As it's way too early in Umineko to safely tell you which characters you remind us of without influencing your ideas, I'm gonna throw the question back at you - do any of the umi characters remind you of yourself?

the forbidden umineko kin question....hmmm. i'm gonna be honest i'm not super seeing myself in anyone at this point? i have characters i'm endeared to but none of them are making me go "just like me fr" strong enough yet. maria kind of reminds me of what i was like as a kid a little bit if that counts?? like i was also a kind of lonely kid with weird interests who endured some Horrors so like even though i'm not like that Now i have deep fondness and understanding of maria in quite a few ways haha

Hii!! I agree with your points and your interpretation is valid. But just wanted to say that I think that using a guy character not acting like a pervert and borderline assaulty around women as a proof of them not being attracted is a very flawed and harmful logic (talking ab the scene of Komaeda falling under Mikan’s skirt you mentioned). I’m attracted to women but if I fall under girl’s skirt or witness an embarrassing situation I will be uncomfortable too. Komaeda’s reaction is how a normal respectful person would react and I’m very saddened that the amount of pervert anime characters has normalized such behaviour

That's super fair! I only realize now I am using it under the expectations of Danganronpa since there are so many perverted characters in the franchise, you're right and thank you for pointing that out. That actually is really upsetting now that you mention it, yeah I'm going to edit that out ew.

I've made posts on twitter of small, even if silly, praises about how Nagito seems to really value consent. He's always the loudest and most annoyed about teruteru's behavior, and within the franchise he's the one who's the most respectful and realistic when it comes to the problematic subjects. It's sad that not every character is as respectful as him. In fact almost all of the dr2 male cast is crushing on girls, some being gross about it, the only ones who don't are Nekomaru and Nagito. Crushing on girls is definitely not the issue, but half of them being gross about it is.

Just to redeem the example because I'm upset by it here's some instances of his weird somewhat lack of interest in women that we've seen or general vagueness

Chiaki saying this isn't as straightforward but it still implies her being sexy wouldn't work to get Nagito's attention which still says things about his possible disinterest or respectful nature maybe even both.

During fan service scenes in every manga adaptation he never blushes while every other character does

He avoids the question of sexuality every time it's asked, he either doesn't know it himself, doesn't think about it because he thinks he's unworthy, or has to beat around the bush because he's closeted. Although outside of characterization wise it may just be kodaka staying vague because that's the common pattern Lmao. The question is avoided during Q&as and during ultra despair girls he just ignores Kurokoma altogether lmao (would add more but image limit on mobile is my worst enemy)

i've seen multiple interpretations for this so just ???

Either way the status of canon is: Nagito shows interest in men and we see he has sexual desires, he's anything that isn't straight or aroace. He doesn't show evident interest in women and there's been no official word on his sexuality, it is up in the air when it comes to specifics. He is absolutely a queer coded character, whether he's gay, pan, bi, or something else there's no doubt about that. I believe Nagito is gay because there's a lot of evidence supporting this, I think it also makes his storyline more impactful. But at the end of the day there is no said canon and people are free to headcanon what they want to, whatever people say that isn't invalidating important parts of his character we actively see is preferred.

I GREW UP ON DISNEY | plots & connections for your convenience ♡

featuring: spiderverse muses

these are just some ideas ( some vague, some more specific ) that i'd like to write and that hopefully catch your interest! feel free to like this post if there's a plot/dynamic you'd like to write, and i'll message you about it! ♡(>ᴗ•)

chiyoko hisakawa aka jorogumo of earth 7878a

this scenario! bc oooh conflict <3

in general, be it with canon characters or oc's, i'd really love someone to get chiyo to talk about shiori. she meant a lot to her -- chiyo doesn't casually date, nor does she date anyone that she didn't first befriend over a long period of time. and the thing is!! chiyo never actually got to admit her feelings to shiori. so there's a lot of unresolved feelings concerning her, and i just want someone to get chiyo to talk about it.

shiori was her universe's gwen, so i do think it'd be interesting to see chiyo interact with any version of her. they're different people, but i think chiyo would be wary bc gwen dies in certain universes and!! she's not in a position to handle that emotionally rn

gimme all the mentorships pls and thanks <3 the more i write her in this universe, i do think she'd get along with just about anyone tbh -- she just might disagree with them on occasion, but that's normal and healthy and makes for some fun threads!

big bonus points if her mentor is friends with her mom, yuzusa! i want someone to help her with that awkward situation pls :' )

i love multiverse shenanigans, but i also love the idea of chiyo having regular friends/mentors/etc. who discover she's jorogumo! so gimme that too u3u

ALSO give me her universe's harry!! bc they're supposed to be great friends, but things are weird and strained after the whole green goblin thing!! that wasn't her harry, but chiyo knows it could be one day, and i so badly want to write how that friendship is affected by that knowledge. do they manage to break canon? do they not?? let's find out!!

yuzusa hisakawa aka jorogumo of earth 7878b

i am once again asking for mentorships, but let yuzu be your muse's teacher who very much acts like a momma bear yet roasts them ruthlessly &lt;3

talk to yuzu about chiyo!! the one she lost and the one in front of her!! tell her that's rough buddy but you'll be there for her while she tries to build a relationship with her daughter ;;v;;

i say that like it's going to be all hurt/comfort, and some of it will be, but it's also going to be yuzu snapping and getting angry, telling you to mind your own business. pain isn't always pretty, and yuzu is the prime example of that.

that being said!! gimme the friend that was there through it all -- being bitten, becoming spider-woman, losing her family, becoming jorogumo. gimme the history that allows someone to see how she's changed and pull her back in when she's growing too far away, when she's losing herself. i want it uvu

but obviously i also wanna write people discovering yuzu is jorogumo and going " oh that actually makes a lot of sense " asdfg

what iiiiif your muse catches yuzu visiting a universe where her husband and chiyo are alive, and she's only watching over them!! just making sure they're okay!! but yeah this needs to be addressed and unpacked

miguel o'hara

talk to him about how much they don't really know about anomalies and canon events; talk to him about how maybe he's wrong about miles; challenge him <3

and in challenging him maybe we can get into how he's projecting his guilt onto a kid and is just!! scared!! of failing!! of losing people!! pls oh my gosh

can we pls see miguel as a mentor to somebody? can we pls??

more to be added!

pavitr prabhakar

not to burst pav's bubble, but can we talk about how hard being spider-man is eventually going to get?? can someone warn him??

i do wanna write some pre-atsv stuff with him! like how he must've reacted to there being a multiverse, who he might've met first, etc. i like that stuff when we already know where we're going!

while very likeable, typically any iteration of peter parker is bullied to some extent, and since i'm gonna borrow from pav's comics, i'm gonna say the same goes for him. in the comics, his family isn't super wealthy, and he manages to get into a nice school through a scholarship; between the differing tax brackets and pav's natural talent for things, i'm gonna say the other kids probably alienate him a little more than he lets on. maybe we can explore that? the expectation that pav must be popular and have it easy vs. the reality that he's just like miles and a young peter -- another teen who's still finding his place and figuring everything out.

more to be added!

My problem with sleeping? Everyone and everything's just so fucking noisy. My family, my neighbors, animals. So much noise is preventing me from actually sleeping. I'd have neighbors would have loud parties almost every night with horrible music. Or during the day would be all the neighbors driving around, loud music, mowing the law, even dogs barking. Noise. No matter what happens any time, I really can't sleep.

I'm surprised that I haven't murdered anyone yet. They're just so loud.

Humans need to stop existing now.

~

The scene with the Redrum drug was vague.. I'll have to pay attention next time I rewatch H&L again. Especially the show, since the show is probably where I remember that scene. I remember the drug as being a red powder. So either eating it, snorting it, consuming it that way.

Slight spoiler from Worst movie, "Kidra specialized in creating and selling a drug called Redrum, which can make the user feel painless."

If that version of the Redrum drug is anything like the original drug, it would be a drug that makes you feel painless. Don't know how that is.

Or! At the very least. Did one short season, like an epilogue season, to officially wrap up more story. In my opinion. Just to see most of these characters one last time, and to officially give them a better ending.

But I might be selfish in saying that though, not that it would happen.

The inside of the gambling business is interesting because that place seems like a legitimate business. Even though it's obviously not that.

And Hyuga's carelessly sitting on his car, not caring if he falls off, also gets run over too while they're at it. Seriously, Hyuga? What the fuck.

And Rocky's shiny grilled teeth!

Don't forget about stripper Rocky too.

I know, I know.. I'm getting ahead of myself again. Like I always do.

I might possibly write for Alice In Borderland (if and when I'm actually writing for once). At least for the first two seasons but not sure about season three yet since who knows what might happened with that.

But I did tell you before. I'm just an overly detailed person whenever it comes to my work. Including details that most people never care for. I have always been like this.. Why do you think my characters are really overly detailed with any and every detail you could think of for them.

I'm always prepared.

Because I'm always doing too much research about everything you're able to think of. That most people have no interest in. My head hurts.

~

Not surprised. Usually the higher up bosses would know about that in shows and movies like this. Well.. They should since they were they're the ones to give the character that job. But I wish his wife knew about it. At least for safety reasons. But then again, it seems like she's really emotionally attached to her ex though (or what their relationship is).

I haven't met aither man yet... But some small part of me may want to fuck one or even both of them. Especially mafia guy. Don't judge me. I am a person who has a type with criminal men. Like there is Tommy, Rocky, Vincenzo, maybe even this guy too. I don't know yet. But I just have to say they are the beauty, brains and brawn with a lot of wealth.

Ignore me.

So I can't blame her.

Imagine wanting to be with a fictional character, yet realizing you just weren't born in the era that the story takes place in. Seems so funny.

I can "take abuse quietly" for the most part. If you ever met my family, you would understand that. But, in general, how I would act and react in situations does depend on everything. The situation. The person or people involved. What might cause me to react negatively toward the people. Usually I walk away if I can. But if I'm at that breaking point in these situations, I will snap out at people. Doesn't matter who it is.

But.. I think there was only a couple times that I've cried out in public, mostly because I was so overwhelmed that I had a mental breakdown type of crying. But that was because my anxiety was worse back then though, now my anxiety is controlled better in any of those situations.

I don't mind drinking wine every once in a while but it depends on the brand I'm drinking because there are some brands that I've just never liked that taste of. But in general, I'd usually tend to prefer more fruity cocktails that have a lot of alcohol but doesn't taste like alcohol (if the drinks are mixed right). Sometimes long island iced teas too. I am not fond of beer. Never had brandy, cognac, whiskey or even tequila so I'd rather not comment on those drinks. And hate vodka. That I know of.

I've never drank so much alcohol that I would get myself sick like this, I've never done that in my entire life. And I'd never intend that either.

We have those buildings here in America. Where there would be quite a few businesses in one building, depending on which business are in those buildings. But yeah.. We have businesses like that here too.

I'm only alternating with shows and movies right now, because of this season. Because most of the horror shows and movies usually end up removed after Halloween. So I'm watching what I can now before that happens. But that would only happen with certain channels though.

oh god neighbours can be the worst. i had my neighbours - who are right next to my bedroom window - partying loud enough for my parents on the other side of our house to hear until like 2-3am, which was when my mum went out to tell them to take their party inside. like okay it was a weekend, but cmon! you’re in an area where the houses are very close together! it’s bad enough dealing with their constantly barking dog. even my two dogs don’t bark as much combined as their single dog does.

~

was that in the first movie or the second? i watched the first worst movie - apparently i just completely forgot how the bad guys in that took the drugs before the big finale fight.

yea like a short series just to tie up the last loose ends. murayama got a solid ending to his arc, what about the rest of the leaders?

like he has no grip on the top of that car. the driver’s gonna take one corner too fast and hyuga’s just gonna go sliding right off. how does he not already have gravel rash?

i’ve enjoyed writing for aib. i really like coming up with the games. it’ll be fun to write up a new set for the next season, i’m assuming they’ll be playing new games since it seems like a rip to just do the ones they’ve already done, but i haven’t read the retry manga so i don’t know.

~

the wife knows now and i think they’ve got a more open line of contact since the cop just got a cellphone. she’s not overly attached to the gang boss, she apparently hasn’t seen him since they were teenagers. he is very hung up on her though. idk if they dated as teens, but he was very obvious about his crush on her.

i’m a fan of cocktails too, but it’s hard to find ones i like that don’t have vodka in them. even just one mixed drink of vodka can upset my stomach. i also fucking hate beer. the taste is just bad. i can sip wine every once in a while but i refuse to drink beer. i’m preferable rum, whiskey, alcoholic ciders or ginger beer. i’ve tried tequila in the past, but it’s not really for me.

it’s an australian right of passage to get knock out drunk when you turn 18 or sometimes 16! you get a bunch of your friends, hang out at one of their houses, and fuck it up with a bunch of disgusting mixed drinks until you throw up or pass out!

i’ve finished all 3 episodes of worst of evil now, so i have to wait til tomorrow or the day after for the next episode. so i guess i’ve got time to go back to the vincenzo episode i stopped in the middle of. or watch double mints, because it looks interesting, has a bunch of actors i know in it, and it’s gay and the two male leads are like. kinda awful to each other. i do enjoy the occasional fucked up ‘’‘romance’‘’.

Hi! I how're you? I hope you're doing well. I have a request -feel free to ignore it if it's weird- what if levi was into an arranged/forced marriage for a while to another ackerman lady to keep the bloodline going! she always gave him his space cause she knew he didn't like her much. he ignored her for the biggest part until he started noticing how he would miss seeing her if he stayed away from home for too long so levi starts doing acts of services for her (like making her tea) cause he doesn't know how to express his love, but eventually he confesses and so does she.

pairing: levi x reader

cw: consanguineous love, forced relationship, enemies to lovers

- ackerman bloodline -

you were mikasa's older sister, your mom and dad’s first born and like usual, the first borns always had it more difficult than the younger siblings that followed.

you were in your early twenties when your dad introduced you to your second cousin, levi. it was all fun and games until they announced that the both of you were in an arranged marriage in order to keep the coveted ackerman bloodline going.

you absolutely hated it and you vaguely remember crying in mikasa’s room almost every night because of that very reason.

“stop crying” mikasa pouted, her being six at the time, she didn’t quite understood what you were going through completely. you smiled at her, wiping away the tears from your cheeks.

“i’m okay, mikasa“ you assured as she crawled into your lap and pulled you into a hug. you hugged her back tightly, silent tears falling down your cheeks.

you tried and tried and tried to stop the relationship that was forced onto you but your parents’ minds were made up and so was levi’s uncle.

here you are now, a member of the scout regiment after mikasa, eren and armin followed your footsteps when you joined a couple of years before them.

you ignored each other for the most part, staying away and giving each other space as you knew that he also hated you as much as you did. sucks for him, he didn’t have a choice either.

at this point, mikasa understood the situation between you and her captain — you would’ve had her in your squad but since her batch arrived later than yours did, levi took them for himself.

mikasa often talked to you that you should just give levi a chance and though you did considered giving him a chance, you weren’t sure if he would consider the same.

“you should try. he’s your cousin after all” mikasa said as you glanced at her. “correction, he’s your cousin too”

”whatever. the point is, you’ve been in this forced relationship for almost a decade now and he's your comrade, you can't put your personal feelings into this and ignore him on the battle field so you might as well make it work" mikasa said bluntly as you glared at her — she was right.

with a sigh, you nodded and let her words sink into you. maybe you will try. just maybe.

however, you were a bit taken back when levi suddenly brought you tea when you came back from a trip with erwin and hange.

you came back to your office after the trip to do some more paperworks when levi knocked on your door and walked in with a cup of tea.

"figured you might be tired from the trip. two sugars, mikasa told me you like it made like that" levi simply said, putting the cup down on your desk and leaving again. he didn't give you any time to react as the door to your office was closed, you stared at the cup in front of you. surely, someone drugged him, right?

nevertheless, you finished the tea levi had brought and actually enjoyed the bittersweet taste of the liquid on your tongue. it was almost weird that he brought you tea but it was more weird how he considered putting in the sugars because he was told you liked it.

he made it clear that he hated you so why now?

making a mental note to return the favor to your forced-to-be boyfriend, you finished the remaining paperworks on your desk.

days passed and the both of you found yourself bringing each other tea at random points of the day. it was weird but you believed that you were actually starting to fall for levi.

a knock at your door stopped you from scribbling on the paper on your desk. you looked up and said a crisp 'come in' as the door opened to reveal levi with your usual afternoon tea.

"i brought us tea" levi chimed and you swore, you saw a small smile pull at the corner of his lips for a split second. you pushed away some papers from your desk for him to set the tray down. "two sugars, just how you like it"

you took your cup as he sat down on the chair in front of your desk, taking a sip of the hot contents of the porcelain cup. you hummed in satisfaction, taking a sip of your tea before setting it down on your desk again.

"thank you, levi" you said just like every time he brought you tea. he nodded in acknowledgement, putting the cup down.

"before i forget, i'm going to be going to the capital with erwin and hange tomorrow so look after mikasa for me, okay?" you said as levi's face fell for a second but composed himself.

"tch. erwin never gives you a break, does he?" levi grumbled as you sighed and shook your head. you took another sip of your tea.

"be safe, brat. i-i don't want to see a single scratch on you when you come back" levi said as your eyes widened a fraction, you turned to him. you were quiet for a second but mumbled a small 'okay' as he nodded without making eye contact with you before standing up and heading back to his office to finish his paperworks too.

staying true to your word, you came back after the trip with no scratches like levi said. you walked up the stairs, intending to find mikasa and tell her that you're back only to be met by levi practically sprinting out of his office.

"you're back!" levi exclaimed, suddenly pulling you into his arms as you stood frozen. this was the first time he hugged you ever since you two got forced together and it actually felt, nice and comforting.

you were about to fold your arms around him when he pulled away, clearing his throat after realizing what he did.

"i-i uh, mikasa is with jaeger and arlert" levi stuttered, a blush tinting his cheeks as he avoided your gaze. he stepped beside you, intending on walking away after your rather new interaction but you stopped him.

you pulled him back into a hug, holding him close. truth be told, you actually quite enjoyed being in his arms. now it was levi's turn to freeze but quickly got over his initial shock and folded his arms around you.

you found yourself nuzzling your head into his chest, savoring the faint smell of black tea and lavender that you slowly grew to love. that you slowly began to recognize as the smell of home, safety and protection.

it was at that moment that you had realized that you had in fact, fallen for levi ackerman.

you pulled away from the hug, keeping eye contact with him as the both of you slowly started to lean in. both of your eyes closed and the connecting of your lips followed shortly after.

you attempted to pull away for air but levi cradled the back of your head to keep you from pulling away. it was intoxicating, the feeling of his lips on yours made you crave for more.

your arms snaked around his waist, pulling him closer to you as the both of you kissed each other passionately in the middle of the hallway.

"i'm going to pretend i didn't see that" mikasa suddenly said as the both of you jumped away from each other, deep red blushes tinting your cheeks.

"not a word, mikasa or i will make you run laps" you threatened as she simply shrugged her shoulders.

"you know you can't do that, you're not my direct superior. only the person you were kissing can order me to run laps" mikasa retorted, emphasizing the word 'kissing' as you glared at her, the blush on your cheeks deepening even more.

"mikasa" levi warned as mikasa smiled smugly at him. "sorry for interrupting, captain. i'm gonna go find eren"

and just like that, your sister walked the other direction to find eren. you sighed deeply, turning to face levi again.

"do you- do you mind if i k-kiss you again?" levi asked shyly as you smiled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him into his office nearby. you closed the door and cupped his face before crashing your lips on his again.

"i think i-i'm in love with you" levi said, pulling away from the kiss as you smiled. and truth be told, "i think i'm in love with you too"

following the simple confessions of your feelings towards each other, levi connected your lips once again in another passionate kiss.

never in your life did you expect that getting forced into a relationship would become the best life decision someone has ever made for you.

Brooo this Bad Art Friend situation puts such a bad taste in my mouth. Both of these women sound insufferable in their own way, but there's something really uncomfortable about the way race dynamics entered the equation. I think I understand the direction Larson was taking with her story, and in another context it would be an amazing subject, but I find it really disingenuous of her to claim that she was writing about something "bigger" than Dorland when her comments in the group chat suggest that she projected this whole white savior thing specifically onto Dorland's self-congratulatory, but ultimately race-neutral organ donation. (Then again, I'm white, so I might be doing the exact thing she was talking about where white people and people of color essentially talked past each other in her class.)

I was pissed off by Larson's comparison of being "inspired" by Dorland's posts about her kidney donation to being inspired by a neighbor watering petunias. That's such obvious bullshit to me -- the two things, a life-altering surgery versus a household chore, aren't at all equivalent. Obviously aren't equivalent, because no one writes a fucking cringe letter to their geraniums whenever they turn on the hose. Like, I get it, I know exactly the kind of obnoxious Dorland was probably being on social media, but it doesn't excuse Larson's weaseling around the plagiarism issue. I understand the resistance to having a white person claim an artist of color somehow "owes" credit to them -- broadly, that's a really good point and important concern, but in this case, there would have been no story without Dorland, and especially Dorland's letter.

