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tinyboxxtink · 3 years

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"Doppelganger" *Part 23*

WHOO, y'all. I don't know what it is about this story but I am just...rolling it all out with the tragic backstory. No angst, I promise-- It ends happy chill out. But damn. Maybe I'm working out my own issues in here...lulz.

This gif will make so much sense you have no idea.

PART 22

Part 24

Tag List

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@objection-argumentative

------

“....And how did that make you feel?”

You tried not to laugh out loud as the question left Dr. Crestview’s mouth. Did she really just ask you that?

“...I mean it makes me ‘feel’ bad,” You rolled your eyes with a laugh while looking out the window. When you turned back to the doctor she was not laughing, and she was writing something down.

“...That was a joke,” You clarified.

“Oh yes, I get it,” She nodded as she continued writing.

“Do you?” You asked her frankly. The question caused her to stop writing and look at you.

“Mrs. Barba--”

“Ms. YLN,” You corrected. “I’m not married yet,”

“...Hmm, interesting,” She wrote something down. Seriously? She even had an insight on what-- technicalities?

“I’m sorry, was that some sort of test?” You asked sarcastically.

“Actually, it was,” She said to your surprise.

“Excuse me?” You looked at her, baffled.

“You know when most women get engaged, they start imagining their last names as their husbands. You know such as changing their signature, gathering documents, and the like,”

“...Are you serious?” You laughed again. “This is 2021 lady, half the women I know didn’t even take their husband’s last name at all,”

“And is that what you’re going to do?” She asked. “Keep your last name?”

“...If I say yes are you going to psychoanalyze that too?” You crossed your arms.

“In my experience Ms. Y/L/N, women who don’t want to change their last names tend to do so because they want to keep their independence, their…’identity’. They think taking a man’s last name is ‘giving up’ something. Giving up their identity,” She explained.

“...And?” You gestured with your hand as if waiting for her to continue.

“And in my educated opinion, it also signifies a woman going into a marriage with one foot out of the door already,” She simply stated.

“Wow,” You shook your head with a sarcastic laugh. “Did I come here to resolve my trauma, or for marriage advice?”

“I think they’re one and the same, Ms. Y/L/N,” She stayed completely calm and emotionless.

“Are they?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Given what you’ve told me in our last few sessions, you’ve given off a tone that you don’t think you deserve good things. Maybe you’re keeping on foot out of your relationship so that when it falls apart, you’ll be ready,”

“Wow....wow,” You started to stand up and storm out of the office, but she stopped you with a question.

“I’m sorry if I offended you with my observation Y/N, but be honest. Am I wrong?”

You thought about all the talks you had with Rafael about ‘not being good enough’ for him, or ‘stealing his love’. And on the one hand you felt that you were ‘connected’, you felt safe and secure. After everything you’d been through, it was almost impossible not to be, right? Right?

“....And what is your magic solution to this feeling, doctor?” You crossed your arms.

“You need to forgive yourself,”

“...Jesus Christ,” You rolled your eyes with another laugh as you paced the room. “Really? That’s your solution? Telling me something I already know?”

“No, my solution is this: You need to apologize to your parents,”

“EXCUSE ME?” You practically screamed.

“You blame yourself for their death, correct? You think that because of their desire to make you happy they risked their lives driving into the city and therefore got into their accident,” She looked over her notes from past sessions with you.

“...Right,” You looked down at the floor.

“And I don’t think that you have ever forgiven yourself for that. And in not doing so, you haven’t forgiven yourself for anything you’ve done since then. All these things you say you’ve ‘done’ to Mr. Barba that you should be ‘punished’ for-- he doesn’t see it that way. Other people don’t see it that way. Your parents' accident wasn’t your own doing, getting kidnapped wasn’t your fault. I think that you need to find closure with your parent’s death before you can even begin to ‘forgive’ yourself for whatever transpired between you and Nevada Ramirez,”

“....So you want me to apologize to my parents? How are they going to ‘forgive’ me?” You asked her.

“I think you’ll find Ms. Y/L/N that just the act of apologizing will bring about its own form of forgiveness,” She smiled.

“.....Right…” You tried not to sound condescending, but for a shrink she sure sounded crazy.

“Or don’t listen to me, I can’t force you to do anything. But that is my advice,” She shrugged.

“Noted. Thank you, doctor,” You nodded and walked out the door.

----

You walked out into the streets of the city from your doctor’s office and thinking about just how or when you’d have a chance to go to your hometown where your parents were, when you were stopped by a young girl on the street.

“Oh my god...you’re Y/N!” She gasped.

“...Yes?” You stared at her blankly.

“You’re that girl who killed Nevada Ramirez!” She squealed, causing a few people to stare and take pictures of you as they walked past.

“Oh good lord…” You muttered nervously. “Yeah well um--”

“Can I get a selfie with you?”

“Um--” You looked around, not sure of what to do. You wanted to run down the street screaming, but you thought better of it. You turned back to her with the fakest smile you could form.

“Sure!” You threw an arm around her and smiled as big as you could as she snapped a selfie with her phone.

“Thanks!” She beamed at you. “ And by the way, your fiancé is REALLY sexy,”

“Oh girl I know,” You faked a laugh and a toss of your hair as she walked away with a laugh.

It really creeped you out that girls were ‘fangirling’ over your fiancé. As if you weren’t worried about keeping a hold of him all on your own. Also how did she even know what he looked like?

The article.

You grabbed your phone and did something you told yourself you’d never do: You googled yourself.

The first thing that popped up was an article on the NYTimes.com front page:

“Fairy Tale Romance Or Horror Movie?”

...What the fuck?

The article contained your video as the main focus. Then under it the article basically dictated the video, with Tasha’s opinions thrown in here and there. Then most of the photos from the photoshoot of you and Rafael were at the bottom of the page. They were gorgeous, you had to admit. Granted you were both airbrushed to hell, but Rafael in a suit drove you nuts. Even if it was just on a screen. You dialed his number as you continued walking down the street.

“....Hola, mi amor. How is my pinguino feeling?”

“Well she’s currently feeling like she’s got the sexiest man in New York City,” You grinned.

“Oh really? And why’s that?” He asked you curiously.

“Check out the picture I’m texting you,” You grinned as you texted him one of the photos from the spread.

“Oh Christ…” You heard him mutter through the phone, causing you to giggle.

“Oh yes, you even have your own fangirls now,” You rolled your eyes with a smile.

“No I do NOT,” He argued in disbelief.

“Yeah I’d be careful leaving your office there counselor, a group of tweens might be waiting outside,”

“Oh my god...they’re breaching the doors!” He acted terrified, making you laugh harder.

“Oh I think I see one,” You whispered as if you were sneaking up on someone. “She’s holding a ‘Barba 4Eva’ poster board,”

“You better be kidding,” He warned.

“No, in fact I think she’s right outside your door,” You bit your tongue with a smile.

“Oh well I’d better call security then,” He chuckled as he sauntered over to his office door and swung it open.

“Oh my Gooodddddddd it’s Rafael Barba!!! The sexiest ADA in New York City!!” You giggled wildly, jumping into his arms like a crazed fan.

“I should definitely look into some armed guards at my door,” He laughed as he pulled you into his arms and kissed you.

“Oh most definitely, wouldn’t want to let the crazies in,” You nodded as you kissed him again.

“Well I think it’s too late for that…” He teased you while tousling your hair.

“Shut up,” You playfully hit his hands away.

“Speaking of crazy, how was therapy today mi amor?” He asked cheekily.

Wowwwww, sexy AND sensitive, how did I get so lucky?” You rolled your eyes. “Actually, she gave me homework,”

“Did she?” He inquired.

“Yes,” You suddenly got very serious. “She um, she told me I need to go see my parents,”

“...Your parents?” His eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, something about needing to ‘apologize’ to them or some weird shrink thing like that,”

“....Do you think it will help?”

“I mean...” You sighed and looked out the window. “I don’t know. But I’d like to try,”

“Bueno,” He nodded walking closer to you and kissing the top of your head. “So are you going to go now or--?”

“Well I was kind of hoping you’d come with me,” You bit your lip. You didn’t know if asking him to come along on your shrink homework assignment was allowed, but you knew you couldn’t do this alone. Maybe that was the point.

“Really?”

“I mean, I met your family,” You half laughed, trying to make light.

“Right,” He nodded his head with a chuckle. “Well then, let’s go,”

“...Now?”

“Why not?” He started to walk towards the door.

“Don’t you have a job?” You pointed to his desk.

“Oh they just like to pay me to sit in here so nobody robs the place,” He joked as he grabbed his coat. “I have nothing going on today baby, they won’t miss me.”

“Okay then,” You shrugged uneasily. “Guess we’re going to Jersey,”

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

After a train ride and a taxi later, you arrived in your small town of Shallow Meadow.

“Christ Almighty, I knew Jersey was in the dark ages, but not even having Uber??” Rafael grumbled. He hadn’t been in the back of a dirty cab in such a long time, and now he remembered why.

“Alright Daddy Warbucks, chill,” You laughed as you started walking with him through town.

It was a quaint little town; one stop light, one grocery store, two bars, something out of an old movie really You know the movies where the car breaks down in the tiny shitty town and all the townspeople are flesh eating zombies or something. The people of Shallow Meadow were pretty much like that. Well, to you anyway.

“So why didn’t we just have the Mayberry Express drop us at the cemetery?”

“...Because we don’t have roads you can drive on up there,” You answered with a nervous smile.

“...Right,” He shook his head as he noticed people coming out of shops to stare at the two of you. “...Do I have some kind of weird sign on my back that says NEW YORKER or what?”

“No, but that thousand dollar suit screams “moneybags” out here,” You smirked. “Besides, they’re not staring at you they’re staring at me,”

“...What? How do you know that?”

As if it was answering his question, a girl with bright red hair dressed in farm clothing and holding a baby on her hip came sauntering up to the two of you.

“Well lookie here,” She smirked. “Miss Prissy Pants brought back herself a Prissy Papa,”

“Excuse you?” Rafael was taken aback by such rudeness by such a poorly dressed person.

“Marla back off,” You scowled at her. “Just because you’re upset I found treasure and you’re stuck with trash--”

“OH, is that what we are now? Trash?” Marla spat. “You have a lot of nerve coming back here and saying that, murderer,”

“WHOA,” Rafael stepped in front of you. “I’m sorry, what-- what did you just call her?”

“Did she not tell you the story? Oh no wait I bet she did, her version. The version where she’s the victim and we’re all just the villains. Isn’t that right, Prissy?” She glared at you.

“...I never said you were--” You tried defending yourself.

“Really?” She scoffed. “Then why did you not even bother to show up to your folks’ funeral? Their ONLY daughter, the ones they DIED for. Couldn’t even be bothered to leave her high rise in the city to pay respects to the parents she KILLED,”

“It wasn’t like that and you KNOW it, Marla! And why was I going to come back? The only two people left in this town that tolerated me were gone--” You got up in her face.

“AND WHY IS THAT, Y/N?” She got back in yours, her baby almost falling out of her arms.

“Alright lady I don’t know who you are, but you’re going to back the hell off my fiancée--”

“Oh good God, your fiancé?” Marla laughed. “You would find yourself a sugar daddy, since you killed yours,”

“Alright you know what we’re leaving--” You grabbed Rafael’s hand and stomped away towards a huge hill that had a sign reading “CEMETERY” at the top.

“I hope you’re heading up there to beg their forgiveness Y/N, ‘cuz you sure as hell ain’t getting any down here!” Marla yelled angrily after you.

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

“...Well I think we just figured out where your forgiveness issues came from,” Rafael tried making light of the situation.

“Ya think?” You nodded.

“This whole time,” Rafael shook his head. “This whole time I thought you just had it in your mind that you were responsible for their death. But-- but you had an entire town telling you that,”

“...Yeah,” You shrugged.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything, baby?” Rafael took your hand as the hill got steeper.

“Because I thought they were right, Rafael!” You said in a ‘duh’ tone. “Why would I tell you that an entire town thought that I was a murderer? That’s not really a selling point on a partner,”

“...You thought they were right?”

“...Well, yeah,” You nodded softly with a small smile.

“And now…?”

Before you could answer, you reached the entrance of the cemetery. Luckily it wasn’t that big; you were ashamed to admit you didn’t even know where they were buried. But you found them in a small corner under a shade tree. You walked up to their mutual headstone:

“Y/M/N AND Y/D/N: Beloved Husband And Wife, Mayor and First Lady.”

“...Mayor?” Rafael looked at you in surprise.

“Yeah, well--” You shrugged. “You see why they were so beloved, and I was the hellish daughter that killed them?”

“Y/N…” Rafael put a hand on your shoulder.

“I was supposed to want to ‘take over the city’, like I would ever want to be in charge of anything in this stupid backwards hick ass town,” You scoffed angrily, tears stinging your eyes.

“...But didn’t you say that your parents wanted you to go to Juliard? Pursue your dreams?” Rafael asked in confusion.

“They did! My grandparents-- they had a different view,” You shook your head. “The...the hierarchy here it’s-- well it’s not really a democracy,”

“...How so…?” Rafael raised an eyebrow.

“Because everyone just loved and accepted my family as, I don’t know, the ‘royal’ family?” You felt so stupid comparing your family to the Royal Family, but you didn’t know how else to explain it.

“The Mayor and First Lady titles were just...passed down, in my family. And not because they were dictators or something,” You quickly added the last part, you didn’t want Rafael to think any less of your family than he probably already did.

“People here are just...simple,” You sighed. “They accept things the way they are, they hate change. So it was just assumed that my family would always be... "the family’,”

“But you didn’t want that,” Rafael said again.

“Of course I didn’t want that!” You scoffed. “I didn’t want to just get a high school degree and then marry some ‘Cletus’ redneck man from here and have ‘heirs’ just to keep the family going!”

“But your parents understood that,” Rafael reiterated.

“It didn’t matter what my parents did or didn’t understand. My grandfather had more clout with the townspeople here,” You rolled your eyes. “My dad was the ‘mayor’, but his dad controlled everything. His father had been the mayor for over thirty years before he passed it onto my dad, who didn’t really want it either” You walked up to the headstone and ran your fingers over your father’s name.

“....So when he tried to ‘save’ me from that life, my grandpa wouldn’t hear it. He blamed me for...for manipulating them into giving me anything I wanted, like I was a spoiled little child. He blamed me for them giving me their life savings to go to Julliard instead of putting it back into the town treasury. Then he blamed me when they got killed, and he just reinstated himself as mayor! Which, I haven’t checked but I’ll be damned if he isn’t still rattling around his old ass bones in our house! He’ll just haunt this place forever!” You threw your hands up and looked down angrily at the town down below.

“Carino…” Rafael came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist from behind. You took his hands in yours and kissed them before turning to face him. You looked into his sparkling green understanding eyes for a moment, before directing your attention back at the headstone.

“....This is Rafael Barba, mama and daddy,” You pulled him gently forward. “We’re getting married soon,”

“...Nice to meet you folks,” Rafael said awkwardly.

“...Raffi they’re dead,” You smiled jokingly.

“Right, right,” He shook his head with a small laugh.

“...He’s a very good man, daddy. I know you always wanted that. And he’s very handsome, so you’ll have beautiful grandchildren mama, just like you wanted,” You smiled while Rafael softly chuckled.

“...I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come,” You finally said with tears rolling down your cheeks. “I should have been here sooner,”

“But you’re here now,” Rafael softly rubbed your back.

“Yeah…” You nodded softly. This was the hard part.

“...I’m---I’m sorry, that I made you feel like horrible parents that night,” You tried not to cry, but the memories of that night flooded your memory the more you spoke.

“I’m sorry that you thought you needed to come see me, that you weren’t good parents if you didn’t,” Your lip trembled, you fell to your knees.

“...I’m sorry the last words you heard from me were ‘I hate you’,” You finally broke down sobbing.

“Y/N…” Rafael knelt down next to you and held you in his arms as you cried.

“Do you get now why...why I don’t think I deserve you? Why don't I think I deserve anything? Why I think I have to take everything? Fake everything? Because I am such a terrible person my own parents died thinking I hated them because I was that horrible to them!”

“They didn’t think you hated them, carino,” Rafael rocked you back and forth. “They knew you loved them, I know they did,”

“You know you’re probably right, Rafael. But it--I needed them to hear it,” You nodded at the gravestone.

“And?”

“...And I feel a lot better,” You smiled as Rafael wiped tears from your face.

“Really?”

“Yeah…Really,” You chuckled. “I guess that therapist really knows what she’s doing,”

“She should for the amount of money I pay her,” Rafael shook his head with a laugh as he helped you stand up.

“...Thank you for doing this with me, amor,” You sniffled, pressing your forehead against his.

“Of course, penguino,” He kissed you softly. “And, for what it’s worth--” He added as you two walked back down the hill towards town.

“I think that if your parents were alive, they would be proud of you,”

“Oh, I know my mother would take one look at you and be DAMN proud,” You both laughed at that.

“And I also think they would be appalled to see how their townspeople treat their daughter,” He glared at the town.

“Yeah well,” You shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Not anymore,”

“I’m glad to hear it,” He took your hands as the sun started to go down in your sleepy little town. “Now can we please get back to the city before I catch something out here?”

“Yes,” You giggled, staring at him lovingly.

“Let’s go home,”

#rafael barba imagine #rafael barba x you #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba #rafael barba fanfiction #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfiction smut #doppelganger

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yukeri · 3 years

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[YURI&Co. Headquarters]

THIS PIECE CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE AND ARGUING - Starring: Hong Yumin, CEO Na Deokhyun - Synopsis: Yumin, feeling as if she has nothing left to lose, makes one last attempt to save her career. - Year: 2019 - Length: 1,867 w.

Yumin stood in the elevator nervously wringing her white linen top. Just go in and make your demands. Don’t take no for an answer.

A chime signaled she’d reached her destination, and the following robotic voice confirmed it. She could feel the temperature drop as she stepped out of the elevator and into the frozen tundra that is the CEO’s floor. But it didn’t discourage her; it’s no secret that the CEO is very sensitive to warmth and keeps his office floor cool. It also serves as a cheap ploy to subconsciously intimidate any industry adversaries coming to meet with him and make them more susceptible to his coercion, but it won’t work on her. Hong Yumin was on a mission that she had been psyching herself up for over the past several days. Nothing could destroy her resolve.

She strolled up to his secretary. “Hi, Jeongho,” she said as sweetly as she could without cringing, “Is the CEO busy?”

He glanced at the man's schedule; “Uh, not right now,” he said hesitantly, “But he has a meeting in 10 minutes.”

This is your chance.

“Sorry, do you have an appointment? I don’t see one--”

“That’s all the time I need,” Yumin said, strutting right past Jeongho and approaching the CEO’s office. She could hear the secretary’s stuttering protests as she reached the door. She paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and entered the breach.

I did it, she thought as she closed the door behind her. Yumin slowly turned around. She had only seen the eggshell walls and cement flooring of the CEO’s office on two occasions: the day she signed her contract with Tastemaker and about a week ago when TM Girls was disbanded. Such a rush of emotions came over her that she almost forgot why she had committed this career-threatening faux pas in the first place. Flustered, she swallowed her feelings and greeted the CEO politely: “Good afternoon, CEO.”

“Yumin-ah...good afternoon,” the CEO replied curiously, looking up from his thick-rimmed glasses. He glanced at his iPad confirming what he already knew, “According to my schedule, you don’t have an appointment with me.” Yumin stood visibly trembling as he looked her up and down. “So either my secretary just lost his job, or you’ve lost your mind,” he said with a dry chuckle.

Then he stared at her with that look, his eyes fixed upon her and his eyebrows raised. The look was not openly nefarious as he is the CEO and must keep the appearance of approachability even behind closed doors, but to anyone who knew him that look was just as effective as a gorgon's stare.

Just like that, Yumin froze. She felt all that hard-earned conviction drain from her body and immediately realized the grave mistake she had made. Stop freaking out! You got this, Yumin’s inner motivation coach called out trying to preserve the last ounces of confidence she had left. You’re already here; you might as well speak! She opened her mouth, not particularly sure as to whether coherent words or her breakfast would come out, “Yes-- I mean, no. I don’t have a-- er, an appointment.” Alright, looks like we’re getting somewhere. She started regaining her confidence and spoke again with a voice significantly less shaky; “But please, if I could have a moment of your time--”

Suddenly, Yumin heard the subtle tones of the CEO’s phone. She looked down at the cellphone on his desk, then back at him as he pressed the tip of his AirPod. “Hello,” he answered, “Oh, Kyungsoo-ya! How’s filming going?”

Then it hit her: all the emotions she'd swallowed. The years of anxiety facing the possibility that she might never debut; the anger from the relentless hiatuses she had no choice but to endure; the devastation when she was told for the second time that the group she cherished more than anything in the world was no more. They were all festering inside her and had amalgamated into a feeling she rarely experienced: pure rage.

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Yumin thought. The CEO jerked his head up to look at her with an expression of plain shock. Oh, wait...no, she said that. To the CEO.

Before he could utter another word, Yumin’s hand had snatched the phone off his desk and ended the call with whoever was on the line. She clutched the CEO’s phone in her hand as he stared at her in disbelief. Yumin didn’t back down; she stared right back.

“Okay, I’m listening,” he said flatly, breaking the silence.

Yumin took another deep breath and finally spoke her mind, “The only reason I signed a contract with this company was because you guaranteed that I would debut within 6-8 months. That was over two years ago; I--”

The CEO groaned and rolled his eyes as he reclined in his chair, his folded hands on his chest and his eyes fixed on her. Sorry, am I boring you?! I can’t believe this smug bastard...

His phone began to vibrate in her hand, but she swiftly declined the call. “I-- I am tired,” she said in a tone louder than what she had intended. “I’m tired of getting calls from my grandparents asking me to come back home because I have no future here; I’m tired of training trainees half my age that debut before I do; I’m tired of being the oldest trainee I know that isn’t anywhere near a debut; and I’m tired of putting my faith in old men who so easily crush the dreams of young, hardworking trainees because they’ve never had to experience this disappointment in their life.”

The CEO glared at her with his eyebrows furrowed, clearly offended. She decided it would be better to switch up her argument: “Look, when I left JYP...I was devastated. I worked so hard and all I got in return was a cancelled debut. Looking back, I can see that if I had debuted then I would’ve left the group almost immediately. I wasn’t ready; I would’ve been torn to shreds for my lack of ability. But I am a thousand times better than I was all those years ago because of Tastemaker. I was an alright rapper when I got here; now I’m the rap instructor. I can out-rap any trainee under this label, male or female. I was a good dancer before, and now I can out-dance our choreographer-- her words, not mine.”

The CEO chuckled lightly at her claim before she continued, “I have leadership quality, an attractive personality, and great visuals...but what good is having those attributes if no one sees them?” The CEO nodded thoughtfully.

Now we’re here, she thought, the hardest part. She took one final deep breath and gave her ultimatum, “I’ll always be thankful to you...and to Tastemaker for making me better...but if you don’t plan on debuting me, then...then just let me go. This way, we can stop wasting each other’s time.”

There. Yumin had said her piece and now it was time to listen.

The CEO cleared his throat and began to speak: “Wow…how dare you speak to me this way?! You have absolutely no idea why I make the decisions I make, and I will not be told what to do by some little bitch who thinks she’s talented because she can rhyme two words together.” Yumin was speechless; she could see what could’ve been a successful career flashing before her eyes...now it’s all gone. She felt her heart sink as tears welled up in her eyes. “Give me my phone!” He snarled at her, snatching his phone from her extended hands; “By the time I’m done calling every agency and talent scout in my address book, you won’t be able to open a fucking YouTube channel! You’ll have to go back to your grandparents’ and become a turnip farmer, shoveling shit to make a living.” He pulled her contract from his drawer, “You want me to ‘let you go’? So be it.” He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and set it ablaze. Yumin could only watch and cry as her dreams literally went up in smoke. The CEO threw the remnants of her contract in the garbage, “Now get the fuck out of my office,” he hissed, “You’re done.”

But no, he did not say that. In fact, he did not say anything. The CEO simply glared at her without a word and all Yumin could do was glare back. Say something, dammit! She thought. Yell, scream, something.

After what seemed like hours of deafening silence, he finally spoke, “Wow...that was impressive,” he stated flatly while opening his iPad. “Tell me, Yumin, do you remember Moon Yuri?” She was still reeling from the thought of what could’ve happened, but responded, “Uh...yes. Wasn’t he involved in THE FUN FACTORY?”

“Correct,” the CEO replied while checking some emails and notifications, “That call that you declined a few minutes ago? That was him. ” He gestured towards the phone that was still in her hand; she’d almost forgotten she had taken it. “Moon has made a request to establish his own label within the company. I just needed him to confirm some last-minute details.”

Yumin clearly didn’t understand, so the CEO attempted to clarify as he reviewed some charts and graphs, “Yuri is planning to debut a new girl group next year and he’s looking for 6-7 girls to be in it. Tastemaker isn’t planning on debuting any other groups as of right now, so any Tastemaker trainee may audition for him. Whoever is accepted will have their contract transferred to his label. No hassle.” Yumin finally realized what he was saying.

“But-- when is the audition?” “That was one of the details he needed to confirm. I’d say about a month or two?” “And...I can audition?” “I recommended you personally,” he said, making eye contact with her for a moment before taking out a pen and flipping through some important-looking documents. “I was in the middle of drafting a memo with all the details.”

Yumin stared into space, feeling like a complete idiot. If I had just waited a little longer...

“Um, may I have my phone back?” the CEO asked politely, but sternly, “I do have some important calls to make.” Yumin snapped out of her trance and hurriedly rested the CEO’s iPhone on his desk. The CEO continued to split his attention between the graphs on his iPad, the documents on his desk, and now the iPhone which was connecting to no doubt some other big name in the industry.

Yumin didn't know what to say. “CEO...I’m--” The CEO started chatting with someone on the other line. She averted her gaze as she pondered what to do next, eventually deciding to leave. She turned and walked towards the door. “Oh, Yumin-ah,” he innocently called out just as she was about to exit the room. She turned back to him, “Yes, sir?”

“Don’t pull this shit again,” he calmly ordered, “Because next time you won’t be so lucky.”

Slightly unnerved, Yumin nodded in agreement and exited the CEO’s office with another chance. Fourth time’s the charm, I hope.

#aesxocnet #deluxeocnet #kpop oc #kpop idol oc #kpop oc group #fake kpop idol #fake kpop group #fictional idol community #fictional idol group #lovemonth.💚💚💚#lovemonth.read #lovemonth.past

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youarejesting · 4 years

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BTS365 Prompts

[Masterlist]

Please tag me in your work if you use my prompts. I want to see your work. Ever your Jester.

Tell me your birthday and I will tag you on your special day!

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April 30th - 6th

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Kim Seokjin: No pants

Jin was currently working on a large project. It was a delicate thing he was producing truly from the heart. He had been planning this for weeks gathering some tools for the job from various sources. He set up his live stream ready to show the Army what he was creating. So there he was slaving away sweat collecting across his brow. He was exhausted but he continued showing the Army how his ideas and processes formed together. And that’s how you found him, no pants with such precise hand motions, he was really working up a sweat.

“Why are you doing That on a live stream?”

“Shush, I'm almost there,” he panted now using both hands, for the grand finale.

“Can I help?” You said thinking it would definitely end this whole show a lot quicker.

“Yes!” His voice cried out, throwing his hands up in the air excited. “I did it.”

“Congratulations you made pancakes”

“These aren’t just pancakes, I got them the same size five or take a millimetre or two and stacked them perfectly” He grinned proud

“That’s a pretty neat skill Jin, you should take a photo” You reached for your camera but as you looked back up he was cutting into them and eating happily.

