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dreamwritesimagines · 1 year

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Garden of Secrets [17] - Moonflower

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and support my loves, it made my whole week, you’re amazing!❤ I hope you’ll like this chapter as well, and please don’t forget to tell me what you think, thank you! ❤

Thanks so much to @theskytraveler for helping me with the chapter!

Summary: Some nights are full of surprises.

Warnings: Regency era society and social rules, some gender specific language and terms, mentions of sex, mentions of explicit scenes, slow burn.

Word Count: 7500

Series Masterlist

The very first thing you noticed through the fuzzy fog of sleep was warmth.

Warmth and perfect comfort.

The sound of the birds chirping outside the window was like a soft melody in your ears, the sunlight spilling through the curtains falling on your skin making you feel all snug. You heaved a mellow sigh, shifting a little in bed but—

Oh.

You weren’t alone in the bed.

The memory of last night where you had come to Benedict’s room to sleep shot through your mind, making your eyes open. You were quite certain you had put multiple pillows between the two of you -most of which were thrown to the floor sometime at night, as you could see- and you waited for the discomfort to hit you especially considering the position you were in, but somehow it did not.

Benedict’s arm was curled around your stomach, keeping you safe from falling off the very edge of the bed you had apparently curled up on in your sleep. You two still had a pillow between you and the cover he had pushed off of him was bunched up between you two but as it turned out, even that wasn’t enough for him to roll to the other side. His nose was buried into your hair, his calm breathing moving his hard chest you were leaning your back against, his pleasant scent all over you, tickling your nostrils.

This wasn’t uncomfortable at all.

You shifted a little so that you could subtly get closer to him but as soon as you did, the cover bunched up between you and him moved a bit and you heard him inhale behind you. You instantly closed your eyes, pretending to have moved in your sleep and his arm around you tightened while he nuzzled his nose into your hair. You could almost feel him slowly waking up and for a couple of seconds he did nothing, but then you felt his body tense up behind you. A soft cuss left his lips in a whisper and he gently pulled back from you before getting up from the bed then you heard him walk out of the room, making you open your eyes and sit up in bed. You bit inside your cheek, perking your ears up for any noise of him coming back but there seemed to be none.

“Alright then…” you muttered and made your way to your own room to get ready for the day, trying to ignore how fast your heart was still beating.

By the time you heard Benedict coming back to his room, your maid was almost finished with helping you get dressed and was tying up the laces of your dress. The knock on the door connecting your room to Benedict’s made you turn your head as your maid finished tying up the laces and pulled back.

“You may leave Paula, thank you,” you said and she curtsied, then walked out of the room. You made your way to the connecting door and opened it.

Oh God damn it.

He was still half naked, the sunlight falling over his chest that made him look like he was pulled out of your very specific dreams. You swallowed thickly, forcing yourself to keep your eyes on his handsome face but that wasn’t exactly helping either.

“Good morning,” he gave you a lopsided grin and you smiled back.

“Hello.”

“I thought you’d be…” he motioned back at his room and you shook your head.

“Oh you weren’t there when I woke up and I was already awake so I figured I could just get ready.”

He paused for a moment.

“Yeah I—” he paused, a faint pinkness appearing on his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “I thought you’d sleep a bit more.”

You shrugged your shoulders quietly and his blue eyes searched your face.

“And are you alright?” he asked. “Nightmares last night?”

“I didn’t have them after going to sleep again,” you said, purposely leaving out the part about sleeping in his bed. “And um…thank you. You know.”

He shook his head vigorously. “You don’t need to thank me at all, really.”

“No I do, and I don’t know what got into me last night but I can assure you I won’t make it a habit or anything.”

He gulped down and stared at you for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” he said, his voice soft. “If it became a habit.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you tilted your head to the side, pulling your brows together.

“Not the nightmares, obviously!” he added in a haste. “Just afterwards. Whenever—whenever you want.”

Your eyes snapped up to his, that warmth spreading through your system again but before you could say anything, you heard the butler approach so you turned your head.

“Sir,” he said as he handed Benedict an envelope, “This came for you. And ma’am, Miss Harlowe is here.”

Benedict looked up from the envelope. “Charlie?”

“Oh I’ll go and welcome her,” you said while Benedict pulled out a card from the envelope that looked like an invitation of the sort, then looked over his shoulder into his room.

“I’ll be right there,” he said and you walked past the butler to make your way downstairs, then approached the drawing room.

“Lottie,” you said, a smile curling your lips as soon as you saw her and she let out a giggle before coming to hug you.

“I know it is quite early but I simply couldn’t wait any longer,” she said. “I missed you and Benny! I’m aware it’s your honeymoon but—”

“Oh don’t be silly,” you said. “I am very glad you’re here. I was going to invite you to the park today if you didn’t.”

“Perhaps after you give me a tour?” she asked and bounced on the balls of her feet. “It looks so beautiful here! And the garden, absolutely gorgeous!”

Your stomach did a small flip.

“Our gardener is amazing.”

“Have you had the chance to work on it as well?”

“The garden?” you asked and shook your head. “I um…haven’t got the time.”

She snapped her fingers. “Of course. My mama said you’d be quite busy while you’re on your honeymoon.”

Great, now even Charlotte’s mother was making assumptions about you and Benedict’s nightly activities.

“Right,” you said. “Maybe later I might. Did you have breakfast yet?”

“I did but I could get some tea,” she said. “In the garden? I saw the gazebo, we must simply enjoy it!”

“Sounds like a wonderful idea.”

“And then the house tour, then the park.”

“Hello Charlie,” you heard Benedict’s voice and Charlotte’s whole face lit up and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he went to hug her, lifting her off the floor as he did, making her squeal. For a moment you wondered how on earth the ton thought they were courting before your wedding, because they were close yes but even the tiniest gestures had no sign of romance in them.

It was the comfort of a friend, not a lover.

“Did we make plans today?” he asked her as he put her down and you crossed your arms.

“She’s here to see me.”

Benedict tilted his head like a confused puppy. “But she’s my best friend.”

“No, she’s my best friend. Your best friend is Anthony.”

“Anthony is my brother.”

“That sounds like your issue, not mine,” you deadpanned, biting down a smile and Charlotte giggled.

“I brought you work I’m afraid,” she said and grabbed the paper stack neatly bound in a leather case off the table, then handed it to Benedict. “I’m here to have tea with your beloved, then go to the park with her.”

Benedict clutched at his heart dramatically, making you grin.

“Told you,” you said. “What work?”

“Oh I can tell you later on,” Charlotte said as she pulled you by the hand to the door. “Come on! Let’s go to the garden!”

* * *

After taking your tea in the gazebo and a house tour, you and Charlotte decided you could go outside for the afternoon. You had sent Josie a short letter so that she, Bess and Andrew could join you at the part if they wanted and about half an hour after getting there, Josie and Bess joined you at the park, while Andrew apparently was already outside with his friends.

“I didn’t know you were a writer!” Bess told Charlotte and you nodded.

“Me neither!”

Charlotte let out a laugh.

“Oh I’m not a writer,” she said. “I just write some stories to entertain my little siblings. I’m trying to have my own collection, and Benny is doing the illustrations for me.”

“Will you publish your stories?” you asked and Charlotte thought for a moment.

“Benny encourages me that I should,” she said. “So does Tony but…I don’t know. Perhaps one day in the future.”

“Can I read them before they are published?” you asked. “I’d love to read them to Teddy, he loves stories.”

“Of course!” Charlotte said. “I can bring you the completed ones the next time. There’s one with a dragon, I think Teddy would like it.”

“Speaking of him,” Josie said. “Did I tell you Andrew bought a pony for him? An actual pony!”

“Auntie told me,” you said with a laugh. “He’s delighted I’m sure. I wish I were there to see it.”

“At least he doesn’t pout for not being able to see you everyday anymore,” Bess said. “It was making me sad.”

Charlotte heaved a sigh. “Was he very upset?”

You could feel your own heart breaking as you cleared your throat.

“He’s just not used to me being anywhere else,” you said. “It’s always been the two of us—well three of us,” you motioned at Josie who shook her head.

“I was just there when he was a baby,” she said. “It’s been only you and him for a while.”

“And your mama and papa?” Charlotte asked, making you and Josie exchange glances. “I’m sure they miss Teddy and you both! I know they couldn’t come to the wedding, but…”

A shiver ran down your spine and you clicked your tongue.

“They cannot travel,” you ended up saying as Bess reached out to squeeze Josie’s hand as if trying to assure her that she was there. Charlotte thought for a moment.

“Will you and Benedict visit them then?”

Even the thought was enough to make your jaw clench but you reminded yourself to keep a calm façade and shrugged your shoulders.

“Maybe after the season ends,” you lied through your teeth. “I don’t wish to miss anything, this is my first season.”

Bess stole a look at Josie who looked way too tense and smiled, sitting up straighter.

“And how is marriage going for you, Y/N?” she asked. “Are you getting used to running your household?”

“I went to auntie with a list the other day,” you admitted, making them laugh. “No I’m serious. It’s a bit confusing but I think I’m starting to understand.”

“I can always help you,” Bess said and Charlotte grinned.

“So can I! I know I’m not married yet but I know some stuff about it, my mama taught me a lot.”

“I appreciate it, both of you.”

“In return, you can give me some clues about how to take care of plants.”

You pulled your brows together. “Bess, you have a gardener.”

“Well yes but I’m trying to grow this rose in a vase because I saw this journal talking about it,” Bess said. “In every window a red rose—anyway, I cannot exactly ask my gardener because I feel like killing five roses in two weeks is going to personally upset him.”

You blinked a couple of times. “That’s not even supposed to be possible.”

“Mm hm,” Josie said. “Ask her how often she waters the roses.”

“How often?”

Bess shrugged her shoulders. “Three times a day.”

“You’re doing what?” you exclaimed, making Josie let out a laugh.

“Yeah. Told you.”

“Why are you not stopping her?”

“She doesn’t listen to me!”

Bess flailed her hands. “I get hungry three times a day, it’s only fair.”

You let out a whine, burying your face into your palms and then lowered your hands.

“Bess,” you said. “I will visit your house today and write you a schedule just for that, how does that sound?”

“Perfect, thank you.” Bess said with her nose up in the air. “I’ve always thought we should leave the work to experts anyway.”

* * *

You had to admit, over the last week you had missed taking care of your garden so much that taking care of Bess’s roses felt like itching a scratch. After getting home around dinner time -because neither Bess nor Andrew were willing to let you go any time earlier- you had learned from the butler that Benedict was in his studio. Though you really wanted to see him, you decided otherwise and after a quick dinner, you went outside to the gazebo with an oil lamp and a book under your arm.

If you couldn’t take care of your garden and grow flowers, you were just going to read about them instead.

You were quite certain that this book was rather new, and you had a feeling Benedict had stacked up multiple shelves in the library with whatever book he could find on plants and flowers without telling you. The hardcover was so smooth that for a second you just ran your fingertips over the engraving over it, then made yourself comfortable by resting your feet on the other side of the bench, leaning your back to the arm of the bench. You placed the book on your legs, the peaceful sound of the water fountain in the evening surrounding you, making you heave a sigh. Your eyes stole a quick glance at the lit-up window of Benedict’s study but then you frowned and opened the book, ready to lose yourself in the illustrations and the information about flowers.

You were so engrossed by the book that after hours you still hadn’t even looked up once, and it was only when you heard someone clear their throat that your head shot up. Benedict shot you that crooked smile, crossing his arms and leaning sideways to the entrance of gazebo.

“Riveting read?”

“Quite so,” you said as you held up the book so that he could see the title, then motioned at the window of his study. “Have you already finished Charlotte’s illustrations?”

“Oh she told you?”

“Mm hm,” you said. “She even said I could read some of her completed stories.”

Benedict raised his brows. “She must really like you,” he said. “I had to beg her all those years ago just to read one of them.”

You shot him a grin. “Perhaps I’m stealing your best friend.”

“Looks like it,” he played along. “How was the park?”

You thought for a moment, Charlotte’s question about your parents echoing in your ears before you cleared your throat.

“It was fine,” you said. “Less so when I heard Bess is the Locusta of plants.”

“She poisons her plants?”

“In a way yes,” you said. “Apparently she watered her roses three times a day.”

“I’m guessing from the tone of your voice and the appalled look on your face that it’s the wrong thing to do?”

You shot him a lighthearted glare. “Good guess.”

Benedict chuckled and nodded in the direction of the house. “Are you coming or?”

You hesitated for a second, then shook your head.

“You go ahead,” you said. “I have a feeling that sleep will evade me tonight.”

“Why?”

You tried to ignore the shiver shooting through you upon remembering your nightmare, and after today’s conversation with Charlotte about your parents, you just knew you would not be getting a good night’s sleep tonight.

And it wasn’t as if you could just keep waking Benedict up, that had to be annoying for him you were sure.

“Just a feeling,” you shrugged your shoulders. “You should go to sleep though. I heard you barely left your studio the whole day, you must be exhausted.”

Benedict pulled his brows together. “Who told you that?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, then grinned.

“The housekeeper likes me better than she likes you I suppose.”

His jaw dropped. “Mrs. Alton…” he said with a shake of his head. “There I thought we had something special.”

You scoffed a laugh and his eyes searched your face, his smile slightly fading.

“Are you alright though?”

You bit inside your cheek and nodded.

“Sure,” you lied. “I’ll just um—I just need some distraction I guess. I mean here is peaceful but…” you trailed off. “Inside my head is not, sometimes.”

“I could tell,” he said softly and you took a deep breath.

“One of those nights,” you said. “I’ll be fine.”

He thought for a moment, his gaze on you as if he was trying to decide on something, then he cleared his throat.

“A distraction, you say?”

You nodded your head and he tilted his head, that mischievous smile curling his lips again.

“Do you want to go to a party?”

* * *

“This is insane,” you heard yourself say as Benedict led you through the crowd, his hand resting on the small of your back. “Is this…is this real?”

He shot you a wink, clearly pleased with your reaction and nodded at someone who shouted his name cheerfully while you tried to soak in the environment as much as you could.

This was beyond your wildest dreams.

The house itself was huge and if you had seen it any other time, you would have assumed it was just some other house that belonged to a yet another member of the ton but apparently, you would have been wrong. Though you had never been to a party before, you had heard about them, yet nothing you heard had described you this.

Everyone looked just…

Free.

There was music coming from one of the rooms in the hallway, some people drinking and smoking and your eyes caught the sight of a couple that were kissing by the corner, where people could see them. Even the mere thought was enough to send a fire through your cheeks but you forced yourself to look around the rest of the room so as not to stare, as difficult as it felt. As you and Benedict walked through the hallway, you could see a couple of closed doors, the chatter of the crowd and the laughter echoing through the walls. You walked past a room with multiple canvases and a couple of people sketching, and a room where someone seemed to be giving a talk about a book to a crowd, making you think that most of the people attending were artists and writers. The party seemed to be going on in multiple floors of the house and when you got closer to the main room where the music was coming from, Benedict stopped you.

“Y/N.”

You took a peek inside the room, already impatient to go in there and turned to him. “Hm?”

“I’d like to start by saying, this might not be like any party you’ve attended before.”

“I haven’t attended any parties before,” you pointed out and a look of realization dawned on his face as if he hadn’t thought about it before.

“Right,” he said. “So here’s the thing, you might see certain things that…”

“What?”

“That you might consider as scandalous, but I can assure you—”

“Oh no, something scandalous,” you deadpanned, then shot him a look. “What am I going to do, faint?”

He raised his brows. “I know you think you’re making a point but you did faint before.”

You pushed at his arm slightly, making him chuckle.

“Not because of a scandal!” you insisted and lowered your voice. “I would have fainted at our scandal if I were to do such a thing, that one ended up with us getting married!”

Benedict nodded his head. “True. But still, we’re only here to have fun, and we will go home whenever you want—”

“Are you jesting?” you asked. “I’m not going home! Come on, look at this place, I’ve never… I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Benedict smiled softly.

“Alright,” he said. “As you wish.”

