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era-of-ages · 4 months

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Okay... so here's the thing... (short fanfiction post for Good Omens)

After watching the entirety of Good Omens for the first time ever in approximately two days, seeing countless posts about it, and while I'm not usually a fanfiction reader, actually skimming one of those too. I feel like I need to at least dip my toes into this a little bit. So here's my short(ish) take on after season 2.

///

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could he possibly be so stupid? He was an angel, the smartest of them!" Crowley's words only fell on the uncaring mass of liquor bottles scattered around the floor. "Although," he refrained, "if he was so smart he wouldn't be an angel. Certainly not a supreme archangel."

That's mean, you know it is. A voice in his head told him. You know he's smart, you know he's brainwashed. You're just angry right now.

"Oh shut- SHUT UP!" He bit back. "I can be angry all I damn well want to I'm a demon for hell's sake! Maybe I've done the nice thing here or there, but I AM STILL A DEMON!"

We both know you've grown beyond that, Crowley. Far beyond it. The voice taunted him. It felt like taunting anyway. What kind of smug bastard did it think it was anyway? But he couldn't shut it up. Crowley, you can pose all you want. You've been doing it for 6000 years, after all. But you know better than anyone that being human comes with human emotion. Love. Anger. And knowledge that those emotions affect you. You know what knowledge can do, Crowley.

"And so what if I do?" He hissed. "You think I care? There's nothing to care about anymore. Azi- Azripha-" he couldn't speak it. Not without those damned tears. Who invented those anyhow? Oh right, God. The same bastard who caused all this. "He's gone." He finally managed to say. "It's too late. Always has been."

I'll tell you what you're missing. The voice in his head had taken to sounding like Nina. You're so full of that human spirit, that emotion. So where's that human hope, huh? If there's one thing Aziraphale did have, it was hope! So where's yours?"

"It went with him."

///

Muriel's steps were awkward and heavy, even still. Everything having weight here on Earth was so confusing! No one had actually ever told her how Earth works when she came, but all the books were still on the shelves, so she figured that she must be doing well. It was quiet in the book shop as well, and she started to think. Everyone had always said she hadn't done much of it before, so what better time to learn? She started to think of the shop as her friend, like it was alive. It liked her well enough, but it missed Aziraphale. It would perk up when Crowley passed by, which he did every single day, but he never came inside. Never even looked anymore. She always thought about calling out to him, asking him how to make tea or how to pronounce some of the words she had read, but she hadn't done it. Not yet anyway. She hoped one day she would.

The bell was a new sound. Muriel remembered it meant that someone had come into the shop. She said a few stalling words as she ran down the stairs, still careful to balance her feet correctly so she didn't trip again. "I'm sorry for the wait!" she said, smiling to herself about the correct use of phrase. "How can I help... you?"

"I just... just came to see it again."

Aziraphale looked terrible. Nothing like a supreme archangel. He didn't glow, she was fairly certain he used to. There were dark circles underneath his eyes, which meant he hadn't slept. But if he didn't need to, why did he have the circles? And he was smiling at her, except it wasn't really a smile. What was that phrase she had liked? Right! He wasn't smiling with his eyes. His eyes were sad.

"The shop's missed you." She said, coming to stand beside him. "Would you like some tea?"

He turned to her. He looked... defeated, somehow. "I think I would like that."

"Great!" Muriel clapped her hands. "Except... oh I don't mean to sound silly, but I don't know how to make it."

"Oh that's alright then," Aziraphale said. "I'm alright without it."

"No no!" She held up a hand, careful not to touch him. "Wait, I can figure it out! I can read things now! And understand them! Just uh... wait right here!"

She hurried off to what she knew for sure were tea implements. They had kettles and things like that in the books she'd read. Oh it was so exciting! She was going to be just like those book people! Making tea! She giggled as she set a teabag ever so carefully into a cup, then slowly poured water inside. The water started to change color! It was beautiful! She wondered why every angel didn't come to Earth, it was so full of amazing things!

"I've got it!" she announced proudly. "I made tea!" Carefully, she handed it to the supreme archangel, smiling like a child as he held it. As he took it, his hands began to shake. His eyes became sad again.

Oh no! Muriel thought. I didn't make it right! He doesn't like it! She thought backwards through the steps of making tea. What tea should look like. A cup with colored water inside with a thin trail of steam!

"Oh! It's not hot!" She said. "Not hot at all! I'm so sorry!"

"Oh no! Oh no don't be sorry!" The saucer in his hand was shaking more now. "I'll just-" with a quick snap down the tea began to steam. "Here we go! It's alright. Would you mind if I just, walked around a bit?"

"Of course!" She smiled, though she still watched his hand. "It would be my honor."

///

It should have been raining. It was too nice of a day. Crowley snapped his fingers and began to feel the first drops of cold water coming down on him. By the time he reached Greek Street it was a downpour. He could feel Nina watching him as he walked past her shop. He didn't say hello. He hadn't ever and he wasn't going to start now.

He looked at the bookshop, not inside, but at it. He could sense that bumbling angel inside. He couldn't help but wonder how she was taking to Earth. She seemed the type to be too dim to be brainwashed by anyone. He resolved to go inside. Not to see her, but to take some of his things back that he had left. No doubt that plant was long past dead at this point.

///

The bell rang again! Muriel rushed to the front. Two people to come in on the same day! It was all so exciting! Even the bookshop was excited! It was the happiest it had been in months. "Welcome, welcome!" Muriel froze in her tracks as she saw who had entered. She broke into a grin, "Mr. Crowley!"

She had seen this before, in those wonderful books! Two people who are madly in love run away from each other, then they see each other again, realize they love each other even more and never should have run, and then they kiss! She could barely hold her excitement, but she kept quiet. She couldn't ruin this moment! They had to find each other.

"How's business been?" Crowley asked. "Doesn't look like you've sold anything."

"I haven't!" Muriel answered excitedly. "Not a thing! But I learned how to make tea!"

"Did you now?" He looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "Why are you so excited?"

"Oh curse me for lying, but I'm just so excited someone has come into the shop!" She giggled, bouncing around on her feet.

"Curse you for lying?" Crowley frowned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I lied about why I'm so excited! But it's not going to be like the books if I just told you why!"

Crowley rubbed his temples. He didn't have time for this. Well, he did, but the more time he spent in this shop the less angry he became. He wanted to be angry. And the voice seemed to shut up when he was in here. "Look, I just came to get some of my things, alright? I'm not here to have a conversation or anything." He started for the stairs. No! Aziraphale was up there!

"Wait wait wait!" She grabbed his arm. "You need to have a conversation! It's the only way to-"

"Only way to what?!" He meant it as a threat. It came out as desperation. Muriel could see his eyes now. They were sad too.

"The only way," she said slowly. "The only way it's going to be okay." Something hurt inside of her. Knowing the Aziraphale was hurt, that Crowley was hurt. It hurt her too. Water started to come from her eyes. Something in her felt like it was burning. "What's happening to me?" she asked.

"Those are tears." Crowley's voice was cracking. "You get used to them after a while. They happen when you're sad." He looked at her. "Why are you sad?" What did she have to be sad for?

"I'm. I'm sad because the bookshop is sad," she stammered. "Because the happy ending hasn't happened yet. It was supposed to. He wasn't supposed to go to heaven and make you sad. That's not a happy story. And I... I don't understand why not."

///

Aziraphale let his hand drag across the shelves. Every second fight back the thought he had been thinking since he left. This bookshop was heaven. No, better than heaven. Those were wrong thoughts, he knew. But they had become so strong that he couldn't bear to stop them anymore. He missed his shop. He missed Earth. He missed... to even think of his name was already enough. He closed his eyes. You are the Supreme Archangel. You WILL NOT think wrong thoughts.

A sound from downstairs. Crying. Muriel's crying.

///

"Not all stories have happy endings." Crowley said. "Sometimes you just have to realize that and..." he couldn't say move on.

"But would you take him? If he came back?" Muriel wiped away her own tears. "Would you make it a happy ending?"

"I can't. I'd give anything to, but I can't." He looked down. "I tried. My way didn't work. I couldn't save him from heaven. They still took him away."

Hurried footsteps down the stairs. Her head snapped up. "What if I tried?"

"What?" Crowley tried to look up but she was gone.

///

"Muriel are you alri-" Aziraphale started to say.

"Hush!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him with all her might to Crowley. She was beaming. Rain! They needed rain! It was raining outside! She had them both by the hand now, by some sort of miracle the doors were already open. She threw them outside. It was a downpour! It was perfect! She couldn't hold her excitement anymore. She'd been dying to use this word. Not one in any of her books, but one the shop had said a million times.

"VAVOOM!!!"

///

Neither of them spoke. The difference between rain and tears didn't matter now. It was just them now. Looking into each other's eyes. They didn't need to speak.

"W-would the dance be acceptable here?" Aziraphale stammered.

"Oh Angel, shut up!"

Like puzzle pieces, the two of them fit perfectly together in each other's arms. Muriel squealed and bounced happily back and forth. She looked at Nina and Maggie across the street. They were clapping.

"About damn time!" Maggie shouted.

"It's not a happy ending until you kiss!" Muriel exclaimed.

You would have never heard it or seen it, but the nightingales were thrilled. They had been dying to sing.

#crowly x aziraphale #good omens #ineffable husbands #good omens 2 #crowley #aziraphale #fanfic #muriel #happy ending #asdfghjhgfdsdfgh #i love them so much #okay im done now

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measuredingold · 10 months

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to be in love and to be loved

chapter two: changes

authors note: welcome back! we have successfully made it to chapter two. this one was a bit hard for me to finish because i wanted to get the ball rolling on some things. this chapter switches povs throughout it, but it’ll make sense. was proofread at 1 am so if there’s any mistakes i apologize. as always, enjoy and feedback is always appreciated <3 (p.s. to the person who asked if the title was from a 1d song… it sure is 🖤)

pairing: noah sebastian x ofc x nicholas ruffilo

masterlist / cross-posted on ao3

word count: 9.4k (another doozy)

cw: depicts of anxiety/anxiety attacks, mental health struggles, ~kissing~, lots of angst, 18+ (minors do not interact.)

After his sudden realization, Nicholas learned quickly that he's very good at avoiding things. Like… scary good, actually.

He convinced himself it was the right thing to do, to push those feelings so far into the back of his mind, to the back of his heart, closed off away from the world so things don't get complicated. He can't sit here and say that he hasn't thought about it, because he has, the possibility of him coming out with the truth. It's wishful thinking, but it always makes something stir inside Nicholas, his chest fluttering with excitement. In another life, he thinks, maybe it could work out. Maybe he could be happy. Maybe they could be happy. Together.

He doesn't think this life is as lucky.

So, he avoids it. Acts like it's not there. Things remain the same, for the most part, and Naomi doesn’t bring up the almost kiss. He knows she wants to. Sometimes he finds her watching him when Noah’s not looking, eyes pleading but all he can do is give her a sad smile and look away. As time goes on, she doesn’t silently press anymore, doesn’t give him that look. That’s when he decides that this was the right decision. This is what he needed to do to keep things the same, to keep them here. With him. Even if it wasn’t in the way he wanted it.

He gazes up from the table to find Noah staring at him and glances to his side to find Naomi doing the same. He has to swallow down the impending sadness that seems to be lingering more often these days and puts on a smile, one that they easily return before going back to their conversation while they wait for their food. He feels Naomi's hand settle on his thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze as she speaks animatedly to Noah, and he finds himself leaning his head against her shoulder.

He glances over at Noah again, finding the younger boy staring at him with such softness that it almost makes him feel sick, and all he wishes for right now is to reach over and grab ahold of Noah's hand that's laid across the table. His fingers twitch, but he doesn't move.

Nicholas knows he can't keep living this way and knows that one day this might blow up in his face. This won't last forever, but he's content for now and that's all that matters. He'll let himself live in this moment just a little longer, even if it slowly breaks his heart piece by piece.

…

If you had told Noah that in three years he'd leave his old band, start a whole new project that would lead him to his new band, get signed by a pretty popular label, and end up touring for said label well before their debut album is released, he probably would've called you a fucking liar.

Then he’d have to smack himself when he found out it was true.

Sometimes he has to sit and think about how he deserved all of this; despite all the hard work he’s put into this project. It was his baby, at least that’s what Nicholas liked to call it. And yeah, it was. He put his entire being into Bad Omens, working his ass off for months - years, almost - for this to work out, and as his eyes scan the room to find his bandmates and crew turned best-friends, he likes to think it’s worked out so far.

He can't say he's made it yet, but he has a feeling it’s not too far from his reach.

Noah's gaze snaps towards the back of the room where he hears laughter erupting, and warmth spreads itself across his chest and down his arms, all the way to the tips of his fingers. Naomi and Nicholas work together to bring in boxes of merch for tonight's show, and for some reason he has to try and stop himself from smiling as he watches them.

Nicholas was his first supporter, long before Noah had even roped him into being in the band with him. Naomi came next and Noah was forever grateful for them. He wasn't sure where he'd be without their support, love, and patience, and he tries not to think about it too hard, because he knows he wouldn’t be anywhere without them. Well, anywhere good. They kept him anchored.