Min Yoongi: Space

“Hey Yoongi do you have a piece of paper?”

“Yeah rip one out from any of those books” He sighed and you walked over to the small pile when you found a children's notebook, this one had a rocket ship on it and you opened it up towards the middle to rip out a page cleanly, but there was some roughly scrawled words.

I wish I could go to space camp. But Mum and Dad can’t afford it. It’s okay if I don’t go, we can have fun on our own. Love Min Yoongi

Your heart melted and you closed the book without paper and you googled the nearest space camp and you told the other boys that it was for Yoongi’s birthday, they seemed rather excited packing their things and you packed for Yoongi and yourself. You had hired out the facility to run a camp for the group and some camera men this was something that the Army couldn’t miss.

Jung Hoseok: Free

Waking excited Hoseok went for a shower and brushed his hair. He dressed and shined his shoes. Today was the day and he was so excited.

“Jung Hoseok?”

“Yes sir” He smiled at the entry, the door slid open and he was escorted through the building and down to an office. There was a mountain of paperwork to sign and when he was done they handed him another change of clothes.

He was so happy his fingers caressing the fabric of his favorite shirt. He was quick to change and they smiled. He was nervous, walking out the front door and the gate opened slowly and there you were waiting for him on the other side.

His little pregnant wife. He held you in his arms and kissed your face all over dropping to his knees and whispering to your round belly.

“I am so glad to have you back”

“J-hope!” The boys shouted running in their shirts reading. ‘Enjoy your Freedom!’

“Did you get any cool prison tattoos?”

“No I didn’t it was only three months guys”

Kim Namjoon: May the 4th be with you

You were at a convention dressed as Queen Padmé Amidala you felt self conscious about your stomach being on show and the tight outfit. That was until you walked into a very elaborate dark figure.

“Oh sorry I wasn’t watching where I was going. I really like your outfit wow, this is honestly the best Darth Vader I have seen” You smiled admiring the work that had been put into it and they still didn’t speak.

“Oh my gosh can I get a photo of you both” someone asked and you smiled and the two of you posed together and you had soon gathered a crowd people taking pictures and asking for you to act out scenes and soon a Yoda appeared painted green and grinning, alongside a gold shiny C-3PO a chewbacca and a tiny dog dressed as R2D2. Everyone was getting pictures when you heard. “Can we get a kiss?”

“Anakin takes off your mask, you put a lot of work into replicating the character” The Yoda whispered to the tall dark figure.

“But she is so pretty and I am a nerd”

“Dude she is a nerd too, she is dressed as a star wars character at a convention full of nerds”

The crowd was cheering as C-3PO was doing a very amazing Robot dance choreography. Along came a broad shouldered man dressed up as slave Princess leia, a very lethargic Han Solo and a smiling Luke skywalker.

“Take of the mask Anakin” the Yoda and the chewbacca lifted the mask and revealed a very handsome Anakin you heard some whispers about him being asain so he didn’t look like the character but you thought he was even more handsome.

“Kiss, Kiss, Kiss” The crowd chanted and he looked up at you with a blush across his cheeks and you pulled gently on the front of his costume until his lips met yours. His friends started cheering as did the crowd and you pulled out a small piece of paper from your pocket and wrote down your number and a quick message before you walked away.

“What does it say?”

“May the fourth be with you” He chuckled and you heard a laugh that reminded you of a weird clown or horse wiping down some windows.

Park Jimin: Herb @anaiss97 [Full story] Not much was known about the young Korean man who showed up to all the parties. All anyone knew was that he was the biggest flirt and he had the herbs everyone wanted. Honestly, it didn’t matter what you wanted he had it somehow. You were at one of these parties, it wasn’t really your scene.

Usually, you had no problem but tonight you really just couldn’t. So you were trying to find a place to get a quick nap, you opened the first door to see the Host with his boyfriend chatting quietly.

“Sorry I was looking for a place to rest”

Seokjin smiled “You can have the room or perhaps if you want we can entertain you?”

The two smirked and you blushed once more. “No I really am tired and want to sleep, I was working on a thesis all night last night and–”

“Say no more sweetheart, rest” you climbed into the blankets, Seokjin switched the light off and you were resting drifting off easily. ~ The light switch flicked on and even with your eyes closed you felt blinded. You couldn’t stop the harsh shriek that pierced the air. “What? What is it now!?”

“I am sorry” the voice was soft and unrecognizable as its owner switched the lights back off, “Can I sit for a moment?”

“Sure” you mumbled laying back down, you could smell the stranger’s beautiful cologne and you got curious. “Turning your phone on and using the light of your lock screen to examine the stranger's face”

Ash-blonde hair painted on the side, he smiled wetting his thick lips with his tongue.

“Ah it’s you” dropping your arm back to the bed no longer feeling uncomfortable, all the encounters you had with him were pleasant, he always used endearments because he never remembered names.

“You know me, baby?” He took his phone and repeated your process to stream a soft light over your face. “Oh my, baby it is you, what are you doing in here sleeping your usually the brightest in the room”

“Thesis” you mumbled and he hummed taking your hand.

“Hey listen how about I make you an offer tonight you can ask for anything you want and I will give it to you for half price if I don’t have it I will give you the next best thing for free” the lamp beside the bed was clicked on giving a soft orange glow throughout the room.

“You got fried chicken?” You hummed looking over at him curiously you were craving it. He opened his jacket.

“I got a warm meatball sub, a packet of lollipops a container of home-cooked spaghetti, I got spare underwear in all different sizes this is a set of slippers when your feet get sore in heels, juice, mixers spirits I got herbs for days this one will make you happy this one calms you down this one here has you seeing pretty colors this one has you asleep till morning, this is my house special it takes like a cinnamon donut” he looked over. You shook your head and he sighed lifting a gym bag onto the bed, “alright brace yourself, I got spare clothes, ramyeon packets, a scented candle, batteries pet food, I have painkillers, cold medicine, I have this thing which I think was an Easter egg, I got a 3DS, a switch and a variety of games, I got a can of tomato soup, yet no can opener weird, I got a heat pack, I got this adult diaper and I don’t know why, and a spiderman comic”

“No” you sighed

“Tell me what you want and if I know I don’t have it it’s free” he hummed

“I want a cuddle?”

Kim Taehyung: Thirst

Owner of the club ‘Thirst’ was just a front business, you were actually a hacker. A good one, if you were feeling like bragging. You were kind of in hiding and couldn’t really trust anyone you didn’t know before the incident. Who knew your skills with a computer would lead to a government website which you breached enough for them to call it treason.

You were just snooping around the dark web when you stumbled upon documents of some truly disgusting things one of them actually made you physically ill. But your computer system began screaming at you that they were reverse tracking your baby. It wouldn’t be easy, you had a unique code and half of it was utter nonsense. Saying goodbye to your baby. You destroyed everything on it. Packed everything and left. Thank god you had done everything card less, you worked for cash you paid cash and you did some shady business with people so that you would never be traced.

You moved just in case and started a front business so that in the event anything happened you would have an alibi.

“Manager-nim the computer is doing something funny, can you call the technician?” Yoongi called quietly, the guy was a terrible ‘people’ person , an excellent DJ and an expert in mixing cocktails.

“I can have a look” You smiled

“No manager last time you almost broke the computers, you don’t understand them like we do” Hoseok pushed you away from the registers and subsequently the computers attached to them.

“Manager you just boss us around okay, that's your job and we will follow your orders as it is our job”

“Manager-nim, you have a young man in your office waiting for his job interview.” Jimin cleaned the tables dressed in a charming club aesthetic. His job was to clean tables and lead people into buying more drinks. A host.

The man in your office was handsome like your main host Seokjin and charming as Jimin. Your bouncer Namjoon stepped in briefly giving you a courtesy greeting alongside the new trainee Jungkook he had potential especially with all those muscles. All your workers doubled as bouncers; they all had their strengths.

“So Kim Taehyung is it, what makes you want to be a host at thirst?”

“I really want to make friends and I can’t flirt with girls. What I mean is I can if it is for work but I can’t just do it on my own so I would like to gain more confidence” You nodded, it was all lies you had searched him thoroughly, he worked for the government more specifically the Cyber coordinator and he was here to gather Intel.

This was going to be fun.

Jeon Jungkook: Nurse

Nurse Jeon. Yup that title gave him a lot of grief from his friends and he hated it, just cause he was a man didn’t mean he couldn’t be a nurse. Sure he aimed to be a doctor, but things didn’t work out and he wasn’t accepted into medical school, so he aimed a little lower and became a Nurse.

In his opinion he was a kick-ass nurse, he worked in the Pediatric ward and spent most of his time bringing smiles to the kid's faces, he made his rounds with ice creams and cups of pudding and jelly. He sang and danced for the kids and played superheroes and he was always Ironman. The highlight of his day was when the doctors would do their rounds, not only did he admire them and their job so much he admired you and how brilliant and beautiful you were.

“Oh Aera, look at this little tool, do you know what it does? It lets me listen to your heartbeat, would you like to listen to mine first?” The young girl nodded “Wow you are a pro at this you could be a doctor when you are older”

“Doctor Y/N, Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Uh... No, why do you have someone in mind?” You grinned

“Nurse Jeon” she smiled and you giggled

“He is cute isn’t he, but I get nervous around boys and I can’t really talk to them and Nurse Jeon is really handsome, what if he doesn’t like me?”

“He does, he told us when he got drunk off chocolate puddings” a young teen in the corner nursing his swollen cheeks after dental surgery. Jungkook was making extreme hand gestures at the young boy smirking across the room. “This was before he announced he was Iron man and ran around the room pretending to shoot lasers from his hands and making all the shooting sounds”

“Well if he is Ironman than we must be destined to be together, Ironman is my favorite superhero”

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plainvanillapotato · 4 years

Text

the 100 diaries S2 E12

quarantine: may 31 2020

season 2 episode 12: “Rubicon”

the guy is running. watch he just die and no one gets clarkes message. i would love it if clarkes plane just backfired but of course they save him.

ok but wait why was cage just random carrying a oxygen tank when he himself doesnt even need one.

tsing out here with her own personal army. then just plucking these kids one by one. damn

these grounders really be listening to clarke just because lexa said so?? damn these grounders be loyal minus gustus and that one guy that tried to kill clarke but then got eaten by king kong

is raven really the only person out here doing all this crap?? like does clarke not realize how big of an ask shes asking of raven? raven is magic and shit but she has some limitations just to be somewhat realistic. just chill the fuck out clarke raven is doing the best out here arguably more than clarke.

i love how bellamy is still wearing that hat still looking like sean malto. but also how has someone not noticed him? but i guess bellamy like joe from you as in if he wears a hat he magically blends in.

“...all of this is for nothing” way to put pressure on prettyboy bellamy like he didnt already know that. chill clarke everyone is trying their best out here. ngl i would hate to have clarke as a manager cuz i think she would micromanage the shit out of people.

remember in the last episode when clarke asked what her job was well i think that i figured it out:

i also wanna mention that finn literally died idk less than a week ago but clarkes in charge being out and about commanding people years her senior. i get that we had that whole episode dedicated to how finns death affects clarke but still she got over that pretty quick. a little too quick. but i guess that if youre a sky person your emotional metabolism is just through the fucking roof...

ooo clarke still be salty toward her mom. but yeah kane is kinda an enabler

but why do these people have clear paper. the art department is feeling themselves on that one. like is it because they wanted to be edgy and futuristic or is it from an actual realistic viewpoint that the space people dont have trees to create paper................does this also mean that the space people didnt have toilet paper???????? but also back to the paper thing did these kids never learn how to write in cursive??? since i would imagine actual writing utensils are limited so idk if they waste it on teaching kids cursive. actually tho does anyone have an answer to these questions???

where did jaha get that antler stick. i kinda want one. i like to imagine that he just saw it lying somewhere on their way to the desert and said to himself i would look epic holding that stick and then went to pick up and started using it even tho he doesnt actually need a walking stick....any hunter x hunter fans?

jaha’s mask at 8:29 is an example of what not to wear during corona season

“thanks for the water?”...while looking down a bit flustered ”its, uh..it was no problem” emori and murphy? ship?

bellamy crawling through air vents to save the day...magenta from sky high who??

also bellamy’s ear piece is giving me everything. *i know that the following meme is just a tiny phone but i just really like it so idgaf

again with the inaccuracy of bone marrow extraction.

but what really gets me is clarke recognizing what procedure is going o just by the sound of a drill. ok who is she? she be like the boy that can identify a vacuum just by the sound. For those that don’t know what I’m talking about:

https://youtu.be/Ar5nLNku0CM

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youtube

A missile?? where did these people get a missile

But also imagine if clarke was like actually i didn’t catch any of that conversation and bellamy just had to recap it like Luis in ant-man. I would die

thats a lot to ask of raven clarke. Like i could never get that shit done no matter how long you gave me. Yeah ppl be screwed if i was part of the 100

That hug btw Clarke and raven...ship? Jk i know it was just a friendship hug but yah can never know with these writers. Like i honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the writers said enemies (being part of that love triangle with finn) to friends to lovers

murphy and emori are definitly a ship. walking together behind with everyone else. Murphy said “i killed two people. I had my reasons but nobody cared.” Fuck you murphy you killed them cuz you a salty bitch. I also hate how he says this so blasé. Like dude want?? Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Murphy also said im the bad guy. Murphy is a billie elish fan?? Duh.

woah when that girl pulled out her claw????? I fell out of my seat. its actually huge. she could grab a whole basket all. They did a great job concealing/ not drawing attention to her hand before like i was so fucking surprised.

“Its pretty badass” and murphy looking at that claw tho...murphy is into kinky shit. But also that look he gave her while she walked away that was the most genuine look I’ve ever seen out of murphy.

Bellamy shoving jasper into a wall and whispering...bellamy and jasper? ship?

this secret talk between bellamy and Dante....bellamy and president Dante? ship?

But i also like to imagine that during this meeting that bellamy has the song dont be suspious. Dont be suspious playing in his head

woah. Mountain man said inconito mode activated. Reminds me of one of those green soldiers in toy story especially during the opening scene of i think the first movie

This character development in clarke is something else like remember when she talked about the grounders wanting finn out in the open and not in private causing a huge public uproar. Look at her now talking in private with Lexa about the missile. Phenomenal character growth if you ask me.

they really put all their eggs in one basket with bellamy. But bellamy be a really good basket tho. Trust Lexa trust.

where tf did this guy get an RPG??

Woah Emori be the real bad guy. But honestly she could slit Murphy’s throat and he would still live because cockroaches can still live without their head.

raven you should have just shut up. You really dropped the ball there.

lincoln???? What are the chances??? Isn’t he still a druggie?? Honestly octavias little speech would not motivate me at all. If anything it would make me want to take more drugs. At this point i would just say to Lincoln “dont fight it”

i like how they took everything but they let jaha keep his stick.

caspian is reall dressed like a hipster that sells artisanal kombucha

Jaha really has some faith in murphy...jaha and murphy? ship?

Also that was a really good shot of them murphy, jaha, and their crew climbing up the hill with a giant moon in the background

Lexa is giving me padme vibez wearing that head scarf like that

they were going to let kane and indra die

yeah sorry to break it to you abby but your child is a killer but then again so are you sooo..you really cant be out here to judge your kid like that. Like mother like daughter. But you really cant lecture clarke on this. you literally gave your husband up and you let your daughter blame her best friend for it. And on top of this you were part of the council that sent 100 kid down to earth without even knowing if earth was survivable. ma’m get the fuck outta here.

but all those lives for bellamy. i think its worth it. Because bellamy is worth everything.

theyre linking arms they got monty no!! absolutely not. they took jasper but i gotta say better he than monty bc Monty is king. Yeah jasper really fumbled with that gun. Really not smart. jasper should have just shot tsing instead

Oof a containment breach. wow what an epic door stop. Sooo loong tsing. That was such a cruel death tho but yeah she kinda deserved it.

Does Dante play the cello?? A real renaissance man isn’t he?

wow this makes octaiva and lincoln like an epic couple that conquered the world. power couple. Goals *gag* but ok does that mean that Lincoln just stopped cold turkey just like that?? Hes just automatically better? No this is not how drug addiction works. But ok sure Jan.

#the 100 diaries #the 100 #bellamy #octavia #clarke #jasper #quarantine diaries #raven #monty #jaha #murphy #emori #murphy x emori #lincoln #lincoln x octavia #clarke is a people pusher

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tysonrunningfox · 4 years

Text

Ripped: Christmas Special

It’s the Ripped Christmas Special! Where Ripped is during Christmas. It’s...wow they’re them all the time

Ao3

“We could have ordered a tree online, you know,” Snotlout huffs, readjusting his grip around the freshly cut trunk of the seven-foot Fraser fir between them, his breath a puff of steam in the alley air. Someone opens their back door to throw a bag of trash into a dumpster and he jumps.

Hiccup rolls his eyes, “then we wouldn’t have gotten to pick it out.”

“Ok, we could have ordered a plastic tree online, since all of those look the same.” He starts walking, making Hiccup stumble backwards and catch himself on an alley wall, brick scraping against his glove. “Let’s get this home before we get murdered.”

“No murderers here,” Hiccup starts shuffling forward again anyway, “or at least I thought you caught them all, detective.”

“You think you can just mention my promotion and I’ll forget you’re a magnet for horrible, murderous luck?”

“It was worth a shot,” he shrugs, sighing when he hears the music accompanying the streetlamp glow introducing itself to the mouth of the alley. “Great, Christmas Carolers.”

“Lugging a giant tree across downtown is fine, but some cold people singing ‘Jingle Bells’ is too much holiday cheer for you. That makes sense.” Snotlout rolls his eyes, relaxing when he emerges onto the well-lit sidewalk half a block down from their front door. One of the carolers looks surprised to see them and Hiccup gives a half-hearted wave before tucking his chin to his chest to hopefully avoid interaction.

“Do you need some help with that?” A man’s voice infused with the probable self-importance of ‘Chief Caroler’ asks and Hiccup shakes his head.

“Nope, we’re almost home, thanks though.”

“Well, any requests for music while you work?”

“Silent night?” Hiccup snips but the intended insult goes over the man’s head as he conducts his jolly group in the first few offkey notes of the song.

Getting the tree up the stairs ends in casualties of a few lower branches and the rest of Snotlout’s patience when Hiccup accidentally props the tree up on his foot, but it’s worth it when he opens the door and sees Astrid’s face light up. Or maybe her face doesn’t light up, maybe it just reflects some of the hundreds of multicolor lights she’s strung around the apartment since he left for work this morning. Either way, it’s worth half an hour of dealing with cold, murder-paranoid Snotlout.

“Can we please get this fire hazard inside already?” Snotlout barks from behind the tree in the hallway and Hiccup barely catches his end as it tips forwards, shedding a shower of pine needles on the floor.

“You got a tree,” Astrid practically bounces over to help, taking Snotlout’s end from him and steering Hiccup to a patch of bare floor by the front window where a plastic tree stand is already sitting.

“I told you I would,” he nudges the tree stand with his toe, “you said you were getting a tree stand, what did you intend to put in it? A bush?”

“Just a second,” Astrid sets the trunk down before kneeling to adjust the tree stand in some way, “I figured since you were walking, it’d be smaller.”

“Snotlout graciously volunteered to help me carry it,” Hiccup gives his cousin the credit he doesn’t deserve as Astrid places the trunk in the stand, absently directing Hiccup to lean the tree this way and that until she deems it perfect and starts screwing it into place.

“Anything for you mom,” Snotlout grins.

“Don’t.” Hiccup narrows his eyes, “not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not this whole visit, ok? Do not.”

“Don’t what?”

“You know what.” He relaxes only slightly when Eretson appears from Snotlout’s room. Snotlout can’t be too obvious with his boyfriend in the room, right?

Then again, Eretson isn’t wearing his business-like ‘keep his employee-slash-boyfriend under control’ suit or expression. Instead, he’s wearing felt reindeer antlers and a sweater that says ‘Tree-Rex’ under a dinosaur wrapped in little flickering lights.

“There,” Astrid pops up, clapping her hands together and taking a step back to examine the tree.

The fierce light that bloomed in her eyes when he casually mentioned decorating for Christmas in preparation for his mom’s visit only brightens and it’s almost enough that he doesn’t notice her bulky sweater striped with chunky knitted green trees and white reindeer on a fuzzy, well worn red background.

“So Eretson borrowed the getup from you, I see,” he puts his hands on her waist and turns her to face him, earning about as much of her attention as someone distracting Michelangelo from the brick of marble that would become a statue of David.

“Hmm?” She frowns, glancing at Eretson, “no. He just has Christmas spirit, unlike some people.” She looks disparagingly at the plain blue sweater peeking out of his jacket.

“I thought he was going to yell at the carolers outside.” Snotlout greets Eretson with a tip-toed kiss on the cheek and it’s still weird how pleased Eretson manages to look about it.

“Lights, where did I put the lights?” Astrid will not be kept long from her tree and she pats Hiccup’s arm as she steps out of his grip.

“Over here,” Eretson produces another box from a bag on kitchen counter and tosses them to her, “and Hiccup, really, Eret is fine.”

“Right,” Hiccup shakes his head, hanging his jacket up and looking down to make sure that there’s nothing actually wrong with his sweater. Work clothes still feel like a costume more often than not, and while he’s ok with Astrid judging him on lack of Christmas themed patterns, he was hoping to look at least marginally like an adult tonight, “sorry, just habit. I’m not used to being on a first name basis with my lawyer.” His laugh is awkward, hollow, and everyone else rolls their eyes.

“He hasn’t been your lawyer in like eight months, dude,” Snotlout idly takes a price sticker off of the bottom of a golden reindeer that has taken up residence on the coffee table.

“I know,” Hiccup turns back to the tree to hide his blush when he inevitably remembers that Eretson also wasn’t his lawyer last month when he accidentally walked in on him in the shower. Which is good, because that’s definitely breaching some client-lawyer-confidentiality agreement, or something else legal, or something.

So, it’s good their legal involvement was over. For all parties.

“What time’s your mom getting here?” Astrid asks, fussing over making the lights even as they spiral around the tree.

His breath catches briefly as the feeling that this apartment wasn’t ever really home without her hits him again in one of those random, familiar waves that he still can’t make himself get used to. Sometimes she’ll swear over the fire alarm after burning breakfast or he’ll find one of her pristine paperbacks on the coffee table and he’s smacked with overwhelming nostalgia for something he hopes to never, ever have to miss.

“Come here,” he grabs her elbow, itchy wool on his palm only magnifying the feeling of home as he kisses her.

She sighs into it, indulging him with a hand torn briefly away from the tree to rest on his hip as his fingers cup the back of her neck, tangling in soft hair.

“Well, we don’t need this mistletoe then,” Snotlout scoffs and Hiccup registers just enough to flip him off as he pulls away, dropping one last kiss on Astrid’s nose and smiling to himself when it wrinkles.

“Maybe we do,” Eretson puts an arm over Snotlout’s shoulders, “to contain them in one area.”

Astrid glares at the both of them, arms wrapping slowly around Hiccup’s neck as she turns back to him, confusion knitting her brows together, “what were we talking about?”

“I have no idea,” he sets his hands on her waist, “the fact that Christmas carolers in this area are operating on a fraudulent myth that singing songs on the sidewalk has anything to do with the Grimborn investigation during Christmas eighteen-eighty-three?”

“No, that definitely wasn’t it.”

“Because that doesn’t make sense, given that A Christmas Carol was released in eighteen-eighty.”

“Ok, Scrooge.” She rolls her eyes but kisses him again, sweater sleeves rubbing against the side of his neck.

“Was it that itchy wool gives me a rash?” He teases but it doesn’t crack the shell of her recovered concentration.

“No,” she bites her lip and he barely resists the urge to kiss her again, “oh! I forgot to set the yaknog out.”

“Yaknog?” Hiccup and Snotlout ask at the same time and Eretson nods.

“She let me try some earlier, it’s good.”

“It’s to be respected,” she kisses Hiccup on the cheek before letting go and rushing to the fridge to pull out a large glass pitcher filled with cream colored liquid. “But it is delicious.”

“It’s eggnog,” Snotlout says after a first weary sip before taking another and Eretson pats him carefully on the shoulder. “What’s the difference between eggnog and yaknog?”

“The amount of rum I saw disappear into that pitcher,” Eretson says respectfully and Astrid grins, handing Hiccup a glass.

“That’s why Ruffnut named it yaknog,” she explains, “if it is not respected, it will make you yak.”

“It’s good,” Hiccup compliments, even though he can’t say he’s ever been an eggnog fan. Then again, he could be, especially when it makes Astrid smile again, reaching around him to take a package of shiny ornaments off of the counter and hold them up.

“Tree?”

“Sure.” He follows her back across the living room, obediently holding the package open for her to choose the first ornament to anoint the tree.

“The thing that people get wrong about tree decorating is that you have to have a plan,” she instructs, tucking her hair behind her ear and carefully picking a shiny red bauble up by the gold ring at the top of it, like she’s trying not to smudge it.

“You do?” He watches her hang the first ornament as high as she can reach, oversized sweater pulling up barely enough to show the back pockets of her jeans. “What happens if you just hang everything all willy-nilly?” He takes a gold ornament out of the box and hangs it on the other side of the tree at about hip height.

“It ends up unbalanced,” she purses her lips, undoing his decorating attempt and cleaning the smudges off of the ball on her sleeve before putting it back in functionally the same place.

“Wait,” he hands her the box of ornaments, “I’ll be right back.”

“I thought you were going to help,” she complains half-heartedly after him as he disappears into their unusually clean bedroom just long enough to grab the top hat from the bedpost.

“Oh God, the dorky hat,” Snotlout complains, barely distracted from his debate with Eretson on the couch. Hiccup ignores him.

“If you’re going to instruct me in the art of proper Christmas tree decoration,” he sets it on her head and it slips slightly crooked, like it always does, “you need this.”

“Fine,” she hands the box back to him and selects her next ornament, hanging it carefully on the tree.

“What, exactly, would make a Christmas tree unbalanced?” He loves when she takes things too seriously, assigning methods to things he’s always been sure were madness.

“Bare patches,” she shrugs, “uneven distribution of color.”

“Ok, that seems serious,” he jokes, handing her a blue ornament with a grip careful not to smudge and grinning when her warm fingers brush carefully over his, “and what are the consequences of having an unbalanced Christmas tree?”

“Consequences?” She looks up from under the brim of his hat, straightening it when it tips backwards.

“Yeah, what…great harm will befall those dumb enough not to listen to your ancient knowledge of Christmas tree decoration?” He realizes, with a jolt that makes time slow down, what exactly it means that he’s off work until the new year and she’s done with her semester. That’s at least ten days at home with her, ten days around the soon to be perfect tree, ten days with the multicolor lights reflecting in her eyes.

“Bad luck,” she nods solemnly.

“Oof,” he holds the box of ornaments to the side to step closer and whisper, “I should be probably paying attention then, I’ve had enough bad luck this year.”

“Not only bad luck, I hope.”

“Good too,” he assures, kissing her briefly and smiling when she forgets herself enough to press an ornament against his neck as her hand finds his cheek, “lots of good.” He flips Snotlout off again when he groans, then tries to pry the ornament free of Astrid’s grip before she smashes it against his jaw.

“Oh no,” she pulls back all of a sudden, staring from the tree to the counter where bags sit entirely depleted of Christmas decorations.

“What is it?”

“I forgot a star,” she blushes, messing with her hair and almost knocking the hat off of her head, “for the top of the tree.”