You narrowed your eyes at him and let out a giddy giggle, then stepped into the room. There was a crowd but Benedict seemed to know almost everyone, greeting people while you made your way through the room and Benedict grabbed two glasses of drinks, then gave one to you as you sat down on one of the sofas.

“Is this where Lady Whistledown said you were going all this time?” you asked, looking up at him, still in a daze and he shrugged his shoulders.

“I doubt Lady Whistledown knows of this.”

“But was it?”

“Mm hm.”

“How do people—” you paused. “How does no one know about here?”

“Well, parties take place in different places, it’s not just one house,” he said. “Some of them even downtown.”

“I’ve never been downtown before,” you said quickly, your head almost buzzing with the promise of a new world and Benedict smiled at your enthusiasm.

“We can go there the next time.”

“Wait, seriously?” you asked and he nodded.

“Of course. If you want to—”

“I do want to,” you cut him off. “But my aunt would always say it’s incredibly dangerous.”

“If you were going by yourself yes,” he said. “But you’ll be with me so no. Not dangerous.”

You smiled brightly, watching the people in the room while Benedict kept his gaze on you, a soft smile warming his face. You saw a lady sipping her drink and looked down at your glass, then took a sip but as soon as the liquid burned your throat you coughed.

“Wow,” you cleared your throat. “What is this?”

“It’s called Warm Heart,” he said. “Lemon, rum, brandy, wine and sugar. Go easy on that one alright?”

You nodded and took another sip.

“Benedict, how come no one knows?” you asked. “I read about it on Whistledown or hear about it from multiple people if someone so much as breathes wrong and in here…”

He clicked his tongue. “No one will spread the word because everyone you see here are likeminded individuals.”

“Artists?”

“Artists, writers, sculptors… And some just admirers. Essentially just people who see the stifling expectations and rules of the ton as they are; complete nonsense.”

You let out a breath, trying to wrap your mind around it. “You’re all friends then? You seem to know everyone.”

He gave you a smirk. “It’s a small circle.”

You swirled the drink in the glass and looked around again, curiosity and excitement making your heart beat faster. To be in a place where one could do whatever they wanted was such an unfamiliar thing that it made your mind fuzzy, your ears muffled because of the blood rushing through them.

You could even kiss Benedict right here in front of all these people and no one would say anything.

…Not that-

Not that you would do that, ever. But it was a lovely thought to even imagine.

“Well I know who you are,” a voice snapped you out of your daze and you lifted your head to see someone clasping Benedict by the shoulder, making him chuckle. “But I have no idea who this exquisite vision is supposed to be.”

The man was older than you and Benedict, seemed to be absolutely delighted to see Benedict and there was a playful glimmer in his eyes as his gaze fell on you. You smiled at him.

“Hello.”

“Sir Henry Granville,” Benedict introduced him, making you raise your brows. “My wife, Y/N.”

Your heart skipped a beat upon him calling you such. You knew you two were married but you were beginning to think you would never get used to your new title, and how it filled you with giddiness though you tried to not let it show on your expression.

“The painter?” you asked as you forced yourself to focus and he bowed.

“Proudly so,” he said. “And I gather you’re the infamous beauty that made our handsome and bright artist change his ways.”

You let out a small laugh. “You’re very kind, Sir Granville.”

“Trust me, I am merely sincere,” he said. “My apologies for not being able to attend your wedding breakfast by the way. I have…” he motioned with his hand. “Complicated feelings about weddings.”

“Don’t we all?” you asked back and he chuckled.

“I must introduce you to my wife Lucy, she will love you. Perhaps a house tour hm?”

Benedict cleared his throat and reached out to hold your hand.

“That’s not going to happen Henry,” he said, making you frown slightly and look between them as he squeezed at your hand. “We’re just here to drink, nothing more. Ever.”

Well, that was a very definite stance against a house tour.

Sir Granville’s smile widened and he held up his hands.

“Understood,” he said. “Love. It makes one quite possessive, I would know.”

Alright, you were getting quite confused now but before you could ask what he meant, he had already clapped his hands together.

“Your wife might be here to drink but you my friend, are not,” he said. “I have some friends I must introduce you to. I may have shown them a sketch of yours and now they don’t shut up about your talent.”

Benedict tilted his head. “What sketch?”

“The one from the last party.”

Benedict groaned. “Henry, I was half drunk—”

“Well they loved it anyway, so come on!” he slapped his arm. “Come with me, promising artist. They are quite excited to meet you.”

Benedict turned to look at you and you shook your head fervently.

“Oh you go ahead,” you said. “I will stay. It sounds like an artists only environment and I’d rather enjoy my drink here.”

“I don’t think…” Benedict trailed off and you tilted your head.

“Go!” you said with a laugh. “I survive balls with members of the ton nightly, I think I can handle being left alone for a while in a crowd.”

“She will be fine Ben,” Sir Granville said. “Come on.”

Benedict heaved a sigh and stood up. “Y/N just don’t go anywhere, alright?”

“Mm hm.”

“And if somebody wants to take you somewhere—”

“I will just ignore you if you stay here any longer,” you said and sipped your drink, “Besides, you know I can take care of myself. Or did you forget about your own gift?”

His eyes lingered down to your cleavage before snapping up to your face again and you shot him a bright smile.

“Have fun!” you said and Sir Granville bowed, then they both walked out of the room.

Wow.

This was more freedom than you had gotten ever since you had arrived in London—or your whole life, really. The fact that Benedict trusted you enough to actually leave you be in such an environment made a smile pull at your lips, then you sipped your drink, leaning back.

You hadn’t even read about such gatherings before, which you assumed wasn’t so surprising. The high society of London did not even let unmarried ladies smell certain flowers, let alone knowing about such parties. Every unmarried lady had to be perfect in the eyes of the ton and her suitors, and it didn’t really change when it came to being married, just with more responsibilities. You were quite certain that if you had married anyone else but Benedict -even the thought made your stomach churn- you would have never known about the existence of such events; you would be left in the dark because of this nonsense belief that you were to be sheltered and coddled, even if it was the last thing you wanted.

That was simply condescending.

By the time you finished your drink, you were already itching to see more of the house. You shifted a little in your spot, biting at your nail and casted a glance at the door before leaning back again.

No.

You had said you would stay put.

But wasn’t that against the whole point of tonight? Everyone did whatever they wanted with no one to judge them, and surely a quick look around wasn’t going to hurt anyone. You were sure Benedict wouldn’t even be back by the time you saw the rest of the house and returned here.

You nibbled on your lip and took a deep breath, then pushed yourself off the sofa and walked out of the room before you could change your mind.

The house was absolutely enormous. Whoever planned the party must have made sure there was some sort of entertainment in each part of the house even though some hallways were definitely less crowded than others. You walked away from the chatter and the crowd and looked up at the stairs before you quickly climbed them only to find yourself in another hallway. There were considerably fewer people in here and the music was only faint, coming from downstairs where you had just left so you tilted your head, then turned the corner to take a look at the paintings all over the walls.

Paintings of flowers.

You smiled to yourself as you walked deeper into the hallway, looking up at the dimly lit paintings by the oil lamps mounted on the walls, but a faint moan made you turn your head. You pulled your brows together and looked around, then stepped closer to the half closed door, taking a peek into the room through the crack.

And as soon as you did, your breath got caught in your throat.

Inside the room there were three people, one man and two women. The man had his shirt off, one of the women running her fingertips down his muscles while he kissed her and then he pulled back to help the other woman out of her corset, nimbly pulling at the laces. Her corset slipped off and she smirked before pulling him into a kiss as well while the other lady’s hand slipped lower until—

You gasped and pulled back from the door, your heart pacing against your ribcage. Your head was spinning so much and you took a step back, then rushed out of the hallway as if someone was chasing you.

How did that—

How did that even work?

You were under the impression that you knew everything that took place in marital bed so to speak, -though you were more than aware that people did not exactly stay loyal to their spouses or wait for marriage- and as far as you knew, it was just…

It was simple. Josie’s married friends had explained the act and it was unpleasant and simple, husband and wife joining…down there and then it was to be over.

Three people?

That was impossible, surely. In terms of physical means, though you had never seen a man naked, you had heard the whispers and saw the sketches that Josie’s friends had found in a book, giggling the whole time.

You were so confused and lost in your thoughts that you didn’t even notice someone calling out, not that you would have paid attention to the unfamiliar voice through the chatter of the crowd. You turned another corner, your feet leading you what you hoped was the stairs but before you could take another step, someone grabbed you by the wrist.

It was like a bucket of cold water. Your body reacted before your mind had any chance to even think it through as you snapped out of your chaos of thoughts and turned to grab the person by the neck to slam them against the wall, your other hand quickly pulling your pocket knife from your cleavage in the process so that you could rest the blade against his neck.

“Sorry! Sorry, that was very rude I know—”

“Do not touch me,” your voice came out as a growl and the man nodded fervently.

“Yeah! Yeah absolutely, no I know! I apologize, I normally introduce myself to people before grabbing at them—not that I grab at people!” he added in a haste. “I don’t grab at people but you…I swear I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I’m not making the same promise,” you said and he swallowed thickly.

“God, you have a terrifying glare.”

“It’s been said.”

“Yes and— please calm down.”

“I’m calm.”

“No I’m talking to myself,” he said, his voice coming out breathless. “It was addressed to me because I am not calm at all right now.”

You narrowed your eyes, tilting your head to actually pay attention to him. He had to be around your age and he looked rather cute with his curly hair and light brown eyes. He wasn’t as tall as Benedict but still taller than you and he took another trembling breath, making you look up at him.

“That’s a very sharp knife,” he said. “Where—where did you get it?”

“My husband gave it to me.”

A small whine escaped from his lips and he cleared his throat.

“You have a—of course you have a husband,” he said. “How about we start from the beginning? I’m Felix.”

“What am I supposed to do with that information?” you asked, your voice completely deadpan and his eyes searched yours.

“What’s your name?”

You raised your brows, still glaring at him and he licked his lips.

“Alright so even though I may have given off the wrong impression, I’m not…my intention is not to seduce you.”

You tried to repress the laugh bubbling at your throat as you scoffed.

“Seduce me?” you repeated and he nodded.

“I saw you walk by and I thought—my interest in you is completely artistic,” he stammered. “I promise. It’s just that, I’m a painter and you are very beautiful and I thought you were a figment of my drunk state, I didn’t even think about it and tried to stop you before you left forever so that I could…so that I could paint you from mind later on.”

Your eyes searched his face as you tried to see whether he was lying or not, but he looked completely genuine, albeit a bit intimidated. You rolled your eyes and pulled back from him, tucking the knife back into your cleavage.

“Jesus Christ,” you muttered and he let out a breath.

“So may I know your name?” he asked and you eyed him up and down.

“Y/N Bridgerton.”

His head shot up. “Bridgerton as in Benedict Bridgerton?”

“Yes.”

“Benedict is your husband? I know Benedict!” he said, suddenly cheerful. “We’re frie—wait a moment. You’re Y/N Bridgerton?”

“That’s what I said.”

“The Venus Flytrap?” he asked. “The diamond in the rough? The Ice Queen?”

You rolled your eyes and turned around without so much as another look at him, then started walking down the hallway but he quickly caught up.

“I’ve heard people talk about you.”

“Shocking,” you said as you turned another corner and started going downstairs with Felix who seemed rather excited judging by the happy glimmer in his eyes.

“Can you really intimidate any lord with a glare?”

“If only,” you said curtly and entered the room you had left earlier. Your spot was still empty so you grabbed a glass from the tray and made your way there, Felix following you.

“As I said, I merely wish to paint you so if you would—”

“That is not going to happen,” you said, shaking your head and Felix opened his mouth but then got distracted when another man entered the room. He walked to the crowd by the corner and you tilted your head, looking between Felix who looked almost dazed and the man who stole a look at him, making Felix avert his eyes and clear his throat.

Oh.

You were quite familiar with that look, you had seen it in Andrew’s eyes a couple of times.

As it turned out, Felix was indeed only interested in you artistically.

You smiled slightly and raised your brows at Felix, then nodded at the armchair across from yours. He fixed his hair and sat down immediately.

“Ignore him,” you said with a nod of your head. “It tends to work.”

Felix blinked a couple of times. “Oh I don’t know what you mean—”

“Yes you do.”

He offered you a small smile, getting a glass of drink as well and you leaned back.

“So you’re an artist?”

“Trying to be one, actually,” he said. “But I do not know if I have the talent for it. I hope I do.”

“Well, all the actually talented artists that I’ve met have that terrible self-doubt so I have a feeling you probably do have the talent for it,” you pointed out and he sat up straighter.

“Thank you,” he said. “So you’re married to Benedict?”

“Mm hm.”

“Is it true you were rude and cold to all your suitors until Benedict?”

You made a face. “That is not true at all,” you said. “I was also rude and cold to Benedict.”

He stared at you and let out a laugh. “Really?”

“Yes. Why are you surprised?”

“Well, ladies are always sweet with him whenever he so much as looks at them,” he said, waving a hand in the air. “Handsome and talented and all that.”

Jealousy spread through your throat but you managed to shrug your shoulders. “I’m well aware of that.”

“Not to mention, everyone keeps saying he will be a great artist,” Felix said and that was when it dawned on you.

This right there was exactly why Benedict had that self-doubt. This was why he was so hesitant on accepting any genuine compliments, if everyone thought and expected that of him, of course he was his own worst critic.

That had to have put some pressure on him.

“I’m sure he will be,” you said, barely aware of the proud tone of your voice and Felix nodded.

“Exactly.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“Do you think you will be a great artist?” you asked Felix and he gave you a happy grin.

“If only,” he said, his eyes glimmering with hope. “I dream of being one. Is that not the ultimate goal?”

“To be an artist?”

“To be immortal.”

You scrunched up your nose, then shook your head. “Not for me, no.”

“You wouldn’t want to be immortal?” he asked. “All the fame and glory?”

You thought for a moment, then shook your head again.

“Not at all.”

He gawked at you. “What is it that you want then?” he asked. “Your greatest desire? If you could have anything in the world.”

You took a sip of your drink and looked down at it, deep in thought. The image of your greatest desire used to be just you as a widow but apparently somewhere along the way that image had changed. For some reason, now that you were imagining yourself happy and having everything you wanted, you had a simple picture in your mind.

And this time, to your surprise, you weren’t alone.

You took a deep breath and frowned at the drink in your hand, then raised your head to look at Felix better.

“I want…” you trailed off. “I want a beautiful garden of my own and I want to be happy.”

Felix looked at you as if he was waiting for you to continue but when you didn’t, he pulled his brows together.

“Is that all?” he asked. “Surely there must be something else?”

“No,” you said. “That is all I want actually.”

“That simple?”

You let out a laugh and nodded.

“That simple,” you repeated. “Some of us don’t want fame and glory. That’s what we have the artists for.”

He looked at you as if he was waiting for you to say you were jesting but before he could say anything, you were already distracted. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Benedict walk into the room and he directly made his way to you, a smile curling your lips without you even noticing it.

“Benedict, your wife does not like the idea of becoming immortal.”

“My wife doesn’t like a lot of things Felix,” Benedict said with a warm smile and pressed a kiss on top of your head, making your heart skip a beat. You knew it was to sell the idea of you two being completely in love even here because though it was a private party, you could never be too careful. “Hello darling.”

You could swear your heart was melting inside your chest and you looked up at him, still smiling.

“Hello.”

“Are you alright?”

“Mm hm,” you nodded as he sat beside you and put his drink on the table. “I’m having fun. Look, I even made a friend.”

Felix gave Benedict a proud grin and Benedict chuckled.

“Is that right?”

“Right after she threatened me, yes.”

“Threatened?” Benedict asked and you waved a hand in the air, trying your hardest to keep the thought of what exactly you had seen before that out of your mind.

“A misunderstanding,” you said and Felix looked from Benedict to you, a smile pulling at his lips, then cleared his throat.

“Well, I’d better excuse myself and leave the lovers to their peace,” he said and stood up. “Benedict.”