Naomi wasn't even supposed to be here originally, but she had surprised the whole crew a few days ago with saved up time from work. She took the whole week off to be with them because she knew an extra hand would do them some good. When she told Noah that he remembers how giddy he had felt, and how excited he was to have her there with them.

"Anything for my boys." She had said on the phone. The memory makes his face heat up and his heart thud wildly against his chest.

Noah perks up, eyes narrowing as he watches Nicholas' hand brush against Naomi's back, leaving it there a beat longer for it to be deemed casual. He can see Naomi's cheeks flush all the way from where he stood, and she leans back, tilting her head up to say something to Nicholas. Noah has no clue what she says, too far away to be in ear shot, and his whole body warms at Nicholas having to bend down to whisper something in her ear. He can hear Naomi's laughter.

He’s sure his face is flushed, and he has to force himself to look away. It's so hard, though. He's not angry, not at them at least. He's not even jealous. He's something he can't exactly explain, and he thinks that's what frustrates him the most.

The way Nicholas' touch looked so delicate even all the way over where Noah was made his head spin, especially with how Mimi leaned into him almost instantly. His mind starts up again and before he could stop, he finds himself wondering what it would be like to have the girl pressed up against him... and Nicholas.

He halts his movements when he almost lost his grip on the box he had been carrying but he finds his footing again, slowly sitting the box down on the stage.

This isn't the first time his mind has gone somewhere that's uncharted. The thought of Naomi pressed in between the two boys has slipped through his mind more than a handful of times, and maybe even some with himself in between them...

He shakes his head to make his thoughts stop and he finds Jolly watching him, a brow raised.

"You good?"

Noah gives him a nonchalant shrug that's far from convincing and his eyes find their way back to the merch table before looking back at Jolly. "Yeah, I'm good. Why?"

“Just wondering.” Jolly follows his gaze and his lips quirk up. "You ever going to tell her?"

Noah crouches down to open up the box he had brought to the stage, quickly glancing at Jolly. He regrets having told the boy his feelings for Naomi one drunken night months ago.

"Tell her what?"

"Dude." Jolly looks unimpressed, lips pressed in a line and all Noah can do is sigh.

"What am I supposed to say, man? Hey, I have feelings for you."

"You can literally say that." It's Noah's turn to look unimpressed and Jolly rolls his eyes. "Seriously! That's all you gotta say."

"You make it sound so easy."

"Because it is easy." Jolly shrugs. " She flew across the fucking country to see you. The feeling is mutual."

"If it was that easy, don't you think I would've done it already?" Noah hisses through his teeth, eyes narrowing at Jolly. The older male rolls his eyes, a huff passing his lips. “Plus, she’s here to see all of us. Not just me.”

"Listen, all I'm saying is that you should do it now before someone else comes along." Jolly's gaze shifts between Noah and then the merch table, before looking back at the younger boy.

Noah's jaw tenses and as he glances that way for a second time just as Mimi reached up to mess with Nicholas’ hair. He says something to her, pulling a goofy face, and she throws her head back in laughter. Noah's stomach drops and he forces himself to look away, feeling Jolly's eyes burn against his skin.

"And it’s starting to look like someone already has."

He can't stop the way his heart pounds rapidly against his chest, the sudden wave of anxiety filling his body. Jolly’s just speaking out of his ass, right? There’s no way that that’s true, though, as he continues to watch Naomi and the way Nicholas is looking down at her, the pit in his stomach begins to grow.

He swallows thickly. "Shut up."

"I’m just saying I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Shut up, Joakim.”

Jolly frowns. “Noah-“

"Please for the love of god," He sucks down a deep breath, and he can feel his throat tightening as each second passes, "shut up."

"When did you become so pissy?" Jolly grumbles, mainly to himself, but Noah hears him.

His jaw tenses and he has to shut his eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath. He stands from his crouched position and glares down at Jolly.

"Maybe because you’re always in my fucking business."

Noah can't explain why he's so... pissy, as Jolly put it, but the males words have wormed their way into his mind and it’s making his skin fucking crawl. His hands have balled into fists at his sides and he has to squeeze his fingers together, taking another deep breath before he turns.

"Where are you going?" Jolly calls after him after he hopped off the stage.

"Away from you."

He doesn't know where he's going, but he knew he needed to get out of there. He keeps his head low and just keeps walking, avoiding the worried glances from their crew. He turns a corner and finds an empty hallway, looking around to find that it’s just him and a few empty boxes.

He lets out the breath he had been holding.

Because it is easy. Noah scoffs. Jolly doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't see the bigger picture here, because this is more than just Noah having feelings for Naomi. It's about the change that'll follow. Sure, what if Naomi liked Noah back, but Jolly’s words lingered in the back of his mind. What if someone had already beat him there? He groans.

Noah doesn't like change all that much, which is kind of hilarious when he thinks back to his life, but it's true. He likes consistency. He likes stability. Besides Bad Omens (so far), Naomi and Nicholas were the only consistent things in his life. He couldn't risk messing up what they have, the tiny little world they created with just the three of them, for something like this. He's heard stories of people falling for their best friends and everything fucking up, and he'll be damned if he ever lets that happen to him.

"Noah?" Naomi’s voice snaps him out of his thoughts, and he jumps away from the wall, turning to face her. She’s frowning, eyes scanning him up and down before they meet his gaze. “Is everything alright?”

He doesn’t bother answering, slumping back against the wall and running a shaky hand down his face. He hears her shuffle closer and he squeezes his eyes shut. He can't look at her - he refuses. He's embarrassed, ashamed, because the reason he's so fucking upset is because of her. Well, sort of. He's upset with his feelings for her and how he can't convey them properly like a normal fucking human. He lets out a frustrated, shaky breath and runs his hands through his hair and tugs at the ends, something he tends to do when he's anxious.

"Noah, baby, look at me. Come on." Naomi's voice is so gentle, and Noah's throat tightens.

Baby.

The word itself is almost enough to send him spiraling and definitely did not help the pit in his stomach at all, but he looks at her anyways, swallowing down the lump that's beginning to form. Her lips are settled into a frown and he can see the crease in her forehead, the distress on her face. She hasn't seen him like this in months, he thinks.

"I'm gonna need you to take a big deep breath through your nose and out through your mouth.”

Her fingers wrap around his wrists and gives them a hard squeeze, trying to bring Noah back to the present but he just can't. He can't breathe, he can't move, he can't fucking do anything. His chest feels like there's a ten-ton brick placed right in the center of it and there's nothing he can do about it.

"Noah. Breathe."

He tries to suck in a breath, but it just sounds ragged, and he barely notices the tears that slip down his cheeks. He feels his arms being tugged and looks down to find Naomi crouching to settle into a sitting position, trying to bring him down with her. He follows on shaky legs and automatically crosses them. Naomi squeezes his wrists again and he tries to take another breath.

"Lean your head back for me and take another breath." She says quietly and scratches her nails against the inside of his wrists. He visibly shakes, as if he wasn't already, and he has to suck in another ragged breath, but it goes down a little easier than before. "Good. You're doing so good, Noah. Keep going."

So, he does. He takes another deep breath, and another, and then another after that. Noah doesn't know how long they sit there for, Naomi's eyes piercing into his own as she takes the breaths with him. He has to drop his gaze when it starts becoming too much and his chest feels tight again, so instead he shuts his eyes, trying to focus on getting his breathing normal and the soft touch of her thumbs rubbing circles on the inside of his wrists.

It takes a few beats of silence before he finally feels like he can finally breathe slightly normal, his glossy gaze finding hers.

"Oh, Noah. What happened out there?” He almost breaks at her voice, the sadness seeping through as she sits up on her knees, leaning towards him. Her hands cup his cheeks and wipe away the tears that seem to still be falling. "Think you can tell me what's going on?"

He whines in response, head shaking in her hands. Naomi's frown deepens.

"Jolly’s just being an asshole."

“…Are you sure?” She brushes a few strands of hair that's fallen away from his face, "You know you can tell me anything, bub."

"I can't-" His lips press together to try and hold in another whine, eyes brimming with tears again. "I can't tell you this. If... if I do then it could fuck everything up and I can't do that. Not now when things are just starting to work out.”

Her eyes narrow in confusion as she smooths back his hair, fingertips trailing over his cheek. “I’m sure whatever it is it wouldn’t fuck up everything.”

“You don’t know that!” It comes out louder than he anticipated, and his stomach drops at the way Naomi flinches, but she doesn’t pull away from him. “Sorry. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

"Noah, relax." She grips his face gently and tilts his head up to look at her. "It's just me."

He swallows before shakily replying, "That's why I can't tell you."

That has her stilling and he can see the moment her mind comes to screeching halt, body deflating. In the three years he's known her, there's never been a thing he couldn't tell her. Well... a thing he couldn't tell her that he wanted to, and this was one of the things he did not want to tell her.

"Well," She finds her words again, coming back to herself. "I hope that as your best-friend that I've given you a space to always be open and honest with me. Whatever it is, good or bad, you can tell me. We can work it out, whatever you want." Naomi pauses again, lips dipping into a frown. "And if you can't... I understand. I won't pry."

His eyes sting with tears again at her words and he sucks down another ragged breath, throat tightening again. Noah has always hated how understanding Naomi was, and how gentle she can be. It was one of her best and worst attributes because now he feels like the asshole for not telling her how he felt.

"You have to promise me that this won't fuck everything up." He manages to get out. Naomi nods immediately. “Say you promise.”

"I promise."

They stare at each other for a second, then two, then three before Noah's letting out a defeated sigh. Here goes fucking nothing.

"I..." He swallows harshly. "I love you. More than just a friend or whatever and it fucking terrifies me because this... god, this is the closest to normal my life has been in a really long fucking time. Probably the first time ever." Noah lets out a watery laugh. "You... and Nicholas... and this fucking band are so important to me, Mimi, and I'd never want to jeopardize that." Something in Naomi's eyes shift and Noah has to squeeze his shut, too overwhelmed to look at her now as more words tumble from his lips. "That's why I couldn't tell you, because I didn't want to ruin what we have now. I could never forgive myself for doing that."

The silence that follows is deafening. He doesn't dare open his eyes, so he keeps them shut, and he tries to not imagine Naomi's face. He wants her to say something, anything, even if it's to let him down, which is what he's expecting. His heart pounds against his chest when he feels her hands slip from his face and his eyes spring open, preparing to apologize for just ruining everything between them but it never comes.

Instead, he's met with Naomi's lips pressing against his own.

His eyes widen. He doesn't move, can't, not even when she's pulling away, face mere inches from his own. Naomi stares at him expectantly, waiting, full lips slightly swollen from the pressure of the kiss and face a light shade of crimson. Noah can only blink - once, twice, and then a third time before dropping his eyes to her mouth.

He's thought about what it would be like to kiss Naomi, to feel her lips against his own just once. He knows it's corny, but he thought it would be like the movies where fireworks would erupt inside of him, body buzzing from excitement that he's practically shaking, but it was none of that. Actually, it was something better. In those brief moments he's never felt so... at peace. Instead of buzzing with excitement it was a warm feeling that spread throughout his body, starting from his toes expanding all the way to the very top of his head.

"Noah..."

Her voice breaks him out of his head, and he doesn't miss the slight waver to it, like she was on the verge of tears. His eyes find hers again and they're brimmed with tears, but her lips are slowly tugging into a smile now. His chest swirls with excitement and he reaches for her, hands settling on her waist as she slowly climbs into his lap, her legs resting on either side of his hips.

"I know I'm a really good fucking friend, but I hope you know I wouldn't cross this damn country just for anyone." She says through a watery laugh and has to pull away to wipe at her face as more tears fell. Noah's fingers dig into her hips, scared to let her go. She's never been so close before.

He looks up at her with a dazed expression. "...Huh?"

She laughs again, this time much louder, and leans forward to press her forehead against his. Her hands come up to cup his cheeks again, her nose nudging Noah's.

"I love you, you dumbass. I thought it was fucking obvious."

Oh.

Naomi tilts her head forward to brush her lips against his again before pulling back all too soon, acting as if she was too shy to continue even further. He digs his fingers into her hips again without really thinking and loosens his grip, scared he was hurting her. He just needed to make sure she was real. That this was real and not just his fucked-up imagination trying to hurt him. Her eyes flutter shut, and she lets out her own shaky breath, her hands moving from his cheeks to the back of his neck.

Noah's the one who leans in this time, lips slotting against Naomi's. He gets the same feeling that he did just seconds before, the warmth filling his veins, and the feeling of peace engulfing him whole. Naomi lets out a tiny little noise, almost like a whine, and that spurs him on. It's overwhelming, the way her lips feel against his and how natural it feels to have her in his hold, and his arms circle around her waist to bring her that much closer to him.

He needs to feel her everywhere.

"Noah? Mimi?"

Folio's voice has Mimi pulling away from him, eyes glossed over, and lips swollen from the contact. She gives him a sheepish smile before crawling off his lap and he feels himself physically deflate at the loss of contact but knew that the position they were in before would raise a few questions, especially from Nick. Plus, he can't keep his mouth shut, so the second he sees Naomi in Noah's lap it's game over. Everyone in the damn building would know in less than 5 seconds.