“Oh,” he looks around, half wondering if Snotlout would consent to his badge being a shiny tree-topper at least for tonight, before the idea hits him. “If I may…” He plucks the hat off of her head and goes onto lopsided tip toes to set it carefully on the top of the tree. It immediately falls slightly crooked, like it’s on a very rustic hat hook, and he expects Astrid’s too serious lecture about tree balance to start up again, but it doesn’t. “Is that—”

“I love it,” she grins, “you obviously didn’t need tree decorating lessons, you’re a natural.”

“You taught me everything I know,” he puts his hand on his heart to swear it and she rolls her eyes.

“Help me get the rest of these on before—”

A knock at the door cuts her off and she freezes, eyes wide as she tugs at her sweater, shifting half a step back from him. Right. His mom. That’s what she was asking about earlier before she distracted him.

He checks the time right as Snotlout stands up from the couch.

“I’ll get it.”

“No, you won’t,” Hiccup rushes to the door but stumbles, wasting precious time juggling an open box half full of ornaments and ultimately losing the race.

“Good evening, Miss Haddock,” Snotlout greets stepping aside to let Hiccup’s mom through, “may I say that you look particularly lovely this—”

“You may not,” Hiccup cuts him off, setting the box on the arm of the couch and resisting the urge to shove Snotlout out of the way. “Hi Mom.”

“Seeing Spitelout Jorgenson’s son grow up into such a polite young man,” his mom looks at him anxiously for a second and then sets a warm hand on his shoulder, “makes me wonder where I messed up.”

“Hey!” Hiccup laughs anyway and Snotlout holds out an arm.

“Can I take your coat?”

“I’ve got it,” Hiccup steps in, folding his mom’s coat awkwardly over his arm when she hands it to him.

Is he supposed to introduce Astrid now? Or get his mom settled first? Should he have introduced her before he took his mom’s coat? Should he have asked Eretson to take her coat, given that he trusts Eretson not to hit on his mom?

“Oh, Miss Haddock,” Snotlout interrupts Hiccup’s racing thoughts and gestures to Eretson, who looks as composed as any grown man could in a novelty sweater and felt antlers, “I don’t believe you’ve met my boyfriend, Eret.”

“He’s also my lawyer,” Hiccup blurts out, hastily tossing his mom’s coat onto his hat’s old peg on the coat rack. He’s lucky that it doesn’t fall.

He’s never introduced a girlfriend to his mom before, but he is relatively sure he was supposed to do that before introducing his lawyer. Ex-lawyer. Ex-lawyer, occasional victim of accidental shower peeping.

At least he didn’t say that out loud.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Haddock,” Eretson holds his hand out but Hiccup’s mom hugs him instead.

“Valka is fine.” She looks at Snotlout, “for all of you, really.”

“Well, if you insist.” Snotlout laughs how adults do when there’s no real joke, the laugh that Hiccup hasn’t even attempted to master.

“Oh, and Mom?” Hiccup clears his throat, stepping beside Astrid and grabbing her hand in his. He wonders if she can feel him shaking and internally thanks her for not mentioning it. “This is Astrid. My girlfriend. And Astrid, this is my mom. Obviously.”

“Nice to meet you,” Astrid squeezes his hand before letting it go and offering it to Hiccup’s mom. There’s a tense millisecond before she gets a hug too, a little more enthusiastic than Eretson’s, if Hiccup isn’t mistaken, and he breathes a little easier. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Hiccup’s mom laughs, hands on Astrid’s shoulders, “Hiccup has been very tight-lipped about this whole thing—”

“Mom,” he sounds fifteen when he whines, but he can’t seem to hold it back.

“I half thought he’d made you up.”

“Mom.”

“He didn’t even mention how absolutely gorgeous you are.”

“Oh. Thank you,” Astrid blushes, “can I get you anything? Would you like some yaknog?”

“Sure,” his mom agrees, asking ‘what the hell is yaknog’ with her eyes as she looks back at him. “She really is beautiful—”

“I know,” he cuts her off before Astrid can hear again, fumbling for his own glass of yaknog and toasting in his mom’s direction, “and she makes great eggnog. I mean yaknog. It’s eggnog with a way higher rum quotient, I’m told.”

“Merry Christmas,” his mom responds, humming appreciatively when she tries it.

Snotlout offers suspiciously graciously to get his mom’s bag from the stairwell, and she accepts before sitting down at one end of the couch, by Eretson. Snotlout’s seat is assumed, and that leaves the chair, which Hiccup sits in without thinking. Usually, Astrid would just wedge herself in beside him or make herself comfortable on his lap, but of course she can’t do that now, because his mom is here.

“Oh, sorry, you can have the, um, chair—” He starts to stand up, but she stops him, hand on his shoulder as she perches on the arm, resting her glass of yaknog on her knee.

“So,” his mom leans forward slightly, looking around the apartment like she’s wondering how many of the little changes since she lived here are Astrid’s influence. The answer is most of them, and Hiccup suddenly doesn’t know when he got so old that he didn’t have to ask permission for someone to move in with him. He guesses he asked Snotlout without getting permission, but that’s different. That’s a roommate. “Tell me everything.”

Eretson laughs, shooting Snotlout a knowing look when he comes back inside, arm on the back of the couch like an invitation to snuggle up together and watch the carnage. Sometimes, he’s enough of an ass to deserve the ‘lawyer’ title.

“Everything?” Hiccup clears his throat, “what’s everything? I mean, work is going great. I just got a petition with over ten thousand signatures to save the Grand Hotel from being torn down up to the State Legislature. I might even get to go defend it, which would be good because that’s how I got most of the ten thousand signatures, by promising people that if they signed my form, they’d be forcing me to talk in a very public, uncomfortable court, and I guess I was annoying enough that it’s something literal thousands of people wanted to force me to do.”

He laughs. No one else does. Astrid squeezes his shoulder, half-comfort and half-reminder, and his mom’s eagle eyes snag on the motion.

“You told me about your job on the phone,” she reminds him, “I was referring more to the fact that you’re living with a girlfriend you couldn’t find a minute to send me a picture of.”

“Would you have believed him?” Snotlout snorts, polite mask slipping for a second until Astrid glares at him. “About the job. Of course. I’m shocked you believed that Hiccup got a job. I hardly believed it, it’s really just Astrid being a good influence.”

Eretson and Astrid share a look and he puts a hand on Snotlout’s shoulder, urging him quiet.

“I heard you two met at your old apartment building?” Hiccup’s mom directs the question at Astrid and she freezes, eyebrows raising, “was that before or after the ‘little run-in with the law’ that he told me about?”

“Oh,” Astrid nods, “when you say everything, you mean that much everything.” Her fingernails dig into Hiccup’s shoulder and his grin turns plastic.

He didn’t know how to tell his mother that he got a little bit framed for serial murder, but it’s fine now, so he kind of just omitted the first half of the sentence.

“Is that not how you met?” Having his mom catch him in half a lie in front of his girlfriend is somehow worse than having his mom catch him in an absolute lie in any other circumstance. Unpredictably, it’s worse that he’s an adult, a real adult with a job, who just started using beard oil because isn’t the mark of true adulthood the accumulation of small bottles in the bathroom?

“Do you want to tell it, babe?” Astrid asks, an edge in the pet name, and he sighs.

“I’ll take your lead on this one.”

“Well,” she takes a long drink of her yaknog before continuing, “I’m assuming you know that Hiccup used to do Viggo Grimborn tours.”

His mom nods, “I was hoping to catch one on this trip, actually.”

“I don’t actually do them anymore,” Hiccup shrugs, “but I suppose exceptions could be made.”

“Anyway,” Astrid’s heel knocks against his metal shin as she swings her leg, mysteriously nervous rather than actually mad at him for lying by omission, “I happened to move into an apartment that featured on his tour.”

“So, we did meet at your building, technically.”

“Yeah, but I was in the building, and you were in the courtyard yelling about murder and shining a laser pointer into my bathroom,” she corrects him, voice softening throughout the sentence.

“And you don’t react well to being startled,” he fills in, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, “as evidenced by the fact that you threw your toothbrush at my head.”

“Dropped it,” she insists, and he grabs her hand.

“With deadly aim, sure.”

“And I’m assuming you apologized,” Hiccup’s Mom raises her eyebrow and he nods.

“Of course, I sent her a pizza.”

“It didn’t stop you from coming back three times a night,” Astrid teases.

“That explains the ‘run-in’ with the law,” his mom gives him a stern look, like he’s six and his dad caught him elbow deep in the cookie jar, so he’s actually in trouble, “it does leave me a little foggy as to why a seemingly smart girl like you moved in with someone who stalked her.”

Astrid laughs, a little awkward, grip tightening on Hiccup’s hand like he’s her lifeline for once.

“Technically he only stalked my apartment.” She shrugs, “and he’s pretty persuasive. Especially about being harmless.”

“And lucky for him, you’re a huge nerd too,” Snotlout interjects, earning a blushing glare and an admonishing look from Eretson.

“Yeah, lucky for me,” Hiccup agrees, because it is luck that Astrid wasn’t just an undeniably gorgeous and unmistakably violent woman who threw things at him. He doesn’t know how much of his luck he spent for her to be so much more than that, but it’s worth it.

“That’s quite the story,” his mom finishes her yaknog and Astrid gets up to refill it for her, shooting Hiccup a look that he doesn’t quite understand. Almost checking in, almost worried, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it because his mom turns to Eretson. “Hiccup said you’re his lawyer, maybe you’re the one to ask about his ‘run-in’ with the law, as he puts it.”

“Well,” Eretson looks almost panicked for a second, before adjusting his antlers and gesturing at Hiccup with the arm not over Snotlout’s shoulders, “given that I’m no longer his lawyer, I’m afraid you’ll have to direct all questions surrounding the dismissed case at my former client.”

Snotlout snickers.

“Is that what you would have said in court?” Hiccup wipes his face, arms itching to pull Astrid into his lap when she sits back down on the arm of the chair, like he could hide behind her where he could pretend he’s not going to have to explain this to his mother. “I’m shocked you didn’t see it on the news, Mom,” he gestures to his face, “it was everywhere, that’s why I ended up growing the beard, I didn’t actually take to fame as well as I thought I would. I’m sure you remember the magic tricks? I used to think I’d love to escape handcuffs on stage, but after I kind of did it, if the twenty-four-seven news racket counts as a stage, I discovered I kind of hated it—”

“I can’t take this anymore,” Snotlout stands up, hands held out like he’s projecting a scene onto a screen between them, “ok, so this really creepy dude infiltrated the police force and framed Hiccup for a bunch of murders—”

“Snotlout!” Astrid tries to stop him, but he waves her off.

“It’s your big meet-Hiccup’s-mom moment, I get you. I’ve got you, she comes out of this story looking…like oh my God, I’m not going to spoil it, just—wait, did you hear I got shot?” He pauses and then reaches for the hem of his shirt.

“Snotlout!” Hiccup snaps, almost knocking Astrid off of the arm of the chair as he jumps halfway to his feet.

“I was just going to show her my scar.”

“She doesn’t want to see your scar,” Hiccup assures him, sitting back down and tugging Astrid with him, his hips notched slightly behind hers so that they can share the chair. She crosses her legs and her ankle slides across his knee, anchoring him for whatever spectacle he’s about to endure.

Eretson has a stupid, bemused expression on his face that Hiccup only recognizes from his own reflection when he happens to be thinking about Astrid, and inviting his mother for Christmas was obviously a mistake.

“I’ll skip to the good part,” Snotlout promises, “Hiccup is in jail, for multiple murders, and Astrid goes to visit him, but of course the bad guy chooses that time to gloat about it, and Astrid—this Astrid, right here, takes her umbrella,” he mimes a wide swing like he’s hitting a home run, “and shatters the creep’s nose. One orbital socket too, I heard from the hospital. I’ve seen the video it’s…”

“Classified,” Eretson interrupts, “that case is still ongoing.”

“It’s awesome,” Snotlout insists, “that’s what it is.”

“It was nothing,” Astrid tries to hold some approximation of a humble expression but then she grins, allowing the compliment, “ok, it was pretty satisfying.”

“Multiple murders,” Hiccup’s mom says slowly, eyebrows raised, and he gives into the urge to hide behind Astrid, chin on her shoulder, arm possessively around her waist as he shoots a glare at Snotlout for revealing that little tidbit of information, “quite the ‘run-in’.”

“That I didn’t, you know, commit.” He mumbles after a too long second, “I was framed.”

It isn’t received as the comforting statement he was going for and he looks up at the lights strung around the window before whispering in Astrid’s ear.

“How do I get the conversation off of murder and back to Christmas?”

“I don’t know,” she flushes, whispering as quietly as possible as the three on the couch engage in halting small talk, “Jonbenet Ramsey?”

Hiccup snorts even though he shouldn’t, burying his nose in her hair to try and hide it. His humor has always skewed dark, and that’s probably why he’s not in a padded room right now, but the last thing he wants to do now is explain how Astrid’s knowledge of true crime beyond Grimborn is not only funny, but also endearing and kind of sexy in a way he can’t contemplate with his mom judging him.

“What was that?” His mom asks and Astrid’s neck warms as her blush travels down it.

“Nothing.” She clears her throat, patting Hiccup’s arm for him to let her up and take all of her warmth and protection with her. “I was about halfway through decorating the tree when you got here, I think I’ll go finish that.”

“Can I help?” His mom offers and while his first instinct is to follow and make sure that everything goes well, Astrid is far more capable of assuring that particular outcome than he is.

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

Hiccup tries not to watch them. He offers to order a pizza, because of course he didn’t plan for dinner in the rush of getting the tree and he doesn’t think anywhere delivers a whole Christmas goose on such short notice. He tries to focus on his phone or Snotlout and Eretson’s conversation about some law he doesn’t think he’s broken yet, but his entire being still snaps to attention when Astrid makes his mom laugh.

“…not even listening to me, are you?” Snotlout’s voice breaks his concentration as he tries to make sense of the joke or embarrassing story about him or whatever they’re bonding over and he glares at him.

“What?”

“I said ‘you’re not even listening to me, are you?’,” Snotlout scoffs and stands up, walking over to the chair as Eretson migrates closer to the tree, “and then you said ‘what?’, which proved you weren’t—”

“What did I miss?” Hiccup rolls his eyes, “because I heard the whole story where you admitted to my mother that I was wrongly incarcerated for murder. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“No problem, I figured it’d be easier if she heard it from me.” His smile is borderline flirtatious, and Hiccup grinds his teeth.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what? Don’t give you another reason to thank me?”

“What’s the reason?” Hiccup stands up, returning to the counter to refresh his yaknog, sure that he’s going to need it to cushion whatever Snotlout is about to say.

“I’m doing you a favor—”

“Tell me what the favor is, and I’ll decide if I’m going to thank you for it.” His eyes flick to the tree again when Astrid laughs. She must have stolen Eretson’s antlers at some point and she slaps his hand away when he tries to recover them.

“I think your mom should sleep in my bed.”

“What?” Hiccup snaps, too loud, and everyone looks at him like they’re nervous to even attempt to understand the size and scale of whatever his problem is.

“Is everything ok?” Astrid cocks her head and he nods back at her, tight lipped and sloshing yaknog on the front of his apparently inadequate blue sweater when he tries to wave her off.

“Fine. Good. I just need to talk to Snotlout outside for a second. Alone. Where no one can hear him scream—”

“Scream?” Eretson asks but Snotlout brushes him off, following a little too willingly when Hiccup drags him out into the stairwell.

“I asked you to stop with the hitting on my mom jokes for one day,” he hisses out on the sidewalk, glaring at the carolers who have managed to move all of a block down the frigid sidewalk, even as the slow falling snow should have convinced them to head home by now, “for Astrid to meet her, because it’s a big deal—”

“It’s not a joke—”

“Sometimes, I wish I’d gotten convicted for shooting you so that double jeopardy could apply,” he runs out of steam all at once, shoulders slumping, “so are you telling Eretson that you think my mom should sleep with you or is it my turn to make a fool out of you by telling a stupid story?”

“I said your mom should sleep in my bed,” Snotlout claps him on the shoulders, “not with me. I can crash with Eret while she’s here, then your mom doesn’t have to sleep on the couch. I already changed the sheets.”

“If that’s what you meant, why did you phrase it like that?”

“To make you freak out,” he shrugs.

“Right. Thanks for that.”

“No problem,” Snotlout pulls a wad of green out of his pocket and it takes a second for Hiccup to recognize plastic mistletoe, “we’ll probably head out soon, actually, I grabbed this from Astrid’s decoration stash, I was thinking about hanging it from my belt buckle.”

“Gross.”

“Eret seems pretty into Christmas, I thought it was festive—”

“I’m going to go back inside, before you say anything else, or before—” Before something goes less than perfectly between Astrid and his mom. “Nope, that one reason is enough.”

“Dude,” Snotlout sighs, “calm the fuck down, Astrid’s great, and way too hot for you. There’s no way your mom isn’t going to like her.”

“Great pep talk.”

“I’m here to help,” Snotlout claps him on the shoulder before leading the way back inside.

He explains his purposed sleeping arrangements to Hiccup’s mom, and she makes another comment about how surprised she is at his politeness. If it wouldn’t make him stick around and cause more havoc, Hiccup might take the opportunity to clarify that it’s all an act, and a thin one at that, but as little as he wants to think about what Snotlout just overshared, he really wants him to leave. Not only to get his wildcard mouth out of the situation, but because there’s something nuclear about the idea of being alone with Astrid and his mom. Something a little more traditionally family shaped.

His dad’s absence is a little heavier as they sit around the remarkably well-balanced tree, eating pizza and hashing out vague plans for the next few days. Astrid teasingly promises to help with a Grimborn tour, if he’s too rusty, and he wonders what must show on his face for his mom to yawn so quickly and excuse herself to bed, blaming flights and travel and anything other than Hiccup’s blush.

She points silently at Astrid’s back on the way to Snotlout’s room before giving Hiccup a not so subtle thumbs up that he appreciates as much as it embarrasses him.

After the door is shut, Astrid stands with a yawn, stretching her arms over her head and shuffling towards the kitchen, promising to put the remnants of the yaknog away and meet him in the bedroom. And listening to the quiet clang of the pitcher in the fridge while he takes off his work clothes and flops onto the bed in his underwear only enforces the feeling of home and family and stifling rightness that has perfumed every awkward minute of tonight.

Astrid pauses when the door clicks shut behind her, cocking her head as he props himself up on an elbow, a bemused little smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“What?” He looks down at his chest, “did Yaknog soak through my shirt?”

“I can’t tell from here,” she unbuttons her pants and shoves them down to join his in a disorganized pile on the floor before doing that female trick where her arms disappear into sleeves for a moment and her bra appears, also immediately abandoned. Her sweater hangs halfway down her thighs and her knee-high socks are covered in candy canes and Christmas trees. “I was wondering why you aren’t under the covers.”

“Ran out of energy,” he shrugs, “right here. Can’t move another inch.”

“Right,” she nods, unimpressed as she climbs onto the bed beside him and tugs absently at her side of the covers, biting her lip and sitting cross-legged, tucking her hair behind her ear. “How do you think that went?”

“Oh, I was a spaz, so everything’s right on schedule.” He lays back, hand landing on her knee and sliding down to trace the edge of her sock against her calf.

“No, I mean,” her voice dips, “how do you think I did with meeting your mom?”

“Great,” he rolls on his side to face her, leaning halfway up on an elbow, “of course. Were you worried?”

“Of course, I was worried,” she crosses her arms, but even she struggles to look scary in an oversized sweater and holiday socks.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I thought it was obvious.” She scoffs, “I want your mom to like me, of course I was nervous.”

“She likes you,” he skips to the fact instead of meandering through the long explanation that of course his mom would like her, because there’s nothing unlikeable about her, “she gave me a thumbs up on her way to bed. That’s high approval.”

“Oh,” she brightens, hands tucked back into too long sleeves.

“I have a secret too,” he flops onto his back, “I don’t know if you want to hear it though…”

“Don’t tease me,” she follows, straddling his hips with her hands on his chest, like she’s planning on holding him down until he talks. Not that he minds, if anything he folds his arms behind his head with plans to draw it out. “That’s just mean.”

“Snotlout stole your mistletoe,” he says seriously.

“Bastard,” she whispers, fingers curling absently against his chest.

“I know. I would have fought for it for you—”

“Of course.”

“But he told me he was planning to hang it from his belt buckle, so then it felt tainted.” He laughs when her nose wrinkles in sympathetic disgust. “I know.”

“Well what are we going to do now?” She presses her thumb to his lower lip, fingernails scratching gently through his beard and he shivers. Her smile is just on the right side of teasing,“if you’re cold, you should get under the covers.”

“Told you, I’m too tired,” he pushes back on her hips with hands that suddenly can’t move fast enough and she scoots back enough to let him sit up. “I also told you that wool gives me a rash,” he tries to kiss her as he pulls her sweater up, but she pushes him back with a hand over his mouth.

“Without mistletoe?” She snickers through her false incredulity and he pauses his quest against her sweater to tuck her hair behind her ear, “that’s not very festive.”

“We don’t need it.” He attempts to roll her onto the pillow but only half succeeds, hovering over her as she scoots back, knees hugging his hips when she’s comfortable. “It’s a pagan thing anyway.” Her sweater makes his chest itch when he kisses her neck, but her hand trailing down his side makes it hard to care.

“Oh, so like ‘keep Christ in Christmas’?” She asks, arching into him when he grinds down against her, hand sliding down the back of her thigh.

“No,” he sits back on his heel, carefully unfolding her leg and setting her novelty sock clad heel over his shoulder, “it’s all about commercialism.”

“Right. Of course,” she laughs, eyes bright with something better than Christmas spirit and stronger than yaknog.

“A reason to sell socks,” he kisses the edge of the sock on her calf, “and deforest small, ornamental trees.” He kisses the inside of her knee. “Run up the electric bill with hundreds of twinkling lights.”

He kisses the inside of her thigh, knees scooting backwards on the bed as her heel drags up his spine.

“They’re LED.” She’s not laughing anymore, voice low like she’s reminding herself to be quiet, and she lifts her hips when he hooks his thumbs in the sides of her underwear.

“A reason to buy twinkling lights, then.” He pushes her sweater up enough to kiss her hipbone and she nearly growls under her breath, hand firm on the back of his head as she redirects his focus.

“Ok, Scrooge.”

He’d make some quip about the ghost of Christmas future not being particularly scary, but he doesn’t think she’s listening.

#ripped #ripped christmas special #httyd fic #modern au #hiccstrid #osha would allow it #eretlout #the meaning of christmas is capitalism and that's just fine with them #meeting the parents

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hotforharrison · 5 years

Text

Meet & Greet ch 7

Chapter 6 <-- Series Masterlist --> Chapter 8

Pairing: Tom Holland/Reader

Summary: You missed out on a Tom Holland meet and greet, but a stranger, who you are pretty sure is a Tom Holland lookalike, rescues you from your pity party for one.

Word Count: 2,211

Warnings: As usual, explicit smut and language.

A/N: I don’t think I’ve ever written over 11,000 words in less than a week before!

You considered just getting yourself off again, but decided against it. However, you did decide to forego pants and panties. Maybe Tom would take mercy on your poor sexually frustrated soul.

When you heard the front door shut, you padded out into the living room.

He saw you and grinned. “I approve of your wardrobe choices.”

His smile was infectious. “I was hoping you would.”

He opened the paper bag of takeout and placed the containers and plastic silverware on the coffee table, then headed back toward the kitchen. “What do you want to drink? I have bottled water, beer, some soft drinks.”

“Water works,” you replied.

He returned and handed you a bottle of water, then sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him.

The tantalizing smell of Chinese food made you realize how hungry you really were. You took a long draw from your water bottle and sat close to him. Your bare thigh touched his leg, which was still unfortunately covered by his jeans. You peeked in the takeout containers until you found what you’d chosen.

You started eating while he turned on the TV and scrolled through Netflix. “Any preferences?”

“Whatever you want to watch is fine with me,” you responded between bites.

You hadn’t seen the movie he’d chosen. It wasn’t something you normally would have picked, but you didn’t mind. He grabbed one of the other takeout containers and dug in.

The silence between you while you ate was comfortable, but you struggled to pay attention to the movie when you could pay attention to him instead. You’d thought he was devastatingly handsome and sexy before, but that was amplified tenfold in person.

It didn’t feel quite real that you were sitting next to Tom Holland in his apartment, eating Chinese takeout, naked from the waist down. How was this your life now?

He seemed to share your lack of interest in the movie, looking over at you as much as you were looking at him.

You could tell when you glanced down that he was still hard in his pants, and you really wanted to do something about it.

After you’d both finished eating and placed your empty takeout containers on the coffee table, he turned to you. “How are you feeling? Tired yet?”

“Not really,” you replied. “Are you ready to head to bed?”

“No, but I’ll be right back.” You heard him walk off toward the bedroom.

You thought about following him, waiting for him naked and ready in his bed, but you stayed where you were.

He returned a short time later. “I thought of something I’d like to try, if you want to.”

“I’ve liked all of your ideas so far,” you responded, trying not to seem as eager as you were.

“How do you feel about porn?” he asked.

“I’ve watched it before,” you admitted. “I liked some of it.”

“Good.” He grabbed the remote, went through some menus, and a video started playing.

A naked bleach blonde was lying on a couch. An equally naked man with more muscles than Tom, and a frankly frighteningly big cock, approached her. He grabbed a neon pink bullet vibrator from the end table next to the couch. The camera zoomed in close up when spread her legs wide.

The actor teased her clit with the vibrator, and she moaned like it was the best thing she’d ever felt. It didn’t take long before she came, long and hard. You didn’t think she was faking it. While she was still in the midst of her orgasm, the actor thrust into her in one sure stroke, then immediately started pounding her like his life depended on it.

You glanced over at Tom for a moment to find him watching you instead of the video. “Is this one of your favorites?”

“Not really. I just wanted to see how you’d react to, well, this.” He held up a purple bullet vibrator similar to the one in the video. “If you’re not interested, or not ready, we don’t have to.” He paused. “And I definitely won’t just ram my cock into you after you’ve cum, like he did.”

You’d considered buying a vibrator before, but had been too shy to go into a sex store, and too worried about indiscreet packaging to order one online. You held out your hand. “Can I see it first?”

“Of course.” He dropped it into your hand.

You ran your fingers over it. The material was a very soft and silky silicone. You enjoyed the way it felt against your skin. There was a button on the end. You pressed it, but it didn’t turn on. “Is it broken?”

“No, twist the bottom.”

You did, and it quietly buzzed to life. You almost dropped it. The vibration was stronger than you expected. You pressed the button on the bottom to see what it did. There was a variety of modes, at least a dozen -- stronger levels of vibration, pulsing, a series of vibrations of increasing intensity. You wanted to try them all.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think I’m getting your couch wet,” you answered honestly.

He laughed. “It’s been through worse.”

You handed the vibrator back to him, not sure if he wanted you here or in the bedroom.

Your question was answered when he kneeled in front of you, spreading your legs apart with his hands. You scooted to the edge of the couch to give him easier access.

“You weren’t lying when you said you were wet,” he commented, licking his lips. “Was it the porn or the vibrator?”

“Mostly just you,” you confessed.

He swiped the turned off vibrator through your wetness to lubricate it. “Be careful stroking my ego so much.”

“Can I stroke something else instead?” you couldn’t help but ask.

He laughed again. “All in good time.”

He turned on the vibrator and placed it near, but not touching, your clit.

You jumped a bit at the intensity of it.

He moved it further away from your clit. “Too much?”

“No, just didn’t expect it to feel like that. That was...wow.”