“Felix.”

“Mrs. Bridgerton.”

“Y/N,” you corrected him. “That’s the least I could do after accidentally threatening you.”

Felix let out a laugh, then shifted his weight. “But are you sure—”

“I am,” you answered before he could ask whether he could paint you. “I appreciate it though.”

Felix bowed and downed his drink, then walked away from you while Benedict turned to look at you better.

“What was that about?”

“Oh nothing,” you said. “We were just discussing something before you arrived. So how was your talk with Sir Granville’s friends?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and licked his lips.

“It was alright,” he said. “They were all very nice. All of them say I should apply for the Academy this season and not the next like I planned.”

Your eyes searched his handsome face and you took another sip of your drink, then sat up straighter.

“I am going to ask you something.”

He nodded. “You can ask me anything, you know that.”

“And you will answer truthfully?”

“Always.”

“Does it bother you when I say…” you paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling, trying to find the right words. “Hearing it all the time ought to make you feel sort of pressured, no? When everyone says you’ll be a great artist?”

He thought for a moment, reaching out to grab his glass on the table to swirl the drink inside the glass before he took a big sip, and cleared his throat.

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “But with you it’s different.”

“How?”

Benedict swallowed thickly and took a deep breath.

“It gives me peace when you say it,” the confession left his lips in such a soft whisper that if you weren’t sitting close to him, you wouldn’t have been able to hear. You felt your stomach do a happy flip and smiled slightly.

“Good, because I do believe it.” You paused for a moment, your eyes snapping up to his. “Wholeheartedly.”

That soft light glimmered in his eyes again and you found yourself admiring his beautiful face before you cleared your throat and pointed back with your thumb.

“And also I just turned down another artist’s offer to paint me, so…”

He let out a chuckle. “Felix?”

“Mm hm.”

“I knew it,” he said, shaking his head. “I had a feeling—wait, is that why you threatened him?”

“Not directly but sort of,” you said as you downed your drink, then glanced around but there was no sign of any footmen carrying a tray. Benedict took a look around the room as well and turned to you.

“Do you want another?”

You tilted your head. “One would assume you’re a bad influence, Mr. Bridgerton.”

He had the audacity to look quite offended.

“Me? A bad influence?” he asked, feigning surprise. “I have no idea what you mean, Mrs. Bridgerton. I’m simply asking if my wife would like another glass.”

You shot him a grin, that warmth spreading through your veins. “Yes please.”

He got up from the sofa and bowed his head in an exaggerated manner, making you giggle before he walked to the other side of the room to find you another glass. You kept your eyes on him, barely aware of the giddy smile on your face and you bit on your lip then leaned back on the sofa, heaving a sigh.

Chapter 18

#benedict bridgerton #benedict bridgerton x reader #bridgerton #bridgerton x reader #regency fic

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kyanitedragon · 2 months

Text

Have you ever wondered the exact timeline of Tokyo Ghoul?

Notes:

Tokyo Ghoul takes place in 2011-2012, as seen on Kaneki's school notebook in chapter 23

September:

Kaneki's date with Rize is never given a calendar date in the manga, nor the exact amount of days between him scoring a date with Rize and going on the date itself, but between Rize's Takada Building kill being found on Sept 28th, and Kaneki's "weeks" spent in the hospital before his discharge on Oct 21, we can estimate their meeting and date sometime after Sept 28th through the first week-ish of October

October:

Based on the dates of Hide's texts to Kaneki in Chapter 2 (Oct 21) and Chapter 6 (Oct 31) we know that 10 days has passed in that time.

(But personally I find it unclear which manga scenes specifically fall on what days. Technically all that's important to know is that Kaneki's been starving on his own for 10 days, in addition to "weeks" in the hospital.)

November:

The Nishiki vs Kaneki fight doesn't have a canon date but based on the other dates we have, it must happen sometime between Oct 1 - Oct 4

Touka takes Kaneki to meet Uta on a Saturday (Ch 11)

As seen on Hinami's wanted poster in Ch 20, Ryoko died around 7:30pm on Nov 9

As stated in Ch 22, Kusaba was killed at 10:30pm on the 10th of the month.

Chapter 30 states that it's been about 10 days since Kusaba's death, which brings us to Nov 20, but given that its a school day I added 1 more day to make it Monday not Sunday.

In Chapter 33 Tsukiyama invites Kaneki on a "date" in 3 days' time on Sunday

I'm not entirely sure when Kimi's kidnapping and the resulting church fight happens. I think Kaneki says he's been staying days (plural?) in Anteiku after the restaurant ordeal, but visually it looks like its only been a single day? So its possible that might be pushed a few days further

December:

Kaneki's escape from Yamori is confirmed to be at 12am on Dec 20 (which is also his birthday). The other dates you can find by working backwards from this.

Yoshimura stated the CCG would need 18-20 days to prepare to raid Aogiri (Ch 66)

Banjou's escape plan needed to wait 5 days for the safest day, as of Kaneki joining them (Ch 55)

Kaneki was kidnapped in Ch 52, Ch 53 shows a full day has passed, up to 23:33 aka 11:33pm, which then transitions to Kaneki waking in ch 54 and being brought to Tatara.

My december estimates on the calendar are using the shorter estimate of 18 days (I mean, Hide did give the CCG the exact location of Aogiri for free so...)

#tokyo ghoul #tg reference #i haven't gotten to the Kanou Lab and Anteiku Raid arcs in my reread yet #but i'll keep an eye out for exact dates when i do #i just remember the timeskip is 6 months so it starts around June #and then that one chapter took place on Touka's birthday / July 1st #tg #tg reread

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southernbluebellereader · 1 year

Note

Coffee shop AU? Nah, gas station AU.

Reader who works the night shift and Ghost who comes in at unholy hours to buy a specific brand of snacks only found there.

This is a request but only if you feel like it!

Emergency Snack Run

A/N: GIRL. I love this. We love us some night owls up here. I think gas station is better lol this took a little longer than expected because life and I had like 50 different ways of how I wanted to end this but I'm happy where it went.

Lt. Simon "Ghost" Riley x F! Gas Station Clerk Reader

Warnings: bothersome customer/attack; unwanted attention

Master List (Tag List at the bottom)

Honestly, you liked working the night shift. It was quiet. And despite what most people think, most of the weird people come during the day. But occasionally someone would come in during your shift that creeped you out enough to keep one hand on the emergency call button and the other on the metal bat that was kept under the cash register.

Anyways. You usually worked the night shifts during the week. Almost no one came in, and you could stock up the shelves or read your magazines in peace. You're technically not supposed to sleep on the job, but if you positioned yourself correctly while sitting behind the cash register, you could hide your face from the camera and from the window well enough so that no one could see that you were sleeping. And the door would hit a bell every time it opened and closed, waking you up from a solid fifteen minute nap.

You liked Wednesdays. Usually it was the quietest, but it also tended to be the most boring. The only reason you liked it was because-

Ding.

You didn't even have to look up from your magazine to see who it was, but you did anyways. You looked at the time, then smiled up at the darkly clad man. 3:04 AM.

It was almost like clockwork, every Wednesday at around three in the morning. You expected it. Even when he was gone for weeks, sometimes months. And he was finally back.

"Simon! You're back."

You chuckled at his grunt and brief eye contact as he walked through the chip aisle.

"What happened to my crisps?"

Every time he came, you'd put his favorite crips in the same spot and make sure they were well-stocked. You always kept a few bags on the side just in case the shelves were empty.

"You're out." The large man was suddenly by your counter, placing a few drinks on your counter. The corner of his mouth was slightly curved. Only God knows when you'd ever see his full smile.

"Who says I'm out?" You smile and pull out three bags of his favorite crisps from under the cash register and placed them on the counter, beginning to ring him up. "You know the truck comes in on Thursdays, Simon."

"Yeah yeah, thank you, Y/N." Simon chuckled and paid for his snacks.

"Just Y/N? Geezer comes every day at six in the morning always trying to serenade me."

Simon took his change from you and placed it in the empty jar next to the register. You weren't supposed to keep a tip jar, Simon just hated keeping change. So you just kept it there. You smiled at him as you put his food in a plastic bag. He couldn't help but sigh and smile, "You're God-sent, Y/N. That better?"

"Much better. Good seeing you Simon."

"Yeah yeah, see you next week. Call me when that Geezer comes in here, that metal bat isn't going to do anything."

"Yeah yeah, see you next week, Simon." You shooed him away and he gave you a wink as he left the store.

---

"Geezer, I'm calling Simon!"

Geezer was the crazy person who would come in almost every morning at six in the morning, half-crazy, half-harassing everyone both in and out of the gas station.

"OooOOooH who's Simon? That your boyfriend? I thought I was your boyfriend, Miss Y/N!" Geezer leaned over the counter, getting closer to you. You were the only one working until at least seven in the morning.

It was Monday, you knew it was out of the ordinary for Simon to come to the gas station. He'd given you his phone number months ago on the back of his receipt under a note reading:

When you finish your magazine

/Simon

You hadn't called him - nothing ever happened that you couldn't handle, and every time Geezer came, someone else would be in the store to help you.

You cursed under your breath and quickly dialed his number, before you could put your phone up to your ear, Geezer was nearly on the counter, nearly cornering you. You didn't get a chance to grab the bat.

You couldn't even comprehend what the crazed man was saying, but thanking whoever was in Heaven when you barely heard Simon's voice on the phone.

"Y/N? You alright?"

"S-Simon! Can you-

"Simon? Is that Simon?"

Simon's heart began to race, he couldn't tell if it was racing in his throat, his ears, or in the bottom of his stomach. "Y/N, keep the phone on. I'm almost there."

He was due to deal with rookie training but he'd rather have Price chew him out. The gas station was only a few minutes away from the base. Simon made it there in less than that.

You didn't even see or hear Simon come in. Geezer had you trapped in the corner by the cigarettes. He saw your phone and threw it to the side. You didn't even process how much the man smelled or how dirty he was, you just wanted him off of you. You could barely keep him off of you and he was practically on top of you.

Your cool and sassy persona had been stripped, you felt helpless - you were helpless. You begged the old man to get off of you.

"Please let me go! Please, the register is open!"

"You think I want money, pretty girl? Why do you think I come here every morning?"

Before you could move a muscle. Geezer was yanked away from you by a large hand. You yelped in fear and covered your face. Simon ran behind the counter and had pulled the old man off of you, not saying a word. Geezer did all the yelling as he was being dragged to the back of the store, loud grunts and moans of pain and pleads for mercy could be heard in between punches.

You stayed on the floor, sobbing under your hands, scared to move a muscle, scared to move your hands away from your face.

"Y/N?"

The voice was a little rough around the edges, yet soft and gentle. But you were still afraid to look. Simon crouched in front of you, giving you a moment to realize that it was safe. He felt guilty. He never understood why you chose to work night shifts, despite his protests that it was unsafe, and your reassurances that it was ok.

He liked seeing you every Wednesday at three in the morning. You were a constant in his life. A reassurance that something - or someone - would always be there. He should have done something sooner, but he'd let his guard down with you - he'd let it down too much and if you hadn't called him, who knows what would've happened.

After a moment, unsure of what to do, he reluctantly leaned forwards and gently placed his hands on your back against your shoulder blades, speaking out loud every action he did so that nothing would come as a surprise.

"Y/N. Everything is ok now. I'm going to put my hands on your back and move you out of here."

His voice was even softer now. You'd stopped crying and sniffled, rubbing your face as you nodded, allowing him to put his large hands on your back and move you towards him. Simon placed you between his legs, your body and head resting on his body as he held you close, and whispered, "I got you," over and over again.

Your body was still trembling, but it soon subsided the longer you were in in embrace. People started coming in the store but were shooed away by Simon's glares until a police officer eventually arrived to process the scene.

Simon kept you in his arms, remaining on the floor for as long as possible until the officers needed to take your statement and the EMTs needed to give you a look over.

Even then, he didn't leave your side. He didn't want to. He never wanted you to be alone.

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

Tag List

@ateliefloresdaprimavera @galagcica @sweetybuzz25 @wisedinosaurpolice @itsasecrets-things @ronbon @lieutenantlashfaz @piper570 @shuttlelauncher81 @thanksbutno98 @gabriellathegreat @kult6 @loadedberetta @sarahs-secrets2

#cod #call of duty #call of duty mw #call of duty mwii #call of duty mw2 #simon x reader #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley #simon ghost riley x reader #ghost x reader #fan fic #fan fiction #simon #riley #lieutenant simon riley #riley x reader #cod request #call of duty request #request

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ratinayellowbandana · 17 days

Text

lavender thread // a curated imodna playlist

I started curating this playlist over two years ago, and it’s still one of my favorite creations because I put arguably way too much thought into it. I soft-launched this a couple weeks ago, and I was genuinely surprised by how many people checked it out.

It’s in rough chronological order from pre-relationship to post-campaign. Every song goes through a fairly thorough vetting process for thematic appropriateness, accuracy, tone, and genre. For example, if there are too many references to modern technology, days of the week, months, real places, religion, etc., it will likely be cut to build the "world of the story." Imodna playlist, but make it hyperspecific. Like, corpse falling in love with an embalmer specific. (you can find the "rejects" here)

Right now, the playlist is broken into two acts, with a prologue, an epilogue, and a couple of sub-sections sprinkled in. I personally recommend not shuffling, at least on a first listen, so you get to experience the full journey. But hey, I can’t stop you.

This playlist is a constant work in progress. I’ll add new songs I find that feel fitting, and sometimes they live at the bottom of the playlist for a while before I get around to slotting them in. “Dance in the Graveyards” will always be the end of the structured playlist. Rarely, I’ll remove or shuffle a song if I think it doesn’t fit the vibe, the lyrics aren’t specific enough, or it’s just not working.

I’m making this post to share my playlist with anyone else who might want it and to write down my reasoning for every song so I don’t forget it. It’ll be updated as new songs get added. Enjoy!

I laid out my reasoning for each song mostly for my own benefit. You'll see the "section," song title, artist, a little blurb from me, and one/two of my favorite or the most relevant sections of the song. Sometimes, I just had to pick something because the whole song was perfect.

Prologue:

“Stories” - Lilli Furfaro

It’s a beautiful framing device. It’s the premise of the game, the world, the show, and the characters. Fun fact: I found this song two full years before I learned she made a whole Vox Machina album lol.

“We are stories / Bеginnings, middles, ends / Our power lies in living lives that touch a life or two [...] / In this world we’ve built on games of chance / And hours of introspection”

ACT 1

Laudna, Before:

A general note: I looked for songs that were just slightly off-putting with darker over and undertones to match Laudna’s energy.

“Old Churchyard” - The Wailin’ Jennys

Welcome to the world. Foreshadowing and a set-up for the downfall of Whitestone. Speaks to the exhaustion. I imagine a tiny Laudna being ever so hopeful that it might get better but embracing the eeriness of a graveyard in the meantime.

“I rest in the hope that one bright day / Sunshine will burst through these prisons of clay / And the trumpets will sound on the hills near and far / Will wake up the dead in the old churchyard”

“Funeral Bell” - PHILDEL

The aftermath of the banquet. The fear, sadness, and resignation. The sense of relief.

“Oh mother, I’m scared to die. / Where, where do my good deeds lie? / Oh father, I’m scared to live, / Takes more than I’ve got to give.”

“Apple Tree” - Marika Hackman

Hanging from the tree. A crowd gathering. Wanting to be remembered. Enough said.

“Here I hang for the sated crowd / To look upon my eyes, look upon my mouth / And say, ‘We were there that day / I saw a face, heard a sound’”

“Special Death” - Mirah

Asking, “Why me?” A sense of confusion and loss along with the saving of Whitestone. Concludes with the beginnings of the la-la-las.

