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#I get the terms mixed up sometimes but it sucks ass either way
gxlden-angels · 1 year
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I'm only in the introduction and the misogyny is overwhelming. "Are you more friendly or totally PMS-ing?" babygirl if you're PMS-ing most of the time that's not a Jesus-less personality trait, you need to get your ass to a doctor
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dizzybizz · 1 year
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when the brainrot hits you like a truck
here are some cooking and cooking related headcanons!!
• kazuki is a very good teacher, hes generally very patient and attentive, he tends to bicker with rei a lot, he struggles to formulate himself concisely sometimes but hes doing great
• miri joins in anytime they cook, they let her wash the vegetables or mix ingredients together, which she obviously has little songs for
• rei is trying his darndest damn it!!
• he finds it really hard asking about stuff and especially for help but hes trying and i love him 😢😢😢
• rei sucks at cracking eggs, miri laughs endlessly, kazuki is dying in the background,,, he keeps explaining how to do it correctly but it never seems to get through to rei
• its not even funny at this point, either the egg is smashed before hes even tapped it to the counter or he ends up using too much force when tapping it against the counter or he successfully cracks the egg but shell ends up going in alongside it-
• he is also stupidly fixated on being able to crack eggs single-handedly (he says its bc its efficient and its always good to have a hand free, which is true, but really he just thinks its badass) and its the bane of kazukis existence, he comes home one day to find both rei and miri (bc miri would also think thats the coolest thing ever and want in) in the kitchen with an almost empty egg carton and egg and shell covered counters, they make eye contact and kazuki immediately turns around and leaves to buy more eggs without so much as a word
• kazuki abandons using omelets as an easy entry-level dish after that
• rei is bad at seasoning savory dishes, hes bad at eyeballing the appropriate amount, kazuki does his best at helping or getting him to use measurements but rei is stubborn, he obviously doesnt want more to have more dishes that absolutely necessary so he needs to work on his eyeballing skill
• during early sessions kazuki would always supervise closely and sorta just constantly stare like a hawk over reis shoulder, he learned quickly not to do that again 💀💀💀
• rei doesnt really grow to like vegetables but kazuki learns ways to work around that by discretely incorporating them in dishes
• rei does like cucumber tho, subtle and very crunchy, put some salt on that sucker and youve got an easy snack (that he shares with miri), you dont even have chop it in order to enjoy it which is appreciated
• kazuki throws a bunch of cookbooks at rei and urges him to look through them and see if anyhting piques his interest, rei flips through them before going to sleep which can bite him in the ass when he has to go to sleep hungry as fuck 💀💀
• hes woken up multiple times with a cookbook in the tub with him
• rei enjoys baking a lot, his and miris sweet tooths never go unsatisfied
• he doesnt bake frequently per se, but he does so in bulk, and freezes cookie dough and such
• kazuki, early on, suggested cooking games in order to maybe get rei a bit familiarized with terms and techniques but he grew to regret it, a gaming night where everyone is gathered in the living room and kazuki loses his mind at the logic in the games, he doesnt stop commentating
• they end up getting into cooperate cooking games like overcooked, plates up and one-armed cook tho and its all good, if they play with miri in the vicinity they have to bite their tongues in order to not swear
• rei struggles grasping his mind around meat, theres so many kinds and cuts and doneness levels and ways of preparation and spice blends- its all a lot
• rei and miri each get their own aprons to match with kazukis 🥺🥺🥺
• miri gets a little yellow one with a monkey or like a sky blue or pink one with a white rabbit, fuck it why not both
• rei has an orange one with a black cat
• or if we wanna stick to an ocean theme, miri would have a goldfish or jellyfish and rei would have an octopus
• rei is a bit of a mess in the kitchen but we love him anyway, i just feel like hed be the type to go "ill clean it all at the end"
• he unceremoniously throws dirtied utensils and pots in the sink to be delt with later
• doesnt even use waiting times to clean or clear his space a little, kazuki is horrified
• rei finds doing the dishes a bit tedious at times but he enjoys the process and seeing the fruits of his labor in the form of sparkling clean dishes
• the repetitive motions are very soothing
• he doesnt like getting wet tho and wears gloves
• rei listens to music when cooking- maybe some instrumental tracks, nothing too distracting
• miri observes whenever either of them are cooking, she stands on a little stool in order to see the counters properly, she is really curious and inquisitive
• early on in reis cooking journey she would give him pointers and reminders she remembered kazuki telling them
• rei isnt an adventurous eater or cook, he prefers things that are simple and quick to prepare
• wait times for rei are long and arduous so he sneaks off to play some video games in the living room, the first few times he did this were disastrous and hes learnt to turn down the volume by a bit and reminding himself that he is in fact in the middle of cooking something
• the family makes lots of homemade popsicles during summer
• when kazuki and rei first try cooking together they mess up a lot but eventually they get a system going where each of them has their own tasks. they make a good team in the kitchen for the most part
• cooking very much becomes a family activity for them after a while
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headfullofpresley · 1 year
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I was wondering how would you describe Elvis and his personality and differences, romantically/sexually, across his different eras? it's an interesting topic and I'd like to understand more about him from a fact-based perspective. thank you!
hi nonnieeee! i love this question and i love talking about elvis, so thank you sm for this. 💕
this got wayyy longer than expected, so check under the cut!
soooo, let's start off with elvis in the 1950s.
we all know elvis loved women and in my opinion, he was a cheeky bastard (lovingly). when elvis had his sights set on someone, he got them- simple as that. except for brigitte bardot, sorry el 👀. anyways, he was flirtyyyy as hell. the part in good rockin' tonight where he goes "why don't you come to my house and i'll give it to you?" actually came out of his own mouth irl (and i will never get over it). also, when he told june he was crazy about her ass and was shamelessly looking at her ass. and remember the letters he sent to anita when he was in germany?
"every time i lay in my bunk and i see your little eyes and your little nose and it's almost like you're here, like you're pressed up close to me. i can feel your little hair on the side of my face and sometimes i get so excited and want you so bad, i start sweating"
i think he definitely had his fun in germany. this shouldn't be a surprise.
i mean, he was a young male in his twenties and got the attention from girls left and right- and he liked it. he definitely was not shy and when it comes to sex, i don't think he was either. he told larry that he screwed pretty much anything in sight a week before he had to report in 1958 and i believe it. he later learned that there was more to it than only the physical act, but i mean... if i was a male in my 20s and looked like elvis, i would've done the same. 👀
if you want to use the term sub or dom, i think he was a dom but not in the way we know it today??? i was obv not there, but i can't be convinced he was a big sub or sub at all (even though i love subby men🥴). i just think he was in that standard "man role" if you know what i mean- and i believe this goes for all era's, tbh. he was also pretty jealous at times which honestly makes me giggle sometimes but also makes me want to slap his face a lil bit. anyways, in my opinion; he was at that age where you're exploring things in your sex life and finding out what you do and don't like and just like any other human being, he did just that. with... a lot.. of different.. girls. good for him. 💁🏼‍♀️
anyways, elvis in the 50s was a menace. and that's a hill i will die on.
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nowwww elvis in the 1960s? on a whole 'nother level. i feel like he was still at that stage of exploring at the beginning of the 60s, but he certainly knew what he liked. he had girls who'd make videos of themselves and watch them on the tv/video set ups he brought into hotel rooms. i believe he even had a girl fly over when he stopped at a motel once? and i mean... work. priscilla and him used to roleplay a lil, so i think he enjoyed that along with taking videos and pictures.
i don't think he had any extreme kinks. feet? white underwear? liking girls to be virgins? hardly extreme. he wasn't too fond of women who gave birth though and did not have sex with them if they did, which honestly... sucks for the women that had children and for cilla (i would simply fight his ass, anywaaaayyyy). i also read that he didn't believe in mixed race marriage/couples in the early 60s, but his view on that changed in the 70s. i can't tell you how true this is, so take this as you will. considering how different times were back then, i don't think it's entirely impossible.
emphasizing here that i do not think elvis was racist in any way possible, but life and the way people thought about certain things were very different back then!!
anyways, i don't think elvis was a selfish lover, he strikes me as the kind of person who likes giving as much as receiving and again, i don't see him being submissive at all though also not extremely dominant. elvis was a dominant person in general, but i feel like he was a gentle lover and wouldn't force anyone to do something they don't want. he'd kind of ease the girls into what he likes, but he would also make himself very clear on things he doesn't like.
i think he was big on the touchy touchy and foreplay, but i do believe him and cilla had, or were close to having, sex. as in penetration, not feeling each other up only- which imo is normal, but for a lot of people it's a touchy subject bc of their age difference. despite sleeping with others also, he considered cilla to be the steady woman in his life and love and sex go hand in hand for most people, doesn't it?
also him and ann-margret? freaky deaky in the sheets, i can't be convinced otherwise. but i also believed they genuinely loved each other and had a connection and that's what elvis preferred over simple one night stands. he wanted someone to both talk to and make love with and i think because ann was closer to him in age and so free spirited, he was drawn to that. also the fact that she got married a week after he did in the same city breaks my HEART- but that's a whole different conversation.
AND i do think him and nancy had a thing going on. even though nancy always said it was platonic between them... one can dream, right? they looked cute together.
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the 1970s, baby! who doesn't love the 70s? we all do. when it comes to elvis, a lot of people see him as the "daddy" and "big daddy elvis" persona but in my opinion, that's nothing but fictional.
elvis was big on the baby talk and used the term "mommy" for linda, but i highly doubt it was in a sexual manner. sure, none of us were actually there, but here we have a man that craved for deep human connections and love in several different girls, rather than just having a quick fuck and leave it at that. he liked to take care of his girls, but he also liked to be taken care of. i don't think elvis ever lost his interest in sex and liked sex throughout his entire life, but i do feel like things slowed down a little in the mid 70s. don't get me wrong- he was still definitely having sex, just not in the same way as when he was in his 20s, ya know? keep in mind he was not 100% healthy, as sad as that is.
elvis liked his girls petite and still, virgins. he gained a lot of experience through the years and i feel like he liked showing that experience to the younger females he dated. he liked to be The Man in relationships. the story about linda losing her virginity to him was honestly really sweet, he was extremely gentle with her, as it should be. and sure, elvis could be shy sometimes but imo not to an extreme- he was more so gentle and let's be honest, he knew just what the ladies liked. he knew how to sweep 'em off their feet. i think he was confident in his love making skills, but would elvis liked to have been called daddy? no. i don't think so. despite being a dominant man, he liked to be babied.
mirrors, man. mirrors. we've all seen his room. i think he liked seeing himself and his partner get it on, and i also think he liked watching other people (i don't believe he never had 2 girls in his bed at the same time and i definitely don't believe he never watched them).
above i stated about elvis possibly being prejudiced, but also that his views changed in the 70s. sexually, i do think he experimented with women from different races etc in these times.
jealousy. j e a l o u s y. he cares deeply, and it makes his jealous streak come out to play along the way. this was the man that had red west call "a guy" so he could get rid off mike stone, but eventually chickened out. i believe elvis to be a person with a lot of layers- and yes, maybe some of it has to do with the medicine abuse etc, but it was also who he was as a person. he could be unreasonable at times, in both friendships and relationships, but it doesn't take away that his heart was in the right place. elvis loved deeply, so he also hurt deeply.
writing about elvis and his life from a fan's perspective, especially one that was not alive at the same time as he was, is an extremely difficult thing to do. i don't agree with some of the things he did and said, but who am i to judge? elvis presley was a human made out of flesh, blood and bones. one that was on a forever search to find himself, to be comfortable in the vessel god gifted him. he made mistakes, did some shitty things, but he was also very kind and did very good things that changed people's lives for the better. it's said he could bring you to tears, but he also was a gentle, generous soul who could make you feel good about yourself, like you belonged. but doesn't that count for all of us? maybe not in the exact same way, but we're all just trying to find our path in this strange and sometimes cruel world. we sometimes say mean things that we regret and then we learn from it. we're all looking for that big, fat "why?" in life- we might never find the answer, but that doesn't mean we'll give up trying to find it.
i didn't mean to end in on a note like this, but i guess what i'm trying to say is that we should start treating elvis as a human being and not as the man we create in our heads and fanfictions. he wasn't perfect- but if he was, where would the fun be in that?
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(i'm obsessed with ginger's coat in this pic lol.)
Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
jk jk. no but seriously- these are my opinions on the topic. if yours are different, that's okay too and i would love to hear your take on it. 💗
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August 22, 2022 4:45 pm
Dear Journal,
It's pretty early in the day but I want to make sure I get an entry in and I know I'll be busy later. So here we are.
Let me start by saying, anxiety definitely sucks ass. Big time. I can't think about a time in my life where my anxiety has been so bad honestly. After the house fire I've really been in fight or flight mode - I realized that today while in the shower. A lot of the times recently when I have a panic attack my first response is too try and get out of the place I'm in. To run. I was in the shower and deep in my thoughts when the feeling suddenly overcame me. My heart was racing and my hands were shaking and i just had to get it. It was a mix of claustrophobia and panic. I can't even remember what I was thinking about that may have triggered it.
Meditation has been a huge help to me lately. Admittedly, I don't meditate even day like I should be but I definitely have learned some techniques that do help me out, especially when I'm feeling panicked. For one, I have to acknowledge and accept that I'm having a panic attack or feeling anxious. I can't tell myself that I'm not anxious or that there's nothing wrong. I have to accept that I am feeling what I'm feeling and that it's okay to be feeling that way. Next I use a breathing technique that has been seeming to help me so much. I place one hand on my chest and the other on my stomach and focus on my breath either thinking "In- Out" or counting from one to five. This helps me get my breathing back to normal and at the same time help my heart rate lower a bit. Next, i reassure myself that I was just having a moment and that physically I am fine and there is nothing causing me harm.
I've had anxiety for as far back as I can remember but nothing like the way it is now. I would get anxious around large groups of people or about confrontation and even sometimes while driving but not ever panic attacks like I have now. Don't get me wrong though, I have definitely had my fair share of panic attack in the past but they were definitely far and few. It was more so just dealing with the intense looming feel of anxiety. But since the house fire, almost a year ago, I've probably had more panic attacks than I have in my entire life. This creeping feeling that seems to arise from nowhere and then turns in to full on panic. Not being able to sit still in one place - needing to get up and pace. Feeling flushed and sweaty. Shaking so bad that I can't even hold a cup of water. Not feeling attached to my own body - like I have no control over what I'm feeling or what's happening to me.
Now though, I'm realizing that I'm starting to regain my sense of self. I can deal with being alone for long periods of time without feeling like I need to have someone with me. When the panic starts to rise being able to center myself and bring myself back into the present. When I'm feeling disconnected being able to reconnect with my body. All of these things I definitely owe to meditation and I guess to myself too. For being brave enough to face what I'm going through and trying to fix it.
The biggest thing I've come to terms with is that I want to be as in control of my own happiness as I can be. Even if that means I have to bust my ass doing it.
<3
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oflgtfol · 1 year
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sorry i feel like after every single migraine i have i need to do a self reflection afterward
holy shit so i woke up. at 2am like i said i would and my migraine is gone im still kinda weird so im gonna go back to sleep to make sure its entirely gone bc being on my phone again is making me wary of it returning but like. my 2am estimate was spot on LMAO
But anyway uhm my real holy shit moment is the fact that. this was the very first migraine ive ever experienced where i never got sick. which kind of made it miserable because i normally cope with migraines by, uhm TMI + emetophobia warning, but i normally cope with the pain because puking makes the pain stop for a few minutes, and thats normally when im finally able to fall asleep, so i normally spend the entire migraine mostly sleeping and then just waking up briefly to puke again and then go back to sleep, and then over the course of the next 6 hours each time i wake up the pain gradually weakens until its gone. but when i dont puke its just pain and pain and theres no relief it took me two entire hours to finally fall asleep today and i was even like rocking bakc and forth trying to make myself nauseous to puke to get some relief but it just wouldnt happen im surprised i even fell asleep within two hours but i did and i slept right through until 2am and now my migraines gone.
this sort of happened with the last migraine i had except if i rememeber correctly i did puke, but only once, and it was after that one time that i was able to sleep the rest off, and that happened about an hour into it but it was still a miserable hour. and again even just getting sick only one time is an outlier for me
i did take excedrin right at the beginning of my migraine today, which my mom has been using for her own migraines, and she also got me to take it last time as well, so im wondering if the excedrin is whats making my migraines less intense in terms of getting sick. and also the pain hasnt been as bad as it normally is, but again its still a migraine so its still Bad, so i still kinda wanna get sick just for relief. bur when the pain is its normal level then i like NEED to get sick so i can get relief. so i guess in exchange for not getting sick, i get less pain as well, but its like, it kinda makes it more of a miserable experience than a normal migraine because i dont get any relief. so i dont know i have mixed feelings about excedrin if its gonna make it harder for me to sleep off my migraines which is my main way of coping with it
bur then the other part of me is wondering, this frequency of migraines is really new and abnormal. im normally on a strict 2 year schedule, my last on-schedule migraine was in fall 2021 i wasnt scheduled for another migraine until fall 2023, but then i got one in october 2022, i think i got one again sometime a month or two after that, and now here i am again in march 2023, like three migraines in a row in a year that i wasnt even scheduled to have a single migraine in. some part of me is worried it might be an effect of accutane but hopefully since im off it now and its getting out of my system i’ll make my way back to my old schedule (if it even is a side effect of accutane) cuz like it sucks getting one this frequently, although its still not as bad as people who have like actual chronic migraines like my mom who gets one every 2-3 weeks, or others who get them even more frequently than that. but it still sucks yknow lol
the only other thing i can think of that might be causing migraines more frequently is that like. either my chronic sleep deprivation is catching up to me, or like. shits so bad im seriously wondering if every little thing wrong with me lately can be like a physical side effect of having severe depression like im seriously about to google if depression can make migraines worse cuz i dont know anything anymore. especially because i was in such a shit ass fucking mood this morning and then lo and behold migraine
so anyway im also wondering if maybe just the fact that these migraines are off schedule might be making them weaker than my normal ones. like my 2 year schedule ones are the mega migraines the things that last 6-8 hours, the ones that cause the huge entire, UNMISTAKABLE auras that cover my whole vision (rather than my wimpy ones lately that have me doubting if its an aura at all until its already almost over), the ones that have me bedridden within minutes of the aura ending, the ones that have the worst pain of my life and make sick like every 20 minutes, etc. And then maybe these off schedule ones, since theyre off schedule, might be weaker, have me sick less offen and with less pain, and tend to be slightly shorter than normal, etc? but i dont know it probably is just the excedrin causing the difference
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just me complaining/venting about my burnout under the cut feel free to read lol
it's become pretty obvious that i need some sort of significant change in my life. let me just first highlight all of the things that are bothering me at the moment:
1. my full time job consuming damn near all of my time during the week. it was especially busy this week, leaving me exhausted and not wanting to do other things. it's work from home, which is better than having to go to some depressing ass cubicle. but i literally can't leave my house for most of the day, it sucks. especially since it's summer and i want to go out and take walks, get groceries, eat out, etc. i get pretty bad seasonal depression during winter, so during summer there's a pretty noticeable difference in my mood. however, it's a bit different this year given all the stuff i'm doing right now. this is literally an entry level customer service job, why the fuck do i need to be doing this bullshit all day?
2. the fact that i haven't graduated college yet. i know it's now pretty common to take more than 4 years to graduate college (most of my friends took or are taking like 5-8 years), but it just all feels so tedious now. i feel i've been in school for too long and i also really dislike my major, so i just feel tired of it all. im really hoping i'll be able to graduate by the end of this year and that my mental health, having to take additional credits, etc wont get in the way of that.
3. i've started marketing for my business and even though i literally just started a few weeks ago, i feel shitty about the fact that the account isn't getting much engagement. apparently, the IG algorithm has changed recently and now favors accounts that are spending money on ads. i'm gonna test out some other methods, but i just hate the fact that i'm not getting the results i was expecting. i know i sound mad impatient lol. i just really want this to work because i genuinely don't know what else i want to do as a career for now. tbh, i dont even know if i care to have a "career" in this shitty capitalist system.
4. i'm kind of over living in the state that i do. the quality of life is here is great and i do like it when it's warm out. but the thing is, it's cold as shit most of the year and i've been here for over a decade at this point. i didn't even choose to live here either lol. i don't know for sure if i just need to travel more often after i graduate or if i just need to straight up leave, but i have a feeling im gonna have to move out sometime fairly soon (in the next few years, i mean). i want to live somewhere warm, i was looking at san diego, santa monica, and carmel-by-the-sea (all in CA). though it's pretty expensive over there. moving is also contingent on how much money i have, which is why i'm so stressed out about my business. the other alternative would just be to move into my own place and travel as often as i can.
5. i'm just now coming to terms with the fact that i spent all of my teenage years and early 20s in a cult and didn't even realize it until recently. i can't give much detail as to what kind of cult it was, otherwise my identity will be super obvious to anyone who might potentially know me reading this. i can say that i officially left in december 2021, but i essentially ignored the ways in which it traumatized me for months and i actually cried while talking about it to a therapist a few days ago. i try to move on from things that no longer serve me fairly quickly, so i just ignored it for months. but it was essentially a cult of toxic positivity mixed in with pseudoscientific bullshit, gaslighting, victim blaming, spiritual "hustle culture", and conspiracies (depending on who you talk to). its super popular now and you've probably heard of it, like i cant even go online without seeing something about it. it's not like i get severely triggered whenever i see it. i don't start crying or hyperventilating or anything like that, but i do flinch a little or make a face of annoyance or disgust, maybe even roll my eyes a bit. when people talk about it around me in person, i can't help but to get a little annoyed. if you go through my blog a little you might be able to figure out what it is. but it affected how i make friends, how i view people, how i view the world, and just about every other aspect of my life. now that its no longer a part of my life, i feel pretty hopeless without it. i genuinely thought i could do anything with my life when i was part of that cult, but now, i have certain anxieties that didnt exist before. whats funny is that the cult is pretty much the reason why i was depressed and anxious for so long. i don't feel as bad now that i've left, but i do still feel anxious and sad, but it's a different kind of anxiousness and sadness.
6. even though i've been trying to go out and make friends these past few months, i feel like i dont connect with the people i'm meeting. granted, this is just one group of girls and tbh our group chat has kind of died down. i'm trying to see if i can go to a different meetup tomorrow and hang out with some of the people there. we're just gonna go for a walk, which is much needed after feeling alone and isolated all this week. i really hope i can find some genuine, best girl friends who are similar to me. i do have good friends, but i dont see them very often. i'd like someone who i can see more consistently who i have things in common with. i've actually had a "best friend" before and would really love to have that.
7. i haven't been eating as much or as well as i should be since i tend to not eat a lot when im stressed and/or generally feeling shitty. i've also been breaking out a bit due to stress and period hormones from this past week. so yeah, i kinda look and feel like shit rn lmao.
8. capitalism and just the general state of the world and the US rn. honestly at this point im fucking tired of people doing things that aren't actually productive or helpful, like calling for random, unorganized strikes or having these lame ass protests. not trying to incite anything for legal reasons, but a whole revolution needs to happen and i don't think we're ready for that rn. it'll probably happen again, just not now. i know this issue is way bigger than me, but the cult i was in was always preaching about money being easy to get and how if you're poor it's your fault. since leaving, i've educated myself more on how fucked up capitalism is and how it really is the root of like 99% of the problems we face on earth. so yeah, fuck capitalism and fuck that cult i was in and anybody who subscribes to either of those ideas. thanks for coming to my ted talk ✨
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alyjojo · 2 years
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Love Reading 👰🏽‍♀️- June 2022 - Capricorn
Singles:
Overall energy: The Fool
How you will meet: Knight of Pentacles
How they will treat you: The High Priestess
Long-term Potential: 6 Wands & 9 Cups
This person has been around you forever, you could work together, go to school together, live next to each other, it’s probably someone you interact with on a daily basis wherever that is. Could be the cashier at the gas station, idk. They’ve been holding back feelings for a long time, and may not even talk that much at all. You could think this person doesn’t even LIKE you, much less LIKE like you. One of you could be involved at the initial meeting, because this person feels helpless to do anything about this crush they have, so I assume it’s you that’s involved. They see you as both 9 Cups and The Star, when they think about a future, you’re the person in it. It’s their wish.
