” He extended a hand, which was not accepted.

The spider recoiled.

The bird did, too, but only a half step. “Sorry?” He leaned forward cautiously. “I have a few other names, if you don’t like that one? Um… Oh, God, have I been here before?” He took a single step towards Angel. “Listen, whatever I did, I assure you, I am perfectly… I am reasonably sober now, and I will never do it a…”

“We’re very pleased to meet you, David!” Charlie said, pumping his proffered hand. “Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!”

“What is it now?” David said, blinking. He laughed. “Oh, I get it. I get it! That’s hilarious!” He clapped Charlie on the back. When he looked up, there was a grinning face with a twitching eye examining him from a near distance. He backed off a pace and straightened his cravat with a polite chuckle — followed by a shriek. “Christ! is that an actual eyeball or a clever design? Is my tie alive? Is that me? Is this even a suit? Are we all naked?”

Nobody was offering any opinions on the ontological nature of living clothes, but they did seem a bit perturbed by the cravat with the expressive eyeball, so he tucked it back into his vest.

“Sorry! I know I’m being a bit weird, but I’ve travelled quite some way and I may not technically be authorized to be here.” He grinned, displaying neither tongue nor teeth but a gullet full of yellow flame. “But that’s never stopped me! Hmm…” He turned, touched a hand to the centre of the portal, and collapsed it back into nothingness. He winked. One eye was pitch black with a single fleck of white serving as a pupil, the other glowing yellow with a red iris. “Before someone notices!”

“Can I get you a chair?” Charlie whispered in Alastor’s direction. Unfortunately, it was more of a stage-whisper.

Several shadow tentacles sprouted, though they were not aimed in Charlie’s direction. Yet. “No.”

David Valentine was making do with the reflective surface of a glassed-in Lillith poster. He combed back his hair, or whatever that was, with both hands, then examined the hands, both sides. “It’s not quite what I’m used to, but I think it suits me. Love the manicure!” He laughed. “It’s nice to have something corporeal of my own again. I’ll have to oil my hair with lamp oil! Ah!” He turned and posed in front of the glass. “And so thin! Really, incredibly…” He glanced at the others. “Please tell me, has Persephone been winding us all up? Is there food in Hell?”

Angel lifted a hand and volunteered, “Yeah, but it’s shitty and expensive.”

“Oh.” David pointed and nodded. “Like Vegas.”

Angel cackled. “Yeah!”

“Lobsters scream when you drop them in boiling water,” Niffty said, vibrating with joy. “Most things scream when you drop them in boiling water.”

David leaned down and measured her little body with one hand. She was still vibrating. “Is child labour legal in Hell?” he said.

“Yeah,” Angel said. “But I don’t think Niff qualifies. I ain’t sure what she is.”

“Unhinged,” Niffty said. She smiled — she had been, and it was terrifying, but now it was more. “Are you a bad boy?”

David gave an airy laugh. “I make a good girl!”

Vaggie introduced herself, spear point first. “Listen, cabrón, where, exactly, are you from?”

“Exactly?” said David, blinking. “Oh, dear.” He sighed, shaking his head. “That’s always a bit difficult. I have what you’d call a ‘context-based’ memory…” He pointed a sharp finger. “You know that thing where you get up to do something, and you go through a door, and you forget why in fuck you got up in the first place, so you’re just sort of wandering around pointlessly and trying to remember so you don’t have to turn around and go back?”

There were a few puzzled nods. The gentleman with the evident head trauma abstained, but David quite understood.

“Well, I’ve been through several doors to get here and I’ve left a lot of context behind me. I am positive I don’t belong here, but, let’s see…” He counted on his fingers. “I’ve sinned, I’ve died, I’ve continued sinning, and I’m very much hoping to be a better person…”

“That’s what we do!” Charlie said.

“...for the sake of my friends — one of whom died to get away from me…”

“Pardon?” said Angel. “You wanna back up, there?”

“Oh, he’s just being silly,” David said. “I’ll find him eventually!” He cleared his throat. “...and the other of whom is rapidly nearing the end of her finite existence. I fucked up her whole childhood, and it looks like most of her adulthood, and I was really hoping to make amends before she goes into hiding like he did. Oh! And I’m not at all interested in going to Heaven,” he added, with a firm shake of his head. “No. I’ve been — to my version of it, anyway — and it’s terribly dull.”

Charlie’s expression fell. “What?”

The strident sound of a game show buzzer played. The audience seemed very disappointed. Alastor joined them. “Aww. That’s a real shame. But thanks for playing!” He strode forward. “The Hazbin,” he paused, for emphasis, “Hotel is only concerned with redeeming the souls of worthy sinners in need of a second chance. Interloping travellers who are,” he popped up over the flaming bird’s shoulders and made a beaky mouth with one hand, “‘not at all interested’ in going to Heaven need not apply!”

[I dunno. I'm trying to get over myself and numb the shame, but if you like the style, I write like that! That's me! I've written a lot more! And if you hate it... Please don't tell me,. It's a work in progress. I may never show it to anyone anyway. I just think David would do well there, if they don't kill him, and he has a good reason. He just found Hyacinth again!]

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baekhvuns · 2 years ago

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Hellllooooo Baek (barely). I actually woke up to this yesterday then went back to sleep even though it was after 6pm in Korea 💀

Good luck to Kane, until he gets to Arsenal he needs to destroy both Manchesters 😂but this not the London teams going down together 💀

French people keeping the racist stereotype alive. They even shit on their French POC players, unless they score, so I'm not shocked. Similarly to Germans 💀

And IDC ABOUT LA LIGA 🔫

Baek, when you visit London and say London is blue while in North London, just ran for your life akshjahahahahah I won't even defend you tbh </3 gonna get jumped by both Arsenal and Tottenham fans. The only time we can unite is to hate on Chelsea 💞

Zidane at PSG? Nooooooooooo 😭 they can get Guardiola

Yes it's Blood SWEET and Tears for me, but actually I had to drink some water on the plane... terrible. I asked for lemon then had to pee 100 times 🤧

I don't know how I survived Hwa back in 2019, I think the fact I wasn't that crazy about him at that time helped. I can't believe it's been almost 4 years :((((

I'll have to get some SM tea soon, gonna ask around, because how the fuck is one of the most prominent kpop companies falling apart???? Exo cursed for real. Unfortunately SM banned its idols from singing live so might as well autotune them, Kwangya AI bullshit here we go!

Heechul being a weirdo wow shocking, but actually I think he called out radical feminists who hated on people like Hara and Sulli, but yeah in general what the fuck he came after everyone and everything?! Someone restrain him!!!

The Other Girl by Sevdaliza is so good, she's very siren-like *cough cough siren Hwa fic cough cough*. Tamino was so good, the concert was small and intimate, he's very captivating! At some point I closed my eyes and just chilled. I'm mostly used to hype gigs, so every time I go to a very chill one idk what to do, but he was great! Unfortunately being a Seonghwaster is a disease so me and my friends were like "omg Hwa would love Tamino, he'd definitely cry!"

Stopppp people say Seonghwa looks like Sasha from Animal Crossing 🤧 I need him to do ACNH live. Cottagecore Hwa fic, I need it as well. And not him shipping his tiger villagers

I didn't even know Super Bowl was happening ajshajashshhssha I never watched it tbh, the performances are usually boring 😅 I may watch Rihanna at some point, but ngl after seeing her live twice let's say I'd rather spent money on her cosmetics and lingerie than concert tickets 🙉 she wasn't bad, girl knows how to move, serve face and has some hits, but she's not a top notch performer for me. And wasn't she just pregnant?!

Mingi in his anime era hair again, I like the pink, but the military cut is my enemy, can't believe he went from the perfect length to chopped 🤨 but as long as he likes it.

Omg Special Day seriously everyone sucks up to them "SPECIAL DAY NIM!!!!" but no one questions while they're everywhere, meanwhile they shit on other fansites, what is this double standard. I accidentally saw a few more Seonghwa fansites or just stans who are serial concert goers and just muted them, because 🔫 all of them get front rows, crazy behaviour. Like?

Old concert video, but 🙃

Pls pls let them join Bubble or something I unsubbed from Universe and Bubble, but I need the messages. Gonna apply for this job

See, the blonde hair gave him that special look. The Sn*w app still present though. That's why we need Universe, he posts bare faced, mostly unedited photos 🤲🏻

But??? He's crazy no no no no, someone hypnotise him!!!! He's supposed to grow it not cut it he got it all wrong. Please no mushroom head ://// no bald

Apparently Ateez is finally getting solo rooms, need a tour of Hwa's collection now

Ok two concert videos cause I'm pissing myself

I won't say a word.........

Aaaand Key repackage I need to get into it! - DV 💖

hello to u and ur jetlag <3

Hellllooooo Baek (barely). I actually woke up to this yesterday then went back to sleep even though it was after 6pm in Korea 💀 //// Good luck to Kane, until he gets to Arsenal he needs to destroy both Manchesters 😂but this not the London teams going down together 💀

HELLOOOO HOW’S KOREA! good luck to kane indeed, he’ll somehow be the top scorer without ever winning a trophy 😭😭😭 JFBWKDHWK NO BC SPURS SOMEHOW WON OVER MAN CITY FHWKDH 😭😭😭 arsenal v man city tmr 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 anyway bayern humiliated psg a little <3 but psg had 2 goals that were disallowed bc off side CONVINCED IT WAS THE REF, ramos played like bro was back at real madrid <3

French people keeping the racist stereotype alive. They even shit on their French POC players, unless they score, so I'm not shocked. Similarly to Germans 💀 /// And IDC ABOUT LA LIGA 🔫

no seriously like that one thing benz said that if i score im french and if i don’t im muslim,, french fans and england fans are nasti <//3 I THINK U SHOULD! SOME 11 POINTS AHEAD??? ☺️☺️

half the london is a liverpool chelsea or man utd fan 🔫🔫 BUT DID THEY WIN SHIT?? NO? ARE THEY ON TOP? NOOO????? AT LEAST CITY HAS SOMETHING! pep is on his way actually! tottenham fans don’t believe in god but believe in that team, what they gonna jump for, show them stats and they’re all hiding 😭😭😭😭 yEAAAH LMFAOO I THINK FOR RM THEY’RE TRYING TO GET ALONSO AFTER ANCELOTTI GOES BRAZIL OR SOMETHING

Yes it's Blood SWEET and Tears for me, but actually I had to drink some water on the plane... terrible. I asked for lemon then had to pee 100 times 🤧 /// I don't know how I survived Hwa back in 2019, I think the fact I wasn't that crazy about him at that time helped. I can't believe it's been almost 4 years :((((

😭😭😭😭 AT LEAST IT CLEARED U OUT AND U WONT HAVE BOWEL PROBLEMS 😭😭😭 no bc tbh ithink about if often, like what would’ve gone thru ur mind the day met him???? 4 YEARS??? it’s okay! hongjoong said they might comeback this year again or something 😭😭

no seriously!! if no sm there’s no kpop 😭😭 there’s gonna be a huge chunk of good music gone 😭😭 NO THEY LITERALLY ARE SM’S MAKING THEM DO TIKTOKS NOW THEY DROPPED TO A LEVEL AFTER HYBE ACQUIRED 😭😭 LMFAOOO im going to rely on the live albums of the groups they’ve put out if they ever start doing that autotune, lotto was an exception but ANYTHING ELSE ISNT and this 🔫 the “*** karma” fans are camping 😭😭 kai on his way to save sm with his cb, STOP ANON ARE U GONNA BE THERE TILL MARCG END?? U CAN SEE A KAI

he did yeah!! some are saying he says stuff in defence of that or all but some things are just so out of pocket it’s 😭😭 heechul donwfalling NOT HIM COMING AFTER EUNWOO TOO PLS FBWMFBMSDBKSJC

I SEE WHAT U DID THERE, SHE IS VERY SIREN, THE EPITOME OF THE DARK FEMININE ENERGY LURES U IN ✨🤌🏻 omg it must’ve been so nice to listen to him w eyes closed live 😭😭 DID U WAVE AT HIM OR GET HIS AUTOGRAPH 🔫 LMFAOOO HEY U KNOW WHAT I THINK HONGJOONG WOULD RLY LIKE HIM TOO, hwa weeping over tamino is something we need to see, will bombard him w tamino comments on any live he goes on!

Stopppp people say Seonghwa looks like Sasha from Animal Crossing 🤧 I need him to do ACNH live. Cottagecore Hwa fic, I need it as well. And not him shipping his tiger villagers

STOPPPPP HE DOES JDVSNDJ OUT OF EVERYONE ITS SASHA the little blind fringe too 😭😭 YES HE NEEDS TO, A FULL 50MIN ANIMAL CROSSING LIVE but him making those sounds of the animals 😭😭

i only watch it for the halftime, can’t believe rihanna had a football game at her concert! she performed her entire catalogue and DIAMONDS?? WHERE HAVE U BEEN AND STARTED WITH BBHMM ??? asap’s fucking ass getting her pregnant again, we’re never getting the new album 😭😭😭 AAAAAA IS THE LIVE NOT THAT GOOD?? SHE WAS PREGNANT ASAP NEEDS TO STAY AWAY FROM HER u ever just think how she’s such a cool mom, imagine having a billionaire as ur mom, rihanna if ur looking for more kids <3 j’ai availablé

Mingi in his anime era hair again, I like the pink, but the military cut is my enemy, can't believe he went from the perfect length to chopped 🤨 but as long as he likes it.

him getting a military cut at his age is shiver me timbers,, he’s already preparing us for the baldness that’s coming in a few years 😭😭

YEAAAH! i see them everywhere, always handing out posters bUT HOW 😭😭 no one really questions them yeah,, i think someone did a while back bc they got accused of being a sasaeng and it was a little heated and everyone came to defend them! no bc id be throwing hands if they keep getting front rows every concert,, like u see them at EVERY stop LET THIS ONE BE MINE PLS 😭😭😭 and that jongho thing!

Old concert video, but 🙃 /// Pls pls let them join Bubble or something I unsubbed from Universe and Bubble, but I need the messages. Gonna apply for this job

NO. see anon u sent that now i have to avenge u, atp ateez can sign up for that youtube community thing for the messages and id give them the money 😭😭

See, the blonde hair gave him that special look. The Sn*w app still present though. That's why we need Universe, he posts bare faced, mostly unedited photos 🤲🏻 /// But??? He's crazy no no no no, someone hypnotise him!!!! He's supposed to grow it not cut it he got it all wrong. Please no mushroom head ://// no bald

I NEED THAT WRETCHED APP GONE 😭😭 HE LEFT IT BEHIND FOR 5 PHOTOS AND CAME BACK W IT,,, anon,, since it’s tour time,,, u don’t think they’d drop that one pool picture replica-

FBWNDHSJCKC SEONGHWA MUSHROOM HEAD IS CUTE HEY 🔫🔫

Apparently Ateez is finally getting solo rooms, need a tour of Hwa's collection now /// Ok two concert videos cause I'm pissing myself

need hwa to become that youtuber where he does what’s in my bag, room tours and day’s in my life <33 would easily rob him off the signed albums he has tho <3 ur in sk, anon go for a HUNT! THE SECURITY THIS TOUR IS SO WHOLESOME 😭😭😭

I won't say a word......... /// Aaaand Key repackage I need to get into it! - DV 💖 /// My jet lag insomnia is baaaaad I'll probably pass out soon but FUCK THIS why must I suffer at 5am :///// /// BODYGUARD???? /// I'm gonna unalive myself now, goodbye! - DV 💖

i will not look thank u.

but i WILL MAKE U LOOK

?????? HES GLOWING????

anon u would’ve embraced ur furry ness

ANON. WHY WOULD U SEND FHAT BODYGUARD THING WND LEAVE FBKQHDWKJDWKHDKW HOW DARE U WHAT THE FUCKING HELL

omg ok do ur mr that one old guy singing anti fragile? i found his band mates

#✉️ : ask #dv 💖 anon

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anandabrat · 2 years ago

Text

So my dear friend @ride2fly has been locked out of her Tumblr because, possibly, her email is in the system incorrectly, but anyway she has given me the honor of posting her contribution to Bering and Wells Appreciation Week!

This is her very first fic, and was originally written to only me, perhaps in self-defense as I often send her my own mad ravings and scribbles. She says she hopes you all enjoy her silly idea, and that she wrote it for me because I'm her favorite (aww, blush.)

Anyway, without further ado...

Bering and Wells, Gay Pirate edition!