“But it's a special death you saved / For me, the brown-eyed daughter”

“Ain’t No Grave (Sparse)” - Crooked Sill, Aoife O’Donovan

It’s a little on the nose, yes, but I chose this version specifically for the sense of emptiness it evokes. There’s an implied skepticism of seeing people you think you’re able to trust, specifically “gods’ people” (as I’m choosing to interpret it), and thinking of the clerics who saw a monster. The dismay of being resurrected into a world that hates you. We’ll see if this one sticks; it’s a little heavy on references to Christianity.

“Ain't no grave gonna hold my body down / When I hear that trumpet sound / I'm gonna get up out of the ground”

“Don’t Know Who I Am” - Rebecca Roubion

The distinct loss of identity and a surprisingly apt description. Laudna had no name and no sense of self or what she was. She’s searching for something to identify.

“Black tears on my shirt / Black tears on my freckles / I've been stung by this hurt / I've been stung by a stinging nettle”

“Lying Beast” - Run River North

Running. Running far and fast, leaving home behind. Seeing herself as a beast and being terrified of it. So alone.

“And so I flew away with myself / I was the beast all alone in my hell!”

“Drinking Song” - House Phone

What could she have become if she hadn’t been murdered so soon? We see her begin to play and fantasize and dream and grow.

“'Cause you won't rewrite history / To commemorate the likes of me / And you would not believe me if I tried / To tell you all the things I've seen / And all the places that I've been”

“Mile Magnificent” - molly ofgeography

Starting to explore her magic and Delilah’s influence in her head. It starts to feel... good? The pent-up frustration and anger have a release.

“We bloom beneath the blessings of a goddess with no face [...] / All my better demons have gone the way they came”

“Stolen Roses” - Karen Elson

Digging into the anger, searching for a purpose. Too old and too young at the same time, forced to grow up too fast.

“There once was a time when I was a girl / That darkness hung in my sky / I was old before I learned to be young / Stone cold till I learn how to cry”

“These Bones” - Azrai (ft. Momo O’brien)

Searching for a home, a place to rest. Crossing the sea to Marquet. (The intro, as you’ll hear, foreshadows the pluckier sound of Imogen’s section.) Skeletal imagery.

“I am a long time finding home / I have only ever wandered before / It′s a savage sea we're made to roam / Every tide can turn to haunt us / But the ocean reaches past these ghosts / And I will always sail for more”

“Mountain Song” - Little Chief

A beautiful, adventurous musical introduction. Open to the possibility of new things, still weary, but there’s more here.

“I’ve been living in a hole in the mountain / Ain’t no sins in there / Oh, these memories they keep on following”

This is our transition into...

Imogen, Before:

A general note: I tried to seek out songs with more of a folky-bluegrass vibe for Imogen to match her background.

“Second Child, Restless Child” - The Oh Hellos

I imagine a very young, carefree Imogen. Well before her powers kicked in. I like to think she thought she was a bit of a troublemaker, but anything she did was so endearing and mild that it was sweet. A happy kid with big dreams until the signs of something else started to appear.

“With a spirit running wild, running free / And they saw trouble in my eyes / They were quick to recognize the devil in me”

“I’ve Endured” - Tim O’Brien

Growing up with her father in the mountains and in the fields. The nightmares begin. But this is fine, right? She can handle this.

“I've seen the lightnin' flashin', I heard the thunder roll / I've endured, I've endured / How long must one endure?”

“Wander. Wonder.” - The Arcadian Wild

The powers are coming on strong. Post-nightmares and in pain, nothing she did was good enough. She felt trapped in her own home, shackled by her mind and father, perhaps, as she tried not to let on that she was changing.

“Half awake I wander through this house / Lost in a labyrinth and left with no way out / I built this hall of mirrors all myself / Faces staring back at me look like somebody else”

“Lost in My Mind” - The Head And The Heart

Everything is So Much. Thoughts of leaving but–

“Momma once told me / ‘You're already home where you feel loved,’ / I am lost in my mind / I get lost in my mind”

“Trouble and Woe” - Ruth Moody

The voices are awful, and the world is so bleak. People are cruel. Getting worse, and hoping it will get better.

“This world is full of trouble and woe / All I see is trouble, everywhere I go”

“Little Bird” - The Weepies

People have noticed. Trips to town are much harder. The voices are louder.

“Sometimes it's hard to say even one thing true / When all eyes have turned aside, they used to talk to you / And people on the streets seem to disapprove / So you keep moving away”

“Storm Comin’” - The Wailin’ Jennys

It’s getting worse. Nightmares getting more frequent. Control is slipping. And, you might notice this song is by the same artist as Laudna’s first. I do love a bit of symbolism.

“Will you listen to that thunder roar and let your spirits soar / When that love calls, open up your door [...] / No, don’t run from the coming storm, ‘cause it can’t keep a storm from coming.”

This leads us to…

Connection

General note: a blending of both genres and styles.

“Mostly” - Vian Izak, Juniper Vale

A prelude, almost. Are you real?

“I've bought up all my dreams and sold off most my heart / I'd been lying to myself just to bury all my thoughts”

“Maybe” - The Henry Girls

The timid hope of meeting someone and realizing you feel like you’ve known them all your life. Suddenly, things might be okay.

“I feel like I should know you / I feel like we have met before [...] / And all these things that I don't really understand / Would be much simpler if you'd only hold my hand”

“Dandelion” - Heather Maloney

A moment of peace. I like to think of this as Laudna’s adoration of the natural world and its beauty. Her will to bend the laws of the world to give Imogen what she deserves. And, on a more literal level, to offer Imogen the gift of flowers because Laudna has little else to her name. This song also begins the recurring flowers-in-hair motif.

“I have nothing but these weathered hands / And I live nowhere on this wild land”

“Rain Clouds” - The Arcadian Wild

A connection over shared struggles from both sides. A mutual agreement of trust.

“I’m being frightened by the people / They look at me like I’m a scar upon their perfect skin / Perfect to only them / I’m being shadowed by my past / Reminding me of what I was and what I could become”

“Daylight” - Watchhouse

Realizing that this person might’ve saved you.

“My search was unending, and my soul was bare. And darling you came to me like a midnight flare.”

“The Devil In You” - The Haunted Windchimes

The joy of being seen. Of being known.

“I've walked a long long way it ain't new / Here I sit face to face with the devil in you / It looks a lot like someone I've spoken to / We were broken together it's true”

“Curses” - The Crane Wives

The fear that neither is good enough for the other. Basic choice? Maybe. But it’s too good to pass up.

"Every word I say is kindling / But the smoke clears when you're around / Won't you stay with me, my darling / When my walls start burning down, down, down?”

“Wildflowers” - The Wailin’ Jennys

You deserve better. You deserve the world, and I can’t give that to you. The feeling that this is too good to be true. Surely, it can’t last.

“Go away somewhere bright and new / I have seen no other / That compares with you”

“Bruised Feet” - Haunted Like Human

Laudna’s invitation to leave. Together. An escape from mistakes and the past.

“Do you want to hear the stories these bruised feet could tell / ‘Cause I’ve been chasing sunrises, throwing change in wishing wells / And I’m running to and I’m running from and oh Lord knows that I ain’t done / Running for the sake of running wild, so come with me child”

Unless...

ACT 2

On the Road

“Light in the Sky” - We Banjo 3

And they’re off on a search for knowledge and freedom.

“So if you’re lost in the night / Stuck between the demon and the knife / As it traces a line across your heart”

“Apple Pie” - Lizzie McAlpine

Transient, finding solace in one another. Home after home. How long can this last? This one has a few more references to modern things than I’d like, but I can’t pass up the vibes.

“Every house looks the same in my dreams / Every house feels like home for a couple weeks / I've been runnin' 'round trying to find a place where I can breathe...Home is wherever you are tonight.”

“Almost Home” - Keston Cobblers Club

In search of a person, a place to settle. As long as they’re together.

“The clouds will break the wind will brace these sails of stone / And I have never known a journey take this long / But I'm almost home”

“You and Me” - You+Me

They fit together.

“They say everything, it happens for a reason / You can be flawed enough but perfect for a person / Someone who will be there for you when you fall apart / Guiding your direction when you're riding through the dark”

“Witchcraft” - Vian Izak

I like to think Imogen is... realizing some things, and getting attached. (We all know she fell first.)

“It's witchcraft / And I've got no defense for it / The heat is too intense for it / What good would common sense for it do?”

“For My Emablmer” - Emily June

Laudna’s turn. Still seeing herself as a dead thing, a little confused by Imogen’s friendship but embracing it all the same.

“I hope you know I won't complain / If I decompose and you're to blame / Abandon your duties, lay down next to me / Grab my hand, feel no shame”

“Home to Me” - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Keep coming back to each other regardless of what other people think.

“How dare you love me like you've never known fear / You've got more troubles than minutes in the year / And a voice like your father's tells you nothing good's for free / Well, that may be / But you're walking home to me”

“The Moon Song” - Brittin Lane, Mitchel Morse

Foreshadowing the importance of the moon later. For now, it’s peaceful.

“We're lying on the moon / It's a perfect afternoon / Your shadow follows me all day / Making sure that I'm okay”

“You Are My Sunshine” - Lena Hall

Contrasting the last song, when the moon becomes too much… there’s the sunshine. Specifically for Imogen constantly fighting the pull of the moon, Laudna is the sun, her spark, her light. What happens if she disappears?

“As I lay sleeping / I dreamed I held you / In my arms / When I awoke, dear / I was mistaken”

“Two” - Sleeping At Last

These two self-sacrificial, loyal, dedicated characters. Bonus points for “I will love you without any strings attached.” A double meaning for Laudna and Delilah.

“No, I don't want to talk about myself / Tell me where it hurts / I just want to build you up, build you up / Till you're good as new”

The Campaign

“Growing Up” - Run River North

Apt for both of them as they come into their own. Growing together as they explore the world, adventure with their friends, and learn to take what comes.

“I used to close my eyes / To what stirred under my bed / Now, they're open wide / To the monsters in my head / Instead of claws, they whisper lies”

“I found my way without your help / With broken family / I'll take my breaks with my sins / Do as I do, please / With my friends 'til the end / There lies my loyalty”

“Anything Can Happen” - Tors

Imogen is being pulled.

“But even when I start to dream / Every little piece of me / Gets a little close to the edge of darkness / I know I've been here before / Long as I'm not falling off / I'll be fine”

“Crawl In” - Upstate

Things are getting harder, but they’re seeking comfort in each other after nightmares and bad days alike.

“Crawl in my head tonight / Read my thoughts so I don't have to speak / It's been a long, long week but I'm tryin’ / To make do and stop fussin’ and fightin’”

“Bottom of the River” - Delta Rae

The crickets chirping continue the nightmare-ish theme of the last song. However. Shit’s getting real. Holding onto each other as they sink deeper.

“Hold my hand / Ooh it’s a long way down”

“Raise Hell” - Brandi Carlile

Can’t believe Laura Bailey beat me to this song by 2 days with her Imogen playlist. It’s the perfect mix of angsty and bluegrass-folky. Being born cursed and learning your strengths. May or may not stick because of the substantial references to Christianity, but I do love it for Imogen coming into her god-like power.

“It came upon a lightning strike / And eyes of bright clear blue”

"I'll Bend But I Won't Break" - Red Moon Road

First of all, could that band name be any more perfect? Second, this song is such a good tribute to Imogen's character. The tempo is quick; the drums like rolling thunder; and allusions to dreams, storms, the dark. "Still I will endure" calls back to the second song in Imogen's section, "I'll Endure," and "Still in the eye of the hurricane" is both great storm imagery and foreshadows "Hurricane" which is a song further down the playlist. I imagine this during Otohan Round 1, but it may shift around the playlist depending on how I feel about the flow.

"Lighting lights the sky like it's looking for me / Flashes of the forces the dark has set free / Thunder strikes the land / With the mighty heavy hand / It rocks me to my core / I won't fall down / I'll stand my ground / I'll bend but I won't break"

“Bury Me Smiling” - The Ballroom Thieves

Laudna’s second death. Love and loss.

“I stood in silence / A mind's worth of violence / Strung me a short rope / Round my neck / A love like an old home / Breathes in these dry bones”

“Afterlife” - Haunted Like Human

Laudna on Imogen’s desperate search to get her back. Asking Imogen not to waste her time. The choice to return. I particularly love the chimes. Musical thoughts and the reflection of death.

“So darling don’t go digging up graves / When love is lost the afterlife is a choice you gotta make / So put the nails in the coffin, let them rust in place / But darling don’t go digging up graves”

“The Mountain Song (First Dance Version)” - Tophouse

The “I would do anything for you” of it all. Resurrection. Hope. Bonus points for flower-in-hair motif.

“Well the clouds rolled in / There was lightning there was thunder there was rain / As we hid beneath our shelter / All the doubts that we had felt / Came pouring in as a flood we had to face”

“Flowers in My Hair” - Wes Reeve

Yearning. A bit of good old fashioned wanting what can’t be had. I imagine this is the last of the first Whitestone visit and the orange tree is the golden glow of the sun tree. Whitestone Andy mention? Continuing flower motif.

“I had a dream of a boy who loved me and / We danced in the leaves of an orange tree [...] / Then I went my own way, and you crossed the highway / But just maybe someday we’ll be, my pretty”

“Haven” - We Banjo 3

The Rudius arc is kicking into gear. “You have the biggest spark of anyone I’ve ever seen” vibes.

“The moonlight's a path we can travel down / River runs wild with what has gone before / Cast aside for new and more and more and more and more and more and more / Let me be your haven / Let me be your light”

Moon Arc

“Wax & Wane” - Alana Henderson

Oooh tension. The drama. The moon is affecting the relationship. We’re starting to see a shift to a darker mood around the Solstice and all that’s around it. Mirrors “Moon Song” - “There’s nothing I’d keep from you.” Oh yeah?

“But we bent and we broke and I meant what I spoke / And the blame game does not produce a winner / We went as far as we could go we had to go that far to know / That we had nowhere left to aim / And no one left to blame but / The moon’s wax and wane and the turn of the tide”

“The Moon Will Sing” - The Crane Wives

This reminds me of Laudna during the separation and immediately after, starting to question everything, seeing herself as dark. That extreme co-reliance. Clinging to each other. Is it a good thing? Laudna starting to lean back into Delilah’s burn.

“The moon will sing a song for me / I loved you like the sun / Bore the shadows that you made / With no light of my own / I shine only with the light you gave me [...] / I want to feel the fire that you kept from me”

“Always You” - South for Winter

The rush of reunion. The high-pitched start, disbelief. Then: the warmth of returning to Your Person. Being able to rely on them. A bright spot.

“Should the blood red tides run o’er / Should our nightmares all come true / Should we lose this holy war / I know there’ll still be you [...] Oh my love / The skies are growing colder / Oh, my love / I need you more than ever”

“Tether Me” - Galleaux

In addition to the obvious tether relation, they’re both feeling pulls in different directions: Imogen to the red dawn; Laudna to the darkness of her mind. Being tied to her limbs earns you more puppet symbolism, particularly after Delilah's resurgence.

“For a moment, I was gone / The speed of light into the red dawn / In this space, do I belong?/ It’s dark out here in my own thoughts / Pull me back out of my body / I’m tied to my limbs”

“Blood Moon” - Saint Sister

The moon sure is tempting. The pulls for both of them are getting stronger. Things are getting darker, harder, more intense.

“And so I wonder will those scattered pits / Take root behind your cracking lips / They are always doing that [...] / The hunter’s moon was bleeding red / The night you left our thorny bed / You were always, always”

"Stay" by Haunted Like Human

I try really hard to avoid repeat artists because I feel like it keeps my bias toward one band in check. However. I'm a little convinced this artist is straight-up writing about Laudna at this point. This song isn't quite as musically dark as the other songs by the same artist that have made the playlist. It's a little more acoustic/has more guitar as a connecting bridge to Imogen. Plus, it hits all these specific marks: 1) reassuring that the voice in her head hasn't got the best of her yet 2) begging [Imogen] to stay and to not give up on her 3) apologizing for the weight of her sins and that they're not [Imogen's] to hold 4) addresses [Imogen's] feelings about the voice in Laudna's head.