The Fool is clarified by 3 Swords and Ace of Swords, so it’s going to be during some heartbreaking situation that this person comes forward to tell you how they feel, and it’s going to cause a Tower in your world because you’re going to be like wait...what??? If you’re friends then one of you is telling the other about a breakup or something that’s severed the tie to the other person, when you or they take the chance. Knight of Pentacles shows they’ve waited a long time, or you have, and even once they speak up there might not be much immediate movement, especially if someone is fresh out of something else. Long term made me chuckle though.
Victory and 9 Cups, clarified by 10 Cups for gosh sake, this is your person, long term 💯 The messages along with 9 Cups show a baby being part of the mix, maybe keep that in mind, it also shows you being kinda shallow... get naked, what is that 😆 Doesn’t matter, this person is your person, and it looks like after any endings, you’ll be happier than you ever imagined & vice versa 💗
Messages -
Your side:
- Get Naked
- Surprise! Baby 🍼
Their side:
- I’m a FOOL for you 🃏
- Long-Term Potential
Signs you may be dealing with:
Pisces, Aries & Aquarius, but most are here
Couples:
Overall energy: 7 Wands
Current: King of Cups
Challenge: The Hermit
Potential: 10 Coins
The first one made me chuckle and this one made me outright laugh. Your relationship is fine, but this bish is getting on your nerrrves. They’re up your ass constantly, you love them but good lord, find a hobby 🤣 That’s the energy I’m getting. The two of you may have it out, either because your person is making plans you don’t want to go through with or have no interest in...but making you, or they feel you owe them an apology and you’re using the excuse to get some time away from them. You don’t even care about the fight, you just want to have some space to be yourself or do what you want. They have a very needy vibe that’s like...sucking your soul. You’re definitely not telling them this, which, how do you even say that nicely, idk either.
So you may be taking more of a silent and hands off approach simply because you’re tired of defensive energy, or constant activity, whatever they’re having you do. They’re taking that as you don’t care about them, and aren’t reciprocating happiness. So they feel slighted, like you don’t love them. You do, they just drive you batshit crazy sometimes and…go away. You genuinely do need space and time alone, it will help you clear your mind & emotions, and come back around to this person for a new start in a better way, they just refuse to give that to you willingly, so it’s coming out as frustration from both ends. You probably do need to speak up and tell them to back off for awhile, everyone needs space. Well, most. Seemingly not your person 😆
The potential is 10 Pentacles, and you’ve got 3 Aces here, the fair thing is going to happen and there will be a new & happy cycle starting between you. The Magician has come out with Wheel of Fortune, you could currently be manifesting what you want by getting so irritated with what you don’t, and it’s going to suit you well in time. That’s how it sometimes works. I don’t get chaotic cards, but I do get chaotic energy, and idk why. They need to chill. In someone’s case, this energy is switched, and you’re the one suffocating your person, if so things are fine and yes they love you, stop it.
Messages -
Your side:
- Status 💰
- Kind!
Their side:
- Karmic Connection
- New Perspective
Oracles -
Your side: Spirituality is so simple. All you need to do is love God, do good, and then go Home.
Their side: You can have a partner you love, but don’t forget all the other loves, such as friends, family, pets, and so on.
Signs you may be dealing with:
Leo & Virgo dominate, but most are here
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whereisten · 3 years
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No Overnight Stays (m)
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Summary: you’re an escort assigned to a different man for each day of the week. The rules are simple and strict, the money is grand, and simply put, you enjoy your job. But what happens when you start to develop feelings for one—or maybe two—of your clients?
Pairing: Female reader x Mark (x Jaehyun)
Genre: sugar baby!reader, smuttttt, a little fluff and a dash of angst :/ sorry, love triangle
Warnings: alcohol use, cursing, descriptive smut (breast fondling, fingering, oral sex (m and f receiving), cockwarming, slight somnophilia, facial, threesome, cream pie, impregnation kink, dirty talk, sir kink, hair pulling and spanking, double penetration, multiple orgasms, overstimulation, unprotected sex (be safe tho!), rough sex) I hope that’s it lmaooo
Word Count: 5.5K
————-
A man for every day of the week. That was your agreement with your escort agency. They’d set up your schedule so that you’d “belong” to one man for a specific day of the week. 
Some days you’d have sex with them, some days you were just their company or a place for them to go when they got tired of their spouses.
But either way, you were paid very handsomely for your services. All you had to do was have your phone on and make sure you were available to provide the services asked of you within the hour. They all had keys to your apartment, so they could let themselves in and wait if you weren’t there.
It was easy and luckily for you, the men you dealt with were all young business men that respected you. Some were rough and demanding, some were soft and shy, but they all made sure you were comfortable with their requests and granted you a safe word. Furthermore, the agency provided you with emergency buttons for you to place in every room, just in case one of your clients got out of hand.
Tonight, you had just finished up with Yuta, an incredibly handsome man that was away from his wife back home in Japan for a 6 month job venture. A pal of his suggested the agency to him so that his needs would be satisfied while he was away from home and based on his preferences and desires, you were his top choice.
He was kind and careful, whispering sweet words into your ear as he fingered you and got you ready. He treated you like you were his wife, and you often felt your face become warm. But when he was inside you, he pushed deep and hard, making sure his hips met with your ass as he bent you over the table.
“Ahh fuck..” he curses while releasing himself into you and tugging on your hair harshly.
He pants and pulls himself out, watching as his cum mixed with yours leaks down your shaking legs.
“Did you eat?” He asks, zipping his pants as he watches you pull your panties back up.
“No not yet, but I have some leftover spaghetti that is calling my name.”
You move your hair out of your face.
“I can grab something for you before I leave..what would you like?” Yuta shimmies his jacket onto his toned body.
He was always sweet like this, unlike some men that just left.
“Ohh—Hmm...there’s a place—“ you started but his phone interrupted you.
“Oh..I’m sorry..it’s her..” He looks up at you slowly and you can see the regret fall on his face. He really loved his wife, he couldn’t help but feel guilty sometimes.
“I-I have to go.”
He turns to leave and you walk behind him to lock the door.
“Hey hun! I just left work!” His voice echoes in the hallway.
You sigh and walk to your bathroom with a slight limp. Yuta always stretched you out and left you aching slightly, but you knew it was something a little warm water would fix.
While you stood under the hot water like a sinner bathing in hell, you thought about your life. Were you really happy? Sure, the easy money you made and the “free” upscale apartment you lived in were amazing. How could you ask for more?
Well that’s just the thing, your heart didn’t care about these material things sometimes, it wanted a person. Someone that would love you, really love you. However, with a lifestyle like this, how could you expect to find a partner that would be okay with it? How could you devote time to them?
You shook your head and stepped out of the grand shower.
You poured yourself some wine and sat by yourself on the couch. It was a typical night for you. When all the fun was over, you were alone.
———
[The Next Day]
You went grocery shopping when Mark dinged you on the agency’s app. He’d be at your apartment soon so you needed to wrap things up and get back.
Mark was possibly your favorite client. The young single man was very gentle and always asked what you wanted to do. Of course, he knew that he wanted to have sex and that’s what he paid for, but he didn’t feel comfortable with handling your arranged situation that way.
Some days you’d just watch a few movies or go for coffee together. Some days he’d show you new restaurants or museums while you hung onto his arm like an actual girlfriend. He wasn’t afraid to bring you with him anywhere because the truth was that he wanted you to be his...and not just in the sexual or physical way. He wanted to date you.
Having been so consumed with work all the time, he found that you were one of the few things that made him relax and be happy, he could experience life with you and he was incredibly thankful for that.
“Hey Mark!” You struggle to get into your apartment with both arms filled with bags.
“Oh, let me get that for you.” He rushes over from the dining table and to the door to help you in.
After settling all of the bags onto the table, he chuckles. “So I take it you don’t like making two trips?”
You giggle and shake your head. “No..absolutely not. I don’t wanna waste precious time that I could be spending with you.” You teased him and stepped closer.
You held out your arm and flexed it, embarrassingly enough, no muscles showed through. “Plus, can’t you see how strong I am?”
Mark laughs out and leans forward to kiss you.
He holds your face in his hands like you were made of glass, gently caressing your cheeks as your tongue dances with his.
Your arms wrap around his waist so you feel his warm chest on yours. Your eyes shut immediately and you smelled his fresh cologne, like cotton.
He pulls away, kissing your forehead as you regain your steady breathing.
“What do you want to do today?”
Your heart races at his question. You wanted to cuddle, to just be with someone and feel loved. But that would be pushing the terms and conditions.
You search your apartment to avoid his gaze, but he knew you were deep in thought, his kiss had sent your mind into a wild frenzy. What did it mean when an escort was affected by such measly things? 
“Come on..don’t think too hard now, tell me what’s the first thing that came into your mind?” Mark leans forward to whisper low into your ear. His voice, deep and husky, makes you even more confused.
You finally look up at him and sigh. “Ahh Mark, you make me feel..” You shake your head.
Were you about to be honest with him and tell him about your growing crush?
His eyes grow and a smile creeps across his face.
“Like sleeping..” You look down again, never seeing his face fall.
“Oh, dude..am I that boring?”
You chuckle and look back up at him to see the genuine hurt in his eyes.
You shake your head and press your hand onto his chest. “No-No, you’re not..it’s just..”
“Y/n...why do you keep looking at me like that?” Mark knew there was something else you wanted, he could see the doubt in your eyes, the internal struggle you faced was coming to the surface. He also knew you drank the night before based on the empty bottle of wine in the living room.
“I-I don’t know,” You chuckle and step away from him. “Maybe I’m still a little hungover. I’m sorry.”
You start to take your things out of your bags. “Help me out, will you?” You pout.
Mark chuckles and takes the bread out of the bag. “I can’t believe I’m paying for this.”
You shrug your shoulders. “You’re the one that asked me what I want to do.”
He sighs. “Okay, touché. But after this, we’ll cuddle and sleep since you’re tired and/or hungover.”
Yeah, it was 6 in the evening, but Mark was just happy to be with you.
“Sounds good.”
After you put everything away, you took Mark to your room and sat him down on the bed.
You took his hoodie off over his head, ruffling his hair in the process. You ran your fingers through it, watching as his wide eyes gazed up at you like you were an angel.
He places both hands on either side of your waist, watching as you unbutton your cardigan in front of him slowly. Mark grows hotter and hotter with each button coming undone, a slight sliver of your beautiful, soft skin growing into your naked chest drives him crazy.
“God, you’re beautiful.”
He licks his lips, tightening his grip on your waist as he brings you down onto his lap. He wastes no time, latching into your nipple and sucking it. His tongue flicks across the nub while your hands run through his scalp, causing a low groan to escape his body.
He aches for you, his member strains against his sweatpants. You feel it press onto your jeans as you also get hot. With the way Mark’s spit coats your breasts, you’re sure you’d be showing through your jeans how aroused you are soon enough.
Your room becomes steamy suddenly, the two of you filling it with moans and whimpers as he massages your breasts.
“B-baby..I want you..” You whine and grind down onto him. 
Mark loves when you call him that while begging for more.
He places you down onto the bed, helping you take your jeans off as your mouth falls open.
He drags your panties down your legs slowly, teasingly.
“Baby..please..”
“I thought you wanted to sleep?” He raises an eyebrow as he pries your legs open and moves his face to the space created.
He focuses on your heat, licking his lips when he sees how wet you are already.
“Yeah..but..” your sentence is cut short when he licks a long stripe along your entrance.
“Mark!” You yelp as his tongue surprises you.
He kisses the inner skin of your thigh while still gripping the crooks of your knees. “Yes, sweetheart. Do you want me to stop? Does the little baby want to sleep?”
He asks with a mocking tone, but not without brushing two digits over your clit. You gasp and flinch under him.
“You’re so cruel..” 
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll just fuck you to sleep if that’s what you want.”
He says before pushing his fingers in harder, finding that fleshy spot instantly as your legs widen more. He kisses your bud while looking up at you through dark eyes.
“Am I the best one?” He asks innocently, fingers still pumping in and out of your soaking entrance.
“Y-yes..” you immediately answer without thinking, your mind solely focused on the building tension in your stomach.
He moves his head up and down as he licks your clit. He just needs to apply a bit more pressure and you’ll be in the clouds.
You intertwine your fingers with locks of his luscious brown hair and arch your back.
“More baby, please.”
“Oh look at you begging..” he breathes against your aching pussy.
He fingers pump harder and caress that one spot that he knows will have you reeling in just a few minutes.
“You know..I think you should just be mine..will you be mine?”
He says in between kisses on your clit.
And you’re so close, all you can do is nod and whimper.
You lick your lips while looking at the gorgeous man in between your legs. He locks eyes with you as his tongue works wonders on your core when combined with his fingers.
You clench around him from the sight. He chuckles and cracks a smile at how easily you fall apart. But he doesn’t let you experience the so desperately needed orgasm you need. He withdraws his fingers, a pop echoes into the room. 
“Mark?!” You cry out at the sudden emptiness.
Mark mimics your pout and hovers over you.
“Why don’t you answer my question first?”
You caress his face and lick your lips. “Can we talk about this later?”
He shakes his head. “It’s a simple question, y/n. I know you feel it too.”
He was right, you did feel a connection with him, but you couldn’t let him know that. You could lose your job.
“Mark..” you whisper low as you bring his face closer to yours. You lock eyes with him, your gaze shifting from an innocent one to one that is filled with lust and fire.
“The only thing I want to feel right now is your cock..I just want to feel it so deep in my silky, wet pussy.”
He swallows hard as you push your body up slightly to rub your entrance against his crotch.
“Come on, baby..fill me up...I won’t let a single drop escape”
Mark can’t take your lustful words any longer. He pushes his prior thoughts to the side and focuses on easing his painfully hard cock.
He immediately pushes his waistband down and looks into your eyes as he pushes into you. You moan as you feel completely satisfied by his long and girthy cock filling you up and touching all parts of your velvety walls instantly.
He watches your head fall into the pillow behind you and kisses your neck.
“God..I hate the way you make me so fucking horny that I forget what I was even asking..”
It was a lie, Mark knew exactly what he was asking, but decided to push it away since you wouldn’t give in to him.
He rarely cursed when he was with you, a part of you felt that you had awoken something deep within him so you decided to push him along further. He thrusts into you slowly and gently like he usually did. Mark was your typical vanilla sex partner and it made for a great balance to the opposite partners you had. But you wanted to see just how riled up he could get.
“Oh, Mark, just yesterday another man fucked me until I couldn’t walk..how can I be yours if you can’t compete with men like that?”
You hold his face in your hand and look into his eyes.
He chuckles and pushes into you hard and sudden.
“If that’s what you want, Princess, that’s all you have to say..you know I can do whatever you ask.”
“Be rough with me, make me yours..baby.”
He presses your knees far apart and lifts himself up from your chest.
He slides in and out of you hard, watching as your breasts move up and down from his thrusts.
“You’re the perfect fit for me."
He tilts his head to the side and goes deeper.
His cock curves into you at the perfect angle, making you clench and arch your back more.
You’re sprawled out under him, your knees to your chest as you bite your bottom lip and feel that tension build again.
He runs a hand down your warm chest and stomach, his fingers draw circles onto your skin, causing small fires to dance across it. The pads of his fingertips then lift the skin above your pussy, exposing your clit to him.
He taps it gently and hums to himself. “So pretty..”
He thrusts into you hard as you squeal.
His other hand finds your throat and grips it.
“Gonna fuck you to sleep just like you asked..but then..I won’t leave..I’ll stay inside your pretty pussy since it’s mine..and I’ll fuck it again in the morning...since it’s mine.”
Mark wasn’t asking anymore. He was going to make you his. And as much as you wanted that to happen, you were nervous as you had a job to fulfill. If he stayed over and into the next morning, he’d be cutting into your other client’s day. You could be caught with him and receive a complaint for breaking the “no overnight stays” rule.
“I’m so close..” You run your hands down his abs and watch as he pounds into you from above. He pants heavily, his palm feels sweaty around your throat.
“Can’t wait to cum deep inside you..nothing will leak out..Isn’t that right, baby?” His fingertips move faster into your clit. Mark was always great at finding your sweet spots and it was because he truly cared about your pleasure.
You nod and clench around him again, feeling the head of his cock twitch.
His movement stutters from the action, he falls forward as his grip on your neck tightens.
He cums into your body, filling you to the brim with everything he has. 
You climax as well, scratching into his back as you arch into him more. Your eyes roll into the back of your head as you curse.
That was the first of many climaxes for that night. You’d take breaks in between, but soon Mark was eating you out or fingering you until your nails dug into his back and you cried out his name loud enough for the neighbors to hear. 
He wasn’t letting up on his promise to make you his, as each orgasm was intense and left you feeling dizzy. He was unlike any partner you had, making sure to care for your needs more than he did for his. He never even asked that you kiss him anywhere else but his mouth. 
Mark releases your throat and lays on top of your sweaty body as you both climax one last time.
“You really aren’t leaving, are you?”
“I meant what I said. You’re mine.”
A brief moment of silence rests between the two of you as you massage his scalp.
“I mean, I can leave if you want me to..”
He looks up at you with round, doe eyes and your heart breaks.
“No—no..stay..” Sleep takes you over suddenly.
He watches your cute face and smiles. “Mind if I wake you up in the best way possible?” 
You chuckle with your eyes closed.
“And how will you do that?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see..”
He lays back down and falls asleep on your chest.
———
[The Next Morning]
It’s the afternoon of the next day when Mark wakes up before you do and finds his cock engulfed in your pussy still.
He swallows hard, immediately feeling himself grow when he sees your eyes closed as you pout your lips and breathe heavily.
“Y/n..” He whispers, but your eyes don’t open yet.
“Y/n..” He says once more, this time he picks himself up and cages you in between his arms as he holds himself up above your head.
He kisses your forehead. “Wake up, Princess.”
He then buries his head into the crook of your neck and fondles your breast. 
He couldn’t hold back much longer, but he wanted you to be awake first. He lays sloppy kisses onto your shoulder before biting it.
“Mmm..Mark..” You say drowsily.
And with the sound of your soft voice and the feeling of your delicate fingers on his waist, Mark begins to thrust into you.
Your eyes are still closed as he fucks you into consciousness, the post-dream haze combined with his kisses and long thrusts makes you feel light headed.
“How does it feel, baby?”
He moves in and out of you while panting.
You mumble something while enjoying the warmth of his pulsing body on yours. He presses his thumb on your clit, rubbing circles. 
“Mm..faster, baby.” you mumble as your heat grows, your eyes closed while you enjoy your realistic dream.
He then intertwines his fingers with yours, and moves into you faster. Within just a few minutes he cums hard as you shake around him.
And it’s not until he pulls out of you and flips onto his back that he realizes there’s another man in the room.
At the edge of the bed stands a tall handsome man with black hair. He stares sternly onto your body with his hands in the pockets of his suit jacket.
“Oh shit!” Mark is frightened and quickly drapes the blanket over you.
“Who the hell are you?” He asks.
You finally pry your eyes open and scratch your head.
“It’s me...y/n.”
“N-no no I mean..who is that and why is he just staring? Dude.. what the hell?!”
“What?” You rub your eyes and look up. And as your eyes focus you see that sure enough it was your Tuesday client, Jaehyun, staring intensely at you.
“Oh fuck..” You struggle to sit up straight in the bed. “Jaehyun..I’m so sorry, I overslept and-and..”
“Shhh..it’s okay, y/n..” His voice is sweet, but his face says the opposite.
“I see someone has gotten quite greedy with you..”
You turn to Mark, and it all comes back to you. He said he would stay over and you knew the risk you were taking, but you allowed him to anyway.
“Do you want me to push the emergency button?” Jaehyun asks smoothly.
“N-no! That won’t be necessary, I let him stay over actually..”
Your face becomes warm, it feels like you were caught by a parent with your boyfriend.
“I didn’t hear my phone go off with the alert saying you’d be coming over, I’m so sorry but he can leave and I’ll get cleaned up and we can start, just give me a few minutes—“
You start to get off the bed, but Jaehyun raises his hand.
“It’s okay, y/n..I know you see other men, that’s your job, isn’t it?” Jaehyun smirks.
He was one of those clients whose calm demeanor was difficult to read. He was intimidating and made you feel like you were up for terrible punishment at any moment. You never seemed to answer his questions to his satisfaction. In part to his recent divorce, he was rough, unforgiving, a stark contrast to Mark who just sat there awkwardly on the bed.
You nod slowly.
His gaze turns to Mark, his hands still in his pockets. “Was my slut good for you?”
“My?” Hold on..she doesn’t belong to you and no, she’s not a slut..”
Without moving his eyes, Jaehyun calls out to you. “Y/n...remove the blanket and open your legs for me..”
You immediately do as he says, but Mark stops you by holding your wrist. “Hey, you don’t have to do that.”
“It’s okay, Mark. This is what I do, please don’t forget that.” You give him a small smile as you lift the blanket.
You bend your knees while widening your legs.
You can feel the cool air hit your moist entrance.
“Now look at her, Mark...look at how much cum is in her beautiful pussy..only a slut can look like that..”
“Oh fuck off..”
“No, YOU fuck off, you’re cutting into my time..or don’t..”
Jaehyun loosens his tie and takes his jacket off.
“As a matter of fact, let’s see how much prettier she looks when she’s filled up with both of us, what do you say Mark?”
Mark begins to panic and turns to you. 
“What..“
“Stay...I want to make you feel good too..” you say, knowing that Jaehyun’s proposal wasn’t really a question. He was going to find some way to make Mark stay, it was his way of punishing both him and you.
“Good girl..” Jaehyun zips his pants down, revealing his already hard member. He grew when he watched Mark fuck you out of your sleep. He wanted to do that badly, but understood long ago the rules for this agreement. One of them being “no overnight stays.” But Mark clearly didn’t respect this. Maybe he thought you were his, but surely he was wrong.
Jaehyun wanted you just as badly as he did, and he wouldn’t stop until you were his.
“On your stomach, sweetheart, show him what your mouth can do..”
“Yes, sir.” You’re still weak from the night before but do as you’re told.
“Y/n..you don’t have to..” Mark caresses your face with his thumb.
“I know..but I want to..”
“She wants to please us..isn’t that right, slut?” Jaehyun brings an arm under your stomach to bring your ass up towards him.
“Y-yes, sir.” You struggle to get out once you feel his cock rub against your thigh.
You start by wrapping your hand around Mark’s semi-flaccid length, you pump it up and down while twisting. He groans and sits up straight.
Jaehyun enters you from behind, gripping your hip tightly as he pushes into you hard.
You moan loudly as his long cock stretches you out without warning.
“Ahh..fuck.” You gasp.
He slaps your ass hard, you stumble slightly on your knees but Mark helps you stay up.
“Don't be like that, sweetheart, I see how wet you are. Now, open your fucking mouth.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” You whimper then lick Mark’s tip.
“You’re just a slut with cum leaking out of you all the time, you’re always ready, aren’t you?”
You kiss Mark’s tip then answer Jaehyun. “Yes, sir.”
He hums and slaps your ass again.
He rubs his hand over the area to feel it become warm.
He then pulls back and watches his veiny cock glisten with cum.
Meanwhile, you take half of Mark’s length into your mouth and begin to suck, rubbing the tip on the inside of your cheek as you listen to him groan.
Jaehyun buries himself deep inside you again, pushing past your vibrating entrance and deep into your walls where he feels his cock be greeted with that ticklish spot.
You move your head lower and allow spit to coat Mark’s entire length.
“God..that feels good.” He moans as his head falls back.
You suck harder and continue to twist your hand around his base.
You hum to push him along with vibrations.
The sounds of Jaehyun’s hips slapping against your ass gets louder as he glides in faster.
“Her pussy gets wetter and wetter, tsk tsk what a slut.” 
He pushes harder, bending over your back so his abs rest against it. He grabs your hair and pushes your head down onto Mark faster.
You gag and tears escape your eyes as Mark’s length hits the back of your throat repeatedly.
You gag over and over, causing the two men to become even hotter than they were before.
“That’s it, sweetheart, cry for me..”
And you did cry as your throat became irritated and your pussy was being destroyed from the back, Jaehyun stretched it out more than he ever did, but you didn’t want to stop. 
You felt like you were being undone, like you wouldn’t be able to talk or walk after, but it didn’t matter, just as long as you pleased these two men.
Jaehyun’s hand finds your clit, slapping against it before rubbing circles onto it.
You moan loudly, sending a delicious vibration onto Mark. He whimpers and pulls out of your mouth, before watching spurts of white leave his tip and decorate your mouth and tongue.
