#yes we said we were gonna focus on demons but

[thealtoduck]

Well, fuck me… on a magic altar

Garfield Logan x Male Reader

Warnings: Smut, bottom!Reader, top!Gar, anal sex, virgininty loss, missionary position, magic sex ritual, unprotected sex, friends with benefits (… kinda)…

Part 1 & Part 2…

Summary: Rachel needs your and Gar’s help to seal away a demon but the process of doing it is rather heated…

——

You were working your regular shift in Madame Xanadu’s parlor, it was only 2 hours left until closing. There wasn’t a lot of business that day so you sat behind the reception reading a magazine. The bell over the door rang making you look up as Rachel and Gar came over towards you.

”Hey guys, what’s up?” you said casually, closing your magazine. Rachel looked awkwardly towards Gar for help but Gar looked just as lost on what to do. ”Y/n, uhm- there is no way to make this easy so i’m just gonna say it” Rachel warned.

”Y/n, i need you to have sex with Gar” Rachel blurted out.

”Get out of my parlor! What kind of establishment do you think we’re running here?” you stated shocked.

”Y/n, you don’t understand, i need you and Gar to have sex on a magic altar to seal away a demon” Rachel tried.

”I’m sorry, what did you just say…?” you asked still just as confused.

”Okay, Y/n, listen! There is this magic evil demon who was sealed away in a magic prison 5000 years ago in a magic temple. Every 100 years you need to do a ritual to keep him locked in, the ritual includes having virgin get their virginty taken on the altar inside the magic temple, that’s why we need you” Rachel explained fully.

You turned to Gar and said seriously ”Bro… you told her i’m a virgin… not cool”. ”Sorry, it was urgent” Gar apologised. ”Y/n focus! Are you in or not?” Rachel questioned in a panic, banging her fist down on the counter. ”Will you at least buy me dinner first?” you asked. Rachel looked like she was about to kill you before Gar cut in saying ”Of course we will”.

”Okay sick, let’s go” you said and picked up your jacket. You then walked in to Madame Xanadu’s fortune telling room, where she was shuffling a deck of cards with magic and said ”Hey, Madame Xanadu?”. ”Yes, dear?” she said looking up from her cards.

”I’m gonna have to leave early, Rachel and Gar are taking me to somekind of temple so Gar can can take my virginity to keep a demon imprisoned” you explained. Madame Xanadu didn’t flinch at the statement, only uttering a small ”Has it already been a hundered years, huh? Wow, time flies”. Before saying a quick ”Alright have fun”.

The three of you left stopping at a fast food place to get you and Gar some food. You three then made your way in to an alley where Rachel opened a portal that you all went through. On the other side you stepped out to a magnificent stone temple.

Intricate carvings were all along the walls and pillars. Torches were spread along the walls, tons of candles had been lit around the big stone altar table which was waiting for you and Gar. ”There’s the altar, when you’re ready just get up on it and do your thing” Rachel explained drawing a chalk circle around it.

”I guess i’ll just leave you to it then, good luck” Rachel said and re-opened the portal and went through, once it closed you and Gar were left alone. It didn’t hit you how awkward the whole thing was until now, when Rachel was there it had felt like you were doing your part in saving the world.

Now that it was just you and Gar the whole thing felt a lot more personal. Sure, you and Gar had been flirty and had cuddled a little in the past but you weren’t boyfriends or even dating. The two of you sat down on the temple floor in silence and ate your food.

”How are you feeling?” Gar asked caringly nudging your leg. You took a sip from your soda and answered ”Just trying to absorb the whole thing, i’m gonna be completely honest this is not how i imagined losing my virginity”.

Gar let out a small chuckle. ”Are you fine with you know… it being with me?” he asked. ”Yeah, i’d rather it be with someone i know and trust” you answered making Gar smile and say ”I promise i’ll try to make it special for you”. The two of you finished your fast food dinner and stood up.

”So… where do we begin…?” you asked awkwardly. ”How about…” Gar started and pressed a soft kiss against your lips, the action made your cheeks heat up. Gar then led you in to the chalk circle Rachel had drawn out and you sat down on the edge of the stone altar.

You took of your jacket and threw it aside, Gar stood himself between your spead legs and you and Gar started shyly making out, Gar letting you get a feel for it. His lips were delicate to yours making a quiet moan escape your mouth. Gar ran his hands on your thighs massaging them lightly.

You put your arms around his neck as your make out grew more heated. Once you pulled your lips apart, Gar looked at you with loving eyes. He wanted to make you feel good so you could remember it with joy despite the circumstances.

”Can you help me undress?” you asked him he nodded and got down on one knee. He started by taking off your shoes and socks, he then took of his own, he then stood up again. You unbuttoned your pants and Gar helped you pull them down your legs.

Gar then removed his hoodie and t-shirt revealing his slim athletic physique. You put your fingers against his chest trailing them lightly over his skin. You moved further up on the altar as Gar took of his own pants leaving him in his boxers.

The two of you sat on the altar making out, Gar lifted your shirt and helped you remove it. You had expected the big temple room to feel cold and drafty to your skin, but the many lit candles around the altar and spread through the room made it warm and cozy almost like being next to a fire place.

Gar helped you lay down on the altar which felt chilly at first touch to your back making you let out a small gasp, Gar noticed and picked up his shirt laying it down under you as a small blanket. ”Is that better?” he asked. ”Yeah” you said.

Gar positioned himself on top of you as you made out in your underwear, your bulges rubbing softly against each other for the first time. Both your cocks had grown hard in anticipation what was about to happen between the two of you.

You broke your lips from Gar and whispered ”I’m ready”. Gar nodded and uttered a small ”Okay”. His fingers slipped under the waistband of your boxers and Gar gently pulled them down, revealing your untouched manhood to him. Once your boxers were fully of he threw them aside.

He then tugged of his own underwear revealing his hung dick. Gar climbed off the altar and rumaged through his bag eventually picking up a bottle of lube. He then came back, he sat on his knees and spread your legs revealing your virgin ass for him, your face heated up as he did.

Gar noticed you had grown a bit nervous and he looked you in the eyes. ”You’re so beautiful” he said genuinely he then leaned down placing a kiss on your upper chest. He trailed kisses down your body until he eventually placed one on your dick making it twitch in excitement.

”I gonna stretch you out now, okay?” he let you know. You gave him an approving nodd and he poured some lube in his hand spreading it on his finger. He lifted your legs revealing your tight virgin hole to him, then his first finger made contact making you let out a light gasp as his lube slicked finger penetrated you.

The new feeling made you let out quiet moan. Gar studied your face for signs of discomfort but you were taking it so well. ”You’re doing so good, Y/n” he praised lightly as his finger was all the way inside you. He slowly moved his finger in and out of you until he felt he could add another finger.

He kept stretching you out until he had added a third finger and worked you open. He then removed his fingers from your ass making sure to pull out slowly. ”Are you ready?” Gar asked softly. ”Yeah” you confirmed taking his hand yours and placing a kiss on it.

Gar then spread lube over his cock and aligned himself with your hole and slowly started pushing in to your virgin heat. You gripped Gar’s arm, squeezing it as Gar slowly filled your ass with his cock. ”Your taking me so well Y/n” Gar whispered encouragingly.

Once he was fully sheathed inside you, he gave you time to adjust to him as he placed kisses on your cheek and whispered praises in your ear. After a while you told him ”You can start moving”. ”Okay” Gar nodded and slowly started pulling out before softly pushing back in.

Gar was completely stuffed inside but the previous pain had turned to pleasure as Gar rhythmically moved in and out of your tightness. You and Gar started hungrily making out once more, both your moans in pleasure echoing through the temple room

Your shared body heat created beads of sweat on your foreheads and gave your naked bodies a light sheen in the candle light. The carvings along the walls had started glowing white, probably a sign that the magic ritual had begun.

You wondered if the demon could see you get deflowered for the purpose of sealing him away. ”Gar, fuck your big” you moaned as his gentle thrusts filled you up. ”That’s right baby” Gar said with a cocky smile.

You hands pressed against Gar’s pecs, this action made Gar release a loud moan. He was in ecstasy as your tight virgin hole was squeezed around his large cock. ”Such a perfect ass” Gar praised, he wanted to bring you to the same kind of pleasure he felt.

He did his best to thrust deeper in to you without going to hard wanting to stay gentle for your first time. It worked as his length grazed against your prostate making you let out a sudden moan.

His sudden action made your orgasm quickly approach making you brain go foggy from . ”Gar, I’m gonna- I’m gonn-!” you moaned but couldn’t finish as you shot ropes of cum over yourself and Gar’s abs. The sight of your cum covered self made Gar wanna go wild.

He did is best to contain the beast from erupting from within him and taking you like a common bitch. You and Gar kissed and he said gently ”I’m close”. As he plowed himself in to you the feeling of your walls clenching around him drove him over the edge.

With one last pump in your now loose virgin hole, Gar groaned loudly as his cock erupted filling you with his warm load, his seed staining your innocence forever. Both of you panted heavily as your hot and sweaty bodies tangeled together letting you both catch your breath.

The glowing white walls created a large flash of white signifying the rituals completion. Your body felt shaky as you tried to move, Gar let you sit on the edge of the altar as he helped you get dressed again. ”Did it feel good?” he wondered.

”Yeah” you answered dreamily not having fully snapped back to reality yet, this made Gar smile. ”Was- Was i good?” you found yourself asking. Gar cupped your cheeks and said ”You were perfect” and he placed a loving kiss on your lips.

Once you both were fully dressed Rachel soon emerged through a portal to pick you up. She understandingly didn’t ask a lot more questions than ”Did it go well?” and a ”Feeling okay?” directed towards you. She opened a portal that led to right outside your apartment building and you all walked through.

Gar then turned to Rachel saying ”Can we have a moment?”. Rachel nodded understandingly and gave the two of you some privacy. ”Look i know this whole thing wasn’t ideal so i wanted to ask you out on real date to you know make up for it” Gar said.

You smirked and said jokingly ”Really? This was all i could have possibly wanted” making Gar chuckle. You continued ”I will however take you up on that date offer, how about sometime next week?”. Gar nodded and said ”Sure, i’ll text you later with a date”. ”Okay” you nodded and you pulled each other in to a hug. Gar gave you a quick kiss on the cheek before letting go.

You waved him and Rachel goodbye as they entered another portal taking them home. You then on shaky legs made your way in to your apartment building, dreaming about you future date with Gar.

[catalinaromanoff]

changing alongside the seasons

natasha romanoff x pyrokinetic reader

summary: i touched a bit on natasha and y/n’s dynamic change in my first work, overheated, but i wanted to go more in depth! PLEASE REQUEST STUFF!!!!

warnings: mission injury/stitching, mean nat, panic attack, self conscious thoughts

детка (detka) = babe

y/h = your hair type (waves, curls, braids, etc.)

winter:

“and it’s so hard. and it’s cold here.” (iykyk)

i groan as i hear tony’s unbelievably chafing voice again. for the third time in about the last ten minutes, he has complained about the cold surrounding us.

we were currently on a stakeout mission out in russia. tony and i had separated from the group in order to keep an eye on more ground, but obviously that was a mistake. due to my pyrokinetic abilities, i couldn’t even feel the freezing temperatures tony was complaining about. unfortunately for me, tony was making sure i was aware about how agonizing it was.

of course they would leave the most annoying person outside in freezing russian winter weather.

to be honestly i was a bit skeptical at the fact that he was truly that cold. he was the one with the super cool and techy suit, and i was clad in just my regular hero suit. no jacket, no snowboots, just me and my body. i mean it makes sense considering im a portable heater.

tony and i were currently crouched behind a huge tree log that had fallen over who knows how long ago. tony was sitting criss crossed with his back against the trunk while i was crouched. i would peek over the trunk every once in a while waiting for the signal to ambush. i envied steve, natasha, clint, and wanda. they were inside. away from tony stark.

“cmon y/n, spare me a bit of your demon powers. i think the world is gonna miss my ass if it so happens to freeze off while we’re out here.”

i roll my eyes.

“do you ever shut up? we’re supposed to be paying attention and making sure we dont miss the signal-“

“yea that’s cute and all, but i’m freezing. now cmon, lend me a bit of warmth.”

i scoff and send a glare his way.

“is that really how you’re gonna ask me? and anyway, how will i even be able to heat you up through that clunky suit you have on??”

there’s a beat of silence. finally.

however the silence doesn’t last long. i spot steve up on the rooftop of the hydra facility giving us the signal. i dont know who came up with it, but i giggle at steve trying to do a bird motion.

“let’s go tony, time to beat up some bad guys.”

~~

okay sooo the bad guys ended up beating us.

it’s funny now that i think about it. like they literally ambushed us when we were supposed to be ambushing them.

anyway, the mission group was currently sitting quietly in the quinjet. clint was piloting the jet while natasha was co-piloting. wanda currently sat next to me on one of the very big seats on the quinjet. something tony said about having “maximum beauty sleep room.” speaking of tony, he was thankfully sleeping at a desk located across from where me and wanda were sitting. why there was a desk there instead of a coach of some sort is beyond me. anyway, he looked silly. his mouth was open, he was snoring, and probably worst of all: drooling.

definitely not a contender for a live action sleeping beauty movie.

i place my focus back on wanda and stitching up a pretty nasty cut she had received on her right thigh. i was about halfway through when i hear some chittering. the others were obviously cold because they had been dragged through snow, which was why they opted to wear jackets and sweaters even though we were inside. but of course, natasha refused. she used her usual excuse of russians being immune to the cold.

i look over at natasha and just like i had suspected: she was shivering.

“hey baby?”

she doesn’t look over at me but instead keeps her eyes in front of her. caught red-handed.

“yes?”

“are you sure you don’t need a jacket or a sweater? something? maybe you could come over here and i could warm you up a bit.”

natasha furrows her eyebrows and shakes her head no.

“but i’m not cold?”

“my love, you are shivering. me and wanda can hear your chattering teeth from all the way over here.”

steve suddenly steps out of the quinjet’s bathroom.

“i agree with y/n, nat. i couldn’t do my business without listening to your chittering.”

i mouth the words “thank you” over to steve. he in turn gives me his signature bright smile and thumbs up.

“just let me finish wanda’s stitches and i’ll be able to hold you, okay?”

natasha hums and i can tell she is not happy.

“also, do me a favor and wipe that frown off of your face.”

i hear clint let out a little belly laugh at my comment and gives natasha a little smack on the arm.

“she got you there.”

around five minutes later i finish up with wanda and make sure nothing else is bothering her.

“alright babe, you’re good. if you need anything please don’t hesitate to ask me.”

wanda gives me a tired smile and nods.

“will do. thanks y/n.”

i watch as wanda walks across the quinjet and sets herself up to take a nap across two of the seats. once i make sure she has settled and is comfortable, i look over at natasha. i can tell she can feel my eyes burning into the back of her head, but being the stubborn woman that she is, ignores my staring.

“nat. cmere.”

nothing. i realize im gonna have to drag her over here the hard way.

i make my way over to where she is seated and stand behind her. my arms wrap around her shoulders and i stuff my face into her neck. im not too worried about my pyrokinesis considering she was nearly blue from how cold she was. a little heat wouldn’t hurt her.

i feel my body start to heat up and i decide to push her buttons a little. by blowing a bit of my breath on her neck i’ve succeeded in making tiny little goosebumps appear on her skin. i smile into her neck and place a few kisses on her neck.

just when she is getting used to the warm treatment, i pull away.

the groan i hear natasha let out is one of the greatest sounds in the world. i win.

“i don’t see why you need me, considering you’re not cold, ms russian spy.”

i know natasha is staring at me as i make my way back to the seat i had been residing in for the beginning of our flight. i close my eyes and wait for her to come to me.

much like i had anticipated, i feel a presence make itself imminent on my lap. i giggle as natasha puts her face in my neck much like i had done to her a few minutes prior. she lets her feet dangle over my lap and the seat.

“so much for not being cold, huh?”

nat blows raspberries on my skin which causes me to heat up. cheater.

nonetheless i wrap my arms around her and hold her tight to my chest. i let myself relax as i feel our breathing begin to sync up. i gaze down at natasha to see her piercing green eyes already looking at me. she leans up and we share a heartfelt kiss. i knew nat wasn’t always herself after missions and needed extra support, which explained why she was so comfortable with doing this stuff in front of our teammates. it was so cute.

we pull away from each other when we both run out of air. i pull back a bit and rub my nose against hers. we both giggle and i heat up my body more. nat in turn crawls further into me. her arms are now pressed against her chest and she moved her feet so that they were now on the outer side of my left thigh. it was perfect.

“i love you nat.”

i feel natasha hum against my neck. she begins kissing around that area to show me in a nonverbal way that she loves me as much as i love her.

spring:

i smile while gazing at myself in the mirror. i was currently wearing a gorgeous floral sundress that ended just above my knees. “not my fault” by reneé rapp was currently playing in my room and honestly, i felt really good. suddenly i hear a knock at the door and answer it immediately. i already knew it was natasha.

“hey baby. you almost ready?”

i watch as nat looks at me up and down. she smiles at me and suddenly starts kissing all around my face. her arms take their designated place at my waist and pull me closer to her.

getting my words through my giggles was so very hard.

“yea, im ready. you sure you don’t need me to help you with anything?”

“nope. everything is tied to the bike and ready to go.”

i pull away from nat, smiling. grabbing her hand i let her lead me to the elevator located on our floor. she presses the button designated for the garage and we are on the move downwards.

i look at the nature surrounding the compound through the glass of the elevator and find myself becoming entranced with it. the bright green trees and grass, the occasional family of deer making an appearance around the perimeter of the compound, the flocks of birds migrating back after a particularly cold new york winter.

i smile as i observe the beauty of nature. nature is one of the only stable things in our lives as humans. it always runs on a schedule and is never interrupted. nature doesn’t care if you suffered one of the worse losses in the winter, it always makes sure spring comes and everything brightens up.

life in general does not stop for us. everything around us is in constant motion and constantly changing, and it is up to us to keep up.

my thoughts are interrupted by the *ding* of the elevator. it scares me a little and i watch as the doors open.

nat walks ahead of me and we make our way over to her harley davidson motorbike. however, before we get on she grabs our helmets and hands mine to me. once her helmet is on and secure she sits herself down and i follow suit. i wrap my arms around her torso tickle her a bit. i hear her beautiful laugh as she swats my hands.

(reminder u should also b wearing protective gear when riding! didn’t write it in bc im a tad bit too lazy for my own good lol.)

nat then revs her bike. she slowly drives up to the garage doors, allowing them to open all the way up before she begins to pick up speed. honestly, the sensors on the garage doors are a nice detail. it made leaving easier.

we are then driving on the roads of new york. every once in a while i look back at the picnic basket located on the bike to make sure it doesn’t go flying. i notice we are on the highway then i realize we may be going farther than i thought.

i allow my head to rest on nat’s upper back. the soothing feeling of holding onto my lover, cruising in the streets, and the subtle vibrations of the motor slowly lulls me to sleep.

the next thing i know nat is patting my left thigh to wake me up. i slowly open my eyes and sit up before taking my helmet off. once nat realizes im awake she hops off the bike and grabs the picnic basket.