"Darling you don’t hold me close the way you used to do / And I wonder what you’re thinking when I’m reaching out for you / You’re trying to be patient, yea you’re trying to be kind / But I know that you’re still running from the demons in my mind / But I promise this thing in my head / It ain’t got the best of me yet"

“If We Were Vampires” - Baggio & Hannah Kol

The looming sense that one of them won’t come back. As the end draws near, even if the upcoming fights don’t kill one of them, Imogen will out–age Laudna.

“It's knowing that this can't go on forever / Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone / Maybe we'll get forty years together / But one day I'll be gone or one day you'll be gone”

“Hesitate” - The Harmaleighs

They’re hiding things from each other as the tension builds.

“You keep saying you love me / You keep telling me you’re proud / But you don't know who I am / 'Cause you're not even living out loud”

“Soothsayer” - Haunted Like Human

Not gonna lie this is my favorite song on the entire playlist. It is peak Laudna-Delilah. I would quote the entire song if I could. It’s dark, thematically perfect, and haunting. It's also by the same artist as "Afterlife," Laudna's "death" song to reflect that link. I imagine this is late C3 as Laudna continues to feed Delilah. My favorite line: “The thing that you hate / Is the thing you've become.”

“There's a price to be paid / But ain't that every trade? / You're just looking for strength when you're weak / Oh you know there's a flickering darkness / And it sings out like sirens to you / Yea it's sickly sweet and elegantly violent / But these debts that you take / They will someday come due / Hungry hands reaching up / Crave for more, lust for blood”

“Hurricane” - Bandits on the Run

While still being them having to navigate their relationship in the midst of the impending end of the world, this song brings to light Imogen’s relationship with her mother, too. She meets her mother in the storm.

“They told us run for cover / Stay close to home and mother / Don’t seek out any other”

“Chasing Twisters” - Delta Rae

It’s time. Make or break.

“I was born with lighting in my heels / Sewed a spur onto my ankle / Bit a horse under the steel / And I lost hope when I was still so young [...] / I’ll take you to the grave / The only love I’ve ever known / The only soul I ever saved / And I went home”

Epilogue

At the time of writing, we’re around C3:E95, so from here on out this is even more so my reinterpretation or guesses about the future. I’m hoping to flesh out this section and the middle/end of Act 2.

“Oh Mama” - honeyhoney

Our transition song. The cacophonous high of the last song into the unbelieving stillness of the piano, the end of a battle. The world has shifted. There’s no going back.

“All covered in mud the day is done [...] / Oh mama look at my heart / I’m useless now that it’s dark / We’re praying for rain a thunder of change / And lightning to lighten my way”

“If She Ever Leaves Me” - The Highwomen

Alright, this one’s a little self-indulgent, even more so than the others. But don’t we deserve a little wholesome “we made it” energy?

“I’ve loved her in secret / I’ve loved her out loud / The sky hasn’t always been blue [...] / She loves wild horses and tumbling dice”

“The Time for Flowers” - Emily Scott Robinson

The bookend and parallel to “Dandelion” from much, much earlier. This time, from Imogen’s perspective. Conclusion and continuation of flowers motif. “The skies are clear now. The moon is new.”

“I came upon a woman in a field on her knees / Singing ancient songs and sowing wildflower seeds / Tell me what the point in planting pretty things / In these days of darkness and disease [...] I have witnessed funerals and wars / Worried mothers, empty shelves, and empty stores / The storms will rage and the winds will blow / You are gonna find out that you're stronger than you know”

“Dance in the Graveyards” - Delta Rae

I always knew I was going to end the playlist with this song. It perfectly mirrors “Old Churchyard,” the first of Laudna’s songs. It's also by the same artist as the "climax" of the playlist. The drums give me Laudna, while the folksy sound gives me Imogen. Finding joy in death, in life, in love. Life will go on, new friends and old will come and go. And that’s alright. She’s happy. They’re happy.

“When I die, I don’t wanna rest in peace / I wanna dance in joy / I wanna dance in the graveyards, the graveyards / And while I’m alive, I don’t wanna be alone / Mourning the ones who came before”

If you're listening to the playlist on a loop, you'll return to "Stories." It reminds us that it was all just a story. It will happen again. Stories and characters and people will move us, make us feel and hurt and love. It is an ending just as much as a new beginning.

#imodna #wow sure would love if this showed up in the tag…..#laudna #imogen temult #critical role #am i a little bonkers for this one? maybe #feel free to comment reply interact send an ask etc etc #i have playlist brainrot so like. would happily discuss it endlessly #bonus: you might learn about new artists! bc no hate to anyone but i refuse to put generic love songs on here #cr3 #Spotify

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n7punk · 8 months

Text

i know i've kind of talked around this stuff for... fuck, three years now? but idk, now it's getting closer to "resolving," i kind of want to talk about it. journal, get it off my chest, idk

i haven't really been specific about my health issues much because 1) privacy and 2) very complicated feelings on it, but feelings are becoming less complicated, so... yeah. privacy is still really important to me, but i have too many feelings about this to keep feeling like i'm silencing myself for some hypothetical... i dont even know what

tbf, if it had turned out to be anything else, i probably wouldn't be comfortable even making a vent post about it now. but it turned out to be. annoyingly simple. i've also got other stuff, physical disabilities and such i've been more candid about but still want to keep the specifics of private, but this is... very different.

long story short, during the pandemic i started experiencing Symptoms. i'm honestly not sure if/how much i have talked about what was wrong with me, because i don't remember... entire years, much at all. i know ive described it as my brain being on fire, but it's more like it instantly melted down and i was left with the aftermath for hours/days/weeks at a time. it really fucked with me emotionally to be fighting through that on top of the direct effects of the Symptoms. and, well, the problem was my brain (probably) so that tracks.

it turns out it was migraines. migraines that shared many symptoms with seizures, brain tumors, or pressure on the brain stem, but yeah. "just" "migraines." and, actually, we don't know that! but migraine medication is helping, so it's probably that and this is where i am, finally waking up these last few months (this summer of updates could Not have happened if it weren't for my new medication) and feeling both very frustrated with what i lost and relieved to not always have to deal with suddenly being unable to understand a sentence anymore.

it's not like. fixed. my brain is still going to burn sometimes. It seems to come in waves, like two bad weeks and then two good ones. we're not done trying to treat it now we know some stuff it's responsive to, but its not like it used to be, wildfires raging all day and my head wavering on my shoulders as i struggled just to read messages from my friends. i literally had an emote i would use to communicate when i couldn't communicate that everybody who knows me understands. i haven't even twitched since starting my new meds! well, like, uncontrollably. trust me, that's progress. i literally had to get a bigger bed so i could be safe in the middle of it when the fits were especially bad and i got twitchy.

uh so that was more story than i planned. really i just wanted to finally talk about what i've been experiencing (at least for the first time that i remember). honestly writing was the only thing that kept me sane while i was trapped inside my own malfunctioning brain. i don't know why it was one of the easiest things for me, when i couldn't even understand a full two sentences being said to me i could still - usually - write (again: i literally couldn't talk for like three of the days when i was writing and updating catcher daily), but i'm so grateful for it. and everybody who told me my stories helped you, or that you looked forward to them, or even just that you enjoyed them: you helped me right back, because you told me there was one thing i could still do, from a capability standpoint to having the ability to make any impact on the world when i was trapped at home. so thank you.

okay i'm done now. just. had to get that out

#i dont like being negative and im very much one of those bare your own shit people because i dont want to bother anyone #and have been living on a razor edge where i certainly couldnt help anyone else with their weight #but like. we're getting towards the victory stage (as close to one as these kinds of things have) so im ready to finally say how bad it was #ive wanted to talk about it a lot but something was always stopping me #(partly some vague but panicked ''what if'' related to sharing too much)#im tired of being held back and choosing to hold back. i want to move on. as much as my body will let me #mylife

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kichikichiko · 1 year

Text

For you, and you only

A/N: I hope you guys enjoy!

This is my first time writing for cyno so his is a bit shorter 😭

Heizou,Kazuha,Kabukimono and Cyno (seperate) x gen neut!reader

Headcanon,fluff,not proofread, Kabukimono is Scaramouche 😭

♡♡♡♡

HEIZOU ▪︎ analytical harmony

He loved solving puzzles and mysteries and you knew that when you started dating him

He'd take you to events that was specifically made for nerds who loved using their brains

You ended up just following him around though as he did all the puzzle solving 😭

Every once in a while though, you would solve a simple puzzle/crack the code/find a clue and he'd praise you like youre the smartest person ever

Proud bf coming through

But when events like that are not available, he'd make puzzle boxes and give it to you

Inside that said box, would be a little paper filled with sweet little nothings, or just a simple "have a good day today love :))"

Must admit, you look forward to getting those puzzles from him

Its that little thing which makes your relationship all the more sweeter

KAZUHA ▪︎ Scarlet Leaves Pursue Wild Waves

Gentle, poetic, a gentleman and handsome, he is truly the package

What more could you ask for anyways?

That man wants to let you know every waking moment that you are deserving of his love

And what other way would be more romantic than giving you weekly haiku's

He's settled on making one every week so he doesnt overwhelm you too much (which isnt true you love how he expresses his love)

And he wants to make a Haiku that truly resonates how he feels towards you

Kazuha only wants the best haiku's given to you

Alwaya puts his all into it

Because you deserve the world <33 (thats him he is world)

Sometimes, when he reads his haiku to you he'd give you a maple leave, or something he saw that gave inspiration for his latest haiku

You kept them all, youve got a shelf full of the trinkets he gave you as he recited his haiku

And placed his haikus in a special box

His goal for writing haiku's was not only to remind you of his love

But to also comfort you when he isnt around

Kazuha is a wanderer, a ronin, his home is in mother nature and he wants to travel

You understood of course, you would join him in some of his journeys when fate calls for it

But if you cant, reading the haikus he gave helps a lot as if he was truly there with you

His love is with you all the time no matter how far apart you both are

CYNO ▪︎ Judicator of Secrets

When you both first started dating and youre upset, Cyno usually freezes up and stares at you

Dont blame him though, he was afraid anything he did would make you even more upset

He never wanted to make you upset ever

You were his lovely partner he only wanted to make you smile and happy

It was really hard, especially with his serious personality

After a few months though, he finally found a way to comfort you

He'd sit down next to you in silence

Then crack up the most downright horrid joke ever with a blank face, looking straight at you

It never fails to make you laugh

He knew you were laughing at the fact that the joke was bad

But to him it didnt matter because he ends up seeing you smile

You were the only one who actually liked his stupid jokes, and listened to him as he explained it in great detail

You made him happy

It was time for him to return the favour

KABUKIMONO ▪︎ Puppet without a heart

He is a puppet, barely understanding human emotions but always trying his best to be just like them

When you both started dating, he felt more human than he ever did

He adores and appreciates you so much

He wants to be able to pay back all you have done for him

He doesnt know how to though, human emotions are complex and beautiful

Just like Kazuha, he wants to give his all when it comes to appreciating you and expressing his love for you

Sometimes, he'd walk by the shore of the beach

And if by some chance he's lucky, he'd find a seashell that reminds him of you

He doesnt pick a random seashell no, he'd collect all he sees as he walked around

And when he thinks he's found enough, he'll pick the prettiest one that reminded him of you

When he gave you a seashell for the first time and explaining in full detail why it reminded him of you

You almost cried, you appreciated it so much you made it as an accessory

He loved that you brought it around

That man started going out more finding more small things that reminded you of him

Half of the time he has his eyes stuck to the ground finding things to give to you

Everyone teases him for it, but Niwa would always defend him

Kuni just wants to see your eyes sparkle and see you smile when he gives you stuff

He wants to be the reason you smile

He'd spend his whole life time finding ways to make you happier than ever

♡♡♡♡

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messrmoonyy · 1 year

Note

Hiya! Can I request either a one shot of Layla and a shy reader? Reader invites her out on a date but doesn’t specifically say it’s a date because they are so timid. So Layla only realizes that it’s a date halfway through. OR hcs about what Layla is like when she realizes she’s in love with you. Whichever interests you more :3

A date. Of sorts

Layla El-Faouly x afab reader

A/N- Hello my sweet anon! I absolutely did both because my love for Layla El-Faouly knows no bounds. Sorry this took way. Way. longer than expected I accidentally deleted it when I finshed it and had to re write it all 😩 the hcs are over on my masterlist and were posted forvever ago. This is my first full layla os but I hope you enjoy <3

Word count: 5.3k

Warnings: none. It’s fluff. Tooth rotting.

Masterlist- requests are open! <3

Comments and reblogs are always appreciated!

You were woken up by the sound of your phone ringing. At first you didn’t fully acknowledge it, rolling over to the other side of the bed and guessing it was more than likely just in your dream. But then it started up again and you realised it was in fact your phone, you rolled back and picked it up just before it finished ringing.

“ hello? “ you mumbled as you held it to to your ear, not even looking at who it was that was calling, your eyes still half closed.

“ well hello to you sleepy head “ your eyes opened fully at the sound of her voice, butterflies erupting in your stomach the way that they always did whenever you spoke to her.

“ lay- Layla. Hi? “ she chuckled over the phone as you tried to shake the sleep away from your head. What time was it?

“ where are you it’s 10am? “

“ what? We’re closed today “ you mumbled and let your head drop back down into your pillow, your eyes falling closed again, still holding the phone to your ear.

“ you know what day it is? “ you frowned at the odd question. Of course you did. That’s why you hadn’t moved from bed yet and had no stress about going to bed early the previous night. In fact you’d been up until almost 4.

“ what? “

“ my gods. Y/N. It’s stock count day! The whole reason we are closed. You said you’d help “ you could practically hear her pouting at you through the phone. You groaned and rubbed at your forehead, a headache starting to make itself apparent behind your eyes “ please? “

“ give me half an hour? 45 minutes tops?“

“ life saver! See you soon “ you tossed your phone to the end your bed with a groan. Rubbing at your eyes to wipe away the sleep. It’s not like you had any real plans for today, you had agreed to help her out. And you could think of worst ways to spend the day.

You’d had a crush on Layla ever since she’d started working at the antiques store with you. The day she’d come in searching for a job you’d simply froze in her presence.

“ hey! I was wondering if there were any jobs available here I have a lot of experience “ you’d been like a deer in headlights. No one really ever came in and when they did it was older people, or the odd hipster trying to seem quirky and different by shopping for antiques. Never someone like her. You’d not even managed a word, simply squeaked and scurried off into the back for your manager.

You hadn’t actually managed a conversation with her until 2 weeks of her being there. Even now you struggled sometimes. When you couldn’t see her it wasn’t so bad, you would have long conversations on the phone often. Even if you were mostly listening. But in person? She was far too overwhelming.

How did anyone have the ability to stand in her presence and simply just… be okay? She was like one of the Egyptian goddesses she seemed so interested in, beauty beyond anything of a mere mortal.

Though maybe you were over exaggerating. But then again. Maybe not.

You rolled out of bed and shuffled over to your bathroom to wake yourself up with a shower, trying to be as fast as possible to not keep Layla waiting. The entire process passing by in a half asleep daze.

Your body still seemed reluctant to be up and moving though, so much so that it took you three attempts just to find the correct arm hole in your t shirt. And then you swore you tried every single key on your door before you found the right one.

So before you even attempted to navigate the tube, you headed for Starbucks. Knocking back your coffee before you even reached the platform, burning your mouth in the process. But at least it made you feel a little more awake.

Thankfully the world seemed to be on your side, the tube ride smooth as could be with not as many tourists popping themselves in awkward places like normal. You didn’t know how many times you’d accidentally walked into someone trying to decipher a tube map, parking themselves right in the way of everyone.

Your little lie in actually was quite the lifesaver though, meaning you’d missed the vast majority of the rush hour crowd. Of course it was busy, you didn’t think you’d ever actually seen London… quiet. But you weren’t sandwiched up against a bunch of strangers at least. You actually had a space mostly to yourself. There was even an empty seat but you thought you’d probably just drop off again if you sat down.