She stands and holds a hand out for him which he gladly takes, legs shaky as he stands. He feels better, he thinks, rummaging through his mind for any of those previous anxious thoughts. He finds none and instead realizes the jitteriness is from the kiss, and his face flushes at the thought.

"There you are." Folio sounds relieved as he rounds the corner, the corners of his mouth tugging into a smile as he steps into the hallway. "Everything alright?"

Noah glances at Mimi from the corner of his eye and finds her nodding, giving Folio a bright smile.

"Yeah, I think so." She looks up at him now, her smile changing to something softer.

"Uh, yeah." Noah finds his voice finally, clearing his throat and stares at Naomi a beat longer before looking off towards Nick. "Sorry about that.”

Nick shrugs and rubs at his neck sheepishly. "You're good, man. Jolly and I were just teasing you, and we're sorry for, uh... causing this."

"Nah, it's fine. Don't apologize." He waves him off and relief washes over Nick.

"Cool." Folio's eyes scan the two of them briefly before looking up and down the hallway, confusion written all over his face. "Where's Nicholas?"

That has Noah stilling and his eyes dart to Mimi.

"What about him?" She questions, eyebrows scrunching.

"He said he was coming to check on you guys..." His words trail off, head tilting.

"Are you sure he came this way?" Her tone stirs something inside of Noah.

Even if he had come this way, Noah wouldn't have noticed. He was too immersed in Naomi and the way she felt in his hands, in his arms, and the way her lips easily slid over his... His fingers twitch at his sides, the urge to reach out and grab her becoming stronger by the second.

"Huh. I swear I saw him walk this way." Folio says, almost dumbfounded, and his shoulders go up into another shrug. "Oh well. Maybe he's in the bathroom, I don't know. Anyways, glad everything's alright. Do you need anything or...?"

“Uh, nah. I’m good now.” He throws a thumbs up for added emphasis and Folio laughs, giving him one back.

“Sweet.” He looks like he’s about to leave and the stress in Noah’s shoulders drop for just a second before Nick is turning back towards them. “Would I be a dick to ask you to come back and help? We’re kind of struggling without you and Nicholas.”

“Oh, shit. Yeah, I can come help.” He’s almost forgotten why they were here in the first place. They literally have a show in a few short hours. Mimi looks as if she’s just remembered that as well, eyes widening, and Nick laughs at their reactions.

“Thanks, man.”

They all shuffle out of the hallway and back into the main room, seeing only Jolly and a few people from their crew working at setting their gear up. Noah feels bad for running off like that and knows he’ll have to make it up to them tomorrow. He notices Naomi walking the opposite direction out of the corner of his eye and he stops her, fingers circling around her arm.

“We’ll talk later, yeah?” He tries to keep his voice low when he notices Nick stop for a second to watch them before wandering back to the stage. Mimi’s eyes gaze up at him, lips quirking up.

“Of course. If you want.”

“I do.” His hand drops from her arm and briefly brushes her hand, and he has to bite his lip to stop his own smile from growing. “Catch me before the show?”

He doesn’t miss the flush in her cheeks when their fingers brush together and she turns her head. “Okay.”

The pull from each other and Noah can’t help but watch her walk away before finally making his way back to the stage to find both Jolly and Folio staring at him.

“What?” He questions as he pulls himself up on the stage.

“What the hell was that?” Jolly questions, but Noah doesn’t miss the teasing grin on his lips. He blushes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, man.”

“Bullshit.” Nick whistles, eyeing Noah before glancing across the room. “I knew something happened in that hallway. You could cut the tension with a fucking knife, bro.”

He laughs it off, but his cheeks beat up even more. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Alright, alright. Enough teasing Noah. We’ve done enough of that today.” Jolly gives Noah a sheepish smile before clapping his hands together. “Let’s hurry and get this shit done.”

…

Nicholas is the first to notice Noah jump off the stage, head down as he practically runs out of the main room. Mimi notices next, back straightening as they both watch Noah run into a hallway, away from view. Something inside him turns and his eyes snap towards Jolly who's already looking at him, lips turned down. The older male shakes his head and mouths "I don't know" before going back to unloading their equipment.

"I'll be right back." He hears Naomi mumble, and before he could respond she's already placing whatever shirt she had been about to hang up down and rushing off.

Nicholas drops the shirt he was holding and turns the opposite direction, marching his way towards the stage, eyes narrowing at Jolly's back.

"Dude, what the fuck did you do?"

Jolly turns around. "Why do you think I did something?"

"Well, you were the last one to talk to him before he fucking ran off." Nicholas throws his arms around before placing his hands on his hips, almost like an angry dad. "What did you say to him?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, bullshit-"

"Nick, calm down." Folio cuts in, coming out from behind his drum set to look down at Nicholas from the stage. "It wasn't anything bad - Noah just freaked out. You know how he is. Mimi's with him so he's probably fine now."

Nicholas presses his lips together and breathes deeply through his nose, trying his very best to calm down. He hates being upset, especially with his friends, but when it comes to Noah, he can't help but be protective.

"I swear it wasn't bad." Jolly's swinging his legs over the side of the stage, sitting in front of him now. "I just... told him to get over whatever he was going through and to tell Mimi how he felt. He kind of freaked out and just... ran off."

His eyes widen at Jolly’s words.

"You wanted him to... tell Mimi how he felt about her?"

Jolly nods. "We're all kind of sick seeing him stare at her like a kicked little puppy and we all know how he feels about her. Why not?"

"And it's not like she doesn't feel the same. We all see how she looks at him. It's kind of gross." Nick says before going back to his set up. “Plus, who fucking flies halfway across the country for a friend? No offense.”

Nicholas feels his stomach drop at the others words, immediately shaking his head.

"She came to see all of us." He replies, defensively almost, and both Folio and Jolly give him a look that reads seriously? He frowns. "She told me that."

"Yeah, I'm sure she did." Folio mutters to himself and Nicholas can't stop the way his eyes narrow at the younger boy.

"She told all of us that, man, and I'm sure that's part of it but we all know the real reason why she's here." Jolly points towards the hallway that both Noah and Naomi ran to, and Nicholas feels his stomach turn.

He doesn't say anything to that. Truthfully, he's not sure what he can say. He stares off towards the hallway, brain foggy as he tries to wrap his mind around the boys words before he comes back to himself, clearing his throat.

"I'm gonna go check on them, see if he needs anything." Nicholas mumbles, almost to himself, and Jolly gives him a smile.

"Do whatever you gotta do, man."

He gives Jolly a half assed smile before turning on his heels and walking towards the hallway, hands clammy. His heart pounds in his ears with each step he takes, and he swears the turning in his stomach that was once nerves is now nausea. Great.

Nicholas turns the corner and immediately stops, heart pounding against his chest when he sees Noah sitting on the ground, face wet with tears... and Naomi settling into his lap. She says something to him but they're too far down the hall that Nicholas doesn't catch it, and his throat tightens the second they both lean into each other.

He shouldn't have followed. He should've stayed right where he was, unpacking their shirts for the night to hang up, but he couldn't forget the look on Noah's face as he ran past them. He definitely couldn't forget the way Naomi dropped everything and followed after him, running into the hallway in search of Noah. He couldn't forget the rage he felt at Jolly in those few minutes, thinking the other said something to trigger Noah’s anxiety. He should've minded his fucking business, but when it comes to Noah and Mimi, he knows he never could.

His eyes sting and he swears he feels his heart snap into a billion little pieces the second their lips meet. Naomi's hands grip his face and Noah's fingers dig into her hips, and Nicholas has to force himself to look away. He knew this would happen - he fucking knew it would. He's known the second he met Naomi and saw the way Noah looked at her, like she hung up all the stars in the goddamn sky.

He doesn't stay long, doesn't make his presence known as he was going to, and instead rushes off to the bathroom. It's a single, so he's able to lock himself in there, and leans back against the door. His head hits the door with a thud, and he sucks in a ragged breath, eyes squeezing shut.

Nicholas knows he shouldn't feel this way - heartbroken - but he can't help it. It's one thing to see the person you love kissing someone else, but when it's both of them... it's a whole other world of hurt. His chest feels like it's been ripped open and someone reached deep inside to pull his heart out, then held it in front of his face and ripped it to shreds.

He hates that there's not a goddamn thing he can do about it.

He’s going to have to stand there, wait for them to tell him that they confessed their feelings and he'll have to put a smile on his face and tell them he's happy for them. And in a way, he is. He's only ever wanted for them to be happy, but maybe a small part of him had a feeling it was going to be him. That he would be lucky enough to be the one making them happy. It was all wishful thinking, a fucking dream that would never happen, and he has to press himself further into the door to hold himself up right, legs weak as he slides down.

Nicholas lets himself cry, face crumbling as the first few tears fall. He pulls his legs to his chest and wraps his arms around them, burying his face in his knees. His body shakes with each cry and he knows if someone was close, they could hear him, but he didn't care. He's let himself not feel anything about this for far too long, and if he's going to get over it, he should finally let himself feel.

He doesn't know how long he sat there, body shaking with sobs, but by time he's done he feels... exhausted. He feels sick, stomach twisting with each sniffle and he lets himself stand on shaky legs. He finds himself in the mirror, eyes puffy and face blotchy. He stares at his reflection for a few more moments before he turns the faucet on, splashing water over his face.

He squeezes his eyes shut and counts to ten, hoping to calm himself down some before patting his face dry. He turns to face the door and swallows thickly because he knows the second he leaves the safety of this bathroom, he'll have to put a smile on his face and act like everything's okay. As if he didn't just sob his fucking heart out in this damn bathroom for the last ten minutes. It sucks, but he’s been acting like everything's alright since the almost kiss, so he guesses he can continue to act like nothing's wrong a little longer.

With a shaky breath, he pushes the door open and makes his way back to the main room where everything was being set up. He sees Noah first, who's back on stage helping Jolly out with something, and he turns, almost as if he could feel his presence. Nicholas smiles, hoping it isn't too obvious he's faking, and Noah gives him one back, relieved.

"Was wondering where you went." He calls, hopping off the stage to make his way towards Nicholas. "Folio said you wandered off like 15 minutes ago."

"Oh, uh." His voice cracks and Noah's eyes narrow. Nicholas clears his throat. "I was going to look for you, but they told me Naomi got to you first, and then I uh. I had to pee! So, I went to the bathroom. Then got distracted by my phone." His words come out rushed. “Twitter is so addictive.”

"...You were on Twitter the entire time?"

"Yeah, but that’s beside the point," Nicholas quickly responds, "are you okay?"

For some reason this surprises Noah, eyes widening just a bit and Nicholas doesn't miss the glance he casts in Naomi's direction. His stomach drops.

"Uh, yeah. I'm good. Mimi helped a lot."

"Oh, cool. That's... that's great. Awesome. I'm glad. " Nicholas rambles on. He holds in a breath and Noah's eyes scan his face, his lips slowly dipping down into a frown.

"You promise you're alright?"

"Of course," He finally takes a deep breath, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. "I'm just... tired. Didn't sleep well last night. The van's cramped as shit and I can never get comfortable."

Nicholas thinks he's convinced him well enough because instead of replying Noah wraps an arm around Nicholas' shoulder and tugs him into his side, walking off towards the stage. He feels like his eyes are bulging out of his fucking head the second he's wrapped in Noah's embrace and he tries to pull away, but for some reason this skinny little bastard's hold is way too strong.

He's rambling on about something, he thinks it has to do with Jolly and their equipment, but Nicholas is barely listening. He's too focused on the way Noah's arm feels wrapped around him and he gets a sudden sick feeling in his stomach, eyes darting across the room towards Naomi. She's already looking at them, eyebrows scrunched together but the second her eyes fall on Nicholas her face relaxes in an instant. His heart leaps into his throat and he tries swallowing it down, but the smile she gives him is enough to bring it right back up.

This is going to be a lot harder than he thought.

…

Naomi watches the two boys interact, her skin buzzing with nerves. She's still not able to process what just happened, the kiss, the confession... her head is reeling. She should be excited - happy – and she is, swear. She's never denied her feelings for Noah, always knowing that they were there somewhere inside of her, but she can't help but feel almost... sad.

Her eyes land on Nicholas and her mind wanders back to a few years ago to her first tattoo session with him. She thinks back to how he took care of her, making sure she was alright the entire time and the tenderness behind his touch. She remembers just how badly she wanted to kiss him in that moment, to feel his lips against hers. She also remembers the look in his eyes, and the way she knew that he wanted it just as much as her.

She shivers and has to shake her head from the thought. She can't be thinking of kissing her best friend after she had just confessed to her other best friend. She groans to herself, head already aching from her thoughts. Mimi knew that she couldn't help how she felt. It does happen - falling for two people at once. She's not the first person to do it, and won't be the last, but it just makes things so complicated.

Almost to the point where she doesn’t even want to deal with it.

"Ready for tonight?" Folio's voice breaks her out of her thoughts, and she whips around to look at him, lips pulling into a small smile.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She looks over the merchandise before her before looking at Nick. "I've never been a merch girl before, so we'll see how it goes."

"It isn't too hard." He says with a shrug, leaning against the table. "Plus, you'll have Nicholas here to help.”

Shit. She forgot about that.