“I mean. Mutiny is the only answer. “

“We can’t keep following this guy. “

“She’s a lady.

“Is she though? Like can you be a lady if you just abandoned your husband and child and just like peaced out to be a pirate?”

Claud says nothing of course, but he does look up from under his broad hat to give Steven Jinks a hard look.

Olu clears his throat, breaking the weird silent tension between his ship mates.

“She pays us though. Like. Really well.”

“Yeah but we haven’t even done anything. We are pirates man. We should be pillaging. When I was on Blackbeards’ crew —“

The collective moan cuts off Black Pete from whatever lie he was about to tell. He blusters but no one wants to hear it.

“We don’t have to do anything. She pays us for nothing. I mean really it’s a sweet gig,” Frenchie squints into the sun while he says this, not fully committing in any way.

“Is it though? Like is it really? It feels to me like we have truly hit bottom. There is no where lower we could sink than working for a woman pretending to be a pirate.” Jinx looks hard at Claud again. And Claud again says nothing since Claud is a mute.

“Steven Jinx my good man! Can you come here for a moment I’m in need of a scribe!”

The crew moans a little, less concerned with nearly being caught talking of mutiny than you would have imagined them to be. Jinx stands up and saunters off as well as you can on a boat. Everyone watches him leave because why wouldn’t you.

“He makes some good points,” Wee John starts. “Sailing with a woman is bad luck. “

“Unless that woman is Blackbeard,” Black Pete starts but everyone starts shouting at once about how Blackbeard doesn’t count since she made a deal with the Devil, since she is ghost, she’s not a real woman she’s a siren, she’s both male and female, and loudest of all is Artie shouting that Black Pete never sailed with Blackbeard anyways so what would he know.

Black Pete rubs a hand over his bald head. His cleft palette gives him a slight lisp but no one says shit about it because they are pirates not bullies.

“You can bet Blackbeard is not paying her crew for not pillaging that’s all I’m saying. Captain’s gotta go. “

~*~

Steve opens the door to the captain’s rooms. They are resplendent. The walls are shelved and the shelves are full of books. Beautiful, leather bound books. The kind of books no one should have on a ship, and the kind of books one should certainly not lend out to the crew if they want some “light reading”. Steve is pretty certain he is the only member of the crew who can read. If Captain knew that she would probably start lessons. Then there would be mutiny for sure.

“Ah Steve, there you are. Thank you for your promptness,” the Captain is seated at her desk, maps spread all over it. She takes off a pair of reading glass, folds them with a snap, sets them inside their case but doesn’t shut it. She pushes her chair and stands up, smoothing her hands over the peacock blue silk of her mantua, fluffing her sleeves ever so slightly. Her costume is a much slimmed down version of what she used to wear daily — she has a hooped petticoat or two with her of course but she doesn’t wear one on the ship. Her dark hair is up off of her neck in an attractive twist, pearl drops hang from her ears and a locket is around her neck.

Helena Wells left her husband six months ago. Society believes she was killed in a tragic accident while riding side saddle in the woods on the land her family stole from the Spanish, who stole it from the Kalinigo people. In fact she did not die but was spirited away and deposited on her ship, the Revenge.

Christopher had just turned 15 the previous winter. Helena and Martin commissioned the ship with the intent that Helena and Christopher would sail together when it was finished. Mother and son were both enthusiastic about being out on the ocean, but Martin had no stomach for sailing or desire to explore outside of his set of rooms.

Helena hoped she would have the ship finished and crewed quickly enough to get the heck out of Barbados before the Royal Navy got wind of her sweet boy who possessed a fierce talent for navigation as well as a knack for languages. The Royal Navy had been stealing — impressment they called it — young men in Barbados with a knack for sailing. They claimed to not take anyone younger than 18, but they were known to take boys as young as 14.

She was too late, a mistake she would not be making again.

“Did you have a task for me, Captain?” Please let there be a letter to write or more clouds to draw. Steve sends a silent prayer to the heavens. Please don’t ask about crew morale.

“How is the crew? Everyone adjusting well enough?”

Steve takes a breath, hesitating for less than a beat before replying, “Artie keeps licking the air.”

“I’m beginning to suspect he is a witch,” Captain Wells her tone bright and bemused. “I’ve never observed anyone else uses all their senses to navigate — and his accuracy is supernatural. A witch for certain. Splendid.”

“Have you known many navigators?” Steve probes. All he knows — all anyone knows — is that Helena Wells was born a wealthy lady and appears to have lost her freaking mind to become a pirate queen. Only she doesn’t seems to be crazy at all — in fact she is possibly the smartest person Steve has spent any length of time with. Her knowledge of sailing, navigation, astronomy, and modern medicine is almost as unbelievable as Artie being able to sense weather changes with his oral faculties.

Her motives for abandoning her family and taking to the sea are the source of much speculation among the crew.

“Probably she was just bored,” is always Olu’s response when the other ask him what he thinks drove the lady over the edge and into the sea. Claud says nothing of course, but his shoulders tend to get stiff and then he finds something to do elsewhere.

“I bet she was slowly poisoning her husband and he got wise to her and she bugged out before he could kill her a proper way. With a knife. In the heart.” Black Pete’s imagination is not boundless and his stories usually include stabbing of some sort.

“Poisoning is a woman’s way,” Frenchie agrees. “But I don’t think you could catch her if she put her mind to it. Probably she was having an affair and was supposed to meet him here on the ship and he never showed. She’s got that lost love look to her. Always rubbing that locket.”

This sets everyone back on their heels a bit and then they start trying to guess to themselves which if any of them could be the Captain’s secret lover. Which then makes everyone rather jumpy over the next few days.

Artie is the only one who knows more than he is saying. Mostly because he knows more about pretty much everything and everyone else talks too much. Except for Claud.

~*~

Meanwhile… across the ocean a ways, aboard a vessel feared by all, a woman dressed in black, aches for a way out of her dull, predicable life.

~*~

Artie knocks on Captain’s door. He has another missive that just arrived via his best friend, familiar, and Seagull, Karl. Helena and Christopher have been communicating by secret feathered post

for a few months now. Christopher is currently safe at a British outpost nearby where they send the young men born of high society to fast track them to being officers. While not high born, Christopher’s captain quickly realized that he would be wasted serving on a ship as cannon fodder. Helena taught him languages, navigation, and basic cartography skills. She is thankful that these skills have kept her boy off of a warship, but her plans to rescue him have grown tangled. She has finally come to the conclusion that she has to sit and wait for an opportunity. And also probably learn some piracy so that she can keep her crew alive.

“It’s best that we put into harbor for a few days. Republic of Pirates is nearby,” Artie informs her. “We need to make a wee bit of racket there. Just a very wee bit — just enough that no one takes it in there head to pick us off and steal the ship.”

“Excellent plan. I’m sure the crew could do with some shore leave as well. Plot the course and make it so, number one!” Helena is positively jovial after a message from Christopher. They write short messages in a secret code that pretty much add up to “I’m fine I love you,” but that’s enough.

~*~

The Republic of Pirates does not smell like Helena thought it would. She was imagining it to be more of a rum and body oder situation. Instead it smells like fermenting peppers, spicy and bitter. She is completely second guessing her outfit choice but there is nothing she can do about it now, so she throws her shoulders back and holds her head high. She’s wearing a dress of the finest silk, pale pink in color, with a black lace stomacher. She did not dawn her wig which she is very grateful for right now, her hair is low on her neck, curls falling across her shoulders.

The crew makes their way through the streets, stopping and chatting to people they know. All the pirates know each other, it seems. There is some chatter about going in a bar and before she knows it, Helena is stooping and squinting in the dark of Mrs. F’s Bar.

It is a greasy grimy place. The vinegar smell is now overpowering. Helena stands in the doorway, flanked on either side by Steve and Artie. Claud and Olu have disappeared into the darkest corner of the bar. Claud is somehow hiding even more of his face with his hat, which seemed impossible but maybe he made the brim bigger.

Helena clears her throat and walks into the dark room to the bar at the center rear. There are large jars with various flotsam floating in them. She goes about her business, ordering a nasty drink that nearly gives Steve a coronary, making a big show of being the new bossy lady in town. She does a fair job — took some theater in her youth — and for the most part, she is believed.

But. Deep in the darkest corner of the bar, a man sits. He swirls his drink in his glass and drinks the whole thing in one gulp. He reaches for his leather gloves and pulls them on, flexing his fingers. He’s seen what he came to see, and now it is time to report back to the boss.

Artie gives Helena a signal, letting her know that he thinks she has accomplished their mission. She misses the signal though because the witch is always playing with his nose so finally he has to cough and harrumph loudly to get her attention. They exit the bar, confident that they have avoided future confrontations with their fellow pirates for the time being.

Less confident about avoiding food poisoning.

~*~

“She’s hiding something.” The man from the bar had entered the hold of a ship. It is dark and musty smelling. He stands in the doorway. A figure is curled up in the round window at the stern of the room. When Pete Lattimer speaks, she unfurls herself like a lion and shakes out her mane before wrapping a dirty bandana around her forehead.

“Everyone is hiding something — that means literally nothing,” she replies with her back to him. Pete rolls his eyes. Takes a deep breath before replying:

“Okay, fair. She’s hiding a big something but she’s… She’s like… you ever play that game? With the little wooden pieces on the board?”

“Chess.” She shakes out a shirt that was once white and sniffs it.

“No… "

“Checkers.” She throws the shirt back on the floor.

“No it’s got the funny name. “

“Backgammon.” She continues to rummage, looking for something cleaner to wear but she is only fooling herself. The black leather pants and the tightly laced vest she wears will most likely dress her corpse.

“No. Fuck. Nine Men’s Morris. That’s the one. She’s got the game memorized. She plays from memory but like… she’s got no improv.”

“And she thinks she is already endgame.” She loops a belt around her waist and tucks a pistol into a holster.

“Exactly.”

“Dangerous?” She unsheathes her blade and sees her face reflected there, hollow and glassy eyed. She replaces the blade with a snap.

Pete snorts. He is picturing Helena in her fine pink silk, playing pirate.

“The Lady Pirate? Unlikely. But.”

Myka Bering finally turns and faces him. Pete Lattimer is a thief, a murderer, a teetotaler, and a brother.

“You’ve got a vibe.”

“There is something wrong here. With her.”

“Excellent.” Myka grins wickedly and follows Pete out the door into the bitter air.

~*~

The crew sees the dingy leave the large ship off the starboard bow. Three figures dressed in black.

“What do you suppose they’re up to?” Frenchie muses out loud after his turn with the spyglass.

“Could be anything,” Black Pete murmurs.

“Anything? Really?” Olu scoffs. “I’m pretty sure it’s just one thing. They’re coming over here to negotiate a surrender.”

“Shut up!“ Artie barks. He only yells when he is scared. “Someone go wake the Captain.”

Frenchie draws the short straw. He opens the door to the captain’s quarters. The shades are drawn over the large windows. Helena has been very, very sick since drinking God knows what at Mrs. F’s bar. Steve was not ill because he had the good sense to spit. However he has been pretending to be sick and is currently holed up in Claud and Oluwande’s room after seeing something he wasn’t supposed to (namely Claud’s boobs. Which they have because they were assigned female at birth. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the crew figures it out but for this moment, Steve’s lips are sealed.)

“Captain,” Frenchie calls into the dark. “We’ve got a situation. There’s a dingy headed right for us. And the ship she hails from. She’s big captain. And mean. The colors she’s flying… it’s Blackbeard. We’re certain.”

Helena is pretty sure she is gonna die here, on this boat, of dysentery. She read about treating such sickness with water laced with salt slowly and consistently. Roach recommended a banana so Helena somehow got that down as well. Still. She was pretty sure she might never leave this bed.

But. She is the Captain. And the Captain must be present when someone is boarding her boat. Especially if that someone is Blackbeard. So Helena girds her loins and throws on robe, cinches it tight, and makes it all the way to the doorway before she passes out.

French calls for help and Olu helps him get Helena back into bed.

“Well. Been nice knowing you.”

“Same.”

~*~

They do not get murdered by the pirates (the other pirates) at this time. Instead everyone of them is so completely starstruck, they’ve completely forgotten that just moments ago they were pretty sure they were about to be murdered.

“Why do they call her Blackbeard though?” Steve asks his shipmates. They are all sitting together, still a little unsure if they are about to be murdered, but mostly just having the time of their lives. “ She’s not Black and she doesn’t have a beard nor is she a beard… I don’t get that vibe off Pete.”

Pete Lattimer has hushed bent together with another pirate. He growls at the prisoners to shut up but he is ignored.

“Well I'm Black Pete and I’m not Black either.”

“Yeah I also don’t get that,” Steve smirks.

“A story for another time. Blackbeard is called Blackbeard because all anyone could see when she was murdering them was that gorgeous hair blowing around all sexy it just looked like a beard. Flowing. In the wind.”

“That can’t be it,” Wee John protests.

Frenchie agrees, “yeah that doesn’t sound right at all. Where did she even go? She moves like a ghost?”

“I think she’s in with the captain,” Steve is pretty she he should also be in there recording everything but alas.

“Captain is gonna get a shock when she wakes up to find fucking Blackbeard standing over her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she drops dead,” Black Pete had more to say but once again the crew is throwing shit at him telling him to shut up.

~*~

Myka isn’t sure what she was expecting to feel when she saw Helena, but she knows that she isn’t feeling it. She thought… all she knows she feels like crying. Like you do when you’re a child and you’ve skinned your knee and you don’t cry until your mother scoops you up. You don’t cry until you feel safe.

She sits beside Helena for a little over an hour. Watching her sleep, and then looking around the ridiculous room. She runs her hands over the leather-bound spines of the books but she doesn’t pull any of them out to turn the pages. her hands are too dirty for that.

Finally Helena stirs. Myka reaches out for her hands to soothe her, to make sure she’s not afraid when she wakes up, and then pulls back at the last second. Helena opens her eyes.

“It’s you,” she says.

Myka, for just a beat, wonders if she herself is dreaming and that this is what Prince Charming must feel. She feels an unfamiliar smile start to break her face apart and she smothers it.

“You’re fevered,” she finally croaks.

“Do you work for Blackbeard?”

Myka nearly laughs but then she furrows her brow.

“Yeah, I guess I do. Hadn’t really thought of it that way.” Somehow this wasn’t the conversation she thought they would be having. She tried to imagine this part so many times and it can go so many different ways.

“I’m Helena. Helena Wells. I’m more than a little embarrassed about the state I’m in.” Helena sits up with Myka’s help and mops her brow with a white handkerchief.

Uncertain of what to do next, a most unusual feeling for her, makes Myka chokes a little as she returns the handshake and says “I’m Myka Bering.” Helena doesn’t react to her name, and a dagger is plunged into Myka’s breast.

“Yes, well. I seem to have recovered to enough to go down with the ship. Does Blackbeard only employ women? I’ve heard she is remarkable. Read mostly.”

Myka hesitates for a moment. Part of her knows she should end this game and put her Blackbeard pants back on. But the other part. The part that has been bored fucking silly. The part that she left behind when she left home as a teenager, to find her fortune and maybe some fame, to return home triumphant. The part that longs for a happy ending for herself however unlikely that might be. That part of her wins because she wants to be with Helena a moment longer. Life is pain and sometimes the pain reminds us we are alive.

“You’ll meet her soon enough. She does employ a lot of women but men, too. Whoever can stomach the work really.” Myka stands up and lifts her arms over head, shaking herself out like a rumpled blanket. “You have so many books. It’s just...”

“Amazing isn’t it?” Helena reaches for her robe and drapes it around herself, belting it with its gold sash. The robe is deep scarlet and makes the fevered flush of her cheeks more pronounced.

“Yeah sure but also. Boat. Water. Books. Not the most practical plan but then you….” Myka looks at Helena and then looks away again, pretending to be peering at titles. “You must be a great reader.”

“I love books. Windows into other times and places… so many different lives to live. Nothing is better than a good mystery, a romance.”

“You’re a romantic? And you became a pirate? Did you read the job description?”

Helena grins and walks over to the bookcase on the closest wall. “A job is what you make of it and life deserves some romantic adventure!” She reaches for a book but when she pulls it out, a secret door to her left opens inward. She turns to Myka, triumphant.

Myka laughs. Full on from the belly laughter. “You have to be fucking kidding me. Are you insane?”

“Life’s a story right? If I get to write my own there will surely be secret passages,” Helena replies laughing along with Myka, her fever forgotten. What a sound! She would do anything to make this person laugh like that again. “You wanna see inside?”