Your mouth stays open as Jaehyun pulls your head back towards him now. Your breasts jump forward and back as Mark pants and watches you be brought to paradise by another man.
“Sir..I’m going to..”
Jaehyun grunts. “You don’t deserve to cum, but I’ll let you because you’re a needy slut.”
And with that, you quiver around Jaehyun, gripping the pillows and shaking uncontrollably.
Mark feels himself becomes aroused yet again from the sight.
Jaehyun pulls out quickly and sits against the headboard. He picks your body up and puts you over his lap, but doesn’t push his cock into you yet.
“Mark..I think you should return the favor.” Jaehyun says as he grabs the crook of your knees with each hand opens you up.
Mark gladly agrees and puts his head in between your legs once more. He licks up your essence and begins to eat you out, nuzzling his nose against your clit as you cry out. 
Jaehyun takes your chin and turns your fucked out face towards his while you struggle to close your legs. 
“S-sir..please, it’s too much.”
Jaehyun shakes his head. “Nothing is too much for a whore like you..Mark loves your pussy, and so do I.”
He kisses your shoulder as a strand of hair dangles in his forehead.
He flicks your nipples with his fingers, watching as you fall apart in his arms.
Mark’s head moves from side to side as he licks your bud and pushes as hard as he can.
“Look at you..open wide for two men.”
Jaehyun whispers into your ear as you tremble. “We won’t stop until we’ve both put a baby in you...but you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes..fuck..yes..sir.”
Soon, you’re cumming again and seeing stars.
Mark pulls away and wipes his mouth, watching as your wetness ruins the sheets below you.
“Do you think she can take us both?” Jaehyun still plays with your hard nipples.
Mark chuckles. “I’m not really into sharing..but we should find out.” He caresses your face again as your mouth falls open.
He puts his thumb into it, watching as you suck it hard with your teary eyes wide.
Jaehyun lifts you up slightly so he can enter you again.
You fall onto him easily but whimper as you try to overcome your sensitivity.
Jaehyun forces you open wide with his hands on your knees, your feet dig into the bed as you bounce up and down on him. His touch sends electricity through your veins. 
Mark holds his cock in his own hand, stroking it while watching you fall onto Jaehyun’s length.
Your beautiful entrance is soaked and he just wants to feel it too.
Jaehyun looks into Mark’s hungry eyes and lets out a low growl.
“Go on, Mark. Fuck her like the needy whore she is.”
Jaehyun scoots down on the bed more so he is laying under you. Mark lays down over you and guides his tip along your slit.
“Mark..” you cry out while Jaehyun thrusts into you from below.
“Are you sure?” He licks his lips.
You nod and take his length into your own hand. “Yes..”
You push him into you slowly as Jaehyun pauses his movement. Your head falls back as your pussy is stretched out once more. You’d never done this before, but then again, you’d never been with two men.
“Shit...” you close your eyes tightly as both men fill you up.
Jaehyun sits up, holding you in his arms as he guides you up and down both his and Mark’s cocks now. 
You’re so right and Mark is embarrassed to admit that he is just moments from climaxing already, the friction of two cocks against your tight silky walls driving all of you crazy.
“Mmm..sweetheart, you’re doing so well..”
Jaehyun whispers. His tone is gravelly and he is just moments away also, sweat pricking at his forehead as you glide onto him.
The sound of skin against skin and loud moans and groans fills the room, you wonder if your neighbors will make a complaint. But right now, in this moment of complete ecstasy, you could care less.
Jaehyun’s tip twitches, vibrating against Mark’s and hitting your g-spot. You all come undone within seconds and experience an orgasm that lasts for what feels like an eternity.
All three of you collapse onto the bed, and you and Jaehyun fall asleep soon after. You should’ve cleaned yourself up, but your body aches and feels weak after orgasming so many times.
After 20 minutes of just watching you sleep, Mark gets up from the bed and goes to your bathroom. He comes back with a washcloth and cleans you up gently while watching you snore lightly.
Jaehyun’s back is turned to you so he can’t see Mark taking care of you by cleaning your exhausted body.
Before he leaves, he drapes your blanket over you and kisses your forehead. He also leaves a bouquet of flowers that he bought from someone selling them just outside of your apartment building. He went back to your apartment just to leave them there for you when you woke up. But really, he just wanted one last chance to see your beautiful face as you slept peacefully.
You wake up hours later to find yourself alone once again. You hop out of bed but soon remember what happened based on the aching feeling in your legs.
You’re happy to see that you're clean however, the sticky feeling of cum no longer being all over you. Someone must’ve cleaned you up, you thought to yourself.
With a limp, you walk out to your kitchen and see take-out food on your counter with a note attached, beside it you also see a bouquet of flowers. 
“Thanks for today, see you next week. Love, J.”
Jaehyun left you food, flowers, and cleaned you up before he left. Maybe he did care for you after all. This is what you thought as you smiled to yourself.
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I’m sorry, but can I just go on a little rant about the Louis, clouis, and the Clem comic...? 
I didn’t really talk about Louis in my overall review of the comic because I wanted that to be more contained to the content shown on the pages, Clementine’s relationship with AJ, and her as a character.... but the more I think about these comics and Louis, the more frustrated I become thinking about what Clementine abandoning everyone would do to him. 
[... okay it’s not little anymore since I guess I can never just do anything simple when it comes to Louis, sorry my bad]
So, no surprise, we all know the comic’s bullshit by now. Clementine leaving everything and everyone behind because she’s not happy is dumb, AJ just letting her go is dumb, and Clem going to the mountains on crutches and a peg leg to find this so-called happiness is dumb. 
Now that we’ve established it’s dumb, I wanna talk about Louis because I got a lot of built up feelings about how bullshit this storyline is with how Clementine would not only abandon AJ, but also abandon Louis. 
Because let me tell you..... his heart would be broken beyond repair and I need to talk about why.
Sigh.... so.... muh boy. 
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Before he met Clementine, Louis was this laidback, irresponsible, but caring and musical person who kept his head down to avoid conflict and never looked at the future. He was the kind of person who took things one day at a time, saw survival as a day-to-day task, and said that the future doesn’t exist, there’s only today. You get the point, he was never too concerned with things because they always seemed to work out, and if they didn’t, then that sucks and that’s why we should appreciate every day while we have it. 
Louis is shown to be charismatic and friendly, he spends his free time playing piano and card games, but no one really takes him seriously. Not even Marlon, his best friend for 8+ years. While he doesn’t seem to be on bad terms with anyone [including Aasim, they just act like people who disagree with the other’s point of view and have had the same argument many times, but that doesn’t mean they hate each other, y’know?] he also doesn’t appear super close with anyone outside of Marlon and possibly Violet, but even then. 
Marlon’s shown to have little faith in him with the way he talks about if Louis will even show up to hunt. He has a controlling grip on Louis that’s prominent during the confrontation scene when he uses intimidation to try to convince Louis to not interfere. Oh, and there’s the fact that Marlon’s been lying to Louis for the past year about the twins and then continued to lie to his face about what really happened to Brody... which isn’t great when you consider how Louis was the only one who had blind faith in him as a leader and, according to Marlon, was the only one who couldn’t see how pathetic he always was. 
Violet, while having a few more nicer moments with him than Marlon, still invalidates him and his feelings several times throughout the first half of the game which makes me wonder how close they ever were, or at least if Violet ever considered him a close friend to begin with. And no, a small monologue in the dorms doesn’t make everything better or confirm they were brotp the whole time... especially when once they’re on the boat, Louis might as well not exist because Violet can’t be bothered to acknowledge what happened to him or inquire about how he’s doing. I guess she just didn’t have time react while standing in her cell for several unbothered minutes-- no wait, it’s she already reacted off screen. Right. Good writing is good.
What I’m getting at here is that even though Louis is surrounded by people who he genuinely cares about, there is an argument to be made that he’s a lonely person. Hell, he’s aware of his loneliness when he says that no one hears past his music and jokes. I mean, how many nights do you think he spent by himself playing the piano because no one wanted to hear it? Are they like Violet and crack jokes about how he doesn’t have actual talent? Probably, given that someone literally carved “you suck at playing” onto the side of the damn piano. 
Oh, and let’s touch on that backstory of his. Louis grew up wealthy with two parents who loved him and each other, and they gave him anything he wanted except singing lessons. Louis says he wanted to be a real musician. But I guess his father didn’t like that idea and told him no, with the [as Louis puts it] dumb dad lesson of, “You get to be happy, or you get to be rich, can’t be both.” ...which is interesting given that Louis and his family were stupid rich but also.... were they not happy? well, that doesn’t make sense because little Louis knew that if he broke up their marriage, they would be hurt. 
So yeah, Louis was so upset that his father continually refused to let him take singing lessons that he broke into the man’s credit cards and faked an affair, which led to his parents divorcing... and then he spit his father’s words back in his face. 
Then they dumped him at Ericson. And the walkers came. 
There’s so much to unpack from the story he tells that it could be it’s own analysis, but basically.... Louis is aware of why what he did was fucked up, and he carries it with him every day. 
He regrets what he did, chews himself out for being such a “vindictive fuckhead” [and the amount of force used in that line tells you a lot, like how it’s not the first time he’s chastised himself like this] and he admits that he doesn’t even know the person he’s talking about. Yet, he still sees himself as bad, saying that they [I assume the staff] told him and the other kids they’re bad people. I don’t doubt that Louis internalized that which played a huge role in the confidence and self-esteem issues he has during tfs. 
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Anyway, I’ll come back to this later, but when you take that amount of guilt and regret, and mix it with the fact that they dropped him off at this school that was supposed to make him better.... then the walkers came and those teachers, staff, and headmaster? Gone. Left a bunch of kids to fend for themselves, with the exception of Ms. Martin [but given how she looks when we find her I doubt she lasted that long] and I cannot imagine how horrifying that was for all of them. The dead are up eating people, and if you die you become one of them... and the people you thought you could rely on just fucking left you to die at this school. 
Every kid in that school has trauma and abandonment issues from before and after the world went to shit, every last one, and Louis isn’t the exception here. Over the years, a lot of kids died and they’ve all seen horrible shit. They all knew they were never going to see their families again, and as far as we know, no one came to get their kids at the beginning. They had to find ways of coping while trying to survive, and all they had left was each other. 
Louis copes with music and games and jokes. He’s built up this persona where it seems like he’s unaffected by the comments the others make, that the death and suffering he’s gone through is in the past, that he is confident and open to those around him.
But then Clementine and AJ show up, and Louis grows close with both of them. They had immediate chemistry upon first meeting, he was the one who looked after AJ since it seems like everyone else saw him as a little terror, and he went out of his way to be kind and make them comfortable. 
When they go hunting with him, Louis and Clementine have a moment after taking care of the walker where they lower their guards a bit-- Louis gives her more in-depth reasons for his views of survival, and going off her expression, it gets to her and makes her think.... but they’ve know each other a day and he’s not quick to infodump his life story or let her in, so he cuts the conversation short.
Then we have the Marlon confrontation scene that I have gone over so many times in the past. I won’t dillydally with it too long but..... Clementine appeals to Louis, who curls in on himself because of the control Marlon has on him. He wants to help, and hell, he knows this is wrong but he’s so used to not getting involved that he gets defensive.... plus, he’s known Clementine for two days, and he’s known Marlon for 8+ years.... he wants to believe Marlon but you can tell he doesn’t want this, either. It takes Clementine talking to him to give him courage to stand between her and Marlon’s gun and it’s a lot.
AJ shoots Marlon and everything goes to shit, and Louis is a goddamn mess. His best friend was murderer right in front of him, so add that to the trauma list, and he’s overwhelmed with all these feelings that again.... they keep getting invalidated by Violet because “Marlon was a liar and murderer, therefore you shouldn’t feel bad about his death. Get over yourself, Louis, you can be such a shithead sometimes.” 
Oh yeah Vi, I guess he should care more about two people he’s known for a total of two days rather than for the safety of the people [including you] he’s grown up with and cared about for 8+ years.... makes sense. 
So yeah, little to no support during this time. Alone again. 
And just because I have to make this clear so no one gets a hair up their ass-- both Louis and Violet are wrong here. Kicking them out isn’t the solution, but neither is acting like AJ was right to commit murder just because it was Marlon.
 But plots gotta plot, so they get voted out and you can see that Louis is conflicted about the whole thing. He wants them gone, but at the same time, he knows what kicking them out means. You can see it on his face that he’s not okay with kicking them out. He’s hurting when he’s there in the dorms telling them how the vote went... he literally doesn’t know what else to do. He just knows that everything hurts, Clem and AJ caused it, and he wants the pain to stop. He even tries to justify it to himself by figuring that they’ve done this before so they’ll be fine. Not a great thing to say, Lou. 
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Anyway, we know the story, Clem and AJ come back and Louis once again sees the consequences of acting out of pain.... AJ is shot because Louis was hurt and he made a bad decision that he’s gotta live with.... something that he’s done before, and this affirms to him that he’s bad. He wishes he could take it back, and goes as far as to admit that to Clementine during the archery scene. 
By the way, credit to him for his apology to her. It’s rare in these games that Clem gets a genuine apology from someone who hurt her and doesn’t turn around to repeat the hurtful behavior, y’know? Plus, I can think of plenty of characters who owed Clem an apology in the past or if they did apologize, it was half-assed. 
You can feel how conflicted he is with this whole thing-- learning who Marlon really was and what he did, feeling something for Clementine before everything went down and not knowing how to handle those feelings afterward, caring about AJ and understanding why he thought shooting was the best choice but still hurting that his friend is dead.... 
And the thing is.... Louis forgives her for so much, as she does him, and through all of that bullshit, they manage to develop that strong connection that turns romantic. Louis lets himself be fully vulnerable with her and is honest about his feelings, how she listened when no one else did and seeing him for more than just the persona he put on. 
This works on Clementine’s side, too. Clementine has been through her own fair share of bullshit-- trauma, abandonment, loss, injury, you name it. She’s made mistakes, done terrible things, and has been in enough groups to know that romance usually ends in heartbreak.... and yet, she’s willing to open herself up to Louis and admit she feels a lot for him. 
Is it a little rushed? Yep. Could it have been handled better? Of course, most things this season could’ve, but what we got was pretty good. 
So Clementine and Louis are romantically involved now, the raiders attack, and she saves him... and boy does Louis feel guilty about that one, too. He feels bad enough that he questions why she would pick him because he can’t fathom his life being worth saving over another’s. He doesn’t see himself as useful, and even though Clementine is literally his girlfriend at this point, his self-esteem is so all over the place that he can’t understand why she would have him at her side. 
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And when Clementine tells him that he’s too important to her, he’s too baffled to even give a response. He looks at her in disbelief like he wasn’t expecting her to say that.  But this shows that at the beginning of their relationship, he still doubts himself, and through her working with him, he begins to build up that strength in himself. 
He becomes brave enough to share what got him sent to the school with her, and he plays Don’t Be Afraid for everyone at the party and like.... for once, everyone is listening to him. Really listening to him. They’re not talking shit about his musical skills, they’re not ignoring him or the feelings he’s putting into the song, they’re sitting there with him and I just..... if you watch him, you can see that his eyes get pretty glossy throughout the song. The moment meant something to everyone. 
There’s also the fact that Clementine asked him to come with her and AJ onto the boat, and to be the one in charge of the bomb... that’s a huge responsibly and he feels the pressure of that. He starts to panic a bit about if he can do it, because what if he fucks up? What if he gets them caught and makes everything worse? What if something happens to Clementine and he can’t do anything about it? 
She’s there to reassure him that she believes in him, and that he can do this. They’re going to get everyone back, and he needs to focus... then he asks her to slap him which why would you? that’s dumb, so Clementine smooches him instead and like.... he physically relaxes into her because he’s comfortable and trusts her in this situation. 
Also, he loves her and cares about this mission enough to cover himself and his fancy jacket in walker guts.... sure, he complains while doing so but how else is he gonna cope with rubbing rotten guts on himself to blend in with a herd of walkers? 
Skipping ahead so that we’re not here all day, I wanna talk about the walk back to the school because it’s one of the most important clouis moments in the game and a huge reason that solidifies why the comic is bullshit.
Louis went off on his own to go out and find them. He didn’t know where they would be, he just knew that he had to go out and find them after making sure everyone was okay back at the school because he couldn’t bare the thought that he had lost them. And the way the AJ gets so excited to see him? and the group hug??
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At this point, Louis has grown so much as a character. With Clementine by his side to support him, he’s grown stronger and more reliable. Remember how he never thought about the future? Well, now he is because his relationship with Clementine has given him a reason to long for a future. He talks about building this imaginary house with her, one he knows they can’t physically build... but it’s his way of saying we can build a home together, that he wants a future with her and AJ and everyone else. It’s such a personal conversation that flows so easy between them. Louis is more comfortable talking to her about things from his past, which is something he didn’t want to do back in ep1. 
He confides in her how he’s feeling after he shot and killed Dorian, he tells her that having a home means protecting it and I just.... it’s so good, okay? And from Clementine’s side, you can feel how at ease she is with him, too. Just the way she smiles at him as they’re walking? like he’s the cutest thing and she’s so happy to have him with her? 
But then we gotta deal with Minerva’s crazy ass on the bridge and well, AJ shoots Tenn and Louis is having flashbacks to Marlon and it’s not great. That’s a whole thing, and he ends up separated from them while escaping.
We don’t get to see Louis’ reaction to Clementine getting bit and losing her leg since I guess that puts a damper on the overly happy ending. But, going off of what we know about him and what I’ve explained [which isn’t even all of it, this isn’t a full Louis character analysis. if it was, it would be much longer and in multiple parts... believe it or not, I’m trying to not make this too long and only sorta failing...] we can get an idea of how he would react. 
Um, to say he was upset is an understatement.
Because remember, he had no time to think and climbed over the fence, thinking he could get them to climb over and they could get away, but it didn’t work. He ended up leaving them in order to save himself since walkers were closing in on him.
But you know that he’d blame himself for the bite. A lot of, “if I had just stayed” and “I should’ve climbed back over, I should’ve stayed with you.” I’m sure there were points where it looked like Clem wouldn’t make it and I can’t imagine how much hurt he went through watching her suffer and heal from losing a leg like that. 
Not only that, but knowing that AJ was the one to do it? And him thinking about what Clem’s death would do to AJ after all this? There isn’t a doubt in my mind that Louis would take care of AJ if she died. He cares about AJ, and he loves Clementine, so he be there for both of them, even if he’s still hurting from Tenn’s death. 
However, Clementine didn’t die. She survived the bite and amputation, and when we flashforward, she and Louis are still happily together. Louis is right there next to her at dinner, and he’s the one to help her with her crutches. He’s there to go over future plans to meet the traveling caravan, and Clementine wants him to be the one to go. 
Oh, and Louis once again forgives AJ for shooting Tenn, claiming that he understands that AJ saw something that he couldn’t. Like with Marlon, he’s not happy Tenn’s dead but he can see why AJ did it to save his life. 
I just..... happy ending. Clementine and Louis are together and she’s truly happy to have found a home for her and AJ with him at Ericson. 
....But then the comic thought it would be fun to say “nah.” 
The comic isn’t canon, I’m still insulted that it would ever consider itself as such, but even so I can’t help but feel so frustrated about how this would destroy Louis. 
He finally found someone he would consider his best friend, not just his girlfriend. She saw past that funny man persona and he trusted her enough to let her past this wall he built around himself. He let himself become vulnerable around her, he named his song after her. Their initials are carved into his piano with a heart surrounding them. He loved her. 
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Clementine left him feeling loved, something he probably hasn’t truly felt since he was a little boy with his parents before their divorce. She loved him even after hearing his past because she knew that wasn’t him anymore, and she helped him build the confidence he needed to step up. Because of Clementine, Louis wants to enjoy every day while also looking at the future. He isn’t lonely anymore, he has her and AJ. He’s truly happy.
So to tell me that Louis would wake up one morning only to have AJ tell him that Clementine’s gone, she’ been planning an escape without telling anyone because she wasn’t happy...? I’m sorry, but if you think that wouldn’t leave Louis absolutely devastated, then you know nothing about him as a character. 
This idea is just.... look, Louis is perceptive. That’s a big part of his character, he’s perceptive of those around him. If Clementine was showing signs of being unhappy or depression, he would see it. He would notice a change. He would be able to tell if something was off, and he would ask her about it. Louis is the type of person to ask you what you need. What can he do to help? What do you need to feel better? And if you don’t know, it’s okay, he’ll help you figure it out in any way possible. 
Plus, the comic suggests that there are times where she went off on her own but came back [probably doing her escape prep ugh] and you expect me to believe that Louis wouldn’t notice that or wonder what she’s doing? Wouldn’t sense that something’s going on? 
After she’s gone, he’s going to blame himself for not being enough. He couldn’t make her happy and he was a fool to think he ever could. AJ lost the only family he’s known since he was born because Louis couldn’t help her, couldn’t do anything to stop her from leaving. 
And for him to realize that she didn’t love him? Clementine, the girl he thought the world of because of how strong and confident and in-charge she was, because she saw him for who he was..... she left him, abandoned him... and she couldn’t even be bothered with a goodbye.... that says that she didn’t care all that much about him in the end.
You KNOW that he would think he had this coming, too. How could the universe allow him to fall in love and be happy with someone who loved him back after what he did to his parents? He would feel so heartbroken that he would see this as some sort of karma for breaking up his parents happy marriage as a kid years before he ever met Clementine and before the apocalypse.
I fucking can’t.... I don’t have the words to fully explain how much I hate this. Louis wouldn’t be okay afterward, and I doubt he’d ever fully recover. I wasn’t joking when I mentioned before that Louis would stop playing piano. How could he sit there and play when I he can see is their initials and remember the night she confessed to him? When he named his song after her? Clementine left and took the music with her because Louis wouldn’t have it in him... something that he used to cope would be ruined and that’s just.... it’s fucking awful. 
Not only that, but now he has AJ who I assume is hurting just as much [though the comics inaccurately assume he would just let Clem go sooo... yeah] and he would be the only one Louis would really talk to about it, but then again.... what if AJ doesn’t wanna talk about it? What if AJ starts to act out and things just become terrible and Louis is just too overwhelmed? 
I just.... UGH. That’s how I feel. UGH. 
Clementine from the comic? Not her. She would never fucking do this to Louis, AJ, or anyone else at Ericson, and you would know that if you played the tfs. 
Sigh.... sorry, I just needed to get this all out. I haven’t seen anyone talk about how Clem leaving would affect Louis and I’ve gotten some asks/come across some posts about Louis that have left me incredibly annoyed.... well, I was annoyed before because of the comics, so my annoyances with those things were only heightened. So yeah... I wanted to talk about Louis’ character in hopes of explaining why he would be so hurt if this comic was canon. 
Which it’s not. So it’s fine. 
How are we all feelin’ at this point, by the way? I know I’m not the only one still annoyed with the comic, so I hope y’all are doin’ okay. Hope you’re stayin’ chill and thinking about your faves to help cope with this mess hahaha
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ficauthor · 3 years
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inspired by the prompt by @danphanwritingprompts:
Danny narrowed his eyes as the Uber arrived at the church, and he finally remembered the occasion. “Wait, Mom? Did we just pregame Vlad’s funeral?” Danny asked. Maddie scowled. “Shut up and act sober. For some reason, your dad loved that miserable creep,” she told him. “It’s the only way to get through the day,” Jazz agreed, fumbling to open the door and step out.
and some other headcannons that I've seen float around tumblr about trans Danny fic below cut if you dont wanna follow the link.
Looking out the window was making him nauseous, like really  really nauseous. The kind of nauseous he only got when sick or from a good punch. He knew a thing or two about good punches. He’d been taking them for a few years now.
It really wasn’t fair if you asked him. One should ask him because it was an experience that only he could experience. After all, halfa's were rare as can be. Skulker had certainly told him enough for him to know. Every brush with alcohol in his younger days was, well, a mixed bag. He processed it faster than the average person so he was lucky in that aspect that he got drunk faster. But if anything his messing about with alcohol before he was 21 told him it was that it also left much faster than normal. Bullshit ghost rules and all of that. Genuinely being a ghost even half one had very few upsides. Some people online speculated about how cool ghost powers must be to have but clearly none of them knew about the burden that it came with. Sometimes he still wished that he didn’t know. 
However this time for whatever reason the alcohol was hitting him and staying. Maybe it was because the previous times he’d been drinking cheap party booze in Dash’s garage with Sam and Tucker, no one but the three of them aware that they were even there. Instead this time the booze was some semi expensive shit, he didn’t know the name or type but he’d been promised quality. Why he of all people was being given quality alcohol he'd never know but he wasn’t going to turn it down.