So you stayed standing, it wasn’t a long journey anyway. And it provided more people watching opportunities. You’d always kept yourself to yourself, always on the quieter and more timid side your entire life. So you’d grown pretty good at reading people.

And the tube was full of… interesting people to look at.

There was always at least one person reading. Usually a dog of some kind tucked in someone’s arms too. Sometimes both. Business men in suits, someone talking too loud on their phone, couples giving far too much pda, a whole array of languages and accents. Maybe a tiny part of you actually enjoyed the tube.

You did feel slightly envious of people sometimes. When you’d see people so clearly more confident and comfortable in their skin than you. Happy to take up space and be heard. The couples too, so unapologetically in love with each other that they didn’t care about where they were or who saw them. It did make you feel a little lonely sometimes.

When you stepped off in Shoreditch you felt far more awake.

You always felt a little out of place in Shoreditch, not even remotely cool enough to be walking around there never mind working. But then again, the antique store you worked in didn’t particularly fit in either. So it was quite the match when you thought about it.

You popped into Costa before heading to the store, grabbing yourself something a little less caffeine based. You were nervous enough around Layla as it was never mind adding coffee shakes to the mix. And grabbed something for Layla too. Before finally heading to work a little later than planned.

You pushed open the stiff door of the shop, balancing the drinks as you did. The door itself was practically antique you were certain it had never been changed and that one day it would just stick completely, locking you in or out.

She was no where in sight as you closed the door, the tiny brass bell above it tinkling to signal someone had come inside. The little portable radio was on quietly behind the counter, slightly staticky because it was almost impossible to get a decent signal. It seemed to be half way between two stations. Take that overlapping with stormzy in some odd mash up.

“ there she is! Better late than never sleeping beauty “ Layla appeared from the back room, clearly hearing the bell as you’d entered the shop. She looked as beautiful as ever, her beaming smile made you weak in the knees. You were silently thankful you’d not opted for another coffee after all.

“ sorry I’m late “ she waved a hand as if to dismiss the apology and walked around the counter “ I got you a drink “

“ ooo thank you “ She pulled you in for a quick squeeze of a hug. She enveloped you in a mist of her perfume and shampoo, vanilla and coconut clouding your senses like a drug. Her soft curls tickling your cheek, her hands pressed firmly to your back. You were a total goner. Completely.

“ no problem “ you said quietly as she picked up the cup and drank almost half of it in one go “ thirsty? “

“ I’ve been here since 7! “ she said with a small laugh and stifled a yawn as if to prove the point “ someone was still snoozing at that point “ she teased, pulling a little notepad from the back pocket of her jeans “ I’ve done most of the backstock. We just need to take note of everything on the shop floor. Shouldn’t take us too long “

“ I’m sorry. It just completely slipped my mind “ she gave a small smile and squeezed your arm softly.

“ don’t. It’s fine. I think I’m more productive alone actually. No distractions “ she caught your eye for the briefest second before letting go.

You took half the shop each, taking note of every item the shop had to offer. You wished the system was more efficient. But your boss seemed to want to keep not only the stock antique, but the stocking systems too. You kept glancing over at her as you took note of everything in the silvers cabinet, half hiding behind the cabinet and a silver jug as not to be caught.

But she never seemed to notice you looking. Always oblivious to what you thought was your obvious staring and lovestruck gazes, your stutters and inability to form sentences around her most of the time. Maybe she just put it down to your nervous nature. Which you guessed half of it was in a way.

She reached up to count the pieces of a hand painted dinnerware set, her jumper riding up slightly and exposing a sliver of her skin. You had to look away, your cheeks flushing pink. Pathetic.

When you reached the artwork section your brain started wondering again, looking at one particular piece depicting two girls on a picnic in beautiful flowing dresses. You wondered if they were friends or something more. Old art had a habit of showing women so clearly in love but marking them as friends. Women in intimate and close encounters but descriptions stating that was simply how intimacy worked in that era.

It made you look over at her again.

You knew she liked girls, she’d mentioned it in passing once or twice. Small mentions of an ex girlfriend or a failed date. But you also knew she’d been married to a man. Part of you wondered if she was just one of those girls who only said they liked girls, thinking it was some way to make herself seem more appealing and quirky.

She was too kind, too gentle, too… perfect to be like that though. Wasn’t she? You turned back to the artwork, imagining some perfect date like the one in the paint like that with her. If anything it would be a perfect choice simply because it was relatively stress free. Picnics were relaxing. Calm. Not an anxiety attack trigger in sight.

And it might not even totally come across as a date… in fact she wouldn’t even have to know. You could simply…. Test the waters as it were. Just two friends. Having a picnic. Just like the piece of art.

But having the courage to actually ask her? That was going to take some working up to.

“ almost done over there? “ you startled as Layla called you from the other side of the shop, looking over at you with a smile and leaning back to see you from behind a cabinet.

“ I- yeah. Yeah nearly done “ you made haste and finished taking note of everything on your side of the shop, making sure every piece of an old chess set was there when Layla joined you again.

“ boo “ her voiced was soft, right by your ear and fingers poking at your sides. You startled more at her closeness than her actually making you jump, her warm breath against your skin sending a trail of goosebumps across your arms. Heat rose up your neck and blossomed across your cheeks. You wanted her fingers to dance across those goosebumps, read your skin like brail and understand your feeling without even having to say it.

If only.

“ hey “ you said quietly, softly clearing you throat in hopes she hadn’t noticed your nerves at her closeness.

“ hungry? I’m starved “ she draped an arm over your shoulder the other on her hip and moved next to you, looking down at your notebook. If anyone looked through the windows now they might think you were a couple. You kinda liked that “ just one shelf left to do? “

“ yes “

“ right. I’m gonna go get us some lunch then…. Jolenes? I think we deserve some pastries, don’t you? “ you chanced a look up at her, very much gazing like some lovestruck teenager. She gave you a warm smile, eyes crinkling at the edges and nose scrunching slightly

“ yeah. Sounds good. Pastries “ her smile grew and she gave you a squeeze before letting you go, heading behind the counter and grabbing her bag.

“ right. You get that final shelf done. I’ll go get us some treats. I’ll be like 10 minutes okay? “ you nodded and watched as she fished around her bag for her purse before heading for the door “ get working, you! You’ve got the time it takes me to go get food and get back. If you’re not done I’ll eat yours “ she disappeared out the door with a wink.

You finished the last shelf with a goofy smile on your face, practically floating on air, the same way you always did whenever she paid you any kind of attention that might prove more than just being friendly.

In fact something seemed to click in your brain and all of a sudden you had decided. You would ask her on that picnic. You would. She didn’t have to know it was a date, didn’t have to know your feelings. Your intentions. All she had to know was two people who were friends, having a friendly picnic dinner. That was all.

You would do it. You would do it. It would be easy. Easier than you thought.

‘ hi layla. Want to go on a picnic with me? ‘

‘ layla did you wanna come to the park with me tomorrow? Picnic and the outdoor cinema? ‘

‘ layla. Let’s go to the outdoor cinema with a picnic tomorrow! ‘

You internally groaned at how stupid you sounded, and you hadn’t even said them out loud. You sighed and took note of the remaining items on the shelf.

“ Layla. I was wondering if you wanted to go to the park tomorrow- no…. Layla! Fancy a picnic tomorrow? “ you placed your notebook down with a frustrated sigh “ Layla. Do you like the movie Grease?- everyone fucking likes Grease come on “ you would’ve sounded like a mad woman if anyone entered the shop now “ Layla. The outdoor cinema is running tomorrow. Shall we go? Let’s take a picnic?… not bad not bad “ You made your way back to the counter, now that your side of the shop had been accounted for “ Layla… “

“ yes? “ you dropped your pen as she returned, paper bag in one hand and cup holder of drinks in the other, pushing the door open with her hip and elbow.

“ oh! N-nothing. Talking to myself “ you hurried over to pull the door further open for her.

“ first sign of madness “ she said with a cheeky smile and headed for the counter “ hot chocolate. Almond croissant, lemon muffin “ she said as she opened the paper bag, handing over smaller paper bags to you. You smiled and took the paper cup from her too.

“ thank you “ she rummaged around the bag for her own food, taking a bite into a pain au chocolat with a sigh.

“ gods I’m so hungry “ she practically moaned, taking another big bite. You smiled into your cup, taking a sip of the hot chocolate and feeling your stomach grumble in response.

You were both quiet as you ate your treats, Layla double checking over her notebook and occasionally swiping away pastry crumbs.

You thought about your plans to ask her out. Feeling more relaxed in that moment than you had been all day, a calm atmosphere between you. Comfortable. Barely any butterflies fluttering around in your chest.

“ Layla “ you said softly spurring through it before you could lose the tiny bit of courage you’d found, fiddling slightly with the paper bag your muffin had come in.

“ hmm? “ she glanced up at you, big brown eyes full of kindness and care the same way they always were. You were speechless again, words refusing to form in your mouth now that you were looking her right in the eyes “ y/n?”

‘ I think I’m in love with you would you go on a date with me? Please? ‘

You wished you could say it. Wished you had the balls to just tell her. Instead your mouth just opened and closed a couple of times. You probably looked like an idiot.

“ are you okay? “ she asked with some concern filtering into her words, her hand gently falling on your wrist.

“ I- would you maybe. I mean only if you want- like. I mean- fuck “ your cheeks burned as you failed to even form the sentence you’d been practicing. You felt completely useless.

“ you’re being weird “ Layla said with a raised eyebrow.

“ m’ always weird “ you tried with a slight smile. It made a smile blossom on Laylas face too, the kind that made the corners of her eyes crinkle, the kind that made you want to melt into a puddle on the ground. She playfully nudged your arm and propped her elbow on the counter, chin in the palm of her hand.

“ come on what’s wrong, why are you getting flustered. It’s just me. Remember what I told you, deep breath in your nose, out slowly through your mouth. Gather your thoughts. And try again. You got this “ she was always so kind. So gentle.

You closed your eyes for a brief moment, taking her advice and taking a breath.

“ there’s. There’s this picnic in the park thing happening tomorrow. They’re doing this projector movie and you take a blanket and food and. I was just. Well- do you want to… would you maybe like to go? “ you waited for the frown or the excuse as to why she couldn’t make it. But Instead she smiled and nodded enthusiastically, her curls bouncing around her head.

“ that sounds amazing! Yeah I’ll go with you “ she flipped her notebook closed and picked it up “ come on then let’s get this all finished. don’t wanna be here all day do we “ you watched slightly dumbstruck as she linked her arms with yours and you stumbled slightly as she lead you into the back room for the final checks. She was acting as if it was a totally normal thing to have been asked and you still couldn’t quite believe she had said yes.

But maybe the idea that she may think it was simply just a friends thing was working? Either way. You had a date with Layla and that was both exciting and terrifying as all hell.

You’d never been more nervous in your life as you tried to find a decent outfit for your date. It was silly because Layla didnt even think it was a date, you shouldn’t be treating it as one even if that had been the intention all along.

You looked at the piles of clothes scattering your bed, all the choices you’d decided against before sighing and closing your eyes. You took a deep breath in some attempt to relax before looking back at yourself in the mirror. You looked nice. Not too smart. Not too casual.

You’d been preparing all day, up since 6 with too much nervous energy to sleep any longer. You’d nipped out to get a whole array of snacks and nibbles for your picnic, stopping at a flower seller on the corner on the way home too. Whether or not you’d actually give her the flowers was a whole new story. But you’d brought them all the same.

You wondered what she’d be wearing. If you were too over dressed. Or under dressed. It was silly. This was Layla. She wasn’t going to judge you for something as ficcle as clothes. You were being silly. Over thinking. Getting in your head.

There was a knock on the door and your heart started hammering in your chest. The outfit you had on would have to do.

“ one second! “ you called and headed into the kitchenette to grab the tote bag full of snacks for your picnic, hesitating before carefully putting in the small bunch of flowers too. Hidden so that if you didn’t get brave enough to give them to her she’d never have to know they’d even existed.

You were over thinking things far too much. You shook your head and headed for the front door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

“ Hey! Oh you look nice “ she greeted, beaming smile on her face. You froze, unable to say anything to her “ I brought a blanket and some drinks, like we said. You got the snacks? “ you nodded, still unable to talk as you very blatantly stared at her. She was so. Beautiful. How on earth were you even going to make it through the evening with her looking like that?

It wasn’t like she was even in anything fancy, she just…. Looked nice “ you okay? Y/n? “ she placed a hand on your shoulder, a warm smile on her face. She was going to be the death of you.

“ yeah. Yeah I’m okay. Tired “ she gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze as you said it, sympathy in her eyes

“ fresh air will wake you up. Come on let’s go we don’t wanna miss the start of the movie “ you locked the door to your flat and followed her to the stairs. The lift in your flats hadn’t worked for months now.

A part of you wondered if she knew your secret intentions, knew your fear to ask her outright on a date. You hoped not. She probably just thought it was exactly what it seemed, two friends going out together.

“ did you… did you have a nice day? “ you asked, in some attempt to calm your nerves with some normal conversation.

“ yeah it was fine. Nothing too exciting. You? “ I spent the whole day panicking about our date that you don’t know is a date and did literally nothing productive. It was great!

“ nothing really “ she smiled and you both fell quiet for a few moments. You were stood so close together her hand was brushing against yours as you walked and it was making your cheeks flush.

You wanted to hold her hand. You wondered if it was soft and smooth or rough with the years she had spent at dig sites in Egypt. If it would fit nicely in your own.

“ oh careful! “ in your daydreaming you hadn’t been paying attention to your surroundings, almost walking right into a lamppost. She grabbed onto your hand and tugged you around it with a laugh and a shake of her head “ you’re away with the fairies today! “ she laughed and squeezed your hand lightly. It was as if she’d read your mind.

“ sorry “ you practically choked on your embarrassment but she just squeezed your hand again and beamed at you.

“ come on let’s get to this movie before you get yourself into mischief “ you noticed as you walked she didn’t drop your hand. Kept it firmly in her own as she walked down the street in her usual confident strides. Maybe she knew you wanted to hold her hand. Maybe you’d been staring. Either way you didn’t really mind.

You made it to the park just as the movie was starting. She found a empty spot in the grass and laid down the blanket, both of you spreading out the drinks and snacks you’d brought with you.

You looked at the flowers in the bag and debated for a moment before taking them out and clearing your throat.

“ erm… Layla “

“ hmm? “ she asked, half looking away from the movie.

“ for you? “ it came out as more of a question than a statement. But you’d gained the confidence to even take them out of the bag. That was something. She turned fully to look at you, a questioning look blossoming into a smile as she saw the small bunch of flowers in your hands.

“ really? “ she asked gently, taking them from your hands “ they’re lovely, y/n “ she pulled you in for a hug, careful not squish the flowers between you. Her perfume flooded your nose and it somehow eased your nerves again.

You got that fluttering feeling in your chest again. As if a million butterflies had erupted out of your heart, filling your lungs so that it took your breath away. She took your breath away.

You barely watched the movie. You watched her. Completely and utterly enamoured by her as you always were, looking away any time she glanced over at you and hoping she hadn’t caught you. Looking particularly interested in the hummus and carrots and hoping your cheeks werent too bright. It seemed to work for the most part.

She sang along to the songs, nodding her head along to the beat, curls bouncing around her face in a way that was mesmerising. You felt as though you should be trying to make some kind of conversation with her, ask her about her dating life? isn’t that what happened on dates?

“ would. Would you ever date anyone like Danny? “ you asked and laughed a little, planning to play it off as a joke if she found it weird.

“ no way. He’s awful to her most of the time! “ you nodded and pushed a mini sausage roll around on your paper plate

“ who would you then? Date I mean? “ she shrugged, still watching the screen intently

“ someone kind. That’s boring isn’t it? But it’s what I want. I’ve done the whole moody, brooding, tough guy type. Maybe I need a little change. Someone a little softer “ she glanced over at you and it flushed your cheeks red for the millionth time, causing you to focus back on your plate again.