She's all "It's not about Dawn, I don't care about Dawn," but Larson was obviously hashing out some intense feelings and ideas using Dorland as her punching bag. Which would be absolutely fine...except then she went and published it, and to me the inherent spite undermines what could be valuable messages about race and class. This shit is just embarrassingly petty.

Oooh yea fully agree! I think Sonya knew exactly what she was doing too bc some of the stuff she tells the article author directly contradict stuff she said in the group chat (brilliant writing on the authors part to arrange that the way he did, side note). Like she knew Dawn was "kooky" and called her a gold mine!! Like she knew she wanted to mine this specific vaguely unhinged woman for content and even the other writers in the GC were like "I'm glad you worked your dawn takedown into something that can actually mean something" but dawn starting a private FB page for what she thought were friends and colleagues so she could share her journey, like as kooky as that is, it isn't like "classic white women TM" and was clearly very specific to dawns bizarre schtick of empathy obsession. (also side note i hate that a lot of conversations miss that whiteness behaviorally doesn't exist, you can't act white! It's in how other people react to you. Anyone can play the victim but white women are the ones who have that victim complex nourished. It's weird to me to see anything in dawns actions getting framed as like an Inherently White Thing lol).

I definitely wouldn't wanna meet either woman though. Dawn fully went into online stalker mode, sued for a ridiculous amount of money, and was the one who had this article written instead of heading to r/AITA lol. I think Sonya and the group chat are meanspirited and disingenuous though and that if Sonya had just had a smidgen of shame when dawn was messaging her frantically about the fiction piece- like enough to maybe...delete the fucking plagiarized letter from the piece!- then this could have been avoided. Also could have been avoided if dawn didn't feel the need to message people who didn't like her FB posts! There was never a point in the whole article where I was like "ah yes a decision that makes sense" it was just constant escalation lmfao.

Pink Lace - Chapter 3

Characters: Baekhyun x Reader

Genre: College AU, stripper AU, fluff, smut, slow burn

Summary: Baekhyun, a philosophy professor with mysterious wealth, got himself completely fucked over a girl who can’t let him into her life.

Word count: 5k

Warnings: mentions of sexual assault, sex work, adult themes/situations, eventual smut

Tag List: @smolbeanmika @leave-me-in-the-summertime @totallynerdstuff @bbhmystar @nana-banan @kimyhappy @thegreatandi @geniusloey   @deligxt @baekwifey @rockerbbhyun @lovebuginlove @bellamendoza

Masterlist

Class on Friday was less terrifying. You arrived earlier than you had Wednesday, and sat with Lucas as you’d promised. 

You told yourself that Baekhyun was just another one of your professors, and you needed to get your head on straight and pay attention, especially since the class was already more challenging than you’d thought. You were starting to get worried that you’d embarrass yourself by doing poorly, and you definitely didn’t want Baekhyun to think you were stupid. You knew you weren’t, but you also knew that this class wasn’t your strength. 

You noticed Baekhyun walk in and take a seat at his desk. He looked happy to see you back in his class, and this time without you trying to avoid him. You gave him a shy smile, still feeling fairly awkward around him. 

“So that party’s tonight, any chance I can still convince you to come?” You heard Lucas say next to you, flashing you a smile.

“I told you I’m not really a fan of parties, sorry.” You responded, avoiding his eyes and fidgeting with the things on your desk.

You were acutely aware of Baekhyun listening to your conversation from his desk a few feet away.

“Aw come on, even if I’m there? I promise it’ll be fun.”

Baekhyun was listening. And he felt his face harden and fists clench at the boy’s pushiness.

“I have homework, I don’t have time to go out.” You looked at him now, trying to get the point across. You just really didn’t want to go.

“But it’s the first party of the year! I promise you won’t regret it.” He continued anyway, now grabbing your hand. Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. 

Panicking slightly, you blurted out “I can’t anyway, I have work” as you pulled your hand away from his.

Baekhyun cocked up an eyebrow, wondering what’ll happen next.

“Work? Where at?”

“I’m a waitress, at a bar across town, you wouldn’t know about it.” You stammered, building on your lie.

Baekhyun quietly chuckled to himself, now obviously amused. Especially when he knew what your real job was.

“But what if you got someone to-”

“She said she didn’t wanna go, so drop it.” Baekhyun suddenly interrupted, voice calm but stern. Before you and Lucas even had time to react, he was getting up from his desk and starting the lecture, and you found yourself opening your notebook.

As the class went on you understood less and less of what Baekhyun was saying. You were quickly learning that philosophy meant reading lots of things that were old as hell, and nearly impossible to understand. Your own notes weren’t even really making sense to you and you knew you’d have to go back over them later if you really wanted to understand the material. Who knew philosophy would be such a bitch of a class.

Near the end of class, Baekhyun started handing out a short pop quiz and you felt yourself getting nervous.

When he handed you yours, he mouthed “good luck” with a smile. When you read the question you cursed yourself for having been so distracted the first few days. You had no idea what the difference between moral relativism and objectivism was anymore, nor any of the other things he’d talked about. Despite taking notes, it was just too difficult for you to make sense of the things he taught with so many other things running through your mind.

Baekhyun noticed how stressed you looked as he watched you stare down at your paper. Every time you’d start to write something, you’d stop and erase it. Time was ticking by and you didn’t have much left until he’d collect everyone’s papers.

This wasn’t like you at all. Usually you could remember things easily and ace pop quizzes without a problem, but Baekhyun was too distracting. Especially when you knew he was watching you and you knew he was waiting to see what you’d write.

Eventually you started scribbling down something incredibly vague and almost definitely incorrect, but at least it was something.

Although Baekhyun could tell you were struggling with the assignment, he still found it amusing to watch you as you tried to figure it out. He lost count of how many times you brushed your hair behind your ear, only to have it fall right back in your face again. He could almost see the gears turning in your head as you mulled over the question and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen something so cute.

When he got up to collect everyone’s quizzes you were still frantically trying to finish your paragraph. When he got to you you were almost finished. You looked up at him, silently begging for more time, and he gave you a soft smile. He went to take the papers from the rest of the students in your row first before eventually coming back to you. Yours was the last paper he took, and you cringed as you saw him start to read over it immediately as he made his way back to his desk, brows furrowed.

Once he’d collected the quizzes from the students they were free to go, making you the last one in the room with him again.

“Thank you.” You said. “For giving me more time. I promise I’m not stupid it’s just been hard for me to focus.” Baekhyun was glad you seemed comfortable enough to talk to him like this, and couldn’t fight the smile that was creeping onto his face. 

“I know” he looked at you with sincerity “you can go home” he looked over at the door “I’m not gonna make you stay again. I’m sorry for Monday. That was mean.” You could tell by the way he looked down at his desk after he finished speaking, he really was sorry.

You felt a small smile start to form on your lips.

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t have freaked out so bad.”

“No, I shouldn’t have talked to you like I did. You were obviously uncomfortable, it was a dick move to make you stay.”

You giggled, pleased that he could admit he acted poorly. “It’s okay, really. I was just in shock.”

“Well it won’t happen again.” He gave you a smile so full of warmth and you couldn’t help but smile back. “Don’t forget that essay is due Wednesday night.”

“I can remember a simple due date Baekhyun. I told you I’m not dumb.” You rolled your eyes, walking towards the door.

“It’s still Mr. Byun when we’re here!” He yelled after you playfully.

“Okay Baekhyun!” You yelled back, waving as you walked out the door.

Baekhyun’s face hurt from how hard he was smiling, very much pleased by how you seemed more comfortable today. He silently patted himself on the back for it, relieved that you wouldn’t be a nervous wreck every class anymore. Your answer on the quiz hadn’t been too bad either, despite how stressed you’d looked.

Hopefully, just maybe, this meant you would start opening up to him more.

~

You spent Friday night doing homework as planned, and when Saturday morning rolled around and you started getting ready for work, you started to worry about whether or not Baekhyun would show up. You both hoped he’d show up just for the money, and dreaded the awkwardness if he did. You decided to just assume he wouldn’t show and go about the night as if he didn’t matter.

You added some last touches to your makeup, opting for something natural and glowy to go with your glittery pink outfit you’d packed for the night.

“I like the outfit tonight” Dave said, winking at you as you checked in. “New shoes?”

“No. I got these a few weeks ago.”

“Come on Candy, loosen up.”

You cringed but gave him a smile anyway, not wanting to get on your manager’s bad side.

For the first time in months you were going to have to spend a Saturday night trying to talk to random guys to sell dances, something you hated. Half of them would likely waste your time anyway, the other half would give you money but you never knew what bs they’d try to pull when getting their dance.

You stood by the bar, facing into the room looking for someone who didn’t seem too bad. Eventually a group of guys around your age came in and you sat down with them.

“So what’s your name gorgeous?” One of them asked you, already slightly drunk.

“I’m Candy” you told them, asking for their names as well. They all introduced themselves and soon went back to laughing amongst themselves, until a waitress showed up.

“Shots of patron, and two for the lady” one of them ordered, and you didn’t object. In the back of your mind you were still worried about Baekhyun showing up, and drinking would easily help you forget.

You took the shots. And then two more. Your stomach felt pleasantly warm, and you kept laughing at whatever the men around you were saying, though you didn’t really listen. You could hear your words slur together when you spoke, but the comfortable haze felt nice to you and you let yourself get lost in the feeling.

Eventually they ordered a 3rd round, at which point you were thoroughly tipsy and probably shouldn’t have had any more, but with the thought of Baekhyun still in the back of your mind, and the alcohol clouding your judgement, you swallowed down the fifth and sixth shots with little thought. Although by then you weren’t counting anymore. They went down like nothing, body already numb to the sting.

You were laughing at something someone said, mind going hazy from the liquor as everything around you began to go blurry. You tried to stand up but nearly fell, having trouble standing on your heels on your own. You sat back down, closing your eyes, and the room felt like it was spinning out of control. You vaguely heard the chatter of the men around you saying something, but before you had time to process their words everything went black.

Next thing you knew, your head was on Baekhyun’s lap and he was staring down at you.

~

Baekhyun wasn’t sure if he was going to go that night. As much as he wanted to see you, he wasn’t sure you’d want to see him there again.

As the night went on he tried to distract himself, grade some papers, watch some TV, but nothing worked. No matter what he did, you were stuck in the back of his mind. He wanted, needed to see you again. As long as he paid you, you wouldn’t be too mad to see him there, and two of you could just act like it was any other Saturday night, right? 

Not wanting to think about it too much, he got his shoes on, grabbed his wallet, and walked out the door.

When he arrived, he didn’t see you at the bar where you usually stood and waited for him. Upon looking around the main room of the club, he didn’t see you either, and his heart rate started to go up. What if you were stuck in a VIP room with some creep who was making you uncomfortable?

Baekhyun started to wander around the room to look for you. He checked every booth and could see every table, you had to be upstairs in a room. He hated to admit it to himself but even just the thought of you being up there with someone who wasn’t terrible bothered him. Thinking about you grinding on strangers at all made his stomach churn.

To calm his nerves he stood by the bar and ordered himself a drink, and not even a minute went by before there was a girl standing in front of him.

“Hey handsome, what are you doing here? You’re awful cute to be in a place like this.”

She started to touch Baekhyun’s arm and he slapped her hand away, turning around and gulping down his drink.

The girl frowned, but persisted anyway.

“So why are you here? Looking for some fun?”

“I’m looking for my friend.” He replied, eyes still scanning the room, ignoring her.

“I’m sure I can show you a good time too you know..” she stepped closer, blocking his view of the rest of the room.

Baekhyun dug in his pocket and pulled out a 50, holding it up with an annoyed look on his face.

“It’s yours if you leave.”

She took the bill, scoffing and turning around to walk away. Baekhyun faced his back towards the room and kept his eyes on the stairs, waiting for you to come down.

10 minutes went by, and then 10 more. Baekhyun couldn’t help but get more and more nervous. He knew it was pretty rare for people to spend that much time up there. He ordered himself another drink and started getting fidgety, trying to distract himself from worrying too much. 

A few more girls came up to him, but he quickly sent each one of them away.

After about 15 more minutes you finally appeared, and Baekhyun’s worst fears were realized when he saw you nearly unconscious, basically being carried down the stairs by 2 men. Immediately his mouth went dry and he felt his stomach do a flip.

You had your arm around one of the men’s shoulders, and the other had his hand on your lower back as you clumsily made your way down, nearly falling several times. You hadn’t even put your top back on, probably too wasted to notice it was missing anyway. The two men sat you down in an empty chair near the bottom of the stairs and went back to their group across the room with disgustingly smug looks on their faces. Baekhyun would’ve loved to walk right up to them and deck each of them in the face, but the last thing he needed now was to get himself kicked out while you were alone, completely incoherent, and surrounded by strange men. He cursed himself for not being able to do anything about them, but you were more important now.

He quickly made his way over to you, crouching down in front of you and grabbing your hand between his as he desperately tried to get a response from you.

“Hey, it’s me, say something.”

You could only mumble something incoherent.

“Can you open your eyes and look at me?”

You just shook your head slightly, brows furrowed.

“Fuck” Baekhyun whispered. He saw other people beginning to give him weird looks, and decided to take you to a room upstairs. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” He slung your arm around his shoulder and kept a firm grip on your waist as he got you to stand up. 

He helped your mostly limp body up the stairs, and into the room. He let go of you for a second, and immediately you fell onto the couch, hitting your head on the wall in the process. He flinched, hearing the impact.

“Shit” he heard you say and saw you rub your head where it made contact with the wall.

“Sorry.” He knew you couldn’t process his words in your drunken state, but he said it anyway.

He handed you your bra, which had been dangling off one of your arms when you came down the stairs and he helped you get it back on. He helped you out of your shoes as well and laid you down on the couch. He sat down and you put your head in his lap, curling up against him and quickly passing back out. He gently rubbed the bump on your head, and heard you hum at the feeling. He looked around to see your money bag discarded on the floor and when he picked it up to set it on the small table in the corner he noticed it was empty. Those creeps had stolen your money and left you without paying.

Baekhyun looked at his watch and took his wallet out of his pocket. 10:04pm.

He stuffed $800 dollars in your bag, and looked down at you asleep in his lap as he stroked your hair.

The whole time you slept Baekhyun couldn’t help but run his fingers along the lines of your jaw, lips, and brows. Although he hated that those guys had gotten you like this, now, peacefully asleep in his lap, he thought you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He ran his thumb across your cheek and noticed your eye twitch, and then open. As you looked up at him, he knew you were still too far gone to understand what was happening.

“What’sgoingon” you slurred, rubbing your eyes and sitting up.

“Some guys got you way too drunk, and then you hit your head.”

“Ohhhh” you sighed absentmindedly, not really having heard or understood what Baekhyun said.

“Come here, you’re still drunk.”

You seemed to listen, laying your head back in his lap and dozing off again. Another hour went by and he looked at his watch. It was after midnight, so he put another stack of cash in your bag. The movement seemed to be enough to wake you up this time, and when you opened your eyes you were a bit more aware of your surroundings. You shifted to lay on your back, looking directly up at him.

“Baekhyun” you groaned, still fairly drunk “why are you here?”

“I’m here every Saturday night.” He replied simply, smiling down at you in his lap. Gently he moved a strand of hair out of your face, and you felt yourself go red. Although you were now sober enough to know something was very wrong, with the way he looked at you in that moment, with so much warmth and admiration, you couldn’t help but feel warm and fuzzy inside.

You closed your eyes again and smiled, enjoying the feeling of Baekhyun caressing your cheek with the back of his hand in your drunken haze. No matter what shit had gone down earlier in the night, and why you were here with your head in his lap, this felt like bliss. You could’ve stayed like that for hours, just enjoying his gentle hands admiring your face.

“What time is it?” You asked lazily.

“12:15.”

“Fuck.” Your head snapped up and you sat next to Baekhyun, immediately feeling dizzy due to your intoxication. Head pounding, you rubbed your temples to try to relive some of the pain. “It’s that late? You never stay this late.”

“You’ve been sleeping for a while now.”

“Huh?”

“How are you feeling?

“Kind of drunk... and my head hurts. But what happened?” You slurred your words slightly, alcohol still apparent in your system.

He looked at you with sorry eyes. “Well, some assholes got you fucked up out of your mind. After I got here they came down the stairs and basically just dumped you into an empty chair and left, so I took you up here to sleep it off. You hit your head too, so be careful.” He rubbed the lump on the side of your head again, making you groan.

The terrified look on your face told him all he needed to know. He was about to see you cry for the first time, and he felt his heart drop.

“W-what? They took me upstairs?” A tear escaped, and more followed. “Who?”

“I don’t know. Some younger guys. I’d have beat the shit out of them if it wouldn’t get me kicked out.” You sensed the anger in his voice as he spoke. “Your bag was empty too by the way.”

Slowly you started piecing things together in your head, stomach churning with disgust and now fully crying.

“W-what, h-how did I-”

“No. This wasn’t your fault.” He interrupted, afraid this would happen. Afraid you would blame yourself. “They were assholes. They knew what they were doing.”

In reality, Baekhyun blamed himself. He knew you’d probably been nervous about whether or not he would show up. He should’ve been there earlier. But all that mattered now is that you were okay. At least physically.

As you sat next to him, head in your hands crying, he felt helpless. All he wanted to do was hold you tight and tell you all the things he was too scared to say out loud. But all he could manage was a comforting hand on your shoulder.

Your sobs got more intense and he was caught off guard when you threw your arms around him, head buried into his chest as you kept quietly crying. Reluctantly, his arms found their way around you as well, holding you as you shook in his arms.

“Hey hey, it’s okay, I’m here, you’re okay now. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.” He said softly, rubbing soothing circles onto your back.

“Thank you” you choked out between sobs. Embarrassed, but still too drunk to stop yourself, you held on to Baekhyun tighter and tighter. You hated to admit it but you already felt much better with his arms wrapped around you. The gentle feeling of his chest rising and falling against yours, compared to your erratic breaths, felt like heaven. “Thank you, l-I’m sorry.” 

“Shhh” he said, stroking your hair. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“B-but you stayed here with m-me the whole time.” You sobbed.

“That’s okay, I came here to spend time with you didn’t I?”

“Why are you like this? W-why me?” You asked, leaning back to look at him.

Baekhyun sighed.

You’d avoided the question when you were sober for a reason. You knew Baekhyun liked you too much, more than he should, and you didn’t need to know the details. It would only make you feel more guilty later. But now, with alcohol to give you courage you didn’t hold back.

“You know how much I like you.” He responds quietly, giving you a soft smile. “It’s stupid, I know.”

Another tear fell, and Baekhyun was quick to wipe it away. Even with makeup running down your face he looked at you with a tenderness that made it difficult to feel anything but a comforting warmth.

You stared at him, trying to find some form of deceit in his eyes, some hint that he was just messing with you, but all you saw was his admiration and care for you.

Another sob rolled through you and you wrapped your arms back around him. He held you like that for a while, and slowly the tears lessened and you calmed down a bit.

You pulled away from him and looked around the room, realizing where you were and thought to yourself how silly it all was. You were in a dance room, just sleeping on the couch all night as Baekhyun stayed and made sure you were alright. Every other time you’d been in here with him, your ass was on his lap grinding on him.

“Do you want a dance or anything?”

Baekhyun just laughed, “Don’t worry about me, I’m just as happy doing this. As long as I get to spend time with you.”

“Okay.” You said, but you made yourself comfortable on his lap anyway, legs stretched across the couch. You wrapped your arms around him again, and rested your head on his shoulder. He put an arm around your waist and you just sat like that for a while, enjoying each other’s embrace.

He hadn’t been lying, he’d take this over a lap dance any day. To have your arms around him like this, not because he paid you, but because you wanted to, for him nothing could beat that. The skin of your waist felt so soft beneath his palms, he thought he must be dreaming.

The sober part of you wanted to scream at you to get up. But when Baekhyun’s hands felt so warm and comforting on you, the drunken haze took over and you just basked in the feeling. In the back of your mind you knew you’d regret tonight’s events later, but now it felt too good to ignore. With your head resting on his shoulder and the sound of his heartbeat in your ear, you just felt right. Like this was where you were supposed to be. 

“Do you want me to take you home soon? I don’t think you should be driving yourself tonight.” Baekhyun asked, and your lips pulled into a pout. 

“Can we stay like this a little longer.” You lifted your head to look at him, and when you made eye contact, Baekhyun couldn’t help but grin. 

“Of course sweetheart, if that’s what you want.” 

Your heart skipped a beat at the pet name. That was the first time Baekhyun had called you anything like that before. He usually just called you by your name (or in the past, your stripper name). You didn’t mind, but you couldn’t help but find the word heart fluttering nonetheless. You laid your head back on his shoulder, and watched as he slowly ran his hand up and down your thigh. 

“You have such pretty hands.” You told him, reaching for the hand on your thigh. He didn’t respond, only laced his hands into yours, rubbing the back with his thumb. You kept silencing the voice in the back of your mind that was screaming at you to get up, to push Baekhyun away. But when his presence was this sweet and comforting you just couldn’t bring yourself to do so. 

“Everything about you is pretty.” Your face burned red at his words. “So, so beautiful.”  

“You’re pretty cute too.” The alcohol did a good job of bringing the words out of you that you’d usually know better than to say out loud. 