Myka breathes out in a big slow breath. “Hell yes,” she hears herself answer. Myka’s heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high. She felt as though she and Helena were standing atop the walls having flown there from a great distance. She was pretty sure they were about to fall. Was it the walls crumbling, or were they being pushed?

*~*

“You’re a witch,” the pirate who called herself Myka Bering says after looking around for a moment.

“No. Artie is the witch. I’m an alchemist. I like knowing how things work and why and I study the stars. I also dabble — dabble mind you — in medicine. This is my equipment. My laboratory.” Helena has not shown another soul this room. She is not embarrassed, rather she is so proud that she doesn’t want anyone else to shatter her joy. Why she is trusting this Myka person with this secret… she blames the fever. Who is this woman? She’s like flying too close to the sun.

“Wow. A Lady Pirate, a secret lab. You are full of surprises,” Myka grins at her and raises one eyebrow. Helena fells flushed and again tells herself it is the fever. Myka smirks as though she has read her mind. The moment is spoiled when they hear a noise from the other room.

Another pirate has entered the room and calls for Myka. She is dark skinned and has long curly dark hair. She also wears leather from head to toe and has a long wicked looking blade at her hip.

Helena peers at her through the secret peep hole (naturally) and whispers to Myka. “Is that Blackbeard?”

“No. That’s Leena. I’m Blackbeard.”

Helena turns her back on the peep hole and stares open mouthed at Myka. Myka cannot help it — she feels wicked from head to toe — and she winks at Helena. This and the fever that still grips Helena causes her to sway slightly and Myka is instantly by her side, her arm around Helena’s back, her rough hands taking Helena’s.

“I swear I’m not going to faint on you. My pride could not bare it,” she whispers.

“I promise not to tell if you do,” Myka whispers back.

Leena has given up on finding Blackbeard by now and the coast is clear. Myka leaves her arm around Helena, holds open the passage door, and helps her to the large sofa. Myka paces around, inebriated and agitated, finally coming to stand at Helena’s desk.

“Is this supposed to be me?”Myka squints incredulously at the pen and ink illustration in the tome Helena has open, resting on all of her maps. The imfamous Blackbeard the caption reads. The drawing has Myka standing on the bow of a burning ship, a saber in her hand, her hair blowing out and across her face. Her skirts are tattered and blowing open, revealing her legs to the knees. She is barefoot, bareheaded, and well… very very little of her breasts are not showing. The illustrator has pictured Myka about three times as well endowed as she is and her ample bosum is spilling from her stays.

“This is ridiculous. Who could fight in that? Barefoot have they ever been in a battle? There is shit and blood everywhere you don’t wanna step in that in your barefeet. And my boobs. What is going on — am I a wet nurse on the weekends? Holy hell.”

Helena laughs, a throatier laugh than Myka was expecting. She would rather like to hear that laugh again.

“Your actual costume is something I fear no man could conjure up from imagination. I don’t think I’ve ever seen full leather breeches on anyone, man or woman. And your vest…”

“So it is actually quite practical. Leather protects you from most glancing blows. Even a sharp sword has a little trouble.”

TO BE CONTINUED

#beringandwellsappreciationweek #bering and wells #myka bering #helena wells #au #warehouse 13

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justthehiddleswrites · 3 years ago

Text

Sometimes Violence Is The Answer | Chapter 1 |Domestic Bliss?

A/N: This was one of those Give Me a Title, I Will Give You a Plot ideas from forever and a day ago. Currently, there are only this chapter and part of another, so I am not sure how often it will update. But this is part of 2022, post what I love.

Pairing: Loki x Mina Laufeyson (OFC)

Summary: Loki has left the taking over the world and fighting to others. Instead, he writes an award-winning food blog and stars on a hugely popular cooking show on YouTube. Now settled into domestic life with his wife and three kids, Loki has the happily ever after he always wanted. If only everyone else agreed.

Warnings: some violence, cursing, um... not sure what else will happen. Will update as needed.

AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR READING MY WORK, BE CONSIDER REBLOGGING AND TAGLISTS ARE OPEN!!

Loki pinched his nose as he paused the video he was editing on the laptop in his study. Even with bookcases lining the walls, he still heard the dull thump through the walls. Loki tugged his dark green shirt down and stepped out into the hall.

“Magnus!” he bellowed in the house. The third door on the left creaked open, and a head popped out.

“Yeah, Dad?” Magnus asked.

Loki stared down at his youngest son. With his long mop of blond curls, he looked nothing like Loki, but his personality was all his father’s.

“How many times have I told you, no drums while I’m doing voiceovers?” Loki sighed.

“I don’t know Dad, like twenty times.” Magnus smiled an all too familiar smile. “Maybe number twenty-one will be the one that sticks?”

“No drums, Magnus. Or I am sending your mother after you.” Loki matched with his own smile.

Magnus mouth dropped open. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me, son. I heard her and Emma could use someone to hold their purses at the mall.”

“But the band has a gig on Sunday! I have to practice!”

“You are ten years old, you are too young to have gigs. Your lead vocalist still has a 7 o’clock bedtime.”

“Dad! Ragnarok is the one of the best bands in the neighborhood. We are playing a bat mitzvah.”

Loki snapped his fingers at Magnus, whose mouth snapped shut.

“You are not naming your band that! Give me an hour to get this done and then you can practice that noise you call music.”

Magnus huffed and slammed his door. Loki returned to his study. He hated to be so cruel to Magnus, but this video needed to go up tomorrow morning. Loki glanced around the room as he collected his thoughts. His golden YouTube button hung next to his James Beard Award. Loki smiled. If anyone told him, people would know him more for his knife skills in the kitchen than in battle. He would have laughed in their face.

Loki returned to his script and pressed play on his video of him making candied bacon. As he was uploading the video for rendering, a pair of hands gripped his shoulders.

“You know, in my younger days, doing a thing like that would get you killed.” Loki hummed, leaning back as the hands pressed into the knots forming where his shoulder blades were.

“I think I will take my chances, dear husband.” Mina tilted her head to kiss his cheek. “How is the editing going?”

Loki moaned in pleasure as she massaged the knots out of his back. “Better now that my personal masseuse is here.”

Mina smacked his shoulder playfully. “Very funny. Did you really tell Magnus you make him go to the mall with Emma and me?”

“Perhaps.” Loki’s head dropped when she hit a particularly tough knot right in the middle of his back. “Right there, love. Harder.”

She chuckled and whispered in his ear. “I thought that was my line.” Her voice was as rich and decadent as the sinful chocolate desserts Loki demo’d on his blog.

Loki stood and wrapped his arms around her. “Close the door and it can be again.” His lips latched onto the spot on her neck that made Mina’s knees buckle.

“Isn’t that how we ended up with three kids?” Mina’s fingers weaved into Loki’s hair, her blue-gray eyes sparkling. He kept his hair shorter these days. It was that or the truly awful man bun Mina hated, so Loki compromised with keeping in chin length curls.

“We could also go for one more.” Loki purred, his hand traveling down her torso, delighting in a body he had memorized over the years. “Trying for a matching set, two boys and two girls.”

“Are you changing the diapers?” Mina hummed, scratching his scalp.

“Why would I do that?” Loki questioned, his lips trailing down towards her chest. Mina yanked his head up by his hair. “Ow.”

“Because I’m not doing it alone.” Mina smiled at him, pecking his lips. “Now before you go to take cold shower, I came up here for a reason.”

“Which is?”

“Jane called. Three times.”

Loki groaned. “Why did I agree to cater her wedding to my brother?”

She smoothed out his shirt. “I believe the words ‘you owe me’ and ‘the time you stabbed me’ were used.”

Loki’s lips curled into a smile. “I missed those days.”

“I don’t. Worried about you coming home hurt. Or worst not coming home at all. No, thank you. I prefer that the biggest worry is that you’ll burn dinner.”

Loki’s mouth dropped open. “I haven’t burned dinner in years.”

“I know.” She kissed him once more and swatted his ass. “I just like getting a rise out of you. Call Jane back while I go comfort your youngest son.”

“Or I could talk to Magnus…”

“I’m walking away, Loki!” Mina shut the door behind her, leaving Loki alone in his study.

“I hate brides.” Loki muttered as he punched in Jane’s number.

“I heard his brother Thor is getting married, and he is cooking all the food for it.” Corvus Glaive commented, rubbing his chin with his long fingers.

“Since when does Loki cook?” Proxima commented.

Ebony Maw growled from across the table, staring at the rest of The Black Order. “He’s gone soft.” He sneered with a long face. “He has a blog where he cooks food. And has kids.”

Obsidian Cull grunted. “Weak.”

Proxima slammed her fist on the table. “Which is why it is the perfect time to go after him. It’s been years since he last fought.”

Corvus smiled. “He’ll never see it coming.”

Ebony rose and clenched his fists. “And if we enlisted a few others loyal to the cause, we should easily defeat him.”

Proxima leaned forward. “Who did you have in mind?”

Jane paced along the length of Loki’s commercial kitchen. While he usually did recipe testing and most filming at home, he kept the professional kitchen for the small catering business he ran on the side.

“So I know I said to do the crab puffs for the cocktail hour, but then I started thinking, what if people are allergic to shellfish, or what if they don’t like shellfish? Or what if they are vegetarian or vegan?” Jane’s hands gestured wildly in the air. “Is anyone in your family allergic?” She turned to face Loki.

“Not that I am aware of.” Loki stood off to the side, arms crossed.

“What about special diets? Is Odin vegan?” Jane panicked.

“I doubt Odin even knows what the word ‘vegan’ means. He is decidedly carnivorous.”

“And your mother?”

Loki smiled. “Is polite. What do you want me to do, Jane? The wedding is in three weeks. I need to put my order in with my suppliers.”

Jane chewed on her thumbnail and bounced on her feet. “Keep the crab puffs but halve it and do the other half with veggie quiches.”

Loki snapped his fingers. “Done. Now if you don’t mind. I have some recipes I will test since you dragged me into the city.”

Jane wrinkled her nose. “I can’t believe you live in the suburbs.”

Loki scoffed. “And pay the real estate prices of Manhattan? No, thank you. Once Magnus was born, we needed the space. I needed a full kitchen.” Loki reached out and patted Jane’s shoulder. “Just wait and see.”

Jane chuckled. “Thor and I are city people. The culture, my research…”

The door to the kitchen slammed open and a woman wearing some god awful white polyester dress from the 80s stepped in.

“If you are looking for a consultation on catering, make an appointment—” Loki commented, which was cut off by the woman hurling what Loki could only describe as a dagger made of water towards Loki and Jane.

Loki grabbed Jane by the arm and pushed her behind the stainless steel counters. The water dagger clinked against the metal and hit the wall behind a stove, droplets falling upon impact.

“Is this the little missus?” the woman sneered. “And I thought I was your true love, Loki. Before you decided to leave me for someone else!”

“Who the hell is she, Loki?” Jane questioned.

Loki peeked over the edge to see the woman prowling towards them. “If memory serves me, Venus.”

“The Goddess of Love?! You broke up with the Goddess of Love?!”

Another dagger hit above their heads as Venus got closer.

“Not exactly…”

“Loki,” Venus taunted. “Come and introduce me to your wife.” Another dagger.

“She thought she was Venus, but she turned out to just be a siren.” Loki finished, glancing over the counter again.

“And you broke up with her? What, did you do it by email?!” Jane continued to scream at Loki.

Loki stared at Jane in shock. “I had the decency to tell her to face.” Jane glared at Loki. “Okay, I sent a note centuries later. I was preoccupied at that time.”

“Doing what?” Jane sneaked a peek over the counter. Venus waved at her with a sadistic smile.

Loki shrugged his shoulders. “Escaping the underworld?”

“Come on out, darling. I just want to sing you two lovebirds a song.” Venus purred.

“Shit.” Loki’s eyes darted around the kitchen until they settled on a pair of oven mitts. “Put these on your ears and do not remove them for any reason.”

“Why?” Jane’s tone growing more shrill.

“So you don’t die.” Loki stood up and smiled at Venus. “Pet, I’ve missed you.” He held his arms out. “How about a hug?”

“I’m not falling for your charms again, Loki!” She hurled a dagger at his head, which he easily dodged. “You said you loved me.” Her lower lip quivered.

“And I did at the time.” Loki moved slowly towards Venus outstretched. “Remember, I promised you the world.”

She sniffled. “You did.”

“And remember that lovely necklace I bought you?”

Venus held up the pendant around her necklace. “I still wear it, pumpkin.”

Loki flinched at that awful pet name. He thanked the Norns Mina settled on far less irksome terms of endearment.

“As you should.” Loki could almost reach out and grab Venus’s hand. “Because it is a symbol of our love.” He slid around to her back and wrapped one arm around her waist. The fingers of his other hand ran along the chain of the necklace. He pressed his lips against her ear as he walked her away from Jane and towards the back wall. “It’s a shame it is nothing more than glass.”

Venus stiffened. “You tricked me.” She struggled, but Loki held her tight in his grip.

“I am the Trickster. You should have expected it.” He opened the door and shoved Venus in the massive walk-in freezer and slammed the door shut. “When will people stop falling for that?”

Jane stood up, a bit dazed. Loki lifted his chin towards the brand new heavy duty spatula he purchased. “Can you hand me that, please?” With a furrowed brow, Jane picked up the spatula. “A little quicker, please. I can’t hold the door forever.”

With a jump, Jane hustled towards him, handed the spatula to Loki. He bent it around the door handle.

“That should hold her long enough for the freezer to dampen her powers.” Loki turned to Jane. “I suggest we not be here when that happens. Can I take you to lunch?”

Jane blinked, not entirely sure what was going on or why Loki was so calm. “Ah, yeah, yes. Sure. Thanks, Loki.”

He led her out of the kitchen, with Venus banging on the freezer door. It took three blocks before Jane got her wits back.

“Does that happen often?”

Loki smirked and patted Jane’s arm, which was linked with his own. “Not as much as it used to. I racked up quite a list of enemies in my day. Lovers too. There quite a bit of overlap between those two lists.”

“And they just attack you out of nowhere?”

“Sometimes. Although, these days it is people wanting my brownie recipe.” Loki joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“But what about your family? Do they know…”

Loki stopped and yanked Jane around to face him. “No. They don’t know and you can’t tell them. There is no need to worry about something as trifling as jilted ex-lover. It will just upset Mina.” Loki said these things as much to convince Jane as he did to convince himself. Venus come back now was unusual.

Jane raised an eyebrow. “Fine, but I don’t like keeping secrets Loki.”

“Neither do I. Now, where should we eat? My treat.”

#loki #loki fanfiction #loki fanfic #loki x ofc #loki fluff #loki odinson #loki laufeyson #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #mcu fanfic #mcu fanfiction

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annoyingstupidmiracle · 3 years ago

Text

L.A. Confidential Part 2-l.r.h

CONTAINS SMUT!

Word Count: 1734

I hope you guys enjoy Part 2!

You angled your camera in order to get a better shot of the boys as they absolutely killed their show for the night. They had a gig at some big theater in southern California, and it was sold out. Luke had begged you to come to the show, and you couldn’t ever say no to him. It had been nearly two weeks since the last late night rendezvous between you and Luke, and the tension was almost unbearable.

Chloe had been up his ass lately, and you’re assuming it was because of the recent article posted about her and a up and coming rapper who was starting to make it big. His publicity was skyrocketing since he had his first number one hit, and hanging out with a new possible love interest was a new spike in attention. You were one of the first to know about it considering you worked in the media most of the time. You had first hand ties with publishers who would often use your pictures for their articles.

His girlfriend was backstage watching from their dressing room instead of out in the crowd as she should be. You cheered as they finished the song ‘Valentine,’ and Luke ended it with beautiful vocals. His sparkling blue eyes searched the front row and finally found you, relief filling his nerves. The lights went dim in the building, and you put it upon yourself to find your way to the backstage door. Once finding the door handle, you let yourself in and saw Chloe sitting on the couch texting on her phone. Probably talking to her new boyfriend. Instead of paying attention to her, you looked over at the guys and grinned.

“You guys did awesome!”

“Did you get any good pictures of me? I need to set them up on my tinder.” Calum said while reaching out towards your camera. You tugged it away from him and giggled.

“Fuck off, both you and your tinder.” That comment caused the other three to laugh before walking towards you.

“You see the article?” Ashton mumbled in your ear before glancing at Luke. You nodded discreetly and narrowed your eyes towards the blonde still sitting on her phone.

“Do you believe them?”