“morning sleepyhead.”

nat giggles at her own joke while i roll my eyes. i place my helmet on the opposite handle natasha had placed her own. she grabs my hand and helps me off the bike. i didn’t really need help considering the bike wasn’t very tall, but being the gentlewoman she was natasha had to help me with everything.

i continue holding nat’s hand while she leads me into the park we were going to have our picnic at.

the park is absolutely breathtaking. the trees vary in height but they all have a shade of vibrant green leaves among their branches and their bark is a rich shade of brown. the grass we were walking on was a beautiful shade of green as well. there were also a few patches of flowers in different spots.

nat stop and begins setting up the stuff once we reach a clearing. the clearing is located near a patch of daisies. i decide that while nat is setting up i would occupy my time by making a daisy chain for her.

i sit myself down near the daises and begin picking them. once i have finished picking the most perfect ones, i begin to make my daisy chain. the moment is perfection. the spring sun isn’t blazing but instead comforting, my hands are weaving the daises in a perfect rhythm, and the grass feels splendid under my dress-covered bum.

once i finish the daisy chain i get up and make my way back towards natasha. i see that she has just finished setting up our picnic, and so i sit down and keep the chain behind my back.

“i have a surprise for you.”

natasha looks up at me and raises her eyebrow.

“and what might that surprise be?”

“close your eyes.”

nat hesitates for a moment but eventually allows her eyes to close. i place the daisy chain onto her braid-free hair and then run my hands through her hair to ensure that it looks good and clean.

“okay, open your eyes.”

nat opens her eyes and i take her in. i take the moment in. the bright green grass covered by our red and white checkered blanket, the picnic basket’s contents scattered across the blanket. nat packed an extensive supply of our favorite foods. this included chocolate chip cookies, many many fruits, a chocolate bar and strawberries to create chocolate covered strawberries. she had also made us a cute breakfast of waffles and fried eggs.

the moment was perfect. exquisite, if you will. natasha look marvelous as well. her red hair was in it’s natural state; her slight waves laid just above her shoulders. she was in a white sundress that went down to her ankles. her pale skin was beginning to become sun kissed due to the seasons changing and the sun beginning to peek out more.

we were so entranced in the moment that we hadn’t even realized the sour weather that had begun to creep amongst us.

our moment is suddenly interrupted by a huge crack of thunder. the thunder is followed by an intense amount of rain soon after. natasha and i begin to giggle and laugh as we quickly begin to pack up our stuff. we rush as fast as we can towards the car but we are already drenched by the time we reach it.

“you know what, fuck it. nat drop your stuff. let’s dance!!”

nat looks at me like i have gone crazy.

“baby are you serious? it’s raining and thundering?”

i quickly place all the stuff im holding in my arms onto her motorbike. i grab nat’s stuff and place it onto the bike as well.

“fine. let’s dance.”

we both start laughing like young children. i excitedly grab both of my girlfriend’s hands and lead her back out to the clearing we collected our stuff from not even a minute earlier.

and so, we both begin to dance across the wet grass. at one point we had both kicked off our shoes. neither i or natasha had ever gotten the chance to be kids playing in we mud or dance in the rain. in a way we were both healing our own inner children.

as i stare into nat’s green eyes i begin to think about both of our upbringings and how we have even got to this point in time.

both of our childhoods were tragic. nat grew up in the red room, destined to be a spy. she had been for a while, until clint rescued her. i wasn’t so lucky. i actually did have quite a normal childhood until i turned six years old. my parents had gotten into some complicated business, and were eventually assassinated. one thing led to another, and i eventually got kidnapped by HYDRA.

suddenly im back in new york. right. im not longer that lost and scared six year old girl. im twenty seven years old now. im in love. im apart of a team now. im staring at the woman i’ve loved for the past six years.

“you okay?”

nat looks worried.

“i love you so much.”

my voice comes out wobbly and full of emotion. it’s because i truly love natasha. she saved me. i’ve found a reason to live for through her love and affection and care for me.

“oh, honey.”

she pulls me into her arms and suddenly we’re chest to chest. i begin to feel tears streaming down my face. judging from the sniffles reaching my ears, i can tell natasha is crying too.

we both stand there in the pouring rain taking each other in. we aren’t prisoners of our old lives anymore. she isnt a prisoner of the red room, and im not a prisoner of HYDRA.

we are just natty and y/n.

i feel my body fill with warmth, however this time it feels different. it isn’t from feeling shy or embarrassed, it’s from feeling the true love of natasha.

maybe things can get better.

summer:

“детка, we should go to the beach. only if you want to though.”

i look up from my book and over at natasha. we were both currently chilling out on our bed and just doing our own things. nat was currently laying on her stomach with her journal open.

“sure! right now?”

nat runs her hand through her hair.

“yea! i’ll bring everything to the car, you just focus on getting ready.”

i put my bookmark in my book and place i on my bedside table.

“im helping you.”

“but-“

“natasha.”

“okay, okay.”

~~

i loved nat and i’s spontaneous outings. it added a pop of fun to our dangerous and unpredictable lives. the fact we were able to be in control of these outings brought us both comfort and made us feel like we could actually have some jurisdiction over what we do.

i loved being the car almost as much as going out. all the windows were currently rolled down and my y/h hair was thrashing every which way. i knew once we left the car my hair would be one frizzy mess.

sometimes mess was okay. it made me feel human.

natasha rubs her thumb over my hand. i knew she only did this when she wanted to talk to me about something important.

“so, how are you feeling after the other day?”

i knew what she was referring to; my meltdown from the other day had been on her mind.

“i think i feel a bit better. thinking of maybe asking wanda for some help controlling my powers. im aware we have two entirely different kinds of powers but they might have the same concept. at least, that’s what i think.”

natasha squeezes my hand.

“im proud of you. it takes a lot of courage to ask for help like that. no matter how that goes with wanda, just know you are already so so strong for asking for assistance.”

nat pulls our hands up to her lips and kisses each of my fingers. she lets a small smile fall over her lips when she feels me warm up a bit.

~~

once we arrive at the beach i help natasha grab all of our things from the back of my white 2024 jeep wrangler. what can i say, im a basic girl. anyway, as we were walking across the hot sand i feel myself getting increasingly more excited about having a day at the beach. i always loved the beach, especially the ocean. it felt like my home.

while natasha set up the umbrella i began to assemble our chairs. as soon as i finished i quickly took off my jean shorts and begin applying my sunscreen.

nat finished constructing the umbrella not long after i applied my sunscreen to the lower part of my body.

i continued applying sunscreen to the top part of my body and face and looked at nat. she was already looking wt me with her beautiful forest green eyes.

“do-do you want some help applying your sunscreen?”

nat chuckles when she notices she’s made me nervous and nods her head. i spray the sunscreen onto her and allow her to rub it in on her own accord. i hand her the separate sunscreen bottle designated for her face.

once she’s done applying we both head on our way towards the ocean. my home. my refuge. it may seem weird, i mean a girl with pyrokinetic powers loving water? what a joke. but i mean, that’s me.

as we were stepping closer and closer to the blue ocean, i could feel the wet sand under my feet compacting with every step i took. it’s like i can feel each singular grain of sand underneath my feet.

the angry sound of the waves grew louder and i grew happier. i look over at nat and we both nod. we suddenly both start running into the ocean. we had this little race we always did before getting into the water. it allowed us to not think about how cold the bright blue water was.

once im around thigh-deep into the water i dive head first into the water. im lightyears in front of nat. i do one big push under the water with my arms before i allow myself to pop up to the surface. i jump as a wave approaches and look around for red-hair. i finally spot my beautiful girlfriend.

she’s not far behind, so i allow her to catch up a bit. i am at the point in the water where the lifeguard stands seem a little blurry due to the distance between us and them. once nat reaches my position i pull her into my arms.

she giggles as i begin to warm her up. the ocean was particularly cold today and i didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable.

i continue to hold nat as more and more waves approach us. eventually she decides to straddle my torso and wrap her arms around my shoulders. she looked etheral. the sun was hitting her in just the right light; her eyes were their regular forest green except i could see a bit of her lighter greens, her hair was a fiery red, and her skin looked marvelous.

if im being hinest, my girlfriend always looked etheral. even during lazy days at the compound she never fails to look like she had just fallen from the sky above.

"you're staring."

"cus you're gorgeous."

nat hides her face in my neck and i can feel her giggle a bit. i hold her a bit tighter to my chest and giggle with her. too easyyy.

i wish loving nat could be as easy as it is in this current moment. my powers aren't in the way, none of us are hurt or sick, we are just nat and y/n. unfortunately things will never be normal.

autumn:

i furiously rub at my cheeks trying to get the hot tears to stop flowing from my eyes.

i was currently sat on one of the many uncomfortable benches located in central park. across from me was a small lake, surrounding me were many leaves of all shades; orange, yellow, maroon, mahogany, red. the seasons were officially changing.

suddenly i think of nat. the reason i was out here crying and observing nature was because of an argument we had. things got out of hand and the next thing i know i was bolting out the door in just my pajama pants and a tank top. no phone, no sweater, just me. i didnt even need a sweater anyway.

i feel the tears coming more furiously as im reminded of the reason why our argument had ensued. we have had countless disagreements over my pyrokinesis, but not like this. never like this.

~~

“baby i just don’t think it’s working. im trying so so hard to control it but i just can’t!”

i was exasperated. nat was exhausted from a mission.

it was a recipe for disaster.

“well, maybe you’re not trying hard enough. wanda was able to control her powers which are much more intricate than yours.”

“stop comparing me to her! i get it, she’s perfect and amazing! you say it all the time. maybe you should go date her instead of me.”

a tense silence falls over both us. we were both standing up on opposite sides of our shared bed. the autumn sun coming in from the opened window currently felt like a burning heat instead of a comforting warmth.

nat has her jaw clenched and she’s looking over to the side. her singular dutch braid is messy and has little hairs sticking out of it. in the sun’s light it looks like it is illuminated.

“well? anything to say for yourself?”

natasha remains silent and instead just crosses her arms. i have no idea what she’s thinking, how she feels, what she wants to say. i don’t even recognize her at this moment. suddenly i feel hot tears making their way down my face. is this how our relationship ends?

“y/n, i would never break up with you. i never will. i promise. i just think we.. we need a break. just look at both of our own lives and our own goals for a bit and figure out if we’re the right thing for each other.”

i felt my heart break in my chest. a break? i dash out of the door. i feel like my lungs aren’t supplying me with air.

i rush to the elevator. i press the lobby button.

next thing i know i’m dashing to central park.

once i arrive i feel breathless. i can barely recognize anything around me. my breaths become short and shorter, there’s no air. since when was it this hard to breath?

suddenly im pacing back and forth on one of the abandoned trails and shaking my hands, trying anything to breath again. i have had a few panic attacks before, but this one felt different. this one was so so much worse.

i run my hand through my hair just to be met with knots. why doesn’t anything go my way? im so pathetic. my breathing is getting worse.

i need to calm myself down because nat isn’t here right now.

~~

eventually i did end up calming myself down, which leads me to where i am now. i had found my favorite bench right in front of my favorite pond. i was just thinking about my life.

maybe nat wasn't serious about this break? i mean, all couples have problems at one point in their relationship, right? who am i kidding. she's actually breaking up with me. and i presume that she's gonna go crawl to wanda. oh, how i envy wanda. she is so much stronger, prettier, and less hot-headed than me. literally.

i sigh as i look out at the pond. i watch as a group of absolutely stunning swans begun to glide over the dirty new york water. what a contrast. milk-white swans with orange beaks resembling the color of the beautifully pigmented autumn leaves surrounding me in a random visibly dirty pond in new york. i only really liked this pond because many cute little animals (birds especially) established their home here.

suddenly an unknown prescence joins me on my bench. i flinch when i realize they're a bit too close to me. i look at this unknown person through my peripheral, but i genuinely thought my eyes were playing an extremely curel joke on me.

"natasha?" i turn to face her fully.

"hey."

natasha gives me a sad smile.

"why.. why are you here? not that i mind, i just thought.. you know."

"yea, um.. about that. i had some time alone, and i wanted to say.."

the end of her sentence was completely incoherent, but yet i smirk. i had a bit of an idea what she wanted to say. i mean, why else would she be sitting here with me if she truly wanted a break?

"what was that? i couldn't quite hear you."

natasha rolls her eyes.

"i said i was wrong. i don't think we need a break. even though we were only apart for about an hour, i was miserable. i had no one to tease. no one to call atupid or tell them 'stop before you get hurt.'"

i laugh and immediately pull her into a bone-crushing hug.

nat hygs me back. maybe with nit as much force, but the thought is still there.

just before i speak, i hear nat continue talking.

"i also wanted to apologize for those things i said to you about wanda. i only really want you. no, you cannot control your powers as confidently as wanda can, but wanda cannot love me like you do. you give me a love like no other. i sincerely apologize."

i pull away from nat, and intertwine our hands.

"i wanted to apologize too. we both said things we don't mean, but this argument will make our relationship stronger. it will make us stronger. i love you."

"i love you too."

we share many sweet kisses until we head back to the compound.

a/n: first of all, i wanted to thank you guys so so so so sooooo much for the great turnout on overheated! i really wasnt expecting for many likes, nonetheless 300+!! you guys are amazing and i am so glad you enojy my writing! secondly, im so sorry this took so long!!! this week has been quite hectic for me and i was writing portions of this throughout the week. nonetheless, i hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy my writing!

p.s. would y'all be interested in me turning this story into nat x wanda x reader? 😏

taglist (comment to be added!): @idkwhatever580 @kkreader78o

[fatkish]

Demon Child 10:

(Third to last chapter I have planned. T^T)

You and Shinobu continued on your way to the butterfly estate. When you got there, Shinobu brought you to a room and made sure to give you a pitcher of water and a cup to drink from. While Everyone began the Hashira training, you would be in your room, collecting your saliva and tears. Shinobu gave you a bowl to cry and drool into. The plan was to mix your healing tears and saliva with medicine so that the swordsman of the corps would have a better chance at survival. Once the drool/tear mixture was mixed with pain relieving medicine, it would be bottled into small vials.

You laid on a bed with your face hanging over one of the sides. You struggled to drool and cry so Shinobu suggested that you think of sad things in order to cry and tasty food or bite your tongue to drool. You thought back to how everyone could or would die when fighting Muzan. You thought of losing everyone. You thought about them defeating Muzan only to die from their marks or wounds. You thought of how you would end up all alone again. Without realizing it, you began to cry. You bit your tongue, causing your mouth to water and drool to seep out into the bowl.

You don’t know how long you had continued to cry and drool for because you had cried yourself to sleep. When Shinobu entered the room, she saw you were asleep. Looking down she saw that you had filled the bowl a decent amount. She picked up the bowl and brought it to Aoi who began to mix it and bottle it. As you slept, you found yourself back at that mountain where you met the man who taught you to use your blood demon art. You walked up to the house and found him inside. You went and sat next to him. “I can tell you are upset, what causes you to be sad?” He asked. You looked up at him and laid your head on his thigh.

“All my friends are gonna die. Even if they beat Muzan, they die from the marks” you said. You sniffled as you tried not to cry. “I see. You must not have known this, but you possess the ability to negate the effects of the demon slayer mark. Just as you healed the Ubuyashiki’s of their curse, you can heal your friends. But it will come with a cost. Once you heal them, they can no longer use breathing techniques other than the basics. If they do, if they use breathing styles after being healed, their marks will return, and you won’t be able to fix them.” He spoke.

You looked up at him from in his lap. “I can save my friends? How does I do that?” You asked. “The same way I taught you before. Focus on your intent to heal, channel it into energy, and then focus that energy on your friend and release it.” He told you. You thought on it for a moment, memorizing the information. You then realized something, “how you know all this?” You asked him. The man smiled and gentle pet your head. “Because I knew your mother. She wanted to bring life into the world instead of taking it. When I met her, she had been trying for a long time to have a child but was unsuccessful. She suspected that she needed something for her cells to bond to, to fuse with, so she asked me if I knew anyone who would be willing to donate genetic material for her cells to fuse with. I didn’t really see an issue with it, so I said yes.” He spoke.

He held a solemn look on his face despite his usual lack of emotion. “It must have taken many years for her to successfully create a child. One who was half human and half demon without her body attacking the child. It would seem as though she gave her life in order to create one.” He told you. “I had a mama? Who she?” You looked up at the man expectantly. He just looked down at you and softly smiled. “Her name was Minako. Minako Kibutsuji.” Your eyes widened recognizing that name. “You have the power to fight Muzan and defeat him, she made sure of it. We believe in you. It seems as though our time is up” he said as the world around you began to fade.

You looked around you at your fading surroundings. You still had one question on your mind. “Who you?” You asked. “My name is Yoriichi Tsugikuni” was the last thing you heard him say. What you didn’t hear him say was that he was your father. He smiled as he knew that you wouldn’t be returning. He was happy to have met his child. He and Uta hadn’t been able to have their child and live together. You would never replace his unborn child that died, but he still thought of you as his own. He loves you just as he loves Uta and his unborn child. He was happy that you had friends, he just hoped that you would be able to do what he couldn’t.

When you woke up, you were faced with a beautiful woman who had purple eyes and black hair. She smiled gently at you as you stared at her. “Hello little one, my name is Tamayo, it’s nice to meet you.” She said. You were curious as to who this lady was as you didn’t recognize her. “Ah, y/n, it seems you’ve met our guest. Would you like to help us make medicine? You’ve already supplied us with plenty of your saliva and tears.” Shinobu asked. You remembered what the man had said and it filled you with an intense desire to train. “I go train” you said. You got up and left the room. You began to head straight for Gyomei’s estate in the mountains as you wanted to be strong like him.

“Oh my, I wonder what’s gotten into them?” Shinobu said. “It could be that they realized who they really are.” Tamayo said. “And what would you mean by that?” Shinobu asked. “They are the offspring of Kibutsuji’s sister. They are the key to defeating Muzan Kibutsuji.” Tamayo informed Shinobu. Shinobu’s eyes widened as she wasn’t expecting that. She quickly made sure to inform the master of this new information. Unaware that Kagaya had known this all along. His family had been watching over Minako while she was alive, but after giving birth, they didn’t realize that she had died in order to bring life into this world. Kagaya had ordered each of the Hashira to carry two vials of your healing elixir on them. That way when the time came to fight, they would have the ability to heal fatal injuries, twice.

You continued on your way to Gyomei’s estate when you met up with Genya. You walked with him to Gyomei’s estate and were determined to get beefy like Gyomei. When you saw Gyomei you ran over to him and grabbed onto his legs. “Teach me be super strong like you!” You shouted as you looked up at him. Gyomei tilted his head down, as if he were looking at you. “I do not know if that is wise little y/n. But your sentiment is very much appreciated. Namu amida butsu. Such a kind child.” Gyomei spoke. You frowned as you wanted to be strong enough to help your friends.

When Gyomei left, you tried to stand under the waterfall but got washed away immediately by the river’s current. Genya had to save you and forbade your from going back to the waterfall or the deeper waters. You saw some other people were carrying logs and running with them so you tried to do that. You tried to lift a log and managed to lift it above you, you called to Genya who was shocked, but he quickly became horrified when the log slipped from your fingers and trapped you under it. Genya had to stifle his laughter as you looked kind of like a beetle squirming with your arms and legs in the air. Genya lifted the log off of you and decided that he would help you since you were determined. He set up a small training area for you.

Gyomei observed from the shadows as you struggled to lift rocks that were tied to ropes over a branch. You struggled to carry small logs on your shoulders as you ran. Everything you attempted to do, you struggled with. This caused Gyomei to cry as he was both worried about you yet moved by your determination. It took weeks but finally you were able to lift the rocks that were tied over a branch. You were able to run with the logs on your shoulders. Some of the other demon slayers were amazed at your determination and strength.