Much to your dismay, Baekhyun moved you off his lap and got up, putting his hand out for you to stand up as well. 

“Let’s get you back home, it’s late and you’re still drunk.” At first you pouted again, but you eventually agreed. You grabbed his hand and got your shoes back on, following him back down the stairs. Your manager saw and gave you a strange look, but you ignored it. You went back to the dressing room to change and met Baekhyun again in the parking lot. Being seen leaving with customers looked bad, and after being upstairs for hours with him you didn’t want to raise any more suspicions. 

 You spotted him leaning against a black Audi, and you let him open the door for you and got in. You told him your address and he pulled out of the lot. For most of the car ride home you were silent. You still felt bad that Baekhyun had come to see you just for all of this to happen, and now he was having to drive you home too since you had gotten too wasted.

“I’m sorry, for everything. You just wanted a fun couple of hours and you got stuck babysitting my drunk ass.” 

“You know I don’t mind, I’m just glad you’re safe now.” He said as he was pulling up to your place. He parked, but looked over to you before getting out. “Can I give you my number? You don’t need to use it if you don’t want to, but I just want you to have it so you can call me if you’re in trouble again.” 

You looked him in the eyes again, looking for some sort of ulterior motives, but found them filled with nothing but care and warmth. “Okay.”

He looked surprised, but you just handed him your phone and let him put in his number. 

“I don’t want you to think you have to text me or call me or anything, I just feel better knowing you can contact me if you need someone.” 

You smiled. “I know.” 

Baekhyun got out to open the door for you, and when you stepped out you found yourself wrapping your arms around him again tightly.  “Thank you. Seriously, I don’t even wanna think about what could’ve happened tonight if it weren’t for you.” 

“You don’t have to keep thanking me, it’s no big deal. You know I’m happy as long as I’m with you.” 

You didn’t want to let go. The feeling of your head resting against his broad chest and his arms around you felt too sweet, too good to be true.

He’s the one who breaks away first. You could see his eyes scan your face, spending especially long on your lips. Your face heated up as you noticed the proximity between the two of you. 

“I, um.. I should get inside. Thanks for the ride.” You said, grabbing your bag  and quickly walking to the door. Baekhyun waved you goodbye and waited until you were inside to get back in his car and drive himself home. 

You almost immediately threw yourself into bed and passed out, but Baekhyun couldn’t stop thinking about your words and actions from earlier. The way you clung onto him as you cried, how happy you seemed to be sitting on his lap cuddled up to him, how you’d called him cute. His mind raced with the possibility of you maybe, possibly, being able to like him the way he liked you. He told himself it was just the alcohol, that you would never have acted like that sober. 

But he couldn’t help hoping he was wrong. 

As the night went on he only found himself falling deeper and deeper into thought. With nothing but the darkness of his bedroom to keep him company, he felt hyper aware of the emptiness around him. 

Baekhyun hated sleeping alone already, and with the thoughts of your sweet words and actions running rampant in his mind, it felt impossible. How was he supposed to relax when you had just called him cute? The night drew on and on, but Baekhyun didn’t sleep. Not when the feeling of your hands around his body was still so fresh in his mind. 

He was so close to what he yearned for more than anything, yet still so far. 

Next Chapter

submission: we need to talk about ttb (spade-riddles)

Hey Cam. Seeing that ask defending TTB’s doxxing has sort of pushed me to finally share some of my story on Tumblr, I guess. I haven’t had the opportunity to talk about this to anyone fully, so this will probably be long, but I hope you don’t mind me venting.

I’m one of the people that got emailed by TTB. I don’t feel comfortable posting this off anon, but I was in a Discord server with you and @bisluthq and some other people back in Dec/Jan. I don’t know if you remember me, but my name on there was one word and began with an L and ended with an S.

I want to share the full story, but I also don’t feel comfortable with sharing certain details publicly because I’m still very wary of getting outed further by her if she sees this, so I’m gonna be vague about some things

Request to her followers — If you see this, please don’t send this to her. Like I’m genuinely asking you not to because I don’t trust her not to cross any more lines. My dad is a major homophobe with serious anger issues who has literally been arrested for violence before, and she doesn’t really think carefully or maybe even care about how any actions she takes could lead to people being harmed, so I’m not eager to see how she might react.

Anyway, I first got an email back in December, and I was really freaked out by it at first. I spoke to one of my mutuals about it, and although we both agreed it was super weird and invasive and creepy, we ended up trying to see the funny side of it. So, I kinda just brushed it off and moved on. I was mainly just really confused about why I had been targeted because at the time, I thought it was only me who’d gotten an email like that. I didn’t understand why she’d specifically targeted me instead of other people who she clearly disliked a lot more.

About a week later, I saw someone on Tumblr mentioning a strange email, and I realised other people must have gotten them too. I spoke to Nat about what happened to me and ended up in the Discord

At the time, I felt like I’d gotten off really easy comparatively to others because I initially didn’t realise that she’d contacted anyone else. And so I tried to act chill about it because I didn’t want to make things about me, but honestly, I was extremely anxious. I felt on edge for over a week. I would keep checking her blog again and again because I was super worried that she would post our personal details publicly. I scrolled through my entire blog from start to finish and deleted a lot of posts that were either personal or that I just didn’t want anyone I knew in real life to read.

This part I have to be vague about because it would basically give away who I am, but it was only a while later when I thought I was in the clear that someone I knew in real life texted me and mentioned seeing a weird email about me. The email had been sent a while back, and they’d been shown it by the original recipient/s. Multiple people had been shown it, but luckily (kinda), only two of those people were actually people I saw on a regular basis

I’m mostly closeted, but I’m kind of technically out to a few of my immediate family members. But it’s very much a DADT situation because they’re not accepting, and they like to just pretend I’m straight. And so I basically have to act closeted even when I’m around them, and I can’t even ALLUDE to being gay.

But with my dad, it’s different. He’s very homophobic. I’m only gonna mention this next part so that people understand what kind of dangerous situation that TTB could have put me in. (And the other people that she doxxed too because she didn’t know how safe their individual situations were). It’s all really personal, and I wouldn’t ordinarily feel comfortable sharing any of this at all, even anonymously, but I think it needs to be said because her actions were extremely fucking irresponsible.

Right, so when I first “came out” to my dad, it was actually an accident, and he reacted… extremely badly. This was back in like… 2018 or 2019, I can’t remember the exact year

(TW // physical abuse, homophobia)

He was extremely angry, literally shaking. He yelled at me, he described in graphic detail how he was going to “break every bone in my body”, “strangle the life out of me”, “drown me”, etc. He kept telling me that I’m disgusting and going to Hell, you get the idea. He was having a lot of fun with making strangling motions and stabbing motions with his hands, and he kept slamming his hand onto the table. That went on for about 15 minutes, and then he stood up and threw a chair from the dining table at me. That was fun lol. And he punched me in the head pretty hard which kinda knocked me back. I felt dizzy, I had to sit down on the floor. At that point, my mum who had been crying and asking him to stop physically intervened, and he ended up storming out of the house instead. My mum’s a genuinely good person btw. She’s a little homophobic, but she cares about me a lot, and I’m very grateful for her. She hates him too, but she’s kinda stuck with him… It wasn’t her fault

He literally hates gay people. He complains about us on the regular. One time, he threw the remote at the TV and cracked the screen just because there was a gay male couple kissing onscreen. Another time, he threw a rock at a gay man on the street. There was also a time where he forced a few of my siblings (who didn’t want to do it) to throw peeled oranges out of the window at people celebrating pride while he drove past them and yelled insults at them. He found that really funny. Anyway, I’m sure you guys get the idea of what kind of person he is

He hasn’t laid a hand on anybody in several months though, so I do think he’s trying to be better at least. Like he’s still verbally abusive and controlling and awful, but I appreciate that he’s at least making an effort to calm down with the hitting and kicking and stuff

Anyway, with my dad, it’s less DADT and more that I think he’s got it in his head that he managed to scare me into “seeing the error of my ways” and that I’ve “stopped choosing to be gay” and that I’m now straight. So, if it had been HIM who had gotten that email, it would’ve been like… extremely bad. Like I’m getting anxious just thinking about it. And this is why I’m so angry at TTB. It was extremely, extremely irresponsible of her to not consider these kinds of possibilities before she sent out her stupid emails. She’s supposed to be an ally, but it didn’t even cross her mind that these emails would lead to people being outed and possibly even harmed?? It’s not okay at all. I’m just very grateful that she didn’t send one to him because I don’t even know what kind of situation I would be in right now.

Anyway, enough about my fucking awful dad… I feel uncomfortable that I even typed all of that out, but I wanted people to understand how dangerous her actions could have been. Like I mean, my dad’s got PTSD and extreme anger issues from his teenage years, so I do try not to judge him TOO harshly, but there’s no excuse for being a huge bigot or occasionally violent. The idea of him being the one who got that email is still so scary to me. Like my heart is racing just thinking about it

One of the people that DID read the email was the male friend I mentioned earlier though. He was shown it by someone else for a particular reason, and he was a very important person to me. Like he was a good guy, we were close, he helped me out with certain personal issues I have and is one of only two people that I know in real life that I felt comfortable confiding in about them. We’d always meet up once a week, sometimes twice, and we’d just talk about stuff and make an effort to help each other out with things. Like he was very important to me.

It turns out that he’d looked through my blog before I’d got around to scrubbing it, and he asked me if I was gay in person the next time we met up. I couldn’t lie because like… he’d have known I was lying right to his face. So, I told him I was, and you should have seen his face. It made me feel so awful about myself. He looked really stunned and shocked and kinda uncomfortable. Like it got so awkward, and I started rambling and making things worse. He was avoiding eye contact, and my voice was shaking.

I ended up making up an excuse to leave about 5 mins later and had an actual anxiety attack. Again, this is embarrassing and something I’d never usually talk about online, but I just want to get it all off my chest so that I can move past it all.

So, I was like on the verge of tears (I don’t cry easily), I couldn’t breathe properly, I was pacing around the building, and I just wanted to escape, so I headed straight for the doors. There was a queue of about 100 people lined up and waiting to leave, and I couldn’t think straight or breathe and just needed to be outside, so I tried to go out through the other exit which is for staff only. The security guard stopped me and basically publicly humiliated me in front of all of those people. He loudly shamed me and said I “didn’t have any decency” for attempted to jump the queue, lectured me in this really condescending tone, and then sent me right to the back of that huge line. Meanwhile, I was literally in the midst of a bad anxiety attack.

And then I eventually got outside and had to call my mum to come and pick me up instead of just making my own way home like I usually do. She’s amazing though tbh because she actually came to get me and didn’t even question why. I had to skip all of my plans for the rest of the day and instead just hid upstairs in my bedroom with the lights off until the next day. I refused to tell any of my family members what had happened even though they kept asking. I just felt so, so awful, and my anxiety was through the roof

To be honest, before that happened, my mindset was like: “I mean, if I get outed, it obviously wouldn’t be good, but I think I’d be able to deal with it fine”. But then, when it actually happened, and I saw the way my close friend reacted, I had like a whole emotional breakdown lol. It’s like, you think you’d be fairly chill in a situation, but when it actually happens, your reaction can be really unpredictable. I was so embarrassed by everything about that entire incident. I didn’t even want to show my face the next day.

It’s been almost two months since that happened, and in that entire time, my friend has contacted me once. We literally used to meet up once or twice a week (and during lockdown, we’d do video calls or phone calls instead), but since then, we’ve barely even spoken. Things are just so awkward now. I know this sounds stupid, but I feel like TTB’s taken one of my best friends away from me. I don’t think he’s a homophobe or anything, he has openly gay friends and is fairly accepting, but I think it’s just the way that he found out that has just made things so weird between us now. I feel like if I’d had the chance to come out to him myself in my own way, he wouldn’t have reacted like that. But I’m gonna text him next week and see if we can maybe try to fix our friendship, but I doubt it at this point

The other people who were shown the email, I mostly just avoid. I don’t really care about them knowing that much because I wasn’t close to them, but it’s just really embarrassing knowing that they probably scrolled through my Tumblr blog before I scrubbed it

And about Tumblr… This used to be the only place that I could fully be myself. It was like a “safe space” for me which feels ironic now. But I haven’t been active on my blog since December. I still lurk occasionally, but I just don’t feel comfortable here anymore. I did consider deleting my current blog and starting afresh with a new one, but I don’t think it’d make much of a difference… Like she’s kind of ruined Tumblr for me. I do still enjoy reading people’s blogs every now and then, but I don’t feel relaxed here anymore, I just feel on edge.

It’s mainly the fact that SHE’S still here. She still has a platform, she still has a bunch of followers. It’s been so hard seeing her face next to no consequences whatsoever for the horrible things that she’s done to so many different people. And it upsets me that she hasn’t even acknowledged that what she did was wrong. Plus, it makes me feel even worse that the Hard Kay blogs and some other people are still supporting her and pretending that this whole thing just didn’t happen. Like do they just not care? Or is it that she’s twisted things and made them believe that the situation was different to what it actually was?

And tbh, this whole situation has even set me back in my own sort of personal self-acceptance journey. I had such bad internalised homophobia when I was younger, and it took me so many years to get to a place where I had mostly accepted myself. But now I just feel ashamed again, and I’ve gone back to my old habit of trying to force myself to be attracted to men. Like I downloaded Tinder the other day and set my preference to men and was swiping through profiles. It’s kinda silly actually. I did snap out of it and delete the app the next day though. But I don’t know, I feel like this whole thing has just kinda fucked with me a bit. I am trying to work this stuff out and get back to normal though. I think I’ll be good again in maybe a month or so, hopefully.

And… yeah. I just really resent her, and this situation upsets me. Because the reason she did this was so petty and ridiculous, and I guess she didn’t even realise how much it would impact people? Like I do know that my situation wasn’t as bad as some of the other people’s situations, and I feel really bad for them, and I hope they’re all doing okay. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for them. But it still has impacted me a lot more than I actually thought it would. I thought I’d get over it within a couple of weeks. But it’s been like two months, and I’m still not completely over it

I know it might not sound like a huge thing, but being outed really does affect you, even if it’s only to a few people. Because to me, I feel like I’ve had my sense of like, security and comfort taken away, and it’s kinda distressing. Sorry if I sound dramatic with any of this, I just really needed to say all of this stuff to other people besides myself lol

Like her actions have literally led to me being outed to a few people. A close friendship that I had has basically been ruined. I don’t feel comfortable or secure on Tumblr anymore, even though it used to be an important outlet for me. I’ve had a resurgence of anxiety about my sexuality. Etc.

And again, my dad is extremely homophobic and literally made death threats to me and physically attacked me back when I accidentally came out to him in 2018 or 2019. And if he had gotten that email, I don’t even know what would have happened. I don’t think he would have like… SERIOUSLY physically harmed me, but there would definitely have been a repeat of the first incident. More throwing chairs at me and hitting and screaming and death threats. I don’t really want to think about it.

It just bothers me that she didn’t even consider that? Like did it not even cross her mind? And my dad is bad, but I’m sure there are people in the fandom who have even worse parents, and she could have got one of those people instead. It’s just so… I don’t know, it’s just so frustrating to me.

Anyway, I just hate her for what she did… Like maybe I shouldn’t, but I really do resent her so much, and I don’t think I could forgive her even if she apologised to us all (which I don’t think she even would because she doesn’t seem to have any decency whatsoever). The least she could do is at least express some kind of remorse, but she just genuinely doesn’t care, and that’s super messed up. All over some stupid Tumblr blog that is much less important than she thinks it is.

But anyway… I apologise for the whole rant, and if anybody read all the way down to here, I appreciate it. I do actually feel a bit better now that I’ve got this all typed out. And I’m sorry for the oversharing lol, I usually don’t do this, but I just felt like I really needed to tell people and get it off my chest so that I can try to get over it — L

submisssion⬆️⬆️⬆️

ok L i am trying to remain calm here because this isn’t about me.  but i am very emotional right now.  i am so so so infinitely sorry that you had to go through this harrowing and terrifying experience.  ttb (now blogging under spade-riddles) is absolutely disgusting, lower than dirt, that she would put your life, safety, and well-being at risk over a fucking kaylor blog.

please please please im me or get in touch somehow because i want to offer you support.  have you been financially impacted by this?  we can raise money.  do you need therapy?  we can help you find the support you need.  this community is unequivocally here for you.  whatever you need, if it’s in my power to help you get it, i will.  you have my solemn promise on that.

i am so deeply and desperately sorry that you have gone through this.  i was shaking while reading your story.

i am in touch with other people and we are in discussion about the best way to let tumblr know what happened.  this will be a safe space for you (and all of us) again if it’s the last thing i do.  this community is 100% here for you in any way we can help, sending you all the support and love we have.

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Hungry People?

This is my first hunger fic in a very long time. How the hell are you supposed to title these things?!

It’s also the first ever fic from the Lucyverse, as I’ve decided to call it (basically, any fics that follow the day-to-day lives of Lucy’s flatmates).

CW: hunger, overworking, getting stuck on public transport.

___

Autumn waved as she entered the coffee shop, flinching as the little bell over the door went off to announce her arrival. She glanced up at it, gesturing with her palm for it to calm down, as though it should have somehow known she wasn’t a real customer. Payton’s heart skipped a beat as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and scampered away to an armchair by the window, not wanting to disturb her partner while they worked.

She was so freaking cute.

“Busy today?”

Payton tore their eyes off the back of Autumn’s head and turned to look at Jake, who had only started his supervisor shift five minutes ago. He was inspecting how much money was in the till as Payton laid out a fresh batch of muffins in the food case. The wafting scents of cinnamon and banana and chocolate were all so enticing that Payton could no longer ignore the fact that they’d had to work through lunch. Going an afternoon without food had left them with an ache in their stomach that had only been aggravated more by the stress of keeping the constant stream of customers satisfied. It had rained unexpectedly all afternoon, which had sent floods of park visitors running for shelter and warm drinks.

“Very,” Payton replied to Jake. “I don’t think we had any free tables for about four hours. We barely had time to wipe them down between customers.”

“Christ,” Jake grumbled, closing the till. “And you managed okay, even though Stephen called in sick?”

Payton gestured around themself, displaying the fact that nothing appeared to have burned down or crumbled. Part of them wanted to complain further about the toll the day had taken on them, but it felt better to just act confident about it. “Everything was fine. Nothing to worry about.”

“They should be paying you as a supervisor, you know,” Jake said. “I’ll talk to Anne about interviewing you.”

“Really? That would – that would be really cool.” Payton blushed, partly from the praise from their superior, but mostly because their stomach chose that moment to twist inside of them, releasing a long, rumbling growl. The music in the coffee shop was low and calming at this time of evening, but… maybe it would still muffle the sound?

When Jake double-glanced towards the front of Payton’s apron, it was clear that the music had muffled nothing.

“Sorry.” Payton placed a hand over their belly. “When Stephen couldn’t come, it meant I couldn’t take my lunch break.”

Jake frowned and glanced at his watch. “Your shift started at ten thirty, right? You haven’t had a break since then?”

Payton shook their head.

“Fuck it, go home. I’ll tell Anne you clocked out on time.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, you’ve only got another half-hour anyway, and the place is dead now.” Jake gestured to the room of thirty-six seats, of which only five were currently occupied. “Plus, your girl’s already here. No use in keeping her waiting.”

Payton was already wriggling out of their apron and heading for the door that led to the break room and lockers. “Thank you so much.”

Once they were in the break room, silence crashed over Payton like waves. The shop hadn’t been loud just now by any means, but they hadn’t been away from a din of any kind for almost ten hours. Their ears rang as they put their apron and work shoes in their locker and gulped a half-bottle of water that they found in there. The liquid hit their stomach like a solid lump of rock, but luckily it was lukewarm, and the discomfort didn’t linger for too long.

Payton didn’t linger either.

They tugged their jacket on over their buttoned shirt, wishing they’d brought something with a hood today, in case it decided to rain again before they made it to the tram. Maybe Autumn had thought to bring an umbrella, they reckoned, sighing in premature relief at the thought of her, waiting in the shop for them. They quickly pulled their headband off, brushing their dark bangs downwards and tossing the band into the locker for the next day.

As they pushed back through the door to the coffee shop, Payton felt like their feet had ceased to exist, leaving behind ankles that just floated through the air with a human body propped over them. They saw the back of Autumn’s head near the window, and they smiled to themself, momentarily forgetting the hunger and exhaustion and stress.

“See you tomorrow,” Jake called from behind the till.

Payton shot him a half-hearted salute, never slowing on their beeline to where Autumn was waiting. Well, it was less of a beeline than Payton would have liked; as though to personally inconvenience them, the coffee shop was full of tables and chairs and sofas, which needed to be manoeuvred around.

“Ooh!” Autumn exclaimed as arms snaked around her shoulders from behind the armchair. She dropped her book into her lap and reached up with one hand to tickle the back of Payton’s neck. “Hello, baby. Finished early?”

Payton mumbled an inaudible confirmation against her hair, not caring that they were probably messing up her ponytail. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Autumn said. “A little tired.”

“Me too,” Payton sighed, lifting their head but remaining slumped against the back of the armchair. They felt a gentle cramping in their stomach as they reconsidered their answer. “And hungry.”