That being said seemed the trade off was intense nausea. It wasn’t that bad all things considered, he actually preferred being sloshed for the upcoming event but his body was not agreeing with that. Not that his body agreed with a lot of things. The disagreement between ghost and human sometimes really bit him in the ass. His head was floaty, the world in front of him was spinning badly, maybe it’d be worth it to never drink again. Especially if he was going to have this reaction . If only he’d invited Sam and Tucker. They were great fun and always knew how to reel him in. Man he missed them, if only they didn’t all go to different colleges. But nooo all of their majors just had to have few overlapping colleges. At least they were all within a drives (or in his case a flying) distance. When he wasn’t feeling too sick and unbalanced he’d have to fly over to their dorms for a movie night. It’d be nice. Sam might even be able to get them into someplace cool again.
In a stagnant attempt to push the feeling away he turned away from the window and towards his family. Jazz was studying a text on her phone. Probably a message from her girlfriend at university. Maybe she was inviting her. That’d be nice. She seemed nice when he’d saved her as Phantom a month ago, then everyone was nice when their life had just flashed before their eyes and they were rescued from it’s visions. Even when he and Valerie were on the worst of terms he was always grateful when ever she rescued him in either form. Bar Johnny 13 his sisters' taste in partners wasn’t actually all that bad. He actually liked her last girlfriend. Even then with Johnny he wasn’t sure how much of that was actually her taste and how much was Kitty’s possession. 
Certainly Jazz’s apprehension couldn’t be blamed, three of her previous partners both highschool and college were driven away by how weird their family was. She claimed she was fine with it, something about them not truly accepting all parts of her but still. That sucked. School had been rough enough, he couldn’t even count the amount of people that had been weirded out from being his friend because of his parents. Well there was also his reputation but his parents being renowned ghost hunters and chaotic town kooks certainly did not help. Looking back on it more of that might have actually been on his reputation. A nerd with A+ grades until highschool only to then end up with Ds on the best of days and bruises on the worst. Yeah some of that was probably on him.
Jazz gave him a look, he’d spaced out and looked at her for too long, it was weird now. He gave her a shrug and turned to their mother.
Laughing would be rude; he had to remind himself when he spotted her dancing along to the car radio in her dorky adult grooving. It was peaceful in a way. A down time he didn't usually get to appreciate before something bad (normally ghosts) interrupted. It was almost nice in a way to be calm with his mom and sister. Even if the former looked really really stupid.
He snorted anyway at his mom’s dance moves. Discombobulated shoulder jerks and little hand motions mixed in with little head rolls that had no rhyme or reason. It was wildly out of beat and didn’t match the tone of the song on radio. It was definitely the kind of dancing that Tucker would disparagingly call “white people shit”. The thought alone of Tucker's pain at his parents' dance moves was almost enough to send him into hysterics.
Man he missed Tucker.
He’d have to check in on Tucker soon, since he started the latest school assignment he’d sort of ghosted everyone, for the lack of a better word. It was probably the stress of dealing with his assignment partners, he’d done the same last time. Still… in a town and world with ghosts it couldn't hurt to try to check in on him. Tuck was a big boy now he could hold his own in a ghost fight but he didn’t like the idea of leaving him to it. Call him what you will but obsessions were just like that. 
Maybe he was a little possessive.
Just a touch.
“Oh Danny!” his mom squealed as a new song filtered in. The Uber driver rolled his eyes, clearly he thought no one could see him but Danny caught it in the rear view mirror. ” I love this song, isn't it rad!”
He tried not to laugh, he really did, but it was so ridiculous. His parents were doing this on purpose! They had to be! There was no way that they weren’t no one was that out of touch. That behind on lingo. Warm giggles and chuckles bubbled forth, messy and loud. The kind of laugh only those closest to him could coax out of him. Back in school it was only Tuck and Sam that got him to laugh like that (maybe Jazz if she was lucky) make him lose his composure so quickly, but more and more readily his parents had been able to also force the laughs out of him.
If only fourteen year old him could see him now. He’d be so embarrassed. Sitting in the back of an Uber laughing openly at something silly his mom was doing.  She said something he couldn’t catch, teased him probably for laughing. A random pop song and the air coming in from the drivers open window were just loud enough to cover even a raised voice. Even still the there was comfort. Whatever she said was from a place of love.
He loved car rides sometimes. He didn’t always appreciate them when he was younger, kind of like how he felt about his parents. Especially when he was 14 but now? They were some of his favourite times spent with his parents. He just couldn’t help it, something about the rolling scene and music with easy conversation lulled him. It helped keep his obsession at bay, blocking it from flaring if he could see that some of the most important people in his life were there, in front of him safe and sound.
He still ached. Felt that compulsion to check Sam and Tuck. Rather than scream like normal it was a soothing whisper. He was able to drunkenly send them a text about how much he loved them without the skin crawling need to see that they were still standing.
 The Uber slowed to a crawl, the Sudan squealing as they stopped. Man that guy really needed to replace his breaks. He could get in a wreck and then whoever he was ferrying around could get seriously hurt.
No!
He shook his head; he couldn't let his obsession obsess on something so small. It was probably safe to look out of the window again so he chanced a look. Danny narrowed his eyes as the Uber arrived at the church, and he finally remembered the occasion.
“Wait, Mom? Did we just pregame Vlad’s funeral?” Danny asked. 
Maddie scowled,“ Shut up and act sober. For some reason, your dad loved that miserable creep,” she told him.
“It’s the only way to get through the day,” Jazz agreed, fumbling to open the door and step out.
Damn he hadn’t meant to forget the occasion but he couldn’t help it his mind was already prone to wandering and the alcohol was just making it worse. Really it was a miracle he passed highschool in the first place, even when sober his mind just struggled to latch onto subjects, and that was before he had to nightlight as Phantom, hell it wasn’t even nightlighting it was a full double life. Really he didn't even know how he was managing college with the heroing on the side. Best guess if he was pressed to give one was that his parents’ disappointment and the desire to go to space was combining into the ultimate peer pressure. Funny how his brain worked like that, maybe Jazz could explain that to him. She was good for stuff like that. Explanations for why his brain was weird. She tried to give him an acronym for it one time something with A's. An attention thing of some sort. He'd have to ask her about it again sometime so he could wrap his mind around it.
“Hey!” Jazz opened the door, her face inches from his, the scent of some fruity cocktail on her breath,” get out Danny, and remember, act normal. At least for dad’s sake.”
“Yeah,” he waved her off stumbling to his feet, honestly it wasn’t fair that the ground was so unsteady beneath him, kind of transphobic if you asked him. “If you wanted me to act normal then why’d we all get plastered?” he joked.
“Shush,” Jazz clamped a hand on his face, their slow amble up the church's  many  steps paused. “Don’t lick a gift horse in the mouth Danny, you know this will be insufferable.” 
He licked her hand, she recoiled, wiping the spit off on her fancy black dress. 
“Danny!”
He stuck out his tongue in retaliation.
“Behave, ”she chided.
He rolled his eyes and followed her. It was just a funeral, what was the worst they could get into?
 The second he stepped in the church threshold he knew. It put his whole body on edge, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and the faintest trickled of mist? ghost vaper? Ghost breath? He actually had no clue what it was that came out of his mouth. 
Well he never really understood what he was saying half the time anyways, his mouth had a habit of running out from under him. The worst case of that was just the other week, he was talking to Sam over skype about something and he’d forgotten that she knew about Phantom, how really he had no clue, and he just went on for about twenty minutes making some out there wild excuse for why he’d missed their last hang out when she’d stopped him.
Honestly it was getting embarrassing, even worse was trying to keep things he said to his parents in each form separate. He really had to tell them soon.
It was so easy when he was 14 the breadth of his conversations with them as Phantom at the time could be summed up with a snarky quip from him or a “I’m gonna dissect you” from them. Now though they seemed to be fully taking seriously the notion that ghosts had depth to them. Which while true was deeply inconvenient for him. That meant he had to have interactions with them as Phantom and keep his identity straight ( ha  ). Maybe he should be grateful, they weren’t threatening to dissect him anymore that was certainly a plus, they still definitely wanted to examine him however.  He had considered it, in the depth of the night, allowing them to examine him only to drop the transformation part way through. It’d be funny, just a little bit to catch them off guard like that. But they didn’t deserve a coming out like that. He stifled a groan, he thought he was done with the closet when he’d come out but no life just had to never end and add in ghosts.
“Danny,” Jazz hissed at him. 
He slurred out a huh at her in confusion.
Damn he’d been staring out at nothing, the Pastor? Priest? He didn’t know the difference to be honest, was still talking about Vlad. Shit that’s right! The second he’d walked in his ghost sense had gone haywire, Vlad was still (half) alive in that plush ass casket. He wondered how bad it'd be to fake a stomach ache and transform into Phantom for some ass kickery. Knowing his luck though Vlad might just feign full death embrace just to make a fool of him. 
He would do that, fake his death, hell he was doing it right now! Motive was still unclear to him but Danny was going to get to the bottom of it. The man at the front, religious figure of whatever denomination, was gesturing large and big as he wrapped up.  It was really official, and stuffy, when he finally fully died he wanted his funeral to be nothing like this. Maybe Tuck's ideas of dramatic funeral pranks were where it was at. Or maybe even Sam's ideas of celebratory parties that remembered the dead's life. He wouldn’t object to either of those. 
Alcohol was fading out of his system again, well it’d been nice while it’d lasted but it’d probably be best to not be sloshed if Vlad wanted to cause a scene. 
He sat at the edge of his seat as his father came up for a speech.
“Vlad,” his father stopped to blow his nose,” Vlad was a good friend of mine in college, w-we,” his lip trembled, his large jaw hammering up and down as he stammered for words. It took everything in Danny to not sink into the pew bench in embarrassment. Jack was for all intensive purposes the only person in the entire church that seemed genuinely broken up about the billionaire’s death.
“We drifted apart for a while, and he’d just started to come back to mine and my wife's lives a few years ago and- and- I-I sorry,” he winced as his fathers voice died.
While he didn’t understand his fathers affection for the man his heart couldn't help but ache for the man’s sorrow. His father had such a large heart. He was so trusting and held so much affection in his large beating heart. It was a weakness and a strength. One his mother often said he inherited. He didn’t know if he could see it. He wasn’t so soft, so trusting, so eager to love and care as his father. Then the larger man hadn’t been burned the same. Hadn’t had his heart half electrocuted to death like him.
His mom walked up on the stage, he was briefly impressed by her composure, she was buzzed but also in heels and looked to all the church exceedingly well put together. Quietly she was speaking her hands gently on Jack’s shoulders patting his back soothingly. She often sold herself short. Stating her heart not to be as big, Danny didn’t believe that, not really, his mother was just more careful in those she let in.
“I wasn’t as close to him as my husband,” she admitted, having softly taken the mic from Jack. her fingers were curled around it softly, but her other hand was in her hair. She was fidgeting and searching for words,” but I’m sure those he was close to will miss him dearly.” she said tight lipped. Jack whispered something to Maddie quietly making her smile tightly and nod. The man moved to his seat and let his wife continue his speech in his stead. 
It was nothing notable really, Danny wasn’t one for paying attention to speeches or lectures and a funeral would not be an exception. He caught a few snippets though, his moms implication that she liked him better in college. A line hoping that in death that he could hopefully move on from the past. He really tried to not laugh at that one clearly because she'd noticed the exes. How many of them had known before? How many of the exes had to learn of their blueprint right then and there in the funeral.
Still he sat teetering on the edge of his seat, half paying attention to her words and mind half trained on that open casket. Vlad lay there in the plush box waiting. What for he couldn’t tell yet but he wasn’t going to be caught unaware.
The speeches couldn’t have ended any slower in his opinion. He wished that the alcohol hadn’t run it’s course already. It was so much easier to get through shit when his mind was quieted and his obsession was dulled. Instead he was forced to wait, his waking obsession tearing at his insides making him wait. Watch the lingering guests with apprehensive eyes. A few were expected. Gaggle of divorced exes. Some smattering of people that vaguely had Vlad's chin and nose. It was bizarre, some looked wildly like him and others well. They were utter strangers to Danny. They all were but they seemed almost faceless in how unknown they were. Interestingly none of them really seemed that choked up. He’d never expected troves of people depressed about Vlad’s passing. Still to only have one sobbing mourner? Maybe they just grieved differently...
Yeah maybe.
About when he got his water from the refreshments table he realized that Vlad really wasn't pulling a stunt. Still he had no clue why he was in that damn casket if he was still (half) alive in there. He almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, his worst nightmare was being trapped in one of those, yet Vlad had clambered in willing foot after foot laying stricken and board straight for all that he knew to see him. It didn’t make sense. There had to be some trick.
There had to be.
He thought maybe after his father had bowed his head over the casket head in hands loud body wracking sobs shaking his shoulders that Vlad might then spring to life (ha) and attack them. No, instead he remained laying in that coffin, the soft plush pillow under his head holding him still, the flowers in hand still clutched in strict fingers. He must have some sort of long con going on then. Some sort of goal he was aiming to reach by laying stricken and dead.
Wouldn’t be the first time the man had pulled a bizarre stunt. The time he’d kidnapped Danny and his mom sprang to mind. But there were few situations that came to mind where faking one’s death could come in handy. 
A severe looking man walked up to him a small plate of hors d'oeuvres in hand.  Sam would hate the sight of the small snacks, not a single one was vegetarian. And Tuck? He’d be laughing his head off at the name and size. He really had to rope them into a trip to the movies or arcade sometime soon.
The man greeted him, straightening his professional looking tie as he spoke. The man was exceedingly out of place, in a clean and crisp business suit that hardly matched the tone of mourning clothes. Then his parents were wearing their jumpsuits under their fancy clothes so glass houses and all that.
The man was painfully dull giving Danny his condolences in a rather stilted and clunky tone. The man clearly didn't want to be there. He raised an eyebrow at the man as he finally asked how he knew the ‘deceased’. 
Telling the man something to the effect of, “Just through my parents,” somehow making it clear to the man that he wasn’t particularly choked up by the billionaire's death. Gee he wondered what gave it away, his flat unaffected tone? Or the fact that Vlad was a billionaire with no moral backbone. 
Huh, he must really be missing Sam a lot to be thinking like that. he hated to admit it but she was kinda right. 
Business suit was disinterested in conversation with Danny after that, he hastily wrapped up the conversation. Man even muttered “shame.” under his breath, if Danny wasn’t half dead he wouldn't have caught it. But well nothing ever really worked out well for bureaucrats did it?
Had Vlad seriously faked his death to avoid paying a few measly bucks? The man was a billionaire! He must really owe them a mean amount of money for them all to arrive at the funeral like this. Maybe they hoped the will would work in their favour? Not far in front of the refreshment table were two suits talking unabashedly about the amounts that Vlad owed them. If it weren’t for the setting Danny would think that they were coming or going from an important meeting.
For what was probably the first time he properly looked at all of the guests. Actually taking them in, a good chunk like he’d noticed before were the exes that half looked like his mom, and their kids (hopefully they weren’t biologically Vlads). Then there were the vague family members that looked like Vlad watered down with kindness. But the rest? Suits and-
Oh.
Oh he had to step behind an archway and stuff a fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud. Vlad had fucking bounty hunters being sent after him! It was karmic, he had to stop himself from busting a gut right then and there in the middle of a church. It was already blasphemy enough to be the walking dead he didn't want to also throw in disrespecting the (only mostly) dead into the mix. 
Well at least they weren’t all debtors, lurking around the corners and edges of the room was a guy he’d worked with as Phantom a few years ago. He was kind of hot in a rugged sort of way. If it weren’t for Sam and Tuck he’d have considered flirting seriously with the other man. As it was his joking flirting got him in trouble with the other two.
He was really acting up being normal, that rugged man. Mingling about with other people dressed neatly.
Clear to only  Danny what he was, what the others like him were, the man wandered unaware that Danny was watching him. Ironically he only knew they were bounty hunters because Vlad had hired the rugged man and his crew to hunt Phantom that time a few years ago and now? Oh the tables have turned. Someone, maybe one of the exes, or the debtors wanted him dead. Damn what had Vlad done?
Ghost Zone inhabitants had mixed opinions on him, many of which wanted him dead or knocked down a peg. But that was the Ghost Zone, half of them wanted  Danny  dead at some point or another. This was the human world. Earth and shit, it was much harder to piss off someone to the level of murder. Not impossible but damn. He grinned at this, Vlad was (half) alive and (sorta) well in that casket and he couldn’t do anything if he started to stir shit up. Life was beautiful, twinkling and gorgeous, he decided. He Didn’t need Tucker and Sam to have fun.
 He started with one of the exes. He went out of his way to ignore her dyed red hair and pale purple eyes as he talked with her. It wasn’t her fault that Vlad had a complex, he reminded himself as the woman talked. Fault couldn’t be pinned on her for the parallels he could search between his mother and her. She was nice in a weird way, again really like his mom. It was unnerving. He kept trying to ignore her beady eyed gremlin of a child as she talked to him about the will. 
Whatever Vlad had done for all the people in his life to only care about the will and the will alone Danny wanted to do the express opposite. It was almost painful in a way to watch all of these people act like they weren’t only here for the money. Served the man right, it was still depressing, the man had everything on paper but not a damn thing in reality.
“Do you think his daughter will show?” he tactfully added into the conversation after the woman had made some condolences about his family and Vlad. 
“Daughter?” the woman asked, her large eyes blinking slowly,” I'm sure you're mistaken, Vlad told me he doesn’t have kids.”
“Oh,” he said, feigning apology, inside he was loving this, sure Vlad couldn’t admit the truth about the clones but clearly the man had seriously left out some details to his ex lovers. “Are you sure? ‘Elle is nineteen now,” he said, it was technically true if you counted right. She was also only seven if you counted right. It was all about semantics.
“Ninete-” the woman stammered something hard settling in her eyes,” he told me he didn’t want to have children,” she looked down at her angry eyed child (he hoped the little dude didn’t kick him in the shin) who had a hand fisted in the end of her dress. “If you’ll excuse me, Daniel, this was an- enlightening conversation.” he watched her walk away to a woman with a big chunky bracelet.
Also a redhead. Of course.
A sharp pain seared in the top of his ear he prevented himself from yowling out as the fingers attached dragged him over to a corner.
"ow ow ow," he whined out quietly trying heard not to draw attention to himself. It didn't really work.
“What the  fuck  are you doing?” Jazz hissed at him when they were hidden away from the rest of the group.
“First of all: ow!” He rubbed his ear delicately between his finger pads,” I’m not a child anymore, maybe borderline sibling abuse was funny in 80’s sitcoms but it's not anymore.”
Jazz rolled her eyes,” second of all?” she pressed, she was still slightly buzzed and yet she was still holding herself with so much composure. Kind of impressive, if she hadn’t just physically threatened to rip his ear off.
“Secondly I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“Not do-” Jazz floundered,” Daniel!” she hissed out again struggling to keep her tone low. Damn she was mad, she only pulled out the full name when really fucked up,” I know your relationship with Vlad was- complicated.”
He snorted,” he tried to kill me multiple times, Jazz.”
“Yes bu-”
“Dark Dan,’’ he pressed further.
“I get it!” she snapped in a whisper-shout,” but a funeral isn-”
“He isn’t dead Jazz. Or really fully dead I guess I should say,” he laughed
Jazz rolled her eyes,” This is concerning behaviour Danny.”
“W-what?” he asked.
She tapped her chin pensively, she was psychoanalyzing him again, gag, “You must be transferring your complicated feeling about him into-”
“Jazz,” he groaned. It was best to stop her before she got on a roll, “Ghost senses remember? He’s still not fully dead, I can tell. He faked his death.”
“Okay,” she said with a sigh," I'm not saying I believe you, but say he did fake his death-”
“He did.”
She shot him a look, “Why? Why would he fake his death? He’s a rich ceo multi-billionaire with more money than most of us can conceive of, nonetheless actually obtain, what does he get out of faking his death?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, this was easier when Jazz was talking to one of Vlad’s cousins ignoring him stirring the pot. 
He explained what he’d pieced together so far, with the suits and hunters lurking around the edges of the room it was easy to point out how out of place they look. Slowly a realization fell on her face, an acceptance of what he was saying.
“When I was talking to the stepford exes they were all talking about who would get the estate.”
“Do they know who?” he asked.
Jazz shook her head,” no the will was kept really secretive from all of them. There was even a bit of an altercation from two of the younger ex girlfriends over it.”
He winced at that, he couldn’t blame them for being mad he just wished Vlad wasn’t faking death for them to take it out on. “The bottle red and the one with the big bracelet?” he prompted, remembering the end of his conversation with the former.
“No that’s Maddison and Maggie, the two that fought were Morgan and Melenie.”
“Maddison? Maggie? Morgan? Melenie?” he repeated with a grimace voice getting higher with each name.
“Yeah I know,” she said with a sigh,” a textbook case of projecting an ex, or in this case crush, on future partners leading to a string of failed relationships,” she frowned looking over at the group of clustered red heads. Danny followed and examined them, they were all looking at something their eyes occasionally darted over to- 
Oh of course, mom, they ‘d probably done the math already. He winced at the thought. He’d half thought about it before  finding the notion funny. Now in his sparkling sobriety of the evening he couldn’t find the humour.
“At least they all mostly get along,” Jazz offered, trying to look away from how the dozen or so women were looking at the one woman they were all stacked against.
“Really?” he blinked at her,” I’d have thought that they’d all be fighting cause of the- well you know,” he gestured to the, everything, of the situation.
She shook her head,” no, they seem to all understand that it was all on Vlad, two of them, Mackenzie and Melody,” she clarified to even more of his confusion,” even found out that they were seeing him at the same time. How they didn’t know with all of the press that followed him I’ll never know, but they decided to team up on the legal front if there are any issues with the will.”
“Really.”
Jazz nodded,” yeah I was surprised too, but good for them, Vlad went around causing too many issues in their lives.”
He nodded in agreement as he looked at at the sea of redheads, some of them had grown out their hair revealing dark roots, some had hair styled in poufy curls reminiscent of his mothers old style and one of them had completely cut her hair into a half shaved look, it was actually similar to the look that Sam had now.
“Want to cause some problems for him?” he asked.
“Danny, legally and socially he’s dead, what could we do?”
“Legally yeah,” he agreed,” but technically he’s still half alive in there, and can hear everything that people say-”
“Are you suggesting that we ruin his reputation?” Jazz asked with a poorly hidden smile. He loved that in the years she’d loosened up. It was a good look on her, relaxation.
“Ruin?” He said, in mock scandal, ”I'm merely suggesting we bring it down to where it belongs.”
“Oh ‘merely’ what is that a fifth grade word? I'm impressed!” Jazz teased.
He shoved her lightly with a laugh,” oh fuck off I’m in college now you know.”
“Really? Accredited and everything?”
He stifled his laugh,” shut up, you know dealing with ghost shit messed with my grades.”
Truthfully he’d expected her to joke further about it, to razz him about doing so much, or maybe analyze him, diagnosis him with trauma. Instead she hugged him.
“I’m sorry so much was put on your shoulders so young,” her voice was raw. Too raw.  
He patted her back, stomach squirming. Because what was he to do with that? The tender care held for him in the cracks of her fingers. The sorrow that settled in her pores all for him?
“Hey stop that,” he eventually said, pulling back,” or I'll make clockwork take me back in time so you never find out.” He didn’t mean it, he never did.
Jazz laughed a little wetly, he didn’t comment on it. Why would he? Also didn’t get a chance as she ruffled his hair, despite the fact that he was now much taller than her. “People are allowed to care about you, asshole.”
He scrunched his nose up at that,” ew what? I detest affection.”
“Oh detest another good one, really racking up those vocab words huh?” she sniffled her hands on her hips, a little lean in her back as she smirked.
Snorting, he stepped back and fixed his hair,” how about we make this a competition?”
“Huh?”
“First one to make Vlad burst out of his casket and rage in ghost mode wins.”
“Really? What would the winner get?”
He tapped his chin making a humming noise,” how about this, loser has to reveal their secret.”
Jazz laughed nervously,” I don’t have a secret Danny.”
Danny gave her a look,” Jazz, I’ve met your girlfriend.”
She bit her lip looking down at his outstretched hand, a debate playing in her eyes.
