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blametheeditor · 23 days

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Terms Of Agreement | Chapter 4

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Run Down: The monster under your bed, the one in the closet, and your sleep paralysis demon fight for custody.

Content Warnings: Cursing. Mentions of sleep paralysis, hallucinations, and sleep deprivation. Mentions of death, murder, and accidental deaths. Mentions of treating others as lesser than, addressing someone as 'it'.

Technical bonding time

_____________________

“F-Fritz!”

Jeremy’s hug is immediately accepted, Fritz clinging to his best friend even though they saw each other only two days ago. To the redhead, it feels like it’s been a lifetime. “Hey, Jer.”

“Are you r-r-ready for school?” the taller asks. “I-If you’re not, I’m sure if you a-asked-”

“I’m ready,” Fritz smiles. Beaks away from the hug to grab Jeremy’s hand to lead him down the street. Not wanting to linger outside his house for too long less three soul hungry beings decide to come outside and demand he better not be late. Or possibly see it as not appreciating such ‘freedom’ and decide to revoke it. “But thanks for asking.”

“How are y-you? You l-l-look better.”

Fritz would’ve thought Jeremy was just trying to be nice if he hadn’t noticed it himself this morning while starring at the mirror. By no means does he look healthy, and there are still large dark spots under his eyes, but he does look better. Which is weird to think about and not something Vincent, David, or James can claim as their doing. At least intentionally. He has a feeling it had to do with getting a full night’s sleep for the first time since he can remember.

No nightmares. No shadows lurking in the corner. No sounds jolting him awake. Just dreamless sleep until his alarm clock announced it was time to get up.

He gives a shrug. “I’m okay.”

“You won’t be wh-when Mrs. Vance g-g-gives o-our Monday quiz,” Jeremy says, upset himself considering they’ll both be taking it.

“Why didn’t you remind me!”

“I f-f-forgot about it until now!”

And Fritz tries to forget about what’s waiting for him when he goes back home at the end of the school day. Focuses on the fact Jeremy is by his side. That he’s able to go to class like nothing has changed. Get in trouble for not finishing his homework without the threat of death looming over his head.

Would they care about me having bad grades?

The thought forces Fritz to pay attention even as his teacher drones on about math. His best subject, but not the most entertaining one.

Do they know about schoolwork and if I have a project coming up?

Even if they don’t, Fritz can still use it as an excuse to spend more time outside of his house. Maybe he can say doing homework at Jeremy’s house is better for him.

Would they be suspicious or know I’m lying if I claim to have extracurricular activities?

In case they would, Fritz decides to finally snag the flyer advertising the robotics club. His mom would’ve wanted him to at least think about it, especially after making excuse after excuse to not even check it out.

It goes by too quickly. Finds himself walking next to Jeremy through the now open gate as they make their way back home. Back to demons who want to eat his sole, and monsters who don’t realize he could die from the simplest of actions, the promise tonight will be far from a restful one.

“What’d you get on the quiz?” Anything to distract him.

“I got h-half o-of them wrong,” Jeremy murmurs with a wince. “My dad’s n-n-not going to be h-happy.”

“We’ll study sometime this week for the next one, deal?”

“D-Deal.”

Frtiz smiles up at his best friend in the hopes he looks supportive rather than terrified. It’s taking everything in him not to start trembling now that they’re standing outside his house, the front door wide open.

Jeremy gives the sight a confused look. “A-A-Are your caretakers w-waiting for you?”

“Care- um, yeah, they are,” the redhead quickly responds to cover up his own confusion. But off course he’s supposed to have actual ‘caretakers’. A sixteen year old can’t live by themself when there’s a mortgage to pay and food needing to be bought.

...now that he thinks about it, how did Vincent get the ingredients needed for everything he’s cooked so far? Fritz recognized the meat from when his mom bought it a week ago, but he can’t remember the last time there were carrots in the house. And why hasn’t anyone come by to check on him?

Questions he’ll be asking, and hopefully these ones won’t make him regret it.

“Are they n-nice?”

Ha.

“They’ve been taking care of me,” is all Fritz can offer. Then he steals another hug. “See you tomorrow, Jer.”

“H-Have a good night!”

Fritz takes a deep breath as he marches up the steps. Prepares himself for threats, the posibility of being grabbed at any moment, his hatred for carrots used against him.