"I'll be fine." She decides to say and gives Folio a tight-lipped smile. "Nicky is always the best teacher, so I'm sure I'll have it down in no time."

He smiles at her and even gives her a pat on the back, hand sliding up to grip her shoulder gently. "We really appreciate you coming out here. More than you know."

Mimi gives him a real smile, not all tight-lipped, and leans into his touch. She hadn't lied when said she'd do anything for them to Noah on the phone weeks ago, because she would. Not even just for him and Nicholas, she'd even offer a hand to Jolly and Folio, people she now considers some of her closest friends.

"That's what friends are for. Don't thank me."

"Whatever." Nick laughs and gives her shoulder another squeeze before he turns to leave back for the stage. "If you need anything, let one of us know."

Naomi waves him off before she gets back to unboxing and setting up the merch for tonight's show. What happened with Noah was a bit of a setback and she wishes he hadn’t whisked Nicholas towards the stage so she could have some help, but she knew she could do this on her own. She'll just have to talk to him before the show starts and make sure she did everything right.

Her stomach twists as the thought of also talking to Noah crosses her mind, and she lets out a sigh. She brings a hand up to rub at her temples as the dull ache in her head grew. Why was this so complicated? Why did she feel so fucking guilty? She didn’t exactly understand why, but a part of her isn’t too keen on figuring it out anytime soon.

She quietly gets everything set up for the night, going through the instructions in her head that Nicholas told her earlier in the day. She doesn’t even realize how much time has passed until the bands go through their sound check, trying to hurry before the crowd is let in. With too much going on, she doesn't end up getting to talk to Noah or Nicholas before the show. With all the rushing around, they barely even were able to stop and say hi.

Before she knows it, the show is starting, and to her surprise she has a steady line during Bad Omens set. She was able to catch a glimpse here and there in between talking to a few fans, but she was mostly kept busy throughout it all, which she was thankful for.

Naomi feels like she can finally breathe by the time the nights over and they were packing up to set off for their next destination. Her and Nicholas were wordlessly putting away the merch for the night, the older male being much quieter than normal. He's barely even said a few words to her since he came back to help after getting off stage, only giving her strained smiles when she said anything to him. She figured he was just tired, which worried her, because it was his turn to drive tonight.

"Feeling alright, Nicky?" She questioned as she closed up one of the last boxes. He looks over at her and there's something in his stare that she can't place, but it makes her blood run cold.

"Yeah." He replies shortly, and she watches his throat bob as he swallowed harshly before closing up his own box. "Just tired."

She frowns. "Do you want me to drive for you tonight?"

"No."

It's a short response and his back is turned towards her now, which makes her frown deepen even more. She takes a step towards him and opens her mouth to say something but comes to a stop when she feels a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey."

She turns quickly to find Noah behind her and her worry from seconds ago vanishes the second their eyes meet. Naomi can't help but smile and Noah does the same, leaning against the table beside her.

"Oh, hi."

She feels giddy, almost like a schoolgirl, and she mentally scolds herself at how embarrassing that is. This is Noah, her best friend... that told her he loved her and then they kissed. No big deal, right?

"How'd tonight go?" Noah questions. She shrugs.

"Alright, I think."

He snorts and looks over at Nicholas who still has his back turned. "Think she's merch girl material, Nicky?"

"Sure."

They both narrow their eyes at him, and confusion wraps itself in Noah's expression. He stares at him another moment before looking down at Mimi, and she can only shrug.

"Alright." He sounds unconvinced but a smile finds his way on his lips again. "Think you got it down for tomorrow? I could probably come out and help, too, if you want."

"I think she'll be alright, Noah. You don't need to hover." Nicholas lets out an annoyed huff as he gathers up their things and both Mimi and Noah stare at him before glancing at each other.

What the fuck?

Noah looks like he's having an internal battle with himself, lips slowly tugging back down into a frown. All she wants to do is wrap him up in a hug, but she stays where she is as she sees him step forward.

Noah moves over to Nicholas now and places a gentle hand on his back, lips pursed into a pout. "Dude, if you’re tired, I can drive the first half for you.”

Nicholas jumps at the touch, and Naomi assumes he just wasn't expecting it, and turns his head to look at the younger boy for a second.

"I’m fine, Noah." His words are clipped, and she sees the moment when Noah's face falls, but he recovers it quickly.

"Well, okay. I got you a few extra red bulls, they're in the front with your stuff." His hand lingers on his back for a second too long before he takes a step back, giving Nicholas a gentle smile. "Also got some of those skittles you like. Hopefully all the caffeine and sugar will keep you awake."

Nicholas pauses and he returns the smile Noah gives him, but it looks pained. She’s starting to think he’s more than just tired.

"Thanks." Is all he responds before he picks up a box of shirts, nodding his head towards the exit. "I'm gonna start hauling this stuff back to the van."

Noah nods and takes another step away from him to make room, and they watch Nicholas wordlessly walk away. He doesn’t even look at them and stares straight ahead. She’s not sure what’s going on, and she’s positive it’s something more than just being tired, and the fact he hasn’t told her or Noah what’s wrong is starting to worry her.

"So..." Noah clearing his throat snaps Naomi out of her thoughts, finally looking away from where Nicholas once stood. Her eyes flicker up towards him. "About earlier..."

Her mouth drops into an O and her cheeks burn, probably already beginning to flush.

"Oh, yeah. That."

Noah snorts out a laugh. "That?"

"What else am I supposed to call it?" She says in a hushed tone, stepping closer to him. She looks around before continuing, "Like, oh, when we made out in the hallway? Yeah, I remember that."

Noah laughs fully now, eyes scrunching as he throws his head back. A few people stare but Naomi doesn't mind, too busy thinking about how much she's always enjoyed his laugh. She smiles.

"We don't have to call it anything." He says once he's calmed down and looks around himself before his eyes fall back to hers, reaching out to take her hand. She blushes but lets him lace their fingers together. "And we don't have to talk about it right now, but I'd just... I'd like to know where you stand on it."

He looks nervous now, eyes casted down to their hands. His thumb brushes against the back of her hand and she has to stop herself from smiling at the gesture.

"Where I stand?" Her head tilts. "What do you mean?"

Noah shrugs but doesn’t respond, staring down at their connected hands.

"Dude. I cried and told you I loved you. I feel like that should tell you where I stand pretty well."

"Okay, but like I need you to verbally tell me again or else I'm just going to think you did all of that to make me feel better." He whines out and looks away from her bashfully.

She can't help but frown, chest twisting at the thought of Noah thinking she did all of that just to make him calm down. She pulls her hand away from his and steps forward, taking another quick glance around the room to find absolutely no one paying attention to them. She reaches up to cup his cheeks and pulls his head down to stare at her.

"Noah," She hums, thumbs brushing against the tops of his flushing cheeks. "I wasn't saying that just to say it. I love you."

Noah chews on his bottom lip and she can feel his eyes scanning her face, trying to search for any indication that she may be lying. Her heart breaks at that. She can see the worry and doubt in his gaze, and it stays for just a beat longer, but it finally vanishes.

“That was kind of corny.” Noah finally says, a teasing grin pulling at his lips. She lets out a groan, hands dropping from his face.

“We were having a really nice moment and you fucking ruined it.”

Noah laughs, the doubt his face once held long gone, and all Naomi wants to do is lean up and kiss that stupid grin off his face.

“10 minutes till curfew!” Someone yells from across the room.

They finally pull apart and pack up the rest of the boxes, hauling them off to the van. It's a fairly quick process and before she knows it, they're all piling into the van for the night, getting into their designated seats for the next few hours. She practically begged for Noah to let her sit up front, so the other boys can have the backseats to at least try and get some rest. She even asked Nicholas if it was alright but all he did was shrug, buckling himself in the driver's seat.

The beginning of the drive was loud, Jolly and Noah talking about tonight's show with Folio chiming in every so often. Nicholas didn't say much but did say a few things here and there, but never once looked away from the road. Not even an hour later, though, the only thing that could be heard was silence.

"Everything alright?" Nicholas' voice is quiet over the hum of the radio, and she can faintly hear someone snoring in the seat behind her, probably Jolly. She has to stifle her laughter as she looks over at him.

"Yeah," She hums, shifting in her seat. "Everything's peachy."

There's a moment of silence before he speaks again. "You know I can always tell when you're lying, right?"

She freezes, glancing up at Nicholas. He's already looking at her, briefly, before he focuses back on the road. Her eyes drop to his hands and watches as they grip the steering wheel, and she's surprised they're not turning white with how tight his grip is. She shifts in her seat again, pulling a leg up to rest underneath her.

"I wasn't lying." Her eyes drop to her lap and she picks at her nails. "Everything is alright, Nicky. Promise."

"Okay." She looks up and sees his grip loosen around the wheel before his gaze catches hers again. "Next question. If there's something going on, you would tell me. Yes or no?"

This one catches her off guard and the air gets stuck in her throat, only for a moment, and she tries to swallow it away.

"Elaborate."

She's stalling. Naomi barely had any time to sit and talk to Noah about what happened earlier, let alone think about what she would tell Nicholas. Oddly enough she's scared to tell him, scared to see his reaction because for some reason she feels like it's going to screw everything up. Just like Noah had mentioned.

"Like..." He drags the word out. "Let's say something happened earlier... and it was kind of huge... because it could change everything, you would still tell me.”

Oh.

She feels her heart pound against her chest, and she looks down again. It shouldn't be this fucking hard to tell Nicholas that she and Noah kissed. It shouldn't be this hard to tell him that she loves Noah and wants to be with him. These are things you share with your best friend, so why does it feel so wrong?

It's the same reason you never told Noah about your almost kiss with Nicholas, her mind yells at her. She swallows thickly and ignores the voice in her head.

"Well," Naomi starts, picking her head up. "If something did happen, and it was something that could change everything, maybe I'm trying to find the best way to tell you."

Another moment of silence washes over them and she tries to read his face, tries to see how he handles her words, but there’s nothing. Not even a twitch. He just stares blankly at the road, lips pressed in a line.

“If that’s the case,” His voice was much lower than before, “then I want to remind you that you’re my best friend. You should be able to tell me anything.”

She sighs. “It’s complicated, Nicky.”

“How so?”

That she can’t exactly answer. With another sigh she looks out the window, barely able to see the world passing by with how dark it was.

“The second I say something, it’ll change everything, and…” She shrugs. “Maybe I don’t want anything to change. Maybe I like the way things are now.”

“How do you know things will change?”

“God, you are so full of questions tonight.” She tries to keep her voice light, but the sharpness is heard from a mile away. She hears Nicholas sigh next to her.

“Mimi.” Another long sigh. “You know all I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy, right?”

She finally looks at him again, lips dipping into a frown. He’s focused on the road, eyes never wavering, but she knows he’s waiting for her to respond. She nods.

“Of course, but-“

“Then if whatever happened could end up making you happy,” Nicholas cuts her off, eyes flickering towards her before looking back to the road, “then why should I let that come between us? That’s kind of ridiculous.”

She doesn’t respond, letting his words sink in. He’s right, in a way, but she still thinks he doesn’t fully understand. For the last three years it’s just been the three of them – Noah, Nicholas, and Naomi. If her and Noah make this thing official, it could change the entire dynamic, and for some reason the thought of losing this type of bond with the two boys makes her sick to her stomach.

“You don’t have to tell me now.” Nicholas continues. “But as long as you’re happy, and as long as Noah’s happy,” She doesn’t miss the emphasis on the younger boys’ name, “then I’m happy.”

His words make something in her chest ache, eyes burning with tears. She stares hard at the side of his face, begging him with her eyes to look at her, but he never takes his gaze off the road.

“Nicky.”

“Mimi.”

He finally looks at her now, and she swears she sees tears brimming his eyes, but the van is so dark she probably just made it up. She tries to swallow her own away, throat tightening as a fresh new set burned at her eyes.

"I know change can be scary," Nicholas starts off slowly, a sigh slipping out after his words, "but sometimes... change is good. You shouldn't stop yourself from experiencing this because you're worried about what other people think."

He looks at her now and she has to bite her lip to hold back the tears burning at her eyes. When the hell did she get so emotional? Nicholas' eyes dart to her lap and then back up to her, and they're both reaching out at the same time. She laces their fingers and squeezes their hands together. He smiles, though it's small.

"I know I keep saying it but it’s true… all I want is for you to be happy. Can you do that for me?"

She pauses. “I can try.”

“Good.” That answer seems to satisfy him enough, eyes dropping to their hands one more time before he focuses back on the road.

For some reason she feels relieved by his words and gives his hand another squeeze. She tries telling herself that this was the universes way of letting her know that things will be alright, but something twisting in her gut is telling her the complete opposite.

She chooses to ignore it and holds onto Nicholas’ hand tightly.

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a-lonely-dunedain · 2 months

Note

Starting out with an out there option -- Margim!