He returned the vibrator to its previous location, sliding it smoothly around your clit through your wetness. You hadn’t experienced this sort of pleasure before, nothing so sudden, from 0 to 60 in less than a second. You were already close, and he still hadn’t pressed it against your clit.

“Do you want me to fuck you with my fingers, too, darling? Get you closer to ready to take my cock?” he asked.

Your response was immediate. “Yes,” you breathed.

He pressed his index finger into you, and you were relieved to find that was met with no resistance and was no longer painful. He crooked it to find your g-spot, and you almost came right on the spot. He sensed that it wasn’t enough. “Are you ready for another?”

You nodded. “Please,” you forced out between the noises he was drawing from you.

He added a second finger. It was only a little harder to take this time, but the vibrator helped distract you from any discomfort. Everything just felt varying degrees of amazing, and he still hadn’t touched your clit with it. Vibrators were one of your new favorite things.

He scissored his fingers slightly, then a bit more. You noticed him staring up at your face, gauging your reactions. “Do you want to try one more?”

Before your nerves could get the better of you, you replied, “go ahead.”

The third finger was a little rough, even with the vibrator. He curved all three against your g-spot, dangerously close to grazing your clit with the vibrator, and you almost accidentally kicked him at the bright shock of pleasure that coursed through you.

The porn scene still played in your mind, though. You couldn’t stop thinking about Tom fucking you deep on the couch with the vibrator buzzing away, bringing you to an orgasm as powerful as the porn star’s.

“Please, give it to me,” you begged, pleasure-addled enough that you forgot Tom wasn’t privy to your thoughts.

“Do you want it faster or harder?” he asked as he continued to move his fingers within you.

“No, well yes, but your cock. I want your cock,” you begged.

“I don’t think you’re ready for-”

“I’m ready,” you insisted. “Give it to me, Tom. Please. I need it.”

“God, you beg so pretty.” He cursed under his breath. “Okay, give me a second.”

You whined, wanting him to hurry.

He dropped the vibrator on the couch, still buzzing away, and almost fell in his rush to get out of his shoes, then pants. “Fuck.”

Once he was naked from the waist down, like you, he grabbed the vibrator and bent back down in front of you, lining up his erection with your entrance, stopping. “You’re sure?”

Instead of answering with words, you pressed your hips up toward him, trying in vain to just take what you so desperately wanted. He placed the vibrator directly on your clit this time. Your orgasm was almost instantaneous and more intense than you expected. The pleasure-pain of Tom’s cock breaching you somehow made it even better.

“I’m sorry, this is going to be a quick fuck,” he breathed, thrusting quickly, but relatively gently.

Instead of your orgasm ebbing as it usually did, you hit a second peak. It skirted the edge of too much. You dug your fingers into his bare arms, shaking against him.

Tom cried out your name and followed you over the edge, dropping the vibrator on the floor. He pressed his forehead against yours, damp with sweat. You were both breathing heavily.

You felt him softening inside you, slick with a combination of your own wetness and his cum.

“That was not how I planned this to go,” he eventually said.

“But you’re okay?” you asked, worried you’d been too demanding.

“I think I should be asking you that,” he pointed out.

You were a little sore, but also completely satisfied. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” he promised.

“Make what up to me?”

“I didn’t even get you to a bed, and I lasted like a minute.”

“Oh, I don’t mind that. It was just the first time, not the last one.” You were already trying not to think about the last one, that this had an expiration date.

He pulled out, and you crinkled your nose at the sensation of his cum leaking from inside you. He reached down to grab the vibrator from the floor and turn it off.

“I’ll get you a flannel,” he said, heading off toward the bedroom again.

You tried to figure out what he meant, but came up empty handed. You heard the water running in the master bathroom. He returned with a damp white washcloth.

You reached out to take it from him, but he shook his head. He got down between your legs again and wiped through the mess gingerly, until you were clean again.

“You’re bleeding a bit,” he commented guiltily.

You shrugged. “I thought that was normal your first time. I’m a little sore, but definitely okay. No regrets,” you reassured him.

He looked relieved. “I’m still making it up to you, though. Next time, it’ll be in my bed, and I’ll try to last at least two minutes.”

“Setting the bar high, huh?” you asked with a laugh.

“Reaching for the stars,” he agreed.

You stretched and yawned, suddenly more tired than you’d been in a long time. When you glanced at the clock, you realized it had been almost 24 hours since you’d last slept, and you’d never orgasmed so hard in your life.

Your yawn was contagious. “Ready for bed?”

You nodded.

“Me too.” He stood and reached out to help you up off the couch.

Your legs didn’t want to work at first, but he steadied you until you could walk with him to the bedroom. He turned on the nightstand lamp, then turned off the overhead light. When he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into a hamper in the corner of the room, you followed suit and took off your shirt and bra, too, placing them next to the nightstand.

You stood by the bed awkwardly for a moment. “What side do you like to sleep on?”

“Doesn’t matter.” He got into bed first, making plenty of room for you, and looked at you expectantly.

You joined him, and he turned off the lamp. The room was only dimly lit by the street lights from around the edge of the blinds. You felt uncertain about where and how to lie down, sticking close to the edge of the bed. You hadn’t before, but you thought you’d like cuddling. Did he like cuddling? You didn’t want to make him feel obligated by asking.

He didn’t give you long to overthink about it before he reached out to pull you flush against him. You threw an arm over his midsection and placed your head against his bare chest. It didn’t take long for you to drift off, comforted by his warmth and the steady thump of his heartbeat against your ear.

Tag list: @drown-me-before-dema-does @tom-hollands-blog @tylers-ankles-beebos-forehead @moorehollandplz @delicatepeterparker @thollandss @musicalburrage @captainbuckyy

#tom holland #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland x you #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland imagine #tom holland scenarios #tom holland fic #tom holland smut #tom holland fluff #tom holland story #tom holland writing #tom holland reader #tom holland reader insert #tom holland you

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in-arlathan · 4 years

Text

Born Wilder

Wow, writing this little something of a fic took way longer than I expected, but I got there in the end. I really needed to get this story out of my system to get my fanfiction mojo flowing again.

This one-shot features my Elenara Lavellan and her companions Varric, Cassandra and Solas in the Hinterlands. After writing Solavellan romance with no specific Lavellan, it’s was so nice to write with one of my OCs again.

Sadly, Elenara and Solas are far away from their relationship in this one, so no sappy romance here, but I enjoyed exploring her thoughts on the Inquisition and being a Dalish among humans before she became Inquisitor. Also, some friendly bonding with Varric at the end, which is always good. Happy reading! :)

Read it on AO3

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“So, Chuckles,” Varric said, “is it true you spend most of your time in the Fade?”

“As much as is possible, yes,” Solas answered with a curious side-glance. “The Fade contains a wealth of knowledge for those who know where to look.”

The dwarf scoffed. “I don't know how you dream, let alone wander around in there. Especially when the shit that comes out of the Fade generally seems... pretty cranky.”

“So are humans, but we continue to interact with them…,” Solas replied with a smile tugging at his lips. “When we must.”

“Point taken,” Varric said.

Cassandra made a disgruntled face. “If you gentlemen are quite finished…”

“Come now, seeker…”

Elenara smiled, despite only half-listening to her companions. She was too busy keeping an eye out for rebel mages or rogue templars in the surrounding forest. It hadn’t been long since the party had stumbled in a battle between both sides and she was not keen to repeat that experience just yet.

They had spent the last week traversing the Hinterlands, running errands on behalf of the Inquisition. Every now and then, Solas or Cassandra urged her to call the retreat, get back to Haven and move on to Val Royeaux to speak to the remaining clerics of the Chantry. Elenara, on the other hand, didn’t want to rush the matter. She was rather happy to be out in the wilderness again, even as an envoy of the Inquisition. The rustling leaves and whispering wind reminded her of a time when everything had been much simpler. Before the sky had been torn apart.

If only she could remember what had happened at the conclave…

Elenara squared her shoulders, wiping sweat from her brow with one hand. Dwelling on the matter was no use. Her memories wouldn’t return just because she wanted them to. The only choice she had was to focus on what was before her: the refugees that required her help. She had decided that their lives mattered more than her knowing what had transpired at the Temple of Sacred Ashes. And so she hurried through the Hinterlands, doing everything she could to make them feel safe and protected. As if somehow, through her own actions, she could feel safe and protected, too.

Her companions didn’t seem to take much liking to the remote wilderness, though. Varric used any chance he got to complain about the weather, the people, the food, and the lack of proper ale. Even Cassandra, who had been at odds with the dwarf since Elenara met her, seemed to agree with him, but she did not voice her contempt as loudly as he did. Only Solas kept quiet and dismissed any of her questions if he felt ill at ease. “What we accomplish here will one day serve us in our mission to seal the Breach,” he said. “That is more important than my personal comfort.”

“We’re almost there,” Elenara said when they finally exited the woods and the friendly conversation between her companions came to an end. Looking around carefully, she felt a shiver crawl down her spine. Her gaze was fixed on a small hillside by Dwarfson’s Pass where they had set up camp the night before. It was not much, just a few bedrolls arranged around a campfire, plus a chest in which they had stored some of their supplies. Nothing of value or importance that would draw the attention of scavengers or bandits. And yet, Elenara couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

“Hurry,” she shouted and started into a run, racing up the hill with her senses on high alert. Behind her, she could hear Varric groan with exhaustion as he tried to keep up with Solas and Cassandra who followed Elenara with relative ease.

“Shit,” was all she said when their camp came into view.

The bedrolls lay scattered and had clearly been searched, and the chest with their supplies was missing. Whoever robbed than even took the bushels of elf root they had hung on a small rag to dry them before transport.

Cassandra, Solas, and Varric reached the camp shortly after, looking around in confusion. The dwarf swore under his breath, as he searched his bedroll. “Those bastards took my notes,” he exclaimed. “I stored them in a small compartment … ah, nevermind.”

“I’m sorry,” Elenara said and meant it.

“Don’t blame yourself,” Varric said with a handwave. “This should teach me not to leave my writing lying about while I run off to kill people.”

“Do any of you have any supplies with you?” Cassandra asked.

Solas checked his backpack, as well as the small bags on his belts. “Sadly, no,” he told the seeker. “I thought I had some bread left, but come to think of it, I must have placed it in the chest with the rest of our supplies.”

“I only have two bottles of dwarven ale from last night,” Varric added after a quick glance into his baggage. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“Great!” Cassandra growled. “What a perfect mess. The sun is already setting. It’ll be dark before we have the chance to get to Winter Watch Tower to ask for help.”

“I guess you are correct,” Elenara admitted. “But we don’t need to get to the fortress to sustain ourselves.”

Varric raised an eyebrow at that. “What do you suggest, Lavellan? Lie in wait for some travelers to ask them for help?”

“Creators, no.” Elenara shook her head, slightly amused. “You really don’t spend much time out in the wilds, do you?”

“Not, if I can avoid it,” Varric said.

“Well, I’ll take care of this,” she announced and checked her quiver and bow. She had enough arrows left, and the rope in her backpack would come in handy when making snares. “I suggest you go and search for wood to make a fire with before it’s dark. I’ll be back in no time.”

With that, she turned on her heels and made her way down the hill again. The prospect of being alone in the woods – truly alone – made her feel giddy and foolish like a little girl. Keeper Deshanna wouldn’t have liked it.

She was already half-way down the hill when behind her Solas asked. “Where are you going, lethallin?”

Elenara turned to smile at the apostate. “The wilderness contains a wealth of sustenance for those who know where to look,” she said and spread her arms wide.

***

She returned to the camp with two small nugs as her prey. The dead animals were dangling for a piece of rope she had used to tie them together. She hadn’t even needed her arrows to kill them. All she had done was laying out a few snares in the undergrowth and wait for the creatures to walk into her traps. For an experienced hunter like her, it had been an easy task, as simple as putting on clothes. Still, Cassandra and Varric eyed her suspiciously when she presented the animals to them.

“Our dinner,” she told them and dropped the nugs next to the fire.

Varric stared at her in disbelieve.

“That was remarkably quick,” Cassandra said, brows furrowed. “You’ve been away for what… three hours?”

Elenara made a vague gesture. “Give or take.”

She relieved herself of her backpack, quiver, and bow, and placed all of her belongings on her bedroll. Her companions had used her absence to rearrange the camp and get a decent fire burning. Solas was stoking the embers with a stick, making the flames grow higher while Elenara searched for her hunting knife.

“Nugs are fine and all,” Varric said, nibbling at one of the bottles of dwarven ale he'd carried around with him all day, “but how exactly are we going to eat them?”

Solas let out a soft laugh but didn’t dare look up from the dancing flames.

“Anything on your mind, Chuckles?” Varric growled.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you,” the apostate said, lips still pursed in a smile.

“Sure.”

Elenara found the hunting knife in her backpack and removed it from the leather sheath she stored it in. The steel blade reflected the light of the campfire as she turned it in her hand, marveling at its beauty. It had been a gift, given to her by her childhood friend Erendir when she had come of age. “It’ll serve you good, wherever you go,” he’d said.

She wondered where he was now. What he might think of her.

I will do everything within my power to keep you and the clan safe, she thought and turned her gaze to the sky. The Breach was only a faint shimmer in the darkness but she could feel it lingering on, waiting for her to return to Haven.

Focus on what is before you, she reminded herself, sat down cross-legged and freed one of the nugs from the rope. Without giving it much thought, she pierced through the skin of the animal with her blade and made a set of cuts. She stripped the skin from the nug with a quick thrust , and Varric made a disgusted sound.

“Andraste’s ass, Lavellan!” he exclaimed, leaning away from her with one hand raised as if he was trying to defend himself against an attacker. “Please tell me, you did not just do that!”

Elenara grinned. She liked Varric, but he had lived behind the walls of Kirkwall for far too long. With his fondness for city living, he could barely manage to endure a bit of rain without complaining. To shock him like this was mildly amusing to her, to say the least.

“Where did you think meat comes from, Varric?” Cassandra asked. When the dwarf didn’t answer, the seeker turned her eyes back to the nug and pressed her lips into a thin line. “Though, I do admit it looks more… invasive than I expected."

“You'll get used to it.” Elenara put a stick through the skinned nug and placed it on the fire, then picked up the second one. “There’s something satisfying about it, too. To know that you brought in the food to sustain yourself.”

“I’d rather bring in more bottles of these, thank you very much,” Varric said, waving around the dwarven ale.

“As a merchant, you certainly enjoy that privilege,” Solas admitted and stopped stoking the fire. He sat down and wrapped his arms around his legs, regarding Varric intently. “You are a successful businessman, are you not? Besides being a well-renowned author, I mean.”

“And here I was, thinking you didn’t mind what’s happening in the real world, Chuckles,” Varric said gleefully. “You continue to surprise me.”

And so the two of them picked up their conversation of Solas’s exploration of the Fade as if no time had passed. Elenara would’ve been happy to listen to them while she waited for the meat to be roasted by the fire. As distant as the elven apostate behaved towards her, she enjoyed Solas’s tales about memories he had found in ancient dreams. But this night, all she could think about was how strange the life of the Dalish must seem to other people if even an experienced adventurer such as Varric was grossed out by something so mundane as preparing the meat for cooking.

Taking care of her food – be it meat or bread or berries – was as natural as breathing to her. It was a necessity when spending your life as a traveler. But that wasn’t the only thing she had learned with her clan. She knew how to weave and knit and sew. Or how to read tracks and take care of the halla in their little pens. She even helped repair the aravels on more than one occasion. And she’d done all of it gladly to serve the Lavellan clan. Such hardship had seemed like a small price to pay if it meant that her family stayed safe and fed, and she’d spent a lot of time practicing and making use of her talents.

With the Inquisition, however, none of these talents seemed to matter anymore. Every morning she awoke in her cabin in Haven, a servant had already made breakfast for her. Before she had time to finish the meal, someone else showed up to bring her new clothing or clean the room for her. She’d known that humans lived very differently compared to the Dalish, and when she joined the Inquisition, she had been sure she could attune to this new lifestyle. And yet, after weeks, it still felt so inherently wrong that she ran off into the forest to hunt on her own at first chance. Out there in the woods, the world had finally made sense to her once more.

Like so many Dalish, she’d been born out in the wilderness. Roaming the vast plains and lush forests of the Free Marches had been second nature to her ever since she had come into this world. And although there had been a time when she had wished she could venture away from the clan to explore some old ruin or seek out education form human scholars, she never truly wanted to leave her old life behind. It was ingrained in her mind and body, her very being. It was who she was.

She only hoped she could go back to the life she lived before when the Breach was sealed.

“Hey, Lavellan,” Varric roared. “Are you still with us?”

Elenara blinked. “Wh–what?”

The dwarf laughed. “You must have been very far away,” he said and tapped a finger to his temple. “I asked you three times if you wanted to share a story with us, but you wouldn’t respond.”

“Oh.” She shifted on her bedroll, trying to push the feeling of embarrassment aside. “Really? I’m sorry. I was… distracted.”

“Yeah, I could see that,“ Varric replied with a roguish grin on his face. “So, do you have a story to share?”

She looked around, taken aback by the dwarf's request. Even Solas and Cassandra seemed interested in what she had to say, which only added to her confusion.

“Why would you care to hear it?” she asked suspiciously.

“We all have something that defines us. Some story we tell ourselves about who we are and who we want to be.” Varric gestured towards Cassandra. “The seeker, for instance, talks about duty all the time, because that is what defines her. Chuckles here can’t shut up about the Veil and the Fade, because that is what defines him.”

Solas narrowed his eyes. “I don’t always talk about the Fade.”

Varric gave the apostate a skeptical look, then turned his attention back to Elenara. “Point is, Lavellan, besides you spying on the conclave and doing your best to seal the Breach, I couldn’t help but notice that we don’t really know much about you.”

“Won’t you be disgusted by the barbaric Dalish customs?” she asked pointedly and nodded towards the nugs that still roasted over the fire.

“You take me far too seriously, Lavellan.” Varric laughed again. “One more reason why we should get better acquainted, don’t you think?”

A faint smile tugged at Elenara’s lips. “There is one story, actually.”

“That’s great.” Varric took a sip from his bottle. “Let’s hear it. The meal won’t be ready for another hour anyway, I guess."

Elenara stretched out on her bedroll, head propped on one hand. “One day, the clan was camped outside of Starkhaven…”

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #da #dai #fanfiction #lavellan #female lavellan #female inquisitor #solas #varric #cassandra #in the hinterlands #getting to know each other #a bit of friendship #elenara lavellan

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mel0nbr3ad · 4 years

Text

Bite Through the Cartilage

Summary: An asylum for the criminally insane experiences a riot and Bed, one of the patients, tries his best to break out in one piece. But with other patients holding grudges against him and giving chase, he might not even get out alive. (Very loosely inspired by Outlast.)

PART II: [BREACH]

The section of the asylum that Bed had made it to was one he was less familiar with. His memories of it were foggy at best. But telling from all the patients in wheelchairs he spotted—most of which were drugged out of their minds and drooling—then he was definitely in the medical ward.

He ducked behind an occupied wheelchair when he heard heavy boots slapping the floor, and peeked out as multiple guards ran by, heading to the prison ward. But they would be met with a horrible sight. There was no telling what had happened in there by now. And Bed hadn’t exactly wasted time locking doors behind himself, so a few patients would have slipped through and were probably right behind him, but when he checked he still didn’t spot anyone familiar. Just all these wheelchair-bound patients so dazed that their gazes never wandered, as if they weren’t alive at all.

And Bed didn’t like this place. Not one bit. So he crept over to the closest infirmary and peered through the small window on the door, spotting two occupants: a doctor, and a guard it seemed like. The guard didn’t appear very tall or menacing at all, and Bed didn’t recognise the doctor. And rather than risk trying a different room and waste time, he unlocked the door and slipped in, not locking it behind himself, wanting an easy escape route.

“Don’t mind me, gentlemen,” he said. “Just grabbing a few things for Dr Peepee Peter.”

“Uh, sure, no problem,” the doctor said, with a thick drawl to his voice.

“Charborg, you can’t just let patients take things,” the guard warned.

“Sput, he asked nicely. The little fella doesn’t seem so bad.”

Bed inspected the closest cabinet and sighed finding that it required a key. Everything was locked up tight, but he found that on a table was multiple tools for performing operations. And of course he grabbed a scalpel and slipped it up his sleeve, with his back to Charborg and Sput (weird that Sput, the guard, hadn’t used the title ‘Dr’ for Charborg, even though the guy was clearly dressed as a doctor).

“Do you have a torch? I need it,” Bed said, turning around and raising an eyebrow seeing Charborg with a clipboard in his hands, except it was upside down. Weird…

“Not for you, civy,” Sput said, putting on a rough voice.

“’Civy’?” Bed repeated, confused.

“A-Ah! I mean, patient! Stop looking at me like that! What do you know?!”

Charborg sighed and elbowed Sput lightly. “That sounded totally suspicious. What are you doing?”

“Me?! What about you?! You’re blowing this for us!”

Bed slowly edged towards the door, not sure what he had walked into, and not caring to find out. Was this some sort of weird roleplay thing? Like, had they swapped uniforms for the day or something? Maybe it was best that he didn’t find out.

So he left before they noticed, slipping out into the hallway and sighing when he made it out, only for a patient in a wheelchair to grab onto him when he walked past. “Messiah! Oh messiah! Bless me with your holy light!” exclaimed the patient, not even looking him in the eye. “Free me, messiah! For I am a faithful follower! Messiah! Messiah! Free us from our sins, from our suffering, and strike down the devil! The devil that speaks in the dead of night!”

Bed shook him off and said, “Sorry pal, but I’ve got no clue what the fuck you’re going on about.” And then he ran, yelping when another patient tried to grab him, unsuccessful this time. “Messiah! Messiah!”

What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?

Bed ran, wincing when more of them piped up, screaming for their messiah, and one even leapt out of their wheelchair, lunging at him, and tackling him to the ground as if he were something precious. And Bed, temper ignited like a rocket, kicked the patient hard enough in the stomach, that they were sent flying off of him and smacked into the wall of the hallway. And even still, the patient crawled towards him, grinning and drooling but not seeming to be looking at him directly. “MESSIAH! I found you!”

Bed scrambled to his feet, beyond panicking, and took off again, the screams behind him fading but continuing to ring in his head.

When Bed made it out of the medical ward, he immediately unlocked the door to a small storage room and sat inside, knees pulled up to his chest and resting his chin on them. As he jangled the keys around in his hands he struggled to make sense of what had caused the wheelchair-bound patients to suddenly go off like that. And no doubt their screaming had alerted the doctors, and guards too. Which was why it was bad to stay here but…

He just needed a minute to gather his thoughts. To focus on getting out, and not concerning himself with wanting to know what they had been screaming about. Because getting out was far more important than solving a mystery he didn’t care about (but he did care, and it was bothering him, because he wanted to know and it was seriously bugging the fuck out of him).

Bed shook his head.

No, I need to get out.

Still, his curiosity kept pulling at him, as if there was a child on his arm trying to pull him towards a different direction entirely. ‘Come this way, this way, let’s go solve the mystery of this asylum! There’s nothing out there for you, silly! Stay in here, and solve the mystery! You know you want to! Go on, go on! It’d bug you until you do!’

“I can’t,” Bed whispered. “This is my only chance to escape. They’ll tighten up security after this riot. It’s my only chance of ever getting out. I can’t stay here. I’ll lose my mind—I’ll became like them. I don’t want to drool for the rest of my life and not be myself. No, I won’t stay.”

Bed got to his feet, and slipped the keys back onto his wrist and under his sleeve. Then he continued on his way, shutting out the curious cat within himself, focusing on the idea of sweet, sweet freedom.

Up ahead, there was an elevator, stairs, and double doors beyond the elevator. He knew that the keys wouldn’t be able to open the double doors, as the doors had to be opened from the other side by alerting a guard (he…wasn’t exactly sure why he knew that). So the doors were out, so his only two other options were the stairs or the elevator.

“Hey!”

Bed turned, and immediately slipped the scalpel out of the fabric of his sleeve and into his hand, pointed it at none other than Buck, who rose his arms up in a surrendering motion.

“Wow, you’re scary,” Buck said. “Not only that, but rude, too!”

“I’m not rude—you snuck up on me!” Bed hissed out, but didn’t lower the scalpel. “Were you following me? Better question: what the fuck do you want?”

Buck frowned sadly. “Why are you being so mean?”

“We’re both patients in an asylum, constantly surrounded by violent criminals, and right now there’s a riot going on, so excuse me if I’m not exactly sugar-coating my words, Buck! Besides, we’ve barely spoken a word to each other!”

Buck tilted his head to the side and seemed confused. “Uh…but you just said a whole lot of words at me?”

“Buck!”

“Sorry, I just don’t really like sharp objects getting pointed at me! I’m not good under pressure! And it makes it so hard to talk to someone!”

Bed sighed and slipped the scalpel back up his sleeve and secured it in the fabric. “There! Happy?”

“Yes,” Buck agreed, grinning. “That makes things a lot easier.”

“…What?”

“ARGH!” Buck yelled, pouncing at Bed with surprising speed, and Bed barely dodged out of the way, watching as Buck smacked into the button controlling the doors of the elevator, which was awfully convenient. Luck was finally on Bed’s side.

Buck lunged at Bed again, recovering quickly, and Bed danced out of the way, and for a moment thought that the elevator had shook…which was weird. But Bed was getting used to the unexpected and unexplained. What he wasn’t used to was how much energy Buck contained, because he wasn’t giving up, and when Bed had his back to the open doors to the elevator, Buck tackled him and both screamed when the elevator jostled on impact, seconds before screeching downwards into the dark depths of the asylum, taking the two boys with it.

Fortunately for the two boys screaming for their lives, the elevator didn’t crash at the bottom of the asylum as they had both dreaded, and merely stopped on one of the lower floors. That didn’t make it any better when the doors opened, and the boys tumbled out in a mess of limbs and heavy breathing after the near-death experience they had endured. And Bed was quick to fling himself away from Buck, who he very much blamed for the elevator malfunctioning.

It was difficult to be angry when it was hard to see Buck at all, because this floor didn’t seem like it was regularly used by anybody, not even guards, because the few lights that were on flickered and were dim, on the verge of dying completely. Most of the lights had already stopped working, bathing most of the area in pitch black because this place was underground.

Bed wrapped his arms around himself, shivering, and wanted to scream because there was definitely no heating in here. And he was sure that the sun must have gone down by now, and he dreaded dying due to freezing to death.

“Good job, Buck!” he said sarcastically. “Look what you did!”

“Me?! Well maybe if you hadn’t been such a jerk then none of this would have happened!”

“What are you even talking about?!”

“Well, Criken said—”

“You’re working for Criken?! Of course you are! Seriously, if he was so mad to send someone to kill me then he should have chased after me himself! How many people did he send after me? And no, you’re not having my keys. Finders keepers!”

Buck looked confused. “Huh?”

Bed wasted no time, and shoved Buck back into the elevator, before hitting the button to go back up. And Buck made a baffled noise before the elevator doors closed. “Bed! You’re such a jerk!” was all Bed heard, before Buck was gone to the upper levels.

“Geez,” Bed said with a sigh. “Criken is a persistent guy, isn’t he? I guess it won’t matter that he has a grudge against me when I get out. He can’t get to me out there if he’s locked up in here!”

I need to stop talking to myself. I’m not crazy, remember? Not completely, anyway.

“Yeah, ok.”

Bed slowly navigated through the dark hallways, unsure what this floor was meant to be used for, if it was even used at all. There were abandoned beds on wheels, old machines that seemed to be outdated medical equipment, and not much else. Papers were scattered on the floor, but Bed didn’t have enough light to be able to read them. What could be made out was long words and a lot of math, so they were probably old medical records. But if they were scattered so carelessly then clearly they weren’t important.