“Huh.” Autumn reached up and tapped her book against the top of Payton’s head. The gesture was unnecessarily gentle, as though she’d hit them with something thicker than a paperback print of Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. “Well, luckily for you, I’ve got all the makings of your favourite waiting in your fridge.”

Payton’s stomach clenched again, their heart lifting slightly. It had been tricky to get Lucy to agree to it, but Autumn had her own key to the apartment; not only did she call around to visit Payton so often that she might as well have lived there too, but there were often issues at home that she opted to spend the night away from.

But that wasn’t the point right now.

“Your famous sausage rolls?” Payton sank even harder against the back of the armchair, partly to be dramatic, but partly because their body literally weakened a little at the notion of Autumn’s cooking.

Autumn smiled up at them from the cushions. “Pastry’s already made. Just got to assemble and bake them. I got us some oven chips too. Oh – I forgot to check if you had any beans in the cupboard, though.”

“We’re four college students; of course we’ve got beans in the cupboard,” Payton assured her, loudly enough to disguise the fact that their stomach was growling again as they pictured the dinner they hadn’t known awaited them.

“Excellent point.” Autumn scooped up the strap of her shoulder bag and slipped her book inside. She smoothed down the hem of her pinafore as she stood up. “Ready to go?”

“Way beyond ready,” Payton smiled, watching her scoop up the umbrella that was resting against the arm of the chair.

 ***

Payton wriggled uncomfortably in a scratchy tram seat, unable to find a relaxed position where they didn’t feel painful pressure building up in their stomach. It was really starting to ache, now that there was nothing to keep Payton’s mind busy. They would have loved nothing more than to be home already, biting into the flaky pastry and warm, soft filling of Autumn’s sausage rolls and finally getting something into their cramping belly.

“You alright, baby? You’re quiet.”

“Am I?” Payton laughed. Their head was spinning just a little, and their voice was starting to sound shaky. “Sorry, I’m just very tired.”

It didn’t feel good to lie to Autumn, even if it was less a lie and more a concealment of the truth. She would never say the words out loud, but Payton knew that she thought of them as a pushover, both in matters at work and at the apartment. There were a lot of aspects of their job that she called unacceptable, and if she’d had her way, they would have quit the coffee shop by now. They had no idea how she would react if they became a shift supervisor and had to take on even more responsibilities, but Payton reckoned that was a discussion for another night when things were a little more certain.

In the meantime, it was best not to say anything about having to skip lunch.

Slipping their hands into the pockets of their open jacket, Payton subtly rubbed their middle, feeling their empty stomach roll around in distress. They tensed and held their breath, hoping to prevent any noises from emerging.

There was a sharp jerking motion as the train slowed to a stop. Autumn gasped lightly and put out a hand to stop herself from sliding forward in her seat. They both looked at each other and held the gaze for a moment before a voice crackled over the tram’s intercom.

“Apologies, folks, it’s just a minor technical issue. Service will resume shortly.”

“Shortly?” Autumn mumbled in annoyance. “Talk about vague...”

“Damn it,” Payton sighed, sinking lower in their seat and pushing their hands deeper into the pockets of their jacket. “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Autumn chuckled; she was still sitting fully upright, leaning towards Payton’s seat as she tried to see up to the top of the tram. “Assumptive of you to refer to yourself as good people.”

“Not me, baby. I was talking about you.”

“Oh. Aw. Thank you.” Autumn smiled and reached out a hand, both to acknowledge Payton and to give herself some balance as she craned her neck. 

The hand landed lightly on Payton’s belly, which - in their slumped position - acted as an almost-flat surface for her to lean on as she continued peering up through the carts. She was probably expecting to see tram staff coming through, explaining the situation to the passengers; what she probably wasn’t expecting was to feel rumbling movement beneath her palm, which was accompanied by a loud, pinched growl.

Payton let out a little groan too, turning their face to bury it against Autumn’s shoulder.

“What’s going on, baby?” Autumn half-laughed, her eyes trained on Payton’s stomach as it vibrated under her hand again. She teasingly ran a finger between the buttons in their shirt, gesturing as though to peek under the fabric. “You hiding an angry tiger in there?”

“I told you I was hungry.”

“Yeah, but...” Autumn gasped and rubbed a wide circle across Payton’s belly as it roared again, prompting them to glance around and make sure the seats close to them hadn’t magically filled up with people in the last few seconds.

Autumn, on the other hand, had had her attention drawn away from anything to do with the tram, and towards a particular, grumbling organ. “Baby, what’d you have for lunch?”

Payton groaned again, wriggling a little further down so that their knees were pressed against the seat in front of them. They felt a red blush in their cheeks as Autumn sat back and peered down at their face.

They sighed, eyes trailing down to where Autumn’s hand was still resting on their belly. “The shop was really busy today, and the shift supervisor couldn’t come in, so I ended up working through lunch.”

Payton then held their breath again, both in anticipation of their stomach letting out another whine under Autumn’s palm, and of her response.

“You’re so good, baby.”

Payton raised their eyebrows. “Am I? You’re not mad at me?”

“Of course I’m not mad at you,” Autumn sighed. “I obviously don’t like it when you don’t take care of yourself properly, but I also wish I had your level of dedication.”

A smile played on Payton’s lips as they nudged the side of their head against Autumn’s waist. “Jake’s gonna see about getting me bumped up to supervisor.”

“And he should,” Autumn laughed, lifting her other hand to sweep Payton’s eyes out of their eyes. “You’re amazing at that job, and no one ever tells you enough.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Autumn leaned down to kiss the side of Payton’s head. “Just promise me that you’ll use your powers as supervisor for good. Like giving yourself lunch breaks.” She gently tapped one finger against Payton’s stomach. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Payton mumbled, burying their face as their chest fluttered. The glow of being praised and worried about lasted only a precious moment though, because there was still an empty belly in the vicinity, and it was determined not to let itself be forgotten in all the chatter.

“You’re mad at Payton though, aren’t you?” Autumn pursed her lips as she spoke to their stomach, as though she was talking to a cat. She patted her hand against Payton’s belly as it grumbled. “That’s okay, I’d be mad too, if my owner spent the day giving yummy food to customers and not me.”

The mention of food sent Payton’s thoughts drifting back towards the dinner that had been promised, and they groaned again, this time nudging their head right into Autumn’s lap. She bit her lip and glanced around at the nearby seats, once more confirming that there was nobody else in the cart.

“Comfy down there?” There was a tiny twist of irony in Autumn’s voice, but her tone was mostly genuine. 

“Kind of,” Payton said, using both hands to keep Autumn’s pressed to their aching gut. They glanced up at the grey ceiling of the tram, at the darkness that lay just outside the window, hopelessness welling in their chest as their belly rolled unhappily. “Just so hungry.”

“Oh, baby. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I just wish I knew how long we were gonna be stuck here.”

“Me too,” Autumn sighed. “But no matter how long it takes us to get home, I’m still going to cook for you the minute we get in.”

“Mmm.” Payton smiled to themself and closed their eyes, letting go of Autumn’s hand as it began to work slow, gentle circles into their belly through their shirt. “Thank you.”

Sore backs and tented shorts, or  The one where Tom gets a massage

Tom Hiddleston x Reader one-shot 

It’s been ages since I’ve written anything and I’m feeling a bit rusty but inspiration just hit and my three remaining braincells - who’ve survived the current heatwave so far - came up with this smutty filth. 

I hope you’ll enjoy! Let me know what you think :) (It’s proofread but it seems by ability to spot typos and mistakes rises by 200% percent as soon as I hit post.)

Word count: About 2.6k

Warnings: Oral sex (male receiving), improper uses of the word ‘God’ and unrealistic descriptions of massages. 

---

Tom stretched, trying to pop the knots on his back, as he sat down to rest between scenes. Maybe he was getting old, too old for this, Tom pondered for a second before mentally slapping himself on the face. Who was he kidding? Loki was a role he'd never give up on, as in never ever. 

So if that meant performing the various stunts himself for authenticity's sake and suffering through it, he would do it, without complaining.

He stretched once more, giving the battered script one last read before getting ready to shoot the next scene of the series.

The camera crew adjusted the filming angles while the make up artist powdered his face, making sure there was no excessive shine to his skin. Loki would certainly not break a sweat running away from a building he himself set on fire and throwing himself on the ground with a grin just a second before it all exploded. 

Yes, Loki would undoubtedly be grinning in that situation, Tom reckoned. The human, however, tried not to flinch as he realised he'd have to run and throw himself on the mattress with all his strength, again and again. The mattress was certainly softer than the ground they'd CGI into the scene, but his body was also certainly more breakable than Loki's.

One hour later, Tom was spent. Letting himself collapse on the blue stunt mattress, he was relieved that everyone had finally agreed that the take had been perfect - the grin, the hair, the elegance. The only thing he wanted now was to hurry home and sleep. Maybe he could ever delay his shower to the next morning if he changed the sheets upon waking up, he negotiated with himself.

"Hey, you okay?" 

Tom opened an eye only to find Kate crouched over him, a frown obscuring her features. "Yeah, I'm just feeling a little worn down, that's all."

Kate nodded to herself. For a second she felt guilty she was asking too much of him, but then they'd both agreed that they wanted the series to be perfect, whatever it took. "You were great back there."

His eyes were already closing again and he only nodded noncommittally. "Anyway, I suggest you go take a shower. The message therapist I booked for you is already setting up."

Tom sat up in a flash, his back protesting the movement. "That's very kind but I'm alright, no need for-"

"Be ready in ten minutes unless you want to be late," Kate interrupted him, challenging his British punctuality. He opened his mouth again, but she waved him off, knowing what he was going to say. "Bobby has been fed and walked. He's lying outside right now with part of the crew, enjoying the last sun rays of the day." 

Tom cursed internally and got up, feeling outsmarted. This was not something he was looking forward to but he'd be damned if he showed up late.

"Also, this will be routine until we finish shooting." Kate added quietly before running off.

--- Water droplets ran down his back as he stepped out of the shower, a white towel wrapped low around his hips. Sighing, he cleaned some of the fog on the mirror with his hand and then proceeded to tumble dry his black hair before adding some nourishing product to it. 

It was only then that he remembered he had no change of clothes with him, more specifically underwear, since he always preferred showering at home. Contemplating his clothes on the back of the chair, he concluded that he didn't have many options unless he wanted to put on the boxers briefs he had worn all day or go nude. Tom chuckled to himself at the latter thought, already imagining a young male therapist telling him to take his English countryside back over the pond. Deciding not to make the person he'd have to see for the next month uncomfortable on the very first day, Tom pulled on the black running shorts he had worn to set that morning, going commando underneath.

--- 

One minute late, Tom knocked on the door to the infirmary. 

"Come on in." A voice replied. A feminine voice to be exact. Not what he had expected.

Obeying the lady, Tom opened the door and let himself in, his eyes landing on his new massage therapist for the very first time. Clearly not what he had expected. Tom swallowed, using his acting skills to appear nonchalant even as he subtly - or at least, as subtly as was possible in such small quarters - eyed the woman in front of him. 

Her hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, revealing the elegant curve of her neck. She was wearing a tight fitting white t-shirt with equally white yoga pants. A look of purity all in all though it had his mind immediately wandering to the realms of exquisitely impure thoughts.

"Hi! I'm (Y/N). Nice to meet you, Tom," she introduced herself, stretching out her hand for him to shake. "Oh! Do you mind me calling you Tom? I can also go for Mister Hiddleston if you prefer."

Tom suppressed a groan, there was always something about being called that that got his mind spinning. Chastising himself, he shook her hand, flexing his biceps more than was necessary. Her hand was soft and warm and small, exactly what he needed. "Nice to meet you, (Y/N). Please do call me Tom. We'll be seeing each other quite a lot after all."

She nodded, smiling kindly before telling him to lie down on the massage table. Tom noticed that it was in fact surprisingly wide, but didn't think much of it. Maybe Kate was right, he needed this. His body undeniably did and if he were honest, he had been craving the touch of another human, feeling rather lonely as of late. Most of his friends were back in London, and those that weren't, were still too far away. As for a different kind of touch, a woman's company to be more exact, he couldn't remember the last time he had being blessed with it either. Definitely before Atlanta, he concluded. 

He barely heard her move around, her naked feet making little to no noise on the floor. "We will do a combination of deep tissue and Thai massage today, so that I can determine your problem areas for the next time."

Tom was in fact aware of a very problematic area of his but decided to spare her the dirty joke. He just didn't realise quite yet how problematic that area was in fact going to become.

(Y/N) came to a stop in front him, he could feel her presence as she warmed the oil between her palms before finally gliding her hands over the skin of his back. Tom couldn't help the pleasurable hum that escaped his lips as she started working out the knots on his back, some of them loosening under her touch with an audible crack that had her chuckling. God, even her voice was perfect. Dozing off was becoming more and more tempting to Tom, his eyelids feeling heavier than ever when she bent forward over his body to reach farther down his back. He felt her breasts press against him as she did so, the back of his head suddenly encompassed between them. Yes, there was the bra and then that pesky t-shirt between her chest and his skin but his body didn't seem to care. Not even one bit.

Clenching his teeth, Tom felt blood rush down to his once again problematic area. The fact that his dick was squished under him only served to make the situation all the more uncomfortable. Tom groaned, wether from arousal or frustration, he wasn't sure.

"Are you okay, Tom? Did I hurt you?" (Y/N) asked with concern. 

Tom swallowed nervously. "No, don't worry. Your hands feel great."

She moved away from him, the weight of breasts gone and he breathed out in relief. That is, until he heard her climb onto the massage table with him.

What the-? It was then that he remembered what a Thai message entailed from a vague conversation he'd once had with Ben and Sophie.

Before he could come up with a way to get out of this... predicament, (Y/N) straddled his hips and all but sat down on his butt. His cock immediately reacted to change in pressure.

"You've got quite a knot here," she explained, softly rubbing her fingers near his spine, about halfway up his back. "I'm going to try and break up the knotted tissue. Tell me if it hurts too much."

It did hurt, the way the heel of her hand pressed against the sensitive area. But it definitely didn't hurt enough to kill his arousal. If anything, it made it worse with the way he felt her weight shift above him whenever she moved. Instead of relaxing, he was only growing more tense. 

As Tom felt precum bead on his glans as she climbed off of him, having him feel equally disappointed and relieved when she went to work on his legs.

Her hands felt heavenly, sometimes painfully heavenly, as they moved over his calves. Not that it is eased his arousal, but Tom was confident that the massage was almost done and he'd soon be able to climb into the shower again and use the opportunity to wank himself to an orgasm. 

He'd certainly think of her as he'd stroke his shaft later, imagining she was there with him. Water running down her body, rendering her obscene white t-shirt transparent, her nipples visibly pebbling even behind two layers of fabric. His cock seemed to enjoy his fantasy as well, now so hard that Tom seriously started considering rubbing himself on the towel draped over the table to find some relief.

His thoughts were interrupted when she moved over his knees, to his his thighs. Her delicate fingers folding back his shorts to reveal more of his legs. Tom jerked suddenly, trying to hide his erection from her hands and crushing it under his belly in the process. He winced. 

Undoubtedly sensing Tom was tensing up again, (Y/N) made quick work of his thighs. Maybe he was a bit shy and didn't like being touched there, she reckoned, shrugging to herself to hide her disappointment. She'd always enjoyed her job, finding satisfaction in other people's well-being. But massaging Tom Hiddleston? She would have done it for free (don't tell her boss!).

"Please turn around, Tom." She said softly after finishing up the back of his legs

He startled. "What?!" Came his terrified voice. 

(Y/N) frowned. "Can you please lie down on your back now? So that I can work on your chest and the front of your legs."

Tom stilled, silently panicking. "That won't be necessary. It's quite late and I'm feeling much better already."

"Nonsense. I won't leave you unfinished," she protested, his cock twisting her words. "Besides, my boss would kill me if she ever found out I left a client halfway through a massage."

His jaw clenched. He was torn between two equally bad options, but in the end, he inner gentleman couldn't stand to be the one to jeopardise her job.

Slowly, Tom turned around on the table, still hoping that his erection wouldn't be as noticeable as it felt but the tent in his shorts was impossible to hide, sticking straight up to the ceiling.

She stared at his face curiously, observing his reddening cheeks before lowering her gaze. "Oh," she gasped.

Somehow, part of him had hoped her reaction would have been less shocked and perhaps a bit more pleased. As it was, she just stood there like that and he threw his forearm over his eyes, hoping it would lessen the embarrassment. It didn't.Sighing, he made a move to get up, hesitating whether he should apologise before leaving or if that would only make things worse.

The weight shifted on the massage table as she climbed on top, joining him on the soft padding.

Instantly, Tom lifted his head off the pillow, holding himself up on his forearms, bewilderedly watching Y/N as she knelt between his legs. "What are you doing?" He asked, his voice croaky, his eyes glued to her décolleté which the neckline failed to hide in this position. 

She looked up at him slowly, coyly, though her grin was nothing if not provocative. "Hoping to release all tension in your body," she replied, her tongue peeking through as her hands went to his hips, thumbs drawing circles over his shorts. "If you'll let me, that is." 

Tom swallowed audibly, almost expecting her to throw her head back and start laughing. But she never did. Instead, she sat back on her haunches, waiting for him to consent. "God. Yes, please!" He breathed out, his British accent growing thicker.

(Y/N) licked her lips, fingers working behind her head to tighten her ponytail. "Now that's more like it, Mister Hiddleston."

Without missing a second, she bend forward, lowering her face to place a kiss on his stomach, just below his belly button. Tom's muscles tensed in response, already looking forward to what was to come.

He struggled between the desire to watch and the impulse to lean back and simply enjoy. She made the decision for him, her hand pressing down on his sternum before moving her attention back to his groin.

Tom hissed as he felt her lips kiss the head of his cock through the lightweight fabric. His body suddered, his cock throbbed and she chuckled. (Y/ N) repeated the process a few more times, enjoying the teasing. Then, she moved her fingers to the elastic waistband and pulled his shorts down, grazing his buttocks with her nails. 

His cock sprang free, hitting his lower stomach a couple of times and Tom already felt a drop of precum slide down from the glans to his belly button. (Y/N) surprised him, first neglecting his weeping cock in favour of his balls, sucking them into her mouth one after the other, teasing them with the tip of her tongue.

Tom groaned her name, squirming beneath her and thrusting up. With a smile, (Y/N) decided to give in. She traced the tip of her nose along his length until reaching the head and then wrapped her tongue around the glans, teasing the frenulum. Tom moaned loudly 

He felt her hand wrap around the base of his cock before she took him in her mouth, as much as would fit. Instantly, his hand settled on the back of her head, caressing instead of pushing. "Just like that, darling."

She took to humming around his length, intermittently sucking in her cheeks and Tom started feeling the telltale tightening in his groin faster than he should. His hand gripped her ponytail harder, alerting her but her movements didn't slow. Tom propped himself up on his elbows, groaning at the sinful sight of debauchery in front of him.

"I'm close," he managed to warn her through clenched teeth. (Y/N) looked up at him, never halting her movements and the mischievous look she addressed him revealed that she knew exactly what she was doing.

Tom dug his heels against the padding of the table, canting up his hips and thrusting up in her mouth as his orgasm washed over him. (Y/N)meticulously sucked him clean, swallowing down rope after rope of his cum whilst humming around him.

"God, (Y/N). That was..." For once he was left without words, still dizzy with pleasure in the aftermath of his orgasm.

She licked his cum off her lips, taking in the sight in front of her with a smile, acutely aware of her own arousal. Tom's chest was flushed, heaving as he fought to regain his breath, his eyes still closed.

It was only then that she realised what she had done. She had blown Tom Hiddleston - a client.