At least he was ready for when the door slammed shut, immediately diving to the right and curling into a ball so the gust of wind didn’t have him gaining any new bruises. Just an overwhelming feeling of terror that he tries to settle before facing whatever is waiting for him.

He has a feeling he’ll never get used to the sight of a giant standing directly overhead. Even though David’s proven he won’t be crushing Fritz beneath the sole of his expensive leather shoe anytime soon, it does nothing to truly ebb away at his fear.

“Welcome home,” the monster rumbles.

“Good- h-hi,” Fritz corrects himself.

David rolls his eyes. “Vincent informed me you would have homework. Where do you normally get it done?”

So they do know about schoolwork. Or, at least Vincent does and told the other two what to expect from him. Whether or not they want him to keep goods grades is another matter. “The table.”

“Then I suggest you make your way over there.”

With a rapid nod of his head Fritz quickly stands up before walking toward the kitchen table, glad there’s no carpet this time to slow him down. He can’t imagine how slow he’d be while being encumbered by his backpack. Thankfully everything he needs is inside it. He’ll make sure to always be prepared, not wanting to find out what David would think about Fritz needing to go to his room to grab something.

It takes a few minutes due to his concentration to keep a fast pace, but Fritz finally realizes it’s quite inside the house. None of the familiar sounds of Vincent cooking or the three arguing. James and his sleep paralysis demon aren’t in the kitchen.

“M-May I ask where the others are?”

“We have better things to do than babysit you all day,” David growls as he steps directly beside Fritz to earn a flinch. “Vincent reassured us you can survive without a warm meal for a night.”

There’s no elaboration on what those ‘better things’ include. And maybe it’s best he doesn’t know. However, his stomach growls at the thought of not having dinner. Not that he won’t survive, but it’s been a hit or miss for when he’s actually hungry, and he’d much prefer being able to eat whenever he can. Especially because Fritz can make his own food as long as it’s possible for him to.

David will never open the door, though. Meaning he’ll just need to get into the habit of packing snacks.

Fritz holds back a sigh as he continues on his journey. Stops when the shadow of the round wooden table falls over him, taking a moment to stare directly up. Feels his stomach twist at the thought of somehow climbing up such a massive height.

“Um, how do I-?”

He should’ve known. David’s only tried to pick him up once, and Vincent taught the monster how to do it safely. Yet he hadn’t expected suddenly being lifted up as the straps to his backpack become the only things keeping him from plummeting to his death as the ground gets further and further away.

Fritz tries to scream as he curls up tightly, pleading his grip doesn’t falter. Somehow being able to recognize it was done slowly enough he didn’t feel like he was going to be ripped from his lifeline, but it still makes his heart stop. Kicks when the table is close enough to safely land. Lets go of the straps willingly in order to roll away and not get injured by his books crashing against him once the fingers released their grip.

Except his backpack isn’t let go, David watching him with amusement. “I have to admit, the theatrics can be entertaining at times.”

At least I didn’t end up with a concussion.

He fully expected needing to do something in order to get his backpack back, but the monster drops into onto the table, apparently already bored with it. The only problem is how far the bag fell, landing with a heavy thump. Thank goodness there wasn’t anything breakable inside, but that’s yet another thing to think about. Who knew having three giants living with him would be so exhausting aside from the part of them making him constantly fear for his life.

Speaking of complicated, because he’s small enough to stand on the table means he can’t use it properly. Which means he’ll have to hunch over and balance a folder on his knee in order to get the worksheet done. It’s either that, or he asks David to see if there’s a way they can compromise.

Before he can even think about actually asking, a stack of papers thick enough it could crush him are suddenly dropped onto the table, eliciting a scream as it causes the entire table to shake.

“Move,” David commands as he nudges Fritz with a finger. “For such a miniscule thing, you certainly know how to constantly get in the way.”

The teenager doesn’t argue as he quickly darts closer to the center of the table. Even though he hadn’t realized he had apparently been in the way. Or this was the first time he truly had been. All that matters is keeping the being who will be visiting him tonight as happy as possible so there’s no reason to cause extra suffering. “S-Sorry.”

Fritz tries not to watch papers capable of causing much more than a simple paper cut. Walks away from the giant already focused on his own work before finally settling down himself. Can’t help but flinch at the sound of a pen being used to write sounding more like a torture device as it berates his ears.