“Do you?” He questions back. Well that wasn’t very promising.

“So, how about that afterparty?” Calum buts in. Mikey shrugs his shoulder and looks to Luke.

“I’m down, are you down?” Luke shook his head yes, but not before he took his last glance at Chloe.

“Yeah, for sure.”

At this, Chloe’s head perks up. “Who said anything about an afterparty? We had that party at my friend’s house tonight.”

You rolled your eyes, not able to bear the sound of her voice. “Chlo, this is my band. I’d pick the afterparty over hers any day.” Chloe sighed at his reply before getting up off the couch and stalked over to him. Her arms rested over his shoulders while staring into his eyes.

“See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He says while she leans forward, her lips puckered to kiss his lips. Instead, Luke turns his head to the side causing her lips to peck his cheek. “Alright, you guys ready?” He asked, looking to you.

You nodded. “Of course.”

Bodies touched everywhere you looked, it was hot and sweaty in the club. You couldn’t find anybody that you knew anywhere. Your breath caught in your throat as you frantically searched through groups of people in hopes that you’d find one of the boys. Panic sets in once you feel a pair of arms wrap around your waist. Quickly turning around, you notice it’s a random guy. Backing away from him, your back hits a hard body. Their arms reach out to yours to turn you around, and relief automatically rushed through you. Luke stood there with a look that could kill, staring right at the man who touched you. The man raised his hands up in defense before walking away. Luke brought you under his arm and walked towards the exit.

“We’re leaving?” You asked. He stopped before he opened the door. “It’s only been forty-five minutes.”

Guiding you outside, there was a taxi that waited for you to crawl in. Bending down to your ear, he mumbled, “I need to get you alone.” And that was all it took to get you in the back of the taxi as it drove through the city towards his hotel on the outskirts of it all. His hand rested on your inner thigh, gently caressing his fingers along the available skin showing due to the short length of your dress. The city lights cascaded through the window, dimly lighting the features on his face. It almost looked like he wanted to cry, and Luke never cried.

Naturally, your hand reached up to cup his cheek in your hand, turning his head to look at you. “What’s wrong?” He shook his head, waiting on the taxi to slow to a stop in front of his hotel. His hand reached out to grab yours and dragged you to the elevator inside the building. “Lu-”

“You knew about the articles? And the photos?” He asked as soon as you were alone in the elevator. You stared silently at the floor. “(Y/n).”

“Yes.” You said quietly. Without a warning, he paused the elevator from going any farther by pressing the red button. Leaning against the wall, he ran his hands through his hair and tugged at the ends. A bitter laugh falling from his lips.

“I can’t fucking believe this,” he says, thoughts corralling his brain. “I can’t believe you.”

“Me?” You question with shock. “Why should I tell you anything if all you’re going to do is stay with her?!” Your voice became louder than it has before, surprising him.

“(Y/n)-”

“No, don’t. I-I do everything for you! But management always comes first, you know, when are you gonna get rid of that piece of shit publicist you got yourself, huh? That’s who’s making your life a living-” Before you could finish, his hands grabbed the sides of your face and pressed his lips to yours. Your first reaction should’ve been to push him away, but you deepened the kiss anyways. He swiftly pushed you against the other side of the elevator, the cold wall sending shivers up your spine.

“Luke..” You mumbled next to his cheek as his lips traveled down your neck, gently nipping at your skin. “W-We can’t-”

“I just need you right now.” He begged, his voice strangled from the emotions he was feeling earlier. Giving in, you reached down to undo his belt buckle and unbuttoned his suit pants. His hand went down and helped you by sliding his pants down just enough to reveal his boxers. Once he did that, your dress was then hiked up around your waist and panties were pushed to the side.

His hand reached behind your right thigh and tugged it up so that he could keep the crease of your knee in the crease of his arm. You stared between the two of you as he pulled his member out of his boxers and lined up with your entrance. After a few agonizing seconds, he finally entered you, pressing your body further against the wall. A whimper escaped your lips at the feel of him inside you, but a hand slapped over your mouth.

“People can hear you outside the elevator, doll.” You nodded, attempting to stay quiet as he reached down to grab your other leg, hoisting you up against the wall. He slammed into you constantly, skin slapping against your own. It was hard to stay quiet when all you wanted to do was scream out with pleasure. “Trust me, once I get you in the hotel room, you can scream all you want.”

“Oh god, I-” You reached forward, pulling his face to yours in a heated kiss in order to muffle the sounds of pleasure emitting from you as you came around him. Luke chuckled against your lips, him coming shortly after.

He gently placed your feet back on the ground, steadying your wobbly form. You yanked your dress back down your legs. Luke buckled his pants back up and smoothed out his shirt and looked at you. Noticing stray hairs sticking out, he placed them back behind your ears and admired how your lips slowly tilted up in a smile as he did so. Leaning over, he pressed the button again and waited for the door to open back up to go to the hotel room.

Your naked forms laid tangled in the sheets nearing three in the morning, both huffing from the acts of just moments ago. Not only did you do it in the elevator, but you went back to the room and did it not once, not twice, but three more times before calling it quits for the night. Your head rested on his bare chest as is heaved up and down, your finger tracing lines along his stomach. Your leg was draped over his as you laid there, attempting not to fall asleep.

A buzz from a phone laying on the bedside table broke you two from your haze. Luke reached over and grabbed the phone that was lit up, which happened to be his. A low groan escaped his lips and he scrolled through the few texts he received from no one other than Chloe herself. Apparently, he had sent her a message about the articles he saw earlier that night and she was trying to apologize for them. No excuses were made about why the media made these assumptions, but she was sorry for them. He held down the power button and completely shut down his device and tossed it back on the table.

“I can’t keep doing this, Lu.” You whispered, almost inaudible. A frown was placed on your face as you said those words. Your feelings for the Aussie had grown dramatically, and the fact that you couldn’t do anything more about it was only hurting you.

He sighed, wrapping an arm around your figure and bringing you closer to his. “I know.”

“Doesn’t it hurt you? That she treats you like this?”

He nodded. “I’m waiting on my publicist to say something. His contract is over in a week, after that, I make my own decisions.”

You leaned up, matching the height of his face with yours. “Good.”

“Then I’ll be all yours.”

You smiled to yourself before kissing his lips gently. “All mine.”

#luke hemmings #luke hemmmings smut #5sos #luke 5sos #luke hemmings imagines

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gotham-ruaidh · 3 years ago

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Little Bit Better Than I Used To Be

Catch up: Chapter 1 (Starry Eyes) || Chapter 2 (Save Our Souls) || Chapter 3 (Dancing On Glass) || Chapter 4 (Merry-Go-Round) || Backstage (1) || Backstage (2) || Chapter 5 (Danger) || Backstage (3) || Chapter 6A (Love Walked In) ||| Also posted at AO3

—

Chapter 6B: Without You

Without you in my life // I'd slowly wilt and die But with you by my side // You're the reason I'm alive...

Soundtrack: “Without You,” Mötley Crüe, 1989 [click here to listen]

Six A.M. – Claire quietly shut her door and softly padded down the hallway toward the dining room.

The Ridge’s sleeping quarters reminded her of her college dorm – a long hallway of single rooms, with a shared bathroom at the end of the hall. Women were up here on the second floor – men were in a separate wing on the other side of the dining room, which with the therapy rooms and administrative offices sat at the middle of the large building.

As she entered the dining room, she smiled a hello at Glenna, a kind middle-aged woman who organized breakfast, among dozens of other jobs. Glenna had had a terrible addiction to pills – “just like you, dear, and I overcame it, so you can too” – and had found a home at The Ridge keeping the whole operation running.

“You’re up early,” Glenna remarked as Claire poured herself a cup of coffee.

Claire stirred in cream and sugar. “I haven’t been able to sleep.”

Glenna set down a tray of piping hot cinnamon buns. “It will be a while before you do. Remember, your body is still in shock. It will take longer than you want, to find a new rhythm. Be patient.”

“I will. Thanks, Glenna.”

Glenna gestured with her head toward the porch. “He’s out there.”

Claire frowned. “Who?”

Glenna smiled. “Who do you think? It’s none of my business – but you’re well-suited.”

Claire piled two cinnamon buns on a plate, her heart beating a bit faster. “There’s nothing going on between us. Besides, isn’t it against the rules?”

Glenna set one hand on her hip. “Not yet there isn’t. And since when did the rules ever stop either of you?”

Claire smiled and shook her head, already crossing the empty dining room.

As soon as she popped her head outside, she saw him – alone in the corner of the porch.

As she approached, she saw he had an acoustic guitar on his lap, strumming quietly, scribbling in a notebook.

“Good morning.”

He looked up at her, suddenly beaming. “Early to bed, early to rise, hmm?”

She held out the plate, and he took a bun. “I figured, might as well get up.” She sat down next to him, set down the plate, and took a long sip of coffee. “Do you always get up this early?”

Chewing, he turned back his guitar, plucking quietly at the strings. “Yeah. Being here is the first regular sleep schedule I’ve had in years. This may sound terrible – but I realize now that I’d forgotten how to fall asleep.”

She wrapped her hands around the coffee mug. “What do you mean?”

He tapped the side of the guitar. “I was drinking two bottles of Jack a day, Claire. I’d have it with breakfast, throughout the morning, before a gig, after a gig. I’d just pass out at some early hour, with some girl who I’d picked up at the gig or at a strip club after the gig, and then wake up sometime the next day. And when I wasn’t touring – I’d still drink a lot. Hang out with my friends, or with the band – go out, hit the clubs, maybe do a few bumps of coke. But it would always end the same way, passed out on a floor or a couch or, on better nights, my bed.”

She watched a blue jay flit from tree to tree, down below in the forest.

“I had so many chances over the years to wake up. It’s so clear to me now. There was one day when we were in the studio, laying down a new track – and I needed to take a break, so I’d gone to a smaller practice studio next door. With a speedball in my pocket. So I helped myself to it, and I don’t remember what happened next, but my producer tells me that a few minutes later I’d buzzed him on the intercom, and asked him for a gun so that I could shoot the men in top hats who were coming out of the speakers.”

Claire swirled her half-empty coffee cup. “I’d work three days on, three days off. It’s a punishing schedule – but I knew that going in. After a long day with several surgeries, I’d crash. Sometimes I’d have to be on call, so I’d sleep in this little room we had upstairs in the staff area. It had two sets of bunk beds and a shower – all a body needs. But I’d be so wired from the adrenaline – from needing to focus so much on the patients – that I couldn’t sleep, you know?”

He nodded. “I know. I know exactly what you mean.”

“The pills helped me sleep. That’s what I told myself at first. And I didn’t feel terrible when I woke up – especially if someone was banging on the door, giving me a five minute warning to get back downstairs. I could get all of the sleep with all of the alertness on the other end. But then…well.” She sighed. “Then it got to the point where I told myself I couldn’t sleep at all if I didn’t have the pills – even on my days off. Because I had to sleep, to make up for the sleep I’d lost when I was on call. And then I was taking them during the day, to calm down.”

He turned a new page in his notebook, pulled out a pen from behind his ear, and scribbled something.

“I guess you’re working on something new?”

He nodded. “Sometimes the music comes first. Sometimes it’s the lyrics that come first. But if I don’t write it down, I won’t remember it the next day.” He frowned. “Come to think of it – it must be because my memory was so shot from the booze, that I wasn’t even capable of remembering.”

He cleared his throat, and set down the guitar, and picked up a cup of coffee. “What do you think? You’re a doctor, after all.”

She smirked. “I’m a surgeon, not a neurologist. But it sounds plausible. Can you remember things better now, that you’re sober?”

He nodded. “It’s crazy. I just feel so much…clearer. In control. It’s good to be in control.” He took another bite of cinnamon bun. “Are you feeling that?”

She sighed. “I’m feeling. I didn’t want to feel anything for the longest time. But now I’m feeling…just feeling.”

Footsteps on the deck behind them – Rupert, shuffling in his bathrobe, blearily waving hello, clutching a gigantic cup of coffee.

A beat.

How to find common ground outside of their addictions?

“Can you tell me more about that song you’re writing?”

He set down his coffee and picked up the notebook, flipping back to the previous page. Set it on the table between them. Picked up his guitar. Looked down at his notes. Started to sing – his voice quiet, clear, strong.

Without you, there's no change My nights and days are grey If I reached out and touched the rain It just wouldn't feel the same

Without you, I'd be lost I'd slip down from the top I'd slide down so low Girl you never, never know...

Without you, without you A sailor lost at sea Without you, woman, the world comes down on me

“I don’t know where to go from there,” he said, continuing to play slow notes on his guitar. “Need more verses, of course. Maybe a space for a guitar solo. I don’t know.” He looked up at her. “What do you think?”

Rupert clapped and hooted from across the porch. Giving Claire enough time to find her voice.

“I think you’ve got a keeper there,” she said softly.

He held her gaze. “I’m glad you think so.”

“Play Freebird!” Rupert shouted.

They shared a smile.

Claire’s world tilted just a little.

#outlander #outlander fanfic #little bit better than i used to be

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0poole · 4 years ago

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I LOVE No Straight Roads

Honestly it’s hard to keep me away from a game with great visuals and even greater character design. I knew from the INSTANT I saw these characters that I was going to love it. I just finished it because it’s (unfortunately) pretty short, and even though I cheesed the final boss through it’s very lenient death mechanics (Instant respawn at the cost of a good rank) I actually appreciated that it wasn’t a pure cake walk. I’ve yet to rematch all of the bosses, but since I had genuine trouble with the later ones I’ll hold off on that.

But who cares about gameplay, am I right? I sure as hell don’t. I would’ve bought the game no matter what the hell it was. I wanted the characters (and the music, although I realized that second) and that was it.

First of all, I love any world that is super fantastical but cheesy in its concept, ala a city powered by music, and battles between artists using music. Ideas like this only spawn from a mind that wants to create a fun atmosphere, if nothing else, and it was sure as hell fun. I genuinely love when someone goes so far into a crazy idea and doesn’t waste your time explaining it with real world logic. Wanna know how a city can be powered by music? Shut up and look at the cute virtual mermaid. Lord knows I did. Every once in a while, it does you good to just let the player/reader/viewer just revel in the idea without having to go out of your way to make things seem realistic. It’s not about “turning your brain off” or whatever, it’s picking your battles.

Also, I can seriously love a world with great background characters to it. Any game with the right situation to insert the random nobodies you find onto the streets into the art in the credits really played into the greatness of the world’s less important characters, and that’s always a good thing. It’s technically world building. But, since I always love to pick favorites, I’d have to say my favorite background character is easily Mia, the NSR infodesk assistant. It’s funny, because you can literally search “nsr characters” into Google and she’s the third image result. I love how jumpy she is when you first interact with her, since NSR probably spread the word about B2J suggesting they’re rock thugs who’d beat up anyone, so for all she knows she could die right then and there with a guitar lodged in her skull. She’s probably just some intern trying to pay for college. She don’t want trouble.

Also, I just realized that 90% of the characters in this game have the same body structure that I always love, that being having arms/legs that sort of fan out in width into relatively large hands/feet. It’s a kind of limb structure I fall into so much because it just really hits me right for some reason. I really can’t explain why.

Anyways, I gotta talk about the big boys individually:

Mayday and Zuke are an amazing duo. I’m always a sucker for a cute and crazy girl, but honestly Zuke hit so many of the right notes too. I will say it’s weird to pair the martian Zuke with the humanly-skinned Mayday, but honestly it doesn’t even matter because he looks so cool on his own. I love his weird blocky blue dreadlocks, and his weirdly shaped shirt which bares his chest in the weirdest way... And, oh my god, Mayday’s weird Spongebob background flower eyes? It’s little tidbits like that that really make me jealous. How could I have ever thought of that? It looks so perfect, and I don’t know why. And her little booty jig she does in her idle animation? Adorable. I played as her as much as was reasonable not only because I’m a filthy button masher with little strategy but also because she’s so damn cute. I can also appreciate how she has a tough-as-nails persona while still keeping a semi-girly attitude, like with her falling for 1010 and Sayu. Characters are so much better when they’re a perfect blend of characteristics, instead of being all one-note, like how Zuke is the quiet one but gets heated against DK West, and all.

Honestly the voice acting for every character is great, but I love when Mayday’s VA’s accent shows through. It’s a perfect twang to accent (consider this the only acknowledgement of a pun in this post) her snarkiness.