Murder Mystery

this is supposed to be for Cubetober day one, but my mind blanked out in the middle of it, so i finished it late. also i wrote this in three different times of day with three different states of mind, so if it's inconsistant that's why.

anyway, this is set in my au that i made when i was 13, so i apologize to anyone reading this if it's scuffed, but it still holds a very special place in my heart, so here it is.

~~~~~~~

Sparklez was talking. Jesse wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying, but it probably wasn’t anything he didn’t already know. What he was more interested in were the rest of the people seated in front of him. Their bubbles (or auras as was the proper term, apparently) to be exact.

Because the ones surrounding these people were strange. They were denser than the average person’s back in his home dimension, which usually meant they were physically stronger, but none of them looked like they could lift more than any other average person. A likely explanation was just that was how people were in this world, and that was all fine and dandy, but the one that concerned him the most was, ironically, the most normal of their group.

Alright, not normal, but her gold blinking aura was familiar, and to top it off, it was dense and had range. The only times he’d ever felt a bubble like this was with the members of the Order of the Stone. And even if they couldn’t lift more than their own body weight in the best of days, they still had their abilities. Which Jesse found out was the reason for the density and range.

This girl, however, (Cassie Rose, his mind supplied for him) was supposedly from this world. And yet, she had the aura of a person with the same sort of abilities as the old Order of the Stone and himself. Which, if that wasn’t suspicious-

He snapped his attention to where Dan’s fizzling started leaning more towards curiosity than anxiety. It could be something Sparklez had said, but no one else’s mood had shifted quite like his… also, he was looking under the table. Interesting.

“-whoever invited us-”

“Whatcha got there, Dan?”

Sparklez started as Jesse abruptly cut him off, and the entire table turned their attention towards him. Jesse nearly staggered at the weight of the scrutiny, but he managed to keep his gaze on the dual-colored aura.

“O-oh, um, it’s just this button, see?” Dan pushed his chair back and stood up to reveal that there was indeed a button under the table. “I was just thinking that it was an odd place to put one…”

“Dan!” Lizzie looked at her friend incredulously, her swirls now had a hint of exasperation, but the anxiety seemed to multiply tenfold, “Don’t tell us you were about to press it!”

“What?” He was quick to defend himself as his fizzling shifted to fear and embarrassment. It was mostly the fear, though. “No! No, of course not-”

A quick glance around the table to the rest of his friends seemed to drain his resolve, “W-well, I-I mean - “

He stumbled around his words for another second before he threw his hands up and covered his face, “You guys know how I am with buttons! Give me a break!”

Surprisingly, despite how wound up they looked, they did stop glaring at him. And yet…

‘They’re all suspicious of him now’, Jesse thinks to himself as he glances around at the rest of the auras around him. ‘Well, all of them. Except for one.’

Cassie’s gold blinked in anticipation, satisfaction, and a hint of regret that kept coming and going. Which, combined with her odd aura was a dead giveaway that she was the culprit, one hundred percent. At least, that’s what Jesse thought, in any case-

“Oh, hey. I have one too.” Everyone turned their heads towards StampyCat just in time to see him press the button on his side of the table.

“Stampy, DON’T-!”

Jesse wasn’t sure who yelled, but it didn’t matter. Because one second, Sparklez was standing right beside him, and then the next his chair tipped backwards towards a gaping hole that had opened up in the floor.

His reflexes had gotten better ever since a year ago, when they were still in that treehouse, but even then, he could do nothing but watch as his fingers brushed against Sparklez’s sleeve before he dropped into the abyss down below. He thought he felt someone whizz by him as he watched Sparklez fall, but there wasn’t any time to think about it before sand fell from the ceiling and filled up the hole.

At this point, everybody’s auras were swirling, fizzing, popping with fear, anxiety, grief. It was getting harder and harder to keep the forigen emotions at bay along with his own. It didn’t help that Cassie Rose (because she was a damn good actor, but she sure as hell can’t mask her inner self), aka White Pumpkin, aka the current literal bane of his existence, decided to put on a show right after the goddamn murder.

So when the lights turned on again, Jesse found himself kneeling on the floor and clutching his head. It took all of his power to not hurl his guts right then and there. Petra and Lukas, the godsends, seemed to be hoarding everyone out of the room, while Ivor had somehow ended up beside him with his hand on his head. He hadn’t been able to sense Gabriel anywhere since the sand fell, and he would’ve been more concerned over it if he were in any better shape.

As it was, he felt his nausea gradually receding as he felt the effects of Regeneration wash over him. Or maybe it was Health. He vaguely remembered Ivor trying to teach him something about that, although he can’t quite remember at the moment.

“Jesse? How do you feel?” Ivor’s voice cut through the fog in his brain, and he mentally thanked the man for keeping his volume down.

“I’m- I think I’m okay now.” He stayed on the floor for a second. Just to try and fill in the gaps in his memory after Sparklez…

He was instantly overcome with guilt at that thought. So much so that Ivor’s hand left his head as he recoiled from the intensity of it. It came back a second later, and Jesse could feel the other’s concern from where Ivor was sitting next to him.

“Jesse?”

“It- the- the sand- Sparklez…”

Ivor’s royal blue aura shimmered with relief, and Jesse looked at him in confusion as the older man lightly shook his head.

“Sparklez is fine, Jesse. I activated Speed and caught him before he fell.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. It’ll be a pain to try and explain that to the newcomers, however.”

Well. That’s a relief. Not the explaining part. But at least no one died this time. He’ll probably still have nightmares about this incident though. Bummer.

~~~~~~~~~

When Jesse and Ivor finally stepped out into the main hall, they took a double take at the scene in front of them.

Stampy was hiding behind Gabriel and Petra; Dan and Lizzie were in an argument against Stacy and Cassie; and Sparklez and Lukas seemed to be stuck in the middle failing to act as mediator between the groups.

“This is Stampy we’re talking about, guys! He didn’t do it on purpose!” Lizzie’s pink was swirling with anxiety and it seemed like her resolve was faltering.

“He still pressed the button! After all the grief we gave Dan for thinking about it, he still pressed it!” Stacy’s navy was the opposite. There was fear there, sure. But her anger and betrayal was burning much stronger and more decisively than Lizzie’s.

It would probably be a smart idea to diffuse this situation sooner rather than later.

“Hey! Hey, guys?” Jesse tried. They seemed to be too caught up in yelling at each other to have noticed the new arrivals.

“I would’ve pressed it! If Jesse hadn’t stopped me I would’ve! I was curious about it, and Stampy was too!” Dan’s blue and white aura was a sight to behold. Not because of the dual colors, Jesse's gotten over that while he’d been questioning him. His anger was making his bubble fizzle and spark, and his desperation was thick in the air.

“What Dan said!” Stampy’s aura was chilly with fear and betrayal. Which was valid, since two of his friends were vehemently against him..

“So you admit to being the White Pumpkin?” Cassie Rose. Her gold aura was bleeding with victory and even more regret. There was also a sort of desperate relief much closer to her core that almost had Jesse wondering why she was doing this..

Almost.

“Guys, I have-”

“Allll right! Let’s not start accusing people with doubtful evidence-”

Stacy whipped around to face her friend, “You were the one who fell because of him, Sparklez!”

“Yes, I know that, just- just hear me out, okay?” CaptainSparklez’ bright red aura had been calm, for the entire time that Jesse had been around him. Even now, after his brush of death, and the layers of anxiousness and fear within him, his aura didn’t send wave after wave of emotions like Jesse expected.

He didn’t know if that was the reason everybody settled, or because Sparklez was the one who nearly died this time, but finally, Stacy’s angry burning mellowed down to a smaller flame, and Dan’s sparks grew less intense, although his anger was still fizzling quickly and quietly in his own bubble.

“I- I know this has been a very stressful evening for all of us, but Stampy’s our friend. I know we haven’t known him as long as Lizzie and Dan have, Stacy, Cassie, but I know him well enough to be positive that he wouldn’t do something like this on purpose.”

“...fine,” With that, Stacy’s anger disappeared, and in its place was a mix of doubt and regret. Maybe she wasn’t really angry at Stampy in the end? There were only so many people to blame, after all. “But if you’re so sure he didn’t do it, then who did?”

Cassie’s bubble started to blink rapidly in desperation, and Jesse rushed to interject before she could say anything, “I know who it is.”

Before anyone could react and without missing a beat, Cassie responded, “Is it you?”

“Wha- No! I’m not going to say names without any further proof, but it’s not me!”

“That sounds like something a suspicious person would say.”

Jesse’s had just about enough of this ginger, honestly, “And how would you know what a suspicious person sounds like?”

“Like you, clearly.”

“I am not-!”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Gabriel grabbed Jesse’s arm and pulled him away. “We have more important things to worry about.”