When Tanjiro arrived, you decided you were ready to try the waterfall again. Straining the muscles in your legs, you walked through the river’s currents and stood beneath the waterfall. You copied the other demon slayers and stood beneath there. What you didn’t realize was that your body was physically changing, transforming to adapt to what your were putting it through. Tanjiro was amazed and congratulated you on what you had accomplished. You smiled at him and continued to train. You and Tanjiro trained together and progressed through Gyomei’s training. Unaware of Gyomei observing you both.

After some time, Tanjiro had managed to push his boulder through a village just as Gyomei had instructed him to. You were still struggling since you were half of Tanjiro’s height. When Tanjiro left, he said goodbye to you before leaving. You stayed with Genya and began working on your blood demon art. Genya helped you by creating multiple dummy targets out of wood for you. You both trained, him on his aiming with the gun and you with your bubble. You managed to learn how to summon your bubble on command and you learned how to control the attacks within it.

The dummies you trained with were sliced into pieces and you trained on accuracy. You were able to target certain things and avoid others. Your training had gone well. One night, you were with Genya when you sensed a malicious presence. You knew this presence, you knew this evil. Muzan Kibutsuji was near. You looked at Genya and were about to warn him when you both heard a loud boom. You looked off into the distance and saw a massive cloud of fire and smoke. There had been an explosion. You knew that area, that was in the direction of Kagaya’s home. You were about to run off in that direction when you and Genya fell through a Shoji door on the ground.

You and Genya began to fall into a maze like palace of doors, rooms, hallways and stairways. As you fell you grabbed onto Genya and didn’t let go. You created a bubble around you both to cushion your landing. When Genya got up, you jumped onto his shoulders and you both began to run through the place. As Genya ran, you would use your blood demon art to slice any demons you came across. Unlike other demons, you can kill demons with your blood demon art. Perhaps it’s the Kibutsuji cells in your body that gives your blood demon art the ability to kill them.

Tag List: @shortneko @tomiokasecretlover @jspidey5

[stormz369]

☕💖 Can I Get Your Number? ☕💖 Ch 25

Jason Todd x (f)Chubby!Reader

written with a female reader in mind, first person pov, no use of Y/N, will probably get NSFW later, let me know if there's anything else I should tag this with!

warnings/labels: it's time for a training montage! minor injury, guns briefly mentioned wc: 2.1k

Chapter Selection

“I can’t believe we’re doing this…” Jason grumbled softly, starting his bike.

“I told you; you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. Bruce said he'd send a car for me.” I wrapped my arms around his waist, gently squeezing.

“Absolutely not. If you’re joining Thursday training sessions, I’m going with you.” We flew down the street, Jason’s voice continuing in the speaker in my helmet; “I just don’t understand why you want to do this at all…”

“Training with more people will give me a more well-rounded experience. And while you are a very good teacher, you’re also my boyfriend. Somehow I feel like Bruce will be a harsher critic of my abilities.”

“And that’s a good thing??” He took a sharp turn toward the wealthy side of town.

“When we’re talking about possible life and death situations, yes. And I don’t really want you to have to be harsh with me, so why don’t we make that Bruce’s responsibility, since that relationship is already tense anyway?”

Jason sighed softly, gently squeezing my hands. “... I guess. … He can be a … tough teacher though. If he’s too hard on you, you don’t have to take it.”

“I know, baby. And he knows I’m not looking to be added to the patrol schedule, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Jason grumbled more, but continued driving to Wayne Manor. We parked in a large garage, and he led me to an elevator. After pressing several buttons we were headed down to the Batcave, where the entire Wayne family met us.

Damian spied us first, walking over. “Sister?”

“Hey kiddo! You gonna help train me?” I grinned, holding my hand out to him. He hesitantly squeezed my hand once, dropping it quickly.

“... I thought Father was attempting to make a joke when he said you were joining our training sessions…” he frowned deeply.

“Nope, no joke. … Is that a problem?” I raised an eyebrow.

“... I suppose not. … You will spar with me.” He gestured for me to follow him toward some mats.

Jason cried after us; “hey! Be gentle, demon brat. She's still new to this stuff.”

“I am not a fool, Todd. I am not expecting her to be a black belt.” Damian nodded; “stretches first.”

I took a seat and pulled my shoes off before stepping onto the mat, doing our usual pre-workout stretches. Eventually Bruce came over, watching us with vague interest on his face. “Alright, let's see what we have to work with.”

I nodded, and Damian and I put on some padding. We bowed to each other, and began. He started out slowly, letting me get in the flow of things. The others watched, periodically calling out instructions and encouragements. After a while I caught a glimpse of Jason in the corner of my eye, chewing on his lip, and Damian took that moment to sweep my leg out from under me.

“Oof!” I grunted softly as I landed on my back, blinking a bit.

“Don't get distracted. Your opponent will use that moment to their advantage.”

I nodded, accepting Damian's offered hand to get back up. “Go again?”

He nodded, and we went again, and again, and again. Every time, I ended up on my back, and he had another note for me. “Don't watch my face, watch my shoulders.” “If you aren't willing to hurt me, you will never win.” “Follow through, or none of this will matter.” “Focus on your footing; you're off balance.” “Breath with your attacks.”

Eventually, Jason stepped forward. “That's enough, take five.”

I nodded, letting him help me up, and bowed to Damian again. “Thanks for training me, Damian.”

He nodded, smiling a little, and bowed back. “You're not entirely hopeless, considering you're a civilian. If you take this seriously, you'll be a proper martial artist in no time.”

I grinned, nodding, and Jason led me to the side, getting me some water. “How do you feel?”

“I feel fine, baby! Damian is an excellent sparring partner.”

He frowned a bit, massaging my shoulders. “I dunno, some of those throws were unnecessarily rough…”

“Jace, do you think the next mugger I run into is going to be more gentle with me than that?”

He sighed, kissing my neck. “... No. … I just don't like watching you get knocked around.”

“I know, you're so protective of me~ it's sweet, but we gotta power through this part so I can get good.”

He sighed, holding me close. We watched the others pair up for more intensive sparring practices, and Bruce came over. “You did well out there. I want you to work on your balance for a while, Jason can walk you through that. And you should do at least an hour a day of simple exercises; stretching, strength training, and balance training.”

I nodded. “Got it. Thanks Bruce…”

He nodded, pointing out the equipment he recommended I use today, and went back to observing the others. Jason eventually led me over to the equipment, and we started working on my balance.

After weeks of gym days with Jason and BatFam training sessions, I really expected to see myself slimming down a bit. But when I looked in the mirror, I was still soft and curvy. My arm and leg muscles were more pronounced, and I was certain my core muscles were getting stronger too, but my tummy was still round and squishy. It didn't bother me, and Jason seemed rather pleased to not be losing my softness; he tended to nuzzle against my chest and stomach at night, like a big cuddly teddy bear.

Seeing my training progress wasn't making him any less protective either; every time I stepped onto the mat with one of his siblings I could hear him growling at them. It didn't deter Damian, or the girls, but Dick and Tim were particularly hesitant to give me a proper training session. They mostly stuck to helping me with warm ups, and shouting suggestions from the sidelines.

All of the bats were master martial artists, but each had their own preferred fighting styles. Damian taught me to fake out my opponent, and had a proclivity for taking out the leg. Stephanie preferred to mix up her fighting style, keeping her opponents off guard. Cass taught me to anticipate an opponent's moves, watching for the slightest movements that might tell me how to take them down. When Dick and I sparred, he mostly stuck to the basics, not wanting to risk injuring me in front of Jason. Tim mostly helped me work on my blocks and defensive strategy. Bruce stuck to observing and instructing, never actually entering the ring with me. And with the lot of them training me in various martial arts, Jason turned our gym days into gym-and-range days; we would do some stretches and basic core-building, and then we went to the shooting range to work on my aim.

One day before training, Damian had me kneel. Once I was on my knees, he held out a yellow sash with little black bats on it, saying something in a language I didn't know.

I took it, smiling softly; “what's this?”

“Your yellow bat-belt. You've leveled up in your training. Put it on.”

I grinned, nodding, and tied it around my waist; “yes, Sensei.”

Damian smiled at that, nodding once. Once he was happy with how the belt was tied, he led me to the mats for our sparring session. Tim snorted softly, watching from the side.

“What's with the belt? You know the mish-mash of martial arts she's learning wouldn't count at a proper school, right?”

Damian glowered at him; “she has leveled up in the School of the Bat. That is what matters here.”

“Well how come the rest of us don't get bat-belts then?” Tim smirked a bit; “you gotta make them for everyone, Damian!”

“You would not like a physical indicator of what level I deem you to be at, Drake.” Damian smirked at his indignant noises, and turned to me. We bowed and started our sparring session.

In our fourth spar of the day, I landed my first ever hit. One second Damian was in front of me, fists up, and the next he was sprawled out on the floor in front of me, looking up at me in shock.

“Oh my god, Damian! Are you ok??” I fell to my knees next to him as he sat up slowly.

“... I'm fine. … Well done, sister.” He smirked a bit; “now do it again.”

I could hear the smirk in Jason's voice as he called out; “way to go, babe! Kick the demon brat's ass!”

“Language.” Bruce frowned at him, and I helped Damian up.

“Sorry, B. Let's try that again,” he cleared his throat, putting on the most happy-go-lucky voice he could manage; “holy guacamole, bat-babe! Gee golly, can ya do it again, pretty girl?” 

Dick wrinkled his nose, groaning softly. “Dear god, I forgot you used to talk like that. Never do that again.”

“Agreed.” I laughed softly, sticking my tongue out at him; “that was horrible!”

He chuckled, winking at me. Damian frowned, snapping at us; “Enough! No flirting during training! Sister, let's go again.”

My head was ringing. Hands grabbed me, and I was carefully brought into a seated position. I blinked slowly, touching the back of my head gently. No blood. That was good…

“-idn't mean to! Fuck!”

“Well you did! So back off, Grayson!” Damian spoke sharply next to me. His small hands held the sides of my face, making me look at him; “... No dilation, that's good.”

I blinked slowly, frowning. “Wha- … what happened?”

Jason held me against his chest, frowning deeply. “You don't remember, baby?”

I started to shake my head, but the pounding in my head put a stop to that. “Ohhh fuck … ow…”

“Shit …” Dick whined softly from somewhere behind Damian. “Shit, I … I'm so sorry! I swear, I didn't mean to!”

“Dick, just shut up.” Jason growled, holding me closer. He carefully lifted me, holding me against his chest as he carried me toward a long bench.

“She's probably got a concussion. Don't let her sleep.” Tim frowned, bringing an ice pack.

Jason took it, carefully pressing it to my head. “Yeah, no shit…”

“What happened?”

“Dick threw you off the mat.” Jason growled softly, holding me close. “You're done for the day. Time to rest.”

“Ugh… ok. … Rest sounds good…” I frowned, closing my eyes.

Dick hesitantly mumbled my name; “I'm so sorry!”

“It's all good, Dick. I'm not dying.” I groaned softly, leaning against Jason.

Jay growled softly. “It's not all good. I told you to be careful. I told you not to hurt her!”

I shushed him softly, leaning in more. “No yelling…”

He sighed softly, kissing my forehead. “Sorry, baby girl…”

Bruce checked my eyes, frowning a bit. “... Nothing else she can do today. Take her home, have her take a few days off.”

Jay grunted his agreement and the next thing I knew, I was in his arms again, being carried to the elevator. Damian ran after us, bringing my bag along. I smiled softly, reaching down to stroke his hair. “Thanks, kiddo…”

He leaned in to my touch for a second before pulling back; “I'll come over tomorrow after school to check on you.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Damian.” He smiled a little at that, setting my bag in the car. Jason got me situated, making sure I was buckled, before getting in and driving me home.

“Fucking Dick…” he grumbled softly.

“Relax, baby. It's just a minor concussion. I'll be fine tomorrow.” I smiled softly, watching the scenery.

“Should never have happened…’’

“It was an accident, they happen. Don't be too harsh with him.” 

He sighed, resting a hand on my knee. “... This ok?”

I smiled softly and nodded, turning toward him; “Yeah, that's ok.”

He smiled a little and gently stroked my knee with his thumb; “when we get in, you're gonna rest on the couch. I'll get you some water, and aspirin, and I'll make something light for dinner.”

“Ok. Thanks, Jay~” I sighed softly, closing my eyes for a second.

“Don't sleep, now. You gotta stay awake for a while.”

“Ok, I'll stay awake.” I slowly opened my eyes, blinking a bit. “... So bright though…”

Jason pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his center console and passed them to me. I grinned, kissing his hand, and put them on. “Much better. … Takin' such good care'a me…”

He chuckled softly. “Anything you need, doll. Always.”

Next ->

Divider by: @saradika-graphics

Taglist (open): @jawdropforkpop @krys0210 @snowy-violet @superthoughts @wordsfromshona @mystic60 @iwannabealocalcryptid @morstuavitamea-a @frosty--giants @arisa191 @prized-jules @phoenix666stuff @dinonuggysandhuggus @anuttellaa @whore-of-many-hot-men @cottage-worm @v1ckycheesue @roastyyytoastyyy @sarakmec @thestarcatcher7297 @stupidlyunhinged

[im-n-your-walls]

first kiss with the windbreaker men!

a/n this is before you’re dating, kinda the start of ur love story

characters include: Sakura Haruka! hayato suo! nirei akihiko! (I will add more)

list of links 🔗

Sakura Haruka

He was sitting in empty classroom with you and Akihiko. Sakura was being bombarded taking to Akihiko about how to improve his fighting style. (He really wasn’t listening) 💀 Sakura was leaning back in his chair, you were in the chair behind him. you were also toning out the fluffy haired boy’s rambling. Just staring at sakuras lips. “I’m gonna go use the restroom” Akihiko said getting up from his chair next to the two haired boy. “K, have fun” Sakura said ever so sarcastically. You got up out of your chair. Looking into sakuras eyes. “Do ya need something?” Sakura said looking back at you. “Yes.” “What?” “A kiss” Sakura fell out of his oh so perfectly balanced chair. You focused on his fallen form “is that a yes or a no?” You questioned. “Um, I mean” Sakura stuttered trying to regain his footing. “Yes or no.” This time you said more seriously. “Uhhh… ye-“ with that you crashed your lips on his. Sakura adjusted himself to better hold you. Akihiko in the doorway just 👁️👄👁️.

hayato suo

you two were lying in the grass around sunset. Sou was reading some poetry and you were just enjoying the wind and his presence. “Do you want to go to the cat cafe that just opened up?” Sou said breaking the silence. “Sure, do you really have a curse under your eyepatch?” Sou chuckles. “Why don’t you find out?” “What do you mean?” Sou sets down his book and stands up. “ I’ll give you 60 seconds to take off my eyepatch.” He said calmly “you are so on!” You say bolting up, next thing he knows you’re lunging towards him. He gracefully dodges with a small smile on his face. In a moment of weakness You grab his sleeve and push him to the ground. “You got me” Sou giggles a bit, you laughed a bit too except you couldn’t focus on his eyepatch. Something else was more important, Sou quickly caught on and you closed the gap, after a bit you pulled back breathless you said. “Cat cafe date?” “Cat cafe date.” Sou replied.

You and Nirei often geek out and ramble about your common interests. And when you found out there was going to be convention coming to Tokyo you sprinted over to his house. You opened the door to his apartment with the key he had given to you and shouted “Nirei!!” And he came running through the hall “convention?” He asked “Convention!” He showed you the passes he got the day before “vip all week passes for the con” he bragged “oh my god!” You yelled excitedly running towards him giving him the biggest hug “thank you thank you thank you!” “Haha we don’t wanna be late do we?” He said blush ghosting over his cheeks “ok” around 30 minutes of walking you guys got to the con and checked in. Passing the hundreds of booths you had already spent 7500 yen (around 50 usd) “look over there!” You said excitedly dragging Nirei. “They got spyxfamily!” “And demon slayer” Nirei added. “Really?!” And after that you guys had broken the bank “haha! That was so fun!” You said lugging all that you had gotten “look the sunset” Nirei said in awe. “It’s beautiful” you commented breathlessly, from the sunset and all that you were carrying “it’s not the only thing” Nirei said under his breath. “You’re right” you said looking at him and nudging him with your elbow. “Wait! You heard that!?” “Yup!” You said enthusiastically then kissing him on his lips “mwah!” Nirei almost passed out.

[its-your-mind]

so yes, orv did permanently and fundamentally shift my personal perspective of the world, specifically my role in it as a storyteller and an observer and a friend and a mentor and a child and an adult and a victim and someone in power and and and. it also made me feel the broadest spectrum of human emotion. I could probably spend years thinking about it and never fully understand everything it made me feel and all the personal and philosophical thoughts it made me think.

unfortunately if I think about it too hard for too long I find myself teetering on the cliff’s edge of a depressive episode and have to shut my media-analysis brain down so I don’t fall back into that particular black hole. after I finished it my brain fully shut down and did not come fully back online for 3-4 months I shit you not I finished it in October of last year and my emotional state has only just recovered.

it was one of the most devastating endings to a book I’ve ever read. It was perfect and beautiful. It was whatever the opposite of catharsis is. I’ve never been more filled with hope and awe. I’ve never been so desperately sad and hopeless. no I am not able to comprehend how that works either. see what I said above re: the cliff’s edge.

see the thing is it would have been FINE if shing-song had fucking WARNED ME that they were gonna make me FEEL EVERYTHING EVER about the human experience from EVERY ANGLE and then RIP OFF A SHEET AND REVEAL THAT THE STORY WAS A FUCKING MIRROR THIS WHOLE TIME. AND PROCEEDED TO BEAM ALL MY ATTENTION AND LOVE AND EMOTION I POURED INTO THIS STORY OVER A PERIOD OF LITERAL WEEKS OF SUSTAINED FOCUS STRAIGHT BACK AT ME IN THE SPAN OF 0.2 SECONDS LIKE A FUCKING ARCHIMEDES LASER.

ahem. anyways. that would be the uh. cliff’s edge. we will be walking away from it now.

anyway it’s the book with the two trench coat Korean dudes who beat Inventers-Of-Yaoi Spirk in the Yaoi Tournament Bracket it has badass ladies AND cringefail ones AND transgender allegories AND giant monsters and gods and demons and kids and magic and space and dimensions and time shenanigans it’s fucking insane and incredible and if you’re the kinda person who exists on fandom tumblr in the year of our lord 2024 this book is meant to come for you specifically and you will thank it afterwards go ye forth

[nkirukaj]

The Radio Demon & the Billboard Doe (2)

It's a double feature! Here take it! Take Chapter 2!

Pairing: Alastor x Fem! OC

Warnings: Swearing and mentions of sexual activity?

Genre: Angst?

Word Count: 3.8K

<Chapter 1

2. Freaky Face

“You’re a deer!” Was the first thing she said in response

“Indeed I am, darling. Though most tend not to mention it.”

“That’s cool!”

Alastor’s smile grew wider at her child-like reaction “Why thank you.” was all he said

“So what’s your name, you cutie patootie?” Charlie interjected, lovely as ever “We gotta have your name if you’re gonna stay here!”

“My name? It’s…” she stared at herself in the mirror, thinking of what she was now. She was different, yet felt the same. “My name is Voe.” A mix of the old and the new. “Yeah, Voe.”

“Amazing! Love it! Now let’s get you settled, Voe!”