“Hey you don’t have to if you don’t wanna,” he said softly,” this is just meant for fun after all.” he knew better than most what forcing this stuff did.
”No, it’s fine,” she took his hand and shook, if a little clumsily,” that doesn’t mean they have to meet her though.”
“Oh don’t worry,” he said,” it won’t be my fault if they do that’ll be entirely on them.”
“Danny!” she exclaimed at him as he fled to the other side of the church. Finally this funeral was going to be interesting!
“Can you keep a secret?” he asked the swaying uncle of Vlad. The man smelled of beer and hors d'oeuvres. Not that Danny could judge if it wasn’t for the thick layer of spray on deodorant that his mom smothered him in right before he got in the uber then he’d probably smell just as rank. Then there was the fact that he’d pregamed to.
The older man narrowed his eyes at Danny, he was shocked to see the man he looked to hardly be much older than Vlad yet he was his uncle? He’d gone to ask about it but thought better about it, the less lore he knew about Vlad’s family the better, he really didn’t want to know about how many kids and when and how the Masters ‘clan’ had. Conversation with the older man was… stilted, to say the least. But he was certain that if he told him something then it wouldn’t get back to him. And that was half the game wasn’t it? Finding a way to spread the most rumours without people finding out it was him or Jazz. All without powers of course, that almost went without saying. 
The man didn’t seem too broken up about Vlad, they probably weren’t that close and Danny had always gotten the impression from the billionaire that he was a smidge too snobbish to fully have developed relationships with people. As often as he teased Jazz for being snobby, she at least was nowhere near as bad as Vlad. Man damn near invented snobbishness and assholery. He’d have to ask clockwork if Vlad’s ancestors were just as bad. Judging by some of his family, probably not.
“Well before he passed,” Danny prompted, pausing in a way to snag the older man's attention.
“Yes?” the older man asked when he didn’t continue.
“Well,” Danny fidgeted with his nail,”  you know his signed Packers jersey?”
The older man nodded eagerly.
Danny looked to the side,” it’s a fake,” he whispered to the man.
“Really?”
He nodded,” yeah, but please don’t tell anyone,” he added,” it’s bad enough that they know he was banned from buying the team-”
“He was what?” 
Danny fought to hide a smirk. He knew it’d be easier to sell this lie if he started smaller.
“I thought everyone knew!”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, most of the town knows, it’s just, no one talked about it to be polite.” okay that might have been overselling it a bit but the distant relative seemed to really be drinking it in.
“What did he do?”
Danny looked side to side like he didn’t want anyone to overhear.
“Well a few years ago when he was closing the deal to buy the team he got caught stalking some of the members!”
“Really?” the uncle asked,” wha- why?”
Danny shrugged,” they never really found the reason he was following them, he was even trying to seduce some of the wives.”
The man gasped,” I- really?” 
Danny nodded. “But you can’t tell anyone you have to promise me.”
He watched as the man smiled in what he thought was slyness,” of course! I just, with all of those wives he had!”
 Within the next five minutes Danny heard the rumour circulate across the room and it had grown legs. How glorious those rumours legs were. 
“I heard he’d tried to break up a marriage on the team!” an ex wife (Maggie maybe?) hissed.
The other ex (Mary? The other woman might have called her) laughed,” would it really be any surprise? With what he did to Morgan and Melenie?”
The first woman nodded sagely,” fair I can’t believe I even fell for his tricks.”
All things considered the rumour was spreading well, and there was not even a gasp of a suggestion that he was the source. He couldn’t wait to hear what Jazz had invented, with the rumbles he’d already started to hear, it was probably great. Jazz always did have a way of getting into people’s heads. Find what interests them the most.
“So this daughter of Vlad's?” the woman he was talking to prompted, he vaguely remembered Jazz saying her name was Maddison. She’d found him again some time later; her child now safely deposited over by the other kids with their group babysitter. They were in the middle of the church now, the other two still whispering about the packers' spouses.
“ ‘Elle?” he asked as if he’d forgotten.
The woman nodded her curls bouncing as she did.
“Can I see a picture of her?”
He pulled up an older photo of them hanging out, the picture was grainy and they were both sticking their tongues out at the camera. Shit he’d really forgotten how alike they looked.
“You both-” the woman said before stopping. She glanced at his parents. 
Shit he had to go into damage control,” well she’s also my cousin,” he fibbed.
“Cousin?”
“Yes! Technically once removed? Or something like that, I didn’t meet her until a few years ago, we were really blown away with the family resemblance!” he laughed. "Really it's uncanny!"  He continued.
Too far! Too far! He was leaning into it too much! It wasn’t like he could just tell her the truth, that Dani was Vlad's only successful half dead clone of him! Then he’d also have to out two things about himself to her.
“She travels a lot,” he added. He really needed to learn when to shut his big mouth,” she was in Paris a few years ago actually.”
“Really?”
He couldn’t even blame the alcohol! He was just this stupid naturally huh? They’d been saying it for years Sam and Tucker, if only he’d taken them seriously before this. His idiocy might really be terminal.
“Yup, I haven’t seen her in awhile though, hopefully she visits again!”
Scrutinizing eyes scanned him up and down, darting from each corner of his face hunting out the ruse. He really needed to learn to shut his big mouth.
“Do you have her number?”
Crashing noises filled his brain. Her number? The last thing that he had expected was interest in ‘Elle. he’d just thought that they’d get upset at Vlad and leave it at that.
“ ‘E-elle's?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m sorry if this is prying but me and the other ladies,” she gestured to a few of them,” we’re talking and we want to support her!”
“I-” he hesitated, he hadn’t really planned for this,” what?”
The older woman nodded,” we all talked it out and if we get the estate we’re going to support one another and the kids, and it seems like ‘Elle just got stuck in the middle of this like the rest of us.”
“Yeah uh, let me just text her first?”
“Of course honey!”
Danny walked away from that conversation feeling distinctly weirder than before. Regardless he pulled up his phone and slid out the keyboard.
He opened up the “With an I” contact.
  Hey i accidentally got you adopted by like fifteen random women that used to date vlad
5:43 p.m.
  You what? Lul
5:45 p.m.
 He looked up around him before typing out the next message
  Yeah long story short he faked his death. Its weird
5:46 p.m.
I’m at the funeral and the exes wanna like support you?
5:46 p.m.
  Well Vlad wasn’t good for much but at least i now have a multitude of mothers
5:47 p.m.
  So i can give them your number?
5:47 p.m.
  Yeah have at it! If this causes chaos for vlad im all for it !
5:48 p.m.
“So her phone number is.”
By the time he’d separated himself from that conversation a few more rumours were floating.
“I heard that the reason he died in a car crash is because he was on the run from the law!” one of vlad's relatives whispered.
“Really!” another responded.
Elsewhere some of the attending staff were murmuring too. “I heard that he got caught smuggling maple syrup cans from canada!”
“Cans?”
“Yes apparently the good stuff is canned there.”
He walked to a new group this time with the suits.
“I hear that the money in the accounts is dirty.”
“According to my source his invested stocks were backed with illegal funds.”
“If there’s drugs really attached to it like I was told then I don't want anything to do with it.”
“I agree it's hard enough to get money from wills with spouses involved. It's even harder if the feds sniff any drugs.”
“It might not even be worth it to try with all of the ladies,” a different suit complained,” I overheard them talking about lawyering up together if anything goes wrong.”
Another much older suit scoffed,” this business was much easier before the exes started working together.”
Finally he heard his own new rumour starting to gain some traction.
“Wasn’t it found out that he was stealing science equipment from the nearby college?”
“Oh whatever for?”
“I heard it was for making a specialty shampoo.”
“I’ve always wondered how he kept his hair so nice and shiny.”
 Jazz was good, too good, considering that neither of them had really clicked into any social cliques in highschool. Now she was gossiping better than even any of the A-listers.
“It’s just such a shame that they can’t come,” Jazz was even fake sobbing, damn he was going to have to up his game.
“Who couldn’t come?” One of Vlad's older cousins asked, Danny wondered if Jazz was screaming inside at the hand she had around one of the older exes' waists, it was casual and tender. If one of Vlad's exes was getting together with his cousin because of the  funeral , Danny would shriek from laughter, hell if he accidentally used his ghostly wail it’d be well worth it. Vlad of all people deserved to have a partner snatching occur to him. 
“Oh I’m sorry,” Jazz said,” I thought that everyone knew,” she looked from side to side,” please don’t tell the other ex wives Monroe I’d hate for their feelings to get hurt over this.”
Damn she was good. The wife- Monroe who was leaning comfortably on the cousin nodded.
“Of course Jazzie,” she said in a deep comforting New York accent,” this can be brought up to them later more delicately later.  Though I must admit,” she said after a pause where Jazz thanked her for her discretion.” I myself am curious who wasn’t able to come.”
“Well you know how he used to do ghost research with mom and dad?”
Where was she going with this? She was selling it well, Danny had to admit but for the life of him he couldn’t guess where this was going.
“Yes of course,” the cousin nodded as Monroe spoke.
“I can’t name the amount of times he used to write home in our youth about his little ghost adventures,” the cousin added.
Jazz nodded ,” well at the school there was the Lunch Lady Ghost and the Box Ghost, he was seeing them romantically in between their stays in the ghost zone.”
Danny held back a snort box ghost! If he laughed too hard in that moment he’d drop the ghost form and would fall on top of the group that’d gathered around her. As much control as he’d mastered over his abilities over the past couple years there was nothing that would be able to save him from Jazz’s wit. 
“I’m sure box ghost is very helpful for moves,” one of the crowd commented amicably. The others though had nothing to say. Clearly they’d all actually met Box Ghost. 
The gossip might have even stayed in that circle if it weren’t for another one of the cousins being right there and then deciding to tell his wife, who then told one of the ex-wives, who then told another, who then told a suit. So on and so forth.
By the time that Danny was back in human form and settled on the opposite side of Jazz’s conversation he was hearing the children that some of the wives had brought talking about Vlad ‘holding hands’ with the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady. Why couldn’t he have thought about that? It was so good, it was perfect, literally no one could prove it wrong. And embarrassing, seriously Box Ghost!
All the stuff he knew to be true about Vlad sounded so far-fetched.
Half ghost?
Well most people didn’t know about them.
The time he infected his two closest and longest friends with ghost pimples?
Needed the half ghost context. 
If only there was some-
“I hate Vlad!” one of the kids near him cried out stomping down his foot.
Unsurprisingly all of the kids agreed, okay he was a little surprised, usually Vlad had the wool pulled over on most people. So the fact that all of these kids  hated him really meant something.
“He stole my cotton candy at the fair!”
“Well he told me that I didn’t need to see daddy anymore cause he was gonna replace him!”
Eager ears pointed at them he drank in their every complaint. He’d known that Vlad was cartoonish levels of evil for awhile (see the infecting teens with ghost acne for personal gain as proof, or kidnapping him and his mom) but never had he truly expected for him to be so stupid as to do it all in the open in front of all of these kids. Then again some of this might be his obsession making him act out. Smallest sliver of him almost felt bad about that, the fact that Vlad was in a way forced to be this way, but it wasn’t really anything he wasn’t before. Obsessions just highlighted what was already there. Made it more severe.
 “Uhm excuse me,” he tapped the shoulder of one of the shorter women,” Mallory?” He'd asked the babysitter for her name but for the life of him he was struggling to keep all of the exes straight in his head. There were just too many of them and they all looked too similar to his mom.
“Yes,” her eyes flickered with recognition,” Danny?”
He laughed,” yeah that’s me!”
“Some of the others were mentioning you!” she said with a bright smile taking his hand,” thank you for telling us about ‘Elle! I can’t believe he kept her a secret from all of us for so long.”
He nodded in agreement,” well about Vlad-”
“Oh no, what else was he hiding?” she asked, there was a laugh ringing from her but Danny didn’t need ghost senses to know it was dead on arrival,” I’ve learned so much more here at his funeral than I ever did when we’d been together.”
He laughed a little at that, a stilted awkward laugh that only filled his chest halfway. He almost felt bad telling her about this, but she deserved to know the truth. “Well I overheard some of the kids complaining about Vlad.”
He filled her in on what he’d overheard about the kids, the petty little actions of Vlad. The cotton candy he’d stolen (which was weird he’s rich), the fathers he threatened to replace, it was all so bizarre. Danny was about halfway through when the casket began to shake.
Vlad masters was not an impulsive man. He was calculated, smart and forward thinking. At least he certainly liked to think so.  No impulsive man goes out of his way to plan his nemesis’ death and demise for twenty years. No reckless person would spend his time building an empire carefully crafting his abilities and connections for taking down his enemy.  Vlad however to his greatest distaste was in fact still half human and not infallible. While he was meticulous and in his personal opinion exceedingly intelligent he had no way to properly plan for wrenches in his schemes.
The fenton boy, Daniel was his biggest hurdle but it was only a matter of time before he found the right way to tackle the issue. He was just a particularly big roadblock. If only his emotional attachment to his dunderheaded father wasn’t so strong. These issues were all small potatoes compared to the one he was in now. The details can be spared and smoothed over all that was truly important was that he was at his own funeral.
He’d always wondered what people's reaction to his death would be. Contact with his extended family had been… loose, for the lack of a better term since his ‘accident’.  Deep down however he knew that when or if his time came, truly came, that they’d have a reaction. Probably sadness, he had been close to a few of them before his accident, hell he’d been close to them before his company had taken off. At the end of the day he simply had better things to do. Plans to make, revenge to ruminate on. It wasn’t his fault that they’d fallen to the wayside. They simply weren’t as important as Maddie.
He’d toyed with the idea that maybe his dear Maddie would sob over him, that she’d denounce Jack when she saw that he was no longer an option. How deeply poetic it’d be for that to happen. He never liked the idea of her only realizing their potential then but he couldn’t ignore the artful symmetry of it all. Some of the books that Maddie used to read in college had those even beginning and ends, those swooping through lines that tied it all nicely in a pretty bow. His first death had ripped her away from him. It’d gifted her to Jack on a silver platter, and his second oh how glorious it’d be if it drew her to him. Making her denounce her imbecile of a husband. Leaving the stocky man discarded.  Beauty was in the eye of the beholder and even with its harsh edges his death bringing her close to him was something to behold. If only that was what he was watching happen.
Unfortunately for Vlad Masters Owner, Ceo, and founder of Vladco. Life was not an art piece nor a well orchestrated game of football. No instead he got to lay still (half) alive in his exceedingly expensive casket and listen to the dolt sob.
It started like all of the worst things while heading to the Fenton's for another plan to be set in motion. The restraining order was still being held up in the courts so there was technically nothing legally stopping him from seeing them, or especially her. Besides he was a billionaire, those things were more fine machines than anything for him. Once it was enacted all he’d have to do was pay a fine.
Unfortunately it was during the drive that issues started. Again finer details notwithstanding for he’d run them all in his head a thousand times now while laying in this blastedly comfortable casket. While on the drive it became clear to him he was being followed.  No matter , he’d smugley told himself. He’d been followed by techbro fans before they were easy to deter. Easy to remove from his time and life. However in a deeply detestable turn of events the car following him did not belong to a fan.
He knew from the offset of seeing the make and model that it wasn't his average follower, those types usually had older beaters or worse highly expensive care that they had no business owning. No, instead this car was perfectly down the middle of class and price. How he detested those cars, they had no class. It was effectively similar to the many unmarked police cars that he used to have follow him during his brief stint as mayor. 
Regardless the car was tailing his limo, it was simple at first to attempt to outmaneuver them. Eventually his limo was pinned.
Blah blah blah mindless details later some pointless shooting at him with guns and he’d jacked their car. In the end it was simply easier to fake a fatal car crash. then there were all of those witnesses that had to see his death. Walking it back was impossible all circumstances considered. At least when they attacked him they only knocked his driver out, the legal case of that would have been a logistical nightmare and he still had some hopes of getting access to his funds later. 
It was almost funny in a karmic way. Almost as poetic as he had wanted pretending to be dead to be. Only problem was it was poetic in exactly the opposite way. The person that he hated most there sobbing the loudest. It’d be so much easier if it was Madeline sobbing. If she was sobbing, a faked death could be almost satisfying. If she melted down it could almost be worth it. Instead it was Jack Fucking Fenton. 
Numerous things were to be expected from his funeral, Daniel's arrival, yes, Maddie’s, undoubtedly. Even Jazz’s and Jack’s all expected arrivals. Some of them were more annoying than others but they were the requisite arrivals. Even his gaggle of ex flings was to be expected (they had to try and get their hands on the estate and money somehow. Well jokes on them he’d left it all to Maddie). No, what he hadn’t been prepared for was Jack’s incessant wailing and sobbing. 
The man was besides himself absolutely losing his mind right next to his goddamn open casket. It was getting hard to keep a straight face when he wanted nothing more than to leap from the plush silk sheets and throttle the man. His hands might not quite reach around the other mans thick neck but he could give it a good try he was sure. To put it simply and without intense amounts of rage he had mentally calculated for a lot of variables, not one of them being Jack of all people struggling to breath, choked out sobs instead of breaths coming from him as he hovered nearby. Not a single variable included being cried on by the most loathsome man in all of Amity Park. Every tear that fell on Vlad’s extremely expensive make up was another tally against the man’s. Had he no clue how hard it was to not flinch every time a drop of water splattered on his face? It was much harder than it looked he’d have him know.
Didn’t the idiot realize that he hated him? That he’d never cared for him? At least not since his death. 
Worse was when Maddie and the Fenton children staggered in, he could smell the alcohol on them from a mile away. It was tasteless! The smell alone nearly made him leap from his casket and throttle them where they stood (Maddie with exception of course). Have they no respect for the dearly departed? Have they no care for social decorum? Those Fenton spawn would never survive in high class society. Not like himself and Maddie. Oh how he wished he’d never gone for those pale imitations. They hardly kept up with all that he needed.
All he had to do now was ignore everyone and get through the funeral and he could be Plasmius full time. Pursue Maddie 24/7 with no worries of the law (though with some worries of Phantom). If only those blasted Fenton's would stop spreading rumours about him! And he knew it was them! Who else would say such outrageous things?
Okay certainly if one wanted to be technical Danielle was his daughter, but he hadn’t raised her. She was not his blood, she was not his in the most important ways.
Then there was that rumour about the-
“He-hey Vlad.”
Oh, oh no.
“I uh, I’m gonna miss you.” 
No no no no no! He couldn’t do this! He wouldn’t do this! He would not stand for this! He did not go out of his way to fake his death for this. 
Jack blew his big blubbering nose into a handkerchief so hard it honked. Honked! He was going to throttle this man at his earliest convenience. Getting cried on he could deal with, revolting as it was. What he couldn’t and wouldn’t deal with getting yammered at. That was not in the details. He did  not  plan for this.
“I- uhm- I know we weren’t really close these last few years.”
That was putting it lightly.
“Or really at all since college,” there was a wet laugh from Jack.
If that oaf ended up coughing slobber on him- Maybe if he tried hard enough he could die for real, that’d be nice. He’d never really craved death before, not like in this moment. It’d be so much easier if he just didn’t have to hear this.
“I-I know you didn’t really like me in the end.” 
Wait what? Had he finally gotten a clue? That was a first. Maybe his overt plotting had finally gotten through to the oaf. If Jack attacked him now that’d almost make this all worth it. He might even consider revealing he’s Plasmius if he did.
“I know I messed up, I-I must have hurt you, I don’t really know how, but- but uh, I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
Yes ye- He was what?
There was another laugh sob from his  ex  friend,” It’s probably too late since you’re uh- dead, but whatever it is I did to hurt you, I'm sorry. I hope,” he trailed off into a high pitched keening whine. 
Stop stop stop! This is not what he wanted!
“I hope you rest well Vlad.”
Footsteps receded away from him at that. 
Well what the fuck was he supposed to do with that? What in the world was he supposed to do with that knowledge? Internalize it? Grow and change as a person? He was (half) dead! He was well past the point of growth! He was beyond growth.
For all Jack knew he wasn’t coming back! For him and basically all of them he wasn’t coming back! The only person that would know was Daniel and maybe his sister if he told her. Maybe his brat friends if he messaged them. 
What did Jack get out of telling him all of that?
Certainly not money, the will had left everything to sweet Maddie, not him. Some sort of moral upper hand? A sense of feeling like he got one over Vlad?
No the dolt wasn’t that complex, his intelligence lay somewhere between absentminded and incompetant on a good day, there was no moral forethought. Yet why did the words settle so deeply in a corner of himself? Carving out a crevice in him that ached and burned?
“Did you hear about why Vlad couldn’t buy the green bay packers?”
Why? Why did it dig in his flesh? why when he’d thought he’d burned all of that away.
I'm Sorry.
“No, why?”
Life was easier when he was fully alive. College life was simpler. At least then he could fool himself that Maddie thought of him equally as she did Jack.
“Well I heard that he was stalking the team!”
What?
Why would he stalk them? He’d never stalked someone once in his entire life! (death maybe but he’d never admit that) he could buy all the tickets to their games he had no reason to stalk them!
There was no practicality in stalking them. Just like Jack had no reason to apologize to him! The idiot didn’t even know what he’d done to hurt him. He hadn’t ripped the apology from Jack. He wasn't on his knees begging from him. Hell he didn’t even know that he’d killed Vlad. Jack Fenton was as oblivious to the fact that he’d died back in college as he was to the fact that his own son was dead and playing hero as Phantom.
The density of the man was rivaled by no other.
But then why did he apologize?
“Did you hear?”
He got nothing out of it.
Why did it ache?
Burn? He wanted for years nothing more than to make the man sob and beg for forgiveness.
Why did having it fulfill nothing?
“About him and the Box Ghost?”
Would it burn just as painfully if he finally got sweet Madeline’s confession? Would it ring just as hollow?
“I thought it was the lunch lady ghost?”
No. There was something about Jack that made it wrong. Something about that blathering moron that lashed the words to him like a blade.
“I think it was both.”
And what the hell were they all blathering on about? What was all of this nonsense about Box Ghosts and smuggling and stalking? What were any of their empty little words? 
Did any of that really matter? Their blathering human rumours and petty squabbles when he, the very guest of honour in all ways but one was laying here before their very eyes on the precipice of something? He was teetering at some edge, he didn’t know what it was but he could just make out the shape of the hole he was almost toppling in, he just had to know what it was. He just-
“Well I heard-”
They heard- they heard! What did it matter what they’d all heard! Nothing that they heard could matter in the slightest not when he was dealing with this! Not when he was reeling with whatever this was! The weight and size of it completely overtaking him and yet none of them aware, he was suffocating being overtaken by the edge of knowledge some realization he’d yet to make and hee still couldn’t read it. All because they wouldn’t stop blathering on and on about what? Lies?
Stupid foolish tales spun by his greatest enemy!
By a child.
If it were not for the show and pageantry of it all, if it were not for the display that he’d set about around him he’d be yanking his hair by the roots, tearing it slowly strand by strand from his scalp. And if there was one thing that Vlad Masters was, it was a showman! He was dramatic and he was going to be so unabashedly it was not his fault that there was no one that yearned for his life to roll onwards like Jack. None of it could be held against him. He was a romantic! Everything he did was for  her.
Had it truly all been for nothing?
All these years.
Had she never really cared?
“Dirty money, attached to drugs. I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pool.”
All this time.
Did he really-
“Never even mentioned a daughter!
All his schemes!
Jack's tears were so warm when they cut the thick funeral makeup.
“So many secrets for him to keep.”
Dozens of attempts on his life!
Did he really  care? The water on his face was still warm.
“Wasn’t the cause of his crash a run from the law?”
“Would you all just shut up already!”
Silence blanketed the church as Vlad’s voice finished ringing out the wooden box still perched on its little stage. The casket was still shaking and the flowers were falling from the box as the hush grew sharper. Energy crackled from the casket shooting out and blowing the bulb above. Glass fell from the light falling gently on the flower petals. 
None one spoke, Danny’s father had a hand over his mouth, new large tears welling up. He looked green and pale, unlike most of the stunned guests he looked like he was about to be sick.
Danny shot a glance at Jazz, she nodded and jerked her head to the side. He ducked out. Things were about to get hairy.
There was no response from Vlad for a second as it seemed the outburst was done. Even the children who’d been shrieking with laughter and joy from their play for most of the funeral were silent. The falling glass and shaking box were deafening in the silence. Danny ducked behind a pillar and into the doorway that led to the restrooms. There was no one there. The closest person was his mom but she was standing silent and stunned not an eye tilted away from the casket. He couldn’t blame her.