Right. Finding proof.

~~~~~~~

It was a hassle, trying to get everyone to agree to stay in the same room while Jesse, Ivor, and Petra took a look around. Eventually, they reached a compromise when it was brought up that Ivor was the one who saved Sparklez. Unfortunately, part of that compromise was they had to bring Cassie with them.

He risked a glance at the golden bubble blinking rapidly with determination and sighed. This was going to be a long night.

Okay Part 7

Fandom: One Chicago

Series: Okay

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 (Final)

Pairing: Matt Casey x Halstead!Reader

Warning/s: fire, attempted murder

Word Count: 3,033

Summary: After narrowly escaping certain death you decided to turn your life around and become a firefighter, and although it wasn’t easy, you survived your first week at 51. Now, the strange circumstances of your very first fire lead you to a second, deadlier act. As you dig deeper, aided by your brothers and your new firehouse, you begin to realise just how in over your head you might be.

Tags: @alievans007 // @louiselikeswriting // @killjoys-make-some-noise-na-na // @sesamepancakes​

By the time you woke up your head was pounding and your mouth was dry, your ankles and wrists chafing against the ropes that tied you to a beam in the room you were in, where ever that was. You weren’t sure how long you’d been out, but as your eyes slowly focused in on your surroundings you noticed a small window on the opposite side of the room you were in, the night sky partially visible through a crack in the newspaper that had been used to cover it up.

This was bad, very bad, you thought, panicking as you tried to desperately to free yourself from your restraints, which actually seemed to do more harm than good. Taking a very shaky breath you tried to focus, breathing in and out of your nose slowly...

This had happened before, it had all happened exactly like this before. Only, this time, you weren’t alone in the dark.

When your vision began to focus and the roaring in your ears subsided slightly, you saw a figure out the corner of your eyes, looking to see Lily. Your breath immediately caught in your throat; she was as pale as a ghost, eyes red and face wet with tears and snot. 

“Lily,” you whispered, drawing her eyes to you from where they had been fixed in the distance. She looked to you, shaking uncontrollably, but you saw it then, something in her eyes. Hope? Did she think you were going to help her? 

You were, you were supposed to help her, that’s why you came here in the first place. Breath Y/N, you told yourself, focus, think, you needed to stay under control for her sake. “Hey Lily, where’s Paul? Where’s your dad?” You asked her as calmly as you could, not wanting to alarm her anymore than she was, if that was even possible.

She opened her mouth to reply when the door to the basement banged open, making you both jump as a man stormed down the stairs. He was erratic, mumbling to himself as he waved around a gun, pacing as he reached the bottom of the stairs and ignoring you both completely. 

“No supposed to happen like this... all her fault...” you caught him say, “all your fault, all Jennifer’s fault!” He aimed the gun at Lily, raising his voice as she flinched back as far as she could while restrained. 

“Hey!” You snapped at him, unsure of where such a steady and powerful voice came from inside of you as Paul jumped, apparently only just realising that you were also in the room. “Do not point that gun at her,” you demanded, catching him off guard as he looked between the weapon and his daughter, a moment’s pause gone as quickly as it came as he turned it to you instead. Far from ideal, but the better alternative.

“Listen to me, I’m a firefighter, okay and my brother Jay he’s a cop, he could help-” you began, rambling slightly, not really thinking about what you were saying as you tried to convince him to put the gun down.

Mention Jay seemed to be a bad idea, you realised it the second the words were out of your mouth, Paul’s grip tightening on the gun as he eyes flared with panic. “Cop, cop, no, no cops...” he repeated, very much appearing to have had some kind of mental break. Could he even be reasoned with?

Looking around as he began pacing again, more on edge than before, you noticed the canisters of kerosene along the wall by the stairs; he was going to burn this place down, with you and Lily in it.

“Shut up! Just shut up and let me think!” Paul yelled at a still crying Lily, and outburst that only made her cry harder.

“That’s enough, she’s a kid for god’s sake, your kid,” you tried, grating your teeth and hating how powerless you felt. You’d failed her hadn’t you? 

“We were happy before she came, she isn’t even mine, she ruined everything...” he told you, his logic making absolutely no sense to you. Still, you had to try and get on his level if you had any chance of de-escalating the situation. You’d learned that much from Jay at least.

“Okay, but how is that Lily’s fault? She did do anything, you don’t have to do this, it’s not too late,” you took a shaky breath as his eyes flicked towards the cannisters, only half listening to what you were saying. His mind had been made up when he lit that first fire, maybe even before then, it was like reasoning with a brick wall.

“Yes, yes it is,” he said with way too much conviction.

“No, wait, let’s talk about this,” you tried desperately, pulling on your restraints in vain as he wandered towards the cannisters, gun now slack at his side. 

That was when you caught it, a sharp pain in your hand as you winced, moving your hands slower to feel a now wet nail sticking out of the beam you were tied to. Your hand was bleeding, but you could barely feel it, shifting slightly so that the nail was rubbing against your restraints. Stall, a voice in your head screamed, stall.

“Talk? So you can buy time until your boyfriend can come save you?” Paul laughed in a vaguely unhinged sort of way, thankfully not noticing the confusion on your face as he continued, “is that who you were calling? Because it didn’t say - what was that name? Jay? - on your phone screen.”

You schooled your features as much as you could before he could turn around and wait for your answer. Matt. You’d called Matt. He’d know, he’d know you were in trouble, right? You hoped he would, he had to suspect you wouldn’t have gone straight home, and that that call was strange. 

Stall. You worked through the aching in your wrist, the nail catching your flesh more than once as you powered through, working the rope with everything you had.

“No, I mean, yes, my boyfriend, but he has nothing to do with this, I swear-” you hoped that sounded convincing. You’d already made the mistake of mentioning your cop brother, but if you told him you’d had a fire captain o nthe other end of the line you didn’t know how he’d react. You had to put all your faith in Casey right now, hoping to hear sirens at any moment.

“Daddy...” Lily sobbed, voice small and strained, raw from the crying as she tried to get her dad to look at her, but even when he glanced in her direction, he never met her eye. Your heart was breaking even more than you thought was possibly, stabbing pains shooting through you like the nail in your hand, but you persevered, your sheer anger and stubborn determination numbing the pain and quietening your own panic and fear.

“I have to do this, have to do this now,” he seemed to decide, nodding to himself as he put the gun in his waist band, your eyes draw to him as you worked at the rope, you were so, so close... But not close enough.

Paul took a couple of cannisters at a time, opening the caps and dumping them all over the floor, your feet jerking back as the strong smelling liquid splashed near you. “No, no, please you don’t have to do this,” you begged him.

“It’s done, I’ll finally have justice,” Paul said, your nostrils flaring in rage as you tugged harder at the ropes, your blood on them making them harder to keep steady.  Bastard, you growled to yourself

Paul turned without another word, taking the final cannister and pouring it up the stairs behind him. He took a packet of matches out of his pocket once he reached the top, the first attempt at striking it snapping the match.

Your mind was tugging you back to that other basement then, your senses slipping there too as your vision doubled and the all too familiar smell of kerosene filled your lungs. You’d cheated death once, and now he was coming to collect...

“Daddy please!” Lily cried out, cutting through you like a knife, hauling you back to the present as you willed yourself to focus, scrunching your hand into a fist. You dug your nails into the large cut on your palm, the pain keeping you tethered to reality as the second match flared to life. 

Then, well, then everything happened so fast you could barely process it. Your hands snapped free of the ropes just as the match fell from Paul’s finger tips, the top of the stairs lighting immediately as you clamoured towards Lily, ignoring the pain as you forced her restraints free. 

You looked to the already fast approaching fire as Lily stood, grabbing your leg with her arm and hugging you tightly. You didn’t have long, you knew, the poorly ventilated room already filling with smoke. 

There was only one this for it, you realised, what Casey would probably call your Halstead instinct kicking is as you threw off your jacket. “Lily, Lily look at me,” you said hurriedly, crouching down and wrapping her in it so it was over as much of her body and head as you could make it, her terrified eyes meeting yours. “I’m going to pick you up okay? Whatever you do, keep your head in my shoulder and do not let go, okay?”

She nodded quickly, sensing the urgency as you drew her into your arms, her small ones wrapping around you. There were no good option, but Lily had the best chance this way, and she mattered more. 

Here goes everything, you allowed yourself a split second to prepare yourself, and then you ran.

The stairs were still standing, for now, but they wouldn’t be for long, the fire dancing down the railing and walls as you pushed yourself, step by step, you ran up the stairs. 

Paul hadn’t bothered to shut the basement door, why would he? So you bolted for it with everything you had, you body absolutely screaming at you in fear and pain as you maintained an iron grip on the child in your arms.

And then you were out on the otherside, stumbling but forcing yourself to keep steady as you oriented yourself, the fire still all around you. You put Lily down quickly, patting her down as well as yourself, making sure you weren’t on fire. 

You needed a door, or a window, you didn’t really care. Taking Lily’s hand you looked to her. “We’re going to run, okay?” She nodded, taking your hand with a vice like grip.

A noise to your left drew your attention, making your way down the hall, barely staying up right as the burning in your legs flared up your body. You looked down as you felt your feet nearly slip on a substance, more accelerant?

This had taken place over a matter of seconds, a minute at most, and Paul was still here. You found him in the main hall, pouring the final drops of a kerosene by the entrance. There was a moment, when your eyes locked, both of you realised the other one was right in front of you before either of you sprung into action. 

You’d dropped Lily’s hand at the same time as Paul had dropped the cannister, his hand reaching back for the gun you knew was in the back of his waistband. He was fast, but damn if you weren’t faster. 

The fire had reached up from the basement and into the hall, you wouldn’t have long before it connected with the kerosene currently soaking your shoes, and then this place would go up like an inferno. 

Paul had just pulled out his gun, drawing it around his side, when you reached him, catching his wrist before he could point it and slamming his hand back into the wall. He shoved you back, definitely having the upper hand in terms of strength. “You shouldn’t be here, this is all wrong,” he told you, taking a swing at you with his gun still in hand.

You ducked, the swing wide and uncontrolled as you threw a sharp punch in his gut, building on your momentum and his loss of balance to aim another tap into his throat, kicking him back straight afterwards into the opposite wall. 

“That might be the first thing we agree on,” you snarled, moving quickly as he tried to hit you again, his gun hand twisting around, a suprised cry of pain escaping his lips as you expertly flung him over your shoulder, wrist so twisted he lost his grip on the gun. 

Sure, he was stronger, but you were a Halstead. 

He hit his head on the wooden floor and went down, Lily’s cry drawing your attention as you noticed the smoke filling the hall. 

You kicked the gun away and released Paul, who didn’t appear to be getting up any time soon, rushing back to Lily and yanking her arm, dragging her away from where the fire was fast approaching you.

That’s when you heard it, that glorious sound that made you feel like your chest was cracking open in relief. Sirens. There were sirens approaching. 

Pulling Lily forward you both scrambled towards the exit, the fire reaching the kerosene on the hallway rug as it flared to life with new found direction, hungry to consume everything in it’s path. 

The front door was right there, you could make it. Throwing open the front door you practically pushed Lily out, nearly tripping as her feet met the concete, breath in fresh air. 

Police cars were coming down the street, as well as fire engines and an amulance. 51. 51 was here, and so was your brother you guessed. 

Fresh air hit your face as you took a breath of freedom, and then you paused. Something tugging at you deep inside. Looking back over your shoulder you saw Paul, still lying on the floor as the fire quickly approached, devouring everything in its path. 

It would be too late, you knew, by the time 51 had arrived and put on their gear, the fire would have consumed him. The fire that he’d let consume the lives of two other innocent people, the fire he’d tried to turn on his daughter repeatedly, the fire he’d tried to use to end you, too. 

Every fibre of your being was screaming at you to leave him, but you knew, you knew you couldn’t. So you ran back into the burning building, hearing Lily scream as you reached Paul, grabbing him under his shoulders and hauling his with as much strength as you could manage. 

You’d gotten him outside onto the porch as truck pulled up, Stella barely stopping, let alone putting it in park, before Casey jumped out the door, barrelling towards you with a sense of pure urgency,

“Y/N!” He yelled, practically crashing into you as you dropped Paul, who was just beginning to stir. His hands found your upper arms, looking you over and breathing heavily.

“I’m okay,” you tried to tell him, your breath ragged as he led you away from the burning house, two other firefighters and a paramedic coming to take Paul, along with three officers. 

“I was so worried, I thought...” he trailed off, unlistening, one hand going to the side of your head, still worried. 

“Casey... Matt, I’m fine, I’m alive,” you grabbed the hand on your face, giving it a squeeze as you saw relief wash through him. 

“Y/N!” A small voice called, Lily rushing towards you both and she wrapped you in a big hug, buring her face in you as Casey took a step back.

“I’m okay Lily, we’re both okay,” you knelt down, ignoring the pain in your legs as you wrapped her in a big hug, picking her up as Foster signaled you to bring her over to treat. 

Boden was already giving orders to truck, seeing that Casey was too preoccupied as he followed you and Lily to ambo 61, the air getting clearer as you passed the small girl over to your friend. Foster gave your hand a squeeze, nodding to you as you nodded back. 

As soon as she was out of your arms you nearly collapsed, Casey steadying you as you sit on the edge of the ambulance, signalling Sylvie to come check on you.

“Oh my god Y/N,” she gasped, grabbing her med back.

“I’m fine,” you repeated, but she shook her head.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” she said with an authority you weren’t going to argue with as exhaustion washed over you.

“How is she?” Casey asked Sylvie, eyes not leaving you.

“She needs to get to med, she has a potential concussion, serious burns on her legs and she definitely needs stiches on these,” Syvlie said, wrapping up your hands as you winced, coming down from the addrenaline that must have kicked in as you started to feel everything.

Casey opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted. “I’m riding with her,” a voice cut in, Jay, appearing at your side. Casey took a respectful step back as Jay gave you a hug so tight you couldn’t breath, “I’ll let Will know you’re coming in, god Y/N, we were so worried, what the hell were you thinking?” Jay breathed.

“Sorry, I’ll try not to get kidnapped... again,” you replied, but he didn’t seem to appreciate your attempt at humour. 

“I’ll meet you at the hospital,” Casey told you with a smile, eyes lingering on you for a moment before he turned to walk away.

“Hey Casey,” you called, pausing in his steps as he looked back at you, “we got him.”

Casey smiled, eyes full of pride, “you got him Y/N,” he told you, nodding to you before heading back to truck, something unsaid hanging in the air. 

Sylvie made you get into the ambo, Jay by your side the whole ride. 

You’d got him, Lily was safe, it was finally over.

Raphael x Fem!Reader

Reader is April's little sister and meets the turtles through her. I changed the ages and timeline a bit just because I don't feel entirely comfortable writing the turtles as 15 year old kids. SO the turtles are 18 the reader is 17 nearing 18 and april is 27.

Warnings: some mention of parent death, but nothing else!

Part 1/ ??

Im still pretty new at writing fanfic and have only done a few and this is my very first tmnt one. Constructive criticism and nice things only please!

I didn't remember my dad. My mother gave birth to me a month before his death. I didn’t remember him but my big sister April did. She told me everything she could about him, all kinds of stories and old home videos. It's almost like I know him but I don’t. Sometimes it's sad and I wish for nothing more than to have some memories with him, but I’ve had a good life and have a great family. I’ve lived with my sister since our mom passed 2 years ago from cancer. I miss her a lot, but I like living with April and I love our apartment.

We both have a deep love for media. She is a reporter with Channel 6 and I started making youtube videos right around the time mom died. It was like a video diary back then and has since turned into something completely different, though there are the occasional personal diary type videos.

I was wearing my favorite oversized sweater. It was a deep forest green and nearly reached my knees. It was worn and a bit tattered in some places, but it was the coziest thing ever.. I was barefoot in the kitchen listening to April talking about the latest Foot Clan activity and thinking about the questions she was planning for some guy who worked on the docks. She had convinced her camera guy Vern to take her over there before they shot her morning segment.

“You’re gonna be late!” I called into the living room while putting some breakfastt in a container for her to take on the road.

“Thank you shorty,” She rushed in and gave me a kiss on the cheek as she grabbed her breakfast and rushed out of the kitchen again to grab her bag “I’ll either be back for dinner or late!”

“That's really specific April,” I mutter as a lean in the kitchen doorway and watch her check her purse. “Do you have your touchup bag and your toothbrush?”

April let out a small gasp and rushed back to the bathroom. She came back out with a bag, gathered her things and blew a kiss as she ran out the door. I let out a laugh and went to eat my own food.

I spent the day editing a new video. I just hit 700k last week so I was making a special video to celebrate. It had some songs that I had covered laid over a video of me painting a portrait of my mother and father. It was taken a year before he had died and they had gone on a weekend getaway in the Appalachian mountains.

I didn't look up until April burst through the door. It was already dark out and I hadn’t even noticed.

“I just witnessed a Foot Clan attack!” she called as she walked through the apartment.

“What? Oh my god! Are you okay?” I practically jumped up and followed her as she began pacing around the living room. “April? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! There I was at the docks trying to get some answers and then BAM! They were there!” She went on about the attack and then started about some kind of vigilante that fought them off.

“Vigilante? Are you serious?” She didn't answer, she just went into her room. I sat back down on the couch and tried to process what she had said. In the end I shook it off and went get some dinner ready.

Over the next few days April was hard to find. She seemed to be constantly on the move and didn't answer her phone. She came home talking about dad's old experiments and giant turtles, and over the next 2 days seemed to just be gone. The spire on the Sacks building fell and The Shredder, who was the leader of the Foot Clan, was arrested and Eric Sacks was revealed to have been working alongside him the whole time. It was a wild time for New York, and April was suddenly quiet about the vigilantes.

Time began to move on and April started talking about these 4 new friends she had that were brothers. They seemed like a fun nice group, and the stories she shared were great.

“So,” I started as we sat together on the couch, “when do I get to meet the brothers?”

April choked on her glass of white wine. “What? Meet them?”

“Yeah, You talk about them all the time! I would like to meet them. They’re all you’ve been talking about for like 3 weeks.” I said as I pushed her with my foot.

“Ummm,” April stopped to think and had a vague look of concern on her face, “I'm not sure actually. They’re pretty busy guys.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Uh-huh. If you don't want me to meet them just say so. I was just curious.” I turn my face away from her.

“No it's not that, It's just they’re kinda shy. They don’t really like meeting people.” April's face said that she was telling a lie.

“Okay.” I left it at that clearly something is bugging her about me meeting her friends.

April-

April went to spend some time with the boys, but couldn’t stop thinking about them meeting her little sister. How would she react? She thought to herself, ‘I fainted when I met them, and there are still times when it kinda freaks me out a bit. I don’t want my baby sister to get scared and I don’t want the boys to get hurt because of it.’ They had tried to act like April’s reaction didn’t hurt them, but she knew it did. ‘I just want everyone to be happy.’ She was sitting in the lair watching the boys fight and Mikey brought up their Christmas pop album again. She smiled, (y/n) loved music and often performed covers on YouTube. She was really good at it. She had even written her own songs but at this point refused to release or talk about them on her channel.

“April, is something troubling you?” The brunette turned, surprised to see Master Splinter.

“Oh it’s nothing really.” She paused, “Actually could we talk? I am having some trouble.” Splinter nodded and gestured for her to follow. Not answering the questioning looks of the brothers, they went into Hashi.

“The boys avoid this room as much as possible,” Splinter said with a chuckle, “they will not listen in in here.”

“Makes sense,” April laughed and sat down on a mat with Splinter while looking at the odd structures in the room, “I’m having some trouble with my sister.”

“Oh yes, little (y/n) she had only just been born. I believe your father brought her down to the lab twice in those last weeks.” He thought back fondly on the small soft baby that looked so tiny in the arms of her father but so big compared to him then. “ what is it that is wrong?”

“She wants to meet the brothers. She doesn’t know that they are turtles, but she knows I have new friends.” April said looking down, “ we are very open. We’re the only family we have left so we always know each other's friends. It’s a safety thing I guess.”

Master Splinter hummed and looked at April, who continued.

“She wants to meet them and honestly I want her to too! I think they would all get along so well and I think the boys would adore her. It would also be nice to know that there are 4 ninjas who would look out for her.” April sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“I just don’t want the boys to get hurt. What if she is afraid of them? What if she screams and calls them monsters or freaks? What if she passes out or cries. It would hurt them so much, and I don’t want to see my sister frightened anyway.” April’s shoulders slumped and she lowered her face to look across at Splinter.

“You know your sister well? Do you think she will react this way?” The rat questioned.

“I don’t know. This isn’t exactly a situation that has ever come up before or one I ever thought I would be in.” She played with her fingers in her lap and she watched him stroke his beard.

“I think you know your sister well and know what would be the best course of action.” He smiled, “I think the trouble now will be convincing the boys to risk meeting her. I have no doubt that it will be a split crowd.”

April nodded and gave a kind of exasperated smile. She knew exactly what he was talking about. Mikey and Ralph would agree, Donnie was iffy, but Leo would say no.

“Thank you Splinter. That does actually help. Do you mind if I stay in here a bit longer?” She asked.

“Go ahead child. Take your time.” Splinter got up and left the Hashi.

April sat and thought about what he had said. She thought back to everything she knew about her sister and what she knew of the boys. If her sister could be accepting she knew that they could have a great friendship. The boys were half a year older than her and they didn't know anyone their age. It would be nice for them to have that she thought. She knew Mikey would be super friendly right away, maybe even too friendly. Donnie would be polite but wary at first and a bit excited. Raph would be happy just to meet another person, but Leo would be cold. She feared that he would be distant and unapproachable and she knew her sister well enough to know she wouldn't be able to handle that.

She took her time and eventually rejoined the brothers. She brushed off their questions with a simple: “I needed advice.” She sat down with them as they all talked and joked around. Finally Donnie brought up the perfect opportunity.

“April you're lucky you don't have brothers.” He said as Mikey bombarded him with insane ideas for gadgets.

“Well I don't have any brothers but I do have a baby sister.” The turtles all turned towards her clearly shocked by this news. “She's actually about 4 months from turning 18.”

“Woah Angelcakes, We didn't know you had a lil’ sis. Is she as beautiful as you?” Mikey said while batting his eyes at her.

“I think she is absolutely gorgeous, and she sings and does art. She’s about to be a senior in high school.” April said while leaning closer to mikey. “Shes shorter than me and has curves for days. She used to be on the dance team actually.” April laughed and Mikey threw himself back and fanned himself with his hand.

“Why haven't you mentioned her?” Leo asked.

“You never asked if I had any siblings. She was born a few weeks before my dad died.” April smiled sadly at that “She actually asked if she could meet you.”

The boys seemed to freeze at that, and suddenly all eyes were on her.

“You told about us?”. Raph asked.

“Kinda. I might have left out the part about being ninja turtles, but I told her about my new friends and she wants to meet you guys.” Raph scoffed at her answer.

“So you didn't actually tell her about us.” He almost snapped at her.

“Cool it Raph.” leo warned.

“I don't wanna be looked at like a freak. She won't want to meet us when she sees us.” he stood up and walked off. April looked at the others who all looked like they wanted to disagree and agree with Raph at the same time.

“Sorry angelcakes, I'm sure baby angelcakes is great though.” Mikey shrugged.

April sat in disbelief that they all basically said no. The lair was quiet after that and she left after they ate some dinner.

She got home only to remember her sister was spending the night at her friends house. So she had the place all to herself. She let out a sigh and poured herself a tall glass of wine and sat on the couch thinking about the events of the day. She came up with a plan as she finished her cup and decided that by the end of the week they boys will have met her baby sister. She grabbed her phone and invited the boys to come hang out at her place for once this upcoming weekend. They didn't even ask if her sister would be there.

(Y/N)-

April had gone out to pick up some pizza for a late night dinner. I had school, homework, and some video editing to do and forgot to cook. April came home late and said not to worry about it and would grab some pizza. Her new favorite place didn’t offer delivery so she went to go get it. I decided that a nice hot shower sounded good and went in. I got out as I heard the front door open and close. I made my way to my room about to throw on my favorite green sweater only to remember that It had been washed and was in the dryer. So, I wrapped my towel back around me and opened my door to head out into the living room. I walked out and looked up only to meet with 4 pairs of eyes.

“Oh my bad,” I said, turning to go back to my room only to stop and turn right back around. “Ummmm…” I trailed off not sure what to say as I stared at 4 very large, very green, oddly human like turtles, all while in a bath towel that left most of my left hip exposed.

“Oh hi (y/n). I forgot to mention I had friends coming over.” April said walking into the room. “You might wanna put some clothes on though.”

“Yeah…” I said not able to look away from the very large turtle creatures sitting in the living room.

7 and 54 for jiara

This one is kinda cute too🥺not me falling in love with Parents!Jiara🤡

Word Count: 2.2K

Prompts: “You’ve gone to the bathroom fifty times today.” // “Why’s there a pregnancy test in the trash?”

It had hit Kiara like a truck. Out of nowhere. Boom. Right in her face.

She didn’t understand how it happened. Okay, well of course she did. She was twenty-two years old, she knew very well how babies were made. But her and JJ were generally quite safe. They were young and neither of them were in the place for children. They had so many adventures they wanted to go on, places to see, countries and cultures to explore. Starting a family wasn’t in their short-term future.