Bed paused when he heard a noise. But when he stopped it didn’t persist.

Must have imagined it.

He continued, unsure of where exactly he was going. But surely his wandering would lead him somewhere. But due to all the darkness, it was hard to keep track of where he was, and he realised very quickly that everything looked the same, so much so that his sense of direction was sent spinning. Not only that, but this place just seemed to make him feel reminiscent of something.

He wasn’t even sure what that ‘something’ was. It was just an uncanny feeling that he had (maybe) been here before. Or somewhere like this. And he didn’t like this place at all, and wanted to go back up badly. But he wasn’t even sure where the elevator was anymore.

I think I’ve mostly been walking straight… Uh, have I? So if I turn around and keep walking maybe that’s where it is? I think… I hope. Why didn’t I loot a guard’s body for a flashlight?

Bed turned around and sucked in a breath when in the distance, to his right, he thought he saw something move in the dark, just close enough to a light for it to be detectable, but not close enough to determine what it was—except that it had been tall and gangly, and Bed didn’t like that one bit.

And yep, he definitely heard footsteps, and wow was this not fun at all. He would have rather been the hunter, than the hunted, because this was ridiculous! But hey, he still had his trusty scalpel, and he was going to—hands reached out of the dark past his face, and his yell was muffled when they covered his mouth, and he was pulled backwards, struggling all the while and praying, desperately, that this wasn’t how he was going to die: in the dark, alone, where no one could hear him scream.

Surprisingly, his neck wasn’t slit when he was pulled all the way back, and he was even more shocked when he was pulled through a doorway, able to see barely as the tall figure from before walked past quickly, not noticing Bed at all thankfully.

When Bed’s mouth was uncovered, he immediately pulled out the scalpel and aimed it, wincing when his wrist was instantly caught in a strong grip of none other than the angry red-haired guy. He still looked as pissed as ever.

“You followed me?” Bed whispered out, not risking raising his voice.

“As if it was hard?” the guy questioned in disbelief. “You do know that you’re not exactly stealthy, you know? Especially when all those religious fanatics started screaming. Honestly I was embarrassed for you.”

Bed tried to push the scalpel down, but the guy was far stronger, his grip not loosening or budging. “How did you even get down here?”

The guy stared at him as if he were an idiot. “Buck’s ten times louder than you, and I saw you two on the upper floor run into each other. While you two were fighting like little kids I just climbed on top of the elevator. Turns out this place is full of architecture flaws that can be exploited. But did you guys seriously have to almost break the elevator? I didn’t want to die with both of you idiots. The people that built this place obviously cut more than a few corners, and didn’t have the safety of the patients or workers in mind. Not that it’s surprising.”

“You’re working for Criken too, aren’t you?” Bed asked, ignoring basically everything else.

“If I said ‘no’ then you wouldn’t believe me. But does it matter? I just want to get out of here, same as you. Besides, maybe I don’t even know a Criken personally. It’s not like I had much time out of my solitary cell. Punched way too many guards. Fucking babies.”

“I don’t trust you. I don’t even know your name.”

He seemed confused. “Huh, you don’t? Well, it’s Tomato…”

“And I’m Bed.”

“Yeah, I… Look, never mind. Just… Let’s agree to both get out of here. Nothing interesting down here. As funny as shoving Buck into that elevator was, it probably hadn’t been your brightest idea.”

“We’ll just take the stairs then and avoid whatever the fuck is down here. You lead the way.”

“Nooo, you’ll stab me in the back, and not just figuratively,” Tomato argued. “You go first.”

Bed did go first, only because he heard distant footsteps again and wanted to get the fuck out of here as soon as possible. Especially when his familiarity of this place kept sending him reeling, making him feel dizzy, and now whenever he saw one of the beds on wheels his heart would pound faster.

There’s something wrong with this place. Or there’s something wrong with me. Or both.

Something—everything is wrong.

Although Bed didn’t understand why, it was starting to hurt to be here, so he quickened his pace, and Tomato followed along without arguing. And Bed, with every step, couldn’t help but feel as if he were turning his back on a wolf. And lord did he hate being the sheep. But rather than stop and argue, he wanted to get to an upper floor as soon as possible.

So he walked, tense, and further solidified his disdain to ever trust anyone.

#sideshow fanfics #sideshow fanfic #bedbananas #bucklington #tomato gaming #criken #mel bttc blog tag

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wantstoflyafraidtofall · 4 years

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Chapter 3: Ink

---

He was watching himself. The other Dean was back on the balcony, Cas was running up the stairs towards him, the black shadow reaching out with its inky arms. He yells at himself to run but no words come out. He is just as stuck as the other Dean.

Everything seems to be going in slow motion. The shadow almost seems to smile as it pushes Dean off the balcony, falling to the ground head first. Cas grabbing the rail, mouth open in a silent scream as he watches Dean fall.

Dean watches himself fall towards the ground. Watch the tears drip off Cas’s chin. All he seems to do is watch. He can't do anything but watch

Everything is silent and slow. Except the shadow. It turns to him. A face now more clearly formed in the smoky mass. It looked at him with eyes like two red Christmas lights stuck in a black curtain. Its smile is wide and full of long, sharp fangs that mesh together like puzzle pieces.

It slides down the hall and slips right behind Cas without turning or looking away from Dean. The creature tilts its face down at Cas and back up to him. Without opening its mouth it speaks to him in a cold, small voice, “tHis is just The BeginniNg.”

It opens its mouth and its jaw unhinges, letting it open even wider. Its back arches and long tendrils of shadow spread out like poisonous vines from its body, consuming everything in darkness. They reach around Dean, constricting around his body, squeezing the air out of him till his world fades black.

~~~

Dean wakes with a gasp. Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he springs to a sitting position. He checks his watch but already knew what time it would be, after all he has woken up at the exact same time for the past three days.

It was 6 in the morning, the sky a dark lavender as the sun prepared to breach the horizon. Something about this morning, however, was a bit different. More pleasant. He could faintly smell the rich scent of coffee meaning Cas was awake early.

He peeled off his sweat soaked clothes and put on a fresh pair of boxers and his ‘dead guy robe’ that he had found in one of the closets.

Cas was standing in the kitchen, leaning on the counter as he drank his own cup of coffee. He slid a steaming mug resting near him towards Dean as he entered the kitchen.

“You're up early.” Dean mumbled

“I had noticed you were waking up very early and getting little sleep. Since I am staying in your house I would like to make things a little easier for you so I made you coffee.” Cas stated.

“Thanks Cas but you really don't have to.”

Cas had taken notice of how little Dean was sleeping. Bringing it up in subtle ways and doing everything he can to help. Once Dean had fixed the mower he made him go inside and rest while Cas mowed the entire back yard.

Dean had stood in the kitchen and looked out the window, admiring the way Cas’s muscles rippled with each movement underneath his shirt. When Cas had taken off his shirt, revealing vast expanses of smooth, lightly tanned skin, Dean forced himself to move into the library and read a book.

He knows it's okay to love whoever you want but he can't help but feel ashamed for his growing crush on his housemate. He has learned a lot about Cas these past few days and is starting to become better friends with him despite the stick up his ass but would rather not make him uncomfortable.

Deans gaydar is horrible and completely out of practice so unless you look like you were given birth to by a unicorn and had the word “GAY” written in rainbow letters on your forehead, he would never be able to guess your orientation.

“Dean, you need more sleep. It's going to make you hallucinate and your body will begin to shut down if you don’t rest.” Cas retorted

“M’fine. And it’s not like I'm trying to get bad sleep.”

Dean left the kitchen and went back upstairs to put on some clothes. He came back down but Cas was no longer in the kitchen.

He refilled his coffee and got some cereal out of the cabinet. He would love to cook actual breakfast but Cas was right, he was really tired. He was halfway through his bowl when he heard a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it!” Cas shouted from somewhere in the front of the house.

The doors lock clicked before swinging open. Dean listened, curious to see who was visiting them this early in the morning. He heard the muffled sound of voices, the deep rumble of Cas’s and a bright chirpy one.

“Dean, it's for you.” Cas called.

Dean’s curiosity spiked. Someone was coming to the house at 6:30 in the morning to see him?

He walked into the atrium and saw Cas standing with a young woman with bouncy red hair. He could feel energy radiating off of her like a mini sun and her wide hazel eyes and bright smile showed that spark.

“You were asking for me?” Dean asked.

“Yes, hi! My name is Charlie Bradbury, I live across the street. Kevin said someone moved into the Fletcher house and I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood!” Charlie exclaimed.

“At 6 in the morning? A bit early dontcha think?”

Charlies looked down at her feet, clearly embarrassed, “I was going to come over later but I saw that your lights were on so I figured you would be awake.” She squinted up at him, “Man it looks like you never fell asleep in the first place!”

Cas sensed Dean's annoyance with that statement and chose to slip into the conversation, “It's a new place and he has been having some trouble sleeping. Would you like to come in for some coffee?”

Charlie accepted the offer and practically bounced into the kitchen. Cas started another pot -- decaf this time -- while Dean and Charlie sat at the island. Dean continued eating his cereal, watching Cas’s steady hands scoop the grounds into the machine.

“So, how long have you two been together?” Charlie asked

Dean choked on his cereal, cheeks flushing red.

Cas replied, not even turning away from his task, “Dean and I are not together. I am staying here in his house until I get a steady footing and buy my own apartment.”

At this point, Dean decided he was done with imputing on the conversation so he hunched over his coffee and listened to Cas and Charlie talk.

“I'm sorry! I just figured since you guys were living together you might have been a couple!” Charlie apologized

“It’s fine. What about you? Do you have any housemates?” Cas replied in a completely calm manner.

How was he doing that? How is he so calm after that?

“Well the house is actually my grandparents house but they have like four so they were fine with me having this one. I live with my girlfriend, Gilda, and Kevin, who you've already met.”

“That's nice. How did you all meet?”

“Gilda and I met in junior year of high school at a LARPing event. Kevin I met in our computer science class. He looked really stressed all the time, and when I finally wrung out that he was about to be kicked out of his apartment, I told him he could stay with us.”

They continued their conversation while Dean listened. Cas, being the awkward talker he is, stuck to short, blunt answers and basic icebreaker questions while Charlie ranted about her life.

After what seemed like a short time -- but was actually 30 minutes according to his watch -- Charlie got up from her seat and Cas walked her to the door, Dean following closely behind.

He was a bit startled when she practically pounced on Dean, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug then continuing to do the same to Cas, who probably looked just as awkward as Dean.

She bid them both a good day and skipped down the driveway back to her house.

Cas gently shut the door before slumping against it.

“Man, that kid is quite the handful, huh?” Dean chuckled

Cas glared up at Dean. “Well I didn't see you talking to her for half an hour after she asked if we were… together.” Cas looked away from Dean, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

“Well you did great Mr. “My ‘people skills’ are ‘rusty’.”

“Thank you, Dean. Sorry that you were so embarrassed about her comment.” Cas looked back up at Dean, his compliment making the blush on his cheeks slightly more rosy.

“I, uh, It’s- It’s all good.”

They held eye contact, looking deep into each other's eyes. Dean began to wonder what it would be like if Cas was his boyfriend. Cas making him cups of coffee, staying up late reading the books both of them seem to enjoy reading, waking up every day to see the crisp morning light illuminating his permanently messy bed head(what would that look like in the morning) and those eyes containing the very sky in their depth.

Dean turned away breaking eye contact as his own cheeks began to redden. “I'm going to go call Sam and check on how he’s doing.”

He walked towards the stairs, not looking back, despite his temptations. Too afraid to see an uncomfortable grimace on Cas’s face and not the slightly disappointed frown that was actually there.

He closed the door and flopped onto the bed with a sigh. He rolled over to his stomach and grabbed his phone off the bedside table. Sam picked up after a few rings.

“Hey Dean, is everything alright?”

“Just peachy, Sammy. I was actually calling to check up on how you are.”

“Wow, that bad? Wanna talk about it?”

“No, and I'm asking about you, stop avoiding my questions.”

“Fine, fine. I'm doing good. I'm working as an attorney for a small case right now. Jess is doing fine at the hospital and Bones is as happy as can be. How's things over there?”

“Fixed up the old lawn mower and Cas helped cut down the mini forest growing in the backyard. It still needs some cleaning up out there but other than that, the house is great.”

“Cas says you're not sleeping well.”

“I'm fine, Sam. It's just a new house in a new place. Why is he telling you that anyway?”

“In case you forgot, he is my friend. He was just concerned about you.”

“Hey, uh, can I ask you something?”

“Pretty sure you just did but yeah, hit me.”

“Do you know what his… preferences are?”A hot blush began to rise to his cheeks again.

“Hmmmm. I think he's bi, maybe demisexu- OH MY GOD DEAN DO YOU LIK-”

“Sam stop. It’s not like that.”

“Oh it totally is! This is great! Jess will be so excited and-”

“SAM, I SAID STOP, DAMN IT.” Dean shouted into the phone. He had stood up at some point during their altercation so he sat back down on the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut.

“Dean, I'm sorry, it's just you've always been so closed off about your sexuality and-”

“It's fine Sam. Can we please just… not talk about this right now?”

“Sure, ok.”

Dean relaxed a bit at the topic change. “We met our neighbors today.”

“Really? Are they nice?”

“There's three of ‘em living across the street together. One sparkly redhead and her girlfriend and their friend Kevin who also works as a cashier at the local grocery store.”

“They sound pretty great!”

“Yeah, well the definitely could be worse.”

“Dean, it was great talking to you but I think- BONES NO- I got to go. I’ll call you later, ok? Bye!”

Sam ended the call.

Dean puts his phone back on the charger and heads back downstairs. He was too tired to do anything other than sleep but he cant even sleep when he is tried so he went to the library instead.

Cas was sitting in one of the library chairs reading from one book while scribbling down notes in another.

He looked so adorable like that, curled up sideways in that chair, a focused look on his face, his bottom lip tucked under his teeth, his raven colored hair sticking up in every which way, his light blue sweater riding up against the armrest of the chair letting a small sliver of his back be visible.

He tore his eyes away and chose a random book from a shelf. A shelf that Cas had filled with his own books because Dean didn't have enough to fill the last few. He never saw Cas bring in any books, just a suitcase and one trip of groceries that Dean had gotten.

“Hey Cas, when did you bring in all these books?” Dean turned to look at Cas, gesturing at the shelf with the book in his hand.

“On the second day I was here, you spent most of the day in your room so you didn't see me carrying them in and unpacking them.”

“Yeah but where did they come from?”

“Gabriel dropped them off for me.”

“And you didn't tell me to come meet him? We're living together for the time being, it would be nice to meet some of your family.”

Cas chuckled, “It would not, trust me.”

Dean nodded before placing the book back on the shelf.

“I think I will try to take a nap.” Dean spoke as he walked towards the library doors.

“That's a good idea. Sleep well.”

Dean went upstairs to his room and closed the door. It was only around 10 but he was so tired. He pulled off his jeans and flopped onto his mattress, rolling up in the blankets. Not even 10 minutes later he was asleep.

~~~

It's dark when he wakes up. He is freezing cold and still exhausted. He sits up and looks over at his bed stand to check the clock. Midnight already? He has been sleeping all day!

A shiver courses through his body followed by a yawn. Dean decides he will just go back to sleep and hope for no more bad dreams.

But they were a step ahead of him.

A hiss sounds from the end of the bed and Dean snaps his head away from the clock to look for the source of the noise.

Towering above him is a dark mass with beady red eyes and a toothy smile.

---

@stuff-that-is-other

#pieces of heaven and hell

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empty-dream · 6 years

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Me Watching Fate/Apocrypha ep 22

Remember that Naruto vs Pain best worst fight scene? Where everybody’s making crazy ass face and noodle-y stances? This is not on that scale, but it’s still this.

*Agrius!Atalanta bites Jeanne* Jeanne: “BAD KITTY! BAD KITTY!!”

Karna you’re too polite for your own good

WASN’T EXPECTING CAULES POPPING OUT HERE AND NOW BUT OKAY VERY WELCOME

But how does he come in here again? Did he just step down from his plane? Is that even possible?

Sieg: “Wait, you want to save your original master?” Caules: “Yeah they don’t have command spells anymore what’s the point?” Karna: “Because I want to. Is that weird?” Both: “Well, it’s saintly as fuck, for one thing.”

Seeing Caules negotiating is always intriguing thing for me.

CAULES TO THE RESCUE! And his unfastened collar :))

I have a question what is the exact mechanism of saving these former red masters??

Sieg: “If attacking Jeanne is your master’s order then why go after me instead?” Karna: “I have this promise with Siegfried to fight to the death and I will give up everything to do that.” Sieg: “Ooooooookay I don’t know whether to be awed or scared.”

I like the music it’s so full of pride.

And here we have another type-moon male protagonist swearing to protect the female protagonist who is stronger than him

Granted at this point Sieg is just loaded with tons of eleventh hour superpower and probably kinda more powerful than many other servants but the point kinda still stands?

Back at episode 22 of My Cat from Hell

It’s been almost 3 years and I still don’t understand why Agrius Metamorphosis has to morph into that kind of suit? Isn’t this like the prototype of Dangerous Beast?

Agrius!Atalanta evolution! Sexy-boar-beast-with-batsy-wings-and-dark-arrow-Agrius Atalanta.

Welp, people has always been like that – people. Past present and future, the nature of people hasn’t changed that much.

Jeanne: “The end never justifies the means!!!” Agrius!Atalanta: “Fuck that!!!”

Wow I like how this fight isn’t too dark and I can see what they’re doing and the viewpoint is good.

WOW she rips off her own wing o_o

I’m bracing for another luminosite eternelle but GREEN LIGHT SOARING THROUGH YESSS

IT’S MOTHERFUCKING ACHILLES HERE YOU ARE FINALLY

Achilles: “Go, Jeanne. It’s sis’ and my problem now.” Jeanne: “I fucking knew it something’s up with you two.”

I’m kinda bummed A-1 doesn’t make it explicit that Achilles really does regret not picking up the clues and just letting Atalanta goes out of control.

His face looks like a boy shyly apologizing for breaking a neighbor’s window.

Why is Semiramis so beautiful and dignified here??

Jeanne: “You seriously believe in Shirou’s humanity salvation plan?” Semiramis: “Yeah, he even told me I’d rule the world after the salvation” Jeanne: “You fucking liar. Nobody’s ruling nobody if it’s truly salvation and you just sound like a certain golden Babylonian asshole king.”

Jeanne: “So how does he plan to do it?” Semiramis: “Well, tbh, I dunno.” Jeanne: “Are you fucking kidding me”

Wow this is so vivid. Does A-1 use color play to balance the noodle figures?

How to fight nukes by Sieg!Fried: Slash the nukes apart.

I.. I do not have any words for this fight, it’s vivid and flashy and powerful.

Though I’m wondering will Mamaramis be mad that their children are destroying her fortress with nukes and lavas?

I like Karna’s armors

TASTE THE EYEBEAMS! -Karna

The eyebeams cuts Sieg!Fried’s beautiful wild long hair THAT’S CLOSE AND ALSO A CRIME

Karna can you stop praising your enemies every time you fight? My heart is going to explode

Oh shit oh shit he’s going to VASAVI SHAKTI

Karna: “What’s your name?” Sieg!Fried: “Sieg!” Karna: “Wonderful name” Me: It’s a bit uncreative but it’s made up of honor and gratitude and now that you’re saying it’s wonderful then wonderful it is.

I LOST MY SHIT WHEN I WATCHED KARNA GOING DIVA IT WAS MIDNIGHT

The look of approval between Sieg!Fried and Karna is a blessing in itself

Move, Clarent Blood Arthur vs Balmung, it’s time for the new best clash: Vasavi Shakti vs Balmung

It’s the third time he uses the command spell right? Cause I can hear Jeanne’s Sieg sense tingling with exasperation.

Sieg!Fried: “Even this is not enough-“ Astolfo: “A SHIELD DELIVERY EXPRESS COMING THROUGHHHHHHH!!!!”

Astolfo: “Are you seriously giving me your shield noble phantasm?? You’re crazy.” Achilles: “I don’t need it anymore and beside it’s my promise to sensei.” Astolfo: “Oh okay. You’re still crazy tho.”

Sometimes I wonder if at this point Achilles is ready to give everything even his life to stop Atalanta because that damn shield is too strong to be given away just like that.

Manly screaming Astolfo is something I never thought I’d need in my life

Ain’t no shield like using a world containing your life as one.

Astolfo: “Wow I didn’t expect using a shield would cause an entire trippy journey into Achilles’s entire life, isn’t this breach of privacy?” Achilles somewhere: “It’s called Achilles Cosmos what exactly did you expect from it?”

Wow wowowo the sudden creation Greek architecture buildings is just… wow. Even Karna is amazed.

The scene when Sieg!Fried and Karna race to grab Balmung is an extreme version of when two people race to grab the last pizza.

When in fight, do NOT only bring one sword! -Sieg!Fried

If this entire fight was not Sieg!Fried vs Karna but only Sieg using Siegfried’s power vs Karna, would there still be anyone who would watch this?

Karna: “Sorry for dragging you with my ego” Sieg: “No, sorry I win through Astolfo’s sudden help” Karna: “No, Astolfo’s your servant and your power. It’s still a fair fight.” Sieg: “Holy crap you are like the greatest person in this world”

I wanna bet at some point Sieg’s like ‘Why do all these heroes have enough time to talk about lots of things when they’re one and half foot into the grave?’

Karna: “Jeanne will be in danger if she finds Shakespeare.” Sieg: “Alright thanks for the info gotta go bye!” Karna: “That was fast.“

Remember when honor and chivalry in war is no good as it will only meet betrayal? No, Fate/Apocrypha isn’t about that.

Karna would die alone if he was a dick but no he wasn’t a dick and Astolfo gets that so he was willing to chat and honor him before Karna fades away.

Karna: “I believe I hardly did anything worthy of a Servant” Me: HOLY SHIT KARNA STAHP YOUR HUMILITY IS KILLING MEE

Goodbye, my kind, hero of charity.

AND HERE I THOUGHT I’D EAT MY SHOE BECAUSE THEY’D SHIFT ACHILLES VS ATALANTA TO THE NEXT EP BUT NOPE THANK GOD

Yes people, the ultimate reason why I keep up with Apocrypha is because I want to see Achilles vs Atalanta and the known result of it

I found almost nothing until today about the fight beside that one line in beastlair forum and an online translated side material and I live with only those for years SO YEAH JUDGE ME I DON’T CARE

Wow the music is so catchy

You know A-1, you can use those 3 seconds for other more important actions on scene instead of Atalanta’s panties.

On a different note, here we are seeing a rider who fights more like a lancer versus an archer who fights more like a berserker

Ow he stabs her. It hurts :(

OW her arrows come back and stabs him. It hurts too :((

Aw yis he’s cradling her, I imagined this for like 3 years and it actually is like this.

NO NONONONO NOT THIS SAD SOUNDTRACK

I’d pay for Atalanta and Achilles to have another 3 seconds to talk more.

Why is Atalanta the one crying? Pretty sure in the novel it’s Achilles who’s crying. It’s even explicitly states in the side material that it’s his very tears and heroic naivety that makes Atalanta feel a bit better in the end.

The English sub makes it sounds like she was fine falling into corruption whereas I’m kinda sure (even tho my Japanese skill is zero) she’d mean she was fine with him stopping her. Correct me if I’m wrong tho.

It kinda hurts that she disappears before he does like I imagined that they’d disappear together, I know there is the battle continuation excuse but.. He has to watch her die and isn’t that painful?

Not gonna lie. Regardless of how short their exchange is and the inaccuracy of who’s crying, I’m loving the detail of this scene. Like how he barely yet still holds her in his arms, how the blood drips on her, how he sighs a little and embraces her as soon as she wakes up as herself, how his head slightly moves as she leans closer, how she weakly caresses his cheek, leaving bloodstains, and he just closes his eyes, and how she finally disappears then he follows- Oh my it looks like I just wrote an entire fanfiction

Isn’t it funny that I ship them for fun since he hits on her which is from vol 1 and then somehow it ends up in tragedy?

Tfw you care too much of a side couple (that isn’t really a couple) way more than the actual main couple

And now all of you understand why those two are on the credit together and why it gives me feels right of the bat

Maybe Achilles’s last words were the ones he wanted to, or should have, say back at episode 19, before Atalanta fell into madness. If he did, would this not happen?

Oh shit I’m weak to when-the-ending-song-is-played-without-the-usual-credit

Holy shit I just read the actual english lyrics of the entire song and my god isn’t this too fitting for this episode??? I’m grossly sobbing.

Goodbye, my pure huntress and brave warrior.

I love when Karna’s spear completely disappears as the song ends.

As of this update, I have replayed Achilles vs Atalanta for 100 times

Semiramis: “I’m waiting for someone else, actually.” Jeanne: “Who?” Semiramis: “That damn brat who rams an airplane into my home” Jeanne: “PFFT.”

The suspicious bitch face look that Jeanne gives as she’s running to the other side of the throne room is what I’m living for

As far as Fate/Apocrypha goes, this episode is the best in terms of everything.

And my long-awaited Achilles vs Atalanta finally comes. A certain op gives a translation over that scene from the novel and as expected, it’s a thousand times more beautiful and sadder. Thank you op. I’m in peace right now.

*Glancing harshly at DW* Yo, THE REST OF APOCRYPHA SERVANTS WHEN?? We have a ton of people to reunite

NEXT: Hang on kids we got a train to Orleans

#fate apocrypha #fateapocomment #hold my heart it's still wet from sobbing all day

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all-alone-he-turns-to-stone · 7 years

Text

We don’t believe what’s on TV - Chapter 15

<<…Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19 / Chapter 20...>>

Resume: I had an ordinary life, or that’s what I wanted to believe. I lost myself in the TV series that I listened to forget the normal boring life. What I didn’t know, however, was that my life would change completely overnight.

Finding myself in 2013 at Beacon Hills County.

This will be a Stiles x Reader but only further in the story

Tags: @kwien-cee @saoirsewhittle @standalls @anonimereader06 @shantayok @thiscuriouslymiss @dashofsunshineblog @negative-love @sarasmismyonlydefence @sharenaloveyoux @hoedorshegort @tomlinsonlovers @brianaisasongbird @xcastawayherosx @reganf @quit-it-stilinski @captainsherlockwinchester110283 @bunnyboo10154 @pass-me-jeez-it @maddie110201 @lovelustmendes @imaginationgotmegood @5sospoplikerock

In this chapter: When I thought everything wasn’t that bad, it only grew darker.

Word count: 3765

A/N: Okay. We all know Teen Wolf time line is a little… imprecise? So I have no idea how much time there is between episodes. And that’s also why there may be mistakes, please forgive me! This chapter is focused on the reader and is between two episodes. I think it’s important since the reader is living a normal life in the world of Teen Wolf and we don’t see every thing they do in one day on the show. (Tell me if the tags are working! The gifs aren’t mine but the drawings are!)

In the end, Stiles stayed with me all night in the hospital and by miracle or just some kind of coincidence, I managed to sleep. And since I hadn’t slept for so long without nightmares, I woke up the next day so much better. I opened my eyes as I yawned, seeing Stiles sleeping in an impossible and uncomfortable position on the chair near my bed. He had been watching over me all night? Then I realized that only a few feet from me Stiles Stilinski was asleep. His peaceful sleeping face and his half-open mouth drooling on his arm. The scene was so funny, I couldn’t help laughing, which made him wake up suddenly.