It wasn’t everyday your incel stalker had a breakdown after he’d legally died.
He transformed. On the most part there weren’t many people near the casket. It was just a few lingering Exes, most people were near the refreshment table. His first line of action should be to grab the people near the stage and get them to safety. Then?
Well the rest was adlib. 
At least he had stored the Fenton thermos in his suit jacket (just in case). If only Sam or Tucker were there. Things were so much easier with their help.
Just as he was about to jump into the situation, the group of exes all swarmed Vlad. Shit he’d have to replan everything. He wouldn’t be able to get in an ecto-blast with out the fret of hitting one of them. He could always try Ice or a little storm cloud?
Just as a new plan was starting to formulate one of them (Maria?) slapped Vlad hard across the face.
Smack.
The noise echoed loudly across the church.
He grimaced.
Oh.
He did not want to get in the middle of whatever that was. He really didn’t want to get in the middle of it at all. Backing back into the bathroom he turned back to normal. Didn’t matter what the situation was, he was not going to get in the middle of a dozen or so angry exes and Vlad. It was his grave (even if Danny had helped him dig it a little) like hell Danny was getting buried with him.
“Vlad Masters!” one of the exes screamed,” you slimy pathetic excuse of a man.”
Yeah Danny was not getting in that, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to watch.
“Ow!” Vlad cried out, his eyes were glowing red, but aside from that he still looked very much the same. 
Weird, Danny didn’t expect him to stay in human form. He guessed it made sense if he changed into Plasmius the gig would be up. There’d be a lot of questions too. Knowing Vlad’s tendency to monologue he might even explain the concept of Halfa’s.
“M-Maria!” the older man stammered out,” darling hello-”
The woman smacked him again,” I’m Maggie,” she spat out.
Danny winced, yikes. Makeup covered Vlad's gaunt face but Danny could imagine the smarting red forming on his cheeks.
“Y-yes of course, how could I mistake your beauty, how foolish of me to compare the two of-”
The clearing of a throat interrupted as Maria herself tapped her foot.
“Maria!” Vlad exclaimed this time correct, even if taken by surprise.
“Yes,” the woman agreed,” but don’t mind me, what were you saying? Something about comparison?”
The billionaire awkwardly laughed as he seemed to take in the fact that he was surrounded by all of his exes. Phantom wasn’t even needed. Villain defeated right then and there by the rage and power of his many exes. Again Danny found himself desperate to find out whatever the older man had done to make everyone hate him so just to do the express opposite.
When he actually fully died he hoped his funeral wasn’t this… whatever plan he actually ended up with he just didn’t want this.
“So,” Jazz said as she settled next to him leaning on the pillar with him,” any idea what got him up?”
“Nah,” Danny shrugged looking over to his sister. She looked more sober now, less unstable on her feet.” He didn’t really decree what his gripe was this time.”
Jazz sighed,” so no winner yet.”
“Unfortunately,” he said,'' He also technically didn’t go ghost mode.”
Jazz groaned resting her head on his shoulder,” I wanted to go home, these heels are killing me!”
He stuck a tongue out at her,” shoulda transed your gender like I did,” he teased quietly.
“Ha! Really funny Danny,” she flatly commented with a roll of her eyes at the tired joke.
“Ah meany,” he pouted.
“You walk in these heels at a funeral,” she complained again,” At least if he went full ghost It’d be socially acceptable to ditch them.”
He bit his tongue remembering a rant that Sam had gone on recently about heels and social pressure. How she’d then thrown one of her platform boots at Tuck when he made a remark. Jazz probably wouldn’t appreciate his lovesick ramblings about them.
“Looks like we'll just have to continue to watch this unfold.” he said instead with a sarcastic twinge.
“Oh what a shame!” Jazz said flatly,” sucks to be us.”
Danny snickered as Vlad continued to try to dig himself out of his hole. How he wished Sam and Tucker were here. Unfortunately for him they were both far too busy. Ah well he’d just have to video it all for them.
How unfortunate for Vlad that he was made to sit through his own will reading, and how fortunate for Danny Fenton that he was the one that got to watch it all go down. In the entire time that he and Vlad had been nemesis he never knew just how much he wanted exactly this to happen. Actually if someone ever suggested this happening younger him probably wouldn’t have appreciated just how funny this was. No fourteen-to-fifteen him was far too invested in things like learning his powers and finding out just how observant the rest of town was. Also looking cool. Adult him however? Freshly 21 and college attending him? Oh he could enjoy the fuck out of this situation.
There was some minor debate among some guests over how ethical it was since Vlad's ‘ghost’ was now here to view the reading. Some point could be made that it might be weird...
“Isn’t it rude?” one family member had suggested.
But...
“It might be in bad taste,” another guest had even pipped up.
No one really liked Vlad anyways
“Oh no!” Morgan said,” I want to know what it says, and who better to see how accurate it all is.”
Oh how glad he was that those few were beaten out. How glad he was that the crowd was seeing blood. That the group was too nosey and invested in the drama to really get caught up in such small things as ethics.  How grateful he was that the exes were in half a mind to Kill Vlad a second time.
Fortunate he was, that his luck was finally turning up. It might even be the universe trying to pay him back for all of the shit he’d been dealing with since he was fourteen. Return investment on the untimely youth death. Honestly if it was it was a pretty bang up start all things considered. He’d have to find out if there was a ghost involved in the control of karma. They might just end up with an edible arrangement on their lair door. Older adults loved that shit so ghosts should too.
“Hm,” the lawyer said when they entered the room with the walking corpse of Vlad masters. The office was small and hardly held everyone, but snugly, far too snugly for comfort they all fit on the other side of the large desk.
No one said anything to the lawyer. Whether the man had been privy to the rest of the funeral or had just arrived Danny didn’t know but he had to admit this entire situation was bizarre even with full context. Not many of them knew ghost rules and the only ones that did were in either stunned or gleeful silence. There was no objection to the fact that Vlad had dragged his body with him, not a voice descenting on the fact that his form hadn’t shifted. Not a single attendee seemed perturbed by the fact that Vlad was not really a ghost.
Even the paid bounty hunters didn’t know how to discern ghosts from humans judging by their stunned expressions. Though he’d love to watch one of them attack Vlad in the middle of a church. Stabbing a man in the house of god might just be a big sin, though Danny wasn’t sure.
“Well this is unprecedented,” the lawyer commented,” never in my time have I ever seen a dead man rise for the reading of his own will.”
Vlad grumbled but no one could make out the words as the two exes on either side of him glared. 
Oh how fortunate Danny was indeed, never before had he ever been so glad for his untimely death. If it all led to watching Vlad squirm like this still trying to keep his alter ego a secret? Pain and strife, the many attacks and attempts on his life were worth it.
“Well if there is no protest,” the lawyer said. For a moment Vlad looked very much like he wanted to protest, but the glares of the exes kept him silent and made him snap his jaw shut. Danny knew what went into keeping a corpse looking fresh. Shame the mortician seemed to have skipped wiring the jaw shut. Then, Vlad didn’t seem to need physical wires to keep him silent and well behaved, his Exes were all doing that job very well.
“In that case,” the lawyer sounded queasy, if Danny wasn’t so invested with the drama unfolding he might have turned to verify. “Then I believe we will begin.”
The man started out by reading the long legal preamble, the paragraphs upon paragraphs of titles and information about Vlad that was included. Danny understood that him being the owner of VladCo was technically important for the will but did he need to include all of his ten titles at the company in the will? It just felt excessive. ‘Ceo, entrepreneur, founder, head of decisions, etc.’ did anyone care? Leaving out the most important title of ‘asshole’ was the biggest mistake of his will.
“Yes I think we get it,” Monroe said, her accent clipping the words in stiff professionalism. Bless her for cutting the pain short. “I do have,” the woman glanced at the cousin who was still holding her hand,” A more important social engagement to attend to with Carmila.”
The lawyer stammered,” yes of course ma’am my apologies.”
“It reads:
‘First, I hereby denounce all previous wills made by myself, Vlad Masters, no matter nature or kind.
Second I Vlad Masters hereby appoint,” the lawyer paused making a face before he continued,” Madeline Fenton love of my life as the executor of my estate, networth, and-” the lawyer paused,” the ownership of my beloved cat ‘Maddie the cat, the third-”
“Huh, I guess you listened to my suggestion after all and got a cat.” Danny muttered as at the same moment his mother reached her breaking point
“You what?” Maddie was standing out of her chair, indignation flaring in her eyes,” Vlad! I don’t want any of this.”
“But but,” Danny tuned the man out as he made the normal declarations of love. Trite at this point his mind was already trying to entertain itself. Fast forwarding this would be nice, if only his core was time based. But no he got Ice, and Weather, and other weird disconnected powers. He was electrocuted to death! Cruel that he didn’t get cool electrocution powers.
They were still arguing when he tuned back in. Loath wasn’t a powerful enough describer for this love diatribe that Vlad spewed every three to five business days. His mom yelled something back, a few of the ex wives even chiming in agreement. Well at least they didn’t hate mom that was a plus.
He shot Jazz a look as he repositioned his phone camera to get a better shot.
‘This again?’ he tried to communicated with his expressions. Tuck usually laughed when he tried and Sam told him he looked to constipated.
She shrugged and nodded as if to say  ‘this again.’
“I am happily married! I told you I won't leave Jack for you!”
Tuning out the conversation didn’t seem to leave out many details. Everything was falling exactly into the same patterns as always.
“Maddie please-” the billionaire tried to beg.
This made the woman snap,” no don’t Maddie please me! You have not respected my decision to marry Jack since it happened, well guess what Vlad it’s too late for you! You were never even an option!” she turned to Jack and put a hand on his shoulder. her voice much softer when she spoke,” come on honey we’re leaving. Kids?” She turned to the two Fenton children. The both of them stood with no protest. Like hell they were going to end up on the wrong side of their mother right now. Mission orientated as she was they had no doubt she could commit Vlad's murder and get away with it. legally she might even considering the fact that he was technically a 'ghost' right now.
Just as she was about to step out the door she turned,” oh and ladies, don’t worry about a legal battle I’ll work with our family lawyer to transfer everything to all of you.”
There were some small thanks from the stunned Exes as the office door latched shut behind them.
 The air in the car was-
Well the word tense didn’t really sum up the air but it was the best approximation that Danny had. It could have gone worse, he supposed he could have genuinely ended up fighting Vlad again. Chances where that if he fought Vlad while he was Plasmius that the formerly rich business mogul would then use the moment to out Danny as Phantom. Not just his family but all of the church. If he had to rate the evening it was definitely not as bad as he expected. About a six or seven, depending on his critical he was being.
“Uh so who won the bet?” he whispered to Jazz. he wasn’t worried about his parents, Maddie was soothingly rubbing circles on Jack’s back as the man drove. That and they were sat in the back, sometimes the front seats struggled to hear them at a normal level forget a whisper.
Jazz furrowed her brows,” I guess neither of us really won, he didn’t even go ghost.”
Nodding, he thought back to the man’s loud entrance,” He also didn’t say what rumour got him up.”
“So do we both lose?”
“I guess?” he looked over to his parents,” so we both tell them?”
Jazz sighed leaning back in her seat, hair dramatically laying behind her,” yeah I guess.”
“You don’t hav-”
Jazz cut him off with a snort,” no it’s fine, my things not really as big all things considered.”
Fair, she had a point with that. Their parents already knew that she was interested in men and women but still revealing partners to them was always weird and nerve wracking. The first time he’d introduced Sam and Tuck as partners and not friends he’d expected a lot more questions. Turns out if you hunt ghosts for a living nothing is really weird after that. They just bought him new sex ed books. Sentiment appreciated but still weird considering he could google that sort of thing now.
“So Danny,” his mom said, her fingers tightened on her phone. They were lucky she got old brick Nokias instead of those new Smart phones. She’d break them in a week. Jack wasn’t paying them much attention as he drove, he seemed to still be shell shocked. Hopefully he didn't crash, okay so maybe he didn't always like car rides. Sometimes the looming threat of a car crash really messed with his obsession.
“Yeah mom?” he asked.
“I was talking to some of the ladies.”
“Uh huh?” wherever she was going with this he didn’t like the tone.
“And imagine my surprise when one of them tells me Vlad has a daughter.”
“Weird right,” he said. Please stop, please stop! He begged, wherever this was going it was nowhere good. It would have been better if he’d just died in that accident. Screw whatever he thought back when he thought his luck was turning up. He was still the most unlucky bastard in all of amity park.
She hummed in agreement,” and imagine my surprise when they said she was your cousin.”
Danny didn’t have a response to that, Jazz was stifling a laugh next to him.
“And then,” she said,” she showed me a picture of her.”
“Really.”
“Yeah, Danny," there was a pause as she seemed to collect her words," why does she look like you pre transition?”
“Does she?” sweating wasn’t really something he did so much anymore, not since his core started cooling his mortal flesh, it was nice sometimes. But it didn’t stop nervous sweating. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Hadn’t- Danny,” his mother sighed,” sweetie if you want to start presenting as a girl again you can. We won’t judge you.”
Wait what, “ what?!” 
Shrieking loud bursts of laughter came out of Jazz. 
“Jazz!”
That set him off, it was just so ridiculous.
“Honey I’m serious,” his mom sounded so upset her tone lost. She really was trying.
He couldn’t help it, it wasn’t his fault. It was just so out of the realm of what was happening. Man his parents really didn’t have any of the facts.
“Danny?” his father asked the tenseness in his shoulders from the funeral leaving way to confusion.
Him and Jazz made eye contact and the laughing got so much worse. If being part dead didn’t make him need to breathe so much less he’d be choking. He’d die, it was just- they still didn’t know and somehow that was all the funnier. God he was calling Tuck and Sam right after he explained everything they were going to get such a kick out of this. Especially Tucker.
“That’s not-” wheezes high and stringy, cutting him off, he was struggling even with his ghost lungs.
“Danny my boy,” Jack asked quietly,” what’s funny?”
“We’re trying to support you Danny!” his mother exclaimed.
Finally he quelled the laughter enough to speak,” okay okay,” he whipped a tear from his eye. “I’ll explain it all it just probably isn’t something dad needs to be driving for.”
“Danny what do-”
“Just trust me okay?” he grinned at his mom in what he hoped was reassurance. 
She sighed and looked at her husband, Jack furrowed his brows and the pair silently communicated before the man hit his turning signal.
 The small side road was perfectly out of the way enough that no one would be able to peer in. It was some half abandoned picnic area but none of them reached for their seatbelts to leave the car. It was just the closest spot they could stop.
“Okay,” he started giving Jazz a look, she nodded comfortingly,” Remember how the portal didn’t work at first?”
It took them a moment but they nodded in remembrance. 
“Right well I died.” it was best to just rip the Band-Aid off.
“What?”
“Danny- honey you’re not dead.”
He thought so at least, he sighed pinching his nose,” I need you guys to wait for questions till the end okay?”
“But honey you’re not dead!” she didn’t sound so sure as she looked him over.
“What your mother said my boy! You’re sitting right there!”
Danny groaned,” guys please?” there was a pause as they looked at each other and finally finally agreed to wait till the end. “Sam said I should check it out, see if I could fix it. I put on my suit, and,” he made a buzzing noise with his tongue,” the button shocked me to death when I hit it. It was dark so I didn't see,” he looked to the side. The trees outside were swaying peacefully in the wind. Jazz put a hand on his shoulder, he took a steading breath and clenched the hand with the thin invisible scars. “It was an accident but,” he turned back to them resolution in his eyes,” I died that day, When I woke up, well, brace yourselves okay,” he let the tugging cold of hic core shift and change his appearance.
There was silence. He’d expected something but, no, even Jazz wasn’t saying anything.
He cracked an eye open, his parents were staring at him dumbfounded. Yeah that was about par for the course.
“Well this happened and now, I’m half Ghost,” he admitted,” everyone in the ghost zone knows that’s why there were always so many attacks at the school.”
“Half?” his mom asked despite herself.
Danny nodded,” yeah I still age, and need to eat and breath... mostly on that last one. It’s kind of cool I can go invisible,” he demonstrated before changing back,” and phase through things and float,” he demonstrated both in succession allowing the belt to glide through him as he hovered up an inch. “Shoot Ecto-blasts… probably best if I don’t do that one in the car though,” he laughed.
“Okay,” his mom said. 
“Okay?” he asked.
His father nodded,” sure Son, we love you. It’s weird but, well we hunt ghosts for a living.”
He laughed,” yeah fair enough.”
"I-" his mom looked over at Jack," We're proud of you sweetie, that's a lot to undertake at so young."
he chuckled," it wasn't so bad, I had a lot of help," he grinned at Jazz," Between her Sam and Tuck I don't know if I would have lasted half the battles I did."
"You knew Jazz?" Their father asked his tone soft and slightly hurt.
She smiled softly," yeah, I walked in on him transforming. Thought it was best if I let him tell you guys."
"Part of the apprehension might have been the dissection thing," Danny addmited.
"I- honey-" his mom put a hand over her mouth in shock.
"I'm sorry son," His dad said," it was closed minded of us to assume stuff about ghosts we didn't know."
"Well you weren't always wrong. Just usually."
“So ‘Elle?” his mom prompted before Jack could pepper in questions about what the got right.
He sighed,” yeah her full name is Danielle, technically she’s the only living clone of me Vlad made.”
“Only living Clone?”
“Vlad made?”
Man he had a lot to explain. Years of events just gone unsaid. Some small part of the divide between them was shifting, growing smaller. 
“Is now a good time to tell you guys I have a girlfriend?”
Danny choked on a laugh. Not to long after his parents followed after the tension disrupted, Well at least he had Jazz to help explain. Sam and Tucker too when they weren’t busy. It'd be a mess and weird to finally clear the air between them, but at least he knew they were proud of him.
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ohhmyheart5678 · 3 years
Text
When in the streets of seoul (13)
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*warning* this mentions death, murder, suicide, guns, and other gruesome and dark content if you are sensitive to these kinds of things do not read the it
Chan x female reader
Word count: 1k
Previous/next
**********
"Share?" I questioned but at the same time I was trying to completely wrap my head around this. "Yah as in both hyunjin and I will be dating you. Like an open relationship type deal" the blonde curly haired boy says so nonchalantly. "but why??" He shook his head letting out a slight chuckle. "For someone so intelligent sometimes I worry about you " he joked causing me stick my tongue out at him.
He laughed at me and told me to follow him so that we could both bring the idea to hyunjin. Chan and I make our way over to his room with grins on our faces. We knock on the door and hyunjin soon opens it. "I take it you guys are back together?" He questioned but it was more of a statement and it didn't seem like he was happy about it.
Seeing him so sad made my smile start to fade. "Yea but we have some good new for you" Chris was trying to cheer him up because he hated seeing him like that almost as much as I did. Hyunjin just stood there inspecting us as if trying to read our body language. Once he finally made up his mind he stepped aside to let us in his room.
"So what's the news?" Hyunjin asked while shoving his hands in his pockets and momentarily standing on the tip of his toes, only to rock to his heels, to then placing his feet back normally on the ground. "Well I know you really like Kinley so I thought maybe we could share her?" The tall brown haired boy eyes widen "wait,are you serious ?" He was just as caught off guard as I was.
"Yeah, kindve like a polygamous relationship" Christopher says so matter of fact like. "Wait, are you serious?" Hyunjin repeats himself still trying to wrap his head around this. Hyunjin looks as me for answers but of course when I couldn’t give him any he looked back at Chris. "Yup. The only catch is that if you want to do anything with her you'd have to ask me first of course" my head shoots towards The Curly haired boy and he smirks while crossing his arms?.
"Yeah I'm sorry but, never gonna happen" Hyunjin was now very annoyed with the both of us. "I never agreed to that" this was all news to me and this asshole didn't even ask me how I felt about it. "If you really loved her you agree to my terms it's how it works, that's how it always works. Don't act brand new" Chris says so cockily and the energy in the room somehow does a complete 360.
"So let me get this straight" Hyunjin says while taking a few steps towards Chris. "You come to my room while I'm just minding my business, you make a bullshit proposal, and then you basically spit in my face by telling me to take it or leave and get mad when I don't want to agree to your dumb ass terms?" Hyunjin's voice gets louder with every step he took and at this point he was yelling in Chris's face, but the smirk on his face only grew.
"So I take that as a no then" Chris only laughed and shook his head. "It's more of a I'm tired of your bullshit thing" Hyunjin was getting more furious the bigger the smile on chris’ face grew. "Wait! Hold on, am I supposed to be scared of you?" The curly haired boy raised his eyebrow and looked the other up and down.
Hyunjin suddenly threw a punch with is right hand. I gasped but Chris only laughed "you hit like a four old you little pussy" he then proceeded to punch hyunjin back and before I knew it they were both on the floor. "Fucking stop!" I scream but they were just still going blow for blow. I would’ve tried to separate them but I didn’t want to end up with a black eye myself. So at this point, I had to to just let the fight take it’s course no matter how stupid it was and how badly I wanted it to end.
Suddenly changbin and Seugmin run in and they pull them apart , making them squirm to get free, and talk countless amount the shit at each other from across the room. "Just shut the fuck up for two seconds!!" I was completely over the whole situation. It was practically written on every inch of my body and I knew everyone in the room could feel it. The room then went into a stand still. Silence took over the room and I had everyone's attention.
"You guys are both so fucking ridiculous! You need to figure it The fuck out or else I don't want either of you because this whole ordeal is driving me insane" I had enough with the back and forth between the two. "I'm sorry Kinley I tried to make a solution to our problem but he doesn't want to take me up on my offer" chan sigh s before whisperingunder his breath “fucking idiot” Chris didn't couldn't put his stupid ego for two seconds. "It's the way you went about it" I informed him because I didn't think he seemed to get it through his self-seeking brain.
"Next time come correct bitch" Hyunjin spat at him and Chris rolled his eyes. "Suck my dick" Chris still always being so calm at collected and still remaining in order yet so disrespectful. "I can still fuck you up" He squirmed to get at him again but changbin was doing a good job at holding him back.
"This is exactly what I'm taking about! Tuck your egos away for me please and stop having a dick measuring competition. it's honesty not that hard- you know what? Never mind!" I began to storm out but managed to get out "why do I even try with you two?" before slamming the door. I walk to Felix's room so that he could help me calm down and put a smile back on my face.
"Hey what's up kiddo- what's wrong kin?" The smile on his face leaves when he see all the mixed emotions all over my on mine. "You know what we don't have to talk about it, just come here" he opens his arms and invites me into his warm embrace. I cry on his shoulder and he just rubs my back in circles. He smelled of a slight citrus and his body heat warmed me up a little. "Ya know, I really wished this didn't happen on a day that I was wearing one of my favorite shirts" he joked and it caused me to laugh. Something he always seemed to do was put a smile on my face when I needed it the most "I'm glad I could make you smile" He wipes the tears of my face and we just sit there in silence.