Except, now it was.

It took Kiara a couple of weeks before she began to pick up on the signs. At first it was waves of fatigue, just generally feeling quite dizzy or tired. But she just pegged that as low iron or the jetlag from all the journey back to the States after their latest trip to Australia. Then came the feelings of nausea throughout the day. Once again, Kiara brushed it off, just thinking she was stressed from all the apartment searching back home. She didn’t think much of it.

It wasn’t until Thanksgiving rocked about that she finally realised something was up. Kiara and JJ were half way into moving into their new apartment (it was small and on the cheaper side, but it wasn’t like they planned to stay there for more than a few weeks at a time). The symptoms were only getting worse, and Kiara was too wrapped up in moving boxes in and out of storage that it only hit her a couple of hours before her parents’ Thanksgiving dinner party that she was a few days late.

She didn’t tell JJ. She didn’t tell anyone. She just rushed out to the shops, grabbed the first pregnancy test she could find and quickly paid for it.

Those three minutes were the longest of her life. She just stared at it. Stared at the stick that sat on the bathroom countered as she waited for the alarm to go off. And when it did, Kiara found herself staring at two pink lines.

Positive. She was pregnant.

Having to act like she was not having an internal breakdown and coming up with an excuse not to drink was probably the hardest part of that night. She saw JJ giving her curious glances, ones of concern but she assured him that she was just not up for drinking with the jetlag. He seemed to buy it.

It was her grandmother who made her nervous. She kept giving Kiara these looks all night, ones that looked straight through her façade and into her soul. It was like she knew, like she had some sort of sixth sense or pregnancy radar. And Kiara’s suspicions were confirmed when her grandmother stopped her just before she left, both of them the only ones in the room, as placed her hand on her stomach and simply smiled before wishing her a goodnight.

Thanksgiving also convinced Kiara that her grandmother was some sort of psychic.

However, Kiara was grateful that her grandmother didn’t tell anyone. And neither did Kiara. She wanted to tell JJ, she just didn’t know how. Every night, right before they went to bed, she would glance over at the drawer she had been hiding the pregnancy test in and just think about all the different ways she could tell him the news.

She could just hand him it and let him figure it out. Maybe put it in a box. She could maybe even make one of those cheesy ‘you’re going to be a dad!’ shirts (but she quickly decided against this one). Because the truth was, Kiara didn’t know how he would react. It was no secret that JJ’s childhood was less than ideal, and his father was the cause of so many issues that JJ still fought and dealt with today. It had taken him so long to even get him to where he was now, where they had a healthy relationship with good communication and a trust within each other—and even that took JJ a while to really grasp onto after years of flings and one-night-stands and bottling everything up.

But was he ready to be a father? To start a family? Was she?

She kept the secret bottled up for days, keeping it to herself. JJ noticed pretty quickly that something was up. She was zoning out more than usual, a lot more skittish as well. She was keeping something from him, he wasn’t that oblivious that he didn’t realise that. But he also respected Kiara enough to take a step back and give her space to work everything out. She would tell him when she was ready, he knew that. So, he stepped back and let her breathe.

She did appreciate it, she truly did. But it was one of the situations where she wished he was a little more pushy, that he would prod and question her so she could just blurt it out and get it off her chest. But JJ was too good for that. He just gave her comforting smiles and pressed a kiss to her forehead as if to say ‘I’m here whenever you need me’. God, it made her want to cry just at the thought of it.

She lasted a week after Thanksgiving before she came to the conclusion that she would explode if she didn’t tell JJ soon. He deserved to know, and this wasn’t something she had to face alone.

But still those doubts of his reaction lived in her mind, kept her up at night. So, she took the easy way out. They were still in the process of moving boxes in and out of the apartment, unpacking everything and making the place feel a bit more theirs. It was the perfect predicament. So, Kiara took the pregnancy test and placed it strategically in the bathroom where she was sure JJ would stumble upon it. And then she waited for him to find it.

She had hidden it that morning when she woke up earlier than him to find the perfect spot. It was now just after lunch, and JJ had still not seen the test. She was beginning to get angsty, and slightly worried for his eyesight. She made a mental note to book him an eye test later at the opticians.

Kiara had even gone to the extent of constantly checking the bathroom, making sure the test was still there and it hadn’t been moved. Maybe he had seen it and freaked out and decided to stay silent. But every time she entered the bathroom, it was sitting right where she left it.

This was supposed to be the easy solution and JJ had singlehandedly made it far more complex than it was meant to be.

JJ, however, was more concerned for his girlfriend’s bladder. Throughout their day of oh-so fun unpacking and decorating, he noticed the obscene number of times Kiara visited the bathroom. It was getting to the point where he was sure she had a UTI. He made a mental note to pick up some cranberry juice from the store later. But he didn’t understand why she didn’t say anything, that is if her UTI was the thing that had been stressing her out the last few days.

“Hey, you good?” He eventually asked as she stood on the other side of the living room, unpacking some books onto the shelves along the wall.

She froze for a few seconds before she turned to him, an easy smile on her face. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He frowned a little. “No reason, it’s just—” He paused for a moment. “You’ve gone to the bathroom fifty times today. I thought maybe…you like…had an issue.”

Her eyebrows furrowed together, not quite understanding what he was insinuating. “Nope. Perfectly fine. Just your usual Kie.” She said with a small, tense smile on her lips. He only nodded his head but he couldn’t brush off the fact she was still acting odd.

Odder than she had been acting the past week.

When dinner had come around, they had decided to order something from outside since both of them were far too tired to even bother cooking. However, Kie had been on edge since their conversation earlier that day. Her heart stopped in that moment, she thought he had finally noticed. But he was as oblivious as always. So, Kiara was forced to step it up a notch.

When their food had arrived, Kie had taken the liberty of making JJ open the fortune cookies before they started. He didn’t think anything of it, just shrugging and opening his one.

“Enter unknown territory.” He read aloud before letting out a small chuckle. “Oh, how insightful.”

She gave him a pathetic smile in response before she opened hers, reading the words over a few times before she said them out loud. “To be found, stop hiding.”

“Who even writes these?” He muttered as he glanced down at the slip of paper in his hand. “Why not put useful messages on them. Like ‘don’t eat yellow snow’ or ‘never eat random berries you find in the woods’. Now those are insightful and useful.”

She rolled her eyes. “They are meant to be vague, Jay. Not things that are meant to just be common sense.”

“Hey, that yellow snow could’ve been lemon-flavoured.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“Tomayto, tomahto!”

The blond soon forgot about the fortune cookies as he reached over to open the containers and dig into the food. However, Kiara quickly slapped his hand away. He looked at her with a confused frown.

“You have to push the rubbish in the pin.” She said, pointing towards their abandoned fortune cookies.

“Uh, why? We can do it later—”

“No! You have to do it now. Like right now.” She pressed on, lips pressed together as she simply stared at him.

“Oh-kay.” He murmured as he stood up, picking up the trash before heading towards the kitchen before she spoke up again.

“NO! The bathroom bin. The kitchen one is full.”

He frowned. “But I just—”

“Nope!”

“Alright, geez! I’ll use the bathroom bin.” He muttered, shaking his head before heading down the hall instead.

Kiara waited. Waited and waited and waited. She sat there, fiddling with her fingers as she glared at the hallway he had just walked down. He would’ve seen it by now, she knew that. But she was only greeted with silence. Deafening silence that was just making her even more anxious than she was before.

“Kiara.” She heard his footsteps approaching. “Why’s there a pregnancy test in the trash?”

She looked up, seeing JJ standing there with the test in his hands and tears welling up in his eyes. Even his voice as he spoke was quiet, soft, hopeful.

“Surprise.” She whispered, nervously nibbling her lower lip.

She was waiting. Waiting for him to explode or start freaking. To start rambling away about how they are too young and that they aren’t ready. She was waiting for him to completely deny or even fathom the idea of them starting a family.

But he didn’t do that.

Instead, he shuffled towards her before falling to his knees in front of her. He softly placed a hand on her stomach before looking up at her with a soft smile, tears streaming down his face.

“I’m going to be a father?” She nodded. “Holy shit, I’m going to be a dad.” A few seconds passed as though he was letting that information properly set in when suddenly he was lifting Kie up and spinning her around.

“JJ!” She shrieked, but there was a smile on her face. He finally set her down, hands coming to cup her cheeks as he wiped away her escaped tears.

“We’re going to be parents.” He murmured with a huge grin on his face.

“Yeah, we are.” She replied, hands resting on his wrists.

“How long have you known?”

“Since Thanksgiving.”

“And you waited until now to tell me?”

She gave him a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you and I didn’t think you’d react so…happily, I don’t know.” She whispered, feeling a bit guilty for how long she had kept it from him.

“Oh no, I’m scared shitless.” He admitted. “But…I’ve got you so I know everything is going to be okay.”

Her expression softened before she wasted no time in pulling his face down to hers and finally kissing him. “We’re going to be parents.” She whispered against his lips.

“Hell yeah we are.” He whispered back with a grin, pressing a few chaste kisses on her lips before their rumbling stomachs finally broke them out of the trance they were in.

Soon after dinner, they had found themselves sprawled on the couch as some shitty reruns played on the TV in front of them. JJ’s hands had barely left her stomach, not that she minded too much, his fingers tracing small shapes and words on her skin. She smiled when she felt him trace ‘dad loves you’.

“I can’t wait to meet this little guy.” JJ murmured, his faze nuzzled against her neck.

She lightly elbowed him. “It could be a girl.”

“No way, definitely a boy.” JJ argued.

“You don’t know that.” She scoffed.

“Of course I can,” He looked down at her with a grin on his face. “Sixth sense.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

There was a few moments of silence before he eventually spoke up.

“What do you think about an army of J named kids?”

“You have enough Js for the family.”

“Wow, harsh.”

Ectober Day 31: Free Day - Something Like A Bird Chap.4: The Feathered And The Fanged

Danny says ‘not today Satan’ as a wild Vlad appears to bear witness to Danny’s winged ass.

To say Danny had been a bit tired after his parents giving him a full check over would be an understatement. They literally wanted to see every single little way his wings could move and how each and every muscle reacted to said movement. If he had any reflexes; which hint, he totally did. Hitting the bends of his wings in the right spots would cause them to kick out just like a knee. And he had a spot on his back that would make his feathers fluff out. After all that he just didn’t want his wings messed with anymore, oh and to sleep, thank you very much. Which his folks were perfectly content to let him do on the couch. Which promptly led to the personal discovery that wings were freaking awesome blankets.

Which all also led to this wonderful situation of walking up to one Vlad Masters looking down on him with a quirked eyebrow. Danny elects to not even dignify the man with a response instead he sits up, yawns exaggeratedly, stretches out his arms, and angles himself in just the right way to punt Vlad out the door via a nice big wing stretch. Multitasking, it truly is a wonderful skill. Truly.

Vlad is, of course, grumbling and scowling as he comes back in. “Must you act so ill-behaved, Daniel”.

Danny smirks, “do I look like I care what Satan thinks?”, and only smirks more at Vlad’s sigh and head shake.

Danny only vaguely pretends to be paying attention to Vlad as he gets himself some coffee. Vlad sounding almost genuinely curious, not that vampire-ass was ever genuinely genuine about anything, “I see your parents’ aren’t up yet”.

Danny tosses a cup full at Vlad, evil he may be but everyone needs a ‘wake me the fuck up and allow me to suffer through this bullshit’ coffee. “Everyone was up late, had some limby business to get up to. Far more legal than what qualifies as business to you”.

“Yes because the government wouldn’t find your developments questionable at best”. Danny actually chuckles at that, because truth. The government would love to go all creepy morally questionable evil scientist on his feathered ass. Sure they’d probably have to go through some whacky legal hoops to do it, like classifying him as not human or some shit, but he wouldn’t put it past them to try.

Danny laughs, “like you’re any better vampy”.

Vlad shakes his head, looking Danny over as he turns around, “I’m far less unnatural. Do you not even have the decency to put on a shirt? You have a guest you know”.

Danny smirks, “but it’s you?”. Shrugging, very content with having filled up his ‘annoy the heck out of Vlad’ quota so early in the day. Today must really like him. “My shirt’s somewhere on the floor”.

Danny grins like an idiot when Vlad lifts up the offending tank top with as few fingers as physically possible, “you mean this thing?”, huffing, “unacceptable, you can hardly be running around in a probable biohazard”.

“Hey”. Vlad predictably ignores him and incarnates his shirt. Like an asshole. “I liked that shirt you know”.

“Then buy a new one that isn’t covered in questionable stains that even I can’t identify”. Danny’s pretty sure that Vlad’s desired response wasn’t for him to feel proud. But that’s sure as shit what he’s feeling.

Danny grins at him a bit meanly, sounding painfully sarcastic while his ears twitch a little picking up on at least his dad getting up, “now what is this? Is the Vladimir Masters offering to take me shopping? And entirely on his dime? Oh now how could I possibly say no?”. That smile only getting more mean and smug when his dad sticks his head down the stairs and half-shouts, “that’s a great idea, Vladdie!”, bounding all the way down the stairs and moving to clap Danny on the shoulder under the wing, “no way Danny-boy can wear any of his t-shirts, sweaters, or hoodies with the wings!”.

Vlad quirks an eyebrow, speaking with very obvious venom to his voice; well obvious to anyone other than Jack, “certainly not. I’m truly surprised you haven’t blown them off him yet”.

Jack actually looks shocked by that, “what!?! Oh of course not! I’m sure heaven wouldn’t like that very much! Or Danny-boy!”, tilting his head and chuckling, “if heaven is where angels come from”.

Danny grins wide enough to hurt when Vlad chokes a little and spits out a mouthful of coffee, going wide-eyed all the while. Checkmate Vlad, whatcha gonna do now? “Excuse me?”. Danny’s almost impressed Vlad doesn’t sound nearly as baffled as he definitely has to be.

Everyone looking to Maddie as she comes down, scowling at Vlad for only a second before smiling at Danny, speaking as she ruffles Danny’s hair up, “it’s really all that makes sense. He just finally developed enough holy energy to form his wings and halo”. His dad excitedly flicking the clouds to make them spin around, “and! It explains his ecto-contamination! Angels are purifying after all! So he’s just purifying the town!”, Jack nods to himself and puts his hands on his hips, “the town certainly needs it!”.

Danny sighs, still grinning a bit, “dad, I’m not a walking filter”. Vlad just looks to him, a clear expression of ‘how in the name of all the Ancients did you pull this off?’ and ‘do they seriously believe that line of bullshit?’.

Jack laughs, “a walking, or flying, dehumidifier but for ectoplasm would be a better comparison!”, which Danny rolls his eyes at a bit fondly.

Maddie smiles and nods a little before speaking somewhat seriously at Danny, “though you really do need a new wardrobe. I doubt you have many tank tops”.

Danny grumbles with fake annoyance, “well I have one less that’s for sure”. Which Vlad smirks slightly over. While Maddie looks to Vlad, “and while I don’t know why you would offer to take Danny shopping, we certainly haven’t budgeted for it”, sighing like this is almost painful for her, “so we’ll accept the offer”.

Vlad grins immediately and Danny is mentally smacking himself for being a serious dumbass. Of course shit like this would backfire on him. That is exactly his kind of luck. Hopefully, this won’t go horribly. Maybe. Probably though. This is Vlad he’s talking -thinking- about here. “Why Maddie dear, it brings me nothing but joy to help young Daniel out in times of need”.

Danny gives the most pained and sarcastic, “yay”, he can muster. Which earns him one incredibly smug smile from Vlad. However, Danny is the one grinning meanly when his dad announced that they will, in fact, be taking the GAV and that he’s driving. Since Vlad immediately looked like what’s left of his life just flashed before his eyes.

Vlad, in an almost painfully obvious attempt to stall, holds up a finger, “well, I think Daniel here should acquire suitable-”, he glares at the ash on the floor as an obvious attempt at emphasis, Danny just rolls his eyes, “-attire. Now luckily, I just so happened to plan for such a predicament”.

His mom gives an impressively dry, “really”, as her only response to that. Which Vlad, of course, completely ignores, instead simply nodding curtly and promptly disappearing out the front door he had not too long ago been tossed out of via Danny’s well-aimed wing. Danny’s going to cherish having successfully done that.

Vlad returns almost suspiciously fast, telling Danny that the man had very explicitly planned for this. Which means the son of a corpse probably would have ruined his -still one hundred percent wearable, fuck you- shirt anyway. Danny eyes the purple velvet? fucking Ancients, vest draped over Vlad’s arm. Which he absolutely knows he can’t put on his damn self with his folks here and his dad would absolutely make him wear the ‘gift’ from dear old godfather Vladdie. Curse his luck. His dad as it is looks excitedly... excited.

“Smart thinking V-man! And it has buttons too!”, looking to Danny, “which would certainly be easier to get on. If you got that tank top on, then you’ll definitely have no trouble with this”.

Vlad, surprising no one but his dad, waves him off, “nonsense. Vests of quality are best shown how to be worn by experienced hands”. Making Danny mutter a very quiet, “fuck you and your anterior motives”, at him. Which very obviously just makes Vlad smirk.

Danny just sighs and swallows what little of his pride he actually actively has and turns around to let the fucking prick ahem he means Vlad slide it over his wings. But he does snap his wings open to full length rather aggressively and nearly knocks Vlad over. He would have, if the man’s reflexes weren’t on point.

Vlad blinks and shakes his head, “there are times where I do believe you are more dramatic than even I. Which is no small feat, Daniel, I would know”. Danny will absolutely take that compliment. Regardless Vlad does slip the vest over his wings, Danny rolling his eyes over definitely being able to feel that the prick is examining them as he goes. Danny eventually having to put his arms back after way longer that this should have taken to get the vest over his arms, Vlad was clearly drawing this shit out. Why did he let him do this again? And why didn’t he make sure the local vampire stayed out after he punted him out.

If Danny wasn’t in front of his folks he absolutely would be smacking Vlad’s hands off him or commenting very heavily on the major creep factor of this being perfectly fitted. And Vlad clearly knows this, based on the stupid smirk anyway, as he did up the buttons with precision. Though Vlad smoothing the vest out afterwards was seriously pushing it, and absolutely earned the surprise fingernail-sized ecto-beam straight to the knee. Take that you vampiric twat. Vlad scowls at him without missing a beat.

-

By the time they get to the mall, Vlad is just barely managing to not look frazzled. With the man, of course, smoothing out his suit as they hop out to cover up his slightly rattled nerves. He does make a point to mutter just loud enough for Danny to hear, “I know I have said this before, but your father drives like he is seeking death. Which I must say, there are far easier was to achieve”.

Danny snorts, whisper-snarking back, “what? Like offering his corpse up to you willingly? Maybe on a nice cheese platter?”.

Which Vlad actually has the audacity to give a confident, “yes”, in response to. Pompous ass.

Danny decidedly ignoring -and honestly barely noticing. It was hard to notice these kinds of things when you were the entire town’s certified freak and resident weirdass- all the staring and even pointing he’s getting, which is mostly over the wings. Not entirely, just mostly. Which is weird, freaking wings deserve way more attention and finger-pointing than the fact that he, Danny Fenton, was in a fucking velvet vest and with the freaking mayor; who also just so happens to be bloody stinking rich. This town has issues. So many issues. Probably every issue. Expect gangs. Wait, has there ever been gangs in Amity? Tilting his head, “I wonder, do you think Amity has ever had gangs?”.

Vlad rolls his eyes and gives an oddly bitter, “of course, every town has one or two, Daniel”.

Jack grins, “actually no!”. Both halfas looking at him disbelievingly. Which gets Maddie to explain, “we may have mistaken a few trouble makers for ghosts and covered them in goop”.

Danny can’t help laughing at that, “you know?!? That surprisingly makes sense as a crime deterrent!”, and laughs a little more. Vlad just looks at his folks like they were both slightly nuts. Everyone’s attention gets grabbed by who Danny’s sure is one of the middle school girls running up and holding out a book. Which Danny has some serious ominous feelings over where, exactly, this was going. So he’s honestly not surprised when she blurts out, “could you sign my bible”. Vlad turns to the side and actually looks to be trying not to wheeze in disbelief.

Danny just blinks down at her, “you’re asking me that like I know god personally”.

She gives the single most innocent, “you don’t?”, he thinks is possible.

Danny lowkey doesn’t want to crush her tiny little spirts but come the fuck on, dear Ancients. “... no. No I do not. Sorry?”.

She only pouts for a second before shoving the bible at him slightly more. Cheeks puffed out, “still. Angel’s an angel”.

Danny tries to make his sigh not seem too pained, it is truly very pained though. What’s next? Were priests going to ask him to speak at services? Or was a church going to start up around him? Oh! Maybe he’d wind up with someone ‘reinterpreting’ the bible to find references to him. That of course would totally escalate into him being on prayer beads and crucifixes. Which was a little on the nose considering his rather self-sacrificial ‘job’. Which also made it kind of funny. Was he gonna wind up an important part of what was basically the most dominating religion ever with a ridiculously sketch history? Eh, he’s probably totally jinxing himself here. “Aright kid”, at least being asked for autographs wasn’t actually uncommon for him, “where you want it?”, looking to his family... and Vlad, “anyone got a pen?”.

Vlad smirks at him, “there's one in your pocket, I do believe”, meaning Vlad put one there.

Danny squints at him for a solid minute, “go back to Hell, Satan. No one loves you except Baphomew”.

“That is hardly my cat's name, Daniel”.

Danny just rolls his eyes as he fishes out the pen that absolutely is in his pocket. Though snickering a bit when he noticed the look that borders on bloody murder that the girl is throwing Vlad’s way. Like she was taking Danny’s petty insult genuinely. Speaking while taking the bible, “he’s not literally the Devil, he’s just cold-hearted enough to seem at least closely related”, promptly signing the inside cover and having to make a damn point to not put down ‘Phantom’. And making the ‘y’ all fancy like by putting little doodle wings coming off the curved end. At least she seems happy with it, giggling after looking at it and running off while waving back at him. Danny chuckles over her still throwing Vlad a dirty look.

Danny looks to Vlad, “wow, it’s like she thinks you murdered Christ. Wonder why that is”. Vlad gives him a definitely unamused look.

Danny gets yoinked out of his mild pissing match with his archenemy by his dad grabbing his arm and pointing at their go-to fashion stop. Which no. Danny is not wearing spandex. Especially considering getting a loose tank top on and off was already difficult without intangibility. “No happening, dad. In fact, never happening”, which yes was him actively crushing his dad’s dreams just a little more. But seriously. Nope. He has some shame and pride. It is still intact, it’s honestly a miracle.

Jack sags, “awww”, but that poutiness barely lasts a second before he’s perked right back up, pointing and heading off to the local ‘teen’ hip/popular fashion store. Which yeah, he usually bought jeans from there. Shirts? Ha, no. He didn’t feel like going broke for some name brand shirt that’s no different than what he can get from the discount store. At one time he preferred the local used store, but most people’s clothing never lasted long enough to make it to there in one piece; unless it was truly hideous. Had tons of shoes though, which saved his wallet more than he liked to admit. He was stupid hard on shoes.

Danny shakes his head at Vlad holding up a DC tank top, “that’s ugly. I’m not wearing something just because it’s got some brand name bullshit on it”.

Vlad rolls his eyes, “brand names say a lot about your worth and self, Daniel. Though I hardly expect you to know that. Mind you, if you try for Ed Hardy, we will be having words”.

Danny scrunches up his face, “do you think I’m fucking blind?”. Even in a pinch, Sam wouldn’t stoop to that. She’d show up in garbage bags saying something about dressing sustainably and recycling first.

“Sometimes I wonder”. Danny throws a t-shirt directly at his face. Though fine, his fashion style could suitably be called dumpster-chic most days.

Hovering to wander off to where his dad is also grabbing up a really awful fashion disaster, some two-toned plaid thing that’s probably marketed as ‘vintage western’ or something. “Dad no. I’m not the fashionista version of a lumberjack. Or queer enough to have an ingrained love of plaid. And even if I was, I still wouldn’t pick that”. His dad doesn’t even look offended at that, which means he likely agrees.

Danny watches him then pick up a ‘it’s not gay if he’s dead’ shirt with his dad looking almost in shock, making Danny actually have to float to sit down because he’s laughing so hard. Vlad glancing over and quirking an eyebrow, “now I feel rather reminded why I don’t shop at these sorts of stores”.

“Whatever boomer!”.

“I am not a boomer, you know this Daniel”.

“Sure thing, boomer”. Vlad smartly keeps his mouth shut this time, obviously looking to avoid more of Danny’s bullshit.

Maddie smiles at Danny but shakes her head at the shirt, “I will never understand teens love of that spook”.

Danny snickers while standing up, “well some sure think he’s got the personality and behaviour of a real angel. And the fly by the cuff ways of his are ‘manly’ or whatever to the jocks”. Vlad snorts at that from halfway across the store in the more ‘business casual’ section. Ha. That’s not happening either. Vampire-ass would have to literally kiss his ass to get him into that. Danny would take high-class professional professional over ‘business casual’ any day.

Though the patchwork button down with the elbows and shoulders fashionably cut out isn’t horrible, Danny’s still not wearing that on principle alone. So Danny shouts, “NOT TODAY SATAN!”, loud enough to make the guy jerk and get the entire store's attention. Vlad physically sighs and turns to glare at him. Danny raises a wing over his face in a bastardised version of ‘talk to the hand’ before Vlad can say jack shit.

His mom finally gives him a little light in the darkness of ‘preppy but trying to seem edgy’ fashion, holding up a little ‘evil nasa’ tank top with the bottom all shredded, “okay yes, we’re finally getting somewhere here. Nice”.

Vlad sighs exasperatedly as he rejoins them, “I see no point in that, if you wanted to look like you got attacked you could simply go out and get attacked. Shred it yourself”,

Danny looks to him, “you know what else I could shred”, and looks him up and down like that was a threat to every single piece of clothing he owned.

“I would like to see you try”.

“Is that a challenge”.

“Yes”.

Danny turns to his mom, “hey mom, you got a bazooka handy?”. She grins maliciously, “why yes I think I do”. Vlad looks like he has just been gravely wounded. The sales lady looks over to them, “for my sanity, please don’t. I’ve been awake for forty-nine hours”.

Danny chuckles, grabbing up the few tank tops that seemed suitable, the lady leading the four of them over to the dressing rooms, “personal record?”.

“I wish”.

Danny chuckles, “I feel ya. I’d offer a Death-spresso, but I think I’m the only one allowed to drink those and that’s only because I proved that shit wouldn’t kill me”.

“I welcome death”.