Charlie had felt the need to show her absolutely everything, including the floors that she wouldn’t be staying on. The room she would be staying in was on the 9th floor. The room was equipped with a bed, a small closet, and a full bathroom, including a tub and a shower. She spoke very fast and very much. She spoke about everything. It got to a point that Voe started to tune her out. Her voice became background noise as she studied the patterns and pictures on the walls, wondering how she had the time to do this with every new guest that came to the hotel. Vaggie and Alastor had decided to join them as well, however they were not speaking. She examines the girlfriends’ faces. Charlie had her arms open and was gesturing around quickly, and her eyes were wide and alert, while Vaggie’s eye was somewhat lidded, and her arms were focused inward. Her eye was only focused on either Charlie or the floor. Voe concluded that Charlie was the bright and friendly one, whereas Vaggie was the more standoffish one. 

Alastor though…she could not get as much of a read on him because he chose to stay at the back of the group, and she couldn’t exactly get a clear look a him without very conspicuously turning her head. What she had seen of him that she could picture was his lankiness and his large sharp smile. His smile was constantly in place with only slight deviations between moments. In the time she’d had to look at him, his smile did not budge. 

“And that’s the end of the tour. Any questions?” Charlie beamed at the doe

“Um, so you have like magic right?”

“Well, yes…but I meant questions about the hotel-“ the princess mumbled under her breath

“Can you fix my glasses?” Voe pulls the cracked frames out of her pocket, the lenses gone and legs off-kilter. Charlie leans down and examines them.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure Alastor can help!”

Alastor blinks as if he’s just been brought back down to reality “Hmm?”

Voe turns to him “Can you fix my glasses?” She asks in a flat tone

“Of course!” He puts his hand out and she places the frames in them. Green and black energy starts circling the frames and they pop up as good as new

“Nice!” She takes the frames back and looks at them

“Aww, I’m so sorry! You were walking around here blind and I didn’t even notice!”

“Well, I actually don’t need them,” She smiles “I can see just fine. But I like to have them,” she places the glasses on her face. 

“Oh,” Charlie’s eyes widen as she turns to her partner

Voe turns back to Alastor, who is grinning absentmindedly. She stares at him for a moment before his pupils move down to focus on her

“Did you need something else, my dear?”

She cocks her head “No…” she drags the word out, slowly turning away from him

____________________________________________________________

Voe laid on her back in the bed of the hotel room that Charlie had shown her. What does it mean to be redeemed? How would she know when she was? Or if she was?

There were a lot of things she didn’t know, but what she did know for sure was that she would definitely go stir-crazy if she was kept in this room with nothing for her to do. She left the hotel room and sauntered down to the front desk where Charlie and Vaggie were standing and having a conversation

“So…Charlie!” She interrupts them with a wave “Would it be possible for you to give me money? Because I think that it would make my path to redemption a whole lot easier if I had a phone, a camera, and a laptop.”

“Hmm, I guess that’s true.” 

“Wait wait!” Vaggie stepped in “How is that essential to your redemption?”

“Because…” Voe drags out her words, looking for something to say “It gives me something to do. I personally feel that if I’m being productive, I will be a much better person. You know, instead of feeling awful about myself because I’m just sitting in bed all day.” She glances at Charlie, whose eyes turn sad

“I don’t know about Charlie just giving out money.”

“Oh nonsense! Charlie loves giving out money! She talked about it on the tour!” 

“I did! I do!” Charlie drops a stack of cash into Voe’s open palms

“Amazing, great. You’re the best!” She called to Charlie as she was on her way out the door.

When she returned, she had a plethora of bags. About 10, 5 in each hand. She’d developed the skill of carrying lots of bags in life, and luckily for her, it became easier in death.

“Geez! How much fucking shit did you buy?” A tall and thin white spider. Voe’s jaw dropped when she saw him, she run’s over bringing the bags with her

“Oh my gosh! You’re so beautiful! And you look social! Hi, I’m Voe!” she waves at him

He sits up and smiles “Well thank you. Finally, someone’s appreciatin’ my good looks! And the name’s Dust. Angel Dust.” he does sparkly fingers over his face

“Angie ya bitch! How gay can you be?” A sexy Cyclops woman with a crop top, ripped jeans, a boot, and a flat.

“How much of a whore can you be?” Angel says with a smirk

“I’m a whore?” She laughs, punching him in the shoulder

“Yeah, I do it for pay!”

The Cyclops woman punches him a few more times before noticing Voe “She’s still standing there,” she whispers to him. He looks back over to the doe.

“Welcome to the Hotel! Wait, what I am doin’ I don’t work here.” Angel slinks back down, the length of his body taking up the entirety of the couch.

“Hi, you’re sexy. I’m Voe! What’s your name?” She asks to the Cyclops

“Cherri Bomb…nice to meet you.” She looks a bit apprehensive before turning to the deer. She sits next to Angel, lifting his legs and letting them lay over her lap. He sits up and removes his legs

“Do y’all have Sinstagram? This is mine.” She shows Angel Dust her phone

“Voe the Bee-ow?”

“It’s pronounced like ‘bow’. It’s rhymes!”

“Oh.” Angel looks towards Cherri, silently asking for her to save “That’s nice.”

“Well, we’re gonna go,” She leans down to whisper to Angel “I got some wicked LSD, we can forget whatever the fuck that was”

“Aw Cherri, you know I’m tryna get off that stuff,”

“Alright stay then. Stay here ya’ lousy bitch!”

He scrambles to get up “I’m still comin’”

Cherri and Angel speedwalk out the hotel doors, leaving Voe on the couch alone. They were nice. She thought.

Technically, Voe did ask Charlie for money to get a laptop, a camera, and a smartphone. However, Charlie, being so nice, gave Voe way more than she needed for everything, so she also decided to make some stops at other stores, to get things like a tripod, a ringlight, and maybe some clothes. She set up all her electronics, making sure that the ringlight was in the right place to highlight her best features, and then pressed record.

“Hey, I’m Voe the Beau and I’m here to give you all my opinions on things such as makeup, beauty trends, and technology! Today I’ll start by showing you my outfit hall from today.”

She tried on dresses, blouses, shirts, pants, leggings, and shoes all for the camera, making comments about every single one.

“Now I love the pattern and length on this blouse, but the trimmings make it look like I’m about to go churn some butter,” she chuckles and snorts “and some of these shirts are not ear-friendly. So if you have ears at the top of your head like me,” she points to her ears “Then watch out. Maybe avoid this brand?” Voe zeroes in on the tag “Sinners’eye? Yeah, don’t shop there if you have ears like mine. The hats they sell don’t even have holes in them! So non-inclusive! Also by the way does anyone know a brand or store that sells satin bonnets with ear holes? Because it is incredibly uncomfortable to sleep with my ears covered. I feel like I’m deaf! Or at least like anybody can come into my room without me knowing, like shit! I will say that the shoes come with a hooves-friendly warranty which is great, not for me personally, because I don’t have hooves. No sir, I traded that for this big black schnoz.” She points to her nose. While trying on another dress, she tells the camera “I kinda dig having a tail.” She yanked on it with a bit of force on camera “I’m like a dangerous furry” she growled jokingly with bared claws. She stands directly in front of the lens once more ”I’m thinking of trying makeup next for my video, comment some brands that you think I should try. For makeup, clothes, or tech. I’m Voe the Beau, so let me know!” She wiggles her fingers as a goodbye and gets up to stop recording. 

After sitting in silence for a moment. Voe gets up to retrieve the camera. After connecting it to her computer, she turns it on and sees herself. 

“Hey everybody! My name is Voe! Ugh no. Hey, what up motherfuckers! Ugh, what? That’s way too tryhard. My GOSH, let me just do it.”

She turns on presses record again and suddenly she’s live. 

“Hey, what up Pentagram City? Y’all can call me Voe the Beau, and I’m here to tell y’all what’s Gucci and what needs to go kablooey! As you can see I love rhyming ha ha!” Is heard from demon’s smartphones, tablets, and computers. She hadn’t exactly been expecting zero views, but she definitely wasn’t expecting to get around 1,000 on her first live. 

What can I say? I really am that bitch. 

“So I just got down here to Hell and let me just say, why do we just fall out of the sky into concrete with no idea where we are or what we’re doing? I can goddamn guarantee you that the souls that go to Heaven don’t have to go through that! There’s no welcome committee or nothing. Nothing to ease you in, and I’m like ‘damn’! It’s like getting rammed in the ass with a cactus. And why is everything red? I swear the sky is red, the buildings are red, everyone wears red, or like shades and accents of it. It’s like the only color you see around here is red. I, myself am partial to the color pink. Specifically hot pink, as you can see from the fabulous outfit that I have on right now. Do you guys want to see my outfit? Of course, you do.”

She pushes her chair back and stands in front of the camera, showing off her hot pink blouse and black pants with hot pink wedges.

“I adore these shoes. Do y’all like my shoes? I got them from Sinnera’eye, but beware to all you cats and rabbits, and other animals with ears on your head they don’t carry clothes for you. You can see my full review in the video I’m going to upload later!”

Words begin scrolling up the screen and Voe leans into her laptop to read them.

“Who am I? Well, I’m Voe! I said that at the start. Someone needs a lesson in paying attention. And as you’ll come to learn-I am that bitch Any other questions? How old am I? I’m 27 and like I said, I just got down here to Hell.”

Oh Christ Gen Z is dying now

Do you guys think she’s in Hell ‘cuz she’s gay?

Are you gay?

“Yes, bitch I’m gay as fuck! I love me some pussy! I could eat that shit day in and day out. It’s my favorite snack!”

Is that your real name?

Are you Italian?

“As far as you need to know, yes that’s my name. And no I’m not Italian, I’m blickity Black!”

Does this bitch even know the difference between race and nationality?

“Yes, I know the fucking difference! I wasn’t fucking done. Slut!” She shoots back at the commenter “I just wanted to let y’all know that! No misconceptions. ‘Cuz people used to say I was Hispanic or something all the time when I was alive, and I sure as fuck ain’t letting y’all whores do it!”

Her voice is heard from many devices in Hell, including some in the hotel. Demons are crashing into walls or falling down the stairs from the sheer captivation of her sound and her image.

“So I’m staying at the Hazbin Hotel, run by Charlie...? Charlie something, she ain’t say her last name. And she is cute as fuck. Charlie is so adorable, she’s so light and bubbly and I’m like that could never be me.” She cackles into the camera “Running a Hotel of a bunch of ungrateful ass bitches, could never be me! She got a girlfriend too. Her name’s Vaggie! She is so pretty, honestly, they are both mad cute and they cute together. I’m not gonna break them up like I used to do to people. Hmm? She’s the what? Princess? Holy shit, Charlie’s a Princess? Lucifer? That motherfucker’s real? I need to meet him. Is he hot?”

While walking down the halls a certain facility manager of this hotel seems a bit put off by the lack of people that are running at the sheer sight of him, only to discover that they are glued to their devices. He rolls his eyes. Demons don’t know true entertainment anymore. Back in his day, whole towns used to gather around the radios and listen to what stories the hosts were about to spin. Now everyone’s addicted to these miniature picture boxes that rot their brains even faster than the real thing.

Although walking past these wayward souls had the Radio Demon’s ears pricked at a certain sound. A certain voice. He halts his pursuit to listen from afar.

“Apparently, I’m a doe which is super sick, and I’m the only one that I’ve seen for the few days that I’ve been here. But there’s a stag here with me. Well, not with me, but like-“ the voice pauses “No, here at the hotel. Huh? He’s like tall and really thin. Nah like lanky, bruh.” she laughs “It’s not bad! I didn’t even say anything mean! Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he’s got on a bunch of red, with little antlers on his head. Yeah, he’s got ears on top of his head, it looks like hair, but it’s ears. A doe knows.”

Alastor could hear the smugness in her voice. Who was she to be discussing him on her pathetic technological picture box? Who was she at all?

“Yeah! He’s got this big ass grin all the time.”

The comments start flooding in much quicker than before.

That’s the Radio Demon!

You’re there with the RADIO DEMON

THE RADIO DEMON DIDN’T KILL YOU?

the radio demon isn’t even all that i heard he got his ass kicked 

FUCK THE RADIO DEMON!!!!!!!!11!!!!1!!!!11!

“The Radio Demon..? Huh? This guy said his name was Alastor”

THAT’S THE RADIO DEMON

THAT’S HIS NAME 

OMGGGGGGG!!!1!!1!1!!1!!!!!!!

“Oh. So Alastor is the Radio Demon? Why ya call him that?” 

Alastor’s grin grows knowing that his reputation is still intact and keeps on his merry way. Still wondering why this girl felt the need to bring him up at all. Still, he would find that all out in due time.

______________________________________________________________

Charlie had asked for all the residents to be down at 8:30 in the morning, which is a disgusting time to expect people to be awake and ready to interact with people. So Voe came down at 9, even that was pushing it.  All the other demons were already down, so Voe commanded all the attention when she strutted in like a celebrity.

“Sorry to be late, but 8 AM is ridiculous.” She plops down on one of the couches

“That’s okay!” Charlie reassured her “We just finished breakfast and now we’re doing the first activity of the day!”

Angel points to one of the plates on the table “There’s still toast.” He glances back down at the plate, “Oop, well there’s crust.” Niffty runs by and grabs the plate “Never mind.”

“It’s fine, I don’t need to eat.”

“Huh, I guess you don’t” Angel returns to his phone.

“All right, everyone!” Charlie tries to get their attention “Everyone! Oh gosh, we’ve never had this many guests before” she whispers to Vaggie. She gets slightly louder. “Everyone! We’re just about to get started, okay so everyone listen up, please!” Everyone lowers their volume, though some, including Voe, remain distracted by their phones. The click-clacking of dress shoes is heard descending the stairs, everyone turns their heads to see Alastor approaching the parlor.

“Alastor! You’re just in time for our first activity of that day!” Charlie smiles widely at the red demon

“Oh? So it appears I’m early..” He turns on his heels and retreats back up the staircase.

“Oooo-kay! So, we’re going to go around and introduce ourselves and say one interesting thing you did while you were alive!

Ugh. Voe always hated these when she was alive. It’s always so nerve-wracking to think about. What do other people find interesting? She could never figure it out! They went all the way around, from demons talking about how they’ve hosted the 7’o clock news, to catching butterflies, to fucking 5 bitches in the same night.

“I tried Heroin for the first time and then died.” Angel offered

“You only tried it once before dying?”

“Well, I’d already done a bunch of drugs that day, but when my friend came with the horse, I knew I had to try it! Then I died.” 

“No way! I died with an actual horse! It kicked me in the ribs!”

“This is going great! Not exactly what I had planned but this working Vaggie!” Charlie is filled to the brim with excitement 

“No one gives a fuck about your horse,” Angel responded. “I was talking about heroin.”

“I know…” the girl said, sounding disappointed

“What?”

“Why can’t I make any friends?”

“You’re up new girl,” Angel gestured to Voe, who sat in silence for a moment, still pondering on what to say. She started sweating from all the pressure of the eyes being on her and her being unprepared. She couldn’t think of anything, at all. All that she could remember was her little sexcapades. She was rich of course, she had done cool things, so why couldn’t she remember any of them?

“Hey,” Angel Dust interrupted her thoughts after what seemed like forever “Weren’t you on live yesterday?”

Voe’s demeanor brightens up “Oh, yeah! I’m guessing you caught it?”

“Yeah, I caught that live too!” another demon chimed in, soon the majority of the room was buzzing about her live. Voe beamed at being able to speak on something she was prepared for.

“So you into Freaky Face or something?”

“Angel! Don’t just assume things!” Charlie butt in, also interested in the live

“I’m sorry, Freaky Face?”

“Alastor.” The whole room responded to her

Voe shakes her head quickly, “Oh no no no. I was just commenting on the fact that he’s the only deer I’ve seen besides myself.”

“Mhmm, I guess you could say mating season is open.”

“Ha! That was funny ‘mating season’” said the horse girl, to which Angel responded with a blank stare

“He’s good-looking! I can’t be the only one that thinks that. I am not the only one that thinks that. Stop making me look crazy!”

“No one even said anything,”

“Actually mating season for deer is between October and December” Voe interjects

“Well,” Charlie tries to take charge of the conversation “Alastor is a very nice-looking male.”

Vaggie speaks from behind her girlfriend “He’s…okay. But did we forget that he’s a vicious overlord who not only owns many souls but is a psychopathic, deal-making, mass-murdering cannibalistic monster?”

“Really? But he’s like…” Voe trails off, making gestures with her hands

“Like what?” Angel Dust probes

“Like,” she thinks “Cute.” some of the demons are taken aback by her claim

“You think Alastor is ‘cute’?” Vaggie questioned, hands on her hips and full of skepticism. 

“Yeah,” Voe shrugged “Like, it’s giving…stuffed animal. Or like a pet dog”

“Nah she hasn’t seen all the creepy shit he’s done around here yet. That opinion’ll disappear real soon.” Angel Dust took a swig of his drink “Don’t say that shit to him!” he laughs to himself.

“What is… ‘it’s giving’?” Charlie asked innocently 

“Ugh.” Voe slapped her hand on her forehead “It’s just… I don’t know like, that’s a vibe.”

“Vibe?” 

“It’s just the feeling you get from someone or something,” she shakes her head “I forgot y’all are ancient.”

“Wait, so what do you think of him though?” Angel questioned point-blank

“I don’t think anything about him, I don’t know him.”

“So why’d you talk about him during your live?”

“I don’t know, because he’s a buck! That’s literally it!”

“Mhmm.” Angel takes another swig

“Wait, are you shipping us just because we’re both deer?” Voe looks confused

“I’m so glad that you all feel a sense of community!” said Charlie, after having clearly lost control of the conversation. Vaggie tapped her shoulder to tell her to just give it up. Most demons were just talking amongst themselves at this point, including Angel Dust and Voe, when the very demon they spoke about made his appearance once again.

“I hope that I’m actually on time now.” Alastor stands just outside the parlor, as the demons are instantly quiet in the presence of a supposedly cruel overlord. He had all the eyes in the room on him, saying nothing.

“Well, Alastor we just finished our activity.”

“Wonderful, so I am on time!” He glances at the clock above the fireplace “Well, I have errands to run.”

“You literally just got down here,” Vaggie spoke with annoyance in her tone

“And now I literally have to leave. Best of luck chums!” He exits the hotel and the air is filled with noise again. Voe stares after him. She didn’t notice before that he had a radio filter on his voice. Was that natural or on purpose? 

“Whatcha lookin’ at toots?” he whispers in her ear

Voe looks back at him “Oh, um nothing.”

“Uh huh, maybe you’re not so weird,” he tops off his drink

“Thanks?”

Chapter 3>

[justanotherblogger]

Small Tang Ramble

Right now, I have started rewatching the entire Lego Monkie Kid series from the start while I wait to see the recent season 5 episodes (that I was suckerpunched with when scrolling through Tumblr and having some stuff spoiled whene I didnt even think a new season would come for at least a few more months).

Then, when I finally got to season 4, I noticed something interesting with how they handle Tang's powers.

At the start of the season, it's revealed that Tang's cheat sheet, given to him by Azure Lion, was something that supposedly should've been helpful to someone "mysticly powerful, comparable to the Great Monk, Tang Sanzang", then the sheet should be a piece of cake so to speak.

Then we see how Tang struggles and has a hard time finding where his friends are located, but then a Golden Cicada helps him to find Pigsy, which was the same one that flew around the Samadhi Fire ritual site when Mei had it reunited within her.