“ your husband? He was like that? Moody? “

“ so moody “ she said with a sigh, still watching the screen “ and secretive “ you watched her face carefully, trying to decipher her exact thoughts. Trying to decide if it was longing or sadness you were hearing in her voice. Longing to have the man back or sadness that it was over, but at peace “ you can’t have a relationship that’s built on secrecy you know? It doesn’t work “

“ what secrets did he have? “ you didnt know why you were asking, you didn’t want to know about him really. The man that had managed to be able to call Layla his own. And had hurt her so badly

“ you wouldn’t believe me if I told you “ she said with a laugh and shrugged “ I have my own secrets too. But I like to think I’ll get to the point some day to tell someone, if I loved them. I thought I loved Marc and I thought he loved me but… so many secrets “ you cautiously reached over and squeezed her hand lightly and she smiled “ don’t worry I’m fine. Over it. Besides got my eye on someone new “

Your heart sank. It felt as though it were made of lead, plummeting from your chest and weighing heavily in your stomach. You dropped her hand and reached for your drink, some attempt to hide your burning disappointment. Of course she liked someone. And no doubt they liked her back too. Of course

Layla didn’t seem to pick up on your upset, grinning at the screen as Sandy appeared after her make over “ she looks totally amazing but it’s sad she has to change for him isn’t it? “ you nodded “ she looks hot. But I think I liked her better before “

“ why? “ she shrugged again

“ quite. Kind. Caring… sweet. Not trying to prove anything to anyone. I like that “

“ I always thought that. When I was younger I loved Sandy I always felt a lot like her “ you tried your best to appear as normal as could be, ignoring your disappointment and heartbreak that Layla would soon be in work talking about someone that wasn’t you.

“ do me a favour? Never go get some hot biker make over then “ she said with a grin and nudged you with her arm. Humming along with the song “ I quite like you how you are, the ‘Sandra D’ type huh? “ you gave her a small smile and nodded

“ no pleather jumpssuits. Got it “

The movie ended and she offered to walk back with you, proudly carrying the flowers you felt stupid about bringing now.

You expected her to say goodbye at the door to your building but she insisted she walk you right to your door. Part of you just wanted her to leave, you wanted to cry into a pint of ice cream for the rest of the night about how stupid you were. But she was too kind. Too polite. Of course she wanted to ensure you got home safe.

As you reached your door you placed the food bag down and rummaged in your handbag for your keys.

“ thank you for co- “ as you looked back up to her, before you could even finish your sentence, she was pressing a soft kiss to your lips, so sudden it took you by surprise. You froze. Not even kissing her back right away, too In shock to even process what was going on.

Your eyes fluttered closed and she smiled against your lips, clearly feeling you relax slightly, a hand sliding to press against your lower bag and pull you in closer.

“ Layla- I… what? “ she giggled at your shock, nudging the backs of her fingers against your burning cheek as she pulled away. She simply shrugged.

“ most people end a date with a kiss. Why should we be any different? And you didn’t seem to be getting my hints “

“ date? What date I.. no this wasn’t- maybe it was but- when? “ she laughed again as you failed to string together a sentence for the second time in a row, brain foggy with the memory of her soft plump lips brushing against your own. You felt like melting into the floor below you. But she was more than used to it by now.

“ you had me at first I won’t lie to you. But the flowers? Very cute attempts at flirting? Is that why you were so nervous when you asked me? Cause it’s a date? Hm? “ it did feel like a weight off your shoulders honestly, you gave a small sigh as your shoulders physically relaxed under the metaphorical weight leaving.

“ yes “ you prepared yourself for the let down, for her to say it was sweet and all. But she didn’t like you like that. But instead she simply smiled and leant back in, lips brushing over yours, noses bumping slightly. And then she kissed you again.

You were thankful she seemed to know what she was doing far more than you, holding your face so gently in her hands whilst yours hung useless and slightly awkward in between you. It was how you’d always imagined it, her lips as soft as you’d thought, the slight taste of her coconut lip balm hovering in your mouth. When she pulled away the second time she placed another soft kiss to your nose before stepping back.

“ how about- “ Layla spoke again, brushing your hair away from your face gently “ I take you on a date next hmm? There’s this amazing restaurant in Hammersmith that does traditional Egyptian cuisine, it’s awesome. I can take you there? The Basbousa there will rot your teeth in the best way I promise “

you couldn’t quite find the words still, shock still rendering your voice useless as you realised Layla wanted to take you on date. You. Your feelings weren’t one sided. She did like you back. She did want to go on a date with you.

“ that’d be amazing “

#my lil gay heart does flips writing for her fr #layla el faouly x reader #layla el faouly #moonknight fanfiction #moonknight #marvel #mcu #Steven grant #marc spector #jake lockley #x you #x reader #may calamawy #scarlet scarab #moonknight x reader #fluff

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lovelaetter · 2 years

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omg please give us your thoughts on the winter x vampire gf

CW: MONSTERFUCKING, BLOOD

see this as an universe where vampires are known to exist, feared, and love to take poor humans and call them pets (against their will most of the times but it’s not the case here)

big bad vampire gf and adorable pet gf minjeong who follows you around everywhere and loves you so much no matter the terrible things you do. people always get surprised that you didn’t kill her after the first week because that’s what always happened but she seemed special. her blood tasted different, she never appeared to be afraid of you, so you decided to keep her around for some more time to see what would happened and well… you fell for her. it was inevitable, soon she went from only pet to pet girlfriend <3

her sitting in your lap or by your feet during meetings (yes, meetings, you’re that important in the vampire world) because she’s a whiny, spoiled thing and gets sad if you’re away for too long, which often leads to you groping her, pulling her shirt up and exposing her tits, sliding your hands under her dress or skirt, sometimes even telling her to strip right there in front of everyone so you can have better access, all while casually hearing what the others have to say, answering questions, etc. she gets terribly shy with all the eyes on her, so many thirsty creatures that can smell her arousal and would love to be in your place, have her in their arms, but they can’t, that’s a privilege only you hold and that thought turns her on so much :( feeding from her in front of them too! sinking your fangs on her neck and suddenly all the talk inside the room stops, the smell of her blood messing with everyone but there’s nothing they can do and with just a simple look of yours they go back to talking.

very specific thought but thinking about when meetings are held at your house and a few minutes after it begins she walks inside your office, fresh out of the shower and wearing this long see through robe and it’s clear she’s completely naked underneath it, ready for you to use, running to you all smiley, not minding the others… perfect girl :(

her being so willingly to let you drink from her, always wearing wearing clothes that expose certain parts of her body that she knows drive you crazy. little freak who moans too loud whenever your fangs are on her, it’s almost sexual to her, you try to hold back, not take too much to not make her weak but if it was for her you could drink until she passed out. probably gets a little mad if you go out to hunt… nothing big, just gets offended that you feel the need to do so when you have her at home.

also, it’s almost a rule: if you drink from her, you have to fuck her after. she gets so needy it would be a crime if you didn’t, kissing you, not caring for the metallic taste of her own blood on your lips, asking you to take her right where you two are, and, being completely honest, she would want you to completely destroy her. you have stamina for days so make her cry, beg for you to stop, pass out from cumming and keep going, there’s nothing she can do, you’re so much stronger than her… masochist girlfriend minjeong! nothing makes her happier than waking up the next day in your arms with her body full of the marks you left on her :( the bites inside her thighs that you give when you’re down eating her out? she loves it. the soreness of her cunt because you went too rough? yes, please! and when you use her ass too..

obsessed with the idea of her kicking and screaming because your fingers are going in and out of her too fast, tongue lapping at her clit non-stop until she can’t hold it anymore and squirts in your mouth and over the sheets :( and when she thinks you’re finally letting her rest, you’re back at sliding a finger inside her abused hole

#asks #aespa smut #winter smut #cw: monsterfucking #cw: blood

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yowlthinks · 2 months

Text

Some mornings I wake up and want to cry. I am exhausted, it is quarter to six and I would love to keep sleeping but my toddler is awake and full of energy so I slog downstairs, leaving everyone else to sleep. This happens every single day with the variety being the actual wake-up: sometimes it is earlier, sometimes I can even get to a little past 6. Sometimes I get up through the night too...

I deal with the evenings too, of course, and on weekends I am mostly there too. And I know children are only this small for a short period of time, and I enjoy spending time with them.

But I am also approaching critically low battery level. I need some sort of downtime, but at home, because I have so much stuff to do. But my days start with getting the kids ready, then work and then immediately dealing with kids again, there is hardly any downtime, and it is taking a toll on me and my health. Like physical health: I can see I look bad, and ai am somehow gaining weight, while I need to loose 20kg to feel myself, to like myself again.

The problem is, I don't know how to rebalance it all. I want to go to the gym, but by the time the kids are down and the key chores are done it is 9pm or even later, and I am exhausted, and operating on 5h of sleep is not easy. I am underslept, so my willpower is not great and I crave carbs (which is probably where the problems start).

I try to make sure my partner gets enough sleep, if I am already awake, what is the point of waking up someone else. I feel like I need to somehow plan time specifically to myself, but then... well, it is not very fair, is it? There are times when I take one or the other child to classes, so my partner is looking after the other. It is not like he is having some free time exactly, so I feel bad asking for time just by myself.

I am trying to figure out why I need this and my partner doesn't. I mean, he has the office commute, I wfh. He seems to be ok, while I am on the verge of tears and feel totally out of it. And the problem is, the more tired I am, the less I delegate and the more I try to crawl through it, what happens is that I try to withdraw more, which means others take more space, which means I feel cornered. It's a viscious circle, and I am trying to remember what the therapist said before they stopped my sessions nearly 2 years ago. The little recharging breaks like watching even half an episode of a series at lunchbreak come to mind. But my lunchbreaks lately are... well, taken over by work or I feel too guilty or too impatient, I have no idea why.

Many people here in NL take a 4 day week with a paycut (and less holidays), spend one more day with their kids instead of taking them to daycare or aftershock care. I feel like I have no capacity for this, with an already super-tight budget and the bare minimum of holidays, and already giving the kids all my spare time. I know a lot of people have it way harder, and I have no idea how you guys are doing this.

#i need to do better #i can do better #i just don't know how #personal

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makur0 · 2 years

Note

hihi! could i request an izumi x fem!reader where they just got married, and izumi has always wanted his children running around for the longest time, and just imagining his wife’s belly round and full of his children gets him acting up (in other words, he has a huge breeding kink)- so one fateful night, he creates a super romantic environment in their shared bedroom, and things escalate as he vows to fill her up with his kids ;) perhaps a timeskip at the end where izumi gets his wish of seeing his wife full if that’s not too much!

“‘M gonna fill you up~”

synopsis — it may not be obvious, but izumi wants a certain something... from you. so one fateful night, he decides to take action. [izumi sena x fem! reader]

content warnings — nsfw, mdni. top! izumi, penetration, breeding, nicknames, body worship, izumi somehow being a fluffy yet sexy man, chaotic leo at the end

authors note — IZUMI GIVE ME ONE CHANCE- uh, ignore that. Anyways, YES I AGREE 100 PERCENT THIS MAN IS A CHILD LOVER and breeder. Ahem, but thank you anon for the detailed request, this was really nice to do!

word count — 1849

EVEN WHEN THE TWO OF YOU HAD JUST GOTTEN MARRIED, THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS ON HIS MIND.

You wouldn’t even expect it. How does a person like Izumi Sena, a seemingly rough and high-classed individual, have a liking towards children? Well, to be specific, your children.

Children that would make the two of them parents. Children that would force them to wake them up in the morning for school, make lunches for them, entertain them during the evening, and settle them for bed at night. Children that were really either a pain in the ass or angels in disguise.

Izumi couldn’t stop daydreaming about that.

Of course, this was putting a lot on his plate. Being a model and an idol was enough. Being a father to young kids? Well...

When this idea first popped into his mind (Which was roughly a week later from the wedding), he had decided to not bring the topic up until he was perfectly sure that it would work out, simple or not. He wasn’t worried that you would bring up the topic yourself. In fact, you have explicitly stated that whatever he chose for the two of them, you would tag along immediately. Sometimes Izumi would look at you and just imagine toddlers clutching onto your legs, wide curious eyes staring up at you as you educated them sweetly.

It was his go-to during boring periods of time. During the day, of course. But as he came home from work and was exhausted from small jobs, his dream took a slight turn.

Oh, how beautiful you would look with your stomach bulging from his seed, eyes ridden with lust and love as he would continue to come inside of you again and again, so much that it would spill out and coat your thighs. The idea of literally fucking children into you, well, it was enough for Izumi to go through the night alone whenever he had to travel for work.

The week turned into a month, and he was getting more impatient by the second.

He wanted to have children with you. Now.

You were getting home from work after a late shift, yawning as you fumbled with your keys. Unlocking the door and stepping inside your house, you almost cried in relief as the familiar scent of your home washed through you. After a long week, you were extremely glad that you had a break to recollect your sanity lost from your job.

You tossed your coat and shoes to the side, barely noticing that a familiar pair was already on the rack. Throwing your bag onto the couch and shuffling into the kitchen, you prepared to make dinner for yourself and Izumi until something caught your eye.

“Hm...? Uh, Izumi?” Blinking and confirming that his belongings was indeed there, you called out for your husband. “You’re home?”

Footsteps resounded from the hallway, and the silver-hair male drifted into the kitchen, giving you a rather tight squeeze and a kiss to your cheek. “Hey, love,” He greeted. “Sorry, I was doing something...”

You let out an amused hum, shifting to get the pans. Izumi stayed rather close to you, almost hovering above you as you tried to get dinner ready. “I’m surprised that they let you out early, hun.”

“Yeah, well,” Letting out a small snort, Izumi placed a hand on his hip. “Since I’m the only one in charge of my schedule now, nobody has to tell me where I need to be. But... I did have to convince the photographer to have me get my pictures done early.”

Laughing out loud, you softly slapped a hand against his shoulder as you passed him to look into the cabinet. “What is so special about today that you had to come home early?”

Blush started to dust his cheeks, his blue gaze wavering. “Uh...”

A shocked, amused noise left you, your eyes wide with humor as you stood up straight, lifting a small bottle of pink perfume.

“Izumi? What’s this? Did Arashi forget where the makeup cabinet was?”

“No!” Rushing, he slid over and snatched the bottle out of your hands. “No, no no. Uh, first of all, that woman is never allowed in our house. Second of all, why are you laughing?”

You shook your head, trying to calm down your chuckles. “Nothing, nothing~ just never thought you liked those rose perfumes. What are you doing with them, hm? Did-”

“I want to have kids.”

Izumi stared at you, your expression going slack as your arms lowered to your sides. “Huh?”

He grabbed your hands and lifted them up, his gaze confident. “I want to have kids,” He repeated. “I want children. I want to be a father. I want to bre-”

“Really?!” An excited gasp left you, your hands ripping away from his as they covered your mouth. “You’re not joking?!”

“Why would I be?”

“Izumi!” You squealed. “This is amazing! I never thought that somebody like you would like having kids running around... babe, this is so sweet!”

The silver-haired male nodded quickly. “Yes yes, I really do.”

“So what, do you want them later on or-”

“Now.” Cutting you off, he grabbed your waist and pulled you closer. “I want them. Right now.”

...

“Mmm~ love you Izu...”

The rose perfume that you had found earlier drifted through the air, almost cloaking you two in a comfortable blanket as you and Izumi laid on the bed. Your husband had really went all out. Scented candles were set on the window side, the curtains drawn as the last rays of the sun hit both of your naked body figures. He had even planned for after sex, a small cup of water sitting on your nightstand along with a calming playlist set on his phone (And there were several pregnancy tests under the bed, but you weren’t able to find them yet).

“‘M gonna fill you up so good~” He breathed out, brushing his lips against the base of your neck. One hand slowly fingered you, making sure you were ready and perfectly comfortable. “Right? Princess?”