Danny actually wheezes at that as he loads up the dressing room, “mood”, then struggles into the probably too small dressing room. Having to cram his wings around, which holy shit thank everything he could use intangibility because he seriously could not pull literally anything over his arms or wings right now. Hell getting his wings remotely unfolded was straight-up not happening.

Stepping out to pose, “it’s decided, dressing rooms are the devil”. His dad laughs loudly at that.

Thankfully they wind up walking out with all of the tops -excluding an orange one that he’s positive his dad grabbed purely because it was orange- and with nothing getting blown up! Though Danny sighs when Vlad beelines for the ‘fancy rich asshole’ store that Sam’s parents’ bragged about shopping at. Mostly her mom. Knowing his luck he’ll run into her. In fact, that is emphatically what is going to happen.

Aaaaaannnnnnnd that’s exactlaly what happened. Yay. Spotting her as he’s standing in the dress-shirt section while wondering how the heck Vlad thinks they’re going to find anything he can wear here. Lovely. Her, of course, noticing him. Because how the Zone wouldn’t she? He had wings. And immediately making a beeline for him. Eh, this might as well happen.

She stops next to him and folds her hands over her waist, “excuse my interruption, I just wanted to apologise for certain past behaviours”.

Danny blinks at the lady with oversized earnings and a bubblegum pink sundress, “what?”.

She shifts almost like this is physically painful for her to do, telling Danny she so totally doesn’t actually want to apologise but thinks she has to. “Me and my husband's treatment of you has likely interrupted your duties. So I am apologising. I realise things work in mysterious ways and that maybe Samatha was a test, with you to supervise”.

Danny groans and mutters to himself, “oh god fuck”, and shakes his head because he is so not dealing with this from ‘I’ll put a restraining order on you’ Mrs. Manson. “Sam’s not some test for you to struggle through. If anything, she had to struggle through you”.

She never gets a chance to respond to that beyond looking overly offended as Vlad is just suddenly there, “I find I must agree. You are quite insufferable”, glancing at Danny, “both of you”.

Danny smirks, “I thought the point of the Devils fall was to suffer. To never know love or affection and never grasp what he seeks”. Vlad blinks, “I’m almost impressed by how mean that was”, looking to Mrs. Manson, “you're still here?”.

Mrs. Manson blinks at him and looks entirely offended before obviously cluing in who, exactly, this was, “oh Mayor Masters!”, glancing between him and Danny, “you two... know each other”.

Danny snickers while Vlad rolls his eyes like this should be supremely obvious, “of course. I am the boy’s godfather after all”, and grumbles almost too quiet for Danny to hear, meaning he probably didn’t actually mean for Danny to hear, “though I’d be better as his actual father”.

Danny walks past him whispering, “in your dreams only, frootloop”, and leaves Vlad to deal with the rich obnoxious lady. Easily catching her fake cheery, “oh I didn’t know that! Well then this is certainly the best place to bring the young angel shopping”. Sometimes Danny forgot Sam’s family were religious.

Danny finally, finally, finds a section with more wing-suitable clothing. Never thought he’d shop with that in mind. He’s honestly not too surprised that his folks didn’t follow them in, probably went to get food instead, since he’s pretty sure they’re banned from this store. He has no clue if that’s Vlad’s fault or his dad’s. This is also the exact time that one of the tailors, or whatever they’re called is fancy ass stores, decides to actually dignify him with some attention. Guy probably thought Danny, being well himself, wasn’t actually going to buy any of this crap. Which yeah, normally would be the case but fuck vests were actually a genuinely good idea. Probably the only piece of layering he could wear now. Unless he goes around cutting big ass holes in all his hoodies. Which, yeah he’s probably gonna do.

The guy nods at him as he’s looking at the backs of some of the tops. And speaks sounding oddly commanding, “straighten up”. Danny quirks an eyebrow but does as he’s told. He’ll play along, see where this goes.

The guy promptly starts manhandling the base of his wings, like a full blown feel up. Squishing the feathers together, figuring out the width of the bone and muscle, space between his wings, even pokes at his back muscle. This feels excessive. “Oddly, I feel like making another I feel like a hooker joke”. The guy just makes a tsk sound at him before running off, or sauntering, whatever, he walks like he’s rich. Like Vlad, but with less hidden villainous energy.

The guy comes back not seconds later with a few different vests, “I’m sure a racer back of this style-”, holding up the first from the pile he brought, “-would give you more comfort and range of motion. Definitely more than what you’re currently wearing”.

Vlad, once again, appears out of nowhere, “indeed. I couldn’t exactly know the precise width between his wings”, looking to Danny, “I am not psychic, Daniel. But I made an educated guess”.

All three jerk a little from Jack shouting from outside the store, “that’s our Vladdie! Always a thinker!”.

Vlad scowls, “your faith in me is truly endearing”. The way he said that making it clear he found it nothing close to endearing. The tailor guy also scowls and makes hand motions to shoo the man off. Ah okay, it was totally his dad’s fault. Which makes Danny snicker a little.

The guy immediately gets back to business, laying out a few other styles. Pointing at one that didn’t even technically have arm holes just kinda looked like it went around the neck, down the back, and over his stomach. And another that went around the neck, over the chest, and around the waist. “Now these ones are a bit more on the feminine side but you’re muscular enough to pull them off”, gesturing to Vlad with a thumb, “he’s not”. Vlad looks suitably offended for a second and Danny snickers some more, he officially likes this tailor guy. Then pointing to the last he brought over that was basically just the same as the one that went over hsi front but with sleeves attached, “now this one will give the illusion of wearing a more traditional vest and is usually what we recommend for men who have to wear bulky upper back braces. But I’m sure it’ll work for our purposes today”. With that Danny promptly gets effectively pushed to the fitting rooms. Not changing rooms because this place fits things to size. Aka it’s expensive as fuck. And knowing Vlad, he’s going to wind up with at least one of every style and the man will be tickled green by the end of this.

The sad thing is the vests were stupid easy to get on, minus the racer back but that one was more comfortable than his current shit. And fine, he looks good in it. And yes, Vlad’s grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“Now as for colour, obvisouly you’ll need at least one in black, I’d recommend the most traditional one, the racer back. The rest are more on the eccentric side, especially without a jacket over top. For those I’d recommend green and magenta. Those are your colours after all”.

Danny blinks, “heh?”. Vlad muttering, “eloquent”, though also looking slightly confused.

“Those are the colours typically associated with you, Daniel, as the principal guardian archangel”, tilting his head, “though I take it you don’t remember about that”.

Alright, Danny thinks the angel thing is one hundred percent going too far now and being taken way too seriously. “Uh, well I’m not a pink kinda guy. And no”.

“Ah well, you were said to be in charge of the gates to ascension and one of the highest ranked angels in the universe. So I’d take the compliment”.

Danny blinks as he guy rushes off, looking to Vlad, “are you having an aneurysm, because I’m having an aneurysm”. Vlad actually sputters, while Danny pulls out his phone to wiki some shit. Blinking down at the screen, “oh you’ve got to be shitting me”. Because yup, apparently there’s an angel called Daniel. His half-life is some serious bullshit, he’s still absolutely positive he’s not actually an angel though. Because come on.

Vlad swallows, “well, one afterlife certainly exists. Another isn’t unreasonable”.

“I will smite you, devil”.

Vlad huffs a laugh, “oh I hardly believe this, boy. Don’t take me for a fool. We both know why this happened”, Danny crosses his legs up in the air purely to emphasise that fact, which Vlad hums at, “precisely. Though the angel argument has some merit to those unaware”.

Danny rolls his eyes and plants the soles of his shoes back on the ground as the guy comes back. Black, green, and one purple vests in hand.

Danny honestly isn’t surprised they leave with enough clothing that someone without super-strength would have a hard time carrying it. And thankfully his folks want to go home now, meaning Vlad has to suffer through his dad’s driving just that little bit more. Not that Danny cares or knows why the prick doesn’t just go his own way at this point.

He gets his answer though when his parents run off to a suspiciously well timed ghost alert from city hall -Danny can tell there is not a ghost there- and he feels himself promptly getting tasered in the side.

Jumping sideways after regaining his balance from very suddenly being back in touch with gravity and scowling at Vlad, who's pocketing the Plasmius Maximus with a smirk, “Vlad seriously?!?”.

Vlad doesn’t dignify him with a response immediately, instead transforming and making a swipe at him. Danny flapping to use the air to get him out of the way quicker. Surprisingly, it works. Vlad floating up into the air, “you need to be able to defend yourself regardless of form or power, boy!”.

Danny rolling his eyes and sidestepping a pink ecto-beam, “you’re still not my mentor, you nut-case. Besides, aren’t we taught to ignore the teachings of the devil”.

Vlad forms two duplicates and sends them lunging around the sides at him, the main Vlad shooting another ecto-beam at him. Considering how Danny’s back is practically against a wall, the whacko is clearly trying to get him up in the air. “You don’t have much of a choice right now, do you Daniel”.

Danny just scowls, mentally says ‘fuck it’ and jumps up to avoid the beam while smashing his wing wrists into the two duplicates as hard and fast as he can. The air force that blows at the ground forcing him up into the air, but he uses it to plant his feet on the side of the wall giving the illusion of defying gravity. While the two duplicates pop out of existence. Danny smirks to himself over the flash of surprise on Vlad’s face. That’s what a fucker gets for underestimating him. Haha.

Vlad gets much more aggressive about the ecto-beams and blasts after that. Which fine, effectively forces him off the ground and into the sky. He’s mentally thanking Mrs. Testlaff for forcing him to effectively practice flying, his folks too. Though as he twists to dip sideways he knows Vlad can tell this isn’t easy for him. This kind of flight was just so freaking different and he wasn’t used to it yet.

“I swear you just want to satisfy your urges to assault minors!”, and goes low to the ground again, actually getting a chance to land; without crashing! Which then gives him something of a wicked idea that might cause some property damage, because if the weak-ish not aimed at the ground thing he did earlier launched him into the air a little then what would happen if he gave one big-ass flap directly over the hard surface of the road. Spreading his wings out as far as he can, crouching down and aimed slightly towards Vlad, who’s looking slightly cautious.

Needless to say Danny goes off like a freaking missile, leaves a crater in the ground from the sheer air pressure, and the shock wave pummels Vlad for only seconds before Danny gut punches him as he zips past. Sending Vlad flying.

Danny just glides up high in the air for bit, hidden by the clouds and trying to locate Vlad again. The wind up here felt really really cool though. It was actually really nice. Comforting even. With floating it really didn’t matter how high up or low down you were, it all felt the same. But like this he can feel the air pressure, the thinness of the air, how wet or dry it was. He feels like he could just be carried off by the wind and relax. He snaps his attention to refocus though when he spots Vlad, who’s looking around cautiously but also like his victory is assured.

Ha. Not a chance.

The really stupid annoying thing is, as he positions himself to dive bomb the guy, Vlad had a point. Him being attacked in human form happens and he can’t always run off to transform. He can’t let his wings be a hinderance more than their size technically already was. Tucking his wings and flicking a bit for a sideways spin, which will look freaking sick if it actually works, and diving down; gravity doing most of the work. He’s high enough up to get some serious velocity. Hey maybe sciences wasn’t totally useless for him.

The only problem with this, Danny thinks as he rapidly smashes into Vlad who doesn’t even get the chance to turn intagible before both of them slam into the concrete, is that he can’t see for shit due to the world spinning around rapidly. He does hear Vlad transform back, so success, though.

Both of them groaning from inside the crater. “Daniel, if you ever do that, to a human, you will kill them. Ancients”, groaning again, “though fair play to you”.

Danny does a weird hybrid of a chuckle, wheeze, and groan, “pleasure doing business, with ya, frootloop. Least I didn’t, break anything”.

“The road might, disagree”.

“That’s, your problem. Mr. Mayor”.

“It’s ghost-related. Governments problem”.

“Ha. Point”.

“Are you going to, get off me”.

“You’re the one, with intangibility right now”.

“Surprisingly, I find I don’t, really feel like it”.

“Then you can lay there and, eat my feathers”, Danny flops a wing on the guys face, groaning slightly from the movement though. Oh he is so going to be feeling this tomorrow.

Eventually the two do indeed get up. Vlad straightening his jacket and trying to act like he doesn’t have a serious forming bruise on his stomach. While Danny is shaking off debris from his wings. It really does feel like he used them to punch an entire road. Just as his folks get back. Maddie bursting out of the GAV, “what happened to you two?!?”. Jack sticking his head out, “was it a ghost!?!l”.

Danny chuckles awkwardly though sending a slightly mean chuckle Vlad’s way before answering his folks, “turns out my wings make for pretty good ghost shields”, changing to a rather mocking tone and side-eyeing Vlad, “saved dear Vladdie’s suit from even a single little singe”. Vlad just huffs and gives his suit a tug that feels very final.

Jack laughs and claps Danny on the back while Maddie shakes her head and ushers everyone inside.

Everyone sitting around the table and enjoying comfort drinks, yes even Vlad, when Danny snorts hot chocolate out his nose at someone shouting, “WHY ARE THERE GODDAMN CRATERS IN THE ROAD EVERY DAMN TIME I VISIT THIS FUCKING TOWN!!!”. Danny puts his head down on the table and laughs.

Impermanence [ 无常 ]

Rumors and Secrets: Li Zeyan / Victor

[From the beginning to the end, he only cared about the most common thing.]

Note:

R&S for this card (CG above)

Chapter SPOILERS up to Season 2: Chapter 2-5 (read at your own risk)

Contains 4 chapters

Translation isn’t 100% accurate (or include grammar errors)

Every part for LZ’s dialogue would be in “this setting”

Do not repost to any other site (reblog is fine)

Chapter 1 Page 1 The night breeze was slightly cool, and the feathers slowly fell, like a misty dream. A feather was lying on Li Zeyan's palm, and he looked down for a long time as if he wanted to engrave this small white shadow in his pupils.  The girl asked him before leaving, what he would be like if all the external burdens were removed.  Maybe it's like this feather. He thought it was very light, small, and lying quietly in the boundless night, just like the countless feathers on the feet. At this moment, he, like everyone else, stayed in place listening to the countdown of the clock.  He believes that he will be saved in the future, but what about after that? Page 2 A gust of wind blew off the feathers on his palm, and Li Zeyan watched it land slowly, and sighed softly. I said I believed in her power, but I was still a little worried.  He spent so long waiting for a miracle, and the girl faced the whole world, how much did she have to pay? He took the pocket watch from his pocket.  The once shocking crack has been repaired since, and his fingertips lined up the smooth glass dial, and he seemed to see a light that did not belong to the eternal night in an instant. The distorted feeling of time and space suddenly wrapped him, and in a moment it led him to an unknown path- Page 3 Familiar streets, traffic lights alternately lit up at intersections, scenes tumbling thousands of times in memory, unfolded before his eyes again.  He breathed a sigh of relief. Lianyu City seemed to be calm again, the sun was good, and someone in and out of the supermarket on the street was carrying a bag. She did it, as he always believed. But after observing around, Li Zeyan found that there was a trace of violation in this familiarity.  He raised his eyes to look in the direction of Hua Rui. The building has fewer floors and the facade has not been changed to a glass curtain wall.  According to his memory, Hua Rui in front of him should be what it was when it was first established. Page 4 Did you go back in time?  Why did the pocket watch send him here? Li Zeyan was about to look away when the clear sky suddenly started to rain.  He subconsciously walked to the house spear on the side, and the moment he turned, but suddenly was alert to the petite figure. Li Zeyan suddenly stopped. The girl is walking towards a crossroad not far away.  Her face seemed a little more tender than she thought, she stared at the other side of the road blankly, took a small step forward, and stopped again, as if she was stunned about something.  Li Zeyan looked in her direction, and across the road was actually himself a few years ago. Page 5 He carefully recalled the past fragments in his memory, after the kidnapping in childhood, until later accidentally rescued the girl on the road, before that, he seemed to have never seen her. The signal light flashed several times, from green to red.  The girl in front of her has not taken any steps, and the opposite herself is ready to move on. Li Zeyan frowned as he watched this scene, and doubts grew in his heart.  Could it be that during those 17 years, did he cross her? Wanting to answer his doubts, he tried to get closer, but found that he could not get close to her.  The world seems to be repelling his existence. Page 6 As if hearing his wish, the world suddenly became quiet, and time seemed to pause.  Someone behind him tugged at his cuff, and he looked back and saw a little boy in a weird dress looking up at him. "It's better not to be discovered by her." The little boy in front of him was about seven or eight years old, smiling at him with a calm tone that was not suitable for his age. "Don't worry, this is the world you were in before, and you have indeed successfully traveled to the future of this world." Page 7 The little boy pointed to the direction behind him, "But there cannot be two identical beings in the same world, so you can't do anything here, and you won't stay for long. Li Zeyan frowned slightly, squatting down and looking at him. "Who are you and why do you know this?" "I know everything in this world, and I know why you came here." The little boy looked down at him and tilted his head slightly. "You are great, but the future is always full of variables. If you are not prepared,  everything will not go as desired." Page 8 The little boy slowly put away his smile.  Li Zeyan looked at his eyes, and the bright pupils seemed to reflect the light and shadow of the whole world. After a long time, he stood up and nodded slightly. "I know." The little boy laughed again, as if he had sensed something, and waved at him.  The distorted feeling of time and space strikes back, Li Zeyan finally raised his eyes and looked deeply at the familiar intersection. The scene that seemed to be about to be missed just now was printed in his mind.  He understands that after every choice there will be countless variables, but for this alone, he must make sure that nothing is lost. Chapter 2 Page 1 Back to the present time, Li Zeyan still has some characteristics.  Occasionally, he also imagined the future, whether it was good or bad, tacitly acquiescing to the premise that he would meet her.  But if there is no meeting, let her fight the world alone... He has no doubt that after facing the world’s greatest danger, she will grow better, stronger, and be able to stand alone. But the world is not destroyed, there are still many things to do in the future, and there may be many unexpected dangers.... And he promised her that he would never leave her alone. Page 2 There is no new crack in the pocket watch, and he still has the opportunity to reconfirm and look into the far future.  Li Zeyan used Evol again, and the pointer of the pocket watch rotated, chasing the time year after year.  At the moment of stepping into the vortex, the pocket watch suddenly made a continuous sound of "crack", and dense cracks covered the dial.  The familiar tearing sensation climbed to every inch of his skin, and a fierce pressure came from his chest, as if he was walking forward in a rush of countercurrent.  A huge loud noise appeared out of thin air in the otherwise quiet space, like playing an upside-down disc, screaming vaguely and harshly. Anyone's first response to suffering is to escape, but the consciousness he struggled to maintain is still reminding himself that time is running out and he must get there before the day. Page 3 When the ears finally calmed down, the cold sweat had filled Li Zeyan's clothes.  He held on to the wall beside him and took a few deep breaths.  When the dizziness subsided and his vision recovered, he carefully opened his palm to check the pocket watch. Fortunately, the pocket watch was not broken, and his judgment was not wrong. Li Zeyan observed his environment.  This seemed to be the inpatient department of a hospital. There were no people in the corridor, so when he turned his head, he easily saw the girl walking towards this side. Page 4 Li Zeyan walked to the corner and watched her walk into a ward.  This time the girl looks like she remembers, but she has a more confident expression, and her tone of voice is polite and generous when she greets the people in the ward. Li Zeyan smiled slightly, his eyes were filled with comfort and pride that he didn't even notice. After a while, the girl opened the door and left, frowning slightly, as if thinking about something.  Soon, the alarm sound of the instrument suddenly sounded in the ward just now, and the girl ran back after hearing the sound. A dark figure sprang from the ward with a cold light flashing in his hand and went straight to the girl. Page 5 "Be careful!" Li Zeyan shouted almost subconsciously, and the girl quickly reacted at the same moment, turning and running to his direction.  Just when he thought that the crisis could be changed, the instrument in the ward rang again, and the girl looked back. The man in black who's face couldn't be seen was getting closer and closer, and the sharp blade in his hand always declared a bright threat. The time of the whole world seemed to stop at this moment. Page 6 The blood in his body seemed to freeze instantly, and circulation came back after a long time... At this time, he sharply pulled his nerves.  From beginning to end, he only cared about such a simple thing: I hope she will live safely, no matter how the world evolves, he will come to her again. But right now, what he worries most still happened.  He could not see the result of that scene, and the huge repulsion urged the pocket watch in his hand.  However, just seeing her being chased by danger was enough to make his long-silent fear all come to his heart. This is not the future he wants to see. He does not accept such a situation. Even if it is only a small possibility, he will never allow. Page 7 The sharp pain of the body enveloped the throbbing of the heart, and he finally closed his eyes, and the flow of time brought him back to the original point. This pain made him clearly realize that he still needs to do more preparation. Chapter 3 Page 1 When Wei Qian received Li Zeyan's call, there was not much time left before the end. The long-standing habits made him subconsciously act in response. The task given to him by Li Zeyan is not difficult. Contact an Evolver who has the ability to transmit sound. Wei Qian remembers that this person is a member of Wumingdao and his contact information should be on the list.  The phone vibrated again, Wei Qian picked it up and took a look, then widen his eyes in surprise. It was Li Zeyan’s text. He said, ‘I’m sorry, for troubling you at this hour.’ Page 2 In his impression, the CEO rarely speaks in this tone. Although he is a strict boss, he never gives useless tasks.  Even if he is asked to deal with some personal arrangements occasionally, it is definitely not a "trouble".  Wei Qian just froze for a moment, and then quickly responded. "President, you are welcome, this is what I should do." Perhaps it is because everyone has to be beaten back to the original point by force majeure, and many people no longer care about their social relationships.  But Wei Qian didn't think so. His life creed always looked upward. Even if it was just a small favor, letting him know that there are people in this world who needs him, it is not a waste of time. Page 3 Li Zeyan walked out of the bathroom and put on a clean casual shirt. When he returned to the present from that hospital, he almost lost his strength and had to hold the table to stabilize his figure, accidentally knocking down a stack of documents.  He noticed that the form that fell out was a list of personnel compiled at the beginning of Wuming Island, and it simply recorded the identity and ability information of each members.  Li Zeyan's mind flashed through many records on the list, and finally stopped on an Evolver that once interested him.

The pocket watch can no longer bear more pressure, and the countdown to the future is constantly approaching. He is not sure what he will be like after the end. He must change everything now. Page 4 Wei Qian’s message came in time, saying that the Evolver had been contacted and he is now on Huapu Street.  Li Zeyan asked Wei Qian to send him Souvenir's address not far from Huapu Street, where they could meet. Not much time, but enough.  He must be able to do more. Chapter 4 Page 1 When Li Zeyan arrived, Souvenir had put up the store closing sign, and a young man was sitting at a small table outside the store and playing with his mobile phone.  When the young man saw Li Zeyan, he was taken aback and blinked. "You, are you the boss of Wumingdao? You’re  the one who is often on the news." "Hello, this is Li Zeyan." Seeing Li Zeyan stretched out his hand to him, the young man hurriedly put down his mobile phone and stood up and shook his hand firmly. Page 2 The meteors in the sky became denser, and the two of them did not say much, and went straight to the subject.  In summary, the youth’s ability is to “send” the voice at a specific point, and at the selected time point, directly convey what they want to say to the designated person.  Although you can choose any time, the number of messages in a short time is limited. The young man looked at Li Zeyan's frowning eyebrows, and tried his best to think about the words. "You can understand it as a microphone. My Evol is the line connecting two paper tubes, but after all, it's just a line. It's hard to talk like face to face." Li Zeyan thought for a moment and nodded. "How many times can I leave a message?" Page 3 "According to the time span you choose, you can stay about four times. But if I work hard, I can do it again." " Thank you." The young man looked at Li Zeyan and didn't feel any hesitation from him. He didn't seem to be worried about the outcome of this incident. "That... Have you ever been through this crisis? Mr. Li, you do this to make sure we can survive" "I am sure." " Why?" Page 4 "Because I saw that future." The youth froze for a moment, "But even if this message is successful, the future may not develop as you want." Li Zeyan looked at him, and seemed to be looking at a figure that emerged in his mind. "It doesn't matter. The future is still very long, I have the patience." He is always patient, waiting for her to get the hang of it. The young man unlocked his mobile phone and handed it to Li Zeyan. Page 5 "I'll give you a reminder later, just say it as if you were calling." Li Zeyan took the phone and looked at the blank call interface.  He still likes to talk about important things in person, but it is undeniable that there is often a time difference between people.  As the little boy said, many things are probabilistic events and will not be as you desire. He cares about results more than form. The young man began to use his abilities, and a slight electric current sounded in his ears and ripples appeared on the interface of the phone.  A feather suddenly fell from mid-air, slowly staying on the small table between the two of them. The evening breeze turned it slightly, and the soft feather gently rubbed his little finger. Page 6 Li Zeyan bent his knuckles subconsciously, and in a daze he could still feel the girl's slender fingers hooking on him, chanting various promises. They still have many unfinished agreements.  Only when you meet again can you keep the appointment. "The timing is set, is President Li ready?" Li Zeyan recovered and put the phone to his ear.  The young man cleared his throat and closed his eyes. "Hello Miss MC, here is a message from the past. President Li, you can say it." Page 7 Li Zeyan thought of the back standing still at the intersection, gently curved his mouth. " Dummy..." "Why are you hesitating?" The bell rang over the city, and the expected end had arrived.  The dense meteor shower is like someone who has burnt a match in the night, illuminating the eternal night with dazzling white light. Page 8 Li Zeyan looked up and saw a nearly transparent light curtain shrouded under the white light.  The body seemed to lighten a bit, and the ability to melt into bone and blood was summoned from a distance, as if someone was pulling him to his side. The hands on the clock tower stagnated briefly, and in the next instant, they moved slightly in the counterclockwise direction.