“What? Who’s here? ” “Sorry,” I answered, continuing to laugh as I watched him move in all directions to sit back and notice that he had drooled. He looked at me hoping that I hadn’t seen anything and wiped his chin with his shirt, lifting it up as he passed and giving me the perfect view of his happy trail. And beside me the heart monitor accelerated as I squinted on his stomach. “Sleep well?” He asked me, stretching and lifting even more his t-shirt. “For a rare time … yes,” I replied, unable to stop the smile that was taping to my face. I felt good, serene and my energy back. And besides, I had awakened alongside Stiles, which only made things even better. If I thought one day I would wake up next to him! “And you?” “These chairs are surprisingly very uncomfortable,” he answered, cracking his sore neck. “What surprise me,” I began by stretching my neck as well, “is that they let you sleep in the room. You’re not a member of my family. ” At first Stiles didn’t answer and then took a serious expression, which put me on my guard and reminded me of my discussion with Melissa the night before. I hoped she had said nothing about my condition to anyone. It would be a breach of confidentiality, but knowing Melissa, she often broke the rules to show files or dead bodies when the need was vital. “After you fell asleep, I was asked to leave,” he began licking his lips, a sign of nervousness that increased my heart rate. “But as I was leaving, you started to … have convulsions and mumble in your sleep, but as soon as I was near you, it stopped. So they allowed me to stay the night, because you really needed sleep and they couldn’t give you sleep meds for some reason. ” I lowered my head. The only time I managed to sleep a while was when someone was with me. When Scott had slept in my room, I had slept. And the same thing happened with Stiles last night. It wasn’t a matter of luck and I was far from being on the road to healing. Then I remembered I was dying. “I see …” I mumbled as I passed my hand behind my head. A few hours passed and I obtained my discharge from the hospital. Stiles offered to drop me home before going to class, but I refused and insisted on going to school with him. So we went to my house where I could change and pick up my bag and then at his house for him to do the same. We were going to be late, but it was better to have an afternoon done than to skip the whole day. On the road to school, we had a little silence. But contrary to usual, it wasn’t a painful silence, but rather an embarrassing silence where either of us knew what to say. Until he rummages through his pockets and pulls out something he handed me while he was stationing Roscoe in the school parking. I recognized the object in his hands as my cell phone and shouted in joy as I took it into my hands. “Scott passed me the memo and I asked my father. I also have your backpack, the one you had when you were found, but I left it at home. ” “Thank you!!” I exclaimed, suddenly hugging him. Oops. The red rose to my cheeks as I realized what I had just done in the joy and excitement of the moment. I had given him a hug, again, but this time not because he was sad. I let go of him, feeling my heart pounding and avoided his gaze as I got off the jeep. What had taken me! I couldn’t fall for him… Y / N, get yourself back together and get realist. As soon as my feet touched the ground my attention was brought to my phone. I sighed in relief by opening it and the time it opened was horribly long. Stress eventually started twisting my stomach. Would the pictures of me and my friends still be there? And those of the Teen Wolf file that contained hundreds of photos of Stiles? Wouldn’t it create a kind of black hole in the space-time continuum? After all, most of the pictures were coming from future seasons. “It works?” Stiles asked me, causing me to jump so much I was concentrating and I nearly let slipped my cell phone in a puddle near my feet. ” Sorry!” Stiles did and I turned my attention back to the screen that finally opened. I didn’t wait one or two and went to consult my pictures. But although I pressed the image icon, it didn’t work. I could press infinitely but the application didn’t want to open. And when I went to see my contacts, all of them had disappeared. All my life had disappeared. And so was my sudden joy. “What kind of cell phone is that? Never seen this model before. ” I went to answer Stiles when I realized one thing. My cell phone was a new model I had managed to offer myself a short time ago. A 2017 model, in short, a model that wasn’t supposed to exist in 2013! And despite that, I was holding it in my hands without problem. My cellphone could survive in both worlds? It was a huge discovery that worth gold in my research on the circumstances of my appearance here! I was trying to contain my joy when suddenly a sound caught my attention. Quick steps, someone was running towards us. And I just had time to raise my head to see a Scott rushing on me and taking me in his arms, to my utter surprise. I was frozen. “Wow dude! You scared the crap out of me! ” “Y / N!” Scott said, ignoring Stiles, still hugging me. “Why were you in the hospital? Why couldn’t I go and see you? Why my mom doesn’t want to tell me anything and why could Stiles stay?” He bombarded me with questions that I couldn’t answer, too shocked by the mountain of questions and because Scott McCall was squeezing me like I was the most precious thing in the world. "One, she had an accident, two, because visits aren’t allowed after a certain hour, three, because your mother had to respect professional secrecy and confidentiality and four, I have been able to stay because …” Stiles started in my place and then sought out his words. “Because it helped her sleep,” he finished, considering it was better to tell him the truth. “What accident?” Scott asked as he gradually let go of the hug to put his hands against my cheeks and look me in the eye. He looked very worried.

"The bank,” I replied quickly. “When I got hurt. They thought it could come from a rabid animal so they kept me for the night. And you, how did you know that I was in the hospital? And that I have just arrived? ” “I recognized your smell,” he answered, now comfortable talking to me about werewolf stuff. “And I recognized the sound of Stiles’ jeep and your smell so I immediately left the class to come and see you. I was dying of anxiety, Y/N.” He paused before looking at Stiles, wondering surely why he was with me and why suddenly he seemed to trust me. "We’ll talk about it later,” I interrupted. “We’re very late,” I added, putting my cell phone in my bag and heading for my class, a new hope rising in me. I knew that by leaving them a little behind, Stiles and Scott were going to talk. Stiles would tell him what had happened and why he trusted me and with a little luck, Scott would give me back his trust. In the end, it wasn’t that bad. The voice had stopped talking to me since it got revenge by making me spit blood and if anyone was with me I could sleep. But obviously I spoke too quickly, but I only understood that later. The day had gone too well. Teachers had been kind to me, as if they knew something I didn’t. Scott had taken care of me and made sure everything was okay, as a real big brother a little overwhelming, but I didn’t complain. I could eat with everyone. When Allison saw me, she had a hesitation. But seeing Lydia rushing towards me to ask if I was okay, she relaxed. Allison even came to sit beside me and congratulated me for my courage at the bank. After school, I went home with Scott and we had a family dinner with Melissa and it was very nice. In short, everything was going too well. Until bedtime. I had a good day, a good time with everyone, including Stiles. I could for the space of a day forget my worries, the alpha pack and the darrach. Forget my time running out. But life was no gift and I was no exception to the rule. Melissa couldn’t give me the medication to help me sleep because of what I was suffering that was still unknown and she feared it cause side effects. So after saying goodnight, I found myself alone in the room, the cover up to my nose in the pajamas that Scott had offered me. I was nervous and on my guard. Should I take the chance to close my eyes? It was so dark in my room, the only light being the one illuminated under my door. Maybe I should sleep the door open? Or turn on my light? After all, every damn time a character is scared at night it’s because the creature they’re afraid of is hiding in the shadows. Why not sleep with open light? It’s easier! As I decided to open my bedside lamp, my gesture was interrupted by a movement in the darkest corner of the room. Something had moved I was sure of it. I sat back in bed, panic-stricken. There was something in my room. And my doubts were confirmed when the thing passed in front of the door, creating a shadow on the only light and very quickly it was total black. Frightful sounds of grinding teeth and grunting resounded in the darkness as I began to shake, searching without looking the lamp to light it. Then a pair of red eyes illuminated sinisterly and a long growl echoed. And I still couldn’t find the damn switch. It was then that I heard the beast began to deform and move towards me. Eventually my hand reached the button and a dim light lit up the room, showing no monster. I sighed, laughing at my overflowing imagination. Seriously, how old was I? Imagine such things! I recovered comfortably in my bed and put the blanket against my chin, starting to get a little cold. I glanced at the thermostat as I felt my feet start to freeze as if they were off the blankets. And when I glanced down my body, it was to see the worst and scariest creature biting my feet with its icy teeth. It had long black hair that fell in its face and flew in the wind, a tall, lean and totally deformed body, horrible hands with long, sharp fingers, red eyes and icy breath. When I saw it I couldn’t move. I couldn’t scream, paralysed by fear. But when it noticed me, noticed I was looking at it biting my feet, and the moment it lifted its head to smile at me, I began to scream. Shouting as I never shouted, which made it jump. It stood up and I was even more afraid when I saw it standing, totally dismantling. I screamed again hoping that Scott would help me and pull me out of this nightmare, but the problem was… I wasn’t sleeping. I rushed out of my bed and made my way to the door, which I opened quickly, feeling the thing that followed me crawling on the ground like a deformed spider. I went drumming at Scott’s door as I watched the creature keep moving forward, shouting and testing the handle that was unlocked. When I opened the door, his room was empty. No sign of Scott. And when I turned behind to look, there was no creature. No light. I took my breath by letting me slide down the wall, not understanding. I was swinging back and forth when a wave of cold made me shiver and I heard a ring. A ringtone that reminded me of distant memories. My cell phone was ringing. I got up, swallowing, and started walking to the sound. At each of my steps that were heavy and making the floor squeaked, the lights were flashing until I got back in my room. I opened the door that creaked, the only sound audible with my rapid breathing, my heart echoing in my ears and the phone still ringing. I rushed to my bag that was now on my bed and grabbed it to rummage through and glanced over the screen once I found my phone. Name and number unknown. My breathing accelerated as I put it against my ear after I accepted the call. “Hello?” I said, voice trembling by fear. As the only answer, a hoarse breath hissed in my ear and I held the phone harder against my ear, feeling tears of fear running down my cheeks. “Who is it?” I cried. “Y / N …” The voice groaned and my name echoed again and again in the background. “Who are you!” I screamed in my tears, but the answer didn’t come from the phone, but from behind me. Long black, volatile hair entered my field of vision and I felt a painful cold bite my shoulders. "I am the voice in you.” I don’t know how long I shouted, but when I finally opened my eyes, arms were holding me firmly as I struggled. Still frightened by my dream, I continued to struggle and scream, beating, begging to leave me alone while continuing to cry. I screamed so much that my throat burned and soon I lost my voice, but I continued to struggle. Once my cries were muffled I could begin to hear a soft voice that was trying to calm me down. And I realized that the arms that were holding me were neither icy nor horribly thin. I recognized the pale skin and the few moles that ran through them and I stopped struggling immediately to look around. I was in my room, in my bed and in front of me, near the open door I saw Melissa, a hand against her mouth in horror and the sheriff in civilian suit. And when I looked down, I could see that Scott was holding my legs to prevent me from getting hurt. Then I lifted my head to the person who was holding me, sitting behind me and my eyes filled with tears again. “Everything’s fine Y / N …” Stiles whispered, pressing me gently against him and I immediately hugged against his chest by grabbing his t-shirt to cry. I knew only later what had happened, once my sobs had stopped. Scott and Melissa had heard my screams and Scott had rushed to take me in his arms, but I hadn’t woken up. I had continued to tremble, seized with convulsion and shouted. I shouted so much that the neighbors ended up calling the police. The Sheriff wasn’t on duty, but as he wasn’t asleep, he received a call from the police station about the McCall House. And obviously Stiles had listened to the call and insisted on coming, mentioning that perhaps his presence would help me wake up. And that was right, it was only when Stiles caught me in his arms that I woke up. I had struggled until I recognized my environment, but especially his voice. After a while I began to calm down. But just as Stiles was about to leave to return home with a worried and sad look, I immediately started trembling uncontrollably again. The cold bit my bones and I began to have horrible images of the creature in mind. Frightened, I began to cry again and roll on myself. But soon a heat came near me and all my sufferings disappeared simultaneously under the hand of Scott, who had taken the place of Stiles beside me. I felt tired and grabbed his camisole that served him as pajamas. The rest was too foggy. I remember that everyone left, except Scott. I remember the anxious look of Stiles who didn’t want to leave me alone but had to leave with his father. And I remember the comforting warmth of Scott never leaving me as he took place with me in the bed. And it was the next morning that I really realized that I had spent the night with Scott. He was holding me close to him when I opened my eyes in the morning to lay them on his face, serene. I remembered everything. From my nightmare to the horrifying creature, passing by the call. And Stiles who had been the only one to be able to wake me from the nightmare, the worst I ever had. Feeling I was moving, Scott muttered good morning as he opened his eyes. It was new for me to be so close to him so I jumped on my feet awkwardly by falling to the ground. “Morning,” I mumbled on the floor, my throat burning from the screams I made. I had almost no voice. Although everyone insisted I had to take a day off, I pretended that everything was fine and lied. But Scott knew I was lying. “I don’t want to be alone,” I said sincerely, lowering my head. So Scott allowed me to go to school. And as soon as we got there, I could see Stiles’ jeep park and him get out, two backpacks on his shoulders. He saw us, greeted us before running where we were. Stiles gave me one sad look. Only one look in connection with the previous night. Then his eyes changed and he pretended like nothing happened and I was grateful. I was embarrassed enough.

“I have your bag!” He said joyfully to me by handing me the school bag I had when I first appeared in the world. I took it in my hands and thanked him with a quiet voice and weak smile, unable to do more. It would take me at least one day to recover from the nightmare and especially from what the monster had said behind me. I am the voice in you. I shivered, trying to chase the image of the abomination off my head as I took place in the classroom of the first class of the day. The teacher wasn’t there yet and only a few students had arrived, so I took the opportunity to dig into my newly recovered bag. I took out the satchels I had taken for the day I had disappeared and piled them on my desk. Curious, I opened one to find blank paper sheets. Nothing surprising. But my breath sank into my throat in a sob of horror as I looked through the other sheets. Handmade drawings, quick and coarse sketches of the thing of my nightmares. My satchel was filled with it. No matter where I looked there was a drawing. And the worst? It was my style of drawing. I made them somehow. And when the panic was at its highest, a cell phone rang in my bag, but the one Scott had given me, my bag that contained my satchels for Beacon Hills high school. I had forgotten that my cell phone had been there since yesterday and that I hadn’t removed it yet. It was with a trembling hand that I took my phone and answered the call by feeling my body shiver while a current of cold air raised my hair. “Hello… ” “It’s time to wake up Y / N,” the same voice. The voice that was in me. The icy voice. The one the thing of my nightmare had. “Y / N!” And I awoke abruptly in the class where I was, looking around me, but especially at the teacher who didn’t seem very happy. “Stay focused if you like.” Still traumatized by my dream, I didn’t answer him right away. I glanced nervously around me where all the students were glancing at me, then to my right to see Scott and behind him Stiles, who both looked at me with worried eyes. “Sorry …” I hardly mumbled at the teacher before turning to the two boys. “What, I was only asleep… a little …” I said to reassure them and that’s when Scott told me something that put me on alert. One sentence, the same he was telling Stiles in Season 3B. “Y / N, you weren’t asleep …” He whispered, pointing at my desk with his finger where the briefcase was open. The satchels which, in my dream, contained all the drawings of the thing. And when I laid my eyes on it, it was to see that the sheets were no longer blank. And my pencil in my hand had no more pencil lead, like someone had pressed it too hard. My hand, the one I was writing with, was dirty with pencil leads dust, something every artist have when they draw too much. Five sheets were filled. Only five. But they all contained the same thing I had just drawn. The monster of my dream.

In the next chapter: They think I’m crazy, I know it. I’m having night terrors and hallucination. But I’m not mad. And even if I promised myself not to talk again, I can’t keep that promise. Because the show must go on.

Next chapter->

#teen wolf #teen wolf imagine #stiles stilinski imagine #imagine teen wolf #teen wolf fanfiction #teen wolf fanfic #stiles stilinski fanfiction #fanfiction teen wolf #stiles stilinski #mieczyslaw stilinski #stiles stilinski teen wolf #stiles x reader #reader insert #reader is in the tv show #reader is in teen wolf #teen wolf season 3a #teen wolf scott mccall #melissa mccall #sheriff stilinski

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arazialotis · 7 years

Text

Austin Nights - Part 5

Pairing: Single!Jensen × Reader

Word Count: About 3500

Summary: The reader lives in Austin and unknowingly runs into Jensen at a bonfire and sparks fly. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Obviously I intend no hate or ill wishes to him or his family. This is purely just for writing and wasting my time.

This is purely for a hobby and my enjoyment. Maybe some of you will enjoy it too. I am by no means a writer so I apologize in advance for any mistakes or grammatical/spelling errors. I appreciate any feedback or suggestions!

----

When Jensen had said he would be in touch, you actually assumed it would be him. However, you felt like you had talked with his marketing and security team more than him in the last three weeks. (Yes, you promised him two but the school had asked for three in order to find a substitute counselor for such a long period of time.) If you had to go over your social media privacy settings one more time, you might begin pulling your hair out. It was driving you bonkers to say the least. Honestly, you didn’t care what people did and didn’t know about you or what could possibly happen if someone came across an unflattering photo, god forbid. But it was all to maintain Jensen’s image and you were determined to keep it up as much as you could.

All that behind you now, you were waiting in an airport terminal with boarding passes and passport in hand. The $3 fedora from Target rest atop your head being your constant companion for any traveling adventure. Angie hardly let you go and if she had a valid passport she would have definitely come with you.

“Take a picture with Jared for me.” She demanded. “No, call me with him, wait make sure it is a video call!” She had instructed you.

Thinking about it now, you were super nervous and unsure why. With Jensen it came and happened so naturally. With Jared it seemed like you needed to meet an expectation, you were dating his best friend, you needed to live up to his standard and make a good impression. Regardless, there was no turning back now as you boarded the plane.

Customs were quick and easy. You couldn't remember who told you but someone had once explained getting into Canada was fairly easy, it was coming back when you would run into problems. Jensen had texted you earlier explaining a car would meet you there. However, you tried to make it clear that you would be fine with a cab. Regardless, coming down the escalator you saw a man dressed in black holding a sign with your name. You rolled your eyes and tucked your hair up into your hat, trying to disguise yourself. You said you were taking a cab so that’s what you were going to do, you thought. As soon as you hit the floor you b-lined for the opposite direction of the driver, trying to make it outside before noticed.

You cringed as you heard, “Ms. Y/L/N, Ms. Y/L/N!” being called throughout the lobby.

You forcefully froze yourself as not to run out the doors. You turned around putting a smile on as the man caught up to you. “Oh, wow. This was unexpected, I didn’t see you.” You lied through a smile.

The man saw through your act. “He told me you might try to avoid me.”

“I’m just very independent, that’s all.” You tried to ration.

“Can I grab your luggage?” He smiled, not sure if he was amused or offended.

“Independent.” You said slowly again.

“Right, of course. We’re out this way.” He directed.

You followed willingly but played a bit of tug-o-war for the honors of loading the luggage into the car. He eventually won and opened the door for you. Driving down the highway you looked out the window taking in the new views and cityscape.

“So, are we heading to Jay’s apartment?” You asked.

“Mr. Ackles requested that I take you to the studio and I’ll drop your luggage off at his residence afterwards.” He responded.

“Well, I could wait at Mr. Ackles’ apartment until he arrives so I could freshen up and rest from a day of travel.” You suggested with a bit of attitude.

“If need be, you can in the trailer, it has more than enough accommodations.”

You sighed not getting your way. The longer you traveled down the highway the more anxious you became and started to fiddle with your fingers. When you arrived to the studio it looked as you expected. A gated entrance, factory warehouses which contained sets. You had to check in with security, including having your picture taken, your bag searched through, and you were required to wear a visitor’s badge. It was honestly more of a process than customs had been. Upon arriving at Jay’s trailer, the driver introduced you to a personal assistant named Marcus.

“Marcus will escort you around the studio and help you with anything you need. I’ll drop your luggage to Mr. Ackles’ apartment.” The driver explained again.

“Really, I’ll be fine, I don’t need a PA.” You tried to argue.

“Even if you don’t, it’s a security requirement.”

“Because I am such a threat.” You tried to joke, but the driver must have lost his patience dealing with your antics.

So you were left alone with Marcus, who immediately started asking want you wanted to drink or eat or needed.

“Just need to freshen up.” You explained.

“Right, of course.” He unlocked the trailer for you. “I’ll be right out here if you need anything.”

As you entered you were certain your jaw fell to the floor. It had more luxury than your own apartment and was probably equal in size. Okay, so you were exaggerating, but not by much. You cautiously explored around, opening cupboards, looking at the rooms, probably breaching all kinds of security protocols. You did find a small bathroom and freshened up as well as applying some makeup that you had kept in your travel bag. Being unsure of what to do, you sat on a couch, and just sat, hoping Jensen would come join you soon. After about an hour, you couldn’t stand it anymore and went outside to find Marcus, sitting literally right there.

“Oh, I’m sorry, you could have come in.” You apologized.

“No, it's okay, I wouldn’t have anyways. Can I get you something?” He asked.

“Actually, I was wondering where Jensen is?” You asked.

“They’re working on set right now, needing to get a few scenes done before the end of the day.” He explained but caught hint of your frown. “But I can see if it is an open set, we could go watch them.” He suggested.

“Would you?” You asked relieved. “That would be amazing.” You liked him a lot better than the driver.

Marcus responded to a text on his phone. “Yeah, we can definitely sneak in.”

Marcus led you to a golf cart and drove around the studio until entering a warehouse. You were at the set of the bunker with a full crew and the cast running lines. You stood in the back as not to be a distraction.

“It looks like a skeleton compared to what’s on TV.” You whispered to Marcus.

“Yeah, it’s amazing what we’re able to do.” He whispered back.

You heard Jensen’s voice over the set. Your heart dropped and your cheeks flushed seeing him as something familiar in this strange world. It had only been three weeks but you desperately wanted to run up and hug him. You bounced in place a little in order to contain your excitement. Throughout the scene you watched him. He was so focused and involved it really felt like Dean Winchester was in the room.

They quickly reset the scene. It amazed you how quickly he slipped out of character, joking around with Jared, and how fast he got back into the scene. Things were heating up in the scene and you jumped startled when Jensen slammed his hand down on the table. He was attempting to be furious but caught a glance of you out of the corner of his eye and smiled. He looked back down at the table attempting to furrow his brow again but he couldn’t help to grin like a child.

“Cut,” He yelled. “I need a cut.” He repeated.

A bell rang and someone yelled “15 minutes” as he ran over to you. He picked you up into a hug and spun you around, planting a kiss on your cheek. You laughed as he placed you back down on the ground.

“God, I missed you.” He confessed.

“You can’t cut a scene for me, they’ll hate me.” You whispered concerned.

“What? No. Besides I hear you are making friends already.” He joked.

“Who said that, the hitman or the babysitter?” You whispered again not wanting Marcus to hear.

“Someone is concerned you are either a flight risk or a security threat.” Jensen smiled only imagining how you acted earlier.

“He should realize I’m both, tattletale” You joked. “I was trying to be friendly, really.” You tried to convince him.

“Oh, no doubt.” Jensen said not believing it for a second.

You caught a glimpse of Jared heading over and nuzzled Jensen attempting to hide in his shoulder. He reassuringly rubbed your back and you turned around ready to make a good impression.

“So this is who’ve you been hiding for what, seven months now?” Jared asked Jensen. “I can see why.” He reached out to shake your hand as your cheeks set on fire.

“Down boy.” Jensen lightheartedly nudged Jared, to which Jared patted Jay’s chest.

“So, Jensen has literally shared no information with me about you…” Jared started.

“Not true.” Jay interrupted.

“So quick, give me the spark notes.” Jared continued.

“Um… really just a small town girl, living in a lonely world.” You started giving you a second to think causing both of them to smile. “Bachelors of social work from U of T, passionate for social justice and raising mental health awareness, guidance counselor at a middle school, and in love with this guy right here…” You nudged Jensen and froze, did you just say love?

“Y/N is all about AFK, uses the message a lot with her students.” Jensen interrupted sensing you had froze.

“Very cool.” Jared added.

“Other than that I like exploring new and weird places and some people would say I am stubborn.” You looked at Jensen who shook his head denying. “But I’d love to chat more over a beer sometime and get to know you.”

“Of course, we should totally go out tonight after we are finished with the set.” Jared suggested. Jay cleared his throat. “I guess Jensen can come too.” Jared added. You laughed nervously. Jared was called from across the set. “It was great meeting you, looking forward to tonight.” He winked and bounded across the room.

You immediately hid your face in Jensen’s chest again and he wrapped his arms around you. “Was that okay?” You asked in a muffled voice.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Jensen asked you. “I love you and so I know Jared will too. Just be yourself okay?” You nodded. “So I gotta get back to it if we are ever going to make it out of here tonight.”

You finally left the shelter of him. “Can I stay and watch? I’ll try not to be a distraction.”

“That’s impossible, you’re always a distraction in my head. But maybe I can turn the distraction into a muse.” He winked at you and left to follow Jared.

Marcus appeared next to you again with a drink holder filled with four different coffee creations. “I didn’t know what you would like so I am hoping one of these will work.” When you looked at him confused. He continued. “I just thought after a long day of travel, and with the time change…”

“I guess we’ll just have to drink them all then.” You suggested taking one and giving another to him and silently toasting.

It took them two hours to finish up the two scenes. During cuts Jensen would flirt at you with his eyes to which you would return with a silly face. It was another 30 minutes before they were cleaned up and officially released. Marcus finally left your side when Jensen took over again and walked you to his trailer.

“So what did you think?” He asked you.

“I don’t know… It was weird.” You confessed.

“What? Weird how?” He questioned.

“I don’t know how to explain it… it’s just like so much goes into it for something that is only going to be on the screen for two minutes and you literally become a different person out there.” You tried to put to words. “I’ve just never experienced anything like it.”

He opened the trailer door and let you in.

“I don’t think it would be any different if I watched you work though. I’ve never seen you in action.” He commented.

“Except I wouldn’t be able to get any work done, all the girls would be lined up at the door to gush over you.” You joked.

“Nah, I’m too outdated for them. I’m sure it’s all Harry Styles this, J Biebs that.” Jensen played off.

You simply rolled your eyes in response as he did not realize how much he still had it going on.

“Hey, what’s this?” Jensen pointed to a wrapped package on the counter.

“A present.” You said a bit nervous about how he would react to it.

“A present?” He repeated and started opening it up.

“Yeah, it’s just something stupid…”

Upon opening, Jensen laughed and crinkled his nose. It was a small Texas longhorn stuffed animal that you had picked up before leaving the Austin airport.

“It’s so you won’t get lonely when I leave.” You explained embarrassed.

He pulled you closer, pinning you between him and the counter. “I love it.” He said sincerely. “Expect I’m never letting you leave.” He said before starting to kiss your neck and his hands went for your waist.

You started to laugh. “Oh my gosh! Jared’s probably waiting for us.”

“He can wait and extra 15 minutes.” Jensen’s tone turned animal.

Well, 15 minutes later you both were heading out. You self-consciously ran your fingers through your hair and adjusted your clothing to make sure everything was in place. You met up with Jared who had his classic beanie on and was ready to leave.

“What took you so long, diva?” He asked Jensen.

Jensen gave him a perky grin and raised his eyebrows. You nudged him with your elbow. Apparently it took him longer to get out of character than you thought.

“So, Jared, do you have any suggestions for tonight?” You asked trying to redirect the conversation.

“Uh, Gastown is pretty cute. Think she’d like it down there?” Jared asked Jay.

He nodded his head and with a serious tone mocked Jared. “Oh, yes, very cute.”

“I’m up for anything. We could share a cab, or hop on the metro?” You suggested.

“It’ll be easier just to get a driver.” Jensen said.

You shook your head no with exaggerated playful anxiety written on your face.

“Listen, you’ve got full reign in Austin, up here things are just a little different. You’ll get used to it though.” Jensen tried to encourage you.