******
Previous/next
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simptasia · 3 years
Note
Could you please insult Jack?
insult jack? jack shephard? well, gosh, i guess i could try but im sorry if i don't have much to say... [smiles deviously]
why are you so big large you're freaking me out [squishes him into a tiny box and hands it to kate] for safe keeping
the way he expresses himself is like he's a sim testing out animations. he looks like feels every emotion before saying anything. he genuinely comes across like his actor is on coke
fuck your buzz cut and fuck your chest hair, i believe in long(er) hair + shaved chest jack supremacy
perfectly fine with using a spoon that kate sucked on right in front of him. you sick fuck, you liked that didn't ya?
the scene with richard and the dynamite is genuinely terrifying. you're scaring richard! stop that!
that bit where he blows up a bunch of trees to make a point that they have the ability to blow stuff up now but like. bitch you just wasted a bunch of the explosives. limited supplies, fuckhead
jack's main tattoos are a bunch of stupid looking nonsense and i'd forgive that if there wasn't a fucking EPISODE DEDICATED TO THEM. charlotte didn't get a centric episode but jACK'S TATTOOS-!!! [starts foaming at the mouth]
the poor reception of that episode was so bad that it's the reason the abc were like "okay you're only getting 6 seasons". like thats a good thing and a bad thing, it's a mixed bag but thats not my point. my point is a jack episode was SO BAD that the abc was like "okay fuck this, we're cutting you off, here's your deadline" BRUTAL
season 5 jack and large chunks of season 4 jack can go straight in the fucking bin. that there be the Cunt Jack Zone, my friends
sometimes jack looks directly at the camera and i feel pain
his voice is very high and whiny which makes the parts where he's insufferable even worse
none of us can look at angel hair pasta the same way
he has the aura of a grown adult who enjoys a glass of plain milk
your beard is bad and you should feel bad
"if i was checking you out, you'd know it" he says leaning confidently against a tree. what the fuck does that even MEAN. how is that a flex!!! also you were??? you were dopey zoned out staring at kate's ass (fair) and she clearly liked that, why are you disputing it?? im not saying they should started fucking against that tree, but holy fuck jack doesn't get flirting
basically jack has the social skills of a turnip. there are just. too many examples to list. everything. all of it. six seasons
Jack Shephard Bullies A Depressed Disabled Man For Six Seasons Cringe Complication
yeah dan tried to set off a hydro bomb to bring back his love interest, i've made fun of that, but at least thats like noble. jack's reason is so fucking immature: set off hydroden bomb because my girlfriend broke up with me and it hurts too much so i'd rather erase our entire relationship than feel heart hurty. like dan is being grossly irresponsible to save somebody's life, jack is being grossly irresponsible because WAAAAAHHHHHH
theres CPR and then theres beating people back to life
holds a pathological fury against the mere concept of belief, as if doctors don't see miraculous things on a regular basis
i'm sorry but his ears are weirdly small for his head
he's not cool and at no point will he ever be cool
yelled in hurley's face, scaring him. and some crimes can never be forgiven [cocks shotgun]
look, theres nothing in canon that suggests this but nothing that disputes it either: i just don't think he's good at Fuck
record for shortest term as Island Protector at less than a day! [presents him with a tiny trophy made out of tin foil]
honestly do i really even need to insult jack when there's a scene where he's sobbing into his steering wheel while led zeppelin plays. just picture that. i can't make him more pathetic than that moment
i could continue. and i will in small chunks, as i always have. but this feels,, [short of breath] this feels like enough
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thatwriterkei · 4 years
Text
-Moment of Tangency-
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Series Summary: When Y/N's favorite fictional characters come to life, a mystery ensues as a killer wreaks havoc in Bangor, Maine.
~
Chapter Summary: What started out as a sleepover with your best friend turned into a night of unexplainable events.
Warnings: cursing, underage pining if you squint, mentions of sex.
Word Count: 1.7k
A/N: Here's the first chapter of the big series I was talking about! I really hope you guys enjoy this, I've been working on this for about a month and it would mean the world to me if you have feedback and brought attention to this to those who would enjoy it too! I'm really excited to see how this goes.
~
Main Masterlist
MOT Masterlist
click here to be part of my taglist
_________________
Chapter One: The Beginning
"You will soon receive support from an unexpected source.." 
The red letters of your fortune stared back at you ominously.
"Hey, that's great timing huh?"
"Too soon, Marcus..Too soon."
A sheepish smile formed on his freckled face, "Sorry..Here, have another."
You shook your head, waving away the cookie. "I'll just stick to mine. I only have a little bit of room left for it." 
You took small bites, slowly indulging in the delicious treat, afraid of letting it go to waste with just two or three bites.
"I'm surprised your dad let me spend the night."
"Honestly, me too..I don't think he noticed that you're in the middle of transitioning."
"He probably just thinks I'm gay or something.."
You let out a choked laugh, "Maybe because you are."
"Hey, you can't tell me that Mr. Fisher isn't hot as fuck!"
"He isn't, oh my god!" You tried to finish the rest of your cookie without inhaling crumbs, suppressing the laughter building in your stomach.
"Have you seen his hands?! Y/N, I don't think you understand how much I adore him!"
"He's 20, Marcus!! Not to mention, he sucks at teaching physics."
"Hey, I didn't say my future man had to be smart."
"You're ridiculous."
"Yes, yes I am. Oh! Speaking of guys, any good gossip for the ship of a century?"
You could help but roll your eyes at his teasing, blood rushing to the apples of your cheeks.
"Kolby and I haven't spoken since last week. I don't think he likes me anyway. He's been talking to Heather more recently.." 
And, for some reason, you weren't too interested in him either. Yes, he was a nice looking, athletic guy but you just didn't care enough to go further than a 'hi, how're you?' with him.
"Well, his loss. You're a wonderful girl and it's a shame he's wasting your time with his boyish nonsense. Besides, he doesn't even wear watches like Mr. Fisher."
"I swear to god, if you mention him or watches one more time.."
"You're right, sorry," he held up his hands defensively before putting them down, "I just don't wanna see you get hurt, Y/N/N.."
"I know you're worried, Marcus, but I'm fine. It's our junior year, I don't think long-term relationships are supposed to happen for us until we're in like college."
"You never know..Anyway, what do you even see in him?"
You let out a sigh, sinking in the mounds of pillows and blankets that are laid astray on your bed.
"Umm..He's cute, without a doubt. His jokes are sometimes funny, depends on who he's around. He has a nice sense of style, I guess? I don't know..We've only known each other for a little over two months."
Marcus laid beside you, rolling to his side with a dopey grin plastered on his pale face. "And a lot could happen in two more months if you just talk to him. I promise, I won't even bother you in Algebra..Okay? Just trust me on this.."
You groaned but, nevertheless, agreed with a silent nod.
"Love shouldn't be this complicated.."
"Sometimes it is, sweetie..But only time can lead you to where you're supposed to be.."
"Yeah, I know...Since when did you become my therapist?" You let out a scoff.
"Since third grade! Now, c'mon, get off your lazy ass and let's do something cool!" 
He pulled at your limp arm once he stood up, dragging you to the floor and down the hallway towards the mini library your stepmom installed about a year ago; who has yet to use it.
"If you were looking for 'cool', you brought us to the wrong place." 
Your eyes scanned over the bookshelves, catching titles of famous works.
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
War and Peace
Charlotte's Web
"You only have that perception because you hate her."
"Of course! Have you seen her?"
"Yeah, but this is still cool! You should take advantage of it while you can." 
Marcus released his hold from your ankle, scampering over to the section of the library where a red and white book was gleaming for attention.
"Oh my god! Miranda got the newest edition of IT?"
You stood up abruptly and made your way over. "She got what?!" 
"Holy shit, this is amazing! We haven't fangirled over this book since freshmen year."
"Oh yeah, our biggest obsession since One Direction." You laughed, taking the book out of his hands and running your finger over the textured title.
"Not gonna lie, the older cover looked better."
You rolled your eyes and ushered him over to the desk in the middle of the room. "Wait, let's see if they kept in that one part.."
"Which one? Does it have to do with Stanley? You had a major crush on his fictional ass." He teased, pulling up another chair beside yours.
"No no no, the one with Eddie and-Oh, I found it!"
Man, he had hated it when Richie called him Eds…but he had sort of liked it, too. It was something….like a secret name. A secret identity. A way to be people that had nothing to do with their parents’ fears, hopes, constant demands. Richie couldn’t do his beloved Voices for shit, but maybe he did know how important it was to creeps like them to sometimes be different people.
"Oh, I absolutely love this part..It's just, mwah, beautiful. Stephen King certainly knew what he was doing.."
"C'mon, let's go back to my room and reminisce." You took his arm and pulled him back to your bedroom.
~
You internally screamed at Marcus's onslaught recollection of memories.
"Oh, and that one time when you had a major attraction for-"
"Okay okay, that's enough reminiscing!!" You tossed the book at him.
"Aww, what? Feelin' embarrassed, sweetie?" He barely dodged the book, letting it bounce off your bed and onto the ground with a dull thud.
"Shut up.." You grabbed the nearest pillow and slightly smothered yourself with it.
The memories he continued to bring up brought back some nostalgia but looking back at it now made you cringe. You were practically grown up now, not 15 years old. 
"Okay, I'm sorry. But wouldn't it be cool if the losers club was real? Like actually around, in real life? Derry was based off of Bangor so it's more than likely you could find your own Stanley Uris." 
You cracked a smile at that and threw the pillow at him, situating yourself underneath the covers of your bed. "Yeah, yeah. I wish."
Marcus promptly pulled out his phone and checked the time, turning it over towards you  and flashing the bright light in your face. "Well, it's almost 11:11..Make a wish!"
"Seriously?" You deadpanned.
"C'mon, it wouldn't hurt!"
You sighed, sitting up on your elbows and closing your eyes. "Tell me when. You wish it too, okay?"
"Okay," some time passed, "now."
I wish the losers club was real..The entire gang. Every single one of them.
I wish I could blow Bill Denbrough.
You opened your eyes after you recited your wish a couple of times, sighing. You raised an eyebrow at Marcus, seeing him struggle to contain his laughter though the crimson red covering every inch of his face gave it away.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"I wished that I could blow Bill."
"Goddamnit, Marc."
~
It took about a half hour before the two of you could fully relax into a deep sleep but once you guys did, Marcus took up most of the bed. 
A heavy gush of wind pushed open your window, the cool air from outside blowing into your room. You snuggled a little more under the covers, face being buried into someone's back. They smelled so nice, a light hazelnut scent and freshly washed hair that reminded you of late night drives with your older cousin when you were younger; Just absolute nostalgia exuded from them. You felt your entire body relax against theirs, the warmth overtaking your slightly exposed skin from the nippy air coming through the window.
You hear a quiet groan from the opposite side of you, the noise causing you to stir from whatever you were dreaming about prior; It was a bit fuzzy.
"What the fuck? Dumbass window.." It was just Marcus.
You felt the weight from the bed disappear, his dull footsteps moving around the carpeted room as he shuts the window.
He turns around and gives one look over the room, his eyes partially open. He sees a couple of people in the room, the sight confusing him in his drowsy state.
"What the..?"
A mix of someone screaming bloody murder and a smoke alarm going off floods the room, echoing off the walls and throughout the house. Even Marcus wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors heard him too.
It takes just a few seconds before your sleeping mind can process the screeching, thus causing you to flip over to your other side and turning on the lamp. Your eyes are piercing with annoyance, though you were still a little concerned about your astonished friend across the room.
"Marc, what the hell?! What's wrong? What happened?"
You cast a glance around your room, trying to pick the oddball out.
"What the hell?!" You hear from behind you, the sudden noise alarming you and making you jump off the bed towards the ground. 
Your head whipped around so quickly you were sure it was the dizziness that made your imagination run wild from the sight. There laid a guy, around your age, with very curly light brown hair that just looked absolutely divine to twirl your fingers around.
Underneath you comes a strangled groan, almost upon impact. Looking below, you find a girl with fiery red hair in a bob style. You push yourself off of her and scoot away until your back hits Marcus's legs.
"Who the fuck is yelling-Oh, holy shit..!" You hear another slightly deep voice exclaim. 
Turning to your right sat five other guys with drastically different appearances, one after another coming to the realization that they had no fucking clue where they were.
The room grew quiet, fear growing in your eyes as you try to find a person to focus on but the thought only made you even more dizzy than before.
_________________
Let me know if you wanna be tagged for future chapters!! 💖
-Moment of Tangency- tags: @beauregard-s @demoniclust @deepestofwaters @grapesauze @god-knows-what-am-i-doing @soulwillower @19tozier @phrogtheguitarist @kindofokayimagines @stenbrozier @stenbrozier @brxken-heartsclub @fucking-greywater @theliterarymess
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kbstories · 3 years
Text
impression//expression
“It’s not like Kirishima had come all this way to U.A. to immediately break the promise he made to himself upon arrival.
It’s just that Bakugou is as feral as they come, and the moment Kirishima recognizes it’s fear he felt crawling up his spine that day, he makes it his personal mission to face it head-on until it’s gone.”
(Or: Being friends with Bakugou Katsuki is anything but a linear experience. Kirishima Eijirou would have it no other way.)
Tags: Kirishima POV, Developing Friendships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Provisional License Exam & Aftermath, The Boys Are Fighting And Everything Hurts
Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Additional content warning for bad communication, emotional breakdowns and general anxiousness. Chapter 9.
***
“Oi. Kiri.”
Another heap of sugar goes into Kirishima’s mug. He stirs a bit, then licks caramel-sweet goodness off the spoon. Perfect. With a content hum, he leans further into the embrace of his favorite armchair.
“Mmyeah?”
Across from him, Bakugou sips his own coffee. Looking all kinds of cozy from his perch by the window, shoes off, U.A.’s uniform narrowed down to just the shirt and pants. Only Iida and Momo have made it down to the common room yet, yawning their way through breakfast with last-minute notes spread out over the kitchen counter.
Their quiet conversation is mere background noise for them. It’s a familiar enough routine that neither duo exchanged more than acknowledging nods before settling into their preferred corners.
Bakugou toes the wood of the windowsill with socked feet, hands calm around his mug. His gaze idles on a group of sparrows outside.
“By this time tomorrow, we’ll be heroes.” Soft-spoken, the words nonetheless sound as solid as ever.
“Provisional ones”, Kirishima reminds him, a mix of excitement and nerves making his leg bounce, the carpet underneath ruffling with the motion. There’s still an exam to pass between then and now. “But still. Licensed and everything.”
“Mh”, Bakugou breathes into his coffee. He sends Kirishima a wry look over its rim. “Nervous?”
Thinking on it for a moment, Kirishima smiles. “Nah, not really. We worked our asses off for it. Like, we totally got this.”
Bakugou’s smirk comes swift and it stays: a dare for the world to do its worst, a promise to come out on top despite it all. Kirishima offers him his fist and Bakugou meets him in the middle, used to the gesture by now. Sparks crackle over rock-hewn skin.
“Damn right we do.”
*
The names flicker on the screen and Kirishima searches.
K, K, Ki, Kiri– There! Kirishima Eijirou.
“Hell yes”, he cheers, the doubts clinging to his heart dropping all the way to his feet. The second he’s got his phone back, he’ll scream-yell a voice message to his moms – finally, finally, Red Riot will exist out there. In reality, not just his wildest dreams.
Automatically, Kirishima jumps to the beginning of the list.
B, Ba, Baku–
Next to him, Bakugou sucks in a breath. That, more than anything, brings his head crashing from the clouds and straight to the ground, to the spot on that list where Bakugou’s name should be but isn’t. Kirishima frowns, his eyes scanning the row starting with B one more time.
“Dude, what…?” No Bakugou Katsuki. “No way.”
One glimpse, that’s all he gets. One glance at Bakugou’s face and that expression Kirishima recognizes from the longest night of his life, that déjà vu of devastation and loss a sucker punch nailing Kirishima right in the gut–
Before he can reach out, it’s gone. Bakugou grits his teeth and juts his chin up, and any trace of it is replaced by anger. Cold, lethal, seeping into squared shoulders and brows drawn deep enough to cast his gaze in shadows.
“Katsu–”
A harsh tch interrupts him, followed by a softer “Congrats, Riot” mumbled in Kirishima’s direction. Bakugou won’t meet his eyes, though, and when Kirishima’s fingers brush Bakugou’s, he crosses his arms instead.
“Thanks”, Kirishima mumbles back, all thoughts of celebrating dead and gone. He doesn’t try to reach out again.
*
1-A spills into the common room as one, smiles and laughter all around. The air previously heavy with anticipation now carries only relief, that clean petrichor taste that follows a downpour at the height of summer.
Despite the stone weight of worry in his stomach, Kirishima laughs along with them. He leans into the lanky arm Sero drapes across his shoulders and returns the fist bump Jirou offers him before Kaminari tackle-hugs the three of them towards the couches.
“Smash tournament! Now!”
“It is our last night off before the new term”, Jirou supplies with a shrug. A thoughtful look is cast towards Bakugou, turning sly as it meets Kaminari’s. “Though, may I propose: Rock Band?”
“Ohhh”, coos Sero, joined by an enthusiastic nod by Kaminari. “Whoo yeah! U.A.’s best fake guitarist, reporting for duty!”
Kirishima loves his friends, he really does. If there’s one thing Bakugou has consistently enjoyed during their hangouts, it’s violently crushing them via the e-drum set he brought from home. That thing shows some serious signs of wear, too, the silicone cover warped or even torn in places.
(The high score list features his name like five times before their resident runner-up – Shouji, surprisingly – even makes an appearance, additional limb advantage and all.)
“I’m in. Wanna duo, Jack?” Jirou gives Kirishima a thumbs-up from where she’s already setting up the microphones. He turns around. “Nitro, you–?”
Bakugou isn’t next to him anymore. Before Kirishima can ask, he hears Mina call out, “Blasty, where are you going?”, and follows the question to Bakugou’s turned back clearly headed for the elevators.
“Room”, Bakugou answers, clipped, rough. The glare he throws over his shoulder might as well be lines of caution tape fluttering in the wind, storm sirens howling in the distance. Keep out. “Have fun playing your shitty game.”
Kirishima sees the hurricane about to hit a second before Mina makes a grab for Bakugou’s wrist, determination shining in black-rimmed eyes. “It’s Rock Band”, she tells him, meeting the snarl on Bakugou’s face with stubborn compassion. “You love Rock Band.”
“What do you know, hah?” Bakugou snaps, tugging away. “Fucking– Get off me!”
Mina’s grip tightens, Bakugou’s hand is raised – familiar, so familiar, that glint of rage in blood-red pupils – and Kirishima is on his feet, pulling Mina behind himself to shield her from an explosion that never comes.
It’s a close call, though. Kirishima feels the heat coming off Bakugou’s palm, the wince he tries to hide when he clenches it to a fist instead.
“This isn’t your fight, Shark Teeth. Back off.”
“Bakugou.”
Firm, resolute. Kirishima’s voice is like volcanic glass: smooth on the surface, jagged around the edges. There’s a warning in there, too, his jaw clenched just as tightly as Bakugou’s. “Not cool, man. Mina’s just trying to help.”
Bakugou huffs at the mere notion of that. “Well, Mina can fuck right off. I don’t need shit from any of you.”
The truth is: Bakugou is different with Kirishima, he’s always been. Even now Kirishima can see him shift his weight, change gears in his mind, the door so firmly shut for others left ajar for him.
Bakugou only listens because it’s Kirishima speaking and he hates it, sometimes. Like his word counts above everyone else’s when it doesn’t, it shouldn’t.
“Look, I get why you’re pissed off but it’s not our fault, either. Alright? There’s no point in acting like this, dude.”
Bakugou’s eyes narrow, that sliver of a chance snuffed out of existence. A vicious sneer takes its place. “Acting like what? Like myself? Give me a break.”
“Guys”, Mina cuts in, sounding meek, uncomfortable. Bakugou doesn’t get to do that, not when he’s proven he’s better than that, time and time again – not when he’s careful with his quirk, when he’s stopped hiding that genuine smile that’s getting less and less rare, when he helps and soothes and pretends not to care and cares so fucking much.
Around them most of the class shuffles along, hovering on the sidelines. Kirishima can feel the looks, the hushed whispers ready to burst into existence, the fidgety sort of concern radiating from Midoriya in waves.
He ignores them all, looking Bakugou dead in the eye when he says: “No, Katsuki, like an asshole. It’s not like you at all.”
Behind him, Mina whispers, “Stop, Kiri, it’s okay.” From the couches come hisses of surprise, a murmured “Woah, dude” that sounds like Kaminari. It doesn’t matter.
What matters is that it hurts. It hurts to see Bakugou flinching like he’s been physically struck. To see emotion spill through the cracks in his armor, cracks Kirishima put there. But Bakugou listens when it’s him, and if there’s one thing he needs to hear, it’s this.
“Like, I get it. I know how it feels, you of all people know that. And extra lessons suck ass, believe me.” Kirishima takes a deep breath, letting go of his anger on the exhale until there’s only resolve, that strength he’s fostered and made his own with Bakugou at his side.
“But lashing out at people won’t fix anything. The stuff holding you back – it’s all you, man, that’s what you gotta work on. You’re the manliest person I know, so you’ll definitely get there, and then you’ll keep going until you’re Number One. There’s not a single doubt in my mind that’s how it’s gonna go. But it’s up to you to make sure it does.”
Bakugou is staring at him, pale-faced and still. He opens his mouth. “You done?”, he asks, his voice ground into something raw, something tired.
“Yeah”, Kirishima tells him, gentle again. “Yeah, I think I am.”
A nod. Bakugou glances past him, for a moment, at the ball of tension behind Kirishima that is Mina. Another nod, more hesitant.
“Blasty, I–”
Without another word, Bakugou leaves, shouldering past Midoriya on his way out. Kirishima watches him go and wonders if doing the right thing always feels so much like regret.
*
I fucked up.
Bundled up in his covers, Kirishima sits on his bed and stares at the wall. The cheerful colors and big exclamation points on his posters are little more than a blur, made obscure by the dark of night settling in around him.
The light switch is just across the room yet impossibly far away. Kirishima’s phone buzzes; the screen comes alive with a notification. It goes ignored.
I fucked up.
Kirishima’s gaze falls to the license in his hands, bland-looking next to the busy camo pattern of his favorite blanket. Red Riot, it says in bold letters under his name, date of birth and affiliation to U.A. – issued today, with the picture they took before they changed into their hero costumes. Himself, grinning with too much teeth, his hair freshly dyed and spiked to the heavens, his uniform done up meticulously.
It feels like a year ago that Bakugou rolled his eyes and fixed his collar, muttering something about ‘looking okay for once’. In turn, Kirishima had nudged and prodded him until he put on his tie, which lasted not one second beyond the flash of the camera.
But–
You done?
The card is small, unassuming, really. Kirishima blinks. One tear, then two pearl over flawless plastic. Three, four, head bowed as they drip, drip, drip down the tip of his nose.
Today wasn’t supposed to go like this. They were supposed to get their licenses, take the night off, sing and laugh and headbang to their audience of pixelated metalheads and forget the world for a while.
It was supposed to be about them, about the dream they shared over coffee this morning. About the future they’re reaching for, together.
Kirishima wants to toss the license to places unknown, wants to tell himself that it means nothing but it does. He waited for this moment longer than he cares to trace back, a long time, definitely. All that hard work, the sweat and blood he shed for it – perhaps it’s only right he adds tears to the mix.
Gods, I fucked up so bad.
He sniffs wetly, sets the card aside. There’s a spot for it in his wallet, he made sure of that as they stepped off the bus. Still, he needs to keep it in sight, like object permanence stops being a thing where one’s hero status is concerned.
Again, buzz buzz, his phone rattles quietly against wood. With a shuddering breath, Kirishima reaches for it, reads Simply Mina and 🦊 Eevee Squad 🦊 and swipes right until his home screen is just Riot’s canine smile again. All it does is remind him of an afternoon spent out in the yard, of a snoring dog and gentle touches to soft fur.
Two taps, and he’s back where he started: Staring at fond, red eyes in the corner and the unanswered messages underneath. Kirishima’s lips start to tremble.
Best Bakubro 💣💥
hey (sent 18:12)
can we talk? (sent 18:12)
i’m sorry (sent 18:30)
i’m so fucking sorry baku idk what i was thinking (sent 18:31)
just. please (sent 18:35)
idk what to do (sent 18:35)
katsuki? (sent 19:01)
The last three are still unread. Kirishima had just calmed himself down from the panicked jolt of blue ticks and grey ticks and Bakugou’s gone when a door had slammed shut hard enough to rattle Kirishima’s desk.
Kirishima wanted to go out there. He wanted to catch up to Bakugou and explain himself and make things right; instead he’d stayed right where he was and listened to his distinct stomp growing more and more faint like the coward he is.
There’s been nothing but silence ever since.
“Stop”, Kirishima whispers, a strangled, pathetic noise amidst the tears sliding down his cheeks. “Just s-stop. Fucking stop.” Tilting his head back, he knocks it against the wall, hoping against all hope that he’ll stop crying, that this shivering, miserable thing in his chest will relent and let him breathe for a bit.
Instead, he clenches his eyes shut and lets out a choked sob. It’s followed by another, another, until Kirishima presses his face into the blanket and gives in.
Hands fisting in loose hair, he curls in on himself, head tucked against his knees and desperately gasping for air. The walls are thick but not that thick – Shouji can probably hear him, if he’s even in, and Kirishima silently begs him to stay away. To be allowed to break in private like he’s done a thousand times before, after every moment he spent frozen in place, every time he didn’t act fast enough or act at all.
Were you scared?
He hadn’t been. For once in his life, Kirishima hadn’t been afraid – he’d been angry, furious even, hopeful and disappointed and worried and he’d fucked up because of it. That moment Bakugou shut up and just… took whatever Kirishima had to say is burned into his brain, aching and tender to the touch. Kirishima can’t stop putting his finger on it, though, like revisiting it will make it sting less, somehow.
It doesn’t.