(for this ask game where you send in one of my OCs, and I give you a synopsis of what it would look like if they were the main NPC in a tutorial quest)

oh interesting! torn on weather this would make the starting zone Mordor or Dunland (or somewhere in-between). hmm I think we'll go with Dunland, bc Mordor would basically just end up as either "Bitter Ash and Stubborn Flowers but You are Celeair" or "Stout-Axe 2: Electric Boogaloo" lol

So your character is traveling through northern Dunland, as one does, and encounters a gleaming white stag. It runs away when you approach, but stops before it gets out of eyeshot and looks back at you, almost as if it's expecting you to follow. So you do follow it, briefly lose sight of it, and find yourself on the outskirts of an encampment of clanless Dunlanding brigands. You see someone else besides you lurking outside the camp and quietly approach them

She introduces herself as Margim, and you learn that she was led here in the same way you were. The quest text would make note of her strange and somewhat unnatural appearance, but weather or not your character actually knows what the yellow eyes and ashy skin mean is left ambiguous. (she is still wearing her armor from Mordor, but at this point she's scuffed off any eye emblems denoting it as such, so the PC would only notice that it seems badly damaged) Regardless, the quest tracker would read "remain on guard" while you're talking to her.

She will tell you that she has been watching the camp for a little while now, and saw that the brigands seem to have captured some people from a nearby village. While she's not sure exactly why the stag led you both here, she guesses it might have something to do with that. She will mention that she has not been in Dunland for very long and has found very little welcome from its inhabitants, but that "it's understandable" and she holds no ill will towards them, so she wishes to help the captured people. Your character, of course, agrees to help her rescue them. Because even if you don't trust her, There Are People Who Need Help and what kind of adventurer would you be if you passed that up?

(This bit is unnecessary, but it would be funny to have the classic "let's have a quick sparring match to see if you know how to fight, here's my spare [Your Classe's Weapon] you can use, just [Right Click] on that satchel-" etc etc. while you're like, right outside the camp presumably trying to be sneaky. It's somewhat immersion breaking but also I think it would be funny)

anyway, you go in, kick ass, [untie prisoners: 3/3] and regroup outside. The people, who you learn belong to the Stag Clan, are grateful but still seem a bit wary of you, at least until learning that you were both led there by a visage of a White Stag. They don't know exactly what that means either, but evidently the White Stag is a Big Deal to them and one showing up is almost always a good omen. They then invite you to Lhan Tarren so they can properly thank you for helping them.

short timeskip, you've arrived in the village and had a small feast to celebrate the return of the captured villagers. Margim will mention that she found it a little overwhelming to be around so many people, but she is grateful that, for once, she seems to be welcome somewhere. "At least for the time being", she adds. Now that everything is winding down you're both getting ready to leave, but are approached by Elain, who offers to let you stay in her house if you would like to remain in the village a bit longer. (They just get so few visitors you see, and she's very excited to hear about all your adventures!)

the player character respectfully declines (they have to go Looking for Adventure), but Margim just looks genuinely shocked and goes

"..." "...I'm allowed to stay?"

and the instance basically ends there.

it might actually work similarly to the River-Hobbit intro, being a short adventure your character does on their way north that eventually ends with you arriving in Mossward (although for it to work with the timeline your character would need to stay in Mossward/somewhere between Trum Dreng and Mossward for a few years before the orc attack that sets everything in motion lol)

#also when I mentioned a while back that Margim and Lothrandir might have met one another before #this was actually the circumstances I was imagining. well one of them at least #the player character here is swapped out for Lothrandir basically lol #ask game #lotro #lotro oc #Margim #elain lotro

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postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 10 months

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Good Omens 2 Episode 3: well that was depressing (and ominous)

An episode that smells of plot and foreshadowing. Just when Nina and Maggie were about to talk about their feelings, bam, cold water drenches them. Just when Elspeth and Morag are about to dig up the body that will get some money to improve their lives a little, bam, Morag dies. It doesn’t take a genius to guess what this is foreshadowing is for. Season 2 being act 2 aka The Empire Strikes Back and all.

Then there’s falling/being pulled down. The men from the graveyard watch fall in a hole that Crowley goes a little overboard with. Crowley gets pulled down by hell after he does a good deed. While the empty box Gabriel came with is always ominously there with its arrows pointing up, this episode also added some imagery about going down. Also ominous.

And lateness. Too late to save Morag, too late - Crowley starts dreading - to save Aziraphale, or at least the life they’ve cut out for themselves. Timing is a theme in the episode. The surgeon wasn’t able to save the boy with cancer because it was too “early” for the medicine discoveries that could save him. The surgeon also wouldn’t dig up the bodies himself because that would take too much time away from his work. Elspeth gets a really nice about of money, but it’s too late to share it with her friend.

The whole episode is fast and chaotic, people always moving around, the busy streets of London, needing to go fast to escape who’s chasing you. Even Aziraphale drives, and tries to keep under the speed limit but doesn’t get to. Crowley ends up spinning around the pavement as his demon informant keeps changing her position around him.

Both Aziraphale and Crowley are getting involved in something out of their comfort zone. Things going too fast, things being confusing and unsettling. Crowley high on laudanum getting very small and then very big represents how they’re not... the right size for what is happening.

And they also don’t quite help each other, as they both add to the other’s distress with the Bentley and the bookshop. Their relationship has gotten very good (the scene where they face Muriel as a couple is perfect) but it’s not perfect yet. The Bentley and the bookshop each only belong to one of them, they don’t have reached the point yet where they are 100% a “we”. For certain things, they are still a “you and me”, as shown by Crowley living in the car with his plants because that’s his own home.

Basically, the emotional resolution of their relationship is going to be when what belongs to one also fully belongs to the other, and they are 100% a “we”. And we’re constantly getting closer to that, but there’s still some road to go.

In fact, in the episode there is also a case of them closinng their distance a little in terms of worldview. Aziraphale gets into the whole Edinburgh situation with a lot of abstract, rigid ideas about good and evil, and learns something about the reality of poverty and how that distorts the opportunities for good.

Crowley already knows all of that - being a demon, he’s more familiar with the intricacies of humanity, with the gritty and the murky of the human experience, but also with the good that is found there. Angels - as we keep getting reminded in scenes where they are totally clueless about humanity - know much less.

But thanks to his experiences among humans and alongside Crowley, Aziraphale learns. In the present time, he almost knows enough about humanity to pass reasonably as one of them, albeit an eccentric one (but really, what’s more human than being a little weird?). None of the other angels can remotely do that.

It’s no coincidence than the first supernatural entity other than the two protagonists to feel like they want more from life is Beelzebub. Hell is closer to the gritty and murky of humanity.

Speaking of Beelzebub. Gabriel lampshading the presence of a fly inside the bookshop definitely feels relevant. I expect Beelzebub and Gabriel to have a mirroring narrative. Gabriel, thanks to his lack of memories, is expericing humanity and the little joys of it - the hot chocolate - while Beelzebub is feeling discontented with the bleakness of hell.

They’ve been framed before as sides of the same coin, having the same role but on the two opposite sides. Are they going to meet in the middle, somehow?

(As Gabriel says, the books don’t stay where he puts them, because of gravity. But flies go up. Books are Aziraphale, flies are Beelzebub. Foreshadowing much?)

We’ll see, we’ll see. (Well. I’m the only one on here who still needs to see, but hey.)

#good omens #good omens spoilers #good omens meta #my good omens thoughts #good omens 2x03

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phantomram-b00 · 7 months

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So I realize I never did an introduction before, untillll now as spooky season is here so why not make-

Boo!

Gotcha >:) but as I was saying, I thought why not make one now, (and maybe one day I might make those meet the artist, let see)

Soooo, spooky to meet you, I’m Phantomram…BOO

Sorry had to again. But you can call me Phantom or Ram; whichever you prefer or all together, hey, the world is your oysters. Or ostrich. Just a shy yet very talkative ghost that love to talk about good omens. If you ever wanted to talk, you can just please be mindful, I am shy and not the best with conversations but I’m happy to talk. And uh, if you ever want to ask me question whether to get to know be better or ask anything about good omens, Ahh you can ask in the ask my anything box ^^ but I will reveal info here starting now!

About me:

-Age: 21 (or as my family member say, I’m old.)

-Zodiac: I’m an April Aries!

-MBTI: INFP

-🇵🇷

-height: 5’3 (I’mma fun-sized ghost)

- just to add as I wasn’t comfortable at the time but now I am, I’m autistic ^v^

My scary interest:

-GOOD OMENS! (I love this show and also the book as I’m slowly reading it. I’ve watch this back in 2019/2020? And I love it and waited when the second season came and it did and now I’m loving this show and now going to wait patiently for season 3. But for now, this is my main hyperfixation, and I can’t get enough of it. I love it. But I promise I do have other interest to so let continue 😅)

- Art/drawing/(sometimes) writing

- magic/fantasy

- music (my music taste is haha complicate.)

- books (I love them, I wish my attention span a bit better but I do love a good read.)

- horror movies

- dnd

- oversized jackets! (Specifically the one with the zippers) or trench coats.

- mythology.

- Halloween

-Broadway/Movies/Shows

Shows/movies/books/games I love:

- Good omens (love love love!)

- Little shops of horrors

- Soul eater

- Coraline (I do wanna read the book tho)

- Star Wars (I seriously still need to catch up to watch Ahsoka aahhhh! 😭)

- Transformers

- Sally Face

- Percy Jackson (haven’t finished reading but I do like it so far and I can’t wait for the show coming up)

-murder drones

- FNAF (yes I’m excited for the movie coming out, I’ve been waiting for this movie since middle school-)

- MK (mortal Kombat)

- owl house/Amphibia/ducktales/Svtfoe

-TMNT (edit: because I forgot to add this Idek how I forgot this)

And more that I can’t think of. I can’t collect them all, I’m not ash Ketchum or any Pokémon trainer. I’m just a ghost on the internet let me have this.

Four random fact about me:

- when it came to doing the MBTI test, my introvert was almost 100%.

- despite being Latine/Latinx I can’t speak Spanish to save my life 😅

- my mom once banned coraline because it was “too scary”

- I learn about zodiac because of animal crossing of all things

“Can I use the ask me anything?”/dm you?: yes! You can ^^ I know some used it (for the ask me anything at least), but if you want to ask me anything go right ahead. I’m happy to answer (almost) anything you like. As for the dm, sure, especially if you’re a mutual I have here, you can ^v^, just all I ask is please be respectful and be mindful. That literally all I ask from you :))

However what I do not allow on this page and imma make this very clear: if you are racist, homophobic, transphobic or just bottom line don’t care about humans rights or any rights at all. Please go and do fucking better and leave me and my fellow ghostly pals alone. Please and thank you very much.

‼️BOUNDRIES: please do not use my ama for donations ask as scammers are using this tactic. If you disrespect this, I will ignore or delete your ask. Please use my AMA for anything else. Any questions. Please don’t cross this boundaries ‼️

And uhh, I guess that’s all. Have a spooky Friday 🤭

#intro post #introductory post #hi 😅#this was probably long overdue but it here now #hi tumblr #phantomram-b00 #might make a meet the artist

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teashoptiramisu · 1 year

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Fluffy fanfic rec list

On one of my Discord servers people were talking about how people seem more likely to recommend angsty fic, so I decided to put together a fluff rec list, just for fun! This is gonna be a variety of fandoms, wordcount length, genres, etc. -- the common factor is I like ‘em and they turned up when I search “fluff” in my bookmarks. I’ll point out if any are nsfw

ATLA

see your son rising at last by aloneintherain -- ATLA -- 6.5k words -- Iroh & Zuko 5+1 things fic

North by ryfkah -- ATLA -- 300 words -- short & sweet Appa POV fic

definitely not suspicious at all in the least by presumenothing -- ATLA -- 1k words -- post-canon Gaang shenanigans

All The Gentle Creatures by Haicrescendo -- ATLA -- 10k words -- animals love Zuko, he’s basically a Disney Princess

Yuri!!! On Ice

see you next level by verity -- YoI -- 1.5k words -- Yuuri, Viktor & Phichit get drunk & watch TV, Yuuri & Viktor continue to be the most adorably sappy couple

Friendship!!! Is Magic by afrai -- YoI & OHSHC -- 10k words -- Yuuri & Haurhi meet at a conference and become friends. Viktor & Tamaki make fools of themselves (but what else is new)

Howl’s Moving Castle (mostly bookverse)

Second Time Lucky by labellementeuse -- HMC -- 5.5k words -- Howl & Sophie plan their wedding (lol i spelled that “weeding” on the first try... also accurate). As you might expect for these two it doesn’t go without some hiccups.

Could it be magic? by SpiritedYoungLady -- HMC -- 500 words -- Howls comes back from night with the rugby club, and Sophie is unamused

Fulllmetal Alchemist (mostly bhood/manga)

All That Describes a Joyful Heart by anthrop -- FMA -- 3k words -- Hohenheim & Trisha cook together during a winter storm & they are simply TOO ADORABLE. Features some Xerxian cultural headcanons inspired by Nowruz (Persian New Year) traditions!

And They Were ROOMMATES by Turbulent_Muse -- FMA -- 30k words -- Modern AU in which college student!Ling moves into a haunted house, but since the rent is too good to pass up, he decides to try and befriend the demon. Greedling friendship & adventure fic.

Science for People Who Hate Science by Tierfal -- FMA -- 66k words -- Royed Modern AU, but even if you dislike that ship you might want to give this one a chance; it’s really more of an origfic about two characters losely inspired by Roy & Ed. They run a goofy educational youtube channel and are two dorks in love. Al shows up to make fun of them sometimes. It’s a good time!