That's not my topic right now, though, so I'll just skip the "random destiny bugs" (name given to me by a friend), and keep going towards my main point.

Anyways, skipping a few episode to when the meet the Great Master (I forgot the guys name), we see how Tang got berated for his lack of courage and work ethic. Then Tang and the rest of the gang are put to train, and I'm not exactly sure on how long they were in training for, but I'm going to assume a few hours at the sky visibly got darker near the end of the montage.

(I'm pretty sure that something akin to a stop in time for them to train would have been stated in the show itself if that was an explanation for how long they have been training for, so I'm gonna rule out any sort of "checkpoint" or "rest stop" rules here, like when you can stay in a safe space for whatever amount of time and come out with little time passed afterwards.)

The reason why I'm talking about how long they've trained for, is because after (what I assume) is a few hours, Tang is able to teleport a WHOLE AIR BALLOON, RIGHT ON TOP OF WHERE THEY NEEDED TO BE, WITHOUT HIS STAFF NO LESS.

*ahem* We know Tang had struggled with the teleportation magic from the beginning, even with his staff along with only transporting 3 people, and the magic level required to do so is comparable to the Monk, who is very powerful considering what we've seen in how his training was revered by the great master for being extensive plus how the Monk focussed only on his studies, and in-show examples. (Ex. Releasing the heavenly seal put on monkey king singehandedly, sealing the Samadhi Fire along with three others, then also Sealing the Lady Bone Demon to where she can only escape through her self reflecting or a rare, mystical key, etc)

I'm just saying how it's very impressive how Tang could go from barely being able to teleport accurately with 3 people, the staff in hand, to figuring out how to teleport accurately, how to teleport something as big as an airship, and then gaining enough focus/mystic power to do the teleport without his staff for this first time shown in the show. And remember this: all of this growth was in, at most, half a day.

And we know how long the Great Monk had to study to get to where he was, "learning everything there was to learn" with him blocking out anything else to focus purely on his studies to get where he was, and yes, he probably studied more than just the teleportation magic in his time, but Azure said it himself, that someone "mysticly powerful, comparable to the Great Monk, Tang Sanzang" should be able to figure out the cheet sheet, or at least versed in the mystical topic.

I already showcased how much work is really needed through that comment, but then Azure showed it again in his comment of "if hes learned it in the mystical arts.." describing how this would have needed to be taught like how they gang were forced to with the Great Master. We already know how hard the training from the Great Master was to get even a fraction of Mk's power, and considering how heavily it's put on how the Monk only studied and studied when it was talked about, with the students in the flashback looking like the ones under the Great Master, I would assume learning the mystic arts takes a similar amount of time and effort.

And now that my points have been laid out, you guys get it when I was gobsmacked at how quickly Tang grew in the time with the Great Master, reiterating my point of how Tang was able to figure out HOW TO DO TELEPORT AND AIRSHIP WITHOUT THE CHEAT SHEET, WITH HIS BARE HANDS, IN A MATTER OF HOURS when it was heavily implied (from what interpreted) that doing something like this would take a considerable amount of time and training, even for the Monk as he was said to only focus on his studies to optimize his mystic abilities and to block any distractions.

And then to add to this, it was only ever shown in the show that Tang only read throughout the entire training session. Whenever we see him in the montage, it's him reading scrolls no matter what. We never see him practice, or even mimic any of the moves or exercise that I would assume would be on those scrolls for him to learn. Then, the first time he ever put those ideas he read about into practice after using the staff the entire time before and messing it up, he was able to make the transportation of the airship fast, accurate, and without the help of the staff entirely.

TLDR: Tang is either so good at cramming that he was able to shorten a good year of learning into a couple hours, or he's severely gifted in the mystic arts with the right training or examples. Either way, if you gave this man a week in the scroll library with some noodles and motivation from the Great Master, then I would assume he might actually become one of the most powerful characters LMK, given the time to do so. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[rebelelegance]

Calloused Hearts - 5

Summary: Hiding feelings is hard...but apparently, not for Kaz.

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Tidemaker!reader

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, mentions of death

w/c: 1.k

A/N: This one is kinda short but it's like a build-up chapter for the main stuff.

<prev chapter

Chapter 5:

“How are we going to find him? He could be anywhere in Ketterdam. Anywhere,” Jesper said, worry in his voice as he paced the room.

“Jesper if you’re not quiet, you will be the one who goes missing next,” Kaz warned.

Once Jesper had revealed that Wylan was missing, the 3 of you had found the others and were currently in Wylan’s room. 

Everyone was exhausted, and Jesper’s panic wasn’t helping anyone focus.

You sighed, “Kaz, calm down,” you said,turning your head to look at him. The relationship between the both of you had shifted significantly after your little moment in the office, and you found him standing not more than an arm’s distance away ever since.

He only gave you a blank stare, before resuming his inspection of the room. You looked to Jesper, ignoring everyone’s confused looks, and Nina’s amused one, as you gestured for him to follow you outside.

“What?” he asked the second you both were out. 

“I’m sorry,” you muttered. You couldn’t help but feel guilty for Wylan’s disappearance considering that Pekka was most probably counting on a trade off.

“If you think this is your fault, I can be the first to assure you, it’s not.”

“Yes it is. And you know it.”

Jesper sighed, looking down. You tried to meet his eyes,  “Jes.”

“I won’t lie, Wylan was taken to be used against us for you, but it’s not because of you,” he responded, looking straight into your eyes, with his tired ones.

You couldn’t help but nod, knowing arguing wouldn’t change anything. He shook his head, “I need a drink,” he said before walking past you. You watched him leave, disappointment crawling up in your chest. He didn’t deserve this. None of them did. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaz was a mess. 

Would he ever admit it? No. 

Last night had left him feeling so many emotions that he couldn’t process them. At this point, he didn’t know if he wanted to. He wasn��t sure of the outcome and he didn’t like anything he wasn’t sure of. 

You were back. And as much as he had tried to convince himself that you weren’t the same person….you were. You were still Y/N L/N, his best friend. Especially after seeing you nearly flinch when Jesper had put his arm around your shoulder, he realized that he may not have been the only one that went through for 6 six years. Even Dirtyhands couldn’t stay mad at you after that.

And Jesper….he was gonna kill him. 

You were Kaz’s. 

And Jesper was hell bent on messing with that. At least,  it seemed so.

Kaz didn’t know if you felt the same way he did. If your heart raced everytime he was close. 

If he made all the demons seem more bearable. 

The way you did for him.

And as if just thinking about you was enough to bring you forth, you were standing next to him, staring at Wylan’s empty bed. 

“You think they did it here too?” you asked. 

Anyone else would’ve thought you were trying to make light of the situation. But Kaz wasn’t anyone. Your tone was off, a sliver of fear and anger tucked away under the disguise of a joke.

He just turned to look at you, your tired eyes already on him. He lifted a single eyebrow, causing you to let out a small laugh, the raging emotions in him multiplying rapidly. 

There was a tense silence after, both of you just staring at the empty room in front.

“Kaz-”

“We talked about this.”

“Kaz, what if he decides to kill Wylan if I’m not turned over? What then? Imagine Jesper’s state. Imagine everyone’s state,” you pleaded.

You were right. Kaz hated it.

Pekka wanted a trade off, and if he didn’t get one, the chances of him killing Wylan were high. 

But he couldn’t trade you off. Not now. He’d just gotten you back. Just the thought of losing you again, and this time in the hands of the very man that had ruined his life, made Kaz want to murder him with his bare hands. 

“No.”

“Kaz-”

“NO!” he yelled. “You don’t get it.”

“You would trade Wylan’s life for me?” you asked.

Kaz watched the fear and confusion in your eyes as the question hit him hard. 

The truth? He would. Maybe not Wylan’s life, but he would definitely not stay this calm if it was you in his place. Because you were so much more to him than family. Without you there was no him. No Kaz. You were the only thing that made him Kaz Rietveld. You were the only thing that made him human.

But he couldn’t say it. He couldn’t admit how much you meant to him. Not then. Not now.

“No.”

And he swore he saw hurt flicker in your eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nina was having the time of her life.

Was she upset about Wylan? Of course!

But whatever was going between you and Kaz was keeping her mind too preoccupied. She knew Jesper had all the details, but what kind of a person would she be if she asked him at a time like this.

She’d felt the rise in heartbeats. The little jumps whenever you both looked at each other.

She loved the slow burn romance of it all. But knowing what you both felt for each other and watching the obliviousness of it all…she swore she would have to end up nearly killing one of you to get the truth out.

She watched as you abruptly left Wylan’s room, running upstairs.

But most of all, she felt your fast, steady heartbeat.

You were up to something. 

And it didn’t seem like something good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: @ancientbeing10 @lila-kille @emmnf1 @gabby10100 @foulkryptonitepeanut @pinchofhoney @peaches1958 @lyria-skyfall @sabii5 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @tiana76 @breadbrobin @athenasproverbs @cryinghotmess @urlocalgeek

[samwpmarleau]

fic: ssdd

whumptober day 5: sunburn masterlist: tumblr, ao3 In which Daisy and Robbie get stuck in rural Utah.

“Don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything.”

They walk for another two minutes beneath the blazing sun.

“But you did rag on rural Utah, and now we’re —”

“— stuck in rural Utah. Yes, I’m aware of the irony, Reyes. Can’t believe you won’t just jump us somewhere.”

“I can’t. I told you, I need my chain for that, and they took it.”

“Some all-powerful demon you’ve got inside you, can’t even make a portal without a prop.”

“You’re one to talk. What do you call your gauntlets? Without those, you’d break your arms.”

“Those aren’t props, they’re … accessories. Like your jacket.”

“My jacket is for effect. Or was.”

“Aren’t you fancy.”

“Whatever. We can’t change where we are, so can we just be civil?”

“That depends on how big this stupid desert is. Do you know where exactly they dropped us?”

“No. We should probably keep walking east. Otherwise, if we’re already west of Salt Lake, we’ll hit more desert in Nevada and be even worse off than we are now.”

“Yeah, and if we’re east of Salt Lake, we’ll get a whole lot of nothing until Colorado. I know my geography, too.”

“I never said you — look, it sucks either way. I’m just saying we might have better luck going east.”

“And if you’re wrong?”

“I don’t know, I’ll make it up to you.”

“By doing what?”

“I’m sure you’ll come up with something. You’ve got plenty of time.”

“Understatement.”

—

As the hours pass and they come across no signs of refuge, Daisy wonders whether the Rider really needs that specific prop to portal-jump, or whether any conduit would do. Could he make a dried-up stick work? Or an animal bone? It wouldn’t carry the same panache as a spiked hellfire chain, but it’d do the job. Then again, if that were possible, the Rider would’ve done it by now. Whatever misgivings she may have with him and Robbie at the moment, she doesn’t think he’d prolong this on purpose.

The only benefit is that the sun finally has begun to dip. The temperature falls quicker than Daisy had expected, almost enough to allow her to enjoy the breathtaking sunset, and the sweat cools against her skin. She would kill for a glass of water right about now. Some trail mix wouldn’t hurt either. She’s got another two days or so for the former and three weeks for the latter, though, she’ll be fine.

She will not die in goddamn rural Utah.

—

The desert is as unforgiving at night as it was during the day. The goons had not been considerate enough to let her keep her jacket any more than they’d let Robbie keep his (a loss she estimates accounts for about eighty percent of his upset with their present situation), which she hadn’t minded much while trekking through high noon but would very much like now. And despite being joined by someone who can start his own fire, the place is so barren as to lack any fuel for said fire, so it’s all stupidly pointless to begin with.

“Are you sure you don’t —”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

She’d refused his offer to lie next to her for the warmth back when it was a reasonable temperature. Pride is all that keeps her from recanting now; other than being not in a desert, she can’t imagine anything better than what amounts to electric blanket.

Whatever. It’s not like she was going to get much sleep anyway on a bed of salt and sand.

—

Day Two is more of the same. Only worse, because there’s still no water, and she can see her skin start to redden. Under nicer circumstances, she could be leisurely working on a tan. Instead, she’ll be on her way to winning a lobster impersonation contest, with the added fun of a tank top-shaped void in the center of it.

It marginally helps for Night Two, though. The burn radiating heat from beneath her skin makes for an almost pleasant evening temperature. She does her best to focus on that part. The alternative is focusing on how sweat-sticky her jeans are, how she’s going on a third day of the same underwear, how her left boot keeps coming untied, how there is still no sign of civilization on the horizon, and how Robbie remains completely unaffected by their environment.

Other than the concern written in the furrow of his brow, that is.

—

Day Three blows.

At least Maveth hadn’t had the summer sun Simmons needed to contend with.

Daisy can see the blisters forming on her shoulders and is having trouble recalling a time when her mouth wasn’t dry.

The stars twinkling in the night sky are pretty, though.

—

She doesn’t register much of Day Four. After the second time her legs give out from under her, Robbie scoops her up and the rest of her consciousness is composed of heat and mirages.

—

She wakes on Day Five propped up in an unfamiliar bed with feeble rays of sunrise filtering through coarse linen curtains. On the nightstand sits a cup of water that she eagerly downs in one swallow, beside it a bowl of damp rags. She attempts to get out of bed to figure out where the hell she is, only to be speared with pain. She looks down to see her skin is worse off than she remembered: dark red, peppered with pustules, and the feeling of being stretched too tight. It stands out starkly against her unburnt torso where her shirt had been, of which she is currently bereft, along with her bra.

After that particular discovery, she finds she’s not alone in the room; her grunt of pain, it seems, had alerted Robbie, who had been sleeping on the floor. “Welcome back. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.” Despite the water, her throat feels like sandpaper. “What happened?”

“Couple hours after you passed out, I found this place. Told the guy and his wife we were hiking and got lost. They said we can stay as long as we need.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, you’re uh … you were in pretty bad shape. I thought you were dead when I got here. So did they.”

She does feel like death. She tries to maneuver into a more comfortable position, and gets another stab of pain for her efforts.

“Don’t move,” says Robbie unhelpfully.

She’s only been awake for a few minutes and already she’s sick of this. “Did you call anyone?”

“Yeah, shouldn’t be long now. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn’t get here right away. Believe it or not, they don’t have a base in the middle of the desert.”

“Middle of this desert, maybe. Where are we?”

“I asked the same thing. There’s not much out here.” Robbie reaches into his back pocket, pulls out a state map, and points a few inches west of Salt Lake City.

You won, then, she thinks, heading east was best. She decides not to mention it.

“Did Simmons give a prognosis?” Daisy asks with another glance down at her blistered arms.

“No, she said she’d need to see you first,” Robbie says. He nods toward the nightstand. “Compresses and painkillers in the meantime. No touching the blisters in case they burst.”

She flicks the edge of the comforter that’s drawn up over her chest. “So was getting me half-naked your idea?”

“What? No, that — no.”

“It’s too bad you’re not sunburned too,” Daisy laughs, “it’d hide that blush of yours.”

“I swear, I was outside when Mrs. Emerson —”

“Would you relax? You’re many things, but a peeping tom isn’t one of them. I trust my virtue is safe.” Half because of the pink tinge to his cheeks and half because she really can’t do it by herself, she adds, “I could use the help, though, with the compresses.”

“With the … Simmons should be here soon, she could do it better.”

“It’s not rocket science.”

Following another moment of deliberation, he nods and helps turn her onto her stomach. She bites her tongue against the discomfort. Gentler than she expected, Robbie brushes aside her hair and nudges down the sheet, then grabs one of the damp rags and squeezes out the excess water.

“Might be a little cold,” he says, and places it over one of her shoulders. It’s cool, and the towel’s scratchy, but to her instant relief it leeches away some of the heat. Robbie pauses to ask, “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, definitely okay.”

He continues, placing another towel and then another until her back and shoulders are covered. It’s the best she’s felt in days. Once he’s done, he comments, “You know, this is gonna itch like crazy once it starts to heal.”

She’d been trying very hard not to think about that part, or about all the peeling that’s coming her way.

Instead, she focuses on how Robbie hasn’t moved from his spot beside her, and, wishing she could see his face, she smirks, “Good thing I know a guy who can rub me down.”

[geralt-of-baevia]

Begin Again: Chapter Two

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three

Summary: When Penny starts working at AFC Richmond as their new head photographer, she catches the eye of a certain mustached, happy-go-lucky, head coach of the team. But can their spark endure through the season’s pressures and the demons of their past?

Pairing: Ted Lasso x OFC (Penny Fletcher)

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings: Uhhh, nudity, accidental seeing of said nudity, language, etc.

A/N: I love me a slow burn, but I don't know if that's what this is gonna be yet. 😝 Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter! I'm excited to get this story really going.

Beta: Thank you to @midnightswithdearkatytspb for proofreading again 💕💕

Tiny Tag List: @tegan8314 @rosesheerio (Let me know if you want to get added!)

My first week at Richmond AFC was in some ways like being in school again, and I gained about 30 new close friends. All of the players were exuberantly nice, and by the end of the week I was treated like one of the guys. It was nice to be somewhere where I felt so loved and cherished, it wasn’t something I was used to. 

Thursday afternoon was set for me to try out my hand at taking playing shots to practice for their games. I was excited to finally get some action shots of the guys since I had spent most of the week taking photo of the facility and clubhouse. This was the first I was finally getting to photograph the guys, the real thing I was excited for. 

I walked out onto the pitch with the players, but stayed back at the sideline. I took out my camera and took some candid photos of their comradery as they filed onto the green. As I clicked away, I was completely oblivious that someone came up to stand next to me. 

“Are things bigger or smaller when you look through that tiny window on the back of that giant contraption?” 

I jumped at Ted’s voice, pulling my camera away from my face and trying to focus on him as I readjusted my eyes. 

“Well, this lens, from this perspective at least, makes them smaller,” I said with a smirk. 

Ted and I hadn’t gotten to interact all that much over the last few days. We said hello to each other every time we passed each other in the hallway, and occasionally had small talk before or after the day, but not a whole lot other than that. Although, every time we did talk the conversations got longer, and we would both always linger after our talks, like neither of us wanted it to end. 

“But if I had this other lense here on my hip,” I said, gesturing to the lense on the left side of my holster, “if I put that one on it would look like Sam was just as close to me as you are right now.” 

“Well damn, I didn’t know being a photographer was like being a wizard!” Ted said with astonishment. I laughed. 

“Oh, you have no idea! I can then put them on the computer and make stuff disappear. Like zits, scars, people!” 

“People?! That escalated quickly,” he said with a laugh.

He nudged my shoulder with his own, looking out at the pitch at the guys. He had on a pair of brown Ray-Ban sunglasses, a matching AFC tracksuit, and a dumb white visor. I shouldn’t think something like that on him was attractive, but I did. And him nudging my shoulder ever so much made my heart beat like crazy in my chest. 

“Yes, people, Ted,” I said as I shook my head, looking at the back of my camera and clicking through my photos. I felt him take a half step closer to me and peer over my shoulder. 

“Man, you really are talented, Penny,” he said, his voice a little lower this time, and more serious. 

I felt a shiver go down my spine as his chest pressed against my shoulder when he leaned in to get a closer look. It took everything in me not to relax against him. He was so warm and smelled like fresh laundry and sandalwood and grass. I tried to focus on the back of my camera and not how my body seemed to grow hot and numb. 

I swallowed hard. “T-Thanks Ted.” 