DJ Subatomic Supernova was going to be an easy favorite since he’s all space-themed. Also, I don’t know why I always end up liking the egotistic characters. Not in the sense that I like their egotistic-ness, but in the sense that I like everything else about them and they just so happen to also be egotistic. The same applied with Empoleon (maybe like my 2nd favorite Pokemon) and Rarity from MLP, probably among others. Either way, I’ll never not love space themes. Not to mention he’s got a funky disco theme, and I’m slowly starting to realize that I am in extreme love with techno-funk styles of music. The instant I heard his music he cemented his place into my playlists.

As for design, I still have no idea what the fuck he is. Clearly AI is at human levels in this world, but if he’s a robot why does he still have hairy legs? But, if he’s a human, is that weird orb his head? Is it just some sort of puppet which he controls from inside his giant jacket? I know I dissed explaining things realistically but I actually want to know with this guy. Even the wiki doesn’t say. Either way, he’s clearly the logical extreme of “being at the center of your own universe.” Even his jacket depicts a solar system, with his hood being the sun. Didn’t see that until I tried to draw him. I really wish this guy wasn’t so tied to his DJ stand so I could reasonably draw him without it. I don’t want to draw his hairy ass legs. It is a great touch for his design though (although I prefer his beta look with pants and long boots, another design trait I tend to gravitate to) since DJs could reasonably not wear pants, since they’re always behind a table.

Sayu is my favorite. It’s so plainly obvious. It’s weird to say that sometimes, because some characters like Sayu are so clearly engineered to be as adorable as possible, to the point where they’re basically a parody of whatever they’re supposed to be emulating, but then they do that so well that they are still likable for what they’re trying to parody. Also, even though I’ve never looked into any vocaloid superstars myself, the fact that they exist and are loved in real life is absolutely perfect to be used as a character design in a world like this. It’s so weird conceptually, but we all know it’s normal and realistic. But yeah, she’s a giga-cutie whom I’ve already drawn and I’ve listened to her theme on loop on many different occasions. Favorite character, favorite track, favorite weapon of choice (What did I say about Empoleon?), which, and I wouldn’t have noticed this myself, looks like the USB symbol you see above USB ports on computers. How crazy perfect is that?

Even apart from my unbridled love for cute monster robot(?) girls, her boss fight is probably the 2nd greatest of them all, at least conceptually. She’s just a hologram, so you can’t touch her, but you CAN disconnect the artists which control her in order to defeat her. It’s the kind of concept for a boss fight that could only work for this type of character. I’m a sucker for the cute girl that provides her voice, but I love how the animator (video editor? the yellow one) actually attacks you with a mouse and lowers the brightness of the setting once he appears. Also, the mocap guy being the deeply-voiced type but still providing the adorable movements of her body. It’s such a great combo of characters, and their little extra art in the credits makes me like them even more. I just wish we could interact with them individually.

DK West was probably one of the most interesting characters visually, especially since I knew of every other NSR member long before the game came out, but I only just heard of him closer to the release. I wasn’t sure where he was placed, but I definitely assumed his gig was the weird shadow demon we saw in the trailers. When I finally saw him in game, I was shocked to hear him speak an entirely different language most of the time, which was really cool. Also, finding out he was tied to Zuke and wasn’t strictly an NSR artist really made him more interesting. You know, if his fucking shadow clone magic didn’t make him crazy cool enough. Even though I suck at his game and am not especially fond of his raps, the visual of him rapping with this giant monster behind him and dozens of weird shadow wingmen by his side hyping him up was probably one of the coolest in the entire game. The dark way they were hyping him up too gave such a bizarre atmosphere, especially since it parallels his seemingly chill and smiley demeanor.

I definitely hope they’ll introduce new bosses as DLC in the future, and make them sort of in the same vein as DK West, where they aren’t the biggest artists ever, but they want to pick a fight with B2J. I’d kill for any extra content this game can provide.

Yinu is obviously special since she was the subject of the demo they put out for the game. Even though I knew all her bells and whistles, she and her mom still beat me a few times in the full game. Considering she’s semi-tied to story-ish spoilers I kinda want to go more into her in a separate section. It is worth considering playing the game first since it’s not hard (with the easy going deaths) and it’s short length.

1010 seriously grew on me as I learned more about them and interacted with them. I got their shtick when I first looked at them, but after seeing that animation of them touring the city on Youtube I was kinda falling for them. Then, I learned that they’re apparently repurposed navy war robots? I mean, maybe not them specifically, but it seems to heavily point in that direction, with the warship cars and “attention!”s and all. It took me a bit to get into their music too, but once I actually fought them and put their actions to the music I fell in love with it. I swear, Neon J’s weird dancing can has some of the smoothest moves in all of gaming. I don’t know whether they mocapped out those movements or got one of the greatest animators ever, but it looks so impossibly clean his part of the song gets me like 30x more hype than it would normally.

Also, their little art piece of them looking at fan mail in the credits is probably one of the most adorable things ever. Even if they’re just Neon J’s puppets, that piece of art really makes it seem like they love every one of their fans. I’m not gonna lie, I might swoon a bit too if they picked me out and gave me some special attention.

Oh yeah, and the fact that Mayday was super sad in her showstopper against them was adorable and hilarious at the same time. The little tweaks they made to the showstopper for each fight were great.

Eve just has to be Lady Gaga, right? Like, an even crazier Lady Gaga. DJSS is Daft Punk (or any artist with a helmet persona, you know what I’m talking about), Sayu is Hatsune Miku, DK West is Kanye West, Yinu is a generic child protege, 1010 is a KPop boyband (just pick one) and Eve is Lady Gaga. That’s just how things are. But, again, this is the kind of boss fight that only this type of character could provide. It’s not just surreal imagery, it’s ARTISTIC surreal imagery. The fight is so mesmerizing in every way, especially by how it starts off so slow and calm and progresses to insanity, as well as the increased emotional investment in the fight making you feel so much more into it than just “That’s the boy band. Let’s fight.” Not only does it get you more invested, but it makes her artistic persona go deeper than just “she looks weird.” She is genuinely conflicted about her relationship with Zuke, and naturally that leads her to literally split him and Mayday apart. That mechanic specifically was the coolest, although I do wish they made it more obvious when you needed to switch over to a different side. I was getting pulverized by her fight too, since there were so many things to pay attention to. Her fight was definitely the best one.

Tatiana and Spoilers:

Let’s be real with ourselves, the twist was so obvious. I do also think, though, that obvious twists aren’t bad if they’re just good reveals. At some point, a person just has experienced so many stories that “only pretty good” twists are easy to spot. It doesn’t mean that the twists are bad, it just means you yourself experienced.

I feel like her transition from rock to EDM was pretty understandable, even as a non-musician. She was so caught up in what she assumed was popular that it basically consumed her. It’s easy as an artist to want to forgo what you truly want to make in favor of what makes you popular, and clearly since her transition to EDM made her the CEO of the biggest company in the city (world?) that probably made her think she truly needed to change her outlook. Then, when she saw B2J try to bring it back, she sort of coined them as being as misguided as she was and knocked them down a peg. Plus, they were kinda being jerks about it.

It’s kinda like the Trolls sequel, where everyone pegs rock music fanatics as being too stuck up in their own heads to appreciate other types of music, which honestly seems more like the case than the alternative. When I first heard of the story of the game, I was seriously hoping they did put an asterisk on B2J’s ambitions because they were a bit sketchy from the start.

That’s kinda where I want to talk about Yinu, because she was the true turning point in what they were doing. She’s literally 9 and yet she’s getting dragged into all this BS. When she said “I hate you all” at the end of her fight, and played a somber tune on her broken piano after the fight destroyed it, you kinda got a kick in the face to realize you’re kinda being an asshole to some of them. Sure, they fight back, but they wouldn’t fight in the first place if they didn’t have to. They are just people who play music under a joint name that B2J just so happened to get in hot water with.

Then, of course, there’s Kliff, who also reeked of surprise villain, and who’s basically the embodiment of the bad side of B2J, where he just wanted to destroy for his own sake and not for the actual greater good. Once B2J realized their mistake, they backed off, but Kliff was so hard pressed to do what he planned on in the first place he wouldn’t stop. I kinda wish he got a bigger fight to his own since he’s clearly a big enough tech genius to divert a whole satellite into one specific building. Maybe the Elliecopter chase bit was his thing, but I do kind of wish he was there to fight against them too.

Even though Tatiana did kind of reform a bit quick, It’s still not too crazy to assume she could see that B2J was just misguided and the fact that they worked to revert their wrongdoings for her sake would make a pretty strong impressions. They clearly can hold their own, so it’s not like she wouldn’t want them to join NSR too.

Oh yeah, and her boss fight was clock/time themed. If there’s a theme under space that I love, it’s clocks/time.

And If I am to be respected by the internet, I must provide a negative opinion to balance out my positive one. I will say that the character model physics (like Mayday’s braids, DK West’s vest thing, Neon J’s fluffy neck thing, etc) got kinda funky at times. Especially DK West’s vest, which was completely messed up for every scene he was in... Also, even though the voices are mostly great, some lines felt a bit off. Just a bit. That good enough? Good.

But yeah anyway that’s another favorite game to add to the pile. Eventually I’m gonna have to compile a true list of my all-time favorite games/movies because I do kind of want to have a solid idea of what my all-time favorites are.

#nsr #no straight roads #bunk bed junction #dj subatomic supernova #sayu #yinu #dk west #spoilers #1010 #eve #tatiana #rambling #review #poole #etc #opinions #rant

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crowleesi · 4 years ago

Text

Just Friends

V insists that she and Viktor are just friends, despite the overwhelming evidence that suggests otherwise.

Inspired by this beautiful artwork by @tekstelart.

I haven’t written anything in YEARS and I am super nervous to post this but my fellow Viktor simps have inspired me <3

Read it on ao3 here!

***

“Bein’ careful is a concept that is entirely lost on you, isn’t it?” Vik grumbles, wiping the last of the blood away from the already healing wound on V’s forearm, thanks to the nanites the ripperdoc had injected into her just a few minutes before. It wasn’t a concept that was lost on her, not completely - she’d made it this far without getting herself killed, so she figured she was doing something right. The gig hadn’t really been all that different from many others; she and Jackie were outnumbered 4:1 by gangers that were sloppy fighters and lousy shots, and V had been taking on a guy twice her size when he’d pulled a machete and sliced her arm open.

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” She flashes him a grin, and the corner of his lips turn up as he shakes his head and throws the rag down beside them.

“Lemme get’cha a Maxdoc, hold on.” He rounded the surgical chair and disappeared around back - V watched him walk away, letting her eyes trail over the curve of his large, muscular back, before turning her attention back to Jackie who, incidentally, was smirking at her.

“What?” She said, and he immediately started fluttering his eyelashes, clutching his hands together under his chin.

“Oh, I don’t know what you’re talking about, doctor,” He mocked in an unnecessarily high pitched voice, before laughing. “You got it so bad.”

V rolled her eyes and tossed the bloody rag at him. “Fuck off, we’re just friends.”

“Whatever you say, chica,” Jackie chuckles, and Vik returns to V’s side.

“I trust you know what to do with this?” He asks, leaning his hip on the chair beside V, holding out the inhaler. V took it from him, took two puffs of the medication and thanked him. Vik patted her thigh, a signal to get off the chair, and she hopped down, trying not to focus on the warmth of his large hand. She quickly headed over to his desk where she'd left her jacket, hoping Vik hadn't noticed the blush creeping across her cheeks.

“Vik, you comin’ to Misty’s tonight?” Jackie asked the ripperdoc as he cleared down his station. V pretended not to really pay attention as she pulled on her jacket, though she held her breath waiting for his answer.

“Nah, you kids go on without me,” he said, and V’s heart sank. “I got another client, anyhow.”

“Yeah, so,” Jackie said. “Come after!”

V looked over to Vik, and he looked up at her.

"C'mon, doc," she pleaded. "It'll be fun." He hummed, kicking his stool over to his desk. "Even if you have one drink, just swing by." Vik settled down on his stool, looking up at V. She flashed him her winning smile, and he looked down, shaking his head with a chuckle.

"Fine."

"Fuckin' A!" Jackie hollered. "Catch ya later, hermano. Let's hit it, V." Vik waved a hand as Jackie headed out, and V followed, turning to glance over her shoulder. Vik sent her a wink, and she bit her lip in an effort to contain her smile. She followed Jackie out of the clinic and he turned to smirk at her.

"Not a word." She warned, and he laughed, shoving her shoulder.

***

Vik would be lying through his fucking teeth if he said he wasn't having a good time. A few hours earlier, he'd made his way up to the roof above Misty’s Esoterica. He could hear the music from outside his clinic, and felt it vibrate in his chest as the elevator got closer to the top. He'd headed up the last set of stairs two at a time, and stepped out onto the roof to find a large group of people yelling over music, dancing, drinking. He'd scanned the crowd until he'd spotted Jackie and Misty, but V was nowhere in sight. As he'd made his way through the crowd of strangers, he was greeted by a few familiar faces, and high fived by a guy he’d never seen before.

He'd immediately had a beer thrust in his hand as Jackie greeted him as though he hadn't seen him in months.

"Viktor fuckin' Vektor!" He had yelled over the music, clapping him on the back and pointing over to the other side of the roof, telling him that it was about time he showed, cause V was waiting for him.

Donning a long line black bralette and tight, black jeans, she was a fucking vision; her lustrous, black hair cascaded down her back in waves, and she'd looked over at Vik with eyes of purest amber. She'd jumped up from her seat when she'd spotted him across the crowd, and had forced her way through the makeshift dance floor to greet him.

They'd spent the entire night together; drinking, laughing, and even dancing. Vik had insisted that he did not dance, but V wasn't having it. She'd grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the dance floor, and they got lost in a sea of people as she threw her arms around his neck and swayed her hips, keeping him close. He didn't dance so much as shuffle, hold her hips tentatively, and focus on anything other than getting hard.

It was an impossible task. V had thrown her head back with a laugh, running her hands down his chest and turning around, leaning back into his chest and holding his hands on her hips, moving in sync with the music. Vik had tried to think of anything other than the small beads of sweat trickling down her chest, her stomach… fuck, she was killing him.

It was utter torture but eventually his salvation lay in V deciding she needed another drink, and had dragged Vik over to a couch.

Hours later, as the party was winding down, the music was quieter and the two of them hadn't moved from their seat at the far corner of the roof. They had been exchanging stories - Vik of his boxing days, reminiscing tales that V had heard many times before but never got bored of hearing, and V of her days as a Nomad, what her childhood was like and how she ended up in Night City.

Vik had also heard these stories before but never said a word. He was lost in the way her eyes shone with excitement, and the perfect shape of her lips that he just knew were as soft as they looked.

V trailed off when her eyes met Vik's and she took a moment to just look at him. It was the early hours of the morning, with only the glow of the surrounding blue and pink neon lights outlining his features amongst the pitch black of night. She had memorised every single detail of his face back when they first met; the freckles that dotted his nose, the scar on his chin and the brilliant blue of his eyes.

God, she thought. He's fucking beautiful.

"V?" His voice was liquid velvet, and she sighed. "You all right?"

"Yeah, just… tired, I guess." She said, stretching and shifting to lay on her back, resting her legs over Vik's lap. He smiled down at her, leaning over to set his beer down on the table in front of them. He sat back, one arm resting over the back of the couch and the other stroking her leg.

She reached out a hand, and Vik raised an eyebrow.

"C'mere," her voice was husky now from all the yelling and alcohol she'd consumed, and Vik swallowed thickly. Her smile fucking melted him.

"All right," he said. "Scoot." V grinned and shuffled over as Vik got settled between the back of the couch and V's side. She lifted her arm, and he snuggled into her side, resting his chin on her chest. Wrapping her arm around his neck, she stroked his collarbone delicately and he hummed, breathing in the sweetness of her perfume. V was sure she'd never heard a more gorgeous sound in her fucking life.

"Thank you, by the way." She says suddenly. "For patching me up. Again." Vik chuckled, and she felt it reverberate through his chest and into her side. His arm hung lazily over her hips, and he sighed against her skin, tucking his leg between hers.

"Always."

***

When V wakes up a few hours later, there is nothing but the distant sound of traffic and the warm glow of the sunrise to greet her. She rolls onto her back, opening her eyes when she meets the back of the couch instead of a large, muscular chest. She sits up, pressing a hand to her head, cursing at the dull ache.

Over by the edge of the roof, Jackie and Misty were sleeping soundly, with Misty tucked into his side. V smiles, stifling a yawn when a gravelly voice says her name. She looks up to find Vik approaching her, four coffee cups in hand. Whether it was the soft glow of neon in the dark of night or the light of a sunrise that illuminated Viktor Vektor, he left her fucking breathless.