The Sleeping Horror of Whiskerford by Eltea -- FMA -- 3.5k words -- another modern AU, in which the gang (Ed, Al, Winry, Riza, Roy, Hughes) plays D&D. Worth it for Ed’s character sheet alone, but overall just a hilarious & fun time.

A Clowder of Cats by Batsutousai -- FMA -- 4k words -- post-canon (a more-or-less canon universe fic for once!), Al settles down and adopts a bunch of cats (AS HE DESERVES)

Teen Wolf

the butt is a gift by lazulisong -- Teen Wolf -- 1.5k words -- Stiles is pinned to the couch by cats. I think this is part of a larger AU but tbh I don’t care: Stiles, cats, relatable dilemmas, what more do I need?

When the Bough Breaks by The Feels Whale (miscellea) -- Teen Wolf -- 12k words -- A bit of a weird one, but sometimes I like my TW fic weird. post-canon-ish/canon-divergence with endgame Sterek; Stiles is on the outs with Derek’s pack until they learn that he’s adopted a baby, and then they’re suddenly all over to dote on her. I actually really mostly liked this for Stiles’ single parent struggles and (platonic) relationship with the baby’s birth mother, the werewolf stuff & romance was cute but mostly incidental.

Misc fandoms

it's a new craze by attheborder -- Good Omens -- 5k words -- Crowley & Aziraphale start an advice podcast

Hot Springs and New Beginnings by CorundumBleu -- Hollow Knight -- 3k words -- in a good ending universe, Quirrel, the Knight, and The Last Stag relax at a hot springs and discuss hopes for the future. I recommend looking through CorundumBleu’s other HK fics as well -- there’s a couple other good fluff fics in there and some most angsty but still amazing stories! (I’m biased: CB is my sister & I helped edit these, but still, I think they’re great!)

Sufficient by atheilen -- The Goblin Emperor -- 2k words -- deaged!Maia; in which everyone and particularly Beshelar shows how much they care for and cherish Maia.

Sick Day by avg (AnxiousEspada) -- The Murderbot Diaries -- 4k words -- Overse & Arada are sick; Ratthi and later Murderbot visit to help them out. “To everyone’s surprise, a feverish Overse is SecUnit approved humor-fuel.” (P.S. if you like this fic consider checking out my sequel to it!)

Thrilling Night! Romantic Adventure at the Video Rental Store! by Masu_Trout -- Undertale -- 2.5k words -- wonderful Outsider POV of an employee at a video rental store who gets the admittedly uncertain priviledge of helping Alphys and Undyne pick out a movie to rent for their date night. I’m still not over the movie they end up picking, OMG.

Gonna add a reblog with BNHA, Natsuyu, Gravity Falls, and maybe some HP recs tomorrow.

Also, if you like these fics and know of more like them, feel free to let me know! I’m always taking fic recs (I’m slow to get around to them but I WILL save your recs for later) :P

#not atla #but also atla #fic recs #fanfic #yoi #hmc #fma #teen wolf #good omens #the goblin emperor #the murderbot diaries #undertale

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softguarnere · 1 year

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Like A Girl (Like A Man)

Shifty Powers x OFC

Chapter 15: Something Like That

Summary: “There’s a girl?!” Skinny tries to swat him from across the table. “Powers, you’ve been holding out on me!”

A/N: I finally remembered to create an AO3 and post this fic there if you would like to read it on another platform!

Warnings: alcohol, language

Taglist: @latibvles @liebgotts-lovergirl @lieutenant-speirs @ithinkabouttzu @mrs-murder-daddy

England, 1944

They don’t leave England. Which is probably for the best, because as soon as they’re about to load the planes, Heffron – or Babe, as they’ve come to know him – freezes, staring up at the pin-up painted on it. Darling Doris seems like a bad omen, he tells them, considering that he just got a Dear John letter from a girl back home by the same name. Bill slaps him on the back and chirps a line about Babe never having to get inside Doris again. It quickly becomes the company’s new favorite joke.

They don’t jump. Veterans of Normandy don’t complain.

What they do instead is continue living while they can – some would argue that they manage to get a bit more restless with it, if that’s possible.

Bill tends to assign Zenie and Babe guard duty together. He always stops by to shoot the shit and laugh it up when he makes the rounds. He wouldn’t be laughing quite so hard if he knew that the two of them sometimes sneak away to go into town and hit the dance halls. Zenie can’t decide if he would be more upset about them shirking their duties or painting the town without him.

In the time they spend together, Zenie learns that Babe’s personality matches his bright Philly laugh. His wit is as quick as he himself is on his feet – Easy Company has a champion jitterbug dancer on their hands.

Babe falls into the chair beside her, breathless. His smile is wide as he picks up his drink and downs it. Then he lets out a breathless laugh and shakes his head. The band strikes up their next song and the pulse of the pub starts to beat again as dancers take to the floor. A few eyes are on Babe, wondering if he’s going to put them all to shame again. Zenie can’t decide if he doesn’t notice them or if he just doesn’t care. After that last dance, he looks beat.

“That was quite the performance.” The music is so loud that Zenie has to lean across the table to be heard.

Babe’s smile widens, if that’s possible. “Never know when the Airborne is going to be needed again. Gotta treat every one like it’s the last, ya know?” They have to live while they can. He leans in even further, like they’re sharing a secret. “Why don’t you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Dance! You’ve just been sittin’ here all night, watchin.’ What’s the point of sneakin’ out to have a good time if ya don’t?”

Coming from anyone else, it would probably sound judgmental. Or at least, Zenie would take it that way. From Babe, though . . . He just looks curious in that open way that he has about him. Like he doesn’t bother guarding his feelings and thoughts because he has no reason to hide them.

Zenie shrugs. “Guess there is no good reason.” Other than what would happen if she were found out. Or her previous experience with dance floors and parties; memories of that stupid Christmas party with everyone staring at her swirl in her mind. “I just . . . Oh, it’s so stupid. I don’t want to end up being the butt of the joke.”

One of Babe’s eyebrows shoots up. “Everyone here is havin’ a good time, though. And a coupla those girls three tables over have been starin’ atcha all night. You’re a paratrooper, Tommy. Ain’t nobody gonna mess with ya.”

She pretends to think about it. Then she actually does think about it. Everyone else is living while they can, and she’s not even living. Her whole life she’s wanted to be out there with everyone else – no longer stuck in the audience just watching the show. Besides, ever since the brothel she seems to have forgotten that to (almost) everyone else she is Tommy, and Tommy is a character that can be whoever the hell she wants him to be!

What had she decided on her way to Toccoa? Tommy Driver would be brave and friendly. As Matthew had once said to her “Zena McGlamery can’t deliver the lines because she’s afraid. But do you know who’s not afraid?” Except now instead of “the angel,” the answer is Tommy – who can be whatever she wants him to be.

Tommy Driver wouldn’t let a little romantic setback slow him down or send him into a slump. Tommy Driver would move on with his life and live it to the fullest while he could. Tommy Driver wouldn’t worry about being laughed at because he would be laughing along with whoever made the joke. Tommy Driver is his own person – his value is no longer dependent on other people’s perceptions.

“You know what? You’re right.” Zenie downs her drink and stands. Just for good measure, she throws Babe a cheeky wink before saddling up to one of the tables behind them and flashing the girls there a winning grin. She extends her hand to the one sitting closest to her – a brunette with bold lipstick that matches her dress. “Care to dance?”

As they head onto the dance floor, Zenie catches a glimpse of Babe back at the table. His mouth is open, but when he sees her looking, he laughs. Not at her. She laughs too. The girl that she’s asked to dance laughs, even though she wouldn’t get it.

They jump onto the dance floor, throwing themselves into the fray. The girl is quick, and with her eyeliner and with that look in her eyes, she reminds Zenie of a fox. Not one to be stopped from breaking into a chicken coop, but one that let’s you catch glimpses of it from the woods without ever getting close enough to catch it.

Zenie, however, feels like a bird as they fly through the dance, the ups and downs of the music carrying them to new heights. Colors and sounds blur around her as they dip and spin. Her cheeks hurt from grinning by the time the song ends. Her heart pounds in her chest as she applauds the band. Even after all those runs up Currahee, she finds herself utterly breathless, though in the best possible way. Everyone else was dancing, but she was just coming to life out there; remembering who she is and why she started this whole thing to begin with.

“You’ve been holding out on me!” Babe accuses when she weaves her way back to the table after a few more dances. “Too bad you ain’t a girl, or else we’d make one hell of a jitterbug team!”

Zenie accepts the drink he slides to her and rehydrates before she looks him dead in the eye and lies. “Yeah, too bad.”

When everyone at the table breaks into laughter over something Skinny says, Zenie accidentally catches Shifty’s eye from across the table. Something about his smile is a little sad. It tugs at her heart strings. Sometimes she catches herself thinking that if only they could go back to before the brothel . . . If only all of those I don’t wants were never spoken. Tommy may have gained a newfound confidence after that night of dancing at the pub, but something very distinctly Zenie still aches whenever she thinks about being alone with him – letting him drive the final nail into the coffin.

She and Babe have snuck out dancing several more times when Bill sticks them on guard duty. It’s not something that Zenie would ever have imagined herself doing, yet something about it is thrilling. Nothing spectacular happens. The nights and their events bleed together into one nondescript blur. All that really matters is that something about breaking the rules with Babe is freeing. He does things so effortlessly that you can’t help following along with him. He’s so much fun that you want to go where he goes.

Tonight she doesn’t follow him, though. The whole company has filed into the pub, wild and free, and Babe is engaged in a game of darts on the other side of the room with Luz, Toye, and Buck Compton. Bill is around somewhere.

Even though they’re spread out, something about the night reminds her of the one where her friends tried to gift her a pin-up of Beckie. Maybe it’s just because Shifty is watching her from across the table again. She tries not to think about that.

Skinny bumps his shoulder against hers. “What about you, Tommy?”

“Huh?”

He rolls his eyes. “Jesus, where’d you go? Webster said he was gonna finish college after the war. Muck said he was gonna get married lickity-split. And I’m gonna throw the homecoming party to end all parties. What about you?”

“Oh. I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Don’t you think about it?”

Webster clears his throat. “It’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t know. It doesn’t always do well to dwell on an uncertain future.” He offers Zenie a reassuring smile. She returns it.

Every now and then someone brings up home and Zenie realizes that going back to her old life would mean something very different for her than it would for any of the men in her company. They would gain the freedom to go back to their lives, their family and friends, who will heap adoration on them for what they have done . . . And Zenie will have – ?

“I dunno.” She shrugs because she doesn’t. Tommy probably does. “I guess as soon as they announce it’s all over and done with, I’ll grab the prettiest girl, giver her a spin, and we’ll cut a rug to celebrate.”

From the other side of the table, Skip claps. “Now you’re talking!”

“What about you, Shifty?” Skinny asks.

The table falls quiet as they wait. Shifty takes a sip of his drink. Sets it down, studies the glass. A shy smile tugs at his lips.

“Ooooh! That means a girl!” Skip crows.

“There’s a girl?!” Skinny tries to swat him from across the table. “Powers, you’ve been holding out on me!”

Across the table, Webster catches her eye. He hasn’t spent a lot of time with their group – a positive for Zenie, because he’s mistaken her silence to be a reflection of his own confusion.

“Well now,” Shifty begins. He clears his throat, his smile faltering. “See, it’s complicated.” This earns more drawn out Oh!s from the other men. Zenie’s heart clenches, sputtering out a stunned response: Oh?

“There is – uh, was, I guess – a girl. The situation was unique, you know. Hard to navigate. Not a relationship, see, that could . . . I dunno the word. The war would have made things very complicated, it what I’m tryin’ to say.”

Webster leans in a bit, fully engrossed by the drama of the new group he’s sitting with. “Is she back in America? Or a nurse, or something, whose job took her far away?”

Shifty takes another sip of his drink, long and slow, making them wait. He runs his tongue over his teeth. “Something like that.”

Zenie is sitting across the table from him, yet the distance feels distorted. He’s simultaneously very close and very far away. What is he even saying? Knowing that he’s talking about her makes her heart pound, blood rushing in her ears the way that wind howls through the naked treetops on winter nights.

“Well don’t keep us in suspense,” Skip urges.

Shifty clears his throat. Is it Zenie’s imagination, or does he give her a quick glance before he stares back down at his drink. In the dim light of the pub, his cheeks tinge the slightest pink when he speaks.

“I’m hopin’ that maybe after the war that we can be together. As a proper couple. You know, like everyone else gets to be. I just hope –“ He cuts himself off.

At some point they all lean closer to hear him better. Blood still roars in Zenie’s ears. Maybe Shifty didn’t pause; maybe she’s so nervous that she just can’t hear him. Everything that he’s saying seems too good to be true. She wants to urge him on, but her breath is hitched in her throat.

“You hope what?” Webster prompts.

This time, Zenie doesn’t imagine Shifty’s glance. Because it’s not a glance – he looks her in the eye when he says, “I hope that she can forgive me for askin’ her – makin’ her wait. And I hope that she’ll still feel somethin’ for me. I’ve been hopin’ to tell her that the first time that we’re alone together.”