Somehow, this is what makes him feel the most out of place in his own home. His heart clenches when Vincent cooks because that’s something his mother should be doing. But seeing David use the table properly while he’s barely big enough to be a paperweight, it drives in the fact this isn’t his home anymore. And it never will be. Because he’s going to lose his soul, and then it won’t matter.

I need to get my homework done.

Deep breaths. Take things one step at a time. This is his new normal now.

Despite the amplified sounds of motions Fritz himself is doing after beginning to fill in answers to his math problems, he manages to mostly ignore it. Flinches whenever David growls or balls up a paper, terrified that will happen to him, he’s able to concentrate. Finish up math and move onto social- he'll save that one for later. But he’ll try to get through English.

David suddenly stands up from his chair. Leaves the table without a word as Fritz yelps as he falls onto his side from the unexpected earthquake.

A quick look at his phone barely holding on to its battery life leaves him blinking in disbelief about four hours have passed. The longest he’s ever done something without deciding to do something else instead. Good news, all of his homework’s finished and a few paragraphs of the essay due next week written. Bad news, his body is not happy, both from sitting in such a contorted position for so long and the fact he hasn’t eaten since lunch at 11 this morning.

“Here.”

Fritz jolts before staring at...a plate balanced on David’s finger. Too confused at the sight to take it.

“I thought-t-”

“I said warm meal,” David sighs. It’s the clear annoyance that has the teenager quickly grabbing the plate. “You’ll have to deal with cold left overs.”

He recognizes the bacon and eggs from yesterday morning, the plate he left untouched after spotting it in the fridge this morning in favor of making his own hashbrowns and toast knowing there will be almost no other time when he’d get to cook.

True to David’s word, both the plate and food are cold. And Fritz quickly begins eating even after noticing the lack of a fork.

With work done and the howling from his stomach quieting down, Fritz finds himself looking at the documents David still has spread out. Staring at symbols he’s never seen before. Ones that start to move.

“Don’t stare at them too long,” the monster snaps with a glance at the startled teenager. “These aren’t meant for mortal eyes.”

“W-Would it forfeit the custody battle?” Fritz asks. Terrified he almost made even bigger enemies with those who already want him dead.

David suddenly laughs. Dark and sinister. Aims a sneer down at the cowering figure, becoming more like a soulless monster rather than an annoyed business man. “Oh no. You’d simply lose your mind.”

It can be said Vincent terrifies him the most. Out of all three, Fritz is most familiar with his sleep paralysis demon. Is well aware what the demon’s abilities are. And due to James making it blatantly clear he views Fritz as nothing more than an object that’s just out of reach instead of a person with thoughts and feelings, it earned the monster under the bed second place on the terror scale.

David still terrifies him, but it’s not as drastic as the other two. While James may be clueless when it comes to certain things, the monster in the closet tends to come off as incompetent. A genuine threat, just incredibly likely to accidentally kill him before he chooses any of them.

But now? One on one? It’s clear he completely misjudged David.

“James might’ve been right,” the monster muses, watching Fritz tremble. “It seems like you don’t have any manners. Not when your eyes wonder where they shouldn’t be.”

He didn’t see the hand reaching for him until fingers are pinching his chest and back. Fritz doesn’t even kick as he’s lifted up, only attempts to hug the finger as tightly as possible to ensure he doesn’t die when he’s inevitably let go. All but whimpers at the sight of pure black pupils staring at him with indifference.

“I believe a lesson is in order. You clearly wanted to read my documents, so why don’t I just let you?”

No, please, I’m sorry!

Fritz clenches his eyes shut tightly, refusing to open them as vertigo makes his stomach flip, knows he’s been lowered closer to the symbols.

“Come now, Fritz. A bit disrespectful to not appreciate my kind gesture, don’t you think?”

“I-I-I'm sorry!” the redhead pleads as he frantically shakes his head, the motion making him dizzy. “I’ll never-r do it again! Please! I'm s-sorry-!”

Fritz screams as he’s let go, eyes opening to see the unimpressed look right before he slams onto a semi-hard surface. One that leaves him gasping for air after painfully knocking it out of him. Nothing’s broken, though, no internal organs ruptured.

He feels the now familiar footsteps of a giant carrying him somewhere. Coughs in pain as he’s slid off what he finally realizes was a hand.

“I suggest you get some rest,” David says. Makes Fritz flinch as a finger invades his space. Realizes it was to nudge open the door to his room. “You’re going to need it.”