He set down two coffees in front of Jackie and Misty, and kisses the top of V's head before he takes a seat beside her, handing her a cup.

"G'morning," he said, and she took a sip of coffee, sighing as the hot liquid pooled in her stomach.

"Morning."

He sat close by her side, taking the top off of his coffee cup and taking a large mouthful. V watched as his throat bobbed when he swallowed, and the way he licked his lips and let out a content sigh. When their arms brush against each other, Vik looks down at her with a smile, leaning his knee against hers. She can't fight the lopsided grin that spreads across her lips, and tries to hide it behind her coffee cup. Vik leans forward to rest his forearms on his knees, looking over to Jackie and Misty.

"I had a good time last night." He said, turning his chin into his shoulder to look at V. She made a mental note to thank late nights and alcohol for what it did to his voice.

"Me too." She said. "I'm glad you came." His lips turned up and he held out his coffee cup.

"So am I." She giggled and tapped her cup against his own, revelling in his smile lines and the way his skin appeared golden in the early morning light. Her eyes travelled down to his lips, and her heart fluttered in her chest. Fuck, she wanted to close the gap between them. She'd fantasised over how his lips would feel against her own since the day they first met, sure that they would be soft, that he'd kiss her so tenderly that she'd forget to breathe.

And she almost does when Vik's smile falters a little and he slowly leans closer to her. His eyes fall to her lips and fuck, is this really happening? Her breathing becomes shallow, her heart starts to race as she finds herself leaning into the ripperdoc. It felt like the air around them suddenly became electrically charged. The space between them was fucking magnetic.

A loud groan brings V back to reality, pulling back from Vik as she looks over to where Jackie was now stretching and cursing in Spanish. Vik let out a defeated sigh as he sat back, bringing his coffee cup to his lips.

"Mi maldita cabeza," he grumbled, as Misty sat up groggily, yawning as she looked over to the couch where V and Vik were perched.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"Too fuckin' early." Jackie said, spotting the coffee cups in front of them. "Oh, fuck yeah."

"Good morning, sunshine." V cooed, and Jackie flipped her off as he took a large, audible sip of coffee.

"That's the shit, right there." He hands Misty her cup, which she cradles close to her chest. V was all too aware of the rigid presence beside her, and looked over to Vik as he ran a hand through his hair.

"We should get goin'." He says, getting to his feet. Jackie protests but Misty jumps up, pulling him up with her.

"Come on, lazy," she says affectionately, and Jackie grumbles before kissing her forehead. V's heart tugs a little with jealousy, and glances at Vik.

"C'mon, lovebirds." He says with a cool smile, and heads over to the stairwell. They head down the stairs to the elevator, and V pulls out her phone as Vik pulls open the gate, stepping in and waiting for the others to join. She has a few messages, one of which is from Jackie from a few hours earlier. Curious, she opens it, and blushes furiously when she is met with a picture of herself and Vik, sleeping soundly on the couch, wrapped up in each other, and a message below that read:

"Just friends" my ass.

She suddenly became aware she'd stopped in her tracks, staring down at her phone, when Jackie asked if she was coming. She looked up at him, eyes wide, and Jackie looked down at the phone in her hands, back up to her eyes and a moment later a shit eating grin spread across his face.

"C'mon, chica," he said devilishly, and V entered the elevator, holding her phone tightly in her hand. She stood next to Vik, looking straight ahead, and saw in the corner of her eye that Jackie was leaning into Misty, whispering in her ear. Misty started giggling, to which Vik raised an eyebrow as he took another sip of his coffee.

It felt like an eternity before the elevator finally reached the ground, and V quickly exited, heading out into the alley behind Misty's store.

"V," came Vik's voice from behind her. "You gonna come grab your gear?” She nods, having forgotten about her weapons she’d stashed in his clinic the night before. After Misty wished everyone a good day, she headed into her store and Jackie crouched down to stroke the cat that frequented the alleyway, telling V he’d wait there for her. V followed Vik down the steps to his clinic, distracted by the fact she could see his back muscles even through his shirt. Once inside, Vik unlocked the gate and pushed it open, flicking the switch to turn on the lights and the AC. The familiar smell of sterilised equipment and Vik’s aftershave greeted V, wrapping her up as she headed for his desk, where her gun was waiting for her.

"So," he said, leaning back against the surgical chair. "What was all that about, back in the elevator?" V froze for a moment, her grip tightening on her gun, before holstering it and turning to Vik.

"Jackie," she said. "He, uh…" Vik raised an eyebrow and V blushed, pulling her phone out of her pocket. She held it out to him, and he walked over to her, looking down at the picture. A smile slowly spread across his lips before he turned back to the surgical chair.

"Send me a copy of that, will ya?" He says, and V's heart positively leaps out of her chest. She stares at his back, wondering if she heard him right. She hoped to fucking god she did.

"I-" She stops herself. "Okay." She taps away on her phone, and forwards the picture to Vik. His phone beeps, and he pulls it out of his pocket. It's then that she realises she'd been holding her breath, and her heart was thundering in her chest.

He looks over his shoulder, smiles again and walks over to her. Placing a hand on her cheek, he leans down and brushes his nose against hers.

"Just friends, huh?" He says lowly, and her knees almost buckle beneath her. She sighs against his lips, running a hand up his chest as he at last presses his lips to hers in an electrifying kiss. Her entire body practically fucking melts into his touch, and she parts her lips to deepen the kiss, bringing her hand up to hold his cheek. He shuffles closer, pressing his body against hers, his hands cupping her jaw, fingers gently threading through the hair above her neck.

The kiss is utterly dizzying and it takes everything she has to hold herself together. She clings to him desperately, and a quiet moan escapes her lips between kisses as the heat began to rise between them.

"Yo, V!"

They pull apart suddenly when Jackie calls down to her, and she stares at him, their noses brushing, neither daring to move. They breathe heavily against each other's lips, and Vik chuckles.

"Better get goin'." She nods, but doesn't move. He pulls his fingers along her jaw and tucks her hair behind her ears. She nudges his nose with hers, and he connects their lips again.

"What's takin' so lo- oh,'' Jackie stopped at the gate to the clinic. V and Vik break apart, turning to find him leaning against the doorway, arms folded across his chest, grinning like the cheshire fucking cat.

"Fucking finally."

#cyberpunk 2077 #viktor vector #viktor vektor #v x viktor #victor vector #viktor vector x v #tekstelart #viktorsvector #tagging you guys because you inspired me!!#fuck i'm so nervous this is the first fic i've posted in YEARS #kdjfmjdsklkfm

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karlajoyner · 4 years ago

Text

Stressed Out (Sunset Curve x Reader)

A/n: So starting off I've made a master list that I'm posting real soon for you all to access my stories without the scrolling. In order to post it I have to update my post about my requests/taglist and soon because I do get a lot on that comments that ask for more Charlie or more Owen and I wanna give you guys that but I also wanna make sure that I get through the requests that you guys send me with plots and storylines. It just makes it like a thousand times easier to have something to work off of. Opposed to me coming up with my own storylines that I have to do a lot of reading on my own to get my gears working! But again thank you guys for the comments! And finally I wanna say thank you for sending in your requests and your feed back. It is much appreciated!

Disclaimer: Alex is bi in this one not taking away from the fact that he's gay in the show it just runs best for this storyline! There is no Bobby btw! Haven’t written a foursome with 3 guys before so it might suck ass. And it’s not much but it’s something so enjoy my fellow fantoms!

Warnings: Smut (18+)

————

I internally groaned walking into school. I wasn't the worst student. But by far I certainly was not the best. Which is why I had a reputation since I first arrived to high school.

That and I was in a band with 3 of my best friends. Who all happened to be guys. Hot guys at that.

Which automatically made me the schools slut. It was fine with me but the boys didn't like the label.

No matter how true it was.

"Hey y/n heard you gave Mike Dawson a blowjob this weekend. Just when I thought you couldn't be anymore of a slut"

"Mind your fucking business Hayley" I heard a familiar voice speak up for me. A smirk spreading on my face as I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder.

"Did she come to you right after Patterson? What's it like to be her sloppy seconds?" Hayley Becker spoke with a wicked evil smirk plastered on her face.

"Fucking amazing actually. God the long nights we have. It's so great" I heard another familiar voice from my left. A large hand intertwining my fingers with theirs. She rolled her eyes clearly not expecting my boys to speak up for me. But then again neither was I.

"Slut"

"Skank"

"Whore"

"Bitch" I spoke as the bell rang.

"Just watch your back y/l/n" She said before turning around and walking away.

"She will!" Reggie shouted after the dark haired girl. The three of us expectantly looking at our bandmate.

"What? I didn't even get to tell her we would too" I sighed shaking my head at the boy.

"Thanks for sticking up for me guys but I can do that myself"

"We know. But your our girl. And apart of this band so we're kinda obligated" Alex spoke as the four of us walked to first period.

"Your really not"

"Come on y/n you know we're still gonna do it"

"I know and I only let you today cause I can't deal with that bitch at this time of day. I mean seriously it's 8:00 o'clock in the morning. Does she not have anything better to do than spread rumors about me?"

"Apparently not. So you and Jake Mills behind the church?" Reggie asked.

"Didn't happen considering I was with you idiots all weekend. You know your the only guys I touch" I bit my lip hearing the three of them chuckle.

"Yeah well it better stay that way. I don't wanna hear Trevor O'Connor bragging about banging you in the boys locker room again"

"Schools golden boy?" I questioned.

"He tried starting the rumor yesterday during p.e but we quickly shut it down" Reggie explained as I stopped a few feet away from the science room to continue talking.

"So Hayleys boyfriend wants to bang me? Wow"

"Yeah but don't even fucking thing about" Luke said pushing me up against the lockers beside us.

"I wasn't. Unless you guys piss me off" I grinned pushing him off of me. Opening the door a few feet away and walking in.

"Gentlemen. And Ms. y/l/n. Your late"

"Sorry Mrs. Daniels we had to deal with something"

"And did this something give you tardy passes"

"It did not"

"Detention. All of you"

"That's nothing new to them Mrs. Daniels"

"Shut the fuck up Hayley" I scoffed taking my seat beside Alex.

"Ladies stop it before I send you to the principal"

"Yes Mrs. Daniels" Hayley and I spoke in sync.

"I can't believe Luke dated her" I whispered towards Alex glaring at the blonde bimbo.

"Jealous?"

"Why would I be? I already have him. And I could have her boyfriend too if I wanted him" I said taking down the notes on the board.

"Mrs. Daniels I can't focus on the lesson because they're distracting me with their talking" Hayley spoke pointing an accusing finger at us.

"We are not!" I shouted sitting up.

"Yes you are probably talking about who your gonna whore around with next"

"Yeah it's your boyfriend if you don't check yourself Hayley"

"Trevor would never do that!"

"I'm pretty sure he would"

"Ladies principal office right now" I scoffed standing up.

"Wait!" Luke shouted standing up. Everyone's heads whipping toward him. He made his way over to me groping my left boob.

I scowled at how hard he squeezed glaring at him.

"Dickhead" I muttered.

"Mr. Patterson! You too principals office" We looked at the other two boys expectantly. Alex immediately rolling his eyes before standing up.

"We could do this the easy way or the hard way Mrs. Daniels"

"If she goes we go"

"I cannot send you two away for absolutely no reason Reginald" Mrs. Daniels spoke challenging the boys.

I close my eyes preparing myself for what came next. Alex was quick to slap my ass while Reggie pulled me in for a sweet kiss. Immediately earning gasps from my classmates.

"Now I can do it. Office all of you! And detention today after school!"

I groaned walking out of the principals office with my bandmates.

"Detention for 3 weeks. Seriously?"

"To make it worse we have to spend 2 of those with Hayley" I spoke seeing the blonde talking with Trevor just a few feet away. Being sure to send them a harsh glare, I finally turned back to the boys.

"Hey you'll be with us everything's gonna be fine" Reggie said throwing an arm around my shoulder leading me away to our next period. That we conveniently had together.

"No it won't. I also have to chaperone the stupid homecoming with Hayley" I cried wanting nothing more than for the day to be done for.

That afternoon we spent in detention not leaving until late afternoon. Due to the fact that my detention went on longer than the boys.

I walked into the studio behind Luke not really in the mood to practice.

"What's wrong y/n/n? You seem down" Reggie asked as I plopped back onto the couch.

"I'm just tired is all. And a little stressed out"

"But we've gotta practice baby, for our next gig. Sunset Curves so gonna rock that book club" Luke said picking up his six string. I watched as Alex and Reggie sent him a glare, the boy immediately putting it back down.

"Or we could take a day off" He spoke coming to sit to my left while Reggie was on my right.

"That sounds amazing" I mumbled feeling Alex begin to massage my shoulders from behind. I craned my neck allowing him more access. Now feeling a little more relaxed than before.

"So tell us y/n/n why are you stressed out?" Luke asked as I shut my eyes.

"Well for starters I'm so gonna get my ass beat when I get home" I sighed feeling Reggie begin to rub my arm to comfort me. Something he did often with how anxious I got.

"And there's just nothing I want to do more than run your ex girlfriend over with a bulldozer" I mumbled hearing a chuckle escape their lips.

"Sounds like a plan" Alex said as Luke intertwined our fingers.

"We'll make a day out of it. Just us four and a bulldozer" He joked making me giggle. The laugh got caught in my throat as I felt a soft kiss on the side of my neck.

"Seriously guys? Not today. No way" I spoke opening my eyes.

"We just wanna help you relax"

"That's what you said last time. I couldn't walk right for 2 days" I mumbled the last part.

"We'll be gentle" Reggie spoke.

"I know you will Reg. It's them I'm worried about" I spoke earning a pointed look from Alex.

"Okay Luke"

"Am I that rough?" He asked a frown forming on his face.

"Sometimes" I admitted feeling a little bad.

"Gee I'm sorry baby" Luke spoke kissing the back of my hand.

"It's okay. I like it when I'm in the mood" I said watching as Alex walked around the couch.

"Well then boys why don't we help our girl relax for today" Alex said bending down in front of me. I bit my lip as he spread my legs open feeling a slight breeze hit my covered core.

"Well there's no need for your skirt or these" Alex spoke toying with the waistbands of both my skirt and panties.

I shimmied out of them with ease leaving me exposed to my best friends like I'd been many times before.

"She just gets prettier every time"

"And wetter"

"Mind if I taste baby?" Luke asked. I nodded my head, watching as he dipped his long fingers in between my folds. Moaning as he pulled them back up to see them glistening with my cum.

"So good" He whispered putting them in his mouth.

"Okay I want a taste now" Alex said opening my legs a little wider.

"Guys. A little help" I huffed as Luke and Reggie hooked themselves on each of my thighs to keep me still.

"Please" I begged getting more turned on by the second. The blonde didn't hesitate to latch onto my core. A loud moan escaping my lips.

"Oh fuck" I struggled to keep still as he moved his tongue skillfully through my folds. Lapping it inside and out as moans fell from my lips.

I whimpered as Reggie slowly began to rub my clit making the pleasure intensify.

"Use y-you're f-fingers" I mustered out Alex obeying my request sticking two fingers in my wet pussy. Picking up the pace. My eyes screwed shut as a familiar feeling of bliss coursed through me.

"Look at me baby" Luke muttered turning my head to look at him with his free hand. I opened my eyes looking into his blue ones covered with complete lust.

He was quick to smash his lips onto mine as the other two worked on building up my orgasm. Which wasn't far at the pace Alex was working on me.

"Holy shit!" I panted pulling away and throwing my head back at the amazing sensation of my orgasm hitting.

"You squirted princess" Alex grinned wiping away the liquids dribbling down his chin. I giggled at his swollen pink lips placing a quick peck to them.

"What now baby?" Luke asked rubbing his hand on my thigh.

I looked at the three boys before discarding any remaining clothes I had left. Watching as their eyes raked me up and down like many times before.

"Reg can you just fuck me today. I really need gentle" I begged as his cheeks turned bright red whenever I asked him to do something. Whether it was sexual or not.

"Sure beautiful" He smiled lopsidedly pushing his lips onto mine.

I sighed in content as he pushed me down on the couch. My head landing on Luke's lap giving me a little leverage.

"She's something else" Alex spoke to no one in particular.

"Your telling me" Reggie panted pulling away to undo his belt and jeans. I bit my lip looking up at the boy with the blue eyes. Who no surprise had a smirk plastered on his face.