Once again, the expert marksman’s words hit their mark with complete and utter accuracy. Zenie’s heart feels cold as all her adrenaline fades away with Shifty’s conclusion.

We can talk about this more another time, he had said that night in the brothel. I’ve been hopin’ to tell her that the first time that we’re alone together, he said tonight. And she wouldn’t let him get close to her unless other people were around.

But maybe if we – he had started to say before Earl fired his gun. I’m hopin’ that maybe after the war that we can be together. As a proper couple, he finished tonight. He was trying to ask her to wait. All of his I don’t want’s were leading up to something.

Well, they aren’t alone now. But he’s certainly told her. How can she even begin to respond? His words might have singlehandedly wiped away all the newfound confidence she gained while dancing a few nights before. Or does that confidence – that realization that her worth doesn’t rely on her relationship to others – make her doubtful of what he says?

No one else at the table seems to know how to respond either. Skinny reaches across the table to pat Shifty’s hand. He opens his mouth, only to be cut off by Smokey’s voice ringing out from the front of the room. A short round of applause and whooping follows before the room quiets down, leaving no room for anyone at their table to speak.

“He says he needs to make an announcement,” Smokey declares before stepping aside and giving First Sergeant Lipton a gentle push forward.

Lipton clears his throat. He’s somber, just like when came to tell the company that they were shipping out on the night that they met Babe.

“Whelp, I hate to break the mood here boys, but we’re moving out again.” He won’t meet their eyes. Then he exits the room, leaving a trail of silence in his wake.

No one speaks. Most people stay seated, and those who are standing shift from foot to foot, not wanting to take the first step and go. Zenie can’t move, can’t speak. She wants to move closer to Shifty and to ask him what all of that meant. He’s staring back across the table at her, stuck in the same dilemma.

Someone finally breaks the spell. People leave their drinks and grab their friends as they slowly migrate to the pub’s exit, the crowd a gentle murmur as they reluctantly move towards their fate. Skinny stands up and the rest of the men at the table follow his lead. He looks like he wants to say something, but Zenie beats him to the punch.

“I’m real sorry, Shifty.” Her own words surprise her. Shifty seems just as shocked. The others agree, and she hopes that he understands that her sorry is an apology for keeping him at a distance and not the obligatory sorry that the rest of their group offers him.

Webster pats the expert marksman on the shoulder. “Me, too. I hope it works out.”

Shifty nods. He throws another glance at her when he says, “Thanks. I do, too.”

Then they follow the rest of the company to the door. Zenie tries to fall back, hoping that Shifty will see her invitation and do the same, but they get pushed along with the throng of paratroopers, swept up in the tide that carries them back to their quarters, leaving them no chance to be alone.

#band of brothers fanfic #shifty powers x original female character #shifty powers #shifty powers x ofc #band of brothers #hbo war #hbo war fanfic #oc zenie mcglamery #my writing #like a girl (like a man)

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randompajamaalt · 8 months

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Aim for the mouth, Shoot past the ear- Because nothing lasts forever

part 1 to an aziracrow fic I’m working on. This part is pretty angsty, and takes place about a month or two after the events of season 2. 705 words, and written while half-asleep- not proofread at all

part of a series!!

part 1 >> part 2 >> (unfinished)

spoilers for good omens!!!!

It had been a long day. A very, very long day. After 6,000 years of pining, Crowley had finally confessed to Aziraphale. Aimed for the mouth. But he missed, and shot past the ear. Now he’s there. Sitting in the bookshop. It almost felt like a graveyard now- it just wasn’t the same without his angel.

“Mister Crowley? I made you some tea!”

Said a familiar voice, walking over to reveal Muriel, happy as always. “I made the sha-momma-lay kind this time!” They said, grinning ear-to-ear.

“Chamomile. Its- its pronounced Chamomile, Muriel.” Crowley murmured, kindly taking the cup of tea the angel had held out to him.

“Sorry. I’m still learning all of the human words.” Said Muriel, their smile weakening sheepishly for a moment before growing again. “But I finally learned what entomology means!”

Crowley’s looked up at them, mildly curious as he sipped his tea. “Oh? And what’s it mean?” He said, more in the way of a parent being taught what the word ‘elk’ meant than actual unknowing.

“The study of insects and bugs!” Said Muriel, still beaming down at Crowley. “Wow. That is.. so interesting.” Murmured Crowley, holding one of his knees to his chest as he quietly drank his tea.

It was quiet like that for a moment. Then it wasn’t. “Do you have a favorite insect or bug, Mister Crowley?” Muriel said, sitting down on the floor next to Crowley’s seat with their knees pulled up to their chest.

“..Moths, maybe..?” He muttered in response, throwing his head back against the chair.

Then quiet again.

The quiet always made Crowley think. And when he thought, it would always lead back to his angel.

Maybe he could just sleep through it. He shifted into a small, black-and-red snake, curling up and getting comfortable. And then he slept.

He didn’t dream much.

When he did dream, it was blurry and he couldn’t make out enough to make sense of anything, but he knew the feeling. The grains of damp sand under his feet. The smell of salt catching on the air. His wings outstretched, stretching. His arms doing the same.

And then.. a light. An unmistakable light. He reached, and reached, and chased, but suddenly he couldn’t breathe. He felt pressure and currents and harsh cold all around him and he realized he was drowning.

The light was gone.

Then he woke up. He was still in his snake form, and so he slithered off the same chair he started on and explored. He was looking for Muriel. The only comfort he still had.

It didn’t take long to find them, though they were asleep. Was that good or bad? They had become human enough to need- or at least want- sleep. Either way, Crowley slithered up onto the desk their head was laying on, curling up beside them and simply watching.

He didn’t want to go back to sleep. He gazed over to the clock on the wall- it was around midnight. He then noticed it was raining. He slithered off the table, shifting back into his humanoid form. He took a deep breath and put on his sunglasses, approaching the door.

How long had it been since he went outside? He had no clue. But he was sure it had been a good long while. And he missed the rain.

So he opened the doors, stepping beyond the threshold of the bookstore. Stepping beyond his final safety.

And stepping into the rain.

And that rain burned, at first. It felt too clean for him- too pure. But then his own tears began to fall, and he realized that those were far more pure than the rain, and it began to cool his burns.

He stood in that rain for a while. He didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to go back inside, and he didn’t want to go any further.

He just wanted to stay. But he couldn’t forever. Nothing is forever.

So he stepped back inside, seeing Muriel standing there. They wrapped their arms around Crowley, clinging tight. He didn’t know how to feel at first, but eventually grasped onto them, choking out a stiff sob.

And they stayed there for a while.

But nothing is forever.

#sorry this was so angsty #crowley #crowley x aziraphale #aziracrow #muriel #muriel and Crowley comforts #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens 3 #wooo I wrote this at 11pm #randompajama writes

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alldaysarenights · 7 days

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The magic of books

I have no idea, if this article will make sense to anyone. But Tumblr is a magic place where people tend to accept the weirdness in others, so you might even find those ideas I'm introducing appealing. Who knows? Certainly not me, I tend to hide from human interaction, as I don’t understand it, but at least I make an effort to try.

Ever since, books have been a strange thing to me. When I was young, I tended to look at comics, but not read the bubbles. The pictures were enough, that’s how my brain worked back then and still does occasionally. But then there was my first book, Harry Potter, if you must know. (Side note: I won’t go into detail here, as I learned that the Author isn’t as nice a person as I imagined her and I would presumably start to rant. So to save time, let’s not speak about it) It got me to fall in love with the written word.

A while back, I applied for a job as librarian, didn’t get the job, but I got something else out of it and that was a question, I took home. Breeding about it. Why didn’t I own a library card?

It’s not because I don’t like libraries. I’m not very fond about the choice of colours in ours, to be honest. The architect could have learned something about the psychology behind colours, but that’s not the point. I remember visiting the school library, back when there still was one. And I’m not quite sure. But I think there also was one at the local church. Yet as a child I didn’t have the possibility to go to town often. Also, nobody told me about the big, public library. And when the surrounding others got closed down, something magical happened. It wasn’t obvious to me, back at the time, but books started to find me, or precisely their way towards me. I never had any troubles to read the books I wanted or needed to.

My pocket money was all spend on mangas and even though we were poor, my mum took me to special outlets where I was allowed to pick up on all my Stephen King books. Somehow people kept gifting, lending or simply throwing books at me. There was no other reason as for me, carving to read everything that found its way into my hands. Except maybe for books about mathematics, I even nearly destroyed one school book back then, and I would never dream about causing dog-ears to a book.

Anyway, books kept turning up out of nowhere, even without a library card, and once I’ve started earning money I’ve invested it to start my own library. Something every literate person will do at a certain point. Yet I still find it interesting how books connect to each other and leave traces for you to follow. I will use one example here, that I've found quite interesting, and that hopefully will illustrate what I mean. Apologies in advance, as it’s on an actual topic. I just think that makes understanding my point a bit easier. I could be totally wrong about everything that follows, the thing is just, that my intuition and by that I’m talking about the little Sherlock inside my head, is certain, that I am right here. Well, time will tell. If I’m erroneous, my apologies (again). It’s built into human nature, to learn from mistakes (at least I hope so).

Like many folks on here, I did watch Good Omens, and ever since, it kept rattling through my brain, as the build up is amazing, and it is written so well and done even better by the whole team, no doubt about that.

The thing is, at one point I got tired of the depression that season 2 caused me, so I decided to distract me, reading a book about introversion, namely: Quiet by Susan Cain. This book had nothing to do with angels or stuff that would trigger me, so I thought. It was just an interesting read after I’ve watched her TED talk. But I wasn’t prepared for the magic that books work sometimes. There was a sentence, just one. It mentioned the speech for liberty of Patrick Henry and quoted his famous words: “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

Boom, there it was, a clue, so shiny and bright, I couldn’t ignore it. My physical response made it impossible, to focus on anything else, where should I put all this adrenaline? To say I have been distracted from the book would be an understatement. I did write an article about my theory, on my main blog and have been super excited. Later on I even found, can’t remember exactly where, but I think it was a tweet, where Neil said something like how hard it was to find a name for a coffee shop that wasn’t already used. This made me laugh. Don’t know if this was intentional at the time (for all we know, writers are liars), or just a happy coincidence, but looking on the coffee shop I definitely know how it played out.

I’m not here to share the whole thing of my theory for S3. I decided that I know as much as I can from the clues given, and that’s enough to still enjoy the thing. Just mentioned it, because I like how everything ties together in the end. I even found another, I’m not so sure about, but this one will remain secret, for now.

What I tried to show you is, how things are connected in the most unexpected ways. And that reading widely will expand the knowledge and fun of the thing. At least everything builds up on each other. How did Holmes put it? There is nothing new under the sun.

Not even for Arthur Conan Doyle. As this quote can be traced back to the bible (Ecclesiastes 1:9 in the Old Testament). If you happen to read Edgar Allan Poe, especially the short stories about his detective Dupin, you might even have noticed, that the tone slightly reminds one of Watson. And we know that Doyle was a fan of Poe.

So, I guess, I’m closing this very long article with a final thought. Everything goes in circles, and if you trust that you’ll find what you need right now, it will find you eventually. If you keep looking or in this case keep reading, even though you might not know what. Trust your instincts and read what comes to your hands or sounds interesting right now. Surprise yourself. The best thing is, that sources of information aren’t limited to reading, you can find them everywhere, if you focus hard enough. Who knows, it might be a source of inspiration.

#reading #books and reading #books and libraries #good omens #arthur conan doyle #edgar allan poe

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beyejun · 1 month

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yejun performs cake with team b | for ep 3

it's certainly not his first time on stage. yejun can only hope that it's not his last. if he's eliminated tonight, then what was the point of any of this? what was the point of losing his home, his relationship with his family? as dramatic as it sounds, it's quite literally what he sacrificed the moment he decided to appear on television. maybe it was inevitable. maybe yejun was always going to rebel eventually, play music with his friends or pursue idol-dom otherwise. but to happen now, on the eve of the first elimination round... it feels like a bad omen hanging in the air.

maybe the makeup on his face, the grungy costume to help sell their villain-eque concept, and the professional lights and cameras are still a bit new and overwhelming to him, but at least the weight of the guitar in his hands is familiar. he wraps his fingers around the neck, both muting the strings in case of any accidental sounds before he's supposed to begin and for his own comfort, like a child grabbing onto a toy. he glances at yuwol, seira, and chaerin and can't help but wonder if they're as nervous as he is. he hopes not; he feels awful.

the lights dim and yejun knows to be ready. they have some control over the start of their own song, after all; they're playing their own instrumental intro before leaving the instruments behind to get into the typical idol stuff, singing and dancing. he takes one last deep breath while he still has the chance, trying to shake off as many nerves as possible. yejun looks to his teammates and waits for their cue to start.

he hasn't played guitar on stage very many times, but it comes just as easily as hiding behind the drum set at the back of the stage had back when he performed with eat schmidt, dead calm, and then that's classified. there's something about an instrument in his hands, something he's confident in and has full control of, that makes him feel a little better. he's glad that they decided to do this first. by the time they're discarding their instruments and taking over the center of the stage, yejun has a moment to collect his bearings and decide that he does have the confidence to do this.

the good thing about all of this practice is that he already feels his endurance getting better from week to week, his voice a little easier and less breathless even during the harder parts of the dance. he feels stronger, more confident. yejun even feels good about the intricate hand movements that had made him doubt himself earlier in practice. chaerin is a good teacher.

i wonder if they're watching, he finds the red light of a camera, not quite realizing he's smiling into the lens until after it moves away from him. would they feel like he's mocking them, that he's rubbing his 'bad decision' in their faces? yejun hopes not; he hopes there's something left of his family he can return to once this is all over. but he can't stop to worry about them, his drummer's sense of rhythm keeping his body on beat, his voice singing his to heart's content.

as they strike the final pose, yejun can't help the smile across his face. no, this is exactly where he needs to be. this is what he was born for, what he was always meant to do. even if he's still making mistakes, if he still has a lot to learn, he'll do what he can to make it.

frankly, at this point, he has no other choice.