“Coach! Penny will send us those photos this weekend, you can look later,” I heard Coach Beard say from behind us. Ted immediately jumped, placing his hand instinctually on my arm before taking a step back. 

“Yes Coach! Penny, it uh-it was nice to talk to you.” I looked up at him as he addressed me, nodding his head before following Beard to the pitch. I giggled a little as I noticed he was holding his clipboard no longer at his chest, but lower now as if to cover himself. A part of me hoped that was because of me. 

Towards the end of practice, I had gotten some really good shots and I was excited to see them. The coaches had to go see Ms. Welton about something, so it was now just me and the guys fooling aroun. As I was looking at the back of my camera again, Jamie got my attention.  

“Oi! Penny! I wanna try out this new slide thing, do you think you could get a wicked picture of that?” he asked after jogging over to me. I shrugged. 

“Sure! Let me just get into position.” I walked across the sideline and in line with him but about ten yards back. I crouched down and held my camera up, framing him for his slide. 

“Whenever your ready, Jamie!” I shouted to him. 

First Jamie was running towards me in the viewfinder, then suddenly I was being crashed into, my camera flying through the air and landing in with a crack. I laid there, more worried about my broken equipment than the pain I was feeling in my side from where Jaime collided with me, or the fact that I was now covered in mud from head to toe. 

“Penny! Oh my god, are you okay!?” Sam was the first to make it over to me, his face hovering over my view of the sky above. Soon the rest of the team was surrounding me before I could even think of getting up and seeing the damage. 

I pushed myself up into a sitting position, motioning for the guys to back up. “I appreciate the concern gentlemen, but I’m fine. Just very muddy now.”

“Oh Miss Penny, I’m so sorry…” 

My head snapped around to see my camera in Dani’s hands, my lens cracked down the middle. I sighed before looking down and seeing the lens that was on my hip no longer there, but now a few feet away and broken as well. I groaned, rubbing my face in my hands. 

“Penny, I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll buy you a new whatever you need. I’ll replace everything,” I heard Jaime say somewhere in front of me. I looked up to see him crouched in front of me, he was covered in mud too. His words were genuine, I could tell. 

“That’s very kind of you Jamie, because I wouldn’t be able to replace it otherwise,” I told him with an awkward laugh. A small smile formed in the corner of his mouth, and he extended a hand out to help me up. 

After assessing the damage to my lenses and camera body (that ended up also breaking), Jaime told me he was going to leave practice and go right to a shop and get me my replacements. I looked down and saw that I was completely covered in mud, and I’m pretty sure it was in my hair as well. Sam came over to me and placed a friendly hand on my shoulder. 

“The other guys and I talked, and if you would like to, you clean up in our locker room. We’d be glad to stay out here and play longer. Also, Dani and I are offering some of our extra Richmond clothes for you to change into. You can bring them back tomorrow,” he explained, a big smile on his face. Sam had one of the kindest hearts I had ever met, and I appreciated his offer. 

“Actually, that would be great Sam. Could you show me?” 

He nodded before we headed into the clubhouse and he showed me the showers. We stopped at the lockers so he could give me the spare clothes he had mentioned before, and get me a couple of towels as well. When I finally passed a mirror I got to see the damage done: mud traced through my hair, contrasting against my dirty blonde color. Mud all over my chest and neck, all places that would need to be scrubbed.

“And don’t worry Miss Penny, the guys and I will all stay outside until you’re done.”

I thanked him again, truly appreciating not having to walk home filthy. As soon as he was around the corner I began stripping out of my dirty sweatshirt and jeans, excited to get the mud off of me and warm up. I turned on the water and once it was hot enough I got underneath the stream, the hot water rushing over my head and down my body, immediately warming me up. 

I looked around the giant shower and found some random men’s 2 in 1 to wash my hair and body with until I could get home for a proper shower. The scent was strong, filling up my nostrils and the shower room: I would definitely need to shower again when I got home. Once I felt the mud was sufficiently off of me and the water ran clear, I turned to face the shower head and just basked in the warm water for one last time. 

Just as I turned to face away from the water, I opened my eyes to see Ted walk by. We both froze as he and I made eye contact, and I watched as his eyes trailed down my wet, naked body, and then back up to my eyes again. I could have covered myself, I could have screamed or shrieked at him to go away, but I just froze. 

After what felt like ten minutes of just staring at each other, Ted finally broke the silence. “S-Sorry, Penny.”

He started to take a half step towards me, and then immediately turned on his heel to head back the way he came, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning his gaze to the ground. 

Even though he was gone, I stood there for another couple of minutes, still in shock as the water beat against my head. Eventually, I turned off the water, hurriedly dried off, and got dressed in my borrowed clothes, grabbing my dirty clothes to put in my bag. I could have said goodbye to the team or told them I was leaving, but I just wanted to get home. I didn’t even care that my hair was still wet. 

Once I got to my flat, I ran upstairs and shut the door hastily, leaning against it. I rubbed my face vigorously in my hands, the vision of Ted’s face staring at me not wanting to leave from behind my eyes. 

“Um, what the fuck happened to you?” 

I lifted my head to see my roommate Jo standing in the kitchen, a cuppa in her hand. 

“What do you mean?” I asked sarcastically, dropping my bag to the floor next to me. 

“You’ve freshly showered because your hair is wet and you reek of men’s shampoo, you’re wearing an AFC Richmond tracksuit that’s too big for you, and you wouldn’t have dropped your bag like that if your camera and stuff was in there, just to name a few,” she said with a smug smile. Her eyebrows snapped together, “now tell me what happened.”

“Can I tell you after I shower the man scent off of me? I actually kind of hate it.”

“Fine.”

I should have known better than to think Jo would let me shower in peace, following me into the bathroom, her tea still in her hand. 

“Do I get no privacy, Jolene?” I asked her as I began to strip out of the blue and red tracksuit. She sat down on the toilet and laughed, shaking her head. 

“Of course not, Penelope. Now, shower so you tell me what happened at work today,” she said, sipping on her cup. I rolled my eyes and giggled. 

I hopped in the shower and told her about what happened, both Jamie breaking my camera and then Ted seeing me shower. 

“Wait, wait, wait. I’m sorry, but what the fuck did you just say?” she asked almost heatedly. I laughed as I heard her almost spit out her tea. 

“Yeah, he saw me completely stark naked. Naked as the day I was born and I was showering too! I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m completely mortified.”

“Okay, so what did you do when he saw you?” 

“Um, nothing? I just stood there like an idiot.”

The shower curtain suddenly pulled back to reveal Jo staring at me with a shocked face, and instinctively I covered myself. I mentally kicked myself at that moment, why couldn’t I have done that with Ted?

“Well, obviously you wanted him to see you naked,” she said with a sly smile. 

“Why do you say that?!” I asked, almost offended at her words. 

“Um, because I’ve seen you naked a million and one times and you just covered yourself,” she said with a knowing look. I scoffed at her and turned around to not face her. “Also, did he see the tits and bits half or the bum half?”

I whipped back around to face her and she had the most devilish grin on her face. 

“Can you please go back to your seat on the toilet? I’d really like to finish showering and I can’t with you staring at me.”

“Fiiiiine,” she said with a roll of her eyes. She dropped the shower curtain and disappeared. 

After a moment of silence between us, I sighed before telling her, ‘It was my tits and bits.” 

“Oh, that definitely went in his spank bank then.”

[balanceoflightanddark]

Okay. I've already talked about how the comics...pretty extensively screwed over Azula both in my own posts and in reblogs to other posts on the website. So I'm gonna take a break from that and talk about how...the comics screwed over another character I'm fond of.

...I really need to think of other topics.

So anyways, Mai.

Again, I already touched on how Mai was handled in the comics with my post about how the entirety of the Fire Nation was whitewashed and Azula was used as a scapegoat. But I kinda want to dive into Mai a bit more since it damages her character in particular along with some other questionable narrative choices.

Starting with, obviously, her relationship with Azula. Again, I already went over how they tried to retcon her friendship as being something she was "forced into" and actually holding a grudge against Azula, so I'm not gonna go treading the same grounds again.

What I am going to go into is how freaking pathetic they make Mai look in trying to make this grudge out to be.

See, one of the incidents that apparently Mai hates Azula for is...stealing mochi from her mother's kitchen. Seriously. That's a reason.

Yes. Apparently one of the reasons Azula was a bad egg was she stole mochi the one time. Yep. Something stupid they did as a kid together. But we can discuss how the comics tried to demonize Azula as a child another time to focus on something...well...take a look.

Yeah...for some reason, they had Mai hold it over Azula's head about the time they stole mochi together.

...forgive me for stating the obvious, but how does Mai look better for seriously holding it against Azula for something that happened when they were literal toddlers? If nothing else, it makes her like a complete womanchild.

And womanchild is not something that should be ever uttered in reference to Mai ever.

Cause Mai's grudge against Azula? It's practically out of control in Smoke and Shadows. I know it's popular to assume Mai hates Azula, but she never actually held much of a grudge against her in the series proper outside of the Boiling Rock incident. But stuff like this:

This is too much.

But why am I harping on Mai's sudden hatred of Azula all of a sudden?

See...one of the things Smoke and Shadow seemed to do was to try and paint Azula as Mai's nemesis. The source of her childhood trauma or whatever. That overcoming her fear of Azula will make her a stronger person or whatever.

Except...no...no it's not.

Azula wasn't the source of Mai's issues growing up. You want to know what is?

Mai: What do you want from me? You want a teary confession about how hard my childhood was? Well, it wasn't. I was a rich only child who got anything I wanted ... as long as I behaved, and sat still, and didn't speak unless spoken to. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. We had my dad's political career to think about.

Yeah...that's what Mai's problems came from.

She was passed over her younger brother by both her mother and father and was constantly conditioned to reign her emotions in and basically be a piece of furniture. Mai literally joined Azula's group just to get away from her toxic family.

Hell, guess who's one of the biggest obstacles in Smoke and Shadows?

Yeah. Ukano. Her own father.

This could've been something big for Mai. Finally standing up to her father for all the bullcrap he put her through, the real source of all her problems. You know, something that was actually hinted at in Rebound, the Free Comic Book Day issue.

Instead, it all gets scrapped. Mai actually defends her father while showing more hatred for Azula. To me, that's the equivalent of Zuko's tantrum of blaming Azula for everything in The Search while Ozai doesn't even get a mention. Mai would rather throw her friend under the bus while sticking her neck out for her traitorous, neglectful father.

As someone who actually enjoys Mai, this damages her character so much. It doesn't make her stronger. It just makes her look like a coward not standing up against those that put her through hell while projecting her issues onto somebody else. In this case, Azula. And since Ukano's been arrested, now there's no way to properly resolve Mai's issues that way.

That's why I hate what these comics did to Mai. She honestly deserves better than what she got. For a character with as much potential as her, she got a raw deal. Big time.

[astoldbyaja]

Bark like you want it! -Ch. 7~AU Demon Slayer~

Shit this was so bad! Akaza still had his hand clamped over my wrist so I couldn’t get away and it seemed we were far enough from the Unholy that no one noticed the clear scene of a possible gang shootout about to take place.

“So Kyojuro, you found me before I could find you. I respect that, it shows gumption.” Akaza purred, his hold on his gun was so steady. My heartbeat was beating rapidly now. “I’ve been waiting for you, my friend. We have a score to settle.”

Kyojuro’s look of focus was so vicious and sharp as his gun seemed pointed right at Akaza’s face.

“Whatever business we have we can finish it but let Yara go.” he said. I was trembling, Akaza’s grip on my wrist tightened further as he smirked.

“Why, you have no need to worry about my girl.” he said. My eyes snapped to the back of the man’s head.

“Son of a bitch!” I said lowly.

“This is tiresome, if we’re gonna do this we better be ready for the fall out.” Sekido said angrily.

“I don’t care, I’m just ready for the real fun to start!” Karuku said with a snicker.

“If someone sees us and the police get called, we’ll be in real trouble with the master.” Aizetsu told. Master? I don’t even want to know.

“H-hey look guys, this was all just a big misunderstanding. No need to do anything that you’d all regret later right? Akaza, I reached out to Kyojuro.” I said. Akaza’s head tilted some to face me. “I thought I was in trouble, so I called him. That’s it.”

“Have you been fucking him?” he asked instead. I tensed and shook my head not wanting him to turn his gun on me.

“No of course not! I met him through other friends.” I replied. In the distance I could hear police sirens and I winced.

“Fuck!” Tengen said.

“We gotta go and we gotta go now!” Sanemi said and I pulled back from Akaza’s hold. Luckily, he let me go.

“We need to get out of here now!” Urogi said. Akaza looked at me and then Kyojuro putting his gun away.

“You and I will finish our business.” he threatened. Kyojuro nodded.

“Of that I have no doubt.” he said. The four brothers and Akaza began to run off and the truck moved closer to me, the back door opening. “Yara get in the truck now!”

Damn, yes sir! However I felt I shouldn’t have. I didn’t know how safe I would be with these guys, but I didn’t want to take my chance with the cops either. I got into the back seat and the truck took off. Sanemi and Kyojuro moved through the back window of the truck and sat on either side of me, their guns nowhere to be seen.

I was tense and anxious, wondering what it was they would do. I now feel Kyojuro’s hand over mine, his eyes peering into me.

“Yara, are you alright?” he asked. I looked at him and nodded.

“I’m fine. I didn’t think you all would come. I didn’t mean to start any trouble, honest.” I said quickly.

“Hey don’t sweat it. Shinobu told us that Akaza was your past.” Sanemi said.

“It just seems like he doesn’t believe that.” Obanai said. Tengen scoffed.

“I’m just pissed I didn’t get to take any of them down. Guess it didn’t matter if Gyutaro and his cunt of a sister wasn’t there. I really want to beat their asses.” he said.

“I don’t know how to get away from him without transferring classes and I am already beyond the grace period to drop classes.” I replied.

“Don’t worry Yara, we’ll figure something out.” Kyojuro said. I tensed and removed my hands from him.

“No you won’t. None of you will.” I replied of which Obanai turned to look back in his seat, his offended face matching Sanemi’s.

“Excuse you?” he hissed.

“I don’t want to cause trouble for either gang. I thought only Kyojuro would come,” I said shooting him a glare but looking away, “but it doesn’t matter. My presence is causing too much drama for you all surely you all see that.”

There was a silence in the car.

“I haven’t noticed any inconveniences with having you around.” Sanemi said.

“Neither have I.” Tengen added.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Obanai added.

“Yara, you’re problems are our problems. Ever since you and I got together, everyone’s accepted you into our gang. So don’t ever feel like you’re a burden to us! I’ll protect you!” Kyojuro said. Slowly I let my head look at him upon hearing what he said. Got together, he still thinks we’re together. Did he tell his gang that we were together! Oh, I was right, he is just as bad as Akaza! Both men are obsessed!

“Also your hair looks gorgeous by the way!” Kyojuro added. I just leaned back in my seat.

“Thanks.” I muttered. Okay so I’m trapped between two gangs and a hard place. Okay so not only do I need to survive my classes, I’ll need to move out of my current apartment as well. I needed to sever ties with everyone and just silently slip away.

“By the way, we didn’t tell Shinobu or Mitsuri so if we can just keep this between us that’d be great. Don’t need them worrying or anything.” Sanemi told.

“Fine.” I replied and just remained silent. I just had to fuck the wrong guys. It was late and I was just wanting to sleep. Once the truck pulled up to my apartment, Kyojuro let me out and I walked up to the apartment door. I noticed he was following me, and I paused at the door and looked up at him.

“Yara I’m sorry for letting on to the guys that we were together. I felt it was the only way to get them to help in case the situation with Akaza called for it.” he said. I didn’t believe him. I just shook my head.

“Let’s just forget all of this happened tonight. None of it matter right now.” I replied moving to pull my keys from my dress. I noticed his feet were plastered in the ground and I realized he was not planning to leave. I got my answer Tengen’s truck was already pulling away. I sighed and just shook my head.

“I just don’t want you to be alone tonight.” he excused. Yeah, I’m so sure! And shouldn’t that be my decision!

“Just be quiet.” I muttered. I was too tired to argue about him basically maneuvering his way into my place. I sent the girls a message to tell them I was home and when I got to my room, I just opened my door and went in, Kyojuro following silently. “I need to shower; do you need to?”

Kyojuro removed his shoes and placed them by the door. He shook his head smiling warmly.

“No. I have showered already.” he said. I only nodded and moved into the bathroom, removing my make up then my clothes and getting in the shower. This was so bad, and I didn’t even really know how I was going to go about getting away from these people without it coming back on me. It would be one thing if I was just involved with one gang separating myself from them would be easy. But two gangs, the fuck! How was I supposed to attend classes knowing both Akaza and Kyojuro were wanting my attention. I could probably get away from Kyojuro if I move to a different apartment and just block everyone’s numbers. It’s a big campus, I was sure to never see any of them. I don’t have any classes with them now.

As for Akaza, I just needed to survive the one classes we had together. Easy right. No because it’ll take either of them complaining to their little gang about me and then we’ll have another gym shower room situation like with Doma and Kokushibo and I do not want any more attractive bodies against me. Once I dried off and got lotioned, I opened the door to my bathroom and noticed a naked Kyojuro lying on top of my bed, arms behind his head.

“Dude!” I whispered. “Why are you naked?”

He glanced at me with big bright eyes.

“Why are you naked?”

“It’s my room, I just got out the shower and my pajamas are out here.” I said. He’s already seen me mostly naked so I didn’t think seeing me quickly naked would be a problem while I got changed.

“Well, I don’t have any pajamas plus I like…to sleep… naked.” he said his voice trailing off as his eyes moved all over me. In that moment I watched his cock slowly stand to attention.

“Really?” I asked quickly moving to my dresser to find my gown. I too like to sleep naked but when I’m alone! He snickered.

“You sound pent up Yara. I know your night didn’t go too well and I think we should at least end it right.” he purred. I scoffed.

“Oh yeah and what could you possibly have in mind?” I asked sarcastically as I moved to pull one of my gowns out of the drawer. I was turning and putting it back on when I paused noticing he was stroking his cock to full hardness, a devilish smirk on his lips. I tensed feeling the low throbbing sensations coming from between my legs. My body was reminding me that my brain promised it dancing and sex, and my pussy is reminding me to collect on both of those.

“Come bounce on it Yara. I know you want to.” he said. I stared at him for a brief moment before sighing heavily and dropping my gown to the ground moving over to the bed.

Fuck!

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

Author's Notes

If Yara thinks she's going to move out of that apartment with 0 issues HAAA she has another thought coming and if she does manage to move out, she thinks she's going to be roomed with some strangers with no drama? HHAAAAA

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@nousija

[ndplatypus]

My issue with “Helluva Boss”

Yes the humor relies a lot on vulgarity, sex, drugs, and a lot of cussing. Not my cup of tea but it’s not my issue with the series. I genuinely use to love this show, but recent episodes and a rewatch have me very disillusioned with the series. I’m gonna talk about why here.

At first glance, especially in season 1, it’s pretty good. A lot of decent set ups and the chance at world building. The basic premise is interesting and the characters are fun. It genuinely has a good foundation and the potential to be GOOD. It’s why I’m so upset with it now.

To start off, the writing is weak. Nothing that is set up is ever paid off. The main premise we were set up, a small business started by a lower class character of sneaking off to earth from hell to commit assassination jobs. It’s a fun premise! Again a LOT of potential. It’s implied heavily in the show that imps are lower class, usually servants or country hick folk. And higher class and stronger demons look down on them. It’s said by another imp in the show it’s impress and rare for an imp to have his own business!!!