"Condom" I heard Alex say presumably to Reggie. But I was too entrance in Luke's gaze wanting to include him. Upon hearing a ripping of a package I glance back at the boy who was hovering above me.

"I can do something for you after if you want" I bit my lip speaking towards Luke.

"It's okay baby. It's about you today" He said moving his hand down from my collarbone to my boob.

Reggie and I moaned simultaneously as he slowly entered me. Immediately stretching me out.

"So tight" He muttered beginning to move at a steady pace.

A squeal escaping my lips as Luke pinched my nipples paying close attention to each of them. He'd always been a boob guy.

I pulled Reggie down towards me our lips meeting in the middle as his speed began to increase.

Then there they were again. Fingers were now rubbing circles on my clit presumably Alex's sending my body into pure ecstasy.

I moaned loudly into Reggies mouth as I felt myself my inner walls clench around him. Earning a groan from the bassist. His thrust becoming more sloppy.

"Shit. Shit. Oh fuck" He cursed as his orgasm hit. Mine coming seconds after.

"Holy fuck Reg" I panted coming down from my high.

"That was pretty fucking hot princess" Alex spoke as Reggie got off of me to go throw away the condom.

"I try" I joked sitting up. Luke immediately removing his muscle tee and handing it to me.

"You do know this isn't gonna cover much up right?" I questioned him putting it on anyway.

"Who said we wanted you to cover up baby" He said pulling me under his arm. I sighed contently placing my hands on his bare torso.

"Anyways Reg why don't you go run her a bath inside the house" Alex suggested throwing me my panties that had been thrown onto the lazy boy.

"Got it!" Reggie said coming over and placing a chaste kiss to my lips before running out of the garage.

"I get to clean her up in the shower. Called it" Luke said as Alex wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Just as long as I get to put her to bed"

"Guys I've orgasmed twice today give me a break"

"Are you feeling more relaxed princess?"

Alex asked grinning at me.

"Much. Now if we could do that consistently for the next 2 weeks then I might be able to get through detention with Hayley without ripping her head off" I spoke earning a laugh from the two boys. Both of them knowing well that I wasn't joking.

————

Up Next: Carrie Wilson x Reader

Owen Patrick Joyner x Reader

Charlie Gillespie x Reader

Alex x Male Reader

Luke Patterson x Reader

Charlie Gillespie x Reader

————

@lolychu @headheartbellarke @bookish0918 @kcd15 @ifilwtmfc @moviesbooksandfandoms @lovesanimals @lavender-writer @kaitieskidmore1 @morganayennefertyrell @iloveteenwolf @ghostofmgg

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humanlighthouse · 4 years ago

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hello i am here and i have heihua kiss prompts!! either 8. Laying a gentle kiss to the back of the other’s hand. (+bonus if hurt/comfort!) or 23. A kiss that tastes of the food/dessert they are eating. xoxo

Hello friend!! I went with the second prompt, you will notice a theme in there perhaps :D I hope you like it! This was cross-posted here for better readability~

__________

For their young master’s birthday celebration, the Xie clan went all out, as was expected.

It was a grandiose event, with only the finest of culinary delicacies, the prettiest of dancers, and the best of everything that could be drunk. Everyone of importance in the antiques and less-legally-acquired antiques business was there, in black tie - or almost everyone. Xie Yuchen’s smile never quite reached his eyes but he shook sweaty palm after sweaty palm and posed for the required photos with a level of patience that should honestly count toward his general karma. Thankfully, by midnight, the young master was deemed properly toasted to, fed and celebrated, and the guests bid their goodbyes at last.

Xie Yuchen closed his bedroom door behind him and rested his forehead against the wood panel.

Here’s to another year.

Shrugging off his jacket, he walked into his closet. His own face stared at him from three different angles as he loosened his tie. He wasn’t tired yet, but he should probably change anyway. He crossed the room toward his pajama closet, looking for something comfortable. There had been enough showing off for one night, so he pushed aside the silk co-ords. Maybe the velvet robe. He took it off the hanger, running a manicured hand over the fabric. No. Too hot for the season. He dropped it on a chair. When he turned back toward the closet, he noticed a midnight blue sleeve peeking out from behind where the robe had hung, in the darkest part of the closet. His only hoodie.

There was an idea.

He stared at it for a long moment, before grabbing the garment and shrugging it on over his dress shirt and wool-blend pants. He swapped his leather shoes for crepe-soled boots and turned the lights off.

Less than five minutes later, he exited the manor, having successfully avoided every single person in it. He had had to duck behind a vase at some point so a maid didn’t see him, and for the first time that evening, he had laughed, albeit silently. There would be no real consequences, no consequences at all, even, if he was found out, but it was exciting to sneak out. He snapped a face mask onto his ears, checked again that he hadn’t been spotted, and walked down the street and away from the gates.

As he walked, Xie Yuchen wrestled his phone out of his pants pocket. With the ease of habit, he created a throwaway account, and then pulled up the webpage of his favorite fast food place. The closest one would be too suspicious - he had been there only last month. Selecting the next one over, he submitted his order and paid. By the time he arrived, his number was first on the list, and a greasy bag of treats awaited him.

This restaurant was farther from his house but closer to the river. It was warm enough, that evening, that groups were scattered here and there along the riverside. Xie Yuchen found one empty spot with a decently clean bench to sit on, and dug into the bag.

The city lights twinkled over the water’s surface, ever changing - stop lights turning red and green and red again, car blinkers sparkling to life, office neons buzzing in the distance. There were people laughing nearby. He listened to what he could of their inept conversation as he chewed, salt and fat heavy on his tongue. Usually he would be annoyed at the forced proximity, at the unwanted company of these strangers sharing beers and laughs, but not tonight, for some reason.

Still, it was better to be alone after the night he’d had. Enough socialization for one day. Even after an entire burger and most of a large serving of fries, he didn’t have the energy to keep up the usual pretense. Maybe if he was there with a friend it would be different, but he didn’t have that many of those. Wu Xie certainly counted as one, but according to the birthday card he had sent, he was off raiding a secret spot in the South with his boyfriends this week and wouldn’t be back for a while. Xie Yuchen hoped it was code for something else. At least one of them would be having fun tonight.

He finished the fries and crumpled the greasy paper, throwing it back into the mostly empty bag. The only thing left was what he had been looking forward to: a tub of soft-serve ice cream doused with an extra helping of chocolate fudge. He rummaged around the bag for the plastic spoon and popped open the container, inhaling the sweet scent with a smile of anticipated delight. That would almost make up for tonight.

He carefully chose the ratio of chocolate to ice. That first spoonful was always the best one. He brought it to his mouth and closed his eyes. The fudge melted onto his tongue, vanilla ice cream following right behind, hot then cold, and delicious. He couldn’t help but let out a small moan.

“That good, uh?”

Long legs folded beside his on the bench and for one short second Xiao Hua was tempted to throw the ice cream tub into the river and pretend this never happened.

It was too late. Hei Xiazi had seen him, and he would never let him live this down now.

Oh sure, the man had seen him in more compromising situations, technically speaking, but from the way he smiled at Xie Yuchen’s face, Xie Yuchen knew that his guilt was obvious. He was screwed. Hei Xiazi had just hit blackmailing gold.

“Gimme a taste if it’s that good,” he asked with a jerk of his chin toward Xie Yuchen’s ice cream.

Xie Yuchen frowned and moved the tub away from him. He had expected a few days of grace before the demands started, at least.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in return.

The man’s attire was ridiculous, even by his low standards. Under his usual leather jacket, the one he always wore, the one Xie Yuchen could recognize the stink of from miles away, he wore a tank top and a black polyester tie, haphazardly tied around nothing and dangling well under his belt. He looked like a cheap gigolo. Maybe that was his new side gig. Xie Yuchen made a mental note to inquire about that.

“Well, you see, I was on my way to wish a friend a happy birthday, maybe a little later than I should have, admittedly, but what’s a little night visit between friends? Except, what should I see when I arrive at their home, but a shady silhouette sneaking out of it! Very suspicious, you’ll admit. I felt that it was my duty to make sure that the interloper was properly identified.”

“What bullshit are you sprouting now?” asked Xie Yuchen, eyes narrowed.

“I followed you,” replied Hei Xiazi with a satisfied smile.

“No you didn’t.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I checked. You ran into me here by pure chance and extrapolated the rest,” he guessed.

The smile fell from Hei Xiazi’s face, but the humor stayed in his voice.

“Yeah, okay I did.”

Xie Yuchen huffed a laugh and turned back to his ice cream before it melted.

“I really was on my way to you, though,” continued Hei Xiazi. “Look, I even have a gift and all.”

When he turned, Xie Yuchen found himself faced with a brightly patterned square. The gift wasn’t badly wrapped, Hei Xiazi’s fingers were certainly skilled enough for it, but it had been done with the tackiest paper Xie Yuchen had ever seen. There had been plenty of gifts at the party earlier, covered in gold-embroidered fabrics and satin, tucked into leather boxes and glossy bags, but this was the first that Xie Yuchen had wanted to open all night. It was the only one of those that seemed … heartfelt.

He quickly ate another spoonful of ice cream instead. It was probably just another joke.

“What’s in it?” he asked after a minute.

Hei Xiazi was still holding it out to him, and probably would until he relented. Sighing, Xie Yuchen took the package.

“Open it later.”

At the strangeness of his voice, Xie Yuchen raised his head and looked at Hei Xiazi. The lights were playing on his face, and with those stupid glasses he could never be sure of anything, but it almost looked like he was blushing. The man was looking toward the river, not at him, so Xie Yuchen allowed himself to stare.

In his hand, the ice cream tub was cold and slightly wet with condensation, and the sweetness of chocolate remained in his mouth. There were still people laughing nearby, in riotous bursts, but he found that he didn’t envy them anymore.

It was his birthday, and Xie Yuchen was going to celebrate it the way he wanted.

“Hey,” he called.

With a hum, Hei Xiazi turned, just enough for Xie Yuchen to grab his face and kiss him. He startled but didn’t pull away, rather turned his head aside to deepen the kiss, hands curling around Xie Yuchen’s waist and into his hair. His clever tongue swiped at Xie Yuchen’s lips and he licked into his mouth when they opened.

“Wow, you were right,” he exclaimed when they broke for air. “That is good ice cream!”

With a roll of his eyes, Xie Yuchen handed the tub to him. It was a day to indulge in guilty pleasures, it seemed.

#heihua #kiss prompts #my fics

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mintaka14 · 3 years ago

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Six Sentence Sunday 25 July 2021

Except I’m a rebel, so here’s more than six sentences. This is something kicking around at the back of my WIP files that was sparked by watching Dash & Lily a while ago. I posted the beginning a while back, and this is a bit more. The idea is that Marinette has crashed and burned with yet another attempt to confess to Adrien, and Alya comes up with a brilliant (?) idea to help out her bestie by playing to Adrien’s romantic streak by setting up an anonymous exchange via letters posted on a cafe notice board. Adrien loves all that chivalrous deeds for his mysterious lady stuff, and Marinette doesn’t know who she’s communicating with, so she can’t trip all over herself, and they both get to know each other and fall in love. Brilliant, right? What could possibly go wrong??

And that’s when cafe worker Luka gets caught in the middle of the shenanigans.

There were plenty of people clustered around the first bench from the entrance of the park, and the second, but there was only one at the third bench. He could see pigtails, and a girl bent over the sketchbook in her lap. As he got closer, he caught a glimpse of an assortment of clothing, notes and scribbles and odd sketches around the edges.

“Delivery for the lady at the third bench?” he called out, and his attention was caught by the figure she seemed to be working on. Was that… Jagged Stone? The coat she’d sketched on him was amazing.

“Hey, that’s really –“ The girl looked up, and Luka completely lost his train of thought as he found himself staring into endlessly blue eyes. Holy shit.

“Is that my coffee?” she asked with a tentative smile, and Luka jerked back to attention. He looked down at the chocolate and fluff with extra everything and all the froufrou his boss had been able to jam into one cup.

“Not exactly.”

The girl’s eyes fell on the cup in his hands, and she let out a soft breath.

“I guess he has a sweet tooth,” she said, and he handed her the cup, trying not to react to the brush of her fingers.

“You didn’t see who placed the order?” she asked a little wistfully. “It- it wasn’t you, was it?”

“Me?” Luka was still reeling under the impact of those blue, blue eyes. “Right now, I wish it had been.”

He nodded at the cup of chocolate and marshmallow fluff in her hands. “Although I’m more of a coffee guy.”

She lit up in a smile, and any semblance of rational thought that Luka had left was gone. Damn, she was just too gorgeous.

“Me too, to be honest. I wouldn’t get half the things I need to do done without a regular caffeine hit. Are you a night owl too?”

“Too often, yeah. It kind of comes with the territory.”

She raised an eyebrow at that, and he found himself talking more.

“I play in a couple of bands, and I’d keep falling asleep over my guitar in the middle of a gig without coffee to keep me going.”

“You’re a musician?”

He grinned and ducked his head in acknowledgement. “What about you? What keeps you up at night?”

It was only after he’d said it that he realised how that could have sounded, but the girl didn’t seem to notice.

“Design and sewing.” She let out a faint huff. “The middle of the night always seems to be about the only time I can focus on my projects without something interrupting me, so… coffee.” She pulled a face at the mountain of fluffy chocolate in her hand, and then seemed to realise that they were still standing in the middle of the park. She backed up a reluctant step. “I should – I should stop holding you up. You probably need to get back to work, and here I’m – Sorry. Thanks for bringing me the hot chocolate.”

“You can hold me up any time,” he sighed, but only when she was out of hearing. He turned and headed back towards the coffee shop, but he came to an abrupt stop at the sound of running footsteps and the touch of a hand on his arm.

“Sorry, sorry!” the girl gasped. She held out a raspberry red macaron wrapped in cellophane and ribbon. It was a work of art. “I nearly forgot. Could you give this to the person who ordered the hot chocolate for me?”

“It looks like a ladybug,” he said stupidly, and she blushed again. “No, it’s cute. Lucky.”

“I could use a bit of luck,” she muttered, then she met his eyes and her smile grew brighter. “It was really nice to meet you, Luka. Thanks for my sugar rush.”

#lukanette #pro lukamari #they're idiots your honour #shenanigans #daring deeds

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passionate-hedgehog · 4 years ago

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Sweatshirt

Summary: Y/n gained more than an office when she was promoted to a main writer for Mythical Entertainment.But while she’s celebrating the new aspects of her job, her boyfriend seems to be crumbling.

Pairing: Damien Haas x Reader

Word count: 4584

Warnings: None

A/N: When I wrote this, I was really just wanting to write a story about how a hoodie exposed a Damien x Reader relationship and then I added some angst because...entertainment, ya know? But at the time I’m posting this fic, I’ve had gone through almost losing my job because of state health mandates due to COVID. I found out that my restaurant thoroughly respects my work ethic and my schedule will remained unchanged. But working an entire shift unsure if I’ll be returning...or if I’ll see any of my coworkers that I’ve come to know as family ever again? I was able to relate to this a lot more than I thought I would. I’m not downplaying anyone that goes through uncertain things, especially during 2020. But I hope it can help a little bit.

Y/n’s morning had been one for the books. She ran into her boyfriend’s former boss, Ian Hecox, at her favorite coffee shop while wearing a hoodie she DEFINITELY wasn’t meant to be sporting. The item had been a part of an unreleased merch line for SMOSH. They had been planning on announcing it the week after Defy, SMOSH’s parent company, had unfortunately shut down. Select cast and crew had been gifted with the limited stock, and Y/n had discovered it in her boyfriend’s closet just minutes before she ran out the door to get to the coffee shop.

Ian, a man she had yet to be introduced to before that morning, had been polite but concerned about how she had the item in the first place. She wanted to give the simple answer that her boyfriend of four months, Damien Haas, didn’t know she took it from his closet that morning. But Damien being in a relationship hadn’t been general knowledge to many people yet, and she didn’t want to put him in that position. He had been trying to work past his SMOSH days and focusing on future endeavors. She didn’t want to reconnect dots that he had worked so hard to disconnect. After reassuring the man that she did not, in fact, legitimately steal it and that the owner never wore it out in public, she apologized for wearing it and promised to remove it once she got to her destination.

When Y/n made it to work, she was greeted with the two head-writing team members sporting nearly creepy smiles aimed at her. She narrowed her eyes at them and immediately grew suspicious. The writers, Nick and Ellie, pulled her down the hallway towards the various offices and stopped in front of a single closed door. Ellie stood off to the side of the door but grasped at the handle.