Time is a fickle concept. Kirishima is aware it passes, he’s aware his blanket is soaked, that his back hurts and his heart hurts and his head, too. He’s back to blankly looking at his wall and seeing nothing, only interrupted by an occasional sniffle, when–
The snap of a lock turning, a door opening and closing, much quieter than before.
A glance to his clock tells him it’s an hour to midnight and way past curfew. The worry he felt earlier rekindles, glows bright enough to overshadow any other emotion swirling within him. It’s not like Bakugou to be up this late. It’s not like him to break rules like this.
It’s not like you at all.
Roughly, Kirishima rubs his arm over his face. Enough crying. Enough hiding away. Bakugou deserves better than public callouts and texts sent in a panic. Kirishima promised himself he’d be better – it’s worth next to nothing if he can’t keep it.
That fact doesn’t prevent his heart from beating half-way up his throat by the time he slips out his door and stands in front of Bakugou’s. His hand shakes as it’s raised to knock; Kirishima wills it to steady and raps his knuckles against wood, mindful of the late hour.
“Bakugou?”
Nothing.
“Listen, I…” Kirishima breathes through the squirming of guilt in his gut. “I messed up, man. I know you’re in there and if you’d rather not see me, that’s fine. But I know I hurt you a-and I want to apologize if… if you’ll let me.”
Wringing his hands, he blinks heavily and wills himself not to tear up again. Bakugou has every right to shut him out; it’s up to Kirishima to do what he should’ve done in the first place and respect his wishes.
It’s a reality he doesn’t have to face, however – the knob turns and the door cracks open the slightest bit. When it doesn’t move beyond that, Kirishima pushes for it to open further, sticking his head through the gap.
“Nitro?”
Silhouetted by his bedside lamp, Bakugou is tossing up his covers to properly burrow inside them. “Get your ass in here already”, he says over his shoulder, a bite to his tone Kirishima recognizes from their early days. “And close the door. It’s fucking late.”
He practically jumps to the task. “Okay, yeah, sorry!” Once the door clicks shut, Kirishima shuffles his feet, wanting to get closer but unsure if he’s allowed. Carefully, he makes his way over and stops, half a step in the circle of light cast around Bakugou’s bed.
“So. Um…” His hand brushes red strands behind his ear. His palms are sweaty. “I–”
“Did you mean it?”
Bakugou doesn’t even sound angry; Kirishima would definitely deserve it if he was. He’s unsure if that no-bullshit edge is any better, though, swallowing heavily. “Yeah. Well, kinda. The– the words were right but…” He clenches his hands to fists, brings his gaze up to look at him.
Kirishima’s eyes widen. The rest of that sentence flees from his mind entirely.
“What…?”
Scrapes, bruises, gauze stuck to both cheeks, bandages wrapped around both arms. Back to the wall, legs loosely crossed in front of him, Bakugou looks like he went a round or five with a superpowered bobcat, dried blood clinging to some of the many scratches on his skin.
Yet his eyes are focused, pinning Kirishima with the same precision with which he handles everything in life. “But?”
“Bakugou! What happened?!”
“Picked a fight.” A sharp sniff. Bakugou shrugs like he couldn’t care less. “‘s none of your business. Answer my question.”
Ouch. Kirishima doesn’t linger on that, he can’t, too busy mentally cataloguing the damage and trying not to drag Bakugou to the infirmary ASAP. Which–
“We gotta– Recovery Girl. She’ll heal you right up.”
Bakugou huffs a laugh, no humor in it whatsoever. “Already went. It’s done. Answer the fucking question, Kirishima.”
It’s incredibly hard to unstick his mind from whatever the hell happened there. Like a wrestling match with his own thoughts, struggling to get them on the wrong set of tracks despite his brain frantically gesturing towards Bakugou.
Kirishima rubs his palms over his face, pats his cheeks none-too-gently for good measure. Focus.
“Right. Yes, I meant what I said. It’s– Mina isn’t me, Baku. She can’t take your anger like I can, okay? They… they were just trying to cheer you up and you were out of line. But–”
Bakugou’s gaze isn’t letting him go, intense like they’re mid-battle and he’s trying to figure out Kirishima’s next move. Guard all the way up. Kirishima drops his hands, wide open.
“Your day was already crappy enough without me putting you on the spot like that. You said you wanted to go and I forced you to stay and deal with even more stuff because I was angry and worried and… Yeah. I went about it all wrong and I’m sorry.”
Those damn tears are lurking at the corners of his eyes, itching and burning but Kirishima fights them off. He nods to the ground.
“I really let you down. That’s all I wanted to say.”
Kirishima waits. For a moment that feels eternal, he stands there with his head bowed and his fingers clinging to the edge of his shirt. He fully expects to be met with silence until he gets the memo and leaves.
Then Bakugou sighs.
“You look like hell, y’know that? Your eyes are all puffy and shit.”
Wincing, Kirishima nods again. “I know.” He peeks up through the gaps in his hair.
Bakugou huffs, exasperated and so much more like himself. “Don’t give me that. I’m still pissed at you.”
There. A chance. All it takes is a leap of faith. “But?”, Kirishima asks quietly.
“But nothing, fucker. I’m pissed, full stop.” A glower that would make a quirked-up Aizawa proud. Bakugou crosses his arms; Kirishima ducks his head. “You’re lucky you’re you or I’d have kicked your ass straight to whichever place stupid potato dogs like you go to when they die.”
Don’t laugh. Kirishima bites his lip. Half a second later, a pillow smacks his shoulder with impressive force.
“Shut up. I got it, okay? I know I’m”, a pause filled with teeth grinding audibly, “difficult, I guess. And an asshole. I know all that.”
The urge to laugh is replaced by a shot of vertigo, like Kirishima missed a step down a flight of stairs. Their eyes meet, and Bakugou glares.
“It’s what you said. Don’t you dare take it back now.”
“But that’s not what I mea–”
“Tough shit, bitch, ‘cause that’s what I got from it. It’s fine, okay? If someone’s gonna call me out on my bullshit it’s gotta be you. It’s just–”
Bakugou drops his hands in his lap, staring at the bandages running up to his elbows. There are blisters on his right palm, visible even in the half-dark.
“Not in front of everyone?”, Kirishima offers in a small voice.
A tense breath. “Yeah. Makes me wanna blow up and lose my shit for real.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You already said that. I told you it’s fucking fine.”
“But–”
“Eijirou.”
Kirishima’s heart squeezes. Bakugou looks so exhausted and it’s all his fault. Still, he mumbles, “Okay”, and he wordlessly swears on everything he holds dear that he’ll listen, next time. That he’ll trust Bakugou to do the right thing and stay in control.
“Okay.” Bakugou’s eyes are on him again, less heavy now. “I don’t wanna talk about the fight, either.”
Kirishima’s hands clench, not tight enough to rip into the fabric but close enough. “At all or…?”
“Not sure yet. Definitely not tonight.”
“Okay”, Kirishima repeats. It’s not forever. He can handle anything if it’s not forever. “Um. Are we cool? I get it if… not. I can leave, too. Whatever you want.”
Unexpectedly, Bakugou groans, almost… amused? “Screw you. I should be milking the fuck outta this but… Yeah, we’re cool.”
Oh. Kirishima can’t help the way his resolve wobbles with how relieved he is, keeping his shaky inhale as stealthy as possible. He fucked up and his best friend doesn’t hate him. They’re gonna be okay.
“Kiri…”
There’s a strange expression on Bakugou’s face, pinched and frustrated-looking. His eyes are soft, though. Concerned. “Stop crying, you big baby. C’mere. And bring my pillow, I actually need it.”
Kirishima keeps it casual. He grabs the pillow and pads over instead of running. He tosses it in Bakugou's lap, earning a grumbled, “Thanks.”
Almost casual. There’s an attempt, at least, chucked right out the window the second Bakugou sort-of-maybe-kind-of indicates the possibility of a hug. Then he’s throwing himself on the bed, the sight of raw skin and gauze-white turning his tackle into a marginally gentler embrace of Bakugou’s shoulders.
Bakugou squeezes back, brutally tight. “Hold back on me again and I’m kicking you out.”
A wheeze of breath turns into hushed laughter. “I’ll do better.” Kirishima tucks his face against Bakugou’s neck and sniffles. “I’ll be good, Nitro, I swear.”
Bakugou knocks their heads together, too gentle to even register as that. His lips against Kirishima’s temple, he mumbles, “You already are, idiot. One dumb mistake won’t change that.”
>>Chapter 9.
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raleighliving · 3 years
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Raleigh Apartment Culture
So I'm of the mind that Raleigh is a great place to live. It has my favorite things, my favorite people, and I'm too broke to move anywhere else.
Raleigh works for me, but I recognize it doesn't work for everyone. Some people had less than ideal childhoods and wanna escape the state ASAP, some just want to live closer to their dream jobs or have new opportunities. That's all fine, but what if this describes where you are now?
What if, for the sake of argument, you're outside of NC and wanna move in? Moving is expensive, time-consuming, and risky at the best of times; so you wanna make sure that wherever you're landing is at least as good as where you started 90% of the time
"But RL," I hear you say, "you make Raleigh sound like an idyllic dreamscape populated with parks and a diverse kumbayah of peoples living in harmony"
I do talk about Raleigh in a positive light but, like a life saving medicine flavored like ass, sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.
So before you spend thousands of dollars on moving vans, boxes, and grits; here's a crash course on what it's like living in a Raleigh apartment, coming from someone whose majority of Raleigh Living (heh) has been in apartments.
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First off, location. Any realtor will tell you that location is 80% of the sale to sound profound, and as anyone who has lived in the middle of ass-backward nowhere can tell you: It sucks having to drive 30 minutes to go anywhere.
Good news: With the Raleigh Beltline and connecting roads, there are very few places in Raleigh where your trip will last longer than thirty minutes one-way. Bad News: where you set down still matters because cutting down on travel is important for car and mental health.
North Raleigh is different from south Raleigh is different from northwest Raleigh, and the locals aren't the only difference you'll find between locations. Each segment of Raleigh has something to offer, with easier access to some attractions than others and neighboring cities for when you need something outside the RDU area.
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Using downtown as the center of our wheel, people generally divide Raleigh into North and South Raleigh (with distinction given for NW, SE, NE, etc when needed). N.Raleigh is considered generally more upscale, a slice of suburban living interspersed with plenty of shopping centers for families and the moderately wealthy; but it's boring as all hell.
Want some fun? Excitement in the evenings and a more traditional urban experience with bars, night clubs, strip clubs, and more? South Raleigh is your best bet, at the cost of being the "sketchy" side of Raleigh. That kind of place where you'll see a bunch of auto shops that look abandoned but haven't been closed in the past 5 years and there's at least one customer from time to time.
Of course, this is a lot of generalizing but you'll find that it's still mostly accurate. The main exception in this is Capital Blvd, a highway cutting across north and south Raleigh on the eastern half of the city; a high crime corridor that's undergoing some changes in the northern half that have (somewhat) reduced crime but most people will still associate that area with the majority of Raleigh's crime and debauchery.
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More importantly, is the distinction Raleigh citizens put on inside the beltline versus outside the beltline. The I-440 and 540 highways that wrap around Downtown form the mythical beltline, and to a degree what you have access to. Inside the beltline is the majority of workplaces, stores, and shopping centers; while outside you'll still have these things just to a more... dispersed extent.
North Raleigh actually kinda exemplifies this perfectly. Living inside the beltline, you have access to places like North Hills, Crabtree Valley mall, and Triangle Town Center. Live outside the beltline, like I currently am, and you're looking at 10 to 15 minutes to the nearest sheetz for that late night double hot dog fix.
So for point one: How important is it that you're near things? The majority of apartments and rental properties are in or around the belt-line, but if you want to save some cash on rent checks the cheaper properties are gonna extend your trips a bit.
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Next, what can you expect in terms of neighbors? Does Raleigh have a hip party scene full of teens renting cheap apartments and blasting trap music at 3AM?
Depends on where you live
I swear not every point is going to be this, but there's an important distinction this time that affects the type of people your complex will likely have surrounding you; are you in North or South Raleigh?
North Raleigh has a ton of pre-schools, k-12 public schools (Leesville, Hillburn, Lead Mine, just to name a few), and office complexes that make up the job market. As a result the majority of apartment renters in north Raleigh tend to be families with a few small kids or so.
As a result, living off of Glenwood North and Edwards Mill I never had any noise problems from neighbors, the worst being kids playing outside at 3PM sounding like they were being murdered (which apparently is a common thing and I apologize to any neighbors I frightened with ghastly shrieks).
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What I did have a problem with, however, was the typical Karen's you hear people complain about online. Renting a property now, we have access to our neighborhood's NextDoor page and it's hilarious sometimes to go on and read the comments, but living at a certain property we had a sort of mini-Facebook for residents
That thing was always full of either people who were moving out looking to sell their furniture or people passive-aggressively challenging each other/the apartment managers with comments about things happening around the complex.
Once I logged in to see one man accuse another, without ever actually accusing someone specific ("I know who did it and they should be ashamed" type post) of putting glass beer bottles under the tires of his truck to try and puncture them. Everyone acts civil in public, but then online they'll stir the pot harder than a chef with a hand mixer.
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South Raleigh, you have the schools like Shaw University, Meredith, and NCSU; so the people renting down there are typically college kids. You'll see more apartments that cater towards them like University Village or University Woods, but sometimes these places will cater to both college kids and working adults
Avoid these places like the plague, because despite sometimes having a lower cost to live there the neighbors and their shenanigans will drive you up the wall (unless you're the type to join in, then go wild).
I've had friends stay at places like University Village and The Proper (formerly The Vie, formerly Wolf Creek) who've shared horror stories. 3AM parties ending in property damage or vomit in inconvenient places, drug deals not even trying to be subtle, and maintenance workers doing nothing because regardless of the apartment conditions; no school's gonna pull their contract with them unless news articles start getting written.
http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_898ddf34-82f5-11e7-b3d8-07059d248619.html
https://www.wral.com/vie-at-raleigh-residents-finally-able-to-move-into-clean-units/16887833/
http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_ea8ed7aa-a092-11e8-a2af-e70af36566d0.html
Otherwise, south Raleigh apartments are largely like north Raleigh apartments; except the crime rate tends to be a little higher and you'll run into more singles and people working full time.
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Otherwise, Raleigh apartment culture is like apartment culture anywhere else in the country. You have a mix of apartments catering to those just looking to live versus more ostentatious luxury apartments with fancy pools, exercise facilities, and tech packages to draw people in.
If you're renting in Raleigh, however, do try to get a roommate or two if you can manage. Even with a decent job paying 800+ on a one bedroom one bath apartment can be exhausting at best, but with even one other person that can functionally halve your expenses
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So if you're a young professional, or a student, or even if you have a small family, I can safely recommend renting in Raleigh. There's plenty of places that'll accommodate you, and cater towards your needs.
But what about everyone else? Are there people who shouldn't rent in Raleigh?
No
But there are groups who I'd seriously ask to consider their other choices before picking Raleigh as a destination for their new home.
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For instance, are you a member of the LGBT community? A trans or non-binary individual? Well then, first off, I want you to know that you're loved and valid. I'm accepting of who you are and appreciate everyone's right to identify how they choose, but I'm not everyone.
Raleigh's bluer than other parts of North Carolina, as I've stated in other blog write-ups, but it's still part of North Carolina unfortunately and as a result, you'll face some challenges.
I doubt anyone's gonna burn a cross in your yard or knock over your mailbox, but Raleigh doesn't offer LGBT protections for housing, jobs, or credit/lending discriminations according to the Movement Advancement Project's website.
We have support organizations for LGBT and NB individuals, plenty of high schools and colleges have Gay-Straight Alliance clubs, and there are numerous businesses downtown that cater specifically to those individuals... but we're also the state that got into a lot of hot water because of a stupid bathroom bill, and our politicians are trying to pass anti-trans sports legislation (because they now magically care about the integrity of womens sports).
By that measure, but to a lesser extent, if you fall outside the Liberal/Conservative political spectrum then be prepared to have no one to discuss your politics with outside of a few sparse networks like the DSA.
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Additionally, if you don't have someone to room with or a significant other to split costs with; you may want to try searching somewhere a little cheaper.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Raleigh housing prices aren't terrible for a major metropolitan city, but we're not the best prices in the world.
You can get prices on apartments and rentals lower than say, California or New York. However, compared to other parts of NC like Greensboro or Garner; rentals are still a bit much.
On average, a Raleigh apartment can run you about $900 for a single bedroom and a single bathroom. You can find cheaper, but often times there's some risk associated (Crime levels, quality of the room, quality of the property manager, etc.) Looking for a two bedroom? Then your average price is gonna jump up to around $1,200, and this is all before utilities and cable come into play.
It's true a lot of companies around here will pay more than the $7.25 minimum wage, but most low-skilled jobs will pay around 10-11 an hour.
I guess though, that's kind of an obvious statement. "Don't live in Raleigh if you can't afford to live in Raleigh."
I might expand on these thoughts at a later time, but hopefully for now I've given you some food for thought; or at the very least an entertaining read for a few minutes.
I love my city, and I love the friends I've made in it, but the sad truth is that nowhere is perfect for everyone; leastways Raleigh. If Raleigh sounds like the kind of place you'd like to live in, at least take a day trip to come visit and see how things go that way. Visit some stores, meet some locals, and form an opinion off of more than travel blogs and youtube videos.
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kiss-my-freckle · 3 years
Text
1x13 Rewatch: Savoureux
Gif set can be found here.
Will has an episode at the cabin with Abigail, then wakes on a plane, having lost time. Because he lost time again, and has no idea where Abigail is, he would've turned to Hannibal for help after he landed. 
This is how I see the order of things... While Will made his way from the cabin to the plane, Hannibal faked Abigail's death. While Will was on the plane, Hannibal took Abigail back with him. After Will landed and Hannibal hid Abigail somewhere safe, both ended up at Hannibal's office. This is where he shoved Abigail's ear down Will’s throat. 
Will ends up back home in his bed to have a dream. He attempts to kill the stag because he believes it represents the Copycat killer. It doesn't, it represents the freak on his back like Francis and the Dragon. He's hunting the Copycat killer because he knows he's trying to frame him. In looking at the wendigo for the first time, I see Will's view of the Ripper.
The background sound they play during this dream, if you'd call it a soundtrack... it speaks to me of a double concept. I hear two sound effects. The first is like an engine, Hannibal revving him up. "Wind him up and watch him go." There's a sound mixed in with it that comes off like a flapping of wings. "Felt like a fly flitting around back there." Every time I hear this background sort of soundtrack, that's the feeling I get... the fly in Will's skull, and how it winds him up. His intent for shooting the stag in this episode is different than his intent for shooting the stag in 2x13. Because the stag represents Will, the wendigo had to come in to represent the Copycat killer. The wendigo is new to Will, this is the first time he actually sees it. He has no idea the stag is an extension of himself, but he'll realize this later on.
The visual effects when Will wakes are insane. It's like an engine cutting. He notices the mud on his feet, stumbles to the kitchen and vomits Abigail's ear when he tries to drop an Aspirin. The engine revs again, then they cut to Will sitting on the porch, waiting for Hannibal to arrive. He's beside himself, terrified he might've done something to Abigail. I feel bad for Winston, he's the dog that always cared for Will's safety, the one that walked with him down the center of the road when he was sleepwalking. Because he's on a leash and covered in mud, I have no doubt he was in the woods with Will. "I don't remember going to bed last night. But... I must have." I think it's likely Hannibal dropped Will off into his woods with Winston rather than dropping him off at his door. Had Will let Winston out, I don't believe he would've been on a leash, but Hannibal would've required it for him.
The fly flapping continues as they process Will. "I thought I would get better." A good summary of the first season. He didn't get better under Hannibal's care. He got worse, then he got framed for five homicides. The entire conversation between Jack and Alana is fantastic. Her response in the car is just as thrilling. This is her friend, the one she wanted everyone to leave alone because she wanted to protect him. "I don't feel like I dodged a bullet. I feel wounded." She trusted Jack and Hannibal to care for Will. Her mistake. Hannibal plays the victim in his session with Bedelia, which disgusts me. More flapping of wings as Will waits in the interrogation room, where he hallucinates the wendigo through the one-way mirror. Hannibal's meeting with Jack and Alana shows just how great he is at lying. He's taking the advice he gave Frederick: Deny everything, and deny he will. Had either of them spoken to Will about any of Hannibal's claims, Will would've known for himself that Hannibal was lying about him. In his session with Will, he spends more time trying to convince him he's the Copycat killer than he does trying to clear his name. I like the way Will opens his eyes the moment the wendigo stands behind Hannibal. I think it's possible Will realized it then, that Hannibal was the Copycat killer, but wanted to see the crime scene to be certain. Hannibal is pushing too hard to sell Will as the killer, and I think Will feels that.
I don't even know where to begin with these homicides because it's insane. Why anyone would believe Will did any of it is beyond me. "My biggest fear is that we'll learn that you knew what you were doing the whole time." Hannibal tied Will to every single murder, starting with Cassie Boyle, the very victim Hannibal gift-wrapped for Will out in the field. Not much of a gift anymore. Had Will actually killed Cassie Boyle, he could've easily told Jack that Hobbs killed her rather than introduce the idea of a Copycat killer. Her murder would’ve been buried with the rest of them. One could claim he profiled a copycat killer because he wanted recognition for his own work, but that's not the case with Will. He vehemently denies killing any of them. Alana was there when Will discovered Marissa Shore's body, and I'm pretty sure she could assess his reaction to Marissa's blood dripping from the ceiling. So Alana is supposed to believe Will hung Marissa on a pair of antlers, then calmly walked Abigail into the cabin for the sake of her body being found? So Beverly is supposed to believe Will jumped out of his clothes, killed Dr. Sutcliffe, cleaned up, framed Georgia even though it would require she actually be there or he force her to come with him, then jumped back into his clothes? At the crime scene, Beverly told him flat-out, "You're clean. You couldn't have done this without getting something on you, and there's nothing on you." Apparently, Will killed Dr. Sutcliffe in the nude. So Jack is supposed to believe Will killed Georgia Madchen because she witnessed him kill Dr. Sutcliffe, but Will's totally gonna fight like hell to have her death ruled a homicide. Again, apparently he wants recognition for his work even though he vehemently denies killing any of them. Abigail Hobbs tops the cake. So they're all to believe Will ate Abigail's entire body (mind you, in a single night), but suddenly stopped chewing his food when he got to her ear? He leaves DNA evidence from all of his victims out in the open so they could find it, doesn't bother cleaning the blood from his fingernails, pulls Hannibal to his house to show him the ear he vomited, and Jack considers him an intelligent psychopath? He believes Will was using Dr. Sutcliffe as a way to cover up his crimes, even though Will himself has no proof that he's suffering from encephalitis... which defeats the very purpose of him using the diagnosis to begin with. I've never seen so many idiots, and I'm talking about all of them. Beverly, Jack, Hannibal, Alana... they're idiots. Will's frame was so obvious, even a child could figure it out. All the while, everyone wants to blame everyone else. Alana blaming Jack, Jack blaming Alana, Alana blaming Hannibal. Will was victimized by everyone. His blood is on ALL of their hands.
"The, uh- light from friendship won't reach us for a million years. That's how far away from friendship we are." Trust when Will says this, he means it. That's why they end the first season with Will keeping it professional rather than personal. "Hello, Dr. Lecter." Will trusted Hannibal to care for his mental well-being, often reached out to him for that very reason. Instead of helping him, Hannibal allowed Will to suffer from encephalitis. Pushed it to the point Will was suffering seizures, long-term effects be damned. Hell, it could've killed Will had he not been treated. Hannibal then framed him for five murders. One of those murders, the very child Will connected with. Shoved her ear down his throat, then tried to convince Will that he killed her and ate her. If it weren't for him being placed in the mental hospital, Hannibal never would've stood a chance with Will. Like... never. He woke the beast, shook him like a rag doll, killed his cub, shook him some more, then locked him in a cage. And after doing all of this, Hannibal planned to leave him there. He actually planned to say goodbye. "I'm going to see Will tomorrow. As a farewell. Of sorts." That's how much Hannibal cared. Yes, season one Hannibal sucks ass.
On a positive note, this episode shows where Dr. Chilton and Dr. Bloom had Will all wrong. I'll have to gif it sometime. The end scene is the moment when Will's character became my favorite, and I will forever consider him one of the greatest characters of all-time. I can see it in his demeanor... there will be a reckoning.  
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