But it teeters off and looses focus of this by heavily focusing on shipping. (Not saying you can’t mix comedy, romance, and drama in one series, but the show doesn’t do this well) It falls off in a way the show star vs the forces of evil did when the show started focusing less on the more interesting concepts (the racism and classism between mewmins and monsters) and started heavily focus on shipping, switch Tom, Star, Kelly and Marco and others) HB does exactly this. Throwing away other concepts and stories they made the show more interesting just to focus on shipping Stolas and Blitzo.

Another issue I have is how the main couple is portrayed. A ship including a very privileged rich upper class prince character and a lower class character whose race is implied in the show to be seen as less than. Classism and racism is not a good dynamic to start with, but with good writing and some sensitivity can be done right.

But again, it isn’t written well. To make the ship look better it’s almost essentially get written between season 1 and 2 and shifts almost all the blame for the problems in the relationship onto the LOWER CLASS CHARACTER WHO FACES RACISM AND FETISHIZATION FROM HIS RICH PRINCE ROMANCE INTEREST.

This mixed with the very questionable sexual coercion and potential sa issues that are involved in their relationship- it’s very uncomfortable. Not saying a ship isn’t allowed to be toxic. I find toxic characters fascinating tbh, but there is a art to writing them-

As in you have to acknowledge your characters are toxic and have your audience see the characters acknowledge this and try to change and do the work to be better. If both Stolas and Blitzo were written to acknowledge both have sone faults in the relationship and both are hurting each other in different ways and tried to work on themselves it could still be good! HB does not do this. It sets up a couple that on both sides is very toxic but only treats one side as so. The one who in reality based on past writing the show no longer acknowledges, is the bigger victim in the relationship!!!

They completely recontextualize the characters by essentially retconning how they got together, starting season two they take what’s potentially a good pairing of toxic characters who can grow and heal together to just trying to victimize one and make the other the “bad” one. Yea both are toxic but to now make Blitzo the main problem in the relationship and Stolas as the victim of just loving someone who doesn’t treat him write- it’s not good writing. It’s honestly gross.

Stop setting up issues like classism, racism, fetishization, in your show, in your ship, if you don’t actually want to acknowledge it. Stop writing serious real life issues into your stories if you can’t properly handle them. You can’t just pretend now those issues aren’t there in season 2 after establishing these issues in season 1. You can’t retcon this shit between seasons. Have the balls to acknowledge how you write your characters to be shitty people and make them work to be better. Not just pretend they are better without any work being put in!!!

And I could go on how all the gay characters seem grossly fetishized and fit into basic stereotypical top/bottom roles. Soft uwu bottom who goes no wrong and strong and big bad top. Yes some gay men have preferences but being so focused on top and bottom dynamics is weird.

The writing of the female characters is gross as well (the creator will say HB is the boy show and HH will be the girl show but it’s an excuse for cheap writing) all the girl characters are props and get no character or growth of their own. They all exist to prop up the boys. To help further along their development and stories while getting none of their own. The female antagonist in the stories are essentially one dimensional with her personality of “bitch.” And only exist again to be against the boys. The girls in the show are constantly demeaned and talked down to by male characters and treated like “stupid bitches” and this is all okay and funny. But when a female character says something bad about the male characters they are wrong and antagonist and will get a rock dropped on them for laughs at the end of the episode, because the show itself treats the males with depth and forgiveness (because trauma) but the girls are lazy evil caricatures who must get beat down in the end because clearly they are wrong and bad, even though it’s funny when male characters do the exact same shit. Some serious misogyny here.

Also another writing issue is.. it feels a lot like trauma porn. Every main (male) character has to have some deep trauma all somehow about a dead/missing mom and abusive dad (all three main make leads have a variation of this same trauma)

Not every character needs a traumatic back story. Not every trauma has to be death and murder and abusive dads. If you have to have your characters be traumatized to make them interesting or explain away their shitty behavior this is just bad and lazy writing.

It doesn’t feel like she’s trying to tell a story here at this point. Season two ends up feeling like fetish and trauma porn and half baked single dimensional characters that exist solely to sexualize and traumatize.

I hate to be this angry and critical of an indie show but even without all the drama around Viv and the treatment her workers the show itself has simply become a toxic poorly written mess of tropes and stereotypes that are simply meant to sell a product not tell a real story.

I wanted to like this show, and I genuinely use to. But after this new season and a rewatch I simply can’t enjoy it anymore. Anything this series had going for it is now trashed. It’s a shame to see.

Again I use to genuinely love this show. My anger with it comes from seeing it fall so far from the potential it had. But maybe that’s on me.

[fanartandfanfiction]

HUMBLE chapter four

Summary: a fairly fluffy chapter of the blooming friendship between charlie and alastor. And we find out that Vox and Charlie have history....

“THAT FUCKER’S BACK!” Vox slammed the doors open to the large apartment he shared with the other Vees.

“Which fucker would this be?” Valentino asked without looking up from his phone.

“Who else?! The radio demon!” 

“What? That grandpa’s back in town?!” Velvette’s jaw dropped. 

“That’s not all. He’s teamed up with Charlie.” 

Velvette and Valentino blinked at him. “Who?”

“Morningstar! Charlie Morningstar!” He was still met with blank stares. “LUCIFER’S DAUGHTER.” 

“Oh, FUCK!” Velvette dropped her phone. “How’d you find this out?” 

“Because he crashed our fucking date!” 

His partners stared at him, and that’s when Vox remembered he’d withheld that little bit of information. “Yes, I went on a fucking date with her, ok?! Kind of.”

“Kind of?” Velvette asked. 

“She thought it was a business meeting, even gave me a binder and a 45 minute presentation about her little hotel. But at the end of the date-“

“Meeting.” Valentino smirked. 

“-she was totally into me. Things were progressing, I was making my move, and that red motherfucker shows up OUT OF NOWHERE and interrupts us. Charlie looked mortified, and then he’s got his grimy little claws all over her-“

“Is she fucking the radio demon?” Velvette asked. 

“WOULD YOU LET ME FINISH?!” Vox’s screen flickered. 

“Calm down before you fry your circuits again.”

“Sorry, he just pisses me off. Anyway, he’s got his claws all over her, and suddenly she’s calling him AL-“

“She’s totally fucking him.” Valentino smirked.

“NO! No, she’s not. She seemed upset that he was there. Anyway, turns out they’re business partners and running the hotel together. And then he just up and vanishes with her! FUCK!” 

Velvette and Valentino exchanged glances. “I don’t get it.” Velvette finally said. 

“Don’t get what?”

“Why you’re acting like a whiny little bitch right now over some girl!” 

“She is NOT some girl.” He huffed and straightened his jacket. “It’s a long story.”

“Then give us the short one.” Valentino rolled his eyes. 

“I fucked up the chance I had to go out with her a long time ago. And I’m not going to fuck it up again.” 

“But WHY? What the fuck is so special about her?!” 

“You wouldn’t understand! It doesn’t matter, my FRIENDS should be supportive of me!” 

“We are, when you’re not acting fucking insane!” Velvette walked over to him and grabbed his shoulders.  “We’re in the middle of a fucking turf war. We’ve got bigger things to focus on than your FEELINGS about some girl! Who, by the way, won’t want SHIT to do with you when she finds out about all your dirty little secrets. So I suggest you GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, put on your big boy pants, and get the fuck over it!” Velvette stomped off. 

“She has a point. She’s too good for you. And I don’t mean she’s out of your league, you’re leagues above her in my opinion. I mean she’s too kind hearted.” 

“You don’t get it. That’s what I like about her.” Vox sat down and looked defeated. “She’s not like anyone I’ve ever met. She’s good. ” 

Valentino sighed and sat by his friend. “Personally, I think she seems like a pain in the ass. And where do you think this is gonna go? You’re gonna date the holier-than-thou princess who wants to rehabilitate sinners? And she’ll just be ok with how we run things? No. She won’t. She’ll get in the fucking way. I gotta ask- why did she think it was a business meeting?” 

“Because…I mentioned that the Vees were interested in investing in the hotel.” Vox grimaced. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? We’re not investing in that shit hole!”

“You don’t have to! I will!”

“Uh-uh. You’re not attaching the Vees to this. We have a reputation. And doing charity work for the little do gooder doesn’t fit our image. So if YOU want to give her YOUR money, fine. But you’re not attaching us to this.” Valentino groaned. “Can’t you just fuck one of the blonde whores from the club? Or any of them and we can put a wig on them?” 

“It’s more than that. You wouldn’t understand.”

“I really don’t. Things are so much easier when you leave feelings out of them.” He left Vox alone with his thoughts, and they drifted to the first time he’d met Charlie.

-a long time ago-

Well this sucked. Why did all the other demons get things like animal heads? He had a FUCKING TV SCREEN. He could hear the others snickering at him and making fun of him. He wondered how long he was obligated to stay at the party. 

“Hi there!” A cheerful voice said from behind him. He turned around and saw an angel smiling at him. She had to be an angel, with her golden hair and bright white skin. She was gorgeous.

“Hi.” He gave her what he hoped was a charming smile. 

“Welcome to hell! It’s probably not what you expected, right?” She giggled. “I’m Charlie! Nice to meet you!” She stuck her hand out and he shook it. 

“Victor. Victor Octavious Xavier.”

“Wow, that’s certainly a mouthful! I should tell you, if you do want to change your name, this is your last chance. Not that there’s anything wrong with your name! A lot of people just want to choose something else.” 

“Is that what you did?”

“Me? Oh, no! I was born here.” She gave him a nervous smile. “I’m…Lucifer’s daughter. Charlotte Morningstar, princess of hell. I don’t really like to lead with that. It tends to make people nervous.” 

He let out a nervous peal of laughter. “You’re joking, right?” 

“Nope. And I know what you’re thinking, isn’t Lucifer the big ugly red guy? But everyone forgets, dad is a fallen angel. Anyway, I have to give the orientation speech, but I hope to talk to you more later! Enjoy the party.” She smiled and walked to the stage. 

“Welcome to Hell! I know you probably have a lot of mixed feelings right now. Maybe you don’t know why you’re here. Ooor maybe you know exactly why you’re here. Anyway, it can be scary to start over, which is why I host this welcoming event! I’m here to help you get your feet on the ground. To your left, you’ll find pamphlets of information about hell, as well as information about the overlords and districts, and some of the opportunities available to you. To your right, you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions! Also, counseling is available to you! Maybe you need to talk it out or just need a hug, but I’m here for you.”

“HOW BOUT A BLOW JOB, BABY?” A voice in the back shouted. Charlie let out a nervous laugh.

“Aaaanyway, you don’t have to go through this alone. I’m confident that if we all work together and try to make this place better, tomorrow will be a happy day in hell.” 

She was met with a roar of laughter. “Is this bitch for real?!”

“Yep, that’s pretty much what I expected.” Charlie sighed and walked off the stage. He found himself following her to the bar as she got a drink and downed it. 

“I really liked your speech. I think it’s admirable what you’re doing.” He smiled at her. 

“You’d be about the only one.” She rubbed her temples. “It’s like this every week.”

“You do this every week?!”

“Yeeeeah. But I don’t mind! Even if I can make things better for one sinner, I’ll know that I made a difference.” She smiled. 

“I’m sorry, I just…how are you here? You seem so-“

“Nice?” She smiled. “I’m the devil’s daughter. I can’t change that. But I can try to use my power and my knowledge to make things a little better. Dad thinks it’s a waste of time, but I don’t care.” 

“I think it’s really great. You’ve certainly made me feel better.”

Charlie’s eyes welled up. “Really?” 

“You have. And I think I am going to change my name.”

“Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?”

He gave her a small smile and took a drink. “Vox.” 

-the present- 

Alastor wasn’t sure if Charlie would be in the kitchen for breakfast or if she’d be avoiding him. He opened the door and saw her holding an egg. She tapped it lightly on the countertop and nothing happened. She tried again, a bit harder and frowned. CRACK! She’d pretty much blown up the egg. 

“Fuuuuck!” She grumbled. 

“I always use my thumb to puncture the middle, then pull it apart.”

She didn’t even jump this time when he spoke. “Shall I take over?”

“Thank you, but no. I need to cook an egg.” 

“If this is about what I said yesterday-“

“Of course it is. And you’re right. I am HUNDREDS of years old and I can’t cook an egg? So I will!” She gave him a determined smile. 

“Charlotte, I really don’t mind.” 

“I need to do this.” She picked up another egg and whacked it on the counter, splattering herself with egg. “Why are they SO FRAGILE?!” 

“Charlie dear, look.” He picked up an egg and put it in her hand. He placed his hand over hers and guided it, lightly tapping it on the edge of the pan. “Then you use your thumb to break the rest of the shell and pull it apart.” The egg plopped down into the pan. 

“Nice! Thanks Al.” She began pushing the egg around in the pan, scrambling it. He watched briefly with amusement before pouring a cup of coffee. He fixed Charlie a cup too with a god awful amount of sugar and set it beside her. They were off to a good start. 

“Delivery for Charlotte Morningstar.” 

Charlie looked up in surprise. “Oh! That’s me.” 

“Sign here.” A delivery demon shoved a clipboard at her. 

“I wasn’t expecting a package. Vaggie, did you order anything?” 

“Nope.” 

The delivery demon headed out to a van and unloaded an embarrassingly large bouquet of roses. “Oooooh god.” Charlie watched with wide eyes. The demon brought them in and dropped them in the middle of the floor and left. Vaggie and Charlie gaped at it. 

“Uh…that’s…wow.” Vaggie cleared her throat. 

Charlie walked over to it and plucked the card off, though she knew who it was from. 

“ Charlotte,

Please forgive me for my behavior last night. I hope you’d be willing to give me another chance. I must admit my interest in you isn’t entirely professional, but you should know that in no way affects my investment in your hotel. Voxtech will be investing regardless. 

Give me a call sometime if you’d like to go out again. If you prefer to keep things professional, I can always send Valentino or Velvette to meet with you. 

I hope you have a great day and that these flowers made you smile.

-Vox”

Charlie grinned at the note. “YES! Voxtech wants to invest!” 

“And that required an elaborate bouquet of roses?” Vaggie asked skeptically. 

“Oh, um, there was some other stuff too.” Charlie blushed. 

“Charlie. You can NOT be considering going out with this guy.” 

“I don’t know, he seems sincere! And this is a really sweet note.” 

“I’m sure it is, because he’s playing you.” 

“Is it so hard to believe someone would actually want to go out with me and not want something?!” 

“When they’re a demon overlord? Yes, it is!” 

Charlie was shocked. “Vaggie, why are you acting like this?” 

“Because I’m sick of seeing you letting the wrong people in! You only end up getting hurt. You trust EVERYONE.”

“I’d rather trust everyone and be wrong than trusting no one.” 

Vaggie was silent. She had an expression on her face Charlie couldn’t read, then walked quickly out of the room. 

Charlie ran her hands through her hair in frustration. What was Vaggie’s problem lately?! 

“Weeeell! Someone’s trying to make a good impression.” Alastor said, coming to stand beside her and look at the flowers. 

“It’s…kind of a lot. I don’t really like things like this.”

“Flowers?”

“No, big showy displays like this. It’s basically saying ‘look at all this money I have to blow!”

“Roses ARE a classic symbol of romance, though.” 

“I know, but…no, it’s sweet. I shouldn’t complain. Oh! The good news is thaaaaaaat:” she paused for dramatic effect. “THE VEES ARE INVESTING!” She handed the card to him with a grin.

Alastor read the note and his smile grew tighter. What was this asshole’s game? “Wonderful. Though it’s not my area, I believe this place could benefit from some new technology. It would draw people in.” He handed the card back to Charlie with a smile. 

“Listen, now that I know your feelings on the matter, I won’t call him and we can work with the other Vee’s.”

“Nonsense! I can behave myself. Now, in what sense are you returning the call?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you calling the Vee’s, or calling Vox?” 

Charlie looked conflicted. “Um… is it weird that I kind of want to call him? You know what, it’s weird. Never mind.”

“You should call him if you want to, Charlie.”

“But you-“

“There’s no reason for your personal life to affect our partnership. My problems with Vox are my own.” 

“I mean it, Al. You’re more important to me. Your feelings matter.” 

There was a loud crackle of static. “Oh Charlotte, don’t worry your pretty little head. Go out with him! Let him spend some of his excessive wealth on you!” He patted her on the head and left, leaving Charlie feeling confused. 

A few days passed and everything was fairly smooth. Alastor and Charlie had breakfast every morning and worked together through the day. It was a perfectly normal platonic partnership. Until that evening…

“Hey Al, have you seen Angel?” Charlie asked. 

“He left about an hour ago for work. Is there something I can assist you with?”

“Thanks, but this is really more of Angel’s area. It’s ok, I’ll figure it out.”

“Come on now, doll! What do you need?” 

Charlie looked embarrassed. “…my date is tonight. And I don’t know what to wear.” 

“Ah, fashion! I’m not entirely incompetent about it, I’d say I’m a pretty sharp dresser myself.” He gestured at his well tailored suit. “I’d be happy to lend a hand.” 

“I’d really appreciate it. I’m not very good at this sort of thing.” They went up the stairs and Charlie walked in her room, while Alastor stood in the doorway. “Al?”

“Forgetting something, doll?” He held up his hand and it was as if there were an invisible wall. 

“Oh! Sorry. Alastor, enter freely and of your own will!” Charlie grinned.

“Thanks, sweetheart, now I feel like Dracula.” 

Charlie’s brows raised in surprise. “You know Dracula?”

“Of course! Excellent book by Bram Stoker. A delightful read!” 

Charlie walked over to her bookshelf and waved him over. “It’s my favorite book. I have eight editions! I’m a sucker for a pretty cover.”

“You know, there’s a whole thing about not judging books by them.” 

“That’s true. I just like collecting different versions. I like to see the different designs. This one is my favorite. It looks the fanciest.” She plucked a black book off the shelf with elaborate gold detailing.

Alastor let out an appreciative whistle. “My, my, that IS a sharp looking cover!” 

Charlie put the book back on the shelf and opened her closet doors. He was taken aback by the enormous amounts of bright colored fabrics. “Oh my. Hurts the eyes a bit, doesn’t it?” 

“I know, I really need to get rid of some of it, but who has the time?!” She began shoving mountains of fabric aside. 

“And yet, I’ve never seen you wear anything besides that red suit.” 

“I know, I just feel like it’s the most professional. This closet is full of stuff I’d like to wear. But that’s a separate issue. Ok, here’s what I’ve narrowed it down to.” She grabbed an armload of dresses and brought them over to her bed. “I’ve got a little black dress, a red dress, a pink dress, and another blue dress.” 

“It’s difficult to choose without seeing them on you, doll.” 

“Right! I just didn’t want to take up too much of your time. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.” 

“Such as?” He smiled.

Charlie blinked. “I actually have no idea what you do in your free time. I feel like I probably don’t want to know.”

“HA! You crack me up, Charlie girl! If you’d like to have our appointment tomorrow, I’ll show you.” 

Charlie laughed. “That’s a funny way to say hanging out.” 

“Hanging out?”

Charlie took her dresses into the bathroom to try them on. “Spending time together as friends! Which we don’t have to have an appointment for. Just ask!” 

Alastor was perplexed. Were they friends? He supposed they were. “I was referring to our deal.” 

“Ok! What time?” 

“How’s 7 PM?” 