“What’s wrong with the driver?” Jared asked confused.

“I think he’s listed me as at least a code 4 security concern.” You admitted.

“Nice!” Jared laughed and high fived you. “We should sneak her in tomorrow just to mess with them.” He suggested.

“Regardless, the more we are out in public together, the more we chance depriving Angie the promise of outing us.” Jensen said as the driver pulled up.

You squished in-between the middle of them not wanting to sit up front. “Oh, have you not checked twitter today?” You asked him.

“Even if he did, he literally is only following 4 people and therefore misses everything.” Jared teased.

You pulled up Angie’s tweet on your phone as Jensen and Jared playfully bickered about technology. Angie had taken a photo of you at the terminal posing with your suitcase, foot pop and all. ‘My bestie @Y/N is headed up to VC. Any guesses on who she is going to see? ;)’ You had been avoiding your phone all day with the amount of responses. Ever since she initially posted the first photo of you and Jay, her account had blown up. With this second tweet yours was going out of control as well. Jay took your phone to see what was going on.

“Oh, we are taking care of this right now.” Jay said. He took his own phone out to take a selfie.

“Ahh! No!” You leaned closer to Jared. “I’m all jet-lagged and gross from traveling.” Jared pushed you back to Jay. “Fine, fine.” You finally agreed.

“Okay, how do you get this thing to work?” Jensen asked causing you to laugh. He snapped the picture then, loving the way your eyes lit up and smile brightened when he caused you to laugh.

“Jensen, we have to do a real one.” You complained cheerfully.

“Alright, but I am keeping that one for the photo album.” He joked again and took another photo. When he looked to see how it turned out, he reared his head back laughing. At the last second you had puckered your lips and crossed your eyes.

“You guys are impossible.” Jared said taking Jensen’s phone ready to take another picture. “I’m uploading this one either way so make it count. 3… 2…”

Jensen kissed your temple and held the other side of you head, pressing you closer to him. You squinted your eyes shut with a playful and ecstatic smile.

Jensen took it back. “Yeah, that's a cute one.” He commented typing up a tweet.

“Yes, all your cuteness is making me nauseous.” Jared said sarcastically.

“We try and keep the PDA to a minimum.” You defended.

“Right, Jensen told me how you met.” Jared argued.

“It doesn’t count if no one is around.” You tried to convince him.

“Don’t listen to him, he’s just a bitter old man.” Jensen told you.

“You mean free and unchained.” Jared corrected.

“I meant exactly what I said.” Jay stood firm. “Here, what do you think?” He handed you his phone.

‘@bluehairdontcare, Thanks for sending @Y/N up, she’s safe and sound, but no promises on when/if she’ll return.’

You handed the phone back to him. “Here goes nothing.” You said as he posted it.

You felt your phone vibrate and a few seconds later vibrate again and again. You took it out to see the notifications piling on and quickly texted Angie. ‘Going on a tech break for a bit. Contact the prepaid if you need me.’

‘Got it! I still expect a video chat with Jared by the end of the week.’ She responded.

‘Of course.’ ‘Eat up all this attention while you can.’

‘Can I be your press secretary??’ She asked.

‘Haha, absolutely.’ ‘Love you Ang Xx’

‘Love you too Xxx.’

With that you shut your phone off entirely. As you entered the Gastown district, you leaned over Jensen to get a better look. The driver pulled up to a pub called the Black Frog and the three of you got out together. You looked around the brick streets, brick buildings, and quaint street lamps.

“Screw you guys, I’m hanging out down here tomorrow while you’re on set.” You joked.

“I thought you’d like it,” Jared said and held open the door for you. “Come one.”

Jensen grabbed your hand and led you through to a small pub with a wooden floor. There was an open high top which you guys grabbed up. You ordered some poutine as well to accompany the beer. Chatting with both of them came naturally. Occasionally there was a inside joke that left you guessing, but overall things flowed smoothing, it was probably the second drink helping you along. You talked Pearl Jam, other music updates, and guilty listening pleasures with Jared. You explained how your biggest passion was your work and empowering the kids, sitting through the ups and downs with them, hormonal swings and all. They talked a bit about their industry and the show, but you tried to divert the topics so it wouldn’t feel so much like an interview to them.

After about the third yawn within two minutes Jensen spoke up. “Alright, it’s time to get you some sleep.”

You didn’t protest beginning to feel pretty exhausted. You parted ways from Jared after making tentative plans for tomorrow. Having a window seat this time, you spent it gazing at the city lights before leaning your head against Jay’s shoulder and slipping into sleep. When you finally reached his apartment he could hardly wake you.

“Come on girl.” Jensen cooed.

He held you up as you made the way through the lobby and elevator. He sung softly to you on your way into his apartment. You tried to take in the details but they seemed quite hazy. Jensen helped slip your jeans off and tucked you into bed. He came along side you in just his briefs. He stroked your hair as you drifted back to sleep.

“So, love, huh?” Jay asked picking out what you had said to Jared earlier.

“Mmhmm” You hummed softly with your eyes closed.

He kissed your forehead and pulled you close against him. “Glad to finally know you feel the same.”

-----

Click here to Continue to Part 6

------

Tags:

@girl-with-a-fandom-fettish @jensen-gal @mizzzpink @be-amaziing @akshi8278 @smoothdogsgirl @iamnotsaneatall @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @dancingalone21 @jodibullock1 @deansgirl215 @atc74 @psychidella @pretty-fortune @dean-winchesters-baby @mskitty416 @spnfangirl1965 @ashleydivine @winchesterprincessbride @vaisabu @nanie5 @crushing83 @sea040561 @arbitronox

#jensen x reader #jensen ackles #jensen ackles x reader #jensen x you #supernatural #spn fanfic #spnfandom #spn

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mrevaunit42 · 7 years

Text

Nova vs 20: Rival concerns.

Hello everyone, Mr.e here wishing you an amazing week and day! Sorry I am late with this i’ve been pretty busy with life, and packing (i am leaving for vacation tomorrow. I was trying to finish another always a star chapter before I left but sadly was not able to sorry) but at least we got a novy right?

so here it is the next chapter taking place on a Saturday. Please enjoy, let me know what you think of it and don’t let the ending lines kill you haha man I’m evil. but have a great day!

If you stumbled upon this and are curious what is this, the link below will help

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11773524/1/Nova-Butterfly-vs-the-Forces-of-Adolescence

Notification squad: @hipster-rapunzel @thefandombytes @isolated-frequencies @artgirllullaby @minthia-ren

“Missy?” Jackie called, slowly approaching her daughter’s room as the morning sun began to rise over the horizon “Missy, it's 7 are you....?”

Jackie knocked once on Missy's door to announce she was there and in a moment she would be entering.

Jackie opened the door slowly and wasn't surprised that Missy wasn't half awake with strained eyes and a groggy yawn but already dressed in her summer blouse, blonde hair well combed with her red streak standing out as usual

She looked expectantly at her mother, lips pursed with impatience.

“Are we ready to leave mom?” Missy asked bluntly.

“After breakfast” Jackie answered “You know most kids like to sleep in on the weekends. I did all the time if I wasn't feeling too cooped up from being indoors.”

“I'm not like other kids mom and you've always been an outdoors person.”

“True” Jackie agreed thoughtfully “But still, you need to learn to take it easy on your quest to the White House. You're 14 sweetie, not 30.”

“It doesn't matter” Missy brushed off Jackie's comment “Life isn't going to wait for me to be ready as I stroll the flowers and it's certainly not going to be fair. Besides I have no time to waste. I'd like to see how Nova is doing.”

“I know” Jackie spoke gently “But life is meant to be lived, not lived through.”

“.....I....”

“It's too early in the morning for this” Jackie gave a sleepy yawn “I'm just looking out for you sweetie though you can be quite impatient”

“I know. I'm just worried....” Missy replied with a smile “thanks mom. Long night?”

Jackie gave an exasperated sigh “The worst thing about being a defense attorney isn't the courtroom but the paperwork.”

“Paperwork, the bane of our existence?”

“Something like that. Come on, breakfast then off to Star's.”

Missy gave a determined nod though she wasn't as reassured as she hoped would be.

Missy knew Nova was no fan of her though she was glad to see her warm up to the idea of being friends with the pale eyed rival.

Still despite their shared end goal of winning a certain inventor's heart, Missy did consider the magical princess to be a close, if competitive, friend and valued their friendship.

Missy still churned guiltily at the idea of being used to lure Connor into a false sense of security to ensure Nova was alone when it was time to take her. While no one could fault her for what happened, she still couldn't help but feel the horrid emotion bubbling uneasily in her stomach.

The worst, or best part depending on teen's current mood, was that Connor was now at least aware of the possibility that her feelings for him were genuine. Of course there was the very real chance that Connor, in all his cute density, believed it was an act performed through the mind control.

The thought made her feel comforted and conflicted.

“I'll pass that bridge when I get there” Missy told herself as she made her way to the dining room table.

Despite her mom's efforts to remain calm and collected, it turns out Jackie was no less anxious to reach Star's home as breakfast was promptly consumed within a matter of minutes and the two made their way to the Diaz-Butterfly household.

“Are you sure it's okay?” Missy asked “I mean....she was just kidnapped....”

“Don't worry, the Diaz household is one of the safest places in the world.”

Missy was briefly confused by that statement as she tried to imagine the household as some sort of reinforced bunker, a towering unassailable fortress which no one could ever hope to breach...but couldn't. It remained a simple home in her mind's eye.

Missy remembered when she was little that her mother used to tell her if she was ever in trouble to find her way to Mr. Diaz's home, that she would be safest there.

As a child, those words always confused her given that she always felt safest in her nice warm bed at home but now that she was older, it was a puzzle that bit at her mind relentlessly.

Just how was the Diaz-Butterfly house the safest?

Missy stared thoughtfully at the two story building that lay before her.

There were no raised outer walls, countless soldiers scrambling across the yard, waircorns trotting up and down with Mewni's fiercest warriors upon them.

Just Mr and Mrs. Diaz-Butterfly's home, sitting there peacefully in the sunlight as Jackie parked on the curve.

“Don't judge based on appearances sweetie” Jackie playfully scolded.

Missy pouted, feeling somehow she was being teased or cheated.

“Safest place in the world?” She thought to herself “I'm not seeing it.”

Missy trudged after her mother, wary for any surprises in store for her.

None came. In fact the pair managed to get to the front door unimpeded.

“Umm....mom?” Missy looked about as Jackie gently knocked on the door.

Silence.

Missy stared at Jackie who waited patiently, staring expectantly at the door.

“Umm....”

“Hi there!”

Missy jumped, an adorable voice greeting them from out of nowhere scared her more than she'd care to admit.

Missy turned to find Nova's little brother standing there, dressed in his cute pajamas, holding an unhappy raccoon who looked like she was about to hurl.

“Hello Sol” Jackie greeted calmly “is everyone awake?”

Sol scratched his chin cutely “Mommy and daddy, Aunt Katrina, Uncle Tom, Aunt Jan Jan, the Mewni guard oh! And Rocky!”

Sol lifted the raccoon higher for the pair to see. The helpless raccoon was grouchy and glared at everything and everyone.

“Cool” Jackie replied in her softest voice “Is it okay if we come in?”

Sol glanced upwards, seemingly looking for some sort of indication before his eyes snapped back to Jackie “They say it's okay!”

“They?” Missy muttered, looking upwards only to find nothing....

Wait

Missy leaned in closer. There was a subtle movement barely noticeable even in the glow of the sun but she saw them: 3 or 4 figures nearly invisible to the naked eye, crouched against the surface of the home simply watching and waiting suspended in mid-air like it was no big deal, their entire appearance translucent, hidden.

“Wow....” Missy breathed, looking back to the young prince of Mewni only find empty air “Whoa, wait where did he....?”

There were a serious of rapid scraping of metal against metal, clicks and thunks before the door swung open, Sol beaming excitedly at mother and daughter.

“how did you...?”

“Such a sweet boy” Jackie smiled, making her way into the household.

Missy stood dumbfounded in the doorway.

“Wait, how did he?”

“Not now Missy.”

Missy followed her mother's footsteps and was greeted by chaotic sight: Several well armed warriors doing patrols around the normally spacious living room while Star, Marco, Janna and Tom were huddled tiredly inside the kitchen. Katrina was playing with Sol, cheerfully nodding each time the young prince eagerly showed off a new toy or artwork he created. Nova was nowhere to be seen but lumped on the couch together was the heart skipping image of a familiar person.

Oh, also Jack was there.

Jack gave a sleepy wave to Jackie and Missy, his eyes alternating from wide awake and completely closed.

Missy's favorite four eyes, however, was awake and using his slumbering friend as a wall to bounce ideas off of than an actual participant of the conversation.

“M-Missy!” Connor squeaked, straightening up upon seeing her enter the room.

“H-hey Connor” Missy shyly waved “Been here all day?”

Connor nodded “They thought it was safer if we stayed here.”

“It's boooooring” Jack whined loudly, curling under the blankets “I want my book of tricks. I want to sleep on something that isn't a freaking lumpy couch.”

Connor rolled his eyes as Missy rose an eyebrow “This is what you've been dealing with all day? How have you not killed him?”

“Tempting” Connor gave a dirty look to Jack “But I'll hold judgment for a while. Besides he'd just come back as a half demonic skeleton”

Missy let out a barely contained giggle, brushing her hair behind her ear instinctively but quietly scolded herself for doing so.

“Where's Nova?”

Jack and Connor shared a concerned look, one Missy did not like.

Missy felt a chill in the pit of her stomach “she hasn't left her room huh?”

“She's shut herself off from everyone...” Connor grimly whispered “....she's feeling so guilty and refuses to see anyone. Even me....even her mom.”

Missy stood there dumbfounded. Nova had never denied Star anything before.

“She's overreacting” Jack waved off “Everything turned out fine. Her awesome best friend and Connor saved the day.”

“Jack” Connor chimed in quickly “We got lucky.”

“Psst, luck is a skill.”

“Luck is a random probability”

“Ugh, you're no fun.”

Connor shook his head in disbelief and while Missy felt more at ease talking with them, one question lingered on her mind.

“and the demon? The one who kidnapped her?”

The boys faces morphed into a deathly serious mask

“He's being questioned right now” Connor answered

“But” Jack took over “We don't think he was behind it.”

Missy was unsure what the two were trying to imply “I'm sorry, I don't understand....”

“Don't worry about it” Jack yawned dramatically, naturally pulling all the attention onto his exaggerated gestures “What matters is good guys insert number here, bad guys a great big negative 3.”

“Negative 3?” Connor quizzically asked.

Jack slipped back under the covers “Sure, why not”

“Jack? Jack! That didn't answer anything”

“I'm not here right now” Jack's muffled voice replied “Go away and don't come back.”

“JACK!”

Missy tried to suppress a laugh as she watched Connor leap onto the unsuspecting Jack and tried to wrestle him out of his cozy sanctuary.

The moment of bliss passed and Missy could feel guilt slowly creeping up on her. She glanced towards the staircase.

Nova should be here right now, cheering Connor on and enjoying the boys flailing, with the gathering crowd that has noticed what was going on and began taking bets on who would come out on top, Aunt Janna screaming at the top of her lungs for Jack to rip out Connor's spine while Marco demands Connor not to get blood on the newly cleaned floor.

But she wasn't and Missy couldn't stand to be here without Nova posing some sort of declaration against her.

It didn't feel right.

So, as quietly as she could, Missy snuck up the staircase slowly, hoping the match below would distract anyone long enough for her to reach the magical princess.

Missy had never been in Nova's room before though there had been a rather cute butterfly labeled Nova that guided Missy.

She stood in front of the door, arm outstretched but she was afraid to knock. Perhaps Connor or Marco were more suited to this task. Missy and Nova were friends but not friends at the same time and while they held each other in pretty well regard, she didn't know if Nova would appreciate her of all people coming to try to break her out of her funk when her best friend/love interest and the woman she looked up to the most were denied.

Missy turned to leave when she noticed something by the foot of the door: it was an untouched plate filled with waffles, eggs and various other food bits place carefully on the floor made with love and left there.

Missy picked up the plate, ignoring how cold the food was, and gently knocked.

There was no response.

Missy pursed her lips, knocking even louder now.

“Go away” A heavily muffled voice called from the inside.

“.....” Missy struggled to find the right words to say. If Connor and Star couldn't get in, how could she?

“I said go away” Nova's voice repeated “I see you standing by the door.”

“....let me in Nova” Missy muttered softly “Your food is cold.”

Missy could feel the stunned silence from Nova, the utter shock and surprise that she of all people was here. That her rival for the heart of the young inventor had dared come into her home at her weakest moment and...

The door swung open slowly, swaying back and forth as it revealed a darkened room.

Missy was surprised that she was allowed to come in but decided now was not the time to question it.

Nova was sitting on the bed, legs tucked under her arms with trademark devil headband and hoodie scattered across the floor, thrown there haphazardly

“Close the door” Nova murmured, her face hidden beyond the veil of darkness.

Missy did as she was told, closing the door behind her.

“Why are you here?” Nova quietly asked, not with an edge of hostility but one of confusion.

“You need to eat.” Missy answered simply “Knowing you, you've been sitting in here all yesterday and haven't eaten a single thing.”

Nova scoffed “You don't know me.”

“Am I right?”

Nova shifted nervously in her curled form.

“You need to eat.” Missy firmly repeated.

“....I...” Nova began but was quickly interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach.

Missy took a seat at the bed, offering the plate to Nova who grabbed it hurriedly

The room was silent except for Nova's muted eating.

“Even cold” Nova spoke up after shoveling the last piece of waffle into her mouth “Dad's cooking's the best”

Missy glanced over to the princess, her face silhouetted in the darkness “It'd be even better if you came downstairs and ate with everyone.”

Nova retreated into her ball “It would...”

The tense silence returned. Missy tried not fidget uncomfortably no matter how awkward the situation

“Did mom send you?” Nova asked without warning “Did she tried to get you to talk to me like she did with Jack and Connor?”

“No, I wanted to come up myself” Missy admitted.

“Really?”

Missy looked at Nova once again “Don't believe me?”

Nova scoffed “I do believe you. You always do what you want. If you said you came up here of your own free will, I totally accept it. The real question is why?”

“I was concerned for you” Missy said truthfully “We are friends, aren't we?”

“Are we?” Nova cautiously shot back.

Missy's paused thoughtfully

“I'd like to think so.”

“Huh, well that was a surprise.”

“I know right?”

The two shared a quick chorus of chuckles before Nova's gloomy mood returned.

“So....” Nova said off handily “Where's your pep talk? Gonna force me to say what's wrong? That it wasn't a big deal. That I shouldn't be sad or mad or anything of the sort?”

“Did your parents or Connor do that?”

“...N..no...” Nova murmured guiltily “I...didn't let them in.”

“Would they do that?”

“P-probably not....”

“Then no, I won't either.”

“........well...this is awkward then”

“Yeah a little” Missy agreed.

“Did you even have a plan when you got in here?” Nova asked curiously

Missy shook her head “I didn't think I'd get this far.”

Nova snorted despite the heavy weight she felt “Wait, miss I always have a plan didn't think ahead?”

Missy bit her lip “Honestly, I was expecting you to simply not answer.”

“....”

Missy scooted closer to Nova “Why did you let me in Nova?”

Nova remained silent.

“....Nova?” Missy asked gently “Did you want to go out? I mean I know it's a bit sooner given what just...”

Nova sighed “yeah I do. I hate being cooped up and this is just making me feel worse.

Missy blinked in surprise “O-oh. O-of course”

“What?” Nova asked carefully

“Nothing. I'm just surprised at my success.”

“Something we can relate on” Nova joked as she came closer to her rival.

“Nova?” Missy questioned “Aren't you forgetting something?”

Nova, in her pink shirt, black skirt and multicolored leggings simply shook her head, a lost and faraway look in her eyes.

“no....I'm not”

#Nova vs #my story #chapter 20 #Star vs au #future au

54 notes · View notes

buttersbots · 7 years

Text

Ficlet: Fathers’ Day

:0 Day late Fathers’ Day short.

deviantART | Archive of Our Own | FanFiction.net

“You doing alright?” Two asked in a low voice, putting her hand on Nos’s elbow.

“Oh, yes, I’m fine. Just came out to enjoy a bit of quiet,” the Energy Vampire smiled. They were hovering on the patio outside the Earthclasses’ living room, looking out at the city lights sparkling off the lake. Small boats slipped over the glassy surface, emanating distant music and laughter.

Wall.E and One had built their house on the same spot that the truck once stood, perched at the top of a fortified bridge extending over the water. It was made with a similar style to the towering residential buildings on the shore, with pale stucco walls, red tile roofs, and high, arched windows. The inside was decorated with the best of Wall.E’s collection, flowers growing out of anything that could hold dirt, with even more plant life spilling out of hanging planters. Somehow, as eclectic as it was, the place could never be called “messy.” The Earthclasses managed to maintain enough order to host parties such as the one currently underway, a celebration of the third Sunday of June, Fathers’ Day. The patio where Nos and Two stood was floored with tiles made to look like wood, a glass table with six chairs to one side and a couple overstuffed sofas under an awning to the other, fairy lights illuminating the whole area from above. The coffee table between the sofas was littered with glasses and plates from the human guests who had been out to watch the sunset, some detritus even sitting on the edges of planters filled with colorful succulents.

“You don’t always have to follow me when I disappear at parties, you know. I’d rather you catch up with your friends than sit alone with me.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that I might be disappearing as well?” Two chuckled, leaning against his side. “It always gets a little crazy after Mary’s third glass of wine, anyway.”

Nos gave a short hiss of amusement, putting his arm around her shoulders. “I thought that was half the fun of having parties with humans!”

“I mean, sure, but some of the ‘bots from the Axiom get a little too into it. You should’ve seen the look on poor Michael’s face when Mary started singing and L-T let her use them as a microphone!”

“Oh, is that why everyone went inside?” Nos smirked.

“No, no, I think they started opening presents. That’s actually part of why I came out here... I figured it was a good time to slip away without anyone noticing.”

“Well, shouldn’t at least one of us be there to see Wall.E open the gift we got him?”

“Eh,” Two shrugged, “we’ll get a thank you note either way. I was thinking we might go home soon, anyway... I’m beat.”

Nos-4-a2 hummed and squeezed her side, his hand trailing down to the front of her containment chamber. “You are feeling a bit low. We need to be more careful. It’s not good for your energy to fluctuate now that we have a third party to consider.”

Two smiled and laced her fingers with his. She had only been pregnant for a month and hadn’t started to show it yet, but things were already changing. The nanobots were hard at work processing information and starting to build components; she wasn’t used to how fast it sapped her energy. “The baby’s probably just a speck at this point... I don’t know how it’s managing to drain me like this!”

Nos grinned and kissed the top of Two’s head. “We must have a little vampire on our hands.”

Two’s eyeforms swelled. “Oh wow, I never thought of that...”

“Well, it would make sense. You only became pregnant after you turned.”

“Wow...” Two whispered again, “I wonder if Patrick’s thought of that.”

“Something tells me he would have talked to us about it by now if he had. The man’s a fanatic... I’m sure he’d have some input about it if we asked him at your next check-up, though.”

Two grumbled and pressed her head into Nos’s chest. “I can practically hear the excitement in his voice now. Honestly... just thinking about his high energy is exhausting.”

“Well, we don’t need to worry about that now. Let’s enjoy the view for a bit, just until they’re done with presents. We can say goodbye to everyone after that, and then I’ll carry you home.”

“Really?” Two beamed.

“Of course,” Nos smiled back, “we can’t have you exerting yourself too much! You always make it a race, and I don’t think high speed chases are good for the baby’s development.”

“I only make it a race because you constantly drag behind,” Two scoffed.

“Oh, is that so?” the tall robot drawled, “Then maybe it would be faster to fly yourself home after all!”

“No! I mean ‒ I guess I can put up with it for now.”

Nos laughed and rolled his optic, leaning forward against the railing and rubbing the dip in Two’s side. It was truly a spectacular view, and the cool breeze rolling off the water made the scene all the nicer. Two relaxed against him and watched the patterns in the water, the waves far below lapping steadily towards the shore. Sometimes it moved as the wake of a boat or the ripples from a fish breaching the surface, but it still seemed regular, mathematical. Two had to catch herself to stop from drifting off, so comfortable under her husband’s touch, surrounded by the muffled sound of celebration and chattering behind them and distant music from passing boats. She fantasized about the soft bed waiting for them at home, cuddling into Nos-4-a2’s metal and sleeping the night away. Two actually started to doze off when one of the french doors that led to the patio opened wide, bursting with the sound of the party.

“Oh! Dad, I found him!”

Nos and Two looked back to greet Willow, who floated over the threshold with her father making his way through the crowd behind her. Some people watched Wall.E curiously, but most were so invested in their current conversations that they just squeezed out of the way to let him through. He had to turn sideways and shuffle on his treads to make it past some of the tighter spots, but he eventually made it through the door and out to the patio.

“Thanks, Willow. Could you tell Momma we need her out here?”

Willow nodded and darted off, hovering over the crowd to find One.

“Sorry, were you looking for me? I didn’t mean to be hard to find,” Nos turned fully away from the railing to face Wall.E. The short compactor sported a fresh coat of yellow paint and a vividly patterned bowtie around his neck, gifts from his wife and daughter respectively.

“No, it’s fine! Better that we’re outside,” Wall.E looked back over his shoulder to make sure they weren’t being listened to, dropping his voice, “We know you haven’t told everybody you’re expecting yet, but we got you something for Fathers’ Day.”

“What? You really didn’t have to, we ‒ we hardly told you a week ago! How’d you have the time? Besides, I’m not a father yet,” Nos-4-a2 stammered.

Wall.E’s optics lifted, the covers of his lenses conveying a grin. “Then happy ‘Almost-a-Father’s Day.’ Come sit down, nobody will be able to see us over here...”

Nos and Two followed Wall.E to the sofas, taking seats across from him. One came outside almost immediately after with a package in her hands, Willow following and making sure the door shut behind them.

“Oh, good! I was worried you’d left,” One smiled.

“Without saying goodbye? Come on,” Two laughed, shaking her head.

“I’ve been distracted! But it doesn’t matter. Here,” she handed the package to Nos before hovering back to lean on the sofa, absentmindedly taking Wall.E’s hand while Willow bounced onto the cushion next to her dad.

“This is really too kind. What could you possibly have gotten me though?”

“The point is to open it and find out,” Willow snickered.

Nos smirked, “All right, smart aleck.”

The package didn’t have a bow, simply wrapped in blue and white striped paper. Nos used his talons to tear it away and reveal a book with hard-backed binding in a featureless, deep green. The book was light and wider than it was tall, a silk ribbon lining the spine.

“It’s beautiful,” Two murmured, leaning over Nos’s side.

“Open it up!” One gestured, giddy.

Nos lifted the cover, still not sure what to expect, and found it was a scrapbook entirely empty besides a single, official looking image of white coding on a black backdrop with a date stamp along the bottom from the previous month. The Energy Vampire’s expressive optic opened as wide as it could. Under the picture was a handwritten caption: “Baby’s first line of code.”

His voice was hardly louder than a whisper. “Is this...?”

“It’s a baby book,” Wall.E answered.

With Nos and Two still staring, awestruck, One continued, “I visited Patrick at work the day after you told us the news. When I asked him if he could give us anything we could put into a baby book for you, he printed this off right away and told me it was the first sign he had that Two was pregnant. What do you think?”

Nos-4-a2’s smile stretched all the way across his face, his silver fangs glittering under the fairy lights. “I... this is the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received... thank you!”

Two nodded vigorously, covering the base of her visor in her hands, keeping herself from speaking in case she started to cry.