You moaned out a ‘yes’, your eyes half-lidded as you stared back up at him. After prepping you thoroughly and tasting your juices, he dived in for a kiss as he entered into you. He swallowed your string of moans, his tongue exploring your mouth as he slowly continued to grind into you.

You broke away from him with a gasp, a string of saliva connecting your plump lips. “Please, Izumi-”

“I got you, love,” He groaned, resting his head on your shoulder as he started thrusting. He wanted to keep his composure for as long as he could, for the sake of you, but he underestimated how good you felt. Your tight, warm walls were swallowing him up, almost tantalizing him to break. He scrunched his eyes shut, trying to focus on your pleasure as he gradually quickened his pace.

Your lips were pressed together tightly, your moans coming out in hums as your eyes fluttered close. Izumi sighed loudly, his hands wrapping around your body.

“You look so beautiful under me, princess,” He groaned, his eyes clouded with hunger as he started to fuck you at a steady pace. Your fingers clutched onto his back, swallowing all the pleasure up as he gave it to you. “You’re gonna look good- so good- with my children inside of you~”

“M-hm!” Your breath hitched into another moan as he picked up his pace, your legs kicking up and wrapping around him. Soon enough your lips parted, all the muffled noises clear in Izumi’s ear as he pressed you against the sheets.

A curse left his lips, his movements becoming jerky as he came close to his high. With a sharp moan and his grip tightening on you, he poured his hot load into you. The feeling of him coming into you caused your insides to tighten, coming undone right after him.

Izumi pressed a hand on your pelvis, his eyes staring down at you as if he was imagining something. His movements didn’t stop, keeping his moderate pace as he continued to fuck you. Your moans got louder as he pushed you towards your sensitivity point, but this is what you were expecting. Wrapping your arms and legs tighter around his own sweaty figure, you hummed against his collarbone, pressing your lips against it.

The rose perfume was soon overpowered by the scent of sex, and the noises let out by the two of you increased. As you began to lose energy, Izumi seemed to gain it. Finally, after so long, he had you right where he wanted you. Thankfully, being the considerate person you were even when your mind was in shambles, you didn’t try to stop him nor pull away. You took what he gave you.

Izumi let out a stuttered moan as he came into you again... possibly the fourth, fifth try. His seed now decorated your hole and thighs, making you look like the most beautiful thing in his opinion. As he caught eye contact with you, he reached over to give you another kiss, one of his hands reaching to the back of your head to get you closer to him.

“F’sure... you’re gonna have my kids...”

And if not tonight, then tommorrow. And if not tomorrow, the next day. Now that Izumi was given permission, he wouldn’t stop until he was confirmed with a kid of his own.

---

“Ucchuuuu~ is anybody in there?”

A head of flaming orange hair was pressed against you, talking nonsense. Leo Tsukinaga, being the clown he was, tried (and failed) to converse with your swollen stomach.

“Get- get away from her!” Izumi shooed off his friend, scowling as his unitmate let out a loud laugh. “Don’t corrupt my kid!”

You let out a chuckle of your own. “It’s alright, love. He’s just poking fun.”

Tsukasa glanced at you as you straightened your posture, a quick expression of pain flashing through your face. “When are you expecting?”

“A few- ooh- weeks or so,” You let out a breathy laugh. “I have a feeling she’s gonna come earlier, though.”

“It’s a girl?!”

“He’s a she?!”

Arashi and Leo spoke over each other, one looking delighted while the other betrayed. The blonde skipped over to you, grabbing your hands and pumping them up and down. “Yay! More girls in the family! I promise that I’ll be the best big sister ever!”

“It was supposed to be a boy!” Leo wailed, ignoring Izumi’s glare. “He was going to be my partner in crime!”

“No, he wouldn’t be,” The silver-haired male snapped back.

Ritsu waltzed over, taking a seat next to you. “No matter the gender, we’ll all accept her. Congrats, Izuchan, [name].”

Arashi coddled him, exclaiming how he was finally being the supporting human he was supposed to be. In the midst of it you caught Izumi’s eye, and you softly grinned at him.

Your husband hid a flustered smile of his own, blushing with slight embarrassment.

You look so cute holding my kids.

#enstars #enstars smut #ensemble stars smut #ensemble stars #izumi sena x reader #izumi sena #izumi sena smut #THIS WAS SO FLUFFY I LOVE IT

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harmonizewithechoes · 4 months

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Some things I didn’t expect about being a parent to 3 children under the age of 5 (mostly observations from our adventure of a day today)

1. There is so much fighting and nearly all of it is because someone is mad that they are being touched by someone who isn’t mommy. Mommy is always allowed to touch/hold/kiss/cuddle/etc any child and I am often subjected to constant touching against my will. I get so touched out some days that my skin is crawling by the time they go to bed and I need to sit by myself for a while before I can be touched again. But god forbid the baby try to give anyone a hug or anything.

2. Some day you might find yourself trying to explain to a crying 4 year old that you can’t go back to the hair salon and have them reattach his hair just because he hates his new haircut now. The haircut he was overjoyed about just 5 minutes ago. The haircut he specifically asked for so he could look like his daddy. Now he hates it suddenly and you’re the worst person in the world for allowing anyone to touch his hair. Agree with him when he says he’ll never get another haircut again. This is the best move going forward.

3. Sometimes you need to play mind games with toddlers when it comes to food. They all go through phases where they refuse to eat at mealtimes but are often okay with snacks. Just let them opt out of lunch and then 20 minutes later offer them the same food for a “snack”. This works 9/10 times. The other time you will be faced with a huge tantrum.

4. Of course the child that hates bathtime and especially hair washing will be the one to smear a handful of mashed potatoes in their hair. It’s the only way to convince them that they need a good scrub sometimes. There are times you’ll plan to make an especially messy meal just so you have an excuse to get them in the tub 3 times a week. Of course they’ll scream when you’re just trying to get them clean as quickly as possible. That’s just how things are right now.

5. These are all very tiring things to have to deal with as a parent but you will wake up tomorrow excited to see what kind of chaos your wonderful children have in store for you. Your heart is so full of love for these strange little beings. You would die for them. You would kill for them. You decide it’s better to live for them instead.

#personal #y’all I’m tired #I didn’t even mention the daily conversation about death and everything that entails #or the way you don’t realize how much they’re paying attention to you until they ask what you’re feeling to make that facial expression #i love them dearly #I also need a vacation from them for a few days #it’s a weird feeling

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catboii · 7 months

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← Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 → Full Thread

[Day ####]

It’s been several days since there were any markable concerns. No breaches, no alerts, no deaths on the clock... Everything has been running smoothly. As it should.

The Overseer of the current area leads their Agents through the corridors, writing up directives for the daily observations and handing them to the respective Agent.

The Anomalies here are usually very quiet, although sometimes, one of them will just sort of- change… Wake up… And then they completely flip. You can’t trust them. Sometimes Agents have underestimated what seemed like a normal inanimate object, like the hairbrush that hypnotises people, pulling them with psychic tendrils into its room, so that they'll brush their hair with it, then two weeks later they'll wake up from a coma; or a small animal, like the mouse that turned out to eat concrete and burrowed out by nibbling around the steel reinforcements before anyone noticed. There was so much paperwork...

Most of the chambers look the same, bland, metallic grey inside and out, the only difference being the cautionary and instructional stickers of varying sizes, shapes and colours, on the corridor-side of their doors. Some have more than others, and some seem to tell a story. 'No eye contact', 'No turning your back', 'No auditory interaction', 'Unconfirmed: Inanimate', etc; the list could be endless as more instructions are being discovered and printed every day, although it's not a fast process as the braille needs to be sized and punched correctly. Whenever something is Suspected, they use a medium sized Yellow sticker, with a dashed border for the colourblind. If something is confirmed, then it’s a larger sized Red sticker with a bold border. There are the occasional smaller, Green stickers, with a wavy line as a border; this makes them look more whimsical and friendly, although doesn’t mean that whatever is being contained is safe, just that the action is ‘safe’, such as 'Safe: Eye contact', 'Safe: Slow movement', 'Safe: Liquid exposure'. As it’s quite difficult to confirm that something truly is ‘safe’, there aren’t as many Green stickers as the others, and they’re easy to peel off, in case something turns out to not actually be safe... There are alot of Yellow stickers through the halls, as it’s all too easy to have an unconfirmed suspicion, rather than to prove that something is safe or not.

After a few Agents are sent on their assignments, the Overseer leads the remaining toward another bland silver door, with the usual square viewing window and several Yellow stickers: the expected, and potentially obvious instructions when approaching any wild animal, ‘maybe don’t touch or feed this thing, it might bite, but we’re not sure’. There are also some White and, some rarer, Black stickers though. The White stickers are confirmed guidelines, Agents normally call the neat little sections of White stickers Biogs, as they’re a bit like summaries, and you need a better name than ‘what do their Whites say?’ when discussing cases with your peers. The Black stickers, however, are important notes to keep in mind if you have to go into the room. These are always very specific, but usually a little cryptic, as if their info is on a need to know basis. Which it sort of is, as they only get explained to you if you’re the one going in.

Most Anomalies in this section have the White 'Does not eat' sticker, as they’re inanimate objects (less of an instruction, just an observation that it doesn’t need to be fed, although someone must have tried, to be able to confirm it, which summons amusing images of Agents trying to coax mysterious Diaries or amulets to nibble on some fruit or a raw steak), but this one also has this sticker, and it appears to be some kind of small animal. Trying to peer through the door window, Agent 23 thinks it looks like a crow sitting in the middle of the floor, although there are too many layers of thick, toughened glass to get a clear view from this distance. There also appears to be a large, Red, octagonal sticker ,right beside the White one that looks like the 'Do not approach' instruction, based on the size and shape, but it’s covered by a Black sticker frantically scribbled over with what looks like black sharpie? As if someone was trying to take it back, but didn’t have the right sticker to hand. The white text is still easily readable, and says 'Caution level C-3'. The Caution level 'C' stickers are reserved for the Anomalies that have shown cannibalistic traits, which is a rabbit hole of a definition when you consider that these Anomalies aren’t human, and eating other animals is a perfectly normal carnivore activity… for animals.

But why would a creature that doesn’t eat, according to that White sticker, show interest in eating other creatures..?

Moreover, the level is a scale, like 1:1 or 1:10 in scale models. 'C-1' is for creatures that will attack and/or eat other creatures the same size as them, 'C-0.5' would mean creatures half their size, etc. So 'C-3' means that it’s 'shown an interest' in attacking and eating something three times its own size. Which, based on how small it is, doesn’t sound too worrisome. And besides, this must have been observed before it was put into containment...

As the Overseer looks over the paperwork left hooked on the door, a couple of the Agents peer through to the chamber. There are three interlock doors, which seems excessive for such a small creature. Two is perfectly fine for most of the other, larger Anomalies. Besides, the extra door space takes away some of the chamber space, leaving it alot smaller, even if the creature inside isn’t very big itself. There aren’t any perches or furniture inside, nothing for enrichment. There are also two chairs outside the doors, one either side, when there are usually just two. Only one is the metal kind with the little document shelf under the seat though, the other doesn’t look like it belongs here, more like it’d been dragged from somewhere else, possibly a staff room on another floor, since the ones on this floor are cushioned.

“Alright,” the Overseer starts confidently, “have any of you had any experience with this Anomaly?” Two of the six Agents raise their hands, one being Agent 23, a low level Agent who'd been working at the Facility for three years so far. “Perfect. Now please lower your hand if any of those experiences have been negative in any way, if you have verbally expressed any negative thoughts around this doorway, or if you may have been overheard disciplining another Anomaly or member of staff in this hallway, at all”, they slightly raise their voice at the end, as if to emphasise how important this was. Agent 23 keeps her hand raised, but she couldn’t see why any of the staff would do anything like that; however, the other Agent had already lowered his hand, but Agent 23 wasn’t sure at which point of the statement. The Overseer looks down at the clipboard, ‘uh-huh’s to themself a few times, then hangs it back on the designated hook. “Alright. You may lower your hand now. The rest of you, I trust you have jobs to do, you’re dismissed. Agent 23, I’ll instruct you on your tasks for the next…” they pause, as if thinking, “week. If all goes well”.

The instructions sound like the usual, to observe the Anomaly through the cameras and the door windows, to record everything on the sheet every hour. Although there are also extra, lined sheets to fill in if the Anomaly tries to communicate. Any sign of intelligence should be recorded. It's been reported to react to the verbal greetings given by the Agents through the intercom, and if someone gets close to the glass, sometimes it seems to be looking toward the door. The Overseer has instructed 23 to actually try to get it to respond this time, however she can. If it looks like it’s reacting to the intercom, to continue talking, to see if it’s just the noise, or if it’s the actual speech it recognises. There are the odd notes in the ‘Guide’ that say that it has been observed to obey basic commands such as ‘step away from the door’, ‘stand still’ and such like.

All of the initial pages in the observation log seem to have been crudely torn out, then the first intact pages have nothing written on them aside from the first boxes having mention of observations being difficult, due to the Anomaly being ‘outside’. 23 decides this must mean before it was put into containment, and was just being observed; because if it had breached containment, then there would be far more paperwork, and more Red stickers on the door. Breachers normally went to a far more secure floor several stories lower, and had their own guards stationed at every checkpoint. The pages documenting the last month or so are all basically uneventful, and nothing of note jumps out at her.

As 23 turns on the intercom to read the obligatory greeting statement, there’s a slight electrical crackle-buzz as the speaker turns on, and a red LED indicator light at the bottom lights up. The small, crow-like creature turns its head toward the soft sound, its eyes dull and reflectionless, staring slightly off from the main door camera, as the intercom speaker is about a foot underneath. “Greetings. I’m Agent 23,” she begins, trying to sound casual, though professional, as if she doesn’t feel the least bit silly trying to talk to a bird, who probably doesn’t understand anything she’s saying, “I’ll be observing you today. I’ll be here for-” she briefly flicks her eyes down from the monitor to check her notes, quickly counting the start to finish times in her head, “Six hours. Please go about your business as normal.” She lets go of the intercom button, and it makes that same quiet crackle, then silence resumes.

The creature keeps staring toward the speaker for a moment, then, as 23 observes as instructed, she thinks it glances up to the main camera, but it keeps turning, openly facing one of the side cameras, just staring toward it for what feels like the longest moment. 23 starts to wonder if it can somehow see her, and that its watching her, so she makes a little waving motion with her hand at the monitor to see if it'll react… But then it turns to face the back wall, away from the three cameras pointing toward it, and stays facing that direction.

The rest of the day is relatively uneventful, another Agent nearby makes a breakthrough when they say they got a recording of an inanimate object moving, and they furiously scribble in their observational notes. 23’s ward just sits there, once or twice taking a few slow steps toward one side of the room, a few hours later going to the other side.

Once it’s time to finish up, she stands, stretching her arms above her head, making a little squeak noise through her nose as her spine pops, and when she turns toward the intercom, she notices the creature on the camera monitor, looking toward the door. Perhaps it could see her shadow move? She pauses briefly before pressing the intercom, there’s no movement at the buzz this time, not even a twitch. “This is Agent 23. I have concluded today’s observations. I will be returning tomorrow. Thankyou for your cooperation.”

#posted ooc.#drabble.#exp ts.#ts pt2.#scp stuff.#this is entirely self indulgent i dont expect anyone to actually read these lmao dont feel bad if you're reading this and ur like.#'bruh no. that's too long' bc honestly same...#I dunno how many sections/posts this is gonna be. theres like 6-7 more days of notes written up. then there's some more I haven't started #Agent 23 is now my fave she's so sweet #you could say my writing style is insp by Stephen King. in that I write SO MUCH mildly boring exposition and world building. then allude -#- to some stuff happening partway through. then everything all happens at once at the end. lmao #it's in the SCP facility. this was all supposed to be a joke but lookit this bullshit lmao #this is nearly 2k words. the whole thing is like 3.5k so far and most of it is silly drafty notes atm #long post.#readmore.#rambling in tags;;#that might be smth you wanna block if you wanna avoid my monologues. I get too wordy. it's the brainsillies sry

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