“Sure! Ok, here’s option one.” Charlie came out of the bathroom in a little black dress. It was fitted and flared at the waist, giving her a cute silhouette, but it was short. 

“Alright, very lovely. Though a bit short, don’t you think?” 

“That’s what happens when you’re six feet tall.” Charlie smirked and headed back into the bathroom. 

While he was waiting, he was DEFINITELY going to snoop around. He walked back over to her bookshelf and saw a picture of Charlie with a green demon. She had her arms around him and was grinning widely. The green demon just looked smug. 

“Here’s the red one.” 

He turned around and let out an involuntary crackle of static. 

“Uuuuum, I don’t really know how to interpret that.” Charlie smiled. 

“It’s a lovely dress. If you’re a STREET WALKER.” The dress was short, tight, and had cutouts on the sides. 

“You don’t like it? Angel gave it to me.” She walked up to him and smiled widely. She did a slow turn to show him all angles. When she turned back around he was looking at anything but her. 

“I don’t think wearing something out of Angel’s wardrobe really suits you.” 

“What’s the matter, Al? Are you alright?” Charlie moved even closer and smiled sweetly up at him, but he saw the mischievous glint in her eye. 

“Just fine, dear. Just worried about your modesty.”

Charlie couldn’t contain her laugh any longer. “I’m only teasing, Al. I just wanted to see your reaction. There’s no way I’d wear this ANYWHERE.” 

“Then why do you have it?” 

“Angel gave it to me. He said I needed a clubbing outfit.” She shrugged. “Onto the next!” 

He continued to poke around her room, examining the different photographs. He stopped in front of a family photo and was surprised that she looked more like her father than her mother. She and Lucifer shared the same big eyes and smile. 

“I feel like a cupcake.”

Alastor turned around and laughed. “You LOOK like a cupcake, doll.” It was a ballerina style dress and enormously puffy. She turned around and headed back into the bathroom. A moment later, the dress came flying out of the bathroom. “Just burn it, it’s awful!” 

Alastor chuckled and picked up the dress. “What’s the story here?” 

“A stuffy wedding.” She replied. He realized she’d left the door cracked open and he could see her. She was beautiful. He quickly turned away.

There was a knock on her door. “Want me to get that, doll?”

“Would you?” 

Alastor walked over and opened the door. “Hello, Vagatha! How can we help you?” 

Vaggie was stunned. “What are you doing here?!” 

“Assisting. Did you need something?” He smiled widely. 

“Yeah, to talk to Charlie. Is she here?”

“Yes, she’s getting dressed. Charlotte! Vagatha is here, should I let her in?” 

“Sure! Out in a sec, Vaggie!” Charlie’s voice called out. 

Alastor opened the door wider with a shit eating grin. The little moth girl was pissed. “Make yourself comfortable. Charlotte, may I make a suggestion? I don’t think we’ve had any winners so far.” 

“Go for it!” 

He walked over to her closet and began going through the clothes and humming. 

“What the FUCK are you doing?” Vaggie glared at him with her arms crossed. 

“Helping Charlotte select her outfit. She asked for my assistance.”

“I find that hard to believe. Outfit for what?”

“Why, for her date tonight!”

Vaggie’s face fell. “Date?” 

“Ok, this one is pretty but kind of a pain in the ass.” Charlie walked over to them. It was a blue cocktail dress, but with a corseted bust that had to be laced up. 

“Hmmm.” Alastor examined her and circled her like a shark. “I guess it depends on whether or not you’d like to breathe.” 

Charlie laughed. “Well then you’d better find something better or it’s the black one! Hi Vaggie, what’s up?” 

Vaggie looked stunned. “Oh, uh, I was going to ask if you wanted to do something tonight, but apparently you’ve got plans.” 

“Yeah, my redo date with Vox is tonight. Didn’t I tell you?”

“No. I feel like we’ve barely seen each other.” 

“You’re right, I’m sorry! I’ve been so preoccupied with the hotel. How about tomorrow night: you, me, pjs, and entirely too much junk food?” 

“I’d like that.” Vaggie smiled. 

“Don’t forget, I have you from 7-8, doll!” Alastor added with a smile. 

“Yeah, it’ll have to be after 8. But that still leaves us plenty of time!” 

“Are you sure you can work me into your busy schedule, or are you too busy hanging out with any other overlords?” Vaggie glared. 

“Vaggie…”

“I’m sorry, I just…can we talk privately?” 

“Sure. Be right back, Al!” 

Alastor continued sorting through the racks of clothes and sent his shadow to eavesdrop. 

“What are you doing, Charlie?!”

“What do you mean?”

“Why is the radio demon answering your door and going through your closet?”

“Because we’re friends, and I asked for his help.” 

“You could’ve asked for MY help.”

“You hate this sort of thing. Vaggie, what’s going on with you lately?” 

“I just…I’m worried that you’re letting the wrong people in. You’re so kind and I know you want to see the best in everyone, but you have to be careful.”

“I don’t really know what you’re worried about. Al hasn’t once tried to murder me or overthrow me. He’s been really kind.”

“EXACTLY! He’s NOT kind. Do you have any idea how many people he’s killed? How many souls he owns? He’s known for causing chaos and terror, so it doesn’t strike you as odd that he’s picking out your outfit like you’re girlfriends?!” 

Charlie sighed. “He’s given me no reason not to trust him. And yes, I’m aware of the things he’s done, and I don’t expect him to change overnight and suddenly be a saint. But he’s here. He’s helping with the hotel. And I think it’s really unfair to keep treating him like this. I know you’re worried about me, and I’m lucky to have a best friend like you looking out for me. But I also need you to trust me a little bit. Alright?” 

“Alright. I will. Just be careful, Charlie.” 

Charlie hugged Vaggie tightly. “Thanks for being such a good friend. Think about what movie you wanna watch tomorrow night, ok?” 

“Sure. Have fun on your date.” Vaggie gave her a weak smile.

Charlie returned to her closet and found Alastor holding up a light blue dress. “Give this one a try, doll.”

“Oh, that’s pretty! I don’t remember this one.” 

“How would you know, with everything you have stuffed in here?” 

“It seems a little…dated.” 

“Just give it a shot!” 

“Alright…” she took the dress into the bathroom. 

Alastor wasn’t entirely sure WHY he’d created a dress for her. He just didn’t like the idea of her going out in any of those other so-called dresses. Charlie was elegant. Those dresses were not. 

“It’s not my usual style, but… I think I like it!” Charlie came out of the bathroom and did a little twirl. The puffy blue dress flared out around her. He’d modeled it after a 1950s style dress, which was fitted up top but full at the bottom. Since it was a formal occasion, the neckline was off the shoulder. 

“You look FANTASTIC! Just a few finishing touches…” he pointed his microphone at her and placed a delicate pearl necklace around her neck and fashioned her hair into a more vintage style.

“Al, you’re AMAZING! I might have to have you take over as my stylist instead of Angel.” She giggled and looked at herself in the mirror. 

“Angel should not be giving fashion advice to anyone. I’d recommend not taking ANY advice from him.” Alastor came up and stood behind her in the mirror. “See here? Beautiful and elegant, without being provocative.” 

Charlie started to move, then stopped and bit her lip. “Something wrong, doll?”

“I wanted to hug you, but I figured you wouldn’t-OOF!” He’d crushed her against his chest. Charlie grinned at her victory. He finally let her go and she smiled up at him. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome, sweetheart!” His grin was genuine. “Though between you and me, this is all going to waste with that squawk box.” 

“Speaking of…what are you NOT going to do?” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

“Hmmm, I don’t know what you’re referring to.” He smiled.

“ Alastor.” 

“I wouldn’t DREAM of ruining your little date, dear.” He tweaked her nose. “Why, I thought you were going to burn the hotel to the ground last time!” 

“I just…I don’t get to do this much.”

“Do what, doll?”

“Go on dates. People aren’t exactly lining up to go out with the princess of hell. Most people think I’m a joke.” 

“Those people, darling, are imbeciles. Total, utter idiots.” 

“I mean, I get it. I’m different. And my dad is literally the king of hell, so the idea of having to meet him one day…he’s scared off quite a few boyfriends. A few girlfriends too. And friends in general…” 

“Would this happen to be one of those boyfriends?” He summoned the picture of her with the green demon. 

“Oh. No, dad didn’t scare him off. He was just an asshole.” 

“Then why do you keep his picture displayed?” 

Charlie took the picture and chewed on her lip. “He was important to me. And this night was important to me. Dad FINALLY let me go to a dance. I was so excited. I made sure I had the perfect dress…but it wasn’t a great night. I mean, it started out that way. This picture was taken early in the evening.” 

She jumped when she felt Alastor’s thumb on her lip. “Stop that. You’ll chew your lip right off, young lady!”

“Nervous habit. Anyway, it was over after that night. But I kept the picture because, at the time, I was ridiculously happy. I’m not sure anything has made me feel like that since then. Being young and in love…it’s a powerful feeling.”

“I wouldn’t know.” He plucked a stray hair off her shoulder. 

“Really? You’ve never been in love?” She looked at him with big eyes. 

“Sweetheart, I never even LIKED anybody.” He grinned. 

“No one? There wasn’t a SINGLE PERSON you liked? Tolerated, maybe?” 

“I loved my mother. That was all.” 

“I find it hard to believe there was not one single person you remotely tolerated.” 

“Nope. Just me and my audience!” 

“So radio was your thing even when you were alive.”

“Of course! That’s how I became the radio demon.” 

“But Vox is a television demon and he has a tv as a head. You have fluffy ears.”

“FLUFFY EARS?” He scoffed. 

“Or is that your hair?” Charlie got a wicked smile on her face and stepped closer. 

“Careful, Charlotte.” He gave her a matching grin. 

“If you’d juuuust let me touch-“ she reached her hand out and he grabbed it. 

“You’ll have to try harder than thaaaat!” 

Husk and Niftty looked up at the sound of a scuffle, which was coming down the stairs. There was a red blur as Alastor came streaking into the lobby with a blue blur after him. “Give up, dear!” 

“NEVER!” 

“What the HELL is going on?!” Husk shouted as the pair crashed through the lobby. 

Alastor paused long enough for Charlie to leap onto his back. “HAHAAAA!” She shouted triumphantly. She rubbed his ears and smirked. “I win.” 

“Holy fuuuuuuck….” Angel walked in the front door with wide eyes. “I’m gone for two hours and she’s jumpin’ strawberry in the lobby?” 

Alastor and Charlie froze. Charlie was on his back with her legs wrapped around him, which he was holding to support her, and she had one arm around his neck and the other on his ear.

“Oh! Hi guys! This…is not what it looks like.” She let go of Alastor, but he hadn’t let her go yet. “ Al!” She hissed. He dropped her legs and she fell to the floor with a thump. 

“It LOOKS like you’ve got a death wish.” Husk was still gaping at them. 

Charlie stood up and cleared her throat. “Sorry, Alastor. I got a little carried away.” 

“Quite alright.” He appeared to still be frozen in place. 

“I, uh, better go straighten up before my date. Thanks for your help, Al!” She smiled brightly and headed up the stairs. 

The lobby was silent. Alastor was still frozen in place, trying to process what had just happened. 

“I SHIP IT!” Nifty screeched.

“You what?” Husk asked. 

“It means to want two people to be a romantic thing, even if they ain’t.” Angel answered. 

“I ship you and Angel!” Nifty said to Husk.

“The FUCK you do!” Husk glared. 

“Relax, she also ships me and the strawberry pimp.” Angel gestured to Alastor, but he was gone. 

“She say she had a date?” Angel asked as he sat at the bar. 

“Yeah. She’s going out with that dumbass tv demon.” Husk answered as he slid Angel a drink.

Angel’s face paled (as much as it could, he was covered in white fur.) “WHY?” 

“Fuck if I know.” 

“I gotta talk to her.” Angel ran up the stairs to Charlie’s room and began knocking. 

“Go away, Al! I’m busy!” 

“It’s Angel, toots.”

The door opened a minute later. “Oh! Hi Angel. I thought you went to work?”

“I did, but Val sent me home early, which is why I need to talk to you.” 

“Oh! Ok. Come on in.” 

Angel began anxiously pacing. “Look, I don’t like to stick my nose where it don’t belong, but I’m worried. Vox is NOT a good guy. You’d be horrified if you knew some of the stuff he did. But I also know you’re gonna say everyone deserves a second chance or some bullshit like that, so forget it. But what I’m worried about is Val.”

“Really? Why?” 

“Cuz I went to work like I always do, and Val tells me I’m gonna be working all night. Big surprise. But anyway, I’m there like two hours, we ain’t even really gotten started yet, when he gets a phone call. I could tell it was Velvette cuz that bitch is loud. She was yelling at him about needing to take care of something. Then suddenly Val has to go and sends everybody home.”

“I don’t understand.” 

“Do you think Val, my pimp and owner of my soul, is gonna be happy about his business partner going after you? You’re like the anti-Val!” 

Charlie absorbed the information. “But…why would he be so upset? I know we have our differences-“

“Because if you knew the things he did to me and the way the Vees treat people, you’d wanna take them down. Business comes first for Val. And if you’re a threat to it…” 

“You’re talking like he’s gonna try to kill me.” Charlie snorted.

“He might.”

“Look, I know he wants to protect his business, but attacking the princess of hell would be incredibly stupid.” 

“So he might not attack you. He might take it out on someone you care about.” Angel looked at her and she read between the lines. 

“No. Angel, no. I would NEVER let something like that happen because of me.” 

“Look, this could just be me being fuckin’ paranoid. Go on your date. Maybe he’s a charmer and I’m wrong about everything. And Valentino wouldn’t do anything right then. He’d just threaten you. But be. Careful. Why don’t you ask strawberry to play guard?”

“Because that would only make things worse. They have…issues. I’ll be ok. And I’m not completely helpless. Especially when it comes to my friends.” She hugged Angel tightly and he rested his head on hers. 

“Look, I know I give you a lotta shit, but you’re one of the only people that gives a shit about me. And I don’t want anything to happen to you.” 

“I promise I’ll be safe. Thank you for telling me.” 

“You’re welcome. Now what the hell are you wearing? You look like you’re from the 50s!”

Charlie was puzzled. Alastor had said his problem with Vox was that he’d hurt someone he cared for. So there WAS someone! She’d have to think about that later.

Alastor had been in his room trying to process everything that had just happened. The thing that confounded him most of all was the sheer JOY he had, running from Charlie and acting like an idiot. He hadn’t even minded when she caught him and touched his ears. It felt pretty nice actually. This was all dangerous, unfamiliar territory. He meant what he’d said. He didn’t even LIKE anyone. But somehow, Charlie had wormed her way in and planted a seed. 

He was FOND of her. He LIKED being around her. It was weird. He didn’t like not having control over everything, and that included his feelings (or usually lack thereof) so having FONDNESS for another person was incredibly frustrating. 

He felt like he should apologize if he’d made her uncomfortable. With what, he wasn’t sure exactly, but he saw the horror on everyone’s faces. He headed out into the hallway and was about to knock on her door when he heard her conversation with Angel. He stood there and listened, feeling anger begin to boil inside him. That disgusting, low life pimp had better not lay a FINGER on his Charlie-

Woah. HIS Charlie? Where did THAT come from? He didn’t have time to question it because the conversation was ending and Angel was about to leave. He knew one thing for certain:

There was no way in HELL she was going alone.

[geekthefreakout]

The GaaNaru Letters (Bonus Post)

Here is a deleted scene from the latest chapter that was just a bit too cheesy and just didn't fit in the flow, but it really killed me to cut it.

--

"It WAS an accident, I tell ya!" Naruto ranted. "And it hurt because our teeth smashed together and then the girls beat me up after because THEY thought I did it on purpose. As if I would! If I kissed someone on purpose, it wouldn't be so shitty, dattebayo!"

Gaara puzzled on this for a moment before concluding that this was one of those things that could only happen to Naruto. He grabbed his friend and tugged him back onto the bed before he could start pacing in his agitation.

"I believe you. It was an accident. Settle down."

"THANK you." Naruto sat, but his arms were crossed and his lower lip was sticking out in a pout. Gaara tried not to stare.

"So, kissing Sasuke Uchiha is not a bowl of ramen you would want to finish." Gaara tried not to let himself feel too cheered by this fact.

"Eh? Oh, no. That bastard. Well, I guess it was more like a bowl of ramen that got spilled on me before I really tasted. Maybe if it had been on purpose it wouldn't have been so bad. Not that I wanted to!" Naruto rushed to say. "Just, if I had."

"I've never had an on purpose kiss. Or any kiss." Gaara blurted out, immediately mortified with himself. Was this what losing Shukaku had done to him? Made him so tired that things just came out of his mouth without proper consideration? Perhaps the demon had been more of a gift than he'd realized.

"You will, one day." Naruto said, nudging Gaara's shoulder with his own. "It'll be on purpose because clumsy shit like that doesn't happen to you. And you'll be great. That person would be lucky to have you, 'ttebayo."

Gaara bit his lip, forbidding himself from speaking and saying anything else foolish. A few moments passed, and then Naruto spoke again, his voice taking on a strange, hushed quality.

"Or, you know. If you want. I mean, I've never had an on purpose kiss. And I've been wanting to know what it's like. So that when I do it for real, it goes well, you know?"

Gaara nearly stopped breathing.

"And I don't want your first kiss to be shit like mine. If you wanted to. You know. Try. But you don't have to! Actually, forget I mentioned--"

"Yes." Gaara spoke without thinking again, but it was too late to take it back. He looked sideways at Naruto, feeling like if he submitted himself to the full depths of Naruto's blue eyes he would drown on dry land.

"Yes?" Naruto's voice was a squeak. "Yes. Okay. Okay. Here, we have to face each other."

The two boys turned so that they were knee to knee. Gaara chose to focus his gaze on Naruto's whiskered cheeks.

"Now what?"

"Now, umm.... we close our eyes!"

"If we close our eyes, how do we see what we're doing?" Gaara protested.

"Just shut em, okay?"

Gaara closed his eyes, but left one cracked open. He was somewhat gratified to see Naruto doing the same, though not as subtly.

"Okay. You just sit there. And I'm gonna kiss you."

Gaara sat. A moment passed, and nothing happened. Had Naruto changed his mind? He began to open his eyes, hot shame welling up in his throat.

"Okay. I'm ready. Keep your eyes closed!"

Gaara closed his eyes again, this time letting them stay shut. His breath was in his throat. He felt Naruto's hands on his shoulders, felt the shift of the mattress as he leaned forward. His heart pounded in his chest.

Naruto's lips were soft, Gaara discovered. Soft and dry and warm, like the desert sand. They pursed against Gaara's, and moved slowly against them. Gaara's heart beat faster, even as he felt his shoulders relax under Naruto's comforting touch. Tentatively, he moved his lips as well, catching Naruto's bottom lip between his own. He felt Naruto's hand on his cheek and suppressed a shudder, fisting his own hands in his lap.

It was too much.

Don't stop.

He couldn't process these feelings. He thought his heart might stop anew.

Don't stop.

He wasn't sure how to breathe like this.

Naruto stopped.

"There." Naruto said, and when Gaara opened his eyes he saw that his friend had turned bright red. "That was. Yeah. Much better on purpose. Anyway. Um. Hope you liked that Igottapee!"

Naruto leapt up and hurried to a door on the side of the room. Gaara was grateful for the space as he got his body and mind back under his command. Except...

"Naruto, that's a closet."

"DAMMIT!"

fin.