“Congrats on your promotion!” She winked and pushed the door open, letting Y/n look thoroughly into the room.

“Is this...do I have my own… what?!” Y/n looked between Ellie and the room. “What??”

“Rhett and Link, and the rest of us, agreed that since you’ve been promoted to a main writer position AND you’ve been handling a lot of other projects that go beyond your job description, you should have the space fitting for it. They have a new investment that you’ll be working with.” Ellie moved to stand by her fellow head writer, Nick.

“Trust us. You’ll need this space. You’re about to have your hands full.” Was all Nick supplied, as cryptic as it was. “There’s a meeting in 20 minutes. You won’t have to worry about being late now that you’re so close to the main offices. See you in a few!”

The duo walked away and left Y/n to take in what happened entirely.

“My own office?” She wondered as she finally took her first steps into her own space. There was a desk, a chair, the same kind of desktop that is used in the other offices, and room for her personal touch. She had dreamt of her own office, and she finally had it. Y/n took out her phone and noted she had enough time to grab her meeting materials from her bag, and decided to make it to the meeting early.

-------------------------

The meeting had left the writer confused. Mythical had purchased SMOSH, her boyfriend’s former employer. It was a happy thing. She knew it was a happy thing. Damien had walked her down memory lane when Defy had shut down, and he found himself at home more than he wanted to be. It had been therapeutic for him. But he eventually decided to leave those memories there in the past. And now she was hit with the dilemma of whether or not she should tell him. Would she even be allowed to tell him?

“Hey, Babe!” Damien’s voice called from the doorway.

Y/n looked up from her desktop, all inner turmoil disappearing when she saw her boyfriend’s smiling face. “Hey! How’d you find me?”

“Nick walked me down here.” The brunette let himself into the office and sat in the chair across from his girlfriend. “This is so cool. You didn’t tell me you were getting an office. We could have gone to Target and grabbed some cute things.”

“It was a surprise. I didn’t know about it until I got here this morning. Oh! Speaking of!” The woman grabbed her bag and shot an apologetic look. “I might have made a bad decision that I definitely need to apologize for.”

Damien cocked his head in confusion, similar to that of a puppy.

Y/n pulled out the black and blue hoodie from her bag and passed it over to her boyfriend. “I took this on my way out. I was in a hurry and didn’t quite look to see what it was I had put on. Eventually, I realized what I was wearing in public, and I put it in my bag. I’m sorry, Babe.”

Damien’s eyes met the fabric, and he shrugged. “Eh, it’s fine. You can just keep it, actually. I already have so many hoodies and shirts from...you can just have itz. I bet it looks better on you anyway. I don’t need it.”

Y/n copied Damien’s confused look from earlier. “Dames, this is your hoodie. YOUR hoodie. You designed this, and it’s your only copy of it. I can’t take it, Babe. How about I throw it in the wash when we get home, and I’ll just put it back where I got it from?”

Damien shook his head. “No, that’s okay. Just...consider it a gift, I guess. I don’t need it. Take it.”

“Dames-.” Y/n began.

“I think I’ll meet you in the car. I have some calls to make for a few auditions. Take your time, Y/n.” Damien got up from his seat, immediately breaking eye-contact with his girlfriend.

After the voice-over actor left the office, Y/n let out a sigh and leaned as far back in her chair as she could, her head dangling off the headrest. She debated with herself for a few moments on whether they should talk out what was definitely him pushing unresolved feelings into a box. She decided that there was enough excitement for that day, proceeded to pack her things, and made her way to her boyfriend’s car.

--------------------

A few weeks later, Y/n found herself in a private meeting with her bosses Rhett and Link. After the news that Mythical had purchased SMOSH, Y/n had found out that she would work as a main writer for Mythical and that she would also help out with minimal production work at SMOSH while they built their team back up. The SMOSH gig wouldn’t be long-term, but it was definitely something different than what she knew. The writer had assisted with some production work on GMM during her career, so the production aspect itself wasn’t unfamiliar to her. Working for two different channels? That would be tricky.

It was not as tricky as treading the waters with Damien once he finally found out that SMOSH was coming back to life, which would be difficult since Y/n would be the liaison between SMOSH and Mythical for the foreseeable future. She would be working with Ian, going to board meetings, working in the SMOSH half of the building, and helping create a staff for SMOSH. Y/n was always up for a challenge, a chance to expand her horizons in her career. She just hoped that it wouldn’t damage the relationship she worked hard to build with her partner.

“Tomorrow is your meeting with Ian. We’ll give you the black card to charge the lunch to. He didn’t have an exact number of how many people would be showing up, but it should be fine.” Rhett handed the credit card to her. “The cafe you picked didn’t seem too pricey, so we’re not worried. Just make sure not to lose the card.”

Link leaned forward in the chair he was occupying, folding his arms on to the desk in front of him. “Have you been in contact with him yet? Introduce yourself and all of that?”

“Uh…” Y/n glossed over the fact that she had, in fact, already met Ian in person almost a month ago on accident. “Yeah...We already discussed a little bit about tomorrow. Going over what he’ll be telling his team and things of that sort. He mentioned that he had been keeping it under wraps from them. But I’m ready for it. I can’t imagine that happening to Mythical. I’d be devastated. I’m very thankful that you guys run your own ship.”

Rhett gave a shrug and a short “Eh, we try.” that caused Link to give a quick laugh.

--------------------

The morning of the meeting with Ian felt...off... to Y/n. When she woke up, Damien had already vacated the bed. She thought that maybe he had decided to go to the meeting that he had no idea she would be at. Perhaps she could subtly slip it in that she’d be there and they could take the same car. It took her a few minutes of searching the apartment to realize that her partner wasn’t even home. She didn’t know where he was. She only hoped that he would be at the cafe later. Y/n shook it off and began to get ready. Today was going to be nerve-wracking enough without him there.

Y/n made it to the cafe ten minutes before the determined meeting time. She found Ian easily and approached him with her head held high and an incredibly pleasant smile plastered to her face.

“Ian?” She asked as she approached his chair. He turned to her and watched the lightbulb go off in his head. “I’m Y/f/n Y/l/n from Mythical! And now, SMOSH...kinda.”

He stood up and shook her hand. “Hey. Nice to officially meet you! Although, I believe we’ve met before…”

Y/n winced and nodded, taking a seat across from him. There were a handful of empty chairs scattered around the table. She didn’t count them but was glad that the lunch meeting had already been approved by her bosses to be charged on the black card.

“Before we get started,” Ian began. “I just want to clarify that I haven’t told anyone what this meeting is about, and I’m still not all too sure who will be making it. A lot of things have been up in the air for so long, I’ve had to learn to just go with the flow.”

“Honestly, same.” Y/n replied as the waitress approached them.

A couple of people approached the table and greeted Ian and took seats by him while Y/n chatted with her usual waitress. The newcomers and Ian gave their drink orders before the server walked away.

“Shayne, Court, I’d like to introduce you to Y/n of Mythical Entertainment. Y/n/, Shayne and Courtney are two of SMOSH’s actors. They were hired in 2016.” Ian introduced.

“It’s really nice to meet you two! I spent the last month watching a lot of SMOSH, and you guys crack me UP! It’s almost impossible for me not to laugh at a video with either of you in it. Or any video, to be honest. Except for the Dominos mukbang. I got a little uncomfortable at the end of that one.” Y/n winced at the end of her introduction.

The three conversed as more people showed up, Keith showing up with Noah and Olivia. Matt Raub could be heard arguing good-naturedly with Sarah Whittle down the sidewalk as they approached. Lastly, Lasercorn and Mari appeared separately but arriving at about the same time. All of the chairs around the table were full except for the one to Y/n’s left. She glanced at it longlingly before giving her full attention to Ian.

“So! Should we order and then talk about why we’re here while we wait for the food?” Y/n suggested.

Ian nodded in agreement, and Y/n made eye contact with their server, pulling her over to the group. Everyone gave their order to the waitress before Y/n gave her own and then proceeded to give the order for Damien, in hopes that he would show up in the end.

“But you can put that last one on our personal tab. I might just end up taking it home. Thanks, Clementine.” Y/n called as the waitress walked away.

Y/n was about to officially start the meeting when her phone went off loudly. She pulled it out of her pocket to send it to voicemail when she saw that it was Damien’s name. “I’m so sorry. I actually need to take this really quickly. Continue your conversations.”

Y/n rose from her seat and walked off a few paces. She answered her call, hoping it would be her boyfriend telling her that he had a meeting he would be late for (the one she was at) and that he wouldn’t be able to pick up lunch that day. What it ended up being, though, was Y/n trying to subtly convince Damien to go to the meeting she knew he had (the same one she was at, but he still didn’t know that part) and failing miserably.

“You know where I am with that, Y/n. I don’t know why you’re pushing it. It was a good few years, but it’s done! I need to figure out what’s next for me. Dwelling on the past isn’t going to fix it.”

Y/n took a deep breath. “Have you even talked to anyone about this meeting? Do you even know what it’s about? Maybe something amazing and wonderful will come out of it!! You won’t know unless you try! And I know you’re building on your VO work, but SMOSH is already here and waiting for you. LITERALLY. WAITING.”

Damien grew quiet on the other end of the line, and Y/n realized she said the wrong thing. “What are you talking about. Y/n? What do you mean by ‘literally waiting’? How would you know anything about SMOSH’s meeting?”

“I just..I don’t...Damien. Please. Coming to this meeting could be what you need, right now.”

“You said coming instead of going. Why would you use ‘coming’ instead of ‘going’?”

“Oh my GOD, can you please stop analyzing what I’m saying for five fucking minutes and just listen to the point I’m trying to make here?!” Y/n noticed she was yelling and apologized before talking quieter and calmer. “Please, I’m begging you. Come to this meeting. They need you here. They’re your family.”

“Family wouldn’t keep info, like this meeting, a secret. Right?”

That caused Y/n to pause. “They...they didn’t tell you about the meeting?”

“They definitely told me. You didn’t, though.”

Y/n realized that she was losing grip with the conversation. “No, wait-Damien, I didn’t-”

“I’ll talk to you later, Y/n. Or not. Who knows, am I right?” Damien ended the call with a beep audible from Y/n’s end.

After taking a few deep breaths and clearing her eyes from any of the tears built up from frustration and legitimate sadness, she collected herself and returned to the table. When she sat down, she noticed all eyes were on her.

“What did Damien have to say?” Ian asked with a sad smile that told her he already knew the answer.

“He uh...he can’t make it. Something came up.” Y/n cleared her throat and took a sip of her diet coke. “Any chance we can just completely ignore what just happened?”

“How do you know, Damien?” The question came from someone on her left.

“I guess not,” She took a bigger sip of her drink. “Damien and I...have been seeing each other. For a few months now.”

The surprised reactions that spread around the whole table proved to Y/n that her boyfriend really didn’t tell anyone about their relationship, including Shayne, whom he called his best friend. Y/n couldn’t imagine not telling someone that important about a relationship that’s lasted as long as it had. But after what went down over the phone, the breaking of trust and the arguing, she thought maybe there was good reason for it. In an attempt to not dwell on what happened, Y/n called on Ian to continue the meeting.

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Instead of going to her own apartment after the meeting with SMOSH, Y/n decided to take Damien his food in hopes of a peace offering and have a chance to talk everything out. She pulled into the visitor parking of the apartments and took a second to collect herself. She knew her partner was hurting. The signs of his anxiety and personal, private compulsions were showing through when he thought she couldn’t see. She knew he was struggling, but all she wanted to do was fix it. But how? Would he even let her into the apartment?

She knocked on his door and waited for an answer. She knocked again a few minutes later, before taking out her key. Naturally, she’d respect his want for space, but at that moment, she didn’t have it in her. She made her way into the apartment and eventually found him laid out against his headboard, playing his Switch on his bed. He didn’t look up when she walked in or when she sat on the bed.

“I uh...I brought you your order from the cafe. Do you want it now, or should I put it in the fridge?” She asked gently from her spot at his feet.

He clicked the lock button and put the handheld device down. Looking at the bag in his girlfriend’s hands, he gestured for her to hand it to him. She leaned over to give it to him, and he put the paper bag next to his Switch. Without speaking, he nodded his head towards the door, and Y/n picked up his hint.

“Right. You probably don’t want me here right now...uh..”She scratched at her neck, disappointed in herself for thinking that he’d want anything to do with her at the moment. “I’ll just...I gotta grab some of my things from the bathroom first. I want to make sure I give you all the space you need.”

Y/n made to get off the bed when Damien cleared his throat. “No, Y/n. I was stretching my neck. You don’t have to leave.”

The writer turned to face him, pushing what she hoped was a convincing smile on her face. “It’s ok! Really! You deserve some space after what happened. I completely lied to you about today, and that’s gotta feel like trash. I can let you eat in peace for once.”

“Please don’t.” He met her eyes, and she saw sadness there. “I can wait to eat. I just...I really want you to stay. Please?”

She nodded and pulled herself up the bed to lean against the headboard next to him. “Do you want to talk about it? I understand if you don’t. And it’s completely reasonable not to want to tell me about it at all. I am sorry, Dames. I didn’t know how to tell you, so I thought maybe it would go smoothly if you just saw me at the meeting. I figured it’d be easier handling the topic of ‘us,’ too. Which...was weird to do with or without you.”

“Yeah. Shayne had questions for me. But I’m not upset that you told them. I can’t imagine the pressure that put you under. It couldn’t have been easy trying to get around it in the first place.” Damien kissed the top of her head.

Y/n looked him in the eyes and gave a sad smile. “I’m worried about you. You tell me you’re okay and that you’re moving on, but...to me, it doesn’t look like it. To someone on the outside, maybe. But I’ve been with you since before Defy shut down. You haven’t processed it or grieved it. You barely talk to your best friend. It shows a lot that you hadn’t told him about me. Like...yeah, you’re a private person. But you don’t usually hide things from Shayne.”

The actor nodded along with her words. “Yeah, I...I don’t know how to...like I just…”

Y/n noticed he was struggling and held his hand, quietly waiting for him to continue.

“Defy shutting down and SMOSH limiting everything it was doing was hard. When we were as happy as we could get working for Defy, I never thought about ‘what’s after this?’ I didn’t think I’d have to worry about it. It all seemed to be going so well...So when it came, the loss of it all...that’s what happened. All of it was lost. Everything I did, all of the moments, the time...It felt like two years of my pure energy that I was never going to get back. I put everything I am into my life at SMOSH, and it felt like it didn’t matter in the end. So, I moved forward as fast and as hard as I could to outrun the pain I knew was coming. Unfortunately… the running didn’t work, and the pain still came. And I feel like I lost connections with people most important to me along the way.”

“No, Damien… you didn’t lose those connections. Trust me. They miss you. They need you in their lives. Whether it’s through SMOSH or just inviting them over for pizza and video games. Baby, they still love you. I promise.” Y/n sat up straighter and pulled her legs underneath her, letting both knew caps lay against Damien’s outstretched legs. “I can’t give any advice towards the running away from what happened because we both know I’m a little escape artist when conflict arises. But I think this conversation right here is a great way to begin to work through it. But I think it would work better if you talked it through with your best friend that went through the same thing.”

Damien pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her. “Hmm...maybe. And you’re not that much of an escape artist anymore. You forced your way into my apartment and invited yourself on to my bed. We could have had a huge fight, but you went through with it anyway.”

Y/n looked up at him with her head still on his chest. “Because I love you. And I don’t want you to be sad anymore…”

Damien leaned down and kissed her, gently slipping his hands under her shirt before he pulled away. “You are more than I’ll ever deserve. Thank you for making sure I work out the things that bother me and affect me.”

“I’ll say it again.” She accentuated each of her following words with a poke to his torso. “I. Love. You. Dumb dumb.”

He grabbed her hand and guided her, so she was straddling his lap. “That hoodie you took from me last month, I didn’t get to see you in it. Can I get a peak?”

“Uh...sure? Are you sure, though? You seemed pretty passionate about not ever seeing it again.” Y/n rested her hands at his sides, softly running her thumbs over his shirt as if to comfort him.

“I think...I just didn’t want to think about my last few good memories with the company and everything. But I don’t want to run from it anymore.”

Y/n’s smile lit up her whole face. “Yeah? Then yeah, I can go put it on.”

“But could I convince you to wear it with nothing else on?”

#damien haas x reader #damien haas #smosh fanfiction #just me self-projecting my problems on to damien

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