#be:ngs2p3 #.solo

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bychertryntheatyr · 1 year

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The long introduction to this blog.

Well, i "accidentally" started reading books this year. It just kinda happened. Watching YT all evening got more and more boring. I need something more productive! Have a look at my friend, reading book after book. How do they do it? Wait, wasn't there a fantasy/romance by a content creator i follow for years and got into writing recently?

So this year in march I purchased the german funtasy romance Mona. Even read the whole 400ish pages. Took me about 2 months but I was proud. Finally a finished book!

So i went through my pile of shame and found the german edition of Good Omens. I bought it when the "TV" adoption came out, but didn't get the hang of it. The second attempt took me just two or three weeks.

In about a week I reread the german satire Qualityland and the sequel Qualityland 2.0. After that I pushed myself through Babylon Berlin, (Der nasse Fisch) a crime novel set in 1920s Berlin.

Dipped my toe into Warrior Cats! Yep I started this massive clusterfuck. No i won't learn the English names of the cats. The german ones confused me enough.

After that I read my favourite book of the year, which was the first one in english since school: Loveless. I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK. Big fucking mood. Thats me. Im Ace too! I relate to her! Yes girl, let's go!!!

Also the second part in the Mona trilogy. Cant wait for the final book! More fantasy? What about Talus Part 2 and Part 1. Yep, I read them out of order. We should do this more often.

Does anyone know about Fabian - The story of a moralist by Erich Kästner? I googled if theres an english version, which exists, but does anyone read this book if they're not in german high school? Its really scary how relevant it still is.

Now its December 2022 and I am reading book number 12. And somehow it is Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Good Lord. What happened???

Big part of next year will be reading Priory of the orange tree. Im scared. 800 pages are a very high number for me. And i bought the original english version. Could take me at least 3 hard and long month to finsh.

If you're still with me, why do i start another book blog? I already do this on the light blue hell site! But more for myself (and friends who dont mute my hashtag i chose for it). But here i can do better shitpost, have more than 240 letters for rants AND can force me to write more in english. Yes, as i indirect stated and you already guessed it from the poor english and unfamiliar book titles, im from germany. But this blog should still work, even if theres no english version for some german books.

So, let's have some fun!

#another book blog #book blog introduction #books i read this year #partimebookrants #ptbr #mona #loveless #good omens #qualityland #talus #warrior cats #Shakespeare

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inhuman-obey-me · 3 years

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Payback's a Murder

Word Count: 2k Description: Mammon may be the Avatar of Greed and may constantly try to con his brothers, but others who try to do the same will find themselves at the wrong end of his murder. Part of the A Demon's Nature series. Finally got back to this, so here we go with Mammon's turn! Note: Mulciber is a demon mentioned in John Milton's Paradise Lost. He served under Mammon and was an architect. Can also be found on AO3 here. content warning: blood, body horror, torture via the sharp ends of birds

The Avatar of Greed often found himself in trouble, whether it be because he stole personal belongings to sell or tried to cheat someone out of cash or … well, there were a lot of ways. Call him reckless, but when he saw an opportunity to make some cold, hard Grimm, he wasn’t about to pass it up!

But if someone tried to cheat him out of something? That wouldn’t do. Few dared to try it if they knew just who they were dealing with, but that didn’t stop some from trying anyway. They always regretted it afterwards.

The real issue, however, was if someone tried to cheat his brothers out of something. After all, he was the only one allowed to rip them off (that was his justification, anyway). The moment he finds out someone else tried to play confidence demon with any of them, it was a one-way ticket to the Great Mammon’s Beatdown Extravaganza.

He was walking by Leviathan’s room earlier when he heard a loud crash, some swearing, and a slight rumble under his feet. After some door breaking, tackling, and forcing his hotheaded brother to not summon Lotan, he found out what had made him so upset. Apparently, there was some demon running around with elaborate schemes swindling others -- well, nerds -- out of their money. He went on to explain something that Mammon did not at all understand -- as was usual when he got into his otaku rambling. If his brother had not been so upset, Mammon would have commended the guy for knowing how to target and hit a jackpot.

After some additional pestering, Mammon managed to get a rough description of this third-rate demon and realized he had a pretty good idea of just who it was. It was someone far closer to him than he’d like to admit.

So now here he was, leaning against the bar at one of the Devildom’s many clubs, drink in hand as he monitors the floor. If he was right, he would see the other cozening demon somewhere here tonight, so now it was just a waiting game. As Lucifer had told him repeatedly, You have to show that you’re Number Two. He planned to make that very clear tonight.

He felt the pulse of the bass vibrating through his body as the DJ amped up their music, more and more demons flowing into the space as the prime clubbing hours arrived. A few who noticed Mammon acknowledged his presence, some whispering about how he seemed to look way more serious than normal. The Avatar of Greed, not partying the night away already? Strange.

His patience was just about to run out when he caught a glimpse of just the demon he was seeking out. Hair as orange as a flame, he wasn’t too hard to spot amongst the crowd of more muted succubi surrounding him. Mammon downed the rest of his drink in one go, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket as he made his way to his target.

“Mulciber. Already getting started, huh?”

“M-Mammon?!” He seemed startled to see the other, but cleared his throat as he regained his cool composure. “It’s good to see you, man! Why don’t you join us all for a drink?” The succubi around him giggled, one daring to lean towards Mammon in an attempt to latch onto his arm, but he quickly placed a hand up to stop her.

“No touchin’, sweetheart.” He shot her a look that made her immediately back away, a pout on her lips. “And that’s a nice offer, Mulcey, but I was hopin’ I could talk to ya real quick in private.”

Mulciber could tell that no was not an option in this conversation, given the serious look in the Avatar’s eyes. “Oh, uh, sure. Sorry ladies, I’ll be back soon. Gotta take care of business!” He gave them a wink as they continued on to the table for their party. Clearing his throat again, he turned back to his superior. “So, what’s shaking, boss?”

Mammon just gave him a smile before nodding his head towards a side door, motioning to accompany him there. The lesser demon complied, following him outside to a side alley. The night air was brisk, causing a shudder to run through Mulciber’s spine. At least, he hoped it was the weather that was making him feel like this …

“I heard ya got up to another scheme.” Mammon fiddled with a lighter, flipping the top off and on with his thumb and a jerk of his hand as he spoke. Click, click, click, click. “Wanna tell me about it?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, totally!” Mulciber nervously replied, wondering why Mammon seemed so interested. Did he want a cut of the check? Fishing for ideas for his own next get-rich-quick scheme? Or --

Oh.

Oh no.

He suddenly remembered that one of the victims of his scheming had been the very Avatar of Envy. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, delighting in the fact that he was even able to rip off a Greater Demon. Meant his plan had to be pretty genius, right? But now … now he was starting to realize that he may have just made a big mistake.

“Hm? Ya haven’t said a word, Mulcey-boy.” Mammon turned to face him, tucking the lighter into his pocket. He took a step towards the other, who immediately took a step back -- only to be met with a hard brick wall. “Or didja have a moment of realization?”

“L-Listen, Mammon, I’m sorry! I didn’t know at the time, I swear!” Mulciber brought both his hands up, as if that would stop the other from approaching him.

“Oh? ‘Cuz your face says differently, buddy.” He bared his fangs, the usual gradient in his eyes now glowing a furious gold. There’s a malicious grin on his face as he takes a step back, and then he begins to … whistle?

Mulciber does not like where this is going. He’s heard that tune before and it makes his hairs stand on end. “Look, man, please, I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it up to you!” There’s already desperation in his voice, which almost makes Mammon laugh.

“Glad to hear it. Then ya won’t have a problem with what’s about to happen next, yeah?”

It starts in the distance, a noise that made it feel as if your eardrums were being pierced by a thousand shards of glass. It grows louder and louder, closer and closer. An omen.

Mulciber shrinks against the wall, his grey eyes wide in fear. He knows running is pointless -- the other demon would quickly catch him, and leave him even worse for wear as repercussion. “P-please, Mammon, sir, don’t do this … “

“Didn’t you just say ya’d do whatever ya have to do?” Mammon shakes his head, his wings stretching out wide as if to entrap the lesser demon where he stood. “And you really think suddenly pullin’ out the formalities is gonna get ya any mercy here?”

The flapping of numerous wings now filled the air, a large murder of crows circling in the dark sky above. Their bone-chilling caws and cries rain down upon them as the birds eagerly await their master’s command.

Mammon lunged forward and grasped the other’s jaw, his claws digging into flesh as he brought his face threateningly close. “Pretty ballsy of you to think messin’ with any of us was the right move.” He growled, a rumble in his throat. “Looks like someone needs remindin’ of his place.”

“I-I wasn’t thinkin’ at the time! C’mon, you know how that is, don’t you? I was just thinking of making some big bucks, I didn’t mean to go and step out of line--” Mulciber frantically rambled, trying to ignore the searing pain he was feeling from Mammon’s grip.

“I’m sure that was the case, Mulcey, sure!” If it wasn’t for his mocking smile, the Avatar would have nearly sounded genuine. “But that doesn’t mean you can escape the consequences, ya’know?” He let out a tsk, watching as blood dripped from where he had pierced the other’s skin.

He let go of Mulciber, taking a few steps back as he shook his hand as if to clean it of the ichor. There was no denying the glee he was feeling from this -- it had been a while since he decided to flex his abilities and powers on another. Looking up to the sky, he whistled out another tune, causing the crows to descend.

“He’s all yours.” He commands them in a language only they could understand, and in a flash the black-feathered birds rush in to attack. Their squawks mix with Mulciber’s shrieks as they begin to peck at him with their beaks and scratch him with their claws. Mammon fishes out the lighter from his pocket once more, grabbing a cigarette from the box he had on him with his other hand. Leaning against the opposing alley wall, he lights up and takes a slow drag, watching as the flurry of feathers pulverize his inferior.

The crows tear at Mulciber’s flesh, their sharp beaks riddling his body with small cavities and painting him with his own blood. He continues to cry and scream, though it’s obvious he’s losing energy by the second as they grow weaker in intensity, his body slumping towards the ground. Perhaps he had learned his lesson? Surely, he’s just waiting for it all to stop now, right?

Mammon takes a glance around, humming in delight as he catches sight of a discarded iron pipe. He drops the remains of his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out before retrieving his now makeshift weapon. It feels cool and light in his hand, and he gives it a small toss in the air before catching it again with a satisfied smile.

“Alright, alright. You all can leave him alone now.” Mammon commands his murder once more, followed by another whistle to let them know they could go back to doing whatever they were doing before now. One of them flew over to Mammon, perching on the metal rod in his hand, looking up at him with a puffed up chest in pride as blood stained its beak.

“Yes, who’s my good lil’ birdie?” Mammon cooed, scratching the crow under its chin. “Go get yerself cleaned up, okay?” It cawed in delight before flying off to join the rest, who were fading back into the dark night sky. The Avatar of Greed shook his head fondly before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.

Mulciber lay crumpled on the ground, though was making efforts to sit upright as he gasped for breath. His body hurt all over, as if every inch of him had been pierced with needles. He feebly looked up to meet Mammon’s gaze, a whimper leaving him as he noticed the rod in his hand.

“What? I couldn’t let my birds have all the fun, now could I?” Mammon grasped the rod firmly in both hands before swinging it down with a deafening crack as it hit the other, who let out another sharp cry of pain.

“Hm, perhaps just another for good measure.” Whack. Another wail.

“Okay, okay. One more.” Whack. Another splatter of blood.

Content at the shuddering and sniveling mass that was left, Mammon kneeled down to get close to Mulciber’s ear, his next words full of menace. “Ya really should have stuck to the building business. Keep that in mind in the future, ‘kay?”

Mammon stood up and let the iron rod clatter to the ground, its hollowness ringing into the night. He made his way back inside to order another drink, ignoring the whispers and stares from the others in the club. It was doubtful that Mulciber would make an appearance here after what had happened for a while.

He knocked on the bar counter, getting the attention of the bartender. “Give me a glass of your finest whiskey. Put it on Mulciber’s tab.”

#obey me #obey me!#obey me swd #obey me mammon #om! mammon #obey me fics #demons being demons #series: a demon's nature #writings #the all encompassing [mod] cosmos #a side of mammon I would like to see more <3

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