Fritz doesn’t wait for the monster to leave. He dives into his room, shakingly slams the door shut, and barely manages to make it to his bed before going limp. But despite how exhausted he is, his body can’t stop the trembles as he falls into a dreamless sleep.

#woot!#look at me being productive #got this posted before it's dark outside!#definitely did not write this instead of doing homework HAHA #but I hope ya'll enjoy!#FNAF bois #g/t #giant #tiny #BTE writing #Terms Of Agreement #cw #content warning

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lena-in-a-red-dress · 2 years

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Crisis Redo, Pt 26 - Finale

Soon, Lex becomes no more than an afterthought. If there's a trial, Lena isn't called to testify. And Kara--- Kara is consumed by the change in Lena.

The heaviness that has sat on her shoulders since regaining her past life memories vanishes seemingly overnight. Kara lives in the smiles that continuously curl Lena's lips, the laughter that emanates from her belly and fills the air with mirth.

Elizabeth registers the difference too. She looks at Kara with a knowing gaze, before it turns to regard the daughter who seems to have come back to herself, and Kara realizes that she's looking at Lena Walsh, the woman who existed before J'onn returned her memories as Lena Luthor.

This is the woman Lena truly is.

Who she should have been, if she'd been surrounded by love and happiness instead of cold reproach.

Kara revels in it.

She scarcely goes back to National City anymore. Loathe to miss even a minute of this unburdened Lena, she finds every excuse to stay in the small town Lena calls home.

They do talk, and though the conversation is necessary, it lacks the heaviness Kara expects. Lena understands, and no longer cleaves to the heartbreak that had destroyed their friendship in the previous reality. It's as though dismissing Lex has softened the blows done unto her, from both him and Kara herself.

All Lena asks is for trust and honesty moving forward, and Kara is happy to grant it. Now, it feels as easy as breathing.

Still, Kara feels as though she stands on a glass surface waiting to crack. She hesitates in asking the question she so desperately wants, afraid beyond reason that the answer may not be the one her heart yearns for.

When the local newspaper editor announces his retirement, however, she knows she can't wait in limbo any longer.

At the spring festival, complete with a medieval maypole and carnival games galore, Kara draws Lena aside.

"Ernie is retiring," she says softly. She feels a little foolish in her minstrel costume, but Lena looks like a queen. Her eyes are as bright as the pearls around her neck, and her hands are warm in Kara's.

Lena rolls her eyes. "He's been saying that for years..."

"He really is," Kara insists. She swallows roughly. "In June. He-- He's asked me to take over the paper."

At that, Lena's gaze stills. She regards Kara with an inscrutable gaze. Keenly aware that the woman in front of her had enough magical power to rewrite reality, Kara can only guess at what she sees. After a long moment, the corners of Lena's eyes tighten as she tilts her head slightly.

"It sounds like you're asking me a question."

She's just not sure which one.

Kara takes a deep breath.

"Can I stay?" Her voice shakes. "Here. In Willow Creek."

Lena's grip on Kara's hands firms. Her gaze softens into an easy smile. "What exactly do you think you've been doing the past six months?"

"Lingering," Kara replies simply. "But I want to stay. Here. With you."

She wants to stay, with thought and deliberation, not just waiting for Lena to tire of her presence. She wants to stay precisely where Lena is. She wants Lena to want her, right where she is. Right here.

Lena doesn't disregard her uncertainty, her apprehension. She could easily laugh, casting Kara's doubts to the wind without a single thought, a quip on her lips. But she doesn't.

"I would like that," she says. Her voice solemn, but her smile lingers. With her hands still in Kara's, she leans in to press her lips to the corner of her mouth. "Your sister won't mind?"

Alex hasn't minded yet. As though she understands now how deeply Kara feels for Lena, how desperately she needs Lena in her life. How her life feels incomplete without her. For all the time Kara has spent in Willow Creek, Alex hasn't once begrudged her.

"If anything, it'll give her an excuse to come visit," Kara returns. "She understands that... I don't want to be anywhere else."

Lena beams. "Well, you know... my mom and I do happen to have a guest room open right now. If you're interested."

As if Kara's belongings aren't already inhabiting the room, her clothes draped over the chair and her shampoo in the bathroom.

Kara grins, and leans in for another kiss.

"Sounds perfect."

#crisis redo #final installment #happy ending #soft gay stuff #virgin river's new season got me back on track to get this thing done #woot!#lemme know what you think #will post all parts on ao3 later today #when i am on a proper computer

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