“Oh, I’m so glad you like it!” One chirped.

“Of course,” Nos traced the jumble of characters on the paper with the pad of his finger, trying to hide the fact that he had oil building in his optic.

“We know your baby isn’t here yet, but that doesn’t make them any less real. If you ever need anything, advice, planning, whatever you can think of, we hope you’ll come to us,” Wall.E nodded.

Nos could only bring himself to say “thank you” again, lacing his arm around Two and hugging her to his side. One, unable to contain herself at having elicited an emotional response from Nos-4-a2, hovered forward to hug him as well.

“Happy Fathers’ Day, Nos!”

Obviously, I would have preferred to post this yesterday, but I was distracted at a huge Fathers’ Day celebration with my own clan! I probably could have had it done if I had just written what I had originally planned, a super short story where Two woke Nos up with a fancy power cell and a kiss for Nos’s “first” Fathers’ Day after she’s pregnant, but I’m trying to expand my scenery a little. I don’t know if it’s as obvious to you guys as it is to me, but a LOT of my stories happen while the characters are either waking up or getting into bed. I guess one of my greatest fantasies is just being cozy... Headcanon: The rogue robots, the Ratzenbergers (John, Mary, and their immediate families), the Earthclasses, and the Energy Vampires are all basically one big family who gets together for every little occasion. Others, including but not limited to the McCreas and the Henrys, are considered part of the extended family and always make it to at least one gathering a year, usually Christmas. Also, for the Earthclasses’ house, I decided to create a description based on this shot. I know it shows the truck on the end of the bridge, but this is already a crossover AU... so I don’t feel too bad twisting the canon a little. Wall.E and One are grown adults with a growing family who need a roomy house! They keep all the knick-knacks they couldn’t fit into the decor in a storage unit and the truck itself is kept as a historical monument in a local museum.

#nos-4-a2 x eve two #nos-4-a2 #eve two #blosc #Buzz Lightyear of Star Command #wall.e #wall.eve #wall-e #willow earthclass #eve #eve one #crossover #crossover pairing #crossover fanfiction #father's day #fanfiction #my work

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phantomrose96 · 7 years

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A Breach of Trust: Chapter 11

(Act 1: Chapter 1-9 )

(Act 2: Chapter 10 || Chapter 11 || Chapter 12 || Chapter 13 || Chapter 14 || Chapter 15 || Chapter 15.5 || Chapter 16 || Chapter 17 || Chapter 18)

(Act 3 Chapter 19+)

When Reigen shut the porch door behind him, smelling of ash and smoke, the house was already warmer. He hesitated and wondered if he simply had fooled himself with the contrast, if his skin would adjust and he’d feel that permeating chill seep back into his bones. It didn’t. The warmth persisted. It was one thing, one small thing, but he was grateful. Reigen exhaled deeply, and tasted bitter ash on his breath.

He stepped further inside where the warmth swelled more, away from the icy panes of the sliding glass door. He pressed both cold hands to the sides of his neck to warm the stiffness out of his fingers. There was no sign of the kid yet, probably still in the bathroom judging by the quiet hiss of running water. So Reigen scouted out the living room couch, and he tossed a few pillows aside before he slumped into it. The cushions molded to his back, stole some of the tension from his shoulders, helping just a bit with the dull headache and tight nausea that his exhaustion brought on. Reigen breathed, and eased. Mob’s bed still had to be made, but maybe he could hold off for just a few minutes, rest here and let his eyes slip shut, and drift…just a bit…just for a little bit…

“Um… Mr. Reigen?”

Reigen jolted. He shot up too quickly. The room spun a moment longer after he stood, and he swallowed down the twist in his stomach.

“Oh! I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to—I’ll just…” Mob’s fingers tugged through a lock of damp hair. His eyes darted about in search of something, anything away from the man he’d just startled awake.

“Huh—no, no, hang on.” Reigen rubbed his hands down his face. He blinked until his vision refocused, remembering why he was here, remembering what had happened. “Don’t apologize. You’re right, you’re totally—I’m supposed to make your bed. I said I would. I am. Was just dozing. That’s not even my bed. Right. The sheets, um…” Reigen twirled his hand, eyes shutting as a huge yawn stole his breath. When he opened his eyes, they felt sticky. “The linen closet. In there is where. I’ve got. They’re. Just uh, hang on, and I’ll…”

Reigen stopped. He lost track of his own words as his focus fell entirely on the sight in front of him. The kid was standing halfway between the bathroom and the living room, his hair still a bit wet, and his borrowed clothes soft and loose. He stood a head shorter than Reigen, and his wide eyes stared back, lost, waiting for instruction. Waiting as though he needed permission to even get his sheets and go to bed.

God, it really was just a kid…

Reigen was awake now.

The thought came with a tightening in his still-burning throat. Things clicked into place in his mind, connections running along sluggish, bothered thoughts. It sunk in deeper and harder the longer he looked at the boy’s round cheeks and wide eyes, just a bit hidden behind a curtain of dripping hair. His hands were small, and he wrung them through his hair, waiting to be told what to do. He shuffled his feet, bare against the hardwood, and looked up to Reigen—an adult—like one. Like he was any other kid waiting for instructions from someone he trusted.

The thing that had run into him on the road—it had been more like a scared and lost pet to Reigen, something spooked and just a bit defenseless. Not a kid. Not this little kid in front of him.

He was though—just a kid.

And it hurt.

“Hey, uh, Mob…”

A kid, a person, someone with a last name, and a family and friends, Reigen imagined. Some kid looking to be sent off to bed so he could get up bright and early for school in the morning. What school? What family?

The image of Jun Isari flashed through Reigen’s mind, answering the door with a winter jacket gripped over her pajama top, the budding bruises of sleeplessness beneath her eyes, desperation painting her face defenseless as Reigen had approached through the darkness with Tetsuo’s nearly-limp arm slung around his neck.

Mob had parents like that somewhere, it seemed. Mob had people who waited up sleepless nights for the kid who never came home. How many nights, Reigen didn’t know.

Was it cruel to make them wait one night more?

“Look…uh, listen. Actually, scratch that, about the sheets, and the linen closet. Different idea. I’m thinking uh…before that, before we go to bed I mean, how about, how about instead we--” Reigen’s right hand ran along his neck. He winced when the stinging set in—the cuts, the bandages, right… “how about, we don’t go to sleep just yet? I mean I want to, god I want to—you do too, I bet—and we will—but I don’t…think that’s the right thing, right now. Maybe we should talk. Just a bit. Just maybe, a couple questions, so I know a little more about what’s going on, and then we’ll sleep, okay?”

Mob stiffened. His hands tightened to his hair, and he took one step back. “Are you gonna call the police?”

“No! I mean—it depends? Oh—oh, no then. Look. Look at me kid okay? I’m—no cellphone, yeah? My hands are empty. Pockets too they—oh man wow these tags—when did that even? Never mind. Never mind just—let’s sit in the kitchen. Let’s talk.”

Mob’s grip released from his hair. He dragged his fingers through as they let go, and Reigen noticed them snag. Mob moved toward the nearest kitchen chair, though his eyes stayed glued to Reigen, his expression like a cornered animal again. Reigen swallowed down the guilt and pulled out his own chair from the adjacent side.

Reigen sat, and he twisted his hands together on top of the table, leaning his weight against them. Mob pulled back just a fraction away from him. That stung somehow. To be so fully trusted and then…not. Reigen almost lost his nerve, almost sent the kid to bed with no questions asked.

Almost, but he didn’t.

“Your parents don’t know you’re here. They want to know where you are, don’t they?”

Mob waited, and he nodded.

“Is there some way I can let them know you’re here, Mob?” Reigen continued. He eased back, hoping Mob may come just a bit closer.

Mob considered the question. He pulled his legs up against his chest and hunched into them, his eyes cast aside. “Shishou wouldn’t like that.”

“Yeah well Shishou’s de—Shishou’s…” Reigen breathed deeply, though no matter what he felt as though there wasn’t enough oxygen reaching his bloodstream. “Let’s forget about Shishou, okay? For you, Mob. Can I call them for you?”

Mob’s jaw moved, his wide eyes steeled over, harder now, resolve tight in his face. He looked up to Reigen. “I…wouldn’t like that, Mr. Reigen.”

“And why not?”

“I told you already.”

“The barrier?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s not--…Kid.” Reigen flipped one hand out, searching for words. “Look, don’t you think, maybe it’s a little important to fill me in here? ‘The barrier’ doesn’t explain a whole ton to me, you know. And I’ve got you, here, in my house, and you don’t belong to me—that’s not the word—you’re not my kid. You’re some kid, who’s maybe got parents who’re maybe looking for him, and I’ve got him, so I’m just, don’t you think, maybe, it would be nice of me to give you back? You’re free of this Shishou guy. I know you said you’re dangerous but I got rid of the—that thing—the barrier thing—that, which you still need to explain to me but it’s gone. You said it yourself. So maybe try working with me here, okay?”

Mob gave long, slow shakes of his head. For someone so small and so visibly exhausted, Reigen was surprised with how gravely he spoke. “There’s no getting rid of the barrier like that. Shishou told me. Shishou can suppress his barrier but that’s all. You’re doing that. But I can’t. I’ve tried but I can never ever do it. If you’re gone it’ll be back. Because I can’t do it. I’ll hurt everyone if I go home.” His hands twisted in his lap, eyes dropping to them for a moment before they flickered up with new, burning resolve. “…If you could teach me…”

“Teach you?”

Mob nodded vigorously. “How you’re getting rid of it.”

“How I’m…getting rid of it… Yeah okay this again. I just…” Reigen whipped his left hand through the air. “You know? Psychic’ed it away. It’s a technique of mine. You just—like with your hands—no not with your hands just, just concentrated your psychic—you know your psychic powers—concentrate them on the barrier and it’s gone. If you do it it’ll be forever I promise.”

Mob shrunk in, piercing eyes still to Reigen. “I’ve tried that. I can’t ever make it work… No matter what I do it never ever works. Shishou tried to teach me everything. I’m not strong enough.” His fists curled in his lap, eyes losing their fervor for a moment. “You have to teach me better!”

“It—I don’t—there is no…” Reigen ran a hand down his face, breathing deeply and cutting his thoughts short. He shouldn’t snap at the kid. He shouldn’t be angry. It was just a kid. Just a little kid. God, that still stung… “I…let’s try to start this again. Let’s not talk about the barrier right now. Let’s just--,” Reigen glanced around, and he stood. “It’s not nice of me to interrogate you like this. Let me…get us something warm to drink.”

The scraping of the chair made Mob jolt, but he didn’t move. He only watched as Reigen clipped the corner of the table to get to the cabinets behind it. Reigen popped them open one at a time. “I think I’ve got tea… One of these, at least. Maybe this one. Oh, no not this one. The next—here yeah it’s right—oh the box is empty. Right.”

Reigen flipped an empty container of tea bags upside down. Its top swung on the metal hinge, opening to the ground, opening to nothing. Reigen set it back on the counter. Then he set his elbows down too, firm and solid so that he could dig his hands into his eyes, attempting to push back the headache. He didn’t even flinch when the slits along his right fingers flared.

This was beyond him. This wasn’t something he knew how to handle. He knew nothing about psychological trauma, let alone a delusion of this intensity. This wasn’t him. This wasn’t something he could fix. He should just call the police and be done with it…

Reigen stood tall again, blinking a few times to clear the stars from his vision. He moved to the fridge and popped it open. “I’ve got…just milk. I can put it in a mug and stick it in the microwave. Is warm milk okay?”

No answer met him, so Reigen turned. He froze, and his grip on the refrigerator door loosened as he and Mob locked eyes.

It was wonder, or panic, or both that cut away the steely determination that had burned in the boy’s eyes a moment ago. It was something so intensely defenseless and child-like. Mob straightened, hardly seeming to breathe.

“You have milk?”

“Uh…yeah. Not even expired. I bought it like two days ago.”

“But Shishou said…” Mob swallowed the words. His breathing picked up, eyes flickering across the single carton of milk in Reigen’s fridge. Slowly, his voice almost choked, Mob answered, “Yes, yes please…”

Reigen had nothing to say in response. He only watched Mob, his gut twisting with unsettled anxiety as he pulled the carton from the fridge and took two mugs by their handle from the cabinet. He filled them both 2/3 up, and only after he popped both in the microwave did he remember that he didn’t even like plain milk.

The seconds dragged as the microwave hummed out in monotone. Reigen braced his hands to the counter, and he watched the mugs intently, because it was easier than watching Mob. It was easier than fathoming what the expression on the boy’s face meant.

Then it pinged. Reigen took them both out, their handles just a bit warm, and he rounded the table to retake his seat. He set Mob’s mug down in passing. The other he placed in front of him as he retook his seat.

Mob studied the mug, and Reigen studied Mob. Mob, with his shaking hands reached for it, his right taking the handle and his left wrapping across the warm porcelain face. Mob pulled the brim beneath his chin and studied it, enraptured. Suddenly Reigen felt invisible.

“You…you okay there?” Reigen asked quietly. His hands fidgeted along the face of his own mug.

“Yeah…Yeah I’m…t-thank you, Mr. Reigen.”

Mob pulled the shaking mug to his lips, and Reigen watched with anxiety deep in his gut. He didn’t know how to read the boy’s reaction. He didn’t know what to make of it.

Mob took a sip, and he paused, and he lowered his mug still trembling. A little ring of white painted his upper lip. He swallowed, and stared forward at nothing until the steady shaking of his hands worked through his whole body.

“Is it…too hot? If it is I can—“ Reigen reached for Mob’s mug. He startled when Mob yanked it clear from Reigen’s grasp.

“No! No you don’t—it’s…”

Reigen’s hand retracted, and for a breathless moment he locked eyes with Mob. His stomach dropped.

Tears budded in the corners of Mob’s eyes. Soft pearlescent things, on top of the warm red blush that crawled along Mob’s cheeks—the first bit of color Reigen had seen in his face.

“I just…really like it…Mr. Reigen,” Mob whispered. He hugged the mug closer. “Thank you.”

“It—don’t mention it. It’s milk.” Then his voice dropped to an airy whisper. “It’s…just milk…”

Reigen did not know what expression he wore as he watched Mob raise the cup and drink the rest of it, something slack, something just a bit shocked. Something that maybe fit the ache he felt tightening his throat.

He couldn’t fathom what sort of world the kid had just escaped, but he knew now he didn’t want to. And he didn’t want to make Mob relive it, not if it was something so horrific that a single glass of warm milk could move him to tears.

“Here,” Reigen said, sliding his mug across the oaken table. “Have mine too…”

…

Sunlight crested just behind the Mogami house, throwing it into a fiery halo whose far-crawling shadows claimed the whole front lawn.

Isa watched the house for any sign of Officer Haruki Ando, her junior and almost-friend, while glancing every few seconds to her own police car. Her expression remained unreadable, almost bored. Only the tight strain of her jaw betrayed anything deeper, but the only other officer who knew to recognize the look was—

Isa’s eyes flitted back to the car, to the man seated sideways in the passenger’s seat, his body crumpled and his feet set to the cobblestone. He cupped a thermos between his hands (thoughtfully snagged by Haruki when Isa called him in) and stared at his own feet. Tetsuo did not drink any of it; he simply held it, as if it were an excuse for his shoulders to be so hunched in, his frame to suddenly cut so small. Isa straightened her shoulders in response, because she didn’t have her partner to be the composed one this time.

“Officer Maki!”

Isa turned, tipping her hand to the young man emerging from the house. Officer Ando snapped off his gloves, cutting a path across the grass to where Isa stood. His attention shifted in uneasy bursts to Tetsuo who hadn’t moved from the passenger’s seat of Isa’s car in all the time that Haruki had been inside the house.

“I think I covered all the rooms, and nothing was really, I mean beside the master bedroom of course which just…” Haruki trailed off, his subtlety lost as he stared on at Tetsuo sitting just out of earshot. “Has he said anything yet?”

“No,” Isa answered simply.

Haruki’s face betrayed everything Isa felt: anxious, sourceless worry and infectious paranoia. He was young, 22, and his face was younger, boyish and easily touched by emotion. “Is he okay at least?”

The question sent a prickling shiver down Isa’s spine. She couldn’t place the feeling exactly. It was almost like noticing a forest fall deathly silent, something instinctually wrong, some pressing sense of danger with no sense of what it might be.

“Physically, he’s fine,” Isa answered.

“But, mentally…is he?”

“I don’t know. He’s been stressed.” Isa looked to Tetsuo as she spoke. Tetsuo’s head drooped a bit more over his thermos. Isa saw his eyes slip shut and snap open. “I’ll grill it out of him when he’s less…like this.”

“It had to be…something…” Haruki whispered, vague, but Isa understood. It had to be something monumental, because anything less wouldn’t make Tetsuo Isari collapse during a case. That was the best it could be called—“something”—because Isa didn’t know what sort of thing could even manage that. She’d never seen it. She’d never seen Tetsuo break before.

A flare of anxiety racked through her veins as the possibilities turned through her mind, and she didn’t dare let it show on her face.

“It’s real,” Haruki filled the silence, discomfort pushing the topic along. He nodded his head toward the house. “The cursed corpse. Thought the stories were—mm—exaggerated? About it not rotting, and that barrier around it. Kinda surprising that the squatters in there never got their hands chopped off by that thing, you know?” Haruki’s expression soured. “Or maybe they have. Yikes.”

“Squatters, right…” Isa fixed her attention back on Haruki. “What’d you find?”

Haruki gave a half-hearted shrug. “Signs of squatters definitely. There’s the pullout bed with sheets on it in the basement that you already saw. Couple shirts and pants on the ground, dirty, definitely small. Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap in the basement bathroom. Some soup and medicine on the counter and in the cupboards. And that knife that—yeah, used—“ Haruki made quick stabbing motions. “Maybe a couple of them had a territory spat.”

“No kid though?”

“Not unless he’s really good at hide-and-seek.” Haruki took his hat off and swept his bangs out of his face. His hat had pressed his chestnut hair flat to the top of his head, and it fanned out near his ears. His uneasy green eyes shifted back to Tetsuo. “There was a kid’s winter hat in the main closet. Only thing in there.”

“Yeah, saw that.”

“…Why does Officer Isari think there’s a kid being held here?”

“Don’t know that either,” Isa answered. “But he was convinced, so I followed.”

“…I trust Officer Isari too…” Haruki added after a moment, his hands twisting together. “But there’s not much we can do now, is there? Without a warrant? This is already…what we’re doing already is pretty…off the books…”

“Right. Yeah it is. Sorry for dragging you in,” Isa said.

“Don’t mention it…” Haruki straightened, shoulders squared back and eyes serious despite his boyish cheeks. “I…Like I said I trust Officer Isari’s judgement. You said it was him, and he wouldn’t drag anyone out here unless he had a good reason. He wouldn’t be like this if it wasn’t…” Haruki trailed off, his line of thought cut short. “I want to help more, but I don’t know what I can… I’ve just never seen--I mean, a year’s not all that long, so maybe I’ve just never been around for, never been on a case when he, never seen…”

Haruki swallowed, thinking carefully about his phrasing before he continued. “First time I saw a dead body on a case, I thought I was handling it okay. Then Officer Isari tapped me on the shoulder and told me to wait outside and keep the area clear. My hands had been shaking. Didn’t even notice until I got outside and realized… And Officer Isari took my place like it was nothing.” His eyes lingered on Tetsuo. Isa followed his line of sight to Tetsuo’s still-trembling hands. “That Officer Isari—Seeing a dead body wouldn’t do that to him…”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Isa said. She was at a loss for what else to say though. She didn’t know what would. “Speaking of dismissals,” Isa clapped her hand to Haruki’s shoulder, “thanks, I couldn’t juggle the house and Tetsuo at the same time, didn’t want to leave him out here alone so thanks, but you should go home now. I’ll take care of him.”

Haruki gave a quick nod. “Yeah, like I said not a problem. Just.” His eyes flickered back to Tetsuo. “I was kind of thinking about that on the way over, the first dead body I mean. If Officer Isari could step in for me—I figured I could, this time, you know…” He glanced back to Isa, eyes bothered and alert. He opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to lose his nerve, veering safe. “Just, keep an eye on him, please?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing the last seven years?” The words sounded hollow in her ears though. She thought she had been, but something had slipped past her notice—enough for the sight of a corpse to drop Tetsuo to the floor, backed against a wall and curled in on himself with broken sobs. The memory put Isa’s stomach in knots. She knew how to handle hysterical people, but not Tetsuo, never Tetsuo…

Isa gave Haruki two quick taps to his shoulder, a dismissal, and she watched just long enough for him to get back to his civilian car before setting her sights to Tetsuo.

“Hey…” She walked forward, her feet crunching through the dead grass. She stepped heavily, so as not to risk startling him. His eyes were still dazed when he looked up, but he clearly saw her. “Ando finished scoping out the house. People have been in there, probably at least one of them was a kid, but there’s no sign of Shigeo.”

Isa waited for a reaction. Tetsuo breathed in deep, his ribcage shuddering. He looked forward again, and spoke with forced monotone. “Shigeo’s not in there?”

“No, he’s not.” Isa stopped just short of the car. She stood with the house to her left and Tetsuo to her right, attention shifting between the two. “And you’ve calmed down enough to talk to me, so explain to me what happened in there.”

Tetsuo looked up, and Isa broke eye contact after a few heavy seconds. She didn’t like the brokenness on his face. She wasn’t used to it.

“I don’t think I can explain it to you.” His grip on the thermos tightened. “I don’t think I want to.”

“Come on, none of that Tetsuo. No bullshit. I hate that.” She didn’t dare to look away this time.

“Please, Isa…”

“What did you see in that room, Tetsuo? Because all I saw was a corpse.” She gave him a once-over. “And you, sobbing on the floor.”

He watched her with the face of something wounded. “What did it look like to you, Isa? What did the the corpse look like?”

“Like a corpse. Very dead and hanging there.” Isa’s face steeled to hide the twist in her gut at her next thought. “…Meaning you saw something else?”

Tetsuo leaned over, setting the untouched mug on the cobblestone. He gripped his hands to his knees and stared into the grass, at nothing. “I saw him…”

“Who, Tetsuo?”

“Mogami.”

“No duh. It’s his corpse.” Isa watched him flinch, and she ran a hand through her hair, snagging at the ponytail. “Okay, okay… Elaborate. What does that mean? And no more cryptic answers.”

Tetsuo’s eyes flickered to the attic window. He stared into the darkness drenching the room beyond. “Him… His spirit, I-I mean. He was in his own body. Moving the eyes. He’s not gone. He saw me.”

“His eyes weren’t moving, Tetsuo. I was there. I saw. Ando saw too. It’s just a corpse.”

Tetsuo’s head tilted up. He stared at her, his face pale, bags bruising beneath his eyes. The raw red slits on his neck came back into view. “You didn’t see… I’m positive. I saw it, Isa. I’m so so positive.”

Isa’s jaw clenched and unclenched. “How long have you been awake, Tetsuo?”

He looked up, attention to the rising sun behind the Mogami house. “…At least a day.” Then his eyes flashed to her. “You too, though…”

“How did you get those cuts on your neck?”

Tetsuo released his right hand from his knee. It moved up as if to brush the scrapes, then he shuddered and dropped his hand. “A fight…”

“No shit. I told you no more vague answers.”

Tetsuo curled his hands around his knees, fingers digging in. “Please…I don’t want to talk about that anymore.”

“’Anymore’ well that’s news to me because you’ve told me nothing.” Isa stepped closer. “I’m out here, and not in bed, because I trust you’ve got a good reason for it. Now trust me enough to tell me.”

“Please, Isa…”

“What happened.”

Tetsuo stared forward, lost inside his own thoughts. His eyes widened, and his skin seemed to slip paler. He raised his hands, balled into fists, and pressing them hard against his forehead. Their weight forced his head back, until his fists loosened and his fingers slipped through his disheveled hair. He gave one pained laugh, frantic and desperate, while his body crumpled forward. Another broken noise, something between a laugh and a sob, came through muffled.

“Tetsuo no. No no no come on—come on look at me. Tetsuo!” Isa moved in front of him, blocking him from the house, blocking him from the sun. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. And when he didn’t respond, she took his chin and lifted it up. She froze.

“Tetsuo, are you crying?”

He seemed to startle in response, one shaky hand moving up to rub at the corner of his eye. He stared at his palm, just a bit wet, and curled his fingers in.

“What the…hell happened to you, Tetsuo?” Isa whispered. She eased back just an inch, and she felt the blank apathy on her face crumbling. “You’re scaring me. You’re scaring me now. I’ve never seen you—I don’t know what to do for you. Talk to me.”

Tetsuo reached one quivering arm out, and he grabbed at her left sleeve. He pulled her just a little closer, his other hand locking on too. He locked eyes with her, and the thing she saw was hardly Tetsuo Isari—it was fractured pieces of him.

“What do you need me to do, Tetsuo?”

“Isa, I’m…I’m going to keep searching for Shigeo, however I can. I just need you to watch me, Isa. That’s all I need you to do, okay? Please, please watch me, Isa. Please. I’m not okay. It’s not gone and I’m not okay anymore. If I’m acting strange, Isa, if I’m acting like I’m not myself, don’t let me go anywhere, don’t let me do anything. I’m begging you. Just call Jun. If I ever—If I’m ever—please call Jun.”

Tetsuo’s grip slipped from her arm, and Isa let it fall. She was fighting her own numb chill as the weight of his words sunk in, the implications buried beneath. Watch him… Don’t let him do anything… He’s not okay…

“O-okay,” Isa answered, and it was a gentle voice she hardly ever used, one she usually reserved for young kids whose world was shattering. “I won’t push you anymore. I’m sorry, Tetsuo. I won’t ask if you don’t want to be asked, I promise. I’ll keep an eye on you. That’s what I’ve always done. I’ll do it better now.”

Tetsuo answered with a weak nod of his head, a muttered “thank you”. He looked through the windshield, down the street. “I left Jun at home. Didn’t even grab my phone. She doesn’t know I came back here.”

“She’s at the station right now.” Isa watched the confusion paint across Tetsuo’s face, and continued. “She called me just a bit before Ando got here. Didn’t know what to tell her about…this—you—exactly, so I told her to wait at the station for us. Police order.”

Tetsuo gave a small, thin smile, eyes downcast as he pulled his feet inside the police car and retrieved his thermos from the ground. “She didn’t like that…”

“No, she didn’t.” Isa rounded the car and slid into the driver’s seat. She shut her door and cranked the ignition, seatbelt fastened as an afterthought. “Close your door—and maybe try to sleep for a bit on the ride back…”

…

Isa’s car idled just outside the Seasoning City police station. She watched from the driver’s seat as Jun Isari hopped down the station steps, pulling Tetsuo into a hug before he’d fully left the passenger’s seat. His arms twisted around Jun’s back, crushingly tight, and they rocked together. Tetsuo buried his face in Jun’s shoulder, and Isa felt it would be prying if she kept watching.

She shut the side door after Tetsuo and eyed the parking lot for open spaces instead. Her gaze slipped back for a moment to the Isaris, wrapped tightly together in the early dawn outside the station, then to her phone propped in the middle cupholder.

She twisted the key and scouted out the nearest parking spot, and she made a mental note to add a suicide hotline as an emergency contact in her phone.

(Chapter 12)

#A Breach of Trust #Mob Psycho 100 #mp100 fanfiction #-kicks a trashcan- WOW THESE CHAPTERS KEEP GETTING LONG #HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN I DUNNO #BUT HERE WE ARE #i know its midnight but im posting anywhere Chapter 11 is a-go :'DDD

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